MSUIR Collection:

Addressing Academic Administration Challenges in Higher Educational Institutions through Mobile Technologies and Cloud Computing. 2021 9th International Conference on Reliability, Infocom Technologies and Optimization (Trends and Future Directions) (ICRITO) 03-04 Sep 2021Noida, India.

Tachiona Terence — Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Addressing Academic Administration Challenges in Higher Educational Institutions through Mobile Technologies and Cloud Computing. 2021 9th International Conference on Reliability, Infocom Technologies and Optimization (Trends and Future Directions) (ICRITO) 03-04 Sep 2021Noida, India. Authors: Tachiona Terence; Nomalanga Grootboom; Munyaradzi Zhou; Rosemary Guvhu; Vinod Kumar Shukla Abstract: The mushrooming of mobile technologies and the need to support academic administration whilst mobile call for a revolution. A new term has been coined in this research is Mobile Administration which refers to the use of mobile technologies in administration processes. A Mobile Administration model has been proposed in this paper which integrates the core elements of mobile technologies, applications or systems, lecturers' administrative duties, users of the mobile administration platform, theories of administration, and micro-administration. The way mobile technologies are and its uses are growing there is a need to address the demand and issue of cloud computing as well. Organizations rely on Information Technologies to complete all sorts of tasks and projects. But, it is also important to make sure that their progress is saved and stored securely and efficiently as well. This is where the cloud services come into play. Cloud computing provides on demand computing services such as storage and processing power over the internet. The research concluded that Higher Institutes of Education are not yet fully-fledged to make use of mobile administration due to lack of mobile technologies resources, lack of skills, support, and so on hence policies need to be enacted to support mobile administration. Theories of administration must be blended within mobile micro-administration processes.

Mealiness in 'Forelle' pears: relationship between TSS and prediction based on FT-NIR spectroscopy

Muziri, T. — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Mealiness in 'Forelle' pears: relationship between TSS and prediction based on FT-NIR spectroscopy Authors: Muziri, T.; Theron, K.I.; Nieuwoudt, H.H.; Schoeman, L.; Crouch, E.M. Abstract: 'Forelle' pears are prone to mealiness, a dry textural disorder characterised by loss of free juice and development of a floury texture when fruit softens. There is currently no method of determining mealiness in intact fruit and no instrumental index which correlates with mealiness. Presently, mealiness determination is done by sensorial panels on cut fruit. This study investigated physicochemical attributes associated with mealiness and the potential of Fourier transform-near infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy for non-destructive detection of mealiness in 'Forelle' pears. Spectra were acquired on 400 fruit harvested from four farms over two seasons, stored for 8 weeks at -0.5°C and then for 7 d shelf life at 20°C. Physicochemical measurements were taken using standard destructive techniques. Mealiness was evaluated on each individual fruit by a panel of three trained evaluators and confirmed using the confined compression test. Principal component analysis (PCA) was done on physicochemical parameters to identify parameters that relate to mealiness. Orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) of FT-NIR spectra was used to discriminate mealy from non-mealy fruit. PCA results showed high positive correlations between mealiness and total soluble solids (TSS). The results showed potential for discriminating between mealy and non-mealy fruit using FT-NIR spectroscopy. Classification accuracies for the two-class OPLS-DA models ranged from 51-95%. Through discriminant analysis, FT-NIR was shown to be a potential non-destructive method for determining mealiness and for the first time TSS was shown to be linked with mealiness.

Effects of water stress at different growth stages on yield and yield components of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris)

Manjeru, Pepukai — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Effects of water stress at different growth stages on yield and yield components of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) Authors: Manjeru, Pepukai; Madanzi, Tendai; Makeredza, A.; Nciizah, A.; Sithole, M. Abstract: Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) has great potential for improving human nutrition due to its high protein content. However, water stress was found to be one of the major constraints to common bean production in Zimbabwe. A field experiment was therefore carried out at Agricultural Research Trust farm in early summer of 2004, and repeated at the same time in 2005, to determine the effect of water stress at different growth stages on grain yield and yield components of three common bean varieties. The experimental design was a 3×5 split-plot in a Randomised Complete Block Design; with water stresses as the main plot factor (withholding irrigation for a period of twenty-one days at; two weeks after emergence (WAE), four WAE, at flowering and two weeks after flowering (WAF) as well as non-stressed control) and the varieties in the subplot factor (Onyx, Pan 329 and Dark Red Kidney). Water stress significantly reduced grain yield (p<0.05) with flowering and two WAF stages being the most sensitive, and vegetative stage being the least sensitive. Water stress also produced significant effects (p<0.05) on yield components. Water stress during flowering and after flowering significantly reduced number of seed per pod and seed weight. For maximum yield, water stress must be avoided during flowering and pod-filling stages, so early planting is important under dry land planting.

Effect of storage length on early stand establishment of four sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) varieties in the smallholder sector of Zimbabwe

Madanzi, Tendai — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Effect of storage length on early stand establishment of four sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) varieties in the smallholder sector of Zimbabwe Authors: Madanzi, Tendai; Muhambi, M.; Manjeru, Pepukai; Makeredza, B.; Darikwa, T.B. Abstract: Sub-optimal crop establishment is one of the major constraints to sorghum production in the smallholder sector of Zimbabwe attributed to the use of farm-retained seed subjected to long and poor storage conditions. A study was carried out to determine optimum storage length that results in optimum stand establishment. Standard germination and vigor tests were carried out to determine loss of vigor due to storage length (one to three years after harvest) on four sorghum varieties (Marcia, SV2, SV3, and SV4). A field experiment was also carried out to determine the effects of seed storage length on emergence of sorghum. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot with four replications. Storage length was the main-plot factor with 3 levels and variety was the subplot factor. The interaction (P<0.001) between variety and storage length after the vigor test was significant. There was a general decrease in vigor with increased storage length with variety Macia maintaining a high germination after 3 years of storage. The other varieties had a germination less than 50 % after year one. In the field, there was significant difference (P<0.05) due to variety on emergence. Variety SV3 achieved the highest emergence of 56.8 % while Macia, SV4, and SV2 had 52.5 %, 39.3 %, and 34.2 % respectively. Conclusively, Macia and SV3 can be grown beyond year one and give reasonable stand establishment.