Abstract: The quest for alternatefuels for a CI engine has
become all the more imperative considering its importance in the
economy of a nation and from the standpoint of preserving the environment. Reported in this paper are the combustion performance and P-θ characteristics of a CI engine operating on B20 biodiesel fuel derived from Jatropha oil.Itis observed that the twin effect of advancing the injection timing and increasing the injector opening pressure (IOP) up to 220 barhas resulted in minimum brake specific
energy consumption and higherpeak pressure. It is also observed that
the crank angle of occurrence of peak pressure progressestowards top
dead center (TDC) as the timing is advanced and IOP is increased.
Abstract: Nigeria is considered as one of the many countries in
sub-Saharan Africa with a weak economy and gross deficiencies in technology and engineering. Available data from international monitoring and regulatory organizations show that technology is pivotal to determining the economic strengths of nations all over the
world. Education is critical to technology acquisition, development,
dissemination and adaptation. Thus, this paper seeks to critically
assess and discuss issues and challenges facing technological
advancement in Nigeria, particularly in the education sector, and also
proffers solutions to resuscitate the Nigerian education system
towards achieving national technological and economic sustainability
such that Nigeria can compete favourably with other technologicallydriven
economies of the world in the not-too-distant future.
Abstract: Recently, Cassava has been the driving force of many
developing countries- economic progress. To attain this level,
prerequisites were put in place enabling cassava sector to become an
industrial and a highly competitive crop. Cameroon can achieve the
same results. Moreover, it can upgrade the living conditions of both
rural and urban dwellers and stimulate the development of the whole
economy. Achieving this outcome calls for agricultural policy
reforms. The adoption and implementation of adequate policies go
along with efficient strategies. To choose effective strategies, an indepth
investigation of the sector-s problems is highly recommended.
This paper uses gap analysis method to evaluate cassava sector in
Cameroon. It studies the present situation (where it is now),
interrogates the future (where it should be) and finally proposes
solutions to fill the gap.
Abstract: The recurring decimal of rural and urban poverty in
Nigeria, resulting from lack of sustainable livelihood activities by
the people due to non-diversification of the economy, necessitated
this study. One hundred snail farmers were randomly selected in
Akure North and Akure South Local Government areas of Ondo
State, Southwest Nigeria where snail farming is widely practised.
Data collection was through questionnaires administration and onsite
observation of farms. Data obtained were subjected to
descriptive statistics, Student-s t-test and regression analysis. Cost
benefit ratio (CBR) and rate of return on investment (RORI) were
calculated in order to determine the poverty alleviation potentials of
snail farming in the study areas. Although snail farming was
profitable and viable, it was below poverty line. With time and more
knowledge in its farming activities, and with more people taking to
snail production, its poverty alleviation and reduction potentials will
increase.
Abstract: Suburban area is an important area to the development of a city and a country. Russias economy is going through major transitions. These transitions are rapidly changing the relationship between cities (urban areas), countryside (rural areas) and the development, growth, and popularity of suburbia. The process of suburbanization takes place in biggest cities of Russia, including Krasnoyarsk City. The modern Krasnoyarsk with a population of about 1mln people occupies the territory of 34115 ha. This article examines the analysis of functions of suburban area and connects these functions with zoning of the suburban territory. The author uses the method of hierarchy to select the best conditions to each function in connection with nature component, transportation and distance from the city. The result of this research is the map of the functional zoning of suburban area of Krasnoyarsk City. The author uses a variety of factors, which have an influence on suburban area, to compare and choose the best conditions. KeywordsSuburban area, zoning of territory, Krasnoyarsk City.
Abstract: While the form of crises may change, their essence
remains the same (such as a cycle of abundant liquidity, rapid credit
growth, and a low-inflation environment followed by an asset-price
bubble). The current market turbulence began in mid-2000s when the
US economy shifted to imbalanced both internal and external
macroeconomic positions. We see two key causes of these problems
– loose US monetary policy in early 2000s and US government
guarantees issued on the securities by government-sponsored
enterprises what was further fueled by financial innovations such as
structured credit products. We have discovered both negative and
positive lessons deriving from this crisis and divided the negative
lessons into three groups: financial products and valuation, processes
and business models, and strategic issues. Moreover, we address key
risk management lessons and exit strategies derived from the current
crisis and recommend policies that should help diminish the negative
impact of future potential crises.
Abstract: Although agriculture is an important part of the world
economy, accounting in agriculture still has many shortcomings. The
adoption of IAS 41 “Agriculture” has tried to improve this situation
and increase the comparability of financial statements of entities in
the agricultural sector. Although controversial, IAS 41 is the first
step of a consistent transition to fair value assessment in the
agricultural sector. The objective of our work is the analysis of IAS
41 and current accounting agricultural situation in Romania.
Accounting regulations in Romania are in accordance with European
directives and, in many respects, converged with IFRS referential.
Provisions of IAS 41, however, are not reflected directly in
Romanian regulations. With the increase of forest land transactions,
it is expected that recognition and measurement of biological assets
under IAS 41 to become a necessity.
Abstract: Technology transfer by international trade and
foreign direct investment is the most important positive
outcome of open economy. It is widely accepted that new
technology and knowledge have an important role in
enhancing economic growth. Human capital is the other
important factor assisting economic growth. In this study, the
role of human capital in the growth process is examined in a
view of new endogenous growth theory emphasizing on the
technology transfer resulting from international trade. Using
the panel data of 10 developed and 10 developing countries,
impact of human capital and openness on the rate of economic
growth of different countries is analysed. Evidence suggests
the view that human capital and openness contribute to the
economic growth in both developing and developed countries,
but with different rates.
Abstract: Milk is a very important nutrient. Low productivity is
a problem of Turkish dairy farming. During recent years, Turkish government has supported cooperatives that assist milk producers and
encouraged farmers to become cooperative members. Turkish
government established several ways to support specially smallholders. For example Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
(MARA) provided two to four cows to villagers on a grant or loan basis with a long repayment period at low interest rates by
cooperatives. Social Support Project in Rural Areas (SSPRA) is
another support program targeting only disadvantaged people,
especially poor villager. Both programs have a very strong social
support component and similar objectives. But there are minor
differences between them in terms of target people, terms and conditions of the credit supplied Isparta province in Mediterranean region of Turkey is one of the
supported regions. MARA distributed dairy cows to 1072 farmers through 16 agricultural cooperatives in Isparta province in the context
of SSPRA. In this study, economic-social impacts on dairy cattle project
implemented through cooperatives were examined in Isparta. Primary data were collected from 12 cooperatives- president. The
data were obtained by personal interview through a questionnaire and
to cooperatives and given to farms benefiting from the project in
order to reveal the economic and social developments.
Finding of the study revealed that project provided new job
opportunities and improved quality of livestock. It was found that producers who benefited from the project were more willing to
participate in cooperative or other producer organizations.
Abstract: This paper outlines the research conducted to propose na framework of 'Knowledge Society' (KS) in the Malaysian context.
It is important to highlight that the emergence of KS is a result of the rapid growth in knowledge and information. However, the discussion
of KS should not only be limited to the importance of knowledge, but a holistic KS is also determined by other imperative dimensions. This
article discusses the results of a study conducted previously in Malaysia in order to identify the essential dimensions of KS, and
consequently propose a KS framework in the Malaysian context.
Two methods were employed, namely the Delphi technique and semi-structured interviews. The modified Delphi involved five
rounds with ten experts, while the interviews were conducted with two prominent figures in Malaysia. The results support the proposed
framework which contains seven major dimensions in order for Malaysia to become a KS in the future. The dimensions which are
crucial for a holistic Malaysian KS are human capital, spirituality, economy, social, institutional, sustainability, and driven by the ICT.
Abstract: The new status generated by technological advancements and changes in the global economy raises important issues on how communities and organisations need to innovate upon their traditional processes in order to adapt to the challenges of the Knowledge Society. The DialogoS+ European project aims to study the role of and promote social dialogue in the banking sector, strengthen the link between old and new members and make social dialogue at the European level a force for innovation and change, also given the context of the international crisis emerging in 2008- 2009. Under the scope of DialogoS+, this paper describes how the community of Europe-s banking sector trade unions attempted to adapt to the challenges of the Knowledge Society by exploiting the benefits of new channels of communication, learning, knowledge generation and diffusion focusing on the concept of roadmapping. Important dimensions of social dialogue such as collective bargaining and working conditions are addressed.
Abstract: Organizational culture fosters innovation, and
innovation is the main engine to be sustained within the uncertainty
market. Like other countries, the construction industry significantly
contributes to the economy, society and technology of Malaysia, yet,
innovation is still considered slow compared to other industries such
as manufacturing. Given the important role of an architect as the key
player and the contributor of new ideas in the construction industry,
there is a call to identify the issue and improve the current situation
by focusing on the architectural firms. In addition, the existing
studies tend to focus only on a few dimensions of organizational
culture and very few studies consider whether innovation is being
generated or adopted. Hence, the present research tends to fill in the
gap by identifying the organizational cultures that foster or hinder
innovation generation and/or innovation adoption, and propose a
model of organizational culture and innovation generation and/or
adoption.
Abstract: In the context of business incubation (BI) as strategic
enablers, this paper critically reviews the literature relating to the
strategic benefits of BI in the Middle East. The taxonomy of BI
benefits in the strategic elements on 1) type, 2) financial model, 3)
services, 4) objectives, 5) number of clients, 6) number of graduates,
and 7) jobs creation. Understanding the importance of BI benefits can
be significant in the economic development although most incubators
lead to diversify the economy. Thus, taxonomies of the benefits of BI
are produced from both the academic literature and published case
studies. In this way, a classification of strategic benefits elements as
they relate to incubators has been developed to provide a greater
understanding of the benefits needed to obtain a specific element.
The result of this paper is Business incubators is aimed
entrepreneurship, jobs creation, research commercialization and
profitable enterprises in Middle Eastern countries.
Abstract: The paper investigates the main issues concerning the activity of mergers and acquisitions in Romania in the period 2000- 2004. As in the first decade after the failure of the socialist economy the market of M&A was living its infancy based exclusively on privatization transactions, after 2000 the market entered in a stage of maturity. We are investigated both the registered evolutions in terms of number and value of transactions, and some sectoral issues, concerning the most important industries affected by the M&A process.
Abstract: The objective of this research work is to discuss the concept of “green growth” in the Republic of Kazakhstan introduced by its government in the “National Sustainable Development Strategy” with the objective of transition to a resource-efficient, “green economy.” We believe that emerging economies like Kazakhstan can pursue a cleaner and more efficient development path by introducing an environmental tax system based on resource consumption rather than only income and labor. The key issues discussed in this article are the eco-efficiency, which refers to closing the gap between economic and ecological efficiencies, and the structural change of the economy toward “green growth.” We also strongly believe that studying the experience of East Asian countries on “green reform” including eco-innovation and “green solutions” in business is essential to the case of Kazakhstan. All of these will raise the status of Kazakhstan to the level of one of the thirty developed countries over the next decades.
Abstract: The Baltic States regained independence and started
the pathway from command economy to market economy and
entered European Union at the same time. Latter internationally
recognized evaluations for the countries are diverse. The present
diversity of the Baltic States -Economic Development is a subject of
interest because of the similarities – all three are small, open
economies, countries have similar geographic location and initially
likewise historical and political backgrounds. This article explains
relationship between social environment, business environment and
economic growth. It argues that the elements of social environment
underlie more successful economic development. It researches the
causes, why Estonia has performed better in economic outcomes and
development. The article analyses selection of socio-economic
indicators of all three Baltic States – Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia
for the time period of ten years to include the influence of economic
cycles.
Abstract: Green incentives are included in the “American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009" (ARRA). It is, however,
unclear how these government incentives can be carried out most
effectively according to market-based principles and if they can serve
as a catalyst for an accelerated green transformation and an ultimate
solution to the current U.S. and global economic and financial crisis.
The article will compare the existing U.S. green economic policies
with those in Germany, identify problems, and suggest improvements
to allow the green stimulus incentives to achieve the best results in
the process of an accelerated green transformation. The author argues
that the current U.S. green stimulus incentives can only be most
successful if they are carried out as part of a visionary,
comprehensive, long-term, and consistent strategy of the green
economic transformation.
Abstract: all of religions free towards society in Kazakhstan. Considering that Islam is more widespread religion in the region, Islamic industry is developing sector of Economy. There are some new sectors of Halal (Islamic) industry, which have importance for state developing on the whole. One of the youngest sectors of Halal industry is Islamic tourism, which became an object of disputes and led to dilemma, such as Islamic tourism is a result of a Religious revival and Islamic tourism is a new trend of Tourism. The paper was written under the research project “Islam in modern Kazakhstan: the nature and outcome of the religious revival".
Abstract: 20 years of dentistry was a period of transition from
communist to market economy but Romanian doctors have
insufficient management knowledge. Recently, the need for modern
management has increased due to technologies and superior materials
appearance, as patient-s demands.
Research goal is to increase efficiency by evaluating dental
medical office cost categories in real pricing procedures.
Empirical research is based on guided study that includes
information about the association between categories of cost
perception and therapeutic procedures commonly used in dental
offices.
Due to the obtained results to identify all the labours that make up
a settled procedure costs were determined for each procedure.
Financial evaluation software was created with the main functions:
introducing and maintaining patient records, treatment and
appointments made, procedures cost and monitoring office
productivity.
We believe that the study results can significantly improve the
financial management of dental offices, increasing the effectiveness
and quality of services.
Abstract: In this paper, a new Genetic Algorithm (GA) based
methodology is proposed to optimize the Degree of Hybridization
(DOH) in a passenger parallel hybrid car. At first step, target
parameters for the vehicle are decided and then using ADvanced
VehIcle SimulatOR (ADVISOR) software, the variation pattern of
these target parameters, across the different DOHs, is extracted. At
the next step, a suitable cost function is defined and is optimized
using GA. In this paper, also a new technique has been proposed for
deciding the number of battery modules for each DOH, which leads
to a great improvement in the vehicle performance. The proposed
methodology is so simple, fast and at the same time, so efficient.