Enterprise architecture development and implementation in public sector: The Malaysian perspective

Enterprise Architecture (EA) is gaining the attention from the public sector as a solution to improve the function of e-Government. However, public sector agencies are having difficulties with its development and implementation due to inflexibility and complexity of the agencies’ business function and information technology structures. The objective of this paper is to identify the challenges faced by the Malaysian public sector agencies that are in development and implementation phase of EA. In order to get the holistic perspective of EA development and implementation scenario in each organisation, a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) approach is applied. A multiple case study research approach is utilized to achieve this study objective. Data were collected through interviews with the agencies EA team, general observation during the EA workshops as well as review of EA related documents. The result shows there are twenty challenges identified which is consistent with other challenges stated in literature except for talent management issue. Thus, this provides a new insight on how the public sector should implement their EA as compared to any other organisation

Prevention of Nasal Mucosal Irritation in Patients Obtain Nasal Oxygen

Introduction: The provision of oxygen therapy is traditionally use a humidifier to moisten the oxygen and prevent irritation of the nasal mucosa. Recent research proves that the use of a maximum of 4 lpm nasal oxygen without using a humidifier (non humidifier) up to 8 hours does not cause irritation of the nasal mucosa and prevent colonization of bacteria in the humidifier. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of nasal oxygen administration using a non-humidifier more than 8 hours in the prevention of irritation of the nasal mucosa. Method: This study employed an analytic survey with cross-sectional study design. As many as 20 patients at inpatient wards of Port Health Center Hospital Surabaya were recruited as sample by means of consecutive sampling. Inclusion criteria was patients must not suffer from upper respiratory tract infection and do not suffer from impaired immunity. Independent variables were oxygen flow and long of oxygen therapy. Dependent variable was irritation of the nasal mucosa. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and tested with spearman rho correlation test. Result: The results showed that the use of oxygen up to 140 hours with 4 LPM had no effect on the nasal mucosa such as signs of irritation and complaints of discomfort in the nose area. Discussion: It can be concluded that the use of non-humidifier for a maximum of 140 hours with flow maximum of 4 lpm is effective in preventing irritation of the nasal mucosa. Further research on the effectiveness of non humidi fi ers in the elderly population and children under five years of age is needed

Dynamic Forecasting method for Shariah-compliant Share Price of Healthcare sector in Malaysian Stock Exchange

The healthcare sector is the category of stocks relating to medical and healthcare goods or services. The healthcare sector includes hospital management firms, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), biotechnology and a variety of medical products. The objective of this research paper is to forecast the performance of share price for healthcare sector in Malaysia. The research methodology implemented in this study is forecasting method using autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA). Data selection in this study is share price of healthcare company sector namely IHH Healthcare Berhad. Result shows the ARIMA(1,1,1) model exhibits r-squared value of 0.184 and Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) value is -1.112. Residual diagnostics shows ARIMA (1,1,1) is reliable model for forecasting of healthcare sector in Malaysia. The findings from this study will help economists to analyze the stock market performance especially in healthcare sector in Malaysia. This result also will help investors to decide appropriate decision in portfolio selection of capital investment

Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) Model for Forecasting Cryptocurrency Exchange Rate in High Volatility Environment: A New Insight of Bitcoin Transaction

The cryptocurrency is a decentralized digital money. Bitcoin is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure the transactions, to control the creation of additional units, and to verify the transfer of assets. The objective of this study is to forecast Bitcoin exchange rate in high volatility environment. Methodology implemented in this study is forecasting using autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA). This study performed autocorrelation function (ACF) and partial autocorrelation function (PACF) analysis in determining the parameter of ARIMA model. Result shows the first difference of Bitcoin exchange rate is a stationary data series. The forecast model implemented in this study is ARIMA (2, 1, 2). This model shows the value of R-squared is 0.444432. This value indicates the model explains 44.44% from all the variability of the response data around its mean. The Akaike information criterion is 13.7805. This model is considered a model with good fitness. The error analysis between forecasting value and actual data was performed and mean absolute percentage error for ex-post forecasting is 5.36%. The findings of this study are important to predict the Bitcoin exchange rate in high volatility environment. This information will help investors to predict the future exchange rate of Bitcoin and in the same time volatility need to be monitor closely. This action will help investors to gain better profit and reduce loss in investment decision

Weighted Moving Average of Forecasting Method for Predicting Bitcoin Share Price using High Frequency Data: A Statistical Method in Financial Cryptocurrency Technology

Bitcoin is a type of cryptocurrency that implemented decentralized digital currency method. The transaction is monitored and validated by peer-to peer system using hash programming. These transactions are verified by network nodes through the use of cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain. The objective of this study is to forecast the Bitcoin exchange rate using weighted moving average method. Data selected in this study are selected hourly from 14th December 2017 until 18th December 2017. The forecasting method is using weighted moving average. Then, the validity of the forecasting model is validated using mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) calculation. Results indicated mean absolute percentage error is 0.72%. Therefore, the moving average method is considered as reliable forecasting method for Bitcoin exchange rate. The finding of this study will help investors to make best decision regarding suitable portfolio for their investment

Evaluation of Risk Reduction for Portfolio in Islamic Investment Using Modern Portfolio Theory

Main objective of this study is to maximize expected return and in the same time lowering investment risk. The methodology implemented in this study is modern portfolio theory through diversification assets that has low or negative correlation factor. This study tried to discover the portfolio expected risk and portfolios risk for 3 stocks namely Top Glove Corporation Berhad, AirAsia X Berhad and Axiata Group Berhad. Data for the analysis is selected from June 2015 until September 2018 involving 40 monthly observations. Result indicates the correlation factor between Top Glove and Airasia X is negative; meanwhile other correlation is not significant. Therefore, the selection of these three stocks is complying with the requirement of modern portfolio theory. Result indicates there are nine optimal combinations that calculated in this study which are suitable to develop non-linear line of efficient frontier. Data shows with the increment weightage in Top Glove stock, the expected average return will be increase. This is because the mean average return for share price of Top Glove 3.65%. This is the highest return comparing to other two stocks. However the risk of share price of Top Glove is 8.6 %, which is on the risky side. In addition, this study concludes the portfolio can attained lower risk by combining three stocks. The important implication of this study is it will help investors to develop optimal investment to attain maximum expected return based on a given level of market risk

Developmental research of sustainable technologies to minimise problematic road embankment settlements

Challenging, problematic and non-uniform ground conditions are a night mare to geotechnical engineers tasked with the design and construction of buildings and transport infrastructure. These often suffer undesirable structural settlements. Designing within the current understanding of geotechnics; settlement in peat and organic soils need to be recognised to include the known “primary and secondary consolidation characteristics” and the lesser known “tertiary consolidation phase”. These eventually contribute cumulatively to the consequential uneven and hazardous “bumpy road” surfaces. Undulating flexible road pavements result primarily from the transference of the heavy self-weight of the embankment fill to yielding and non-uniform subgrade. The adoption of conventional design/repair methods such as pile, vertical drain, soil replacement and soil stabilisation are expensive and inappropriate in very soft ground conditions. These then lead to unjustifiably high and repetitive maintenance costs. There being no one quick fix solution for all; pragmatic research must necessarily identify the best/progressively improved practical and sustainable solution. A viable solution is to develop criteria and explore the concept of a “masonry arch bridge structure/lintel-column structure” and adopting sustainable materials through pragmatic searching for appropriate recyclable waste materials. This will lead to the basis for a sustainable, innovative, strong, stiff, permeable composite mat structure that can be used on soft and/or yielding ground conditions. Conceptual lightweight fill technology including the popularly used expanded polystyrene (EPS) and the innovative composite mats recently being developed by the research team are outlined