Aziah Ismail

Cloning, expression, and purification of the hemolysin/cytolysin (HlyE antigen) from Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi: potential application for immunoassay development

The hemolysin (HlyE) protein of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi was reported to be antigenic. This work describes the cloning, expression, and purification of a hexahistidine-tagged HlyE protein under native conditions. Immunoblot analysis and a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using sera from typhoid patients showed the presence of HlyE-specific antibodies in circulation.

Persekitaran Maklum Balas sebagai Penentu Efikasi Kendiri Pengajaran Pensyarah Politeknik (Feedback Environment as Determinants of Polytechnic Lecturers Teaching Self Efficacy)

Applied to grade 9 students in Jordan, this study aimed at examining the effi ciency of using the ‘learning cycle’ strategy in acquiring Arabic grammatical concepts. A sample of 124 students was approved, which was distributed over two schools (boys and girls) and in two groups. The experimental group was taught the subject instructional material through the learning cycle strategy with 29 males and 35 females, whereas the control group was taught through the same material through the traditional program with 32 males and 28 females. In terms of fi ndings, there were found statistically signifi cant differences in the subjects’ achievement in acquiring Arabic grammatical concepts, in favor of the experimental group. Statistically signifi cant differences were also found due to gender in favor of females. Whereas no statistically signifi cant differences were found due to the interaction between group/teaching strategy and gender.Additional Mathematics is an elective subject in Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM). However, it is treated as a core subject for almost all the science stream students. Many students who can perform well in Modern Mathematics since primary school cannot master the Additional Mathematics. They fail to understand the concepts in Additional Mathematics. This study seeks to identify the factors that affect students in mastering Additional Mathematics at five schools in an urban area. Bayesian network is used to identify the relationship between the factors in the study and to analyze the data as it is able to represent the variables as nodes and the relationships as directed arcs. Constraint-based algorithms and score-based algorithms are used to generate the networks into several categories to compare and identify the strong relationships among the factors that affect the students’ learning of the subject. It is concluded that the new symbols and sign learned in Additional Mathematics affects the students in mastering the subject. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/JPEN-2015-4002-11Substance abuse is a current and serious problem all around the globe. In fact, the number of substance abusers including school children and teenagers is growing. This study aims to identify challenges faced by secondary schools and the supports needed in the effort to curb substance abuse. A total of 18 high risk secondary schools were selected from Selangor, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Negeri Sembilan and Melaka. The questionnaire survey involved a total of 258 teachers from 18 selected schools. Data were analyzed descriptively using frequency counts and percentages. The results identifi ed the lack of student participation, time constraints and fi nancial problem as three main challenges in conducting drug prevention programmes in schools while the most crucial support needed by schools in organizing substance abuse programmes are material and fi nancial support, anti-drug talk/clinic and professional advice. It is recommended that substance abuse prevention programmes should involve the students’ families and the community to have better result. As for every substance abuse prevention programme held in schools, feedback from the participants should be obtained and analyzed in order to gauge the effectiveness and relevance of the programme. This study concluded that there are many challenges faced by schools in curbing substance abuse with lack of student participation, time constraints and fi nancial problem posed as the main challenges. Hence, involvement of all parties is needed to provide support needed to ensure the success of the implementation of substance abuse prevention programmes.This study examined the pattern of sexual harassment in higher institutions in Lagos state. Hypothesising, unlike researchers that there shall be a direct relationship between all identifi ed categories of sexual harassment behaviours thus: physical, verbal, non-verbal and quid pro quo and sexual harassment; and the report of sexual harassment is predicted by gender, physical sexual behaviour and quid pro quo. Six hundred students randomly selected from six higher institutions in Lagos State, responded to Pattern of Sexual Harassment Questionnaire (PSHQ). Results were analysed by the use of path analysis. The produced model adequately fi t the hypothesised model; the chi-square result χ2 (6) = 13.02, p = 0.043 0.9 all indicate suffi cient good fi tness of the model. Based on the fi ndings of the study counsellors are challenged to become more responsive than before to counselling needs of students in order to discourage sexual harassment and encourage reporting of sexual harassment.

Persekitaran Maklum Balas sebagai Penentu Efikasi Kendiri Pengajaran Pensyarah Politeknik

Feedback should be delivered not only formally but also informally ongoing basis in every education organization. It aims to help the followers to be clear with expected performance of the leader and the standards set by the organization. The cultural existence for positive feedback environment should be emphasized in every organization to foster the potential of the followers and enhance the work performance for the benefit of individuals and organization. Thus, this study aims to identify the best predictive factor of the feedback environment on self-efficacy of teaching. A total of 247 respondents from Polytechnic lecturers in Category 1 were randomly selected from the state of Penang, Terengganu and Sarawak. The data obtained using a questionnaire consisting of three parts, including the profile of the respondents and the questionnaires of Feedback Environment Scale (FES) (2004) and the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSE) (2001) which comprises seven Likert Scale. Both questionnaires have been translated into Malay language and has a high Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient for FES and TSE. The data obtained were analyzed using multiple regression method. The study shows that all the dimensions of feedback environment and self-efficacy of teaching in a positive and significant relationships with each other. The result also found that there are six variables of feedback environment which are feedback credibility, feedback quality, feedback delivery, unfavorable feedback, feedback availability, and promoting feedback seeking as a significant predictor of self-efficacy of teaching. The results also showed the unfavorable feedback as the best predictor of self-efficacy of teaching. The results of the study can be used by leaders to emphasize the development of feedback environment in the workplace to improve self-efficacy of teaching among the educators in order to produce the quality and competent human capital in accordance with the market requirements. Keywords: Feedback environment; unfavorable feedback; self-efficacy of teaching Chap 2new.indd 101