Effect of Smoking Behavior on Nicotine Dependence Level among Adolescents

AbstractSmoking prevalence among adolescents caused by addiction has risked the population's health. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the nicotine dependence level among undergraduate students that practised cigarette smoking since adolescence. We distributed questionnaires that are related to smoking history, smoking habits and Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND). The findings showed that 58% of students have very low nicotine dependence and 19% of smokers have low nicotine dependence. While moderate and high nicotine dependent were 18% and 5% respectively. Smoking habits are the main factors that contribute to the nicotine dependence level and quality of life

Medical treatment and ramadan fasting amongst Malaysian muslim medical staff / Che Noriah Othman and Mohd. Marzuk Shaary

Introduction: The level of knowledge about Ramadan fasting and medical treatment amongst Medical staff has not been documented. This study assessed the level of knowledge amongst Malaysian Muslim Medical staff regarding this issue. Methodology: Questionnaires were distributed to 24 Muslim Medical Staff volunteers. The level of knowledge was evaluated based on the percentage of correct answers given by the respondents. Results: Most of the respondents understood that the use of inhaler, drip infusion, injection, ear, eye and nose drops and the use of sublingual tablets for medical purposes do not break the fast. Conclusion: The majority of respondents are knowledgeable on the issue of Ramadan fasting and Medical treatment

Technology implementation barriers in the Malaysian herbal industry: A case study

Technology is an essential component in all types of organisations and most organisations have reasons to implement new technology. The most fundamental justification for new technology implementation is that the technology must be able to contribute to strong competitive advantages and also increase or create long-term profit. In most small and medium enterprises (SMEs), there are barriers or obstacles in implementing these technologies. This article report a study aimed in investigating barriers faced by the Malaysian herbal industry in implementing technologies in their factory. Most of the local herbal manufacturing firms are categorised as SMEs which are usually considered to be lagged behind larger companies in technology usage. As this was an exploratory research, a case study method was used as it gave in-depth explanation of the main barriers of technology implementation. The results suggested that the main constraint in implementing technologies are lack of technical specialists and financial, aid commitment from top management, low wage rate, and future demand uncertainties

Linking consumer trust perception in constructing an e-commerce trust model

Trust issues is still considered as a main obstacle in the implementation of eCommerce Due to the increasing numbers of cyber crimes committed today, consumers are faced with doubt to engage in online shopping. As a safety precaution, consumers will take certain measures to protect their information by evaluating and assessing these websites trustworthiness before an actual purchase occurs. This paper describes a model that examines the elements related to online consumer behavior and to investigate this behavior towards building and increasing trust. The applicability of the model was tested in attempt to view consumers' acceptance towards the model and its component. The fmdings indicate the respondents are aware of the trust issue surrounding e-Commerce implementation as they accept and agreed with the model and its components

Tahap Resilien dan Kesihatan Mental Individu di Era Pandemik Covid-19: Satu Kajian Empirikal dalam kalangan Remaja di Malaysia

Sejarah baharu pada tahun 2020 telah tercipta apabila kesejahteraan individu dan kemampuannya berfungsi secara efektif tergugat kerana penularan Covid-19 di Malaysia. Pelbagai konflik wujud akibat daripada penularan wabak ini antaranya dari segi kewangan, perhubungan sosial, pekerjaan, pengurusan dan termasuklah kesihatan mental. Namun begitu, dapat dilihat bahawa kajian terdahulu lebih menumpu kepada kesan penularan Covid-19 terhadap psikososial individu tanpa melibatkan data empirikal yang jelas, justeru kajian ini dijalankan bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti tahap tekanan, kebimbangan dan kemurungan remaja di era pandemik Covid-19 dan mengenal pasti tahap resilien serta pengaruhnya terhadap kesihatan mental. Seramai 135 orang remaja telah dipilih secara rawak sebagai responden kajian. Kajian ini berbentuk kajian kuantitatif di mana ujian Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) dan Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-25) digunakan bagi pengumpulan data. Secara keseluruhan dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa tahap kesihatan mental remaja berada pada tahap yang normal dan majoriti responden mempunyai tahap resilien yang sederhana. Walau bagaimanapun, dapatan juga menunjukkan terdapat 18.6% responden menghadapi tekanan hidup dan 9.5% mempunyai tahap resilien yang rendah. Implikasi kajian ini turut bermanfaat bagi pihak yang berkenaan seperti para kaunselor agar pelbagai pelan pemulihan dan rawatan dapat dilakukan segera bagi kesihatan mental berada pada tahap terbaik

Approximation of time headway on two-lane highways using test car approach

Time headway is an essential variable in various traffic engineering applications such as capacity and level of service (LOS) analyses of road segments and intersections, traffic safety analysis, generation of vehicles in microscopic simulations, and so on. From the context of LOS analysis of road segments, the proportion of traffic traveling with headways less than 3 seconds at a point is used as a criterion for assessing the operational performance of two-lane highways. Generally, headways are measured based on spot observation as the time interval between two consecutive vehicles passing a common point of a road. Spot measurement has been identified as the major problem associated with headway data collection as the approach does not consider the variation of the headways along the road segment. It is therefore, essential to develop other techniques for estimating headway along road section as opposed the current practice of spot measurement and deemed applicable for longer segment. This paper presents a new approach for measuring time headway based on space observation using test vehicle method. Field data on time headways were collected on two-lane highways using both spot and space observations and the results compared. Statistical analysis using t-test indicates that the two data sets do not differ significantly

Determination of gap acceptance at priority intersections

Vehicles from minor approach at a stop-controlled intersection will wait for an appropriate gap to exist in the conflicting traffic stream before performing the merging or crossing manoeuvres at the intersection. In practice, driver's gap acceptance behaviour is one of the important aspects considered in the design and analysis of stop-controlled intersections. This paper describes the result of a study carried out to determine the drivers' gap acceptance at stop-controlled intersections where the major approach vehicles have priority over the minor road drivers. The data were collected at two stop-controlled intersections in an urban area using a video camera recording technique and gap data was analysed using the Maximum Likelihood method. The result of the study indicates that the gap acceptance for the drivers making the left-turn from minor road into the major was in the range of 6.00 to 10.00 seconds. The gap acceptance for the drivers making a right-turn from minor road into the major was in the range of 10.00 to 15.00 seconds. The result also shows that the gap acceptance values decrease when the volume of the major stream traffic increases

Estimation of distance headway on two-lane highways using video recording technique

Distance headway is the physical separation, in meters, between any pair of successive vehicles in a traffic lane measured from same common feature of the subject vehicles; either rear-to-rear or front-to-front. It is a significant microscopic traffic flow characteristics parameter used in various traffic engineering applications such as level of service, highway capacity analysis, traffic safety and microscopic traffic simulation. Its values are also essential in evaluation of congestion level and overtaking manoeuvre related problems. Distance headway, being spatial parameter is difficult to measure directly in the field. However, it is usually estimated from other parameters; particularly, traffic density, which is also difficult to measure directly but estimated from other parameters based on spot observation. Estimates of distance headways from such approaches may not be real representation of desired values, especially for situations where the parameter is to be evaluated at intervals over a roadway segment. This paper presents a novel approach for direct field measurement of distance headway on two-lane highways using video recording instrumented vehicle. Data for the study were collected from six segments of two-lane highways from Johor, Malaysia. Findings form the study demonstrate that the approach reported herein can be used to measure distance headway directly in the field as against the existing practice of estimating it from other variables based on spot observation despite the fact that it is a spatial parameter

The use of venom and venom-derived products in medicine and cosmetics: the ethical issues from Islamic perspective

Venom is a mixture of biologically active toxins that affect normal physiological functions. With the advance in technology, the complexity and functions of venom and its toxins are slowly being revealed. It has become important source for therapeutic, diagnostic and cosmetic agents. However, there is concern among the Muslim community pertaining to halal and safety issues on the venom and venom-derived product usage. There are few studies that discuss the Islamic views in the usage of venom and venom-based product in medicine and cosmetic applications. There is a need for Muslim scientists and scholars to seriously identify the potential ethical and safety issues in the usage of venom and venom-derived products in view of the widespread application in medicine and cosmetic, which subsequently forming the basis for relevant and reliable shariah ruling. This is an attempt to review the relevant articles based on the following keywords: venom and Islamic ruling, venom-based product, venom and medicine, venom and cosmetic, antivenom, venom toxin, snake poison and venom diagnostics. It will also attempt to clarify and elaborate the implication of the “halal” status for venom-based product. Finaly the current available shariah rulings on the usage of venom and venom-based product both in medical and cosmetic area and the related principle of fiqh involved will be analyzed. The findings from this review, particularly the current available ruling will allow various parties to be well informed on the current ruling and related issues on the usage of this products

Principle of autonomy in letter of credit (LC) - An overview from legal and Shariah perspective

The issuance of letter of credit (LC) as a method of payment in international trade carried by itself its distinctive feature that is independent from the underlying sales contract entered into between seller and buyer. Evidently, payment for the goods will be made upon compliance of documents instead of compliance of the goods traded. Disputes between trading parties concerning the goods in the underlying contracts are to be addressed using a different cause of action which should not compromise the LC operations and undertaking of the bank to honour payment. Based on this unique characteristic, this paper aims to explain the meaning of principle of autonomy, its nature and background. It highlights the significance of principle of autonomy in LC transaction. Furthermore, it discusses the legal framework of principle of autonomy where to a certain extent, comparisons between relevant articles in the UCP 500 and 600 are highlighted. Next, discussion focuses on relevant case-law where the principle of autonomy was significantly prevailed in LC transaction. Last but not least, it addresses the issue of Shariah compliance in the application of this principle in LC