Search results for: growth and development

Authors: Bilal Ashraf, Qianxiao Zhang

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This study empirically investigated the linkage amid financial development and its important determinants such as information and communication technology, natural resource rents, economic growth, current account balance, and gross savings in 107 economies. This paper preferred to employ the second-generation unit root tests to handle the issues of slope heterogeneity and “cross-sectional dependence” in panel data. The “Kao, Pedroni, and Westerlund tests” confirm the long-lasting connections among the variables under study, while the significant endings of “cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL)” exposed that NRR, CAB, and S negatively affected the financial development while ICT and EG stimulates the procedure of FD. Further, the robustness analysis's application of FGLS supports the appropriateness and applicability of CS-ARDL. Finally, the findings of “DH causality analysis” endorse the bidirectional causality linkages amongst research factors. Based on the study's outcomes, we suggest some policy suggestions that empower the process of financial development, globally.

Keywords: determinants of financial developments, CS-ARDL, financial development, global sample, causality analysis

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Authors: Muhammad Waseem Akram

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The current study attempts to analyze the impact of business constraints on the growth potential and performance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the electrical industry of Pakistan. Primary data have been utilized for the study collected from the electrical industry cluster in Sargodha, Pakistan. OLS regression is used to assess the impact of business constraints on the performance of SMEs by controlling the effect of Technology Level, Innovations, and Firm Size. To associate business constraints with the growth potential of SMEs, the study utilized Tetrachoric Correlation and Logistic Regression. Findings reveal that all the business constraints negatively affect the performance of SMEs in the electrical industry except Political Instability. Results of Tetrachoric Correlation show that all the business constraints are negatively correlated with the growth potential of SMEs. Logistic Regression results show that Energy Constraint, Inflation and Price Instability, and Bad Business Practices, all three business constraints cause to reduce the probability of income growth in sample SMEs.

Keywords: SMEs, business constraints, performance, growth potential

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Authors: Saban Inam, Necdet Sahiner, Tayfun Cay

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Environmental factors such as rapid population growth, changing economic conditions, desertification and climate change increase demand for the acquisition and use of land. Demands on the land are increasing due to the lack of production of soils and scarcity. This causes disagreements on the land. Reducing the pressure on the land and protecting the natural resources, public investments should be directed economically and rationally. This will make it possible to achieve equivalent living conditions between the rural area and the urban area. Initiating the development from the rural area and the cadastre needs to be redefined to allow the management of the land. The planned, regular, effective agriculture and rural development policies that Turkey will implement in the process of European Union membership will also significantly shape Turkey's position in the European Union. For this reason, Turkey enjoys the most appropriate use of natural resources, which is one of the main objectives of the European Union's recent rural development policy. This study deals with the urgent need to provide cadastral data infrastructure that will form the basis for land management which is supposed to support economic and societal sustainable development in rural and urban areas.

Keywords: rural development, cadastre, land management, agricultural reform implementation project, land parcel identification system

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Authors: Shannon Richards-Green, Suzanne Gough, Sharon Mickan

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Background: Healthcare leaders work in highly complex and rapidly changing environments. Consequently, they need both flexibility and the capacity to hold multiple perspectives simultaneously. My research explored how healthcare leaders understand and make sense (meaning) of their leadership experiences and how this understanding was manifested in their leadership behaviours. Methods: This grounded theory study was conducted via 2 x 1-hour interviews with healthcare leaders within acute care hospitals. A total of 33 hours of interviews were conducted with 17 participants. Participants were recruited using a combination of purposive and snowball sampling. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded to explore emergent patterns and relationships within the data, utilising constant comparative analysis. Adult developmental stage was defined through a subject-object interview with each participant, in alignment with the tenets of constructive development theory. Findings: Participants from acute care hospitals within Australia have participated in the study, with the majority representing the executive leadership level. Broad categories emerging from the data include; Broadening perspectives and abilities as a leader, Dealing with and experiencing conflict within the workplace, Experiencing rewarding times as a leader, and Leading in alignment with a strong personal values system. Discussion: Successfully dealing with complex challenges requires an ability to engage with nuanced perspectives and responses, an integral part of adult developmental growth. In dealing with conflict, for example, leaders at various levels of adult development approached the situation quite differently. Understanding how healthcare leaders make sense of their experiences can assist in providing insights into the value of supporting adult developmental growth in healthcare leadership.

Keywords: leadership, adult development, complexity, growth

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Authors: Chayakarn Bamrungbutr, James Sillitoe

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The term ‘shadow port’ is used to describe a port whose markets are dominated by an adjacent port that has a more competitive capability. Recently, researchers have put effort into studying the mechanisms of how a regional port, in the shadow of a nearby predominant port which is a capital city port, can compete and grow. However, such mechanism is still unclear. This study thus focuses on understanding the growth of shadow port and the type of shadow port by using the two capital city ports of Thailand; Bangkok port (the former main port) and Laem Chabang port (the current main port), as the case study. By developing an understanding of the mechanisms of shadow, port could ultimately lead to an increase in the competitiveness. In this study, a framework of opportunity capture (introduced by Magala, 2004) will be used to create a framework for the study of the growth of the selected shadow port. In the process of building this framework, five groups of port development experts, consisting of government, council, academia, logistics provider and industry, will be interviewed. To facilitate this work, the Noticing, Collecting and Thinking model which was developed by Seidel (1998) will be used in an analysis of the dataset. The resulting analysis will be used to classify the type of shadow port. The type of these ports will be a significant factor for developing a feasible strategic guideline for the future management planning of ports, particularly, shadow ports, and then to increase the competitiveness of a nation’s maritime transport industry, and eventually lead to a boost in the national economy.

Keywords: shadow port, Bangkok Port, Laem Chabang Port, port growth

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Authors: Alma Lucero Ortiz, Mario Gomez

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Technological advances contribute to the well-being of humanity by allowing man to perform in a more efficient way. Technology offers tangible advantages to countries with the adoption of information technologies, communication, and the Internet in all social and productive sectors. The Internet is a networking infrastructure that allows the communication of people throughout the world, exceeding the limits of time and space. Nowadays the internet has changed the way of doing business leading to a digital economy. In this way, e-commerce has emerged as a commercial transaction conducted over the Internet. For this inquiry e-commerce is seen as a source of economic growth for the country. Thereby, these research aims to answer the research question, which are the main variables that have affected the development of e-commerce in Mexico. The research includes a period of study from 1990 to 2017. This inquiry aims to get insight on how the independent variables influence the e-commerce development. The independent variables are information infrastructure construction, urbanization level, economic level, technology level, human capital level, educational level, standards of living, and price index. The results suggest that the independent variables have an impact on development of the e-commerce in Mexico. The present study is carried out in five parts. After the introduction, in the second part, a literature review about the main qualitative and quantitative studies to measure the variables subject to the study is presented. After, an empirical study is applied through time series data, and to process the data an econometric model is performed. In the fourth part, the analysis and discussion of results are presented, and finally, some conclusions are included.

Keywords: digital economy, e-commerce, econometric model, economic growth, internet

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Authors: I. Majerová, M. Horúcková

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The concept of competitiveness is currently very frequently used term. However, the interpretation of its essence is different. In this paper, one of the many concepts of competitiveness will be analyzed and that is macroeconomic competitiveness, which is understood as a process, which is based on the productivity growth through the growth of key macroeconomic indicators such as standards of living and employment, where all of these variables must have a sustainable basis. Given the competition is a relative quantity it must be constantly compared with the development of competitiveness in other economies or regions. And this comparison method is also used in the article that compares the macro-competitiveness of selected economies of the European Economic Area – the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Switzerland and Germany. The aim of the paper is to verify the hypothesis concerning the direct correlation between the size of the economy and its competitiveness.

Keywords: comparison, competitiveness, European economic area, global competitiveness index, immeasurable indicators of competitiveness, macro-competitiveness

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Authors: Vivek Anand, Rainer Naegele

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Industry 4.0 envisages 'smart' manufacturing and services, taking the automation of the 3rd Industrial Revolution to the autonomy of the 4th Industrial Revolution. Powered by innovations in technology and business models, this disruptive transformation is revitalising industry by integrating silos across and beyond value chains. Motivated by the challenges faced by SMEs and Startups in understanding and adopting Industry 4.0, this paper aims to analyse the concept of Growth Poles and evaluate the possibility of its application to Innovation Clusters that strive to propel Industry 4.0 adoption and capacity building. The proposed paper applies qualitative research methodologies including focus groups and survey questionnaires to identify the various factors that affect formation and development of Innovation Clusters. Employing content analysis, the interaction between SMEs and other ecosystem players in such clusters is studied. A strong collaborative culture is a key driver of digital transformation and technology adoption across sectors, value chains and supply chains; and will position these cluster-based growth poles at the forefront of industrial renaissance. Motivated by this argument, and based on the results of the qualitative research, a roadmap will be proposed to position Innovation Clusters as Growth Poles and effective ecosystems to support Industry 4.0 adoption in a region in the medium to long term. This paper will contribute to the current understanding of the role of Innovation Clusters in capacity building. Relevant management and policy implications stem from the analysis. Furthermore, the findings will be helpful for academicians and policymakers alike, who can leverage an ‘innovation cluster policy’ to enable Industry 4.0 Growth Poles in their regions.

Keywords: digital transformation, fourth industrial revolution, growth poles, industry 4.0, innovation clusters, innovation policy, SMEs and startups

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Authors: Berhanu Terfa, Nengcheng C.

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The study deals with the analysis of urban expansion and land transformation of Hawass City using remote sensing data and landscape metrics during last three decades (1987–2017). Remote sensing data from Various multi-temporal satellite images viz., TM (1987), TM (1995), ETM+ (2005) and OLI (2017) were used to examine the urban expansion, growth types, and spatial isolation within the urban landscape to develop an understanding the trends of built-up growth in Hawassa City, Ethiopia. Landscape metrics and built-up density were employed to analyze the pattern, process and overall growth status. The area under investigation was divided into concentric circles with a consecutive circle of 1 km incremental radius from the central pixel (Central Business District) for analysis. The result exhibited that the built-up area had increased by 541.32% between 1987 and 2017and an extension growth types (more than 67 %) was observed. The major growth took place in north-west direction followed by north direction in haphazard manner during 1987–1995 period, whereas predominant built-up development was observed in south and southwest direction during 1995–2017 period. Land scape metrics result revealed that the of urban patches density, total edge and edge density increased, while mean nearest neighbors’ distance decreased showing the tendency of sprawl.

Keywords: landscape metrics, spatial patterns, remote sensing, multi-temporal, urban sprawl

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Authors: Mehrangiz Rezaee, Zabih Charrahi

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In the last decade, with increasing tourism destinations and tourism growth, we are witnessing the widespread impacts of tourism on the economy, environment and society. Tourism and its related economy are now undergoing a transformation and as one of the key pillars of business economics, it plays a vital role in the world economy. Activities related to tourism and providing services appropriate to it in an area, like many economic sectors, require the necessary context on its origin. Given the importance of tourism industry and tourism potentials of Yazd province in Iran, it is necessary to use a proper procedure for prioritizing different areas for proper and efficient planning. One of the most important goals of planning is foresight and creating balanced development in different geographical areas. This process requires an accurate study of the areas and potential and actual talents, as well as evaluation and understanding of the relationship between the indicators affecting the development of the region. At the global and regional level, the development of tourist resorts and the proper distribution of tourism destinations are needed to counter environmental impacts and risks. The main objective of this study is the sustainable development of suitable tourism areas. Given that tourism activities in different territorial areas require operational zoning, this study deals with the evaluation of territorial tourism using concepts such as land use, fitness and sustainable development. It is essential to understand the structure of tourism development and the spatial development of tourism using land use patterns, spatial planning and sustainable development. Tourism spatial planning implements different approaches. However, the development of tourism as well as the spatial development of tourism is complex, since tourist activities can be carried out in different areas with different purposes. Multipurpose areas have great important for tourism because it determines the flow of tourism. Therefore, in this paper, by studying the development and determination of tourism suitability that is related to spatial development, it is possible to plan tourism spatial development by developing a model that describes the characteristics of tourism. The results of this research determine the suitability of multi-functional territorial tourism development in line with spatial planning of tourism.

Keywords: land use change, spatial planning, sustainability, territorial tourist, Yazd

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Authors: Kehinde Damilola Ilesanmi, Dev Datt Tewari

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South Africa is in its post-industrial era moving from the primary and secondary sector to the tertiary sector. The study investigated the impact of the disaggregated energy consumption (coal, oil, and electricity) on the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy between 1980 and 2012 in South Africa. Using vector error correction model, it was established that South Africa is an energy dependent economy, and that energy (especially electricity and oil) is a limiting factor of growth. This implies that implementation of energy conservation policies may hamper economic growth. Output growth is significantly outpacing energy supply, which has necessitated load shedding. To meet up the excess energy demand, there is a need to increase the generating capacity which will necessitate increased investment in the electricity sector as well as strategic steps to increase oil production. There is also need to explore more renewable energy sources, in order to meet the growing energy demand without compromising growth and environmental sustainability. Policy makers should also pursue energy efficiency policies especially at sectoral level of the economy.

Keywords: causality, economic growth, energy consumption, hypothesis, sectoral output

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Authors: Md. Ruhul Amin

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The effects of CB1, CB3, CB5, CB8 and CB12 cotton varieties on the nutritional indices and biological parameters of armyworm Spodoptera litura were studied under laboratory conditions. The armyworm larvae showed the highest and lowest food consumption rates on CB8 and CB1 variety, respectively. The efficiency of the conversion of digested food, efficiency of conversion of ingested food, approximate digestibility rates were statistically higher and similar on CB5 and CB8, and lowest on CB1. The larvae reared on CB12 variety exerted the lowest feeding and growth indices, and the relative growth rate was highest on CB8. The survival rates of egg, larva, pupa and adult moths were found highest on CB8 and lowest on CB12. The development durations of the immature stages of the insect differed significantly and the time elapsed from egg-to-adult emergence, longevity of both male and female moths, and their lifecycle were shortest on CB12 variety. The nutritional indices and biological parameters of the armyworm indicated that the varieties CB5 and CB8 were suitable host plants for feeding and development of S. litura.

Keywords: gossypium hirsutum, spodoptera litura, food consumption, life history

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Authors: K. J. Jegede, O. O. Odekunle

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The challenges facing government at all levels in the area of urban development are two folds, first is how to provide basic services for urban dwellers especially the urban poor and second, how to make cities and towns as model of good places for economic development. The key ingredients and catalysts for achieving these goals are strong and virile institutional capacity, urban infrastructure and a supportive urban policy framework. The government at all levels have been upgrading and expanding city infrastructure and services in Ibadan, the state capital to support sustainable economic development of the city, particularly in the areas of electricity, neighbourhood, solid waste management, transport, water supply, education, health facilities and markets developments to discourage street trading. This paper attempts to present Ibadan in the millennium as 'a model of a sustainable city'. A planned development strategy that had sustained the growth of the city from a war camp in the 19th century to a cosmopolitan city in the 21st century with the potential to become a megacity. The presentation examines, among others, the physical structure and population density of Ibadan city, the challenges of economic development, the development of urban infrastructure and services in Ibadan metropolitan area. The paper submitted by mapping out a strategy to achieve sustainable development of Ibadan city.

Keywords: megacity, physical structure, sustainable city, urban infrastructure

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Authors: Hasan Basri Jumin, Danil Endriand Basri

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Isolated protoplast from embryogenic callus of orange Jessamine (Murraya paniculata L. (Jack) cultured and maintained under growth chamber at the temperature +25oC. The parameter observed are the plating efficiency, the number of spherical embryos, heard-shaped embryos-like structure, shoot formation, and plantlets obtained. Treatment was arranged with 0.0, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1 or 1.0 mg 1-1 Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), and 0, 300, 500 mg 1/l malt extract (ME) and 0.M sorbitol in the medium with 2.5 % sucrose. Interaction between 0.001 mg/l NAA and 500 mg/l was observed the higher percentage of planting efficiency. For embryo development from callus, the media was added to 0.0 mg/l, 0.001 mg/l, 0.01 ,mg/l, 0.1 mg/l, 1.0 mg/l NAA, and 1.0 %, 2.0 %, 3.0 %, 4.0 % sucrose. Media supplemented with 0.01mg/l NAA, and 1.0% sucrose was found to be a suitable medium for the development of spherical somatic embryos. A combination of 0.1 mg/ indole acetic acid (IAA) and 0.1 mg/l zeatin constituted the spherical somatic embryo became heart-shaped embryos-like structure. A combination between GA3 0.1 mg 1/l GA3 and 0.1 mg 1-1 zeatin is looking high, growing the heart-shaped embryos-like structure to form a shoot. Cells were developed into spherical embryos and grew into heart-shaped embryos, and then spherical somatic embryos developed into shoot formation. Sequence from single protoplast to plantlets was obtained by using a low concentration of plant growth regulator and sucrose; This recovery of single protoplast to be completed plantlets is a new technology in plant cell culture, and this could be used in genetic engineering in citrus.

Keywords: heart-shaped-embryos-like-structure, Muraya-paniculata, plant-growth-regulator, spherical- somatic-embryo, single protoplast, glucose

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Authors: Chigbo Ikechukwu Emmanuel

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Microalgae can be used for tertiary treatment of wastewater due to their capacity to assimilate nutrients. The pH increase which is mediated by the growing algae also induces phosphorus precipitation and ammonia stripping to the air, and may in addition act disinfecting on the wastewater. Domestic wastewater is ideal for algal growth since it contains high concentrations of all necessary nutrients. The growth limiting factor is rather light, especially at higher latitudes. The most important operational factors for successful wastewater treatment with microalgae are depth, turbulence and hydraulic retention time.

Keywords: microalgae, wastewater treatment, phosphorus, nitrogen, light, operation, ponds, growth

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Authors: Chandni Laddha

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Tourism was earlier considered as an activity performed by people only for the purpose of entertainment. However, the present era demand for adding something more to the concept of tourism. Nowadays, people are more protected towards environment, so this paper focuses on the significance of ecotourism for the attainment of sustainable development. Ecotourism is a way of sustainable growth of tourist spots maintaining their natural and actual status quo. The ecotourism in India becomes all the more important because India is famous on world map. Ecotourism believe that there should be sustainable equation between tourist and tourist place. Various aspects related to environmental tourism will be highlighted in this paper. Government efforts for the promotion of ecotourism will be discussed by explaining the tourism policy of India, some acts, rules etc. will also be discussed. The study comes up with some strategies to be adopted and which will lead in promoting the concept of ecotourism for an ecologically sustainable environment.

Keywords: tourism, eco-tourism, sustainable development, tourism policy, sustainable environment

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Authors: Eman AbuKhousa, Marwan Z. Bataineh

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The 21^st century higher education and globalization challenge new faculty members to build effective professional networks and partnership with industry in order to accelerate their growth and success. This creates the need for community of practice (CoP)-oriented development approaches that focus on cognitive apprenticeship while considering individual predisposition and future career needs. This work adopts data mining, clustering analysis, and social networking technologies to present the CoP-Network as a virtual space that connects together similar career-aspiration individuals who are socially influenced to join and engage in a process for domain-related knowledge and practice acquisitions. The CoP-Network model can be integrated into higher education to extend traditional graduate and professional development programs.

Keywords: clustering analysis, community of practice, data mining, higher education, new faculty challenges, social network, social influence, professional development

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Authors: Mingke Ma

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The recent discovery of the High-Income Trap phenomena and the established Middle-Income Trap literature have identified the similarity of the structural challenges that both Mainland China and Taiwan have been facing since the simultaneous growth slowdown from the 2000s. Mainland China and Taiwan’s ineffectiveness in productivity growth weakened their overall competitiveness in Global Value Chains. With the subsequent decline of industrial profitability, social compression from late development persists and jeopardises the social cohesion. From Ma Ying-jeou’s ‘633’ promise and Tsai Ing-wen’s ‘5+2’ industrial framework to Mainland China’s 11th to 14th Five-Year Plans, leaderships across the Strait have been striving to constitute new models for inclusive and sustainable development through policy responses. This study argues that social consensuses that have been constructed by the domestic political processes define the feasibility of the reform strategies, which further construct the conditions for Cross-Strait interactions. Based on the existing literature of New Institutional Economics, Middle/High Income Trap, and Compressed Development, this study adopts a Historical Institutionalist analytical framework to identify how the historical path-dependency contributes to the contemporary growth constraints in both economies and the political difficulty on navigating the institutional and Organisational change. It continues by tracing the political process of economic reform to examine the sustainability and resilience of the manifested social consensus that had empowered the proposed policy frameworks. Afterwards, it examines how the political outcomes in such a simultaneous process shared by both Mainland China and Taiwan construct the social, economic, institutional, and political foundations of contemporary Cross-Strait engagement.

Keywords: historical institutionalism, political economy, cross-strait relations, high/middle income trap

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Authors: Lablali Mohammed, Mes-Adi Hassan, Mazroui M’Hammed

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To tackle the complexity of grasping atomic-scale structures and unraveling the factors affecting the development of thin films. In our work, we perform the deposition of Nb atoms on Cu substrates using the molecular dynamics simulation combined with the embedded atom method to describe the interaction between different atoms. We investigated the impact of varying deposition rates and thermal annealing processes on the microstructural, morphological, and mechanical characteristics of the deposited Nb film. Our findings reveal that Nb atom growth on the Cu substrate occurs in island mode, accompanied by the presence of nucleation phenomena during growth. On the other hand, mixing behavior was observed at the interface between the film and the substrate, where Nb penetration is initially limited to the first Cu layer, whereas Cu atoms diffuse until reaching the third layer in the Nb film. Furthermore, Nb exhibits a BCC structure, with a significant concentration observed at a rate of 5 atoms/ps, and annealing further amplifies these percentages. Deposition at different rates leads to distinct levels of compressive normal and biaxial stress.

Keywords: molecular dynamics, Nb thin film, structure and morphology, atomic penetration

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Authors: Apostolos Lagarias, Anastasia Stratigea

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Coastal urbanization is heavily affecting the Mediterranean, taking the form of linear urban sprawl along the coastal zone. This process is posing extreme pressure on ecosystems, leading to an unsustainable model of growth. The aim of this research is to analyze coastal urbanization patterns in the Mediterranean using High-resolution multi-temporal data provided by the Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) database. Methodology involves the estimation of a set of spatial metrics characterizing the density, aggregation/clustering and dispersion of built-up areas. As case study areas, the Spanish Coast and the Adriatic Italian Coast are examined. Coastalization profiles are examined and selected sub-areas massively affected by tourism development and suburbanization trends (Costa Blanca/Murcia, Costa del Sol, Puglia, Emilia-Romagna Coast) are analyzed and compared. Results show that there are considerable differences between the Spanish and the Italian typologies of spatial development, related to the land use structure and planning policies applied in each case. Monitoring and analyzing spatial patterns could inform integrated Mediterranean strategies for coastal areas and redirect spatial/environmental policies towards a more sustainable model of growth

Keywords: coastalization, Mediterranean, multi-temporal, urban sprawl, spatial metrics

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Authors: Ella Tyuryumina, Alexey Neznanov

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This paper is devoted to mathematical modelling of the progression and stages of breast cancer. We propose Consolidated mathematical growth model of primary tumor and secondary distant metastases growth in patients with lymph nodes metastases (CoM-III) as a new research tool. We are interested in: 1) modelling the whole natural history of primary tumor and secondary distant metastases growth in patients with lymph nodes metastases; 2) developing adequate and precise CoM-III which reflects relations between primary tumor and secondary distant metastases; 3) analyzing the CoM-III scope of application; 4) implementing the model as a software tool. Firstly, the CoM-III includes exponential tumor growth model as a system of determinate nonlinear and linear equations. Secondly, mathematical model corresponds to TNM classification. It allows to calculate different growth periods of primary tumor and secondary distant metastases growth in patients with lymph nodes metastases: 1) ‘non-visible period’ for primary tumor; 2) ‘non-visible period’ for secondary distant metastases growth in patients with lymph nodes metastases; 3) ‘visible period’ for secondary distant metastases growth in patients with lymph nodes metastases. The new predictive tool: 1) is a solid foundation to develop future studies of breast cancer models; 2) does not require any expensive diagnostic tests; 3) is the first predictor which makes forecast using only current patient data, the others are based on the additional statistical data. Thus, the CoM-III model and predictive software: a) detect different growth periods of primary tumor and secondary distant metastases growth in patients with lymph nodes metastases; b) make forecast of the period of the distant metastases appearance in patients with lymph nodes metastases; c) have higher average prediction accuracy than the other tools; d) can improve forecasts on survival of breast cancer and facilitate optimization of diagnostic tests. The following are calculated by CoM-III: the number of doublings for ‘non-visible’ and ‘visible’ growth period of secondary distant metastases; tumor volume doubling time (days) for ‘non-visible’ and ‘visible’ growth period of secondary distant metastases. The CoM-III enables, for the first time, to predict the whole natural history of primary tumor and secondary distant metastases growth on each stage (pT1, pT2, pT3, pT4) relying only on primary tumor sizes. Summarizing: a) CoM-III describes correctly primary tumor and secondary distant metastases growth of IA, IIA, IIB, IIIB (T1-4N1-3M0) stages in patients with lymph nodes metastases (N1-3); b) facilitates the understanding of the appearance period and inception of secondary distant metastases.

Keywords: breast cancer, exponential growth model, mathematical model, primary tumor, secondary metastases, survival

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Authors: Olubusuyi Ayowole, Bashir Khoda

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Green bioprinting, from the context of merging 3D bioprinting with microalgae cell organization, holds promise for industrial-scale optimization. This study employs spectrophotometric analysis to explore post-bioprinting cell growth density variation within hybrid hydrogel biomaterial scaffolds. Three hydrogel biomaterials—Alginic acid sodium salt (ALGINATE), Nanofibrillated Cellulose (NFC) – TEMPO, and CarboxyMethyl Cellulose (CMC)—are chosen for their scaffolding capabilities. Bioink development and analysis of their impact on cell proliferation and morphology are conducted. Chlorella microalgae cell growth within hydrogel compositions is probed using absorbance measurements, with additional assessment of shear thinning properties. Notably, NFC exhibits reduced shear thinning compared to CMC. Results reveal that while mono-hydrogel substrates with pronounced adhesion inhibit Chlorella cell proliferation, Alginate fosters increased cell concentration alongside a slight viscosity rise.

Keywords: green bioprinting, 3d bioprinting, microalgae cell, hybrid hydrogel scaffolds, spectrophotometric analysis, bioink development, shear thinning properties

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Authors: Deenadayalan Govender

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In South Africa, similar to nations globally, the prevailing tangible link between people and the state is public infrastructure. Services delivered through infrastructure to the people and to the state form a critical enabler for social development in communities and economic development in the country. In this regard, infrastructure, being the backbone to a nation’s prosperity, ideally should be effectively maintained for seamless delivery of services. South African infrastructure is in a state of deterioration, which is leading to infrastructure dysfunction and collapse and is negatively affecting development of the economy. This infrastructure deterioration stems from deficiencies in maintenance practices and strategies. From the birth of South African democracy, government has pursued socio-economic transformation and the delivery of critical basic services to decrease the broadening boundaries of disparity. In this regard, the National Infrastructure Plan borne from strategies encompassed in the National Development Plan is given priority by government in delivering strategic catalytic infrastructure projects. The National Infrastructure Plan is perceived to be the key in unlocking opportunities that generate economic growth, kerb joblessness, alleviate poverty, create new entrepreneurial prospects, and mitigate population expansion and rapid urbanisation. Socio-economic transformation benefits from new infrastructure spend is not being realised as initially anticipated. In this context, South Africa is currently in a state of weakening economic growth, with further amassed levels of joblessness, unremitting poverty and inequality. Due to investor reluctance, solicitation of strategic infrastructure funding is progressively becoming a debilitating challenge in all government institutions. Exacerbating these circumstances further, is substandard functionality of existing infrastructure subsequent to inadequate maintenance practices. This in-depth multi-sectoral study into the state of infrastructure is to understand the principal reasons for infrastructure functionality regression better; furthermore, prioritised investigations into progressive maintenance strategies is focused upon. Resultant recommendations reveal enhanced maintenance strategies, with a vision to capitalize on infrastructure design life, and also give special emphasis to socio-economic development imperatives in the long-term. The research method is principally based on descriptive methods (survey, historical, content analysis, qualitative).

Keywords: infrastructure, maintenance, socio-economic, strategies

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Authors: V. Nikkhah Rashidabad, M. Manteghian, M. Masoumi, S. Mousavian

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In this research, the changes in bubbles diameter and number that may occur due to the change in heat flux of pure water during pool boiling process. For this purpose, test equipment was designed and developed to collect test data. The bubbles were graded using Caliper Screen software. To calculate the growth and nucleation rates of bubbles under different fluxes, population balance model was employed. The results show that the increase in heat flux from q=20 kw/m2 to q=102 kw/m2 raised the growth and nucleation rates of bubbles.

Keywords: heat flux, bubble growth, bubble nucleation, population balance model

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Authors: Dimitrios J. Dimitriou

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The decades after the end of the second War provide evidence that infrastructures investments contibute to economic development, on terms of productivity and income growth. In order to force productivity and increase competitiveness the financing of large transport infrastructure projects are on the top of the agenda in strategic planning process. Such a decision may take form some days to some decades and stakeholders as well as decision makers need tools in order to estimate the economic impact on natioanl economy of such an investment. The key question in such decisions is if the effects caused by the new infrastructure could be able to boost economic development on one hand, and create new jobs and activities on the other. This paper deals with the review of estimation of the mega transport infrastructure projects economic effects in economy.

Keywords: economic impact, transport infrastructure, strategic planning, decision making

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Authors: M. J. Pourvaghar, M. E. Bahram

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Obesity and overweight is one of the most common metabolic disorders in industrialized countries and in developing countries. One consequence of pathological obesity is cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. Chemerin is an adipocyne that plays a role in the regulation of the adipocyte function and the metabolism of glucose in the liver and musculoskeletal system. Most likely, chemerin is involved in obesity-related disorders such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Aerobic exercises reduce the level of chemerin and cause macrophage penetration into fat cells and inflammatory factors. Several efforts have been made to clarify the cellular and molecular mechanisms of hypertrophy and muscular atrophy. Myostatin, a new member of the TGF-β family, is a transforming growth factor β that its expression negatively regulates the growth of the skeletal muscle; and the increase of this hormone has been observed in conditions of muscular atrophy. While in response to muscle overload, its levels decrease after the atrophy period, TGF-β is the most important cytokine in the development of skeletal muscle. Myostatin plays an important role in muscle control, and animal and human studies show a negative role of myostatin in the growth of skeletal muscle. Separation of myostatin from Golgi begins on the ninth day of the onset period and continues until birth at all times of muscle growth. Higher levels of myostatin are found in obese people. Resistance training for 10 weeks could reduce levels of plasma myostatin.

Keywords: chemerin, myostatin, obesity, physical activity

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Authors: Işın Alkan, Meltem Kürtüncü

Abstract:

Objective: This study was carried out with an experimental design in order to determine whether the lullaby, which was listened from mother’s voice and a stranger’s voice to the babies born at term and hospitalized in neonatal intensive care unit, had an effect on saturation values (SpO2), peak heart rate (PHR), respiration, fever, growth and development and hospitalization times of the infants. Method: Data from the study were obtained from 90 newborn babies who were hospitalized in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Zonguldak Maternity And Children Hospital between September 2015-January 2016 and who met the eligibility criteria. Lullaby concert was performed by choosing one of the suitable care hours. SpO2, PHR, respiration, fever, growth and development and hospitalization times of the infants were recorded by the researcher on “Newborn response follow-up form” at pre-care and post-care. Vital signs of babies every day, weight, height and head circumference measurements at admission, weakly rated at an output. Results: In the experimental and control groups, like weight, height and head circumference anthropometric measurements were not found statistically significant difference intensive care units admission and output times. Hospitalization times on babies who listen to lullaby mother’s voice revealed statistically significant difference according to babies who listen to lullaby stranger’s voice. Before care and after care were examined, SpO2 rates of babies who listen to lullaby mother’s voice revealed statistically significant higher difference according to babies who listen to lullaby stranger’s voice and control group babies. Before care on PHR of babies in three groups were not found the statistical difference, but aftercare, it was found that statistically lower (normal range) on babies who listen to lullaby mother’s voice according to babies who listen to lullaby stranger’s voice. Before care in three groups were not found the statistical difference on respiration values of babies, but aftercare, it was found that statistically lower (normal range) on babies who listen to lullaby stranger’s voice according to babies who listen to mother’s voice and control groups. Before care and after care were examined, fever signs did not reveal statistically significant difference in three groups. Conclusion: Lullaby concerts as being normal ranges of vital signs of infants and also helping to shorten hospitalization times should be preferred in the neonatal intensive care units.

Keywords: growth and development, lullaby, mother voice, vital signs

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Authors: Hussaini Tunde Subairu

Abstract:

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sectors serve as catalyst for employment generation, national growth, poverty reduction and economic development in developing and developed countries. However, in Nigeria despite copious and plethora of government policies and stimulus schemes directed at SMEs, the sector is still characterized by high rate of failure and discontinuities. This study therefore investigated owners/managers profile, firms characteristics and external factors as possible determinants of SMEs growth from selected SMEs in Kwara State. Primary data were sourced from 200 SMEs respondents registered with the National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASMES) in Kwara State Central Senatorial District. Multiple Regressions Analysis (MRA) was used to analyze the relationship between dependent and independent variables, and pair wise correlation was employed to examine the relationship among independent variables. The Analysis of Variable (ANOVA) was employed to indicate the overall significant of the model The findings revealed that Analysis of variance (ANOVA) put the value of F-statistics at 420.45 and p-value at 0.000 was significant. The values of R2 and Adjusted R2 of 0.9643 and 0.9620 respectively suggested that 96 percent of variations in employment growth were explained by the explanatory variables. The level of technical and managerial education has t- value of 24.14 and p-value of 0.001, length of managers/owners experience in similar trade with t- value of 21.37 and p-value of 0.001, age of managers/owners with t- value of 42.98 and p-value of 0.001, firm age with t- value of 25.91 and p-value of 0.001, numbers of firms in a cluster with t- value of 7.20 and p-value of 0.001, access to formal finance with t-value of 5.56 and p-value of 0.001, firm technology innovation with t- value of 25.32 and p-value of 0.01, institutional support with t- value of 18.89 and p-value of 0.01, globalization with t- value of 9.78 and p-value of 0.01, and infrastructure with t-value of 10.75 and p-value of 0.01. The result also indicated that initial size has t-value of -1.71 and p-value of 0.090 which is consistent with Gibrat’s Law. The study concluded that owners/managers profile, firm specific characteristics and external factors substantially influenced employment growths of SMEs in the study area. Therefore, policy implication should enhance human capital development of SMEs owners/managers, and strengthen fiscal policy thrust through imposition on tariff regime to minimize effect of globalization. Governments at all level must support SMEs growth radically and enhance institutional support for SMEs growth and radically and significantly upgrading key infrastructure as rail/roads, rail, telecommunications, water and power.

Keywords: external factors, firm specific characteristics, owners / manager profile, small and medium enterprises

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Authors: Hritik Bhattarai

Abstract:

Land use and land cover play a crucial role in preserving and managing Earth's natural resources. Various factors, such as economic, demographic, social, cultural, technological, and environmental processes, contribute to changes in land use and land cover (LULC). Rupandehi District is significantly influenced by a combination of driving forces, including its geographical location, rapid population growth, economic opportunities, globalization, tourism activities, and political events. Urbanization and urban growth in the region have been occurring in an unplanned manner, with internal migration and natural population growth being the primary contributors. Internal migration, particularly from neighboring districts in the higher and lower Himalayan regions, has been high, leading to increased population growth and density. This study utilizes geospatial technology, specifically geographic information system (GIS), to analyze and illustrate the land cover and land use changes in the Rupandehi district for the years 2009 and 2019, using freely available Landsat images. The identified land cover categories include built-up area, cropland, Das-Gaja, forest, grassland, other woodland, riverbed, and water. The statistical analysis of the data over the 10-year period (2009-2019) reveals significant percentage changes in LULC. Notably, Das-Gaja shows a minimal change of 99.9%, while water and forest exhibit increases of 34.5% and 98.6%, respectively. Riverbed and built-up areas experience changes of 95.3% and 39.6%, respectively. Cropland and grassland, however, show concerning decreases of 102.6% and 140.0%, respectively. Other woodland also indicates a change of 50.6%. The most noteworthy trends are the substantial increase in water areas and built-up areas, leading to the degradation of agricultural and open spaces. This emphasizes the urgent need for effective urban planning activities to ensure the development of a sustainable city. While Das-Gaja seems unaffected, the decreasing trends in cropland and grassland, accompanied by the increasing built-up areas, are unsatisfactory. It is imperative for relevant authorities to be aware of these trends and implement proactive measures for sustainable urban development.

Keywords: land use and land cover, geospatial, urbanization, geographic information system, sustainable urban development

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Authors: Rochelyn Dona, Serdar Satar

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to evaluate the biological parameters of A. fabae Scopoli (Hemiptera: Aphididae). Developmental, survival, and reproductive data were collected for Aphis fabae reared on detached bean leaves (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) ‘pinto beans’ at five temperature regimes (12, 16, 20, 24, and 28 °C), 65% relative humidity (RH), relative and a photoperiod of 16:8 (LD) h. The developmental times of immature stages ranged from 16, 65 days at 12°C to 5.70 days at 24°C, but a slight increase again at 28°C (6.62 days). At 24°C from this study presented the developmental threshold for A. fabae slightly to 24°C. The average longevity of mature females significantly decreased from 42.32 days at 12°C to 16.12 days at 28°C. The reproduction rate per female was 62.27 at 16°C and 12.72 at 28°C. The mean generation period of the population ranged from 29.24 at 12°C to 11.50 at 28°C. The highest intrinsic rate of increase (rm = 0.41) were recorded at 24°C, the lowest at 12°C (rm = 0.15). It was evident that temperatures over 28°C augmented the development time, accelerated the death ratio of the nymphal stages, Shrunk Adult longevity, and reduced fecundity. The optimal range of temperature for the population growth of A. fabae on the bean was 16°C-24°C, according to this study.

Keywords: developmental time, intrinsic rate, reproduction period, temperature dependence

Procedia PDF Downloads 226