Online Questionnaire Data Analysis System (OQDAS)

The aim of this project is to develop an Online Questionnaire Data Analysis System (OQDAS) for researchers in University Utara Malaysia. This system enables research questionnaires to be deployed via a web page and provide a great source of information to all UCTM researchers. By developing this project, it helps the researcher to perform survey easily, cost-effectively, and time shortly. In addition, analytical results reported in PDF file automatically. As well, a prototyping as a part of the traditional SDLC approach will be chosen as a guide to develop OQDAS

(Z)-N-Methyl-2-(5-methyl-2-oxoindolin-3-yl­idene)hydrazinecarbothio­amide

In the title compound, C11H12N4OS, an intra­molecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bond generates an S(6) ring motif. In the crystal, the mol­ecules form a helical chain along the a axis through an N—H⋯O hydrogen bond. These chains are extended by an N—H⋯S hydrogen bond and a C—H⋯π inter­action into a three-dimensional network

(Z)-2-(5-Chloro-2-oxoindolin-3-yl­idene)-N-methyl­hydrazinecarbothio­amide

In the title compound, C10H9ClN4OS, an intra­molecular N—H⋯O hydrogen-bonding inter­action and an N—H⋯N inter­action generate ring motifs [graph sets S(6) and S(5), respectively]. In the crystal, mol­ecules form a chain through N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, and these are extended by N—H⋯S hydrogen-bonding inter­actions into an infinite three-dimensional network. The crystal structure also exhibits weak C—H⋯π inter­actions

Corporate social responsibility, institutional investors’ ownership, financial restatements and sell-side analysts’ stock recommendations

In Malaysia, the capital market regulators have recently given prominent attention to issues such as corporate responsibility (CSR), shareholder activism and integrity in financial reporting by issuing the Sustainability Reporting Guide (2015) and Malaysian Code for Institutional Investors (2014). Given the importance of these issues, this study examines whether CSR, institutional investors’ ownership, and financial restatements influence stock recommendations made by analysts. It employs a dataset from a panel of 285 Malaysian public listed companies (PLCs) for the period 2008 to 2013 (737 company-year observations). The results show a positive and significant influence of CSR reporting on the stock recommendations, which means that analysts issue more favourable stock recommendations for companies with higher CSR disclosures. Further, the findings indicate that the presence of both transient and dedicated institutional investors are viewed positively by analysts. In particular, the results indicate that analysts issue more favourable stock recommendations for the companies with higher levels of transient and dedicated institutional investors’ ownership. In addition, the results also show that analysts tend to give favourable stock recommendations for companies that restated their financial statements, contrary to expectation. These findings imply that analysts tend to echo government initiatives by giving favourable stock recommendations to companies with greater engagement in CSR activities and the ability to attract institutional investors. The findings also suggest that analysts view financial restatements as informative rather than opportunistic. Overall, these findings should be useful to PLCs and policymakers. PLCs might use the findings to understand the preferences of sell-side analysts towards CSR engagement. Furthermore, policymakers might use it to recognize the important role played by institutional investors in monitoring investee companies and to understand how analysts perceive and evaluate restated companies

The effect of palm oil clinker powder and cockleshell powder as cement replacement to concrete durability properties

The concepts of eco-friendly building are getting more attention today. The standard materials of concrete that used are not totally environmentally friendly. Thus, many materials from natural sources can be an alternative to the realization of the green building concept. As a result, many researchers have devoted their attention towards identifying eco-friendlier substitutions to be used in concrete. This study was conducted to investigate the efficiency of two different types of waste materials which are palm oil clinker (POC) and cockle shell (CS) as partial replacement of cement on durability aspects. The replacement of cement was at different levels (10% and 20%). Six mix proportions were made with different percentage of POC and CSP. The specimens were cured by immersing in water for 7 and 28 days. The tests that were conducted were acid resistance test and water absorption test. The POC and CSP were ground to achieve a small particle size to fit with the concrete mix as cement replacement. The experiment result showed that the POC had a negative impact to the concrete in both tests while the CSP proved it is resistance to acid. It was therefore concluded that the use of both POCP and CSP to produce cleaner and quitter pervious concrete, both mechanically and environmentally since it will reduce the emission of CO2

(Z)-2-(2-Oxoindolin-3-yl­idene)-N-phenylhydrazinecarbothio­amide

In the title compound, C15H12N4OS, the dihedral angle between the nine-membered indolin-2-one ring system and the phenyl ring is 2.72 (7)°. Intra­molecular cyclic N—H⋯O and C—H⋯S hydrogen-bonding inter­actions [graph set S(6)] are present, as are weak N—H⋯N inter­actions [graph set S(5)]. In the crystal, mol­ecules form centrosymmetric cyclic dimers through pairs of N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds [graph set R 2 2(8)] and these are extended by C—H⋯S inter­actions. The crystal structure also features weak C—H⋯π inter­actions

(Z)-N-Methyl-2-(5-nitro-2-oxoindolin-3-yl­idene)hydrazinecarbothio­amide

In the title compound, C10H9N5O3S, an intra­molecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bond generates an S(6) ring motif. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked via N—H⋯S hydrogen bonds into a zigzag chain along the b axis. C—H⋯O inter­actions are observed between the chains

(Z)-2-(5-Fluoro-2-oxoindolin-3-yl­idene)-N-phenyl­hydrazinecarbothio­amide

The title compound, C15H11FN4OS, crystallizes with three independent mol­ecules (A, B and C) in the asymmetric unit. The dihedral angles between the nine-membered 5-fluoro­indolin-2-one ring system and the benzene ring are 22.14 (11), 12.56 (11) and 3.70 (11)° in mol­ecules A, B and C, respectively. In all three mol­ecules, intra­molecular cyclic N—H⋯O and C—H⋯S hydrogen-bonding inter­actions [graph set S(6)] are present in the N—N—C—N chain between the ring systems. In the crystal, the A mol­ecules form centrosymmetric cyclic dimers through inter­molecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, which are linked into a supramolecular chain along [100] via C—H⋯F interactions; each type of hydrogen bond has graph set graph set R 2 2(8). A similar chain stabilised by similar interactions and also along [100] but, comprising alternating molecules of B and C is found. The latter chains are connected via C—H⋯S interactions, forming a layer with a zigzag topology parallel to (001)

THE CHALLENGES AND PROBLEMS FACED BY STUDENTS IN THE EARLY STAGE OF WRITING RESEARCH PROJECTS IN L2, UNIVERSITY OF BISHA, SAUDI ARABIA

Research, by its nature, is a critical challenging task requires in depth knowledge of the subject matter, planning, care, and hard work. From the students’ point of view, this paper attempts to explore the challenges that are faced by undergraduates when they are writing proposals and research projects at the early stages. The study target group comprised undergraduates in the final year in the College of Science and Arts, Al-Namas, University of Bisha, Saudi Arabia. Around 60 subjects participated in this study and they were from Department of English and Department of Computer Science who conducted their research projects in English as Second Language (ESL). The Research tools of the study include questionnaire and informal interviews with students and teachers of the target groups. Clearly, the results from study showed that around 70 % of the participants who are writing research or conducting research projects in English is one of the predominant challenges for them. Around 50% prefer to conduct their research in L1. The study explored various and common challenges/difficulties during writing the research proposals and projects such as: difficulty in deciding the topic for research, lack of good knowledge of the methodology, inability of finding modern, specialized and related references, lack of interest in research, lack of understanding of the subject matter, lack of time, and research guiding. The study also attempts to give some suggestions/recommendations for developing the process of writing research proposals and research projects.  Article visualizations