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Discerning the Disparity between Stipulated Contractual Payment Procedures and Payment Practices among Contractors
Get PDFSmooth cash flow is critical to foster a robust, professional, and competitive construction sector, ensuring efficient project delivery. However, persistent payment issues have been a recurrent concern, adversely affecting contractors within the construction industry.This research delves into the payment procedures as stipulated in three (3) prevalent standard form of contract, specifically focusing on the dynamics between clients and contractors in the Malaysian construction industry. The study aims to identify any disparity between the stipulated payment conditions and the actual of payment practices. A form study through literature review is used to study the stipulated
contractual payment procedures while primary data of actual practices were sourced from 162 contractor’s responses through structured questionnaire surveys. Employing a blend of analytical tools encompassing frequency distribution, Likert Scale with the Cronbach’s alpha analysis, and relative importance index computations, the collected data were analyzed. The findings emphasized the severity of
payment concerns within the construction industry. Payment issues, namely late payment, underpayment, and even nonpayment occurs at a high frequency. Persistent payment issues reflect a glaring disparity between stipulated procedures and the actual payment practices employed. The results from the survey also revealed that in these instances, the majority of contractors would opt for a tactful approach, relying on persistent notifications directed toward the client rather than pursuing legal actions to address the issue. The study underscored
the urgent need for improvements through better defined payment terms, established escalation procedures, and penalties for late payments in construction contracts. Furthermore, it is also necessary for contractor to be educated regarding legal options and the meticulous maintenance of work-related documentation concerning payments in order to foster a balanced and equitable ecosystem in the construction sector that will propel the construction industry’s advancement and the nation’s progress
Current Research Trends of Scratch Block based Programming for K-12 : A Systematic Review
Get PDFIn the evolving landscape of K-12 education, the introduction of programming skills through block-based environments such as Scratch has become increasingly common.
This approach meets the growing need for computer literacy among students, but its effectiveness in improving learning outcomes remains controversial. The aim of this
paper is to systematically review and summarize current research on the use of Scratch as a teaching and learning tool in K-12 education. Using the PRISMA (Preferred
Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) methodology, this paper analyses 27 relevant articles to assess the impact and use of Scratch in educational
settings. The review aims to identify the current trends, methods and foci in Scratchrelated educational research. Our results show that 17 studies focus on the use of
Scratch in teaching CS and ICT subjects, while 10 examine its application in other academic disciplines. The review shows generally positive results of Scratch programming in an educational context. However, it also highlights the need for more comprehensive empirical research. This includes conducting studies with larger and more diverse student samples over longer periods of time to gain a deeper
understanding of how Scratch programming can effectively improve learning outcomes in K-12 education
Community-Based Tobacco Smoking Cessation Programmes Among Adolescents in Sarawak: Lesson Learned from Process Evaluation
Get PDFAbstract
Introduction: This study evaluated the effectiveness of community-based quit-smoking interventions using the 5A’s and 3A’s modules.
Methods: The study was conducted between 2020 and 2021 in Samarahan and Asajaya District, Sarawak, Malaysia. The study included 519 participants out of 600 individuals, and both facilitators and observers evaluated the process. The process evaluation assessed various components: fidelity, dose delivered, dose received, reach, satisfaction, context, justification for intervention withdrawal, facilitator influence on sessions, and intervention feedback.
Results: The study found that most facilitators executed more than 85% of both session modules, achieving at least 75% of the objectives. Most participants of both sessions were positively and actively engaged and would recommend intervention to others. The participants reported positive feedback. However, 26.3% of participants withdrew from the second session due to inconvenient timing. The observer’s fidelity evaluations of both intervention sessions were fully implemented according to plans, achieving over 75% of their objectives. Observers acknowledged active and engaged participants during both intervention sessions and regarded all facilitators as appropriate and positive toward participants. The process evaluation showed that the interventions were administered well, and smoking adolescents demonstrated a willingness to quit smoking due to the outcomes of this intervention.
Conclusion: The findings of this study provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of community-based interventions for quitting smoking and highlight the importance of evaluating the process of interventions to understand their relationship with outcomes. The study’s results can inform the development and implementation of future interventions to reduce smoking incidence among adolescents
Symptom reduction in advanced cancer from multi-session mindful breathing : randomised controlled study
No full textObjectives While single-session mindful breathing shows symptom reduction in palliative care, data on multi-session efficacy is lacking. This study aimed to determine
the effectiveness of multi-session mindful breathing in reducing symptoms among patients with advanced cancer.
Methods Adult patients with advanced cancer who scored ≥4 in at least two or more symptoms based on the Edmonton Symptom
Assessment Scale (ESAS) were recruited from January to March 2020 at the University of Malaya Medical Centre, Malaysia. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either four
daily sessions of 30 min mindful breathing and standard care (intervention) or standard care alone (control). The outcome measured was the change in the ESAS score after each
session. Results 80 patients were recruited and
randomised equally into the intervention and control groups. The demographic and clinical characteristics between the two groups were not statistically different. For the intervention group, there were statistically significant reductions in the total ESAS scores following all four sessions of 30min mindful breathing (n1=40: z1=−5.09,
p<0.001; z2=−3.77, p<0.001; z3=−4.38, p<0.001; z4=−3.27, p<0.05). For the control group, statistically significant reductions in the total ESAS scores were seen only after sessions 1 and 3 (n2=40: z1=−4.04, p<0.001; z3=−4.53,
p<0.001). Conclusions Our result provides evidence that
four daily sessions of 30min mindful breathing may be effective in reducing multiple symptoms rapidly in patients with advanced cancer
Marah Tanpa Hikmah : Panah Yang Melukai Jiwa
Get PDFBuku ini membahas sifat marah dari perspektif Islam, merangkumi definisi, larangan serta keadaan yang dibenarkan oleh syarak. Ia turut mengupas faktor yang mencetuskan marah, kesannya dan kepentingan mengawalnya. Pendekatan terapi menurut al-Ghazali serta doa khusus turut disertakan sebagai panduan untuk mengurus emosi dengan bijak dan mencapai ketenangan..
Investigation of optical and radiation shielding characteristics of Gd2O3-doped tellurium zinc borate glass via melt-quenching method
No full textThe melt-quenching approach was used to produce Gd2O3-doped tellurium zinc borate glass system with
composition {[(TeO2)0.7(B2O3)0.3]0.7(ZnO)0.3}1− x(Gd2O3)x where x = 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04 as well as 0.05 M
fraction and assess its optical and radiation shielding characteristics. Phy-X/PSD software was used to calculate
parameters such as mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), linear attenuation coefficient (LAC), half value layer
(HVL), tenth value layer (TVL), and mean free path (MFP) in order to evaluate the effectiveness of radiation
shielding. Glass containing 0.05 M fraction of Gd2O3 exhibited the greatest shielding efficacy, surpassing conventional concretes such as chromite and serpentine. The refractive index dropped from 2.518 to 2.352 while the
direct and indirect optical band gaps increased from 3.239 to 3.519 eV and from 2.587 to 3.172 eV, respectively.
The amorphous nature of the glass was validated by XRD, while TeO3, TeO4, BO3, and BO4 vibrational groups
were identified by infrared spectra demonstrating the potential of the prepared glass for optical and radiation
shielding applications
High-Throughput DNA Metabarcoding for the Gut Microbiome Assessment of Captive White-Handed Gibbon and Siamang
Get PDFThe gut microbiota plays a vital role in primates' overall health and well-being, including small apes (Hylobatidae). The symbiotic relationships between bacteria and the gut aid food digestion, maintain host health, and help them adapt to their environment, including captive conditions. Despite being listed as endangered in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list category, molecular studies on the small ape's gut microbiome are limited compared to other primates. This study aimed to characterize the gut microbiota of captive small apes at Zoo Taiping and Night Safari, Peninsular Malaysia, by evaluating their microbial communities. Seven fecal samples from Hylobatidae (white-handed gibbon and siamang) were collected, and the bacteria therein were successfully isolated and subjected to high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene.The acquired amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) were successfully classified into 17 phyla, 82 families, 164 genera, and 43 species of microbes. Each small ape exhibited a unique gut microbiota profile. The phyla Bacteroidota and Firmicutes were dominant in each individual. Environmental conditions and host genetics are among the factors that influence the small ape's gut microbiome composition.These findings provide valuable insights into the gut microbiota composition of small apes at Zoo Taiping and Night Safari, thus contributing to the health management and welfare efforts of small apes in captivit
Comparative analysis of SD biosensor standard™ M10 HPV and seegene anyplex™ II HPV HR for detecting high-risk human papillomavirus: a concordance study
Get PDFBackground
Cervical cancer, primarily caused by persistent high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) infections, is a significant health burden, particularly in low-resource settings such as Sarawak, Malaysia. Effective prevention depends on effective vaccination and early hrHPV detection. This study compares the performance of the point-of-care test (POCT) SD Biosensor Standard™ M10 HPV and laboratory-based Seegene Anyplex™ II HPV HR assay, focusing on their ability to detect and genotype hrHPV in self-collected high vaginal swab samples.
Methods
A total of 151 archived self-sampled high vaginal swabs from the Sarawak Urban and Rural Action for Cervical Cancer Elimination Programme (Program SUARA) were analyzed. hrHPV detection and genotyping were performed using Anyplex, which identifies 14 hrHPV genotypes, and M10, which detects HPV16, HPV18, and other hrHPV categorized into six genogroups. Agreement between the assays was evaluated using Cohen’s Kappa (κ), McNemar’s test, and overall agreement percentages. Statistical significance was determined with p-values, and discordant results were further analyzed for potential diagnostic implications.
Results
The overall agreement between M10 and Anyplex for hrHPV detection was 92.05% (κ = 0.84, 95% CI 0.75–0.93), indicating almost perfect agreement. M10 demonstrated comparable sensitivity for detecting HPV16, HPV18, and other hrHPV genotypes, achieving 96.91% agreement (κ = 0.89, 95%CI 0.73-1.00) in hrHPV classification when discordant results were excluded. Genogrouping also showed almost perfect agreement (κ = 0.91, 95% CI 0.82–0.98). McNemar’s test indicated no significant difference in hrHPV detection rates (p > 0.05), affirming their comparable performance in detecting clinically significant hrHPV infections.
Conclusion
The SD Biosensor Standard™ M10 HPV POCT and the Seegene Anyplex™ II HPV HR assay demonstrated almost perfect agreement in hrHPV detection and classification, supporting their complementary roles in cervical cancer prevention. M10’s rapid, field-deployable design makes it suitable for resource-limited settings, while Anyplex provides enhanced genotyping capability in laboratory environments, allowing informed vaccine strategy. Incorporating both assays into cervical cancer prevention programs can improve screening coverage and accessibility, particularly in underserved areas. These findings align with the World Health Organization’s cervical cancer elimination goals, reinforcing the importance of adaptable diagnostic tools in diverse healthcare contexts
Measuring the Feasibility of a Question and Answering System for the Sarawak Gazette Using Chatbot Technology
Get PDFBackground: The Sarawak Gazette is a critical repository of information pertaining to Sarawak’s history.
It has received much attention over the last two decades, with prior studies focusing on digitizing and
extracting the gazette’s ontologies to increase the gazette’s accessibility. However, the creation of a
question answering system for the Sarawak Gazette, another avenue that could improve accessibility,
has been overlooked.
Objective: This study created a new system to generate answers for user questions related to the gazette
using chatbot technology.
Methods: This system sends user queries to a context retrieval system, then generates an answer from
the retrieved contexts using a Large Language Model. A question answering dataset was also created using a Large Language Model to evaluate this system, with dataset quality assessed by 10 annotators.
Results: The system achieved 55% higher precision, and 42% higher recall compared to previous state-of-the-art historical document question answering while only sacrificing 11% of cosine similarity.
The annotators overall rated the dataset 2.9 out of 3.
Conclusion: The system could answer the general public’s questions about the Sarawak Gazette in a more direct and friendly manner compared to traditional information retrieval methods. The methods developed in this study are also applicable to other Malaysian historical texts that are written in English.
All code used in this study have been released on GitHub
Assessing Malaysia’s Urban Security through Emerging Hot Spot Analysis (EHSA): A Spatiotemporal Investigation of Burglary Patterns within Police Jurisdictions of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, and Putrajaya, Malaysia
Get PDFThis study investigates the spatiotemporal patterns of midnight burglary (12 am–6:59 am) across 84 Police Station Boundaries (PSBs) in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, and Putrajaya using Emerging Hot Spot Analysis (EHSA). The research addresses critical issues in urban crime dynamics, particularly the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on burglary trends. The objectives include identifying intensifying, diminishing, and other hotspot categories to enhance understanding of spatial crime distributions. A spatiotemporal design, utilizing advanced GIS tools, classifies crime hotspots into nuanced categories, enabling a comprehensive analysis of burglary trends from 2015–2020. Findings reveal significant disparities in burglary intensification in areas such as Kajang (8.60%), Selayang (4.73%), and Klang (4.56%), with diminishing trends observed in regions like Sri Muda. Oscillating and emerging patterns were noted in Kuang and Rawang. Conclusions emphasize the need for targeted, evidence-based law enforcement strategies to mitigate crime risks effectively. The study underscores implications for collaborative urban security policies, advocating for adaptive resource allocation and strategic interventions amidst evolving socio-economic disruptions. This work contributes to criminological literature by demonstrating the utility of EHSA in spatiotemporal crime analysis and informing public safety initiatives