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This paper is focused at studying the current state of research involving the four dimensions of defect management strategy, i.e. software defect analysis, software quality, software reliability and software development cost/effort.

The methodology developed by Kitchenham (2007) is followed in planning, conducting and reporting of the systematic review. Out of 625 research papers, nearly 100 primary studies related to our research domain are considered. The study attempted to find the various techniques, metrics, data sets and performance validation measures used by researchers.

The study revealed the need for integrating the four dimensions of defect management and studying its effect on software performance. This integrated approach can lead to optimal use of resources in software development process.

There are many dimensions in defect management studies. The authors have considered only vital few based on the practical experiences of software engineers. Most of the research work cited in this review used public data repositories to validate their methodology and there is a need to apply these research methods on real datasets from industry to realize the actual potential of these techniques.

The authors believe that this paper provides a comprehensive insight into the various aspects of state-of-the-art research in software defect management. The authors feel that this is the only research article that delves into the four facets namely software defect analysis, software quality, software reliability and software development cost/effort.

This study aims to investigate the quality level of the leading three Public Administration Institutes’ (PAIs) websites in the Arab world.

A convenient sample of 203 Jordanian Government employees answered the questionnaire that assessed five quality dimensions (content, navigation, interface design, accessibility and educational purpose) for each website.

The website of PAI of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia recorded a high level in all quality dimensions, whereas the website of PAI of Jordan recorded moderate quality in all dimensions except for accessibility; the website of PAI of Egypt recorded a high level in all quality dimensions except for the educational purpose. Based on the qualitative analysis, participants agreed that the PAI website has the best quality, accessibility, navigation and design compared with the Egyptian and the Jordanian PAIs websites.

Designers of PAI websites should consider end users’ needs and regularly assess the website’s usability. PAIs developers should also establish more interactive portals to provide transparent and effective electronic services to users. The findings are significant in helping policymakers better understand the importance of distance training and learning using websites and platforms.

Developing a high-quality website enhances the relationship between the government and its employees, consequently establishing the credibility and trust of citizens in public services.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that measures the quality of PAI websites in the Arab world. The findings provide more cross-culture evidence for the e-government and digital literature in helping policymakers develop more technology interactive platforms.

This paper aims to explore how the student fund managers perceive the benefits of being part of the fund. Furthermore, this paper examines the country-specific challenges of setting up and managing a student-managed investment fund (SMIF) in India.

Qualitative content analysis technique is used to identify, compare and retrieve critical themes about the present state of SMIF clubs in India. The data collection method involved structured, in-depth online interviews with ten student fund managers from various higher educational institutions in India.

Some of the study’s key findings indicate that the existence of SMIFs as part of learning facilitates group decision-making and peer learning. Additionally, this study brings to light specific issues related to registration, incorporating real-world practices and integrating SMIF into the academic curriculum.

The outcomes of this study shall be of use to students and the teaching fraternity across Indian colleges and universities who aspire to set up SMIFs as part of experiential learning. This study will also help existing SMIF clubs in India understand how their counterparts work and can consequently improvise their organizational structure and functioning.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first interview-based evaluation of the present structure of SMIFs structured as clubs in India.

Esta investigación utiliza la Teoría Basada en Recursos como base para un modelo que permite integrar las acciones organizacionales con las variables que pueden moderar, directa o indirectamente, su impacto en el alto desempeño de los clubes de fútbol.

Se desarrolla una contrastación empírica en tres fases. La primera fue la técnica de regresión lineal. En segundo lugar, un análisis multivariado de covarianza (MANCOVA) y el tercer procedimiento, una regresión por mínimos cuadrados en dos fases. El objetivo de usar estos dos últimos procedimientos fue evaluar el efecto conjunto de las variables independientes sobre las variables dependientes, así como los efectos de interacción entre las mismas.

Se validan las relaciones, directas e indirectas, entre las variables organizacionales y decisionales previstas en el modelo. También se valida la importancia de las acciones promocionales del club, para lograr competitividad basada en su desempeño o resultados.

Investigaciones futuras se podrían replicar en otros países, usando muestras más grandes con técnicas estadísticas más complejas. También, se podría contrastar si las relaciones encontradas pueden variar según las culturas, o pueden usarse otras variables no contempladas en este estudio.

El cuestionario usado es una fuente de información fiable para los directivos de marketing de los clubes de fútbol, puesto que las escalas pueden ser usadas como guías para evaluar y diagnosticar su potencial de competitividad basada en el desempeño.

Los clubes de fútbol tienen un desarrollo e impacto directo en la sociedad. Por ello, las implicancias en el club recaerán en el entorno cercano (aficionados y sociedad) a este.

Esta investigación aporta varias contribuciones fundamentales a la literatura sobre la competitividad organizacional en el sector deportivo, con aplicación específica a los clubes de fútbol. Este es uno de los escasos estudios que muestran que la competitividad es el resultado de una dinámica motivacional y organizativa, y que el éxito de los clubes se basa en un fenómeno más complejo que solo la asistencia a los eventos. También, es una investigación en un país emergente, lo cual extiende la aplicabilidad teórica y práctica del fenómeno estudiado.

The present work aims at improving the performance of the engine using optimized fuel injection strategies and operating parameters for plastic oil ethanol blends. To optimize and predict the engine injection and operational parameters, response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural networks (ANN) are used respectively.

The engine operating parameters such as load, compression ratio, injection timing and the injection pressure are taken as inputs whereas brake thermal efficiency (BTHE), brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), oxides of nitrogen (NO_x) and smoke emissions are treated as outputs. The experiments are designed according to the design of experiments, and optimization is carried out to find the optimum operational and injection parameters for plastic oil ethanol blends in the engine.

Optimum operational parameters of the engine when fuelled with plastic oil and ethanol blends are obtained at 8 kg of load, injection pressure of 257 bar, injection timing of 17° before top dead center and blend of 15%. The engine performance parameters obtained at optimum engine running conditions are BTHE 32.5%, BSFC 0.24 kg/kW.h, CO 0.057%, HC 10 ppm, NO_x 324.13 ppm and smoke 79.1%. The values predicted from ANN are found to be more close to experimental values when compared with the values of RSM.

In the present work, a comparative analysis is carried out on the prediction capabilities of ANN and RSM for variable compression ratio engine fuelled with ethanol blends of plastic oil. The error of prediction for ANN is less than 5% for all the responses such as BTHE, BSFC, CO and NO_x except for HC emission which is 12.8%.

This paper aims to focus on the utilisation of pre- and probiotics for oral care and the state of knowledge at this time.

Pre- and probiotics describe beneficial carbohydrates and microbiota, respectively, for optimal gut health. Carbohydrates provide energy selectively for the gut-friendly bacteria. The use of both carbohydrates and bacteria is, however, being expanded into other areas of the body – including the skin, vagina and oral cavity – for health-related applications.

There is increased interest in both pre- and probiotics for oral care products. The importance of oral microflora and their selective substrates is discussed against a background of contemporary oral care approaches. The issues and benefits are discussed in this review.

It is clear that consumption of prebiotics and probiotics may play a role as potential prophylactic or therapeutic agents for reducing the presence of organisms in the mouth associated with tooth decay. To confirm a beneficial effect of pre- and probiotics further in vivo studies involving healthy human volunteers should be considered.