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

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 with regard to developing countries by explicitly focusing on factors that are relevant for analysing and improving R&D performance in Malaysian universities.\ud The project's methodology essentially entails a deductive route to identify and progressively refine the factors that determine R&D performance. It is based on extensive literature study aimed at developing a model that is appropriate for researching and improving R&D in an emerging economy. The paper addresses the development of the model and the research project’s approach. This model will be applied in collecting data from surveys and a number of field studies. The results will be used to improve the model as well as recommending points of improvement for Malaysian universities

Fast parallel volume visualization on cuda technology

In the medical diagnosis and treatment planning, radiologists and surgeons rely heavily on the slices produced by medical imaging scanners. Unfortunately, most of these scanners can only produce two dimensional images because the machines that can produce three dimensional are very expensive. The two dimensional images from these devices are difficult to interpret because they only show cross-sectional views of the human structure. Consequently, such circumstances require highly qualified doctors to use their expertise in the interpretation of the possible location, size or shape of the abnormalities especially for large datasets of enormous amount of slices. Previously, the concept of reconstructing two dimensional images to three dimensional was introduced. However, such reconstruction model requires high performance computation, may either be time-consuming or costly. Furthermore, detecting the internal features of human anatomical structure, such as the imaging of the blood vessels, is still an open topic in the computer-aided diagnosis of disorders and pathologies. This study proposed, designed and implemented a visualization framework named SurLens with high performance computing using Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA), augmenting the widely proven ray casting technique in terms of superior qualities of images but with slow speed. Considering the rapid development of technology in the medical community, our framework is implemented on Microsoft .NET environment for easy interoperability with other emerging revolutionary tools. The Visualization System was evaluated with brain datasets from the department of Surgery, University of North Carolina, United States, containing 109 datasets of MRA, T1-FLASH, T2-Weighted, DTI and T1-MPRAGE. Significantly, at a reasonably cheaper cost, SurLens Visualization System achieves immediate reconstruction and obvious mappings of the internal features of the human brain, reliable enough for instantaneously locate possible blockages in the brain blood vessels without any prior segmentation of the datasets

New Industries in Southeast Asia’s Late Industrialization: Evolution versus Creation - The Automation Industry in Penang (Malaysia) considered

Discourse on industry development and policy practice in late industrialization countries in East and Southeast Asia has predominantly tended to relate the emergence of new industries to ‘creation’ by the state and thereby to the role of state intervention or involvement in industrial growth and restructuring. On the other hand the role and position of (local) entrepreneurship in the genesis of new industries has been rather neglected, as little room was perceived for ‘autonomous’ development. Southeast Asian late industrialization is currently being confronted with the limits of development and expansion of specific (FDI-driven) export industries and thus with the necessity to devise new growth paths in industry (on the basis of high tech industries). This compels a reconsideration of policy practice and perceptions of modes of industry development on which it is based. In this paper we argue that a state-orchestrated ‘creation’ of priority industries is not the only possible route to new high tech industries in Southeast Asian late industrialization. This emanates from an analysis - based on field research - of the emergence and development of a recent growth industry in Malaysia, i.e. the manufacturing of automated equipment (or, automation industry) and its constituent firms in the Penang region. The analysis demonstrates that the mode of development of this industry conforms rather well to a number of notions from evolutionary economics on firm genesis and development in new industries. This suggests that successful industrial policies can be based on supporting an evolutionary ‘birth and development’ path, i.e. industry genesis and evolution as a more or less autonomous incremental process of the development of firms and their capabilities.industrial policy, late industrialization, automation industry, Malaysia, co-evolution, spin-out, diversification

The organizational implications of medical imaging in the context of Malaysian hospitals

This research investigated the implementation and use of medical imaging in the context of Malaysian hospitals. In this report medical imaging refers to PACS, RIS/HIS and imaging modalities which are linked through a computer network. The study examined how the internal context of a hospital and its external context together influenced the implementation of medical imaging, and how this in turn shaped organizational roles and relationships within the hospital itself. It further investigated how the implementation of the technology in one hospital affected its implementation in another hospital. The research used systems theory as the theoretical framework for the study. Methodologically, the study used a case-based approach and multiple methods to obtain data. The case studies included two hospital-based radiology departments in Malaysia. The outcomes of the research suggest that the implementation of medical imaging in community hospitals is shaped by the external context particularly the role played by the Ministry of Health. Furthermore, influences from both the internal and external contexts have a substantial impact on the process of implementing medical imaging and the extent of the benefits that the organization can gain. In the context of roles and social relationships, the findings revealed that the routine use of medical imaging has substantially affected radiographers’ roles, and the social relationships between non clinical personnel and clinicians. This study found no change in the relationship between radiographers and radiologists. Finally, the approaches to implementation taken in the hospitals studied were found to influence those taken by other hospitals. Overall, this study makes three important contributions. Firstly, it extends Barley’s (1986, 1990) research by explicitly demonstrating that the organization’s internal and external contexts together shape the implementation and use of technology, that the processes of implementing and using technology impact upon roles, relationships and networks and that a role-based approach alone is inadequate to examine the outcomes of deploying an advanced technology. Secondly, this study contends that scalability of technology in the context of developing countries is not necessarily linear. Finally, this study offers practical contributions that can benefit healthcare organizations in Malaysia

Kecenderungan kerjaya sebagai usahawan di kalangan pelajar bumiputera di Politeknik Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah, Kuantan, Pahang

Usahawan memainkan peranan penting dalam pembangunan ekonomi sesebuah negara. Walau bagaimanapun, jika dilihat senario sekarang, masih ramai Bumiputera yang kurang berminat untuk menceburi bidang keusahawanan. Justeru itu, kajian ini bertujuan untuk menyelidik tentang tahap kecenderungan keijaya sebagai usahawan di kaiangan pelajar Bumiputera tahun akhir Diploma Akauntansi Politeknik Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah, Kuantan (POLISAS). Secara khususnya, kajian ini akan menyelidik sejauh mana cita-cita pelajar Bumiputera untuk menjadi seorang usahawan dipengaruhi oleh ciri-ciri peribadi pelajar, faktor keluarga, faktor pengajian, pengalaman keija dan faktor persekitaran. Responden kajian terdiri daripada pelajar Bumiputera POLISAS iaitu seramai 51 orang. Data dikumpul menggunakan soal selidik dan dianalisis dengan menggunakan prosedur Ujian T, Crosstabs dan Korelasi Pearson melalui perisian SPSS (Statistical Package For Social Sciences). Dapatan kajian menunjukkan hanya faktor persekitaran (iaitu faktor pihak yang paling mempengaruhi pelajar untuk berniaga) yang dapat menarik minat pelajar untuk melibatkan diri dalam perniagaan. Faktor-faktor lain didapati kurang memberikan sumbangan dalam menarik minat pelajar untuk cenderung kepada bidang keusahawanan. Oleh itu, beberapa cadangan telah dibuat bagi menangani masalah ini agar kaum Bumiputera tidak jauh ketinggalan berbanding kaum lain dan seterusnya memenuhi hasrat kerajaan dalam merealisasikan matlamat Dasar Ekonomi Baru (DEB) yang masih belum dicapai sepenuhnya hingga ke hari ini

Naming trouble in online internationalized education

This paper offers an analysis of cultural politics that emerged around naming practices in an ethnographic study of the interactions within an online MBA unit, offered by an Australian university to both ‘local’ Australian students and international students enrolled through a Malaysian partner institution. It became evident that names were doing important identity, textual and pedagogical work in these interactions and considerable interactive trouble arose over the social practices surrounding names. The analysis uses sociolinguistic concepts to analyse selected slices of the online texts and participants' interview accounts. The analysis shows how ethnocentric default settings in the courseware served to heighten and exacerbate cultural difference as a pedagogical problem. These events are related to the larger problematic of theorising the context of culture in times of globalisation and increasingly entangled educational routes, with implications for the enterprise of online internationalised education

The commercialisation of knowledge management practices to k-based development in Malaysia

This paper studies the connection between the commercialization of knowledge management practices and its contributions toward the knowledge-based development in Malaysia. Theoretical relations in this paper were tested through an empirical study carried out among public-listed organisations in the industrial products, consumer products, and service industries in Malaysia. The findings of this paper revealed that it is important for corporations to focus on knowledge management in the development of the organisation’s corporate strategy. Empirical evidence supported the view that firms with knowledge management capabilities and understanding will utilise these capabilities to drive their quality strategy, thus performing better than those that do not. In addition, the finding serves as an initial move among private sector business toward a knowledge-based country. This paper concludes that these practices have a positive incidence not only on the performance of the firm but it also gives some initial contributions toward the development of Malaysia as a knowledge-based country

Post-disaster housing and management in Malaysia: a literature review

Purpose – Malaysia is still in the process of reorganising and restructuring disaster management policy, learning from the national and international experiences. Argument about current situation of emergency management and housing in Malaysia can be used by the decision makers, authorities and NGOs to develop strategies and actions that include awareness raising and capacity building for enhancing enforcement of current legislation. Design/methodology/approach - The work concentrated mostly on academic reports of original investigations rather than reviews. The conclusions in this paper are generalizations based on the author's interpretation of those original reports. Findings - Malaysia is not a developed country and also not a developing country but more in the middle, follows any direction from the international arena to national situation. Malaysia has a developed country approach in disaster management policy but with the implementation of developing country. This paper argues that providing post disaster housing must accommodate requirement in the national disaster management policy and parallel with the needs from international concern to the rights of disaster victims. Originality/value - The outcomes from this discussion might give insights into designing and planning the national policy and disaster management framework by restructuring and reorganising the present National Disaster Management Mechanism in terms of enhancing the coordination of responsibility between and within government bodies in the National Disaster Management Mechanism

Load flow studies on stand alone microgrid system in Ranau, Sabah

This paper presents the power flow or load flow analysis of Ranau microgrid, a standalone microgrid in the district of Ranau,West Coast Division of Sabah. Power flow for IEEE 9 bus also performed and analyzed. Power flow is define as an important tool involving numerical analysis applied to power system. Power flow uses simplified notation such as one line diagram and per-unit system focusing on voltages, voltage angles, real power and reactive power. To achieved that purpose, this research is done by analyzing the power flow analysis and calculation of all the elements in the microgrid such as generators, buses, loads, transformers, transmission lines using the Power Factory DIGSilent 14 software to calculate the power flow. After the analysis and calculations, the results were analysed and compared