Determinants of academics’ knowledge sharing behavior in United Arab Emirates Universities

This research aims to determine the factors affecting knowledge sharing behavior among academics in United Arab Emirates universities and identify the effect of university type on academics’ behavior. The research adopted Ajzen’s amended Theory of Planned Behavior. Employing an online survey, data were collected from academics in public and private universities using a questionnaire. The model was tested using Partial Least Squares structural equation modeling. The results found a significant difference in academics’ knowledge sharing behavior between public and private universities. Results also revealed that intention is the main determinant of knowledge sharing behavior, and that attitude, subjective norms, and self-efficacy have significant influence on intention while controllability has no influence on it. The significance of this research lies in that it is one of the first to use the amended theory and the only research to address knowledge sharing behavior in higher education in the Arab World. This research provides useful basis for higher education institutions to create a knowledge sharing culture and helps academics to enhance their performance

Determinants of knowledge sharing behaviour among academics in United Arab Emirates

The main objectives of this research are to (i) investigate the practice of knowledge sharing among academics, and (ii) examine the relationship between knowledge sharing behaviour and its predictors based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Data were collected through an online survey using a questionnaire from academics in public universities. Using SPSS and PLS-SEM, data analysis process involved (i) analysis of descriptive statistics to evaluate knowledge sharing practice, (ii) assessment of the measurement model to evaluate items reliability and validity, and (iii) assessment of the structural model to evaluate its validity, path coefficients, and test the hypotheses. The results showed a great extent of knowledge sharing practice. They proved that academics’ knowledge sharing behaviour is significantly influenced by intention, which is influenced by attitude, subjective norms, and self-efficacy. Contrary to the theory, the results showed that controllability does not influence intention

An anomalous pattern of superficial branch of radial nerve - a Cadaveric case report

In the present case study, there is an anomalous pattern of superficial branch of radial nerve (SBRN) that can be recognized as an anatomical variant of the left upper limb of a 60 years old donated embalmed male cadaver in the Department of Human Anatomy, Universiti Putra Malaysia, in which the superficial branch of radial nerve supplies the extensor carpi radialis longus and extensor carpi radialis brevis muscle. The superficial branch of radial nerve gave off branch to supply the proximal fusion part of extensor carpi radialis longus and extensor carpi radialis brevis muscles immediately after bifurcation of the radial nerve into the superficial branch of radial nerve and deep branch of radial nerve. This variation is very important to the surgeon as the presence of the variant will make them more careful in dealing with nerve entrapment surgery, reconstructive surgery and in the pain management services, the variation giving indications for treatment

Malaysian PBL Approaches: Shaping World-Class TVET Skills towards IR 4.0

An Industrial Revolution 4.0 promoted by Malaysian government entitles the rapid growth of manufacturing sector thus promotes a multi-level of workforce and skilled work force needed to satisfy the rapid technological development application. The challenges arise on preparing the individuals to meet with the current business at adequate skills level and the student need to be prepared in such way satisfied the business expectations. Looking into this situation, this paper aims to study the concept of correlation between active learning method known as Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Method and required employability skills in TVET. As an initiative to enrich the future opportunity on empowering TVET skills, this study assumes that there is positive relationship between employability skills and PBL approaches in improving student’s quality and skills. The method of study involves documentation analysis on previous research to proves the importance of employability skills in enhancing student’s competencies and the effectiveness of Problem-Based Learning Method in preparing the students to meet the expectations. The main findings of this study claimed that there was a positive relationship between employability skills and PBL learning method. Result acknowledge that PBL has the ingredients to help develop employability skills and student’s behavior. Through PBL, students learn to become more associates in the teaching and learning processes as they take responsibility throughout the learning process. It would suggest that the educational institution should emphasize the needs of the industry and students by creating awareness and guiding the students in self-analysis and in acquisition of skills

Support Vector Machine Based on Adaptive Acceleration Particle Swarm Optimization

Existing face recognition methods utilize particle swarm optimizer (PSO) and opposition based particle swarm optimizer (OPSO) to optimize the parameters of SVM. However, the utilization of random values in the velocity calculation decreases the performance of these techniques; that is, during the velocity computation, we normally use random values for the acceleration coefficients and this creates randomness in the solution. To address this problem, an adaptive acceleration particle swarm optimization (AAPSO) technique is proposed. To evaluate our proposed method, we employ both face and iris recognition based on AAPSO with SVM (AAPSO-SVM). In the face and iris recognition systems, performance is evaluated using two human face databases, YALE and CASIA, and the UBiris dataset. In this method, we initially perform feature extraction and then recognition on the extracted features. In the recognition process, the extracted features are used for SVM training and testing. During the training and testing, the SVM parameters are optimized with the AAPSO technique, and in AAPSO, the acceleration coefficients are computed using the particle fitness values. The parameters in SVM, which are optimized by AAPSO, perform efficiently for both face and iris recognition. A comparative analysis between our proposed AAPSO-SVM and the PSO-SVM technique is presented

In-situ Measurement of Pedestrian Outdoor Thermal Comfort in Universities Campus of Malaysia

The present study is intended to evaluate an outdoor thermal comfort at two universities campus in Malaysia. Field measurement and questionnaire survey were conducted simultaneously to assess the microclimatic condition and pedestrian thermal sensation. A total of 3033 samples were collected at seven different sky view factor (SVF) values that range from 0.2 to 0.9. The physiological equivalent temperature (PET) was estimated to evaluate outdoor thermal comfort. It was observed that at a highly shaded area (SVF < 0.35) the respondent’s thermal sensation vote (TSV) are neutral (> 25%), acceptable for thermal acceptance vote (TAV) (> 50%) and no change (> 50%) for thermal preference vote (TPV). For moderate shaded (0.35 ≤ SVF ≤ 0.70) TSV was voted as hot (> 25%), acceptable for TAV (40%), and prefer slightly cooler for TPV (>50%). For less shaded area (0.70 < SVF ≤ 1), TSV was voted as hot and very hot (> 25%), acceptable for TAV (>40%) and prefer slightly cooler for TPV (> 40%). Moreover, the PET value increases simultaneously with the increase of SVF. Results thus suggest that at any given activities such as sitting, walking, and standing also caused effects slightly on the way people thermally perceive it during the on-campus daytime

Metalotionein 1 daripada Eleusine indica L. memberikan toleransi terhadap logam berat dalam Escherichia coli

Metalotionein (MT) berpotensi besar dalam pemuliharaan alam sekitar disebabkan peranannya yang penting dalam metabolisme dan penyahtoksikan ion logam melalui proses pengkelatan ion logam. cDNA MT1 daripada Eleusine indica L. (eiMT1) telah diamplifikasi dan diekspreskan dalam Escherichia coli. Pengekspresan protein rekombinan diaruh menggunakan 1 mM IPTG pada 37°C selama 4 jam. Protein rekombinan dengan berat molekul 12 kDa telah diperoleh dan ditulenkan menggunakan dua kaedah penulenan iaitu kromatografi penukaran ion dan kromatografi penurasan gel. Analisis jujukan protein rekombinan telah mengesahkan bahawa protein eiMT yang diekspreskan mengandungi jujukan asid amino sebagaimana dijangkakan bagi protein yang dikodkan oleh cDNA eiMT1. Untuk menilai keupayaan protein eiMT ini memberikan toleransi terhadap logam berat bagi E. coli, sel bakteria yang ditransformasikan dengan plasmid yang membawa cDNA eiMT1 telah dikulturkan dalam media yang mengandungi ion tembaga (Cu), zink (Zn), besi (Fe), kromium (Cr) dan kadmium (Cd). Sel yang mengekspres eiMT didapati menunjukkan tahap pertumbuhan yang lebih tinggi berbanding sel jenis liar di dalam media yang mengandungi kesemua ion logam serta mampu bermandiri di dalam Cu, Zn, Fe dan Cr sehingga kepekatan 500 μM manakala bagi Cd sehingga kepekatan logam 400 μM. Hasil kajian ini menunjukkan bahawa eiMT membolehkan peningkatan toleransi sel E. coli terhadap logam berat dan memainkan peranan penting dalam menyingkirkan ion logam berlebihan. Hal ini mencadangkan bahawa eiMT juga kemungkinan mampu melakukan penyahtoksikan ion logam berlebihan dalam E. indica. Oleh itu, sel E. coli yang membawa cDNA eiMT di samping tumbuhan E. indica sendiri boleh diaplikasikan dalam proses remediasi dengan menyerap logam berat dalam persekitaran yang tercemar

Visualization of Academic Quality Assurance Metamodel Through the Creation of Academic Quality Assurance Metamodel Information System

Academic quality assurance metamodel information system (AQAMIS) is a mobile-web-friendly system designed to manage academic quality assurance (AQA) knowledge structure for higher education using the AQA metamodel structure. This research describes the development and functionality of AQAMIS, as well as how it visualizes the AQA metamodel on a system-based level. The AQAMIS system transformed the metamodel class diagram design into a user-friendly design, making it easier for any non-technical user to understand the metamodel design. The AQAMIS is composed of two major parts: the AQA metamodel and the knowledge repository system. The metamodel addresses the issue of managing knowledge for quality assurance in higher education. While the system resolves the issue of sharing best practices in higher education AQA. The AQAMIS system assists in ensuring that academic quality assurance systems are implemented more efficiently and effectively in higher learning institutions (HLIs). AQAMIS is also a one-stop center for respective users such as HLI top management, policymakers, auditors, and quality assurance personnel to access their expertise and share best practices in AQA endeavors