A study on privacy concerns in social networking sites (SNS)

The rise in popularity of social networking sites (SNS) has led to various social and ethical issues such as privacy.The freedom to share and post information, pictures and to network with each other have raised privacy concerns among SNS members.We carried out a survey of 100 students at one of Malaysian universities to analyze their behavior on the SNSs in terms of awareness of privacy protection and what actions they have been taken.The survey results show that most of the students are aware of the customizable privacy settings but less than half of them change or modify them.This survey is important for understanding the user’ approach to privacy protection, which in turn is important for our proposed privacy protection systems in future research

On the effects of using CO2 and F2 lasers to modify the wettability of a polymeric biomaterial.

Enhancement of the surface properties of a material by means of laser radiation has been amply demonstrated previously. In this work a comparative study for the surface modification of nylon 6,6 has been conducted in order to vary the wettability characteristics using CO2 and excimer lasers. This was done by producing 50 μm spaced (with depths between 1 and 10 μm) trench-like patterns using various laser parameters such as varying the laser power for the CO2 laser and number of pulses for the excimer laser. Topographical changes were analysed using optical microscopy and white light interferometry which indicated that both laser systems can be implemented for modifying the topography of nylon 6,6. Variations in the surface chemistry were evaluated using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis and showed that the O2 increased by up to 1.5% At. and decreased by up to 1.6% At. for the CO2 and F2 laser patterned samples, respectively. Modification of the wettability characteristics was quantified by measuring the advancing contact angle, which was found to increase in all instances for both laser systems. Emery paper roughened samples were also analysed in the same manner to determine that the topographical pattern played a major role in the wettability characteristics of nylon 6,6. From this, it is proposed that the increase in contact angle for the laser processed samples is due to a mixed intermediate state wetting regime owed to the periodic surface roughness brought about by the laser induced trench-like topographical patterns

Comparative study of methods for extraction and purification of environmental DNA from high-strength wastewater sludge

DNA extraction from wastewater sludge (COD 50000 and BOD 25000 mg/l) was conducted using nine different methods normally used for environmental samples including a procedure used in this study and the results obtained were compared. The quality of the differently extracted DNAs was subsequently assessed by measuring humic acid concentration, cell lysis efficiency, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of methanogenic and eubacterial 16S rDNA. The protocol developed in this study was further evaluated by extracting DNA from various high-strength wastewater sludge samples, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analyses. The results revealed that great differences existed among the nine procedures and only a few produced satisfactory results when applied to high-strength wastewater sludge. Thermal shock alone was shown inefficient to disrupt the methanogenic cell wall to release the DNA. The method presented in this study (Procedure 9) is generally recommended because of the low concentration of contaminants and its high efficiency despite its simplicity.Key words: High-strength wastewater sludge, DNA extraction, environmental samples, humic acids, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, fluorescent in situ hybridizatio

Development of Web-Based Real-time Energy Monitoring System for Campus University

This study presents development of real time energy monitoring system installed in Level 17, Tower 2, Engineering Complex, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia. The device and programming uses microcontroller board Arduino, ESP8266 Wi-Fi module, sensors and Emoncms.org web server to record and display the real time power and energy consumption, energy cost, energy index and CO2 emissions. The device allows 3 phase measurement of energy use in the building level where the main power source has been divided into several loads such as lighting, power plug, and Air Conditioning (AC) fan. The device is capable to transmit the data at set time interval using Wi-Fi communication and logging directly to local SD card for further analysis. The device was calibrated using FLUKE 485 power meter concurrently to meet a good reliable result with lower tolerance. The device was installed and tested during testing period including weekdays and weekend to see hourly energy performance in the particular building level. It is found that the device provides reading with average error of 2.04% as compared to commercial meter during one week testing period

Whole-system analysis reveals high greenhouse gas emissions from citywide sanitation in Kampala, Uganda

Global estimates of emissions of greenhouse gasses do not take into account the complex service chain in rapidly growing cities in low- and middle-income countries. This paper presents an end-to-end analysis to estimate emissions from all stages of the sanitation-service chain, using Kampala in Uganda as an example. We show that emissions associated with long periods of storage of faecal waste in sealed anaerobic tanks (49%), discharge from tanks and pits direct to open drains (4%), illegal dumping of faecal waste (2%), leakage from sewers (6%), wastewater bypassing treatment (7%) and uncollected methane emissions at treatment plants (31%), are contributing to high levels of greenhouse-gas emissions. Sanitation in Kampala produces 189 kt CO2 e per year, which may represent more than half of the total city-level emissions. Significant further empirical and modelling work is required to update estimates of greenhouse-gas emissions from sanitation systems globally

Corporate Social Responsibility and Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs): Management Perceptions from IFIs in Bahrain

Islamic finance is gaining greater attention in the finance industry, and this paper analyses how Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) are responding to the welfare needs of society. Using interview data with managers and content analysis of the disclosures, this study attempts to understand management perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in IFIs. A thorough understanding of CSR by managers, as evident in the interviews, has not been translated fully into practice. The partial use of IFIs’ potential role in social welfare would add further challenges in the era of financialisation

A multi-center study on the attitudes of Malaysian emergency health care staff towards allowing family presence during resuscitation of adult patients

BACKGROUND The practice of allowing family members to witness on-going active resuscitation has been gaining ground in many developed countries since it was first introduced in the early 1990s. In many Asian countries, the acceptability of this practice has not been well studied. AIM We conducted a multi-center questionnaire study to determine the attitudes of health care professionals in Malaysia towards family presence to witness ongoing medical procedures during resuscitation. METHODS Using a bilingual questionnaire (in Malay and English language), we asked our respondents about their attitudes towards allowing family presence (FP) as well as their actual experience of requests from families to be allowed to witness resuscitations. Multiple logistic regression was used to analyze the association between the many variables and a positive attitude towards FP. RESULTS Out of 300 health care professionals who received forms, 270 responded (a 90% response rate). Generally only 15.8% of our respondents agreed to allow relatives to witness resuscitations, although more than twice the number (38.5%) agreed that relatives do have a right to be around during resuscitation. Health care providers are significantly more likely to allow FP if the procedures are perceived as likely to be successful (e.g., intravenous cannulation and blood taking as compared to chest tube insertion). Doctors were more than twice as likely as paramedics to agree to FP (p-value = 0.002). This is probably due to the Malaysian work culture in our health care systems in which paramedics usually adopt a 'follow-the-leader' attitude in their daily practice. CONCLUSION The concept of allowing FP is not well accepted among our Malaysian health care providers

Information security: Listening to the perspective of organisational insiders

Aligned with the strategy-as-practice research tradition, this article investigates how organisational insiders understand and perceive their surrounding information security practices, how they interpret them, and how they turn such interpretations into strategic actions. The study takes a qualitative case study approach, and participants are employees at the Research & Development department of a multinational original brand manufacturer. The article makes an important contribution to organisational information security management. It addresses the behaviour of organisational insiders – a group whose role in the prevention, response and mitigation of information security incidents is critical. The article identifies a set of organisational insiders’ perceived components of effective information security practices (organisational mission statement; common understanding of information security; awareness of threats; knowledge of information security incidents, routines and policy; relationships between employees; circulation of stories; role of punishment provisions; and training), based on which more successful information security strategies can be developed