Sustainable development: A Malaysian perspective

Sustainable development is all the rage. Malaysian firms too have been quick to jump into the bandwagon, especially with regards to their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. However, sustainable development has been increasingly interpreted from a strictly Western-centric value system.This may pose challenges to Malaysian firms as they adopt sustainable practices into their operations.Four key issues are presented and discussed, particularly in relation to Malaysian’s socioeconomic landscape.Following that, this paper calls for a return to the fundamentals of sustainable development, which is unfettered to value suppositions and instead focused on more pragmatic reasons.To that end, this paper proceeds to make recommendations of a more suitable approach in embracing sustainable development in Malaysia that would bring about a virtuous cycle of enrichment for the business sector as well as the society

Physiological response of of hopea odorata Roxb. And mimusops elengi linn. Seedlings Under combined nutrient and water Stresses

The physiological response of Hapea odarata and Mimusops eiengi seedlings under drought and various fertilisation rates subjected to nursery conditions was investigated. The experiment was a 6 x 2 factorial design and slow release fertilizer (Best Tab, 20: I O:S N PK) was applied once at the beginning of the experiment and was placed 10cm below the surface in tablet form (NPK 20: 1 O:S). The watering treatments were no stress (seedlings were kept well watered at field capacity ~. 0.3 MPa) and water stress (water was withheld until the soil water potential was ~ - 1.S MPa and then rewatered to field capacity). Physiological measurements were made on mature fully·expanded leaflets of the seedlings. Both species responded differently to conditions of drought and fertilisation with H. odorata seedlings receiving 30g of fertiliser under well-watered conditions had the highest rate of photosynthesis and stomatal conductance throughout the 12 -months period. In contrast, M. eiengi seedlings receiving SO g offertilizer application recorded the highest rate of photosynthesis and stomatal conductance. Both species exhibited drought tolerance via maintenance of high water potential at the end of 12·moflth experimental period. They possess "sensitive stomata" or stomata which close rapidly on exposure to water stress. Such a stomatal response may effectively reduce water loss and maintain high water content during water stress in the urban area. Another important factor is that photosynthetic processes can still be carried out under water stress although at a reduced rate. Fertilisatiofi reduces the impact of drought through its effect on stomatal closure thus reducing transpiration increasing photosynthetic rate and maintaining a much more positive internal water balance which is vital for almost near normal plant function~ng

The second and third Sonine coefficients of a freely cooling granular gas revisited

In its simplest statistical-mechanical description, a granular fluid can be modeled as composed of smooth inelastic hard spheres (with a constant coefficient of normal restitution $\alpha$) whose velocity distribution function obeys the Enskog-Boltzmann equation. The basic state of a granular fluid is the homogeneous cooling state, characterized by a homogeneous, isotropic, and stationary distribution of scaled velocities, $F(\mathbf{c})$. The behavior of $F(\mathbf{c})$ in the domain of thermal velocities ($c\sim 1$) can be characterized by the two first non-trivial coefficients ($a_2$ and $a_3$) of an expansion in Sonine polynomials. The main goals of this paper are to review some of the previous efforts made to estimate (and measure in computer simulations) the $\alpha$-dependence of $a_2$ and $a_3$, to report new computer simulations results of $a_2$ and $a_3$ for two-dimensional systems, and to investigate the possibility of proposing theoretical estimates of $a_2$ and $a_3$ with an optimal compromise between simplicity and accuracy.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures; v2: minor change

EFEKTIVITAS BADAN PENGHUBUNG DALAM MEMFASILITASI URUSAN PEMERINTAH DAERAH DAN PEMBANGUNAN KEPADA PEMERINTAH PUSAT

Jawa Barat Government Liaison Agency, is a Regional agency which is only located in theCapital City, after the establishment of the Jawa Barat Government Liaison Agency as afacilitator of regional needs in collaborating with the central government, researchers want toknow how the effectiveness of the Jawa Barat Government Liaison Agency in facilitating JawaBarat Government affairs to The Central Government in helping to advance the developmentof the Jawa Barat Region, this research was conducted using a qualitative descriptivemethod, the results of the study showed 1)Organizational characteristics of the Jawa BaratGovernment Liaison Agency consistingof the Head of the Agency led by Echelon III, theAdministration Sub-Sector, the Inter-Relations Sub-Sector, the Promotion and InformationSub-Sector, the Protocol Sub-secto, which are entirely led by Echelon IV. 2)Environmental Characteristics The Jawa Barat Government Liaison Agency is within the scope of cityadministration which is very close to the central government. 3) Characteristics of workers,most of the employees come from the Jawa Barat region who have the same customary andcultural values. 4) Management Policies and Practices in the 2017-2022 Strategic Plan arestated as local government policies informulating efforts to develop Jawa Barat areas whichpoint to the realization of reforms. quality bureaucracy, the realization of an Islamic culturalsystem, customs and arts, the realization of integrated information and data

Effects Of Combined Nutrient And Water Stress On The Growth Of Hopea Odorata Roxb. And Mimusops Elengi Linn. Seedlings

The growth of Hopea odorata and Mimusops eiengi seedlings under drought and various fertilization rates under nursery conditions was investigated. Both H. odorata and M. e1engi seedlings responded differently to fertilizer application and drought Application of slow-release fertilizer (Best Tab, 20: 10: 5 NPK) at 30 and 50 g promoted greater growth for H. odorata and M eiengj·seedlings. respectively. M eif'llgi seedlings were able to tolerate high fertilizer application (50 g), but the resulting form (small trunk diameter and excessive height) was not suitable for urban planting. Growth of H. odorata seedlings was greatly promoted through application of 30 g of fertilizer under wellwatered conditions, resulting in a much more balanced growth in terms of shoot and root ratio, which is vital for plants growing in the harsh urban environment where competition for water and nutrients is usually intense

Can a CPT Violating Ether Solve ALL Electron (Anti)Neutrino Puzzles?

Assuming that CPT is violated in the neutrino sector seems to be a viable alternative to sterile neutrinos when it comes to reconciling the LSND anomaly with the remainder of the neutrino data. There are different (distinguishable) ways of incorporating CPT violation into the standard model, including postulating m different from \bar{m}. Here, I investigate the possibility of introducing CPT violation via Lorentz-invariance violating effective operators (``Ether'' potentials) which modify neutrino oscillation patterns like ordinary matter effects. I argue that, within a simplified two-flavor like oscillation analysis, one cannot solve the solar neutrino puzzle and LSND anomaly while still respecting constraints imposed by other neutrino experiments, and comment on whether significant improvements should be expected from a three-flavor analysis. If one turns the picture upside down, some of the most severe constrains on such CPT violating terms can already be obtained from the current neutrino data, while much more severe constraints can arise from future neutrino oscillation experiments.Comment: 10 pages, 1 eps figure; version to appear in PRD. Comment added, mistake corrected, results and conclusions unchange

Mapping the relationship among quality management practices, organizational learning, organizational culture, and organizational performance in higher education: a proposed framework

The challenges in higher education and global competition encouraged performance excellence and the pursuit towards providing educational services characterized by high quality. To ensure performance excellence, quality management practices are considered as one of the variables that affect the organizational performance. On the other hand, organizational learning is a method that facilitates the process of improving the organizational performance. The results of organizational performance vary according to environmental conditions, especially an organizational culture that is one of the important indicators that are characterized by organizations. This encourages choosing the organizational culture as a moderating variable. However, this paper highlights organizational performance through a proposed conceptual framework to be considered in higher education institutes

Four methods for determining the composition of trace radioactive surface contamination of low-radioactivity metal

Four methods for determining the composition of low-level uranium- and thorium-chain surface contamination are presented. One method is the observation of Cherenkov light production in water. In two additional methods a position-sensitive proportional counter surrounding the surface is used to make both a measurement of the energy spectrum of alpha particle emissions and also coincidence measurements to derive the thorium-chain content based on the presence of short-lived isotopes in that decay chain. The fourth method is a radiochemical technique in which the surface is eluted with a weak acid, the eluate is concentrated, added to liquid scintillator and assayed by recording beta-alpha coincidences. These methods were used to characterize two `hotspots' on the outer surface of one of the He-3 proportional counters in the Neutral Current Detection array of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory experiment. The methods have similar sensitivities, of order tens of ng, to both thorium- and uranium-chain contamination.Comment: 22 pages, 19 figure