The impact of demographic factors toward customer loyalty: A study on credit card users / Ramli Saad...[et al.]

In today competitive, complex and dynamic environment of the banking industry, the very slight differences which exist in financial services and products together with an increasingly demanding customer have led to a great transformation in the industry. The traditional productoriented bank is becoming increasingly customer-oriented in accordance with the basic principles of relational marketing, which focuses on customer loyalty as its main goal (Gilmore,1997). Thus, the purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the extent to which demographics correlate with service loyalty focusing on credit card service. According to Naresh K. Malhotra (2003), convenience sampling attempts to obtain a sample of convenience elements. Taking this into consideration, sample of 200 respondents were randomly chosen in this survey which 150 respondents gave the feedback. Correlation Pearson test being used to determine the relationship between demographic factors (age, gender, income lc\·el, occupation and li!estylc) and customer loyalty. The result from hypotheses testing has shown that only income level having positive relationship with customer loyalty as compared to other four demographic factors. The evidence behind this statement is because of the value or r achieved in Pearson Correlation Test. The value or r for income factor was 0.223 while for the occupation factor; the r-value was result -0.163 and the rest age, gender and lifestyle do not influence much in the area of study. Thus, this finding is in line with what has been found by East (1995) indicated that shoppers who are more concerned about prices are less loyal, with high income groups being more loyal than low income groups

Identification of Nasonov Pheromones and the Effects of Synthetic Pheromones on the Clustering Activity of the Asiatic Honeybee (APis Cerana)

Worker bees from several Apis cerana colonies were sampled for identification ofNasonov secretions and their clustering activity in 1°esponse to different synthetic components of the swarming pheromones. Extraction of Nasonov gland secretion was canied (mt try three methods - Abdomen Dippingmethod, Excised Gland method and S)'ringe Extmction method - and its anal),sis was canied out b), Gas Liquid Chromatograph),. Nasonov components delected were (E)-citml, (Z)-citml and g~ranioL However, onl), (E)-citml and geraniol were quantified. The Abdoment Dipping method detected 20.0 ug per bee oj (E) -citral, whereas the Excised Gland method detected onl), 3.8 ug. Geraniol was onI)' detected try the latter technique at 2.5 ng Plff bee. (Z) -citral was detected in t·race amounts. The clustering experiments were conducted in a confined darkened room at room temperat1m. Chemical components, consisting of 9-oxo-2-decenoic acid designated as 9ODA, (E), (Z)-citral, geraniol, nerol andfarnesol, were tested either singly or in vmious combinations. Each component or mixtures of these componenls were adsorbed on afilterpaperplaced in alighted peifomted ca,.dboard cannister. Five cannislen were used in each tlial. Among the synthetic compon""ts tested, the (E), (Z) -citral was[oltnd to be most effective in attracting w01*er bees to fonn a cluster

Quality assurance in the development of open and distance learning materials at Open University Malaysia

This paper describes the development processes of printed modules at OUM, highlight some of the current strengths and describes some of the steps being taken to overcome any of the weaknesses

ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF AN ACRYLAMIDE-DEGRADING Burkholderia sp. STRAIN DR.Y27

 ABSTRACT Several local bacteria have been isolated from glyphosate-contaminated soils at various locations throughout Malaysia. Quantitative monitoring of acrylamide degradation was performed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) whilst bacterial growth was carried out by plate counting. The isolate was tentatively identified as Burkholderia sp. strain DR.Y27 based on carbon utilization profiles using Biolog GN plates and partial 16s rDNA molecular phylogeny. Highest growth was obtained at acrylamide concentrations of between 100 to 2000 mg L-1.  Complete degradation of 850 mg L-1 of acrylamide occurs after ten days of incubation with concomitant cell growth. The isolate grew optimally in between pH 6.0 and 8.0. The effect of incubation temperature on the growth of this isolate shows an optimum growth at 30°C. Glucose, lactose, maltose, fructose, mannitol, citric acid and sucrose at an initial concentration of 1.0% (w/v) supported growth with glucose being the best carbon source. Aliphatic amides such as 2-chloroacetamide, methacrylamide, nicotinamide, acrylamide, acetamide, propionamide and urea supported growth with increasing assimilative capability from 2-chloroacetamide to urea. The characteristics of this isolate suggest that it would be useful in the bioremediation of acrylamide.  Keywords:  isolation, characterization, acrylamide-degrading, Bacteriu

Perbandingan kurikulum sains pada masa kini dan kurikulum saintis di Zaman Kegemilangan Tamadun Islam

Kajian dilaksanakan bagi melihat perbandingan di antara kurikulum sains pada masa kini dan kurikulum saintis di Zaman Kegemilangan Tamadun Islam. Bagi mencapai tujuan tersebut, pengenalpastian dilakukan terhadap kelemahan dan kekuatan dari aspek penerapan nilai murni di dalam penggubalan kurikulum sains pada masa kini dan penerapan karakter nobel pada saintis Muslim di Zaman Kegemilangan Tamadun Islam. Seramai 6 orang pakar dan 2 buah sekolah menengah agama swasta telah dipilih sebagai responden. Instrumen yang digunakan terdiri daripada dokumen Kurikulum Sains KBSM, dokumen sorotan pendidikan saintis Muslim di Zaman Kegemilangan Islam dan soalan-soalan temu bual. Analisis kandungan dilakukan terhadap dokumen yang dipilih dan temu bual pula ditranskrip dan dianalisis menggunakan kaedah analisis kandugan. Hasil kajian mendapati terdapat persamaan dan perbezaan antara penerapan nilai murni yang terkandung di dalam Kurikulum Sains KBSM dan karakter nobel pada saintis Muslim. Persamaan yang didapati dari kajian ini adalah terdapat beberapa item nilai murni merupakan pecahan daripada karakter nobel berdasarkan objektif dan matlamat penerapan nilai murni tersebut yang mempunyai persamaan dengan karakter nobel pada saintis Muslim. Manakala perbezaan yang dapat dilihat daripada perbandingan ini adalah karakter nobel pada saintis Muslim lebih menjurus kepada ajaran Islam bagi melahirkan muslim yang berkeperibadian mulia berbanding nilai murni di dalam Kurikulum Sains KBSM yang lebih bersifat kebangsaan. Perbezaan lain yang diperolehi daripada kajian ini adalah kaedah pembentukan karakter nobel yang melalui kaedah berguru berbanding kaedah penerapan nilai murni yang dilaksanakan melalui aktiviti P&P dan kokurikulum di sekolah. Kajian ini diharapkan dapat memberikan implikasi kepada pakar penggubal kurikulum dalam mengenalpasti kekosongan dan kelemahan kurikulum sedia ada dari aspek penerapan nilai murni dan membantu pembentukan kurikulum yang lebih seimbang selaras dengan kehendak masa kini

Critical thinking from stem education and al-quran perspectives

There is a growing interest among educators and professionals in developing educational platforms in order to prepare students critical thinking skill in solving current problems. The integration between STEM Education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), which focusing on divergence skill and The Al-Quran, which emphasizes the appreciation of the servant to the greatness of Allah the Almighty, has the ability to position our country for global competitiveness as well as not to marginalize the glory of Allah through the appreciation of Al-Quran. The introduction of STEM education, which is increasingly gaining attention in the Malaysian education field, should not only cultivate problem-solving skills but also critical thinking skills in solving the problem in order to maintain the student's interest. Critical thinking in solving the problem is the skills that need to develop in order for a student to be able to face the world outside their classroom. Therefore, this paper tries to synthesize critical thinking in western perspectives through STEM education, critical thinking in Al-Quran perspectives and rationalize the link between critical thinking from Al-Quran and western perspectives in preparing the student with the most significant 21st century skills

Antioxidant activities of different aerial parts of putat (Barringtonia racemosa L.)

The antioxidant activities of methanolic, ethanolic and boiling water extracts of Barringtonia racemosa leaves, sticks, and barks were studied and their contents of total phenolics, flavonoids and carotenoids were measured. Methanolic extracts of aerial parts of the plant contained relatively higher levels of total phenolics than other extracts (leaf: 16.2 ± 0.02 mg gallic acid equivalent/g freeze dried-weight (FDW) tissue, stick: 29.9 ± 0.02 mg gallic acid equivalent/g FDW tissue, bark: 21.78 ± 0.20 mg gallic acid equivalent/g FDW tissue). The ethanolic extracts in aerial parts gave higher levels of total flavonoid (leaf: 38.55 ± 2.75 mg rutin/g FDW tissue, stick: 40.72 ± 5.91 mg rutin/g FDW tissue, bark: 68.29 ± 9.63 mg rutin/g FDW tissue). The amounts of β-carotene and lycopene were found higher in methanolic and ethanolic extracts of the leaf (342.2 ± 8.79 μg β-carotene/g FDW tissue, 77.38 ± 4.61μg lycopene/g freeze dried-weight tissue; 356.9 ± 0.93 μg β-carotene/g FDW tissue, 99.3 ± 5.29 μg lycopene/g FDW tissue,respectively). The methanolic and ethanolic extracts in all aerial parts tested exhibited very strong antioxidant properties when compared to butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), ascorbic acid and α-tocopherol in the free radical scavenging and reducing power assays

The Effect of Dosage and Storage Time on the Formation of Bound Residues in Paddy, Milled Rice and Maize

Stored unmilled rice (paddy), milled rice and maize treated with radiolabelled malathion formed bound 14C residues. After 3 months of storage, the bound residues in the grains treated with 10J.Lg/g malathion accounted for 10.8, 6.5 and 13.3% of the applied dose in paddy, rice and maize respectively. After 6 months, the corresponding values of bound residues were 14.2, 4 and 17.7% respectively. Increasing the dosage of malathion to 50J.lg/ g does not significantly increase the percentage of the bound residues formed. However, the absolute amount increased by more than 410ld in all the grains tested