Greater Production Research Articles

A technology of global governance or the path to gender equality? Reflections on the role of indicators and targets for girls’ education

ABSTRACT Since 2000, girls’ education has been an increasingly high-profile concern in international development policy. At the same time, there has been a trend towards the greater production and reliance on quantitative data, indicators and targets in national and international education policy. Scholars have raised concerns about the rise of ‘performance-based’ approaches to accountability in education, and potential counterproductive effects of this for social justice and equality. However, few studies have explored how this trend plays out in practice within international organisations, particularly in relation to the heightened focus on girls’ education. This paper explores the implications of the increasing reliance on quantitative measures for policy actors and draws on a set of interviews with key stakeholders working in organisations concerned with gender and education to explore their divergent understandings of accountability processes. The paper concludes by reflecting on the prospects for a transformative approach to measuring gender equality and girls’ education.

Refinement in the European Union: A Systematic Review.

Refining experiments and housing conditions so as to cause the minimum possible pain and distress is one of the three principles (3Rs) on which Directive 2010/63/EU is based. In this systematic review, we aimed to identify and summarize published advances in the refinement protocols made by European Union-based research groups from 2011 to 2021, and to determine whether or not said research was supported by European or national grants. We included 48 articles, the majority of which were related to improvements in experimental procedures (37/77.1%) for mice (26/54.2%) and were written by research groups belonging to universities (36/57.1%) and from the United Kingdom (21/33.9%). More than two thirds (35/72.9%) of the studies received financial support, 26 (mostly British) at a national level and 8 at a European level. Our results indicated a clear willingness among the scientific community to improve the welfare of laboratory animals, as although funding was not always available or was not specifically granted for this purpose, studies were published nonetheless. However, in addition to institutional support based on legislation, more financial support is needed. We believe that more progress would have been made in refinement during these years if there had been more specific financial support available at both the national and European Union levels since our data suggest that countries investing in refinement have the greatest productivity in successfully publishing refinements.

Valorization of Invasive Plant Extracts against the Bispecies Biofilm Staphylococcus aureus-Candida albicans by a Bioguided Molecular Networking Screening.

Invasive plants efficiently colonize non-native territories, suggesting a great production of bioactive metabolites which could be effective antibiofilm weapons. Our study aimed to look for original molecules able to inhibit bispecies biofilm formed by S. aureus and C. albicans. Extracts from five invasive macrophytes (Ludwigia peploides, Ludwigia grandiflora, Myriophyllum aquaticum, Lagarosiphon major and Egeria densa) were prepared and tested in vitro against 24 h old bispecies biofilms using a crystal violet staining (CVS) assay. The activities of the extracts reducing the biofilm total biomass by 50% or more were comparatively analyzed against each microbial species forming the biofilm by flow cytometry (FCM) and scanning electron microscopy. Extracts active against both species were fractionated. Obtained fractions were analyzed by UHPLC-MS/MS and evaluated by the CVS assay. Chemical and biological data were combined into a bioactivity-based molecular networking (BBMN) to identify active compounds. The aerial stem extract of L. grandiflora showed the highest antibiofilm activity (>50% inhibition at 50 µg∙mL-1). The biological, chemical and BBMN investigations of its fractions highlighted nine ions correlated with the antibiofilm activity. The most correlated compound, identified as betulinic acid (BA), inhibited bispecies biofilms regardless of the three tested couples of strains (ATCC strains: >40% inhibition, clinical isolates: ≈27% inhibition), confirming its antibiofilm interest.

Towards an integrated framework to measure user engagement with interactive or physical products

Building great products or services is not easy; users want products and services that exceed their expectations and evolve with their needs; it is not just about building the right features. Knowing the user engagement (UE) towards a physical, virtual product or service can give valuable information that could be used as feedback for the design, enhancing its chances of success. In the context of user-centered design, UE is the assessment of the user experience characterized by the study of the individual's cognitive, affective, and behavioral response to some stimulus, such as a product, a service, or a website. UE considers not only the users’ requirements and wishes but also their perceptions and reactions during and after an interaction with a product, system, or service. Many studies looking to quantify the UE are available. Still, a framework that provides a generic view of the most commonly used methods and metrics to measure UE does not yet exist in the literature. Aiming to understand the UE better, in this research, we developed a conceptual framework summarizing the available metrics and techniques used across different contexts, including good practices of self-report methods and physiological approaches. We expect this study will allow future researchers, developers, and designers to consider the UE as one of the most prominent product/service success indicators and use this guideline to find the more appropriate method, technique, and metric for its measurement.

Inorganic NPK supplementation improves biomass and quality of multicut moringa fodder

Moringa oleifera is gaining popularity as multi-cut quality fodder in Pakistan because of its great nutritional value and biomass production. For successful quality biomass production, proper crop nutrition is vital especially during dry season. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the objective to explore the impact of variable doses of “nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK)” fertilizer for maximum foliage production and improve the quality of moringa under field conditions. Three levels of NPK (No fertilizer, 25:25:50, and 50:50:100 kg ha−1) were applied in already established two years old moringa plants on 15 September 2016, at research area of University of Agriculture, Faisalabad-Pakistan. Dimension of each experimental unit was 3.5 × 5.5 m. After thirty days of fertilizer treatments, two cuttings were taken with the interval of 30 days. The experimental design was RCBD with factorial arrangements having three replications. Significant differences were observed in growth, biomass production, and quality of produce. The moringa plants treated with application of 50:50:100 kg NPK ha−1 produced maximum dry biomass with good quality (crude protein, fiber, fat, and ash%) during both cuttings. Nonetheless, first cutting produced more growth and biomass as compared to second cutting. While NPK supplementation increased 50% more biomass production and better quality compared to control in second cutting. Increased biomass production of moringa was associated with high chlorophyll contents, better antioxidant, and quality (crude protein, fiber, fat, and ash%) status with NPK supplementation.

Política, asuntos de género y medios de comunicación. Un análisis de las redes sociales en la campaña para las elecciones al parlamento europeo de 2019

The 2019 European elections campaign was characterized by an intensive use of social media and a great production of electoral materials published on these digital platforms by national political parties and candidates. Considering this scenario, the paper aims to analyze the political communication carried out by the political parties of the 28 EU Member States on social media during the four weeks before the 2019 European Election Day. Using data collected by the “European Elections Monitoring Center”, the authors identify the most important issues dealt with in the new digital arenas in a comparative perspective.In particular, the focus is on the “social issues” that were included in the European political debate. After an overview of the most discussed issues by the political parties during their election campaigns, similarities and differences are investigated according to the European macro-region and the European parliamentary group.

Incorporating Situation Awareness Cues in Virtual Reality for Users in Dynamic in-Vehicle Environments.

The increasing ubiquity and mobility of virtual reality (VR) devices has introduced novel use cases, one of which is using VR in vehicles, both human-driven and fully automated. However, the effects of the adoption of VR-in-the-car on user task performance, safety, trust, and perceived risk are still largely unknown or not fully understood. Blocking out the physical world and substituting it with a virtual environment has many potential benefits including fewer distractions and greater productivity. However, one shortcoming of this seclusion is losing situation awareness which becomes critical in dynamic, in-vehicle environments, even when the user is not in the driver's seat. Hence, this study aims to understand the effects of providing VR users with situation awareness cues about the real world, when riding in a human-driven or a fully automated car. The results of this driving simulator experiment provide valuable insights into passengers' experience and their information needs while immersed in VR environments. Identifying passengers' unique challenges and needs, as well as developing solutions for them, is expected to improve users' travel experience towards a wider adoption of VR devices.

Small and vulnerable: SME productivity in the great productivity slowdown

We show that the TFP growth of European micro, small, and medium-sized firms (SMEs) diverged from large firms after the global financial crisis. The average postcrisis TFP growth of medium-sized, small, and micro firms was, respectively, 1.1, 2.9, and 5.4 percentage points lower than that of large firms. This SME productivity gap is larger for firms with more severe credit supply shocks. The gap is partially attributable to a larger postcrisis reduction in intangible capital at SMEs than at large firms. Horseraces suggest that SME indicators are more robust and more powerful predictors of postcrisis TFP growth than other indicators.

Climate mitigation potential and soil microbial response of cyanobacteria‐fertilized bioenergy crops in a cool semi‐arid cropland

AbstractBioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS) systems can serve as decarbonization pathways for climate mitigation. Perennial grasses are a promising second‐generation lignocellulosic bioenergy feedstock for BECCS expansion, but optimizing their sustainability, productivity, and climate mitigation potential requires an evaluation of how nitrogen (N) fertilizer strategies interact with greenhouse gas (GHG) and soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics. Furthermore, crop and fertilizer choice can affect the soil microbiome which is critical to soil organic matter turnover, nutrient cycling, and sustaining crop productivity but these feedbacks are poorly understood due to the paucity of data from certain agroecosystems. Here, we examine the climate mitigation potential and soil microbiome response to establishing two functionally different perennial grasses, switchgrass (Panicum virgatum, C4) and tall wheatgrass (Thinopyrum ponticum, C3), in a cool semi‐arid agroecosystem under two fertilizer applications, a novel cyanobacterial biofertilizer (CBF) and urea. We find that in contrast to the C4 grass, the C3 grass achieved 98% greater productivity and had a higher N use efficiency when fertilized. For both crops, the CBF produced the same biomass enhancement as urea. Non‐CO2 GHG fluxes across all treatments were low and we observed a 3‐year net loss of SOC under the C4 crop and a net gain under the C3 crop at a 0–30 cm soil depth regardless of fertilization. Finally, we detected crop‐specific changes in the soil microbiome, including an increased relative abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi under the C3, and potentially pathogenic fungi in the C4 grass. Taken together, these findings highlight the potential of CBF‐fertilized C3 crops as a second‐generation bioenergy feedstock in semi‐arid regions as a part of a climate mitigation strategy.

Size effects on process performance and product quality in progressive microforming of shafted gears revealed by experiment and numerical modeling

As one of the indispensable actuating components in micro-systems, the shafted microgear is in great production demand. Microforming is a manufacturing process to produce microgears to meet the needs. Due to the small geometrical size, there are uncertain process performance and product quality issues in this production process. In this study, the shafted microgears were fabricated in two different scaling factors with four grain sizes using a progressively extrusion-blanking method. To explore the unknown of the process, grain-based modeling was proposed and employed to simulate the entire forming process. The results show that when the grains are large, the anisotropy of single grains has an obvious size effect on the forming behavior and process performance; and the produced geometries and surface quality are worsened; and the deformation load is decreased. Five deformation zones were identified in the microstructures with different hardness and distributions of stress and strain. The simulation by using the proposed model successfully predicted the formation of zones and revealed the inhomogeneous deformation in the forming process. The undesirable geometries of microgears including material unfilling, burr and inclination were observed on the shaft and teeth of gear, and the inclination size is increased obviously with grain size. To avoid the formation of inclination and material unfilling, the punch was redesigned, and a die insert was added to constraint the bottom surface of the gear teeth. The new products had then the better forming quality.

Applying agroclimatic seasonal forecasts to improve rainfed maize agronomic management in Colombia

Climate variability affects crop production in multiple and often complex ways. The development and use hybrid crops with greater productivity and tolerance to climate shocks is one of the approaches to climate adaptation and agricultural intensification. Since hybrid crops are more expensive for the producer, risk management is of paramount importance. Here, we pose that there is high potential for the Colombian maize sector to use crop-specific climate services for risk reduction. We used the CERES-Maize crop model connected to seasonal climate forecasts developed via Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) across key maize growing areas in Colombia to assess the performance of a maize-specific agroclimatic forecast to inform two key decisions, namely, the choice of sowing dates and genotypes. We find that the agroclimatic models perform well at discriminating yield categories (above, below, and normal) with discrimination capacity of up to 70–80 % for the ‘below normal’ and ‘above + below normal’ categories. Consistent with this, agroclimatic forecasts typically predict the optimal planting date with an error of 3 pentads or less. They also predict the optimal choice of genotype correctly around 50–70 % of the time depending on the site or season of interest. Notably, we identify specific cases in which the agroclimatic forecast is misleading but argue that the overall value of the forecasts outweighs these cases. Future work should focus on expanding the scope of the agroclimatic prediction to include other relevant farming decisions that are influenced by climate, and on the improvement of climate forecast performance.

Operational and Environmental Comparison of Two Felling and Piling Alternatives for Whole Tree Harvesting in Quercus Coppices for Bioenergy Use

Coppices are a major potential source of forest biomass in Spain, where they occupy around 4M ha. Quercus coppices are mostly neglected because of their high harvesting costs and the small size of their products. This makes them very interesting to test and compare alternative means for utilizing their resources in an optimized way. Hence, a comparative study of motor-manual and mechanized felling and bunching was conducted when thinning dense coppice stands of the two most important oak species in Spain to obtain biomass for bioenergy use. In particular, the study matched chainsaw felling and manual piling against the work of a drive-to-tree feller-buncher previously analyzed in the very same sites. Productivity functions for motor-manual felling and piling were fitted for each species. The derived unit cost functions show that the felling-bunching costs are lower for the motor-manual option in stands of both species, particularly for the smaller tree sizes. Nevertheless, when the strongly reduced loading times in forwarding associated to the mechanization are taken into account, the total harvesting cost is often lower for the mechanized option. That is true for all tree sizes of Q. ilex, and for trees larger than 13 cm diameter at breast height (DBH) for Q. pyrenaica. Residual stand damage was low to moderate, but always significantly greater for the mechanized option compared with the motormanual one. Soil damage was very low for both alternatives. The stumps experimented significantly greater damages in the mechanized felling and bunching, but further research is needed to determine if those damages have any impact on stump mortality, sprouting capability and future plants vigor. The greater productivity and level of tree damages found in Q. ilex when compared to Q. pyrenaica are likely due to the narrower and lighter crown of the latter.

Does the Gender of the Owner Affect the Productivity of Enterprises in India’s Informal Economy?

We examine the patterns and correlates of the productivity gap betweenmale- and female-owned enterprises in India’s informal sector.Female-owned firms are 45 per cent less productive than male-owned firmson average, with the greatest productivity gaps observed at the lower end ofthe productivity distribution. We measure a firm’s productivity in terms ofits labour productivity. Using decomposition methods, we find thatstructural effects account for approximately 73 per cent of the productivitygap, with the remainder attributable to differences in observablecharacteristics captured by composition effects. We also find that, amongobservable characteristics, the most important set of factors explaining thegender productivity gap are the characteristics of a firm, such as its size,age, receipt of government assistance, registration with state authorities,contract-based work, and accounting records. Male-owned firms have acompetitive advantage over female-owned enterprises with respect to thesecharacteristics.

KOMPARASI USAHA PEMBESARAN IKAN NILA DI KOLAM TANAH DAN KERAMBA JARING APUNG PADA KOLONG

Communities on the island of Bangka use soil ponds and floating net cages on ex tin mines lake for tilapia cultivation. Currently, the comparison of the productivity of the two cultivation system for Tilapia cultivation is not known. This study analyzed the business and productivity of tilapia rearing under floating net cages and soil ponds in Air Mesu Village, Pangkalan Baru District, Central Regency. The method used in this study is a survey method with case study techniques with data collection through interviews, questionnaires, and observations. Overall, the business of rearing Tilapia with the KJA system and soil ponds in Air Mesu Village is feasible to develop because the R/C ratio is >1. The use of the KJA system has an R/C ratio and greater productivity than the ground pool. Yield productivity of 25.12 kg/m2 in the KJA system and 19.52/m2 in the soil pond system.

Characterization of Non-Saccharomyces Yeast Strains Isolated from Grape Juice and Pomace: Production of Polysaccharides and Antioxidant Molecules after Growth and Autolysis

Non-Saccharomyces yeasts (NSY) represent a relevant part of must and wine microbiota, contributing remarkably to the composition of lees biomass. Despite a number of studies indicate their capacity to increase wine polysaccharide content, their contribution to wine quality during aging on lees (AOL) has not been well elucidated yet. In the present study, twenty yeast strains (13 non-Saccharomyces and 7 Saccharomyces) were isolated from grape must and pomace and identified by morphologic and genetic characterization. Biomass production, cell growth and the release of soluble molecules (polysaccharides, amino acids, thiol compounds and glutathione) were evaluated after growth and after autolysis induced by β-glucanases addition. Differences between strains were observed for all parameters. Strains that produced higher amounts of soluble compounds during growth also showed the highest release after autolysis. Hanseniaspora spp. showed the greatest production of polysaccharides and antioxidant molecules, and biomass production and cell viability comparable to the commercial S. cerevisiae and T. delbrueckii used as reference. The aptitude of certain NSY to release antioxidants and polysaccharides is an interesting feature for managing AOL through sequential or mixed fermentations or for the production of inactive autolyzed yeasts for winemaking.

A Story of Transition and Transformation: Making the Career Switch from Corporate America to Higher Education

Abstract: In recent years, the purpose and function of the university has been highly debated: what should be the balance between theory and practice? Higher education has been seen to provide radical new ways of thinking, but there have been calls to place much more emphasis on tangible, applied professional skills to provide students with more returns on their investment. Knowledgeable and experienced faculty contribute to a more open-minded culture with greater productivity, which is also connected to higher levels of personal accomplishment, confidence, and engagement. This reflective essay explores the experiences of an HBCU alumna who transitioned from a career in corporate America to higher education. The first in a new series for Advertising & Society Quarterly , our objective is to share experiences about this transition from practitioner to professor for those who may want to forge similar paths. Just as Advertising & Society Quarterly seeks to build bridges between higher education and industry in order to better understand advertising’s place in society, culture, history, and the economy, similar efforts can be made to envision pathways for faculty with scholarly and applied backgrounds.

Análisis Bibliométrico sobre el Aprendizaje Reflexivo en Educación Superior

One of the purposes of education in the 21st century is to promote a quality teaching and learning process, adjusted to the needs demanded by today's society and whose main hallmark is sustainability over time. In this search, reflective learning stands as a fundamental element that will allow students to fully develop and thereby adapt to the dynamic and changing contexts that are part of their daily lives. This article aims to identify and analyze the scientific production on reflective learning found in the Clarivate Analytics Web of Science (WoS) databases. Through a study with a quantitative approach, descriptive level and using a bibliometric analysis or documentary analysis of scientific production. N=93 documents have been searched, to which 10 previously established bibliometric indicators were applied. The results show the countries and institutions that have the greatest production around the theme, emphasizing the main sources and existing collaborations, in addition, the co-occurrences of words and relationships with the most relevant authors are glimpsed. Finally, it is concluded on the need to expand the knowledge we have about reflective learning and its strengthening in higher education instances.

Deforestation, plantation-related land cover dynamics and oil palm age-structure change during 1990–2020 in Riau Province, Indonesia

The expansion of plantations, such as oil palm, in Indonesia has caused large-scale deforestation. Loss of tropical forest, in particular peatland forest, is a major ecological and environmental threat as well as a source of atmospheric carbon emissions. Understanding the spatio-temporal dynamics of plantation expansion may illuminate pathways to reduce deforestation while maintaining high yields in existing plantations. Beyond mapping forest conversion to plantations, it is also important to understand post-conversion plantation success and crop age. In the case of oil palm, the typical productive lifespan is 25–30 years before replanting or conversion to other land use becomes necessary. Knowledge about the extent of oil palm in different productive growth stages is important for yield estimation and improving management strategies. This study characterizes the land-cover and land-use changes inherent to oil palm plantation expansion and age-structured oil palm dynamics across Riau, the province with the greatest production of oil palm in Indonesia, using a 30 year time-series of Landsat satellite imagery. From 1990 to 2020, Riau lost 4.63 M ha of forest, while oil palm extent grew six-fold, reaching an estimated 3.52 M ha in 2020. Rapid expansion of oil palm plantations in Riau resulted in the predominance of younger age classes (<10 yr-old) and rapidly increasing yields during 2010–2020. Conversion dynamics changed over time such that, after 2014, the <10 yr age class declined by 14%, whereas the 10–20 yr-old (peak yield stage) and ⩾20 yr-old (decline stage) age classes increased by 11% and 3%, respectively. In 28 years of observation (1992–2020), 41% of oil palm planted between 1990 and 1992 underwent at least one cycle of replanting in Riau.

Further Evaluation of the performance of Shugor, Dubasi and Watish subtypes of Sudanese Desert sheep: Under Sedentary and Improved Production Systems

The present study was conducted in the National Sheep Research Station in Elhuda, Sudan where the sheep flocks are kept for scientific research purposes. The aim of the study is to evaluate two systems of sheep productivity namely: the prevailing annual single lamb cropping (sheer-sedentary) and induced three lamb cropping per two years to which feed supplementation is provided (improved – sedentary). Three subtypes: Shugor, Dubasi and Watish in Sudan Desert sheep were used for a three –lamp crops, per two years, in addition to feed supplementation, to represent an improved-sedentary system, (B) against a sheer sedentary (A), that represents an annual single-lamp-crop system. The improved sedentary was associated with reductions in the overall average values of the traits: ewes losses (1.95 vs 3.09%), ewe barrenness (17.30 vs 28.67%) and lambing interval (257.97 vs 353.50 days ), whereas it enhanced lambing rate (82.73 vs72.67 %), litter size at weaning measured: as lambs weaned per ewes exposed for breeding (1.01 vs 0.67) and as lambs weaned per ewes that actually lambed (1.12 vs 0.93) improved adjusted lamb weaning weight per ewe at 60 days of lamb age (13.62 vs 10.58 kg) , increased lamb survival rate (93.91 vs 75.63%) and eventually promoted productivity index (18.36 vs 5.25kg) of lambs weaned per ewe per year. These overall average values were calculated out of the mean values of the measured traits shown in tables (1 and 2) of the text. Furthermore, the comparison between the three subtype sheep groups for their performance as affected by the improved sedentary against the sheer - sedentary revealed similar trends of response as above, that culminated in the Shugor subtype having the greatest productivity index mean value (20.82 kg) as subsequently compared with that of either the subtype Dubasi (17.56 kg) or the Watish subtype (16.70 kg). It is concluded that these results do encourage the adoption and projection on the improved-sedentary system, specially, under the surroundings of irrigated agriculture land use to provide extra income to the welfare of the farmer.

Analysis of the Independence and Reconstruction of Consumption Rituals: A Comparative Study of Chinese Ancient and Modern Festival Consumption

According to the existing research, large-scale consumption behaviors and activities, as a commodity value realization mode with great production significance in China’s traditional production system, rarely have independent identities such as “Double Eleven Shopping Festival” and “June 18th Promotion in the Middle of the Year” nowadays. However, this does not necessarily explain the problems including sluggish consumption but reflects its characteristics such as form bearing and connotation attachment to other festivals. From the perspective of communication rituals, consumption itself may have existed as a specific social function at this time. Nonetheless, consumption, as a connotation, was independently recognized and ritualized by the society, which fails to be fully completed until the emergence of “Double Eleven”. This paper will focus on the reflection of “rituals” in consumption and festivals in an attempt to recognize the transformation from “festival consumption” to “consumption festival” with comparative and integrated thinking.