Corporate social responsibility:An analysis of current practices in the hotel industry.

The fame of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is undeniable and many concerned hotels have already performed CSR practices. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze and identify the current CSR practices by the worldwide hotels and specifically investigate the status and trend of CSR in the hotel industry

Geological Heritage feature of Tawau volcanic sequence, Sabah

Semporna Peninsula area was built up by thick Tertiary sequence of volcanic flows and volcaniclastic rocks. Early Cretaceous tholeiite basalt is the oldest sequence of volcanic rocks interpreted to have formed as part of a wide spread submarine volcano or volcanic complex within an MORB characterized by rapid volcanism. Miocene to Quaternary volcanisms from volcanic arcs contributed sequences of lava flows and pyroclastic rocks of dacitic, andesitic and basaltic rock types forming the major mountain chains of southeast Sabah. This Neogene volcanic sequence is dominated by low to high K-calc alkaline andesitic to dacitic volcanic rocks similar to modern island arc type. The subaerial of the latest lava flows of the region indicates volcanism consistent with tholeiitic basalt type. It has been accepted that during the Cenozoic, Sabah has been subjected to series of major tectonic regimes. A number of deformation phases have been determined include: Middle Eocene, Middle Miocene and Plio-Pleistocene phases of crustal movements of this region. The area appeared, therefore, to have been subjected to compressional tectonic regime throughout much of the late Cenozoic. However, the structural and sedimentological expression of these tectonic regimes varies considerably. It is suggested here that compressional episodes were interspersed with periods of active transtensional basin formation and that Late Miocene extension of the eastern part of Sabah which was related to compressional forces. On the basis of geological data and kinematic reconstructions, two types of island arcs can be differentiated: those related to the progressive closing of the Celebes and Sulu marginal basins during Middle Miocene and those belonging to the south Philippine Sea Plate during Plio-Pleistocene. The combined age and chemistry for these two magmatic belts allow us to decipher the Tertiary evolution of the complex zone of interaction of the Semporna Peninsula and the surrounding areas. This Tertiary sequence is underlain by the Early Cretaceous pillow lava basalt, and culminated by the late Pleistocene volcanisms those contributing to the major topography of the area include Andrassy, Lucia, Maria, Wullersdorf and Magdalena mountains formed the prominent topographic features of the area. This youngest volcanic apron covers an extensive area of the Semporna Peninsula. Semporna volcanic associations form important link with the long chain of Tertiary volcanic activities in this region that extend from the Sulu Archipelago, Philippines to the southeastern part of Sabah

The Role of Human Resource Department in Corporate Social Responsibility

The fields of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and human resource (HR) function have gained increasingly importance to corporate strategies. As many hotels are concerned with sustainability issues and CSR, the HR function is positioned to assist implementing and enhancing CSR strategy as well as administering its core functions. In most cases, CSR in the hotels are housed in HR Department where the managers have responsibility for the strategic application of CSR in the hotels. This paper presents a case study of five hotels in Penang Island, Malaysia as an attempt to demonstrate how Human Resource managers of these hotels perform their CSR practices. Specific focus is placed on the role of Human Resource managers who are not well-equipped with social work experience or background and specifically to investigate how these managers perceive CSR concept, the impact of their CSR programs on beneficiaries and the challenges that they encountered in the process. To answer these questions, we have conducted interviews with five managers from four and five star hotels in Penang. Our findings have reflected the importance of conceptualization of CSR particularly in hotel sector as well as gaining insight into current HR profession in administering CSR activities to consider someone with social work background in a bid to improve the quality of life of targeted communities. &nbsp

Solving Rich Vehicle Routing Problem Using Three Steps Heuristic

Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) relates to the problem of providing optimum service with a fleet of vehicles to customers. It is a combinatorial optimization problem. The objective is usually to maximize the profit of the operation. However, for public transportation owned and operated by government, accessibility takes priority over profitability. Accessibility usually reduces profit, while increasing profit tends to reduce accessibility. In this research, we look at how accessibility can be increased without penalizing the profitability. This requires the determination of routes with minimum fuel consumption, maximum number of ports of call and maximum load factor satisfying a number of pre-determined constraints: hard and soft constraints. To solve this problem, we propose a heuristic algorithm. The results from this experiment show that the algorithm proposed has better performance compared to the partitioning set

Three-Dimensional Structured Hybrid Scaffolds for Enhanced Bone formation

The most common clinical treatments for large bone deficiencies resulting from trauma, disease or infection are autograft, allograft or bone graft substitutes (BGS). However, these treatments still have limitations for clinical applications. Thus, this project aims to fabricate an optimal scaffold design for enhanced bone formation. Human bone is not solely hydroxyapatite (HA) but consists of multi-ionic substitutions in the HA lattice. Here, we have developed multi-substituted HA (SiCHA) nanopowders as bone substitute materials. SiCHA-2 was found to closely mirror the composition of the bone mineral content associated with the most enhanced proliferation and osteogenic activity. An innovative coating materials assembly was then established using SiCHA-2 nanopowders in combination with hyaluronan and collagen type I by the Polyelectrolyte Multilayers (PEMs) technique. Increasing the number of deposition cycles resulted in linear increases of surface properties and cell activities up to 5-bilayers. One common problem in scaffold-based tissue engineering (TE) is the rapid formation of tissue on the outer edge of the scaffolds whereas inner regions of the scaffold undergo necrosis. In this study, we incorporated aligned channels on the structure of three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds by Rapid Prototyping (RP) technique using Poly (lactic acid) (PLA) followed by PEMs. We investigated the fate of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) on these scaffolds in a rotary bioreactor compared to static conditions using osteogenic and proliferation media. We demonstrate that the combination of appropriate substrates with aligned channels, biochemical cues from the osteogenic media and better mass transport provided by rotary bioreactor enhances bone formation. In order to create pre-vascularized 3DP hybrid scaffolds, proof of concept work introduces the co-culture model of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and hMSCs into the best scaffold design. Co-culture shows enhanced expression of both proangiogenic markers, which is an early indication of an ability supporting vessel formation in vitro

Characterization And Properties Of Synthesized And Sintered Carbonated Hydroxyapatite

B-type Carbonated Hydroxyapatite (CHA) was successfully synthesized via nanoemulsion method, through dropwise (DW) and direct pouring (DP) techniques. The carbonate content in DP (8.60%) was higher than DW (7.85%). Both techniques produced nano-sized powders with variation in shapes of particles. It was also found that at temperature (≤ 40°C), the CHA powders were angular while above this critical temperature mixture of rods and angular shape was produced. Room temperature synthesis was better as they produced nano-size CHA with larger surface area. Sintering was then performed on pure CHA, CHA+Mg(OH)2, HA and HA+Mg(OH)2, samples which was cooled down with and without wet CO2 atmosphere to produce different type of carbonate substitution in the structure

Spousal Age Gap and Its Effects on Reproductive Health Decision Making Process in Nigeria

The paper explores Spousal age gap and its effects on Reproductive Health Decision Making Process in Nigeria using  Ankpa Local Government of Kogi State  as a unit of analysis.  Qualitative research was carried out using in-depth interviews. 20 couples were interviewed in Ankpa local government area of Kogi State and the findings revealed that age gap Narrow spousal communication and has  implication for the younger bride’s ability to communicate very well and freely in qualitative manner with her husband, age gap provide them with experience and resources, the wider the age gap the more the respect, if the woman is of the same age with the husband there is a tendency for disrespect and as women grow older chances that they will find husbands.The paper suggest, educating women as well as creation of jobs opportunities. Keywords: Age, Health, Reproductive, Rights    and Women

Izmirella cretacea nov. gen., nov. sp., a complex alga from the Lower Cretaceous, NE of Bornova-Izmir/Turkey

Izmirella cretacea nov. gen., nov. sp., a complex alga, forming microbioherms is described from Barremian – Aptian platform carbonates of the “Bornova block”, an allodapic unit derived from the northern margin of the Menderes Massif, included in Maastrichian – Danian flysh deposits, called the “Bornova melange”. The verticillate thallus of this alga consists of strongly imbricated bowl- to funnel-shaped whorls having tightly stacked laterals with two layers. The first is composed of radially and fan-like running segments, appearing as large cells in section parallel to the growth direction. The second is composed of multibranched tubes, running perpendicular to the segments of the first layer. Besides its organizational traits, this has original calcite mineralogy and an aggregative behaviour leading to the formation of laminated build-ups closely resembling stromatolitic bioconstructions or even stromatoporoids