Predicting role of social support and academic stress on life satisfaction among Malaysian adolescents

This paper aimed to examine the predicting role of social support (family and friends) and academic stress on life satisfaction among adolescents in Malaysia. A total of 359 secondary school students (mean of age= 16.26; 133 male adolescents, 37.0%) in Selangor were selected with cluster sampling method. Self-administrated questionnaires with existing established measurements were used for collecting response. Prior to conducting regression analysis, Pearson correlation analysis was ran for testing the relationship between social support (family and friends), academic stress and life satisfaction. Results showed that both social support from family (r = .433, p .05) was failed to significantly related to life satisfaction. Thus, only social support from friends and family were included in regression analysis. By controlled respondents’ background, social support from friends (β = 0.382, p < 0.001) and social support from family (β = 0.297, p < 0.001) were found to be the predictors of adolescents’ life satisfaction. By interpreting the unstandardized beta values, social support from friends contributed higher predicting effect on adolescents’ life satisfaction as compared with social support from family. In order to increase life satisfaction among adolescents, intervention should focus on the social support that provided by both family members and friends

A preliminary study: Does relationship closeness with grandchildren correlate with the quality of life and physical health of Malaysian Chinese elderly?

The 13th Next-Generation Global Workshop第13回次世代グローバルワークショップテーマ: New Risks and Resilience in Asian Societies and the World 日程: 21-23 November, 2020 開催場所: ベトナム社会科学院(ハノイ)/Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences(No. 1 Lieu Giai street, Ba Dinh, Hanoi, Vietnam) ※Due to the COVID-19, the workshop will be held at ONLINE for overseas participants(not from Vietnam)/ONSITE for Vietnamese participants.This preliminary mixed-method study aimed to investigate whether grandparental childcare can contribute to elderly' quality of life and physical health. In the quantitative study, a total of 97 Chinese grandparents who are primary caregivers were recruited to examine the relations of relationship closeness, quality of life and physical health. Correlational analysis revealed that grandparent-grandchildren relationship closeness positively correlated with self-rated quality of life and physical health of the grandparents. In the qualitative interview, grandmothers (n = four Chinese grandmothers) who are primary caregivers were recruited to share their experience in taking care of grandchildren. Findings from the thematic analysis revealed that all grandmothers have a close relationship with their grandchildren. In specific, they are happy with the companionship of grandchildren even though they may feel physically tired in taking care of grandchildren. This preliminary study on skipped generation family provides insights into understanding the contribution of relationship closeness with grandchildren on the perceived quality of life and physical health of Malaysian grandparents who are the primary caregiver to their grandchildren

The impact of emotional intelligence on problem behaviour among adolescents in Malaysia

Juvenile offences are on the rise over the recent years and have led to serious societal concern in Malaysia. Thus, this study was designed to investigate the relationship of both interpersonal and intrapersonal emotional intelligence relating to problem behaviours among adolescents in Malaysia. A quantitative research design method and cross-sectional research design was selected as our main data collection method to obtain data from different age groups and demography status of populations at same period. By using multistage cluster sampling method, 600 school-going adolescents from Penang, Perak and Johor were recruited and 496 sets of questionnaires were completed. The age of the participants ranged from 13 to 17 (m = 15.07, SD = 1.08). Profile of Emotional (PEC) scale and Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were used as the instruments to assess the variables understudy. The results showed that both intrapersonal and interpersonal emotional intelligence were negatively correlated with problem behaviours. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis revealed that intrapersonal emotional intelligence is the only significant predictor in explaining adolescents’ problem behaviours. This research provides empirical support to the importance of intrapersonal emotional intelligence in discouraging adolescents from developing problem behaviours

A bibliometric analysis of emerging adulthood in the context of higher education institutions: A psychological perspectives

In recent years, there has been a rise in studies aimed at better understanding the needs and traits of emerging adults and the role that higher education institutions play in their development and success. Despite the relevance of higher education institutions to the emerging adulthood development, there has been scant work done to synthesise the literature on this topic. A bibliometric method was utilised to retrieve 2484 journal articles from Web of Science (WoS). Utilizing co-citation analysis and co-word analysis, we determined the most influential publications, mapped the knowledge structure, and predicted future trends. The results of the co-citation analysis indicate five clusters, while the co-word analysis indicates four. The results could be used as a roadmap for the future of research on emerging adults by a variety of interested parties, including policymakers, university administrators, funders, and academics

Sin1 phosphorylation impairs mTORC2 complex integrity and inhibits downstream Akt signaling to suppress tumorigenesis

The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) functions as a critical regulator of cellular growth and metabolism by forming multi-component, yet functionally distinct complexes mTORC1 and mTORC2. Although mTORC2 has been implicated in mTORC1 activation, little is known about how mTORC2 is regulated. Here we report that phosphorylation of Sin1 at T86 and T398 suppresses mTORC2 kinase activity by dissociating Sin1 from mTORC2. Importantly, Sin1 phosphorylation, triggered by S6K or Akt, in a cellular context-dependent manner, inhibits not only insulin/IGF-1-mediated, but also PDGF or EGF-induced Akt phosphorylation by mTORC2, demonstrating a negative regulation of mTORC2 independent of IRS-1 and Grb10. Lastly, a cancer patient-derived Sin1-R81T mutation impairs Sin1 phosphorylation, leading to hyper-mTORC2 activation via bypassing this negative regulation. Together, our work reveals a Sin1 phosphorylation-dependent mTORC2 regulation, providing a potential molecular mechanism by which mutations in the mTORC1/S6K/Sin1 signaling axis might cause aberrant hyper-activation of mTORC2/Akt that facilitates tumorigenesis

Challenges and recent advancements of functionalization of two-dimensional nanostructured molybdenum trioxide and dichalcogenides

Atomically-thin two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors are the thinnest functional semiconducting materials available today. Among them, both molybdenum trioxide and chalcogenides (MT&Ds) represent key components within the family of the different 2D semiconductors for various electronic, optoelectronic and electrochemical applications due to their unique electronic, optical, mechanical and electrochemical properties. However, despite great progress in research dedicated to the development and fabrication of 2D MT&Ds observed within the last decade, there are significant challenges affected their charge transport behavior, fabrication on a large scale as well as high dependence of the carrier mobility on thickness. In this article, we review the recent progress on the carrier mobility engineering of 2D MT&Ds and elaborate devised strategies dedicated to the optimization of MT&Ds properties. Specifically, the latest physical and chemical methods towards the surface functionalization and optimization of the major factors influencing the extrinsic transport at the electrode-2D semiconductor interface are discusse

Observation of the Decay B=> J/psi eta K and Search for X(3872)=> J/psi eta

We report the observation of the $B$ meson decay $B^\pm\to J/\psi \eta K^\pm$ and evidence for the decay $B^0\to J/\psi \eta K^0_S$, using {90} million $BBbar$ events collected at the \ensuremath{\Upsilon{(4S)}}\xspace resonance with the $BaBar$ detector at the PEP-II $e^+ e^-$ asymmetric-energy storage ring. We obtain branching fractions of $\cal{B}$$(B^\pm\to J/\psi \eta K^{\pm}$)=$(10.8\pm 2.3(\rm{stat.})\pm 2.4(\rm{syst.}))\times 10^{-5}$ and $\cal{B}$$(B^0\to J/\psi\eta K_{\rm{S}}^{0}$)=$(8.4\pm 2.6(\rm{stat.})\pm 2.7(\rm{syst.}))\times 10^{-5}$. We search for the new narrow mass state, the X(3872), recently reported by the Belle Collaboration, in the decay B^\pm\to X(3872)K^\pm, X(3872)\to \jpsi \eta and determine an upper limit of $\cal{B}$(B^\pm \to X(3872) K^\pm \to \jpsi \eta K^\pm) $<7.7\times 10^{-6}$ at 90% C.L.Comment: 7 pages and two figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett