Factors Affecting the Adoption of Information Technology Applications in the Food Service Sector in Malaysia

In recent years, many organizations have invested tremendously in information technology (IT) aiming to improve their firms7 performance. Previous literature suggest that various factors play crucial roles in the adoption of information systems. However, there is little empirical research about the factors affecting the adoption of IT applications in the foodservice sector. This study aims to determine the factors affecting the adoption of IT applications (specifically on the back-of-house and front-of-house IT applications) in the foodservice sector. The research model posits relationships of three major factor groups; a) the organizational factor group, b) environmental factor group, and c) technological factor group. Under these three factor groups there are ten factors to be tested against the adoption decision of the two foodservice IT applications. The factors are 1) top management support, 2) organizational size, 3) relative advantage, 4) strategic relevance, 5) Jinancial slack, 6) IT support infrastructure, 7) competitive pressure, 8) IT skilled employees, 9) ease of use, and 10) compatibility. The theoretical model of this study is based on the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) Theory. In this study, survey questionnaires were distributed to the Chief Executive Officers (CEO)/ or owners, or Chief Information Officers (CIO), or Management Information Systems ManagerdIT Managers, or Operation Managers or Account1 Finance Manager of the available 323 foodservice companies. The foodservice operators involved in the sampling were from restaurants belonging to foodservice chains and independent restaurants in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. The results showed that the response rate was 49.5%. A multiple regression analysis for the adoption of back-ofhouse IT applications and multinomial logistic regressions for front-of-house IT applications were used to test the hypotheses. The results revealed that factors such as top management support, strategic relevance, financial slack, IT skilled employees, ease of use, and compatibility affected the adoption of back-of-house IT applications. However, only the relative advantage and competitive pressure were found to be significant for the adoption of front-of-house IT applications. This suggests that different segments of business operations tended to influence different factors affecting the adoption of IT applications in the foodservice industry. Therefore, the results of this study provide some theoretical and practical implications of factors affecting the adoption of IT in the foodservice sector

The physical and thermal properties of modified rotational molding grade silane cross-linked polyethylene compound

This study is aimed at investigating the physical and thermal properties of the modified rotational molding grade cross-linked polyethylene compound with respect to process ability. Rotational molding grade High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) was blended at various compositions with HDPE and Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) using twin screw extruder. The melt index of the blends was studied according to ASTM D 1238. The blended compositions were chemically cross-linked with various amount of silane cross-linking agent using two roll-mill. Water curing was then undertaken at 100°C in water bath for 4 and 8 hours. Gel content was measured according to ASTM D 2765 to determine the degree of cross-linking. For thermal analysis, only samples crosslinked with 2.0 phr silane cross-linking agent were investigated on the Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) according to ASTM D 3417. The thermal stability test of the silane Crosslinkable Polyethylene (XLPE) was performed by Thermogravimetric Analyzer (TGA) according to ASTM D 3850. Results on melt index (MI) indicated that the rotational molding grade HDPE blended with HDPE showed higher MI compared to that with LDPE thus improved process ability. The density of rotational molding grade HDPE with HDPE was slightly increased whereas that blended with LDPE was slightly decreased. Samples blended with HDPE, melting temperature, Tm, barely changed and degree of crystallinity, Xc, decreased with compositions. Samples with LDPE Tm and Xc decreased with compositions thus improved process ability. As the silane concentrations increased, the gel content after curing was also increased but independent of compositions. Longer curing time resulted in higher gel content. Thermal stability of the crosslinked HDPE was higher than the uncross-linked HDPE, thus silane cross-linking help to stabilize the blends

The Role of Information Technology in Human Resource Management: Empirical Evidence from Public Sector of Pakistan

Purpose: At present times, information technology is commonly exploited in different areas of HRM, therefore, most of the public sector organizations have taken initiated to utilize the outstanding services of IT in their HR management functions to optimize and improve their HR departmental efficiency. Information technology has radically changed the way organizations are operated, particularly the HR department. Design/methodology/approach: The current study has been done to identify the key role played by information technology in all human resource departments of public sector organizations operating in Pakistan, and it was found that information technology has changed the operations and functions of the HR department. Findings: The current study has been done to identify the key role played by information technology in all human resource departments of public sector organizations operating in Pakistan, and it was found that information technology has changed the operations and functions of the HR department. Research limitations/implications: The survey questionnaire was adopted; overall 300 questionnaires were distributed, from which 235 returns with a 78% response rate. Practical implications: A simple regression analysis was carried out to check the role of IT in the human resource department of Pakistani public sector organizations, hence found a positive role of IT with r2 = .070.. Paper type: Research paper

An Evaluation of Space Use Efficiency in Residential Houses, Kabul City

Space efficiency is one of the significant segments of building that requires consideration. This study focuses on the evaluation of space use efficiency in existing residential buildings and seeks to look at the current space use practices in interior design. The study analyzes (1) how the interior space of buildings is used. (2) Considering the architectural guidelines to evaluate the space deficit of buildings. Therefore, the study takes the form of a literature review, with direct observation used for data collection. A total of six residential houses were observed, with interior space dimensions and areas measured using measurement tools. Comparative analysis is a technique used for data analysis. The findings of this study revealed that most residential buildings are not meeting space use regulations and standards ascribed to not considering the interior design process and governmental building guidelines. Most of the constructed buildings were not properly designed, the architectural design procedure was not considered. The study concluded with suggestions for raising public awareness about architectural design significance, imposing governmental regulation and building laws, and eradicating nonengineered construction in the city. Findings will serve clients and municipalities; policymakers should concentrate on public awareness and imposing building laws to ensure affordable houses in Kabul city

Aspect Based Sentiment Analysis for Large Documents with Applications to US Presidential Elections 2016

Aspect based sentiment analysis (ABSA) deals with the fine grained analysis of text to extract entities and aspects and analyze sentiments expressed towards them. Previous work in this area has mostly focused on data of short reviews for products, restaurants and services. We explore ABSA for human entities in the context of large documents like news articles. We create the first-of-its-kind corpus containing multiple entities and aspects from US news articles consisting of approximately 1000 annotated sentences in 300 articles. We develop a novel algorithm to mine entity-aspect pairs from large documents and perform sentiment analysis on them. We demonstrate the application of our algorithm to social and political factors by analyzing the campaign for US presidential elections of 2016. We analyze the frequency and intensity of newspaper coverage in a cross-sectional data from various newspapers and find interesting evidence of catering to a partisan audience and consumer preferences by focusing on selective aspects of presidential candidates in different demographics

Study the Causes of Work Related Stress Risk in Construction Sector in Afghanistan

This study was carried out to study the causes of stress risk in the construction sector of Afghanistan. It has become a growing concern in many sectors, not to mention the construction sector. It is important to ensure that workers can perform at their best, considering the construction industry\u27s highly competitive demands and competition. Stress risk has been identified as an important factor influencing an organization\u27s success, as it negatively affects the organization\u27s productivity, professionals\u27 health and safety, efficiency, and costs. The issue of work-related stress risk in the construction sector of Afghanistan is not commonly discussed. The objectives of this study are to find the causes of work-related stress risk. Data was collected using a questionnaire survey in Afghanistan through email from construction industry professionals such as project managers, site supervisors, project engineers, quantity surveyors, and architects. The data was analyzed using frequency analysis, the average index. For the causes of work-related stress risk, the main issues were the lack of management and control over work and increasing the employee’s expectations using the standard of safety. Based on the analysis of likelihood and severity, Ninth factors were in the very high and two were neutral the high stress risk at construction site were lack management and it supports, increase in duties, lack tool and safety.

Long-term Phytoremediating Abilities of Dalbergia sissoo Roxb. (Fabaceae)

The boom of tanneries in north India has converted the river Ganga into a waste dumping stream. The tanneries discharge their heavy metal-rich effluents into the river. Tissues of two-year-old tree saplings of Dalbergia sissoo, soil sediments and river water samples were collected from three sites along the river Ganga at Jajmau, Kanpur. Site-1 was located 1 km upstream from the point of discharge of the effluents of the tanneries, Site-2 was close to the source point, and Site-3 was about 1 km downstream from the source point. Accumulation of Cu, Cr and Ni in leaves, bark, wood growth rings, soil sediments and water samples was estimated using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The tissues of the two-year-old wood growth rings of D. sissoo accumulated large amounts of Cr, Cu and Ni. The Cr concentration in leaves, bark and wood rings had a strong, positive and linear correlation (r2) with the Cr concentration in soil sediments. The bioconcentration factors (BCFs) of Cr, Cu and Ni were higher than 1 in the wood, bark and leaves at all three selected sites, indicating the strong phytoremediating ability of the tree. The uptake of Cr and Ni was consistent in the bark and wood growth rings of two successive years. Owing to the strong uptake and accumulating abilities of Cr, Cu and Ni as evident from high BCF values and high biomass, we propose D. sissoo as a suitable species for phytoremediation throughout its range of distribution in Africa, Asia and the Americas

Characterization of Bitumen Mixed with Plastic Waste

Abstract Plastic (Polyethylene Terephthalate, PET) is now used as packaging material for a whole range of consumer products in addition to carbonated beverages. Although plastics are very useful product, but the disposal of these wastes has become a problem and is of great concern, particularly in our country. One of the solutions to the disposal of plastic wastes is recycling it into useful products such as it may be used in bituminous (asphaltic) pavements construction, resulting in reduced permanent deformation in the form of rutting of the pavement surface. The present study discusses in detail about the effect of PET on various engineering properties of bitumen. The PET waste was added in the bitumen from 2 to 14% and various tests such as penetration, ductility, softening point, viscosity, flash and fire point and stripping tests were performed for the characterization of plain bitumen and PET modified bitumen. The most effective percentage of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) waste was obtained between 10 to 12% by weight of the bitumen. The results of the study indicated that the modified mixture possessed better performance as compared to the non-modified bitumen. The experimental results were also authenticated by conducting Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) on the most effective percentages mixtures. It is observed that the addition of PET waste in the bitumen improves its engineering properties such as ductility, penetration, softening point and viscosity values by 32.43%, 14.56%, 26%, and 34% respectively. It has also been observed that addition of 12% PET waste results in zero percent stripping even after 48 hours

Tropic Transfer and Bioaccumulation of Lead Along Soil-Plant-Aphid-Ladybird Food Chain

Lead (Pb) contamination of agroecosystems is a serious issue as Pb is a persistent pollutant that is retained in soil for long, causing toxicities to organisms. This study examines biotransfer of Pb from soils treated with different concentrations of Pb through a broad bean (Vicia faba L.)–aphid (Aphis fabae Scop.)–ladybird (Coccinella transversalis Fabricius) food chain and its consequent inference for natural biological control, the ladybird. The soil was amended with Pb at the rates of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 mg kg−1(w/w). The amount of Pb in plant, aphid and ladybird increased in a dose-dependent manner to Pb contents in the soil. The results showed that Pb biomagnified from soil to root with transfer coefficient always \u3e 1. Biominimization of Pb occurred at the second trophic level in aphids and at the third trophic level in ladybirds as their respective transfer coefficients from shoot to aphid and aphid to ladybird were always \u3c 1. The increased elimination of Pb via aphid excreta (honeydew) and pupal exuviae in a dose-dependent manner suggests that these are possible detoxification mechanisms at two different trophic levels which control Pb bioaccumulation along the food chain. The statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05) decreases in biomass and predation rate of predatory ladybirds at 100 mg kg−1 Pb indicate that high dose of Pb in soil may have sub-lethal effects on ladybirds. Further studies at cellular and sub-cellular levels are needed to further document the potential mechanisms of achieving Pb homeostasis in ladybirds under Pb stress