Rural tourism, which offers authentic cultural and nature-based experiences, is increasingly recognized as a vital tool for sustainable development. Ethiopia, with its rich rural landscapes and cultural heritage, holds immense potential for rural tourism, but the sector remains underdeveloped. This study assesses the facilitating conditions and challenges of rural tourism in Ethiopia using a mixed-methods approach. Results indicate that Ethiopia’s economic growth, improved rural infrastructure, large rural population, higher ethnic and religious diversity index, and 11 UNESCO World Heritage Sites provide strong foundations for rural tourism. However, significant challenges such as inadequate infrastructure, limited marketing, restricted access to financing, ethnic conflicts, environmental degradation, and insufficient stakeholder cooperation hinder its growth. To address these barriers, the study proposes a model encompassing strategic investments in infrastructure, enhancing marketing and promotion, access to finance initiatives, conflict resolution strategies, sustainable tourism practices, enhancing stakeholder coordination, and supportive policy frameworks. By employing these strategies, Ethiopia can harness the full potential of its rural tourism sector, contributing to economic development and community well-being while promoting cultural preservation and environmental sustainability. Also, the proposed model is highly applicable to other developing economies that share similar contexts. Besides, given the importance of the seven fundamental pillars of the model, it remains relevant across tourism types like coastal destinations.

This study developed a specific scale to measure the impact of extrinsic motivations on students’ decisions to pursue online graduate programs at business schools in Latin America. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research proceeded in three stages. In the first stage, the construct was defined by identifying key extrinsic factors motivating students to enroll in online graduate programs, followed by the creation and initial validation of the scale in Colombia. The second stage involved testing the scale in Chile to determine its cross-cultural applicability. In the third stage, the scale’s predictive validity was confirmed, demonstrating its effectiveness in explaining how extrinsic motivations influence students’ intentions to enroll in online graduate programs. The findings indicate that the scale, composed of five dimensions—Cost Reduction, Ability to Study from Any Location, Control Over Learning Pace, Flexibility to Balance Study and Work, and Avoiding Commuting Time—is a reliable predictor of student preferences and intentions in online graduate education. The final scale includes 25 items across these dimensions, measuring extrinsic factors through items related to flexibility, time savings, and global accessibility. Validation in two Latin American countries confirms the scale’s relevance across diverse cultural contexts, enhancing its applicability within the region. This study provides empirical evidence that extrinsic motivation is a key determinant of students’ intentions to enroll in online programs in developing countries. It confirms that extrinsic motivations reflect a preference for flexible learning options compatible with students’ lifestyles and professional needs, linked to their beliefs about time management, professional advancement, and career opportunities associated with earning a graduate degree.

Hydroponics is a modern agricultural system that enables year-round plant growth. Biochar, derived from apple tree waste, and humic acid were investigated as a replacement for the Hoagland nutrient solution to grow strawberries in a greenhouse with three replications. Growth parameters, such as leaf area, the average number of fruits per plant, maximum fruit weight, and the weight of fresh and dry fruits, were measured. A 50% increase in fresh and dry fruit weight was observed in plants grown using biochar compared to the control. Additionally, the use of Hoagland chemical fertilizer led to a 25% increase in both fresh and dry weight. There was a 65% increase in the number of fruits per plant in the biochar-grown sample compared to the control. Moreover, biochar fertilizer caused a 100% increase in maximum fruit weight compared to the control and a 27% increase compared to the Hoagland chemical fertilizer. Biochar had a higher pH compared to the Hoagland solution, and such pH levels were conducive to strawberry plant growth. The results indicate that biochar has the potential to enhance the size and weight of fruits. The findings of the study demonstrate that biochar, when combined with humic acid, is a successful organic hydroponic fertilizer that improves the quality and quantity of strawberries. Moreover, this approach enables the more efficient utilization of garden waste.

Nigeria plays important roles in the overall socio-economic development of the entire African continent, including entrepreneurial activities. There is a less focus on the immersion of women and youths in playing participatory roles in digital entrepreneurship and digital technology innovation in order to boost the economic growth of the country. The primary objective of this study is to explore women and youths’ immersion, specifically in connection with digital entrepreneurship and digital technology innovation, for the purpose of fostering the growth of the economy. The methodology employed in this study is Critical Content Analysis (CCA) of cursory literature as an integral part of the qualitative method. The literature was sourced through different databases, such as library sources, journals, and the core collection of Web of Science (WOS), and the collections of studies used for analysis were between 2018 and 2023. The results demonstrated that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play significant roles in digital entrepreneurship activities in the country. In addition, there are various entrepreneurship programmes in the country, such as the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YEDP), and there is awareness of the effectiveness and efficiency of digital entrepreneurship. In addition, the result further established that the use of digital technology is an important innovation for the success of digital entrepreneurship in the country. The study further indicated that five factors of women and youths’ immersion in entrepreneurship (perception and opportunities, business performance, digital adoption, skill acquisition, and enabling environment) can boost the growth of the economy in the country. In conclusion, the knowledge and skills of entrepreneurs are major drivers of wealth and job creations, with women and youths playing an active role in the overall entrepreneurship programmes. It is suggested that the stakeholders and actors in entrepreneurship should collaborate to foster the participation of women and youths in entrepreneurship programmes in the country.

Heat conduction theory stipulates that two thermo-physical properties of materials: the thermal conductivity “k” and the thermal diffusivity “α” influence the temperature evolution in regular and irregular bodies as a response to various cooling/heating conditions. The traditional statement involving the two thermo-physical properties is examined at length in the present study for the case of a semi-infinite region. The primary objective of the present study is to investigate the influence of the less known thermo-physical property called the thermal effusivity “e” on the incipient surface temperature rise in a semi-infinite body affected by uniform surface heat flux. The secondary objective of the study is to identify a key figure of merit named the dimensionless threshold time that separates the incipient temperature elevation in a semi-infinite region from the incipient temperature elevation in a large wall of finite thickness under the same uniform surface heat flux. The outcome of the methodical analysis suggests that the accurate estimate for the dimensionless threshold time τ_th in the semi-infinite region should be 0.10.

The study focused on investigating the effects of varying levels of HA (HA₁ = 0, HA₂ = 25, HA₃ = 50, HA₄ = 75, and HA₅ = 100) on Red Dragon, Red Prince, and Red Meat varieties of red radish. This analysis aimed to unravel the relationship between different levels of HA and their impact on the growth and productivity of red radish genotypes. The findings revealed that the Red Prince genotype attained the utmost plant height of 24.00 cm, an average of 7.50 leaves per plant, a leaf area of 23.11 cm², a canopy cover of 26.76%, a leaf chlorophyll content of 54.60%, a leaf fresh weight of 41.16 g, a leaf dry weight of 8.20 g, a root length measuring 9.73 cm, a root diameter of 3.19 mm, a root fresh weight of 27.60 g, a root dry weight of 6.75 g, and a remarkable total yield of 17.93 tons per hectare. The implications of this study are poised to benefit farmers within the Dera Ismail Khan Region, specifically in the plain areas of Pakistan, by promoting the cultivation of the Red Prince variety.