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Abstract Objective The objective of this review is to determine the utilisation and adoption of teledentistry based solutions and technologies during the Covid-19 Pandemic in the Asean region. Background Teledentistry is a branch of telemedicine that has rapidly advanced in the last few years and has the potential to provide solutions to oral health problems of patients and locations that do not have prompt and immediate access to a dentist or dental services. The Covid-19 has increased the adaption of all digital health technologies and teledentistry is no exception. Methodology The study utilized online databases such as Pubmed (Medline), Scopus (Embase) and CINAHL for the purpose of document search. Newcastle Ottawa (NOS) scale was used to determine the quality of the studies included in our systematic review. PRISMA guidelines were used as the criteria for reporting items in the systematic review. Results A total of 1297 documents were found after applying the search criteria and the keywords for the selected study. After applying the Prisma guidelines, removal of duplicates and irrelevant entries, 10 studies that were conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic were selected, fitting the inclusion criteria. All the studies included were evaluated for quality and risk of bias through the Newcastle Ottawa scale. Only high-quality studies were included for the final review. Conclusion Teledentistry is a cost-effective solution to screen, diagnose and treat dental patients from a distance. Teledentistry also has the potential to continue seamless continuation of dental education to dental students, during disruptive and non-disruptive periods. ASEAN countries should fully utilise the potential of teledentistry, however sound and effective legislation would be the key first step to achieving that potential.

Two-dimensional material hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), and its one-dimensional thin strips, boron nitride nanoribbons (BNNRs) are electrically insulating with high thermal stability, making them excellent thermal conductors suitable for high-temperature application. BNNRs are wide bandgap semiconductors with bandgaps ranging from 4 to 6 eV. This study investigates the electronic properties of BNNRs with single vacancy defects in armchair and zigzag configurations. The nearest-neighbour tight-binding model and numerical method were used to simulate the electronic properties of BNNRs with a single vacancy, including band structure and local density of states. The alpha and beta matrices were adjusted to account for missing boron or nitrogen atoms. Furthermore, a small perturbations were introduced to model the effects of impurities and edge imperfections. The simulation result from this work was compared with pristine BNNRs to examine the impact of a single vacancy on their electronic properties. The findings reveal that both armchair and zigzag BNNRs with single vacancy defects exhibit distorted band structures and local density of states due to the delocalization of pz orbitals. The valence bands show a higher concentration of nitrogen, while the conduction bands are richer in boron. These findings provide insights into how vacancy defects and edge perturbations can influence the electronic properties of BNNRs, which can guide the design and optimization of BNNR-based electronic devices in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbes are critical contributors in main areas of biotechnology, including green, red, and white biotechnology. This is why the importance of the preservation of microbial resources cannot be emphasized enough. Culture collections are repositories not only for the preservation and maintenance of a large variety of microbial resources and the associated data but also for their distribution in a quality-controlled manner. The mission of culture collections facilitates and supports utilization of microbial resources for research, education, and industrial purposes. Led by the World Federation for Culture Collections, an international organization committed to fostering the activities of culture collections of microorganisms and cell lines, more than 850 culture collections from 80 countries and regions work together to ensure the perpetuation of microbial resources. In addition, domestic networks, such as Japan Society for Culture Collections and United States Culture Collection Network along with regional networks for Europe, Latin America, and Asia thrive to ensure the long-term viability of microbial resources. The Republic of Korea recently took the first step in networking through the coordination of six ministries which house nine national microbial culture collections. With an explosion in microbiome research and a dramatic increase in the number of microbiome samples, the considerable challenge of culture collections will therefore be implementing the biobanking infrastructure of microbiome samples. Creating a domestic network of national culture collections is a key factor in efficiently and comprehensively managing nation-led microbiome research projects, particularly resulting microbiome samples. In this context, this review aims to provide an overview of microbial culture collection network and their future role to address the challenge in the microbiome era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indoor location sensing systems are crucial for Internet of Things advancements, providing essential location-based information for large-scale applications and systems. The existing literature usually involves designing and testing systems using a single wireless standard. Therefore, it is still uncertain what is the best wireless standard for indoor location sensing and whether there are any benefits to implementing cooperative location sensing. Therefore, an indoor location sensing system was developed, utilizing the RSSI fingerprinting method with K-Nearest Neighbours algorithm. The system was used to evaluate the individual performance of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and ZigBee for indoor location sensing as well as validate if cooperative location sensing is feasible. For testing purposes, the test sites were split into grids of 1.5m by 1.5m size and the system made predictions on the correct grid position of the user device. The indoor location sensing system developed has an accuracy of 1.5m for a detection range of 10m. In terms of prediction accuracy, the system managed to achieve a maximum accuracy of 80.56% in non-Line of Sight scenario and a maximum accuracy of 100.00% in Line of Sight scenario. The prediction accuracy performance of the system in predicting the correct grid position varies depending on the combination of wireless standards used, with the best accuracy result being 100.00% when using a combination of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and ZigBee in a Line of Sight scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown that electronic discussion can be used effectively to teach critical thinking and can achieve greater understanding. The use of online discussions is common in polytechnics and universities, and many schools in Singapore have begun to introduce online forums for discussion beyond the classroom. This research investigates lower secondary school students' critical thinking in an asynchronous online discussion environment. The findings show that the students in this age group have only minimally exhibited critical thinking skills during the online discussion. However, investigation into students' perception of online discussion shows positive attitudes. Some enhanced scaffolding strategies for online discussion participants and guides on designing good questions are recommended to foster critical thinking skills in this environment. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.)

Since it was first identified in 2012, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has emerged as a novel viral pathogen that causes severe acute respiratory illness, including fever, cough, and [...]

Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is characterized by mild-to-severe respiratory distress and is caused by a novel coronavirus (MERS-CoV) (1). Since its first identification in 2012, MERS-CoV infection has been [...]