An integrated lean and ISO 14001 framework for environmental performance: an assessment of New Zealand meat industry

The aim of this paper is to explore the implementation of an integrated lean and ISO 14001 approach in meat industry for environmental performance and examine a proposed conceptual framework by capturing insights from lean and ISO 14001 experts in New Zealand (NZ). Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with a group of consultants (lean and ISO 14001) to evaluate the suitability of an integrated lean and ISO 14001 approach in the meat industry for environmental performance. A conceptual framework from literature has guided this study leading to its further development based on the empirical evidence collected. Findings have illustrated a synergistic positive impact of lean and ISO 14001 implementation as an integrated approach for sustaining environmental performance in the meat industry. A joint implementation programme provides more clarity in aligning ISO 14001 operational procedures with lean tools and techniques for an enhanced environmental performance outcome. The application of an integrated lean and ISO 14001 framework is proposed in this paper, which can help industry practitioners and academia in developing a joint implementation strategy and conducting future research. To the best of author’s knowledge, this study is the first to assess the effective implementation of lean and ISO 14001 as an integrated approach in the New Zealand meat industry.Publishe

Online Tracking: When Does it Become Stalking?

Online user activities are tracked for many purposes. In e-commerce, cross-domain tracking is used to quantify and pay for web-tra±c generation. Our previous research studies have shown that HTTP cookie-based tracking process, though reliable, can fail due to technical reasons, as well as through fraudulent manipulation by tra±c generators. In this research study, we evaluate which of the previously published tracking mechanisms are still functional. We assess the e±cacy and utility of those methods to create a robust tracking mechanism for e-commerce. A failsafe and robust tracking mechanism does not need to translate into further privacy intrusions. Many countries are rushing to introduce new regulations, which can have a negative impact on the development of robust technologies in an inherently stateless eco-system. We used a multi-domain, purpose-built simulation environment to experiment common tracking scenarios, and to describe the parameters that de¯ne the minimum tracking requirement use-cases, and practices that result in invading privacy of users. This study will help practitioners in their implementations, and policy developers and regulators to draw up policies that would not curtail the development of robust tracking technologies that are needed in e-commerce activities, while safeguarding the privacy of internet users.fals

Gendered objectification of weight stigma in social media: a mixed method analysis

(c) The Author/s. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the CreativeCommons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Australia License, which permits non-commercial use,distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and ACIS are credited.Rising popularity of social media platforms has led to many online exchanges on emergent topics by citizens globally. The growth in obesity rates worldwide has fuelled ongoing obesity-related discussions over social media. This study investigates the existence of weight stigma targeted towards different genders in online discussions. Using a mixed method analysis approach, we examined sentiments and word co-occurrences associated with weight stigma from the data corpus captured from Twitter and YouTube. Using the objectification theory as the underlying theory to examine the experiential consequences, our study reveals many sentiments over online discourses and reports significant gender based differences in the stigmatising content, with more intensity in negative emotions targeting female objectification than males. This study bridges data mining and social construction studies with embedded analytics to share new insights on human behaviours that can help extend our understanding of sentiments that lead to male and female objectification.falseFremantle, Western Australi

Syntactic generation of practice novice programs in Python

Abstract: In the present day, computer programs are written in high level languages and parsed syntactically as part of a compilation process. These parsers are defined with context-free grammars (CFGs), a language recogniser for the respective programming language. Formal grammars in general are used for language recognition or generation. In this paper, we present the automatic generation of procedural programs in Python using a CFG. We have defined CFG rules to model program templates and implemented these rules to produce infinitely many distinct practice programs in Python. Each generated program is designed to test a novice programmer’s knowledge of functions, expressions, loops, and/or conditional statements. The CFG rules are highly generic and can be extended to generate programs in other procedural languages. The resulting programs can be used as practice, test or examination problems in introductory programming courses. 500,000 iterations of generated programs can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/ pythonprogramgenerator. A survey of 103 students’ perception showed that 93.1% strongly agreed that these programs can help them in practice and improve their programming skills

Characterization and Regulation of the Osmolyte Betaine Synthesizing Enzymes GSMT and SDMT from Halophilic Methanogen Methanohalophilus portucalensis

The halophilic methanoarchaeon Methanohalophilus portucalensis can synthesize the osmolyte betaine de novo in response to extracellular salt stress. Betaine is generated by the stepwise methylation of glycine to form sarcosine, N, N-dimethylglycine and betaine by using S-adenosyl-L-methionine (AdoMet) as the methyl donor. The complete gene cluster of Mpgsmt-sdmt was cloned from Southern hybridization and heterologous expressed in E. coli respectively. The recombinant MpGSMT and MpSDMT both retained their in vivo functional activities in E. coli BL21(DE3)RIL to synthesize and accumulate betaine and conferred elevated survival ability in betaine transport deficient mutant E. coli MKH13 under high salt stress. The dramatic activating effects of sodium and potassium ions on the in vitro methyltransferase activities of MpGSMT, but not MpSDMT or bacterial GSMT and SDMT, revealed that GSMT from halophilic methanoarchaeon possesses novel regulate mechanism in betaine biosynthesis pathway. The circular dichroism spectra showed the fluctuated peaks at 206 nm were detected in the MpGSMT under various concentrations of potassium or sodium ions. This fluctuated difference may cause by a change in the β-turn structure located at the conserved glycine- and sarcosine-binding residue Arg167 of MpGSMT. The analytical ultracentrifugation analysis indicated that the monomer MpGSMT switched to dimeric form increased from 7.6% to 70% with KCl concentration increased from 0 to 2.0 M. The level of potassium and sodium ions may modulate the substrate binding activity of MpGSMT through the conformational change. Additionally, MpGSMT showed a strong end product, betaine, inhibitory effect and was more sensitive to the inhibitor AdoHcy. The above results indicated that the first enzymatic step involved in synthesizing the osmolyte betaine in halophilic archaea, namely, GSMT, may also play a major role in coupling the salt-in and compatible solute (osmolyte) osmoadaptative strategies in halophilic methanogens for adapting to high salt environments

Microbial diversity and biogeochemical cycling in soda lakes

Soda lakes contain high concentrations of sodium carbonates resulting in a stable elevated pH, which provide a unique habitat to a rich diversity of haloalkaliphilic bacteria and archaea. Both cultivation-dependent and -independent methods have aided the identification of key processes and genes in the microbially mediated carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur biogeochemical cycles in soda lakes. In order to survive in this extreme environment, haloalkaliphiles have developed various bioenergetic and structural adaptations to maintain pH homeostasis and intracellular osmotic pressure. The cultivation of a handful of strains has led to the isolation of a number of extremozymes, which allow the cell to perform enzymatic reactions at these extreme conditions. These enzymes potentially contribute to biotechnological applications. In addition, microbial species active in the sulfur cycle can be used for sulfur remediation purposes. Future research should combine both innovative culture methods and state-of-the-art ‘meta-omic’ techniques to gain a comprehensive understanding of the microbes that flourish in these extreme environments and the processes they mediate. Coupling the biogeochemical C, N, and S cycles and identifying where each process takes place on a spatial and temporal scale could unravel the interspecies relationships and thereby reveal more about the ecosystem dynamics of these enigmatic extreme environments

Exogenous and endogenous knowledge structures in dual-mode course deliveries

Learning Management Systems (LMS) have facilitated any-time any-place learning; thereby enabling educational institutions to embrace dual-mode teaching by engaging with on- and off-campus student cohorts. This study examines how lecturing staff build on existing knowledge structures when tasked with delivery of the same course concurrently over dual modes. Exogeneous knowledge structures are constructed from one's environment, while endogenous structures are rooted in how lecturing staff assimilate their teaching and learning environments to meet the needs of dual-mode learners. Activity Theory provided the theoretical lens and has revealed how exogeneous structures are influenced by the outer triangle elements, that in turn inform on interactions occurring among the inner triangle elements to construct endogenous knowledge. Seventeen lecturing staff participated via open-ended surveys to share their pedagogic approaches for maintaining equable learning experiences across both student cohorts. Findings show that staff can be constrained by LMS functionalities, course curriculum, course structure and lack of technical support. Staff employed additional online tools, changed assessment methods and encouraged online discussions to bring more parity across both learner groups. Our study provides new insights on dual-mode teaching deliveries and shares how lecturing staff develop new knowledge structures from their teaching practice. It will further help in development of instructional strategies especially post Covid-19, when it is likely that teaching modes will have more online component compared to current times.fals

Gender Diversity Population Simulations in an Extended Game of Life Context

Publishe

Interpreting academic integrity transgressions among learning communities

Copy of License must accompany any deposit. Published source must be acknowledged Must link to publisher version with DOIEducational institutions rely on academic citizenship behaviors to construct knowledge in a responsible manner. However, they often struggle to contain the unlawful reuse of knowledge (or academic citizenship transgressions) by some learning communities. This study draws upon secondary data from two televised episodes describing contract cheating (or ghostwriting) practices prevalent among international student communities. Against this background, we have investigated emergent teaching and learning structures that have been extended to formal and informal spaces with the use of mediating technologies. Learners’ interactions in formal spaces are influenced by ongoing informal social experiences within a shared cultural context to influence learners’ agency. Building upon existing theories, we have developed an analytical lens to understand the rationale behind cheating behaviors. Citizenship behaviors are based on individual and collective perceptions of what constitutes as acceptable or unacceptable behavior. That is, learners who are low in motivation and are less engaged with learning may collude; more so, if cheating is not condemned by members belonging to their informal social spaces. Our analytical lens describes institutional, cultural, technological, social and behavioral contexts that influence learner agency.fals

Investigating the Theoretical Constructs of a Green Lean Six Sigma Approach towards Environmental Sustainability: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Directions

Publishe