Strategies for Adapting to the Increased Labor and Fuel Costs for Commercial Fishing Boat Operators: Case Study in Tha Sala District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Thailand

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The objective of this study is twofold: 1) to examine the cost and return structure of commercial fishing boat operators in Tha Sala district, Nakhon Si Thammarat province, and 2) to study the adjustment strategies and assistance measures for the group of commercial fishing boat operators in Tha Sala district, Nakhon Si Thammarat province. The sources of data used in this research are 1) commercial fishing boat operators in Tha Sala district, Nakhon Si Thammarat province, and 2) government agencies related to commercial fishing boats. The study will use a snowball sampling technique, focus group discussions, and in-depth interviews with a set of predetermined questions. The results of the study show that the cost and return structure comprises five constant costs: labor costs, foreign document costs, boat registration costs, boat permit costs, and straight-line depreciation costs. Since 2020, the average cost per year has been 442,425 baht. In 2021, the average cost is still 442,425 baht, while in 2022, it increases to 445,425 baht due to fluctuations in cost factors, which include fuel prices, rice prices for fishermen, ice costs, and maintenance expenses. The return on investment for the past three years has been continuously decreasing, with an average of 7,200,000 baht in 2020, 6,200,000 baht in 2021, and 2,700,000 baht in 2022. The fishing boat operators have made adjustments in three areas to combat rising fuel costs: reducing work days, adjusting product processing, and relying on technology and innovation. However, the government and other public entities have no direct role in assisting commercial fishing boat operators dealing with rising labor costs and fuel prices. The only indirect assistance comes through a loan project that uses the fishing boats as collateral, and this has been available only once during the three-year period from 2020 to 2022 when labor and fuel costs were at their highest.

Nodulation in Rhynchosia schimperi: A Rare Legume of Indian Thar Desert

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Rhycnhosia schimperi Hochst. ex Boiss. is a rare plant of Indian Thar Desert and mostly confined to the Jaisalmer and Barmer district of Rajasthan. There are least information is available on the nodulation in it. In India the comprehensive study on nodulation in native legumes of Thar Desert was done by Gehlot et. al. in 2012. In which they have reported nodulation in more than 30 native legumes (excluding Rhynchosia schimperi) with detail study on the morphology & histology of nodules and their associated rhizobia. The present investigation was done to know the nodulation status as well as the morphology & histology of nodules and their associated micro-symbionts in Rhynchosia schimperi. The study reveal good amount of nodulation was found in it. The nodules were found perennial and mucunoid type and mainly two types of bacteria viz. fast growing probably Ensifer sp. and slow growing Badirhizobium sp. were found in it.

 

Tanning Agents of Herb Lofanta Anis (Lophanthus Anisatus Benth.)

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The article is devoted to the tanning agents of herb Lofanta anis (lophanthus anisatus benth.) which is used for colds, respiratory and skin diseases, as an anti–inflammatory, antiviral, antimicrobial and expectorant. The medicinal plant raw material preparation Lophant aniseed–Lophanthus anisatus Benth, which has high effectiveness and low side effects on human health, based on the medicinal plants in the pharmaceutical industry of Uzbekistan.

The Adoption of Blended Learning as an Emerging Mode of Learning among EFL Students: Current Challenges and Future Directions

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Blended learning is one of the well-known concepts that has emerged as a result of the significant impact that technology has had on learning and teaching. The latter has created obstacles that have greatly influenced learning while also bringing new opportunities to learn from. In order to ascertain students’ perceptions of this type of learning and weigh the advantages and disadvantages to ensure best practices that support the quality of online learning, the current study was conducted among EFL students at three Moroccan universities (Dhar Mehraz University, Sais University, and Moulay Ismail University). 304 EFL students who successfully completed an online survey were included in the study. According to the quantitative and qualitative data collected, it was found that EFL students are thrilled with this approach to learning as they are prepared to switch from traditional learning to blended learning due to its benefits, such as self-paced learning, increased student engagement, flexibility, and cost effectiveness. The findings also indicated that EFL students encounter several difficulties while employing blended learning, which include procrastination, distraction, content overload, technical issues, and plagiarism.

Investment Opportunity Set (IOS) In Mediating Company Advantage to Funding Policies in Lq45-Indexed Companies

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This quantitative study aims to determine and analyze the effect of investment opportunity set (IOS) in mediating company advantage in the form of company size and profitability on funding policies in LQ45-indexed companies in 2019-2020. The population of this study is 54 companies. It involved 24 Samples selected using a purposive sampling technique. Data were collected from the documentation and data presentation using time series data. Data were analyzed using regression analysis, path analysis, and the Sobel test. The results showed that there is no effect of company size on funding policy and profitability has a negative effect on funding policy. Besides, IOS has a positive effect on funding policy and company size does not affect IOS. Profitability has a positive effect on IOS. IOS cannot mediate company size against funding policies. IOS can partially mediate profitability against funding policies. Companies use the opportunity to grow with the amount of debt to get more value with their investment. Companies positively respond to the extent of investment opportunities by turning their capital from internal and external companies for investment purposes.

Optical Pulse Compression in Fibre

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Optical pulse compression using similariton propagation in an optical fibre with decreasing dispersion has been demonstrated for the first time. This compression scheme is a practical application of the sech-similariton solution to the generalized nonlinear schrodinger equation(NLSE) with distributed coefficients recently found using the self similarity technique. The fibre with a decreasing dispersion profile is constructed using the comb-profile approximation technique and different variations of the technique have been developed to improve the accuracy of the approximation.

A Teaching Model for Undergraduates Based on Program Outcomes: A Survey on the Teaching and Learning Process at Ba Ria – Vung Tau University

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The paper proposes how to build a teaching model that combines subject’s outcome standards, lesson plans, assessment and technology-based approach to better support students’ self-regulated learning (SSRL). The formative assessment method is combined with the summative assessment method in the teaching process with the goal of meeting the maximum output standards of the course objectives built for the course. The lesson plan is designed to be flexible in combination with technology to help students’ self-regulated learning and achieve the subject objectives in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes. The paper surveys second-year students at Ba Ria – Vung Tau University. Results from observations and surveys show that lecturers have not been able to link the above these factors to help students achieve all three outcome standards of knowledge, skills and attitudes.

Natural Dye from Nerium oleander L. and Dyeing of Cotton Fabrics Using Different Mordants with Evaluation of Colour Fastness, Strength and Antifungal Properties

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Globally, there is growing demand in natural colourants from plants in the food, cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical fields. Generally, among the various categories of secondary metabolites, carotenoids, anthocyanins, and phenols are significant plant-based pigments. Coloured pigments possess remarkable anthocyanin related to anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-metastatic features. The major objective of this work was to elucidate the coloured pigments from Nerium oleander L. ornamental flowering shrub and its dying properties in cotton fabrics.  Natural dye from flower methanolic extract of Nerium oleander was extracted. Dying experiment on bleached (H2O2) cotton fabric with density of 140 g / square meter was used. Pre, simultaneous and post -mordanting action of cotton fabric samples were carried out using 1-3 % of various metallic salts such as ferrous sulphate, potassium dichromate, stannous chloride, potassium aluminium sulfate. Color strength of the dyed samples for different dyeing condition was assessed by means of K/S value. Best color strength was yielded for the samples dyed with N. oleander which were mordanted with Potassium aluminium sulfate and FeSO4. Color fastness of the selected dyed samples to water, washing, perspiration and rubbing were also ideal. In all cases mordanted samples with Potassium aluminium sulfate and FeSO4 exhibited best results with simultaneous or post mordanting respectively. This results justifies designing a sustainable technology for mobilizing the usage of N. oleander for coloration of cotton fabrics. Fungicidal potential against A. flavus, A. niger, F. moniliforme and wash analysis also yielded significant results. The exquisite assessment of all tested properties of colored samples evolves this technology can be commercially implemented by considering large scale trails.

Assessment of Organization Readiness in the Implementation of Change Management (Case Study: PT. IMS)

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PT. IMS is one of the local companies, classified as medium enterprises, that produce bottled drinking water and distribute its products in the Aceh province area. The CEO of IMS initiated a change implementation, namely digital transformation in IMS business process Phase 1, by upgrading their management software system. The purpose of this change is for IMS to be digitized, more efficient and faster, in order to be more close to the customers and accurately analyze the customer’s expectations. This research aim to assess IMS Organizational readiness for change before implementing it, the readiness is assessed based on McKinsey 7S elements and its factors.

This research collected data and information using qualitative method by conducting depth interview with the CEO of the company and managers of every departments, and desk research is also conducted to support the results. After doing a thematic qualitative analysis, the result shows that IMS is stated as ready for change by the CEO and the line managers in all elements. Moreover, if we dig deeper to 14 element’s factor, one of them is rated as not ready, namely organizational culture. The rest of it rated as ready, 7 of them (consist of Goals/Objectives, Strategic Plan, Size, IT infrastructure, Training & Education, Staff Skills, and Share Belief) still need minor improvement and 6 of them (Centralization, Data, Top Management Support, Project Team, Management skills and Company-wide Commitment)  are ready to go ahead.

The researcher also propose several solution that IMS could do to increase its organizational level of readiness to change, consist of create a change communication plan, create a facilities upgrading schedule and monitoring it, launch new policies to support the change, create training list, and plan continuous socialization events. Moreover, this research also proposed that IMS could better use Kotter’s 8 steps model as a strategy to ensure the change successfulness.

Impact of Occupational Safety and Health on Employees’ Performance at Zanzibar Government Printing Press in Unguja-Zanzibar

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The purpose of this study was to assess the Impact of Occupational Safety and Health on Employees’ Performance at Zanzibar Government Printing Press (ZGPP) in Unguja. The specific objectives of this study were to assess how work environment affects employees’ performance at the ZGPP, to examine how precautionary measures of occupational health may improve employees’ performance and to assess how Occupational Health hampers employees’ performance at the ZGPP. The study adopted descriptive study design, while self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from the respondents. This study covered the staff of Zanzibar Government Printing Press (ZGPP) who were simple randomly selected from a sample frame of 127. A total of 106 respondents were selected for the study. Data was analyzed using Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS) to capture the impact of Occupational Safety and Health on Employees’ Performance at ZGPP and regression model was used for data processing and analysis of the relationship between the variables. The findings of the study showed that, just more than half (63.4%) of the respondents were male, the study also revealed that, about 44.6% of the respondents lacked knowledge of OSH. However, liner regression analysis was done to establish the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. The study discovered that, variable of working condition had strong relationship (β = 0.468, t = 5.273, p < 0.05) on employees’ performance with the significance level of p < 0.05. The study also revealed that, Occupational Health had significant effect (β = 0.246, t = 2.521, p < 0.05) on employees’ performance at ZGPP. Additionally, it was also discovered that, there was no work place precautionary measures addressed (β = 0.087, t = 0.868, p > 0.05) on employees’ performance. Although these findings showed that work place precautionary measure had negative effect on employees’ performance at ZGPP. Thus, it was recommended that, ZGPP should focus more on the protection and prevention of OSH, improve occupational health in terms of training of OSH, enforcement of regulation and policy of OSH continuously towards employees’ performance. As the study design was descriptive in nature and could not establish causality and temporality, an in-depth longitudinal follow up study would be recommended to yield better association.