A notable attribute of the empirical studies on monetary rules is that few published articles rely on the normative evaluation in eliminating unwanted economic uncertainty. To prevail over this shortcoming, this paper introduces the optimal mitigation of economic uncertainty and determines its applicability through a sample of 14 selected countries. Using the combination of the theoretically derived optimal mitigation of economic uncertainty with the empirical estimations leads to specific monetary rules. The findings of this paper provide some policy implications; the optimal mitigation of economic uncertainty can characterise the optimal use of the interest rate and exchange rate to eliminate economic uncertainty and serve as a monetary policy guide in the adjustment process to restore macroeconomic conditions of the equilibrium that eventually promote the best macroeconomic outcomes. Asian Academy of Management and Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2023. T...

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Knema is one of the genera in the Myristicaceae family. The genus includes 60 species in Southeast Asia and is traditionally used for treating skin disorders. Here, for the first time, the essential oil, anti-tyrosinase, and molecular docking studies of Knema intermedia were evaluated. The essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation and fully characterized by gas chromatography (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Anti-tyrosinase activity was evaluated against mushroom tyrosinase, whereas molecular docking studies were performed using Autodock vina embedded in PyRx to evaluate the binding interactions of major components. A total of 37 components (97.3%) were successfully identified in the essential oil, which was characterized by high amounts of t-muurolol (20.1%), ?-copaene (14.4%), ?-cadinene (13.9%), germacrene B (9.5%), and ?-selinene (7.0%). The essential oil displayed moderate inhibitory activity towards tyrosinase with an IC50 value of 70.2 ?g/mL. The .....

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This study examined the effect of mixed alkaline earth modifier fluoride on AC conductivity and dielectric properties in xBaF2–(50–x)CaF2–50B2O3 (x = 5–35 mol%) glass system. The impedance data showed a single-depressed semicircle with decreasing bulk resistance (Rb) with temperature. The change of σAC implied a non-linear relationship with BaF2, which induced a blocking effect on the mobility of the charge carriers at x ≤ 20 mol%, indicating the Mixed Alkaline Earth Effect (MAEE). The abrupt increase at x = 25 mol% was associated with the expansion of the glass network due to the formation of Non-Bridging Oxygen (NBO). All glass samples followed the Overlapping Large-Polaron Tunneling (OLPT) model for the conduction mechanism. The change in ε′ more prominent in low-frequency regions, signifying that polarization was contributed mainly by the space charge polarization. Electrical modulus analysis revealed non-Debye type relaxation, indicating temperature- and composition-.....

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This article is part of the current ecocritical research that is being conducted on Tash Aw's works. It attempts to analyse Tash Aw's first novel The Harmony Silk Factory and investigate how he customizes the concept of harmony and dissonance in relation to human beings from the perspective of the recent and growing theory of ecocriticism. Through examining Aw's novel, the manipulation of nature in the hope of illustrating the plot of a novel is studied thoroughly. In this article, the ecocritical theory is used to approach the phenomenon of harmony and dissonance in nature in the context of human-nature relationship in the chosen novel. The ecocritical theory assists in revealing with what perspectives the nature is portrayed by Aw in his first novel. The analysis of the novel reveals that there is a coherent harmony in dissonance in the bridge between human beings and their natural setting with the idea that human beings and nature are constantly influencing each other and causing di.....

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Coaching program is a primary development setup on national coaching standard, accreditation and education with framework preparing trained coaches to produce high performance athletes. Therefore, it is important to build consensus on the national standard for rugby coaching competency in Malaysia before the preparation for comprehensive structure of qualified coaches. The aim of this study is to find information from all the Malaysian rugby union national coaches to upgrade and improve their coaching competency process for high performance team preparation. The participants are selected based on their responsibility with Malaysia high performance national team based on purposive sampling. There are six national coaches being interviewed using in-depth and semi-structured interview with open-ended question which was carried out and analyzed using ATLAS Ti v.22 with constant comparative method. Based on data collection and analysis, there are five new themes emerging in context with Mal.....

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Cultural heritage is an extensive body of knowledge that encapsulates the historical and cultural context of a sites creation and its present actualisation. While existing studies have defined traditional transportation, they have also recognised its importance as both tangible and intangible heritage, leading international organisations to advocate for its preservation. The tangible aspects pertain to the physical artefacts of the transportation vehicles, and intangible aspects refer to the cultural and historical context in which the transportation artefacts were used. In this study, we aim to explore the anthropological aspects of digitally preserving the historical and cultural context of significant transportation in a multi-cultural trading port. Primary sources were gathered through narrative interviews with individuals who have knowledge of the old transportation situations in Weld Quay, a cultural heritage centre from the 19th century. Secondary sources, including relevant and.....

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Studies have been conducted over the last decade to identify secondary metabolites from plants, in particular those from the class of alkaloids, for the development of new anti-Alzheimers disease (AD) drugs. The genus Alseodaphne, comprising a wide range of alkaloids, is a promising source for the discovery of new cholinesterase inhibitors, the first-line treatment for AD. With regard to this, a phytochemical investigation of the dichloromethane extract of the bark of A. pendulifolia Gamb. was conducted. Repeated column chromatography and preparative thin-layer chromatography led to the isolation of a new bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid, N-methyl costaricine (1), together with costaricine (2), hernagine (3), N-methyl hernagine (4), corydine (5), and oxohernagine (6). Their structures were elucidated by the 1D- and 2D-NMR techniques and LCMS-IT-TOF analysis. Compounds 1 and 2 were more-potent BChE inhibitors than galantamine with IC50 values of 3.51 0.80 M and 2.90 0.56 M, respectively. .....

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[No abstract available]..

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In the fuzzy multicriteria decision-making approach, a committee of decision-makers is usually involved in the assessment of the suitability of different alternatives based on the evaluation criteria by using linguistic terms and their equivalent fuzzy numbers. In this context, researchers have developed the Pythagorean fuzzy set (PFS) to overcome the limitation of intuitionistic fuzzy set in the description of decision-maker information such as imposing restrictions on the representation of membership and nonmembership grades. On the one hand, PFS still does not have sufficient ability and flexibility to deal with such issues. On the other hand, multipolar technology is used to operate large-scale systems in real-life situations, especially in dealing with dissatisfaction and indeterminacy grades for the alternatives of the reference set. Thus, m-polar fuzzy set is utilized and applied with other fuzzy sets because of its remarkable ability as a tool for depicting fuzziness and uncert.....

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The Spearman rho nonparametric correlation coefficient is widely used to measure the strength and degree of association between two variables. However, outliers in the data can skew the results, leading to inaccurate results as the Spearman correlation coefficient is sensitive toward outliers. Thus, the robust approach is used to construct a robust model which is highly resistant to data contamination. The robustness of an estimator is measured by the breakdown point which is the smallest fraction of outliers in a sample data without affecting the estimator entirely. To overcome this problem, the aim of this study is two-fold. Firstly, researchers have proposed a robust Spearman correlation coefficient model based on the MMestimator, called the MM-Spearman correlation coefficient. Secondly, to test the performance of the proposed model, it was tested by the Monte Carlo simulation and contaminated air pollution data in Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia. The data have been contamina.....

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