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This study aims to explore how the use of mobile instant messaging (MIM) in an organization has led to the decentralization of authority.

To achieve this aim, a study was conducted on a case site that had used MIM extensively to manage an event.

This study found that communication technology such as MIM can shift more authority to the lower-level committees through the processes of formation, delegation, control and dissolution.

The role of information systems and technology in affecting a decentralization process has been largely understudied. Additionally, the effect of communication technologies such as MIM on a decentralization process has been largely ignored. Therefore, this study theorizes the role of MIM in managing an event and how the technology has decentralized more authority from the top management to the lower-level committees.

In 2011, the Malaysian cabinet approved the policy that all board of directors of companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia should consist of 30 per cent women in decision-making positions by the year 2016. The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between the presence of women on the board and firms’ performance following the introduction of the diversity policy.

The analysis uses the information of the top 200 Malaysian public listed companies for the financial year 2011–2013. The multiple regression analysis is used to estimate the relationship between the firm performance (return on assets (ROA)) as the dependent variable and the independent variables.

The results show that during the period under study, the proportion of women directors on board is negatively correlated with ROA. This indicates that the firm performance may not be dependent on the number of women directors on board. However, the results of the study also show that the academic backgrounds of the women board members add some value toward generating better firm performance.

A small sample size of only the top 200 public listed companies was utilised. Consequently the outcome may not be generalisable to smaller public companies or private firms. Another limitation is regarding the sample period. Taking only one year before and one year after the policy’s approval may be too short of the period under study and may be too early to study the impact of the policy. Future studies could sample a longer period.

The findings encourage public listed companies to appoint women with the necessary qualities as members of the board and not to simply increase the number of women on boards.

There is a lack of work on studying women’s effectiveness on board in developing countries, whereby previous work and literature review were predominantly based upon the experience of Western economies. This study, thus, contributes to the rising literature on women board member representation based on the firm performance of the top 200 listed companies in Malaysia.

This study examines the perception and attitudes of academicians regarding factors that influence the commercialization of university research.

The data sample was drawn using a proportionate stratified sampling approach. A self-administered survey was used to obtain data regarding the perception of academicians on the factors that contribute to research commercialization. A total of 131 academicians completed the survey. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses.

The results showed that two factors are significant and positively related with commercialization: the academician's behaviour and University-Industry collaboration. Surprisingly, the factors of innovativeness and Intellectual Property management did not have a significant relationship with commercialization.

For future work, researchers should conduct in-depth interviews with the executive management at research universities and at the Ministry of Education Malaysia to complement our quantitative survey. These decision-makers act as funding sources for commercialization and can provide richer evidence regarding important factors affecting commercialization. They can also provide insight on the issues that prevent the commercialization of research from becoming a reality.

Commercialization of Malaysia's university research findings is a critical agenda item in the National Higher Education Strategic Plan. However, in Malaysia, the rate of commercialization of academic research is still unsatisfactory. This study provides important insights regarding intentions behind commercialization by depicting how factors of academic research (i.e. academician's behaviour, innovativeness, Intellectual Properties management, University-Industry collaboration) influence commercialization.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the antioxidant activity and toxicity of Clinacanthus nutans leaves from three conventional extraction methods, i.e. maceration, Soxhlet and magnetic stirring.

Total flavonoid content (TFC) and phenolic content (TPC) were determined using colorimetric method of aluminum chloride and Folin-Ciocalteu (FC) assay, respectively. Antioxidant property of C. nutans was evaluated using 2,2'-diphenyl-1-pierylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay. Cytotoxic activity of C. nutans against brine shrimp was evaluated based on LC50 (lethality concentration) after 24 h exposure to the plant extract.

The highest TPC of C. nutans was observed with Soxhlet extraction method (98.87 ± 10.43 mg of gallic acid equivalents (GAE/g) followed by maceration (68.77 ± 2.45 mg of GAE/g) and magnetic stirring (46.75 ± 2.45 mg of GAE/g). Interestingly, remarkable highest TFC was observed with magnetic stirring (568.90 ± 4.85 mg of rutin equivalent (RE)/g) followed by maceration (249.60 ± 2.79 mg of RE/g) and Soxhlet (174.8 ± 1.74 mg of RE/g). On the other hands, the extract obtained using maceration method showed the highest antioxidant activity (IC50: 14.18 mg/mL compared to ascorbic acid 144.36 µg/mL). Cytotoxicity of C. nutans from all extraction methods showed similar LC50 values with maceration (3.81 mg/mL), Soxhlet (2.61 mg/mL) and magnetic stirring (4.56 mg/mL), respectively.

Both phenolic and flavonoids are responsible for the antioxidant activity, of C. nutans extracts. Based on Meyer's toxicity index, all extracts were nontoxic (LC50>1 mg/mL).

Red palm oil contains both tocopherol (∼30%) and tocotrienol (∼70%) with the latter having better antioxidant potency than the former by a factor of 60 times. The microemulsion is one of the most suitable carriers to protect this vitamin E from environmental stress due to food processing and storage. However, the instability of microemulsion might limit the presentation of vitamin E in the food industry. In the present study, we demonstrated the preparation of microemulsions from different ratios of palm oil and Span 60 to achieve potential carrier formulations for vitamin E delivery.

The microemulsions with the different ratios of palm oil and water (o/w) and Span 60 were prepared by using homogenization technique, incubated and observed at 45.0 ± 0.1 °C, room temperature (25 °C ± 0.1) or 8.0 ± 0.1 °C. The microemulsion formed was analyzed by Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to observe the molecular composition and the functional groups in the employed oil and emulsifier. Back-scattered dynamic light scattering (DLS) method was employed to determine the stability of microemulsion by measuring the average particle size and polydispersity index (PDI). The zeta potential values of microemulsion were measured by Shape Zeta sizer Nano ZS. The shape and dynamic properties of the microemulsion were observed by Leica optical polarizing microscope (OPM). The creaming, sedimentation, the ratio of aqueous separation and clarification of the microemulsions were evaluated visually whereas the changes in pH were determined using pH meter.

The morphological study showed the presence of spherical-shaped particles. The average particle size was found to be the smallest in the presence of 7% Span 60 in the 70/30 (o/w) formulation, and the zeta potential was less than −30 mV for most of the formulations. The most stable pH (the least amount of changes in the pH at room temperature) prevailed for 7% Span 60. Accelerated stability test showed that formulations 30:70 and 50:50 (o/w), in the presence of 5% and 7% Span 60, were the most stable throughout the incubation period.

The palm oil in water microemulsion in the presence of 7% Span 60 has the potential to be further developed as a delivery system for hydrophobic nutrients such as vitamin E, proteins or peptides and antioxidants in the food and beverage industry.