Search results for: significant wave data

Authors: Arun Dhakal, Geoff Cockfield

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This paper examines the emission potential of different farming practices that the farmers have adopted in Dhanusha District of Nepal and scope of these practices in climate change mitigation. Which practice is more climate-smarter is the question that this aims to address through a life cycle assessment (LCA) of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The LCA was performed to assess if there is difference in emission potential of broadly two farming systems (agroforestry–based and traditional agriculture) but specifically four farming systems. The required data for this was collected through household survey of randomly selected households of 200. The sources of emissions across the farming systems were paddy cultivation, livestock, chemical fertilizer, fossil fuels and biomass (fuel-wood and crop residue) burning. However, the amount of emission from these sources varied with farming system adopted. Emissions from biomass burning appeared to be the highest while the source ‘fossil fuel’ caused the lowest emission in all systems. The emissions decreased gradually from agriculture towards the highly integrated agroforestry-based farming system (HIS), indicating that integrating trees into farming system not only sequester more carbon but also help in reducing emissions from the system. The annual emissions for HIS, Medium integrated agroforestry-based farming system (MIS), LIS (less integrated agroforestry-based farming system and subsistence agricultural system (SAS) were 6.67 t ha-1, 8.62 t ha-1, 10.75 t ha-1 and 17.85 t ha-1 respectively. In one agroforestry cycle, the HIS, MIS and LIS released 64%, 52% and 40% less GHG emission than that of SAS. Within agroforestry-based farming systems, the HIS produced 25% and 50% less emissions than those of MIS and LIS respectively. Our finding suggests that a tree-based farming system is more climate-smarter than a traditional farming. If other two benefits (carbon sequestered within the farm and in the natural forest because of agroforestry) are to be considered, a considerable amount of emissions is reduced from a climate-smart farming. Some policy intervention is required to motivate farmers towards adopting such climate-friendly farming practices in developing countries.

Keywords: life cycle assessment, greenhouse gas, climate change, farming systems, Nepal

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Authors: Christopher Okechukwu Ndukwe

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This paper investigates and categorizes the flexural damage mechanisms in composite materials caused by mesoscopic out-of-plane buckle defects that occur during the initial stage of the resin transfer molding (RTM) process. The findings of this study have significant practical implications for the manufacturing and use of composite materials, as they provide a deeper understanding of these damage mechanisms and their analysis. During the initial stage of shaping a preform, alterations, and distortions in the reinforcement sample can significantly lead to defects, such as buckling, especially when forming double-curvature geometries. These recurring mesoscopic defects have been investigated using a specialized laboratory bench designed to reproduce buckle defects like those found in complex geometric shapes, such as tetrahedrons. The study examined two sample configurations with buckle defects in the longitudinal and transverse directions alongside a reference sample for comparison. An acoustic emission (AE) system, a well-regarded non-contact method for monitoring structural health, was used to analyze the mechanical behavior of material samples in detail. An unsupervised K-means algorithm was employed to classify the damage mechanisms—such as matrix cracking, interface damage, and fiber breakage linked to the samples' failure. A standard was established based on three AE parameters: absolute energy, amplitude, and the number of AE events. This standard helped identify the origin and sequence of damage propagation. Initially, the results of the AE parameters were superimposed with the flexural loading curves to pinpoint the loading phases during which damage began and the specific points at which the samples ultimately failed. The normalized density of AE events related to different damage mechanisms was evaluated by analyzing the number of AE events within the amplitude domain of the AE signals. The ranges of the identified damage mechanisms in the amplitude plane illustrate the progression and order of load transfer among the elements of the composite material. In the reference sample, the AE event signals corresponding to the three classes of damage mechanisms partially overlap with adjacent signals. In contrast, the two defective sample configurations showed that the overlapping AE event signals for the respective damage mechanisms converged within the intermediate damage mode area at specific points, depending on the sample configuration. The convergence points in the samples with transverse defects were identified relatively earlier than in the other samples. Low and high amplitude ranges characterize the matrix cracking and fiber breakage damage mechanisms. The low amplitude damage occurred over a more extended length, while the high amplitude damage began much earlier. This results in the signals from both damage mechanisms converging at the center of the interface damage zone. This convergence suggests that all individual composite components fail concurrently at specific points in the defective samples, resulting in rapid fragmentation and ultimately contributing to failure. Overall, the results show that mesoscopic out-of-plane buckling in all directions affects the composite's flexural response, with more severe effects observed when the load is applied transversely.

Keywords: acoustic emission, composite reinforcement, damage mechanisms, mesoscopic buckle defects

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Authors: Khlifa El Atrash, Gabriel Assaf

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Libya uses a volumetric analysis in designing asphalt mixtures, which can also be upgraded in hot, arid weather. However, in order to be effective, it should include many important aspects which are materials, environment, and method of construction. However, the quality of some roads was below a satisfactory level. This paper examines the factors that contribute to low quality of road performance in Libya. To evaluate these factors, a questionnaire survey and a laboratory comparative study were performed for a few mixes under-represented of temperature and traffic load. In laboratory, rutting test conducted on two different asphalt mixture, these mixes included, an asphalt concrete mix using local aggregate and asphalt binder B(60/70) at the optimum Marshall asphalt content, another mixes designed using Superpave design procedure with the same materials and performance asphalt binder grade PG (70-10). In the survey, the questionnaire was distributed to 55 engineers and specialists in this field. The interview was conducted to a few others, and the factors that were leading to poor performance of asphalt roads were listed as; 1) Owner Experience and technical staff 2) Asphalt characteristics 3) Updating and development of Asphalt Mix Design methods 4) Lack of data collection by authorization Agency 5) Construction and compaction process 6) Mentoring and controlling mixing procedure. Considering and improving these factors will play an important role to improve the pavement performances, longer service life, and lower maintenance costs. This research summarized some recommendations for making asphalt mixtures used in hot, dry areas. Such asphalt mixtures should use asphalt binder which is less affected by pavement temperature change and traffic load. The properties of the mixture, such as durability, deformation, air voids, and performance, largely depend on the type of materials, environment, and mixing method. These properties, in turn, affect the pavement performance.

Keywords: volumetric analysis, pavement performances, hot climate, traffic load, pavement temperature, asphalt mixture, environment, design and construction

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Authors: Bisi Olawoyin

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The idea of knowledge sharing facilitated by the internet and complemented by a collaborative offline process in form of shared workshops called Makerspaces has become an attractive economic development agenda worldwide. Towards this end, Nigeria has established a number of Technology Incubation Centers (TICs) across the country with a view to using them as institutional mechanisms for commercializing Research and Development results; thus helping to promote venture creation and economic development. This study thus examines the impact of the nurturing by the TICs, on the performance of selected incubated enterprises that have grown into medium scale businesses in different sectors of the economy. The objective is to determine the extent to which the process of incubation has contributed to their growth in relation to similar businesses that developed outside the TICs. Six enterprises nurtured by TICs and six others outside, these were selected for the study. Data were collected in respect of the twelve enterprises covering their first five years of operation. Performances in terms of annual turnover, market share, and product range were analysed by scatter diagram plotted to show these variables against time and on comparative basis between TIC and non-TIC enterprises. Results showed an initial decline in performance for most of the incubatees in the first two years due to sluggish adjustment to withdrawal of subsidies enjoyed at the TICs. However, four of them were able to catch up with improved performance and surpass their non–TIC counterparts consistently from the third year. Analysis of year on year performance also showed average growth rate of 7% and 5 % respectively for TIC and non–TIC enterprises. The study, therefore, concludes that TICs have great role to play in nurturing new, innovative businesses but sees the need for government to address the provision of critical facilities especially electricity and utilities that constitute critical cost components for businesses. It must also address the issue of investment grants, loans including the development of technology/industrial parks that will serve to boost business survival.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, incubation, innovation, makerspaces

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Authors: Ballari Bagchi

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The dynamism ingrained in the process of urban-rural integration is manifested in the emergence of rurban settlements, referring to areas that combine the characteristics of agricultural activities found in rural zones with those of suburban living areas and industrialised zones. The concept of rurbanisation refers to the idea of introducing urban conveniences and opportunities, to rural areas in an attempt to stem rural urban migration. In the backdrop of the worldwide problem of disharmonised urban-rural dependence and the associated problems in urban and rural areas, the present study seeks to explore the potentialities of few settlements having a blend of rural and urban characteristics in the urban field of Koch Bihar. The prime concern of the present paper is three-fold: (i) to identify the rurban centres, (ii) to analyse the spatial integration of these identified centres with the rural areas situated in the urban periphery, and (iii) to suggest the necessities to be introduced in these settlements. The methodology applied here includes rurban index, gravity model, and functional classification of rurban centres, correlation and regression analysis and cartographic representation of data collected through primary and secondary sources. The investigation has identified a number of settlements potentially viable to be termed as rurban centres which may render services to the other less equipped rural areas in all aspects of life and thereby would lessen the burden on Koch Bihar urban centre. The levels of infrastructure of these settlements should be such that it might even attract the urban population in a reverse direction. The villages belonging to the lower rung of these service settlements would require metalled road connection with these intermediate settlements in addition to their connection with the core town. That is to say, a proper policy needs to be adopted in this regard to furnish these settlements with required infrastructures for serving their own population as well as the population of other villages. As a consequence of that, the idea of a well-coordinated settlement hierarchy may emerge in future.

Keywords: Hinterland, rurban, settlement hierarchy, urban-rural integration

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Authors: Melis Inalpulat, Tugce Civelek, Unal Kizil, Levent Genc

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Livestock production is one of the most important components of rural economy. Due to the urban expansion, rural areas close to expanding cities transform into urban districts during the time. However, the legislations have some restrictions related to livestock farming in such administrative units since they tend to create environmental concerns like odor problems resulted from excessive manure production. Therefore, the existing animal operations should be moved from the settlement areas. This paper was focused on determination of suitable lands for livestock production in Canakkale province of Turkey using remote sensing (RS) data and GIS techniques. To achieve the goal, Formosat 2 and Landsat 8 imageries, Aster DEM, and 1:25000 scaled soil maps, village boundaries, and village livestock inventory records were used. The study was conducted using suitability analysis which evaluates the land in terms of limitations and potentials, and suitability range was categorized as Suitable (S) and Non-Suitable (NS). Limitations included the distances from main and crossroads, water resources and settlements, while potentials were appropriate values for slope, land use capability and land use land cover status. Village-based S land distribution results were presented, and compared with livestock inventories. Results showed that approximately 44230 ha area is inappropriate because of the distance limitations for roads and etc. (NS). Moreover, according to LULC map, 71052 ha area consists of forests, olive and other orchards, and thus, may not be suitable for building such structures (NS). In comparison, it was found that there are a total of 1228 ha S lands within study area. The village-based findings indicated that, in some villages livestock production continues on NS areas. Finally, it was suggested that organized livestock zones may be constructed to serve in more than one village after the detailed analysis complemented considering also political decisions, opinion of the local people, etc.

Keywords: GIS, livestock, LULC, remote sensing, suitable lands

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Authors: Rupak Kumar Sarma, Ratul Saikia

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Macrophytes encompass major functional group in eutrophic wetland ecosystems. As a key functional element of freshwater lakes, they play a crucial role in regulating various wetland biogeochemical cycles, as well as maintain the biodiversity at the ecosystem level. The high carbon-rich underground biomass of macrophyte populations may harbour diverse microbial community having significant potential in maintaining different biogeochemical cycles. The present investigation was designed to study the macrophyte-microbe interaction in coupled nitrification and denitrification, considering Deepor Beel Lake (a Ramsar conservation site) of North East India as a model eutrophic system. Highly eutrophic sites of Deepor Beel were selected based on sediment oxygen demand and inorganic phosphorus and nitrogen (P&N) concentration. Sediment redox potential and depth of the lake was chosen as the benchmark for collecting the plant and sediment samples. The average highest depth in winter (January 2016) and summer (July 2016) were recorded as 20ft (6.096m) and 35ft (10.668m) respectively. Both sampling depth and sampling seasons had the distinct effect on variation in macrophyte community composition. Overall, the dominant macrophytic populations in the lake were Nymphaea alba, Hydrilla verticillata, Utricularia flexuosa, Vallisneria spiralis, Najas indica, Monochoria hastaefolia, Trapa bispinosa, Ipomea fistulosa, Hygrorhiza aristata, Polygonum hydropiper, Eichhornia crassipes and Euryale ferox. There was a distinct correlation in the variation of major sediment physicochemical parameters with change in macrophyte community compositions. Quantitative estimation revealed an almost even accumulation of nitrate and nitrite in the sediment samples dominated by the plant species Eichhornia crassipes, Nymphaea alba, Hydrilla verticillata, Vallisneria spiralis, Euryale ferox and Monochoria hastaefolia, which might have signified a stable nitrification and denitrification process in the sites dominated by the selected aquatic plants. This was further examined by a systematic analysis of microbial populations through culture dependent and independent approach. Culture-dependent bacterial community study revealed the higher population of nitrifiers and denitrifiers in the sediment samples dominated by the six macrophyte species. However, culture-independent study with bacterial 16S rDNA V3-V4 metagenome sequencing revealed the overall similar type of bacterial phylum in all the sediment samples collected during the study. Thus, there might be the possibility of uneven distribution of nitrifying and denitrifying molecular markers among the sediment samples collected during the investigation. The diversity and abundance of the nitrifying and denitrifying molecular markers in the sediment samples are under investigation. Thus, the role of different aquatic plant functional types in microorganism mediated nitrogen cycle coupling could be screened out further from the present initial investigation.

Keywords: denitrification, macrophyte, metagenome, microorganism, nitrification

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Authors: Kuan Yin Hsiao, Shyh Ming Kuo, Yi Jhen Wu, Chin Wen Chuang, Chuen-Fu Lin, Wei-qing Yang, Han Hsiang Huang

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Anti-tumor effects of natural products, like compounds from marine sponges and soft corals, have been investigated for decades. Polymeric nanoparticles prepared from biodegradable and biocompatible molecules, such as Hyaluronan (HA), Chitosan (CHI) and gelatin have been widely studied. Encapsulation of anti-cancer therapies by the biopolymeric nanoparticles in drug delivery system is potentially capable of improving the therapeutic effects and attenuating their toxicity. In the current study, the anti-bladder cancer effects of heteronemin extracted from the sponge Hippospongia sp. with or without HA and CHI nanoparticle encapsulation were assessed and evaluated in vitro. Results showed that IC50 (half maximal inhibitory concentration) of heteronemin toward T24 human bladder cancer cell viability is approximately 0.18 µg/mL. Both plain and HA nanoparticles-encapsulated heteronemin at 0.2 and 0.4 µg/mL significantly reduced T24 cell viability (P<0.001) while HA nanoparticles-encapsulated heteronemin showed weaker viability-inhibitory effects on L929 fibroblasts compared with plain heteronemin at the identical concentrations. HA and CHI nanoparticles-encapsulated heteronemin exhibited significantly stronger inhibitory effects against migration of T24 human bladder cancer cell than those exerted by plain heteronemin at the same concentrations (P<0.001). The flow cytometric results showed that 0.2 µg/mL HA and CHI nanoparticles-encapsulated heteronemin induced higher early apoptosis rate than that induced by plain heteronemin at the same concentration. These results show that HA and CHI nanoparticle encapsulation is able to elevate anti-migratory and apoptosis-inducing effects exerted by heteronemin against bladder cancer cells in vitro. The in vivo anti-bladder cancer effects of the compound with or without HA/CHI nanoparticle encapsulation will be further investigated and examined using murine tumor models. The data obtained from this study will extensively evaluate of the anti-bladder cancer effects of heteronemin as well as HA/CHI-encapsulated heteronemin and pave a way to develop potential bladder cancer treatment.

Keywords: heteronemin, nanoparticles, hyaluronan, chitosan, bladder cancer

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Authors: Jyh-Ping Chen, Yu-Tin Lai

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Wound healing is a complicated process involving overlapping hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and maturation phases. Ideal wound dressings can replace native skin functions in full thickness skin wounds through faster healing rate and also by reducing scar formation. Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) is an U.S. FDA approved biodegradable polymer to be used as ideal wound dressing material. Several in vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of curcumin in decreasing the release of inflammatory cytokines, inhibiting enzymes associated with inflammations, and scavenging free radicals that are the major cause of inflammation during wound healing. Heparin has binding affinities to various growth factors. With the unique and beneficial features offered by those molecules toward the complex process of wound healing, we postulate a composite wound dressing constructed from PLGA, curcumin and heparin would be a good candidate to accelerate scarless wound healing. In this work, we use electrospinning to prepare curcumin-loaded aligned PLGA nanofibrous membranes (PC NFMs). PC NFMs were further subject to oxygen plasma modification and surfaced-grafted with heparin through carbodiimide-mediated covalent bond formation to prepare curcumin-loaded PLGA-g-heparin (PCH) NFMs. The nanofibrous membranes could act as three-dimensional scaffolds to attract fibroblast migration, reduce inflammation, and increase wound-healing related growth factors concentrations at wound sites. From scanning electron microscopy analysis, the nanofibers in each NFM are with diameters ranging from 456 to 479 nm and with alignment angles within  0.5°. The NFMs show high tensile strength and good water absorptivity and provide suitable pore size for nutrients/wastes transport. Exposure of human dermal fibroblasts to the extraction medium of PC or PCH NFM showed significant protective effects against hydrogen peroxide than PLGA NFM. In vitro wound healing assays also showed that the extraction medium of PCH NFM showed significantly better migration ability toward fibroblasts than PC NFM, which is further better than PLGA NFM. The in vivo healing efficiency of the NFMs was further evaluated by a full thickness excisional wound healing diabetic rat model. After 14 days, PCH NFMs exhibits 86% wound closure rate, which is significantly different from other groups (79% for PC and 73% for PLGA NFM). Real-time PCR analysis indicated PC and PCH NFMs down regulated anti-oxidative enzymes like glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), which are well-known transcription factors involved in cellular inflammatory responses to stimuli. From histology, the wound area treated with PCH NFMs showed more vascular lumen formation from immunohistochemistry of α-smooth muscle actin. The wound site also had more collagen type III (65.8%) expression and less collagen type I (3.5%) expression, indicating scar-less wound healing. From Western blot analysis, the PCH NFM showed good affinity toward growth factors from increased concentration of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) at the wound site to accelerate wound healing. From the results, we suggest PCH NFM as a promising candidate for wound dressing applications.

Keywords: Curcumin, heparin, nanofibrous membrane, poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), wound dressing

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Authors: Dace Grauda, Inta Belogrudova, Alexei Katashev, Linda Lancere, Isaak Rashal

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The goal of study was the elaboration of easy applicable flow cytometry method for detection of influence of abiotic stress factors on plants, which could be useful for detection of environmental stresses in urban areas. The lime tree Tillia vulgaris H. is a popular tree species used for urban landscaping in Europe and is one of the main species of street greenery in Riga, Latvia. Tree decline and low vitality has observed in the central part of Riga. For this reason lime trees were select as a model object for the investigation. During the period of end of June and beginning of July 12 samples from different urban environment locations as well as plant material from a greenhouse were collected. BD FACSJazz® cell sorter (BD Biosciences, USA) with flow cytometer function was used to test viability of plant cells. The method was based on changes of relative fluorescence intensity of cells in blue laser (488 nm) after influence of stress factors. SpheroTM rainbow calibration particles (3.0–3.4 μm, BD Biosciences, USA) in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) were used for calibration of flow cytometer. BD PharmingenTM PBS (BD Biosciences, USA) was used for flow cytometry assays. The mean fluorescence intensity information from the purified cell suspension samples was recorded. Preliminary, multiple gate sizes and shapes were tested to find one with the lowest CV. It was found that low CV can be obtained if only the densest part of plant cells forward scatter/side scatter profile is analysed because in this case plant cells are most similar in size and shape. The young pollen cells in one nucleus stage were found as the best for detection of influence of abiotic stress. For experiments only fresh plant material was used– the buds of Tillia vulgaris with diameter 2 mm. For the cell suspension (in vitro culture) establishment modified protocol of microspore culture was applied. The cells were suspended in the MS (Murashige and Skoog) medium. For imitation of dust of urban area SiO2 nanoparticles with concentration 0.001 g/ml were dissolved in distilled water. Into 10 ml of cell suspension 1 ml of SiO2 nanoparticles suspension was added, then cells were incubated in speed shaking regime for 1 and 3 hours. As a stress factor the irradiation of cells for 20 min by UV was used (Hamamatsu light source L9566-02A, L10852 lamp, A10014-50-0110), maximum relative intensity (100%) at 365 nm and at ~310 nm (75%). Before UV irradiation the suspension of cells were placed onto a thin layer on a filter paper disk (diameter 45 mm) in a Petri dish with solid MS media. Cells without treatment were used as a control. Experiments were performed at room temperature (23-25 °C). Using flow cytometer BS FACS Software cells plot was created to determine the densest part, which was later gated using oval-shaped gate. Gate included from 95 to 99% of all cells. To determine relative fluorescence of cells logarithmic fluorescence scale in arbitrary fluorescence units were used. 3x103 gated cells were analysed from the each sample. The significant differences were found among relative fluorescence of cells from different trees after treatment with SiO2 nanoparticles and UV irradiation in comparison with the control.

Keywords: flow cytometry, fluorescence, SiO2 nanoparticles, UV irradiation

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Authors: Priyanka Dargode, Suhas Gore, Manju Sharma, Arvind Lali

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Anaerobic digestion has been widely used for production of methane from different biowastes. However, the complexity of microbial communities involved in the process is poorly understood. The performance of biogas production process concerning the process productivity is closely coupled to its microbial community structure and syntrophic interactions amongst the community members. The present study aims at understanding taxonomic variations occurring in any starter inoculum when acclimatised to different lignocellulosic biomass (LBM) feedstocks relating to time of digestion. The work underlines use of high throughput Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) for validating the changes in taxonomic patterns of microbial communities. Biomethane Potential (BMP) batches were set up with different pretreated and non-pretreated LBM residues using the same microbial consortium and samples were withdrawn for studying the changes in microbial community in terms of its structure and predominance with respect to changes in metabolic profile of the process. DNA of samples withdrawn at different time intervals with reference to performance changes of the digestion process, was extracted followed by its 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing analysis using Illumina Platform. Biomethane potential and substrate consumption was monitored using Gas Chromatography(GC) and reduction in COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) respectively. Taxonomic analysis by QIIME server data revealed that microbial community structure changes with different substrates as well as at different time intervals. It was observed that biomethane potential of each substrate was relatively similar but, the time required for substrate utilization and its conversion to biomethane was different for different substrates. This could be attributed to the nature of substrate and consequently the discrepancy between the dominance of microbial communities with regards to different substrate and at different phases of anaerobic digestion process. Knowledge of microbial communities involved would allow a rational substrate specific consortium design which will help to reduce consortium adaptation period and enhance the substrate utilisation resulting in improved efficacy of biogas process.

Keywords: amplicon sequencing, biomethane potential, community predominance, taxonomic analysis

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Authors: Parashram Jakappa Patil

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India is the global leader in world cashew business and cashew-nut industry is one of the important food processing industries in world. However India is the largest producer, processor, exporter and importer eschew in the world. India is providing cashew to the rest of the world. India is meeting world demand of cashew. India has a tremendous potential of cashew production and export to other countries. Every year India earns more than 2000 cores rupees through cashew trade. Cashew industry is one of the important small scale industries in the country which is playing significant role in rural development. It is generating more than 400000 jobs at remote area and 95% cashew worker are women, it is giving income to poor cashew farmers, majority cashew processing units are small and cottage, it is helping to stop migration from young farmers for employment opportunities, it is motivation rural entrepreneurship development and it is also helping to environment protection etc. Hence India cashew business is very important agribusiness in India which has potential make inclusive development. World Bank and IMF recognized cashew-nut industry is one the important tool for poverty eradication at global level. It shows important of cashew business and its strong existence in India. In spite of such huge potential cashew processing industry is facing different problems such as lack of infrastructure ability, lack of supply of raw cashew, lack of availability of finance, collection of raw cashew, unavailability of warehouse, marketing of cashew kernels, lack of technical knowledge and especially processing technology and packaging of finished products. This industry has great prospects such as scope for more cashew cultivation and cashew production, employment generation, formation of cashew processing units, alcohols production from cashew apple, shield oil production, rural development, poverty elimination, development of social and economic backward class and environment protection etc. This industry has domestic as well as foreign market; India has tremendous potential in this regard. The cashew is a poor men’s crop but rich men’s food. The cashew is a source of income and livelihood for poor farmers. Cashew-nut industry may play very important role in the development of hilly region. The objectives of this paper are to identify problems of cashew processing and use of processing technology, problems of cashew kernel packaging, evolving of cashew processing technology over the year and its impact on final product and impact of good processing by adopting appropriate technology packaging on international trade of cashew-nut. The most important problem of cashew processing industry is that is processing and packaging. Bad processing reduce the quality of cashew kernel at large extent especially broken of cashew kernel which has very less price in market compare to whole cashew kernel and not eligible for export. On the other hand if there is no good packaging of cashew kernel will get moisture which destroy test of it. International trade of cashew-nut is depend of two things one is cashew processing and other is packaging. This study has strong relevance because cashew-nut industry is the labour oriented, where processing technology is not playing important role because 95% processing work is manual. Hence processing work was depending on physical performance of worker which makes presence of large workforce inevitable. There are many cashew processing units closed because they are not getting sufficient work force. However due to advancement in technology slowly this picture is changing and processing work get improve. Therefore it is interesting to explore all the aspects in context of cashew processing and packaging of cashew business.

Keywords: cashew, processing technology, packaging, international trade, change

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Authors: Eric Lee G. Escobedo-Wu, Nidhi Rohatgi, Fouzel Dhebar

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It is challenging for patients to navigate through healthcare systems after-hours. This leads to delays in care, patient/provider dissatisfaction, inappropriate resource utilization, readmissions, and higher costs. It is important to provide patients and providers with effective clinical decision-making tools to allow seamless connectivity and coordinated care. In August 2015, patient-centric Stanford Health Care established Clinical Advice Services (CAS) to provide clinical decision support after-hours. CAS is founded on key Lean principles: Value stream mapping, empathy mapping, waste walk, takt time calculations, standard work, plan-do-check-act cycles, and active daily management. At CAS, Clinical Assistants take the initial call and manage all non-clinical calls (e.g., appointments, directions, general information). If the patient has a clinical symptom, the CAS nurses take the call and utilize standardized clinical algorithms to triage the patient to home, clinic, urgent care, emergency department, or 911. Nurses may also contact the on-call physician based on the clinical algorithm for further direction and consultation. Since August 2015, CAS has managed 228,990 calls from 26 clinical specialties. Reporting is built into the electronic health record for analysis and data collection. 65.3% of the after-hours calls are clinically related. Average clinical algorithm adherence rate has been 92%. An average of 9% of calls was escalated by CAS nurses to the physician on call. An average of 5% of patients was triaged to the Emergency Department by CAS. Key learnings indicate that a seamless connectivity vision, cascading, multidisciplinary ownership of the problem, and synergistic enterprise improvements have contributed to this success while striving for continuous improvement.

Keywords: after hours phone calls, clinical advice services, nurse triage, Stanford Health Care

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Authors: Ibrahim Darwish, Noora Abu Ain

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Referring to female relatives by male Jordanian speakers in public is governed by various linguistic and social constraints. Although Jordanian society is less conservative than it was a few decades ago, women are still considered the weaker link in society and men still believe that they need to protect them. Conservative Jordanians often avoid referring to their female relatives overtly, i.e., using their real names. Instead, they use covert names, such as pseudonyms, nicknames, pet names, etc. The reason behind such language use has to do with how Arab men, in general, see women as part of their honor. This study intends to investigate to what extent Jordanian males hide their female relatives’ names in public domains. The data was collected from spontaneous informal voice-recorded interviews carried out in the village of Saham in the far north of Jordan. Saham’s dialect is part of a larger Horani dialect used by speakers along a wide area that stretches from Salt in the south to the Syrian borders in the north of Jordan. The voice-recorded interviews were originally carried out as an audio record of some customs and traditions in the village of Saham in 2013. During most of these interviews, the researchers observed how the male participants indirectly referred to their female relatives. Instead of using real names, the male speakers used broad terms to refer to their female relatives, such al-Beit ‘the home,’ al-ciyaal ‘the kids’, um-x ‘the mother of x,’ etc. All tokens related to the issue in question were collected, analyzed and quantified about three age cohorts: young, middle-aged and old speakers. The results show that young speakers are more direct in referring to their female relatives than the other two age groups. This can point to a possible change in progress in the speech community of Saham. It is argued that due to contact with other urban speech communities, the young speakers in Saham do not feel the need to hide the real names of their female relatives as they consider them as equals. Indeed, the young generation is more open to the idea of women's rights and call for expanding Jordanian women’s roles in Jordanian society.

Keywords: gender differences, Horan, proper names, social constraints

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Authors: Pibool Waijittragum

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The purpose of this research is to analyze the marketing strategies of Thai Halal products which related to the way of life for Thai Muslims. The expected benefit is the marketing strategy for brand building process for Halal products in Thailand. 4 elements of marketing strategies which necessary for the brand identity creation is the research framework: Consists of Attributes, Benefits, Values and Personality. The research methodology was applied using qualitative and quantitative; 19 marketing experts with dynamic roles in Thai consumer products were interviewed. In addition, a field survey of 122 Thai Muslims selected from 175 Muslim communities in Bangkok was studied. Data analysis will be according to 5 categories of Thai Halal product: 1) Meat 2) Vegetable and Fruits 3) Instant foods and Garnishing ingredient 4) Beverages, desserts and snacks 5) Hygienic daily products; such as soap, shampoo and body lotion. The results will explain some suitable representation in the marketing strategies of Thai Halal products as are: 1) Benefit; the characteristics of the product with its benefit. Consumers will purchase this product with the reason of; it is beneficial nutrients product, there are no toxic or chemical residues. Fresh and clean materials 2) Attribute; the exterior images that attract to consumer. Consumers will purchase this product with the reason of; there is a standard proof mark, food and drug secure proof mark and Halal products mark. Packaging and its materials should be draw attention. Use an attractive graphic. Use outstanding images of product, material or ingredients. 3) Value; the value of products that affect to consumers perception; it is healthy products. Accumulate quality of life. It is a product of expertise, manufacturing of research result. Consumers are important. It’s sincere, honest and reliable to all. 4) Personality; reflection of consumers thought. The personality feedback to them after they were consumes this product; they are health care persons. They are the rational person, moral person, justice person and thoughtful person like a progressive thinking.

Keywords: marketing strategies, product identity, branding, Thai Halal products

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Authors: S. Cafiso, B. Capace, A. Di Graziano, C. D’Agostino

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Systematic monitoring of the trackbed is necessary to assure safety and quality of service in the railway system. Moreover, to produce effective management of the maintenance treatments, the assessment of bearing capacity of the railway trackbed must include ballast, sub-ballast and subgrade layers at different depths. Consequently, there is an increasing interest in obtaining a consistent measure of ballast bearing capacity with no destructive tests (NDTs) able to work in the physical and time restrictions of railway tracks in operation. Moreover, in the case of the local railway with reduced gauge, the use of the traditional high-speed track monitoring systems is not feasible. In that framework, this paper presents results from in site investigation carried out on ballast and sleepers with Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Light Falling Weight Deflectometer (LWD). These equipment are currently used in road pavement maintenance where they have shown their reliability and effectiveness. Application of such Non-Destructive Tests in railway maintenance is promising but in the early stage of the investigation. More specifically, LWD was used to estimate the stiffness of ballast and sleeper support, as well. LWD, despite the limited load (6 kN in the trial test) applied directly on the sleeper, was able to detect defects in the bearing capacity at the Sleeper/Ballast interface. A dual frequency GPR was applied to detect the presence of layers’ discontinuities at different depths due to fouling phenomena that are the main causes of changing in the layer dielectric proprieties within the ballast thickness. The frequency of 2000Mhz provided high-resolution data to approximately 0.4m depth, while frequency of 600Mhz showed greater depth penetration up to 1.5 m. In the paper literature review and trial in site experience are used to identify Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT analysis) of the application of GPR and LWD for the assessment of bearing capacity of railway track-bed.

Keywords: bearing capacity, GPR, LWD, no destructive test, railway track

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Authors: Yichin Chen

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Taiwan is an island characterized by an active tectonics and high erosion rates. Monitoring the dynamic landscape of Taiwan is an important issue for disaster mitigation, geomorphological research, and watershed management. Long-term and high spatiotemporal landform data is essential for quantifying and simulating the geomorphological processes and developing warning systems. Recently, the advances in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and computational photogrammetry technology have provided an effective way to rebuild and monitor the topography changes in high spatio-temporal resolutions. This study rebuilds the 30-years landform change in the Aiyuzi watershed in 1986-2017 by using the aerial photogrammetry-based techniques. The Aiyuzi watershed, located in central Taiwan and has an area of 3.99 Km², is famous for its frequent landslide and debris flow disasters. This study took the aerial photos by using UAV and collected multi-temporal historical, stereo photographs, taken by the Aerial Survey Office of Taiwan’s Forestry Bureau. To rebuild the orthoimages and digital surface models (DSMs), Pix4DMapper, a photogrammetry software, was used. Furthermore, to control model accuracy, a set of ground control points was surveyed by using eGPS. The results show that the generated DSMs have the ground sampling distance (GSD) of ~10 cm and ~0.3 cm from the UAV’s and historical photographs, respectively, and vertical error of ~1 m. By comparing the DSMs, there are many deep-seated landslides (with depth over 20 m) occurred on the upstream in the Aiyuzi watershed. Even though a large amount of sediment is delivered from the landslides, the steep main channel has sufficient capacity to transport sediment from the channel and to erode the river bed to ~20 m in depth. Most sediments are transported to the outlet of watershed and deposits on the downstream channel. This case study shows that UAV and photogrammetry technology are useful for topography change monitoring effectively.

Keywords: aerial photogrammetry, landslide, landform change, Taiwan

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Authors: Safaa H. Sindi, Michael Roe

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This project divides supply chain (SC) models into seven Eras, according to the evolution of the market’s needs throughout time. The five earliest Eras describe the emergence of supply chains, while the last two Eras are to be created. Research objectives: The aim is to generate the two latest Eras with their respective models that focus on the consumable goods. Era Six contains the Optimal Multidimensional Matrix (OMM) that incorporates most characteristics of the SC and allocates them into four quarters (Agile, Lean, Leagile, and Basic SC). This will help companies, especially (SMEs) plan their optimal SC route. Era Seven creates an Automated Multidimensional Model (AMM) which upgrades the matrix of Era six, as it accounts for all the supply chain factors (i.e. Offshoring, sourcing, risk) into an interactive system with Heuristic Learning that helps larger companies and industries to select the best SC model for their market. Methodologies: The data collection is based on a Fuzzy-Delphi study that analyses statements using Fuzzy Logic. The first round of Delphi study will contain statements (fuzzy rules) about the matrix of Era six. The second round of Delphi contains the feedback given from the first round and so on. Preliminary findings: both models are applicable, Matrix of Era six reduces the complexity of choosing the best SC model for SMEs by helping them identify the best strategy of Basic SC, Lean, Agile and Leagile SC; that’s tailored to their needs. The interactive heuristic learning in the AMM of Era seven will help mitigate error and aid large companies to identify and re-strategize the best SC model and distribution system for their market and commodity, hence increasing efficiency. Potential contributions to the literature: The problematic issue facing many companies is to decide which SC model or strategy to incorporate, due to the many models and definitions developed over the years. This research simplifies this by putting most definition in a template and most models in the Matrix of era six. This research is original as the division of SC into Eras, the Matrix of Era six (OMM) with Fuzzy-Delphi and Heuristic Learning in the AMM of Era seven provides a synergy of tools that were not combined before in the area of SC. Additionally the OMM of Era six is unique as it combines most characteristics of the SC, which is an original concept in itself.

Keywords: Leagile, automation, heuristic learning, supply chain models

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Authors: May Haggag, Ezzat Fahmy, Mohamed Abdel-Mooty, Sherif Safar

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Sandwich sections have a very complex nature due to variability of behavior of different materials within the section. Cracking, crushing and yielding capacity of constituent materials enforces high complexity of the section. Furthermore, slippage between the different layers adds to the section complex behavior. Conventional methods implemented in current industrial guidelines do not account for the above complexities. Thus, a throughout study is needed to understand the true behavior of the sandwich panels thus, increase the ability to use them effectively and efficiently. The purpose of this paper is to conduct numerical investigation using ANSYS software for the structural behavior of sandwich wall section under eccentric loading. Sandwich walls studied herein are composed of two RC faces, a foam core and linking shear connectors. Faces are modeled using solid elements and reinforcement together with connectors are modeled using link elements. The analysis conducted herein is nonlinear static analysis incorporating material nonlinearity, crashing and crushing of concrete and yielding of steel. The model is validated by comparing it to test results in literature. After validation, the model is used to establish extensive parametric analysis to investigate the effect of three key parameters on the axial force bending moment interaction diagram of the walls. These parameters are the concrete compressive strength, face thickness and number of shear connectors. Furthermore, the results of the parametric study are used to predict a coefficient that links the interaction diagram of a solid wall to that of a sandwich wall. The equation is predicted using the parametric study data and regression analysis. The predicted α was used to construct the interaction diagram of the investigated wall and the results were compared with ANSYS results and showed good agreement.

Keywords: sandwich walls, interaction diagrams, numerical modeling, eccentricity, reinforced concrete

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Authors: A. Šapkauskienė, A. Mačerinskienė, R. Andrulienė, R. Bruzgė, S. Masteika, K. Driaunys

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The COVID-19 pandemic has affected not only world markets and economies but also the daily lives of customers and their payment habits. The pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation, so the role of technology will become even more important post-COVID. Although the popularity of cryptocurrencies has reached unprecedented heights, there are still obstacles, such as a lack of consumer experience and distrust of these technologies, so exploring the role of cryptocurrency and blockchain in the context of international travel becomes extremely important. Research on tourists’ intentions to use cryptocurrencies for payment purposes is limited due to the small number of research studies. To fill this research gap, an exploratory study based on the analysis of survey data was conducted. The purpose of the research is to explore how the behavior of tourists has changed making their financial transactions when paying for the tourism services in order to determine the intention to pay in cryptocurrencies. Behavioral intention can be examined as a dependent variable that is useful for the study of the acceptance of blockchain as cutting-edge technology. Therefore, this study examines the intention of travelers to use cryptocurrencies in electronic payments for tourism services. Several studies have shown that the intention to accept payments in a cryptocurrency is affected by the perceived usefulness of these payments and the perceived ease of use. The findings deepen our understanding of the readiness of service users to apply for blockchain-based payment in the tourism sector. The tourism industry has to focus not only on the technology but on consumers who can use cryptocurrencies, creating new possibilities and increasing business competitiveness. Based on research results, suggestions are made to guide future research on the use of cryptocurrencies by tourists in the tourism industry. Therefore, in line with the rapid expansion of virtual currency users, market capitalization, and payment in cryptographic currencies, it is necessary to explore the possibilities of implementing a blockchain-based system aiming to promote the use of services in the tourism sector as the most affected by the pandemic.

Keywords: behavioral intention, blockchain-based payment, cryptocurrency, tourism

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Authors: Yin Ma, Xun Wang, Kelsey Austin

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Purpose – Building upon career construction theory and the conservation of resources theory, we developed a moderated mediation model to examine how the perceived university support impact students’ career adapting responses, namely, crystallization, exploration, decision and preparation, via the mediator career adaptability and moderator perceived parental support. Design/methodology/approach – The multi-stage sampling strategy was employed and survey data were collected. Structural equation modeling was used to perform the analysis. Findings – Perceived university support could directly promote students’ career adaptability, and promote three career adapting responses, namely, exploration, decision and preparation. It could also impact four career adapting responses via mediation effect of career adaptability. Its impact on students’ career adaptability can greatly increase when students’ receive parental related career support. Research limitations/implications – The cross-sectional design limits causal inference. Conducted in China, our findings should be cautiously interpreted in other countries due to cultural differences. Practical implications – University support is vital to students’ career adaptability and supports from parents can enhance this process. University-home collaboration is necessary to promote students’ career adapting responses. For students, seeking and utilizing as much supporting resources as possible is vital for their human resources development. On an organizational level, universities could benefit from our findings by introducing the practices which ask students to rate the career-related courses and encourage them to chat with parents regularly. Originality/ value – Using recently developed scale, current work contributes to the literature by investigating the impact of multiple contextual factors on students’ career adapting response. It also provide the empirical support for the role of human intervention in fostering career adapting responses.

Keywords: career adapability, university and parental support, China studies, sociology of education

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Authors: S. L. Tulasi Devi, Shivam Azad

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The primary objective of this study is to analyze the impact of green bond issuance on the stock prices of respective Indian companies. An event study methodology has been employed to study the effect of green bond issuance. For in-depth study and analysis, this paper used different window frames, including 15-15 days, 10-10 days, 7-7days, 6-6 days, and 5-5 days. Further, for better clarity, this paper also used an uneven window period of 7-5 days. The period of study covered all the companies which issued green bonds during the period of 2017-2022; Adani Green Energy, State Bank of India, Power Finance Corporation, Jain Irrigation, and Rural Electrification Corporation, except Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency and Indian Railway Finance Corporation, because of data unavailability. The paper used all three event study methods as discussed in earlier literature; 1) constant return model, 2) market-adjusted model, and 3) capital asset pricing model. For the fruitful comparison between results, the study considered cumulative average return (CAR) and buy and hold average return (BHAR) methodology. For checking the statistical significance, a two-tailed t-statistic has been used. All the statistical calculations have been performed in Microsoft Excel 2016. The study found that all other companies have shown positive returns on the event day except for the State Bank of India. The results demonstrated that constant return model outperformed compared to the market-adjusted model and CAPM. The p-value derived from all the methods has shown an almost insignificant impact of the issuance of green bonds on the stock prices of respective companies. The overall analysis states that there’s not much improvement in the market efficiency of the Indian Stock Markets.

Keywords: green bonds, event study methodology, constant return model, market-adjusted model, CAPM

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Authors: Maria Ledinskaya

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This paper examines the Morris Collection Conservation Project at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in the context of Agile, Lean, and Hybrid project management. It is part case study and part literature review. To date, relatively little has been written about non-traditional project management approaches in heritage conservation. This paper seeks to introduce Agile, Lean, and Hybrid project management concepts from business, software development, and manufacturing fields to museum conservation, by referencing their practical application on a recent museum-based conservation project. The Morris Collection Conservation Project was carried out in 2019-2021 in Norwich, UK, and concerned the remedial conservation of around 150 Abstract Constructivist artworks bequeathed to the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts by private collectors Michael and Joyce Morris. The first part introduces the chronological timeline and key elements of the project. It describes a medium-size conservation project of moderate complexity, which was planned and delivered in an environment with multiple known unknowns – unresearched collection, unknown condition and materials, unconfirmed budget. The project was also impacted by the unknown unknowns of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as indeterminate lockdowns, and the need to accommodate social distancing and remote communications. The author, a staff conservator at the Sainsbury Centre who acted as project manager on the Morris Collection Conservation Project, presents an incremental, iterative, and value-based approach to managing a conservation project in an uncertain environment. Subsequent sections examine the project from the point of view of Traditional, Agile, Lean, and Hybrid project management. The author argues that most academic writing on project management in conservation has focussed on a Traditional plan-driven approach – also known as Waterfall project management – which has significant drawbacks in today’s museum environment, due to its over-reliance on prediction-based planning and its low tolerance to change. In the last 20 years, alternative Agile, Lean and Hybrid approaches to project management have been widely adopted in software development, manufacturing, and other industries, although their recognition in the museum sector has been slow. Using examples from the Morris Collection Conservation Project, the author introduces key principles and tools of Agile, Lean, and Hybrid project management and presents a series of arguments on the effectiveness of these alternative methodologies in museum conservation, as well as the ethical and practical challenges to their implementation. These project management approaches are discussed in the context of consequentialist, relativist, and utilitarian developments in contemporary conservation ethics, particularly with respect to change management, bespoke ethics, shared decision-making, and value-based cost-benefit conservation strategy. The author concludes that the Morris Collection Conservation Project had multiple Agile and Lean features which were instrumental to the successful delivery of the project. These key features are identified as distributed decision making, a co-located cross-disciplinary team, servant leadership, focus on value-added work, flexible planning done in shorter sprint cycles, light documentation, and emphasis on reducing procedural, financial, and logistical waste. Overall, the author’s findings point largely in favour of a Hybrid model which combines traditional and alternative project processes and tools to suit the specific needs of the project.

Keywords: project management, conservation, waterfall, agile, lean, hybrid

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Authors: Trianasari, Gede Adi Yuniarta

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The tourism industry has been widely recognized as one of the world’s largest industries and is expected to have continuous growth. While it has positive impacts especially on the job markets and economic aspect, this industry also brings serious environmental impacts that may not be neglected. As such, the tourism industry is faced with increasing demands and challenges to deal with the environmental issues. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a way to show the firms’ concern on the societal and environmental aspects. In line with the increasing pressure on such responsibilities, a growing number of firms have involved in CSR activities. In Bali, the majority of both chained and locally owned hotels have shown their efforts on CSR practices. However, little is known about what and how they perform or implement such program especially within the environmental aspect. The importance of understanding what they focus on lays in the identification of areas that have received sufficient treatment and those that require more attention. Furthermore, also, it is especially essential considering that Bali is one of the worldly known destinations that have been facing numerous crucial issues on environment that may threaten the sustainability of the island and its people. This paper reports on the results of a study exploring the practices of CSR in hotels in Bali. Data were collected from 49 hotel managers and human resource managers in Bali across four major tourist areas, using semi structured interview method. The analysis was conducted qualitatively. The results showed that all hotels under study have implemented CSR activities in which environment was found to be the second key aspect, following the activities directly related to community aspect. Moreover, there were five major types of environmental action identified: beach cleaning, replantation, marine conservation, turtle conservation, mangrove, and garbage management. These findings suggest that hotels in Bali under study have shown their concern on the environment, however, less attention was given on attempt to reduce the environmental impacts of their operations. Mapping the types of environmental related CSR activities enhances the knowledge of and gives lights into the CSR literature especially from the perspective of Eastern practice.

Keywords: CSR, exploratory study, sustainable tourism, tourist object

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Authors: Thorsten Auer, Sumaya Islam, Sabrina Plaß, Colin Wooldridge

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Whether individuals are more likely to forgo some ethical values if it is for a “great” social mission remains questionable. Research interest in the mechanism of moral disengagement has risen sharply in the organizational context over the last decades. Moral disengagement provides an explanatory approach to why individuals decide against their moral intent and describes the tendency to make unethical decisions due to a lack of self-regulation given various actions and their consequences. In our study, we examine the differences between individual decision-making given a commercial and social entrepreneurial context. Thereby, we investigate whether individuals in a social entrepreneurial context, characterized by pro-social goals and purpose beyond profit maximization, tend to make more or less “unethical” decisions in trade-off situations than those given a profit-focused commercial, entrepreneurial context. While a general priming effect may explain the tendency for individuals to make less unethical decisions given a social context, it remains unclear how individuals decide given a trade-off in that specific context. The trade-off in our study is characterized by the option to decide (un-) ethically to enhance the business purpose (in the social context, a social purpose, in the commercial context, a profit-maximization purpose). To investigate which characteristics of the context –and specifically of a trade-off – lead individuals to disregard and override their ethical values for a “greater good”, we design a conjoint analysis. This approach allows us to vary the attributes and scenarios and to test which attributes of a trade-off increase the probability of making an unethical choice. We add survey data to examine the individual propensity to morally disengage as an influencing factor to prefer certain attributes. Currently, we are in the final process of designing the conjoint analysis and plan to conduct the study by December 2022. We contribute to a better understanding of the role of moral disengagement in individual decision-making in a (social) entrepreneurial trade-off.

Keywords: moral disengagement, social entrepreneurship, unethical decision, conjoint analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: Lokman Gozcu, Sule Deniz Gozcu

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This study aims to analyze the skills of speaking in the acquisition of Turkish as a foreign language. One of the most important things for the individual who learns a foreign language is to be successful in the oral communication (speaking) skills and to interact in an understandable way. Speech skill requires much more time and effort than other language skills. In this direction, it is necessary to make an analysis of these oral communication skills, which is important in Turkish language acquisition as a foreign language and to draw out a road map according to the result. The aim of this study is to determine the competence and attitudes of speaking competence according to the individuals who learn Turkish as a foreign language and to be considered as speaking skill elements; Grammar, emphasis, intonation, body language, speed, ranking, accuracy, fluency, pronunciation, etc. and the results and suggestions based on these determinations. A mixed method has been chosen for data collection and analysis. A Likert scale (for competence and attitude) was applied to 190 individuals who were interviewed face-to-face (for speech skills) with a semi-structured interview form about 22 participants randomly selected. In addition, the observation form related to the 22 participants interviewed were completed by the researcher during the interview, and after the completion of the collection of all the voice recordings, analyses of voice recordings with the speech skills evaluation scale was made. The results of the research revealed that the speech skills of the individuals who learned Turkish as a foreign language have various perspectives. According to the results, the most inadequate aspects of the participants' ability to speak in Turkish include vocabulary, using humorous elements while speaking Turkish, being able to include items such as idioms and proverbs while speaking Turkish, Turkish fluency respectively. In addition, the participants were found not to feel comfortable while speaking Turkish, to feel ridiculous and to be nervous while speaking in formal settings. There are conclusions and suggestions for the situations that arise after the have been analyses made.

Keywords: learning Turkish as a foreign language, proficiency criteria, phonetic (modalities), speaking skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 241

Authors: Wisit Wichitkosoom

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Objective:The majority of the hisk-risk patients (ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), Acute cerebrovascular accident, Sepsis, Acute Traumatic patient ) are admitted to district or lacal hospitals (average 1-1.30 hr. from Udonthani general hospital, Northeastern province, Thailand) without proper facilities. The referral system was support to early care and early management at pre-hospital stage and prepare for the patient data to higher hospital. This study assessed the reduction in treatment delay achieved by pre-hospital diagnosis and referral directly to Udonthani General Hospital. Methods and results: Four district or local hospitals without proper facilities for treatment the very high-risk patient were serving the study region. Pre-hospital diagnoses were established with the simple technology such as LINE, SMS, telephone and Fax for concept of LEAN process and then the telemedicine, by ambulance monitoring (ECG, SpO2, BT, BP) in both real time and snapshot mode was administrated during the period of transfer for safety transfer concept (inter-hospital stage). The standard treatment for patients with STEMI, Intracranial injury and acute cerebrovascular accident were done. From 1 October 2012 to 30 September 2013, the 892 high-risk patients transported by ambulance and transferred to Udonthani general hospital were registered. Patients with STEMI diagnosed pre-hospitally and referred directly to the Udonthani general hospital with telemedicine closed monitor (n=248). The mortality rate decreased from 11.69% in 2011 to 6.92 in 2012. The 34 patients were arrested on the way and successful to CPR during transfer with the telemedicine consultation were 79.41%. Conclusion: The proper innovation could apply for health care system. The very high-risk patients must had the closed monitoring with two-way communication for the “safety transfer period”. It could modified to another high-risk group too.

Keywords: safety transfer, telemedicine, critical patients, medical and health sciences

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Authors: S. P. Singh, Priya, Komal Sajwan

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With the increasing spread of organic farming in India, costs, returns, efficiency, and social and environmental sustainability of organic vis-a-vis conventional farming systems have become topics of interest among agriculture scientists, economists, and policy analysts. A study on technical efficiency estimation under these farming systems, particularly in the Ganga River Basin, where the promotion of organic farming is incentivized, can help to understand whether the inputs are utilized to their maximum possible level and what measures can be taken to improve the efficiency. This paper, therefore, analyses the technical efficiency of wheat farms operating under organic and conventional farming systems. The study is based on a primary survey of 600 farms (300 organic ad 300 conventional) conducted in 2021 in two districts located in the Middle Ganga River Basin, India. Technical, managerial, and scale efficiencies of individual farms are estimated by applying the data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology. The per hectare value of wheat production is taken as an output variable, and values of seeds, human labour, machine cost, plant nutrients, farm yard manure (FYM), plant protection, and irrigation charges are considered input variables for estimating the farm-level efficiencies. The post-DEA analysis is conducted using the Tobit regression model to know the efficiency determining factors. The results show that technical efficiency is significantly higher in conventional than organic farming systems due to a higher gap in scale efficiency than managerial efficiency. Further, 9.8% conventional and only 1.0% organic farms are found operating at the most productive scale size (MPSS), and 99% organic and 81% conventional farms at IRS. Organic farms perform well in managerial efficiency, but their technical efficiency is lower than conventional farms, mainly due to their relatively lower scale size. The paper suggests that technical efficiency in organic wheat can be increased by upscaling the farm size by incentivizing group/collective farming in clusters.

Keywords: organic, conventional, technical efficiency, determinants, DEA, Tobit regression

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Authors: Piotr Muzyk, Beata Morawiec, Mariusz Opara, Andrzej Tomasik, Brygida Przywara-Chowaniec, Wojciech Jachec, Ewa Nowalany-Kozielska, Damian Kawecki

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Background: Coronary bifurcation is one of the most complex lesion in patients with coronary ar-tery disease. Provisional T-stenting is currently one of the recommended techniques. The aim was to assess optimal methods of treatment in the era of drug-eluting stents (DES). Methods: The regis-try consisted of data from 1916 patients treated with coronary percutaneous interventions (PCI) using either first- or second-generation DES. Patients with bifurcation lesion entered the analysis. Major adverse cardiac and cardiovascular events (MACCE) were assessed at one year of follow-up and comprised of death, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), repeated PCI (re-PCI) of target ves-sel and stroke. Results: Of 1916 registry patients, 204 patients (11%) were diagnosed with bifurcation lesion >50% and entered the analysis. The most commonly used technique was provi-sional T-stenting (141 patients, 69%). Optimization with kissing-balloons technique was performed in 45 patients (22%). In 59 patients (29%) second-generation DES was implanted, while in 112 pa-tients (55%), first-generation DES was used. In 33 patients (16%) both types of DES were used. The procedure success rate (TIMI 3 flow) was achieved in 98% of patients. In one-year follow-up, there were 39 MACCE (19%) (9 deaths, 17 AMI, 16 re-PCI and 5 strokes). Provisional T-stenting resulted in similar rate of MACCE to other techniques (16% vs. 5%, p=0.27) and similar occurrence of re-PCI (6% vs. 2%, p=0.78). The results of post-PCI kissing-balloon technique gave equal out-comes with 3% vs. 16% of MACCE in patients in whom no optimization technique was used (p=0.39). The type of implanted DES (second- vs. first-generation) had no influence on MACCE (4% vs 14%, respectively, p=0.12) and re-PCI (1.7% vs. 51% patients, respectively, p=0.28). Con-clusions: The treatment of bifurcation lesions with PCI represent high-risk procedures with high rate of MACCE. Stenting technique, optimization of PCI and the generation of implanted stent should be personalized for each case to balance risk of the procedure. In this setting, the operator experience might be the factor of better outcome, which should be further investigated.

Keywords: coronary bifurcation, drug eluting stents, long-term follow-up, percutaneous coronary interventions

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Authors: Ugur Choban, Aruzhan Zhaksylyk, Assylbek Nurgabdeshov

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In recent years, there has been an increasing understanding of the value of encouraging entrepreneurial attitudes in university students. This is motivated by the belief that stimulating entrepreneurship not only promotes economic growth but also fosters innovation. This study looks at the complex link and addresses critical gaps between psychological capital and entrepreneurial intention among university students, with a specific emphasis on how contextual factors like academic support and past business experience impact this dynamic. Using a quantitative research method, data were gathered from a broad sample of 300 university students drawn from several faculties. The study used a questionnaire that included the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ) to assess psychological capital and a validated scale for entrepreneurial intention, as well as binary measures of academic support and prior entrepreneurial experience. Statistical investigations, including multigroup analyses performed with SmartPLS software, provided interesting insights into the effect of contextual factors on the relationship between psychological capital and entrepreneurial intention. The findings highlight that psychological capital had a strong favorable influence on university students' entrepreneurial inclinations. Furthermore, the study found that academic support enhances the influence of psychological capital on entrepreneurial intentions, emphasizing the significance of institutional backing in fostering entrepreneurial mindsets. Furthermore, students with prior entrepreneurial experience had a stronger propensity for entrepreneurship, showing a synergistic link between psychological capital and entrepreneurial background. These findings have both theoretical and practical implications. By explaining the mechanisms by which psychological capital promotes entrepreneurial intentions, the study contributes to the establishment of focused entrepreneurship education programs and support activities that are suited to student requirements. Policymakers may use these findings to create policies that encourage student entrepreneurship, ultimately encouraging economic development and innovation.

Keywords: academic support, entrepreneurial intentions, higher education institutions, psychological capital, prior entrepreneurial experience

Procedia PDF Downloads 56