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Energy justice within energy and natural gas industry of Malaysia / Lim Zhen Wen
No full textMalaysia has always been known as a resource-rich country among its peers in the region, with the energy sector being a key driver of economic growth. Given the competing policy objectives from the various ministries and government agencies, this thesis examines whether the transformation of the energy sector is premised on the growing importance of energy justice in the literature in the formulation of energy law and policy, with a special focus on the natural gas industry. This thesis aims to provide a wholesome understanding of the energy justice concept, which is then applied to the energy policy development in Malaysia to ascertain the importance of this framework. The natural gas sector transformation in Malaysia towards a liberalised market is a crucial milestone for a country with highly regulated gas pricing and a benchmark case for countries globally that are embarking on subsidy reforms. First, the thesis presents and discusses the energy policy and structure of the energy landscape in Malaysia. Secondly, capitalising on the context established, the current energy justice framework is evaluated by comparing multiple scholarships. The ternary plot is utilised to construct a comprehensive energy justice metric that takes into account a holistic view of each tenet. The data utilised for the construct are publicly available from institutions such as World Bank, United Nations, IEA, BNEF and Asia Pacific Energy Portal. The energy justice performance of Malaysia is benchmarked against the other ASEAN countries. Malaysia had performed well for energy economics and energy politics tenet while the environment tenet is of primary concern to achieve energy justice. Thirdly, by deep diving into the natural gas industry, the thesis examines the natural gas industry transformation from the perspective of energy justice using the 8-step economic analysis framework. In realising the true potential of the natural gas industry, four key building blocks are identified as the underlying fundamental for the transformation. The Malaysian journey demonstrated the dynamism of various key stakeholders and the possibility of achieving a well-struck balance between competing policy goals in the country's natural gas pricing reform strategy. The breaking of silos among key stakeholders, understanding the cost of the respective policy goals and structuring recommendations and strategies via cost-benefit analysis have shown the criticality and practicality of balancing the elements of the energy trilemma. Lastly, the 2010 and 2015 input-output tables from DOSM are used as input to the Leontief and Ghosh I-O model to analyse the impact of natural gas consumption and natural gas price on the Malaysian economy, respectively. From the impact analysis on natural gas reforms, it is observable that the overall final demand is expected to increase by RM31.4billion. In contrast, with RM1.50 per MMBtu increase in gas price, the overall final demand is expected to increase by RM36.5billion. This shows that natural gas price and demand will significantly impact the overall final demand and be crucial in driving growth, especially the manufacturing sector. With the aspiration to achieve a just energy transition, natural gas is envisaged to play a critical role in facilitating the transition
Effects of creative play activities on early mathematics performance among preschoolers / Chong Chai Fung
No full textThe purpose of this study was to examine the effects of creative play activities on early mathematics performance among preschool children’s number operations in addition and subtraction skills. The sample consisted of 60 six years old children from two different Sekolah Kebangsaan preschools who were selected to participate in this study. 30 children from Preschool A were placed in the Experimental group and 30 children from Preschool B were placed in the Control group. The research instruments consisted pre-test and post-test addition and subtraction questions, 10 lessons of creative play activities on early mathematics in addition and subtraction games for the Experimental group and normal teaching in mathematics for the Control group. The research was conducted using a quasi-experimental design. Creative play activities had significantly affected the performance in early mathematics among the Experimental group children in addition and subtraction skills as revealed in the post-test results. Paired-samples t-test for both addition (p<.000) and subtraction (p<.001) showed a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test. The findings of the SPANOVA multivariate test showed there was a significant interaction effect for both the Control and Experimental groups in addition (p<.024) and subtraction (p<.041). The findings indicated that 10 lessons of creative play activities in early mathematics in addition and subtraction games conducted for the Experimental group were more effective than the normal teaching in mathematics conducted for the Control group. Moreover, creative play activities had also indirectly enhanced creativity, imagination, Higher Orders Thinking Skills (HOTS), problem solving skills and social skills among preschool children. It is hoped that the findings from this research will be used as a guidance to the preschool teachers. The various creative games in addition and subtraction can be used for future implementation in teaching and learning in a systematic way instead of using worksheets for the preschool children to guarantee a high quality of achievement in early mathematics education in future
Influence of the SISC plus coach mentoring on the development of novice ESL teachers’ knowledge / Theevhiyaa Chandrasekaram
No full textIssues on numerous measures taken by the Ministry of Education to improve on the English Language Teaching (ELT) methodology and quality to maintain the standard of the English language in Malaysia has led to the need of deep understanding in the influence of the School Specialist Improvement Coach Plus programme on novice teachers. This research study intends to understand novice teachers’ knowledge development during mentoring by examining their development of knowledge in terms of their pedagogical content knowledge when they are being mentored by the SISC+ mentor. A qualitative descriptive study approach was adopted in this research to explore and understand the influence of the SISC+ mentor on the novice teachers' development of knowledge in rural schools. The researcher chose 3 novice ESL teachers who participated in the School Specialist Improvement Coach Plus programme to study the influences of the program on the pedagogical content knowledge of novice teachers and their roles in developing novice teachers’ knowledge on students and the curriculum in the current study. The analysis of the findings in the study revealed that the influence of the SISC+ helped novice teachers to make connections between practise and pedagogical content knowledge, align novice teachers’ knowledge of pedagogy with the content, tap on novice teachers’ PCK knowledge and the mentoring sessions was a platform for novice teachers’ engagement in reflective practise on their PCK. In addition, the SISC+ also played a crucial role in developing the knowledge base of novice teachers’, as an enriching learning experience, in integrating knowledge bases of material adaptation according to students’ characteristics and as a facilitator. Thus, it can be concluded that the mentoring of the SISC+ on the novice teachers pedagogical content knowledge development and the roles of the SISC+ on the development of students’ knowledge and the knowledge of curriculum are vital for novice teachers
The use of slang among students in selected Malaysian Punjabi education centres / Amrit Kaur Bhajan Singh
No full textThis paper examines the usage of slang words among the Punjabi speaking students at three Punjabi Education Centres in Malaysia. The aims include to classify the slang words used by 100 Punjabi students at the Punjabi Education Centres and analyse the functions of the identified slang words. The data was analyzed, using a mixed-method mode with both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The research instruments used were observations and questionnaires. The data was then analyzed using the criteria framework by Dumas and Lighter in Wong and Parco (2006), and another framework by Zhou and Fan (2013). It was concluded through the findings that the participants use slang words for the benefit of cuss words (37%), secret code (19%), tease (19%), hyperbole (7%), nickname (6%), politeness (4%), metaphor (4%), expressing feelings (2%) and sarcasm (2%). The Punjabi slang words with Emotive Feeling function are the most in this study by 52% as compared to the other two functions, which are Pursuit of Self-identity and Achieving Politeness; which fared at 13% and 3% respectively. Based on Zhou and Fan’s (2013) framework, it can be concluded that the Punjabi language users are keen on expressing their attitudes, emotions and feelings onto their listeners, rather than being in the pursuit of finding themselves or behaving politely
Effect of Eurycoma longifolia and eccentric exercise on quadriceps strength in elite rugby players / Ahmad Zawawi Zakaria
No full textOptimizing performance by resistance training over a limited amount of time was imperative in a training year plan. Superior effect of eccentric training has been documented but less known its influence on elite athletes which incorporated submaximal and supramaximal intensity eccentric that was essential for muscle strength and hypertrophy. Correspondingly, Eurycoma longifolia Jack (ElJ) supplementation has been shown to stimulate the production of the non-prohibited androgenic hormones, which was important for athletic performance in terms of muscular strength and size. However, investigation was not sufficiently vigorous on such effect of a supplement in elite athletes. Therefore, the major aim of this thesis was to examine the effects of ElJ supplementation when employing eccentric training on the physiological, physical, and performance changes among highly trained male Rugby Sevens players. Study one examined the short-term effects of ElJ supplementation on muscle function, hormones, and muscle damage. Participants (n=16) were randomly and equally placed into two groups, ElJ supplementation and placebo who consumed four 100-mg capsule a day for each for seven days prior to performing a leg press eccentric exercise using a 323-kg load (5-s eccentric contraction with the load, and without the load for concentric contractions) to failure. The results showed that testosterone and cortisol levels, creatine kinase activity, and vertical jump performances were not affected (p > 0.05) by ElJ supplementation, suggesting that no significant effects of ElJ supplementation on hormones, muscle damage markers, and exercise performance. To examine the influence of ElJ supplementation during actual training (i.e. athlete’s strength training programme), study two and three incorporated a progressive 6-week submaximal (75 to 100% of 1 repetition maximum [RM]), and 3-week supramaximal (110 to 130% of 1RM) eccentric training sing leg press exercise, respectively to examine the effects of ElJ supplementation (i.e. four 100-mg capsules a day) on the physiological, physical, and performance changes following each training period that conducted in a randomised, double-blinded, parallel design experiment (n=16). The two-factor mixed-design ANOVA revealed that hormone levels, eccentric and concentric leg press 1RM strength, isokinetic and isometric strength, and muscle thickness of the quadriceps did not differ (p > 0.05) between ElJ and placebo groups after each training period. It is important to note that there seems a tendency of ElJ groups in all studies to respond better than the placebo groups, without achieving a significant difference. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that ElJ supplementation provide limited benefit to various measures of physiological, physical, and performance among elite athletes in the present study. Irrespective of mechanisms, future research is necessary to determine if the results in the present study can be replicated and reconfirmed in order to better understand the roles of ElJ supplementation in conjunction with eccentric training modalities for sports performance
Evaluation of the effect of jasmonic acid elicitation on composition of pigments in green callus of neem (Azadirachta indica) / Nurul Syazwani Ahmad Fauzi
No full textThis project was carried out with the aim of determining the effects of jasmonic acid (JA) elicitation on the bioactive pigments biosynthesis and the antioxidant activities in green callus of Azadirachta indica. Plant tissue culture technique was employed to induce the formation of green callus from leaf explants of A. indica on media using 0.6 mg/L thidiazuron (CM) and three different concentrations of jasmonic acid (2, 4 and 6 mg/L) for 4 and 8 weeks of incubation time. The methanolic extracts from the green callus were used for determination of total anthocyanin content (TAC), total chlorophyll content (TCh), total carotenoid content (TC), total phenolic content (TPC), and total flavonoid content (TFC) through colorimetric and HPLC analysis. Phytochemical analysis were done using standard established phytochemical qualitative analysis. The usage of thidiazuron (TDZ) with JA did not exert any significant effect on callus fresh weight and growth index (GI). The highest amount of yield was from CM and 2 mg/L jasmonic acid (2JA) extracts for 4-week-old and 8-week-old samples respectively. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of similar constituents in both 4-week-old and 8-week-old green callus extracts such as alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, tannins, and terpenoids. The highest value for TAC, TCh, TC, TPC, and TFC (0.31 ± 0.00 mg/g DW, 1.00 ± 0.03 mg/g DW, 0.13 ± 0.01 mg/g DW, 3.96 ± 0.02 g GAE/g DW, and 0.55 ± 0.03 g QE/g DW respectively) of 4-week-old samples were from callus cultured on media supplemented with 6 mg/L jasmonic acid (6JA) extract. Meanwhile, the highest value for TAC, TCh, TC TPC, and TFC (0.32 ± 0.01 mg/g DW, 0.65 ± 0.00 mg/g DW, 0.10 ± 0.01 mg/g DW, 3.40 ± 0.05 g GAE/g DW, and 0.52 ± 0.01 g QE/g DW respectively) of 8-week-old samples were from callus cultured on media supplemented with 4 mg/L jasmonic acid (4JA) extract. The inhibitory concentration (IC50) value for 2, 2'-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) of all samples were calculated and the lowest IC50 values were found to be 8.29 ± 0.10 mg/mL (6JA) for 4-week-old and 7.73 ± 0.03 mg/mL (4JA) for 8-week-old samples, respectively. The highest Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) values obtained in this study were 90.60 ± 1.55 g/g (6JA), and 74.59 ± 3.91 g/g (4JA) respectively for 4- and 8-week-old samples. Overall, the findings suggest that elicitation with JA significantly improved the content of bioactive pigments in the sample, where 6 mg/L and 4 mg/L had been identified as the optimum JA concentration for 4 and 8 weeks of incubation time, respectively. Moreover, Pearson’s correlation analysis revealed a significant correlation between TAC, TCh, TC, TPC, and TFC with ABTS and FRAP assays
Investigating the development of perceptions and behavioural intentions towards people living with HIV (PLHIV) among pre-clinical medical students in the University of Malaya / Calvin Christopher Willims Fernandez
No full textSince the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, there has been a high
prevalence of stigma and discrimination towards people living with HIV (PLHIV). They
manifest in people’s attitudes and behaviour, and in various contexts including education,
employment and healthcare. For the latter specifically, stigma-driven behaviours by
healthcare practitioners have resulted in poorer health outcomes for PLHIV, where they
are humiliated, isolated and in some cases, even refused treatment. This subsequently
leads to an increase in mental health issues and other damaging health behaviours among
PLHIV. Numerous studies have explored the manifestation of these stigmatizing attitudes
and behaviours among healthcare practitioners and why they exist, but there is still room
for research to understand how they develop throughout their lives. Hence, this present
study was conducted to explore the different perceptions and behavioural intentions that
pre-clinical medical students have towards PLHIV and how they develop over time.
Understanding how stigma and discrimination develop in these future healthcare
practitioners could provide a better insight into what the education and social systems
lack when educating the community, especially future doctors, on HIV/AIDS. Maximum
variation purposive sampling was carried out to recruit six pre-clinical medical students
from the University of Malaya. They then underwent one-on-one, semi-structured
interviews between March 2021 and April 2021. Two main themes emerged in this
present study: 1) the manifestation of different perceptions and behavioural intentions
towards PLHIV at different phases of their lives and 2) the factors that influence the
development of perceptions and behavioural intentions towards PLHIV over time. The
findings indicate that early life perceptions of PLHIV were inherently negative and
iv
misinformed due to lack of accurate HIV/AIDS knowledge by teachers and family
members, the imposition of misinformed beliefs by different members of the community
and the criminalization of at-risk population groups in Malaysia. However, as they
transition into medical school, the development of self-awareness and self-initiative to
learn about the experiences of PLHIV, having friends who were open to talk about sex,
watching media content that was inclusive of PLHIV’s life journey and real-life
encounters with PLHIV in medical school changed their perceptions and behavioural
intentions towards PLHIV. Through the medical curriculum, the ability to interact with
PLHIV and other members of different marginalized groups increased the students’ level
of cognitive and affective empathy towards PLHIV. Being involved in HIV awareness
programs and using social media to unlearn stigma have also been transformative in
changing their view of PLHIV, from being negative to more positive, especially in the
context of religion and healthcare. The present study also discovered that mental health
training for medical students can also further support efforts to destigmatize HIV/AIDS
among future doctors. Future research should explore how these perceptions and
behavioural intentions may be similar for students in other allied health courses, and for
medical students in smaller universities that may not have infectious disease departments.
Keywords: pre-clinical medical students, HIV, AIDS, perceptions, behavioural
intention
Developing the dematerialization and conversion of plastic waste to resource model for supply chain industry / Jenny Ong
No full textThe generation of industrial solid waste in Malaysia is growing rapidly, in terms of volume and its impacts towards the environment. In this research, the focus was on the management of non-hazardous industrial solid waste, with attention on the plastic packaging waste. It is the responsibility of all industrial players to reduce negative environmental impacts due to their production activities and it was suggested that industrial players to work closely to achieve better waste management system. Moreover, both industrial symbiosis and sustainable supply chain management stressed on the importance of collaboration among industrial players to sustainably manage their wastes. However, study on industrial symbiosis and sustainable supply chain management in Malaysia is quite limited. The objectives of this research are to identify challenges faced by the industrial players, to develop system dynamic models that describe the material flow of plastic packaging wastes and to analyse the outcome of the system dynamic models. A survey was carried out in Rawang Integrated Industrial Park to study the disposal of industrial solid waste practices and to identify challenges faced that could be used as the basis in developing eco-industrial park in the future. Rawang Integrated Industrial Park was selected as it comprised of all sizes of industries, from small and medium industries to large multi-national companies. The questionnaires were distributed using email and followed by telephone calls. Literature review and targeted interview with key players in plastic supply chain were conducted to enable the mapping of interactions between the major industrial players. Subsequently, modelling software named Vensim Ple 7.2 was used to build and analyse the system dynamic models. One of the findings was the food grade plastic industries adopted the open loop supply chain while the non-food grade plastic industries adopted the closed loop supply chain. Therefore, system dynamic models were developed based on forward supply chain, open and closed loop recycling. Results from the model analysis was the projected tonnage of plastic waste in landfill for forward supply chain was 61% higher as compared to open and closed loop supply chain and there was no significance difference between open and closed loop supply chain. Six challenges faced by the industrial players to manage industrial wastes were identified. First, the tonnage of recyclables generated was insufficient to cover the recycler’s collection cost. Second, recycling was not a major concern for majority of the companies in this industrial park as only 34% of the companies have designated personnel responsible for their waste management plan. Third, absence of synergies between the companies in the industrial park because all companies managed their waste independently. Fourth, lack awareness on environmental related policies, where none of the manufacturers were aware that they were required to segregate their wastes. Fifth, the plastic recycling technologies were outdated and sixth, insufficient of recycling facilities. Therefore, to increase recycling rate, it was strongly recommended to have strong collaboration between regulatory bodies and industrial players in developing eco-industrial parks and to implement stringent environmental regulations such as extended producer responsibility to ensure industrial’s compliance
A HIRARC model for safety and risk evaluation at construction site of manmade water streams and wetlands / Piradeepan Ramachandran
Get PDFSafety at construction sites play an important role in order to protect workers from unwanted incidents which can deteriorate the company financially and its credibility. Hazards are everywhere and one should adhere to the safety regulations all the time while at workplace. This is because workers need to deal with many risky activities before and during the construction of manmade streams and wetlands, thus safety of the workers are at high risk. However, the adherence level is less impressive since few accidents are still happening during construction activities such as site clearance and excavation. Without proper supervision and enforcement, the chances of future problems will be greatly increase and this can even cause some unwanted major injuries and even death.
In order to implement proper safety guidelines, all the hazards associated with the construction activities need to be identified. All these hazards need to be classified then according to the risk severity matrix. However, most of the employers are not giving much attention to these safety guidelines as they are lack in awareness and knowledge as their employees are in danger at the construction site. Risk severity matrix is useful to decide on the level of control measures based on hierarchy of control. Thus, HIRARC model is a compulsory part to be constructed before the construction activities to protect the employees from dangers
Multivariate assessment of automated massage chair efficacy on skin tissue perfusion and sleep metrics / Ayan Paul
No full textStress and sleep-related disorders are increasingly becoming more prevalent among
adult population. Manual massage therapy (MMT) may assist in improving the peripheral
circulation through mechanical manipulation of soft tissues and passively act upon
reducing stress stimuli and in turn, may induce relaxation and sleep. For the purpose of
evaluating the efficacy of massage chair therapy (MCT), this study is divided into three
parts. First, a randomized controlled, cross-over, repeated measures and single-blinded
trial involving 17 participants (age 21.76 ± 1.20 years; weight 52.50 ± 9.19 kg; height
163.50 ± 17.68 cm; body mass index (BMI) = 19.31 ± 1.42 kgm-2) where skin tissue
perfusion (TPsk) measurement was taken prior and posterior to massage/control sessions.
Each of the three sessions incorporating different massage modes are marked by a
significant difference in skin tissue perfusion (p<0.05) except for control session
(p>0.05). Furthermore, post-hoc analysis demonstrates a significant increase in TPSk postsession
deep tissue massage as compared to other two modes (blood circulation mode and
sweet dreams mode). In the second part of the study, 6 males (age 23.33 ± 2.07 years;
weight 68.42 ± 10.94 kg; height 180.30 ± 7.19 cm; body mass index (BMI) 20.92 ± 1.87)
underwent MCT with only sweet dreams mode. Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire
(RCSQ) and wrist actigraphy were used to assess variations in sleep parameters pre- and
post-session. While our evidence for effectiveness of massage in improving key sleep
parameters is inconclusive, results regrading skin tissue perfusion indicate that there may
potentially be positive impact of massage on circulation