Search results for: multifactor asset pricing

Authors: Ayedh Alqahtani, Andrew Whyte

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Life Cycle Cost (LCC) is one of the goals and key pillars of the construction management science because it comprises many of the functions and processes necessary, which assist organisations and agencies to achieve their goals. It has therefore become important to design and control assets during their whole life cycle, from the design and planning phase through to disposal phase. LCCA is aimed to improve the decision making system in the ownership of assets by taking into account all the cost elements including to the asset throughout its life. Current application of LCC approach is impractical during misunderstanding of the advantages of LCC. This main objective of this research is to show a different relationship between capital cost and long-term running costs. One hundred and thirty eight actual building projects in United Kingdom (UK) were used in order to achieve and measure the above-mentioned objective of the study. The result shown that LCC is one of the most significant tools should be considered on the decision making process.

Keywords: building projects, capital cost, life cycle cost, maintenance costs, operation costs

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Authors: Hiba Mezaache

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The study aims to assess the financial and social efficiency of microfinance institutions in india for the period 2015-2019 by using two models of economies of scale and choosing the output direction of the data envelope analysis (DEA) method and using the MIX MARKET database. The study concluded that microfinance institutions focus on achieving financial efficiency beyond their focus on achieving social efficiency to ensure their continuity in the market. Convergence in the efficiency ratios that have been achieved, but the optimum ratios have been achieved under the changing economies of scale; Efficiency is affected by the depth of reaching low-income groups, as serving this group raises costs and risks. The importance of lending to women in rural areas and raising their awareness to ensure their financial and social empowerment; Make improvements in operating expenses, asset management, and loan personnel control in order to maximize output.

Keywords: microfinance, financial efficiency, social efficiency, mix market, microfinance institutions

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Authors: Kitti Leangkrua

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This paper presents a risk-based maintenance strategy of a power transformer in order to optimize operating and maintenance costs. The methodology involves the study and preparation of a database for the collection the technical data and test data of a power transformer. An evaluation of the overall condition of each transformer is performed by a program developed as a result of the measured results; in addition, the calculation of the main equipment separation to the overall condition of the transformer (% HI) and the criteria for evaluating the importance (% ImI) of each location where the transformer is installed. The condition assessment is performed by analysis test data such as electrical test, insulating oil test and visual inspection. The condition of the power transformer will be classified from very poor to very good condition. The importance is evaluated from load criticality, importance of load and failure consequence. The risk matrix is developed for evaluating the risk of each power transformer. The high risk power transformer will be focused firstly. The computerized program is developed for practical use, and the maintenance strategy of a power transformer can be effectively managed.

Keywords: asset management, risk-based maintenance, power transformer, health index

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Authors: Francis E. Idachaba, Sarah Uyimeh Tommy

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This paper describes the design of an RFID laptop monitoring and management system. Laptops embedded with RFID chips are monitored and tracked to provide a monitoring system for the purpose of tracking as well as monitoring movement of the laptops in and out of a building. The proposed system is implemented with both hardware and software components. The hardware architecture consists of RFID passive tag, RFID module (reader), and a server hosting the application and database. The RFID readers are distributed at major exits of a building or premises. The tags are programmed with owner laptop details are concealed in the laptops. The software architecture consists of application software that has the APIs (Applications Programming Interface) necessary to interface the RFID system with the PC, to achieve automated laptop monitoring system. A friendly graphic user interface (GUI) and a database that saves all readings and owners details. The system is capable of reducing laptop theft especially in students’ hostels as laptops can be monitored as they are taken either in or out of the building.

Keywords: asset tracking, GUI, laptop monitoring, radio frequency identification, passive tags

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Authors: Prama Mukhopadhyay

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Starting from transport to food, today’s world platform economy and digital markets have taken over almost every sphere of consumers’ lives. Sellers and buyers are getting connected through platforms, which is acting as an intermediary. It has made consumer’s life easier in terms of time, price, choice and other factors. Having said that, there are several concerns regarding platforms. There are competition law concerns like unfair pricing, deep discounting by the platforms which affect the consumer welfare. Apart from that, the biggest problem is lack of transparency with respect to the business models, how it operates, price calculation, etc. In most of the cases, consumers are unaware of how their personal data are being used. In most of the cases, they are unaware of how algorithm uses their personal data to determine the price of the product or even to show the relevant products using their previous searches. Using personal or non-personal data without consumer’s consent is a huge legal concern. In addition to this, another major issue lies with the question of liability. If a dispute arises, who will be responsible? The seller or the platform? For example, if someone ordered food through a food delivery app and the food was bad, in this situation who will be liable: the restaurant or the food delivery platform? In this paper, the researcher tries to examine the legal concern related to platform economy from the consumer protection and consumer welfare perspectives. The paper analyses the cases from different jurisdictions and approach taken by the judiciaries. The author compares the existing legislation of EU, US and other Asian Countries and tries to highlight the best practices.

Keywords: competition, consumer, data, platform

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Authors: Riyad Awad, Abdulmohsen Alghadeer, Meshari Otaibi

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Proper operation and maintenance (O&M) activities of high voltage equipment can lead to an increased asset lifecycle and maintain its integrity and reliability. Such a vital process is important to be proactively considered during equipment design and manufacturing phases by removing and eliminating any obstacles in the equipment which adversely affect the (O&M) activities. This paper presents a gap analysis pertaining to difficulties in performing operations and maintenance (O&M) high voltage electrical equipment, includes power transformers, switch gears, motor control center, disconnect switches and circuit breakers. The difficulties are gathered from field personnel, equipment design review comments, quality management system, and lessons learned database. The purpose of the gap analysis is to mitigate and prevent the (O&M) difficulties as early as possible in the design stage of the equipment lifecycle. The paper concludes with several recommendations and corrective actions for all identified gaps in order to reduce the cost (O&M) difficulties and improve the equipment lifecycle.

Keywords: operation and maintenance, high voltage equipment, equipment lifecycle, reduce the cost of maintenance

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Authors: Abdulkadir Adamu Shehu

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Company’s reputation is an elusive asset. The reputation gained by companies must be preserved for sustainability of the company. However, the construction project is still suffering from declination of character due to the factors that affect their reputation. The problem led to the loss of projects, abandoning of the projects and many more. This contributed to negative impact on the contractors in the construction industry. As for today, previous studies have not investigated in this regards yet. For that reason, this paper examines the factors which could promote contractor’s reputation in the construction industry in Nigeria. To achieve this aim, 140 questionnaires were distributed to the Nigerian contractors. Based on the 67% response rate, descriptive analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were the tools applied for the data obtained to be analysed. The result shows that, good communication system and improve quality of output of products are the most significant variables that can promote contractor’s reputation. The homogenous analyses indicate that there are significant different perceptions of respondents in term of the significant effects. The research concluded that contractor’s reputation in construction industry must be maintained and further research was suggested to focus on the qualitative method to have in-depth knowledge on contractor’s reputation in the construction industry.

Keywords: construction industry, contractor’s reputation, effects of delay, Nigeria

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Authors: Ching-Feng Chen

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The floating photovoltaic (FPV) system highlights economic benefits and energy performance to carbon dioxide (CO₂) discharges. Due to land resource scarcity and many negligent water territories, such as reservoirs, dams, and lakes in Japan and Taiwan, both countries are actively developing FPV and responding to the pricing of the emissions trading systems (ETS). This paper performs a case study through a synthesis approach to compare the economic indicators between the FPVs of Taiwan’s Agongdian Reservoir and Japan’s Yamakura Dam. The research results show that the metrics of the system capacity, installation costs, bank interest rates, and ETS and Electricity Bills affect FPV operating gains. In the post-Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) phase, investing in FPV in Japan is more profitable than in Taiwan. The former’s positive net present value (NPV), eminent internal rate of return (IRR) (11.6%), and benefit-cost ratio (BCR) above 1 (2.0) at the discount rate of 10% indicate that investing the FPV in Japan is more favorable than in Taiwan. In addition, the breakeven point is modest (about 61.3%.). The presented methodology in the study helps investors evaluate schemes’ pros and cons and determine whether a decision is beneficial while funding PV or FPV projects.

Keywords: carbon border adjustment mechanism, floating photovoltaic, emissions trading systems, net present value, internal rate of return, benefit-cost ratio

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Authors: Aleksandra Nocoń (Szunke)

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The study is a review of the literature concerning the consequences of non-standard monetary policy, which are used by central banks during unconventional periods, threatening instability of the banking sector. In particular, the attention was paid to the effects of non-standard monetary policy tools for financial markets. However, the empirical evidence about their effects and real consequences for the financial markets are still not final. The main aim of the study is to survey the consequences of standard and non-standard monetary policy instruments, implemented during the global financial crisis in the United States, United Kingdom and Euroland, with particular attention to the results for the stabilization of global financial markets. The study analyses the consequences for short and long-term market interest rates, interbank interest rates and LIBOR-OIS spread. The study consists mainly of the empirical review, indicating the impact of the implementation of these tools for the financial markets. The following research methods were used in the study: literature studies, including domestic and foreign literature, cause and effect analysis and statistical analysis.

Keywords: asset purchase facility, consequences of monetary policy instruments, non-standard monetary policy, quantitative easing

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Authors: Maram Saleh

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Knowledge has become an essential resource in today’s economy and become the most important asset of maintaining competition advantage in organizations. The importance of knowledge has made organizations to manage their knowledge assets and resources through all multiple knowledge management stages such as: Knowledge Creation, knowledge storage, knowledge sharing and knowledge use. Researches on data mining are continues growing over recent years on both business and educational fields. Data mining is one of the most important steps of the knowledge discovery in databases process aiming to extract implicit, unknown but useful knowledge and it is considered as significant subfield in knowledge management. Data miming have the great potential to help organizations to focus on extracting the most important information on their data warehouses. Data mining tools and techniques can predict future trends and behaviors, allowing businesses to make proactive, knowledge-driven decisions. This review paper explores the applications of data mining techniques in supporting knowledge management process as an effective knowledge discovery technique. In this paper, we identify the relationship between data mining and knowledge management, and then focus on introducing some application of date mining techniques in knowledge management for some real life domains.

Keywords: Data Mining, Knowledge management, Knowledge discovery, Knowledge creation.

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Authors: Carlo Gozzelino

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Since the early 2000s, the phenomenon of the two-sided markets has been of growing interest in academic literature as such kind of markets differs by having cross-side network effects and same-side network effects characterizing the transactions, which make the analysis different when compared to traditional seller-buyer concept. Due to such externalities, pricing strategies can be based on subsidizing the participation of one side (i.e. considered key for the platform to attract the other side) while recovering the loss on the other side. In recent years, several players of the Italian financial intermediation industry moved from an integrated landscape (i.e. selling their own products) to an open one (i.e. intermediating third party products). According to academic literature such behavior can be interpreted as a merchant move towards a platform, operating in a two-sided market environment. While several application of two-sided market framework are available in academic literature, purpose of this paper is to use a two-sided market concept to suggest a new framework applied to financial intermediation. To this extent, a model is developed to show how competitors behave when vertically integrated and how the peculiarities of a two-sided market act as an incentive to disintegrate. Additionally, we show that when all players act as a platform, the dynamics of a two-sided markets can allow at least a Nash equilibrium to exist, in which platform of different sizes enjoy positive profit. Finally, empirical evidences from Italian market are given to sustain – and to challenge – this interpretation.

Keywords: financial intermediation, network externalities, two-sided markets, vertical differentiation

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Authors: Chimezie P. Nnanwa, Thomas C. Urama, Patrick O. Ezepue

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In this paper we use Random Matrix Theory to analyze the eigen-structure of the empirical correlations of 82 stocks which are consistently traded in the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) over a 4-year study period 3 August 2009 to 26 August 2013. We apply the Marchenko-Pastur distribution of eigenvalues of a purely random matrix to investigate the presence of investment-pertinent information contained in the empirical correlation matrix of the selected stocks. We use hypothesised standard normal distribution of eigenvector components from RMT to assess deviations of the empirical eigenvectors to this distribution for different eigenvalues. We also use the Inverse Participation Ratio to measure the deviation of eigenvectors of the empirical correlation matrix from RMT results. These preliminary results on the dynamics of asset price correlations in the NSE are important for improving risk-return trade-offs associated with Markowitz’s portfolio optimization in the stock exchange, which is pursued in future work.

Keywords: correlation matrix, eigenvalue and eigenvector, inverse participation ratio, portfolio optimization, random matrix theory

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Authors: Argyro Maria Skourmalla

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The present paper draws on the example of the University of Luxembourg as a multilingual and international setting. The University of Luxembourg, which is located between France, Germany, and Belgium, has adopted a new multilingualism policy in 2020, establishing English, French, German, and Luxembourgish as the official languages of the Institution. With around 7.000 students, more than half of which are international students, the University is a meeting point for languages and cultures. This paper includes data from an online survey that with undergraduate students from different disciplines at the University of Luxembourg. Students shared their personal experience and opinions regarding language use in this higher education context, as well as practices they use in learning in this multilingual context. Findings show the role of technology in assisting students in different aspects of learning this multilingual context. At the same time, more needs to be done to avoid an exclusively monolingual paradigm in higher education. Findings also show that some languages remain ‘unseen’ in this context. Overall, even though linguistic diversity in this University is seen as an asset, a lot needs to be done towards the recognition of staff and students’ linguistic repertoires for inclusion and education equity.

Keywords: higher education, learning, linguistic diversity, multilingual practices

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Authors: Priyadarshini Alok

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The present situation in India envisages that because of the surge in population and the economy, cities are expected to spill over to hinterland areas. The consumption-led factors such as land, labor, etc. will be boosted. Hence, the need for regional connectivity becomes obligatory. But, there is enormous pressure upon the land; proving itself through rising traffic congestion, roads, and railway accidents. Air transport is practical, but due to decreasing availability of land, this will not be a wise solution. What with the introduction of seaplanes in the country which was once the vital asset in the world prior to Second World War. Maldives has proved it. Seaplanes offer natural landing site and are time and cost-efficient. Seaplanes in accordance with UDAN can prove to be the solution in linking various regions with other states. This research paper aims to offer the feasibility analysis along with site justification of the potential areas in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India; for the operation of seaplanes. The standards are taken from the US Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration for the analysis. The conflation of Seaplanes with UDAN will offer an alternate mode of air connectivity, strengthen the transport network by simulation of connectivity to unserved and under-served areas and boost the nation's economy.

Keywords: connectivity, seaplanes, transport, UDAN

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Authors: Aamar Ilyas

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Value of firm does not only depend upon its financial and material resources rather human resource is also a significant contributor in success of organizations by achieving competitive advantage. Human resource is an important asset so it is the main responsibility of employers to get the best use of this resource. Hence, this paper will explore the human resource practices used by entrepreneurs in the informal economy in Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab, Pakistan. In this study three major sectors are randomly selected. Snowball sampling technique was applied to collect data. Survey was conducted through interviews of 45 respondents working in the informal sector. The results show that informal sector in Pakistan is not using any formal human resource practices as done by formal enterprises. Findings suggest that there should be the implementation of the human resource practices that help the firm to increase its productivity and ensure the betterment of the employees. The main limitation of the study was short time period to cater all sectors of informal economy of Pakistan which limits the extent of its generalizability. The rationale behind this study is to uncover the facts regarding management practices of human capital in the informal sector.

Keywords: HR practices, informal economy, working condition, recruitment, training, employee motivation, welfare

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Authors: Erwin Stolz, Hannes Mayerl, Anja Waxenegger, Wolfgang Freidl

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Research has often found poverty associated with adverse health outcomes, but it is unclear which (interplay of) mechanisms actually translate low economic resources into poor physical health. The goal of this study was to assess the impact of educational, material, psychosocial and behavioural factors in explaining the poverty-health association in old age. We analysed 28,360 observations from 11,390 community-dwelling respondents (65+) from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE, 2004-2013, 10 countries). We used multilevel growth curve models to assess the impact of combined income- and asset poverty risk on old age frailty index levels and trajectories. In total, 61.8% of the variation of poverty risk on frailty levels could be explained by direct and indirect effects, thereby highlighting the role of material and particularly psychosocial factors, such as perceived control and social isolation. We suggest strengthening social policy and public health efforts in order to fight poverty and its deleterious effects from early age on and to broaden the scope of interventions with regard to psychosocial factors.

Keywords: frailty, health inequality, old age, poverty

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Authors: Tamás Hartványi, Ferenc Tóth

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European telecommunication distribution center performance is measured by service lead time and quality. Operation model is CTO (customized to order) namely, a high mix customization of telecommunication network equipment and parts. CTO operation contains material receiving, warehousing, network and server assembly to order and configure based on customer specifications. Variety of the product and orders does not support mass production structure. One of the success factors to satisfy customer is to have a proper aggregated planning method for the operation in order to have optimized human resources and highly efficient asset utilization. Research will investigate several methods and find proper way to have an order book simulation where practical optimization problem may contain thousands of variables and the simulation running times of developed algorithms were taken into account with high importance. There are two operation research models that were developed, customer demand is given in orders, no change over time, customer demands are given for product types, and changeover time is constant.

Keywords: CTO, aggregated planning, demand simulation, changeover time

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Authors: Yiseyon Hosu, Joseph Akande

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Wheat is one of the most important staple food grains of human for centuries and is largely consumed in South Africa. It has a special place in the South African economy because of its significance in food security, trade, and industry. This paper modelled and forecast the production and consumption of wheat in South Africa in the time covid-19 and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war by using annual time series data from 1940–2021 based on the ARIMA models. Both the averaging forecast and selected models forecast indicate that there is the possibility of an increase with respect to production. The minimum and maximum growth in production is projected to be between 3million and 10 million tons, respectively. However, the model also forecast a possibility of depression with respect to consumption in South Africa. Although Covid-19 and the war between Ukraine and Russia, two major producers and exporters of global wheat, are having an effect on the volatility of the prices currently, the wheat production in South African is expected to increase and meat the consumption demand and provided an opportunity for increase export with respect to domestic consumption. The forecasting of production and consumption behaviours of major crops play an important role towards food and nutrition security, these findings can assist policymakers and will provide them with insights into the production and pricing policy of wheat in South Africa.

Keywords: ARIMA, food security, price volatility, staple food, South Africa

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Authors: Peter Kress, Alexander Pflaum, Ulrich Loewen

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The number of Internet-of-Things (IoT) platforms is steadily increasing across various industries, especially for smart factories, smart homes and smart mobility. Also in the manufacturing industry, the number of Industrial-IoT platforms is growing. Both IT players, start-ups and increasingly also established industry players and small-and-medium-enterprises introduce offerings for the connection of industrial equipment on platforms, enabled by advanced information and communication technology. Beside the offered functionalities, the established ecosystem of partners around a platform is one of the key differentiators to generate a competitive advantage. The key question is how platform operators design the business model around their platform to attract a high number of customers and partners to co-create value for the entire ecosystem. The present research tries to answer this question by determining the key characteristics of business models of successful platforms in the manufacturing industry. To achieve that, the authors selected an explorative qualitative research approach and created an inductive comparative case study. The authors generated valuable descriptive insights of the business model elements (e.g., value proposition, pricing model or partnering model) of various established platforms. Furthermore, patterns across the various cases were identified to derive propositions for the successful design of business models of platforms in the manufacturing industry.

Keywords: industrial-internet-of-things, business models, platforms, ecosystems, case study

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Authors: Katharina Fellnhofer

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The more information and knowledge that technology provides, the more important are profoundly human skills like intuition, the skill of using nonconscious information. As our world becomes more complex, shaken by crises, and characterized by uncertainty, time pressure, ambiguity, and rapidly changing conditions, intuition is increasingly recognized as a key human asset. However, due to methodological limitations of sample size or time frame or a lack of real-world or cross-cultural scope, precisely how to measure intuition when facing risks on a nonconscious level remains unclear. In light of the measurement challenge related to intuition’s nonconscious nature, a technique is introduced to measure intuition via hidden images as nonconscious additional information to trigger intuition. This technique has been tested in a within-subject fully online design with 62,721 real-world investment decisions made by 657 subjects in Europe and the United States. Bayesian models highlight the technique’s potential to measure skill at using nonconscious information for conscious decision making. Over the long term, solving the mysteries of intuition and mastering its use could be of immense value in personal and organizational decision-making contexts.

Keywords: cognition, intuition, investment decisions, methodology

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Authors: Argyro-Maria Skourmalla

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Today’s reality is characterized by diversity in different levels and aspects of everyday life. Focusing on the aspect of language and communication in Higher Education (HE), the present paper draws on the example of the University of Luxembourg as a multilingual and international setting. The University of Luxembourg, which is located between France, Germany, and Belgium, adopted its new multilingualism policy in 2020, establishing English, French, German, and Luxembourgish as the official languages of the Institution. In addition, with around 10.000 students and staff coming from various countries around the world, linguistic diversity in this university is seen as both a resource and a challenge that calls for an inclusive and multilingual approach. The present paper includes data derived from semi-structured interviews with lecturing staff from different disciplines and an online survey with undergraduate students at the University of Luxembourg. Participants shared their experiences and point of view regarding linguistic diversity in this context. Findings show that linguistic diversity in this university is seen as an asset but comes with challenges, and even though there is progress in the use of multilingual practices, a lot needs to be done towards the recognition of staff and students’ linguistic repertoires for inclusion and education equity.

Keywords: linguistic diversity, higher education, Luxembourg, multilingual practices, teaching, learning

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Authors: Pablo Martinez, Emad Mohamed, Osama Mohsen, Yasser Mohamed

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Highway and bridge agencies, such as the Ministry of Transportation in Ontario, use the Bridge Condition Index (BCI) which is defined as the weighted condition of all bridge elements to determine the rehabilitation priorities for its bridges. Therefore, accurate forecasting of BCI is essential for bridge rehabilitation budgeting planning. The large amount of data available in regard to bridge conditions for several years dictate utilizing traditional mathematical models as infeasible analysis methods. This research study focuses on investigating different classification models that are developed to predict the bridge condition index in the province of Ontario, Canada based on the publicly available data for 2800 bridges over a period of more than 10 years. The data preparation is a key factor to develop acceptable classification models even with the simplest one, the k-NN model. All the models were tested, compared and statistically validated via cross validation and t-test. A simple k-NN model showed reasonable results (within 0.5% relative error) when predicting the bridge condition in an incoming year.

Keywords: asset management, bridge condition index, data mining, forecasting, infrastructure, knowledge discovery in databases, maintenance, predictive models

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Authors: Imen Dhaou

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This study examines conditional Value at Risk by applying the GJR-EVT-Copula model, and finds the optimal portfolio for eight Dow Jones Islamic-conventional pairs. Our methodology consists of modeling the data by a bivariate GJR-GARCH model in which we extract the filtered residuals and then apply the Peak over threshold model (POT) to fit the residual tails in order to model marginal distributions. After that, we use pair-copula to find the optimal portfolio risk dependence structure. Finally, with Monte Carlo simulations, we estimate the Value at Risk (VaR) and the conditional Value at Risk (CVaR). The empirical results show the VaR and CVaR values for an equally weighted portfolio of Dow Jones Islamic-conventional pairs. In sum, we found that the optimal investment focuses on Islamic-conventional US Market index pairs because of high investment proportion; however, all other index pairs have low investment proportion. These results deliver some real repercussions for portfolio managers and policymakers concerning to optimal asset allocations, portfolio risk management and the diversification advantages of these markets.

Keywords: CVaR, Dow Jones Islamic index, GJR-GARCH-EVT-pair copula, portfolio optimization

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Authors: João Coutinho-Rodrigues, Nuno Sousa, Luís Alçada-Almeida

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Transportation infrastructure systems are fundamental in modern society and economy. However, they need modernizing, maintaining, and reinforcing interventions which require large investments. In many countries, accumulated intervention delays arise from aging and intense use, being magnified by financial constraints of the past. The decision problem of managing the renewal of large backlogs is common to several types of important transportation infrastructures (e.g., railways, roads). This problem requires considering financial aspects as well as operational constraints under a multidimensional framework. The present research introduces a linear programming multiobjective model for managing railway infrastructure asset renewal. The model aims at minimizing three objectives: (i) yearly investment peak, by evenly spreading investment throughout multiple years; (ii) total cost, which includes extra maintenance costs incurred from renewal backlogs; (iii) priority delays related to work start postponements on the higher priority railway sections. Operational constraints ensure that passenger and freight services are not excessively delayed from having railway line sections under intervention. Achieving a balanced annual investment plan, without compromising the total financial effort or excessively postponing the execution of the priority works, was the motivation for pursuing the research which is now presented. The methodology, inspired by a real case study and tested with real data, reflects aspects of the practice of an infrastructure management company and is generalizable to different types of infrastructure (e.g., railways, highways). It was conceived for treating renewal interventions in infrastructure assets, which is a railway network may be rails, ballasts, sleepers, etc.; while a section is under intervention, trains must run at reduced speed, causing delays in services. The model cannot, therefore, allow for an accumulation of works on the same line, which may cause excessively large delays. Similarly, the lines do not all have the same socio-economic importance or service intensity, making it is necessary to prioritize the sections to be renewed. The model takes these issues into account, and its output is an optimized works schedule for the renewal project translatable in Gantt charts The infrastructure management company provided all the data for the first test case study and validated the parameterization. This case consists of several sections to be renewed, over 5 years and belonging to 17 lines. A large instance was also generated, reflecting a problem of a size similar to the USA railway network (considered the largest one in the world), so it is not expected that considerably larger problems appear in real life; an average of 25 years backlog and ten years of project horizon was considered. Despite the very large increase in the number of decision variables (200 times as large), the computational time cost did not increase very significantly. It is thus expectable that just about any real-life problem can be treated in a modern computer, regardless of size. The trade-off analysis shows that if the decision maker allows some increase in max yearly investment (i.e., degradation of objective ii), solutions improve considerably in the remaining two objectives.

Keywords: transport infrastructure, asset renewal, railway maintenance, multiobjective modeling

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Authors: Yi-Min Lan, Hung-Wen Cheng, Hsuan-Ling Chang, Jou-Ping Yu

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The study applies machine learning models to construct momentum strategies and utilizes the information coefficient as an indicator for selecting stocks with strong and weak momentum characteristics. Through this approach, the study has built investment portfolios capable of generating superior returns and conducted a thorough analysis. Compared to existing research on momentum strategies, machine learning is incorporated to capture non-linear interactions. This approach enhances the conventional stock selection process, which is often impeded by difficulties associated with timeliness, accuracy, and efficiency due to market risk factors. The study finds that implementing bidirectional momentum strategies outperforms unidirectional ones, and momentum factors with longer observation periods exhibit stronger correlations with returns. Optimizing the number of stocks in the portfolio while staying within a certain threshold leads to the highest level of excess returns. The study presents a novel framework for momentum strategies that enhances and improves the operational aspects of asset management. By introducing innovative financial technology applications to traditional investment strategies, this paper can demonstrate significant effectiveness.

Keywords: information coefficient, machine learning, momentum, portfolio, return prediction

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Authors: Kevin Baxter, Ron Grove, James Pitney, John Harrison, Ozlem Gumus

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The purpose of this research is to determine the mediating effect of effectiveness of the training provided by Northwestern University’s School of Police Staff and Command (SPSC), on the ability of law enforcement mid-level managers to learn transformational and authentic leadership traits. This study will also evaluate the leadership styles, of course, graduates compared to non-attendees using a static group comparison design. The Louisiana State Police pay approximately $40,000 in salary, tuition, housing, and meals for each state police lieutenant attending the 10-week program of the SPSC. This school lists the development of transformational leaders as an increasing element. Additionally, the SPSC curriculum addresses all four components of authentic leadership - self-awareness, transparency, ethical/moral, and balanced processing. Upon return to law enforcement in roles of mid-level management, there are questions as to whether or not students revert to an “autocratic” leadership style. Insufficient evidence exists to support claims for the effectiveness of management training or leadership development. Though it is widely recognized that transformational styles are beneficial to law enforcement, there is little evidence that suggests police leadership styles are changing. Police organizations continue to hold to a more transactional style (i.e., most senior police leaders remain autocrats). Additionally, research in the application of transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership related to police organizations is minimal. The population of the study is law enforcement mid-level managers from various states within the United States who completed leadership training presented by the SPSC. The sample will be composed of 66 active law enforcement mid-level managers (lieutenants and captains) who have graduated from SPSC and 65 active law enforcement mid-level managers (lieutenants and captains) who have not attended SPSC. Participants will answer demographics questions, Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, Authentic Leadership Questionnaire, and the Kirkpatrick Hybrid Evaluation Survey. Analysis from descriptive statistics, group comparison, one-way MANCOVA, and the Kirkpatrick Evaluation Model survey will be used to determine training effectiveness in the four levels of reaction, learning, behavior, and results. Independent variables are SPSC graduates (two groups: upper and lower) and no-SPSC attendees, and dependent variables are transformational and authentic leadership scores. SPSC graduates are expected to have higher MLQ scores for transformational leadership traits and higher ALQ scores for authentic leadership traits than SPSC non-attendees. We also expect the graduates to rate the efficacy of SPSC leadership training as high. This study will validate (or invalidate) the benefits, costs, and resources required for leadership development from a nationally recognized police leadership program, and it will also help fill the gap in the literature that exists between law enforcement professional development and transformational and authentic leadership styles.

Keywords: training effectiveness, transformational leadership, authentic leadership, law enforcement mid-level manager

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Authors: Aishwarya Venkat, Anastasia Marshak, Ryan B. Simpson, Elena N. Naumova

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Livestock ownership is simultaneously linked to improved nutritional status through increased availability of animal-source protein, and increased risk of enteric infections through higher exposure to contaminated water sources. Agrarian and agro-pastoral households, especially those with cattle, goats, and sheep, are highly dependent on seasonally various environmental conditions, which directly impact nutrition and health. This study explores global spatiotemporally explicit evidence regarding the relationship between livestock ownership, enteric infections, and malnutrition. Seasonal and cyclical fluctuations, as well as mediating effects, are further examined to elucidate health and nutrition outcomes of individual and communal livestock ownership. The US Agency for International Development’s Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund’s Multi-Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) provide valuable sources of household-level information on anthropometry, asset ownership, and disease outcomes. These data are especially important in data-sparse regions, where surveys may only be conducted in the aftermath of emergencies. Child-level disease history, anthropometry, and household-level asset ownership information have been collected since DHS-V (2003-present) and MICS-III (2005-present). This analysis combines over 15 years of survey data from DHS and MICS to study 2,466,257 children under age five from 82 countries. Subnational (administrative level 1) measures of diarrhea prevalence, mean livestock ownership by type, mean and median anthropometric measures (height for age, weight for age, and weight for height) were investigated. Effects of several environmental, market, community, and household-level determinants were studied. Such covariates included precipitation, temperature, vegetation, the market price of staple cereals and animal source proteins, conflict events, livelihood zones, wealth indices and access to water, sanitation, hygiene, and public health services. Children aged 0 – 6 months, 6 months – 2 years, and 2 – 5 years of age were compared separately. All observations were standardized to interview day of year, and administrative units were harmonized for consistent comparisons over time. Geographically weighted regressions were constructed for each outcome and subnational unit. Preliminary results demonstrate the importance of accounting for seasonality in concurrent assessments of malnutrition and enteric infections. Household assets, including livestock, often determine the intensity of these outcomes. In many regions, livestock ownership affects seasonal fluxes in malnutrition and enteric infections, which are also directly affected by environmental and local factors. Regression analysis demonstrates the spatiotemporal variability in nutrition outcomes due to a variety of causal factors. This analysis presents a synthesis of evidence from global survey data on the interrelationship between enteric infections, malnutrition, and livestock. These results provide a starting point for locally appropriate interventions designed to address this nexus in a timely manner and simultaneously improve health, nutrition, and livelihoods.

Keywords: diarrhea, enteric infections, households, livestock, malnutrition, seasonality

Procedia PDF Downloads 101

Authors: Mcjerry A. Bekoe, Emile Uwamahoro

Abstract:

Social media has become the order of the day, in particular among the youth. It is widely used both formally and informally in the university communities with varied definitions both in the academic circles and in the public domain. In simple terms, it is a media upon which social interactions are carried. In this work social media denote mobile phones, and web-base applications use by students and institutions to construct, partake, and distribute both existing and new information in a digital setting through internet communication. The basic aim of conducting this study was to analyze the perception of students and faculty members Beijing Normal University on social media use in the academic setting and to contribute to the understanding of how university students use social media, the advantages and disadvantages of social media in education. The study was qualitative and employed open-ended interview questions developed to seek students’ perception of the effects of social media and administered based on purposive sampling. Document analysis was also done because of triangulation to ensure validity and reliability. The results show there are positive and negative impacts of social media use depending on how one uses it. Social media have the capability to become a priceless asset to aid their educational communication.

Keywords: academics, high education, interactions, social media

Procedia PDF Downloads 317

Authors: Siva Sankara Arudra, Kamaruzaman Baharuddin, Ir. Ahmed Fadzil Mustafa Kamal, Ir. Abdul Latif Mohamed

Abstract:

The advancement of electrical and electronics technologies has rewarded the oil and gas industry with great opportunities to embed more environmentally solutions into design. Most offshore oil and gas producers have their engineering and production asset goals to promote greater use of environmentally friendly compression system technologies to eliminate hazardous emissions from conventional gas compressor drivers. Therefore, this paper comprehensively elaborates the parametric study conducted in integrating the latest electrical and electronics drives technology into the existing compression system. This study was conducted in aspects of layout, reliability & availability, maintainability, emission, and cost. An existing offshore facility that utilized gas turbines as the driver for gas compression was set as Conventional Case for this study. The Electrification Case will utilize electric motor drives as the driver for the compression system. Findings from this study indicate more advantages in driver electrification compared to conventional compression systems. The findings of this paper can be set as a benchmark for future offshore driver selection for gas compression systems of similar operating parameters and power range.

Keywords: turbomachinery, electrification, emission, compression system

Procedia PDF Downloads 119

Authors: Khalid Kaddoura, Tarek Zayed

Abstract:

Sewer networks are constructed to protect the communities and the environment from any contact with the sewer mediums. Pipelines, being laterals or sewer mains, and manholes form the huge underground infrastructure in every urban city. Due to the sewer networks importance, the infrastructure asset management field has extensive advancement in condition assessment and rehabilitation decision models. However, most of the focus was devoted to pipelines giving little attention toward manholes condition assessment. In fact, recent studies started to emerge in this area to preserve manholes from any malfunction. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to propose a condition assessment model for sewer manholes. The model divides the manhole into several components and determines the relative importance weight of each component using the Analytic Network Process (ANP) decision-making method. Later, the condition of the manhole is computed by aggregating the condition of each component with its corresponding weight. Accordingly, the proposed assessment model will enable decision-makers to have a final index suggesting the overall condition of the manhole and a backward analysis to check the condition of each component. Consequently, better decisions are made pertinent to maintenance, rehabilitation, and replacement actions.

Keywords: Analytic Network Process (ANP), condition assessment, decision-making, manholes

Procedia PDF Downloads 329