Kesejahteraan subjektif warga tua di Malaysia: kes warga tua desa Kelantan

Purpose – Within the gerontological kepustakaane, human and social capitals have been widely assumed to enhance subjective well-being of the elderly. The objective of this study was to identify the extent to which well-being of rural elderly is being influenced by their human and social capitals. Design/Methodology/Approach – To acheive this objective, 214 people aged 60 years and above in rural Kelantan were selected. Using data from the survey,14 demographic and social variables were analysed using multiple regression analysis to determine their influence on the well-being of the elderly people. Findings – Results showed that education, work experience, housing, and social ties with spouses, friends, and neighbours are variables that have a significant influence on the subjective well-being of the elderly within the study area. Originality/Value – This study conformed that education, work experiences, housing, and social ties with spouses, friends, and neighbours are significantly important for the subjective well-being of the elderly

Kesejahteraan subjektif wargatua di Malaysia : kes masyarakat desa Kelantan

Dalam kepustakaan gerontologi, modal manusia dan modal sosial secara meluas dianggap mempunyai pengaruh yang boleh meningkatkan tahap kesejahteraan warga tua. Oleh itu, objektif kajian ini ialah untuk mengukur sejauh mana tahap kesejahteraan subjektif warga tua desa dipengaruh modal manusia dan modal sosial yang mereka miliki. Untuk mencapai tujuan ini, sejumlah 214 orang warga tua berumur 60 tahun dan lebih di kawasan desa negeri Kelantan telah dipilih sebagai sampel kajian. Data dikumpulkan menggunakan soal selidik yang telah disiapkan terlebih dahulu. Sebanyak 14 pemboleh ubah sosial dan demografi telah dianalisis menggunakan teknik analisi regresi untuk mengenal pasti pengaruh masing-masing ke atas kesejahteraan subjektif warga tua. Hasil kajian menunjukkan pendidikan, pengalaman kerja, perumahan dan hubungan sosial dengan pasangan serta kawan-kawan dan jiran tetangga merupakan pemboleh ubah yang mempunyai pengaruh yang signifikan ke atas kesejahteraan subjektif warga tua di kawasan kajian. Selain itu, hasil kajian juga mengesahkan bahawa pendidikan, pengalaman kerja, perumahan serta hubungan sosial dengan pasangan dan kawan-kawan serta jiran tetangga adalah penting untuk kesejahteraan subjektif warga tua. Gerontologi;warga tua; kesejahteraan; kesejahteraan subjektif

Kesejahteraan Subjektif Warga Tua di Malaysia: Kes Warga Tua Desa Kelantan

Dalam kepustakaan gerontologi, modal manusia dan modal sosial secara meluas dianggap mempunyai pengaruh yang boleh meningkatkan tahap kesejahteraan warga tua. Oleh itu, objektif kajian ini ialah untuk mengukur sejauh mana tahap kesejahteraan subjektif warga tua desa dipengaruh modal manusia dan modal sosial yang mereka miliki. Untuk mencapai tujuan ini, sejumlah 214 orang warga tua berumur 60 tahun dan lebih di kawasan desa negeri Kelantan telah dipilih sebagai sampel kajian. Data dikumpulkan menggunakan soal selidik yang telah disiapkan terlebih dahulu. Sebanyak 14 pemboleh ubah sosial dan demografi telah dianalisis menggunakan teknik analisi regresi untuk mengenal pasti pengaruh masing-masing ke atas kesejahteraan subjektif warga tua. Hasil kajian menunjukkan pendidikan, pengalaman kerja, perumahan dan hubungan sosial dengan pasangan serta kawan-kawan dan jiran tetangga merupakan pemboleh ubah yang mempunyai pengaruh yang signifikan ke atas kesejahteraan subjektif warga tua di kawasan kajian. Selain itu, hasil kajian juga mengesahkan bahawa pendidikan, pengalaman kerja, perumahan serta hubungan sosial dengan pasangan dan kawan-kawan serta jiran tetangga adalah penting untuk kesejahteraan subjektif warga tua. Gerontologi; warga tua; kesejahteraan; kesejahteraan subjektif.

Role of sensory and cognitive conspicuity in the prevention of collisions between motorcycles and trucks at T-intersections

Motorcyclists are particularly vulnerable to injury in crashes with heavy vehicles due to substantial differences in vehicle mass, the degree of protection and speed. There is a considerable difference in height between motorcycles and trucks; motorcycles are viewed by truck drivers from downward angles, and shorter distances between them mean steeper downward angles. Hence, we anticipated that the effects of motorcycle conspicuity treatments would be different for truck drivers. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the effects of motorcycle conspicuity treatments on the identification and detection of motorcycles by truck drivers. Two complementary experiments were performed; the first experiment assessed the impact of motorcycle sensory conspicuity on the ability of un-alerted truck drivers to detect motorcycles, and the second experiment assessed the motorcycle cognitive conspicuity to alerted truck drivers. The sensory conspicuity was measured in terms of motorcycle detection rates by un-alerted truck drivers when they were not anticipating a motorcycle within a realistic driving scene, while the cognitive conspicuity was determined by the time taken by alerted truck drivers to actively search for a motorcycle. In the first experiment, the participants were presented with 10 pictures and were instructed to report the kinds of vehicles that were presented in the pictures. Each picture was shown to the participants for 600 ms. In the second experiment, the participants were presented with the same set of pictures and were instructed to respond by clicking the right button on a mouse as soon as they detected a motorcycle in the picture. The results indicate that the motorcycle detection rate increases, and the response time to search for a motorcycle decreases, as the distance between the targeted motorcycle and the viewer decreases. This is true regardless of the type of conspicuity treatment used. The use of daytime running headlights (DRH) was found to increase the detection rate and the identification of a motorcycle by a truck driver at a farther distance, but effect deteriorates as the distance decreases. The results show that the detection rate and the identification of a motorcyclist wearing a black helmet with a reflective sticker increases as the distance between the motorcycle and the truck decreases. We also found that a motorcyclist wearing a white helmet and a white outfit is more identifiable and detectable at both shorter and longer distances. In conclusion, although this study provides evidence that the use of appropriate conspicuity treatments enhances motorcycle conspicuity to truck drivers, we suggest that more attention should be paid to the effect of background environment on motorcycle conspicuity

Peminggiran dan kemunduran: satu pemerhatian ke atas pekebun kecil kelapa (PKK) di Malaysia.

Pekebun kecil kelapa di Malaysia umumnya merupakan golongan yang terpinggir dan mundur jika dibandingkan terutamanya dengan pengusaha tanah kecil yang lain seperti penanam padi dan pekebun kecil kelapa sawit atau getah, apa lagi mereka yang terlibat dalam perkebunan berancang. Kertas ini bertujuan menghuraikan pemerhatian demikian dengan menjelaskan kedudukan terpinggir dan mundur yang pekebun kecil kelapa alami. Kertas ini juga cuba mengaitkan faktor-faktor yang ada hubungannya dengan dasar kerajaan serta keadaan kebun dan diri pekebun sendiri dengan keterpinggiran dan kemunduran mereka. Telahan akan potensi pekebun kecil kelapa mengambil bahagian dalam turut memajukan sektor kebun kecil juga dikemukakan

In silico binding interactions of dehalogenase (Dehe) with various haloalkanoic acids

Synthetic haloalkanoic acid (HA) is one of the synthetics compounds that can be found as active ingredients in herbicides. These compounds are known to pollute our agriculture land due to their toxicity, thus may cause serious environmental and health problems. Biological process such as microbial dehalogenation degrades the harmful compounds and prevents their migration into groundwater source. For instance, Rhizobial Dehalogenase E (DehE) could catalyze these HA compounds and convert them into hydroxylated compounds which are less harmful to the environment. In previous study, DehE was considered to degrade many HA compounds with different Km values. However, the binding interaction of this enzyme towards many HA substrates is still unclear. In this study, docking simulation has been performed to determine the affinity of active site residues of DehE towards 15 HA compounds. Tribromoacetic acid (TBA) was identified to be the most favourable substrate for DehE which has the lowest binding energy (-6.48 Kcal/mol) compared to other haloalkanoic acids. Size of halogen and hydrogen bond numbers are the contributing factor for dehalogenase affinity towards its substrates. Besides, it was found that Trp34, Phe37 and Ser188 served as binding residues and Phe37 was mostly interacted and bound with all of the tested HA compounds. This findings provides an opportunity for rational design of haloacid dehalogenase especially to DehE

Examining the effect of visual treatments on truck drivers' time-to-arrival judgments of motorcycles at T-intersections

An automobile–motorcycle crash most commonly results when an automobile pulls out of a side road into the path of an oncoming motorcycle and violates the motorcyclist’s right-of-way. One of the reasons for this could be that motorists misjudged the motorcycle arrival time. Motorcyclists are particularly vulnerable to injury in crashes with truck due to substantial differences in vehicle mass, protection degree and speed. We investigated truck drivers’ judgments of motorcycle time-to-arrival (TTA) across a number of visual treatments. Participants watched a series of video clips captured at a T-intersection, and they were instructed to respond by clicking the computer mouse at the time they estimated the front wheels of an oncoming vehicle (motorcycle or car) to reach the T-intersection. The results showed that, at long distance between the target motorcycle and the viewer, the motorcycle with daytime running headlights (DRH) was estimated to arrive sooner than the motorcycle whose motorcyclist wore a black helmet with a reflective sticker. However, the opposite is true at a short distance. We also found that a motorcyclist wearing a white helmet and riding a motorcycle with DRH, as well as a motorcyclist wearing a white helmet and white outfit, would improve truck drivers’ judgment with respect to motorcycle TTA. Consequently, truck drivers would be less likely to pull out into a small gap in front of a motorcycle, resulting in a higher safety margin for the motorcycle