This study evaluates the impact of the Pani Panchayat initiative, a community-based water management program, in the Angul and Dhenkanal districts of Odisha. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, we gathered qualitative...This study evaluates the impact of the Pani Panchayat initiative, a community-based water management program, in the Angul and Dhenkanal districts of Odisha. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, we gathered qualitative and quantitative data through structured interviews with diverse stakeholders, focus group discussions, and surveys. The findings indicate that the Angul district exhibited higher levels of fair elections and improved water access due to better canal maintenance, while the Dhenkanal district faced challenges from industrial water usage. The study also examines the potential of technological advancements, such as real-time water monitoring, to enhance governance. By identifying synergies and gaps with existing water policies, the research provides policy recommendations to promote sustainable water management in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals 2030.展开更多
This study examines how controlling shareholders influence firm performance through the mediating role of firm efficiency in transforming inputs into outputs.To achieve this objective,it conducts a mediation analysis ...This study examines how controlling shareholders influence firm performance through the mediating role of firm efficiency in transforming inputs into outputs.To achieve this objective,it conducts a mediation analysis with 5,000 bootstraps on a dataset of 2,849 firm-year observations of publicly listed firms in Malaysia from 2009 to 2019.The findings reveal a positive relationship between controlling shareholdings and firm performance,with both total and indirect effects having this positive relationship.Moreover,while controlling shareholdings improve firm performance,firm efficiency partially mediates this relationship.Thus,improved firm efficiency plays a critical role in understanding the relationship between governance by controlling shareholders and enhanced firm performance.In summary,this study contributes to the existing literature by expanding our understanding of the complex relationship between controlling shareholdings,firm efficiency,and firm performance.In addition,the findings shed light on the importance of indirect channels in shaping organizational outcomes.As such,this study provides a valuable direction for future research in this area.展开更多
This article investigates the impact of CEO attributes on corporate reputation,financial performance,and corporate sustainable growth in India.Using static panel data methodology for a sample of NSE listed leading 138...This article investigates the impact of CEO attributes on corporate reputation,financial performance,and corporate sustainable growth in India.Using static panel data methodology for a sample of NSE listed leading 138 non-financial companies over the time-frame 2011 to 2018,we find that CEO remuneration and tenure maintains significant positive associations with corporate reputation,while duality and CEO busyness are found to be associated with corporate reputation negatively.The results also show that female CEOs and CEO remuneration are associated with corporate financial performance positively,whereas CEO busyness,as expected,holds a significant negative relationship with corporate financial performance.Moreover,the results demonstrate that CEO age is associated with corporate sustainable growth negatively,while tenure appears to have a significant and positive association with corporate sustainable growth.The results are robust to various tests and suggest that in the Indian context,demographic and job-specific attributes of CEOs exert significant influence on corpo-rate reputation,financial performance,and corporate sustainable growth.The empirical findings would provide a basis for the shareholders and companies to identify areas of consideration when appointing CEOs and determining their roles and responsibilities.展开更多
The nautical chart is one of the fundamental tools in navigation used by mariners to plan and safely execute voyages.Its compilation follows strict cartographic constraints with the most prominent being that of the sa...The nautical chart is one of the fundamental tools in navigation used by mariners to plan and safely execute voyages.Its compilation follows strict cartographic constraints with the most prominent being that of the safety.Thereby,the cartographer is called to make the selection of the bathymetric information for portrayal on charts in a way that,at any location,the expected water depth is not deeper than the source information.To validate the shoal-biased pattern of selection two standard tests are used,i.e.the triangle and edge tests.To date,some efforts have been made towards the automation of the triangle test,but the edge test has been largely ignored.In the context of research on a fully automated solution for the compilation of charts at different scales from the source information,this paper presents an algorithmic implementation of the two tests for the validation of selected soundings.Through a case study with real-world data,it presents the improved performance of the implementation near and within depth curves and coastlines and points out the importance of the edge test in the validation process.It also presents the,by definition,intrinsic limitation of the two tests as part of a fully automated solution and discusses the need for a new test that will complement or supersede the existing ones.展开更多
Aqueous extracts from various plant parts of fenugreek(3%)(aerial parts:leaves and stems(LS),roots(R),ground seeds(GS)and not ground seeds(NGS))and petroleum ether,ethyl acetate and methanolic fractions of the aerial ...Aqueous extracts from various plant parts of fenugreek(3%)(aerial parts:leaves and stems(LS),roots(R),ground seeds(GS)and not ground seeds(NGS))and petroleum ether,ethyl acetate and methanolic fractions of the aerial parts were assayed to determine their antifungal potential against Botrytis cinerea,Fusarium graminearum,Alternaria sp.,Pythium aphanidermatum,and Rhizoctinia solani.All fenugreek plant parts showed antifungal potential and the magnitude of their inhibitory effects was species and plant parts d...展开更多
Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior(TPB)suggests that planned behavior is determined by behavioral intention.Despite extensive literature based on TPB,household mental budgeting behavior explained by TPB is underexplo...Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior(TPB)suggests that planned behavior is determined by behavioral intention.Despite extensive literature based on TPB,household mental budgeting behavior explained by TPB is underexplored.The current study empirically tested TPB factors in light of mental budgeting behavior.The hypothesized model was tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling(PLS-SEM).PLS-SEM was employed using a Likert-scaled questionnaire administered to 275 households.The results indicate that mental budgeting attitude and mental budgeting past behavior strongly predict mental budgeting intention,and mental budgeting intention predicts mental budgeting behavior.Further,mental budgeting intention partially mediates the relationship between mental budgeting attitude and mental budgeting behavior,and mental budgeting past behavior and mental budgeting behavior.This study contributes to the academic interest in theoretical progress in household behavior.展开更多
This is the first to elucidate the distribution and sources of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans （PCDD/PCDFs）,and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls in the waters from Kanzaki River,which is one...This is the first to elucidate the distribution and sources of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans （PCDD/PCDFs）,and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls in the waters from Kanzaki River,which is one of the most heavily polluted rivers in Japan.The World Health Organization （WHO）-toxic equivalent quantities （TEQs） in waters from the mainstream exceeded the Japanese environmental standard （1.0 pg-TEQ/L）.The PCDD/PCDFs were dominated by highly chlorinated DFs,which predominantly contributed to the WHO-TEQs,suggesting that the main causes would be the incineration-related wastes.To find the sources,the dioxin congener concentrations in water and sediment samples from its tributary small waterways were determined.Abnormally high WHO-TEQs were detected in a water （50 pg-TEQ/L） and a sediment sample （41,000 ng-TEQ/kg dry weight） near the industrial solid waste incinerators （ISWIs）.The PCDD/PCDF characteristics agreed well with those of the incinerator-related wastes as seen in the mainstream.These facts indicate that the dioxin pollution in the mainstream could be largely related to the industrial wastes from the ISWIs.Here,a TEQ apportionment method was used to understand the contribution of the pyrogenic sources to the WHO-TEQs.The average contribution ratios of the pyrogenic sources to WHO-TEQs were more than 80% for river waters from the mainstream,indicating that the elevated WHO-TEQs in the mainstream had been largely caused by the ISWIs.展开更多
This study addresses the challenge of assessing gaps among the differences of test people in eight groups by matching them based on four scenarios. The proposed model called Test Employee Capability Maturity Model (TE...This study addresses the challenge of assessing gaps among the differences of test people in eight groups by matching them based on four scenarios. The proposed model called Test Employee Capability Maturity Model (TEC-MM) helps find the gaps and measure the capability and maturity levels of each sub-maturity models in four dimensions as technicality, management, business, and personality. We applied TEC-MM to a software company which has instituted test people improvement strategy and plans to be a front runner in software testing industry. The findings reveal that gaps existed and consequently affect software testing process quality.展开更多
Governments settle their financial obligations and pay for the public expenditures largely through finances generated from taxes.For many developing countries like Pakistan,the state authorities are still having diffi...Governments settle their financial obligations and pay for the public expenditures largely through finances generated from taxes.For many developing countries like Pakistan,the state authorities are still having difficulty to achieve tax compliance.Existing literature has yet to traverse individual’s tax compliance behavior on developing countries.The current study,however,explores the relationships among voluntary tax compliance behavior of individual taxpayers with selected economic,social,behavioral and institutional factors.This individual tax compliance behavior is studied through the multi-perspective lenses of the theory of attribution,equity theory,expected utility theory,and social exchange theory.Quantitative design using the survey method was employed to collect data from 435 individual taxpayers through questionnaire.For testing linkage between constructs,through mediation and moderation tests,structural equation modeling technique was used.The results suggest that tax compliance simplicity has a larger impact on tax filing than perception about Government Spending and tax morale.Furthermore,perception of fairness significantly mediates the strengths between morale,simplicity,government spending and compliance behavior.展开更多
The present study investigates the timing and repercussion of the subprime crisis of 2008–09 in a regime-switching model.The interdependence and co-movement of financial markets in different countries has been enhanc...The present study investigates the timing and repercussion of the subprime crisis of 2008–09 in a regime-switching model.The interdependence and co-movement of financial markets in different countries has been enhanced due to the globalization of international trade,and investment trends can spread globally as a result of investors owning international portfolios.This study uses a regime-switching model to illustrate the timing of the crisis regime and calm regime for United States(US)stock index returns and the corresponding impact on Indian stock index returns.The Indian stocks investigated are classified into“remote”and“reachable”stocks,and different effects are found for these two types.It is found that shocks originating in the US can be transferred to the Indian reachable market as a result of foreign investors.There is,however,a less persistent impact on remote stocks.Accordingly,the study contributes to the literature on the material impacts of the crisis resulting from liquidity constraints and fear of contagion among investors.展开更多
The East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW) is located on the eastern periphery of the city of Kolkata and extends up to theBidyadhari-Matla River confluence. It is a Ramsar Site and acts as an absorber basin for a large number o...The East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW) is located on the eastern periphery of the city of Kolkata and extends up to theBidyadhari-Matla River confluence. It is a Ramsar Site and acts as an absorber basin for a large number of con-taminants drained from Kolkata. Agricultural lands, sewage-fed fisheries, garbage dumping fields, horticulture,and built-up areas are included in this protected area, that covers approximately 125 km2. It reveals that climatechange reduces the variety of wetland ecosystem services and increases socio-economic vulnerability and eco-nomic stress. The human encroachment, reclamation of land for agriculture, aquaculture, and urban expansion inand around Kolkata has recently adversely threatened the EKW. The remotely sensed data, socio-economic data,and responses of inhabitants have been used to analyse the EKW’s risk and vulnerability. We employed geospatialanalysis by using the Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) method using nine risk factors. An in-depth analysisof the EKW using geospatial techniques and the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) helped to understandthe EKW transformations through vulnerability and risk analysis. The results show that the transformation of thewetland to aquaculture, eutrophication and pollution, road proximity, waste dumping, population density, andgrowth are the main factors for the deteriorating health, quality, and environment of the EKW. It also reveals thatquantitative and qualitative evaluations of ecosystem services, wetland degradation, transformation, and cause-effect rapport should be periodically assessed using scientific methods like FAHP, RS, GIS to formulate resilient,integrated plans and strategy for the sustainable management of the EKW.展开更多
Corporate restructuring has become a major component in the financial and economic environment all over the world. Industrial restructuring has raised important issues for business decisions as well as for public poli...Corporate restructuring has become a major component in the financial and economic environment all over the world. Industrial restructuring has raised important issues for business decisions as well as for public policy formulation. Since 1991, Indian industries have been increasingly exposed to both domestic and international competition and competitiveness. The companies started restructuring there operations around their core business there M ＆ A. But M ＆ A is an area of potential good and harm in corporate strategy including manufacturing industry. Therefore, an attempt has been made to analyze the security returns and to find out the net wealth increase or decrease to the shareholders of acquiring firms. In India, there are totally 58 manufacturing companies which have undergone mergers and acquisitions during 2000, 2001 ＆ 2002. Thirty percentage from the total population was taken as sample size （i.e., 17 companies out of 58）. The present study is mainly based on secondary data. The Market Model and Market Adjusted Returns Model analysis are used as tools of analysis.展开更多
Mergers and acquisitions become the major force in the changing environment. The policy of liberalization, decontrol and globalization of the economy has exposed the corporate sector to domestic and global competition...Mergers and acquisitions become the major force in the changing environment. The policy of liberalization, decontrol and globalization of the economy has exposed the corporate sector to domestic and global competition. It is true that there is little scope for companies to learn from their past experience. Therefore, to determine the success of a merger, it is to be ascertained if there is financial gain from mergers. It is very important to study the liquidity performance of those companies to test whether those companies have sufficient liquid assets to meet its current obligations. The present study is limited to a sample of companies which underwent merger in the same industry during the period of 2002-2005 listed in one of the Indian stock exchange namely Bombay Stock Exchange. It is proposed to compare the liquidity performance of the thirteen sample acquirer and target companies before and after the period of mergers by using ratio analysis and t-test during the study period of three years. The study found that the shareholders of the acquirer companies increased their liquidity performance after the merger event.展开更多
This study presents a decision making process in three steps of knowledge management for test organization using process simulation and financial analysis. First, project cost assessment of test knowledge management p...This study presents a decision making process in three steps of knowledge management for test organization using process simulation and financial analysis. First, project cost assessment of test knowledge management process subjects to different project duration and number of staffs. Two knowledge management simulation models representing experienced personnel with knowledge sharing and inexperienced personnel with internal training respectively are employed to contrast test personnel capability. Second, performance evaluation of software testing process by different personnel capability is conducted to simulate system test using three project metrics, namely, duration, effort cost, and quality. Third, a comparative financial analysis is prepared to determine the best solution by return on investment, payback period, and benefit cost ratio. The results from three stages of finding are discussed to arrive at the final scenario. We provide a case study evaluating how software testing industry needs to build effective test organization with high quality personnel for sustainable development and improvement.展开更多
Petroleum, the most important energy source in the world, plays an essential role in securing economic development. If a petroleum shortage happens, it will severely disrupt production and life. Cross-regional emergen...Petroleum, the most important energy source in the world, plays an essential role in securing economic development. If a petroleum shortage happens, it will severely disrupt production and life. Cross-regional emergency scheduling can effectively alleviate a petroleum shortage and further enhance the efficiency of the emergency response. Considering the general lack of focus on cross-regional petroleum dispatching management, we propose a three-layer emergency scheduling network for petroleum based on a supernetwork model that can increase the regional emergency correlation by adding a transfer management process. Then, we compare the total demand for petroleum and the emergency costs considered in the petroleum emergency scheduling supernetwork model（the single-region and the cross-region scenarios）.The result shows that the cross-regional emergency scheduling pattern can effectively enhance the efficiency of the emergency preparations and reduce the emergency costs in most cases. However, when the vulnerabilities in the crossregional link grow or the regional linkage decreases, the effect of single-regional scheduling is better. In addition, the advantages of the cross-regional emergency scheduling network will be strengthened with an increase in its maximum emergency capability. Nonetheless, this advantage will disappear when the petroleum demand in the crisis layer reaches the maximum emergency response capacity. Finally, according to the comparative analysis simulation among scenarios,certain strategic policy recommendations are suggested to improve the petroleum emergency scheduling ability in regions.These recommendations include strengthening the cross-regional coordination mechanism, increasing the modes of petroleum transportation and enhancing the carrying capacity of regional emergency routes.展开更多
This study forecasts the return and volatility dynamics of S&P BSE Sensex and S&P BSE IT indices of the Bombay Stock Exchange.To achieve the objectives,the study uses descriptive statistics;tests including var...This study forecasts the return and volatility dynamics of S&P BSE Sensex and S&P BSE IT indices of the Bombay Stock Exchange.To achieve the objectives,the study uses descriptive statistics;tests including variance ratio,Augmented Dickey-Fuller,Phillips-Perron,and Kwiatkowski Phillips Schmidt and Shin;and Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average(ARIMA).The analysis forecasts daily stock returns for the S&P BSE Sensex and S&P BSE IT time series,using the ARIMA model.The results reveal that the mean returns of both indices are positive but near zero.This is indicative of a regressive tendency in the longterm.The forecasted values of S&P BSE Sensex and S&P BSE IT are almost equal to their actual values,with few deviations.Hence,the ARIMA model is capable of predicting medium-or long-term horizons using historical values of S&P BSE Sensex and S&P BSE IT.展开更多
Over the past two decades, China's infrastructure development has been extraordinary in the sense that it far exceeds GDP growth rate and unconventional in the sense that it cannot be explained with existing theor...Over the past two decades, China's infrastructure development has been extraordinary in the sense that it far exceeds GDP growth rate and unconventional in the sense that it cannot be explained with existing theories on infrastructure development.This paper found that the transformation of China's land system is an important clue:China's extraordinary infrastructure development is a result that can be explained with the transformation of its land system. Theoretically, this paper proves that with other conditions held constant, the difference of land systems has a significant effect on the optimal infrastructure supply of regions. Empirically, it can be found through the test of cross-country panel data that the transformation of China's land system around the 1990 s indeed exerted an overall impact on China's extraordinary infrastructure development. This paper implies that China's "land-supported infrastructure development" model has been pivotal to its extraordinary infrastructure development. Under the Belt and Road Initiative,China's experience of land-supported infrastructure development is of broad significance for developing countries to boost their infrastructure development.展开更多
The COVID-19 pandemic is a virus that has disastrous effects onhuman lives globally;still spreading like wildfire causing huge losses to humanityand economies. There is a need to follow few constraints like social dis...The COVID-19 pandemic is a virus that has disastrous effects onhuman lives globally;still spreading like wildfire causing huge losses to humanityand economies. There is a need to follow few constraints like social distancingnorms, personal hygiene, and masking up to effectively control the virus spread.The proposal is to detect the face frame and confirm the faces are properly covered with masks. By applying the concepts of Deep learning, the results obtainedfor mask detection are found to be effective. The system is trained using4500 images to accurately judge and justify its accuracy. The aim is to developan algorithm to automatically detect a mask, but the approach does not facilitatethe percentage of improper usage. Accuracy levels are as low as 50% if the maskis improperly covered and an alert is raised for improper placement. It can be usedat traffic places and social gatherings for the prevention of virus transmission. Itworks by first locating the region of interest by creating a frame boundary, thenfacial points are picked up to detect and concentrate on specific features. Thetraining on the input images is performed using different epochs until the artificialface mask detection dataset is created. The system is implemented using TensorFlow with OpenCV and Python using a Jupyter Notebook simulation environment. The training dataset used is collected from a set of diverse open-sourcedatasets with filtered images available at Kaggle Medical Mask Dataset by Mikolaj Witkowski, Kera, and Prajna Bhandary. To simulate MobilNetV2 classifier isused to load and pre-process the image dataset for building a fully connectedhead. The objective is to assess the accuracy of the identification, measuringthe efficiency and effectiveness of algorithms for precision, recall, and F1 score.展开更多
文摘This study evaluates the impact of the Pani Panchayat initiative, a community-based water management program, in the Angul and Dhenkanal districts of Odisha. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, we gathered qualitative and quantitative data through structured interviews with diverse stakeholders, focus group discussions, and surveys. The findings indicate that the Angul district exhibited higher levels of fair elections and improved water access due to better canal maintenance, while the Dhenkanal district faced challenges from industrial water usage. The study also examines the potential of technological advancements, such as real-time water monitoring, to enhance governance. By identifying synergies and gaps with existing water policies, the research provides policy recommendations to promote sustainable water management in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals 2030.
基金Universiti Malaysia Pahang for its financial support to this research(University Research Grant Scheme RDU223303).
文摘This study examines how controlling shareholders influence firm performance through the mediating role of firm efficiency in transforming inputs into outputs.To achieve this objective,it conducts a mediation analysis with 5,000 bootstraps on a dataset of 2,849 firm-year observations of publicly listed firms in Malaysia from 2009 to 2019.The findings reveal a positive relationship between controlling shareholdings and firm performance,with both total and indirect effects having this positive relationship.Moreover,while controlling shareholdings improve firm performance,firm efficiency partially mediates this relationship.Thus,improved firm efficiency plays a critical role in understanding the relationship between governance by controlling shareholders and enhanced firm performance.In summary,this study contributes to the existing literature by expanding our understanding of the complex relationship between controlling shareholdings,firm efficiency,and firm performance.In addition,the findings shed light on the importance of indirect channels in shaping organizational outcomes.As such,this study provides a valuable direction for future research in this area.
文摘This article investigates the impact of CEO attributes on corporate reputation,financial performance,and corporate sustainable growth in India.Using static panel data methodology for a sample of NSE listed leading 138 non-financial companies over the time-frame 2011 to 2018,we find that CEO remuneration and tenure maintains significant positive associations with corporate reputation,while duality and CEO busyness are found to be associated with corporate reputation negatively.The results also show that female CEOs and CEO remuneration are associated with corporate financial performance positively,whereas CEO busyness,as expected,holds a significant negative relationship with corporate financial performance.Moreover,the results demonstrate that CEO age is associated with corporate sustainable growth negatively,while tenure appears to have a significant and positive association with corporate sustainable growth.The results are robust to various tests and suggest that in the Indian context,demographic and job-specific attributes of CEOs exert significant influence on corpo-rate reputation,financial performance,and corporate sustainable growth.The empirical findings would provide a basis for the shareholders and companies to identify areas of consideration when appointing CEOs and determining their roles and responsibilities.
基金This work is supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration[grant number NA15NOS4000200].
文摘The nautical chart is one of the fundamental tools in navigation used by mariners to plan and safely execute voyages.Its compilation follows strict cartographic constraints with the most prominent being that of the safety.Thereby,the cartographer is called to make the selection of the bathymetric information for portrayal on charts in a way that,at any location,the expected water depth is not deeper than the source information.To validate the shoal-biased pattern of selection two standard tests are used,i.e.the triangle and edge tests.To date,some efforts have been made towards the automation of the triangle test,but the edge test has been largely ignored.In the context of research on a fully automated solution for the compilation of charts at different scales from the source information,this paper presents an algorithmic implementation of the two tests for the validation of selected soundings.Through a case study with real-world data,it presents the improved performance of the implementation near and within depth curves and coastlines and points out the importance of the edge test in the validation process.It also presents the,by definition,intrinsic limitation of the two tests as part of a fully automated solution and discusses the need for a new test that will complement or supersede the existing ones.
文摘Aqueous extracts from various plant parts of fenugreek(3%)(aerial parts:leaves and stems(LS),roots(R),ground seeds(GS)and not ground seeds(NGS))and petroleum ether,ethyl acetate and methanolic fractions of the aerial parts were assayed to determine their antifungal potential against Botrytis cinerea,Fusarium graminearum,Alternaria sp.,Pythium aphanidermatum,and Rhizoctinia solani.All fenugreek plant parts showed antifungal potential and the magnitude of their inhibitory effects was species and plant parts d...
文摘Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior(TPB)suggests that planned behavior is determined by behavioral intention.Despite extensive literature based on TPB,household mental budgeting behavior explained by TPB is underexplored.The current study empirically tested TPB factors in light of mental budgeting behavior.The hypothesized model was tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling(PLS-SEM).PLS-SEM was employed using a Likert-scaled questionnaire administered to 275 households.The results indicate that mental budgeting attitude and mental budgeting past behavior strongly predict mental budgeting intention,and mental budgeting intention predicts mental budgeting behavior.Further,mental budgeting intention partially mediates the relationship between mental budgeting attitude and mental budgeting behavior,and mental budgeting past behavior and mental budgeting behavior.This study contributes to the academic interest in theoretical progress in household behavior.
文摘This is the first to elucidate the distribution and sources of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans （PCDD/PCDFs）,and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls in the waters from Kanzaki River,which is one of the most heavily polluted rivers in Japan.The World Health Organization （WHO）-toxic equivalent quantities （TEQs） in waters from the mainstream exceeded the Japanese environmental standard （1.0 pg-TEQ/L）.The PCDD/PCDFs were dominated by highly chlorinated DFs,which predominantly contributed to the WHO-TEQs,suggesting that the main causes would be the incineration-related wastes.To find the sources,the dioxin congener concentrations in water and sediment samples from its tributary small waterways were determined.Abnormally high WHO-TEQs were detected in a water （50 pg-TEQ/L） and a sediment sample （41,000 ng-TEQ/kg dry weight） near the industrial solid waste incinerators （ISWIs）.The PCDD/PCDF characteristics agreed well with those of the incinerator-related wastes as seen in the mainstream.These facts indicate that the dioxin pollution in the mainstream could be largely related to the industrial wastes from the ISWIs.Here,a TEQ apportionment method was used to understand the contribution of the pyrogenic sources to the WHO-TEQs.The average contribution ratios of the pyrogenic sources to WHO-TEQs were more than 80% for river waters from the mainstream,indicating that the elevated WHO-TEQs in the mainstream had been largely caused by the ISWIs.
文摘This study addresses the challenge of assessing gaps among the differences of test people in eight groups by matching them based on four scenarios. The proposed model called Test Employee Capability Maturity Model (TEC-MM) helps find the gaps and measure the capability and maturity levels of each sub-maturity models in four dimensions as technicality, management, business, and personality. We applied TEC-MM to a software company which has instituted test people improvement strategy and plans to be a front runner in software testing industry. The findings reveal that gaps existed and consequently affect software testing process quality.
文摘Governments settle their financial obligations and pay for the public expenditures largely through finances generated from taxes.For many developing countries like Pakistan,the state authorities are still having difficulty to achieve tax compliance.Existing literature has yet to traverse individual’s tax compliance behavior on developing countries.The current study,however,explores the relationships among voluntary tax compliance behavior of individual taxpayers with selected economic,social,behavioral and institutional factors.This individual tax compliance behavior is studied through the multi-perspective lenses of the theory of attribution,equity theory,expected utility theory,and social exchange theory.Quantitative design using the survey method was employed to collect data from 435 individual taxpayers through questionnaire.For testing linkage between constructs,through mediation and moderation tests,structural equation modeling technique was used.The results suggest that tax compliance simplicity has a larger impact on tax filing than perception about Government Spending and tax morale.Furthermore,perception of fairness significantly mediates the strengths between morale,simplicity,government spending and compliance behavior.
文摘The present study investigates the timing and repercussion of the subprime crisis of 2008–09 in a regime-switching model.The interdependence and co-movement of financial markets in different countries has been enhanced due to the globalization of international trade,and investment trends can spread globally as a result of investors owning international portfolios.This study uses a regime-switching model to illustrate the timing of the crisis regime and calm regime for United States(US)stock index returns and the corresponding impact on Indian stock index returns.The Indian stocks investigated are classified into“remote”and“reachable”stocks,and different effects are found for these two types.It is found that shocks originating in the US can be transferred to the Indian reachable market as a result of foreign investors.There is,however,a less persistent impact on remote stocks.Accordingly,the study contributes to the literature on the material impacts of the crisis resulting from liquidity constraints and fear of contagion among investors.
基金The authors would like to thank the Netaji Subhas Open Uni-versity,Kolkata,for providing the supportive research funding(No.AC/140/2021-22).
文摘The East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW) is located on the eastern periphery of the city of Kolkata and extends up to theBidyadhari-Matla River confluence. It is a Ramsar Site and acts as an absorber basin for a large number of con-taminants drained from Kolkata. Agricultural lands, sewage-fed fisheries, garbage dumping fields, horticulture,and built-up areas are included in this protected area, that covers approximately 125 km2. It reveals that climatechange reduces the variety of wetland ecosystem services and increases socio-economic vulnerability and eco-nomic stress. The human encroachment, reclamation of land for agriculture, aquaculture, and urban expansion inand around Kolkata has recently adversely threatened the EKW. The remotely sensed data, socio-economic data,and responses of inhabitants have been used to analyse the EKW’s risk and vulnerability. We employed geospatialanalysis by using the Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) method using nine risk factors. An in-depth analysisof the EKW using geospatial techniques and the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) helped to understandthe EKW transformations through vulnerability and risk analysis. The results show that the transformation of thewetland to aquaculture, eutrophication and pollution, road proximity, waste dumping, population density, andgrowth are the main factors for the deteriorating health, quality, and environment of the EKW. It also reveals thatquantitative and qualitative evaluations of ecosystem services, wetland degradation, transformation, and cause-effect rapport should be periodically assessed using scientific methods like FAHP, RS, GIS to formulate resilient,integrated plans and strategy for the sustainable management of the EKW.
文摘Corporate restructuring has become a major component in the financial and economic environment all over the world. Industrial restructuring has raised important issues for business decisions as well as for public policy formulation. Since 1991, Indian industries have been increasingly exposed to both domestic and international competition and competitiveness. The companies started restructuring there operations around their core business there M ＆ A. But M ＆ A is an area of potential good and harm in corporate strategy including manufacturing industry. Therefore, an attempt has been made to analyze the security returns and to find out the net wealth increase or decrease to the shareholders of acquiring firms. In India, there are totally 58 manufacturing companies which have undergone mergers and acquisitions during 2000, 2001 ＆ 2002. Thirty percentage from the total population was taken as sample size （i.e., 17 companies out of 58）. The present study is mainly based on secondary data. The Market Model and Market Adjusted Returns Model analysis are used as tools of analysis.
文摘Mergers and acquisitions become the major force in the changing environment. The policy of liberalization, decontrol and globalization of the economy has exposed the corporate sector to domestic and global competition. It is true that there is little scope for companies to learn from their past experience. Therefore, to determine the success of a merger, it is to be ascertained if there is financial gain from mergers. It is very important to study the liquidity performance of those companies to test whether those companies have sufficient liquid assets to meet its current obligations. The present study is limited to a sample of companies which underwent merger in the same industry during the period of 2002-2005 listed in one of the Indian stock exchange namely Bombay Stock Exchange. It is proposed to compare the liquidity performance of the thirteen sample acquirer and target companies before and after the period of mergers by using ratio analysis and t-test during the study period of three years. The study found that the shareholders of the acquirer companies increased their liquidity performance after the merger event.
文摘This study presents a decision making process in three steps of knowledge management for test organization using process simulation and financial analysis. First, project cost assessment of test knowledge management process subjects to different project duration and number of staffs. Two knowledge management simulation models representing experienced personnel with knowledge sharing and inexperienced personnel with internal training respectively are employed to contrast test personnel capability. Second, performance evaluation of software testing process by different personnel capability is conducted to simulate system test using three project metrics, namely, duration, effort cost, and quality. Third, a comparative financial analysis is prepared to determine the best solution by return on investment, payback period, and benefit cost ratio. The results from three stages of finding are discussed to arrive at the final scenario. We provide a case study evaluating how software testing industry needs to build effective test organization with high quality personnel for sustainable development and improvement.
基金supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2014XT06)
文摘Petroleum, the most important energy source in the world, plays an essential role in securing economic development. If a petroleum shortage happens, it will severely disrupt production and life. Cross-regional emergency scheduling can effectively alleviate a petroleum shortage and further enhance the efficiency of the emergency response. Considering the general lack of focus on cross-regional petroleum dispatching management, we propose a three-layer emergency scheduling network for petroleum based on a supernetwork model that can increase the regional emergency correlation by adding a transfer management process. Then, we compare the total demand for petroleum and the emergency costs considered in the petroleum emergency scheduling supernetwork model（the single-region and the cross-region scenarios）.The result shows that the cross-regional emergency scheduling pattern can effectively enhance the efficiency of the emergency preparations and reduce the emergency costs in most cases. However, when the vulnerabilities in the crossregional link grow or the regional linkage decreases, the effect of single-regional scheduling is better. In addition, the advantages of the cross-regional emergency scheduling network will be strengthened with an increase in its maximum emergency capability. Nonetheless, this advantage will disappear when the petroleum demand in the crisis layer reaches the maximum emergency response capacity. Finally, according to the comparative analysis simulation among scenarios,certain strategic policy recommendations are suggested to improve the petroleum emergency scheduling ability in regions.These recommendations include strengthening the cross-regional coordination mechanism, increasing the modes of petroleum transportation and enhancing the carrying capacity of regional emergency routes.
文摘This study forecasts the return and volatility dynamics of S&P BSE Sensex and S&P BSE IT indices of the Bombay Stock Exchange.To achieve the objectives,the study uses descriptive statistics;tests including variance ratio,Augmented Dickey-Fuller,Phillips-Perron,and Kwiatkowski Phillips Schmidt and Shin;and Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average(ARIMA).The analysis forecasts daily stock returns for the S&P BSE Sensex and S&P BSE IT time series,using the ARIMA model.The results reveal that the mean returns of both indices are positive but near zero.This is indicative of a regressive tendency in the longterm.The forecasted values of S&P BSE Sensex and S&P BSE IT are almost equal to their actual values,with few deviations.Hence,the ARIMA model is capable of predicting medium-or long-term horizons using historical values of S&P BSE Sensex and S&P BSE IT.
文摘Over the past two decades, China's infrastructure development has been extraordinary in the sense that it far exceeds GDP growth rate and unconventional in the sense that it cannot be explained with existing theories on infrastructure development.This paper found that the transformation of China's land system is an important clue:China's extraordinary infrastructure development is a result that can be explained with the transformation of its land system. Theoretically, this paper proves that with other conditions held constant, the difference of land systems has a significant effect on the optimal infrastructure supply of regions. Empirically, it can be found through the test of cross-country panel data that the transformation of China's land system around the 1990 s indeed exerted an overall impact on China's extraordinary infrastructure development. This paper implies that China's "land-supported infrastructure development" model has been pivotal to its extraordinary infrastructure development. Under the Belt and Road Initiative,China's experience of land-supported infrastructure development is of broad significance for developing countries to boost their infrastructure development.
文摘The COVID-19 pandemic is a virus that has disastrous effects onhuman lives globally;still spreading like wildfire causing huge losses to humanityand economies. There is a need to follow few constraints like social distancingnorms, personal hygiene, and masking up to effectively control the virus spread.The proposal is to detect the face frame and confirm the faces are properly covered with masks. By applying the concepts of Deep learning, the results obtainedfor mask detection are found to be effective. The system is trained using4500 images to accurately judge and justify its accuracy. The aim is to developan algorithm to automatically detect a mask, but the approach does not facilitatethe percentage of improper usage. Accuracy levels are as low as 50% if the maskis improperly covered and an alert is raised for improper placement. It can be usedat traffic places and social gatherings for the prevention of virus transmission. Itworks by first locating the region of interest by creating a frame boundary, thenfacial points are picked up to detect and concentrate on specific features. Thetraining on the input images is performed using different epochs until the artificialface mask detection dataset is created. The system is implemented using TensorFlow with OpenCV and Python using a Jupyter Notebook simulation environment. The training dataset used is collected from a set of diverse open-sourcedatasets with filtered images available at Kaggle Medical Mask Dataset by Mikolaj Witkowski, Kera, and Prajna Bhandary. To simulate MobilNetV2 classifier isused to load and pre-process the image dataset for building a fully connectedhead. The objective is to assess the accuracy of the identification, measuringthe efficiency and effectiveness of algorithms for precision, recall, and F1 score.
