Search results for: medium scale industries

Authors: Fatemeh Elmi, Zahra Etemadifar

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Improvement of soil mechanical properties is crucial before its use in construction, as the low mechanical strength and unstable structure of soil in many parts of the world can lead to the destruction of engineering infrastructure, resulting in financial and human losses. Although, conventional methods, such as chemical injection, are often utilized to enhance soil strength and stiffness, they are generally expensive, require heavy machinery, and cause significant environmental effects due to chemical usage, and also disrupt urban infrastructure. Moreover, they are not suitable for treating large volume of soil. Recently, an alternative method to improve various soil properties, including strength, hardness, and permeability, has received much attention: the application of biological methods. One of the most widely used is biocementation, which is based on the microbial precipitation of calcium carbonte crystalls using ureolytic bacteria However, there are still limitations to its large-scale use that need to be resolved before it can be commercialized. These issues have not received enough attention in prior research. One limitation of MICP (microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation) is that microorganisms cannot operate effectively in harsh and variable environments, unlike the controlled conditions of a laboratory. Another limitation of applying this technique on a large scale is the high cost of producing a substantial amount of bacterial culture and reagents required for soil treatment. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate soil improvement using the biocementation activity of poly-extremophile, calcium carbonate crystal- producing bacterial strain, Bhargavaea cecembensis N1, in whey as an inexpensive medium. This strain was isolated and molecularly identified from sandy soils in our previous research, and its 16S rRNA gene sequences was deposited in the NCBI Gene Bank with an accession number MK420385. This strain exhibited a high level of urease activity (8.16 U/ml) and produced a large amount of calcium carbonate (4.1 mg/ ml). It was able to improve the soil by increasing the compressive strength up to 205 kPa and reducing permeability by 36%, with 20% of the improvement attributable of calcium carbonate production. This was achieved using this strain in a whey culture medium. This strain can be an eco-friendly and economical alternative to conventional methods in soil stabilization, and other MICP related applications.

Keywords: biocementation, Bhargavaea cecembensis, soil improvement, whey culture medium

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Authors: Sangamesh G. Sakri, Akash N. Patil, Sadashivappa M. Kotli

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Agro based industries in India are considered as the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME). In India, MSMEs contribute approximately 8 percent of the country’s GDP, 42 percent of the manufacturing output and 40 percent of exports. The toor dal (scientific name Cajanus cajan, commonly known as yellow gram, pigeon pea) is the second largest pulse crop in India accounting for about 20% of total pulse production. The toor dal milling industry in India is one of the major agro-processing industries in the country. Most of the dal mills are concentrated in pulse producing areas, which are spread all over the country. In Karnataka state, Gulbarga is a district, where toor dal is the main crop and is grown extensively. There are more than 500 dal mills in and around the Gulbarga district to process dal. However, the majority of these dal milling units use traditional methods of processing which are energy and capital intensive. There exists a huge energy saving potential in these mills. An energy audit is conducted on a dal mill in Gulbarga to understand the energy consumption pattern to assess the energy saving potential, and an economic analysis is conducted to identify energy conservation opportunities.

Keywords: conservation, demand side management, load curve, toor dal

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Authors: Omar Bendjimaa, Karzabi Abdelatif

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Small and medium enterprises have witnessed several developments in recent years thanks to the policies and programs of support given by the state, and that is due to their importance in local and national development. Nevertheless, the success and development of these firms depends on a number of factors, especially the human element, for instance, the culture of the manager has its origin in the culture of the community and is of crucial influence in these firms. In fact, this culture is nothing more than a set of values, perceptions, beliefs, symbols and practices repeated, in addition to the knowledge it has received from the readings and the modern means of education. All these factors have an impact on the effectiveness of governance, its resolutions, instructions and performance of its function as a manager of a medium or small enterprise is inevitably affected by these cultural values, it is the driving force, the leader, and the observer at the same time.

Keywords: small and medium enterprises, the culture of the manager, the culture of the community, values, perceptions, beliefs, symbols, performance

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Authors: Abigail Qian Zhou

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In recent years, the prosperity of mass tourism in China has accelerated the breadth and depth of direct communication between countries, and the national image has been placed in a new communication context. Outbound tourists are not only directly involved in the formation of the national image, but are also the most direct medium and the most active symbol representing the national image. This study uses Chinese middle-class tourists visiting Japan as a case study, and analyzes, through participant observation and semi-structured interviews, the communication function of the national image transmitted by 'human medium' in tourism activities. It also explores the 'human medium' in the era of mass tourism. This study hopes to build a bridge for tourism research and national image and media studies. It will provide a theoretical basis and practical guidance for promoting the national image, strengthening exchanges between tourists and local populations, and expanding the tourism market in the future.

Keywords: human medium, national image, communication, Chinese middle class, outbound tourists

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Authors: Titin Handayani, Endang Yuniastuti

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Kepuh (Sterculia foetida L.) is a potential plant contain mainly oil seeds that can be used as a source of alternative bioenergy and medicine. The main problem of kepuh cultivation is the limited supply of seed plants. Seeds development were very easy, but to produce fruit have to wait for approximately 5 years. The objective of this research was to obtain kepuh plants through direct in vitro regeneration. Hypocotyls and shoot tips explants were excised from sterile germinated seedlings and placed on shoot induction medium containing basal salts of Murashige and Skoog (MS) and various concentrations of plant growth regulators. The results showed that shoots induction from the apical and axillary buds on MS medium + 1.5 and 2 mg/L BAP and 0.5 and 1 mg/L IAA was growth very slowly. Increasing of BAP concentrations was increased shoot formation. The first subcultures were increased the rate of shoots growth on MS medium supplemented with 2 mg/L BAP and 0.5 mg/L IAA. The second of shoots subculture on MS medium + 1.5 to 2 mg/L BAP + 0.5 mg/L IAA was increased the number of shoots up to 4.8 in average. The best medium of shoots elongation were MS + 1 mgL-1 kinetin + 5 mg/L GA3. The highest percentage of roots (65%) occurred on MS medium with 5 mg/L IBA which average number of roots was 3.1. High percentages of survival and plants of normal appearance were obtained after five weeks of acclimatization.

Keywords: Kepuh, Sterculia foetida L, shoot multiplication, rooting, acclimatization, bioenergy, medicine

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Authors: Wenlong Feng, Zhenchun Du, Jianguo Yang

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To decrease the grating scale thermal expansion error, a novel method which based on multiple temperature detections is proposed. Several temperature sensors are installed on the grating scale and the temperatures of these sensors are recorded. The temperatures of every point on the grating scale are calculated by interpolating between adjacent sensors. According to the thermal expansion principle, the grating scale thermal expansion error model can be established by doing the integral for the variations of position and temperature. A novel compensation method is proposed in this paper. By applying the established error model, the grating scale thermal expansion error is decreased by 90% compared with no compensation. The residual positioning error of the grating scale is less than 15um/10m and the accuracy of the machine tool is significant improved.

Keywords: thermal expansion error of grating scale, error compensation, machine tools, integral method

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Authors: Donald Zullick, Cihan Varol

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This research paper begins with a look at current work in business continuity as it relates to the cloud and small to medium business (SMB). While cloud services are an emerging paradigm that is quickly making an impact on business, there has been no substantive research applied to SMB. Seeing this lapse, we have taken a fusion of continuity and cloud research with application to the SMB market. It is an initial reflection with base framework guidelines as a starting point for implementation. In this approach, our research ties together existing work and fill the gap with an SMB outlook.

Keywords: business continuity, cloud services, medium size business, risk assessment, small business

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Authors: Archana Soni, Arvind Mittal, Manmohan Kapshe

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Energy has been recognized as one of the key inputs for the economic growth and social development of a country. High economic growth naturally means a high level of energy consumption. However, in the present energy scenario where there is a wide gap between the energy generation and energy consumption, it is extremely difficult to match the demand with the supply. India being one of the largest and rapidly growing developing countries, there is an impending energy crisis which requires immediate measures to be adopted. In this situation, the concept of Energy Intensity comes under special focus to ensure energy security in an environmentally sustainable way. Energy Intensity is defined as the energy consumed per unit output in the context of industrial energy practices. It is a key determinant of the projections of future energy demands which assists in policy making. Energy Intensity is inversely related to energy efficiency; lesser the energy required to produce a unit of output or service, the greater is the energy efficiency. Energy Intensity of Indian manufacturing industries is among the highest in the world and stands for enormous energy consumption. Hence, reducing the Energy Intensity of Indian manufacturing industries is one of the best strategies to achieve a low level of energy consumption and conserve energy. This study attempts to analyse the factors which influence the Energy Intensity of Indian manufacturing firms and how they can be used to reduce the Energy Intensity. The paper considers six of the largest energy consuming manufacturing industries in India viz. Aluminium, Cement, Iron & Steel Industries, Textile Industries, Fertilizer and Paper industries and conducts a detailed Energy Intensity analysis using the data from PROWESS database of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). A total of twelve independent explanatory variables based on various factors such as raw material, labour, machinery, repair and maintenance, production technology, outsourcing, research and development, number of employees, wages paid, profit margin and capital invested have been taken into consideration for the analysis.

Keywords: energy intensity, explanatory variables, manufacturing industries, PROWESS database

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Authors: Reza Hosseinpourpia, Stergios Adamopoulos, Carsten Mai

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Medium density fiberboard (MDF) is a common category of wood-based panels that are widely used in the furniture industry. Fine lignocellulosic fibres are combined with a synthetic resin, mostly urea formaldehyde (UF), and joined together under heat and pressure to form panels. Like solid wood, MDF is a hygroscopic material; therefore, its moisture content depends on the surrounding relative humidity and temperature. In addition, UF is a hydrophilic resin and susceptible to hydrolysis under certain conditions of elevated temperatures and humidity, which cause dimensional instability of the panels. The latter directly affect the performance of final products such as furniture, when they are used in situations of high relative humidity. Existing water-repellent formulations, such as paraffin, present limitations related to their non-renewable nature, cost and highest allowed added amount. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to test the suitability of renewable water repellents as alternative chemicals for enhancing the dimensional stability of MDF panels. A small amount of tall oil based formulations were used as water-repellent agents in the manufacturing of laboratory scale MDF. The effects on dimensional stability, internal bond strength and formaldehyde release of MDF were tested. The results indicated a good potential of tall oil as a bio-based substance of water repellent formulations for improving the dimensional stability of MDF.

Keywords: dimensional stability, medium density fiberboard, tall oil, urea formaldehyde

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Authors: M. Abdullahi, S. Sadiku, Bashar S. Mohammed, J. I. Aguwa

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The properties of hollow sandcrete blocks produced in Minna, Nigeria are presented. Sandcrete block is made of cement, water and sand bound together in certain mix proportions. For the purpose of this work, fifty (50) commercial sandcrete block industries were visited in Minna, Nigeria to obtain block samples and aggregates used for the manufacture, and to also take inventory of the mix composition and the production process. Sieve analysis tests were conduction on the soil sample from various block industries to ascertain their quality to be used for block making. The mix ratios were also investigated. Five (5) nine inches (9’’ or 225mm) blocks were obtained from each block industry and tested for dimensional compliance and compressive strength. The result of test shows that the grading of the sand falls within the limit required by BS 882: 1990. The sand particles generally satisfy the grading requirement of overall grading and also fall in at least one of the classification of coarse grading, medium grading or fine grading. This clearly indicates that the quality of the aggregates used for the production of sandcrete blocks in Minna, Nigeria are of good quality in terms of grading and workable mix can easily be achieved to obtain high quality product. Physical examinations of the block sizes show slight deviation from the standard requirement in NIS 87:2000. Compressive strength of hollow sandcrete blocks in range of 0.12 N/mm2 to 0.54 N/mm2 was obtained which is below the recommendable value of 3.45 N/mm2 for load bearing hollow sandcrete blocks. This indicates that these blocks are below the standard for load-bearing sandcrete blocks and cannot be used as load bearing walling units. The mix composition also indicated low cement content resulting in low compressive strength. Most of the commercial block industries visited do not take curing very serious. Water were only sprinkled ones or twice before the blocks were stacked and made readily available for sale. It is recommended that a mix ratio of 1:4 to 1:6 should be used for the production of sandcrete blocks and proper curing practice should be adhered to. Blocks should also be cured for 14 days before making them available for consumers.

Keywords: compressive strength, dimensions, mix proportions, sandcrete blocks

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Authors: Popoola M. Oyenola

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Concrete plays the important role and a huge percentage of concrete is being utilized in every construction practices. Natural river sand is one of the major ingredients of concrete, is becoming expensive due to excessive cost of accessibility from sources. Also large scale depletion of sources creates environmental problems. Therefore, there is a need of economic alternative materials. Quarry dust is a waste obtained during quarrying process. It has been rampantly used in different construction practices and could be used as an effective fine aggregate instead of river sand. Partial and total replacement of fine aggregate in conventional concrete with quarry dust has been empirically conducted with the view to examining primarily the compressive strength of the resulting composite and possible total utilization of quarry dust as fine aggregate in the production of medium grade concrete. The results of the study showed that its specific gravity, porosity and water absorption showed satisfactory performance. The percentage replacement of natural river sand with quarry dust for a designed strength of 25N/mm2 varied at intervals of 10% up to a maximum value of 100%. A total of 132 cubes of 150 x 150 x 150mm were cast and tested at 7, 14 and 28 days of hydration. Compressive strength increases with curing age in all the mixes. Compressive strength decreases with increase in percentage of quarry dust. Generally the compressive strength of concrete incorporating quarry dust attained strength of 22.47 N/mm2 after 28 days which makes it a suitable aggregate for the production medium grade concrete.

Keywords: quarry dust, concrete, aggregates, compressive strength

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Authors: Lemuel David

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The importance of the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises sector is well recognized for its legitimate contribution to the Macroeconomic objectives of the Republic of Liberia, like generation of employment, input t, exports, and enhancing entrepreneurship. Right now, Medium and Small enterprises accounts for about 99 percent of the industrial units in the country, contributing 60 percent of the manufacturing sector output and approximately one-third of the nation’s exports. The role of various financial institutions like ECO bank and Non-financial Institutions like Bearch Limited support promoting the growth of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises is unique. A small enterprise or entrepreneur gets many types of assistance from different institutions for varied purposes in the course of his entrepreneurial journey. This paper focuses on the factors related to financial institutional support and non-financial institutional support entrepreneurs to the growth of Medium and Small enterprises in the Republic of Liberia. The significance of this paper is to support Policy and Institutional Support for Medium and Small enterprises to know the views of entrepreneurs about financial and non-financial support systems in the Republic of Liberia. This study was carried out through a survey method, with the use of questionnaires. The population for this study consisted of all registered Medium and Small enterprises which have been registered during the years 2004-2014 in the republic of Liberia. The sampling method employed for this study was a simple random technique and determined a sample size of 400. Data for the study was collected using a standard questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of two parts: the first part consisted of questions on the profile of the respondents. The second part covers (1) financial, promotional factors and (2) non-financial promotional factors. The results of the study are based on financial and non-financial supporting activities provided by institutions to Medium and Small enterprises. After investigation, it has been found that there is no difference in the support given by Financial Institutions and non-financial Institutions. Entrepreneurs perceived “collateral-free schemes and physical infrastructure support factors are highest contributing to entry and growth of Medium and Small enterprises.

Keywords: micro, small, and medium enterprises financial institutions, entrepreneurship

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Authors: Ying-Hsiu Chen, Pao-Peng Hsu

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This paper adopts a two-stage data envelopment analysis to explore the impacts of financial development and bank operational scale on bank efficiencies. The sample comprises of unbalanced panel data of 32 Taiwanese enlisted in domestic commercial banks over the period 1998 to 2013. Empirical results show that technical efficiency is positively related to financial development, whereas the effect of financial development on scale efficiency is insignificant. The effect of operational scale exerts a significantly positive effect on bank efficiencies, but the gain of efficiency is decreased gradually when operational scale increases. Furthermore, increase in capital adequacy ratio and market power of banks leads to a growth of bank efficiencies.

Keywords: financial development, operational scale, efficiency, DEA

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Authors: Yao Wu

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In the context of financial globalization, China has put forward the policy goal of high-quality development, and the digital economy, with its advantage of information resources, is driving China's export trade to achieve high-quality development. Due to the long-standing financing constraints of small and medium-sized export enterprises, how to expand the export scale of small and medium-sized enterprises has become a major threshold for the development of China's export trade. This paper firstly adopts the hierarchical analysis method to establish the evaluation system of high-quality development of China's export trade; secondly, the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2018 are selected for empirical analysis to establish the impact model of digital inclusive finance on the high-quality development of China's export trade; based on the analysis of heterogeneous enterprise trade model, a mediating effect model is established to verify the mediating role of credit constraint in the development of high-quality export trade in China. Based on the above analysis, this paper concludes that inclusive digital finance, with its unique digital and inclusive nature, alleviates the credit constraint problem among SMEs, enhances the binary marginal effect of SMEs' exports, optimizes their export scale and structure, and promotes the high-quality development of regional and even national export trade. Finally, based on the findings of this paper, we propose insights and suggestions for inclusive digital finance to promote the high-quality development of export trade.

Keywords: digital inclusive finance, high-quality development of export trade, fixed effects, binary marginal effects

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Authors: Kweon Oh-Sang, Kim Heung-Youl

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

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

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Authors: Asghar Ebrahimzadeh, Sattar Malekian, Mohammad Ali Aazami, Mohammad Bagher Hassanpouraghdam

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Roses are of main ornamental flowers worldwide. Rosa damascena Mill., besides being an ornamental plant, has major pharmaceutical, cosmetic and fragrance applications. Traditional propagation methods of the plant are using suckers, cutting and grafting. In the present experiment, we used the different explants (leaf section, petioles and nodal cutting) for the optimization of this high-valued ornamental from a native clonal plant. Diverse explants were acquired from mature plants during the growing season and were planted on MS medium supplemented with different hormonal combinations. 70% alcohol and sodium hypochloride were utilized for the surface sterilization. For proliferation, BAP and BA (1-5 mg L-1) and NAA (1-2 mg L-1) were tested. The highest proliferation rate was afforded from MS medium supplemented with 1.5 mg L-1 BA and 5 mg L-1 BAP. Callogenesis from leaf samples and petioles was the best with 1/2 MS medium enriched with 1mg L-1 BAP and 4 mg L-1 2,4-D. Rooting was occurred with the highest frequency in a medium containing 0.1 mg L-1 IBA.

Keywords: Rosa damascene, micropropagation, petiole, IBA, BAP

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Authors: Pradeep G. Siddheshwar, K. M. Lakshmi

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The present study deals with weakly non-linear stability analysis of Rayleigh-Benard-Brinkman convection in nanoliquid-saturated porous enclosures. The modified-Buongiorno-Brinkman model (MBBM) is used for the conservation of linear momentum in a nanoliquid-saturated-porous medium under the assumption of Boussinesq approximation. Thermal equilibrium is imposed between the base liquid and the nanoparticles. The thermophysical properties of nanoliquid are modeled using phenomenological laws and mixture theory. The fifth-order Lorenz model is derived for the problem and is then reduced to the first-order Ginzburg-Landau equation (GLE) using the multi-scale method. The analytical solution of the GLE for the amplitude is then used to quantify the heat transport in closed form, in terms of the Nusselt number. It is found that addition of dilute concentration of nanoparticles significantly enhances the heat transport and the dominant reason for the same is the high thermal conductivity of the nanoliquid in comparison to that of the base liquid. This aspect of nanoliquids helps in speedy removal of heat. The porous medium serves the purpose of retainment of energy in the system due to its low thermal conductivity. The present model helps in making a unified study for obtaining the results for base liquid, nanoliquid, base liquid-saturated porous medium and nanoliquid-saturated porous medium. Three different types of enclosures are considered for the study by taking different values of aspect ratio, and it is observed that heat transport in tall porous enclosure is maximum while that of shallow is the least. Detailed discussion is also made on estimating heat transport for different volume fractions of nanoparticles. Results of single-phase model are shown to be a limiting case of the present study. The study is made for three boundary combinations, viz., free-free, rigid-rigid and rigid-free.

Keywords: Boungiorno model, Ginzburg-Landau equation, Lorenz equations, porous medium

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Authors: Kolawole Taiwo Olabode

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This is a comparative study of ICTs adoption and use in selected manufacturing industries in for development. This study was carried out 2004 and was repeated 2013 (nine years after) using the same selected manufacturing industries to assess the level, improvement and extent ICT facilities used in these companies. The theory of modernization was explored to explain some developmental issues in this study. The same semi-structured questionnaire and IDI were used to elicit data on the subject matter. About 24.9% of the total workers (1,247) were sampled for this study using quota sampling technique. SPSS was used to analysis the quantitative data. The qualitative data was used to buttress the quantitative data. Findings indicated that Seven-Up Bottling Company and Frigoglass Glass Industry still remained Intensive ICT Users while only Niger Match Nigeria Limited still remained Non-Intensive ICT User while unfortunately, Askar Paint Nigeria Limited has gone liquidated. It is also important to discover that only the Intensive ICT users improved on relevant ICT facilities. The existing problems of ICT adoption and used in these companies remained the same in Niger Match Limited. The study concluded that for a society to be developed, management and government at all levels must do all things necessary to ensure that all existing organisations must be ICT compliance for workers and organisational performance and to enhance nation’s development in order to compete with other companies for global standard or recognition.

Keywords: ICT, intensive ICT-users, entrepreneurial, manufacturing industries, industries and development

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Authors: Preeti Nakhat, Neeta Sinha

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Career plays an indispensable role in shaping one’s outlook on life. Choosing right career adds 'feathers to the life' whereas wrong career decision 'takes a toll 'in one’s life. It is pivotal for the students to know the career opportunities related to their field where they can escalate and excel. With the aim to comprehend certainty and indecisiveness in career decision among college students, a study will be conducted. The study focuses to gain insight on decisiveness and indecisiveness of career among the students. The hypotheses for the study are (1) There is no relation between the medium of education (vernacular/English medium) and career decisiveness among the college students. (2) There is no relation between the faculty(science, commerce, arts)chosen and career decisiveness. (3)There is no relation between father’s qualification and career decisiveness. To test the aforementioned hypotheses, a survey questionnaire will be used. The questionnaire is 'Career decision scale' by Samuel H. Osipow. This study will include 200 college going students. The data will be collected from first, second, third, and fourth year students. Statistical analysis of the data collected with be done through SPSS/Excel calculation and then the hypotheses will be tested.

Keywords: career decisiveness, career indecisiveness, college students, career

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Authors: Nisha Khatik, Ramesh Joshi

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An in vitro plant regeneration system was developed via direct somatic embryogenesis from different seedling explants of an important medicinal plant Murraya koenigii (L) Spreng. Cotyledons (COT), Hypocotyle (HYP)(10 to 15 mm) and Root (RT) segments (10 to 20 mm) were excised from 60 days old seedlings as explants. The somatic embryos induction was achieved on MS basal medium augmented with different concentrations of BAP 1.33 to 8.40 µM and TDZ 1.08 to 9.82 µM. The globular embryos originated from cut ends and entire surface of the root, hypocotyle explants and margins of cotyledons within 30-40days. The percentage of somatic embryos induction per explant was significantly higher in HYP explants (94.21±5.77%) in the MS basal medium supplemented with 6.20 µM BAP and 8.64 µM TDZ. The highest rate of conversion of torpedo, heart and cotyledonary stages from globular stage was obtained in MS medium supplemented with 8.64 µM TDZ. The matured somatic embryos were transferred to the MS basal medium without PGRs. Highest 88% of the matured embryos were germinated on transfer to the PGR free medium where they grew for a further 3-4 weeks. Out of seventy six hardened plants seventy (92%) plantlets were found healthy under field conditions.

Keywords: Murraya koenigii, somatic embryogenesis, thidiazuron, regeneration, rutaceae

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Authors: Kharaishvili Eteri

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The article highlights the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises in achieving the goals of sustainable development of the economy and increasing the well-being of the population. The opinion is put forward that it is necessary to adapt the activities of small and medium-sized firms in Georgia to sustainable business models. Therefore, it is important to identify the challenges that will ensure compliance with the goals and requirements of sustainable development of small and mediumsized enterprises. Objectives. The goal of the study is to reveal the challenges of sustainable development in small and medium-sized enterprises in Georgia and to develop recommendations for strategic development opportunities. Methodologies The challenges of sustainable development of small and medium-sized enterprises are investigated with the following methodology: bibliographic research of scientific works and reports of organizations is carried out; Based on the grouping of sustainable development goals, the performance indicators of these goals are studied; Differences with respect to the corresponding indicators of European countries are determined by the comparison method; The matrix scheme establishes the conditions and tools for sustainable development; Challenges of sustainable development are identified by factor analysis. Contributions Trends in the sustainable development of small and medium-sized enterprises are studied from the point of view of economic, social and environmental factors; To ensure sustainability, the conditions and tools for sustainable development are established (certified supply chains and global markets, allocation of financial resources necessary for sustainable development, proper public procurement, highly qualified workforce, etc.); Several main challenges have been identified in the sustainable development of small and medium-sized enterprises, including: limited internal resources; Institutional factors, especially vague and imperfect regulations, bureaucracy; low level of investments; Low level of qualification of human capital and others.

Keywords: small and medium-sized enterprises, sustainable development, conditions of sustainable development, strategic directions of sustainable development.

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Authors: Rukshika S Hewawasam, Sisira K. Weliwegamage, Sanath Rajapakse, Subramanium Sotheeswaran

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Bio fuel is one of the emerging industries around the world due to arise of crisis in petroleum fuel. Fermentation is a cost effective and eco-friendly process in production of bio-fuel. So inventions in microbes, substrates, technologies in fermentation cause new modifications in fermentation. One major problem in microbial ethanol fermentation is the low resistance of conventional microorganisms to the high ethanol concentrations, which ultimately lead to decrease in the efficiency of the process. In the present investigation, an ethanol resistant bacterium was isolated from sap of Saccharum officinarum (sugar cane). The optimal cultural conditions such as pH, temperature, incubation period, and microbiological characteristics, morphological characteristics, biochemical characteristics, ethanol tolerance, sugar tolerance, growth curve assay were investigated. Isolated microorganism was tolerated to 18% (V/V) of ethanol concentration in the medium and 40% (V/V) glucose concentration in the medium. Biochemical characteristics have revealed as Gram negative, non-motile, negative for Indole test ,Methyl Red test, Voges- Proskauer`s test, Citrate Utilization test, and Urease test. Positive results for Oxidase test was shown by isolated bacterium. Sucrose, Glucose, Fructose, Maltose, Dextrose, Arabinose, Raffinose, Lactose, and Sachcharose can be utilized by this particular bacterium. It is a significant feature in effective fermentation. The fermentation process was carried out in glucose medium under optimum conditions; pH 4, temperature 30˚C, and incubated for 72 hours. Maximum ethanol production was recorded as 12.0±0.6% (V/V). Methanol was not detected in the final product of the fermentation process. This bacterium is especially useful in bio-fuel production due to high ethanol tolerance of this microorganism; it can be used to enhance the fermentation process over conventional microorganisms. Investigations are currently conducted on establishing the identity of the bacterium

Keywords: bacterium, bio-fuel, ethanol tolerance, fermentation

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Authors: Khwaja Naweed Seddiqi, Shigeo Honma

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Relative permeability is the important parameter controlling the immiscible displacement of multiphase fluids flow in porous medium. The relative permeability for immiscible displacement of two-phase fluids flow (oil and water) in porous medium has been measured in this paper. As a result of the experiment, irreducible water saturation, Swi, residual oil saturation, Sor, and relative permeability curves for Kerosene, Heavy oil and Lubricant oil were determined successfully.

Keywords: relative permeability, two-phase flow, immiscible displacement, porous medium

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Authors: Anuradha Ranawakage, Chathurani Silva

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With the growing expansion of global businesses, supply chains are increasingly exposed to numerous disruptions. Organizations adopt various strategies to mitigate the impact of these disruptions. Depending on the variations in the conditions and characteristics of supply chains, the adoption of resilience strategies may vary across industries. However, these differences are largely unexplored in the existing literature. Hence, this study aims to evaluate the adoption of three proactive strategies: proactive collaboration, digital connectivity, integrated SC risk management, and three reactive strategies: reactive collaboration, inventory and reserve capacity, and lifeline maintenance in the apparel and construction industries in Sri Lanka. An online questionnaire was used to collect data on the implementation of resilience strategies from a sample of 162 apparel and 185 construction companies operating in Sri Lanka. This research makes a significant contribution to the field of supply chain management by assessing the extent to which different resilience strategies are functioned within the apparel and construction industries in Sri Lanka, particularly in an era after a global pandemic that significantly disrupted supply chains all around the world.

Keywords: apparel, construction, proactive strategies, reactive strategies, supply chain resilience

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Authors: Fatima Bellali, Mariem Kharroubi

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Fish scale wastes are one of the main sources of production of value-added products such as collagen. The main aim of this study is to investigate the optimization conditions of the sardine scale deproteinization using response surface methodology (RSM) on a pilot scale. In order to look for the optimal conditions, a Box–Behnken-based design of experiment (DOE) method was carried out. The model predicted values of product coal ash content were in good agreement with the experiment values (R2 = 0.9813). Finally, model-based optimization was carried out to identify the operating parameters (reaction time=4h and the solid-liquid ratio= 1/10) and to obtain the lowest collagen content.

Keywords: pilot scale, Plackett and Burman design, fish waste, deproteinization

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Authors: Shorena Pharjiani

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The Present empirical paper investigates the relationship between FDI and economic growth by 10 selected industries in 10 Central and Eastern European countries from the period 1995 to 2012. Different estimation approaches were used to explore the connection between FDI and economic growth, for example OLS, RE, FE with and without time dummies. Obtained empirical results leads to some main consequences: First, the Central and East European countries (CEEC) attracted foreign direct investment, which raised the productivity of industries they entered in. It should be concluded that the linkage between FDI and output growth by industries is positive and significant enough to suggest that foreign firm’s participation enhanced the productivity of the industries they occupied. There had been an endogeneity problem in the regression and fixed effects estimation approach was used which partially corrected the regression analysis in order to make the results less biased. Second, it should be stressed that the results show that time has an important role in making FDI operational for enhancing output growth by industries via total factor productivity. Third, R&D positively affected economic growth and at the same time, it should take some time for research and development to influence economic growth. Fourth, the general trends masked crucial differences at the country level: over the last 20 years, the analysis of the tables and figures at the country level show that the main recipients of FDI of the 11 Central and Eastern European countries were Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. The main reason was that these countries had more open door policies for attracting the FDI. Fifth, according to the graphical analysis, while Hungary had the highest FDI inflow in this region, it was not reflected in the GDP growth as much as in other Central and Eastern European countries.

Keywords: central and East European countries (CEEC), economic growth, FDI, panel data

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Authors: S. Cherif, A. Medjahed, M. Bouafia, A. Manallah

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A light wave is characterized by 4 characteristics: its amplitude, its frequency, its phase and the direction of polarization of its luminous vector (the electric field). It is in this last characteristic that we will be interested. The polarization of the light was introduced in order to describe the vectorial behavior of the light; it describes the way in which the electric field evolves in a point of space. Our work consists in studying diffusing mediums. Different types of biological fluids were selected to study the evolution of each with increasing scattering power of the medium, and in the same time to make a comparison between them. When crossing these mediums, the light undergoes modifications and/or deterioration of its initial state of polarization. This phenomenon is related to the properties of the medium, the idea is to compare the characteristics of the entering and outgoing light from the studied medium by a white light. The advantage of this model is that it is experimentally accessible workable intensity measurements with CCD sensors and allows operation in 2D. The latter information is used to discriminate some physical properties of the studied areas. We chose four types of milk to study the evolution of each with increasing scattering power of the medium.

Keywords: light polarization, Mueller matrix, Mueller images, diffusing medium, milk

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Authors: Agustine Melviana, Rizkita Esyanti

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Stevia plant contains steviol glycosides which is estimated to be 300 times sweeter than sucrose. However in Indonesia, conventional (in vivo) propagation of Stevia rebaudiana was not effective due to a poor result. Therefore, alternative methods to propagate S. rebaudiana plants is needed, one of it is using in vitro method. Multiplication with a large quantity of stevia biomass in relatively short period can be conducted by using TIS RITA® (Recipient for Automated Temporary Immersion System). The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of immersion period of the medium on growth and the medium bioconversion into the production of shoot biomass. The study was conducted to determine the effect of different intensity period of medium to enhance biomass of stevia shoots. Shoot culture of S. rebaudiana was grown in full strength MS medium supplemented with 1 ppm Kinetin. RITA® bioreactors were set up with two different immersion periods, 15 min (RITA® 15) and 30 min (RITA® 30), scheduled every 6 hours and incubated for 21 days. The result indicated that immersion period affected the biomass and growth rate (µ). Thirty-minutes immersion showed greater percentage of shoot multiplication (93.44 ± 0.83%), percentage of leaf growth (85.24 ± 5.99%), growth rate (0.042 ± 0.001 g/day), and productivity (0.066 g/L medium/day) compared to that immersed in RITA® 15 min (76.90 ± 4.85%; 79.73 ± 7.76; 0.045 ± 0.004 g/day, and 0.045 g/L medium/day respectively). Enhancement of biomass in RITA® 30 reached 1,702 ± 0,114 gr, whereas in RITA® 15 only 0,953 ± 0,093 gr. Additionally, the pattern of sucrose, mineral, and inorganic compounds consumption followed the growth of plant biomass for both systems. In conclusion, the bioconversion efficiency from medium to biomass in RITA® 30 is better than RITA® 15.

Keywords: intensity period, shoot culture, Stevia rebaudiana, TIS RITA®

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Authors: Rahimah Akbar, Abdullah Al-Hashemi, Hanan Taqi, Taiba Sadeq

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As technology continues to develop, teaching curriculums in both schools and universities have begun adopting a more computer/digital based approach to the transmission of knowledge and information, as opposed to the more old-fashioned use of textbooks. This gives rise to the question: Are there any differences in learning from a digital source over learning from a printed source, as in from a textbook? More specifically, which medium of information results in better long-term retention? A review of the confounding factors implicated in understanding the relationship between learning from the two different mediums was done. Alongside this, a 4-week cohort study involving 76 1st year English Language female students was performed, whereby the participants were divided into 2 groups. Group A studied material from a paper source (referred to as the Print Medium), and Group B studied material from a digital source (Digital Medium). The dependent variables were grading of memory recall indexed by a 4 point grading system, and total frequency of item repetition. The study was facilitated by advanced computer software called Super Memo. Results showed that, contrary to prevailing evidence, the Digital Medium group showed no statistically significant differences in terms of the shift from Remember (Episodic) to Know (Semantic) when all confounding factors were accounted for. The shift from Random Guess and Familiar to Remember occurred faster in the Digital Medium than it did in the Print Medium.

Keywords: digital medium, print medium, long-term memory recall, episodic memory, semantic memory, super memo, forgetting index, frequency of repetitions, total time spent

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Authors: Alexander Kelisek, Stanislava Strelcova

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Developing of business in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is a specific especially for its flexibility and rapid adaptation to the conditions of turbulent market environment compared to large enterprises. Therefore, an importance of SMEs is growing rapidly in Slovakia but also in other EU countries. Small and medium enterprises are characterized by transparent organizational structure, as it allows the realization of direct management and information flow without significant negative aspects. In the national economy small and medium-sized enterprises represent a significant potential when performs a several important functions (e.g. social, economic, export-import, etc.) The significance of these enterprises is not only at national, but also at transnational level. Importance of SMEs is also aware of the EU, which declared this statement in a key document for SMEs called Small Business Act. In this document, SMEs are characterized, as the backbone of the EU economy and also as a key source of jobs opportunities. In addition to these aspects, SMEs attaches high innovation and development potential. The authors of the article are dealing with the current status of SMEs development in the Slovak Republic and highlight the current challenges that entrepreneurs face in their small and medium enterprises.

Keywords: small and medium enterprises (SMEs), business support, SMEs development, SMEs funding

Procedia PDF Downloads 266