Factors Of Green Logistics Implementation In Malaysia A Study On A Global Logistics Provider

Green logistics has become the newest trend in doing business that is not just economy and social sustainable for the logistics organizations but is also environment sustainable. As the world ecology is becoming worse due to globalization and industrialization with the rising temperature and sea levels, many global logistics companies are applying green logistics as it helps mitigate climate change by reducing carbon emissions. The objectives of this research have been threefold. The first was to identify the factors which need to be considered in green logistics implementation for global logistics company that operates in Malaysia. The second was to examine the ways that a global logistics company operating in Malaysia could take when implementing green logistics. The third was to construct a green logistics model that could contribute empirically to the Malaysian logistics industry. Primary data was collected using 30 semi-structured open-ended interviews and participant observation (observer-asparticipant). Secondary data regarding logistics, green logistics (implementation factors and ways) and business sustainability were obtained from various literatures. Findings indicated that there were gaps between the chosen global logistics company which is DB Schenker Malaysia and various literatures findings on green logistics in terms of the internal and external implementation factors as well as on the ways to implement green logistics. A green logistics model was then constructed to close the gaps and provide as a guide for logistics managers and the like especially in Malaysian logistics industry. The green logistics model developed is general enough for further investigation by testing its feasibility in Malaysian logistics industry or any other relevant industries. The model can also be evaluated by comparing with other similar designs by other researchers or by extending its application to other problems

Short-term Water Level Forecast Using ANN Hybrid Gaussian-Nonlinear Autoregressive Neural Network

The aim of this study is to develop the best forecast model using hybrid Gaussian-Nonlinear Autoregressive Neural Network to forecast the water level with multiple hour ahead for Melaka River.The  development of flood forecast models is crucial and has led to risk control, policy recommendations, a reduction in human life loss, and a reduction in flood-related property destruction. In this research, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) approach was used to forecast flood by modeling and forecasting water level time series . ANN approach was selected due to its high reputation abilities to learn from the time-series data pattern. A total of  2782 data for the period of one month  was used in ANN training, validation, and testing to forecast the flash flood. In this study , Hybrid Gaussian Nonlinear Autoregressive Neural Network (Gaussian-NAR) was used as the ANN approach to forecasting the water level time series. This study's primary focus is to find the most appropriate forecast model to forecast the water level in multiple time steps ahead, which are 1 hour, 3 hours, 5 hours, and 7 hours. The forecast accuracy measures are measured using the Pearson R and R-squared to find the most accurate model for this multiple time-step ahead. The result indicates that with 7 hours forecast ahead, the R squared is 86.7%. The best model in the Gaussian-NAR forecast is a 3-hour water level forecast with the R squared of 99.8 percent and had the best model performance result

catena-Poly[[[[N′-(4-cyano­benzyl­idene)nicotinohydrazide]silver(I)]-μ-[N′-4-cyano­benzyl­idene)nicotinohydrazide]] hexa­fluoridoarsenate]

In the title compound, {[Ag(C14H10N4O)2]AsF6}n, the AgI ion is coordinated by two N atoms from two different pyridyl rings and one N atom from one carbonitrile group of three different N′-(4-cyano­benzyl­idene)nicotinohydrazide ligands in a distorted T-shaped geometry. The Ag—Ncarbonitrile bond distance is significant longer than those of Ag—Npyrid­yl. The bond angles around the AgI atom are also not in line with those in an ideal T-shaped geometry. One type of ligand acts as the bridge that connects AgI atoms into chains along [01]. These chains are linked to each other via N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds and Ag⋯O inter­actions with an Ag⋯O separation of 2.869 (2) Å. In addition, the [AsF6]− counter-anions are linked to the hydrazone groups through N—H⋯F hydrogen bonds. Four of the F atoms of the [AsF6]− anion are disordered over two sets of sites with occupancies of 0.732 (9) and 0.268 (9)

Mutagenesis of the fusion peptide-like domain of hepatitis C virus E1 glycoprotein: involvement in cell fusion and virus entry

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Envelope (E) glycoprotein E2 of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) mediates binding of the virus to target cell receptors. Nevertheless, the precise role of E1 in viral entry remains elusive.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To understand the involvement of the fusion peptide-like domain positioned at residues 264 to 290 within envelope glycoprotein E1 in HCV infection, mutants with Ala and Asn substitutions for residues conserved between HCV and E proteins of flaviviruses or the fusion proteins of paramyxoviruses were constructed by site-directed mutagenesis and their effects on membrane fusion and viral infectivity were examined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>None of these mutations affected the synthesis or cell surface expression of envelope proteins, nor did they alter the formation of a non-covalent E1-E2 heterodimer or E2 binding to the large extracellular loop of CD81. The Cys residues located at positions 272 and 281 were unlikely involved in intra- or intermolecular disulfide bond formation. With the exception of the G267A mutant, which showed increased cell fusion, other mutants displayed reduced or marginally inhibited cell fusion capacities compared to the wild-type (WT) E1E2. The G267A mutant was also an exception in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)/HCV E1E2 pseudotyping analyses, in that it showed higher one-cycle infectivity; all other mutants exhibited greatly or partially reduced viral entry versus the WT pseudotype. All but the G278A and D279N mutants showed a WT-like profile of E1E2 incorporation into HIV-1 particles. Since C272A, C281A, G282A, and G288A pseudotypes bound to Huh7 cells as effectively as did the WT pseudotype, the reduced infectivity of these pseudotypes was due to their ability to inhibit cell fusion.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results indicate that specific residues, but not the structure, of this fusion peptide-like domain are required for mediating cell fusion and viral entry.</p

Arbitrarily primed sequence-related amplified polymorphism (AP-SRAP)

Sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) is a new-type molecular technique that targets coding sequences in the genome and results in a moderate number of co-dominant markers. Based on the SRAP program, the random primer combinations of SRAP, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) were used as new primers in marker analysis. We defined this technique as arbitrarily primed sequence-related amplified polymorphism (AP-SRAP). Of 256 tested AP-SRAP primers, 37.6% primers produced polymorphic patterns from the DNA of one or more species, which showed that AP-SRAP is an effective method to screen markers. Additionally, 80 SRAP primers were used to screen markers in seven plant species (Chinese cabbage, Chinese kale, eggplant, pepper, cucumber, rose and lily), which indicated obvious polymorphism. The primers of AP-SRAP combine simply and reliably. It can overcome the limitation of the number of standard SRAP primers, make greater use of the supply of alternative primers, and potentially reduce laboratory costs. We expect that AP-SRAP may be of wide application in identity testing, population studies, linkage analysis and genome mapping.Keywords: Arbitrarily primed amplification, DNA markers, plantsAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(29), pp. 4588-459