118 research outputs found

    Using the Enterprise Architecture Approach to Analyse the Current Performance of Manchester United Football Club

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    Manchester United Football Club (MUFC) is one of the most successful football clubs in England, if not the world.  However, the football club's recent performance in domestic and European tournaments has left a lot to be desired.  The recent 2021 Europa League final failure encapsulates the football club's decade-long condition.  MUFC's days of competing seriously for trophies in every tournament open to the club are over.  MUFC came close to winning the local league in the 2017 and 2021 seasons but fell short, just like they did in the previous Europa League final in 2021.  Numerous reasons have contributed to the current poor performance streak.  This study aims to apply an enterprise architectural framework to enhance football player performance and manager-player relationships.  This study discovered that MUFC might leverage big data analytics-IT integrated systems by following easy-to-understand enterprise architectural framework phases, which streamlines the adoption process for MUF

    Depauperate avifauna in tropical peat swamp forests following logging and conversion to oil palm agriculture: evidence from mist-netting data

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    Increased demand for oil palms has led to a massive expansion of logging and conversion of peat swamp forests in Southeast Asia. Although palm oil is a primary driver of economic growth, the unsustainable expansion of the oil palm industry has led to the widespread degradation of peat swamp forests. Birds have been studied to determine their responses to landscape changes in the North Selangor Peat Swamp Forest (NSPSF). We captured 1045 birds from 72 species of the NSPSF and 168 individual birds from 13 species in oil palm plantations using mist-netting. Our results show that peat swamp forest supports more bird species than the oil palm areas. Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling revealed that both vegetation types had an influence on bird species composition. SIMPER analysis also showed that the percentage of the assemblage similarity within the oil palm areas was 51.30 %, while it was 31.32 % in the peat swamp. We found that the populations of frugivores, insectivores, and omnivores were significantly higher in the peat swamp forest, whereas there was no significant difference in the granivores between the two sites. To conserve peat swamp forests, stakeholders should implement habitat restoration, maintain landscape connectivity, and retain a forest area network

    PENERAPAN VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOKOL (VOIP) UNTUK OPTIMALISASI JARINGAN PADA BADAN KEPENDUDUKAN DAN KELUARGA BERENCANA NASIONAL

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    Badan Kependudukan dan Keluarga Berencana Nasional (BKKBN) Merupakan lembaga pemerintah Non Departemen Indonesia yang bertugas melaksanakan tugas pemerintahan di bidang keluarga berencana dan keluarga sejahtera. Salah satu aspek penting penunjang kelancaran setiap program yang diusung BKKBN adalah kelancaran dalam bidang komunikasi, sementara itu pada BKKBN pusat saat ini terdapat beberapa kendala yang dirasa cukup serius dalam bidang infrastruktur komunikasi, yaitu kurang optimalnya jaringan komunikasi pada BKKBN pusat dengan wilayah Indonesia bagian timur yaitu Provinsi Maluku Utara dan Papua Barat yang masih menggunakan media telepon konvensional biasa untuk melakukan komunikasi antar Provinsi yang dirasa belum optimal dari segi pemberdayaan jaringan yang ada. Untuk mengoptimalkan jaringan komunikasi pada BKKBN dengan Provinsi terkait, maka diperlukan implementasi jaringan komunikasi VOIP pada BKKBN Pusat dengan Provinsi Maluku Utara dan Papua Barat. VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) adalah teknologi yang mampu melewatkan trafik suara, video dan data yang berbentuk paket melalui jaringan IP, dan menjamin keamanan jenis komunikasi yang dilakukan dengan jaringan komunikasi VOIP tersebut

    Cattle-grazing in oil palm plantations sustainably controls understory vegetation

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    Oil palm agricultural practices need to be substantially changed in order to meet the global demand for more ethical and sustainable farming. Livestock integration is an innovative method to control understory vegetation in oil palm plantations, while reducing the need for chemical herbicides, as well as providing additional food security, ecosystem services, and habitat heterogeneity. Understory vegetation is important for faunal biodiversity in oil palm plantations, however it is often decimated by the over usage of herbicides. To determine how cattle-grazing affected the growth of understory vegetation, we collected data from 45 plantations, in Peninsular Malaysia, including those integrated with cattle and without them. Our results revealed that the plantations integrated with cattle had on average 20% more undergrowth coverage, but no difference in undergrowth height, therefore, maintaining undergrowth at an acceptable height for harvesters to access oil palms. We recommend cattle-grazing as a method for oil palm stakeholders to maintain manageable undergrowth and align with sustainable palm oil certification policy by reducing their use of chemical herbicides. To promote cattle-oil palm integration, specific policies are needed to strengthen financial and technical support

    Effects of intensive rice production practices on avian biodiversity in Southeast Asian managed wetlands

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    Rice fields are common throughout the agricultural landscape of Southeast Asia and sustain various bird species. These birds can provide ecosystem services, such as pest control, that improve agricultural yields whilst minimising the use of agrochemicals. This study quantified avian biodiversity in rice production landscapes during three farming stages in Peninsular Malaysia. In Malaysia, rice fields can be an important habitat for migrating birds due to Malaysia’s position on the East-Asian–Australasian Flyway. We determined bird abundance, species richness, and composition in rice field landscapes and compared these during different stages of rice growing. Wetland and terrestrial birds were counted in rice fields using the point-count method. Sixty sampling points were randomly established in three locations, from which 3447 individual birds of 46 species and 26 families were recorded. There was a significant difference in total bird abundance and species richness between the three different stages of rice growing. The growing stage supported greater bird abundance and species richness compared to the pre-harvest and post-harvest stages. Rice-growing provides temporary habitats to different bird species in this managed aquatic landscape. This implies the presence of abundant food, such as small fish and amphibians. The evidence from this study suggests that biodiversity-friendly agricultural practices should be implemented to improve habitat quality for birds in rice production landscapes

    Nocturnal bird composition in relation to habitat heterogeneity in small scale oil palm agriculture in Malaysia

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    The expansion of oil palm cultivation is recognised as a major cause of tropical biodiversity loss. In contrast to large-scale plantations, oil palm smallholdings being more heterogeneous may support greater biodiversity. This study examined the effects of local and landscape level variables on the composition of nocturnal bird species in Malaysian oil palm smallholdings. Using visual and aural point sampling, we made 1408 encounters with nine owl and two nightjar species. The Biota-Environment-Stepwise matching analyses (BEST) indicated four predictor variables (three local variables; number of crop species, widths of roads and trenches, and one landscape variable; distance to the nearest main road) significantly influenced the community assemblages of nocturnal bird species in the smallholdings. Generalized Linear Models (GLMs) further indicated seven predictor variables (numbers of palms and houses, widths of roads and trenches, distances to the nearest forest and house, as well as palm height) significantly influenced the abundances of certain nocturnal species. These findings not only improve our understanding on habitat preference of nocturnal birds in the Sunda region but also support the argument that habitat complexity in cultivated areas may aid in biodiversity conservation, at least for nocturnal birds

    Time to revisit oil palm-livestock integration in the wake of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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    To date, the idea of using livestock animals as biological tools to manage weeds, sequester carbon, and boost food security in oil palm plantations has not been seriously considered by industry stakeholders of major producing countries (e.g., Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Colombia, and Nigeria). We revisit the integration of oil palm cultivation with livestock farming as a silvopastoral agroforestry practice in the wake of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Oil palm-livestock integration has the potential to promote sustainable palm oil production because it can provide multiple environmental and socio-economic benefits, including carbon sequestration, restoring top soil, improving ecosystem biodiversity, reducing pesticide and fertilizer inputs, and boosting national food security. In contrast to monocultural outputs of most conventional plantations, an oil palm silvopastoral system is an ideal way to address the global food insecurity challenge as it produces bioenergy, vegetable oil/fat and animal-based protein sources (e.g., red meat). In addition, the potential of contract targeted grazing could be considered as a new type of business and income diversification for rural people. Oil palm-livestock integration is a strategy by the palm oil industry to achieve multiple SDGs. Out of the 17 SDGs, oil palm-livestock integration is likely to deliver nine SDGs. Palm oil certification bodies should recognize oil palm-livestock integration as a biological control method in weed management practices. We recommend that oil palm-livestock integration should be promoted to revitalize sustainable palm oil production and strategic biodiversity conservation policy. Policy makers should encourage major players in the palm oil industry to practice oil palm-livestock integration

    Export performance of tropical timber products certified by the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme

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    A study on the export performance of timber products certified under the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) was conducted from 2003 to 2015. The objectives were to analyse the trend and growth of certified timber products (CTP) and to determine the factors that influenced their export using Generalised Linear Models (GLM). The annual growth of CTP export had a fluctuating trend. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) within the study period was estimated at 31%. The average annual growth rate (AAGR) estimated using log-linear regression analysis was 22%. The primary markets for CTP export were European countries, accounting for nearly 83% of exports over the study period. The Netherlands seemed to be the main destination for almost half (40%) of the CTP. The major product was sawn timber (59%), followed by plywood (31%). GLM revealed that the export trend of CTPunder the MTCS increased with the number of Chain-of-Custody (CoC) certificate holders. More active involvement in the MTCS CoC certification scheme by industry players could promote the growth of Malaysia’s sustainable timber trade

    The global palm oil sector must change to save biodiversity and improve food security in the tropics

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    Most palm oil currently available in global markets is sourced from certified large-scale plantations. Comparatively little is sourced from (typically uncertified) smallholders. We argue that sourcing sustainable palm oil should not be determined by commercial certification alone and that the certification process should be revisited. There are so-far unrecognized benefits of sourcing palm oil from smallholders that should be considered if genuine biodiversity conservation is to be a foundation of 'environmentally sustainable' palm oil production. Despite a lack of certification, smallholder production is often more biodiversity-friendly than certified production from large-scale plantations. Sourcing palm oil from smallholders also alleviates poverty among rural farmers, promoting better conservation outcomes. Yet, certification schemes - the current measure of 'sustainability' - are financially accessible only for large-scale plantations that operate as profit-driven monocultures. Industrial palm oil is expanding rapidly in regions with weak environmental laws and enforcement. This warrants the development of an alternative certification scheme for smallholders. Greater attention should be directed to deforestation-free palm oil production in smallholdings, where production is less likely to cause large scale biodiversity loss. These small-scale farmlands in which palm oil is mixed with other crops should be considered by retailers and consumers who are interested in promoting sustainable palm oil production. Simultaneously, plantation companies should be required to make their existing production landscapes more compatible with enhanced biodiversity conservation
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