Entire DC Network | Open Access Articles | Digital Commons Network™

Warehouse Location Decision Factors In Humanitarian Relief Logistics, Sae Yeon Roh, Hyun Mi Jang, Chul Hwan Han

Plymouth Business School

No abstract provided.

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Tetab(46), A Predicted Heterodimeric Abc Transporter Conferring Tetracycline Resistance In Streptococcus Australis Isolated From The Oral Cavity, Philip J. Warburton, Lena Ciric, Avigdor Lerner, Lorna A. Seville, Adam P. Roberts, Peter Mullany, Elaine Allan

School of Biomedical Sciences

No abstract provided.

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Stakeholders Perspective On Sustainable Technology Selection To Achieve Zero Carbon Retail Buildings, Syeda Zainab, Wei Pan, Steve Goodhew, Alba Fuertes

School of Art, Design and Architecture

In the design and construction of sustainable retail buildings, there are various stakeholders involved with the overall aim of selecting appropriate sustainable technologies to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. Previous studies and literature review indicate there is no comprehensive selection process to assist stakeholders. This can be classified as a complex multi-criteria decision problem due to the high number of alternatives, potential solutions and variety of stakeholders (e.g. clients, professional advisors, end-users) with multiple, often conflicting, objectives leading in turn to the slow take-up of sustainable technologies. There is a demand for a systematic and effective evaluation tool for …

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Online And Local Television Networks: A New Pedagogy For A Changing Media., Phil Ellis, John Fitzsimons, David Hilton, Allister Gall

School of Art, Design and Architecture

To investigate campus-based and local TV focused on innovative opportunities for students, employers and community groups to contribute to the design of learning pedagogies and course structures.To utilize the strong element of collaboration within and across creative courses in the UPC Partnership encouraging students to explore the medium of TV and establish new learning cultures that broaden the context of the student experience, encouraging creative work-based/related collaboration with local communities and employers.Research outcomes will enhance understanding of a fluid and dynamic growth area for a new media, new educational and employment possibilities and arts practice, which in turn will inform …

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Language And Cultural Meaning: Establishing Dialogical Learning In A Internationalised Teaching And Learning Environment, Robert Brown, Mia Papaefthimiou

School of Art, Design and Architecture

We live in an increasingly interconnected world, in which not only goods but also ideas and people are exchanged ever more extensively and rapidly. That this condition extends into educational settings is no surprise. (As two notable examples, both the student body and the teaching staff in architecture at Plymouth are now approximately 40% international; within Accounting and Finance the Year 3 student cohort is approximately 70% international.) Owing to this enhanced interconnection, we are now able to acquire instantly knowledge and skills locally (including via virtual networks) that were once previously all but unobtainable. There is however a danger …

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Situated Learning In Architecture And Planning: The Pedagogic Benefits To Practitioners And The Improvement Of Place., Simon Bradbury, Bob Brown, Nick Pratt, Christopher Balch, Efthimiou Papaefthimiou

School of Art, Design and Architecture

No abstract provided.

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The Mediating Role Of Entrepreneurial Leadership: An Investigation Of The Competitiveness Of Smes In The Uk South-West Food And Drink Manufacturing, Lise Hunter

Plymouth Business School Theses

ABSTRACT It has long been argued that Social Capital, a concept represented by the value embedded in the social relationships of individuals or collectives constitute strategic resources for individuals and organisations. Social networks are thus perceived by businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises, as a means to access those resources, for example gaining privileged access to strategic information that could secure financial resources. In reality, and because of the inherent characteristics of Social Capital, entrepreneurs or business owner/managers who effectively use resources available within social networks are driven by a clear and compelling vision and sustained by a set of …

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Fluid Fractals: Leadership At The Apex Of Local Authority In England, Smita Tripathi

Plymouth Business School Theses

Purpose: This thesis aims to explore the complex phenomenon of leadership at the apex of democratically elected local authority in England. It makes sense of the social construction of leadership as perceived and enacted by senior appointed officers (hereinafter officers), elected members (hereinafter members) and key stakeholders – the voices from the apex and their understandings and interpretations. Design/methodology/approach: The thesis examines leadership literature through the paradigm of constructivism-interpretivism, making sense of transcripts of the semi-structured interviews with officers, members and stakeholders engaged in local authority work. Dominant/mainstream theories of leadership offer limited help to understanding the relational, processual constructions …

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A Realist Review Of Interventions And Strategies To Promote Evidence-Informed Healthcare: A Focus On Change Agency, Brendan Mccormack, Joanne Rycroft-Malone, Kara Decorby, Alison M. Hutchinson, Tracey Bucknall, Bridie Kent, Alyce Schultz, Erna Snelgrove-Clarke, Cheyl Stetler, Marita Titler, Lars Wallin, Valerie Wilson

School of Nursing and Midwifery

No abstract provided.

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Risk Assessment In Mental Health: Introducing A Traffic Light System In A Community Mental Health Team., S. Croucher, Graham R. Williamson

School of Nursing and Midwifery

AIMS: To reports a study in which action research approach was utilised to introduce a new system of risk assessment, based on traffic lights, into a community mental health team. BACKGROUND: Risk management is a serious concern in community mental healthcare where there is less direct, real-time supervision of clients than in other settings, and because inadequate management of risk can have fatal consequences when service users are a risk to themselves and/or others. DESIGN: An action research design was undertaken, using three phases of Look, Think and Act. METHODS: Data were collected between January and March of 2012. In …

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International Students’ Perspective On Employability: A Missing Voice, Rong Huang, Rebecca Turner

Plymouth Business School

Huang (2008) argues that previous research in relation to international students is limited in its scope, concentrating on areas such as the country of origin, or, the academic or social experience. As the emphasis is now more on the contribution international students’ fees make to the prestige and income of individual universities, it is surprising to note that there is limited research on the progression and achievement of international students following their graduation and their subsequent careers and motilities (Leonard and Morley, 2003). The employability of university graduates has dominated much educational and economic policy over the past decade (Cranmer, …

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The Potential For Using Geopolymer Concrete In The Uk, A Heath, K Paine, S Goodhew, M Ramage, M Lawrence

School of Art, Design and Architecture

No abstract provided.

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Election Data Visualisation, Elena Long

Plymouth Business School Theses

Visualisations of election data produced by the mass media, other organisations and even individuals are becoming increasingly available across a wide variety of platforms and in many different forms. As more data become available digitally and as improvements to computer hardware and software are made, these visualisations have become more ambitious in scope and more user-friendly. Research has shown that visualising data is an extremely powerful method of communicating information to specialists and non-specialists alike. This amounts to a democratisation of access to political and electoral data. To some extent political science lags behind the progress that has been made …

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Digital Capital And Inclusion: An Exploration Of The Technology And E-Learning Experiences Of Disabled University And College Students, Jane Seale, Jan Georgeson, Julie Swain

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

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Analytic And Algebraic Aspects Of Integrability For First Order Partial Differential Equations, Waleed Aziz

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

This work is devoted to investigating the algebraic and analytic integrability of first order polynomial partial differential equations via an understanding of the well-developed area of local and global integrability of polynomial vector fields. In the view of characteristics method, the search of first integrals of the first order partial differential equations P(x,y,z)∂z(x,y) ∂x +Q(x,y,z)∂z(x,y) ∂y = R(x,y,z), (1) is equivalent to the search of first integrals of the system of the ordinary differential equations dx/dt= P(x,y,z), dy/dt= Q(x,y,z), dz/dt= R(x,y,z). (2) The trajectories of (2) will be found by representing these trajectories as the intersection of level surfaces of …

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The Development Of Bio-Inspired Cortical Feature Maps For Robot Sensorimotor Controllers, Samantha Adams

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

This project applies principles from the field of Computational Neuroscience to Robotics research, in particular to develop systems inspired by how nature manages to solve sensorimotor coordination tasks. The overall aim has been to build a self-organising sensorimotor system using biologically inspired techniques based upon human cortical development which can in the future be implemented in neuromorphic hardware. This can then deliver the benefits of low power consumption and real time operation but with flexible learning onboard autonomous robots. A core principle is the Self-Organising Feature Map which is based upon the theory of how 2D maps develop in real …

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A Semantic Web Based Search Engine With X3d Visualisation Of Queries And Results, Konstantinos Gkoutzis

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The Semantic Web project has introduced new techniques for managing information. Data can now be organised more efficiently and in such a way that computers can take advantage of the relationships that characterise the given input to present more relevant output. Semantic Web based search engines can quickly educe exactly what is needed to be found and retrieve it while avoiding information overload. Up until now, search engines have interacted with their users by asking them to look for words and phrases. We propose the creation of a new generation Semantic Web search engine that will offer a visual interface …

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Bayesian Pathway Analysis In Epigenetics, Alan Wright

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

A typical gene expression data set consists of measurements of a large number of gene expressions, on a relatively small number of subjects, classified according to two or more outcomes, for example cancer or non-cancer. The identification of associations between gene expressions and outcome is a huge multiple testing problem. Early approaches to this problem involved the application of thousands of univariate tests with corrections for multiplicity. Over the past decade, numerous studies have demonstrated that analyzing gene expression data structured into predefined gene sets can produce benefits in terms of statistical power and robustness when compared to alternative approaches. …

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Numerical Modelling For Hydrodynamic Impact And Power Assessments Of Tidal Current Turbine Arrays, Thomas Roc

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Channel constrictions in which strong currents are mainly driven by tidal processes represent sites with high potential for harvesting renewable and predictable tidal stream energy. Tidal Current Turbines (TCTs) deployed in arrays appear to be the most promising solution to efficiently capturing this carbon neutral energy resource. However to ensure the sustainable character of such projects, the balance between power extraction maximization and environmental impact minimization must be found so that device layout optimization takes into account environmental considerations. This is particularly appropriate since both resource and impact assessments go intrinsically hand in hand. The present method proposes the use …

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Multi-Dimensional-Personalization In Mobile Contexts, Steffen Walter Schilke

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

During the dot com era the word "personalisation” was a hot buzzword. With the fall of the dot com companies the topic has lost momentum. As the killer application for UMTS or the mobile internet has yet to be identified, the concept of Multi-Dimensional-Personalisation (MDP) could be a candidate. Using this approach, a recommendation of mobile advertisement or marketing (i.e., recommendations or notifications), online content, as well as offline events, can be offered to the user based on their known interests and current location. Instead of having to request or pull this information, the new service concept would proactively provide …

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Distributed Control For Collective Behaviour In Micro-Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Fabio Ruini

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The work presented herein focuses on the design of distributed autonomous controllers for collective behaviour of Micro-unmanned Aerial Vehicles (MAVs). Two alternative approaches to this topic are introduced: one based upon the Evolutionary Robotics (ER) paradigm, the other one upon flocking principles. Three computer simulators have been developed in order to carry out the required experiments, all of them having their focus on the modelling of fixed-wing aircraft flight dynamics. The employment of fixed-wing aircraft rather than the omni-directional robots typically employed in collective robotics significantly increases the complexity of the challenges that an autonomous controller has to face. This …

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An Investigation Of Electromyographic (Emg) Control Of Dextrous Hand Prostheses For Transradial Amputees, Ali Hussian Ali

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

There are many amputees around the world who have lost a limb through conflict, disease or an accident. Upper-limb prostheses controlled using surface Electromyography (sEMG) offer a solution to help the amputees; however, their functionality is limited by the small number of movements they can perform and their slow reaction times. Pattern recognition (PR)-based EMG control has been proposed to improve the functional performance of prostheses. It is a very promising approach, offering intuitive control, fast reaction times and the ability to control a large number of degrees of freedom (DOF). However, prostheses controlled with PR systems are not available …

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Barriers And Facilitators That Influence The Delivery Of Prevention Guidance In Health Service Dental Practice: A Questionnaire Study Of Practising Dentists In Southwest England., Rv Witton, Dr Moles

Peninsula Dental School

UNLABELLED: Objective: OBJECTIVE: To investigate the barriers and facilitators influencing the delivery of prevention in accordance with a national guideline (Delivering Better Oral Health, Department of Health England) in health service dental practice. DESIGN: Self-completion questionnaire. SETTING: Health service general dental practices. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Questionnaires were sent via two mailings to all 508 dentists registered to work in health service general dental practice in Devon, South West England. RESULTS: In total 266 questionnaires were returned (52% response rate). Examples of barriers and facilitators were evident at various organisational levels of dentistry. These were principally the healthcare system, practice (dental …

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Infrared Conformality And Bulk Critical Points: Su(2) With Heavy Adjoint Quarks, Biagio Lucini, Agostino Patella, Antonio Rago, Enrico Rinaldi

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.

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Signature Verification Based On Moments Technique, Shaymaa Al-Juboori

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

In this research we will present the signature as a key to the biometric authentication technique. I shall use moment invariants as a tool to make a decision about any signature which is belonging to the certain person or not. Eighteen voluntaries give 108 signatures as a sample to test the proposed system, six samples belong to each person were taken. Moment invariants are used to build a feature vector stored in this system. Euclidean distance measure used to compute the distance between the specific signatures of persons saved in this system and with new sample acquired to same persons …

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A Robust Sound Perception Model Suitable For Neuromorphic Implementation., Martin Coath, Sadique Sheik, Elisabetta Chicca, Giacomo Indiveri, Susan L. Denham, Thomas Wennekers

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

We have recently demonstrated the emergence of dynamic feature sensitivity through exposure to formative stimuli in a real-time neuromorphic system implementing a hybrid analog/digital network of spiking neurons. This network, inspired by models of auditory processing in mammals, includes several mutually connected layers with distance-dependent transmission delays and learning in the form of spike timing dependent plasticity, which effects stimulus-driven changes in the network connectivity. Here we present results that demonstrate that the network is robust to a range of variations in the stimulus pattern, such as are found in naturalistic stimuli and neural responses. This robustness is a property …

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A Role For Two‐Pore Potassium (K2p) Channels In Endometrial Epithelial Function, Sk Patel, L Jackson, Ay Warren, Et Al

School of Nursing and Midwifery

The human endometrial epithelium is pivotal to menstrual cycle progression, implantation and early pregnancy. Endometrial function is directly regulated by local factors that include pH, oxygen tension and ion concentrations to generate an environment conducive to fertilization. A superfamily of potassium channels characterized by two-pore domains (K2P) and encoded by KCNK genes is implicated in the control of the cell resting membrane potential through the generation of leak currents and modulation by various physicochemical stimuli. The aims of the study were to determine the expression and function of K2P channel subtypes in proliferative and secretory phase endometrium obtained from normo-ovulatory …

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Sudden Unexpected Death In Epilepsy (Sudep): Development Of A Safety Checklist, Rohit Shankar, David Cox, Virupakshi Jalihal, Scott Brown, Jane Hanna, Brendan Mclean

Peninsula Medical School

Purpose The incidence of sudden death appears to be 20 times higher in patients with epilepsy compared with the general population. Epilepsy-related death, particularly sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), is still underestimated by healthcare professionals and this may reflect the mistaken belief that epilepsy is a benign condition. The risk of death associated with epilepsy appeared rarely to have been discussed with patients or their families. It appears the decision to discuss SUDEP and also to peg SUDEP risk is arbitrary and clinical. Unfortunately there is no structured evidenced mechanism at present to represent person centered risk of SUDEP …

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Energy Productivity And Efficiency Of Maize Accounting For The Choice Of Growing Season And Environmental Factors: An Empirical Analysis From Bangladesh, S Rahman, Ms Rahman

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The paper evaluates sustainability of maize cultivation in Bangladesh in terms of energy use while taking into account factors affecting choice of the growing season and farmers' production environment using a sample selection framework applied to stochastic frontier models. Results reveal that the probability of growing winter maize is influenced positively by gross return, irrigation, subsistence pressure, soil suitability and temperature variability whereas extension contact influences choice negatively. Significant differences exist between winter and summer maize regarding yield, specific energy, net energy balance, energy use efficiency and technical energy efficiency although both systems are highly sustainable and efficient. The energy …

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Predicting Malaysian Palm Oil Price Using Extreme Value Theory, K Chuangchid, S Sriboonchitta, S Rahman, A Wiboonpongse

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

This paper uses the extreme value theory (EVT) to predict extreme price events of Malaysian palm oil in the future, based on monthly futures price data for a 25 year period (mid-1986 to mid-2011). Model diagnostic has confirmed non-normal distribution of palm oil price data, thereby justifying the use of EVT. Two principal approaches to model extreme values – the Block Maxima (BM) and Peak-OverThreshold (POT) models – were used. Both models revealed that the palm oil price will peak at an incremental rate in the next 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 year periods. The price growth level in …

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Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Warehouse Location Decision Factors In Humanitarian Relief Logistics, Sae Yeon Roh, Hyun Mi Jang, Chul Hwan Han

Plymouth Business School

Tetab(46), A Predicted Heterodimeric Abc Transporter Conferring Tetracycline Resistance In Streptococcus Australis Isolated From The Oral Cavity, Philip J. Warburton, Lena Ciric, Avigdor Lerner, Lorna A. Seville, Adam P. Roberts, Peter Mullany, Elaine Allan

School of Biomedical Sciences

Stakeholders Perspective On Sustainable Technology Selection To Achieve Zero Carbon Retail Buildings, Syeda Zainab, Wei Pan, Steve Goodhew, Alba Fuertes

School of Art, Design and Architecture

Online And Local Television Networks: A New Pedagogy For A Changing Media., Phil Ellis, John Fitzsimons, David Hilton, Allister Gall

School of Art, Design and Architecture

Language And Cultural Meaning: Establishing Dialogical Learning In A Internationalised Teaching And Learning Environment, Robert Brown, Mia Papaefthimiou

School of Art, Design and Architecture

Situated Learning In Architecture And Planning: The Pedagogic Benefits To Practitioners And The Improvement Of Place., Simon Bradbury, Bob Brown, Nick Pratt, Christopher Balch, Efthimiou Papaefthimiou

School of Art, Design and Architecture

The Mediating Role Of Entrepreneurial Leadership: An Investigation Of The Competitiveness Of Smes In The Uk South-West Food And Drink Manufacturing, Lise Hunter

Plymouth Business School Theses

Fluid Fractals: Leadership At The Apex Of Local Authority In England, Smita Tripathi

Plymouth Business School Theses

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Risk Assessment In Mental Health: Introducing A Traffic Light System In A Community Mental Health Team., S. Croucher, Graham R. Williamson

School of Nursing and Midwifery

International Students’ Perspective On Employability: A Missing Voice, Rong Huang, Rebecca Turner

Plymouth Business School

The Potential For Using Geopolymer Concrete In The Uk, A Heath, K Paine, S Goodhew, M Ramage, M Lawrence

School of Art, Design and Architecture

Election Data Visualisation, Elena Long

Plymouth Business School Theses

Digital Capital And Inclusion: An Exploration Of The Technology And E-Learning Experiences Of Disabled University And College Students, Jane Seale, Jan Georgeson, Julie Swain

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

Analytic And Algebraic Aspects Of Integrability For First Order Partial Differential Equations, Waleed Aziz

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The Development Of Bio-Inspired Cortical Feature Maps For Robot Sensorimotor Controllers, Samantha Adams

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

A Semantic Web Based Search Engine With X3d Visualisation Of Queries And Results, Konstantinos Gkoutzis

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Bayesian Pathway Analysis In Epigenetics, Alan Wright

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Numerical Modelling For Hydrodynamic Impact And Power Assessments Of Tidal Current Turbine Arrays, Thomas Roc

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Multi-Dimensional-Personalization In Mobile Contexts, Steffen Walter Schilke

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Distributed Control For Collective Behaviour In Micro-Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Fabio Ruini

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

An Investigation Of Electromyographic (Emg) Control Of Dextrous Hand Prostheses For Transradial Amputees, Ali Hussian Ali

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Barriers And Facilitators That Influence The Delivery Of Prevention Guidance In Health Service Dental Practice: A Questionnaire Study Of Practising Dentists In Southwest England., Rv Witton, Dr Moles

Peninsula Dental School

Infrared Conformality And Bulk Critical Points: Su(2) With Heavy Adjoint Quarks, Biagio Lucini, Agostino Patella, Antonio Rago, Enrico Rinaldi

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Signature Verification Based On Moments Technique, Shaymaa Al-Juboori

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

A Robust Sound Perception Model Suitable For Neuromorphic Implementation., Martin Coath, Sadique Sheik, Elisabetta Chicca, Giacomo Indiveri, Susan L. Denham, Thomas Wennekers

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

A Role For Two‐Pore Potassium (K2p) Channels In Endometrial Epithelial Function, Sk Patel, L Jackson, Ay Warren, Et Al

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Sudden Unexpected Death In Epilepsy (Sudep): Development Of A Safety Checklist, Rohit Shankar, David Cox, Virupakshi Jalihal, Scott Brown, Jane Hanna, Brendan Mclean

Peninsula Medical School

Energy Productivity And Efficiency Of Maize Accounting For The Choice Of Growing Season And Environmental Factors: An Empirical Analysis From Bangladesh, S Rahman, Ms Rahman

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Predicting Malaysian Palm Oil Price Using Extreme Value Theory, K Chuangchid, S Sriboonchitta, S Rahman, A Wiboonpongse

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences