UNIMAS Journal (Universiti Malaysia Sarawak)
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The In Vitro Ovicidal Activity of Cassia alata Methanolic Extracts on Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus Eggs
Full text linkThe widespread use of chemical insecticides for controlling Aedes mosquitoes has resulted in the development of insecticide resistance, prompting the need for alternative solutions. Botanical insecticides have gained attention as a promising approach in modern pest control. This study focuses on evaluating the ovicidal effects of methanol extracts from Cassia alata leaves on Aedes mosquitoes. The extracts were produced through the maceration-filtration technique, followed by the preparation of various concentrations (0.05-2.00 mg/ml) These concentrations were then tested to assess their impact on the fertility and egg viability of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. From the results obtained in the bioassay on egg fertility and viability, a significant difference in fertility was observed between Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus (p<0.05, p = 0.044). However, no significant difference was observed in overall egg viability between the two species (p>0.05, p = 0.468). The LC50 and LC90 values for Ae. albopictus were 0.323 mg/ml and 5.280 mg/ml, respectively, which were lower than those for Ae. aegypti 0.560 mg/ml and 11.480 mg/ml. This indicates that, Ae. albopictus is more susceptible to the methanolic C. alata extracts. These findings suggest that C. alata extracts could be a viable alternative to chemical insecticides in mosquito control programs, particularly for targeting Ae. albopictus.
ANALYZING TOURIST SENTIMENT AND TOPICS IN MALAYSIAN DESTINATION TWEETS: INSIGHTS FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM MANAGEMENT IN PENANG
No full textThis research aims to analyse the opinions expressed in tweets about a tourism destination in Malaysia and elucidate the dominant topics discussed on Twitter. This study analyses tourist sentiment on a Malaysian destination from a sustainability perspective by examining tweets using Lexicon-based sentiment analysis for polarity detection and Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) for topic modelling. A total of 18,018 tweets about Penang Tourism revealed that 46% of sentiments were positive, 39% were neutral, and 15% were negative. Tourists primarily discussed food, tourist spots, events, hotels, traffic, and driver attitudes. Core tourism services received positive feedback, whereas additional fees were noted as less favourable. These insights provide useful information for policymakers and businesses to understand tourist behaviour and expectations, supporting sustainable tourism practices and resource management
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE, STRATEGY INNOVATION, AND DIGITAL VALUE CREATION FOR BUSINESS PERFORMANCE ON DIGITAL CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
Full text linkMicro, Small and Medium Enterprises’ (MSMEs) business performance in digital creative industries still remain an issue in Indonesia. This paper evaluates the influence of business intelligence on business performance through digital value creation mediated by innovation strategy. This research is conducted in the digital creative industries using 104 respondents consisting of managers and company owners in Indonesia. The method used is Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results show that business intelligence exhibits positive and significant impact both on digital value creation and innovation strategy. Apart from that, innovation strategy exhibits positive and significant impact on digital value creation. Lastly, digital value creation exhibits positive and significant impact on business performance. Likewise, the indirect influence of all variables in the model shows positive and significant results. A major limitation of this study is the study sample. Since the sample covers only eight cities in Indonesia, it does not represent the whole of Indonesia. However, since no empirical study has evaluated business intelligence through digital value creation mediated by strategy innovation, this study makes a unique contribution to business performance on digital creative industries in Indonesia
CONSTRUCTING AN INDEX FOR CROSS-BORDER E-COMMERCE DEVELOPMENT LEVELS BASED ON ECOSYSTEM THEORY: EMPIRICAL INSIGHTS FROM RCEP COUNTRIES
Full text linkThis study assesses the development levels of cross-border e-commerce among Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) nations from 2013 to 2022. The study synthesizes global literature on e-commerce ecosystem theories, key influencing factors, and measurement approaches to construct a multidimensional indicator system. This system integrates the TIMG index to provide a comprehensive analysis of the digital economy's impacts. By employing principal component analysis in Stata, the study formulates a scoring methodology to evaluate e-commerce development across RCEP nations, highlighting trends over the decade. The results identify China, Japan, and Singapore as leading nations, followed closely by South Korea and Australia. New Zealand, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines comprise the third tier, while Laos ranks at the lowest development level. The study emphasizes the critical roles of logistics and information flow in e-commerce development, providing valuable insights for future explorations within the RCEP framework
DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE’S DIRECT AND INDIRECT LINKAGES TO TURNOVER INTENTION: A STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELLING APPROACH
Full text linkThis study examines the factors that influence turnover intention among public doctors in Malaysia, which is crucial for achieving universal health coverage. Drawing from Equity Theory, Social Exchange Theory, and the concept of reciprocity, a conceptual model is proposed in which distributive justice is hypothesised to affect turnover intention both directly and indirectly through the mediating of organisational citizenship behaviour. Furthermore, the study proposes that positive reciprocity moderates the relationship between distributive justice and organisational citizenship behaviour, while negative reciprocity moderates the link between distributive justice and turnover intention. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 380 public doctors selected through proportionate stratified random sampling in the Klang Valley region of Malaysia, using a self-administered questionnaire survey. Structural equation modelling revealed that distributive justice inversely impacts turnover intention both directly and indirectly through the partial mediation of organisational citizenship behaviour. Additionally, positive reciprocity strengthened the positive association between distributive justice and organisational citizenship behaviour, while negative reciprocity did not significantly moderate the distributive justice-turnover intention relationship. The findings underscore the importance of fostering distributive justice, organisational citizenship behaviour, and positive reciprocity norms to mitigate turnover intention among Malaysian public doctors, thereby supporting broader efforts to achieve universal health coverage
Epiphyte Diversity in Forests and Oil Palm Plantations: Effects of Age and Distance
Full text linkEpiphytes play a vital role in the rainforest ecosystems, contributing to biodiversity and ecological balance. This study investigates the diversity and abundance of epiphytes in the Jagoi area, Bau, Sarawak, focusing on the impact of forest and oil palm plantation ages, as well as the proximity to the forest-oil palm plantation boundary. We conducted a comprehensive comparative study across 34 sampling plots located within secondary forests and oil palm plantations, with the plots carefully categorised based on their age and distance from the boundary to capture variations in environmental conditions. To ensure consistency and accuracy, the diversity and abundance of epiphytes within these plots were assessed using well-established standard ecological survey methods, which allowed for reliable data collection and analysis. This approach provided valuable insights into how land-use types and spatial factors influence epiphyte communities. Our findings reveal that the age of both forests and oil palm plantations significantly affects the diversity and abundance of epiphytes. In contrast, the distance to the forest-oil palm plantation boundary showed no significant relationship with these parameters. The study highlights the importance of forest and plantation age as key factors influencing epiphyte populations. These insights contribute to understanding the ecological dynamics of forest ecosystems adjacent to agricultural landscapes and highlight the need for sustainable management practices to preserve epiphytic biodiversity
Knowledge and Perceptions of Bat Guano Across Different Demographics in Malaysia
No full textThe study delves into the perceptions and knowledge of the local Malaysian community regarding bat guano. Bat guano, or bat faeces, plays a crucial role in cave ecosystems, serving as a source of energy and impacting habitat dynamics. Recognizing its properties is pivotal for effective conservation. Conducted through a virtual survey on platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, and LinkedIn, the study assessed respondents' demographics, guano knowledge, its importance, and willingness to use it. Among 103 respondents, mostly aged 18 to 25, 64.08% were aware of bat guano, but few had used guano-derived products. Positive perceptions were linked to the age group (P=0.002), indicating younger individuals were more receptive. Challenges to broader acceptance included cleanliness and safety concerns heightened by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Despite efforts to provide information and change perceptions, 78.64% remained undecided about using bat guano in their daily lives due to persistent misconceptions. Public awareness and education are crucial for promoting its benefits, necessitating collaboration among researchers, educators, and government entities
Molecular Characterisation of Upland and Lowland Rice from Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo
Full text linkA total of 39 Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) markers distributed across the 12 chromosomeswere screened for polymorphism. Out of 39 tested SSR markers, eight primers displayedpolymorphic banding patterns and exhibited strong polymorphism among the accessions. Theprimers with good amplification were RM1, RM489, RM552, RM444, RM257, RM489, RM166and RM164. The highest PIC value (0.9316) was recorded by RM257. The lowest PIC value(0.4029) was recorded by RM552 with average PIC value 0.6891. The observed number ofeffective alleles (Ne) in lowland population recorded 1.543 and 1.566 in upland population. Nei’sgene diversity (h) in upland and lowland population was 0.318 and 0.329, respectively,indicating low level of divergence in current study. Shannon’s Information Index (I) wasrecorded 0.475 in lowland population, and 0.490 in upland population. Analysis of MolecularVariance indicated a percentage of 20% genetic variation among population. Meanwhile, geneticvariation within population was 80%. The UPGMA dendrogram based on the eight SSR markersgenotype classified the 44 rice accessions into two major clusters, Cluster I and Cluster II.Cluster I was divided into two sub-clusters, sub-cluster IA and sub-cluster IB and Cluster II wassplit into sub-cluster IIA and sub-cluster IIB. The clustering analysis did not show clearclustering of the rice accessions according to their morphological traits nor geographical origin.Simultaneously, the Maturase-K barcoding gene marker revealed the accessions were clusteredin one big cluster. Also in the cluster were 94 rice accessions from different origins and threeaccessions of Oryza rufipogon. This clustering approach categories the accessions based on theirgenome. The molecular markers used in the study provide valuable insights into the geneticdiversity of rice accessions and can be used in facilitating targeted breeding programs essentialfor advancing sustainable agriculture
Physicochemical and Antioxidant Properties of Copper-Amaranth Leaf Purees Using Viscozyme-L Enzymatic Liquefaction
Full text linkThis study evaluated the effect of cell wall-degrading enzyme (Viscozyme® L) on the physicochemical properties and antioxidant activity of copper-amaranth (Amaranthus Viridis Linn.) leaf purees. The purees were liquefied with varying concentrations of Viscozyme® L (0–3% v/w) over different incubation times (30 minutes to 24 hours). It was observed that treatment with 1% Viscozyme® L (v/w) at pH 5 for 3 hours, followed by incubation at 45 °C, resulted in a significant increase in total soluble solids (°Brix), acidity, and total chlorophyll content. The enzyme-treated purees exhibited higher DPPH (13.52 mM (TE)/g fresh weight), and FRAP (6.04 mM (TE)/g fresh weight) values, as well as in reducing sugar (118.43 mg/mL), soluble dietary fibre (4.32%) content and greener colour (-0.35) values, as compared to non-enzyme treated purees (0.13 mg/g, 9.47 mM (TE)/g and 3.72 mM (TE)/g fresh weight, and 12.75 mg/mL, 0.60%, and -0.28, respectively). These findings demonstrate that treatment with Viscozyme® L enzymes can effectively improve the nutritional and functional quality of vegetable-based purees, with potential applications in the processing of green vegetable juices
EVALUATING PARTNER PERFORMANCE IN SELECTION TO ENHANCE ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE WITH THE MEDIATING EFFECTS OF CO-CREATION
Full text linkThe purpose of this study is to examine the impact of partner factors, including cost, quality, and capability on the performance and co-creation of organizations in Vietnam. Data were collected from property proprietors, CEOs, vice directors, management board assistants, and department managers of SMEs in Vietnam. The PLS-SEM technique was employed to collect and analyze a total of 454 valid responses. The results also illustrate the impact of partners' cost, partners' quality, partners' capability, and collaboration with partners on the success of SMEs in a developing market. The results also emphasized the role of collaborative creation in mediating the relationship between partner performance and SME business outcomes. This study offers novel insights into the literature on the impact of partnership on business co-creation and performance in terms of partners' capability, cost, and quality, as a result of its theoretical implications. This study helps fill the gap in supply chain management partner selection theories, specifically selection criteria and their consequences on business performance in Vietnam's uncertain situations. The results can offer tourism companies valuable insights into the strategic benefits of selecting, establishing, or maintaining a relationship, as well as strengthening their relationships with their business partners