The factors that influence the reading habit among Malaysian: a systematic literature review

Reading is an action that a person does to obtain a wider knowledge through his or her experience and this process may lead that person into a very eye-opening self-discovery. In Malaysia, reading habits rate is still at a lower level, Malaysian on average read only two books per year. About 80% of Malaysian university students are reluctant readers. They can read but choose not to read. Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify the factors affecting the reading habit among Malaysia. To answer the research question of this study we performed a systematic literature review (SLR). We defined a mapping study process adapted from existing guidelines to categorize and to structure the research evidence that has been published in the area of reading habits among Malaysian and world-wide. Twenty-Four papers were used in our synthesis of evidence, and five factors were identified. The results of this SLR showed the five factors that can affect the reading habits among Malaysian: (1) Internet (2) Environmental influence (3) Lack of motivation (4) Peer pressure (5) Entertainment. The findings of this SLR would be beneficial for understanding the needs of Malaysian towards the reading habit by looking at the factors, that might be a measurement of reading habit environment in other specific scopes

Problematic social media use: results from a large-scale nationally representative adolescent sample

Despite social media use being one of the most popular activities among adolescents, prevalence estimates among teenage samples of social media (problematic) use are lacking in the field. The present study surveyed a nationally representative Hungarian sample comprising 5,961 adolescents as part of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD). Using the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) and based on latent profile analysis, 4.5% of the adolescents belonged to the at-risk group, and reported low self-esteem, high level of depression symptoms, and elevated social media use. Results also demonstrated that BSMAS has appropriate psychometric properties. It is concluded that adolescents at-risk of problematic social media use should be targeted by school-based prevention and intervention programs

The impact of Islamic banking on the cost efficiency and productivity change of Malaysian commercial banks

This study employs Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) to analyse Malaysian commercial banks during 1996-2002, and particularly focuses on determining the impact of Islamic banking on performance. We derive both net and gross efficiency estimates, thereby demonstrating that differences in operating characteristics explain much of the difference in costs between Malaysian banks. We also decompose productivity change into efficiency, technical, and scale change using a generalized Malmquist productivity index. On average, Malaysian banks experience moderate scale economies and annual productivity change of 2.68%, with the latter driven primarily by Technical Change (TC), which has declined over time. Our gross efficiency estimates suggest that Islamic banking is associated with higher input requirements. However, our productivity estimates indicate that full-fledged Islamic banks have overcome some of these cost disadvantages with rapid TC, although this is not the case for conventional banks operating Islamic windows. Merged banks are found to have higher input usage and lower productivity change, suggesting that bank mergers have not contributed positively to bank performance. Finally, our results suggest that while the East Asian financial crisis had a short-term cost-reducing effect in 1998, the crisis triggered a long-lasting negative impact by increasing the volume of nonperforming loans.

Cost and profit efficiency of conventional and Islamic banks in GCC countries

Banking, Cost efficiency, Profit efficiency, Islamic banks, Stochastic frontier approach, GCC countries, C30, G21,

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background: Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods: This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was coprioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low-middle-income countries. Results: In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of 'single-use' consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low-middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion: This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high- and low-middle-income countries