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The purpose of this paper is to measure the technical inefficiency of dairy farms and subsequently investigate the factors affecting technical inefficiency in the Malaysian dairy industry.

This study uses multi-directional efficiency analysis to measure the technical inefficiency scores on a sample of 200 farm observations and single-bootstrap truncated regression model to define factors affecting technical inefficiency.

Managerial and program inefficiency scores are presented for intensive and semi-intensive production systems. The results reveal marked differences in the inefficiency scores across inputs and between production systems.

Intensive systems generally have lowest managerial and program inefficiency scores in the Malaysian dairy farming sector. Policy makers could use this information to advise dairy farmers to convert their farming system to the intensive system.

The results suggest that the Malaysian Government should redefine its policy for providing farm finance and should target young farmers when designing training and extension programs in order to improve the performance of the dairy sector.

The existing literature on Southeast Asian dairy farming has neither focused on investigating input-specific efficiency nor on comparing managerial and program efficiency. This paper aims to fill this gap.

This paper aims to propose a method of parametrizing topological transformer model at high flux densities in the core.

The approach proposed is based on terminal voltages and currents measured in a special purpose saturation test whose data are combined with typical saturation curves of grain-oriented electrical steels; the modeling is carried out in the ATPDraw program.

The authors corroborate experimentally the necessity of dividing the zero sequence impedance between all transformer phases and propose a method of the individual representation of the legs and yokes. This eliminates the use of nonexistent leakage inductances of primary and secondary windings.

The presented modeling approach can be used for predicting inrush current events and in the evaluation of the impact caused by geomagnetically induced currents (GICs).

The proposed approach is completely original and will contribute to a better understanding of the transients occurring in a transformer under abnormal conditions, such as inrush current events and GICs.

In the present paper, the authors will discuss the solvability of a class of nonlinear anisotropic elliptic problems (P), with the presence of a lower-order term and a non-polynomial growth which does not satisfy any sign condition which is described by an N-uplet of N-functions satisfying the Δ₂-condition, within the fulfilling of anisotropic Sobolev-Orlicz space. In addition, the resulting analysis requires the development of some new aspects of the theory in this field. The source term is merely integrable.

An approximation procedure and some priori estimates are used to solve the problem.

The authors prove the existence of entropy solutions to unilateral problem in the framework of anisotropic Sobolev-Orlicz space with bounded domain. The resulting analysis requires the development of some new aspects of the theory in this field.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper that investigates the existence of entropy solutions to unilateral problem in the framework of anisotropic Sobolev-Orlicz space with bounded domain.

Packaging and labelling have become essential to how food manufacturers generate and deliver value to customers. The information displayed on the packaging can be used to communicate to customers the properties and unique characteristics of a food product (e.g. nutrients, calories and country of origin). To achieve communication goals effectively, manufacturers need to understand how consumers evaluate products based on their attributes. In particular, companies should be aware of which specific product attributes affect consumer buying behaviour and which product attributes are more critical during food assessment. So, the paper aims to investigate consumer's behaviuor linked to typical product attributes indicated on the packaging.

The present study examines consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for a cherry jam with different attributes (brand, type of production method and price) on a sample of 2,166 Italian respondents through a choice experiment using a random parameter logit-error component model.

The results showed that WTP for jams can be affected by attributes such as brand, price and production methods; precisely, they indicated that the level of naturalness in the production process constitutes the main element for the consumer’s choice; however, the considerable weight that price and brand have in influencing the purchasing behaviour of the food consumer was still confirmed: in fact, a p-value of less than 0.05 was found in all cases.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that assesses the effect of different types of production on WTP for food products. In addition, this study also reflects on the importance of the level of education for consumer choice.

Nonlinear solution approaches for inverse problems require fast simulation techniques for the underlying sensing problem. In this work, the authors investigate finite element (FE) based sensor simulations for the inverse problem of electrical capacitance tomography. Two known computational bottlenecks are the assembly of the FE equation system as well as the computation of the Jacobian. Here, existing computation techniques like adjoint field approaches require additional simulations. This paper aims to present fast numerical techniques for the sensor simulation and computations with the Jacobian matrix.

For the FE equation system, a solution strategy based on Green’s functions is derived. Its relation to the solution of a standard FE formulation is discussed. A fast stiffness matrix assembly based on an eigenvector decomposition is shown. Based on the properties of the Green’s functions, Jacobian operations are derived, which allow the computation of matrix vector products with the Jacobian for free, i.e. no additional solves are required. This is demonstrated by a Broyden–Fletcher–Goldfarb–Shanno-based image reconstruction algorithm.

MATLAB-based time measurements of the new methods show a significant acceleration for all calculation steps compared to reference implementations with standard methods. E.g. for the Jacobian operations, improvement factors of well over 100 could be found.

The paper shows new methods for solving known computational tasks for solving inverse problems. A particular advantage is the coherent derivation and elaboration of the results. The approaches can also be applicable to other inverse problems.

The purpose of this paper is to apply the conjugate gradient (CG) method, together with the adjoint operator (AO) to the pulsating heat pipe problem, including some quite interesting experimental results. The CG method, together with the AO, was able to estimate the unknown functions more efficiently than the other techniques presented in this paper. The estimation of local heat transfer coefficients, rather than the global ones, in pulsating heat pipes is a relatively new subject and presenting a robust, efficient and self-regularized inverse tool to estimate it, supported also by some experimental results, is the main purpose of this paper. To also increase the visibility and the general use of the paper to the heat transfer community, the authors include, as supplemental material, all numerical and experimental data used in this paper.

The approach was established on the solution of the inverse heat conduction problem in the wall by using as starting data the temperature measurements on the outer surface. The procedure is based on the CG method with AO. The here proposed approach was first verified adopting synthetic data and then it was validated with real cases regarding pulsating heat pipes.

An original fast methodology to estimate local convective heat flux is proposed. The procedure has been validated both numerically and experimentally. The procedure has been compared to other classical methods presenting some peculiar benefits.

The approach is suitable for pulsating heat pipes performance evaluation because these devices present a local heat flux distribution characterized by an important variation both in time and in space as a result of the complex flow patterns that are generated in this type of devices.

The procedure here proposed shows these benefits: it affords a general model of the heat conduction problem that is effortlessly customized for the particular case, it can be applied also to large datasets and it presents reduced computational expense.

The paper presents a mathematical problem involving quasistatic contact between a thermo-electro-viscoelastic body and a lubricated foundation, where the contact is described using a version of Coulomb’s law of friction that includes normal damped response conditions and heat exchange with a conductive foundation. The constitutive law for the material is thermo-electro-viscoelastic. The problem is formulated as a system that includes a parabolic equation of the first kind for the temperature, an evolutionary elliptic quasivariational inequality for the displacement and a variational elliptic equality for the electric stress. The author establishes the existence of a unique weak solution to the problem by utilizing classical results for evolutionary quasivariational elliptic inequalities, parabolic differential equations and fixed point arguments.

The author establishes a variational formulation for the model and proves the existence of a unique weak solution to the problem using classical results for evolutionary quasivariational elliptic inequalities, parabolic difierential equations and fixed point arguments.

The author proves the existence of a unique weak solution to the problem using classical results for evolutionary quasivariational elliptic inequalities, parabolic difierential equations and fixed point arguments.

The author studies a mathematical problem between a thermo-electro-viscoelastic body and a lubricated foundation using a version of Coulomb’s law of friction including the normal damped response conditions and the heat exchange with a conductive foundation, which is original and requires a good understanding of modeling and mathematical tools.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which adaptation projects have incorporated ecosystem services, as well as their redesigning options. The projects selected are listed under National Adaptation Programme of Action in West African region.

A desktop survey approach was used to review 168 projects from 13 countries across West Africa. The projects were categorized and analyzed according to their adaptation goal, thematic focus, their implementation duration and level of investment.

The adaptation initiatives are dominated by actions in the agricultural sector accounting for 32 per cent of the total. Further, they were characterized by small grants consideration with 63 per cent falling under US$1m budget, short-term implementation duration with 46 per cent having three years’ execution period. A large portion of projects (55 per cent) mentioned directly one or more ecosystem services, with provisioning services being referred to in 50 per cent of the cases.

Adaptation projects with ecosystem services components are more sustainable and beneficial to the community. Hence, more consideration of nature benefits during project design, more financial consideration and localizing of the projects to realize the global adaptation goal should be considered.

This paper aims to assess the influence of emotional intelligence (EI) on the perceived internal control performance in the Lebanese companies.

The goal of this study is to decide whether there is a connection between “emotional intelligence” and perceived efficacy of “internal control” in Lebanese organizations. For the benefit and purpose of this research, a quantitative methodology will be applied. The data was collected by the use of self-directed and pre-coded questionnaires to test hypotheses made, making it a deductive research.

The findings showed that the personality traits of the members of the audit team play a key role in cultivating a control climate that is more conducive to effective control. Moreover, personality traits were key in boosting trust and openness in communication that can be seen as antecedents to having a system where all key auditing professionals within the organization can cooperate to boost the effectiveness of the internal control framework. These personality traits amplified the impact of the EI of audit manager on the overall effectiveness of the COSO framework, thus leading to improved efficiency of internal controls.

The exploratory aspect of this study have shown results that are general but create a basis for future comprehensive researches. This study was limited to a relatively small sample, due to the small size of Lebanon and due to the Pandemic that has limited our access to more data. This research did not regulate other relevant variables such as gender, experience, educational level and age. Nevertheless, the importance of the findings is they ascertain that internal control is not a rigid technical function that is primarily concerned with accounting and financial disciplines, rather it extends to organizational psychology and behavior.

The practical implication of studying EM and personality in Lebanese organizations is to describe and understand how it affects the effectiveness of the internal control and thus the survival of the organization. When organizations are aware of such a strong impact, they will try to increase their maturity level in this regard and further seeks more efforts in tackling the EI aspect. As a summary, the practical implication of this paper is to understand how all those variables affect the effectiveness of the internal control and thus the survival of the organization.

The subject of this study consists of many human-related aspects such as personality and human behavior. Once these elements are combined with the internal control framework, it will have an added value at the social level by enhancing the behavior of people and their perception of others' emotions and oneself emotions, in addition to improving their performance which reflects on enhancing the overall organizational performance. Studying EI allows to understand and manage emotions in order to create positive social interactions. The benefits of EI are vast in terms of personal, academic and professional success.

Due to the lack of research on this topic, this research will contribute to explore the field. Future studies will benefit from this analysis while using a larger sample. Future work should aim to include not only auditors but all staff of the company. Further research is required to decide whether the results of this analysis are generalized across various positions and industries and to determine whether EI is the only influential aspect involving a significant number of social interactions. In addition, this article can be used as a basis for the implementation of internal control with a COSO framework that involves the EQ of everyone in the organization.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an anxiety disorder with lifetime prevalence of 7.8%, is characterized by symptoms that develop following exposure to traumatic life events and that cause an immediate experience of intense fear, helplessness or horror. PTSD is marked by recurrent nightmares typified by the recall of intrusive experiences and by extended disturbance throughout sleep. Individuals with PTSD respond poorly to drug treatments for insomnia. The disadvantages of drug treatment for insomnia underline the importance of non-pharmacological alternatives. Thus, the present study had three aims: first, to compare the efficiency of two relaxation techniques (muscular relaxation and progressive music relaxation) in alleviating insomnia among individuals with PTSD using both objective and subjective measures of sleep quality; second, to examine whether these two techniques have different effects on psychological indicators of PTSD, such as depression and anxiety; and finally, to examine how initial PTSD symptom severity and baseline emotional measures are related to the efficiency of these two relaxation methods. Thirteen PTSD patients with no other major psychiatric or neurological disorders participated in the study. The study comprised one seven-day running-in, no-treatment period, followed by two seven-day experimental periods. The treatments constituted either music relaxation or muscle relaxation techniques at desired bedtime. These treatments were randomly assigned. During each of these three experimental periods, subjects' sleep was continuously monitored with a wrist actigraph (Ambulatory Monitoring, Inc.), and subjects were asked to fill out several questionnaires concerned with a wide spectrum of issues, such as sleep, depression, and anxiety. Analyses revealed a significant increase in objective and subjective sleep efficiency and a significant reduction in depression level following music relaxation. Moreover, following music relaxation, a highly significant negative correlation was found between improvement in objective sleep efficiency and reduction in depression scale. The study‘s findings provide evidence that music relaxation at bedtime can be used as treatment for insomnia among individuals with PTSD.