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Agricultural inputs on rice yield: A case study of domestic rice production in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia
Full text linkThe key factors affecting domestic rice production in Preah Vihear Province, Cambodia, are investigated in this study. Cambodia’s economy depends largely on rice, which is both a main food and a major export. It helps Cambodia’s economy and food security. However, rice production is difficult due to lack of water, small farms, and geographical problems. Preah Vihear province is a key rice-producing region with hills and small farms. It helps increase income and sell rice to other countries with unique and famous rice seeds. To analyze the factors affecting domestic rice production in Preah Vihear, a statistical model known as ordinary least squares (OLS) will be used to examine the relationship between various input variables (costs) and rice yield. Data were gathered from a sample of 51 rice-farming households across five villages in Preah Vihear province. Additionally, both regression models indicated that herbicide costs were the most significant factor affecting rice yield, demonstrating high significance at the 5% level. This was closely followed by the price for renting rice harvesters and the total land area for rice production (ton). This study provides crucial information that can be used to develop targeted strategies to increase rice production and enhance the livelihoods of rural farmers. This will also empower stakeholders in the agricultural sector to propose campaigns that promote sustainable rice cultivation in local communities
Principles of revitalization of industrial areas in Ukrainian cities
Full text linkThe study of industrial areas damaged by the war in 2022–2024 in more than twenty Ukrainian cities and their adaptation to other functions is extremely relevant in our time. The purpose of the article is to reveal the basic principles of the revitalization of industrial and residential areas of the Ukrainian cities of Volnovakha, Rubizhne, Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Popasna, Shchastia, Toretsk, Bakhmut, Soledar, Avdiivka, Maryinka, Krasnohirka, Vugledar, Mariupol, Donetsk region, Orikhiv (Zaporizhzhya region), Kharkiv, Kupyansk, Bakaliya, Izyum (Kharkiv region), Kherson, Irpin, Bucha (Kyiv region), which were destroyed or damaged by a full-scale war, ensuring environmental sustainability and economic efficiency, taking into account socio-cultural aspects. The article explores the core principles of industrial site revitalization and provides successful examples of their implementation. The transformation of abandoned areas and the redistribution of their functions are analyzed. The article’s methodology is based on general scientific methods, including literature analysis, case comparisons, and synthesis of collected data to develop a professional approach to revitalizing neglected industrial sites. The research incorporates an analysis of international analogs of industrial site revitalization, as well as practical visits and field inspections of abandoned industrial areas in Ukraine, which help identify the primary methods and principles applied in revitalization projects. The study emphasizes the importance of revitalization as a key tool for transforming spaces into functional and aesthetically appealing architectural objects. Based on an analysis of international experience in revitalization, recommendations are developed for effective planning and implementation of revitalization projects for neglected industrial areas in Ukrainian cities. The findings provide a theoretical foundation for understanding the revitalization of abandoned urban spaces, promoting sustainable urban development, improving urban functionality, and offering practical applications
Gender role in agroforestry adoption and management in Garo ethnic community of Bangladesh
Full text linkAgroforestry holds significant promise for offering substantial benefits to the Garo ethnic community, who are recognized as one of the primary indigenous groups in the Madhupur region with distinct cultural identities. Given the integral role of community involvement in agroforestry management, particularly in relation to gender dynamics, this study sought to analyze the gender role of Garo men and women in adopting and managing agroforestry practices. Data were gathered from 70 Garo tribal farmers (37 male and 33 female) across six villages practicing various agroforestry techniques in the Madhupur Sal forest area. Using a mixed-methods approach that incorporated semi-structured questionnaires, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and direct observations, the study identified prevalent agroforestry practices featuring various tree-crop combinations. These included Akashmoni (Acacia auriculiformis) paired with Pineapple (Ananas comosus) and Ginger (Zingiber officinale), as well as other combinations such as Akashmoni-Pineapple-Turmeric, Akashmoni-Pineapple-Papaya, and Akashmoni-Pineapple-Aroid. Both men and women exhibited a moderate to high level of involvement in agroforestry programs, with decision-making processes shared between genders. However, challenges were encountered, particularly by women from ethnic minority backgrounds, including limited technical knowledge, financial resources, and labor availability. Despite these obstacles, both Garo men and women expressed a keen interest in agroforestry practices as a means to enhance their income and livelihoods, forming gender-based partnerships to address associated challenges in a changing socioeconomic landscape
Optimal deployment
Full text linkThe optimal size of a military force to send to the battle field is determined. The objective function includes the cost of deployment, the cost of the time it takes to win the battle, and the costs of killed and wounded soldiers with equipment. The cost of deployment is an explicit function of the number of deployed troops and the value of a victory with access to a free territory, is a function of the length of the time it takes to win the battle. The cost of lost troops and equipment, is a function of the size of the reduction of these lives and resources. An objective function, based on these values and costs, is optimized, under different parameter assumptions. The battle dynamics is modeled via the Lanchester differential equation system based on the principles of directed fire. First, the deterministic problem is solved analytically, via derivations and comparative statics analysis. General mathematical results are reported, including the directions of changes of the optimal deployment decisions, under the influence of alternative types of parameter changes. Then, the first order optimum condition from the analytical model, in combination with numerically specified parameter values, is used to determine optimal values of the levels of deployment in different situations. A concrete numerical case, based on the Battle of Iwo Jima, during WW Ⅱ, is analyzed, and the optimal deployment decisions of the attacker, BLUE, are determined under different assumptions. The known attrition coefficients of both armies, BLUE, and the defender, RED, and the initial size of the RED force, are parameters. The optimal solutions are found via Newton- Raphson iteration. Finally, a stochastic version of the optimal deployment problem is defined, where the attrition parameters are considered as stochastic, before the deployment decisions have been made
The impact of enterprise digital transformation on management tone manipulation and its ‘double-edged sword’ effect
Full text linkDoes digital transformation, as an important means for firms to gain market competitiveness, reduce the incentives for management tone manipulation? This paper examines the effect of corporate digital transformation on management tone manipulation and its mechanism from the perspectives of psychology and behavioral finance. The results show that the relationship between digital transformation and tone of voice manipulation is inverted ‘U’ shape, with digital transformation increasing the degree of tone of voice manipulation in the early stage and decreasing it in the later stage. The mediation test concludes that digital transformation mainly affects management tone manipulation by influencing the level of information asymmetry and financing constraints. In addition, the effect of digital transformation on management tone manipulation is more pronounced in firms with more myopic management. This paper examines the internal logic of the impact of digital transformation on management tone manipulation from the perspective of management, reveals the ‘double-edged sword’ effect of digital transformation on management tone manipulation, and enriches the literature on digital transformation and management tone manipulation
Macrophages in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and anti-psoriatic nanotherapies
Full text linkPsoriasis is a common, chronic, and inflammatory skin disease. Macrophages account for about 61.3% of the inflammatory cells infiltrating psoriatic lesions. Modulating macrophage polarization, inhibiting their infiltration, and targeting the secretion of inflammatory factors and associated inflammatory pathways by these cells can alleviate psoriasis symptoms and inflammation. Moreover, nanomaterials as novel drug carriers, offer unique advantages such as large surface area, easy modification, high biocompatibility, good biodegradability, enhanced systemic adsorption, etc. Nanomaterials have great potential for efficient drug delivery and release, as well as improving therapeutic efficacy while reducing adverse effects. By systematically addressing the role of macrophages in psoriasis pathogenesis and the potential of nanomaterials in treating psoriasis through modulating macrophages, this review enhances our understanding of the disease mechanism and holds promise for novel therapeutic breakthroughs and advancements in the future treatment of psoriasis
Interaction between miR-140 and HDAC4 in GastricCancer Metastasis
Full text linkBackground: miRNAs are involved in the process of tumorigenesis and metastasis as tumor suppressor genes or oncogenes. This
work aims to explore the effect of miR-140 in the proliferation and invasion as well as metastasis of gastric cancer cells, as well
as to provide new target for the diagnosis and therapy for gastric cancer.
Methods: miR-140 mimics and miR-140 inhibitors were transfected to the SGC-7901 gastric cancer cells, the expression of miR-
140 and histone deacetylase4 (HDAC4) in human gastric cancer and normal gastric tissues was evaluated by quantitative reverse
transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR), the HDAC4 protein level was evaluated by western blot method. The effects of miR-140 upregulation and downregulation on the invasion and metastasis ability of SGC-7901 cells were investigated by Transwell cell model.
The samples were classified into control group by adding lipofectamine 2000, negative control group by adding miRNA unrelated
sequence and lipofectamine 2000, miRNA up-regulated transfection group by adding miR-140 mimics and lipofectamine 2000
were added, as well as miRNA down-regulated transfection group by adding miR-140 inhibitors and lipofectamine 2000.
Results: The effects of up and down regulation of miR-140 on the invasion and metastasis ability of SGC-7901 cells were determined by Transwell chamber model. The expression of miR-140 in gastric cancer cells was significantly lower than that of normal
gastric tissue (p < 0.05). The invasion and metastasis ability of SGC-7901 cells in miR-140 mimics and miR-140 inhibitor groups
were significantly lower and higher when compared with negative control (NC) and control groups, respectively. HDAC protein
was significant up-expressed in miR-140 inhibitor group when compared with NC and control groups. All these differences were
of statistical significance (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: The expression level of miR-140 are associated with the invasive and metastatic properties of gastric cancer cells,
which may serve as new target for the clinical treatment of gastric cancer
Organomineral foliar application modulates photosynthetic pigments and biochemical responses in black mung bean
Full text linkThe use of organomineral products in agriculture offers promising solutions for crop productivity and sustainability. This study examines the effects of foliar application of a biostimulant containing Ascophyllum nodosum algae extract and a blend of amino acids on black mung bean (Vigna radiata L.), focusing on its potential to modulate beneficial biochemical responses. Under greenhouse conditions, total chlorophyll content was 20% higher (198 µg/g) in treated plants than in untreated controls (167 µg/g). Carotenoid concentrations were also higher (115 µg/g) in treated plants compared to 98 µg/g in the control plants. Considering redox system enzymes, catalase (4180 nmol/µg), peroxidase (6656 nmol/µg), and superoxide dismutase (5546 nmol/µg) activities were lower in treated plants compared to untreated ones (6982 nmol/µg for catalase, 9635 nmol/µg for peroxidase, and 10,403 nmol/µg for superoxide dismutase). However, given the higher levels of photosynthetic pigments observed in treated plants, antioxidant activity may be primarily attributed to non-enzymatic mechanisms, such as carotenoids, which were also elevated relative to controls. These findings demonstrate the potential of the organomineral as a tool for the physiological management of agriculturally important crops, particularly black mung bean. In this context, its adoption holds the potential to significantly improve agricultural productivity and crop resilience
Comparative evaluation of TPHs standards in the analysis of petroleum-contaminated, and remediated soil
Full text linkCommercially available Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPHs) standards have been widely used for instrumental analysis of TPHs in soils and other environmental matrices. However, there are concerns about the universality of these standards developed in one region of the world to reliably estimate TPHs in environmental matrices in other regions, which prompted this investigation. TPHs standards were prepared from contaminating crude oils at polluted sites at Tibshelf, UK, and Ogoniland, Niger Delta, Nigeria. The prepared standards were used in comparison with some commercially available TPHs standards (TPHs-gasoline diesel range and TPHs C10-C40) for assessment of TPHs levels in the contaminated soil samples treated for phyto and myco-remediation. Results obtained revealed significant differences in the quantification of TPHs between these standards. The TPHs standards prepared from the contaminating crude oils estimated higher levels of TPHs in the soil samples compared to those of the commercially available standards. In assessing the % of TPHs reduction in the remediation experiment, all the standards provided similar estimations of TPHs reduction, with no significant differences. The result revealed that although all the TPHs standards provided consistent evaluation of TPHs remediation in all cases, the commercially available TPHs standards may underestimate the concentration of TPHs in certain environments during pollution incidents. Therefore, with respect to toxicological evaluations, there is a need for TPHs standards specifically developed for a region of interest to be used. This study offers a good insight on how such standards can be prepared
The problem of small-scale marine oil spills discharged by unattributable vessels: A review
Full text linkOil pollution is one of the most conspicuous forms of damage to the marine environment. It can be divided into two categories: large-scale and small-scale spills. Considerable research has been conducted on large-scale spills, including investigations into the damage caused, the methods of remediation employed, the compensation paid, and the reasons for a sharp decrease in the number of major oil spills during the last 20 years. However, very little attention has been paid to small-scale spills, leaving largely unresearched the reasons for their continued occurrence, the damage they cause, and the lack of compensation paid out for them. Because the number of large-scale marine oil spills has greatly reduced in recent years, there may be a perception that the problem of marine oil spills has been broadly brought under control. However, this would be to ignore the issue of small-scale spills, which have not decreased and are causing severe problems in coastal areas. The perpetrators of these small-scale spills are very difficult to identify, so they invariably escape detection and thereby avoid having to pay for the clean-up and damages costs caused by their actions. The main aim of this review paper is to draw attention to the lack of research into this unsatisfactory situation. The paper describes the scale and type of damage caused by small-scale spills; analyzes the problem of identifying unattributable polluters; considers ways of remediating oil spills; and evaluates current procedures for obtaining compensation for clean-up operations. Given the escalating frequency of these small-scale spills and their profound impact on marine ecosystems and vulnerable communities, it is imperative that researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders prioritize the development of effective strategies to address this pressing issue. The time to act is now, as the health of our coastlines and the livelihoods of countless individuals depend on our ability to confront the challenges posed by small-scale oil spills