Increment In Production Research Articles

Productivity and costs of a tracked excavator-based processor at the cable yarder landing in the North-western Italian Alps

ABSTRACT Excavator-based processors are a valuable machine to process trees at cable yarder landings. This paper contributes to the studies on productivity and time consumption of excavator-based processors at a landing in the North-western Italian Alps. The study analyzed the time consumption and productivity of an excavator-based processor in a spruce forest, focusing on operational factors influencing processing time and employing statistical modeling. Results showed that processing (21%) and stacking (19%) accounted for a significant portion of the total cycle time (254.2 s), with delays (48%) dominating due to waiting times for incoming loads. Regression analysis revealed that tree diameter, height, and number of logs significantly influenced cycle time. Productivity (25.7 m3 PMH−1) increased with tree volume, although larger trees required longer cycle times. Obtaining two logs per tree, when the tree volume increased by 0.1 m3, productivity increased by about 2.5 m3 PMH−1, while when obtaining five logs per tree, the increment in productivity for the same increase in tree volume was about 1.6 m3 PMH−1. Overall, the study demonstrates the feasibility and efficiency of using excavator-based processors in forest operations in the Northwestern Italian Alps. The findings provide valuable insights into operational dynamics and economic considerations, highlighting the potential of this equipment as a cost-effective alternative.

Investigating the effect of dynamic laser beam oscillations in remote fusion cutting process

The latest research on laser beam fusion cutting has revealed significant improvements in process productivity and cut quality through the use of dynamic beam shaping techniques. While many studies have investigated dynamic beam shaping for proximity cutting, the influence of laser beam oscillations on the remote fusion cutting process remains unexplored. The present work aims to study the effect of dynamic beam shaping on the remote fusion cutting process through analytical modeling, experimental investigations, and in situ high-speed monitoring. Initially, an analytical model based on thermodynamic analysis was developed to assess the influence of circular oscillations on the process zone. This model facilitates the evaluation of process performance from an energetic perspective, providing an estimate of the maximum achievable cutting speed for the remote fusion cutting process across various operating conditions. A significant increment in process productivity could be achieved through beam oscillations. Furthermore, based on theoretical findings, the effect of circular laser beam oscillations superimposed on the processing feed direction was experimentally investigated using a 1 mm thick AISI304 stainless steel material. A 6 kW fiber laser was utilized, alongside a high-speed camera-based system for in situ process monitoring. The experimental results demonstrate a significant increase in the process productivity under dynamic beam shaping conditions, consistent with theoretical findings. Specifically, the maximum achievable cutting speed could be increased from 0.13 to 0.20 m/s. Furthermore, the cut quality of produced samples was evaluated in terms of kerf morphology and profile.

Use of sunn hemp on the efficiency of nitrogen fertilization in sugarcane cultivars

Brazil is a reference in sugarcane production and management; today the state of Goiás is the second largest national producer of the crop. Thus, for the increment in productivity to be greater in one crop compared to another, it is necessary to adopt cultivation practices and practices of financial interest. This work aimed to demonstrate the effect of Nitrogen (N) cycling by sunn hemp in the cultivation of three varieties with different maturity cycles (IAC91-1099 early, RB985476 medium, and RB975242 late) grown in two managements of fertilizations with and without nitrogen in cover, in which the differences of K in the formulations were supplied, in the municipality of Edéia, Goiás. The trial was set up in an entirely randomized delineation in a 3x2 factorial scheme, with 3 varieties and 2 fertilization managements. It was concluded that an efficient planting of sunn hemp can be effective in supplying the N needs of the crop, contributing to the generation of more robust technical and agronomic processes for the sugarcane crop.

Synthesis of Ag/Cu decorated 3D self-assembled nanowire TiO2 photocatalyst for hydrogen production: a promising pathway towards sustainable energy generation.

Here, synthesis and characterization of TiO2 with different morphologies along with the cost-effective bimetallic decoration on optimized 3D self-assembled nanowire TiO2 (NWT) photocatalyst (Ag/Cu-NWT) with overwhelming hydrogen production rate is reported. All the photocatalysts were well characterized by different characterization techniques. Initially, the effect of morphology change obtained by changing the NaOH concentration has been studied for TiO2. Morphology obtained at 10M NaOH solution, i.e., NWT (678μmol/g), showed better hydrogen production than morphology obtained at 5M (410μmol/g), 15M (210μmol/g), and 20M (160μmol/g) NaOH solutions. Further, with the aim to achieve comparable or better activity low-cost photocatalyst as compared to Pt-TiO2 system, NWT was decorated with various Cu percentages and then with a minimal percentage of Ag on an optimized Cu-NWT photocatalyst. The observed trend for photocatalytic hydrogen production has been found to be P25 TiO2 < NWT < 1.0Cu-NWT < 0.5Pt-NWT ≤ 0.1Ag/1.0Cu-NWT. The marked increase by a factor of 103 in hydrogen production for the optimized bimetallic 0.1Ag/1.0Cu-NWT (10,184μmol/g) photocatalyst compared to P25 TiO2 (99μmol/g), nearly threefold increment in hydrogen production than an optimized 1.0 Cu-NWT (3907μmol/g) photocatalyst and comparable hydrogen production as compared to 0.5Pt-NWT (10,050μmol/g) may be attributed to the successful synthesis of a highly porous NWT morphology, which offers large surface area, increased light absorption combined with the synergistic effects of surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and the Schottky barrier for H+ reduction to H2 gas. The optimization of TiO2 morphology and an inexpensive bimetallic decoration strategy opens up promising opportunities for the development of cost-effective photocatalysts in the realm of energy and environment.

Fuzzy-stochastic distributional robust approach for microalgae-based bio-plastic supply chain with new sustainability aspects

The current study offers a sustainable supply chain model that can be used to identify opportunities and constraints for the future of the microalgae-based bio-diesel and bio-plastic industry. The network’s carbon emissions are restricted by an uncertain constraint that allows for flexibility in controlling emissions as needed. The social constraints of the model provides a transparent depiction of labour needs in dynamic business landscape and foster women’s empowerment through a preference coefficient. The proposed model introduces a new upside risk measures under fuzzy-stochastic setting to quantify the upward financial risk. To characterize and manage the model uncertainty, a fuzzy-stochastic distributional robust model is presented. Credibility distribution is utilized to handle fuzzy uncertainty, while box and polyhedral uncertainty sets are included to handle stochastic uncertainty. After that, tractable deterministic formulations of the uncertain model for two ambiguity sets are presented to solve the model. Finally, a number of insights are obtained by means of five test problems that are implemented in Python and resolved by one exact and five meta-heuristic algorithms. Experiments indicate that, when faced with uncertainty, two robust models have produced more stable solutions (16.23% and 19.67% higher stability, respectively) than nominal stochastic model. Further, a 4.68% decline in total cost and 3.27% increment in bio-diesel production can be achieved by increasing bio-diesel conversion rate to 10%. In addition, a 9.09% downturn in total cost and 10.44% rise in bio-plastic production can be obtained by 10% increment in bio-plastic conversion rate. Moreover, 45.38% more woman labours can be recruited by increasing the preference coefficient from −0.2 to +0.2.

Anaerobic digestion performance and kinetics of biomass pretreated with various fungal strains utilizing exponential and sigmoidal equation models

Corn silage was pretreated with white rot fungi to optimize the methane generation capacity of biomass and the effect of the most important pretreatment parameters on the anaerobic digestion performance of material was determined by employing mathematical modelling. Pretreatment with selective fungi led to optimal increment in methane production from 0.301 m3kgVS−1 from corn silage to 0.465 m3kgVS−1 from the 10-day modified material, whereas non-selective fungi had negative effect. A reverse L-shape curve observed for the corn silage indicated an uninterrupted methane production and was not modified when the substrate was pretreated with Dichomitus squalens, Irpex lacteus and Trametes versicolor. Exponential models fitted L-curves better than sigmoidal equations with Cone model providing the most accurate predictions regardless of the selective or non-selective feature of the fungal strain used for the pretreatment of corn silage. Increasing pretreatment time led to a differentiation of the methane yield and adjustment of the curve shape to a stepped outline adequately modelled by Cone and transference models. Contrary to three-parameter sigmoidal models a fourth shape variable included in Richards equation was crucial, allowing for a flexible inflection point that enabled an accurate replication of an S-shape curve obtained for methane production from the hybrid substrate.

Productivity and Profitability of Diversified Legume-based Cropping Systems in the Indo-gangetic Plains of India as Influenced by Nutrient Management

Background: The continuing adoption of the rice-wheat cropping system (RWCS) and indiscriminate use of inorganic fertiliser has led to a decrease in soil fertility, an increase in multiple micronutrient deficiencies, a decrease in the water table and excessive greenhouse gas emissions, especially in the Indo Gangetic Plains. Adoption of crop diversification strategies, including legumes in cropping systems with integrated use of organic and inorganic nutrient sources, could be a viable option for achieving higher fodder tonnage and sustainable crop production in aforesaid ecologies. Methods: A field experiment was conducted during the kharif, rabi and summer seasons of 2018-19 and 2019-20 in a split-plot design comprising four cropping systems (CS) i.e., rice-wheat, rice-berseem, pearl millet-oats-moong bean and maize-cowpea-wheat in main plots; and four nutrient management (NM) practices i.e., 100% RDF (recommended dose of fertiliser), 100% RDF + cow urine (foliar spray), 100% RDF + PGPR (seed treatments) and 75% RDF + cow urine + PGPR were assigned in sub-plots with three replications of each treatment. Result: Investigations revealed that the significantly highest system productivity, net returns and higher nutrient availability were obtained under the rice-berseem cropping system with 100% RDF + PGPR treatment. The magnitude of increment in system productivity of the rice–berseem cropping system was 35.06, 57.87 and 87.29% over rice-wheat, maize-cowpea-wheat and pearl millet-oats-moong bean cropping system, respectively. The legume-based cropping system has strengthened and sustained crop productivity and profitability. The results of the present work confirmed that the adoption of legume-based crop diversification has significantly alleviated the crop yield of dairy-based farming systems.

Optimized phenol degradation and lipid production by Rhodosporidium toruloides using response surface methodology and genetic algorithm-optimized artificial neural network

Oleaginous yeast can produce lipids while degrading phenol in wastewater treatment. In this study, a Plackett-Burman Design (PBD) was adopted to identify key factors of phenol degradation and lipid production using R toruloides 9564T. While temperature, inoculum size, and agitation were significant for both the processes (p < 0.05), pH and incubation were significant for lipid production, and phenol removal, respectively. Results from four factors (pH, temperature, inoculum size, and incubation period) central composite design (CCD) experiment were used to formulate quadratic and genetic algorithm-optimized ANN models. The reduced quadratic model for phenol degradation (R2: 0.993) and lipid production (R2: 0.958) were marginally inferior to ANN models (R2: 0.999, 0.982, respectively) on training sets. Multi-objective optimization with equal importance suggests phenol degradation between 106.4 and 108.76%, and lipid production of 0.864–0.903 g/L, by polynomial and ANN models. Complete phenol degradation (100%) and 3.35-fold increment (0.918 g/L) in lipid production were obtained at pH 6.07, inoculum size 14.68% v/v, at 29.5 °C in 92.17 h experimentally.

Contribution of Banana Production on Household Income Generation Among Smallholder Farmers in Kitagata Town Council, Sheema District

The study was about contribution of banana production on house hold income generation among Smallholder farmers in Kitagata town council, Sheema District. The specific objectives included to; examine the socio-economic characteristics of smallholder banana farmers, establish innovative strategies to improve banana production and income among smallholder banana farmers and identify the factors affecting banana production and income among smallholder banana farmers. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey that applied both quantitative and qualitative approaches for data collection. Data was captured from a sample of 302 respondents using both questionnaire and interviews. Data was analyzed using SPSS software version 22.0 to generate both descriptive and inferential statistics. The study concluded that there were socio-economic characteristics of farmers which also affected banana production. Such characteristics included; age, marital status, level of education land size and gender. The study also concluded that there were innovative strategies to improve banana production and income among smallholder banana farmers in Kitagata town council, Sheema district. These included; Integrated Pest Management, use of hybrid varieties, Irrigation, mulching, climate-Smart Agriculture through use of drought resistant varieties, agro-forestry, use of fertilizer application and organic manure to replenish soil fertility. The study finally concluded that there were factors affecting banana production and income among smallholder banana farmers. Such as; access to extension and advisory services which had a significant effect on production and smallholder farmer’s income at (p=.004), access to financial services was a strong predictor of production improvement and farmer’s income at (p=.002), a positive and a significant relationship were observed between availability of quality farm inputs and banana production (at p=.023), The study further discovered that ready market was a strong predictor of production and small holder farmer’s income at (p=.003) and Lastly, a positive and a significant relationship were observed between banana varieties grown and banana production as well as income at (p=.005). The study recommends that the government, NGOs, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal, Industry and Fisheries in collaboration be established with the aim of implementing innovative agricultural strategies geared towards banana productivity increments, there is also a need for the government to provide enough facilities to extension agents that will help them facilitate enhanced training to farmers and inform them of new techniques in farming, there is a need for the government to provide some production inputs at subsidized cost.

Simulation and conceptual design of an aniline production process from catalytic hydrogenation of nitrobenzene in ChemCAD

Aniline is a very important compound in organic chemistry, mainly used to synthesize polyurethane and its precursors. In the present work, the simulation and conceptual design of an aniline production process through the catalytic hydrogenation route of nitrobenzene was carried out using ChemCADÒ simulator. The simulated aniline production process consisted of a fired heater, a tubular reactor, several heat exchangers, a phase separator, a decanter, as well as two distillation columns. By means of the simulation, the temperatures, pressures, mass flowrates and enthalpies of the main intermediate and final streams were known, as well as the main operating and design parameters of some equipment. About 1,743 kg/h of aniline with a purity of 99.78% are produced at the top stream of the second distillation column, while about 49,881 kg/h of hydrogen are obtained as a by-product in the phase separator. In this work a first-of-its-kind ChemCAD simulation model was obtained in this work, which can be utilized for further optimization studies and tasks involving the increment of aniline purity, yields and productivity.

The Effect of Technology Transfers on Productivity Increment in Japanese Overseas Manufacturing

Technological innovation and technology transfer play an important role in enhancing the productivity of MNEs, especially the Japanese overseas manufacturing subsidiaries. The purpose of this study is to examine the association between R&amp;D cost, technology purchase, and total factor productivity change and regression models with the survey data of Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry on Overseas Business Activities conducted over 2021-2023. Basic and Trend Surveys were combined to create a sample of 1,798 affiliates across 38 countries with variables such as R&amp;D spending, Technology Transfer payments, capital stock growth, and employment growth. The evidence presented suggests that both technology and R&amp;D payments enhance productivity improvement for the company, and the estimated returns on R&amp;D investments is 0.54 Yen (JPY) for every JPY spent and technology transfer payments 0.76 JPY. The regression results also show a synergistic relationship between technology and R&amp;D payments indicating that affiliates involved in both processes report higher levels of efficiency. In addition, the study also focuses on geographical specialization of technology transfer and R&amp;D in industries including chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and machinery, where major expenditure on R&amp;D is done across the globe and particularly in United States and in Europe.

Assessment of the azimuthal loads variation by a bi-rotor configuration

Multi wind turbine configurations are emerging in the offshore wind energy market. The modelling of the aerodynamics of these systems is challenging, due to the small lateral distance between rotors and the subsequent interaction between wakes. Previous analysis in the literature showed that, due to this interaction, multi wind turbine concepts present the advantage of an increment in power production, if the rotors are laterally aligned. However, the counterpart in the variation of the blade loads throughout the revolution, has yet to be analysed in depth. This study focuses on the differences observed in azimuthal cycles of blade aerodynamic loads in side-by-side bi-rotor configurations, as an initial analysis of their potential impact on fatigue loads. The analysis has been developed using two aerodynamic codes, with different levels of fidelity. These models are: a Free Vortex filament Method (FVM) combined with an unsteady Lifting Line (LL) model, and a URANS-blade resolved approach. The simulations show that the sectional blade loads are affected by the adjacent rotor, changing the shape of the aerodynamic load cycles along the azimuth. The load azimuthal distributions predicted by a FVM and a URANS models have been compared, showing agreement on the shape of the cycle with slight differences on maximum peak values, specially at the inner sections of the blade. The FVM model has predicted increments in the blade load cycles, with respect to a single rotor case, with a maximum amplitude of a 3% for out-of-plane forces, and a 8% for in-plane forces. The difference in the azimuthal position of both rotors (phase shift angle) mainly affects the azimuthal shape and not so much the characteristic amplitude of these cycles. Finally, including geometric angles as tilt or pre-cone, produces imbalances between the blade sectional forces of the different rotors.

Marginal profit maximization estimation of supply chains by waste energy decrement: a case study of the power industry

Economic growth and excessive fossil energy consumption have direct effects on environmental destruction and greenhouse gas increments. The existing appropriate pattern for economic performance increase as well as pollution emissions abatement is a basic issue in industry activities. In this paper, a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model is introduced for estimating the directional marginal profit maximization of supply chain divisions based on wasted energy and power losses. The purpose of this study is to estimate the directional marginal productivity in the supply chain, which enables us to find the optimal direction of efficient divisions on the frontier. This makes the allocation of resources create a marginal profit increase and the pollution emissions be abated simultaneously. Indeed, the proposed model considers the synergistic effects of each input on MP estimation in predetermined directions. The model is able to estimate the marginal profit maximization of desirable output and undesirable output decrease for each input simultaneously. The results suggested that the gas field division of one of the supply chains had fundamental capacities for energy production increments and flare gas decrements. Furthermore, the gas field division of this supply chain also had a considerable structure for the marginal profit maximization of outputs based on flare gas decreases. Additionally, the distribution lines of 0.80% supply chains provided wasted energy reduction by adding one extra unit to the line's capacity in the determined direction. Especially, there were supply chains that had investment opportunities for an acceptable abatement of power losses. This not only enables divisions to respond to fluctuations in demand as they produce more energy in critical situations like climate change but also decreases harmful emissions as wasted energy in supply chain divisions.

Agricultural carbon emission efficiency and agricultural practices: Implications for balancing carbon emissions reduction and agricultural productivity increment

The current Ukraine War underlines the importance of grain self-sufficiency. After the adoption of the Paris Agreement, two major challenges developing countries are facing in the coming decades are increasing agricultural production to ensure food security and reducing carbon emissions (CE). The key to such an “environment-development dilemma” is to improve agricultural carbon emission efficiency (CEE). Using China as the study site, we systematically analyze the impacts of agricultural management activities on agricultural CEE from 1997 to 2019. Global and local Moran's I index tests provide evidence of a positive spatial dependence of agricultural CEE. Using the LISA cluster map, we observe that high CEE regions tend to be distributed together, dominated by environmental conditions. However, with the promotion of agricultural management activities, such a clustering pattern vanished. Our spatial Durbin model (SDM) estimation results indicate that there are significant nonlinear relationships between agricultural practices and agricultural CEE. While the consumption of fertilizers and pesticides has economies of scale effects, the deployment of agricultural machinery and irrigation have diseconomies of scale effects on local CEE. Based on the SDM results, the direct and indirect effect estimation results suggest that the significant direct and spillover effects of many practices on agricultural CEE have opposite nonlinear shapes, implying a more complicated situation in promoting these activities, as the positive regional effect of an agricultural activity might have a negative impact on adjacent regions. All the results indicate that local policymakers should carefully tailor agricultural development policies based on local environmental conditions.

Effect of hydrothermal-acid pretreatment on methane yield and microbial community in anaerobic digestion of rice straw

Hydrothermal pretreatment has been proposed to enhance straw methane yield during anaerobic digestion recently. However, the combined effect of hydrothermal and organic acid pretreatment (HTOAP) needs further investigation. This study identified optimal pretreatment at 120 °C with 3 % acetic acid for 24 h by orthogonal design method. The HTOAP increased the reducing sugar content by destroying the lignocellulosic structure. A 79 % increment of methane production after HTOAP was observed compared to the untreated group. Microbial analysis showed that HTOAP enriched the relative abundance of lignocellulose-degraders, such as W5053, Thermanaerovibrio, Caldicoprobacter, as well as the syntrophic acetate oxidizing bacteria Syntrophaceticus. Moreover, Methanobacterium conducted hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis dominantly. Furthermore, the potential function analysis showed that HTOAP stimulated the expression of key enzymes in the hydrogenotrophic pathway, including carbon-monoxide dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.7.4) and coenzyme F420 hydrogenase (EC 1.12.98.1). This investigation illustrated the potential of HTOAP of rice straw to facilitate methane production.

Impact of Improved Rice Variety Adoption on Smallholder Farmers Rice Productivity and Gross Farm Income Enhancement in North Western Ethiopia

The research was assessed status of adopting improved rice technology as well as evaluate its impact on rice productivity and gross farm income in Ethiopia. The research showed the importance of adopting improved rice technologies using impact evaluating techniques such as propensity scoring matching (PSM). The research was used descriptive and econometric methods of data analysis to elaborate the respondents’ characteristics, farming practices, adoption status and to estimate its impact. The research used multistage sampling methods to select 180 smallholder rice producers. Amhara and Benshangul Gumuz region are the potential rice producers which targeted for this study. Zones, districts and kebles of these regions were selected random that can be represent the region as well as the rice producers in Ethiopia. The research revealed that 44.44% of the respondents were adopted improved rice technology and pawe_1 is the most frequently used by respondents. The econometric result revealed that treated groups were gained high rice output 3,019.70 quintal per hectare over the controlled groups 1,971.40 quintal per hectare as well as in terms of gross income treated groups were earned higher income which is 46,159.78 ETHB than the controlled groups which were earned 29,797.14 ETHB on average. This indicated that adopting improved rice technology was brought 34.72% and 35.45% of increment in rice productivity and gross income on smallholders’ rice producers respectively. Adopting of agricultural technologies are a means of improving the smallholder farmers crop production, productivities and income generated from that farm activities. Therefore, any governmental and non-governmental institution should be focused on the outreach of these agricultural technologies to end user over all part of the country.

Luminescence of Sm3+ in double perovskite-type Ba2SrWO6 for insect trapping.

The predominant method for pest control has been the use of pesticides, which have been shown to have detrimental effects on soil, freshwater, and crop quality. Therefore, the development of novel and sustainable crop protection strategies has become increasingly imperative. In this study, a novel orange-red emitting Ba2SrWO6: Sm3+ phosphor was synthesized using the high-temperature solid-state reaction. Under ultraviolet excitation, the phosphors showed obvious emission peaks at 575, 614, and 662 nm. The Ba2SrWO6: Sm3+ was used to fabricate a fluorescence film with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and attracted twice as many insects as the blank control group under 365 nm ultraviolet light. This material holds great potential as a fluorescent agent for insect trapping in the pest control fields of tea, cotton, eggplant, rice, potato, grape, and other agricultural industries. Our findings provide an eco-friendly approach to pest management for the increment of food production.

Soy Product Consumption and the Risk of Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies.

The association between soy product consumption and cancer risk varies among studies. Therefore, this comprehensive meta-analysis of observational studies examines the association between soy product consumption and total cancer risk. This study was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines. Up to October 2023, all eligible published studies were searched through PubMed and Web of Science databases. A total of 52 studies on soy product consumption were included in this meta-analysis (17 cohort studies and 35 case-control studies). High consumption of total soy products (RR: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.60, 0.80), tofu (RR: 0.78; 95% CI: 0.70, 0.86), and soymilk (RR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.60, 0.93) were associated with reduced total cancer risk. No association was found between high consumption of fermented soy products (RR: 1.18; 95% CI: 0.95, 1.47), non-fermented soy products (RR: 0.95; 95% CI: 0.77, 1.18), soy paste (RR: 1.00; 95% CI: 0.88, 1.14), miso soup (RR: 0.99; 95% CI: 0.87, 1.12), or natto (RR: 0.96; 95% CI: 0.82, 1.11) and cancer risk. A 54 g per day increment of total soy products reduced cancer risk by 11%, a 61 g per day increment of tofu reduced cancer risk by 12%, and a 23 g per day increment of soymilk reduced cancer risk by 28%, while none of the other soy products were associated with cancer risk. Our findings suggest that high total soy product consumption, especially soymilk and tofu, is associated with lower cancer risk. More prospective cohort studies are still needed to confirm the causal relationship between soy product consumption and cancer risk.

Tumor-Targeted Squaraine Dye for Near-Infrared Fluorescence-Guided Photodynamic Therapy.

Many efforts have been made to develop near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent dyes with high efficiency for the NIR laser-induced phototherapy of cancer. However, the low tumor targetability and high nonspecific tissue uptake of NIR dyes in vivo limit their applications in preclinical cancer imaging and therapy. Among the various NIR dyes, squaraine (SQ) dyes are widely used due to their high molar extinction coefficient, intense fluorescence, and excellent photostability. Previously, benzoindole-derived SQ (BSQ) was prepared by incorporating carboxypentyl benzoindolium end groups into a classical SQ backbone, followed by conjugating with cyclic RGD peptides for tumor-targeted imaging. In this study, we demonstrate that the structure-inherent tumor-targeting BSQ not only shows a high fluorescence quantum yield in serum but also exhibits superior reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation capability under the 671 nm laser irradiation for effective photodynamic therapy (PDT) in vitro and in vivo. Without targeting ligands, the BSQ was preferentially accumulated in tumor tissue 24 h post-injection, which was the optimal timing of the laser irradiation to induce increments of ROS production. Therefore, this work provides a promising strategy for the development of photodynamic therapeutic SQ dyes for targeted cancer therapy.

Technical Efficiency Evaluation of Maize Production in Ghana: An Application of Three-Stage Data Envelopment Analysis

Purpose: In Ghana, maize constitutes the primary source of revenue and food for small-scale farmers, and to attain maize self-sufficiency, appropriate production techniques must be employed, coupled with the scaling up of production efficiency to supplement our food output. The objectives of the study are to estimate the technical efficiency and analyze the trend in total factor productivity of maize production. Method: This study focuses on forty-eight (48) cities in six (6) selected regions of Ghana: Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Central, Eastern, and Volta. Secondary data on maize production was obtained from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture from the 2010/11 to 2020/21 cropping seasons. Environmental variables (amount of rainfall and temperature) were sourced from the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMA) from 2010/11 to 2020/21. Results and Conclusion: The results displayed a fairly high level of TE, and environmental factors significantly influence production efficiency. The study revealed that the TE of maize cultivation was 0.752 and 0.853 for the first and third stages, respectively. From the findings, the efficiency scores attained after the adjustments to the input in the third stage of the DEA model were greater than those in the first stage. Also, the results indicated the eastern region had the highest TE scores, showed an increment in productivity, and serves as the finest region for maize cultivation. Overall, the technical performance of maize cultivation had shown an upward trend in productivity, and the eastern region recorded the highest efficiency performance and technological progress. Implications of the Research: The research highlights the significance of the maize crop to the Ghanaian economy and how environmental factors impact farmers' production efficiency. It also emphasizes the benefits of resource use efficiency and its implied effects on the total factor productivity of maize cultivation. Policy suggestions include sustainable production practices primarily for farmers living in susceptible areas to enhance productivity and improve their food security status. Originality/Value: The gap discovered in the examined literature was that there exists a substantial deficiency in the usage of the three-stage DEA Malmquist model for analyzing technical efficiency and limited studies on the estimation of the total factor productivity (TFP) changes, specifically focusing on maize farming. This paper adds to the body of the existing literature by utilizing a three-stage DEA model to evaluate the TE of maize production. This is entirely limited both in theory for annual crops and methodologically in the Ghanaian literature on efficiency studies.