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The purpose of this study is to examine how the tourism economy affects local food availability, access, utilization and stability in dessert-prone agricultural heritage sites. Specifically, the study aims to explore the relationship between the tourism industry and local agricultural practices and how this connection influences food security in the Siwa Oasis, located in the Western Desert of Egypt.

The study employs a qualitative exploratory research design using in-depth interviews and focus groups to investigate the impact of the tourism economy on food security and identify potential benefits and limitations for food security in the region.

The research reveals that the tourism economy in Siwa Oasis has only a marginal contribution to food security. The study highlights a lack of a strong connection between the tourism industry and local agricultural practices within the heritage site. As a result, the potential benefits and synergies that could be achieved between tourism and agriculture have not been fully realized, leading to a limited impact on food stability.

This study primarily relies on qualitative data from Siwa Oasis, Egypt, which may limit the generalizability of findings beyond this specific context. Additionally, while the study provides valuable insights into the complex relationship between tourism and food security, it does not quantitatively measure the magnitude of tourism's impact. Future research could incorporate quantitative methods for a more comprehensive understanding of this relationship in diverse desert-prone regions. Finally, the study highlights the need for more integrated approaches to enhance food security through tourism, but the specific strategies and policy recommendations require further investigation and adaptation to local contexts.

This study underscores the need for tourism development strategies that prioritize food security in desert-prone areas like Siwa Oasis. Policymakers and stakeholders should promote sustainable tourism practices that enhance local agriculture, create diversified income sources and foster equitable benefits for communities. Moreover, recognizing the seasonal nature of tourism, interventions to address food shortages during off-peak periods are crucial. Efforts should also focus on skill development and gender-inclusive opportunities within the tourism sector to ensure broader community participation. Additionally, collaborations between tourism and agriculture should be encouraged to optimize food availability and stability while preserving cultural food traditions.

This study adds original insights by examining the specific impact of the tourism economy on food security in dessert-prone agricultural heritage sites. The study's originality lies in its exploration of the untapped potential for synergy between the tourism and agricultural sectors and the implications for local food security. This research contributes to understanding how tourism can improve food security in specific contexts and provides valuable insights into sustainable development in heritage sites.

This study aims to characterize the properties of natural cellulose fiber from the pseudo-stems of the curcuma zedoaria plant.

The fiber was extracted using the biological retting process (cold-water retting). The intrinsic fiber properties obtained were used to evaluate the possibility of using fiber for textile applications.

The average length of a curcuma zedoaria fiber was 34.77 cm with a fineness value of 6.72 Tex. A bundle of curcuma zedoaria fibers was comprised of many elementary fibers. Curcuma zedoaria had an irregular cross-section, with the lumen having a varied oval shape. Curcuma zedoaria fibers had tenacity and elongation value of 3.32 gf/denier and 6.95%, respectively. Curcuma zedoaria fibers had a coefficient of friction value of 0.46. Curcuma zedoaria fibers belong to a hygroscopic fiber type with a moisture regain value of 10.29%.

Extraction and Characterization of Curcuma zedoaria Pseudo-stems Fibers for Textile Application.

This study employs Stein Rokkan's methodological approach to analyse state formation in the Greater Middle East. It develops a conceptual framework distinguishing colonial, populist and democratic pacts, suitable for analysis of state formation and nation-building through to the present period. The framework relies on historical institutionalism. The methodology, however, is Rokkan's. The initial conceptual analysis also specifies differences between European and the Middle Eastern state formation processes. It is followed by a brief and selective discussion of historical preconditions. Next, the method of plotting singular cases into conceptual-typological maps is applied to 20 cases in the Greater Middle East (including Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey). For reasons of space, the empirical analysis is limited to the colonial period (1870s to the end of World War 1). Three typologies are combined into one conceptual-typological map of this period. The vertical left-hand axis provides a composite typology that clarifies cultural-territorial preconditions. The horizontal axis specifies transformations of the region's agrarian class structures since the mid-19th century reforms. The right-hand vertical axis provides a four-layered typology of processes of external intervention. A final section presents selected comparative case reconstructions. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first time such a Rokkan-style conceptual-typological map has been constructed for a non-European region.

While existing research has explored the association between supervisor support and turnover intention among construction workers, there is a notable gap in the literature concerning the potential mediating role of work engagement in elucidating this relationship, warranting further investigation. The paper, hence, aims to examine the mediating role of work engagement in the relationship between supervisor support and turnover intention among construction workers.

Based on the quantitative research method, the hypothesis was tested. The data were collected from 144 construction professionals using a structured questionnaire. Observed variables were tested using confirmatory factor analysis, and the mediating role relationship was validated using hierarchical regression.

The outcome of this study shows a significant positive impact of work engagement and supervisor support on employee turnover intention. The study further showed that work engagement plays a mediating role in the connection between supervisory support and the intention to turnover and improve project and business performance. Turnover intention, on the other hand, negatively affects project and organizational performance.

By enhancing employee work engagement and perceptions of supervisor support, the findings of this study may aid construction organizations in making better judgments regarding the likelihood of employee turnover. The effectiveness of the project and the organization will likely be greatly impacted.

The results of this study provide supporting evidence and advance efforts at reducing employee turnover intention through work engagement and supervisor support in improving project and organizational performance.

This study is a radical interactionist analysis of family conflict. Drawing on both a negotiated order perspective and Athen's theory of complex dominative encounters, this study analyzes the role that domination plays in conflicts among intimates. As the family engages in repeated conflicts over roles, the family also engages in negotiations over the family order, what role each party should play, interpretations of past events, and plans for the future. These conflicts take place against a backdrop of patriarchy that asymmetrically distributes power in the family to determine the family order. The data from this study come from a content analysis of mothers with substance use problems as depicted in the reality television show Intervention. The conflicts in these families reveal that these families develop a grinding family order in which families engaged in repeated conflict but also continued to operate as and identify as a family. These conflicts are shaped by and reinforce patriarchal expectations that mothers are central to family operation. The intervention at the end of each episode offered an opportunity for the family to engage in a concerted campaign to try to force the mother into treatment and reestablish the family order.

The aim of this study is to empirically investigate the impact of marketing analytics capability on business performance from the perspective of RBV theory.

This study used a survey method to gather information from 225 food processing SMEs registered with the Ghana Enterprise Agency (GEA) in Ghana’s eastern region. A structural equation modeling (SEM) path analysis was used to assess the impact of marketing analytics capability (MAC) on the performance of SMEs.

The results of the study show that MAC significantly and positively affect the financial performance (FP), customer performance (CF), internal business process performance (IBPP) and learning and growth performance (LGP) of Ghanaian SMEs. The findings of this study also illustrated the significance of MAC determinants, including marketing analytics skills (MAS), data resource management (DRM) and data processing capabilities (DPC), in achieving SME success in Ghana.

The research’s conclusions give RBV theory strong credence. The results of this study also provide credence to previous research finding that SMEs should view MAC and its determinants (i.e. DRM, DPC, MAS) as a crucial strategic capability to improve their performance (i.e. FP, CF, IBPP, LGP). With regard to its contribution, this study broadens the body of knowledge on MAC and SME performance, particularly in the context of an emerging economy.

This study aims to examine how the theory of planned behaviour and technology acceptance theory can be used to understand the adoption of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). The relationships between attitudes, behavioural intentions towards using NPIs, actual use of NPIs and word-of-mouth (WOM) were examined and compared between early and late adopters.

A survey was conducted to test the hypotheses with partial least squares structural equation modelling (n = 278).

The results indicate that relationships between attitudes, intentions and behavioural intentions were positive and significant in the whole data set – and that there were differences between the early and late adopters. WOM had no substantial relationship with actual usage and early adopters’ behavioural intentions.

This research gives a better sense of how WOM impacts attitudes, behavioural intentions and actual usage among early and late adopters of NPIs and highlights the effectiveness of WOM, especially among late adopters of NPIs. Furthermore, using the TAM allows us to make specific recommendations regarding encouraging the use of NPIs. A new three-stage communications model is introduced that uses early adopters as influencers to reduce the NPI adoption time by late adopters.

In Thailand, the number of higher education institutions (HEIs) offering international programmes has surged dramatically. Internationalisation is seen as key to competing in the higher education market, modernising educational programming, and generating new streams of revenue. Yet, such rapid change is disorientating for the internationalisation of higher education (IHE) in the Thai context. That said, there is little disagreement on what it is not; it is not Thai. This chapter investigates apparent efforts to ‘de-place’ Thailand from IHE and considers how these attempts may connect to (post-)colonial tensions between sovereignty and civilisation. Through a synthesis of scholarship in the areas of higher education, cultural geography and Thai studies, the authors construct a framework for exploring how IHE is both imagined and experienced in Thailand. In particular, they re-examine datasets from studies they conducted with stakeholders over recent years, including executive leadership, international faculty members, and university students. Through a series of narrative portraits, a dialogue of voices is constructed that reflect distinct orientations to ‘Thainess’ in the IHE. The authors argue that a wider and more inclusive orientation to internationalisation is not only respectful of local identity but is enhanced by it. Ultimately, the hope of this study is to offer a vision of what an ‘emplaced’ idea of IHE in Thailand might look like, one grounded in an orientation unique to a particular place with its own cultural and social coordinates.

This paper aims to investigate the ability of traditional biopolymers, such as funori or the nanoscale form of cellulose nanocrystals, to consolidate fragile paper and preserve it for as long as possible.

Degraded papers dating back two centuries were separated into paper samples for consolidation processes. Funori – a marine spleen – was used as a traditional consolidation material and a mixture with ZnO NPs compared with modern materials, such as cellulose nanocrystals. The samples were aged for 25 years, examinations and analyses were performed using scanning electron microscopy and color change was assessed using the CIELAB system, X-ray diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy.

According to the results, using traditional materials to consolidate damage, such as funori, after aging resulted in glossiness on the surface, a color change and increased water content and oxidation. Furthermore, samples treated with a mixture of ZnO NPs and funori revealed that the mixture improved the sample properties and increased the degree of crystallization. Cellulose nanocrystals improved the surface, filled gaps, formed bridges between the fibers and acted as a protector from aging effects.

This paper highlights the ability of nanomaterials to enhance the properties of materials as additives and treat the paper manuscripts from weaknesses.

This study aims to explore how females on committees (FOC) and committee ethnic diversity (CED) impact environmental, social and governance performance (ESGP).

This study examines 126 listed firms under the coverage of FTSE ESG Ratings in Bursa Malaysia between 2017 and 2019. This study applies partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine the hypotheses. While the risk of common method variance is minimised using multiple data sources for the analysis, instrumental variable-free approach, i.e. Gaussian copula method which is implemented in SmartPLS 4.0 has been used to address the potential endogeneity of the model.

Empirical evidence demonstrates significant positive direct relationships between FOC and ESGP, as well as CED and ESGP. The argument of resource dependence theory and positive empirical results on the two direct relationships hold firm despite several committees being aggregated as one construct with the aim of providing different insights into the literature.

This study provides implications for firm leadership to consider reviewing the composition of committees by increasing female representation while striking a balance in the appointment of committee members of different ethnicities to enhance firm ESGP.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study adopts a holistic approach by capturing, for the first time, the female representation of audit, nomination, remuneration and risk management committees. These dimensions are further developed into a single quantifiable variable, presented as FOC. Similarly, the ethnic diversity of the respective committees is aggregated and developed into a single quantifiable construct: the CED. Unlike most existing studies that commonly use econometric software, the application of PLS-SEM in this study contributes to the limited body of corporate governance and ESG studies that use PLS-SEM.