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Purpose: Preserving a country’s culture is crucial for its sustainability. Handicraft is a key draw for tourism destinations; it protects any civilisation’s indigenous knowledge and culture by managing the historical, economic, and ecological ecosystems and perfectly aligns with sustainable development. It has a significant role in creating employment, especially in rural regions and is an essential contributor to the export economy, mainly in developing nations. The study focuses on the skills required and existing gaps in the handicraft industry, its development and prospects by considering women and their role in preserving and embodying the traditional art of making handicrafts.

Approach: A framework has been developed for mapping and analysing the skills required in the handicraft sector using econometric modelling; an enormous number of skills have been crowdsourced from the respondents, and machine learning techniques have been used.

Findings: The findings of the study revealed that employment in this area is dependent not only on general or specialised skills but also on complex matrix skills ranging from punctuality to working in unclean and unsafe environments, along with a set of personal qualities, such as taking initiatives and specific skills, for example polishing and colour coding.

Implications: The skills mapping technique utilised in this study is applicable globally, particularly for women indulged in casual work in developing nations’ handicrafts industry. The sustainable development goals, tourism, and handicrafts are all interconnected. The research includes understanding skills mapping, which provides insights into efficient job matching by incorporating preferences and studying the demand side of casual working by women in the handicraft sector from a skills perspective.

Black fathers, and specifically fathers who identify as African American, represent a group of parents who are at once not well understood and pervasively stereotyped in negative ways. In this chapter, we describe the risks and resilience of Black fathers and their children, with a special focus on mental health and coping with stress. We emphasize a cultural practices approach that takes into account both the risks specific to Black fathers’ capacity to parent their children and a theoretical foundation for understanding the inherent strengths of Black men and their families. Finally, we address the need for early childhood educators to partner with Black fathers as a means to best support children and their families.

This research used a Phenomenography approach of Eye Tracking to study the Biometric changes when participants were subjected to eight static subliminal images hidden in seven differently designed packages. Embeds or static subliminal stimulus in the form of pictures and words were hidden in seven different perfume packages and were used to study the changes experienced between the two groups, one of which was subjected to subliminal stimulus. This study was conducted in the Neuro Lab located in the SP Jain Sydney campus. A total of 46 healthy participants were separated into two groups, with one group shown image packages with static subliminal stimulus while the other group was shown image packages without any subliminal stimulus. Eye Tracking data was collected using iMotions. A detailed analysis of the Area of Interest (AOI), Fixation and Heat Map revealed that only a percentage of the participants visited the AOI with the hidden subliminal stimulus, but the participants who noticed the AOIs with the subliminal stimulus especially the male participants spent more time in the AOI indicating that they could be consciously processing the subliminal static stimulus. A statistical analysis of the time to first fixations (TIFF) revealed that the subliminal stimulus was not the first point of attraction.

A refined singles yam torsional model was built based on a previously developed singles yam model⁽¹⁾. The initial yam density distribution was found to be a very important yam parameter governing the torsional property of singles yams. Detailed study of the differential volumetric changes within the yam has shown that jamming of the structure is the key factor initiating longitudinal tensile and compressive strains in the fibres. The yam model was summarised in the form of a system of non-linear equations and the solution finding algorithm was presented.

Evaluation of the effect of yoghurts enriched with a complex of vegetable additives on the state of the antioxidant defense system, the content of triglycerides and cholesterol in rats exposed to toxic seeds with cadmium chloride. The purpose of this paper is evaluation of the effect of yoghurts enriched with a complex of vegetable additives on the state of the antioxidant defense system, the content of triglycerides and cholesterol in rats exposed to toxic cadmium chloride.

The studies were carried out on 72 male rats (Wistar), divided into six groups (n = 12): control, model of cadmium intoxication and receiving the developed dairy product, enriched with appropriate biologically active supplements (rosehip, rowan and hawthorn berries syrup and grape peel extract [rich in resveratrol]). Biochemical parameters of blood, homogenates of the liver and kidneys were analyzed.

The intensity of lipid peroxidation processes (in the liver, kidneys and erythrocytes) decreased in the group receiving dairy products enriched with berry syrups and grape peel extract (rich in resveratrol). The activity of catalase, total antioxidant activity and superoxide dismutase increased. In the groups receiving dairy products enriched with berry syrups, the total protein level in the blood increased, compared with Group 2. The content of triglycerides and cholesterol levels in groups receiving dairy products decreased significantly compared to animals intoxicated with cadmium chloride.

The topic of cadmium’s toxic effects on human and animal health and methods for solving this problem is very relevant.

The role of Technology Transfer Units, examined in this study, was found to be vital to expedite the process of disseminating new varieties and their production technology.

A total of 1,000 households were surveyed in the sampled states. A probit model was used to analyse.

Age, education, land holding, tractor use and number of working family members in agriculture were found to significantly affecting adoption of the new seed varieties. Technology transfer through licensing has impacted the adoption of new seed varieties positively by highlighting Punjab possessing the highest adoption and western Uttar Pradesh was majorly adopting the old variety.

The authors believed in farmers’ memory to recall the varietal information of wheat.

The study recommended various incentives to attract the seed industry in UP to minimize the economic loss potentially suffered by them.

Quality seeds are germane to increase the productivity of crops, and it is paramount to disburse the seed varieties to the end users in an efficient way to achieve the overall objective of productivity enhancement.

In this context, a study was conducted in three states of India, namely, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh (UP) to find out the adoption rate of newly developed varieties of wheat, HD 3086 after three years (2014–2015) of its commercialization by IARI as well as HD 2967, which was released in 2011.

Mixed fruit nectars present a combination of different tastes and flavors with combined nutritional attributes. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop and optimize the process variables for blended nectar based upon papaya (Carica papaya) and bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria).

The nectar based upon papaya and bottle gourd was prepared with varying levels of papaya/bottle gourd juice concentration (1.5:1‐ 4:1), sugar concentration (12‐21 per cent), citric acid concentration (0.30‐0.50 per cent) and optimized using response surface methodology. A central composite rotatable design (CCRD) with three levels for three independent variables was used for optimization studies. The responses measured were pH, TA, TSS, flavor and taste of the developed nectar. Responses were numerically optimized in combination with design expert software.

The models developed for all responses were significant without significant lack of fit. Papaya/bottle gourd juice concentration ratio, sugar concentration and citric acid level were optimized at 2.47:1, 20.95 and 0.30 per cent, respectively, in order to obtain a pH, titrable acidity and TSS of 3.99, 0.348 and 20.80, respectively, with hedonic scale sensory ratings of 7.43 and 7.18 for flavor and taste, respectively, of the nectar.

The commercial production of such nectar using these optimized conditions may add new dimension to the health beverage industry.

Development of such health‐promoting mixed fruit nectars will boost demand of healthy beverage foods in society.

The product can be developed successfully using these optimized conditions. Since both papaya and bottle gourd have beneficial nutritional and medicinal properties, the development of nectar using these fruits with high sensory acceptance can prove a boon for market promoting health foods.

South Africa’s wool industry plays an important role in the agricultural sector. The wool industry provides a valuable source of income for farmers who practice sustainable farming practices. However, wool farmers face numerous challenges, such as wool contamination, dirty wool and producing good-quality wool. Good-quality wool is determined by fibre diameter, clean yield, vegetable matter and staple length. This study aims to address these challenges.

A multiple regression analysis of price (R/kg) of White wool and Merino wool was applied to four variables fibre diameter: vegetable matter, clean yield and staple length. The analysis was based on the data for the 2009–2019 data from Cape Wools auctions.

Fibre diameter, clean yield and staple length, with exception of vegetable matter, made a statistically significant contribution to the determination of wool price after all other independent variables were controlled for (p < 0.05). A one-unit (micron) increase in fibre diameter resulted in a 0.404-unit decrease in wool price (R/kg). A one-unit (mm) increase in staple length resulted in a 0.022-unit increase in wool price (R/kg). There was no statistically significant association between vegetable matter and wool price. A one-unit increase in clean yield was associated with a 0.111-unit increase in wool price (R/kg).

Since wool fleeces consist of the largest portion of wool shorn from sheep, it is important for wool farmers to focus on wool with low fibre diameter, high clean yield percentage, low percentage of vegetable matter content and good length of the wool.

Since wool fleeces consist of the largest portion of wool shorn from sheep, it is important for wool farmers to focus on wool with low fibre diameter, high clean yield percentage, low percentage of vegetable matter content and good length of the wool.

In a developing country such as South Africa, this study is important for the following reason. It is understanding the wool characteristics that have the most significance influence on the determination of wool price for Merino wool and White wool might effectively help the wool farmers to adapt their production systems to improve the wool characteristics that determine wool price.

This study identified a need for a study to be conducted on all wool classes.

This paper aims to apply the Capital Market Liability of Foreignness (CMLOF) framework to the audit fees of a sample of foreign firms listed on US exchanges to examine whether American auditors price foreignness.

The four components of the CMLOF are institutional distance (civil versus common law system and enforcement), information asymmetry (disclosures and mandatory IFRS adoption), unfamiliarity (exports, English language and geographical distance) and cultural difference [Hofstede (1980) dimensions of culture]. These variables are examined in a regression model that explains audit fees to determine the auditor perception of risk associated with the CMLOF.

Examining the factors that mitigate perceived agency costs, this investigation determines that auditors price risk according to each component of the liability of foreignness. Audit fees are higher for shareholders of firms headquartered in countries exhibiting greater institutional distance, unfamiliarity and cultural distance. Audit fees are higher for firms when their home country requires additional disclosures or the adoption of IFRS to reduce information asymmetry.

CMLOF is costly for capital market participants and has implications for auditors, shareholders of foreign firms and managers considering listing in the US Auditors, and investors should carefully assess this risk for pricing and valuation, and managers should take action, to the extent possible, to reduce the firm-specific level of unfamiliarity and increase transparency.

This paper is the first to apply the CMLOF to examine whether auditors price aspects of foreignness of their non-US-headquartered clients.