A Study of Literature and Practical Gaps in e-Wallet Acceptance: The Case of Malaysia

The purpose of this article is to identify the existing research gaps in the literature and the practicality of e-wallet acceptance studies in Malaysia. A systematic literature review (SLR) of peer-reviewed journal articles was carried out by the researchers, based on two major databases, namely, Scopus and Web of Science. In total, 60 articles published from January 2017 to April 2021 were reviewed which revealed the research gaps. Several research gaps are identified in the literature and practicality. The article offers suggestions for future research, including how to prioritize understudied subjects and incorporate other points of view. As a result, this study offers new researchers to learn more about the rapidly growing acceptance of e-wallets. Future research can also address these gaps and enhance the level of acceptance for e-wallets globally for a sustainable future. By identifying the factors that influence people's decision to accept e-wallets, researchers can help companies design better services and marketing campaigns. This will require some practical and theoretical implications, primarily demonstrating some nourishment in realizing the cashless society vision

STORYTELLING APPLICATION BASED ON INTERACTIVE STORY GRAPH STRUCTURE (ISGS)

Storytelling is a process of conveying series of events and information in words, images, and sound. Conventionally, storytelling developers/writers will apply the linear narrative structure approach to deliver the stories. However, that approach has some limitations; users cannot determine the path to end the story. They have no option to choose how to end the story based on their way of storytelling. Therefore, this study is about applying an Interactive Story Graph Structure (ISGS) approach to storytelling. ISGS approach is a structure used in storytelling in which users can revert their decision when going through the storytelling application implemented during the development. After completing the storytelling prototype development, a survey was conducted to test users’ enjoyment level when using the prototype. The survey was divided into four constructs: expectation, ease of navigation, understanding, and satisfaction. There were 36 respondents, and the data were collected on a random basis. Based on the survey’s result, most users (90.28%) enjoyed the storytelling application. The storytelling prototype was developed using Adobe Animate Creative Cloud and has been distributed among the respondents randomly. The analysis was conducted to determine the findings, limitations, and recommendations for future project improvement based on the results obtained. This study’s outcome is the complete production of storytelling application, which is creative and interactive with ISGS

Synthesis, characterisation and evaluation on the performance of ferrofluid for microplastic removal from synthetic and actual wastewater

Synthesis of ferrofluid without the addition of stabilizing agents or surfactants is an innovation of new method for microplastic removal. This study focuses on the ability of several types of oils as carriers and how they may improve the removal efficiency of the microplastic. The method is relatively low cost, simple and sustainable. The formation of ferrofluid involved the mixing of oil and iron oxide powder. The experimental work was commenced by adding 2 mm polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics into synthetic ferrofluid. Then, the removal efficiency of microplastics was examined by varying the elements of ferrofluid based on three specific parameters, namely type of oil, volume of oil and dosage of iron oxide to obtain a standard formulation of the optimum results. Overall findings of the study indicated that the optimum formulation for ferrofluid preparation was at a ratio of 1:2.5 (volume of oil: dosage of magnetite) using lubricating oil which has successfully removed 99% of microplastic from water media. Subsequently, the physical and chemical properties of the prepared ferrofluid were also analysed using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Performance evaluation of the prepared ferrofluid on actual wastewater (laundry wastewater) revealed that 64% of microplastics were removed after treatment

Partial discharge investigation on palm oil using needle – plane electrode configuration and electric field distribution using ANSYS Maxwell

The Partial Discharge Inception Voltage (PDIV) and PD characteristic of mineral oil were described and compared with palm oil. The test was performed by needle-plane electrode configurations. Both mineral- and palm oil were investigated under AC voltage. A comparison study between PDIV and PD activities of the mineral oil Hyrax and palm oil were investigated with the total volume of the oil in the test cell was approximately 2 L. The 50-μm tip radius of tungsten needle electrodes were utilized as high voltage electrode. On the other hand, the grounded electrode with 30-, 40-, and 50 mm gap distances was represented by a 50-mm and 75-mm diameter copper plane electrode. Consideration on the oil conditions' effect on both PDIV and PD characteristics was also carried out. It was clearly shown that PDIV is dependent on the electric field stress of the electrode system and the test method based on the experimental results. In comparison to differences of gap distance, the 50-μm needle tip radius and 75-mm plane with gap distance of 30-mm electrode revealed the highest electric field stress and inversely exhibited the lowest PDIV value tested. Furthermore, simulation using ANSYS Maxwell on the electric field distributions of the electrode systems was also performed. In order to quantify electric field based on the finite element methods the ANSYS Maxwell was being utilized. In the simulation, the palm oil and mineral oil properties of its 2D modelling test cell was used. From the results, the PD characteristics of mineral oil and palm oil tested by needle-plane electrode system are known. To confirm the suitability of palm oil as a high voltage insulating medium, it is vital to analyse in-depth on its partial discharge activity and characteristics

A time series analysis of the relationship between total area planted, palm oil price and production of Malaysian palm oil

Malaysia is a very well-known country in the oils and fats sector especially palm oil because it is the world’s biggest producer and exporter of the commodity. This study was conducted to analyze the relationship between total area planted and palm oil price with production of palm oil in terms of magnitude and direction using the time series analysis method. Johansen cointegration technique, error correction model and Granger causality tests were used to estimate those relationships. The findings showed that the total area planted and palm oil price have negative relationship towards production of Malaysian palm oil. On the other hand, there is no causality relationship between total area planted and production of Malaysian palm oil in the short run. However, there is a unidirectional causality relationship between palm oil price and production of palm oil in Malaysia. For future recommendation, it is suggested that other researchers will supplement this research by integrating other factors that might affect the production of palm oil such as climate change and geographical area

How do Environmental Quality and Technology Affect Public Debt in Indonesia? A Time Series Analysis

In recent years, Indonesia has grappled with a notable surge in public debt, underscoring the urgency of prudent fiscal management. This study employs the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) method to investigate the long-term connections between key variables, including gross domestic product, gross domestic investment, gross domestic savings, carbon emissions, and technology, using data from 1990 to 2020. Our findings reveal a significant and negative association between savings and environmental degradation with Indonesia's public debt. These insights bear substantial policy implications, emphasizing the importance of integrating environmental considerations into economic planning and suggesting that the banking sector could enhance fiscal stability by incentivizing increased savings rates. This study provides valuable guidance for policymakers and economists seeking to foster Indonesia's economic resilience in the face of mounting public debt

CHARACTERISATION OF ENDOPHYTIC BACTERIA FROM NAM-NAM PLANTS (Cynometra cauliflora) FOR ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY AND PRODUCTION OF PLANT GROWTH PROMOTING FACTORS

Plant-beneficial microorganisms also known as endophytes colonize the inside healthy tissues of living plants and form mutualistic relationships with them. Endophytes are important components of the plant microbiome and give a variety of benefits to their hosts. Nam-Nam plant (Cynometra cauliflora), is an indigenous tree to Peninsular Malaysia with various medicinal properties. This study aimed to isolate and characterize endophytic bacteria from different parts of Nam-Nam plants such as leaves, stems, and roots. The ethyl acetate extracts from the endophytic bacteria were tested for their antibacterial activity against 7 bacterial pathogens. Plant growth promotion traits including starch hydrolysis, phosphate solubilization, nitrogen fixation, and indole-3 acetic acid (IAA) production were screened among the endophytic bacteria isolates. Molecular identification by 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed for isolates with good antibacterial activity and plant growth promotion traits. A total of 33 endophytic bacteria comprising 27 Gram-negative and 6 Gram-positive bacteria were isolated. The antibacterial activity was demonstrated by 7 isolates in which R1L3 and TKL2 extracts exhibited significant activity against Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, and Proteus vulgaris. Production of IAA was exhibited by 15 isolates wherein R1S4 produced the highest IAA (20.62 µg/mL). Analysis of the 16S gene sequence revealed that RIR2, TKS2/R1L3, and R1S4/R1S5 belonged to Methylobacterium radiotolerans, Mycobacteroides abscessus, and Sphingomonas sp, respectively. The findings from this study showed that NamNam plants harbored endophytic isolates with the potential to be established as a source of natural compounds that can be used to develop new anti-infection agents in the future. This is the first study to report on antibacterial activity and IAA production by endophytic bacteria from the Nam-Nam plants

Characterisation of endophytic bacteria from Nam-Nam plants (Cynometra cauliflora) for antibacterial activity and production of plant growth promoting factors

Plant-beneficial microorganisms also known as endophytes colonize the inside healthy tissues of living plants and form mutualistic relationships with them. Endophytes are important components of the plant microbiome and give a variety of benefits to their hosts. Nam-Nam plant (Cynometra cauliflora), is an indigenous tree to Peninsular Malaysia with various medicinal properties. This study aimed to isolate and characterize endophytic bacteria from different parts of Nam-Nam plants such as leaves, stems, and roots. The ethyl acetate extracts from the endophytic bacteria were tested for their antibacterial activity against 7 bacterial pathogens. Plant growth promotion traits including starch hydrolysis, phosphate solubilization, nitrogen fixation, and indole-3 acetic acid (IAA) production were screened among the endophytic bacteria isolates. Molecular identification by 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed for isolates with good antibacterial activity and plant growth promotion traits. A total of 33 endophytic bacteria comprising 27 Gram-negative and 6 Gram-positive bacteria were isolated. The antibacterial activity was demonstrated by 7 isolates in which R1L3 and TKL2 extracts exhibited significant activity against Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, and Proteus vulgaris. Production of IAA was exhibited by 15 isolates wherein R1S4 produced the highest IAA (20.62 μg/mL). Analysis of the 16S gene sequence revealed that RIR2, TKS2/R1L3, and R1S4/R1S5 belonged to Methylobacterium radiotolerans, Mycobacteroides abscessus, and Sphingomonas sp, respectively. The findings from this study showed that Nam-Nam plants harbored endophytic isolates with the potential to be established as a source of natural compounds that can be used to develop new anti-infection agents in the future. This is the first study to report on antibacterial activity and IAA production by endophytic bacteria from the Nam-Nam plants

Characterisation of endophytic bacteria from Nam-Nam plants (Cynometra cauliflora) for antibacterial activity and production of plant growth promoting factors

Plant-beneficial microorganisms also known as endophytes colonize the inside healthy tissues of living plants and form mutualistic relationships with them. Endophytes are important components of the plant microbiome and give a variety of benefits to their hosts. Nam-Nam plant (Cynometra cauliflora), is an indigenous tree to Peninsular Malaysia with various medicinal properties. This study aimed to isolate and characterize endophytic bacteria from different parts of Nam-Nam plants such as leaves, stems, and roots. The ethyl acetate extracts from the endophytic bacteria were tested for their antibacterial activity against 7 bacterial pathogens. Plant growth promotion traits including starch hydrolysis, phosphate solubilization, nitrogen fixation, and indole-3 acetic acid (IAA) production were screened among the endophytic bacteria isolates. Molecular identification by 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed for isolates with good antibacterial activity and plant growth promotion traits. A total of 33 endophytic bacteria comprising 27 Gram-negative and 6 Gram-positive bacteria were isolated. The antibacterial activity was demonstrated by 7 isolates in which R1L3 and TKL2 extracts exhibited significant activity against Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, and Proteus vulgaris. Production of IAA was exhibited by 15 isolates wherein R1S4 produced the highest IAA (20.62 μg/mL). Analysis of the 16S gene sequence revealed that RIR2, TKS2/R1L3, and R1S4/R1S5 belonged to Methylobacterium radiotolerans, Mycobacteroides abscessus, and Sphingomonas sp, respectively. The findings from this study showed that Nam-Nam plants harbored endophytic isolates with the potential to be established as a source of natural compounds that can be used to develop new anti-infection agents in the future. This is the first study to report on antibacterial activity and IAA production by endophytic bacteria from the Nam-Nam plants