Small Capital Investment Research Articles

Goat Livestock Business Potential Viewed from Population and Production in Indonesia

Judging from the development aspect, the goat livestock business is very potential, easy to cultivate, both daily and commercially. Goats have several advantages and economic potential, their bodies are relatively small, they reach maturity quickly, and they are easy to maintain. Goat farming business is very easy, does not require large areas of land, relatively small business capital investment, easy to market and business capital rotates quickly.This paper aimed to determine the potential for goat farming in terms of the population and production of goats in Indonesia. This paper examines quantitative data from the last 5 years. The results show that the demand for goat meat in Indonesia is quite high because goats are one of the most consumed livestock by the people of Indonesia, the high level of demand is inseparable from the function of goat farming.

Energy saving through modifications of the parallel pump schedule at a pumping station: A case study

Diverse state-of-the-art methods can be utilized to reduce energy consumption in water supply and distribution systems, including using high-efficiency equipment, shifting energy use away from peak demand times, energy recovery and storage devices, and renewable energy. However, the benefit of using high efficiency equipment can sometimes never be completely realized, as the performance of the individual pumps within a site can be reduced from optimal owing to a variety of reasons: a lower operating rate of the water treatment plant than the design flow rate, hydraulic conditions such as pipeline resistance or determined pressure, and pump scheduling. This research focused on optimizing pump scheduling through real-time monitoring utilizing smart temperature and pressure sensors, wireless low-power data communicators, and a pump data analysis algorithm to determine the hydraulic efficiency from thermodynamic state variables with subsequent parallel pump optimization. Thermodynamic pump performance measurements provided real-time information, including flow rate, specific power, and pump efficiency, in both individual and parallel pump operations. Evaluation of the specific power under diverse parallel pump operation scenarios demonstrated a variation of 0.115–0.140 kWh/m3 in the range of 7800–10,100 m3/h. However, the deviation in specific power was more than 17 % when operating at less than 7800 m3/h and more than 10,000 m3/h. The summary of the pump combination operation suggested that energy could be saved by up to 15 % by optimum pump scheduling, that is, small capital investment, simple optimization of control through thermodynamic state variable measurement, analysis, and feedback.

Potentials of Plantain Value Addition in Improving Rural Households’ Income in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Aim: This study examined the potential of value addition to Plantain in improving rural households’ income in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The study investigated the socio-economic variables of plantain processors, identified the value-added products, factors influencing plantain value addition, the profitability and the overall contributions of value addition of Plantain to rural households’ income.
 Methodology: A multi-stage sampling technique was used coupled with a well-structured questionnaire to elicit information from 120 respondents. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Relative Importance Index, and partial farm budget analysis.
 Results: The study revealed that plantain processors were mainly middle-aged (mean age-42 years), primarily female (83%), educated, and married (78 per cent), with a mean household size of 6 people. The most common forms of value added to Plantain are chips, flour, roasted Plantain (boli), fried Plantain (dodo), and flakes. In order of their relative importance index, the motivating factors for value addition to Plantain are unemployment, peer influence, regular income, drive for self-employment, social relevance, self-accomplishments and satisfaction. The study revealed the average total variable cost of ₦148,200.00; for plantain chips, ₦99,050.00 for fried Plantain, ₦82,000.00 for plantain flour and ₦55,600.00 for roasted Plantain. The total revenue of ₦205,000.00 for plantain chips, ₦151,600.00 for fried Plantain, ₦92,000.00 for plantain flour and ₦60,000.00 for roasted Plantain. The Net profit of ₦96,100.00 for plantain chips, ₦91,850.00 for fried Plantain, ₦37,000.00 for plantain flour and ₦14,900.00 for roasted Plantain. The Rate of returns for plantain chips is 0.65, followed by 0.93 for fried Plantain, 0.45 for plantain flour and 0.27 for roasted Plantain. These indicate that for every N1.00 invested in Plantain value-added products, 65 kobo, 93 kobo, 45 kobo and 27 kobo are gained for plantain chips, fried Plantain, plantain flour and roasted Plantain, respectively. The cost-benefit ratio is 1.38, 1.53, 1.12, and 1.08 for plantain chips, fried Plantain, plantain flour and roasted Plantain, respectively.
 Conclusion: Plantain production is a profitable enterprise with small capital investment and its value addition contributes significantly to household income in Ekiti State.

Artisanal and small-scale mining in Tanzania and health implications: A policy perspective

The mineral sector, especially its small-scale subsector, has become significant in the emerging economies of the Global South. Tanzania is the focus of this policy exposition paper because, aside from Ghana and South Africa, Tanzania is ranked 4th in Africa in terms of its mineral deposits and small-scale mining activities. The focus is also on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) because ASM operations have significantly increased in recent times across this mineral-rich country of East Africa. This is done against a negative backdrop-labelling of ASM as unsustainable, environmentally unfriendly, inefficient, and illegal. Tanzania has made some progress to respond to some of the challenges in the mining sector to improve the micro and macroeconomics of the country. Some areas remain challenging including the lack of proper environmental health education for the ASM miners; the lack of clear national-level policies to guide health-related matters in the ASM subsector, and the small capital investment of the ASM subsector to support healthy mining practices. The details related to the persistence of these challenges are not well known, particularly those that pertain to policymaking. This article attempts to evaluate the policy environment of the ASM subsector in Tanzania and propose appropriate actions for the future of mineral resource policymaking in Tanzania.

Analysis on Stochastic Change Characteristics of Technological Innovation Efficiency under Endogenous Change in Technological Information and Investment of Knowledge Capital

The allocation of innovation-related elements is influenced by intangible elements such as technological information, which affects knowledge capital, human capital, and material element investment, resulting in the stochastic change of technological innovation efficiency. The endogenous change in technological information in element investment reduces friction, lowers costs, improves efficiency, and gradually reduces the deviation between knowledge capital investment and technological innovation efficiency. In terms of small knowledge capital investment characterized by the low demand for technological information and a single source, it is easier to make more-accurate predictions, so the stochastic change in technological innovation efficiency tends to be gentle. The endogenous change in technological information continuously increases the proportion of replacing other elements with knowledge capital investment, and the efficiency of technological innovation improves steadily. Under the condition of unchanged investment in other elements, there is a great difference in the duration of technological information between the simultaneous selection and the successive selection of knowledge capital investment. When one-time instantaneous information and continuous complete information are respectively acquired, the stochastic variation of technological innovation efficiency is obvious. On the basis of the technological innovation data of 287 listed companies in eight industries, this paper compares and analyzes the measurement results of GMM and OLS to verify the above findings.

Wire-grid polarizer sheet with low reflectance in the visible and near-infrared regions fabricated by a nanoimprinting and electroless plating process.

In near-infrared systems for optical sensing and imaging technologies, an improved signal-to-noise ratio and more advanced object detection and analysis using polarizers are required. Such polarizers are limited, and broadband wire-grid polarizers are potential candidates. However, their high reflectivity and high cost limit their application. Herein, we fabricated a low-reflectivity wire-grid polarizer sheet that can be used in visible and near-infrared regions by a simple process using only nanoimprinting and nickel electroless plating; further, metal removal steps such as chemical mechanical polishing were not required. The results obtained by optimizing the structural shape of the mold and precisely controlling the thickness of the electroless plating confirmed that the polarizer could be used for visible and near-infrared light. Because the sheets can be manufactured using general-purpose equipment upon mold preparation, they can be employed in wide-ranging applications with small capital investment.

The Influence of Entrepreneurial Ecosystem on SMEs Industry in Malaysia

The rise of Small Medium Enterprise (SMEs) businesses leads to the dynamic and competitive environment. To excel in the market, companies have spent a substantial amount of money, time and resources by designing right strategies to sustain. However, this SMEs businesses faces few challenges such as small capital investment, short of talent, limited access to infrastructure and support mechanism. Despite the government’s several institutional and policy support for enhancing the capacity of this Small Medium scale enterprises, the results have fallen short of expectations. Given the increased demand for Small Medium Enterprise’s products, creating a viable entrepreneurial ecosystem model for SMEs in Malaysia is critical. This is because the entrepreneurial ecosystem is a system of interrelated components that influence the speed and ability with which entrepreneurs, particularly SMEs can create and scale new ventures in a sustainable manner. As a result, this study seeks (1) to analyse the demographic profile of Malaysian small and medium enterprise and (2), determine the extent at which entrepreneurial ecosystem affect the Small Medium Enterprise in Malaysia. This study is important to investors, the ministry, the government, academics and even business owners because it provides a comprehensive model for understanding the SMEs entrepreneurial processes and how ecosystems emerge, change and influence entrepreneurship activities.

Machine learning analysis of electric arc furnace process for the evaluation of energy efficiency parameters

The electric arc furnace has been the subject of extensive research due to its complex and chaotic nature. Machine learning methods provide a powerful forensic examination of industrial processes as they exclude numerous assumptions and involve irregularities present in industrial conditions. In this study, different machine learning and data processing methods were used to evaluate the energy efficiency parameters of the electric arc furnace process. The dataset was collected over five years, in a steelmaking factory, with 42 features. This data was split into training and test sets, which were used for training and evaluation, respectively. With extensive data management, the data quality and machine learning model performance were improved. It was found that selected models display similar performance, yet the artificial neural network shows greater flexibility when changing targets. The results indicate that a data-centric rather than model-centric approach is better for improving model performance. Using the partial dependence plot and SHAP method, insight was gained into each parameter’s correlation with the target. It was found that the amount of hot heel (melted steel left in the furnace, to be re-heated) was the main factor disturbing the data quality and model performance. It was also demonstrated that data for total oxygen consumption should be divided from the oxygen used into refining and natural gas. This highly improves model performance. Employing a data-centric machine learning model to control and optimize main process parameters (with a small capital investment) leads to lower energy consumption for industrial processes.

2-Dimensional inline system for peppermint oil extraction

Peppermint leaves have wide range of applications in medicines, toothpastes, soaps, mouth fresheners, chewing gums etc. However, in India, the traditional way of processing peppermint leaves for extraction of peppermint oil is slow, tedious, labour intensive, hazardous, and causes skin problem as well.This paper proposes a method of mechanizing the post harvesting process, with least modification in the current apparatus being used by the farmers in the Indian villages. It proposes a non-electric 2-dimensional Mechanized system for movement and compaction of the compact/hay. The mechanism will help to reduce the number of labourers per unit hay volume and the risk associated with the contact of in-process hay with their skin. Also, a lot of time is wasted in putting the leaves/hay in the boiler vessel, preparing the hay in a compact form and in removing the processed leaves.This paper is an attempt to get rid of most of the problems aforementioned and make the process safe, efficient, less labour intensive and more economical for farmers and workers. The mechanism proposed is sustainable and farmer friendly as it does not require any special training for its operation. It will increase the profit of small scale industries with small capital investment for the setup.

Adenoviral Vector COVID-19 Vaccines: Process and Cost Analysis

The COVID-19 pandemic has motivated the rapid development of numerous vaccines that have proven effective against SARS-CoV-2. Several of these successful vaccines are based on the adenoviral vector platform. The mass manufacturing of these vaccines poses great challenges, especially in the context of a pandemic where extremely large quantities must be produced quickly at an affordable cost. In this work, two baseline processes for the production of a COVID-19 adenoviral vector vaccine, B1 and P1, were designed, simulated and economically evaluated with the aid of the software SuperPro Designer. B1 used a batch cell culture viral production step, with a viral titer of 5 × 1010 viral particles (VP)/mL in both stainless-steel and disposable equipment. P1 used a perfusion cell culture viral production step, with a viral titer of 1 × 1012 VP/mL in exclusively disposable equipment. Both processes were sized to produce 400 M/yr vaccine doses. P1 led to a smaller cost per dose than B1 ($0.15 vs. $0.23) and required a much smaller capital investment ($126 M vs. $299 M). The media and facility-dependent expenses were found to be the main contributors to the operating cost. The results indicate that adenoviral vector vaccines can be practically manufactured at large scale and low cost.

An approach for support design in depillaring panels of coal mines

Among different methods of underground mining technology adopted for coal extraction, bord and pillar mining is the most popular and predominant method of underground mining in India. This method is characterised with small capital investment and faster rate of return on capital. Varying geomining conditions demand scientific approach for design of supports in depillaring panels. In view, this there is a decisive lack of judgement on support design, given the geomining conditions. Support design methods in vogue for depillaring districts do not takes into account, among other parameters, the inclination of the coal seam and direction of in situ stress. Thus, there exists a need for research work aimed at investigating the effective role, inter-alia, of direction of in situ horizontal stress and inclination of coal seams to ensure a better condition of roof and efficient design of effective support system. The authors through this paper intend to address similar problems being faced by the industry. Detailed numerical models for one depillaring panel in Thesgora Mine and in two depillaring panels of Kakatiya Khani (KTK)-KTK-1 and KTK-5 Incline mines respectively of Bhupalpalli area under study have been developed. The models are then calibrated using the empirical relations of pillar strength. Stage-wise extraction in the models is carried out to simulate the change in stress and displacement as the mining activity progresses. Based on the geo-mining data and the numerical models, the rock load heights at four strategic locations namely split gallery, slice, junction and goaf edge have been evaluated in all the depillaring panels under study. Generalised equations for rock load height at different strategic locations in a depillaring panel have been developed. The said empirical relations for rock load height have been derived using parametric study of the numerical models developed for depillaring panels of the selected mines. The equations so developed have a correlation coefficient of maximum 87.8 % and a minimum of 80.5%.

FUTURES OF GAMING: HOW CASINOS AND GAMBLING MIGHT EVOLVE IN THE NEAR FUTURE

FUTURES OF GAMING: HOW CASINOS AND GAMBLING MIGHT EVOLVE IN THE NEAR FUTURE

Sectoral and spatial features of investment processes in a region

Investment is an important indicator of the economic development of a region. The article examines sectoral and spatial features of investment processes in a region (on the example of Zaporizhzhya region). In particular, capital investment of enterprises in Zaporizhzhya region are analyzed by types of assets, sources of financing and types of economic activity, while development (use) of capital investment – by types of industrial activity. The paper establishes that: 1) own funds of enterprises were the main source of capital investment in Zaporizhzhya region during the period under review; 2) the highest share of capital investment in the region is financed by industrial enterprises; 3) the share of investment in professional, scientific and technical activities is reduced. The active development of the region’s industrial infrastructure is becoming a challenge for its environment today. Nevertheless, capital investment for environmental protection were found to have decreased in 2017 compared to 2016. Therefore, the strategic objective of the region today is to make effective use of its existing investment potential, in particular to improve the environment. The main factors influencing the investment processes in Zaporizhzhya region were identified: a) positive factors, in particular: availability of natural resources and own energy resources; higher level of profitability of enterprises in the region than the average in Ukraine; ongoing processes of deregulation, decentralization, reform of the territorial organization of power in Ukraine; b) factors of a negative nature, in particular: territorial (spatial) imbalance of business development and institutional infrastructure of business support; small capital investment for environmental protection; aggravation of the military conflict in Eastern Ukraine, etc.

Mixed matrix membranes containing MOF@COF hybrid fillers for efficient CO2/CH4 separation

Membrane technology has aroused great attention for gas separations due to its high energy efficiency, small capital investment, easy and continuous operation. Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) constructed from a continuous polymer phase and a dispersed filler phase offer new opportunities to achieve a breakthrough in fabricating high-performance membranes. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have been regarded as potential fillers to boost the MMM separation performance. However, MOFs occasionally exhibit limited compatibility with the polymer matrixes owing to their partially inorganic structure and tendency of agglomeration in the membranes. Here, an interfacial design strategy is demonstrated by coating size-selective MOF cores with covalent organic framework (COF) layers to construct MOF@COF hybrids as fillers in MMMs for enhanced polymer-filler compatibility. The pure organic COF layers exhibit high affinity to the polymer matrix, thereby preventing the formation of nonselective interfacial voids and alleviating filler agglomeration. With the incorporation of only 5 wt% of MOF@COF fillers, the resultant MMM exhibits 48% and 79% enhancements in CO2 permeability and CO2/CH4 selectivity, respectively, with better operational stability compared to that of the pure polymeric membrane. These results reveal a novel filler design strategy for the tailored synthesis of high-performance MMMs for natural gas and biogas purification.

Advanced Porous Materials in Mixed Matrix Membranes

Membrane technology has gained great interest in industrial separation processing over the past few decades owing to its high energy efficiency, small capital investment, environmentally benign characteristics, and the continuous operation process. Among various types of membranes, mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) combining the merits of the polymer matrix and inorganic/organic fillers have been extensively investigated. With the rapid development of chemistry and materials science, recent studies have shifted toward the design and application of advanced porous materials as promising fillers to boost the separation performance of MMMs. Here, first a comprehensive overview is provided on the choices of advanced porous materials recently adopted in MMMs, including metal-organic frameworks, porous organic frameworks, and porous molecular compounds. Novel trends in MMMs induced by these advanced porous fillers are discussed in detail, followed by a summary of applying these MMMs for gas and liquid separations. Finally, a concise conclusion and current challenges toward the industrial implementation of MMMs are outlined, hoping to provide guidance for the design of high-performance membranes to meet the urgent needs of clean energy and environmental sustainability.

Capital investment and internationalization

Degrees of firm internationalization vary across industries and over time, depending on a number of factors. In this paper, I hypothesize that firms mitigate the investment risk resulting from having large amounts of capital investment by expanding their business internationally. Using a large panel sample that covers non-financial firms listed in the US during the period 1990–2013, I find that capital investment negatively affects the internationalization level. The negative effect of capital investment on internationalization levels is evident for (1) large firms, (2) firms with large fixed assets, (3) firms with small and large capital investment, and (4) firms with non-positive sales growth rates. In addition, the relation between capital investment and the degree of internationalization is non-linear and varies over time. I also find that the effect is negative prior to the burst of the IT bubble in 2001, neutral during the burst of the IT bubble and the non-crisis period, and positive during and after the 2007 global financial crisis.

Venture investment and small innovative business in the economic crisis

The article deals the problem of interaction between venture capital investment and small busi- ness innovation in modern conditions. The creation of favorable conditions for development of small innovation entrepreneurship and venture capital investment should take an active governmentparticipation.

Macroeconomic Implications of Small Firm Capital Structure and Investment Dynamics

Numerous countries have implemented financial reforms in the past three decades, but how these reforms affect economic growth has not been established. I develop a novel dynamic equilibrium model with heterogeneous firms and endogenous leverage to isolate the effects of changing financial frictions on economic growth. Changes in financial frictions affect aggregate productivity by shifting the allocation of resources across firms. However, common shocks to productivity unrelated to finance also change the allocation of resources across firms, because more-productive firms respond to shocks by changing leverage. I show using plant-level microdata from India that although difference in difference regressions and aggregate productivity decompositions suggest that financial reforms have led to economic growth in India since 1990, I can generate the same patterns in my calibrated model with only common shocks to productivity. In addition, when I calibrate a model to match the dynamic evolution of the size-productivity distribution in India, I find that financial factors explain 71% of Indian labor productivity growth from 1990 to 1995, but only 2%--8% from 1995 to 2011. My work suggests that factors that affect productivity within firms are more important determinants of aggregate productivity growth than financial development, and might explain why developing economies lag behind the United States in growth and productivity.

圧入組立構造の分割鉄心を用いたモータ生産工法の開発 (第2報)

This paper presents the motor manufacturing technology for brushless DC motors which are used for middle to large size compressor motors and industrial motors, etc.We propose the divided core assembled by partial press-fitting which enables production with small capital investment, in spite of small manufacturing quantities of a wide variety of middle to large size motors. This type of divided core has the following features : (1) Concentrated high-density winding can be achieved, because this type of core is divided in units of pole. (2) The stator can be assembled easily with the core divided in units of pole, by using the press-fitting technique. (3) Divided core assembly with low press-fitting pressure and required accuracy is performed, even if stator becomes large. Based on this technology, compressor motors are fabricated and their characteristics are examined. As a result, compared to conventional compressor motors with a distributed winding structure, weight saving of approximately 20%, downsizing in the axial direction of approximately 30% and motor efficiency improvement of 1 - 3% are achieved.

Inclusion of Blended Lipid Solutions as Functional Ingredients to Alter the Fatty Acid Profile of Beef Patties

Beef patties formulated to contain beef fat, plant oil, and a rosemary extract to increase unsaturated fatty acid content and maintain desirable sensory attributes were compared to control beef patties formulated without plant oils. Treatment patties were formulated to a fat content of 10% or 20% by combining beef trimmings (6% fat) with 4% or 14% addition of a lipid blend. Blends contained 57% beef tallow, 0.3% rosemary extract, and 43% of high oleic safflower oil (SO), olive oil (OO), or corn oil (CO). Lipid oxidation, as measured by TBA values, of treatment patties were similar to control patties after 0 and 3 d of refrigerated (2 °C) storage and up to 56 d of frozen (-10 °C) storage. Cooked lipid blend patties having a fat content of 10% or 20% were similar to or higher than control patties for juiciness and were no different for other sensory attributes evaluated. At fat levels of 10% or 20%, oleic acid (18: 1) in cooked SO patties (46.1% and 50.3%, respectively) and OO patties (43.8% and 48.1%, respectively) was higher than the control (37.3% and 37.6%, respectively). Unsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratios at the 10% or 20% fat levels were higher in SO (1.37 and 1.60, respectively) and CO (1.40 and 1.48, respectively) patties than the control (0.97 and 0.94, respectively). Beef patties manufactured with varying lipid blends increased unsaturated fatty acid content and were similar in physical characteristics and sensory attributes of all beef patties formulated without lipid blends. The development of healthier beef products that will be more appealing to consumers has long been an industry goal. The authors believe that lipid blends such as the one used in this study could be used to create such products, not only in the form of beef patties, but any number of processed meat products. Because the materials and equipment used to create the lipid blends in this study are widely available, their incorporation into meat products would represent a small capital investment. This is an important factor in bringing a reasonably priced, healthier product to consumers.