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COVID-19 pandemic, risk-reduction strategies and crisis management in the travel insurance sector
Travel has always been considered to be a risky affair as there are multiple uncertainties associated with it. Though the tourism industry has developed sophisticated methods to manage these risks, there are still certain uncontrollable and unforeseen circumstances that might affect the physical, emotional, and mental state of travellers. The result would be a huge financial burden for the traveller and increased frustration towards the tour operator. The concept of travel insurance was introduced to relieve travellers of such unforeseen risks while travelling. Moreover, the Covid 19 pandemic has instilled a sense of fear and doubt among the minds of travellers which affects their travel decision-making to a large extent. Destinations and tourism suppliers have introduced various risk reduction strategies and methods to resolve this issue. This paper focuses on understanding the concept of risk associated with travel, the various dimensions of risk management, and the key strategies adopted by tour operators and suppliers to minimize such risks. 2023 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. -
Neuropsychological functions and optimism levels in stroke patients: A cross-sectional study
Neuropsychological abnormalities, as well as behavioural and psychological characteristics, are being examined in patients in order to determine the prevalence of cognitive impairment and other neurovascular riskfactors, including prior strokes. The green light has been given by the institution's human ethics committee for this investigation. In order to conduct the study, the researchers used experimental clinical research techniques. Seventy-five stroke patients ranging in age from 20-70 were the focus of this study. All patients in the hospital had daily clinical examinations and were able to identify the underlying causes of their strokes. The NIMHANS Neuropsychological Battery was administered to all patients between one and six months after the onset of their stroke symptoms. 2023, IGI Global. All rights reserved. -
A comparative study on e-waste management systems in developed and developing countries: Legislative compliances and initiatives
E-waste is an ongoing issue that still lacks a suitable solution, particularly in developing nations. The environment and human health have suffered dramatically as a result of poor recycling practices of waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), transboundary movement, improper management of e-waste, the lack of environmentally sound management (ESM) programs, and the ineffective EPR (extended producer responsibility) schemes. Although developed nations have implemented efficient legislative frameworks and regulations, emerging nations suffer due to their plans. E-waste management systems differ in developed and developing countries; thus, this study evaluates the differences between the management systems and outlines the areas where the developing nations lack effective e-waste management and the advantages developed countries enjoy. Therefore, the current study results are crucial for comprehending the severe hazard posed by improper management of e-waste and the viability of future research into creating strategies to address these problems of developing nations. 2023, IGI Global. -
Mechanical and tribological properties of polymer composites developed by FDM
In the coming years, researchers and manufacturers will be more concerned with the demand for products that are easy to construct and can be rendered seamlessly, even at complicated geometries, with the touch of a button. These requirements will be met by the advent of additive manufacturing. This will serve as the catalyst for a revolution. Additive layer manufacturing (ALM), also known as additive manufacturing (AM) or more commonly referred to as 3D printing, is a modern fabrication technology that uses a variety of raw materials to produce items such as medical implants and aircraft wing components by printing layers of material based on 3D digital models. In this chapter, the authors provide a comprehensive overview of the mechanical and tribological behaviour of ceramic, metallic, and fiber-reinforced polymer composites that are made by a range of additive manufacturing (AM) techniques. These composites can be used in a variety of applications, including aerospace, automotive, and medical. 2023, IGI Global. All rights reserved. -
Agricultural nanotechnologies: Future perspectives of bio-inspired materials
Bio-inspired designs have been used by humankind in understanding and modelling novel materials which have applications in diverse fields like disease diagnostics, drug delivery, agriculture, energy storage, industry, etc. Superhydrophobicity, directional adhesion, structural colour, self-cleaning, antireflection, etc. are some of the useful attributes for which we have relied a lot on nano level biomimetics. Bioinspired nanolevel designs have been explored in the field of agriculture too. Such nanomaterials and nanodesigns have been used to increase crop yields. They also find uses in fertilizer application and replacement of many harmful chemical pesticides, which are generally overused. Increasing population, increased longevity of people and the urgent need for sustainable environment have led to a dire need for exploration and adaptation of such novel technologies which can help in feeding the growing population. Nanoscale products and technologies can also help in reducing the accumulation of excess fertilizers, pesticides, etc. in soil, which can go a long way in cleaning up the environment. The current attempt is intended to portray the latest developments and future possibilities of bioinspired NT in diverse fields of agriculture like synthesis and delivery of novel pesticides and fertilizers, nanocarriers for gene delivery, sensors to monitor and assess soil conditions, plant pathogen detection and plant nanobionics to detect pollutants. 2023 Bentham Science Publishers. All rights reserved. -
Integrating deep learning in an IoT model to build smart applications for sustainable cities
These days, many CS experts focus their efforts on IoT. IoT is an emerging & cutting-edge technology that enables many items, including vehicles and home appliances, to connect and cooperate via mechanisms like machine to machine communication, big data, and AI. It has found use in a wide range of settings, from smart homes and cities, to healthcare and agriculture, to factory automation. Smart cities are becoming smarter, cars are getting more features, and health and fitness devices are getting more sophisticated thanks to the internet of things. Many problems that are directly relevant to the IoT's development have yet to be resolved. The exponential development of IoT has given birth to new problems, including concerns about personal data and security. There is need of a comprehensive approach that tackles the scalability, security, efficiency, and privacy concerns raised by the widespread deployment of IoT. 2023, IGI Global. -
Digital transformation for business: Enablers, framework and challenges
Technology has disrupted many industries from the start of Industrialization era to the Industry 4.0 era. There has been an exponential growth in the technological front and people are talking about Industry 5.0. Digital transformation is a critical direction in which organizations will have to move toward in order to succeed in this competitive world. To make a smooth transition, firms must understand the basic building blocks of the digital transformation process and the key areas it touches upon namely customer experience, operational process and dynamic business models. Organizations will also have to identify the enablers of digital transformation which they can work on to smoothen the transformative process. Firms will also need the framework of digital transformation spelling out the roadmap for effective digital transformation. Firms on the urge to go for digital transformation will face numerous challenges in all the stages of implementation namely the initiation phase, the execution phase and the governance phase. A clear understanding of these challenges will help the firms to overcome or mitigate these challenges and be successful in their digital transformation process. 2023 by V. Harish, A. Mansurali and D. Krishnaveni. All rights reserved. -
Effect of menstrual distress on interpersonal relationships, school absenteeism, work productivity, and academic performance
Women's health has always been one of the major research areas to identify health patterns to understand the challenges women face and to provide essential support. As time changes, various new challenges and issues emerge around menstrual distress. More research is still needed to identify efficient physiological and psychological support strategies. The current chapter provides a detailed insight into how menstrual pain affects a woman and girl's interpersonal relationships, school presence, peer relations, productivity at the workplace, and academic performance. Further, the chapter captures various literature evidence on the effect of cultural and religious factors affecting menstruation. The chapter also emphasizes providing strategies and mapping down existing policies that are in action to address the challenges women face due to menstrual distress. 2023, IGI Global. -
Feature selection/dimensionality reduction
In today's world, medical image analysis is a critical component of research, and it has been extensively explored over the last few decades. Machine learning in healthcare is a fantastic advancement that will improve disease detection efficiency and accuracy. In many circumstances, it will also allow for early detection and treatment in remote or developing areas. The amount of medical data created by various applications is growing all the time, creating a bottleneck for analysis and necessitating the use of a machine learning method for feature selection and dimensionality reduction techniques. Feature selection is an important concept of machine learning since it affects the model's performance and the data parameters you utilize to train your machine learning models to have a big influence on the performance. The approach of minimizing the number of inputs in training data by reducing the dimension of your feature set is known as dimensionality reduction. Reduced dimensionality aids in the overall performance of the machine learning algorithms. 2023 River Publishers. -
Nanoparticles as fillers in composites for x-ray and gamma-ray shielding: A review
In last few decades, nanomaterials have gained enormous attention in the scientific industry due to their tunable physico-chemical and biological properties with enhanced performance over their bulk counterparts. In particular, nanoparticles have been extensively investigated for their usefulness in X-ray and gamma-ray shielding applications. Various elements and compounds, with high atomic numbers and effective atomic numbers respectively, have the potential to form nanoparticles that offer remarkable enhancement in the shielding performance. Composites, obtained by doping different nanoparticles into structural matrices (concrete, glass, or polymers), not only possess striking thermo-mechanical properties but also are effective shielding materials to replace conventional lead shields. This review is an attempt to throw light on various aspects of nanoparticles and their influence on shielding effectiveness. The authors also summarize the experimental findings so as to highlight the potential underlying the radiation-matter interaction mechanism in nanostructured systems. Copyright 2023, IGI Global. -
The emerging role of innovative teaching practices in tourism education in the post-COVID-19 era
The education sector has undergone a tremendous transformation during the last few decades with the advancement of information and communication technology. Traditional methods of teaching and learning are replaced with modern technology enabled methods such as virtual reality, 3D images and videos, augmented reality, and gamification. Tourism education involves learning about geographic regions, destinations, and sightseeing. The shift from offline mode of teaching to a completely online and digital platform during the COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated the need to include such innovative practices in teaching and learning. This chapter focuses on the potential benefits of enabling technology infused teaching and learning methods and their implications on improving student motivation and engagement. 2023, IGI Global. All rights reserved. -
Industry 5.0 - The co-creator in marketing
The unavoidable connection between automation and digitalization is already in the business horizon in the name of Industry 5.0. Industry 4.0, the robotic and technological revolution were largely hit among the manufacturing industries, but Industry 5.0 is meant for all sectors across ranges from manufacturing to services. Evolution from the days of mechanization (Industry 1.0) to smart factory (Industry 4.0) witnessed the improvisation of metrics related to efficiency and optimization. And now its turn for the balance between optimization and efficiency with the support from robots in assisting the smarter generation's technologies and machineries and tools through Industry 5.0 in the domain of marketing too where the change is constant and dynamic would be more accommodative to opportunities and challenges through the next wave of 5.0. The disruption by Industry 5.0 will change existing nature of marketing in terms of customer experience, supply chain, procurement, product development, retail operations, etc. The market which predominantly flourishes with the help of customers in co-creation is going to have robot as bystander with the intervention of this Revolution 5.0 which will level up the existing customer experience. Marketing by its nature demands the cooperation at multiple levels and is becoming easier prey for the Industry 5.0 revolution as it's expected to create the cooperation between the humans and machines. Product development, customer engagement and customer experience will undergo the transformation due to this industry revolution and also there are other areas in the marketing domain to go through the impact are addressed in this chapter. 2023 by A. Mansurali, V. Harish and Swamynathan Ramakrishnan. All rights reserved. -
The changing role of marketing: Industry 5.0 - the game changer
The preceding revolution, Industry 4.0, surfaced by way of the influx of digital and automation technologies. Industry 5.0 followed the suit and the world is on the threshold of this new evolution. Industry 5.0 attempts to bring together the competency of smart machines and the exceptional ingenious potentials of the human workforce. Industry 5.0 is humanizing the digital and automated systems. It recognizes both automated technology and the human innovative skills on an equal platform. Marketing in its new role revolves on the axis of automation and cyber technology of Industry 5.0. This new makeover of marketing processes generates superior marketing actions, restructures marketing workflows, and assesses the results of marketing promotions. Industry 5.0 tools make available a fundamental marketing catalog for all marketing content and communications, thus assisting marketers to fashion a fragmented, customized, and favorable marketing experiences for prospective buyers. These systems and spaces offer automation attributes across numerous phases of marketing including videos, blogs, emails, social media, lead generation, direct mails, digital advertising, and more. This chapter aims to introduce the concept of Industry 5.0, where robots and machines are interweaved with the human intellect and labor as teammate instead of opponent. The objective of the chapter is to examine and explore the different facets of marketing in the face of Industry 5.0. The chapter describes the challenges and future trends and practices in marketing field in the wake of Industry 5.0 as the way forward for the companies for sustainability and resilience. 2023 by Sunanda Vincent Jaiwant. All rights reserved. -
Development of high performance polymer composites by additive manufacturing
Additive manufacturing, often known as 3D printing, is a process that involves the manufacture of physical things in a manner that is similar to building them up layer by layer. As a result of its utilization of automated procedures to generate complicated three-dimensional forms, which are either difficult or impossible to produce using conventional methods, fused deposition modeling is a typical approach that uses heat to assist in the extrusion process. The term "high-performance polymer" refers to a group of polymer materials that are known to maintain their desirable mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties when subjected to harsh environments such as high temperatures, high pressures, and corrosive chemicals. This chapter starts off with a brief introduction of conductive and high-performance polymer composites, followed by a rundown of how these materials are utilized in the 3D printing process. 2023, IGI Global. All rights reserved. -
Future Inclusive Education
The United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for promoting lifelong learning. Inclusive education fosters an environment for access to quality education by addressing diversity and barriers that can cause exclusion. COVID-19 has reimagined Higher Education with new challenges and opportunities for the present and future. Digital divide, gender inequality, addressing specially-abled students, and a non-inclusive learning environment are the major barriers to inclusive education. Inclusive education ensures that no one leaves behind, and higher education institutes can enhance their capacity building to promote inclusivity for the common good. Employability is one of the key concepts in higher education that builds the workforce and contributes to nation-building. With COVID-19, nature of work has seen radical changes; hence, graduate attributes have evolved with the 21st-century skills. The chapter emphasizes the role of inclusive education and reimagining higher education with suggestions to using existing strategies in life-long and futuristic inclusive learning. The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023, corrected publication 2024. -
Current Trends in Career Decision in Youth: Opportunities and Challenges
In todays times, career is a crucial life decision. Due to its paramount importance in our lives, the youth experience diverse kinds of stresses and pressures while choosing their career in life. Contrary to earlier handful career options, current trends offer an unlimited mix of traditional as well as unconventional career roles which further create confusion and anxiety while making the final decision. Newer factors, challenges and opportunities have forced a change of frameworks and perspectives to career decision-making. In career counselling, current trends are shifting away from the traditional practice of matching skill-sets to the job. Todays career decision-making takes an inclusive approach by discussing the various internal influences, emotional management, cognitive thinking styles, coping strategies, adaptability, etc. as well as external influences of uncertainty, evolving lifestyle demands, changing economic tapestry, etc. In addition, the influences of gender, family and culture affect the nature of the goals and their acceptability. The current chapter throws light on the evolving scenario in the field of career decision-making among the youth and attempts to offer solutions to the challenges being faced by the youth. The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023. -
Dietary Plants, Spices, and Fruits in Curbing SARS-CoV-2 Virulence
Patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection can suffer from a variety of neurological disorders; therefore, there is a demand to investigate specific treatments. As a part of this endeavor, academic databases related to clinical, neuropathological, and immunological biomarkers were examined for searching promising drugs to treat neurological disorders in the COVID-19 group. Also, the neuroprotective potential of herbs for patients with post-COVID-19 has been evaluated using PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, EMBASE, Google Scholar, EBSCO, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, WHO database, and ClinicalTrials.gov. The terms used for the Boolean search were Indian herbs and neuroprotective potential, post-COVID-19 symptoms, and so on. Based on our knowledge, nervous system immunity is an inherent characteristic of the nervous system because it is highly immunologically active. It was found that patients infected with COVID-19 often experience neurological symptoms such as muscle pain, headaches, confusion, dizziness, and loss of smell and taste. The most commonly used herbs for neurological disorders are Bacopa monnieri, Mucuna pruriens, Withania somnifera, Acorus calamus, Phyllanthus emblica, Blumea balsamifera, Asparagus racemosus, Cannabis sativa, Convolvulus prostratus, Swertia chirata, Vitex negundo, Nyctanthes arbor-tristis Linn, Centella asiatica, Curcuma longa, Ocimum tenuiflorum. It is widely recognized that herbal drugs have the potential for treating neurological diseases such as Parkinsons, Alzheimers, and cerebrovascular diseases in COVID-19 patients. However, clinical trials are still limited. The suitability of drugs depends on the investigation of biomarkers and pathobiological mechanisms. Thus, it is necessary to use modern scientific approaches and technologies to conduct comprehensive mechanistic studies to understand the therapeutic potential of herbs for neurological disorders associated with the SARS-CoV-2 infection. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023. -
Date Palm: Genomic Designing for Improved Nutritional Quality
Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is one of the oldest fruit trees known where a significant amount of breeding has been carried out to improve various agronomic and nutritional characteristics. Numerous studies have been done to improve the nutritional composition and quality of the fruit due to its significant biological properties. Various strategies have been formulated for improving the agronomic characters through biofortification as well as preserving through postharvesting techniques. Modern breeding practices using molecular markers have significantly helped to identify the phenotypic, as well as genotypic, diversity for the selection of superior date palm cultivars, advanced agronomic characters like nutritional quality, disease resistance, and yield. Availability of the whole genome sequence, organellar sequence, and genetic map of date palm has helped breeders in modification and improvement of the characteristics. With the availability of bioinformatic tools and gene editing knowledge, the nutritional composition of date palm can be effectively manipulated to develop better crops along with good agronomic characters and resistance to diseases. The authors have compiled the nutritional composition of date palm fruits and detail the strategies to edit the genome and improve nutritional quality. Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023. -
IoT Enabled Energy Optimization Through an Intelligent Home Automation
The benefit of IoT devices is that they allow for automation; nevertheless, billions of connected devices connected with one another waste a substantial amount of energy. IoT systems will have difficulty in wide adoption if the energy requirements are not adequately managed. This study proposes a solution for IoT devices to regulate their energy consumption. Both hardware and software aspects are taken into consideration. Using a mobile computer or smartphone with Internet connectivity to interact with actual scenarios has grown more prevalent as technology has advanced over the years. An intelligent home automation system based on android applications has been developed to save electricity and human energy. This study aims to create comprehensive Energy optimization through intelligent home automation utilizing widely available mobile applications and Wi-Fi technologies. The devices are turned on and off using Wi-Fi. Intelligent home, in the area of electronics, automation is the most purposely misused term. Numerous technological revolutions have occurred as a result of this demand for automation. These were more essential than any other technologies due to their ease of use. These can be used in place of household current switches, resulting in sparks and, in rare instances, such as fires. A unique energy optimization system was developed to control household appliances while taking advantage of Wi-Fi benefits. 2023, Bentham Books imprint. -
Mitigating Mental Health Burden of Youth During COVID-19 Through Resilience and Hope: Evidences from India and Germany
In the global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, young professionals and graduating students experience considerable psychological adversity due to the uncertainty surrounding their futures. Given the positive psychological outcomes and the potential to alleviate stress, we examine the role of resilience and hope in causing a substantial variance in the stress response to anticipation of crisis among Indians living in India and Germany. Resilience, hope, crisis apprehension, and the psychological response to the COVID-19 pandemic were measured among participants from India and Germany (n = 650) via an online survey using non-probability convenient sampling. Parallel mediation and conditional indirect effects showcase the differential roles of resilience and hope among socio-culturally similar but geographically divergent groups. Hope mediates the effect of pandemic-led crisis apprehension on perceived stress among those residing in India; resilience operates to mitigate stress among those from Germany. Findings highlight the contradistinctive role of resilience and hope in reducing stress and imply an urgent need for promotion of ameliorative practices. Resilience effectively mitigates the psychological burden of the COVID-19 crisis and can be promoted to reskill individuals; however, elevating hope in a crisis obligates prudence. The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.