The satisfaction of Takaful customer towards the services provided by the Takaful operators / Muhammad Ekhsan Mohamed Eusop

The research of the “Customer Satisfaction Towards the Service provided by Takaful Operators” was conducted. Organization cannot exist without customer. As such the customer must be the central focus of the organization. This research will determine whether the customer are satisfied with the service provided by Takaful operators. This is because nowadays there are a rapid growth of Takaful operators. In this study the researcher collects the information from primary and secondary data by interview from the Takaful staff in Takaful operators company. Researcher also makes observation from website and questionnaire from customer. Researcher used journal, article and text book as secondary data. This study will help the Takaful operators to identify their weakness in order to archive the high level of satisfaction towards the service provided by them. This study utilized questionnaire as the instrument for collecting data. Questionnaires have been distributed to 100 respondent and our respondent are from public that have Takaful policies. In conclusion the most important service provided by Takaful operators can be identifying. This is important because it will improve the productivity, service quality and maximized profit. From the analysis, researcher have identify the most factor that influence the customer satisfaction and the respondent profile

Carbon stock and sequestration valuation in a mixed dipterocarp forest of Malaysia

Forest degradation and deforestation are some of the major global concerns as they can reduce the forest carbon stock and sequestration capacity. However, the carbon stock and sequestration potential in a mixed dipterocarp tropical forest remains unclear due to a lack of information. This study was carried out on the carbon stock and estimated its economic value to justify its conservation. Six plots were established in the Endau Rompin National Park, Johor and subplots measuring 50 × 20 m were established in each plot. All trees greater than 15 cm DBH (diameter at breast height) were identified and the parameters measured included tree height and diameter. The aboveground carbon (AGC) content was about 222 Mg(C) ha-1, belowground carbon (BGC) was 53 Mg (C) ha-1 and it was 6 Mg (C) ha-1 for other components. In total, the carbon stock amounted to 281 Mg (C) ha-1. On the other hand, the total CO2 sequestrated in the mixed dipterocarp forest amounted to 1,040 t CO2 ha-1. The carbon value was estimated at RM32,240 t CO2 ha-1 or $7,280 t CO2 ha-1. Therefore, the study found that the dipterocarp forest should be preserved to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions

Estimation of aboveground biomass in mangrove forests using vegetation indices from SPOT-5 image

Mangrove forests play a pivotal role in climate change mitigation through biomass and carbon storage. Due to rising concern towards global climate change and carbon sequestration, a practical method to estimate the forest biomass and carbon stocks is necessary. Therefore, this study attempted to quantify aboveground biomass (AGB) within the mangrove ecosystem in Malaysia. A total of 150 sample plots at Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve were established in 2014. This study estimated and mapped the AGB based on Systeme Probatoire d’Observation de la Terre 5 (SPOT-5) satellite image. Four types of vegetation index were examined in this study. Simple and multilinear regression methods were employed which correlated field data with the derived vegetation indices for the estimation of AGB in the entire study area. Results demonstrated that the multilinear regression method improved the accuracy of estimation. Estimated AGB ranged between 33.65 and 437.46 Mg ha−1 with an average of 133.97 Mg ha−1. Total AGB for the entire study area was approximately 1.30 million Mg. Error of estimation largely occurred when AGB exceeded 300 Mg ha−1. The study showed that multilinear technique was reliable for the estimation of AGB in mangrove forests based on the SPOT-5 image

Estimation of aboveground biomass and carbon stocks in Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve using allometry model and remote sensing technique

Among other forest types, mangrove forest is one of the most important ecosystems. Being able to act as a “sponge” for carbon pools is one of the biological services provided by mangrove forest. Tree biomass estimates and analyses are essential for carbon accounting and other feasibility studies including bioenergy. Mangrove plays an important role in ecosystems which could mitigate the climate change through biomass and carbon storage. Due to concerns on global climate change and carbon sequestration a reasonable method for estimating tree biomass and carbon stocks are highly demanded. Thus, this study was design to estimate the aboveground biomass (AGB) of mangrove trees using allometry model and remote sensing technique. A total of 150 plots from 17 compartments were sampled in 2014. Based on remote sensing technique, SPOT-5 data were used to estimate and mapping aboveground biomass and carbon stocks. Four types of vegetation indices (VI’s) were selected and tested in this study. The estimation of AGB was further refined using integration analysis from direct method data. To achieve the objective of this study, optical image and sampling data had been processed and analysed, and validated by using regression model. By using non-destructive method and allometry model, the results shown that average AGB per plot was about 168.93 ton ha-1. The maximum value was 462.40 ton ha-1 and the minimum was 24.35 ton ha-1 respectively. While average value of carbon storage was 84.47 tonC ha-1. Then, exponential regression model had performed to estimate the AGB along with optical image. The findings demonstrate a good relationship between measured AGB and selected vegetation indices (NDVI and GEMI-NDVI). The others two like SAVI and GNDVI had proved weak relationship with measured AGB. However, the results indicate that there were slightly increase for about 3% with the using multi-exponential regression analysis. Study had further refined by using multi-exponential of integration method from incorporating both predicted NDVI and GEMI-NDVI with coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.74) which had proved that the increment of 1% compared with multi-exponential of direct method and the overall result for RMS error was 85.24 ton ha-1. This shows that the average estimation of AGB was 130.36 ton ha-1. Therefore, total amount of AGB for the whole study area in Kuala Sepetang (South) (9,884 ha) approximately of 1.3 million tonnes. The amount of AGB was 1.80% slightly overestimated compared with previous study by using destructive sampling. Thus, the studies had suggested that the non-destructive sampling by using common allometric equation is still effective and reasonable to be used for the estimation on AGB in mangroves forest. The correlation and regression analysis were done separately between AGB and vegetation indices by using direct method and integration method. Results had shown that the multi-exponential integration method is highly in accuracy and strongly correlated with the field data among the others correlation. In conclusion, the study indicates that the common allometric equation for calculating AGB was applicable for all mangrove species instead of species-specific equation. With the using of remote sensing technique and multi-exponential integration analysis, the estimated biomass and carbon stocks were slightly increased for about 1%. The regression model developed may be useful for estimating the AGB of areas that are not reachable and in low cost. The study using satellite imagery data was an attempt to improve the estimates by integration method as a final outcome for better conversion of biomass to carbon stock content

La mémoire prospective chez les patients cérébolésés (analyse de la nature des déficits)

La mémoire prospective (MP) est la capacité à se rappeler d'actions à réaliser dans le futur. Les patients cérébrolésés présentent des difficultés en MP car cela implique la mémoire épisodique (ME) et les fonctions executives. L'objectif de cette thèse est de déterminer la nature de leurs difficultés. Une tâche de MP fut proposée à des patients traumatisés crâniens, des patients avec maladie d'Alzheimer et des patients avec résection temporale unilatérale. Nos résultats montrent que tous ont des difficultés pour encoder, réaliser et rappeler les actions, surtout les patients avec une ME assez altérée, d'où un échec de l'apprentissage associatif entre l'action et son indice de récupération. Nos résultats montrent qu'il est possible de distinguer des nuances dans les profils de performances et d'améliorer ces performances en intervenant sur la composante épisodique de la tâche. Notre discussion aborde les processus cognitifs impliqués et les modèles de récupération des intentions.Prospective memory (PM) involves remembering to perform an intended action in the future. Patients with cerebral lesions show impaired performance in PM tasks probably because of episodic memory and executive functions implication. This research was aimed at analyzing the nature of their deficits. We proposed a PM task to patients with traumatic brain injury, patients with Alzheimer disease and patients with unilateral temporal-lobe resection. All patients were impaired in encoding, performing and recalling the action, moreover, the patients who presented the most important episodic memory. Nevertheless, our results suggest that it is possible to distinguish different profiles of performance between patients. Our results also show that it is possible to improve patients' performance when intervening on the task's episodic component. The nature of cognitive processes involved in PM tasks, and the models of intentions retrieval are discussed in the light of our results.BOULOGNE-BU Psych. Henri Pieron (920125201) / SudocSudocFranceF

Estimating aboveground biomass and carbon stocks of mangrove forests in Kuala Sepetang, Perak

Tree biomass estimates and analyses are essential for carbon accounting and other feasibility studies including bioenergy. Forest including mangrove trees play an important role in ecosystems which could be addressing climate change and mitigation through biomass and carbon storage. A reasonable method for estimating tree biomass and carbon stocks are increasingly important due to concerns on global climate change and carbon sequestration. This study aims to estimate the aboveground biomass (AGB) of a mangrove trees in Kuala Sepetang using allometric model. A total of 16 compartments of mangrove were used to sample a 150 plots. Biomass and carbon stock by each plot and compartment were estimated. It was found that the average AGB for all sample plots were 168.93 t ha-1. The maximum value was 462.40 t ha-1 while the minimum value was 24.35 t ha-1 and a total AGB of the study plots was about 2,533.98 tonnes. The total value for carbon stock in 150 plots was 12,669.90 tC ha-1 while the average was 84.47 tC ha-1. The estimation of ABG was 1.8% more when compared to previous study by using destructive method. Thus, the allometric method is practical to estimate AGB. The advantage of the allometric method is the operation is simple at low cost. This method also could be done in a short of time and most accurate in forest plantations where trees are relatively uniform

Carbon stock and sequestration valuation in a mixed dipterocarp forest of Malaysia

Forest degradation and deforestation are some of the major global concerns as they can reduce the forest carbon stock and sequestration capacity. However, the carbon stock and sequestration potential in a mixed dipterocarp tropical forest remains unclear due to a lack of information. This study was carried out on the carbon stock and estimated its economic value to justify its conservation. Six plots were established in the Endau Rompin National Park, Johor and subplots measuring 50 × 20 m were established in each plot. All trees greater than 15 cm DBH (diameter at breast height) were identified and the parameters measured included tree height and diameter. The aboveground carbon (AGC) content was about 222 Mg(C) ha-1, belowground carbon (BGC) was 53 Mg (C) ha-1 and it was 6 Mg (C) ha-1 for other components. In total, the carbon stock amounted to 281 Mg (C) ha-1. On the other hand, the total CO2 sequestrated in the mixed dipterocarp forest amounted to 1,040 t CO2 ha-1. The carbon value was estimated at RM32,240 t CO2 ha-1 or $7,280 t CO2 ha-1. Therefore, the study found that the dipterocarp forest should be preserved to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions