Marketing orientation of small Firms- a study with reference to Trivandrum district

The small business has attracted very little attention of the historians in the ancient times, or public mind inspite of the fact that its impact on the various civilisations has been phenominal. Even in recent times economists considered the small firms as inappropriate, obselate and anacronistic as it cannot assimilate the full potential of technological change in the production system. But today everybody agrees that the small business has a definite role in shaping the human destiny and enhancing the quality of life in any society. In a developing country like India small firms are necessary to generate employment for millions, high standared of personal choice to consumers, provide competition and act as a check to monopoly power; further the small firms provide an important source of innovation and in turn it paves the way for entrepreneur development in the society. In many countries the small enterprises played a significant role in the growth and development of their economic system. Italy and Japan are quoted as classic examples . In India, too, with the abundance of labour and scarce capital resources small firms have been promoted and protected by the government. But one must say that the small firm owners/managers in India have been shy in developing a market orientation in themeselves. Due to this many firms failed and closed. The alarming rate of sickness among the small firms in India may be attributed to the lack of market driven/customer orientation approach among the owner/managers of small business. So the study on the market oreintation of the small firms has never been in the mind of marketing experts and academicians. Thus, an attempt is made to enquire into them systematically and scientifically. For the study, Trivandrum district in Kerala has been selected. The data for the study has been collected by the help of a schedule which has been prepared after consulting the relevant literature and after consultation with experts in the field, academicians and practising managers.

Depinning transition of dislocation assemblies: Pileups and low-angle grain boundaries

We investigate the depinning transition occurring in dislocation assemblies. In particular, we consider the cases of regularly spaced pileups and low-angle grain boundaries interacting with a disordered stress landscape provided by solute atoms, or by other immobile dislocations present in nonactive slip systems. Using linear elasticity, we compute the stress originated by small deformations of these assemblies and the corresponding energy cost in two and three dimensions. Contrary to the case of isolated dislocation lines, which are usually approximated as elastic strings with an effective line tension, the deformations of a dislocation assembly cannot be described by local elastic interactions with a constant tension or stiffness. A nonlocal elastic kernel results as a consequence of long-range interactions between dislocations. In light of this result, we revise statistical depinning theories of dislocation assemblies and compare the theoretical results with numerical simulations and experimental data.

Grain boundaries in vortex matter

We explore the statistical properties of grain boundaries in the vortex polycrystalline phase of type-II superconductors. Treating grain boundaries as arrays of dislocations interacting through linear elasticity, we show that self-interaction of a deformed grain boundary is equivalent to a nonlocal long-range surface tension. This affects the pinning properties of grain boundaries, which are found to be less rough than isolated dislocations. The presence of grain boundaries has an important effect on the transport properties of type-II superconductors as we show by numerical simulations: our results indicate that the critical current is higher for a vortex polycrystal than for a regular vortex lattice. Finally, we discuss the possible role of grain boundaries in vortex lattice melting. Through a phenomenological theory we show that melting can be preceded by an intermediate polycrystalline phase.

Value orientation of professional students in kerala

The present study is on value orientation of professional students•and as such the theoretical value is inherent and implied. Variation on this value is likely to be limited among the subjects. The relevance of the present study is with particular reference, to management as a profession. In organisational settings motivation plays an important role. According to McClelland's theory of needs, achievement, power, and affiliation are the three important needs that help in understanding motivation. Achieve~ent need may be defined as the drive to excel, to achieve in relation to a set of standards, and to strive to succeed. Some people have a compelling drive to succeed. They have a desire to do something better or more efficiently than it has been done before. McClelland found that high achievers differentiate themselves from others by their desire to do things . better. Considering this fact, 'achievement' is included as one of the values for the study

Establishment of Shrimp Cell Lines: Perception and Orientation

Development of continuous shrimp cell lines for effective investigation on shrimp viruses remains elusive with an arduous history of over 25 years. Despite presenting challenges to researchers in developing a cell line, the billion dollar aquaculture industry is under viral threat. Advances in molecular biology and various gene transfer technologies for immortalization of cells have resulted in the development of hundreds of cell lines from insects and mammals, but yet not a single cell line has been developed from shrimp and other marine invertebrates. Though improved growth and longevity of shrimp cells in vitro could be achieved by using modified growth media this did not make any leap to spontaneous transformation; probably due to the fact that shrimp cells inhibited neoplastic transformations. Oncogenic induction and immortalization are considered as the possible ways, and an exclusive medium for shrimp cell culture and an appropriate mode of transformation are crucial. In this review status of shrimp cell line development and its future orientation are discussed

Structural And Surface Morphological Investigation Of Formation Stages Of Highly (002) Oriented Zno Films On Glass Substrates By Spray Pyrolysis Method

ZnO thin films were coated on amorphous glass substrate at various temperatures in the range 160-500 0C by spray pyrolysis method. The as deposited films were characterised by using XRD and SEM. Wurtzite phase of ZnO was formed at a substrate temperature of 400 0C, highly oriented (002) phase was developed with respect to increase of substrate temperature from 450 to 500 0C. Morphological and growth mode of these films were analyzed with respect to structural orientation of films from wurtzite to highly (002) oriented phase. Present study reveals that substrate temperature was one of the important parameters which determine the crystalline quality, population of defects, grain size, orientation and morphology of the films

Photoluminescence Studies Of Microwave Assisted Synthesized Zno Micro Structures

ZnO micro particles in the range 0.4-0.6 μm were synthesized by microwave irradiation method. The XRD analysis reveals that the sample is in the wurtzite phase with orientation along the (101) plane. SAED pattern of the sample reveals the single crystalline nature of the micro grains. TEM images show the formation of cylindrical shaped ZnO micro structures with hexagonal faces. The optical phonon modes were slightly shifted in the Raman spectrum,attributed to the presence of various crystalline defects and laser induced local heating at the grain boundaries. A broad transmission profile was observed in the FTIR spectrum from 1550-3400 cm-1 which falls in the atmospheric transparency window region. PL spectrum centered at 500 nm with a broad band in the region 420-570 nm comprised of different emission peaks attributed to transition between defect levels. Various emission levels in the sample were expliained with a band diagram

On tuning the orientation of grains of spray pyrolysed ZnO thin films

Effect of varying spray rate on the structure and optoelectronic properties of spray pyrolysed ZnO film is analysed. ZnO films were characterised using different techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence, electrical resistivity measurement, and optical absorption. The XRD analysis proved that, with the increase in spray rate, orientation of the grains changed from (1 0 1) plane to (0 0 2) plane. The films exhibited luminescence in two regions—one was the ‘near band-edge’ (NBE) (∼380 nm) emission and the other one was the ‘blue-green emission’ (∼503 nm). Intensity of the blue-green emission decreased after orientation of grains shifted to (0 0 2) plane. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis of the films asserts that spray rate has major role in improving the crystallographic properties of the films. Moreover resistivity of the films could be lowered to 2.4×10−2 cm without any doping or post-deposition annealing

Market Orientation and Organisational Performance of Nonprofit Organizations in Kerala

This study is the concentrates different nature and practice of Marketing in nonprofit organization.How market indication can contribute the organizational performance of nonprofit organizations.

Root effects on the turnover of grain legume residues in soil

Das Ziel dieser Arbeit war, die Einflüsse von Wurzeln und Rhizodeposition auf den Umsatz von Körnerleguminosenresiduen und damit verknüpfte mikrobielle Prozesse zu untersuchen. In einem integrierten Versuch wurden Ackerbohne (Vicia faba L.), Erbse (Pisum sativum L.) und Weiße Lupine (Lupinus albus L.) untersucht. Der Versuch bestand aus drei Teilen, zwei Gefäß-Experimenten und einem Inkubationsexperiment, in denen ausgehend von einem Gefäß-Experiment derselbe Boden und dasselbe Pflanzenmaterial verwendet wurden. In Experiment I wurde die Stickstoff-Rhizodeposition der Körnerleguminosenarten, definiert als wurzelbürtiger N nach dem Entfernen aller sichtbaren Wurzeln im Boden, gemessen und der Verbleib des Rhizodepositions-N in verschiednenen Bodenpools untersucht. Dazu wurden die Leguminosen in einem Gefäßversuch unter Verwendung einer in situ 15N-Docht-Methode mit einer 15N Harnstofflösung pulsmarkiert. In Experiment II wurde der Umsatz der N-Rhizodeposition der Körnerleguminosen und der Einfluss der Rhizodeposition auf den anschließenden C- und N-Umsatz der Körnerleguminosenresiduen in einem Inkubationsexperiment untersucht. In Experiment III wurde der N-Transfer aus den Körnerleguminosenresiduen einschließlich N-Rhizodeposition in die mikrobielle Biomasse und die Folgefrüchte Weizen (Triticum aestivum L.) und Raps (Brassica napus L.) in einem Gewächshaus-Gefäßversuch ermittelt. Die in situ 15N Docht-Markierungs-Methode wies hohe 15N Wiederfindungsraten von ungefähr 84 Prozent für alle drei Leguminosenarten auf und zeigte eine vergleichsweise homogene 15N Verteilung zwischen verschiedenen Pflanzenteilen zur Reife. Die Wurzeln zeigten deutliche Effekte auf die N-Dynamik nach dem Anbau von Körnerleguminosen. Die Effekte konnten auf die N-Rhizodeposition und deren anschließenden Umsatz, Einflüsse der Rhizodeposition von Körnerleguminosen auf den anschließenden Umsatz ihrer Residuen (Stängel, Blätter, erfassbare Wurzeln) und die Wirkungen nachfolgender Nichtleguminosen auf den Umsatzprozess der Residuen zurückgeführt werden: Die N-Rhizodeposition betrug zur Reife der Pflanzen bezogen auf die Gesamt-N- Aufnahme 13 Prozent bei Ackerbohne und Erbse und 16 Prozent bei Weißer Lupine. Bezogen auf den Residual N nach Ernte der Körner erhöhte sich der relative Anteil auf 35 - 44 Prozent. Die N-Rhizodeposition ist daher ein wesentlicher Pool für die N-Bilanz von Körnerleguminosen und trägt wesentlich zur Erklärung positiver Fruchtfolgeeffekte nach Körnerleguminosen bei. 7 - 21 Prozent des Rhizodepositions-N wurden als Feinwurzeln nach Nasssiebung (200 µm) wiedergefunden. Nur 14 - 18 Prozent des Rhizodepositions-N wurde in der mikrobiellen Biomasse und ein sehr kleiner Anteil von 3 - 7 Prozent in der mineralischen N Fraktion gefunden. 48 bis 72 Prozent der N-Rhizodeposition konnte in keinem der untersuchten Pools nachgewiesen werden. Dieser Teil dürfte als mikrobielle Residualmasse immobilisiert worden sein. Nach 168 Tagen Inkubation wurden 21 bis 27 Prozent des Rhizodepositions-N in den mineralisiert. Der mineralisierte N stammte im wesentlichen aus zwei Pools: Zwischen 30 Prozent und 55 Prozent wurde aus der mikrobiellen Residualmasse mineralisiert und eine kleinere Menge stammte aus der mikrobielle Biomasse. Der Einfluss der Rhizodeposition auf den Umsatz der Residuen war indifferent. Durch Rhizodeposition wurde die C Mineralisierung der Leguminosenresiduen nur in der Lupinenvariante erhöht, wobei der mikrobielle N und die Bildung von mikrobieller Residualmasse aus den Leguminosenresiduen in allen Varianten durch Rhizodepositionseinflüsse erhöht waren. Das Potential des residualen Körnerleguminosen-N für die N Ernährung von Folgefrüchten war gering. Nur 8 - 12 Prozent des residualen N wurden in den Folgenfrüchten Weizen und Raps wiedergefunden. Durch die Berücksichtigung des Rhizodepositions-N war der relative Anteil des Residual-N bezogen auf die Gesamt-N-Aufnahme der Folgefrucht hoch und betrug zwischen 18 und 46 Prozent. Dies lässt auf einen höheren N-Beitrag der Körnerleguminosen schließen als bisher angenommen wurde. Die residuale N-Aufnahme von Weizen von der Blüte bis zur Reife wurde durch den Residual-N gespeist, der zur Blüte in der mikrobiellen Biomasse immobilisiert worden war. Die gesamte Poolgröße, Residual-N in der mikrobiellen Biomasse und in Weizen, veränderte sich von der Blüte bis zur Reife nicht. Jedoch konnte ein Rest von 80 Prozent des Residual-N in keinem der untersuchten Pools nachgewiesen werden und dürfte als mikrobielle Residualmasse immobilisiert worden sein oder ist noch nicht abgebaut worden. Die zwei unterschiedlichen Folgefrüchte - Weizen und Raps - zeigten sehr ähnliche Muster bei der N-Aufnahme, der Residual-N Wiederfindung und bei mikrobiellen Parametern für die Residuen der drei Körnerleguminosenarten. Ein differenzierender Effekt auf den Umsatz der Residuen bzw. auf das Residual-N-Aneignungsvermögen der Folgefrüchte konnte nicht beobachtet werden.

Is export orientation a major motivator for the adoption of food safety systems in the Turkish dried fig firms?

Food safety management systems (FSMSs) and the scrutinisation of the food safety practices that are intended for adoption on the firm level both offer strategic value to the dried fig sector. This study aims to prove the hypothesis that export orientation is a major motivating force for the adoption of food safety systems in the Turkish dried fig firms. Data were obtained from 91 dried fig firms located in Aydin, Turkey. Interviews were carried out with firms’ managers/owners using a face-to-face questionnaire designed from May to August of 2010. While 36.3 percent of the interviewed firms had adopted one or more systems, the rest had no certification. A binomial logistic econometric model was employed. The parameters that influenced this decision included contractual agreements with other firms, implementation of good practices by the dried fig farmers, export orientation and cost-benefit ratio. Interestingly, the rest of the indicators employed had no statistically significant effect on adoption behaviour. This paper focusses on the export orientation parameter directly in order to test the validity of the main research hypothesis. The estimated marginal effect suggests that when dried fig firms are export-oriented, the probability that these firms will adopt food safety systems goes up by 39.5 percent. This rate was the first range observed among all the marginal probability values obtained and thus verified the hypothesis that export orientation is a major motivator for the adoption of food safety systems in the Turkish dried fig firms.

From Market- to Development Orientation - The Trade Aspect of Food Security and Agriculture

Trade rules are suggested to be one of the reasons for the hunger in the world and environmental damage. As current trade rules encourage market orientation and therefore specialization and industrialization of agriculture, which has as side effects rural hunger and environmental damage, there is room for improvement in the international trade regime. One main finding of Nexus Foundations' work in Geneva is a possible new orientation for agricultural and food markets – an orientation on development, rather than purely on markets. This development orientation consists of several elements from development of soil fertility to local markets and consumer relatedness. Since the Bali Ministerial in 2013, the WTO has set up a four year work programme on the issue of food security related to food reserves. This opens the chance to discuss broader food security issues in the realm of trade negotiations.

Meat yield and quality of Tanzania Shorthorn Zebu cattle finished on molasses/maize grain with agro-processing by-products in 90 days feedlot period

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of feeding molasses or maize grain with agro-processing by-products on yield and quality of meat from Tanzania shorthorn zebu (TSZ) cattle. Forty five steers aged 2.5 to 3.0 years with 200 +/- 5.4 kg body weight were allocated into five dietary treatments namely hominy feed with molasses (HFMO), rice polishing with molasses (RPMO), hominy feed with maize meal (HFMM), rice polishing with maize meal (RPMM) and maize meal with molasses (MMMO). Ad libitum amount of each dietary treatment and hay were offered to nine steers for 90 days. Cooking loss (CL) and Warner Bratzler shear force (WBSF) values were determined on M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum aged for 3, 6, 9 and 12 days. Steers fed on HFMO diet had higher (P < 0.05) nutrient intake (86.39 MJ/d energy; 867 g/d CP), weight gain (919 g/d) and half carcass weight (75.8 kg) than those fed other diets. Meat of steers from all diets was tender with average WBSF values of 47.9 N cm^(−2). The CL (22.0 +/- 0.61%) and WBSF (53.4 +/- 0.70 N cm^(−2)) were highest in meat aged for 3 days followed by 6, 9 and 12 days. WBSF values for meat aged for 9 and 12 days from steers fed HFMO and RPMM diets were similar and lower than those on other dietary treatments x aging periods. Overall, molasses and hominy feed can be used to replace maize meal in feedlot finishing diets to spare its use in animal feeds.

Investigating shape representation in area V4 with HMAX: Orientation and Grating selectivities

The question of how shape is represented is of central interest to understanding visual processing in cortex. While tuning properties of the cells in early part of the ventral visual stream, thought to be responsible for object recognition in the primate, are comparatively well understood, several different theories have been proposed regarding tuning in higher visual areas, such as V4. We used the model of object recognition in cortex presented by Riesenhuber and Poggio (1999), where more complex shape tuning in higher layers is the result of combining afferent inputs tuned to simpler features, and compared the tuning properties of model units in intermediate layers to those of V4 neurons from the literature. In particular, we investigated the issue of shape representation in visual area V1 and V4 using oriented bars and various types of gratings (polar, hyperbolic, and Cartesian), as used in several physiology experiments. Our computational model was able to reproduce several physiological findings, such as the broadening distribution of the orientation bandwidths and the emergence of a bias toward non-Cartesian stimuli. Interestingly, the simulation results suggest that some V4 neurons receive input from afferents with spatially separated receptive fields, leading to experimentally testable predictions. However, the simulations also show that the stimulus set of Cartesian and non-Cartesian gratings is not sufficiently complex to probe shape tuning in higher areas, necessitating the use of more complex stimulus sets.

Grain size analyses in tin-lead glazes based on 2d-sections

A problem in the archaeometric classification of Catalan Renaissance pottery is the fact, that the clay supply of the pottery workshops was centrally organized by guilds, and therefore usually all potters of a single production centre produced chemically similar ceramics. However, analysing the glazes of the ware usually a large number of inclusions in the glaze is found, which reveal technological differences between single workshops. These inclusions have been used by the potters in order to opacify the transparent glaze and to achieve a white background for further decoration. In order to distinguish different technological preparation procedures of the single workshops, at a Scanning Electron Microscope the chemical composition of those inclusions as well as their size in the two-dimensional cut is recorded. Based on the latter, a frequency distribution of the apparent diameters is estimated for each sample and type of inclusion. Following an approach by S.D. Wicksell (1925), it is principally possible to transform the distributions of the apparent 2D-diameters back to those of the true three-dimensional bodies. The applicability of this approach and its practical problems are examined using different ways of kernel density estimation and Monte-Carlo tests of the methodology. Finally, it is tested in how far the obtained frequency distributions can be used to classify the pottery