Intellectual Capital: a Focus on Human Capital Reporting Practices of Top Malaysian Listed Companies

This paper aims to examine the extent of human capital (HC) reporting among top Malaysian companies and introduce an HC reporting guideline that can be used by Malaysian companies and regulator. It begins by developing the HC framework based on previous intellectual capital (IC) frameworks. This framework is then used to examine each of the top 100 Malaysian companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia in year 2008. Using the content analysis method, it reviews the annual reports of these companies to determine the extent of HC reporting. The findings of this paper highlight the need for the development of IC framework particularly on HC. HC differences were also identified between Malaysia and other countries such as Sri Lanka and Australia, and it is argued that these differences can be attributed to the social, economic, and political factors

ENHANCED METHOD FOR AMPLIFYING ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF LACTOPEROXIDASE SYSTEM IN MILK AND DERIVED PRODUCTS BY CARROT EXTRACT AND BETA CAROTENE

OSCN–  has  been  known  and  well  documented  as  natural  antimicrobial  agent    generated  from the  lactoperoxidase  system (LPOS)  but  the  antimicrobial  activity  exerted  from  this  system  is  too  low  for  certain  food  such  as  milk  and  derived products (up to 1.2 log CFU/ml) resulting in the restriction on industrial  development  of  LPOS.  Our  previous  study  concluded  that  involvement  of  carrot  extract and beta carotene in LPOS significantly boosted the antimicrobial activity  (up  to  6  log  CFU/ml)  against  S.  enteritidis.  This  finding  should  be  continued  to  the  application  on  food.  Since  we  found  that  LPOS  generates  low  antimicrobial  activity  on  milk  and  derived  product,  our  research  will  be  conducted  on  the  application  of  LPOS  plus  carrot  extract  and  beta  carotene  on  milk  and  derived  product.  Because  the  high  antimicrobial  activity  is  needed  for  industrial  purposes,  this  research  may  open  the  way  for  industrial  development  of  natural  antimicrobial agent from LPOS.  This research will be conducted in three steps of experiment: (1) ensuring  the  incredible  antimicrobial  activity  of  LPOS  plus  carrot  extract  and  beta  carotene  against  three  poisonous  tropical bacteria:  C. jejuni,  S. enteritidis,  and E.  coli,  (2)  utilization  of  LPOS  plus  carrot  extract  and  beta  carotene  in  milk:  full  cream and skimmed milk, and (3) utilization of LPOS plus carrot extract and beta  carotene  in  milk  derived  product:  yogurt  and  tropical  fruity  milk.  The  purification  of  LPO  from  bovine  milk,  the  complimentary  data  analysis  for  generation  of  LPOS  antimicrobial  activity  by  the  addition  of  carrot  extract  and  beta  carotene  will  be  conducted  in  Japan  and  for  the  application  in  tropical  poisonous  bacteria,  milk,  and  milk  derived  product  will  be  conducted  in  Indonesia.  The  outcomes  of  this  research  from  three  step  of  research  are  three  international  publications  at  international‐scopus‐indexed‐journals  :  International Journal of  Dairy Science and  one  of  patent:  “enhanced  method  for  improvement of LPOS antimicrobial activity by involvement of carrot extract and  beta carotene in milk and derived product”.     Keywords:  Lactoperoxidase,  antimicrobial  activity,  carrot  extract,  beta  carotene,  milk, derived products

Characterization of polybenzimidazole (PBI) film at high temperatures

Polybenzimidazole, a linear thermoplastic polymer with excellent thermal stability and strength retention over a wide range of temperatures, was evaluated for its potential use as the main dielectric in high temperature capacitors. The film was characterized in terms of its dielectric properties in a frequency range of 50 Hz to 100 kilo-Hz. These properties, which include the dielectric constant and dielectric loss, were also obtained in a temperature range from 20 C to 300 C with an electrical stress of 60 Hz, 50 V/mil present. The alternating and direct current breakdown voltages of silicone oil impregnated films as a function of temperature were also determined. The results obtained indicate that while the film remained relatively stable up to 200 C, it exhibited an increase in its dielectric properties as the temperature was raised to 300 C. It was also found that conditioning of the film by heat treatment at 60 C for six hours tended to improve its dielectric and breakdown properties. The results are discussed and conclusions made concerning the suitability of the film as a high temperature capacitor dielectric