Information technology and cost efficiency in Malaysian banking industry

It is argued that information technology can increase cost efficiency of banks by offering opportunities to substitute across inputs into production – for example, to substitute computer technology and information networks for labor. Hence, the transition to a knowledge-based financial sector would lead to banks becoming more competitive, more cost effective and better able in managing risks. As such, those banks that failed to make this transition are less able to compete as they lack the capability to innovate and face higher delivery costs. The main objectives of this paper are to determine the impact of IT on banking efficiency and its economies of scale using a sample of Malaysian banks. To achieve these objectives, stochastic cost frontier method is employed to estimate bank efficiency and panel data approach were used to examine the impact of IT on bank efficiency. The results indicate that the impact of IT on bank efficiency increases with increase in bank size, hence further supporting the process of bank mergers that are currently undertaken in the Malaysian banking industry

Information tehnology and cost efficiency in Malaysian banking industry

It is argued that information technology can increase cost efficiency of banks by offering opportunities to substitute across inputs into production – for example, to substitute computer technology and information networks for labor. Hence, the transition to a knowledge-based financial sector would lead to banks becoming more competitive, more cost effective and better able in managing risks. As such, those banks that failed to make this transition are less able to compete as they lack the capability to innovate and face higher delivery costs. The main objectives of this paper are to determine the impact of IT on banking efficiency and its economies of scale using a sample of Malaysian banks. To achieve these objectives, stochastic cost frontier method is employed to estimate bank efficiency and panel data approach were used to examine the impact of IT on bank efficiency. The results indicate that the impact of IT on bank efficiency increases with increase in bank size, hence further supporting the process of bank mergers that are currently undertaken in the Malaysian banking industry

The Vital Bridge Transforming Postgraduate Nurse Education And Employability To Employment

Today’s universities are constantly looking for a competitive edge in delivering a postgraduate nurse curriculum with a positive outcome of future employability and employment. In this respect, Monash University Malaysia is no different since market differentiation is important for the survival of Private Institutions of Higher Learning in Malaysia. Currently, some Malaysian public and private universities do offer specific postgraduate courses in advanced clinical skills nurse practice which have been accredited by Malaysia Qualifications Agency and recognized by both Ministry of Higher Education as well as Ministry of Health. In addition to that, the Nurses Board Malaysia, also consider the postgraduate courses that are currently offered to be too generic with very little application of theory to practice in the clinical healthcare settings. In view of the gap that exists in the present postgraduate courses, this paper would critically examine the preliminary market information gathered on the requirements of higher educational needs of nurses in Malaysia. The future development of an appropriate higher education course, “the vital bridge”, is in the planning stage. It is expected to be both vigor and relevant to today’s Malaysian nurses’ employability and employment

Accessing hotel responsiveness towards guest's email query: cases in Malaysia

Information Technology (IT) has given tremendous positive effects in hospitality industry. It’s the most powerful weapon for hoteliers in order to stay competitive nowadays. One of the examples of technology that hit the hospitality world is e-mail. This study focused on three to five star hotels listed by the Ministry of Culture, Arts & Tourism of Malaysia that provide e-mail as a medium of communication and internet activity for its online patrons. Actual e-mail was sent to hotels asking for room availability, special room rate and facilities at the hotel. The implementation of technology in relation to customer service which is guest’s e-mail queries still remains unknown although technology initiation can be considered successful among hotels in Malaysia. As hoteliers, do they answer the guest’s e-mail queries promptly, politely and professionally

Characteristics and performance of aerobic granular sludge for domestic wastewater treatment at 30°C

This study investigates the formation of AGS for domestic wastewater treatment applications in hot climate and low humidity conditions (e.g. Arab Saudi) as well as to characterize its performance in removal of nutrients and organic matter. AGS (seeded with domestic sludge from Al-Madina Wastewater Treatment Plant and fed with synthetic wastewater) with an organic loading rate (OLR) of 1.6 kg COD m3d was successfully cultivated with average size of 1-2 mm in lab scaled SBR operated at 30 days with complete cycle time of 3 h at 30 ± 1°C. Results shown the AGS formed had excellent settling ability (average diameter settling velocity, and MLSS) and exceptional performance in COD and nutrient removal with removal efficiency more than 90%

Cultivation and characteristics of aerobic granular sludge for simultaneous organics and nutrients removal performances at high temperature

With inoculum sludge from a conventional activated sludge wastewater treatment plant, a sequencing batch reactor fed with synthetic wastewater was operated at 50 ± 1 °C to study the formation of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) for simultaneous organics and nutrients removal with a complete cycle time of 3 h. The AGS were successfully cultivated with excellent settling ability and demonstrated exceptional performance in the organics and nutrients removal with influent loading rate and COD/N ratio of 1.6 kg COD (L.d)-1 and 8.3, respectively. Stable, regular, dense and fast settling granule (average diameter, 2.0 mm and settling velocity, 26 m h-1) were developed in a single reactor. In addition, 76% COD removal efficiency was observed in the system at the maturation stage of the granulation, while its ammonia and total phosphorus removal efficiencies were up to 88% and 69%, respectively. The study demonstrated the capabilities of AGS formation in a single, high and slender column type-bioreactor at high temperature which is suitable to be applied for hot climate and low humidity condition (e.g. Saudi Arabia)

Triglyceride to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio is an independent predictor of liver fibrosis among pediatrics non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

BackgroundInsulin resistance (IR), one of the key components of the metabolic syndrome, is recognized as the pathophysiological hallmark of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This study aims to investigate the relationship between surrogate markers of IR and the severity of NAFLD among overweight or obese children.MethodologyA total of 56 consecutive children aged 6 to 18 years old were recruited from the pediatric obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) clinic in University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) from 2016 to 2019. Data on anthropometric measurements, clinical components of metabolic syndrome and fasting serum insulin were collected. Triglyceride to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (TG: HDL-C), Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) and Single Point Insulin Sensitivity Estimator (SPISE) were calculated. Transient elastography was performed with hepatic steatosis and liver fibrosis assessed by controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) and liver stiffness measurement (LSM), respectively.ResultsA total of 44 children (78.6%) had liver steatosis and 35.7% had presence of significant liver fibrosis (stage F≥2). Majority (89.3%) are obese and 24 children (42.9%) were diagnosed with metabolic syndrome. Higher number of children with T2DM and significant liver fibrosis were associated with higher tertiles of TG: HDL-C ratio (p<0.05). Top tertile of TG: HDL-C ratio was an independent predictor of liver fibrosis (OR=8.14, 95%CI: 1.24–53.36, p=0.029). ROC analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of HOMA-IR (0.77) and TG: HDL-C ratio (0.71) were greater than that of metabolic syndrome (0.70), T2DM (0.62) and SPISE (0.22). The optimal cut-off values of HOMA-IR and TG: HDL-C ratio for detecting liver fibrosis among children with NAFLD are 5.20 and 1.58, respectively.ConclusionChildren with NAFLD and higher TG: HDL-C ratio are more likely to have liver fibrosis. TG: HDL-C ratio is a promising tool to risk stratify those with NAFLD who are at risk of developing advanced liver disease

Development and characteristics of aerobic granular sludge at 40°C

This study is conducted to develop aerobic granular sludge (AGS) for domestic wastewater treatment application in a hot climate and low humidity condition such as for Middle East countries e.g. Saudi Arabia and to investigate the performance of the granular sludge in organic matter and nutrient removal by using sequencing batch reactor (SBR). The operation of the reactor was based on the SBR system with a complete cycle time of 3 hours (5 min of feeding, 140 min of aeration, 15 to 30 min of settling, 5 min of discharging and 3 min idling) and operated at 1.6 g COD / L.d organic loading rate. Granular sludge was developed at temperature 40ºC in 30 days operation by using synthetic wastewater as the influent. Result showed that developed granular sludge had good settling ability with average size of the granules was found to be 1.03 to 2.42 mm. Meanwhile, the removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) and total phosphorus (TP) are 87.31%, 91.93% and 61.25%. The study shows AGS can be developed at high temperature and capable to treat organics and nutrients present in domestic wastewater at hot climates and low humidity condition

Aerobic sludge granulation at high temperature-low humidity for domestic wastewater treatment

With inoculum sludge from a conventional activated sludge wastewater treatment plant, a sequencing batch reactor fed with domestic wastewater was operated at 50 ± 1 "C and pH 7 ±, to study the formation of aerobic granular sludge (AGS)for simultaneous organics and nutrients removal with a complete cycle time of 3 h. The AGS were successfully cultivated with excellent settling ability and demonstrated exceptional performance in the organics and nutrients removal with influent loading rate and CO/N ratio of 1.6 kg COD (L..d ):' and 8.3, respectively. Stable, regular, dense and fast settling granule (average diameter, 1.5 mm; settling velocity, 33 m h': and sludge volume index, 22.3 mL g-l) were developed in a single reactor. In addition, 96.5% COD removal efficiency was ob served in the system at the maturation stage of the granulation, while its ammonia and total nitrogen removal efficiencies were up to 94.7% and 89.4%, respectively. The study demonstrated the capabilities of AGS formation in a single, high and slender column type-bioreactor at high temperature which suitable to be applied for hot climate and low humidity countries (e.g. Saudi Arabia)