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Objectives: Problematic gaming behavior has been an issue in many countries, raising the need for assessment tools. The Game Addiction Scale for Adolescents (GASA) by Lemmens et al. is widely used for assessing game addiction and has been adopted for use in various countries. The GASA consists of 21 items covering several criteria of game addiction: salience, tolerance, mood modification, relapse, withdrawal, conflict, and problems. The present study aimed to investigate the reliability and validity of the GASA when applied to Malaysian adolescents., Methods: The study was conducted in two phases (reliability assessment for phase 1 and validity assessment for phase 2). The Malay version of the Game Addiction Scale was created using a forward-translation procedure with the help of panelists consisting of researchers and educators from the fields of Psychology, Medicine, and Education to translate from English to Malay. The participants of the study were presented with both versions (Malay and English) during the data collection process. The study checked content validity with the help of 33 panelists and reliability based on the scores of 116 participants who spent at least 1 h and up to 6 h per week playing games., Results: The reliability was measured using Cronbach's alpha and provided high reliability ranging from 0.671 to 0.903 for all criteria. All criteria scored higher than 0.8 except for relapse (α=0.788) and problems (α=0.671) criteria, indicating that the instrument provides high reliability. The findings from the study show acceptable content validity with high I-CVI values ranging from 0.73 to 0.94 and an S-CVI/Ave value of 0.80. Internal consistency was excellent (α=0.949) and the Content Validity Index (I-CVI) was high for most items., Conclusions: The results suggest that GASA is suitable for application among adolescents in Malaysia., (© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.)

This paper discovers the asymmetric relation between government size and economic growth in Malaysia, an emerging Asian economy, by utilising a dynamic threshold nonlinear approach. The study finds empiric evidence that the threshold effect linking government size to economic growth in Malaysia exists when two different proxies of government size are set as the threshold variable. On closer inspection, it is found that an inverted U-shaped Armey curve is present when allowing for endogenous government size threshold proxied by government operating/real GDP. However, a U-shaped curve of nonlinear relationship exists instead when the government investment/real GDP serves as the threshold variable. In general, this paper gives policymakers a real insight into the optimal government size in Malaysia especially when designing an effectual fiscal policy to advance sustainable economic growth to materialise its Shared Prosperity Vision by the year 2030., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2022 The Author(s).)

The use of digital technology for educational and recreational purposes among adolescents has drastically increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the prolonged isolation and excessive screen time of the social media platforms might lead to mental health issues, particularly the fear of missing out (FOMO). Thus, this study is aimed at exploring the adolescent's screen time and its contribution to FOMO. This study employed a qualitative method using semi-structured interviews with 30 selected adolescents. The data were collected during the third peak of the pandemic period in Malaysia, between the 11th of April 2021 and the 1st of July 2021. The results revealed that there were four issues related to the FOMO: loneliness, life satisfaction, self-disclosures, and social comparison. In short, self-regulation and awareness on the effects of long screen time need to be instilled among the adolescents during the pandemic. Also, it is pivotal to address the psychological needs, such as healthy social interactions in ensuring the adolescents are not inclined toward FOMO.

In this work, we examine the quantum features of a multi-waveguide nonlinear coupler exploiting the second-and third-order nonlinearities. The considered system contains four identical channels, each with a single fundamental transverse mode. The essence of this type of nonlinear coupler is to examine the effect of two or more competing nonlinearities on the generated nonclassical features in this class of devices. Here, we consider the case of second harmonic generation, wherein the fundamental harmonic (FH) fields are up-converted in pairs to double-frequency second harmonic (SH) fields, which are then evanescently coupled with the fields from other Kerr nonlinear waveguides. Using the positive P representation of the phase space, the time-evolution of the density matrix could be mapped to the corresponding Fokker-Planck equation of a classical quasiprobability distribution. Using Langevin stochastic equation, an exact representation of the system in phase space led to the demonstration of sub-Poissonian property, squeezing, and entanglement. With more effective squeezing achieved in all channel waveguides, the present system with χ (2) -χ (3) interaction can be a more efficient alternative to other versions of nonlinear couplers such as the quantum optical dimer (QOD) and Kerr nonlinear coupler (KNC). Furthermore, such a structure offers more flexibility in coupled-mode interactions in the form of correlation between the modes in different waveguides. This provides a better mechanism for the generation of enhanced nonclassical effects., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Studies on metacognitive skills have started in the past 30 years and cover various fields, including education. In general, metacognitive skills refer to awareness and monitoring cognitive processes and their ability to sharpen the mind enhancement process. However, much attention has been given to metacognition alone and less focusing on its manifestation in behaviors. Thus, this study aims to conceptualize how metacognitive concepts can be adapted in the context of behaviors. In achieving this, an in-depth analysis of relevant behavioral theories and metacognitive models was conducted. The proposed conceptual framework, named the meta-behavior framework, underscores the importance of the thinking process before an individual engages in action. Undoubtfully, this skill is vital in influencing an individual to plan, monitor and evaluate his/her actions in daily life. In short, the proposed framework is essential in expanding the current knowledge terrain on psychology, which specifically provides a new perspective in understanding how the thinking process determines behavior., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Amran, Zain, Jamaludin and Surat.)

School closures were implemented as a public health intervention to reduce the risk of infection from COVID-19. However, prolonged school closure is likely to impact adolescents' behavioral health due to the extreme change in routine. The current study aimed to explore adolescents' behavioral health experiences during the beginning of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was done using qualitative methods to interview 15 adolescent participants ( n =15) from low-income households in Malaysia. The study lasted for 2 months amidst the outbreak and data were collected via online based on focus group discussions. The results revealed that adolescents faced four main themes of experience during the COVID-19 pandemic: Alteration of sleep patterns, stress-related fatigue, dysfunctional eating patterns and lack of physical activity. This first-hand experience shows that knowledge and skills of adolescents' behavioral practices during outbreak deserves attention. This research stresses the role of family, schools, and media in addressing the health communication gap among adolescents to help them adapt in these new norms., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Amran and Jamaludin.)

Dissolved humic substances (DHSs) are the major components of organic matter in the aquatic environment. DHSs are well known to considerably affect the speciation, solubility, and toxicity of a wide variety of pollutants in the aquatic environment. In this study, the effects of the toxicity of heavy metals and hydrophobic organic pollutants (HOPs) on Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in the presence of humic acid (HA) were examined by a microscale algal growth inhibition (μ-AGI) test based on spectrophotometric detection. To clarify the relationship between the chemical properties of HAs and the toxicity change of pollutants, eight HAs from different sources were prepared and used. HAs were responsible for mitigating the toxicity of Hg, Cu, pesticides (γ-HCH, 2,4-D, and DDT), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) such as naphthalene (Nap), anthracene (Ant), and benzo[a]pyrene (BaP). In particular, an approximately 100-fold decrease in the toxicity of BaP was observed in the presence of 10 ppm HAs extracted from tropical peat. The results indicated that the carboxylic group content and the HA molecular weight are correlated to the changes in the heavy metal toxicity. For HOPs, the aromaticity and polarity of HAs are crucial for mitigating their toxicity. Furthermore, it was clearly shown that the lake water including a high concentration of DHSs collected from Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, reduced the toxicity of Hg and γ-HCH on Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Graphical abstract.

When peat forest fires happen, it leads to burn soil and also humic acids as a dominant organic matter contained in peat soil as well as the forest. The structure and properties of humic acids vary depending on their origin and environment, therefore the transformation of humic acid is also diverse. The impacts of the peat fires on peat soil from Central Kalimantan, Indonesia were investigated through the characterization of humic acids, extracted from soil in burnt and unburnt sites. The characterization of humic acids was performed by elemental composition, functional groups, molecular weight by HPSEC, pyrolysate compounds by pyrolysis-GC/MS, fluorescence spectrum by 3DEEM spectrofluorometer, and thermogravimetry. The elemental composition of each humic substance indicated that the value of H/C and O/C of humic acids from burnt sites were lower than that from unburnt sites. The molecular weight of humic acids from burnt sites was also lower than that from unburnt sites. Pyrolysate compounds of humic acids from unburnt sites differed from those of humic acids from burnt soil. The heating experiment showed that burning process caused the significant change in the properties of humic acids such as increasing the aromaticity and decreasing the molecular weight.

To determine the water environment and pollutants in West Java, the contents of metals and general water quality of the Ciliwung River in the Jakarta area were measured. High Escherichia coli number (116-149/mL) was detected downstream in the Ciliwung River. In addition to evaluate mercury pollution caused by gold mining, mercury contents of water and sediment samples from the Cikaniki River, and from paddy samples were determined. The water was not badly polluted. However, toxic metals such as mercury were detected at levels close to the baseline environmental standard of Indonesia (0.83-1.07 μg/g of sediments in the Cikaniki River). From analyses of the paddy samples (0.08 μg/g), it is considered that there is a health risk caused by mercury.

In Java and Kalimantan in Indonesia, river water plays important roles in human life; for example, for transportation, and economic activities of the inhabitants. However, industrial, agricultural and domestic water is discarded into rivers directly in many developing countries, including Indonesia, since drainage systems have not been completely constructed. In this study, to evaluate the water quality and to compare those levels of environmental contaminants in developing and developed countries, water quality and contents of endocrine disrupters were measured in a total of 64 water samples (Indonesia; 28 samples and Japan; 36 samples) from 53 sites. The results indicated that, rivers in both capital cities, Jakarta and Tokyo, were contaminated. Water in rivers in Indonesia was not so heavily polluted as in Japan. Pollution in the river water in Indonesia appeared to be caused by the lack of sewerage systems. In addition, the findings on endocrine disrupters indicated that the concentration of alkylphenol in water samples was large enough to affect living organisms.