An IoT based home automation integrated approach: impact on society in sustainable development perspective

In recent years, due to substantial evolution in the field of consumer electronics, the society is striving to optimize efficiency, energy savings, green technology and environmental sustainability in their daily lives at homes. Most of the people are controlling and monitoring home appliances manually and therefore, facing lots of problems in managing natural resources, cost, effort and security which lead towards an un-comfortable and un-reliable life. Numerous 'intelligent' devices such as smartphones, tablets, air-conditioners, etc. have promoted the key concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) based home automation. Entrenched with technology, these devices can be distantly monitored and controlled over the Internet at home and anywhere in the world. Over the past few decades, global warming has become a severe worldwide challenge. However, sustainable development and green technology play an important role in climate change. The primary purpose of this study is to save natural resources, reduce energy consumption, and to understand the impact of home automation on the society in order to achieve the goal of green technology and environmental sustainability. In this paper, IoT based home automation approach integrated with the smart meter, solar, wind, geothermal renewable energy resources and government green awareness program to extensively optimize the need of energy consumption, security, cost, convenience and cleaner environment for the society is proposed. In addition, a survey was conducted among the target audience for the purpose of identifying and evaluating its least impact on the environment and society in a sustainable development perspective. The results of this survey are statistically analyzed using IBM SPSS statistics version 23. The results revealed that there is a significant impact of home automation on the society thereby contributing to its solution

Digital Workplace Model for Research University Publication Collaboration

Digital Workplace is a virtual equivalent to the modern version of traditional workplace where an employee can work anywhere by using any devices, browsing files and sharing knowledge.  Meanwhile, MyRa is commonly known as Malaysia Research Assessment tool for measuring research performance indicator in public university.  The MyRA instrument is used to engage the research development and innovation activities which outcomes is categorized into six levels, with ‘six stars’ being the highest and one star the lowest.  In order to achieve MyRA objective, research university boosts the research publications from academicians.  However, from all submission, not all publication papers are achieved a high standard, which causes low rating stars. The absence of working digital repository for research publication is among challenge face by most academicians in searching for research paper collections as a reference.  Besides that, they unable to keep in touch with the author of a research paper on getting advice and feedback for their working documents.  Thus, this study aims to propose a digital workplace model focusing on research publication Digital Workplace.  Initial findings highlights, there five main dimensions associated with establishing this model which are communication, environment, strategy, collaboration and community

Persuasive system design: social support elements to influence the Malaysian wellness in social media

Obesity is a significant problem in Southeast Asia, especially in Malaysia, where the report by The National Health and Morbidity Survey of 2015 emphasized that the country has the highest proportion of obese and overweight population in the region and it is increasing by the year. Recently, it was observed that the social media could be leveraged for influencing healthier lifestyle. It is believed that, to motivate people to engage with social media or any wellness system, social support is important. However, research indicated that the understanding of social support from the perspectives of system design is still lacking. This study aims to fill these gaps and have better understanding of social support through the Persuasive System Design (PSD). The objectives of this research are (i) to identify the social support elements within the persuasive design elements (ii) to qualitatively verify the social support elements for Malaysian wellness in social media. Qualitative data collection was conducted through social media content observations and focus group interviews with selected respondents. Five PSD elements in social support were identified. They are: social learning, social facilitation, social comparison, recognition and normative influence. The relevancy and significance of these elements towards the health and wellness motivation among Malaysian were also identified

Preparation and characterization of sugar palm fibers

Various natural products from the sugar palm tree have been in use in Malaysia for hundreds of years. Sugar palm fiber, known as black fiber, is obtained from the sugar palm tree and can be used as reinforcement in composites. Sugar palm fibers are available in ready-to-use form and do not require secondary processing. Fibers can also be obtained from the frond, the bunch, and the trunk, with the main source being the hairy fiber, locally called ijuk, which wraps around the trunk. In this chapter, we review the mechanical, physical, chemical, thermal and moisture absorption properties of the sugar palm fibers studied by various researchers

coMpliAnce with evideNce-based cliniCal guidelines in the managemenT of acute biliaRy pancreAtitis): The MANCTRA-1 international audit

Background/objectives: Reports about the implementation of recommendations from acute pancreatitis guidelines are scant. This study aimed to evaluate, on a patient-data basis, the contemporary practice patterns of management of biliary acute pancreatitis and to compare these practices with the recommendations by the most updated guidelines. Methods: All consecutive patients admitted to any of the 150 participating general surgery (GS), hepatopancreatobiliary surgery (HPB), internal medicine (IM) and gastroenterology (GA) departments with a diagnosis of biliary acute pancreatitis between 01/01/2019 and 31/12/2020 were included in the study. Categorical data were reported as percentages representing the proportion of all study patients or different and well-defined cohorts for each variable. Continuous data were expressed as mean and standard deviation. Differences between the compliance obtained in the four different subgroups were compared using the Mann-Whitney U, Student's t, ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis tests for continuous data, and the Chi-square test or the Fisher's exact test for categorical data. Results: Complete data were available for 5275 patients. The most commonly discordant gaps between daily clinical practice and recommendations included the optimal timing for the index CT scan (6.1%, χ2 6.71, P = 0.081), use of prophylactic antibiotics (44.2%, χ2 221.05, P < 0.00001), early enteral feeding (33.2%, χ2 11.51, P = 0.009), and the implementation of early cholecystectomy strategies (29%, χ2 354.64, P < 0.00001), with wide variability based on the admitting speciality. Conclusions: The results of this study showed an overall poor compliance with evidence-based guidelines in the management of ABP, with wide variability based on the admitting speciality. Study protocol registered in ClinicalTrials.Gov (ID Number NCT04747990)

Timing of Cholecystectomy After Moderate and Severe Acute Biliary Pancreatitis

IMPORTANCE Considering the lack of equipoise regarding the timing of cholecystectomy in patients with moderately severe and severe acute biliary pancreatitis (ABP), it is critical to assess this issue.OBJECTIVE To assess the outcomes of early cholecystectomy (EC) in patients with moderately severe and severe ABP.DESIGN, SETTINGS, AND PARTICIPANTS This cohort study retrospectively analyzed real-life data from the MANCTRA-1 (Compliance With Evidence-Based Clinical Guidelines in the Management of Acute Biliary Pancreatitis) data set, assessing 5304 consecutive patients hospitalized between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2020, for ABP from 42 countries. A total of 3696 patients who were hospitalized for ABP and underwent cholecystectomy were included in the analysis; of these, 1202 underwent EC, defined as a cholecystectomy performed within 14 days of admission. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify prognostic factors of mortality and morbidity. Data analysis was performed from January to February 2023.MAIN OUTCOMES Mortality and morbidity after EC.RESULTS Of the 3696 patients (mean [SD] age, 58.5 [17.8] years; 1907 [51.5%] female) included in the analysis, 1202 (32.5%) underwent EC and 2494 (67.5%) underwent delayed cholecystectomy (DC). Overall, EC presented an increased risk of postoperative mortality (1.4% vs 0.1%, P <.001) and morbidity (7.7% vs 3.7%, P < .001) compared with DC. On the multivariable analysis, moderately severe and severe ABP were associated with increased mortality (odds ratio [OR], 361.46; 95% CI, 2.28-57 212.31; P = .02) and morbidity (OR, 2.64; 95% CI, 1.35-5.19; P = .005). In patients with moderately severe and severe ABP (n = 108), EC was associated with an increased risk of mortality (16 [15.6%] vs 0 [0%], P < .001), morbidity (30 [30.3%] vs 57 [5.5%], P < .001), bile leakage (2 [2.4%] vs 4 [0.4%], P = .02), and infections (12 [14.6%] vs 4 [0.4%], P < .001) compared with patients with mild ABP who underwent EC. In patients with moderately severe and severe ABP (n = 108), EC was associated with higher mortality (16 [15.6%] vs 2 [1.2%], P < .001), morbidity (30 [30.3%] vs 17 [10.3%], P < .001), and infections (12 [14.6%] vs 2 [1.3%], P < .001) compared with patients with moderately severe and severe ABP who underwent DC. On the multivariable analysis, the patient's age (OR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.02-1.36; P = .03) and American Society of Anesthesiologists score (OR, 5.91; 95% CI, 1.06-32.78; P = .04) were associated with mortality; severe complications of ABP were associated with increased mortality (OR, 50.04; 95% CI, 2.37-1058.01; P = .01) and morbidity (OR, 33.64; 95% CI, 3.19-354.73; P = .003).CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This cohort study's findings suggest that EC should be considered carefully in patients with moderately severe and severe ABP, as it was associated with increased postoperative mortality and morbidity. However, older and more fragile patients manifesting severe complications related to ABP should most likely not be considered for EC