Contributing factors to will adoption among urban Muslims community in Klang Valley / Nooriha Abdullah … [et al.]

A will is a financial management instrument after one’s death. Majority of Muslims in Malaysia are aware and familiar with the term Islamic ‘will’. However, the number of Muslims who write a will is very low. Studies have concluded, the reluctance factors to write a will were due to a) lack of knowledge, b) religious factor and c) financial obligation. Therefore, it is the interest of the researchers to investigate the relationships of these three contributing factors towards will adoption among urban Muslim community in Klang Valley. The paper adopts a quantitative method of research design, which utilises descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis to analyse the raw data. The results show all the independent variables have positive relationship with the dependent variable, in particular a strong significant relationship for knowledge. Thus, the paper suggests that any Muslims who are aware and has knowledge should write a will regardless of their age. In addition, writing a will before one’s death provides a peace of mind to that person

Issues and Challenges of Online Counseling Services During Covid-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted the quality of counseling services. During the pandemic, e-counseling emerged as a vital and transformative approach to mental health support. With social distancing measures and lockdowns restricting in-person interactions, traditional counseling services faced significant challenges in maintaining accessibility and continuity of care. A significant effect can be seen in counselors' online counseling services through technology. The study aims to investigate the issues and challenges that arise in online counseling services and identify the advantages and disadvantages of these services. A quantitative approach was carried out when a questionnaire was sent to 100 registered counselors across the country, asking two (2) main questions, namely the experience of issues and challenges they experienced in conducting online counseling sessions and their opinions on the advantages and disadvantages of online counseling. These answers are collected and then analyzed with the support of previous studies. The study findings found that confidentiality issues and managing disabled clients are among the main challenges

Factors Influencing Ethical Behavioral Intention among Takaful Agents

Despite the fact that contemporary insurance contracts are simple to read, this does not imply that they are simple to comprehend. Most people rely on trust when purchasing insurance. They trust the insurance agent to recommend and obtain appropriate coverage. Takaful agents act as consumers' representatives in managing their takaful plan participation procedures, while also providing consumers with transparent and clear information about takaful plans. This study is mainly focused on identifying the factors influencing ethical behavioral intention among takaful agents. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control on ethical behavioral intention among insurance agents by adopting the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). A total of 100 questionnaires were collected from 100 Takaful agents from the Family agency and General Agency. To evaluate the raw data, the paper used the non-probability sampling technique and analyzed it by conducting reliability analysis, correlation analysis, and regression analysis. The results of this study indicated that there was a significant relationship between attitude and subjective norms toward ethical behavioral intention as the predictors. Hence, these findings assist the practitioners, particularly takaful providers in strategizing their efforts in terms of training aspects for their respective takaful agents

Automotive Design Sketching in Teams: A Systematic Review

Automotive design sketching is crucial in the creative process, especially during conceptual design, as it facilitates shared understanding among design teams. Despite its significance, there need to be more comprehensive review papers addressing automotive design sketching in team settings. This systematic review aims to bridge this gap by identifying trends and evidence related to automotive design sketching within team settings. Employing the ROSES review flow diagram, five electronic databases – Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, SAGE, and Google Scholar – were utilized to search for relevant literature. Among the 902 non-duplicated articles initially screened, 17 studies from the past decade (2013-2023) underwent a thorough review and were integrated into the analysis. The findings emphasize the importance of team sketching, highlighting collaboration, communication, and creativity as essential values for enhancing shared understanding and design outcomes within teams. Significantly, the review uncovered a shortage of articles in recent years that encompass all three elements within a single study. This paper highlights the critical role of sketching in team-based automotive design and advocates for further research to investigate collaboration, communication, and creativity comprehensively. This knowledge is valuable for automotive designers, teams, and the industry, emphasizing the need for holistic approaches to optimize design processes and foster innovation

Preliminary analysis of traffic-related pollutants measurements in different Petaling Jaya streets

This paper presents the preliminary analysis and trends of traffic pollutant released and assessment results in urban areas in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. The outcome indicates that road traffic and its infrastructure are the leading issues of air pollution problems in this study area. However, there exists a lack of research that has verified this assumption, considering real-world data of localized traffic flow. In this study, traffic pollutants data were collected at different street categories and investigated prior to traffic flow data. The concentration level were then compared with several guidelines and related previous studies where NO 2 and PM 2.5 show considerably high amount of concentration which exceed all of the guidelines provided. The final results reveal that most of the concentration of the traffic-related pollutants measured except for NO 2 and CO are significantly different at all type of streets where higher amount of concentration was found at highways and local streets rather than urban streets, attributable to the higher traffic volume associated with the former. The statistical analyses of both the traffic pollutants and its flow data was then conducted, and the spatial analysis using interpolation was finally demonstrated

Amelioration of paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity in rat by the administration of methanol extract of Muntingia calabura L. leaves

Muntingia calabura L. is a tropical plant species that belongs to the Elaeocarpaceae family. The present study is aimed at determining the hepatoprotective activity of methanol extract of M. calabura leaves (MEMC) using two models of liver injury in rats. Rats were divided into five groups (n = 6) and received 10% DMSO (negative control), 50 mg/kg N-acetylcysteine (NAC; positive control), or MEMC (50, 250, and 500 mg/kg) orally once daily for 7 days and on the 8th day were subjected to the hepatotoxic induction using paracetamol (PCM). The blood and liver tissues were collected and subjected to biochemical and microscopical analysis. The extract was also subjected to antioxidant study using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl-(DPPH) and superoxide anion-radical scavenging assays. At the same time, oxygen radical antioxidant capacity (ORAC) and total phenolic content were also determined. From the histological observation, lymphocyte infiltration and marked necrosis were observed in PCM-treated groups (negative control), whereas maintenance of hepatic structure was observed in group pretreated with N-acetylcysteine and MEMC. Hepatotoxic rats pretreated with NAC or MEMC exhibited significant decrease (P < 0.05) in ALT and AST enzymes level. Moreover, the extract also exhibited good antioxidant activity. In conclusion, MEMC exerts potential hepatoprotective activity that could be partly attributed to its antioxidant activity and, thus warrants further investigations

Severe combined immunodeficiency disease with features of haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis: a case report

Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is the foremost extreme frame of primary immunodeficiencies. We described a case report of a 23-month-old boy who presented with pyrexia of unknown origin (PUO) with initial findings suggestive of haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. Physical examination showed unremarkable findings apart from hepatosplenomegaly. The diagnosis of SCID was established from lymphocyte enumeration testing by flow cytometry which revealed a phenotype of T(-), B(-), NK(-) and hypogammaglobulinaemia. The confirmatory genetic test was unable to be performed as the patient’s condition rapidly deteriorated and he succumbed to the illness

Development of web application package to design AC substation grounding system based on IEE STD. 80-2000 for continuous education and professional training

Substation grounding is a very important aspect in a substation design which forms a safe grounding grid system besides functioning as a means of dissipating currents to the surrounding ground during normal and fault conditions, also prevents the ground potential rise during a fault from creating dangerous potential gradients on the substation ground surface that can endanger a life of a person in the vicinity of the grounded facility. This grounding study is based on IEEE Standard 80-2000 (Revision of IEEE Std. 80-1986) which serves as a guide to the safety in ac substation grounding. With the fast growing of the use on the Internet technology and the daily use of it in all life routines including education, it will be necessary and interesting to provide a learning and educational web application for the Internet users especially the engineers of them

Likert scale vs. visual analogue scale on vehicle seat discomfort questionnaire: a review

Discomfort measurement has usually been attempted by asking the participants to rate the scale of their discomfort which commonly termed as a subjective scale. Various studies had conducted the discomfort level on vehicle seat by using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Likert scale. VAS is a tool that use to measure a discomfort or characteristics in range across a continuum of values. Meanwhile, Likert-scale is a tool consist of items that require respondents to rate their degrees of comfort or discomfort with various declarative statements. Thus, the purpose of this study is to review, discuss and compare between the VAS and Likert scale used on the development and assessment of sitting discomfort survey in seat vehicles. The literature on various topics related to questionnaire development on discomfort in seat vehicle were collected from electronic databases. Four high-quality studies were eligible and met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Overall, there is no evidence and conclusion that neither visual analogue scale nor Likert scale are better to one another. Therefore, it can be concluded that either of this scale still applicable for the ergonomic research application as both of this scale have their own pros and cons

Respiratory effects of exposure to high levels of particulate among Malaysian traffic police

Introduction: Malaysian traffic police are always working on the public roads to alleviate traffic congestion and therefore exposed them to the polluted air every day. In particular, polluted air containing PM2.5 is dangerous to their respiratory health as they can penetrate deep into the lungs, leading to bronchitis, lung cancer and many more. Hence, this research examined the relationship of personal exposure level to PM2.5 with respiratory symptoms among traffic policemen in Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru. Methods: 134 participants among traffic policemen were agreed to participate in this study. They were requested to complete a questionnaire regarding the sociodemographic back-ground and respiratory health information. The questionnaire was adopted from International Union Against Tuberculosis Lung Diseases (1986). Personal exposure level of PM2.5 was measured using an air pump with 5.0μm pore size PVC filter. Results: The mean exposure level of PM2.5 among traffic policemen was 28.69 μg/m3. It was found that some of them possess respiratory symptoms (Coughing 33.6%, Phlegm 25.4%, Wheezing 14.9% and Shortness of breath 32.1%). There was significant association detected at p-value < 0.05 in coughing. Despite, there was no significant association in other symptoms such as phlegm, wheezing and shortness of breath. Conclusions: Traffic police were exposed to a relatively high level of PM2.5 (12.4 μg/m3 to 55.3 μg/m3) and showed symptoms of respiratory effects. Therefore, recognition of the risks connected with occupational lung disease and exposure monitoring must be a high priority. This baseline data can serve as a reference to the top management of traffic police officers in order to develop an occupational safety and health guideline for police officers as required by Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA, Act 514 1994)