• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.81-92
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• 2017

This study was to investigate the elasticity in tourism demand of Chinese tourists visiting Malaysia through ARDL models by using Chinese tourists arrivals, GDP, CPI, transportation costs and others. When China was implementing an open-door policy with foreign countries in the early 15th century, the movement of Chinese was very limited, and then communication between China and other countries was very weak. However, the Chinese government persistently and entirely implemented an open-door policy by participating in the World Trade Organization(WTO) in 2001. The Chinese government has opened the economy through foreign direct investment by providing various incentives for foreign investment. As a result, inbound and outbound Chinese movements increased in the early 21st century. China was one of the top five most visited tourist destinations in the world by 2016, and also Chinese tourists traveling abroad increased, so they made Malaysia a popular tourists destination because of increase sharply to around 1.41 million. This study examined the significance of major economic factors affecting the increase in Chinese tourists arriving in Malaysia. Other factors that induced their arrival included income, tourism prices, transportation costs and promotional activities. Short-run shocks from the Asian economic crisis and the outbreak of SARS were included to understand how tourism demand in Malaysia was affected. Finally this study found that the combination of the ARDL and the Error Correction Model were useful to statistically estimate the elasticities of tourism demand.

• Culinary science and hospitality research
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.105-113
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• 2016

This qualitative study identifies the perceptions of organic food from the top two largest demographic profiles in Malaysia, which are the Malay and Chinese consumers. A total of four factors have been identified in previous research which are the most influential factors in regards to organic food purchase intentions and are categorized thematically - (1) health consciousness, (2) taste, (3) willingness to pay, as well as (4) family and culture influences. The understanding of the preferences and influences is crucial for foodservice providers and/or operators to not only attract new individuals to try organic food but also to minimize the uncertainty that arises in the food industry and achieve higher goals by understanding customers' perceptions.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.403-407
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• 2014

Changes in Maillard reaction of pidan white were monitored with $A_{294}$, fluorescence intensity, and browning intensity during pickling in the absence and presence of Chinese black tea extract (Camellia sinensis) at levels of 2% and 5% together with 0.2% $ZnCl_2$ or 0.2% $CaCl_2$ up to 3 wk, followed by ageing for another 3 wk. Browning intensity and $A_{294}$ of pidan white increased with increasing pickling/ageing, while fluorescence intensity decreased during ageing (p<0.05), irrespective of treatments. At wk 6, pidan white treated with 0.2% $ZnCl_2$ and 0.2% $CaCl_2$ showed slightly higher browning intensity, fluorescence intensity and $A_{294}$ than those treated with divalents together with Chinese black tea (p<0.05). Free amino group and sugar contents showed continuous decrease during pickling and ageing irrespective of tea and cations used. However, pidan treated without Chinese black tea extract showed significantly lower free amino group and sugar during the ageing of 6 wk (p<0.05). Thus, Chinese black tea extract had an inhibitory effect on the Maillard reaction during ageing of pidan white.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.2213-2218
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• 2012

Introduction: Worldwide, breast cancer is the commonest cause of cancer death in women. However, the survival rate varies across regions at averages of 73%and 57% in the developed and developing countries, respectively. Objective: This study aimed to determine the survival rate of breast cancer among the women of Malaysia and characteristics of the survivors. Method: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on secondary data obtained from the Breast Cancer Registry and medical records of breast cancer patients admitted to Hospital Kuala Lumpur from 2005 to 2009. Survival data were validated with National Birth and Death Registry. Statistical analysis applied logistic regression, the Cox proportional hazard model, the Kaplan-Meier method and log rank test. Results: A total of 868 women were diagnosed with breast cancer between January 2005 and December 2009, comprising 58%, 25% and 17% Malays, Chinese and Indians, respectively. The overall survival rate was 43.5% (CI 0.573-0.597), with Chinese, Indians and Malays having 5 year survival rates of 48.2% (CI 0.444-0.520), 47.2% (CI 0.432-0.512) and 39.7% (CI 0.373-0.421), respectively (p<0.05). The survival rate was lower as the stages increased, with the late stages were mostly seen among the Malays (46%), followed by Chinese (36%) and Indians (34%). Size of tumor>3.0cm; lymph node involvement, ERPR, and HER 2 status, delayed presentation and involvement of both breasts were among other factors that were associated with poor survival. Conclusions: The overall survival rate of Malaysian women with breast cancer was lower than the western figures with Malays having the lowest because they presented at late stage, after a long duration of symptoms, had larger tumor size, and had more lymph nodes affected. There is an urgent need to conduct studies on why there is delay in diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer women in Malaysia.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.18
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• pp.8107-8112
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• 2016

Background and Aims: Colorectal cancer is the second most frequent cancer in Malaysia. We aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the Malaysian Chinese version of European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire core (QLQ-C30) in patients with colorectal cancer. Materials and Methods: Translated versions of the QLQ-C30 were obtained from the EORTC. A cross sectional study design was used to obtain data from patients receiving treatment at two teaching hospitals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Malaysian Chinese version of QLQ-C30 was self-administered in 96 patients while the Karnofsky Performance Scales (KPS) was generated by attending surgeons. Statistical analysis included reliability, convergent, discriminate validity, and known-groups comparisons. Statistical significance was based on p value ${\leq}0.05$. Results: The internal consistencies of the Malaysian Chinese version were acceptable [Cronbach's alpha (${\alpha}{\geq}0.70$)] in the global health status/overall quality of life (GHS/QOL), functioning scales except cognitive scale (${\alpha}{\leq}0.32$) in all levels of analysis, and social/family functioning scale (${\alpha}=0.63$) in patients without a stoma. All questionnaire items fulfilled the criteria for convergent and discriminant validity except question number 5, with correlation with role (r = 0.62) and social/family (r = 0.41) functioning higher than with physical functioning scales (r = 0.34). The test-retest coefficients in the GHS/QOL, functioning scales and in most of the symptoms scales were moderate to high (r = 0.58 to 1.00). Patients with a stoma reported statistically significant lower physical functioning (p=0.015), social/family functioning (p=0.013), and higher constipation (p=0.010) and financial difficulty (p=0.037) compared to patients without stoma. There was no significant difference between patients with high and low KPS scores. Conclusions: Malaysian Chinese version of the QLQ-C30 is a valid and reliable measure of HRQOL in patients with colorectal cancer.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.203-206
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• 2018

Objectives: There is an increasing number of complex diseases that are progressively more difficult to be controlled using the conventional "single compound, single target" approach as demonstrated in our current modern drug development. TCM might be the new cornerstone of treatment alternative when the current treatment option is no longer as effective or that we have exhausted it as an option. Orthogonal stimulus-response compatibility group study is one of the most frequently employed formulas to produce optimal herbal combination for treatment of multi-syndromic diseases. This approach could solve the relatively low efficacy single drug therapy usage and chronic adverse effects caused by long terms administration of drugs that has been reported in the field of pharmacology and medicine Methods: The present review was based on the Science Direct database search for those related to the TCM and the development of antihypertensive TCM herbal combination using orthogonal stimulus-response compatibility group studies approach. Results: Recent studies have demonstrated that the orthogonal stimulus-response compatibility group study approach was most frequently used to formulate TCM herbal combination based on the TCM principles upon the selection of herbs, and the resulting formulated TCM formula exhibited desired outcomes in treating one of global concerned complex multi-syndromic diseases, the hypertension. These promising therapeutic effects were claimed to have been attributed by the holistic signaling mechanism pathways employed by the crude combination of herbs. Conclusion: The present review could serve as a guide and prove the feasibility of TCM principles to be used for future pharmacological drug research development.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.1-10
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• 2024

Purpose: The current study focused on work performance of distribution department of AMC (asset management company) industry in China, outlines the challenges faced by distribution employees of Chinese four biggest national AMCs, aiming to enhance the ability of Chinese national AMCs to succeed in the face of external challenges such as economic, social, and technological changes. Research design, data and methodology: This study adopted quantitative methods, questionnaire was collected from 248 general distribution department employees of four national AMCs of China, these employees are from the top 5 developed cities in China, and software Smart PLS 3.0 and SPSS 25 was applied to data analysis. Results: The result of this current study through Smart PLS 3.0 has revealed that the significant effect of affective commitment on contextual performance, affective commitment on task performance, continuance commitment on contextual performance, normative commitment on contextual performance, and effect of continuance commitment on task performance and normative commitment on task performance were found to be non-significant. Conclusions: According to the important role of distribution department, managers in China's national AMCs can leverage the study's findings to enhance organizational commitment among employees of distribution department, and further positively influences distribution department employees' work performance.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.57-64
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• 2016

Background: Tobacco smoking is considered a risk factor for cervical cancer development due to the presence of tobacco based carcinogenic metabolites in cervical cells of female smokers. In this study, we investigated the role of the T3801C (MspI) polymorphism of CYP1A1, a gene encoding an enzyme necessary for the initiation of tobacco based carcinogen metabolism, on cervical cancer risk. The T to C substitution may alter CYP1A1 activities, potentially elevating cervical cancer risk. Since results of gene-disease association studies vary according to the study population, the multi-ethnic population of Malaysia provides an excellent representative cohort for identifying and comparing the cervical cancer risk among the 3 major ethnics in Southeast Asia in relation to CYP1A1 MspI polymorphism. Materials and Methods: A total of 195 Thin Prep Pap smear samples from HPV negative and cancer free females were randomly selected as controls while 106 formalin fixed paraffin embedded samples from females with invasive cervical cancer were randomly selected for the cases group. The polymorphisms were identified using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) PCR. Results: We found no significant associations between CYP1A1 MspI polymorphism and cervical cancer in the general Malaysian female population. However, upon ethnic stratification, the variant C/C genotype was significantly associated with a 4.66-fold increase in cervical cancer risk in Malay females (95% CI= 1.21-17.9; p=0.03). No significant association was observed in the Chinese and Indian females. Additionally, there were no significant associations in the dominant model and allele frequency model analysis in both the general and ethnically stratified female population of Malaysia. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the C/C genotype of CYP1A1 MspI polymorphism is associated with the development of cervical carcinoma in the Malay females of Malaysia.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.313-324
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• 2022

The Chinese outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) involves various bilateral trade agreements and regional agreements signed between China and other countries. This study examines the impact of Chinese OFDI in ASEAN-5 countries through ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand from 2000 to 2016. This study attempts to address three research objectives. The first is to examine the motives for China's investment in ASEAN-5. The second is to explore the different impacts of China's investment across countries. The third is to investigate whether the OFDI conducted by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) will produce different impacts on the firm's efficiency score. Using the DEA approach, this study finds evidence that the overall Chinese OFDI is relatively efficient. We find that the estimated efficiency score of this OFDI has improved in pre- and post ACFTA where a higher overall efficiency score was reported when comparing pre- and post ACFTA signing for both SOEs and NSOEs. Finally, China's parent firms' efficiencies showed higher scores among NSOEs compared to SOEs after the signing of ACFTA for all ASEAN countries except Malaysia. We highlight that the country's institutional infrastructure, earlier investment presence, and diplomatic ties help in shaping an effective trade agreement.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.3689-3698
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• 2013

Breast cancer is the most common and leading cause of cancer mortality among Malaysian women. Despite good survival rates, the diagnosis of cancer still invokes the feeling of stress, fear and uncertainty. Because very little is known about the experiences of Malaysian women with breast cancer, a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews to explore the lived experience of newly diagnosed breast cancer. Using a purposive sampling method, 20 Malaysian women newly diagnosed with breast cancer, including Malays (n=10) and Chinese (n=10) were recruited in two main public hospitals in Kelantan. Similarities and divergence in women's experience were identified through thematic analysis of interview transcripts. Three themes emerged from the data: uncertainty experience of the illness, transition process and fatalistic view of breast cancer. In many ways, these findings were parallel with previous studies, suggesting that the experience of breast cancer is to a certain extent similar among women newly diagnosed with breast cancer. This study adds to the sparse literature concerning the experience of illness following breast cancer diagnosis among the Malays and Chinese. More importantly, this study addressed areas that were previously lacking, specifically in depth information on breast cancer experience from a developing country with a multi-ethnic population. The results of this investigation provide preliminary information to healthcare professionals on the impact of illness and cultural influence on survivorship to plan for appropriate education and supportive programme in order to meet the needs of breast cancer women more effectively.