The earnings and employment of community colleges’ graduates: occupational field and gender analysis

Community College Malaysia is one of the Technical Education and Vocational Training Institutions in the country that plays an important role in steering the country's aspirations to become a developed nation by 2020. It focuses mainly on the supply of human capital among the youth future worker fit with skills, competencies and efficient industry requirements. However, the income earned varies widely based on the industry's ability to provide employment. The income factors led to an increase or decrease in the number of graduates' employability. There are more than ten categories of programs offered by community colleges and the numbers of employability relating to the demand from industries providing job opportunities to skilled workers. Therefore, this study aims to conduct a descriptive analysis of the earnings and employment of Community Colleges graduates based on occupational field and gender. The data were obtained by the survey of Community Colleges graduates in 2018. The study population consisted of 7725 graduates and 367 respondents were involved as samples who answered their respective job status in graduate's employability survey provided by the ministry. The result shows that most respondents received a salary between RM1501-RM2000, while the rest of the graduates earned between RM1001-RM1500 and RM1001-RM1500. In the gender factor of employment, female graduates exceed compared to male graduates on the income scale of RM1000 and below. However, at higher income levels of RM1501-2000 and above, male graduates earn more than their counterparts, the female graduates. The findings of this study are expected to be a future guide and encouragement, especially for community colleges to study skill programs that are in line with industry requirements and produce a competent and dynamic human capital to enhance the country's economy

ESTIMATION OF LAND SURFACE TEMPERATURE USING LANDSAT TM THERMAL INFRARED IN SELANGOR-NEGERI SEMBILAN

A full-scene of Landsat TM acquired on April 17, 1988 (path 127/row58) was used in this study. This scene covers the areas of Selangor and north part of Negeri Sembilan in Peninsular Malaysia. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the use of remote sensed information, especially thermal band 6 to gain land surface temperature (LST) using thermal band of Landsat images. The result will be compared with urban and non-urban surfaces by using normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) and compare relationships between them. The initial result showed that the correlation between the LST and the NDVI over ten locations in the study area is quite significant. The derivation of LST map using remote sensing technique in this study is useful in providing information for analysing geophysical parameters over Selangor-Negeri Sembilan area, especially dealing with the urban heat island phenomenon

The relationship between institutional environment, guardian involvement, academic achievement and learning motivation of children reared in a Malaysian orphanage

This research was conducted to study the relationships between academic performance, learning motivation, institutionalised environments and guardian involvement of children reared in a Malaysian orphanage. This study involves 50 students consisting of 21 female and 29 male students. These students are in secondary school with ages ranging from 13-17 years old. This study was conducted in a home for orphans and under-privileged children and all the participants of this study are from this home. The findings of this study show that there is a significant relationship between academic performance, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and therefore learning motivation as a whole (P0.05)

Interaksi Genotipe X Lingkungan Untuk Hasil Gabah Padi Sawah

Grain yield of rice is determined by genotype (G), environment (E), and interaction between genotype x environment (G x E). Variety can achieve its maximum yield potential if it is grown in suitable environments. This study was aimed to determine the adaptability and the yield stability of rice genotypes grown in different environments. Sixteen rice genotypes were tested using RBD in 16 sites during the wet season of 2010/2011, and dry season of 2011. The tested rice lines were developed for resistance to pest and diseases. The experiment unit was 4 m x 5 m of plot, plants were fertilized with urea, SP36, and KCl at rates of 250 kg/ha, 100 kg/ha, and 100 kg/ha, respectively. Variable observed was grain yield per plot. Combined analyses of variance showed that there was no lines yielded higher than did check variety Conde. The AMMI analysis showed that the largest variation was contributed by the environment factors (76.49%), genotype x environment interactions (17.55%), and the smallest was contributed by the genotypes (5.97%). Data exploration using boxplot method indicated that the low contribution of the genotype x environment interaction variance in this study was due to the high degree of similarity of yield potentials among the genotypes, and due to high similarity of environmental conditions of the sites.Based on the analysis of AMMI 2, lines B12743 - MR-18-2-3-8, IPB107-F-82-2-1, and Conde was each classified as widely adapted genotypes, while G8, IPB107-F-27-6-1, and BIO111-2-BC-PIR-3714, each was considered as genotype having a specific adaptation

Multi-omics identify falling LRRC15 as a COVID-19 severity marker and persistent pro-thrombotic signals in convalescence

Patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) are at high risk of severe COVID-19. Here, we perform longitudinal blood sampling of ESKD haemodialysis patients with COVID-19, collecting samples pre-infection, serially during infection, and after clinical recovery. Using plasma proteomics, and RNA-sequencing and flow cytometry of immune cells, we identify transcriptomic and proteomic signatures of COVID-19 severity, and find distinct temporal molecular profiles in patients with severe disease. Supervised learning reveals that the plasma proteome is a superior indicator of clinical severity than the PBMC transcriptome. We show that a decreasing trajectory of plasma LRRC15, a proposed co-receptor for SARS-CoV-2, is associated with a more severe clinical course. We observe that two months after the acute infection, patients still display dysregulated gene expression related to vascular, platelet and coagulation pathways, including PF4 (platelet factor 4), which may explain the prolonged thrombotic risk following COVID-19

Patterns of metacognitive awareness among primary school teachers

The purpose of this study is to identify level and patterns of metacognitive awareness among teachers in primary schools. This study focuses on aspects of declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge, conditional knowledge, planning, monitoring and evaluation of teachers. The study was descriptive in nature. A sample of 100 primary school teachers in Puchong, Selangor answered the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory for Teacher by Cem Balcikanli (2011). The data analysis was carried out using IBM Statistics version 24 to obtain descriptive measures. The results show that levels of metacognitive awareness among teachers are high at ninety three percent (93%). The results also show that there are no significant differences by gender, age, teaching experience, academic qualification and subject of teaching among primary school teachers. The metacognitive framework shows that metacognition knowledge and regulatory expertise were used by individuals to control their cognition. Teachers who have a higher level of metacognitive awareness can produce students with good academic achievement

Longitudinal proteomic profiling of dialysis patients with COVID-19 reveals markers of severity and predictors of death

End-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients are at high risk of severe COVID-19. We measured 436 circulating proteins in serial blood samples from hospitalised and non-hospitalised ESKD patients with COVID-19 (n=256 samples from 55 patients). Comparison to 51 non-infected patients revealed 221 differentially expressed proteins, with consistent results in a separate subcohort of 46 COVID-19 patients. 203 proteins were associated with clinical severity, including IL6, markers of monocyte recruitment (e.g. CCL2, CCL7), neutrophil activation (e.g. proteinase-3) and epithelial injury (e.g. KRT19). Machine learning identified predictors of severity including IL18BP, CTSD, GDF15, and KRT19. Survival analysis with joint models revealed 69 predictors of death. Longitudinal modelling with linear mixed models uncovered 32 proteins displaying different temporal profiles in severe versus non-severe disease, including integrins and adhesion molecules. These data implicate epithelial damage, innate immune activation, and leucocyte-endothelial interactions in the pathology of severe COVID-19 and provide a resource for identifying drug targets

The Impact of Resource Enhancement Strategy on Small Business's Performance

The objective of this study is to examine the impact of resource enhancement strategy in improving the performance of small business firms in Malaysia. A self-administered survey and simple random sampling technique were conducted by making 221 owners-managers of small business firms as a sample of the study. The data were analyzed using a two-stage approach to structural equation modeling (SEM). The results indicated that resource enhancement strategy has a positive and significant impact on improving small businesses' performance. The practical findings provide a much clearer conceptualization of how resource enhancement strategy overcomes the issue of competitiveness in a new venture and small business firms

Literasi Media Sosial Pelajar Politeknik terhadap Aspirasi Kerjaya Keusahawanan Digital

Kajian ini dijalankan bertujuan mengenal pasti tahap literasi media sosial dalam kalangan pelajar Politeknik Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah (PSA) terhadap pemilihan kerjaya keusahawanan digital. Responden kajian terdiri daripada pelajar semester akhir di Jabatan Perdagangan. Kajian ini berbentuk tinjauan dengan menggunakan kaedah kuantitatif. Data dikumpulkan dengan menggunakan instrumen borang soal selidik serta diedarkan menggunakan Google form. Data dianalisis menggunakan perisian Statistical Package Social Science (SPSS) versi 26. Item kajian menggunakan Skala Likert 5 bagi menerangkan item soal selidik. Data kajian yang diperoleh dianalisis menggunakan statistik deskriptif yang melibatkan nilai min dan sisihan piawai. Hubungan antara literasi media sosial terhadap pemilihan kerjaya keusahawanan digital diuji menggunakan ujian Korelasi Pearson. Dapatan kajian ini menunjukkan skor min tahap literasi media sosial adalah tahap sederhana tinggi. Berdasarkan hasil kajian, terdapat beberapa implikasi penting dalam menekankan lebih banyak aktiviti pengajaran dan pembelajaran berasaskan media sosial untuk menggalakkan pelajar PSA memilih bidang keusahawanan digital setelah tamat pengajian. Secara keseluruhan, terdapat hubungan yang signifikan antara literasi media sosial pelajar PSA terhadap pemilihan kerjaya keusahawanan digital. Seterusnya, kajian ini diharapkan dapat membantu pensyarah untuk merancang strategi dan pendekatan aktiviti kepada pelajar kearah pemilihan kerjaya keusahawanan digital pada masa hadapan