The Determinants of Inward Foreign Direct Investment: the Case of Malaysia

This study empirically explores the role of corruption, and the impact of China joining the WTO in 2001 on inward foreign direct investment (FDI) in Malaysia. From the empirical tests, this study suggests:- (1) FDI and its determinants are cointegrated; (2) Openness, interest rate, inflation rate, the joining of China into the WTO, and the level of corruption are the major determinants explaining inward FDI in Malaysia, both in the long-run as well as short- run. In general, these findings do provide the policymakers with empirical information about the policy formation on the variables those stimulating FDI in Malaysia.Corruption; Foreign Direct Investment; Malaysia

Advances in Smart Materials and Applications

This is one of a series of special issues published in Advances in Materials Science and Engineering, focusing on the latest advances of smart materials and their applications. Evolution of engineering materials is strongly depending on the growing transformation of complexity in engineering products. New materials being designed are required to provide specific properties and demonstrate certain functional characteristics by manipulating their dimension, chemistry, and structure through various advanced technologies.Therefore, “smartness” of a material has become the topic of interest. Properties of smart materials may change accordingly to the applied external stimuli. Under the direction of the editorial team, we showcase advances of organic and inorganic based smart materials and their applications in areas of specific interest such as energy, environment, and health. A total of 9 articles are published in this special issue. Six articles are focused on production, synthesis, and optimization of smart materials; and the remaining are dedicated to application of smart materials

A Study to evaluate the permeation characteristics of black tea flavors and linalool in four different plastic films

The use of plastic films has seen tremendous growth during the past decades. The US Flexible Packaging Association 1994 Annual Report revealed that flexible packaging sales are predicted at US $13.2 billion and 50% of the flexible packaging is produced for food items. It is also realized that polymeric films interact with their environments differently than do glass or metal containers. Volatile flavor compounds from food items can dissolve and diffuse in the polymeric membrane. These movement is especially important when the loss of these flavors results in the lowering of the product quality and acceptance. The permeation characteristics of black tea flavors and linalool were evaluated in four different plastic films (QHE, MET-HB, AOH and Barex), using an isostatic test procedure. Presently there is no data available for black tea flavors and only very little data for linalool, on the transport of such organic penetrants through plastic membranes. The permeation results collected from the MAS 2000, Organic Flavor Detector, suggested that each film has a different barrier property to linalool and the black tea flavors. The relationship between the permeation characteristics of linalool and the black tea flavors could not be established at this present time, as more data are needed to verify the permeation profile in each film, especially for the black tea flavors. Recommendations for further improvement and research were suggested to determine which of the four films would offer the best flavor barrier to linalool and black tea at room temperature

Perceptions and attitudes towards dementia among university students in Malaysia.

BACKGROUND: One of the major challenges worldwide is the stigma associated with dementia. There is limited dementia awareness within Malaysian communities, including levels of confusion regarding the differences between dementia and the usual ageing progress, which can lead to delays in support seeking. The need for additional training and education for healthcare professionals has been highlighted. The present study aimed to evaluate the benefits of a one-hour dementia education session (Dementia Detectives workshop) for pharmacy and medicine undergraduate students at a Malaysian university. METHODS: Participants attended the workshop and completed pre- (Time 1) and post-workshop (Time 2) questionnaires consisting of validated measures exploring attitudes towards dementia and older people more broadly. RESULTS: A total of 97 students were recruited. Attitudes towards people with dementia showed significant positive changes between Time 1 and Time 2, whereas no differences were found for attitudes towards older people. CONCLUSIONS: As medical and pharmacy students develop theoretical knowledge, practical skills and professional attitudes during their undergraduate studies, it is important for students to also learn about the humanistic side of diseases and conditions through workshops such as the one presented here. Further research should now be conducted to consider how Dementia Detectives can be delivered to non-healthcare students and what the barriers and facilitators to wider delivery are

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Ly6Chi monocyte recruitment is responsible for Th2 associated host-protective macrophage accumulation in liver inflammation due to schistosomiasis

Accumulation of M2 macrophages in the liver, within the context of a strong Th2 response, is a hallmark of infection with the parasitic helminth, Schistosoma mansoni, but the origin of these cells is unclear. To explore this, we examined the relatedness of macrophages to monocytes in this setting. Our data show that both monocyte-derived and resident macrophages are engaged in the response to infection. Infection caused CCR2-dependent increases in numbers of Ly6Chi monocytes in blood and liver and of CX3CR1+ macrophages in diseased liver. Ly6Chi monocytes recovered from liver had the potential to differentiate into macrophages when cultured with M-CSF. Using pulse chase BrdU labeling, we found that most hepatic macrophages in infected mice arose from monocytes. Consistent with this, deletion of monocytes led to the loss of a subpopulation of hepatic CD11chi macrophages that was present in infected but not naïve mice. This was accompanied by a reduction in the size of egg-associated granulomas and significantly exacerbated disease. In addition to the involvement of monocytes and monocyte-derived macrophages in hepatic inflammation due to infection, we observed increased incorporation of BrdU and expression of Ki67 and MHC II in resident macrophages, indicating that these cells are participating in the response. Expression of both M2 and M1 marker genes was increased in liver from infected vs. naive mice. The M2 fingerprint in the liver was not accounted for by a single cell type, but rather reflected expression of M2 genes by various cells including macrophages, neutrophils, eosinophils and monocytes. Our data point to monocyte recruitment as the dominant process for increasing macrophage cell numbers in the liver during schistosomiasis

Factors associated with nursing home placement of all patients admitted for inpatient rehabilitation in Singapore community hospitals from 1996 to 2005: A disease stratified analysis

10.1371/journal.pone.0082697PLoS ONE812-POLN