The contribution of teamwork, thinking styles, and innovation towards knowledge management

Knowledge management can be enhanced by creating conditions that facilitate knowledge creation, thus the concepts of teamwork,thinking styles, and innovation are central to the effective utilisationof knowledge. This paper presents the results of a survey of 156 civil servants at Putrajaya, investigating relationships between teamwork and thinking styles with technology diffusion and innovation and organisational innovation. The results indicated that team quality and external thinking style made the greatest contribution toward technology diffusion and innovation

Higher Education on Buildings: Case Study in the North Dakota Region

Because of the growing demand for local skilled professionals to improve the health, energy efficiency, and sustainability of residential and commercial buildings in North Dakota, this case study reports the current situation of higher education relating to buildings in the state’s vicinity, including Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. In this region, 116 programs relating to buildings were found in 41 postsecondary institutions, and both their majors and courses were then studied with frequency lists. The frequency information was analyzed over nine sets of curriculum areas at both graduate and undergraduate levels for the four states. After the current state of buildings in North Dakota was investigated, strategies were then proposed to rectify current issues regarding higher education on buildings, including but not limited to forming a comprehensive and interdisciplinary program on buildings (e.g., architectural engineering), providing more graduate programs, developing more courses in areas that lack adequate coursework, and increasing student enrollment. These strategies will greatly promote the health, energy efficiency, and sustainability for new and existing buildings in the four-state region of Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota

Distribution of mosquito larvae in rice field habitats: A spatial scale analysis in semi-field condition

The distribution of the mosquito larvae in the breeding habitats varies at the spatial scale depending on the availability of the resources and the predators. This proposition was assessed through the observation of the spatial distribution of Culex larvae (Culex tritaeniorhynchus) in artificially constructed rice field habitats. Using a binomial generalized linear model with logit link, the disparity in the abundance of the larvae was evaluated to justify the effects of light (light vs shade), vertical (surface vs bottom), and horizontal (wall vs center) distribution as explanatory variables. Under light availability, the spatial occupancy of the mosquito larvae was higher in the center than in the walls of the mesocosms. However, the larval orientation was higher on the surface than at the bottom of the mesocosms in all instances. In comparison to open spaces, the larval aggregation was higher in the presence of the floating vegetations like Azolla and Lemna, indicating that the habitat heterogeneity of the mesocosms influenced the distribution of the mosquito larvae in the available spaces. A reduction in the larval aggregation pattern in the spaces was observed in the presence of the predator (Anisops sp.) reflecting the possible evasion tactics of the mosquito larvae. The observations suggest that the mosquito larvae may utilize the vegetation in the rice field habitats quite effectively and occupy empty spaces of predators. The results may be considered as a prototype of the prospective localization of the mosquito larvae in the rice fields and help to frame the strategies of spraying the biopesticides to achieve optimal efficacy in mosquito regulation

Improving Credit Card Operations with Data Mining Techniques

Consumer credit is ubiquitous and lending poses credit risk – the risk of economic loss due to the failure of a borrower to repay according to the terms of his or her contract with the lender. And so, managing credit risk entails estimating the potential ability of borrowers to repay their debts. Researchers have sought to identify factors that contribute to consumer risk, by using quantitative models. However, the presence of data mining techniques to identify credit risk cannot be ignored. There is a paucity of research to demonstrate the use of data mining techniques in this context, and such studies could be instructive to practitioners and academicians. This study fills that void. Using a data mining tool, this study shows that consumers can be segmented by their characteristics such as education, income, years on the job, and payment habits. The study showed that the rich were highly educated and always paid in full. Delinquency experiences were more frequent in the lower income segments. Knowledge about the risk of delinquency can be useful for lenders to price for credit risk and therefore to expand the reach of credit to consumers without having to compromise on profitability

Effect of growth conditions on production of green fluorescent protein from escherichia coli fermentation

Effect of growth conditions (temperature, agitation rate and working volume) on production of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) from Escherichia coli (E.coli) fermentation was studied in this research. An improved growth conditions are needed to maximize the functional EGFP production. Preparation of cell culture was done by transferring E. coli strain BL21 (DE3) carrying plasmid pRSETEGFP to agar plate by streaking method and incubated at 30°C for 18 hr. Inoculum was prepared from a single colony of E.coli from agar plate. Fermentation of batch cultures were carried out in Erlenmeyer flasks inoculated with inocula [5% (v/v)]. The process variables include temperature, agitation rate and working volume were varied throughout the batch fermentation by using one factor at a time method. During the cultivation process, samples were taken from Erlenmeyer flask to measure cell biomass and EGFP concentrations. Cell biomass concentration was determined based on the culture absorbance using spectrophotometer and EGFP concentration was determined using gel-based imaging method. The results obtained shows that EGFP production by E.coli decreases as the working volumes was increased from 20 to 50%. However, when the agitation rate was increased from 100 to 250 rpm, it subsequently increases the yield of EGFP and cell concentration. Suitable temperature (30°C) enables E.coli to grow well and produce higher amount of functional EGFP. Consequently, functional EGFP production decreased at low temperature ( 30°C) also resulted in a decrease of EGFP and biomass production due to protein aggregation into inclusion bodies. In conclusion, the yield of functional EGFP was highest in shake flask fermentation under condition, working volume of 20%, agitation rate of 200 rpm and temperature of 30°C with 0.04, 0.061 and 0.06 g/L respectivel

Transformation of Malaysia’s Higher Education System: Malaysia Education blueprint (2015-2025)

Globalisation and technology have completely transformed sectors such as finance, services and telecommunications and the higher education sector will likely face the same transformation or as a matter of fact is already experiencing disruption from new models such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)