Search results for: growth management

Authors: Abubakar O. Sulaiman

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Agriculture was the main stay of Nigeria’s economy before the oil boom of the 1970s caused a gradual but steady shift from agriculture to crude oil as the major source of revenue and foreign exchange. The economy later experienced many symptoms of the 'Dutch disease', with exchange rate appreciation and erosion of competitiveness of the non-oil tradable goods. In order to reverse the worsening economic situations -high unemployment, galloping inflation, deteriorating balance of payment, declining economic growth, and fiscal deficits among others- the government, embarked on austerity measures in 1982 and Structure Adjustment Programme (SAP) in 1986. One of the cornerstones of SAP is the diversification of the economy from oil to non-oil. In the form of stocktaking, this paper investigates the impact of non-oil revenue on economic growth in Nigeria using quarterly time-series data from 1980 to 2019. The findings revealed that a long-run relationship exists between the variables (non-oil variables) and economic growth in Nigeria. Among the variables, (agriculture revenue, manufacturing revenue, revenue from services, and company income tax) contributed substantially to economic growth. The paper recommends that the government should continue to intensify efforts and policies in the diversification of the economy as it will bring about sustainable non-oil revenue and economic growth.

Keywords: non-oil revenue, economic growth, export, long run relationship

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Authors: A. B. Alarape, O. D. Aba

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The use of legume tree pruning as mulch in agroforestry system is a common practice to maintain soil organic matter and improve soil fertility in the tropics. The study was conducted to determine the influence of agroforestry trees leafy biomass and nitrogen fertilizer on crop growth rate and relative growth rate of maize. The experiments were laid out as 3 x 4 x 2 factorial in a split-split plot design with three replicates. Control, biomass species (Parkia biglobosa and Albizia lebbeck) as main plots were considered, rates of nitrogen considered include (0, 40, 80, 120 kg N ha⁻¹) as sub-plots, and maize varieties (DMR-ESR-7 and 2009 EVAT) were used as sub-sub plots. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (ANOVA) at α = 0.05. Incorporation of leafy biomass was significant in 2015 on Relative Growth Rate (RGR), while nitrogen application was significant on Crop Growth Rate (CGR). 2009 EVAT had higher CGR in 2015 at 4-6 and 6-8 WAP. Incorporation of Albizia leaves enhanced the growth of maize than Parkia leaves. Farmers are, therefore, encouraged to use Albizia leaves as mulch to enrich their soil for maize production and most especially, in case of availability of inorganic fertilizers. Though, production of maize with biomass and application of 120 kg N ha⁻¹ will bring better growth of maize.

Keywords: agroforestry trees, fertilizer, growth, incorporation, leafy biomass

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Authors: Godwin Chigozie Okpara, Eugine Iheanacho

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The paper set out to assess the sustainability of debt in the Nigerian economy. Precisely, it sought to determine the level of debt sustainability and its impact on the growth of the economy; whether internationalization of capital market has positively influenced debt sustainability’s impact on economic growth; and to ascertain the direction of causality between external debt sustainability and the growth of GDP. In the light of these objectives, ratio analysis was employed for the determination of debt sustainability. Our findings revealed that the periods 1986 – 1994 and 1999 – 2004 were periods of severe unsustainable borrowing. The unit root test showed that the variables of the growth model were integrated of order one, I(1) and the cointegration test provided evidence for long run stability. Considering the dawn of internationalization of capital market, the researcher employed the structural break approach using Chow Breakpoint test on the vector error correction model (VECM). The result of VECM showed that debt sustainability, measured by debt to GDP ratio exerts negative and significant impact on the growth of the economy while debt burden measured by debt-export ratio and debt service export ratio are negative though insignificant on the growth of GDP. The Cho test result indicated that internationalization of capital market has no significant effect on the debt overhang impact on the growth of the Economy. The granger causality test indicates a feedback effect from economic growth to debt sustainability growth indicators. On the bases of these findings, the researchers made some necessary recommendations which if followed religiously will go a long way to ameliorating debt burdens and engendering economic growth.

Keywords: debt sustainability, internalization, capital market, cointegration, chow test

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Authors: Malki Fatima Zahra Nadia, Kellal Cheiimaa, Brahimi Houria

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Total Quality Management (TQM) is one of the most important modern management systems in marketing, that help organizations to survive and remain competitive in the dynamic market with frequent changes. It assists them in gaining a competitive advantage, growth, and excellence compared to their competitors. To understand the impact of TQM on competitive advantage in economic companies, a study was conducted in Ooredoo Telecommunications Company. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to OOredoo' 75 employees in each of the departments of leadership, quality assurance, quality control, research and development, production, customer service, Similarly, resulting in the retrieval of 72 questionnaires. To analyze the descriptive results of the study, the SPSS software version 25 was used. Additionally, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with the help of Smart Pls4 software was utilized to test the study's hypotheses. The study concluded that there is an impact between total quality management and competitive advantage in Ooredoo company to different degrees. On this basis, the study recommended the need to implement the total quality management system at the level of all organizations and in various fields.

Keywords: total quality management, ISO system, competitive advantage, competitive strategies

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Authors: Prashant Verma, K. K. Singh, Anjali Singh, Ujjaval Srivastava

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Contraceptive policies have been derived to achieve desired reductions in the growth rate and also, applied to the data of Uttar-Pradesh, India for illustration. Using the Lotka’s integral equation for the stable population, expressions for the proportion of contraceptive users at different ages have been obtained. At the age of 20 years, 42% of contraceptive users is imperative to reduce the present annual growth rate of 0.036 to 0.02, assuming that 40% of the contraceptive users discontinue at the age of 25 years and 30% again continue contraceptive use at age 30 years. Further, presuming that 75% of women start using contraceptives at the age of 23 years, and 50% of the remaining women start using contraceptives at the age of 28 years, while the rest of them start using it at the age of 32 years. If we set a minimum age of marriage as 20 years, a reduction of 0.019 in growth rate will be obtained. This study describes how the level of contraceptive use at different age groups of women reduces the growth rate in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The article also promotes delayed marriage in the region.

Keywords: child bearing, contraceptive devices, contraceptive policies, population growth, stable population

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Authors: Alfred Quarcoo

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The main purpose of this paper is to examine the causal relationship between energy consumption and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa using panel data techniques. An annual data on energy consumption and Economic Growth (proxied by real gross domestic product per capita) spanning from 1990 to 2016 from the World bank index database was used. The results of the Augmented Dickey–Fuller unit root test shows that the series for all countries are not stationary at levels. However, the log of economic growth in Benin and Congo become stationary after taking the differences of the data, and log of energy consumption become stationary for all countries and Log of economic growth in Kenya and Zimbabwe were found to be stationary after taking the second differences of the panel series. The findings of the Johansen cointegration test demonstrate that the variables Log of Energy Consumption and Log of economic growth are not co-integrated for the cases of Kenya and Zimbabwe, so no long-run relationship between the variables were established in any country. The Granger causality test indicates that there is a unidirectional causality running from energy use to economic growth in Kenya and no causal linkage between Energy consumption and economic growth in Benin, Congo and Zimbabwe.

Keywords: Cointegration, Granger Causality, Sub-Sahara Africa, World Bank Development Indicators

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Authors: Ozge Celik, Elvan Ender

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With rapidly increasing population growth and industrial revolution in the 1950s, in Turkey migration began to the cities from the countryside. Along the rapid growth of urban population has started to bring many problems. Depending on the uncontrolled urban development, concerns about the protection of natural values has increased day by day. As a result of disturbance on the natural environment, human health has started to be under threat. After all, much urban planning approaches outspread that protecting natural resources by respect to human health and troubleshooting problems emerging with anthropogenic effects. Smart growth concept is one of the chosen methods to resolve the problems in Turkey. In this paper, smart growth concept idea and its criteria will be explained while ecological planning and urban planning problems will be mentioned in Turkey according to the need of concept. Studies, consisting of practical and theoretical smart growth ideas, shows that ecological landscape planning is not included in the urban development process in Turkey. The main idea is to initiate urban development plans considering social and cultural structures of cultural assets and also natural values.

Keywords: ecological landscape planning, smart growth, Turkey, urban development

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Authors: F. Guspi, E. García

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This exploratory study gives an overview of the evolution of the main financial and performance indicators of the Academic Spin-Off’s and High Growth Academic Spin-Off’s in year 3 and year 6 after its creation in the region of Catalonia in Spain. The study compares and evaluates results of these different measures of performance and the degree of success of these companies for each University. We found that the average Catalonian Academic Spin-Off is small and have not achieved the sustainability stage at year 6. On the contrary, a small group of High Growth Academic Spin-Off’s exhibit robust performance with high profits in year 6. Our results support the need to increase selectivity and support for these companies especially near year 3, because are the ones that will bring wealth and employment. University role as an investor has rigid norms and habits that impede an efficient economic return from their ASO investment. Universities with high performance on sales and employment in year 3 not always could sustain this growth in year 6 because their ASO’s are not profitable. On the contrary, profitable ASO exhibit superior performance in all measurement indicators in year 6. We advocate the need of a balanced growth (with profits) as a way to obtain subsequent continuous growth.

Keywords: Academic Spin-Off (ASO), university entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial university, high growth, New Technology Based Companies (NTBC), University Spin-Off

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Authors: Azlin S Azmi, Mus’ab Zainal, Sarina Sulaiman, Azura Amid, Zaki Zainudin

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Microalgae lipid is a promising feedstock for biodiesel production. The objective of this work was to study growth factors affecting marine mutant Synechococcus sp. (PCC 7002) for high lipid production. Four growth factors were investigated; nitrogen-phosporus-potassium (NPK) concentration, light intensity, temperature and NaNO3 concentration on mutant strain growth and lipid production were studied. Design Expert v8.0 was used to design the experimental and analyze the data. The experimental design selected was Min-Run Res IV which consists of 12 runs and the response surfaces measured were specific growth rate and lipid concentration. The extraction of lipid was conducted by chloroform/methanol solvents system. Based on the study, mutant Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 gave the highest specific growth rate of 0.0014 h-1 at 0% NPK, 2500 lux, 40oC and 0% NaNO3. On the other hand, the highest lipid concentration was obtained at 0% NPK, 3500 lux, 30°C and 1% NaNO3.

Keywords: Cyanobacteria, lipid, mutant, marine Synechococcus sp. (PCC 7002), specific growth rate

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Authors: Feng-Tsung Cheng, Shu-Li Wang, Mei-Fang Wu, , Hui-Yu Chuang

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Due to the rapid development of modern technology, the widespread usage of the Internet makes business environment changing quickly. In order to be a leader in the global competitive market and to pursuit survive, “changing” becomes an unspoken rules need to follow for the company survival. The purpose of this paper is to build change model by using SWOT, strategy map, and balance scorecard, KPI and change management theory. The research findings indicate that organizational change plan formulated by the case company should require the employee to resist change factors and performance management system issues into consideration and must be set organizational change related programs, such as performance appraisal reward system, consulting and counseling mechanisms programs to improve motivation and reduce staff negative emotions. Then according to the model revised strategy maps and performance indicators proposed in this paper, such as strategy maps add and modify corporate culture, improve internal processes management, increase the growth rate of net income and other strategies. The performance indicators are based on strategy maps new and modified by adding net income growth rate, to achieve target production rate, manpower training achievement rates and other indicators, through amendments to achieve the company’s goal, be a leading brand of precision machinery industry.

Keywords: organizational change, SWOT analysis, strategy maps, performance indicators

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Authors: Burcu Guvenek, Duygu Baysal Kurt

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The impact of foreign trade on economic growth has been discussed since the Classical Economists. Today, foreign trade has become more important for the country's economy with the increasing globalization. When it comes to foreign trade, policies which may vary from country to country and from time to time as protectionism or free trade are implemented. In general, the positive effect of foreign trade on economic growth is alleged. However, as studies supporting this general acceptance take place in the economics literature, there are also studies in the opposite direction. In this paper, the impact of foreign trade on economic growth will be investigated with the help of panel data analysis. For this research, 24 OECD countries’ GDP and foreign trade data, including the period of 1990 and 2010, will be used.

Keywords: foreign trade, economic growth, OECD countries, panel data analysis

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Authors: Ghada Esheba, Fatimah Alturkistani, Arwa Obaid, Ahdab Bashehab, Moayad Alturkistani

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Introduction: Craniopharyngiomas (CPs) are rare epithelial tumors located mainly in the sellar/parasellar region. CPs have been classified histopathologically, genetically, clinically and prognostically into two distinctive subtypes: adamantinomatous and papillary variants. Aim: To examine the pattern of expression of both the β-catenin and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in surgically resected samples of adamantinomatous CP, and to asses for the possibility of using anti-EGFR in the management of ACP patients. Materials and methods: β-catenin and EGFR immunostaining was performed on paraffin-embedded tissue sections of 18 ACP cases. Result: 17 out of 18 cases (94%) of ACP exhibited strong nuclear/cytoplasmic expression of β-catenin, 15 (83%) of APC cases were positive for EGFR. Conclusion: Nuclear accumulation of β-catenin is a diagnostic hallmark of ACP. EGFR positivity in most cases of ACP could qualify the use of anti-EGFR therapy. 

Keywords: craniopharyngioma, adamantinomatous, papillary, epidermal growth factor receptor, B-catenin

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Authors: Azizah Hashim, Rohana Ngah

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Transformation of Economic Development is aimed to transform Malaysia to become a high-income developed nation with a knowledge-based economy by 2020. To achieve this national agenda, the country needs to further strengthen its economic development, growth and well-being. Therefore, this study aspires to examine the relationship between market orientation, human resource management and adoption of information communication technology and SMEs performance and cash management as a mediator. This study will employ quantitative approaches. Questionnaires will be distributed to managers and owners in service sectors. The data collected will be analyzed using SPSS and Structural Equation Modelling. Resource Based Theory (RBT) adopts as an integral part of management literature that explains the performance of organizations through building resources and implement of their strategies.

Keywords: small medium enterprises (SMEs), market orientation, human resource management, adoption of information communication technology

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Authors: Ayse Cobanoglu

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Working memory can be defined as a workspace that holds and regulates active information in mind. This study investigates individual changes in children's working memory from kindergarten to first grade. The main purpose of the study is whether parental discipline methods and child impulsive/overactive behaviors affect children's working memory initial status and growth rate, controlling for gender, minority status, and socioeconomic status (SES). A linear growth curve model with the first four waves of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort of 2011 (ECLS-K:2011) is performed to analyze the individual growth of children's working memory longitudinally (N=3915). Results revealed that there is a significant variation among students' initial status in the kindergarten fall semester as well as the growth rate during the first two years of schooling. While minority status, SES, and children's overactive/impulsive behaviors influenced children's initial status, only SES and minority status were significantly associated with the growth rate of working memory. For parental discipline methods, such as giving a warning and ignoring the child's negative behavior, are also negatively associated with initial working memory scores. Following that, students' working memory growth rate is examined, and students with lower SES as well as minorities showed a faster growth pattern during the first two years of schooling. However, the findings of parental disciplinary methods on working memory growth rates were mixed. It can be concluded that schooling helps low-SES minority students to develop their working memory.

Keywords: growth curve modeling, impulsive/overactive behaviors, parenting, working memory

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Authors: Pınar Yardımcı

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This paper tries to answer to the questions whether or not trade openness cause economic growth and trade policy changes is good for Turkey as a developing country in global economy before and after 1980. We employ Johansen cointegration and Granger causality tests with error correction modelling based on vector autoregressive. Using WDI data from the pre-1980 and the post-1980, we find that trade openness and economic growth are cointegrated in the second term only. Also the results suggest a lack of long-run causality between our two variables. These findings may imply that trade policy of Turkey should concentrate more on extra complementary economic reforms.

Keywords: globalization, trade policy, economic growth, openness, cointegration, Turkey

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Authors: Asish O. Mathew, Lewlyn L. R. Rodrigues

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The organizations in the knowledge economy era have recognized the importance of building knowledge assets for sustainable growth and development. In comparison to other industries, Information Technology (IT) enterprises, holds an edge in developing an effective Knowledge Management (KM) program, thanks to their in-house technological abilities. This paper tries to study the various knowledge-based incentive programs and its effect on Knowledge Sharing and Learning in the context of the Indian IT sector. A conceptual model is developed linking KM incentives, knowledge sharing, and learning. A questionnaire study is conducted to collect primary data from the knowledge workers of the IT organizations located in India. The data was analysed using Structural Equation Modeling using Partial Least Square method. The results show a strong influence of knowledge management incentives on knowledge sharing and an indirect influence on learning.

Keywords: knowledge management, knowledge management incentives, knowledge sharing, learning

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Authors: Majid Lotfi Ghahroud, Seyed Jalal Tabatabaei, Ebrahim Karami, AmirArsalan Ghergherechi, Amir Ali Saeidi

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In this study, the relationship between investment growth and stock returns of companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange and whether their relationship -behavioral or risk factors- are discussed. Generally, there are two perspectives; risk-based approach and behavioral approach. According to the risk-based approach due to increase investment, systemic risk and consequently the stock returns are reduced. But due to the second approach, an excessive optimism or pessimism leads to assuming stock price with high investment growth in the past, higher than its intrinsic value and the price of stocks with lower investment growth, less than its intrinsic value. The investigation period is eight years from 2007 to 2014. The sample consisted of all companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. The method is a portfolio test, and the analysis is based on the t-student test (t-test). The results indicate that there is a negative relationship between investment growth and stock returns of companies and this negative correlation is stronger for firms with higher cash flow. Also, the negative relationship between asset growth and stock returns is due to behavioral factors.

Keywords: behavioral theory, investment growth, risk-based theory, stock returns

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Authors: Emma Serwaa Obobisaa, Haibo Chen

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International trade and outward foreign direct investment are important factors which are generally recognized in the economic growth and development. Though several scholars have struggled to reveal the influence of trade and outward foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic growth, most studies utilized common econometric models such as vector autoregression and aggregated the variables, which for the most part prompts, however, contradictory and mixed results. Thus, there is an exigent need for the precise study of the trade and FDI effect of economic growth while applying strong econometric models and disaggregating the variables into its separate individual variables to explicate their respective effects on economic growth. This will guarantee the provision of policies and strategies that are geared towards individual variables to ensure sustainable development and growth. This study, therefore, seeks to examine the causal effect of China-Africa trade and Outward Foreign Direct Investment on the economic growth of Africa using a robust and recent econometric approach such as system dynamics model. Our study impanels and tests an ensemble of a group of vital variables predominant in recent studies on trade-FDI-economic growth causality: Foreign direct ınvestment, international trade and economic growth. Our results showed that the system dynamics method provides accurate statistical inference regarding the direction of the causality among the variables than the conventional method such as OLS and Granger Causality predominantly used in the literature as it is more robust and provides accurate, critical values.

Keywords: economic growth, outward foreign direct investment, system dynamics model, international trade

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Authors: Mohamed Abdalla Elamein Boshara, Peter Charles Woods, Nour Eldin Mohamed Elshaiekh

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Knowledge Management has become very important for Disaster Management response and planning. This paper proposes the implementation of a Knowledge Management System with a sustainable data collection mechanism for reliable and timely information management to support decision makers in making the right decisions in the timely manner.

Keywords: knowledge management, disaster management, incident tracking, web application

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Authors: Katie Kilgour, Brendan Turner, Carly Catella, Michael Daniele, Stefano Menegatti

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In vivo, the extracellular matrix (ECM) provides biochemical and mechanical properties that are instructional to resident cells to form complex tissues with characteristics to develop and support vascular networks. In vitro, the development of vascular networks can be guided by biochemical patterning of substrates via spatial distribution and display of peptides and growth factors to prompt cell adhesion, differentiation, and proliferation. We have developed a technique utilizing peptide ligands that specifically bind vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), erythropoietin (EPO), or angiopoietin-1 (ANG1) to spatiotemporally distribute growth factors to cells. This allows for the controlled release of each growth factor, ultimately enhancing the formation of a vascular network. Our engineered tissue constructs (ETCs) are fabricated out of gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA), which is an ideal substrate for tailored stiffness and bio-functionality, and covalently patterned with growth factor specific peptides. These peptides mimic growth factor receptors, facilitating the non-covalent binding of the growth factors to the ETC, allowing for facile uptake by the cells. We have demonstrated in the absence of cells the binding affinity of VEGF, EPO, and ANG1 to their respective peptides and the ability for each to be patterned onto a GelMA substrate. The ability to organize growth factors on an ETC provides different functionality to develop organized vascular networks. Our results demonstrated a method to incorporate biochemical cues into ETCs that enable spatial and temporal control of growth factors. Future efforts will investigate the cellular response by evaluating gene expression, quantifying angiogenic activity, and measuring the speed of growth factor consumption.

Keywords: growth factor, hydrogel, peptide, angiogenesis, vascular, patterning

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Authors: Nandini Paliwal

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Since aviation industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the world economy, states depend on the air transport industry to maintain or stimulate economic growth. It significantly promotes and contributes to the economic well-being of every nation as well as world in general. Because of the continuous and rapid growth in civil aviation, it is inevitably leading to congested skies, flight delays and most alarmingly, a decrease in the safety of air navigation facilities. Safety is one of the most important concerns of aviation industry that has been unanimously recognised across the whole world. The available capacity of the air navigation system is not sufficient for the demand that is being generated. It has been indicated by forecast that the current growth in air traffic has the potential of causing delays in 20% of flights by 2020 unless changes are brought in the current system. Therefore, a safe, orderly and expeditious air navigation system is needed at the national and global levels, which, requires the implementation of an air traffic management (hereinafter referred as ‘ATM’) system to ensure an optimum flow of air traffic by utilising and enhancing capabilities provided by technical advances. The objective of this paper is to analyse the applicability of national regulations in case of liability arising out of air traffic management services and whether the current legal regime is sufficient to cover multilateral agreements including the Single European Sky regulations. In doing so, the paper will examine the international framework mainly the Article 28 of the Chicago Convention and its relevant annexes to determine the responsibility of states for providing air navigation services. Then, the paper will discuss the difference between the concept of responsibility and liability under the air law regime and how states might claim sovereign immunity for the functions of air traffic management. Thereafter, the paper will focus on the cross border agreements including the bilateral and multilateral agreements. In the end, the paper will address the scheme of Single European Sky and the need for an international convention dealing with the liability of air navigation service providers. The paper will conclude with some suggestions for unification of the laws at an international level dealing with liability of air navigation service providers and the requirement of enhanced co-operation among states in order to keep pace with technological advances.

Keywords: air traffic management, safety, single European sky, co-operation

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Authors: Moncayo Donoso Miguelangel, Guevara Morales Johana, Kalenia Flores Kalenia, Barrera Avellaneda Luis Alejandro, Garzon Alvarado Diego Alexander

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In mammals, long bones are formed by ossification of a cartilage mold during early embryonic development, forming structures called secondary ossification centers (SOCs), a primary ossification center (POC) and growth plates. This last structure is responsible for long bone growth. During the femur growth, the morphology of the growth plate and the SOCs may vary during different developmental stages. So far there are no detailed morphological studies of the development process from embryonic to adult stages. In this work, we carried out a morphological characterization of femur development from embryonic period to adulthood in mice. 15, 17 and 19 days old embryos and 1, 7, 14, 35, 46 and 52 days old mice were used. Samples were analyzed by a computational approach, using 3D images obtained by micro-CT imaging. Results obtained in this study showed that femur, its growth plates and SOCs undergo morphological changes during different stages of development, including changes in shape, position and thickness. These variations may be related with a response to mechanical loads imposed for muscle development surrounding the femur and a high activity during early stages necessary to support the high growth rates during first weeks and years of development. This study is important to improve our knowledge about the ossification patterns on every stage of bone development and characterize the morphological changes of important structures in bone growth like SOCs and growth plates.

Keywords: development, femur, growth plate, mice

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Authors: Ryeong-Hyeon Kim, Ah-Reum Lee, Seong-Soo Roh, Gyo-Nam Kim

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Appropriate regulation of melanogenesis is important for the management of skin pigmentation-related disease. Although several beneficial effects of fisetin (3,7,3’,4’-tetrahydroxyflavone) have been reported, the precise role and molecular mechanisms of fisetin in skin health both remain unclear. Here, we induced melanogenesis of HRM2 mice (n=7/group) by UVB irradiation for 20 days. UVB-induced HRM2 mice showed that the significantly increased melanin accumulation, however, fisetin treatment (25mg and 50mg/kg of body weight) dose-dependently and significantly inhibits UVB-induced melanogenesis. In line with this, fisetin treatment effectively down-regulated m RNA and expression levels of tyrosinase, TRP2, and MITF. In addition, our inhibitor assay revealed the down-regulated melanogenic marker genes by fisetin treatment were mediated with connective tissue growth factor (CCN2)/TGF-β signaling pathway. Useful information is provided for development of functional foods using fisetin for skin health.

Keywords: connective tissue growth factor, fisetin, melanogenesis, skin, TGF-beta

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Authors: Jyotika Chopra, Dinesh Goyal

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A study was initiated to examine the effects of corn gluten hydrolysate on seedlings growth and its development. Corn gluten is the byproduct of starch industry rich in proteins was hydrolysed by acid and alkali, and the impact of hydrolysate was studied on seed germination of Vigna radiata, Phaseolus vulagris (Fabaceae) and Triticum aestivum and Oryza sativa (Gramineae). For this, the optimum hydrolysis was obtained by 4NHCl and 4M NaOH where insoluble protein in gluten was broken down to glutamic acid, alanine, aspartic acid which was initially confirmed by biuret test, xanthoproteic, solubility and chromatographic tests. The seeds of above families were separately treated with different dilutions of corn gluten hydrolysate ranging from 1-100% to see effects produced by these dilutions on seed germination, plumule, and radical growth. The seedlings were put in the Petri plates and placed in the optimized conditions of temperature (37˚C) and photoperiod of 16:8 hours. The results indicate the plumule of all seeds shows the increase in growth pattern up to 25.75%. Whereas radical shows the increase in growth up to 25.88% till 10% of dilution of corn and wheat gluten hydrolysate with respect to water as blank. Further, there is decrease in growth from 30- 100% of dilutions of both, the hydrolysate indicates the inhibitory effects which unveil about the careful usage of gluten hydrolysate.

Keywords: corn gluten, characterization, hydrolysis, seedling growth

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Authors: Lavanya Mohan, Suneha Sethi

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This paper seeks to study the concept of existential anguish and its relation to personal growth. Generally, existential anguish is taken to be an all-pervading negative feeling arising from an individual’s knowledge of their absolute freedom. However, this paper investigates the possible positive impact of this sense of anguish, such as its role in commencing an individual’s journey towards authentic living, characterized by an internal locus of will, and acceptance of absolute freedom. This journey towards authentic living is what is referred to as personal growth, in this paper, in the context of existential philosophy. The work of four prominent existentialists has been used to elucidate existential anguish. A human’s scope for personal growth in the existential framework has been compared to that in the teleological framework of religion. In the latter, individuals must abide by the moral code of an external authority and work towards a pre-ordained purpose of life. This is illustrated by the examination of Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. To test people’s levels of existential anguish, religiosity, and personal growth, a survey using an originally constructed questionnaire has been undertaken. Simple and partial correlation analyses have been used to ascertain the relationships between these three variables. Contrary to the hypothesis, the results indicate that existential anguish has a detrimental effect on personal growth, while religiosity does not affect it at all. Through their responses, it was also evident that the respondents do not adhere to teleological concepts of morality, despite a belief in God. This study has further scope in determining how variations in sample demography may influence the relationship of existential anguish with personal growth.

Keywords: existential anguish, existentialism, personal growth, religiosity, teleology

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Authors: Ghada Abo-Zaid

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Introduction: Oil is one of the most income source in Bahrain. Low oil price influence on the economy growth and the investment rate in Bahrain. For example, the economic growth was 3.7% in 2012, and it reduced to 2.9% in 2015. Investment rate was 9.8% in 2012, and it is reduced to be 5.9% and -12.1% in 2014 and 2015, respectively. The inflation rate is increased to the peak point in 2013 with 3.3 %. Objectives: The objectives here are to build statistical models to examine the effect of the interest rate inflation rate on the growth economy in Bahrain from 2000 to 2018. Methods: This study based on 18 years, and the multiple regression model is used for the analysis. All of the missing data are omitted from the analysis. Results: Regression model is used to examine the association between the Growth national product (GNP), the inflation rate, and real interest rate. We found that (i) Increase the real interest rate decrease the GNP. (ii) Increase the inflation rate does not effect on the growth economy in Bahrain since the average of the inflation rate was almost 2%, and this is considered as a low percentage. Conclusion: There is a positive impact of the real interest rate on the GNP in Bahrain. While the inflation rate does not show any negative influence on the GNP as the inflation rate was not large enough to effect negatively on the economy growth rate in Bahrain.

Keywords: growth national product, egypt, regression model, interest rate

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Authors: Koo-Yeon Kim, Eun-Hye Kim, Tae-Il Son

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Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF, Mw=6,045) has been reported to have high efficiency of wound repair and anti-wrinkle effect. However, the half-life of EGF in the body is too short to exert the biological activity effectively when applied in free form. Growth Factors can be stabilized by immobilization with carbohydrates from thermal and proteolytic degradation. Low molecular weight chitosan (LMCS) and its derivate prepared by hydrogen peroxide has high solubility. LM6A6DC was successfully prepared as a reactive carbohydrate for the stabilization of EGF by the reactions of LMCS with alkalization, tosylation, azidation and reduction. The structure of LM6A6DC was confirmed by FT-IR, 1H NMR and elementary analysis. For enhancing the stability of free EGF, EGF was attached with LM6A6DC by using water-soluble carbodiimide. EGF-LM6A6DC conjugates did not show any cytotoxicity on the Normal Human Dermal Fibroblast(NHDF) 3T3 proliferation at least under 100 ㎍/㎖. In the result, it was considered that LM6A6DC is suitable to immobilize of growth factor.

Keywords: epidermal growth factor (EGF), low-molecular-weight chitosan, immobilization

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Authors: Jackson Niyongabo

Abstract:

This study addresses a notable gap in the existing literature on the relationship between energy consumption, economic growth, and CO₂ emissions, particularly within the African context. While numerous studies have explored these dynamics globally and regionally across various development levels, few have delved into the nuances of regions and income levels specific to African countries. Furthermore, the evaluation of the interplay between green growth policies, green energy technologies, and their impact on environmental quality has been underexplored. This research aims to fill these gaps by conducting a comprehensive analysis of the transition from conventional economic growth and energy consumption to a paradigm of green growth coupled with green energy utilization across the African continent from 1980 to 2018. The study is structured into three main parts: an empirical examination of the long-term effects of energy intensity, renewable energy consumption, and economic growth on CO₂ emissions across diverse African regions and income levels; an estimation of the long-term impact of green growth and green energy use on CO₂ emissions for countries implementing green policies within Africa, as well as at regional and global levels; and a comparative analysis of the impact of green growth policies on environmental degradation before and after implementation. Employing advanced econometric methods and panel estimators, the study utilizes a testing framework, panel unit tests, and various estimators to derive meaningful insights. The anticipated results and conclusions will be elucidated through causality tests, impulse response, and variance decomposition analyses, contributing valuable knowledge to the discourse on sustainable development in the African context.

Keywords: economic growth, green growth, energy consumption, CO₂ emissions, econometric models, green energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 36

Authors: Meiyan Xing, Cenran Li, Liang Xiang

Abstract:

Impacts of excess sludge vermicompost on the germination and early growth of plant were tested. The better effect of cow dung vermicompost (CV) on seed germination and seedling growth proved that cow dung was indeed the preferred additive in sludge vermicomposting as reported by plentiful researchers worldwide. The effects and the best amount of application of CV were further discussed. Results demonstrated that seed germination and seedling growth (seedlings number, plant height, stem diameter) were the best and heavy metal (Zn, Pb, Cr and As) contents of plant were the lowest when soil amended with CV by 15%. Additionally, CV fostered higher contents of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b compared to the control when concentration ranged from 5 to 15%, thereafter a slight increase in chlorophyll content was observed form 15% to 25%. Thus, CV at the optimum proportion of 15% could serve as a feasible and satisfactory way of sludge agricultural utilization of sewage sludge. In summary, sewage sludge can be gainfully utilized in producing organic fertilizer via vermicomposting, thereby not only providing a means of sewage sludge treatment and disposal, but also stimulating the growth of plant and the ability to resist disease.

Keywords: cow dung vermicompost, seed germination, seedling growth, sludge utilization

Procedia PDF Downloads 239

Authors: Lina Wu, Ye Li

Abstract:

An equivalent relation between a harmonic form and a closed co-closed form is established on a complete non-compact manifold. This equivalence has been generalized for a differential k-form ω from Lq spaces to non-Lq spaces when q=2 in the context of p-balanced growth where p=2. Especially for a simple differential k-form on a complete non-compact manifold, the equivalent relation has been verified with the extended scope of q for from finite q-energy in Lq spaces to infinite q-energy in non-Lq spaces when with 2-balanced growth. Generalized Hadamard Theorem, Cauchy-Schwarz Inequality, and Calculus skills including Integration by Parts as well as Convergent Series have been applied as estimation techniques to evaluate growth rates for a differential form. In particular, energy growth rates as indicated by an appropriate power range in a selected test function lead to a balance between a harmonic differential form and a closed co-closed differential form. Research ideas and computational methods in this paper could provide an innovative way in the study of broadening Lq spaces to non-Lq spaces with a wide variety of infinite energy growth for a differential form.

Keywords: closed forms, co-closed forms, harmonic forms, L^q spaces, p-balanced growth, simple differential k-forms

Procedia PDF Downloads 425