Curricular trends in Malaysian medical schools: innovations within.

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Azila, Nor Mohd Adnan; Rogayah, Jaafar; Zabidi-Hussin, Zabidi Azhar Mohd Hussin

2006-09-01

Various curricular innovations were adopted by medical schools worldwide in an attempt to produce medical graduates that could meet future healthcare needs of society locally and globally. This paper presents findings on curricular approaches implemented in Malaysian medical schools, in trying to meet those needs. Information was obtained from published records, responses from various questionnaires, personal communication and involvement with curricular development. Curricular innovations tended to be implemented in new medical schools upon their establishment. Established medical schools seemed to implement these innovations much later. Curricular trends appear to move towards integration, student-centred and problem-based learning as well as community-oriented medical education, with the Student-centred learning, Problem-based learning, Integrated teaching, Community-based education, Electives and Systematic programme (SPICES) model used as a reference. The focus is based on the premise that although the short-term aim of undergraduate medical education in Malaysia is to prepare graduates for the pre-registration house officer year, they must be able to practise and make decisions independently and be sensitive to the needs of the country's multiracial, multi-religious, and often remote communities. In most cases, curricular planning starts with a prescriptive model where planners focus on several intended outcomes. However, as the plan is implemented and evaluated it becomes descriptive as the planners reassess the internal and external factors that affect outcomes. A common trend in community-oriented educational activities is evident, with the introduction of interesting variations, to ensure that the curriculum can be implemented, sustained and the intended outcomes achieved.

Correlations of Symptoms of Dyslexia with Academic Achievement and Behavioral Problems in a Malaysian Primary School

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Devaraj, Sheila; Rosian, Samsilah; Noah, Sidek Mohd; Mahyuddin, Rahil

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study is to determine whether there was any significant correlation between symptoms of dyslexia in Malaysian students and discipline problems. A total of 197 standard 3 and 4 students from a national primary school were involved in the study. Findings show that there was a significant negative correlation between academic…

Psychometric properties of the mentor behaviour scale in a sample of Malaysian medical students

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Jamilah A.M. Mohammad, MEd

2018-02-01

Conclusion: MBS demonstrates a satisfactory level of construct validity and a high level of internal consistency in measuring supportive mentor behaviours in a medical school setting. This result suggests that MBS can be used as a mentorship evaluation tool for feedback in the context of a Malaysian medical school.

An overview of indoor air quality and its impact on respiratory health among Malaysian school-aged children.

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Choo, Chua Poh; Jalaludin, Juliana

2015-01-01

The indoor environment is a major source of human exposure to pollutants. Some pollutants can have concentrations that are several times higher indoors than outdoors. Prolonged exposure may lead to adverse biologic effects, even at low concentrations. Several studies done in Malaysia had underlined the role of indoor air pollution in affecting respiratory health, especially for school-aged children. A critical review was conducted on the quantitative literature linking indoor air pollution with respiratory illnesses among school-aged children. This paper reviews evidence of the association between indoor air quality (IAQ) and its implications on respiratory health among Malaysian school-aged children. This review summarizes six relevant studies conducted in Malaysia for the past 10 years. Previous epidemiologic studies relevant to indoor air pollutants and their implications on school-aged children's respiratory health were obtained from electronic database and included as a reference in this review. The existing reviewed data emphasize the impact of IAQ parameters, namely, indoor temperature, ventilation rates, indoor concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matters (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and airborne microbes, on children's respiratory health. The study found that most of the Malaysian school-aged children are exposed to the inadequate environment during their times spent either in their houses or in their classrooms, which is not in compliance with the established standards. Children living in households or studying in schools in urban areas are more likely to suffer from respiratory illnesses compared with children living in homes or studying in schools in rural areas.

Smoking among school-going adolescents in selected secondary schools in Peninsular Malaysia- findings from the Malaysian Adolescent Health Risk Behaviour (MyaHRB) study.

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Lim, Kuang Hock; Lim, Hui Li; Teh, Chien Huey; Kee, Chee Cheong; Khoo, Yi Yi; Ganapathy, Shubash Shander; Jane Ling, Miaw Yn; Mohd Ghazali, Sumarni; Tee, Eng Ong

2017-01-01

A multitude of studies have revealed that smoking is a learned behaviour during adolescence and efforts to reduce the incidence of smoking has been identified as long-term measures to curb the smoking menace. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence as well as the intra and inter-personal factors associated with smoking among upper secondary school students in selected schools in Peninsular Malaysia. A study was carried out in 2013, which involved a total of 40 secondary schools. They were randomly selected using a two-stage clustering sampling method. Subsequently, all upper secondary school students (aged 16 to 17 years) from each selected school were recruited into the study. Data was collected using a validated standardised questionnaire. This study revealed that the prevalence of smoking was 14.6% (95% CI:13.3-15.9), and it was significantly higher among males compared to females (27.9% vs 2.4%, p  Malaysian adolescents of school-going age was high, despite implementation of several anti-smoking measures in Malaysia. More robust measures integrating the factors identified in this study are strongly recommended to curb the smoking epidemic among adolescents in Malaysia.

Malaysian Children's Attitudes towards Learning Music

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Ghazali, Ghaziah Mohd.; McPherson, Gary E.

2009-01-01

A sample of 1060 Malaysian children were surveyed in order to examine differences in their motivation to study music in school and to learn a musical instrument outside of school. Adopting the expectancy-value motivation theory, the children were asked questions concerning their perception of music as being important, useful, interesting,…

PATTERNS OF DOMINANCE OF LANGUAGE VITALITIES AMONG MALAYSIAN STUDENTS IN PRIMARY NATIONAL-TYPE AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS

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Soo Ying How

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Multilingualism is embedded in the Malaysian Education Blueprint (2015-2025 as a stated goal towards nation building. The education system provides opportunity to learn Malay which is the national language, the mother tongue (Mandarin or Tamil and the English language as part of formal schooling. In fact, Malaysian primary schools are classified into two major divisions. Students can opt to study in national schools in which the medium of instruction is Malay with the provision for the learning of English and a mother tongue. The other option allows students to enrol in national-type schools of which the medium of instruction is either Mandarin or Tamil, with English and Malay taught as academic subjects. At secondary level, the medium of instruction in national schools is Malay and students are provided the opportunity to learn their mother tongue and English. Other than in school, other social milieus also allow the use and practice of these languages. Given this linguistic environment, there exists a myriad of language experiences within and outside formal learning which together would influence the totality of language vitality. This paper investigates language vitality featured in this multilingual environment. It focuses on the vitality of the English language among students that appears to co-exist with the learning and use of other languages as they progress through the primary and secondary levels. The vitality is measured by the following indicators: language preference, choice, dominance, use, attitude and motivation and proficiency which were used to develop a questionnaire to obtain data on strength evaluation of these languages. The methodology encompasses random and convenient sampling to obtain representative responses from students with different levels of education and language experiences. The study reveals relative vitalities of languages used and highlights values attached to languages at different points of language

Exploring Familial Themes in Malaysian Students’ Eating Behaviors

OpenAIRE

Car Mun Kok

2013-01-01

Food-related attitudes and habits are integral to overall well-being, especially among international college students who often practice poor eating habits and experience high levels of stress from factors like school and sociocultural adjustment. Utilizing in-depth interviews, this study explored how family experiences impact food-related habits, attitudes, and beliefs of Malaysian college students in the U.S. Findings indicate that early experiences with family substantially impact current ...

Malaysian Students' Motivation towards Physics Learning

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Saleh, Salmiza

2014-01-01

The purpose of this survey study was to examine the level of Malaysian students' motivation with regards to the learning of Physics at the secondary school level, and its influencing factors. The study was carried out on 337 Form Four students who took Physics as a subject, from six schools in a northern state of Malaysia--three from urban areas,…

Teachers’ Perceptions of E-Learning in Malaysian Secondary Schools

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Mei Lick Cheok

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Malaysian teachers are constantly challenged with many new technologies that are believed to enable them to perform their job better. In 2013, they have been given access to an online learning space known as the FROG VLE. However, initial evidence has shown poor adoption of the e-learning. As schools are becoming increasingly disconnected from the societies of which they are a part, teachers withdrawing into their old familiar landscapes of teaching and learning can no longer be accepted. Being the implementers in the classrooms, their perceptions’ towards any innovation are important if the innovation is to be taken up seriously and to be implemented. Measures to improve present condition in order to sustain and increase e-learning uptake, can only be carried out if we know the situations and conditions teachers are in. A qualitative approach was used to identify the views and experiences of 60 secondary school teachers towards the implementation and continued use of VLEs in three secondary schools in Malaysia. This is to obtain a more nuanced explanation for the perceptions teachers’ have towards e-learning. Data was collected using an open-ended questionnaire. The results among others highlight the benefits as perceived by the teachers, the main barriers they faced and suggestions to better improve the implementation. Implications for teacher preparation, staff development efforts and education reform are proposed to overcome the challenges faced. View it in PDF

It’s Not Just About the Game: A Study on Attitudes and Motivation of Malaysian Secondary Sports School Students in East Malaysia towards Learning English as a Second Language

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Muhammad Isa Nursyaheedah

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In the past few years, Malaysian athletes have gained international recognition with their impressive, world-record breaking accomplishments. As a result of this, Malaysian athletes are finding themselves being interviewed and giving speeches at local and international events. For professional athletes, there is a need and a duty to be able to communicate their stories and experiences as well as giving real insight and opinions about their performances, confidently, to both local and global audiences. In addressing these audiences, it is important for these professional athletes to be confident and are able to converse well using the English language, especially so when addressing a global audience. However, some Malaysian athletes are facing difficulties in communicating confidently and coherently, especially in English. It is a recognised and acknowledged skill gap in which is believed should be tackled during the formative school years. It is possible that the skill gap stems from a lack of motivation and poor attitude beginning from secondary school. This paper discusses the findings of a study undertaken to investigate these issues further by carrying out a questionnaire survey on the attitudes and motivation of Malaysian secondary sports school students in East Malaysia towards learning English as a second language. The study reveals an overall positive attitude towards learning English by the sports students. In addition, the findings reveal that the sports school students are extrinsically and intrinsically motivated in learning English. The study concludes with recommendations for future research and is expected to make a contribution to the literature of attitudes and motivation especially for but not limited to secondary sports school students.

Techniques of Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language through Constructivist Paradigm: Malaysian Perspective

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Faryadi, Qais

2007-01-01

This analysis discusses the constructivist paradigm of teaching Arabic as a foreign language in Malaysian settings. This review examines the role of interactive multimedia in enhancing the chalk and talk methods of teaching Arabic in Malaysian schools. This paper also investigates the importance of Arabic Language in Malaysia. Furthermore, the…

Vitamin D and Calcium Intakes, Physical Activity, and Calcaneus BMC among School-Going 13-Year Old Malaysian Adolescents

OpenAIRE

Suriawati, A. A.; Abdul Majid, Hazreen; Al-Sadat, Nabilla; Mohamed, Mohd Nahar Azmi; Jalaludin, Muhammad Yazid

2016-01-01

Background: Dietary calcium and vitamin D are essential for bone development. Apart from diet, physical activity may potentially improve and sustain bone health. Objective: To investigate the relationship between the dietary intake of calcium and vitamin D, physical activity, and bone mineral content (BMC) in 13-year-old Malaysian adolescents. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Selected public secondary schools from the central and northern regions of Peninsular Malaysia. Participants: The sub...

Evaluation of the implementation of sport science programme in Malaysian secondary schools

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Wee Eng Hoe

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This study evaluated a new sport science curriculum in Malaysian secondary schools. Four implementation dimensions (‘teaching ability’, ‘administration of sport science programme’, ‘teaching duty allocation’ and ‘non-human factors’ were examined. 135 schools and 94 teachers were surveyed. 81% teachers were male and 85% were under 40. About half of the respondents were trained in sport science and had 1-2 years teaching experience. Over 90% of teachers perceived they have knowledge to teach and can manage students. However, 80% felt they need more exposure and training. Male teachers were better than female teachers in managing students and conducting activities/experiments. Experienced teachers were better in conducting activities and experiments. Teachers majoring in sport science were more knowledgeable while PE majors found teaching sport science challenging. Most teachers perceived that teaching facilities, financial allocation and reference resources were inadequate. Majority of the administrators consulted teachers before assigning teaching load but failed to observe teaching. This research provides invaluable feedbacks on the implementation of the programme.

A Study on the Level of Intercultural Knowledge among Malaysian Secondary School Students

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Fatin Najwa Amelia binti Marsani

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Malaysia is typified by three major ethnic groups namely Malay, Chinese and Indian.  The evolution of national unity in Malaysia, which is based on acceptance and tolerance towards different cultures has been allowed to flourish in tandem with the realization of national aspirations.  Even though education system is seen to be the best tool to cultivate team work among these three major ethnic groups, contemporary research reveals that there is still a lack of intercultural embedment in both tertiary and non-tertiary settings.  Worst, non-tertiary setting national schools are seen as the breeding ground of racial polarization.  Thus, the main objectives of this research is to explore the level of intercultural knowledge that can enhance intercultural awareness among Malaysian secondary school students.  Data was collected using a structured survey questionnaire to elicit responses from Form Four students in one national secondary school in Penang, Malaysia on their level of intercultural knowledge.  The results of this study shows low level of intercultural knowledge among secondary school students and it indicates poor intercultural awareness among them in the contexts of intercultural knowledge.  This suggest that classroom intervention is needed to improve the students’ intercultural knowledge and at the same time improve their intercultural sensitivity towards other cultures.

Exploring Familial Themes in Malaysian Students’ Eating Behaviors

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Car Mun Kok

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Food-related attitudes and habits are integral to overall well-being, especially among international college students who often practice poor eating habits and experience high levels of stress from factors like school and sociocultural adjustment. Utilizing in-depth interviews, this study explored how family experiences impact food-related habits, attitudes, and beliefs of Malaysian college students in the U.S. Findings indicate that early experiences with family substantially impact current habits that persist even after coming to the U.S. and that dietary choices and habits are heavily embedded in cultural background and family history. Family influenced current habits through multiple means, including modeling, direct teaching, and indirectly through various family activities. Even though there were some persistent and lasting eating habits and behaviors, students also experienced some dietary changes and conflicting dietary practices after coming to the U.S. These findings are important for universities to consider so that appropriate steps can be taken to ensure the health and well-being of Malaysian and other international students in the U.S.

Factors Influencing Students' Self-Concept among Malaysian Students

OpenAIRE

Z. Ishak; S. Jamaluddin; F.P Chew

2010-01-01

This paper examines the students’ self-concept among 16- and 17- year- old adolescents in Malaysian secondary schools. Previous studies have shown that positive self-concept played an important role in student adjustment and academic performance during schooling. This study attempts to investigate the factors influencing students’ perceptions toward their own self-concept. A total of 1168 students participated in the survey. This study utilized the CoPs (UM) instrument to measure self-concept...

Divergence of iron metabolism in wild Malaysian yeast.

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Lee, Hana N; Mostovoy, Yulia; Hsu, Tiffany Y; Chang, Amanda H; Brem, Rachel B

2013-12-09

Comparative genomic studies have reported widespread variation in levels of gene expression within and between species. Using these data to infer organism-level trait divergence has proven to be a key challenge in the field. We have used a wild Malaysian population of S. cerevisiae as a test bed in the search to predict and validate trait differences based on observations of regulatory variation. Malaysian yeast, when cultured in standard medium, activated regulatory programs that protect cells from the toxic effects of high iron. Malaysian yeast also showed a hyperactive regulatory response during culture in the presence of excess iron and had a unique growth defect in conditions of high iron. Molecular validation experiments pinpointed the iron metabolism factors AFT1, CCC1, and YAP5 as contributors to these molecular and cellular phenotypes; in genome-scale sequence analyses, a suite of iron toxicity response genes showed evidence for rapid protein evolution in Malaysian yeast. Our findings support a model in which iron metabolism has diverged in Malaysian yeast as a consequence of a change in selective pressure, with Malaysian alleles shifting the dynamic range of iron response to low-iron concentrations and weakening resistance to extreme iron toxicity. By dissecting the iron scarcity specialist behavior of Malaysian yeast, our work highlights the power of expression divergence as a signpost for biologically and evolutionarily relevant variation at the organismal level. Interpreting the phenotypic relevance of gene expression variation is one of the primary challenges of modern genomics.

The Challenges of Malaysian Dry Ports Development

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Jagan Jeevan

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the functions and challenges of dry ports development in Malaysia through 11 face-to-face interviews with dry port stakeholders. The findings reveal that Malaysian dry ports are developed to accelerate national and international business, to activate intermodalism in the nation, to promote regional economic development and to enhance seaport competitiveness. Malaysian dry ports perform the function of transport and logistics, information processing, seaports and value-added services. Challenges facing Malaysian dry ports include insufficient railway tracks, unorganized container planning on the rail deck, highly dependent on single mode of transportation, poor recognition from the seaport community, and competition from localized seaports. This paper further indicates strategies for coping with these challenges and identifies future opportunities for Malaysian dry ports development.

Connoisseurship Evaluation In Digital Painting Among Art Teachers In Malaysian Secondary School

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Azimah A. Samah

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Connoisseurship evaluation is a form of evaluation and educational inquiry having qualitative characteristics. In this study, these skills are seen among Malaysian art teachers in secondary schools. Quality assessment depends on the evaluator who has the ability of some aspects. Among these are qualitative nuances experiences as well as ability to judge the goodness of the quality artwork. This study aims to look at the quality and evaluation skills of art teachers in Malaysia. The quality of the work will be seen on school students’ digital painting. The evaluation includes composition elements, color, interpretation and creativity of the digital painting. This study employed a quasi-experimental methodology with a single-group design to examine the digital painting among 53 students selected from schools in two districts of Selangor. The paintings were examined by two teachers in art and design education. The group’s production of painting was analyzed using Manova repeated measures to determine the skills of evaluating among the art teachers.There was a similarity in marks given among the teachers in four aspects of productive dimensions: composition, color manipulation, interpretation and creativity. This indicated that teachers were able to evaluate according to their expertise in art and design. This study offered a means to assist teachers with appropriate evaluation strategies in digital painting. In theory, this study will add to the understanding of cognitive systems and human information processing that relate to visual imagery system and skill of evaluation.

High School Students' Understanding of Acid-Base Concepts: An Ongoing Challenge for Teachers

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Damanhuri, Muhd Ibrahim Muhamad; Treagust, David F.; Won, Mihye; Chandrasegaran, A. L.

2016-01-01

Using a quantitative case study design, the "Acids-Bases Chemistry Achievement Test" ("ABCAT") was developed to evaluate the extent to which students in Malaysian secondary schools achieved the intended curriculum on acid-base concepts. Responses were obtained from 260 Form 5 (Grade 11) students from five schools to initially…

Sociolinguistic Competence and Malaysian Students' English Language Proficiency

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Muniandy, Mohan K.; Nair, Gopala Krishnan Sekharan; Shanmugam, Shashi Kumar Krishnan; Ahmad, Irma; Noor, Norashikin Binte Mohamed

2010-01-01

This paper aims to highlight the importance of teaching sociolinguistic competence to ESL learners in Malaysian schools. Sociolinguistic competence is the knowledge of socio cultural rules of language and of discourse. This type of competence requires an understanding of the socio context in which language is used. It is proposed that carefully…

Factors relating to adolescent suicidal behavior: a cross-sectional Malaysian school survey.

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Chen, Paul C Y; Lee, Lai Kah; Wong, Kam Cheong; Kaur, Jagmohni

2005-10-01

This study was undertaken to examine factors relating to adolescent suicide behavior. This was a cross-sectional school survey of 4,500 adolescent students based on a structured questionnaire. Data were collected using the supervised self-administered questionnaire (modified version of the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance in the Malaysian National Language, Bahasa Malaysia). Seven percent (312 of 4,454) of the adolescent students had seriously considered attempting suicide. Among the adolescents, 4.6% had attempted suicide at least once during the 12 months preceding the survey. Female adolescents were more likely to put their suicidal thoughts into suicidal action than were male adolescents. Malay and Indian people are more likely than the Chinese to respond, "Felt sad and hopeless." However, Malay adolescents had the lowest rate of attempted suicide. Based on multiple logistic regression, factors significantly related to urban adolescents' suicide behavior are "Felt sad or hopeless," "Number of days felt unsafe to go to school," "Riding with a driver who had been drinking alcohol," "Physical fight," and "Number of days absent from school." In comparison, factors relating to rural adolescents' suicide behavior are "Felt sad or hopeless," "Physical fight," "Physical fight resulting in injury," and "Drive a vehicle after drinking alcohol." Adolescent suicide behavior should be viewed as a serious problem. Measures can be taken to prevent suicide by looking at the factors significantly linked to suicidal behavior among adolescents. Steps can then be taken to identify adolescents who have serious suicidal ideation so that intervention can be taken to reduce the suicidal rate.

Preference and intake frequency of high sodium foods and dishes and their correlations with anthropometric measurements among Malaysian subjects

OpenAIRE

Choong, Stella Sinn-Yee; Balan, Sumitha Nair; Chua, Leong-Siong; Say, Yee-How

2012-01-01

This study investigated the preference and intake frequency of a list of 15 commonly available high sodium Malaysian foods/dishes, discretionary salt use, and their possible association with demographics, blood pressures and anthropometric measurements among 300 Malaysian university students (114 males, 186 females; 259 ethnic Chinese, 41 Indians; 220 lean, 80 overweight). French fries and instant soup noodle were found to be the most preferred and most frequently consumed salty food, respect...

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN, BRAND IMAGE AND HIGH INVOLVEMENT PRODUCT TOWARDS CUSTOMER PURCHASE INTENTION: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE OF EAST MALAYSIAN CONSUMER

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Mohd Amirul Adenan

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This research strives to understand East Malaysian consumers’ purchase intention when being exposed to the effects of brand image and country of origin (COO image in the case of high involvement pro­ducts. Self-administered questionnaires were collected from 225 consumers in East Malaysia. The result of this study shows that East Malaysian consumers’ put a large importance on brand and country of origin image in high involvement products as they are more involved in information searching and decision ma­king when purchases these products. Implication and future research also discussed.

Fitness level and body composition indices: cross-sectional study among Malaysian adolescent.

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Hanifah, Redzal Abu; Majid, Hazreen Abdul; Jalaludin, Muhammad Yazid; Al-Sadat, Nabilla; Murray, Liam J; Cantwell, Marie; Su, Tin Tin; Nahar, Azmi Mohamed

2014-01-01

The importance of fitness level on the well-being of children and adolescent has long been recognised. The aim of this study was to investigate the fitness level of school-going Malaysian adolescent, and its association with body composition indices. 1071 healthy secondary school students participated in the fitness assessment for the Malaysian Health and Adolescents Longitudinal Research Team (MyHEART) study. Body composition indices such as body mass index for age, waist circumference and waist height ratio were measured. Fitness level was assessed with Modified Harvard Step Test. Physical Fitness Score was calculated using total time of step test exercise and resting heart rates. Fitness levels were divided into 3 categories - unacceptable, marginally acceptable, and acceptable. Partial correlation analysis was used to determine the association between fitness score and body composition, by controlling age, gender, locality, ethnicity, smoking status and sexual maturation. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine which body composition was the strongest predictor for fitness. 43.3% of the participants were categorised into the unacceptable fitness group, 47.1% were considered marginally acceptable, and 9.6% were acceptable. There was a significant moderate inverse association (p Malaysian adolescent should necessitate the value of healthy lifestyle starting at a young age.

Vitamin D and Calcium Intakes, Physical Activity, and Calcaneus BMC among School-Going 13-Year Old Malaysian Adolescents.

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Suriawati, A A; Majid, Hazreen Abdul; Al-Sadat, Nabilla; Mohamed, Mohd Nahar Azmi; Jalaludin, Muhammad Yazid

2016-10-24

Dietary calcium and vitamin D are essential for bone development. Apart from diet, physical activity may potentially improve and sustain bone health. To investigate the relationship between the dietary intake of calcium and vitamin D, physical activity, and bone mineral content (BMC) in 13-year-old Malaysian adolescents. Cross-sectional. Selected public secondary schools from the central and northern regions of Peninsular Malaysia. The subjects were from the Malaysian Health and Adolescents Longitudinal Research Team Cohort study (MyHeARTs). The data included seven-day diet histories, anthropometric measurements, and the BMC of calcaneal bone using a portable broadband ultrasound bone densitometer. Nutritionist Pro software was used to calculate the dietary calcium and vitamin D intakes from the diet histories, based on the Nutrient Composition of Malaysian Food Database guidance for the dietary calcium intake and the Singapore Energy and Nutrient Composition of Food Database for vitamin D intake. A total of 289 adolescents (65.7% females) were recruited. The average dietary intakes of calcium and vitamin D were 377 ± 12 mg/day and 2.51 ± 0.12 µg/day, respectively, with the majority of subjects failing to meet the Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI) of Malaysia for dietary calcium and vitamin D. All the subjects had a normal Z-score for the BMC (-2.00 or higher) with a mean of 0.55 ± 0.01. From the statistical analysis of the factors contributing to BMC, it was found that for those subjects with a higher intake of vitamin D, a higher combination of the intake of vitamin D and calcium resulted in significantly higher BMC quartiles. The regression analysis showed that the BMC might have been influenced by the vitamin D intake. A combination of the intake of vitamin D and calcium is positively associated with the BMC.

Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences: A Step Forward towards an International Journal

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Ghazli, Nur Farahin; Che Annual, Norfatiha; Abdullah, Jafri Malin

2015-01-01

In 1986, the Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences (MJMS) began as the small and newly established journal Diagnosa, established by the Universiti Sains Malaysia School of Medicine. After 28 years in the publishing industry, we have received the honor of a listing as a local journal in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) created by Thomson Reuters (TR) to spotlight emerging high-quality scientific publications. The editorial team of MJMS looks forward to the next step in the march of progress toward the status of an international journal. PMID:28223878

Patterns and Trends in Achievement Gaps in Malaysian Secondary Schools (1999-2011): Gender, Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Status

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Saw, Guan Kung

2016-01-01

Educational inequality is a highly debated yet empirically understudied topic in Malaysia. This paper examines the patterns and trends of academic achievement gaps by student social groups in Malaysia, drawing upon nationally representative data for the most recent four cohorts (1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011) of eighth-grade Malaysian students from…

Interdisciplinary and inter-institutional differences in learning preferences among Malaysian medical and health sciences students

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REBECCA S.Y. WONG

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The learner-centred approach in medical and health sciences education makes the study of learning preferences relevant and important. This study aimed to investigate the interdisciplinary, interinstitutional, gender and racial differences in the preferred learning styles among Malaysian medical and health sciences students in three Malaysian universities, namely SEGi University (SEGi, University of Malaya (UM and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR. It also investigated the differences in the preferred learning styles of these students between high achievers and non-high achievers. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on medical and health sciences students from three Malaysian universities following the approval of the Research and Ethics Committee, SEGi University. Purposive sampling was used and the preferred learning styles were assessed using the VARK questionnaire. The questionnaire was validated prior to its use. Three disciplines (medicine, pharmacy and dentistry were chosen based on their entry criteria and some similarities in their course structure. The three participating universities were Malaysian universities with a home-grown undergraduate entry medical program and students from a diverse cultural and socioeconomic background. The data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS software, version 22. VARK subscale scores were expressed as mean±standard deviation. Comparisons of the means were carried out using t-test or ANOVA. A p value of 0.05. Conclusion: This study gives an insight into the learner characteristics of more than one medical school in Malaysia. Such multi-institutional studies are lacking in the published literature and this study gives a better representation of the current situation in the learning preferences among medical students in Malaysia.

Interdisciplinary and inter-institutional differences in learning preferences among Malaysian medical and health sciences students.

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Wong, Rebecca S Y; Siow, Heng Loke; Kumarasamy, Vinoth; Shaherah Fadhlullah Suhaimi, Nazrila

2017-10-01

The learner-centred approach in medical and health sciences education makes the study of learning preferences relevant and important. This study aimed to investigate the interdisciplinary, inter-institutional, gender and racial differences in the preferred learning styles among Malaysian medical and health sciences students in three Malaysian universities, namely SEGi University (SEGi), University of Malaya (UM) and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR). It also investigated the differences in the preferred learning styles of these students between high achievers and non-high achievers. This cross-sectional study was carried out on medical and health sciences students from three Malaysian universities following the approval of the Research and Ethics Committee, SEGi University. Purposive sampling was used and the preferred learning styles were assessed using the VARK questionnaire. The questionnaire was validated prior to its use. Three disciplines (medicine, pharmacy and dentistry) were chosen based on their entry criteria and some similarities in their course structure. The three participating universities were Malaysian universities with a home-grown undergraduate entry medical program and students from a diverse cultural and socioeconomic background. The data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 22. VARK subscale scores were expressed as mean+standard deviation. Comparisons of the means were carried out using t-test or ANOVA. A p value of 0.05). This study gives an insight into the learner characteristics of more than one medical school in Malaysia. Such multi-institutional studies are lacking in the published literature and this study gives a better representation of the current situation in the learning preferences among medical students in Malaysia.

Preference and intake frequency of high sodium foods and dishes and their correlations with anthropometric measurements among Malaysian subjects.

Science.gov (United States)

Choong, Stella Sinn-Yee; Balan, Sumitha Nair; Chua, Leong-Siong; Say, Yee-How

2012-06-01

This study investigated the preference and intake frequency of a list of 15 commonly available high sodium Malaysian foods/dishes, discretionary salt use, and their possible association with demographics, blood pressures and anthropometric measurements among 300 Malaysian university students (114 males, 186 females; 259 ethnic Chinese, 41 Indians; 220 lean, 80 overweight). French fries and instant soup noodle were found to be the most preferred and most frequently consumed salty food, respectively, while salted fish was least preferred and least frequently consumed. Males had a significantly higher intake frequency of at least 6 of the salty foods, but the preference of most salty foods was not significantly different between genders. Ethnic Chinese significantly preferred more and took more frequently traditional and conventional Malaysian foods like asam laksa (a Malaysian salty-sour-spicy noodle in fish stock), salted biscuits and salted vegetable, while Indians have more affinity and frequency towards eating salty Western foods. Body Mass Index was significantly negatively correlated with the intake frequency of canned/packet soup and salted fish while waist circumference was significantly positively correlated with the preference of instant noodle. Also, an increased preference of potato chips and intake frequency of salted biscuits seemed to lead to a decreased WHR. Other than these, all the other overweight/obesity indicators did not seem to fully correlate with the salty food preference and intake frequency. Nevertheless, the preference and intake frequency of asam laksa seemed to be significant negative predictors for blood pressures. Finally, increased preference and intake frequency of high sodium shrimp paste (belacan)-based foods like asam laksa and belacan fried rice seemed to discourage discretionary salt use. In conclusion, the preference and intake frequency of the high sodium belacan-based dish asam laksa seems to be a good predictor for ethnic

Preference and intake frequency of high sodium foods and dishes and their correlations with anthropometric measurements among Malaysian subjects

Science.gov (United States)

Choong, Stella Sinn-Yee; Balan, Sumitha Nair; Chua, Leong-Siong

2012-01-01

This study investigated the preference and intake frequency of a list of 15 commonly available high sodium Malaysian foods/dishes, discretionary salt use, and their possible association with demographics, blood pressures and anthropometric measurements among 300 Malaysian university students (114 males, 186 females; 259 ethnic Chinese, 41 Indians; 220 lean, 80 overweight). French fries and instant soup noodle were found to be the most preferred and most frequently consumed salty food, respectively, while salted fish was least preferred and least frequently consumed. Males had a significantly higher intake frequency of at least 6 of the salty foods, but the preference of most salty foods was not significantly different between genders. Ethnic Chinese significantly preferred more and took more frequently traditional and conventional Malaysian foods like asam laksa (a Malaysian salty-sour-spicy noodle in fish stock), salted biscuits and salted vegetable, while Indians have more affinity and frequency towards eating salty Western foods. Body Mass Index was significantly negatively correlated with the intake frequency of canned/packet soup and salted fish while waist circumference was significantly positively correlated with the preference of instant noodle. Also, an increased preference of potato chips and intake frequency of salted biscuits seemed to lead to a decreased WHR. Other than these, all the other overweight/obesity indicators did not seem to fully correlate with the salty food preference and intake frequency. Nevertheless, the preference and intake frequency of asam laksa seemed to be significant negative predictors for blood pressures. Finally, increased preference and intake frequency of high sodium shrimp paste (belacan)-based foods like asam laksa and belacan fried rice seemed to discourage discretionary salt use. In conclusion, the preference and intake frequency of the high sodium belacan-based dish asam laksa seems to be a good predictor for ethnic

Factors Affecting Hypertension among the Malaysian Elderly

Science.gov (United States)

Eshkoor, Sima Ataollahi; Hamid, Tengku Aizan; Shahar, Suzana; Ng, Chee Kyun; Mun, Chan Yoke

2016-01-01

Hypertension is a common chronic disease in the elderly. This study aimed to determine the effects of age, ethnicity, gender, education, marital status, nutritional parameters, and blood elements on the risk of high blood pressure in the Malaysian elderly. This research was conducted on a group of 2322 non-institutionalized Malaysian elderly. The hierarchy binary logistic regression analysis was applied to estimate the risk of hypertension in respondents. Approximately, 45.61% of subjects had hypertension. The findings indicated that the female gender (Odds ratio (OR) = 1.54), an increase in body weight (OR = 1.61), and an increase in the blood levels of albumin (OR = 1.51), glucose (OR = 1.92), and triglycerides (OR = 1.27) significantly increased the risk of hypertension in subjects (p Malaysian elderly. In addition, an increase in both dietary carbohydrates and blood cholesterol level decreased hypertension in subjects. PMID:29367559

Three-dimensional facial analyses of Indian and Malaysian women.

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Kusugal, Preethi; Ruttonji, Zarir; Gowda, Roopa; Rajpurohit, Ladusingh; Lad, Pritam; Ritu

2015-01-01

Facial measurements serve as a valuable tool in the treatment planning of maxillofacial rehabilitation, orthodontic treatment, and orthognathic surgeries. The esthetic guidelines of face are still based on neoclassical canons, which were used in the ancient art. These canons are considered to be highly subjective, and there is ample evidence in the literature, which raises such questions as whether or not these canons can be applied for the modern population. This study was carried out to analyze the facial features of Indian and Malaysian women by using three-dimensional (3D) scanner and thus determine the prevalence of neoclassical facial esthetic canons in both the groups. The study was carried out on 60 women in the age range of 18-25 years, out of whom 30 were Indian and 30 Malaysian. As many as 16 facial measurements were taken by using a noncontact 3D scanner. Unpaired t-test was used for comparison of facial measurements between Indian and Malaysian females. Two-tailed Fisher exact test was used to determine the prevalence of neoclassical canons. Orbital Canon was prevalent in 80% of Malaysian women; the same was found only in 16% of Indian women (P = 0.00013). About 43% of Malaysian women exhibited orbitonasal canon (P = 0.0470) whereas nasoaural canon was prevalent in 73% of Malaysian and 33% of Indian women (P = 0.0068). Orbital, orbitonasal, and nasoaural canon were more prevalent in Malaysian women. Facial profile canon, nasooral, and nasofacial canons were not seen in either group. Though some canons provide guidelines in esthetic analyses of face, complete reliance on these canons is not justifiable.

Vitamin D and Calcium Intakes, Physical Activity, and Calcaneus BMC among School-Going 13-Year Old Malaysian Adolescents

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A. A. Suriawati

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Dietary calcium and vitamin D are essential for bone development. Apart from diet, physical activity may potentially improve and sustain bone health. Objective: To investigate the relationship between the dietary intake of calcium and vitamin D, physical activity, and bone mineral content (BMC in 13-year-old Malaysian adolescents. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Selected public secondary schools from the central and northern regions of Peninsular Malaysia. Participants: The subjects were from the Malaysian Health and Adolescents Longitudinal Research Team Cohort study (MyHeARTs. Methods: The data included seven-day diet histories, anthropometric measurements, and the BMC of calcaneal bone using a portable broadband ultrasound bone densitometer. Nutritionist Pro software was used to calculate the dietary calcium and vitamin D intakes from the diet histories, based on the Nutrient Composition of Malaysian Food Database guidance for the dietary calcium intake and the Singapore Energy and Nutrient Composition of Food Database for vitamin D intake. Results: A total of 289 adolescents (65.7% females were recruited. The average dietary intakes of calcium and vitamin D were 377 ± 12 mg/day and 2.51 ± 0.12 µg/day, respectively, with the majority of subjects failing to meet the Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI of Malaysia for dietary calcium and vitamin D. All the subjects had a normal Z-score for the BMC (−2.00 or higher with a mean of 0.55 ± 0.01. From the statistical analysis of the factors contributing to BMC, it was found that for those subjects with a higher intake of vitamin D, a higher combination of the intake of vitamin D and calcium resulted in significantly higher BMC quartiles. The regression analysis showed that the BMC might have been influenced by the vitamin D intake. Conclusions: A combination of the intake of vitamin D and calcium is positively associated with the BMC.

Sexual activity among Malaysian school-going adolescents: what are the risk and protective factors?

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Ahmad, NoorAni; Awaluddin, S Maria; Ismail, Hasimah; Samad, Rahama; NikAbdRashid, NikRubiah

2014-09-01

This study aimed to identify risk and protective factors associated with sexual activity among Malaysian adolescents. Data from the World Health Organization Global School-based Student Health Survey 2012 were analyzed. A total of 23 645 students aged 12 to 17 years responded using self-administered validated questionnaire. The overall prevalence of reported ever-had sex was 8.3%. Logistic regression analysis revealed that ever-had sex was positively significantly associated with ever-used drugs (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 7.71; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 6.51-9.13), and to a lesser extent, ever-smoked (aOR = 1.83; 95% CI = 1.62-2.07) and ever-consumed alcohol (aOR = 1.33; 95% CI = 1.15-2.53). Protective factors against ever-had sex were having a close friend (aOR = 0.63; 95% CI = 0.50-0.81), parental bonding (aOR = 0.72; 95% CI = 0.65-0.81), supportive peers (aOR = 0.77; 95% CI = 0.69-0.86), and parental connectedness (aOR = 0.88; 95% CI = 0.78-0.99). Although the prevalence of sexual activity among school-going adolescents in Malaysia is relatively low, identifying the risk and protective factors is crucial toward developing an integrated multiple approach to preventing sexual-related problems. © 2014 APJPH.

The Malaysian Intermodal Terminal System: The Implication on the Malaysian Maritime Cluster

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Mohamad Rosni Othman

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The maritime sector in Malaysia is best known globally due to the Straits of Malacca and being a nation surrounded by sea. Malaysia also has a substantial maritime industry consisting of numerous shipyards, ports and terminal faculties, ship services and a plethora of other companies and institutions with maritime oriented activities and become essential components of the Malaysia's maritime clusters. Issues such as underutilised intermodal terminals, uneven proportions in the freight transport infrastructure and road and seaport congestions prevent Malaysian seaports from achieving their full potential in serving their respective hinterlands. The key factors to improve Malaysian dry port or intermodal terminals are transport network; container planning; competition; location and, externalities. The paper does not only present the critical challenges faced by Malaysian intermodal terminals especially dry ports and the implications for seaport competency but it also provides strategies to utilise the Malaysian freight multimodal system to amplify seaports
tm performance in serving their hinterlands. As such, this may warrant policy makers to devise a comprehensive national master plan for the maritime sector in order for Malaysia to further develop her maritime industry and economies.

The Promotion of Critical Thinking Skills in School-Based Assessment (SBA)

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Kamarulzaman, Wirawani; Kamarulzaman, Wirawahida

2016-01-01

The new curriculum introduced in the Malaysian primary students; the Primary School Standard Curriculum (Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah-KSSR) together with the school-based assessment (SBA) is a step taken by the Malaysian government to encourage thinking skills to students, specifically critical thinking skills. The study explores teachers'…

Stimulating Student Interest in Physiology: The Intermedical School Physiology Quiz

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Cheng, Hwee-Ming

2010-01-01

The Intermedical School Physiology Quiz (IMSPQ) was initiated in 2003 during the author's last sabbatical from the University of Malaya. At this inaugural event, there were just seven competing teams from Malaysian medical schools. The challenge trophy for the IMSPQ is named in honor of Prof. A. Raman, who was the first Malaysian Professor of…

School-based intervention to prevent overweight and disordered eating in secondary school Malaysian adolescents: a study protocol.

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Sharif Ishak, Sharifah Intan Zainun; Chin, Yit Siew; Mohd Taib, Mohd Nasir; Mohd Shariff, Zalilah

2016-10-20

Obesity, eating disorders and unhealthy weight-loss practices have been associated with diminished growth in adolescents worldwide. Interventions that address relevant behavioural dimensions have been lacking in Malaysia. This paper describes the protocol of an integrated health education intervention namely 'Eat Right, Be Positive About Your Body and Live Actively' (EPaL), a primary prevention which aimed to promote healthy lifestyle in preventing overweight and disordered eating among secondary school adolescents aged 13-14 years old. Following quasi-experimental design, the intervention is conducted in two secondary schools located in the district of Hulu Langat, Selangor, Malaysia. Adolescents aged 13-14 years will be included in the study. A peer-education strategy is adopted to convey knowledge and teach skills relevant to achieving a healthy lifestyle. The intervention mainly promoted: healthy eating, positive body image and active lifestyle. The following parameters will be assessed: body weight, disordered eating status, stages of change (for healthy diet, breakfast, food portion size, screen viewing and physical activity), body image, health-related quality of life, self-esteem, eating and physical activity behaviours; and knowledge, attitude and practice towards a healthy lifestyle. Assessment will be conducted at three time points: baseline, post-intervention and 3-month follow-up. It is hypothesized that EPaL intervention will contribute in preventing overweight and disordered eating by giving the positive effects on body weight status, healthy lifestyle behaviour, as well as health-related quality of life of peer educators and participants. It may serve as a model for similar future interventions designed for the Malaysian community, specifically adolescents. UMIN Clinical Trial Registration UMIN000024349 (Date of registration: 11th. October 2016, retrospectively registered).

Internalization of Malaysian mathematical and computer science journals

OpenAIRE

Zainab, A. N.

2008-01-01

The internationalization characteristics of two Malaysian journals, Bulletin of the Malaysian Mathematical Sciences Society ( indexed by ISI) and the Malaysian Journal of Computer Science ( indexed by Inspec and Scopus) is observed. All issues for the years 2000 to 2007 were looked at to obtain the following information, (i) total articles published between 2000 and 2007; (ii) the distribution of foreign and Malaysian authors publishing in the journals; (iii) the distribution of articles by c...

Enhancing Malaysian Teachers' Assessment Literacy

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Lian, Lim Hooi; Yew, Wun Thiam; Meng, Chew Cheng

2014-01-01

Currently, in order to reform the Malaysian education system, there have been a number of education policy initiatives launched by the Malaysian Ministry of Education (MOE). All these initiatives have encouraged and inculcated teaching and learning for creativity, critical, innovative and higher-order thinking skills rather than conceptual…

Rhythmic patterning in Malaysian and Singapore English.

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Tan, Rachel Siew Kuang; Low, Ee-Ling

2014-06-01

Previous work on the rhythm of Malaysian English has been based on impressionistic observations. This paper utilizes acoustic analysis to measure the rhythmic patterns of Malaysian English. Recordings of the read speech and spontaneous speech of 10 Malaysian English speakers were analyzed and compared with recordings of an equivalent sample of Singaporean English speakers. Analysis was done using two rhythmic indexes, the PVI and VarcoV. It was found that although the rhythm of read speech of the Singaporean speakers was syllable-based as described by previous studies, the rhythm of the Malaysian speakers was even more syllable-based. Analysis of the syllables in specific utterances showed that Malaysian speakers did not reduce vowels as much as Singaporean speakers in cases of syllables in utterances. Results of the spontaneous speech confirmed the findings for the read speech; that is, the same rhythmic patterning was found which normally triggers vowel reductions.

Relationships between school support, school facilities, ICT culture and mathematics teachers' attitudes towards ICT in teaching and learning

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Ayub, Ahmad Fauzi Mohd; Bakar, Kamariah Abu; Ismail, Rohayati

2012-05-01

Information communication Technology (ICT) has been a major influence in the Malaysian Education System, especially in the teaching of mathematics. Since 2003, the Malaysian Ministry of Education has provided incentives to mathematics teacher to motivate them to use ICT using English as the medium of instruction, during the teaching and learning process. However, there are barriers that prevented mathematics teachers from using ICT in the classrooms. This study is to determine factors that influenced the attitudes of Malaysian Mathematic Teachers in integrating ICT in their teaching and learning. One hundred ninety one mathematics teachers were randomly selected for the purpose of this study. The three factors investigated were school support, school facilities and school culture which had been selected to be correlated with teachers' attitudes towards integrating ICT in the teaching and learning of mathematics. Findings showed that significant positive relationships existed between teachers' attitudes toward integrating ICT in the teaching and learning and school support, school facilities and ICT culture and This finding indicated that, in order to develop teachers' attitudes in using ICT during their teaching and learning process, they needed support from the school principals and also their colleagues. Apart from that, school facilities and also ICT culture were also found to be essential.

Malaysian NDT standards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khazali Mohd Zin

2001-01-01

In order to become a developed country, Malaysia needs to develop her own national standards. It has been projected that by the year 2020, Malaysia requires about 8,000 standards (Department of Standard Malaysia). Currently more than 2,000 Malaysian Standards have been gazette by the government which considerably too low before tire year 2020. NDT standards have been identified by the standard working group as one of the areas to promote our national standards. In this paper the author describes the steps taken to establish the Malaysian very own NDT standards. The project starts with the establishment of radiographic standards. (Author)

The Perspective of Six Malaysian Students on Playing Video Games: Beneficial or Detrimental?

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Baki, Roselan; Yee Leng, Eow; Wan Ali, Wan Zah; Mahmud, Rosnaini; Hamzah, Mohd. Sahandri Gani

2008-01-01

This study provides a glimpse into understanding the potential benefits as well as harm of playing video games from the perspective of six Malaysian secondary school students, aged 16-17 years old. The rationale of the study is to enable parents, educators, administrators and policy makers to develop a sound understanding on the impact of playing…

Muslim refugees in Southeast Asia, the Malaysian response.

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Dorall, R F

1988-01-01

This article surveys the arrivals of Muslim refugees from countries in Southeast Asia who have not only come to Malaysia for political refuge, but who have also stayed on, in many instances integrating into the local Muslim community. The author concludes that Burmese, Thai, and Filipino Muslim refugee-cum-migrants, and the estimated 500,000 illegal Indonesian migrant workers in East and Peninsular Malaysia make the presence of economic migrants in Malaysia's towns and rural sectors a far more pressing concern to Malaysians than that posed by the arrival of genuine political refugees. Only the Indonesians present in Malaysia are consistently termed by all parties as illegal migrants and some of them have been subjected to well-publicized deportation by the Malaysian immigration authorities. Sympathy for fellow-Muslims in distress explains Malaysia's open-door policy to Muslim refugees. The Koran specifically enjoins Muslims to assist Muslim refugees who have been persecuted by others. However, the necessity to maintain regional political and military alliances, principally as a bulwark against Communism, and the Malay--Non-Malay, Muslim--Non-Muslim dichotomy in Malaysia which almost evenly divides Malaysia's 16 million population into mutually antagonistic halves, results in any overt public policy in favor of Malays and Muslims to be immediately denounced by the other half of the population as a move against the Non-Malays and Non-Muslims. Without political and media attention, the refugees live wherever they can find work, as do hundreds of thousands of mainly Indonesian illegal migrant workers. They surreptitiously get their children admitted to public schools, and through bribery, can even get Malaysian identification papers. Malaysia is a relatively tranquil haven for Malaysia's Muslim refugees compared to their homelands, but their continued stay remains dependent on the ever-present struggle for more equitable sharing of political and economic power between

School-based intervention to prevent overweight and disordered eating in secondary school Malaysian adolescents: a study protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sharifah Intan Zainun Sharif Ishak

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Obesity, eating disorders and unhealthy weight-loss practices have been associated with diminished growth in adolescents worldwide. Interventions that address relevant behavioural dimensions have been lacking in Malaysia. This paper describes the protocol of an integrated health education intervention namely ‘Eat Right, Be Positive About Your Body and Live Actively’ (EPaL, a primary prevention which aimed to promote healthy lifestyle in preventing overweight and disordered eating among secondary school adolescents aged 13–14 years old. Methods/Design Following quasi-experimental design, the intervention is conducted in two secondary schools located in the district of Hulu Langat, Selangor, Malaysia. Adolescents aged 13–14 years will be included in the study. A peer-education strategy is adopted to convey knowledge and teach skills relevant to achieving a healthy lifestyle. The intervention mainly promoted: healthy eating, positive body image and active lifestyle. The following parameters will be assessed: body weight, disordered eating status, stages of change (for healthy diet, breakfast, food portion size, screen viewing and physical activity, body image, health-related quality of life, self-esteem, eating and physical activity behaviours; and knowledge, attitude and practice towards a healthy lifestyle. Assessment will be conducted at three time points: baseline, post-intervention and 3-month follow-up. Discussion It is hypothesized that EPaL intervention will contribute in preventing overweight and disordered eating by giving the positive effects on body weight status, healthy lifestyle behaviour, as well as health-related quality of life of peer educators and participants. It may serve as a model for similar future interventions designed for the Malaysian community, specifically adolescents. Trial registration UMIN Clinical Trial Registration UMIN000024349 (Date of registration: 11th. October 2016

Development of multi-dimensional body image scale for malaysian female adolescents

OpenAIRE

Chin, Yit Siew; Taib, Mohd Nasir Mohd; Shariff, Zalilah Mohd; Khor, Geok Lin

2008-01-01

The present study was conducted to develop a Multi-dimensional Body Image Scale for Malaysian female adolescents. Data were collected among 328 female adolescents from a secondary school in Kuantan district, state of Pahang, Malaysia by using a self-administered questionnaire and anthropometric measurements. The self-administered questionnaire comprised multiple measures of body image, Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26; Garner & Garfinkel, 1979) and Rosenberg Self-esteem Inventory (Rosenberg, 1965...

Factors Affecting Hypertension among the Malaysian Elderly

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Sima Ataollahi Eshkoor

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Hypertension is a common chronic disease in the elderly. This study aimed to determine the effects of age, ethnicity, gender, education, marital status, nutritional parameters, and blood elements on the risk of high blood pressure in the Malaysian elderly. This research was conducted on a group of 2322 non-institutionalized Malaysian elderly. The hierarchy binary logistic regression analysis was applied to estimate the risk of hypertension in respondents. Approximately, 45.61% of subjects had hypertension. The findings indicated that the female gender (Odds ratio (OR = 1.54, an increase in body weight (OR = 1.61, and an increase in the blood levels of albumin (OR = 1.51, glucose (OR = 1.92, and triglycerides (OR = 1.27 significantly increased the risk of hypertension in subjects (p < 0.05. Conversely, an increase in both dietary carbohydrates (OR = 0.74, and blood cholesterol level (OR = 0.42 significantly reduced the risk of hypertension in samples (p < 0.05. Furthermore, the results showed that ethnicity was a non-relevant factor to increase the risk of hypertension in subjects. It was concluded that female gender, an increase in body weight, and an increase in the blood levels of glucose, triglycerides, and albumin enhanced the risk of high blood pressure in the Malaysian elderly. In addition, an increase in both dietary carbohydrates and blood cholesterol level decreased hypertension in subjects.

Teachers' Knowledge and Readiness towards Implementation of School Based Assessment in Secondary Schools

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Veloo, Arsaythamby; Krishnasamy, Hariharan N.; Md-Ali, Ruzlan

2015-01-01

School-Based Assessment (SBA) was implemented in Malaysian secondary schools in 2012. Since its implementation, teachers have faced several challenges to meet the aims and objectives of the School-Based Assessment. Based on these challenges this study aims to find the level of teachers' knowledge and readiness towards the implementation of…

Elementary School Leaders' Perceptions of Their Roles in Managing School Curriculum: A Case Study

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Shahadan, Azuraida; Oliver, Ron

2016-01-01

The implementation of the Malaysian National Education Blueprint in 2012 has expanded headmasters' responsibilities and roles in managing schools. The goal is to stabilize and strengthen the primary school education system, which brings tremendous pressure to bear on the headmasters charged with managing schools, especially in managing the school…

Defining Malaysian Knowledge Society: Results from the Delphi Technique

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Hamid, Norsiah Abdul; Zaman, Halimah Badioze

This paper outlines the findings of research where the central idea is to define the term Knowledge Society (KS) in Malaysian context. The research focuses on three important dimensions, namely knowledge, ICT and human capital. This study adopts a modified Delphi technique to seek the important dimensions that can contribute to the development of Malaysian's KS. The Delphi technique involved ten experts in a five-round iterative and controlled feedback procedure to obtain consensus on the important dimensions and to verify the proposed definition of KS. The finding shows that all three dimensions proposed initially scored high and moderate consensus. Round One (R1) proposed an initial definition of KS and required comments and inputs from the panel. These inputs were then used to develop items for a R2 questionnaire. In R2, 56 out of 73 items scored high consensus and in R3, 63 out of 90 items scored high. R4 was conducted to re-rate the new items, in which 8 out of 17 items scored high. Other items scored moderate consensus and no item scored low or no consensus in all rounds. The final round (R5) was employed to verify the final definition of KS. Findings and discovery of this study are significant to the definition of KS and the development of a framework in the Malaysian context.

Associations of pass-fail outcomes with psychological health of first-year medical students in a malaysian medical school.

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Yusoff, Muhamad S B

2013-02-01

The demanding and intense environment of medical training can create excessive pressures on medical students that eventually lead to unfavorable consequences, either at a personal or professional level. These consequences can include poor academic performance and impaired cognitive ability. This study was designed to explore associations between pass-fail outcome and psychological health parameters (i.e. stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms). A cross-sectional study was conducted on a cohort of first-year medical students in a Malaysian medical school. The depression anxiety stress scale 21-item assessment (DASS-21) was administered to them right after the final paper of the first-year final examination. Their final examination outcomes (i.e. pass or fail) were traced by using their student identity code (ID) through the Universiti Sains Malaysia academic office. A total of 194 (98.0%) of medical students responded to the DASS-21. An independent t-test showed that students who passed had significantly lower stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms than those who failed the first-year final examination (P passed the examination. Those who experienced high stress levels were more likely to fail than those who did not. Reducing the psychological distress of medical students prior to examination may help them to perform better in the examination.

Phenolic acid composition and antioxidant properties of Malaysian honeys.

Science.gov (United States)

Khalil, M I; Alam, N; Moniruzzaman, M; Sulaiman, S A; Gan, S H

2011-08-01

The phenolic acid and flavonoid contents of Malaysian Tualang, Gelam, and Borneo tropical honeys were compared to those of Manuka honey. Ferric reducing/antioxidant power assay (FRAP) and the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging activities were also quantified. All honey extracts exhibited high phenolic contents (15.21 ± 0.51- 42.23 ± 0.64 mg/kg), flavonoid contents (11.52 ± 0.27- 25.31 ± 0.37 mg/kg), FRAP values (892.15 ± 4.97- 363.38 ± 10.57 μM Fe[II]/kg), and high IC₅₀ of DPPH radical-scavenging activities (5.24 ± 0.40- 17.51 ± 0.51 mg/mL). Total of 6 phenolic acids (gallic, syringic, benzoic, trans-cinnamic, p-coumaric, and caffeic acids) and 5 flavonoids (catechin, kaempferol, naringenin, luteolin, and apigenin) were identified. Among the Malaysian honey samples, Tualang honey had the highest contents of phenolics, and flavonoids, and DPPH radical-scavenging activities. We conclude that among Malaysian honey samples, Tualang honey is the richest in phenolic acids, and flavonoid compounds, which have strong free radical-scavenging activities. © 2011 Institute of Food Technologists®

High 5-hydroxymethylfurfural concentrations are found in Malaysian honey samples stored for more than one year.

Science.gov (United States)

Khalil, M I; Sulaiman, S A; Gan, S H

2010-01-01

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) content is an indicator of the purity of honey. High concentrations of HMF in honey indicate overheating, poor storage conditions and old honey. This study investigated the HMF content of nine Malaysian honey samples, as well as the correlation of HMF formation with physicochemical properties of honey. Based on the recommendation by the International Honey Commission, three methods for the determination of HMF were used: (1) high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), (2) White spectrophotometry and (3) Winkler spectrophotometry methods. HPLC and White spectrophotometric results yielded almost similar values, whereas the Winkler method showed higher readings. The physicochemical properties of honey (pH, free acids, lactones and total acids) showed significant correlation with HMF content and may provide parameters that could be used to make quick assessments of honey quality. The HMF content of fresh Malaysian honey samples stored for 3-6 months (at 2.80-24.87 mg/kg) was within the internationally recommended value (80 mg/kg for tropical honeys), while honey samples stored for longer periods (12-24 months) contained much higher HMF concentrations (128.19-1131.76 mg/kg). Therefore, it is recommended that honey should generally be consumed within one year, regardless of the type. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exploring the Malaysian Rural School Teachers' Professional Local Knowledge in Enhancing Students' Thinking Skills

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Jamil, Hazri; Arbaa, Rohani; Ahmad, Mohamad Zohir

2017-01-01

This paper discussed a qualitative research findings on the case of Malaysian teachers employed their professional local knowledge for enhancing students' thinking skills in classroom practices. In this paper, a teacher's professional local knowledge is viewed as a teacher's professional knowledge and skills developed through the combination of…

SPORTS WATCHING CULTURE AMONG MALAYSIANS

OpenAIRE

Gunathevan Elumalai; Mohd Salleh Aman; Cassendra Gilbert; Muhammad Mat Yusof; Ahmad Tajuddin Othman; Lim Khong Chiu; Mohd Sofian Omar Fauzee; Hamdan Mohd Ali

2015-01-01

Background: Ardent sports watching will lead an individual to engage in sports and recreational activities continuously, while it also creates a sports culture among Malaysians. Sports watching culture is actually an intellectual activity. It is capable of evaluating behaviour, moral values and the level of appreciation of every spectator. Methods: This survey was conducted to identify the sports viewing culture among Malaysians. A cluster sampling method was used to select 6000 respondent...

Characteristics associated with the consumption of malted drinks among Malaysian primary school children: findings from the MyBreakfast study.

Science.gov (United States)

Jan Mohamed, Hamid Jan B; Loy, S L; Mohd Taib, Mohd Nasir; Karim, Norimah A; Tan, S Y; Appukutty, M; Abdul Razak, Nurliyana; Thielecke, F; Hopkins, S; Ong, M K; Ning, C; Tee, E S

2015-12-30

The consumption of beverages contributes to diet quality and overall nutrition. Studies on malted drinks, one of the widely consumed beverage choices among children in Asia, however, have received limited attention. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of malted drink consumption and explored associations of sociodemographic characteristics, nutrient intakes, weight status and physical activity levels with malted drink consumption among primary school children in Malaysia. Data for this analysis were from the MyBreakfast Study, a national cross-sectional study conducted from April to October 2013 throughout all regions in Malaysia. A total of 2065 primary school children aged 6 to 12 years were included in the present analysis. Data on two days 24-h dietary recall or record, anthropometry, physical activity and screen time were recorded. Associations between malted drink consumption and related factors were examined using binary logistic regression, adjusting for region, area, gender, ethnicity and household income. Among children aged 6 to 12 years, 73.5% reported consuming malted drinks for at least once per week. Consumption of malted drinks was significantly associated with region (χ(2) = 45.64, p Malaysian primary school children, particularly higher among boys, indigenous children and those who lived in the East Coast region of Malaysia. Consuming malted drinks is associated with higher micronutrient intakes and higher levels of physical activity, but not with body weight status.

Knowledge, Attitudes and Preventive Efforts of Malaysian Medical Students Regarding Exposure to Environmental Tobacco and Cigarette Smoking.

Science.gov (United States)

Frisch, Ann Stirling; Kurtz, Margot; Shamsuddin, Khadijah

1999-01-01

Study examines changes in knowledge, attitudes, and preventive efforts of Malaysian students concerning cigarette smoking and environmental exposure to tobacco smoke from their first pre-clinical year in medical school until their final clinical year. Although there were significant improvements in knowledge about smoking and environmental…

Fitness level and body composition indices: cross-sectional study among Malaysian adolescent

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background The importance of fitness level on the well-being of children and adolescent has long been recognised. The aim of this study was to investigate the fitness level of school-going Malaysian adolescent, and its association with body composition indices. Methods 1071 healthy secondary school students participated in the fitness assessment for the Malaysian Health and Adolescents Longitudinal Research Team (MyHEART) study. Body composition indices such as body mass index for age, waist circumference and waist height ratio were measured. Fitness level was assessed with Modified Harvard Step Test. Physical Fitness Score was calculated using total time of step test exercise and resting heart rates. Fitness levels were divided into 3 categories - unacceptable, marginally acceptable, and acceptable. Partial correlation analysis was used to determine the association between fitness score and body composition, by controlling age, gender, locality, ethnicity, smoking status and sexual maturation. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine which body composition was the strongest predictor for fitness. Results 43.3% of the participants were categorised into the unacceptable fitness group, 47.1% were considered marginally acceptable, and 9.6% were acceptable. There was a significant moderate inverse association (p fitness score (r = -0.360, -0.413 and -0.403 for body mass index for age, waist circumference and waist height ratio, respectively). Waist circumference was the strongest and significant predictor for fitness (ß = -0.318, p = 0.002). Conclusion Only 9.6% of the students were fit. There was also an inverse association between body composition and fitness score among apparently healthy adolescents, with waist circumference indicated as the strongest predictor. The low fitness level among the Malaysian adolescent should necessitate the value of healthy lifestyle starting at a young age. PMID:25436933

FACTORS INFLUENCING YIELD SPREADS OF THE MALAYSIAN BONDS

OpenAIRE

Norliza Ahmad; Joriah Muhammad; Tajul Ariffin Masron

2009-01-01

Malaysian bond market is developing rapidly but not much is understood in terms of macroeconomic factors that could influence the yield spread of the Ringgit Malaysian denominated bonds. Based on a multifactor model, this paper examines the impact of four macroeconomic factors namely: Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI), Industry Production Index (IPI), Consumer Price Index (CPI) and interest rates (IR) on bond yield spread of the Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) and Corporate Bonds (CBs...

Control Management and Business Performances: The Malaysian Family SMEs Perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edward Wong Sek Khin

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This study examined the relationship between control management and family business performance in the Malaysian context. It has two objectives, the first being to determine the relationship of organizational credit control policy and procedures, employee development and motivation, and intelligence collection systems to subsequent collection reports in Malaysian family SMEs. The second objective is to investigate the moderating effect of participation in decision-making and work effort towards innovation and business performance. This is a descriptive study involving 90 senior executives employed in 90 Malaysian family SMEs/firms. A correlation analysis from this study confirmed previous researchers’ observations that high-level organizational commitment to credit control management is linked to improvements in business performance. The results suggest that three components – credit policy, employee development, and intelligence collection systems – are the most important predictors for the efficiency and effectiveness of credit control management.    

Spirituality Moderates Hopelessness, Depression, and Suicidal Behavior among Malaysian Adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Talib, Mansor Abu; Abdollahi, Abbas

2017-06-01

Suicide is an important public health problem for adolescents, and it is essential to increase our knowledge concerning the etiology of suicide among adolescent students. Therefore, this study was designed to examine the associations between hopelessness, depression, spirituality, and suicidal behavior, and to examine spirituality as a moderator between hopelessness, depression, and suicidal behavior among 1376 Malaysian adolescent students. The participants completed measures of depression, hopelessness, daily spiritual experience, and suicidal behavior. Structural equation modeling indicated that adolescent students high in hopelessness and depression, but also high in spirituality, had less suicidal behavior than others. These findings reinforce the importance of spirituality as a protective factor against hopelessness, depression, and suicidal behavior among Malaysian adolescent students.

Developing Reading Comprehension Modules to Facilitate Reading Comprehension among Malaysian Secondary School ESL Students

Science.gov (United States)

Javed, Muhammad; Eng, Lin Siew; Mohamed, Abdul Rashid

2015-01-01

The study aims to develop a set of 6 Reading Comprehension Modules (RCMs) for Malaysian ESL teachers to facilitate different reading abilities of ESL students effectively. Different skill categories were selected for developing the RCMs. This article describes how and why diverse texts of varying length were adopted and adapted from various…

Evaluating effectiveness and safety toward electronic cigarette among Malaysian vapers: One-month observational study

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Azizur Rahman

2016-01-01

Conclusion: A month follow-up showed a good smoking cessation rate among Malaysian vapers mainly in single users, whereas less number of quitters but the high reduction in tobacco cigarette consumption observed in dual users without any harmful effects. Furthermore, extended period studies are warranted to confirm its long-term safety and effectiveness among different Malaysian population.

Production of Rare Earth Elements from Malaysian Monazite by Selective Precipitation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Che Nor Aniza Che Zainul Bahri; Al- Areqi, W.M.; Amran Abdul Majid; Mohd Izzat Fahmi Mohd Ruf

2016-01-01

Rare earth elements (REEs) are very valuable and have high demands for advanced technology nowadays. REEs can be classified to light rare earth elements (LREEs) and heavy rare earth elements (HREEs). Malaysian rare earth ore especially monazite, is rich with LREEs compared to HREEs. Therefore a study was carried out to extract the REE from Malaysian monazite. The objectives of this study are to determine the content of REEs in Malaysian monazite leach solution, as well as to produce high grade of REEs. Concentrated sulphuric acid was used in digestion process and the filtrate containing the REEs was determined using Inductively Coupled Plasma- Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Ammonia solution was used for REEs precipitation from monazite leach solution. The result indicated that REEs was successfully separated from monazite leach solution through selective precipitation using ammonia at pH 2.34 and the percentage of REEs that successfully separated was 70.03 - 81.85 %. The percentage of REEs which successfully separated from final solution was 96.05 - 99.10 %. Therefore, to have high purification of individual REEs, solvent extraction process should be carried out. (author)

Innovation in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Malaysian information technology (IT) industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fatimah Mohd Amin

2001-01-01

The aim of this study is to examine innovative activities in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Malaysian information technology (IT) industry. This study addresses three research questions: 1. What is the innovation pattern among SMEs in the Malaysian IT industry? 2. How significant is interactive learning between SMEs in the Malaysian IT industry and other agents in the innovation system? and 3. What is the role of the government in promoting innovation among SMEs in the Malaysian IT industry? Two approaches were taken to collect data for this study, that is, mail survey and face-to-face interviews. Based on findings from this study, the SMEs in the Malaysian IT industry were divided into four categories, namely, highly innovative, innovative, inventive, and non innovative. The patterns of knowledge acquisition and interactive learning vary among the different categories of firms, and on the whole, vertical linkages with suppliers were found to be the most significant. Finally, support through the provision of funding was considered to be among the most important roles of the government in promoting innovation in SMEs in the Malaysian IT industry. (author)

MH17: the Malaysian experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Khoo, L S; Hasmi, A H; Abdul Ghani Aziz, S A; Ibrahim, M A; Mahmood, M S

2016-04-01

A disaster is a natural or man-made (or technological) hazard resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment. It is a phenomenon that can cause damage to life and property and destroy the economic, social and cultural life of the people; and overwhelms the capacity of the community to cope with the event. The recent tragic aviation accidents in 2014 involving Malaysia Airlines flights MH370 and MH17 shocked the world in an unprecedented manner. This paper focuses on the Malaysian experience in the MH17 mission in Ukraine as well as the first ever international Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) operation for the Malaysian DVI team. The DVI operations in Hilversum, the Netherlands were well described in stages. The Netherlands' Landelijk Team Forensische Opsporing as the lead DVI team in Hilversum operated systematically, ensuring the success of the whole mission. This paper discusses the lessons learned by the Malaysian team on proper DVI structure, inter- and intra-agency cooperation, facilities planning and set up, logistics and health and safety aspects, as well as effective communication and collaboration with other international delegates. Several issues and challenges faced by the Malaysian team were also documented. In addition, the authors shared views, opinions and recommendations for a more comprehensive DVI operation in the future.

High School Principals and the High School Journalism Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, Jane W.

A study asked selected high school principals to respond to statements about the value of high school journalism to the high school student and about the rights and responsibilities of the high school journalist. These responses were then checked against such information as whether or not the high school principal had worked on a high school…

Growth in Malaysian Demand for Business Education--the Australian Response.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Philip E. T.; Pratt, Graham R.

1996-01-01

Increasing Malaysian demand for business education is examined from the perspective of Australia, one of the largest suppliers to the region. Topics discussed include: origins and nature of the demand; Malaysian enrollment patterns in Australia; "twinning programs," in which a Malaysian college and a foreign university collaborate to…

Managing Political Information: A Malaysian Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jamilah Ahmad

2010-07-01

Full Text Available In the development of democratization and the expression of civil and political rights of Malaysian citizens, the pattern of control developed by the regime that is currently in power (Barisan Nasional for the last 50 years in the mass media began to reap the resistance and tend to be ineffective. Malaysian citizens began to demand the Malaysian government to change the pattern of political information management. In addition, the mass media alone is expected to play a more significant role as an intermediary agent in supporting the process of transparency and accountability of government policy. This article shows that the openness of public information is a prerequisite for political democracy in Malaysia to help the government minimize the mis-management of governance policies, especially in finance and resource management.

Association between self-reported physical activity and indicators of body composition in Malaysian adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Tin Tin; Sim, Pei Ying; Nahar, Azmi Mohamed; Majid, Hazreen Abd; Murray, Liam J; Cantwell, Marie M; Al-Sadat, Nabilla; Jalaludin, Muhammad Yazid

2014-10-01

Obesity and lack of physical activity are fast becoming a concern among Malaysian adolescents. This study aims to assess physical activity levels among Malaysian adolescents and investigate the association between physical activity levels and body composition such as body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and percentage of body fat. 1361 school-going 13 year old multi-ethnic adolescents from population representative samples in Malaysia were involved in our study. Self-reported physical activity levels were assessed using the validated Malay version of the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C). Height, weight, body fat composition and waist circumference (WC) were measured. Data collection period was from March to May 2012. 10.8% of the males and 7.4% of the females were obese according to the International Obesity Task Force standards. A majority of the adolescents (63.9%) were physically inactive. There is a weak but significant correlation between physical activity scores and the indicators of obesity. The adjusted coefficient for body fatness was relatively more closely correlated to physical activity scores followed by waist circumference and lastly BMI. This study demonstrates that high physical activity scores were associated with the decreased precursor risk factors of obesity. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Biotechnology issues in four Malaysian mainstream newspapers ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Biotechnology has been identified as the new engine of growth for the transformation of Malaysia into a developed nation by 2020. The objective of this paper is to analyze the impact of National Policy on biotechnology on media reporting in four Malaysian newspapers. Towards this end, a content analysis of four Malaysian ...

Historic day for Malaysian consumers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaur, S R

1993-04-01

The Malaysian Medical Association, the Malaysian Dental Association, the Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society, and the Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations have introduced and endorsed the Charter for Patient Rights. The Charter recognized that health care is a basic human right, regardless of race, religion, social status, and ability to pay. Further, consumers have the right to seek medical care in both the public and private sectors. The Charter also includes the right to a second opinion, one's own medical records, and explanation before receiving any medical treatment and concerning the risks of treatment, compensation for negligence, and adequate information. Malaysia is the second Asian country to have such a charter, South Korea being the first. The UK also has a Patients Charter. The rest of Europe is also moving to adopt such a charter. The private sector, which serves only those who can afford them, provides most health care services in developing countries. Thus, a large private sector threatens the elderly, unemployed, rural poor, and the mentally ill in these countries. The supply of these services is a marketable commodity which physicians and health care professionals own and sell. The medical community has planned, formulated, implemented, and monitored health services in most of these countries. Therefore, the private sector is a major obstacle to health for all. The Charter helps to break down the barrier by informing both physicians and their patients of their rights and responsibilities.

Associations of Pass-Fail Outcomes with Psychological Health of First-Year Medical Students in a Malaysian Medical School

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Muhamad S. B. Yusoff

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Objectives: The demanding and intense environment of medical training can create excessive pressures on medical students that eventually lead to unfavorable consequences, either at a personal or professional level. These consequences can include poor academic performance and impaired cognitive ability. This study was designed to explore associations between pass-fail outcome and psychological health parameters (i.e. stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a cohort of first-year medical students in a Malaysian medical school. The depression anxiety stress scale 21-item assessment (DASS-21 was administered to them right after the final paper of the first-year final examination. Their final examination outcomes (i.e. pass or fail were traced by using their student identity code (ID through the Universiti Sains Malaysia academic office. Results: A total of 194 (98.0% of medical students responded to the DASS-21. An independent t-test showed that students who passed had significantly lower stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms than those who failed the first-year final examination (P <0.05. Those who experienced moderate to high stress were at 2.43 times higher risk for failing the examination than those who experienced normal to mild stress. Conclusion: Medical students whofailed in the final examination had higher psychological distress than those who passed the examination. Those who experienced high stress levels were more likely to fail than those who did not. Reducing the psychological distress of medical students prior to examination may help them to perform better in the examination.

CREDIT CONTROL MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS PERFORMANCE : THE MALAYSIAN FAMILY SME PERSPECTIVE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edward Wong Sek Khin

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This study examined the relationship between control management and family business performance in the Malaysian context. It has two objectives, the first being to determine the relationship of organizational credit control policy and procedures, employee development and motivation, and intelligence collection systems to subsequent collection reports in Malaysian family SMEs. The second objective is to investigate the moderating effect of participation in decision-making and work effort towards innovation and business performance. This is a descriptive study involving 90 senior executives employed in 90 Malaysian family SMEs/firms. A correlation analysis from this study confirmed previous researchers' observations that high-level organizational commitment to credit control management is linked to improvements in business performance. The results suggest that three components - credit policy, employee development, and intelligence collection systems - are the most important predictors for the efficiency and effectiveness of credit control management.

Suicidal ideation among Malaysian adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, NoorAni; Cheong, Siew Man; Ibrahim, Nurashikin; Rosman, Azriman

2014-09-01

Adolescence is the time of greatest risk for the first onset of suicidal behaviors. This study aimed to identify the risk and protective factors associated with suicidal ideation among Malaysian adolescents. Data from the 2012 Malaysia Global School-based Student Health Survey, a nationwide study using a 2-stage cluster sampling design, were analyzed. The survey used a self-administered validated bilingual questionnaire and the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale. The prevalence of suicidal ideation was 7.9%. Analysis revealed that suicidal ideation was positively associated with depression, anxiety, stress, substance use, being bullied, and being abused at home, either physically or verbally. In addition, suicidal ideation was significantly higher among females and among the Indians and Chinese. Having close friends and married parents were strongly protective against suicidal ideation. Understanding the risk and protective factors is important in providing comprehensive management for suicidal ideation. © 2014 APJPH.

Assessing cultural intelligence of Malaysian expatriates in Netherlands

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Using purposive sampling method, a total of 320 questionnaires were distributed via email to Malaysian expatriates in Hague, Netherlands. Results from multiple regression analysis indicate that personality traits of agreeableness, openness and extraversion are significant to Malaysian expatriate's cultural intelligence.

Repositioning Strategy for Malaysian Companies Internationalization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ismi Rajiani

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The rise of the emerging-market countries offers both developing and developed countries a unique opportunity to gain the benefits of a truly international economy. Consequently, it is imper- ative to advance our knowledge of emerging-market countries MNC emergence and competitive- ness including Malaysian firms on how will they position their products strategically. Based on the framework of Porter’s Generic Strategy, this paper is composed of price/ volume segments and im- pacts on product strategy theory. The aim is to identify crucial triggering cues and focus areas for Malaysian companies and measure what role these play in different segments. This study argues that some Malaysian companies will reposition themselves strategically when internationalizing and that they will focus on other factors or triggering cues when doing so not merely adapting the prevalent price leadership strategy.

Local learning processes in Malaysian industry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wangel, Arne

1999-01-01

Local learning processes are a vital part of any dynamic assimilation of transferred technology. The paper raises the question about the interaction between the training paradigms, which transnational corporations introduce in their subsidiaries in Malaysia and the specific basis for learning...... of Malaysian labour. Experiences from Malaysian industry indicate that local learning processes are shaped, among other things, by the concept of knowledge in a particular training programme, labour market structures, and learning cultures....

Individualism-Collectivism And Organisational Value Types: A Case Of Malaysian Managers

OpenAIRE

Fauziah Noordin; Jamil Hamali

2011-01-01

The results showed that Malaysian managers have significantly high levels of horizontal and vertical collectivism. Vertical collectivism has significant positive relationships with collegial, meritocratic, and leadership organisational values.

Cross-linguistic transfer of phonological skills: a Malaysian perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Gomez, Caroline; Reason, Rea

2002-01-01

This study examined the phonological and reading performance in English of Malaysian children whose home language was Bahasa Malaysia (BM). A sample of 69 Malaysian Standard Two pupils (aged 7-8 years) was selected for the study. Since commencing school at the age of 6 years, the children had been learning to read in BM and had subsequently also been learning to read in English for some 12 months. The study was part of a larger scale research programme that fully recognized the limitations of tests that had not been developed and standardized in Malaysia. Nevertheless, as a first step to developing such tests, a comparison with existing norms for the Phonological Assessment Battery (PhAB) and the Wechsler Objective Reading Dimension (WORD) was undertaken in relation to information about the children's L1 and L2 language competencies. Results showed that the children's performance on PhAB was at least comparable to the UK norms while, not surprisingly, they fared less well on WORD. The results are discussed in terms of L1 and L2 transfer, whereby the transparency of written BM and the structured way in which reading is taught in BM facilitates performance on phonological tasks in English. This has implications for identifying children with phonologically based reading difficulties.

Emergency Management for Disasters in Malaysian Hotel Industry

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AlBattat Ahmad Rasmi

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to identify major emergencies that have the potential to place Malaysian hotels in emergency and disaster situations; investigate how hotels were prepared for emergencies, how they manage and overcome emergencies when occurred; and limitations and factors influencing successful emergency planning and adoption emergency management in Malaysian hotels. Face-to-face interview with managers from three, four and five star hotels from different backgrounds: local; regional; and International in Kuala Lumpur, Subang, and Putrajaya are undertaken. The result revealed that Malaysian hotels are exposed to a wide range of natural and man-made disasters. Malaysian hotels lack proactive emergency planning and a lot of constraints which impede successful emergency planning for disasters in the hotel industry in Malaysia, with emphasizing on the relevant authority’s role to demonstrate emergency management to hotels convincing them to adopt such practices, so they can be able to cope with emergencies effectively.

An Exploratory Study on the Reasons and Preferences of Six Malaysian Students on the Video Games Played

Science.gov (United States)

Leng, Eow Yee; Baki, Roselan

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the reasons why six Malaysian students from upper secondary school are playing video games, types of games and the features preferred. A qualitative method was being used in the study. Purposive sampling was conducted in selecting the students. The findings indicated that students played video games for a…

Entrepreneurial leadership practices and school innovativeness

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Zaidatol Akmaliah Lope Pihie

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Entrepreneurial leadership, as a distinctive type of leadership required for dealing with challenges and crises of current organizational settings, has increasingly been applied to improve school performance. However, there is limited research on the impact ofschool leaders' entrepreneurial leadership practices on school innovativeness. The main purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between principals' entrepreneurial leadership practices and school innovativeness through the teachers' perspectives. The participants included 294 Malaysian secondary school teachers in Selangor, Malaysia. A questionnaire containing 64 items (50 items on school principals' entrepreneurial leadership practices and 14 items on school innovativeness was utilized. An analysis of the data indicates that teachers perceive entrepreneurial leadership as highly important for school principals. However, the principals practise it moderately. Furthermore, this study found a significant correlation between teachers' perceptions of school principals' entrepreneurial leadership practices and school in-novativeness. Implications of the findings for developing school principals' entrepreneurial leadership and school innovativeness are discussed.

Gender-dependent association of a β(2)-adrenergic gene variant with obesity parameters in Malaysian Malays.

Science.gov (United States)

Apalasamy, Yamunah Devi; Ming, Moy Foong; Rampal, Sanjay; Bulgiba, Awang; Mohamed, Zahurin

2015-03-01

Recent findings have shown that the rs1042714 (Gln27Glu) single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) on the β2-adrenoceptor gene may predispose to obesity. The findings from other studies carried on different populations, however, have been inconsistent. The authors investigated the association between the rs1042714 SNP with obesity-related parameters. DNA of 672 Malaysian Malays was analyzed using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses revealed significant associations between rs1042714 and diastolic blood pressure in the pooled Malaysian Malay subjects under additive and recessive models. After gender stratification, however, a significant association was found between the rs1042714 and triglyceride and the rs1042714 and log-transformed high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in Malaysian Malay men. No significant association was found between the SNP and log-transformed body mass index. This polymorphism may have an important role in the development of obesity-related traits in Malaysian Malays. Gender is an effect modifier for the effect of the rs1042714 polymorphism on obesity-related traits in Malaysian Malays. © 2011 APJPH.

Malaysian and American Students' Perceptions of Research Ethics

Science.gov (United States)

Bowman, Laura L.; Anthonysamy, Angela

2006-01-01

Differences in perceptions of research ethics between Malaysian and American students were assessed using a questionnaire that measured perceptions of voluntary informed consent for adults and children, assessment of the risk/benefit ratio, issues of deception, and issues of privacy and confidentiality. As predicted, Malaysian students had less…

Language Learning Motivation among Malaysian Pre-University Students

Science.gov (United States)

Muftah, Muneera; Rafik-Galea, Shameem

2013-01-01

The study describes and examines Malaysian pre-university students' integrative and instrumental motivation toward learning English language. In this study, 182 non-English major students in one of the Malaysian public universities are selected to fill out a questionnaire reflecting their attitudes and motivation towards learning English. The…

Effects Of Rotation On Auditor Independence And Quality Of Audit Service In Malaysian Banking Industry

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Kabiru Isa Dandago

2012-12-01

means for ensuring auditor independence and high audit quality in the Malaysian banking industry. In the absence of statutory/mandatory requirement for auditor rotation, it is recommended that the Malaysian banking institutions should be carefully evaluating the impact auditor rotation would have on the quality of audit work on their current and future financial statements, as they decide whether to rotate their auditors or not.

The Development of a Green Practice Index for the Malaysian Hotel Industry

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A. K. Siti–Nabiha

2014-03-01

Malaysian hotels. Doing so, however, resulted in a search for green index development methods. This lead to the discovery that existing tools such as the Delphi method were not appropriate tools that could be used to develop a Malaysian green index. To address the above, the authors propose a green index development method that can be used for a  Malaysian and developing country context. Hence, in this paper, the method of developing a green practice index for the Malaysian hospitality industry, the differences and advantages of this method compared to the commonly used Delphi method and finally the Malaysian Green Practice Index for the hotel industry are presented.

Formation process of Malaysian modern architecture under influence of nationalism

OpenAIRE

宇高, 雄志; 山崎, 大智

2001-01-01

This paper examines the Formation Process of Malaysian Modern Architecture under Influence of Nationalism,through the process of independence of Malaysia. The national style as "Malaysian national architecture" which hasengaged on background of political environment under the post colonial situation. Malaysian urban design is alsodetermined under the balance of both of ethnic culture and the national culture. In Malaysia, they decided to choosethe Malay ethnic culture as the national culture....

Visual impairment and amblyopia in Malaysian pre-school children - The SEGPAEDS study.

Science.gov (United States)

Chew, F L M; Thavaratnam, L K; Shukor, I N C; Ramasamy, S; Rahmat, J; Reidpath, D D; Allotey, P; Alagaratnam, J

2018-02-01

Little is known regarding the extent of visual impairment amongst pre-school children in Malaysia. To determine the prevalence of visual impairment and amblyopia in Malaysian preschool children. A cross-sectional, population-based study was conducted on children aged four to six years from 51 participating kindergartens in the district of Segamat, Johor, Malaysia from 20 March 2016 to 6 April 2016. All subjects had initial eye screening consisting of LogMar visual acuity, orthoptics examination and Spot vision screener assessment. Subjects who failed the initial eye screening were invited for a formal eye assessment consisting of cycloplegic refraction and a comprehensive ocular examination. Definitions of visual impairment and amblyopia were based on the Multi-Ethnic Pediatric Eye Disease Study criteria. A total of 1287 children were recruited. Mean subject age was 5.03 (SD:0.77) and males represented 52.3% of subjects. Subjects by ethnicity were Malay (54.8%), Chinese (27.7%), Indian (15.6%) and Orang Asli (1.9%). Formal eye assessment was required for 221 subjects and 88.8% required ophthalmic intervention. Refractive error, representing 95.4% of diagnosed ocular disorders, comprised of astigmatism (84%), myopia (9%) and hypermetropia (6.9%). With-the-rule astigmatism was present in 93.4% of the subjects with astigmatism. Visual impairment was present in 12.5% of our subjects, with 61% having bilateral visual impairment. Of the subjects with visual impairment, 59.1% had moderate visual impairment. The prevalence of amblyopia was 7.53%, and 66% of the amblyopic subjects had bilateral amblyopia. Our study highlights an urgent need for initiation of preschool vision screening in Malaysia.

Foreign Nationals as Offenders and Victims in Malaysian Crime News

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Misman Norealyna

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Foreign nationals in Malaysia come from all corners of the world. They are here as migrant labour, highly skilled and professional migrants (expatriates, illegal migrants, refugees, asylum-seekers (Burmese asylum seekers with UNHCR card, forced migrants (human trafficking victims, students, and tourists. The influx of foreign nationals residing in Malaysia coincides with greater number of crime news featuring foreign nationals. This study explores the social construction of foreign nationals as the ‘other’ in the local crime news published by Malaysian newspapers. 94 news headlines and lead sentences of local crime news involving foreign nationals were identified and analysed for this study. Findings suggest that Malaysian newspapers magnify foreign nationals’ migration status in each crime news.

Self-Access Language Learning for Malaysian University Students

Science.gov (United States)

Tse, Andrew Yau Hau

2012-01-01

Just a few Malaysian universities offer self-access language learning activities to students. The objective of this study is to investigate if self-access learning can promote self-directed or autonomous learning in a public Malaysian technical university. Data collection is by means of interviewing the Director, lecturers, and students in a…

Lexical Borrowing from Chinese Languages in Malaysian English

Science.gov (United States)

Imm, Tan Siew

2009-01-01

This paper explores how contact between English and Chinese has resulted in the incorporation of Chinese borrowings into the lexicon of Malaysian English (ME). Using a corpus-based approach, this study analyses a comprehensive range of borrowed features extracted from the Malaysian English Newspaper Corpus (MEN Corpus). Based on the contexts of…

Malaysian English: An Instrumental Analysis of Vowel Contrasts

Science.gov (United States)

Pillai, Stefanie; Don, Zuraidah Mohd.; Knowles, Gerald; Tang, Jennifer

2010-01-01

This paper makes an instrumental analysis of English vowel monophthongs produced by 47 female Malaysian speakers. The focus is on the distribution of Malaysian English vowels in the vowel space, and the extent to which there is phonetic contrast between traditionally paired vowels. The results indicate that, like neighbouring varieties of English,…

Non-Empirically Based Teaching Materials Can Be Positively Misleading: A Case of Modal Auxiliary Verbs in Malaysian English Language Textbooks

Science.gov (United States)

Khojasteh, Laleh; Kafipour, Reza

2012-01-01

Using corpus approach, a growing number of researchers blamed textbooks for neglecting important information on the use of grammatical structures in natural English. Likewise, the prescribed Malaysian English textbooks used in schools are reportedly prepared through a process of material development that involves intuition. Hence, a corpus-based…

Schooling in Malaysia: Historical Trends and Recent Enrollments. A Rand Note.

Science.gov (United States)

De Tray, Dennis

The educational history of Malaysia is discussed; policy, historical trends, and school attendance are emphasized. Increased schooling and increased returns to schooling have been essential ingredients in Malaysia's economic growth. Schooling levels have risen rapidly since independence and, while all Malaysians have shared substantially in this…

National space legislation : future perspectives for Malaysian Space Law

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Saari, Che Zuhaida Binti

2014-01-01

This research studies the future perspectives for Malaysian space law. It aims at demonstrating the development of Malaysian outer space activities inclusive of her status with respect to United Nations space conventions and her membership of international and regional space-related organizations.

Fictionalized History: Signifying Changes to the Malaysian Nation and Identity

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Sim Chee Cheang

2016-04-01

Full Text Available As one of the cornerstones of fiction, writers often use and confront history in their claim to “reality” and “identity” in their writing. Linda Hutcheon’s claim for “a postmodern concern for the multiplicity and dispersion of truth(s; truth(s relative to the specificity of place and culture” (1988, p. 108 is relevant to the use of history in recent Malaysian literature. The multiple and varied claims of truth(s as reflected through the fictionalizing of Malaysian history is the focus of the analysis in this article, which aims to expose the social, economic, and political implications of the Malaysian identity. The analysis of three current works of fictionalized Malaysian history from the different fictional genres of comic series, children’s history, and occidental history, represents a cross section of genres that challenge the supremacy of history’s ontological claim over identity. The deliberate contestation of received Malaysian history in fictional modes acknowledges the peripheral identity structures of race, religion, and economics that are sensitive in a multiracial country such as Malaysia.

Characterizing the genetic risk for Type 2 diabetes in a Malaysian multi-ethnic cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdullah, N; Abdul Murad, N A; Attia, J; Oldmeadow, C; Mohd Haniff, E A; Syafruddin, S E; Abd Jalal, N; Ismail, N; Ishak, M; Jamal, R; Scott, R J; Holliday, E G

2015-10-01

To characterize the association with Type 2 diabetes of known Type 2 diabetes risk variants in people in Malaysia of Malay, Chinese and Indian ancestry who participated in the Malaysian Cohort project. We genotyped 1604 people of Malay ancestry (722 cases, 882 controls), 1654 of Chinese ancestry (819 cases, 835 controls) and 1728 of Indian ancestry (851 cases, 877 controls). First, 62 candidate single-nucleotide polymorphisms previously associated with Type 2 diabetes were assessed for association via logistic regression within ancestral groups and then across ancestral groups using a meta-analysis. Second, estimated odds ratios were assessed for excess directional concordance with previously studied populations. Third, a genetic risk score aggregating allele dosage across the candidate single-nucleotide polymorphisms was tested for association within and across ancestral groups. After Bonferroni correction, seven individual single-nucleotide polymorphisms were associated with Type 2 diabetes in the combined Malaysian sample. We observed a highly significant excess in concordance of effect directions between Malaysian and previously studied populations. The genetic risk score was strongly associated with Type 2 diabetes in all Malaysian groups, explaining from 1.0 to 1.7% of total Type 2 diabetes risk variance. This study suggests there is substantial overlap of the genetic risk alleles underlying Type 2 diabetes in Malaysian and other populations. © 2015 The Authors. Diabetic Medicine © 2015 Diabetes UK.

Oral cancer awareness and its determinants among a selected Malaysian population.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghani, Wan Maria Nabillah; Doss, Jennifer Geraldine; Jamaluddin, Marhazlinda; Kamaruzaman, Dinan; Zain, Rosnah Binti

2013-01-01

To assess oral cancer awareness, its associated factors and related sources of information among a selected group of Malaysians. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on all Malaysian ethnic groups aged ≥15 years old at eight strategically chosen shopping malls within a two week time period. Data were analysed using chi-square tests and multiple logistic regression. Significance level was set at αcancer. Smoking was the most (92.4%) recognized high risk habit. Similar levels of awareness were seen for unhealed ulcers (57.3%) and red/white patches (58.0%) as signs of oral cancer. Age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, education, occupation and income were significantly associated with oral cancer awareness (pawareness regarding the risk habits, early signs and symptoms, and the benefits of detecting this disease at an early stage. Mass media and health campaigns were the main sources of information about oral cancer. In our Malaysian population, gender and age were significantly associated with the awareness of early signs and symptoms and prevention of oral cancer, respectively.

Development of multi-dimensional body image scale for malaysian female adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, Yit Siew; Taib, Mohd Nasir Mohd; Shariff, Zalilah Mohd; Khor, Geok Lin

2008-01-01

The present study was conducted to develop a Multi-dimensional Body Image Scale for Malaysian female adolescents. Data were collected among 328 female adolescents from a secondary school in Kuantan district, state of Pahang, Malaysia by using a self-administered questionnaire and anthropometric measurements. The self-administered questionnaire comprised multiple measures of body image, Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26; Garner & Garfinkel, 1979) and Rosenberg Self-esteem Inventory (Rosenberg, 1965). The 152 items from selected multiple measures of body image were examined through factor analysis and for internal consistency. Correlations between Multi-dimensional Body Image Scale and body mass index (BMI), risk of eating disorders and self-esteem were assessed for construct validity. A seven factor model of a 62-item Multi-dimensional Body Image Scale for Malaysian female adolescents with construct validity and good internal consistency was developed. The scale encompasses 1) preoccupation with thinness and dieting behavior, 2) appearance and body satisfaction, 3) body importance, 4) muscle increasing behavior, 5) extreme dieting behavior, 6) appearance importance, and 7) perception of size and shape dimensions. Besides, a multidimensional body image composite score was proposed to screen negative body image risk in female adolescents. The result found body image was correlated with BMI, risk of eating disorders and self-esteem in female adolescents. In short, the present study supports a multi-dimensional concept for body image and provides a new insight into its multi-dimensionality in Malaysian female adolescents with preliminary validity and reliability of the scale. The Multi-dimensional Body Image Scale can be used to identify female adolescents who are potentially at risk of developing body image disturbance through future intervention programs.

Evaluating the Physical Environment of Design Studios: A Case study in Malaysian Private Architecture Schools

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shanthi Muniandy

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Understanding the notion of learner’s experiences in the design of physical environment of an architecture design studio is a necessity as it contains certain values of influence. It is due to the unique learning experiences which are accrued particularly in design studio that is continued during professional practice as well. Most architectural campuses in Malaysian Private Higher Education Institutions (MPHEI are devoid of certain important elements and this issue needs to be looked into seriously. Apparently, most architectural design studios today have different physical settings, and have developed their own learning culture based on the typical space that they have. Reviewing the physical environment and how it contributes to the social environ-ment in MPHEI’s architectural context requires certain understanding on the learner’s psycho-logical needs, expectations and in the same time to meet the educational objective which is never an easy task. Hence, this paper reviewed the studies of the possible physical environment approaches in connecting the learner’s connections in architecture studio learning environ-ment. A questionnaire survey with Likert-scale components, and semi-structured interview on learners of five distinguished Private Architectural schools in Malaysia unveiled several signifi-cant findings that can lead entrepreneurs to upgrade the physical environment of these MPHEIs in order to cope with the demands of the stakeholders.

Malaysian Economic Development: Looking Backwards and Forward

OpenAIRE

Hal Hill

2010-01-01

This paper provides an analytical and forward-looking overview of Malaysian economic development. Looking back over its 53 years of Independence, we identify the key stylized facts to include the country's generally rapid economic growth and structural change; its consistent openness, especially for merchandize trade and foreign direct investment; its creditable record of macroeconomic management; its consistently high inequality, in spite of the developing world's most consistently implement...

Test of Weak Form Efficiency: An Empirical Study of the Malaysian Foreign Exchange Market

OpenAIRE

Lim, Pei Mun

2011-01-01

This paper empirically tests the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) in the weak sense for the Malaysian foreign exchange market. The hypothesis is tested using two ways. First is by testing the random walk hypothesis based on individual unit root test and second is by testing the profitability of simple technical trading rules. The study covers the high frequency daily data from January 1997 to December 2010 and the spot exchange rates are quoted as Malaysian Ringgit per unit of US Dollar. Due...

Analysis of mercury in Malaysian herbal preparations | Ang | Journal ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The rhizome of Smilax luzonensis is eaten as an aphrodisiac in the Malaysian community. This study was conducted to analyse the mercury content of 100 pharmaceutical dosage forms of S. luzonensis that were purchased in the Malaysian market, using cold vapour atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Results show that ...

The Significance of Malaysian Real Estate Research Agenda

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Muhammad Najib Razali

2011-12-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates research agenda by the Malaysian real estate researchers (MRERs. This study adopts a deskwork approach by examining research papers published in leading real estate journals, both international and local and papers presented in main real estate conferences from 1997 to 2010. In addition, the number of research papers published and presented were also assessed from several main real estate research journals in the US, UK, Asia/Australia and Malaysia and conferences such as American Real Estate Society (ARES, European Real Estate Society (ERES, Pacific Rim Real Estate Society (PRRES, Asian Real Estate Society (AsRES and local conference; International Real Estate Research Symposium (IRERS. The study indicates that the Malaysian real estate researchers (MRERs have made a positive contribution to the global real estate research. Nevertheless, there is still more effort needed in order to compete in the global real estate research agenda. It is anticipated that this trend will change since the Malaysian government has emphasised on improving the quality of higher learning institutions' for which research and publication will be the main agenda. The contribution from MRERs will significantly improve Malaysian universities standing in global ranking.

Malaysian Container Seaport-Hinterland Connectivity: Status, Challenges and Strategies

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Shu-Ling Chen

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This paper adopts a qualitative methodology to assess the Malaysian container seaport-hinterland connectivity from the perspective of its physical properties. The findings reveal that although Malaysia's major container seaports are connected to the hinterlands through road and rail transport, they are highly dependent on road. These seaports are also connected to inland freight facilities such as dry ports and ICDs, which are positioned as transit points to help connect exporters and importers in the hinterlands to seaports as well as facilitating regional and cross-border trades. This paper suggests that the quality of hinterland connectivity of Malaysian container seaports could be improved by implementing strategies which tackle the existing challenges including overcoming an extremely imbalanced modal split, insufficient rail capacity and limited train services, increasing road congestion and the limitations of space restriction in some inland facilities.

Level of understanding of innovation among the Malaysian executives

Science.gov (United States)

Abidin, Norkisme Zainal; Suradi, Nur Riza Mohd; Shahabuddin, Faridatulazna; Mustafa, Zainol; Ismail, Wan Rosmanira

2014-06-01

Innovation is among the most frequently used word in the business world today. While many businessman and executives agree that innovation is needed to sustain their long term business success, many struggle to understand the concept of innovation. This study aims to measure the understanding level of innovation among the Malaysian executives using a survey questionnaire. Questions regarding innovation were posted to the respondents and they were requested to answer either it was True or False. Each respondent was given scores for their correct answers. The score of the right answers were then categorized into low, moderate and high understanding level. Results of the survey revealed that the understanding level of innovation among the Malaysian Executives is still at moderate level thus leading to the failure of many initiatives introduced by the organization or the government.

Shelf life assessment of Malaysian Pangasius sutchi during cold ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Malaysian Pangasius sutchi concerning the marketing sector from the point of view ... Patin (Pangasius sutchi) is a popular freshwater fish used as food in ... remaining shelf life allows a processor or a retailer to plan the length of time a product can be ... While consumption has increased, the Malaysian fisheries industry.

Property types diversification strategy of Malaysian real estate investment trust (M-REITs

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Ping Tiong Chai

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to review the property types diversification strategy of Malaysian REITs. Previous study has found that Malaysian REITs received poor response form investors both local and international. Furthermore, the underperformance of Malaysian REITs was linked to the characteristics of REITs’ property types and REITs’ portfolio influenced its financial performance. The lack of local study on both of these determinants of influence on performance of Malaysian REITs is a research gap, which needs to be explored that can provide more insight of it. This study showed that the property types such as office space, commercial lot, industrial, hotel and specialized property type are the important determinants, which can influence the performance of REITs. The study comprised of REITs data from 2010 until 2014, and through Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA reveals there is little influence of property types diversification strategy toward Malaysian REITs’ performance. Nevertheless, by employ correlation analysis between each of the five property types with expected return and dividend yield, this study shows Malaysian REITs’ performance of dividend yield(DY has a positive correlation value with commercial lot property type and Malaysian REITs’ performance of expected return(ER have a highest positive correlation value with industrial property types. Also, this study suggests that property type diversification play a significant role in Malaysia REITs. Other determinants such as location of property, market capitalization and REITs’ quality of advisory style that might influence the diversification strategy and financial performance of Malaysian REITs.

Relationship between oral hygiene and gingival condition of Malaysian students

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Muhammad Arif Mohd Marsin

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The primary etiologic agent of gingival disease was dental plaque which also involving the oral hygiene. The oral hygiene can be affected by individuals knowledge, attitude, practice, environment, and others. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between oral hygiene and gingival condition of Malaysian students. The type of this study was cross-sectional study. The study was conducted on a total of 66 Malaysian students. The data were collected by using an examination form and clinical examination using the Loe & Sillness gingival index followed by the Loe & Sillness plaque index. The results showed that 100% of students have gingivitis with the gingival index average of 1.25 and the plaque index average of 1.85. The relationship of gingival and plaque index was analyzed by using Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficient test, and the score was 0.623. It is concluded that the oral hygiene status of Malaysian students was in the fair category, and all Malaysian students had a moderate gingivitis. Also, there was a relationship between the oral hygiene status and gingival condition of Malaysian students.

Epidemiology of smoking among Malaysian adult males: prevalence and associated factors

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Three National Health and Morbidity Surveys (NHMSs) had been conducted in Malaysia in 10-year intervals from 1986–2006. Based on the latest NHMS survey in 2006, we describe the prevalence of smoking and identify the social and demographic factors associated with smoking among adult males in Malaysia. Methods A cross-sectional study among 15,639 Malaysian adult males aged 18 years and above was conducted using proportional to size stratified sampling method. The socio-demographic variables examined were level of education, occupation, marital status, residential area, age group and monthly household income. Results The prevalence of smoking among adult males in Malaysia was 46.5% (95% CI: 45.5–47.4%), which was 3% lower than a decade ago. Mean age of smoking initiation was 18.3 years, and mean number of cigarettes smoked daily was 11.3. Prevalence of smoking was highest among the Malays (55.9%) and those aged 21–30 years (59.3%). Smoking was significantly associated with level of education (no education OR 2.09 95% CI (1.67–2.60), primary school OR 1.95, 95% CI (1.65–2.30), secondary school OR 1.88, 95% CI (1.63–2.11), with tertiary education as the reference group). Marital status (divorce OR 1.67, 95% CI (1.22–2.28), with married as the reference group), ethnicity (Malay, OR 2.29, 95% CI ( 1.98–2.66; Chinese OR 1.23 95% CI (1.05–1.91), Other Bumis OR 1.75, 95% CI (1.46–2.10, others OR 1.48 95% CI (1.15–1.91), with Indian as the reference group), age group (18–20 years OR 2.36, 95% CI (1.90–2.94); 20–29 years OR 3.31 , 95% CI 2.82–3.89; 31–40 years OR 2.85 , 95% CI ( 2.47–3.28); 41–50 years OR 1.93, 95% CI (1.69–2.20) ; 51–60 years OR 1.32, 95% CI (1.15–1.51), with 60 year-old and above as the reference group) and residential area (rural OR 1.12 , 95% CI ( 1.03–1.22)) urban as reference. Conclusion The prevalence of smoking among Malaysian males remained high in spite of several population interventions over

Epidemiology of smoking among Malaysian adult males: prevalence and associated factors

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Lim Hock Kuang

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Three National Health and Morbidity Surveys (NHMSs had been conducted in Malaysia in 10-year intervals from 1986–2006. Based on the latest NHMS survey in 2006, we describe the prevalence of smoking and identify the social and demographic factors associated with smoking among adult males in Malaysia. Methods A cross-sectional study among 15,639 Malaysian adult males aged 18 years and above was conducted using proportional to size stratified sampling method. The socio-demographic variables examined were level of education, occupation, marital status, residential area, age group and monthly household income. Results The prevalence of smoking among adult males in Malaysia was 46.5% (95% CI: 45.5–47.4%, which was 3% lower than a decade ago. Mean age of smoking initiation was 18.3 years, and mean number of cigarettes smoked daily was 11.3. Prevalence of smoking was highest among the Malays (55.9% and those aged 21–30 years (59.3%. Smoking was significantly associated with level of education (no education OR 2.09 95% CI (1.67–2.60, primary school OR 1.95, 95% CI (1.65–2.30, secondary school OR 1.88, 95% CI (1.63–2.11, with tertiary education as the reference group. Marital status (divorce OR 1.67, 95% CI (1.22–2.28, with married as the reference group, ethnicity (Malay, OR 2.29, 95% CI ( 1.98–2.66; Chinese OR 1.23 95% CI (1.05–1.91, Other Bumis OR 1.75, 95% CI (1.46–2.10, others OR 1.48 95% CI (1.15–1.91, with Indian as the reference group, age group (18–20 years OR 2.36, 95% CI (1.90–2.94; 20–29 years OR 3.31 , 95% CI 2.82–3.89; 31–40 years OR 2.85 , 95% CI ( 2.47–3.28; 41–50 years OR 1.93, 95% CI (1.69–2.20 ; 51–60 years OR 1.32, 95% CI (1.15–1.51, with 60 year-old and above as the reference group and residential area (rural OR 1.12 , 95% CI ( 1.03–1.22 urban as reference. Conclusion The prevalence of smoking among Malaysian males remained high in spite of several population

Issues and Problems in Malaysian Contemporary Visual Arts

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Mohamad Faizuan Mat

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In Malaysia, there is a question in term of intellectualism activities in the context of visual epistemology. Therefore, this paper revealed the problems that linger in the Malaysian contemporary visual art scene. In fact, Malaysian contemporary artists appear to have insufficient intellectualism values and less discourse activities. The lacks of scholars in the field of visual arts create a gap in the visual arts scene in Malaysia. The question of this study was to uncover the main problems in Malaysian visual arts that led to the problem of art intellectual development. In addition, this paper presents the awareness of the valuable contributions in the intellectual development that able to enhance the communication in the art object.Keywords: art knowledge; art object; contemporary art; interpretation; perception;

Malaysian Cinema, Asian Film

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heide, van der William

2002-01-01

This title series departs from traditional studies of national cinema by accentuating the intercultural and intertextual links between Malaysian films and Asian (as well as European and American) film practices. Using cross-cultural analysis, the author characterizes Malaysia as a pluralist society

Are Malaysian Children Achieving Dietary Guideline Recommendations?

Science.gov (United States)

Koo, Hui Chin; Poh, Bee Koon; Lee, Shoo Thien; Chong, Kar Hau; Bragt, Marjolijn C E; Abd Talib, Ruzita

2016-07-01

A large body of epidemiological data has demonstrated that diet quality follows a sociodemographic gradient. Little is known, however, about food group intake patterns among Malaysian children. This study aimed to assess consumption pattern of 7 food groups, including cereals/grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables, fish, meat/poultry, and milk/dairy products, among children 7 to 12 years of age. A total of 1773 children who participated in SEANUTS Malaysia and who completed the Food Frequency Questionnaire were included in this study. A greater proportion of children aged 10 to 12 years have an inadequate intake of cereals/grains, meat/poultry, legumes, and milk/dairy products compared with children 7 to 9 years old. With the exception of meat/poultry, food consumption of Malaysian children did not meet Malaysian Dietary Guidelines recommendations for the other 6 food groups, irrespective of sociodemographic backgrounds. Efforts are needed to promote healthy and balanced dietary habits, particularly for foods that fall short of recommended intake level. © 2016 APJPH.

PROFESSIONALS BACK TO SCHOOL - AN ENGINEERING OUTREACH PROGRAMME: A CASE STUDY IN MALAYSIA

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BALAMURALITHARA BALAKRISHNAN

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The introduction of engineering education in K-12 classrooms opens up a number of opportunities for STEM learning to support the acquisition of knowledge and skills related to science and mathematics subjects. Several initiatives, including outreach programmes, have been carried out to promote engineering subjects and professions. To supplement the existing Malaysian curricula, an outreach programme seems a viable solution to help improve the understanding and awareness of the importance of engineering among students. In this regard, an engineering outreach program called Professionals Back to School was carried out involving a group of 40 students with the participation of several engineering practitioners. Later all the participants were interviewed to elicit feedback on the programme. The findings of the interview showed that all the participants agreed that the outreach programme was beneficial, and a majority found it to be motivational. Given these positive findings, engineering outreach programmes are highly recommended to Malaysian secondary schools to help create interest among schoolchildren in STEM education and professions.

Emergency Management for Disasters in Malaysian Hotel Industry

OpenAIRE

AlBattat Ahmad Rasmi; Mat Som Ahmad Puad; Abukhalifeh Ala`a

2014-01-01

This paper aims to identify major emergencies that have the potential to place Malaysian hotels in emergency and disaster situations; investigate how hotels were prepared for emergencies, how they manage and overcome emergencies when occurred; and limitations and factors influencing successful emergency planning and adoption emergency management in Malaysian hotels. Face-to-face interview with managers from three, four and five star hotels from different backgrounds: local; regional; and Inte...

Neural tube defects in Malaysia: data from the Malaysian National Neonatal Registry.

Science.gov (United States)

Boo, Nem-Yun; Cheah, Irene G S; Thong, Meow-Keong

2013-10-01

This study aimed to determine the prevalence and early outcome of neural tube defects (NTDs) in Malaysia. This prospective study included all neonates with NTDs (spina bifida, anencephaly, encephalocoele) born in 2009 in 32 Malaysian hospitals in the Malaysian National Neonatal Network. The prevalence of NTDs was 0.42 per 1000 live births, being highest among the indigenous people of Sarawak (1.09 per 1000 live births) and lowest among Malaysians of Chinese descent (0.09 per 1000 live births). The most common type of NTDs was anencephaly (0.19 per 1000 live births), followed by spina bifida (0.11 per 1000 live births) and encephalocoele (0.07 per 1000 live births). Majority of the infants with anencephaly (94.5%, n = 51), 45.8% (n = 11) with encephalocoele and 9.5% (n = 4) with spina bifida died. The median duration of hospital stay was 4 (range: 0-161) days. NTDs were common in Malaysia. Mortality was high. Long-term monitoring of NTD prevalence following folic fortification of food is recommended.

Similar taste-nutrient relationships in commonly consumed Dutch and Malaysian foods.

Science.gov (United States)

Teo, Pey Sze; van Langeveld, Astrid W B; Pol, Korrie; Siebelink, Els; de Graaf, Cees; Yan, See Wan; Mars, Monica

2018-06-01

Three recent studies showed that taste intensity signals nutrient content. However, current data reflects only the food patterns in Western societies. No study has yet been performed in Asian culture. The Malaysian cuisine represents a mixture of Malay, Chinese and Indian foods. This study aimed to investigate the associations between taste intensity and nutrient content in commonly consumed Dutch (NL) and Malaysian (MY) foods. Perceived intensities of sweetness, sourness, bitterness, umami, saltiness and fat sensation were assessed for 469 Dutch and 423 Malaysian commonly consumed foods representing about 83% and 88% of an individual's average daily energy intake in each respective country. We used a trained Dutch (n = 15) and Malaysian panel (n = 20) with quantitative sensory Spectrum™ 100-point rating scales and reference solutions, R1 (13-point), R2 (33-point) and R3 (67-point). Dutch and Malaysian foods had relatively low mean sourness and bitterness (Malaysian foods (15-point) was higher than that of Dutch foods (8-point). Positive associations were found between sweetness and mono- and disaccharides (R 2  = 0.67 (NL), 0.38 (MY)), between umami and protein (R 2  = 0.29 (NL), 0.26 (MY)), between saltiness and sodium (R 2  = 0.48 (NL), 0.27 (MY)), and between fat sensation and fat content (R 2  = 0.56 (NL), 0.17(MY)) in Dutch and Malaysian foods (all, p < 0.001). The associations between taste intensity and nutrient content are not different between different countries, except for fat sensation-fat content. The two dimensional basic taste-nutrient space, representing the variance and associations between tastes and nutrients, is similar between Dutch and Malaysian commonly consumed foods. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

VALIDITY OF THE BRUNEL MOOD SCALE FOR USE WITH MALAYSIAN ATHLETES

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Mohamad Faizal Lan

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of the present study was to investigate the factorial validity of the Brunel Mood Scale for use with Malaysian athletes. Athletes (N = 1485 athletes competing at the Malaysian Games completed the Brunel of Mood Scale (BRUMS. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA results indicated a Confirmatory Fit Index (CFI of .90 and Root Mean Squared Error of Approximation (RMSEA was 0.05. The CFI was below the 0.95 criterion for acceptability and the RMSEA value was within the limits for acceptability suggested by Hu and Bentler, 1999. We suggest that results provide some support for validity of the BRUMS for use with Malaysian athletes. Given the large sample size used in the present study, descriptive statistics could be used as normative data for Malaysian athletes

Nuclear Security in Action at Malaysian Borders

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dahlstrom Danielle

2013-01-01

''For Malaysia, trade has to be a transparent'', explained Raja Adnan, the Director General of the Malaysian Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB). ''Goods are imported and exported, not just between two countries, but are in transit between several countries. Nuclear security measures help to guarantee open trade and makes sure that everyone is trading responsibly,'' emphasized Adnan. Officials from AELB prepare for a joint Indonesian-Malaysian exercise in effective border control by reviewing their national standard operating procedures (SOPs) on nuclear security, which were developed in close coordination with the IAEA

SPORTS WATCHING CULTURE AMONG MALAYSIANS

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Gunathevan Elumalai

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Ardent sports watching will lead an individual to engage in sports and recreational activities continuously, while it also creates a sports culture among Malaysians. Sports watching culture is actually an intellectual activity. It is capable of evaluating behaviour, moral values and the level of appreciation of every spectator. Methods: This survey was conducted to identify the sports viewing culture among Malaysians. A cluster sampling method was used to select 6000 respondents from 30 million Malaysian population. Respondents were selected from urban (50% and rural areas (50%. Ethnically 56% were Malays, Sarawak and Sabah natives were 11%, Chinese 25% and finally Indians 7%. The respondents age categories were 12 to 19 years (30%, 20 to 25 years (50%, 56 and above (20%. A questionnaire developed by the research team was used to collect data. The quantitative data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 21.0 for windows. Results: The findings indicate that from 5864 respondents who answered the questionnaire in full, a total of 4553 people or 77.6% watch sporting events, while a total of 1311 people or 22.4% have stated not watching any sports activities. Comparison by gender showed that 85.2% of the 2482 males watch sports events while among the female 70.2% of the 2071 watch sports events. In the category of those who do not watch, the female are higher at 29.8% than the males at 14.8%. In terms of ethnicity the Malays 80.2%. Chinese 64.6%, Indians 81.9%, natives of Sabah 94.0%, natives of Sarawak 77.6% like to watch sports events. Residential locations showed no significant differences as 78.7% of urban respondents watch sports events compared to 76.8% of rural communities. Conclusion: The findings indicated that majority of Malaysians having fun in watching sports activities. Gender still plays a role in the involvement and enjoyment of sports events either as a player or supporter. Ethnicity

Discourses of Schooling in Contemporary Malaysia: Pedagogical Practices and Ethnic Politics

Science.gov (United States)

Joseph, Cynthia

2005-01-01

This paper examines the notion of schooling and draws on the experiences of Malaysian teenage schoolgirls in contemporary postcolonial Malaysia. Using a critical approach to understandings of schooling, the author unpacks the links between the macro, micro and the personal in examining these girls' negotiations with discourses of schooling. The…

Negotiating Discourses of Gender, Ethnicity and Schooling: Ways of Being Malay, Chinese and Indian Schoolgirls in Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Joseph, Cynthia

2006-01-01

This article uses the notion of resistance as an analytical tool, emphasizing its sociopolitical significance and multidimensionality, to understand the complex link between ways of being Malay, Chinese and Indian schoolgirls, schooling and the wider Malaysian society. The macro and micro dynamics of the Malaysian ethnoscape, namely the ethnic…

Evaluating the Physical Environment of Design Studios: A Case study in Malaysian Private Architecture Schools

OpenAIRE

Shanthi Muniandy; Tareef Hayat Khan; Abdullah Sani Ahmad

2015-01-01

Understanding the notion of learner’s experiences in the design of physical environment of an architecture design studio is a necessity as it contains certain values of influence. It is due to the unique learning experiences which are accrued particularly in design studio that is continued during professional practice as well. Most architectural campuses in Malaysian Private Higher Education Institutions (MPHEI) are devoid of certain important elements and this issue needs to be looked into s...

Assessing Quality of Working Life Among Malaysian Workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Sulaiman, Nur Suffia; Choo, Wan Yuen; Mat Yassim, Abdul Rahim; Van Laar, Darren; Chinna, Karuthan; Majid, Hazreen Abdul

2015-11-01

The Work-Related Quality of Life Scale-2 (WRQLS-2) has been used to measure quality of working life (QOWL) in the United Kingdom. In this study, the scale was translated and normalized into Malay. The scale was translated using the back-translation method, pretesting, and pilot testing. It was conducted among health care and office workers. It was tested in 3 stages; confirmatory factor analysis at stages 1 and 3 and exploratory factor analysis at stage 2. The Malaysian WRQLS-2 had 5 factors: "General Well-Being," "Job and Career Satisfaction," "Employee Engagement," "Home-Work Interface," and "Stress at Work." The scale showed good convergent and construct validity and also reliability. Perception of good QOWL may differ because of cultural influences and varying work environments. The validated Malaysian WRQLS-2 can be used to determine the QOWL of Malaysian office and health care workers. © 2015 APJPH.

Traditional Postpartum Practices Among Malaysian Mothers: A Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Fadzil, Fariza; Shamsuddin, Khadijah; Wan Puteh, Sharifa Ezat

2016-07-01

To briefly describe the postpartum practices among the three major ethnic groups in Malaysia and to identify commonalities in their traditional postpartum beliefs and practices. This narrative review collated information on traditional postpartum practices among Malaysian mothers through a literature search for published research papers on traditional postpartum practices in Malaysia. This review shows that Malaysian mothers have certain postpartum practices that they considered to be important for preventing future ill health. Despite the perceived differences in intra-ethnic postpartum practices, most Malaysian mothers, although from different ethnicities, share similarities in their postpartum regimens and practices in terms of beliefs and adherence to food taboos, use of traditional postpartum massage and traditional herbs, and acknowledgment of the role of older female family members in postpartum care. Health care providers should be aware of multiethnic traditional postpartum practices and use the commonalities in these practices as part of their postpartum care regimen.

Public acceptance of nuclear power among Malaysian students

Science.gov (United States)

Muhamad Pauzi, Anas; Saad, Juniza Md; Arif Abu Bakar, Asyraf; Hannan Damahuri, Abdul; Syukri, Nur Syamim Mohd

2018-01-01

Malaysian government’s aim to include nuclear energy for electricity generation has triggered various reactions from all especially the public. The objective of this study is to have a better understanding on the knowledge, sources of information of nuclear power and sources of energy chosen by Malaysian in 20 years’ time. Besides that, we want to examine the level of acceptance and perception of Malaysian towards nuclear energy and we want to identify the correlation between public perceptions with the acceptance towards nuclear power in Malaysia, and also to study the differences between perception and acceptance of nuclear power with gender and educational level. For this research methodology, the research questions are given orally or through paper-pencil and also social networking site such as Facebook or through electronic media application such as WhatsApp and Google docs. The data were analysed using a SPSS version 22.0 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). Results showed that more than 50% of the respondents have the knowledge of nuclear energy. A part of from that, only 39 % are confident government can afford to build NPP in Malaysia and 41 % disagree nuclear energy is the best option for future energy. From analysis using SPSS 22 we estimate negative perception will give a negative acceptance in term of support towards the use of nuclear energy in power generation in Malaysia. There are also slight correlation that the higher the level of education of Malaysian, the more negative the perception of Malaysian in accepting nuclear energy as source of power in Malaysia. Therefore in shaping a positive acceptance of NPP in Malaysia, the authorities need to educate the people with the knowledge of nuclear in order to overcome the negative perception towards nuclear power.

The Malaysian experience

OpenAIRE

Aldon, E.T.

1997-01-01

Integrated farming has long been practiced in Malaysia, not only to provide protein requirements needed by the family, but also as a source of income. With fish being promoted on a larger scale, the Malaysian government is providing farmers with financial assistance and hands-on training on fish culture and rice production. Systems of fodder-fish integrated farming and fish-livestock farming in mine ponds are outlined.

The Malaysian English Language Competency Dilemma: Recovering Lost Grounds through MUET.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Swee Heng; Wong, Bee Eng

2002-01-01

Provides insights into the Malaysian English language policy, required standards, and testing in language use in Malaysian tertiary institutions. Gives information about backwash effects in particular about institutional programs related to the teaching of English as a Second Language. (Author/VWL)

Food variety and dietary diversity scores to understand the food-intake pattern among selected Malaysian households.

Science.gov (United States)

Zainal Badari, Shamsul A; Arcot, Jayashree; Haron, Sharifah A; Paim, Laily; Sulaiman, Norhasmah; Masud, Jariah

2012-01-01

Food variety scores (FVS) and dietary diversity scores (DDS) were estimated based on foods consumed weekly by 285 Malaysian households using a food frequency questionnaire. The scoring system of FVS and DDS was based on a scale of 0-7 and 0-6 respectively. The mean household FVS and DDS was 164.1 ± 93 and 6 ± 0.4. The age of respondents (husbands or wives; p Malaysian households showed that their typical diets had high protein and energy-based foods.

"All Abroad": Malaysians' Reasons for Seeking an Overseas-Based Doctorate

Science.gov (United States)

Tagg, Brendon

2014-01-01

This article examines the process by which nine junior Malaysian academics came to complete doctoral degrees in non-Malaysian universities. It expands the scope and refines the focus of an existing study that considered international students' experiences in New Zealand. Part of the motivation for the current study was the researcher's recognition…

Authoritative school climate and high school dropout rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Yuane; Konold, Timothy R; Cornell, Dewey

2016-06-01

This study tested the association between school-wide measures of an authoritative school climate and high school dropout rates in a statewide sample of 315 high schools. Regression models at the school level of analysis used teacher and student measures of disciplinary structure, student support, and academic expectations to predict overall high school dropout rates. Analyses controlled for school demographics of school enrollment size, percentage of low-income students, percentage of minority students, and urbanicity. Consistent with authoritative school climate theory, moderation analyses found that when students perceive their teachers as supportive, high academic expectations are associated with lower dropout rates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Malaysian nurses' evaluation of transnational higher education courses.

Science.gov (United States)

Arunasalam, Nirmala

The internationalisation of higher education has led some UK and Australian universities to deliver transnational higher education (TNHE) post-registration top-up nursing degree courses in Malaysia. These are bridging courses that allow registered nurses to upgrade their diploma qualifications to degree level. What is not sufficiently explored in the literature is nurses' evaluation of these courses and the impact of TNHE qualifications. A hermeneutic phenomenology approach was used to explore the views of 18 Malaysian nurses from one Australian and two UK TNHE universities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to enable the Malaysian nurses to evaluate the courses. Data were analysed by thematic analysis. Findings showed a gap between Malaysian and Western teaching and learning outlook, professional values and clinical practices. The data give important insights at a time when the aim of Malaysia's investment in TNHE courses is to attain a graduate workforce with changed mindsets and enhanced patient care.

FACTORS INFLUENCING YIELD SPREADS OF THE MALAYSIAN BONDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Norliza Ahmad

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Malaysian bond market is developing rapidly but not much is understood in terms of macroeconomic factors that could influence the yield spread of the Ringgit Malaysian denominated bonds. Based on a multifactor model, this paper examines the impact of four macroeconomic factors namely: Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI, Industry Production Index (IPI, Consumer Price Index (CPI and interest rates (IR on bond yield spread of the Malaysian Government Securities (MGS and Corporate Bonds (CBs for a period from January 2001 to December 2008. The findings support the expected hypotheses that CPI and IR are the major drivers that influence the changes in MGS yield spreads. However IPI and KLCI have weak and no influence on MGS yield spreads respectively Whilst IR, CPI and IPI have significant influence on the yield spreads of CB1, CB2 and CB3, KLCI has significant influence only on the CB1 yield spread but not on CB2 and CB3 yield spreads.

General Adjustment Influence Factor of Malaysian Construction Expatriates Executives Abroad

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zainol Halmi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The success of Malaysian construction companies creates an opportunity to explore abroad. Past studies have shown that the difficulty of expatriates in adjusting to a new environment is the main aspect that leads to failure of assignments. The success in implementing an overseas assignment does not solely depend on an expatriate’s technical expertise. The adjustment issues such as the interaction with the host nationals, and adaptability to the host country’s culture also exert influence on the assignment. The research was conducted to identify the influence of executive expatriate general adjustment on assignment in host countries. The objective of the study was to identify adjustment influence factors relating to general adjustment abroad. Questionnaires were sent to Malaysian expatriate executives. Sixty four Malaysian expatriate executives from Malaysian construction companies overseas were involved in this study. The findings show interaction, social and living environment influences their adjustment during expatriation. Pre-departure training preparation aspects for expatriates is a good step before their departure to host countries.

Malaysian Preparation for Nuclear Power Plant Instrumentation and Control System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd Idris Taib; Nurfarhana Ayuni Joha; Kamarudin Sulaiman; Izhar Abu Hussin

2011-01-01

Instrumentation and Control System is required in Nuclear Power Plant for their safe and effective operation. The system is combination and integrated from detectors, actuators, analog system as well as digital system. Current design of system definitely follows of electronic as well as computer technology, with strictly follow regulation and guideline from local regulator as well as International Atomic Energy Agency. Commercial Off-The-Shelf products are extensively used with specific nucleonic instrumentation. Malaysian experiences depend on Reactor TRIGA PUSPATI Instrumentation and Control, Power Plant Instrumentation and Control as well as Process Control System. However Malaysians have capabilities to upgrade themself from Electronics, Computers, Electrical and Mechanical based. Proposal is presented for Malaysian preparation. (author)

The Malaysian Public Procurement's Prevalent System and its Weaknesses

OpenAIRE

Rohana Othman; Husein Zakaria; Norlaili Nordin; Zamzam Shahidan; Kamaruzaman Jusoff

2010-01-01

Problem statement: This study examined the public procurement system as prevalent in the Malaysian government system of administration. Various aspects of public procurement are outlined including types and the processes that entail public procurement. This study also highlighted the weaknesses in the manual public procurement processes that are opened to potential abuse and mismanagement resulting in corruption. This study places the Malaysian Government public procurement system under the s...

Managerial Coaches, Are They Ready? The Case of Malaysian Telecommunications Industry

Science.gov (United States)

Chong, Chin Wei; Yuen, Yee Yen; Tan, Booi Chen; Zarim, Zainal Abu; Hamid, Norhasniza Abdul

2016-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to identify the key competencies managerial coaches have and examine the significant competencies that affect coaching effectiveness in the Malaysian telecommunications industry. Design/Methodology/Approach: The unit of analysis was individual managerial coaches who were working in the Malaysian telecommunications…

Comparison of thermoregulatory responses to heat between Malaysian and Japanese males during leg immersion

Science.gov (United States)

Wijayanto, Titis; Wakabayashi, Hitoshi; Lee, Joo-Young; Hashiguchi, Nobuko; Saat, Mohamed; Tochihara, Yutaka

2011-07-01

The objective of this study was to investigate thermoregulatory responses to heat in tropical (Malaysian) and temperate (Japanese) natives, during 60 min of passive heating. Ten Japanese (mean ages: 20.8 ± 0.9 years) and ten Malaysian males (mean ages: 22.3 ± 1.6 years) with matched morphological characteristics and physical fitness participated in this study. Passive heating was induced through leg immersion in hot water (42°C) for 60 min under conditions of 28°C air temperature and 50% RH. Local sweat rate on the forehead and thigh were significantly lower in Malaysians during leg immersion, but no significant differences in total sweat rate were observed between Malaysians (86.3 ± 11.8 g m-2 h-1) and Japanese (83.2 ± 6.4 g m-2 h-1) after leg immersion. In addition, Malaysians displayed a smaller rise in rectal temperature (0.3 ± 0.1°C) than Japanese (0.7 ± 0.1°C) during leg immersion, with a greater increase in hand skin temperature. Skin blood flow was significantly lower on the forehead and forearm in Malaysians during leg immersion. No significant different in mean skin temperature during leg immersion was observed between the two groups. These findings indicated that regional differences in body sweating distribution might exist between Malaysians and Japanese during heat exposure, with more uniform distribution of local sweat rate over the whole body among tropical Malaysians. Altogether, Malaysians appear to display enhanced efficiency of thermal sweating and thermoregulatory responses in dissipating heat loss during heat loading. Thermoregulatory differences between tropical and temperate natives in this study can be interpreted as a result of heat adaptations to physiological function.

Four-Week Consumption of Malaysian Honey Reduces Excess Weight Gain and Improves Obesity-Related Parameters in High Fat Diet Induced Obese Rats

OpenAIRE

Suhana Samat; Francis Kanyan Enchang; Fuzina Nor Hussein; Wan Iryani Wan Ismail

2017-01-01

Many studies revealed the potential of honey consumption in controlling obesity. However, no study has been conducted using Malaysian honey. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of two local Malaysian honey types: Gelam and Acacia honey in reducing excess weight gain and other parameters related to obesity. The quality of both honey types was determined through physicochemical analysis and contents of phenolic and flavonoid. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were induced to become obese using h...

Malaysian diaspora strategies in a globalized Muslim market

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fischer, Johan

2015-01-01

This paper explores Malaysia’s efforts to develop and dominate a global market in halal (literally, ‘lawful or ‘permitted’) commodities as a diaspora strategy and how Malaysian state institutions, entrepreneurs, restaurants and middle-class groups in London respond to and are affected...... and practise Malaysian diaspora strategies in the globalized market for halal products and services. This paper is based on ethnographic material from fieldwork among state institutions, entrepreneurs, restaurants and middle-class groups in Kuala Lumpur and London, namely participant observation...

Middle School Concept Helps High-Poverty Schools Become High-Performing Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Picucci, Ali Callicoatte; Brownson, Amanda; Kahlert, Rahel; Sobel, Andrew

2004-01-01

The results of a study conducted by the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin for the U.S. Department of Education during the 2001-02 school year showed that elements of the middle school concept can lead to improved student performance, even in high-poverty schools. This article describes common elements of the middle school…

Drivers for Cleaner Production in Malaysian Industry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wangel, Arne

2003-01-01

This working paper tries to piece together information on regulatory initiatives promoting cleaner production (CP) in Malaysian industry, as well as points of discussion on environmental performance in the sector. It draws upon initial data collection by the team of the research project ‘A Study...... on Promotion and Implementation of Cleaner Production Practices in Malaysian Industry - Development of a National Program and Action Plan for Promotion of Cleaner Production’, which is coordinated by Institute of Environmental and Resource Management, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia; the objective of this study...... is ‘to formulate, establish and develop a comprehensive "National Cleaner Production Promotion Program" for Malaysia’....

Folate content and availability in Malaysian cooked foods.

Science.gov (United States)

Chew, S C; Khor, G L; Loh, S P

2012-12-01

Data on folate availability of Malaysian cooked foods would be useful for estimation of dietary folate intake; however such information is scarce. A total of 53 samples of frequently consumed foods in Malaysia were selected from the Nutrient Composition of Malaysian Foods. Folate content was determined using HPLC method hyphenated with a stainless steel C18 column and ultraviolet detector (lambda = 280 nm). The index of folate availability was defined as the proportion of folate identified as monoglutamyl derivatives from the total folate content. Total folate content of different food samples varied from 30-95 microg/100g fresh weight. Among rice-based dishes, the highest and the lowest total folate was in coconut milk rice (nasi lemak) and ghee rice (nasi minyak), respectively. In noodle dishes, fried rice noodle (kuey teow goreng) and curry noodle (mee kari) had the highest folate contents. The highest index of folate availability was in a flat rice noodle dish (kuey teow bandung) (12.13%), while the lowest was in a festival cake (kuih bakul) (0.13%). Folate content was found to be negatively related to its availability. This study determined folate content and folate availability in commonly consumed cooked foods in Malaysia. The uptake of folate from foods with high folate content may not be necessarily high as folate absorption also depends on the capacity of intestinal deconjugation and the presence of high fibre in the foods.

Perception of masculinity amongst young Malaysian men: a qualitative study of university students

OpenAIRE

Fazli Khalaf, Zahra; Low, Wah Yun; Ghorbani, Behzad; Merghati Khoei, Effat

2013-01-01

Background Perception of Masculinity plays an important role in men?s lifestyles and health behaviors. Although, the importance of masculinity has been widely discussed in men?s health literature, very little is known about the meanings of masculinity in the Malaysian setting. This research aimed to explore the meanings of masculinity among Malaysian university men. Methods This qualitative study utilized in-depth interviews with 34 young Malaysian university men, aged 20?30?years from three ...

Electrolyte profile of Malaysian mothers' milk.

Science.gov (United States)

Alaudeen, S; Muslim, N; Faridah, K; Azman, A; Arshat, H

1988-12-01

The influence of socioeconomic status (ethnicity, income and parity) on electrolyte composition (sodium and potassium) in human milk is little known. We have thus quantitatively analyzed approximately 700 samples of milk (1-90 days postpartum) obtained from healthy Malaysian mothers' (Malay, Chinese and Indians) of full term infants. Results show that the mean concentration (mmol/l) of sodium is highest (48.2+or-1.7, Mean+or-SEM) in the Malaysian mothers' colostrum and this value decreased by 30% in their transitional milk and remained constant throughout subsequent days of lactation (mature milk). Ethnically, it is found that the level of sodium in colostrum of Malay and Chinese mothers were similar while the Indian mothers' colostrum showed apparently higher value (52.7+or-3.4 mmol/l) that is statistically insignificant. The transitional milk of all 3 ethnic groups studied exhibited similar levels of sodium. On subsequent days of lactation (mature milk) the Malay mothers exhibited lowest concentration (25.9+or-2.6 mmol/l) of sodium that is significantly (P0.05) different from that of Chinese and Indian mothers. Income and parity do not significantly affect the sodium level in Malaysian mothers' milk during all stages of lactation studied. The level of potassium, however did not change significantly with days of lactation. Like sodium, potassium too was not influenced by income and parity. (Author's).

An Analysis of Malaysian Political Communication and Its Role in Electoral Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saabar Suhaimee Saahar

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper attempts to discuss political communication in Malaysia especially after the 12th General Elections (GE12. The purpose of this study is to analyse the political efficacy or sense making process which involve analysing the techniques and creative execution that had been used by political parties and its effects on Malaysian voters. The results of GE 12 had fashioned a political tsunami that influenced many important aspects in the Malaysian political landscape, be it national and economic policies, social unity or campaign strategies. Therefore, the main focus of this paper is to discuss the elements and importance of political communication research in Malaysian political communication campaign by focusing on the aspects of creative execution, political information efficacy and sense making process and its impact on the choice of communication tools amongst Malaysian voters.

Online Activities of Urban Malaysian Adolescents: Report of a Pilot Study

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Kok Eng; Yen Abdullah, Melissa Ng Lee; Guan Saw, Kim

2012-01-01

The literacy practices of many communities today show new ways of meaning making in the contemporary, technological and digital culture. A number of Malaysian adolescents belong to this culture. This pilot study reports the preliminary findings of a larger study aimed at describing the online activities of Malaysian adolescents. Fifty-four…

ERP and Knowledge Management Integration: The Case of Malaysian Business Firms

Science.gov (United States)

Supramaniam, Mahadevan; Kuppusamy, Mudiarasan

2010-01-01

In order to compete in a global environment, Malaysian business firms need to improve their products and services through best practices. This paper aims to investigate the critical success factors to adopt Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) with knowledge management (KM) strategies among Malaysian business firms. In order to achieve the research…

Lessons learned from the disruption of dental training of Malaysian students studying in Egypt during the Arab spring.

Science.gov (United States)

Simon, Sibu Sajjan; Ramachandra, Srinivas Sulugodu; Abdullah, Datuk Dr Fawzia; Islam, Md Nurul; Kalyan, C G

2016-01-01

Political crisis and worsening security situation in Egypt in late 2013 resulted in Malaysian students who were pursuing their dental education in Egypt being recalled home to Malaysia. The Ministry of Higher Education in Malaysia took steps to integrate these students into public and private universities in Malaysia. We used a questionnaire and informal interviews to learn from students returning from Egypt about their experiences transitioning from dental schools in Egypt to Malaysia. We discuss the challenges students faced with regards to credit transfer, pastoral care, the differences in the curriculum between the dental faculties of the two nations, and the financial implications of this disruption of their training. We live in a fragile world where similar political situations will surely arise again. The approaches used by the Malaysian government and the lessons learned from these students may help others. The perspectives of these students may help educators reintegrate expatriate students who are displaced by political instability back into the education system of their own countries.

Usability study of youtube websites for Malaysian teenagers

Science.gov (United States)

Razak, Mohd Nur Faiz Abd; Hussain, Azham; Hamdi, Mohd Maizan Fishol

2017-10-01

Nowadays, YouTube is the 3rd most visited website in the world. It was created for users to search, watch and share video. Statistics show that YouTube run in more than 88 countries and support 76 different languages which covered almost 95% of Internet population globally. Therefore, a usability study is for specific type of users such as based on gender, range of age and country is considered a must for this kind of top website. In this study, we focus on YouTube website usability for Malaysian teenagers that are currently schooling in boarding school with limited access of Internet. It was done in a controlled lab environment with proper devices and software as MacBook, LCD Monitor, and WhatPulse heat map tracker. The evaluation was made based on usability metrics: ease of use, usefulness and satisfaction of users with combination of recording videos, mouse and keyboard heat map and questionnaires. Findings show that most of the respondents just use YouTube for video watching only while ignoring other features in the same time. There are difficulties in using it at the first moment but could catch up in short time. It shows how usable YouTube website especially in the learnability and memorability aspects.

Malaysian growth centiles for children under six years old.

Science.gov (United States)

Bong, Yiibonn; Shariff, Asma Ahmad; Mohamed, Abdul Majid; Merican, Amir Feisal

2015-03-01

Growth references are useful for the screening, assessment and monitoring of individual children as well as for evaluating various growth promoting interventions that could possibly affect a child in early life. To determine the growth centiles of Malaysian children and to establish contemporary cross-sectional growth reference charts for height and weight from birth to 6 years of age based on a representative sample of children from Malaysia. Gender- and age-specific centile curves for height and weight were derived using the Cole's LMS method. Data for this study were retrieved from Malaysian government health clinics using a two-stage stratified random sampling technique. Assessment of nutritional status was done with the SD scores (Z-scores) of WHO 2006 standards. Boys were found to be taller and heavier than girls in this study. The median length of Malaysian children was higher than the WHO 2006 standards and CDC 2000 reference. The overall prevalence of stunting and underweight were 8.3% and 9.3%, respectively. This study presents the first large-scale initiative for local reference charts. The growth reference would enable the growth assessment of a Malaysian child compared to the average growth of children in the country. It is suggested that the use of WHO 2006 Child Growth Standards should be complemented with local reference charts for a more wholesome growth assessment.

Authoritative School Climate and High School Dropout Rates

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Yuane; Konold, Timothy R.; Cornell, Dewey

2016-01-01

This study tested the association between school-wide measures of an authoritative school climate and high school dropout rates in a statewide sample of 315 high schools. Regression models at the school level of analysis used teacher and student measures of disciplinary structure, student support, and academic expectations to predict overall high…

Framing knowledge and awareness of energy efficiency among the Malaysian public

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohammed Zin Nordin; Shanthi Balraj; Nor Azilah Ngah; Irfan Naufal Umar; Kamarulazizi Ibrahim

2006-01-01

Energy is a key component in Malaysian economy and contributes to the industrialization of the economy. Energy production in Malaysia, however, is mainly based on burning fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal, all of which emit pollutants. Improving the energy performance of the nation and reducing overall energy consumption will lead to a meaningful environment and economic progress. The first part of the paper looks at the agenda on energy efficiency (EE) while the second part of the paper examines the Malaysian public knowledge on EE based on survey information obtained from 2,444 respondents by way of questionnaires. The study notes that in general most Malaysian have very little knowledge on energy efficiency, as it is a relatively new area to the people of Malaysia. This paper argues that education and training in raising awareness on energy efficiency (EE) is critical to the Malaysian society as we cannot be complacent with the existing sources of energy derived from crude oil and gas. The findings will chart some of the challenges confronting the country in promoting the agenda on energy efficiency

High glycemic load diet, milk and ice cream consumption are related to acne vulgaris in Malaysian young adults: a case control study

OpenAIRE

Ismail, Noor Hasnani; Manaf, Zahara Abdul; Azizan, Noor Zalmy

2012-01-01

Abstract Background The role of dietary factors in the pathophysiology of acne vulgaris is highly controversial. Hence, the aim of this study was to determine the association between dietary factors and acne vulgaris among Malaysian young adults. Methods A case–control study was conducted among 44 acne vulgaris patients and 44 controls aged 18 to 30 years from October 2010 to January 2011. Comprehensive acne severity scale (CASS) was used to determine acne severity. A questionnaire comprising...

Improving Malaysian cocoa quality through the use of dehumidified air under mild drying conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Hii, Ching L; Law, Chung L; Cloke, Michael; Sharif, Suzannah

2011-01-30

Various studies have been conducted in the past to improve the quality of Malaysian cocoa beans. However, the processing methods still remain crude and lack technological advancement. In terms of drying, no previous study has attempted to apply advanced drying technology to improve bean quality. This paper presents the first attempt to improve the quality of cocoa beans through heat pump drying using constant air (28.6 and 40.4 °C) and stepwise (step-up 30.7-43.6-56.9 °C and step-down 54.9-43.9 °C) drying profiles. Comparison was made against hot air drying at 55.9 °C. Product quality assessment showed significant improvement in the quality of Malaysian cocoa beans. Quality was found to be better in terms of lower acidity (higher pH) and higher degree of browning (cut test) for cocoa beans dried using the step-up profile. All heat pump-dried samples showed flavour quality comparable to that of Ghanaian and better than that of Malaysian and Indonesian commercial samples. Step-up-dried samples showed the best flavour profile with high level of cocoa flavour, low in sourness and not excessive in bitterness and astringency. Dried cocoa samples from the step-up drying profile showed the best overall quality as compared with commercial samples from Malaysia, Indonesia and Ghana. The improvement of Malaysian cocoa bean quality is thus achievable through heat pump drying. 2010 Society of Chemical Industry.

Inclusion in Malaysian Integrated Preschools

Science.gov (United States)

Sukumaran, Sailajah; Loveridge, Judith; Green, Vanessa A.

2015-01-01

Inclusive education has been introduced through a number of policy developments in Malaysia over the last 10 years but there is little research investigating the extent and nature of inclusive education for preschoolers with special educational needs (SEN). This study surveyed both regular and special education teachers in Malaysian integrated…

Efficiency and Competition in the Malaysian Banking Market: Foreign versus Domestic Banks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rossazana Ab-Rahim

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to investigate efficiency performance of Malaysian banking market using data envelopment analysis approach in the context of the increasing presence of foreign banks. Specifically, two measures of efficiency are constructed, cost and profit efficiency by utilizing bank-level data of Malaysian commercial banks, over the period 2003 to 2014. The results obtained show the domestic banks are more efficient than the foreign banks counterparts for both measures of efficiency. Next, the Lerner Index approach is employed to measure competition and finally, Granger causality tests are undertaken to answer the question, does competition foster efficiency? The results of causality tests support a positive effect of competition on cost and profit efficiency of Malaysian banks. With regard to the financial liberalization, the findings imply that higher competitive pressure may be offset the market power of individual banks; however, eventually it will results in efficiency gains of Malaysian banks.

School-Within-A-School (Hawaii Nui High) Hilo High School Report 1969-70.

Science.gov (United States)

Hawaii Univ., Honolulu. Social Welfare Development and Research Center.

The second year of operation of Hilo High School's "School-Within-A-School" [SWS] program is evaluated in this paper. Planning, training, and program implementation are described in the document. The following are the results of the program: There was an improvement in attendance among project students when compared to their record in…

Smoking among secondary school students in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, L K; Paul, C Y C; Kam, C W; Jagmohni, K

2005-01-01

This study was done to determine the prevalence of smoking and factors influencing cigarette smoking among secondary school students in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. This is a cross-sectional school survey conducted on 4500 adolescent students based on a structured questionnaire. Data was collected using the supervised self-administered questionnaire the Youth Risk Behaviour Surveillance in the Malaysian National Language Bahasa Malaysia. The prevalence of smoking among the students was 14.0%. About a third of the students (37.8%) started smoking at 13 to 14 years of age. The prevalence of smoking among the male students was higher (26.6%) compared to the female students (3.1%). Adolescent smoking was associated with (1) sociodemographic factors (age, ethnicity, rural/urban status); (2) environmental factors (parental smoking, staying with parents); (3) behavioural factors (playing truant and risk-taking behaviours such as physical fighting, drug use, alcohol use, sexual activity, lack of seatbelt use, riding with a drunk driver); (4) lifestyle behaviours (being on diet and lack of exercise); (5) personal factors (feeling sad and suicidal behaviours). In conclusion, smoking is a major problem among Malaysian adolescents. Certain groups of adolescents tend to be at higher risk of smoking. This problem should be curbed early by targeting these groups of high risk adolescents.

The Idea of a University: Rethinking the Malaysian Context

OpenAIRE

Wan, Chang Da; Sirat, Morshidi; Razak, Dzulkifli

2015-01-01

This article explores the idea of a university with a specific focus in the Malaysian context. We begin the article guided by these questions—“What is a university?” and “What are universities for?”—in examining the historical and conceptual development of universities. This is followed by asking a more specific question—“What are Malaysian universities for?”—in which we discussed the overarching roles of public and private universities in this developing country. Having examined the roles of...

Journalism Beyond High School.

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Sally

2001-01-01

Discusses the shift from high school journalism to college journalism for students. Describes the role of the high school journalism advisor in that process. Offers checklists for getting to know a college publication. Outlines ways high school journalism teachers can take advantage of journalism resources available at local colleges and…

Promoting Intercultural Understanding among School Students through an English Language Based Reading Programme

OpenAIRE

Manjet Kaur Mehar Singh; Fatin Najwa Amelia binti Marsani; Paramaswari Jaganathan; Ahmad Sofwan Nathan Abdullah; Premalatha Karupiah

2016-01-01

Malaysian intercultural society is typified by three major ethnic groups mainly Malays, Chinese and Indians.  Although education system is the best tool for these three major ethnic groups to work together, contemporary research reveals that there is still lack of intercultural embedding education context and national schools are seen as breeding grounds of racial polarisation.  In Malaysian context, there is a gap in research that focuses on the design of a proper intercultural reading frame...

Four-Week Consumption of Malaysian Honey Reduces Excess Weight Gain and Improves Obesity-Related Parameters in High Fat Diet Induced Obese Rats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suhana Samat

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Many studies revealed the potential of honey consumption in controlling obesity. However, no study has been conducted using Malaysian honey. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of two local Malaysian honey types: Gelam and Acacia honey in reducing excess weight gain and other parameters related to obesity. The quality of both honey types was determined through physicochemical analysis and contents of phenolic and flavonoid. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were induced to become obese using high fat diet (HFD prior to introduction with/without honey or orlistat for four weeks. Significant reductions in excess weight gain and adiposity index were observed in rats fed with Gelam honey compared to HFD rats. Moreover, levels of plasma glucose, triglycerides, and cholesterol, plasma leptin and resistin, liver enzymes, renal function test, and relative organ weight in Gelam and Acacia honey treated groups were reduced significantly when compared to rats fed with HFD only. Similar results were also displayed in rats treated with orlistat, but with hepatotoxicity effects. In conclusion, consumption of honey can be used to control obesity by regulating lipid metabolism and appears to be more effective than orlistat.

Four-Week Consumption of Malaysian Honey Reduces Excess Weight Gain and Improves Obesity-Related Parameters in High Fat Diet Induced Obese Rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Samat, Suhana; Kanyan Enchang, Francis; Nor Hussein, Fuzina; Wan Ismail, Wan Iryani

2017-01-01

Many studies revealed the potential of honey consumption in controlling obesity. However, no study has been conducted using Malaysian honey. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of two local Malaysian honey types: Gelam and Acacia honey in reducing excess weight gain and other parameters related to obesity. The quality of both honey types was determined through physicochemical analysis and contents of phenolic and flavonoid. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were induced to become obese using high fat diet (HFD) prior to introduction with/without honey or orlistat for four weeks. Significant reductions in excess weight gain and adiposity index were observed in rats fed with Gelam honey compared to HFD rats. Moreover, levels of plasma glucose, triglycerides, and cholesterol, plasma leptin and resistin, liver enzymes, renal function test, and relative organ weight in Gelam and Acacia honey treated groups were reduced significantly when compared to rats fed with HFD only. Similar results were also displayed in rats treated with orlistat, but with hepatotoxicity effects. In conclusion, consumption of honey can be used to control obesity by regulating lipid metabolism and appears to be more effective than orlistat.

Carbon balance impacts of land use changes related to the life cycle of Malaysian palm oil-derived biodiesel

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Sune Balle; Olsen, Stig Irving; Ujang, Zaini

2014-01-01

to oil palm, in a life cycle perspective.LCA methodology is applied to existing land use change data. The assessment includes the issue of temporary carbon storage in the plantations. Through quantification of emissions from state forest reserve and rubber plantation conversions, the average Malaysian...... palm oil-related land use changes are calculated.The results show that there are high emissions associated with the conversion of Malaysian state forest reserve to oil palm, whereas the conversion of rubber leaves a less significant carbon debt when indirect land use change is not included. Looking...... at the average Malaysian land use changes associated with oil palm shows that land use change emissions are responsible for approximately half of the total conventional biodiesel production emissions. The sensitivity analysis shows that the results could be significantly influenced by data variations in indirect...

Innovation value chain capability in Malaysian-owned company: A theoretical framework

Science.gov (United States)

Abidin, Norkisme Zainal; Suradi, Nur Riza Mohd

2014-09-01

Good quality products or services are no longer adequate to guarantee the sustainability of a company in the present competitive business. Prior research has developed various innovation models with the hope to better understand the innovativeness of the company. Due to countless definitions, indicators, factors, parameter and approaches in the study of innovation, it is difficult to ensure which one will best suit the Malaysian-owned company innovativeness. This paper aims to provide a theoretical background to support the framework of the innovation value chain capability in Malaysian-owned Company. The theoretical framework was based on the literature reviews, expert interviews and focus group study. The framework will be used to predict and assess the innovation value chain capability in Malaysian-owned company.

Why The Rate Of Financing In Islamic Banks Is High? An Analysis Based On Malaysian Case

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irfan Syauqi Beik

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Islamic banking has grown rapidly and has become fi nancial-nerve centre in today’s world economy, particularly in the last three decades. It has attracted various entrepreneurs and enterprises to get its fi nancing. However, Islamic banks tend to have a higher rate of fi nancing compared to the conventional ones. This less competitiveness encourage the demand for Islamic products may fall leaving the Islamic banks. Good debtors opted for conventional loans since the interest rates paid were relatively lower and the rest (the bad debtors successfully made their way to Islamic banks. Therefore, the nonperforming financing of Islamic banks is high. This paper attempts to analyze factors that determine high rate of fi nancing in Islamic banks, by taking the case of Malaysian Islamic banks. In this paper, the top three of Islamic banks and conventional banks are selected for comparison. It finds that high default premium and overheads per capital contribute signifi cantly to the high fi nancing rate. Hence, the Islamic banks should diversify their assets and implement universal banking concept.Keywords: Islamic bank, rate of fi nancing, NPF (Non-Performing Financing, universal banking system

A perspective of the Malaysian highway energy consumption and future power supply

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saqr, Khalid M.; Musa, Md. Nor

2011-01-01

In this short communication, we discuss the energy consumption trends in the Malaysian road transport sector, with a special emphasis on the energy losses due to vehicle aerodynamic drag on highways. The recent trends of energy consumption in the Malaysian road transport sector are reviewed. It is evidently shown that the aerodynamic losses represented exceed 1.2 MTOE annually since 2002. A novel concept of vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) farms for harvesting aerodynamic energy losses on Malaysian highways is preliminarily proposed. The novel concept aims at providing a sustainable and green energy source for the lighting of the highway network in the country.

Quality system in Malaysian National Tissue Bank

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Go Boon Thong; Firdaus, M. N.; Abd Rani Shamsudin

1999-01-01

Quality System in Malaysian National Tissue Bank is based on the Quality Manual which has been drawn up by the chairman, who is the Dean, School of Medical Sciences. The Quality Manual include general standard for Tissue Banking in University Science of Malaysia which describe and explain a set of general standard similar to the EATB standard. The primary aim of the quality system is to produce a safe and effective tissue graft for successful clinical use and to ensure the safety of tissue bank operators. The Quality Manual also related the role of a Technical Manual, which explain the standard of technical aspect of tissue bank in a Quality Assurance. The safe working environment and Good Laboratory Practice is highlight in Quality System. Documentation of tissue bank activities is the key to the administration to tissue bank. Finally Quality System in tissue banking will never be complete without a Tissue Bank Auditing System which allow the tissue bank coordinator and staff to look into the problem and further enhance the progress of the tissue bank

Factors for analysing and improving performance of R&D in Malaysian universities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ramli, Mohammad Shakir; de Boer, S.J.; de Bruijn, E.J.

2004-01-01

This paper presents a model for analysing and improving performance of R&D in Malaysian universities. There are various general models for R&D analysis, but none is specific for improving the performance of R&D in Malaysian universities. This research attempts to fill a gap in the body of knowledge

Safety Culture and Issue in the Malaysian Manufacturing Sector

OpenAIRE

Ali Danish; Yusof Yusri; Adam Anbia

2017-01-01

. This paper highlights the Safety culture and issue in the Malaysian Manufacturing Sector and emphasis the high occupational accidents due to lack of safety culture and non-compliance of the requirements of Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994. The aim of this study is to review the occupational accidents occurrence in the Malaysia workplace since 2012-2016. Malaysia aimed to reduce the occupational accidents, the results show by DOSH increase that Occupational Noise Induced Hearing Loss ...

Evaluating High School IT

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Brett A.

2004-01-01

Since its inception in 1997, Cisco's curriculum has entered thousands of high schools across the U.S. and around the world for two reasons: (1) Cisco has a large portion of the computer networking market, and thus has the resources for and interest in developing high school academies; and (2) high school curriculum development teams recognize the…

Speech Disfluencies and Mispronunciations in English Oral Communication among Malaysian Undergraduates

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Sarah Yong Enxhi

2012-11-01

Full Text Available The common perception of Malaysians is that they are unable to speak fluently and communicate effectively in the English language as most Malaysians do not speak English as their first language. In a country that is full of diversity in terms of race and culture, it is only natural for Malaysians to be influenced by their first language when using English as their second language. This, however, creates a problem for undergraduates who are looking for job opportunities in both local and international companies because a potential employee’s ability to communicate smoothly in English is an important criteria used by employers. This study intends to shed light on the occurrence of speech disfluencies and mispronunciations among undergraduates of a Malaysian university as well as to provide an explanation for those mispronunciations by comparing the phonetic system of the English language with the Malay and Mandarin language. With the results of this study, it is hoped that actions and measures can be taken by the academic authorities and other relevant parties to gradually improve the oral proficiency skills of undergraduates and help them to be more marketable in the future.

Pedagogical Stances of High School ESL Teachers: "Huelgas" in High School ESL Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

del Carmen Salazar, Maria

2010-01-01

This article presents a qualitative case study of the pedagogical stances of high school English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers, and the subsequent responses of resistance or conformity by their English Language Learners (ELLs). The participants include three high school ESL teachers and 60 high school ESL students of Mexican origin. Findings…

Malaysian mental health law.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Nusrat N; Yahya, Badi'ah; Abu Bakar, Abd Kadir; Ho, Roger C

2015-05-01

The Malaysian Mental Health Act 2001 did not come into effect until the Mental Health Regulations 2010 came into force. The Act provides a framework for the delivery of comprehensive care, treatment, control, protection and rehabilitation of those with mental disorders. The Act governs the establishment of private and government psychiatric hospitals, psychiatric nursing homes and community mental health centres. This paper outlines the provisions of the Act and the Regulations.

Teachers' Perception of Mobile Edutainment for Special Needs Learners: The Malaysian Case

Science.gov (United States)

Mohd Yusof, Anuar; Daniel, Esther Gnanamalar Sarojini; Low, Wah Yun; Ab. Aziz, Kamarulzaman

2014-01-01

Study of Malaysian adoption of mobile learning (m-learning) is still in the early stages. However, there are numerous researchers in the country exploring the potential and application of m-learning in the Malaysian education system, including special education. A key question is whether teachers are prepared to incorporate mobile technology as…

Radiological emergency: Malaysian preparedness and response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yusof, M. A. W.; Ali, H. M.

2011-01-01

Planning and preparation in advance for radiological emergencies can help to minimise potential public health and environmental threats if and when an actual emergency occurs. During the planning process, emergency response organisations think through how they would respond to each type of incident and the resources that will be needed. In Malaysia, planning, preparation for and response to radiological emergencies involve many parties. In the event of a radiological emergency and if it is considered a disaster, the National Security Council, the Atomic Energy Licensing Board and the Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuclear Malaysia) will work together with other federal agencies, state and local governments, first responders and international organisations to monitor the situation, contain the release, and clean up the contaminated site. Throughout the response, these agencies use their protective action guidelines. This paper discusses Malaysian preparedness for, and response to, any potential radiological emergency. (authors)

Inter-Religious Dialogue: The Perspective of Malaysian Contemporary Muslim Thinkers

OpenAIRE

AEMY ELYANI MAT ZAIN; JAFFARY AWANG; IDRIS ZAKARIA

2014-01-01

Malaysia is a country that is rich for the diversity of its people. This diversity can be seen from the aspect of faith, ethnicity, language, culture, and so on. In facing a society that is pluralistic in nature, several initiatives have been taken by the government and non-government bodies in ensuring understanding and unity among Malaysians. Among the initiatives taken are interreligious dialogues. In this regard, many among Malaysian thinkers have proposed some approaches and concepts of ...

Case Studies of Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools. Relevance Strategic Designs: 8. High Tech High School

Science.gov (United States)

Shields, Regis Anne; Ireland, Nicole; City, Elizabeth; Derderian, Julie; Miles, Karen Hawley

2008-01-01

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

Belongingness in the workplace: a study of Malaysian nurses' experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohamed, Z; Newton, J M; McKenna, L

2014-03-01

The need to belong has been proposed as the most basic need for human psychological well-being. Lack of belongingness has been associated with stress, anxiety and lack of esteem. Social and psychological functioning in the workplace has been linked to nurses' interconnection with others and their perceptions of belongingness. To explore factors contributing to Malaysian nurses' sense of belonging in the workplace. A descriptive questionnaire survey of registered nurses (n = 437) working in two Malaysian hospitals was conducted in 2011. Previously validated questionnaires translated into the Malay language were used. Data were analysed using SPSS 19.0. Nurses enhanced their sense of belonging through acceptance, 'fitting in', respect and group harmony. There were no specific demographic factors contributing to the nurses' perceptions. The findings suggest that these priorities for belongingness were contextually influenced by factors such as elements of Malaysian culture, the nature of nurses' teamwork and stereotypical values on the nursing profession. Data were collected in only two hospitals. Experiences of nurses in other hospitals and areas of Malaysia may not be similar. The influence of Malaysian culture in this study raises issues about utilization of a measurement scale developed in Western cultures, which may not directly accord with cultural values of an Eastern ethnicity. Aspects of belongingness in Malaysian nurses reflect those of nurses elsewhere. However, there are specific cultural influences at play. Therefore, development of a measurement scale based on Eastern culture would help in increasing understanding of workplace practices among these groups. Workplaces that perpetuate an environment that is not conducive to generating a sense of belonging may have an untoward impact on care delivery. Healthcare policies need to ensure patient care has a focus on engaging practitioners within multidisciplinary teams. © 2013 International Council of

Photovoltaic systems for Malaysian islands: Effects of interest rates, diesel prices and load sizes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lau, K.Y.; Tan, C.W.; Yatim, A.H.M.

2015-01-01

Standalone diesel systems have been widely used on Malaysian islands due to the isolated locations of the islands. Nevertheless, the high diesel prices and the high cost of transporting diesel to islands cause the use of standalone diesel systems to be uneconomical. This study analyzes the feasibility of implementing PV (photovoltaic) systems as alternatives to standalone diesel systems by considering the effects of annual real interest rates, diesel prices and load sizes, using the HOMER (hybrid optimization of multiple energy resources) software. The results indicate that, at the ordinary diesel price of $ 0.61/L, low interest rates (0–3%) are desirable for the implementation of hybrid PV/diesel with battery systems over standalone diesel systems, regardless of the load sizes. Although different load sizes may affect the decisions on the implementation of PV systems at higher interest rates (6–9%), these effects become less pronounced as the price of diesel increases to $ 1.22/L or higher. Also, under high diesel prices, the choice of optimal system configurations obtained for small load sizes should be applicable for larger load sizes, albeit with different component ratings. Although the current study is intended for Malaysian islands, the findings can be generalized for other places with similar solar radiation levels. - Highlights: • Photovoltaic systems for Malaysian islands have been analyzed using HOMER. • Interest rates, diesel prices and load sizes affect optimal system configurations. • Effects of interest rates and load sizes reduce with increasing diesel prices. • Photovoltaic systems' implementation is feasible at high diesel prices. • The findings can be generalized for places with similar solar radiation levels

Early College High Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Dessoff, Alan

2011-01-01

For at-risk students who stand little chance of going to college, or even finishing high school, a growing number of districts have found a solution: Give them an early start in college while they still are in high school. The early college high school (ECHS) movement that began with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 10 years ago…

Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences Striving towards Visibility

Science.gov (United States)

GHAZLI, Nur Farahin; ABDULLAH, Jafri Malin

2013-01-01

The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences has in its 25 years “Silver Jubilee” achieved another milestone of being visible to the biomedical community when it was accepted in PubMed. The journal aim to increase its readership so as to increase impact in the biomedical field amongst its Asian readers despite having a high rejection rate. This was done to maintain quality of the manuscripts published over the years. PubMed listing should enable more manuscripts to be cited as its the leading biomedical journal for the Asian community. PMID:24043990

Leadership in the Reform of Malaysian Universities: Analysing the Strategic Role of the Malaysian Qualifications Agency

Science.gov (United States)

Bajunid, Ibrahim Ahmad

2011-01-01

This paper addresses the contemporary development and reform challenges in tertiary education in Malaysia in both national and global contexts. The critical role exercised by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency in driving strategic change in higher education cultures, both in public and private universities is described and analysed. The paper…

Participation in Summer School and High School Graduation in the Sun Valley High School District

Science.gov (United States)

Trujillo, Gabriel

2012-01-01

This study examines the effectiveness of a summer school credit recovery program in the Sun Valley High School District. Using logistic regression I assess the relationship between race, gender, course failure, school of origin and summer school participation for a sample of students that failed one or more classes in their first year of high…

Anatomy learning styles and strategies among Jordanian and Malaysian medical students: the impact of culture on learning anatomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Mustafa, Ayman G; Allouh, Mohammed Z; Mustafa, Intisar G; Hoja, Ibrahim M

2013-07-01

The study aims to investigate anatomy learning styles and strategies of Jordanian and Malaysian medical students at the Jordan University of Science and Technology. The study is a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study. Students' responses for the questionnaire were numerically coded, and the results were analyzed to reveal statistically significant differences between Jordanian and Malaysian students. The results showed that Jordanian medical students were less interested in using cadavers in learning anatomy than Malaysian medical students. However, similar to their Malaysian counterparts, they prefer to employ other tools to learn anatomy like plastinated models and Internet-based resources. In addition to the aforementioned tools, Malaysian students were more interested in using cross-sectional images and making their own revision cards. Both Jordanian and Malaysian medical students were more interested in learning anatomy through clinical cases, and by system rather than by region. Moreover, it was revealed that Jordanian medical students learn anatomy more efficiently when they formulate a general view of a particular topic. Both Jordanian and Malaysian medical students also relied on reciting definitions and memorizing facts to learn anatomy. The study also reported significant differences between Jordanian and Malaysian students' perspectives on learning anatomy. The findings of the study suggest that Jordanian and Malaysian medical students posses different cultures of learning. Jordanian anatomy instructors need to consider these different learning cultures when they prepare their instructional methods and teaching materials to fulfill the educational needs of their culturally diverse students.

The Idea of a University: Rethinking the Malaysian Context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chang Da Wan

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This article explores the idea of a university with a specific focus in the Malaysian context. We begin the article guided by these questions—“What is a university?” and “What are universities for?”—in examining the historical and conceptual development of universities. This is followed by asking a more specific question—“What are Malaysian universities for?”—in which we discussed the overarching roles of public and private universities in this developing country. Having examined the roles of public and private universities, and taken into context the complexity and challenges surrounding these important societal institutions, we discuss two “experimental” initiatives in Malaysia: the APEX University (Accelerated Program for Excellence focusing on sustainability and the “humanversity”. On the one hand, these initiatives are intended to prepare and transform Malaysian universities to address not only the needs of society today, but critically, of tomorrow. On the other hand, they have implications and contributions to frame our thinking about the future ideas of a university not only in Malaysia, but regionally and globally.

Ownership patterns and control of top 100 Malaysian listed companies

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Che-Ahmad Ayoib B

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The incentive of this study stems from the significance of protecting minority shareholders’ rights. It analyses the most dominant ownership structure practices within listed firms in Bursa Malaysia (BM, in which controlling shareholders (CSs hold control on many firms despite relatively small portion of investment. Malaysian firms are characterised by high levels of concentrated ownership with families owning more than 70% of the listed firms in BM [9]. This study finds that the separation between cash flow rights (real investment and control rights (voting rights for Top 100 Malaysian listed firms is accomplished through pyramidal ownership and golden share arrangements. Hence, the divergence between cash flow rights (CFRs and voting rights (VRs exacerbates Type II Agency problem. This study calls for future studies in the area of accounting and finance to introduce and operationalise new measurement of Type II Agency Cost in order to better understand the agency conflicts within this unique market. It also better explains the state of the minority shareholders in the BM.

Effects of Focus of Accounting Research on the Quality of Accounting Education in Malaysian Universities

OpenAIRE

Kabiru Isa Dandago; Nor Azlina Binti Shaari

2013-01-01

This paper reviews the impact of focus of research in accounting on the quality of accounting education in Malaysian Universities. Research in accounting is very important in Malaysian Universities, in particular, and the Malaysian tertiary educational institutions, in general, and it is expected that academic research in accounting would improve the quality of accounting education in the country. The study is mainly a literature review type, with some informal interviews conducted for confir...

Validity of self-reported weight and height: a cross-sectional study among Malaysian adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Kee, C C; Lim, K H; Sumarni, M G; Teh, C H; Chan, Y Y; Nuur Hafizah, M I; Cheah, Y K; Tee, E O; Ahmad Faudzi, Y; Amal Nasir, M

2017-06-02

Self-reported weight and height are commonly used in lieu of direct measurements of weight and height in large epidemiological surveys due to inevitable constraints such as budget and human resource. However, the validity of self-reported weight and height, particularly among adolescents, needs to be verified as misreporting could lead to misclassification of body mass index and therefore overestimation or underestimation of the burden of BMI-related diseases. The objective of this study was to determine the validity of self-reported weight and height among Malaysian secondary school children. Both self-reported and directly measured weight and height of a subgroup of 663 apparently healthy schoolchildren from the Malaysian Adolescent Health Risk Behaviour (MyAHRB) survey 2013/2014 were analysed. Respondents were required to report their current body weight and height via a self-administrative questionnaire before they were measured by investigators. The validity of self-reported against directly measured weight and height was examined using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), the Bland-Altman plot and weighted Kappa statistics. There was very good intraclass correlation between self-reported and directly measured weight [r = 0.96, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.93, 0.97] and height (r = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.90, 0.96). In addition the Bland-Altman plots indicated that the mean difference between self-reported and direct measurement was relatively small. The mean difference (self-reported minus direct measurements) was, for boys: weight, -2.1 kg; height, -1.6 cm; BMI, -0.44 kg/m 2 and girls: weight, -1.2 kg; height, -0.9 cm; BMI, -0.3 kg/m 2 . However, 95% limits of agreement were wide which indicated substantial discrepancies between self-reported and direct measurements method at the individual level. Nonetheless, the weighted Kappa statistics demonstrated a substantial agreement between BMI status categorised based on self-reported weight and height

Promoting Intercultural Understanding among School Students through an English Language Based Reading Programme

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Manjet Kaur Mehar Singh

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Malaysian intercultural society is typified by three major ethnic groups mainly Malays, Chinese and Indians.  Although education system is the best tool for these three major ethnic groups to work together, contemporary research reveals that there is still lack of intercultural embedding education context and national schools are seen as breeding grounds of racial polarisation.  In Malaysian context, there is a gap in research that focuses on the design of a proper intercultural reading framework for national integration and such initiatives are viable through schools.  The main objective of this conceptual paper is to introduce the English Language Intercultural Reading Programme (ELIRP in secondary schools to promote intercultural understanding among secondary school students.  The proposed framework will facilitate the acquisition of intercultural inputs without being constrained by ideological, political, or psychological demands.  This article will focus on elucidating how ELIRP could affect cognitive (knowledge and behavioural transformations to intercultural perceptions harboured by selected Form 4 students of 20 national schools in Malaysia. Keywords: behavior, knowledge, intercultural reading framework, intercultural understanding, English Language Intercultural Reading Programme, secondary school students

Corporate governance and earnings quality : evidence from the Malaysian banking sector

OpenAIRE

Siniah, Thangamany

2017-01-01

This thesis investigates whether corporate governance conformance by Malaysian banks improves their financial reporting quality. It is motivated by the controversies surrounding corporate governance reforms and the calls for systematic research on its efficacy in the post-reform period. Malaysian banks have been subject to international standards of corporate governance since before and after the 1997–1998 Asian Financial Crisis. Malaysia’s common-law tradition, greater level of financial and...

The Influence of Corporate Governance And Firm’s Characteristics on The Extent of Compliance With Masb Standards Among Malaysian Listed Companies

OpenAIRE

Azhar Abdul Rahman, PhD; Ku Nor Izah Ku Ismail, PhD; Wan Nordin Wan Hussin, PhD

2013-01-01

This paper contributes to our understanding of compliance with mandatory accounting standards. Specifically, we examine the efficacy of agency related mechanisms on the degree of disclosure compliance with the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB) accounting standards. Using data drawn from a sample of 170 Malaysian companies listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) in 2004, we show that although overall disclosure compliance is high (85.2% of the items of information being disc...

Concussion Knowledge and Reporting Behavior Differences Between High School Athletes at Urban and Suburban High Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Wallace, Jessica; Covassin, Tracey; Nogle, Sally; Gould, Daniel; Kovan, Jeffrey

2017-09-01

We determined differences in knowledge of concussion and reporting behaviors of high school athletes attending urban and suburban high schools, and whether a relationship exists between underreporting and access to an athletic trainer in urban schools. High school athletes (N = 715) from 14 high schools completed a validated knowledge of concussion survey consisting of 83 questions. The independent variable was school type (urban/suburban). We examined the proportion of athletes who correctly identified signs and symptoms of concussion, knowledge of concussion and reasons why high school athletes would not disclose a potential concussive injury across school classification. Data were analyzed using descriptive, non-parametric, and inferential statistics. Athletes attending urban schools have less concussion knowledge than athletes attending suburban schools (p urban schools without an athletic trainer have less knowledge than urban athletes at schools with an athletic trainer (p urban schools and 10 reasons for not reporting. Concussion education efforts cannot be homogeneous in all communities. Education interventions must reflect the needs of each community. © 2017, American School Health Association.

Impacts of energy subsidy reform on the Malaysian economy and transportation sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Solaymani, Saeed; Kari, Fatimah

2014-01-01

Malaysia is paying a high level of subsidies on the consumption of energy (about 5% of its GDP). Therefore, reforming the energy subsidies, as planned by the government, will have a significant impact on household welfare and energy-intensive sectors, such as the transport sector. This study employs a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to highlight the transmission channels through which the removal of energy subsidies affects the domestic economy. The findings show that the shock increases real GDP and real investment, while decreasing Malaysian total exports and imports. The removal of energy subsidies also decreases the aggregate energy demand, and, consequently, decreases the level of carbon emissions in the Malaysian economy. In addition, households experience significant falls in their consumption and welfare. The transport sector is significantly influenced through an increase in production costs due to an increase in the prices of intermediate inputs. The total output and total exports of the whole transport sector decrease while its imports increase. In addition, the use of all kinds of transport by households decreases significantly. The Malaysian energy subsidy reform, leads to an initial decrease in CO 2 emissions and demand for electricity, gas, and petroleum products in the entire transport sector. - Highlights: • Malaysia pays a high level of subsidy on consumption of energy. • The transportation sector in this country is the highest energy consumer among others. • A general equilibrium model used to analyse the effects of energy subsidy reform. • The shock increases real GDP and decreases energy and carbon emission in this sector. • It is not beneficial for the transport sector as decreases the output of this sector

Review on Malaysian Rail Transit Operation and Management System: Issues and Solution in Integration

Science.gov (United States)

Masirin, Mohd Idrus Mohd; Salin, Aminah Mohd; Zainorabidin, Adnan; Martin, David; Samsuddin, Norshakina

2017-08-01

In any context, operation and management of transportation systems are key issues which may affect both life quality and economic development. In large urban agglomerations, an efficient public transportation system may help abate the negative externalities of private car use such as congestion, air and noise pollution, accident and fuel consumption, without excessively penalizing user travel times or zone accessibility. Thus, this study is conducted to appraise the Malaysian rural rail transit operation and management system, which are considered important as there are many issues and solution in integration of the services that need to be tackled more conscientiously. The purpose of this paper is to describe some of the most important issues on integration of services and rail transit system in Malaysian and how to solve or reduce these problems and conflicts. In this paper, it consists of the historical development of rail transit construction in Malaysia. This paper also attempts to identify the important issues related to rail transit services and integration in Malaysian rural rail operation and management system. Comparison is also conducted with other countries such as UK, France, and Japan. Finally, a critical analysis is presented in this paper by looking at the possible application for future Malaysian rail transit operation system and management, especially focusing on enhancing the quality of Malaysian rural rail transit. In conclusion, this paper is expected to successfully review and appraise the existing Malaysian rural rail transit operation and management system pertaining to issues & solution in integration. It is also hoped that reformation or transformation of present service delivery quality of the rail transit operation and management will enable Malaysia to succeed in transforming Malaysian transportation system to greater heights.

Emotional Health and Self-esteem Among Adolescents in Malaysian Orphanages.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohammadzadeh, Marjan; Awang, Hamidin; Kadir Shahar, Hayati; Ismail, Suriani

2018-01-01

This study aimed to assess the prevalence and risk factors of depression, anxiety, stress and low self-esteem among institutional Malaysian adolescents. This cross-sectional descriptive study included 287 adolescents aged 12-18 years living in six selected orphan homes. Study's instruments included Socio-demographic questionnaire, validated Malay version of Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. The findings revealed that 85.2, 80.1 and 84.7% of participants had depression, anxiety and stress respectively. Females were more likely to be depressed. Furthermore, anxiety was significantly associated with race and age but no significant associations between stress and the demographic factors were found. The study also showed that 70.8% of males and 69.2% of females had low self-esteem and the self-esteem was associated with depression, anxiety and stress.Therefore, mental health problems are very common among adolescents in Malaysian orphanages. Results reveal the urgency of immediate actions to reduce the mental health problems among Malaysian institutional adolescents.

Inter-Religious Dialogue: The Perspective of Malaysian Contemporary Muslim Thinkers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

AEMY ELYANI MAT ZAIN

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Malaysia is a country that is rich for the diversity of its people. This diversity can be seen from the aspect of faith, ethnicity, language, culture, and so on. In facing a society that is pluralistic in nature, several initiatives have been taken by the government and non-government bodies in ensuring understanding and unity among Malaysians. Among the initiatives taken are interreligious dialogues. In this regard, many among Malaysian thinkers have proposed some approaches and concepts of inter-faith dialogue that should and may be implemented in the context of Malaysia. For that purpose, this paper examined the forms of inter-religious dialogues in Malaysia from the perspective of Malaysian contemporary Muslim thinkers. The methodology utilized in this study is textual analysis, particularly the writings of these thinkers on this issue. This article concludes that there are several forms of inter-religious dialogues that are easily implemented, as well as the difficult ones in the context of Malaysia due to certain obstacles.

Management of heatstroke in Malaysian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Merican, M I

1989-09-01

Heat stroke is hardly seen in Malaysia. However, it occurs commonly in Saudi Arabia during the Haj season. Many Malaysian pilgrims are affected every year and some die. Having faced this environmental hazard for eight years, the Malaysian Medical Mission, sent each year to look after our pilgrims, modified its treatment strategy in 1988 and successfully decreased the overall morbidity and mortality of affected patients without the use of sophisticated equipment. A brief account of the management of 17 cases seen in 1988 is given. Only one died following treatment. The rest recovered fully without any residual neurological deficit or other complications.

Intellectual capital disclosure and corporate governance structure among Malaysian government-linked companies

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Rashidah Abdul Rahman

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This study examines the level of intellectual capital disclosure among the 32 Malaysian GLCs by comparing with the Non-GLCs for the period 2007-2009. In addition, this study also investigates the impact of board structure on the intellectual capital disclosure of Malaysian GLCs. The board structure mechanisms comprise; board composition, role duality, board size and cross directorship. The control variables consist of the company-specific characteristics –leverage, profitability and age of the company. The content analysis is used to extract the intellectual capital disclosure items from the annual report. The results show that the GLCs disclosed more intellectual capital information than Non-GLCs. Board size and leverage are significant and positively related to the intellectual capital disclosure of Malaysian GLCs.

Fixing High Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Perkins-Gough, Deborah

2005-01-01

Reports from national education organizations in the US indicate the sorry state of high schools in the country that are accused of failing to adequately prepare their graduates for college or for the workforce, highlighting what is a serious problem in light of the troubled state of the US economy. The need to improve high schools is urgent and…

Socioemotional Wealth and Firms’ Control: Evidence from Malaysian Chinese Owned Companies

OpenAIRE

Goh, Chin Fei; Rasli, Amran; Tan, Owee Kowang; Choi, Sang Long

2015-01-01

This paper explores how the preservation of socioemotional wealth can be manifested in the control and corporate governance of Malaysian Chinese firms. Using panel data from the Industrial Products index of the Bursa Malaysia (the Malaysian stock exchange) during 2003-2006, we show that the ingrained ‘life-raft values’ among overseas Chinese entrepreneurs can be associated with the preservation of their socioemotional wealth, and thus they prioritize control over their firms. Additionally, we...

Repositioning Strategy for Malaysian Companies Internationalization

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Ismi Rajiani

2013-05-01

Full Text Available 1024x768 The rise of the emerging-market countries offers both developing and developed countries a unique opportunity to gain the benefits of a truly international economy. Consequently, it is imperative to advance our knowledge of emerging-market countries MNC emergence and competitiveness including Malaysian firms on how will they position their products strategically? Based on the framework of Porter’s Generic Strategy this paper is composed of price/ volume segments and impacts on product strategy theory. The aim is to identify crucial triggering cues and focus areas for Malaysian companies and measure what role these play in different segments. This study argues that some Malaysian companies will reposition themselves strategically when internationalizing and that they will focus on other factors or triggering cues when doing so not merely adapting the prevalent price leadership strategy. Normal 0 false false false IN X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

LAUGHING AT OURSELVES: REFLECTING MALAYSIAN ETHNIC DISPARITIES

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SWAGATA SINHA ROY

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Malaysia’s various ethnic groups make interesting study both sociologically and culturally. With such a heady mix of cultural elements to explore, it is often natural that the many groups stumble upon ‘rare gems’ that reflect their ‘Malaysianess’. Have Malaysians really ever appreciated the many and varied aspects of culture that they are seemingly suddenly thrown into? Do we embrace these happily or are we constantly rejecting them? Fortunately, through the medium of film, we are, from time to time, allowed to reflect on our obvious similarities and even more apparent disparities. In this paper, we explore the culture and perceptions of people from the major ethnic groups that are the human base of this very country. When was it we have last laughed at ourselves … heartily? Nasi Lemak 2.0 provides an interesting, if not disturbing insight into the workings of the Malaysian ‘mind’. Nasi Lemak 2.0 was released on 8th September 2011 and impacted a whole generation of Malaysians. The characters have been well chosen and have done a wonderful job of being representations of the various communities in this nation. Ethnocentrism is a reality and often rears its head, ‘ugly’ or otherwise in several situations. Are we able to grapple with the levels of ethnocentrism that we encounter? These are some of the issues that will trigger much debate and discussion among ourselves and perhaps also reflect our cores.

Calling for the Development of Children's Number Sense in Primary Schools in Malaysia

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Kuldas, Seffetullah; Sinnakaudan, Santi; Hashim, Shahabuddin; Ghazali, Munirah

2017-01-01

Although the early development of children's number sense is a strong predictor of their later mathematics achievements, it has been overlooked in primary schools in Malaysia. Mainly attributable to underdeveloped number sense of Malaysian primary and secondary school children, their inability to handle simple mathematics tasks, which require the…

Comparison of physical activities of female football players in junior high school and high school.

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Inoue, Yuri; Otani, Yoshitaka; Takemasa, Seiichi

2017-08-01

[Purpose] This study aimed to compare physical activities between junior high school and high school female football players in order to explain the factors that predispose to a higher incidence of sports injuries in high school female football players. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-nine female football players participated. Finger floor distance, the center of pressure during single limb stance with eyes open and closed, the 40-m linear sprint time, hip abduction and extension muscle strength and isokinetic knee flexion and extension peak torque were measured. The modified Star Excursion Balance Test, the three-steps bounding test and three-steps hopping tests, agility test 1 (Step 50), agility test 2 (Forward run), curl-up test for 30 seconds and the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test were performed. [Results] The high school group was only significantly faster than the junior high school group in the 40-m linear sprint time and in the agility tests. The distance of the bounding test in the high school group was longer than that in the junior high school group. [Conclusion] Agility and speed increase with growth; however, muscle strength and balance do not develop alongside. This unbalanced development may cause a higher incidence of sports injuries in high school football players.

A Fitness Intervention Program within a Physical Education Class on Cardiovascular Endurance among Malaysia Secondary School Students

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Rengasamy, Shabeshan; Raju, Subramaniam; Lee, Wee Akina Sia Seng; Roa, Ramachandran

2014-01-01

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of a physical fitness intervention program within a physical education class on cardiovascular endurance of Malaysian secondary school boys and girls. A quasi experimental design was adopted for the study. Two schools in a district were randomly selected. In each school, two classes were randomly…

The good, the bad and the ugly: The shifting ethical stance of Malaysian consumers

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Teck-Chai Lau

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Due to the recent business ethical problems in Malaysia such as tax fraud, deceptive advertising, production of unsafe products and copyright piracy, the current research aim to examine ethical issues in the marketplace from the perspective of consumers. There are three objectives of this research. The first objective is to investigate the effect of moral ideologies and Machiavellianism on consumer ethical beliefs. The second objective is to determine which of these ideologies exert the greatest influence on consumer ethical beliefs and the third objective is to discover whether Malaysian consumers have evolved in their ethical stance over the last ten years. The dependent variable in this research is the recently modified consumer ethics scale developed by Vitell and Muncy (2005. An online survey was adopted as data collection method as it was inexpensive, fast and could ensure high response rates. However it has several limitations such as the possible non-representativeness of Internet respondents to the Malaysian population and higher non-response error. The results indicated that idealism exerted the greatest influence on all the four dimensions of consumer ethics. It was also revealed that Malaysian consumers had evolved over the past ten years in their moral ideology: from relativism to idealism.

Problem-Solving Skills and Suicidal Ideation Among Malaysian College Students: the Mediating Role of Hopelessness.

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Abdollahi, Abbas; Talib, Mansor Abu; Yaacob, Siti Nor; Ismail, Zanariah

2016-04-01

Recent evidence suggests that suicidal ideation has increased among Malaysian college students over the past two decades; therefore, it is essential to increase our knowledge concerning the etiology of suicidal ideation among Malaysian college students. This study was conducted to examine the relationships between problem-solving skills, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation among Malaysian college students. The participants included 500 undergraduate students from two Malaysian public universities who completed the self-report questionnaires. Structural equation modeling estimated that college students with poor problem-solving confidence, external personal control of emotion, and avoiding style were more likely to report suicidal ideation. Hopelessness partially mediated the relationship between problem-solving skills and suicidal ideation. These findings reinforce the importance of poor problem-solving skills and hopelessness as risk factors for suicidal ideation among college students.

Malaysian sign language dataset for automatic sign language ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences. Journal Home · ABOUT ... SL recognition system based on the Malaysian Sign Language (MSL). Implementation results are described. Keywords: sign language; pattern classification; database.

High-Performance Work Systems and School Effectiveness: The Case of Malaysian Secondary Schools

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Maroufkhani, Parisa; Nourani, Mohammad; Bin Boerhannoeddin, Ali

2015-01-01

This study focuses on the impact of high-performance work systems on the outcomes of organizational effectiveness with the mediating roles of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. In light of the importance of human resource activities in achieving organizational effectiveness, we argue that higher employees' decision-making capabilities…

Work-family conflict and sleep disturbance: the Malaysian working women study

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AAZAMI, Sanaz; MOZAFARI, Mosayeb; SHAMSUDDIN, Khadijah; AKMAL, Syaqirah

2015-01-01

This study aimed at assessing effect of the four dimensions of work-family conflicts (strain and time-based work interference into family and family interference into work) on sleep disturbance in Malaysian working women. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 325 Malaysian married working women. Multiple-stage simple random sampling method was used to recruit women from public service departments of Malaysia. Self-administrated questionnaires were used to measure the study variables and data were analyzed using SPSS version 21. We found that high level of the four dimensions of work-family conflicts significantly increase sleep disturbance. Our analyses also revealed an age-dependent effect of the work-family conflict on sleep disturbance. Women in their 20 to 30 yr old suffer from sleep disturbance due to high level of time-based and strain-based work-interference into family. However, the quality of sleep among women aged 30–39 were affected by strain-based family-interference into work. Finally, women older than 40 yr had significantly disturbed sleep due to strain-based work-interference into family as well as time-based family interference into work. Our findings showed that sleep quality of working women might be disturbed by experiencing high level of work-family conflict. However, the effects of inter-role conflicts on sleep varied among different age groups. PMID:26423332

Work-family conflict and sleep disturbance: the Malaysian working women study.

Science.gov (United States)

Aazami, Sanaz; Mozafari, Mosayeb; Shamsuddin, Khadijah; Akmal, Syaqirah

2016-01-01

This study aimed at assessing effect of the four dimensions of work-family conflicts (strain and time-based work interference into family and family interference into work) on sleep disturbance in Malaysian working women. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 325 Malaysian married working women. Multiple-stage simple random sampling method was used to recruit women from public service departments of Malaysia. Self-administrated questionnaires were used to measure the study variables and data were analyzed using SPSS version 21. We found that high level of the four dimensions of work-family conflicts significantly increase sleep disturbance. Our analyses also revealed an age-dependent effect of the work-family conflict on sleep disturbance. Women in their 20 to 30 yr old suffer from sleep disturbance due to high level of time-based and strain-based work-interference into family. However, the quality of sleep among women aged 30-39 were affected by strain-based family-interference into work. Finally, women older than 40 yr had significantly disturbed sleep due to strain-based work-interference into family as well as time-based family interference into work. Our findings showed that sleep quality of working women might be disturbed by experiencing high level of work-family conflict. However, the effects of inter-role conflicts on sleep varied among different age groups.

Motivating talents in Thai and Malaysian service firms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lehmann, Sanne

2009-01-01

Talent development in Thailand and Malaysian service firms has become a prioritized human resource management practice as these societies move toward knowledge-based economies. This paper discusses talent management in the social, organizational and managerial context of firms in Thailand...... and Malaysia, and argues that such structures often counterbalance investments made in talent development. The paper concludes that new human resource management practices do not produce a difference per se. It is the mindset and attitude of various managers that makes the difference. The learning...... for practitioners is that they need to adapt existing social and organizational structures to their new human resource management practices. The paper is based mainly on qualitative interviews with human resource managers from Thai and Malaysian service firms....

Reliability and validity of Champion's Health Belief Model Scale for breast cancer screening among Malaysian women.

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Parsa, P; Kandiah, M; Mohd Nasir, M T; Hejar, A R; Nor Afiah, M Z

2008-11-01

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in Malaysian women, and the use of breast self-examination (BSE), clinical breast examination (CBE) and mammography remain low in Malaysia. Therefore, there is a need to develop a valid and reliable tool to measure the beliefs that influence breast cancer screening practices. The Champion's Health Belief Model Scale (CHBMS) is a valid and reliable tool to measure beliefs about breast cancer and screening methods in the Western culture. The purpose of this study was to translate the use of CHBMS into the Malaysian context and validate the scale among Malaysian women. A random sample of 425 women teachers was taken from 24 secondary schools in Selangor state, Malaysia. The CHBMS was translated into the Malay language, validated by an expert's panel, back translated, and pretested. Analyses included descriptive statistics of all the study variables, reliability estimates, and construct validity using factor analysis. The mean age of the respondents was 37.2 (standard deviation 7.1) years. Factor analysis yielded ten factors for BSE with eigenvalue greater than 1 (four factors more than the original): confidence 1 (ability to differentiate normal and abnormal changes in the breasts), barriers to BSE, susceptibility for breast cancer, benefits of BSE, health motivation 1 (general health), seriousness 1 (fear of breast cancer), confidence 2 (ability to detect size of lumps), seriousness 2 (fear of long-term effects of breast cancer), health motivation 2 (preventive health practice), and confidence 3 (ability to perform BSE correctly). For CBE and mammography scales, seven factors each were identified. Factors for CBE scale include susceptibility, health motivation 1, benefits of CBE, seriousness 1, barriers of CBE, seriousness 2 and health motivation 2. For mammography the scale includes benefits of mammography, susceptibility, health motivation 1, seriousness 1, barriers to mammography seriousness 2 and health

Distribution of Depositors’ Return and The Income Smoothing Hypothesis by Malaysian Islamic Banks

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Zunaidah Sulong

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The paper aims to examine whether Malaysian Islamic banks carry out income smoothing with regards to their distribution of depositors’ return. The paper also examines the extent Malaysian Islamic banks engage earnings and capital management in their distribution of depositors’ return. This empirical study uses balanced panel data from 16 Malaysian Islamic banks, for the period 2008-2012. The regression model is estimated using random effects specifications. The findings indicate that the earnings before tax, zakat, and provision have a positive but insignificant effect on distribution of depositors’ return (DDR whilst the total capital before provision has a positive and significant effect on the DDR. These findings suggest that Islamic banks carry out income smoothing on the distribution of depositors’ return via capital management. Islamic banks also smooth their earnings through distribution of depositors’ return to avoid earnings troughs when earnings are poor. The findings shows prudence exercise among Malaysian Islamic banks with the objectives of mitigating displaced commercial risk (DCR, which involves massive withdrawal and bank runs risks.

Lessons from the Bone Chapter of the Malaysian Aging Men Study

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Kok-Yong Chin

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Male osteoporosis in Malaysia is a largely neglected problem. Therefore, a bone health study in men using quantitative ultrasonometry was launched as part of the Malaysian Aging Men Study in 2009–2012. This review aimed to summarize the findings of the aforementioned bone health study. The study examined the bone health of Chinese and Malaysian men aged 20 years and above living in Kuala Lumpur using a quantitative ultrasound device. Participants answered a questionnaire on their demographic details and physical activity status. Body anthropometry of the participants was measured and their blood collected for biochemical analysis. Results showed that a significant proportion of the Malaysian Chinese and Malay men had suboptimal bone health indicated by calcaneal speed of sound and vitamin D status. Age-related decline of the calcaneal speed of sound in these men was gradual and biphasic without ethnic difference. Body anthropometry such as height, weight, body mass index, and body fat percentage contributed to the variation of the calcaneal speed of sound in Malaysian men. Age-related changes in testosterone, insulin-like growth factor 1, and thyroid stimulating hormone also influenced the calcaneal speed of sound in these men. This study serves as a reminder that male osteoporosis in Malaysia should be an issue of concern. It is also a basis for a more comprehensive study on bone health in men in the future.

Lessons from the Bone Chapter of the Malaysian Aging Men Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, Kok-Yong; Wan Ngah, Wan Zurinah; Ima-Nirwana, Soelaiman

2016-05-25

Male osteoporosis in Malaysia is a largely neglected problem. Therefore, a bone health study in men using quantitative ultrasonometry was launched as part of the Malaysian Aging Men Study in 2009-2012. This review aimed to summarize the findings of the aforementioned bone health study. The study examined the bone health of Chinese and Malaysian men aged 20 years and above living in Kuala Lumpur using a quantitative ultrasound device. Participants answered a questionnaire on their demographic details and physical activity status. Body anthropometry of the participants was measured and their blood collected for biochemical analysis. Results showed that a significant proportion of the Malaysian Chinese and Malay men had suboptimal bone health indicated by calcaneal speed of sound and vitamin D status. Age-related decline of the calcaneal speed of sound in these men was gradual and biphasic without ethnic difference. Body anthropometry such as height, weight, body mass index, and body fat percentage contributed to the variation of the calcaneal speed of sound in Malaysian men. Age-related changes in testosterone, insulin-like growth factor 1, and thyroid stimulating hormone also influenced the calcaneal speed of sound in these men. This study serves as a reminder that male osteoporosis in Malaysia should be an issue of concern. It is also a basis for a more comprehensive study on bone health in men in the future.

Vector competence of Malaysian Aedes albopictus with and without Wolbachia to four dengue virus serotypes.

Science.gov (United States)

Joanne, Sylvia; Vythilingam, Indra; Teoh, Boon-Teong; Leong, Cherng-Shii; Tan, Kim-Kee; Wong, Meng-Li; Yugavathy, Nava; AbuBakar, Sazaly

2017-09-01

To determine the susceptibility status of Aedes albopictus with and without Wolbachia to the four dengue virus serotypes. Two newly colonised colonies of Ae. albopictus from the wild were used for the study. One colony was naturally infected with Wolbachia while in the other Wolbachia was removed by tetracycline treatment. Both colonies were orally infected with dengue virus-infected fresh blood meal. Dengue virus load was measured using quantitative RT-PCR at four-time intervals in the salivary glands, midguts and ovaries. Wolbachia did not significantly affect Malaysian Ae. albopictus dengue infection or the dissemination rate for all four dengue virus serotypes. Malaysian Ae. albopictus had the highest replication kinetics for DENV-1 and the highest salivary gland and midgut infection rate for DENV-4. Wolbachia, which naturally exists in Malaysian Ae. albopictus, does not significantly affect dengue virus replication. Malaysian Ae. albopictus is susceptible to dengue virus infections and capable of transmitting dengue virus, especially DENV-1 and DENV-4. Removal of Wolbachia from Malaysian Ae. albopictus would not reduce their susceptibility status. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Relationship between High School Math Courses, High School GPA, and Retention of Honors Scholarships

Science.gov (United States)

Megert, Diann Ackerman

2005-01-01

This research examined the high school transcripts of honors scholarship recipients to identify a better criterion for awarding scholarships than high school grade point average (GPA) alone. Specifically, this study compared the honors scholarship retention rate when the scholarship was awarded based on completed advanced high school math classes…

Switching Schools: Reconsidering the Relationship Between School Mobility and High School Dropout

Science.gov (United States)

Gasper, Joseph; DeLuca, Stefanie; Estacion, Angela

2014-01-01

Youth who switch schools are more likely to demonstrate a wide array of negative behavioral and educational outcomes, including dropping out of high school. However, whether switching schools actually puts youth at risk for dropout is uncertain, since youth who switch schools are similar to dropouts in their levels of prior school achievement and engagement, which suggests that switching schools may be part of the same long-term developmental process of disengagement that leads to dropping out. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, this study uses propensity score matching to pair youth who switched high schools with similar youth who stayed in the same school. We find that while over half the association between switching schools and dropout is explained by observed characteristics prior to 9th grade, switching schools is still associated with dropout. Moreover, the relationship between switching schools and dropout varies depending on a youth's propensity for switching schools. PMID:25554706

A Study of School Size among Alabama’s Public High Schools

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Ronald A. Lindahl

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the size of Alabama’s public high schools, selected school quality and financial indicators, and their students’ performance on standardized exams. When the socioeconomic level of the student bodies is held constant, the size of high schools in Alabama has relatively little relationship with 11th grade student (both regular and special education performance on the reading and math portions of the Alabama High School Graduation Exam (AHSGE. High schools’ average daily attendance rates and pupil-to-computer (and computer with Internet connections ratios do not vary in accordance with school size. Higher percentages of highly qualified teachers are found in Alabama’s largest high schools. There was very little difference in the percentage of teachers with a master’s degree or above across school size categories. Very little difference exists across size categories in regard to mean expenditures per pupil (range = $7,322 to $7,829. However, districts of the large high schools exert over twice the effort of those with small high schools (3.2 mills to 1.5 mills and approximately 50 percent greater local effort than the districts of the medium-size high schools.

Impact of the 2015 wildfires on Malaysian air quality and exposure: a comparative study of observed and modeled data

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Mead, M. I.; Castruccio, S.; Latif, M. T.; Nadzir, M. S. M.; Dominick, D.; Thota, A.; Crippa, P.

2018-04-01

In September and October 2015, Equatorial Asia experienced the most intense biomass burning episodes over the past two decades. These events, mostly enhanced by the extremely dry weather associated with the occurrence of strong El Niño conditions, resulted in the transnational transport of hazardous pollutants from the originating sources in Indonesian Borneo and Sumatra to the highly populated Malaysian Peninsula. Quantifying the population exposure form this event is a major challenge, and only two model-based studies have been performed to date, with limited evaluation against measurements. This manuscript presents a new data set of 49 monitoring stations across Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo active during the 2015 haze event, and performs the first comparative study of PM10 (particulate matter with diameter air quality conditions associated with the increased pollutant concentrations from wildfires and that almost 40% of the Malaysian population was on average exposed to PM10 concentrations higher than 100 µg m‑3 during September and October 2015.

At-risk high school seniors: Science remediation for Georgia's High School Graduation Test

Science.gov (United States)

Carroll, Carolyn M.

State departments of education have created a system of accountability for the academic achievement of students under the mandate of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The Georgia Department of Education established the Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT) as their method of evaluating the academic achievement of high school students. The GHSGT consist of five sections and students must pass all five sections before students they are eligible to receive a diploma. The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of teacher-lead and computer based remediation for a group of high school seniors who have been unsuccessful in passing the science portion of the GHSGT. The objectives of this study include (a) Identify the most effective method of remediation for at-risk students on the science section of the GHSGT, and (b) evaluate the methods of remediation for at-risk students on the science section of GHSGT available to high school students. The participants of this study were at-risk seniors enrolled in one high school during the 2007-2008 school year. The findings of this research study indicated that at-risk students who participated in both types of remediation, teacher-led and computer-based, scored significantly higher than the computer-based remediation group alone. There was no significant relationship between the test scores and the number of times the students were tested.

School Start Times for Middle School and High School Students - United States, 2011-12 School Year.

Science.gov (United States)

Wheaton, Anne G; Ferro, Gabrielle A; Croft, Janet B

2015-08-07

Adolescents who do not get enough sleep are more likely to be overweight; not engage in daily physical activity; suffer from depressive symptoms; engage in unhealthy risk behaviors such as drinking, smoking tobacco, and using illicit drugs; and perform poorly in school. However, insufficient sleep is common among high school students, with less than one third of U.S. high school students sleeping at least 8 hours on school nights. In a policy statement published in 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) urged middle and high schools to modify start times as a means to enable students to get adequate sleep and improve their health, safety, academic performance, and quality of life. AAP recommended that "middle and high schools should aim for a starting time of no earlier than 8:30 a.m.". To assess state-specific distributions of public middle and high school start times and establish a pre-recommendation baseline, CDC and the U.S. Department of Education analyzed data from the 2011-12 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). Among an estimated 39,700 public middle, high, and combined schools* in the United States, the average start time was 8:03 a.m. Overall, only 17.7% of these public schools started school at 8:30 a.m. or later. The percentage of schools with 8:30 a.m. or later start times varied greatly by state, ranging from 0% in Hawaii, Mississippi, and Wyoming to more than three quarters of schools in Alaska (76.8%) and North Dakota (78.5%). A school system start time policy of 8:30 a.m. or later provides teenage students the opportunity to achieve the 8.5-9.5 hours of sleep recommended by AAP and the 8-10 hours recommended by the National Sleep Foundation.

Malaysian University Students’ Attitudes towards Six Varieties of Accented Speech in English

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Zainab Thamer Ahmed

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Previous language attitude studies indicated that in many countries all over the world, English language learners perceived native accents either American or British, more positively than the non-native accents such as the Japanese, Korean, and Austrian accents. However, in Malaysia it is still unclear which accent Malaysian learners of English tend to perceive more positively (Pillai 2009. The verbal-guise technique and accent recognition item were adopted as indirect and direct instruments in gathering data to obtain data to clarify the inquiry. The sample includes 120 Malaysian university students and they were immersed in several speech accent situations to elicit feedback on their perceptions. Essentially two research questions are addressed: 1 What are Malaysian university students’ attitudes toward native and non-native English accents? 2 How familiar are students with accents?  The results indicated that the students had a bias towards in-group accent, meaning that they evaluated non-native lecturers’ accents more positively. These results supported the ‘social identity theory’ consistent with many previous language attitude studies of this nature. The Malaysian students were seen to be able to distinguish between native and non-native accents although there was much confusion between British and American accents.

Emergence of chikungunya seropositivity in healthy Malaysian adults residing in outbreak-free locations: Chikungunya seroprevalence results from the Malaysian Cohort

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background In 1998, Malaysia experienced its first chikungunya virus (CHIKV) outbreak in the suburban areas followed by another two in 2006 (rural areas) and 2008 (urban areas), respectively. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of documented data regarding the magnitude of CHIKV exposure in the Malaysian population. The aim of this study was to determine the extent of chikungunya virus infection in healthy Malaysian adults residing in outbreak-free locations. Methods A cross sectional study of chikungunya (CHIK) seroprevalence was carried out in 2009 amongst The Malaysian Cohort participants living in four states (Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Pahang and Negeri Sembilan). A total of 945 participants were randomly identified for the study. Potential risk factors for CHIK infection were determined via questionnaires, and IgG antibodies against CHIK were detected by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Logistic regression identified risk factors associated with CHIK seropositivity, while geographical information system was used for visual and spatial analysis. Results From the 945 serum samples tested, 5.9% was positive for CHIK IgG. Being male, Malay, rural occupancy and Negeri Sembilan residency were identified as univariate predictors for CHIK seropositivity, while multivariate analysis identified being male and rural occupancy as risk factors. Conclusions This study provided evidence that CHIK is slowly emerging in Malaysia. Although the current baseline seroprevalence is low in this country, increasing number of CHIK cases reported to the Malaysia Ministry of Health imply the possibility of CHIK virus becoming endemic in Malaysia. PMID:23379541

Nutritional Status of Breast Cancer Survivors 1 Year after Diagnosis: A Preliminary Analysis from the Malaysian Breast Cancer Survivorship Cohort Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Majid, Hazreen Abd; Keow, Low Phei; Islam, Tania; Su, Tin Tin; Cantwell, Marie; Taib, Nur Aishah

2018-04-01

Lifestyle factors, such as diet, body weight, and physical activity, are linked to better survival after breast cancer (BC) diagnosis. A high percentage of the Malaysian population is overweight or obese. In addition, studies have shown a disparity in survival among Malaysian women compared with other higher-income countries. The Malaysian Breast Cancer Survivorship Cohort (MyBCC) study aims to study lifestyle factors that affect survival in BC survivors. These are the preliminary findings on the nutritional status of Malaysian BC survivors. Our aim was to evaluate the nutritional status of BC survivors at 1 year after diagnosis. This was a cross-sectional study of 194 participants from the MyBCC study, recruited within 1 year of their diagnosis. Participants completed a 3-day food diary. Malaysian women (aged 18 years and older) who were newly diagnosed with primary BC, managed at the University Malaya Medical Center, and able to converse either in Malay, English, or Mandarin were included. Dietary intake and prevalence of overweight or obesity among participants 1 year after diagnosis were measured. Student's t test and analysis of variance or its equivalent nonparametric test were used for association in continuous variables. About 66% (n=129) of participants were overweight or obese and >45% (n=86) had high body fat percentage 1 year after diagnosis. The participants' diets were low in fiber (median=8.7 g/day; interquartile range=7.2 g/day) and calcium (median=458 mg/day; interquartile range=252 mg/day). Ethnicity and educational attainment contributed to the differences in dietary intake among participants. Higher saturated fat and lower fiber intake were observed among Malay participants compared with other ethnic groups. Overweight and obesity were highly prevalent among BC survivors and suboptimal dietary intake was observed. Provision of an individualized medical nutrition therapy by a qualified dietitian is crucial as part of comprehensive BC survivorship

Social and psychological factors affecting eating habits among university students in a Malaysian medical school: a cross-sectional study

OpenAIRE

Ganasegeran, Kurubaran; Al-Dubai, Sami AR; Qureshi, Ahmad M; Al-abed, Al-abed AA; AM, Rizal; Aljunid, Syed M

2012-01-01

Abstract Background Eating habits have been a major concern among university students as a determinant of health status. The aim of this study was to assess the pattern of eating habits and its associated social and psychological factors among medical students. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted among 132 medical students of pre-clinical phase at a Malaysian university. A self-administered questionnaire was used which included questions on socio-demography, anthropometry, eating ha...

Essential Oil Compositions of Malaysian Lauraceae: A Mini Review

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Wan Mohd Nuzul Hakimi Salleh, Farediah Ahmad * , Khong Heng Yen, Razauden Mohamed Zulkifli

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Essential oils have been largely employed for human need due to their antibacterial, antifungal and insecticidal activities. At present, approximately 3000 essential oils are known, 300 of which are commercially important. Essential oils or some of their components are used in perfumes and make-up products, sanitary products, dentistry, agriculture, as food preservers and additives, and as natural remedies. The essential oil compositions of Malaysian Lauraceae family have been investigated for many years. In the recent years, studies on the essential oils of the species have been progressing and many of them have reported interesting pharmacological activities. In this article, we summarized and updated the chemical compositions and biological activities of Malaysian Lauraceae. Throughout our literature review, only four genera which are Lindera, Beilschmiedia, Litsea, and Cinnamomum have been studied for their essential oil compositions in Malaysia. They were found to contain mainly safrole, eugenol, linalool, camphor, benzyl benzoate or cinnamaldehyde as major components. There were significant priorities to find out the details of the chemical compositions of the essential oils from Malaysian Lauraceae. Therefore, more clinical studies on the toxicity of the essential oil of the species are also crucial to ensure their safety and to assess their eligibility to be used as the sources of modern medicines.

Representation of Business Culture in Selected Malaysian Short Stories

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zanirah Wahab

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Globalisation has brought numerous changes in all aspects of life especially in the economic sector. For the past few decades, the importance of economic growth and achievement has become the “obsession” of people around the world. Malaysia is no exception to this economic globalisation whirlwind. As well-known business hub with cutting edge technologies and blooming business enterprises, economic globalisation has shifted the way Malaysian society view things or connect with one another. This paper explores how business culture is represented in Malaysian short stories as well as examines the stand of the writers regarding the impact of economic globalisation on their society. In doing so, this paper compares and critically analyses three - selected short stories in the light of globalisation theory. The five main characteristics of globalisation namely, internationalisation, liberalisation, universalisation, westernisation and deterritorialisation are taken into account while dissecting these literary works. From the analysis, each writer voices out similar concerns regarding the impact of economic globalisation on their society. Malaysian fictions are preoccupied with the erosion of good values and the nation’s physical changes due to economic globalisation. The parallel stand demonstrates that regardless of their ethnicity and gender, they react uniformly to the changes.

Dental health status and treatment needs in the infantry regiment of the Malaysian Territorial Army.

Science.gov (United States)

Jasmin, Borhan; Jaafar, Nasruddin

2011-04-01

The aim of this study was to determine the dental health status and treatment needs of personnel in the Infantry Regiment of the Malaysian Territorial Army (TA).This cross-sectional study involved stratified and systematic random sampling with a total sample size of 300. Dental health status and treatment needs were assessed using the standard WHO oral assessment criteria (1997). The prevalence of caries experience was 96% (mean ± SD DMFT [decayed, missing, filled teeth] = 8.0 ± 5.5). Active decay prevalence was high (85%; mean ± SD = 3.6 ± 3.1) indicating high unmet treatment need. Missing teeth prevalence was high (69%; mean ± SD = 2.8 ± 3.7). Filled teeth prevalence was low (56%, mean ± SD = 1.5 ± 2.0). In all, 90% of participants required some form of dental treatment, of whom 85% required restorative treatment, 5% advanced restorative treatment, 36.7% extractions, and 45.3% prosthetic treatment. These findings suggest that there was a high need for dental treatment in the Infantry Battalions of Malaysian TA Regiments and the service must be made available to cater to the needs.

School connectedness and high school graduation among maltreated youth.

Science.gov (United States)

Lemkin, Allison; Kistin, Caroline J; Cabral, Howard J; Aschengrau, Ann; Bair-Merritt, Megan

2018-01-01

Maltreated youth have higher rates of school dropout than their non-maltreated peers. School connectedness is a modifiable predictor of school success. We hypothesized maltreated youth's school connectedness (supportive relationships with adults at school and participation in school clubs) would be positively associated with high school graduation. We included youth with at least one Child Protective Services (CPS) report by age twelve from Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect, a prospective cohort study. Participation in extracurricular activities and adult relationships reported at age 16, high school graduation/General Education Development (GED) status reported at age 18, and demographics were provided by youth and caregivers. Maltreatment data were coded from CPS records. The outcome was graduation/receipt of GED. Multivariable logistic regressions examined the association between school connectedness and graduation/receipt of GED, controlling for confounders. In our sample of 318 maltreated youth, 73.3% graduated. School club was the only activity with a statistically significant association with graduation in bivariate analysis. Having supportive relationships with an adult at school was not significantly associated with graduation, though only 10.7% of youth reported this relationship. Maltreated youth who participated in school clubs had 2.54 times the odds of graduating, adjusted for study site, gender, poverty status, caregiver high school graduation status, and age at first CPS report (95% CI: [1.02, 6.33]). Few maltreated youth reported relationships with adults at school, and additional efforts may be needed to support these vulnerable youth. School club participation may represent an opportunity to modify maltreated youth's risk for school dropout. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

State of progress in Malaysian plant Taxonomy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

NN,

1948-01-01

Dr H.C.D. de Wit started a revision of Malaysian Bauhinia, this being part of his work on the Caesalpiniaceae of Malaysia; he is working in the Eijksherbarium, Leyden, Holland. Mr R.A. Blakelock, is revising the genus Evonymus at the Roy. Bot. Gardens, Kew-Surrey.

Validity of self-reported weight and height: a cross-sectional study among Malaysian adolescents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. C. Kee

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Self-reported weight and height are commonly used in lieu of direct measurements of weight and height in large epidemiological surveys due to inevitable constraints such as budget and human resource. However, the validity of self-reported weight and height, particularly among adolescents, needs to be verified as misreporting could lead to misclassification of body mass index and therefore overestimation or underestimation of the burden of BMI-related diseases. The objective of this study was to determine the validity of self-reported weight and height among Malaysian secondary school children. Methods Both self-reported and directly measured weight and height of a subgroup of 663 apparently healthy schoolchildren from the Malaysian Adolescent Health Risk Behaviour (MyAHRB survey 2013/2014 were analysed. Respondents were required to report their current body weight and height via a self-administrative questionnaire before they were measured by investigators. The validity of self-reported against directly measured weight and height was examined using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC, the Bland-Altman plot and weighted Kappa statistics. Results There was very good intraclass correlation between self-reported and directly measured weight [r = 0.96, 95% confidence interval (CI: 0.93, 0.97] and height (r = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.90, 0.96. In addition the Bland-Altman plots indicated that the mean difference between self-reported and direct measurement was relatively small. The mean difference (self-reported minus direct measurements was, for boys: weight, −2.1 kg; height, −1.6 cm; BMI, −0.44 kg/m2 and girls: weight, −1.2 kg; height, −0.9 cm; BMI, −0.3 kg/m2. However, 95% limits of agreement were wide which indicated substantial discrepancies between self-reported and direct measurements method at the individual level. Nonetheless, the weighted Kappa statistics demonstrated a substantial agreement between BMI

Care demands on mothers caring for a child with Down syndrome: Malaysian (Sarawak) mothers' perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Kim Geok; Lim, Khatijah Abdullah; Ling, How Kee

2015-10-01

This paper examines the experiences of mothers caring for a child with Down syndrome in the Malaysian (Sarawak) context. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 26 biological mothers of children with Down syndrome aged 18 years and below. They were accessed through selected child health clinics, community-based rehabilitation centres and schools using purposive sampling within two regions in Sarawak, one of the two Borneo States of Malaysia. Major themes emerging within the context of care demands were children's health, developmental delays, daily needs and behaviour issues. The insights obtained into the care demands experienced by mothers of children with Down syndrome have several implications for practice by care professionals. © 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Consumption intention toward ethnic food: determinants of Dayak food choice by Malaysians

OpenAIRE

Ting, Hiram; Tan, Sharon; Alexandra Nastassia, John

2017-01-01

Background: The awareness and trying of ethnic cuisine have increased due to the developing exchange of trade, movement of ethnicities across the globe, and tourist traveling opportunities. More people consume ethnic food for the appreciation of the culture and taste. Although the Dayaks are the largest indigenous group in Malaysia, little is done to date to explicate why Malaysians consume Dayak food. The present study aims to investigate the Dayak food choice of non-Dayak Malaysians and to ...

Impact of Antecedent Factors on Collaborative Technologies Usage among Academic Researchers in Malaysian Research Universities

Science.gov (United States)

Mohd Daud, Norzaidi; Zakaria, Halimi

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of antecedent factors on collaborative technologies usage among academic researchers in Malaysian research universities. Design/methodology/approach: Data analysis was conducted on data collected from 156 academic researchers from five Malaysian research universities. This study…

Educational Transition of East Malaysian Distance Learners.

Science.gov (United States)

Saw, K. G.; Awang, M. N.; Idrus, R. M.; Atan, H.; Azli, N. A.; Jaafar, I.; Rahman, Z. A.; Latiff, Z. A.

1999-01-01

Describes results of a study of the changing perceptions of East Malaysian distance learners studying at the Universiti Sains Malaysia. Highlights include students' perceptions of their study skills; and the impact of their studies on other areas of their life, including social obligations, recreation, families, health, finances, work, and…

Energy and Nutrient Intakes: Findings from the Malaysian Adult Nutrition Survey (MANS).

Science.gov (United States)

Mirnalini, K; Zalilah, M S; Safiah, M Y; Tahir, A; Siti Haslinda, M D; Siti Rohana, D; Khairul Zarina, M Y; Mohd Hasyami, S; Normah, H

2008-03-01

Nutrition surveys based on a representative sample of the Malaysian adult population have hitherto not been reported. In 2003, the Ministry of Health, Malaysia, conducted the Malaysian Adult Nutrition Survey (MANS), the first and largest nutrition survey in the country which aimed to provide detailed quantitative information on nutritional status, food and nutrient intakes, and physical activity pattern on a nationwide representative sample of adult subjects between the ages of 18 and 59 years. The survey covered four zones in Peninsular Malaysia (Central, Southern, Northern and East Coast), Sabah and Sarawak. This paper presents the mean and selected percentiles of energy and nutrient intake of 6886 subjects by selected demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Energy contributions by macronutrients and dietary adequacy in relation to the Recommended Nutrient Intake for Malaysians are also described. Information on dietary intake was collected by trained nutritionists using a one day 24-hour diet recall. Dietary data were analysed using Nutritionist Pro, a diet analysis software and statistical analysis was carried out using the SPSS ver. 13.0. In most of the demographic and socioeconomic groups, males had higher mean energy (1776 kcal) and nutrient intake and percent achievement of RNI than females (1447 kcal). The proportions of calories derived from macronutrients were within the recommendations for a healthy diet. Intake of micronutrients such as iron, calcium and vitamin A was about 50% of RNI particularly in women. Sodium intake of Malaysians, not reported in earlier studies, is also made available. Under-reporting using the EI/BMR ratio was found in half of the population studied. The present study provides the first national estimates of energy and nutrient intake of the Malaysian adult population. Regular nutrition surveys are needed at the national level to provide valuable information on trends in food and nutrient intake, particularly among age

The impact of derivatives on Malaysian stock market

Science.gov (United States)

Malim, M. R.; Halim, F. A.; Murad, A.; Maad, H. A.; Annuar, N. F. M.

2017-09-01

The essential of derivatives has been discovered by researchers over recent decade. However, the conclusions made regarding the impact of derivatives on stock market volatility remains debatable. The main objective of this study is to examine the impact of derivatives on Malaysian stock market volatility by exploring FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index Futures (BMD FKLI) using FBM KLCI as the underlying asset. Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) (1, 1) model was employed to realize the objective. The results have shown that the introduction of futures trading has decreased the volatility of Malaysian stock market. The volatility increased vigorously during the Asian financial crisis compared to the Global financial crisis. However, the role of futures as a risk transfer is agreed as it could improve the market by decreasing the volatility in the spot market.

Women in the Malaysian parliament: Do they matter?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ummu Atiyah Ahmad Zakuan

2010-12-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the impact of women’s representation in the lower house (Dewan Rakyat of the Malaysian Parliament. It is an attempt to see whether women representatives in the Dewan Rakyat are able to make any impact or difference in parliament, in the context of making policy output more women-friendly. Available studies conducted mainly in the West have shown that women legislators are more responsive to women’s interest than their male counterparts, developing distinctive sets of concerns and priorities and taking leading parts in formulating policies that favour women. Through textual analysis of nine years of the Malaysian Parliament (1999-2007, this paper examines the issues that have been introduced and discussed by the women and the impact they made in parliament. It also reveals the critical actors initiating or introducing women-related issues.

FACTORS INFLUENCING SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE MALAYSIAN WORKPLACE

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Lee Kum Chee

2007-01-01

Full Text Available This study examined the potential risks factors associated with sexually harassing behaviors within the framework of the four-factor model of sexual harassment. The factors examined are unprofessional work environment, skewed gender ratio in the workplace, knowledge of grievance procedure for sexual harassment, sexist attitudes among co-workers, privacy of workspace, physical attractiveness, dress manner of victims, job status, and sex roles. The dependent variable is incidence of sexual harassment which was evaluated using the Sexual Experience Questionnaire developed by Fitzgerald, Shullman, Bailey, Richards, Swecker, Gold, Ormerod, and Weitzman (1988. Data were collected from 657 women employees working in Malaysian organizations. The findings showed that the predictions of the four-factor model are also largely true in the case of the Malaysian workplace. The study also found that sexual harassment behaviors are fairly widespread in Malaysia.

The prevalence of recurrent abdominal pain in 11- to 16-year-old Malaysian schoolchildren.

Science.gov (United States)

Boey, C; Yap, S; Goh, K L

2000-04-01

To determine the prevalence of recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) among Malaysian school children aged from 11 to 16 years. A preliminary cross-sectional survey in which three urban schools and three rural schools were selected randomly. Two classes were selected randomly from each year. A questionnaire was given to each child asking him or her about whether they had experienced abdominal pain occurring at least three times over a period of at least 3 months, interfering with normal daily activity. 1 Interfering with normal daily activity was defined as missing school and/or having to stop doing a routine daily activity on account of the pain. Girls whose pains were related to periods were excluded. After the forms had been completed, each child was again interviewed to ensure that Apley's criteria1 was fulfilled in cases of RAP. The overall prevalence of RAP among 1549 schoolchildren (764 boys; 785 girls) was 10.2% (95% confidence interval (CI), 8.8-11.8). There appeared to be a higher prevalence in rural schoolchildren (P = 0.008; odds ratio (OR) 1.58), in those with a lower family income (P family size. : In spite of differences in time and culture, the overall prevalence of 10.2% found in this study is similar to that determined by Apley.1 There are significant differences in the prevalence of RAP between children from rural and urban schools, among children with different family incomes and among children whose parents have different educational backgrounds.

Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on Planting and Maintenance of Orchid at Malaysian Nuclear Agency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Othman Abu Sari; Suhaimi Musa; Affrida Abu Hassan

2015-01-01

Research on orchid mutation breeding has been carried out at Malaysian Nuclear Agency since 1990s. In this study, a large number of irradiated orchid seedlings were planted for screening and the mutants obtained were propagated from time to time. Care should be taken to make sure plants are healthy, hence resulted in reliable and accurate data. For this purpose, SOP for orchid cultivation and maintenance need to be developed. A short attachment on training was carried at Hexagon Green Sdn. Bhd orchid farm, Bukit Changgang, Banting. Besides learning the cultivation, maintenance and management of orchids, consequently the experience obtained from this attachment helped in preparing SOP at Malaysian Nuclear Agency. This paper will discuss the SOP on cultivation and maintenance of orchid from the hardening until maturation stage in the glass house to ensure plants are healthy, produce of high quality flowers and disease free. (author)

EVALUATION OF LINERBOARD PROPERTIES FROM MALAYSIAN CULTIVATED KENAF SODA-ANTHRAQUINONE PULPS VERSUS COMMERCIAL PULPS

OpenAIRE

Ahmad Azizi Mossello; Jalaluddin Harun; Rushdan Ibrahim; Hossien Resalati; Seyed Rashid Fallah Shamsi; Paridah Md Tahir; Mohd Nor Mohad Yusoff

2010-01-01

Malaysian cultivated kenaf has been identified as a suitable raw material for linerboard production. This study examines the soda-antraquinone (soda-AQ) pulp of kenaf fibers versus old corrugated container (OCC) and unbleached softwood kraft pulps as the main sources for linerboard production. The results showed significant differences among the pulp properties. The unbleached kraft pulp with very high freeness required high beating to reach an optimized freeness and produced paper with the h...

Whole Grain Intakes in the Diets Of Malaysian Children and Adolescents--Findings from the MyBreakfast Study.

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Norimah Ak

Full Text Available Diets rich in whole grain are associated with several health benefits. Little is known however, about whole grain consumption patterns in Malaysia. The aim of this study was to assess whole grain intakes and dietary source in Malaysian children and adolescents.This analysis is from the MyBreakfast study, a national cross sectional study investigating eating habits among primary and secondary school children throughout Malaysia, conducted in 2013. Children (n = 5,165 and adolescents (n = 2,947 who completed two days of dietary assessment using a food record or recall respectively were included. The whole grain content of foods was estimated mainly through the use of quantitative ingredient declarations on food labels. All wholegrain foods were considered irrespective of the amount of whole grain they contained.Overall, only 25% of children and 19% of adolescents were wholegrain consumers. Mean daily intakes in the total sample were 2.3g/d (SD 5.8 g/d in children and 1.7 g/d (SD 4.7 g/d in adolescents and in the consumer's only sample, mean intakes reached 9.1g/d (SD 8.6 and 9.2g/d (SD 7.1g/d respectively. Wheat was the main grain source of whole grain while ready to eat breakfast cereals and hot cereals were the main food contributors. Less than 3% of the children and adolescents reached the US quantitative whole grain recommendation of 48 g/day.Whole grain is consumed by only a minority of Malaysian children and adolescents and even among consumers, intakes are well below recommendations. Efforts are needed to firstly understand the barriers to whole grain consumption among Malaysian children in order to design effective health promotion initiatives to promote an increase in whole grain consumption.

Whole Grain Intakes in the Diets Of Malaysian Children and Adolescents--Findings from the MyBreakfast Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ak, Norimah; Koo, H C; Hamid Jan, J M; Mohd Nasir, M T; Tan, S Y; Appukutty, Mahenderan; Appukutty, Mahendran; Nurliyana, A R; Thielecke, Frank; Hopkins, Sinead; Ong, M K; Ning, C; Tee, E S

2015-01-01

Diets rich in whole grain are associated with several health benefits. Little is known however, about whole grain consumption patterns in Malaysia. The aim of this study was to assess whole grain intakes and dietary source in Malaysian children and adolescents. This analysis is from the MyBreakfast study, a national cross sectional study investigating eating habits among primary and secondary school children throughout Malaysia, conducted in 2013. Children (n = 5,165) and adolescents (n = 2,947) who completed two days of dietary assessment using a food record or recall respectively were included. The whole grain content of foods was estimated mainly through the use of quantitative ingredient declarations on food labels. All wholegrain foods were considered irrespective of the amount of whole grain they contained. Overall, only 25% of children and 19% of adolescents were wholegrain consumers. Mean daily intakes in the total sample were 2.3g/d (SD 5.8 g/d) in children and 1.7 g/d (SD 4.7 g/d) in adolescents and in the consumer's only sample, mean intakes reached 9.1g/d (SD 8.6) and 9.2g/d (SD 7.1g/d) respectively. Wheat was the main grain source of whole grain while ready to eat breakfast cereals and hot cereals were the main food contributors. Less than 3% of the children and adolescents reached the US quantitative whole grain recommendation of 48 g/day. Whole grain is consumed by only a minority of Malaysian children and adolescents and even among consumers, intakes are well below recommendations. Efforts are needed to firstly understand the barriers to whole grain consumption among Malaysian children in order to design effective health promotion initiatives to promote an increase in whole grain consumption.

The political economy of Malaysian federalism: Economic development, public policy and conflict containment

OpenAIRE

Jomo, K. S.; Hui, Wee Chong

2002-01-01

Conflicts within the Malaysian federation have been rooted in socio-economic disparities and the struggle for control of natural resource rents, which State Governments previously had exclusive control over, as originally provided for by the federal constitution. The advance of fiscal centralization since then has also aggravated federal-state tensions, which have been relatively ignored due to the long-standing Malaysian pre-occupation with inter-ethnic tensions. Inter-regional resource tran...

Timetabling at High Schools

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Matias

on the publicly available XHSTT format for modeling instances and solutions of the HSTP) and the Danish High School Timetabling Problem (DHSTP). For both problems a complex Mixed-Integer Programming (MIP) model is developed, and in both cases are empirical tests performed on a large number of real-life datasets......High school institutions face a number of important planning problems during each schoolyear. This Ph.D. thesis considers two of these planning problems: The High School Timetabling Problem (HSTP) and the Consultation Timetabling Problem (CTP). Furthermore a framework for handling various planning....... The second part contains the main scienti_c papers composed during the Ph.D. study. The third part of the thesis also contains scienti_c papers, but these are included as an appendix. In the HSTP, the goal is to obtain a timetable for the forthcoming school-year. A timetable consists of lectures scheduled...

Malaysian water sector reform : policy and performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kim, C.T.

2012-01-01

One of the measures that can help developing countries in meeting Target 10 of the Millennium Development Goals – halving the number of people without access to water and adequate sanitation by 2015 – is through a water sector reform. In this research the Malaysian water sector reform is

Especially for High School Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Howell, J. Emory

1999-09-01

Secondary School Feature Articles * Authentic Research within the Grasp of High School Students, by Annis Hapkiewicz, p 1212 * JCE Classroom Activity #19: Blueprint Photography by the Cyanotype Process, by Glen D. Lawrence and Stuart Fishelson, p 1216A Author Recognition A new program has been instituted to recognize high school teachers who are authors or coauthors of manuscripts published in the Journal. In May, letters were sent to teachers who wrote articles published in JCE beginning with Volume 74 (1997). If you were an author, you should have received a letter from us in late May or early June stating that your high school principal has been sent a Certificate of High School Author Recognition to be presented to you at a suitable occasion. Because the letters were sent late in the school year, you may not see the certificate until fall, or you may not receive your letter until then if we had only your school address. If you have authored or coauthored an article published in JCE and did not receive a letter, please contact me using the information about the Secondary School Chemistry Editor appearing on the Information Page in this issue. Syllabus Swap In the August issue, this column contained an invitation to exchange high school syllabi. The day after my copy of the August issue arrived, I received an email from a teacher indicating an interest in participating in an exchange. If you are interested, check the August "Especially for High School Chemistry Teachers" column for a brief discussion of the informal exchange program, or contact me. Research Conducted by High School Students In his June 1999 editorial "Learning Is a Do-It-Yourself Activity", p 725, John Moore wrote about the need to engage students actively in the learning process. As I have mentioned in this column previously, research conducted by students is one means of accomplishing this goal. In this issue, p 1212, Annis Hapkiewicz explains how she has drawn her Okemos [Michigan] High School

Analysis of volatile compounds of Malaysian Tualang ( Koompassia ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Analysis of volatile compounds of Malaysian Tualang ( Koompassia excelsa ) honey using gas chromatography mass spectrometry. ... Other classes of chemical compounds detected included acids, aldehydes, alcohols, ketones, terpenes, furans and a miscellaneous group. Methanol yielded the highest number of extracted ...

AirAsia In The Malaysian Domestic Airline Market: Empirical Analysis Of Strategy

OpenAIRE

Mok Kim Man; Jainurin Bin Justine

2011-01-01

This paper will examine the results of the strategic actions of AirAsia in the Malaysian domestic airline market. Firstly, the paper will provide a general background of the airline industry, in particular the Malaysian domestic airline market and a summary of an analysis of the industry using Michael Porters Five Forces Analysis. Secondly, the paper will provide a brief background of AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines. Thirdly, the paper will analyse the results of AirAsias strategy vis--vis oper...

Plasma isoflavones in Malaysian men according to vegetarianism and by age.

Science.gov (United States)

Hod, Rafidah; Kouidhi, Wided; Ali Mohd, Mustafa; Husain, Ruby

2016-01-01

Epidemiological studies indicate lower prevalences of breast and prostate cancers and cardiovascular disease in Southeast Asia where vegetarianism is popular and diets are traditionally high in phytoestrogens. This study assessed plasma isoflavones in vegetarian and non-vegetarian Malaysian men according to age. Daidzein, genistein, equol (a daidzein metabolite), formononetin, biochanin A, estrone, estradiol and testosterone were measured by validated liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LCMSMS). Plasma isoflavone and sex hormone concentrations were measured in 225 subjects according to age (18-34, 35-44 and 45-67 years old). In all age groups, vegetarians had a higher concentration of circulating isoflavones compared with non-vegetarians especially in the 45-67 year age group where all isoflavones except equol, were significantly higher in vegetarians compared with omnivores. By contrast, the 18-34 year group had a significantly higher concentration of daidzein in vegetarians and significantly higher testosterone and estrone concentrations compared with non-vegetarians. In this age group there were weak correlations between estrone, estradiol and testosterone with some of the isoflavones. This human study provides the first Malaysian data for the phytoestrogen status of vegetarian and nonvegetarian men.

Issues and Economic Role of Waqf In Higher Education Institution: Malaysian Experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farra Munna Harun

2016-02-01

Full Text Available As early as 1980, the Malaysianfederal government’s spending on education, was the highest in East Asia andhigher than the OECD average of 3.4% of GDP. This demonstrates that theMalaysian Government has big expenses from educational sector and respectivelyis amenability for Malaysian economic budget. In other side Waqf in Malaysia isone of large financial source that has not been fully explored. By using qualitative methodology through content analysis this paper attempt to explore the issues andeconomic role of Waqf in Malaysia, especially in Higher Education Institution(HEI and attempt to study how Waqf fund empowering the education. Thisstudy found that taking the que from the institutions of Waqf, the explorationand development of waqf fund can be exalarate through the formation of formalorganizations at state and federal level and rearrange the Malaysian educationalbudget and policy to support the better quality of HEI.DOI: 10.15408/aiq.v8i1.2514 

The factors that influence job satisfaction among royal Malaysian customs department employee

Science.gov (United States)

Ammar Shafi, Muhammad; Saifullah Rusiman, Mohd; Nor, Maria Elena; Khamis, Azme; Nabilah Syuhada Abdullah, Siti; Syafiq Azmi, Mohd; Sakinah Zainal Abidin, Munirah; Ali, Maselan

2018-04-01

This research aims to spot the factors that influence job satisfaction among Royal Malaysian Customs Department employees. Primary data was used in this research and it was collected from the employees who work in five different departments at Royal Malaysian Customs Department Tower Johor. Those departments were customs department, Internal Taxes, Technical Services, Management and Prevention. The research used stratified random sampling to collect the sample and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to measure the relationship between variables using AMOS software. About 127 employees are selected as the respondents from five departments to represent the sample. The result showed that ‘Organizational Commitment’ (p-value = 0.001) has significant and direct effect toward job satisfaction compared to the ‘Stress Condition’ (p-value = 0.819) and ‘Motivation’ factor (p-value = 0.978). It was also concluded that ‘Organizational Commitment’ was the most influential factor toward job satisfaction among Royal Malaysian Customs Department employees at Tower Custom Johor, Johor Bahru.

Islamic Content On Malaysian TV: A Case study of TV Al Hijrah

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Juliana Abdul Wahab

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Religion and media are converging and frequently becoming a subject matter for news content and popular entertainment programmes in television and film, publishing, music as well as the new media. Religion, arguably has become part and parcel of the media environment today. In Malaysian context, during the millennium era, many locally produced ‘Islamic programmes’ started to gain popularity among Malaysian audience especially within the entertainment genre such as television drama. With the establishment of Malaysian first Islamic free-to-air television, TV Al Hijrah in 2010, this paper aims to understand the nature of Islamic content available on the station. The preliminary findings of this paper suggest that there are varieties of television programmes created and aired on TV Al Hijrah cutting across different genres meant for disseminating Islam as a way of life. Programmes available are mainly about showcasing the values of Islamic teaching and beliefs with the ultimate goal to highlight Islam as a beautiful and peaceful religion.

Malaysian public perception towards nuclear power energy-related issues

Science.gov (United States)

Misnon, Fauzan Amin; Hu, Yeoh Siong; Rahman, Irman Abd.; Yasir, Muhamad Samudi

2017-01-01

Malaysia had considered nuclear energy as an option for future electricity generation during the 9th Malaysia Development Plan. Since 2009, Malaysia had implemented a number of important preparatory steps towards this goal, including the establishment of Nuclear Power Corporation of Malaysia (MNPC) as first Nuclear Energy Programme Implementing Organization (NEPIO) in Malaysia. In light of the establishment of MNPC, the National Nuclear Policy was formulated in 2010 and a new comprehensive nuclear law to replace the existing Atomic Energy Licensing Act (Act 304) is currently in the pipeline. Internationally, public acceptance is generally used to gauge the acceptance of nuclear energy by the public whenever a government decides to engage in nuclear energy. A public survey was conducted in between 14 March 2016 to 10 May 2016 focusing on the Malaysian public acceptance and perception towards the implementation of nuclear energy in Malaysia. The methodology of this research was aim on finding an overview of the general knowledge, public-relation recommendation, perception and acceptance of Malaysian towards the nuclear power development program. The combination of information gathered from this study can be interpreted as an indication of the complexity surrounding the development of nuclear energy and its relationship with the unique background of Malaysian demography. This paper will focus mainly on energy-related section in the survey in comparison with nuclear energy.

Biotechnology issues in four Malaysian mainstream newspapers

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Jane

2011-09-30

Sep 30, 2011 ... Biotechnology has been identified as the new engine of growth for the transformation of Malaysia into a developed nation by 2020. The objective of this paper is to analyze the impact of National Policy on biotechnology on media reporting in four Malaysian newspapers. Towards this end, a content analysis.

Intercultural Communication and the Decision-Making Process: Americans and Malaysians in a Cooperative University Setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilhelm, Kim Hughes

A study investigated the application of Geert Hofstede's theory of cultural dimensions in management to the situation of Malaysian (n=8) and American (n=4) instructors in implementing a new English-as-a-Second-Language curriculum in Malaysia. American and Malaysian cultures are compared on four dimensions: social differentiation by gender; desire…

Marketing Malaysian enterprises in Brazil: what is the government ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Marketing Malaysian enterprises in Brazil: what is the government doing? ... Marketing products and services abroad is essential for the new ventures growth and continuous existence. ... EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT

Carpet Aids Learning in High Performance Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Hurd, Frank

2009-01-01

The Healthy and High Performance Schools Act of 2002 has set specific federal guidelines for school design, and developed a federal/state partnership program to assist local districts in their school planning. According to the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS), high-performance schools are, among other things, healthy, comfortable,…

Collaborative Research between Malaysian and Australian Universities on Learning Analytics: Challenges and Strategies

OpenAIRE

Z. Tasir; S. N. Kew; D. West; Z. Abdullah; D. Toohey

2016-01-01

Research on Learning Analytics is progressively developing in the higher education field by concentrating on the process of students' learning. Therefore, a research project between Malaysian and Australian Universities was initiated in 2015 to look at the use of Learning Analytics to support the development of teaching practice. The focal point of this article is to discuss and share the experiences of Malaysian and Australian universities in the process of developing the collaborative resea...

Malaysian Nuclear Agency: Annual report 2008

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

The establishment of Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuclear Malaysia) was mooted from idea of the then Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Ismail Dato Abdul Rahman, that Malaysia should play a role in the development of nuclear science and technology for peaceful purposes. The Centre for Application of Nuclear Energy (CRANE) was the entity to mark the of Malaysia's nuclear programme, focussing on manpower development for a nuclear power programme to provide an option for energy source, following the worldwide oil crisis of the early 1970s. The Cabinet officially approved the establishment of the Tun Ismail Atomic Research Centre (PUSPATI), under the Ministry of Science, Technology and the environment on 19 September 1972. The era of nuclear research in Malaysia began with the historic event signified by the Reaktor TRIGA PUSPATI reaching its first criticality on 28 June 1982. When PUSPATI was placed under the auspices of the Prime Ministers Department, it assumed the name Nuclear Energy Unit (UTN). The Nuclear Energy Unit was later placed under the Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment. In line with the national development, the institute was name Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Technology Research (MINT) on 10 August 1994. To reflect its vision, mission, objectives and activities in the challenging world, a new identity was established, and was officially named as Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuclear Malaysia) on 28 September 2006. Nuclear Malaysia, is strategically located nearby the government administration, centre Putrajaya, and Cyberjaya. These annual report highlights all the activities that have been through by the agency in 2008. All the achievements and triumph were highlights in this annual report. It also contained all the agency planning during 2008 to fulfill the objectives, mission and vision to become main players in nuclear research in Malaysia. Finally, there also highlights some publications contribute by all the researchers from

Malaysian Nuclear Agency: Annual report 2009

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

The establishment of Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuclear Malaysia) was mooted from idea of the then Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Ismail Dato Abdul Rahman, that Malaysia should play a role in the development of nuclear science and technology for peaceful purposes. The Centre for Application of Nuclear Energy (CRANE) was the entity to mark the of Malaysia's nuclear programme, focussing on manpower development for a nuclear power programme to provide an option for energy source, following the worldwide oil crisis of the early 1970s. The Cabinet officially approved the establishment of the Tun Ismail Atomic Research Centre (PUSPATI), under the Ministry of Science, Technology and the environment on 19 September 1972. The era of nuclear research in Malaysia began with the historic event signified by the Reaktor TRIGA PUSPATI reaching its first criticality on 28 June 1982. When PUSPATI was placed under the auspices of the Prime Ministers Department, it assumed the name Nuclear Energy Unit (UTN). The Nuclear Energy Unit was later placed under the Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment. In line with the national development, the institute was name Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Technology Research (MINT) on 10 August 1994. To reflect its vision, mission, objectives and activities in the challenging world, a new identity was established, and was officially named as Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuclear Malaysia) on 28 September 2006. Nuclear Malaysia, is strategically located nearby the government administration, centre Putrajaya, and Cyberjaya. These annual report highlights all the activities that have been through by the agency in 2009. All the achievements and triumph were highlights in this annual report. It also contained all the agency planning during 2009 to fulfill the objectives, mission and vision to become main players in nuclear research in Malaysia. Finally, there also highlights some publications contribute by all the researchers from

Malaysian Nuclear Agency: Annual report 2010

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-01-01

The establishment of Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuclear Malaysia) was mooted from idea of the then Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Ismail Dato Abdul Rahman, that Malaysia should play a role in the development of nuclear science and technology for peaceful purposes. The Centre for Application of Nuclear Energy (CRANE) was the entity to mark the of Malaysia's nuclear programme, focussing on manpower development for a nuclear power programme to provide an option for energy source, following the worldwide oil crisis of the early 1970s. The Cabinet officially approved the establishment of the Tun Ismail Atomic Research Centre (PUSPATI), under the Ministry of Science, Technology and the environment on 19 September 1972. The era of nuclear research in Malaysia began with the historic event signified by the Reaktor TRIGA PUSPATI reaching its first criticality on 28 June 1982. When PUSPATI was placed under the auspices of the Prime Ministers Department, it assumed the name Nuclear Energy Unit (UTN). The Nuclear Energy Unit was later placed under the Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment. In line with the national development, the institute was name Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Technology Research (MINT) on 10 August 1994. To reflect its vision, mission, objectives and activities in the challenging world, a new identity was established, and was officially named as Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuclear Malaysia) on 28 September 2006. Nuclear Malaysia, is strategically located nearby the government administration, centre Putrajaya, and Cyberjaya. These annual report highlights all the activities that have been through by the agency in 2010. All the achievements and triumph were highlights in this annual report. It also contained all the agency planning during 2010 to fulfill the objectives, mission and vision to become main players in nuclear research in Malaysia. Finally, there also highlights some publications contribute by all the researchers from

Malaysian Nuclear Agency; Annual report 2013

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-01-01

The establishment of Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuclear Malaysia) was mooted from idea of the then Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Ismail Dato Abdul Rahman, that Malaysia should play a role in the development of nuclear science and technology for peaceful purposes. The Centre for Application of Nuclear Energy (CRANE) was the entity to mark the of Malaysia's nuclear programme, focussing on manpower development for a nuclear power programme to provide an option for energy source, following the worldwide oil crisis of the early 1970s. The Cabinet officially approved the establishment of the Tun Ismail Atomic Research Centre (PUSPATI), under the Ministry of Science, Technology and the environment on 19 September 1972. The era of nuclear research in Malaysia began with the historic event signified by the Reaktor TRIGA PUSPATI reaching its first criticality on 28 June 1982. When PUSPATI was placed under the auspices of the Prime Ministers Department, it assumed the name Nuclear Energy Unit (UTN). The Nuclear Energy Unit was later placed under the Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment. In line with the national development, the institute was name Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Technology Research (MINT) on 10 August 1994. To reflect its vision, mission, objectives and activities in the challenging world, a new identity was established, and was officially named as Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuclear Malaysia) on 28 September 2006. Nuclear Malaysia, is strategically located nearby the government administration, centre Putrajaya, and Cyberjaya. These annual report highlights all the activities that have been through by the agency in 2013. All the achievements and triumph were highlights in this annual report. It also contained all the agency planning during 2013 to fulfill the objectives, mission and vision to become main players in nuclear research in Malaysia. Finally, there also highlights some publications contribute by all the researchers

Malaysian Nuclear Agency; Annual report 2014

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

The establishment of Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuclear Malaysia) was mooted from idea of the then Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Ismail Dato Abdul Rahman, that Malaysia should play a role in the development of nuclear science and technology for peaceful purposes. The Centre for Application of Nuclear Energy (CRANE) was the entity to mark the of Malaysia's nuclear programme, focussing on manpower development for a nuclear power programme to provide an option for energy source, following the worldwide oil crisis of the early 1970s. The Cabinet officially approved the establishment of the Tun Ismail Atomic Research Centre (PUSPATI), under the Ministry of Science, Technology and the environment on 19 September 1972. The era of nuclear research in Malaysia began with the historic event signified by the Reaktor TRIGA PUSPATI reaching its first criticality on 28 June 1982. When PUSPATI was placed under the auspices of the Prime Ministers Department, it assumed the name Nuclear Energy Unit (UTN). The Nuclear Energy Unit was later placed under the Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment. In line with the national development, the institute was name Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Technology Research (MINT) on 10 August 1994. To reflect its vision, mission, objectives and activities in the challenging world, a new identity was established, and was officially named as Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuclear Malaysia) on 28 September 2006. Nuclear Malaysia, is strategically located nearby the government administration, centre Putrajaya, and Cyberjaya. These annual report highlights all the activities that have been through by the agency in 2014. All the achievements and triumph were highlights in this annual report. It also contained all the agency planning during 2014 to fulfill the objectives, mission and vision to become main players in nuclear research in Malaysia. Finally, there also highlights some publications contribute by all the researchers

Malaysian Nuclear Agency; Annual report 2011

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

The establishment of Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuclear Malaysia) was mooted from idea of the then Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Ismail Dato Abdul Rahman, that Malaysia should play a role in the development of nuclear science and technology for peaceful purposes. The Centre for Application of Nuclear Energy (CRANE) was the entity to mark the of Malaysia's nuclear programme, focussing on manpower development for a nuclear power programme to provide an option for energy source, following the worldwide oil crisis of the early 1970s. The Cabinet officially approved the establishment of the Tun Ismail Atomic Research Centre (PUSPATI), under the Ministry of Science, Technology and the environment on 19 September 1972. The era of nuclear research in Malaysia began with the historic event signified by the Reaktor TRIGA PUSPATI reaching its first criticality on 28 June 1982. When PUSPATI was placed under the auspices of the Prime Ministers Department, it assumed the name Nuclear Energy Unit (UTN). The Nuclear Energy Unit was later placed under the Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment. In line with the national development, the institute was name Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Technology Research (MINT) on 10 August 1994. To reflect its vision, mission, objectives and activities in the challenging world, a new identity was established, and was officially named as Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuclear Malaysia) on 28 September 2006. Nuclear Malaysia, is strategically located nearby the government administration, centre Putrajaya, and Cyberjaya. These annual report highlights all the activities that have been through by the agency in 2011. All the achievements and triumph were highlights in this annual report. It also contained all the agency planning during 2011 to fulfill the objectives, mission and vision to become main players in nuclear research in Malaysia. Finally, there also highlights some publications contribute by all the researchers from

Tracking of Radioactive Sources in Malaysian Nuclear Agency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd Fazlie Abdul Rashid; Noor Fadilla Ismail; Khairuddin Mohamad Kontol; Hairul Nizam Idris; Azimawati Ahmad; Suzilawati Muhd Sarowi; Raymond, Y.T.L.

2014-01-01

Radioactive materials are used in Malaysian Nuclear Agency for various purposes such as research and development, calibration, tracer and irradiation. Inventory of radioactive materials is crucial for ensuring the security and control of all radioactive materials owned and used so as not to be lost or fall into the hands of people who do not have permission to possess or use it. Experience in many countries around the world proves that the improper inventory of radioactive material would lead to loss of control of radioactive materials and will eventually cause an accident of radiation exposure. Radioactive material database has been developed for the need to ensure traceability of radioactive materials in Malaysian Nuclear Agency. Records of radioactive materials are regularly updated based on the classification of the type of radionuclide, the total distribution in each building and the initial activity of radioactive sources. (author)

Dosimetry audits and intercomparisons in radiotherapy: A Malaysian profile

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noor, Noramaliza M.; Nisbet, A.; Hussein, M.; Chu S, Sarene; Kadni, T.; Abdullah, N.; Bradley, D.A.

2017-01-01

Quality audits and intercomparisons are important in ensuring control of processes in any system of endeavour. Present interest is in control of dosimetry in teletherapy, there being a need to assess the extent to which there is consistent radiation dose delivery to the patient. In this study we review significant factors that impact upon radiotherapy dosimetry, focusing upon the example situation of radiotherapy delivery in Malaysia, examining existing literature in support of such efforts. A number of recommendations are made to provide for increased quality assurance and control. In addition to this study, the first level of intercomparison audit i.e. measuring beam output under reference conditions at eight selected Malaysian radiotherapy centres is checked; use being made of 9 µm core diameter Ge-doped silica fibres (Ge-9 µm). The results of Malaysian Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratory (SSDL) participation in the IAEA/WHO TLD postal dose audit services during the period between 2011 and 2015 will also been discussed. In conclusion, following review of the development of dosimetry audits and the conduct of one such exercise in Malaysia, it is apparent that regular periodic radiotherapy audits and intercomparison programmes should be strongly supported and implemented worldwide. The programmes to-date demonstrate these to be a good indicator of errors and of consistency between centres. A total of ei+ght beams have been checked in eight Malaysian radiotherapy centres. One out of the eight beams checked produced an unacceptable deviation; this was found to be due to unfamiliarity with the irradiation procedures. Prior to a repeat measurement, the mean ratio of measured to quoted dose was found to be 0.99 with standard deviation of 3%. Subsequent to the repeat measurement, the mean distribution was 1.00, and the standard deviation was 1.3%. - Highlights: • We review significant factors that impact upon radiotherapy dosimetry, • We carried out the

Job satisfaction and perceived future roles of Malaysian dental therapists: findings from a national survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Abu Bakar, A; Mohd Nor, N A; Ab-Murat, N; Jaafar, N

2015-08-01

To assess Malaysian dental therapists' perceptions of their job satisfaction and future roles. A nationwide postal survey involving all Malaysian dental therapists who met the inclusion criteria (n = 1726). The response rate was 76.8%. All respondents were females; mean age 35.4 years (SD = 8.4). Majority were married (85.5%) and more than one-half had a working experience of income (45.2%), allowances (45.2%) and non-commensurate between pay and performance (44.0%). Majority perceived their role as very important in routine clinical tasks such as examination and diagnosis, preventive treatment, extraction of deciduous teeth and oral health promotion. However, fewer than one-half consider complex treatment such as placement of preformed crowns on deciduous teeth (37.1%) and extraction of permanent teeth (37.2%) as very important tasks. Majority expressed high career satisfaction with most aspects of their employment but expressed low satisfaction in remuneration, lack of career advancement opportunities and administrative tasks. We conclude that most Malaysian dental therapists have positive perceptions of their current roles but do not favour wider expansion of their roles. These findings imply that there was a need to develop a more attractive career pathway for therapists to ensure sustainability of effective primary oral healthcare delivery system for Malaysia's children. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

School lunch and snacking patterns among high school students: Associations with school food environment and policies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Story Mary

2005-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Objectives This study examined associations between high school students' lunch patterns and vending machine purchases and the school food environment and policies. Methods A randomly selected sample of 1088 high school students from 20 schools completed surveys about their lunch practices and vending machine purchases. School food policies were assessed by principal and food director surveys. The number of vending machines and their hours of operation were assessed by trained research staff. Results Students at schools with open campus policies during lunchtime were significantly more likely to eat lunch at a fast food restaurant than students at schools with closed campus policies (0.7 days/week vs. 0.2 days/week, p Conclusion School food policies that decrease access to foods high in fats and sugars are associated with less frequent purchase of these items in school among high school students. Schools should examine their food-related policies and decrease access to foods that are low in nutrients and high in fats and sugars.

Prevention practices of vaginitis among Malaysian women and its associated factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Wan Muda, Wan Mahfuzah; Wong, Li Ping; Tay, Sun Tee

2018-03-12

Information on vaginal-related issues among Malaysian women is very limited. This study aimed to explore factors associated with preventive practices of vaginitis among Malaysian women. A cross-sectional computer-assisted telephone interview survey of a representative sample of multi-racial Malaysian women aged 18-50 years old was conducted from January to April 2014. Women from 1446 households responded to the survey and nearly one-third (32.1%) reported to have experienced vaginitis. In multivariate analyses, respondents in the urban locality were more likely to practice vaginitis prevention (OR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.06-1.84) compared with those in the rural areas. Respondents who perceived low susceptibility to vaginitis were less likely to practice vaginitis prevention (OR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.57-0.91) compared with responders who highly perceive susceptibility. Respondents who had no formal education were less likely to practice vaginitis prevention (OR = 0.16, 95% CI = 0.05-0.48) compared with those with tertiary education. This study showed that comprehensive education and health programmes need to focus on women with a low educational level, living in rural areas and women with low perceived susceptibility to vaginitis. Impact statement What is already known on this subject? Little is known about vaginitis issues among women in Malaysia. This study provides information regarding vaginitis among Malaysian women by looking at the factors associated with prevention practices. What do the results of this study add? From our study, factors associated with prevention practices were found to be educational level, locality, and perceived susceptibility of vaginitis. Those who perform fewer vaginitis prevention practices were women with a low educational level and those who live in rural areas. From the Health Belief Model, women with a low perceived susceptibility of vaginitis were less likely to carry out vaginitis prevention practices. What are

Impact of bandwidth for various services in heterogeneous network and quality of service via communication technologies in Malaysian higher educational

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohd Nazri ISMAIL

2007-12-01

Full Text Available This study focuses on heterogeneous services and communication technologies for retrieving and sending information between students and lecturers in Malaysian higher educational institutes. It intends to investigate pattern and significant level of various services implementation, convergence of communication technologies and bandwidth capacity for last mile users (students and lecturers. It is designed to determine which communication technologies, services, bandwidth capacity and QoS will achieve the highest level acceptance in Malaysian higher educational institutes. Heterogeneous environment can also generate mobility approaches. A survey method is used to collect data from respondents (System Network Administrator in Malaysian higher educational institutes. Statistical Analysis using t-test shows that implementation of high speed bandwidth for Internet (WAN achieved significant level. Frequency test are used to analyze the various services implementation via convergence of communication technologies in heterogeneous environment for retrieving information. The most apparent finding of this study is that various services implementation in higher educational institutes can affect convergence of communication technologies usage in accessing information over heterogeneous network environment between students and lecturers. The study or analysis confirms that Malaysia higher educational institutes have not achieved a maximum level of various services implementation via convergence of communication technologies between students and lecturers in heterogeneous network environment. Therefore, low convergence of communication technologies can produce a low mobility and ubiquitous interaction between students and lectures in Malaysian higher educational institutes.

High-Performance Schools: Affordable Green Design for K-12 Schools; Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Plympton, P.; Brown, J.; Stevens, K.

2004-08-01

Schools in the United States spend $7.8 billion on energy each year-more than the cost of computers and textbooks combined, according to a 2003 report from the National Center for Education Statistics. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that these high utility bills could be reduced as much as 25% if schools adopt readily available high performance design principles and technologies. Accordingly, hundreds of K-12 schools across the country have made a commitment to improve the learning and teaching environment of schools while saving money and energy and protecting the environment. DOE and its public- and private-sector partners have developed Energy Design Guidelines for High Performance Schools, customized for nine climate zones in U.S. states and territories. These design guidelines provide information for school decision makers and design professionals on the advantages of energy efficiency and renewable energy designs and technologies. With such features as natural day lighting, efficient electric lights, water conservation, and renewable energy, schools in all types of climates are proving that school buildings, and the students and teachers who occupy them, are indeed high performers. This paper describes high performance schools from each of the nine climate zones associated with the Energy Design Guidelines. The nine case studies focus on the high performance design strategies implemented in each school, as well as the cost savings and benefits realized by students, faculty, the community, and the environment.

School-Based Drug Abuse Prevention Programs in High School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Manoj; Branscum, Paul

2013-01-01

Drug abuse, or substance abuse, is a substantial public health problem in the United States, particularly among high school students. The purpose of this article was to review school-based programs implemented in high schools for substance abuse prevention and to suggest recommendations for future interventions. Included were English language…

Genetic association of SNPs in the FTO gene and predisposition to obesity in Malaysian Malays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Apalasamy, Y.D.; Ming, M.F.; Rampal, S.; Bulgiba, A.; Mohamed, Z.

2012-01-01

The common variants in the fat mass- and obesity-associated (FTO) gene have been previously found to be associated with obesity in various adult populations. The objective of the present study was to investigate whether the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and linkage disequilibrium (LD) blocks in various regions of the FTO gene are associated with predisposition to obesity in Malaysian Malays. Thirty-one FTO SNPs were genotyped in 587 (158 obese and 429 non-obese) Malaysian Malay subjects. Obesity traits and lipid profiles were measured and single-marker association testing, LD testing, and haplotype association analysis were performed. LD analysis of the FTO SNPs revealed the presence of 57 regions with complete LD (D' = 1.0). In addition, we detected the association of rs17817288 with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The FTO gene may therefore be involved in lipid metabolism in Malaysian Malays. Two haplotype blocks were present in this region of the FTO gene, but no particular haplotype was found to be significantly associated with an increased risk of obesity in Malaysian Malays

Genetic association of SNPs in the FTO gene and predisposition to obesity in Malaysian Malays

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Apalasamy, Y.D. [Pharmacogenomics Laboratory, Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia); Ming, M.F.; Rampal, S.; Bulgiba, A. [Julius Centre University of Malaya, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia); Mohamed, Z. [Pharmacogenomics Laboratory, Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

2012-08-24

The common variants in the fat mass- and obesity-associated (FTO) gene have been previously found to be associated with obesity in various adult populations. The objective of the present study was to investigate whether the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and linkage disequilibrium (LD) blocks in various regions of the FTO gene are associated with predisposition to obesity in Malaysian Malays. Thirty-one FTO SNPs were genotyped in 587 (158 obese and 429 non-obese) Malaysian Malay subjects. Obesity traits and lipid profiles were measured and single-marker association testing, LD testing, and haplotype association analysis were performed. LD analysis of the FTO SNPs revealed the presence of 57 regions with complete LD (D' = 1.0). In addition, we detected the association of rs17817288 with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The FTO gene may therefore be involved in lipid metabolism in Malaysian Malays. Two haplotype blocks were present in this region of the FTO gene, but no particular haplotype was found to be significantly associated with an increased risk of obesity in Malaysian Malays.

Genetic association of SNPs in the FTO gene and predisposition to obesity in Malaysian Malays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y.D. Apalasamy

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The common variants in the fat mass- and obesity-associated (FTO gene have been previously found to be associated with obesity in various adult populations. The objective of the present study was to investigate whether the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs and linkage disequilibrium (LD blocks in various regions of the FTO gene are associated with predisposition to obesity in Malaysian Malays. Thirty-one FTO SNPs were genotyped in 587 (158 obese and 429 non-obese Malaysian Malay subjects. Obesity traits and lipid profiles were measured and single-marker association testing, LD testing, and haplotype association analysis were performed. LD analysis of the FTO SNPs revealed the presence of 57 regions with complete LD (D’ = 1.0. In addition, we detected the association of rs17817288 with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The FTO gene may therefore be involved in lipid metabolism in Malaysian Malays. Two haplotype blocks were present in this region of the FTO gene, but no particular haplotype was found to be significantly associated with an increased risk of obesity in Malaysian Malays.

Eclectic Model in the Malaysian Education System

Science.gov (United States)

Othman, Nooraini; Mohamad, Khairul Azmi; Ilmuwan, Yayasan

2011-01-01

The present work aims at analysing the adoption of eclectic model in the Malaysian education system. The analysis is specifically looked from the angle of Islam and the Muslims. Malaysia has a long history of education system developments, from pre to post independence of the country. From what was initially traditional, modernity later came to…

Case Studies of Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools. Personalization Strategic Designs: 9. MetWest High School

Science.gov (United States)

Shields, Regis Anne; Ireland, Nicole; City, Elizabeth; Derderian, Julie; Miles, Karen Hawley

2008-01-01

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

The Effect of High School Shootings on Schools and Student Performance

OpenAIRE

Louis-Philippe Beland; Dongwoo Kim

2015-01-01

We analyze how fatal shootings in high schools affect schools and students using data from shooting databases, school report cards, and the Common Core of Data. We examine schools’ test scores, enrollment, and number of teachers, as well as graduation, attendance, and suspension rates at schools that experienced a shooting, employing a difference-in-differences strategy that uses other high schools in the same district as the comparison group. Our findings suggest that homicidal shootings s...

Catholic High Schools and Rural Academic Achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

Sander, William

1997-01-01

A study of national longitudinal data examined effects of rural Catholic high schools on mathematics achievement, high school graduation rates, and the likelihood that high school graduates attend college. Findings indicate that rural Catholic high schools had a positive effect on mathematics test scores and no effect on graduation rates or rates…

Collaborative and Cooperative Learning in Malaysian Mathematics Education

Science.gov (United States)

Hossain, Md. Anowar; Tarmizi, Rohani Ahmad; Ayud, Ahmad Fauzi Mohd

2012-01-01

Collaborative and cooperative learning studies are well recognized in Malaysian mathematics education research. Cooperative learning is used to serve various ability students taking into consideration of their level of understanding, learning styles, sociological backgrounds that develop students' academic achievement and skills, and breeze the…

Teaching Ethics to High School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Pass, Susan; Willingham, Wendy

2009-01-01

Working with two teachers and thirty-four high school seniors, the authors developed procedures and assessments to teach ethics in an American high school civics class. This approach requires high school students to discover an agreement or convergence between Kantian ethics and virtue ethics. The authors also created an instrument to measure…

Oral health quality-of-life among undergraduate Malaysian dental students.

Science.gov (United States)

Harsh, P; Arunima, C; Manoj, K

2012-06-01

To assess the oral health quality of life among Malaysian dental students using the Oral Impacts on Daily Performance (OIDP) scale. Malaysian dental students of Melaka Manipal Medical College, Manipal campus, Manipal University, Manipal answered a structured questionnaire recording the demographic characteristics, behavioral characteristics and eight items of OIDP. The mean OIDP ADD and OIDP SC scores were respectively, 4.10 (sd = 5.16, range 8 - 40) and 2. 3 (sd = 2.3, range 0-8). A total of 50%, 32.9% and 28.6% of the dental students confirmed difficulties with eating, cleaning teeth and sleeping and relaxing, respectively. Statistically significant relationships were observed between OIDP (ultimate oral impact) and a count of non-clinical oral health indicators representing the second (intermediate) levels of oral impact. Logistic regression analysis revealed that dental students who were dissatisfied with their oral health had greater oral impact than their counterparts. The odds ratios for satisfaction with oral health, dental visits and frequency of brushing teeth were respectively 1.74 (0.58-5.32), 0.59 (0.11-3.24) and 1.33 (0.41-4.30). The study reports the Oral Impact on Daily Performance among Malaysian dental students and provides evidence of importance of social and behavioral characteristics in shaping dental students response.

Whole Grain Intakes in the Diets Of Malaysian Children and Adolescents – Findings from the MyBreakfast Study

Science.gov (United States)

AK, Norimah; Koo, H. C.; JM, Hamid Jan; MT, Mohd Nasir; Tan, S. Y.; Appukutty, Mahendran; AR, Nurliyana; Thielecke, Frank; Hopkins, Sinead; Ong, M. K.; Ning, C.; Tee, E. S.

2015-01-01

Background Diets rich in whole grain are associated with several health benefits. Little is known however, about whole grain consumption patterns in Malaysia. The aim of this study was to assess whole grain intakes and dietary source in Malaysian children and adolescents. Methods This analysis is from the MyBreakfast study, a national cross sectional study investigating eating habits among primary and secondary school children throughout Malaysia, conducted in 2013. Children (n = 5,165) and adolescents (n = 2,947) who completed two days of dietary assessment using a food record or recall respectively were included. The whole grain content of foods was estimated mainly through the use of quantitative ingredient declarations on food labels. All wholegrain foods were considered irrespective of the amount of whole grain they contained. Results Overall, only 25% of children and 19% of adolescents were wholegrain consumers. Mean daily intakes in the total sample were 2.3g/d (SD 5.8g/d) in children and 1.7g/d (SD 4.7g/d) in adolescents and in the consumer’s only sample, mean intakes reached 9.1g/d (SD 8.6) and 9.2g/d (SD 7.1g/d) respectively. Wheat was the main grain source of whole grain while ready to eat breakfast cereals and hot cereals were the main food contributors. Less than 3% of the children and adolescents reached the US quantitative whole grain recommendation of 48g/day. Conclusion Whole grain is consumed by only a minority of Malaysian children and adolescents and even among consumers, intakes are well below recommendations. Efforts are needed to firstly understand the barriers to whole grain consumption among Malaysian children in order to design effective health promotion initiatives to promote an increase in whole grain consumption. PMID:26473369

Factors Associated with Bone Health in Malaysian Middle-Aged and Elderly Women Assessed via Quantitative Ultrasound.

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, Kok-Yong; Low, Nie Yen; Dewiputri, Wan Ilma; Ima-Nirwanaa, Soelaiman

2017-07-06

Risk factors for osteoporosis may vary according to different populations. We aimed to investigate the relationship between risk factors of osteoporosis and bone health indices determined via calcaneal quantitative ultrasound (QUS) in a group of Malaysian women aged 50 years or above. A cross-sectional study was performed on 344 Malaysian women recruited from a tertiary medical centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They answered a self-administered questionnaire on their social-demographic details, medical history, lifestyle, and physical activity status. Their height was measured using a stadiometer, and their body composition estimated using a bioelectrical impedance device. Their bone health status was determined using a water-based calcaneal QUS device that generated three indices, namely speed of sound (SOS), broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA), and stiffness index (SI). A T-score was computed from SI values using a reference database from a mainland Chinese population. Women with three or more lifetime pregnancies, who were underweight and not drinking coffee had a significantly lower BUA. Stepwise multiple linear regression showed that SOS was predicted by age alone, BUA and SI by years since menopause, body mass index (BMI), and number of lifetime pregnancies, and T-score by years since menopause and percentage of body fat. As a conclusion, suboptimal bone health in middle-aged and elderly Malaysian women as indicated by QUS is associated with old age, being underweight, having a high body fat percentage, and a high number of lifetime pregnancies. Women having several risk factors should be monitored more closely to protect their bones against accelerated bone loss.

Credentialing high school psychology teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Weaver, Kenneth A

2014-09-01

The National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula (American Psychological Association, 2013b) require a teacher with considerable psychology content knowledge to teach high school psychology courses effectively. In this study, I examined the initial teaching credential requirements for high school psychology teachers in the 50 states plus the District of Columbia. Thirty-four states (the District of Columbia is included as a state) require the social studies credential to teach high school psychology. An analysis of the items on standardized tests used by states to validate the content knowledge required to teach social studies indicates little or no presence of psychology, a reflection of psychology's meager presence in the social studies teacher preparation curricula. Thus, new teachers with the social studies teaching credential are not prepared to teach high school psychology according to the National Standards. Approval of The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History (National Council for the Social Studies, 2013) presents an opportunity to advocate for establishing a psychology credential in the 34 states. (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Psychological traits underlying different killing methods among Malaysian male murderers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kamaluddin, Mohammad Rahim; Shariff, Nadiah Syariani; Nurfarliza, Siti; Othman, Azizah; Ismail, Khaidzir H; Mat Saat, Geshina Ayu

2014-04-01

Murder is the most notorious crime that violates religious, social and cultural norms. Examining the types and number of different killing methods that used are pivotal in a murder case. However, the psychological traits underlying specific and multiple killing methods are still understudied. The present study attempts to fill this gap in knowledge by identifying the underlying psychological traits of different killing methods among Malaysian murderers. The study adapted an observational cross-sectional methodology using a guided self-administered questionnaire for data collection. The sampling frame consisted of 71 Malaysian male murderers from 11 Malaysian prisons who were selected using purposive sampling method. The participants were also asked to provide the types and number of different killing methods used to kill their respective victims. An independent sample t-test was performed to establish the mean score difference of psychological traits between the murderers who used single and multiple types of killing methods. Kruskal-Wallis tests were carried out to ascertain the psychological trait differences between specific types of killing methods. The results suggest that specific psychological traits underlie the type and number of different killing methods used during murder. The majority (88.7%) of murderers used a single method of killing. Multiple methods of killing was evident in 'premeditated' murder compared to 'passion' murder, and revenge was a common motive. Examples of multiple methods are combinations of stabbing and strangulation or slashing and physical force. An exception was premeditated murder committed with shooting, when it was usually a single method, attributed to the high lethality of firearms. Shooting was also notable when the motive was financial gain or related to drug dealing. Murderers who used multiple killing methods were more aggressive and sadistic than those who used a single killing method. Those who used multiple methods or

Teaching renewable energy using online PBL in investigating its effect on behaviour towards energy conservation among Malaysian students: ANOVA repeated measures approach

Science.gov (United States)

Nordin, Norfarah; Samsudin, Mohd Ali; Hadi Harun, Abdul

2017-01-01

This research aimed to investigate whether online problem based learning (PBL) approach to teach renewable energy topic improves students’ behaviour towards energy conservation. A renewable energy online problem based learning (REePBaL) instruction package was developed based on the theory of constructivism and adaptation of the online learning model. This study employed a single group quasi-experimental design to ascertain the changed in students’ behaviour towards energy conservation after underwent the intervention. The study involved 48 secondary school students in a Malaysian public school. ANOVA Repeated Measure technique was employed in order to compare scores of students’ behaviour towards energy conservation before and after the intervention. Based on the finding, students’ behaviour towards energy conservation improved after the intervention.

Comparison of CTA and Textual Feedback in Usability Testing for Malaysian Users

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sivaji, Ashok; Clemmensen, Torkil; Nielsen, Søren Feodor

Usability moderators found that the concurrent think-aloud (CTA) method has some cultural limitation that impacts usability testing with Malaysian users. This gives rise to proposing a new method called textual feedback. The research question is to determine whether there are any differences...... in usability defects from the concurrent think-aloud (CTA) method (Condition 2) and textual feedback method (Condition 1) within the same group of Malaysian users. A pair-wise t-test was used, whereby users were subjected to performing usability task using both methods. Results reveal that we can reject...

Analysis of Institutional Competitiveness of Junior High Schools through the Admission Test to High School Education

Science.gov (United States)

Armendáriz, Joyzukey; Tarango, Javier; Machin-Mastromatteo, Juan Daniel

2018-01-01

This descriptive and correlational research studies 15,658 students from 335 secondary schools in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, through the results of the examination of admission to high school education (National High School Admission Test--EXANI I from the National Assessment Center for Education--CENEVAL) on logical-mathematical and verbal…

Prepositions and ESL Learners: the Malaysian Scenario

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Norwati Roslim

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This article presents a review of the literature on prepositions with a focus on definitions and main difficulties faced by Malaysian students. It further highlights recommendations about the role of syllabus designers, textbook writers and teachers in meeting these challenges. It is hoped that this article could provide a platform for any further studies on prepositions.

Psychometric Validation of the Malaysian Chinese Version of the EORTC QLQ-C30 in Colorectal Cancer Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Magaji, Bello Arkilla; Moy, Foong Ming; Roslani, April Camilla; Law, Chee Wei; Sagap, Ismail

2015-01-01

Colorectal cancer is the second most frequent cancer in Malaysia. We aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the Malaysian Chinese version of European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire core (QLQ-C30) in patients with colorectal cancer. Translated versions of the QLQ-C30 were obtained from the EORTC. A cross sectional study design was used to obtain data from patients receiving treatment at two teaching hospitals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Malaysian Chinese version of QLQ-C30 was self-administered in 96 patients while the Karnofsky Performance Scales (KPS) was generated by attending surgeons. Statistical analysis included reliability, convergent, discriminate validity, and known-groups comparisons. Statistical significance was based on p value ≤0.05. The internal consistencies of the Malaysian Chinese version were acceptable [Cronbach's alpha (α≥ 0.70)] in the global health status/overall quality of life (GHS/QOL), functioning scales except cognitive scale (α≤0.32) in all levels of analysis, and social/family functioning scale (α=0.63) in patients without a stoma. All questionnaire items fulfilled the criteria for convergent and discriminant validity except question number 5, with correlation with role (r = 0.62) and social/family (r = 0.41) functioning higher than with physical functioning scales (r = 0.34). The test-retest coefficients in the GHS/QOL, functioning scales and in most of the symptoms scales were moderate to high (r = 0.58 to 1.00). Patients with a stoma reported statistically significant lower physical functioning (p=0.015), social/family functioning (p=0.013), and higher constipation (p=0.010) and financial difficulty (p=0.037) compared to patients without stoma. There was no significant difference between patients with high and low KPS scores. Malaysian Chinese version of the QLQ-C30 is a valid and reliable measure of HRQOL in patients with colorectal cancer.

School Uniforms in Urban Public High Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Draa, Virginia Ann Bendel

2005-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not the implementation of a mandatory uniform policy in urban public high schools improved school performance measures at the building level for rates of attendance, graduation, academic proficiency, and student conduct as measured by rates of suspensions and expulsions. Sixty-four secondary…

Immunization knowledge and practice among Malaysian parents: a questionnaire development and pilot-testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Awadh, Ammar Ihsan; Hassali, Mohamed Azmi; Al-lela, Omer Qutaiba; Bux, Siti Halimah; Elkalmi, Ramadan M; Hadi, Hazrina

2014-10-27

Parents are the main decision makers for their children vaccinations. This fact makes parents' immunization knowledge and practices as predictor factors for immunization uptake and timeliness. The aim of this pilot study was to develop a reliable and valid instrument in Malaysian language to measure immunization knowledge and practice (KP) of Malaysian parents. A cross-sectional prospective pilot survey was conducted among 88 Malaysian parents who attended public health facilities that provide vaccinations. Translated immunization KP questionnaires (Bahasa Melayu version) were used. Descriptive statistics were applied, face and content validity were assessed, and internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity were determined. The mean ± standard deviation (SD) of the knowledge scores was 7.36 ± 2.29 and for practice scores was 7.13 ± 2.20. Good internal consistency was found for knowledge and practice items (Cronbach's alpha = 0.757 and 0.743 respectively); the test-retest reliability value was 0.740 (p = 0.014). A panel of three specialist pharmacists who are experts in this field judged the face and content validity of the final questionnaire. Parents with up-to-date immunized children had significantly better knowledge and practice scores than parents who did not (p Malaysian parents and therefore this version can be used in future research.

Antifungal activity of selected Malaysian honeys: a comparison with Manuka honey

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Siti Aisyah Sayadi

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Objective: To evaluate four selected Malaysian honey samples from different floral sources (Gelam, Tualang, Nenas and Acacia for their ability to inhibit the growth of fungi and yeast strains (Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, Epidermophyton floccosum, Microsporum gypseum, Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton mentagrophytes. Methods: The broth microdilution method was used to assess the antifungal activity of honey against yeasts at different concentrations ranging from 0.01% to 70% (v/v. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC of the honeys were determined by visual inspection and spectrophotometric assay. Minimum fungicidal concentration test was performed by further sub-culturing from the plates which showed no visible growth in the MIC assay onto Sabroud dextrose agar. Results: All tested Malaysian honeys except Gelam showed antifungal activity against all species analysed, with the MIC ranging from 25% (v/v to 50% (v/v while MIC of Manuka honey ranged between 21% to 53% (v/v. Candida albicans was more susceptible to honey than other species tested. Conclusions: Locally produced honeys exhibited antifungal activity which is less than or equal to that of Manuka honey. Our data showed evidence in support of the therapeutic uses of Malaysian honeys.

Measuring and explaining multi-directional inefficiency in the Malaysian dairy industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohd Suhaimi, Nurul Aisyah Binti; de Mey, Yann; Oude Lansink, Alfons

2017-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to measure the technical inefficiency of dairy farms and subsequently investigate the factors affecting technical inefficiency in the Malaysian dairy industry. This study uses multi-directional efficiency analysis to measure the technical inefficiency scores on a sample of 200 farm observations and single-bootstrap truncated regression model to define factors affecting technical inefficiency. Managerial and program inefficiency scores are presented for intensive and semi-intensive production systems. The results reveal marked differences in the inefficiency scores across inputs and between production systems. Intensive systems generally have lowest managerial and program inefficiency scores in the Malaysian dairy farming sector. Policy makers could use this information to advise dairy farmers to convert their farming system to the intensive system. The results suggest that the Malaysian Government should redefine its policy for providing farm finance and should target young farmers when designing training and extension programs in order to improve the performance of the dairy sector. The existing literature on Southeast Asian dairy farming has neither focused on investigating input-specific efficiency nor on comparing managerial and program efficiency. This paper aims to fill this gap.

High School Physics Courses & Enrollments: Results from the 2012-13 Nationwide Survey of High School Physics Teachers. Focus On

Science.gov (United States)

White, Susan; Tesfaye, Casey Langer

2014-01-01

This report examines enrollments in high school physics during the 2012-13 school year. Based on data from the most recent survey (which includes both public and private high schools in the U.S.), it is estimated that 39% of the class of 2013 took high school physics before graduating. During the 2012-13 school year, 1.38 million students were…

Professional Learning Community in Secondary Schools Community in Malaysia

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Zuraidah Abdullah

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This paper outlines a research towards an initial assessment of the stage of the PLC in secondary schools in Malaysians secondary school with teachers as the main focus. A brief philosophy of the importance of learning organization and its development in various countries was reviewed and incorporated by the current situations, leading to the objectives and methodology for this study. The result showed the teachers can be active in their learning and improving their schools as to enhance the learning performance of the students in the first four characteristic dimensions refer to the practice of shared values, goals, mission and vision among teachers which play an important role in shaping the PLC in secondary school.

Factors affecting nutritional status of Malaysian primary school children.

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Zaini, M Z Anuar; Lim, C T; Low, W Y; Harun, F

2005-01-01

This paper investigates the nutritional status of a randomly selected cohort of school children and the factors affecting it. This random survey was conducted in the state of Selangor, involving 1,405 primary students (aged 9-10 years from 54 national primary schools). Physical examination was carried out on all the students. Information on the students was also obtained from the parents. Blood samples were taken by using the finger pricking technique. Body mass index (BMI) was used as a measure of physical growth. The students were mainly from urban areas (82.9%). The mean age was 9.71 years and a higher proportion was females (51%). Malays constituted 83.6%, Indians 11.6% and Chinese 4.2% of the study population. The mean weight and height were 32.30 kg and 135.18 cm respectively. The mean BMI was 17.42 kg/m2, with 1.2% of the students underweight, 76.3% normal BMI, 16.3% overweight and 6.3% were obese. Nutritional status was significantly related to blood pressure, history of breast feeding, eating fast food, taking canned/bottled drinks, income and educational level of parents. Significant differences in nutritional status between sexes and locations (rural/urban) were also found. The prevalence of overweight and obese children was of concern. There is thus an urgent need for the School Health Program to periodically monitor the school children's eating habits and physical growth. Appropriate counselling on nutritional intake and physical activities should be given not only to schoolchildren but also to their teachers and parents or caregivers.

The Construction of the Malaysian Educators Selection Inventory (MEdSI: A Large Scale Assessment Initiative

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Joharry Othman

2008-06-01

Full Text Available The crucial role that teachers and schools play in the development of a nation’s human resource is undeniable. In Malaysia, teaching has always been perceived as a financially secure and relatively easy job by many, resulting in mass application for entry into teacher education programmes. Many of those who aspire and opto to go into the teaching profession however do so regardless of their personal interests, potential, and values. Pursuing a program that does not fit a person’s personality and interest – despite initially having good academic credentials and excellent co-curricular involvement in school – may result in unsatisfactory academic performance, frustration, change of program and even withdrawal at college level. Hence, in the quest for selecting suitable teacher trainee candidates, a psychometrically sound instrument known as the Malaysian Educators Selection Inventory (MEdSI was developed as a screening measure to filter the large number of teacher hopefuls. This paper specifically describes the theoretical basis and the constructs of the instrument developed.

High School Physics Availability: Results from the 2012-13 Nationwide Survey of High School Physics Teachers. Focus On

Science.gov (United States)

White, Susan; Tesfaye, Casey Langer

2014-01-01

In this report, the authors share their analysis of the data from over 3,500 high schools in the U.S. beginning with an examination of the availability of physics in U.S. high schools. The schools in their sample are a nationally-representative random sample of the almost 25,000 high schools in forty-nine of the fifty states. Table 1 shows the…

Newsletter published by Malaysian Nuclear Agency, medium conducive injection of public awareness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Norzehan Ngadiron

2008-01-01

This article discusses the role of the pamphlet issued by the Malaysian Nuclear Agency in promoting public awareness about the use of nuclear technology in the country. In line with the vision of the government to introduce and promote the use of nuclear science and technology in national development, the Malaysian Nuclear Agency has published various brochures in an effort to promote community awareness. In fact, published pamphlets also are symbolic of the important role of the Agency in delivering accurate information to people about nuclear technology. It indirectly nurtures the society to look at nuclear technology to a more positive direction. Brochures are not only targeted towards professionals but it is also distributed to schoolchildren, the public and students of higher education institutions, regardless of race. In conclusion, publish and distribute pamphlets to the community represents the general form of undivided Malaysia Nuclear Agency in the mission to create awareness among Malaysian of nuclear technology and the role of the agency itself. Any information will help readers increase awareness and enhance knowledge related to nuclear science and technology.

Radiotracer laboratory for agricultural research at the Malaysian Nuclear Agency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nashriyah Mat; Misman Sumin; Maizatul Akmam Mhd Nasir

2007-01-01

Radiotracer Laboratory for agricultural research at the Malaysian Nuclear Agency was established since 1990. It accommodates three laboratories, three chemical temporary storage compartments plus one compartment for storage of pressurized gas. This facility is situated in ground floor of Block 44, Agrotechnology and Biosciences Division, Dengkil Complex. Currently it houses a liquid scintillation counter, sample oxidizer, gas liquid chromatography, high performance liquid chromatography and auxiliary equipments. A road map for this laboratory will be discussed in relation with present scenario i.e. R and D service, training and consultancy provided by this laboratory; and future requirements and direction. (Author)

Readiness towards Entrepreneurship Education: Students and Malaysian Universities

Science.gov (United States)

Othman, Norasmah; Hashim, Norashidah; Wahid, Hariyaty Ab

2012-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to observe the readiness of students and the internal environment of Malaysian public universities in the implementation of entrepreneurship education. Design/methodology/approach: The authors employed a quantitative approach and the main instrument used to gauge the entrepreneurship readiness among students…

Malaysian Private Education Quality: Application of SERVQUAL Model

Science.gov (United States)

Vaz, Anthony; Mansori, Shaheen

2013-01-01

Intense competition among existing private education providers and the Malaysian government's relaxation of regulations for allowing international universities to open off shore campuses in Malaysia, have forced companies in the education industry to develop strategies which can help them to make their existing students satisfied and keep them…

Exploring the clean development mechanism: Malaysian case study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Anne Rathmann

2008-01-01

During 2006 the CDM market in Malaysia became established and by December 2007 a total of 20 Malaysian projects had registered with the CDM Executive Board. The Kyoto Protocol defines the Annex I countries, as countries that are obliged to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the clean...

Antecedents and consequences of work-life balance: an exploration of the Malaysian workforce

OpenAIRE

Au, Wee Chan

2017-01-01

Work-life balance is an issue of increasing importance to organizations in their attempt to build sustainable competitive advantage through effective management and leverage of human capital. As Malaysia progresses along its path of economic transformation, the issue of work-life balance is becoming highly critical in its aim of becoming a developed economy. This study aims to explore the antecedents and consequences of work-life balance among the Malaysian workforce. Two opposing theori...

Intellectual Capital: A Focus on Human Capital Reporting Practices of Top Malaysian Listed Companies

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Norhayati Mat Husin

2011-04-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to examine the extent of human capital (HC reporting among top Malaysian companies and introduce an HC reporting guideline that can be used by Malaysian companies and regulator. It begins by developing the HC framework based on previous intellectual capital (IC frameworks. This framework is then used to examine each of the top 100 Malaysian companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia in year 2008. Using the content analysis method, it reviews the annual reports of these companies to determine the extent of HC reporting. The findings of this paper highlight the need for the development of IC framework particularly on HC. HC differences were also identified between Malaysia and other countries such as Sri Lanka and Australia, and it is argued that these differences can be attributed to the social, economic, and political factors.

Editorial: HOW THE CENTRE OF MALAYSIAN POLITICS SHIFTED TO THE ISLAMIST REGISTER 1969-2009

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Editor Al-Jami'ah: Journal of Islamic Studies

2009-02-01

Full Text Available One of the most obvious observations that can be made about the form and content of Malaysian politics, political discourse and political culture today is how the country has shifted to a visibly more Islamist register, with the symbols and vocabulary of political Islam gaining prominence and visibility over the past four decades. This is particularly true in the case of Malaysia’s civil society space, which was once dominated by secular Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs, mass movements and lobby groups. Today, however, we are looking at the relatively new phenomenon of a Malaysian civil society space which is increasingly being dominated by Islamist civil society movements that operate within the constitutional framework of the country but which are pushing for a clearly religious-communitarian agenda, namely the Islamisation of Malaysian society and politics. How did this come about?

After Installation: Ubiquitous Computing and High School Science in Three Experienced, High-Technology Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Drayton, Brian; Falk, Joni K.; Stroud, Rena; Hobbs, Kathryn; Hammerman, James

2010-01-01

There are few studies of the impact of ubiquitous computing on high school science, and the majority of studies of ubiquitous computing report only on the early stages of implementation. The present study presents data on 3 high schools with carefully elaborated ubiquitous computing systems that have gone through at least one "obsolescence cycle"…

Towards Malaysian LADM Country Profile for 2D and 3D Cadastral Registration System

OpenAIRE

Zulkifli, N.A.; Abdul Rahman, A.; Jamil, H.; Teng, C.H.; Tan, L.C.; Looi, K.S.; Chan, K.L.; Van Oosterom, P.J.M.

2014-01-01

This paper proposes a comprehensive Land Administration Domain Model (LADM, ISO 2012) country profile for 2D and 3D cadastral registration system for Malaysia. The proposed Malaysian country profile is partly based on the existing spatial (including survey) and administrative registration systems, and partly based on new developments inspired by the LADM standard. Within the country profile, an attempt is made to cover all Malaysian land administration related information, which are maintaine...

Are Modal Auxiliaries in Malaysian English Language Textbooks in Line with Their Usage in Real Language?

Science.gov (United States)

Khojasteh, Laleh; Kafipour, Reza

2012-01-01

Based on the discrepancies found in many Malaysian English language textbooks, a detailed analysis on the way modal auxiliary verb forms and their semantic functions were introduced and presented in texts and exercises in five Malaysian textbooks was done. For that to be achieved, a qualitative page-by-page content analysis was applied. From the…

Reading Strategies among ESL Malaysian Secondary School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Semtin, Semry Anak; Maniam, Mahendran

2015-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the types of cognitive and metacognitive reading strategies employed by secondary school students in Malaysia to improve their comprehension. The study employed a mixed-method approach which involves the instruments of a questionnaire and an interview. This study was conducted at SMK Kapit, involving ninety Form 4…

Salivary cariogenic bacteria counts are associated with obesity in student women at a Malaysian university.

Science.gov (United States)

Yeo, Wey-Zheng; Lim, Sheng-Pei; Say, Yee-How

2018-01-01

The counts of cariogenic bacteria lactobacilli and mutans streptococci have been studied and correlated with sugar intake. This study was to investigate the association between salivary lactobacilli and mutans streptococci counts with sweet food eating behavior and sweet sensitivity among 120 Malaysian women (101 ethnic Chinese, 19 ethnic Indians), while taking into account anthropometric and menstruation variables. Demographics, anthropometric measurements and menstrual history were taken. Hedonic preference, intake frequency of a list of sweet foods, intensity perception and pleasantness ratings of sweet stimuli were assessed. Saliva was collected for lactobacilli and mutans streptococci culture. We found that centrally obese subjects (high waist circumference and waist-hip ratio) had significantly higher salivary lactobacilli and mutans streptococci counts (all pMalaysian women are associated with central obesity, but not sweet food eating behaviour, sweet sensitivity and menstruation variables. Salivary microbiome analysis could be useful as a potential diagnostic indicator of diseases such as obesity.

Nutrition education and knowledge, attitude and hemoglobin status of Malaysian adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Yusoff, Hafzan; Daud, Wan Nudri Wan; Ahmad, Zulkifli

2012-01-01

A higher occurrence of iron deficiency anemia is present in rural Malaysia than urban Malaysia due to a lower socio-economic status of rural residents. This study was conducted in Tanah Merah, a rural district of Kelantan, Malaysia. Our objective was to investigate the impact of nutrition education alone, daily iron, folate and vitamin C supplementation or both on knowledge, attitudes and hemoglobin status of adolescent students. Two hundred eighty fourth year secondary students were each assigned by school to 1 of 4 different treatment groups. Each intervention was carried out for 3 months followed by 3 months without treatment. A validated self-reported knowledge and attitude questionnaire was administered; hemoglobin levels were measured before and after intervention. At baseline, no significant difference in hemoglobin was noted among the 4 groups (p = 0.06). The changes in hemoglobin levels at 3 months were 11, 4.6, 3.9 and -3.7% for the supplementation, nutrition education, combination and control groups, respectively. The changes at 6 months were 1.0, 6.8, 3.7 and -14.8%, respectively. Significant improvements in knowledge and attitude were evidenced in both the nutritional education and combination groups. The supplementation and control groups had no improvement in knowledge or attitudes. This study suggests nutritional education increases knowledge, attitudes and hemoglobin levels among Malaysian secondary school adolescents.

Sequence Curriculum: High School to College. Middlesex Community College/Haddam-Killingworth High School. Final Report.

Science.gov (United States)

Middlesex Community Coll., Middletown, CT.

Through a collaborative effort between Middlesex Community College (MxCC) and Haddam-Killingworth High School (HKHS), students taking specific high school courses in television production, broadcast journalism, electronics, and photography are granted college credit by MxCC upon admission to the college's Broadcast Communication Program. The…

Middle School and High School Students Who Stutter: A Qualitative Investigation of School Experiences

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Cobb, Tiffany R.

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore and further understand the ways in which middle school and high school students perceive their school experiences within the school environment. School has an important impact on the social development of children (Milsom, 2006). Learning is not done individually as classrooms are inherently social…

Rebellion in a High School.

Science.gov (United States)

Stinchcombe, Arthur L.

The premise of this book is that high school rebellion is an "expression of alienation from socially present authorities." Such rebellion is a manifestation of "expressive alienation" and has the quality of hatred or sullenness. Rebellious high school students are likely to be non-utilitarian, negativistic, hedonistic, and to stress group…

Continuing Care in High Schools: A Descriptive Study of Recovery High School Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Finch, Andrew J.; Moberg, D. Paul; Krupp, Amanda Lawton

2014-01-01

Data from 17 recovery high schools suggest programs are dynamic and vary in enrollment, fiscal stability, governance, staffing, and organizational structure. Schools struggle with enrollment, funding, lack of primary treatment accessibility, academic rigor, and institutional support. Still, for adolescents having received treatment for substance…

Transcultural diabetes nutrition algorithm: a malaysian application.

Science.gov (United States)

Hussein, Zanariah; Hamdy, Osama; Chin Chia, Yook; Lin Lim, Shueh; Kumari Natkunam, Santha; Hussain, Husni; Yeong Tan, Ming; Sulaiman, Ridzoni; Nisak, Barakatun; Chee, Winnie Siew Swee; Marchetti, Albert; Hegazi, Refaat A; Mechanick, Jeffrey I

2013-01-01

Glycemic control among patients with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) in Malaysia is suboptimal, especially after the continuous worsening over the past decade. Improved glycemic control may be achieved through a comprehensive management strategy that includes medical nutrition therapy (MNT). Evidence-based recommendations for diabetes-specific therapeutic diets are available internationally. However, Asian patients with T2D, including Malaysians, have unique disease characteristics and risk factors, as well as cultural and lifestyle dissimilarities, which may render international guidelines and recommendations less applicable and/or difficult to implement. With these thoughts in mind, a transcultural Diabetes Nutrition Algorithm (tDNA) was developed by an international task force of diabetes and nutrition experts through the restructuring of international guidelines for the nutritional management of prediabetes and T2D to account for cultural differences in lifestyle, diet, and genetic factors. The initial evidence-based global tDNA template was designed for simplicity, flexibility, and cultural modification. This paper reports the Malaysian adaptation of the tDNA, which takes into account the epidemiologic, physiologic, cultural, and lifestyle factors unique to Malaysia, as well as the local guidelines recommendations.

Anti-gout Potential of Malaysian Medicinal Plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Abu Bakar, Fazleen I; Abu Bakar, Mohd F; Rahmat, Asmah; Abdullah, Norazlin; Sabran, Siti F; Endrini, Susi

2018-01-01

Gout is a type of arthritis that causes painful inflammation in one or more joints. In gout, elevation of uric acid in the blood triggers the formation of crystals, causing joint pain. Malaysia is a mega-biodiversity country that is rich in medicinal plants species. Therefore, its flora might offer promising therapies for gout. This article aims to systematically review the anti-gout potential of Malaysian medicinal plants. Articles on gout published from 2000 to 2017 were identified using PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar with the following keyword search terms: "gout," "medicinal plants," "Malaysia," "epidemiology," " in vitro," and " in vivo ." In this study, 85 plants were identified as possessing anti-gout activity. These plants had higher percentages of xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity (>85%); specifically, the Momordica charantia, Chrysanthemum indicum, Cinnamomum cassia, Kaempferia galanga, Artemisia vulgaris , and Morinda elliptica had the highest values, due to their diverse natural bioactive compounds, which include flavonoids, phenolics, tannin, coumarins, luteolin, and apigenin. This review summarizes the anti-gout potential of Malaysian medicinal plants but the mechanisms, active compounds, pharmacokinetics, bioavailability, and safety of the plants still remain to be elucidated.

Transcultural Diabetes Nutrition Algorithm: A Malaysian Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zanariah Hussein

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Glycemic control among patients with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D in Malaysia is suboptimal, especially after the continuous worsening over the past decade. Improved glycemic control may be achieved through a comprehensive management strategy that includes medical nutrition therapy (MNT. Evidence-based recommendations for diabetes-specific therapeutic diets are available internationally. However, Asian patients with T2D, including Malaysians, have unique disease characteristics and risk factors, as well as cultural and lifestyle dissimilarities, which may render international guidelines and recommendations less applicable and/or difficult to implement. With these thoughts in mind, a transcultural Diabetes Nutrition Algorithm (tDNA was developed by an international task force of diabetes and nutrition experts through the restructuring of international guidelines for the nutritional management of prediabetes and T2D to account for cultural differences in lifestyle, diet, and genetic factors. The initial evidence-based global tDNA template was designed for simplicity, flexibility, and cultural modification. This paper reports the Malaysian adaptation of the tDNA, which takes into account the epidemiologic, physiologic, cultural, and lifestyle factors unique to Malaysia, as well as the local guidelines recommendations.

Transcultural Diabetes Nutrition Algorithm: A Malaysian Application

Science.gov (United States)

Hamdy, Osama; Chin Chia, Yook; Lin Lim, Shueh; Kumari Natkunam, Santha; Yeong Tan, Ming; Sulaiman, Ridzoni; Nisak, Barakatun; Chee, Winnie Siew Swee; Marchetti, Albert; Hegazi, Refaat A.; Mechanick, Jeffrey I.

2013-01-01

Glycemic control among patients with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) in Malaysia is suboptimal, especially after the continuous worsening over the past decade. Improved glycemic control may be achieved through a comprehensive management strategy that includes medical nutrition therapy (MNT). Evidence-based recommendations for diabetes-specific therapeutic diets are available internationally. However, Asian patients with T2D, including Malaysians, have unique disease characteristics and risk factors, as well as cultural and lifestyle dissimilarities, which may render international guidelines and recommendations less applicable and/or difficult to implement. With these thoughts in mind, a transcultural Diabetes Nutrition Algorithm (tDNA) was developed by an international task force of diabetes and nutrition experts through the restructuring of international guidelines for the nutritional management of prediabetes and T2D to account for cultural differences in lifestyle, diet, and genetic factors. The initial evidence-based global tDNA template was designed for simplicity, flexibility, and cultural modification. This paper reports the Malaysian adaptation of the tDNA, which takes into account the epidemiologic, physiologic, cultural, and lifestyle factors unique to Malaysia, as well as the local guidelines recommendations. PMID:24385984

Energy, economic and environmental benefits of using high-efficiency motors to replace standard motors for the Malaysian industries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saidur, R.; Mahlia, T.M.I.

2010-01-01

Electric motors use major share (i.e. about 30-80% of total industrial energy consumption) of total industrial energy use around the world. Experiences from other countries show that government intervention in the form of regulations such as mandatory and voluntary approaches can save sizeable amount of energy along with the reduction in emissions associated with energy savings. This paper presents potential energy savings by introducing high-efficiency motors as a case study in Malaysian industrial sector. Emission reductions associated with the energy savings has been estimated and presented as well. It was also estimated that a cumulative amount of 1940 and 892 GWh of energy can be saved for 20 and 120 kW motors, respectively, in Malaysia relative to BAU over the next 10 years. Similarly, a cumulative amount of USD 100 million and USD 60 million can be saved as utility bills for the same motor categories. It has been found that the payback period of different capacities of motors are less than a year. Based on results, it was found that 1789 million kg of CO 2 emission can be avoided by replacing standard motors with high-efficiency motors.

Especially for High School Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Emory Howell, J.

1999-11-01

many of our readers. The High School/College Interface Luncheon was part of the very rich day-long High School Program at the New Orleans ACS Meeting. Shown here (from left) are Glenn Crosby, the luncheon speaker; Lillie Tucker-Akin, the High School Day program chair; and Fred Johnson, Assistant Superintendent of Shelby County (TN) schools and Immediate Past President of NSTA. The recipient of the James Bryant Conant Award in High School Chemistry Teaching is Frank G. Cardulla, who taught for many years at Niles North High School, Skokie, Illinois. His extensive record of service to fellow teachers includes editing the JCE "View from My Classroom" feature for several years and writing several articles, as well as his recent appointment to the JCE Board of Publication. The recipient of the George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education is Jerry A. Bell of the American Chemical Society in Washington, DC. An author of numerous articles appearing in JCE and a member of the JCE Board of Publication for several years, he currently serves as Board Chair. The 16th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education Readers who attended the 15th BCCE in Waterloo, Ontario, know that much of the programming at these conferences is of interest to high school teachers. Many work shops, papers, and demonstrations are presented by high school teachers. There are many other outstanding papers and posters, plenary speakers, and exciting demonstrations. The 16th BCCE will be held at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, July 30-August 3, 2000. Among the high school teachers already scheduled to present workshops at the 16th BCCE are George Hague, Lynn Hershey, and Jack Randall, and there will be many more before the program is completed. The High School Chemistry Program Chair is Tim Graham, Roosevelt High School (MI). The Organizing Committee is seeking the assistance of local sections of the American Chemical Society within a 300-mile radius of Ann Arbor in providing support for high school

Comparison studies adsorption of thorium and uranium on pure clay minerals and local Malaysian soil sediments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Syed, H.S.

1999-01-01

Adsorption studies of thorium and uranium radionuclides on 9 different pure clay minerals and 4 local Malaysian soil sediments were conducted. Solution containing dissolved thorium and uranium at pH 4.90 was prepared from concentrate sludges from a long term storage facility at a local mineral processing plant. The sludges are considered as low level radioactive wastes. The results indicated that the 9 clay minerals adsorbed more uranium than thorium at pH ranges from 3.74 to 5.74. Two local Malaysian soils were observed to adsorb relatively high concentration of both radionuclides at pH 3.79 to 3.91. The adsorption value 23.27 to 27.04 ppm for uranium and 33.1 to 50.18 ppm for thorium indicated that both soil sediments can be considered as potential enhanced barrier material for sites disposing conditioned wastes containing uranium and thorium. (author)

Sociotechnical factors influencing unsafe use of hospital information systems: A qualitative study in Malaysian government hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Salahuddin, Lizawati; Ismail, Zuraini; Hashim, Ummi Rabaah; Raja Ikram, Raja Rina; Ismail, Nor Haslinda; Naim Mohayat, Mohd Hariz

2018-03-01

The objective of this study is to identify factors influencing unsafe use of hospital information systems in Malaysian government hospitals. Semi-structured interviews with 31 medical doctors in three Malaysian government hospitals implementing total hospital information systems were conducted between March and May 2015. A thematic qualitative analysis was performed on the resultant data to deduce the relevant themes. A total of five themes emerged as the factors influencing unsafe use of a hospital information system: (1) knowledge, (2) system quality, (3) task stressor, (4) organization resources, and (5) teamwork. These qualitative findings highlight that factors influencing unsafe use of a hospital information system originate from multidimensional sociotechnical aspects. Unsafe use of a hospital information system could possibly lead to the incidence of errors and thus raises safety risks to the patients. Hence, multiple interventions (e.g. technology systems and teamwork) are required in shaping high-quality hospital information system use.

The Malaysian Fifth Fuel Policy: Re-strategising the Malaysian Renewable Energy Initiatives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maulud, A.L.; Saidi, H.

2012-01-01

The power industry is the most crucial and strategic sector for any country to achieve its vision. Due to the fast depletion and high cost of fossil fuel, this is now a threat to sustainable growth. Attention is now focused on renewable energies as an alternative. In Malaysia, renewable energy was included in the 8th Malaysia Plan (2000–2005) with a target of 500 MW out of the 20,000 MW total generation capacity. However, for the first 10 years (2000–2010) only 41.5 MW planting up has been achieved. This paper recommends strategies, implementation mechanism, and financial framework to ensure success of the initiatives. Some of the recommendations were currently being implemented such as the Green Technology Fund and the Fit-In-Tariff. In addition, this paper proposes the incorporation of a Malaysian Renewable Energy Development Board with wide legislative and executive powers, that would be a strong champion of the RE initiatives. Its primary function would be, inter alia, cross-ministry coordination, tariff fixation, regulating utilization of renewable biomass waste, institute fiscal incentives such as investment incentives, tax holidays, removal of barriers, and initiate government funded Research, Development and Demonstration (RD and D) initiatives.

Uncanny valley: A preliminary study on the acceptance of Malaysian urban and rural population toward different types of robotic faces

Science.gov (United States)

Tay, T. T.; Low, Raymond; Loke, H. J.; Chua, Y. L.; Goh, Y. H.

2018-04-01

The proliferation of robotic technologies in recent years brings robots closer to humanities. There are many researches on going at various stages of development to bring robots into our homes, schools, nurseries, elderly care centres, offices, hospitals and factories. With recently developed robots having tendency to have appearance which increasingly displaying similarities to household animals and humans, there is a need to study the existence of uncanny valley phenomenon. Generally, the acceptance of people toward robots increases as the robots acquire increasing similarities to human features until a stage where people feel very uncomfortable, eerie, fear and disgust when the robot appearance become almost human like but not yet human. This phenomenon called uncanny valley was first reported by Masahiro Mori. There are numerous researches conducted to measure the existence of uncanny valley in Japan and European countries. However, there is limited research reported on uncanny valley phenomenon in Malaysia so far. In view of the different cultural background and exposure of Malaysian population to robotics technology compared to European or East Asian populations, it is worth to study this phenomenon in Malaysian context. The main aim of this work is to conduct a preliminary study to determine the existence of uncanny valley phenomenon in Malaysian urban and rural populations. It is interesting to find if there are any differences in the acceptance of the two set of populations despite of their differences. Among others the urban and rural populations differ in term of the rate of urbanization and exposure to latest technologies. A set of four interactive robotic faces and an ideal human model representing the fifth robot are used in this study. The robots have features resembling a cute animal, cartoon character, typical robot and human-like. Questionnaire surveys are conducted on respondents from urban and rural populations. Survey data collected are

A photovoice study of school belongingness among high school students in Norway.

Science.gov (United States)

Lieblein, Vaiva Sunniva Deraas; Warne, Maria; Huot, Suzanne; Laliberte Rudman, Debbie; Raanaas, Ruth Kjærsti

2018-12-01

Although high school graduation is important for living conditions and health throughout life, many students do not complete. In Norway's northern most county, Finnmark, up to 45% of students do not complete high school. Contrary to prior research that has primarily focused on causes for dropout, this study's aim was to deepen understanding of factors that support high school attendance. A strengths-based participatory approach using photovoice addressed attendance factors as perceived by seven participating students from one high school in Finnmark. Qualitative content analysis of data generated through group dialogue about participant-generated photos and individual interviews identified six factors important for students' school attendance: a supportive school environment, a good learning environment, recuperation and recreation, family and friends, goals and ambitions, and place attachment. Related aspects of a supportive environment and belongingness, where school staff made important contributions to promoting a positive environment, were essential.

Virgin olive oil, palm olein and coconut oil diets do not raise cell adhesion molecules and thrombogenicity indices in healthy Malaysian adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Voon, P T; Ng, T K W; Lee, V K M; Nesaretnam, K

2015-06-01

Effects of high-protein diets that are rich in saturated fats on cell adhesion molecules, thrombogenicity and other nonlipid markers of atherosclerosis in humans have not been firmly established. We aim to investigate the effects of high-protein Malaysian diets prepared separately with virgin olive oil (OO), palm olein (PO) and coconut oil (CO) on cell adhesion molecules, lipid inflammatory mediators and thromobogenicity indices in healthy adults. A randomized cross-over intervention with three dietary sequences, using virgin OO, PO and CO as test fats, was carried out for 5 weeks on each group consisting of 45 men and women. These test fats were incorporated separately at two-thirds of 30% fat calories into high-protein Malaysian diets. For fasting and nonfasting blood samples, no significant differences were observed on the effects of the three test-fat diets on thrombaxane B2 (TXB2), TXB2/PGF1α ratios and soluble intracellular and vascular cell adhesion molecules. The OO diet induced significantly lower (Pvirgin OO do not alter the thrombogenicity indices-cellular adhesion molecules, thromboxane B2 (TXB2) and TXB2/prostacyclin (PGF1α) ratios. However, the OO diet lowered plasma proinflammatory LTB4, whereas the PO diet raised the antiaggregatory plasma PGF1α in healthy Malaysian adults. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT 00941837.

THE IMPACT OF PERSONALITY AND LEADERSHIP STYLES ON LEADING CHANGE CAPABILITY OF MALAYSIAN MANAGERS

OpenAIRE

Ali Hussein Alkahtani; Ismael Abu-Jarad; Mohamed Sulaiman; Davoud Nikbin

2011-01-01

This study was conducted to investigate the influence of the Big Five Dimensions of personality of the Malaysian Managers and the leadership styles these managers use on their leading change capabilities. Total sample of 105 managers was used in this study. The results of this study revealed that the Malaysian managers tend to enjoy personalities that are conscious and open to experience. These managers tend to use consultative leadership style. However, they use autocratic, democratic and so...

Modeling Environmental Literacy of Malaysian Pre-University Students

Science.gov (United States)

Shamuganathan, Sheila; Karpudewan, Mageswary

2015-01-01

In this study attempt was made to model the environmental literacy of Malaysian pre-university students enrolled in a matriculation college. Students enrolled in the matriculation colleges in Malaysia are the top notch students in the country. Environmental literacy of this group is perceived important because in the future these students will be…

Intellectual Capital: A Focus on Human Capital Reporting Practices of Top Malaysian Listed Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Norhayati Mat Husin

2013-07-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to examine the extent of human capital (HC reporting among top Malaysian companies and introduce an HC reporting guideline that can be used by Malaysian companies and regulator. It begins by developing the HC framework based on previous intellectual capital (IC frameworks. This framework is then used to examine each of the top 100 Malaysian companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia in year 2008. Using the content analysis method, it reviews the annual reports of these companies to determine the extent of HC reporting. The findings of this paper highlight the need for the development of IC framework particularly on HC. HC differences were also identified between Malaysia and other countries such as Sri Lanka and Australia, and it is argued that these differences can be attributed to the social, economic, and political factors.Keywords: Human capital, intellectual capital, Malaysia

Malaysian weedy rice shows its true stripes: wild Oryza and elite rice cultivars shape agricultural weed evolution in Southeast Asia.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Beng-Kah; Chuah, Tse-Seng; Tam, Sheh May; Olsen, Kenneth M

2014-10-01

Weedy rice is a close relative of domesticated rice (Oryza sativa) that competes aggressively with the crop and limits rice productivity worldwide. Most genetic studies of weedy rice have focused on populations in regions where no reproductively compatible wild Oryza species occur (North America, Europe and northern Asia). Here, we examined the population genetics of weedy rice in Malaysia, where wild rice (O. rufipogon) can be found growing in close proximity to cultivated and weedy rice. Using 375 accessions and a combined analysis of 24 neutral SSR loci and two rice domestication genes (sh4, controlling seed shattering, and Bh4, controlling hull colour), we addressed the following questions: (i) What is the relationship of Malaysian weedy rice to domesticated and wild rice, and to weedy rice strains in the USA? (ii) To what extent does the presence of O. rufipogon influence the genetic and phenotypic diversity of Malaysian weeds? (iii) What do the distributions of sh4 and Bh4 alleles and associated phenotypes reveal about the origin and contemporary evolution of Malaysian weedy rice? Our results reveal the following: independent evolutionary origins for Malaysian weeds and US strains, despite their very close phenotypic resemblance; wild-to-weed gene flow in Malaysian weed populations, including apparent adaptive introgression of seed-shattering alleles; and a prominent role for modern Malaysian cultivars in the origin and recent proliferation of Malaysian weeds. These findings suggest that the genetic complexity and adaptability of weedy crop relatives can be profoundly influenced by proximity to reproductively compatible wild and domesticated populations. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Perception of breast health amongst Malaysian female adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Che, Chong Chin; Coomarasamy, Jeya Devi; Suppayah, Balakrishnan

2014-01-01

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Malaysia, about one in 19 women being at risk. This study aimed to investigate knowledge and practice of breast self-examination (BSE), as well as knowledge of risk factors for breast cancer amongst female adolescents in Malaysia. Subsequently, relationships between demographic characteristics and knowledge level of BSE, risk factors for breast cancer and BSE practice were assessed. A descriptive, cross sectional survey was conducted using a sample of 500 Malaysian adolescents from the age of 15 to 19 years. A self-administered questionnaire was used to gather socio- demographic characteristics, knowledge of BSE, knowledge of risk factors for breast cancer and BSE practices. The findings of this study indicated that female adolescents in Malaysia demonstrated an inadequate knowledge level of BSE and risk factors for breast cancer. Only 27.8% of female adolescents performed BSE regularly. BSE practice, knowledge of BSE and knowledge of risk factors for breast cancer showed significant positive relationships. The study highlighted the importance of planning and implementing breast health education programs for female students in secondary schools in Malaysia. It will also provide the health care providers an avenue to stress on the importance of imparting breast health education to adolescents.

Green accounts & day high schools

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Michael Søgaard

1997-01-01

The arcticle presents the concept of green accounts and describes how it can be used in the daily work and the teaching at day high schools.......The arcticle presents the concept of green accounts and describes how it can be used in the daily work and the teaching at day high schools....

High Pressure Reform: Examining Urban Schools' Response to Multiple School Choice Policies

Science.gov (United States)

Holme, Jennifer Jellison; Carkhum, Rian; Rangel, Virginia Snodgrass

2013-01-01

Over the past several decades, policymakers have sought to address the problem of school failure by exposing traditional public schools to competitive market forces. In this analysis, we examine how two traditional public schools in a "high pressure/high choice" urban school cluster in Texas responded to a number of overlapping choice…

A Descriptive-Comparative Analysis of Apology Strategies: The Case of Iranian EFL and Malaysian ESL University Students

Science.gov (United States)

Farashaiyan, Atieh; Amirkhiz, Seyed Yasin Yazdi

2011-01-01

This paper reports on a study that was carried out to describe and compare the apology strategies utilized by Iranian EFL and Malaysian ESL learners in confronting identical apology situations. For this purpose, data were elicited from 15 Iranian and 15 Malaysian students through a "Discourse completion tasks" questionnaire. The…

Understanding the Perception of Islamic Medicine Among the Malaysian Muslim Community.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, Khadher; Ariffin, Mohd Farhan Md; Deraman, Fauzi; Ariffin, Sedek; Abdullah, Mustaffa; Razzak, Monika Munirah Abd; Yusoff, M Y Zulkifli Mohd; Achour, Meguellati

2017-10-26

This study was conducted to identify and describe the patients' perceptions of Islamic medicine based on gender, age, marital, educational level and working status among the Malaysian Muslim population. A nationwide interviewer-administered questionnaire survey was conducted in 2013. An open-ended questionnaire pertaining to Islamic medicine was used to increase the probability of capturing maximum data. This survey implemented a multistage design, stratified by state, proportionate to the size of the state population and was representative of the Malaysian population. Post-survey classification of results was performed accordingly. Complex data analysis was carried out using SPSS 16.0. The discussion was identified and categorised into various sections. The paper concludes that Islamic medicine has a major influence in the Malaysian Muslim community compared to other alternatives. Further, its potential for growth and importance especially for treating spiritual ailments cannot be denied. The respondents indicated that two factors motivate Islamic medicine in Malaysia: (1) the Muslim community opts for alternative healing because of their dissatisfaction with conventional methods; (2) Islamic medicine focuses only on healing spiritual-related problems. The average perception of respondents is that the function of Islamic medicine in healing physical diseases is undervalued and that it is not suitable to replace the functions of modern health institutions.

Covenant Cog or Functional Fourth Estate. A Survey of Malaysian Journalists’ Attitudes towards their Profession

OpenAIRE

Rohini SREEKUMAR; Sony JALARAJAN RAJ

2012-01-01

In Malaysia, the idealistic notion of the news media as ‘watchdog’ is largely redundant due to the external and institutional realities associated with its functioning in a heavily regulated, monitored and controlled media system. There has been little analysis of Malaysian journalists’ perceptions of their profession. Operating within an authoritarian mediascape, Malaysian journalists have to surrender their journalistic values and principles of practice thereby pervading a culture of self-c...

ACCELERATION OF SEA LEVEL RISE OVER MALAYSIAN SEAS FROM SATELLITE ALTIMETER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. I. A. Hamid

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Sea level rise becomes our concern nowadays as a result of variously contribution of climate change that cause by the anthropogenic effects. Global sea levels have been rising through the past century and are projected to rise at an accelerated rate throughout the 21st century. Due to this change, sea level is now constantly rising and eventually will threaten many low-lying and unprotected coastal areas in many ways. This paper is proposing a significant effort to quantify the sea level trend over Malaysian seas based on the combination of multi-mission satellite altimeters over a period of 23 years. Eight altimeter missions are used to derive the absolute sea level from Radar Altimeter Database System (RADS. Data verification is then carried out to verify the satellite derived sea level rise data with tidal data. Eight selected tide gauge stations from Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak are chosen for this data verification. The pattern and correlation of both measurements of sea level anomalies (SLA are evaluated over the same period in each area in order to produce comparable results. Afterwards, the time series of the sea level trend is quantified using robust fit regression analysis. The findings clearly show that the absolute sea level trend is rising and varying over the Malaysian seas with the rate of sea level varies and gradually increase from east to west of Malaysia. Highly confident and correlation level of the 23 years measurement data with an astonishing root mean square difference permits the absolute sea level trend of the Malaysian seas has raised at the rate 3.14 ± 0.12 mm yr-1 to 4.81 ± 0.15 mm yr-1 for the chosen sub-areas, with an overall mean of 4.09 ± 0.12 mm yr-1. This study hopefully offers a beneficial sea level information to be applied in a wide range of related environmental and climatology issue such as flood and global warming.

Acceleration of Sea Level Rise Over Malaysian Seas from Satellite Altimeter

Science.gov (United States)

Hamid, A. I. A.; Din, A. H. M.; Khalid, N. F.; Omar, K. M.

2016-09-01

Sea level rise becomes our concern nowadays as a result of variously contribution of climate change that cause by the anthropogenic effects. Global sea levels have been rising through the past century and are projected to rise at an accelerated rate throughout the 21st century. Due to this change, sea level is now constantly rising and eventually will threaten many low-lying and unprotected coastal areas in many ways. This paper is proposing a significant effort to quantify the sea level trend over Malaysian seas based on the combination of multi-mission satellite altimeters over a period of 23 years. Eight altimeter missions are used to derive the absolute sea level from Radar Altimeter Database System (RADS). Data verification is then carried out to verify the satellite derived sea level rise data with tidal data. Eight selected tide gauge stations from Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak are chosen for this data verification. The pattern and correlation of both measurements of sea level anomalies (SLA) are evaluated over the same period in each area in order to produce comparable results. Afterwards, the time series of the sea level trend is quantified using robust fit regression analysis. The findings clearly show that the absolute sea level trend is rising and varying over the Malaysian seas with the rate of sea level varies and gradually increase from east to west of Malaysia. Highly confident and correlation level of the 23 years measurement data with an astonishing root mean square difference permits the absolute sea level trend of the Malaysian seas has raised at the rate 3.14 ± 0.12 mm yr-1 to 4.81 ± 0.15 mm yr-1 for the chosen sub-areas, with an overall mean of 4.09 ± 0.12 mm yr-1. This study hopefully offers a beneficial sea level information to be applied in a wide range of related environmental and climatology issue such as flood and global warming.

MALAYSIAN WEATHER DATA (TRY) FOR ENERGY SIMULATIONS IN BUILDINGS

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reimann, Gregers Peter

2001-01-01

Detailed energy simulations for buildings in Malaysia have become possible after the recent construction of a Malaysian TRY (Test Reference Year) based on 21 years of hourly weather data from Subang Meteorological Station. The climatic parameters contained in the TRY are dry bulb temperature, wet...

The Effect of High School Shootings on Schools and Student Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Beland, Louis-Philippe; Kim, Dongwoo

2016-01-01

We analyze how fatal shootings in high schools affect schools and students using data from shooting databases, school report cards, and the Common Core of Data. We examine schools' test scores, enrollment, number of teachers, graduation, attendance, and suspension rates at schools that experienced a shooting, employing a difference-in-differences…

Attitudes of High School Students towards Geometry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esat Avcı

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In this research, attitudes of high school students towards geometry were investigated in terms of gender, grade, types of the field and school. Population of research includes students who were studying at high school in five distincs of Mersin in 2013-2014 academical year. Sample of research includes 935 students from twelve high schools. Attitude scale which was developed by Su-Özenir (2008 was used for data collection. For data analysis, mean, standart deviation, t test and ANOVA were used. A meaningful difference between students’ attitudes towards geometry and variance of gender and grade level wasn’t observed, on the other hand a meaningful difference according to field and school type is observed.Key Words:    Attitudes towards geometry, high school geometry lesson, attitude scale

Promoting Intercultural Understanding among School Students through an English Language Based Reading Programme

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Manjet Kaur Mehar; Marsani, Fatin Najwa Amelia binti; Jaganathan, Paramaswari; Abdullah, Ahmad Sofwan Nathan; Karupiah, Premalatha

2016-01-01

Malaysian intercultural society is typified by three major ethnic groups mainly Malays, Chinese and Indians. Although education system is the best tool for these three major ethnic groups to work together, contemporary research reveals that there is still lack of intercultural embedding education context and national schools are seen as breeding…

Investing in High School

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Daniel G.

2012-01-01

Strapped for cash, a Massachusetts high school creates its own venture capital fund to incentivize teachers to create programs that improve student learning. The result has been higher test scores and higher job satisfaction. One important program is credited with helping close the achievement gap at the school, while others have helped ambitious…

Information Needs for Accountability Reporting: Perspectives of Stakeholders of Malaysian Public Universities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Norida Basnan

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The study aims at exploring the needs of a broad group of stakeholders of Malaysian public universities with respect to information items that should be disclosed in the university annual report, and their views on the disclosure importance of the items. This is a preliminary study towards the effort to develop an accountability reporting framework for Malaysian public universities. A questionnaire survey on the universities‟ stakeholders representing each stakeholder group which include policy makers, students, parents, employers, the public, university management and employees, suppliers and oversight entities was carried out in order to identify and confirm the stakeholders‟ disclosure needs. It is expected that the needs of the stakeholders in terms of information to be reported are comprehensive which include financial and non-financial information; and there are differences in the views on the disclosure importance of information among the stakeholder groups. The findings of this study provide a clear understanding of the information that should be disclosed in the annual reports of Malaysian public universities for accountability purpose. The findings may potentially assist the public universities to improve the way they discharge their public accountability through annual reporting.

The Malaysian general elections of 2013: the last attempt at secular-inclusive nation-building?

OpenAIRE

Noor, Farish A.

2013-01-01

"This paper looks at the Malaysian General Election campaign of 2013, and focuses primarily on the 1Malaysia project that was foregrounded by the administration of Prime Minister Najib Razak. It compares the 1Malaysia project with other projects aimed at nation-building, such as the Wawasan 2020 project of former Prime Minister Mahathir and the Islam Hadari project of former Prime Minister Badawi; and asks if 1Malaysia was truly an attempt at building a sense of Malaysian nationhood based on ...

Waist circumference percentile curves for Malaysian children and adolescents aged 6.0-16.9 years.

Science.gov (United States)

Poh, Bee Koon; Jannah, Ahmad Nurul; Chong, Lai Khuen; Ruzita, Abd Talib; Ismail, Mohd Noor; McCarthy, David

2011-08-01

The prevalence of obesity is increasing rapidly and abdominal obesity especially is known to be a risk factor for metabolic syndrome and other non-communicable diseases. Waist circumference percentile curves are useful tools which can help to identify abdominal obesity among the childhood and adolescent populations. To develop age- and sex-specific waist circumference (WC) percentile curves for multi-ethnic Malaysian children and adolescents aged 6.0-16.9 years. Subjects and methods. A total of 16,203 participants comprising 8,093 boys and 8,110 girls recruited from all regions of Malaysia were involved in this study. Height, weight, WC were measured and BMI calculated. Smoothed WC percentile curves and values for the 3rd, 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, 95th and 97th percentiles were constructed using the LMS Method. WC was found to increase with age in both sexes, but boys had higher WC values at every age and percentile. Z-scores generated using the UK reference data shows that Chinese children had the highest WC compared to Malays, Indians and other ethnicities. Comparisons with other studies indicate that at the 50th percentile, Malaysian curves did not differ from the UK, Hong Kong and Turkish curves, but at the 90th percentile, Malaysian curves were higher compared with other countries, starting at 10 years of age. The 90th percentile was adopted as the cut-off point to indicate abdominal obesity in Malaysian children and adolescents. These curves represent the first WC percentiles reported for Malaysian children, and they can serve as a reference for future studies.

Especially for High School Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Howell, J. Emory

1999-12-01

Chemistry and the Environment This issue contains more than 20 articles relating to the environment. Several articles of potential interest are indicated in the Table of Contents with the SSC mark (). Others are not so indicated because they depict use of expensive instrumentation or costly procedures, but if you have an interest in environmental chemistry you may wish to examine all the environmentally related articles. While many of the articles, both marked and unmarked, are targeted to college-level environmental chemistry curricula or to introductory courses for non-major, the methods described in several could be readily adapted to high school chemistry courses. One article likely to be of interest to teachers is found in News from Online, pp 1608-1609. The author explains how to use the U.S. Environment Protection Agency's EnviroMapper Web site to view and query environmental information. She mentioned finding a hazardous waste handler located near her home, so I decided to check the area near my home. I quickly located a natural gas salt dome storage facility marked on the map and, with a few more mouse clicks, I found information that included status of compliance with regulations, amounts of each compound released to the air in tons per year, and how to contact the corporation owning the site. Email and Web site addresses were included for the convenience of anyone wishing to contact the corporation. Students could learn a great deal about where they live that is relevant to chemistry by using the EPA site. Additional Web sites dealing with environmental issues and chemistry are cited in the sidebar at the bottom of p 1609. Among the articles that could be adapted to an advanced high school chemistry class or possibly even to an introductory class is one titled Bridge of Mandolin County (pp 1671-1672). It describes a case-study strategy similar to the scenarios used in ChemStudy. Students analyze information from various sources, including laboratory

How High School Students Select a College.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilmour, Joseph E., Jr.; And Others

The college selection process used by high school students was studied and a paradigm that describes the process was developed, based on marketing theory concerning consumer behavior. Primarily college freshmen and high school seniors were interviewed, and a few high school juniors and upper-level college students were surveyed to determine…

High School Students’ Social Media Addiction

OpenAIRE

Deniz, Levent; Gürültü, Ercan

2018-01-01

Theaim of this study is to investigate high school students’ social mediaaddiction. The study was conducted with 473 students who were educated in2014-2015 academic year at 6 different schools in İstanbul, Eyüp disctrict.‘Social Media Addiction Scale’ developed by Tutgun, Ünal and Deniz (2015) wasused to determine the students’ social media addiction. The results in general showedthat high school students have a medium level social media addiction. Besides,it was also concluded that high scho...

Case Studies of Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools. Core Academic Strategic Designs: 2. Noble Street Charter High School

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Shields, Regis Anne; Ireland, Nicole; City, Elizabeth; Derderian, Julie; Miles, Karen Hawley

2008-01-01

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

Eye Injuries in High School and Collegiate Athletes.

Science.gov (United States)

Boden, Barry P; Pierpoint, Lauren A; Boden, Rebecca G; Comstock, R Dawn; Kerr, Zachary Y

Although eye injuries constitute a small percentage of high school and college sports injuries, they have the potential to be permanently debilitating. Eye injury rates will vary by sport, sex, and between the high school and college age groups. Descriptive epidemiology study. Level 3. Data from eye injury reports in high school and college athletes were obtained from the National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance System, High School Reporting Information Online (HS RIO) database over a 10-year span (2005-2006 through 2014-2015 school years) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Injury Surveillance Program (ISP) over an 11-year span (2004-2005 through 2014-2015 school years). Injury rates per 100,000 athlete-exposures (AEs), injury rate ratios (RRs), and 95% CIs were calculated. Distributions of eye injuries by diagnosis, mechanism, time loss, and surgery needs were also examined. A total of 237 and 273 eye injuries were reported in the HS RIO and the NCAA ISP databases, respectively. The sports with the highest eye injury rates (per 100,000 AEs) for combined high school and college athletes were women's basketball (2.36), women's field hockey (2.35), men's basketball (2.31), and men's wrestling (2.07). Overall eye injury rates at the high school and college levels were 0.68 and 1.84 per 100,000 AEs, respectively. Eye injury rates were higher in competition than practice in high school (RR, 3.47; 95% CI, 2.69-4.48) and college (RR, 3.13; 95% CI, 2.45-3.99). Most injuries were contusions (high school, 35.9%; college, 33.3%) and due to contact (high school, 89.9%; college, 86.4%). Only a small percentage of injuries resulted in time loss over 21 days (high school, 4.2%; college, 3.0%). Eye injury rates and patterns vary by sport, sex, and between the high school and college age groups. Although severe injuries do occur, most eye injuries sustained by high school and college athletes are minor, with limited time loss and full recovery

Spotlight on Athletes With a Disability: Malaysian Newspaper Coverage of the 2012 London Paralympic Games.

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Cheong, Jadeera Phaik Geok; Khoo, Selina; Razman, Rizal

2016-01-01

This study analyzed newspaper coverage of the 2012 London Paralympic Games by 8 Malaysian newspapers. Articles and photographs from 4 English-language and 4 Malay-language newspapers were examined from August 28 (1 day before the Games) to September 10, 2012 (1 day after the Games closing). Tables, graphs, letters, fact boxes, and lists of events were excluded from analysis. A total of 132 articles and 131 photographs were analyzed. Content analysis of the newspaper articles revealed that most (62.8%) of the articles contained positive reference to the athletes with a disability. There were equal numbers (39.1%) of action and static shots of athletes. More articles and photographs of Malaysian (58%) than non-Malaysian (42%) athletes with a disability were identified. Only 14.9% of the articles and photographs were related to female athletes with a disability.

Prevalence, comorbidities, and cofactors associated with alcohol consumption among school-going adolescents in Malaysia.

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Manickam, Mala A; Abdul Mutalip, Mohd Hatta B; Abdul Hamid, Hamizatul Akmal Bt; Kamaruddin, Rozanim Bt; Sabtu, Mohd Yusoff B

2014-09-01

Alcohol is deleterious to physical and mental health as well as social well-being. This study aims to examine the prevalence of alcohol consumption and factors associated with its use among school-going Malaysian adolescents. The Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) 2012 employed 2-stage clustering design to Malaysian secondary school respondents aged 12 to 17 years. The prevalence of current alcohol usage was 8.9% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 7.8-10.07) overall, 11.2% (95% CI: 9.80-12.80) among males, and 23.4 (95% CI: 21.40-25.50) among Chinese students. Multivariate logistic regression showed that adolescents who had used alcohol were more likely to have used substance (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 3.39; 95% CI: 2.33-4.99), experienced injury (aOR = 1.53; 95% CI: 1.20-1.95), and engaged in sexual behaviors (aOR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.12-1.79), and fights (aOR = 1.23; 95% CI: 1.08-1.41). The current national policies on alcohol should be strengthened to curb alcohol consumption among adolescents. © 2014 APJPH.

Genetic Risk Factors of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in the Malaysian Population: A Minireview

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Hwa Chia Chai

2012-01-01

Full Text Available SLE is an autoimmune disease that is not uncommon in Malaysia. In contrast to Malays and Indians, the Chinese seem to be most affected. SLE is characterized by deficiency of body's immune response that leads to production of autoantibodies and failure of immune complex clearance. This minireview attempts to summarize the association of several candidate genes with risk for SLE in the Malaysian population and discuss the genetic heterogeneity that exists locally in Asians and in comparison with SLE in Caucasians. Several groups of researchers have been actively investigating genes that are associated with SLE susceptibility in the Malaysian population by screening possible reported candidate genes across the SLE patients and healthy controls. These candidate genes include MHC genes and genes encoding complement components, TNF, FcγR, T-cell receptors, and interleukins. However, most of the polymorphisms investigated in these genes did not show significant associations with susceptibility to SLE in the Malaysian scenario, except for those occurring in MHC genes and genes coding for TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-1RN, and IL-6.

Towards Integrated Team Practice: A Case of Malaysian Industrialised Building System (IBS Construction Projects

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Mohd Nawi Mohd Nasrun

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Problems associated with fragmentation in the traditional construction process, such as isolation of professionals, lack of co-ordination between design and construction, and the sequential manner of its processes, has impacted on construction performance leading to a lack of integration, wastage, low productivity and efficiency. Integrated team practice is perceived as paramount. Unfortunately, there has a limitation of study focus on the dimension of fully integrated team especially for Malaysian Industrialised Building System (IBS projects. Accordingly, this research paper explores and identifies the dimension of fully integrated team from the traditional approach and conduct a validation process for implementing it in Malaysian IBS projects. The research presented uses interviews case study to obtain qualitative data. It was found that the dimension of fully integrated team from the traditional construction process could apply to the Malaysian IBS projects. Suggestions on how an integrated team practice in IBS design and construction process in order to minimise the fragmentation gaps will be concluded.

Lifestyle Practices and Obesity in Malaysian Adolescents

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Teo, Pey Sze; Nurul-Fadhilah, Abdullah; Aziz, Mohd Ezane; Hills, Andrew P.; Foo, Leng Huat

2014-01-01

Aim: To determine the influence of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) on obesity profiles of 454 Malaysian adolescents aged 12 to 19. Methods: Validated PA and SB questionnaires were used and body composition assessed using anthropometry and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Results: Gender-specific multivariate analyses showed boys with high levels of total PA and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) exhibited significantly lower levels of total body fat, percent body fat and android fat mass compared with low PA and MVPA groups, after adjusting for potential confounders. Girls with high SB levels showed significantly higher BMI, waist circumference and DXA-derived body fat indices than those at lower SB level. Multiple logistic analyses indicated that boys with low levels of total PA and MVPA had significantly greater obesity risk, 3.0 (OR 3.0; 95% CI, 1.1–8.1; p obesity, 2.9 times higher than girls at low SP levels (OR 2.8; 95% CI, 1.0–7.5; p obesity risk while high screen-based sedentary behaviors significantly adversely influenced body fat mass, particularly amongst girls when the PA level was low. PMID:24886753

Predictors of Academics' Career Advancement at Malaysian Private Universities

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Arokiasamy, Lawrence; Ismail, Maimunah; Ahmad, Aminah; Othman, Jamilah

2011-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the influence of individual and organizational variables on the career advancement of academics in Malaysian private universities. Design/methodology/approach: A correlation study was conducted in six private universities. Data were collected using a structured self-administered questionnaire. The dependent…

Florae Malesianae Precursores IX. New Malaysian Species of Fimbristylis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ohwi, J.

1955-01-01

— During the last World War Dr Ohwi worked for several years in the Herbarium Bogoriense and compiled a preliminary revision of the Malaysian representatives of the genus Fimbristylis. The absence of any world revision, the temporary inaccessibility of type material, and of adequate literature, were

Short history of the Phytography of Malaysian vascular plants

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Wit, de H.C.D.

1948-01-01

For various reasons the space occupied by pre-Linnean Malaysian phytography in this concise history seems too large and out of proportion in comparison to the survey of post-Linnean work. Modern plant description, though based on, and derived from, ancient beginnings and traditions, maintains but

THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELOR BEFORE CONFLICTS AND THE SCHOOL VIOLENCE

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Rubén Sánchez-Carranza

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This article aims to reflect on the figure and role of high school counselor in the task of addressing conflict situations in which students are immersed. The existence of a rising tide of violence in school conflicts and how important it is to know what countries in Europe , Asia and Latin America is done to promote a culture of peace is recognized. What happened it is exposed in a high school in Germany and how questions from the critical eye that are applicable to our Mexican reality are issued. Finally, it highlights the importance of skills that the counselor must possess or develop to prevent school conflicts escalate to levels of violence.Finally experience working with the School counselors S033 about this subject area is described.

Malaysian Students in U.S. Colleges and Universities.

Science.gov (United States)

Boyd, Alan W., Ed.; Noss, Elaine M., Ed.

This publication is a response to the need for better understanding of the Malaysian student population studying U.S. institutions of higher education. Part 1 is an introduction to Malaysia, with two articles giving background information. The first is a history of Malaysia and the development of its education system, by Fatimah Hamid-Don of Ohio…

Review on the Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Malaysian Clams.

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Hossen, Md Faruk; Hamdan, Sinin; Rahman, Md Rezaur

2015-01-01

The current review discusses the levels of six heavy metals in different clam species from 34 sites of Malaysian coasts. The concentrations (µg/g dry weight) of these heavy metals ranged around 0.18-8.51, 0.13-17.20, 2.17-7.80, 0.84-36.00, 24.13-368.00, and 177.82-1912.00 for Cd, Pb, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Fe, respectively. It was observed that the concentrations of metals slightly depend on different clam species but mostly depend on site locations. According to Malaysian Food Regulation (1985), about 30% and more than 50% sites are safe from Cd and Pb contamination, respectively, and also the clam species from the other populations studied were safe for consumption.

Socioemotional Wealth and Firms’ Control: Evidence from Malaysian Chinese Owned Companies

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Chin Fei Goh

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper explores how the preservation of socioemotional wealth can be manifested in the control and corporate governance of Malaysian Chinese firms. Using panel data from the Industrial Products index of the Bursa Malaysia (the Malaysian stock exchange during 2003-2006, we show that the ingrained ‘life-raft values’ among overseas Chinese entrepreneurs can be associated with the preservation of their socioemotional wealth, and thus they prioritize control over their firms. Additionally, we confirm the monitoring role of non-dominant large shareholders in reducing the families’ influence in managing and enhancing their firms’ performance. Specifically, control contestability exercised by the non-dominant large shareholders mediates the relationship between a family’s involvement in management and their firm’s performance.

Transcultural Diabetes Nutrition Algorithm: A Malaysian Application

OpenAIRE

Hussein, Zanariah; Hamdy, Osama; Chin Chia, Yook; Lin Lim, Shueh; Kumari Natkunam, Santha; Hussain, Husni; Yeong Tan, Ming; Sulaiman, Ridzoni; Nisak, Barakatun; Chee, Winnie Siew Swee; Marchetti, Albert; Hegazi, Refaat A.; Mechanick, Jeffrey I.

2013-01-01

Glycemic control among patients with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) in Malaysia is suboptimal, especially after the continuous worsening over the past decade. Improved glycemic control may be achieved through a comprehensive management strategy that includes medical nutrition therapy (MNT). Evidence-based recommendations for diabetes-specific therapeutic diets are available internationally. However, Asian patients with T2D, including Malaysians, have unique disease characteris...

Correlation Among Students’ Family Background, Academic Performance in Junior High School, and Senior High School Tracking in Taiwan

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Ming-Fu Huang

2014-12-01

Full Text Available There were numerous previous studies on educational tracking. However, most of the data adopted in these studies were collected a decade ago, involving sample population 20-64 years of age. Among them, many elderly samples had undergone senior high school tracking in the early years. The present study used the data of students and parents from the 3rd wave (2005 of the Taiwan Education Panel Survey (TEPS. A path analysis was conducted to investigate the inequality of opportunities involved in the influence of student family background on educational tracking at the senior high school stage. The results show: although the overall percentage of junior high school graduates entering advanced levels was approximately 100% and almost all students of different family backgrounds entered advanced levels, the most crucial factor among those affecting educational tracking of senior high school stage was students’ academic performance during junior high school. Students with higher family socioeconomic status and fewer siblings showed better academic performance in junior high schools, and consequently had higher possibilities of entering public senior high schools leading to a more promising future. This indicates that though the inequality in the quantity of opportunities approached 0, the inequality in the quality of opportunities still remained, which fails to support the hypothesis of the maximally maintained inequality of educational opportunity (MMI; however, the result supports the hypothesis of the effectively maintained inequality of educational opportunity (EMI.

Availability of high school extracurricular sports programs and high-risk behaviors.

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Cohen, Deborah A; Taylor, Stephanie L; Zonta, Michela; Vestal, Katherine D; Schuster, Mark A

2007-02-01

The Surgeon General has called for an expansion of school-based extracurricular sports programs to address the obesity epidemic. However, little is known about the availability of and participation in high school extracurricular sports and how participation in these sports is related to high-risk behaviors. We surveyed Los Angeles County public high schools in 2002 to determine the number of extracurricular sports programs offered and the percentage of students participating in those programs. We used community data on rates of arrests, births, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among youth to examine associations between risk behaviors and participation in sports programs. The average school offered 14 sports programs, and the average participation rate was 39% for boys and 30% for girls. Smaller schools and schools with higher percentages of disadvantaged students offered fewer programs. The average school offering 13 or fewer programs had 14% of its students participating, while the average school offering 16 or more programs had 31% of its students participating in sports. Controlling for area-level demographics, juvenile arrest rates and teen birth rates, but not STD rates, were lower in areas where schools offered more extracurricular sports. Opportunities for participation in high school extracurricular sports are limited. Future studies should test whether increased opportunities will increase physical activity and impact the increasing overweight problem in youths.

Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences’ Publishing Report (2014–2015)

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Zulkapli, Nour Azimah; Sobi, Suhana; Mohd Zubaidi, Nor Azlina; Abdullah, Jafri Malin

2016-01-01

The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences (MJMS) has conducted a simple analysis of its scholarly publication, based on the auto-generated data compiled from ScholarOne Manuscripts™, an innovative, web-based, submission and peer-review workflow solution for scholarly publishers. The performance of the MJMS from 2014–2015 is reported on in this editorial, with a focus on the pattern of manuscript submission, geographical contributors and the acceptance-rejection rate. The total number of manuscript submissions has increased from 264 in 2014, to 272 in 2015. Malaysians are the main contributors to the MJMS. The total number of manuscript rejections following the review process was 79 (29.9%) in 2014, increasing to 92 (33.8%) the following year, in accordance with the exacting quality control criteria applied by the journal’s editor to the submitted manuscripts. PMID:27660539

Should School Boards Discontinue Support for High School Football?

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Margolis, Lewis H; Canty, Greg; Halstead, Mark; Lantos, John D

2017-01-01

A pediatrician is asked by her local school board to help them decide whether to discontinue their high school football program. She reviews the available evidence on the risks of football and finds it hopelessly contradictory. Some scholars claim that football is clearly more dangerous than other sports. Others suggest that the risks of football are comparable to other sports, such as lacrosse, ice hockey, or soccer. She finds very little data on the long-term sequelae of concussions. She sees claims that good coaching and a school culture that prioritizes the health of athletes over winning can reduce morbidity from sports injuries. In this paper, 3 experts also review the evidence about sports risks and discuss what is known and not known about the science and the ethics of high school football. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Japan: Implications of an Expanded Military Role,

Science.gov (United States)

1985-07-03

view of the Soviet Union’s increased presence in Asia and the Pacific region.(9) A 19b2 analysis of threats to Malaysian stability by a Malaysian ...Defense Debate in the Diet is like a Junior High School Debate]. Shokun May 84. -- Wideranging discussion of global geopolitical situation by two

Medical students' attitudes toward abortion education: Malaysian perspective.

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Nai-peng Tey

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Abortion is a serious public health issue, and it poses high risks to the health and life of women. Yet safe abortion services are not readily available because few doctors are trained to provide such services. Many doctors are unaware of laws pertaining to abortion. This article reports survey findings on Malaysian medical students' attitudes toward abortion education and presents a case for including abortion education in medical schools. METHODS AND RESULTS: A survey on knowledge of and attitudes toward abortion among medical students was conducted in two public universities and a private university in Malaysia in 2011. A total of 1,060 students returned the completed questionnaires. The survey covered about 90% of medical students in Years 1, 3, and 5 in the three universities. About 90% of the students wanted more training on the general knowledge and legal aspects of abortion, and pre-and post-abortion counseling. Overall, 75.9% and 81.0% of the students were in favor of including in medical education the training on surgical abortion techniques and medical abortion, respectively. Only 2.4% and 1.7% were opposed to the inclusion of training of these two methods in the curriculum. The remaining respondents were neutral in their stand. Desire for more abortion education was associated with students' pro-choice index, their intention to provide abortion services in future practice, and year of study. However, students' attitudes toward abortion were not significantly associated with gender, type of university, or ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS: Most students wanted more training on abortion. Some students also expressed their intention to provide abortion counseling and services in their future practice. Their desire for more training on abortion should be taken into account in the new curriculum. Abortion education is an important step towards making available safe abortion services to enable women to exercise their reproductive rights.

Association of dopamine receptor D2 gene (DRD2) Taq1 polymorphisms with eating behaviors and obesity among Chinese and Indian Malaysian university students.

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Lek, Fang-Ying; Ong, Hing-Huat; Say, Yee-How

2018-01-01

This study investigated the association of DRD2 Taq1A, Taq1B and Taq1D gene polymorphisms with eating behavior, the preference/intake frequency/craving of high-fat foods and obesity in 394 Malaysian adults (161 males, 233 females; 308 Chinese, 86 Indians; 67 obese, 327 non-obese). Eating behaviors namely Cognitive Restraint, Uncontrolled Eating and Emotional Eating scores were assessed by the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire-R18. The preference/intake frequency/craving of 26 common high-fat Malaysian foods was assessed using a 7-point hedonic scale. Anthropometric measurements were taken and Taq1 gene polymorphisms were genotyped by PCR-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism using DNA extracted from mouthwash samples. The overall minor allele frequencies of Taq1A, Taq1B and Taq1D according to ethnicities (Chinese/Indian) were 0.37/0.29, 0.39/0.28, 0.06/0.30, respectively; genotype and allele distributions of Taq1B and Taq1D were significantly different between ethnicities. Eating behaviorscores were not significantly different between gender and ethnicities. Those with A1 or B1 allele had lower Cognitive Restraint score and higher Uncontrolled Eating score, while those with A1/A1 or B1/B1 genotype had higher fast food preference. D1 allele was associated with increased starchy food craving and mamak (Malaysian Indian-Muslim) food preference, but not eating behavior scores. All three gene variants were not associated with obesity and adiposity. Taken together, we posit that three DRD2 Taq1 gene polymorphisms influence the eating behavior and preference/intake frequency/craving of certain high-fat foods in Malaysian adults, but their role in obesity and adiposity is still inconclusive and needs further investigation.

Small Angle Neutron Scattering instrument at Malaysian TRIGA reactor

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Mohd, Shukri; Kassim, Razali; Mahmood, Zal Uyun [Malaysian Inst. for Nuclear Technology Research (MINT), Bangi, Kajang (Malaysia); Radiman, Shahidan

1998-10-01

The TRIGA MARK II Research reactor at the Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Research (MINT) was commissioned in July 1982. Since then various works have been performed to utilise the neutrons produced from this steady state reactor. One of the project involved the Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS). (author)

School and community predictors of smoking: a longitudinal study of Canadian high schools.

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Lovato, Chris; Watts, Allison; Brown, K Stephen; Lee, Derrick; Sabiston, Catherine; Nykiforuk, Candace; Eyles, John; Manske, Steve; Campbell, H Sharon; Thompson, Mary

2013-02-01

We identified the most effective mix of school-based policies, programs, and regional environments associated with low school smoking rates in a cohort of Canadian high schools over time. We collected a comprehensive set of student, school, and community data from a national cohort of 51 high schools in 2004 and 2007. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to predict school and community characteristics associated with school smoking prevalence. Between 2004 and 2007, smoking prevalence decreased from 13.3% to 10.7% in cohort schools. Predictors of lower school smoking prevalence included both school characteristics related to prevention programming and community characteristics, including higher cigarette prices, a greater proportion of immigrants, higher education levels, and lower median household income. Effective approaches to reduce adolescent smoking will require interventions that focus on multiple factors. In particular, prevention programming and high pricing for cigarettes sold near schools may contribute to lower school smoking rates, and these factors are amenable to change. A sustained focus on smoking prevention is needed to maintain low levels of adolescent smoking.

Malaysian Chinese Consumer Behaviours: Heterogeneity in Ethnicity and Acculturation Influence on Consumer’s Perceived Value in Consumption

OpenAIRE

Ong, Jean Chii

2010-01-01

The rise of China’s economy has contributed to dramatic increase of ethnic Chinese-related consumer research. However, those researches are mainly tailored to enhance knowledge of Chinese consumers in the Mainland China or Overseas Chinese in Western countries. In fact, the Malaysian Chinese is unique and highly distinctive among the ethnic Chinese. They are living in multicultural environment and having highly westernised lifestyle. Thus, this dissertation is attempt to explore new insight a...

School-wide implementation of the elements of effective classroom instruction: Lessons from a high-performing, high-poverty urban school

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Dyson, Hilarie

2008-10-01

The purpose of the study was to identify structures and systems implemented in a high-performing high-poverty urban school to promote high academic achievement among students of color. The researcher used a sociocultural theoretical framework to examine the influence of culture on the structures and systems that increased performance by African American and Hispanic students. Four research questions guided the study: (1) What are the trends and patterns of student performance among students of color? (2) What are the organizational structures and systems that are perceived to contribute to high student performance in high-poverty urban schools with high concentrations of students of color? (3) How are the organizational structures and systems implemented to support school-wide effective classroom instruction that promotes student learning? (4) How is the construct of race reflected in the school's structures and systems? Qualitative data were collected through interviews, observations, and artifact collection. A single case study method was employed and collected data were triangulated to capture and explore the rich details of the study. The study focused on a high-performing high-poverty urban elementary school located in southern California. The school population consisted of 99% students of color and 93% were economically disadvantaged. The school was selected for making significant and consistent growth in Academic Performance Index and Adequate Yearly Progress over a 3-year period. The school-wide structures and systems studied were (a) leadership, (b) school climate and culture, (c) standards-based instruction, (d) data-driven decision making, and (e) professional development. Four common themes emerged from the findings: (a) instructional leadership that focused on teaching and learning; (b) high expectations for all students; (c) school-wide focus on student achievement using standards, data, and culturally responsive teaching; and (d) positive

High school science fair and research integrity

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Dalley, Simon; Shepherd, Karen; Reisch, Joan

2017-01-01

Research misconduct has become an important matter of concern in the scientific community. The extent to which such behavior occurs early in science education has received little attention. In the current study, using the web-based data collection program REDCap, we obtained responses to an anonymous and voluntary survey about science fair from 65 high school students who recently competed in the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair and from 237 STEM-track, post-high school students (undergraduates, 1st year medical students, and 1st year biomedical graduate students) doing research at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Of the post-high school students, 24% had competed in science fair during their high school education. Science fair experience was similar overall for the local cohort of Dallas regional students and the more diverse state/national cohort of post-high school students. Only one student out of 122 reported research misconduct, in his case making up the data. Unexpectedly, post-high school students who did not participate in science fair anticipated that carrying out science fair would be much more difficult than actually was the case, and 22% of the post-high school students anticipated that science fair participants would resort to research misconduct to overcome obstacles. No gender-based differences between students’ science fair experiences or expectations were evident. PMID:28328976

Schools or Students? Identifying High School Effects on Student Suspensions

Science.gov (United States)

Baker-Smith, E. Christine

2015-01-01

Evidence is clear that discipline in high school is associated with negative outcomes across the life course. Not only are suspensions related to declining academic trajectories during high school in the form of attendance and academic achievement, students suspended once are also more likely to be suspended again and also substantially increase…

Anti-gout Potential of Malaysian Medicinal Plants

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Fazleen I. Abu Bakar

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Gout is a type of arthritis that causes painful inflammation in one or more joints. In gout, elevation of uric acid in the blood triggers the formation of crystals, causing joint pain. Malaysia is a mega-biodiversity country that is rich in medicinal plants species. Therefore, its flora might offer promising therapies for gout. This article aims to systematically review the anti-gout potential of Malaysian medicinal plants. Articles on gout published from 2000 to 2017 were identified using PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar with the following keyword search terms: “gout,” “medicinal plants,” “Malaysia,” “epidemiology,” “in vitro,” and “in vivo.” In this study, 85 plants were identified as possessing anti-gout activity. These plants had higher percentages of xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity (>85%; specifically, the Momordica charantia, Chrysanthemum indicum, Cinnamomum cassia, Kaempferia galanga, Artemisia vulgaris, and Morinda elliptica had the highest values, due to their diverse natural bioactive compounds, which include flavonoids, phenolics, tannin, coumarins, luteolin, and apigenin. This review summarizes the anti-gout potential of Malaysian medicinal plants but the mechanisms, active compounds, pharmacokinetics, bioavailability, and safety of the plants still remain to be elucidated.

An analysis of factors that influence the technical efficiency of Malaysian thermal power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

See, Kok Fong; Coelli, Tim

2012-01-01

The main objectives of this paper are to measure the technical efficiency levels of Malaysian thermal power plants and to investigate the degree to which various factors influence efficiency levels in these plants. Stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) methods are applied to plant-level data over an eight year period from 1998 to 2005. This is the first comprehensive analysis (to our knowledge) of technical efficiency in the Malaysian electricity generation industry using parametric method. Our empirical results indicate that ownership, plant size and fuel type have a significant influence on technical efficiency levels. We find that publicly-owned power plants obtain average technical efficiencies of 0.68, which is lower than privately-owned power plants, which achieve average technical efficiencies of 0.88. We also observe that larger power plants with more capacity and gas-fired power plants tend to be more technically efficient than other power plants. Finally, we find that plant age and peaking plant type have no statistically significant influence on the technical efficiencies of Malaysian thermal power plants. - Highlights: ► We examine the technical efficiency (TE) levels of Malaysian thermal power plants. ► We also investigate the degree to which various factors influence efficiency levels in these plants. ► Stochastic frontier analysis methods are used. ► Average plant would have to increase their TE level by 21% to reach the efficient frontier. ► Ownership, plant size and fuel type have a significant influence on the TE levels.

High School Book Fairs

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzgerald, Marianne

2006-01-01

Many secondary students have given up the joy of reading. When asked why they don't read for pleasure, students came up with many different reasons, the first being lack of time. High school students are busy with after school jobs, sports, homework, etc. With the growing number of students enrolled in AP classes, not only is there not much time…

Counter-ideological forces of “Mr Gate” in online Journalism in Malaysia: A study of MalaysiaKini and The Malaysian Insider

OpenAIRE

Kasmani Mohd Faizal; Sabran Rosidayu; Othman Siti Suriani; Adzrah Ramle Noor

2017-01-01

The online news media are said to have changed the understanding of the gatekeeping theory. Due to the virtually unlimited news space together with the interactivity in the online presentation of news, the Internet defies the whole conception of gatekeeping in journalism. This article seeks to examine the influence of gatekeeping forces in two influential Malaysian online news portals, MalaysiaKini and The Malaysian Insider (TMI), during the 2013 Malaysian general election. Based on the hiera...

The New Urban High School: A Practitioner's Guide.

Science.gov (United States)

Big Picture Co., Cambridge, MA.

In October 1996, the Big Picture Company set out to find six urban high schools that use school-to-work strategies as a lever for whole-school reform. In the schools finally selected for the New Urban High Schools Project, and in others examined for the study, "school-to-work" is a misnomer, because the majority of students are entering…

Determining firm characteristics and the level of voluntary corporate governance disclosures among Malaysian listed property companies

OpenAIRE

Talpur Shabana; Lizam Mohd; Keerio Nazia

2018-01-01

This study examined the level of voluntary corporate governance disclosures and the influence of firm characteristics (i.e., firm size, firm age, and firm market listing) on the level of these disclosures among Malaysian property listed companies. The check-list to measure the voluntary corporate governance disclosures was adopted from Malaysian corporate governance index 2011 by Minority Shareholder Watchdog Group (MSWG). The voluntary corporate governance disclosure practices and firm speci...

The Effect of E-commerce on Malaysian Tax System: an Empirical Evidence From Academicians and Malaysian Tax Practitioners

OpenAIRE

Palil, Mohd Rizal

2004-01-01

The explosion of information technology (IT) nowadays has created new phenomena in shopping activities. Consumers can easily buy products via Internet. Within a minute, the products will be delivered instantly and accurately. This scenario is known as e-commerce. The emergence of e-commerce affects consumers' shopping behavior as well as taxation system. The objective of this research is to reveal the effects of e-commerce upon Malaysian taxation system by emphasizing in scope of charge 'deri...

A Review of Continuing Professional Development (CPD of Training Competencies for Malaysian Mechanical Industries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kasman Zeti

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to review issues in continuing professional development of vocational training to the mechanical industries. The spectacle of individuals entering the labour market without relevant qualifications is common in Malaysia. There are many who choose to work instead of pursuing further education after secondary school. In the labour market, these individuals are considered to be low-skilled workers because they had no training prior to employment. The role of employers in providing training and education to employees is vital in establishing career development of employees. Employers who contributed to their employees' training funds through Human Resources Development Council would provide opportunities to increase the skills of workers. Based on the Malaysia's Development Plan of Occupational Skill, the issues and challenges that have been identified in producing skilled workers in interpersonal and technical skills. This paper provided an opportunity to examine an enterprise-based approach to skill formation for workers with basic academic qualifications. It presents an alternative scenario to institution-based Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET, which many Malaysians are familiar with. A structured curriculum development of human resources learning needs according to the job profile of the typical individual and group work which will provide a clearer perspective on knowledge, competence and skill levels of employee behavior in performing tasks will be discussed. The biggest impact on this study is to produce high skill employees concerning customer satisfaction and increased organizational productivity towards high income nations.

Excellence in Urban High Schools: An Emerging District/School Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Robert K.; And Others

This report presents the preliminary findings of the District/Secondary School Study. The study had two purposes: (1) to identify ways of managing urban high schools to produce excellence, and (2) to recommend policy-relevant guidance to existing school and district administrators. The study design focused on the testing of two specific theories…

Building a Virtual High School...Click by Click

Science.gov (United States)

Podoll, Sue; Randle, Darcy

2005-01-01

The Rapid City Academy is the alternative high school program for South Dakota's Rapid City Area Schools, which has an enrollment of about 13,000 K-12 students, with five middle schools feeding two large traditional high schools and the alternative program. A high percentage of students at the academy are considered "at-risk" due to…

Quality of Life of Older Malaysians Living Alone

Science.gov (United States)

Yahaya, Nurizan; Abdullah, Siti Suhailah; Momtaz, Yadollah Abolfathi; Hamid, Tengku Aizan

2010-01-01

According to the 2000 census report, about 7% of the 1.4 million people 60 years and over in Malaysia live alone. This study investigated socioeconomic factors affecting the quality of life of this vulnerable population. Data from a subsample of the study on Mental Health and Quality of Life of Older Malaysians were used in this paper. About 10%…

Case Study of Leadership Practices and School-Community Interrelationships in High-Performing, High-Poverty, Rural California High Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Masumoto, Marcia; Brown-Welty, Sharon

2009-01-01

Many rural California high schools are impacted by the disadvantages of poverty, non-English speaking students, limited resources, changing demographics, and challenges of the rural context. Focusing on contemporary leadership theories and school-community interrelationships, this qualitative study examines the practices of educational leaders in…

Effects of Part-Time Work on School Achievement During High School

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Kusum; Chang, Mido; Dika, Sandra

2007-01-01

The authors explored the effects of part-time work on school achievement during high school. To estimate the true effects of part-time work on school grades, the authors included family background, students' educational aspirations, and school engagement as controls. Although a substantial literature exists on the relationship of part-time work…

The Preparation of Schools for Serious School Violence: An Analysis of New Mexico Public High Schools

Science.gov (United States)

DiMatteo, Henry

2012-01-01

This study surveyed New Mexico high school principals on their current state of preparedness for serious school violence. The researcher surveyed 119 public high schools, receiving a 65% return rate from a 25-question survey. Specifically, this study analyzed the relationships of three predictor variables: prevention, response, and building of…

Religiosity, Ethical Judgments and Malaysian Muslim Students

OpenAIRE

Rusnah Muhamad

2014-01-01

Culture is often cited as one of the powerful determinants in shaping the personality and behaviour of individuals. Religion, being an important element of culture, is seen as playing an important role in determining how people behave in certain situations. Various authors have suggested religion as an important dimension in Malaysian ethical behaviour studies especially for the Malays. Yet this construct is generally ignored or incorporated into other constructs. This study investigates the ...

Dual Campus High School

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carmen P. Mombourquette

2013-04-01

Full Text Available September 2010 witnessed the opening of the first complete dual campus high school in Alberta. Catholic Central High School, which had been in existence since 1967 in one building, now offered courses to students on two campuses. The “dual campus” philosophy was adopted so as to ensure maximum program flexibility for students. The philosophy, however, was destined to affect student engagement and staff efficacy as the change in organizational structure, campus locations, and course availability was dramatic. Changing school organizational structure also had the potential of affecting student achievement. A mixed-methods study utilizing engagement surveys, efficacy scales, and interviews with students and teachers was used to ascertain the degree of impact. The results of the study showed that minimal impact occurred to levels of student engagement, minor negative impact to staff efficacy, and a slight increase to student achievement results.

A Study of Democratic School Culture Perceptions of Sport High School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Isikgöz, Enes

2016-01-01

In this study; the perceptions of the students studying at sport high schools about democratic school culture were analysed in accordance with different variables. Participants of the research consisted of 216 students studying at Sport High Schools in Sakarya and Batman Provinces of Turkey. The data were collected with the Democratic School…

Teacher Accountability at High Performing Charter Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Aguirre, Moises G.

2016-01-01

This study will examine the teacher accountability and evaluation policies and practices at three high performing charter schools located in San Diego County, California. Charter schools are exempted from many laws, rules, and regulations that apply to traditional school systems. By examining the teacher accountability systems at high performing…

Review on the Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Malaysian Clams

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Md. Faruk Hossen

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The current review discusses the levels of six heavy metals in different clam species from 34 sites of Malaysian coasts. The concentrations (µg/g dry weight of these heavy metals ranged around 0.18–8.51, 0.13–17.20, 2.17–7.80, 0.84–36.00, 24.13–368.00, and 177.82–1912.00 for Cd, Pb, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Fe, respectively. It was observed that the concentrations of metals slightly depend on different clam species but mostly depend on site locations. According to Malaysian Food Regulation (1985, about 30% and more than 50% sites are safe from Cd and Pb contamination, respectively, and also the clam species from the other populations studied were safe for consumption.

National standards for high school psychology curricula.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

The National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula attempts to represent current knowledge in the field of psychology in developmentally appropriate ways. Psychology is a popular high school course, one that can introduce students to scientific ideas and engage students in the learning process. However, it is difficult for even the best of teachers to present all of psychology in a single course for students who begin with virtually no formal knowledge of psychology. The standards presented here constitute the first of two reports in this issue of the American Psychologist (January 2013) representing recent American Psychological Association (APA) policies that support high-quality instruction in the teaching of high school psychology. These standards provide curricular benchmarks for student learning in the high school course.

Cyberbullying Among Greek High School Adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Gkiomisi, Athanasia; Gkrizioti, Maria; Gkiomisi, Athina; Anastasilakis, Dimitrios A; Kardaras, Panagiotis

2017-05-01

To investigate the presence of cyberbullying among Greek students and the efficacy of proposed preventive interventions. Three types of high schools (private, experimental and public) with different politics on on-line aggression were enrolled. All students of the aforementioned schools were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire. Around 62 % of the high school students experienced cyberbullying by electronic means, especially by cell phone, mostly the public school students (p 0.008). The bully was a stranger in more than 40 % of the cases. Over 60 % of the victims had not seeked help but dealt with the attack on their own. Only 20 % of the victims manifested sleep or eating disorders, physical/ psychological symptoms or changes in their social life as a consequence of the cyber-attack. Cyberbullying is a usual phenomenon among high school students. The bully is frequently unacquainted to the victim. Most of the victims are not physically or psychologically affected by the cyber-attack and do not share the event with anyone. There was a slight difference in the response of the students to cyberbullying among the different school politics of on-line aggression.

Isolation and identification of biocellulose-producing bacterial strains from Malaysian acidic fruits.

Science.gov (United States)

Voon, W W Y; Rukayadi, Y; Meor Hussin, A S

2016-05-01

Biocellulose (BC) is pure extracellular cellulose produced by several species of micro-organisms that has numerous applications in the food, biomedical and paper industries. However, the existing biocellulose-producing bacterial strain with high yield was limited. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify the potential biocellulose-producing bacterial isolates from Malaysian acidic fruits. One hundred and ninety-three bacterial isolates were obtained from 19 local acidic fruits collected in Malaysia and screened for their ability to produce BC. A total of 15 potential bacterial isolates were then cultured in standard Hestrin-Schramm (HS) medium statically at 30°C for 2 weeks to determine the BC production. The most potent bacterial isolates were identified using 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, morphological and biochemical characteristics. Three new and potent biocellulose-producing bacterial strains were isolated from soursop fruit and identified as Stenotrophomonas maltophilia WAUPM42, Pantoea vagans WAUPM45 and Beijerinckia fluminensis WAUPM53. Stenotrophomonas maltophilia WAUPM42 was the most potent biocellulose-producing bacterial strain that produced the highest amount of BC 0·58 g l(-1) in standard HS medium. Whereas, the isolates P. vagans WAUPM45 and B. fluminensis WAUPM53 showed 0·50 and 0·52 g l(-1) of BC production, respectively. Biocellulose (BC) is pure extracellular cellulose that is formed by many micro-organisms in the presence of carbon source and acidic condition. It can replace plant-based cellulose in multifarious applications due to its unique characteristics. In this study, three potential biocellulose-producing bacterial strains were obtained from Malaysian acidic fruits and identified as Stenotrophomonas maltophilia WAUPM42, Pantoea vagans WAUPM45 and Beijerinckia fluminensis WAUPM53. This study reports for the first time the new biocellulose-producing bacterial strains isolated from Malaysian acidic fruits. © 2016 The

Qualitative Study to Explore Potential Directions for Improvements of Fruit and Vegetable Supply Chain Management: A Case Study of Malaysian Agrifood Corporation

OpenAIRE

Lukmanov, Arman

2010-01-01

The research was carried out to investigate the current supply chain management system of Malaysian Agrifood Corporation (MAFC) and recommend further potential directions of improvements of the supply chain management in terms of increasing its effectiveness and efficiency and keeping up with emerging trends and innovations which can be applied to the Malaysian food industry. MAFC is a Malaysian supply chain management company with integrated supply of fresh fruits and vegetables that are...

Characteristics of Malaysian coals with their pyrolysis and gasification behaviour

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nor Fadzilah Othman; Mohd Hariffin Bosrooh; Kamsani Abdul Majid

2010-01-01

This study was conducted since comprehensive study on the gasification behaviour of Malaysian coals is still lacking. Coals were characterised using heating value determination, proximate analysis, ultimate analysis and ash analysis. Pyrolysis process was investigated using thermogravimetric analyser. While, atmospheric bubbling fluidized bed gasifier was used to investigate the gasification behaviour. Three Malaysian coals, Merit Pila, Mukah Balingian, Silantek; and Australian coal, Hunter Valley coals were used in this study. Thermal degradation of four coal samples were performed, which involved weight loss profile and derivative thermogravimetric (DTG) curves. The kinetic parameters, such as maximum reactivity value, R max , Activation Energy, E a and Arrhenius constant, ln R o for each coal were determined using Arrhenius Equation. Merit Pila coal shows the highest maximum reactivity among other Malaysian coals. E a is the highest for Merit Pila coal (166.81kJmol -1 ) followed with Mukah Balingian (101.15 kJmol -1 ), Hunter Valley (96.45 kJmol -1 ) and Silantek (75.23 kJmol -1 ) coals. This finding indicates direct correlation of lower rank coal with higher E a . Merit Pila coal was studied in detail using atmospheric bubbling fluidized bed gasifier. Different variables such as equivalence ratio (ER) and gasifying agents were used. The highest H 2 proportion (38.3 mol.%) in the producer gas was reached at 715 degree Celsius and ER=0.277 where the maximization of LHV pg (5.56 MJ/Nm 3 ) was also detected. ER and addition of steam had shown significant contributions to the producer gas compositions and LHV pg . (author)

A perspective study on green cleaning for Malaysian public hospital

Science.gov (United States)

Ramli, N. A.; Zawawi, E. M.; Arif, N. R. M.; Mahbob, N. S.; Sulaiman, Z.; Zainol, N. N.

2018-02-01

Cleaning being a major contributor to the operations and maintenance expenditure and also Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) issues. Improper and ineffective cleaning can harm the environment and poses greatest risk to health. The use of traditional cleaning products presents a variety of human health and ecological concerns; and may contribute to poor IEQ. As an effort to reduce the issue of operations and maintenance costs and IEQ issues in a building, it is important to establish a green cleaning programme to ensure that the buildings are cleaned in a green way. Numbers of scholars has pointed out the factors which had prevented the green cleaning implementation in hospital buildings. Nonetheless, the significance of these factors has yet to be practically explored in the Malaysian context. Hence, the aim of the paper is to identify the most critical factor that prevents the implementation of green cleaning in Malaysian hospital building. A questionnaire survey and personal communication (i.e. interview) was conducted which involved two groups of respondents. They are the hospital maintenance staff (Cleansing Service Department) and cleaning contractors. Frequency and criticality index calculations have been used to rank these factors according to the level of importance. The result showed that an “unclear components and requirements of green cleaning” indicated as the most critical factor that prevent the implementation of green cleaning in Malaysian hospital building. In the concern for a successful implementation of green cleaning, it is hope that the findings of these studies can be enlightenment to the cleaning contractors as well as the hospital maintenance management team in Malaysia.

Self-perceived mental well-being amongst Malaysian dentists.

Science.gov (United States)

Ab-Murat, Norintan; Mason, Lydia; Kadir, Rahimah Abdul; Yusoff, Noriah

2018-06-01

To assess Malaysian dentists' perceptions of their mental well-being. A self-administered questionnaire was developed based on a conceptual framework of mental health and well-being model. Two aspects were assessed, namely the physiological (two domains) and the psychological (six domains). Participants were asked to rate their experiences of the aforementioned aspects using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from all the time to never. The response rate was 81%. Most of the dentists (61.7%) perceived having positive mental well-being. Under the physiological aspect, most respondents reported that they were 'generally happy' (93.3%), but about 30% stated they were 'stressed physically and emotionally'. Of the six domains under the psychological aspect, positive well-being was observed in the 'sense of coherence' and 'behavioural stress' domains. Participants who were above 40 years old, married and had children reported having a more positive mental well-being when compared with their counterparts. Overall, most Malaysian dentists perceived having a positive mental well-being. It is crucial, however, to closely monitor and initiate early interventions for those with negative symptoms to ensure the safe practice of dentistry.

Male fetuses are associated with increased risk for cesarean delivery in Malaysian nulliparae.

Science.gov (United States)

Viegas, Osborn A C; Lee, Pei Sue; Lim, Keng Joo; Ravichandran, Jeganathan

2008-01-01

The association between fetal sex and outcome of pregnancy and labor has been well documented in western populations. However, no studies in Malaysia or other developing countries have examined the effect of fetal sex on such outcomes.The main objective of this study was to determine the influence of fetal sex on the outcome of labor at term in a cohort of Malaysian nulliparae.A retrospective observational study was designed using data from 4644 Malaysian nulliparae who gave birth consecutively to singleton male babies at Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Johor Bahru, after normal full-term pregnancies.The results of this study indicate that mothers giving birth to male infants have a greater risk of requiring cesarean delivery because male babies are heavier and have statistically significantly greater head circumference (P < .001). These findings concur with those obtained in western populations and suggest that the differences in outcome observed are biological, not dictated by race, ethnicity, or environmental conditions. Such information could help in the antenatal assessment of Malaysian patients and stimulate more comprehensive studies of the mechanisms involved in this sex-based difference in outcomes. Reasons for such differences are proposed.

Sports-related injuries among high school athletes--United States, 2005-06 school year.

Science.gov (United States)

2006-09-29

Participation in high school sports helps promote a physically active lifestyle. High school sports participation has grown from an estimated 4 million participants during the 1971-72 school year to an estimated 7.2 million in 2005-06. However, despite the documented health benefits of increased physical activity (e.g., weight management, improved self-esteem, and increased strength, endurance, and flexibility), those who participate in athletics are at risk for sports-related injuries. High school athletes account for an estimated 2 million injuries, 500,000 doctor visits, and 30,000 hospitalizations annually. To date, the study of these injuries has been limited by inabilities to calculate injury rates, compare results among groups, and generalize findings from small, nonrepresentative samples. During the 2005-06 school year, researchers at a children's hospital in Ohio used an Internet-based data-collection tool to pilot an injury surveillance system among athletes from a representative national sample of U.S. high schools. This report summarizes the findings of that study, which indicated that participation in high school sports resulted in an estimated 1.4 million injuries at a rate of 2.4 injuries per 1,000 athlete exposures (i.e., practices or competitions). Surveillance of exposure-based injury rates in a nationally representative sample of high school athletes and analysis of injury patterns can help guide activities aimed at reducing these injuries.

Demographic Factors Affecting Internet Using Purposes of High School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Kilic, Abdullah Faruk; Güzeller, Cem Oktay

2017-01-01

This study aimed at determining the impact of demographic factors on the Internet usage purposes of high school students. The population of the study consisted of students between 9th and 12th grades from the Anatolian high schools, science high schools, social sciences high schools, sports high schools and fine arts high schools in Turkey. The…

Success Despite Socioeconomics: A Case Study of a High-Achieving, High-Poverty School

Science.gov (United States)

Tilley, Thomas Brent; Smith, Samuel J.; Claxton, Russell L.

2012-01-01

This case study of a high-achieving, high-poverty school describes the school's leadership, culture, and programs that contributed to its success. Data were collected from two surveys (the School Culture Survey and the Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education), observations at the school site, and interviews with school personnel. The…

Association of ATP-Binding Cassette Transporter A1 Gene Polymorphisms in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus among Malaysians

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Polin Haghvirdizadeh

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM is a complex polygenic disorder characterized by impaired insulin resistance, insulin secretion, and dysregulation of lipid and protein metabolism with environmental and genetic factors. ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1 gene polymorphisms are reported as the one of the genetic risk factors for T2DM in various populations with conflicting results. This study was conducted based on PCR-HRM to determine the frequency of ABCA1 gene by rs2230806 (R219K, rs1800977 (C69T, and rs9282541 (R230C polymorphisms Malaysian subjects. Methods. A total of 164 T2DM and 165 controls were recruited and their genotypes for ABCA1 gene polymorphisms were determined based on the real time high resolution melting analysis. Results. There was a significant difference between the subjects in terms of age, BMI, FPG, HbA1c, HDL, LDL, and TG P<0.05. There was a significant association between HOM of R219K P=0.005, among Malaysian subjects; moreover, allele frequency revealed the significant difference in A allele of R219K P=0.003. But, there was no significant difference in genotypic and allelic frequencies of C69T and R230C polymorphism. Conclusion. R219K polymorphism of ABCA1 gene can be considered as a genetic risk factor for T2DM subjects among Malaysians.

Intercultural Communication in the Malaysian Vision Schools: Implications for the Management and Leadership in a Multicultural Primary School

Science.gov (United States)

Othman, Azam; Ruslan, Norbaiduri; Ahmad, Ismail Sheikh

2012-01-01

This article discusses intercultural communication in Vision Schools in Malaysia. It also elaborates the extent to which the Vision Schools foster racial interaction across the three major ethnic groups: Malays, Chinese, and Indians. A total of 887 primary school students were surveyed across the Vision Schools. It was found that the intercultural…

Predictors of musculoskeletal discomfort: A cross-cultural comparison between Malaysian and Australian office workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Maakip, Ismail; Keegel, Tessa; Oakman, Jodi

2017-04-01

Prevalence and predictors associated with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) vary considerably between countries. It is plausible that socio-cultural contexts may contribute to these differences. We conducted a cross-sectional survey with 1184 Malaysian and Australian office workers with the aim to examine predictors associated with MSD discomfort. The 6-month period prevalence of self-reported MSD discomfort for Malaysian office workers was 92.8% and 71.2% among Australian workers. In Malaysia, a model regressing level of musculoskeletal discomfort against possible risk factors was significant overall (F [6, 370] = 17.35; p work-life balance (β = -0.13). In Australia, the regression model is also significant (F [6, 539] = 16.47; p importance differed. Work-life balance was significantly associated with increased MSD discomfort for the Malaysian population only. Design and implementation of MSD risk management needs to take into account the work practices and culture of the target population. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Short Sleep Duration Among Middle School and High School Students - United States, 2015.

Science.gov (United States)

Wheaton, Anne G; Jones, Sherry Everett; Cooper, Adina C; Croft, Janet B

2018-01-26

Insufficient sleep among children and adolescents is associated with increased risk for obesity, diabetes, injuries, poor mental health, attention and behavior problems, and poor academic performance (1-4). The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has recommended that, for optimal health, children aged 6-12 years should regularly sleep 9-12 hours per 24 hours and teens aged 13-18 years should sleep 8-10 hours per 24 hours (1). CDC analyzed data from the 2015 national, state, and large urban school district Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBSs) to determine the prevalence of short sleep duration (school nights among middle school and high school students in the United States. In nine states that conducted the middle school YRBS and included a question about sleep duration in their questionnaire, the prevalence of short sleep duration among middle school students was 57.8%, with state-level estimates ranging from 50.2% (New Mexico) to 64.7% (Kentucky). The prevalence of short sleep duration among high school students in the national YRBS was 72.7%. State-level estimates of short sleep duration for the 30 states that conducted the high school YRBS and included a question about sleep duration in their questionnaire ranged from 61.8% (South Dakota) to 82.5% (West Virginia). The large percentage of middle school and high school students who do not get enough sleep on school nights suggests a need for promoting sleep health in schools and at home and delaying school start times to permit students adequate time for sleep.

The Implications of the Growth of Port Throughput on the Port Capacity: the Case of Malaysian Major Container Seaports

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Jeevan

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Malaysia, situated between East and West, is an interface in world maritime trade, playing a crucial role in the business of moving container boxes in South-eastern parts of Asia. The prominent container terminals in Malaysia such as Port Klang and Port of Tanjung Pelepas are positioned among the top twenty ports in terms of volume handled. The annual average growth of throughputs in Malaysian container ports increased more than three-fold from the year 2000 to 2010. Within this context, the development of Malaysian seaports has been significantly influenced by three forces: increased use of containerisation, significant growth in domestic economic activities and ever-changing patterns in both supply and demand chains, all of which have led to increased transshipment activities and altered shipping routes. This phenomenon has brought dynamic change to Malaysian container ports, resulting in the establishment of new terminals and adapting emerging technology to enhance the ports' ability to accommodate larger vessels and an increased number of containers. This paper aims to present the development of Malaysian container seaports by addressing changes to acreage size and handling volumes during the last three decades. The results of the analysis suggest that major Malaysian ports are experiencing an exponential growth in container trade with the expansion of port capacity following trade growth and need effective strategies to reduce the operational pressures of Malaysian seaports. The results of this research offer directions for development strategies of seaports by utilising the existing inland freight facilities as an effective strategy for capacity enhancement and develop efficient distribution network to meet future demands.

EFFECT OF SALES PROMOTION SCHEMES ON PURCHASE QUANTITY: A STUDY OF MALAYSIAN CONSUMERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hawa JALLOW

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The research aims to study the effect of sales promotion on the purchase quantity and recommend sales promotional means and methods that could improve sales for retail sector in Malaysia. The impact of coupons, bonus packages, premiums, free samples and price discount is measured on purchase quantity of Malaysian retail consumers. Empirical data is gathered from 150 respondents using self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using correlation and regression analysis to examine the relationship between variables. The findings of the study reveal that all independent variables influences purchase quantity positively and significantly while free samples and price discounts are most influential factors for Malaysian market.

Risk Factors of Frailty Among Multi-Ethnic Malaysian Older Adults

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Manal Badrasawi

2017-09-01

Conclusion: Frailty affected about one tenth of the respondents, but almost two thirds were pre-frail. In addition to gender, other modifiable factors including abdominal obesity and poor physical function were identified as risk factors for frailty and pre-frailty among Malaysian older adults.

Students' Entrepreneurial Inclination at a Malaysian Polytechnic: A Preliminary Investigation

Science.gov (United States)

Yasin, Ahmad Yasruddin Md; Mahmood, Nik Abdul Aziz Nik; Jaafar, Nik Azyyati Nik

2011-01-01

This paper reports preliminary results of an ongoing project to examine students' inclination towards entrepreneurship at a Malaysian polytechnic. The study used a self-administered questionnaire to explore the influence of entrepreneurial intent, perceived behavioral control, self-efficacy, perceived barriers, perceived support factors and…

School-Related Factors Affecting High School Seniors' Methamphetamine Use

Science.gov (United States)

Stanley, Jarrod M.; Lo, Celia C.

2009-01-01

Data from the 2005 Monitoring the Future survey were used to examine relationships between school-related factors and high school seniors' lifetime methamphetamine use. The study applied logistic regression techniques to evaluate effects of social bonding variables and social learning variables on likelihood of lifetime methamphetamine use. The…

Effect of Nanotechnology Instructions on Senior High School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Chow-Chin; Sung, Chia-Chi

2011-01-01

In this research, we cooperate with senior high school teachers to understand current nanotechnology model of senior high school nanotechnology curriculum in Taiwan. Then design senior high school nanotechnology (nano-tech) curriculum to teach 503 senior high school students. After teaching the nano-tech curriculum we use the "Nanotechnology…

Creating a Comprehensive School Reform Model: The Talent Development High School with Career Academies.

Science.gov (United States)

Jordan, Will J.; McPartland, James M.; Legters, Nettie E.; Balfanz, Robert

2000-01-01

Discusses the need for comprehensive reforms in school organization, curriculum and instruction, and professional development to address the problems of large urban high schools. Describes the Talent Development High School with Career Academies model being developed to meet the needs of such schools. (SLD)

Internationalisation of the Malaysian Wooden Furniture Industry

OpenAIRE

Zhao, LiXu

2016-01-01

Malaysia has a strong market share in wooden furniture and the witnessed fast growth made it a leading furniture exporter. Currently, Malaysia is the 8th largest furniture export country. As an export dominated industry, the wooden furniture industry occupies a significant position in the Malaysian economic development. Since the industry is a challenged and deteriorating in global competition, the research objective is to evaluate the present situation and find out strategies on how to impro...

Drivers for Malaysian SMEs to Go Green

OpenAIRE

M. Krishna Moorthy; Peter a/l Yacob; Mahendra Kumar a/l Chelliah; Lawrence Arokiasamy

2012-01-01

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) around the world have little knowledge about environmental management and do not understand the concept of environmental management. The concept of green is still very new to Malaysian SME owners/managers, although many green conferences, seminars and campaigns have been carried out for quite some time. The concept for green process and products in Malaysia is at the infancy stage. The drivers of environmental behavior in SMEs are relatively under-researche...

Dosimetry audits and intercomparisons in radiotherapy: A Malaysian profile

Science.gov (United States)

M. Noor, Noramaliza; Nisbet, A.; Hussein, M.; Chu S, Sarene; Kadni, T.; Abdullah, N.; Bradley, D. A.

2017-11-01

Quality audits and intercomparisons are important in ensuring control of processes in any system of endeavour. Present interest is in control of dosimetry in teletherapy, there being a need to assess the extent to which there is consistent radiation dose delivery to the patient. In this study we review significant factors that impact upon radiotherapy dosimetry, focusing upon the example situation of radiotherapy delivery in Malaysia, examining existing literature in support of such efforts. A number of recommendations are made to provide for increased quality assurance and control. In addition to this study, the first level of intercomparison audit i.e. measuring beam output under reference conditions at eight selected Malaysian radiotherapy centres is checked; use being made of 9 μm core diameter Ge-doped silica fibres (Ge-9 μm). The results of Malaysian Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratory (SSDL) participation in the IAEA/WHO TLD postal dose audit services during the period between 2011 and 2015 will also been discussed. In conclusion, following review of the development of dosimetry audits and the conduct of one such exercise in Malaysia, it is apparent that regular periodic radiotherapy audits and intercomparison programmes should be strongly supported and implemented worldwide. The programmes to-date demonstrate these to be a good indicator of errors and of consistency between centres. A total of ei+ght beams have been checked in eight Malaysian radiotherapy centres. One out of the eight beams checked produced an unacceptable deviation; this was found to be due to unfamiliarity with the irradiation procedures. Prior to a repeat measurement, the mean ratio of measured to quoted dose was found to be 0.99 with standard deviation of 3%. Subsequent to the repeat measurement, the mean distribution was 1.00, and the standard deviation was 1.3%.

Dual Enrollment for High School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Linsey; Hughes, Katherine

2011-01-01

Dual enrollment programs allow high school students to enroll in college courses and potentially earn college credit. The term concurrent enrollment is sometimes used interchangeably with dual enrollment, and sometimes to refer to a particular model of dual enrollment. In some programs, students earn high school and college credit simultaneously;…

Validity of selected cardiovascular field-based test among Malaysian ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Based on emerge obese problem among Malaysian, this research is formulated to validate published tests among healthy female adult. Selected test namely; 20 meter multi-stage shuttle run, 2.4km run test, 1 mile walk test and Harvard Step test were correlated with laboratory test (Bruce protocol) to find the criterion validity ...

Competition in the Malaysian Airline Industry: An Exploratory Study using Game-Theoretical and Empirical Analysis

OpenAIRE

Ho, Kevin Swee Aun

2005-01-01

The competitive landscape of the Malaysian airline industry is facing changes due to the presence of a low-cost carrier, AirAsia. AirAsia has gain much market share by introducing low-fares much to the expense of the national carrier, MAS. Due to the increased competition, the national carrier must react in order to stop the decline of its domestic operations. This aim of this study is to understand the strategies of the two dominant carriers in the Malaysian airline industry, MAS and AirAsia...

Especially for High School Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Howell, J. Emory

1999-08-01

Care to Share? An Informal Syllabus Exchange A recent email message from Thomas Shiland, who teaches at Saratoga Springs Senior High School, noted that the process of revising the high school chemistry syllabus is underway in New York State. He expressed a strong interest in helping construct a chemistry syllabus that represents the best thinking about appropriate content. He wondered if it would be possible to develop a way in which different secondary chemistry syllabi could easily be exchanged. It is likely that readers from other states and countries are involved in a similar process and might also be interested in exchanging syllabi. Many states do not use the term syllabus to describe their guiding curricular document for chemistry but rather refer to it as a framework or as guidelines. In most cases, the document includes a list of key ideas or topics, performance indicators, and the major understandings associated with each key idea. Such documents would be appropriate for exchange among those of you involved in the revision process. If you are interested in arranging an exchange please contact me by email at j.e.howell@usm.edu or by mail at J. E. Howell, Box 5043, USM, Hattiesburg, MS39406-5043, USA. High School Day Information The High School Chemistry Program at the American Chemical Society National Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana will be held Sunday, August 22, 1999, at the Doubletree Hotel, 300 Canal Street. If you wish to register only for the High School Day activities, which includes a pass to the ACS Exposition, a special registration form is available from Lillie Tucker-Akin, 2800 Reynard Dr., Tupelo, MS38801; sci4me@aol.com; fax: 662/566-7906. Advance registration is 25 and the cost of the High School Luncheon is 12. Register in advance by August 1, 1999, or from 7:45 to 8:30 a.m. at the High School Day table in the conference room area of the Doubletree. The workshop schedule is shown below. Secondary School Feature Articles * Exploring the

Transitions from high school to college.

Science.gov (United States)

Venezia, Andrea; Jaeger, Laura

2013-01-01

The vast majority of high school students aspire to some kind of postsecondary education, yet far too many of them enter college without the basic content knowledge, skills, or habits of mind they need to succeed. Andrea Venezia and Laura Jaeger look at the state of college readiness among high school students, the effectiveness of programs in place to help them transition to college, and efforts to improve those transitions. Students are unprepared for postsecondary coursework for many reasons, the authors write, including differences between what high schools teach and what colleges expect, as well as large disparities between the instruction offered by high schools with high concentrations of students in poverty and that offered by high schools with more advantaged students. The authors also note the importance of noncurricular variables, such as peer influences, parental expectations, and conditions that encourage academic study. Interventions to improve college readiness offer a variety of services, from academic preparation and information about college and financial aid, to psychosocial and behavioral supports, to the development of habits of mind including organizational skills, anticipation, persistence, and resiliency. The authors also discuss more systemic programs, such as Middle College High Schools, and review efforts to allow high school students to take college classes (known as dual enrollment). Evaluations of the effectiveness of these efforts are limited, but the authors report that studies of precollege support programs generally show small impacts, while the more systemic programs show mixed results. Dual-enrollment programs show promise, but the evaluation designs may overstate the results. The Common Core State Standards, a voluntary set of goals and expectations in English and math adopted by most states, offer the potential to improve college and career readiness, the authors write. But that potential will be realized, they add, only if the

A longitudinal study of school belonging and academic motivation across high school.

Science.gov (United States)

Neel, Cari Gillen-O'; Fuligni, Andrew

2013-01-01

This longitudinal study examined how school belonging changes over the years of high school, and how it is associated with academic achievement and motivation. Students from Latin American, Asian, and European backgrounds participated (N = 572; age span = 13.94-19.15 years). In ninth grade, girls' school belonging was higher than boys'. Over the course of high school, however, girls' school belonging declined, whereas boys' remained stable. Within-person longitudinal analyses indicated that years in which students had higher school belonging were also years in which they felt that school was more enjoyable and more useful, above and beyond their actual level of achievement. Results highlight the importance of belonging for maintaining students' academic engagement during the teenage years. © 2012 The Authors. Child Development © 2012 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Demographic Factors Affecting Internet Using Purposes of High School Students

OpenAIRE

Abdullah Faruk Kılıç; Cem Oktay Güzeller

2017-01-01

This study aimed at determining the impact of demographic factors on the Internet usage purposes of high school students. The population of the study consisted of students between 9th and 12th grades from the Anatolian high schools, science high schools, social sciences high schools, sports high schools and fine arts high schools in Turkey. The sample was chosen through the stratified and cluster sampling procedure. The students were chosen randomly depending on the regions of their school at...

Ability to Pay for Future National Health Financing Scheme among Malaysian Households.

Science.gov (United States)

Aizuddin, Azimatun Noor; Aljunid, Syed Mohamed

Malaysia is no exception to the challenging health care financing phenomenon of globalization. The objective of the present study was to assess the ability to pay among Malaysian households as preparation for a future national health financing scheme. This was a cross-sectional study involving representative samples of 774 households in Peninsular Malaysia. A majority of households were found to have the ability to pay for their health care. Household expenditure on health care per month was between MYR1 and MYR2000 with a mean (standard deviation [SD]) of 73.54 (142.66), or in a percentage of per-month income between 0.05% and 50% with mean (SD) 2.74 (5.20). The final analysis indicated that ability to pay was significantly higher among younger and higher-income households. Sociodemographic and socioeconomic statuses are important eligibility factors to be considered in planning the proposed national health care financing scheme to shield the needed group from catastrophic health expenditures. Copyright © 2017 Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Understanding the breast cancer experience: a qualitative study of Malaysian women.

Science.gov (United States)

Yusuf, Azlina; Ab Hadi, Imi Sairi; Mahamood, Zainal; Ahmad, Zulkifli; Keng, Soon Lean

2013-01-01

Breast cancer is the most common and leading cause of cancer mortality among Malaysian women. Despite good survival rates, the diagnosis of cancer still invokes the feeling of stress, fear and uncertainty. Because very little is known about the experiences of Malaysian women with breast cancer, a qualitative study using semi- structured interviews to explore the lived experience of newly diagnosed breast cancer. Using a purposive sampling method, 20 Malaysian women newly diagnosed with breast cancer, including Malays (n=10) and Chinese (n=10) were recruited in two main public hospitals in Kelantan. Similarities and divergence in women's experience were identified through thematic analysis of interview transcripts. Three themes emerged from the data: uncertainty experience of the illness, transition process and fatalistic view of breast cancer. In many ways, these findings were parallel with previous studies, suggesting that the experience of breast cancer is to a certain extent similar among women newly diagnosed with breast cancer. This study adds to the sparse literature concerning the experience of illness following breast cancer diagnosis among the Malays and Chinese. More importantly, this study addressed areas that were previously lacking, specifically in depth information on breast cancer experience from a developing country with a multi-ethnic population. The results of this investigation provide preliminary information to healthcare professionals on the impact of illness and cultural influence on survivorship to plan for appropriate education and supportive programme in order to meet the needs of breast cancer women more effectively.

Factors influencing the intention of Malaysian working adults towards lifelong learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdullah Sarwar

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Lifelong learning is an option to fulfil societal needs in order to create a dynamic society. The rising in participation in lifelong learning programmes contributed due to the pressure of globalization and technologies in Malaysia’s changing demography. Therefore, this study aimed at identifying the factors that influence the intention of the Malaysian working adults towards lifelong learning and to develop marketing strategies for Malaysian education providers. The foundation of this study is based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour. However, two additional variables were included as the extension to the current model which is trust and perceived usefulness. This research was designed as a cross-sectional field survey, where questionnaire were used for data collection. The target population for this study were the Malaysian working adults who are working in different organizations within the Klang Valley area. The sample size for this research is 210. The hypothesized path analysis was conducted through the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM. All the hypotheses were accepted due to the fact that they were statistically significant. The study provides the management of lifelong education centre an insight to develop effective marketing strategies to satisfy that value of potential customers. The findings will also be beneficial to government agencies, policy maker and higher education practitioner by creating insight into adult learner perception and building intentional behaviour to purchase the product. Finally, limitations were discussed and future study direction is proposed.

Teacher ratings of ODD symptoms: measurement equivalence across Malaysian Malay, Chinese and Indian children.

Science.gov (United States)

Gomez, Rapson

2014-04-01

The study examined the measurement equivalence for teacher ratings across Malaysian Malay, Chinese and Indian children. Malaysian teachers completed ratings of the ODD symptoms for 574 Malay, 247 Chinese and 98 Indian children. The results supported the equivalences for the configural, metric, and error variances models, and the equivalences for ODD latent variances and mean scores. Together, these findings suggest good support for measurement and structural equivalences of the ODD symptoms across these ethnic groups. The theoretical and clinical implications of the findings for cross-cultural equivalence of the ODD symptoms are discussed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Perceptions of Web Site Design Characteristics: A Malaysian/Australian Comparison.

Science.gov (United States)

Fink, Dieter; Laupase, Ricky

2000-01-01

Compares the perceptions of Malaysians and Australians for four Web site design characteristics--atmospherics, news stories, signs, and products and services--as part of the integrated Internet marketing model. Hypothesizes that the predominant culture is not generalized to another culture, discusses validity and reliability, and suggest further…

Validation of the Technology Acceptance Measure for Pre-Service Teachers (TAMPST) on a Malaysian Sample: A Cross-Cultural Study

Science.gov (United States)

Teo, Timothy

2010-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the cross-cultural validity of the technology acceptance measure for pre-service teachers (TAMPST) on a Malaysian sample. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 193 pre-service teachers from a Malaysian university completed a survey questionnaire measuring their responses to five constructs in the…

An Approach to Energy Education for High School, Junior High School and Elementary School Students at Aichi Institute of Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Yukita, Kazuto; Ichiyanagi, Katsuhiro; Mori, Tsuyoshi; Goto, Yasuyuki

This paper discusses the methods of implementation and improvement adopted in the energy education program of “Marugoto Taiken World” (“Total Experience World”) at Aichi Institute of Technology. The program, which is aimed at high school, junior high school and elementary school students, has been carried on at Aichi Institute of Technology for a number of years now, and the authors have been involved in the energy education project for the past four years. During that time, the following four courses have been held : 1) Let's use wind power to generate electricity, 2) Let's use flowers to build a solar battery, 3) Let's use bottles to build a fuel cell battery, 4) Let's make all sorts of batteries.

High School Graduation Rates:Alternative Methods and Implications

OpenAIRE

Jing Miao; Walt Haney

2004-01-01

The No Child Left Behind Act has brought great attention to the high school graduation rate as one of the mandatory accountability measures for public school systems. However, there is no consensus on how to calculate the high school graduation rate given the lack of longitudinal databases that track individual students. This study reviews literature on and practices in reporting high school graduation rates, compares graduation rate estimates yielded from alternative methods, and estimates d...

A revisit on the current practice of dispute resolution and ADR in the Malaysian construction industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohd Suhaimi Mohd Danuri

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The current dispute resolution procedures available in the Malaysian construction industry are mainly litigation and arbitration. In addition, the alternative dispute resolutions (ADR, namely mediation and adjudication, have also been introduced as the other methods for resolving disputes. The objective of this study is to examine the current practice of dispute resolution and ADR available in the Malaysian construction industry. The aim of this paper is two-fold: to report the current practice of dispute resolution and ADR, and identify the attributes of successful implementation of both mechanisms based on the perceptions of the Malaysian construction industry players. From the jurisprudence point of view, this study looks into the law as it is, in relation to the current practice of dispute resolution and ADR, by showing how those findings can be used to explain why improvement is needed to promote a successful and well received dispute resolution and ADR, and what lessons can be learnt, towards the formulation of a more viable methods for the Malaysian construction industry. NVivo software has been used to manage and organise the complete interview transcripts and facilitate the data analysis process for this study. Literature review reveals a continuous development of dispute resolution and ADR in the Malaysian construction industry, while, globally the industry has not only embraced ADR but also spearheaded the development of innovative forms of dispute avoidance mechanism. The findings of interviews show that locally, apart from litigation, the common types of ADR are arbitration, mediation and ad hoc mechanism. The findings also lead to the discovery of the following attributes: faster, less procedural, cost effective and enforceable; regulation and government's support; professionalism and ethic; training; and facility, that may promote a successful implementation of dispute resolution and ADR in Malaysia.

Testing a 1-D Analytical Salt Intrusion Model and the Predictive Equation in Malaysian Estuaries

Science.gov (United States)

Gisen, Jacqueline Isabella; Savenije, Hubert H. G.

2013-04-01

Little is known about the salt intrusion behaviour in Malaysian estuaries. Study on this topic sometimes requires large amounts of data especially if a 2-D or 3-D numerical models are used for analysis. In poor data environments, 1-D analytical models are more appropriate. For this reason, a fully analytical 1-D salt intrusion model, based on the theory of Savenije in 2005, was tested in three Malaysian estuaries (Bernam, Selangor and Muar) because it is simple and requires minimal data. In order to achieve that, site surveys were conducted in these estuaries during the dry season (June-August) at spring tide by moving boat technique. Data of cross-sections, water levels and salinity were collected, and then analysed with the salt intrusion model. This paper demonstrates a good fit between the simulated and observed salinity distribution for all three estuaries. Additionally, the calibrated Van der Burgh's coefficient K, Dispersion coefficient D0, and salt intrusion length L, for the estuaries also displayed a reasonable correlations with those calculated from the predictive equations. This indicates that not only is the salt intrusion model valid for the case studies in Malaysia but also the predictive model. Furthermore, the results from this study describe the current state of the estuaries with which the Malaysian water authority in Malaysia can make decisions on limiting water abstraction or dredging. Keywords: salt intrusion, Malaysian estuaries, discharge, predictive model, dispersion

Highlighting High Performance: Whitman Hanson Regional High School; Whitman, Massachusetts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2006-06-01

This brochure describes the key high-performance building features of the Whitman-Hanson Regional High School. The brochure was paid for by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative as part of their Green Schools Initiative. High-performance features described are daylighting and energy-efficient lighting, indoor air quality, solar and wind energy, building envelope, heating and cooling systems, water conservation, and acoustics. Energy cost savings are also discussed.

Post Fukushima tsunami simulations for Malaysian coasts