Environmental management system and financial performance

The paper aims to explore the relationship between ISO 14001 certification and a company's financial performance to investigate whether the certification to ISO 14001 environmental management standard has benefited the company's financial performance or not. Using Malaysia as the research context, the results of a linear regression analysis show that firms with above-average performance have a greater tendency to pursue ISO 14001 certification. The findings also indicate that there is a significant relationship between ISO14001 certification and a company's financial performance in an emerging economy context. The reason is the adoption of ISO 14001 standard does offers many benefits to companies, such as greater reputation and brand awareness on one hand, and higher sales and investors' confidence on the other. The ISO 14001 certification helps to develop a better system which leads to costs reduction and revenue increase in the long run

Stock return, currency and general elections

The association between political elections and stock market performance for Malaysia market is discussed in this paper. This study aims to investigate the impact of General Elections in Malaysia on stock market indices. To provide additional support of the impact of general elections on stock returns through other channels, currency changes were also included in this study so as to discover the mediation effect of the exchange rate on the relationship between general elections and stock returns. Since the exchange rate does, to some extent, influence stock return, the relationship between exchange rates and stock returns during different stages of a general election cannot be overlooked. The results showed that currency change is negatively related with stock returns in pre-election and post election stages, but it is not significant during the election period. The impact of currency on stock return exists as a mediation effect during election period. In a nutshell, the currency change directly impacts stock return with a negative influence. However, the direct relationship between currency and stock return disappears during the election week. Thus, stock return is affected by currency change indirectly

Elevated activated partial thromboplastin time-based clot waveform analysis markers have strong positive association with acute venous thromboembolism

Introduction: A hypercoagulable state is a predisposition for venous thromboembolism (VTE). The activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT)-based clot waveform analysis (CWA) is a global haemostatic measure but its role in assessment of hypercoagulability and thrombotic disorders is uncertain. We aimed to study the changes of CWA parameters in acute VTE. We hypothesized that patients with acute VTE would demonstrate higher CWA values than control patients without VTE and having elevated CWA parameters is associated with acute VTE. Materials and methods: Clot waveform analysis data from patients (N = 45) with objectively proven acute VTE who had an aPTT performed prior to initiation of anticoagulation were compared with controls (N = 111). The CWA parameters measured were min1, min2, max2 and delta change. Results: While the mean aPTT between VTE patients and controls did not differ (P = 0.830), the mean CWA parameters were significantly higher among VTE patients than controls (min1, P < 0.001; min2, P = 0.001; max2, P = 0.002; delta change, P < 0.001). There were significantly more cases within the VTE group exhibiting CWA values above their reference intervals than the control group (all P < 0.001), with the odds ratios for VTE of 8.0, 5.2, 4.8 and 18.6 for min1, min2, max2 and delta change, respectively (all P < 0.001). Conclusions: Patients with acute VTE had elevated aPTT-based CWA parameters than controls. Higher CWA parameters were significantly associated with acute VTE

The relationship between board characteristics and firm financial performance in Malaysia

Corporate governance has drawn attention of investors and government after the incidence of financial crisis world- wide since the late 90’s. Despite that reforms of corporate governance have been in place in Malaysia, voluntary disclosure of corporate governance has yet to proof its impact on the financial performance of the companies. This study examines the relationship between corporate governance attributes and firm financial performance in Malaysia. The relationship between board characteristics (board tenure, board size and CEO duality) were analyzed to investigate their correlation with firm financial performances. A total of 100 public listed companies were randomly selected from Bursa Malaysia for the year 2009 to 2013. Random effect panel data regression was obtained by using Stata. This study finds that board size, board tenure were significant to Return on Equity (ROE) and Return on Assets (ROA). However, firm size has no significant relationship with firm financial performance. It is recommended that apart from including more variables as controlling effects on firm financial performance and examining few industries as sample, it is also good to examine the correlation between board characteristics and corporate governance variables (foreign listings, equity analysis, external auditors, leverage ratios, dividend policy, etc.) on one hand, and ownership structures on the other hand, that have significant impact on firm financial performance

Using online multiple choice questions with multiple attempts: A case for self-directed learning among tertiary students

Criticisms on multiple choice questions (MCQs) include the possibility of students answering MCQs correctly by guessing, and MCQs generally are said to fall short in cultivating independent learning skills, such as taking charge of their learning goals. Countering these common concerns, this research used online MCQ exercises with multiple attempts to investigate the experiences that drove students to become self-directed learners. In this research, 60 students completed two sets of online MCQ exercises with multiple attempts outside of classroom time for six weeks consecutively. Both focus group interviews and an online survey were conducted to investigate the experiences of using online MCQ exercise with multiple attempts in relation to the development of self-directed learning (SDL). The findings of the study showed that the criticisms may be unfounded. Data leads to the conclusion that the majority of the students do not just try to guess at the correct answers. Rather, many of them attempted the online MCQ exercises more than once to improve themselves indicating that they were interested in self-learning. Students also reported that they utilised search and inquiry skills that clearly showed motivated initiatives to plan how to overcome their weaknesses by independently looking for relevant resources, determine their own learning goals, and evaluate their own learning performance as a firm indicator of SDL development. Based on the findings, this study is able to refute the claim that MCQs are unable to cultivate independent learning skills

NAIL: An evolutionarily conserved lncRNA essential for licensing coordinated activation of p38 and NFκB in colitis

Akıncılar SC, Wu L, NG QF, et al., NAIL: an evolutionarily conserved lncRNA essential for licensing coordinated activation of p38 and NFκB in colitis. Gut Published Online First: 25 November 2020. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2020-32298

Variable-heavy (VH) families influencing IgA1&2 engagement to the antigen, FcαRI and superantigen proteins G, A, and L

Interest in IgA as an alternative antibody format has increased over the years with much remaining to be investigated in relation to interactions with immune cells. Considering the recent whole antibody investigations showing significant distal effects between the variable (V) and constant (C)- regions that can be mitigated by the hinge regions of both human IgA subtypes A1 and A2, we performed an in-depth mechanistic investigation using a panel of 28 IgA1s and A2s of both Trastuzumab and Pertuzumab models. FcαRI binding were found to be mitigated by the differing glycosylation patterns in IgA1 and 2 with contributions from the CDRs. On their interactions with antigen-Her2 and superantigens PpL, SpG and SpA, PpL was found to sterically hinder Her2 antigen binding with unexpected findings of IgAs binding SpG at the CH2-3 region alongside SpA interacting with IgAs at the CH1. Although the VH3 framework (FWR) is commonly used in CDR grafting, we found the VH1 framework (FWR) to be a possible alternative when grafting IgA1 and 2 owing to its stronger binding to antigen Her2 and weaker interactions to superantigen Protein L and A. These findings lay the foundation to understanding the interactions between IgAs and microbial superantigens, and also guide the engineering of IgAs for future antibody applications and targeting of superantigen-producing microbes

Rare B Decays with a HyperCP Particle of Spin One

In light of recent experimental information from the CLEO, BaBar, KTeV, and Belle collaborations, we investigate some consequences of the possibility that a light spin-one particle is responsible for the three Sigma^+ -> p mu^+ mu^- events observed by the HyperCP experiment. In particular, allowing the new particle to have both vector and axial-vector couplings to ordinary fermions, we systematically study its contributions to various processes involving b-flavored mesons, including B-Bbar mixing as well as leptonic, inclusive, and exclusive B decays. Using the latest experimental data, we extract bounds on its couplings and subsequently estimate upper limits for the branching ratios of a number of B decays with the new particle. This can serve to guide experimental searches for the particle in order to help confirm or refute its existence.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures; discussion on spin-0 case modified, few errors corrected, main conclusions unchange

Prevalence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in different clinical stages before the national COVID-19 vaccination programme in Malaysia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

More than 1.75 million COVID-19 infections and 16 thousand associated deaths have been reported in Malaysia. A meta-analysis on the prevalence of COVID-19 in different clinical stages before the National COVID-19 Vaccination Program in Malaysia is still lacking. To address this, the disease severity of a total of 215 admitted COVID-19 patients was initially recorded in the early phase of this study, and the data were later pooled into a meta-analysis with the aim of providing insight into the prevalence of COVID-19 in 5 different clinical stages during the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. We have conducted a systematic literature search using PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and two preprint databases (bioRxiv and medRxiv) for relevant studies with specified inclusion and exclusion criteria. The quality assessment for the included studies was performed using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. The heterogeneity was examined with an I2 index and a Q-test. Funnel plots and Egger’s tests were performed to determine publication bias in this meta-analysis. Overall, 5 studies with 6375 patients were included, and the pooled prevalence rates in this meta-analysis were calculated using a random-effect model. The highest prevalence of COVID-19 in Malaysia was observed in Stage 2 cases (32.0%), followed by Stage 1 (27.8%), Stage 3 (17.1%), Stage 4 (7.6%), and Stage 5 (3.4%). About two-thirds of the number of cases have at least one morbidity, with the highest percentage of hypertension (66.7%), obesity (55.5%), or diabetes mellitus (33.3%) in Stage 5 patients. In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggested a high prevalence of COVID-19 occurred in Stage 2. The prevalence rate in Stage 5 appeared to be the lowest among COVID-19 patients before implementing the vaccination program in Malaysia. These meta-analysis data are critically useful for designing screening and vaccination programs and improving disease management in the country