Research has shown that smoking has bad implications on smokers and society as a whole. For that
matter, the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOHM) have taken various initiatives through information
technology and social media to educate the public and students about the negative effects of smoking.
The objective of this study is to identify the level of awareness among students on factors which lead to
smoking behaviour and the negative effects it has on society. This study was conducted on 228
students at the Faculty of Quranic and Sunnah Studies, Islamic Science University of Malaysia. The
research is quantitative in nature using questionnaire method. The quantitative data were then analysed
descriptively in Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) to obtain the frequency and percentage.
The finding of the study shows that the level of students’ awareness on factors leading to smoking
habit is at a satisfactory level. The students are aware that peers are the main contributing factor
towards smoking habit. The level of awareness on the harmful effects of smoking is also at a
satisfactory level. The students’ awareness is influenced by their field of study which is Islamic studies
as well as their modest purchasing power considering their average family income range from RM1000
to RM3000. The conclusion of the study is the importance to educate students on the harmful effects of
smoking, as well as to maintain the level of awareness among them.
This study aimed to examine the influence of self-regulation as mediator of internet behavior and
perceptions of risky sexual behavior among public university students. The method used is by survey.
The research tools used include the Persepsi Tingkah laku Seksual Berisiko, the Internet Sex Screening
Test, and the Adolescent Self-Regulation Inventory. The sample consisted of 882 Public University
students selected using simple random sampling techniques. The collected data were analyzed using
SPSS 25.0 package. The result shows that self-regulation had a significant mediating effect on internet
behavior on responding to risky sexual behavior. This effect can be identified primarily in one of the
dimensions of online behavior, which is online sexual spending. The result obtained are very important
to prove that self-regulation among students has a mediating effect on their behavior while surfing the internet with perceptions of risky sexual behavior. The results of the study can also enhance students'
understanding and awareness of the role of self-regulation in defining goals and actions. Universities
can use research information to design programs that enhance student self regulation as they are among
the professional groups that inherit the nation's development.
The cyber world is actually an easy medium which does not need complicated procedures in order to
publish ones literary works. This has been the reason on why the young authors choose it as the best
medium to create more literary works actively. The works of the young authors will be published in the
cyber world especially in their own personal websites. However, this also has caused misunderstanding
between the scholars about the aesthetical and the quality that have always been focused on literary
works. Therefore, this study will find out and analyse the aesthetical value through the thoughts that are
found in cyber novel Kasih Darmia by Naniey TJ based on the application of Intergrated Aesthetic
theory. Cyber novel Kasih Darmia is the first cyber literary work of Naniey TJ which was written
somewhere in November 2011 in her personal blogsite. The study uses the Intergrated Aesthetic which
is introduced by Abdul Halim Ali based on the concept of beauty which is divided by the beauty of
thoughts and the religious messages from Al-Quran as the original text that represents the real beauty
and reflects the manifestation of literary text. Analysing the thoughts in cyber novel Kasih Darmia shows that the inside beauty actually answers the aesthetical problems in the literary works in the cyber
world.
Malaysia is facing a shortage of blood supply despite blood donation campaigns and drives; the
number of donors remains low. Understanding donors and potential donors will provide a basis to
develop effective approaches of reaching them. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify
specific socio-demographic characteristics and factors influencing the intention to donate blood among
working adults in Malaysia. Driven by positivist approach and based on the Theory of Planned
Behaviour, data were collected from 295 working adults. The data was analysed using Partial Least
Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) approach. The findings indicated that attitude,
subjective norms and perceived behavioural control are the predictors for working adult’s intention to
donate blood. The results revealed are believed to be valuable for the National Blood Centre to develop
strategies to motivate, recruit and sustain sufficient number of blood donors. It is suggested that future
studies should explore donor’s perception and expectation to identify factors that have positive or
negative effects on their motivation or have already deterred them from donating blood.
Accessible tourism is considered new-partially conceptual that being implemented in the tourism
industry. This study carry out to investigate and to determine disabled people in engage with the
tourism activities in Kuala Lumpur City. This study uses qualitative of face-to-face interview and
quantitative of questionnaire survey. Five domains had been set for interview purposes, while
questionnaire survey involved with two main parts, namely demographic profile and the experienced of
disabled people in expose to tourism activities in Kuala Lumpur city. This questionnaire uses
Thurstone scale and Likert scale. Complete collection data will be input using SPSS v.23 for analysis.
The result indicates majority participants are positively agreed that infrastructure or services, as well as
information map should be prepared in appropriated ways would increase the accessible tourism. The
education also plays an important role that able to sustain the accessible tourism industry for longer
term. Nevertheless, most of participants are partially disagreed in the facilities provided, which likely
to refer to the public toilets and transportations, as well as hotels management that should serve
specialty to disabled people. They do opinion that public facilities should be upgrade, as well as
comment on the hotel staffs should undergo for training and behave friendlier attitude, which important
to provide comfortable condition towards the disabled people. This study suggests disabled people
have self-encouraged in engage with the tourism activities in Kuala Lumpur. At the same time, further
study in exploratory, understandable, and predictable on accessible tourism are required, especially
involved in the sub-urban and rural area that provide facilities and services for the tourism industry.
The Malaysian Constitution has set Malay language as the official language of the country and the
medium of teaching and learning (Noraien Mansor & Noor Rohana Mansor, 2013). The usage of the Malay language should not be disturbed as it becomes an important medium in establishing and
strengthening the harmonious and unity of the Malaysian society. However, it is found today that the
solidification of Malay language has continuously been challenged and undermined it as a national and
unity language as a result of the influence and development of the world's new order which shows that
the usage of English language has been prioritised in the field of education, employment and
communication (Nor Hashimah Jalaluddin, 2010). The emphasis on the importance of science and
technology as well as English language has been resulted in losing confidence towards the Malay
language among some individuals including the non-Malay students from the private universities and
those who are using English language as their learning medium. Furthermore, there is a group of
students who are more convenience in using their mother tongues languages than the Malay language.
This study aims to discuss the issue of the usage of Malay language in the private higher education
institutions and to analyse the weaknesses in the usage of Malay language among the private university
students. Hence, a study was conducted on 100 private university students by using random sampling
methods. The findings reveal that the level of strengthening of Malay language among the private
university students is moderate. This is due to the issues of Malay language usage in the private
universities including the students' priorities on the English language, lacking of fluency in Malay
language, lacking of co-operation and efforts among the lecturers and university management, lacking
of emphasis on constitutional meanings and lacking of confidence on the status of Malay language.
Thus, the scenario in strengthening the Malay language among the private university students should
not be undervalued but need to be strengthened prior to the threat of destruction as Malay language has
the greatest potential in various fields and this generation is able to shape the stability of social
relations as well as the continuity of the Malay language in the Malaysian civilization.
There are a few types of expenditures in Malay wedding. Hence, this research reports on wedding
expenditures practice by Malay in Malaysia. Some of the wedding expenditures practiced by Malay are
bride price and invitation cards. Through extensive observation, it can be said that the society often
confuses between the bride price (hantaran) with marriage settlement (mas kahwin). Besides that,
society also prefers to organize a grandeur wedding to the extent that the wedding becomes a burden on
them. This research also discusses how a small bride price and a decent wedding can fulfill one of the
maqasid al-syariah which is preserving one’s possession. Researchers use library research as the
primary method to obtain information on the origin and value of bride price (hantaran kahwin) in ‘urf
Melayu, and the analysis on wedding expenditures promoted by Islamic religion. Research findings
show that Islamic religion does not forbid cultural wedding expenditures, however, it must be
moderate, considerate, and is not burdening.
This paper discusses the roles and challenges of the national language, which is Malay as a language in
uniting the various ethnic groups in Sabah. On September 16, 1963, the Federation of Malaysia was
officially declared which comprised of the Malay States, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak. In line with
that, the special provisions on the national language in Sabah are contained in Article 161 of the
national constitution. Although the provision of the constitution clarify that Sabah was given a 10-year
period to use Malay and English as the official languages but later on September 16, 1973 the Malay language was declared the sole official language for the state of Sabah. Hence, various efforts have
been made by the government to ensure the national language can play its role as a language that can
unite the various ethnic groups in Sabah. However, ethnic diversity with their own ethnic mother
tongue languages has resulted in the Malay language as a national language as well as the language of
unity to face many challenges. Therefore, the discussion in this paper is focused on policies undertaken
by the government to strengthen the national language in various fields in Sabah and the challenges
faced by the national language to foster unity among the various ethnic communities in the state. This
study was conducted using a qualitative analysis approach and used archive study methods as well as
library study to obtain research information sources. This study will produce an analysis that can be
used as a reference to improve or formulate policies particularly in matters that benefit in strengthening
the multi-ethnic communities in Sabah.
Dengue is a mosquito-borne disease caused by virus and found mostly in urban and semi-urban areas, in many regions of the world. Female Aedes mosquitoes, which usually bite during daytime, spread the disease. This flu-like disease may progress to severe dengue and cause fatality. A generic reaction-diffusion model for transmission of mosquito-borne diseases was proposed and formulated. The motivation is to explore the ability of the generic model to reproduce observed dengue cases in Borneo, Malaysia. Dengue prevalence in four districts in Borneo namely Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri are compared with simulations results obtained from the temporal and spatio-temporal generic model respectively. Random diffusion of human and mosquito populations are taken into account in the spatio-temporal model. It is found that temporal simulations closely resemble the general behavior of actual prevalence in the three locations except for Bintulu. The recovery rate in Bintulu district is found to be the lowest among the districts, suggesting a different dengue serotype may be present. From observation, the temporal generic model underestimates the recovery rate in comparison to the spatio-temporal generic model.
This journal renders the random walk behaviour of the Malaysian daily share return, through tests of efficient market hypothesis (EMH) based on three different financial periods, namely growth, financial crisis, and recovery period. This review also covers the behaviour of extreme return for weekly and monthly series generated from Block maxima-minima method. Autocorrelation Function test (ACF) and Ljung-Box test had been employed to measure average correlation between observations, while Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF), Phillips-Perron (PP), Kwiatkowski Phillips Schmidt Shin (KPSS) test had been used to scan the unit root and the stationarity. Multiple variance ratio tests had also been conducted to examine the random walk behaviour. Serial correlation test indicated that the movement of daily return during the financial crisis period was weak-form efficiency. The unit root and stationary tests suggested that each daily series was stationary, but trend stationary for extreme cases. Variance ratio tests indicated that the return during the recovery period was weak-form inefficiency due to the short lag autocorrelation in series.
DNA computing, or more generally, molecular computing, is a recent development on computations using biological molecules, instead of the traditional silicon-chips. Some computational models which are based on different operations of DNA molecules have been developed by using the concept of formal language theory. The operations of DNA molecules inspire various types of formal language tools which include sticker systems, grammars and automata. Recently, the grammar counterparts of Watson-Crick automata known as Watson-Crick grammars which consist of regular, linear and context-free grammars, are defined as grammar models that generate double-stranded strings using the important feature of Watson-Crick complementarity rule. In this research, a new variant of static Watson-Crick linear grammar is introduced as an extension of static Watson-Crick regular grammar. A static Watson-Crick linear grammar is a grammar counterpart of sticker system that generates the double-stranded strings and uses rule as in linear grammar. The main result of the paper is to determine some computational properties of static Watson-Crick linear grammars. Next, the hierarchy between static Watson-Crick languages, Watson-Crick languages, Chomsky languages and families of languages generated by sticker systems are presented.
Acute retinal necrosis (ARN) is a rare, blinding disease that typically affects adults. However, in this case report, we highlight the diagnosis, management and outcome of herpes simplex acute retinal necrosis in a 13-year-old healthy girl, who presented with painful right eye, redness and blurring of vision for one week. Examination of the right eye showed features of granulomatous panuveitis. Optic disc was swollen and retina appeared pale. There were multiple patches of retinitis and haemorrhages at mid-periphery of the fundus with inferior serous detachment observed. Rapidly progressive inflammation in just four days along with secondary cataract that obscured fundus view, imposed greater challenge to the diagnosis and management. Intravenous acyclovir 300mg, 3 times a day was initiated promptly while vitreous fluid was sent for polymerase chain reaction, which identified Herpes Simplex Virus-1. Inflammation improved, but she developed vitreous haemorrhage secondary to proliferative retinopathy, which required panretinal photocoagulation. ARN is therefore, principally a clinical diagnosis and high index of suspicion is crucial particularly, in children for prompt diagnosis and treatment. Complications should also be addressed timely to improve the chances of preserving vision.
Orbital cellulitis is an infection of the orbital soft tissue that could possibly lead to serious complications if treatment is delayed. It is important to differentiate this condition from a less life-threatening condition like preseptal cellulitis as orbital cellulitis would require a more aggressive treatment than the former condition. The present case discusses about a patient who was diagnosed with orbital cellulitis and developed complications from the disease. The delayed administration of the appropriate antibiotic subsequently led to the patient’s death. The delay was because of the reason that the patient belonged to the immunocompromised group who harbour different causative organism than the normal population.
Cavernous lymphangioma is a congenital malformation of lymphatic system causing dilated lymphatic sinuses that involve the skin and subcutaneous tissues. This was an interesting case of dystrophic macrodactyly of the left ring and little finger in a 18-month-old girl who presented with swollen and sausage like fingers deformity which turned out to be an isolated cavernous lymphangioma. This tumor, although rare to occur in the extremeties, must be differentiated from other congenital vascular lesions of the hand that include arteriovenous malformations and hemangiomas. Diagnosis should be solely based on histopathological analysis of the excised tissue mass. Surgical excision is usually necessary for satisfactory functional and cosmetic outcome
The ornamental fish sector is a widespread and global component of international trade, fisheries,
aqu aculture and developm e nt. The utilization of multiple trade names causes problem in species
identification. Moreover, unmanaged trading could lead to severe threats to biodiversity. In this
regard, DNA barcoding could effectively clarify the divergence of the species. Consider i ng the utility
of DNA barcoding as a comprehensive system for species identification and discovery, this study aims
to investigate the genetic relationship and to construct the phylogenetic tree among those selected fish
species colle cted from selected pe t stores in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. The 642bp barcode
fragment of the Cytochrome c oxidase I ( COI ) gene was PCR amplified. Results from BLAST
showed all the generated sequence were subjected to high percentage identity index and sim ilarity
between 99% t o 100%. It was then analyzed using MEGA 7.0 through Neighbour Joining (NJ)
clustering and K2P distance based approach. The analysis revealed straightforward identification of
eight specimens into five species with increasing value of g enetic distances from conspecific (0.05%)
to the taxonomic level (20.18%). The phylogenetic analysis consists of own sequences and reference
sequences obtained from the GenBank. All the specimens from different genus was found with high
bootstrap value (n> 90%) through Neighbou r Joining (NJ) and Maximum Likelihood method. Thus,
DNA barcoding reflects the efficacy of the techniques in identifying the genetic assessment in selected
ornamental fishes.
Nanotechnology is the study and advanced/modern application of small object that can be practised across various scientific fields, such as physics, chemistry, biology, material science, engineering, etc. It has been widely applied in the 21st century, and it also paved the way to the green approach in technology in the form of green nanotechnology. The field of nanotechnology enables silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) to be widely used as novel therapeutic agents in the semblance of antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancerous agents. In this study, plant extract of Polygonum minus (known as kesum) was used for the synthesis of AgNPs from silver nitrate (AgNO3) solution. The green synthesis, which is an alternative way to produce silver nanoparticles, was proposed because it is cost-effective and environmentally friendly. The colourless reaction mixture was observed to slowly change from yellowish-green to reddish-brown, indicating the reduction of silver ion after several minutes of reaction. The AgNPs were characterised by Ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometer, Field-emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM), and Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDX). The results obtained from the UV-Vis spectrophotometer showed a sharp peak absorbance at 440 nm, which indicated the reduction of Ag+ to metallic Ag. Meanwhile, the size of AgNPs observed via FE-SEM was in the range of 15–25 nm. Accordingly, based on the EDX analysis, 82.6% of AgNPs were determined to show strong peaks for silver (Ag). Three bacteria, i.e. Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 43300), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 15442) were chosen to be tested in this study. The morphological changes of bacterial cells treated with AgNPs were observed by FE-SEM, showing that the AgNPs have excellent antimicrobial properties against microorganisms. Thus, the ability of AgNPs to release Ag ions is a critical factor in its antimicrobial activity.
The isolation of cellulose fib
r es requires the removal of o ther components such as lignin,
hemicellulose, and pectin from the biomass. In this st udy, the matured Leucaena leucocephala seeds
(LLS) was applied as a raw material to extract cellulose. The influence of sodium hydroxide
conc e ntration (2% 6%) on the structure of cellulose isolated LLS was studied. The highest yield
23.7% of cellulose wa s extracted using 4 wt% NaOH treatment The chemical physical properties of
cellulose extracted were characterized using Fourier Transform In f rared (FTIR), Field Emission
Scanning Electron Microscope (FES EM) and X ray Diffraction (XRD) XRD). FTIR spectrum indic ated that
of all treated samples shows the peaks of cellulose structure. The highest crystallinity index of
cellulose was obtained from 6% Na O H treatment which is 76.04%. Under FESEM images, the
cellulose appeared in fibrils like structure. The cellulose o btained can be further disintegrate to micro
and nano cel lulose to increase the chemical physical properties for various application such as i n
biocomposite, biomedicine and other value added chemicals.
The phytochemicals and biological properties of Mangifera species are documented. The main
constituents of M. pajang include gallic, p-coumaric and ellagic acids. The fruits of M. pajang possess
antioxidant, antibacterial and anticancer properties. The phenolic is mentioned as the compound that
is responsible for the antioxidant property of M. pajang. In this study, the methanolic extraction of M.
pajang and M. indica was performed. Based on thin layer chromatography (TLC), the presence of the
phenolics in the samples could be confirmed. Comparative TLC was accomplished and the retention
factor (Rf) of pyrogallol was recorded as 0.85. From the result, the TLC profiling of M. pajang and M.
indica extracts were almost similar. In addition, the compounds of M. pajang extracts were analyzed
from the 1H-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. A mixture of ascorbic acid and a
sugar moiety could be detected. On the other hand, the NMR signal for the metabolite of mangiferin
was not observed. Therefore, the compound might not present in the sample.
This study was conducted to determine the effect s of different packaging mate rials on the
physicochemical and sensorial properties of traditional fried snack, Re mpeyek . The samples were
physically analysed for the texture ( and color. Peroxide Value (PV) and Acid Value
( were the chemical analyses use d to measure the ra ncidity level of Re mpeyek during storage.
O n the other hand, Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA) was conducted to describe the
sensory characteristics of Re mpeyek . All analyses were carried out for an interval of every month
until 2 m onths of storage. The Re mpeyek samples in this study were pack ed in five different types
of p ackaging including Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE or PET), PET with oxygen absorber,
Low Density P o lyethylene (LDPE), LDPE with oxygen absorber and aluminiu m layer. In term s
of ha rdness, Re mpeyek that were packed in PET with oxygen absorber require d the lowest force
with 1198.93 ± 78.70 (g) while LDPE show ed the highest force to break the sample with 2669.86
± 905.72 (g) for 2 month s of st o rage. The lightness (L*) and redness (a*) of Re mpeyek decreased gradually while the yellowness (b*) displayed fluctuation readings along with the storage.
Besides, the rancidity level of Re mpeyek that was determine d through PV significantly increase d
from 0 month (5.58 6.41 meq/g) to 2 month s (1 4.42 39.75 meq/g) of storage. Similarly, the
AV was significantly increase d from 0 month (1.5 1 1.71 mg KOH/g) to 2 month s (4.37 6.17
mg KOH/g) of stor age In terms of QDA , the color of Re mpeyek show ed no significant changes
but the score for aroma wa s significantly reduce d f rom 0 month to 2 month s of storage in LDPE
and LDPE with oxygen absorber Meanwhile, the score s for taste and hardness were reduce d
si gnificantly from 0 month to 2 months of storage regardless of the types of packaging used.
Learning grammar can be difficult for learners but this can be changed through interactive activities. Language games are an excellent way to make learning grammar fun among learners Although the use of language games is not a new tool in the teaching and learning of grammar, employing the right game for a specific grammar item is vital. Hence, this study aims to experiment, using a language game - ‘Monster Back to School -Parts of Speech Board Game, in efforts to enhance the learning of the parts of speech more effectively. This game is designed to provide practice in identifying the parts of speech in the English Language, from word level, through sentence level to making decisions on whether the parts of speech have been correctly identified. By playing this game, it is believed that learners will be able to engage and learn grammar in a fun-filled way. Methodology comprised quantitative and qualitative methods, using a questionnaire and interview, with the participants, who were college students. The results of the survey demonstrate the effectiveness of the game in the identification and learning of parts of speech. The pedagogical implications are that suitable language games can enhance grammar competence.