The Mediating Role of Ethical Climate in the Relationship Between Performance Appraisal and Organizational Performance

Although prior research has consistently established a positive relationship between performance appraisal and organizational performance across different research contexts, the mechanisms that underlie this link remain unclear. The present study attempts to fill this void by testing the mediating role of ethical climate in the relationship between performance appraisal and organizational performance across 181 Nigerian public sector agencies. Cross-sectional mediation analyses were performed using partial least squares path modeling approach. Results indicated that performance appraisal was positively and significantly related to organizational performance. Regarding the mediating effect, ethical climate significantly mediated the relationship between performance appraisal and organizational performance. The study made recommendations and drew suggestions for future research to enhance the performance of public sector agencies.     

The overweight female body in Malaysian slimming advertisements: problem and solution

This study analyses image and text to investigate the way slimming advertising exploits women’s fear of being overweight to the extent that they feel obliged to do something about their own bodies. We show how Malaysian slimming advertisements construct certain types of female body which reinforce cultural stereotypes, namely the overweight body that exceeds culturally acceptable limits of desirable body size, and the desirable and attainable slim body with no excess fat. Three sample advertisements were selected from a Malaysian English newspaper and analysed using Jewitt and Oyama’s framework to identify the way images and text are used to give specific meanings relating to the female body. The images were examined in terms of representational, interactional and compositional meanings, and the analysis provides evidence of how the extremely overweight female body is pathologised, making it the focus of critical scrutiny. The advertisements use body images to illustrate the problem of being very overweight and the desirability of being slim, and the consumption of slimming services as a quick and easy solution to the problem.     

Micro-enterprise development initiatives and entrepreneurial competencies,innovativeness, and social capital in Malaysia

This article examines the effect of participation in development programmes designed for women micro-entrepreneurs on the development of entrepreneurial competencies, innovativeness, and social capital. The study employed a cross-sectional design and quasi-experimental approach, and collected data from 417 women micro-entrepreneurs in Malaysia. Findings reveal that the participants possess a significantly higher level of social capital, innovativeness, and entrepreneurial competencies. Development organisations should therefore focus on redesigning their policies and programmes to improve the breadth and depth of the development programmes that they offer, which ultimately lead to an improvement in the social-economic condition of low-income households in Malaysia.     

Media freedom in Malaysia

This article discusses the contemporary issue of media freedom in Malaysia. First, it discusses the concept of freedom of the press and determines which theories, Libertarian, Social Responsibility, or Authoritarian, are suitable in the context of analysing the real situation of media freedom in Malaysia. Second, by using the list of media freedom criteria from the Department of Journalistic Studies, Missouri University, US, analysis has been done to measure the situation of media freedom in Malaysia. Third, the article tries to show the latest movements and lobbies internally and externally in supporting the media freedom in Malaysia. To conclude the current situation, the Malaysian government has restricted media freedom for the purpose of national security and political stability. However, this article clearly shows that media in Malaysia has been controlled by the government and media companies associated with government leaders for political survivability of ruling government party and leaders to hold the power.     

Isolation and identification of an isomeric sildenafil analogue as an adulterant in an instant coffee premix

The proliferation of adulterated health foods and beverages in the market demands a comprehensive analytical strategy to identify the adulterants, particularly those of isomeric phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) inhibitors. An instant coffee premix (ICP) purchased from an online retailer was flagged for suspected adulteration through PDE5 inhibition assay. The ICP was then analysed using suspected-target and non-targeted screenings of a liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Based on these findings, a PDE5 inhibitor initially assigned as compound X was isolated from the ICP by employing a liquid chromatography-diode array detection before its structural elucidation with liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (LC-UV) spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The suspected-target screening matched the protonated molecule ([M + H]⁺) precursor ion of compound X at m/z 499.2310 with two suspected analytes that are structural isomers of one another. The fragmentation patterns of compound X were comparable to those analogues in the dithiocarbodenafil group through the non-targeted screening. These findings, complemented by the LC-UV and NMR spectroscopy data, together with the chromatographic separation of related structural isomers, conclude the identity of compound X. To our best knowledge, this is the first study to report the presence of 3,5-dimethylpiperazinyl-dithiodesmethylcarbodenafil in an ICP sample.

Key points

• The herbal-based male sexual performance products’ lucrative market has instigated their rampant adulteration, particularly with PDE5 inhibitors.
• The adulterated products may also contain analogues of the approved PDE5 inhibitors, which usually passed into the market undetected as they are not included in the routine targeted screening procedure.
• The present study detected, isolated, and identified an isomeric sildenafil analogue from an instant coffee premix sample using rapid qualitative assay and comprehensive analytical analysis.
• This paper highlighted the applicability of the established strategies for routine casework, particularly in a forensic drug testing laboratory.

     

Eristalinus arvorum (Fabricius, 1787) (Diptera: Syrphidae) in Human Skull: A New Fly Species of Forensic Importance

A body of an unknown adult female was found within a shallow burial ground in Malaysia whereas the skull was exposed and visible on the ground. During autopsy examination, nine insect larvae were recovered from the interior of the human skull and subsequently preserved in 70% ethanol. The larvae were greyish in appearance, each with a posterior elongated breathing tube. A week after the autopsy, more larvae were collected at the burial site, and some of them were reared into adults. Adult specimens and larvae from the skull and from the burial site were sequenced to obtain DNA barcodes. Results showed all adult flies reared from the burial site, as well as the larvae collected from the skull were identified as Eristalinus arvorum (Fabricius, 1787) (Diptera: Syrphidae). Here, we report the colonization of E. arvorum larvae on a human corpse for the first time.