HOW TO STRIKE A BALANCE WHEN WORKING FROM HOME (WFH)

 KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 (Bernama) -- I remember when I was in primary school, the teacher asked us to imagine and draw something about Wawasan 2020. We poured out our creative hearts by drawing robots, KLCC and of course flying cars all over the sky. Back then, we believed that in 20 years or more to come, the world would evolve like what we had creatively imagined.

Fast forward to 2019, nothing much has changed and in 2020-2021, it’s still a dream for us and even far apart from our imagination due to the global pandemic outbreak. It affected the world including Malaysia and changed the lifestyles of many such as no more outings without a mask, travel restrictions and working from home (WFH) has become a norm. One of the struggles that many people face when it comes to WFH is to juggle between work and house chores:
    
Tired of cooking

Preparing and cooking 3 meals per day especially for the entire family can become a chore after a while, especially the cleaning afterwards. Your kitchen is a mess now with tons of plate, oily floor and the most headache part is the food smell being trapped inside your house and sometimes it continues to linger even after you wake up the next morning. (sigh)

Pets fur everywhere

Pets like cats and dogs are cute but if you have a pet, you know how frustrating their drop of hair/ fur can be. You literally see the hair flying in the air or has firmly landed on the floor or attached to your furniture. And of course, you vacuum the fur everyday to ensure your family members are away from respiratory issues or allergies. It definitely drains your energy and you may feel extremely tired.

Getting rid of germs and bacteria

Due to the pandemic outbreak last year, no doubt that you are more aware and emphasise on the hygiene level at home. Especially parents are more alert to frequently sanitise things at home eg. door knobs, toys, remote controls etc to ensure your kids are protected from harmful germs and bacteria.

But sometimes it’s still unavoidable even after many rounds of cleaning and sanitising, tiny air pollutants which we could not see from our naked eyes may still enter from different entry points.

It is definitely not easy to juggle both your work and house chores daily. But, there is a way to reduce your burden. Initial InspireAir 72- air purifier that purifies and sanitises air up to 72m2  indoor space by eliminating 95% of air pollutants. It can be placed in your respective rooms to improve the indoor air quality for you and your family. It contains multilayer filters that remove harmful airborne particles down to 0.3 microns which include bacteria and pollen. Once the air purifier is set to run, it will start to clean and sanitise the air immediately and give a constant reading of the indoor air quality within the coverage vicinity.

Now, with good indoor air quality at home, it helps to protect you and your loved ones from harmful germs and bacteria while increasing productivity and performance at work and at the same time enjoy your leisure activities at peace. Be sure not to miss out the attractive deal for InspireAir 72. Head on to Initial Hygiene Malaysia now to find out more.

About Rentokil Initial Malaysia

Rentokil Initial is part of an international network of over 70 countries with 35,500 colleagues, more than 100 years of combined experience, and a great track record of providing reliable and trustworthy services to businesses globally.

Established in Malaysia for over 50 years, we are the experts delivering essential services in areas such as hygiene and pest control the foundation of businesses - so our customers can focus on what they do best. Rentokil Initial is characterised by efficient management that supports a national network across Malaysia. That means there's always a Rentokil Initial service technician nearby when a customer needs one - and that we have the range and depth of resources to provide consistent quality service to customers. This makes Rentokil Initial a trusted brand of many different customers ranging from residential, SMEs to large organisations.

For more information on our services, please contact:

Initial hygiene : 1800 880 388
initial.com.my

Rentokil pest control : 1300 886 911
rentokil.com.my 


SOURCE : Rentokil Initial Malaysia

PRA'S CENTER FOR RARE DISEASES LAUNCHES TOOLKIT TO IDENTIFY AND MITIGATE RISKS TO RARE DISEASE CLINICAL PROGRAMS

 

Four-part, patient-focused toolkit is available for download at no cost and allows sponsors to identify risks to the efficiency and success of their trials


RALEIGH, N.C., March 23 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PRA Health Sciences (NASDAQ: PRAH) announced today the launch of its Patient-Centric Trial Development Toolkit, available now to clinical development sponsors focusing on rare diseases. Developed by PRA’s Center for Rare Diseases in collaboration with PRA’s Rare Disease Advisory Committee (RDAC) and other patient stakeholders, the toolkit includes four digital resources designed to mitigate risks that frequently occur in rare disease clinical trials. The toolkit also introduces and affirms new patient-centric practices that promote trial participation.

The Patient-Centric Trial Development Toolkit is available at no cost and can be downloaded at https://prahs.com/insights/patient-centric-trial-development-toolkit.

“The main purpose of the toolkit is to guide sponsors in taking a more patient-centric approach in developing clinical trials,” said Scott Schliebner, MPH, Senior Vice President, Center for Rare Diseases at PRA Health Sciences. “As an example, the toolkit includes a risk assessment tool that clinical development teams can use to identify risk to the efficiency of a clinical program. The risks that are identified are usually real world burdens for participants, and the tool provides risk mitigation strategies and solutions for sponsors to consider.”

PRA’s rare disease experts and RDAC members recognized a gap in the availability of structured tools for operationalizing patient-centricity in rare disease clinical development. Patients, advocates, and industry leaders in rare diseases collaborated and consulted with PRA to develop four parts of the Patient-Centric Trial Development Toolkit:

• Patient-Centric Protocol Risk Assessment Tool: Interactive, spreadsheet-based tool that enables sponsors to rapidly identify potential risks, track evolution of risk assessment through stages of the development process and identify potential mitigation strategies.
• Rapid Participation Burden Survey Tool: An easy-to-use questionnaire development guide that helps sponsors and patient advocates develop a rapid survey for patients and caregivers tailored to their clinical trial’s specific context. The aim of this tool is to help sponsors quantify risk to the clinical program through direct patient engagement.
• Patient Involvement Value Dossier: This tool outlines the evidence of ROI/benefit involvement in the trial development process from extant literature and provides illustrative case studies from PRA’s Center for Rare Diseases.
• “What to ask when you’re interested in a clinical trial: A Guide for Rare Disease Patients and Caregivers”: Helps prospective participants identify the barriers to participation they may encounter and request the support they need to enroll and stay in the trial.

“Rare disease patients and trials face unique challenges compared to those in more common indications,” said Tracy Dixon-Salazar, PhD, Director of Research & Strategy at LSG Foundation, RDAC member. “As a rare disease patient advocate, I appreciate the genuine care that PRA gives to their patients and family caregivers. In sharing these resources with sponsors and the rare disease community, PRA is taking another step in making clinical research more accessible and ensuring the patient and their family is top of mind when developing a clinical trial program.”

“PRA is so sincerely dedicated to putting the patient's experience first,” said Terry Jo Bichell, Founder & Director of COMBINEDBrain, RDAC Member. It is easy to give lip service and small concessions to patients, but PRA is actually digging deep into what it means for patients and their families to be a part of clinical trials. Even when a patient wants a new treatment, it is still stressful, scary, and time-consuming to take part in a trial. PRA is trying to understand that and make it better.”

While the Patient-Centric Trial Development Toolkit does focus on lessening the burden on patients to participate in clinical research, there are also several key benefits for sponsors such as avoiding significant costs related to inefficiency, high trial dropout rates, protocol amendments, and not being able to complete a trial on time.

To learn more about the importance of patient-centricity in clinical development or to download the toolkit, visit https://prahs.com/centers/center-for-rare-disease/trial-development-toolkit.

For more information about the Center for Rare Disease, please visit https://prahs.com/centers/center-for-rare-disease.

About PRA Health Sciences

PRA Health Sciences is one of the world’s leading global contract research organizations by revenue, providing outsourced clinical development and data solution services to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. PRA’s global clinical development platform includes more than 75 offices across North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa, Australia and the Middle East and approximately 19,000 employees worldwide. Since 2000, PRA has participated in approximately 4,000 clinical trials worldwide. In addition, PRA has participated in the pivotal or supportive trials that led to U.S. Food and Drug Administration or international regulatory approval of more than 95 drugs. To learn more about PRA, please visit www.prahs.com.

INVESTOR INQUIRIES: InvestorRelations@prahs.com 

MEDIA INQUIRIES: Laurie Hurst, Sr. Director, Communications and Public Relations
hurstlaurie@prahs.com | +1 (919) 786-8435 


SOURCE : PRA Health Sciences, Inc.

THE SPORTS TOURISM RESORT HAIKOU GATHERS CHINESE SAILING AND WINDSURFING ATHLETES TO RECEIVE INTENSIVE TRAINING

 

^{Windsurfing athletes in training at the Haikou National Sailing and Windsurfing Base}


HAIKOU, China, Mar. 22, 2021 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/--

Recently, more than 300 athletes from the China's national and provincial sailing and windsurfing teams from Shanghai, Zhejiang, Sichuan and other regions assembled in Haikou, Hainan Province, a city surrounded by the warmest cities in China, to start their first training in the new year. They are making active preparations for the Tokyo Olympics and the 14th National Games of China.
 
Being the only free trade port in China, Hainan also boasts a strong sports industry base, a pleasing climate, an advantageous geographic location and convenient transportation. It has broad prospects for water sports and sports tourism. The National Sailing and Windsurfing Base on the Haikou Xixiu Beach is where the national sailing and windsurfing team carries out winter training. It is also the largest sailing base in Asia. Since 1983, Haikou has become a winter training base for China's national sailing and windsurfing team, attracting sailing and windsurfing teams across the country for winter training here every year. Three Olympic champions and several world champions were once trained here.
 
At the end of 2018, the public pier project of the National Sailing and Windsurfing Base was completed. Open to both professional athletes and tourists for sailing, windsurfing, cruise ships, yachts and other leisure services, it is also received by local residents, as well as Chinese and foreign tourists, greatly enriching Haikou's water tourism services.
 
Source: Haikou National Sailing and Windsurfing Base
 
Image Attachments Links:
 
   Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=387040
 
   Caption: Windsurfing athletes in training at the Haikou National Sailing and Windsurfing Base

ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY RELEASES ‘BIGGER STARTS HERE’ VIDEO FOR 124TH ANNIVERSARY

KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 (Bernama) -- In conjunction with its 124th anniversary on May 21, Zhejiang University recently released the ‘Bigger Starts Here’ video.

The video tells how Zhejiang University’s teachers and students find higher goals in the campus, and brave risks for the social good, according to a statement.

Wang Tun ('95, cryogenics), an alumnus of Zhejiang University, with 12 years of efforts, has built the world's largest earthquake early warning system and China's first multi-disaster early warning technology platform, protecting the lives of hundreds of millions of people.

Meanwhile, associate director of Zhejiang University's Cultural Heritage Research Institute, Professor Li Zhirong, has led a number of projects of historical significance, many of which are highly interdisciplinary in nature.

She successfully combines the University's engineering expertise and its profound sense of mission in preserving Chinese culture and history. Her interdisciplinary team created the world's first movable 3D replica of a 1,500-year-old cave of Yungang Grottoes.

In the same statement, the cover article of Nature recently published the latest result of a Zhejiang University research team on bionic soft intelligent robot.

For the first time, the team realised an exploration with the robot in Mariana Trench, which is 11,000 metres deep, providing solutions for deep sea exploration.

As the title says, ‘Bigger Starts Here’, the century-old institution of higher learning will keep moving forward with greater innovation and achievements.

-- BERNAMA

NETSFERE RECOGNISED LEADING SECURE ENTERPRISE MESSAGING PLATFORM

KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 (Bernama) -- NetSfere, a global provider of next-generation secure and compliant messaging and mobility solutions has been named the leading Secure Enterprise Messaging platform.

“We are pleased to be named in the latest 451 Research report, alongside key industry players enabling secure communications for distributed and mobile workers.

“With WhatsApp’s latest privacy policy updates, implementing a tool like NetSfere has never been more important,” said NetSfere President and Chief Executive Officer, Anurag Lal in a statement.

In a recent report, analyst firm 451 Research S&P Global Market Intelligence warns that the privacy policy backlash recently experienced by WhatsApp is a wake-up call for businesses, highlighting the relevance that secure enterprise communications will have post-COVID-19.

Nearly a year since the outbreak, organisations are shifting their focus to the long-term and have encountered new challenges, such as addressing the complexities that enabling secure remote collaboration entails.

While the use of consumer over-the-top (OTT) messaging apps has remained an ongoing issue in the workplace for several years, the shift to remote work makes this an even more pressing issue.

According to the report, over 74 per cent of respondents to 451 Research’s recent informational security survey noted they are “somewhat (52 per cent) or very concerned (22 per cent) about the level of security in collaboration tools that remote workers are using”.

The report goes on to note that tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams do still collect user’s data, although it looks different than how consumer grade apps do. However, NetSfere’s strict no data collection approach shines through as the strongest option.

More details at https://www.netsfere.com/

-- BERNAMA

JAPAN'S NIPPON EXPRESS BEGINS HALAL-CERTIFIED DOMESTIC AIR CARGO TRANSPORT SERVICE

 KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 (Bernama) -- Nippon Express Co Ltd is expanding its domestic halal logistics services in Japan, with the start of a new halal-certified domestic air cargo transport service recently.

By incorporating halal logistics system-certified work procedures into its ‘Express Hi-Speed’ domestic air cargo transport service, the Company has created a rapid halal transport service capable of handling shipments as small as a single cardboard box.

‘Express Hi-Speed’ halal transport features are improved visibility for halal products (special labels affixed on cargo); halal education for employees engaged in operations; delivery modes tailored to specific needs; easy-to-use product design; and, visualisation of transport status via centralised management.

According to a statement, with interest in halal products growing in Japan, Nippon Express has been constructing a halal logistics service network to support customers' supply chains and provide safety and peace of mind to Muslim customers and others.

Japan's Muslim population numbers about 200,000 and, with an increase in foreign visitors/residents from a diversity of cultural backgrounds anticipated, demand for halal products in Japan is expected to rise.

High certification standards for quality assurance and hygiene control have also expanded interest in halal products among health and safety-conscious consumers.

In 2014, Nippon Express became the first Japanese company to obtain halal logistics certification in Malaysia, and it has since been developing global halal logistics services.

-- BERNAMA