HCI practice in Malaysia : a reflection of ICT professionals' perspective

Although Human Computer Interaction (HCI) has been practiced by Western countries over the last 40 years, very little is known about how HCI is being incorporated in Malaysian practices. We undertook a 12-week ethnographical study aimed at revealing HCI perceptions at different managerial levels in Information and Communication Technology (ICT)departments and agencies in Malaysia. We describe and discuss the factor that either drive or impede technology managers towards HCI awareness, based on the nature of ICT-related/ software development in Malaysia. The result of the study indicates that the developers and corporations' overall perception of HCI is influenced by their national and organizational culture. The lack of emphasis on usable interface design and scarce information regarding user studies and evaluation are major concerns.Within this context of developing countries, the difficulty of creating HCI awareness and adopting usability may be due to the complexity of the government's bureaucracy system. We suggest that stakeholders and policy markers such as the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC)and the Malaysian Administrative Modernization and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU)are more relevant in influencing and/ or reinforcing the incorporation of JCI in the workplace and enhancing the usability of the products and software created in the organization at the managerial level

Multilingual multimodal integration of sketch and speech: A generic speech representation model for spatial description

This paper details how multiple languages are accommodated in the multimodal integration of sketch and speech, specifically, in spatial applications. The study encompasses English, Malay, Mandarin, and two under-resourced languages in Malaysia, i.e. Melanau and Iban. The preliminary study revealed that not all spatial terms (prepositions) appear in all languages. Based on these findings, we propose a method to assist in the design and development of multilingual multimodal applications. This method employs a generic representation model for spatial description

Algorithm for the cliticization of context dependent pronouns in Pashto language

The replacement of strong pronouns with counterpart weak pronouns (Citics) is an important task in the translation of Pashto into other languages by computer before anaphora resolution can take place. Repetition of proper nouns and common nouns is not a good way in a language.Instead of it, pronouns are used in most languages but in Pashto language weak pronouns are mostly used in context dependent text.Especially in poetry often clitics are used instead of strong pronouns.The presence of clitics and strong pronouns at the same time in Pashto language complicates anaphora resolution. Replacing strong pronouns with clitics makes the text very simple and efficient.In Pashto, some pronouns are context free and some are context dependent.Context free pronouns can be replaced with clitics using simple rules that encompass a single sentence in which the pronoun itself occurs.Replacement of context dependent strong pronouns with corresponding clitics involves syntactic agreement across single or multiple clauses. In this paper, an algorithm is presented for the cliticization of context dependent strong pronouns which backtracks to previous adjacent clause(s) to replace context dependent strong pronoun with clitics using syntactic constraints

Sustainable remote and rural eco-tourism: Applying a systemic, holistic, a interdisciplinary and participatory (Ship) approach

Long Lamai is a remote and rural Penan community in the interiors of Borneo in Sarawak, Malaysia. It is only accessible by either an 8-hour 4- wheel-drive on the logging road or an hour's flight via a 19-seater Twin Otter, and then a mandatory hour's river ride upriver. Long Lamai is being developed as an eco-tourism site, given the existence of natural attractions such as untouched flora and fauna, and the unique Penan's culture. A telecentre (which provides computing facilities and Internet connection via a satellite system, and using solar-power), was established in 2009. The management committee, which is running the telecentre, is also spearheading the use of ICTs in establishing Long Lamai as a tourist attraction and hence, to improve the socio-economic status. In addition to this, there are many aspects which need to be addressed, for example, the issues of environment, e-commerce, handicraft development, transportation, sourcing of food, sourcing of raw materials for the handicrafts, tour guiding, and development of tourism activities. One approach to the design and development of sustainable eco-tourism industry is by viewing the whole socio-economic transformation process as a complex system. The complex system comprises the various "sub-systems" such as those described above, e.g. environment, e-commerce, and handicraft development. All these subsystems interact and affect each other, and has to work effectively and efficiently together. To understand this complex system, we take the SHIP (systemic, holistic, interdisciplinary and participatory) approach. This paper thus details a study of Long Lamai as an eco-tourism site from the SHIP perspective

Classification of piper nigrum samples using machine learning techniques: A comparison

Pepper is a key export of the state of Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo). At present, processed pepper berries are graded manually. This process is time consuming and error prone as it is very much dependent on the experience of the pepper grader. To overcome these weaknesses, we propose an automated Pepper Grading System which employs image processing and machine learning using image features and moisture content data of the pepper berries. In this paper, we present our findings of using twenty machine learning algorithms to classify the pepper berries into its respective grades based on image features, which is part of our research work towards an automated Pepper Grading System. We found that Rotation Forest was the best classifie

FLT1 signaling in metastasis-associated macrophages activates an inflammatory signature that promotes breast cancer metastasis

Although the link between inflammation and cancer initiation is well established, its role in metastatic diseases, the primary cause of cancer deaths, has been poorly explored. Our previous studies identified a population of metastasis-associated macrophages (MAMs) recruited to the lung that promote tumor cell seeding and growth. Here we show that FMS-like tyrosine kinase 1 (Flt1, also known as VEGFR1) labels a subset of macrophages in human breast cancers that are significantly enriched in metastatic sites. In mouse models of breast cancer pulmonary metastasis, MAMs uniquely express FLT1. Using several genetic models, we show that macrophage FLT1 signaling is critical for metastasis. FLT1 inhibition does not affect MAM recruitment to metastatic lesions but regulates a set of inflammatory response genes, including colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF1), a central regulator of macrophage biology. Using a gain-of-function approach, we show that CSF1-mediated autocrine signaling in MAMs is downstream of FLT1 and can restore the tumor-promoting activity of FLT1-inhibited MAMs. Thus, CSF1 is epistatic to FLT1, establishing a link between FLT1 and inflammatory responses within breast tumor metastases. Importantly, FLT1 inhibition reduces tumor metastatic efficiency even after initial seeding, suggesting that these pathways represent therapeutic targets in metastatic disease

Designing Digital Solutions for Preserving Penan Sign Language: A Reflective Study

Oroo’ is a language of nomadic Penans in the rainforests of Borneo and the only way of asynchronous communication between nomadic groups in the forest journey. Like many other indigenous languages, the Oroo’ language is also facing imminent extinction. In this paper, we present the research process and reflections of a multidisciplinary community-based research project on digitalizing and preserving the Oroo’ sign language. As a methodology for project activities, we are employing Participatory Action Research in Software Development Methodology Augmentation (PRISMA). Preliminary results show a general interest in digital contents and a positive impact of the project activities. In this paper, we present scenario of a research project that is retooled to fit the need of communities, informing language revitalization efforts and assisting with the evolution of community-based research design

A Holistic Ecosystem for Rural mHealth Applications and Lesson Learnt

Delivering mHealth applications requires a mHealth ecosystem and this paper will present the development of an ecosystem of mHealth applications to be deployed at remote and rural villages that do not enjoy the same health benefits as in urban areas. Some evidence was found to indicate advantages of mHealth applications in supporting healthy living and wellness behavioural change among the people. The fundamental principle of an ecosystem is to enhance the participation of all the stakeholders and to understand the big picture of the work process holistically. The stakeholders include developers, telecommunication providers, patients, caregivers, healthcare providers, the Ministry of Health and other government sectors. It is important to balance the commercial interests and the peoples’ needs. For the last decade, commercialised mHealth applications are increasingly available to target heterogeneous audiences and address specific health needs. With that, research interest in mHealth is also increasing together with the complexity of the ecosystems that impact all the stakeholders. We will present the development of protocols and privacy from lessons learnt to increase the effectiveness of mHealth in practice and to allow better understanding for future development and employment. We have also conducted a pilot participatory study at four telecentres at rural areas in Malaysia using commercialised mHealth systems