Education Supply Chain Management Model to Achieve Sustainability in Private Universities in Malaysia: A Review

This paper addresses an Integrated Tertiary Educational Supply Chain Management Model (ITESCM) to achieve sustainability among private universities in Malaysia. The application model highlights the role of Supply chain management and sustainable practices in Private Universities (PU). The model provides an overview to equip stakeholders of the educational supply chain with appropriate information to review and appraise the performance of private universities. This is with a view towards the fulfillment of ultimate goals in achieving the potential as providers of educational supply chain services and maintaining sustainability. The paper first provides an overview of recent research conducted in this area, followed by a detailed discussion on research issues that have been developed in ITESCM. It also provides the taxonomy of research and development in the area of integrated SCM and sustainability practices in higher education, particularly in private universities in Malaysia. The concept of integration in tertiary education supply chain and sustainability among private university is also discussed

A Structural Equation Model for the Study of Education Supply Chain Management Practices in Private Universities in Malaysia

Abstract: Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is a method that is frequently applied by business researchers to assess empirically new theoretical proposals articulated by means of complex models. Hence in this study SEM was engaged to scrutinize the impact of SCM practices on the performance of higher education in Malaysia. Firstly, the SCM practices survey was designed to investigate the main factors which influence supply chain practices in universities in Malaysia. Amongst the pool of constructs include: customer relationship, supplier relationship, information technology, information sharing, and innovation. Next, based on the SEM, the intensities of SCM practices of the universities were quantified in accordance with those constructs. The findings were supported by empirical evidence, as the study established that only information sharing and information technology had a significant positive relationship and impact on the universities performance. This paper provides a greater understanding of the interactions between the key elements of SCM practices associated with university performance and their impact on universities in Malaysia. Keywords: SEM, SCM practices, constructs, University Performance

The Impact of Supply Chain Management Practices on the Performance of Private Universities in Malaysia

Abstract Supply chain management SCM practices have determined the performance of organizations throughout the years. Recently there has been an upsurge in research on SCM and related practices in the education industry. The objective of this paper is to explore the potential benefits of adopting supply chain management practices towards the achievement of performance and to attain competitiveness in education industry. This empirical study was conducted among the Malaysian private universities. A total of ten universities are selected and 119 responses were received. The research design consisted of a cross sectional study of selected private universities in Malaysia based on their Setara rating as A, B and C categories. Factor analysis was conducted to explain the variance in the observed variables. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. The empirical results showed that the SCM practices have a positive impact on universitperformance especially in the of area information sharing and innovation which showing the highest impact. This study may contribute to a more in-depth analysis of the impact of SCM on the performance of private universities

The Significance of Reliability and Validity analysis on Education Supply Chain Management Practices

Abstract: Supply chain management practices (SCMP) have progressively emerged as a contingent factor in improving sustainable performance in universities. More and more organisations including the manufacturing and service sectors are making use of SCM to improve their performance. This study aims to develop an effective instrument to measure SCM practices with reliable predictors to enhance product quality and business performance in education industries in Malaysia. The study measures administrative staffs response and perceptions regarding SCM practices and its impact on performance in their universities. One hundred and thirty responses were received and the data was analysed using SPSS. The validity and reliability of the instruments used in determining SCM practices were tested using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Cronbachs alpha. Twenty seven items from five competencies comprising: supplier partnership, customer partnership, information sharing, information technology and innovation competencies were designated for the initial instrument. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) revealed that five factor-structures of the instrument of education SCM practices explained 68.76% of the variance in the pattern of relationships among the items. All five factors had high reliabilities at or above of Cronbachs .80. Twenty two items remained in the final questionnaire after deleting five items which cross-loaded on multiple factors. The fiver-factor structure of the education SC practice instrument was confirmed through this study. Thus, practitioners may use such instruments in order to gain a better understanding of the level of contribution of the stated factors towards SCM practices to determine overall university performance and key competencies

Dual DNA binding mode of a turn-on red fluorescent probe thiazole coumarin.

Turn-on fluorescent probes show enhanced emission upon DNA binding, advocating their importance in imaging cellular DNA. We have probed the DNA binding mode of thiazole-coumarin (TC) conjugate, a recently reported hemicyanine-based turn-on red fluorescent probe, using a number of biophysical techniques and a series of short oligonucleotides. TC exhibited increased fluorescence anisotropy and decreased absorbance (~50%) at low [DNA]/[TC] ratio. Although the observed hypochromicity and the saturating value of [DNA base pair]:[TC] ratio is consistent with a previous study that suggested intercalation to be the DNA binding mode of TC, a distinctly different and previously unreported binding mode was observed at higher ratios of [DNA]:[TC]. With further addition of DNA, only oligonucleotides containing AnTn or (AT)n stretches showed further change-decreased hypochromicity, red shifted absorption peaks and concomitant fluorescence enhancement, saturating at about 1:1 [DNA]: [TC]. 1H-NMR chemical shift perturbation patterns and H1'-H6/H8 NOE cross-peaks of the 1:1 complex indicated minor groove binding by TC. ITC showed the 1:1 DNA binding event to be endothermic (ΔH° ~ 2 kcal/mol) and entropy driven (ΔS° ~ 32 cal/mol/K). Taken together, the experimental data suggest a dual DNA binding mode by TC. At low [DNA]/[TC] ratio, the dominant mode is intercalation. This switches to minor groove binding at higher [DNA]/[TC], only for sequences containing AnTn or (AT)n stretches. Turn-on fluorescence results only in the previously unreported minor groove bound state. Our results allow a better understanding of DNA-ligand interaction for the newly reported turn-on probe TC

Surface-Functionalized Silk Fibroin Films as a Platform To Guide Neuron-like Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Surface interactions at the biomaterial–cellular interface determine the proliferation and differentiation of stem cells. Manipulating such interactions through the surface chemistry of scaffolds renders control over directed stem cell differentiation into the cell lineage of interest. This approach is of central importance for stem cell-based tissue engineering and regenerative therapy applications. In the present study, silk fibroin films (SFFs) decorated with integrin-binding laminin peptide motifs (YIGSR and GYIGSR) were prepared and employed for <i>in vitro</i> adult stem cell-based neural tissue engineering applications. Functionalization of SFFs with short peptides showcased the peptide sequence and nature of functionalization-dependent differentiation of bone marrow-derived human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). Intriguingly, covalently functionalized SFFs with GYIGSR hexapeptide (CL2-SFF) supported hMSC proliferation and maintenance in an undifferentiated pluripotent state and directed the differentiation of hMSCs into neuron-like cells in the presence of a biochemical cue, on-demand. The observed morphological changes were further corroborated by the up-regulation of neuronal-specific marker gene expression (MAP2, TUBB3, NEFL), confirmed through semiquantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. The enhanced proliferation and on-demand directed differentiation of adult stem cells (hMSCs) by the use of an economically viable short recognition peptide (GYIGSR), as opposed to the integrin recognition protein laminin, establishes the potential of SFFs for neural tissue engineering and regenerative therapy applications

Pigmented Silk Nanofibrous Composite for Skeletal Muscle Tissue Engineering

Skeletal muscle tissue engineering (SMTE) employs designed biomaterial scaffolds for promoting myogenic differentiation of myoblasts to functional myotubes. Oxidative stress plays a significant role in the biocompatibility of biomaterials as well as in the fate of myoblasts during myogenesis and is also associated with pathological conditions such as myotonic dystrophy. The inherent electrical excitability of muscle cells inspired the use of electroactive scaffolds for SMTE. Conducting polymers attracted the attention of researchers for their use in muscle tissue engineering. However, poor biocompatibility, biodegradability and development of oxidative stress associated immunogenic response limits the extensive use of synthetic conducting polymers for SMTE. In order to address the limitations of synthetic polymers, intrinsically electroactive and antioxidant silk fibroin/melanin composite films and electrospun fiber mats were fabricated and evaluated as scaffolds for promoting myogenesis in vitro. Melanin incorporation modulated the thermal stability, electrical conductivity of scaffolds, fiber alignment in electrospun mats and imparted good antioxidant properties to the scaffolds. The composite electrospun scaffolds promoted myoblast assembly and differentiation into uniformly aligned high aspect ratio myotubes. The results highlight the significance of scaffold topography along with conductivity in promoting myogenesis and the potential application of silk nanofibrous composite as electoractive platform for SMTE