Development of Electronic Commerce Adoption Model based on Structural Equation Modeling Techniques

Advance Communication Technologies are playing a vital role in business today. In the world currently, many developing nations identified Small and Medium Scale organizations significantly important in counties2019; economic development. But the contribution from the SME sector is considerably low. Therefore, addressing this issue is important in business development. Among many reasons identified as barriers for SMEs to perform, studies have identified that low usage or not using technologies like E-commerce effected to this low performance. Therefore, studies are conducted to identify barriers to use technology in SMEs and many frameworks are tested and verified in different domains. In this study mainly tested and varied a framework which is considering Information Technological factors effecting the adoption of E-commerce technology and how it is effected for SME development. In this study framework is developed using literature analysis and hypothesis are developed based on past studies in terms of Information Technology factors as a main consideration. Model testing part is done using Structural Equation Molding using IBM AMOS. At the end of the study proposed framework is modified with statistical results and finally presented a framework which can be considered as a framework to understand the Information Technology factors effecting the E-commerce adoption and SME development

Ramification of pH in pectinase-assisted extraction on the antioxidant capacity of Arabica spent coffee ground (SCG) extract

Spent coffee ground (SCG) is the by-product of coffee processing that is produced up to 45% in coffee beverage and instant coffee processing and is believed to contain high amounts of antioxidants. Despite the fact that SCG has exerted many advantages, the information on obtaining the antioxidant values using enzymes are still scarce. The objective of the study was therefore to determine the total phenolic and flavonoid content of antioxidant activity and antimicrobial activity in Arabica SCG extracted using pectinase at different pH values. Arabica SCG was extracted using pectinase at pH 3, pH 4, pH 5, pH 6 and pH 7 and analyzed for its anti-microbial activity and antioxidant properties (DPPH, FRAP, total phenolic and total flavonoid content along with individual flavonoids using HPLC). Arabica SCG was extracted using pectinase at pH 3, pH 4, pH 5, pH 6 and pH 7 and analyzed for its antimicrobial activity and antioxidant properties (DPPH, FRAP, total phenolic and total flavonoid content along with individual flavonoids using HPLC). The result showed that the antioxidant capacity of the SCG extract at pH 4 exhibited higher DPPH and FRAP values. The total phenolic and flavonoid content exhibited in (1.38±4.42, mg GAE/g sample and 22.57±0.27 mg QE/g of dry sample). Flavonoids namely quercetin, kaempferol, rutin, gallic acid, catechin, epigallocatechin gallate, pcoumaric acid and myricetin were present in all samples at various levels. The SCG in pH 7 extract showed the highest concentrations of the individual flavonoid compound in the sample and the highest inhibition zone on Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Thus, the optimum pH of the pectinase which is pH 4-5 had provided the highest yield in antioxidant capacity and activity of the Arabica SCG extract with this extraction method that can be used for food preservation as well as in the nutraceutical industry

Antimicrobial activity and bioactive evaluation of Plectranthus amboinicus essential oil

Abstract Plectranthus amboinicus or locally known as bangun

Enhancing the decolorization of methylene blue using a low-cost super-absorbent aided by response surface methodology

The presence of organic dyes from industrial wastewater can cause pollution and exacerbate environmental problems; therefore, in the present work, activated carbon was synthesized from locally available oil palm trunk (OPT) biomass as a low-cost adsorbent to remove synthetic dye from aqueous media. The physical properties of the synthesized oil palm trunk activated carbon (OPTAC) were analyzed by SEM, FTIR-ATR, and XRD. The concurrent effects of the process variables (adsorbent dosage (g), methylene blue (MB) concentration (mg/L), and contact time (h)) on the MB removal percentage from aqueous solution were studied using a three-factor three-level Box–Behnken design (BBD) of response surface methodology (RSM), followed by the optimization of MB adsorption using OPTAC as the adsorbent. Based on the results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the three parameters considered, adsorbent dosage (X1) is the most crucial parameter, with an F-value of 1857.43, followed by MB concentration (X2) and contact time (X3) with the F-values of 95.60 and 29.48, respectively. Furthermore, the highest MB removal efficiency of 97.9% was achieved at the optimum X1, X2, and X3 of 1.5 g, 200 mg/L, and 2 h, respectivel

Ergogenic, anti-diabetic and antioxidant attributes of selected Malaysian herbs: characterisation of flavonoids and correlation of functional activities

In the present work, aqueous ethanolic (60% ethanol) extracts from selected Malaysian herbs including Murraya koenigii L. Spreng, Lawsonia inermis L., Cosmos caudatus Kunth, Piper betle L., and P. sarmentosum Roxb. were evaluated for their ergogenic, anti-diabetic and antioxidant potentials. Results showed that the analysed herbs had ergogenic property and were able to activate 5'AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in a concentration dependant manner. The highest AMPK activation was exhibited by M. koenigii extract which showed no significant (p > 0.05) difference with green tea (positive control). For anti-diabetic potential, the highest α-glucosidase inhibition was exhibited by M. koenigii extract with IC50 of 43.35 ± 7.5 μg/mL, which was higher than acarbose (positive control). The determinations of free radical scavenging activity and total phenolics content (TPC) indicated that the analysed herbs had good antioxidant activity. However, C. caudatus extract showed superior antioxidant activity with IC50 against free radical and TPC of 21.12 ± 3.20 μg/mL and 221.61 ± 7.49 mg GAE/g, respectively. RP-HPLC analysis established the presence of flavonoids in the herbs wherein L. inermis contained the highest flavonoid (catechin, epicatechin, naringin and rutin) content (668.87 mg/kg of extract). Correlations between the analyses were conducted, and revealed incoherent trends. Overall, M. koenigii was noted to be the most potent herb for enhancement of AMPK activity and α-glucosidase inhibition but exhibited moderate antioxidant activity. These results revealed that the selected herbs could be potential sources of natural ergogenic and anti-diabetic/antioxidant agents due to their rich profile of phenolics. Further analysis in vivo should be carried out to further elucidate the mechanism of actions of these herbs as ergogenic aids and anti-diabetic/antioxidant agents

Removal of as and cd ions from aqueous solution using biosorption technique

Arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) are listed as heavy metals that have contaminated the environment, especially water supplies. Therefore, the goal of this study was to remove heavy metals, particularly As and Cd metal ions, from aqueous solutions by utilizing natural waste adsorbents and at the same time, help in the reduction of waste products. This study was designed to use low-cost and more widely available adsorbents material such as coconut husk and banana peel to remove As and Cd ions in an aqueous solution. The adsorption method was utilized to reduce and remove the As and Cd ions, and their concentrations in an aqueous solution were then determined by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). Various parameters such as types of adsorbents (banana peel and coconut husk), adsorbent dosages (0.1-0.3g), contact time (30-70 minutes), and temperature (25-45°C) were used to carry out the removal process. The FTIR analysis revealed that certain heavy metals were more likely to bind to these adsorbents due to the presence of important functional groups such as hydroxyl (-OH) and carbonyl (C=O). From this study, the optimum removal conditions were 0.1 g dose of adsorbent along with 70 minutes of contact time at a reaction temperature of 25°C. The results revealed that banana peel removed 0.948 mg/L of Cd ions and 0.148 mg/L of As ions from the aqueous solution, suggesting that it was more efficient at removing heavy metals than coconut husk. Meanwhile, Cd ions have a higher affinity (93.9% to 99.9% removal) than As ions (8.3% to 22.2% removal) to adsorb onto the active sites of banana peel and be removed from an aqueous solution. In conclusion, the adsorption technique using natural waste adsorbents can be applied to remove the As and Cd ions from the aqueous solutions. The reduction of these heavy metals' concentration by adsorbents can also help to preserve the quality of water sources under the permissible limit set by WHO

Main structural targets for engineering lipase substrate specificity

Microbial lipases represent one of the most important groups of biotechnological biocatalysts. However, the high-level production of lipases requires an understanding of the molecular mechanisms of gene expression, folding, and secretion processes. Stable, selective, and productive lipase is essential for modern chemical industries, as most lipases cannot work in different process conditions. However, the screening and isolation of a new lipase with desired and specific properties would be time consuming, and costly, so researchers typically modify an available lipase with a certain potential for minimizing cost. Improving enzyme properties is associated with altering the enzymatic structure by changing one or several amino acids in the protein sequence. This review detailed the main sources, classification, structural properties, and mutagenic approaches, such as rational design (site direct mutagenesis, iterative saturation mutagenesis) and direct evolution (error prone PCR, DNA shuffling), for achieving modification goals. Here, both techniques were reviewed, with different results for lipase engineering, with a particular focus on improving or changing lipase specificity. Changing the amino acid sequences of the binding pocket or lid region of the lipase led to remarkable enzyme substrate specificity and enantioselectivity improvement. Site-directed mutagenesis is one of the appropriate methods to alter the enzyme sequence, as compared to random mutagenesis, such as error-prone PCR. This contribution has summarized and evaluated several experimental studies on modifying the substrate specificity of lipase

Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants

Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m2. In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, they had a much larger gain in height than they did in BMI. The unhealthiest changes—gaining too little height, too much weight for their height compared with children in other countries, or both—occurred in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and the USA for boys and girls; in Malaysia and some Pacific island nations for boys; and in Mexico for girls. Interpretation The height and BMI trajectories over age and time of school-aged children and adolescents are highly variable across countries, which indicates heterogeneous nutritional quality and lifelong health advantages and risks