Search results for: global market

Authors: Sandra Maria Cerqueira Da Silva

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The construction of the material world involves a series of social power relations. These relations, in a way, can dictate, shape, judge and drive the profiles of so-called ‘ideal’ individuals. Gender relations, as power relations, are defined based on hierarchies, obediences and inequalities, and male domination seems, with few exceptions, to be rooted in every society around the world. The profile of the Brazilian woman, beyond patriarchal and market determinations, is strongly subjected to media products. Women are, numerically, the majority in Brazilian society. The social indicators point to slight advances in terms of years of study and professional qualification, as well as access to the job market; yet, differences in opportunity and conditions — often explained though the ‘unquestionable’ cultural rancidness argument — still hinder women’s ability to reach and keep job positions. These unequalities are also visible in everyday interactions and in gender relations, and they become greater once race is added to the analysis. For a black woman, her racial origins may play a part in determining the construction of her gender roles. In these terms, there is need to investigate the racial character of the sexual differences within a larger social proccess of naturalization and justification of cultural hierarchies. Thus, the goal of this study is to identify and discuss the media-built image of black women in Brazil. Furthermore, it is necessary to seek views different than those of the ruling classes. The study uses a qualitative approach based on the feminist standpoint, which intends to hold women’s experiences as central. The body of the research — images taken from the Internet — was treated through critical content analysis. The results show that in Brazil the profile of black women, beyond the machist and sexist generalizations, objectifies them or sees them as servants, always at the disposal of non-blacks. It is necessary to overcome the history of this nation, always considering the contribution of these women to the growth and development of places and societies. This can be done through the acknowledgement and highlighting of the few black women who were able to overcome the many barriers in their path and reach leadership position in the country. There are still many important challenges in the way of finding affirmative policies and reaching a more equal society in terms of gender and race; a serious and firm political commitment seems sine qua non.

Keywords: black woman, feminist standpoint, markings, objectification

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Authors: Nora Arbaoui, Rachid Tadili, Ilham Ihoume

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The improvement of the agricultural production and food preservation processes requires the introduction of heating and cooling techniques in greenhouses. To develop these techniques, our work proposes a design of an integrated and autonomous solar system for heating, cooling, and production conservation in greenhouses. The hot air produced by the greenhouse effect during the day will be evacuated to compartments annexed in the greenhouse to dry the surplus agricultural production that is not sold on the market. In this paper, we will give a description of this solar system and the calculation of the fluid’s volume used for heat storage that will be released during the night.

Keywords: solar system, agricultural greenhouse, heating, cooling, storage, drying

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Authors: Rajan Deglurkar

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The research carried out in this piece of work is on 'Framework of Sustainable Manufacturing for Small and Medium Enterprises'. It consists of elucidation of concepts about sustainable manufacturing and sustainable product development with critical review performed on seven techniques of sustainable manufacturing. The work also covers the survey about critical review of awareness in the market with respect to the manufacturers and the consumers. The factors and challenges for sustainable manufacturing implementation are reviewed and simple framework is constructed for the small and medium enterprise for successful implementation of sustainable manufacturing and sustainable product.

Keywords: sustainable development, sustainable manufacturing, resource efficiency, framework for sustainable manufacturing

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Authors: Abdulaziz Omar Alsadhan, Mohd Mudasir Shafi

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Performance testing is done to prove the reliability of any software product. There are a number of tools available in the markets that are used to perform performance testing. In this paper we present a comparative study of the three most commonly used performance testing tools. These tools cover the major share of the performance testing market and are widely used. In this paper we compared the tools on five evaluation parameters which are; User friendliness, portability, tool support, compatibility and cost. The conclusion provided at the end of the paper is based on our study and does not support any tool or company.

Keywords: software development, software testing, quality assurance, performance testing, load runner, rational testing, silk performer

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Authors: C. Peeper McDonald

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Despite the multiracial population growing exponentially in the world and especially in the U.S., there continues to be a lack of culturally responsive research addressing the unique experiences and needs of this population, especially within counseling and counselor education settings. It is evident that their unique racial microaggressive experiences need to be better understood within the field of professional counseling to not only underscore competent training and practice but also culturally responsive training and practice. The participants of this study were 13 (n=13) individuals from the United States who identified as multiracial and said they had a microaggressive experience with either their counselor or counseling professor. Data were gathered through one-on-one, semi-structured interviews. The analysis employed phenomenological methods based on the transcendental approach, resulting in themes that encapsulated the core of the participants' experiences, including multiracial microaggressions that are derogatory and perpetuate privilege/oppression; counselors and their training programs should embody safety, support, attentiveness, inter-personal sensitivity, and awareness of the impact on others; microaggressions negatively affect the counseling relationship and outcomes; awareness surrounding the emotional impact of microaggressions; strength-based responses and future responses to microaggressions; and advocacy and suggestions for counselors and counselor educators. These themes are discussed in detail, and recommendations for researchers, counselor educators, and professional counselors to improve training and practice are provided. This U.S. study's insights into the Multiracial experience of microaggressions within the mental health profession can inform global mental health practices by highlighting the need for culturally responsive counseling that recognizes and addresses racial nuances. Such knowledge is transferable to international settings where multiracial populations may also encounter similar challenges, aiding in the development of global standards for culturally competent counseling practices.

Keywords: culturally responsive training and practice, mental health, microaggressions, multiracial

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Authors: Halimi Mohamed Taher, Kordoghli Bassem, Ben Hassen Mohamed, Sakli Faouzi

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Textile and clothing manufacturing industry is based largely on subcontracting system. Choosing the right subcontractor became a strategic decision that can affect the financial position of the company and even his market position. Subcontracting firms in Tunisia are lead to define an appropriate selection process which takes into account several quantitative and qualitative criteria. In this study, a methodology is proposed that includes a Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in order to incorporate the ambiguities and uncertainties in qualitative decision. Best subcontractors for two Tunisian firms are determined based on model results.

Keywords: AHP, subcontractor, multicriteria, selection

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Authors: Oluwatobiloba Moody

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On October 12, 2014, the Nagoya Protocol, negotiated by Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), entered into force. The Protocol was negotiated to implement the third objective of the CBD which relates to the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources (GRs). The Protocol aims to ‘protect’ GRs and traditional knowledge (TK) associated with GRs from ‘biopiracy’, through the establishment of a binding international regime on access and benefit sharing (ABS). In reflecting on the question of ‘effectiveness’ in the Protocol’s implementation, this paper argues that the underlying problem of ‘biopiracy’, which the Protocol seeks to address, is one which goes beyond the ABS regime. It rather thrives due to indispensable factors emanating from the global intellectual property (IP) regime. It contends that biopiracy therefore constitutes an international problem of ‘borders’ as much as of ‘regimes’ and, therefore, while the implementation of the Protocol may effectively address the ‘trans-border’ issues which have hitherto troubled African provider countries in their establishment of regulatory mechanisms, it remains unable to address the ‘trans-regime’ issues related to the eradication of biopiracy, especially those issues which involve the IP regime. This is due to the glaring incoherence in the Nagoya Protocol’s implementation and the existing global IP system. In arriving at conclusions, the paper examines the ongoing related discussions within the IP regime, specifically those within the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) and the WTO TRIPS Council. It concludes that the Protocol’s effectiveness in protecting TK associated with GRs is conditional on the attainment of outcomes, within the ongoing negotiations of the IP regime, which could be implemented in a coherent manner with the Nagoya Protocol. It proposes specific ways to achieve this coherence. Three main methodological steps have been incorporated in the paper’s development. First, a review of data accumulated over a two year period arising from the coordination of six important negotiating sessions of the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore. In this respect, the research benefits from reflections on the political, institutional and substantive nuances which have coloured the IP negotiations and which provide both the context and subtext to emerging texts. Second, a desktop review of the history, nature and significance of the Nagoya Protocol, using relevant primary and secondary literature from international and national sources. Third, a comparative analysis of selected biopiracy cases is undertaken for the purpose of establishing the inseparability of the IP regime and the ABS regime in the conceptualization and development of solutions to biopiracy. A comparative analysis of select African regulatory mechanisms (Kenya, South Africa and Ethiopia and the ARIPO Swakopmund Protocol) for the protection of TK is also undertaken.

Keywords: biopiracy, intellectual property, Nagoya protocol, traditional knowledge

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Authors: Avadh Bihari

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Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a global parameter to define corporates' ethical and responsible behaviour. It was a voluntary practice in India till 2013, driven by various guidelines, which has become a mandate since 2014 under the Companies Act, 2013. This has compelled the corporates to redesign their CSR strategies by bringing in structures, planning, accountability, and transparency in their processes with a mandate to 'comply or explain'. Based on the author's M.Phil. dissertation, this paper presents the changes in organisational practices and institutional mechanisms of third-sector organisations (TSOs) with the theoretical frameworks of institutionalism and co-optation. It became an interesting case as India is the only country to have a law on CSR, which is not only mandating the reporting but the spending too. The space of CSR in India is changing rapidly and affecting multiple institutions, in the context of the changing roles of the state, market, and TSOs. Several factors such as stringent regulation on foreign funding, mandatory CSR pushing corporates to look out for NGOs, and dependency of Indian NGOs on CSR funds have come to the fore almost simultaneously, which made it an important area of study. Further, the paper aims at addressing the gap in the literature on the effects of mandated CSR on the functioning of TSOs through the empirical and theoretical findings of this study. The author had adopted an interpretivist position in this study to explore changes in organisational practices from the participants' experiences. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with five corporate officials, eleven officials from six TSOs, and two academicians, located at Mumbai and Delhi, India. The findings of this study show the legislation has institutionalised CSR, and TSOs get co-opted in the process of implementing mandated CSR. Seventy percent of the corporates implement their CSR projects through TSOs in India; this has affected the organisational practices of TSOs to a large extent. They are compelled to recruit expert workforce, create new departments for monitoring & evaluation, communications, and adopt management practices of project implementation from corporates. These are attempts to institutionalise the TSOs so that they can produce calculated results as demanded by corporates. In this process, TSOs get co-opted in a struggle to secure funds and lose their autonomy. The normative, coercive, and mimetic isomorphisms of institutionalism come into play as corporates are mandated to take up CSR, thereby influencing the organisational practices of TSOs. These results suggest that corporates and TSOs require an understanding of each other's work culture to develop mutual respect and work towards the goal of sustainable development of the communities. Further, TSOs need to retain their autonomy and understanding of ground realities without which they become an extension of the corporate-funder. For a successful CSR project, engagement beyond funding is required from corporate, through their involvement and not interference. CSR-led community development can be structured by management practices to an extent, but cannot overshadow the knowledge and experience of TSOs.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, institutionalism, organisational practices, third-sector organisations

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Authors: Opara Monica Onyinyechi, Ahmad Iqmer Nashriq Mohd Nazan, Suriani Ismail

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Introduction: Global estimates of malaria indicate that at least 3.3 billion people are at risk of being infected with malaria and 1.2 billion are at high risk. The review investigates the effectiveness of health education strategies to increase the level of malaria knowledge and ITN ownership among the populations of sub-Sahara African countries. Methods: A literature search was conducted using Science direct, CINAHL, PubMed, Prisma, Pico, Cochrane library and PsycINFO databases to retrieve articles published between 2000 until 2020. Eleven studies that reported on malaria prevention and intervention using health education strategies conducted in sub-Saharan Africa were included in the final review. Results: Four studies used educational interventions to teach appropriate ITN strategies and promote ITN usage. Two others focused on improving knowledge of malaria transmission, prevention, treatment, and its signs and symptoms. The remaining five studies assessed both ITN use and malaria knowledge. Of these, 10 were eligible for meta-analysis. On average, health education interventions significantly increase the odds of a person in the intervention group to report better malaria knowledge (odds ratio 1.30, 95% CI: 1.00 to 1.70, P= 0.05) and higher ITN ownership (odds ratio 1.53, 95% CI: 1.02 to 2.29, P= 0.004) compared to those in the control group. The odds of ITN ownership also substantially increases when the intervention was based on a theory or model (odds ratio 5.27, 95% CI: 3.24 to 8.58, P= 0.05). Conclusion: Our review highlights the various health education strategies used in sub-Saharan Africa to curb malaria over the past two decades. Meta-analysis findings show that health education intervention is moderately effective in improving malaria knowledge and ITN ownership and has contributed to the effort of global malaria strategy.

Keywords: malaria, health education, insecticide treated nets, sub-Saharan Africa, meta-analysis

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Authors: Camille Plant, Katherine McGill, Pek Ang

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Oncology patients face a host of unique challenges, which are physical, psychological and philosophical in nature. This preliminary study aimed to explore the psychiatric morbidity of oncology patients in an outpatient setting at a major public hospital in Australia. The study found that 33 patients were referred to a Psychiatrist by a Clinical Psychologist or treating Oncologist. These patients attended an outpatient Psychiatry appointment at the Calvary Mater Hospital, Newcastle, over a 7 month period (June 2017-January 2018). Of these, 45% went on to have a follow-up appointment. The Clinical Global Impressions Scale (CGI) was used to gather symptom severity scores at baseline and at follow-up. The CGI is a clinician determined instrument that provides an assessment of global functioning. It is comprised of two companion one-item measures: the CGI-Severity (CGI-S) rates mental illness severity, and the CGI-Improvement (CGI-I) rates change in condition or improvement from initiation of treatment. Patients referred to a Psychiatrist were observed to be on average in the Markedly ill approaching Severely ill range (CGI-S average of 5.5). However, those patients who attended a follow-up appointment were on average only Moderately Ill at baseline (CGI-S average of 3.9). Despite these follow patients not being severely mentally ill initially, the contact was helpful, as their CGI-S scores improved on average to the Mildly Ill range (CGI-S average of 2.8). A Mixed ANOVA revealed that there was a significant improvement in mental illness severity post-follow-up appointment (Greenhouse-Geisser .000). There was a near even proportion of males and females attending appointments (58% female), and slightly more females attended a follow-up (60% female). Males were on average more mentally ill at baseline compared to females at baseline (male average M=3.86, female average M=3.56), and males had a greater reduction in mental illness severity on average compared to females (male average M=2.71, female average 3.00). This was approaching significance (.073) and would be important to explore with a larger sample size. Change in clinical condition for follow-up patients was also recorded. It was found that more than half of patients (53%) were observed to experience Minimal improvement in attending at least one follow-up appointment. There was no change for 27% of patients, and there were no patients who were worse at follow up. As this was a preliminary study with small sample size, future research conducted could explore whether there are any significant gender differences, such as whether males experience the significantly greater reduction in symptoms of mental illness compared to females, as well as any effects of cancer stage or type on psychiatric outcomes. Future research could also investigate outcomes for those patients who concurrently access a Clinical Psychologist alongside the Psychiatrist. A limitation of the study is that the outcome measure is a brief item rating completed by the clinician.

Keywords: clinical global impressions scale, psychiatry, morbidity, oncology, outcomes, psychiatry

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Authors: Nithin Raj Adithyan

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Rap music is a popular genre that features strong beats and rhythmic words. It was created by American disc jockeys and urban Black performers in the late 1970s. Additionally, it carries on West African oral traditions that were introduced to the Americas by Africans who were held as slaves and have impacted the narrative and rhythmic components of rap. Initially introduced in India in the late 1990s as mere entertainment, rap lacked the politicized undertones that it developed in the United States. However, recent years have witnessed a transformation, with Indian rap evolving into a vital tool for marginalized communities—particularly Dalits, Muslims, and tribal groups—to voice grievances against historical injustices, systemic discrimination, and caste-based oppression. This paper examines Indian rap's evolution into a potent medium for subaltern resistance, drawing from its origins in the black ghettos of America, where rap emerged as social commentary and an anti-racial political voice. Historically, music has served as an essential medium for subaltern groups in India to assert their identities and reclaim agency. Indian rap, in its current form, amplifies this function by offering a compelling platform to address issues of caste oppression, socio-economic marginalization, and symbolic exclusion. This paper examines how contemporary Indian rappers, often from Dalit and lower-caste backgrounds, leverage their art to confront systemic injustices and amplify voices that have historically been silenced. By analyzing key artists and their lyrics, this paper highlights the ways in which rap critiques the pervasive caste system, challenges social hierarchies, and fosters a sense of identity and solidarity among subaltern groups. This study uses Gayatri Spivak’s concept of “strategic essentialism” to explore how Indian rap fosters shared subaltern identity, uniting voices across regional and cultural divides. By situating Indian rap within the global hip-hop movement, the paper highlights how it contributes a unique perspective to global narratives of resilience and resistance, adapting international influences to articulate local struggles. Ultimately, this research highlights Indian rap’s role as a catalyst for change, examining its critique of caste violence, economic marginalization, and social exclusion and demonstrating how it contributes to the anti-caste movement. Through a close reading of this subaltern dimension of rap, the paper illuminates how Indian rap fosters identity, solidarity, and resistance, affirming the genre’s potential as a transformative force within the global legacy of hip-hop as an expression of subaltern agency and social dissent.

Keywords: caste oppression, hip-hop/rap, resistance, subaltern

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Authors: Naziema Begum Jappie

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The internationalization of higher education has become a focal point for academic institutions worldwide, including those in South Africa. This paper explores the multifaceted implications of internationalization on management and practice within the South African higher education landscape. Universities all over the world are increasingly recognizing the challenges of globalization and the pressures towards internationalization. Internationalization in higher education encompasses a range of activities, including academic exchange programs, research collaborations, joint degree programs, and the recruitment of international students and faculty. In South Africa, this process is driven by various factors, including the quest for global competitiveness, the pursuit of academic excellence, and the promotion of cultural diversity. However, while internationalization presents numerous opportunities, it also brings forth significant challenges that require careful consideration by management and practitioners in higher education institutions. Furthermore, the internationalization of higher education in South Africa has significant implications for teaching and learning practices. With an increasingly diverse student body, educators must employ innovative pedagogical approaches that cater to the needs and preferences of a multicultural cohort. This may involve the integration of global perspectives into the curriculum, the use of technology-enhanced learning platforms, and the promotion of intercultural competence among students and faculty. Additionally, the exchange of knowledge and ideas with international partners can enrich research activities and contribute to the advancement of knowledge in various fields. The internationalization of higher education in South Africa has profound implications for management and practice within academic institutions. While it offers opportunities for enhancing academic quality, promoting cultural exchange, and advancing research agendas, it also presents challenges that require strategic planning, resource allocation, and stakeholder engagement. By addressing these challenges proactively and leveraging the opportunities presented by internationalization, South African universities can position themselves as global leaders in higher education while contributing to the socio-economic development of the country and the continent at large. This paper draws together the international experience in South Africa to explore the emerging patterns of strategy and practice in internationalizing Higher Education and will highlight some critical notions of how the concepts of internationalization and globalization in the context of higher education are understood by those who lead universities and what new challenges are being created as universities seek to become more international. Institutions cannot simply have bullet points in the strategic plan for the recruitment of international students; there has to be a complete commitment to a national strategy of inclusivity. This paper will further examine the leadership styles that ensure transformation together with the goals set out for internationalization. Discussions around adding the international relations dimension to the curriculum. Addressing the issues relevant to cross-border delivery of higher education.

Keywords: challenges, higher education, internationalization, strategic focus

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Authors: Rui Calejo Rodrigues

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Building Refurbishing and Maintenance is a major area of knowledge ultimately dispensed to user/occupant criteria. The optimization of the service life of a building needs a special background to be assessed as it is one of those concepts that needs proficiency to be implemented. ISO 15686-2 Buildings and constructed assets - Service life planning: Part 2, Service life prediction procedures, states a factorial method based on deterministic data for building components life span. Major consequences result on a deterministic approach because users/occupants are not sensible to understand the end of components life span and so simply act on deterministic periods and so costly and resources consuming solutions do not meet global targets of planet sustainability. The estimation of 2 thousand million conventional buildings in the world, if submitted to a probabilistic method for service life planning rather than a deterministic one provide an immense amount of resources savings. Since 1989 the research team nowadays stating for CEES–Center for Building in Service Studies developed a methodology based on Montecarlo method for probabilistic approach regarding life span of building components, cost and service life care time spans. The research question of this deals with the importance of probabilistic approach of buildings life planning compared with deterministic methods. It is presented the mathematic model developed for buildings probabilistic lifespan approach and experimental data is obtained to be compared with deterministic data. Assuming that buildings lifecycle depends a lot on component replacement this methodology allows to conclude on the global impact of fixed replacements methodologies such as those on result of deterministic models usage. Major conclusions based on conventional buildings estimate are presented and evaluated under a sustainable perspective.

Keywords: building components life cycle, building maintenance, building sustainability, Montecarlo Simulation

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Authors: Calvin Rong, Regina Agassian, Mindy Engle-Friedman

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Climate changes, including rising sea levels and increases in global temperature, can have major effects on resource availability, leading to increased competition for resources and rising food prices. The abstract nature and often delayed consequences of many ecological problems cause people focus on immediate, specific, and personal events and circumstances that compel immediate and emotional involvement. This finding may be explained by the challenges humans have in imagining themselves in the future, a shortcoming that interferes with decision-making involving far-off rewards, and leads people to indicate a lower concern toward the future than to present circumstances. The present study sought to assess whether priming people to think of themselves in the future might strengthen the connection to their future selves and stimulate environmentally-protective behavior. We hypothesize that priming participants to think about themselves in the future would increase concern for the future environment. 45 control participants were primed to think about themselves in the present, and 42 participants were primed to think about themselves in the futures. After priming, the participants rated their concern over access to clean water, food, and energy on a scale of 1 to 10. They also rated their predicted care levels for the environment at age points 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 on a scale of 1(not at all) to 10 (very much). Predicted care levels at age 90 for the experimental group was significantly higher than for the control group. Overall the experimental group rated their concern for resources higher than the control. In comparison to the control group (M=7.60, SD=2.104) participants in the experimental group had greater concern for clean water (M=8.56, SD=1.534). In comparison to the control group (M=7.49, SD=2.041) participants in the experimental group were more concerned about food resources (M=8.41, SD=1.830). In comparison to the control group (M=7.22, SD=1.999) participants in the experimental group were more concerned about energy resources (M=8.07, SD=1.967). This study assessed whether a priming strategy could be used to encourage pro-environmental practices that protect limited resources. Future-self priming helped participants see past short term issues and focus on concern for the future environment.

Keywords: climate change, future, priming, global warming

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Authors: Guo Rui, Cao Xinhu

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In recent decades, the world has endured severe challenges in light of climate change, epidemics, geopolitics, terrorism, economic uncertainties, as well as regional conflicts and rivalries. The appropriate use of critical infrastructures (Cis) is confronted. Ports, as typical Cis cover more than 80% of the global freight movement. Within this context, even the minimal disruption of port operations could cause malfunction of the holistic supply chain network and substantial economic losses. Hence, it is crucial to evaluate port performance from the perspective of resilience. Research on resilience and risk/safety management has been increasing, however, it needs more attention, as it could prevent potential socio-economic losses and inspire decision-makers to make resilience-based decisions to answer the challenges, such as COVID-19. To facilitate better moves from decision-makers, ports need to identify proper factors influencing port resilience. Inappropriately influenced factor selection could have a cascading effect on undesirable port performances. Thus, a systematic evaluation of factors is essential to stimulate the improvement process of port resilience investigation. This study zooms into container ports considering their critical role in international trade and global supply chains. 440 articles are selected after relevance ranking, and consequently, 62 articles are scrutinized after the title and abstract screening. Forty-one articles are included for bibliographic analysis in the end. It is found that there is no standardized index system to measure port resilience. And most studies evaluate port resilience merely in the recovery phase. Only two articles cover absorption, adaption and recovery state. However, no literature involves the prevention state. Hence, a uniform resilience index system is expected with a clear resilience definition. And port safety and security should also be considered while evaluating port resilience.

Keywords: port resilience, port safety and security, literature review, index system, port performance

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Authors: Rashmi Dyondi, Shishir K. Jha

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The purpose of the paper is to address the strategic risk issues surrounding Hindi film distribution in Mumbai for a film distributor, who acts as an entrepreneur when launching a product (movie) in the market (film territory).The paper undertakes a fundamental review of films and risk in the Hindi film industry and applies Grounded Theory technique to understand the complex phenomena of risk taking behavior of the film distributors (both independent and studios) in Mumbai. Rich in-depth interviews with distributors are coded to develop core categories through constant comparison leading to conceptualization of the phenomena of interest. This paper is a first-of-its-kind-attempt to understand risk behavior of a distributor, which is akin to entrepreneurial risk behavior under conditions of uncertainty. Unlike extensive scholarly work on dynamics of Hollywood motion picture industry, Hindi film industry is an under-researched area till now. Especially how do film distributors perceive risk is an unexplored study for the Hindi film industry. Films are unique experience products and the film distributor acts as an entrepreneur assuming high risks given the uncertainty in the motion picture business. With the entry of mighty corporate studios and astronomical film budgets posing serious business threats to the independent distributors, there is a need for an in-depth qualitative enquiry (applying grounded theory technique) for unraveling the definition of risk for the independent distributors in Mumbai vis-à-vis the corporate studios. Need for good content was a common challenge to both the groups in the present state of the industry, however corporate studios with their distinct ideologies, focus on own productions and financial power faced different set of challenges than the independents (like achieving sustainability in business). Softer issues like market goodwill and relations with producers, honesty in business dealings and transparency came out to be clear markers for success of independents in long run. The findings from the qualitative analysis stress on different elements of risk and challenges as perceived by the two groups of distributors in the Hindi film industry and provide a future research agenda for empirical investigation of determinants of box-office success of Hindi films distributed in Mumbai.

Keywords: entrepreneurial risk behavior, film distribution strategy, Hindi film industry, risk

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Authors: Mahadehe Hassan

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Transport system and industries which are the main basis of industrial and socio-economic development of any country. It is mainly dependent on fossil fuels. Bangladesh has fossil fuel reserves of 9.51 TCF as of July 2023, and if no new gas fields are discovered in the next 7-9 years and if the existing gas consumption rate continues, the fossil fuel reserves will be exhausted. The demand for petroleum products in Bangladesh is increasing steadily, with 63% imported by BPC and 37% imported by private companies. 61.61% of BPC imported products are used in the transport sector and 5.49% in the industrial sector, which is expensive and harmful to the environment. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) should be considered as an alternative energy for Bangladesh based on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) criteria for sustainable, clean and affordable energy. This will not only lead to the much desired mitigation of energy famine in the country but also contribute favorably to the macroeconomic indicators. Considering the environmental and economic issues, the government has referred to CNG (compressed natural gas) as the fuel carrier since 2000, but currently due to the decline mode of gas reserves, the government of Bangladesh is thinking of new energy sources for transport and industrial sectors which will be sustainable, environmentally friendly and economically viable. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is the best choice for fueling transport and industrial sectors in Bangladesh. At present, a total of 1.54 million metric tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is marketed in Bangladesh by the public and private sectors. 83% of it is used by households, 12% by industry and commerce and 5% by transportation. Industrial and transport sector consumption is negligible compared to household consumption. So the purpose of the research is to find out the challenges of LPG market development in transport and industrial sectors in Bangladesh and make recommendations to reduce the challenges. Secure supply chain, inadequate infrastructure, insufficient investment, lack of government monitoring and consumer awareness in the transport sector and industrial sector are major challenges for LPG market development in Bangladesh. Bangladesh government as well as private owners should come forward in the development of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) industry to reduce the challenges of secure energy sector for sustainable development. Furthermore, ensuring adequate Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) supply in Bangladesh requires government regulations, infrastructure improvements in port areas, awareness raising and most importantly proper pricing of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) to address the energy crisis in Bangladesh.

Keywords: transportand industries fuel, LPG consumption, challenges, economical sustainability

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Authors: Tejaswi Agarwal, Amritansh Agarwal

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Forest ecosystem plays very important role in the global carbon cycle. It stores about 80% of all above ground and 40% of all below ground terrestrial organic carbon. There is much interest in the extent of tropical forests and their rates of deforestation for two reasons: greenhouse gas contributions and the impact of profoundly negative biodiversity. Deforestation has many ecological, social and economic consequences, one of which is the loss of biological diversity. The rapid deployment of remote sensing (RS) satellites and development of RS analysis techniques in the past three decades have provided a reliable, effective, and practical way to characterize terrestrial ecosystem properties. Global estimates of tropical deforestation vary widely and range from 50,000 to 170,000km2 /yr Recent FAO tropical deforestation estimates for 1990–1995 cite 116,756km2 / yr globally. Remote Sensing can prove to be a very useful tool in monitoring of forests and associated deforestation to a sufficient level of accuracy without the need of physically surveying the forest areas as many of them are physically inaccessible. The methodology for the assessment of forest cover using digital image processing (ERDAS) has been followed. The satellite data for the study was procured from Indian institute of remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradoon in the digital format. While procuring the satellite data, care was taken to ensure that the data was cloud free and did not belong to dry and leafless season. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has been used as a numerical indicator of the reduction in ground biomass. NDVI = (near I.R - Red)/ (near I.R + Red). After calculating the NDVI variations and associated mean, we have analysed the change in ground biomass. Through this paper, we have tried to indicate the rate of deforestation over a given period of time by comparing the forest cover at different time intervals. With the help of remote sensing and GIS techniques, it is clearly shown that the total forest cover is continuously degrading and transforming into various land use/land cover category.

Keywords: remote sensing, deforestation, supervised classification, NDVI, change detection

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Authors: Michael Moeti, Khuliso Sigama, Thapelo Samuel Matlala

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One of the principal challenges that the world is confronted with is insecurity. The crime rate is increasing exponentially, and protecting our physical assets especially in the motorist industry, is becoming impossible when applying our own strength. The need to develop technological solutions that detect and report theft without any human interference is inevitable. This is critical, especially for vehicle owners, to ensure theft detection and speedy identification towards recovery efforts in cases where a vehicle is missing or attempted theft is taking place. The vehicle theft detection system uses Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to recognize the driver's face captured using an installed mobile phone device. The location identification function uses a Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine the real-time location of the vehicle. Upon identification of the location, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technology is used to report or notify the vehicle owner about the whereabouts of the vehicle. The installed mobile app was implemented by making use of python as it is undoubtedly the best choice in machine learning. It allows easy access to machine learning algorithms through its widely developed library ecosystem. The graphical user interface was developed by making use of JAVA as it is better suited for mobile development. Google's online database (Firebase) was used as a means of storage for the application. The system integration test was performed using a simple percentage analysis. Sixty (60) vehicle owners participated in this study as a sample, and questionnaires were used in order to establish the acceptability of the system developed. The result indicates the efficiency of the proposed system, and consequently, the paper proposes the use of the system can effectively monitor the vehicle at any given place, even if it is driven outside its normal jurisdiction. More so, the system can be used as a database to detect, locate and report missing vehicles to different security agencies.

Keywords: CNN, location identification, tracking, GPS, GSM

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Authors: Mehwish Shahzadi

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Sunflower is cultivated all over the world not only as an ornament plant but also for the purpose of getting oil. It is the third most cultivated plant in the history because its oil considered best for health. The present study deals with the preparation of sunflower oil from commercial seed sample which was obtained from local market. The physicochemical properties of the oil were determined which included saponification value, acid value and ester value. Results showed that saponification value of the oil was 191.675, acid value was 0.64 and ester value to be 191.035 for the sample under observation. GC-MS analysis of sunflower oil was carried out to check its composition. Oleic acid was determined with linoleic acid and isopropyl palmitate. It represents the presence of three major components of sunflower oil. Other compounds detected were, p-toluylic acid, butylated hydroxytoluene, 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid, benzoic acid, 2,4,6-trimethyl-, 2,4,6-trimethylphenyl ester and 2,4-decadienal, (E,E).

Keywords: GC-MS, oleic acid, saponification value, sunflower oil

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Authors: Robin V. Cupido

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Online dispute resolution has been identified in many countries as a viable alternative for resolving conflicts which have arisen in the so-called digital age. This system of dispute resolution is developing alongside the Internet, and as new types of transactions are made possible by our increased connectivity, new ways of resolving disputes must be explored. Developed nations, such as the United States of America and the European Union, have been involved in creating these online dispute resolution mechanisms from the outset, and currently have sophisticated systems in place to deal with conflicts arising in a number of different fields, such as e-commerce, domain name disputes, labour disputes and conflicts arising from family law. Specifically, in the field of e-commerce, the Internet’s borderless nature has served as a way to promote cross-border trade, and has created a global marketplace. Participation in this marketplace boosts a country’s economy, as new markets are now available, and consumers can transact from anywhere in the world. It would be especially advantageous for developing nations to be a part of this global marketplace, as it could stimulate much-needed investment in these nations, and encourage international co-operation and trade. However, for these types of transactions to proliferate, an effective system for resolving the inevitable disputes arising from such an increase in e-commerce is needed. Online dispute resolution scholarship and practice is flourishing in developed nations, and it is clear that the gap is widening between developed and developing nations in this regard. The potential for implementing online dispute resolution in developing countries has been discussed, but there are a number of obstacles that have thus far prevented its continued development. This paper aims to evaluate the various political, infrastructural and socio-economic challenges faced in developing nations, and to question how these have impacted the acceptance and development of online dispute resolution, scholarship and training of online dispute resolution practitioners and, ultimately, developing nations’ readiness to participate in cross-border e-commerce.

Keywords: developing countries, feasibility, online dispute resolution, progress

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Authors: Della Saddam Housseyn

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Gold, the quintessential noble metal, is one of the most popular metals today, given its ever-increasing cost in the international market. The Amesmessa gold deposit is one of the gold-producing deposits. The first step in our job is to analyze the ore (considered rich ore). Mineralogical and chemical analysis has shown that the general constitution of the ore is quartz in addition to other phases such as Al2O3, Fe2O3, CaO, dolomite. The second step consists of all the leaching tests carried out in rolling bottles. These tests were carried out on 14 samples to determine the maximum recovery rate and the optimum consumption of reagent (NaCN and CaO). Tests carried out on a pulp density at 50% solid, 500 ppm cyanide concentration and particle size less than 0.6 mm at alkaline pH gave a recovery rate of 94.37%.

Keywords: cyanide, DRX, FX, gold, leaching, rate of recovery, SAA

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Authors: Amritansh Agarwal, Tejaswi Agarwal

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Forest ecosystem plays very important role in the global carbon cycle. It stores about 80% of all above ground and 40% of all below ground terrestrial organic carbon. There is much interest in the extent of tropical forests and their rates of deforestation for two reasons: greenhouse gas contributions and the impact of profoundly negative biodiversity. Deforestation has many ecological, social and economic consequences, one of which is the loss of biological diversity. The rapid deployment of remote sensing (RS) satellites and development of RS analysis techniques in the past three decades have provided a reliable, effective, and practical way to characterize terrestrial ecosystem properties. Global estimates of tropical deforestation vary widely and range from 50,000 to 170,000 km2 /yr Recent FAO tropical deforestation estimates for 1990–1995 cite 116,756km2 / yr globally. Remote Sensing can prove to be a very useful tool in monitoring of forests and associated deforestation to a sufficient level of accuracy without the need of physically surveying the forest areas as many of them are physically inaccessible. The methodology for the assessment of forest cover using digital image processing (ERDAS) has been followed. The satellite data for the study was procured from USGS website in the digital format. While procuring the satellite data, care was taken to ensure that the data was cloud and aerosol free by making using of FLAASH atmospheric correction technique. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has been used as a numerical indicator of the reduction in ground biomass. NDVI = (near I.R - Red)/ (near I.R + Red). After calculating the NDVI variations and associated mean we have analysed the change in ground biomass. Through this paper we have tried to indicate the rate of deforestation over a given period of time by comparing the forest cover at different time intervals. With the help of remote sensing and GIS techniques it is clearly shows that the total forest cover is continuously degrading and transforming into various land use/land cover category.

Keywords: remote sensing, deforestation, supervised classification, NDVI change detection

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Authors: Kyo Jin An, Bukyo Seo, Young-Chul Park

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The current trend in car market is increase of parts of automobile and weight in vehicle. It comes from improvement of vehicle performance. Outer tie rod is a part of component of steering system and it is lighter than the others. But, weight lightening is still required for improvement of car mileage. So, we have presented a model of aluminized outer tie rod, but the process of fabrication has to be checked to manufacture the product. Therefore, we have anticipated forming load, die stress and abrasion to use the program of forging interpretation in the part of hot forging process of outer tie rod in this study. Also, we have implemented the experiments design to use the table of orthogonal arrays to reduce the forming load.

Keywords: forming load, hot forging, orthogonal array, outer tie rod (OTR), multi–step forging

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Authors: Adela Mariana Vadastreanu, Adrian Bot, Andreea Maier, Dorin Maier

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This paper approaches the need for innovation management in the context of an existing integrated management system implemented in an organization. The road to success for companies in today’s economic environment is more demanding than ever and the capacity of adapting to the rapid changes is compensatory in order to resist on the market. The managers struggle, daily, with increasingly complex problems, caused by fierce competition in the market but also from the rising demands of customers. Innovation seems to be the solution for these problems. During the last decade almost all companies have been certificated according to various management systems, like quality management system, environmental management system, health and safety management system and others; furthermore many companies have implemented an integrated management system, by integrating two or more management systems. The problem rising today is how to integrate innovation in this integrated management systems. The challenge of the problem is that the development of an innovation management system is in the early phase. In this paper we have studied the possibility of integrating some of the innovation request in an existing management system, we have identify the innovation performance request and we proposed some recommendations regarding innovation management and its implementation as a part of an integrated management system. This paper lies down the bases for developing an model of integration management systems that include innovation as a main part of it. Organizations are becoming more aware of the importance of Integrated Management Systems (IMS). Integrating two or more management systems into an integrated management system can have much advantages.This paper examines various models of management systems integration in accordance with professional references ISO 9001, ISO 18001 and OHSAS 18001, highlighting strengths and weaknesses, creating a basis for future development of integrated management systems, and their involvement in various other processes within the organization, such as innovation management. The more and more demanding economic context emphasizes the awareness of the importance of innovation for organizations. This paper highlights the importance of the innovation for an organization and also gives some practical solution in order to improve the overall success of the business through a better approach of innovation. Various standards have been developed in order to certificate organizations that they respect the requirements. Applying an integrated standards model is shown to be a more effective way then applying the standards independently. The problem that arises is that in order to adopt the integrated version of standards there have to be made some changes at the organizational level. Every change that needs to be done has an effect on its activity, and in this sense the paper tries to deal with the changes needed for adopting an integrated management system and if those changes have an influence over the performance. After the analysis of the results, we can conclude that in order to improve the performance a necessary step is the implementation of innovation in the existing integrated management system.

Keywords: innovation, integrated management systems, innovation management, quality

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Authors: Mohd Zaimmudin Mohd Zain, Patsy Perry, Lee Quinn

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This study explores how fashion consumers are influenced by fashion bloggers towards pre-purchase decision for online fashion products in a non-Western context. Malaysians rank among the world’s most avid online shoppers, with apparel the third most popular purchase category. However, extant research on fashion blogging focuses on the developed Western market context. Numerous international fashion retailers have entered the Malaysian market from luxury to fast fashion segments of the market; however Malaysian fashion consumers must balance religious and social norms for modesty with their dress style and adoption of fashion trends. Consumers increasingly mix and match Islamic and Western elements of dress to create new styles enabling them to follow Western fashion trends whilst paying respect to social and religious norms. Social media have revolutionised the way that consumers can search for and find information about fashion products. For online fashion brands with no physical presence, social media provide a means of discovery for consumers. By allowing the creation and exchange of user-generated content (UGC) online, they provide a public forum that gives individual consumers their own voices, as well as access to product information that facilitates their purchase decisions. Social media empower consumers and brands have important roles in facilitating conversations among consumers and themselves, to help consumers connect with them and one another. Fashion blogs have become an important fashion information sources. By sharing their personal style and inspiring their followers with what they wear on popular social media platforms such as Instagram, fashion bloggers have become fashion opinion leaders. By creating UGC to spread useful information to their followers, they influence the pre-purchase decision. Hence, successful Western fashion bloggers such as Chiara Ferragni may earn millions of US dollars every year, and some have created their own fashion ranges and beauty products, become judges in fashion reality shows, won awards, and collaborated with high street and luxury brands. As fashion blogging has become more established worldwide, increasing numbers of fashion bloggers have emerged from non-Western backgrounds to promote Islamic fashion styles, such as Hassanah El-Yacoubi and Dian Pelangi. This study adopts a qualitative approach using netnographic content analysis of consumer comments on two famous Malaysian fashion bloggers’ Instagram accounts during January-March 2016 and qualitative interviews with 16 Malaysian Generation Y fashion consumers during September-October 2016. Netnography adapts ethnographic techniques to the study of online communities or computer-mediated communications. Template analysis of the data involved coding comments according to the theoretical framework, which was developed from the literature review. Initial data analysis shows the strong influence of Malaysian fashion bloggers on their followers in terms of lifestyle and morals as well as fashion style. Followers were guided towards the mix and match trend of dress with Western and Islamic elements, for example, showing how vivid colours or accessories could be worked into an outfit whilst still respecting social and religious norms. The blogger’s Instagram account is a form of online community where followers can communicate and gain guidance and support from other followers, as well as from the blogger.

Keywords: fashion bloggers, Malaysia, qualitative, social media

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Authors: Chinyere Ori Elom, Ikechukwu Ogeze Ukeje, Chukwudum Collins Umoke

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This paper aims to stimulate scholarly interest in AI, ICT and the existing (complex) systems trajectory- theory, practice, and aspirations within the African continent and to shed fresh light on the shortcomings of the higher education sector (HEs) through the prism of AI-driven Solutions for enhancing Guidance and Counseling and sound governance framework (SGF) in higher education modeling. It further seeks to investigate existing prospects yet to be realized in Nigerian universities by probing innovation neglect in the localities, exploring practices in the global ICT spaces neglected by Nigeria universities’ governance regimes (UGRs), and suggesting area applicability, sustainability and solution modeling in response to peculiar ‘wicked ICT-driven problems’ and or issues facing the continent as well as other universities in emerging societies. This study will adopt a mixed-method approach to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. This paper argues that it will command great relevance in the local and global university system by developing ICT relevance sustainability policy initiatives (SPIs) powered by a multi-stakeholder engagement governance model (MSEGm) that is sufficiently dynamic, eclectic and innovative to surmount complex and constantly rising challenges of the modern-developing world. Hence, it will consider diverse actors both as producers and users alike as victims and beneficiaries of common concerns in the ICT world; thereby providing pathways on how AI’s integration into education governance can significantly reduce counseling gaps, ensuring more students are attended to especially when human counselors are unavailable.

Keywords: AI-counseling solution, stakeholder engagement, university governance, higher education

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Authors: Fiorenzo Lenzi, Doris Abt, Besnik Bytyqi

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Recent developments in composite materials for the interior cabin market provide more sustainable solutions for industrial applications. One contribution comes from epoxy-based prepregs recently developed to substitute phenolic prepregs in order to reduce the environmental impact of their production process and to eliminate health and safety issues related to their handling. Another example is the use of Mica-based products for improving the fire protection of interior cabin parts. Minerals, such as Mica, can be used as reinforcement in composites to reduce the heat release rate or, more traditionally, to improve the burn-through performance of fuselage and cargo lining components.

Keywords: prepreg, epoxy, Mica, battery protection

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Authors: Samuel Carpintero

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Public-private partnerships (PPP) arrangements have emerged all around the world as a response to infrastructure deficits and the need to refurbish existing infrastructure. The motivations of governments for embarking on PPPs for the delivery of public infrastructure are manifold, and include on-time and on-budget delivery as well as access to private project management expertise. The PPP formula has been used by some State governments in United States and Canada, where the participation of private companies in financing and managing infrastructure projects has increased significantly in the last decade, particularly in the transport sector. On the one hand, this paper examines the various ways used in these two countries in the implementation of PPP arrangements, with a particular focus on risk transfer. The examination of risk transfer in this paper is carried out with reference to the following key PPP risk categories: construction risk, revenue risk, operating risk and availability risk. The main difference between both countries is that in Canada the demand risk remains usually within the public sector whereas in the United States this risk is usually transferred to the private concessionaire. The aim is to explore which lessons can be learnt from both models than might be useful for other countries. On the other hand, the paper also analyzes why the Spanish companies have been so successful in winning PPP contracts in North America during the past decade. Contrary to the Latin American PPP market, the Spanish companies do not have any cultural advantage in the case of the United States and Canada. Arguably, some relevant reasons for the success of the Spanish groups are their extensive experience in PPP projects (that dates back to the late 1960s in some cases), their high technical level (that allows them to be aggressive in their bids), and their good position and track-record in the financial markets. The article’s empirical base consists of data provided by official sources of both countries as well as information collected through face-to-face interviews with public and private representatives of the stakeholders participating in some of the PPP schemes. Interviewees include private project managers of the concessionaires, representatives of banks involved as financiers in the projects, and experts in the PPP industry with close knowledge of the North American market. Unstructured in-depth interviews have been adopted as a means of investigation for this study because of its powers to achieve honest and robust responses and to ensure realism in the collection of an overall impression of stakeholders’ perspectives.

Keywords: PPP, concession, infrastructure, construction

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Authors: Francois Defay, Martim Calao, Jean Francois Dassieu, Laurent Salvetat

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Electrical vehicles are a solution for reducing the pollution using green energy. The shell Eco-Marathon provides rules in order to minimize the battery use for the race. The use of solar panel combined with efficient motor control and race strategy allow driving a 60kg vehicle with one pilot using only the solar energy in the best case. This paper presents a complete modelization of a solar vehicle used for the shell eco-marathon. This project called Helios is cooperation between non-graduated students, academic institutes, and industrials. The prototype is an ultra-energy-efficient vehicle based on one-meter square solar panel and an own-made brushless controller to optimize the electrical part. The vehicle is equipped with sensors and embedded system to provide all the data in real time in order to evaluate the best strategy for the course. A complete modelization with Matlab/Simulink is used to test the optimal strategy to increase the global endurance. Experimental results are presented to validate the different parts of the model: mechanical, aerodynamics, electrical, solar panel. The major finding of this study is to provide solutions to identify the model parameters (Rolling Resistance Coefficient, drag coefficient, motor torque coefficient, etc.) by means of experimental results combined with identification techniques. One time the coefficients are validated, the strategy to optimize the consumption and the average speed can be tested first in simulation before to be implanted for the race. The paper describes all the simulation and experimental parts and provides results in order to optimize the global efficiency of the vehicle. This works have been started four years ago and evolved many students for the experimental and theoretical parts and allow to increase the knowledge on electrical self-efficient vehicle.

Keywords: electrical vehicle, endurance, optimization, shell eco-marathon

Procedia PDF Downloads 266