Knowledge sharing practices: A case study at Malaysia’s healthcare research institutes

The main objective of this study was to investigate the perception of the researchers and officers within the National Institutes of Health Malaysia (NIH) about their understanding of knowledge sharing practices in their respective environment. Questions included: what are the perceptions of the respondents with regard to the knowledge sharing practices in their respective institutions? What are the benefits for knowledge sharing practices as perceived by them? What are their perceived organisational knowledge sharing practices motivating factors? Also, what are the hindering factors? The survey of the researchers and officers of the NIH was distributed to 400 respondents from the six research institutes under NIH: Institute for Medical Research (IMR), Institute for Public Health (IPH), Network for Clinical Research Centres (CRC), Institute for Health Management (IHM), Institute for Health Systems Research (IHSR) and Institute for Health Promotion (IHP). The responses indicated that knowledge sharing depends on the context of encouraging and rewarding the practices of organisational knowledge sharing. The findings suggest four factors – Environment and Infrastructure, Management Support, Culture and Technology – as significant determinants in influencing the organisational knowledge sharing practices among the employees. The study was limited to the perceptual aspect of the issue, specifically from the individuals’ opinions and sentiments.     

Undergraduate Students' Problems with Citing References

This study explored the problems undergraduate students are faced with in citing references in their academic work. The study revealed that undergraduate students face difficulties in citing references in their academic work and that they are inconsistent in the way they cite. The article suggests ways in which faculty and library staff can work together to address this problem.     

Understanding Information-Seeking Behavior for Conducting Tasks: An Exploratory Study

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to investigate the information-seeking behaviors of police officers who work in police stations in the context of conducting tasks. In this study, Leckie et al.'s model of the information-seeking behavior of professionals is tested. The findings indicated that police officers initially consulted their personal knowledge and experience. However, contrary to the expectation, they rarely consulted informants. In addition to this, police officers rarely consulted printed journals, libraries, books, and conferences as information sources. Surprisingly, there were no significant differences in the information sources used by police officers based on their educational level. While bivariate relationships show significant difference for age, service years in police stations, and service years in policing, the same variables do not hold as significant when introduced into multiple regressions. Possible implications of the study were discussed in the conclusion section.     

Nephroprotective effects of Zingiber zerumbet Smith ethyl acetate extract against paracetamol-induced nephrotoxicity and oxidative stress in rats

Paracetamol (PCM) overdose can cause nephrotoxicity with oxidative stress as one of the possible mechanisms mediating the event. In this study, the effects of ethyl acetate extract of Zingiber zerumbet rhizome [200 mg per kg of body weight (mg/kg) and 400 mg/kg] on PCM-induced nephrotoxicity were examined. Rats were divided into five groups containing 10 rats each. The control group received distilled water while other groups were treated with extract alone (400 mg/kg), PCM alone (750 mg/kg), 750 mg/kg PCM+200 mg/kg extract (PCM+ 200-extract), and 750 mg/kg PCM+400 mg/kg extract (PCM+400-extract), respectively, for seven consecutive days. The Z. zerumbet extract was given intraperitoneally concurrent with oral administration of PCM. Treatment with Z. zerumbet extract at doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg prevented the PCM-induced nephrotoxicity and oxidative impairments of the kidney, as evidenced by a significantly reduced (P<0.05) level of plasma creatinine, plasma and renal malondialdehyde (MDA), plasma protein carbonyl, and renal advanced oxidation protein product (AOPP). Furthermore, both doses were also able to induce a significant increment (P<0.05) of plasma and renal levels of glutathione (GSH) and plasma superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. The nephroprotective effects of Z. zerumbet extract were confirmed by a reduced intensity of renal cellular damage, as evidenced by histological findings. Moreover, Z. zerumbet extract administered at 400 mg/kg was found to show greater protective effects than that at 200 mg/kg. In conclusion, ethyl acetate extract of Z. zerumbet rhizome has a protective role against PCM-induced nephrotoxicity and the process is probably mediated through its antioxidant properties.     

Analysis of Student–Instructor Interaction Patterns in Real-Time, Scientific Online Discourse

The characteristics of the online environment alter how students and instructors interact. Scientific discourse among students and instructors in an online text-only synchronous environment was analyzed. In converting dialogue to text, many of the nonverbal cues, such as facial expression and tone of voice, which instructors use to gauge student understanding are lost. The participants adapt their communication style to the medium, and we present a new interaction pattern for student–instructor communication found prevalent in the synchronous, text-only, online environment. This study has implications for instructors who use synchronous, text-based communication for their courses, namely the value of posing additional questions from the instructor to verify student understanding.     

Diversity in education using blended learning in Sarawak

One of the objectives of Malaysia Ministry of Education is to provide educational opportunities for all Malaysians. Are education opportunities given fairly to all Malaysians who come from two big regions and divided by the South China Sea？ The web infancy era, where the World Wide Web （WWW） is blooming fast, has changed the new millennium teaching and learning process tremendously. Although the online learning can reach to students regardless of their location and backgrounds, human contact is still very important in traditional face-to-face learning. Blended learning course comprising online learning and traditional face-to-face learning components is an effective teaching and learning method, where it combines the best from both worlds. Blended learning courses only started a few years ago in Malaysia higher learning institutions to give everybody equal opportunities to study. The key acceptance of blended learning approach and continuing improvement is students＇ satisfaction. This study focused on students＇ satisfaction related to the nine components of blended learning （course content, technical, flexibility, community learning, motivation, sharing, feedback, complementary learning and personalized learning） from two locations： urban and rural areas. The study employed a mixed method consisting of a survey questionnaire distributed first to collect the quantitative data and followed by the interview to refine and explain the data. The population of the study consisted of students who enrolled in the Mathematics Blended Learning Course in Sarawak state in semester July-November, 2007. Census was used in the study. The survey instrument was developed and validated using Rasch model. The semi-structured questionnaire was used in qualitative data collection. The quantitative data was analyzed by using SPSS v 14.0 whilst the qualitative data was coded by using NVivo software. Results from the quantitative data showed that students were satisfied in all nine components regardless of the location. The grand mean of all components also indicated that respondents were satisfied with blended learning course. This result was supported by the qualitative data.     

The implications of Ramadan fasting for human health and well-being

Islamic Ramadan is a 29-30 day fast in which food, fluids, medications, drugs and smoking are prohibited during the daylight hours which can be extended between 13 and 18 h · day(-1) depending on the geographical location and season. The majority of health-specific findings related to Ramadan fasting are mixed. The likely causes for these heterogeneous findings lie in the amount of daily time of fasting, number of subjects who smoke, take oral medications, and/or receive intravenous fluids, in the type of food and eating habits and in changes in lifestyle. During Ramadan fasting, glucose homeostasis is maintained by meals taken during night time before dawn and by liver glycogen stores. Changes in serum lipids are variable and depend on the quality and quantity of food intake, physical activity and exercise, and changes in body weight. Compliant, well-controlled type II diabetics may observe Ramadan fasting, but fasting is not recommended for type I, noncompliant, poorly controlled and pregnant diabetics. There are no adverse effects of Ramadan fasting on respiratory and cardiovascular systems, haematologic profile, endocrine, and neuropsychiatric functions. Conclusions: Although Ramadan fasting is safe for all healthy individuals, those with various diseases should consult their physicians and follow medical and scientific recommendations.     

Bibliographic control in Sierra Leone

Bibliographic control is crucial for library and information work and librarians are sensitive to the importance of maintaining their country's national lists. Its importance is premised on the fact that knowledge of a country's literature is of vital importance to the scholars involved in the study of particular disciplines that deal with distinct historical and geographical areas. In parallel, bibliographic control facilitates specialization in the location, collection and retrieval of information, thus providing a basis for inter-library cooperation. Albeit, this article explores bibliographic activities in Sierra Leone. It highlights the country's publishing activities, legal deposit Act, and bibliographic activities and the problems associated with these activities in the country.