Tourist visits to a destination or attraction as a result of the destination being featured on television, video, or the cinema screen were the ones, that stimulated the creation and development of film tourism, which quickly established itself in global conditions. The main objective of the paper was focused on the identification and the perception of the conditions of film tourism development in Slovak republic. So far, a lot of film production has been realized in the country, but this potential has not yet been properly used for the creation of tourism products. Implementation of the study from a methodological point of view took place using several research methods. The pilot scientific abstraction of the issue was followed by the analysis of film conditions in the territory of Slovak Republic and their categorization. The given starting points were followed by the implementation of questionnaire research, the results of which were verified using several research methods such as Doornik-Hansen test, Kruskal-Wallis test. The results of the questionnaire research show a significant positive perception of the potential of filmmaking as a significant factor in the creation of new tourism products. At the same time, they identify key destinations that could potentially become objects of product realization. Due to the fact that this issue has not received adequate attention in domestic conditions, the study brings a new, more comprehensive view of the topic and emphasizes the power of the potential for further development.
Global economic competition is leading companies to improve their competitiveness by increasing production and eliminating the main obstacles to the process of making products available. This approach concerns both SMEs and SMIs as well as multinationals. Thus, the Compagnie Minière de l’Ogooué (COMILOG), a subsidiary of the French group ERAMET, which until recently had a monopoly on manganese mining in Gabon, must now face competition from Asian operators. To export its ore, COMILOG must first transport it by rail for nearly 650 km, from the Moanda site (south-east of the country) to the port of Owendo. However, port operations, which until then took place exclusively during the day, limited the company’s export capacities and the profits made, while increasing the stopover time of ships and their operating costs. To remedy this, the French company introduced nighttime docking and departures. This work addresses the challenges of the performance of port operations at the Owendo ore terminal and the security and natural risks of night manoeuvres. The general objective of the study is to assess the impact of these night services on ship traffic, on the one hand, and to identify the related socio-economic and security issues, on the other hand. Data collection was carried out using documentary research in libraries and research centres, consultation of websites, semi-directed interviews, questionnaire surveys and participatory observation. The sample of 50 people surveyed took into account management staff, supervisors and line managers, integrating the diversity of actors involved in the processing of ships calling at the port of Owendo. Finally, the surveys attest to a clear reduction in the time spent by ships at the Owendo Ore Port and an increase in their number calling. They also confirm the improvement in tonnages embarked and the improvement in turnover achieved by COMILOG. This study led to the conclusion that the introduction of night manoeuvres at the port of Owendo allowed COMILOG to increase its exports and the number of ore carriers received in stopover and then improve its turnover.
Nigeria’s palm oil processing industry poses significant environmental pollution risks, jeopardizing the country’s ability to meet the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Traditional processing methods generate palm oil mill effluent (POME), contaminating soil and shallow wells. This study investigated water samples from five locations (Edo, Akwa-Ibom, Cross River, Delta, and Imo states) with high effluent release. While some parameters met international and national standards (WHO guidelines, ASCE, NIS, and NSDWQ) others exceeded acceptable limits, detrimental to improved water quality. Results showed, pH values within acceptable ranges (6.5–8.5), high total conductivity and salinity (800–1150 µS/cm), acceptable hardness values (200–300 mg/L), nitrite concentrations (10–45 mg/L), excessive magnesium absorption (> 50 mg/L), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) indicating significant pollution (75–290 mg/L), total dissolved solids (TDS) exceeding safe limits in four locations, total solids (TS) exceeding allowable limits for drinking water (310–845 mg/L), water quality index (WQI) values ranged from “poor” to “very poor”. POME contamination by metals like magnesium, nitrite, chloride, and sodium compromised shallow well water quality. Correlation analysis confirmed robust results, indicating strong positive correlations between conductivity and TDS (r = 0.85, p < 0.01) and pH and total hardness (r = 0.65, p < 0.05). The study emphasizes the need for environmentally friendly palm oil processing methods to mitigate pollution, ensure safe drinking water, and achieve Nigeria’s SDGs. Implementation of sustainable practices is crucial to protect public health and the environment.
Universities play a crucial role in supporting sustainable development. In recent decades, indicator-based assessment tools have emerged to quantify universities’ efforts towards sustainability. The most widely known is the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings (UI-GWUR): In our paper, we examine the sustainability performance of the three greenest Hungarian universities. The University of Pécs, the University of Szeged and the University of Sopron were among the top 200 higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UI-GWUR in 2023, which proves that they have successfully integrated sustainable development into the components of their system. The aim of the paper is to identify the sustainability measures implemented by the three-top Hungarian HEIs. Their experiences shed light on how it is possible to move forward in the UI GWUR for a Hungarian higher education institution. In order to evaluate the sustainability efforts of the universities, the UI GWUR database was first examined. The websites and sustainability reports of the three universities were also analyzed to gain insight into their activities. Identifying the sustainability actions of the three institutions will help other universities to successfully plan and implement their sustainability initiatives. In the last part of our paper, we evaluate how the three Hungarian universities communicate sustainability through their websites. The results show that advancement in the UI Green Metric World University Rankings primarily requires conscious planning, which means a deeper understanding of the ranking methodology on the one hand, and a clear strategy creation and implementation on the other hand.
Traditional shipping plays a crucial role in the national sea transportation system, serving inland areas, remote areas, and outer islands that are widely distributed throughout the country. However, there is still limited research on the problems of traditional shipping empowerment and its implementation. This research aims not only to analyze the obstacles encountered in empowering traditional shipping but also the implementation of the traditional shipping grant program. This study employed a quantitative descriptive approach, utilizing a likert scale, to analyze the issues that arise in the empowerment of traditional shipping. Additionally, for policy implementation analysis, the Hellmut-Wollmann policy analysis was used. The findings indicate that the most significant issues arise in the area of human resource development, such as a lack of competent teaching staff, insufficient short courses, complicated testing procedures, and the lack of crew certification. In the ex-ante stage, the variable of empowering traditional shipping transportation programs experienced the highest implementation rate. During the ongoing stage, the variable empowering traditional shipping services achieved the highest implementation score. And in the ex-post stage, traditional shipping services had the highest implementation score. This paper emphasizes the significance of collaboration and coordination among all levels of government, from the central to the local, in order to effectively implement the traditional shipping empowerment program. These findings also highlight the necessity of extending the traditional shipping grant program while making improvements in areas such as ship safety management regulations, the management and supply of traditional shipping terminals, the division of transportation types, and route determination policies.
This research presents a novel approach utilizing a self-enhanced chimp optimization algorithm (COA) for feature selection in crowdfunding success prediction models, which offers significant improvements over existing methods. By focusing on reducing feature redundancy and improving prediction accuracy, this study introduces an innovative technique that enhances the efficiency of machine learning models used in crowdfunding. The results from this study could have a meaningful impact on how crowdfunding campaigns are designed and evaluated, offering new strategies for creators and investors to increase the likelihood of campaign success in a rapidly evolving digital funding landscape.
The issue of urban land management in the world in general and in Africa in particular has been exacerbated by the liberalization of land practices and the commodification of land, which has led to an increase in corrupt practices within land institutions in all cities. A mixed methodology was employed, combining a comparative case study of secondary towns with a quantitative survey of 559 landowners in the towns of Bohicon and Sokodé. In-depth interviews were conducted with 31 informants, who were surveyed on the land acquisition process, the individual determinants influencing corrupt practices, and the institutions most involved in these practices. The findings revealed that the acquisition of a formal title conferring property rights in both cities necessitates the completion of several steps. Corrupt practices are present at almost every stage of the transaction. The application of logistic regression models to the independent variables indicates that age and profession are highly significant in the sociodemographic characteristics of those most susceptible to engaging in these practices. Formal land administration institutions are the most involved in these types of everyday corruption. These practices are ultimately linked to people’s life paths and cannot therefore be combated without psychosociological education and the promotion of ethical behavior among all stakeholders, particularly among those who demand services.
This study investigated the variability of climate parameters and food crop yields in Nigeria. Data were sourced from secondary sources and analyzed using correlation and multivariate regression. Findings revealed that pineapple was more sensitive to climate variability (76.17%), while maize and groundnut yields were more stable with low sensitivity (0.98 and 1.17%). Yields for crops like pineapple (0.31 kg/ha) were more sensitive to temperature, while maize, beans, groundnut, and vegetable yields were less sensitive to temperature with yields ranging from 0.15 kg/ha, 0.21 kg/ha, 0.18 kg/ha, and 0.12 kg/ha respectively. On the other hand, maize, beans, groundnut, and vegetable yields were more sensitive to rainfall ranging from 0.19kg/ha, 0.15kg/ha, 0.22 kg/ha, and 0.18 kg/ha respectively compared to pineapple yields which decreased with increase rainfall (−0.25 kg/ha). The results further showed that for every degree increase in temperature, maize, pineapple, and beans yields decreased by 0.48, 0.01, and 2.00 units at a 5 % level of significance, while vegetable yield decreased by 0.25 units and an effect was observed. Also, for every unit increase in rainfall, maize, pineapple, groundnut, and vegetable yields decreased by 3815.40, 404.40, 11,398.12, and 2342.32 units respectively at a 5% level, with an observed effect for maize yield. For robustness, these results were confirmed by the generalized additive and the Bayesian linear regression models. This study has been able to quantify the impact of temperature on food crop yields in the African context and employed a novel analytical approach combining the correlation matrix and multivariate linear regression to examine climate-crop yield relationships. The study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on climate-induced risks to food security in Nigeria and provides valuable insights for policymakers, farmers, government, and stakeholders to develop effective strategies to mitigate the impacts of climate change on food crop yields through the integration of climate-smart agricultural practices like agroforestry, conservation agriculture, and drought-tolerant varieties into national agricultural policies and programs and invest in climate information dissemination channels to help consider climate variability in agricultural planning and decision-making, thereby enhancing food security in the country.
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