Devidend payment behaviour and its determinants: The Malaysian property sector

Disappearing dividend phenomenon remains unexplored in the Malaysian market. Therefore, this study investigates whether or not the phenomenon exists in the Malaysian property sector. This is achieved by observing dividend pattern in the sector between 2000 to 2013. The study investigates dividend payout in the sector further by examining the factors that influence companies‟ decision to pay or not to pay dividends. Trend analysis was used to describe the dividend pattern over the period while logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine the factors that influence companies‟ payout decisions. Findings revealed an upward trend in the amount of dividends distributed in the sector over the period as well as in the number of dividend payers. The study provides evidence of dividend concentration in the property sector of Bursa Malaysia as results shows that a large portion of dividend paid out for all the years come from the top 10 payers. As revealed by the findings, the explanatory factors for dividend payout decisions in the Malaysian property sector include dividend premium, retained earnings to total equity, profitability, size, leverage, and past year dividend. Thus, findings of the study provide support for catering theory, lifecycle theory and dividend smoothing theory. Findings indicate that investment opportunities and crisis do not play any significant role in explaining payout decisions in the secto

Assessing the Readiness of the Royal Military Police Corps Towards a Learning Organization : a Case Study on Royal Military Police Corps Training Center

As part of the Ministry of Defense's as well as the Malaysian Armed Forces in general and the Malaysian Army HQ's drive for responsive, high quality military services, the 2001 Booklet on Learning Organization suggested that the services must become a learning organization. The environmental forces that stem from the technological advancement, social changes, economic and demographic changes and consumerism have placed a great challenge to the military and army leaders in insuring their organizations achieved a world class status. Yet, the readiness and the application as well as the implementation of the learning organization ideal in the military organizations is viewed as significantly constrained by a number of factors, including the hierarchy, structures, culture, tradition, the leadership and so forth. To achieve such world class standards, organizations therefore must continually operate in a state of transformation. Approprite management styles thus are seen to be important in promoting and fostering a creative and learning culture within an organization. It is believed that appropriate management styles that have the abilities to develop a shared vision, special competencies, unity, a constructive thinking among employees, and to encourage open and honest communication throughout the organization. It would be the leaders who inspire a learning organization. Therefore, this study aims to assess the readiness of the military organizations in this case, the Royal Military Police Corps turning to be a Learning Organization by measuring 12 dimensions of the Learning Organization Practices Profile and 5 dimensions of Learning Organization Profile as well as identifying the management styles that are pertinent to learning organization by using Likert's (1976) four-management styles questionnaire and determines how these styles influence the learning organization practices and readiness drawn from the learning organization literature. This research offered an opportunity to assess the extent to which striving for this contributes to progress towards the learning organizational ideal

What is the epidemiology of medication errors, error-related adverse events and risk factors for errors in adults managed in community care contexts? A systematic review of the international literature

© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.Objective To investigate the epidemiology of medication errors and error-related adverse events in adults in primary care, ambulatory care and patients’ homes. Design Systematic review. Data source Six international databases were searched for publications between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2015. Data extraction and analysis Two researchers independently extracted data from eligible studies and assessed the quality of these using established instruments. Synthesis of data was informed by an appreciation of the medicines’ management process and the conceptual framework from the International Classification for Patient Safety. Results 60 studies met the inclusion criteria, of which 53 studies focused on medication errors, 3 on error-related adverse events and 4 on risk factors only. The prevalence of prescribing errors was reported in 46 studies: prevalence estimates ranged widely from 2% to 94%. Inappropriate prescribing was the most common type of error reported. Only one study reported the prevalence of monitoring errors, finding that incomplete therapeutic/safety laboratory-test monitoring occurred in 73% of patients. The incidence of preventable adverse drug events (ADEs) was estimated as 15/1000 person-years, the prevalence of drug–drug interaction-related adverse drug reactions as 7% and the prevalence of preventable ADE as 0.4%. A number of patient, healthcare professional and medication-related risk factors were identified, including the number of medications used by the patient, increased patient age, the number of comorbidities, use of anticoagulants, cases where more than one physician was involved in patients’ care and care being provided by family physicians/general practitioners. Conclusion A very wide variation in the medication error and error-related adverse events rates is reported in the studies, this reflecting heterogeneity in the populations studied, study designs employed and outcomes evaluated. This review has identified important limitations and discrepancies in the methodologies used and gaps in the literature on the epidemiology and outcomes of medication errors in community settings.Peer reviewe

Optimization of vanillic acid production by Pseudomonas sp. AZ10 UPM using statistical analysis approach

The world market demand of vanillin could not totally supply through natural extraction, chemical synthesis, or tissue culture technology. Biotechnological approaches provide an alternative route to produce biovanillin economically viable such as the microbial conversion pathway. Research has shown that agro-waste containing ferulic acid, such as oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) can be used to produce vanillin. However, the vanillin is rapidly converted to vanillic acid which is the less toxic form. The present work describes the screening of microbial strains capable of degrading ferulic acid as sole carbon source and optimization of fermentation conditions for the enhancement of vanillic acid production. Vanillic acid can then be used as a precursor for vanillin production. From this study, the potential isolate was selected based on the ability of the strain to grow on ferulic acid, highest intensity of colour changes on rapid screening plate, and subjected to fermentation for vanillin and vanillic acid quantification. The strain Pseudomonas sp. AZ10 UPM exhibited a significant result because of colour changes observed on the assay plate on day 1 with a high intensity of yellow colour. Then, optimization was carried out by screening four factors namely pH, temperature, concentration of synthetic ferulic acid, and percentage of inoculum with main and interaction effects evaluated using Design Expert® software. The optimal yield of vanillic acid obtained were at pH 7, incubation temperature of 31 °C, 1.5 g/L synthetic ferulic acid, and 10% inoculum size with molar conversion yield of 75%

Coping with stress: Exploring the lived experiences of English teachers who persist in Malaysian rural schools

Teaching English as a second language is a long and complex undertaking, particularly when it is done in multilingual rural areas where English serves a limited purpose. The purpose of this phenomenological case study was to shed light and describe the lived experiences of ten English teachers who persist in rural schools in Sabah, Malaysia. Data gleaned from in-depth interviews and observations and were thematically analyzed. The research questions captured teachers' perceptions of the existing teaching and learning environment, sources of stress and coping strategies through interviews and observations. The findings depicted that rural schools do not benefit from a conducive environment to support English teaching and learning due to the limited English environment, shortage of teaching resources and poor physical environment. The findings also revealed that dealing with low English proficiency (LEP) students was their main stressor in teaching English in rural schools, followed by students' disruptive behaviours, excessive workload and lack of support. To cope with the stress, teachers first evaluate and assess possible solutions through a stress appraisal process. The present study identified that the personal, social, professional, and institutional coping strategies were used by teachers to cope with stress faced. The findings have implications for the teaching of English in rural schools and could offer recommendations for changes in educational practices in which the authorities, school administrators and teachers could collaborate in improving English education in rural schools and thus students' learning, achievement, and school reputation

The Effect of Using Small Educational Folk Games on Improving Life Skills of the Deaf in the First, Second and Third Graders in the Elementary Stage in Jordan

This study aimed to investigate the effect of using small educational folk games on improving life skills (cooperation and team work, communication, self dependence and responsibility) of the deaf in the first, second and third Grades in the elementary stage in Jordan. The study sample consisted of 40 students attending Al Amal School for the Deaf in Awajan Area and Al Raja’ School for the Deaf in Rusaifa Directorate. The sample was divided into a control group using the regular program, and an experimental one using the suggested educational program. The researcher used the Experimental Method holding pre and post tests and appropriate statistical operations. The results showed the effectiveness of using these educational motional folk games on improving life skills (cooperation and team work, communication, self dependence and responsibility) of the deaf first, second and third grades in the elementary stage In Jordan, and also showed that there are statistically significant differences between the control and the experimental group for the advantage of the experimental one. The researcher recommends using the suggested educational program which is based on educational and motional games to improve life skills of the deaf in the elementary stage, and assures the importance of constructing curricula and programs based on folk motional games for the deaf students to improve all types of life and motional skills. Key Words: Educational, Life Skills, Folk Games, Dea