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.....

1996 hits

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.....

829 hits

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 .....

2094 hits

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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The purpose of this study is to look and review the implementation of Physical Education and Health (PJK) teaching in secondary schools as well as factors that support teaching and learning. This PJK subject in school covers aspects of infrastructure and equipment as well as teachers' accountability and competency involved in the implementation of the teaching for this subject. The results showed that there was a significant relationship between teacher competency, accountability and teaching experience, options and graduation. The findings also show that there is a significant relationship between school facilities in the teaching and learning process of PJK. In conclusion, the effectiveness of the teaching and learning process in Physical Education and Health subjects depends on the competency, accountability of teachers and school infrastructure in planning well teaching sessions..

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Surface ozone (O3) in Peninsular Malaysia has shown an unusual increase over the last decade. High concentration of O3 is harmful to humans and plants. This research is conducted to study the variation and pattern of daily, weekly and monthly O3 for industrial, urban and suburban area in Perak, Malaysia. Hourly O3 data covering the period from 2013 to 2015 obtained from the Malaysian Department of Environment (DOE) were analysed using statistical methods. In addition, O3 correlation with meteorological factors was also determined. Daily variation shows that there was a significant difference between hourly data (p < 0.05) and recorded high concentration of O3 at noon. Monthly variation of O3 concentrations showed that there was a significant difference for monthly data (p < 0.05) where mostly, high reading was detected during southwest monsoon and dry season. There was no significant difference between O3 concentrations on weekdays and weekends (p > 0.05) for all three stations. This s.....

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This study is conducted to identify how the mentoring program is used in sports and how this mentoring program takes place in a sports organization. The population of this study was UPSI students representing the university football team. The selected sample consists of approximately 25 people. The sample consists of players representing the university from the beginning of the student's entry or who have recently been involved in representing the university, but still have background in playing high-level football. The instrument of this study is observation. Observation method is a research method used to measure the research variables. Observation is also an alternative in collecting data other than questionnaires and interviews. Using this method, researchers should observe their samples within a certain timeframe. Prior to observation, researchers need to make good and careful planning. Each observation must have specific purpose, systematically done, focused, and must be recorded.....

854 hits

The Atacama Desert ofNorthem Chile, the oldest and driest nonpolar desert on the planet, is known to harbour previously undiscovered actinobacterial taxa with the capacity to synthesize novel natural products. In the present study, culture-dependent and cultureindependent methods were used to :fin1:her our understanding of the extent of actinobacterial diversity in Atacama Desert habitats. The culture-dependent studies focused on the selective isolation, screening and dereplication of actinobacteria from high altitude soils from Cerro Chajnantor. Several strains, notably isolates designated H9 and H45, were found to produce new specialized metabolites. Isolate H45 synthesized six novel metabolites, lentzeosides A-F, some of which inhibited HIV-l integrase activity. Polyphasic taxonomic studies on isolates H45 and H9 showed that they represented new species of the genera Lentzea and Streptomyces, respectively; it is proposed that these strains be designated as Lentzea chajnan.....

1987 hits