Journal articles on the topic 'Crow Construction Company'

Due to the unpredictable nature of renewable sources such as sun and wind, the integration of such sources to a grid is complicated. However, a hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) can solve this problem. Constructing a reliable HRES in remote areas is essential. Therefore, this paper proposes a new methodology incorporating a crow search algorithm (CSA) for optimizing the scale of an HRES installed in a remote area. The constructed system comprises photovoltaic (PV) panels, wind turbines (WTs), batteries, and diesel generators (DGs). The target is to achieve the most economical and efficient use of renewable energy sources (RESs). The CSA is used as it is simple in implementation, it only requires a few parameters, and it has a high flexibility. The designed system is constructed to serve an electrical load installed in the northeastern region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The load data are provided by the Saudi Electricity Company, including those of the Aljouf region (Sakaka, Alqurayyat, Tabarjal, Dumat Aljandal, and its villages) and the northern border region (Arar, Tarif, Rafha, and its affiliated villages). The temperature, irradiance, and wind speed of the Aljouf region (latitude 29.764 ° and longitude 40.01 °) are collected from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from 1 Jan. 2020 to 31 Dec. 2020. Three design factors are considered: the PV number, the WT number, and the number of days of battery autonomy (AD). We compared our results to the reported approaches of an elephant herding optimizer (EHO), a grasshopper optimization algorithm (GOA), a Harris hawks optimizer (HHO), a seagull optimization algorithm (SOA), and a spotted hyena optimizer (SHO). Moreover, the loss of power supply probability (LPSP) is calculated to assess the constructed system’s reliability. The proposed COA succeeded in achieving the best fitness values of 0.03883 USD/kWh, 0.03863 USD/kWh, and 0.04585 USD/kWh for PV/WT/battery, PV/battery, and WT/battery systems, respectively. The obtained results confirmed the superiority of the proposed approach in providing the best configuration of an HRES compared to the others.

Development of efficient algorithms for designing future operations is a vital element in construction business. This paper studies various aspects of a methodology required to determine the integration index for construction crews performing various process-related jobs. The main objective of the study outlined in this paper is to define the notion of integration in respect to a construction crew that performs complete cycles of construction and assembly works in order to find the optimal organizational solutions, using the integrated crew algorithm built specifically for that purpose. As seen in the sequence of algorithm elements, it was designed to focus on the key factors affecting the level of integration of a construction crew depending on the value of each of those elements. The multifactor modelling approach is used to assess the KPI of integrated construction crews involved in large-sale high-rise construction projects. The purpose of this study is to develop a theoretical recommendation and a scientific methodological provision of organizational and technological nature to ensure qualitative formation of integrated construction crews to increase their productivity during integrated implementation of multi-task construction phases. The key difference of the proposed solution from the already existing ones is that it requires identification of the degree of impact of each factor, including the change in the qualification level, on the integration index of each separate element in the organizational and technological system in construction (integrated construction crew).

In recent years, with the economic and social development, the development momentum of the catering industry continues to be hot, and at the same time people's consumerism and other major changes are also taking place. And in 2020 China's catering industry by the impact of the new crown virus, the development of a serious obstacle, the competition is more intense. The development strategy of catering industry enterprises has become a problem that deserves attention. As a successful model in the catering industry, Haidilao Company enjoys a high reputation among the crowd, but it also faces some development difficulties. This paper takes Haidilao Co., Ltd. as the research object, firstly introduces Haidilao's company profile and current development strategy, and analyzes the enterprise's strategic management method using Porter's Five Forces model and SWOT analysis method. Finally, according to the analysis of the content of this paper puts forward to promote product innovation, strengthen the diversification of development, strengthen the quality management and strengthen the construction of corporate culture and talent training and other recommendations, hoping to provide a certain reference for the Haidilao or catering industry practitioners.

Abstract This study explores the aims of the Nobel Banquet broadcast, produced by the Swedish public service company SVT and the Nobel Foundation. The study suggests that the programme can be viewed as a co-construction of science and media, and that the Nobel Foundation has three primary purposes: 1) to teach the audience about science; 2) to honour the laureates; and 3) to maintain and increase the status of the Nobel prize. SVT, for their part, has two main purposes: 1) to teach their audience about science, and 2) to entertain. The aims of the Nobel Foundation and SVT may seem disparate, but they are interrelated. At the same time, the subtleties between the entities create a tension that develops through mutual negotiations. The study ends with a discussion of two unexpected findings: 1) the shared, yet essentially differently-grounded aims of both parties to inform about science, and 2) the fact that their scientific content has increased in both absolute and relative terms over the years, a finding that questions notions of a continuous mediatisation of social institutions.

The intrinsic attributes and service functions of community gardens (CGs) are closely related to the stage of national development and social needs. With the gradual implementation of China’s urban micro-renewal policy, many CGs have been gradually developed, but they still face problems such as poor operation and low participation, which urgently require us to carry out site-based research under China’s actual national conditions. Constructing a human’s perception value-oriented evaluation system and summarizing the optimization strategies according to the evaluation results can provide more systematic and targeted practical guidance for the construction of CGs in China. We developed a set of evaluation metrics for CGs based network text analysis, literature analysis, and expert opinions and collected 245 questionnaires from 20 existing CGs in Wuhan as a study sample. Using the Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) method, we conducted statistical analysis of data for each type of CG. The results show that “Mosquito impact”, “Facility maintenance”, and “Social experience” are essential parts of residential-type community gardens (Resi-CGs) that are easily overlooked; that the users of commercial-type community gardens (Comm-CGs) consider that “Mosquito impact” is a serious deficiency; that campus-type community gardens (Camp-CGs) need to be optimized with regard to the aspects of “Crop stewardship” and “Leisure facilities”; and finally that there is no significant trend in the key improvement indicators of company-type community gardens (Comp-CGs) and the indicators like “Fitness and recreation experience”, “Crop diversity”, and “Aesthetics” need to be improved. According to the above results, we put forward specific optimization strategies to provide development guidelines and practical guidance for the future construction of CGs.

With her heavy-equipment operator certification in hand, Fiona is a new hire on a construction crew; the only woman in a family-owned organization aside from the HR manager, the sister of the company president and vice-president. Soon after her hire, the president of the company began a pattern of sexually targeting Fiona. She went to great lengths to avoid her boss, but the harassment and assaults continued. After one incident, Fiona reported the abuse to the company VP who offered her a financial settlement in exchange for her silence. Fiona thought speaking out would put an end to the strain the abuse had caused, but other dilemmas had just begun. The case allows students to examine the competing interests Fiona faces in deciding whether to accept a financial settlement from her employer, that would greatly help her family, but at the cost of signing a non-disclosure agreement.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, there has been an increase in the share of small enterprises in the grain industry, the number of which is increasing even today. At most of such enterprises, it is impossible to apply the existing longterm full grain processing technologies, there is a reduction in the number of basic technological operations, often not sufficiently substantiated, which affects the quality of the end products, which do not always meet all the basic norms of the regulations applicable to end products. Considering the modern technological solutions offered by leading manufacturers for the production of flaked products and quick-cooking products, it is possible to note the equipment of the Buhler company, which allows to monitor production control and, accordingly, achieve greater production efficiency. To date, the Buhler company offers the batch steamer MBDA for the steaming stage, which is recommended to be combined with the BCFB flaking machine. This technological equipment in combination gives high quality and reliability of the equipment itself, allows to implement energy-saving technologies at enterprises and obtain controlled production of quality products. Today, in addition to traditional grain, such crops as lentils, chickpeas, beans, wheat-spelt, spelt, naked varieties of oats and barley are processed in part or in small batches at the enterprises of the industry. Lentil is a promising leguminous crop for the grain industry. In the world, it is widely grown as a food and fodder crop. Among leguminous crops, lentils occupy an intermediate place in terms of protein content, with a protein content of 25-36%, while the share of carbohydrates is 45-55%, fat - 3-4%. The first variety of «Linza» edible lentils was registered in 2005. After that, the following varieties were registered only in 2017-2018: «Antonina» (2017), «Darinka» (2017), «YeSMaksymum» (2017), «Blondie» (2018), «Harry» (2018), «SNIM 18» (2018), Chrysolite (2018), which indicates an understanding of the potential of this culture both for the domestic market and for increasing the export potential of our country. The last to enter the register were «Serpanok» (2020) and «RED» (2021) varieties, which indicates the continued work of breeders to expand the varietal base of this crop in Ukraine.

The contribution made by the crew is very important for the welfare of the company and the performance on board. But their well-being has not been paid enough attention in the maritime world. Heavy workloads and working hours and lack of implementation of rest hours trigger human error and are prone to fatigue. The implementation of the Maritime Labor Convention 2006 has contributed significantly to the improvement of the working conditions of the crew. The purpose of this study is to determine the right criteria and strategic solutions in helping to improve the application of rest hours to crew members. Criteria and strategy solutions were obtained through the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Expert Choice methods are used as supporting software for calculations. The stages of observation, interviews, dissemination of questionnaires, modeling and choice are processes carried out in data processing. Rest time criterias with a weight value of 0.534 and an inconsistency value of 0.004466 was the main criteria chosen by the respondents. Meanwhile, Sleep Duration is a strategy solution chosen as the top priority with the weight value of 0.220 with an inconsistency value of 0. The results of the two inconsistencies each have a CR value of < 0.1 indicating that the results of rest hour application data processing based on the 2006 Maritime Labor Convention can be declared consistent and accurate.

The company was started over twenty years ago by Erroll Pullen in South Africa. He started experimenting with orange oil and worked with Stellenbosch University to test it and after confirming that it had both fungicidal and insecticidal properties, which was unusual and therefore uniquely patentable, the company was started and its first product PREVAM was born. Another office was opened in the USA and then Europe, and it is now present in over 85 countries, with a physical presence in over 40. It has factories in the EU, US, Brazil and South Africa and supply globally. Four years ago the company was sold to a South African company Omnia Holdings who then sold it Rovensa Group, who are the current owners with one of the largest footprints in the biosolutions market, seeing the purchase of Oro Agri as an opportunity to broaden their portfolio and international footprint. With a vision of offering differentiated biocontrol solutions not only to the organic market, but especially to facilitate biological synergies with traditional crop protection products targeting more sustainable solutions, the OroBio-Pheno Science and Innovation Center, complete with indoor and outdoor phenotype system, is currently under construction and will provide development services to all the Oro Agri and ROVENSA group companies.

The working vessel is an important asset for marine contractors, including PT Timur Bahari. It plays important role as main equipment for marine constructions, crew accommodation, and marketing tools for the company. Recognizing the pivotal role of working vessel, any downtime would result in unproductive and reducing company’s revenue. On the other hand, uptime is expected to always be at the high level so that working vessels becomes vital to the company’s financial performance. The study utilizes survey methods, literature reviews, and case study. The conclusion of this study demonstrates that integrating the maintenance management system with the business process can significantly enhance the company’s financial performance.

Continually improving crowd counting neural networks have been developed in recent years. The accuracy of these networks has reached such high levels that further improvement is becoming very difficult. However, this high accuracy lacks deeper semantic information, such as social roles (e.g., student, company worker, or police officer) or location-based roles (e.g., pedestrian, tenant, or construction worker). Some of these can be learned from the same set of features as the human nature of an entity, whereas others require wider contextual information from the human surroundings. The primary end-goal of developing recognition software is to involve them in autonomous decision-making systems. Therefore, it must be foolproof, which is, it must have good semantic understanding of the input. In this study, we focus on counting pedestrians in helicopter footage and introduce a dataset created from helicopter videos for this purpose. We use semantic segmentation to extract the required additional contextual information from the surroundings of an entity. We demonstrate that it is possible to increase the pedestrian counting accuracy in this manner. Furthermore, we show that crowd counting and semantic segmentation can be simultaneously achieved, with comparable or even improved accuracy, by using the same crowd counting neural network for both tasks through hard parameter sharing. The presented method is generic and it can be applied to arbitrary crowd density estimation methods. A link to the dataset is available at the end of the paper.

Decision support system is defined as a system that supports the work of a manager or a group of managers in solving semi-structured problems by providing information or suggestions towards certain decisions. The design of this system used the R & D (Research And Development) method approach according to Borg & Gall (1983:775) and the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) method as the calculation method, while what was taken into account were the criteria, where the criteria were: the number of consumers, center of crowd, access road, security, development potential. This application is made using the PHP programming language, MySql as the database, and the software used are: Adobe Dreamweaver and Apache. The choice of location for the construction of the right service center location is a problem that is being faced by PT. Eltra Various Techniques Semarang. Leaders feel confused in determining the right location for the construction of a service center because there are many things that must be considered so that the construction is not in vain and can overcome company problems. This decision support system is able to provide convenience for company leaders in determining the right service center location, through appropriate calculation processes and an integrated system with Geographic Information System (GIS) that can point to locations directly online. The results obtained are Tunjungan Elektronik Center with a value of 97.00, ITC Mega Wholesale with a value of 87.00, Galaxy Mall with a value of 86.00, Delta Plaza with a value of 85.00, Hi-tech Mall with a value of 84.00, Citra Wold Surabaya with a score of 83.00 so that the alternative chosen is Tunjungan Elektronik Center with the highest score of 97.00.

Decision support system is defined as a system that supports the work of a manager or a group of managers in solving semi-structured problems by providing information or suggestions towards certain decisions. The design of this system used the R & D (Research And Development) method approach according to Borg & Gall (1983:775) and the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) method as the calculation method, while what was taken into account were the criteria, where the criteria were: the number of consumers, center of crowd, access road, security, development potential. This application is made using the PHP programming language, MySql as the database, and the software used are: Adobe Dreamweaver and Apache. The choice of location for the construction of the right service center location is a problem that is being faced by PT. Eltra Various Techniques Semarang. Leaders feel confused in determining the right location for the construction of a service center because there are many things that must be considered so that the construction is not in vain and can overcome company problems. This decision support system is able to provide convenience for company leaders in determining the right service center location, through appropriate calculation processes and an integrated system with Geographic Information System (GIS) that can point to locations directly online. The results obtained are Tunjungan Elektronik Center with a value of 97.00, ITC Mega Wholesale with a value of 87.00, Galaxy Mall with a value of 86.00, Delta Plaza with a value of 85.00, Hi-tech Mall with a value of 84.00, Citra Wold Surabaya with a score of 83.00 so that the alternative chosen is Tunjungan Elektronik Center with the highest score of 97.00.

Decision support system is defined as a system that supports the work of a manager or a group of managers in solving semi-structured problems by providing information or suggestions towards certain decisions. The design of this system used the R & D (Research And Development) method approach according to Borg & Gall (1983:775) and the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) method as the calculation method, while what was taken into account were the criteria, where the criteria were: the number of consumers, center of crowd, access road, security, development potential. This application is made using the PHP programming language, MySql as the database, and the software used are: Adobe Dreamweaver and Apache. The choice of location for the construction of the right service center location is a problem that is being faced by PT. Eltra Various Techniques Semarang. Leaders feel confused in determining the right location for the construction of a service center because there are many things that must be considered so that the construction is not in vain and can overcome company problems. This decision support system is able to provide convenience for company leaders in determining the right service center location, through appropriate calculation processes and an integrated system with Geographic Information System (GIS) that can point to locations directly online. The results obtained are Tunjungan Elektronik Center with a value of 97.00, ITC Mega Wholesale with a value of 87.00, Galaxy Mall with a value of 86.00, Delta Plaza with a value of 85.00, Hi-tech Mall with a value of 84.00, Citra Wold Surabaya with a score of 83.00 so that the alternative chosen is Tunjungan Elektronik Center with the highest score of 97.00.

Decision support system is defined as a system that supports the work of a manager or a group of managers in solving semi-structured problems by providing information or suggestions towards certain decisions. The design of this system used the R & D (Research And Development) method approach according to Borg & Gall (1983:775) and the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) method as the calculation method, while what was taken into account were the criteria, where the criteria were: the number of consumers, center of crowd, access road, security, development potential. This application is made using the PHP programming language, MySql as the database, and the software used are: Adobe Dreamweaver and Apache. The choice of location for the construction of the right service center location is a problem that is being faced by PT. Eltra Various Techniques Semarang. Leaders feel confused in determining the right location for the construction of a service center because there are many things that must be considered so that the construction is not in vain and can overcome company problems. This decision support system is able to provide convenience for company leaders in determining the right service center location, through appropriate calculation processes and an integrated system with Geographic Information System (GIS) that can point to locations directly online. The results obtained are Tunjungan Elektronik Center with a value of 97.00, ITC Mega Wholesale with a value of 87.00, Galaxy Mall with a value of 86.00, Delta Plaza with a value of 85.00, Hi-tech Mall with a value of 84.00, Citra Wold Surabaya with a score of 83.00 so that the alternative chosen is Tunjungan Elektronik Center with the highest score of 97.00.

Historical TV dramas have changed the narrative mode of historical events and their backgrounds and visually reproduced history for the audience with exquisite scene construction and costume. Different from traditional historical themes, the royal family and the court culture behind it rely on their unique distance from the public’s vision as the basis for their existence. The mystery of power is still very important to the monarchy in modern society. However, the visual entertainment of popular culture is trying to disintegrate it. This article takes the TV series “The Crown” about the British royal family launched by the streaming media company Netflix in 2016 as an example, uses case analysis as a research method, studies some of the key contents of the five-season TV series currently launched, and discusses the seduction and disenchantment of court culture behind the image in the TV series. The research results show that in the process of visual presentation of the royal family, the role of the media will simultaneously show the seduction to the audience and the audience’s breaking of this seduction, and this contradictory relationship also affects the palace itself behind the historical drama.

PurposeThis study aims to consolidate and hone existing spectating and crowd theory. This is achieved by marrying socio-cultural ideas and concepts from related disciplines.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual review examines what people do when they congregate at an event, and in doing so, answers the question of what they forgo when denied a crowd. Concepts are teased from the literature as to what happens during participatory congregation (in company, in situ), punctuated by relegation without it.FindingsRelated concepts are organised into a typology. The metamodel is the essence of the paper and includes four themes: (1) identity construction, (2) interacting with others, (3) producing and co-producing the event and (4) the allure of tribalism.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is conceptual and therefore a typology (not a taxonomy). This implies that while it is likely transferable, it is not generalisable. It is manual and subjective, as opposed to objective and automatic. Notwithstanding future research implications, it is intended to inform those considering running virtual events.Practical implicationsEvent organisers are informed as to the “what” and “why” of running community events. It encourages a more circumspect, humanistic view that events are not merely a source of revenue.Social implicationsThis review contributes a macro understanding of human nature, complementing a micro understanding of crowd behaviour.Originality/valueVirtual event management is a relatively new and burgeoning field. Prior to the Pandemic an event without a crowd was almost inconceivable.

The research question addressed in this study was how the performance of construction crews working in a certain project or locality could be evaluated, ranked and improved. To develop and demonstrate the relevant framework, data envelopment analysis (DEA) was applied to establish the relative efficiency of plastering crews working in building projects located in different cities around Turkey. Data were collected from 40 crews of varying characteristics, and their technical efficiency scores were computed using the Banker, Charnes and Cooper (BCC) model, which is based on variable returns-to-scale (VRS). The model yields efficiency scores that range between 0 and 1, and a company or crew is considered efficient if its score is 1.0 (100%). Efficient and inefficient crews were identified and ranked on this basis in the study. Cross tabulation analyses were subsequently conducted to gain further insights into the relationships between the efficiency scores and input factors of numbers of skilled and unskilled laborers, daily labor unit costs, work hours, average age of crew members, total crew experience, plastering location, plastering technique, and plaster type. No discernible relationship could be identified between the efficiency scores and productivity outputs of the crews. It was found that plastering technique, plastering location, and total crew experience had a significant association with crew efficiency. Efficiency improvement strategies identified included training, hiring experienced plasterers, adopting more advanced plastering technology, implementing better jobsite management practices, and enhancing workers’ knowledge, skills and attitude towards productivity and quality.

Offshore facilities are exploration areas that can be removed on the beach from a geographical location. Offshore facilities are located offshore and far from land with different forms of construction and very limited space for workers, so that occupational safety and health factors are a top priority in implementing For this reason, it is necessary to pay attention to the proper scheduling and equitable replacement of crew so that activities carried out at Offshore Facilities can reduce the impact of offshore worker accidents. The Critical Path Method (CPM) identifies the critical path as a series of components for the total number of activities and indicates the longest time period with the fastest project completion. The critical path starts from the first activity to the last project. The critical path is important for implementation projects. Activities that are delayed on one track will cause a delay in the project as a whole. The estimated time used in CPM is only one that represents normal time (Kholil, et al, 2018). In carrying out a management project to get the critical path, use a parallel layout which is arranged proportionally by calculating the distance traveled. If the company is able to apply the Critical Path Method (CPM) method well, then the project can be completed in the right timeframe and can help the company in planning and controlling projects with more efficient time and costs. PERT (Program Evaluation and Technology Review) is a project management technique that uses three time estimates for each activity. The three estimation numbers, namely a (optimistic timeframe), b (pessimistic timeframe), and m (most likely timeframe). By carrying out the Rescheduling Process using the CPM and PERT Approaches, it can provide information and applications to complete the ongoing project schedule and which will be carried out at a later date besides indirectly contributing to cutting costs incurred in completing the project.

Traditional shipping, often referred to as ‘Pelra’, displays unique characteristics in contrast with conventional ships. This study hypothesizes that the implementation of a Safety Management System (SMS) in Pelra is influenced by both technical and non-technical factors. The primary objective of this research is to ascertain the degree of influence exerted by each factor on the implementation of SMSs in Pelra. Structural Equation Modeling was utilized to analyze expert opinions gathered for this study. The findings indicate that both technical and non-technical factors have direct and interrelated impacts on the safety management of Pelra. Notably, non-technical factors, particularly the authority and responsibility of the company and the ship’s crew, along with technical aspects such as the ship’s construction and stability, emerge as predominant influences. These factors act as control variables, guiding the prioritization of actions in SMS implementation. The insights gained from this research can inform policymakers in developing SMS regulations for traditional ships. A detailed examination of safety issues within the most influential factors is undertaken to reshape policies and program directives, aiming to enhance traditional shipping safety. The adoption of SMSs implies increased responsibilities and associated costs for ship owners and crew, necessitating consensus and commitment among all stakeholders, including the government, ship owners, and crew, for effective SMSs policy implementation in Pelra.

The paper provides examples of how temporary conditions experienced during construction, retrofit, or repair can bring an otherwise robust structure to failure. The KTVO Tower near Kirksville, Missouri, USA, guyed by seven tiers of guy cables, stood 610 m tall, until it suddenly collapsed on June 2, 1988. The collapse occurred during the replacement of potentially defective braces. The Tower had been subject to severe weather conditions, as well as having previously lost some braces; and yet, the experienced repair company brought it down through altered brace replacement employed by the repair crew. How did it happen? This paper goes through all the stages of this tragic event; from the failure scene back through failure analysis to the design, manufacturing, material supplies, and fatally altered repair procedure. This paper also provides an example of reinforced concrete structures which are erected with the steel reinforcement delivered to their final position as a multi-story cage lifted in-place by crane and acting as temporary independent structures. Their stability relies on proper bracing and restraint. What if some of the bracing becomes an obstacle to some activities? The paper concludes with best practices for involving a licensed professional at all stages of construction or repair in order to help prevent future collapses.

Leading firms and corporations - manufacturers of agricultural machinery (hereinafter referred to as companies) develop, produce, and then offer tractor models on the market in the form of construction series combining up to 40-55 models. The largest companies produce not only tractors, but also sets of agricultural machines for them, as well as entire technological complexes for processing and harvesting one or another crop. Thus, these companies act on the markets with their own product programs, which include the construction series of tractors as the most important component (Deere & Co, Case, New Holland, Massey Ferguson, etc.). Each construction series includes several (up to 10) series (families) of tractor models, identical in purpose, differing in engine power. The basis of each such family is unified aggregates and units - engines, transmissions, front and rear axles, hydraulic suspension systems, cabins, electrical equipment and other aggregates. The tractors of the construction series have a single stylistic solution of the cabin and external structure, which is a trademark. The construction series is characterized by a high saturation of models, especially in the range of small and medium capacities, which is explained by the increased demand for tractors of these capacities. The redundancy of models is especially noticeable in the design series of companies that were formed by merging companies that previously had their own design series (for example, the Case New Holland Company). Design series are built according to engine power and tractor weight, series - according to engine power, the gradation of which is determined by the number of engine cylinders and the possibility of forcing it with the help of low or high turbocharging. Often, the models of the series, and especially the series, have very little difference in engine power, which, with the redundancy of a number of models, allows companies to meet the demands of the maximum number of consumers for tractor performance and fuel consumption in competitive conditions.

Purpose This paper aims to study the implication of the stochastic gross-profit-per-day objective on the ship profitability and the ship capacity and speed. Design/methodology/approach The paper has used the mathematical model and the solution methodology given by El Noshokaty, 2013, 2014, 2017a, 2017b, and SOS, 2019. Findings The paper finds that if the ship owner follows the rate concept and the cargo demand forecast, he can improve the profitability of his company and be able to select the proper capacities and speeds for the ships used. Research limitations/implications The findings are not only useful for the shipping or other cargo transport companies but also for businesses like gas reservoir development, car assembly lines in the industry, cooperative farming and crop harvesting in agriculture, port cargo handling in trade and road paving in construction. Originality/value The contribution of this paper lies in notifying the ship owners of the possible profitability improvement and the consequences of building ships of larger capacities and slower speeds.

Agricultural soil processing belongs to the basic elements in the process of crop production. Currently classic tillage method is decreasing and the only trend has stated as a shallow plowing. Suitable post harvest soil tillage greatly affects yields in the next cycle. The aim of the study is the analysis of abrasive wear of selected construction materials and their subsequent use for DXRV-HD cultivator. The performed tests are focused on monitoring the mechanical properties of the materials and their use for variable cutting tip of cultivator body. Tested materials are divided into four categories. These materials include tool steel (19436), carbon steel (12050), cast iron with globular graphite and welding material supplied as a functional complex on low carbon steel by the Abraweld company. These materials are tested together with the original part of share cultivator. The present experiment is focused on metallorgraphic, mechanical and abrasive analysis. Structural component of the material is identified by metallographic photos and then compared with the impact strength tested on Charpy hammer. Followed the abrasion resistance according to CSN 01 5084 and the total evaluation of the tested samples are done.

The South Asian diaspora has been in motion for centuries, far before large parts of the region came under the rule of the British East India Company, and later the Crown itself. Within nations themselves, race, class, gender, sexual orientation, physical features, and religion, among many other things, work to shape unique experience. Any notion of South Asian, or even Indian, “authenticity” is fraught from the start. Authenticity is contextually specific in practice, and yet theorized in broad terms. Identity is overwhelmingly intersectional, and so any notion of essentialism, while an interesting thought experiment, is largely useless and untrue to human experience. Familiarized authenticity sells; radical and nuanced authenticity is a risk. It is essential then to consider the modes of canonization, and how and why certain authors are given the powerful title of “authentically South Asian.” As such Lahiri’s success is dependent on her work and her image remaining universal enough that innumerable versions of authenticity may be placed upon her. This paper explores why she functions as a fruitful case study for the construction of Indian diasporic authenticity by looking at her biography, and prolific career. It also provides an alternate analysis of agency she and her agent have in this situation by considering the para text of her novel Interpreter of Maladies.

Today, food security occupies an important place in the national security of the country and each region separately. Food security of the region primarily involves providing the population of the region with sufficient quantity, high quality and a wide range of food. Odesa region is a region in which agricultural enterprises and households are engaged in crop production, animal husbandry and their own processing of agricultural products. The general state and problems of food security in the Odesa region were considered, namely, the dynamics of the production volumes of grain and leguminous crops were analyzed, and the current state of development of the animal husbandry industry was studied. The main points that have a significant impact on the formation and development of the livestock products market in this region have been identified. Agricultural enterprises in this region were analyzed, namely the "Bessarabska" branch of "NIBULON" LLC, which today is a grain transshipment terminal, but in the future the company plans to build a full-fledged elevator and a flour mill; "ISMAIL-TRANSBALKTERMINAL" LLC is an oil extraction plant. The expediency of introducing the latest advanced technologies for growing and processing agricultural products is considered. The analysis of the current state of agriculture and agricultural enterprises shows that there is an available raw material base and farm animals are kept in this region. The export of grain crops to foreign markets has significantly decreased compared to previous years, therefore the increased development of animal husbandry is relevant and effective, which will increase the efficiency of the use of available resources, ensure the growth of labor productivity and employment of the population in rural areas. Recipes of compound feed for sheep have been calculated, in terms of the number of which this region is the leader among other regions of Ukraine. It is proposed to create small regional producers of food and compound feed products, which will allow to meet the needs of Odesa's consumers with food and feed products, as well as the export of products with added value.

HighlightsPrivate and public irrigation development was important for expanding agricultural production in the western U.S.The Twin Falls Canal Company is an excellent example of a successful Carey Act project.Cooperative efforts during the last 30 years have dramatically improved the water quality of irrigation return flow.Electricity generated by six hydroelectric facilities improves the sustainability of the irrigation project.Abstract. Private and public irrigation development projects were fundamental to bringing irrigation to arid regions of the western U.S. The Twin Falls Canal Company in southern Idaho provides a case study of private and public irrigation development because the project was developed by private investors under the Carey Act and receives a portion of its irrigation water supply from U.S. Bureau of Reclamation reservoirs. The project survived initial financial struggles and waterlogged soil to focus on sustaining crop production by reducing chronic furrow irrigation erosion and nutrient losses in irrigation return flow. Average sediment loss from the project was 460 kg ha-1 in 1970. A cooperative effort by the canal company, state and federal agencies, and farmers improved water quality by installing sediment ponds on fields, applying polyacrylamide with furrow irrigation, converting from furrow to sprinkler irrigation, and constructing water quality ponds on irrigation return flow streams. From 2006 to 2018, more sediment and total phosphorus flowed into the watershed than returned to the Snake River, and the project removed 13,000 Mg of sediment and 30 Mg of total phosphorus from the Snake River each year. However, nitrate-N from subsurface drainage was lost at 10 kg ha-1 each year, or 800 Mg year-1, for the entire watershed. While sediment and phosphorus concentrations in irrigation return flow have decreased, these concentrations were still greater than the irrigation water, indicating that more can be done to reduce the project’s influence on water quality in the Snake River. Keywords: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Sediment, Soluble salts, Water quality.

The research is aimed at improving the technological process of applying solid organic fertilizers by means of body machines through determining power consumption and specific power for the drive of the working parts from the power take-off shaft of the tractor and, in general, for the operation of machines depending on their load-carrying capacity. The correlation of the power consumption with load-carrying capacity is taken as the specific power. The research covered body machines produced by the enterprises of the former Soviet Union and by “Strautimann” and “KUHN” companies. Between the consumption power of machines of different producers and with various load-carrying capacity one can observe the positive correlation link with the correlation coefficient ranging from 0.560 to 0.963 under the correlation ratio amounting from 0.877 to 0.961. Between the specific power of machines and their load-carrying capacity we have revealed the negative correlation link with determined correlation coefficients and correlation ratios. Depending on the load-carrying capacity of machines produced at the enterprises of the former Soviet Union the change in the gear power of the working parts of the power take-off shaft from the tractor is described by the equation of the advanced incasing power function. The change in the consumption power for the operation of machines produced by “Strautmann” company depending on the loading-capacity of machines is described by the equation of the direct with positive angular coefficient; and for the operation of machines produced by “KUHN” company – by the equation of the accelerated increasing exponent. The change in the specific power on the gear of the working parts from the tractor power take-off shaft which is produced in the former Soviet Union depending on the load-carrying capacity of machines is described by the equation of the decreasing hyperbola. The change in the specific power in the work of machines produced by “Strautmann” company depending on the load-carrying capacity of machines is described by the equation of the direct with negative value of the angular coefficient. As concerns the machines produced by “KUHN” company this change is described by the equation of the decreasing hyperbola. The research results can be used for designing and constructing body machines for spreading solid organic fertilizers, the calculation of the composition and complete equipment of the corresponding machine and tractor units, and the organization of their use in the technological processes of farm crop mechanized production.

Given the national goal of “emission peaking and carbon neutralization”, China has become the largest country in the world for offshore wind farm construction. At the same time, navigational safety problems in offshore wind farm waters have become increasingly frequent. Owing to the complexity of offshore wind farm waters and the small number of accident data samples available for reference, the system theory method is more suitable for selection than the traditional method. Based on causal analysis based on system theory (CAST) and a complex network (CN), in this study, a qualitative and quantitative accident analysis model, CAST-CN, is constructed to analyze a complete case of vessel and wind turbine allision in offshore wind farm waters. The results show that, at the micro level, in addition to the master, crew, shipping company, and typhoon Hato, the maritime safety administration and the wind farm operation management department have a certain impact on the development of the accident discussed in this study. At the macro level, internal and external factors leading to the lack of system safety are identified, and measures and suggestions for system safety improvement are proposed based on analysis. This study can fill the research gap in the systematic analysis of traffic accidents in offshore wind farm waters and provide support for the safety assessment and decision-making of government management departments and research institutes.

The effects of the SIGA scandal, or the "Dutch Lerat Affair," as it was branded, led many to publicly question SIGA's accountability, which potentially undermined its corporate image. Since a corporation's image is the link between corporate reality and public perception, how people view a company is vital to that company's success. In 1993, the FSIN approached Premier Roy Romanow (NDP) to discuss reserve casino construction. Since taking the reins in 1991, Premier Romanow had been considered pro-business and compassionate towards First Nations issues, leading Chief Roland Crowe to comment, "This historical relationship meant that the Native leadership felt comfortable initiating a discussion regarding a Native casino gambling policy with the NDP government, which demonstrated an impressive level of trust in the Romanow government" (Skea, 1997, p. 103). Seeking to establish a working relationship with the province that would lead to new gaming policies benefiting its member communities, the FSIN cited a corresponding desire to stimulate economic development. Each CDC was established to aid in distributing one-quarter of the net profit share pursuant to the Framework Agreement in an effort to (i) stimulate First Nations economic development; (ii) fund reserve justice and health initiatives; (iii) finance reserve education and cultural development; (iv) improve community infrastructure; and (v) develop senior and youth programs and other charitable purposes.

The article deals with some productive approaches to studying the development of social competency of water transport workers on the personality level in the process of continuous professional education and professional activity. It has been ascertained that social competency of water transport specialists is an important factor of forming some successful models of realizing professionalism, professional institutions and other elements of the market procedure, and social aspects in the structures of productive coordination become a social constructing object on the side of professional groups themselves, which requires understanding these processes and working out a model of analysis and construction of strategies of the development of professional groups social competency and its approval. On the basis of the sociological concept of social collective coordination, a connection of fixing the role personality self-identification in social practices in the contexts of influences of their realization technologies is established. Some principal factors of making influence on the development of social competency in the course of effective professional activity and the availability of society’s purposeful influence on personality by means of socio-cultural surroundings, in which personality continues and develops professionally and socially, determined. The results of research interviewing of acting sea transport experts are presented. Some sociological characteristics of social competency of water transport specialists are made more exact by means of the qualitative investigation of the factors of this expert group social coordination. According to the expert interview with sea transport specialists, four groups of basic competencies of a water transport specialist, connected with the efficiency of labour activities, are determined: professional training; disciplined state; command work skills; loyalty to an employer’s company. On the basis of the analysis of the received data, some structural components of the water transport specialist’s competency are distinguished; they are connected with attitude to administrative authorities, management or subordination; with tolerance; with moral aspects of the crew coordination actualizing the aspects of moral competency and mutual confidence; with communicative and interactive aspects of the crew cooperation. According to the data of the author’s research interviews, a connection of activation of the processes of the expert personality’s socio-professional self-identification with the social and professional surroundings and increasing the level of his social and value adaptation in the environment with the social competency level is established. The availability of steady features, reflecting the demands of water transport specialists to the sea profession, regardless of a speciality (moral maturity, sociability and comradeship, firmness to stresses, behaviour normativeness, courage, self-control, adequate self-apprisal) is discovered. The necessity of working up adaptive and communicative components of social competence in small professional groups in the conditions of the closed surroundings and development is proved.

Aim of study: The study aims to examine the link between economic efficiency and profitability of firms belonging to the swine sector.Area of study: This study is devoted to the Czech swine sector that forms the traditional and essential part of agriculture in the Czech Republic.Material and methods: Data from the Albertina CZ Gold Edition database for the period 2008-2017 were used. To evaluate the economic efficiency, the data envelopment analysis models are applied. Return on equity, return on assets and return on sales are used to measure profitability. To assess the relationship between economic efficiency and profitability, the Pearson correlation coefficient is used.Main results: The results demonstrate that there is no clear link between the economic efficiency of firms and their profitability in this industry. The correlation between all three profitability ratios and efficiency score were predominantly positive but not statistically significant in many cases. The economies of scale and scope and the construction of profitability indicators could be the main factors explaining the fact that companies achieving higher efficiency are not also more profitable.Research highlights: The study provides material useful to owners, managers, and customers of Czech agriculture firms. It identifies the relatively high efficiency of firms measured relatively to the best Czech company. In the European context, however, the efficiency of Czech firms belonging to the swine sector is low. It also reveals that the profitability of the firms is not a representative proxy for economic efficiency.

This study identified problems encountered in tourism sustainability in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija. This covered the areas of economic, environmental and tourism managements aspects. Business’ years of operation and services offered in tourist spots were also identified in this study. This research study used a descriptive research design, and a structured interview is used as data collection tool. Participants of the study were 5 selected owners or member of association in different tourist spots in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija. Based on the research study, tourism management aspect has the highest percentage of problems encountered, this includes the factors of crowd management and LGU and owner’s participation; environmental aspect has the second highest percentage of problems encountered, this area includes nature deterioration and preservation, pollution, and construction of tourism facilities and infrastructure development; and economic aspect has the least percentage of problems encountered which includes the factors of livelihood, income and employment. Environmental Aspect is an element of an organization's activities, products or services that can interact with the environment. There are two types of environmental aspects: (i) Direct Environmental Aspect Activities over which a company can be expected to have an influence and control. For example, emissions from processes. (ii) Indirect Environmental Aspect Actual or Potential activities over which the organization can be expected to have an influence, but no control. The economic aspect refers to the importance of social responsibility, broad consideration of society and businesses, contribution to public interest, and corporate voluntary participation.

Seasonal quantification of a crop’s evapotranspiration (ET) and water footprint (WF) is essential for sustainable agriculture. Therefore, this study was conducted to estimate the ET and WF of an irrigated potato crop using satellite imagery of Landsat and Sentinel-2 sensors. The Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEB) algorithm was used to evaluate the crop water use (ETa) for potato fields belonging to the Saudi Agricultural Development Company, located in the Wadi-Ad-Dawasir region, Saudi Arabia. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI), and land surface temperature (LSD) were computed for Landsat and Sentinel-2 datasets, which were used as inputs for mapping the potato tuber yield and, subsequently, the WF. The results indicated that the NDVI showed the best accuracy for the prediction of the potato tuber yield (R2 = 0.72, P > F = 0.021) followed by the SAVI (R2 = 0.64, P > F = 0.018), compared to the field harvested actual yield (YA). A comparison between the satellite-based ETa and the actual amount of water applied (WA) for irrigation showed a good correlation (R2 = 0.89, RMSE = 4.4%, MBE = 12.9%). The WF of the potatoes in the study area was estimated at values between 475 and 357 m3 t−1 for the early (September–December) and late (December–April) growing periods, respectively. A major portion (99.2%) of the WF was accounted for from irrigation with variations of 18.5% and 3.5% for early- and late-planted potatoes, respectively, compared to the baseline (crop planted in season). In conclusion, the results showed the possibility of satisfactorily estimating the WF using the SSEB algorithm by integrating the Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 datasets. In general, the high rates of ET in the early planting season led to higher WF values compared to the in-season and late planting dates; this will help in selecting suitable planting dates for potato crops in the study area and areas with similar environments, which enhances the opportunities for sustainable management of irrigation water.

In our paper, for the first time, we examine the influence of the sentiment of private investors in social networks on the trade characteristics of stocks in the Russian market. Monthly return rates and trading volumes are analyzed under the control of financial indicators and indicators of the quality of corporate governance of stock issuers, as well as the changing external environment in the period from 2013 to 2020. The sample for various sentiment metrics is based on unique data: messages in the Telegram and mfd.ru platforms. The tonality of messages is diagnosed according to the authors’ method using artificial intelligence (neural network). The main conclusion is: the sentiment can be seen as an explanatory factor in pricing and trading activity. The influence of sentiment is non-linear. The author’s HYPE indicator of sentiment is proposed and compared in terms of explanatory ability of the trade characteristics with a wide range of proxy variables. The explanatory ability to identify differences is realized through regression constructions on panel data. It is shown that trade characteristics are more sensitive to the growth of negative messages, which is consistent with the postulates of behavioral finance. An increase in messages’ number of both positive and negative sentiment contributes to the growth of trading activity. An important practical conclusion is: following the crowd when the company is most intensely discussed will not result in high returns to an investor.

In 1924, the German aeronaut Walter Bruns turned to the Soviet government with a proposal of cooperation in the field of aeronautics. He suggested creating a concession company for the transportation of passengers by airship from Europe to East Asia, granting the bases of airships the right of extraterritoriality, making them “free harbours”. The aim of this study is to present the results of Soviet-German cooperation in the development of aeronautics and the tasks that were planned to be solved with the help of airships in the development of the Arctic territories. Analysis of the sources demonstrates that V. Bruns’ project was seen by the Soviet officials as dubious in terms of recoupment, and they were not ready to allocate funds for its implementation. The authorities were interested, first of all, in obtaining German technologies and localising the construction of airships at Soviet shipyards. In this article, special attention is paid to how Bruns’ project was evaluated by experts, among whom the military played a leading role. They opposed regular flights of airships with foreign crews across Soviet territory, as they considered them a potential threat to the country’s defense. Bruns’ other project on the organisation of an international scientific expedition to study the Arctic was of greater interest to the authorities. The practical result of this project was the flight of Graf Zeppelin, a German airship, in 1931 whose crew included Soviet specialists. However, after that, the cooperation with the Italian aeronaut Umberto Nobile became more significant for the Soviet authorities and he began building airships in the USSR.

Abstract. The evolution of mortgage market modeling in the context of implementing the strategy of technological development of the national economy is analyzed, that allowed to take into account the disadvantages and advantages of all models, modern socio-economic problems and implement the mortgage market as a mechanism for achieving structural changes in the national economy. Approaches to solving modern problems of mortgage lending in Ukraine through the introduction of specialized mortgage-industrial centers are reasoned: 1) diver­sification of primary sources of financing in order to maximize them and reduce risks; 2) the presence of an industrial partner company that ensures high production efficiency and has a permanent demand for goods or services; 3) finding the management of the model in the same business hands, in particular the bank, which ensures coordination and optimal distribution of profits between the participants; 4) the need for permanent control over the operation of the model in order to reduce technical, financial and moral risks for mortgage market participants. The universality of the proposed model of mortgage lending for industry (industrialization: renewal of the fleet of equipment and facilities, introduction of technological innovations), agro-industrial complex (modernization of agricultural machinery, development of agricultural science, introduction of world technologies in crop and livestock production, raising food production standards), housing construction and united territorial communities (replacement of the fleet of public transport equipment — buses, trolleybuses, trams) to address the issue of investing current tasks. Keywords: mortgage lending market, mortgage risks, national economy, development strategy, mortgage-industrial center. JEL Classification A13, E17, E44, E69 Formulas: 1; fig.: 2; tabl.: 0; bibl.: 10.

In the contemporary consumer-oriented world, where desire often outweighs rationality, there is a growing significance attributed to specific-historical decision-making models, among which the Dutch navigational model stands out. The article explores the primary dimensions of importance and universality inherent in decision-making mechanisms within human life. Specifically, it examines the case of the historical-cultural, semantic, and environmental legacy of the East and West India Company in Amsterdam through the application of visual sociology techniques related to the environment and decision-making culture in the field stage. The examination of culture and the decision-making process, particularly within historical expansion processes as a scaling of outcomes, is intertwined with crucial dimensions of decision-making. These include aspects related to activity, volition, personal-status (social-power) attributions, and the consequential significance of decisions as agents shaping fate in history. Political-strategic decisions made collectively at the highest echelons were harmonized through a unified command structure with hierarchical elements, adherence to the ship's charter, the rationality inherent in navigational logic, and a system celebrating the success of the ship's crew upon the venture's completion. The core of the navigational decision system revolved around key inquiries that mirrored crucial stages of decision-making: Where am I (reconnaissance)? Where do I want to go (goal setting)? Which direction to go (orienteering)? How do I get there (tactics and ship navigation)? Multimedia thinking, characterized by visual clarity and the openness associated with terrestrial geography, necessitated the integration of virtual marine geography. This marine geography not only reflected concealed but quantifiable underwater factors but also aligned with the invisible environment, reconstructed on maps. Additionally, it harmonized with subjective-architectural construction cartography, collectively fostering flexibility in decision-making.

Digital technologies could be key to solving several open issues in the context of supply chain management (SCM) and sustainable development. The purpose of this article is to investigate the linkage between digital technologies and sustainable practices in SCM. Through a systematic literature review, the article aims to identify which technologies favour sustainable emerging practices considering the triple bottom line (3BL) perspective. In particular, the following 11 technologies were considered: 3D printing, artificial intelligence, blockchain, computing, digital applications, geospatial technologies, Internet of Things, immersive environments, open and crowd-based platforms, proximity technologies and robotics. For the purpose of this research, 5011 peer-reviewed scientific articles were analysed and a comprehensive overview of the use of digital technologies in SCM to favour sustainable emerging practices was proposed. Therefore, four indices that measure the environmental, social, economic and total 3BL sustainability of each technology were used to assess sustainable emerging practices. This study could be useful for both academics and practitioners. For the former, it provides a comprehensive understanding of the application of digital technologies in sustainable emerging practices for SCM. It highlights potential research gaps by proposing scenarios of future research developments. For the latter, the article aims to identify opportunities for the implementation of digital technologies within own company to improve operations management and, at the same time, promote sustainable development.

Assessment of stem wood quality in urban environment is relevant due to the fact that trees felled under increased wind load cause enormous damage to the city economy and lead to human losses. The aim of the study was to assess the viability of growing Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) trees using pulsed tomography and drilling resistance measurements. Research in coniferous forest plots included the development during the construction of the city. Arbotom® equipment of the German company RINNTECH was used to study the trunk by pulsed tomography. Drilling method was used (Resistograph® 4450 device) to estimate the relative density of the stem wood. A total of 20 model trees were examined: 10 trees each on 2 test plots. An instrumental-visual description was compiled for each tree: height and diameter, girth of the trunk at the root neck and at breast height, the shape and length of the crown, the shape of the trunk, the presence of visible defects in the trunk were visually determined. It was found that the average speed of sound pulse in the wood of the studied model trees fluctuates in the range of 1003-1349 m/s. The research based on the data of instrumental study of the quality of stem wood (Scots pine) at the age of 60-70 under the conditions of intense exposure to industrial emissions and recreational load. Zones of local wood destruction have been clearly defined in the structure of the density distribution. Comparison of the results (obtained by two different assessment methods of wood state at the same object) shows high degree of comparability. The parallel use of two measuring instruments in assessing the growing tree state increases the accuracy of the obtained data and enables more reliable determination of emergency trees, areas of their maximum destruction and, as a consequence, the most probable direction of tree fall.

Purpose Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation), owned by the Brazilian Government, is one of the most efficient agencies for promoting sustainable tropical agriculture in the world. However, although information is available, farmers do not always put the technologies and knowledge into practice. There is a large difference between the average productivity of farmers and crop or herd potential. Thus, this paper aims to describe and analyze the process of technology transfer of the Embrapa Agrobiology Unit. Design/methodology/approach The study reviewed the classical and diffusionist models of technology transfer (TT) in Brazilian agriculture and the role of the government in innovation. This was based on documentary research and structured interviews with four employees, supported by a structured roadmap composed of four categories for analysis: the role of TT; the organizational structure of the area; the TT strategies; and the ways of delivery, methods and tools of TT. By a qualitative approach, the results were treated through content analysis. Findings The results indicated that the area of TT at Embrapa went through a recent restructuring, which included the interchange and collective construction of knowledge (ICC) in its TT process, to turn entrepreneurship into reality. The company is dedicated to bringing knowledge to the most important people: farmers. This has been done through a participatory TT model, which has involved multiplier agents from the research stage to the transfer stage. Research limitations/implications Some limitations were found, among them, the fact that only internal members of Embrapa were interviewed, limiting the view of the TTICC staff and without knowing the multiplier agents’ opinion and other actors involved in the process. In addition, it is a qualitative research that is subject to the interpretation of the researcher. Practical implications This study contributed to reflections about the TT process and how it can be used by different actors, along with the role of the State in innovation. Social implications In addition to contributing to the development of products, processes and technologies for the economic, social and environmental development of Brazil, Embrapa has been outstanding in generating knowledge for the advancement of science. Its results have had impacts not only nationally but also worldwide. Embrapa has played a key role in Brazilian agriculture as well as in livestock, mainly, in supporting governmental projects and in the implementation of public policies. Originality/value The aim of this study was achieved, as there was a possibility of describing and analyzing the technology transfer process at Embrapa Agrobiology Unit, located in the city of Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro. It is concluded that Embrapa has been committed to involving the farmer in the process of interchange, collective construction of knowledge and technology transfer. The farmer has become the focus of this process, reducing the development of “shelf” researches and increasing the participation of the farmer or of the multiplier agent. The importance of studying and knowing the process of technology and knowledge transfer to the public of interest should be highlighted, and especially the reasons why this technology or knowledge are often not adopted by the public. It was possible to identify that Embrapa has noticed the difficulties of farmers and realized that the best way the best way of transforming technological solutions and knowledge into innovation is by involving the farmer in the process of construction and of transfer. Thus, the farmer gives greater credibility to the technology or generated knowledge because this is something that he himself helped build. In the sphere of contemporary institutional knowledge management, Embrapa has had as its main point of departure the demand and the needs of society. For this, it has created means to ensure the participation of different actors because they signal the construction of technological solutions and of innovation and they are the ones who know the real situation. However, this is a recent progress within Embrapa that has evolved and generated results. Thus, research, science and technology institutions must go beyond technology transfer and must ensure the involvement, participation and interaction of the public of interest to promote significant change, social, economic and environmental development and transformation. Embrapa observed this from the referential framework that included technology transfer, interchange and the collective construction of knowledge.

Background. The article provides an overview of existing complexes (units) for continuous monitoring of drilling fluid parameters in automatic mode. Aim. To justify the need to develop a complex (module) that will allow combining existing technologies and making a step forward in the field of process automation in terms of monitoring the parameters of drilling fluids. Materials and methods. In the current realities of well construction, the control of drilling fluid parameters on almost all drilling rigs operating on the territory of Russia (possibly with the exception of a few off shore projects) is carried out by the work of a solution engineer, usually a representative of a service company. The analysis of the parameters, depending on the number of personnel, the speed of penetration, the complexity or importance of the well, can be carried out from 2 to 6 times a day [1, 2]. This means a complete analysis, rather than monitoring the density and conditional viscosity, which can be measured by a representative of the drilling crew, for rapid response, and with greater frequency. Due to such a low measurement discreteness, there is a high probability of a significant deviation of the drilling fluid parameters from the design values. As a result, the probability of various complications, both geological and technological, increase significantly. Results. During the analysis of information from open sources, the most promising complexes (modules) from the point of view of application in the current conditions were identified, their positive and negative sides were evaluated. As a result of the conducted review of open sources, the most promising complexes (modules) in terms of application in the current conditions are identified, the positive and negative sides of the systems under consideration are displayed, and the need to develop a complex (module) that will combine all the best that is available today and make a qualitative step forward in the field of “peopleless” technologies used during drilling wells in terms of monitoring the parameters of drilling fluids is justified. Conclusions. The necessity of developing a complex (module) for automating processes in terms of monitoring the parameters of drilling fluids is justified.

This paper aims to analyze the causes of flight delays of a selected airline operating in Europe and identify potential risks and reasons for delays in air transport, which carry risk, especially in connection with passenger dissatisfaction and the resulting need to pay compensation for delayed flights, according to EU law, which brings significant financial costs for airlines. Data collected from the years 2013–2019 have been used for the purposes of this article, including data on the duration and causes of the delays and the characteristics of individual flights, such as the flight type, aircraft type, time of departure, aircraft capacity, and the load factor. Multidimensional statistics methods have been applied for data processing, namely tests of independence and correspondence analysis. Dependencies have been presented in graphical form using correspondence maps. The analysis shows that the total share of delayed flights of the company in question does not increase over the mentioned period of time. The analysis furthermore proved that higher capacity aircraft were rather prone to longer delays. The share of delayed charter flights declined slightly over the period under review, while the number of delays caused by airline operating reasons, aircraft clearance by supplier companies, technical maintenance and aircraft defects, operating procedures, and crew flight standards and airport restrictions is increasing. The analysis also shows that the delays propagated by the delays of the previous flights are becoming more frequent, with the exception of the year 2019. In the last pre-COVID year, air traffic control could boast about a positive trend regarding the number of produced delays over the years, contributing to greater air passenger satisfaction and airline service quality. Due to the gradual revival of air transport after the COVID pandemic lockdowns, the topic of flight delays, passenger customer satisfaction and financial costs for the resulting delays is once again an actual issue for air management and operation.

Dendrocalamus giganteus Wall. ex Munro, a wild plant belonging to the family Poaceae, is widespread in Mozambique where it is used as a construction material. At the end of 2007, disease symptoms have been observed on D. giganteus plants growing in the neighborhood of Maputo. Diseased plants showed longitudinal dark streaks on the stem surface to which corresponded internal vascular browning and chlorosis in wide leaves that gradually developed into necrosis. At the final stage of the disease plants died. To isolate the pathogen, stem segments collected during September 2008 were surface sterilized with 1% HgCl2 for 30 s, rinsed with sterile deionized water for 30 s, and incubated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium at 22°C in the dark for 2 weeks. Monosporic cultures of the isolated fungus formed dimorphic Verticillium-like (primary) or penicillate (secondary) conidiophores and ovoidal to elongate, minutely curved, hyaline conidia, 5 to 9.5 × 2.5 to 4.5 μm, with laterally displaced hilum. These characteristics are typical of Clonostachys rhizophaga Schroers (3). Identification was confirmed by the Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures (Utrecht, the Netherlands) on the basis of the β-tubulin (tub2) gene sequence (3). For our isolate CBS 125416, the tub2 sequence was 100% similar to that of the C. rizhophaga strain CBS 124511 (GenBank Accession No. FJ 593883) (1). To verify the pathogenicity of the fungus, a 5-mm-diameter mycelial plug obtained from 2-week-old colonies grown on PDA was affixed to a portion of the stem of D. giganteus from which the superficial tissues had been removed and the inoculation site was covered with wet cotton and wrapped with Parafilm. Control plants were treated by the same method but using PDA plugs without mycelium. Twenty plants were used, ten of which were controls. They were grown in a controlled climatic chamber at 22°C with a photoperiod of 16 h at 40 μE·m–2·s–1. Two months after inoculation, all plants showed a dark area surrounded by an idropic halo on the stem surface and internal browning, whereas control plants remained healthy. C. rhizophaga was recovered from all infected plants. C. rhizophaga is apparently rare. The fungus (as Verticillium rhizophagum Tehon & Jacobs, nom. invalid.) has been previously reported from the United States, Chile, and Ecuador (4) and as a culture contaminant in Switzerland (3). More recently C. rhizophaga has been found to be associated with Pinus canariensis in Argentina (2) and it has been reported as a causal agent of chickpea wilt in Syria (1). To our knowledge, this is the first report of C. rhizophaga for subsaharian Africa. It may be under reported and more common than has been thought because of the difficulty in identifying Clonostachys species, but with the ability to identify species using tub2 (3), there can be no doubt of its identity. References: (1) M. M. Abang et al. Plant Dis. 93:666, 2009. (2) L. Eduardo Piontelli and G. Giusiano. Bol. Micol. 18:89, 2003. (3) H. J. Schroers. Stud. Mycol. 46:85, 2001. (4) L. R. Tehon and H. L. Jacobs. Bull. Davey Tree Expert Company, Kent, OH. 6:3, 1936.

The explore is devoted to the impact of row unit down force, planting depth, planting rate, singulation and planting velocity on corn germination and yield. Planting depth is crucial for technological operations of planting corn. The explore of planting corn seeds at a depth of 2.5 cm, 5.1 cm, 7.6 cm and 10,1 were fulfilled using the MF 9108 VE planter. Down force on planter row unit is also significant at planting operation. Inadequate down force conduct to deprivation of planting depth, planting of seeds in soil with low humidity and deprivation of the yield. Planting with superfluous down force on the row unit, conduct to compaction of the root zone for plants and as a result the crop deprivation. The planting explores of down force on the row unit have been made with help of Delta Force system from Precision Planting company. The equipment has been regulated to the pressing mode 200 kg, 20 kg, automatic mode (the contact force of the row unit depth wheels with soil at level 50 kg). Doubles and skips also have impact on yield of corn. Therefore, explore of singulation is extremely significant. If we have the doubles, we will have battle between plants, stress for them and a great decline of the yield. If we have skips, we will have the planting rate decline, reducing of corn kernels quantity in the row, and yields reduction. The explores of corn planting have been made with singulation 93.5 % and the control plot with a singulation 99. 5%. The explores of impact of planting velocity 8 and 16 km/h on quality of planting and corn yield have been made. The explores of impact of planting rate 70 000 seeds/ha and 80 000 seeds/ha on corn yield have been made. According to results of MASSEY FERGUSON MF 9108 VE planter with Delta Force and SpeedTube system study, the following operating adjustments could be recommended: plating depth – 5 cm, panting velocity – 16 km/h, Delta Force in automatic setting with depth wheel force to the soil 50 kg, 99.5 % level of singulation. Such modes of the planter allows to raise yield up to 2.06 t/ha. Keywords: down force, planting velocity, Delta Force, planting depth, planting rate, singulation, corn yield.

The Status of Women in Leadership Tahani H. Alqahtani PhD student, Management at Aberdeen University – Lecturer, College of Economics and Administrative Sciences at Imam Mohamed Ibn Saud University. Abstract Even though females have indeed entered jobs previously closed to them, many occupations remain as gender-gapped now as they were half a century ago. Gender-segregated employment patterns are so tenacious because, they are built into the very organizational fabric of work and the workplace. Descriptive stereotyping describes what men and women are like and prescriptive stereotyping defines defining what women and men should be like. This literature review provides a broad understanding of the gender differences in leadership and the gender gap in organization. This literature review founds that gender-segregated employment patterns are so tenacious because they are built into the very organizational fabric of work and the workplace. Introduction The current literature concerning leadership from a variety of Eastern and Western countries highlights that, regardless of a recent global increase in the number of females entering the labour market, only a small number of professional women hold top management or leadership positions. In spite of the fact that the growth pattern of women in the labour force and their representation in leadership roles does differ across countries and regions, and although a number of women in leadership positions worldwide are making contributions both within and beyond their communities (Percupchick, 2011), the overarching observation can be made that a substantive gender gap exists in female’s representation in relation to leadership positions and decision-making across many sectors of society (Catalyst, 2016). Moreover, studies indicate that a large number of sometimes highly qualified women are choosing to step down from positions of authority and leave their careers (Rabas, 2013). This literature review provides a broad understanding of the gender differences in leadership and the gender gap in organization. Literature Review Research has identified the reasons for the persistence of women having a less expressive presence in management and leadership positions (Acker, 1991; Kolb et al., 1998; Simpson, 2004; Williams, 2001; England, 2010; Kellerman and Rhodes, 2014; Gipson, et al., 2017). Among these, the existence of a male-normed corporate culture and organizational structure is posited as a formidable obstacle to female progress in the workplace. The literature abounds with evidence of the way organizational norms, values and structures, disadvantage females in their career advancement at the institutional level (Morrison, 2012; Keohane, 2014). Looking specifically at the field of academia, for Nguyen (2012), “Policies and process in higher education can act as barriers against women assuming leadership and management positions” (p. 127). Acker (1990) suggests the existence of an organizational attitude behind these gender contrasts as a result of organizational structure, rather than any differences held to exist in the characters of males and females. Goveas and Aslam (2011, p. 236) state that a further important factor with the potential to hinder female's opportunities for development consists of “the unavailability of structured human resource policies and strategies addressing women workers, [which] has proven to be a major obstacle to women’s progress and development”. Referring specifically to the field of educational management, for Sui Chu Ho (2015), “Gender inequalities in staff recruitment, appointment and promotion exist in educational institutions, such as universities” (p. 87). She goes on to note how this evidence and claim to support it are actually routinely dismissed, both by those in authority and the general public. It is likely that hierarchal organizational structures create a setting in which women feel out of place due to gender variances (Morrison, 2012; Al-Shanfari, 2011; Keohane, 2014), resulting in many females stepping down or leaving from a post in a workplace at which their leadership abilities are being questioned. This conflict is further compounded by many jobs being designed around men’s objectives, and that many organizations are reluctant to support women within their workforce when potential career conflicts arise (Kellerman, and Rhode, 2012). Therefore, the ideal worker is male: “Images of men’s bodies and masculinity pervade organizational processes, marginalizing women and contributing to the maintenance of gendered segregation in organisations” (Acker 1990, p. 139). A key impact of organizational masculinity is the emotional labor expended by women in order to succeed. Connell (1987) states that gendered structures and practices operating within organizations result in very different career experiences and outcomes for women and men, and the most senior organizational positions are considered sites of hegemonic masculinity. Thus, organizational structure is not gender neutral and organizational culture reflects the wishes and needs of powerful men. In reviews of research into gender and leadership, limiting women’s progress in organizations is a well-documented phenomenon, including the persistence of gender stereotypes. Kanter (1977) identifies the ‘masculine ethic’ as part of the early image of leaders and managers. This masculine ethic elevates the traits assumed to be exclusive to men as requirements for effective management: a tough-minded approach to problems; analytical planning abilities; a capacity to set aside personal emotional considerations in the interests of task accomplishment; and cognitive superiority in problem-solving and decision-making (Kanter, 1977). Thus, even with regards to Kanter, (1977), although social construction presumes that these traits and characteristics supposedly belong to males only (or are at least more likely to be held by males), if practically all leaders and managers are men from the beginning, it should come as no surprise that when females attempt to enter leadership or management occupations the masculine ethic is invoked as an exclusionary principle Acker (1991) sees the ‘masculine ethic’ referred to earlier as the structural basis of organizations, in the sense that allegedly ‘masculine characteristics’ are built into the very fabric of organizations. As a result, the workplace itself is stacked against the equalization of opportunities for women. Acker (1991, p. 289) defines gendered organizations as occurring when “advantage and drawback, control and exploitation, emotion and action, identity and meaning, are patterned through and in terms of a distinction between female and male, feminine and masculine”. Thus, masculinity assumes control of the workplace environment or the business sphere in the subtlest of ways (Acker, 1991). Additionally, masculinity also appears to affect employees’ characters. The preferred employee presents her/himself as a masculine character in choice of clothes, language, and presentation (Acker, 1991). Furthermore, job opportunities and hierarchies are also filled in accordance with gender preferences, meaning that the positions should concur with what is deemed relevant and suitable for the gender that fills them (Kolb et al., 1998). In this way, gender implications have negatively influenced the progress of women in their working lives (Acker, 1991). Informal occupational segregation due to gender stereotypes as well as the gender biases commonly held by the wider society entail the trend of hiring women and men in different types of working areas and positions (Fitzsimmons, Callan, and Paulsen, 2014). Simpson (2004) argues that gender representation in social discourse and social perceptions of gender play a significant role in sustaining and promoting gendered employment. Consequently, these biased stereotypes, embedded in deep-rooted ideologies, automatically view job placement through the lens of gender (Simpson, 2004). Thus, work related to masculine organizations draws on the notion of a job requiring allegedly masculine qualities such as analytical skills, assertiveness and physical strength, in turn reinforcing more the idea of being ‘manliness’ being something distinct and unattainable for women. Unsurprisingly, as Britton and Logan (2008) note, these jobs, in turn, naturally attract more male applicants than females. At the same time, stereotypical assumptions that females pay more attention to detail, are more caring, and place value on physical attractiveness confine them to roles as teachers, nurses, administrators, and jobs in the beauty industry (Britton and Logan, 2008). Moreover, men are more likely to be selected for any ‘male-type’ position in a company even when women and men possess the same qualifications because of the implicit bias that, like for like, men perform better than women (Omar and Davidson, 2001). This leads individuals to believe that women do not have the necessary skills and so are unable to work effectively in male-type jobs. For example, because women are associated with activities that do not involve much in the way of physical strength (such as taking care of their children and families), they have traditionally been considered a second choice to men when it comes to jobs that involve working outdoors (Britton and Logan, 2008). England’s (2010) research has shown that in the twentieth century women have progressed at a sluggish pace in terms of workplace equality. Despite the fact that females have indeed entered jobs previously closed to them, many occupations remain as gender-gapped now as they were half a century ago. Moreover, she notes that at any level of the employment pyramid, females continue to lag behind males in terms of authority and pay, regardless of the closing gap between men and women in workplace seniority and educational attainment. Acker (1990) argues that such gender segregated employment patterns are so tenacious because, as noted, they are built into the very organizational fabric of work and the workplace. Stereotyping means generalizing behavioural characteristics of groups of individuals and then applying the generalization to people who are members of the group (Heilman, 2012). Recently, researchers have investigated gender stereotyping by dividing the generalizations into two properties, descriptive and prescriptive. Heilman (2012) concentrated on the importance of each of those properties. Descriptive stereotyping describes what men and women are like and prescriptive stereotyping defines defining what women and men should be like. For instance, descriptive stereotyping of women creates negative expectations about a woman’s performance as a leader owing to there is a lack of fit between the characteristics assigned to traditionally male leadership roles and the societal roles assigned to females. Prescriptive stereotypes, or ascribing behaviors women ought to emulate, and the agentic characteristics of leadership create an incongruity with expected women behavior (Wynen et al., 2014). Furthermore, Heilman argues that irrespective of whether gender stereotyping is prescriptive or descriptive, the practice impedes the progress of females into leadership roles. One source for gender inequalities in the work force is gender stereotyping in the form of occupational segregation (Wynen et al., 2014). Occupational segregation occurs because there is a separation of women or men in certain occupations or employment sectors (Wynen et al., 2014). This gender separation is seen in occupations such as doctors , nursing, lawyers and teaching. Often, teachers or nurses are portrayed as women, while, lawyers and doctors are portrayed as men. According to scholars in social role theory, such as Franke, Crown, and Spake (1997) and Eagly (1987) gender stereotyping in certain occupations is deeply inherent in societal roles for female and male. Although both women and men have been shown to exhibit biases toward women in high management positions (Eagly and Carli, 2007; Ellemers, Rink, Derks, and Ryan, 2012; Ryan et al., 2011), Ellemers et al. (2012) pointed out that most individuals prefer to believe in a just world where gender differentiation is rare and success is based on merit; thus, in most instances, they will treat allegations of unequal treatment unfavourably. This result lead to fewer reports for fear of negative repercussions, and consequently inequity is often not noticed, challenged, or addressed (Ellemers et al., 2012). Moreover, Ibarra et al (2013) believe that when organizations advise females to seek leadership positions without addressing the subtle biases that exist in practices and policies, the companies undermine the psychological development that should take place to become a leader. Conclusion In conclusion, this literature review has outlined how women face obstacles in different organizational context, limiting their ability to achieve empowerment by aspiring to and achieving leadership. Historically, certain factors have hindered women from being accepted as leaders, regardless of their achievements, which leads to an underestimation of their capabilities. This under-representation of qualified women in leadership roles is symbolic of the gender gap in the workplace.

In 1771 a bill was brought before the British Parliament to limit the tonnage o f East India Company ships. The Admiralty claimed that construction of the large trading vessels consumed vital and dwindling supplies of English oak required by the Royal Navy. After convening for a year, the Committee organized to investigate the "timber" bill reported that the Company was not solely responsible for the shortage of timber. However, by 1772 the Company was in serious financial difficulty. In the face of mounting pressure for government control of the Company, the timber bill became another vehicle in t he debate of whether the Crown or the Company should control India. Although passed, the timber bill had less to do with the merits of preserving vital oak for the Royal Navy than it did with efforts to limit the powers of the East India Company.

Crew leaders and foremen on construction job sites are skilled individuals that are dwindling in numbers due to the push on students throughout their secondary schooling to attend college, in addition to other economic factors. The focus of this research is to determine what incentives construction companies implement in order to retain, motivate and increase the productivity levels of their skilled crew leaders and foremen. This study utilizes the Delphi method, which consists of questioning a panel of experts in a series of rounds—with the summaries of responses from each round made available to each of the experts—until a consensus is reached. The Delphi method allows a researcher to utilize the expertise of a smaller population sample than traditional statistical methods, but has gained worldwide acceptance as a substitute for some of those traditional methods. Each construction company operates in a unique, independent manner as they compete to attract and then retain these valuable workers. The main goal of this research is to investigate this as an economic issue, and determine if offering more, or larger, incentives to the skilled crew leaders and foremen is worth the additional cost. The purpose of this paper is to describe how the Delphi Method was utilized to accomplish this.

Abstract The English East India Company's “company-state” lasted 274 years—longer than most states. This research note uses new archival evidence to study the Company as a catalyst in the development of modern state sovereignty. Drawing on the records of 16,740 managerial and shareholder meetings between 1678 and 1795, I find that as the Company grew through wars, its claim to sovereign authority shifted from a privilege delegated by Crown and Parliament to a self-possessed right. This “sovereign awakening” sparked a reckoning within the English state, which had thus far tolerated ambiguity in Company sovereignty based on the early modern shared international understanding of divisible, nonhierarchical layered sovereignty. But self-possessed nonstate sovereignty claimed from the core of the state became too much. State actors responded by anchoring sovereign authority along more hierarchical, indivisible foundations espoused by theorists centuries earlier. The new research makes two contributions. First, it introduces the conceptual dynamic of “war awakens sovereigns” (beyond making states) by entangling entities in peacemaking to defend sovereign claims. Second, it extends arguments about the European switch from layered sovereignty to hierarchical statist forms by situating the Company's sovereign evolution in this transformation. Ultimately, this study enables fuller historicization of both nonstate authority and the social construction of sovereignty in international politics.