The Future of Logistics

The landscape of supply chain and logistics is changing at the fast past than ever due to digitalization. Everyday, new technologies are emerging and having impact on how logistics activities will be carried out. Furthermore, the acceptance of these technologies depends on the initial perception of stakeholders in logistics. This presentation outlines impact of nine various emerging technologies on future of logistics as perceived by experts in supply chain and logistics. Results were presented during the 13th ITS European Congress special session

Pollination of Brassica campestris (Cruciferae) by Andrena savignyi (Andrenidae: Hymenoptera): Female vs. Male Pollination

Female and male solitary bees usually differ in their behavioral and morphological attributes and consequently in their pollination effectiveness. The current study was carried out at the research farm of The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan, to compare the foraging behavior and pollination efficiency of female and male Andrena savignyi Spinola, 1838 on Brassica campestris. The impact of different environmental factors (temperature, relative humidity, light intensity and wind speed) on foraging behavior was also studied. Andrena savignyi was the most abundant floral visitor of B. campestris and comprised 52.17% of the floral visitors. Female individuals fed on both nectar and pollen while male fed on nectar. Visitation frequency, visitation rate, pollen harvest and pollen deposition of females were significantly higher than that of males because of their larger size and more dry weight. The maximum abundance of females was recorded at 12:00 pm followed by a sharp decline until 4:00 pm whereas males attained their maximum abundance at 2:00 pm. The female pollinated flowers resulted in greater pod weight, pod length, number of seeds per pod, seed weight per pod and germination percentage than the males. Our results suggest that females of A. savignyi deliver better pollination of B. campestris than males in terms of its reproductivesuccess and germination percentage. Future studies should emphasis on exploring the biology and ecology of A. savignyi with special focus of its artificial nesting

Trust, Privacy and Transparency with Blockhain Technology in Logistics

Since the introduction of blockchain over a decade ago, many industries and industrial sectors are exploring the potentials of the technology. In line with the trend, logistics sector is not an exception and is investigation various dynamics associated with the implementation of the technology. This study focuses on the linking between the capabilities of blockchain technology and trust, privacy and transparency. In order to explore dynamics of the linkage, the study used case study as a method for the inquiry. These have been common issues in logistics which the existing information solutions are unable in resolving to a greater extent.. The results shows that blockchain technology has the capability to build trust among unknown industry players while maintaining a sufficient level of privacy and transparency at the same time. Overall, the study presents useful insights by contributing to the major issues in logistics and supply chain when an innovative digital technology is put into action

New approach to forecasting agro-based statistical models

This paper uses various forecasting methods to forecast future crop production levels using time series data for four major crops in Pakistan: wheat, rice, cotton and pulses. These different forecasting methods are then assessed based on their out-of-sample forecast accuracies. We empirically compare three methods: Box- Jenkins’ ARIMA, Dynamic Linear Models (DLM) and exponential smoothing. The best forecasting models are selected from each of the methods by applying them to various agricultural time series in order to demonstrate the usefulness of the models and the differences between them in an actual application. The forecasts obtained from the best selected exponential smoothing models are then compared with those obtained from the best selected classical Box-Jenkins ARIMA models and DLMs using various forecast accuracy measures

User Acceptance In Sharing Economy - A Study Of Transportation Network Companies In China

User acceptance research has been one of the most prominent topics in the field of information systems. The phenomenon has been researched for many digital technologies in various contexts. This study will focus on user acceptance of digitally-embedded Transport Network Companies (TNCs) in China. The sheer size and uniqueness of the Chinese mobile economy fostered rapid development of sharing economy firms. The state of the art UTAUT2 model has been used in this research with an explanatory purpose and deductive approach to explain the user acceptance of TNC in China. Each of the individual factors of UTAUT2 have been individually tested with Simple Linear Regression to determine their influence on user acceptance. These calculations were executed upon quantitative data from an electronically distributed survey. The finding provides insights of user acceptance of mobile digital technologies. Upon analysis of the findings, research and practical implications have been drawn. For example, the findings provide guidance to the emerging market of TNC by providing managerial recommendations for how TNCs can raise user acceptance and market share

AEOLIX Living Labs Operational ImpactsAssessment

This document provides the AEOLIX impact assessment of living labs at the operational level. It is based on three main impacts namely business, environment, and socio-economic impacts. The three impacts are sub-divided further into sub-categories. The report collects data from twelve living labs involved in with AEOLIX. One of the main goals of AEOLIX was to reduce the costs for various logistics activities as implemented in twelve living labs. The expected benefits in the business area are from reducing the consumption of different resources, reducing the time used for various activities, and from increasing the productivity in certain areas. The economic or business benefits came along two dimensions: (i) in terms of time and (ii) in terms of money. In terms of time, AEOLIX facilitated reducing the time spent on various activities at the companies. In terms of money, AEOLIX helped to save the costs of specific logistics activities within the living lab.For the environmental aspect an overall value of 20% was set as target value for reduction in CO2 emission using AEOLIX. Only one of all living labs reached this target value, but there was anyhow a reduction found in all living labs. AEOLIX and its functions have also helped in reducing noise pollution at some of the living labs. In some cases, there was quite a considerable reduction. For the socio-economic aspects the job creation, SME empowerment, and the improved quality of life are addressed. This study has explored the impact of AEOLIX on job creation in terms of drivers’ and operators’ jobs. Since the AEOLIX implementation is still in its initial phases, respondents were unable to estimate how many jobs (drivers and/or operators) were created in the long run. SME Empowerment was measured as the increase in SMEs’ market share and the increase in direct collaboration between SMEs and large organizations. The results were meager both with regard to the market share and the extent of collaboration. The improved quality of life is measured in the way AEOLIX puts more focus on work, the less stress at work and a positive attitude towards people using it. The results reflect that AEOLIX has greatly helped employees to put more focus on work and to reduce stress levels. Managers consider this as a positive side of the return on investment (ROI) as the business processes are improved. AEOLIX impact on various socio-economic aspects is in principle positive but as this process is very slow to emerge it takes time to observe any changes in social aspects.Acceptance and trust on AEOLIX can be captured as a majority of the evaluation managers of the living labs found the AEOLIX functions (dashboard, connectivity engine and toolkit) useful to a great extent. The willingness to continue using AEOLIX functions and their usefulness are directly related to each other. This means that the more useful a function is, the more users are willing to continue using it. The AEOLIX platform, through various services and functions, has a positive impact on society in general and on workers in particular. Although this impact cannot be evaluated financially for the first year of the AEOLIX implementation, numerous studies show that a more satisfying and less stressful job, together with a more welcoming and stimulating environment, have an important economic impact in the long-term period. Therefore, the fact that AEOLIX has a positive impact on society will also prove to be an economic benefit for the different companies

Workplace Information Literacy: An Assessment of Academicians in QS-Ranked Universities of Lahore

The present paper identifies information literacy self-efficacy in workplace context among academicians working in all QS-ranked universities of Lahore. In addition, the current study aims to find a correlation of information literacy with different socio-cultural variables of academicians. This study opted for a quantitative approach, using a survey questionnaire for data collection. There were 356 responses collected from academicians working in all QS-ranked universities in Lahore. The data analysis was carried out through SPSS software. In order to achieve the study objectives, both descriptive and inferential statistics were used. The outcomes disclosed that the participants of the survey were highly skilled and self-possessed in information literacy as a whole and in all sub-dimensions too. Investigating the correlation between variables, it was found that the respondents’ age, job and research experiences were positively correlative to information literacy. It indicates that the academicians’ IL enhanced as they become older, research, and job experience upgraded. No statistical difference was found in respondents' IL with their gender, qualification and designation. No previous research studies have been published on information literacy self-efficacy of university academicians in workplace context in Pakistan. The present study has two limitations: 1) Study results are established on self-reported views of participants' IL self-efficacy, and 2) the current study was commenced at the QS-ranked universities of Lahore. The understanding may include formulating advanced university information literacy programs to support research-based learning

Influence of Bank Specific and Macroeconomic Factors on Profitability of Commercial Banks: A Case Study of Pakistan

The intended aim of study is to identify the influence of bank specific and macroeconomic factors on profitability of commercial banks in Pakistan over the period of 2007 to 2011. Return on assets and return on equity are used as dependent variable. Deposit to assets, bank size, capital ratio, net interest margin and nonperforming loans to total advances are utilized as bank specific measures. Inflation, real gross domestic product and industry production growth rate are macroeconomic factors. By employing descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis researcher conclude that bank size, net interest margin, and industry production growth rate has positive and significant impact on the ROA and ROE. Nonperforming loans to total advances and inflation have negative significant impact on Return on assets while real gross domestic product has positive impact on ROA. Capital ratio has positive significant impact on ROE. Key words: Return on Assets, Return on Equity, Inflation, Capital Ratio, Nonperforming loan

Bacterial ventriculoperitoneal shunt infections: changing trends in antimicrobial susceptibility, a 7-year retrospective study from Pakistan

BACKGROUND: Ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt infections in adults represent a severe complication and make treatment more challenging. Therefore, drug susceptibility patterns are crucial for therapeutic decisions and infection control in neurosurgical centers. This 7-year retrospective study aimed to identify the bacteria responsible for adult VP shunt infections and determine their drug susceptibility patterns. METHODS: This single-center study was performed from 2015 to 2021 in Lahore, Pakistan, and included CSF cultures from VP shunt infections. Demographic data, causative organisms, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing results were collected. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and two-sample t-tests were used to analyze and compare the antibiotic sensitivity trends over the study period. RESULTS: 14,473 isolates recovered from 13,937 CSF samples of VP shunt infections were identified and analyzed for their susceptibility patterns to antimicrobials. The proportion of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria were 11,030 (76%) and 3443 (24)%, respectively. The predominant bacteria were Acinetobacter species (n = 5898, 41%), followed by Pseudomonas species (n = 2368, 16%) and coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) (n = 1880, 13%). 100% of Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus) and CoNS were sensitive to vancomycin and linezolid (n = 2580). However, 52% of S. aureus (719/1,343) were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Acinetobacter showed maximum sensitivity to meropenem at 69% (2759/4768). Pseudomonas was 80% (1385/1863 sensitive to piperacillin-tazobactam, Escherichia coli (E. coli) showed 72% to amikacin (748/1055), while Klebsiella spp. was 57% (574/1170) sensitive to piperacillin-tazobactam. The sensitivity of piperacillin-tazobactam and meropenem for Gram-negative bacteria decreased significantly (p < 0.05) over 7 years, with 92.2% and 88.91% sensitive in 2015 and 66.7% and 62.8% sensitive in 2021, respectively. CONCLUSION: The significant decrease in the effectiveness of carbapenem and beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor combination drugs for the common Gram-negative causative agents of VP shunt infections suggests that alternative antibiotics such as colistin, fosfomycin, ceftazidime/avibactam, ceftolozane/tazobactam, and tigecycline should be considered and in consequence included in testing panels. Additionally, it is recommended to adopt care bundles for the prevention of VP shunt infection