Algorithmic decision-making (ADM) systems increasingly shape Corporate Governance processes, from hiring and performance evaluation to Financial Risk Management. The rapid adoption of ADM systems in Indian Corporations introduces new risks of bias, potentially undermining principles of fairness, compliance, accountability, transparency and stakeholder trust. While these systems are efficient and data-driven, they can embed and perpetuate systemic biases. Such biases threaten to undermine corporate decision-making, distort risk assessments, and expose boards to regulatory and reputational risks. This paper undertakes a comprehensive exploration and analysis of algorithmic bias in Indian corporate settings and its potential interference with board-level responsibilities. The paper analyses a comprehensive study and analysis of the challenges and limitations through research methodology principles. It also proposes a robust illustrative Governance framework including Algorithmic Impact Assessments and Independent Audits, and proposes a multi-layered governance-oriented control framework to detect, mitigate, and manage bias in Indian Corporate Boards. The paper suggests a Data, Technology & intelligence driven possible prescriptive options and solutions.
Understanding the critical soil moisture threshold (Ɵcrit), defined as the volumetric water content triggering plant water stress, is essential for evaluating ecosystem vulnerability to drought. Based on the estimates of the critical soil moisture threshold (Ɵcrit), slope (S), and maximum evaporation fraction (EFmax) derived from the evaporative fraction-soil moisture (EF-SM) coupling, this study aims to investigate the soil water stress responses of various vegetation types and analyzed the dominant mechanisms driving the spatial variations of Ɵcrit, S, and EFmax. The results showed that among vegetation types, evergreen broadleaf forests demonstrated the greatest resistance to soil water stress, characterized by the highest Ɵcrit (0.43 ± 0.036 m3/m3) and lowest S (0.35 ± 0.042). In contrast, deciduous broadleaf forests were more sensitive to soil moisture limitations. Beyond forests, closed shrublands, croplands, and grasslands also exhibited high sensitivity to water stress. Notably, open shrublands were the most vulnerable vegetation type overall, with extremely low Ɵcrit (0.21 ± 0.053 m3/m3) and the highest S values (1.10 ± 0.059) indicating severe water limitation. An analysis of the dominant factors suggests that soil properties serve as the primary determinants of Ɵcrit variation (59 % explained variance), whereas meteorological factors predominantly govern the spatial variation of S (35 % explained variance). The spatial distribution of EFmax is mainly shaped by vegetation characteristics (62 % explained variance). More importantly, the results showed that vegetation physiological traits, such as gross primary productivity, leaf nitrogen content, and vegetation optical depth, further regulate Ɵcrit and S likely through mechanisms involving deep root systems, leaf morphology, and transpiration processes. These findings offer valuable insights into the variability of ecosystem's soil water stress responses, providing a robust scientific basis for enhancing water resource management in the context of climate change.
Sofia Vierci-Codas, Andrea Insfran-Rivarola, Ana Pamela Arevalos
et al.
Purpose: This research aims to implement Lean Manufacturing (LM) techniques and tools (T&T) in a retail distribution center located in Mariano Roque Alonso, Paraguay, targeting waste reduction and efficiency improvements in fresh and frozen product (FFP) handling to reduce long lead times.
Design/methodology/approach: This study was conducted in two phases. First, a literature review revealed the key gaps to be addressed, the most commonly faced problems, and the LM tools applicable to solving these issues. Second, a case study was conducted in which LM T&T were applied to reduce the long lead time and propose solutions to address difficulties in the FFP process. Five problem-detection tools (flowchart, brainstorming, Ishikawa diagram, Pareto, and value stream mapping) and three improvement tools (kaizen, 5S, and Plan-Do-Check-Act) were applied to streamline FFP process from order generation to store reception.
Findings: The analysis revealed significant inefficiencies: four were workforce-related, ten related to work methods, six environmental, and three product-related. Addressing these issues could substantially reduce operational bottlenecks and improve process throughput.
Practical implications: The application of LM techniques significantly minimized waste, enhancing time management and human resource utilization, which led to a 96% improvement in FFP processing efficiency. These changes are expected to shorten lead times, bolster competitive advantage, and increase customer satisfaction.
Originality/value: This study underscores the versatility of LM techniques, adapting them from manufacturing to retail distribution. The innovative combination of kaizen with 5S and PDCA offers a robust framework for ongoing improvements, promising for broader adoption in the retail sector.
Industrial engineering. Management engineering, Social Sciences
With the rapid development of high-end manufacturing industries such as aerospace and national defense, the demand for metal additive manufactured parts with complex internal cavities has been steadily increasing. However, the finishing of complex internal surfaces, especially for irregularly shaped parts, remains a significant challenge due to their intricate geometries. Through a comparative analysis of common finishing methods, the distinctive characteristics and applicability of magnetic abrasive finishing (MAF) are highlighted. To meet the finishing needs of complex metal additive manufactured parts, this paper reviews the current research on magnetic abrasive finishing devices, processing mechanisms, the development of magnetic abrasives, and the MAF processes for intricate internal cavities. Future development trends in MAF for complex internal cavities in additive manufactured parts are also explored; these are (1) investigating multi-technology composite magnetic abrasive finishing equipment designed for complex internal surfaces; (2) studying the dynamic behavior of multiple magnetic abrasive particles in complex cavities and their material removal mechanisms; (3) developing high-performance magnetic abrasives suitable for demanding conditions; and (4) exploring the MAF process for intricate internal surfaces.
A number of data governance policies have recently been introduced or revised by the Indian Government with the stated goal of unlocking the developmental and economic potential of data. The policies seek to implement standardized frameworks for public data management and establish platforms for data exchange. However, India has a longstanding history of record-keeping and information transparency practices, which are crucial in the context of data management. These connections have not been explicitly addressed in recent policies like the Draft National Data Governance Framework, 2022. To understand if record management has a role to play in modern public data governance, we analyze the key new data governance framework and the associated Indian Urban Data Exchange platform as a case study. The study examines the exchange where public records serve as a potential source of data. It evaluates the coverage and the actors involved in the creation of this data to understand the impact of records management on government departments’ ability to publish datasets. We conclude that while India recognizes the importance of data as a public good, it needs to integrate digital records management practices more effectively into its policies to ensure accurate, up-to-date, and accessible data for public benefit.
Information technology, Political institutions and public administration (General)
RFID (radio frequency identification) is a progressively adopted technology in today’s automated world. Wireless technologies have enabled contactless payments, tracking, identifying, and many more features in a system that can be introduced to build a smart environment. This work overviews the usage of the IoT (Internet of Things) platform for tracking passengers and enabling online payments through wireless sensors and RFID technology in Chennai Suburban Railways. The tracking system consists of an RFID reader that can locate and track passive as well as mobile objects attached with passive RFID tags. The proposed system incorporates the installation of RFID readers at every entrance and exit of the railway station, and every passenger carries their own RFID tags. This not only enables online payments for passengers but also helps the government in tracking the crowd for demand monitoring. The new methodology creates a digital workspace and enforces lawful safety regulations both for the administration and the consumers. A prototype of the proposed system is implemented in real-time to understand the workings of the system. Data collection is done through RFID tags that act as transit cards and an analysis for consumer demand is done using the DBSCAN (Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Application with Noise) algorithm with a Randomized KD-tree for the analysis of spatial and temporal patterns. A new algorithm, the iDBSCAN (improved Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Application with Noise) algorithm is proposed for faster performance on the datasets.
Control engineering systems. Automatic machinery (General), Automation
Syed Muhammad Zohaib, Syed Muhammad Sajjad, Zafar Iqbal
et al.
Modern organizations have migrated from localized physical offices to work-from-home environments. This surge in remote work culture has exponentially increased the demand for and usage of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), which permit remote employees to access corporate offices effectively. However, the technology raises concerns, including security threats, latency, throughput, and scalability, among others. These newer-generation threats are more complex and frequent, which makes the legacy approach to security ineffective. This research paper gives an overview of contemporary technologies used across enterprises, including the VPNs, Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), proxy servers, Secure Shell (SSH) tunnels, the software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN), and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE). This paper also presents a comprehensive cybersecurity framework named Zero Trust VPN (ZT-VPN), which is a VPN solution based on Zero Trust principles. The proposed framework aims to enhance IT security and privacy for modern enterprises in remote work environments and address concerns of latency, throughput, scalability, and security. Finally, this paper demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed framework in various enterprise scenarios, highlighting its ability to prevent data leaks, manage access permissions, and provide seamless security transitions. The findings underscore the importance of adopting ZT-VPN to fortify cybersecurity frameworks, offering an effective protection tool against contemporary cyber threats. This research serves as a valuable reference for organizations aiming to enhance their security posture in an increasingly hostile threat landscape.
Tank level control has some unavoidable factors such as disturbance, non-linearity, and time lag. This paper proposes a simple and robust control scheme with nice energy-saving effects and smooth output to improve the quality of the controller and meet real-world application requirements. A linear controller is first designed using a third-order closed-loop gain-shaping algorithm. We then use an arcsine function to modify the system with non-linear switching to reduce the effect of the non-linear modification on the dynamic performance of the control system. Furthermore, we use the Nyquist stability criterion to demonstrate the stability of the closed-loop system in the presence of time lag. The results of the final simulation experiment show that the controller not only has high control quality but also has the characteristics of energy saving and smooth output under the condition of lag and pump performance constraints. These features are necessary for extending the life of the pump and enhancing the applicability of the tank level controller.
Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is widely used as a detection method in scientific research fields. However, the method for creating SERS substrates often requires expensive equipment and involves a complex process. Additionally, preserving and effectively utilizing SERS substrates in the long term poses a challenging problem. In order to address these issues, we propose a new method for creating SERS substrates on various types of paper using a combination of a ballpoint pen and 3D printing. This method ensures a high enhancement factor and maximizes the utilization of the substrate. We achieved an enhancement factor of up to 8.2 × 10<sup>8</sup> for detecting R6G molecules, with a relative standard deviation of 11.13% for the Raman peak at 612 cm<sup>−1</sup> of R6G, demonstrating excellent SERS sensitivity and spectral reproducibility. Furthermore, we successfully detected thiram at a concentration as low as 10<sup>−8</sup>, which is lower than both the Chinese national standard and European standard.
Engineering machinery, tools, and implements, Technological innovations. Automation
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has changed the human lifestyle just like a disaster in 2020. Many people died throughout the world due to its severe attack. Lockdown is the most common term used in today's life to prevent the adverse effect of COVID-19. However, during the lockdown period, a significant improvement in the urban environment was noticed in almost every part of the world. During the lockdown period, the decrease in the number of running vehicles and moving people on the road lowers the pollution level and it has a direct positive impact on the urban environment. The study examines the changes found in land surface temperature (LST) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) during the lockdown period in Raipur city, India with the earlier periods (2013–19) to compare the environmental status. The results indicate that the LST is reduced and NDVI is increased significantly during the lockdown period, and the negativity of the LST-NDVI correlation is increased remarkably. The study also shows a better ecological status of the city during the lockdown period. The study is useful for environmental strategists and urban planners.
With the rapid development of many technologies such as smart city,artificial intelligence and edge computing,the future Internet of things will face the problems of massive terminal access and spectrum resource constraints.A dual non-orthogonal multiple access (D-NOMA) technology based on high spectral efficiency secure access (HSESA) was proposed,which combined non-orthogonal access in the code domain and non-orthogonal multiplexing in the frequency domain,and had good spectral efficiency performance.The sender and receiver were optimized,and multiple users were mapped directly to the overlapping subcarriers through the sparse codebook.The performance analysis under the Rician channel shows that D-NOMA has better bit error rate performance than HSESA.
Information technology, Management information systems
Abstract Currently, immense quantities of data cannot be managed by traditional database management systems. Instead, they must be managed by big data solutions using shared nothing architectures. Data warehouse systems are systems that address very large amounts of information. The most prominent data warehouse model is star schema, which consists of a fact table and some number of dimension tables. It is necessary to join the facts and dimensions for query executions on the data warehouse. In shared nothing architecture, all of the required information is not placed on a single node so it is necessary to retrieve information from other nodes, which causes network congestion and low speeds of query execution. To avoid this problem and achieve maximum parallelism, dimensions can be replicated over nodes if they are not too large. However, if there are dimensions with data volumes greater than the capacity of a node or dimensions where the data volume summation exceeds node capacity, the query execution is confronted with serious problems. In big data problems, the amount of data is immense, and thus replicating immense data cannot be considered an appropriate method. In this paper, we propose a method called Chabok, which uses two-phased Map-Reduce to solve the data warehouse problem. In this method, aggregation is performed completely on Mappers, and intermediate results are sent to the Reducer. Chabok does not need data replication for join omission. The proposed method was implemented on Hadoop, and TPC-DS queries were executed for benchmarking. The query execution time on Chabok surpassed prominent big data products for data warehousing.
Computer engineering. Computer hardware, Information technology
The advertisement is a basie form of communication between company and their business environment. The form and the media are not so standard as the main objectives and the functions of this communication form. The correct understanding the essence of the concepts, functions and mai n goals of advertisement allows to perceive the importance of this communication tool. In this article, the main objectives have been presented based on the following models of consumer behavior: AIDA, DAGMAR, effects model, H. Kurgman's model and FBC. The functions of advertisement are presented from two perspectives: (1) Product Life Cycle Stages and (2) the consumer decision making process.
Management. Industrial management, Management information systems
Mark Lloyd Lester S. Consignado, Mark Lesther A. Velasco, Aladdin Paolo A. Sanvictores
et al.
Purpose – The study aims to develop a system for finding apartments and boarding houses named as HAYBOL. This android-based apartment locator application is a mobile one that can be used by the community especially students, easily find apartments and boarding houses as well as to help owners promote their businesses.
Method – The proponents used Rapid Application Development (RAD) in developing the software which is a systems developmental method that follow phases such as requirement planning, user design, construction and cutover. Then, it also facilitated testing and evaluation, purposive sampling was used to select the respondents. Two sets of questionnaires were developed, one for the apartment and boarding house owners and another for the tenants.
Results – Based on the result on the system evaluation using ISO 9126 in terms of functionality, usability, content, reliability and performance. Overall, the application was rated as 3.55 over which verbally-interpreted as excellent.
Conclusion – The system meets its objective to provide access to the users an application for finding apartment in a convenient way. HAYBOL is well-commendable and accepted by the community which provides a better, easy way of advertising apartments and boarding houses, and reliable tool for finding nearby apartments and boarding houses.
Recommendations – It recommends an expansion of the system coverage throughout the Laguna Province and to add a user guide and direction on the easiest ways to go to a chosen apartment to improve the effectiveness and functionality of the application.
Research Implications – Real time apartment information is currently growing which much provides more good services to make renters life easier. Once mobile locator application has been established in the business will help users to personalize their search and reduce the amount of time wasted on a bad rental fit and assist to set a budget looking for apartment you can afford.
Computer engineering. Computer hardware, Information technology