17362 research outputs found
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Medicinal plants of Sabah (North Borneo): Lest we forget
No full textContext: The discovery of plants and bioactive compounds with the potential to become botanical or pharmaceutical drugs remains a cornerstone of drug innovation. Many of these valuable molecules originate from traditional botanical pharmacopeias, repositories of centuries-old knowledge that are often underappreciated in modern research. Objective: This review highlights the medicinal plants identified in Sabah from 1922 to 2024, analyzing their taxonomical distribution, uses, utilization among ethnic groups, and their potential for clinical uses. Methods: The data for this review were gathered from Google Scholar, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, PubMed, the Internet Archive, and Google Books. A keyword combination of “Medicinal” and “Plants” and “Sabah” yielded 21,700 results. Each result was examined, and articles that did not contain information relevant to the topic or came from non-peer-reviewed journals were excluded. Each of the remaining 87 selected articles was critically reviewed to extract pertinent information. Results: A review of the available data indicates that 696 plant species are used in Sabah, including 412 angiosperms. These plants are primarily utilized to treat diseases or symptoms related to infections, digestive issues, injuries, and pains. Notably, 156 species employed by local Sabahan Dusunic, Murutic, and Kelabit ethnic groups remain unstudied in terms of their phytochemical and pharmacological properties, highlighting their potential for further investigation. Conclusion: Sabah’s medicinal plants offer tremendous potential for discovering natural products of therapeutic value
Syringic Acid in Canarium odontophyllum for Diabetes and Obesity – A Review
No full textSyringic acid (SA) is a phenolic compound with a significant role in the treatment of diabetes and obesity. Syringic acid possesses anti-obesity and anti-diabetic properties; however, the potential of syringic acid derived from the native Bornean fruit Canarium odontophyllum (C. odontophyllum) for managing diabetes and obesity remains undocumented. This brief discussion explores the possible mechanisms associated with syringic acid’s structure and its potential therapeutic effects in managing diabetes and obesity. The relevant information is gathered from previous reports on syringic acid, related to molecular docking studies involving syringic acid-associated enzymes and protein residues. The potential mechanism of syringic acid derived from C. odontophyllum with chemical structure characterized by a benzene ring with hydrogen bonds and its high affinity for enzymes and protein residues targeting diabetes and obesity, including hexokinase 2 (HK2), glycogen synthase kinase (GSK), 2BEL, protein kinase D (PKD), insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1), and insulin receptor beta (IR-β). This review paper provides alternative insights into syringic acid derived from the seasonal fruit of native Bornean fruit associated with molecular docking, structural advantages and mechanism of action in diabetes treatment
The impact of gold and oil prices on ASEAN’s financial sustainability before and during COVID-19 pandemic
No full textThis study investigates the impacts of gold and oil prices on ASEAN’s financial sustainability before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The financial sustainability of the ASEAN economics was measured using the performance in the stock market. Among the ASEAN countries, 8 countries produce oil meanwhile 5 countries produce gold. The study used panel data analysis to measure the impact of gold and oil prices on stock market performance. Since there are 3 countries in ASEAN that neither produces gold nor oil but only consumes them, other macroeconomic variables like gross domestic product, exchange rate and inflation rate were added in the analysis as the independent variables together with oil and gold prices. The study was also further distinguished into before the pandemic (2012 – 2019) and during the pandemic (2020 – 2021). The analysis revealed from the random effect regression that oil price and inflation rate influenced the stock performance before and during the pandemic. Both the variables moved in the same direction with stock performance. All other variables were found to be insignificant
A narrative review of Telehealth service success and sustainability in rural healthcare settings
No full textTelehealth services have emerged as a promising solution to address healthcare disparities, improving access to care, reducing costs, and enhancing patient outcomes. This review explores the potential of telehealth in improving healthcare access, as well as the factors leading to its success and sustainability. Examining the promise and constraints of telemedicine adoption provides insights into the broader possibility and implications of telehealth technologies. A narrative review analyzed 12 English-language literatures (2019-2023) from PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, ProQuest, and Emerald Insight, focusing on telehealth data, regulations, success factors, and rural access. Telehealth offers significant benefits, particularly in improving access to healthcare for rural and underserved populations, reducing travel time and costs, and enhancing patient engagement. It also aids in early disease detection and management, leading to better patient outcomes and reducing unnecessary hospital admissions. However, challenges remain, especially in technological infrastructure, where inadequate internet connectivity in rural areas hampers effective implementation. Patient satisfaction depends on convenience, efficiency, privacy, and communication, all of which can be compromised by technical issues. Six critical factors for telehealth success include vision, ownership, adaptability, economics, efficiency, and equipment, which must be addressed for sustainable adoption, particularly in rural settings. Despite the potential of telehealth services to revolutionize healthcare access, challenges such as funding limitations, infrastructure barriers, and concerns about the quality of telemedicine encounters persist. For telehealth services to be successful and sustainable in the long run, several issues must be resolved. Strategies include enhancing infrastructure, ensuring adherence to regulations and guidelines, and fostering awareness and acceptance among healthcare professionals and patients. The results highlight the necessity of ongoing investigation, assessment, and strategic planning to fully realize the promise of telehealth services, particularly concerning cancer treatment and other crucial areas of healthcare. Keywords: Telehealth, Healthcare Access, Rural Health, Health Technology, Sustainability in Healthcar
Static Facial Expression Recognition in the wild: Taxonomy, trends and challenges
No full textIn recent years, Facial Expression Recognition (FER) has gained significant at-tention due to its wide application and potential in various domains. FER is the research field that focuses on recognizing and classifying human emotions expressed by humans into emo-tion categories using computer vision. Different machine learning techniques have been applied to this research field with promising outcomes through the application of increasingly more powerful machine learning algorithms. This systematic literature review is conducted to investigate static FER on unconstrained datasets. A total of 32 studies were retrieved from four major academic repositories. The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive review of static FER research on unconstrained facial expression image datasets including the overview of key concepts, the approaches applied, the datasets used, the current state-of-the-art as well as the future directions of research in this fast-developing research field. Deep learning methods emerged as the most promising approach for static FER while second-order pooling in CNN allowed for improved representation of regional features and facial landmark distortion
Israeli Palestinian conflict, boycotted products' stock shares, geopolitical risk, policy uncertainty and oil prices nexus: Evidence from wavelet-based approach
No full textThis paper aims to study the media coverage connectedness and correlations between the Israeli Palestinian Conflict and some boycotted targeted companies. We utilize monthly data from January 2016 to December 2023 using three groups of variables. For the analysis part, we utilize the Wavelet-Based Approach alongside panel data regression and Granger causality to identify significant correlations and patterns. Demonstration, PolCiv Event, PolCiv Fatalities as the indicator for Israel-Palestinian conflict. Wix.Com Ltd (WIX), Yum! Brands Inc (YUM), Restaurant Brands International Inc (QSR), Papa John's International Inc (PZZA), Domino's Pizza Inc (DPZ), and McDonald's Corporation's Stock (MCD) as boycotted targeted companies and Global Price of WTI Crude (WTI), Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) and Geopolitical Risk Index (GPR) as global indicators. We found strong correlations among Demonstration, PolCiv Event, and PolCiv Fatalities, indicating their connectedness. However, only a few share prices, like WIX and YUM, exhibit limited significance in reflecting the humanitarian conditions tied to the conflict. Additionally, boycotted-product stock prices show medium to high correlations with media coverage, and global indicators (WTI, EPU, GPR) significantly correlate with selected boycotted-product share prices. Surprisingly, WTI and GPR exhibit a strong correlation, suggesting that geopolitical tensions globally influence oil price fluctuations. However, direct impacts on targeted companies are challenging due to opposing perspectives on the conflict, but a reduction in consumption is observed. We uncover strong correlations among various factors, including Demonstration, PolCiv Event, and PolCiv Fatalities. These connections highlight their interconnectedness and contribute fresh insights to existing knowledge. Additionally, the study explores the intriguing relationship between boycotted-product stock prices and media coverage, revealing medium to high correlations. Surprisingly, global indicators like WTI (oil prices) and GPR (geopolitical risk index) demonstrate a strong correlation, suggesting that geopolitical tensions globally influence oil price fluctuations. Overall, this research advances our understanding of the multifaceted effects arising from conflict-related events
Research trends in the field of Islamic Banking and Finance: Bibliometric analysis from 2000 to 2024
No full textThis study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of Islamic Banking and Finance (IBF) from 2000 to 2024, aiming to address research gaps, examine publication trends, and propose future research directions. Using a systematic search across five academic databases—Web of Science, ResearchGate, Google Scholar, Connected Papers, and Emerald Insight—150 peer-reviewed studies were selected based on relevance and quality. Analytical tools such as Biblioshiny (RStudio), VOS viewer, and Microsoft Excel were employed to map out the intellectual landscape of IBF. The findings highlight a strong research focus on Islamic banking operations, rate comparisons with conventional banks, and governance structures, while also uncovering patterns in geographical research output, citation networks, and collaboration trends. Importantly, the study identifies critical gaps in the literature, including a scarcity of empirical work on sustainable development, inadequate frameworks for institutional accountability, and limited exploration of digitalization and fintech in IBF. These insights form the basis for a proposed research agenda to steer future scholarship towards more impactful and globally relevant contributions
Relationship between stock market and macroeconomic variables using panel data with structural breaks: ASEAN-5 countries
No full textThis study looks at the ASEAN-5 countries and investigates how structural changes affect the relationship between the stock market index and selected macroeconomic variables (interest rate, exchange rate, and industrial production index) using panel data analysis from January 2012 to December 2022. Applying the panel date regression techniques, the results show that before the structural break period, the random effect model (REM) is appropriate for the estimate model. The stock market index is significantly affected by the interest rate and industrial production index, but the exchange rate is found to be insignificant. After structural break, a fixed effect model (FEM) is appropriate where all significant and only the exchange rate is found to be negative. The findings of this paper also conclude that the industrial production index has a greater effect on both the model before and after a break and is positively related to the stock market index. In this case, there is a need for amendments in monetary policy to ensure that the industrial production index is set at a high level, since the results would be able to boost the stock market in the selected ASEAN-5 countries
Application of supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of bioactive compounds from cat's whiskers leaves
No full textCat's whiskers, scientifically known as Orthosiphon stamineus, is a widely used herbal remedy in Malaysia for various health issues. This herb is rich in bioactive compounds, particularly phenolics and flavonoids, which are responsible for its therapeutic properties. To enhance the extraction of these beneficial compounds, the bench-scale supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO2) extraction method was employed. The study was conducted at various extraction conditions from 10 to 30 MPa of pressure and from 40°C to 80°C of temperature, while keeping the carbon dioxide flow rate, mean particle size of the sample, and extraction duration constant at 10 g/min, 300 µm, and 2 h, respectively. The highest extract yield was obtained at optimized condition of 29 MPa and 79°C with 28.12 g/10 g of sample. The highest total phenolic content of approximately 124.324 ppm was obtained at 60°C and 30 MPa, whereas the maximum total flavonoid content reached around 840.595 ppm at 80°C and 30 MPa. This research successfully established the high content of phenolic and flavonoid compounds from cat's whiskers leaves using bench-scale SCCO2 extraction that the extract is applicable for food and pharmaceutical industries
The internationality image of the Malay language through the existence of Arabo, Sino-Tibetan and Dravidian peripheral lexis in the Malay language
No full textArabo, Sino-Tibetan, and Dravidian peripheral lexis can demonstrate the internationality of the Malay language, establishing it as one of the world’s most critical languages. One can research it through the history of the inclusion of non-Austronesian languages, such as the assimilation of Arabic from the Semitic language family, the assimilation of Chinese lexis, which is in the branch of the Sino-Tibetan family and Tamil language in the Dravidian language family, which is used as Malay lexis. The approach used in this study involves conducting a literature review and performing content analysis that is described in the basic descriptive. In this analysis, the researchers verified a lot of assimilated lexis, especially from non-Austronesian languages such as Arabic, Sino-Tibetan and Dravidian, used in spoken and written Malay adapted according to the Malay language. Accordingly, it verified that the non-Austronesian lexicons have been assimilated and adapted as Malay lexicons. Hence, this assimilation of Arabo, Sino-Tibetan and Dravidian lexis authenticated the internationality image of the Malay language, in which, through the assimilation of the foreign lexis, it recognised Malay to be the dominant language, the language of diplomacy, and global knowledge