The principle of integration in International Sustainable Development Law (ISDL) with reference to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)

The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) does not explicitly refer to sustainable development despite the fact that other United Nations (UN) disarmament documents prescribe that international environmental law principles and sustainable development be considered among arms control agreements.This study’s objective is to utilize the principle of integration’s three components of environmental, economic, and social development, as found in the International Sustainable Development Law (ISDL) from the New Delhi Declaration (Delhi Declaration) of Principles of International Law Relating to Sustainable Development, in order to evaluate whether the BWC contains such components; thereby, making it possible for the BWC to contribute to sustainable development. The methodology of this study is necessarily qualitative, given that it is a socio-legal research that relies on international agreements such as the BWC, declarations, resolutions, plans of implementation, other non-binding documents of the UN, and secondary resources—all of which are analyzed through a document analysis. The results show that the BWC addresses the environment (Article II), prohibits transfers relating to export controls, international trade, and economic development (Article III), while at the same time, covering social development concerns, health, and diseases that make up the international social law (Article X). Since the BWC is found to be capable of contributing to sustainable development, it is concluded that ISDL cannot be restricted to international environmental, economic, and social law, but should be expanded to include international arms control law

Swimming against the tide in STEM education and gender equality: a problem of recruitment or retention in Malaysia

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is acknowledged as one of the key drivers of technological innovation. Malaysian women join the educational pipeline as equals to their male counterparts. Nevertheless, women are persistently under-represented in technology and engineering, but over-represented in other STEM fields. Using data provided by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education, our results suggest that under-representation of women in engineering was attributed to low recruitment at the point of entry. Such a finding thus begs the question as to why women were not recruited into engineering. Malaysian policymakers and educators need to address under-representation of women in order to achieve gender equality in STEM, as part of the goals of Millennium Development and Vision 2020; to become a nation that is competent, confident and innovative in harnessing and advancing science and technology

Addressing procedural challenges of ethical review system: Towards a better ethical quality of clinical trials review in Malaysia

The review of clinical trials with human participants in Malaysia is governed by a decentralized control system. The clinical trial protocols are reviewed by 13 registered research ethics committees (RECs) in Malaysia. A governmental body, the National Pharmaceutical Control Bureau, is responsible for the inspection and oversight of these registered RECs to ensure that they comply with the regulatory requirements. However, this study highlights that each REC in Malaysia has a different standard operating procedure and ethical review process. Other procedural challenges identified include inadequate membership, poor mechanism for research monitoring after ethical approval, and insufficient resources. Establishments of a national standard of REC and a central ethics committee are suggested to ensure procedural compliance in the oversight of clinical trials in Malaysia. While there is a growing concern that procedural compliance may not have a direct impact on the protection of human subjects, our key point is that an ethical review system compliant with the national standards could serve as a strong framework to support and enhance the ethical quality of decision-making and judgement. We believe that being aware of how influential procedural compliance can be would help committees improve the ethical quality of their research review

Kesan Kelesuan Akademik Terhadap Pencapaian Skolastik di Peringkat Pendidikan Tinggi

Kelesuan akademik adalah keadaan psikologi yang buruk dan menyebabkan tekanan yang kronik di kalangan pelajar. Kajian ini dilakukan untuk mengenal pasti dimensi kelesuan akademik yang dominan (Keletihan emosi, Rasa pencapaian peribadi berkurang, dan Depersonalisasi) dalam mempengaruhi pencapaian skolastik pelajar di Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Kampus Kota Bharu. Sebanyak 282 pelajar yang mendaftar pada tahun kedua dan ketiga dipilih sebagai sampel kajian secara pensampelan berstrata. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa lebih daripada separuh pelajar didapati mengalami tekanan akademik, yang membawa kepada tahap gejala kelesuan akademik yang tinggi. Terdapat juga perbezaan yang signifikan dalam tahap kelesuan akademik yang dihadapi antara pelajar lelaki dan wanita. Hasil kajian juga menunjukkan pemboleh ubah keletihan emosi yang memberikan sumbangan yang signifikan terhadap pencapaian skolastik pelajar. Kajian ini memberikan gambaran kepada pihak pengurusan dan pembuat dasar untuk menangani masalah gejala kelesuan akademik di kalangan pelajar dalam pendidikan tinggi dengan berkesan