Forensic profiling of heroin seized from northern region of Malaysia

A strategic location connecting the Golden Triangle or Afghanistan has prompted Malaysia as a transit hub for trafficking activities of illicit drugs. An increasing source of illicit heroin, originating from these regions, has been transhipped to other parts of Asia and also Oceania countries. Therefore, forensic drug profiling could provide useful information on the trafficking routes and the origin of drugs for intelligence purpose. This study is aimed at establishing the possible relationship among the heroin samples seized from different sources for predicting the trafficking network of illicit heroin in northern region of Malaysia. One hundred and fifty-five seized heroin samples were examined physically to determine their colours and texture. Colour tests, namely Marquis, Foerhde, Janovsky dan Simon’s were used for screening purposes. Subsequently, all seized drug samples were analysed using three analytical techniques, namely Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infra-red spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionisation Detection (GC-FID) and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The analytical results were subjected to chemometric procedures for chemical profiling and subsequently cluster the seized heroin samples into possible groups. In this study, physical examination showed the appearance of four different colours and three varying textures among the seized samples. The positive reactions on Marquis and Foerdhe Reagents have shown the potential presence of opiate related substances, including heroin. An optimised and validated GC-FID method was used to analyse the samples. The method allowed rapid analysis of heroin samples within approximately 12 minutes per run, thus enabled simple, precise and accurate analysis in highthroughput procedure often encountered in Narcotic Laboratory. The presence of heroin was confirmed by using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. Additional to GC analysis, ICP-MS has enabled the quantitation of trace elements in the seized samples. Trace elements present in seized heroin samples could be due to contamination from processing methods, cooking utensils and chemicals used during cutting and packaging process. Results of FTIR analysis were subjected to principal component analysis that revealed the formation of four different clusters of illicit heroin, namely samples of high purity, samples cut with polysaccharide and caffeine, as well as samples of very low purity. Hierarchy Cluster Analysis following the FTIR analysis allows the discrimination of drug samples into ten subclusters with the possibility of attributing similar refining process or cutting pattern during drug trafficking. In general, heroin samples seized from central regions of Malaysia gave significantly different profiles, separating them from those obtained in northern region. Chemometrics are good exploratory methods to extract information about the origin of seized heroin sample and their distribution chains. This comparative information offers beneficial forensic intelligence to help establish the existence of different clusters of trafficking network

Pembinaan ujian tahap saiz kosa kata Arab

Antara masalah yang dihadapi oleh pelajar bahasa kedua ialah penguasaan tahap saiz kosa kata. Tujuan kajian rintis ini adalah untuk membina dan menentukan penguasaan tahap saiz kosa kata Arab. Ujian tersebut akan digunakan untuk mengenal pasti tahap saiz kosa kata Arab. Metodologi kajian melibatkan proses pembinaan ujian, proses pemurnian item ujian serta proses penyiasatan kebolehpercayaan serta kesahan ujian. Sampel kajian terdiri daripada 30 orang pelajar pra universiti di sebuah sekolah menengah agama di Temerloh, Pahang. Kajian ini memilih untuk melalui proses ujian ketekalan dalaman bagi melihat pekali kebolehpercayaannya iaitu nilai korelasi antara uji dan ulang uji (test retest), nilai alfa Cronbach dan nilai Cohen Kappa. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa nilai korelasi adalah tinggi iaitu 0.84, pekali alfa Cronbach adalah tinggi iaitu 0.89 manakala pekali Cohen Kappa juga tinggi, iaitu 0.95. Bukti kesahan isi kandungan telah didapati daripada penyemakan oleh panel pakar. Implikasi hasil kajian ini adalah ujian tersebut boleh digunakan untuk mengenal pasti penguasaan saiz kosa kata Arab kerana ujian ini memenuhi kriteria ciri psikometri kebolehpercayaan dan kesahan

Epistimologi ilmu dalam Islam : asas falsafah pengurusan ilmu dan maklumat / Yaacob Yusoff Awang and Mohd Zafian Mohd Zawawi

Artikel ini cuba menyorot aspek epistimologi (salah satu dari aspek falsafah) dalam konteks dan kaitannya dengan pengurusan maklumat dan ilmu. la akan menyentuh beberapa persoalan seperti aspek takrif dan kosmologi ilmu dan maklumat sebagaimana dipersepsikan oleh kedua-dua tradisi Barat dan Islam. Ini disusuli dengan persoalan sumber ilmu dan maklumat, jenis-jenis, hairarki serta konsep kewajipan belajar dalam konteks pendidikan. Dengan asas-asas itu, artikel ini menyusul untuk melihat bagaimana ciri-ciri penting profesionalisme dalam pengurusan maklumat dari perspektif keagamaan. Tradisi Islam dikemukakan bersama analisis temporal (semasa) dari sudut pengurusan tersebut. Beberapa jalan keluar dari kemelut isu semasa dicadangkan dengan mengambil kira teori semasa dalam pengurusan maklumat itu. Artikel ini diharap boleh memperkukuhkan tradisi ilmu dan maklumat yang memungkinkan pengurusannya membantu pencapaian status kebijaksanaan (wisdom) bagi seseorang pemilik maklumat dan ilmu

Teknik pengajaran kemahiran bertutur Bahasa Arab di SMKA di Malaysia

Kurikulum bahasa meletakkan kemahiran bertutur sebagai komponen penting.Penguasaan kemahiran ini adalah satu aspek penting yang menentukan kejayaan pengajaran dan pembelajaran bahasa kedua atau bahasa asing. Ia berperanan sebagai penanda aras (benchmark) kejayaan penguasaan sesuatu bahasa. Kajian eksplorasi ini dapat meneroka teknik pengajaran kemahiran bertutur yang menjadi amalan guru bahasa Arab di Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama (SMKA) di Malaysia. Ia bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti teknik yang kerap dilakukan oleh guru dan memastikan adakah teknik yang menjadi amalan guru menyokong pendekatan komunikatif yang menjadi asas pembinaan Kurikulum Bahasa Arab (KBA). Kajian ini menggunakan dua set soal selidik sebagai instrumen kajian yang melibatkan 73 orang guru SMKA yang melaksanakan kurikulum bahasa Arab dan 1371 orang pelajar dari 16 buah SMKA yang dibahagikan mengikut empat zon. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan guru lebih banyak menggunakan teknik pengajaran yang memerlukan respon terus dan ringkas seperti penggunaan teknik soal jawab dan teknik dengar tutur. Manakala teknik-teknik lain kurang dilakukan oleh guru seperti teknik gantian, penukaran, berteriak, latihan pengembangan, latihan betul salah, latihan lanjutan, lakonan dan karangan berangkap. Penggunaan teknik yang memerlukan respon ringkas dan terus menghadkan peluang pelajar berkomunikasi dan secara tidak langsung berperanan sebagai penghalang proses mengfungsikan bahasa untuk komunikasi. Aspek dorongan dan peluang berkomunikasi menggunakan bahasa yang dipelajari adalah prinsip utama pengajaran kemahiran bertutur berasaskan kepada pendekatan komunikatif. Keadaan ini menunjukkan pengajaran dan pembelajaran bahasa Arab di Malaysia tidak menepati ciri pengajaran komunikatif seperti yang dimuatkan dalam KBA

Leadership And Motivational : Air Asia / Mohd Khairul Anuar Yusoff ...[et al.]

Founded in 2001, AA started its business journey as a low cost air carrier in Malaysia .Over the last four years, AA has experienced a sensational financial growth from RM 86 million debts (March 2000) to RM 161 million credit (September 2004) as shown in company financial report. By the year 2005, AA already had 16 modern Boeing 737 jets. They have been operating in six countries and serving more than five million customers. The leading low fare airline in the Asia - AirAsia has been expanding rapidly since 2001, to become an award winning and the largest low cost carrier in Asia. With a fleet of 72 aircrafts, AirAsia flies to over 61 domestic and international destinations with 108 routes, and operates over 400 flights daily from hubs located in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. To date, AirAsia has flown over 55 million guests across the regio

MDMA and the Brain: A Short Review on the Role of Neurotransmitters in Neurotoxicit

N-Methyl-3, 4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDMA), or ecstasy is a recreational drug of abuse. It is a synthetic substance that affects the body’s systems, which its mechanism of action and treatment should be more investigated. MDMA provides an immediate enjoyable feeling by stimulating the release of neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and serotonin in the brain. Unfortunately, abnormal regulation of the brain neurotransmitters, as well as the increased oxidative stress causes damage to the brain neurons after the MDMA exposure. Only a few studies have been done regarding its treatment. Thus, the treatment of MDMA complications should be further explored mainly by targeting its mechanism of action in the neurotransmitter systems. Hence, this study presents a short review regarding the recent findings on the role of neurotransmitters to cause MDMA neurotoxicity. The results will be useful for future research in elucidating the potential treatment based on the targeted mechanisms to treat the neurotoxic effects of MDMA