Search results for: international strategic alliances

Authors: Djouhou Fowe Michelle Carole

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In the last few decades, there have been considerable efforts by the international community to develop strategies that reduce global poverty and hunger. Despite the modest success in reducing food insecurity, there are still around 795 million people worldwide who remain undernourished, the majority of whom are in sub-Saharan Africa. In many of these impoverished communities, agriculture still remains one of the most important sectors in driving economic growth and reducing poverty. For the growing population, with higher food demand and fixed agricultural land, sustainable intensification is proposed as an important strategy to respond to the challenges of low yields, environmental degradation, and adaptation to climate change. Adoption of agroforestry technologies is increasingly being promoted as a promising solution. This study was conducted to determine the perceptions of the Cameroonian population and farmers on agroforestry. The methodology used was based on a survey to determine their knowledge level of agroforestry, their representation of its advantages and disadvantages, and the reasons that might motivate them whether or not to adopt agroforestry. Participants were randomly selected and received a questionnaire. Data were subjected to a descriptive analysis using SPSS software. The obtained results showed that less than 50% of the general population had already heard about agroforestry at least once; they have basic knowledge about this concept and its advantages. Farmers had been particularly sensitive to tree's food production function and seemed to value their environmental assets. However, various constraints could affect the possible adoption of agroforestry techniques.

Keywords: agroforestry, quality and sustainable agriculture, perceptions, advantages, limits

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Authors: Adelina Vrancianu

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The problem of artificial real accession will be analyzed in this study both in terms of old and current Civil Code provisions and in terms of comparative law, European legal and Canadian systems. The current Civil Code from 2009 has brought new changes about the application and solutions regarding artificial real accession. The hypothesis in which a person is making works with his own materials on the real estate belonging to another person is developed and analyzed in detail from national and international point of view in relation with the good faith. The scope of this analysis is to point out what are the changes issued from case-law and which ones are new, inspired from other law systems in regard to the good/bad faith. The new civil code has promoted a definition for this notion. Is this definition a new one inspired from the comparative law or is it inspired from the case-law? Is it explained for every case scenario of accession or is a general notion? The study tries to respond to these questions and to present the new aspects in the area. has reserved a special place for the situation of execution of works with own materials exceeding the border with violation of another’s right of property, where the variety of solutions brings into discussion the case of expropriation for private interest. The new Civil Code is greatly influenced by the Civil Code from Quebec in comparison with the old code of French influence. The civil reform was needed and has brought into attention new solutions inspired from the Canadian system which has mitigated the permanent conflict between the constructor and the immovable owner.

Keywords: accession, good faith, new civil code, comparative law

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Authors: Doron Markel

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Water availability in most of the Middle East (especially in Jordan) is among the lowest in the world and has been even further exacerbated by the regional climatic change and the reduced rainfall. The Araba Valley in Israel is disconnected from the national water system. On the other hand, the Araba Valley, both in Israel and Jordan, is an excellent area for solar energy gaining. The Dead Sea (Israel and Jordan) is a hypersaline lake which its level declines at a rate of more than 1 m/y. The decline stems from the increasing use of all available freshwater resources that discharge into the Dead Sea and decreasing natural precipitation due to climate change in the Middle East. As an adaptation tool for this humanmade and Climate Change results, a comprehensive water-energy and environmental project were suggested: The Red Sea-Dead Sea Conveyance. It is planned to desalinate the Red Sea water, supply the desalinated water to both Israel and Jordan, and convey the desalination brine to the Dead Sea to stabilize its water level. Therefore, the World Bank had led a multi-discipline feasibility study between 2008 and 2013, that had mainly dealt with the mixing of seawater and Dead Sea Water. The possible consequences of such mixing were precipitation and possible suspension of secondary Gypsum, as well as blooming of Dunaliella red algae. Using a comprehensive hydrodynamic-geochemical model for the Dead Sea, it was predicted that while conveying up to 400 Million Cubic Meters per year of seawater or desalination brine to the Dead Sea, the latter would not be stratified as it was until 1979; hence Gypsum precipitation and algal blooms would be neglecting. Using another hydrodynamic-biological model for the Red Sea, it was predicted the Seawater pump from the Gulf of Eilat would not harm the ecological system of the gulf (including the sensitive coral reef), giving a pump depth of 120-160 m. Based on these studies, a pipeline conveyance was recommended to convey desalination brine to the Dead Sea with the use of a hydropower plant, utilizing the elevation difference of 400 m between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea. The complementary energy would come from solar panels coupled with innovative storage technology, needed to produce a continuous energy production for an appropriate function of the desalination plant. The paper will describe the proposed project as well as the feasibility study results. The possibility to utilize this water-energy-environmental project as a climate change adaptation strategy for both Israel and Jordan will also be discussed.

Keywords: Red Sea, Dead Sea, water supply, hydro-power, Gypsum, algae

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Authors: Vinicius Buccelli Ribeiro, Maria Teresa Destro, Mariza Landgraf

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Bacteriophages are one of the most abundant replicating entities on Earth and can be found everywhere in which their hosts live and there are reports regarding isolation from different niches such as soil and foods. Since studies are moving forward with regard to biotechnology area, different research projects are being performed focusing on the phage technology and its use by the food industry. This study aimed to evaluate a cocktail (LP501) of phages isolated in Brazil for its lytic potential against Listeria monocytogenes. Three bacteriophages (LP05, LP12 and LP20) were isolated from soil samples and all of them showed 100% lysis against a panel of 10 L. monocytogenes strains representing different serotypes of this pathogen. A mix of L. monocytogenes 1/2a and 4b were inoculated in soft cheeses (approximately 105 cfu/cm2) with the phage cocktail added thereafter (1 x 109 PFU/cm2). Samples were analyzed immediately and then stored at 10°C for ten days. At 30 min post-infection, the cocktail reduced L. monocytogenes counts approximately 1.5 logs, compared to controls without bacteriophage. The treatment produced a statistically significant decrease in the counts of viable cells (p < 0.05) and in all assays performed we observed a decrease of up to 4 logs of L. monocytogenes. This study will make available to the international community behavioral and molecular data regarding bacteriophages present in soil samples in Brazil. Furthermore, there is the possibility to apply this new cocktail of phages in different food products to combat L. monocytogenes.

Keywords: bacteriophages, biocontrol, listeria monocytogenes, soft cheese

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Authors: Loreta Kaklauskiene, Arturas Kaklauskas

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The Integrated Human Resources and Work Environment Management (HOWE) System optimises employee productivity, improves the work environment, and, at the same time, meets the employer’s strategic goals. The HOWE system has been designed to ensure an organisation can successfully compete in the global market, thanks to the high performance of its employees. The HOWE system focuses on raising workforce productivity and improving work conditions to boost employee performance and motivation. The methods used in our research are linear correlation, INVAR multiple criteria analysis, digital twin, and affective computing. The HOWE system is based on two patents issued in Lithuania (LT 6866, LT 6841) and one European Patent application (No: EP 4 020 134 A1). Our research analyses ways to make human resource management more efficient and boost labour productivity by improving and adapting a personalised work environment. The efficiency of human capital and labour productivity can be increased by applying personalised workplace improvement systems that can optimise lighting colours and intensity, scents, data, information, knowledge, activities, media, games, videos, music, air pollution, humidity, temperature, vibrations, and other workplace aspects. HOWE generates and maintains a personalised workspace for an employee, taking into account the person’s affective, physiological and emotional (APSE) states. The purpose of this project was to create a HOWE for the customisation of quality control in smart workspaces taking into account the user’s APSE states in an integrated manner as a single unit. This customised management of quality control covers the levels of lighting and colour intensities, scents, media, information, activities, learning materials, games, music, videos, temperature, energy efficiency, the carbon footprint of a workspace, humidity, air pollution, vibrations and other aspects of smart spaces. The system is based on Digital Twins technology, seen as a logical extension of BIM.

Keywords: human resource management, health economics, work environment, organizational behaviour and employee productivity, prosperity in work, smart system

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Authors: Fines Fatimah, SH. MH.

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Indonesia is one of the countries that has ratified the UNCRPD (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities). The ratification of this convention brings consequences on the adjustment of national legislation with the UNCRPD convention, where this ratification at the same time is a measure in the eyes of the international community that a state party could be consistent with the issues and problems of disability. Persons with disabilities often have little access to justice when they are forced to deal with the criminal justice system. Pursuit of justice through litigation are often not in their favor, therefore without any awareness of law enforcement/awareness of disability will further complicate access to justice for persons with disabilities. Under Article 13 of the UNCRPD, it appeared that the convention requires ratifying states to guarantee equal opportunity and treatment in justice for persons with disabilities. The States should also ensure that any judicial rules must be adapted to the circumstances of persons with disabilities so that people with disabilities can fully participate in all stages of the trial court and, for example, as a witness. Finally, the state must provide training to understand these persons with disabilities (for those who work in the judiciary institution such as police or prison officials). Further, this paper aims to describe problem faced by persons with intellectual disabilities to access justice in Indonesian Criminal Justice System. This paper tries to find and propose the alternative solutions to promote the quality of law enforcement in Indonesia, especially for persons with intellectual disabilities.

Keywords: access to justice, Indonesian criminal justice system, intellectual disability, ratifying states

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Authors: Abdul Salam Turkmani

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The Lower Cretaceous rocks are exposed only in the mountains regions of Syria, such as the Anti- Lebanon mountain on the western side of Damascus. The lower cretaceous sequences are made up of different rocks. The upper and middle parts of the section are composed mainly of carbonate sediments and, less frequently, gypsum and anhydrite. The lower beds are mainly composed of sandstone, conglomerate and clay. Clay samples were collected from the study area, which is located about 45 km west of the city of Damascus, near the border village of Kfer Yabous and to the left of the Damascus -Beirut International Road, within the lower Cretaceous upper Aptian deposits. The properties of clay were carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and Thermal Analysis (DTA-TG-DSC) techniques. The studied samples of clay were mainly composed of kaolinite, quartz, illite. Chemical analysis shows the content of SiO₂ varied between 46.06 to 73 % Al₂O₃ 14.55-26.56%, about the staining oxides (Fe₂O₃ + TiO₂), the total content is about 4.3 to 12.5%. The physical properties were determined by studying the behavior of the body before and after firing, showed low bending strength values (22.5 kg/cm²) after drying, and (about 247 kg/cm²) after firing at 1180°C, water absorption value was about 10%. The cubic thermal expansion coefficient at 1140°C is 213.77 x 10-7 /°C. All of the presented results confirm the suitability of this clay for the ceramic industry.

Keywords: anti-Lebanon, Damascus, ceramic, clay, thermal analysis, thermal expansion coefficient

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Authors: Henrie Yunianto, Dermawan Wibisono

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PT. XYZ is a family business (private company) in Indonesia that provide an educational program and consultation services. Since its establishment in 2011, the company has run without any strategic management system implemented. Though the company could survive until now. The management of PT. XYZ sees the business opportunity for such product is huge, even though the targeted market is very specific (niche), the volume is large (due to large population of Indonesia) and numbers of competitors are low (now). It can be said if the product life cycle is in between ‘Introduction stage’ and ‘growth’ stage. It is observed that nowadays the new entrants (competitors) are increasing, thus PT. XYZ consider reacting in facing the intense business rivalry by conducting the business in an appropriate manner. A Performance Management System is important to be implemented in accordance with the business sustainability and growth. The framework of Performance Management System chosen is Integrated Performance Management System (IPMS). IPMS framework has the advantages of its simplicity, linkage between its business variables and indicators where the company can see the connections between all factors measured. IPMS framework consists of perspectives: (1) Business Result, (2) Internal Processes, (3) Resource Availability. Variables and indicators were examined through deep analysis of the business external and internal environments, Strength-Weakness-Opportunity-Threat (SWOT) analysis, Porter’s five forces analysis. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis was then used to quantify the weight of each variable/indicators. AHP is needed since in this study, PT. XYZ, the data of existing performance indicator was not available. Later, where the IPMS is implemented, the real data measured can be examined to determine the weight factor of each indicators using correlation analysis (or other methods). In this study of IPMS design for PT. XYZ, the analysis shows that with current company goals, along with the AHP methodology, the critical indicators for each perspective are: (1) Business results: Customer satisfaction and Employee satisfaction, (2) Internal process: Marketing performance, Supplier quality, Production quality, Continues improvement; (3) Resources Availability: Leadership and company culture & value, Personal Competences, Productivity. Company and/or organization require performance management system to help them in achieving their vision and mission. Company strategy will be effectively defined and addressed by using performance management system. Integrated Performance Management System (IPMS) framework and AHP analysis help us in quantifying the factors which influence the business output expected.

Keywords: analytical hierarchy process, business strategy, differentiation strategy, integrated performance management system

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Authors: Imtisal-e-Noor, Andrew Martin, Olli Dahl

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Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) has developed as a chosen planarization technique in nano-electronics industries for fabrication of the integrated circuits (ICs). These CMP processes release a huge amount of wastewater that contains oxides of nano-particles (silica, alumina, and ceria) and oxalic acid. Since, this wastewater has high solid content (TS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and turbidity (NTU); therefore, in order to fulfill the environmental regulations, it needs to be treated up to the local and international standards. The present study proposed a unique CMP wastewater treatment method called Membrane Distillation (MD). MD is a non-isothermal membrane separation process, which allows only volatiles, i.e., water vapors to permeate through the membrane and provides 100% contaminants rejection. The performance of the MD technology is analyzed in terms of total organic carbon (TOC), turbidity, TS, COD, and residual oxide concentration in permeate/distilled water while considering different operating conditions (temperature, flow rate, and time). The results present that high-quality permeate has been recovered after removing 99% of the oxide particles and oxalic acid. The distilled water depicts turbidity < 1 NTU, TOC < 3 mg/L, TS < 50 mg/L, and COD < 100 mg/L. These findings clearly show that the MD treated water can be reused further in industrial processes or allowable to discharge in any water body under the stringent environmental regulations.

Keywords: chemical mechanical polishing, environmental regulations, membrane distillation, wastewater treatment

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Authors: Mariana Sary Khalifa Rezk

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The problem of respect for human rights in Southeast Asia has emerged as a main situation and is attracting the attention of the international network. Basically, the affiliation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) made human rights certainly one of its main troubles inside the ASEAN constitution in 2008. In the end, the Intergovernmental Fee on Human Rights ASEAN Human Rights (AICHR) was set up. AICHR is the Southeast Asia Human Rights Enforcement fee charged with the duties, functions and powers to sell and defend human rights. However, at the cease of 2016, the protecting feature assigned to the AICHR was no longer fulfilled. That is shown via several instances of human rights violations, which can be nonetheless ongoing and have not been solved. One case that has these days come to light is human rights violations against the Rohingya people in Myanmar. Using a felony-normative method, the study examines the urgency of setting up a human rights tribunal in Southeast Asia able to decide binding on ASEAN members or responsible parties. Information indicates ASEAN desires regional courts to cope with human rights abuses in the ASEAN region. Furthermore, the look also highlights 3 critical elements that ASEAN ought to take into account whilst establishing a human rights tribunal, particularly quantity. A good sized distinction in phrases of democracy and human rights improvement a few of the participants, a consistent implementation of the principle of non-interference and the economic trouble of the continuation of the court docket.

Keywords: politics, human rights, humanities, mankind, law human rights, Nigerian legal provisions, shariah law, comparative study, charter

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Authors: Zeynep Aykul Yavuz

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Misconception about design is about making a product pretty. However, the holistic approaches such as design thinking or human-centered design could take the design from making things nice to things inspired by real people and work with real-world limitations. Design thinking helps companies to understand not only problem area but also opportunities. It can be used by any people from any background which provide a space for companies where employees from different departments work together to solve the same problem. While demanding skills changing year to year into the market, previous technical skills are commons anymore. The frontier companies in the sectors look for interactive methods to solve problems. Moreover, the recruiter aims to understand the candidate’s design thinking skills (. The study includes a case study where a 21st century creative services company “ATÖLYE” offers innovation transformation with design thinking to a banking company. Both companies are located in İstanbul in Turkey. The banking company contacted with the ATÖLYE in January 2018 because they heard design thinking in different markets and how it transformed the way of working. The transformation process had 3 phases which were basic training of teams while getting coaching from ATÖLYE’s employees, coaching training with graduates of basic training, facilitator training. Employees built new skills while solving the banking company’s strategic problems. ATÖLYE offered experiential learning which helped employees’ making sense of new skills and knowledge. One day workshops were organized to create awareness about the practice of design thinking. In addition to these, a community of practice was built to create an environment to make reflections and discuss good practice. Not only graduates from the training program but also other employees from the company participated in the community gatherings. ATÖLYE did not train some employees in the company. Rather than that, its aim was to build a contemporary organization for the company. This provided a sustainable system in terms of human resources and motivation. At the beginning of 2020, employees from the first cohort in the basic training who took coaching training and facilitator training have started to design training for different groups in the company. They have considered what could be better in their training experience and designed new ones according to that, so they have been using design thinking to design the design training. This is one of the outcomes which shows the impact of all process clearly.

Keywords: design thinking, learning community, professional development, training, organizational transformation

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Authors: Isiya Shinkafi Salihu

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Open education resources (OER) are open learning materials in different formats, course content and context to support learning globally. This study investigated the level of awareness of Hospitality and Tourism OER among students in the Department of Tourism and Hotel Management in a University. Specifically, it investigated students’ awareness, use and accessibility of OER in learning. The research design method used was the quantitative approach, using an online questionnaire. The thesis research shows that respondents frequently use OER but with little knowledge of the content and context of the material. Most of the respondents’ have little knowledge about the concept even though they use it. Information and communication technologies are tools for information gathering, social networking and knowledge sharing and transfer. OER are open education materials accessible online such as curriculum, maps, course materials, and videos that users create, adapt, reuse for learning and research. Few of the respondents that used OER in learning faced some challenges such as high cost of data, poor connectivity and lack of proper guidance. The results suggest a lack of awareness of OER among students in the faculty of tourism and the need for support from the teachers in the utilization of OER. The thesis also reveals that some of the international students are accessing the internet as beginners in their studies which require guidance. The research, however, recommends that further studies should be conducted to other faculties.

Keywords: creative commons, open education resources, open licenses, information and communication technology

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Authors: Momen Yaseen M. Amin

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Despite widespread coverage of language policy in the literature, there has been scant research probing into English language education policy at tertiary levels in general and in the case of higher education context of Iraqi Kurdistan in particular. The present qualitative study investigated the results of a questionnaire on attitudes toward English language education policy in terms of attitudes toward the English language in general, the current English education policy, and the purposes for learning English among Kurdish EFL university students. Moreover, this study aimed to investigate this topic in light of the participants’ gender and major. To this end, an adapted version of Yang’s (2012) questionnaire was administered to university EFL students majoring in soft and hard sciences (N=300, male 34%, female 67%, four and two disciplines, respectively) at two-state and private universities in Iraqi Kurdistan. The findings revealed positive attitudes toward English as an international language in both soft and hard sciences. While strongly subscribing to the idea that all Iraqi Kurdish students should learn the English language and the courses to be offered in English as well as Kurdish, the majority of the participants expressed their readiness and enthusiasm to excel in English and considered such competency a significant academic accomplishment. However, a good number felt dissatisfied with the status quo of English education at their institutions. This paper provides some implications and recommendations for English education policies makers, administrators, and English language instructors at tertiary levels.

Keywords: attitudes, language policy, English language education, Iraqi Kurdistan

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Authors: Moustafa Osman Mohammed

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Construction industry, as one of the main contributor in depletion of natural resources, influences climate change. This paper discusses incremental and evolutionary development of the proposed models for optimization of a life-cycle analysis to explicit strategy for evaluation systems. The main categories are virtually irresistible for introducing uncertainties, uptake composite structure model (CSM) as environmental management systems (EMSs) in a practice science of evaluation small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The model simplified complex systems to reflect nature systems’ input, output and outcomes mode influence “framework measures” and give a maximum likelihood estimation of how elements are simulated over the composite structure. The traditional knowledge of modeling is based on physical dynamic and static patterns regarding parameters influence environment. It unified methods to demonstrate how construction systems ecology interrelated from management prospective in procedure reflects the effect of the effects of engineering systems to ecology as ultimately unified technologies in extensive range beyond constructions impact so as, - energy systems. Sustainability broadens socioeconomic parameters to practice science that meets recovery performance, engineering reflects the generic control of protective systems. When the environmental model employed properly, management decision process in governments or corporations could address policy for accomplishment strategic plans precisely. The management and engineering limitation focuses on autocatalytic control as a close cellular system to naturally balance anthropogenic insertions or aggregation structure systems to pound equilibrium as steady stable conditions. Thereby, construction systems ecology incorporates engineering and management scheme, as a midpoint stage between biotic and abiotic components to predict constructions impact. The later outcomes’ theory of environmental obligation suggests either a procedures of method or technique that is achieved in sustainability impact of construction system ecology (SICSE), as a relative mitigation measure of deviation control, ultimately.

Keywords: sustainability, environmental impact assessment, environemtal management, construction ecology

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Authors: Arjun K., Arumugam Sankaran, Sanjay Kumar, Mousumi Das

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The paper analyses the existence of endogenous growth scenario emanating from the demographic dividend in India during the liberalization period starting from 1980. Demographic dividend creates a fertile ground for the cultivation of human and knowledge capitals contributing to technological progress which can be measured using total factor productivity. The relationship among total factor productivity, human and knowledge capitals are examined in an open endogenous framework for the period 1980-2016. The control variables such as foreign direct investment, trade openness, energy consumption are also employed. The data are sourced from Reserve Bank of India, World Bank, International Energy Agency and The National Science and Technology Management Information System. To understand the dynamic association among variables, ARDL bounds approach to cointegration followed by Toda-Yamamoto causality test are used. The results reveal a short run and long run relationship among the variables supported by the existence of causality. This calls for an integrated policy to build and augment human capital and research and development activities to sustain and pace up growth and development in the nation.

Keywords: demographic dividend, young population, open endogenous growth models, human and knowledge capital

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Authors: Moshe Davidian, Shlomo Mark, Yotam Lurie

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With the rapid development of technology and the concomitant growth in the capability of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems and their power, the ethical challenges involved in these systems are also evolving and increasing. In recent years, various organizations, including governments, international institutions, professional societies, civic organizations, and commercial companies, have been choosing to address these various challenges by publishing ethical codes for AI systems. However, despite the apparent agreement that AI should be “ethical,” there is debate about the definition of “ethical artificial intelligence.” This study investigates the various AI ethical codes and their key ethical values. From the vast collection of codes that exist, it analyzes and compares 25 ethical codes that were found to be representative of different types of organizations. In addition, as part of its literature review, the study overviews data collected in three recent reviews of AI codes. The results of the analyses demonstrate a convergence around seven key ethical values. However, the key finding is that the different AI ethical codes eventually reflect the type of organization that designed the code; i.e., the organizations’ role as regulator, user, or developer affects the view of what ethical AI is. The results show a relationship between the organization’s role and the dominant values in its code. The main contribution of this study is the development of a list of the key values for all AI systems and specific values that need to impact the development and design of AI systems, but also allowing for differences according to the organization for which the system is being developed. This will allow an analysis of AI values in relation to stakeholders.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, ethical codes, principles, values

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Authors: Laila Algalal, Chen Xi

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The US dollar has long served as the world's primary reserve currency. However, this dominance faces growing challenges from internal US economic pressures and the rise of alternative currencies. Internally, issues like high debt, inflation, reduced competitiveness, and economic instability due to inequality in economic policies threaten the dollar's position. Externally, more countries are establishing alternative currencies, payment systems, and regional financial institutions to reduce dollar dependence. These drivers have contributed to a decline in the dollar's share of global foreign exchange reserves from 71% in 2001 to an estimated 58% in 2022. While this 13-percentage point drop took two decades, recent initiatives suggest de-dollarization could accelerate in the coming few decades. Efforts to establish non-dollar trade deals and alternative financial systems show more substantial progress compared to initiatives in the early 2000s. As the nature of the world system is anarchic, states make either individual or group efforts to guarantee their economic security and achieve their interests. Based on neoclassical realism, this paper analyzes both internal and external US economic factors driving current and future de-dollarization and the implications on the international monetary system, in addition to examining the motivation for such moves.

Keywords: de-dollarization, US dollar, monetary system, economic security, economic policies.

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Authors: Arnab Adhikari, Adrija Majumdar, Gaurav Gupta, Arnab Bisi

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Team formation plays an instrumental role in the sports like cricket. Existing literature reveals that most of the works on player selection focus only on the players’ efficiency and ignore the consistency. It motivates us to design an improved player selection method based on both player’s efficiency and consistency. To measure the players’ efficiency measurement, we employ a modified data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique namely ‘super-efficient DEA model’. We design a modified consistency index based on semi variance approach. Here, we introduce a new parameter called ‘fitness index’ for consistency computation to assess a player’s fitness level. Finally, we devise a single performance score using both efficiency score and consistency score with the help of a linear programming model. To test the robustness of our method, we perform a rigorous numerical analysis to determine the all-time best One Day International (ODI) Cricket XI. Next, we conduct extensive comparative studies regarding efficiency scores, consistency scores, selected team between the existing methods and the proposed method and explain the rationale behind the improvement.

Keywords: decision support systems, sports, super-efficient data envelopment analysis, semi variance approach

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Authors: Fawad Hussain, Mohammad Basir Bin Saud, Mohd Azwardi Md Isa

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The aim of this study is to empirically investigate the mediating impact of export performance (EP) between technological advancement capabilities (TAC) and business performance (BP) of Malaysian manufacturing MSME’s. Firm’s technological advancement resources are hypothesized as a platform to enhance both exports and business performance of manufacturing MSMEs in Malaysia. This study is twofold, primary it has investigated that technological advancement capabilities helps to appreciates main performance measures noted in terms of export performance and Secondly it investigates that how efficiently and effectively technological advancement capabilities can contributes in overall Malaysian MSME’s business performance. Smart PLS-3 statistical software is used to know the association between technological advancement capabilities, MSME’s export performance and business performance. In this study the data was composed from Malaysian manufacturing MSME’s in east coast industrial zones known as manufacturing hub of MSMEs. Seven Hundred and Fifty (750) questionnaires were distributed but only 148 usable questionnaires are returned. The finding of this study indicated that technological advancement capabilities helps to strengthen the export in term of time and cost efficient and it plays a significant role in appreciating their business performance. This study is helpful for small and medium enterprises owners who intent to expand their business overseas and though smart technological advancement resources they can achieve their business competitiveness and excellence both at local and international markets.

Keywords: technological advancement capabilities, export performance, business performance, small and medium manufacturing enterprises, malaysia

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Authors: Jana Petru, Marie Kudrnova

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The use of technologies working with molten salts is conditioned by finding suitable construction materials that must meet several demanding criteria. In addition to temperature resistance, materials must also show corrosion resistance to salts; they must meet mechanical requirements and other requirements according to the area of use – for example, radiation resistance in Molten Salt Reactors. The present text describes an experimental device for studying the corrosion resistance of candidate materials in molten mixtures of salts and is a partial task of the international project ADAR, dealing with the evaluation of advanced nuclear reactors based on molten salts. The design of the device is based on a test exposure of Inconel 625 in the mixture of salts Hitec in a high temperature tube furnace. The result of the pre-exposure is, in addition to the metallographic evaluation of the behavior of material 625 in the mixture of nitrate salts, mainly a list of operational and construction problems that were essential for the construction of the new experimental equipment. The main output is a scheme of a newly designed gas-tight experimental apparatus capable of operating in an inert argon atmosphere, temperature up to 600 °C, pressure 3 bar, in the presence of a corrosive salt environment, with an exposure time of hundreds of hours. This device will enable the study of promising construction materials for nuclear energy.

Keywords: corrosion, experimental device, molten salt, steel

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Authors: Terefe Alemu

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This study is intended to examine Ethiopia’s trade flow determinants and trade potential with G20 countries whether it was overtraded or there is/are trade potential by using trade gravity model. The sources of panel data used were IMF, WDI, United Nations population division, The Heritage Foundation, Washington's No. 1 think tank online website database, online distance calculator, and others for the duration of 2010 to 2019 for 10 consecutive years. The empirical data analyzing tool used was Random effect model (REM), which is effective in estimation of time-invariant data. The empirical data analyzed using STATA software result indicates that Ethiopia has a trade potential with seven countries of G20, whereas Ethiopia overtrade with 12 countries and EU region. The Ethiopia’s and G20 countries/region bilateral trade flow statistically significant/ p<0.05/determinants were the population of G20 countries, growth domestic products of G20 countries, growth domestic products of Ethiopia, geographical distance between Ethiopia and G20 countries. The top five G20 countries exported to Ethiopia were china, United State of America, European Union, India, and South Africa, whereas the top five G20 countries imported from Ethiopia were EU, China, United State of America, Saudi Arabia, and Germany, respectively. Finally, the policy implication were Ethiopia has to Keep the consistence of trade flow with overtraded countries and improve with under traded countries through trade policy revision, and secondly, focusing on the trade determinants to improve trade flow is recommended.

Keywords: trade gravity model, trade determinants, G20, international trade, trade potential

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Authors: Qingqing Feng, S. Thomas Ng, Frank J. Xu, Jiduo Xing

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Faced with unprecedented challenges including aging assets, lack of maintenance budget, overtaxed and inefficient usage, and outcry for better service quality from the society, today’s infrastructure systems has become the main focus of many metropolises to pursue sustainable urban development and improve resilience. Digital twin, being one of the most innovative enabling technologies nowadays, may open up new ways for tackling various infrastructure asset management (IAM) problems. Digital twin application for IAM, as its name indicated, represents an evolving digital model of intended infrastructure that possesses functions including real-time monitoring; what-if events simulation; and scheduling, maintenance, and management optimization based on technologies like IoT, big data and AI. Up to now, there are already vast quantities of global initiatives of digital twin applications like 'Virtual Singapore' and 'Digital Built Britain'. With digital twin technology permeating the IAM field progressively, it is necessary to consider the maturity of the application and how those institutional or industrial digital twin application processes will evolve in future. In order to deal with the gap of lacking such kind of benchmark, a draft maturity model is developed for digital twin application in the IAM field. Firstly, an overview of current smart cities maturity models is given, based on which the draft Maturity Model of Digital Twin Application for Infrastructure Asset Management (MM-DTIAM) is developed for multi-stakeholders to evaluate and derive informed decision. The process of development follows a systematic approach with four major procedures, namely scoping, designing, populating and testing. Through in-depth literature review, interview and focus group meeting, the key domain areas are populated, defined and iteratively tuned. Finally, the case study of several digital twin projects is conducted for self-verification. The findings of the research reveal that: (i) the developed maturity model outlines five maturing levels leading to an optimised digital twin application from the aspects of strategic intent, data, technology, governance, and stakeholders’ engagement; (ii) based on the case study, levels 1 to 3 are already partially implemented in some initiatives while level 4 is on the way; and (iii) more practices are still needed to refine the draft to be mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive in key domain areas.

Keywords: digital twin, infrastructure asset management, maturity model, smart city

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Authors: Ashish Trivedi, Amol Singh

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In the recent years, the magnitude and frequency of disasters have increased at an alarming rate. Every year, more than 400 natural disasters affect global population. A large-scale disaster leads to destruction or damage to houses, thereby rendering a notable number of residents homeless. Since humanitarian response and recovery process takes considerable time, temporary establishments are arranged in order to provide shelter to affected population. These shelter areas are vital for an effective humanitarian relief; therefore, they must be strategically planned. Choosing the locations of temporary shelter areas for accommodating homeless people is critical to the quality of humanitarian assistance provided after a large-scale emergency. There has been extensive research on the facility location problem both in theory and in application. In order to deliver sufficient relief aid within a relatively short timeframe, humanitarian relief organisations pre-position warehouses at strategic locations. However, such approaches have received limited attention from the perspective of providing shelters to disaster-affected people. In present research work, this aspect of humanitarian logistics is considered. The present work proposes a hybrid decision support model to determine relative preference of potential shelter locations by assessing them based on key subjective criteria. Initially, the factors that are kept in mind while locating potential areas for establishing temporary shelters are identified by reviewing extant literature and through consultation from a panel of disaster management experts. In order to determine relative importance of individual criteria by taking into account subjectivity of judgements, a hybrid approach of fuzzy sets and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was adopted. Further, Technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) was applied on an illustrative data set to evaluate potential locations for establishing temporary shelter areas for homeless people in a disaster scenario. The contribution of this work is to propose a range of possible shelter locations for a humanitarian relief organization, using a robust multi criteria decision support framework.

Keywords: AHP, disaster preparedness, fuzzy set theory, humanitarian logistics, TOPSIS, temporary shelters

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Authors: Bahman Ghorashi

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The immense awareness of the global climate change has compelled traditional fossil fuel companies to develop strategies to reduce their carbon footprint and simultaneously consider the production of various sources of clean energy in order to mitigate the environmental impact of their operations. Similarly, supply chain issues, the scarcity of certain raw materials, energy costs as well as market needs, and changing consumer expectations have forced the traditional chemical industry to reexamine their time-honored modes of operation. This study examines how such transformative change might occur through the applications of agile principles as well as industry 4.0 technologies. Clearly, such a transformation is complex, costly, and requires a total commitment on the part of the top leadership and the entire management structure. Factors that need to be considered include organizational speed of change, a restructuring that would lend itself toward collaboration and the selling of solutions to customers’ problems, rather than just products, integrating ‘along’ as well as ‘across’ value chains, mastering change and uncertainty as well as a recognition of the importance of concept-to-cash time, i.e., the velocity of introducing new products to market, and the leveraging of people and information. At the same time, parallel to implementing such major shifts in the ethos, and the fabric of the organization, the change leaders should remain mindful of the companies’ DNA while incorporating the necessary DNA defying shifts. Furthermore, such strategic maneuvers should inevitably incorporate the managing of the upstream and downstream operations, harnessing future opportunities, preparing and training the workforce, implementing faster decision making and quick adaptation to change, managing accelerated response times, as well as forming autonomous and cross-functional teams. Moreover, the leaders should establish the balance between high-value solutions versus high-margin products, fully implement digitization of operations and, when appropriate, incorporate the latest relevant technologies, such as: AI, IIoT, ML, and immersive technologies. This study presents a summary of the agile principles and the relevant technologies and draws lessons from some of the best practices that are already implemented within the chemical industry in order to establish a roadmap to agility. Finally, the critical role of educational institutions in preparing the future workforce for Industry 4.0 is addressed.

Keywords: agile principles, immersive technologies, industry 4.0, workforce preparation

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Authors: Shoumodip Roy, Ankit Singhania, M. K. G. Choudhury, Santanu Mallick, M. K. Agarwal, R. V. Ramna, Uttam Singh

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One of the key corporate goals of Tata Steel company is to demonstrate Environment Leadership. Decreasing specific CO₂ emission is one of the key steps to achieve the stated corporate goal. At any Blast Furnace, specific CO₂ emission is directly proportional to fuel intake. To reduce the fuel intake at G Blast Furnace, an initial benchmarking exercise was carried out with international and domestic Blast Furnaces to determine the potential for improvement. The gap identified during the exercise revealed that the benchmark Blast Furnaces operated with superior raw material quality than that in G Blast Furnace. However, since the raw materials to G Blast Furnace are sourced from the captive mines, improvement in the raw material quality was out of scope. Therefore, trials were taken with different operating regimes, to identify the key process parameters, which on optimization could significantly reduce the fuel intake in G Blast Furnace. The key process parameters identified from the trial were the Stoichiometric Oxygen Ratio, Melting Capacity ratio and the burden distribution inside the furnace. These identified process parameters were optimized to bridge the gap in fuel intake at G Blast Furnace, thereby reducing specific CO₂ emission to benchmark levels. This paradigm shift enabled to lower the fuel intake by 70kg per ton of liquid iron produced, thereby reducing the specific CO₂ emission by 15 percent.

Keywords: benchmark, blast furnace, CO₂ emission, fuel rate

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Authors: Mahitab A. A. Mahmoud

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Despite the international community’s galvanized efforts to achieve gender equality, the Arab world still lags behind for their sustained suppression of diversity and freedoms. In Egypt, homosexuals are defamed and hunted not only by authorities but also by politicized religious institutions and media platforms. The resultant state-sponsored homophobia is reflected in media. This paper offers a critical discourse analysis of the representation of LGBTQs in Egypt’s local news articles and movies in an attempt to investigate the underlying ideology. The results reveal a clichéd portrayal of homosexuals as a social parasite that requires cleansing by the government. LGBTQs are depicted as an outcome of debauchery, unhappy marriage, sexual deviancy, deficiency of masculinity/femininity, absence of the mother and/or father figure(s), abject poverty, excessive wealth, psychiatric disorder, debased instincts, childhood sexual molestation, immorality, deviation from religion, chaos, treason, conspiracy against the regime, to name only a few. This image, which is imposed and sustained by the state, exposes homosexuals to a violation of their human rights by both the police and the society, endangers their lives, breeds intolerance, social inequality and violence, prevents healthy coexistence; and deprives them of living a normal life.

Keywords: critical discourse analysis, gender studies, homophobia, homosexuality, ideology, media studies

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Authors: Anthea Carol Nefdt

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In this article, observations are drawn from a number of interviews conducted with female executives in the South African Oil Industry in 2017. Globally, the oil industry represents one of the most male-dominated organisational structures as well as cultures in the business world. Some of the remarkable women, who hold upper management positions, have not only emerged from the science and finance spheres (equally gendered organisations) but also navigated their way through an aggressive, patriarchal atmosphere of rivalry and competition. We examine various mythology associated with the industry, such as the cowboy myth, the frontier ideology and the queen bee syndrome directed at female executives. One of the themes to emerge from my interviews was the almost unanimous rejection of the ‘glass ceiling’ metaphor favoured by some Feminists. The women of the oil industry rather affirmed a picture of their rise to leadership positions through a strategic labyrinth of challenges and obstacles both in terms of gender and race. This article aims to share the insights of women leaders in a complex industry through both their reflections and a theoretical Feminist lens. The study is located within the South African context and given our historical legacy, it was optimal to use an intersectional approach which would allow issues of race, gender, ethnicity and language to emerge. A qualitative research methodological approach was employed as well as a thematic interpretative analysis to analyse and interpret the data. This research methodology was used precisely because it encourages and acknowledged the experiences women have and places these experiences at the centre of the research. Multiple methods of recruitment of the research participants was utilised. The initial method of recruitment was snowballing sampling, the second method used was purposive sampling. In addition to this, semi-structured interviews gave the participants an opportunity to ask questions, add information and have discussions on issues or aspects of the research area which was of interest to them. One of the key objectives of the study was to investigate if there was a difference in the leadership styles of men and women. Findings show that despite the wealth of literature on the topic, to the contrary some women do not perceive a significant difference in men and women’s leadership style. However other respondents felt that there were some important differences in the experiences of men and women superiors although they hesitated to generalise from these experiences Further findings suggest that although the oil industry provides unique challenges to women as a gendered organization, it also incorporates various progressive initiatives for their advancement.

Keywords: petroleum industry, gender, feminism, leadership

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Authors: Julie Ann L. Gadin, Andrearose C. Igano, Carl Joseph S. Ignacio, Christopher C. Bacungan

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Corn production has become an important and pervasive industry in the Visayas for many years. Its role as a substitute commodity to rice heightens demand for health-particular consumers. Unfortunately, the corn industry is confronted with several challenges, such as weak institutions. Considering these issues, the paper examined the factors that influence corn production in the three administrative regions in the Visayas, namely, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and Eastern Visayas. The data used was retrieved from a variety of publicly available data sources such as the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Department of Agriculture, the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation, and the International Disaster Database. Utilizing a dataset from 2002 to 2019, the indicators were tested using three multiple linear regression (MLR) models. Results showed that the land area harvested (p=0.02), and the value of corn production (p=0.00) are statistically significant variables that influence corn production in the Visayas. Given these findings, it is suggested that the policy of forest conversion and sustainable land management should be effective in enabling farmworkers to obtain land to grow corn crops, especially in rural regions. Furthermore, the Biofuels Act of 2006, the Livestock Industry Restructuring and Rationalization Act, and supported policy, Senate Bill No. 225, or an Act Establishing the Philippine Corn Research Institute and Appropriating Funds, should be enforced inclusively in order to improve the demand for the corn-allied industries which may lead to an increase in the value and volume of corn production in the Visayas.

Keywords: corn, industry, production, MLR, Visayas

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Authors: Juan Pedro Aznar Alarcon, Josep Maria Sayeras Maspera

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Airbnb and other similar platforms are offering a near substitute to the traditional accommodation service supplied by the hotel sector. In this context, hotels can try to compete by offering higher quality and additional services, which imply the need for new investments or try to compete by reducing prices. The theoretical model presented in this paper analyzes the best response using a sequential game theory model. The main conclusion is that due to the financial constraints that small and medium hotels have these hotels have reduced prices whereas hotels that belong to international groups or have an easy access to financial resources have increased their investment to increase the quality of the service provided. To check the validity of the theoretical model financial data from Barcelona, London and Paris hotels have been used analyzing profitability, quality of the service provided, the investment propensity and the evolution of the gross profit. The model and the empirical data provide the base for some industrial policy in the hospitality industry. To address the extra cost that small hotels in Europe have to face compared by bigger firms would help to improve the level of quality provided and to some extent have positive externalities in terms of job creation and an increasing added value for the industry.

Keywords: Airbnb, profitability, hospitality industry, game theory

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Authors: L. Heidari, M. Jalili Ghazizade

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In recent years, different petrochemical complexes have been established to produce aromatic compounds. Among them, Nouri Petrochemical Complex (NPC) is the largest producer of aromatic raw materials in the world, and is located in south of Iran. Environmental concerns have been raised in this region due to generation of different types of solid waste generated in the process of aromatics production, and subsequently, industrial waste characterization has been thoroughly considered. The aim of this study is qualitative and quantitative characterization of industrial waste generated in the aromatics production process and determination of the best method for industrial waste management. For this purpose, all generated industrial waste during the production process was determined using a checklist. Four main industrial wastes were identified as follows: spent industrial soil, spent catalyst, spent molecular sieves and spent N-formyl morpholine (NFM) solvent. The amount of heavy metals and organic compounds in these wastes were further measured in order to identify the nature and toxicity of such a dangerous compound. Then industrial wastes were classified based on lab analysis results as well as using different international lists of hazardous waste identification such as EPA, UNEP and Basel Convention. Finally, the best method of waste disposal is selected based on environmental, economic and technical aspects. 

Keywords: aromatic compounds, industrial soil, molecular sieve, normal formyl morpholine solvent

Procedia PDF Downloads 232