Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental disorder that represents abnormality development of brain and its function. Few studies had seen the impact of early detection and intervention, and how it gives positive effect for the children to improve their life as good as other normal children. There are three major impairments of the autistic children namely: social interaction with others, communication and fine motor movements. A simple case of fine motor movements could be finger tapping, imitating other action and also managing their fingers towards objects. Many psychologists and psychiatrists diagnosed these autistic children as early as three years old. In Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies, finding shows the brain region such as prefrontal cortex (especially in the pre-motor cortex), occipital and etc, did involve in motor impairment in autistic children. Thus, it is possible to differentiate between normal and autistic children using motor imitation skills but all these process require the psychologists, psychiatrist or expert to monitor and make decision on their observations. However, fMRI is an expensive process and could not be automated and be used for masses. In this research, it aims to look at motor imitation skills for autistic children using electroencephalogram (EEG) approach. Preliminary result has shown great potential in identifying motor imitation skills impairment in autistic children. EEG device will be used to capture the brain signals, and two methods for analysis such as Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) and Kernel Density Estimation (KDE). The Mutilayer Perceptron (MLP) will be adopted as the classifier. Although the MLP was used as classifier the end results shows great potential of using the EEG model approach based on the 2D affective space model (ASM) for early detection of motor imitation skills development disorder among autistic children.

Software development methodology is a series of processes that is necessary for software development to achieve a good quality software. Software development methodology can be divided into three general established approaches: the plan-driven development model, agile methodologies, and hybrid agile model. Agile methodologies are difficult to adapt for businesses that have strict timeline from its clients; thus, companies, especially software development houses, prefer the plan-driven development model or hybrid agile model as the models to be referred to in a software project. However, which software model between the plan-driven development model and the hybrid agile model which is widely used by software development houses will result in higher-quality software? To answer the question, this research investigates the plan-driven development model and hybrid agile model for comparison of the software quality produced by the software engineers. This research is empirical research adopting an experimental study to compare the internal quality of a plan-driven development model with a hybrid agile model involving a group of software engineers who were divided into two groups; one group using the Hybrid Agile model, WaterScrumFall while the other be using a plan-driven development model, the Waterfall model. The outcomes of this study shows that the complexity of the code, measured by the Average Cyclomatic Complexity (ACC); the lines of codes indicates the size and scale of the codebase; and the dependencies between objects specifically addressing structural quality through metrics like Coupling between Objects (CBO) and Lack of Cohesion in Methods (LCOM). The less complex project with low coupling between objects and cohesion in methods will contribute to high-quality source code and easier project management and maintenance, and it will also be cost effective. As a result, the team that implements Hybrid Agile model produce lower ACC and CBO, but higher LCOM compared to the team that applies plan-driven methodology. This research concludes that the Hybrid Agile model produces better software quality than the plan-driven methodology. This research will contribute to the benefit of knowing which model will produce better internal software quality and provide better insights for developers on which software development methodology may lead to software that is less complexity with a minimal line of codes, less coupling between methods, and more lack cohesion method.

Activity is one of the main components of context-aware study besides time, location and identity. Accurate recognition of user activity allows a device or application to deliver more accurate response to the user based on what it is designed for. Accelerometer has become one of the commonly used sensors for recognising user activity, especially with the recent availability of the sensor in smart phones. One key issue that arises together with accelerometers’ popularity is mainly the performance in recognising the activity, which is partially influenced by the classification algorithm used. Thus, this research is trying to look into the matter by evaluating the performance of the classifiers for activity recognition using smart phones. Instead of focusing solely on the classification accuracy, this research extends the offline performance evaluation to include other evaluation measures like precision, recall, F-measure (the weighted harmonic mean of the precision and recall), and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) area so that a non-bias evaluation is acquired, and issue like accuracy paradox can be avoided. Other aspects that might influence the performance like the size of training data, sensor location and gender are also explored. Sample applications are further developed in order to ensure the performance of the shortlisted classifier is consistent when implemented on smart phones for real-time/ online activity recognition, given the limited resources and computing capability. Finally, the finding from the study is then implemented in an activity-aware emergency alert application to demonstrate how the activity context retrieved can contribute to creating a more context-aware and ubiquitous environment.

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This investigation seeks to use the base of knowledge and empirically test the relationship between the segments of authoritative organization culture and information management practice towards implementing the daily business operations. The study adopted the exploratory research approach to explore the impact. To implement the integrated information system, centralising and automating are the most essential controls in an organisation, namely those with hierarchical structure due to its overall diverse business process. This study examined the leverage of technology in achieving the highest quality standards and operational efficiency through speedy information delivery via one integrated system to improve sharing of information across departmental and levels. Thus, it seeks to determine whether the application has been able to improve the timeliness of business information update from diverse locations and improve the accuracy of information capture, the quality of information processing and reporting and also the setting up of key performance measures for the company’s operational levels.

Subject access to library resources through OPAC has been a subject of much concern as it has continuously been found to be problematic compared to known-item search. Most of today`s OPAC have incorporated design features that support subject search. However, the effectiveness of OPAC in support of subject search in the medical science domain, particularly in Malaysia has never been explored before.The goal of this study is to evaluate the OPAC of University Science of Malaysia (USM) in order to further investigate the medical library user’s perception on subject search (Medical Subject Heading (MeSH)) in OPAC, the experience of medical library users when using OPAC, the problem to effective subject searching of medical resources in OPAC and the degree of matchness between medical library user’s vocabulary and MeSH assigned. The population of this study consisted of medical library users of Hamdan Tahir Library, Health Campus, University of Science Malaysia (USM), but limited to those who visited the library and used OPAC only .The research design applied in this study was quantitative approach by using a questionnaire based survey.The findings of this study will help medical libraries in Malaysia to create awareness about the importance of subject search, to increase the usage of subject search among their users, to overcome problems that are encountered by the medical library users when using the subject search (MeSH) in OPAC and at the same time enhance their performance of OPAC system.

This master’s research is based on the study of the semantics used in GPS based mobile applications available for the blind navigation. For a blind person the main source of information is words and how to improve the effectiveness of the explanation using machines for them is tested in this research. The long term goal of technology is to create a portable, self-contained system that allows visually impaired individuals to travel through familiar and unfamiliar environments without the assistance of guides The experiment for the research took place at MFB (Malaysian Foundation for the Blind) using existing GPS based mobile applications using google maps and the results were used to prove the hypothesis that the blind are at a considerable disadvantage because of the lack of information and developing a framework for the semantics used in the GPS navigation applications for the blind pedestrians that would help them to navigate independently would enable them to take up GPS for independent navigation in unknown environment. The information derived from the research can further help in creating the GPS based navigation technology for the blind pedestrians in an unknown environment confidently.

As attempts to thwart cyber crime have intensified, so have innovations in how cybercriminals’ provision their infrastructure to dodge detection and take-down. Today, a growing, sophisticated technique called Fast-Flux Service Networks (FFSN) poses a major problem to Internet security. They are increasingly used in many illegal practices including money mule recruitment sites, distribution of malware downloads, illegal adult content and other forms of Internet fraud. Essentially, FFSN were first used as a Domain Name Server (DNS) switching mechanism that combine distributed command and control, web-based load-balancing, and proxy redirection. However, cybercriminals are making use of this technology to cover their tracks and avoid detection. As such, their criminal infrastructures stay up longer to get more victims. These issues are tackled by investigating the dynamics of FFSN by using k-Nearest Neighbor (kNN) classification method and data visualization technique. This combination can assist network administrators and security analyst to recognize the threats more easily and efficiently. In this study, over 500 domains are collected and monitored. By applying kNN classifier to the trained data, the presence of Single-Flux (SF), NS-Flux (NSF), and Double-Flux (DF) are observed. Subsequently, by scrutinizing and visualizing these fluxing domain names, the new types of fluxing designated as NS-Name-Flux(NF) and Nested-NS-Flux (NNF) are discovered. The analysis results of both NF and NNF exposed that FFSN have become extensively sophisticated and dynamic. This exemplifies that visualization is an alternative and effective data exploration method for understanding the complex behaviors of FFSN.

The aim of this study was to measure the level satisfaction and usage of the UM Library digital resources. A survey method was employed to conduct a research. Using non-probability sampling method, three faculties (Art and Social Science, Science and Computer Science and Information Technology) from University of Malaya were selected as the sample of this study. The total population of postgraduate students for these faculties was very large, therefore, a sample size of 340 out of 2600 were taken to represent the total. A structured questionnaire using a five point likert scale was used to measure the satisfaction level of respondent. Findings clearly revealed that more than 72% of postgraduate students had used digital resources for their research works. However, the frequency of usage was low. The findings from the study show that the majority (80%) of respondents were satisfied with the digital resources offered by the UM Library. In addition, the study also found some of the respondents faced problems while using digital resources. The results also concluded that there are no significant differences between gender, faculty and usage of UM Library digital resources.

For a long time computers have been used for language teaching and learning. Unfortunately, little has been done in the field of computerized Arabic language teaching and learning. Furthermore, there is a lack of research into the impact of applying the knowledge of cognates (words similar in meaning and pronunciation) in an Arabic web-based learning system for Malay-speaking learners. Thus, this research studies the effectiveness of using Arabic-Malay cognates for Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). Moreover, it aims to enhance learning of the Arabic language with the approach of CALL. For this purpose, the researcher developed a web-based system for use as an Arabic language learning tool for Malaysians. The system automatically identifies cognates in the two languages using one of two functions: levenshtein() and similar_text(). The system displays the cognates in a list (table form) and highlights the cognates in the lessons. To evaluate the system, a survey was carried out among Arabic learners and teachers in Malaysia. A total of 10 participants, five (5) self-learners and five (5) teachers, fully completed the questionnaire. It was found that the majority of participants were satisfied using the system and that they preferred it over traditional learning. They also found the system to be an effective learning tool. Overall, the findings showed that the goals of the study had been achieved.

Interconnection network is an important issue for massively parallel computer due to the increasing capability and smaller size of the processing elements. In this thesis, we propose a new hierarchical interconnection network called Midimew-connected Mesh Network (MMN) for massively parallel computer. The proposed network consists of multiple basic modules which are 2-D mesh (2m×2m) network and are hierarchically interconnected by a 2-D midimew (2m×2m) network to build the higher levels. Hence, we call it Midimew-connected Mesh Network (MMN). Architectural details, address-ing of nodes, and routing of message of MMN are discussed in details. We have ex-plored various aspects such as network degree, diameter, cost, average distance, bisec-tion width, wiring complexity of the MMN and compared them with other networks. It is shown that the MMN possesses several attractive features, including constant de-gree, small diameter, low cost, small average distance, moderate bisection width, and high fault tolerant performance than that of other conventional and hierarchical inter-connection networks. Network-on-Chip (NoC) addresses the implementability of in-terconnection network on a single chip. We have examined the NoC implementation of MMN. The result shows that, a Level-3 MMN can be laid on a VLSI surface with 4 layers only. We have considered no jump crossing links method to determine the number of layers of MMN.

The adoption of Information Technology (IT) has remained a point of enthusiasm for the last couple of decades. The Technology Acceptance Models such as TAM are used to predict users’ behaviours. Studies on the ability to anticipate people`s acceptance with regard to health information system (HIS) are lacking. This study focuses on the PEOU and the PU of the HIS of healthcare professionals in Pakistan. The first step is to examine the level of acceptance and then the willingness to upgrade the HIS for the betterment of the healthcare services in Pakistan among the stakeholders. Consequently, this study used model and proposed that the HIS acceptance is determined by 5 main constructs, namely, behavioural intention, attitude, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and technology self-efficacy. In this model, Technology Self-Efficacy (TSE) had positive and significant effect on perceived usefulness (PU) and Perceived ease of use (PEOU). PEOU has both positive and significant effects on perceived usefulness (PU) and attitude. PU had positive and significant effect on attitude and behavioural intention. Attitude had positive and significant effect on behavioural intention. A questionnaire was designed based on the conceptual model. A seven-point Likert scale was used throughout the questionnaire. A survey was then conducted after pre-testing the data collecting instrument. Valid responses were coded and analysed by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. Both descriptive and inferential analyses were performed. The developed model was tested on a sample of 200 health care professionals of Pakistan. The results show that all the five constructs Technology self-efficacy (TSE), Perceived usefulness (PU), Perceived ease of use (PEOU), Attitude towards using (ATT)and Behavioural Intention (BI) were significant and Pearson’s correlation was positive and nearly +1.

The study examines reference services in academic libraries in the Northwest geopolitical zone in Nigeria. The study used a sample of 162 staff in the reference section in three academic libraries that comprise of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Bayero University Kano (BUK) and Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto (UDUS) that were drawn through Stratified Random Sampling technique. Questionnaire instrument was used in generating the data. The research objectives are to identify the environment of reference services, value and challenges in universities libraries in Northwest zone, Nigeria. The findings of the study show that there is availability of reference services in academic libraries in the Northwest zone, student valued materials located in the reference section and large number of students is one of the challenges of reference sections in academic libraries. The study concludes that reference services are readily available and functional. It is recommended that capacity to accommodate more students should be increased and quality of service be maintained and improved.

Business Intelligent in the education sector is considered as a new issue. In academia, it is also known as Analytics. All types of organization, from business to higher learning institution have a common reason to adopt business Intelligent, specifically to increase efficiency and increase organizational success. However, many targeted users do not use Business Intelligent based learning management services. Literature review suggests the reasons behind is lacked of awareness and techno-phobia. This research principal objective was tantamount to investigate readiness and acceptance of BI based LMS among IIUM students. The study used quantitative method for data collection and analysis. Findings from the analysis show that all factors are crucial for actual use of the system. The research discussion provides a comprehensive view of the significance of the factors. Finally, future implication is referring to additional need for study and understanding built on actual use of the system.

The use of information and communication technology (ICT) is believed to be one of the most crucial developments in higher educational institutions as it touches every aspect of the education sector. This technological breakthrough has led to the emergence of e-learning services, which in recent time has become popular globally. IIUM is one of the universities that adopted e-learning system in Malaysia. Adoption of e-learning is a very important issue in an educational institution like IIUM, but the most important is the user’s continuance intention towards the using it. This study takes a cross sectional analysis of determinants of e-learning continuance intention using the Expectation Confirmation Theory (ECT) as the research framework. The data collected in this study was based on 178 responses, collected from eight Kulliyahs (Faculties) of IIUM. The adapted and modified questionnaires were designed using the 5-point Likert scale and the Cronbach Coefficient Alpha was used to test the internal consistency of research instruments. Linear Simple and Multiple Regressions were employed to determine the relationships between the variables. A number of relationships were identified in this study. Among others is the positive influence of perceived performance, usability and satisfaction on the continuance intention of using e-learning system. A set of recommendations is provided to assist education sector and IIUM in particular in enhancing and sustaining the e-learning technologies so as to provide students with greater advantages.

The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become a necessity for the education sector. Many governments have implemented strategies to push the adoption of ICT as medium and support for teaching and learning in schools. As manifested in the literature, today, more and more schools adopted electronic learning (e-learning) as part of their teaching delivery. Interestingly however, despite increasing number of e-learning adoption, the literature shows that the level of usage rate is rather low in developing countries. Therefore, it is the aim of this study to examine of the factor affecting the e-learning behavioral usage continuance intention. The study was conducted through the use of Theory Reasoned Action (TRA) as the research framework. The data collected in this study was based on 151 responses, collected from the high school and secondary school in Cambodia. The adapted and modified questionnaires were designed using the 5-point Likert scale and the chi square and PLS-SEM was used to test the affected factor and internal consistency of research instruments. A series of chi-square analysis was conducted to the e-learning benefits and advantages against the demographical factors (age, gender, and level of education), and SEM-PLS Algorithms is used to test internal consistency reliability, indicator reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity. Through SEM-PLS, a model was developed to explain the influencing factors that affect the students’ intention to continuously use internet in their learning activities. A bootstrapping method was used to determine the relationship between variables. A number of findings emerged in this study. Among others is positive influence of self-efficacy, perceived quality and perceived usefulness on the satisfaction. A set of recommendation is provided to assist education sector, in Cambodia in particular, in order to motivate students to use e-learning and provide student with greater advantages.

The existence of internet has played a potential role in the process of information dissemination in the global context. The era of pervasive information regardless of the nature of information is clearly witnessed and no one can overlook its impact on our daily activities and issues. Due to the power of ICT in the field of health information sharing, it becomes so hard to control the explosion of health information over the internet and maintain its content; therefore student seeking information behavior particularly in the context of health-related information becomes the major issue highlighted by several researchers since students are the backbone of the community. Seeking any type of information is a basic activity performed by students resulting in raising the issue of how effectively and efficiency they search and apply the retrieved health-related information. This study has applied the Lily Model of eHealth literacy that consists of six skills of literacy to examine the level impact of these literacy skills on the level of eHealth search’s efficacy of the students. Additionally, in this study internet barriers and online healthcare benefits have been measured and examine against eHealth search’s efficacy. A Survey questionnaire has been selected as a data collection tool and distributed among university students who pursue their study in Malaysia. Descriptive analysis and Bootstrap method in Partial least square software (SmartPLS) are used to answer the study research questions. Factor analysis is conducted on internet barriers and eHealth benefits to detect the likelihood of reducing the number of variables which are dealt with. The study has unveiled the importance of certain literacy skills that must be present in the time of conducting a health-related search. It showed that health and information literacy are the core literacy skills that student should possess beside the computer literacy skill. On the other hand, Media literacy skill, scientific literacy skill and Traditional literacy skill were not significant barriers to higher education learning students. Internet barriers showed the unrelated relationship with the students’ efficiency level of health-related search whilst eHealth benefits showed a strong positive relationship with eHealth search’s efficacy. Internet barriers are being grouped in to two factors and eHealth benefits as well. Keywords: Information seeking behavior, Health informatics, eHealth Literacy, Internet and Health-related information, eHealth benefits

The enactment of legal act in cyberspace is the inevitable consequence of globalization to ensure the legal certainty of the people who interact in internet. With the number of legal infringement in cyberspace increasing each day, the needs of internet regulation has becoming a world concern. Indonesia is a populous country with high internet penetration trying to safeguarding public interest with a comprehensive law, which recognized as “Undang-Undang Informasi dan Transaksi Electronik” (UU ITE). However, the implementation of ITE getting various responses from Indonesian citizens since it was signed or after amendment in terms of different aspects. The availability of social media networking enables them reacting to the subject concerning legal issues in internet. This research work used text mining technique to find out the perceived issues, challenges, and benefits of ITE implementation from citizens’ opinions, comments, and perceptions in social media of Twitter. The result of this study grouped into two main topics; legal consequences and precedence.

Recently there has been growing concern about the impact of climate change and global warming on the environment. Such concerns are manifested in the global agreement, symposium, and activities that increase people’s level of awareness in environmental issues. Its urgency is further highlighted by the fact that among the triggers to this problem is the use and disposal of electronic goods, particularly those related to ICT. Despite the growing awareness of global warming and its causes, little is known on how the educational sector is playing its role in promoting and implementing green initiatives in educational institutions in developing countries. It is therefore, the aim of this study to fill such a gap in the literature by investigating the green initiative strategy on ICT usage and disposal formulated by a higher education institution, using International Islamic University, Malaysia (IIUM) as a case study. The study adopted the mixed method, which is the use of an interview and questionnaire to investigate the green IT initiatives of IIUM. A set of implications of managerial and policy were formulated to assist the environmental sustainability in IIUM and other Higher Education Institutions in general.

This study analysed the perceptions and motivations on the use of online discussion forums to learn programming language. It also further analysed whether resourcefulness is a factor that plays part in understanding of programming language. More so, the current study also explored the gender differences in how students utilise these forums whilst trying to understand programming language. This was accomplished by use of mixed research methods of data collection and analysis, that is; content analysis and Q-Method. Content analysis was conducted on the content posted on Stack Overflow (an online discussion forum that focuses on learning/discussing of programming language issues) by users who identified themselves as students. From this content, the researcher came up with a concourse through theme, category and statement derivation from the content. The total number statements derived from this process were 25. These statements were used in the sorting process by participants involved in the study. Using the PQ-Method software, the Q-sorts were analysed to provide results of the study. The results of the study revealed that indeed there are gender differences in terms of motivation for use of online discussion forums to learn programming language. While the female participants are mainly concerned in truly grasping programming skills, their male counterparts were only concerned in quick fixes of codes. The hypothesis of this study is that students who make great use of big data (with online discussion forum as a case study in this research) to complement their traditional class room materials, have a higher chance of attaining a greater understanding of subjects as compared to those that are reluctant to make use of the information pool available online. This interim thesis presents the concept of big data and information seeking behaviour and how their underlying benefits to students/learners.