Search results for: export diversification

Authors: Zeeshan Khan, Faisal Nouroz, Shumaila Noureen

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European or common rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) belongs to class Mammalia, order Lagomorpha of family Leporidae. They are distributed worldwide and are native to Europe (France, Spain and Portugal) and Africa (Morocco and Algeria). LTR retrotransposons are major Class I mobile genetic elements of eukaryotic genomes and play a crucial role in genome expansion, evolution and diversification. They were mostly annotated in various genomes by conventional approaches of homology searches, which restricted the annotation of novel elements. Present work involved de novo identification of LTR retrotransposons by LTR_FINDER in haploid genome of rabbit (2247.74 Mb) distributed in 22 chromosomes, of which 7,933 putative full-length or partial copies were identified containing 69.38 Mb of elements, accounting 3.08% of the genome. Highest copy numbers (731) were found on chromosome 7, followed by chromosome 12 (705), while the lowest copy numbers (27) were detected in chromosome 19 with no elements identified from chromosome 21 due to partially sequenced chromosome, unidentified nucleotides (N) and repeated simple sequence repeats (SSRs). The identified elements ranged in sizes from 1.2 - 25.8 Kb with average sizes between 2-10 Kb. Highest percentage (4.77%) of elements was found in chromosome 15, while lowest (0.55%) in chromosome 19. The most frequent tRNA type was Arginine present in majority of the elements. Based on gained results, it was estimated that rabbit exhibits 15,866 copies having 137.73 Mb of elements accounting 6.16% of diploid genome (44 chromosomes). Further molecular analyses will be helpful in chromosomal localization and distribution of these elements on chromosomes.

Keywords: rabbit, LTR retrotransposons, genome, chromosome

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Authors: Ekta Pandey

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The Indian Pharmaceutical Industry is ranked third largest by volume and fourteenth by value. It thus accounts for 10% of world’s production by volume and 1.5% by value according to Department of Pharmaceuticals, Government of India. The industry has shown phenomenal growth over past few years, moving from US $ 1 billion turnover in 1990 to a turnover of around US $30 billion in 2015. The Indian pharmaceutical sector is ranked seventeenth in terms of export value of active pharmaceutical ingredients and dosage forms to more than 200 countries around the globe. It has shown tremendous changes especially after Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement. Recognizing the immense potential for growth and its direct impact on Indian economy, it is important to look up the industrial policies adopted since Indian independence which turnaround the Indian pharmaceutical industry. A systematic review of changes in market structure of Indian pharmaceutical industry due to shift in policy regimes is done from 1850 to 2015 using secondary peer reviewed published research work. The aim is to understand the impact of anti-trust laws, intellectual property rights, industry competition acts and regulations are quite crucial in determining effective economic policy and have overall lasting effects on international trade and ties. The proposed paper examines the position of Indian domestic firms relative to multinational pharmaceutical firms tries to throw some light on the growth curve of Indian pharmaceutical sector.

Keywords: active pharmaceutical ingredients, competition act, pharmaceutical industry, TRIPS

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Authors: Siphat Lim

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This study used Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach to cointegration. In the long-run the general price level and exchange rate have a positively significant effect on domestic output. The estimated result further revealed that fiscal stimulus help stimulate domestic output in the long-run, but not in the short-run, while monetary expansion help to stimulate output in both short-run and long-run. The result is complied with the theory which is the macroeconomic policies, fiscal and monetary policy; help to stimulate domestic output in the long-run. The estimated result of the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) has indicated more clearly that the consumer price index has a positive effect on output with highly statistically significant. Increasing in the general price level would increase the competitiveness among producers than increase in the output. However, the exchange rate also has a positive effect and highly significant on the gross domestic product. The exchange rate depreciation might increase export since the purchasing power of foreigners has increased. More importantly, fiscal stimulus would help stimulate the domestic output in the long-run since the coefficient of government expenditure is positive. In addition, monetary expansion would also help stimulate the output and the result is highly significant. Thus, fiscal stimulus and monetary expansionary would help stimulate the domestic output in the long-run in Cambodia.

Keywords: fiscal policy, monetary policy, ARDL, VECM

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Authors: Sidiqat A. Aderinoye-Abdulwahab, Lateef L. Adefalu, Jubril O. Animashaun

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Pastoralists in Nigeria are situated in dry regions - where water and pasture for livestock are particularly scarce, as well as areas with poor availability of social amenities and infrastructure. This study therefore explored how extension service could be used to reduce the exposure of nomads to effects of seasonality, climate change, and the poor environmental conditions. The study was carried out in Northern guinea Savannah region of Nigeria because pastoralists have settled there in large numbers due to desertification and low rainfall in the arid regions. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to arrive at the selection of two states (Kwara and Nassarawa) in the region. A total of 63 respondents were randomly chosen using simple random sampling. Focus group discussions and questionnaire were used to gather information while the data was analysed using content analysis. The facilities required by the sampled households are milking machine, cheese making machine, and preservatives to increase the shelf life of cheese. Whilst, the extension service required are demonstration on cheese making, training and seminars on animal husbandry. Additionally, livestock of pastoralists often encroach on farmers’ plots which usually result in pastoralist-farmer conflicts. The study thus recommends diversification of economic activity from livestock to non-livestock related activities as well as creation of grazing routes to reduce pastoralist/farmer conflict.

Keywords: arid region, coping strategies, livestock, livelihood

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Authors: J. Vasauskaite

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From the perspective of Lithuanian furniture enterprises, the role of energy efficiency is significant as it leads to direct economic benefits, increased competitiveness and higher productivity. There are various possible improvements in energy efficiency in industry: changes in the production process, investment in R&D, implementation of energy-saving technologies or energy management systems. The research aims to contribute the understanding of energy efficiency importance in industry by presenting possible improvements of energy use in different manufacturing process of enterprises. The evaluation methodology included quantitative and qualitative research methods: the comparative and statistical analysis of primary and secondary sources of information. This paper provides the detailed analysis of the energy efficiency development opportunities and challenges in Lithuanian furniture industry. The results of the study show the importance of technological innovations, energy efficiency policies and environmental management strategies in developing energy efficiency within the wood and furniture industry. The analysis of energy efficiency development in Lithuanian furniture industry showed that the industrial activities are influenced by various internal and external factors such as increasing flows of products, human resources and overall management decisions; dynamic growth and increasing competition; emerging need for environmental information. In the light of these factors, Lithuanian furniture industry has undergone significant changes – restructuring, technological advances and business model innovations, allowing it to be more export-oriented and focus on upgrading quality, design and innovation.

Keywords: energy efficiency, energy policy, furniture industry, technological innovation

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Authors: Pratibha Srivastava, Ayyamperumal Jeyaprakash, Gary Steck, Jason Stanley, Leroy Whilby

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Exotic, invasive tephritid fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) are a major threat to fruit and vegetable industries in the United States. The establishment of pest fruit fly in the agricultural industries and produce severe ecological and economic impacts on agricultural diversification and trade. Detection and identification of these agricultural pests in a timely manner will facilitate the possibility of eradication from newly invaded areas. Identification of larval stages to species level is difficult, but is required to determine pest loads and their pathways into the United States. The aim of this study is the New World genus, Anastrepha which includes pests of major economic importance. Mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene sequences were amplified from Anastrepha fraterculus specimens collected from South America (Ecuador and Peru). Phylogenetic analysis was performed to characterize the Anastrepha fraterculus complex at a molecular level. During phylogenetics analysis numerous nuclear mitochondrial pseudogenes (numts) were discovered in different specimens. The numts are nonfunctional copies of the mtDNA present in the nucleus and are easily coamplified with the mitochondrial COI gene copy by using conserved universal primers. This is problematic for DNA Barcoding, which attempts to characterize all living organisms by using the COI gene. This study is significant for national quarantine use, as morphological diagnostics to separate larvae of the various members remain poorly developed.

Keywords: tephritid, Anastrepha fraterculus, COI, numts

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Authors: Xiaoyan Wang, Zhongde Wang

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The issue of climate change, which originated in the middle of the twentieth century, has become a focus of international political, academic, and non-governmental organizations and public attention. In order to address the problems caused by climate change, the Chinese government has proposed a dual-carbon target and taken some national measures, such as ecological priority and green low-carbon development. These goals and measures are highly aligned with the values of the landscape architecture industry. This is an opportunity for the architectural discipline and the landscape architecture industry, so it is very necessary to summarize and analyze the hotspots related to climate change in the field of building science in China, which can assist the landscape architecture industry and related organizations in formulating more rational professional goals and taking actions that contribute to the betterment of societal, environmental development. Through the study, it is found as follows: firstly, after 20 years of rapid development, the research on climate change in the major architectural disciplines has shown a trend of diversification of research perspectives, interdisciplinary cross-cutting, and broadening of content; secondly, the research contents of landscape architecture focuses on the strategies to adapt to climate change, such as selection of urban tree species, the urban green infrastructure space layout, and the resilient city. Finally, in the future, climate change-based landscape architecture research will make the content system more diversified, but at the same time, it is still necessary to further deepen the research on quantitative methodology and construct scale systematic planning and design methods.

Keywords: climate change, landscape architecture, knowledge mapping, cites-pace

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Authors: Oduntan Oluwakemi, Obisesan Adekemi Adebisola, Ayo-Bello Taofeeq Ayodeji

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The study examined the factors influencing the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices among maize farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria. A Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to randomly select one hundred respondents for the study. Primary data were collected from the respondents with the aid of a structured questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics and a probit regression model. The results of this study showed that crop diversification was the most adopted climate-smart agricultural practice by the respondents, and adoption of Climate Smart Agricultural practices is still very low among the respondents. Results of probit regression revealed that marital status, access to extension services, farming experience, membership of farmers’ association, and access to credit had a positive influence on the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices, while age, farm size, and total income had a negative influence. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that government should develop suitable policies that will encourage farmers, especially rural farmers, to adopt and utilize Climate Smart Agricultural Practices (CSAP). Equally, the study also recommended government should be geared towards supporting improved extension services, providing on-farm demonstration training, disseminating information about climate-smart agricultural practices, and providing credit facilities through the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund and bank credit to farmers in order to enhance the adoption.

Keywords: adoption, agriculture, climate-smart, farmers, maize, Nigeria

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Authors: Obaid Alotaibi

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The geographical location of the State of Kuwait contributed significantly to the suffering of Kuwait in the past, due to the scarcity of natural water resources and the inability of the State's financial resources to provide other water resources to meet the needs of the population. The problem of water scarcity in Kuwait remained until the beginning of the second half of the twentieth century, as the country's economic conditions revived with the emergence and export of oil; which was clearly reflected in the steady growth of the population. To cope with this population, increase, it was necessary to expand the various development programs to include all sectors of the state. The process of development and urbanization could not start without finding solutions to the problem of water shortage in Kuwait. The only option for officials to meet the needs of the population and the different sectors of water development is the desalination of seawater. This process necessitated the establishment of six desalination plants along the coast of Kuwait and extended freshwater arteries to reach everywhere on the land. However, this does not mean that the problem of water shortage has been completely solved. The desalination plants are not meeting the country's future water needs, especially considering the increasing population growth. These stations are nearing completion and they need to be replaced, renovation and maintenance, require significant expenses. Therefore, it was necessary for scientific research to address the issue of water in Kuwait, whether in the field of development of existing resources or in the field of rationalization of consumption and protection of available resources. The study focused on how to address the increasing demand for water resulting from population increase, the impact of water on economic and social development, the prospects of water resources in Kuwait and its ability to meet the needs of the country by 2030.

Keywords: economic, development, Kuwait, social, water resources

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Authors: D. Pugazhendhi

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The ancient Greeks were forerunners in many fields than other societies. So, the Greeks were well connected with all the countries which were well developed during that time through trade route. In this connection, trading of goods from the ancient Greece to Tamil Nadu which is presently in India, though they are geographically far away, played an important role. In that way, the word and the goods related with kos and kare got exchanged between these two societies. So, it is necessary to compare the phonology and the morphological occurrences of these words that are found common both in the ancient Greek and Tamil literatures of the contemporary period. The results show that there were many words derived from the root kos with the basic meaning of ‘arrange’ in the ancient Greek language, but this is not the case in the usage of the word kare. In the ancient Tamil literature, the word ‘kos’ does not have any root and also had rare occurrences. But it was just the opposite in the case of the word ‘kare’. One of all the meanings of the word, which was derived from the root ‘kos’ in ancient Greek literature, is related with costly ornaments. This meaning seems to have close resemblance with the usage of word ‘kos’ in ancient Tamil literature. Also, the meaning of the word ‘kare’ in ancient Tamil literature is related with spices whereas, in the ancient Greek literature, its meaning is related to that of the cooking of meat using spices. Hence, the similarity seen in the meanings of these words ‘kos’ and ‘kare’ in both these languages provides lead for further study. More than that, the ancient literary resources which are available in both these languages ensure the export and import of gold and spices from the ancient Greek land to Tamil land.

Keywords: arrange, kare, Kos, ornament, Tamil

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Authors: Hashim Zameer

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Effective tourism management plays a vital role in promoting sustainability and supporting ecosystems. A common principle that has been in practice over the years is “first pollute and then clean,” indicating countries need financial resources to promote sustainability. Financial development and the tourism management both seems very important to promoting sustainable development. However, without institutional support, it is very difficult to succeed. In this context, it seems prominently significant to explore how institutional quality, tourism development, and financial development could promote sustainable development. In the past, no research explored the role of tourism development in sustainable development. Moreover, the role of financial development, natural resources, and institutional quality in sustainable development is also ignored. In this regard, this paper aims to investigate the role of tourism development, natural resources, financial development, and institutional quality in sustainable development in China. The study used time-series data from 2000–2021 and employed the Bayesian linear regression model because it is suitable for small data sets. The robustness of the findings was checked using a quantile regression approach. The results reveal that an increase in tourism expenditures stimulates the economy, creates jobs, encourages cultural exchange, and supports sustainability initiatives. Moreover, financial development and institution quality have a positive effect on sustainable development. However, reliance on natural resources can result in negative economic, social, and environmental outcomes, highlighting the need for resource diversification and management to reinforce sustainable development. These results highlight the significance of financial development, strong institutions, sustainable tourism, and careful utilization of natural resources for long-term sustainability. The study holds vital insights for policy formulation to promote sustainable tourism.

Keywords: sustainability, tourism development, financial development, institutional quality

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Authors: Abu Zafor Sadek

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Pharmaceuticals were one of the least impacted business sectors during the corona pandemic as they are the center point of Covid-19 fight. Emergency use authorization, unproven indication of some commonly used drugs, self-medication, research and production capacity of an individual country, capacity of producing vaccine by many countries, Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) related uncertainty, information gap among manufacturer, practitioners and user, export restriction, duration of lock-down, lack of harmony in transportation, disruption in the regulatory approval process, sudden increased demand of hospital items and protective equipment, panic buying, difficulties in in-person product promotion, e-prescription, geo-politics and associated issues added a new dimension to this industry. Although the industry maintains a reasonable growth throughout Covid-19 days; however, it has been characterized by both long- and short-term effects. Short-term effects have already been visible to so many countries, especially those who are import-dependent and have limited research capacity. On the other hand, it will take a few more time to see the long-term effects. Nevertheless, supply chain disruption, changes in strategic planning, new communication model, squeezing of job opportunity, rapid digitalization are the major short-term effects, whereas long-term effects include a shift towards self-sufficiency, growth pattern changes of certain products, special attention towards clinical studies, automation in operations, the increased arena of ethical issues etc. Therefore, this qualitative and exploratory study identifies the post-covid-19 landscape of the global pharmaceutical industry.

Keywords: covid-19, pharmaceutical, businees, landscape

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Authors: A. Robak, M. Pieńko, E. Błazik-Borowa, J. Bęc, I. Szer

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The analyzes and classifications presented in the article were based on the research carried out in year 2016 and 2017 on a group of nearly one hundred scaffoldings assembled and used on construction sites in different parts of Poland. During scaffolding selection process efforts were made to maintain diversification in terms of parameters such as scaffolding size, investment size, type of investment, location and nature of conducted works. This resulted in the research being carried out on scaffoldings used for church renovation in a small town or attached to the facades of classic apartment blocks, as well as on scaffoldings used during construction of skyscrapers or facilities of the largest power plants. This variety allows to formulate general conclusions about the technical condition of used frame scaffoldings. Exploitation damages of the frame scaffolding elements were divided into three groups. The first group includes damages to the main structural components, which reduce the strength of the scaffolding elements and hence the whole structure. The qualitative analysis of these damages was made on the basis of numerical models that take into account the geometry of the damage and on the basis of computational nonlinear static analyzes. The second group focuses on exploitation damages such as the lack of a pin on the guardrail bolt which may cause an imminent threat to people using scaffolding. These are local damages that do not affect the bearing capacity and stability of the whole structure but are very important for safe use. The last group consider damages that reduce only aesthetic values and do not have direct impact on bearing capacity and safety of use. Apart from qualitative analyzes the article will present quantitative analyzes showing how frequently given type of damage occurs.

Keywords: scaffolding, damage, safety, numerical analysis

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Authors: Van Chung Nguyen

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The purpose of this study is to study the current status of the value chain for fish distribution at Quang Binh Fishing Port with 360 research samples in which the research subjects are fishermen, traders, retailers, and businesses. The research uses the approach of applying the value chain theoretical framework of Kaplinsky and Morris to quantify and describe market channels and actors participating in the value chain and analyze the value-added process of these companies according to market channels. The analysis results show that fishermen directly catch fish with high economic efficiency, but processing enterprises and, especially retailers, are the agents to obtain higher added value. Processing enterprises play a role that is not really clear due to outdated processing technology; in contrast, retailers have the highest added value. This shows that the added value of the fish supply chain at Quang Binh fishing port is still limited, leading to low output quality. Therefore, the selling price of fish to the market is still high compared to the abundant fish resources, leading to low consumption and limiting exports due to the quality of processing enterprises. This reduces demand and fishing capacity, and productivity is lower than potential. To improve the fish value chain at fishing ports, it is necessary to focus on improving product quality, strengthening linkages between actors, building brands and product consumption markets at the same time, improving the capacity of export processing enterprises.

Keywords: Quang Binh fishing port, value chain, market, distributions channel

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Authors: Irene Oluwatosin Uwabor

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Climate change is a global phenomenon which affects the environment and undermines agricultural activities, in particular, cocoa production in Nigeria. This study, therefore, assessed the farmers ‘coping strategies to climate change effects in Ilaro Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria. A simple random sampling technique was used to select twenty-five cocoa farmers from each of the selected six wards to make up 150 cocoa farmers as sample size for this study. Descriptive statistics and chi-square analysis were used for the data analysis. The results showed that the average age of the respondents was 43.8 years and male dominated (80.00%) cocoa production. Most of the respondents had some level of formal education (93.4%). The mean of household and year of experience in cocoa farming were eight people and 11.6 years respectively. Family and Hired labour (41.3%) was the common source of labour to the respondents and majority (86.0%) of the respondents were aware of climate change. The study concluded that respondents experienced low yield and high rate of deformed beans in the pods due to climate change. The adjustment strategies used were planting of diseases and pest resistant cocoa varieties, using of heavy mulching, diversification into other non- agricultural income generating activities and tree crops cultivation to provide shade. Also, significant relationships existed between personal characteristics (χ²= 62.24, df = 6, p = 0.00), adjustment strategies (χ²= 103.1, df = 4, p = 0.00) and effect of climate change. It is hereby recommend that extension service providers should intensify more effort and advocating for improved agronomic practices to increase cocoa productivity in the study area.

Keywords: cocoa farmers, coping strategies, climate change, ilaro

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Authors: Felix Y. Mahenge, Abiud L. Kaswamila, Davis G. Mwamfupe

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Grapevine is a drought resistant crop, although in recent years it has been observed to be affect by climate change. This compelled investigation of grapevine farmers’ adaptation strategies to climate change in Dodoma, Tanzania. A mixed research approach was adopted. Likewise, purposive and random sampling techniques were used to select individuals for the study. About 248 grapevine farmers and 64 key informants and members of focus group discussions were involved. Primary data were collected through surveys, discussions, interviews, and observations, while secondary data were collected through documentary reviews. Quantitative data were analysed through descriptive statistics by means of IBM (SPSS) software while the qualitative data were analysed through content analysis. The findings indicate that climate change has adversely affected grapevine production leading to the occurrence of grapevine pests and diseases, drought which increases costs for irrigation and uncertainties which affect grapevine markets. For the purpose of lessening grapevine production constraints due to climate change, farmers have been using several adaptation strategies. Some of the strategies include application of pesticides, use of scarers to threaten birds, irrigation, timed pruning, manure fertilisers and diversification to other farm or non-farm activities. The use of pesticides and industrial fertilizers were regarded as increasing human health risks in the study area. The researchers recommend that the Tanzania government should strengthen the agricultural extension services in the study area so that the farmers undertake adaptation strategies with the consideration of human health safety.

Keywords: grapevine farmers, adaptation, climate change, human health

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Authors: Sarina Zainab Shirazi

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Abstract— With the advent of globalization, different countries have liberalized their trade policies to enhance economic integration and developmental processes but the advantages accrued vary greatly from region to region. This study specifically examines European Union (EU) and Association for South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), two regions that show contrasting integration patterns. EU shows most successful integrations versus the slower paced integration in the ASEAN region. A comprehensive panel data empirical investigation of EU and ASEAN in the context of economy size, geographical distances, language, ethnicity, common border and regional trade agreements (RTA) is conducted for a period of 1985 – 2015. The empirical investigation through the augmented gravity equation shows that the real effectiveness for enhanced intra-regional trade is significant when specific examination of export and import components is conducted in the presence of non-tariff barriers. These barriers surface in the form of terms of trade openness, inflation, exchange rate, common borders, common language, ethnic similarity, and presence of a formal regional trade agreement (RTA). Thus, these factors can be utilized by the EU and ASEAN regions in order to formulate effective policy tools to enhance trade within their respective spheres of influence.

Keywords: Association for South East Asian Nations, European Union, Gravity Model, Regional Trade

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Authors: Najlae Bendou, Jean-Jacques Lilti, Khalid Elbadraoui

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In this paper, we examine stock market integration of emerging markets around the global financial turmoil of 2007-2008. Following Pukthuanthong and Roll (2009), we measure the integration of 46 emerging countries using the adjusted R-square from the regression of each country's daily index returns on global factors extracted from the covariance matrix computed using dollar-denominated daily index returns of 17 developed countries. Our sample surrounds the global financial crisis and ranges between 2000 and 2018. We analyze results using four cohorts of emerging countries: East Asia & Pacific and South Asia, Europe & Central Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Middle East & Africa. We find that the level of integration of emerging countries increases at the commencement of the crisis and during the booming phase of the business cycles. It reaches a maximum point in the middle of the crisis and then tends to revert to its pre-crisis level. This pattern tends to be common among the four geographic zones investigated in this study. Finally, we investigate the determinants of stock market integration of emerging countries in our sample using panel regressions. Our results suggest that the degree of stock market integration of these countries should be put into perspective by some macro-economic factors, such as the size of the equity market, school enrollment rate, international liquidity level, stocks traded volume, tax revenue level, imports and exports volumes.

Keywords: correlations, determinants of integration, diversification, emerging markets, financial crisis, integration, markets co-movement, panel regressions, r-square, stock markets

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Authors: Abdelali Laamari, Morad Faiz, Ali Amamou And Mohamed Elkoudrim

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This research seeks to develop multi-disciplinary, multi-criteria, and multi-institutional approaches that consider the three main pillars of sustainability (environmental, economic, and social aspects) at the level of decision making regarding the adoption of improved technologies in the targeted case study region in Morocco. The study is aimed at combining sound R&I with extensive skills in applied research and policy evaluation. The intention is to provide new simple, and transferable tools and agricultural practices that will enable the uptake of sustainability and the resiliency of agro-ecosystems. The study will understand the state-of-the-art of the impact of climate change and identify the core bottlenecks and climate change’s impact on crop and livestock productivity of the targeted value chains in Morocco. Studies conducted during 2021-2022 showed that most of the farmers are using since 2010 the direct seeding and the system can be improved by adopting new fertilizer and varieties of wheat. The alley-cropping technology is based on Atriplex plant or olive trees. The introduction of new varieties of oat and quinoa has improved biomass and grain production in a dry season. The research is targeting other issues, such as social enterprises, to diversify women’s income resources and create new job opportunities through diversification of end uses of durum wheat and barley grains. Women’s local knowledge is rich on the different end uses of durum and barley grains that can improve their added value if they are transformed as couscous, pasta, or any other products.

Keywords: agriculture, climate, production system, integration

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Authors: Mateen A. Khan, Elizabeth J. Theil, Dixie J. Goss

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Cellular iron homeostasis is accomplished by the coordinated regulated expression of iron uptake, storage, and export. Iron regulate the translation of ferritin and mitochondrial aconitase iron responsive element (IRE)-mRNA by interaction with an iron regulatory protein (IRPs). Iron increases protein biosynthesis encoded in iron responsive element. The noncoding structure IRE-mRNA, approximately 30-nt, folds into a stem loop to control synthesis of proteins in iron trafficking, cell cycling, and nervous system function. Fluorescence anisotropy measurements showed the presence of one binding site on IRP1 for ferritin and mitochondrial aconitase IRE-mRNA. Scatchard analysis revealed the binding affinity (Kₐ) and average binding sites (n) for ferritin and mitochondrial aconitase IRE-mRNA were 68.7 x 10⁶ M⁻¹ and 9.2 x 10⁶ M⁻¹, respectively. In order to understand the relative importance of equilibrium and stability, we further report the contribution of electrostatic interactions in the overall binding of two IRE-mRNA with IRP1. The fluorescence quenching of IRP1 protein was measured at different ionic strengths. The binding affinity of IRE-mRNA to IRP1 decreases with increasing ionic strength, but the number of binding sites was independent of ionic strength. Such results indicate a differential contribution of electrostatics to the interaction of IRE-mRNA with IRP1, possibly related to helix bending or stem interactions and an overall conformational change. Selective destabilization of ferritin and mitochondrial aconitase RNA/protein complexes as reported here explain in part the quantitative differences in signal response to iron in vivo and indicate possible new regulatory interactions.

Keywords: IRE-mRNA, IRP1, binding, ionic strength

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Authors: N. J. M. Yusof, T. Sabir, J. McLoughlin

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Garment manufacturing industry involves sequential processes that are subjected to uncontrollable variations. The industry depends on the skill of labour in handling the varieties of fabrics and accessories, machines, and also a complicated sewing operation. Due to these reasons, garment manufacturers created systems to monitor and control the product’s quality regularly by conducting quality approaches to minimize variation. The aims of this research were to ascertain the quality approaches deployed by Malaysian garment manufacturers in three key areas-quality systems and tools; quality control and types of inspection; sampling procedures chosen for garment inspection. The focus of this research also aimed to distinguish quality approaches used by companies that supplied the finished garments to both domestic and international markets. The feedback from each of company’s representatives was obtained using the online survey, which comprised of five sections and 44 questions on the organizational profile and quality approaches used in the garment industry. The results revealed that almost all companies had established their own mechanism of process control by conducting a series of quality inspection for daily production either it was formally been set up or vice versa. Quality inspection was the predominant quality control activity in the garment manufacturing and the level of complexity of these activities was substantially dictated by the customers. AQL-based sampling was utilized by companies dealing with the export market, whilst almost all the companies that only concentrated on the domestic market were comfortable using their own sampling procedures for garment inspection. This research provides an insight into the implementation of quality approaches that were perceived as important and useful in the garment manufacturing sector, which is truly labour-intensive.

Keywords: garment manufacturing, quality approaches, quality control, inspection, Acceptance Quality Limit (AQL), sampling

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Authors: Yuriy A. Knirel

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Enteric bacteria Escherichia coli is the predominant facultative anaerobe of the colonic flora, and some specific serotypes are associated with enteritis, hemorrhagic colitis, and hemolytic uremic syndrome. Shigella spp. are human pathogens that cause diarrhea and bacillary dysentery (shigellosis). They are in effect E. coli with a specific mode of pathogenicity. Strains of Salmonella enterica are responsible for a food-borne infection (salmonellosis), and specific serotypes cause typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever. All these bacteria are closely related in respect to structure and genetics of the lipopolysaccharide, including the O-polysaccharide part (O‑antigen). Being exposed to the bacterial cell surface, the O antigen is subject to intense selection by the host immune system and bacteriophages giving rise to diverse O‑antigen forms and providing the basis for typing of bacteria. The O-antigen forms of many bacteria are unique, but some are structurally and genetically related to others. The sequenced O-antigen gene clusters between conserved galF and gnd genes were analyzed taking into account the O-antigen structures established by us and others for all S. enterica and Shigella and most E. coli O-serogroups. Multiple genetic mechanisms of diversification of the O-antigen forms, such as lateral gene transfer and mutations, were elucidated and are summarized in the present paper. They include acquisition or inactivation of genes for sugar synthesis or transfer or recombination of O-antigen gene clusters or their parts. The data obtained contribute to our understanding of the origins of the O‑antigen diversity, shed light on molecular evolutionary relationships between the O-antigens of enteric bacteria, and open a way for studies of the role of gene polymorphism in pathogenicity.

Keywords: enteric bacteria, O-antigen gene cluster, polysaccharide biosynthesis, polysaccharide structure

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Authors: Raheel Asif, Michael Frommel

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This paper focuses on analyzing the exchange rate exposure of exporting & domestic firms in (the so far rarely addressed) largest Eastern European transition economies, i.e., Russia and the three EU accession countries, Poland, Hungary, and Czech Republic (CEEC-3). It also controls for possible effects of different exchange rate regimes, Great Financial crisis (2007-08), Russian Financial crisis (2014-15), the formation of EU & turn of year effect. Substantially improving the results from the existing literature on these transition economies, we find for more than 51% of our sample firms in CEEC-3 countries and 29% in Russia shows a significant exchange rate exposure. However, the magnitude and direction of firms’ exposure depends on the particular bilateral exchange rate and differs between CEEC-3 and Russia. We find that share price increases with an appreciation of the domestic currency against the EURO and US Dollar (USD) in CEEC-3; however, the effect is more pronounced for EURO as expected. Whereas, for Russian firms share price increases with a depreciation of the domestic currency against the USD only. Those differences may result from a differing dominance of exposure channels in the respective economies, such as the country-specific export structure, competitiveness channels, and dependence on foreign debt. Finally, the switch from a pegged to a flexible exchange rate regime appears to have a less pronounced effect for the exchange rate exposure of firms in all countries except for USD in Poland and Russia.

Keywords: exchange rate exposure, transition economies, central and eastern Europe, international finance

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Authors: O. Nthoi-Molefe, V. Makwinja

Abstract:

In the North West district of Botswana, Heritage tourism has the potential to offer tremendous economic and social opportunities for local communities in terms of supporting Tourism product development and entrepreneurship. This paper Identifies that Cultural Heritage Entrepreneur brings to the market goods and services, organizes and runs cultural heritage in a commercial or non-profit manner depending on characteristics of cultural resources identified. Data was collected through a series of focus group discussions that included sixteen village community members within the region. Data collected was transcribed and then further analyzed thematically to bring forward results to be analysed. Using Tsodilo Hills World Heritage Site as a case study, the researchers acknowledged that Cultural Heritage Entrepreneurs in that area should use a creative approach in order toidentify suitable solutions for financing different tourism activities starting with sponsored events, grant funds, donations, including the benefits of financial opportunities brough be foreign visitors and domestic tourists alike. The researchers also identified a need for specialized training for the identified entrepreneurs in order to maintain quality services of tourism products and sites (interpretation), information for tourists, visitation services, diversification, and upgrading of the heritage experience. The research reveals that the identified Cultural Heritage Entrepreneurs prefer economic motivation, exploitation over the cultural value of their resources, further calling for recommendations of the research that emphasize on the need for detailed training on how to valorize their cultural resources for the growth of Tourism in the area.

Keywords: education, community development, entrepreneurship, cultural tourism

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Authors: Raymond Ndhlovu, Jen Snowball

Abstract:

It has long been known that the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) have the potential to aid in physical, social and economic renewal and regeneration of towns and cities, hence their importance when dealing with regional development. The CCIs can act as a catalyst for activity and investment in an area because the ‘consumption’ of cultural activities will lead to the activities and use of other non-cultural activities, for example, hospitality development including restaurants and bars, as well as public transport. ‘Consumption’ of cultural activities also leads to employment creation, and diversification. However, CCIs tend to be clustered, especially around large cities. There is, moreover, a case for development of CCIs around smaller towns and cities, because they do not rely on high technology inputs, and long supply chains, and, their direct link to rural and isolated places makes them vital in regional development. However, there is currently little research on how to craft cultural policy for regions with smaller towns and cities. Using the Sarah Baartman District (SBDM) in South Africa as an example, this paper describes the process of developing cultural policy for a region that has potential, and existing, cultural clusters, but currently no one, coherent policy relating to CCI development. The SBDM was chosen as a case study because it has no large cities, but has some CCI clusters, and has identified them as potential drivers of local economic development. The process of developing cultural policy is discussed in stages: Identification of what resources are present; including human resources, soft and hard infrastructure; Identification of clusters; Analysis of CCI labour markets and ownership patterns; Opportunities and challenges from the point of view of CCIs and other key stakeholders; Alignment of regional policy aims with provincial and national policy objectives; and finally, design and implementation of a regional cultural policy.

Keywords: cultural and creative industries, economic impact, intrinsic value, regional development

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Authors: Ahmad Ali Shahid, M Shakil Shaukat

Abstract:

Agriculture is the backbone of economy of Pakistan and Cotton is the major agricultural export and supreme source of raw fiber for our textile industry. To combat against the developing resistance in the target insects and combating these challenges wholesomely, a novel combination of pyramided/stacked genes was conceptualized and later realized, through the means of biotechnology i.e., transformation of three genes namely, Cry1Ac, Cry2A, and EPSP synthase (glyphosate tolerant) genes in the locally cultivated cotton variety. The progenies of the transformed plants were successfully raised and screened under the tunnel conditions for two generations and the present study focused on the screening of plants which were confirmed for containing all of these three genes and their expressions. Initially, the screening was done through glyphosate spray assay and the plants which were healthy and showed no damage on leaves were selected after 07 days of spray. In the laboratory, the DNA of these plants were isolated and subjected to amplification of the three genes. Thus, seventeen out of twenty were confirmed positive for Cry1Ac gene and ten out of twenty were positive for Cry2A gene and all twenty were positive for presence of EPSP synthase gene. Then, the ten plant samples which were confirmed with presence of all three genes were subjected to expression analysis of these proteins through ELISA. The results showed that eight out of ten plants were actively expressing the three transgenes. Real-time PCR was also done to quantify the expression levels of the EPSP synthase gene. Finally, eight plants were confirmed for the presence and active expression of all three genes in T3 generation of the triple gene transformed cotton. These plants may be subjected to T4 generation to develop a new stable variety in due course of time.

Keywords: agriculture, cotton, transformation, cry genes, ELISA, PCR

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Authors: Felipe Bedoya Maya, Agustina Calatayud, Vileydy Gonzalez Mejia

Abstract:

Encompassing inventory, warehousing, and transportation management, logistics is a crucial predictor of firm performance. This has been extensively proven by extant literature in business and operations management. Logistics is also a fundamental determinant of a country's ability to access international markets. Available studies in international and transport economics have shown that limited transport infrastructure and underperforming transport services can severely affect international competitiveness. However, the evidence lacks the overall impact of logistics performance-encompassing all inventory, warehousing, and transport components- on global trade. In order to fill this knowledge gap, the paper uses a gravitational trade model with 155 countries from all geographical regions between 2007 and 2018. Data on logistics performance is obtained from the World Bank's Logistics Performance Index (LPI). First, the relationship between logistics performance and a country’s total trade is estimated, followed by a breakdown by the economic sector. Then, the analysis is disaggregated according to the level of technological intensity of traded goods. Finally, after evaluating the intensive margin of trade, the relevance of logistics infrastructure and services for the extensive trade margin is assessed. Results suggest that: (i) improvements in both logistics infrastructure and services are associated with export growth; (ii) manufactured goods can significantly benefit from these improvements, especially when both exporting and importing countries increase their logistics performance; (iii) the quality of logistics infrastructure and services becomes more important as traded goods are technology-intensive; and (iv) improving the exporting country's logistics performance is essential in the intensive margin of trade while enhancing the importing country's logistics performance is more relevant in the extensive margin.

Keywords: gravity models, infrastructure, international trade, logistics

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Authors: Nounamo Nguedie Yann Harold

Abstract:

The factors behind the debt have been the subject of several studies in the literature. Pioneering studies based on the 'double deficit' approach linked indebtedness to the imbalance between savings and investment, the budget deficit and the current account deficit. Most studies on identifying factors that may stimulate or reduce the level of external public debt agree that the following variables are important explanatory variables in leveraging debt: the budget deficit, trade opening, current account and exchange rate, import, export, interest rate, term variation exchange rate, economic growth rate and debt service, capital flight, and over-indebtedness. Few studies addressed the impact of political factors on the level of external debt. In general, however, the IMF's stabilization programs in developing countries following the debt crisis have resulted in economic recession and the advent of political crises that have resulted in changes in governments. In this sense, political institutions are recognised as factors of accumulation of external debt in most developing countries. This paper assesses the role of political factors on the external debt level of African countries in the Franc Zone over the period 1985-2016. Data used come from World Bank and ICRG. Using a logit in panel, the results show that the more a country is politically stable, the lower the external debt compared to the gross domestic product. Political stability multiplies 1.18% the chances of being in the sustainable debt zone. For example, countries with good political institutions experience less severe external debt burdens than countries with bad political institutions.

Keywords: African countries, external debt, Franc Zone, political factors

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Authors: Mohamed El-Khateeb

Abstract:

Encompassing inventory, warehousing, and transportation management, logistics is a crucial predictor of firm performance. This has been extensively proven by extant literature in business and operations management. Logistics is also a fundamental determinant of a country's ability to access international markets. Available studies in international and transport economics have shown that limited transport infrastructure and underperforming transport services can severely affect international competitiveness. However, the evidence lacks the overall impact of logistics performance-encompassing all inventory, warehousing, and transport components- on global trade. In order to fill this knowledge gap, the paper uses a gravitational trade model with 155 countries from all geographical regions between 2007 and 2018. Data on logistics performance is obtained from the World Bank's Logistics Performance Index (LPI). First, the relationship between logistics performance and a country’s total trade is estimated, followed by a breakdown by the economic sector. Then, the analysis is disaggregated according to the level of technological intensity of traded goods. Finally, after evaluating the intensive margin of trade, the relevance of logistics infrastructure and services for the extensive trade margin is assessed. Results suggest that: (i) improvements in both logistics infrastructure and services are associated with export growth; (ii) manufactured goods can significantly benefit from these improvements, especially when both exporting and importing countries increase their logistics performance; (iii) the quality of logistics infrastructure and services becomes more important as traded goods are technology-intensive; and (iv) improving the exporting country's logistics performance is essential in the intensive margin of trade while enhancing the importing country's logistics performance is more relevant in the extensive margin.

Keywords: low-cost, recycling, reuse, solid waste, wastewater treatment

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Authors: Ade Oyedijo

Abstract:

This paper reports the findings of a study on the strategic and organizational antecedents and effects of two opposing pay patterns used by some manufacturing companies in Lagos Nigeria with particular reference to the behavioural correlates of the pay strategies considered. The assumed relationship between pay strategies and some organizational correlates such as business and corporate strategies and firm size was considered problematic in view of their likely implications for employee motivation and citizenship behaviour and firm performance. The survey research method was used for the study. Structured, close ended questions were used to collect primary data from the respondents. A multipart Likert scale was used to measure the pay orientations of the respondent firms and the job and organizational involvement of the respondent employees. Utilizing hierarchical linear regression method and "t-test" to analyze the data obtained from 48 manufacturing companies of various sizes and strategies, it was found that the dominant pattern of employee compensation in the sampled manufacturing companies. The study also revealed that the choice of a pay strategy was strongly influenced by organizational size as well as the type of business and corporate level strategies adopted by afirm. Firms pursuing a strategy of related and unrelated diversification are more likely to adopt the algorithmic compensation system than single product firms because of their relatively larger size and scope. However; firms that pursue a competitive advantage through a business level strategy of cost efficiency are more likely to use the experiential, variable pay strategy. The study found that an algorithmic compensation strategy is as effective as experiential compensation strategy in the promotion of organizational citizenship behaviour and motivation of employees.

Keywords: compensation, corporate strategy, business strategy, motivation, citizenship behaviour, algorithmic, experiential, organizational commitment, work environment

Procedia PDF Downloads 361