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This study discusses the phenomenon of glottalization in the Bugis minority language in Malaysia. Previous studies had claimed that the presence of glottal stops in the Bugis lexical is limited atword final position only. The claimhowever, poses a question of whether glottal stop only presents at word final position in this language. Thus, this study was conducted to confirm the position where the presence of glottal stop by identifying its presence in the lexical of this language as well as to describe the acoustic characteristics of the glottal stop at the positions where they have been identified. Data for this study were obtained from fieldworks which involved questionnaires, interviews, recordings and observations. A total of 100 informants who are native speakers of Bugis from Bugis villages located in Pontian and Pasir Gudang, Johor were interviewed. Spectographic analysis using Praat was made to confirm the presence of glottal stops in the lexical obtained. The results of the spectrographic analysis show that glottal stop presents in four positions in words, namely intial, middle and final word positions as well as at prefix boundaries, for examples, [?ika], [bu?kãŋ], [b?mbe?] and [mã?-keda]. The presence of glottal stop at these word positions exhibits different phonological processes. The results reveal the real phenomenon of glottal stop in Bugis language which has not yet been explored previously. Thus, this study provides new knowledge and perspectives on the distribution of glottal stops in the Bugis language. This study has given an opportunity to researchers to further dig and explore more linguistic phenomena that can be found in the Bugis language, as well as contributes to the preservation of this language so that it does not overwhelm by the modernization and can continue to be practiced by the younger generation in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: A model by the World Bank (2006) explained the causes of illegal logging and environmental crimes in terms of the simultaneous presence of methods, motives, and opportunities. This paper aims to examine the opportunity factors behind the commission of illegal logging and forest offences in Malaysia based on the perceptions of forest enforcement agencies. Methodology: Responses from the agencies were mainly obtained through a set of questionnaire though semi-structured interviews were also carried out to support the quantitative findings. The strength of the factors was determined through data analysis using SPSS, where opportunity factors for committing illegal logging were analyzed according to the results of measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion. Findings: Insufficient enforcement facilities and equipment were found in the study to be the most significant factors which present opportunities for committing the offences. Respondents also perceived the level of enforcement, cooperation between government agencies and the possibility of conviction as the factors which open up opportunities for illegal logging and forest offences. Contributions: The results of the study may help create awareness and provide inputs for policy makers to formulate appropriate policy responses to curb illegal logging and other forest crimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Possible changes in rainfall extremes in Peninsular Malaysia were assessed in this study using an ensemble of four GCMs of CMIP5. The performance of four bias correction methods was compared, and the most suitable method was used for downscaling of GCM simulated daily rainfall to the spatial resolution (0.25°) of APHRODITE rainfall. The multi-model ensemble (MME) mean of the downscaled rainfall was developed using a random forest regression algorithm. The MME projected rainfall for four RCPs were compared with APHRODITE rainfall for the base year (1961-2005) to assess the annual and seasonal changes in eight extreme rainfall indices. The results showed power transformation as the most suitable bias correction method. The maximum changes in most of the annual and seasonal extreme rainfall indices were observed for RCP8.5 in the last part of this century. The maximum increase was observed for 1-day and 5 consecutive days' rainfall amount for RCP4.5. Spatial distribution of the changes revealed higher increase of the extremes in the northeast region where rainfall extremes are already very high. The increase in rainfall extremes would increase the possibility of frequent hydrological disasters in Peninsular Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study developed a methodological framework to update the rainfall intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) curves under climate change scenarios. A model output statistics (MOS) method is used to downscale the daily rainfall of general circulation models (GCMs), and an artificial neural network (ANN) is employed for the disaggregation of projected daily rainfall to hourly maximum rainfall, which is then used for the development of IDF curves. Finally, the 1st quartiles, medians, and 3rd quartiles of projected rainfall intensities are estimated for developing IDF curves with uncertainty level. Eight GCM simulations under two radiative concentration pathways (RCP) scenarios, namely, RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5, are used in the proposed framework for the projection of IDF curves with related uncertainties for peninsular Malaysia. The projection of rainfall revealed an increase in the annual average rainfall throughout the present century. The comparison of the projected IDF curves for the period 2006–2099 with that obtained using GCM hindcasts for the based period (1971–2005) revealed an increase in rainfall intensity for shorter durations and a decrease for longer durations. The uncertainty in rainfall intensity for different return periods for shorter duration is found to be 2 to 6 times more compared to longer duration rainfall, which indicates that a large increase in rainfall intensity for short durations projected by GCMs is highly uncertain for peninsular Malaysia. The IDF curves developed in this study can be used for the planning of climate resilient urban water storm water management infrastructure in Peninsular Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the global teaching and learning process (TnL). Unfortunately, to date, not many qualitative studies have been published specifically on the impact of COVID-19 on the Family Medicine course, particularly in Malaysia. Hence, this study aimed to explore the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the teaching and learning experience of undergraduate students undergoing their Family Medicine course at a local university. Methods: A qualitative study using focused group discussion (FGD), was conducted among undergraduate students during the lockdown period. A semi-structured interview guide was used to interview 20 students, in their fifth undergraduate year, undertaking their fourth to fifth week of a total six-week course. They were selected using purposive snowball sampling method. There were four focus group discussions (FGD) with five students in a group. All interviews were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim, and the contents were analysed using the standard content analysis framework. Subsequently, thematic content analysis was conducted, and three major themes were produced. Results: The three major themes were (1) facilitators to learning, (2) barriers to learning, and (3) rooms for improvement. Conclusion: Although COVID-19 pandemic had significant impact on TnL of Family Medicine course among undergraduates, the students remained optimistic and proposed some improvement from their point of view. However, a creative, realistic, effective, and impactful way of TnL, particularly in clinical aspects should be developed and experimented. Technological progress and advancement should permit this idea to be achievable and implemented in near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Three-dimensional (3D) printing plays a significant role as a promising technological advancement in modern healthcare settings. 3D printing has been incorporated by many sectors worldwide including in Southeast Asian countries. However, there is a paucity of research, especially in the healthcare pertaining to 3D printing activity in the Southeast Asian region. Thus, a scoping review is conducted to gain insight into 3D printing healthcare research landscape in the Southeast Asian region., Methods and Analysis: The methodology draws on Arksey and O'Malley's seminal framework for the scoping review. The literature search will be conducted by using keywords to find suitable published literature. The existing literature will be searched using selected electronic databases such as PubMed/MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, ProQuest and Web of Science from the years 2011 and 2021. The selected publications will focus on 10 Southeast Asian countries: Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Philippines, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. Two reviewers will be performing title and abstract screening for the criteria of each publication, in which they will be working independently of each other. The included publication will undergo a full-text review and references cited will be examined for relevance using the same inclusion criteria. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses flow diagram will guide throughout the process. Data will be extracted, analysed and charted within each category from the selected publications for each Southeast Asian country., Ethics and Dissemination: The results of this scoping review will illustrate an overview of the 3D printing healthcare research in the Southeast Asian context, which can be a guide for the advancement of 3D printing that can be accentuated in future research. The results will undergo dissemination which will be submitted for publication in a scientific journal., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)