Is there evidence of polarisation in Malaysia? An application of Wolfson's polarisation index

This paper examines income distribution and the question of polarisation in Malaysia. Wolfson (1994, 1997) has shown that inequality measures such as the Gini index are unable to capture changes in the share of income held by the middle-income group. Thus, analysis that examines only the inequality aspect of an income distribution might have missed relevant aspects of how the distribution of income has really changed. Wolfson (1994) suggests that when examining a distribution of income, measures related to polarisation should be included. Therefore, besides investigating the question of how income is distributed, there is a need to investigate the question of polarisation, which is a new aspect that has emerged in the discussion of income inequality in recent literature. This question appears to be an aspect of distributional change that has been neglected in the study of income distribution in Malaysia. Here, the analysis on the question of polarisation is done by employing polarisation index that has been proposed by Wolfson (1994). The data used in this study is the Malaysian Family Life Survey (MFLS) data

Income inequality in Malaysia: a decomposition analysis by income sources

This paper examines the contribution of inequality in income sources to total inequality in Malaysia using the Malaysian Family Life Survey (MFLS) data. Two measures of inequality are calculated - the Shorrock's and Gini indices of inequality. Both inequality indices are decomposed to its various income sources contribution to total inequality. The results show that a large portion of the total inequality in Malaysia was attributable to labour income, i.e. paid and self-employment. The contribution of capital and transfer incomes (i.e. rent, interest and dividends as well as pensions and EPF) to total inequality appeared to be relatively small. Nonetheless, its contribution has increased. The large contribution of paid and self-employment to total inequality was not because these sources were the most unequally distributed sources, but rather due to their importance in total household income. The results also show that income from rent, interest and dividends was found to have a consistently unequalising effect on inequality. The decomposition analysis highlighted the importance of reducing inequality in paid employment, self-employment, as well as rent, interest and dividends as the best strategy to reduce income inequality in Malaysia

The Effect of Mobile Banking on the Performance of Commercial Banks in Nigeria

Today, commercial banks are confronted with challenges that range from debt crises to the tight competition in the market. Customers\u27 impatience has increased considerably as they are more knowledgeable than before. Thus, the introduction of mobile services in the banking industry has added to the challenges facing commercial banks as they have to embrace the new technology or lose business. Mobile banking in Nigeria has completely transformed the banking industry and any commercial bank operating in Nigeria can only ignore that fact at its own risk. This study, therefore, aims to investigate the mobile banking effects on Commercial Banks financial performance in Nigeria. Simple random techniques were employed in this study in selecting 22 commercial banks. To facilitate the obtaining of relevant data that was used for analysis in this study, a structured questionnaire was used. Descriptive statistics involving simple graphical charts was applied in the presentation and analysis of data. The study, therefore, concludes that mobile banking positively and significantly affects the financial performance of commercial banks in Nigeria. The study recommends that commercial banks should keep adopting and using mobile banking in their operations because the number of people with access to a mobile handset is increasing every day

The Impact of Microfinance Institution on Development of Small and Medium Enterprises: a Case Study of Lagos State

The major target of this study is to evaluate the effect of Microfinance Institution (MFIs) on the development of SMEs (Small and medium enterprises) in Lagos state Nigeria. Simple random techniques of sampling were employed in this study in selecting 70 SMEs which constituted the size of the sample of the research. To facilitate the obtaining of relevant data that was used for analysis in this study, a structured questionnaire was designed. Descriptive statistics involving simple graphical charts and tables were strategically applied in presentation and analysis of data. The outcome of the findings indicates that a large number of SMEs are benefiting from the loans granted by the MFIs, despite the fact that few of them have sufficient ability to secure the needed amount. Interestingly, most of the SMEs admit positive MFIs loans contribution towards advancing their market share, the economic competitive advantage of the company and achieving market excellence through product innovation

Noise control in air conditioning system

An air conditioning system cools air within an area. An air conditioner controller defines information based on input data from door and window open status sensors and a return air monitor sensing the dry bulb temperature and the wet bulb temperature or relative humidity of the air within the area being cooled by the air conditioning system and shuts down the system when specific conditions exist. The defined information is transmitted to a remote host device which retains and presents the transmitted information or information derived therefrom. The air conditioning system usually will produce some noise especially in bigger unit such as chiller unit. There are ways to control the noise in order to give comfort to everybody

Evaluation of moringa oleifera aqueous extract for antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities in animal models.

Moringa oleifera L. (Moringaceae) is known to possess high nutritional value and is used in a folklore medicine to treat various ailments related to pain and inflammation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antinoCICeptive and anti-inflammatory effects of the aqueous extract of the leaves of M. oleifera in laboratory animals, using the writhing, hot-plate and formalin tests as the antinoCICeptive assays, and carrageenan-induced paw edema test as the anti-inflammatory assay. The extract (10, 30 and 100 mg/kg) exhibited significant (P < 0.05) antinoCICeptive activity, which occurred in a dose-dependent manner, in all tests used. The extract also exhibited significant (P < 0.05) anti-inflammatory activity in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, the extract antinoCICeptive activity was suggested to be modulated via opioid receptors at the central, but not peripheral, antinoCICeptive level, based on the ability of 5 mg/kg naloxone to reverse the extract activity in the hot-plate, but not the writhing test. In conclusion, M. oleifera leaves possess peripherally non-opioid mediated and centrally opioid mediated antinoCICeptive and anti-inflammtory activities. This study also confirms the traditional uses of M. oleifera in the treatment of ailments, particularly those related to pain and inflammation

Artificial Intelligence and Archive Management on Malaysia National Archive’s Uncaptioned Photos Collection: Accuracy findings comparison based on clustering algorithms

In the realm of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and archive management, the central objective revolves around the autonomous extraction of valuable insights, patterns, and actionable information from extensive datasets. The AI technologies play a pivotal role in this context, leveraging advanced algorithms and computational capabilities to efficiently analyze and interpret archived data. The integration of AI within archive management systems enhances the organization, retrieval, and preservation of historical records, while also offering the capability to uncover hidden knowledge and trends. These advancements underscore the vital synergy between AI and archive management, revolutionising how National archive of Malaysia could harness their uncaptioned photos to provide some insight out of the photos for improved decision-making and historical preservation. The findings show that that the accuracy of adopted algorithms K-Means at 83.3%, Mean Shift at 78.0%, and Gaussian Mixture stood at 80.3% accuracy rate respectively

In vitro cytotoxic and antioxidant properties of the aqueous, chloroform and methanol extracts of Dicranopteris linearis leaves

The in vitro cytotoxic and antioxidant properties of the aqueous, chloroform and methanol extracts of the Dicranopteris linearis leaves were investigated in the present study. The cytotoxic effect was determined against the normal (3T3) and cancer cells’ lines (MCF-7, HeLa, HT-29, HL-60, K-562 and MDA-MB-231) using the 3,(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) (MTT) assay, while the antioxidant activity was assessed using the DPPH radical and superoxide scavenging assays. Based on the results obtained, the aqueous extract was not effective against any of the types of cancer cells studied; the chloroform extract was effective only against MCF-7 and HeLa; and the methanol extract was effective against all the cancer cells used. Interestingly, all extracts failed to produce cytotoxic effect against the 3T3 cells (normal cell) indicating their safety. All extracts (20, 100 and 500 mg/ml) were found to exert antioxidant activity when tested using the DPPH radical and superoxide scavenging assays; with the methanol, followed by the aqueous and chloroform extracts exhibiting the highest antioxidant activity in both assays. The total phenolic content for the aqueous, methanol and chloroform extracts were 3112.1 ± 6.7, 3417.3 ± 4.7 and 1012.7 ± 5.3 mg/100 g gallic acid, respectively. In conclusion, the leaves of D. linearis possess potential cytotoxic activity against various types of cancer cell lines depending on the types of extracts used and antioxidant activity, which need to be further explored