Social Integration in Newspaper Reporting: The Coverage of Vision School By Three Malaysian Dailies

This research was conducted to examine the coverage on Vision School by the different language dailies to better understand their role in promoting social integration. The daily newspaper with the largest circulation was chosen from the three main language streams. The three dailies chosen were Utusan MalaYSia, a daily in Bahasa Malaysia or the national language, The Star, an English language daily, and Sin Chew Jit Poh, a Chinese language daily. Content analysis was used in this research. A sub-sample of a "constructed week" was created for an indepth analysis and a total of 68 news items were qualified for an analysis in this study. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Frequencies and percentages were employed in descriptive analysis. This study discovered that three of the dailies did not play an active role in promoting social integration in their coverage of Vision School. This study found very little evidence that the dailies tried to provide collective representations, which is the social symbols to promote cohesion and solidarity. The coverage by the three dailies also did not increase the degree of consensus or common assent that is necessary to sustain an integrated social system. This study recommended that the Vision School issue should be given equal coverage by all the major language newspapers because it is not an issue of race and ethnicity but of education. All newspapers must provide neutral coverage on the Vision School issue irrespective of the language of the newspapers because the function of the press is to inform and not to judge. This study also recommended that all news articles should aim at promoting social integration , intercultural understanding and tolerance. Newspapers should utilize and develop the specific potentialities of media to offer experiences and stimulate the imagination, thus affording opportunities for empathy, involvement and amusement

Covering Galas And Batu Sapi By-elections: Framing By Chinese Newspapers

In this article, the authors report the outcome of a thorough analysis of how Malaysian Chinese newspapers—Sin Chew Daily and Nanyang Siang Pau— reported the two last Malaysian by-elections in 2010, which are the Galas and Batu Sapi by-elections. These two by-elections were important because their results were considered as significant indications of the people's confidence in the ruling coalition and the Prime Minister Najib's promises to reform since the political tsunami in 2008. The outcomes of these two by-elections were also seemed as indications of the people's voting pattern for the upcoming 13th Malaysian general election, which must be held by 2013

Reporting on suicide in Malaysia: Problem characterization and solution advocacy by media

Rising incidents of suicide capture the attention of healthcare providers, government agencies, non-governmental organizations and media. Furthermore, public conversations about social problems are largely mediated by the media. It is noteworthy that media have the power to shape the way the public thinks about an issue by suggesting what the issue is about, what the cause is, and what should be done as a solution. The current study aims to examine suicide coverage in Malaysia, particularly the problem characterization and solution advocacy by The Star in reporting suicide from 2014 to 2018. The Star is the English-language daily newspaper with the largest circulation in Malaysia. Through content analysis, the study found that there was a statistically significant difference between the number of articles reporting suicide and the different years. Most of the coverage was published in the form of straight news with a negative depiction of suicide. There was reporting on both local and international suicide news. In addition, suicide was linked to various issues (e.g. mental health, relationship or marriage problems, financial problems, workplace stress, etc.) in the coverage. The study also found a significant difference between issue narrative styles and suicide solutions. The practical implications of the findings are discussed with regard to the role of media in raising awareness of suicide, promoting prevention and intervention efforts at the institutional level, as well as undertaking a more robust interpretive approach in addressing the issue

Asian broadcasters telling compelling stories using technology: a case study from Malaysia.

Stories are significant on their own when they are given meaning as a consequence of the process by which they are constructed. Technology enables new forms of storytelling among broadcasters, eventually getting the message out impacting larger audiences. Audiences understand reality in a way that is congruent with the constructions of meaning either directly or through mediated socialization. Today, the media has become a powerful tool in this socialization process that audiences tend to refer to reality as portrayed in media. A collaborative research with the Asian-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) elicited and received feedback from 28 of their member countries. The study enquired how Asian broadcasters perceived their challenges in storytelling and crafted their opportunities for broadcasting. It became evident that broadcasters tell ‘big stories’ in quick succession to be relevant by using strategic enablers in particular ways. The transition from traditional media platforms to social media platforms was reported to reinforce storytelling skills. This finding was triangulated empirically at a mass celebration and storytelling event. The technological disruption experienced throughout this study shall be the future challenge to engage ‘a streamlined world of shared platforms that will empower broadcasters’

Inflammatory Marker but Not Adipokine Predicts Mortality among Long-Term Hemodialysis Patients

Aims: chronic inflammation contributes significantly to the morbidity and mortality of chronic hemodialysis patients. A recent research has shown that adipokines were associated with inflammation in these patients. We aim to investigate whether biomarkers of inflammation, adipokines, and clinical features can predict the outcome of hemodialysis patients. Materials and methods: we enrolled 181 hemodialysis patients (men: 97, mean age: 56.3±13.6) and analyzed predictors of long-term outcomes. Results: during the 3-year followup period, 41 patients died; the main causes of death were infection and cardiovascular disease. Elevated serum levels of hsCRP and albumin and advanced age were highly associated with death (all P<.001). Leptin and adiponectin levels were not significantly different between deceased patients and survivors. Cox-regression analysis indicated that age, diabetes, albumin level, and hsCRP were independent factors predicting mortality. Conclusion: the presence of underlying disease, advanced age, and markers of chronic inflammation is strongly related to survival rate in long-term hemodialysis patients

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF AMOMUM VILLOSUM: A SYSTEMATIC INVESTIGATION ON THREE DIFFERENT PRODUCTION MODES

Background: Amomum Villosum (A. Villosum), called Chunsharen in Chinese, is widely used in treating gastrointestinal disease. Its clinical benefits have been confirmed by both in vitro and in vivo studies. Facing the shortage of wild A. Villosum, artificial cultivating and natural fostering have been practiced in recent years. Therefore, it would be wondered whether the three different types of A. Villosum are comparable or not, particularly the herbal qualities, technological challenges, ecological impacts and economic benefits. Material and methods: In this study, we combined quality research by using GC-MS, and field investigation to provide a systematic assessment about the three types of A. Villosum from these four aspects. Results: It found that the wild type had low output and was in an endangered situation. The artificial cultivation had larger agriculturing area with higher productivity, but faced the ecological challenges. Lastly, the natural fostering type generated the highest economic benefit and relatively low ecological impact. In addition, the natural fostering type had relatively better quality than the other types. Conclusion: Therefore, it suggests that natural fostering can be applied for long-term sustainable development of A. Villosum

Knockdown of zebrafish Nav1.6 sodium channel impairs embryonic locomotor activities

[[abstract]]Although multiple subtypes of sodium channels are expressed in most neurons, the specific contributions of the individual sodium channels remain to be studied. The role of zebrafish Nav1.6 sodium channels in the embryonic locomotor movements has been investigated by the antisense morpholino (MO) knockdown. MO1 and MO2 are targeted at the regions surrounding the translation start site of zebrafish Nav1.6 mRNA. MO3 is targeted at the RNA splicing donor site of exon 2. The correctly spliced Nav1.6 mRNA of MO3 morphants is 6% relative to that of the wild-type embryos. Nav1.6-targeted MO1, MO2 and MO3 attenuate the spontaneous contraction, tactile sensitivity, and swimming in comparison with a scrambled morpholino and mutated MO3 morpholino. No significant defect is observed in the development of slow muscles, the axonal projection of primary motoneurons, and neuromuscular junctions. The movement impairments caused by MO1, MO2, and MO3 suggest that the function of Nav1.6 sodium channels is essential on the normal early embryonic locomotor activities.[[notice]]補正完畢[[journaltype]]國