We examine the impact of capital structure determinants on firm financial performance together with the mediation effect of firm leverage in Malaysia and Indonesia over the period of 1990-2010. Our results show that certain of the capital structure determinants directly affect firm financial performance. We also observe that only the Malaysian sample has a positive significant correlation between firm leverage and firm financial performance. Malaysian firms use external financing instead of internal financing to heighten performance. Our results also show that firm leverage plays a mediating role in Malaysia but not for the Indonesian sample. The asset structure, growth opportunities, liquidity, non-debt tax shield and interest rate are the attributes that were indirectly influenced by firm leverage on firm financial performance. Further analysis for multi-group analysis (MGA) in PLS was also used to test the equality of the parameter estimates. We observe that certain attribute coefficients in the determinants of capital structure and firm financial performance are significantly different between Malaysia and Indonesia. (C) 2018 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Maintaining a safe food supply has become an ever-changing endeavour as some emerging pathogens are discovered. Relying on traditional methods of thermal processing to create microbiologically safe foods is not sufficient. Research on finding other methods of controlling the growth and multiplication of pathogenic and spoilage bacteria needs to be explored. The use of crude bacteriocin produced by lactic acid bacteria may be one promising solution of controlling microbial growth in ready-to-eat (RTE) foods. The ability of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) to produce metabolites with broad-spectrum inhibitory activity that are heat stable is an important criterion for the application of LAB as preservative in food. 'Satar' was used as a model for this study because it is highly perishable and has a short shelf life (<12 h) at ambient temperature and, therefore, is unable to be stored for a long period of time. This chapter briefly describes the background of 'Satar' and its relations to microbiological safety. The study focused on choosing the suitable strains of LAB, identifying the isolates phenotypically using biochemical tests and VITEK 2 Compact System. The isolates were tested on their ability to inhibit LAB microflora, ability to inhibit a broad spectrum of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and ability to exhibit the antimicrobial activity after being subjected to heating temperatures. Among nine isolates of LAB from fermented fish, supernatants of four isolates were studied extensively for their heat stability at different heating temperatures (70, 80, 90, 100 and 121 degrees C) and heating times (5 and 20 min). Two strains, Lb. acidophilus and Lb. plantarum, were chosen for the incorporation of their crude bacteriocin in raw ' Satar', and their characteristics and microbiological shelf life were evaluated. Incorporation of crude bacteriocin of Lb. acidophilus and Lb. plantarum at 3 % and 6 % did not significantly affect (P>0.05) the water activity and pH, but significantly increased the moisture content when Satar was stored more than 20 h at ambient temperature. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) for a* value and b* value of 'Satar' among all samples at 0 h of storage time, except after 3 h of storage at ambient temperature. The colour analysis of samples showed a range of colour between grey and light grey. The incorporation of 3 % and 6 % crude bacteriocin of Lb. acidophilus and Lb. plantarum in raw ' Satar' could extend the shelf life from 8 h to 20 h and 17 h, respectively. This study has proven that LAB can be used to extend the shelf life of ready-to-eat food.

Implementation of residential Maximum Demand (MD) charges is desirable among utilities and regulators to establish a ratemaking framework that will better reflect the cost of generating and delivering electricity. The objective of this paper is to develop and validate public acceptance on willingness to pay (PAWP) MD charge in Malaysia. The items of this newly developed scale were derived from previous published quantitative studies. Validity and reliability of the PAWP on MD charge were assessed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). 154 respondents participated in this study. Descriptive statistics and EFA were used to determine validity of the PAWP on MD charge. Cronbach's alpha and item analysis verified the reliability of PAWP on MD charge. The determinants of willingness to pay comprised four factors with 30 items for PAWP on MD charge in their monthly electricity bill. Findings from this study indicate that the EFA provide an imperative result that questionnaire such PAWP scales has appropriate and adequate construct validity and reliability to use as a measurement instrument in obtaining the data from target respondents for this study.

In 2016, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) had introduced an upgrade in its Billing and Customer Relationship Management (BCRM) as part of its long-term initiative to provide its customers with greater access to billing information. This includes information on real and suggested power consumption by the customers and further details in their billing charges. This information is useful to help TNB customers to gain better understanding on their electricity usage patterns and items involved in their billing charges. Up to date, there are not many studies done to measure public understanding on current electricity bills and whether this understanding could contribute towards positive impacts. The purpose of this paper is to measure public understanding on current TNB electricity bills and whether their satisfaction towards energy-related services, electricity utility services, and their awareness on the amount of electricity consumed by various appliances and equipment in their home could improve this understanding on the electricity bills. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods are used to achieve these objectives. A total of 160 respondents from local universities in Malaysia participated in a survey used to collect relevant information. Using Ordered Probit model, this paper finds respondents that are highly satisfied with the electricity utility services tend to understand their electricity bills better. The electric utility services include management of electricity bills and the information obtained from utility or non-utility supplier to help consumers manage their energy usage or bills. Based on the results, this paper concludes that the probability to understand the components in the monthly electricity bill increases as respondents are more satisfied with their electric utility services and are more capable to value the energy-related services.

In 2010, Energy Commission (EC) had introduced Incentive Based Regulation (IBR) to ensure sustainable Malaysian Electricity Supply Industry (MESI), promotes transparent and fair returns, encourage maximum efficiency and maintains policy driven end user tariff. To cater such revolutionary transformation, a sophisticated system to generate policy driven electricity tariff structure is in great need. Hence, this study presents a data analytics framework that generates altered revenue function based on varying power consumption distribution and tariff charge function. For the purpose of this study, the power consumption distribution is being proxy using proportion of household consumption and electricity consumed in KwH and the tariff charge function is being proxy using three-tiered increasing block tariff (IBT). The altered revenue function is useful to give an indication on whether any changes in the power consumption distribution and tariff charges will give positive or negative impact to the economy. The methodology used for this framework begins by defining the revenue to be a function of power consumption distribution and tariff charge function. Then, the proportion of household consumption and tariff charge function is derived within certain interval of electricity power. Any changes in those proportion are conjectured to contribute towards changes in revenue function. Thus, these changes can potentially give an indication on whether the changes in power consumption distribution and tariff charge function are giving positive or negative impact on TNB revenue. Based on the finding of this study, major changes on tariff charge function seems to affect altered revenue function more than power consumption distribution. However, the paper concludes that power consumption distribution and tariff charge function can influence TNB revenue to some great extent.

Maximum demand (MD) is a peak load contributed by the customer to TNB system at any point in time. MD charge is important to ensure that customers is paying a fair share on the burden that they place on the electric grid. Currently, the MD charge is only being imposed on Commercial and Industrial customers. In order to achieve economic viability, electricity price should be cost-reflective. This means the MD charge should be paid by all electricity customers including the domestic sector. It is the purpose of this study to investigate if the MD charge eventually need to be paid, how willing are the public to pay market reflective energy pricing with an addition of MD charge in their electricity bill. Hence, this study aims to evaluate the relationship between determinants such as understanding of electricity bills, understanding of electricity pricing, awareness on amount electricity consumption, socio-economic.factors and public affordability on, the public willingness to pay for the MD charges using a proposed theoretical framework. For data collection purpose, a questionnaire on 5-point Likert scale will be developed and data will be collected from 50 random respondents from peninsular Malaysia. The study developed ten hypotheses that is used to validate the relationship between willingness to pay MD charge and its determinants Correlation will be analyzed

Real life phenomena found in various fields such as engineering, physics, biology and communication theory can be modeled as nonlinear higher order ordinary differential equations, particularly the Duffing oscillator. Analytical solutions for these differential equations can be time consuming whereas, conventional numerical solutions may lack accuracy. This research propose a block multistep method integrated with a variable order step size (VOS) algorithm for solving these Duffing oscillators directly. The proposed VOS Block method provides an alternative numerical solution by reducing computational cost (time) but without loss of accuracy. Numerical simulations are compared with known exact solutions for proof of accuracy and against current numerical methods for proof of efficiency (steps taken).

Nonlinear phenomena in science and engineering such as a periodically forced oscillator with nonlinear elasticity are often modeled by the Duffing oscillator (Duffing equation). The Duffling oscillator is a type of nonlinear higher order differential equation. In this research, a numerical approximation for solving the Duffing oscillator directly is introduced using a variable order stepsize (VOS) algorithm coupled with a backward difference formulation. By selecting the appropriate restrictions, the VOS algorithm provides a cost efficient computational code without affecting its accuracy. Numerical results have demonstrated the advantages of a variable order stepsize algorithm over conventional methods in terms of total steps and accuracy.

This study examines capital structure determinants using a simultaneous causal model with interaction effects between manifest and latent variables. Partial Least Squares (PLS) is an approach to Structural Equation Models (SEM) that allows researchers to analyse the relationships simultaneously. It is interesting to compare and contrast this approach in analysing mediation relationships with the regression analysis, In addition to statistical data, logical arguments are presented supported by two case studies from PLS-SEM and regression models. We find that the choice between regression and PLS-SEM matters even with the simplest scenarios per item for constructs. This study's originality is the provision of new comparative analyses of PLS-SEM versus regression analysis in the context of capital structure determinants. The "indirect" and "mediate" macro syntax normal theory of the Sobel test, and the bootstrapping techniques are compared with PLS-SEM. We Lind that the PLS-SEM analysis provides less contradictory results than regression analysis in terms of detecting mediation effects,