Search results for: lost sales

Authors: Daniel Marra

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This paper analyses from a semantic-diachronic viewpoint the change of meanings that two lexical items of Brazilian-Portuguese language have gone through. Cerrado and Vereda designate currently the second largest Brazilian biome and one of its most important subsystems. Nevertheless, these two words have long individual histories that can be traced back to their Latin etymons. Therefore, the purpose of this work is to highlight the process by which meaning instantiated itself in these words’ formation and to discuss how semantic change installed subsequently in them. As this paper shows, the aforementioned words have been, in different past, synchronizes, created, and undergone changes of meanings by metaphor and metonymy. Besides, it is argued here that semantic change takes place due to external causes, such as generalization and specialization of meaning. It happens when a specialized use of a lexical item, restricted to a particular linguistic group, is adopted by other groups, having its meaning generalized by them. In these processes, the etymological idea of the word is generally lost, which gains, in the new group, less specific meaning in relation to its etymology, sometimes with no relation to the original idea. As a final point, it is claimed that both the creation of a lexical item and its change of meaning involve pragmatic goals, such as the need the language users have to express a new meaning related to a certain reality in the empirical world.

Keywords: Brazilian biomes, metaphor and metonymy, Portuguese lexicon, semantic change

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Authors: Donna L. Roberts

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2019 marked 23 years since Purdue Pharma launched its flagship drug, OxyContin, that unleashed an unprecedented epidemic touching both celebrities and common citizens, metropolitan, suburbia and rural areas and all levels of socioeconomic status. From rural Appalachia to East LA individuals, families and communities have been devastated by a trajectory of addiction that often began with the legitimate prescription of a pain killer for anything from a tooth extraction to a sports injury to recovery from surgery or chronic arthritis. Far from being a serendipitous progression of events, the proliferation of this new breed of 'miracle drug' was instead a carefully crafted marketing program aimed at both the medical community and common citizens. This research represents and in-depth investigation of the evolution of the marketing, distribution and promotion of prescription opioids by pharmaceutical companies and its relationship to the propagation of the opioid crisis. Specifically, key components of Purdue Pharma’s aggressive marketing campaign, including its bonus system and sales incentives, were analyzed in the context of the sociopolitical environment that essential created the proverbial 'perfect storm' for the changing manner in which pain is treated in the U.S. The analyses of these series of events clearly indicate their role in first, the increase in prescription of opioids for non-terminal pain relief and subsequently, the incidence of related addiction, overdose, and death. Through this examination of the conditions that facilitated and maintained this drug crisis, perhaps we can begin to chart a course toward its resolution.

Keywords: addiction, opioid, opioid crisis, Purdue Pharma

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Authors: Isaac Owusu Asante, Yushi Jiang, Hailin Tao

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Live streaming marketing, the new electronic commerce element, became an optional marketing channel following the COVID-19 pandemic. Many sellers have leveraged the features presented by live streaming to increase sales. Studies on live streaming have focused on gaming and consumers’ loyalty to brands through live streaming, using interview questionnaires. This study, however, was conducted to measure real-time observable interactions between consumers and sellers. Based on the affordance theory, this study conceptualized constructs representing the interactive features and examined how they drive consumers’ purchase willingness during live streaming sessions using 1238 datasets from Amazon Live, following the manual observation of transaction records. Using structural equation modeling, the ordinary least square regression suggests that live viewers, new followers, live chats, and likes positively affect purchase willingness. The Sobel and Monte Carlo tests show that new followers, live chats, and likes significantly mediate the relationship between live viewers and purchase willingness. The study introduces a new way of measuring interactions in live streaming commerce and proposes a way to manually gather data on consumer behaviors in live streaming platforms when the application programming interface (API) of such platforms does not support data mining algorithms.

Keywords: livestreaming marketing, live chats, live viewers, likes, new followers, purchase willingness

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Authors: Sara Mostowfi, Hassan Sadeghinaeini, Sana Behnamasl, Leila Ensaniat, Maryam Mostafaee

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Nowadays, most of product producers, e.g. home appliance, electronic machines and vehicles focus on quality and comfort, and promise consumers ease of use and pleasurable experiences during product using. Consumers make their purchase decisions according to two needs: functional and emotional needs. Functional needs are fulfilled by product functionality, besides emotional needs are related to psychologists’ aspects of production. Emotions are distinctive elements which should be added to products and services to lead them up. In this case, the authors’ survey conducted pleasurable and hedonomic aspects in products of a home appliance company in Iran. In this regard, three samples of home appliance were selected: mixer, rice cooker, iron. Fifteen women (20-60) participated in this study. Every user evaluated each product by questionnaire based on 7 point semantic differential scale. After analyzing the results with statistical methods, results showed that 90% of users aren’t satisfied with hedonic and pleasurable criteria in interaction with these products. They notified that regarding hedonomics and pleasurable criteria’s they will have better ease of use and functionality. Our findings show a significant association between products’ features and user satisfaction. It seems that industrial design has a significant impression on the company’s products and with regard the pleasurable criteria the company sales will be more successful.

Keywords: home appliance, interaction, pleasure, hedonomy, ergonomy

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Authors: Hadi Gholizadeh, Ali Tajdin

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To have effective production planning, it is necessary to control the quality of processes. This paper aims at improving the performance of the disposable essentials process using statistical quality control and goal programming in a vague environment. That is expressed uncertainty because there is always a measurement error in the real world. Therefore, in this study, the conditions are examined in a vague environment that is a distance-based environment. The disposable essentials process in Kach Company was studied. Statistical control tools were used to characterize the existing process for four factor responses including the average of disposable glasses’ weights, heights, crater diameters, and volumes. Goal programming was then utilized to find the combination of optimal factors setting in a vague environment which is measured to apply uncertainty of the initial information when some of the parameters of the models are vague; also, the fuzzy regression model is used to predict the responses of the four described factors. Optimization results show that the process capability index values for disposable glasses’ average of weights, heights, crater diameters and volumes were improved. Such increasing the quality of the products and reducing the waste, which will reduce the cost of the finished product, and ultimately will bring customer satisfaction, and this satisfaction, will mean increased sales.

Keywords: goal programming, quality control, vague environment, disposable glasses’ optimization, fuzzy regression

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Authors: Thang Minh Le, Hadi Khabbaz

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The coefficient of consolidation is a parameter governing the rate at which saturated soil particularly clay undergoes consolidation when subjected to an increase in pressure. The rate and amount of compression in soil varies with the rate that pore water is lost; and hence depends on soil permeability. Over many years, various methods have been proposed to determine the coefficient of consolidation, cv, which is an indication of the rate of foundation settlement on soft ground. However, defining this parameter is often problematic and heavily relies on graphical techniques, which are subject to some uncertainties. This paper initially presents an overview of many well-established methods to determine the vertical coefficient of consolidation from the incremental loading consolidation tests. An array of consolidation tests was conducted on the undisturbed clay samples, collected at various depths from a site in Nakdong river delta, Busan, South Korea. The consolidation test results on these soft sensitive clay samples were employed to evaluate the targeted methods to predict the settlement rate of Busan clay. In relationship of time-displacement-velocity, a total of 3 method groups from 10 common procedures were classified and compared together. Discussions on study results will be also provided.

Keywords: Busan clay, coefficient of consolidation, constant rate of strain, incremental loading

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Authors: Nicolas Haber

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The study addresses the design process of integrated product-service offerings as a measure of answering environmental sustainability concerns by replacing stand-alone physical artefacts with comprehensive solutions relying on functional results rather than conventional product sales. However, views regarding this transformation are dissimilar and differentiated: The study discusses the importance and requirements of product-service systems before analysing the theoretical studies accomplished in the extent of their design and development processes. Based on this, a framework, built on a design science approach, is proposed, where the distinct approaches from the literature are merged towards a unified structure serving as a generic methodology to designing product-service systems. Each stage of this model is then developed to present a holistic design proposal called the Functional Engineered Product-Service System (FEPSS) model. Product-service systems are portrayed as customisable solutions tailored to specific settings and defined circumstances. Moreover, the approaches adopted to guide the design process are diversified. A thorough analysis of the design strategies and development processes however, allowed the extraction of a design backbone, valid to varied situations and contexts whether they are product-oriented, use-oriented or result-oriented. The goal is to guide manufacturers towards an eased adoption of these integrated offerings, given their inherited environmental benefits, by proposing a robust all-purpose design process.

Keywords: functional product, integrated product-service offerings, product-service systems, sustainable design

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Authors: Malihe Shahidan, Azin Madhi, Meisam Shahbaz

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In recent decades, the role of supply chains in sustaining businesses and establishing their superiority in the market has been under focus. The realization of the goals and strategies of a business enterprise is largely dependent on the cooperation of the chain, including suppliers, distributors, retailers, etc. Supply chains can potentially be disrupted by both internal and external factors. In this paper, resilience strategies have been identified and analyzed in three levels: sourcing, producing, and distributing by considering economic depression as a current risk factor for the machine-made rugs industry. In this study, semi-structured interviews for data gathering and thematic analysis for data analysis are applied. Supply chain data has been gathered from seven rug factories before and after the economic depression through semi-structured interviews. The identified strategies were derived from literature review and validated by collecting data from a group of eighteen industry and university experts, and the results were analyzed using statistical tests. Finally, the outsourcing of new products and products in the new market, the development and completion of the product portfolio, the flexibility in the composition and volume of products, the expansion of the market to price-sensitive, direct sales, and disintermediation have been determined as strategies affecting supply chain resilience of machine-made rugs' industry during an economic depression.

Keywords: distribution, economic depression, machine-made rug, outsourcing, production, sourcing, supply chain, supply chain resilience

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Authors: Priyal Motwani

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The current market for bamboo products in India is about Rs. 21000 crores and is highly unorganised and fragmented. In this study, we have closely analysed the structure and functions of a major bamboo craft based organisation in Kerela, India and elaborated about its value chain, product mix, pricing strategy and supply chain, collaborations and competitive landscape. We have identified six major bottlenecks that are prevalent in such organisations, based on the Indian context, in relation to their product mix, asset management, and supply chain- corresponding waste management and retail network. The study has identified that the target customers for the bamboo based products and alternative revenue streams (eco-tourism, microenterprises, training), by carrying out secondary and primary research (5000 sample space), that can boost the existing revenue by 150%. We have then recommended an optimum product mix-covering premium, medium and low valued processing, for medium sized bamboo based organisations, in accordance with their capacity to maximize their revenue potential. After studying such organisations and their counter parts, the study has established an optimum retail network, considering B2B, B2C physical and online retail, to maximize their sales to their target groups. On the basis of the results obtained from the analysis of the future and present trends, our study gives recommendations to improve the revenue potential of bamboo based organisation in India and promote sustainability.

Keywords: bamboo, bottlenecks, optimization, product mix, retail network, value chain

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Authors: A. T. Ramachandra Naik, H. Shivananda Murthy, H. n. Anjanayappa

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The freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii is a more popular crustacean cultured widely in monoculture system in India. It has got high nutritional value in the human diet. Hence, understanding its enzymatic and body composition is important in order to judge its flesh quality. Fish oil specially derived from Indian oil sardine is a good source of highly unsaturated fatty acid and lipid source in fish/prawn diet. A 35% crude protein diet with graded levels of Sardine oil as a source of fat was incorporated at four levels viz, 2.07, 4.07, 6.07 and 8.07% maintaining a total lipid level of feed at 8.11, 10.24, 12.28 and 14.33% respectively. Diet without sardine oil (6.05% total lipid) was served as basal treatment. The giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii was used as test animal and the experiment was lost for 112 days. Significantly, higher gain in weight of prawn was recorded in the treatment with 6.07% sardine oil incorporation followed by higher specific growth rate, food conversion rate and protein efficiency ratio. The 8.07% sardine oil diet produced the highest RNA: DNA ratio in the prawn muscle. Digestive enzyme analyses in the digestive tract and mid-gut gland showed the greatest activity in prawns fed the 8.07% diet.

Keywords: digestive enzyme, fish diet, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, sardine oil

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Authors: Mohammed Jamilu Haruna, Kawu Adamu Sule

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This paper examines the evolution of modern policing in Nigeria to the present day, with a focus on the newly introduced community policing, which seeks to cement the operational vacuum created by the repressive and oppressive approach of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), which renders the police incapable of addressing the twin problems of crime and disorder. Thus, the primary purpose for the implementation of community policing was to use it as a mechanism for building the lost trust between the police and the public, perhaps due to the long history of antagonistic and repressive relationships between them. If properly implemented, community policing has the prospect of empowering Nigerian citizens with the skills to protect themselves against invaders of their private security so that crimes can be prevented before anyone is victimized. Other prospects include, but are not limited to, (i) a favorable public view of the police, (ii) building of mutual trust, (iii) increased information flow through effective communication between the police and the public, and above all, (iv) increased police accountability. Unfortunately, problems such as aged suspicious and distrustful relationships, inadequate funding, poor training of officers, poor monitoring and evaluation of the community policing project, lack of public awareness of the benefits of the program, and sabotage by some of the personnel of the police who benefits from the status quo, were some of the reasons that troubled the implementation of community policing.

Keywords: community, policing, problems, prospects, problem solving

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Authors: Emma K. Sales

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Durian is the flagship fruit of Mindanao and there is an abundance of several cultivars with many confusing identities/ names. The project was conducted to develop procedure for reliable and rapid detection and sorting of durian planting materials. Moreover, it is also aimed to establish specific genetic or DNA markers for routine testing and authentication of durian cultivars in question. The project developed molecular procedures for routine testing. SSR primers were also screened and identified for their utility in discriminating durian cultivars collected. Results of the study showed the following accomplishments; 1. Twenty (29) SSR primers were selected and identified based on their ability to discriminate durian cultivars, 2. Optimized and established standard procedure for identification and authentication of Durian cultivars 3. Genetic profile of durian is now available at Biotech Unit. Our results demonstrate the relevance of using molecular techniques in evaluating and identifying durian clones. The most polymorphic primers tested in this study could be useful tools for detecting variation even at the early stage of the plant especially for commercial purposes. The process developed combines the efficiency of the microsatellites development process with the optimization of non-radioactive detection process resulting in a user-friendly protocol that can be performed in two (2) weeks and easily incorporated into laboratories about to start microsatellite development projects. This can be of great importance to extend microsatellite analyses to other crop species where minimal genetic information is currently available. With this, the University can now be a service laboratory for routine testing and authentication of durian clones.

Keywords: DNA, SSR analysis, genotype, genetic diversity, cultivars

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Authors: Nattawadee Sinpattanawong

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Oral presentation has been used mostly in business communication. The business presentation is carrying out through an audio and visual presentation material such as statistical documents, projectors, etc. Common examples of business presentation are intra-organization and sales presentations. The study aims at investigating functions, strategies and contents of assessors’ verbal feedback on presenters’ oral presentations and exploring presenters’ learning process and specific views and expectations concerning assessors’ verbal feedback related to the delivery of the oral presentation. This study is designed as a descriptive qualitative research; four master students and one teacher in English for Business and Industry Presentation Techniques class of public university will be selected. The researcher hopes that any understanding how assessors’ verbal feedback on oral presentations and learning process may illuminate issues for other people. The data from this research may help to expand and facilitate the readers’ understanding of assessors’ verbal feedback on oral presentations and learning process in their own situations. The research instruments include an audio recorder, video recorder and an interview. The students will be interviewing in order to ask for their views and expectations concerning assessors’ verbal feedback related to the delivery of the oral presentation. After finishing data collection, the data will be analyzed and transcribed. The findings of this study are significant because it can provide presenters knowledge to enhance their learning process and provide teachers knowledge about providing verbal feedback on student’s oral presentations on a business context.

Keywords: business context, learning process, oral presentation, verbal feedback

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Authors: Ossama Al-Maliki

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Europay, MasterCard, and Visa (EMV) is one of the most popular payment protocol in the world. The EMV protocol supports Chip and PIN Transactions, Chip and Signature transactions, and Contactless transactions. This protocol suffers from tens of £ millions of lost per year due to many fraudulent payments. This is due to several reported vulnerable points in the protocols used for such payments that allow skimming, replay, cloning, Mole Point of Sale (POS), relay, and other attacks to be conducted. In this paper, we are focusing on the EMV contactless specification and we have proposed two proposal solutions to the addition of a localization factor to enhance the payment authentication of such transactions designed to prevent relay, cloning, and Mole-POS attacks. Our proposed solution is a back-end localization scheme to help the Issuer-Bank compare the location of the genuine cardholder in relation to the used POS. Our scheme uses 'something you have' which is the Cardholder Smartphone (CSP) to provide the location of the cardholder at the time of the transaction and without impacting the contactless payment time/protocol. The Issuer-bank obtain the CSP Location using tried and tested localization techniques, and independently of the cardholder. Both of our proposal solutions do not require infrastructure changes, and it uses existing EMV/SP protocol messages to communicate our scheme information.

Keywords: NFC, RFID, contactless card, authentication, location, EMV

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Authors: Zahid Ahmad, Samia Yousaf

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The main purpose of this study is to evaluate and assess the financial position, operating performance, and recent outlook of the companies. This study investigates the impact of capital structure, dividend policy and sustainability on the value of firms of textile spinning sector of Pakistan which is listed on Pakistan stock exchange. The panel data technique has been applied to this group of textile sector which is textile spinning. This study covers the last ten years of time period. All the data related to the variables have been collected from the annual reports and financial statements of the textile sector firms. There are differently related determinants to measure the capital structure which are fixed assets turnover ratio, debt ratio, equity ratio, debt to equity ratio, assets tangibility, and shareholder’s equity. Dividend policy is being measured by two determinants which are earning per share (EPS) and dividend payout ratio. Sustainability is being measured by three suitable factors which are sales growth, gross profit margin ratio and firm size. These are three independent variables and their determinants of this study. Value of firm is measured through the return on asset (ROA). Capital structure is at the top of the list among all the three variables. According to the results of this research work, somewhere all the three variables generates positive and significant effect on the firm’s performance and its growth.

Keywords: capital structure, dividend policy, panel data, sustainability

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Authors: Sylvia Acquah

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The assumption that social enterprises are empowering has strong theoretical support, but empirical verification is anecdotal at best. Social enterprises blend social goal with an enterprising idea and therefore in theory these enterprises should provide meaningful jobs that are empowering. Whether jobs created are meaningful, or whether these organizations are practicing social entrepreneurship remains unexplored key questions. This paper addresses these key questions through a comprehensive literature review and an ethnographical study of a Domiciliary Home Care Social Enterprise in the UK. The social entrepreneurs, management and 9 staff members were observed, interviewed and achieves were reviewed and analyzed. In this study, the social entrepreneur’s vision was lost in transition during management change and the organization was only identified as a social enterprise by name. The organization that was set up to tackle lack of continuity in care and create a family of independent carers, was eventually closed down overnight and subjected to investigation by social services and the local council. Also, the ineffectiveness of the organization led to staff being stressed and without the support of the management to help rectify the issues; staff started displaying symptoms of burnout. Social enterprise managers should not only focus on profit maximization or generation, but should equally live up to the core tenets of the enterprise and effectively communicate and gain buy-in of all employees for any changes. Further, there ought to be an independent organization that regulates social enterprises to ensure that they are adhering to their social goals.

Keywords: ethnography, carer, social, enterprise

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Authors: Nazim Uddin, Yohiko Nakaura, Kazutaka Yamamoto

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Compote (fruit in syrup) of pineapple (Ananas comosus L. Merrill) is expected to have a high market potential as one of convenient ready-to-eat (RTE) foods worldwide. High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) in combination with low temperature (LT) was applied to the processing of pineapple compote as well as medium HHP (MHHP) in combination with medium-high temperature (MHT) since both processes can enhance liquid impregnation and inactivate microbes. MHHP+MHT (55 or 65 °C) process, as well as the HHP+LT process, has successfully inactivated the microbes in the compote to a non-detectable level. Although the compotes processed by MHHP+MHT or HHP+LT have lost the fresh texture as in a similar manner as those processed solely by heat, it was indicated that the texture degradations by heat were suppressed under MHHP. Degassing process reduced the hardness, while calcium (Ca) contributed to be retained hardness in MHT and MHHP+MHT processes. Electrical impedance measurement supported the damage due to degassing and heat. The color, Brix, and appearance were not affected by the processing methods significantly. MHHP+MHT and HHP+LT processes may be applicable to produce high-quality, safe RTE pineapple compotes. Further studies on the optimization of packaging and storage condition will be indispensable for commercialization.

Keywords: compote of pineapple, RTE, medium high hydrostatic pressure, postharvest loss, texture

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Authors: Sally J. Price, Greg F. Walker, Weiyi Liu, Craig R. Bunt

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Plastics, due to their long lifespan, are becoming more of an environmental concern once their useful life has been completed. There are a vast array of different types of plastic, and they can be found in almost every ecosystem on earth and are of particular concern in terrestrial environments where they can become incorporated into the food chain. Hence bioplastics have become more of interest to manufacturers and the public recently as they have the ability to (bio)degrade in commercial and in home composting situations. However, tools in which to quantify how they degrade in response to environmental variables are still being developed -one such approach is texture analysis using a TA.XT Texture Analyser, Stable Microsystems, was used to determine the force required to break or punch holes in standard ASTM D638 Type IV 3D printed bioplastic “dogbones” depending on the thicknesses of them. Manufacturers’ recommendations for calibrating the Texture Analyser are one such approach for standardising results; however, an independent technique using dummy dogbones and a substitute for the bioplastic was used alongside the samples. This approach was unexpectedly more valuable than realised at the start of the trial as irregular results were later discovered with the substitute material before valuable samples collected from the field were lost due to possible machine malfunction. This work will show the value of having an independent approach to machine calibration for accurate sample analysis with a Texture Analyser when analysing bioplastic samples.

Keywords: bioplastic, degradation, environment, texture analyzer

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Authors: Hassan Athari, Alireza Ruhi Sales, Amin Pourafshar, Seyyed Mehdi Pestei, Marc. A. Rosen

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In order to achieve high efficiency and high specific work with lower emissions, the use of advanced gas turbine cycles for power generation is useful and advantageous. Here, evaporative inlet air cooling is analyzed thermodynamically in the form of air film blade cooling of gas turbines. As the ambient temperature increases during summer months, the performance of gas turbines particularly the output power and energy efficiency are significantly decreased. The utilization of evaporative inlet cooling in gas turbine cycles increases gas turbine performance, which can assist to solve the problem in meeting the increasing demands for electrical power and offsetting shortages during peak load times. In the present research, because of the importance of turbine blade cooling, the turbine is investigated with cold compressed air used for cooling the turbine blades. The investigation of the basic and modified cycles shows that, by adding an evaporative cooler to a simple gas turbine cycle, for a turbine inlet temperature of 1400 °C, an ambient temperature of 45 °C and a relative humidity of 15%, the specific work can reach 331 (kJ/kg air), while the maximum specific work of a simple cycle for the same conditions is 273.7 (kJ/kg air). The exergy results reveal that the highest exergy destruction occurs in the combustion chamber, where the large temperature differences and highly exothermic chemical reactions are the main sources of the irreversibility.

Keywords: energy, exergy, wet compression, air-film cooling blade, gas turbine

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Authors: Magdalena Escamilla Quintal, Thelma Cetina Canto, Cecilia Aguilar Ortega

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Due to the importance that people represent for companies, the setting of a clear control of the risks that threaten the health and the material and financial resources of workers is essential. It is irrelevant if the company is a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) or a large multinational, or if it is in the construction or service sector. The risk prevention importance is related to a constitutional and human right that all people have; working in a risk-free environment to prevent accidents or illnesses that may influence their quality of life and the tranquility of their family. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the level of psychosocial risks (physical and emotional) of the employees of an SME. The participants of this study were 186 employees of a productive sector SME; 151 men and 35 women, all with an average age of 31.77 years. Their seniority inside the SME was between one month and 19.91 years. Ninety-six workers were from the production area, 28 from the management area, as well as 25 from the sales area and 40 from the supplies area. Ninety-three workers were found in Uman, 78 in Playa del Carmen, 11 in Cancun and seven in Cd. del Carmen. We found a statistically significant relationship between the burnout variable and the engagement and psychosomatic complaints as well as between the variables of sex, burnout and psychosomatic complaints. We can conclude that, for benefit of the SME, that there are low levels of burnout and psychosomatic complaints, the women experience major levels of burnout and the men show major levels of psychosomatic complaints. The findings, contributions, limitations and future proposals will be analyzed.

Keywords: psychosocial risks, SME, burnout, engagement, psychosomatic complaints

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Authors: Sofía Luna, Carla González Salamanca

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The 2008 economic crisis had huge implications in Europe. In this continent, the repercussions of the crisis were not only economic but also political and institutional. The economic stress has generated changes in the perception of the citizens, their attitude and the confidence placed in the political organizations. The lost of confidence is not only present in the debtor countries but it is also present in the European economic powers like Germany and France. This research explains how the economic crisis had an impact in the identity, population’s attitude and how this generated the rise of extreme right parties. In addition, it defines the different types of attitudes and support that exist towards these political and economic institutions. The results of this investigation show that the depression beside of its economic implications, it caused institutional, social and political difficulties for the Union. Moreover, the support and attitudes of the population were severely strained because the confidence in the political organization decreased. Furthermore, a rise in the otherness sentiment was shown. In other words, the distinction between “us” and “them” increased causing repercussions in the collective European identity. Additionally, there was a spread in national identities that caused the rise of the extreme right wing parties. In conclusion, the 2008 economic crisis caused not only economic stress but also it generated a political, social and institutional crisis in Europe.

Keywords: Europe, identity, economic crisis, otherness sentiment

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Authors: Hassan M. H. Mustafa

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This piece of research addresses an interesting comparative analytical study. Which considers two concepts of diverse algorithmic computational intelligence approaches related tightly with Neural and Non-Neural Systems. The first algorithmic intelligent approach concerned with observed obtained practical results after three neural animal systems’ activities. Namely, they are Pavlov’s, and Thorndike’s experimental work. Besides a mouse’s trial during its movement inside figure of eight (8) maze, to reach an optimal solution for reconstruction problem. Conversely, second algorithmic intelligent approach originated from observed activities’ results for Non-Neural Ant Colony System (ACS). These results obtained after reaching an optimal solution while solving Traveling Sales-man Problem (TSP). Interestingly, the effect of increasing number of agents (either neurons or ants) on learning performance shown to be similar for both introduced systems. Finally, performance of both intelligent learning paradigms shown to be in agreement with learning convergence process searching for least mean square error LMS algorithm. While its application for training some Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models. Accordingly, adopted ANN modeling is a relevant and realistic tool to investigate observations and analyze performance for both selected computational intelligence (biological behavioral learning) systems.

Keywords: artificial neural network modeling, animal learning, ant colony system, traveling salesman problem, computational biology

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Authors: G. Arockiasamy, B. Sujeevan Kumar, Surendheran

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Human progress and development are highly influenced by the power of information access and technology. A global and multi-national transformation all over the word is possible due to digitalization. In the process of exchanging information, experience, and resources, there is a radical shift in who controls them. Mass media has turned the world into a global village by strengthening communication network. As a result, a new digital culture has emerged as a social network commonly known as new media. Today the advancement of technology is at the doorstep of everyone linking to anywhere. The traditional social restrictions are broken down by the new type of virtual communication modality that transcends people beyond boundaries At the same time media empire has invaded every nook and corner of the world through great expansion. Media activism is growing stronger and stronger but the truth and true meaning lost in the process. This paper explores the peoples’ attitude to media activism and tracing its direction. The methodology employed is random sampling survey and content analysis method. Both qualitatively and quantitatively measured. The findings tend to show 60 percent indicate media activism as positive and others indicate as negative. As a conclusion, media activism has danger within but depends on nature of the development of human orientation.

Keywords: media activism, media industry, program, truth information, orientation and nature

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Authors: Kaushika Vinotheeswaran

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The Greater Toronto Area (GTA), located in Ontario, Canada, is among the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in North America. Rapid urbanization within the GTA has led to increased imperviousness and surface runoff, contributing to wetland loss. Wetland cover and land cover data from the Southern Ontario Land Resource Information System were analyzed to characterize wetland loss to built-up areas and land conversions between 2005 and 2015, evaluating the extent of urbanization-induced wetland loss. Spatial analysis revealed a significant increase in the number of wetlands lost from 2005 to 2011 compared to the period from 2011 to 2015, with these losses attributed to increased urban expansions within the GTA. Non-wetland conversions, such as agricultural and impervious built-up uses to support urban expansions, played a significant role in wetland loss. Current approaches to wetland policy implementation and land-use planning strategies do not effectively identify or mitigate damage to wetlands in advance of development, resulting in significant wetland loss. Therefore, wetland conservation policies must be re-evaluated to address gaps in policy practice and focus on minimizing wetland loss.

Keywords: wetland loss, urbanization, impervious, pervious, wetland conservation

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Authors: R. Resmi, M. R. Baiju

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The thermal damping of a dynamic vibrating micromirror is an important factor affecting the design of MEMS based actuator systems. In the development process of new micromirror systems, assessing the extent of energy loss due to thermal damping accurately and predicting the performance of the system is very essential. In this paper, the depth of the thermal penetration layer at different eigenfrequencies and the temperature variation distributions surrounding a vibrating micromirror is analyzed. The thermal penetration depth corresponds to the thermal boundary layer in which energy is lost which is a measure of the thermal damping is found out. The energy is mainly dissipated in the thermal boundary layer and thickness of the layer is an important parameter. The detailed thermoacoustics is used to model the air domain surrounding the micromirror. The thickness of the boundary layer, temperature variations and thermal power dissipation are analyzed for a Si based torsional mode micromirror. It is found that thermal penetration depth decreases with eigenfrequency and hence operating the micromirror at higher frequencies is essential for reducing thermal damping. The temperature variations and thermal power dissipations at different eigenfrequencies are also analyzed. Both frequency-response and eigenfrequency analyses are done using COMSOL Multiphysics software.

Keywords: Eigen frequency analysis, micromirrors, thermal damping, thermoacoustic interactions

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Authors: Nodi Islam

Abstract:

This paper critically reads Richard Powers’ novel The Echo Maker to read and understand the personal traumas of the characters in the novel depending on the various situations they face throughout the story. Also, the paper attempts to read different traumas and disorders due to their different situations. With a focus on the individual experiences, this paper addresses the core issues of trauma, which triggers their reactions and reads the novel through theories of Freud, Caruth, and other critics in this field. While transcending the boundary of personal and collective trauma, this paper suggests that traumas not only arise from the core mental issues, from both past or present memories; it also depends on places too which can be called, according to Yi-Fu Tuan, topophobia. Intimate places such as home provoke not only attachment and expectation but also produce fear in a person. Failure in identifying with such places means losing a central piece of identity of the individual. In order to analyse the traumas in the novel, the characters’ association with homes and places has been provided. This paper attempts to suggest that people are not traumatised because of what Freud explained as unpleasant memories of the past but also intimacy and lost identities related to a place can trigger trauma.

Keywords: spatial trauma, traumatic stress disorder, identity and place, core mental issues

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Authors: S. Kamil Akin, Turgut Acikara

Abstract:

In recent years the world and our country has experienced several explosion events occurred due to terrorist attacks and accidents. In these explosion events many people have lost their lives and many buildings have been damaged. If structures were designed taking the blast loads into account, these results may not have happened or the casualties would have been less. In this thesis analysis of the protection walls have been conducted to prevent the building damage from blast loads. These analyzes was carried out for two different types of wall, concrete and reinforced concrete. Analyses were carried out on four different thicknesses of each wall element. In each wall element the stresses and displacements of the exposed surface due to the detonation charge has been calculated. The limit shear stress and displacement of the wall element according to their material properties has been taken into account. As the result of the analyses the standoff distances and TNT equivalent amount has been determined. According to equivalent TNT amounts and standoff distances the structural response of the protective wall elements has been observed. These structural responses have been observed by ABAQUS finite element package. Explosion loads were brought into effect to the protective wall element models by using the ABAQUS / CONWEP.

Keywords: blast loading, blast wave, TNT equivalent method, CONWEP, finite element analysis, detonation

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Authors: Kurotimi M. Fems, Francis D. W. Poazi, Helen Opigo

Abstract:

The concepts of entrepreneurship education together with graduate entrepreneurship have taken centre stage in many countries as a 21^st century strategy for economic growth and development. Entrepreneurship education has been viewed as a pre-requisite tool for a more effective and successful business operation. This paper seeks to verify if entrepreneurship education is pre-requisite to graduate entrepreneurship, and to ascertain if such other factors as the need for achievement, competence and experience etc. also play a foundational role in the choice of a graduate becoming an entrepreneur. The scope of the research study is entrepreneurs within Yenagoa metropolis in Bayelsa state, Nigeria. The sample target is graduates engaged in entrepreneurship activities (graduates who own and run businesses). Stratified sampling technique was used and 101 responses were obtained from a total of 300 questionnaires issued. Bar chart, tables and percentages were used to analyze the collected data. The findings revealed that personality traits, situational circumstance, need for achievement and experience/competence were the foundational factors stimulating graduate entrepreneurs to engage in entrepreneurial pursuits. Of all, personality trait showed the highest score with 73 (73%) out of 101 entrepreneurs agreeing. Experience/Competence and situational circumstances followed behind with 66 (65%) and 63 (62.4%), respectively. Entrepreneurship education revealed the least score with 33 (32.3%) out of 101 participating entrepreneurs. All hope, however, is not lost, as this shows that something can be done to increase the impact of entrepreneurship education on graduate entrepreneurship.

Keywords: Creative destruction, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship education, graduate entrepreneurship, pre-requisite

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Authors: Mohammed Kamal Alhassan

Abstract:

The closeness of Turkey to Greece has often been a cause of many disagreements between the people of the two countries. This is against the backdrop of the fact that they have many things in common. In the past, the two countries have had unhealthy relations, which threatened to cut diplomatic ties between them. The 1996 Imia/ Kardak incident and the Öcalan crisis, for instance, nearly resulted in war between them. There were events that also brought the two countries together, for instance, the 1999 earthquake. This was because many lives were lost during the disaster. It is important to note that these events were duly covered by the media in the two countries. First of all, the study intends to look at the role of the media in the formulation of foreign policy in Turkey-Greece relations. It examines the role of the media in the formulation of foreign policy with particular emphasis on agenda-setting and positioning theories of the media as the theoretical framework. Also, the study will discuss the media landscapes in Turkey and Greece, the ownership pattern of the media sector and the relationship between media organizations and the government in the two countries. Moreover, the core foreign policy objectives of the countries will be delved into. Finally, the study employs a qualitative method to critically analyze the role of the media in the formulation of foreign policy in Turkey-Greece relations. It uses the invitation of the Former Prime Minister of Greece, George Andreas Papandreou, to the Ambassadors Conference in Turkey as a case study. In the end, the analysis will prove that, indeed, the media in Greece was effective in the formulation of foreign policy in its relations with Turkey.

Keywords: media organizations, foreign policy, government, diplomacy

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Authors: Carolina Nunes, Sónia Ribeiro, Hélio Faustinho, Hélia Sales, Rita Pontes, João Nunes

Abstract:

Pine resin activity in Portugal was one of the most important and major non-wood forestry, representing a strategic natural resource for Portuguese Bioeconomy and an important social activity for rural regions. Pine forests representing a stock of atmospheric carbon, contributing to greenhouse effect mitigation and social and environmental important services returns. They are important sources of numerous useful products, including not only wood and cellulose but also nonwood products used by the chemical, food, and pharmaceutical industries, as well as for biorefineries. Portuguese pine forest area decreases from 1 million hectares to 400 mil hectares in the last 20 years. Portugal, in 80´s decade, was one of the world´s TOP 3 producers, with a middle annual production of 140 mil tones.year-1. With the pressure of the social desertification, forest fires, phytosanitary problems (e.g. nematode of the pine wood) and the decrease of economic value and competitivity of the Portuguese forest, the actual middle annual production is less than 10 mil tones.year-1 (lesser 92%). This significant decrease representing an annual economic loss of approximately 130-140 million Euros. year⁻¹ for forest primary sector in Portugal. The Biopinus project design new forestry approach and strategic biotechnologies knowledge to increase the economic value of Pine resin in Portugal, with an impact on the growth of the economic value of Pine resin from 1,1 to 1,5 Euros/kg.

Keywords: pine resin, bioeconomy, economic value, biotecnology

Procedia PDF Downloads 47