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Do Migrant Remittances Reduce Poverty? Micro-Level Evidence from Punjab, Pakistan
No full textThis paper provides a poverty profile of households and then investigates the effects of international remittances on poverty incidence and severity in Punjab, Pakistan. Using cross-section data from the latest Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey for Punjab, the disaggregated analysis on the remittance-poverty nexus is examined by districts and urban-rural locales. From the poverty profile for migrant households with remittances and the counterfactual scenario of no remittances, the differences in the poverty reduction effect seem larger for poverty headcount than on the depth of poverty. The same trend holds for the urban-rural locales. This implies that remittances inflow were not really helpful for the poorest of the poor. The regression analysis further reveals that migrant remittances have significantly reduced the level and depth of poverty for households in all districts of Punjab, with the highest probability of being non-poor for rural households in the districts of South Punjab
Impact of News Sentiment Analysis on Market Price Movement During the Dividend Period
No full textThis study presents development of a system for analysing the polarity of stock market news to guide traders in making better decision when buying, selling or holding stocks during the dividend period. It will also help traders by reducing the risk of making inaccurate decision in trading. Trusted and reliable data such as dividend news, daily share market price, company news and announcements from Bursa Malaysia and The Edge Market will be used for performing news sentiment analysis using Azure Text Analytics. The results show that company news and announcements do not have significant effect on the Malaysia stock prices as the prices move within the range of 0-1%, which is the benchmark of the normal range of daily price movement
Development and Evaluation of a Game-Based Bayesian Intelligent Tutoring System for Teaching Programming
No full textGames with educational purposes usually follow a computer-assisted instruction concept that is predefined and rigid, offering no adaptability to each student. To overcome such problem, some ideas from Intelligent Tutoring Systems have been used in educational games such as teaching introductory programming. The objective of this study was to advance Online Game-based Bayesian Intelligent Tutoring System (OGITS) to enhance programming acquisition and online information searching skills, thus improving students’ ability in web-based problem solving through board games. The study sample comprised 79 college students in introductory level Computer Science classes. Qualitative and quantitative data were then gathered. Results of this study revealed generally favorable opinions about OGITS. As OGITS targets individual knowledge acquisition of computer programming and web-based problem-solving skills, it offers a suitable learning environment for students both as a stand-alone course and as a supplement to traditional classroom settings
Community participation for rural poverty alleviation: A case of the Iban community in Malaysia
No full textThis study aimed to uncover the influential factors of community participation in a rural poverty alleviation programme in Malaysia. A quantitative approach was used, and data were collected through a self-administered survey questionnaire from 260 respondents of the Iban community in Malaysia. The study considered 22 influential factors (18 as independent variables and 4 as dependent variables) to measure the level of community participation in decision-making, implementation, benefits sharing and evaluation. The study explored how these influential factors interacted with participation in a rural poverty alleviation programme. The results found a diversity of interacting factors within the forms of participation at the implementation level. The article contributes a dynamic and multi-dimensional understanding of how influential factors shape community participation processes. The findings are an important indicator to policy-makers and development practitioners
Constructing chinese identity through the Chinese language: A comparative study of two different secondary education systems in Malaysia
No full textChinese Malaysians retain a distinct Chinese identity in a multicultural nation and highly appraise the ethnic-based and cultural importance of the Chinese language. Based on a social psychological perspective, this study employs a survey method with multiple-choice and open-ended questions to examine Chinese identity and the issues of Chinese language from the micro and macro level in two different education systems. By comparing two contrasting educational systems of Independent Chinese Secondary Schools (ICSS) and National Secondary Schools (NSS), this paper with 890 respondents argues that the Chinese identity is constructed through the different degree of learning, using and understanding of Chinese language in the students’ respective educational contexts. Results of statistical analysis reveal significant higher score in NSS sample with a more salient Chinese identity despite having a disadvantaged learning environment for the Chinese language. The comparative analysis sought to provide significant justification and discussion of the Chinese identity construction of Chinese secondary school students
Incomplete cellular reprogramming of colorectal cancer cells elicits an epithelial/mesenchymal hybrid phenotype
No full textBackground: Induced pluripotency in cancer cells by ectopic expression of pluripotency-regulating factors may be used for disease modeling of cancers. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are negative regulators of gene expression that play important role in reprogramming somatic cells. However, studies on the miRNA expression profile and the expression patterns of the mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET)/epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) genes in induced pluripotent cancer (iPC) cells are lacking. Methods: iPC clones were generated from two colorectal cancer (CRC) cell lines by retroviral transduction of the Yamanaka factors. The iPC clones obtained were characterized by morphology, expression of pluripotency markers and the ability to undergo in vitro tri-lineage differentiation. Genome-wide miRNA profiles of the iPC cells were obtained by microarray analysis and bioinformatics interrogation. Gene expression was done by real-time RT-PCR and immuno-staining; MET/EMT protein levels were determined by western blot analysis. Results: The CRC-iPC cells showed embryonic stem cell-like features and tri-lineage differentiation abilities. The spontaneously-differentiated post-iPC cells obtained were highly similar to the parental CRC cells. However, down-regulated pluripotency gene expression and failure to form teratoma indicated that the CRC-iPC cells had only attained partial pluripotency. The CRC-iPC cells shared similarities in the genome-wide miRNA expression profiles of both cancer and pluripotent embryonic stem cells. One hundred and two differentially-expressed miRNAs were identified in the CRC-iPC cells, which were predicted by bioinformatics analysis be closely involved in regulating cellular pluripotency and the expression of the MET/EMT genes, possibly via the phosphatidylinositol-3 kinases-protein kinase B (PI3K-Akt) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signaling pathways. Irregular and inconsistent expression patterns of the EMT vimentin and Snai1 and MET E-cadherin and occludin proteins were observed in the four CRC-iPC clones analyzed, which suggested an epithelial/mesenchymal hybrid phenotype in the partially reprogrammed CRC cells. MET/EMT gene expression was also generally reversed on re-differentiation, also suggesting epigenetic regulation. Conclusions: Our data support the elite model for cancer cell-reprogramming in which only a selected subset of cancer may be fully reprogrammed; partial cancer cell reprogramming may also elicit an epithelial-mesenchymal mixed phenotype, and highlight opportunities and challenges in cancer cell-reprogramming
Phenylpropanoids isolated from Piper sarmentosum Roxb. induce apoptosis in breast cancer cells through reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial-dependent pathways
No full textThe aim of the present study is to isolate bioactive compounds from the roots of Piper sarmentosum and examine the mechanism of action using human breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231). Bioassay guided-fractionation of methanolic extract led to the isolation of asaricin (1) and isoasarone (2). Asaricin (1) and isoasarone (2) had significant cytotoxicity towards MDA-MB-231. MCF-10A (human normal breast epithelial cells) cells are less sensitive than MDA-MB-231, but they respond to the treatment with the same unit of measurement. Both compounds increase reactive oxygen species (ROS), decrease mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and enhance cytochrome c release in treated MDA-MB-231 cells. Isoasarone (2) markedly elevated caspase -8 and -3/7 activities and caused a decline in nuclear NF-κB translocation, suggesting extrinsic, death receptor-linked apoptosis pathway. Quantitative PCR results of MDA-MB-231 treated with asaricin (1) and isoasarone (2) showed altered expression of Bcl-2: Bax level. The inhibitory potency of these isolates may support the therapeutic uses of these compounds in breast cancer
The role of miRNAs 34a, 146a, 320a and 542 in the synergistic anticancer effects of methyl 2-(5-fluoro-2-hydroxyphenyl)-1H- benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxylate (MBIC) with doxorubicin in breast cancer cells
No full textCombination Index (CI) analysis suggested that MBIC and doxorubicin synergistically inhibited up to 97% of cell proliferation in ER+/PR+ MCF-7 and triple negative MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines. Moreover, treatment of the breast cancer cells with the combined drugs resulted in lower IC50 values in contrast to the individual drug treatment. Small noncoding microRNAs (miRNA) may function as non-mutational gene regulators at post-transcriptional level of protein synthesis. In the present study, the effect of the combined treatment of MBIC and doxorubicin on the expression level of several miRNAs including miR-34a, miR-146a, miR-320a and miR-542 were evaluated in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines. These miRNAs have the potential to alter the protein level of survivin, the anti-apoptotic protein and reduce the metastatic activity in human breast cancer cell lines by interfering with the nuclear accumulation of NF-KB. Our results demonstrated the several fold changes in expression of miRNAs, which is drug and cell line dependent. This finding demonstrated a functional synergistic network between miR-34a, miR-320a and miR-542 that are negatively involved in post-transcriptional regulation of survivin in MCF-7 cells. While in MDA-MB-231 cells, changes in expression level of miR-146a was correlated with inhibition of the nuclear translocation of NF-KB. The overall result suggested that alteration in protein level and location of survivin and NF-KB by miR-34a, miR-320a, miR-146a and miR-542, remarkably influenced the synergistic enhancement of combined MBIC and doxorubicin in treatment of aggressive and less aggressive human breast cancer cell lines
Direct patient reporting of adverse drug reactions: An analysis of spontaneous reports submitted to Malaysian pharmacovigilance centre
No full textPurpose: To evaluate patient adverse drug reaction (ADR) reports in terms of categories by System Organ Class (SOC), suspected products and seriousness. Methods: The national database was retrospectively searched from 2008 to 2015. ADR reports by patients were included but vaccine-related reports and reports by healthcare professionals were excluded. Eligible reports were analysed descriptively and Chi-square test was used to evaluate the association of various categorical variables with serious ADRs. Results: Of the total of 75,391 reports screened in the National ADR database for the study period, only 81 (0.11 %) were reports from patients, of which 32 (40 %) reports involved serious ADRs. The majority of reports was associated with unregistered products or unapproved cosmetics. Half of the reports involved traditional products while cosmetic products constituted another 10 % of the reports. The three main SOCs involved were skin and appendages disorders (26 %), body as a whole (25 %), and central and peripheral nervous system disorders (9 %). A total of 23 out of 47 products tested were adulterated with prescription drugs while 4 cosmetic products exceeded the permitted limit for hydroquinone or mercury. Two factors found to be significantly associated with serious ADRs were product registration status and presence of adulteration. Conclusion: The findings indicate that patient reporting of suspected ADRs has the potential to add valuable information to pharmacovigilance
Adaptation, translation, and validation of information literacy assessment instrument
No full textThe assessment of information literacy (IL) at the school level is mainly dependent on the measurement tools developed by the Western world. These tools need to be efficiently adapted and in most cases translated to allow them to be utilized in other cultures, languages, and countries. To date, there have been no standard guidelines to adapt these tools; hence, the results may be cross-culturally generalized to a certain extent. Furthermore, most data analyses produce generic outcomes without taking into account the ability of the students, including the difficulty of the test items. The present study proposes a systematic approach for context adaptation and language translation of the preexisting IL assessment tool known as TRAILS-9 to be used in different languages and context, particularly a Malaysian public secondary school. This study further administers a less common psychometric approach, the Rasch analysis, to validate the adapted instrument. This technique produces a hierarchy of item difficulty within the assessment domain that enables the ability level of the students to be differentiated based on item difficulty. The recommended scale adaptation guidelines are able to reduce the misinterpretation of scores from instruments in multiple languages as well as contribute to parallel development of IL assessment among secondary school students from different populations