Conceptual Paper: Sentience of Big Data towards User Privacy Concerns and Online Self-Disclosure Activities

Big data allows widespread use and exchange of user data, and this will lead to the possibility of privacy breaches. Governments and corporations will incorporate personal data from different sources and learn a great deal about people and in turn, raise concerns about privacy. This paper will provide a conceptual understanding on the antecedents towards user privacy concerns and online self-disclosure activities, which are the knowledge and perceived risks of big data. In this paper, big data knowledge is hypothesized to decrease privacy concerns, meanwhile perceived risks is suggested to increase the outcome. Based on the framework, propositions are formulated as a basis for the study that will follow

Effects of Paraquat and Alachlor on Soil Microorganisms in Peat Soil

A study was carried out to investigate the effects of alachlor and paraquat on microbial activities in peat soil. Effects of the herbicides on CO2 evolution and phosphatase activity were monitored for 12 weeks in ambient conditions. The results showed that paraquat and alachlor caused an initial increase in CO2 released and subsequently decreased after 53 days of incubation. Comparatively, more CO2 was released from the soil treated with alachlor than that treated with paraquat. An initial increase in phosphatase activity was observed for both herbicides but the level of activity was substantially reduced after 12 days of incubation. Fungal and bacterial populations in the soil were also affected by both herbicides. At 250 ppm, alachlor and paraquat caused a reduction in bacterial population of 78%and 95% respectively. Alachlor was shown to be more toxic to fungal populations in the soil than paraquat

The Sustainability of Fiscal Policy and Deficit Budget Financing : Evidence From Selected Muslim Countries

The sustainability of fiscal policy and how to finance the deficit budget has been receiving increasing attention from economists. The issue is paramount for the Muslim Countries and this is one of the motivations of the paper. In order to assess the sustainability of budget deficits in selected Muslim countries, a descriptive statistics for the stock of revenue, expenditure, tax over GDP and sustainability tests of government debt and deficit are performed for the Muslim countries for the 1971-2000 period. The cointegration model is also used to test the relationship between government expenditures, taxes, and seigniorage. The results show that the Muslim countries use taxes and seigniorage to finance their government expenditures. The empirical results also allow us to conclude that fiscal policy may be sustainable for most Muslim countries. JEL classification: E60; H62; H63

Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Growth: Evidence From Selected Muslim Countries

Since 1970 era, the discussion about fiscal decentralization becomes an important subject. A recent World Bank study found that of the 75 developing and transition countries in the world with populations greater than 5 million, all but 12 claim to be embarked on some transfer of fiscal power from the central to sub national governments. This is a revolu-tion of how people think fiscally. The subject has also attracted many researchers to explore the decentralization system. As such many researchers mainly try to focus that fiscal decen-tralization would have a significant effect on economic growth. Empirically, these research-ers also prove that the decentralization approach of a nation's fiscal structure is an effective strategy to promote economic growth. The central structure of fiscal decentralization is the degree that creates growth-promoting decentralization systems that distinguish decentraliza-tion system capabilities in promoting economic growth to a greater or lesser degree. Hence, this paper will provide the empirical evidence for selected Muslim countries where these countries adopt the differences approaches in fiscal decentralization, i.e., transition coun-tries versus countries with a well-functioning fiscal system. JEL classification: H7; O

Karakter Indeks Pengembangan Gelatin Taut Silang dengan Sukrosa Teroksidasi dan Glutaraldehid

Ikan merupakan salah satu sumber alternatif gelatin halal tetapi memiliki kualitas yang lebih rendah jika dibandingkan dengan gelatin babi. Taut silang dapat menjadi salah satu solusi untuk meningkatkan kualitasnya. Tujuan penelitian adalah mempelajari pengaruh bahan penaut silang terhadap karakter indeks pengembangan. Prosedur dimulai dengan ekstraksi gelatin dari sisik ikan bandeng dengan metode perendaman basa dan asam. Pembuatan gelatin taut silang dengan cara mencampurkan larutan gelatin ikan bandeng 5% sebanyak 50 ml dengan bahan penaut silang dengan konsentrasi bervariasi sebanyak 50 ml. Campuran kemudian diaduk hingga merata dan dikeringkan dalam oven pada suhu 70oC. Penelitian ini menggunakan bahan penaut silang, yaitu sukrosa teroksidasi dan glutaraldehid. Hasil gelatin taut silang diuji karakteristik indeks pengembangannya. Selain itu, juga digunakan sampel gelatin ikan komersial sebagai pembanding. Pembentukan taut silang ditandai dengan Perubahan konsistensi sampel dari larutan menjadi gel. Perubahan konsistensi paling signifikan terlihat pada gelatin taut silang dengan sukrosa teroksidasi dan glutaraldehid. Dari penelitian ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa peningkatan kadar bahan penaut silang menurunkan indeks pengembangan

Yaw stability improvement for four-wheel active steering vehicle using sliding mode control

Active steering control is one of the approach that can be used to improve the vehicle's lateral and yaw stability. By combining active front steering and active rear steering control, the vehicle's handling and stability can be improved via four wheel active steering (4WAS) control. In this paper, a robust control algorithm of sliding mode control is designed for 4WAS vehicle. Single track 2 d.o.f linear model is utilized for controller design and simulation purpose. Simulation for 4WAS and front steering (AFS) is carried out in Simulink for step steer and double lane change maneuver to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control system. The result shows that the 4WAS perform better than the AFS in tracking the desired response trajectory

Mangrove carbon stock assessment by optical satellite imagery

Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve or known as Matang Mangroves is the largest single mangroves in Peninsular Malaysia. Covering an area of about 41,000 ha, majority of this area is forest reserve. Mangroves have long been known as extremely productive ecosystem that cycle carbon (C) rapidly, but studies related to carbon in this ecosystem are limited. This study was carried out to assess the carbon stock and quantify their changes following deforestation, wood extraction and forest degradation. Landsat-TM and SPOT-5 satellite images for 1991 and 2011 respectively were utilised to identify mangroves. Vegetation index generated from the images was used as a variable to indicate carbon stock and it was correlated to forest inventory information through regression. The study showed that carbon stocks of Matang Mangroves ranged from 1.03 to 263.65 t C ha-1 and 1.01 to 259.68 t C ha-1 for the years 1991 and 2011 respectively. Total carbon stock in Matang Mangroves was estimated at about 3.04 mil t C in year 1991 and 2.15 mil t C in 2011. The study suggested that the traditional use of vegetation index from optical imagery systems is still relevant and viable in vegetative studies

ART THERAPY FOR PEOPLE WITH AUTISM

Background: Art therapy is a technique used in mental health profession in which patients with special needs use creative process facilitated by the art therapist to explore patients‘ interpersonal and art skills. Art therapy teaches knowledge of visual art (drawing and painting) and the creative process involved is not only beneficial for fine motor skills development but also assists in dealing with emotions. The objectives were to identify interpersonal skills, to develop art skills and to increase self-esteem through art therapy activities. Subjects and Method: This was a qualitative study. A series of art therapy workshop were conducted in University of Malaya in collaboration with Malaysian Rehabilitation Council, Maybank Foundation, and University of Malaya. A number of 38 participants from Malaysian Rehabilitation Council who were autistic were invited to University of Malaya for the art therapy workshop. Their age range was from 8 – 17 years old and consisted of Malays, Chinese and Indians. It was a participant observer study in which the researcher studied the life of a group by sharing in its activities. Art therapy workshop was conducted for 6 months duration twice a month and each session was for 4 hours. Art template, art materials and a list of activities were given to each participant. Throughout the sessions, the way participants communicate and interact with researcher were documented to identify interpersonal skills. The development of art skills was through the teaching of art using the different art template for each session. Results: From the outcome of the artwork, participants showed increased self-esteem as their art skills improved throughout the art sessions. Conclusion: Art therapy is able to develop interpersonal skills, art skills and increase self-esteem of people with autism. Keywords: Art therapy, autism, interpersonal skills, art skills, self-estee

Reliability of graphene as charge storage layer in floating gate flash memory

This study aims to investigate the memory performances of graphene as a charge storage layer in the floating gate with difference doping concentration of n-channel and p-channel substrates using Silvaco ATLAS TCAD Tools. The simulation work has been done to determine the performance of flash memory in terms of memory window, P/E characteristics and data retention and have been validated with the experimental work done by other researchers. From the simulation data, the trend of memory window at low P/E voltage is nearly overlapped between simulation and experimental data. The memory window at ±20V P/E voltage for n-channel and p-channel flash memory cell are 15.4V and 15.6V respectively. The data retention for the n-channel flash memory cell is retained by 75% (from 15.4V to 11.6V) whereas for the p-channel flash memory cell is retained by 80% (from 15.6V to 12.5V) after 10 years of extrapolation with -1/1V gate stress which shows that p-channel flash memory cell demonstrates better data retention compared to n-channel flash memory cell