The application of green roof for stormwater quantity and quality improvement

The use of green roof is becoming increasingly worldwide because of its environmental, economic, and aesthetic benefits. The ability to retain storm water and improve the quality of effluent flow are the important characteristics of green roof. It is viewed as a best technology to minimize the negative impact of urbanization. However, the application of green roof in Malaysia is less and literatures regarding these is limited. An attempt has been made to evaluate the performances of green roof in improving the water quantity and quality of stormwater runoff. A lab-scale green roof with five component layers which are vegetation layer using creeping ox-eye and beach morning glory, topsoil substrate layer, non-woven geotextile filter layer, drainage plate layer and liquid waterproofing layer was used. Results indicated that the green roof with creeping ox-eyes shows a better performance in reducing peak flow with as high as 41% percentages of reduction compared to beach morning glory (15%). On the other hand, the green roof with beach morning glory manage to improve the concentration of COD up to 99% improvement while the green roof with creeping ox-eye shows a better performance in improving BOD with 17% reduction

Determinants of purchase intention in cafeterias: Intervening effects of customer satisfaction and gender

Several studies in the field of branding management, customer behaviour have mentioned that there are variables related to effect customer brand loyalty such as perceived quality, brand awareness, brand equity, among others.However, few studies have attempted to consider the influence of brand image and brand personality.Even if any, they have reported conflicting findings.This paper proposes to examine the relationship between brand image and brand personality on brand loyalty

Knowledge based helpdesk system in Nuclear Malaysia

Knowledge based (K-based) Helpdesk system is a knowledge oriented web based system that provides support to business process of the technical service providers.It is a multi- centric system which focuses on end-users, technical workers and higher level management through utilization of knowledge which resides and grows within the system. The objectives of the system are to be a user-friendly, capture technical knowledge for efficient performance and educating users for self reliance.These were achieved through the improvement of the helpdesk business process and better management of technical knowledge. This system has been tested and implemented in Information Technology Center (IT), Engineering Division (BKJ) and Instrumentation and Automation Center (IAC) at the Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuclear Malaysia). Higher levels of user satisfaction and faster growth in technical knowledge repository have been recorded in the system.This paper describes the helpdesk system in the perspective of management of its technical knowledge contributing to strengthening organizational knowledge asset of Nuclear Malaysia as national nuclear research institution

Subsidies and Consumer Environmental Awareness: A Systematic Review of Aspects and Impacts

Supply-side fiscal policy holds that the growth of the country is stimulated through fiscal expansion designed to foster increased production. Subsidies given by the government to producers save many essential industries from higher cost of production thus encouraging them to increase supply of goods and services. On the other hand, subsidies provided to the public have benefitted them from paying higher prices for consumer products thus enhancing their welfare. However, these subsidies and incentives may promote overproduction and encourage overconsumption since cost of production becomes much cheaper after being subsidized. This has consequences on the consumer environmental awareness (CEA) as excessive use of certain products e.g. fuel, may result in environmental pollution. Using a systematic literature review, we explore subsidy and environmental awareness among consumers. We focus on environmental awareness as an interesting issue to bring forward in this research and our study contributes to the existing literature. The results of our study imply that the provision of subsidies on fuels resulted in excessive use of self-transport which has an impact on climate change. However, in other cases, green subsidies do benefit society in general. High environmental awareness can be decisive in influencing green purchasing behaviour, resulting in high demand for green products

A Systematic Literature Review: Fuel Subsidy and Consumer Environmental Awareness in Urban Road Transport

Using a systematic literature review, weexplore fuel subsidies and consumer environmental awarenessamong users in urban road transport.Fuel subsidies given by the government to the public have to some extent brought them to moreusing own transport as the fuel cost is now cheaper.A growingnumber of vehicles and usage in the urban road transport sector worldwide has increasedCO2 emissionsand impact on environment. The misalignment of benefits from the implementation offossil fuel subsidies and highemissions has grown attention to limit global warming since the Paris Agreement 2015 was signed. Nonetheless, consumerenvironmentalawarenessis interesting to bring forward for future research

A Bibliometric Analysis of Fuel Subsidy: A Call For Action

Fuel subsidies play a vital role in mitigating inflation and lowering fuel production expenses, particularly during periods of surging global crude oil prices. The study's objectives involve a comprehensive assessment, mapping research studies to understand current trends, publication impact, research productivity in fuel subsidy studies, and identifying the most influential countries, institutions, and authors in this field. This research conducts a bibliometric analysis of fuel subsidies and their trends, utilizing data and academic literature from the Scopus database retrieved on October 4, 2022, with the keywords "fuel" and "subsidy" in the title string. Examining 168 articles spanning 1978 to 2022, quantitative data analysis employed Microsoft Excel, VOSviewer, and Harzing’s Publish or Perish. Results reveal a rising trend in article publication since 2014, peaking at 23 articles in 2017. The United States (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), and China emerge as the most productive countries in fuel subsidy studies, with the USA playing a crucial role in international collaboration. The most cited paper garnered 164 citations. Future research is encouraged to explore broader areas, linking fuel subsidies with low carbon societies, environmental policy, renewable energy, or the blue economy, given their global significance. The study's findings aim to guide researchers in planning future investigations, offering relevant literature and critical issues to address, ultimately enhancing the quality of knowledge in this domain

Islamic Educational System in Kelantan, Malaysia: Traditional and Modern Approaches

Abstract: Islamic Education in Malaysia began as an informal institution in its early days. This is because of the nature of development during those times, where some places such as surau, mosque and madrasah became centre for teaching the aspects of the religion. The system develops gradually, from informal to a formal system which has changed the style of learning. Nevertheless, the informal system is still existed even until today, along with the formal educational system. This is especially in Kelantan, where it becomes clear that both institutions are still running concurrently. In this paper, the authors aim to examine and analyse the Islamic Educational system in Kelantan as it is a unique experience for such a state to keep traditional institution running in this day. This paper will also discuss the development of the formal system that is established for educating the religion to the people

Optimization of extraction temperature and time on phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of Malaysian propolis Trigona spp. aqueous extract using response surface methodology

Propolis is a natural product with rich bioactive constituents for medicinal, pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic uses. It is considered a diet supplement to enhance health and prevent disease. The optimum extraction conditions used to obtain the highest yield of total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and antioxidant capacities for Trigona propolis aqueous extract was analyzed using response surface methodology and the central composite design. The effects of extraction temperature (X1: 30-60 °C) and extraction time (X2: 24-72 hours) on TPC (Y1), TFC (Y2), and antioxidant activities (DPPH (Y3), ABTS •+ radical scavenging assay (Y4), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (Y5) were investigated. The experimental data were satisfactorily fitted into a second-order polynomial model with regard to TPC (R 2 = 0.9461, p = 0.0003), TFC (R 2 = 0.9110, p = 0.0015), DPPH (R 2 = 0.9482, p <0.0001), ABTS (R 2 = 0.9663, p <0.0001), and FRAP (R 2 = 0.9058, p = 0.0018). The optimum extraction temperature and time were 43.75 °C and 52.85 hours. The predicted response values for TPC, TFC, DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP were 104.30 mg GAE/100g, 6.95 mg QE/g, 3.24 mMTE/g, 2.59 mMTE/g, and 4.34 mMTE/g, respectively. The experimental values were close to the predicted values 100.41 ± 2.74 mg GAE/100g, 6.74 ± 0.08 mg QE/g, 3.17 ± 0.08 mMTE/g, 2.76 ± 0.14 mMTE/g, and 4.60 ± 0.14 mMTE/g. As a result, the models generated are suitable, and RSM was successful in optimizing the extraction conditions. Consequently, in this study, it was observed that the optimum extraction temperature and time provided the highest antioxidant yield of aqueous propolis extract which can be used as functional food ingredients

Gaya bahasa Jinas dalam kitab al-Hikam al-'Ata'iyyah

Kajian ini memfokuskan kepada penggunaan gaya bahasa jinās yang terkandung di dalam kitab al-Ḥikam al-‘Aṭā’iyyah karya Syeikh Ibn ‘Ata’illah al-Sakandari. Kitab tersebut dilihat sebagai sebuah hasil penulisan dakwah yang mempunyai seni dan kreativiti menerusi penggunaan gaya bahasa jinās yang ketara di samping elemen ilmu balaghah yang lain. Penggunaan gaya bahasa jinās dalam hikmah tersebut telah memanifestasikan satu kekuatan yang mampu menyingkap makna yang tersirat dan telah menghasilkan satu pembentangan yang unik terhadap maknanya. Oleh sebab itu, pendekatan dakwah Sheikh Ibn ‘Aṭā’illah al-Sakandarῑ iaitu dengan memasukkan elemen gaya bahasa jinās adalah satu pendekatan yang perlu dikaji dan diteliti. Justeru, objektif yang disasarkan menerusi kajian ini adalah untuk mengklasifikasikan kategori jinās, menghuraikan kategori jinās dan menjelaskan nilai estetika jinās dalam kitab al-Ḥikam al-‘Aṭā’iyyah. Dalam menelusuri kajian ini, kaedah yang digunakan adalah bersifat deskriptif kualitatif (manhaj dirāsah waṣfiyyah) dan dianalisis berpandukan kepada pendekatan Ali al-Jundi menerusi kitabnya Fann al-Jinās. Daripada sepuluh kategori jinās Ali al-Jundi, hanya sembilan kategori jinās yang akan dibincangkan. Pengkaji mendapati penggunaan jinās dalam kitab al-Ḥikam al- ‘Aṭā’iyyah melibatkan 125 hikmah daripada 264 hikmah keseluruhannya. Namun, terdapat juga penggunaan lebih daripada satu jinās dalam satu hikmah. Maka, keseluruhan jinās dalam kitab al-Ḥikam al-‘Aṭā’iyyah diklasifikasikan kategorinya dalam bentuk jadual, seterusnya dihuraikan mengikut kategori, dan dijelaskan nilai estetika jinās dengan membawa sampel hikmah yang diperlukan untuk tujuan perbincangan. Hasil kajian membuktikan bahawa kitab al-Ḥikam al-‘Aṭā’iyyah banyak dipengaruhi oleh kesenian balaghah Arab yang amat tinggi

Language, communication and intercultural understanding in peacekeeping operations

The deployment of the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) in the various operations since 1960 has clearly attained international recognition. However, the successful cases of Malaysian peacekeepers, specifically from the multidimensional perspective, have not been explored much even though their achievements are significant. This paper attempts to discuss the language and communication among Malaysian peacekeepers deployed in Congo and Somalia. The researchers analyse the intercultural understanding of Malaysian peacekeepers to attain the required mandate as stipulated in the United Nation Security Council. This is a multiple case study comprising of a series of interviews with selected participants deployed in Congo and Somalia. The data was transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. This study highlights the importance of using appropriate ways of communication while dealing with the locals and peacekeepers. The peacekeeping operations with cultural identity factors made positive contributions to durable peace and stability under certain conditions. A number of recommendations are highlighted and it is hoped to assist the concerned parties in developing a concrete strategy