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Hyper competition and forthcoming challenges are need of emerging economies. The notion of empowering the human resource capital appears to be the basic requirement of globalizing economies, therefore adequate planning of careers tends to pave a secure path. Moreover, employee career development is equally significant for both the employer and employee. In order to be successful an organization must ensure timely development of its personnel in accordance with timely governed changes. Contemporarily succession planning has resulted as a significant postulate of career developmental practices. This paper enquires the influence of individual career planning on employee career development particularly. The banking sector of Karachi was considered as the target market. SPSS correlational and linear regression analysis was considered to study the statistical characteristics. A sample of 190 participants was brought under consideration which elaborated an insignificant relationship amongst both the variables. Moreover, discussion and testimonials were made in order to advocate the evidence.

The focus of this paper is to analyze the factors on which a developing country such as Pakistan may adopt the e-Government culture and provide the basis in its adoption with supply and demand perspectives. For this purpose UTAUT model is used as the demand perspectives to incorporate the demand side factors. The obstacles and challenges are also analyzed when adoption of e-Government culture occur. The analyze methods are based on survey with the help of questionnaire in order to collect the qualitative data with a particular sample size. This study focus on citizens with different backgrounds are interviewed. The statistical analysis such as factor analysis, reliability and validity, correlation test, ANOVA and regression analysis which will be supportive in testing the hypotheses related to the supply side and demand side factors in this research.

This study delves into the intricate relationship between carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and crucial variables in Europe and Central Asia from 1990-2021. By examining the impact of renewable energy, industry value added, foreign direct investment (FDI), gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, and population density on CO2 emissions using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) method, the study uncovers intriguing findings. The study reveals a significant negative correlation between linear per capita income and CO2 emissions in both the short and long run. Moreover, it confirms the inverted N-shaped environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) relationship between the variables. The study further highlights the unfavorable impact of renewable energy and industry value added on CO2 emissions, pointing to the fact that their growth increases CO2 emissions. On the other hand, population density is found to be a vital factor in reducing CO2 emissions. FDI is identified to have a negative and insignificant impact on CO2 emissions, suggesting that it may not be an effective tool for reducing carbon emissions in the region. The insights from this study have significant implications for policymakers in the region to design and implement effective strategies to reduce CO2 emissions.

The environmental impact of food consumption depends on the type of foods consumed and the amount of food wasted. It follows that dietary change represents one means of directing food systems towards greater environmental sustainability. The difficulty, however, lies in developing ways of motivating people to modify what they purchase and eat, as many constraints potentially hinder changes in behaviour, including established habits, limited income, lack of information on environmental impact, cognitive limitations, or the difficulty of accessing environmentally friendly foods. In order to understand those constraints better, and identify potential target groups for intervention, we have analysed the environmental impact of food consumption at household level in Finland, paying particular attention to lower socio-demographic groups. The data originates from the Finnish Household Budget Survey 2006, which gives a detailed record of the foods (259 aggregates) consumed by over 4000 households. The food quantity data are matched to indicators of greenhouse gas emissions and eutrophication, as well as a food composition database. Tests of differences in means of the environmental indicators identify the socio-demographic groups that are statistically different in terms of their environmental impact of food consumption. The total environmental impact is decomposed further into a diet composition effect (i.e., what foods households consume) and a quantity effect (i.e., how much food households consume). Results indicate that the environmental impact varies widely across households, and that this heterogeneity relates both to the types and quantities of foods consumed. We find significant differences in impacts among socio-demographic groups. For instance, household income is strongly and positively associated with greenhouse gas emissions from food consumption (i.e., relatively better off households have a relatively larger climate change impact). Educational level is also positively associated with greenhouse gas emissions, although the relationship is not as strong as with income. On the other hand, differences in environmental impact for household types defined in terms of occupational status are small. Overall, and on the basis of the two indicators considered, the lower socio-demographic groups have a relatively smaller ecological footprint of food consumption than households belonging to relatively higher groups. The results suggest that there is no decoupling of household income growth and environmental impact of food consumption. The relatively better-off and better educated should be targeted for behavioural change in order to promote sustainable food consumption in Finland. Further research is needed to identify the causal mechanisms underlying the associations that we describe and assess how various policies (e.g., labelling regulation, environmental education) would affect the ecological footprint of the Finnish diet.

Electronic health or E-Health is spreading extensively nowadays. E-Health solutions help to achieve the sustainability goal of increasing the expected lifetime while improving the quality of life by providing a constant healthcare monitoring. The focus of this work is on studying the detection of one of the cardiovascular diseases – Atrial Fibrillation (AF) arrhythmia, which has a severe influence on the heart health conditions and could even increase the risk of death. Therefore, it is important to detect it as early as possible. In this thesis we focused on studying various machine learning techniques for AF detection using short single lead ECG recordings. A web-based solution was built as a final prototype, which first simulates the reception of a recorded signal, conducts the preprocessing, makes a prediction of the AF presence, and visualizes the result. For the AF detection the relatively high accuracy score was achieved comparable to the one of the state-of-the-art. The work was based on the investigation of the proposed architectures and the usage of the database of signals from the 2017 PhysioNet/CinC Challenge. However, an additional constraint was introduced to the original problem formulation, since the idea of a future deployment on the resource-limited devices places the restrictions on the complexity of the computations being performed for achieving the prediction. Therefore, this constraint was considered during the development phase of the project.

Water treatment technologies are seen as the best alternative to be considered for adoption in developing countries where access to portable water supply that is free of pathogens is yet a challenge. This study intended to assess impact brought forth by a project, which employed a water treatment technology in rural settings of Morogoro Region in Tanzania. The project used solar photovoltaic panels to trap solar energy, converted to mechanical power to treat water with the help of sterilization ultraviolet membrane. A comparative analysis was used as an assessment framework to study impacts of the project with respect to the quality of approach used during the project life cycle. Determinants of impacts took into account social, economic and environment aspects whereas determinants of the quality of approaches taken considered six elements which are: character of participation; success, nature of institution and capacity building efforts; diversity, multiplicity and adaptability of ideas promoted by the project; accounting for heterogeneity and dynamism; understanding and use of local knowledge, skills, initiative and constraints; and recognizing the influence of external conditions, markets and policies. Results indicate that the project has intervened positively in the provision of safe portable water to the selected project sites. The quality of approaches taken had profound effect to the delivered impacts. These impacts are seen in the reduced recurring outburst of water-borne diseases such as typhoid and diarrhea. Another impact observed is in the downturn to a certain extent in the use of wood fuel for boiling. Reduced recurring of waterborne diseases has boosted pupils’ attendance at school. Furthermore, the study argues that adoption of water treatment technologies in rural settings has a potential to conserve the environment, improve health of people through the provision of safe portable water, which ultimately contribute to rural development. However, sustainability of the installed purification systems is in question if it will continue to function over the long run. Observed barriers are lack of solid economic means for sustaining operations and maintenances.

A set of indicators for sustainable development were identified to be employed in developing countries. The selected indicators provided a good understanding of social and engineering outputs of a water resources project. Results of the study revealed that there are significant positive impacts of dam construction but they were not same as the targeted objectives envisaged in the feasibility report of the project. It means that after construction of the dam and irrigation system, development didn?t match with the targeted goals of the project. This study argues the world-wide controversy against construction of dam in arid zone which is ill-founded and based on a few short term, mitigable negative impacts, ignoring many positive long term inputs alleviating chronic poverty in arid regions. The study meticulously looks into the pre dam bio-physical and socio-economic conditions in one of the arid region of Iran under the area commanded by Minab dam. This dam was constructed in Hormozgan province of Iran in 1983 and its irrigation system was completed in 1986 which was followed by progressive expansion of irrigated agriculture which almost doubled in year 2006. Literacy rate has increased from 41% (pre-project) to 74% in 2006. Similarly, significant improvements were observed in health care, sanitation, education, and other disciplines.

A study was planned to investigate the effects of different doses of ethanol on body organs of Japanese quails. A total of 120 quails were randomly divided into five groups, A, B, C, D and E. Quails of groups A, B, C and D were given ethanol at concentrations of 2, 4, 8 and 16%, respectively in drinking water for four weeks, while birds of group E served as untreated control. The results at the end of 4th week revealed a significant effect on relative weight of heart, kidney and lungs in most treated groups. The increase in heart and lung weight was significant (P<0.05) in quail given 4% and higher ethanol, of kidney given 2 to 8% ethanol, while statistically no effect was observed on relative weight of liver. The relative weight of the proventriculus and the intestine at 4th week also showed statistically no difference compared to control group. However, the weight of the gizzard at 4th week increased significantly (P0.05) in groups given 8 to 16% ethanol and the increase was 42% in these groups compared with control group. The lymphoid organs at the end of 4th week revealed significant difference in weight of the bursa of Fabricius in quails given 16% ethanol and of the thymus in quails given 4 to 16% ethanol. Statistically, no difference was observed in spleen weight of treated groups compared to control group. The gross and light microscopic examination failed to reveal significant changes in these organs with routine methods of examination. Ethanol showed a significant effect on feed conversion ratio which was poor in ethanol treated groups; at the end of 4th week, it varied from 232 to 442% in groups given 8 and 16% ethanol, respectively. These data suggest that ethanol has significant effects on relative weight of heart, kidney, lungs, thymus, and on feed conversion ratio in the Japanese quails.

The main aim of this study is to examine the sustainability level of an environmental development project called Eco-Village Development that is implemented in India, state of Rajasthan. The project started in 2002 and will end in 2010. It is cooperation between the Student Union of the University of Jyväskylä (JYY) and two Indian non-governmental organizations, Women’s Action for Development (WAFD) and Integrated Sustainable Energy and Ecological Development Association (INSEDA). The project is mainly financed by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. Goal of this study is to provide recommendations on how to enhance the sustainability of the project’s positive outcomes. The study concentrates on participation and gender and their role in maintaining the project’s benefits. In this research, participation is presented with Amartya Sen’s and Jean Drèze’s perceptions, clarifying its role as a freedom and pointing out how social change can only happen through widespread participation. It can be claimed that high level stakeholder participation is an imperative for projects’ sustainability. The study has been conducted in a form of empowerment evaluation and supported with more traditional participatory methods. Empowerment evaluation provides a philosophy, theoretical framework, and methods to address the concerns of self-assessment and it employs both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Generally evaluations are seen as learning tools to improve the implementation and particularly the democratic evaluations, such as empowerment evaluation, enhancing the democracy and contributing to good governance. The empowerment evaluation disclosed that the participation among the project volunteers is rather active and both genders seem to have relatively good possibilities to join, plan and implement the actions. Nevertheless, to enhance the participation level and thus the commitment towards the project, which again should lead to higher level of sustainability, it is recommended that as much awareness raising opportunities will be offered to the volunteers as possible. This is due to the fact that learning is greatly valued among the project participants. In order to ensure even higher level of sustainability of the positive outcomes, these trainings should be open for other villagers as well, not only for the volunteers. In addition, women’s participation through village level women groups should be systematically given more attention. This is a substantial component that can engage a majority of the women and thus spread the knowledge into most of the families. Additionally the empowerment evaluation revealed that more attention should be given for forming well functioning youth groups and a Farmer’s Cooperative. However, even though awareness has been well and widely spread, there is still an obstacle on implementing some of the project’s components; money. For this challenge an answer could be micro-financing. As a last note it is proposed that the collaborating NGOs continue staying in touch and keep supporting each other, even though the funding ceases.