Effects of temperature treatment on seed germination, root development and seedling growth of Citrullus lanatus (watermelon)

The objective of the present study is to investigate the effects of temperature on the seed germination, root development and seedling growth of watermelon. Yellow flesh watermelon seeds were incubated with control (normal temperature 25°C, 20°C, 30°C, 35°C and 40°C under lab condition. This experiment was carried out with Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with five treatments and each treatment consists of five replications. The morphological and physiological parameters were measured once a week for five weeks during the germination and early seedling establishment. The results showed that seed treated under 35°C treatment produced the best results for the days require to germination, germination percentage, root development, vine and root length, leaf expansion and seedling growth of watermelon. In addition, chlorophyll content, carotenoid content, chlorophyll fluorescence, photosynthetic yield and stomatal conductance also affected positively with the temperature treatments. Fresh and dry biomass accumulation in the seedlings of watermelon was also the highest in 35°C treatment. It can be concluded that seeds incubated with 35°C during the germination increased the germination rate, root development and seedlings growth of watermelon

Cost Estimation Performance in the Construction Projects: A Systematic Review and Future Directions

Cost estimation in construction project is very critical for avoiding cost overrun in the project. This paper aims to provide a basis for improving cost estimation performance in construction through a systematic review of previous studies for last 31 years. The papers have identified a total of 238 construction cost estimation papers in 23 journals. Only 33 papers focused on factors influencing the performance of cost estimation. These papers were then analyzed, synthesized, and summarized in terms of the distribution across countries and citation influences. The factors of cost estimation performance were clustered to several themes with most of the factors in control themes. The factors in control themes are cluttered based on Organizational Control Theory (OCT). However, control themes provide less conceptual basis and dynamic to explain cost estimation performance and relationship among the factors. Therefore, this study reclassified other factors of cost estimation performance with reference to Contingency Theory (CT) and Task-Technology Fit Theory (TTFT). Hence, a new framework with relationship among the factors and cost estimation performance was developed. Further development and research of using the CT and TTFT frameworks were also discussed

Enhancing cost estimation performance through effective organizational control: the moderating role of project complexity in construction projects

Accurate cost estimation is important for the success of any project, particularly in complex industries like construction. However, many organizations fail to recognize the importance of good cost estimation performance. Previous research has identified various factors that impact cost estimation performance, with most under organizational controls, including input, behaviour, and output controls. Despite this, the causal relationships between these controls and cost estimation performance have not been thoroughly explored, especially from the perspective of diverse project complexities. To address this gap, this paper aimed to evaluate the effect of organizational controls on cost estimation performance, including the moderating effect of project complexity. Data were collected from 152 respondents in Malaysian construction firms, and a Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) method was used for data analysis. This paper reveals that all organizational controls significantly influenced cost estimation performance dimensions, except for one relationship. Additionally, only three moderating effects were found to be significant. These results highlight the importance of effective organizational controls in achieving better cost estimation performance across various levels of project complexity. By implementing the right control modes, organizations can improve their cost estimation performance and enhance project success

The Impact of task and technology characteristics on cost estimation performance in construction projects: A regression analysis

Accurate cost estimation is crucial for the success of construction projects worldwide. However, many projects encounter failures due to challenges in this area. Existing research has primarily focused on developing and comparing cost estimation methods, as well as identifying factors and best practices for improving cost estimation performance. Yet, only a limited number of studies have explored deeply into the relationship between these factors and cost estimation performance. This study aims to address this gap by investigating how task characteristics and cost estimation method characteristics affect cost estimation performance from the perspective of cost estimators. Data were collected from cost estimators in construction projects and subsequently analyzed using multiple regression analysis. The results demonstrate that task interdependence and the cost estimation method characteristics significantly impact the cost estimation performance. This study provides novel insights regarding the significance of these method characteristics and sheds light on which task characteristics influence the cost estimation performance. It also provides the importance of fostering a positive organizational culture to mitigate the adverse effects of task interdependence on cost estimation performance. Furthermore, this study recommends further exploration of the interaction between task and cost estimation method characteristics through task-technology fit theory or moderator analysis

HEALTHY LIFESTYLE INSTRUMENT

The main purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to measure the Healthy Lifestyle among employees of KPTM Ipoh, KPTM Alor Setar, UniSHAMS and Intel Kulim. The sample was collected using self-administered questionnaire from 16 people for our focus group based on our sampling frame design and distributed four instruments for each strata group. The total instrument from the pilot study are 64 instruments. Three (3) constructs of the Healthy Lifestyle Instrument primarily consist of Fitness Wellness, Dietary Wellness and Behavior Wellness. The result of descriptive analysis show that the alpha reliability of the construct items in healthy lifestyle are acceptable. This would be express that the Healthy Lifestyle Instrument be considered reliable. However, in the exploratory factor analysis show that the findings are expanded from three factors to seven factors of employee healthy lifestyle practices. As related to this and previous analysis, we conclude that the Healthy Lifestyle Instrument are valid and reliable. However, this will require full data collection in order to fully validate the instrument. Therefore, the 3 aspects of employee’s healthy lifestyle practices will remain the same as before the test performed. This is due to small sample size in pilot study. The same analysis procedure will be performed using sufficient sample size. However, in term of factor analysis in the main study, the finding of new emerge factors from the previous pilot study will be executed in order to conclude the final factoring involve. Keywords: health, lifestyles, exploratory factor analysi

A NOTE ON THE CHARACTERIZATION OF PARETO DISTRIBUTION BY THE HAZARD RATE OF UPPER RECORD VALUES

Aliev, Fazil/0000-0001-8357-4699; ONCEL, Sevgi YURT/0000-0002-0990-292XWOS: 000328500300007Let {X-i, i = 1 2, ... } be a sequence of independent and identically distributed (iid) random variables with absolutely continuous (with respect to Lebesgue measure) cumulative distribution function (cdf) F(x) with F(1) = 0 and the corresponding probability density function (pdf) f(x). We provide two characterizations of Pareto distribution based on ratios of upper records and properties of hazard rate

The relationship between fun at work and work engagement / Mohd Fazil Jamaludin, Nordiyana Mohammed Shobri, Azlyantiny Mohammad

This study was designed to address two questions. First, what are the scores for fun at work that affect work engagement? Second, what is the relationship between fun at work and work engagement? In order to address these questions, analyses were conducted from a sample of 66 respondents. The result of these analyses found that socializing with co-workers was the highest mean score compared than other fun at work scale. Overall, there are various results from the relationship between fun at work scale (socializing with co-workers, celebrating at work, personal freedoms, and global fun at work) and work engagement. Specifically, there was a positive significant relationship between fun at work and work engagement. Thus, as fun at work increase, the work engagement will also increase

Atorvastatin solid dispersion for bioavailability enhancement

Atorvastatin calcium is a lipid-lowering agent. It has approximately 15% of bioavailability, remaining amount of drug showed adverse effect which is undesirable for patients. The objective of the study was to enhance the solubility and a dissolution profile of the atorvastatin (AT) calcium. Solid dispersion (SD) is a technique which enhances the solubility and a dissolution profile of poorly soluble drug. Various methods are being used for SDs such as microwave irradiation fusion, kneading, solvent evaporation, fusion, and dropping method. The authors have used here conventional fusion method using PEG 4000 as a hydrophilic carrier. The solubility of pure drug, physical mixture using PEG 4000 (1:3), and SD in phosphate buffer solutions (pH 6.8) was found to be 55.33 ± 0.66, 81.89 ± 2.35, and 93.66 ± 1.35, respectively. Fourier transform infrared and differential scanning calorimetry study showed the significant peak shift of drug in SD. It indicated that the nature of drug had been changed from crystalline form to amorphous form due to conversion into SD formulation. The dissolution rate was significantly increased when the drug polyethylene glycol 4000 ratio was 1:3. The mean cumulative percentage drugs release from pure drug, physical mixture, marketed tablet, and SD at 1 h was 28.92 ± 1.66%, 55.26 ± 0.95%, 72.16 ± 1.33%, and 91.66 ± 1.65%, respectively. It was concluded that the solubility and dissolution profile of SD of AT calcium showed the enhancement of solubility and dissolution when compared with marketed preparations