The need for strategic alignment within HR management increased managers' concern about individual behavior and how this behavior was related to the achievement of goals. In public management, effectively managing employees' performance has been necessary since Weber's bureaucratic administration. The individual performance appraisal is the right tool to assess employees' competencies. Thus, we proposed the following research question: Which factors, as pointed out by theory, have the most significant influence on the individual performance appraisal process? The quantitative method was applied to answer this question, developing and testing a scale via EFA and a hypothetical model via SEM-CB. The results indicated a scale with 25 items able to access the main points of the IPA process and a hypothetical model with 7 constructs that indicate the influence on employee engagement. The main finding is the significant influence of feedback on the whole process. The main theoretical contribution was the construction of the MIPAS scale, and the practical contribution was to identify the points where managers should focus on improving the IPA process with their subordinates.

Fraudulence in cosmetic ingredients is becoming increasingly prevalent, alongside the rising demand and utilization of cosmetics within the populace. One of the whitening agents still utilized in cosmetics is mercury, present in forms such as mercury chloramide (HgNH₂Cl₂) and mercury chloride (HgCl₂). Prolonged mercury exposure can have adverse health effects. To address this issue, alternative mercury analysis methods in samples have been developed, including the utilization of silver nanoparticles amalgamated with sweet potato starch as a stabilizing agent. This paper aims to delve into the roles of silver nanoparticle AgNO₃ and sweet potato starch (as a stabilizer) as a sensor for mercury detection, which can be applied in cosmetic products. Detection of mercury utilizing nanoparticles is based on the Surface Plasmon Resonance phenomenon, which endows a high level of selectivity and sensitivity toward the presence of mercury metal ions. When interaction occurs between mercury metal and silver nanoparticles, the liquid undergoes a color change from yellowish-brown to transparent. This phenomenon arises from the oxidation of AgO (yellow) to Ag⁺ ions (transparent) by the mercury metal. Consequently, a silver nanoparticle sensor utilizing sweet potato starch as a stabilizing agent exhibits the potential to detect mercury metal within a substance with high efficacy.

Vehicle detection stands out as a rapidly developing technology today and is further strengthened by deep learning algorithms. This technology is critical in traffic management, automated driving systems, security, urban planning, environmental impacts, transportation, and emergency response applications. Vehicle detection, which is used in many application areas such as monitoring traffic flow, assessing density, increasing security, and vehicle detection in automatic driving systems, makes an effective contribution to a wide range of areas, from urban planning to security measures. Moreover, the integration of this technology represents an important step for the development of smart cities and sustainable urban life. Deep learning models, especially algorithms such as You Only Look Once version 5 (YOLOv5) and You Only Look Once version 8 (YOLOv8), show effective vehicle detection results with satellite image data. According to the comparisons, the precision and recall values of the YOLOv5 model are 1.63% and 2.49% higher, respectively, than the YOLOv8 model. The reason for this difference is that the YOLOv8 model makes more sensitive vehicle detection than the YOLOv5. In the comparison based on the F1 score, the F1 score of YOLOv5 was measured as 0.958, while the F1 score of YOLOv8 was measured as 0.938. Ignoring sensitivity amounts, the increase in F1 score of YOLOv8 compared to YOLOv5 was found to be 0.06%.

Solid waste has become a major environmental concern globally in recent years due to the tremendous increase in waste generation. However, these wastes (e.g., plastics and agro-residues) can serve as potential raw materials for the production of value-added products such as composites at low cost. The utilization of these waste materials in the composite industry is a good strategy for maintaining the sustainability of resources with economic and environmental benefits. In this report, the environmental impacts and management strategies of solid waste materials are discussed in detail. The study described the benefits of recycling and reusing solid wastes (i.e., plastic and agro-waste). The report also reviewed the emerging fabrication approaches for natural particulate hybrid nanocomposite materials. The results of this survey reveal that the fabrication techniques employed in manufacturing composite materials could significantly influence the performance of the resulting composite products. Furthermore, some key areas have been identified for further investigation. Therefore, this report is a state-of-the-art review and stands out as a guide for academics and industrialists.