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Dynamic learning rate adjustment using volatility in LSTM models for KLCI forecasting
Get PDFThe prediction of financial market behaviour constitutes a multifaceted challenge, attributable to the underlying volatility and non-linear characteristics inherent within market data. Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) models have demonstrated efficacy in capturing these complexities. This study proposes a novel approach to enhance LSTM model performance by modulating the learning rate adaptively based on market volatility. We apply this method to forecast the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI), leveraging volatility as a key input to adapt the learning rate during training. By integrating volatility into the learning process, the model can better accommodate market fluctuations, potentially leading to more accurate and robust predictions. The proposed dynamic learning rate adjustment mechanism operates by scaling the learning rate according to the most recent volatility measurements, ensuring that the model adapts swiftly to changing market conditions. This approach contrasts with traditional static learning rates, that may fail to sufficiently account for the dynamic of financial markets. We conduct extensive experiments using historical KLCI data, comparing our proposed model with standard LSTM and other baseline models. The results demonstrate that our volatility-adjusted learning rates outperform conventional LSTM models with fixed learning rates with respect to predictive performance and stability. The findings suggest that incorporating volatility into learning rate adjustments can significantly enhance the predictive capability of LSTM models for stock market forecasting. The improved forecasting accuracy of the KLCI index highlights the potential of this approach for broader applications in financial market
Implications of Pesticide-Related Deaths on Forensic Entomological Investigations and the Elucidation of Secondary Pesticide Bioaccumulation in Blowfly Tissues
Get PDFIn forensic entomology, insect’s development and succession pattern associated with decomposing carrion can become a useful information in the estimation of post-mortem interval. Several external factors such as environment, corpse’s condition and the presence of toxins or chemicals can alter the rate of development, insects’ arrival, and the duration of decomposition of the carrion. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of pesticides on the development rate of blowflies, carrion decomposition and insect succession pattern. Besides, this study also aimed to detect the presence of pesticides in larval tissue of the colonising insects. Three types of pesticides were used in this study; glyphosate (herbicide), chlorpyrifos (insecticide) and coumarin (rodenticide). Several concentrations of these pesticides were spiked into the meat substrate and then the blowfly eggs were placed on the substrate. The development duration and stages of the blowfly from eggs to adulthood were observed and recorded. The finding showed that the larvae did not survive at the higher concentration of glyphosate and chlorpyrifos-treated meat substrate. Meanwhile, the larvae in coumarin survived until puparial stage, but the adult failed to emerge. For subsequent experiment, the pesticides were orally administered to rats (Rattus norvegicus), and then euthanised and brought to the study site, at a secondary forest in Kuching, Sarawak. The decomposition stages and duration were observed and compared with control carcasses. The insect succession pattern was also recorded and collected for species identification. The third instar larvae were also collected for toxicological analysis. From the field experiment, a total of 1,579 insects were collected in three trials of experiments. The insects are belonging to nine families from five orders with Chrysomya rufifacies (71.5%) was the predominant species infesting on the carcasses, followed by Chrysomya megacephala and Hemipyrellia ligurriens. The decomposition of the carcasses was consisted of five stages which include; fresh, bloated, active decay, advanced decay and dry remains stage. The carcasses decomposition duration was delayed for carcasses in chlorpyrifos group (17-21 days), followed by coumarin (~11-12 days) and glyphosate (~8 days) compared to control group (~7 days). During the early stages of decomposition process, the species that were first to arrive was blowflies (Calliphoridae), followed by flesh flies (Sarcophagidae) and muscid flies (Muscidae). The sequence of insect succession in control and pesticide-treated carcasses were similar. During the active decay stage, the larvae were actively infesting the carcasses’ tissues except for chlorpyrifos carcasses as the oviposition did not occur, hence the carcasses did not decay by larvae activities. Only few adult flies observed visiting the chlorpyrifos group. Besides adult flies, the wasps were also seen at the site to predate on the flies. During the late stage of decomposition process, few beetles (order: Coleoptera) were seen at the site along with other insects such as Dermaptera. The third instar larvae on the carcasses were collected and brought to the laboratory for toxicological analysis. The specimens were analysed and successfully detected the trace amount both of the analyte, glyphosate and coumarin using Ultraviolet visible spectrophotometer and Gas chromatography mass spectrometry. In conclusion, the findings obtained from this study has indicated that the pesticides altered the fly larvae development and interfered with the decomposition duration of carrion as seen in the field experiment. The changes of larvae development rate were probably caused by the accumulation of the pesticides inside the larvae tissues in which can be detected and quantified. Therefore, the entomological data in this study is important in estimation of post-mortem interval where the presence of pesiticides was suspected
Factors Influencing the Deterrence of Illicit Business Activities at the Kalimantan-Sarawak Border: The Moderating Effect of Police Competence
Get PDFBorder security remains a critical concern for nations, particularly along challenging and porous borders of the Kalimantan-Sarawak boundary between Indonesia and Malaysia
where illicit business activities such as smuggling, human trafficking, and unauthorized trade thrive. Various factors are linked to the deterrence of illicit business activities, yet there are inconsistencies surrounding the relationships between these factors. As illicit business activities persist, this study investigates the relationships between law enforcement practices, resources optimization, geographical terrain, local community involvement, deterrence of illicit business activities, and the moderating role of police competence. Utilizing a quantitative methodology, data were collected via structured questionnaires from 419 respondents comprising Sarawak Brigade Police PGA personnel. Statistical analysis was
conducted using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to evaluate the relationships among variables. The key findings indicate that each variable
significantly influences the deterrence of illicit business activities, where local community involvement shows the strongest influence, followed by resources optimization, law
enforcement, and geographical terrain. In addition, the findings highlight the importance of police competence, in which the results show that it plays a significant moderating role in deterring illicit business activities. Theoretically, this study contributes toward the body of
knowledge under the situational crime prevention theory in which police competence plays a crucial role in reducing opportunities, in addition to technological advancements,
environmental design, and community involvement. The main practical contribution of this study is far-reaching for police forces and border security agencies in managing the police force’s competencies. Recommendations for future research include further investigation into the competency framework of police officers and security agencies involved in transnational border security.
Keywords: Deterrence of Illicit Business Activities, Law Enforcement, ResourcesOptimization, Geographical Terrain, Police Competence
Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) and Random Forest (RF) Hybrid Ensemble with Bayesian Optimization in Landslide Susceptibility Mapping
Get PDFMany models have been developed in the past for predicting landslide vulnerability. The generated models have certain shortcomings, especially when it comes to the problems of overfitting and overestimation. Therefore, the objective of this study is to assess and enhance the performance of Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) and Random Forest (RF) in predicting the susceptibility of landslides through the combination of the two models and the use of the Bayesian Optimization (BO) algorithm. The selected study area for this case study is Penang Island, which is a landslide-prone region in Malaysia. The topographical, hydrological, anthropogenic, and external factors that influence landslides were considered in this study. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been used to create the spatial databases of all the landslide conditioning elements. With an area under the curve (AUC) of success rate (SR) as high as 100.0% and prediction rate (PR) of 97.1%, the results indicate that optimized XGBoost performed best, followed by random forest (SR:99.3%, PR:95.9%). and stacked models (SR:96.8%, PR:95.6%) The final AUC findings showed that stacking and optimizing the hyperparameters can increase the algorithms' performance accuracy by overcoming the overfitting and overestimation issues. Although there are many applications for landslide susceptibility maps, they are crucial for site selection, engineering structure and disaster avoidance
Mitogenome data of Hylobates abbotti Kloss, 1929 (Abbott’s Gray Gibbon)
Get PDFComplete mitochondrial genomes provide valuable insights
into species identification, accompanied by their respective geographic variation, molecular taxonomy, conservation strategies, and phylogenetic relationships among primates. This data article presents the complete mitochondrial
genome sequence of Hylobates abbotti (Abbott’s gray gibbon),
a species endemic to southwest Borneo, previously classified
as a subspecies of Hylobates muelleri (the Bornean gibbon).
The mitogenome is 16,501 base pairs in length, comprising
13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and a
control region. A phylogenetic tree was constructed using the maximum likelihood (ML) method, offering insights into the evolutionary relationships within the genus Hylobates. The mitogenome has been deposited at GenBank under the accession number PQ867516
Political Participation of Rural Women in Yaxi, China: A Gender Perspective
Get PDFThis research attempts to study political participation of rural women in Yaxi, located in southeast of China through the lens of gender theory, and aims to explore ways to increase their participation in politics. This study also analyses cultural and social challenges in influencing Chinese rural women’s lack of political participation, and assesses policies and regulations in relation to rural women’s low political participation. Gender in this research is studied within the framework of the socialist feminism approach to examine the culture, values and social forms that lead to low political participation of rural women and to explore ways to increase their involvement in rural China. Based on the critical paradigm, a qualitative approach is used to explore in depth the participants' feelings, interpretations and understandings. Empirical findings from Yaxi Town largely confirm that the exclusion of women from political structures and decision-making processes is the result of cultural, social and policy challenges in the context of modern society. Thousands of years of traditional culture and social norms influence the political engagement of rural women in China. Being a country where only one party dominates, the understanding and implementation of policies affects rural women in their participation in politics, and policies with gender inequality violate rural women's political rights and their participation in politics. The insights gained from the interviews suggest that ways should be sought to change the cultural and social barriers and change policies to promote women's participation in politics, especially in their decision-making processes
The Effect of Environmental Disclosure Practices on Firm Performance of Malaysian Listed Firms
Get PDFThe lack of mandatory environmental disclosure guidelines for Malaysian public-listed firms leads to selective reporting, potentially resulting in stakeholder mistrust and uncertainty about the authenticity of the firms' environmental practices. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of environmental disclosure on financial performance. Sample of 428 public listed firms in Bursa Malaysia in year 2016 were used in this study. All data were collected from annual report and Osiris databased. The statistical evidences to conclude environmental disclosure has insignificant relationship with financial performance in term of economic value added (EVA), market value added (MVA), return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA). If environmental disclosure does not influence financial performance, it suggests that stakeholders especially investors may not assign it significant value. Companies may prioritize market conditions over sustainability and other considerations. Enhanced communication or policies may be required to underscore its significance. Subsequent research should encompass firms across all sectors, extend over longer durations, and employ diverse financial performance indicators to enhance precision and understanding. Researchers may also compare results across nations and industries to enhance comprehension of the impact of environmental disclosure on financial success
The Current State of Behavioural Economics Studies : A Bibliometric Analysis
No full textThe aim of this paper is to present the current state of the published literature related to behavioural economics studies. This paper presents a bibliometric analysis of 1757 documents on behavioural economics published between 1965 and 2024, using data from Scopus to analyse with tools like Microsoft Excel, BiblioMagika, OpenRefine, and VOSviewer. The findings discover that Kahneman’s (2003) paper, “Maps of Bounded Rationality: Psychology for Behavioural Economics” is the most highly cited document. This paper also identifies five key research clusters: Substance use and behavioural economics, decision-making, behavioural biases, health interventions, and alcohol-related behaviours. James G. Murphy is the most prolific author with 54 publications, while Warren K. Bickel is the most influential with 4018 citations. The United States emerged as the leading contributor with 1012 publications. This paper highlights the significant growth and interdisciplinary nature of behavioural economics, its applications in public health and policymaking, and the need for more research in diverse cultural and regional contexts
Elucidation of the Business Model of Green Residential Building to Environmentally Conscious Consumers in Sarawak
No full textGreen residential building (GRB) has been propounded
as an effective method to cope with the issue of global
warming. However, the development of GRBs in
Malaysia is imbalanced with none having been developed
in Sarawak. This can be accounted to several
factors, such as low awareness level, homebuyers’ reluctance
to pay the higher costs, and the inexistence of
a specific model that can be referred to, particularly in
the context of Sarawak. Therefore, the purpose of this
paper is to examine the awareness level of Sarawak
environmentally conscious consumers towards the benefits
of GRBs, identify the key factors influencing their
purchase intention, and establish a GRB business model.
A questionnaire survey was administered to 200 potential
GRB homebuyers, and the Statistical Package for
the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used for data
analysis and model establishment purposes. The results
showed significant and positive relationships between
socioeconomic benefits awareness and value perception
and trustworthiness with GRB purchase intention,
perceived financial risk negatively impacted GRB purchase
intention, while no significant relationship was
found between environmental benefits awareness and
environmental attitudes with GRB purchase intention.
Overall, homebuyers’ value perception and trustworthiness
had the most significant influence on their purchase
intention. The GRB business model offers valuable
insights to related authorities concerning the readiness
of Sarawak homebuyers to accept the green home concept
in line with the Big Bolds in Ekonomi Madani
“Housing for Rakyat” and SDG 11: Sustainable Cities
and Communities
Undi18 : Role of Social Media in Shaping the Political Literacy of Young Sarawakian Voters
No full textThe study examined the role of social media in shaping the political literacy of youth in Sarawak. The specific aspects studied were online political engagement, sources of political news, preferred social media platforms for political information, and factors motivating online political engagement. Questionnaire data from 41 participants aged 18-21 living in Kuching Sarawak were analysed. The results showed high consumption of political news, particularly on TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. Social media was the main source of political news for 95.1% of participants but television and online newspapers still have a role to play in disseminating political information to young voters. Family, peers, and teachers are hardly political socialisation agents for the youth of today. The participants found news updates as the most useful and interesting political posts on social media, but personal stories and numbers did not appeal to them. Their main reason for accessing political news was to gain new insights but political participation and activism were low on their priority. The findings indicated educational efforts are more effective when delivered through non-intrusive news content rather than overt promotional messages or calls to action