Effect of Maleated Polypropylene (MAPP) on the Tensile, Impact and Thickness Swelling Properties of Kenaf Core – Polypropylene Composites

The study on the kenaf core fiber – polypropylene (PP) composites with treated and non-treated maleated polypropylene (MAPP) was done. Epolene-43 which is commercially MAPP was used to determine MAPP’s effectiveness as a coupling agent for kenaf fiber-composites. The hot pressing system for producing kenaf core-PP composite has been used. The tensile, impact and thickness swelling results of the epolene 43 treated composite samples were better than those of the untreated composites. Scanning electron microscopy micrograph proved that the interfacial region of treated composite board shows good interaction among kenaf’s wood fiber and PP components

Role of Varietal Resistance in Managing the Rice Water Weevil, a Major Insect Pest of Louisiana Rice

Resistance of several commercial rice varieties widely grown in Louisiana was assessed against the rice water weevil (Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus Kuschel), the major insect pest of rice in the United States. A five-year field study was conducted to identify resistant genotypes among conventional inbred, herbicide tolerant, conventional hybrid, and herbicide tolerant hybrid varieties. Resistance was evaluated in two different locations to enable selection of rice varieties with wide adaptability over diverse environments. There were no large differences in the resistance found amongst commercial rice varieties over the five-year field study. Jefferson was frequently found to support lower larval densities than other varieties, while Jupiter often supported higher larval densities. Another assessment involved greenhouse experiments that evaluated adult preference for oviposition and survivorship of larvae on different varieties. Numbers of weevil eggs per plant differed significantly among varieties in choice tests but not in no-choice tests, while 1st instar densities in both choice and no-choice tests showed no significant differences between varieties. This suggests that inconsistency of oviposition preferences exist among the varieties. Nevertheless, analysis of mature instar data from the no-choice test showed that numbers of mature instars were significantly different among the varieties “Cheniere”, “CL111”, “CL151”, “Cocodrie”, “Jefferson”, and “Jupiter”. Percentage of larval survival showed no statistical difference between the four varieties tested. Our results from the field and the greenhouse suggest that none of the commercial varieties tested showed high levels of resistance to rice water weevil infestation, although Jupiter appears to be more susceptible than other varieties and Jefferson appears to be somewhat more resistant

Multiple Choice Questions Test Scoring And Item Analysis Tool

This project has successfully developed a computer program that can be used on IBM-compatible personal computers to do multiple-choice questions test scoring and item analysis. The program is menu driven, with pull-down menus act as the main interface with the user. The program reads input data from an ASCII text file, which filename is given by the user. The user has to prepare the data file before using this program. The output given is the scores obtained from the test and the item analysis results, which consists of discrimination index, difficulty index and response count. The output displayed on screen can also be saved to a text file. The user can make several options in giving commands for the program to score and analyse the item. These include scoring using guessing correction and displaying response count in percentage

The Mediating Role of Work Values in the Relationship between Islamic Religiosity and Job Performance: Empirical Evidence from Egyptian Public Health Sector

This study attempts to empirically examine the job performance of Egyptian employees working in public health sector from the perspective of Islamic religiosity, when work values play a mediating role; based on cognitive dissonance theory. These relationships were tested within a sample of (400) participants working in ten public hospitals located inside greater Cairo area, only (335) responded, with a response rate of 83.75%. Results revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between Islamic religiosity and the four dimensions of work values (instrumental, cognitive, social/altruistic, and prestige), and there is partial mediation between work values and job performance (task and contextual). Findings provided support that instrumental and prestige work values are significantly related to task performance, whilst cognitive and social work values are related to contextual performance. The three-part questionnaire was used to assess the study variables. Moreover, a confirmatory factor analysis, using AMOS20 was conducted to confirm the factor structure of the used scales in the target population. The implication of this finding is that religiosity and values-based management need to be accompanied by socio-economic public reforms to allow the identification of public-sector employees to their national work values and their commitment to the performance goals of their organizations

The role of marketing to avoid product returns in online shopping : how marketers help online consumers to make better purchase decisions and thus avoid product returns

The increasing alarm about global climate change and the related consequences on the planet and humankind has raised the voices to adopt sustainability within organisations and businesses. The wide spread of the internet and smart devices allowed many consumers to buy their needs through smart devices without the need to travel to physical stores. Online shoppers are expected to increase significantly in the coming years. The online shopping environment allows a wide range of products and provides convenience to online consumers. However, this led to a significant increase in product returns among different retail sectors, including the clothing and home electronic sectors. The high products return folds into many disadvantages to the environment, society, and economics, such as higher CO2 emissions because of the increased number of shipping trips when products are returned. The increase in the number of packages and loss of product values when a consumer returns a product also significantly impacts sustainability. The high competition in the online shopping market drive marketers to provide different services such as free and fast delivery and flexible returns policies to maintain competitive advantages and thus encourage consumers to buy their products. Moreover, the legal structure protects consumers right to return the products, which hinders marketers from strict their return policies to reduce product returns. However, reducing the high returns is still in the interest of online retailers as high returns encounter higher operating costs such as repackaging and the deprecation value of the products. Many studies have explored the importance of reducing high product returns in online shopping and mentioned the different disadvantages for companies, the environment, and society. Other studies have investigated the reasons behind the high product returns within the online shopping environment. In contrast, fewer studies have addressed solutions to overcome the problems of high product returns. Because online consumers make their purchase decisions without physical interaction with the brand or its products, online consumers need more help to ensure that their purchase decisions can fulfil their desires and needs. The author of this paper suggests that marketers can help consumers make better purchase decisions since reducing product returns fall in the company's interest. Marketers are essential actors in targeting consumers to buy products. Marketers can help to create a better fit between the consumers and the products they purchase online and thus make a better purchase decision and avoid returning the products. Therefore, this paper explores how marketers can help consumers to make better purchase decisions and thus avoid product returns. Moreover, the study investigates how digital marketing tools can help marketers reach targeted consumers and help consumers to make better purchase decisions. The paper follows a case-study research design. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with defined individuals who have worked in eCommerce and digital marketing. The paper adapts in-depth narrative analysis to interpret marketers' practices during the consumer's decision journey to help them make better purchase decisions. In conclusion, the findings show that marketers can play an essential role in helping online consumers make better purchase decisions and thus avoid returning products. To avoid products, return marketers have to target consumers who are in need or interested in their products and convey detailed and truthful information about the brand and products. Digital marketing enabled marketers to reach their targeted consumers and optimise communications with them like never been, which in turn helps consumers to make better purchase decisions and thus avoid products return

Room Searching Performance Evaluation for the JagaBotTM Indoor Surveillance Robot

This paper reports the evaluation of the performance of room searching capability for the JagaBotTM Indoor Surveillance Robot. The ultimate objective of the JagaBotTM is to be applied as an event actor, inspecting the secured environment automatically and feeding the dynamic view of the surrounding to remote user. It can also be used to communicate with persons inside the monitored area. A web service based instruction panel was used to command the JagaBotTM to designated rooms. The JagaBotTM then navigates itself to the room automatically, scanning for the QR code marker attached to room door, tracking a designated trail of lines through its QR code and line tracking camera. The result of this room’s searching procedure shows that the JagaBotTM achieved its objective of correct room finding in favorable time. A 100% correct search result was obtained with an average velocity of 0.1748 m/s under the current setting

Wood reinvented

Lignocellulosic material which comprises lignin, hemicelluloses, and cellulose is a sustainable and renewable resource and it can come from forest and agricultural wastes and urban waste. 75 % of the lignocelluloses are made up of carbohydrates. Polysaccharides are the major cell wall constituents in the plant cell with the total amount up to 80 % of the total weight of the woody material. The simple sugar monomers in the polysaccharides can be converted into lactic acid through enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation process

Design and Implementation of SMS Based Anomalous Event Mitigation Process for Complex Event Processing Application

This paper describes the design and implementation of SMS based event mitigation for Complex Event Processing (CEP) application. The CAISERTM's CEP platform were used to develop event processing systems which detects and identifies complex events based on patterns of previous and current lower order events. CAISERTM then generates mitigation action for anomalous events and executes them via 3 types of SMS based notification. An implementation of the SMS based event mitigation in a CEP based Server Farm Monitoring system is also described in this paper. The performance of the event mitigation process using SMS is evaluated and described in this paper

A Review of Sustainability Model in Manufacturing Organization Towards IR4.0 in Malaysia

This paper reviews a sustainability model in manufacturing organization towards IR4.0 focusing on three main factors, which are continuous improvement, organizational culture and organizational sustainability. This review is based on the several general criterias, i.e. total quality management, strategy, development model, business performance measurement, teamwork, leadership and continuous improvement practices. Then, the summary of these reviews is discussed. The results show that the sustainability model which should occur there is an improvement in terms of knowledge of tool management skills, methodology, as well as standards and network security in order to be able to take on IR 4.0. Thus, the presence of sustainability models with diverse approaches and strengths can help future researchers to achieve work practices and organizational strategies leading towards IR4.