• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.67-79
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• 2018

Malaysia and Singapore have adopted Eurocode 8 (EC8) for the seismic design of building structures. The authors studied the seismic hazard modelling of the region surrounding Malaysia and Singapore for a long time and have been key contributors to the drafting of the Malaysia National Annex (NA). The purpose of this paper is to explain the principles underlying the derivation of the elastic response spectrum model for Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah). The current EC8 NA for Singapore is primarily intended to address the distant hazards from Sumatra and is not intended to provide coverage for potential local intraplate hazards. Hence, this paper recommends a reconciled elastic response spectrum for Singapore, aiming to achieve a more robust level of safety. The topics covered include the modelling of distant interplate earthquakes generated offshore and local earthquakes in an intraplate tectonic setting, decisions on zoning, modelling of earthquake recurrences, ground motion and response spectrum. Alternative expression for response spectrum on rock, strictly based on the rigid framework of EC8 is discussed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제13권8호
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• pp.4081-4086
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• 2012

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is prevalent among individuals with cancer, especially breast cancer survivors. This study was conducted among 394 breast cancer survivors in selected regions of Peninsular Malaysia to identify the pattern and factors associated with CAM use. About 51% of the respondents reported CAM use as complementary treatment. Vitamins (47.2%), spiritual activities (33.2%) and other dietary supplements (30.7%) were the most commonly used CAM therapies. Common reasons for CAM use were to increase the body's ability to perform daily activities (70.9%), enhance immune function (58.3%) and improve emotional well-being (31.7%). Users obtained CAM information mainly from friends and family members (62.5%), physicians (25.0%) and mass media (13.9%). Ethnicity and years of education were significantly associated with CAM use. Although no adverse effects of CAM were reported, breast cancer survivors should discuss their CAM use with health professionals to prevent potential adverse effects of these therapies.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제37권3호
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• pp.243-257
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• 2021

Bacillus pumilus is the causal agent of trunk bulges disease affecting rubber and rubberwood quality and yield production. In this study, B. pumilus and other closely related species were included in B. pumilus group, as they shared over 99.5% similarity from 16S rRNA analysis. Multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) of five housekeeping genes and repetitive elements-based polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR) using REP, ERIC, and BOX primers conducted to analyze the diversity and systematic relationships of 20 isolates of B. pumilus group from four rubber tree plantations in Peninsular Malaysia (Serdang, Tanah Merah, Baling, and Rawang). Multi rep-PCR results revealed the genetic profiling among the B. pumilus group isolates, while MLSA results showed 98-100% similarity across the 20 isolates of B. pumilus group species. These 20 isolates, formerly established as B. pumilus, were found not to be grouped with B. pumilus. However, being distributed within distinctive groups of the B. pumilus group comprising of two clusters, A and B. Cluster A contained of 17 isolates close to B. altitudinis, whereas Cluster B consisted of three isolates attributed to B. safensis. This is the first MLSA and rep-PCR study on B. pumilus group, which provides an in-depth understanding of the diversity of these rubber-pathogenic isolates in Malaysia.

• Mycobiology
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• 제43권2호
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• pp.107-117
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• 2015

A mycoparasite, Scytalidium parasiticum sp. nov., isolated from the basidiomata of Ganoderma boninense causing basal stem rot of oil palm in Johor, Malaysia, is described and illustrated. It is distinct from other Scytalidium species in having smaller asci and ascospores (teleomorphic stage), longer arthroconidia (anamorphic stage), hyaline to yellowish chlamydospores, and producing a fluorescent pigment. The phylogenetic position of S. parasiticum was determined by sequence analyses of the internal transcribed spacers and the small-subunit ribosomal RNA gene regions. A key to identify Scytalidium species with teleomorphic stage is provided.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제16권5호
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• pp.547-558
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• 2018

Studies of soil dynamic properties in Malaysia are still very limited. This study aims to investigate the dynamic properties of two selected tropical residual soils (i.e., Sandy Clay and Sandy Silt) and a sand mining trail (Silty Sand) in Peninsular Malaysia using 1g shaking table test. The use of 1g shaking table test for soil dynamic testing is often constrained to large strain level and small confining pressure only. Three new experimental setups, namely large laminar shear box test (LLSBT), small chamber test with positive air pressure (SCT), and small sample test with suction (SSTS) are attempted with the aims of these experimental setups are capable of evaluating the dynamic properties of soils covering a wider range of shear strain and confining pressure. The details of each experimental setup are described explicitly in this paper. Experimental results show that the combined use of the LLSBT and SCT is capable of rendering soil dynamic properties covering a strain range of 0.017%-1.48% under confining pressures of 5-100 kPa. The studied tropical residual soils in Malaysia behaved neither as pure sand nor clay, but show a relatively good agreement with the dynamic properties of residual soils in Singapore. Effects of confining pressure and plasticity index on the studied tropical residual soils are found to be insignificant in this particular study.

• 한국농촌건축학회논문집
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• 제2권3호
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• pp.25-36
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• 2000

The purpose of this study is to understand and explain the traditional housing-culture in South East Asia, focused on the traditional Malay houses. The research objectives are : 1) to obtain informations related to the traditional Malay houses in West Malaysia. 2) to survey the traditional Malay houses in the selected area. 3) to understand their characteristics. It is expected that the traditional Malay houses were a major focal point of traditional Malay village society. The Malay houses provided the basic needs of shelter to the villagers. They were designed and built by villagers themselves, thus, manifestation of the creative and aesthetic skills of the community. Further, these houses reflect those factors including climate, geographical features, history of the region.

• International Journal of Quality Innovation
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.77-87
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• 2009

The main aim of the paper is to provide an empirical analysis on patient satisfaction as an indicator of service quality in Malaysian public hospitals. Self-administered questionnaires were administered to patients by convenience sampling. Two sets of questionnaires were used, one for inpatient and another one set for outpatient. Selection of hospitals was made according to states in Peninsular Malaysia. 23 hospitals covering all state level hospitals, the National Referral Centre and selected district hospitals were chosen as respondent hospitals. Two dimensions of service quality emerged, namely clinical and physical dimension of service. Both outpatient and inpatient were found to be more satisfied with clinical dimension of service than physical dimension. For outpatient satisfaction, there was positive correlation between waiting time and patient satisfaction. Patient satisfaction was also found to be higher in the smaller district hospitals than in the larger state hospitals. For clinical dimension of service, patients were satisfied with the services of doctors and nurses, while for physical dimension of service, patients were satisfied with the cleanliness of the facilities. The ability of the research to be conducted by random sampling was inhibited by the reluctance of patients to cooperate, which led to the use of convenience sampling. Studies have also shown that patients are reluctant to express their feelings on services provided by their caregivers. The study provides primary data for a nationwide study on patient satisfaction in Malaysian public hospitals, for both inpatient and outpatient.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• 제29권2호
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• pp.131-137
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• 2013

This study attempts to classify forest species using hyperspectral data for supporting resources management. The primary dataset used was AISA sensor. The sensor was mounted onboard the NOMAD GAF-27 aircraft at 2,000 m altitude creating a 2 m spatial resolution on the ground. Pre-processing was carried out with CALIGEO software, which automatically corrects for both geometric and radiometric distortions of the raw image data. The radiance data set was then converted to at-sensor reflectance derived from the FODIS sensor. Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) technique was used for image classification. The spectra libraries for tree species were established after confirming the appropriate match between field spectra and pixel spectra. Results showed that the highest spectral signature in NIR range were Kembang Semangkok (Scaphium macropodum), followed by Meranti Sarang Punai (Shorea parvifolia) and Chengal (Neobalanocarpus hemii). Meanwhile, the lowest spectral response were Kasai (Pometia pinnata), Kelat (Eugenia spp.) and Merawan (Hopea beccariana), respectively. The overall accuracy obtained was 79%. Although the accuracy of SAM techniques is below the expectation level, SAM classifier was able to classify tropical tree species. In future it is believe that the most effective way of ground data collection is to use the ground object that has the strongest response to sensor for more significant tree signatures.

• 아태비즈니스연구
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• 제6권1호
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• pp.27-43
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• 2015

The objective of the present study is to identify the security factors that influence customer trust towards intention to continue using Internet banking in Malaysia. The participants are individual Internet banking users in Peninsular Malaysia. Data was collected through self-administered questionnaires distributed using the drop-off and pick-up (DOPU) technique to bank branch managers who then passed the questionnaires to their customers. A total of 413 respondents completed the questionnaires. The SPSS statistical analysis software package and Partial Least Squares statistical method were used for data analysis and hypothesis testing. The results show that authentication, confidentiality, data integrity and non-repudiation are significant factors that influence customer trust towards intention to continue using Internet banking. Trust plays a critical role in influencing the intention to continue using Internet banking in Malaysia while perceived privacy does not. An understanding of the factors identified in this study will enable Internet banking providers to effectively and efficiently enhance the security of services and thereby promote continued usage of Internet banking among customers. The findings of this study are thus expected to be of great use to Internet banking providers as improvements in Internet banking security will increase business in the long run.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제57권4호
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• pp.445-450
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• 2019

Human infections due to the monkey malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi is increasingly being reported from most Southeast Asian countries specifically Malaysia. The parasite causes severe and fatal malaria thus there is a need for urgent measures for its control. In this study, the level of polymorphisms, haplotypes and natural selection of full-length pkmsp8 in 37 clinical samples from Malaysian Borneo along with 6 lab-adapted strains were investigated. Low levels of polymorphism were observed across the full-length gene, the double epidermal growth factor (EGF) domains were mostly conserved, and non-synonymous substitutions were absent. Evidence of strong negative selection pressure in the non-EGF regions were found indicating functional constrains acting at different domains. Phylogenetic haplotype network analysis identified shared haplotypes and indicated geographical clustering of samples originating from Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo. This is the first study to genetically characterize the full-length msp8 gene from clinical isolates of P. knowlesi from Malaysia; however, further functional characterization would be useful for future rational vaccine design.