Consumer perceived risk, attitude and online shopping behaviour; empirical evidence from Malaysia

The development of e-commerce has increased the popularity of online shopping worldwide. In Malaysia, it was reported that online shopping market size was RM1.8 billion in 2013 and it is estimated to reach RM5 billion by 2015. However, online shopping was rated 11th out of 15 purposes of using internet in 2012. Consumers' perceived risks of online shopping becomes a hot topic to research as it will directly influence users' attitude towards online purchasing, and their attitude will have significant impact to the online purchasing behaviour. The conceptualization of consumers' perceived risk, attitude and online shopping behaviour of this study provides empirical evidence in the study of consumer online behaviour. Four types of risks-product risk, financial, convenience and non-delivery risks-were examined in term of their effect on consumers' online attitude. A web-based survey was employed, and a total of 300 online shoppers of a Malaysia largest online marketplace participated in this study. The findings indicated that product risk, financial and non-delivery risks are hazardous and negatively affect the attitude of online shoppers. Convenience risk was found to have positive effect on consumers' attitude, denoting that online buyers of this site trusted the online seller and they encountered less troublesome with the site. It also implies that consumers did not really concern on non-convenience aspect of online shopping, such as handling of returned products and examine the quality of products featured in the online seller website. The online buyers' attitude was significantly and positively affects their online purchasing behaviour. The findings provide useful model for measuring and managing consumers' perceived risk in internet-based transaction to increase their involvement in online shopping and to reduce their cognitive dissonance in the e-commerce settin

Effect of salinity, temperature, light intensity and photoperiod on reproduction, larval development and life cycle of cyclopoid copepod, Oithona simplex (Farran, 1913)

Background and Objective: Copepods are being used widely as live feed in aquaculture industry particularly for larval rearing of fish and crustacean. Several marine copepods have been cultured successfully before but the numbers of species documented is still limited. Cyclopoid copepod, Oithona simplex is readily available in the Malaysian coastal waters and their high abundance is observed in the coastal waters of Port Dickson, Malaysia. It is targeted as a potential live food for larval rearing of marine fish species. The present study was conducted to determine the effect of environmental parameters viz. salinity, temperature, light intensity and photoperiod on the reproductive cycle of cyclopoid copepod, Oithona simplex under laboratory condition. Materials and Methods: Four different salinity levels (20, 25, 30 and 35 ppt), three different temperatures set up (25, 30 and 35°C), three light intensities expose (5, 20, 35 μmol m–2 sec–1) and three different photoperiod phases (12 h light (L):12 h dark (D), 1 h (L):23 h (D), 24 h (L):0 h (D) were adopted during this experiment. Results were subjected to one-way ANOVA. Results: The results showed that the optimum salinity was recorded at 30 ppt for the highest production of off springs. Similar highest production was found at 35°C temperature setup. The optimum light intensity expose was under 5 μmol m–2 sec–1 and this was reflected by the increase in reproductive activity and decreased in development period. Subsequently, 12 h light:12 h dark treatment resulted in the highest reproduction process. Conclusion: It could be recommended that optimal environmental condition which comprised of 30 ppt salinity, 35°C temperature, 5 μmol m–2 sec–1 light intensity and alternate 12 h light and dark photoperiod is required for culturing of O. simplex in captivity. This is the first attempt to breed and mass production in controlled environment. The information gathered from the experiment could be helpful to produce a mass culture of O. simplex indoor for the purpose of live food supply in the hatchery

Contributing factors to science achievement in TIMSS Malaysia: direct model and indirect model

The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which home context, classroom context and school context influence students' science achievement in Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011. This study involved a total of 5733 respondents from 180 secondary schools in Malaysia based on TIMSS 2011 data. Random sampling using two stage stratified cluster sampling technique was done in selecting the sample. This study also proposes a model containing two exogenous constructs which are parental involvement and school discipline as well as two endogenous constructs which are attitudes towards science and science achievement. This study used structural equation modeling (SEM) technique to test the direct model, indirect model and to determine the strength of the relationship between one variable with another variable. The findings showed that parental involvement has a direct effect on students' attitudes toward science and students' science achievement while the student attitudes towards science have a negative relationship towards students' science achievement

Factors that influence students’ learning: an observation on vocational college students

This study examined the factors that influence students’ learning for machine industry courses in Malaysian Southern Region Vocational Colleges. The factors that have been studied were the students’ interest, parental involvement and teachers teaching. This study used the survey design method involving 90 randomly selected 4th year students from three Vocational Colleges as respondents. Primary data were obtained using questionnaires (Cronbach Alpa = .85) and secondary data were based on students' academic performance test result. The data were analysed with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to get the frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. The results showed that there was a medium level of influence between students’ achievement and students’ interest, parental involvement and teachers teaching. For student interest factor, students who have good achievement in some subjects were those who have an interest in the subject. In addition, the involvement of parents helping in students’ assignment at home will help them to improve their achievement in school. Next, in the process of teaching, the teacher must inflict the interest of student learning, guiding them in an effective learning way, provide teaching materials and improve their mastery skills. Some suggestions to overcome the challenges identified in this study were also presented at the end of the study

Characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital with and without respiratory symptoms

Background: COVID-19 is primarily known as a respiratory illness; however, many patients present to hospital without respiratory symptoms. The association between non-respiratory presentations of COVID-19 and outcomes remains unclear. We investigated risk factors and clinical outcomes in patients with no respiratory symptoms (NRS) and respiratory symptoms (RS) at hospital admission. Methods: This study describes clinical features, physiological parameters, and outcomes of hospitalised COVID-19 patients, stratified by the presence or absence of respiratory symptoms at hospital admission. RS patients had one or more of: cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, runny nose or wheezing; while NRS patients did not. Results: Of 178,640 patients in the study, 86.4 % presented with RS, while 13.6 % had NRS. NRS patients were older (median age: NRS: 74 vs RS: 65) and less likely to be admitted to the ICU (NRS: 36.7 % vs RS: 37.5 %). NRS patients had a higher crude in-hospital case-fatality ratio (NRS 41.1 % vs. RS 32.0 %), but a lower risk of death after adjusting for confounders (HR 0.88 [0.83-0.93]). Conclusion: Approximately one in seven COVID-19 patients presented at hospital admission without respiratory symptoms. These patients were older, had lower ICU admission rates, and had a lower risk of in-hospital mortality after adjusting for confounders

Paediatric COVID-19 mortality: a database analysis of the impact of health resource disparity

Background The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on paediatric populations varied between high-income countries (HICs) versus low-income to middle-income countries (LMICs). We sought to investigate differences in paediatric clinical outcomes and identify factors contributing to disparity between countries.Methods The International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infections Consortium (ISARIC) COVID-19 database was queried to include children under 19 years of age admitted to hospital from January 2020 to April 2021 with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis. Univariate and multivariable analysis of contributing factors for mortality were assessed by country group (HICs vs LMICs) as defined by the World Bank criteria.Results A total of 12 860 children (3819 from 21 HICs and 9041 from 15 LMICs) participated in this study. Of these, 8961 were laboratory-confirmed and 3899 suspected COVID-19 cases. About 52% of LMICs children were black, and more than 40% were infants and adolescent. Overall in-hospital mortality rate (95% CI) was 3.3% [=(3.0% to 3.6%), higher in LMICs than HICs (4.0% (3.6% to 4.4%) and 1.7% (1.3% to 2.1%), respectively). There were significant differences between country income groups in intervention profile, with higher use of antibiotics, antivirals, corticosteroids, prone positioning, high flow nasal cannula, non-invasive and invasive mechanical ventilation in HICs. Out of the 439 mechanically ventilated children, mortality occurred in 106 (24.1%) subjects, which was higher in LMICs than HICs (89 (43.6%) vs 17 (7.2%) respectively). Pre-existing infectious comorbidities (tuberculosis and HIV) and some complications (bacterial pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome and myocarditis) were significantly higher in LMICs compared with HICs. On multivariable analysis, LMIC as country income group was associated with increased risk of mortality (adjusted HR 4.73 (3.16 to 7.10)).Conclusion Mortality and morbidities were higher in LMICs than HICs, and it may be attributable to differences in patient demographics, complications and access to supportive and treatment modalities

Characteristics and outcomes of an international cohort of 600 000 hospitalized patients with COVID-19

Background: We describe demographic features, treatments and clinical outcomes in the International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) COVID-19 cohort, one of the world's largest international, standardized data sets concerning hospitalized patients. Methods: The data set analysed includes COVID-19 patients hospitalized between January 2020 and January 2022 in 52 countries. We investigated how symptoms on admission, co-morbidities, risk factors and treatments varied by age, sex and other characteristics. We used Cox regression models to investigate associations between demographics, symptoms, co-morbidities and other factors with risk of death, admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) and invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). Results: Data were available for 689 572 patients with laboratory-confirmed (91.1%) or clinically diagnosed (8.9%) SARS-CoV-2 infection from 52 countries. Age [adjusted hazard ratio per 10 years 1.49 (95% CI 1.48, 1.49)] and male sex [1.23 (1.21, 1.24)] were associated with a higher risk of death. Rates of admission to an ICU and use of IMV increased with age up to age 60 years then dropped. Symptoms, co-morbidities and treatments varied by age and had varied associations with clinical outcomes. The case-fatality ratio varied by country partly due to differences in the clinical characteristics of recruited patients and was on average 21.5%. Conclusions: Age was the strongest determinant of risk of death, with a ∼30-fold difference between the oldest and youngest groups; each of the co-morbidities included was associated with up to an almost 2-fold increase in risk. Smoking and obesity were also associated with a higher risk of death. The size of our international database and the standardized data collection method make this study a comprehensive international description of COVID-19 clinical features. Our findings may inform strategies that involve prioritization of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who have a higher risk of death

The value of open-source clinical science in pandemic response: lessons from ISARIC

International audienc