Search results for: price to earnings ratio

Authors: Nikolaos Georgantzis, Efi Vasileiou

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We present results from experimental price-setting oligopolies in which green firms undertake different levels of energy-saving investments motivated by public subsidies and demand-side advantages. We find that consumers reveal higher willingness to pay for greener sellers’ products. This observation in conjunction to the fact that greener sellers set higher prices is compatible with the use and interpretation of energy-saving behaviour as a differentiation strategy. However, sellers do not exploit the resulting advantage through sufficiently high price-cost margins, because they seem trapped into “run to stay still” competition. Regarding the use of public subsidies to energy-saving sellers we uncover an undesirable crowding-out effect of consumers’ intrinsic tendency to support green manufacturers. Namely, consumers may be less willing to support a green seller whose energy-saving strategy entails a direct financial benefit. Finally, we disentangle two alternative motivations for consumer’s attractions to pro-social firms; first, the self-interested recognition of the firm’s contribution to the public and private welfare and, second, the need to compensate a firm for the cost entailed in each pro-social action. Our results show the prevalence of the former over the latter.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, energy savings, public good, experiments, vertical differentiation, altruism

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Authors: R. Abd-Rahman, M. M. Isa, H. H. Goh

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A compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) is a well known non-imaging concentrator that will concentrate the solar radiation onto receiver (PV cell). One of disadvantage of CPC is has tall and narrow height compared to its diameter entry aperture area. Therefore, for economic reason, a truncation had been done by removed from the top of the full height CPC. This is also will lead to the decreases of concentration ratio but it will be negligible. In this paper, the flux distribution of untruncated and truncated 2-D hollow compound parabolic trough concentrator (hCPTC) design is presented. The untruncated design has initial height, H=193.4mm with concentration ratio, C_(2-D)=4. This paper presents the optical simulation of compound parabolic trough concentrator using ray-tracing software TracePro. Results showed that, after the truncation, the height of CPC reduced 45% from initial height with the geometrical concentration ratio only decrease 10%. Thus, the cost of reflector and material dielectric usage can be saved especially at manufacturing site.

Keywords: compound parabolic trough concentrator, optical modelling, ray-tracing analysis, improved performance

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Authors: Arafat Husain

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The lubricants are one of the most used resource in today’s world. Lot of the superpowers are dependent on the lubricant resource for their country to function. To see that the lubricants are not adulterated we need to develop some efficient ways and to see which fluid has been added to the lubricant. So to observe the these malpractices in the lubricant we need to develop a method. We take a elastic ball and through it at probability circle in the submerged in the lubricant at a fixed force and see the distance of pitching and the point of fall. Then we the ratio of distance of falling to the distance of pitching and if the measured ratio is greater than one the fluid is less viscous and if the ratio is lesser than the lubricant is viscous. We will check the falling point of pure lubricant at fixed force and every pure lubricant would have a fixed falling point. After that we would adulterate the lubricant and note the falling point and if the falling point is less than the standard value then adulterate is solid and if the adulterate is liquid the falling point will be more than the standard value. Hence the comparison with the standard falling point will give the efficiency of the lubricant.

Keywords: falling point of lubricant, falling point ratios, probability circle, octane number

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Authors: Afrizon Reskino

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The Article explores how the role of Zakat and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can enhance corporate values. This research is a descriptive study which aimed to find out how the impact of Zakat and CSR disclosure towards corporate values. Sample taken in this research is the company has entered into the Jakarta Islamic Index, and it estimated to have implemented CSR and also made statements of sources and uses of Zakat taking PT. INCO, PT. Inducement and PT. Semen Gresik. The reasons for selecting of three companies are known from the data and facts every year they always provide significant CSR funds. CSR and charity both have a role and responsibility for the welfare of the peoples. This study found that in 2008, debt-to-equity ratio of PT. INCO approximately 15%. In 2009, It increased to 23%. While Debt-to-equity ratio of PT Semen Gresik increase of 3% to 4%. PT Inducement is weaken from 10% to 7%, but the average debt-to-equity ratio of the three companies has increased.

Keywords: zakat, charity, corporate social responsibility, corporate values

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Authors: S. Hamid Mirmohammadi, Shahrazad Tamjidzad

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This paper is concerned with the single-item continuous review inventory system in which demand is stochastic and discrete. The budget consumed for purchasing the ordered items is not restricted but it incurs extra cost when exceeding specific value. The unit purchasing price depends on the quantity ordered under the all-units discounts cost structure. In many actual systems, the budget as a resource which is occupied by the purchased items is limited and the system is able to confront the resource shortage by charging more costs. Thus, considering the resource shortage costs as a part of system costs, especially when the amount of resource occupied by the purchased item is influenced by quantity discounts, is well motivated by practical concerns. In this paper, an optimization problem is formulated for finding the optimal (R, Q) policy, when the system is influenced by the budget limitation and a discount pricing simultaneously. Properties of the cost function are investigated and then an algorithm based on a one-dimensional search procedure is proposed for finding an optimal (R, Q) policy which minimizes the expected system costs .

Keywords: (R, Q) policy, stochastic demand, backorders, limited resource, quantity discounts

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Authors: Bakhtishod Matmuratov, Sakhiba Madraximova, Rakhmat Esanov, Alimjan Matchanov

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Studies have been performed to obtain complexes of glycyrrhizic acid and kinetins in a 2:1 ratio. The complex of glycyrrhizic acid and kinetins in a 2:1 ratio was considered evidence of the formation of a molecular complex by determining the molecular masses using chromato-mass spectroscopy and analyzing the IR spectra.

Keywords: monoammonium salt of glycyrrhizic acid, glycyrrhizic acid, supramolecular complex, isomolar series, IR spectroscopy

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Authors: Jerry Gyimah, Ernest Kissi, Safowaa Osei-Tutu, Charles Dela Adobor, Theophilus Adjei-Kumi, Ernest Osei-Tutu

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Price fluctuation contract is imperative and of paramount essence, in the construction industry as it provides adequate relief and cushioning for changes in the prices of input resources during construction. As a result, several methods have been devised to better help in arriving at fair recompense in the event of price changes. However, stakeholders often appear not to be satisfied with the existing methods of fluctuation evaluation, ostensibly because of the challenges associated with them. The aim of this study was to identify the challenges to the usage of building construction cost indices in Ghana. Data was gathered from contractors and quantity surveying firms. The study utilized a survey questionnaire approach to elicit responses from the contractors and the consultants. Data gathered was analyzed scientifically, using the relative importance index (RII) to rank the problems associated with the existing methods. The findings revealed the following, among others, late release of data, inadequate recovery of costs, and work items of interest not included in the published indices as the main challenges of the existing methods. Findings provide useful lessons for policymakers and practitioners in decision making towards the usage and improvement of available indices.

Keywords: building construction cost indices, challenges, usage, Ghana

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Authors: Wiji Wijaya

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The aim of this research is to examine the effect of internal control weaknesses and audit opinion on the state’s loss findings of audit compliance to the regulation in public sector. The samples of this research consisted of 175 local government financial statements in the area of Central Java Province at 2009 until 2013. Area sampling design was used to select the financial statements. This study using quantitative descriptive statistical analysis and regression was run for data analysis and hypothesis examination. Result of this study indicated that internal control weaknesses and audit opinion contributes a positive influence which is significant to the state’s loss findings of audit compliance to the regulation. The internal control weaknesses that affect the state's loss finding are weakness control system of accounting and reporting with the value of the critical ratio 0.010 p 2.613 ; weakness budget execution control system with critical ratio value of 3.421 p 0.001 and weaknesses internal control structure with critical ratio value of 2.246 p 0.026 . While the audit opinion with a critical ratio value of 4.401 p 0.000. The implications of this research so that policy makers at the local government should give more attention to the implementation and improvement of internal control system.

Keywords: audit compliance findings, state’s loss, audit opinion, internal control, local government

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Authors: Arulselvi Subramanian, Albert Venencia, Sanjeev Bhoi

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Coagulopathy of trauma is an early endogenous coagulation abnormality that occurs shortly resulting in high mortality. In emergency trauma situations, viscoelastic tests may be better in identifying the various phenotypes of coagulopathy and demonstrate the contribution of platelet function to coagulation. We aimed to determine thrombin generation and clot strength, by estimating a ratio of Maximum amplitude and R-time (MA-R ratio) for identifying trauma coagulopathy and predicting subsequent mortality. Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort analysis of acutely injured trauma patients of the adult age groups (18- 50 years), admitted within 24hrs of injury, for one year at a Level I trauma center and followed up on 3rd day and 5th day of injury. Patients with h/o coagulation abnormalities, liver disease, renal impairment, with h/o intake of drugs were excluded. Thromboelastography was done and a ratio was calculated by dividing the MA by the R-time (MA-R). Patients were further stratified into sub groups based on the calculated MA-R quartiles. First sampling was done within 24 hours of injury; follow up on 3rd and 5thday of injury. Mortality was the primary outcome. Results: 100 acutely injured patients [average, 36.6±14.3 years; 94% male; injury severity score 12.2(9-32)] were included in the study. Median (min-max) on admission MA-R ratio was 15.01(0.4-88.4) which declined 11.7(2.2-61.8) on day three and slightly rose on day 5 13.1(0.06-68). There were no significant differences between sub groups in regard to age, or gender. In the lowest MA-R ratios subgroup; MA-R1 (<8.90; n = 27), injury severity score was significantly elevated. MA-R2 (8.91-15.0; n = 23), MA-R3 (15.01-19.30; n = 24) and MA-R4 (>19.3; n = 26) had no difference between their admission laboratory investigations, however slight decline was observed in hemoglobin, red blood cell count and platelet counts compared to the other subgroups. Also significantly prolonged R time, shortened alpha angle and MA were seen in MA-R1. Elevated incidence of mortality also significantly correlated with on admission low MA-R ratios (p 0.003). Temporal changes in the MA-R ratio did not correlated with mortality. Conclusion: The MA-R ratio provides a snapshot of early clot function, focusing specifically on thrombin burst and clot strength. In our observation, patients with the lowest MA-R time ratio (MA-R1) had significantly increased mortality compared with all other groups (45.5% MA-R1 compared with <25% in MA-R2 to MA-R3, and 9.1% in MA-R4; p < 0.003). Maximum amplitude and R-time may prove highly useful to predict at-risk patients early, when other physiologic indicators are absent.

Keywords: coagulopathy, trauma, thromboelastography, mortality

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Authors: Yessi Nirwana Kurniadi, Nira Yunita Permata

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Coastline is vulnerable to coastal erosion which damage infrastructure and buildings. Floating breakwaters are applied in order to minimize material cost but still can reduce wave height. In this paper, we investigated floating breakwater anchored by piles based on experimental study in the laboratory with model scale 1:8. Two type of floating model were tested with several combination wave height, wave period and surface water elevation to determined transmission coefficient. This experimental study proved that floating breakwater with piles can prevent wave height up to 27 cm. The physical model shows that ratio of depth to wave length is less than 0.6 and ratio of model width to wave length is less than 0.3. It is confirmed that if those ratio are less than those value, the transmission coefficient is 0.5. The result also showed that the first type model of floating breakwater can reduce wave height by 60.4 % while the second one can reduce up to 55.56 %.

Keywords: floating breakwater, experimental study, pile, transimission coefficient

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Authors: Joe Price LeClair

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Understanding the geometry of the universe using hydrogen as a representation of a balance point between energy and matter in motion while using the neutron to explain the stability in threes.

Keywords: gravity, geometric string mechanics, physics, theoretical physics

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Authors: Alka Obadić

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The research concentrates on the role of tourism in generating female employment and on impact of gender discrimination in tourism sector. Unfortunately, in many countries there are still some barriers to the inclusion of women at all hierarchical levels of tourism labor market. Research analysis focuses on EU countries where tourism is a main employer of women. The analysis shows that women represent over third persons employed in the non-financial business economy and almost two thirds in core tourism activities. Women's gross hourly earnings in accommodation and food services were below those of men in the European Union and only countries who recorded increase of gender pay gap from the beginning of crisis are Bulgaria and Croatia. Women in tourism industry are still overrepresented in lower status jobs with fewer opportunities for career progression and are often treated unequally.

Keywords: employment, gender discrimination, tourism, women’s participation

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Authors: Sumit Sharma, Rakesh Chandra, Pramod Kumar, Navin Kumar

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Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation has been used to study the effect of carbon nanofiber (CNF) volume fraction (Vf) and aspect ratio (l/d) on mechanical properties of CNF reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites. Materials Studio 5.5 has been used as a tool for finding the modulus and damping in composites. CNF composition in PP was varied by volume from 0 to 16%. Aspect ratio of CNF was varied from l/d=5 to l/d=100. To the best of the knowledge of the authors, till date there is no study, either experimental or analytical, which predict damping for CNF-PP composites at the nanoscale. Hence, this will be a valuable addition in the area of nanocomposites. Results show that with only 2% addition by volume of CNF in PP, E11 increases 748%. Increase in E22 is very less in comparison to the increase in E11. With increase in CNF aspect ratio (l/d) till l/d=60, the longitudinal loss factor (η11) decreases rapidly. Results of this study have been compared with those available in literature.

Keywords: carbon nanofiber, elasticity, mechanical properties, molecular dynamics

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Authors: Reyhaneh Soltanshah, Hamid R. Zarandi

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In order to be more efficient in industries that are related to computer systems, software testing is necessary despite spending time and money. In the embedded system software test, complete knowledge of the embedded system architecture is necessary to avoid significant costs and damages. Software tests increase the price of the final product. The aim of this article is to provide a method to reduce time and cost in tests based on program structure. First, a complete review of eleven white box test methods based on ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119 2015 and 2021 versions has been done. The proposed algorithm is designed using two versions of the 29119 standards, and some white-box testing methods that are expensive or have little coverage have been removed. On each of the functions, white box test methods were applied according to the 29119 standard and then the proposed algorithm was implemented on the functions. To speed up the implementation of the proposed method, the Unity framework has been used with some changes. Unity framework can be used in embedded software testing due to its open source and ability to implement white box test methods. The test items obtained from these two approaches were evaluated using a mathematical ratio, which in various software mining reduced between 50% and 80% of the test cost and reached the desired result with the minimum number of test items.

Keywords: embedded software, reduce costs, software testing, white-box testing

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Authors: Swarnalata Sahoo, Smita Mohanty, S. K. Nayak

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Environmentally friendly Polyurethane(PU) synthesis from Castor oil(CO) has been studied extensively. Probably due to high proportion of fatty hydroxy acids and unsaturated bond, CO showed better performance than other oil, can be easily utilized as commercial applications. In this work, cured PU polymers having different –NCO/OH ratio with and without catalyst were synthesized by using partially biobased Isocyanate with castor oil (CO). Curing time has been studied by observing at the time of reaction, which can be confirmed by AT-FTIR. DSC has been studied to monitor the reaction between CO & Isocyanates using non Isothermal process. Curing kinetics have also been studied to investigate the catalytic effect of the NCO / OH ratio of Polyurethane. Adhesion properties were evaluated from Lapshear test. Tg of the PU polymer was evaluated by DSC which can be compared by DMA. Surface Properties were studied by contact angle measurement. Improvement of the interfacial adhesion between the nonpolar surface of Aluminum substrate and the polar adhesive has been studied by modifying surface.

Keywords: polyurethane, partially bio-based isocyanate, castor oil, catalyst

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Authors: Concepcion Gonzalez-Concepcion, Maria Candelaria Gil-Fariña, Celina Pestano-Gabino

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We analyze six relevant economic and financial variables for the period 2000M1-2015M3 in the context of the Spanish economy: a financial index (IBEX35), a commodity (Crude Oil Price in euros), a foreign exchange index (EUR/USD), a bond (Spanish 10-Year Bond), the Spanish National Debt and the Consumer Price Index. The goal of this paper is to analyze the main relations between them by computing the Wavelet Power Spectrum and the Cross Wavelet Coherency associated with Morlet wavelets. By using a special toolbox in MATLAB, we focus our interest on the period variable. We decompose the time-frequency effects and improve the interpretation of the results by non-expert users in the theory of wavelets. The empirical evidence shows certain instability periods and reveals various changes and breaks in the causality relationships for sample data. These variables were individually analyzed with Daubechies Wavelets to visualize high-frequency variance, seasonality, and trend. The results are included in Proceeding 20th International Academic Conference, 2015, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences (IISES), Madrid.

Keywords: economic and financial variables, Spain, time-frequency domain, wavelet coherency

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Authors: Michael Kenomore, Mohamed Hassan, Amjad Shah, Hom Dhakal

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Shale gas reservoirs have been of greater importance compared to shale oil reservoirs since 2009 and with the current nature of the oil market, understanding the technical and economic performance of shale gas reservoirs is of importance. Using the Barnett shale as a case study, an economic model was developed to quantify the effect of finding and development costs and gas prices on the basins in the Barnett shale using net present value as an evaluation parameter. A rate of return of 20% and a payback period of 60 months or less was used as the investment hurdle in the model. The Barnett was split into four basins (Strawn Basin, Ouachita Folded Belt, Forth-worth Syncline and Bend-arch Basin) with analysis conducted on each of the basin to provide a holistic outlook. The dataset consisted of only horizontal wells that started production from 2008 to at most 2015 with 1835 wells coming from the strawn basin, 137 wells from the Ouachita folded belt, 55 wells from the bend-arch basin and 724 wells from the forth-worth syncline. The data was analyzed initially on Microsoft Excel to determine the estimated ultimate recoverable (EUR). The range of EUR from each basin were loaded in the Palisade Risk software and a log normal distribution typical of Barnett shale wells was fitted to the dataset. Monte Carlo simulation was then carried out over a 1000 iterations to obtain a cumulative distribution plot showing the probabilistic distribution of EUR for each basin. From the cumulative distribution plot, the P10, P50 and P90 EUR values for each basin were used in the economic model. Gas production from an individual well with a EUR similar to the calculated EUR was chosen and rescaled to fit the calculated EUR values for each basin at the respective percentiles i.e. P10, P50 and P90. The rescaled production was entered into the economic model to determine the effect of the finding and development cost and gas price on the net present value (10% discount rate/year) as well as also determine the scenario that satisfied the proposed investment hurdle. The finding and development costs used in this paper (assumed to consist only of the drilling and completion costs) were £1 million, £2 million and £4 million while the gas price was varied from $2/MCF-$13/MCF based on Henry Hub spot prices from 2008-2015. One of the major findings in this study was that wells in the bend-arch basin were least economic, higher gas prices are needed in basins containing non-core counties and 90% of the Barnet shale wells were not economic at all finding and development costs irrespective of the gas price in all the basins. This study helps to determine the percentage of wells that are economic at different range of costs and gas prices, determine the basins that are most economic and the wells that satisfy the investment hurdle.

Keywords: shale gas, Barnett shale, unconventional gas, estimated ultimate recoverable

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Authors: Wei Yao, Constantinos Alexiou

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In the existing literature, many studies have focused on the implementation and effectiveness of quantitative easing (QE) since 2008, but only a few have evaluated QE’s effect on commodity prices. In this context, by following Frankel’s (1986) commodity price overshooting model, we study the dynamic covariation between the expected real interest rates and six agricultural commodities’ real returns over the period from 2000:1 to 2018 for the US economy. We use wavelet analysis to investigate the causal relationship and co-movement of time series data by calculating the coefficient of determination in different frequencies. We find that a) US unconventional monetary policy may cause more positive and significant covariation between the expected real interest rates and agricultural commodities’ real returns over the short horizons; b) a lead-lag relationship that runs from agricultural commodities’ real returns to the expected real short-term interest rates over the long horizons; and c) a lead-lag relationship from agricultural commodities’ real returns to the expected real long-term interest rates over short horizons. In the realm of monetary policy, we argue that QE may shift the negative relationship between most commodities’ real returns and the expected real interest rates to a positive one over a short horizon.

Keywords: QE, commodity price, interest rate, wavelet coherence

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Authors: Sewon Kim, Changyeop Lee

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A new concept of in-furnace partial oxidation combustion is successfully applied in this research. The burner is designed such that liquid fuel is prevaporized in the furnace then injected into a fuel rich combustion zone so that a partial oxidation reaction occurs. The effects of equivalence ratio, thermal load, injection distance and fuel distribution ratio on the NOx and CO are experimentally investigated. This newly developed burner showed very low NOx emission level, about 15 ppm when light oil is used as a fuel.

Keywords: burner, low NOx, liquid fuel, partial oxidation

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Authors: Md. Jahidul Islam, A. K. M. Rakinul Islam, M. Salamah Meherier

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This study investigates the suitability of using plastic, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), as a partial replacement of natural coarse and fine aggregates (for example, brick chips and natural sand) to produce lightweight concrete for load bearing structural members. The plastic coarse aggregate (PCA) and plastic fine aggregate (PFA) were produced from melted polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. Tests were conducted using three different water–cement (w/c) ratios, such as 0.42, 0.48, and 0.57, where PCA and PFA were used as 50% replacement of coarse and fine aggregate respectively. Fresh and hardened properties of concrete have been compared for natural aggregate concrete (NAC), PCA concrete (PCC) and PFA concrete (PFC). The compressive strength of concrete at 28 days varied with the water–cement ratio for both the PCC and PFC. Between PCC and PFC, PFA concrete showed the highest compressive strength (23.7 MPa) at 0.42 w/c ratio and also the lowest compressive strength (13.7 MPa) at 0.57 w/c ratio. Significant reduction in concrete density was mostly observed for PCC samples, ranging between 1977–1924 kg/m³. With the increase in water–cement ratio PCC achieved higher workability compare to both NAC and PFC. It was found that both the PCA and PFA contained concrete achieved the required compressive strength to be used for structural purpose as partial replacement of the natural aggregate; but to obtain the desired lower density as lightweight concrete the PCA is most suited.

Keywords: polyethylene terephthalate, plastic aggregate, concrete, fresh and hardened properties

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Authors: Malik Imran Afzal

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Cadmium supplied nanowires have unique electrical and optical properties and applications. To obtain cadmium supplied nanowires with regular and good aspect ratio, they can be synthesized by template synthesis method. Porous anodized aluminum oxide is the most promising template with regular hexagonal shapes. Their aspect ratio can be controlled by controlling the pores’ depth and diameter which greatly depend on anodization voltage and temperature of the electrolyte. In this research, high purity aluminium was used to prepare nanotemplates at 5-6°C in 1M phosphoric acid and cadmium supplied was deposited electrochemically using a co-solution of thiourea, cadmium acetate and ammonium acetate. pH was maintained at 11 in a heat bath at 75°C with the help of aqueous ammonia solution. Both porous anodized alumina and cadmium supplied nanowires were characterized suing SEM. A good quality Nanowires were obtained in bunches with reasonably high aspect ratio.

Keywords: bunches, electrodeposition, hexagonal, thiourea

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Authors: Natnael Debalklie Teshome

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The purpose of the study was to empirically investigate the impacts of export performance and its volatility on economic growth in the Ethiopian economy. To do so, time-series data of the sample period from 1974/75 – 2017/18 were collected from databases and annual reports of IMF, WB, NBE, MoFED, UNCTD, and EEA. The extended Cobb-Douglas production function of the neoclassical growth model framed under the endogenous growth theory was used to consider both the performance and instability aspects of export. First, the unit root test was conducted using ADF and PP tests, and data were found in stationery with a mix of I(0) and I(1). Then, the bound test and Wald test were employed, and results showed that there exists long-run co-integration among study variables. All the diagnostic test results also reveal that the model fulfills the criteria of the best-fitted model. Therefore, the ARDL model and VECM were applied to estimate the long-run and short-run parameters, while the Granger causality test was used to test the causality between study variables. The empirical findings of the study reveal that only export and coefficient of variation had significant positive and negative impacts on RGDP in the long run, respectively, while other variables were found to have an insignificant impact on the economic growth of Ethiopia. In the short run, except for gross capital formation and coefficients of variation, which have a highly significant positive impact, all other variables have a strongly significant negative impact on RGDP. This shows exports had a strong, significant impact in both the short-run and long-run periods. However, its positive and statistically significant impact is observed only in the long run. Similarly, there was a highly significant export fluctuation in both periods, while significant commodity concentration (CCI) was observed only in the short run. Moreover, the Granger causality test reveals that unidirectional causality running from export performance to RGDP exists in the long run and from both export and RGDP to CCI in the short run. Therefore, the export-led growth strategy should be sustained and strengthened. In addition, boosting the industrial sector is vital to bring structural transformation. Hence, the government has to give different incentive schemes and supportive measures to exporters to extract the spillover effects of exports. Greater emphasis on price-oriented diversification and specialization on major primary products that the country has a comparative advantage should also be given to reduce value-based instability in the export earnings of the country. The government should also strive to increase capital formation and human capital development via enhancing investments in technology and quality of education to accelerate the economic growth of the country.

Keywords: export, economic growth, export diversification, instability, co-integration, granger causality, Ethiopian economy

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Authors: Arjun Paul, Adrijit Goswami

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In our present work, an economic order quantity inventory model with shortages is developed where holding cost is expressed as linearly increasing function of time and demand rate is a ramp type function of time. The items considered in the model are deteriorating in nature so that a small fraction of the items is depleted with the passage of time. In order to consider a more realistic situation, the deterioration rate is assumed to follow a continuous uniform distribution with the parameters involved being triangular fuzzy numbers. The inventory manager offers his customer a discount in case he is willing to backorder his demand when there is a stock-out. The optimum ordering policy and the optimum discount offered for each backorder are determined by minimizing the total cost in a replenishment interval. For better illustration of our proposed model in both the crisp and fuzzy sense and for providing richer insights, a numerical example is cited to exemplify the policy and to analyze the sensitivity of the model parameters.

Keywords: fuzzy deterioration rate, price discount on backorder, ramp type demand, shortage, time varying holding cost

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Authors: I. Made Gatot Karohika, Shigeyuki Haruyama, Ken Kaminishi, Oke Oktavianty, Didik Nurhadiyanto

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Contact width and contact stress are important parameters related to the leakage behavior of corrugated metal gasket. In this study, contact width and contact stress of three-layer corrugated metal gasket are investigated due to the modulus of elasticity and thickness of surface layer for 2 type gasket (0-MPa and 400-MPa mode). A finite element method was employed to develop simulation solution to analysis the effect of each parameter. The result indicated that lowering the modulus of elasticity ratio of surface layer will result in better contact width but the average contact stresses are smaller. When the modulus of elasticity ratio is held constant with thickness ratio increase, its contact width has an increscent trend otherwise the average contact stress has decreased trend.

Keywords: contact width, contact stress, layer, metal gasket, corrugated, simulation

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Authors: W. A. Nalaka Wijesooriya

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The increasing paddy production, stabilization of domestic rice consumption and the increasing dynamism of rice processing and domestic markets call for a rethinking of the general direction of the rice milling industry in Sri Lanka. The main purpose of the study was to explore levels of concentration in rice milling industry in Polonnaruwa and Hambanthota which are the major hubs of the country for rice milling. Concentration indices reveal that the rice milling industry in Polonnaruwa operates weak oligopsony and is highly competitive in Hambanthota. According to the actual quantity of paddy milling per day, 47 % is less than 8Mt/Day, while 34 % is 8-20 Mt/day, and the rest (19%) is greater than 20 Mt/day. In Hambanthota, nearly 50% of the mills belong to the range of 8-20 Mt/day. Lack of experience of the milling industry, poor knowledge on milling technology, lack of capital and finding an output market are the major entry barriers to the industry. Major problems faced by all the rice millers are the lack of a uniform electricity supply and low quality paddy. Many of the millers emphasized that the rice ceiling price is a constraint to produce quality rice. More than 80% of the millers in Polonnaruwa which is the major parboiling rice producing area have mechanical dryers. Nearly 22% millers have modern machineries like color sorters, water jet polishers. Major paddy purchasing method of large scale millers in Polonnaruwa is through brokers. In Hambanthota major channel is miller purchasing from paddy farmers. Millers in both districts have major rice selling markets in Colombo and suburbs. Huge variation can be observed in the amount of pledge (for paddy storage) loans. There is a strong relationship among the storage ability, credit affordability and the scale of operation of rice millers. The inter annual price fluctuation ranged 30%-35%. Analysis of market margins by using series of secondary data shows that farmers’ share on rice consumer price is stable or slightly increases in both districts. In Hambanthota a greater share goes to the farmer. Only four mills which have obtained the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification from Sri Lanka Standards Institution can be found. All those millers are small quantity rice exporters. Priority should be given for the Small and medium scale millers in distribution of storage paddy of PMB during the off season. The industry needs a proper rice grading system, and it is recommended to introduce a ceiling price based on graded rice according to the standards. Both husk and rice bran were underutilized. Encouraging investment for establishing rice oil manufacturing plant in Polonnaruwa area is highly recommended. The current taxation procedure needs to be restructured in order to ensure the sustainability of the industry.

Keywords: conduct, performance, structure (SCP), rice millers

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Authors: Seyran Naghdi

Abstract:

Background: Orphan drug development is limited by very high costs attributed to the research and development and small size market. How health policymakers address this challenge to consider both supply and demand sides need to be explored for directing the policies and plans in the right way. The price is an important signal for pharmaceutical companies’ profitability and the patients’ accessibility as well. Objective: This study aims to find out the orphan drugs' price-setting patterns and approaches in health systems through a systematic review of the available evidence. Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) approach was used. MedLine, Embase, and Web of Sciences were searched via appropriate search strategies. Through Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), the appropriate terms for pricing were 'cost and cost analysis', and it was 'orphan drug production', and 'orphan drug', for orphan drugs. The critical appraisal was performed by the Joanna-Briggs tool. A Cochrane data extraction form was used to obtain the data about the studies' characteristics, results, and conclusions. Results: Totally, 1,197 records were found. It included 640 hits from Embase, 327 from Web of Sciences, and 230 MedLine. After removing the duplicates, 1,056 studies remained. Of them, 924 studies were removed in the primary screening phase. Of them, 26 studies were included for data extraction. The majority of the studies (>75%) are from developed countries, among them, approximately 80% of the studies are from European countries. Approximately 85% of evidence has been produced in the recent decade. Conclusions: There is a huge variation of price-setting among countries, and this is related to the specific pharmacological market structure and the thresholds that governments want to intervene in the process of pricing. On the other hand, there is some evidence on the availability of spaces to reduce the very high costs of orphan drugs development through an early agreement between pharmacological firms and governments. Further studies need to focus on how the governments could incentivize the companies to agree on providing the drugs at lower prices.

Keywords: orphan drugs, orphan drug production, pricing, costs, cost analysis

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Authors: Tetsuji Tanaka, Jin Guo

Abstract:

The extant literature has not succeeded in uncovering the common determinants of price volatility transmissions of agricultural commodities from international to local markets, and further, has rarely investigated the role of self-sufficiency measures in the context of national food security. We analyzed various factors to determine the degree of price volatility transmissions of wheat, rice, and maize between world and domestic markets using GARCH models with dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) specifications and panel-feasible generalized least square models. We found that the grain autarky system has the potential to diminish volatility pass-throughs for three grain commodities. Furthermore, it was discovered that the substitutive commodity consumption behavior between maize and wheat buffers the volatility transmissions of both, but rice does not function as a transmission-relieving element, either for the volatilities of wheat or maize. The effectiveness of grain consumption substitution to insulate the pass-throughs from global markets is greater than that of cereal self-sufficiency. These implications are extremely beneficial for developing governments to protect their domestic food markets from uncertainty in foreign countries and as such, improves food security.

Keywords: food security, GARCH, grain self-sufficiency, volatility transmission

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Authors: Lawrence Koech, Hilary Rutto, Olga Mothibedi

Abstract:

Worldwide demand for copper has led to intensive search for methods of extraction and recovery of copper from different sources. The study investigates the leaching properties of a low-grade copper ore by optimizing the leaching variables using response surface methodology. The effects of key parameters, i.e., temperature, solid to liquid ratio, stirring speed and pH, on the leaching rate constant was investigated using a pH stat apparatus. A Central Composite Design (CCD) of experiments was used to develop a quadratic model which specifically correlates the leaching variables and the rate constant. The results indicated that the model is in good agreement with the experimental data with a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.93. The temperature and solid to liquid ratio were found to have the most substantial influence on the leaching rate constant. The optimum operating conditions for copper leaching from the ore were identified as temperature at 65C, solid to liquid ratio at 1.625 and stirring speed of 325 rpm which yielded an average leaching efficiency of 93.16%.

Keywords: copper, leaching, CCD, rate constant

Procedia PDF Downloads 242

Authors: Sadoon Abdallah, Mizi Fan, Xiangming Zhou

Abstract:

In this study, a comprehensive approach has been adopted to examine in detail the effect of various hook geometries on bond-slip characteristics. Extensive single fibre pull-out tests on ultra-high performance matrix with three different W/B ratios and embedded lengths have been carried out. Test results showed that the mechanical deformation of fibre hook is the main mechanism governing the pull-out behaviour. Furthermore, the quantitative analyses have been completed to compare the hook design contribution of 3D, 4D and 5D fibres to assess overall pull-out behaviour. It was also revealed that there is a strong relationship between the magnitude of hook contribution and W/B ratio (i.e. matrix strength). Reducing the W/B ratio from 0.20 to 0.11 greatly optimizes the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) and enables better mobilization, straightening of the hook and results in bond-slip-hardening behaviour.

Keywords: bobond mechanisms, fibre-matrix interface, hook geometry, pullout behaviour and water to binder ratio

Procedia PDF Downloads 385

Authors: Naik Nithesh, Andre Rozek

Abstract:

The heat transfer and friction loss performances of a single rib-roughened rectangular cooling channel having four novel rib shapes were evaluated through numerical investigation using Ansys CFX. The investigation was conducted on a rectangular channel of aspect ratio (AR) = 4:1 with rib height to hydraulic diameter ratio (e/Dh) of 0.1 and rib pitch to height ratio (e/P) of 10 at Re = 30,000. The computations were performed by solving the RANS equation using k-ε turbulence model. Fluid flow simulation results of stationery case for different configuration are presented in terms of thermal performance parameter, Nusselt number and friction factor. These parameters indicate that a particular configuration of novel shaped ribs provides better heat transfer characteristics over the conventional 45° ribs. The numerical investigation undertaken in this study indicates an increase in overall efficiency of gas turbine due to increased thermal performance parameter, heat transfer co-efficient and less pumping pressure.

Keywords: gas turbine, rib shapes, nusselt number, thermal performance parameter

Procedia PDF Downloads 519