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Factors Influencing Healthcare Product Purchase Intentions among Gen-Y in Malaysia
No full textThe increasing demand for healthcare products in Malaysia, particularly among Gen-Y, highlights the need to understand the key determinants influencing purchase intentions
within this demographic. Grounded in the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), this study investigates the effects of Attitude, Subjective Norms, and Perceived Behavioural Control on Gen-Y’s intention to purchase healthcare products, while integrating additional constructs
Promotional Influence and Perceived Price Sensitivity to enhance model robustness. Data was collected through a structured questionnaire distributed to 501 respondents across Malaysia and analysed using SmartPLS 4.0. The findings reveal that Promotional Influence, Subjective
Norms, and Perceived Behavioural Control significantly and positively influence purchase intentions, with Promotional Influence emerging as the strongest predictor. In contrast,
Attitude and Perceived Price Sensitivity were found to have no significant effect. These results underscore the pivotal role of digital marketing and social influence in shaping Gen-Y’s healthcare purchasing behaviour, suggesting that marketers and policymakers must tailor strategies that emphasize promotional channels and enhance perceived behavioural control to stimulate proactive healthcare engagement. This study contributes both theoretically by
extending TPB and practically by informing targeted marketing approaches for health-related products in Malaysia
Awareness, Challenges and Measures for Lean Construction Implementation Amongst Malaysian Grade 7 (G7) Contractors
No full textLean Construction, derived from Lean Manufacturing, offers a systematic approach to minimizing waste, improving process efficiency, and enhancing project delivery for the construction sector. However, its adoption remains limited in Malaysia. This study examines the implementation of Lean Construction practices among Grade 7 (G7) Contractors, focusing on the awareness and challenges towards the concept and strategies for improvement. A quantitative survey was conducted and 122 construction personnel from G7 contractors’ firms responded. Findings reveal a rather strong awareness of Lean principles among respondents especially on the operational efficiency and waste reduction benefits. However, knowledge gaps persist in client-centered principles such as Value Identification and Value Stream Identification, which are crucial for aligning projects with customer needs. Top barriers to implementation of Lean Construction techniques include insufficient awareness of the actual practices, lack of top management support and limited commitment from project teams. Strong management leadership and investment in modern technologies emerge as the most critical factors for facilitating Lean Construction implementation. Additionally, raising awareness through education and training, empowering construction personnel, and conducting pilot projects are essential for successfully integrating Lean techniques into projects. Given the persistent challenges in the construction sector, including dealing with inefficiencies, project delays, cost overruns and material wastages, this study offers critical insights into the role of Lean Construction in addressing these issues. By identifying key barriers and effective implementation strategies, the findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how Lean principles can enhance productivity and promote a more sustainable construction industry in Malaysia
Entrepreneurial Mindset and Digital Transformation: A Systematic Review of Principal Success Factors
No full textThe rapid growth of digital technologies is changing how entrepreneurs create value, compete, and innovate, making it essential to understand how the entrepreneurial mindset supports digital transformation. This study synthesises current knowledge on the key success factors that help entrepreneurs use digital technologies effectively. Using a Systematic Literature Review (SLR), the study reviewed 428 documents from Scopus and Google Scholar, screened 372 records, and analysed 89 peer-reviewed articles published between 2019 and 2025, applying PRISMA procedures, NVivo-assisted coding, and integrative synthesis to combine insights from various disciplines. Findings show that entrepreneurs with strong adaptability, curiosity, resilience, and opportunity recognition are better able to use digital tools and respond to technological changes, while digital capabilities such as AI adoption, data analytics, cloud systems, and digital platforms play a crucial role in enabling business model innovation. However, challenges such as low digital literacy, limited resources, weak infrastructure, and resistance to technology remain, particularly among SMEs and entrepreneurs in emerging markets. This review provides an integrated understanding of how mindset and digital capabilities work together to influence entrepreneurial success and offers practical guidance for educators, policymakers, and practitioners to enhance digital readiness and support more inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems, while also outlining future research directions on digital resilience and technology-enabled entrepreneurial behaviour
Rapid Induction of Neuronal Phenotypes in Mesenchymal Stem Cells: A Morphological Observation
No full textABSTRACT
Introduction: The restricted regenerative potential of the central nervous system remains a significant barrier in the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) offer a promising therapeutic avenue due to their multipotency and ability to differentiate into neuronal phenotypes. This study evaluated the neurogenic potential of β-mercaptoethanol (BME), a low-cost thiol-based small molecule, by morphological assessment post-treatment of bone marrow-derived MSCs with BME.
Methodology: Confluent cultures of rat MSCs were subjected to a biphasic induction protocol, with initial exposure to 1 mM BME for 24 h followed by 10 mM BME for 5 h. Ascorbic acid (AA) served as a positive control, and untreated MSCs as a negative control. Differentiation was assessed based on morphological criteria (soma shape, neurite number and length) using a standardized scoring rubric, and quantified with ImageJ. Results: BME-treated MSCs exhibited significant neurogenic morphological features, including soma rounding and extended neurites, with a high proportion scoring in neuronal-like categories. One-way ANOVA with Tukey’s posthoc test revealed significant differences (p 0.05).
Conclusion: These findings suggest that BME is a viable, cost-effective candidate for neurogenic induction protocols and may contribute to the development of simplified, chemically defined strategies for neuronal differentiation in regenerative medicine
Study of E-commerce Sale Prediction Based on Machine Learning Methods
No full textPrecise overall sales forecasting is essential in the sales domain for controlling slow-moving commodities and cutting inventory expenses. However, seasonality, trends, and multi-product scenarios provide challenges for established methods of sales forecasting. For time series data and complicated patterns, models such as gated cycle unit (GRU), recurrent neural network (RNN), and short-and long-termmemory network (LSTM) were chosen to increase processing power. To find the best models for sales forecasting, the performance of these models was compared using metrics (MAE, RMSE, and R!). It is found that GRU model is the best model in this field. In order to assure the research's suitability from a scientific and practical standpoint, these additional components have been added to increase the study's scope, address the issue of previous research using these models sparingly or not at all, and lookfor more efficient ways to forecast sales
Corporate governance attributes, banks characteristics and green banking disclosure in Indonesia
No full textPurpose - The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of corporate governance attributes and banks characteristic on Green Banking Disclosure of Indonesian Islamic banks.
Method - Using the panel data regression framework of multiple linier regression method, this study analyses a sample comprising nine Indonesian Islamic banks from 2018 to 2024.
Result - The results show that board size, independent ommissioner, profitability, and size have a significantly positive effect on Green Banking Disclosure Index (GBDI), while sharia supervisory board has significantly negative on GBDI but contradictive to board gender diversity, meeting frequency, and leverage do not have significantly affect on GBDI.
Implication - The practical implications of this study emphasize the critical role of corporate governance attributes and banks characteristic in improving green banking disclosure index of Indonesian Islamic banks.
Originality - This study comprises an in-depth examination of corporate governance attributes and banks' characteristics, as there is limited literature in Indonesia concerning diversity on the board and banks' characteristics, despite the relevance of the topic
Intercultural Language Teaching in EFL Contexts: Principles, Interventions, Approaches and Future Directions
No full textThis paper examines Intercultural Language Teaching (ICLT) in EFL contexts, focusing on its theoretical links between language and culture, core principles, effective interventions, and existing challenges. It reveals insufficient ICLT implementation due to traditional pedagogies, gaps in teacher practice and qualitative research. Implications for research and practice are proposed to enhance learners’ intercultural communicative competence (ICC).
Keywords: Intercultural Language Teaching; EFL; Intercultural Communication Competence
Enhanced flux and surface modification of PVDF hollow fiber membranes using bamboo cellulose/PVA composite coatings
No full textThis study showcases the characterization of cellulose/PVA coating on neat PVDF hollow fiber membrane. The SEM corroborated successful coating of cellulose/PVA with a visible porous surface, webbing type structure, and a coated overlapping layer. The webbing type structure and porous surface correlate with improved water flux performance, while the overlapping layer of coating with visible cracks at higher cellulose content correlates with decreased water flux performance. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis shows that evidence of cellulose/PVA presence on the coated surface through available hydroxyl groups peaks stretches at the O–H and C–H regions. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis shows evidence of amorphous phase on the surface of the cellulose/PVA-coated membrane.
This indicated that the coated membrane possesses an improved hydrophilic properties instilled on the modified PVDF hollow fiber membrane. The performance of the
modified hollow fiber membrane was tested on different water samples. The performance results corroborated an improved water flux performance for pure, rain, river,
and peat water with over four times the recorded value of the unmodified hollow fiber membrane. The best performing membrane is PV01 with pure water flux of 860.735 m2
/Lhbar. The porosity and mean pore size corroborates with the water flux performances. The increased porosity with increased mean pore size allows better permeability. The atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) analysis shows the iron
(Fe) removal capabilities of the coated membranes. The filtered peat water optimally showcases the capability of coated membranes. It was found that as cellulose content increases in the hollow fiber membranes, the percentage of iron removed also increases
Antioxidant, thrombolytic, analgesic, and central nervous system depressant effects of Uvaria ferruginea leaf extracts: in-vitro, in-vivo, and in-silico approaches for potential drug discovery
No full textUvaria ferruginea is a shrub of the Annonaceae family. Most of the species of Uvaria have been used as ethnomedicine. The present investigation examines the antioxidant, thrombolytic, analgesic, and CNS-depressant properties of U. ferruginea leaf extracts. DPPH, ferric reducing power, and phospho‑molybdenum tests were conducted to assess antioxidant potential, while in vitro clot lysis was used to detect the thrombolytic effect. Analgesic (acetic acid-induced writhing and tail immersion tests) and CNS-depressant (open-field and hole cross tests) effects were evaluated on the mice model. Phenolic (954.2 ± 14.2, 667.02 ± 11.4, and 624.4 ± 12.5 mg/g gallic acid, respectively) and flavonoid (746.5 ± 14.40, 625.8 ± 12.3, and 556.8 ± 12.3 mg/g quercetin equivalent) compounds were highly present in water (WUFL), ethyl acetate (EUFL) fractions, and methanol (MUFL) extract. Therefore, they showed a prominent antioxidant capacity in phospho‑molybdenum (963.63 ± 12.4, 700.00 ± 8.2 and 581.8 ± 12.2 mg/g equivalent of ascorbic acid), DPPH (42.35% – 80.68 %, 35.26 % - 76.32 % and 26.35 % - 69.42 % inhibition and 14.17 ± 1.3, 28.22 ± 1.9 and 67.16 ± 3.86 μg/mL IC50 values) and ferric reducing power (EC50: 25.11 ± 3.44, 35.63 ± 4.09 and 41.30 ± 2.90 μg/mL) tests. Similarly, WUFL (74.17 ± 2.92 %), followed by EUFL (68.56 ± 0.54 %), showed significant (p*** < 0.001) thrombolytic activity. Besides, WUFL showed 81.23 % inhibition of abdominal writhing and significantly (p*** < 0.001) increased (11.38 ± 0.09 s) the response time in hotplate tests. Moreover, WUFL, EUFL, and MUFL showed a prominent CNS-depressant effect in an open field (88.77, 83.23, and 74.29 % inhibition of movement, respectively) and hole cross (82.19, 79.04, and 62.30 % inhibition of locomotion, respectively) tests at a 200 mg/kg dose. Meanwhile, an acute toxicity study showed no toxicity up to a 2000 mg/kg dose. The GC–MS analysis revealed 11 prominent phytochemicals in the methanol extract whereas, in-silico studies have proved that some compounds like sesquiterpene alcohol (C2) have strong binding energy (−8.5, −7.4, −8.1 and − 7.2 kcal/mol) with antioxidant (6NGJ), thrombolytic (1A5H), analgesic (5F1A), and CNS-depressant (4COF) proteins respectively. ADMET results showed excellent absorption and noncarcinogenic properties, while PASS prediction endorsed their aforementioned properties. In conclusion, the plant has prominent bioactive compounds with potential antioxidant, thrombolytic, analgesic, and CNS-depressant effects. In the future, these compounds can be isolated for study as lead compounds in new drug discovery, and the leaf can be used as herbal medicine
Relationship of Additive Dosages to Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) Ultrafiltration: Dye Rejection Study
No full textUltrafiltration membrane is often used in wastewater treatment plants to remove dyes and other contaminations. This study aims to improve the properties and methylene blue rejection efficiency of the polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) ultrafiltration (UF) membranes by introducing copper acetate monohydrate/magnesium sulphate (CuMgNTs) at different loading dosages. The flat sheet membranes were successfully fabricated using the phase inversion method. The physicochemical properties of membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The pure water flux tests showed that the M3 membrane with 3wt.% of CuMgNTs loading exhibits the highest pure water flux of 47 L/m 2 h. For methylene blue rejection efficiency M3 membrane possessed the highest rejection efficiency up to 94%. The M3 membrane performance showed an increase in pure water flux and methylene blue dye rejection up to 224% and 74%, respectively, compared to pristine PVDF membrane. Therefore, it can conclude that 3wt.% of CuMgNTs is the optimum loading for PVDF UF membrane in improving its permeability towards pure water and performance to reject methylene blue dyes