Entrepreneurial acculturation in Malaysia: Efforta and achievements

The nature and pace of economic progress in a country depends, among others, on the venturesome qualities of its people. The development of entrepreneurship has, therefore, been taken as an important element in human development sphere in Malaysia. In fact, the Malaysian Government has restructured it entrepreneurship department, hence the birth of Ministry of Entrepreneur and Co-operative Development (MECD) in 2004. The main objectives of this department are to provide a conducive environment and to promote and assist the entrepreneurial development in the country. The effort of the Ministry is supported by many new policies and mechanisms including funding, entrepreneurial programs and activities, physical infrastructures and business advisory services. This paper endeavors to trace the progress of the entrepreneurial program and assess its achievements towards inculcating the spirit and culture of enterprise among the Malaysians. It also attempt to see whether the contribution increases the pace of development in the country and made an impact on income inequalities and poverty among the target groups.Keyword: Growth; human resource development; risk taking; entrepreneurship, role of the state; Malaysia

Phenotypic and genotypic characterisation of Neisseria gohorrhoeae isolates from New Zealand with reduced susceptibility to ceftriaxone : a thesis submitted to the College of Health in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Science in Microbiology at Massey University, New Zealand

Objectives Currently, ceftriaxone is the last remaining drug recommended for empirical treatment of gonorrhoea. Neisseria gonorrhoeae with reduced susceptibility to ceftriaxone have been isolated worldwide in countries such as Japan, France, Spain, Slovenia, Australia and Sweden. These have led to treatment failures and the emergence of ceftriaxone-resistant N. gonorrhoeae. Various mutations in penA (mosaic and nonmosaic), which encodes the penicillin-binding protein 2 (PBP2), have been reported to be the primary reason for reduced ceftriaxone susceptibility, but it can be reduced further by mutations in mtrR, porBIB and ponA. In this study, we aimed to determine the antimicrobial resistance patterns of New Zealand isolates of N. gonorrhoeae with reduced susceptibility to ceftriaxone and to characterise the penA, mtrR, porBIB and ponA in the isolates. Methods A total of 28 N. gonorrhoeae isolates with elevated ceftriaxone MIC (0.03 to 0.12 mg/L), collected from 2012 to 2015 and obtained from the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR), were examined in this study. Samples came from laboratories in Auckland (26), Wellington (1) and Taranaki (1). The antimicrobial resistance of penicillin G, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, azithromycin and ceftriaxone were determined through antimicrobial susceptibility test, using minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) test strips. Polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) and sequencing to identify specific mutations in penA, mtrR, porBIB and ponA, that are associated with elevated minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) to ceftriaxone, were undertaken. The association between the phenotypic and genotypic results was investigated by comparing the presence of the number of mutated genes and the MIC level of ceftriaxone. Results Based on the AST results using MIC test strips and interpreted using The European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) criteria, 23 out of 28 isolates (82%) showed reduced susceptibility to ceftriaxone, with MICs of 0.03 to 0.06 mg/L. All of the isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin, while 36%, 25% and 7% were resistant to penicillin G, tetracycline and azithromycin, respectively. Two azithromycin-resistant N. gonorrhoeae isolates were observed, and isolate 264 (azithromycin MIC: 4mg/L) also exhibited reduced susceptibility to ceftriaxone (MIC: 0.03 mg/L). A total of 21% (6/28) of the isolates produced ß- lactamase. The 23 isolates that conveyed reduced ceftriaxone susceptibility were found to harbour three or four mutated genes (penA, mtrR and/or porBIB and ponA). Reduced susceptibility to ceftriaxone among N. gonorrhoeae isolates in this study was associated with mosaic PBP2 (encoded by penA) with G545S/A501V mutations, with nonmosaic PBP2 with an A501V mutation, plus the presence of mutation in mtrR promoter with G120 and A121 alterations in PorBIB. A total of 65% (15/23) of the N. gonorrhoeae isolates with reduced susceptibility to ceftriaxone harboured mosaic PBP2 XXXIV, a pattern found in N. gonorrhoeae associated with ceftriaxone treatment failures in Europe and Australia. The current study also revealed that the partial sequences of four mosaic PBP2 (M-2, M-3, M-4, M-5) were different from the common mosaic PBP2 sequences reported in various studies. Conclusion There is an association between the phenotypic and genotypic character of N. gonorrhoeae isolates expressing reduced susceptibility to ceftriaxone in this study population. Furthermore, the presence of important mosaic PBP2 that link to ceftriaxone treatment failure might be circulating among N. gonorrhoeae isolates in New Zealand . Keywords: Neisseria gonorrhoeae, ceftriaxone, reduced susceptibility, New Zealan

The frequency-dependent directivity of a planar Fabry-Perot polymer film ultrasound sensor

A model of the frequency-dependent directivity of a planar, optically-addressed, Fabry-Perot (FP), polymer film ultrasound sensor is described and validated against experimental directivity measurements made over a frequency range of 1 to 15 MHz and angles from normal incidence to 80 degrees. The model may be used, for example, as a predictive tool to improve sensor design, or to provide a noise-free response function that could be deconvolved from sound-field measurements in order to improve accuracy in high-frequency metrology and imaging applications. The specific question of whether effective element sizes as small as the optical-diffraction limit can be achieved was investigated. For a polymer film sensor with a FP cavity of thickness d, the minimum effective element radius was found to be about 0.9d, and that an illumination spot radius of less than d/4 is required to achieve it

On effects of increasing amplitude in a boundary-layer spot

The boundary-layer spots involved here come from large-time theory and related computations on the Euler equations to cover the majority of the global properties of the spot disturbances, which are nonlinear, three-dimensional, and transitional rather than turbulent. The amplitude levels investigated are higher than those examined in detail previously and produce a new near-wall momentum contribution in the mean flow, initially close to the wingtips of the spot. This enables the amplitude levels in the analysis to be raised successively, a process which gradually causes the wing-tip region to spread inwards. The process is accompanied by subtle increases in the induced phase variations. Among other things the work finds the details of how nonlinear effects grow from the wing-tips to eventually alter the entire trailing edge, and then the centre of the spot, in a strongly nonlinear fashion. Comparisons with earlier suggestions and with experiments are described at the end

Next-generation sequencing: applications beyond genomes.

The development of DNA sequencing more than 30 years ago has profoundly impacted biological research. In the last couple of years, remarkable technological innovations have emerged that allow the direct and cost-effective sequencing of complex samples at unprecedented scale and speed. These next-generation technologies make it feasible to sequence not only static genomes, but also entire transcriptomes expressed under different conditions. These and other powerful applications of next-generation sequencing are rapidly revolutionizing the way genomic studies are carried out. Below, we provide a snapshot of these exciting new approaches to understanding the properties and functions of genomes. Given that sequencing-based assays may increasingly supersede microarray-based assays, we also compare and contrast data obtained from these distinct approaches

Changing attitudes to university mathematics through problem solving

University mathematics is often presented in a formal way that causes many students to cope by memorising what they perceive as a fixed body of knowledge rather than learning to think for themselves. This research studies the effects on students' attitudes of a course encouraging co-operative problem-solving and reflection on the thinking activities involved. The attitudinal questionnaire was shown to the students' teachers who were asked to specify the attitudes they expect from their students and the attitudes they prefer. This was used to give a ‘desired direction of change’ from expected to preferred. Before the course, half the students responded that university mathematics did not make sense. A majority declared negative attitudes such as anxiety, fear of new problems and lack of confidence. During the problem-solving course the changes were almost all in the desired direction. During the following six months of standard mathematics lecturing, almost all changes were in the opposite direction

e-Government awareness among the techno-disadvantaged in the United States

This exploratory research focuses on awareness among techno-disadvantaged citizens in the United States. Specifically, we address whether awareness is associated with visitation and whether there are differences between those who are aware and those who are not aware. Following up on on a theory-based community initiative designed to improve computer literacy and access to information and communication technologies (ICT) for members of an underserved public housing community, a survey was undertaken. The results indicate that awareness is associated with visitation. Differences in demographic characterisitics, perceived ease of use (PEOU), and perceived access barriers between those who are aware of e-government websites, and those who are not, were found. While nearly half of the respondents are neither aware of nor have visited e-government websites, a slight majority is partaking of e-government services. We identify directions for future research and conclude by emphasizing the value of a theory-based community initiative to improve computer literacy, provide access to ICT, and advance e-government inclusion

Recent development in XML-IR

The Web is characterized by a huge amount of heterogeneous data sources, which have different media support and format representation. Because XML can represent files of different formats, it can play an important role in IR since it is becoming a standard form for data representation and exchange over the Web. Under this assumption, the problem of querying heterogeneous sources can be reduced to the problem of querying XML data sources. This paper shows the influence of XML on the IR techniques and methodologies during the last five years through serving over 400 papers published in different conferences and journals

NEW RETIREMENT POLICY AND IMPACT TOWARDS PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT PREPARATIONS: MALAYSIAN PERSPECTIVE

When CUEPACS called for Malaysian Government to increase the retirement age from 56 to 60, many believes that the bold moves provides more rooms for the civil servants to have prudent financial security for the retirement preparation. On 1st July 2008, government has approved the raising of retirement age from 56 to 58 years old and it was gazetted in PKPA 6/2008 (Reference No: JPA/PEN/228/25/1/Jld 4). However, many research shows that there are mixture feeling between those who prefer to retire early and those who do not. This paper aims to look at the association between the effects of new retirement age policy with the variables. This study involves 200 public sector employees from Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) Headquarter in Kuala Lumpur as our respondents using questionnaire. Our objectives are (1) we want to determine whether there are relationship between new retirement age with job performance, career advancement, financial security and also job satisfaction, (2) what is the level of perception among the public sector employees on the factors affected by the new retirement age policy. The findings show that there are positive relationship between the new retirement age with job performance, career advancement, financial security and job satisfaction. Job performance and job satisfaction shows a moderate relationship with the value of 0.424 and 0.576 while career advancement and financial security shows a low relationship with the value of 0.256 and 0.388. High total mean score of career advancement (4.0286) and job performance (3.9075) shows that these two factors are highly affected by the new retirement age policy while financial security and also job satisfaction have moderate mean scores. We also found out that the percentage of civil servants that agree to the new retirement age (44%) is not much different from those who disagree (42%)retirement, public sector employees, job performance, financial security, career advancement, job satisfaction