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- PublicationRelationship Among Ceo Characteristics, Concentrated Ownership And Earnings Management: The Case Of Jordanian Companies(2024-09)In recent years, the issue of earnings management has garnered significant attention from researchers and academics due to its consequences on the quality of financial reports and its impact on investors' decision-making. This study aims to provide evidence on the influence of COVID-19, CEO characteristics, and ownership concentration on two forms of earnings management (EM), namely accruals-based earnings management (AEM) and real earnings management (REM) in Jordan. Additionally, the study explores the role of ownership concentration (family and foreign ownership) as a moderating variable in the relationship between CEO characteristics and earnings management. The study sample included all service and industrial companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) after the update of the Jordanian Corporate Governance Code (JCGC) 2017, covering the period from 2017 to 2021. The theoretical basis for understanding this relationship draws upon the agency, upper-echelons theories and the entrenchment and alignment effects. The hypotheses were tested using the feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) method to address heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation issues, as it provides a suitable approach for controlling these problems in the analysis. The results reveal a negative relationship between COVID-19, CEO tenure, and AEM practices in Jordanian companies. A negative relationship exists between CEO non-duality, CEO age, and REM practices. However, the study uncovers a positive relationship between CEO gender, CEO experience, CEO age, and AEM.
- PublicationKnowledge, attitude, and practice (kap) questionnaire on melioidosis: development and validation and associated factors among field agricultural farmers in Kelantan, Malaysia(2024-06)Background: Melioidosis, caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, is a significant public health concern in Malaysia, particularly among field agricultural farmers who face a heightened risk of exposure due to their occupational activities. Despite its importance, there is a lack of validated questionnaires to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) regarding melioidosis and study its associated factors among this high-risk population. Objectives: This study aimed to develop and validate a new questionnaire assessing KAP towards melioidosis among fields agricultural farmers in Kelantan, Malaysia. Additionally, it was aimed to determine the KAP scores and associated factors among them. Methods: This two-phase study was conducted between May 2023 and March 2024. In Phase 1, a KAP questionnaire was developed and validated through rigorous processes involving literature review, content validation, face validation, item response theory (IRT), exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The questionnaire was administered to 432 field agricultural farmers in Kelantan (222 for EFA, 210 for CFA). In Phase 2, a cross-sectional study was conducted among 392 farmers to assess their KAP scores and identify associated factors using the validated questionnaire. In the first phase, data were analysed usinR software, while in the second phase, the analysis was conducted using SPSS version 26. Results: The proposed melioidosis KAP questionnaire named M-KAP, which consisted of 62 items has demonstrated excellent content validity (S-CVI/Ave: 0.97 for knowledge, 0.96 for attitude, 0.99 for practice) and face validity (S-FVI/Ave: 0.99 for knowledge, 0.95 for attitude, 1.0 for practice). IRT, EFA and CFA confirmed the construct validity and reliability of the questionnaire with analysis revealed an acceptable range of difficulty and discrimination in IRT, reliable internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha values of 0.7 and above in EFA, and satisfactory composite reliability, as indicated by Raykov's rho values exceeding 0.70 in CFA. In Phase 2, the total mean percentage for knowledge, attitude and practice were 36.4%, 62.6% and 77.6% respectively. Factors significantly associated with higher knowledge scores were female gender (adjusted β= 3.84, p=0.013), and individuals with affected close contacts (adjusted β= 7.20, p=0.008). However, those working with non-paddy crops (adjusted β= -6.17, p<0.001) associated with lower knowledge of melioidosis. Smoker associated with lower attitude (adjusted β= -1.69, p=0.008) and non-paddy crop workers (adjusted β= 1.67, p=0.007) associated high higher attitude score. Higher education level (adjusted β= -1.56, p=0.011) and having multiple job scopes (adjusted β= -1.58, p<0.001), were associated with lower practice scores.
- PublicationPrehypertension and its associated factors among type ii diabetes mellitus patients in Kelantan(2024)Background: Prehypertension is defined by systolic blood pressure ranging from 120 to139 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure of 80 to 89 mmHg. Type II Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) patients with prehypertension face higher risks of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality compared to normotensive T2DM patients. However, many T2DM patients remains unaware of their prehypertensive status and the associated increased CVD risks. Objective: This study aims to determine the proportion of prehypertension and its associated factors among Type II Diabetes Mellitus patients in Kelantan for year 2022. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2023 to June 2024 using secondary data from Kelantan National Diabetes Registry (NDR) clinical audit datasets for the year 2022. Data of T2DM patients who were more than 18 years old and documented not hypertensive in the registry was collected using a proforma and analysed using IBM SPSS version 28 software. Results: There were 8657 T2DM patients clinical audit datasets in Kelantan NDR for the year 2022, of which, 825 patient datasets fulfilled the study criteria and were included in the study. Descriptive and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed. The proportion of prehypertensive T2DM patients was 73.5% (606 patients) with a mean (SD) age of 55.8 (11.30) years old, majority being the female patients at 402 patients (66.3%) and of Malay ethnicity at 585 (96.5%) patients. Only 41 (6.8%) patients were smoker while 330 (54.5%) patients had dyslipidaemia. Majority of patients were overweight [254 (41.9%) patients] and obese [215 (35.5%) patients] with 370 (61.1%) patients having abnormal waist circumference. The mean (SD) of HbA1c level was 8.31% (2.21) while 87 (14.4%) patients experienced microalbuminuria. Significant association with prehypertension was found for age (aOR 1.02; 95% CI: 1.003, 1.03; p = 0.012), sex (aOR 1.54; 95% CI: 1.10, 2.15; p = 0.013) and smoking (aOR 2.19; 95% CI: 1.02, 4.73; p = 0.045) Conclusion: There was a high proportion of prehypertension among T2DM patients in Kelantan in the year 2022. Besides non-modifiable factors age and sex, smoking was significantly associated with prehypertension among T2DM patients thus highlighting the importance of smoking cessation promotion for T2DM patients to prevent the development of prehypertension.
- PublicationThe unmet needs among working mothers of children with epilepsy attending specialist hospitals in Kelantan: a mixed methods study(2024-06)Background: Working mothers of children with epilepsy (CWE) face a range of unmet needs and challenges that may impact their health and well-being. These unmet needs occur when assistance or support to perform everyday activities is not provided. The unpredictable nature of epilepsy causes severe work-family conflict among these women, potentially resulting in higher levels of unmet needs, which can further exacerbate the difficulties they encounter. Objective: The objectives of this study were to identify the unmet needs among working mothers of CWE, its predictive factors, and the barriers leading to unmet needs. Methodology: This was a mixed-method study involving a combination of quantitative (Phase 1) and qualitative methods (Phase 2) from February till August 2023. Phase 1 study involved 204 working mothers of CWE registered at the Paediatric Neurology Clinic in Kelantan, while Phase 2 involved 15 working mothers from Phase 1 who agreed to be interviewed. The validated Malay version of Family Needs Survey questionnaire was used to assess the unmet needs. General linear regression was applied to analyse the relationship between unmet needs scores and study factors. Thematic analysis was used to assess the barrier leading to unmet needs among the mothers. Result: The quantitative study found the highest prevalence of unmet needs was observed in the community services domain (81.6%), followed by the information domain (71.9%), social support domain (53.1%), financial domain (43.2%), and explaining to others domain (28.9%). The lowest unmet need was observed for the family functioning domain (28.4%). Several factors were significantly related to higher unmet needs, including seeking follow-up care at secondary hospitals, having children with comorbidities, working in the government sector, and being employed on a contract basis. On the other hand, factors that reduced unmet needs included belonging to a nuclear family structure and having full-time employment. The findings from the quantitative component informed the design and focus of the subsequent qualitative exploration. The qualitative phase identified three main themes related to the barriers faced by working mothers of CWE. These themes centred on the child; “Uncertainty and endless worrying for my child”, the mother; “Me and my career”, and the surrounding circumstances; “I don’t receive enough support”. Mothers expressed constant uncertainty and worry about their child's well-being. They also struggled with balancing their own needs and career aspirations. Additionally, challenges arose from family dynamics, government policies, and societal expectations. Conclusion: This study highlights the significant unmet needs among working mothers of CWE in Kelantan, emphasizing the profound impact on their daily lives and well-being. The highest unmet needs were found in community services and information, suggesting a critical gap in accessible support and resources. Factors such as seeking care at secondary hospitals, children's comorbidities, government sector employment, and contract-based work were associated with higher unmet needs, while nuclear family structure and full-time employment reduced these needs. Qualitative insights revealed persistent worry for their children, struggles in balancing personal needs and careers, and a lack of adequate support from family, government, and society. Addressing these unmet needs requires a multifaceted approach, including improved community services, information dissemination, and supportive policies to alleviate the burdens faced by these mothers.
- PublicationDevelopment And Characterisation Of Inhaled Andrographolide As An Anti-Cancer Agent(2024-06)Despite the promising anti-cancer activity of andrographolide against lung cancer, its limited water solubility and low bioavailability pose significant challenges for effective oral administration. To address this issue, the current study focused on the development and comparison of two inhalable preparations of andrographolide for pulmonary drug delivery. Precipitation and spray drying , prepared using precipitation and spray drying techniques, and direct spray drying, produced via direct spray drying of andrographolide solution, exhibited favorable in vitro aerosol performance, storage stability, and dissolution profiles. Morphology and crystalline properties of the preparations were confirmed using scanning electron microscopy (sem) and x-ray diffraction (xrd) analysis, respectively. In vitro aerosol dispersion profile was evaluated using a next-generation impactor (ngi). Precipitation and spray drying consisted of elongated crystals with an average diameter of 1.65 ± 0.34 μm while direct spray drying was made of amorphous spherical particles with an average diameter of 1.43 ± 0.19 μm. Both preparations showed inhalable fractions (particle size < 5 μm) of more than 44% making them suitable for pulmonary drug delivery. The 25% inhibitory concentration (ic25) for precipitation and spray drying was 31.91 μg/ml while direct spray drying demonstrated ic25 of 6.57 μg/ml against lung carcinoma cells (a549). Both preparations were relatively stable in a vacuum condition at 30°c up to 3 months. In conclusion,
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- ItemForensic Accounting And Corporate Governance Maturity: Case Of Public Listed Companies In Oman(Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2019-11)Corporate governance maturity and forensic accounting can be considered as an essential component for the current business environment. Traditional audit activities have overlooked the role towards fraud detection which created expectation gaps; and due to this reason, inclusion of forensic accounting can be considered as an integral part in governance management system. In recent business environment, corporate governance system is becoming just a mere compliance check box tool; however, implementation of corporate governance maturity can overcome this traditional practice, as it defines how mature is the organization towards achievement of its goals, objectives and satisfied stakeholders. Thus present study developed a conceptual research framework for potential relationship between forensic accounting and corporate governance maturity. Research framework was developed in light of comprehensive literature review, observational study and expert opinions from academicians and professionals. Three management theories were applied namely agency theory for forensic accounting representing it as an agent, path dependence and convergence theory for corporate governance maturity as it defines structure and necessitated the required changes and fraud triangle theory for fraud risk assessment which is mediator in this study. Forensic accounting is independent variable and corporate governance maturity is dependent variable in this study. Forensic accounting is measured via its two dimensions namely preventive role and detective role, whereas corporate governance maturity is measured via its four major constituents namely board of director, audit and risk committee, remuneration committee and senior management. A quantitative approach through a survey question was used to collect data from all 115 public listed companies in Oman. Findings and results suggests that preventive and detective role of forensic accounting has positive significant direct relationship with fraud risk assessment and corporate governance maturity. Fraud risk assessment has positive significant direct relationship with corporate governance maturity and fraud risk assessment mediates between preventive role of forensic accounting and corporate governance maturity. Furthermore, corporate governance maturity does not significantly vary amongst different sectors. Contribution of this study lies in the fact that forensic accounting is considered as in-house activity and its impact on corporate governance maturity is measured for first time. Present study offered probable solutions and recommendations of including forensic accounting as part of governance management system and utilization of maturity framework to improve organizations' performance. Conceptual research framework proposed in this study can be utilized in any organization. This study can also be beneficial for regulators, governance management system of organization, professional bodies and auditors
- ItemResilience, Decision-Making And Risk Behaviors Among Early Adolescents In Penang(Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2018-02)Resilience is the ability of individuals to tap into the available resources to increase the likelihood of positive adaptation and reduce the probability of disturbances in functioning in the face of adversity (Goldstein & Brooks, 2012; Masten, 2014; Ungar, 2013).The present study sought to determine the relationship between resilience and risk behaviors among early adolescents with decision-making acting as a mediator. Form 1 and Form 2 students (N = 65) were recruited at a high-needs school in Penang. All participants completed a self-report questionnaire (The Child and Youth Resilience Measure) and a computerized task (The Balloon Analogue Risk Task-Youth Version). Participants’ Disciplinary Demerit Records in school were obtained as the measure of risk behaviors. The bootstrapping method and macro codes for the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) developed by Preacher and Hayes (2004) were used as the statistical mediation analysis in the present study. Given that resilience encompasses three dimensions, namely individual, family, and contextual level factors, further analyses were conducted on each of them. The results indicated that decision-making significantly mediated the association between resilience and risk behaviors among early adolescents. Similar findings were found for individual and family levels factors. The relationship between contextual level factors and risk behaviors could only be partially explained by decision-making. The findings from the present study presented an explanation for the relationship between resilience and risk behaviors. It suggests adolescents should be taught decision-making skills early on as decision making has an important implication on their engagement of risk behaviors in daily life.
- ItemThe study of family planning practice during and post Covid-19 pandemic crisis among married couples in Johor, Malaysia(Pusat Pengajian Sains Kesihatan, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2022-06)The current contraceptive prevalence rate in Malaysia is 52.2% which it is slightly lower than world’s CPR which was 60%. It is essential for married couples to practice family planning (FP) to prevent mortality and fatality occur among newborns, young mothers and high risk age group. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among married couples in Johor, Malaysia from March 2022 until May 2022. A total of 240 respondents which are married couples were willingly participate in this study via online (GoogleForm). The data was collected using self-administered questionnaire that require the respondents to complete all of the three section. The mean age of the respondents was 34 years old (SD=7.759), with age range between 18 to 49 years old. Pearson’s Chi-Square test was used to determine the association of the selected factors to the changes of FP practice. Results revealed that the prevalence rate of FP practice was higher post COVID-19 pandemic crisis (42.9%) compared to FP practice during COVID-19 pandemic crisis (32.9%) in Johor, Malaysia. The result also shows that there is no significant association between all the selected factors- education level, locality, financial crisis, and access to services; to the changes of FP practice except for marriage duration (p=0.016) among the married couples that participate in this study. The conclusion for this study is the FP practice post COVID-19 is high among the married couples in Johor, Malaysia and marriage duration is associated with the changes of FP practice. The importance for FP practice should be given to all the married couple since young age of marriage to prevent and decrese the rate of occurrence of unmet pregnancy.
- ItemKajian abu kelapa sawit sebagai bahan pengganti simen dalam konkrit(2006-06)Concrete is being used a lot in construction. Concrete is made from aggregate, water and cement. The characteristic of wet concrete is that, it is wet and hard and very much depend on the ratio of water-cement and also the texture of aggregate. Due to that, other materials also used to be find as an alternative. The aim of this research is that to find out whether the palm ash can be used as alternative to concrete. Portland cement, aggregate, water and palm ash are used in this research. The palm ashes is an industrial as waste that was no commercial value, except for it is used as composite fertilizer. This research is carried out to compare the palm ash concrete and cement. The research that has been carried out are the cube density, the velocity of ultrasonic PUNDIT, the strength of compression, flexural strength, and the ratio water absorption to cement is 0.57 for sample concrete. The sample curing will take 3,7,14,28 and up to 90 days sometime in the plain water. From research, we fixed out that the palm a,sh can be used as cement replacement. The palm ash can given exactly the same compression strength like cement.
- ItemRates of adsorption of CO2 on hydrotalcite.(Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2011-02)Dewasa ini hidrotalsit telah menarik perhatian di dalam teknologi pemisahan CO2 kerana kebolehannya untuk menjerap CO2 dengan kuantiti yang besar berbanding dengan penjerap yang lain. Banyak kajian telah dijalankan untuk menyiasat struktur dan keseimbangan kapasiti penjerapan CO2 ke atas hidrotalsit dengan suhu. Hydrotalcite has recently attracted the attention in CO2 removal technology because of its ability to adsorb appreciable amounts of CO2 compared with many others adsorbents. Many studies have been carried out in order to investigate the structure and equilibrium adsorption capacities of CO2 hydrotalcite with different temperatures.