Two new species of diminutive, sympatric, lowland, leaf-litter skinks of the genus Tytthoscincus Linkem, Diesmos Brown from the Sekayu region of Hulu Terengganu, Terengganu State in northeastern Peninsular Malaysia are described on the basis genetic and morphological data. One of the new species, T. monticolus sp. nov., was collected in a hilly riparian area along Sungai (=river) Bubu and is most closely related to an undescribed species from the Tembak Reservoir area. The other, T. keciktuek sp. nov. collected along Sungai Peres, is most closely related to T. perhentianensis Grismer, Wood, Grismer from Pulau (=island) Perhentian Besar. Sympatry and syntopy of multiple, specialized, unrelated, leaf-litter species of Tytthoscincus was previously only known from upland areas and these new species represent the first example of lowland of sympatry. More importantly, however, these endemic species add to a growing body of research and discoveries that continue to underscore the unrealized biodiversity of the riparian systems of Hulu Terengganu and the Sekayu region and their need for protection and continued study.
The Asian Society of Ichthyologists (ASI) was established in February 2014 in Penang, Malaysia following organizational meetings in 2012 in Chiang Mai, Thailand and in 2013 in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei.
Amphicnemis valentini sp. nov. is described from the Ream Peninsula of Cambodia (holotype: Cambodia, Preah Sihanouk Province, Ream Peninsula, 10.52258 N 103.69556 E, RMNH) and Phú Quốc Island, Kien Giang Province of Vietnam, both in the Cardamom ecoregion. It is similar to A. gracilis Krüger, 1898, which occurs in Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra, but differs from it by a long process on the male prothorax.
Twenty new Agrilus species from the Oriental Region are described and illustrated: A. aramis sp. nov. (Laos), A. aries sp. nov. (Laos), A. armipes sp. nov. (Laos, India), A. athos sp. nov. (Laos, Thailand), A. bacan sp. nov. (Indonesia), A. bicolorifrons sp. nov. (Laos), A. cuprocunctus sp. nov. (Laos), A. ebenus sp. nov. (Laos, Thailand, Vietnam), A. frontis sp. nov. (Laos), A. gemellus sp. nov. (Nepal), A. khunborom sp. nov. (Laos), A. kyklos sp. nov. (Laos), A. loongfahi sp. nov. (Malaysia), A. metallinus sp. nov. (Laos), A. nemoralis sp. nov. (Laos), A. porthos sp. nov. (Laos), A. princeps sp. nov. (Laos), A. rex sp. nov. (Malaysia), A. sikhiav sp. nov. (Laos) and A. sinuosus sp. nov (Laos, Vietnam).
The Sundaic swamp clade of the genus Cyrtodactylus contains nine species that collectively range through Peninsular Malaysia and its associated land bridge islands, Singapore, Sumatra, Java, and Pulau Natuna Besar. Ancestral range reconstruction analyses using BioGeoBEARS based on an updated molecular phylogeny of the nine Sundaic swamp clade species of Cyrtodactylus demonstrated that this lineage evolved in Peninsular Malaysia, dispersed independently to Sumatra and Pulau Natuna Besar, Indonesia and most likely back into Peninsular Malaysia from Sumatra. This scenario is consistent with climate-driven, cyclical, ephemeral, geographic reconfigurations of Sundaic landmasses from at least the mid-Miocene to present.
Unlike those in the mainland of Southeast Asia, the Cladocera of the Malay Archipelago has not been intensively studied, except for the state of Sabah in the north-eastern part of the Borneo island. This study aimed to complete the inventory of the Cladocera in Sabah by looking at different types of water bodies including oxbow lakes, small lakes, reservoirs, ponds, ditches and paddy fields. From 32 sites examined, 35 species of cladocerans, nine of which were new records to Sabah, were found from 25 localities. With this new finding, the total number of cladoceran species in Sabah increased to 39 species, including five species of Sididae, four species of Daphniidae, one species of Moinidae, five species of Macrothricidae, two species of Ilyocryptidae, and 22 species of Chydoridae. Only 8 % ( three species) of Sabah cladocerans are true planktonic. This study illustrated that most cladocerans were associated with substrates in the littoral zone and thus appropriate sampling methods should be employed in different microhabitats for comprehensive biodiversity assessment.
Purpose: Soft contact lens wear is most frequently associated with morphologic changes in corneal endothelial cells, but the data are scarce in Asians. This study aimed to evaluate changes in corneal endothelial cell morphology after 6 months of wearing soft hydrogel contact lenses (SH) in young myopic adults living in Kuala Lumpur.
Patients and methods: Forty-eight subjects were included in the study, 24 were fitted with SH contact lenses (A) and the rest were prescribed with glasses (B). Refraction was conducted subjectively and standard contact lens fitting protocol was followed. Corneal endothelial cell morphology (endothelial cell density, ECD; coefficient of variation, COV; cells' hexagonality, HEX; and central corneal thickness, CCT) was evaluated using specular microscope. Data were collected at baseline and after 6 months of lens wear.
Results: Mean age of all subjects was 21.23±1.30 years. All results are shown at baseline and 6 months, respectively. Mean refraction for A was -2.16±0.97 diopter sphere (DS) and -2.05±1.03 DS (P=0.49); for B was -2.72±1.51 DS and -2.73±1.51 DS (P=0.58). Mean ECD (cell/mm2) for A: 3104.19±237.30 and 3107.23±237.51 (P=0.07); for B: 3011.56±227.95 and 2983.83±244.55 (P=0.33). COV (%) for A: 46.52±8.63 and 48.53±10.65 (P=0.06); for B: 46.93±9.31 and 46.14±10.65 (P=0.88). HEX (%) for A: 46.21±10.12 and 45.15±10.01 (P=0.08); for B: 46.21±10.12 and 45.15±10.01 (P=0.12). CCT (µm) for A: 520.33±0.04 and 525.70±0.05 (P=0.41); for B: 532.00±0.04 µm and 530.00±0.05 µm (P=0.40).
Conclusion: This study found no significant change in corneal endothelial cell morphology after 6 months of wearing SH contact lenses. This is probably due to better oxygen permeability of the contact lens material, good compliance, and short wearing period.
The integration of Bayesian analysis into existing great ape survey methods could be used to generate precise and reliable population estimates of Bornean orang-utans. We used the Marked Nest Count (MNC) method to count new orang-utan nests at seven previously undocumented study sites in Sarawak, Malaysia. Our survey teams marked new nests on the first survey and revisited the plots on two more occasions; after about 21 and 42 days respectively. We used the N-mixture models to integrate suitability, abundance and detection models which account for zero inflation and imperfect detection for the analysis. The result was a combined estimate of 355 orang-utans with the 95% highest density interval (HDI) of 135 to 602 individuals. We visually inspected the posterior distributions of our parameters and compared precisions between study sites. We subsequently assess the strength or reliability of the generated estimates using identifiability tests. Only three out of the seven estimates had <35% overlap to indicate strong reliability. We discussed the limitations and advantages of our study design, and made recommendations to improve the sampling scheme. Over the course of this research, two of the study sites were gazetted as extensions to the Lanjak-Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary for orang-utan conservation.
Introduction: The application of M-learning or mobile application (app) as a tool to disseminate occupational safety and health (OSH) information among students and staff in the university, to replace the use of conventional noticeboard was assessed in this study. Materials and Methods: Study was conducted between February to March 2016 and involved 124 respondents from health sciences program in Universiti Putra Malaysia. OSH information was incorporated into a mobile-app using online software and respondents were requested to use the app for fourteen days. A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of respondents before and after using the app. Results: The mobile app has significantly increased the knowledge score among respondents (z = -7.331, p
Broiler meat is the largest and cheapest protein source in Malaysia. Using the policy analysis matrix (PAM), this study examines the comparative advantage of broiler production in Peninsular Malaysia. Three hundred and ten farms in Peninsular Malaysia were involved in a field survey. The results of the domestic resource cost (DRC) show that Malaysia has a comparative advantage in all scales of broiler production. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the changes in input prices have a significant effect on comparative advantage. Nonetheless, the industry should reduce its dependence on corn-based feed, which is expensive and has an unstable price, to increase competitiveness in further securing its comparative advantage.
The construction sector is among the fastest growing sectors in Malaysia; it consumes a vast amount of natural resources and produces a massive volume of construction and demolition waste. The waste is collected in a decentralised manner by sub-contracted companies. It is challenging to obtain reliable information on the amount of construction waste generated, because it is hard to determine its exact quantity and composition. Therefore, this study proposes a quantitative construction waste estimation model for residential buildings according to available data collected from the Construction Industry Development Board, Malaysia. In the development of this model, a theoretical investigation of the construction procedure and the construction waste generation process was conducted. The waste generated rate was determined as 25.79 kg m-2 for new residential constructions, which translates into about 553,406 t of anticipated waste annually.
Pesticides application is essential in protecting crops and increases their productivity. However, this causes the pesticide residues to contaminate the crops and their surrounding environment that will eventually lead to exposure to human being. There is very little understanding on the human health effects of pesticides, thus many studies are being carried out for this purpose. In conjunction to this, there are various analytical methods on multi-residue pesticides analysis that have been developed over the years in various samples. This review provides an overview of the reported concentration of pesticides, the extraction and determination techniques of pesticides in environmental samples and the potential health effects they imposed on human in Malaysia from 2007 to 2017.
With the rapid growth of agricultural areas globally, forest birds increasingly encounter fragmented landscapes in which forest patches are surrounded by an agricultural plantation matrix, yet how birds respond behaviourally to this fragmentation is poorly understood. Information on microhabitat requirements of birds is scarce, but nevertheless essential to predicting adaptation of bird species to the patchy landscapes. We investigated foraging patterns of three tropical insectivorous birds, Green Iora Aegithina viridissima, Pin-striped Tit-Babbler Macronus gularis and Chestnut-winged Babbler Cyanoderma erythropterum, to determine whether they vary in foraging methods in different forest patches. Our study area encompassed old-logged lowland forest; one continuous forest and three forest patches. Observations were performed for 15 days every month for a period of 13 months. Information on foraging height, substrate, attack manoeuvres, and foliage density was collected independently for each foraging bird individual. All three species used different foraging substrates and attack manoeuvres in different habitat types. The Green Iora frequently used lower strata when foraging in forest patches as opposed to continuous forest, while the Pin-striped Tit-Babbler tended to forage in more dense vegetation in patches. Only Chestnut-winged Babbler displayed complete foraging plasticity across all study parameters. Different habitat features (e.g., edges, microclimates) between continuous forest and forest patches significantly influenced the foraging strategies of the study species. These changes in foraging strategies suggest that some Malaysian forest birds (e.g. generalist species) can respond behaviourally to fragmentation and habitat loss. Although continuous forest has critically important characteristics that need to be conserved, remnant forest patches are also important as ecological movement corridors and foraging grounds for birds.
This article describes the development process of the National Defence Policy (NDP), which is
executed by the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) and government. In this chapter, it will touch on the
early development of the international political developments during and after the Cold War (1991),
the Southeast Asian region and threats that affect the development of the defense. In addition, this
paper describes the development process of the Malaysian defense policy adopted since 1957 to 2010.
The NDP formed since 1957 involves various aspects such as the importance of the region to Malaysia,
the concept of defense and the principle of national defense. This article clarify in detail on the aspects
as set out in the NDP in particular the principle of self-reliance defense, principal of regional
cooperation defense and the principle of the foreign aid defense. In addition, this paper also describes
the implementation of a number of defense strategies implemented by MAF as resistant barring
defense, forward defense, diplomacy defense, and total defense. To fine-tune the process of national
defense developmet, this chapter also will look on the efforts and development process by all branches of service of MAF which are Malaysian Army (MA), Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) and Royal
Malaysian Air Force (RMAF).
The practice of development planning does not empower the local authority to prepare a development
plan, as planning and development control is under the jurisdiction of the State Planning Authority
(SPA). Rapid growth in the housing sector shows a positive indicator towards urbanization in Sarawak.
This study showed that the current centralised process is fair to all parties, for it ensures equilibrium in
all areas. Beside that, the study also found that there is some confusion in the roles played by the
involved parties. The study also identified few problems that often occur, among them complicated
procedures, slow approval process, bureaucracy, and risks in planning and marketing. However, the
practice of development planning is concerned with aspects quality and quantity so as not to burden the
purchaser. The state government, through the SPA, controls the price of housing to ensure equilibrium
and to avoid the occurrence of abandoned housing projects.
The classification, annotated list and keys for the black fly species from Peninsular Malaysia are updated. The number of black fly species increased from 38 in 1995 to 62 (including a new species herein described) in 2018. The 62 species are classified in four subgenera of the genus Simulium: one species in Daviesellum, 35 species in Gomphostilbia, five species in Nevermannia and 21 species in Simulium. Species in the latter three subgenera are further placed in species-groups or subgroups. Keys are provided for females, males, pupae and mature larvae. Simulium (S.) perakense sp. nov. is described and placed in the S. striatum species-group. The males of S. (G.) decuplum, S. (G.) tahanense, S. (S.) malayense, the female of S. (G.) adleri, and the female and larva of S. (G.) varicorne are described for the first time. The female, male, pupa and larva of S. (G.) trangense, the male and pupa of S. (G.) varicorne and the pupa of S. (G.) adleri are redescribed. Simulium (G.) sp. A is identified as S. (G.) pegalanense. Brief notes for each species are given on morphological characteristics, aquatic habitats and geographical distributions.
This study intended to identify the best learning strategies of writing by focusing in vocabulary
acquisition among the primary school pupils in Malaysia. Axiomatically, local education used the
Process Writing Approach in producing writing composition. Unfortunately, the researchers thought
that it is not sufficient to fulfill the component of good writing. By using the theory of scaffolding
pioneered by Vygotsky, the researchers agreed to include vocabulary learning to scaffold the existing
Process Writing Approach followed by application or practices. During application, the researcher as
the teacher will provide a module where the experimental group will do writing exercises by using the
new learned vocabularies. The researchers will use mixed method research where questionnaires of
vocabulary and writing strategies are distributed where the results are the determinants of VAW
module development.
The return of ex-prisoners who were released from prison into an environment filled with fellow
friends could lead to negative influences such as drug addiction and crime repetition among former
prisoners. This paper has been derived from a doctorate study studying the repeatition of crimes that
occurred among former prisoners in Malaysia. The findings of the study have found that former
prisoners often return to their fellow members due to family absence. This study has been used
qualitative methods by interviewing 16 ex-prisoners identified through the technique of snowball
sampling. The finding revealed that all these former prisoners from different state were concentrated
around the Chow Kit road. Addiction, as a result of invitation process by friends. This situation are
make the study to proven relationship between the influence of friends and drug abused among the
former prisoners.
Begoniayenyeniae is a new species of horticultural value known only from the Endau Rompin National Park, Peninsular Malaysia. It is similar to Begoniarajah with which it had previously been confused in the number of tepals and leaf characters. The new species is compared with three similar species, B.foxworthyi, B.rajah and B.reginula and photographs of all four species and descriptions of B.yenyeniae and B.rajah are provided. Molecular analysis using the ndhF-rpl132 chloroplast marker confirms the four species as distinct. Amongst native species, the three variegated species, B.yenyeniae, B.rajah and B.reginula, are some of the most popular Malaysian begonias in cultivation. Based on its restricted distribution, Begoniayenyeniae, under the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, is assessed as Critically Endangered.
Most studies done in the past on factors affecting academic performance did not touch on quality of life factor. Also, most studies only used correlation and regression analysis. Not many studies used classification analysis. Hence, this study aimed to classify students based on quality of life and academic performance. Students’ quality of life was measured by using WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire which consists of five quality of life domains namely physical health, psychological health, social relationship, environment and overall quality of life whereas the academic performances were represented by cumulative grade point average (CGPA). The selected sample for this study was 60 Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Perlis students from Bachelor of Science (Hons.) Management Mathematics program. This study applied support vector machine (SVM) method for classifying the students. The results for each quality of life domain showed that students with both low and high academic performance were classified into high academic performance class. The same result was obtained when all domains were combined. All models showed high accuracy which implied that the classification made by SVM were strongly correct. The findings of this study demonstrated that quality of life plays an important role in students’ academic performance.