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Strategy formulation and implementation in the zimbabwean food manufacturing sector
This study focused on examining the influence of strategy formulation and implementation on the performance and competitive advantage of the foodmanufacturing companies in Zimbabwe. The study was prompted by the fact that newlinestrategy is essential in every organisation and that competing in the market is like newlinewar, you have injuries and casualties and the best strategy wins . More so, even though the food-manufacturing companies are essential to the Zimbabwean economy, there has been limited research on the area of strategy formulation and implementation. The study applied both quantitative and qualitative approaches because looking at the same problem from several viewpoints is an excellent way to verify data and come up with interpretation and conclusions. It is in view of this fact that the researcher used the triangulation approach, which is a combination of both philosophies, qualitative and quantitative data. The research was a survey because it allowed the research to collect data from a sizeable number of participants in 10 foodmanufacturing companies in Zimbabwe. The researcher used personal judgement in selecting the companies to be part of the study. The data was collected from directors and managerial employees, who are largely involved in the process of strategy formulation and implementation. The researcher used the questionnaires and the indepth interviews as research instruments. SPSS was the quantitative data analysis and qualitative data analysis was using thematic analysis. The study found out that foodmanufacturing companies in Zimbabwe were facing performance related challenges and there were mixed responses on the extent to which they were failing to meet financial, customer, internal business process improvement, and learning and growth targets. The food-manufacturing companies implemented marketing, human resource, financial and operations strategies but were not successful in their endeavours. -
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STRENGTH OF INTERNET TIES AND IMPACT OF FACEBOOK ON YOUTH
This dissertation aims at studying the social networking site??s impact on people and relationships. There are different reasons why people use social networking sites like Facebook. The study aims to check whether it is the loneliness or the need for socialization that encourages networking on such sites. Study looks into Facebook and other social networking sites have changed the youngsters?? lives and lifestyles. This research tries to find out how this new media trend has affected peoples attitude towards life and also their attitude towards relationships. A questionnaire has been used to find the opinion of the people regarding the social networking concept. 75-100 people were researched to find out the exact need for social networking. The ability of networks to introduce new actors and new contents in the process of social organization, with relative independence to the power centres, increased over time with technological change, and more precisely, with the evolution of communication technologies. This is the reason that social networks has encouraged creating strong bonds. Through this study I want to understand if these ties are actually as effective as they seem to be. Internet does have both positive and negative impacts on the youth but the relations that are formed or maintained cannot be used to replace the real world actual relations. -
Strength of internet ties and impact of facebook on youth /
This dissertation aims at studying the social networking sites impact on people and relationships. There are different reasons why people use social networking sites like Facebook. The study aims to check whether it is the loneliness or the need for socialization that encourages networking on such sites. Study looks into Facebook and other social networking sites have changed the youngsters lives and lifestyles. This research tries to find out how this new media trend has affected peoples attitude towards life and also their attitude towards relationships. A questionnaire has been used to find the opinion of the people regarding the social networking concept. 75-100 people were researched to find out the exact need for social networking. The ability of networks to introduce new actors and new contents in the process of social organization, with relative independence to the power centres, increased over time with technological change, and more precisely, with the evolution of communication technologies. -
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Student-Teacher Relationship Patterns in Undergraduate College
The student-teacher relationship has always been important at all levels of formal education, including undergraduate level. Positive student-teacher relationship plays direct role in facilitating students experience, and ultimately enhancing the academic outcomes. Furthermore, such relationship, especially at undergraduate level, becomes crucial since it also helps to facilitate the change and transformation process of adolescents who are stepping out from kindergraten-12th grade (K-12) system of education and venturing into college life. Given such importance and closeness in the relationship, this study attempted to examine the attachment patterns of the student-teacher relationship at undergraduate level. The research was guided by two broad questions. First, is student-teacher relationship at undergraduate level an attachment relationship? Second, if it is an attachment relationship, do distinct patterns exist? Drawing on two-dimensional internal working model of adult attachment postulated by Bartholomew (1980) as conceptual framework, the study explored the perception of 216 undergraduate students on student-teacher relationship from a university in Bangalore by using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). From the result two distinct dimensions, first related to students self and second associated to their view about availability of teachers and how they would reciprocate in the interactions, were observed which was later confirmed by CFA. The finding could help in future research to find the aspects of the relationship that promote the sense of security and supportiveness to enhance the academic outcomes of the students. Keywords: adult attachment patterns, student-teacher relationship -
Studey of different types of modulations on double diffusive convection in lodroyd-b liquids
The problem aims to find the effects of temperature modulation in viscoelastic newlinefluids namely Oldroyd B liquids subjected to double diffusive convection. Both linear as well as a non-linear study has been carried out. A regular perturbation technique has been employed to determine the correction Rayleigh number. The results show that the Lewis number and strain retardation parameter induces stability to the system whereas stress relaxation parameter destabilizes the system for synchronous modulation. Truncated Fourier series represents the non-linear newlineanalysis. Mean Nusselt number and mean Sherwood number are used to quantify the newlineheat and mass transfer respectively. Strain retardation parameter and the Lewis number decrease the heat and mass transfer for synchronous modulation while stress relaxation parameter increases them. The opposite results are obtained for newlineasynchronous and lower wall modulations. Modulation is shown mostly to give rise newlineto super critical motion. -
Studies on color energy and its variations in graphs
This thesis consists of studies on color energy and its variations in graphs. Apart from the exploration of color energy corresponding to various coloring schemes, the notion of P-energy as a generalization of color energy has been introduced. The computation of color energy and P-energy of graphs has been carried out using Python programs, while the general results are derived using research methods and proof techniques in linear algebra. The bounds of color energy for a graph G have been established in terms of several graph parameters such as chromatic number χ(G), domination number γ(G), maximum degree ∆(G) etc. It has been found out that the color energy of a graph G is greater than or equal to 1 n γ(G) p 2(m+m′ c ). Further, the bounds of color energy of a graph G in terms of extreme eigenvalues of color matrix of G have been obtained. -
Studies on color energy and its variations in graphs
This thesis consists of studies on color energy and its variations in graphs. Apart from the exploration of color energy corresponding to various coloring schemes, the notion of P-energy as a generalization of color energy has been introduced. The computation of color energy and P-energy of graphs has been carried out using Python programs, while the general results are derived using research methods and proof techniques in linear algebra. The bounds of color energy for a graph G have been established in terms of several graph parameters such as chromatic number and#967;(G), domination number and#947;(G), maximum degree and#8710;(G) etc. It has been found out that the color energy of a graph G is greater than or equal to 1 n and#947;(G) q 2(m + mand#8242;c). Further, the bounds of color energy of a graph G in terms of extreme eigenvalues of color matrix of G have been obtained. The study on color energy with respect to the minimum number of colors and L(h, k)-coloring has been examined in detail for some families of graphs such as star graph, double star, crown graph and their color complements. We have also examined the variation of color energy in the specific cases of T-coloring and radio coloring for some families of graphs. The examination of color energy corresponding to some improper colorings such as Hamiltonian coloring, open neighborhood coloring and improper C-coloring has also been done. Moreover, the color equi-energetic families of graphs with respect to various coloring schemes have been investigated. The concept of P-energy has been introduced as a generalization of the concept of color energy. This stems from the fact that coloring problems in essence are vertex partition problems. For any vertex partition P having k elements, we define the P-matrix AP(G) having and#8722;1, 0, 1, 2 as off diagonal entries and diagonal entries represent the cardinality of the elements in partition P. Then, the P-energy EP(G) is defined as the sum of the absolute values of eigenvalues of P-matrix of G. -
Studies on dark matter dark energy and possible alternate models
The nature of dark matter (DM) and dark energy (DE) which is supposed to constitute about 95% of the energy density of the universe is still a mystery. There is no shortage of ideas regarding the nature of both. While some candidates for DM are clearly ruled out, there is still a plethora of viable particles that fit the bill. In the context of DE, while current observations favour a cosmological constant picture, there are other competing models which may be equally likely. The standard model for the formation of structure assumes that there newlineexisted small fluctuations in the early universe that grew due to gravitational instability. The origin of these fluctuations are still unclear. In this study, we proposed the role of dark matter in providing the seed for star formation in the early universe, which is supported by very recent observations. With this we set observable constraints on luminosities, temperatures, and lifetimes of the early stars with an admixture of dark matter. We also studied the effects of the background repulsive dark energy density for large scale cosmic structures. The relation, and#119872;and#8260;and#119877;2 and#8776; 1and#119892;/and#119888;and#119898;2, seems to hold true for primeval galaxies as well as those at present epoch. From this, we set constraints on the nature and evolution of dark energy. Besides, we also set constraints on the size of galaxy clusters and superclusters due to the repulsive cosmological dark energy. This could indicate as to why large scale cosmic structures much larger than and#8764;200 Mpc are not seen.This study also looked at the evolution of the concept of the cosmological constant from its inception a little over a hundred years ago when Einstein introduced the cosmological constant in his General Theory of Relativity newlinein order to obtain a static universe to conform to the philosophical view of newlinethe universe at that time to it possibly making up close to about 70% of the energy density of the universe. -
Studies on K X Ray fluorescence parameters of low and medium Z elements
K X-ray fluorescence parameters for pure elements have been determined using different single and double reflection geometry by several researchers over the years. Horakeri et al.have shown that the K X-ray fluorescence parameters can also be determined by a simple 2and#960;-geometrical configuration method and a NaI(Tl) detector spectrometer for high Z elements. newlineHowever, in order to study the K XRF parameters for low Z elements, high resolution detector spectrometers are required.But in high resolution detectors like HPGe and Si(Li), due to the gap between window and the active area of the detector, the solid angle subtended by the detector at the target is not 2and#960;. Hence a suitable geometry correction is required for accurate newlinemeasurement of incident photons and the emitted K X-ray photons in order to determine the K XRF parameters in low Z elements. In the present study, employing a nearly 2and#960;-geometrical configuration and applying suitable geometry correction, we have determined the K X-ray fluorescence parameters of a few low and medium Z elements in the range of 27 and#8804; Z and#8804; 30 and 42 and#8804; Z and#8804; 47 respectively. The elements were procured in the form of thin foils and were irradiated by a weak radioactive source. The emitted K X-ray photons were detected using a low energy high resolution HPGe detector spectrometer. The incident photons, emitted K X-ray photons and the transmitted photons at newlinethe incident energy is measured and were corrected for window attenuation, efficiency, self-attenuation and geometry correction newlineto obtain the true intensities of incident photons, emitted K Xray photons and the transmitted photons at the incident energy. -
Studies On Single Crystals and Thin Films of Tin Sulfide(SnS) For Photovoltaic Applications
The thesis is concerned with linear and nonlinear Rayleigh-Bard electroconvection in a horizontal porous layer. Modified Darcy law is employed to describe the fluid motion. The effect of non-classical heat conduction, chemical reaction, thermal radiation and finite amplitudes on the onset of Darcy electroconvection is considered. The findings of the problems investigated in the thesis may prove useful in heat transfer application situations with dielectric fluids as working medium. The summary of the problems addressed in the thesis is given below.Effect of non-classical heat conduction on Rayleigh-Bard newlineconvection in a horizontal layer of porous medium saturated with a dielectric fluid The method of small perturbations is used to examine the effect of non-classical heat conduction on the onset of Darcy electroconvection. Exact solutions for both stationary and oscillatory instability are obtained and known results have been deduced as limiting cases of the present study. It is shown that electroconvective instability in a Darcy porous layer is hastened by increasing the strengths of second sound and electric newlineforces and that the presence of second sound and dielectrophoretic force leads to shorter wavelength electroconvection. Further, it is found that the effect of Vadasz number is to advance the onset of oscillatory Darcy newlineelectroconvection and oscillatory instability sets in before stationary convection provided that the Vadasz number and the Cattaneo number are sufficiently large. Rayleigh-Bard convection in a horizontal layer of porous medium saturated with a chemically reacting dielectric fluid The problem of the effect of chemical reaction on the onset of Darcy electroconvection in a horizontal porous layer heated from below is newlineinvestigated. It is assumed that the fluid experiences a zero-order exothermic chemical reaction and that there exists a local thermal equilibrium between the fluid and the solid phases. -
Studies on single crystals and thin films on tin sulfide (SnS) for photovoltaic applications
There is an increasing demand for renewable energy sources due to the limited availability of fossil, risk factor associated with nuclear fuel and due to growing environmental concern. Photovoltaic (PV) energy conversion has the potential to contribute significantly to the electrical energy of the main obstacles preventing production and application on a large scale. Availability of the materials and their processing cost are the two major constraints associated with the presently leading PV technologies. Hence, cost of the electricity produced by these technologies are not yet competitive compared to the electricity produced by conventional sources. -
Studies on the Culture Conditions, Nutritional Value of the Black Soldier Fly, Hermetia illucens (Diptera : Stratiomyid) and its Suitability as Aquaculture Feed
The Black Soldier Fly (BSF), Hermetia illucens, has emerged as a promising newlinesolution in aquaculture due to its remarkable ability to convert organic waste into newlineprotein-rich biomass. This has garnered interest among aquaculturists seeking costeffective and sustainable alternative ingredients for aqua feed. However, fully newlineharnessing the potential of this insect requires a deeper understanding of its life cycle and nutritional composition. A key challenge in utilising BSF larvae (BSFL) for newlineaquafeed production is the lack of standardized culture systems. This study addresses this gap by establishing a comprehensive culture system using two common organic wastes, fruit waste (FW) and vegetable waste (VW), as rearing substrates. By evaluating the growth performance of BSFL reared on these substrates, the research sheds light on optimal conditions for large-scale BSF production. The study investigated the impact of FW and VW substrates on BSFL growth through a thorough analysis of growth performance, morphometric measurements and newlineScanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Results showed that BSFL reared on FW exhibited better growth (40 days) than those reared on VW (46 days). Morphometric analysis and SEM identified five larval stages and the prepupa, pupa, and adult stages. Additionally, the study analysed the nutritional composition of BSFL at different newlinedevelopmental stages, such as Instar 3 through instar 5, prepupa and pupa, including newlineprotein, carbohydrate, lipid, amino acids and fatty acids. This provided insights into newlinehow variations in substrate impact the nutritional quality of BSFL at different stages, which is crucial for ensuring that BSFL-derived feed meets the dietary requirements of target aquaculture species. Significant differences were found in the proximate composition of the substrates (FW and VW), resulting in significant variations in BSFL nutrition. BSFL reared on FW exhibited higher nutritional content especially crude newlineprotein (54.160.64%), than those reared on VW, except for crude lipids (2.200.01%). -
Studies on the Fresh Water Algal Floria in Chimmony Wildlife Sanctuary
Algae is a crucial organism in the environment. They help in maintaining the balance among different ecosystems. According to the geography and climatic conditions, newlineKerala has a suitable environment for algal growth. However, the algal biodiversity newlinestudies conducted in Kerala are significantly less. The wildlife sanctuary comprises a newlineconsiderable scope for algal biodiversity. The Chimmony wildlife sanctuary is situated in Mukundapuram taluk of Thrissur district. It spreads over 85.067 km2 with a water spread area of 10.1 km2. Ten different sampling stations were selected across newlinethe wildlife sanctuary, and extensive field visits were conducted to identify and newlinedocument the algae with respect to three seasons (pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post- newlinemonsoon). The physicochemical parameters of water like dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH, alkalinity, total dissolved solids, light intensity, and rainfall amount were estimated seasonally. In this present study, a total of 121 taxa belonging to 60 genera, 38 families, 24 orders, and 5 classes, namely Chlorophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Euglenineae, Rhodophyceae, and Cyanophyceae, were identified from 10 different stations. The Bacillariophyceae and Chlorophyceae were the most dominant class in the study area. The algal multiplication will be more in the pre monsoon season and it was observed that the Chlorophyceaen members were dominant, while the Bacillariophyceae were dominant during the post-monsoon season. Cyanophyceae was dominant only during the monsoon season because of its sensitivity toward light. The ANOVA (Two-way) analysis showed no significant difference between stations, and there is a considerable difference between seasons for dissolved oxygen, alkalinity, temperature, and total dissolved solids. While pH, showed no significant difference between seasons and stations, light intensity showed a substantial difference between stations and seasons. The temperature and dissolved oxygen showed a negative correlation. -
Studies on thermal, structural, electrical and optical properties of Se-Te-Sb chalcogenide glasses /
Glasses, an intriguing state of matter, known to mankind since ages, have seen systematically reported investigations only in the 20th century. Of the various kinds of glasses such as silicates, oxides, halides, chalcogenide etc., a large spectrum of commercial and technological applications of chalcogenide glasses(ChG), have made them a subject of great interest and studied for more than four decades now. -
STUDY OF BOUND AND CONTINUUM STATE BETA DECAY RATES OF A FEW BARE NUCLEI
Beta decay is one of the most widely studied research problems in nuclear physics. There has been a growing interest in understanding the dynamics of beta decay transitions for many decades. Many research groups have invested a lot of time, money and effort in experiments as well as developing the theory for the same. Lot of work was done using Fermis theory and huge amount of data is available in that domain of nuclear physics. But recently, standard model has gained a lot of attention in the eyes of theoretical nuclear physicists and particle physicists to understand nuclear transitions with more importance to gluons mixing and quark mixing by incorporating CKM matrix and PMNS matrix elements. Subsequently, the standard model theory is applied to beta decay to gain a better insight with the application of standard weak interaction Hamiltonian to compute decay rates. The half life and stability of these nuclei depends on decay rates. Also, it gives us an idea about the kind of transitions which happen and which dont. Recent interest in comparison of two modes of beta decay namely, continuum and bound state for same mother and daughter set, paved way for a lot of interesting calculations by various research groups. It is exciting to understand as to how their differences are compared. The aim of this work is to predict continuum and bound state beta decay rates using approach incorporating standard weak theory for some new transitions, which has not been done so far and also compare few decay rates with existing experimental values done by various groups all over the globe. -
Study of buoyancy and surface tension driven convection in nanofluid
This thesis presents a detail study of linear and non-linear analysis of buoyancy and surface tension driven convection in nanofluid. The linear Rayleigh-Bernard / Rayleigh-Bernard Marangoni convection in nanofluids in the presence of external constraints like mangnetic feild, rotation and internal heat generation is investigated. -
Study of buoyancy and surface tension driven convention in nanaofluid
This thesis presents a detail study of linear and non-linear analysis of buoyancy and surface tension driven convection in nanofluid. The linear Rayleigh-Bard / Rayleigh- Bard Marangoni convection in nanofluids in the presence of external constraints like magnetic field, rotation and newlineinternal heat generation is investigated. The effect of temperature and volumetric concentration modulation of nanoparticles at the boundary and gravity modulation are studied on the onset of Rayleigh- Bard newlineconvection. The obtained results are discussed qualitatively and presented newlinegraphically. The problem discussed have important applications in the field of oceanography, geophysics, nuclear fuel, astrophysics, geothermal reservoirs, engineering and space situations with g-jitter connected with gravity simulation studies.Given the rising relevance of nanofluid application, we discuss four newlineproblems in this thesis whose detail summary is presented below: (i) LINEAR AND WEAKLY NON-LINEAR ANALYSIS OF GRAVITY MODULATION ON THE ONSET OF RAYLEIGH BARD CONVECTION IN NANOFLUID The effect of modulation of gravity or time-periodic body force on newlinethe onset of Rayleigh-Bard convection in nanofluid is studied using newlinelinear and non-linear analysis. The stability of the fluid layer heated from newlinebelow is analysed by considering time-periodic body acceleration. This newlinehappens generally in the vehicles and satellites associated with studies of newlinemicro gravity simulation. In order to study the effect of gravity modulation newlineon the system stability limit, linear and weakly non-linear analysis is performed. Normal mode technique and perturbation method is applied to study linear stability. The critical Rayleigh number and wave number is newlinecalculated by taking modulation of small amplitude. It is found that the critical thermal Rayleigh number can be increase or decrease by a massive amount depending upon the distribution of nanoparticles.In this thesis we considered bottom heavy distribution of nanoparticles.