Establishment of sugar palm (Arenga pinnata) shoot from zygotic embryo in MS medium sumpplemented with different concentrations of benzylaminopurine

Arenga pinnata is one of the potential crops which provide a great number of products such as ethanol, starch and fiber. This plant usually propagated by seed but its seed growth is unpredictable and may take more than one year to germinate. The study was conducted with aim to obtain plantlets through initiation of half matured fruits of sugar palm. Zygotic embryo obtained from fresh half matured fruits were directly excised and cultured into MS free-hormone medium and MS medium treatments supplemented with 6-benzylaminopurene (BAP) at concentrations 0.1, 0.5, and 3.0 mg/L. Zygotic embryo cultured on MS0 served as control treatment. The results of the study indicated that MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/L BAP shows no regeneration of explant, shoot and radicle after four weeks culture. However, although after 8 weeks culture 59.5% explant was regenerated with increased radicle size, but the shoot emergence was only observed after 24 weeks culture. Meanwhile, regeneration of zygotic embryos in MS medium hormone-free resulted in highest percentage of plantlets produced (90%) with production of one shoot, longest radicle (4.5 cm) and longest plantlet length (6.0cm) as compared with other treatments. In vitro seedling was successfully developed after 32 weeks culture

Audit lags in Scottish local authority financial reporting / Asmah Abdul Aziz and David Heald

Timeliness has been regularly identified as an essential characteristic of effective financial reporting, in both the public and private sectors. This paper systematically investigates the timeliness of Scottish local authority financial reports over the study period 1989-90 to 1995-96. It considers how audit lags can be measured and provides descriptive statistics, before setting out its empirical methodology. It innovates in terms of using Fixed Effects regressions and of then reformulating the problem in terms of non-compliance with externally imposed ceilings on audit lags, so that Logit regressions can be estimated. The regression results on audit lag provide a reasonably consistent picture, whether using OLS or Fixed Effects methodology. The auditing variables are shown to be important: audit lag increases when there is an audit qualification, when there is a change in auditor, and when the audit is done by the Accounts Commission (a public body), rather than a private auditor

Waqf management and administration in Malaysia: its implementation from the perspective of Islamic law / Mohd Afendi Mat Rani and Asmah Abdul Aziz

Endowment is one of the Islamic institutions that has existed since the time of Prophet Muhammad SAW. It serves as a catalyst for economic growth and development of the Muslims. Endowment is not only a ritual matter to Allah SWT but is also considered as an economic institution which benefits the Muslims. The management and administration of the waqf property is an important issue to be resolved in Malaysia. This article includes the discussion of the powers of a trustee of an endowment property in Malaysia. A number of legal obstacles and constraints that impeded efforts to develop waqf property in Malaysia are identified. Thus, the implementation of a waqf management must be aligned with the waqf legislation so that there is a continuity of the reward to the waqf donor through good governance and systematic procedures. The trustee who manages the waqf property is responsible to look after, preserve and develop the land that is donated in order to collect income which can be distributed to the recipient. Although the Religious Council is appointed as the sole trustee on the management of waqf in Malaysia, nevertheless, from the practical aspect, these assets are still subjected to various acts made by Parliament

The influence of governance structure on sustainability disclosure: empirical evidence from federal statutory bodies / Redvin Bilu, Asmah Abdul Aziz and Faizah Darus

The federal statutory bodies which were established to support and deliver the Federal Government objectives have the responsibility to ensure that their policies and activities are aligned with that of the government sustainable development agenda. The aim of this study is to examine the influence of board characteristics, namely the board size, women directors on board, and board designation on sustainability information disclosure by the federal statutory bodies in Malaysia. The release of sustainability information by federal statutory bodies provides an indication of their commitment towards sustainability issues. A sustainability disclosure index was used to examine 112 Malaysian federal statutory bodies’ websites for the year 2015. The agency theory was used to explain the relationships of the variables in this study. The overall results from the study revealed that the extent of sustainability information disclosed by Malaysian federal statutory bodies was still low. The results of the multiple regression analysis revealed that board designation had a significant positive influence on the disclosure of sustainability information by federal statutory bodies in Malaysia, suggesting that influential and reputable board members can put pressure on the management of federal statutory bodies to reveal their sustainability information to the public

THE VERACITY OF THE ERM IMPLEMENTATION: AN INTERNAL AUDITING PERSPECTIVE

The internal audit profession has become a focal point after the collapse of various giant corporations. The primary research objective of the study is to investigate the extent of the internal auditors’ roles in the implementation of the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). The primary data collection was through a questionnaire survey. The results of the hierarchical multiple regressions indicated that the degree of the internal auditors’ roles in the ERM could strengthen the relationship between the internal audit effectiveness and ERM implementation. The nature of the internal auditors’ involvement in the ERM implementation was consistent with the recommendations in the position paper on the role of internal auditors in the ERMInternal Audit Practices, Professional Practice Framework, ERM, Internal auditing, COSO ERM Framework

Analysis of external auditor reports on performance auditing of federal statutory bodies / Associate Professor Dr. Asmah Abdul Aziz, Mohd Faidzal Abu and Amal Hayati Aziz

The statutory body is required to comply with the government procedures such as the remuneration system, employment scheme and the operational policies. The audited annual accounts of statutory bodies and audit certificates issued by the Auditor General might be useful to keep an eye on the accountability functions hold by statutory bodies with the aim to reduce information costs and the problem between citizens and the government. This study examines the Auditor General‟s Report of selected statutory bodies in Malaysia. The main aspect emphasized in this study is the types of audit incidents exist in the report. Eleven of the selected statutory bodies were analysed for five years from year 2003 to 2007. It is essential to investigate the audit incidents presented by the auditors in the audit certificates. It will assist the users of financial report and government entities to focus on areas highlighted by auditors for further improvement, to avoid repeated flaws, and to obtain clean audit report in the future. There are numerous types of comments indicated by the auditors. In the areas of financial reporting of statutory bodies, the most frequent comments as being indicated by the auditors in their reports are incomplete records; and non-compliance with other laws. Moreover, in the areas of non-financial reporting of statutory bodies, the most frequent audit incidents are weakness in service provided; inappropriate security procedures; and inefficient administration and operation. As for the conclusion, the occurrence of auditors‟ comments on financial reports should motivate the responsible members of respective statutory bodies to obtain a clean report in the following years and in the future. The regulator and government agencies‟ teams have to overcome any flaws found by the auditor in both financial and non-financial reporting and to avoid such weaknesses to be repeated in future

Zingiber zerumbet (L.) Smith hexane crude extract caused DNA damage on Leptospira spp.

Numerous attempts have been made to control leptospirosis by using chemoprophylaxis, but with limited success. The present study was done to investigate the antileptospiral potential of hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of Zingiber zerumbet rhizomes. The extracts were assayed for antileptospiral activity using broth microdilution method against Leptospira interrogans (serovar Batavie, Canicola, Australis) and Leptospira biflexa serovar Patoc. The Z. zerumbet hexane extract exhibited antileptospiral activity, with IC50 values of 248 μg/mL against L. interrogans serovar Canicola, IC50 of 125 μg/mL against L. interrogans serovar Australis, IC50 of 15.63 μg/mL against L. interrogans serovar Batavie and IC50 of 109 μg/mL against L. biflexa serovar Patoc. However, both ethyl acetate and methanol extracts did not show any distinct antileptospiral activity. Since the hexane extract of Z. zerumbet showed antileptospiral activity, the DNA-damaging properties of this extract were tested according to their IC50 and IC25 values that were specific to each serovars. The DNA-damaging properties were determined by treating the selected Leptospira spp. with the hexane extract and subjecting its DNA to electrophoresis and analysis on agarose gels. The results demonstrated that the hexane extract had DNA-damaging properties towards L. biflexa serovar Patoc and L. interrogans serovar Australis, as proven by the appearance of fragmented DNA on the gels. We conclude that the Z. zerumbet hexane extract could inhibit the growth of Leptospira spp. serovar Patoc and Australis through DNA-damaging activity and thus, could be a potential antileptospiral agent. Further studies are needed to investigate the potential of this hexane extract as an antileptospiral agent using in vivo rat models of leptospirosis

Quality of work life of librarians in government academic libraries in the Klang Valley, Malaysia / Rafidah Abdul Aziz, Fuziah Mohd Nadzar, Haslinda Husaini... [et.al].

The success of any organization is highly dependent on how it attracts workers, motivates, and retains its workforce. Today's organizations need to be more flexible and understanding, so that they are well prepared to develop their employees and enjoy their commitment. For most employees, going to work can be burdensome and somewhat forced upon them to carry out every day. However, for a few, their careers are the most important thing in their lives compared to others. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between work and non-work variables and quality of work life. Therefore, it is anticipated that the contribution from this study will provide useful information to the top management level in organizations for the purpose of planning appropriate policies that can enhance employees overall life satisfaction. The research questions, which serve as a foundation of this study focus on the relationship between work and non-work variables and quality of work life. This study applied the quantitative research design as well as descriptive and correlation approach. Respondents are all librarians working in government academic libraries in the Klang Valley. An online survey was used to gather data for each participating library. The questionnaire was divided into two sections. Section A contained the socio-demographic information, while Section B contained seven parts of questions related to the study. The data was analyzed using Pearson Correlation Analysis. Findings from this study indicated that both work variables and non-work variables do matter in determining the quality of work life. The findings of this research also can be beneficial in Human Resource Management issues and trends in libraries administration

Effects of monoculture and polyculture farming in oil palm smallholdings on terrestrial arthropod diversity

Oil palm agriculture has become one of the economic mainstays for biodiversity-rich countries in the tropics. The conversion of native forests to oil palm monoculture plantation has caused unprecedented biodiversity loss in Southeast Asia. Little is known about the effects of oil palm polyculture farming on arthropod diversity. In this study, arthropods were sampled using pitfall traps at 120 sites in Peninsular Malaysia. We examined how arthropod biodiversity responded to different oil palm farming practices and local-scale vegetation structure characteristics. We found that the number of arthropod orders was significantly greater in polyculture than monoculture smallholdings. However, we did not detect a significant difference in arthropod order composition nor abundance between monoculture and polyculture practices. In situ habitat characteristics explained 16% of the variation in arthropod order richness, with key predictor variables including farming practice, height of oil palm stands, and number of immature palm. The findings of this study suggest that polyculture farming together with management for in situ habitat complexity may be a useful strategy in supporting biodiversity within in oil palm plantations

Effects of in situ habitat quality and landscape characteristics in the oil palm agricultural matrix on tropical understory birds, fruit bats and butterflies

The expansion of commercial oil palm crop has modified much of the natural landscape, subsequently leading to biodiversity loss in Southeast Asia. Aside from large-scale oil palm monoculture plantations, self-managed oil palm smallholdings are also becoming common in palm oil producing countries, but less is known about how management of the smallholdings affects faunal biodiversity. We argue that it is critically important to understand the role of habitat complexity at the local and landscape scales for maintaining faunal biodiversity in oil palm smallholdings. We used passive sampling methods to survey understory birds, fruit bats, and butterflies in oil palm smallholdings on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. We quantified the diversity in each taxon and measured in situ habitat quality and landscape metrics. We found that oil palm smallholdings located near rice fields supported fewer bird species. Proximity to roads can give rise to bird and fruit bat richness. Bird and fruit bat richness declined at sites with high crop density. Fruit bat richness declined, but butterfly richness increased, with the height of oil palm stands. Butterfly richness declined with distance from riparian habitats. Decreased coverage and height of ground vegetation also negatively affected butterfly species richness. We also found that the number of farm houses is positively related to bird, fruit bat, and butterfly species richness. Of the three taxa, only butterfly richness was positively influenced by crop diversity. We found that habitat complexity enables smallholdings to support a diverse community of birds and butterflies, but not fruit bats. These findings imply that oil palm smallholdings can be managed in a conservation agricultural matrix, as the smallholdings were able to maintain farmland biodiversity