bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
ATTITUDE OF PG SCHOLARS OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION TOWARDS APPLICATION OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGY USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TECHNIQUE
Authors:   Anand Agricultural University, Parmar R. S. , Veged N. M. ,   Anand Agricultural University, Mehra Vishal ,   Anand Agricultural University
Published: August 2022

Application of mobile technology is playing a vital role for the enhancement of understanding of agricultural market conditions and farmers business towards agricultural. In present days, data are growing rapidly in massive amount in every domain. One such domain of interest for researchers is application of mobile technology in agricultural extension field. To find interesting hidden patterns from the experimental datasets, artificial intelligence technique is used to build accurate algorithms for classification and prediction. In this paper classification and predictive models for attitude towards application of mobile technology in agricultural extension of the postgraduate scholars are built using machine learning classification algorithms viz; functions based multilayer perceptron and support vector machines; lazy based k-nearest neighbors and KStar; tree based J48 and random forest with respect to their accuracy of correctly classified instances, incorrectly classified instances and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) area. Experimental results explain that random forest algorithm is better than other fitted algorithms with 81 % predictability, followed by k-nearest neighbors with 78% predictability and Support vector machines algorithm has the lowest predictability with 69 %. The study also suggested that predictor variables namely extracurricular activities, information collection interpersonal communication and professional zeal have significant influence on attitude towards application of mobile technology in agricultural extension of the postgraduate scholars. Based on all the benchmarks used to measure the machine learning algorithms fitted in this study, it was discovered that Random Forest algorithm performance is the most appropriate in terms of predictability based on experimental dataset. Therefore focus was to design a predictive system on the most suitable algorithm which is random forest in this domain.
EFFECTS OF STUDENTS RESIDENTIAL LOCATION ON PUNCTUALITY AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: A CROSS-SECTIONAL ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS AT KOGI STATE UNIVERSITY OF ANYIGBA
Authors:   Kogi State University Anyigba, Nigeria, Ukwubile P. E. , Omede U.D. ,   Federal College of Education Odugbo, Nigeria, Okuta D.S. ,   Federal University of Agriculture, Nigeria
Published: August 2022

The study was set to determine the extent to which distance affects the academic performance of students at Kogi State University. Global, economic and social development are increasingly driven by the advancement and application of knowledge. Education in general and higher education in particular, are fundamental to the construction of a knowledge economy and society in all nations. The main objective of this study was to investigate how students' residential location affects their academic performance. To achieve this objective data was through a questionnaire. One hundred and sixty questionnaires were distributed and one hundred and fifty-three copies of the questionnaire were retrieved for analysis. The hypothesis tested resolve around students' residential locations and their academic performance. The Pearson chi-square test was used to test the hypothesis. The findings of this research work showed that Students' residential location played an effective role in their academic performance and there was a relationship between students' residential location and academic performance, Student on-campus enjoyed electricity, water, security and close proximity to the lecture area more than those living off-campus. Given the findings from this study, it was recommended that the private sector should be allowed to construct accommodation for students while their hostel accommodation rent is billed inside their school fees for agreed years and finally, Student's punctuality and lectures attendance should form part of the continuous assessment in grading student in a particular subject.
PERCEPTION OF FARMERS ON ATTRIBUTES OF ZERO BUDGET NATURAL FARMING
Authors:   Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Padma Veni C. , Harini N. ,   Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Sailaja A. ,   Extension Education Institute, Rajendranagar
Published: August 2022

This study was conducted in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh. In Andhra Pradesh, Zero Budget Natural Farming programme was launched in 2015-16 with the objectives of farmer and consumers welfare and conservation of environment. Andhra Pradesh ZBNF has now transcended itself into "Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming" (APCNF) in June 2020 owing to its successful practices disseminated through communities. The results of the study revealed that most of the ZBNF farmers had medium (63.75%) perception followed by high (23.75%) on attributes of ZBNF. Whereas majority of Non-ZBNF farmers 43.33% had medium perception followed by low (41.77%) on attributes of ZBNF. In response to relative advantage, 87.50% of ZBNF farmers and 55.00% of Non-ZBNF farmers agreed and partially agreed respectively for more net profitability in ZBNF. For compatibility, 75.00% ZBNF farmers and 75.00% Non-ZBNF farmers perceived that the ZBNF practices were culturally compatible because, almost all ZBNF practices were indigenous practices in tune with their existing socio-cultural values and believes in the farming community. Majority (67.50%) of ZBNF farmers not agreed with the statement of difficulty in input application. Majority (72.50%) of ZBNF farmers partially agreed with the statement of easy to procure ZBNF inputs on small scale Majority (75.00%) of ZBNF farmers and 66.67% of Non-ZBNF farmers agreed with initial low yields and gradual increase in yields. With regard to predictability, 82.50% of ZBNF farmers agreed and 66.67% of Non-ZBNF farmers partially agreed on prediction of improvement in soil health in turn improvement in soil structure, nutrient status and increase in microbial activity in the soil.
AWARENESS AND ADOPTION OF GOOD BEEKEEPING PRACTICES BY BEEKEEPERS
Authors:   Junagadh Agricultural University, Panchani P. N. , Lakhlani C. D. ,   Junagadh Agricultural University, Chovatia J. V. ,   Junagadh Agricultural University
Published: August 2022

Beekeeping is an art and skill of maintaining the bees in modem movable frame hives for hobby or fascination, production of hive products, and pollination services. The study was intended to check the awareness and adoption of Good Beekeeping Practices (GBPs) in Gujarat state. A total of 100 beekeepers were selected by employing the snowball sampling method from Gujarat state. Frequency and tabular method were used to furnish the result. The result revealed that only 12 percent of beekeepers were aware of the guidelines of GBPs were declared by NBB while 100 percent of beekeepers were ware about particular parameters of GBPs. The majority of beekeepers have adopted the GBPs parameters to sustain the beekeeping. The Majority i.e. 74 percent of beekeepers who have occupied the colonies for pollination purposes have domesticated the Apis Cerana while only 26 percent of beekeepers have domesticated the Apis Mellifera species for commercial purposes.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND USE OF MOBILE PHONES IN MAJOR SEED SPICES GROWING STATES
Authors:   ICAR- National Research Centre on Seed Spices, Meena Murlidhar , Vishal M.K. ,   ICAR- National Research Centre on Seed Spices, Meena R. D. ,   ICAR- National Research Centre on Seed Spices
Published: August 2022

The present study attempts to know the effective sources of agricultural information and usage of mobile phones by seed spice growers. The total 450 respondents were interviewed from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh during 2018-19. The results found that sixty-six percent of the respondents approached private agencies whereas forty-four percent farmers relied upon government sources. A large group of medium farmers approached to input dealers, whereas small and medium farmers preferred government agencies. Further, we found that ninety-five percent of the farmers owned mobile phones, and ninety percent of them used it to access agricultural information. Eighty-nine percent of smart phone owners were using social media platforms to share and access agricultural information. Logit analysis of socio-economic factors influencing farmers� access to information sources found that literacy considerably enhanced the likelihood in favor of government sources over private ones due awareness to various government programs and services. The size of landholding and was prime factor for contacting government agencies specially Kisan Call Centre for their queries. This paper highlight's potential role of mobile phones as a tool for information and communication to reach resources constrained geographical isolated seed spice growing areas.
IMPACT OF HUMANITARIAN AID ON FOOD SECURITY IN RURAL COMMUNITIES IN ZIMBABWE: THE CASE OF WARD 14 AND 15 OF BUHERA DISTRICT
Authors:   Midlands State University, Zimbabwe, Mutsigiri Addlight
Published: August 2022

The study was assessing the impact of humanitarian aid on food security in the rural communities in Zimbabwe. The Case of ward 14 and 15 of Buhera District. The study was conducted to assess how humanitarian aid contribute or address food access, availability and stability in Zimbabwe. Humanitarian aid is being used as a panacea to alleviate hunger to the food insecure communities. It examined whether the humanitarian aid given to the communities is being used for food security purposes or not. The research used a qualitative approach to explore the topic under study. Questionnaires, focus group discussion and interviews were used to gather data from the respondents. On sampling, purposive sampling method was used to obtain data from participants who were humanitarian aid beneficiaries, humanitarian aid workers and key informants from council. The major findings of the study revealed that the use of humanitarian aid in form of food alone to address food insecurity is just a pipedream. No humanitarian aid beneficiary confirms that he/she was food secure. Humanitarian aid is contributing to food access in the short term but in the long or medium term it is not. Though the use of humanitarian aid accompanied with developmental programs and resilient programs, the community and humanitarian aid workers admitted that it has potential in addressing food insecurity. The study also noted that there are challenges associated with using humanitarian aid to address food insecurity in rural communities. The challenges are emanating from the community's perceptions and some from the perceptions of the donors. To mention some of the challenges are dependency syndrome, corruption, social problems like conflicts, and no initiatives in the communities. Major recommendations are that humanitarian organizations should fund irrigation schemes to enhance food availability, they should be involved in capacity building, they should invest in research, monitoring and evaluating their projects so that they will bring the aid which is relevant to the place and time. They should come up with programs which are sustainable so that the humanitarian aid addresses food insecurity in rural communities.
ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF COTTON GROWERS AND THEIR ATTITUDE TOWARDS INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT
Authors:   Anand Agricultural University, Rathwa Y. H. , Bochalya B. C. ,   Junagadh Agricultural University, Reddy Suraji Yugender ,   Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University
Published: August 2022

The present investigation was carried out in three talukas of surendranagar district of Gujarat state, where maximun land under cotton cultivation. From each selected taluka four villages were selected randomly. Thus, total twelve villages were surveyed during the study. From each selected village, ten farmers were considered as respondents, thus total 120 farmers, who grow the cotton crop, were considered as respondents for the present study. The ex-post facto research design was used for the research study. It can be enunciated that among the selected twelve variables. Nine variables viz. Education, farm experience, training received, annual income, social participation, mass media exposure, scientific orientation, risk orientation and innovativeness had exerted positive and significant contribution to change in attitude of cotton growers towards Integrated Pest Management. Three variables viz. age, size of family and land holding failed to show any significant contribution to change in attitude of cotton growers towards Integrated Pest Management.
DECISION MAKING PATTERN OF FARM WOMEN IN ANIMAL HUSBANDRY PRACTICES USING MACHINE LEARNING
Authors:   Anand Agricultural University, Parmar R. S. , Chandravadia K. U. ,   Anand Agricultural University, Mehra V. I. ,   Anand Agricultural University
Published: August 2022

Machine learning techniques have provided opportunities for researchers to design new analytical methods in different areas of agricultural extension. The objective of this study is to estimate the decision-making pattern of farm women in animal husbandry practices. Different machine learning algorithms namely linear regression, support vector machines, k-nearest neighbors, KStar, decision table, M5Rules, random forest and random tree were used for prediction of decision making pattern of farm women in animal husbandry practices in Junagadh district of Gujarat. The feature selection algorithm suggested that the input variable namely age, education, occupation, milk production, type of family, social participation, mass media exposure, extension participation, cosmopoliteness, scientific orientation, risk orientation, economic motivation and innovative proneness have significant influence on decision making pattern of farm women in animal husbandry practices. Based on all the benchmarks used to measure the predictability of fitted algorithms employed in this study, it was discovered that a support vector machines (SMOReg) performed better by achieving the highest prediction accuracy of 87%, lowest MAE of 2.78 and RMSE of 3.97 as compared with other fitted machine learning algorithms. Thus, the SMOReg algorithm explained 87 per cent of total variation in decision making pattern of farm women in animal husbandry practices. It was further observed that, the actual decision making pattern and the predicted decision making pattern of farm women were close to each other and the residual ranged from -4.36. to 12.47.
FACTORS AFFECTING PERCEIVED USEFULNESS OF THE SORGHUM GROWERS ABOUT CoFS 29 VARIETY
Authors:   Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kheda, Tankodara K. D. , Sharma P. K. ,   Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kheda, Choudhary M. K. ,   Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kheda
Published: August 2022

Sorghum is one of the most important fodder crops. In middle Gujarat, farmers of Kheda district mainly grow single cut variety sorghum, pearl millet and maize as a fodder crop as this district possesses good number of livestock population. After understanding the importance of multi cut variety of sorghum, KVK Kheda conducted FLDs on CoFS 29 variety from year 2017. To understand the factors responsible behind perceived usefulness of this variety and to understand the problems realized among its users as well as to get the suggestions from them to overcome the problems, this study was conducted on 200 CoFS 29 user sorghum growers whom KVK Kheda selected as FLD farmers. The profile characteristics were also studied of the selected CoFS 29 users. Ex-post-facto research design was used and interview schedule was prepared in light with the objective. Frequency, percentage, arbitrary method, mean score and coefficient of correlation were major statistical tools used for analysis of the study. From the study, it was observed that more number of CoFS 29 users were from middle age group with secondary level of education, 1 to 2 ha land, 4 to 6 animals and up to 1 lakh rupee annual income. Majority of them were getting yield from CoFS 29 variety was 120 to 130t, very low level of social participation, and medium level of extension contact. More number of farmers had high level of mass media exposure, medium level of scientific orientation and innovativeness and using bore well for irrigation. Profile characteristics like land holding, annual income, yield and scientific orientation were positive and significantly associated with perceived usefulness about CoFS 29 variety for their users. Major problems realized by the CoFS 29 variety user sorghum growers were high price of seeds; difficulty in availability of seeds and more irrigation are required. Major suggestions offered by the sorghum growers to overcome the problems realized by them while utilizing CoFS 29 variety were price of seeds of CoFS 29 variety should be less and seeds of CoFS 29 variety should be made available easily.
ADOPTION LEVEL OF PRIVATE BIO-FERTILIZERS BY FARMERS
Authors:   Navsari Agricultural University, Karravula Rakesh , Naik R. M. ,   Navsari Agricultural University, Kalasariya Neeta ,   Navsari Agricultural University
Published: August 2022

The study was conducted in Navsari district of South Gujarat using Ex-post facto research design. it has 6 talukas viz., Navsari, Gandevi, Chikhli, Khergam, Vansda and Jalalpore. All the talukas were covered under study, a simple random sampling method was followed for selection of the respondents.120 respondents were selected as a sample size. Private bio-fertilizers in this study are referred as the bio-fertilizers that are manufactured by private manufacturers. This study concluded that majority of respondents had low adoption level of private bio-fertilizers. Education, occupation, mass media exposure, extension contact, economic motivation, management orientation, land holding, social participation, scientific orientation are significantly associated with adoption level of private bio-fertilizers.
ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FARMER AND AGRICULTURAL DIVERSIFICATION
Authors:   Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Dudhatara H. C. , Patel J. K. ,   Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Parmar H. A. ,   Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University
Published: August 2022

In relation to agricultural development, diversification is probably one of the most frequently used terms in the recent decade. Traditionally, diversification was used more in the context of a subsistence kind of farming, wherein farmers grown many crops on their field. The household level food security as also risk was an important consideration in diversification. In the recent decade, diversification is increasingly being used to describe increase in area under high value crops. Total 160 respondents were selected from sixteen villages belongs to Dhanera, Deesa, Vadgam and Lakhani talukas of Banaskantha district of Gujarat state. Independent and dependent variables were measured with the help of scales/technique/index development by previous researchers with some modification. The data were collected by personal contact method with help of structured interview schedule and data were coded, classified, tabulated and analyzed in the light of objectives. The appropriate statistical methods were used for analysis of data. The result found that majority of the diversified farmers belonged to middle to old age group and obtained high school education with annual income up to Rs.4,00,000 and having medium to large land holding, had medium to high information seeking behavior, risk orientation and management efficiency with favorable to more favorable attitude towards agricultural diversification, had medium to high cropping intensity and used both canal and well and both tube well and canal as a sources of irrigation. Out of ten variables total six variables viz., education, Family income, size of land holding, risk orientation, Management efficiency and cropping intensity had positive and highly significant relationship with agricultural diversification. Information seeking behavior and attitude towards agricultural diversification had positive and significant relationship with agricultural diversification.
ATTITUDE OF FARMER PRODUCER ORGANIZATIONS MEMBERS TOWARDS THE ORGANIZATION
Authors:   Karnataka Evaluation Authority (KEA), Dechamma Shivani , Krishnamurthy B. ,   University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, Shanabhoga M.B. ,   ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics (NIVEDI)
Published: August 2022

Farmers' organizations considered as the main pathway in improving the productivity, profitability and sustainability of small and marginal farmers in the nation. Therefore, it had become a paramount importance to study the attitude of farmers towards the Farmer producer Organization (FPO). The study was conducted in purposively selected Mysuru district of Karnataka state. In the district, Mysuru and K.R.Nagara taluks were selected. The two organizations Varuna Horticulture Farmer Producer Company Limited (VHFPC) and Arkeshwara Horticulture Farmer Producer Company Limited (AHFPC) were purposively selected. It was found that as high as 36.67 per cent of farmers possessed more favorable attitude towards FPOs, while 35.83 and 27.50 per cent of farmers possessed less favorable and favorable attitude towards FPOs, respectively. The VHFPC members had attitude mean score of 69.67 and the AHFPC members had the attitude mean score as 80.67, thus there is a significant difference at one per cent level with the t- value of 12.34 between VHFPC members and AHFPC members' attitude towards the farmers producer organization. Attitudes are acquired through experience and exert a directive influence on subsequent behavior and moreover, help individuals to interpret new information and to make decisions more efficiently than would otherwise be the case.
PRODUCTIVITY AND PROPERTY RIGHT TO LAND USE AMONG IFAD/VCDP RICE FARMERS IN GWER LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BENUE STATE OF NIGERIA
Authors:   Federal University of Agriculture, Nigeria, Okuta D.S. , Omede U.D. ,   Federal College of Education Odugbo, Nigeria, Tsue P.T. ,   Federal University of Agriculture, Nigeria
Published: August 2022

The study assessed the productivity and property right to land use among IFAD/VCDP rice farmers in Gwer local government area, Benue State. A sample size of 120 farmers was collected through a cluster sampling technique using a pre-tested questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, total factor productivity (TFP), and Gross Margin Analysis (GM) were the tools for data analysis. Results of the data analysis show that the majority (69.2%) of the farmers acquired their lands by inheritance. Also, (79.8%) had controlling access to a piece of land and hence had land tenure security. Among these, 62.7% believed they could sell their rights to other individuals, 55.8% believed they could sell the land outrightly while 100.0% believed they could lease it. The average farm size for cultivation was 2.683ha and (53.3%) of the farmers had an average TFP value of 4.8981. Many (48.2%) farmers with the secured land tenure type had a TFP of 5.2207, a mean total variable cost of N279783.7838 and earned revenue of N1,054,918.92 with a mean GM of N775,135.13 which is rated at N288389.86/ha. Conversely (64.9%) of farmers with the in-secured land tenure type had a TFP of 4.1745, a mean total variable cost of N24,1330.1205 and earned revenue of N1,167,409.64 with a mean GM of N926,079.51 which is rated at N359,993.17/ha. The t-test showed that there was an as significant difference in the TFP and GM of rice farmers between secure and insecure land tenure types. The constraints faced by the farmers are; Poor access to technological resources in terms of machinery and adverse weather factors. The study recommends that government should provide credit resources in form of inputs that should be supplied to farmers and extension information on weather issues as well as assist farmers with loans and another agricultural resource to enhance large scale production through mechanized farming.
BASIC AGRICULTURAL AWARENESS AMONG RURAL ADOLESCENT BOYS
Authors:   Anand Agricultural University, Jadeja G. R. , Patel J. K. ,   Anand Agricultural University
Published: August 2022

The study was conducted to assess the existing knowledge of adolescent boys on agriculture along with some background characteristics. Two hundred boys from two different government schools of Gundi (with agricultural education) and Koth (no agricultural education) village of Dholka taluka were administered a questionnaire comprising questions related to agricultural aspects. Based on the findings of this study, the conclusion was drawn as the students studying agricultural education programme have medium level of knowledge about agriculture and the adaptability was higher in that students compared to those students who were studying in schools where there is no agriculture education. The intervention gave positive results on the knowledge level of respondents. More emphasis should be given by organizing intervention programme to those area of agriculture where the students had less knowledge for improving the knowledge level of youngsters.
STUDY ON THE SYNTHESIS OF UREA-HYDROGEN PEROXIDE AND APPLICATION FOR OXIDATION OF BENZYLIC ALCOHOLS UNDER MICROWAVE ACTIVATION
Authors:   Military Academy of Logistics, Hanoi, Vietnam, Bui Thuy Trang
Published: August 2022

The Urea-Hydrogen Peroxide complex was synthesized from urea, hydrogen peroxide by using microwave assisted method and characterized by FT-IR. This Urea-Hydrogen Peroxide complex could be employed as an oxidizing agent for metal-free oxidation reaction of benzylic alcohols to carboxylic acids corresponding. This oxidation protocol, carried out under alkaline-water in microwave oven in presence of iodine as a catalyst, was efficient and compatible with a range of benzylic alcohols to afford a direct access to benzoic derivatives in very good yields up to 95.4% and high selectivities.
STATIC BENDING ANALYSIS OF VARIABLE THICKNESS MICROPLATES USING THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD AND MODIFIED COUPLE STRESS THEORY
Authors:   Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Le Quy Don Technical University, Hanoi, Vietnam, Nguyen Thi Cam Nhung
Published: August 2022

This paper presents the nonlinear static bending analysis of variable thickness microplates by using the finite element method and modified couple stress. The present theory and mathematical model are confirmed by comparing the numerical data with those of open literatures. A parameter study is carried out to investigate the mechanical behavior of the structure, especially, the effect of nonlinearlity. The computed data can be used as a good reference in the use and design of these types of structures in engineering practice.
Effects of the Changes of Curriculum on the Coverage of Environmental Content in Geography
Authors: Bonginkosi Msezane Sikhulile
Published: August 2022

The South African education sector has experienced several shifts in the curriculum since 1994, thus affecting the coverage, teaching and examination of environmental impact topics in the South African Further Education and Training Phase (FET) phase. This chapter evaluates the effects of changes in curriculum on the coverage of education for sustainable development content in Geography. A qualitative research approach using an interpretative paradigm was employed in the documents used by Geography teachers in South Africa. The chapter used Margaret Archers, Realist Social Theory as a theoretical framework that guides data analysis and interpretation. Document analysis was the only method used where policy documents and examination papers were the instruments evaluated. The results show that environmental impact topics are covered in varying degrees in the South African CAPS curriculum. The level of coverage of environmental impact topics in the examination question papers fluctuates, sometimes to levels below those stipulated in the CAPS documents. The conclusion that can be reached is that the variable coverage of environmental impact topics in the examinations may have a negative effect on the way teachers address the topics of Geography. This resulted in an emergence of structural and cultural morphogenesis in the teaching of environmental content in Geography.
p53 Tumor Suppressor: Functional Regulation and Role in Gene Therapy
Authors: Farooq Zeenat , Wani Shahnawaz , Avin Balaji Ragunathrao Vijay , Kochhar Rakesh , Anwar Mumtaz
Published: August 2022

p53, a homo-tetrameric protein found in mammalian cells, derives its name from the fact that it settles at around 53KDa position in SDS-PAGE, due to a “kink” in its structure. In its functional state, p53 forms a homo-tetramer and binds to the promoters of a wide array of genes. Binding of p53 downregulates the transcription of target genes. Most of the gene targets of p53 are involved in cell cycle progression, and therefore, any malfunctions associated with p53 have catastrophic consequences for the cell. The gene encoding for p53 known as TP53 is the most well-studied gene in the entire genome because of being the most highly mutated gene in all cancer types. It is due to this widely accepted and documented “cell protective feature” that p53 is generally referred to as “the guardian of the genome.” In this chapter, we will discuss the involvement of p53 in relation to carcinogenesis. We will also cover the major functions of p53 under normal conditions, major mutations of the TP53 gene, and their association with different forms of cancer.
Neuroinflammation in Traumatic Brain Injury
Authors: Y. Kuo Grace , Philip Tarzi Fawaz , Louie Stan , A. Poblete Roy
Published: August 2022

Neuroinflammation following traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an important cause of secondary brain injury that perpetuates the duration and scope of disease after initial impact. This chapter discusses the pathophysiology of acute and chronic neuroinflammation, providing insight into factors that influence the acute clinical course and later functional outcomes. Secondary injury due to neuroinflammation is described by mechanisms of action such as ischemia, neuroexcitotoxicity, oxidative stress, and glymphatic and lymphatic dysfunction. Neurodegenerative sequelae of inflammation, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which are important to understand for clinical practice, are detailed by disease type. Prominent research topics of TBI animal models and biomarkers of traumatic neuroinflammation are outlined to provide insight into the advances in TBI research. We then discuss current clinical treatments in TBI and their implications in preventing inflammation. To complete the chapter, recent research models, novel biomarkers, and future research directions aimed at mitigating TBI will be described and will highlight novel therapeutic targets. Understanding the pathophysiology and contributors of neuroinflammation after TBI will aid in future development of prophylaxis strategies, as well as more tailored management and treatment algorithms. This topic chapter is important to both clinicians and basic and translational scientists, with the goal of improving patient outcomes in this common disease.
A Review of Application Strategies and Efficacy of Probiotics in Pet Food
Authors: Acuff Heather , G. Aldrich Charles
Published: August 2022

In companion animal nutrition, probiotics (direct-fed microbials) are marketed as functional ingredients that add value to pet foods due to the impact they have on gastrointestinal and immune health of dogs and cats. The nature of the beneficial effect each probiotic strain exerts depends on its metabolic properties and perhaps most importantly, the arrival of a sufficient number of viable cells to the large bowel of the host. Pet food manufacturing processes are designed to improve food safety and prolong shelf-life, which is counterproductive to the survival of direct-fed microbials. Therefore, a prerequisite for the effective formulation of pet foods with probiotics is an understanding of the conditions each beneficial bacterial strain needs to survive. The aims of this chapter are: (1) To summarize the inherent characteristics of probiotic strains used in commercial pet foods, and (2) To review recently published literature on the applications of probiotics to pet foods and their associated challenges to viability.
Impact of Revegetation on Ecological Restoration of a Constructed Soil in a Coal Mining in Southern Brazil
Authors: Stumpf Lizete , Bertaso De Garcia Fernandez Maria , Miguel Pablo , Fernando Spinelli Pinto Luiz , Noremberg Schubert Ryan , Carlos Iuñes de Oliveira Filho Luís , Hipolito Montiel Tania , Da Silva Barbosa Lucas , Diego Leidemer Jeferson , Barbosa Duarte Thábata
Published: August 2022

The main problems in the constructed soils are the generation of acid mine drainage promoted by the presence of coal debris in the overburden layer and the compaction of the topsoil promoted by the machine traffic when the material used in the overburden cover is more clayey. This book chapter aimed to show an overview of the impact of more than a decade of revegetation with different perennial grasses on the chemical, physical, and biological quality of constructed soil after coal mining. The study was carried out in a coal mining area, located in southern Brazil. The soil was constructed in early 2003 and the perennial grasses, Hemarthria altissima; Paspalum notatum cv. Pensacola; Cynodon dactylon cv Tifton; and Urochloa brizantha; were implanted in November/December 2003. In 11.5, 17.6 and 18 years of revegetation soil samples were collected and the chemical, physical, and biological attributes were determined. Our results show that liming is an important practice in the restoration of these strongly anthropized soils because this positively impacts the plants’ development, facilitating the roots system expansion. Biological attributes such as soil fauna and the microorganism’s population are the attributes that possibly takes longer to establish itself in these areas.
Role of Microorganisms in Alleviating the Abiotic Stress Conditions Affecting Plant Growth
Authors: El Sebai Talaat , Abdallah Maha
Published: August 2022

Agriculture is one of the main sectors that participate in building up world economy, and offers the main source of food, income, and employment to their rural populations. Despite the necessity of doubling agricultural production, quantitatively and qualitatively, to cope with the worsening increase in the global population and to meet the increasing humanitarian needs, the agricultural sector faces many abiotic stress conditions. Additionally, the great climate changes lead to an increase in the negative impact of these stressors. There are many conventional and nonconventional ways that could directly or indirectly mitigate the adverse effects of these stressors, each of them has its advantages and disadvantages. The biological tool is one of the promising methods; it depends on the effective use of beneficial microorganisms to alleviate stress conditions that affect plant growth, development, and therefore productivity. This method is economically inexpensive and eco-friendly toward the environment. Beneficial soil microorganisms such as PGPRs and AMF colonize the root zone of many plant species and help to enhance plant growth and development. Thus, this chapter is aiming to highlight the role of microorganisms in alleviating the abiotic stress conditions affecting in plant growth.
Clinical Futile Cycles: Systematic Microeconomic Reform of Health Care by Reform of the Traditional Hierarchical Referral Model of Care
Authors: Buist Michael , Arnold Georgia
Published: August 2022

The incidence of adverse patient events in hospitals has not improved over the last two decades despite enormous efforts in the area of Quality and Safety. Notably, the same errors are often repeated, even though previous reviews of these events have resulted in learnings, guidelines and policy. The traditional review of a Hospital Adverse Event (HAE) is most commonly a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) to find factors and conditions that caused or contributed to the HAE. The basis for the RCA is the James Reason Swiss Cheese model of adverse events developed from analysis of large- scale industrial accidents. In this model the HAE occurs when a patient deteriorating clinical trajectory broaches the hospital’s organisational and professional defences. The learnings from the RCA typically result in new or changed policies and procedures, and occasionally professional disciplinary review of the involved health care workers. Clinical Futile Cycles (CFC) is clinical action or intervention (or lack thereof) that has no patient benefit. Analysis of HAE by looking for CFC creates learnings that focus on the human factors of the involved health care workers, and more importantly the socio, politico, and fiscal cultural hospital environment at the time of the HAE. As such, the learnings focus not on limitations of the individual practitioners but rather, the greater environment that has them often ignoring, broaching or being oblivious to professional standards, and the already existent policy procedure and guidelines.
Recognition and Management of Supraventricular Arrhythmias and Atrial Fibrillation in the Acute Setting
Authors: Karcıoğlu Özgür
Published: August 2022

Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is a type of tachyarrhythmia with a narrow QRS complex and regular rhythm. These patients are often symptomatic and present to the emergency department (ED) due to acute attacks called paroxysmal SVT. Attacks of SVT start suddenly with the reentry mechanism in most patients. Anginal chest pain and dyspnea occur in patients due to tachycardia. Vagal manoeuvers and adenosine is the treatments of choice for termination of SVT. In multifocal atrial tachycardia (MAT), at least three different P wave morphologies are observed in the ECG, along with variable PP, PR and RR intervals. Treatment is to correct the underlying disease. Patients with atrial flutter (AFl) tend to come to the ED with unstable findings. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the term used to define the inactive ‘worm bag-like’ oscillations of the atria, with an absence of true atrium contraction. Ruling out atrial or ventricular thrombi with echocardiography is important to avoid embolization. Priority should be given to hemodynamic stability and the determination of factors triggering the underlying disease. IV beta-blocker and diltiazem can be used for rate control in AF with rapid ventricular response.
Impact of Hypoxia on Astrocyte Induced Pathogenesis
Authors: Munir Farwa , Islam Nida , Hassan Nasir Muhammad , Anis Zainab , Bano Shahar , Naeem Shahzaib , Amin Baig Atif , Sohail Zaineb
Published: August 2022

Astrocytes are the most abundant cells of the central nervous system. These cells are of diverse types based on their function and structure. Astrocyte activation is linked mainly with microbial infections, but long-term activation can lead to neurological impairment. Astrocytes play a significant role in neuro-inflammation by activating pro-inflammatory pathways. Activation of interleukins and cytokines causes neuroinflammation resulting in many neurodegenerative disorders such as stroke, growth of tumours, and Alzheimer’s. Inflammation of the brain hinders neural circulation and compromises blood flow by affecting the blood–brain barrier. So the oxygen concentration is lowered, causing brain hypoxia. Hypoxia leads to the activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NFkB) and hypoxia-inducible factors (HIF), which aggravates the inflammatory state of the brain. Hypoxia evoked changes in the blood–brain barrier, further complicating astrocyte-induced pathogenesis.
Intervention for the Prevention of Lifestyle-Related Diseases in Healthy Japanese Residents
Authors: Nagai Masayo
Published: August 2022

Lifestyle-related diseases can reduce their risk by improving their lives. Therefore, various efforts are being made, such as health education, to prevent lifestyle-related diseases. However, lifestyles are complicated and their prevention is not easy. Local residents who are active in health promotion are often working to improve their lifestyles. It is possible for residents to have excessive expectations for disease prevention simply by changing their lifestyles, paying attention only to the limited aspects of their lifestyles. However, if you pay attention to only one point and lack consideration for the whole, you cannot always expect the effect of lifestyle-related improvement. Therefore, it is necessary to understand how the subject perceives his/her lifestyle. This is also important for continued intervention. In addition, it is necessary to examine how health consciousness is related to the parameters of lifestyle-related diseases in such a health-conscious group. In this chapter, we would like to discuss the previously reported reports on the awareness of local residents regarding the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases, the need for health counseling, and issues in future efforts.
Merton’s Task: The Created Silence Remains
Authors: McNary-Zak Bernadette ,   Marquette University Press
Published: August 2022

This essay accounts for the rhetorical impact of Thomas Merton's inclusion - and later exclusion - of his 12C predecessor, Isaac de l'Etoile, in "In Silentio."
Cognitive Radio Spectrum Allocation Based on IOT and genetic algorithm
Authors: Jin Wei
Published: August 2022

This paper presents an overview of Cognitive Radio Spectrum Allocation Based on IoT and Genetic Algorithm (CRSAA). CRSAA was created to solve the problem of spectrum allocation in Cognitive Radio Networks (CRN). The main focus is on how to allocate cognitive radios based on IoT services. CRSAA introduces a novel Genetic Algorithm (GA) and an Internet of Things (IoT) system. GA is the core algorithm that deals with the task of how to allocate spectrum channels. A theoretical model shows that CRSAA can improve the total throughput and reduce the power consumption of CRN by 50% when compared to traditional Spectrum Sensing techniques. The traditional particle swarm optimization algorithm is improved, and the initial population is constructed by chaotic logic mapping so that the population is uniformly distributed in the solution space. Due to the introduction of the idea of particle mutation, the new algorithm is easier to fall into the local extremum than the original algorithm. Experimental results show that the algorithm can quickly converge to the spectrum allocation of cognitive radio, thus obtaining better overall benefits.
Innovation as a way of increasing the competitiveness of the economy
Authors: Stojković Hadži , Kastratović Edita , Stanković Ljiljana
Published: August 2022

Innovation emerged as a subject of major research in the second half of the twentieth century, so that researchers observe this period as the beginning of the development of innovation studies. The paper presents an analysis of relevant literature that indicates innovation as a significant factor in increasing the competitiveness of the economy. The European System of Innovation Indicators (EIS and IUS) is explained, which enables a comparable assessment of the success of innovation in EU countries, pointing out the relative strengths and weaknesses of their research and innovation systems. In this way, it helps Member States to assess areas that would be good to focus on in order to strengthen their profits in the field of innovation. The paper presents an analysis and a comparative innovation index of Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia for 2021 according to the IUS methodology.
Determinants of Selection of Halal Tourism Destination: A Case Study of the UAE
Authors:   Business Department, Higher Colleges of Technology United Arab Emirates, Abdelghani Echchabi  , Anca Bocanet  ,   Business Department, Higher Colleges of Technology United Arab Emirates, Rihab Grassa  ,   Business Department, Higher Colleges of Technology United Arab Emirates
Published: August 2022

The purpose of this study is to explore the factors influencing tourists’ selection of the UAE as their halal tourism destination. The study focuses on tourists who visited the UAE between January 2019 and February 2020, with special emphasis on tourists from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). A mixed methodology approach is used to achieve the study’s objectives: a quantitative survey to collect data from 600 respondents, and in-depth interviews with 10 interviewees to obtain richer and more meaningful information about the respondents’ experiences and perceptions about the different halal tourism dimensions. Research findings revealed that cities’ security and safety measures, family entertainment activities, halal food diversity and international restaurant chains serving halal food are the most important factors influencing tourists to choose the UAE as one of the best halal tourism destinations. Overall, our respondents were highly satisfied with their halal tourism experience in the UAE. This is the first study that explores the determinants of tourists’ selection of the UAE as their next/best halal tourism destination, taking into consideration that Dubai is among the most visited cities in the world. Moreover, this study provides new theoretical and practical contribution to halal tourism. The findings could help tourism operators in the UAE to further develop halal tourism and to explore the opportunities it offers the country. The findings also have significant contribution to the tourism literature and to the practitioners and policy makers as well, since they provide important insights on the main factors that influence tourists’ selection of the UAE as their halal tourism destination. This can in turn help promote the UAE as valuable halal tourism destination regionally and internationally. This study also sheds light on new opportunities for the UAE to become the most attractive halal tourism destination. The findings will help practitioners to better understand halal tourism, in order to develop marketing strategies to attract Muslim tourists and encourage repeat experience.