Factors Affecting Secondary School Principals’ Time Management Practices in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

This study sought to investigate whether principal’s age, gender, administrative experience, training in time management area, school’s nature, level, location and complexity has any effect on the time management practices. Six time management practices used by secondary school principals i.e. scheduling contacts, managing meetings, delegating tasks, setting priorities, managing paperwork, handling interruptions were incorporated in a questionnaire. A questionnaire was designed, validated and administered to respondents for collecting data having Cronbach Alpha value of 0.864. Data were collected from 344 secondary school principals selected through stratified random sample from seven divisional headquarter districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Results show that principal’s administrative experience and school’s level have significant effect on principals’ time management practices. Whereas principal’s age, gender, training in time management area, school’s nature, location and complexity have no significant effect on principals’ time management practices. It was recommended that introductory courses, refresher courses, workshops, and seminars on time management practices should be included in in-service training program for principals to equip them with skills, knowledge and attitude on adequate time management practices regardless of their personal characteristics and school’s level, location, nature and complexity

Essential Entities towards Developing an Adaptive Reuse Model for Organization Management in Conservation of Heritage Buildings in Malaysia

The paper purposely to explore, review and confirm the keys factors that have enormous impact and influence on the conservation of heritage building in Malaysia. A focus on developing an adaptive reuse (AR) model as a decision-making tool in enhancing the heritage building performance by equipping substantial information to the relevant organization, such as authority and the private sector. These papers enlighten the significant finding from the excessive literature review within the trustworthy sources. Factors influence in heritage building being set accordingly to bridge the gap and tighten up the common understanding of the major playe

Preliminary study of KNN thin films doped by rare-earths for sensor applications

Among ferroelectrics systems, potassium sodium niobate KNN) has drawn much attention due to a clear-cut advantage of high piezoelectric and ferroelectric performances. The volatility of alkaline element (K,Na) is detrimental to the stoichiometry of KNN, contributing to the formation of intrinsic defects. Thus, the primary goal of this study is to design a solution to overcome the volatility issue of KNN. Introduction of rare-earth cations in the host KNN could reduce the vacancies in KNN. Currently, three arrays of dopants were integrated into KNN. In this preliminary work, a sol-gel technique was employed to produce a thin film that can be utilized later in the sensor applications. The structural and electrical properties were characterized using Raman spectroscopy and 2-point probe equipment, respectively. The typical Raman spectra of KNN thin films were shifted towards lower or higher wavenumbers depending on the cations deficiencies or redundancies. The conductivity of thin films was found to be increased as the dopant concentration was increased

Malaysian regulators’ ranking of PPP contract governance skills

Purpose–The purpose of this study is to explore the skills required by regulatory agencies for effectivegovernance of public-private partnership (PPP) contracts from the perspective of Malaysian regulators. Thereis a growing literature indicating that there is poor public sector expertise in managing PPP projects.Design/methodology/approach–The study, being an exploratory one, relied on a questionnaire survey ofthe Malaysian PPP unit (UKAS) and five Malaysian regulatory agencies responsible for regulating servicedelivery across a number of sectors.Findings–The results of the exploratory factor analysis returned six factor groupings, indicating that themost important skills are procurement, auditing and forensic accounting, lifecycle costing, sector-specific,negotiation analysis and performance management. It was also found that academic qualifications, profession,years of experience and the regulatory agency had no mediating effect on the rankings.Practical implications–The findings show that infrastructure regulation training programs should betailored to reflect regional and country-specific characteristics. This is because a similar study with a globalisedset of respondents gave a different result from the current study.Originality/value–There is a growing trend towards remunicipalisations and contract cancellationsglobally. This is the very outcome that regulatory agencies were created to prevent. Studies includinggovernment reports are increasingly pointing in the direction of poor skills set among public sector staffmanaging PPPs. This lack of capacity has resulted in poor oversight, which now threatens the sustainability ofservice provision

The Sensitivity and Specificity of Susceptibility Weighted Imaging Phase (Swip) in Detecting Intracranial Large Artery Calcium Stenosis Compared to Cone Beam CT

Introduction: Intracranial calcifications are common and often associated with advanced stages of atherosclerosis. Studies estimating the prevalence of intracranial calcifications using other imaging modalities are common, however, studies comparing the diagnostic accuracies of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) and generated scoring systems for SWI are not well established. Aims: The objectives of the present study are to identify locations of intracranial calcifications; estimate the sensitivity and specificity rates for each intracranial vessel and each modality; estimate the sensitivity and specificity rates for diagnosing each grade of stenosis for each modality; and generate cutoff value for predicting each grade of intracranial stenosis and for each modality; as well as to develop a scoring system for estimating intracranial stenosis using SWI. Material and Methods: The study employs a prospective cross-sectional study design to collect brain data from 146 stroke patients who had initially undergone CBCT and SWI examinations. Data were collected using pro forma from January 2021 to December 2022 at Hospital Pengajar Universiti Putra Malaysia. Results: The results show an estimated prevalence of intracranial calcification of 87.7% and 92.5% for CBCT and SWI respectively. Regarding intracranial calcium grades, the prevalence of minimum – mild, moderate, and severe grade stenosis were 18.5%, 58,9%, and 10.3% respectively for CBCT and 2.7%, 33.8%, and 57.5% for SWI. Further, the results revealed that CBCT attained a sensitivity of 100% for the anterior cerebral artery, 71% for the middle cerebral artery, and 100% for the vertebral artery as well as a specificity of 90%, 80%, and 42% for the anterior cerebral artery, middle cerebral artery, and vertebral artery respectively. However, with the SWI modality, basilar, vertebral, and middle cerebral arteries reached a sensitivity of 90%, 63%, and 87% and a specificity of 82%, 95%, and 59%. Conclusion: In conclusion, both CBCT and SWI demonstrate reliable means of detecting intracranial calcifications and vessel stenosis with SWI outperforming CBCT

A randomised controlled trial on hypolipidemic effects of Nigella Sativa seeds powder in menopausal women

Background: The risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is increased tremendously among menopausal women, and there is an increasing demand for alternative therapies for managing factors like dyslipidemia that contribute to CVD development. Methods: In this study, Nigella sativa was evaluated for its hypolipidemic effects among menopausal women. In a randomised trial, hyperlipidemic menopausal women were assigned to treatment (n = 19) or placebo groups (n = 18), and given N. sativa or placebo for two months after their informed consents were sought. At baseline, blood samples were taken and at one month intervals thereafter until one month after the end of the study. Results: The results showed that N. sativa significantly improved lipid profiles of menopausal women (decreased total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride, and increased high density lipoprotein cholesterol) more than the placebo treatment over 2 months of intervention. One month after cessation of treatment, the lipid profiles in the N. sativa-treated group tended to change towards the pretreatment levels. Conclusions: N. sativa is thought to have multiple mechanisms of action and is cost-effective. Therefore, it could be used by menopausal women to remedy hypercholesterolemia, with likely more benefits than with single pharmacological agents that may cause side effects. The use of N. sativa as an alternative therapy for hypercholesterolemia could have profound impact on the management of CVD among menopausal women especially in countries where it is readily available

Spectacular Island Tourism in Pulau Aman, Penang Malaysia: The Visitors’ Perspective

Island tourism initiative plays a significant role in uplifting economic activity for the island and local people. The equilibrium point of view between service providers and visitors is essential. Therefore, visitors’ perspective is crucial in understanding the need and requirement for establishment in tourist spots, including islands. This study examines visitors' perception of the study area through 3 main elements: activity, social and physical, comfortable, and natural beauty. The research design uses a descriptive analysis approach that uses a 5- point Likert scale, namely strongly agree (SA), agree (A), not sure (NS), disagree (D) and strongly disagree (SD). As for research analysis, the study used the SPSS program and specifically focused on frequency, mean, mode, median and level of agreement as to expected output. Preliminary findings indicate that visitors strongly agree that the area has the potential to be developed as a top tourism spot with minor improvement facilities and eco-tourism products

Occupational Safety And Health - Digital Board Game (OSH-DBG), a way forward for digital teaching and learning / Noorsaidi Mahat … [et al.]

Nowadays, it is challenging among the students on the importance of safety at the construction site. Students are demanding, and they grew up with higher requirements for learning. Therefore modern pedagogical paradigms that emphasize creative thinking are required. Gamification in teaching and learning is an innovative approach to motivate students to learn by using game elements to make more exciting and fun. Game-based learning has introduced to improve teaching activities by stimulating learning engagement and motivation among players new skills and concepts voluntarily. Gamification also an effective approach to make positive changes in students behaviour and attitudes towards learning. OSH-DBG is one of a digital board game. Its promote the development of knowledge and information, especially to the built environment students in safety awareness. The experience in the form of games in this product is more likely to influence good attitude in safety awareness, especially to students of Built Environment. This digital and online gamification concept was built to make this game more interactive. The objectives of this project are to increase the development of knowledge and information about construction safety and health and to improve essential skill on safety for construction requirements

Synthesis of silver-coated bioactive nanocomposite scaffolds based on grafted beta- glucan/hydroxyapatite via freeze-drying method: anti-microbial and biocompatibility evaluation for bone tissue engineering

Advancement and development in bone tissue engineering, particularly that of composite scaffolds, are of great importance for bone tissue engineering. We have synthesized polymeric matrix using biopolymer (β-glucan), acrylic acid, and nano-hydroxyapatite through free radical polymerization method. Bioactive nanocomposite scaffolds (BNSs) were fabricated using the freeze-drying method and Ag was coated by the dip-coating method. The scaffolds have been characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) to investigate their functional groups, surface morphology, and phase analysis, respectively. The pore size and porosity of all BNS samples were found to be dependent on silver concentration. Mechanical testing of all BNS samples have substantial compressive strength in dry form that is closer to cancellous bone. The samples of BNS showed substantial antibacterial effect against DH5 alpha E. coli. The biological studies conducted using the MC3T3-E1 cell line via neutral red dye assay on the scaffolds have found to be biocompatible and non-cytotoxic. These bioactive scaffolds can bring numerous applications for bone tissue repairs and regenerations

Change of forest land use based on conservation policy and practice: a case study in Danum Valley, Malaysia

Southeast Asia’s forest and green areas are undergoing a fast and substantial experienced sudden change, depending on complex area management issues resulting in deforestation, including Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia. The study purposely to determine the land-use pattern at Danum Valley through a geospatial approach. GIS data was collected from government official departments such as the Sabah Forest Department and Urban and Regional Planning Sabah Department. Land-use changes analysis, namely Relative land use percentages and matrix analysis used to understand the changing pattern and current scenario of land use activity at Danum Valley. Preliminary findings indicate a change of forest land use from Class 2 Commercial Forest Reserve into Class 1 Protected Forest Reserve during the three times series within an area of influence near Danum Valley