Pathways towards reverse logistics adoption in Indian educational institutes: a challenging factors analysis

Reverse logistics (RL) has been proven to have a positive effect on addressing the issue of effectively utilizing resources. India has a population of over one billion people with most of it dominated by youth. Developing RL strategies and exposing it to students will encourage them to find ways to manage the limited resources available in our country. This study is focused on identifying the challenges of RL implementation in education institutes in India and finding the inter-relationship among them. The most crucial barrier to RL implementation in educational institutes is also sought in the process. We initially review the RL practices in the Indian sub-continent to examine the challenges of effectively implementing RL. We then identify the challenges of RL based on literature and discussions with experts from the education industry. The experts selected for this study include administrators from schools and universities in Kerala, India (South India). A survey was conducted in two phases. The Fuzzy-DEMATEL technique was applied to determine the inter-relationship between the challenges and obtain the causal diagram. Initially, 45 challenges were identified. Based on responses from experts from phase one of the survey, it was narrowed down to 29 crucial challenges. A pairwise comparison among the challenges was then done by experts in the education field. Finally, on the application of Fuzzy-DEMATEL, a causal diagram was generated to indicate the extent of influence of the RL challenges. Our findings indicate that educational institutions are faced with lack of awareness about reverse logistic, lack of responsibilities about environment, resistance to change, lack of supplies on supplier end, lack of knowledge, and no proper outlet for disposal in managing RL operations in educational institutes. The challenges identified in our study is unique to the Indian sub-continent and provides a result based on the current scenario of RL implementation in Indian educational institutes. The findings from our study indicate a unique perspective of RL implementation challenges. We analyzed 29 challenges to obtain our findings. Furthermore, we use Fuzzy-DEMATEL as our analysis tool to facilitate finding results. We present this as the uniqueness of our study from the available literature

A rare case of patellar fracture with quadriceps tendon rupture

Quadriceps tendon rupture is the rarest injury with an incidence of 1.37/1,00,000/year. A patellar fracture is the most common injury associated with extensor mechanism lag, but it is rarely found to have quadriceps rupture rather than patellar tendon rupture. Normally when patella fracture occurs the force is disseminated at the bone level rather than at the muscular level. In this case, the force has disseminated at both muscle and bone leading to fracture of patella and quadriceps tendon rupture. Here we report a case of patellar fracture along with quadriceps tendon rupture

Rapid detection of Ganoderma lucidum and assessment of inhibition effect of various control measures by immunoassay and PCR

Molecular and immunological methods have been applied for detecting the Ganoderma disease of coconut. Polyclonal antibodies (PAbs) raised against basidiocarp protein of Ganoderma were used for detection. For polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, the primer generated from the internal transcribed spacer region one (ITS 1) of ribosomal DNA gene of Ganoderma, which produced a PCR product of 167 bp in size is used for early detection. Ganoderma disease in apparently healthy palms in two coconut gardens was tested by ELISA test using basidiocarp protein antiserum. Field trials were laid out in these early-diagnosed palms for the management of the disease. Based on the ELISA results,Pseudomonas fluorescens + Trichoderma viride with chitin amended treatments arrested the multiplication of the pathogen and showed below the infection level of optical density (O.D) within six months. Integrated disease management (IDM) and fungicide tridemorph treated palms showed below infection level (O.D value) within seven months and T. harzianum and P. fluorescens + T. viride treatedpalms showed below infection level (OD value) of the disease in eighth months

Parametric Tolerance Impact on Algebraic Position and Joint Torques of a Three Link Planar Manipulator using Evolutionary Techniques

814-818Tolerance analysis is a difficult task and an optimum tolerance allocation for individual parts is done to reduce the process error. This paper articulates the effect of changes in the link lengths due to manufacturing tolerance variation on the target path, assembly cost and joint torques of an R-R-R (three revolute joints) configuration planar three link robot manipulator. Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Elitist Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II) are utilized to find optimum link lengths for the three link planar manipulator to minimize the errors. The analyses are further extended to identify the effect due to the three types of tolerances (fine, medium and coarse tolerances) on link lengths using C program codes and the results obtained from evolutionary algorithms are compared

Expression and purification of Murine IFN-γ protein from cloned E. coli strain containing pRSET A Vector with IFN gamma gene

The cloned E. coli cell containing Murine IFN -γ inserted pRSET A vector system was effectively expressed in this study.  The induction of the clones was done using IPTG in E.coli and induces mRNA generation and synthesis protein. It has shown an expression of protein with 18 kda in SDS PAGE and western blotting and their size was determined by GENE RUNNER software.  This recombinant protein has a 6x His tag and it has been proved as it has shown a potent anti His property in western blotting. The purification of the protein was further done by Ni-NTA affinity chromatography. Nitrilo tri acetic acid (NTA) binds more stably with nickel (Ni) with 4 to 6 ligand binding sites in the coordination sphere of Nickel leaving two sites free to interact with the 6X His tag. The total results conclude that the targeted IFN gamma (408bp mouse gene) cloned in pRSET A was effectively expressed in E. coli BL21 strain cells and purified IFN gamma protein effectively as 1mg/ml. The purified IFN gamma protein may be used to diagnose the antiviral activity and antitumor activity. Key words: IFN gamma, pRSET A, E. coli, SDS PAGE, Western Blottin

Drivers of circular economy for small and medium enterprises: Case study on the Indian state of Tamil Nadu

The present paper highlights the growing relevance of the Circular Economy (CE), its adoption by Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), and the relationship between the drivers of CE. Using a case study of CE adoption by Tamil Nadu state in India, we analyse the interactions between the drivers and examine the challenges and benefits of CE adoption. Using Total Interpretive Structural Modelling (TISM) this paper identifies 10 main drivers relevant for SMEs in Tamil Nadu based on literature and discussions with 78 industrial-academic experts, comments on the driving, dependent and linking elements that impact the uptake and adoption of CE. The modelling results confirm that three drivers, namely urbanisation, funding availability and resource consumption, are relevant and support the successful adoption of CE. The paper is among the first that uses the TISM technique to establish a contextual linkage between CE drivers and relationship between the different drivers

Critical Success Factors for Implementing Blockchain-Based Circular Supply Chain

The growing importance of the circular economy has emphasised optimal utilisation of resources within the constraints of economic development and protection of the environment. Digital technologies associated with Industry 4.0, such as blockchain, facilitate the implementation of circular economy principles throughout the supply chain. However, because blockchain implementation in the supply chain is still in the early stages, real-world examples of the blockchain-based circular supply chains (CSCs) are limited. The principal purpose of the paper is to examine the critical success factors (CSFs) for implementing blockchain-based CSCs. Following that, ten CSFs are identified through a short systematic literature review, and then, the integrated Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping and Fuzzy Best Worst Method (FCM-FBWM) is implemented to examine CSFs for the blockchain-based CSC. The study’s main findings demonstrate that network collaboration is the best CSF, while the shared circular economy toolbox is counted worst of all. This research enriches the literature by identifying the CSFs for implementing blockchain-enabled CSCs to address the lack of a suitable decision-making framework that assists managers in comprehending how blockchain can be adopted in the circular economy context. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed, offering new insights into the measures necessary to ensure successful blockchain implementations in CSCs

Investigating the Willingness to Pay for a Contributory National Health Insurance Scheme in Saudi Arabia:A Cross-sectional Stated Preference Approach

Background: The Saudi Healthcare System is universal, financed entirely from government revenue principally derived from oil, and is ‘free at the point of delivery’ (non-contributory). However, this system is unlikely to be sustainable in the medium to long term. This study investigates the feasibility and acceptability of healthcare financing reform by examining households’ willingness to pay (WTP) for a contributory national health insurance scheme. Methods: Using the contingent valuation method, a pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 1187 heads of household in Jeddah province over a 5-month period. Multi-stage sampling was employed to select the study sample. Using a double-bounded dichotomous choice with the follow-up elicitation method, respondents were asked to state their WTP for a hypothetical contributory national health insurance scheme. Tobit regression analysis was used to examine the factors associated with WTP and assess the construct validity of elicited WTP. Results: Over two-thirds (69.6%) indicated that they were willing to participate in and pay for a contributory national health insurance scheme. The mean WTP was 50 Saudi Riyal (US$13.33) per household member per month. Tobit regression analysis showed that household size, satisfaction with the quality of public healthcare services, perceptions about financing healthcare, education and income were the main determinants of WTP. Conclusions: This study demonstrates a theoretically valid WTP for a contributory national health insurance scheme by Saudi people. The research shows that willingness to participate in and pay for a contributory national health insurance scheme depends on participant characteristics. Identifying and understanding the main influencing factors associated with WTP are important to help facilitate establishing and implementing the national health insurance scheme. The results could assist policy-makers to develop and set insurance premiums, thus providing an additional source of healthcare financing

People's choice of healthcare provier: policy options for rural Karnataka in India

The main objective of this paper is to examine the people's choice of health care provider in rural India and the policy concerns in engenders. This is estimated through the Logit Model by using the rural household survey on health in Karnataka state in India. The study also explores the heuristic approach through observation and informal discussion with rural people about their opinion on existing health care services. The analysis shows that the private health care provider has emerged as the people's choice. However, the choice is significantly linked with socio-economic conditions of the rural people. The discussion suggests that policy makers in India should take serious note of the growing popularity of the private sector in providing health care services, and that it would be advisable to opt for a private-public mix for regulatory and supportive policy interventions. This would inevitably promote this sector's viable and appropriate development