Poor Production Research Articles

Enabling low molecular weight electrospinning through binary solutions of polymer blends

The formation of nanofibrous membranes via electrospinning is typically restricted to high molecular weight polymers in an appropriate solvent, correlated with the necessary formation of polymer chain entanglements that are needed to achieve successful production of electrospun fibers. The present work extends the electrospinning of low molecular weight polymers by investigating the electrospinning of a binary solution system consisting of two different low molecular weight polymers, using as a model system polycaprolactone (PCL) and gelatin in different ratios. The viscosities of the polymer solutions were characterized as a proxy for polymer chain entanglement and the resulting fibers were morphologically characterized by SEM imaging and further assessed water contact angle and molecular composition to determine the impact and homogeneity of the binary mixtures. We found that unitary solutions of either PCL or gelatin failed to generate proper fibers despite indications of chain entanglement. In contrast, binary solutions of low molecular weight PCL and gelatin generated different fiber quality and size distributions, depending on the ratio used, with direct correlations between fiber properties and the PCL:Gelatin ratio. It was discovered that the ratio of PCL to gelation was most predictive for successful fiber generation, with effective electrospinning occurring only for a define intermediate range of high blend ratios while both low and high blended binary solutions resulted in poor fiber production. Our study confirmed that this behavior was independent from absolute polymer concentration, indicating a unique interaction between these binary species which exists only under specific ratio concentrations and indicates promising new avenues to process low molecular weight polymers solutions.

Vendor Selection in the Cosmetic Industry using Analytics Hierarchy Process (A Case Study of Saejiva Company)

The Indonesian fragrance industry, under the cosmetic industry, is growing, with an increasing income per capita in the perfume category, despite a dip in 2020. The global natural fragrance market, growing at an estimated 9% CAGR from 2023 to 2032, shows a strong preference for essential oil-based fragrances. Essential oils, derived from natural plant parts, are costly to produce due to large-scale machinery, skilled labor, and environmental factors. Companies often outsource these aspects to reduce costs and focus on core competencies like marketing and sales. Saejiva, a natural fragrance brand, currently faces challenges in vendor selection, experiencing issues with inefficiency, delays, and poor product quality from previous vendors, has the effect of reducing potential profits and necessitating a reevaluation of their vendor choices. This study uses the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to help Saejiva select a new vendor by prioritizing criteria that meet the company’s requirements and recommending the best vendor. Data was collected through literature reviews to identify relevant criteria, Focus Group Discussions (FGD) to find essential criteria for the company, and AHP questionnaires. Saejiva’s C-level executives acted as experts in the FGDs and AHP questionnaires to determine criteria priorities and vendor alternatives. The results showed the importance levels of criteria as follows: capability (0.3668), quality (0.1848), cost (0.1382), service (0.1068), capacity (0.0654), delivery (0.0606), warranty (0.0525), and performance history (0.0249). The importance levels of vendor alternatives were SKI (3.1994), AVF (2.7415), and SHB (2.0591). Thus, the best vendor recommended for Saejiva is SKI as the next vendor.

Robust optimization of cascaded MSMPR crystallization unit using unsupervised machine learning

AbstractThe use of mixed suspension mixed product removal (MSMPR) system in the pharmaceutical industry to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients is well known. In industrial settings, the MSMPR system is subject to lot of process uncertainty which, if ignored, might result in poor product quality. In this work, the process uncertainty involved in MSMPR is targeted during the process optimization stage to find robust optimal operating conditions. The temperature and the residence time inside each cascaded MSMPR unit, altogether six, are considered as uncertain parameters. A sampled set of uncertain data points for such six different uncertain parameters are clustered using a novel support vector clustering (SVC) based algorithm. The uniqueness of this algorithm lies in its ability to fine‐tune the hyper‐parameters of SVC while intelligently clustering the uncertain data points into optimal number of clusters. Such identified clusters are helpful to generate more samples from the intended regions rather than generating them randomly to avoid proposing conservative solutions. Both best‐case and worst‐case scenarios for robust oOptimization (RO) are considered with , and samples. As the model has to be evaluated for a large number of samples and the MSMPR models are time‐consuming to evaluate, a surrogate model of the MSMPR process is developed to perform optimization under uncertainty. Performance metrics are used to quantitatively establish the superiority of the SVC based RO over the box‐sampling based RO.

Economic Impact of Trypanosomosis on Camels (Camelus Dromedarius) in North-West, Nigeria

Desert encroachment accelerated by global warming threatens the lives and livelihood of scores of farming families. However, camels can withstand the harsh climatic conditions and provide draught power thereby supporting subsistence agriculture and other economic activities. This study aimed to investigate the economic-impact of camel Trypanosomiasis (Surra) in two communities in North-West, Nigeria using structured questionnaires. All the 99 respondents interviewed were males and over 30 years of age with majority of them having Islamic/Quaranic education. The economic impacts identified include death (42%), poor milk production (38%) and reduced draught power (38%). The mean prices of live camels differ between the two study areas; ₦301,928.57 vs. ₦128,100.00 and ₦184,377.55 vs.₦82,100.00 for healthy adults and young camels in Kano and Katsina states, respectively. About 38−54% loss in value of live camels estimated at ₦114,581.63−₦164,755.09 in Kano and ₦48,850−₦76,100.00 in Katsina was attributed to Surra. Similarly, Surra is believed to account for over 90% loss in milk production in camels, where an estimated daily loss of over ₦7,000.00 was recorded. Although the estimated impacts were based on the opinion of a few randomly selected respondents, the huge financial cost associated with Surra is alarming and deserves attention. It is evident that this disease threatens food security and impedes the achievement of sustainable development goals. These findings bring to fore the socioeconomic importance of Surra in the study area and call for the formulation of cost-effective control measures.

Temporal changes in soil physical properties following reclamation of underground natural gas pipeline rights-of-way on cropland

Underground oil and natural gas pipeline rights-of-way (ROWs) sometimes traverse croplands, leaving behind tracts of disturbed land characterized by poor productivity even after reclamation. This study investigated temporal post-reclamation changes in soil penetration resistance (PR), field saturated hydraulic conductivity (Kfs), near-saturated hydraulic conductivity (KΨ), soil pore indices, and wet aggregate stability (WAS) on natural gas pipeline ROWs on cropland. These attributes were measured in two fields in late summer of 2021 and 2022. Across the two fields, three ROWs that had been reclaimed four to thirteen years prior (i.e., time since reclamation (TSR) of 4 to 13 yr) were assessed along with adjacent undisturbed (off-ROW) transects located 50 m from the ROWs. Measurement locations on each ROW and on off-ROW were 25 m apart. Samples for WAS were collected from the 0–15 cm layer. The results showed a significant (p < 0.05) TSR by soil depth interaction for PR. Treatments were not significantly different in the 0- to 20-cm and 40- to 60-cm layers, but in the 20- to 40-cm depth interval, PR was 57.7–64.2 % greater on the 4.5-yr ROW than on off-ROW. Saturated hydraulic conductivity was three to four times lower on the 4.5- and 6.5-yr ROWs than on the off-ROW. Near-saturated hydraulic conductivity on the 4.5-yr ROW was 61.6 % lower than that on the off-ROW, while no significant differences were detected between the 6.5-yr and 12.5-yr ROWs and the off-ROW. Effective water conductive macroporosity was 72.5 % lower on the 4.5-yr ROW than on the off-ROW. All measured physical properties improved with increasing TSR. These results indicate a significant but slow recovery in soil physical attributes with increasing TSR of ROWs on cropland. This has implications on the productivity of these ROWs as crop yields, which depend on these soil physical properties, are also expected to recover slowly.

Salt stress amelioration and nutrient strengthening in spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) via biochar amendment and zinc fortification: seed priming versus foliar application

Soil salinity is a major nutritional challenge with poor agriculture production characterized by high sodium (Na+) ions in the soil. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) and biochar have received attention as a sustainable strategy to reduce biotic and abiotic stress. However, there is a lack of information regarding the incorporation of ZnO NPs with biochar to ameliorate the salinity stress (0, 50,100 mM). Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the potentials of ZnO NPs application (priming and foliar) alone and with a combination of biochar on the growth and nutrient availability of spinach plants under salinity stress. Results demonstrated that salinity stress at a higher rate (100 mM) showed maximum growth retardation by inducing oxidative stress, resulted in reduced photosynthetic rate and nutrient availability. ZnO NPs (priming and foliar) alone enhanced growth, chlorophyll contents and gas exchange parameters by improving the antioxidant enzymes activity of spinach under salinity stress. While, a significant and more pronounced effect was observed at combined treatments of ZnO NPs with biochar amendment. More importantly, ZnO NPs foliar application with biochar significantly reduced the Na+ contents in root 57.69%, and leaves 61.27% of spinach as compared to the respective control. Furthermore, higher nutrient contents were also found at the combined treatment of ZnO NPs foliar application with biochar. Overall, ZnO NPs combined application with biochar proved to be an efficient and sustainable strategy to alleviate salinity stress and improve crop nutritional quality under salinity stress. We inferred that ZnO NPs foliar application with a combination of biochar is more effectual in improving crop nutritional status and salinity mitigation than priming treatments with a combination of biochar.

Recent trends in firm‐level total factor productivity in the UK: new measures, new puzzles

AbstractUnderstanding the poor productivity performance of the UK economy since the financial crisis is complicated by the well‐known challenges in estimating total factor productivity (TFP) using only revenue data. We develop a structural framework to infer quality‐adjusted TFP from an estimated firm‐level revenue function. We use microdata for two sectors previously identified as being significant contributors to the UK's productivity growth slowdown—manufacturing and ICT—from 2008 to 2019. The revenue function is estimated using the Blundell–Bond System GMM estimator. We also use an alternative cost‐shares approach to identifying and measuring TFP. For both methods, we find an overall fall in TFP levels in manufacturing and a rise in ICT. We find a striking decline of between 13% and 18% in the level of within‐firm manufacturing TFP, and of between 11% and 16% in ICT, although with reallocation effects differing between the two sectors. The finding of declining within‐firm TFP is robust, although the magnitude varies between methods. We discuss a possible explanation for this extended UK productivity puzzle based on the relative underperformance of UK firms in international markets.

Leveraging Machine Learning and Long-Short Term Memory Algorithm for Early Prediction of Diabetes

Diabetes, a chronic condition, affects numerous populations. Poor insulin production from the pancreas combined with high blood sugar levels can result in the onset of diabetes. Diabetes can be caused by numerous factors. Observe and prevent these factors to reduce the high prevalence of diabetes. This study concentrates on medical record data for determining diabetes risk factors via statistical correlation analysis. These factors will be utilized as machine learning and LSTM input parameters for diabetes prediction. The factors analyzed include blood glucose levels, HbA1c levels, age, BMI, hypertension, heart disease, smoking habits, and gender. Based on the research results, we found that glucose levels (&gt;137 mg/dL) and HbA1c levels (&gt;6.5%) are the main benchmarks in diagnosing diabetes. It is also supported by the correlation value, which is relatively high (0.42 and 0.40, respectively) compared to other factors. Increasing age and BMI also increase the risk of developing diabetes. Comorbidities (such as hypertension or heart disease) and smoking habits can worsen the condition of people with diabetes. Meanwhile (based on gender), women are more at risk of developing diabetes than men because their body mass index increases during the monthly cycle. Apart from that, there is a tendency for blood sugar levels in women to increase in the last two weeks before menstruation. Based on the prediction results, the highest levels of accuracy, sensitivity, and F1 score were obtained (96.97%, 99.97%, and 98.37%) using the LSTM method. This performance shows that LSTM is relatively good for the diabetes prediction process based on existing factors/parameters.

Evaluation of the Immune Response of Patulin by Proteomics.

Patulin, an emerging mycotoxin with high toxicity, poses great risks to public health. Considering the poor antibody production in patulin immunization, this study focuses on the four-dimensional data-independent acquisition (4D-DIA) quantitative proteomics to reveal the immune response of patulin in rabbits. The rabbit immunization was performed with the complete developed antigens of patulin, followed by the identification of the immune serum. A total of 554 differential proteins, including 292 up-regulated proteins and 262 down-regulated proteins, were screened; the differential proteins were annotated; and functional enrichment analysis was performed. The differential proteins were associated with the pathways of metabolism, gene information processing, environmental information processing, cellular processes, and organismal systems. The functional enrichment analysis indicated that the immunization procedures mostly resulted in the regulation of biochemical metabolic and signal transduction pathways, including the biosynthesis of amino acid (glycine, serine, and threonine), ascorbate, and aldarate metabolism; fatty acid degradation; and antigen processing and presentation. The 14 key proteins with high connectivity included G1U9T1, B6V9S9, G1SCN8, G1TMS5, G1U9U0, A0A0G2JH20, G1SR03, A0A5F9DAT4, G1SSA2, G1SZ14, G1T670, P30947, P29694, and A0A5F9C804, which were obtained by the analysis of protein-protein interaction networks. This study could provide potential directions for protein interaction and antibody production for food hazards in animal immunization.

Burden and determinants of anemia among lactating women in Ethiopia: evidence from demographic health survey

Globally one-third of global population are victims of anemia, significantly impacting maternal and infant health and linked to poor cognition, productivity, and mortality risks. We used randomly selected 4040 lactating mothers’ record from nationally representative survey. Descriptive statistics were weighted, and the standard hemoglobin cutoff point (below 12 g/dl) was used. Bivariable and multivariable multilevel binary logistic regression model considering the individual and community-level factors associated with anemia was employed. Crude and adjusted odds ratios with a 95% confidence interval were reported. In Ethiopia, 32.3% (95% CI 30.9–33.7%) of lactating women were anemic, with 23.4% having mild, 7.3% moderate, and 1.2% severe anemia. Pastoral regions (Afar, Somalia, and Oromia region) had higher burden of anemia than the others. The advanced age of the mother above 45 years (AOR = 1.43 (1.11–1.82), unemployment (AOR = 1.19; 95% CI 1.08–1.32), household wealth index (AOR = 0.56; 95% CI 0.50–0.63), extended family size (AOR = 1.20; 95% CI 1.04–1.46), and not using family planning (AOR = 1.70; 95% CI 1.49–1.93) were significant factors associated with anemia. Anemia is a moderate public health problem and associated with location and other factors to be addressed via effective interventions.

Enhancement of root abscisic acid mediated osmotic regulation by macroalgal compounds promotes adaptability of rice (Oryza sativa L.) in response to progressive metal ion mediated environmental stress

Soil deterioration is a major cause of poor agricultural productivity, necessitating sufficient nutrient inputs like fertilizers and amendments for sustainable use. As one such strategy, the current study evaluates the potential of Sargassum wightii, a brown seaweed extract, as an osmopriming agent to improve seed germination, early establishment, and competent seedling performances in acidic soil. The elemental makeup of seaweed extract (BS) showed that it included major plant macro (Potassium, Nitrogen and Phosphorous), as well as micronutrients (Magnesium and Iron) and trace elements (Zinc, Copper, and Molybdenum). While seed germination was impacted by H+ ion toxicity, seeds primed with BS emerged earlier and showed a higher germination percentage (98.2%) and energy (92.4%). BS treatments enhanced seedling growth by 63% and had a positive effect on root growth (68.2%) as well as increases in root surface area (10%) and volume (67.01%). Stressed seedlings had 76.39% and 63.2% less carotenoid and chlorophyll, respectively. In seedlings treated with BS, an increase in protein and Total Soluble Sugars content of 14.56 and 7.19%, respectively, was seen. Fourier Transform-Infra Red analysis of postharvest soil indicated improved soil health with absorbance corresponding to enhanced soil water holding capacity and organic matter. Increased abscisic acid synthesis rate and associated antioxidant enzyme system (Malondialdehyde, Glutathione peroxidases and ascorbate peroxidase) activation, along with enhanced H+ adenosine triphosphate-ase and glutathione activities, help ameliorate and deport H+ ions from cells, scavenge Reactive Oxygen Species, thus protecting cells from injury. Seaweed extract successfully reduced H+-induced ion toxicities in rice by promoting their germination, physiological, metabolically, and growth parameters that could ultimately increase their productivity and yield in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner.

In-depth analysis of critical factors affecting Iraqi construction projects performance

Abstract Construction projects in Iraq suffer from many complex problems. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify the most critical factors affecting the performance of Iraqi construction projects, delving into their identification, analysis, and understanding. A comprehensive list of 32 influential factors was compiled through site surveys, interviews with engineers and experts, and a review of previous research. These factors were categorized into eight groups: planning and management, design and engineering, procurement and supply chain, workforce and labor, technology and innovation, environmental and regulatory aspects, site conditions and infrastructure, and external factors. One hundred and ten questionnaires were distributed to project stakeholders, including owners, consultants, and contractors. The results found that the five most important factors affecting performance ranked using the relative importance Index are poor planning, failure to allocate resources properly, unavailability of skilled labor, poor labor productivity, and volatile economic conditions. Based on these results, for solutions to be effective, they must be adapted to the local environment. Project participants must be interested in planning as it is essential to address the same. The skills of project workers must be developed through training programs. Communication with project stakeholders must be coordinated to contribute to the decision-making process.

Purification and characterization of recombinant human superoxide dismutase integrated with resilin-like polypeptide

Human superoxide dismutase (hSOD1) plays an important role in the aerobic metabolism and free radical eliminating process in the body. However, the production of existing SOD faces problems such as complex purification methods, high costs, and poor product stability. This experiment achieved low-cost, rapid, and simple purification of hSOD1 through ammonium sulfate precipitation method and heat resistance of recombinant protein. We constructed a recombinant protein hSOD1-LR containing a resilin-like polypeptide tag and expressed it. The interest protein was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation method, and the results showed that the purification effect of 1.5 M (NH4)2SO4 was the best, with an enzyme activity recovery rate of 80 % after purification. Then, based on its thermal stability, further purification of the interest protein at 60 °C revealed a purification fold of up to 24 folds, and the purification effect was similar to that of hSOD1-6xHis purified by nickel column affinity chromatography. The stability of hSOD1-LR showed that the recombinant protein hSOD1-LR has better stability than hSOD-6xHis. hSOD1-LR can maintain 76.57 % activity even after 150 min of reaction at 70 °C. At same time, hSOD1-LR had activity close to 80 % at pH < 5, indicating good acid resistance. In addition, after 28 days of storage at 4 °C and 40 °C, hSOD1-LR retained 92 % and 87 % activity, respectively. Therefore, the method of purifying hSOD1-LR through salt precipitation may have positive implications for the study of SOD purification.

Effects of Environmentally Friendly Materials on Saline Soil Improvement and Sunflower Yields in the Hetao Irrigation Region, China

The Hetao irrigation region is located in Inner Mongolia, China, within a dry and semi-dry region. This region suffers from poor agricultural productivity and environmental damage due to the presence of saline soil. To explore the growth of salty lands using a more environmentally friendly method, this research employed three eco-conscious amendments to improve the soil. These include flue gas desulfurization gypsum (S), humic acid (H), and biochar (C). During a two-year study, the amendments were utilized to enhance the soil quality for planting sunflowers. Humic acid was used prior to every seedling season, whereas the remaining two substances were only used once. These additions increased the soil’s water-holding capacity, reduced soil salinity during sunflower growth, and improved the macroaggregate proportion. The most effective treatment for decreasing the soil’s salt content after the seedling stage was the application of humic acid (0.6 t ha−1). Biochar (15 t ha−1) decreased the soil’s bulk density (from 1.49 to 1.34 g cm−3) and mostly increased the sunflower seed yield up to 3133−3964 kg ha−1. Humic acid addition significantly increased the aggregate (&gt;0.25 mm) content up to 27.88% after the experiment, but it led to a lower seed yield (2607−3686 kg ha−1). In 2019, the temperature was lower compared to 2018, which may have led to a reduction in the yield. However, these three amendments could potentially increase yields by more than conventional methods. These three environmentally friendly amendments are useful for improving saline soil and increasing yields. More studies are required to understand their impacts on larger areas and over extended periods.

Peasant Displacement and Food Sustainability: The Colombian Case

Social migration affects the development of rural territories in multiple ways, as it poses a threat to food security and hinders the achievement of sustainable development objectives. The purpose of this research is to represent peasant migration and measure its impact on food security, since it creates conditions that alter people’s access to healthy food. Our research question is: What variables can be used to measure the impact of peasant migration on food security? A three-stage model is implemented, which includes (i) the acquisition of knowledge, (ii) the representation of knowledge, and (iii) decision-making. These stages are the basis of the methodology developed by the ARCOSES research group (Méndez A. System Dynamics and Social Problems. Bogotá: Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, 2012). The model developed to represent peasant migration and its impact on food security has five components. The model representation was applied in 58 typical rural municipalities, observing a potential loss of 30,580,000 tons of food, which amounts to 5% of the national production. Likewise, it was observed that 70% of migrating farmers are part of the economically active population. Colombian governorships should strive towards a greater and more comprehensive development of rural municipalities in order to avoid massive displacement to urban regions, which affects the availability of rural labor, causes poor agricultural production levels and compromises food sustainability. To ensure peasants’ full access to food and their well-being, an assertive intervention should be carried out by the Colombian State.

Supplementing Monosodium Glutamate in Sow Diets Enhances Reproductive Performance in Lactating Sows and Improves the Growth of Suckling Piglets.

In most current farm operations, lactating sows need to overcome reproductive and environmental stresses that have resulted in poor sow production performance and piglet growth. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of in-feed supplementation of monosodium glutamate (MSG) in sows during late gestation lactation in regard to litter performance. The study subjects were 12 multi-parity sows (Landrace × Large White), farrowing sows with an average parity of four (three with three parities, seven with four parities, and two with five parities). They were randomly divided into the following two diet groups: the basal diet as a control (CON) group based on corn and soybean meal; and the basal diet + 2% MSG group. The experimental time ranged from 109 days before delivery to 21 days after delivery. There were six sows in each group, and each sow served as the experimental unit. There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in body weight (BW), back fat (BF) thickness and estrus interval between sows supplemented with 2% MSG in their diets before and after farrowing and during weaning (p > 0.05). However, MSG-treated sows tended to increase BW loss at farrowing more than the CON group (p = 0.093) but lost less weight during lactation than the CON group (p = 0.019). There were no significant differences in the body condition scores (BCSs) and BF loss of the two groups of sows before and after farrowing and at weaning (p > 0.05). There was no significant difference in the weight of newborn piglets between the two groups of sows (p > 0.05). The weaning weight (p = 0.020) and average daily gain (ADG) (p = 0.045) of suckling piglets were higher in the MSG treated group compared to the CON group. The daily milk production of sows in the MSG treatment group was higher compared to the CON group (p = 0.045). The protein concentration of milk at week 3 (p = 0.060) and fat concentration of milk at week 5 (p = 0.095) of the MSG-supplemented sows tended to increase more than the CON group. In summary, the dietary inclusion of MSG supplementation had a beneficial effect on the late gestating sows and their piglet's growth and milk production. Our research has shown that the addition of 2% MSG in late gestation and lactation diet would be beneficial for both sow and piglet production.

A review of the hybridisation potential of brown trout with particular reference to invaded environments, and a case study from Newfoundland

AbstractHybridisation is a complex process that begins with mating. Females have more to lose with each hybrid fertilisation than males, so they should avoid it. Even if females choose con‐specific males as preferred mates, they often cannot control which additional males release sperm during spawning. Polyandry is ubiquitous and may result in hetero‐specific sperm competition between males of different species. In such cases, cryptic female choice (the ability to bias paternity towards certain males under sperm competition) is the last line of defence to prevent hybridisation of her eggs and is highly adaptive if it enables con‐specific sperm preference. Such seems to be the case with the hybridisation of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and brown trout (S. trutta) in their native Europe. Under hetero‐specific sperm competition, hybrid fertilisations in these fish are reported to be reduced via ovarian fluid‐mediated cryptic female choice. It is not known, however, whether the strength of this mechanism is dependent on reinforcement and thus, the historical sympatry/allopatry of hybridising populations. Brown trout are one of the world's worst invasive species. Ecological impacts arise through competition with other species (e.g. Galaxids in the southern hemisphere, Oncorhynchus in western North America). Eastern North America contains native salmonids that evolved in the absence of brown trout but have gametes that are compatible. The 140 ‐year‐old brown trout invasion of Newfoundland is ground zero to study these potential interactions. Their relatively low spread rate across the island may be the result of inherent poor productivity, but data suggest it could also be a function of hybridisation with native Atlantic salmon and brook char (Salvelinus fontinalis).

Economic efficiency of small-scale wheat production in Jigawa state, Nigeria

Africa’s most populous country has failed to grow more food for its fast-rising population. With 420,000 metric tons of wheat produced in Nigeria in 2020, the country is still far from bridging its 4.6 million metric tons annual wheat gap. Increasing wheat production is a challenge for the nation to fulfill the food requirements of its growing population. So far literature has shown a rise in research on wheat in different parts of Nigeria, with a paucity of information on the economic efficiency of wheat production in the study area, and the country in general. To bridge these knowledge and empirical gaps, this research investigates the economic efficiency of wheat production in Jigawa State of Nigeria using information gathered from a survey elicited by a well-structured questionnaire coupled with an interview schedule from 341 active wheat farmers selected through a multi-stage sampling technique. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data collected. Empirically, despite the wheat enterprise being profitable in the study area, farmers didn’t achieve the targeted goals of output maximization, cost minimization, and profit maximization as evident respectively by the technical, cost, and economic efficiency indexes. However, these goals were challenged by induced human risks viz. gender discrimination that affects women’s access to productive resources, poor labor productivity due to diminishing marginal returns associated with old age, capital consumption triggered by increased income, poor prioritization of wheat enterprise as a business, and vulnerable household size. Furthermore, the identified constraints mediating the links that affected the economic efficiency of wheat farmers were price/marketing, technological, managerial, and infrastructural risks. Therefore, for long-run sustainable wheat production, the responsibility lies on policymakers to concentrate more on marketing and technological risks challenging wheat production in the study area as empirically established by this research.

Can site-specific nutrient management improve the productivity and resource use efficiency of climate-resilient finger millet in calcareous soils in India?

Finger millet, an important ‘Nutri-Cereal’ and climate-resilient crop, is cultivated as a marginal crop in calcareous soils. Calcareous soils have low organic carbon content, high pH levels, and poor structure. Such a situation leads to poor productivity of the crop. Site-specific nutrient management (SSNM), which focuses on supplying optimum nutrients when a crop is needed, can ensure optimum production and improve the nutrient and energy use efficiency of crops. Moreover, developing an appropriate SSNM technique for this crop could offer new insights into nutrient management practices, particularly for calcareous soils. A field experiment was conducted during the rainy seasons of 2020 and 2021 in calcareous soil at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, India. The experiment consisted of 8 treatments, viz. control, nitrogen (N)/phosphorus (P)/potassium (K)-omission, 75 %, 100 %, and 125 % recommended fertilizer dose (RFD), and 100 % recommended P and K + 30 kg ha−1 N as basal + rest N as per GreenSeeker readings. From this study, it was observed that the GreenSeeker-based SSNM resulted in the maximum grain yield (2873 kg ha−1), net output energy (96.3 GJ ha−1), and agronomic efficiency of N (30.6 kg kg−1), P (68.9 kg kg−1), and K (68.9 kg kg−1). The application of 125 % RFD resulted in ∼7 % lower yield than that under GreenSeeker-based nutrient management. Approximately 12 % greater energy use efficiency and 21–36 % greater nutrient use efficiency were recorded under GreenSeeker-based nutrient management than under 125 % RDF. The indigenous supplies of N, P, and K were found to be 14.31, 3.00, and 18.51 kg ha−1, respectively. Thus, 100 % of the recommended P and K + 30 kg ha−1 N as basal + rest N according to GreenSeeker readings can improve the yield, nutrient use efficiency, and energy balance of finger millet in calcareous soils.

Quality Risk Assessment of Prefabricated Steel Structural Components during Production Using Fuzzy Bayesian Networks

This study aims to address quality issues in the production of prefabricated steel structural components for buildings by investigating challenges in quality risk assessment. It identifies key factors contributing to quality problems and establishes an evaluation index system. Traditional methods encounter limitations in handling uncertainty and conducting quantitative analysis. Therefore, the fuzzy Bayesian network (FBN) theory is utilized to perform a probabilistic analysis of quality risks during the production phase. This research achieves a more accurate and dynamic risk assessment by integrating the strengths of fuzzy logic and Bayesian networks (BNs) and by utilizing expert knowledge, the similarity aggregation method (SAM), and the noisy-OR gate model. The study reveals that factors such as the “low professional level of designers”, “poor production refinement”, and “poor storage conditions for finished products” have a significant impact on quality risks. This study offers a scientific risk assessment tool designed to address the quality control challenges commonly experienced in the manufacturing of steel structural components. Identifying the critical risk factors that influence quality empowers actual production enterprises to develop risk management strategies and improvement measures in a more focused manner, thereby facilitating more effective resource allocation and risk prevention and control. Consequently, this approach has a significant impact on enhancing the overall production level and quality within the industry.