Houses in Malaysia: Fusion of the east and the west

A great number of architectural scholars in Malaysia learned about western architecture to be used as precedent studies in their design. Few realized that part of the origin of the modern western architecture was actually from the east. Segments of the new approaches in modern architecture was already part and parcels of the local eastern heritage. The trend of following the west was also evident in the design of the modern detached houses. However, the already existed easten local heritage inevitably also played a major contribution to the thinking process of the designers. The main aim of the book is to unfold or clarify the origins of architectural elements in modern detached houses in Malaysia. The significance of the book is to establish the factors that contribute to the architectural thinking of the local architects besides clarifying the current trend or direction of the present style in Malaysia. In other words, to get a clearer picture of the past architecture in order to formulate or suggest a clearer guidelines or criteria for architectural design in the future

Educational Transition in Self-Directed Learning amongst Selected Adult Distance Learners of Universiti Putra Malaysia

The need to change and employ the necessary learning skills are essential for successful learning considering their other responsibilities in life which is part and parcel of being an adult learner. One solution is for the adult learners to undergo an educational transition from the earlier mindset to the needs of the current environment and to be self-directed in their learning thus assuming the responsibility for their own learning by building and employing the necessary skills to deliver the desired results in learning. This study examined the educational transition in self-directed learning by looking at the respondents’ prior beliefs, the phases that they went through as adult distance-learners at the Universiti Putra Malaysia. The study was guided by three research questions: (1) What were the learners’ prior beliefs about learning? (2) How do adult distance-learners experience the phases of self-directed learning? and (3) How do they employ self-directed learning as adult distance-learners? A qualitative research design was employed for this study which was deemed appropriate, given the research questions which were to obtain a view into the respondents’ life-worlds and to understand their personal meanings constructed from their life experiences. Data were primarily gathered through interviews on six selected respondents based on the criteria set by the researcher. Three conclusions were drawn from this study. First, adult learners do have a set of beliefs which are; learning would change their lives, mode of teaching and learning and also on their ability to face the challenges prior to their engagement as adult distance-learners at the Universiti Putra Malaysia. Second, adult distance-learners went through five different phases of learning to be self-directed which includes the phases of disorientation, exploration, transformation, adaptation before they are able to come to terms with learning as distance-learners or the reconciliation phase. Third, after going through the phases of learning, adult distance-learners do employ self-directed learning skills in their learning. The employment of skills such as personal diagnosis, communicative, resource identification and time management had helped adult distance-learners in their transition from being recipients to pursuers, seekers and creators of knowledge in a distance learning environment thus enhancing the successful completion o their learning endeavor

Perceived Importance and Practices of Programme Development Steps and Principles by Extension Supervisors in the Department of Agriculture, Malaysia

Enormous efforts have been made by the government to improve local extension services. However, weaknesses and discrepancies in extension services relating to programme development are still being voiced out. This study was an attempt to determine the importance and frequency of practice in the field, of the steps and principles of programme development in the field as perceived by extension supervisors in the Department of Agriculture. Another objective of the study was to identify the constraints faced by the extension supervisors, who are graduates of the Universiti Pertanian Malaysia, in their effort to carry out the programming steps and principles as being taught in the university. The respondents were Agriculture Officers and 50 Assistant Agriculture Officers from three state Departments of Agriculture in Peninsular Malaysia. Questionnaire schedules were used for data collection. Follow-up group interviews were also conducted with selected respondents. The analysis of data revealed that all except two of the eight programming steps (analysis of the situation and preparation of the programme document) taught in the University were perceived as important in programme development. However, none of those steps were reported to be frequently practised in the field. Similarly, five of the principles of programme development tested (except Cooperation and coordination) were perceived as important, but none had been consistently emphasised by the extension supervisors during the process of extension programme development. The extension supervisors faced constraints with three of the eight programming steps. The biggest constraints were with evaluation and accountability. The most frequently mentioned constraints were, problems related to clients who were part-time farmers; lack of time due to work over-load on the part of the extension supervisors; lack of adequate knowledge and skills in extension programme development; lack of up-to-date information about the clients; insufficient funds; low cooperation among extension officers; environmental situations; political influence and low interagency cooperation. Several recommendations were suggested to improve the programme development practices in the DOA. These include strengthening the pre-service and in-service training by the DOA and UPM, reviewing the teaching approach by these two institutions, training local leaders in programme development, making early provisions for cooperation and coordination with other agencies, and providing clear statements of roles of those involved in programme development. It was also recommended that the extension supervisors be relieved from most administrative duties so as to enable them to give more concentration on extension activities. Lastly, a follow-up study using the qualitative approach was proposed to determine an indepth picture of the status of programme development practices and constraints faced which resulted in their low level of practice in the field

Capital Structure of Malaysian Listed Companies

This study was attempted to identify the determinants of Malaysian companies' capital structure, the relationship between profit ability, size, growth opportunities, assets structure and non-debt tax shields with the leverage and to see whether Malaysian companies followed the pecking order theory in making a decision concerning the capital structure. The findings showed that profitability, non-debt tax shields and size were significant in determining the capital structure. Profit of Malaysian companies gave a significant result and this was consistent with the pecking order theory. Growth opportunities and assets structure were not significant

A study on the impact of human resource practices towards organizational commitment at Pejabat Tanah (Tanah Merah) and Pejabat Tanah Machang / Wan Nasuha Wan Ismail

This research attempts to identify which of the dimensions of human resource practices is believed to have the greatest impact towards organizational commitment. (This research was study either the variable is related or not) In this research, the researcher was contributed the questionnaire in order to know the either independent variable (Training, Staffing, Reward System, Team Work and Performance Appraisal) will give impact on dependent variable which is Organizational Commitment. The finding shows that all of variables related each other. The hypothesis testing show those only two hypotheses accepted which is training and performance appraisal. These results were revealed through an investigation that is made by distributing a set of questionnaires that were distributed to 113 respondents at Pejabat Tanah dan Jajahan Tanah Merah and Pejabat Tanah dan Jajahan Machang. Finally, the researcher was discussed about the findings and provides several recommendations derived from the findings

Geothermics of the Malay basin, offshore Malaysm

A review of the temperature, thermal conductivity and heat flow data of the Malay Basin has been carried out by analysing data from fifty nine exploration wells. The thermal conductivity of each well have been determined from logs which has been calibrated to measured thermal conductivity of cores. The formation temperature of the well at logging depth has been estimated by Horner plot by using a new model for derivation of effective circulation time. The effective circulation time has been approximated empirically from the well log data. Revised heat flow, geothermal gradient and thermal conductivity maps of the Malay Basin have been constructed from the new data. A vertical thermal profile of the basin has been analysed. The heat flow anomalies have been observed from the a real as well as vertical profiles of heat flow. The Malay Basin is found to have an average heat flow of 86 mWm(^2-) The average geothermal gradient is 47ºC/km. Both the heat flow and geothermal gradient are high. The heat flow varies over the basin, with regional highs in the Northwest, South and Central portions and a lower heat flow in the Southeastern part and Northeast peripherals. The anomalous heat flow is found to be related to the subsurface fluid movement and the overpressures. The temperature is not related to the top of onset of overpressures directly, however the various mechanisms of overpressuring can be speculated from the regional distribution of the temperatures at tops of the overpressures. Thermal maturity modelling has been carried out for selected wells. It was found that the basin thermal history can be matched to a rifted basin thermal model

Automatic feature description of Endometrioma in Ultrasonic images of the ovary

Endometriosis cyst or endometrium is commonly found in women with subfertility. Traditionally, medical technologies fail to detect the disease automatically and it is fully dependent on the doctors to determine the peritoneal disease where it may lead to inaccurate findings. A method of assessment may give more accurate detection without the need for surgical procedure, especially in monitoring disease recurrence. This will avoid surgical risk and will not delay the management. In this study, the feature description is developed using pattern recognition, involving image processing techniques; the ultrasonic images is used as input in which the region of interest of images, image segmentation, feature extraction are studie

Korelasi Amalan Kepemimpinan Pengajaran Pemimpin Pertengahan Dengan Iklim Sekolah, Sikap Guru dan Komitmen Organisasi di Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan

The main aim of the present research is to identify the relationship between instructional leadership practices of school middle leaders consisting of the Senior Assistant for Curriculum and Senior Subject Teachers, and the school climate, job attitude and teacher organizational commitment in national type secondary schools. Four hundred teachers from the national type secondary schools were selected as respondents through purposive sampling in two northern states in Peninsular Malaysia. The study also aims to understand the application of a structural equation model in order to confirm the relationship between the practices of the middle leaders’ instructional leadership and school climate, teacher’s job attitude and organizational commitment in high, average and low achieving schools. A Likert-scale questionnaire comprising four instruments namely: Principal Instruction Management, Rating Scale (PIMRS, 1985), Organizational Health Inventory (OHI-M, 1997), Job Involvement (JIQ, 1982) and Organisational Commitment (OCQ, 2007) was used. Data was collected and analysed using SPSS and AMOS, to compare the interrelation- ship among the variables under study at the three levels of school. Overall, the results lend support to the reliability and validity of the translated questionnaire. Descriptive analysis was used to obtain the mean, standard deviation, frequency and percentages. Additionally, a confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM) were also utilized. The findings showed that there were significant relationships between the instructional practices of the middle leaders with school climate, job attitude and organizational commitment. It was also found that the instructional practices of the middle leaders were not influenced by the school achievement. Results from the structural equation model showed that the job attitude and organizational commitment had an indirect relationship with the practice of instilling a positive learning environment and the evaluation of the teaching program. The school climate was found to be a significant variable which determined the teaching and learning process in schools. The findings provided a basis for establishing a school leadership model to develop teacher professionalism and for teacher productivity values as well as school performance. Based on these findings, implications and suggestions for further research and practices were also discussed