Chong Chu Le

The global economic environment is experiencing uncertainties and the strategic responses of third party logistics (3PL) in Malaysia are not precluded. With the 3PL industry experiencing growing demands of 3PL users and the emergence of more 3PL service providers, these have created further competition within the 3PL industry to attract user firms. This requires 3PL firms to review their strategies to become more competitive. This study focused on the evaluation of external and internal environment followed by strategic choices made by 3PL firms in Malaysia to produce operational performance achieving financial performance in the wake of economic global uncertainties. The 3PL firms strategic positioning choices are low costs and differentiation yielding operational performance of cost and service to achieve financial performance. A composite model was studied based on both perspectives of Resource-based view and Market-based view. The findings show both the external and internal environment influence operations emphases and operational performance leading to financial performance. This study has also found 10 full paths in the model beginning from either external or internal environment through operations emphases and operational performance driving financial performance of 3PL firms. These full paths indicate RBV and MBV are complementary rather than competing frames. In this uncertain global economic environment, firms exercise both cost and service capabilities as their strategies. This finding is supported by the theory of cumulative capabilities

Self-Organization Towards 1/f1/f Noise in Deep Neural Networks

Despite $1/f$ noise being ubiquitous in both natural and artificial systems, no general explanations for the phenomenon have received widespread acceptance. One well-known system where $1/f$ noise has been observed in is the human brain, with this 'noise' proposed by some to be important to the healthy function of the brain. As deep neural networks (DNNs) are loosely modelled after the human brain, and as they start to achieve human-level performance in specific tasks, it might be worth investigating if the same $1/f$ noise is present in these artificial networks as well. Indeed, we find the existence of $1/f$ noise in DNNs - specifically Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks modelled on real world dataset - by measuring the Power Spectral Density (PSD) of different activations within the network in response to a sequential input of natural language. This was done in analogy to the measurement of $1/f$ noise in human brains with techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG) and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). We further examine the exponent values in the $1/f$ noise in "inner" and "outer" activations in the LSTM cell, finding some resemblance in the variations of the exponents in the fMRI signal. In addition, comparing the values of the exponent at "rest" compared to when performing "tasks" of the LSTM network, we find a similar trend to that of the human brain where the exponent while performing tasks is less negative

An Investigation into the Critical Reading Skills of Engineering Students at 2 Private Universities in Malaysia and Vietnam

This study compares the critical reading proficiency of engineering students from two private institutions in Malaysia and Vietnam. It examines the degree to which PISAbased critical reading test scores of first- and final-year students vary. 182 engineering students, including 86 Malaysian and 96 Vietnamese undergraduates, were involved in this project. Descriptive and quantitative analyses were performed on the data. According to the findings, most students at two universities exhibited moderate critical reading skills. Moreover, the study’s outcomes revealed no substantial disparities between the critical reading levels of the final year Malaysian and Vietnamese students. By contrast, the performance of first-year students at two universities varied significantly on some test items. Some considerations regarding the selection of Western-based texts and the use of open-ended questions in the PISA reading test that might cause difficulties for Eastern students are also demonstrated in this study. Keywords: critical reading, Pisa 2018 reading assessment, engineering students, higher educatio

The chemokine Sdf-1 and its receptor Cxcr4 are required for formation of muscle in zebrafish

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>During development cell migration takes place prior to differentiation of many cell types. The chemokine receptor Cxcr4 and its ligand Sdf1 are implicated in migration of several cell lineages, including appendicular muscles.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We dissected the role of <it>sdf1</it>-<it>cxcr4 </it>during skeletal myogenesis. We demonstrated that the receptor <it>cxcr4a </it>is expressed in the medial-anterior part of somites, suggesting that chemokine signaling plays a role in this region of the somite. Previous reports emphasized co-operation of Sdf1a and Cxcr4b. We found that during early myogenesis Sdf1a co-operates with the second Cxcr4 of zebrafish – Cxcr4a resulting in the commitment of myoblast to form fast muscle. Disrupting this chemokine signal caused a reduction in <it>myoD </it>and <it>myf5 </it>expression and fast fiber formation. In addition, we showed that a dimerization partner of MyoD and Myf5, E12, positively regulates transcription of <it>cxcr4a </it>and <it>sdf1a </it>in contrast to that of Sonic hedgehog, which inhibited these genes through induction of expression of <it>id2</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We revealed a regulatory feedback mechanism between <it>cxcr4a</it>-<it>sdf1a </it>and genes encoding myogenic regulatory factors, which is involved in differentiation of fast myofibers. This demonstrated a role of chemokine signaling during development of skeletal muscles.</p

Characterization of Vitis vinifera NPR1 homologs involved in the regulation of Pathogenesis-Related gene expression

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Grapevine protection against diseases needs alternative strategies to the use of phytochemicals, implying a thorough knowledge of innate defense mechanisms. However, signalling pathways and regulatory elements leading to induction of defense responses have yet to be characterized in this species. In order to study defense response signalling to pathogens in <it>Vitis vinifera</it>, we took advantage of its recently completed genome sequence to characterize two putative orthologs of <it>NPR1</it>, a key player in salicylic acid (SA)-mediated resistance to biotrophic pathogens in <it>Arabidopsis thaliana</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two cDNAs named <it>VvNPR1.1 </it>and <it>VvNPR1.2 </it>were isolated from <it>Vitis vinifera </it>cv Chardonnay, encoding proteins showing 55% and 40% identity to Arabidopsis NPR1 respectively. Constitutive expression of <it>VvNPR1.1 </it>and <it>VvNPR1.2 </it>monitored in leaves of <it>V. vinifera </it>cv Chardonnay was found to be enhanced by treatment with benzothiadiazole, a SA analog. In contrast, <it>VvNPR1.1 </it>and <it>VvNPR1.2 </it>transcript levels were not affected during infection of resistant <it>Vitis riparia </it>or susceptible <it>V. vinifera </it>with <it>Plasmopara viticola</it>, the causal agent of downy mildew, suggesting regulation of VvNPR1 activity at the protein level. VvNPR1.1-GFP and VvNPR1.2-GFP fusion proteins were transiently expressed by agroinfiltration in <it>Nicotiana benthamiana </it>leaves, where they localized predominantly to the nucleus. In this system, <it>VvNPR1.1 </it>and <it>VvNPR1.2 </it>expression was sufficient to trigger the accumulation of acidic SA-dependent Pathogenesis-Related proteins PR1 and PR2, but not of basic chitinases (PR3) in the absence of pathogen infection. Interestingly, when <it>VvNPR1.1 </it>or <it>AtNPR1 </it>were transiently overexpressed in <it>Vitis vinifera </it>leaves, the induction of grapevine <it>PR1 </it>was significantly enhanced in response to <it>P. viticola</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In conclusion, our data identified grapevine homologs of NPR1, and their functional analysis showed that VvNPR1.1 and VvNPR1.2 likely control the expression of SA-dependent defense genes. Overexpression of <it>VvNPR1 </it>has thus the potential to enhance grapevine defensive capabilities upon fungal infection. As a consequence, manipulating <it>VvNPR1 </it>and other signalling elements could open ways to strengthen disease resistance mechanisms in this crop species.</p