Sustainable bio-economy that delivers the environment-food-energy-water nexus objectives::the current status in Malaysia

Biomass is a promising resource in Malaysia for energy, fuels, and high value-added products. However, regards to biomass value chains, the numerous restrictions and challenges related to the economic and environmental features must be considered. The major concerns regarding the enlargement of biomass plantation is that it requires large amounts of land and environmental resources such as water and soil that arises the danger of creating severe damages to the ecosystem (e.g. deforestation, water pollution, soil depletion etc.). Regarded concerns can be diminished when all aspects associated with palm biomass conversion and utilization linked with environment, food, energy and water (EFEW) nexus to meet the standard requirement and to consider the potential impact on the nexus as a whole. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the detail interactions between all the components in the nexus once intended to look for the best solution to exploit the great potential of biomass. This paper offers an overview regarding the present potential biomass availability for energy production, technology readiness, feasibility study on the techno-economic analyses of the biomass utilization and the impact of this nexus on value chains. The agro-biomass resources potential and land suitability for different crops has been overviewed using satellite imageries and the outcomes of the nexus interactions should be incorporated in developmental policies on biomass. The paper finally discussed an insight of digitization of the agriculture industry as future strategy to modernize agriculture in Malaysia. Hence, this paper provides holistic overview of biomass competitiveness for sustainable bio-economy in Malaysia

Cleaner Production Implementation In An E-Waste Recovery Plant By Using The Value Stream Mapping

This study aims to determine the manner in which the Cleaner Production (CP) sustainability measures would be embedded into the altered Value Stream Mapping (VSM), which is a Lean Manufacturing tool. The typical VSM technique does not consider the societal and the environmental metrics that are imperative for determining the sustainability for any production line. Additionally, the Guidelines for Green Industry Auditor, 2014, published by the Department of Environment, Malaysia, have made no mention regarding the proper lean tools which need to be applied to the audit systems as per the USEPA for improving the system. The VSM ability to determine the environmental, economic and societal performance would help VSM be a useful tool. Also, many companies can apply the data generated in a better manner and change their operations to fit the technology for improving the manufacturing. This paper has presented a CP implementation with the help of a VSM technology, based on the earlier literature. One pilot case study has been conducted in the local e-Waste Recovery Plant, ABC Sdn. Bhd., which demonstrated that this VSM approach, could capture the environmental, economic and societal sustainability for a specific process and has also, recommended some future researches

A review on emerging diagnostic assay for viral detection: the case of avian influenza virus.

Biotechnology-based detection systems and sensors are in use for a wide range of applications in biomedicine, including the diagnostics of viral pathogens. In this review, emerging detection systems and their applicability for diagnostics of viruses, exemplified by the case of avian influenza virus, are discussed. In particular, nano-diagnostic assays presently under development or available as prototype and their potentials for sensitive and rapid virus detection are highlighted

Evaluation of banana (Musa sp.) flowers of selected varieties for their antioxidative and anti-hyperglycemic potentials

Consumption of banana flower as a vegetable is popular among many countries in Southeast Asia. In this study, banana flowers of six different Malaysian cultivars namely, pisang Abu (Musa balbisiana cv P. Abu), pisang Berangan (Musa acuminata cv P. Berangan), pisang Nipah (Musa balbisiana cv P. Nipah), pisang Susu (Musa acuminata cv P. Susu), pisang Mas (Musa acuminate cv P. Mas) and pisang Rastali (Musa paradisiaca cv P. Rastali) were investigated for their antioxidant and anti-hyperglyemic properties. The total poly phenolic content and antioxidant activities, the α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory potentials of the banana flower extracts were studied in vitro using relevant assays. Among the six cultivars, cultivar Susu was found to have the highest phenolic content (80.13 ± 4.64 mg of GAE/g of extract) and displayed the highest ABTS+ and DPPH radical scavenging activities (24.73 ± 0.04 and 25.10 ± 0.15 µmole of Trolox equivalent/g of extract). The anti-amylase and anti-glucosidase activity of the banana flowers extracts were in the range of 47.31-62.58% and 74.98-91.62%, respectively. All banana flower extracts inhibited the activity of α-glucosidase better than α-amylase at the concentration of 200 µg/ml. This study concluded that the extracts of Malaysian banana flowers were potent sources of natural antioxidants, which can be used as postprandial hyperglycemia regulators

Identifying the Level of Awareness on Value Management Practice amongst Construction Developers

Construction Industry is one of the catalysts that enable such a nation economy to kept runs and grow from time to time. In this large and unique industry, the position of Architect, Engineer, Quantity Surveyor and Builders is the position that had been so familiar generally. Many of people do not aware with Value Management practice in Malaysia. Value Management may be described as a structured, analytical process for developing innovative holistic solutions to complex problems. The objective of this research is to identify the level of awareness on Value Management practice amongst Construction Developers. In this study, the General Manager, Professionals and Project Manager from 34 Developers Company registered under Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (REHDA) in Kelantan State has been chosen as respondents. Quantitative methods have been used and 102 sets of questionnaire had been distributed where the returned was only 81 sets. The results indicate that most of the respondents did aware with the Value Management issues in Malaysia. Ultimately, this research paper hoped to contribute in the improvement of the implementation of Value Management in Malaysia especially amongst Developers