Determinants of information technology adoption among Malaysian farm-based enterprises

Information technologies (ITs) have been employed in various fields of human endeavour especially to engender socio-economic development. One key sub-sector in which the adoption of ITs is increasingly becoming critical in Malaysia is the farm-based (agri-based) enterprises. However, previous studies have suggested that a number of factors influences the adoption of ICT by enterprises, especially small and medium firms. This study was prompted by the need to determine the factors that influence the adoption of IT among farm-based enterprises. A pre-test study was conducted with 50 IT-using entrepreneurs selected from five farm-based firms that were selected using systematic random sampling from a population of 500 farm-based entrepreneurs (selected from 50 farm-based firms) in Selangor, Malaysia. The study applied modified Entrepreneurial Event Model (EEM) theory with System Support and Readiness and Perceived Benefits as independent variables, while IT Adoption was the dependent variable. The data was collected using a structured questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics and factor analyses. The findings revealed that System support and readiness and Perceived benefits are the critical factors that determine IT adoption and that most of the enterprises (M = 3.81, SD = 1.00) adopted basic entrepreneurial ITs while a number of them (M = 3.68, SD = 1.23) adopted advanced entrepreneurial ITs. The limitations of the study include the size of the sample. Recommendations for effective application of IT into practical usage for farm-based enterprises development were included

Perception of the headmaster towards the implementation of the policy: english for teaching mathematics and science

The main purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of selected primary school headmasters regarding the implementation of English Teaching for Mathematics and Science (ETeMS). The study was conducted on seventy nine selected primary schools in Malaysia. The study employed the quantitative method used a set of questionnaire and in-depth survey questions. Statistical analysis included descriptive approach, frequency and percentage. The questionnaire was distributed by post to 79 headmasters from selected primary schools including the National Primary Schools (Sekolah Kebangsaan), National-type Primary Chinese School (Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan China), National-type Primary Tamil School (Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil), and the government-aided school of the missionary schools. Findings of the study showed that most of the headmasters supported ETeMS, but they faced some problems and challenges in the implementation of ETeMS, particularly when most of the Mathematics and Science teachers and also the students were not proficient in English

Perception of the headmaster towards the implementation of the policy: English for Teaching Mathematics and Science (ETeMS)

The main purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of selected primary school headmasters regarding the implementation of English Teaching for Mathematics and Science (ETeMS). The study was conducted on seventy nine selected primary schools in Malaysia. The study employed the quantitative method used a set of questionnaire and in-depth survey questions. Statistical analysis included descriptive approach, frequency and percentage. The questionnaire was distributed by post to 79 headmasters from selected primary schools including the National Primary Schools (Sekolah Kebangsaan), National-type Primary Chinese School (Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan China), National-type Primary Tamil School (Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil), and the government-aided school of the missionary schools. Findings of the study showed that most of the headmasters supported ETeMS, but they faced some problems and challenges in the implementation of ETeMS, particularly when most of the Mathematics and Science teachers and also the students were not proficient in English

Regionalization and harmonization in TVET

A transversal skill is one of the skills needed in every type of workplace setting. There is limited information about the perceptions of which transferable skills are needed in the workplace. The objective of this study is to explore the transferable skills among students and lecturers in TVET higher learning institutions in Indonesia and Malaysia. In the present study, transferable skills consist of communication skills, collaboration skills, problem-solving skills, entrepreneurship, and learning to learn skills. A qualitative research was conducted using survey. The five Likert scale questionnaire was distributed to lecturers and students from selected Malaysian and Indonesian universities who have bachelor program in engineering. Based on the analysis outcomes, it is clearly shown that Malaysian university engineering students yielded significantly higher scores on the perceptions of transferable skill acquisition in all measured components compared to their counterparts in Indonesia. Similar patterns of data distribution have been observed in Malaysian and Indonesian engineering students. Based on the lecturers’ perception, Malaysian and Indonesian Engineering Lecturers have comparable perceptions in the aspects of problem solving skills and entrepreneurship skills. In contrast, Malaysian university engineering lecturers gained significantly higher scores on the perception of communication skill, collaboration skill, and learning to learn skill compared to the Indonesian lecturers. The results indicate the need to increase transferable skills of both lecturers and students

Automatic generation of android SQLite database components

Mobile applications (apps) are becoming ubiquitous and at the same time getting more complex to develop. Specific development tools and techniques are always essential to facilitate the development of reliable and cost effective mobile apps. However, a large fraction of Android app developers are known to be novice and come from non-computing background. To assist developers, this paper addresses the problem of automatic generation of Android database components, and presents a technique for creating SQLite database and APIs. The technique is based on a tool named Android SQLite Creator (ASQLC) that can automatically generate Android SQLite database as well as the API classes that perform read/write operation on that database. To evaluate the tool, a preliminary experiment was conducted by junior computer science students in building a small size Android database. This preliminary evaluation shows that our tool can be usable and promising particularly for novice developers

Cross match-CHMM fusion for speaker adaptation of voice biometric

The most significant factor affecting automatic voice biometric performance is the variation in the signal characteristics, due to speaker-based variability, conversation-based variability and technology variability. These variations give great challenge in accurately modeling and verifying a speaker. To solve this variability effects, the cross match (CM) technique is proposed to provide a speaker model that can adapt to variability over periods of time. Using limited amount of enrollment utterances, a client barcode is generated and can be updated by cross matching the client barcode with new data. Furthermore, CM adds the dimension of multimodality at the fusion-level when the similarity score from CM can be fused with the score from the default speaker modeling. The scores need to be normalized before the fusion takes place. By fusing the CM with continuous Hidden Markov Model (CHMM), the new adapted model gave significant improvement in identification and verification task, where the equal error rate (EER) decreased from 6.51% to 1.23% in speaker identification and from 5.87% to 1.04% in speaker verification. EER also decreased over time (across five sessions) when the CM is applied. The best combination of normalization and fusion technique methods is piecewise-linear method and weighted sum

Autocorrelated process control: Geometric Brownian Motion approach versus Box-Jenkins approach

Existing of autocorrelation will bring a significant effect on the performance and accuracy of process control if the problem does not handle carefully. When dealing with autocorrelated process, Box-Jenkins method will be preferred because of the popularity. However, the computation of Box-Jenkins method is too complicated and challenging which cause of time-consuming. Therefore, an alternative method which known as Geometric Brownian Motion (GBM) is introduced to monitor the autocorrelated process. One real case of furnace temperature data is conducted to compare the performance of Box-Jenkins and GBM methods in monitoring autocorrelation process. Both methods give the same results in terms of model accuracy and monitoring process control. Yet, GBM is superior compared to Box-Jenkins method due to its simplicity and practically with shorter computational time

Color Thresholding Techniques Performance for Night Vision Surveillance Using Thermal Imaging

Visible surveillance is commonly an active research worldwide. The need of surveillance allows thermal imaging to participate in this study activity. The drawback of visible surveillance for night monitoring is overcome by the technology of the thermal imaging. To achieve the goal of the surveillance system , the works on detection must be very efficient to do the detection Throughout this research , we developed an algorithm involving thresholding technique for subject detection using thermal image to find the for night surveillance system

DISTRIBUTION AND DIVERSITY OF FUSARIUM SPECIES ASSOCIATED WITH GRASSES IN TEN STATES THROUGHOUT PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

Fusarium  is one of   the  important genera associated with grasses as saprophytes, endophytes and  pathogens. A  study was  carried  out  on  distribution  and  diversity  of  Fusarium  species associated  with  two  groups  of   grasses  in  10  states  throughout  Peninsular  Malaysia  i.e. agricultural  grasses  (Oryza  sativa  and  Saccharum  officinarum)  and  non-agricultural  grasses (Axonopus compressus, Centhotheca lappacea, Chloris barbata, Crysopogon aciculatus, Cyanadon dactylon, Dactyloctenium  aegyptium, Digitaria  ciliaris,  Echinochloa  colona,  Eleusine  indica,  Eragrostis  amabilis, Eragrostis malayana, Eragrostis uniloides, Ischaemum magnum, Panicum brevifolium, Panicum millaneum, Panicum repens, Paspalum  commersonii, Paspalum  conjugatum, Paspalum orbiculare, Pennisetum purpureum, Sacciolepis  indica, Sporobolus diander and Sporobolus  indicus). A  total of  474  isolates were single-spored and  identified by morphological characteristics. F.  semitectum was  frequently  isolated (23.6%), followed by F. sacchari and F. fujikuroi with 15.4% and 14.6%, respectively. The other nine species were F. solani (10.3%), F. proliferatum (8.9%), F. oxysporum (7.4%), F. subglutinans (6.5%), F.  equiseti  (5.5%), F.  verticillioides  (3.4%), F.  compactum  (2.5%), F.  chlamydosporum  (1.1%) and F. longipes (0.8%). Based on the Shannon-Weiner Index, F. solani was the highest (H' = 2.62) isolated from grasses. Species of  Fusarium from O. sativa were widely diverse with 11 species, followed by non-agricultural grasses with nine species and S. officinarum with only six species. This  is  the  first  report on diversity of  Fusarium associated with grasses  in Malaysia.Key words: Oryza  sativa,  Saccharum  officinarum,  non-agricultural  grass,  Fusarium  species, diversity  and Graminea

The relationship between ICT adoption and business performance in Malaysia and Indonesia

This paper reviews the relationship of information communication technology adoption (ICT) and Business Performance (BP) from women entrepreneur perspective in Malaysia and Indonesia. The aim of this paper is to identify the dimension of ICT adoption and BP to develop a conceptual framework for further study about the relationship to identify those that can determine women entrepreneur success. To achieve this objective, literature review is conducted by extend number of literature in ICT, BP, and women entrepreneur. Related studies are review and analyze by using literature table. The finding of this paper reveals a proposed conceptual framework and hypothesis that gain support from literature. The significant of this study is expected to provide guideline for women entrepreneurs in Malaysia and Indonesia who wish to adopt ICT in their business and help them to evaluate the relationship with BP. This study can assist women entrepreneurs in considering the adoption of Electronic commerce (EC) and Mobile commerce (MC) to embark themselves in technology and innovation. Further efforts are to test this conceptual framework and hypothesis by using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to develop a research model