Search results for: PRG (period of rapid growth)

Authors: Dimitrios Triantakonstantis, Demetris Stathakis

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Urban areas have been expanded throughout the globe. Monitoring and modeling urban growth have become a necessity for a sustainable urban planning and decision making. Urban prediction models are important tools for analyzing the causes and consequences of urban land use dynamics. The objective of this research paper is to analyze and model the urban change, which has been occurred from 1990 to 2000 using CORINE land cover maps. The model was developed using drivers of urban changes (such as road distance, slope, etc.) under an Artificial Neural Network modeling approach. Validation was achieved using a prediction map for 2006 which was compared with a real map of Urban Atlas of 2006. The accuracy produced a Kappa index of agreement of 0,639 and a value of Cramer's V of 0,648. These encouraging results indicate the importance of the developed urban growth prediction model which using a set of available common biophysical drivers could serve as a management tool for the assessment of urban change.

Keywords: artificial neural networks, CORINE, urban atlas, urban growth prediction

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Authors: Rayhaneh Amooaghaie, Maryam Norouzi

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In this study, the effects of nTiO₂ on seed germination and growth of six plant species (wheat, soybean, tomato, canola, cucumber, and lettuce) were evaluated in petri dish (direct exposure) and in soil in a greenhouse experiment (soil exposure). Data demonstrate that under both culture conditions, low or mild concentrations of nTiO₂ either stimulated or had no effect on seed germination, root growth and vegetative biomass while high concentrations had an inhibitory effect. However, results showed that the impacts of nTiO₂ on plant growth in soil were partially consistent with those observed in pure culture. Based on both experiment sets, among above six species, lettuce and canola were the most susceptible and the most tolerant species to nTiO₂ toxicity. However, results revealed the impacts of nTiO₂ on plant growth in soil were less than petri dish exposure probability due to dilution in soil and complexation/aggregation of nTiO₂ that would lead to lower exposure of plants. The high concentrations of nTiO₂ caused significant reductions in fresh and dry weight of aerial parts and root and chlorophyll and carotenoids contents of all species which also coincided with further accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA). These findings suggest that decreasing growth might be the result of an nTiO₂-induced oxidative stress and disturbance of photosynthesis systems.

Keywords: chlorophyll, lipid peroxidation, nano TiO₂, seed germination

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Authors: Zehra Aytac, Nurdilek Gulmezoglu

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Safflower has been grown for centuries for many purposes worldwide. Especially it is important for the orange-red dye from its petal and for its high-quality oil obtained from the seeds. The crop is high adaptable to areas with insufficient rainfall and poor soil conditions. The plant has a deep taproot that can draw moisture and plant nutrients from deep to the subsoil. The research was carried out to study the nitrogen (N) uptake of different safflower cultivars and lines at different stages of growth and different plant parts in the experimental field of Faculty of Agriculture, Eskişehir Osmangazi University under semi-arid conditions. Different safflower cultivars and lines of varied origins were used as the material. The cultivars and lines were planted in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. Two different growth stages (flowering and harvest) and three different plant parts (head, stem+leaf and seed) were determined. The nitrogen concentration of different plant parts was determined by the Kjeldahl method. Statistical analysis were performed by analysis of variance for each growth stage and plant parts taking a level of p < 0.05 and p < 0.01 as significant according to the LSD test. As a result, N concentration showed significant differences among different plant parts and different growth stages for different safflower genotypes of varied origins.

Keywords: Carthamus tinctorius L., growth stages, head N, leaf N, N uptake, seed N, Safflower

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Authors: Mohammed Raza Mehdi, Kamran Ahmed

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Mega-city Karachi has numerous unplanned slum areas and squatter settlements with irregular growth of building structures. Due to weak development policy and lack of development control, such settlements are increasing at a rapid pace. Mapping such areas for planning and infrastructure development requires an integrated approach of socio-spatial and technological tools. Therefore in this study, an attempt is made to create GIS information layers on complex inbound built-up areas of slums at the coastal belt of Karachi by using a stereo pair of satellite images. The outcome expected is technological application to aid planning institutions for crisis management and infrastructure development in irregularly developed slum areas of Karachi, Pakistan.

Keywords: slum, satellite imageries, GIS, Karachi, Pakistan

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Authors: Tajudeen Yusuf

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Arabic language and its instruction occupy a prominent status in the contemporary world, especially in academic and research institutions. Arabic, like other international languages, consolidates understanding among people of different nations and societies. It is a promising medium of sharing thoughts and feelings. As a means of communication and interaction, the language has gained its outstanding status since ancient times, especially because of the relationship it maintains with Islam and its heritage. Adding to its importance is the rapid growth and advancement of Science and Technology in the contemporary Era which has eventually made communication between human societies all over the world inevitable. Despite, the Arabic language still experiences many challenges especially in some area such as irrelevant textbooks and other teaching materials, old versions of teaching methods and inadequate teachers who professionally trained. Eventually, these have resulted in difficulties in the teaching and learning of the language. Therefore, urgent and necessary measures to enhance the teaching and learning of Arabic language within and outside Arab countries are therefore needed to be taken.

Keywords: Arabic, language, challenges, modern era

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Authors: HengJiang Cai, RuiJin Zhang, JinSong Gui

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Enhanced UV-B (280-320nm) radiation resulting from ozone depletion was one of the global environmental problems. The effects of enhanced UV-B radiation on marine macro-algae were exposed to be the greatest in shallow intertidal environments because the macro-alga was often at or above the water during low tide. Ulva pertusa Kjellman was belonged to Chlorophyta (Phylum), Ulvales (Order), Ulvaceae (Family) which was widely distributed in the western Pacific coast, and the resources were extremely rich in China. Therefore, the effects of UV-B radiation on the growth of Ulva pertusa seedling were studied in this research. Ulva pertusa seedling appearances were mainly characterized by rod shapes and tadpole shapes. The percentage of rod shapes was 90.68%±2.50%. UV-B radiation could inhibit the growth of Ulva pertusa seedling, and the growth inhibition was more significant with the increased doses of UV-B radiation treatment. The relative inhibition rates of Ulva pertusa seedling length were16.11%, 24.98%and 39.04% respectively on the 30th day at different doses (30.96, 61.92 and 123.84 Jm-2d-1) of UV-B radiation. Ulva pertusa seedling had emerged death under UV-B radiation, and the death rates were increased with the increased doses of UV-B radiation treatment. Physiology and biochemistry of Ulva pertusa seedling could be affected by UV-B radiation treatment. The SOD (superoxide dismutase) activity was increased at low-dose UV-B radiation (30.96 Jm-2d-1), while was decreased at high-dose UV-B radiation (61.92 and 123.84 Jm-2d-1). UV-B radiation could inhibit CAT (catalase) activity all the while. It speculated that the reasons for growth inhibition and death of Ulva pertusa seedling were excess ROS (reactive oxygen species), which produced by UV-B radiation.

Keywords: growth, physiology and biochemistry, Ulva pertusa Kjellman, UV-B radiation

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Authors: Irem Ela Yildizeli

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Advertising today has become an indispensable phenomenon both for businesses and consumers. Due to the conditions of rapid changes in the market and growth of competitiveness, the success of many of firms that produce similar merchandise depends largely on how professionally and effective they use marketing communication elements which also must have some sense of shared values between the message provider and the receiver within cultural and global trend. This paper demonstrates how consumer behaviour and communication through cultural values evaluate advertising styles. Using samples of award-winning ads from both author's and other professional's creative works, the study reveals a significant correlation between the cultural elements and advertisement reception for language and cultural norms respectively. The findings of this study draw attention to the change of communication in the beginning of the 21st century which has shaped a new style of Participatory and Experience Design in advertising.

Keywords: advertising, advertising style, culture, experience design, participatory design

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Authors: Kweon Oh-Sang, Kim Heung-Youl

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Estimating the engineering properties of fires is important to be prepared for the complex and various fire risks of large-scale structures such as super-tall buildings, large stadiums, and multi-purpose structures. In this study, a mock-up of a compartment which was 2.4(L) x 3.6 (W) x 2.4 (H) meter in dimensions was fabricated at the 10MW LSC (Large Scale Calorimeter) and combustible office supplies were placed in the compartment for a real-scale fire test. Maximum heat release rate was 4.1 MW and total energy release obtained through the application of t2 fire growth rate was 6705.9 MJ.

Keywords: fire growth, fire experiment, t2 curve, large scale calorimeter

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Authors: Shigenori Togashi, Kei Takenaka

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We developed new processes which can collect and detect rapidly airborne pathogens such as the avian flu virus for the pandemic prevention. The fluorescence antibody technique is known as one of high-sensitive detection methods for viruses, but this needs up to a few hours to bind sufficient fluorescence dyes to viruses for detection. In this paper, we developed a mist-labeling can detect substitution viruses in a short time to improve the binding rate of fluorescent dyes and substitution viruses by the micro reaction process. Moreover, we developed the rapid detection system with the above 'mist labeling'. The detection system set with a sampling bag collecting patient’s breath and a cartridge can detect automatically pathogens within 10 minutes.

Keywords: viruses, sampler, mist, detection, fluorescent dyes, microreaction

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Authors: Ademoyegun Olusegun

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The advancement of industry in any given state involves a range of processes that entail entrepreneurship and innovative skill attainment, among others, for the development of an economy. This article studied the impact of innovative and entrepreneurship skill attainment as the panacea of the growth of industry for economic development in Nigeria. Content analysis was employed as an instrument on data obtained from secondary resources which include journals, magazines, Workshop Articles, the Internet, interviewing etc. this is preferred because of the absence of sequential data related to entrepreneurship and innovation on sustainable economic growth in Nigeria. The theory of innovative Entrepreneurship was used as a theoretical framework. Findings revealed that Entrepreneurship skill attainment will induce innovation that will accelerate the growth of Industry for the advancement of the Economy. The study recommended that the government should invest adequately in entrepreneurship skill attainment and create an enabling environment for innovation.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, innovation, skill attainment, panacea, sustainable development

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Authors: Maman Ali M. Moustapha, Qian Yu, Benjamin Adjei Danquah

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This paper investigates the dynamic interaction between renewable energy consumption (REC) and economic growth using dataset from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) from 2002 to 2016. For this study the Autoregressive Distributed Lag- Bounds test approach (ARDL) was used to examine the long run relationship between real gross domestic product and REC, while VECM based on Granger causality has been used to examine the direction of Granger causality. Our empirical findings indicate that REC has significant and positive impact on real gross domestic product. In addition, we found that REC and the percentage of access to electricity had unidirectional Granger causality to economic growth while carbon dioxide emission has bidirectional Granger causality to economic growth. Our findings indicate also that 1 per cent increase in the REC leads to an increase in Real GDP by 0.009 in long run. Thus, REC can be a means to ensure sustainable economic growth in the ECOWAS sub-region. However, it is necessary to increase further support and investments on renewable energy production in order to speed up sustainable economic development throughout the region

Keywords: Economic Growth, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Energy

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Authors: Nagini Sabbineni, Rajini T. V. Kanth, B. V. Kiranmayee

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India’s economy primarily depends on agriculture yield growth and their allied agro industry products. The agriculture yield prediction is the toughest task for agricultural departments across the globe. The agriculture yield depends on various factors. Particularly countries like India, majority of agriculture growth depends on rain water, which is highly unpredictable. Agriculture growth depends on different parameters, namely Water, Nitrogen, Weather, Soil characteristics, Crop rotation, Soil moisture, Surface temperature and Rain water etc. In our paper, lot of Explorative Data Analysis is done and various predictive models were designed. Further various regression models like Linear, Multiple Linear, Non-linear models are tested for the effective prediction or the forecast of the agriculture yield for various crops in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states.

Keywords: agriculture yield growth, agriculture yield prediction, explorative data analysis, predictive models, regression models

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Authors: Mario Gómez, Won Ho Kim, Ángel Licona, José Carlos Rodríguez

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This article analyzes innovation activity in Mexico and South Korea. It develops an econometric model to test for structural breaks in the number of patent applications filed by residents and nonresidents in these countries during the period of 1965 to 2012. These changes may suggest that firms’ innovative capabilities have changed because of implementing different science, technology and innovation (STI) policies in Mexico and South Korea. Two important features characterize this research from others already developed by these authors. First, the theoretical research framework in this research is the debate between the assimilation view of growth and the accumulation view of growth. This characteristic suggests that trade liberalization should be accompanied by an adequate STI policy to boost competitiveness among indigenous firms. Second, the analysis in this research stresses the importance of key actors (e.g. governments) to successfully develop innovation capabilities among indigenous firms. Therefore, the question conducting this research is how STI policies in Mexico and South Korea contributed to develop firms’ innovation capabilities in these countries during last decades? The results from this research suggests that STI policy in South Korea was more suitable to boost innovation firms to compete in markets. Data to develop this research was released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Keywords: innovation, Mexico, South Korea, science, technology and innovation policy

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Authors: R. S. Hassani, S. Chikh, L. Tadrist, S. Radev

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A bubbly flow in a vertical miniature tube is analyzed theoretically. The liquid and gas phase are co-current flowing upward. The gas phase is injected via a nozzle whose inner diameter is 0.11mm and it is placed on the axis of the tube. A force balance is applied on the bubble at its detachment. The set of governing equations are solved by use of Mathematica software. The bubble diameter and the bubble generation frequency are determined for various inlet phase velocities represented by the inlet mass quality. The results show different behavior of bubble growth and detachment depending on the tube size.

Keywords: two phase flow, bubble growth, mini-channel, generation frequency

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Authors: Shenko Chura Aredo

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Food security and urban development are closely linked, especially in cities experiencing rapid urbanization. This paper explores the impact of food security on urban development in Adama City, Ethiopia, a fast-growing urban center that faces significant challenges related to population growth, land use changes, and food supply. By examining food systems, urban agriculture, market access, and social safety nets, the study aims to understand how food security influences urban development outcomes and vice versa. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for integrating food security into urban planning to promote sustainable urbanization and improve the resilience of food systems in Adama City.

Keywords: urbanization, food security, sustainable development, urban agriculture, Ethiopia

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Authors: Walaa Diab, Baher Atlam, Nadia El Nimer

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Egypt faces many obvious economic challenges, and it is so clear that a real economic transformation is needed to address those problems, especially after the recent decisions of floating the Egyptian pound and the gradual subsidy cuts that are trying to meet the needed conditions to get the IMF support of (a £12bn loan) for its economic reform program. Following the post-2008 revival of the interest in the fiscal policy and its vital role in speeding up or slowing down the economic growth. Here comes the value of this paper as it seeks to analyze the macroeconomic effects of fiscal policy in Egypt by applying A Bayesian SVAR Approach. The study uses the Bayesian method because it includes the prior information and no relevant information is omitted and so it is well suited for rational, evidence-based decision-making. Since the study aims to define the effects of fiscal policy shocks in Egypt to help the decision-makers in determining the proper means to correct the structural problems in the Egyptian economy, it has to study the period of 1990s economic reform, but unfortunately; the available data is on an annual frequency. Thus, it uses annual time series to study the period 1991: 2005 And quarterly data over the period 2006–2016. It uses a set of six main variables includes government expenditure and net tax revenues as fiscal policy arms affecting real GDP, unemployment, inflation and the interest rate. The study also tries to assess the 'crowding out' effects by considering the effects of government spending and government revenue shocks on the composition of GDP, namely, on private consumption and private investment. Last but not least the study provides its policy implications regarding the needed role of fiscal policy in Egypt in the upcoming economic reform building on the results it concludes from the previous reform program.

Keywords: fiscal policy, government spending, structural vector autoregression, taxation

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Authors: Ali Aqa Mohammad Jawad

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Taking a relational approach, this paper analyzes the causal mechanisms associated with successful mobilization and rapid demobilization of the Enlightening Movement in post-2001 Afghanistan. The movement emerged after the state-owned Da Afghan Bereshna Sherkat (DABS) decided to divert the route for the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TUTAP) electricity project. The grid was initially planned to go through the Hazara-inhabited province of Bamiyan, according to Afghanistan’s Power Sector Master Plan. The reroute served as an aide-mémoire of historical subordination to other ethno-religious groups for the Hazara community. It was also perceived as deprivation from post-2001 development projects, financed by international aid. This torched the accumulated grievances, which then gave birth to the Enlightening Movement. The movement had a successful mobilization. However, it demobilized after losing much of its mobilizing capabilities through an amalgamation of external and internal relational factors. The successful mobilization yet rapid demobilization constitutes the puzzle of this paper. From the theoretical perspective, this paper is significant as it establishes the applicability of contentious politics theory to protest mobilizations that occurred in Afghanistan, a context-specific, characterized by ethnic politics. Both primary and secondary data are utilized to address the puzzle. As for the primary resources, media coverage, interviews, reports, public media statements of the movement, involved in contentious performances, and data from Social Networking Services (SNS) are used. The covered period is from 2001-2018. As for the secondary resources, published academic articles and books are used to give a historical account of contentious politics. For data analysis, a qualitative comparative historical method is utilized to uncover the causal mechanisms associated with successful mobilization and rapid demobilization of the Movement. In this pursuit, both mobilization and demobilization are considered as larger political processes that could be decomposed to constituent mechanisms. Enlightening Movement’s framing and campaigns are first studied to uncover the associated mechanisms. Then, to avoid introducing some ad hoc mechanisms, the recurrence of mechanisms is checked against another case. Mechanisms qualify as robust if they are “recurrent” in different episodes of contention. Checking the recurrence of causal mechanisms is vital as past contentious events tend to reinforce future events. The findings of this paper suggest that the public sphere in Afghanistan is drastically different from Western democracies known as the birthplace of social movements. In Western democracies, when institutional politics did not respond, movement organizers occupied the public sphere, undermining the legitimacy of the government. In Afghanistan, the public sphere is ethicized. Considering the inter- and intra-relational dynamics of ethnic groups in Afghanistan, the movement reduced to an erosive inter- and intra-ethnic conflict. This undermined the cohesiveness of the movement, which then kicked-off its demobilization process.

Keywords: enlightening movement, contentious politics, mobilization, demobilization

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Authors: Sanusi Abdullahi, Musa Momoh, Abubakar Umar Moreh, Aminu Muhammad Bayawa, Olubunmi Popoola

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Kesterite-type Cu₂ZnSnS₄ (CZTS) thin films were deposited on corning glass from a single quaternary target. In this study, we investigated the growth mechanism and the influence of thin film thickness on the structural and compositional properties of CZTS films. All the four samples (as-deposited inclusive) show peaks corresponding to kesterite-type structure. The diffraction peaks of (112) are sharp and the small characteristics peaks of the kesterite structure such as (220)/ (204) and (312)/ (116) are also clearly observed in X-ray diffraction pattern. These results indicate that the quaternary CZTS would be a potential candidate for solar cell applications.

Keywords: RF sputtering, Cu2ZnSnS4 thin film, annealing, growth mechanism, annealing, growth mechanism, renewable energy

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Authors: O. R. Obalowu, F. B. Akande, T. P Abegunrin

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Maize (Zea may) is mostly grown and consumed by Nigeria farmers using different tillage practices which have a great effect on its growth and yield. In order to maximize output, there is need to recommend a suitable tillage practice for crop production which will increase the growth and yield of maize. This study investigated the effect of tillage practices and planting pattern on the growth and yield of maize. The experiment was arranged in a 4x3x3 Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) layout, with four tillage practices consisting of no-tillage (NT), disc ploughing only (Ponly), disc ploughing followed by harrowing (PH), and disc ploughing, harrowing then ridging (PHR). Three planting patterns which include; 65 x 75, 75 x 75 and 85 x 75 cm spacing within and between the rows respectively, were randomly applied on the plots. All treatments were replicated three times. Data which consist of plant height, stem girth, leaf area and weight of maize per plots were taken and recorded. Data gathered were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) in the Minitab Software Package. The result shows that PHR under the third planting pattern has the highest growth rate (216.50 cm) while NT under the first planting pattern has the lowest mean value of growth rate (115.60 cm). Also, Ponly under the first planting pattern gives a better maize yield (19.45 kg) when compared with other tillage practices while NT under first planting pattern recorded the least yield of maize (9.40 kg). In conclusion, considering soil and weather conditions of the research area, plough only under the first planting pattern (65 x 75 cm) is the best alternative for the production of the Swan maize variety.

Keywords: tillage practice, planting pattern, disc ploughing, harrowing, ridging

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Authors: Sarah Jorjani, Afshin Ghelichi, Mazyar Kamali

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The aim of this study was to estimate the effect of addition of ginger and red pepper and their mixture in diet on growth performance, survival rate and body composition of Astronotus ocellatus (Oscar fish). This study had been carried out for 8 weeks. For this reason 132 oscar fishes with intial weight of 2.44±0.26 (gr) were divided into 4 treatments with three replicate as compeletly randomize design test and fed by 100% Biomar diet (T1), Biomar + red pepper (55 mg/kg) (T2), Biomar + ginger (1%) (T3) and Biomar + mixture of red pepper and ginger (T4).The fish were fed in 5% of their body weight. The results showed T2 have significant differences in most of growth parameters in compare with other treatments, such as PBWI, SGR, PER and SR (P < 0.05), but there were no significant differences between treatments in FCR and FE (P > 0.05).

Keywords: red pepper, ginger, oscar fish, growth performance, body composition

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Authors: Suvidha Gupta, R. A. Pandey, Sanjay Pawar

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The effluents from various food processing industries are found with high BOD, COD, suspended solids, nitrate, and phosphate. Mixotrophic growth of microalgae using food processing industrial wastewater as an organic carbon source has emerged as more effective and energy intensive means for the nutrient removal and COD reduction. The present study details the treatment of non-sterilized unfiltered food processing industrial wastewater by microalgae for nutrient removal as well as to determine the tolerance to COD by taking different dilutions of wastewater. In addition, the effect of different inoculum percentages of microalgae on removal efficiency of the nutrients for given dilution has been studied. To see the effect of dilution and COD tolerance, the wastewater having initial COD 5000 mg/L (±5), nitrate 28 mg/L (±10), and phosphate 24 mg/L (±10) was diluted to get COD of 3000 mg/L and 1000 mg/L. The experiments were carried out in 1L conical flask by intermittent aeration with different inoculum percentage i.e. 10%, 20%, and 30% of Chlorella sp. isolated from nearby area of NEERI, Nagpur. The experiments were conducted for 6 days by providing 12:12 light- dark period and determined various parameters such as COD, TOC, NO3-- N, PO4-- P, and total solids on daily basis. Results revealed that, for 10% and 20% inoculum, over 90% COD and TOC reduction was obtained with wastewater containing COD of 3000 mg/L whereas over 80% COD and TOC reduction was obtained with wastewater containing COD of 1000 mg/L. Moreover, microalgae was found to tolerate wastewater containing COD 5000 mg/L and obtained over 60% and 80% reduction in COD and TOC respectively. The obtained results were found similar with 10% and 20% inoculum in all COD dilutions whereas for 30% inoculum over 60% COD and 70% TOC reduction was obtained. In case of nutrient removal, over 70% nitrate removal and 45% phosphate removal was obtained with 20% inoculum in all dilutions. The obtained results indicated that Microalgae assisted nutrient removal gives maximum COD and TOC reduction with 3000 mg/L COD and 20% inoculum. Hence, microalgae assisted wastewater treatment is not only effective for removal of nutrients but also can tolerate high COD up to 5000 mg/L and solid content.

Keywords: Chlorella sp., chemical oxygen demand, food processing industrial wastewater, mixotrophic growth

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Authors: Abdulkarim Yusuf

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Motivation: The Nigerian economy has seen significant macroeconomic instability, fuelled mostly by an overreliance on fluctuating oil revenues. The rising disparity between tax receipts and government spending in Nigeria necessitates government borrowing to fund the anticipated pace of economic growth. Rising public debt and fiscal sustainability are limiting the government's ability to invest in key infrastructure that promotes private investment and growth in Nigeria. Objective: This paper fills an empirical research vacuum by examining the impact of public debt on fiscal sustainability in Nigeria, given the significance of fiscal stability in decreasing poverty and the constraints that an unsustainable debt burden imposes on it. Data and method: Annual time series data covering the period 1980 to 2022 exposed to conventional and structural breaks stationarity tests and the Autoregressive Distributed Lag estimation approach were adopted for this study. Results: The results reveal that domestic debt stock, debt service payment, foreign reserve stock, exchange rate, and private investment all had a major adverse effect on fiscal stability in the long and short run, corroborating the debt overhang and crowding-out hypothesis. External debt stock, prime lending rate, and degree of trade openness, which boosted fiscal stability in the long run, had a major detrimental effect on fiscal stability in the short run, whereas foreign direct investment inflows had an important beneficial impact on fiscal stability in both the long and short run. Implications: The results indicate that fiscal measures that inspire domestic resource mobilization, sustainable debt management techniques, and dependence on external debt to boost deficit financing will improve fiscal stability and drive growth.

Keywords: ARDL co-integration, debt overhang, debt servicing, fiscal stability, public debt

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Authors: Marjan Majdi, MohammadAli Moradi, Elham Samarikhalaj

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Income distribution is one of the most topics in macro economic theories. There are many categories in economy such as income distribution that have the most influenced by economic policies. Human capital has an impact on economic growth and it has significant effect on income distributions. The results of this study confirm that the effects of oil revenue and human capital on income distribution are negative and significant but the value of the estimated coefficient is too small in a real sample in period time (1969-2006).

Keywords: gini coefficient, human capital, income distribution, oil revenue

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Authors: Low Khee Wai

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Lossing of opportunity by Malaysian Oil and Gas Services Equipment (OGSE) companies can be a major issue in developing and sustain Malaysia’s own Oil & Gas Industry. Despite the rapid growth of Oil & Gas industry in Malaysia for the past 40 years, Malaysia still not developing sufficient OGSE companies in order to support its own Oil & Gas Industry. In examining the scenario, this study aims to identify the factors causing the under-developing of OGSE companies in Malaysia. Conceptual Review method were used to analyse the factors that cause the under-development of Malaysia OGSE. The 4 factors identified were Time, Cost, Human Resource and Stakeholder Management. This survey explained the phenomena and the challenge of the industry and translated into the factors that cause the under-developing of OGSE companies in Malaysia. Finally, it should bring awareness to the government, authorities, and stakeholder in order to improve the ecology of Oil & Gas Industry in Malaysia.

Keywords: oil & gas in Malaysia, Malaysia local oil & gas services equipment (OGSE), oil & gas project management, project performance

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Authors: M. J. Eichner, Y. S. Sarhan

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Overall study purpose has been the evaluation of ‘Vertical Villages’ as a new sustainable building typology, reducing significantly negative impacts of rapid urbanization processes in third world capital cities. Commonly in fast-growing cities, housing and job supply, educational and recreational opportunities, as well as public transportation infrastructure, are not accommodating rapid population growth, exposing people to high noise and emission polluted living environments with low-quality neighborhoods and a lack of recreational areas. Like many others, Egypt’s capital city Cairo, according to the UN facing annual population growth rates of up to 428.000 people, is struggling to address the general deterioration of urban living conditions. New settlements typologies and urban reconstruction approach hardly follow sustainable urbanization principles or socio-ecologic urbanization models with severe effects not only for inhabitants but also for the local environment and global climate. The authors prove that ‘Vertical Village’ buildings can offer a sustainable solution for increasing urban density with at the same time improving the living quality and urban environment significantly. Inserting them within high-density urban fabrics the ecologic and socio-cultural conditions of low-quality neighborhoods can be transformed towards districts, considering all needs of sustainable and social urban life. This study analyzes existing building typologies in Cairo’s «low quality - high density» districts Ard el Lewa, Dokki and Mohandesen according to benchmarks for sustainable residential buildings, identifying major problems and deficits. In 3 case study design projects, the sustainable transformation potential through ‘Vertical Village’ buildings are laid out and comparative studies show the improvement of the urban microclimate, safety, social diversity, sense of community, aesthetics, privacy, efficiency, healthiness and accessibility. The main result of the paper is that the disadvantages of density and overpopulation in developing countries can be converted with ‘Vertical Village’ buildings into advantages, achieving attractive and environmentally friendly living environments with multiple synergies. The paper is documenting based on scientific criteria that mixed-use vertical building structures, designed according to sustainable principles of low rise housing, can serve as an alternative to convert «low quality - high density» districts in megacities, opening a pathway for governments to achieve sustainable urban transformation goals. Neglected informal urban districts, home to millions of the poorer population groups, can be converted into healthier living and working environments.

Keywords: sustainable, architecture, urbanization, urban transformation, vertical village

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Authors: F. Garousi, Sz. Veres, É. Bódi, Sz. Várallyay, B. Kovács

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Specific leaf area (SLA; cm2leaf g-1leaf) is a key ecophysiological parameter influencing leaf physiology, photosynthesis, and whole plant carbon gain and also can be used as a rapid and diagnostic tool. In this study, two species of soluble inorganic selenium forms, selenite (SeIV) and selenate (SeVI) at different concentrations were investigated on maize plants that were growing in nutrient solutions during 2 weeks and at the end of the experiment, amounts of SLA for first and second leaves of maize were measured. In accordance with the results we observed that our regarded Se concentrations in both forms of SeIV and SeVI were not effective on maize plants’ SLA significantly although high level of 3 mg.kg-1 SeIV had negative affect on growth of the samples that had been treated by it but about SeVI samples we did not observe this state and our different considered SeVI concentrations were not toxic for maize plants.

Keywords: maize, sodium selenate, sodium selenite, specific leaf area

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Authors: E. O. E. Nnadi

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Transportation is a critical factor in the economic growth and development of any nation, region or state. Good transportation network supports every sector of the economy like the manufacturing, transportation and encourages investors thereby affect the overall economic prosperity. The paper evaluates the impact of transportation on the economic growth of Nigeria using south eastern states as a case study. The choice of the case study is its importance as the commercial and industrial nerve of the country. About 200 respondents who are of different professions such as dealers in goods, transporters, contractors, consultants, bankers were selected and a set of questionnaire were administered to using the systematic sampling technique in the five states of the region. Descriptive statistics and relative importance index (RII) technique was employed for the analysis of the data gathered. The findings of the analysis reveal that Nigeria has the least effective ratio per population in Africa of 949.91 km/Person. Conclusion was drawn to improve road network in the area and the country as a whole to enhance the economic activities of the people.

Keywords: economic growth, south-east, transportation, transportation cost, Nigeria

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Authors: Haval Sami Ali, Hassan Majeed Hassoon Aldelfi

Abstract:

Due to the rapid growth of Erbil population and the resulting shortage of residential buildings, individuals actively utilized 5x20 m plots for two bedroom residential houses. Consequently, poor and unhealthy ventilation comes about. In this paper, the authors developed an old Barajeel (Wind Catchers) approach for natural ventilation. Two Barajeels (Wind Catchers) are designed and located at both extreme ends of the built unit. The two wind catchers are made as inlet and outlet for the air movement where the rate of air changes at its best. To validate the usage of the wind catchers a CFD Software was used to simulate the operation of the wind catchers for natural ventilations for average wind speed of 2 m/s. The results show a positive solution to solve the problem of the cramped such built units. It can be concluded that such solutions can be deployed by the local Kurdistan authorities.

Keywords: wind catcher, ventilation, natural, air changes, Barajeel, Erbil

Procedia PDF Downloads 288

Authors: Siziwe Monica Zuma

Abstract:

The Expanded Public Works Program (EPWP) is an instrument that the South African Government uses to reduce unemployment and poverty and also stimulate economic growth. However, due to the limited budget and programs in the EPWP, the program has had challenges in reducing unemployment, poverty and stimulating economic growth. The EPWP Vuk’uphile program had positive outcomes in developing Black emerging contractors, in order for them to participate in the main stream economy far better than when the EPWP program was not introduced. The Skills component of the program particularly the EPWP Infrastructure, which is the most funded program under EPWP has had limited success in transferring appropriate skills to ensure labour participants can penetrate the labour market after participating in the EPWP. Education and skills are important attributes that can contribute to labour absorption, however, the EPWP particularly the infrastructure program needs to strengthen skills development over a longer period of time suggested a year with multi skills relevant to the labour market. Longer and more sustained employment provides a safety net and reduces poverty better that short term employment. The EPWP program can be expanded in the infrastructure sector, focusing on rural infrastructure, agricultural infrastructure, infrastructure related components like property, ownership, management, and other services. These can stimulate the Economic sector Infrastructure of EPWP, offer longer term and more sustained employment and rural enterprise development and further employment. The Expanded Public Works Program (EPWP) is an instrument that the South African Government uses to reduce unemployment and poverty and also stimulate economic growth. However, due to the limited budget and programs in the EPWP, the program has had challenges in reducing unemployment, poverty and stimulating economic growth. The EPWP Vuk’uphile program has had positive outcomes in developing Black emerging contractors, in order for them to participate in the main stream economy far better than when the EPWP program was not introduced. The Skills component of the program particularly the EPWP Infrastructure, which is the most funded program under EPWP has had limited success in transferring appropriate skills to ensure labour participants are able to penetrate the labour market after participating in the EPWP. Education and skills are important attributes that can contribute to labour absorption, however, the EPWP particularly the infrastructure program needs to strengthen skills development over a longer period of time suggested a year with multi skills relevant to the labour market. Longer and more sustained employment provides a safety net and reduces poverty better that short term employment. The EPWP program can be expanded in the infrastructure sector, focusing on rural infrastructure, agricultural infrastructure, infrastructure related components like property, ownership, management, and other services. These can stimulate the Economic sector Infrastructure of EPWP, offer longer term and more sustained employment and rural enterprise development and further employment.

Keywords: Expanded Public Works Program (EPWP), VUKÚPHILE, youth, Public Works Programs (PWP), Infrastructure Sector of EPWP (EPWP Infrastructure)

Procedia PDF Downloads 219

Authors: A. ElZawam, D. McLean, A. Tibary

Abstract:

In alpaca, age at puberty is variable and the factors regulating the pattern of puberty and sexual maturation are a subject of controversy. Plasma testosterone level is often used as an indicator of sexual maturity. Our hypothesis is that hCG treatment will cause an increase in testosterone level that is correlated with animal age. The specific aim was to investigate the testicular tissue response to a single hCG injection by monitoring the serum testosterone concentration. Eighty four (n=84) males ranging in age from 6 to 60 months were used. Alpacas were grouped based on their ages into 15 groups. Each group had three to five male animals. Blood samples were collected from the jugular vein before treatment with hCG and 2 hours after intravenous administration of 3000 IU of hCG (Chorulon®). The serum was harvested and stored at -20ºC until the analysis. The effect of age on basal testosterone level and response to hCG treatment was evaluated by Analysis of Variance. As a result, basal serum testosterone concentrations were very low (<0.1ng/ml) until 9 months of age. Although basal serum testosterone concentrations increased steadily with age there was a significant variation amongst males within the same age group. Administration of 3000 IU of hCG, resulted in an average increase of 50% (P<0.05) in serum testosterone concentration after 2 hours. The percentage increase in serum testosterone in response to hCG stimulation varied from 51 to 81%. There was no correlation between the degree of response and age. However, the response to hCG injection presented two modes of increase depending on the age of animals. The first mode occurred at ages 9 to 14 months and the second mode was observed between 22 and 36 months. In conclusion, our results suggest that testicular growth and sensitivity to LH stimulation may be bimodal in the male alpaca with a rapid increase in growth and sensitivity between 9 and 14 months of age and a second phase of increased responsiveness after 21 months of ages.

Keywords: alpaca, testosterone, hCG, animal science

Procedia PDF Downloads 571