The Influence of Sustainability Reporting in Enhancing Firm Value

There is a growing concern about sustainability reporting as stakeholders increasingly recognize the importance of sustainable and ethical business practices. Investors, consumers, and regulatory bodies are demanding greater transparency and accountability from firms regarding their sustainability and ethical corporate behavior. Accordingly, the objective of this paper is to examine the significant influence that sustainability reporting can exert on a firm's financial performance and overall worth. By employing three predominant theoretical frameworks: stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory, and signaling theory. The findings mostly show that sustainability reporting increases firm value. Reputational capital, investor confidence, and long-term financial performance improve for firms that report their sustainability performance. However, sustainability reporting affects business value through complicated mechanisms that include regulatory contexts, industry characteristics, and disclosure quality. Although positive associations were found, sustainability reporting's effects on firm value need further studies. Research should uncover the mediating variables and contextual elements that promote this association. Researchers can provide more detailed insights into how sustainability reporting might strategically boost firm value, improving corporate sustainability and financial performance. The findings of this study would provide an important contribution to firms and stakeholders. Firms that prioritize sustainability contribute to the well-being of communities and the environment. Further, with greater transparency, the public can hold companies accountable for their actions, and support firms that demonstrate genuine commitment to sustainability

Wireless power strip socket

Today, the demand on the electricity consumption is increasing throughout the society. Unfortunately, it goes without saying that in spite of the heavy consumption of the electricity, the number of damages and fatal accidents also caused by electricity if consumers neglected the safety precaution related to it. In fact, based on the statistics of the electrical accident released by the Energy Commission (ST), 13 cases of electric accidents occurred nationwide with seven involving the deceased in 2015 [1]. Researchers have taken the opportunities to invent many kinds of products or mechanism to minimize the losses created by the malfunctioning of the electrical devices. Having thought of the situation, a portable device using smartphones has been designed to encounter this matter

Critical Powder Loading and the Rheology of Nanosized Cemented Carbide with Titanium Carbide as Grain Growth Inhibitor for Injection Molding

The purpose of this paper is to determine the critical powder loading of WC-Co and to study the effect of TiC powder on the rheological behavior of MIM feedstock. WC-TiC-6Co metal powder was taken as raw material. 60% (mass fraction) palm stearin and 40% low density polyethylene were employed as binders to prepare injection feedstock. Three feedstocks were prepared at different TiC % loadings of 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0 (by weight). A homogeneous metal powders is formed by using ball mill mixer and mixed together with binder system by using Brabender mixer. Based on the result obtained, it was concluded that feedstock with 0.75 wt.% TiC powder show a good pseudo-plastic behavior within acceptable ranges in MI

An Entrepreneurial Transformation of Malaysian Craftmakers into Craftpreneurs: A Conceptual Study

Abstract: As the Malaysia craft industry grows and becoming more complex in business industry, entrepreneurship draw more attention to the need for emphasizing on craftmakers, especially for those who are involved in small and medium enterprise. Craftmakers should think in a context of entrepreneurship to shift their paradigm on operations management and strategies their business in facing the challenges of competitive market. A good craftpreneurs are not totally depends on the product philosophy and esthetic value of their producing, however, it is emphasizes on how to utilize the minimum resources to fulfill the maximum requirement of consumer towards the product demand in a market. Hence, this conceptual study reveals that the transformation process becomes essential to translate the activity of craftmakers in craft traditions into higher personality in craftpreneursas well as in craft industry. Additionally, this study also attempts to recognize the combination of previous models which are support the transformation process, there are; AIDA concept (attention, interest, desire, action) and ASK model (attitude, skill, knowledge). As a solution, these models were given a clear picture to describe the transformation process of craftmakers into craftpreneurs, in term of independent, motivation, creative, innovative, and business appreciation. Key words: Craftmaker; Craftpreneur; Entrepreneurship; Craft industry; Transformation process; Conceptual stud

Positioning childcare matters among working mothers / Zakirah Zaid,Suhaida Mohd Amin and Abd Halim Mohd Noor

The involvement of females in the labor market nowadays has become vital to fulfill the demand from organizations. This paper discusses the factors that relate to childcare that affects mothers’ involvement in the labor market. The availability of childcare influences the participation of mothers in the labor force. There are some areas that are difficult to find childcare places that can give satisfaction to mothers because they are in an isolated area. Next, the quality of childcare becomes a priority for parents nowadays to ensure their children’s safety. Recently, parents have started to be more alert about the education offered by childcare services because they prefer their children to learn at an early age. This means that, in addition to childcare, the educational aspect is important. In addition, the accessibility of ch ildcare is also important because there are areas that are inaccessible to childcare centers due to certain circumstances. However, all the aspects potentially increase the childcare fees, resulting in the service becoming more expensive. The high cost of care will increase the financial burden on low-income parents. For that reason, there are mothers who are willing to forgo their careers to take care of their children. However, to what extent do the above issues really relate to working mothers in Malaysia? Therefore, the objective of this paper is to review the factors related to childcare matters that influence Malaysian mothers’ participation in the labor forc

An influence of the SS316L powder particle shape to the densification of metal injection moulding (MIM) compact

Metal injection molding (MIM) has acquired increasing importance as a production technique for small, complex stainless steel components [1, 2]. Sintering is critical for determining the final quality of the parts produced by MIM. Because high sintered density is imperative for good mechanical properties and corrosion resistance, achieving full or near-full density has been a major objective of sintering [3]. Therefore, most research on 316L stainless steel sintering to date has focused on the sintering behavior of the molded parts especially for gas-atomised powder in argon environment [3-6]. An understanding of the factors influencing densification of stainless steels is important as over 50% of the injection molded and sintered components are made from stainless steel compositions [7]. In a metal injection molding (MIM) process, gas-atomised powder is generally used due to their high packing density and associated feedstock rheology. The sintered components exhibit mechanical and corrosion properties similar or superior to that of wrought material. Water-atomised powders in MIM can be economical and have an improvement in shape retention during debinding and sintering. However, their use comes with a penalty of lower powder loading and sintered density, with a corresponding degradation in the mechanical and corrosion properties. Studies reveal that injection molded and sintered components using water-atomised 316L stainless steel powders have a residual porosity of 3–5% for similar particle characteristics and sintering conditions as that of gas-atomised powders [5]. This article investigates a densification of SS316L gas and wateratomised compact sintered in high vacuum environment at temperature ranging from 1340 to 1400 °C

Calibrated radar-derived rainfall data for rainfall-runoff modeling.

This study focuses on a technique to improve runoff modeling based on radar-derived rainfall and hydrological model for the whole watershed. GIS tools were used to provide the model parameters for the Upper Bernam River Basin (1090 km2), Malaysia. Virtual rainfall stations are created throughout the UBRB watershed. The rainfall data for these stations are estimated from raw weather radar data using newly developed program called RaDeR ver1.0. For this study, estimated radar rainfall data from Subang weather radar stations were compared and calibrated with actual rain gauge data. Radar-derived rainfall calibration model developed for Subang radar station was y=0.8772x. According to the model developed, the radar rainfall calibration factor (RCf) can be identified as 0.8772. The original estimated radar derived rainfall data should be adjusted before using the calibration factor (RCf). The model gives better correlation when adjusted radar values were used instead of the original radar rainfall values. The model calibration factor increased from 0.464 with R2 of 0.2759** to 0.8772 with R2 of 0.3655***. Finally, the virtual rainfall stations created throughout the river basin produced a more representative rainfall distribution. It is believed that watershed river flow can be better estimated by using radar-derived rainfall data

The effect of development and land use change on rainfall-runoff and runoff-sediment relationships under humid tropical condition: case study of Bernam watershed Malaysia

Study of the land use changes and their effects on runoff and sediment patterns for the watershed level are essential in water resource planning and management. This study provides an approach to identify the effects of land-use changes on rainfall-runoff and runoff-sediment relations in humid tropical region. For this purpose Bernam watershed located in Selangor state of Malaysia which is subjected to rapid land-use changes to residential and agriculture has been selected. The study was based on the comparison of the effect of land-use changes during two periods, 1980s and 1990s. The study objectives were to identify the change of land-use in the years of 1989 and 1998 and analyze its effects on rainfall-runoff and runoff-sediment relationships. In this study, double mass curve with trend curve have been used to examine the effect of land use changes on rainfall-runoff and runoff-sediment relationships. The results showed that the land-use change can be considered as main reason for increased runoff and sediment in tropical regions where the change in rainfall amount can be neglected. Land use changes altered the rainfall-runoff and runoff-sediment relationships and lead to higher slope for the trend (STC) of annual rainfall-runoff mass curve and runoff-sediment mass curve in 1990s than those in 1980s. It is implied that more runoff and sedimentation occurred in 1990s. Hence in order to reduce flood occurrence and sediment increases due to land-use changes, planners should consider tighter and straight control measures to be part of any watershed development plan in the future

Production of recycled paper reinforced cellulose nanofiber (CNF)

68 Million trees are cutdown every year (Pivnenko etal., 2014). Paper waste increasing from 15 to 35 Million tonnes over 10 years

Protective effect of Carica papaya leaves against oxidative stress in brine shrimps

Carica papaya, a type of tree from the Caricaceae family, is renowned for its medicinal benefits due to its diverse chemical composition. The leaves of Carica papaya, in particular, are commonly used in traditional medicine for their purported anti-dengue, anti-malarial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. However, despite their widespread use, there is limited research available on the antioxidant characteristics of Carica papaya leaves. This study aimed to examine the potential protective effects of Carica papaya leaves methanolic (CPLM) extract against oxidative stress in Artemia salina (brine shrimp). To evaluate the antioxidant potential of CPLM extract, two commonly used antioxidant activity assays, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays, were performed. Additionally, an oxidative stress protection assay was carried out by exposing ten Artemia salina nauplii to CPLM extract for one hour before exposing them to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The results of this study showed that the CPLM extract has antioxidant properties. Additionally, the oxidative stress protection assay revealed that the CPLM extract increased the survival rate of Artemia salina nauplii exposed to H2O2. The study suggests that the CPLM extract obtained from Carica papaya leaves possesses antioxidant properties. It can provide protection against oxidative stress caused by hydrogen peroxide in Artemia salina