Combating money laundering in Malaysia : current practice, challenges and suggestions

Money laundering is a global threat to financial institutions especially the banking industry since it may weaken and expose the institutions to serious risks such as operational, legal and reputational risks. Against this background, the objectives of the study are to analyse the current practice on the prevention of money laundering in selected banks in Malaysia, to investigate the barriers to the implementation of effective Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations and to identify the ways to improve the implementation of AML in Malaysia. The study was conducted using qualitative method via interviews with 6 respondents from 6 Islamic & Conventional banks in Malaysia. The preliminary findings showed that the banking institutions’ current practice is fully complying with AML regulations under the AMLA 2001. The findings also demonstrated that the barriers to effective implementation of AML regulations are in line with those of previous study, which are lack of expert staff as the top factor together with an additional factor, which is lack of customers’ education and awareness on money laundering. Hence, to improve the implementation of AML in Malaysia, this study suggested to firstly strengthen the collaboration with government and relevant authorities to ensure strong enforcement action is taken against the criminals. Secondly, collaboration of BNM with banks and local media to increase public awareness and education on financial crime. Thirdly, to invest on employee training, upgrading system management as well as sufficient resources in compliance unit and finally to intensify the “Three Lines of Defence” in Bank Risk Management

Synthesis and optical characterization of zinc borotellurite glass doped with lanthanum nanoparticles

A glass series with chemical composition of {[(TeO2)0.7(B2O3)0.3]0.7(ZnO)0.3}1-x (La NPs)x where x = 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04 and 0.05 molar fraction was synthesized through conventional melt-quenching method. The fabricated glasses were characterized by using UV-Vis and FTIR technique in the range of 220 to 800 nm and 280 to 2000 cm-1 respectively. Various absorption bands that were recorded in FTIR spectra indicates the presence of TeO4, BO3 and BO4 unit. In this research, indirect energy band gap showed an increasing trend while refractive index values decreases as amount of La NPs increases due to the decrement of high polarizability nonbridging oxygen number in the glass system. Other optical parameter that also take part in governing the value of refractive index such as electronic polarizability was also determined

Cytokines (IL 1β and IL 6) responses in non-pregnant does infected with corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis following intradermal route of infection in chronic state

Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis is the causative agent of caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) which commonly affects sheep and goats. The disease remains as a major disease causing economic loss to the small ruminant industries. There is little information related to responses of interleukin-1β and interleukin-6 in the chronic states. This study was designed to determine the serum concentrations of interleukin-1β and interleukin-6 (pg/mL) in non-pregnant does experimentally inoculated with Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis via intradermal route in chronic form. Eighteen non-pregnant healthy Katjang does aged 2 years old were divided randomly into two groups. The control and the treatment groups consist of nine does each and were kept for 3 months. The control group was inoculated with PBS solution while the treatment group was inoculated intradermally with C. pseudotuberculosis. Serum samples were collected every 3 days (72 hours) for 3 months (2064 hours). The present study showed significant increase in IL-1β (278 ± 19.19 pg/mL) after 1day (24 hours) of post infection (p<0.0001) which decreased sharply (98.31 ± 19.19 pg/mL) after 5 days (120 hours) of post infection (p = 0.9293) and attained a significant concentration (217.43 ± 19.19 pg/mL) after 3 months (2064 hours) of post infection (p<0.0048) in does challenged with C. pseudotuberculosis compared to the control group. In contrast, the concentration of IL-6 increased significantly (p<0.0001) to (56.43 ± 1.98 pg/mL) in 2 months (1392 hours) of post infection and then decreased significantly (p<0.0001) to concentration of (22.18 ± 1.98 pg/mL) in 3 months (2064 hours) compared to the control group. In conclusion, the present study indicate that the importunity of C. pseudotuberculosis is associated with persistently high concentrations of IL-1β and low concentration of IL-6 which, when interpreted, could severely contribute to pathological vicissitudes and injury of organs and tissues in the chronic stage of C. pseudotuberculosis infections

Passively Q-Switched pulse erbium doped fiber laser using Antimony (III) Telluride (Sb2Te3) thin film as saturable absorber

This paper demonstrates on an antimony telluride (Sb2Te3) thin film sandwiched between two fiber ferrule as saturable absorber for Qswitched pulsed Erbium doped fiber (EDF) laser. The saturable absorber is fabricated by dissolving Antimony (III) Telluride powder into PVA solution and dry in the ambient temperature for 48 hours. Then, 1 mm2 x 1 mm2 Sb2Te3-PVA film based saturable absorber is sandwiched in between FC/PC ferrule for Q-switched laser generation. The modulation depth of the Sb2Te3 is measured as 28.01% with input intensity 0.02 MW/cm2 . The developed passive saturable absorber integrated in EDF laser in ring cavity and the characterised pulse is with repetition rates of 30.21 kHz, shortest pulse width of 3.26 µs and signal-noise-ratio (SNR) of 42 dB. The maximum output pulse energy is achieved at pump power 69.5 mW with 29.5 nJ and the output power 0.89 mW

Highly stable graphene-assisted tunable dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser

A highly stable tunable dual-wavelength fiber laser (TDWFL) using graphene as a means to generate a highly stable output is proposed and generated. The TDWFL comprises a 1 m long, highly doped erbiumdoped fiber (EDF) acting as the linear gain medium, with a 24-channel arrayed waveguide grating acting as a wavelength slicer as well as a tuning mechanism to generate different wavelength pairs. The tuned wavelength pairs can range from 0.8 to 18.2 nm. A few layers of graphene are incorporated into the laser cavity to induce the four-wave-mixing effect, which stabilizes the dual-wavelength output by suppressing the mode competition that arises as a result of homogenous broadening in the EDF. © 2013 Optical Society of Americ

Gold cone metasurface MIC sensor with monolayer of graphene and multilayer of graphite

This report makes a comparison between the spectrum features of plasmonic metamaterial metal-insulator-conductor (MIC) sensor with a monolayer of graphene and another MIC sensor with a multilayer of graphite as the back reflector. In both structures, the silicon substrate as an insulator layer was sandwiched between sub wave length periodic nanogold cones as the first layer and graphene and graphite as the third layer, respectively. Nanolayer of chromium nano rods was also considered in the structure of MIC sensors as an interface layer between silicon and nanogold cone metasurface. The performance of the sensor was evaluated under different incident polarized light angles and different thickness of the metasurface when the metasurface infiltrated with seawater and air. The transmission spectrum of monolayer graphene-based MIC sensor, respecting to s-polarized waves, reveals prominent feature to detect the air rather than seawater in invisible regime. Meanwhile, the reflection spectrum of graphite-based MIC sensor provides ∼0 % reflection under resonance condition regarding s- and p-polarized waves for detecting air in visible spectrum

Histopathological assessment of chronic Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis infection in the reproductive tract and iliac lymph node of Katjang does

FAEZ FIRDAUS JESSE BIN ABDULLAH (A03854) / Yusuf Abba / ABDUL AZIZ BIN SAHAREE,ERIC LIM TEIK CHUNG,ABD. WAHID BIN HARON,MOHD ZAMRI BIN SAAD,MOHD AZMI BIN MOHD LILA,ZUNITA BINTI ZAKARIA,NUR AMIRAH BINTI ABDUL LATIF

Graphite saturable absorber for Q switched fiber laser

This paper reported a successful demonstration on Q-switched fiber laser by using graphite as saturable absorber (SA). The graphite is deposited on the fiber ferrule through a simple mechanical exfoliation method. The modulation depth of the graphite SA is 19.2% with a saturation intensity of 85 MW/cm². The maximum achievable pulse repetition rates and pulse width are 42.41 kHz and 3.40 μs respec-tively. Meanwhile, its optical signal-to-noise ratio is about 50.81 dB. The Q-switched pulses have the maximum pulse energy of 5.84 nJ. These outcomes demonstrated that a stable output of passively Q-switched fiber laser is produced and can be applied for various optical fiber applications

Study of rice husk silicate effects on the elastic, physical and structural properties of borotellurite glasses

Successful extraction of high purity SiO₂ (about 99%) from rice husk (waste) was achieved in this work using the cold acid leaching method. Glass series [(TeO₂)0.₇ (B₂O₃)0.₃]1-x (SiO₂)x were fabricated using the rice husk silicate (RHS) by melt-quenching method. The samples were subjected to X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) characterization to study the structural nature of the glass system. Density and ultrasonic velocities were measured to obtain the elastic constants for the various silicate proportions in the glass using ultrasonic data obtained from non-destructive ultrasonic probing technique. The elastic moduli calculated from the obtained data were found to have increased with the addition of more RHS in the glass. Other parameters studied include the microhardness (H), Poisson's ratio (σ), softening temperature (ϴD) and fractal bond connectivity (d) and the fluctuation free volume (fugacity, fg). A very unusual occurrence was observed as microhardness value decreases in the glass system as more RHS (SiO₂) is introduced. The quality of the glass in terms of elastic behavior improved with addition of RHS in the borotellurite glass network

Isolation and detection of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis in the reproductive organs and associated lymph nodes of non-pregnant does experimentally inoculated through intradermal route in chronic form

Abstract Aim: Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis is the etiological agent of caseous lymphadenitis that affects sheep and goats. This study was designed to determine the presence of the causative organism in the female reproductive organs and associated lymph nodes in non-pregnant does experimentally inoculated through intradermal route in the chronic form. Materials and Methods:18 non-pregnant healthy Katjang does aged 2-year-old were divided randomly into two groups. The first and second group consists of nine non-pregnant does each and the two groups were subdivided into three subgroups. The first group was experimentally inoculated with 1 ml of 10 7 cfu of live C. pseudotuberculosis through intradermal route, whereas the second group was inoculated with 1 ml phosphate buffer saline (pH 7) solution intradermally. The first group were further subdivided into three subgroups where, the first subgroup (B1) were kept for 30 days post-infection, second subgroup (B2) were kept for 60 days post-infection, and third subgroup (B3) were kept for 90 days. The second group was further subdivided into three subgroups (C1, C2, and C3) where they were kept for 39, 60, and 90 days post-infection, respectively. Results: From this study, there was successful isolation of C. pseudotuberculosis from the reproductive organs of the treatment group after 60 days post-infection. The subgroups (B1, C1, C2, and C3) did not show any presence of the causative organism in the reproductive organs. The second subgroup B2 and third subgroup B3 showed positive isolation of the causative organisms from the ovary, uterine horns, uterus, cervix, vagina, and inguinal lymph node of the experimental non-pregnant does. Conclusion: This study showed that chronic infection of C. pseudotuberculosis via intradermal route may cause effect toward the reproductive organs and may be able to influence the reproductive efficiency of the infected animals