Purpose – Up to now a country-specific study on Qatar with respect to underground economy, illegal money and tax evasion has not been undertaken. This paper aims to contribute by separately estimating the magnitude of the underground economy in Qatar from 1980 to 2010 using adjusted currency demand function. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses the Zivot–Andrews unit root test for the stationarity analysis and applies the Gregory and Hansen long run cointegrating technique for estimating the underground economy based on the latest form of the currency demand function model. While the general to specific technique is used to estimate the short run error correction model. Findings – The results show that the average size of the underground economy in Qatar is about 17.03 per cent of the official gross domestic products (GDPs). The average level of tax evasion as a per cent of the total non-oil tax revenues is estimated at around 16.50 per cent and is about 2.12 per cent.....

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Improved estimates of the Malaysian Shadow Economy (SE), illegal money and corrections to the magnitude of SE using the ARDL technique based on the modified Currency Demand Function Model (CDFM) from 1972 to 2012 are provided in this paper. This study rectifies the failure in previous studies to capture the positive and symmetric relationships between the demand for money and per capita income. The use of the scale of real GDP in the Modified CDFM is necessary methodologically to obtain an accurate estimation of SE. This study combines the demand rate of deposits with circulated money as dependent variable, which is more liquid and thus may end up in SE. It considers inequality of the velocity of money in both economies (SE and the formal economy). The variables of opportunity cost of using money in their ratio level rather than logarithm form are used in the modified CDFM. The size of the SE in Malaysia has been fluctuating and averaged around 42.53% of GDP  ..

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The main aim of this study is to obtain the contract validity and reliability of social support assessment instrument to identify football talent among Malaysian male players aged 13 to 14 years old. Three sub attributes are used to measure the attributes of social support, which are family, teammates and coaches. A total of 120 male footballers aged 13 to 14 who underwent training under the Malaysia National Football Development Program were selected as study samples. Pearson correlation analysis were used to obtain validity of field experts. Cronbach’s alpha analysis were used to obtain reliability coefficient of the assessment instrument on social support. Factor analysis was used to obtain the construct validity of the questionnaire items. Findings of the study show that the construct validity of 35 questionnaire items of overall 60 items (r = .50), field expert validity (r = .96), reliability total value (α = .92) and the internal consistency coefficient for each sub attributes.....

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Gaya hidup sedentari adalah punca kemerosotan kesihatan yang sempurna. Setiap individu perlu mengambil langkah untuk menjaga kesihatan sejak muda sebaikbaiknya sebelum jisim badan mencapai paras kritikal. Kajian berbentuk tinjauan ini bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti tahap obesiti (BMI), tahap penglibatan aktiviti fizikal, penggunaan gajet untuk bersosial dan mengisi masa lapang di samping melihat perbezaannya berdasarkan jantina dalam kalangan belia di Daerah Muallim, Perak. Seramai 200 orang responden yang terdiri daripada 100 orang lelaki dan 100 orang perempuan yang berumur 20 hingga 40 tahun telah dipilih secara rawak mudah di persekitaran Daerah Muallim. Dapatan kajian bagi tahap obesiti dan risiko morbiditi berdasarkan norma BMI, WHO (2004) bagi masyarakat Asia menunjukkan bahawa 32 orang (16%) berada di tahap obes kelas II dengan risiko morbiditi yang sangat tinggi. 96 orang (48%) berada di tahap obes kelas I dengan risiko morbiditi yang tinggi. 14 orang (7%) berada di tahap Pre .....

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The purpose of this study is to compare the quality of groundwater during wet and dry seasons in Malaysia especially in Kuala Krai District which frequently involved in annual monsoon floods and the question whether the wells can be used during floods as well as an alternative source when there are no floods. Six sampling stations were selected using six main parameters which included DO, pH, BOD, COD, TSS and NH3N. The assessment was conducted based on the standards set by Malaysian INWQS and the classification of WQI. The results of the analysis showed that most of the water samples taken during the wet season had concentration values that did not meet the DOE standards such as the DO, BOD, and NH3N parameters. Based on the WQI classification, majority stations during the wet season were in moderately contaminated except for station T6 which was clean. On the contrary, during a dry season were found to be clean except for station T1 which was moderately contaminated. ..

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The mass media in the form of advertising is extensively employed in the process of nation-building in Malaysia. Advertising has been used as an important tool for educating the public about State issues, ensuring diverse cultures are equally represented and the multicultural values are emphasized to the fullest. The objective of the present study is to investigate how outdoor advertising, particularly billboards, promotes the language, social identity, and multicultural values of Malaysian society for nation-building. In Malaysia, the extensive use of advertisements has been argued as one of the most powerful mechanisms to enhance Malaysian identity, foster interactions and thus contribute to the process of nation-building even though it is portrayed in a banal and routine way. To achieve its objective, this paper utilizes semiotic methodology to examine 11 billboards to understand the relationships between texts and visuals that communicate messages to the public. The findings reveal.....

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This thesis investigates how people make judgements of their sleep quality and the temporal association between sleep and physical activity in people with and without chronic pain. In doing so, the thesis used a multi-methodological approach comprising qualitative (Chapter 3), experimental (Chapter 4) and daily process studies (Chapters 5 and 6). The qualitative study presented in Chapter 3 explored how people with and without chronic pain define their sleep quality and to what extent judgments of sleep quality differ with the presence of pain (n= 17). The experimental study presented in Chapter 4 quantitatively examined the relative importance of 17 parameters of sleep quality in good and poor sleepers (n= 100). This study conceptualised sleep quality as a decision-making process and used a choice-based conjoint analysis to identify parameters that shape people's judgement of sleep quality. Then the thesis shifts its focus to the relationship between sleep and physical acti.....

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This study aims to determine the perceived training needs of lower secondary science teachers in Peninsular Malaysia, to enable them to foster Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) among students during science lessons. The study uses the cross-sectional survey design. Respondents were sampled using the multistage random sampling technique from a population of in-service lower secondary science teachers in Peninsular Malaysia, involving four states, 49 districts, and 158 schools. Self-completion of a questionnaire that was developed based on Borich Needs Assessment Model that is valid and reliable and mail back data collection method yielded a response rate of 65.3% (n=220).Qualitative data of teachers understanding about HOTS and ways to foster HOTS were analysed thematically while quantitative data of teachers’ perceived level of importance, confidence and actual practice for 33 ways of fostering HOTS items were determined using descriptive statistics such as frequency and Mean Weigh.....

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Modeling the number of road accidents occurrence is a quite common topic in recent years. A number of studies have been developed with the aim to find the best model that gives better prediction. However, statistical patterns such as trend and seasonality of road accidents is rarely observed. Estimating the pattern of trend and seasonal will indirectly provide a better impact on prediction system. Traditionally, estimation of trend and seasonal patterns are made based on decomposition method. Yet, this type of estimation shows intangible predictions as the estimation are based on deterministic form. Therefore, structural time series (STS) approach is proposed to model the trend and seasonal pattern of road accidents occurrence. The STS approach offered a direct interpretation and allowed the time series component including trend and seasonal to vary over time. In this thesis the road accidents model is developed using the STS approach with the aim to observe the pattern of .....

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Context: Pre-exercise nutrient availability alters acute metabolic responses to exercise, which could modulate training responsiveness. Objective: To assess acute and chronic effects of exercise performed before versus after nutrient ingestion on whole-body and intramuscular lipid utilization, and postprandial glucose metabolism. Design: 1) Acute, randomised, crossover design (Acute Study); 2) 6-week, randomised, controlled design (Training Study). Setting: General community. Participants: Men with overweight/obesity (mean±SD, BMI: 30.2±3.5 kg?m-2 for Acute Study, 30.9±4.5 kg?m-2 for Training Study). Interventions: Moderate-intensity cycling performed before versus after mixedmacronutrient breakfast (Acute Study) or carbohydrate (Training Study) ingestion. Results: Acute Study - exercise before versus after breakfast consumption increased net intramuscular lipid utilization in type I (net change: -3.44±2.63% versus 1.44±4.18% area lipid staining, p < 0.01) and type II fibres .....

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