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This paper aims to focus on the effect of fermentation on wheat-chickpea-rice weaning blend.

Wheat, chickpea, and rice were blended and fermented with Rhizopus koji for 60 h at 29±2°C at an interval of 15 h. Blends were analyzed using methods reported in the literature for physicochemical and sensory properties.

Protein content of the weaning blends increased progressively from 14.63 percent in the unfermented to 20.89 percent after 60 h of fermentation, while the fat content decreased as fermentation time increases. The pH of the samples gradually decreased from 4.53 to 3.83 with gradual increase in titratable acidity as fermentation time increases. The water absorption capacity, total plate count, and yeast and mold count were found to be in the range 112.2±1.16 to 171±1.67 percent, 1.0×103 to 1.3×103 cfu/g, and 700 to 800 cfu/g, respectively. In terms of sensory analysis, 15-h fermented sample was found to be the best.

The paper has demonstrated effect of fermentation on wheat-chickpea-rice weaning blend.

Textile and Apparel (T&A) sector significantly influences socio-economic and environmental dimensions of the sustainability. The purpose of this paper is proposed to establish the interrelationship among the critical barriers to the sustainable development of T&A supply chains by using a multi-criteria decision-making approach and to obtain a ranking of the barriers.

In the present investigation through literature review and from expert opinions, 14 significant challenges to the sustainable growth of T&A sector have identified. For establishing the interrelationship and for developing a structural model of the identified challenges, interpretive structural modelling (ISM) methodology is employed.

The results of the investigation revealed that lack of effective governmental policies (B8), poor infrastructure (B4), lack of effective level of integration (B6), low foreign investment (B13) and demonetization (B12) are the top most significant challenges.

The model development based on the expert inputs from the industry and academia, these inputs could be biased influencing the accuracy of the model. Also, inclusion more factors for the analysis will improve the reliability of the model.

This research is intended to guide the policy and decision makers for improving overall the growth of the T&A supply chain.

This paper aims to provide a literature review on the cloud-based platforms for the education sectors. The several aspects of cloud computing adoption in education, remote/distance learning and the application of cloud-based design and manufacturing (CBDM) have been studied and theorised.

A four-step methodology was adopted to analyse and categorise the papers obtained through various search engines. Out of 429 research articles, 72 papers were shortlisted for the detailed analysis.

Many factors that influence cloud computing technology adoption in the education sector have been identified in this paper. The research findings on several research items have been tabulated and discussed. Based on the theoretical research done on cloud computing for education, cloud computing for remote/distance learning and CBDM, cloud computing could enhance the educational systems in mainly developing countries and improve the scope for remote/distance learning.

This study is limited to papers published only in the past decade from 2011 to 2020. Besides, this review was unable to include journal articles published in different languages. Nevertheless, for the effective teaching and learning process, this paper could help understand the importance and improve the process of adopting cloud computing concepts in educational universities and platforms.

This study is a novel one as a research review constituting cloud computing applications in education and extended for remote/distance learning and CBDM, which have not been studied in the existing knowledge base.

This paper aims to use Stones’ strong structuration theory (SST) that combines Giddens’ duality and Archer’s analytical dualism to deal with the paradox of embedded agency, focussing on resistance, in the budgeting literature. It also applies this framework to an illustrative case study that examines a failed attempt to implement performance-based budgeting (PBB) in the Egyptian Sales Tax Department (ESTD).

The authors have used SST as an analytical framework. Longitudinal case study data were collected from interviews, observations, discussions and documentary analysis and from publicly available reports and other media issued by the World Bank.

The SST framework identifies the circumstances in which middle managers as embedded agency have limited possibilities to change their dispositions to act and identify opportunities for emancipation in the wider social context in which they are embedded. The official explanation for the failure to implement PBB in Egypt was obstruction by middle managers. The findings of this study provide an alternative explanation to that published by the World Bank for the failure to institutionalise PBB in Egypt. It was found that the middle managers were the real supporters of PBB. Other parties and existing laws and regulations contributed to the failure of PBB.

As a practical implication of the study, the analysis presented here offers an alternative interpretation of the failure of the Egyptian project for monitoring and evaluation to that published by the World Bank. This case and similar cases may enhance the understanding of how and when monitoring and evaluation technologies should be introduced at the global level to manage conflicts of interest between agencies and beneficiaries.

This paper contributes to the extant management accounting literature on the use of ST in addressing the paradox of embedded agency in making or resisting structural change. It uses SST to integrate Giddens’ ST with critical realist theory, incorporating duality and dualism in a stronger model of structuration. The SST framework offers a means of analysing case studies that result from interactions and conjunctures between different groups of actors at different ontological levels. The paper also examines the issue of embedded agency in budgeting research using an illustrative case study from a developing country, Egypt.

In a pandemic framework (COVID-19), this chapter explores the impact of the global economy and socio-cultures concerning three axes: recreational, tourism, and hospitality. Although we slowly see an economic revival, it is well known that this sector of study is very susceptible to being affected by the context of nations. Following restrictions and measures taken by governments around the world to reduce the number of cases of coronavirus infections, many nations closed their borders, affecting international travel and by 2020 tourism had been reduced to the near cessation of operations due to the imminent fear of this poorly studied disease, and the service sector was negatively affected. It should be added that, according to the World Tourism Organization's projections, a decrease of between 20 and 30% is forecast for 2020 compared to the previous year.

One of the major problems faced by industry is vibrations in rotating parts. Vibration is a to-and-fro movement of rotating mechanical parts and has many detrimental effects on machinery. It is obvious that no movement can be achieved without consumption of energy. All the energy consumed in vibration of mechanical parts is useless. Unbalance is one of the most common reasons for vibrations. This paper aims to experimentally evaluate the effect of unbalance in a shaft–rotor system on power consumption. An experimental setup consisting of a shaft and a rotor mounted on antifriction bearing was built-up. The shaft was driven through a flexible coupling, by a variable speed DC motor. The shaft–rotor system was rotated at different speeds and electrical power consumed by the system was measured at specific speeds varying from 1,200 to 2400 rpm. The rotor was balanced to grade G6.3 at 1,200 rpm. The power consumption by shaft in balanced condition was taken as baseline data for the further work. The rotor was then made unbalanced by adding different masses at 60 mm radius, and power consumption was recorded again at the same speeds. It was observed that average power loss due to unbalance is of 0.11watt/gm.mm unbalance. This can amount to 2.75 kw if there is unbalance of 50 gm at a radius of 500 mm. This work is meant to emphasis on the fact that the power consumption can be reduced if the vibrations can be kept under control.

The experimental setup consisting of a rotor–shaft system was fabricated. The shaft was supported on two anti-friction bearings. The shaft is driven by a 0.25 HP DC motor. The speed of the motor can be varied by a speed controlling device. A digital ammeter and voltmeter are connected to measure the input current and voltage to the system. The rotor was rotated at different speeds after two-plane balancing and the parameters like voltage, current drawn, rms velocity (average of drive and non-drive side bearing) and displacement at 1× frequency were recorded. The base line data for the balanced shaft–rotor system were recorded for further use.

Power consumption increases with increase in unbalance at each of the speeds. Total power consumed at resonant frequency is high. The average power consumed “W/gm.mm” increases at higher speed due to increased damping force of lubricant in bearings combined with the effect of resonance. Average power consumed due to unbalance is about 0.11 W/gm.mm unbalance. It is important to reduce the vibration to save power which can be effectively achieved by balancing the rotating parts in the machinery.

The experimentation is done on a small rotor. When the same work is done on real situations where the rotors are heavy, we may expect some differences in the actual effect of unbalance on the power consumption.

The experimental work have a huge application in industry in condition monitoring. The power may tend to increase not only because of the unbalance but also due to other reasons of vibrations like misalignment, loose foundation, poor bearing conditions, etc. The power loss may increase due to any other reasons mentioned above. The degree of power saving due to steps taken for reducing vibration will depend on the existing vibration levels.

The work highlights the effect of power loss due to vibrations. Even (1 per cent) small amount of power saved can save millions of dollars in industry, as there are many rotating parts which run 24 × 7. The emphasis is on condition-based monitoring which will help in power saving beyond the conventional advantages of condition monitoring.

The experimentation clearly quantifies power loss in absolute form that is the power loss is expressed per gm.mm of unbalance and not as the percentage of electrical or mechanical power, input or output. The percentage values may be misleading some times, as SMALL percentage of large values is also LARGE and hence should be taken into consideration.

US decoupled direct payments, paid to farm operators based on historic yields and base acreage under the 2002 Farm Bill, may alter a farmer's access to credit or his ability to meet debt servicing obligations. More specifically, direct payments might improve the farmer's liquidity position or repayment capacity enabling the farmer to obtain more favorable credit terms. In turn, more favorable credit terms might allow a farm to remain in business or expand production, leading to current production distortions. Since direct payments are based on historic production, beginning farmers tend to receive lower levels of direct payments and hence these payments might impact beginning farmers differently than more experienced farmers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of direct payments on liquidity and repayment capacity for experienced and beginning farmers.

Given the manner in which direct payments are calculated and administered, it is likely that direct payments affect beginning farmers and more experienced farmers differently; hence the authors analyze the impacts of direct payments on the current and term debt coverage ratios for these two groups separately. In the analysis, the authors control for farm financial characteristics, farm operator characteristics, and other factors. Data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) for the years 2005, 2006, and 2007 were used in the weighted regression analysis and jackknifed standard errors computed.

A positive significant relationship was found between the level of direct payments (in dollars) and the term debt coverage ratio for experienced farmers, suggesting that direct payments improve repayment capacity. However, this relationship is not significant for beginning farmers. Also, a negative significant relationship was found between the number of base acres and the current ratio for experienced farmers, while this relationship lacks significance for beginning farmers.

The paper provides evidence that decoupled direct payments impact a farmer's liquidity and repayment capacity. Furthermore, direct payments impact beginning and experienced farmers differently. This paper also contributes to the growing body of research investigating the mechanisms by which decoupled payments have the potential to distort current production.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the application of social theory as conceptual methodology in the design of case study research.

The authors examine how social theory can be used to design case study research when the choice of theory is made before or during the empirical enquiry. Rather than simply presenting the elements of design, the focus is on the ways the elements relate and connect to each other, i.e. how a researcher can design each step to facilitate the work that needs to be done in the others.

A circular research design starts and finishes with the theory. The conceptual tools that social theories offer can be used to guide researchers into the empirical field and out of it. A conceptually driven design facilitates the interconnection between the various steps of a research project and can keep theory, research problem and data closely connected.

There is a role for systematic research design in interpretative case studies in management accounting and control. Although this paper uses strong structuration theory, the circular design proposed can be applied for other social theories and methodologies where an abductive approach is appropriate.

There are very few papers that explicitly demonstrate the implications of research design choices in case study research. In particular, the authors contribute to discussions on the conduct of interpretative research in management control and demonstrate that, especially for structuration theory, a conceptual methodology approach to research design, data collection and analysis can lead to theoretical insight.

Renewable energy sources such as solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind are ubiquitous because of their lower environmental impact. Output from solar PV and wind turbines is unstable; hence, this article aims to propose an effective controller to extract maximum available power.

By focusing on the varying nature of solar irradiance and wind speed, the paper presents the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique for renewable energy sources, and power regulation is made by the novel inverter design. Moreover, a DC–DC boost converter is adopted with solar PV, and a doubly fed induction generator is connected with the wind turbine. The proposed MPPT technique is used with the help of a rain optimization algorithm (ROA) based on bi-directional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM) (ROA_Bi-LSTM). In addition, the sinusoidal pulse width modulation inverter is used for DC–AC power conversion.

The proposed MPPT technique has jointly tracked the maximum power from solar PV and wind under varying climatic conditions. The power flow to the transmission line is stabilized to protect the load devices from unregulated frequency and voltage deviations. The power to the smart grid is regulated by three-level sinusoidal pulse width modulation inverter.

The methodology and concept of the paper are taken by the author on their own. They have not taken a duplicate copy of any other research article.

The paper aims to propose a novel dual-stage shape memory alloy (SMA) actuated gripper (DAG), of which the grasp performance is improved through primary and secondary actuation.

This paper presents a method of integrating the design of dual-stage actuation modules based on the SMA bias actuation principle to enhance the grasping shape adaptability and force modulation of a DAG. The actuation angle range and grasping performance of the DAG are investigated by thermomechanical analysis and the finite element method based numerical simulation.

The results of present experiments and simulations indicate that the actuation angle scope of the DAG is about 20° under no load, which enables the grasping space occupied by an object in the DAG from 60 mm to 120 mm. The grasping force adjusted by changing the input power of the primary main actuation module and secondary fine-tuning actuation module can reach a maximum of 2 N, which is capable of grasping objects of various sizes, weights, shapes, etc.

The contribution of this paper is to design a DAG based on SMA, and establish the solution methods for the primary main actuation module and secondary fine-tuning actuation module, respectively. It lays a foundation for the research of lightweight and intelligent robotic grippers.