Primary Response and Concern of Sabah’s Geopark Potential Economic Effects: Preliminary Study

Sabah, Malaysia is moving steps forward by announcing the gazettement of some areas as geoparks. Part of the areas include the district of Ranau, Kota Marudu and Kota Belud. Some of the areas involved if not all are under a national park program prior to this. This gazettement undoubtedly has the potential to bring economic benefit to the state. It has the potential to increase land value, stimulating economic activities especially in the services sector via tourism activities, enhancing protection for environment and as a mean to control aggressive use of land for development. On the other hand, there are some concerns of stakeholders. Issues such as potential restriction for farmers to do agriculture related activities and relocation of village among others are potential concern among communities in Ranau, Kota Marudu and Kota Belud. In this regard, in order to examine the real concerns of various stakeholders, some series of roundtable discussions and interviews have been undertaken. Based on the preliminary assessment, very small number of individuals have worry about the geopark idea. Majority look at it positively

RANCANG BANGUN JARINGAN ENTERPRISE DENGAN CENTRAL APPLICATION SYSTEM DATABASE TERDISTRIBUSI DAN MOBILE APPLICATION SERVER PADA PABRIK GULA PT. PERKEBUNAN NUSANTARA X (Persero)

In the process of sugar production, information systems software quite influential in increasing production. The software used greatly affect the decisions of each production process and control the calculation and reporting to match the real situation on the ground and reduces the possibility of fraud and human error. PT. Perkebunan Nusantara X (Persero) as the leader of production of the 11 sugar mills throughout East Java of course must always directly monitor the production process and results of each sugar factory. And if it is done manually, of course, will spend no less clear. In addition, security threats to vital corporate data is risky. Especially in the manipulation of data that could hurt the company. Background of the problems mentioned above, in this study constructed a solution in the form of Enterprise Network Application System which serves to integrate all applications Sugar Production Factory PT Perkebunan Nusantara X (s) through the Private Network and mengoptimalisai monitoring and reporting process of sugar production for rapid decision-making and accurate, and able to save the company budget in the archipelago of sugar production process improvement. Furthermore, this research will make the report of distribution process that occurs between sugar mills and PT Perkebunan Nusantara X (Persero) using a distributed database based applications using WEB, WAP and SMS gateway that aims to broaden the reach of the user's application access. Keywords: distributed database, WAP, WEB, SMS Gatewa

Savings, Investment & FDI Contribution To Malaysian Economic Growth In The Globalization Era

What are the prospects and future of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Malaysia now? Malaysia is undoubtedly a development success story. Throughout the post-independence period since 1957, Malaysia has enjoyed rapid economic growth with rising per capita income and price stability. Rising living standards, greater urbanization and access to health and education, and an improvement in the distribution of income have accompanied economic growth. Malaysian performance has been particularly remarkable after 1987 when the economy achieved above 7 per cent growth in seven consecutive years reaching virtual full employment in 1995. Malaysia now aspires to become a fully developed economy by 2020. This dramatic economic transformation has occurred against a background of massive shifts in the world economy as a result of increasing internationalization of production and trade. Foreign investment funds are returning to the market attracted by the corporate restructuring news and a belief that South East Asian stocks are generally undervalued. But FDI remains a big worry for the government and the last quarter figures cannot have helped. A recent survey by the Japanese Chamber of Trade and Industry in Malaysia claimed that the country no longer enjoyed a competitive advantage over its neighbors and that 22 per cent of Japanese companies operating in Malaysia were contemplating moving. In Penang more multinationals in the electronic sectors are planning to pull out of Malaysia in the next few months and relocate to China and Vietnam. So far these have all been in factories producing labor-intensive products. The main reason given for relocation is because of high labour costs. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Malaysian economic growth with emphasize on saving and investment in the context of globalization of the world economy. The main issues are: 1. Malaysian economic and Fiscal policy to stimulate economic growth. 2. The key policy shifts to guide the study of globalization and developmental implications to overall growth trends. 3. The role of foreign direct investment (FDI) and the implications of globalization for domestic employment and real wages, and poverty and income inequality.From our analysis we found that economic development in Malaysia can be seen as a variant of the Solow model, in which savings, investment and capital accumulation are the major agents of growth. One aspect of the fast factor accumulation in this country is the important of FDI flows as a source of technology and management skills. FDI vis a vis savings and investment may have triggered export competitiveness by improving the technology, management and marketing of export industries

A strategic decision framework for a sustainable wastewater treatment and management in the oil producing region.

The study aimed to investigate how managing the growing water demand and wastewater production by treating and reclaiming Water from the Wastewater in Delta State. Mainly to carry out a comparative feasibility study and develop a decision support system (DSS) or strategy/planning framework for a sustainable alternative for water/wastewater treatment and management in oil & gas industries, Water, wastewater industries and authorities in Delta State. Data was collected using a mixed approach. Primary data was collected using semi-structured interviews and closed-ended questionnaire survey. Descriptive analysis was applied in analysing the questionnaires, and thematic analysis was used in analysing the interviews. It was concluded that a centralised system is required to collect rainwater and wastewater, and recycle Water in Delta state for reuse, and reduce dependence on freshwater. It will be an improvement to the direct collection of wastewater from individual houses by private waste management organisations that drain the sewage systems. It was found that causes of water and wastewater problems in Delta State, Nigeria include: government regulation; financial problem; lack of sufficient land for development; pollution; high population; using potable Water for non-potable use; water shortage; poor technology; lack of people’s awareness on water, and poor maintenance. Based on this, grey water reuse, decentralised system of water reclamation and education and awareness of wastewater management were recommended to solve the water and wastewater problems found in the state. Microscale solutions such as ponds, permeable pavements, rain gardens, rainwater harvesting systems, wetlands, and green roofs were recommended. In addition to the recommendations, a strategic framework/decision support system for sustainable alternatives for oil, gas, water and wastewater industries and authorities was developed

Economics integration and cooperating in Borneo towards sustainable economic development: towards poverty eradication

Purpose: This paper discusses the challenges and prospects of economic development of Malaysia specifically Sabah within Borneo Economic Community including Brunei Darussalam and Kalimantan Indonesia. Free trade is a significant stimulus to regional production, linkages and competitiveness. Borneo region has made significant progress in that regard since the implementation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) from 1993 as well as BIMP-EAGA. The AFTA BIMP-EAGA initiative has been particularly successful in reducing tariffs and other trade rules and regulation among member countries in the trade in goods including labor mobility. However, regional free trade alone is not sufficient to release the full energies and the inherent potential of Malaysia within Borneo region. Deeper economic integration is necessary for Borneo to cope effectively with the unprecedented opportunities as well as the unprecedented challenges, on both scale and depth, unleashed by globalization. China and India have altered the global economic landscape through huge market openings and greater competition. Methodology: Meanwhile, interlinked supply networks have proliferated all over the world, among many other innovative and more efficient ways in value creation and industrial organization. Other factors are related to movements of new ideas, people and resources across national boundaries. Findings: Henceforth, Malaysia in particular and other countries located in Borneo in general has to be transformed into a stable, prosperous, and highly competitive region with equitable economic development, and reduced poverty and socio-economic disparities. As such, the economic collaboration will empower Borneo to remain a dynamic and competitive player in the regional and global supply chains. But the same process is also predicated on wide-ranging adjustments and reforms to be carried out by Governments and the business sectors, among other stakeholders in the region. Malaysia vis a vis Borneo has three key strengths in the economic arena. Malaysia endowed with abundant natural resources. Recommendations: The region also has large supplies of professionals and talented people and has the capability to adopt, adapt and advance technology. By leveraging on these strengths Borneo economic development is likely to be realized sooner than later

Economy of Kalimantan: a Snapshot

This chapter aims to give a snapshot of the economies in Kalimantan provinces. Salient factors such as sharing common border with North Kalimantan, Kalimantan as Sabah’s backdoor neighbor with huge market size of over 4 times than Sabah and the relocation of Indonesia’s capital from Jakarta to Kalimantan, have stimulated the interests of many analysts to research on the structure of Kalimantan’s economy in general

Economy of Kalimantan: a Snapshot

This chapter aims to give a snapshot of the economies in Kalimantan provinces. Salient factors such as sharing common border with North Kalimantan, Kalimantan as Sabah’s backdoor neighbor with huge market size of over 4 times than Sabah and the relocation of Indonesia’s capital from Jakarta to Kalimantan, have stimulated the interests of many analysts to research on the structure of Kalimantan’s economy in general

Antioxidant activity of Alginate Oligosaccharides (AOS) from Sargassum sp. for Improving the Cutaneous Wound Enclosure in Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Sargassum sp. classified as brown seaweed which is known as an alginophyte (alginate producer). Alginate has undergone a depolymerization process called alginate oligosaccharides (AOS) and has been shown to have antioxidant activities to increase wound tissue recovery. This study aimed to determine the antioxidant activity of Alginate oligosaccharides (AOS) and their ability to improve the cutaneous wound enclosure in Zebrafish (Danio rerio). The IC50 value was used to calculate the ability of extract to inhibit free radicals using DPPH (516 nm). Zebrafish were immersed 12 hours before the injury and shortly after injury with a two factorial design, i.e., alginate concentration and immersion time. Zebrafish were immersed for 1 hour, 3 hours, and 5 hours with serial concentration of 200 ppm, 400 ppm, and 600 ppm, respectively. Morphological observations were carried out at the the first day, fourth day, tenth day, and twenty-first-day post wounding. The results of this study showed that alginate from Sargassum sp. has a yield of 40.5 ± 1.125% with a purity level of 89.95%. Based on antioxidant activity, alginate is categorized as moderate (178,377 ppm) and evidently has the ability to increase wound recovery compared to control. It has indicated by the formation of the wound enclosure

Assessment of risk factors associated with HTLV-1/-2 infection among people living with HIV/ AIDS in Bauchi State, Nigeria

Introduction: Human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) is associated with shorter survival of HIV co-infected persons due to masked immunosuppression. Since both retroviruses share similar routes of transmission, there is a need to determine risk factors associated with these pathogens. This study aimed to assess the risk factors associated with HTLV-1/-2 and HIV co-infected among persons attending a secondary hospital in Ningi, Bauchi State, Nigeria. Methods: Blood samples were collected from 182 HIV infected persons and analysed for anti- HTLV-1/2 IgM and IgG antibodies using commercial Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) kits. Interviewer-based questionnaire were used to collate sociodemographic and risk factor data of the subjects and clinical history were obtained from participants’ medical records. Results: The seroprevalence of anti-HTLV-1/-2 IgM and IgG were 9.9% and 19.8%, respectively. Out of the 80 ART-naïve, 25 (31.3%) were IgM seropositive. Out of 102 ART-experienced, 11 (10.8%) were anti-HTLV-1/-2 IgM positive. There was a significant association between ART status and seroprevalence of anti-HTLV-1/-2 IgM (p=0.009). However, there was no significance association between seroprevalence of HTLV IgM and gender of the subjects (p=0.06). There was a significant association between the seroprevalence of anti-HTLV-1/-2 IgG and education level of subjects (p=0.039). However, no association between anti-HTLV-1/-2 IgG and other sociodemographic variables studied (p˃ 0.05). History of injury from sharp objects (aOR: 5.3, p<0.0001) and consistent protective sexual practice (aOR: 2.27, p=0.033) were associated with seroprevalence of anti-HTLV-1/-2 IgM. Discussion: High seroprevalence of HTLV-1/-2 and HIV co-infection was reported. ART status, protective sexual intercourse and injuries with sharp objects were identified risk factors of coinfection. It’s recommended to consider HTLV screening for all HIV infected persons and vice versa