There has been much effort to provide eco-friendly and biodegradable materials for the next generation of composite products owing to global environmental concerns and increased awareness of renewable green resources. This review article uniquely highlights the use of green composites from natural fiber, particularly with regard to the development and characterization of chitosan, natural-fiber-reinforced chitosan biopolymer, chitosan blends, and chitosan nanocomposites. Natural fiber composites have a number of advantages such as durability, low cost, low weight, high specific strength, non-abrasiveness, equitably good mechanical properties, environmental friendliness, and biodegradability. Findings revealed that chitosan is a natural fiber that falls to the animal fiber category. As it has a biomaterial form, chitosan can be presented as hydrogels, sponges, film, and porous membrane. There are different processing methods in the preparation of chitosan composites such as solution and solvent casting, dipping and spray coating, freeze casting and drying, layer-by-layer preparation, and extrusion. It was also reported that the developed chitosan-based composites possess high thermal stability, as well as good chemical and physical properties. In these regards, chitosan-based “green” composites have wide applicability and potential in the industry of biomedicine, cosmetology, papermaking, wastewater treatment, agriculture, and pharmaceuticals.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the value derived by the local community from cultural heritage and natural heritage in Jugra, Kuala Langat, as it has the potential to be a recognized heritage tourism site. The quantitative approach was used by conducting a survey study. A total of 392 respondents among the local community were selected through a purposive sampling technique. The collected data were processed with SPSS software and analyzed using cross tabulation analysis. Then, several hypotheses were tested using AMOS software. The result showed that Jugra’s unique heritage elements positively influenced the respondent’s willingness to accept and fund its tourism development. Socioeconomic factors also influenced the respondents’ disposition to preserve heritage. The findings revealed that there was priceless value when respondents agreed with the development, although they had never visited the heritage sites. Their physical, economic, and social valuation made them proud of the heritage, as it is a reflection of their identity. This study also aims to emphasize the role of local community as one of the stakeholders, as they should also be able to benefit from tourism development. All these would help boost the tourism industry, particularly through the archaeo-tourism and eco-tourism perspectives.

Fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have been selected as an alternative to conventional wooden timber cross arms. The advantages of FRP composites include a high strength-to-weight ratio, lightweight, ease of production, as well as optimal mechanical performance. Since a non-conductive cross arm structure is exposed to constant loading for a very long time, creep is one of the main factors that cause structural failure. In this state, the structure experiences creep deformation, which can result in serviceability problems, stress redistribution, pre-stress loss, and the failure of structural elements. These issues can be resolved by assessing the creep trends and properties of the structure, which can forecast its serviceability and long-term mechanical performance. Hence, the principles, approaches, and characteristics of creep are used to comprehend and analyse the behaviour of wood and composite cantilever structures under long-term loads. The development of appropriate creep methods and approaches to non-conductive cross arm construction is given particular attention in this literature review, including suitable mitigation strategies such as sleeve installation, the addition of bracing systems, and the inclusion of cross arm beams in the core structure. Thus, this article delivers a state-of-the-art review of creep properties, as well as an analysis of non-conductive cross arm structures using experimental approaches. Additionally, this review highlights future developments and progress in cross arm studies.

This research article elaborates on the conceptual design development of a sustainable bionanocomposite bracket for bracing installation in composite cross arm structures. The product design development employed the hybrid techniques of the theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ), morphological chart, and analytic network process (ANP) methods. The current bracket design in the braced composite cross arm is composed of heavy and easy-to-rust steel material. Therefore, this research aims to develop a new bionanocomposite bracket design to replace the heavy and easy-to-rust steel bracket. This research also aims to implement a concurrent engineering approach for the conceptual design of bionanocomposite bracket installation to enhance the overall insulation performance. A preliminary process was implemented, which covered the relationship between the current problem of the design and design planning to build a proper direction to create a new design product using TRIZ. Later, the TRIZ inventive solution was selected based on the engineering contradiction matrix with specific design strategies. From the design strategies, the results were refined in a morphological chart to form several conceptual designs to select the ANP technique to systematically develop the final conceptual design of the bionanocomposite bracket for the cross arm component. The outcomes showed that Concept Design 1 scored the highest and ranked first among the four proposed designs. The challenges of the bionanocomposite bracket design for cross arm structures and the improvement criteria in concurrent engineering are also presented.

Research on the beginning of the growth of Toraja culture needs to track when this unique culture began to develop. The Toraja cultural remains are generally made of stone such as menhirs and stone, and wood graves such as erong grave containers and various daily living equipment. Erong cemetery made of wood is noted as a cultural heritage that is quite old, and generally stored safely in caves, so it is very representative to know its age through the radiocarbon method (C14). A research through selectively taking samples of 22 erong burial sites in Tana Toraja and North Toraja Regency can be a media of tracking the range of the development period of the culture, which is noted around 780 - 1960 AD. Thus the date of the erong burial culture in Tana Toraja can provide a perspective on the initial period and development of the culture.