Hedge funds, exchange rates and causality: Evidence from Thailand and Malaysia

This article contributes to the debate on hedge funds and exchange rates in Thailand and Malaysia. It examines causal relations using a new Granger non-causality procedure proposed by Toda and Yamamoto (Journal of Econometrics, 66, 225-50, 1995). Monthly observations are utilized over a sample period from January, 1994 to April, 2002. The results show that the funds lead Thai baht for the crisis period. The results also reveal that the funds lead Malaysian ringgit for the pre-crisis period.Hedge Funds; Exchange Rates; Granger Non-Causality; Thailand; Malaysia

English language in rural Malaysia: situating global literacies in local practices

This paper claims that underlying the naturalisation of teaching and learning of English in the Malaysian education system are ideological pressures and political dogmas, often emerging from colonial, urban/rural and even local ethnic conflicts and hierarchies. It suggests therein lie the inherent difficulties of teaching and learning English in rural communities in Malaysia. Three paradigms frame this view in the paper: the overarching view of literacy as a situated and variable social process; the use of an ethnographic perspective in investigating English language and literacy education in Malaysia; the stance on the need for Malaysians to acquire English as an additive rather than as a deficit philosophy

Establishment of checklist of design for safety (DfS), life-cycle analysis (LCA) and design for manufacturing (DFM) for IVD medical device based on IEC 60601

By 2030, medical industries is projected to grow exponentially, progressive to more sustainable policies and better performance towards achieving healthcare Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Designing the uprising star of In-Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) device casing is choose as a case study in this research because the current discovery of non-invasive jaundice meter in Malaysia are still in lab scale form with wooding casing thus made it not user friendly and not safe to be used. Therefore, this research purpose a comprehensive checklist for designing new medical device casing by considering Design for Safety (DfS) extracted from the famous international standards on safety MS IEC 60601 and Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) principles for environmental impact with real side-by-side industrial manufacturing requirement for injection molding process applied on a case study of jaundice meter casing. The checklist have help to minimize modification period thus comply to safety standards (MS IEC 60601). As a result, DfS-LCA-DFM comprehensive checklist helps to decrease trouble for designers to read on long pages of regulatory book to comply to safety standards, doing forensic of redesigning due to not suitable design for manufacturing and saving cost of raw material during early design stage

Liquid mixture control system using PLC

The principle of the Liquids Mixture Control System By using PLC is to mix two or more types of liquids with different PH values, in order to acquire new PH value with correct composition, which to maintain product quality .These processes exist in beverage, drinkingwater, food, pharmaceuticals, chemistry, refinery indutries, also important for fish hatcheries, water conditioning and aquaculture, etc, moreover correct composition of PH value in our diet is important for our health,therefore for this project, volumetric of one type of liquid,can be determined its quantity of volume before entering into the Mixture tank and then, another liquid is entered automatically into this Mixture Tank,after that the mixing process will be done,which this system determined PH value automatically that macthing the PH value requirement as a complete product.Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) with analogue input signal is used to control this Liquids Mixture Control system.This system consist of six tanks, with one mixturer motor and also five pumps are used to control the system via PLC. PH sensor is used to detect PH value of the mixture, which this signal is fed to analogue input PLC teminal, that to be used for comparing PH value required as a product. The user can select volume one type of liquid to be entered into Mixture Tank, by pressing select buttons on the control panel board.This project can be used for manufacturing industries base on liquids and also for fish hatcheries, water conditioning and aquaculture ,which have been proved by project analyzing and testing results

The Relationship Between Transformational Leadership, Empowerment and Organizational Commitment: a Mediating Model Testing

The human resource development literature highlights that properly implemented transformational leadership style may have a significant impact on the organizational commitment. More importantly, a thorough review of such relationships reveals that the effect of transformational leadership on organizational commitment is indirectly affected by empowerment. The nature of this relationship is given less attention in the organizational leadership models; therefore, this study was conducted to examine the influence of empowerment in the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational commitment using a sample of 118 usable questionnaires gathered from employees who have worked in one US subsidiary firm in Sarawak, Malaysia (ONEUSFIRM). Outcomes of Stepwise regression analysis showed that the relationship between empowerment and transformational leadership is positively and significantly correlated with the organizational commitment. This result confirms empowerment acts as a full mediating variable in the transformational leadership model of the organizational sample. Further, conclusion and implications of this study are elaborated.Transformational Leadership; Empowerment; Organizational Commitment

Adapted slopes

This article focuses on three research questions: 1) Were terraced landscapes built in the analytical or creative phase of the first human intervention in a place? 2) Does the geometry of the slopes adapted as a terraced landscape apply in a conscious planning process? 3) What are the patterns and relationships between buildings, settlements, and terraced landscapes? The first issue was examined at the archaeological site Lepenski Vir, where a settlement and trapezoidal huts were built on terraces. The terraces were designed more in the creative phase than in the analytical phase because some of the terraces already had a shape that corresponded to and followed the shape of the huts. The answer to the second question is based on an understanding of the importance of horizontal and vertical measurements, their symbolism, and the origins of agriculture. The applied geometry of the slope is one of the indicators that the terraces were built on the basis of conscious planning and rational order, which is an instrument of basic economics and land delimitation issues. The types of relationships between buildings, settlements, and terraces are numerous, and sometimes they can represent a pattern that occurs in a particular region. Because the aim of civil and other initiatives is to protect terraced landscapes from the prejudice of marginality and ignorance, extended studies may be expected in this vast field of case studies