A framework of school classroom facilities for improving students’ attendance and academic achievement

Facility management has become a major issue in any organisation as it affects the organisation’s performance. The aim of this study is to develop a framework of school classroom facilities and how it influence students’ attendance and academic achievement. The research objectives are to identify the key performance indicators for school classroom facilities, to determine the relationships between school classroom facilities performance and students’ attendance and academic achievement, to determine the components of indicators for school classroom facilities and to develop a framework of school classroom facility for improving students’ attendance and academic achievement. A mixed method approach was adopted in the research. A questionnaire survey was distributed to 200 students in secondary school around Johor which is to achieve the first objective of the research. Using the results from first survey, a second questionnaire survey was conducted to achieve the second objective of the research. The questionnaire survey was distributed to 405 students in secondary schools around Johor. Interviews were conducted to 22 respondents consisting of school teachers, officers in the Education Department and staff and engineers in the Public Works Department to determine the third objective of the research. The contents of the interviews were analysed using content analysis through Nvivo software. The results from the analysis contributed to the development of a framework of school classroom facilities for improving students’ attendance and academic achievement. The proposed framework consists of three levels of performance indicators, including key performance indicators, their indicators and their components. The key performance indicators that have the most influence of the students’ attendance and academic achievement are ventilation, temperature and classroom design

Gene expression analysis of the concomitant existence of lymphovascular and perineural invasion in colorectal cancer

The invasion of cancer cells into the peritumoral, lymph node and perineural system could be detrimental on cancer patients. In colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, the presence of lymphovascular (LVI) and/or perineural (PNI) invasion could significantly influence on the survival rates, treatment options and recurrence tendencies. To date, no study has analyzed the molecular profile of the concomitant existence of LVI and PNI in CRC. Here, we reanalyzed The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) CRC datasets and focused on cases where the information regarding LVI and PNI are available (n=176). We performed differential gene expression, methylation and microRNA analysis by comparing the groups having both or either LVI and PNI with the control group (LVI negative and PNI negative). Although there was no significant difference in the methylation and miRNA profiles, we identified a number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The comparison between the LVI+PNI+ and LVI-PNI- groups revealed key DEGs including SFTA2, PHACTR3, CRABP2, ODZ3, GRP, HAP1, CSDC2, TMEM59L and HDAC9. Meanwhile, in the LVI-PNI+ vs LVI-PNI- group, some of the DEGs found were PTPRR, EFNA2, FGF20, IGFL4, METRN and IGFBPL1. We believe that this study could be beneficial and add value to further understand the complex molecular profiles of CRC

The development of the key performance indicators for school classroom facilities

The performance of facilities in the school environment has an impact on student learning performance. Towards improving the facilities performance, the identification of the relevant indicators for school facilities is necessary. This paper presents the initial study of identifying the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the school classroom facilities. It begins with the identification of the key performance indicators (KPIs) for classroom facilities based on general indicators gathered from the literature review. Apart of discussion on questionnaire development, it discusses the results of the survey. Respondents’ backgrounds, the descriptive analysis results regarding the students’ opinions of classroom facilities, and the KPI ranking for classroom facilities are among the main focus of the analysis. These KPIs could be used as a guide to improve the FM performance in schools. An improvement in FM performance will, in turn, enhance the performance of the facilities provided

miR-205 in situ expression and localization in head and neck tumors - a tissue array study

Background: microRNAs are small non-coding RNA that control gene expression by mRNA degradation or translational inhibition. These molecules are known to play essential roles in many biological and physiological processes. miR-205 may be differentially expressed in head and neck cancers; however, there are conflicting data and localization of expression has yet to be determined. Materials and Methods: miR-205 expression was investigated in 48 cases of inflammatory, benign and malignant tumor tissue array of the neck, oronasopharynx,larynx and salivary glands by Locked Nucleic Acid in situ hybridization (LNA-ISH) technology. Results: miR-205 expression was significantly differentially expressed across all of the inflammatory, benign and malignant tumor tissues of the neck. A significant increase in miR-205 staining intensity (p<0.05) was observed from inflammation to benign and malignant tumors in head and neck tissue array, suggesting that miR-205 could be a biomarker to differentiate between cancer and non-cancer tissues. Conclusions: LNA-ISH revealed that miR-205 exhibited significant differential cytoplasmic and nuclear staining among inflammation, benign and malignant tumors of head and neck. miR-205 was not only exclusively expressed in squamous epithelial malignancy. This study offers information and a basis for a comprehensive study of the role of miR-205 that may be useful as a biomarker and/or therapeutic target in head and neck tumors

miRNAs and lncRNAs as Predictive Biomarkers of Response to FOLFOX Therapy in Colorectal Cancer

Chemotherapy is one of the options for cancer treatment. FOLFOX is one of the widely used chemotherapeutic regimens used to treat primarily colorectal cancer and other cancers as well. However, the emergence of chemo-resistance clones during cancer treatment has become a critical challenge in the clinical setting. It is crucial to identify the potential biomarkers and therapeutics targets which could lead to an improvement in the success rate of the proposed therapies. Since non-coding RNAs have been known to be important players in the cellular system, the interest in their functional roles has intensified. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) as regulators at the post-transcriptional level could be very promising to provide insights in overcoming chemo-resistance to FOLFOX. Hence, this mini review attempts to summarize the potential of ncRNAs correlating with chemo-sensitivity/resistance to FOLFOX

Differential microRNA expression and identification of putative miRNA targets and pathways in head and neck cancers.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that involved in various cancer-related cellular processes. Diverse studies on expression profiling of miRNAs have been performed and the data showed that some miRNAs are up-regulated or down-regulated in cancer. Until now, there are no data published on the miRNA expression in head and neck cancers from Malaysia. Hence, this study aimed to investigate potentially crucial miRNAs in head and neck cancer patients from Malaysian populations. A global miRNA profiling was performed on 12 samples of head and neck cancer tissue using microarray analysis followed by validation using real-time RT-PCR Microarray analysis identified 10 miRNAs that could distinguish malignant head and neck cancer lesions from normal tissues; 7 miRNAs (hsa-miR-181a-2*, hsa-miR-29b-1*, hsa-miR-181a, hsa-miR-181b, hsa-miR-744, hsa-miR-1271 and hsa-miR-221*) were up-regulated while 3 miRNAs (hsa-miR-141, hsa-miR-95 and hsa-miR-101) were down-regulated. These miRNAs may contribute in a simple profiling strategy to identify individuals at higher risk of developing head and neck cancers, thus helping in the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms involved in head and neck cancer pathogenesis

E-commerce in the Malaysian real estate agency industry

Advances in Information and Communications Technology have revolutionised the ways of doing business in the real estate industry. However, scarce literature on real estate agency Internet adoption, particularly in Malaysia limits understanding on the extent of applications and implications of Internet on real estate agency business activities. Thus, this study aims to investigate how real estate agencies in Malaysia adopt Internet strategy, focusing on websites, in their business activities. Questionnaires were distributed to 21 registered real estate agencies in Johor Bahru to obtain information on the firm’s background, use and impact of websites on the firms’ business. Analysis results showed active participation and utilisation of Internet by Malaysian real estate agency firms. Websites were used as a platform to promote the company’s brand and property listings to the prospective buyers. There was a positive relationship between website and sale generation with number of website visitors being an important factor in sales generation. Consumers concern for information security remained a major barrier in the real estate business. The findings of this study enhances understanding on website use and impact in the real estate agencies business. Further study may explore other types of Internet strategy such as emails and social media

Oversupply causes of double storey terrace houses in Johor Bahru

Malaysia is currently facing an increasing problem in housing oversupply with Johor holding the second largest share in the nation’s oversupply stocks. Thus, this paper investigates the factors affecting housing oversupply in Johor, focusing on double terrace houses in Johor Bahru. The first objective reviews the causes of housing oversupply. The second objective evaluates the level of influence of factors on double storey terrace house oversupply in Johor Bahru. Questionnaires are distributed to 21 real estate agents in Johor Bahru to obtain their views on the housing oversupply factors. The level of influence of housing oversupply factors are ranked based on mean score. The study observes that housing unaffordability caused by expensive house prices and tight lending conditions strongly influence the housing oversupply in Johor Bahru. Thus, all parties in the property sector must work together to improve the buyers’ housing affordability to reduce housing oversupply in Johor Bahru. The findings of the study guides the developers, planners, policy makers and financial institutions in making property planning and financing decisions. Future research may attempt to investigate factors influencing the oversupply of other housing types or extend the study area to allow further understanding on housing oversupply problems in Malaysia

Comparison on energy saving: green roof and green wall

Green building conveys undeniably numerous benefits to the environment, social and economic aspects. The most substantial benefit of green building is energy conservation. Green roofs and green walls are amongs the green components that are synonymous with green building. These green components are similar in nature as both are based on the concept of vegetation coverage on buildings. Vegetation is a well-known natural medium that performs the photosynthesis process where it releases molecular oxygen and removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Many studies have proved that these two green components are efficient in reducing energy consumption of a building. Therefore, this study aims to examine and compare the annual energy savings conveyed by green roofs and green walls on residential buildings in Malaysia. The findings indicated that green walls provide greater annual energy savings than green roofs. The result shows that green walls are able to provide higher annual electricity savings for residential buildings at RM166 compared to green roofs, which provide savings of only RM13