Firms that clearly understand their mandate are more easily able to understand their customers and hence are in a better position to create products that correctly fit in with the market needs and withstand competition. Most firms in the same industry operate under similar environments, however, the ability of a firm to understand its surroundings and take up the opportunities around it and at the same time minimize its threats within certain acceptable time limits, brings out to a large extent the difference between performance of one firm and the other in a similar industry. This study was anchored on the competitive theory as advanced by Michael Porter. A descriptive approach was used by explaining the data and characteristics of the population being studied. The study targeted a total of 64 respondents. This study did not sample the tier two commercial banks because they are few and hence a census was adopted. A pilot test on 8 employees was consequently carried out before this study. The respondents agreed that tier two banks strive to be competitive in the market and employees are encouraged to implement new ideas. The study concluded that absorptive capability has a significant contribution to performance of tier two banks. The study also recommended that banks should enhance customer retention to build their customer base.

Abstract Basaltic hydrovolcanic environments on Earth produce abundant glass (sideromelane), which readily alters and acts as an important source of chemical energy for lithotrophic microorganisms; as such, these sites are significant for potential origins-of-life and early life research. Similar environments were identified on Mars and should be considered potential targets for astrobiological investigation. Pleistocene to recent phreatomagmatic and glaciovolcanic structures on Earth include tuff cones, tuff rings, maars, tuyas, and tindars. Such hydrovolcanic deposits contain abundant glass that is variably hydrothermally altered, and some areas contain published evidence of putative microbial habitation and microbially mediated alteration, including microtubules and granular alteration. We analyzed the literature on terrestrial hydrovolcanic environments and created a global database of 45 volcanic fields on Earth with compositions, alteration histories, and structures relevant to Mars. These sites have geochemistry, mineralogy, and syn- and post-eruptive environmental conditions that make them suitable targets for Mars-analogue astrobiological research. Relevant alteration products include palagonite, zeolites, clays, and calcite. Seven of these sites have evidence of microbially mediated alteration, which could be considered a useful biosignature in a Mars-analogue context. The sites are Wells Gray–Clearwater Volcanic Field, Canada; Fort Rock Volcanic Field, Western Snake River Plain Volcanic Field, and Upsal Hogback, USA; Reykjanes Volcanic Field and Western Volcanic Zone, Iceland; and Carapace Nunatak, Antarctica. Based on the properties of these already confirmed sites, along with comparing the remaining 38 Earth volcanic fields to volcanic rocks on Mars, we recommend 11 volcanic fields in particular from our database for future investigations: Auckland and South Auckland volcanic fields, New Zealand; O’ahu, Black Rock Desert, and Black Point, USA; Tuya Volcanic Field, Canada; Karapınar Volcanic Field, Türkiye; Vestmannaeyjar Archipelago, Iceland; Llancanelo Volcanic Field, Argentina; São Miguel Volcanic Field, Azores; and Icefall Nunatak, Antarctica. We recommend reviewing palagonitized tuff samples from these sites for evidence of microbial alteration, in addition to performing geochemical and mineralogical analyses to constrain their magmatic and alteration properties. By studying the rock record of hydrovolcanic environments on Earth to infer habitability and biological alteration, we contribute to establishing the conditions favorable for the origination, survival, and proliferation of life in a Mars-relevant setting.

The objective was to evaluate the effects of different types of management of a Latossolo Vermelho distrófico (Oxisol) on edaphic properties, as well as identifying physical, chemical and biological indicators with greater weighting for soil quality discrimination among the managed environments. The design used was completely randomized: Native Cerrado (NC); No-tillage (NT); Forestry (F); Pasture (P); and Agroforestry (AF), in which 3 soil samples were collected, in the layer from 0 to 20 cm. Chemical, physical and biological, variables were determined and analyzed with the aid of the GENES application, subjecting them to analysis of variance and discrimination by Tukey test (p<0.05). After that, the multivariate technique of principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to identify the indicators and group similar environments. That physical and biological attributes form quality indicators with greater contributions in the differentiation of environments.

Mental health is a neglected field in many low and middle-income countries, such as Kenya, where information on the prevalence of mental health conditions is scarce. This problem is aggravated by an uneven distribution of mental health service providers and widespread ignorance and stigma around mental illness in the general population. The study in Meru County, Kenya, aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of healthcare workers and community members regarding mental health. The study, a descriptive cross-sectional survey, involved 535 community members and 109 healthcare workers, employing both qualitative and quantitative methods. Data was collected through household surveys, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions and analysed using univariate frequencies, descriptive statistics, and thematic analysis. The study revealed that 39% of community members had a family member with a mental health condition, while 68% of HCWs had been diagnosed with such conditions. Mental illness was often attributed to supernatural causes, genetics, substance abuse, and socio-economic pressures. A significant gap was found in the availability of counselling services in health facilities, with only 29.4% of HCWs reporting their presence. The perception of the affordability and accessibility of mental health services varied greatly between HCWs and community members. Additionally, while HCWs reported the availability of free medication, community members experienced shortages. The study also noted differing attitudes towards patients with mental illness in terms of respect and dignity and highlighted the use of traditional healers and religious leaders for mental health issues. This study contributes valuable insights into the state of mental health in Kenya, highlighting the high burden of mental illness, limited availability of services, and prevalent myths and misconceptions. It underscores the need for improved healthcare worker training, public awareness, and stronger health systems to address mental health issues effectively in Kenya and similar rural environments

All known life on Earth inhabits environments that maintain conditions between certain extremes of temperature, chemical composition, energy availability, and so on (Chapter 6). Life may have emerged in similar environments elsewhere in the Solar System and beyond. The ongoing search for life elsewhere mainly focuses on those environments most likely to support life, now or in the past-that is, potentially habitable environments. Discussion of habitability is necessarily based on what we know about life on Earth, as it is our only example. This chapter gives an overview of the known and presumed requirements for life on Earth and discusses how these requirements can be used to assess the potential habitability of planetary bodies across the Solar System and beyond. We first consider the chemical requirements of life and potential feedback effects that the presence of life can have on habitable conditions, and then the planetary, stellar, and temporal requirements for habitability. We then review the state of knowledge on the potential habitability of bodies across the Solar System and exoplanets, with a particular focus on Mars, Venus, Europa, and Enceladus. While reviewing the case for the potential habitability of each body, we summarize the most prominent and impactful studies that have informed the perspective on where habitable environments are likely to be found.

Understanding the genetic basis for adapting to thermal environments is important due to serious effects of global warming on ectothermic species. Various genes associated with thermal adaptation in lizards have been identified mainly focusing on changes in gene expression or the detection of positively selected genes using coding regions. Only a few comprehensive genome-wide analyses have included noncoding regions. This study aimed to identify evolutionarily conserved and accelerated genomic regions using whole genomes of eight Anolis lizard species that have repeatedly adapted to similar thermal environments in multiple lineages. Evolutionarily conserved genomic regions were extracted as regions with overall sequence conservation (regions with fewer base substitutions) across all lineages compared with the neutral model. Genomic regions that underwent accelerated evolution in the lineage of interest were identified as those with more base substitutions in the target branch than in the entire background branch. Conserved elements across all branches were relatively abundant in "intergenic" genomic regions among noncoding regions. Accelerated regions (ARs) of each lineage contained a significantly greater proportion of noncoding RNA genes than the entire multiple alignment. Common genes containing ARs within 5 kb of their vicinity in lineages with similar thermal habitats were identified. Many genes associated with circadian rhythms and behavior were found in hot-open and cool-shaded habitat lineages. These genes might play a role in contributing to thermal adaptation and assist future studies examining the function of genes involved in thermal adaptation via genome editing.

The assessment of the effect of the informal use of a foreign currency on the corresponding FX rates toward the national currency is a very difficult task, requiring direct calculation and modeling. It comes mostly because of the unknown quantity of foreign money used in the informal sector, but also because of the lack of quantitative calculation models. To overcome this gap and to realize a qualitative description of this effect in a concrete economic environment, we propose herein a comparative analysis between the behavior of two typical FX rate series recorded in the Albanian currency market, the Euro-ALL and USD-ALL, providing that the Euro is used commonly as a national currency substitute in the informal economy and the USD is not. So, we have evidenced that the un-stationarity degree of the Bid and Ask spread distribution for the Euro-ALL FX series is higher than for the corresponding USD-ALL case, but with a lower variance. Those features occurring simultaneously can be explained by assuming that informal use of the Euro acts as an additional perturbation on the FX system, imposing high nonstationary, but at the same time it provides reservoir or source features for the money disbalances, reducing the average fluctuations. Next, the depth of the market measured by the average Bid-Ask Spread has resulted in a smaller price for the Euro currency, indicating a lower cost of the transactions and reinforcing the assumption regarding the distribution’s in-stationarity features. Based on those indicatory findings, we propose to realize indirect evidence for our assumptions by comparing the reproduction of the corresponding distribution using autoregressive models. In this case, we have evidenced that the distribution of the FX Euro-ALL spread can be reproduced better if we include in standard ARCHX (m, n, p) models a term that mimics the informality measure. When applying the same procedure for the USD-ALL spread, the resulting distribution has not matched equally well with the original ones. Those findings have been discussed in the framework of an alternative description of the effect of the informal use of foreign currency in a small economy with a sizeable informal sector, which convene our current system under analysis, but we believe that they can be applicable for similar economic environments. Doi: 10.28991/HEF-2024-05-01-02 Full Text: PDF

Currently, most mobile devices have WIFI and camera modules to locate their position. However, there are two main challenges in large, highly similar indoor environments (localization accuracy and localization time). Aiming to balance these problems, we propose a sequential-multi-decision integrated system that combines WIFI and vision to acquire users' locations. This system has two phases: sequential fusion localization and adaptive multi-decision fusion localization. The former employs WIFI-based localization first, then image-based localization and fusion localization are used within the constraints of WIFI-based localization. In the WIFI-based localization phase, the gaussian process regression (GPR) model is used to construct a WIFI indoor map. Subsequently, we propose to apply the hybrid whale optimization algorithm (HWOA) to WIFI-based localization to improve its accuracy and stability. The latter uses an adaptive multi-decision fusion mechanism that integrates WIFI-based localization, image-based localization, and fusion localization to obtain the users' location finally. The experiments show the effectiveness of HWOA applied to WIFI-based localization. We also experimentally evaluate the proposed fusion algorithm with other state-of-the-art fusion algorithms (e.g., accuracy and time) in a real environment (an area larger than 10,000 <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$m^{2}$</tex-math></inline-formula> ). The experimental results show that the proposed fusion system is competitive.

Exploring the relationship between environment and brain morphology in anurans: a comparative phylogenetic approach

Flood susceptibility mapping plays a crucial role in flood risk assessment and management. Accurate identification of areas prone to flooding is essential for implementing effective mitigation measures and informing decision-making processes. In this regard, the present study used high-resolution remote sensing products, i.e., synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images for flood inventory preparation and integrated four machine learning models (Random Forest: RF, Classification and Regression Trees: CART, Support Vector Machine: SVM, and Extreme Gradient Boosting: XGBoost) to predict flood susceptibility in Metlili watershed, Morocco. Initially, 12 independent variables (elevation, slope angle, aspect, plan curvature, topographic wetness index, stream power index, distance from streams, distance from roads, lithology, rainfall, land use/land cover, and normalized vegetation index) were used as conditioning factors. The flood inventory dataset was divided into 70% and 30% for training and validation purposes using a popular library, scikit-learn (i.e., train_test_split) in Python programming language. Additionally, the area under the curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the performance of the models. The accuracy assessment results showed that RF, CART, SVM, and XGBoost models predicted flood susceptibility with AUC values of 0.807, 0.780, 0.756, and 0.727, respectively. However, the RF model performed better at flood susceptibility prediction compared to the other models applied. As per this model, 22.49%, 16.02%, 12.67%, 18.10%, and 31.70% areas of the watershed are estimated as being very low, low, moderate, high, and very highly susceptible to flooding, respectively. Therefore, this study showed that the integration of machine learning models with radar data could have promising results in predicting flood susceptibility in the study area and other similar environments.

Purpose: Korea enacted the world’s first hydrogen law and has made great efforts to become the world’s No. 1 hydrogen economy through its steadfast policy of promoting the hydrogen economy until the 5th NDC in 2022. In particular, the role of hydrogen is being emphasized more than ever in the 2030 NDC and the 10th Long-Term Electricity Supply Plan, making it urgent to proactively invest and establish policies.&#x0D; Research design, data, and methodology: This study compares and analyses the current status of hydrogen-related policies and technologies in Korea and Japan, and aims to build on Japan’s successes and learn from its failures in developing the hydrogen industry based on Korea’s unique characteristics.&#x0D; Results: This report compares the current status of hydrogen policy and technology in Korea and Japan, draws implications, and analyzes what Korea can learn from Japan. Specifically, we emphasized the importance of the government providing guidelines for hydrogen prices, continuing to invest in basic R&amp;D, and collaborating with companies that can leverage their overseas networks, such as corporations. In order to achieve the global goal of carbon neutrality, it is preferable for the two countries to cooperate and create synergies rather than compete.&#x0D; Implications: It emphasizes the importance for Korea to learn from benchmarking with Japan in the field of hydrogen energy, improve its competitiveness, and explore opportunities for cooperation between the two countries. Japan is a global leader in hydrogen energy, providing technology development and demonstration cases, which Korea can use to improve its own strategy and find new directions. In addition, both countries are pursuing the hydrogen energy transition in similar environments, and can improve their competitiveness by understanding and analyzing each other’s policies and technologies. Finally, if both countries share common goals, they can find opportunities for cooperation through technology development, supply chain construction, market opening, etc. to accelerate the hydrogen energy transition and maximize mutual benefits.

Carbon Farming practices assessment: Modelling spatial changes of Soil Organic Carbon in Flanders, Belgium

Abstract This paper presents the development and field testing of RoboBoat, an unmanned surface vehicle designed to acquire three‐dimensional (3D) point cloud representations of narrow flooded galleries in caves, mines, and other similar environments where conventional surveying and mapping procedures cannot be applied. We developed techniques tailored to these scenarios, including a contour‐following reactive navigation method and an iterative closest point‐based simultaneous localization and mapping method. Custom metrics have been defined to iteratively validate and improve the 3D model of the passageways. The successful field tests in natural caves and mining galleries demonstrate the accuracy of the 3D representation, making it suitable for digital preservation of large‐volume cultural heritage sites.

In old urban districts with tenement buildings, street markets address the working class’s social and economic needs. They are pivotal in fostering supportive communities, in particular for low-income residents in sub-standard housing. However, their outdated overall environment impedes the delivery of adequate support to residents. Prior research on street markets has focused on those in the Americas and Europe, and has revealed the societal support values of these markets. However, studies on street markets in high-density cities like Hong Kong are lacking. This study introduces an evaluation framework to assess the impact of street markets on the development of supportive communities for Hong Kong’s sub-divided apartment residents. Employing the Pei Ho Street market in Sham Shui Po as a case study, an importance-performance analysis highlights critical but underperforming factors including public facilities, activity venues, commerce, and employment. Based on these findings, the study proposes four improvement strategies for the renewal of street markets in high-density communities, which could apply to other cities with similar high-density urban environments. It concludes that street markets in Hong Kong display unique spatial characteristics shaped by low-income lifestyles in a high-density urban environment, enriching daily social life and promoting sustainable community development.

Context Fishing can reduce population biomass, allowing remaining individuals to grow faster and mature earlier because of greater resource availability, which potentially compensates for lost reproductive output over a shortened lifespan resulting from fishing mortality. Aims To compare life-history traits of Nematalosa vlaminghi, a long-lived (20 years), semi-anadromous fish endemic to south-western Australia, in exploited and unexploited populations living in similar environments. Methods Populations were sampled in 2016–2018. Total mortality (Z) was estimated using catch-curve analyses, allowing for annual recruitment variability. Maturation age and length was estimated by logistic regression analysis. Growth curves were fitted to length-at-age data. Key results Compared to the unexploited population, Z was 2.6 times greater, juvenile growth was more than twice as fast, and maturity was attained at least 3 years earlier in the unexploited population. Conclusions Results supported the hypothesis of faster growth in exploited populations because of density-dependent processes. Environmental factors may also have contributed to trait differences between populations. Implications Faster growth and earlier maturation may partly compensate for lost reproductive output in exploited populations, although severe age truncation owing to fishing is still likely to decrease population resilience in this species, irrespective of any compensatory density-dependent processes.

Customizing reformulated gasoline using biofuel-additives to replace aromatics

Evaluation of groundwater quality indices using multi-criteria decision-making techniques and a fuzzy logic model in an irrigated area

The construction of expressways in China has produced diverse habitats along slopes characterized by steep gradients, uneven water distribution, poor soil conditions, and no routine maintenance. Manually planting beneficial species is an essential method of effectively improving slope soils to prevent soil erosion. However, few studies have evaluated the reclamation effects and plant community composition and structure used to restore slopes along expressways. This study focused on the Zhengzhou-Xinxiang section of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway. A total of 10 representative plant communities were evaluated using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP)-fuzzy integrated evaluation method. The sites were divided into four layers, namely, plant communities, soil nutrients, soil physical properties, and other ecological factors, and 14 indicators were assessed. The evaluation results showed that four of these plant communities (PCs) were excellent, three PCs were good, one PC was normal, two PCs were poor. The four excellent PCs had high Shannon-Wiener index, pielou index, richness index or community productivity. It is worth noting that most excellent plant community structures were tree + shrub + herb. Based on these results, we recommend that fill slopes should be restored using a combination of trees, herbs, and shrubs; also, the vegetation should include native plants, such as B. papyrifera, U. pumila, A. fruticosa, and Cynodon dactylon (L.). This study could provide ideas for plant community composition and structure of new highway slopes in similar climate environment, and provide theoretical support for plant community composition and structure and soil improvement for the existing slope.

Children who start in day-care have 2-4 times as many respiratory infections compared to children who are cared for at home, and day-care staff are among the employees with the highest absenteeism. The extensive new knowledge that has been generated in the COVID-19 era should be used in the prevention measures we prioritize. The purpose of this narrative review is to answer the questions: Which respiratory viruses are the most significant in day-care centers and similar indoor environments? What do we know about the transmission route of these viruses? What evidence is there for the effectiveness of different non-pharmaceutical prevention measures? Literature searches with different terms related to respiratory infections in humans, mitigation strategies, viral transmission mechanisms, and with special focus on day-care, kindergarten or child nurseries, were conducted in PubMed database and Web of Science. Searches with each of the main viruses in combination with transmission, infectivity, and infectious spread were conducted separately supplemented through the references of articles that were retrieved. Five viruses were found to be responsible for ≈95% of respiratory infections: rhinovirus, (RV), influenza virus (IV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), coronavirus (CoV), and adenovirus (AdV). Novel research, emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggests that most respiratory viruses are primarily transmitted in an airborne manner carried by aerosols (microdroplets). Since airborne transmission is dominant for the most common respiratory viruses, the most important preventive measures consist of better indoor air quality that reduces viral concentrations and viability by appropriate ventilation strategies. Furthermore, control of the relative humidity and temperature, which ensures optimal respiratory functionality and, together with low resident density (or mask use) and increased time outdoors, can reduce the occurrence of respiratory infections.

Purpose Foreign subsidiaries incur substantial institutional conformity costs because they have to respond to host-country institutional pressures (Slangen &amp; Hennart, 2008). The purpose of this paper is to study this type of cost from institutional and regulatory perspectives. The authors argue that these costs decrease when the host country adopts concepts of international regulations that multinationals may be familiar with due to their own home country regulation experience. This prior regulatory experience gives foreign subsidiaries an advantage of foreignness (AoF), which can offset their liability of foreignness (LoF). Design/methodology/approach This study compared the returns on assets of 35 domestic firms with those of foreign subsidiaries in the Brazilian energy industry between 2002 and 2021, using regression dynamic panel data. Findings The existence of a relationship between the international regulatory norm and the Brazilian regulator has transformed the LoF into an advantage of foreignness to compete with local energy firms. The results also suggest that the better the regulatory quality of the subsidiary’s country of origin, the better its performance in Brazil, as it can reduce compliance costs. Finally, the greater the psychic distance between Brazil and the foreign subsidiary’s home country, the worse its performance. Research limitations/implications The research suggests that one of the keys to competitiveness in host countries is local regulatory ties. Prior international regulatory experience gives foreign subsidiaries an asset of foreignness (AoF). This result complements the current institutional and regulatory foreignness studies on emerging economies (Cuervo-Cazurra &amp; Genc, 2008; Mallon et al., 2022) and the institutional asymmetry between home and host country (Mallon &amp; Fainshmidt, 2017). Practical implications This research suggests that one of the keys to competitiveness in host countries is local regulatory ties. Prior international regulatory experience gives foreign subsidiaries an asset of foreignness (AoF). This result complements the current institutional and regulatory foreignness studies on emerging economies (Cuervo-Cazurra &amp; Genc, 2008; Mallon et al., 2022) and the institutional asymmetry between home and host country (Mallon &amp; Fainshmidt, 2017). The practical implication is that the relationship between conformity costs, capital budget calculation and strategic planning for internationalization will be related to the governance quality of the home country of multinationals. The social implication is that a country interested in attracting more direct foreign investment to areas that need foreign technology transfer and resources may consider adopting international regulatory standards. Social implications The social implication is that a country interested in attracting more direct foreign investment to areas that need foreign technology transfer and resources may consider adopting international regulatory standards. Originality/value This research discuss firm and local regulator tie is one of core competitiveness in host countries (Yang and Meyer, 2020). This study also complements the current institutional and regulatory foreignness studies in emerging economy (Cuervo-Cazurra &amp; Genc, 2008; Mallon et al., 2022). Second, prior regulatory experience of multinational enterprise in similar environment can affect its foreign affiliate performance (Perkins, 2014). Third, this study confirms current literature that argues that knowledge and ability to operate in an institutionalized country can be transferred from parent to affiliate. In the end, this study investigates whether AoF persists when host governments improve the governance of their industries.