Determining factors in MSMEs success: An empirical study in Mexico

This work empirically analyzes the competitive factors that help make micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) successful. To do this, an empirical study with a sample of 614 companies in Guanajuato, Mexico, has been carried out. The results of the binary logistic regression analysis show that quality, technology, and innovation are the main variables that determine a company’s success. These findings could provide guidelines to help MSMEs improve their competitiveness, and they could help public administrations better support MSME growth.

Scrum Framework and Health Solutions: Management and Results

Introduction: Technology arrives aiming at bringing benefits to society, with aspects applied to health such as Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Developing a technology solution requires methodological rigor and systematic instructional design. Method: This experience report method used the Agile methodology for management and control of results in the development of Information and Communication Technologies. Results: The Agile methodology was adopted using the Scrum framework, involving people, artifacts, and ceremonies. The Scrum team was consisted of multidisciplinary professionals and undergraduate students. Artifacts are comprised of product backlog, sprints, sprint backlog, time-box, ready concept, and release burn-down. Conclusions: The adoption of the Scrum methodology helps with the integration of roles and knowledge to a project. Moreover, it efficiently helps carrying out activities by allowing careful analysis of each stage with regard to quality, technology, and implementation.

Pola Interaksi Antar-lembaga dan Reformasi Tata Kelola Keamanan Maritim Indonesia: Bakamla RI

Maritime security is an essential aspect for an archipelagic country like Indonesia. In addition, as stated by President Joko Widodo, maritime defense forces are also one of the five pillars in realizing Indonesia as the "World Maritime Axis." However, unfortunately, there are still many problems that we can identify in the management of Indonesian maritime security and defense. One of the most fundamental problems is many authorized ministries/agencies, causing overlapping authorities in our territorial waters. This study aims to determine the pattern of interaction between ministries/agencies and how the government should carry out the government towards the ministry/institution in question. The researcher uses qualitative methods, and the data used are secondary data obtained from books, journal articles, and other sources that can be accessed online. In analyzing the interaction pattern between ministries/agencies, the researcher uses the theory of inter-agency working. As a result, the interaction between the competent ministries/agencies has not shown good synergy in maintaining maritime security in Indonesian waters. Furthermore, the era of technological disruption has demanded bureaucratic reform 4.0 by emphasizing three (3) things, including innovation, collaboration, and maximizing the use of information and communication technology. The researcher concludes that there is a need to reform Indonesia's maritime security governance by strengthening the synergy between ministries/agencies or even simplifying the number of authorized ministries/agencies based on the single agency multi-task system. In addition, it is necessary to use quality technology to support effectiveness and efficiency in protecting the security of marine waters in Indonesia.

Examining cyber security implementation through TLS/SSL on academic institutional repository in Indonesia

Indonesia is one of the countries that implement Institutional Repositories (IR) in their academic world. According to the National Library of Indonesia, there are more than 7890 academic IR in Indonesia. However, there is no research investigating the institutional repository's security aspect in the Indonesian academic institutional repository. This paper will explore Indonesian academic IR's security by examining how to secure a connection between the network with encrypted communication to ensure that an intruder does not compromise the relationship between the server and the browser. This research's methodology is conducting experimental on the best institutional repository in Indonesia involving a private and public university. Some serious finding is that most Indonesian Academic Institutional Repositories have vulnerable security issues in their SSL and TLS and can cause a severe problem for their information asset's security in the future. The conclusion is that Indonesian academic institutions' security is not secure, and they need to consider this issue seriously. Create better security intervention for IR with the latest high-quality technology and policy to protect the information asset such as user, administrator, and visitor personal data and valuable digital objects in Indonesian academic IR.

Brazing Tungsten/Tantalum/RAFM Steel Joint for DEMO by Fully Reduced Activation Brazing Alloy 48Ti-48Zr-4Be

To create a DEMO reactor, it is necessary to develop high-quality technology to join tungsten with reduced-activation ferritic-martensitic (RAFM) steel (Rusfer, Eurofer, CLF-1, etc.). Difficulties arise in their direct connection due to the large difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). To suppress the difference of CTE, intermediate interlayers are usually used, such as vanadium or tantalum, and brazing is a prospective technology to conduct the joining. The vast majority of works represent copper- or nickel-based brazing alloys, but their applicability is under significant discussion due to their activation properties. That is why, in this work, fully reduced activation 48Ti-48Zr-4Be wt.% brazing alloy was used. The following joint was made: Rusfer steel/48Ti-48Zr-4Be/Ta/48Ti-48Zr-4Be/W. The brazing was successfully carried out under a mode providing thermal heat treatment of Rusfer. Through EDS and EBSD analysis, the microstructure of the joint was determined. Shear strength of the as-joined composition was measured as 127 ± 20 MPa. The joint endured 200 thermocycles in the temperature range between 300–600 °C, but the fillet regions degraded.

Impact of Contract Farming on Farmers’ Income in the Food Value Chain: A Theoretical Analysis and Empirical Study in Vietnam

This study empirically analyzes the influence of contract farming on income and farming difficulties in Vietnam by using the econometric models and theoretically identifying the affecting mechanism of contract farming on income, sustainability, and welfare by using the qualitative method. The empirical results show that contract farming insignificantly impacts farms’ income while it can facilitate farming activities and decrease difficulties. The factors of education—head, gender of head, type of crop, and technology may affect farmers’ income. The impacting mechanism of contract farming on income, sustainability, and welfare is theoretically proposed as follows: Contract farming initially impacts the intermediate factors such as cooperative, market access, knowledge and skill, product quality, technology, and support. These factors then affect capacity, linkage, quality, and certification which can enhance farmers’ competitiveness. In the long term, stronger competitiveness, higher price, increasing productivity, and lower cost may significantly improve income, sustainability, and welfare. In general, contract farming may have positive impacts on income, sustainability, and welfare in the medium term and long term. In the short term, the result is not significant due to the similar or lower price comparing with the spot market price, growing production cost, decreasing productivity, and weak contract performance. The findings may help policymakers decide how to expand contract farming and its benefits. Economic scholars can test and compare both quantitative and qualitative findings in other contexts.

Recent Applications of Mixture Designs in Beverages, Foods, and Pharmaceutical Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Design of Experiments (DoE) is a statistical tool used to plan and optimize experiments and is seen as a quality technology to achieve products excellence. Among the experimental designs (EDs), the mixture designs (MDs) stand out, being widely applied to improve conditions for processing, developing, or formulating novel products. This review aims to provide useful updated information on the capacity and diversity of MDs applications for the industry and scientific community in the areas of food, beverage, and pharmaceutical health. Recent works were selected following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses statement (PRISMA) flow diagram. Data analysis was performed by self-organizing map (SOM) to check and understand which fields of application/countries/continents are using MDs. Overall, the SOM indicated that Brazil presented the largest number of works using MDs. Among the continents, America and Asia showed a predominance in applications with the same amount of work. Comparing the MDs application areas, the analysis indicated that works are prevalent in food and beverage science in the American continent, while in Asia, health science prevails. MDs were more used to develop functional/nutraceutical products and the formulation of drugs for several diseases. However, we briefly describe some promising research fields in that MDs can still be employed.

Factors associated with grain feeding in dairy farms located in the central-western region of Paraná State, Brazil

This study aimed to investigate factors associated with grain feeding and determine the typology of dairy farms that use high-grain diets. Twenty-two farm operators were interviewed in three municipalities located in the central-western region of Paraná state, Brazil. Information on reproductive and nutritional management practices, sociodemographic characteristics, and farm performance was collected. Data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis, and multiple linear regression. Three factors (F1, F2, and F3) were extracted, which together explained 82.61% of the total variance. F1 comprised diet quality, technology, and breeding composition. F2 comprised labor and size. F3 comprised feed quality and schooling. Farms were classified into four groups and compared in terms of factor scores and performance parameters. Group 1 had the highest mean score on F1 (0.715), group 4 on F2 (1.642), and group 2 on F3 (1.116). Groups 4 and 1 had the highest milk productivity (2043.50 and 399.52 L day−1, respectively) and labor efficiency (418.16 and 148.63 L worker−1 day−1, respectively). Group 4 also had the highest mean number of cows per worker (25.52 cows worker−1). Regression analysis revealed that diet quality, technology, and breeding composition (F1) explained the variance in cow productivity. Labor and size, (F2) explained the variance in number of cows per worker. Daily productivity and labor efficiency were explained by both F1 and F2. Feed quality and farm operator’s level of schooling did not explain the variation in any of the variables. We found that roughage quality, breeding technology, and herd breed composition are the major factors associated with grain feeding. Farmers who feed cows high-quality roughage throughout the year and invest in genetic improvement and selective breeding strategies are more likely to adopt high-grain feeding and have high milk productivity.