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Structural Relationship between Cognitive Image, Destination Personality and Tourists Motivation
This research work was an extract from a major research on understanding personality and image of destination. This portion of research intended to identify a theoretical model consisting of cognitive destination image, destination personality traits and tourists motivation in destination branding context and to validate it hypothetically. This research was carried out in Coimbatore District an emerging destination in Tamil Nadu, India between 2018 and 2019. Flourishing erratic tourism industrys scenarios and the need for academic research blended as the motive for this for this model-based study. Evidence was found in the literature that tourists belief about the destination, touristsmotivation and perceived destination personality traits were found interrelated. Thus, the theoretical model was found. For validating the proposed model, a questionnaire confirmed through pilot study containing the required study variables was circulated to the tourists who visited the destination for tourism purposes. With the sample size as 448 after screening and eliminating the illegible responses, three stage process of analysis that include Exploratory Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling had been performed. The conceptual model was validated and found that there existed the interrelationship between touristsperceived cognitive image, perceived personality traits of the destination and tourists motivation to tour. Marketers of destinations were suggested to use the model for formulating branding and marketing activities. The scope for further research was pointed out on expanding the research model with other destination perspectives considering the outcome as base. Copyright IJHTS. -
Do Tourists' Motives Alter Based on What They See on E-Sources of Information? An SEM Approach to Determine the Impact
With growing competition in the tourism industry and changing tourists' expectations, motives and behavior, marketers are at the outset to promote, position and brand their tourism destinations lucratively. Though there are many allied themes on destination branding and marketing arena, tourists' motives have been widely looked up as research emphasis the dynamic revamps being seen with the intervention of digital sources of information. However, research at this aspect is at gradual phase. This paper focuses on such a theme and tries to understand the significant impact of tourists' behavior towards esources of information on their motives. Literary sources have been analyzed and hypothesis has been formulated. To test the assumption, the research location has been chosen - a district in Tamil Nadu state which serves wide range of tourists' motives and bestowed with distinct tourism attractions. A Structured questionnaire containing the necessary items measuring the study factors has been floated to 422 tourists through convenient sampling technique. However, 327 have been rounded as the final sample after excluding the illegible responses. Three Stage Analysis has been performed where Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) has been sued for data reduction and exploring the new factors, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) has been used for identifying and confirming the individual models and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) has been used for understanding the structural relationship between the factors. Model fit has been found for CFA and SEM. Significant impact has been found by tourists' behavior towards the esources of information on tourists' motives. Simple Percentage Analysis (SPA) has been used to analyze the distribution of respondents based on their personal factors. Suggestions to the marketers and policy makers have been provided through managerial implications. Theoretical recommendations have also been narrated. Copyright IJHTS. -
Electrochemical investigation of neodymium doped vanadium pentoxide anchored on reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites for hybrid symmetric capacitor devices
The modern world is highly dependent on portable electronic gadgets, so high-performance energy storage devices are a major demand for human beings. Here, we construct neodymium-doped vanadium pentoxide anchored with reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite (rGO/Nd:V2O5) as the electrode material for a high-performance symmetric capacitor device. The prepared electrodes showed pseudocapacitor behaviour and double layer capacitor behaviour, indicating the hybrid nature of the rGO/Nd:V2O5 electrode. Also, the V2O5, Nd:V2O5 and rGO/Nd:V2O5 electrodes show higher capacitance behaviour of 447, 677 and 1122 F/g at 1 A/g and 89 %, 94 % and 98 % cyclic efficiency at the 1000th cycle. However, the rGO/Nd:V2O5 symmetric capacitor device exhibits a higher capacitance value of 218 F/g at 1 A/g and a cyclic efficiency of 82 % at the 10000th cycle. Also, this electrode shows a low charge transfer resistance value of 12.67 ?. This result shows the prepared rGO/Nd:V2O5 electrode as the high-performance electrode material for the supercapacitor devices. 2023 Elsevier Ltd -
Arduino based IOT platform for remote monitoring of heart attacks and patients falls
Internet of things (IoT) is a networking concept that allows connection of various smart devices. This concept plays a huge role in the healthcare industry. The developed system is a working prototype for realtime monitoring of patient falls and heart attacks. The process of developing this system included an architecture, which was built using Arduino UNO and Arduino NANO along with pulse sensors and accelerometer sensors. The main idea is to collect health-related data from time to time and the collected data is made available using a real-time interface called Thingspeak. With the help of this process, the person can be monitored from time to time without any hassle. The proposed system also makes use of delivering notifications at the time of emergency using the GSM technology, which is embedded with the Arduino architecture. This system will be of greater help to elderly people, people suffering from Frankenstein disease or people who are in a history of getting heart attacks due to genetic disorders. 2018 Manikandan Shanmugam and Monisha Singh. -
CHARACTERIZATION OF BOUNDS FOR ??ADJACENCY ENERGY OF A GRAPH
Recently Nikiforov et.al [9] put forward the ??adjacency energy of a graph G. In this paper, we continue the work on ??adjacency energy and obtain bounds for this new parameter in terms of order, size and the first Zagreb index. Indian Mathematical Society, 2023. -
Early bruise detection, classification and prediction in strawberry using Vis-NIR hyperspectral imaging
The most frequent kind of damage to strawberries is bruising. However, most of the bruises are so barely perceptible at an early stage on the surface, that detection of them with the human eye is quite challenging. This study proposes a method for accurately detecting and classifying the damage using reflectance imaging spectroscopy. In order to carry out the study, an experiment was devised to artificially induce bruises and a dataset was generated at different bruise intervals. A model for detecting and classifying bruises at their latent stage was developed using machine learning classifiers, including support vector machines (SVM), k-nearest neighbors (KNN), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), random forest (RF), and decision tree (DT), to investigate the changes over time after bruise occurrence on the detection performance. Regression models for the prediction of bruising time were developed using partial least square regression (PLSR), RF, gradient boosting (GB), support vector regression (SVR), and DT. Among the compared models, both SVM and LDA could achieve 99.99 % classification accuracy. RF was regarded as being the most advisable for detection and prediction jobs due to its high performance. It achieved MSE of 0.052 and R2 of 0.989 for prediction. 2024 Elsevier Ltd -
Analysis of the chemical properties and high-temperature rheological properties of MDI modified bio-asphalt
As an environmentally friendly material, bio-oil is employed to partially replace non-renewable petroleum asphalt, but its addition weakens the high-temperature non-deformability of petroleum asphalt. Therefore, the 4,4?-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) was employed as a chemical modifier of bio-asphalt to improve its high temperature rheological properties. The MDI with addition of 0.5%, 1%, 2%, 4% by weight, and the bio-oil with addition of 12% were used to obtain the MDI modified bio-asphalts. The chemical reaction mechanism between the MDI and bio-asphalt was analyzed by employing the Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) tests. Meanwhile, the rotational plate viscosity (RPV) test, the temperature sweep test, and the multiple stress creep and recovery (MSCR) test were employed to evaluate the high-temperature rheological properties of the MDI modified bio-asphalts. Moreover, the relationships between the chemical reaction mechanism and high-temperature rheological parameters of MDI modified bio-asphalt were established. Test results show that a nucleophilic addition reaction occurred between the MDI and the active hydrogen of bio-asphalt to form urethane chains, which increased the content of macromolecular polymers in the bio-asphalt. The MDI increased the G*/sin? (rutting factor) and the E(?) (visco-flow activation energy) of the bio-asphalt, but decreased its permanent strain and Jnr (non-recoverable creep compliance). Therefore, the MDI modifier effectively enhanced the permanent non-deformability of the bio-asphalt. Both IUrethane and LMS were positively correlated with the rutting factor, viscosity and 1/Jnr, and had significant correlations at a significance level of 0.05. Furthermore, the optimal ratio of MDI to bio-oil was determined to be 1:6 by mass. 2020 Elsevier Ltd -
Mirabijalones S-W, rotenoids from rhizomes of white Mirabilis jalapa Linn. and their cell proliferative studies
Five undescribed (2-6) rotenoid derivatives along with three known rotenoids (1, 7 and 8) were isolated from the rhizomes of white colored variety of Mirabilis jalapa Linn. The structures of these undescribed compounds were elucidated based on UV, IR, HR-MS (ESI), 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic techniques. Selected compounds were evaluated for their cell viability and proliferation in two cancer cell lines namely, cervical (HeLa), breast (SKBR-3) and normal lung fibroblast (WI-38). Among them, the compounds Boeravinone C (1), Mirabijalone S (2), Mirabijalone T (3) and 4, 6, 11-trihydroxy-9-methoxy-10-methylchromeno [3, 4-b] chromen-12(6H)-one (8) showed moderate cytotoxicity against HeLa cells with IC50 values in the 8.40 ? 12.9 ?M range, and compound 8 exhibited cytotoxicity against SKBR-3 cells with IC50 value of 17.6 ?M. Molecular docking studies of isolated compounds were performed with three apoptosis proteins, 3H11, 2AR9 and 1X0X. These results revealed that the isolated compounds were found to interact with Caspase 8 and 9 along with the anti-apoptotic protein Survivin. Since these compounds exhibit cytotoxic effects against SKBR3 and HeLa cells, they are expected to show apoptosis and may be further utilized for wet lab apoptotic studies. 2021 Phytochemical Society of Europe -
Modelling of critical success factors for blockchain technology adoption readiness in the context of agri-food supply chain
The agri-food supply chain is continuously facing several challenges; the most severe are food quality and safety issues. These issues debilitate the performance of the supply chain and often harm the consumer's health. Therefore, there is an urgent need to address food quality and safety assurance in the supply chain. Blockchain technology (BCT) holds the potential to resolve these issues by enhancing security and transparency. The present study explores the critical success factors (CSFs) of BCT adoption readiness in the AFSC. Initially, CSFs are identified through a literature survey and finalised by experts' opinion. The finalised factors are prioritised using the fuzzy best-worst method, followed by sensitivity analysis. The results reflect that 'food quality control', 'provenance tracking and traceability', and 'partnership and trust' as the top three success factors. The study's findings will assist policymakers, managers, and practitioners in strategising the decision-making process while BCT dissemination. Copyright 2023 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. -
Investigating the transport flexibility measures for freight transportation: a fuzzy best-worst method approach
Unpredicted disruptions force organisations to ensure flexibility for fulfilling customer demand. Enabling flexibility along the transportation system is the most suitable solution for unpredictable disruptions. Flexibility, being a potential element, requires more attention to gain competitive advantages. In this study, an effort has been made to investigate different transport flexibility measures (TFMs) related to freight transportation. Initially, an extensive literature survey is performed to identify different TFMs linked with the supply chain and logistics domain. Further, an integrated fuzzy best-worst method (FBWM) has been adopted to prioritise the identified TFMs and sensitivity analysis is performed to ensure robustness of the model. The findings of the study reflect mode, fleet, vehicle and speed flexibility as the significant flexibility measures for freight transportation. This study will help practitioners, managers and decision-makers associated with freight transportation to make better decisions to ensure flexibility in the freight transportation system. Copyright 2022 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. -
Inventory model for deteriorating items with ramp type demand under permissible delay in payment
Permissible delay in payment is a common method of payment often used by the suppliers and it generally leads to higher sales and ultimately higher revenue. This method is significant in the case of deteriorating products. In this paper, an inventory model for the deteriorating items with price and time-dependent ramp type demand is presented with shortages allowed and partially backlogged. The solution procedure is illustrated by numerical examples. The concavity of the profit function with respect to the decision variable is discussed analytically. Numerical analysis shows that the profit per unit time increases with the delay payment facility. Copyright 2021 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. -
Subsume Pediatric Headaches in Psychiatric Disorders? Critiques on Delphic Nosology, Diagnostic Conundrums, and Variability in the Interventions
Purpose of Review: Tension-type headache (TTH) continues to be the most prevalent type of headache across all age groups worldwide, and the global burden of migraine and TTH together account for 7% of all-cause years lived with disability (YLDs). TTH has been shown to have a prevalence of up to 80% in several studies and presents a wide range and high variability in clinical settings. The aim of this review is to identify gaps in diagnostics, nosology, and variability in the treatment of children and adolescents who present with headaches without an identifiable etiology. Recent Findings: Migraine and TTH have been debated to have more similarities than distinctions, increasing chances of misdiagnosis and leading to significant cases diagnosed as probable TTH or probable migraine. The lack of specificity and sensitivity for TTH classification often leads to the diagnosis being made by negating associated migraine symptoms. Although pathology is not well understood, some studies have suggested a neurological basis for TTH, in need of further validation. Some research indicates that nitric oxide signaling plays an integral part in the pain mechanisms related to TTH. Analgesics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories are usually the first lines of treatment for children with recurring headaches, and additional treatment options include medication and behavioral therapies. Summary: With high prevalence and socioeconomic burden among children and adolescents, its essential to further study Tension-type headaches and secondary headaches without known cause and potential interventions. Treatment studies involving randomized controlled trials are also needed to test the efficacy of various treatments further. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2024. -
Two inventory models for growing items under different payment policies with deterioration
Industries of growing items show an upward trend in the production as well as in consumption. Poultry and livestock are good examples of growing items which are both deteriorating and ameliorating in nature. In this study apart from these specific features of growing items, one of the real-world business policies, permission of delay in payment is also considered. Present paper proposed two inventory models, one with the permission of delay in payment and another without it. Concavity of the profit functions with respect to decision variables are discussed analytically for both the models. Solution procedure and numerical examples are provided in order to get the managerial insights. The numerical analysis growth in weight is approximated by Richard's growth function. The numerical analysis predicts that net profit and the initial purchase quantity both increases under the permissible delay payment policy compared to without it. Sensitivity analysis provides important managerial insights. Copyright 2022 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. -
Optimal procurement and pricing policy for deteriorating items with price and time dependent seasonal demand and permissible delay in payment
In practice, items like food, nursery plants, medicines, etc. are seasonal and deteriorating in nature. For this type of products, permissible delay in payment is a common business policy, which is used to increase in the sell volume and to develop trust in buyer-seller relationship. In this paper, we developed an inventory model for time dependent deteriorating seasonal items with the permission of delay in payment. Shortages are permitted and partially back ordered. Our aim is to find optimal selling price and ordering quantity simultaneously. Concavity of profit function with respect to decision variables has been discussed analytically. A solution procedure followed by a numerical example and sensitivity analysis along with managerial insights are provided. Numerical analysis predicts that delay in payment profit policy is a better decision in order to maximise the profit or in order to get more profit. 2022 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. -
Efficient cationic dye removal from water through Arachis hypogaea skin-derived carbon nanospheres: a rapid and sustainable approach
The present study investigates the potential of Arachis hypogaea skin-derived carbon nanospheres (CNSs) as an efficient adsorbent for the rapid removal of cationic dyes from aqueous solutions. The CNSs were synthesized through a facile, cost-effective, catalyst-free and environmentally friendly process, utilizing Arachis hypogaea skin waste as a precursor. This is the first reported study on the synthesis of mesoporous carbon nanospheres from Arachis hypogaea skin. The structural and morphological characteristics of the CNSs were confirmed by different nano-characterization techniques. The adsorption performance of the carbon nanospheres was evaluated through batch adsorption experiments using two cationic dyes-methylene blue (MB) and malachite green (MG). The effects of the initial dye concentration, contact time, adsorbent dosage, and pH were investigated to determine the optimal conditions for dye removal. The results revealed that the obtained CNSs exhibited remarkable adsorption capacity and rapid adsorption kinetics. Up to ?98% removal efficiency was noted for both dyes in as little as 2 min for a 5 mg L?1 dye concentration, and the CNSs maintained their structural morphology even after adsorption. The adsorption data were fitted to various kinetic and isotherm models to gain insights into the adsorption mechanism and behaviour. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Redlich-Peterson model best described the experimental data, indicating multi-layer adsorption and chemisorption as the predominant adsorption mechanism. The maximum adsorption capacity was determined to be 1128.46 mg g?1 for MB and 387.6 mg g?1 for MG, highlighting the high affinity of the carbon nanospheres towards cationic dyes. Moreover, CNS reusability and stability were examined through desorption and regeneration experiments, which revealed sustained efficiency over 7 cycles. CNSs were immobilised in a membrane matrix and examined for adsorption, which demonstrated acceptable efficiency values and opened the door for further improvement. 2024 RSC. -
Study to assess attitudes towards statistics of business school students: An application of the SATS-36 in India
Students attitudes towards Statistics are pivotal to their learning process as positive attitudes lead to highly satisfactory course achievement and lead to positive outcomes outside class as well. In this paper we are exploring the perception of students of management apropos Statistics, familiarity with which is imperative in todays world of Analytics. The quantitative approach was used to compare attitudes of the students using the two versions of the SATS-36 instrument validated and copyrighted by Candace Schau. A Google form was used to collect responses and was sent to all the students who were enrolled in the Business Statistics course. 172 students responded for the pre-test study while 71 students responded for the post-test study. Data was analysed to see if gender, specialisation choices and previous math experiences accounted for differences in perceptions towards Statistics. It was found that students overall perception of statistics is positive and surprisingly they were more positive towards the beginning of the semester. These results are important as they can lead towards understanding of business students attitudes towards statistics and a way to refine the teaching learning process so that students are in a strong position to exploit the supply demand gap in the Analytics domain and deliver value to organisations. 2021 Eskisehir Osmangazi University. All rights reserved. -
A ratiometric luminescence thermometer based on lanthanide encapsulated complexes
Lanthanide-containing complexes have been widely developed as ratiometric luminescence thermometers, which are non-invasive, contactless and accurate. The synthesis of these Ln complexes generally requires high temperatures, multiple steps and other harsh conditions. Moreover, bimetallic lanthanide complexes, which have been reported to be better thermometers, are even more challenging to synthesize. This complexity can be simplified by preparing a host-guest complex of lanthanides. In this work, Tb or both Tb and Eu are encapsulated in an MOF host, making them emissive. The ratio of Tb/Eu was also easily tuned by simply changing their ratio in the solution, resulting in a tunable emission. Accordingly, we were able to synthesise both the emissive Tb complex and Tb/Eu complexes at different ratios using a single host. The complexes were found to be suitable as ratiometric luminescent thermometers in the temperature range of 160-380 K, with reasonably good sensitivity and uncertainty. The thermometer's sensitivity and uncertainty were significantly improved using bimetallic Tb and Eu host-guest complexes. Calculations using the host and Eu emission ratio were found to provide better thermometer parameters than the commonly reported Tb and Eu emission ratio. Thus, using a single host, we were able to synthesise different lanthanide complexes that can sense temperature, and we improved the thermometer parameters by incorporating multiple lanthanides in a single host. This research will enable the scientific community to reexamine the applicability of unexplored host-guest lanthanide complexes. 2025 The Royal Society of Chemistry. -
EVALUATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF MEDICAL WASTE AND ITS INCREASE AFTER COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Medical waste is a special course of harmful contaminants. Improper treatment would cause tributary environmental pollution, expressly when countering to communal health tragedies. However, there are quite few explores on the peer group of medical waste, and there is a deficiency of basic considerate of its spatial-temporal heterogeneity. The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic estimation of the effectiveness of these incongruous discarding procedures in expressions of water eminence and wellbeing. The research is centred on municipal areas characterised by vital medical waste production, which has the probable to taint groundwater and water sources. A complex approach is exploited in the procedure, which comprises of water sample collection, laboratory analysis, field surveys, and GIS-based spatial mapping. Medical waste disposal hotspots, such as healthcare facilities, waste collection points, and disposal sites, will be acknowledged through field surveys. Inspects will be showed on water samples poised from a variability of sources, including lakes, rivers, and groundwater wells, to find pathogens, medical residues, heavy metals, and organic pollutants, which are all gauges of medical waste contamination. The test centre analysis will utilise chic policies to portion the deliberation of pollutants in water samples, thereby gauging the likely hazards they pose to marine ecosystems and human health. Longitudinal visualisation of uncleanness distribution through GIS-based mapping facilitates the credentials of vulnerable areas and potential pathways for pollutant transport. The findings of this research will offer significant helps to our understanding of the extent of environmental deterioration resulting from the inadequate disposal of medical refuse into urban water sources. The results of this study will provide valuable insights for the creation of alertness campaigns, regulatory frameworks, and mitigation strategies that are operative in talking this urgent environmental concern and shielding the truthfulness of water in municipal regions. 2024, Scibulcom Ltd.. All rights reserved. -
Research & development premium in the Indian equity market: An empirical study
This article aims to investigate the research and development (R&D) premium and explore the three most prominent asset pricing models: capital asset pricing and the three-and five-factor models (Fama & French, 1993; 2015). The results show that India's annualized average R&D premium is significantly higher than the existing value, market, profitability, size and investment premiums, implying that the R&D premium is a more significant concern for Indian investors, particularly for high R&D firms. It was also observed that by applying the GRS test and the Fama and MacBeth (1973) two-pass procedure, the R&D risk factor augmented the CAPM, FF3F and FF5F models outperforming the existing CAPM, FF3F and FF5F models, respectively. We can also report that R&D is, unquestionably, a priced ingredient and a critical factor in developing pricing models for developing markets such as India. The paper's conclusions add to the current literature in R&D and asset pricing and assist investment professionals in developing better investment and trading strategies. 2021 AESS Publications. All Rights Reserved. -
Financial Distress and Value Premium using Altman Revised Z-score Model
In the stock market, investors and value managers desire to be safe. Estimating equity returns and evaluating potential financial distress risk are essential for investment and trading decisions. The link between distress risk and stock return is controversial, and current literature yields contradicting results. A variety of models may be used to evaluate distress risk-return trade-offs. This paper employs a revised Altman Z-score to examine financial distress and value premiums. Using univariate and multivariate techniques, we examine firm- and industry-level portfolio returns, encompassing all Indian companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Results confirm the existence of the distress factor effect found in industry and firm-level portfolios. It shows that the distress risk factor significantly determines stock returns as an independent systematic risk factor. This result is consistently found in most industries. The study demonstrates the existence of a value premium in both distressed and safe zones. The study also used a multivariate GRS test and the Fama-Macbeth procedure to validate the reliability of the distress factor and pricing models. Results confirm that Altman model-based distress factor augmented models improve the performance of existing pricing models with higher reliability and accuracy. 2023 MDI.
