Search results for: sustainable business growth

Authors: Alessandro Suardi, Rodolfo Picchio, Domenico Coaloa, Maria Bonaventura Forleo, Nadia Palmieri, Luigi Pari

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The reconversion process of the Italian sugar supply chain to bio-energy supply chains, as a result of the 2006 Sugar CMO reform, have involved research to define the best logistics, the most adapted energy crops for the Italian territory and their sustainability. Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.), Giant reed (Arundo donax L.) and Poplar (Poplar ssp.) are energy crops considered strategic for the development of Italian energy supply-chains. This study analyzed the environmental and the economic impacts on the farm level of these three energy crops. The environmental assessment included six farming units, two per crop, which were extracted from a sample of 251 rapeseed farm units (2751 ha), 7 giant reed farm units (7.8 ha), and 91 poplar farm units (440 ha) using a statistical multivariate analysis. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) research method has been used to evaluate and compare the sustainability of the agricultural phases of the crops studied. The impact analyses have been performed at mid-point and end-point levels. The results of the analysis shown that the fertilization, is the major source of environmental impact of the agricultural phase due to the production of the fertilizers and the soil emissions of GHG following the treatment. The perennial energy crops studied (Arundo donax L., Poplar ssp.) were environmentally more sustainable if compared with the annual crop (Brassica napus L.) for all the impact categories at mid-point and end-point levels analyzed. The most relevant impact category influenced by the agricultural process result the fossil depletion, mainly due to the fossil fuels consumed during the mineral fertilizers production (urea). Human health was the most affected damage category at the end point level. Poplar result the energy crop with the best environmental performance for the Italian territory, in the distribution areas most suitable for its cultivation.

Keywords: LCA, energy crops, rapeseed, giant reed, poplar

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Authors: Zainab Dahrouch, Beatrix Petrovičová, Claudia Triolo, Fabiola Pantò, Angela Malara, Salvatore Patanè, Maria Allegrini, Saveria Santangelo

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Synthetic dyes dispersed in water cause environmental damage and have harmful effects on human health. Methylene blue (MB) is broadly used as a dye in the textile, pharmaceutical, printing, cosmetics, leather, and food industries. The complete removal of MB is difficult due to the presence of aromatic rings in its structure. The present study is focused on electrospun nanofibers (NFs) with engineered architecture and surface to be used as catalysts for the photodegradation of MB. Ti and/or Zn oxide NFs are produced by electrospinning precursor solutions with different Ti: Zn molar ratios (from 0:1 to 1:0). Subsequent calcination and cooling steps are operated at fast rates to generate porous NFs with capture centers to reduce the recombination rate of the photogenerated charges. The comparative evaluation of the NFs as photocatalysts for the removal of MB from an aqueous solution with a dye concentration of 15 µM under UV irradiation shows that the binary (wurtzite ZnO and anatase TiO₂) oxides exhibit higher catalytic activity compared to ternary (ZnTiO₃ and Zn₂TiO₄) oxides. The higher band gap and lower crystallinity of the ternary oxides are responsible for their lower photocatalytic activity. It has been found that the optimal load for the wurtzite ZnO is 0.66 mg mL⁻¹, obtaining a degradation rate of 7.94.10⁻² min⁻¹. The optimal load for anatase TiO₂ is lower (0.33 mg mL⁻¹) and the corresponding rate constant (1.12×10⁻¹ min⁻¹) is higher. This finding (higher activity with lower load) is of crucial importance for the scaling up of the process on an industrial scale. Indeed, the anatase NFs outperform even the commonly used P25-TiO₂ benchmark. Besides, they can be reused twice without any regeneration treatment, with 5.2% and 18.7% activity decrease after second and third use, respectively. Thanks to the scalability of the electrospinning technique, this laboratory-scale study provides a perspective towards the sustainable large-scale manufacture of photocatalysts for the treatment of industry effluents.

Keywords: anatase, capture centers, methylene blue dye, nanofibers, photodegradation, zinc oxide

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Authors: Patience Oluchi Silas, Yemi Adeshina

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Financial transactions involving the use of the internet has become an important practice among commercial banks in Nigeria with the introduction of internet banking and this has improved banking efficiency in rending services to customers. However, customers in Lagos State are enslaved in the fear of insecurity, technical failure, inadequate operational facilities, including improper telecommunications and poor power supply. It is in line with this that this paper explores the obstacles faced by Lagosians, tourists, small scale business owners, companies, customers and the government's attitude in addressing the challenges associated with online banking system in Nigeria through relevant legislations. Internet banking has the potential to transform economic activity and achieve developmental goals. If the associated Challenges are addressed quickly, then it will have the desired impact on the Nigerian economy. In this study, Respondents, mostly bank employees and customers were issued well designed and structured questionnaires to effectively examine the new developments brought about by the introduction of Internet banking and the challenges inhibiting its adoption. Hypotheses were formulated to test assumptions and claims generated from the study. The results were statistically analyzed to address the issues of errors and chances, and at the end, the result of the statistical analysis shows that all especially insecurity, inadequate operational facilities and poor power supply are the significant factors affecting the adoption of internet banking services in Nigeria. The study recommends that for internet banking to assume a developmental dimension in Nigeria and for the country to be fully integrated and respected in global financial environment, the prevalent level of frauds in Lagos State and among Nigerians must first be addressed and the relevant local laws should be put in place and in consonance with international laws and conventions; get the citizens well educated on the intricacies of Internet usage and frauds.

Keywords: internet-banking, adoption, challenges, insecurity, legislation, fraud, Lagos state, statistics

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Authors: A. S. Adegoke, O. N. Popoola

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The central purpose of management in any organization is that of coordinating the efforts of people towards the achievement of its goal. Effective and productive management is the function of leadership. Leadership plays a critical role in helping groups, organizations and societies to achieve their goals. Factors considered to make leadership to be effective are intelligence, social maturity, inner motivation and achievement drives and lastly, human relations attitudes. The factors affecting leadership style and effectiveness were examined. Also, the study examined which of the various leadership style best befits an organization and discussed the ways in which the style was determined. In order to meet the objectives of this study, different types of methods of data gathering were carried out. The methods include data from primary and secondary sources. The primary sources include personal interview, personal observation, and questionnaire while data from secondary sources were derived from various books, journal write up and other documentary records. Data were collected from respondents through questionnaire, and the field research carried out through oral interview to test each of the related hypotheses. From the data analysed it was determined that 45% strongly agreed that leadership traits are inborn not acquired and 28.3% agreed that leadership traits are inborn, while 11.7% and 10% strongly disagreed and disagreed respectively and 5% were undecided. 48.4% strongly agreed, and 43.3% agreed that environmental factors determined the appropriate style of leadership to be employed while 3.3% strongly disagreed, 1.7% disagreed and 3.3% were undecided. From the study, no single style of leadership is appropriate in any situation instead of concentrating on single leadership style; leader can vary approaches depending on forces in the leaders, characteristic of the subordinates, situational forces of the organization, lastly the expectations and behaviour of superior.

Keywords: hypothesis, leadership, management, organization

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Authors: Manal Elgallal, Louise Fletcher, Barbara Evans

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Water scarcity is a growing concern in many arid and semi-arid countries. The increase of water scarcity threatens economic development and sustainability of human livelihoods as well as environment especially in developing countries. Globally, agriculture is the largest water consumption sector, accounting for approximately 70% of all freshwater extraction. Growing competition between the agricultural and higher economic value in urban and industrial uses of high-quality freshwater supplies, especially in regions where water scarcity major problems, will increase the pressure on this precious resource. In this circumstance, wastewater may provide reliable source of water for agriculture and enable freshwater to be exchanged for more economically valuable purposes. Concern regarding the risks from microbial and toxic components to human health and environment quality is a serious obstacle for wastewater reuse particularly in agriculture. Although powerful approaches and tools for microbial risk assessment and management for safe use of wastewater are now available, few studies have attempted to provide any mechanism to quantitatively assess and manage the environmental risks resulting from reusing wastewater. In seeking pragmatic solutions to sustainable wastewater reuse, there remains a lack of research incorporating both health and environmental risk assessment and management with economic analysis in order to quantitatively combine cost, benefits and risks to rank alternative reuse options. This study seeks to enhance effective reuse of wastewater for irrigation in arid and semi-arid areas, the outcome of the study is an evaluation approach that can be used to assess different reuse strategies and to determine the suitable scale at which treatment alternatives and interventions are possible, feasible and cost effective in order to optimise the trade-offs between risks to protect public health and the environment and preserving the substantial benefits.

Keywords: environmental risks, management, life cycle costs, waste water irrigation

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Authors: Seada Hussen, Frie Ayalew

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Integrating different energy resources, like solar PV and hydro, is used to ensure reliable power to rural communities like Hara village in Ethiopia. Hybrid power system offers power supply for rural villages by providing an alternative supply for the intermittent nature of renewable energy resources. The intermittent nature of renewable energy resources is a challenge to electrifying rural communities in a sustainable manner with solar resources. Major rural villages in Ethiopia are suffering from a lack of electrification, that cause our people to suffer deforestation, travel for long distance to fetch water, and lack good services like clinic and school sufficiently. The main objective of this project is to provide a balanced, stable, reliable supply for Hara village, Ethiopia using solar power with a pumped hydro energy storage system. The design of this project starts by collecting data from villages and taking solar irradiance data from NASA. In addition to this, geographical arrangement and location are also taken into consideration. After collecting this, all data analysis and cost estimation or optimal sizing of the system and comparison of solar with pumped hydro and solar with battery storage system is done using Homer Software. And since solar power only works in the daytime and pumped hydro works at night time and also at night and morning, both load will share to cover the load demand; this need controller designed to control multiple switch and scheduling in this project fuzzy logic controller is used to control this scenario. The result of the simulation shows that solar with pumped hydro energy storage system achieves good results than with a battery storage system since the comparison is done considering storage reliability, cost, storage capacity, life span, and efficiency.

Keywords: pumped hydro storage, solar energy, solar PV, battery energy storage, fuzzy logic controller

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Authors: Syed Noaman Shah

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The current paper evaluates the effect of external public debt risk on the borrowing cost of private non-financial firms in euro zone. Further, the study also treats the impact of austerity measures on syndicated-loan spreads of private firm followed by euro area member states to revive the economic growth in the region. To test these hypotheses, we follow multivariate ordinary least square estimation method to assess the effect of external public debt on the borrowing cost of private firms. By using foreign syndicated-loan issuance data of non-financial private firms from 2005 to 2011, we attempt to gauge how the private financing cost varies with high levels of sovereign external debt prevalent in the euro zone. Our results suggest significant effect of external public debt on the borrowing cost of private firm. In particular, an increase in external public debt by one standard deviation from its sample mean raises syndicated-loan spread by 89 bps. Furthermore, weak creditor rights protection prevalent in member states deepens this effect. However, we do not find any significant effect of domestic public debt on the private sector borrowing cost. In addition, the results show significant effect of austerity measures on private financing cost, both in normal and in crisis period in the euro zone. In particular, one standard deviation change in fiscal consolidation conditional mean reduces the syndicated-loan spread by 22 bps. In turn, it indicates strong presence of credibility channel due to austerity measures in euro area region.

Keywords: corporate debt, fiscal consolidation, sovereign debt, syndicated-loan spread

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Authors: J. H. Park, R. H. Hwang, K. B. Yi

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Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is one of the important technology to reduce the CO₂ emission from large stationary sources such as a power plant. Among the carbon technologies for power plants, chemical looping combustion (CLC) has attracted much attention due to a higher thermal efficiency and a lower cost of electricity. A CLC process is consists of a fuel reactor and an air reactor which are interconnected fluidized bed reactor. In the fuel reactor, an oxygen carrier (OC) is reduced by fuel gas such as CH₄, H₂, CO. And the OC is send to air reactor and oxidized by air or O₂ gas. The oxidation and reduction reaction of OC occurs between the two reactors repeatedly. In the CLC system, high concentration of CO₂ can be easily obtained by steam condensation only from the fuel reactor. It is very important to understand the oxidation and reduction characteristics of oxygen carrier in the CLC system to determine the solids circulation rate between the air and fuel reactors, and the amount of solid bed materials. In this study, we have conducted the experiment and interpreted oxidation and reduction reaction characteristics via observing weight change of Ni-based oxygen carrier using the TGA with varying as concentration and temperature. Characterizations of the oxygen carrier were carried out with BET, SEM. The reaction rate increased with increasing the temperature and increasing the inlet gas concentration. We also compared experimental results and adapted basic reaction kinetic model (JMA model). JAM model is one of the nucleation and nuclei growth models, and this model can explain the delay time at the early part of reaction. As a result, the model data and experimental data agree over the arranged conversion and time with overall variance (R²) greater than 98%. Also, we calculated activation energy, pre-exponential factor, and reaction order through the Arrhenius plot and compared with previous Ni-based oxygen carriers.

Keywords: chemical looping combustion, kinetic, nickel-based, oxygen carrier, spray drying method

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Authors: Devinder Kaur Sugga, Ekamdeep Kaur, Jaspreet Kaur, C. Rajesh, Preeti Rajesh, Harsimran Kaur

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Withanolides are steroidal lactones and are highly oxygenated phytoconstituents that can be developed as potential anti-carcinogenic agents. The two main withanolides, namely Withaferin A and Withanolides D, have been extensively studied for their pharmacological activities. Both these withanolides are present in the Withania somnifera (WS) leaves belonging to the family Solanaceae, also known as “Indian ginseng .”In this study effects of WS leaf extract on the MCF7 breast cancer cell line were investigated by performing a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay to evaluate the cytotoxic effects and in vitro wound-healing assay to study the effect on cancer cell migration. Our data suggest WS extracts have cytotoxic effects and are effective anti-migrating agents and thus can be a source of potential candidates for the development of potential agents against metastasis. Thus, it can be a source of potential candidates for the development of potential agents against metastasis. Insight into these results, the in-silico approach to identify the possible protein targets interacting with withanolides was taken. Protein kinase C alpha (PKCα) was among the selected 5 top-ranked target proteins identified by the Swiss Target Prediction tool. PKCα is known to promote the growth and invasion of cancer cells and is being evaluated as a prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target in clinically aggressive tumors. Molecular docking of Withaferin A and Withanolides D was performed using AutoDock Vina. Both the bioactive compounds interacted with PKCα. The targets predicted using this approach will serve as leads for the possible therapeutic potential of withanolides, the bioactive ingredients of WS extracts, as anti-cancer drugs.

Keywords: withania somnifera, withaferin A, withanolides D, PKCα

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Authors: Maisa Sales Gama Tobias, Humberto de Paiva Junior, Luciano Silva Brito, Rui António Rodrigues Ramos

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Waterway transport in the Amazon was the first means of access and occupation in the region. For the economic and social matter of high importance, still nowadays one of the main transport modes to several places in the region. To some places, still the only transport mode. With the advent of the pandemic, transport companies that already faced management challenges began to experience unprecedented structural changes and trends in trade and global supply chains. Thus, companies need operational reorganization to maintain the sustainability of the service under the penalty of loss of demand. Allied to this fact, it was observed that the demand presented behavior changes to adapt to this new moment. However, the lack of information about these changes makes it difficult to find solutions to maintain the quality of service. This work aimed to characterize the changes in the demand of waterway passengers through an empirical study with field research involving interviews with users and crew, on-board journeys, and visits to the waterway service company. The case study is the route Belém-Camara, on Marajó Island, in the state of Pará. This line is traditionally the only means of transport for this route, besides air transport on a much smaller scale. The collected data had a descriptive and analytical statistical treatment presented in this work. As the main result, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant changes, mainly in trip time and motives and, in the perception itself on service quality by part of the demand, with the increase of trip time and the feeling of insecurity. In conclusion, the service operator must review cost management and business survival strategies and tactics. The viability of the service and the social guarantee of transport proved to be threatened, putting at risk the service to the riverside populations.

Keywords: demand of waterway transport passengers, data analysis, COVID-19, amazonia

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Authors: Saima Haq

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This paper presents the contribution of the Sunflowers Vocational Center, Karachi, Pakistan, by providing a platform for the students of special needs to work with recycled materials and express themselves in a more extravagant form. The concept was to create products that would generate enough income to sustain the program while keeping the students cognitively engaged through arts and crafts and tactile instructions due to their severe intellectual disabilities. Papier-mâché is an art form that is hands-on, repetitive, economical as well as beneficial for the environment. The process of tearing paper into long strips then covering them with paste and laying the strips atop the mold provides constant sensory input for our autistic students as well as the rest of our student population. Given the marginalized stance the society has on special needs, we have marketed the paper-mâché products on social media platforms and have set up booths in carnivals, festivities, open markets that are aimed towards a cause to sell. Our students in the vocational center have also made bins, baskets, and trays that are used in all classrooms. This has cut our costs on classroom materials considerably and has added a sense of accomplishment and furthered the teamwork skills in our sunflowers. The other achievement is our long clientele; orders have been placed from several persons for birthdays, parties, events, and the like. This exposure has raised awareness of the capabilities of persons of special needs and has started a conversation on the topic. And additional achievement is that we have made our teachers, their families, our students, and their families conscientious of the environment and incorporated reusing newspapers into classrooms. Situations where plastic would be bought, for example, bin, dustbins, containers, basket, trays, the paper-mâché products made by our students have been used instead. Due to the low cost of materials, this project is easily replicable and very easy to start. Piñatas are a very popular item for children’s parties everywhere and are gaining popularity through social media. This is also easily replicable in any environment and can have a great impact on the use of plastic in any work or home environment.

Keywords: vocational training, special needs, cognitive skills, teamwork

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Authors: Hussein Lujuo Mohamed

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Introduction: Public health has always been influenced by climate and weather. Changes in climate and climate variability, particularly changes in weather extremes affect the environment that provides people with clean air, food, water, shelter, and security. Tanzania is not an exception to the threats of climate change. The health sector is mostly affected due to emergence and proliferation of infectious diseases, thereby affecting health of the population and thus impacting achievement of sustainable development goals. Methodology: A desk review on documented issues pertaining to climate change and health in Tanzania was done using Google search engine. Keywords included climate change, link, health, climate initiatives. In cases where information was not available, documents from Ministry of Health, Vice Presidents Office-Environment, Local Government Authority, Ministry of Water, WHO, research, and training institutions were reviewed. Some of the reviewed documents from these institutions include policy brief papers, fieldwork activity reports, training manuals, and guidelines. Results: Six main climate resilience activities were identified in Tanzania. These were development and implementation of climate resilient water safety plans guidelines both for rural and urban water authorities, capacity building of rural and urban water authorities on implementation of climate-resilient water safety plans, and capacity strengthening of local environmental health practitioners on mainstreaming climate change and health into comprehensive council health plans. Others were vulnerability and adaptation assessment for the health sector, mainstreaming climate change in the National Health Policy, and development of risk communication strategy on climate. In addition information, education, and communication materials on climate change and to create awareness were developed aiming to sensitize and create awareness among communities on climate change issues and its effect on public health. Conclusion: Proper implementation of these interventions will help the country become resilient to many impacts of climate change in the health sector and become a good example for other least developed countries.

Keywords: climate, change, Tanzania, health

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Authors: K. Nikovics, D. Riccobono, M. Oger, H. Morin, L. Barbier, T. Poyot, X. Holy, A. Bendahmane, M. Drouet, A. L. Favier

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Muscle regeneration after injury (as irradiation) is of great importance. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms are still unclear. Cytokines are believed to play fundamental role in the different stages of muscle regeneration. They are secreted by many cell populations, but the predominant producers are macrophages and helper T cells. On the other hand, it has been shown that adipose tissue derived stromal/stem cell (ASC) injection could improve muscle regeneration. Stem cells probably induce the coordinated modulations of gene expression in different macrophage cells. Therefore, we investigated the patterns and timing of changes in gene expression of different cytokines occurring upon stem cells loading. Muscle regeneration was studied in an irradiated muscle of minipig animal model in presence or absence of ASC treatment (irradiated and treated with ASCs, IRR+ASC; irradiated not-treated with ASCs, IRR; and non-irradiated no-IRR). We characterized macrophage populations by immunolabeling in the different conditions. In our study, we found mostly M2 and a few M1 macrophages in the IRR+ASC samples. However, only few M2b macrophages were noticed in the IRR muscles. In addition, we found intensive fibrosis in the IRR samples. With in situ hybridization and immunolabeling, we analyzed the cytokine expression of the different macrophages and we showed that M2d macrophage are the most abundant in the IRR+ASC samples. By in situ hybridization, strong expression of the transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) was observed in the IRR+ASC but very week in the IRR samples. But when we analyzed TGF-β level with immunolabeling the expression was very different: many M2 macrophages showed week expression in IRR+ASC and few cells expressing stronger level in IRR muscles. Therefore, we investigated the MMP expressions in the different muscles. Our data showed that the M2 macrophages of the IRR+ASC muscle expressed MMP2 proteins. Our working hypothesis is that MMP2 expression of the M2 macrophages can decrease fibrosis in the IRR+ASC muscle by capturing TGF-β.

Keywords: adipose tissue derived stromal/stem cell, cytokine, macrophage, muscle regeneration

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Authors: Omneya N. Mekhaimer, Elkhayam M. Dorra, A. Samer Ezeldin

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Over the recent decades, studies on organizational culture have gained global attention in the business management literature, where it has been established that the cultural factors embedded in the organization have an implicit yet significant influence on the organization’s success. Unlike other industries, the construction industry is widely known to be operating in a dynamic and adversarial nature; considering the unique characteristics it denotes, thereby the level of disputes has propagated in the construction industry throughout the years. In the late 1990s, the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB) created a Task Group (TG-23), which later evolved in 2006 into a Working Commission W112, with a strategic objective to promote research in investigating the role and impact of culture in the construction industry worldwide. To that end, this paper aims to study the influence of organizational culture in the contractor’s organization on the frequency of disputes caused between the owner and the contractor that occur in commercial projects based in Egypt. This objective is achieved by using a quantitative approach through a survey questionnaire to explore the dominant cultural attributes that exist in the contractor’s organization based on the Competing Value Framework (CVF) theory, which classifies organizational culture into four main cultural types: (1) clan, (2) adhocracy, (3) market, and (4) hierarchy. Accordingly, the collected data are statistically analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 28) software, whereby a correlation analysis using Pearson Correlation is carried out to assess the relationship between these variables and their statistical significance using the p-value. The results show that there is an influence of organizational culture attributes on the frequency of disputes whereby market culture is identified to be the most dominant organizational culture that is currently practiced in contractor’s organization, which consequently contributes to increasing the frequency of disputes in commercial projects. These findings suggest that alternative management practices should be adopted rather than the existing ones with an aim to minimize dispute occurrence.

Keywords: construction projects, correlation analysis, disputes, Egypt, organizational culture

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Authors: Monisha Isaac

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Biotechnology is a discipline which explains the use of living organisms and systems to construct a product, or we can define it as an application or technology developed to use biological systems and organisms processes for a specific use. Particularly, it includes cells and its components use for new technologies and inventions. The tools developed can be further used in diverse fields such as agriculture, industry, research and hospitals etc. The 21^st century has seen a drastic development and advancement in biotechnology in India. Significant increase in Government of India’s outlays for biotechnology over the past decade has been observed. A sectoral break up of biotechnology-based companies in India shows that most of the companies are agriculture-based companies having interests ranging from tissue culture to biopesticides. Major attention has been given by the companies in health related activities and in environmental biotechnology. The biopharmaceutical, which comprises of vaccines, diagnostic, and recombinant products is the most reliable and largest segment of the Indian Biotech industry. India has developed its vaccine markets and supplies them to various countries. Then there are the bio-services, which mainly comprise of contract researches and manufacturing services. India has made noticeable developments in the field of bio industries including manufacturing of enzymes, biofuels and biopolymers. Biotechnology is also playing a crucial and significant role in the field of agriculture. Traditional methods have been replaced by new technologies that mainly focus on GM crops, marker assisted technologies and the use of biotechnological tools to improve the quality of fertilizers and soil. It may only be a small contributor but has shown to have huge potential for growth. Bioinformatics is a computational method which helps to store, manage, arrange and design tools to interpret the extensive data gathered through experimental trials, making it important in the design of drugs.

Keywords: biotechnology, advancement, agriculture, bio-services, bio-industries, bio-pharmaceuticals

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Authors: Sevgi Özlem Bulu, Arif Furkan Mendi, Tolga Erol, İzzet Gökhan Özbilgin

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The rapid progress of technology in today's competitive conditions has also accelerated companies' technology development activities. As a result, companies are paying more attention to R&D studies and are beginning to allocate a larger share to R&D projects. A more systematic, comprehensive, target-oriented implementation of R&D studies is crucial for the company to achieve successful results. As a consequence, Technology Roadmap (TRM) is gaining importance as a management tool. It has critical prospects for achieving medium and long term success as it contains decisions about past business, future plans, technological infrastructure. When studies on TRM are examined, projects to be placed on the roadmap are selected by many different methods. Generally preferred methods are based on multi-criteria decision making methods. Management of selected projects becomes an important point after the selection phase of the projects. At this stage, TRM are used. TRM can be created in many different ways so that each institution can prepare its own Technology Roadmap according to their strategic plan. Depending on the intended use, there can be TRM with different layers at different sizes. In the evaluation phase of the R&D projects and in the creation of the TRM, HAVELSAN, Turkey's largest defense company in the software field, carries out this process with great care and diligence. At the beginning, suggested R&D projects are evaluated by the Technology Management Board (TMB) of HAVELSAN in accordance with the company's resources, objectives, and targets. These projects are presented to the TMB periodically for evaluation within the framework of certain criteria by board members. After the necessary steps have been passed, the approved projects are added to the time-based TRM, which is composed of four layers as market, product, project and technology. The use of a four-layered roadmap provides a clearer understanding and visualization of company strategy and objectives. This study demonstrates the benefits of using TRM, four-layered Technology Roadmapping and the possibilities for the institutions in the defense industry.

Keywords: technology roadmap, research and development project, project selection, research development in defense industry

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Authors: Giselle Martinez Negrette

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Language and culture mutually shape and reflect the human experience. In the learning process, this connection creates and sustains the shared world of learners and educators. Dual Language (DL) programs exemplify this relationship by placing language and culture at the center of their educational approach. These programs, originally conceived to advance social justice in education, aim to foster bilingualism, biliteracy, academic development and sociocultural competence, emphasizing the inseparability of linguistic and cultural growth. Furthermore, because DL programs serve children from diverse cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds, they operate as spaces where linguistic skills and sociocultural understandings are actively cultivated, negotiated, and celebrated. Against this background, this paper examines how two DL teachers see language and culture shaping and reflecting the educational experience, and how their understandings of the relationship influence their mediation of sociocultural competence in their classrooms. This qualitative study employs critical discourse analysis to study in detail participants’ narratives seeking to uncover their perspectives on the “politics” surrounding language use and cultural understandings in their school contexts. Our findings show that these educators are not only keenly aware of the pivotal role that language and culture play in multilingual students’ learning journeys, but they have identified the sociolinguistic “games” taking place in their classrooms. We contend these understandings are pivotal for the critical development of sociocultural competence in DL programs. This study provides DL educators with important conceptual and pedagogical insights regarding the intersection between language and culture in their classrooms and seeks to encourage them to analyze their roles as supporters or opponents of transformative rupture opportunities to contest inequities in education

Keywords: sociocultural competence, critical discourse analysis, dual language programs, language, culture

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Authors: Jantakan Jullawateelert, Korakod Haonoo, Sutipong Sananseang, Sarun Torpaiboon, Thanunthon Bowornsakulwong, Lalintip Hocharoen

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Process scale-up is essential for the biological process to increase production capacity from bench-scale bioreactors to either pilot or commercial production. Scale-up based on constant volumetric oxygen mass transfer coefficient (KLa) is mostly used as a scale-up factor since oxygen supply is one of the key limiting factors for cell growth. However, to estimate KLa of culture vessels operated with different conditions are time-consuming since it is considerably influenced by a lot of factors. To overcome the issue, this study aimed to establish correlation equations of KLa and operating parameters in 0.5 L and 5 L bioreactor employed with pitched-blade impeller and gas sparger. Temperature, gas flow rate, agitation speed, and impeller position were selected as process parameters and equations were created using response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite design (CCD). In addition, the effects of these parameters on KLa were also investigated. Based on RSM, second-order polynomial models for 0.5 L and 5 L bioreactor were obtained with an acceptable determination coefficient (R²) as 0.9736 and 0.9190, respectively. These models were validated, and experimental values showed differences less than 10% from the predicted values. Moreover, RSM revealed that gas flow rate is the most significant parameter while temperature and agitation speed were also found to greatly affect the KLa in both bioreactors. Nevertheless, impeller position was shown to influence KLa in only 5L system. To sum up, these modeled correlations can be used to accurately predict KLa within the specified range of process parameters of two different sizes of bioreactors for further scale-up application.

Keywords: response surface methodology, scale-up, stirred-tank bioreactor, volumetric oxygen mass transfer coefficient

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Authors: Hai Zhou, Wenzhi Zhao

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Water is one of the most important factors limiting plant growth and development in desert ecosystems. In order to understand how desert shrubs cope with variation in water sources over time, it is important to understand plant–water relations in desert-oasis ecotone. We selected the typical desert shrubs: Nitraria sibirica, Calligonum mongolicum and Haloxylon ammodendron of 5-, 10-, 20- and 40-year old as the research species, to study the seasonal variation of plant water sources and response to precipitation in the desert-oasis ecotone of Linze, Northwestern China. We examined stable isotopic ratios of oxygen (δ18O) in stem water of desert shrubs as well as in precipitation, groundwater, and soil water in different soil layers and seasons to determine water sources for the shrubs. We found that the N. sibirica and H. ammodendron of 5-, 10-year old showed significant seasonal variation characteristics of δ18O value of stem water and water sources. However, the C. mongolicum and 20- and 40-year H. ammodendron main water sources were from deep soil water and groundwater, and less response to precipitation pulse. After 22.4 mm precipitation, the contribution of shallow soil water (0-50cm) to the use of N. sibirica increased from 6.7% to 36.5%; the C. mongolicum rarely use precipitation that were about 58.29% and 23.51%, absorbed from the deep soil water and groundwater; the contribution of precipitation to use of H. ammodendron had significantly differences among the four ages. The H. ammodendron of 5- and 10-year old about 86.3% and 42.5% water sources absorbed from the shallow soil water after precipitation. However, the contribution to 20- and 40-year old plant was less than 15%. So, the precipitation was one of the main water sources for desert shrubs, but the species showed different water utilization. We conclude that the main water source of the N. sibirica and H. ammodendron of 5-, 10-year was soil water recharged by precipitation, but the deeply rooted H. ammodendron of 20‐ and 40‐year‐old and the C. mongolicum have the ability to exploit a deep and reliable water source.

Keywords: water use pattern, water resource, stable isotope, seasonal change, precipitation pulse

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Authors: Masaaki Ii, Takashi Saito, Yasuhiko Tabata, Shintaro Nemoto

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Background: Clinical trials of autologous adipose-derived stem cell (AdSC) therapy for ischemic heart diseases (IHD) are now on-going. We have investigated the hypothesis that combination of AdSCs and statin, an agent with pleiotropic effects, could augment the therapeutic effect on myocardial infarction (MI). Methods and Results: Human AdSC functions with different doses of simvastatin-conjugated nanoparticle (STNP) uptake were evaluated by in vitro assays. STNP promoted the migration activity without changing the proliferation activity, and also up-regulated growth factors. Next, MI was induced by LAD ligation in nude mice, and the mice were assigned in the following groups 3 days after MI: 1) PBS (control), 2) NP-AdSCs (50000 cells), 3) STNP, and 4) STNP-AdSCs (50000 cells). Cardiac functional recovery assessed by echocardiography was improved at 4 weeks after surgery in STNP-AdSC group. Masson’s trichrome-stained sections revealed that LV fibrosis length was reduced, and the number of TUNEL-positive cardiomyocytes was less in STNP-AdSC group. Surprisingly, a number of de novo endogenous Nkx-2.5/GATA4 positive immature cardiomyocytes as well as massive vascular formation were observed in outer layer of infarcted myocardium despite of a few recruited/retained transfused STNP-AdSCs 4 weeks after MI in STNP-AdSC group. Finally, massive myocardial regeneration was observed 8 weeks after MI. Conclusions: Intravenously injected small number of statin nanoparticle-loaded hAdSCs exhibited a potent therapeutic effect inducing endogenous cardiac tissue regeneration.

Keywords: statin, drug delivery system, stem cells, cardiac regeneration

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Authors: Constâncio Augusto Machanguana, Luís Miguel Estevão Cristóvão

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In Mozambique, over 80% of the rural population relies on agriculture, livestock, and silviculture for their livelihoods. Unfortunately, these communities face persistent food shortages, which are exacerbated by natural disasters and post-harvest losses due to inadequate storage facilities. Addressing post-harvest loss is critical not only for ensuring food security but also for preventing financial hardships faced by farmers. The study delves into the perceptions of beneficiary communities regarding the construction of three food dryer models made from metal, wood, and clay brick. These solar dryers are part of the project titled ‘Solar Dryer Integrated with Natural Rocks as Energy Storage for Drying Fruits and Vegetables in Mozambique.’ The overarching goal is to enhance food availability beyond the typical growing season, particularly for fruits and vegetables, while simultaneously combating hunger. Given the context of climate change impacts on agriculture, this project becomes even more relevant. Structured interviews conducted with 45 members of beneficiary associations in Manica Province—primarily female heads of households—revealed that rural communities are aware of various food drying alternatives. However, reliance on traditional methods often comes at a cost: compromised product quality and reduced shelf life. To address these challenges, the project implemented energy storage solutions like rock-based thermal energy storage for food drying. This result underscores the urgent need to foster innovation and extend these sustainable practices —such as solar dryers integrated with thermal energy-storage systems made of locally abundant and affordable materials— to more local communities, especially those with significant agricultural potential within the country. By taking these actions, we can improve food security and alleviate hunger.

Keywords: solar dryer, food security, rural community, small technology

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Authors: Andres Bautista, Alicia Porras, Juan P. Casas, Maribel Silva

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The Colombian aeronautical industry has stimulated research in the mechanical behavior of materials under different loading conditions aircrafts are generally exposed during its operation. The Calima T-90 is the first military aircraft built in the country, used for primary flight training of Colombian Air Force Pilots, therefore, it may be exposed to adverse operating situations such as hard landings which cause impact loads on the aircraft that might produce the impact fatigue phenomenon. The Calima T-90 structure is mainly manufactured by composites materials generating assemblies and subassemblies of different components of it. The main method of bonding these components is by using adhesive joints. Each type of adhesive bond must be studied on its own since its performance depends on the conditions of the manufacturing process and operating characteristics. This study aims to characterize the typical adhesive joints of the aircraft under usual loads. To this purpose, the evaluation of the effect of adhesive thickness on the mechanical performance of the joint under quasi-static loading conditions, constant amplitude fatigue and cyclic impact fatigue using single lap-joint specimens will be performed. Additionally, using a double cantilever beam specimen, the influence of the thickness of the adhesive on the crack growth rate for mode I delamination failure, as a function of the critical energy release rate will be determined. Finally, an analysis of the fracture surface of the test specimens considering the mechanical interaction between the substrate (composite) and the adhesive, provide insights into the magnitude of the damage, the type of failure mechanism that occurs and its correlation with the way crack propagates under the proposed loading conditions.

Keywords: adhesive, composites, crack propagation, fatigue

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Authors: Piyachat Chuysinuan, Nitirat Chimnoi, Arthit Makarasen, Nanthawan Reuk-Ngam, Pitt Supaphol, Supanna Techasakul

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In this work, biomaterial wound dressings was developed based on gelatin containing herbal substances (essential oil), a substance from the plant Eupatorium adenophorum Spreng (Crofton weed) that used as traditional wound healers. Gelatin hydrogel was prepared from a 10 wt-% gelatin solution. The oil in water (o/w) emulsion Eupatorium adenophorum of essential oil were prepared and used Pluronic F68 as a surfactant. The 10, 20, and 30 % v/v emulsion were mixed with gelatin solution and cast into film. These hydrogels were tested for their gel fraction, swelling and weight loss behavior. With an increase in the emulsion concentration the emulsion-loaded in hydrogels, the gel fraction were decreased due to the crosslink density, while the swelling and weight loss behavior were increased with an increasing in the emulsion content. The potential to use the emulsion-containing gelatin hydrogels as wound dressing was assessed on investigation the release characteristics of the as-loaded hydrogels. The E. adenophorum essential oil was first identified the chemical composition by using GC-MS analysis. The principal components of the oil were p-cymene (16.23%), bornyl acetate (11.84%), and amorpha-4, 7(11)-diene (10.51%). The hydrogel wound dressing containing essential oil was then characterized for their antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative in order to elucidate their potential for use as antibacterial wound dressings by using agar disk diffusion methods. The result showed that E. adenophorum essential oil and the emulsion-loaded gelatin hydrogel inhibited the growth of the test pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis and increased with increasing the initial amount of essential oil in the hydrogels which confirmed their application as antibacterial wound dressings. Furthermore, the potential use of these wound dressings was further assessed in terms of the indirect cytotoxicity, in vitro attachment and proliferation of dermal human fibroblasts cultured in the hydrogel wound dressings.

Keywords: hydrogel, antibacterial wound dressing, Eupatorium adenophorum essential oil, gelatin

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Authors: Nataliya Apanovich, Mark Wright

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Uganda is among the poorest but fastest growing populations in the world. Its annual population growth of 3% puts additional stress through land fragmentation, agricultural intensification, and deforestation on already highly weathered tropical (Ferralsol) soils. All of these factors lead to decreased agricultural yields and consequently diminished food security. The central region of Uganda, Buganda Kingdom, is especially vulnerable in terms of food security as its high population density coupled with mismanagement of natural resources led to gradual loss of its soil and even changes in microclimate. These changes are negatively affecting livelihoods of smallholder farmers who comprise 80% of all population in Uganda. This research focuses on biochar for soil remediation in Masaka District, Uganda. If produced on a small scale from locally sourced materials, biochar can increase the quality of soil in a cost and time effective manner. To assess biochar potential, 151 smallholder farmers were interviewed on the types of crops grown, agricultural residues produced and their use, as well as on attitudes towards biochar use and its production on a small scale. The interviews were conducted in 7 sub-counties, 32 parishes, and 92 villages. The total farmland covered by the study was 606.2 kilometers. Additional information on the state of agricultural development and environmental degradation in the district was solicited from four local government officials via informal interviews. This project has been conducted in collaboration with the international agricultural research institution, Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. The results of this research can have implications on the way farmers perceive the value of their agricultural residues and what they decide to do with them. The underlying objective is to help smallholders in degraded soils increase their agricultural yields through the use of biochar without diverting the already established uses of agricultural residues to a new soil management practice.

Keywords: agricultural residues, biochar, central Uganda, food security, soil erosion, soil remediation

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Authors: Anka Gorgiev, Chris Martin, Nikolaos Dimitriadis, Dimitrios V. Nikolaidis

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This paper is part of a doctoral research study aimed to identify behavioral indicators for the existence of the new marketing paradigm. Neuromarketing is becoming a growing trend in the marketing industry worldwide and it is capturing a lot of interest among the members of academia and the practitioner community. However, it is still not very clear how big of an impact neuromarketing might have in the following years. In an effort to get closer to an answer, this study investigates behavioral intentions and willingness to adopt neuromarketing and its practices by the marketing professionals, including academics, practitioners, students, researchers, experts and journal editors. The participants in the study include marketing professionals at different levels of neuromarketing fluency with residency in the United States of America and the South East Europe. The total of 19 participants participated in the interviews, all of whom belong to more than one group of marketing professionals. The authors use qualitative research approach and open-ended interview questions specifically developed to assess ideas, beliefs and opinions that marketing professionals hold towards neuromarketing. In constructing the interview questions, the authors have used the theory of planned behavior, the prototype willingness model and the technology acceptance model as a theoretical framework. Previous studies have not explicitly investigated the behavioral intentions of marketing professionals to engage in neuromarketing behavior, which is described here as a tendency to apply neuromarketing assumptions and tools in usual marketing practices. This study suggests that the marketing professionals believe that neuromarketing can contribute to the business in a positive way and outlines the main advantages and disadvantages of adopting neuromarketing as identified by the participants. In addition, the study reveals an emerging image of an exemplar company that is perceived to be using neuromarketing, including the most common characteristics and attributes. These findings are believed to be crucial in facilitating a way for neuromarketing field to have a broader impact than it currently does by recognizing and understanding the limitations that such exemplars imply and how that has an effect on the decision-making of marketing professionals.

Keywords: behavioral intentions, marketing paradigm, neuromarketing adoption, theory of planned behavior

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Authors: Salim Al Harthy, Alexandre A. Bachkirov

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This study delves into the complexities of competitive aggressiveness in the oil and gas industry, focusing on the characteristics of the identified competitive actions. The current quantitative research on competitive aggressiveness lacks agreement on the connection between antecedents and outcomes, prompting a qualitative investigation. To address this gap, the research utilizes qualitative interviews with CEOs from Oman's oil and gas service industry to explore the dynamics of competitive aggressiveness. Using Noklenain's typology, the study categorizes and analyzes identified actions, shedding light on the spectrum of competitive behaviors within the industry. Notably, actions predominantly fall under the "Bring about" and "Preserve" elements, with a notable absence in the "Forebear" and "Destroy" categories, possibly linked to the study's focus on service-oriented businesses. The study also explores the detectability of actions, revealing that "Bring about" actions are detectable, while those in "Preserve" and "Suppress" are not. This challenges conventional definitions of competitive aggressiveness, suggesting that not all actions are readily detectable despite being considered competitive. The presence of non-detectable actions introduces complexity to measurement methods reliant on visible empirical data. Moreover, the study contends that companies can adopt an aggressive competitive approach without directly challenging rivals. This challenges traditional views and emphasizes the innovative and entrepreneurial aspects of actions not explicitly aimed at competitors. By not revealing strategic intentions, such actions put rivals at a disadvantage, underscoring the need for a nuanced understanding of competitive aggressiveness. In summary, the lack of consensus in existing literature regarding the relationship between antecedents and outcomes in competitive aggressiveness is addressed. The study reveals a spectrum of detectable and undetectable actions, posing challenges in measurement and emphasizing the need for alternative methods to assess undetectable actions in competitive behavior. This research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of competitive aggressiveness, acknowledging the diverse actions shaping a company's strategic positioning in dynamic business environments.

Keywords: competitive aggressiveness, qualitative exploration, noklenain's typology, oil and gas industry

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Authors: Nebiyou Masebo

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The severities of land degradation in southern Ethiopia has been increasing due to high population density, replacement of an age-old agroforestry (AF) based agricultural system with monocropping. The consequences of these activities combined with climate change have been impaired soil biota, soil organic carbon (SOC), soil glomalin, soil aggregation and aggregate stability. The AF systems could curb these problems due it is an ecologically and economically sustainable. This study was aimed to determine the effect of agroforestry practices (AFPs) on soil glomalin, soil aggregate stability (SAS), and aggregate association with SOC. Soil samples (from two depth level: 0-30 & 30-60 cm) and woody species were collected from homegarden based agroforestry practice (HAFP), cropland based agroforestry practice (ClAFP), woodlot based agroforestry practice (WlAFP) and trees on soil and water conservation based agroforestry practice (TSWAFP) using systematic sampling. In this study, both easily extractable glomalin related soil protein (EEGRSP) and total glomalin related soil protein (TGRSP) were significantly (p<0.05) higher in HAFP compared to others, with decreasing order HAFP>WlAFP>TSWAFP>ClAFP at upper surface but in subsurface in decreasing order: WlAFP>HAFP>TSWAFP>ClAFP. On the other hand, the macroaggregate fraction of AFPs ranged from 22.64-36.51% where the lowest was in ClAFP, while the highest was in HAFP, moreover, the order for subsurface was also the same but SAS decreased with the increasing of soil depths. The micro-aggregate fraction ranged from 15.9–24.56%, where the lowest was in HAFP, but the highest was in ClAFP. Besides, the association of OC with both macro-and micro-aggregates was greatest in HAFP and followed by WlAFP. The findings also showed that both glomalin and SAS were significantly high with woody species diversity and richness. Thus, AFP with good management practice can play role on maintenance of biodiversity, glomalin content and other soil quality parameters with future implications for a stable ecosystem.

Keywords: agroforestry, soil aggregate stability, glomalin, aggregate-associated carbon, HAFP, ClAFP, WlAFP, TSWAFP.

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Authors: Raana Babadi Fathipour

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Biofilms, those intricate structures of microbial aggregation that emerge as microorganisms adhere to animate or inanimate surfaces, possess an innate capacity to shield their inhabitants from adversities within the environment whilst fortifying their endurance against antimicrobial agents. This remarkable aspect facilitates the persistence and virulence of said microorganisms, establishing biofilm formation as an integral component of bacterial survival mechanisms. However, should foodborne pathogens adopt this mode of existence, the potentiality for foodborne disease infections becomes alarmingly intensified—an alarming prospect that harbors significant public health hazards and engenders deleterious economic ramifications. Thus, due to these consequences lurking on the horizon, extensive research concentrating upon comprehending biofilms and devising efficacious removal strategies assumes a position imbued with paramount importance within the realm of the food industry. The problem of food waste resulting from spoilage in the food industry continues to present a widespread challenge to both environmental sustainability and the security of our food supplies. In this comprehensive analysis, we delve into the formation of bacterial biofilms, highlighting the specific issues they pose within the realm of food production. Additionally, we provide an overview of various types of common foodborne pathogens that tend to thrive in these biofilms. Furthermore, we summarize existing strategies aimed at tackling or managing detrimental bacterial biofilm growth. We also introduce contemporary approaches that show promise in terms of controlling this issue and highlight their potential for further advancement. Ultimately, our focus lies on outlining prospects for future development as they pertain specifically to combatting bacterial biofilms within the field.

Keywords: foodborne pathogens, food safety, biofilm, resistance, quorum-sensing

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Authors: Tayyaba Azim, Bibi Amina

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The increase in the popularity of opinion mining with the rapid growth in the availability of social networks has attracted a lot of opportunities for research in the various domains of Sentiment Analysis and Natural Language Processing (NLP) using Artificial Intelligence approaches. The latest trend allows the public to actively use the internet for analyzing an individual’s opinion and explore the effectiveness of published facts. The main theme of this research is to account the public opinion on the most crucial and extensively discussed development projects, China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), considered as a game changer due to its promise of bringing economic prosperity to the region. So far, to the best of our knowledge, the theme of CPEC has not been analyzed for sentiment determination through the ML approach. This research aims to demonstrate the use of ML approaches to spontaneously analyze the public sentiment on Twitter tweets particularly about CPEC. Support Vector Machine SVM is used for classification task classifying tweets into positive, negative and neutral classes. Word2vec and TF-IDF features are used with the SVM model, a comparison of the trained model on manually labelled tweets and automatically generated lexicon is performed. The contributions of this work are: Development of a sentiment analysis system for public tweets on CPEC subject, construction of an automatic generation of the lexicon of public tweets on CPEC, different themes are identified among tweets and sentiments are assigned to each theme. It is worth noting that the applications of web mining that empower e-democracy by improving political transparency and public participation in decision making via social media have not been explored and practised in Pakistan region on CPEC yet.

Keywords: machine learning, natural language processing, sentiment analysis, support vector machine, Word2vec

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Authors: Harshit Vallecha, Prabha Bhola

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‘Energy for all’, is a global issue of concern for the past many years. Despite the number of technological advancements and innovations, significant numbers of people are living without access to electricity around the world. India, an emerging economy, tops the list of nations having the maximum number of residents living off the grid, thus raising global attention in past few years to provide clean and sustainable energy access solutions to all of its residents. It is evident from developed economies that centralized planning and electrification alone is not sufficient for meeting energy security. Implementation of off-grid and consumer-driven energy models like Decentralized Renewable Energy (DRE) systems have played a significant role in meeting the national energy demand in developed nations. Cases of DRE systems have been reported in developing countries like India for the past few years. This paper attempts to profile the status of DRE projects in the Indian context with their scope and relevance to ensure universal electrification. Diversified cases of DRE projects, particularly solar, biomass and micro hydro are identified in different Indian states. Critical factors affecting the sustainability of DRE projects are extracted with their interlinkages in the context of developers, beneficiaries and promoters involved in such projects. Socio-techno-economic indicators are identified through similar cases in the context of DRE projects. Exploratory factor analysis is performed to evaluate the critical sustainability factors followed by regression analysis to establish the relationship between the dependent and independent factors. The generated EFA-Regression model provides a basis to develop the sustainability and replicability framework for broader coverage of DRE projects in developing nations in order to attain the goal of universal electrification with least carbon emissions.

Keywords: climate change, decentralized generation, electricity access, renewable energy

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