An Economic Analysis of Government Financing for Development in Malaysia

This study examines the ways and means of government spending and the consequent impacts on the economy . The scope for enhancing the efficiency of government spending and the utilisation of the various sources of revenue are identified so as to maximise the net benefit of government involvement in the economy. The main sources of financing government expenditure include taxes, domestic and foreign borrowing and credit creation. Trends of both the spending and financing aspects of the government budget are also discussed within the context of several related theoretical and empirical debates. Initially, the level of analysis is partial in nature, using single equation estimates, although cross references are made to link the various sources of government financing and spending. A simple macroeconomic model within the context of a simultaneous equation system is later developed to identify the impact of changes in several sources of government finance on main macro variables such as GNP, employment, prices, wages and private investment. This is done through several simulation exercises involving changes in policy variables such as taxes, the supply of money and public borrowing

Development of a Diagnostic Tool to Benchmark Best Manufacturing Practices in Malaysian SMEs

In developing countries such as Malaysia, the small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in increasing the country’s economy. For the SMEs to remain competitive and to ensure their survival in the globalize era, the SMEs must continuously improve their manufacturing practices. The development of self assessment tool can facilitate the SMEs to benchmark their manufacturing practices and will help them in becoming more competitive. Based on literature review, eight areas of manufacturing practices have been proposed for benchmarking and the areas have been validated by selected companies. The areas of manufacturing practices included in this tool are management practice, human resource, marketing strategy, quality, production process, customer focus, supply chain management, technology and product innovation.The development of this web-based tool used the Hypertext Preprocessor (Php), Structured Query Languages (SQL) scripting languages and Internet as a platform. The participating SMEs can log into the system and choose a particular area to be benchmarked. Based on the indicators that have been developed, summary of their performance and how they fare with others will be generated in the form of a graph. The graph clearly indicates the gaps in their practices. The SMEs can then make appropriate decisions on which areas to be improved, with those results. The benchmarking tool system has been tested and validated by seven SMEs. From the companies’ feedback, some improvements and modifications have been made on the system such as questionnaires, output results and company registration form. The system was developed in dual language (Malay and English) to facilitate SMEs benchmark in the company. It is hoped that the SMEs using this tool will become more aware of the importance of certain practices, facilitate SMEs to be more competitive and able to develop a culture of continuous improvement

Who is Paloma Carter

textThis Master’s Report chronicles the process of inception, pre-production, production and post-production for Who Is Paloma Carter, a thesis film made as part of the MFA in Film Production at The University of Texas at Austin’s RTF Program, as well as the insights gained through these stages and the course of the entire program.Radio-Television-Fil

Testing for causality between taxation and government spending: an application of Toda-Yamamoto approach

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the causal relationship between the government tax revenues and government expenditures in Malaysia. We employ the Granger long run noncausality test as proposed by Toda and Yamamoto (1995) to test the causal relationships between government spending and tax revenues for the period 1960 to 1997. The evidence generally supports the existence of bi-directional casuality between government spending and tax revenues

Extracellular Vesicles, Apoptotic Bodies and Mitochondria: Stem Cell Bioproducts for Organ Regeneration

Purpose of Review In the current work, we will present the characterization of the main different stem cell-derived vesicular bio-products with potential application in organ regeneration. Recent Findings The therapeutic effects of stem cell therapy in organ repair, specifically those utilizing mesenchymal stromal cells, are largely dependent on the cells' release of different bio-products. Among these bio-products, extracellular vesicles (EVs) appear to play a major role due to their ability to carry and deliver bioactive material for modulation of cellular pathways in recipient cells. Concurrently, mitochondria transfer emerged as a new mechanism of cell communication, in which the bioenergetics of a damaged cell are restored. Finally, apoptotic bodies released by dying apoptotic stem cells contribute to stimulation of the tissue's stem cells and modulation of the immune response. Summary Exploitation of isolated extracellular vesicles, mitochondria and apoptotic bodies in preclinical models of organ damage shows promising results. Here, we describe the results of the pre-clinical applications of stem cell vesicular products, as well as the first clinical trials approaching artificial administration of extracellular vesicles and mitochondria in human subjects and their possible benefits and limitations. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, grant agreement No 813839, Innovative Training Network RenalToolBox and 765274, Innovative Training Network iPlacenta

LIGHT-COLOR-INDUCED CHANGES IN FATTY ACID BIOSYNTHESIS IN Chlorella sp. STRAIN KS-MA2 IN EARLY STATIONARY GROWTH PHASE

Optimization of light supply remains a critical issue in microalgae biotechnology. The impacts of light color on fatty acid production and biosynthesis in microalgae are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of light color on growth and fatty acid content in Chlorella strain KS-MA2. Cells were cultured on F/2 medium and incubated under blue, green, red or white light. The cells’ growth, fatty acid composition and the expression levels of the ketoacyl synthase 1 (KAS-1), omega-6 desaturase (ω-6 FAD) and omega-3 desaturase (ω-3 FAD) genes were measured at the early stationary growth phase. Results of this study indicated that light color affected cell density and fatty acid profile produced by Chlorella sp. strain KS-MA2. Cells cultured under blue, red and white light had higher cell density than those cultured under green light. Palmitic acid (38.62 ± 3.29% of biomass dry weight) and linolenic acid (7.96 ± 0.88% of biomass dry weight) were highly accumulated under white light. Stearic acid was dominant under blue light (11.11 ± 0.14% of biomass dry weight), whereas oleic acid was dominant under red light (30.50 ± 0.14% of biomass dry weight). Linoleic acid was highly produced under green and blue light (28.63 ± 1.36% and 26.00 ± 0.81 % of biomass dry weight, respectively). KAS-1 and ω-6 FAD were highly expressed under blue light, whereas ω-3 FAD was highly expressed under green light. The production of particular fatty acids of interest from Chlorella could be achieved by shifting color of light used during the incubation of the cell cultures. Blue-light is the most suitable light color for producing biomass and stearic acid by Chlorellastrain KS-MA2.Â

Effect of An Educational Intervention About Occupational Safety on Knowledge and Practices of Male Students in Technical Mechanical Secondary Schools in El-Behira Governorate

Background. Occupational health and safety is one of the most important aspects of human concern. The Aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of educational intervention about occupational safety on knowledge and practice of male students in technical mechanical secondary schools in El-Behira governorate. Hypothesis: Technical Mechanical secondary school male students who engage in occupational safety intervention will demonstrate higher level of knowledge and practice than those who are not . Material and Methods: Quasi-experimental pre/post–test research design. Settings: the study was conducted in four technical mechanical secondary schools in El-Behira governorate. Subjects: the study was carried on 280 students (140 were cases and 140 were control).Data collection tools: data were collected using three tools: structured self-administered questionnaire, Students' knowledge regarding occupational safety and observation check list regarding safety measures practices in the training workshops.Results: conveyed that less than half (46.4%, 47.9%) of both the study and the control group respectively were aged between   16 to less than 17 years. All the study group and the control one had poor knowledge regarding occupational health and safety before conduction of the educational intervention, whereas after implementation of the educational intervention, more than three quarters of the study group (85.7%) had good knowledge whereas the vast majority of the control group (99.3%) still had poor knowledge  . There was a statistically significant relation between the department and the total knowledge score of the study group (X2= 14.150 , P=0.007*).Conclusion: The educational program is successful in attaining its aim of positively improving knowledge, and practice of the study group   about Occupational Health and Safety.Recommendations: this study recommend the necessity of provision of personal protective equipment to the students in the school workshops and integrating occupational safety topics in their curriculum. Keywords: Educational intervention, occupational health, Knowledge, Technical secondary schools. DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/80-05 Publication date:September 30th 202

A conceptual study on investment-linked takaful product: protecting life and wealth for family institution

The variety of products offered by financial institutions could overwhelm indi-viduals in their decision making. For financially savvy people, decision making is easier, but some do need guidance. Therefore, this research aims to assess the Shariah-compliant investment-linked plan takaful product that can help investors in choosing an alternative plan. An investment-linked takaful is a family takaful plan that combines investment and takaful cover. This product offers participants the freedom to choose the type and amount of takaful on the protection they need as well as the freedom to invest based on their risk appetite, financial objectives and the length of time they are willing to invest. The study also discusses the wealth protection and financial investment based on maqasid Shariah with relating to family institutions. The study would assist the individual in their invest-ment decision since this study provides information and prior knowledge to them to make an informed decision of a better takaful plan which complies with Islamic law. Besides, the undertaken research enables the public, investors, participants, and other stakeholders for a better understanding of nature, features, and structures associated with the invest-ment-linked takaful product