The paper writes on the possible origin of off-limit cases found in a noise project conducted internally in a factory in Malaysia. Out of 691 sampled workers’ that attended audiometric test results (some repeated), it was found that the mode of hearing ability is between 20 to 30 dB depending on individual worker’s age ranging from 20 to 55 years. Out of the total results, approximately 100 workers are above a limit defined here in this paper as the off-limit condition. The chance of a worker originating from a good condition to an unhealthy condition is about 1 percent. The data are tabulated to show that a sway pattern could be an explanation of workers’ origin. Although the data is profound, there is no evidence of a trace due to a short test period. Possibilities are highlight here to outline the severity of a cross over to the unhealthy condition (here defined as the off-limit condition). Some advises are mentioned here with individual susceptibility on the matter though there is no data to substantiate. Further findings are required to show a trace. In conclusion, the severity is highlight. A chart, developed to know the limits of hearing ability, is illustrated ased the findings.
Maritime transportation is very important for coastal state country like Malaysia. However, as having the busiest straits in the world, Malaysia is continuously exposed to the risk of marine spill. The nation had experienced around 30 marine spill incidents since 1976 to the present. The main contributor of marine spill is ship’s accident and in term of category of accident, collision had contributed the most. In term of type of substance that mostly spilled by ships is highly persistence crude oil. The management of marine spill response of Malaysia is applying the three tiers system which is base on the area and scale of the spill. The basis of establishing the marine response service is in accordance with OPRC, which incorporated into the national environmental law. With the three tiers of response system, Malaysia is equipped with arsenal of marine spill response and control equipments. However, with the present magnitude of threat, the current capacities of equipments are insufficient. Nevertheless, the possibility of full magnitude of marine spill is unlikely due to the safety features incorporated into the design of the ships and FSO/FPSO. In term of claim and compensation for marine spill incident, Malaysia is applying the two layers of compensation under the CLC 1992 Protocol and FUND 1992 Protocol. Therefore, Malaysia is ready in various aspects of marine spill response and control.
Occupational health hazards as a result to exposure to mineral dust containing silica has been established long time ago in occupational health history. Its effects on lung function and symptom was evaluated in a cross sectional studied among 49 small enterprise pottery workers in the county of Sayong clustered in 3 villages. Respiratory symptoms and lung function was evaluated using MRC respiratory questionnaire 86 and standard spirometry performed. The prevalence of chronic cough, phlegm and chest tightness was 24.5%, 16% and16% respectively. There was no significant decrement in lung function parameters from the predicted normal value with the mean predicted FVC; FEV1 and FEV1/FVC ratio was 85.32%, 83.87% and 99.22 respectively. The relationship between lung symptoms and lung function parameters was evaluated and the result was not significant.
Comparative cross sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of hearing impairment among workers in one of the airport in Malaysia and the factors associated with it. A total of 248 subjects comprising 175 from the exposed group and the remaining control group were sampled. The main tools used in this study were validated questionnaire on hearing assessment and pure tone audiometric test. Response rate was 94%. Both area and personal exposure monitoring have exceeded action level for 8 Hrs TWA in the exposed group but within normal limit in the control group. The prevalence of hearing impairment was 88% among the noise exposed group and 11% in the control group with prevalence odds ratio (POR) 3.569 (95%CI 1.210-10.53, p
MeSH terms: Audiometry, Pure-Tone; Cross-Sectional Studies; Malaysia; Noise; Surveys and Questionnaires; Prevalence; Odds Ratio; Hearing Loss; Control Groups; Airports
Fogging activity has become one of the important methods in tackling dengue outbreaks nowadays. Despite this, it is an occupation that has known hazards namely noise and pesticides which can affect the body organs. Based on this knowledge, a cross sectional study was conducted to determine the association between hearing impairment and serum cholinesterase level among foggers from five randomly selected Health District Offices in Selangor. A total of 200 workers comprising of 100 workers exposed to fogging activity and another 100 workers not exposed were randomly selected for this study. Data was obtained through self administered questionnaire, audiometric testing and serum cholinesterase level measurement. The overall prevalence of hearing impairment was 16% with foggers having significant higher prevalence (24%) compared to the non foggers (8%) (χ2=9.52, p=0.002). Measurement of serum cholinesterase showed that exposed workers had lower level compared to the non exposed group. Similarly, those who have hearing impairment had also lower serum cholinesterase level although it was not statistically different. Among all studied factors, age and duration of exposure to fogging activities were statistically different with hearing impairment (p
MeSH terms: Audiometry; Cholinesterases; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dengue; Disease Outbreaks; Noise; Occupations; Pesticides; Surveys and Questionnaires; Prevalence; Hearing Loss
Engineering control is a method of controlling the risk of exposure to contaminants. Health effects to industrial workers are more severe whilst high exposure and time exposed to contaminants at workplace. Installation of industrial ventilation or local exhaust ventilation (LEV) system is the proposed method to reduce the risk. This paper discusses the past, present and future relating to LEV system in Malaysia. Current issues related to monitoring reported by Hygiene Technician in compliance with Occupational Safety and Health (Use of Standard Chemical Hazardous to Health Regulation 2000) carried out in several states in Malaysia as a sample. The nanotechnology is a new area at present and future. The involvement of government, employers and employees need to be justified due to the attention to prevent and control of any exposure. It is suggested that using the Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulation, a new design of LEV system can be upgraded and predicted.
The advancement in communication and Internet technology leads to mass of online data available on the Internet. People communicate to each other with application such as Facebook, Twitter, Short Message Service and e-forum. Entries or posts from these applications are known as microtexts. Normally a microtext is very short, very noisy and does not follow the correct structure of a sentence either in the English language or the Malay language. High occurrence of noisy texts decreases the accuracy value when microtexts are processed. This paper proposes a prototype of a system known as Sistem Penterjemahan Mesej Atas Talian (SPMAT). The objective of the system is to 'clean' noisy texts in microtexts that are created online by the Malaysian. 5000 Facebook messages, 5000 Twitter messages and 5000 e-forum messages were collected. From these sources, few lists such as common noisy texts list, common acronyms list artificial abbreviations list and Bi-gram index were created and used in the normalization processed. In addition, the system kept messages that it normalized and updated the corpus when instructed by the user. The methods used in SPMAT had been tested with 100 online messages. The result indicated that 80% of the noisy texts incorporated in these messages had been identified and cleaned correctly.
MeSH terms: Communication; Language; Paper; Technology; Internet; Text Messaging
This exploratory study is part of an on-going project about digital cultures on ageism, anonymity, and gendering. An avatar is the graphical representation of the online user. The study investigates the avatars drawn by a group of 76 young adults studying in a local university. A face-to-face interview was conducted to ascertain the features drawn. Results show that the avatars are more characterized by the sexual features related to the body, face, clothes, and a major number of context elements. The females tend to represent themselves in greater detail than the males. The former created gendered identities for themselves according to their offline gender identity and social contexts. The study illustrates that the hand drawing is an effective tool that analyses the online representation in an unobtrusive way. The expressions of gendering show that gender is consciously constructed. Gendering of avatars does permeate the virtual world. This study is a valuable addition to the growing body of work on social interaction in cyberspace.
MeSH terms: Adult; Clothing; Face; Female; Gender Identity; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Male; Sexual Behavior; Universities; Young Adult; Ageism
Sel bahan api mikrob (SBAM) ialah sebuah bioreaktor yang bertindak menukarkan tenaga kimia kepada tenaga elektrik daripada pengoksidaan bahan organik oleh mikroorganisma. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengenalpasti kesan faktor jenis elektrod, pH dan luas permukaan elektrod katod (25.75 cm2 dan 51.50 cm2) terhadap prestasi penghasilan tenaga elektrik dengan menggunakan air sisa kumbahan domestik berkepekatan tinggi. SBAM berkepekatan 3750 mg/L COD yang menggunakan katolit pH 6.5 dan katod kertas karbon telah mencapai ketumpatan kuasa yang tertinggi, 61.98 mW/m2. Sementara SBAM berkepekatan 1375 mg/L COD yang menggunakan katolit pH 6.5 dan katod kain karbon telah mencapai ketumpatan kuasa yang tertinggi, 66.21 mW/m2. Penyingkiran COD berjaya mencapai sehingga 96 % di dalam reaktor SBAM ini. Penghasilan tenaga elektrik saling berkait rapat dengan parameter yang digunakan. Namun penambahan luas permukaan katod tidak memberikan kesan yang memberangsangkan terhadap pengeluaran tenaga elektrik.
Ni3A1 is an intermetallic compound which has unique property with temperature. Annealing is done at temperature 300, 500, and 700°C for 1 hour and analyzed with X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis for their crystallographic nature. EDX confirmed the composition of Ni3A1 with exact stoichiometry, whereas the XRD confirmed the crystallographic nature of the material. The mechanical properties by hardness results showed that Ni3A1 has highest Vickers hardness value of 554 HV when it is non-heat treated. Its hardness drops as it undergoes annealing process. Corrosion analysis by tafel test shows that its polarization resistance may increase up to 4145 W cm2 when annealed at high temperature. These results show that Ni3A1 is a promising material to be considered as an alternative automotive body.
Unnecessary air conditioning for thermal comfort causeds energy over consumption. As air conditioning has become irreversible, one of the solutions is to run air conditioners at minimal energy without sacrificing the comfort of occupants in air conditioned space. The approach to thermal comfort is the key to successful thermal comfort research. Fanger's model has been adopted by ASHRAE and ISO standards but its universal applications have been debated. In recent decades, adaptive model that regards humans as adaptive beings has been accepted. The static and deterministic nature of Fanger's model has limited its application in hot, humid countries, such as Malaysia. This research aims to integrate the theories of Fanger and adaptive model into a new model which is applicable in Malaysia by taking the case in lecture halls. The new Fanger's Adaptive Model is established through normalization of the thermal sensation distribution obtained in thermal chamber by Fanger. The PMV range of 80% satisfaction has been widened to -1.3 to +1.3 which adopted the theories of adaptive model, where humans have the ability to adapt to environment. The research also includes field observations on Malaysian students clothing and activity levels in lecture halls. Previous field study results which proposed 25.3°C comfort temperature for lecture halls in Malaysia together with the field observation results were used to verify the new model. About 95% of PMV falls within the new range at this comfort temperature. It is proven that Fanger's model is semi-adaptive and probabilistic and the integration of Fanger's Adaptive Model is more accurate in predicting thermal comfort in hot and humid climate.
MeSH terms: Accidental Falls; Air Conditioning; Climate; Clothing; Hot Temperature; Humans; Malaysia; Personal Satisfaction; Research; Students; Temperature; Thermosensing
Bone is a living tissue. It continuously reproduces its structure and its growth depends partly upon the applied mechanical load. After an implant is inserted, the load equilibrium is disturbed, leading to bone resorption and the stress shielding phenomena. Aseptic loosening is the main contributor for hip prosthesis failure. The purpose of the study is to determine the effect of bone resorption on the stress values and hence obtain a better understanding of the behavior of the stress adaptive bone-remodeling. The bone material used for the analysis was assumed to be isotropic and linearly elastic, and the external loads applied comprised of a femoral head load and an abductor load. A Finite element computer program for evaluating the changes in bone's density and modulus was developed. The values of stress for bone, cement mantle in medial, and lateral positions of Total Hip Replacement (THR) are presented. The failure mechanisms of THR with bone resorption observed the implant loosening since stress is reduced.
MeSH terms: Bone Resorption; Femur Head; Hip Prosthesis; Prosthesis Failure; Software; Bone Remodeling; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip
The finite element method is gaining acceptance in predicting mechanical response of various loading configurations and material orientations for failure analysis of composite laminates. Both fabrication of laminate samples and experimental procedures are often expensive and time consuming, and hence impractical, especially during the initial design stage. Finite element analyses require minimal amounts of input data, and the resulting stress and strain distributions can be determined throughout each individual ply. Using ANSYSTM, a commercially available finite element package, failure loads were predicted by simulating a uniaxial tensile loading on HTS40/977-2 Carbon/Epoxy composite with [+/-4512s lamination scheme. Two built-in failure theories in ANSYSTM features, viz., Maximum Stress and Tsai-Wu were applied in the simulation. The stress-strain and load-extension curves for both actual testing and FEA were then compared and the results are in good agreement. This paper is intended for researchers who have used or are considering using ANSYSTM for the prediction of failure in composite materials.
MeSH terms: Carbon; Epoxy Resins; Paper; Research Personnel; Finite Element Analysis
Selaras dengan ledakan pengetahuan berasaskan komputer dan teknologi pada abad ke-21, kaedah Pembelajaran Berasaskan Projek (PBP) atau Project Based Learning (PBL) telah diperkenalkan oleh Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia (KPM) pada tahun 2006. Pada awalnya, implementasi kaedah PBP telah dimulakan di sekolah-sekolah bestari perdana. Ini merupakan tinjauan literatur yang membincangkan takrifan dan teori yang digunapakai dalam kaedah PBP. Selain itu, perbandingan kaedah PBP dengan kaedah Pembelajaran Berasaskan Masalah (PBM) atau Problem Based Learning (PBL) turut dibincangkan memandangkan kedua-dua kaedah ini menggunakan akronim yang sama dalam bahasa Inggeris. Berdasarkan tinjauan literatur ini, didapati bahawa kaedah PBP mempunyai kelebihan dan kelemahan yang tersendiri, maka terpulang kepada budi bicara guru yang mengajar untuk mengaplikasikan kaedah ini dalam pengajaran dan pembelajaran (P dan P) bersesuaian dengan kebolehan murid.
This study was conducted to measure the relationship between service quality and customer's perceived value using a sample of 341 usable questionnaires gathered from the Malaysian Armed Forces Contingent who involved in peacekeeping mission at a Middle East country. The outcomes of SmartPLS path model showed five important findings: firstly, tangible significantly correlated with customer's perceived value. Second, responsiveness significantly correlated with customer's perceived value. Third, reliability significantly correlated with customer's perceived value. Fourth, assurance significantly correlated with customer's perceived value. Fifth, empathy significantly correlated with customer's perceived value. Statistically, this result confirms that the ability of service providers (MALBATT Headquaters) to properly implement tangible, responsiveness, reliability, assurance and empathy in delivering peacekeeping services have been important determinants of customer's perceived value in the organizational sample. In addition, discussions, implications and conclusion are elaborated.
MeSH terms: Empathy; Middle East; Military Personnel; Religious Missions; Organizations; Perception; Surveys and Questionnaires; Reproducibility of Results
To help adults learners stay competitive in the changing work environments of the 21st century, the teaching and learning of adult learners ought to transition from the traditional didactic school of education to embrace self-directed and social forms of learning. This study proposes a conceptual framework of a mediated activity system in developing the e-socioconstructivist learning environment (eSCLE); which is a learner-centred environment incorporating the design of a physical and virtual learning space conducive for constructing knowledge and building upon existing knowledge in collaboration with others. The design of the eSCLE is a preliminary research attempt to develop instructional learning environments that reflect the unstructured seamless nature of lifelong self-directed learning. It was conducted among a cohort of Master of Instructional Technology (MIT) students enrolled in the Instructional Design and Development (IDD) Course in a local Higher Institution of Learning. Findings from survey questionnaires, content analysis, observation and interview reveal systemic tensions faced by learners in self-directing their learning in the eSCLE where it is suggested that appropriate balance and discretion in managing conflicting situations is needed. The integration of web-based technology is found to be able to scaffold self-directed learning as collaborative mediating tools where functional roles of both instructor and learner-determined web tools enable self-directed actions. Finally, the designed eSCLE is able to facilitate the development of self-directed learning as learners transition through various self-directed learning phases in a steep learning curve, towards continuous lifelong learning.
Makalah ini membincangkan tatacara yang dimanfaatkan untuk membangunkan perisian e-terjemahan bersuara chengyu daripada bahasa Cina kepada bahasa Melayu. Chengyu ialah ungkapan tetap dalam bahasa Cina yang biasanya terbentuk daripada gabungan empat aksara. Penggunaan chengyu adalah popular dan lazim dalam bentuk lisan dan tulisan. Chengyu bukan sahaja menghasilkan nilai estetika dalam bahasa dan kebahasaan, malahan mendukung ketamadunan bangsa melalui penzahiran pemikiran, falsafah dan sosiobudaya. Terjemahan chengyu bukan sahaja menggalakkan interaksi antarbahasa dan antarbudaya, malahan turut memperkaya khazanah keilmuan dan kepustakaan bahasa Melayu. E-terjemahan bersuara membolehkan pengguna mencari padanan chengyu dalam bahasa Melayu hanya dengan memasukkan kata kunci. Paparan chengyu dan padanannya serta segala maklumat tentang chengyu dan padanan berkenaan kemudiannya boleh diperdengarkan. Perisian ini amat sesuai digunakan untuk tujuan pengayaan gaya penulisan dan ucapan serta pengkajian tentang perbandingan bahasa dan cara pengamatan antara dunia bahasa Cina dengan dunia bahasa Melayu. Perisian ini juga bermanfaat untuk proses pembelajaran dan pengajaran serta penterjemahan bahasa Gina-bahasa Melayu. Tatacara pembangunan perisian ini terbahagi kepada empat fasa. Fasa pertama bermula dengan penelitian strategi penterjemahan chengyu ke dalam bahasa Melayu untuk mengenal pasti kaedah penterjemahan yang sesuai. Fasa kedua melibatkan penterjemahan chengyu ke dalam bahasa Melayu dengan memanfaatkan strategi penterjemahan yang dikenal pasti. Fasa ketiga ialah pembinaan pangkalan data dan pembangunan e-terjemahan bersuara. Fasa keempat yang bakal dilaksanakan ialah penilaian dan ujian penggunaan e-terjemahan bersuara yang dibangunkan.
MeSH terms: Social Distance; Tetrahydroisoquinolines
This study examines the issues of winner's curse, size effect and bandwagon effect in explaining the under-pricing phenomenon of Malaysian IPOs, for the period from January 2001 to December 2008. The average initial return for the Malaysian private placement IPOs (a proxy for informed investors) is significantly lower than that of the non-private placement IPOs (a proxy for uninformed investors), which gives support to the winner's curse hypothesis, where uninformed investors demand a higher initial return in the absence of informed investors. Using listing board as proxy for size of companies, we find that the smaller the company, the higher the average initial return, thus giving support to size effect, where investors usually demand higher initial return for smaller companies due to their higher perceived risk. The study also finds that the presence of a large number of informed investors as compared to uninformed investors in an IPO exercise will result in an increase in demand for that particular stock in the secondary market, which gives support to the bandwagon effect.
MeSH terms: Costs and Cost Analysis; Investments; Organizations; Small Business
A literate and numerate population is the goal of any modern industrialized society. Literacy and mathematics skills carry the means by which children are equipped for the education processes on which their future will depend. Deaf and hard of hearing students' reading and mathematics skills are lower than that of others due to their inability. Before enhancing their literacy and mathematics skills, their standard of literacy and mathematics skills should first be identified. For this reason, the Malaysian Ministry of Education initiated the Literacy and Numeracy Screening (LINUS) program in 2009. However, problems arose in the assessment method of LINUS screening for these students since the LINUS screening method does not accommodate these students' situation and needs. Therefore, the researchers introduced internet-based Literacy and Mathematics Assessment (iLiMA) prototype that can overcome those problems. In the iLiMA prototype, sign language instruction video is used to standardize the assessment method in order to ensure that non-bias assessment could be established. The methodology used to develop this system is the Evolutionary Process Model - Prototype. The iLiMA prototype usability was assessed with the Computer System Usability Questionnaire (CSUQ) and conducted by using web-based survey method. The results indicate that the iLiMA prototype is usable and teachers are satisfied with it. Finally, the iLiMA prototype which had the potential to accommodate deaf and hard of hearing students to get a standardized and non-bias literacy and mathematics assessment was developed.
MeSH terms: Literacy; Child; Dyslexia; Goals; Humans; Mathematics; Surveys and Questionnaires; Reading; Research Personnel; Sign Language; Students; Persons With Hearing Impairments; Internet
The adoption of Profit-Loss Sharing arrangement in Islamic banking models can create value for their shareholders. Previous studies discuss Profit-Loss Sharing arrangement in the context of financial intermediation theory, but fail to link the adoption of Profit-Loss Sharing arrangement with value creation and to produce empirical evidence. The aim of this study is to address optimal conditions of the Profit-Loss Sharing contracts in Islamic banking models to minimize the problems of asymmetric information and transaction costs. Three propositions are presented to achieve the optimal conditions of Profit-Loss Sharing contracts in Islamic banking models that can create positive values, given that: First, for mudharaba contract, Islamic banks as rabbul maal give incentives of (0* (RP') to entrepreneurs if the positive value of the Islamic bank's expected net profit is obtained. Next, if an Islamic bank, as mudharib is appointed as wakeel, the depositors of mudharaba investment account are imposed 6*(m) for cost of processing information. Third, for musyaraka contract, the Islamic bank is proposed to incur monitoring cost of c* (y). In addition, this study also produces empirical evidence to determine to what extent the adoption of Profit-Loss Sharing arrangement in Islamic banks creates value for their shareholders. This study utilizes the Malaysian Islamic banks panel data from 2005-2009 and employs Economic Value Added (EVA) as a technique of value creation measurement of Islamic banks. The empirical findings reveal that there is no indication that the adoption of Profit-Loss Sharing arrangement on the deposits structure (MDIA) significantly creates positive value to Islamic banks. This result is consistent for both measurement of value creation against shorter and longer terms opportunity costs of capital employed. This suggests that Islamic banks utilize a lower cost of capital, as Non-mudharaba deposits accounts constitute a large amount of current and saving accounts. On the other hand, for asset structure, this study finds that funds allocated in Financing (FPLS) based on Profit-Loss Sharing arrangement results in a reduction in the value of Islamic banks. However, funds allocated in Securities Investment (FIM) using Profit-Loss Sharing arrangement are significant and create positive value. Collectively, the findings reveal that theoretically, Profit-Loss Sharing arrangement can create value for the shareholders of Islamic banks, and it is evident that Islamic banks need to extensively utilize Profit-Loss Sharing arrangement in Islamic banking operation.