Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Towards Stigma on Depression among Young And Middle-Aged Adults in Selangor, Malaysia

Due to the critical frequency, one in five Malaysian young adults experienced depression in 2020, the needs to identify the level of knowledge, attitude and practice among community, as aimed in this study, are highly demanded to strategize awareness raising, reducing stigma and hence tailoring efficient intervention. This cross-sectional study enrolled 172 young and middle-aged adults in Selangor, Malaysia via purposive sampling. The Depression Stigma Scale and Depression Literacy assessed stigma, attitude and practice towards depressive disorder. This study found that knowledge and some demographic factors (economic status, age, education) can influence the attitude and practice towards stigma on depression.   Keywords: Attitude; Depression Stigma; Knowledge; Practice eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2023. The Authors. Published for AMER & cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), College of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v8i24.468

Perceived Social Support and Depression Level Among Elderly Living in Institution

The Elderly is commonly withdrawn and live alone due to a lack of social support, which impacts psychological issues. This study was conducted to identify the relationship between perceived social support and the level of depression among the elderly. This cross-sectional study enrolled 92 older people who lived at Rumah Seri Kenangan Cheng, Malacca. They completed the Multidimensional Scale for Perceived Social Support and Geriatric Depression Scale, which measured levels of social support and levels of depression, respectively. Findings indicated the elderly received moderate social support from family and friends, that affecting the level of depression in the elderly population. Keywords: Elderly, institutionalization, social support, depression. eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7i20.344

Study of thermal degradation of biomass wastes generated from palm oil milling plant

Thermal decomposition of empty fruit bunch (EFB), palm kernel shell (PKS) and palm oil milling effluent sludge (POMES) have been investigated. Thermogravimetry analysis was employed to determine the proximate analysis of the samples, and then to study the characteristic of the thermal degradation. Proximate analysis of the sample was conducted by introduce the samples into the TGA and run it under the nitrogen environment from 25 to 800 °C. The gas was shifted to oxygen to let the sample burn and left their ash. Thermal degradation studies were carried out by heating up the samples in TGA from 25 to 800 °C at different heating ratio. Second order kinetic model was applied to determine the characteristic of the degradation.

Customers’ Satisfaction Towards 99Speedmart based on Product Quality and Service Quality in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur

Convenience stores have been providing basic needs for their customers and have become one of the customer’s pleasure to come to shop the essential needs for the household. This study focuses on the customer’s satisfaction towards 99Speedmart by looking into two variables, which are Service Quality (SERVQUAL) and product quality. These two variables are vital to any business as it would affect its loyal customers if any of these did not meet their expectations. A survey was conducted by distributing the adapted questionnaire to 238 respondents that comprise three sections. The data was analysed quantitatively by using SPSS SPSS. It was found that many respondents showed positive results towards 99Speedmart which they are partly agreed that 99Speedmart provides good quality products and services

Privacy in the Era of Big Data: Unlocking the Blue Oceans of Data Paradigm in Malaysia

Big Data has revolutionized the process of online activities such as marketing and advertisement based on individual preferences in the eCommerce industry. In Malaysia, the integration of Big Data in the commercial and business environment is keenly felt by establishing the National Big Data Analytics Framework catalyzing further economic growth in all sectors. However, the distinct features of Big Data spawn issues relating to privacy, such as data profiling, lack of transparency regarding privacy policies, accidental disclosures of data, false data or false analytics results. Hence, this research provides an insight into the intersection between Big Data and an individual's fundamental rights. The trade-off between privacy breaching and preserving is becoming more intense due to the rapid advancement of Big Data. Suggesting comparative analysis method as the data analysis approach, the adequacy of the Malaysian Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (PDPA 2010) in governing the risks of Big Data is evaluated against the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in managing the risk arising from the integration of Big Data. This research is hoped to initiate the improvement to the legislative framework, provides fundamentals to the formulation of national policy, and creation of specific law on Big Data in Malaysia, which will subsequently benefit industrial players and stakeholders

Administration of the merit pay systems enhancing work outcomes

This study investigates the relationship between administration of merit pay systems and work outcomes. For data collection purposes, self-administered questionnaires were used on the administrative staff of a Malaysian public research university. The analysis of the Smart PLS path model exhibits three important outcomes: first, the implementation of communication and the assessment of performance are important factors that motivate employees to enhance work satisfaction. Second, the implementation of communication is not an important factor that motivates the employees to enhance organisational commitment. Third, the performance assessment is an important factor that motivates employees to enhance organisational commitment. The results in general, corroborate with previous literature, however, the empirical evidence on the effective communication within the organisation is not an important factor in determining organisational commitment. In addition, this paper provides a clear guidance for managers to administer merit pay system in gaining positive work outcomes. This paper goes on to discussion and implications and is thereafter concluded with conclusion therein

Catalytic transesterification of coconut oil in biodiesel production: A review

Biodiesel is one of the renewable energy (RE) sources that has received much interest due to its promising properties. Recently, the use of coconut oil as biodiesel has caught the attention of many researchers. As a result, this paper presents a comprehensive overview of the current catalysts used to produce coconut oil biodiesel via the transesterification method

Physical activity and its impact on academic achievement among health sciences students Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Self-determination influences physical activity which improves student’s health status leading to an increase in their academic achievements. However, these relationships among health sciences students remain unclear. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the influences of self-determination towards physical activity and the relationship between physical activity level and academic achievement among third-year students of Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). A cross-sectional study was conducted among 180 third-year students from all programs in Faculty of Health Sciences, UKM from March to May 2020 using a self-administered short-form version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-SF) and the third version of the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-3). The Kruskal Wallis test was done to evaluate the relative autonomy index (RAI) and Metabolic Equivalent Task (MET) among groups, while a simple linear regression was performed to identify the relationship between self-determination and physical activity levels and between physical activity levels and academic achievements. A significant difference of self-determination level was found between light and a moderate level of physical activity (p<0.05) and between light and vigorous level of physical activity (p<0.001). Our findings also revealed that a positive moderate relationship was found between the level of physical activity and self-determination level (R= 0.248, R2 =0.062) where self-determination level significantly predicts the physical activity performed (p<0.01). However, a low negative relationship was found between the level of physical activity and academic achievement (R= 0.123, R2 =0.015). In conclusion, self-determination plays a key role in contributing the physical activity levels, while the physical activity did not influence the academic achievement among the third-year students of Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Comparison of RPL14 expression levels between normal and tumour cells of juma nasopharyngeal epithelium

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is predominant cancer in Southern China and Southeast Asia which affect Cantonese inheritance. Previous research showed that ribosomal preteins (RPs) gene expression in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) are differ frim normal human nasopharyngeal epithelium cells with most RPs that are being down-regulated. Recent studies showed that disturbance of RPs might induce tumorigenesis. However, there is a lack of study done regarding RPL14 specific investigation on NPC. Therefore, this study is proposed to extract Ribosomal Protein L14 gene (RPL14) to compare the differences on expression level in human nasopharyngeal cell lines (normal and carcinoma) by using a standard protocol, RNA was extracted by Trizol as starting material in this project and amplified using Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) with the aid of software Image Quant TL. This study revealed the PCR product wiht a length of 760 bp in RPL14. There is significant difference of RPL14 expression levels in NPC

Navigating puberty with special needs teenagers: empowering parents through a sexuality education workshop

Adolescence is a crucial phase of development, marked by significant physical, emotional, and social changes. Navigating these changes for teenagers with special needs can be particularly challenging. Addressing these topics is essential to ensure holistic well-being and healthy development of teenagers with special needs. This workshop aimed to equip parents with the necessary knowledge, skills, and strategies to navigate conversations about puberty and sexuality effectively. This paper is to present the findings of this workshop focused on puberty and sexuality education for parents of teenagers with special needs. A diverse group of parents of teenagers with special needs were recruited through Facebook groups, special schools, and community organizations. Prior to the workshop participants were invited to answer questions regarding their concerns about their special needs child sexuality. A total of 150 parents responded to this qualitative survey. The workshop includes a slot for a sexuality education lecture and a hands-on practical session focusing on managing menstruation and masturbation. A total of 69 participants for the workshop were required to answer pre and post-questionnaires – to determine the knowledge, perceptions, dedication, and willingness in delivering sexual information to teenagers with special needs