Student profile : application on trend and academic performance by region

The recognition of the student profile provides strategic information in two fold : able to identify the enrolment trend among learners and also can extrapolate their academic performance by region. The significant of this study is to identify natural segmentation of our OUM learners by region for the Faculty of Business and Management by mean of cross-sectional data for the year 2011. Student data will be limited to social economic background, location, work place, position held and latest qualification. Several researches indicate that, family background and occupation were among important elements of success in college (Brown, 1999). Family attitudes about education and acquiring college degree influence success in college (Leppel, Karen, Williams, and Waldauer, 2001). There was a strong correlation between CGPA and career maturity among university students (Zanariah, Ishak and Nazihah, 2012). Implications from this study should be able to unfold several issues; success factors among OUM learners, concentration of learners by region and influence of location and occupation on academic performance. (Abstract by authors

Corporate social responsibility and market orientation : an integrated approach towards organizational performance

Takaful operators in countries dominated by Muslim are still experiencing low penetration rate. New emerging customer segments have higher expectation where Takaful operators need more innovative approaches in acquiring and retaining customers. Moreover, Takaful companies need to apply marketing, societal and entrepreneurial concept to make the industry more competitive. Although many Islamic banking and Takaful studies have been conducted, empirical Takaful research is still limited. Therefore, the primary focus of this study is to empirically investigate the influence of market orientation and corporate social responsibility (CSR) towards Takaful agencies’ organizational performance in Malaysia. The first phase of the study involved refinement of CSR measurement items by performing exploratory factor analysis (EFA), where a new dimension was identified. The second phase of study was to test the hypotheses by employing all items adopted from past studies including the refined CSR measures. PLS-SEM analysis involving a two-step approach on 211 valid data shows co-adoption of CSR and market orientation influences organizational performance

Negative and positive impact of internet addiction on young adults: empericial study in Malaysia

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore and identify the impact of Internet addictions on young adults in Malaysia. There are six impacts identified, of which five are negative impacts and one is a positive impact. Design/methodology/approach: This study comprised a sample of 200 young adults in Malaysia. A cross-sectional research design was used to examine the impact of Internet addiction. Data were gathered based on personal administered questionnaires. Findings: Mann-Whitney U test results show that the adults those are using Internet excessively were having some problems such as interpersonal problem, behavioural problem, physical problem, psychological problem, and work problem in their daily life. The young adults believed that the Internet usage can help them to improve their skills for doing their work better. This study also reveals that males were likely having working problems, psychological problems, behavioural problems and interpersonal problems than female. On the other hand, females were having their physical problems while using Internet excessively. Research limitations/implications: The data for this study are collected by self-administered questionnaires, a method with well-known shortcomings. Secondly, the sample size itself is relatively small. This study can be strengthened by increasing the sample size and including participants in other geographical areas in Malaysia. Practical implications: The present study reveals five negative impacts i.e. interpersonal problem, behavioural problem, physical problem, psychological problem, and work problem for excessive Internet usage. Government agencies like Health department of Malaysia and other government agencies should create better awareness of the problem having while using Internet. It can be done by having seminars or introduction sessions at all universities in Malaysia. Originality/value: The findings are original and unique and are based on the literature from different western researches. The results are based on a sample of young adults in Malaysia. The research findings are useful to academics and heavy Internet users who are hooked with Internet to their everyday lifePeer Reviewe

Guidelines from an expert panel for the management of diabetic macular edema in the Malaysian population

AIM: To derive a Malaysia guideline and consensus as part of the Malaysia Retina Group's efforts for diagnosis, treatment, and best practices of diabetic macular edema (DME). The experts' panel suggests that the treatment algorithm to be divided into groups according to involvement the central macula. The purpose of DME therapy is to improve edema and achieve the best visual results with the least amount of treatment load. METHODS: On two different occasions, a panel of 14 retinal specialists from Malaysia, together with an external expert, responded to a questionnaire on management of DME. A consensus was sought by voting after compiling, analyzing and discussion on first-phase replies on the round table discussion. A recommendation was deemed to have attained consensus when 12 out of the 14 panellists (85%) agreed with it. RESULTS: The terms target response, adequate response, nonresponse, and inadequate response were developed when the DME patients' treatment responses were first characterized. The panelists reached agreement on a number of DME treatment-related issues, including the need to classify patients prior to treatment, first-line treatment options, the right time to switch between treatment modalities, and side effects associated with steroids. From this agreement, recommendations were derived and a treatment algorithm was created. CONCLUSION: A detail and comprehensive treatment algorithm by Malaysia Retina Group for the Malaysian population provides guidance for treatment allocation of patients with DME

Buku panduan penggunaan dan pengisian buku rekod kesihatan ibu hamil

The usage of clinic based Antenatal Record Book in Malaysia was started in 1st June 1993. It supposedly contains the complete information on antenatal care received by a pregnant woman. This was later changed to home based record in 1997. Comprehensive review of this Antenatal Record Book were made in 2012 and again in 2019 in conjunction with the ever dynamic health technologies

The effect of customer-brand relationship investments on customer engagement: an imperative for sustained competitiveness

Using the extended Resource Investment Model, this study investigated the effect of customerbrand investments in building a strong customer engagement. Data were collected from a sample of 200 mobile phone customers using self-administered questionnaire, and analyzed through the utilization of multiple linear regressions analysis. The findings revealed that investments in customer and brand relationship significantly induce the customer to be engaged to a brand. Besides, the findings indicated that customer investment partially mediates the relationship between perceived brand investment and customer engagement. This study is one of the first to test the applicability of resource investment model in the context of customer-brand relationship. It concentrated on customers’ perception of their relationships with mobile phone brand in the Malaysia’s context. Accordingly, this study provides useful insight for companies in developing a strong customer-brand relationship; and consequently to sustain their competitiveness

Small-scale households renewable energy usage intention: Theoretical development and empirical settings

DCCP (Datagram Congestion Control Protocol) is a transport layer protocol that provides congestion control for unreliable data transmission. The congestion control mechanism embedded in DCCP adjusts the packet sending rate according to network condition. However, DCCP does not discriminate congestion losses and wireless link errors resulted from fading and thus it leads to unnecessary rate adjustment. In this paper, we proposed a mechanism to enhance bandwidth utilization of DCCP over wireless network. We employed a cross-layer loss discrimination scheme to distinguish congestion loss and fading loss. The cross-layer based mechanism detects frame loss in the data link layer in real-time to infer the actual fading loss rate. Thereafter, the fading loss can be excluded from the packet loss observed in the transport layer. Once the accurate congestion loss rate is calculated, the sender can make appropriate adjustment on the transmission rate that reflects the current congestion state along the transmitting path using the DCCP rate control procedure. Simulation results show that DCCP with our proposed CCID 3 rate control scheme can discriminate fading loss and achieve from 4.7% to 15.5% improvement on transmission throughput when the fading loss rate varies from 5% to 15% in wireless network

Prevalence of Antibiotic-Resistant Pathogenic Bacteria and Level of Antibiotic Residues in Hospital Effluents in Selangor, Malaysia: Protocol for a Cross-sectional Study

BackgroundAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) has emerged as a major global public health challenge due to the overuse and misuse of antibiotics for humans and animals. Hospitals are among the major users of antibiotics, thereby having a large contribution to AMR. ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria and the level of antibiotic residues in the hospital effluents in Selangor, Malaysia. MethodsA cross-sectional study will be performed in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Tertiary hospitals will be identified based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The methods are divided into three phases: sample collection, microbiological analysis, and chemical analysis. Microbiological analyses will include the isolation of bacteria from hospital effluents by culturing on selective media. Antibiotic sensitivity testing will be performed on the isolated bacteria against ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, meropenem, vancomycin, colistin, and piperacillin/tazobactam. The identification of bacteria will be confirmed using 16S RNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and multiplex PCR will be performed to detect resistance genes (ermB, mecA, blaNDM-L, blaCTX-M, blaOXA-48, blaSHV, VanA, VanB, VanC1, mcr-1, mcr-2, mcr-3, Intl1, Intl2, and qnrA). Finally, the level of antibiotic residues will be measured using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography. ResultsThe expected outcomes will be the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter (ESKAPE) bacterial species from the hospital effluents, the occurrence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) from the isolated ESKAPE bacteria, and the level of antibiotic residues that may be detected from the effluent. Sampling has been conducted in three hospitals. Data analysis from one hospital showed that as of July 2022, 80% (8/10) of E. faecium isolates were resistant to vancomycin and 10% (1/10) were resistant to ciprofloxacin. Further analysis will be conducted to determine if the isolates harbor any ARGs and effluent samples are being analyzed to detect antibiotic residues. Sampling activities will be resumed after being suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and are scheduled to end by December 2022. ConclusionsThis study will provide the first baseline information to elucidate the current status of AMR of highly pathogenic bacteria present in hospital effluents in Malaysia. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/3902