Search results for: mobile financial services

Authors: Baoshan Wei, Shuai Han, Xing Zhang

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Local obstacle avoidance is critical for mobile robot navigation. It is a challenging task to ensure path optimality and safety in cluttered environments. We proposed an Environment Aware Dynamic Window Approach in this paper to cope with the issue. The method integrates environment characterization into Dynamic Window Approach (DWA). Two strategies are proposed in order to achieve the integration. The local goal strategy guides the robot to move through openings before approaching the final goal, which solves the local minima problem in DWA. The adaptive control strategy endows the robot to adjust its state according to the environment, which addresses path safety compared with DWA. Besides, the evaluation shows that the path generated from the proposed algorithm is safer and smoother compared with state-of-the-art algorithms.

Keywords: adaptive control, dynamic window approach, environment aware, local obstacle avoidance, mobile robots

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Nazia Sulemna, Sadia Gul

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With the invade of mobile phones text messaging has become a popular medium of communication. Its users are multiplying with every passing day. Its use is not only limites to informal but to formal communication as well. Students are the advent users of mobile phones and of SMS as well. The present study manifests the fact that students are practicing SMS for a number of reasons and a good amount of time is spent upon it which is resulting in typographical features, graphones and rebus writing. Data was collected through questionnaires and came to the conclusion that its effect is obvious in the L2 users and in exam as well.

Keywords: text messaging, technology, exams, formal writing

Procedia PDF Downloads 735

Authors: Birtukan Atinkut Asmare

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Climate change disproportionately affects many Africans who heavily rely on climate-exposed sectors such as rain-fed agriculture and fishing, rendering them highly vulnerable. Gender plays a significant role, as men and women experience unequal impacts and vulnerabilities due to gender norms, labor divisions, resource access, and power dynamics. Drawing on an integrated framework, this study sheds light on the gendered impacts of climate change on household’s livelihood, their vulnerability, and adaptation in rural Ethiopia's Lake Tana Basin. This study utilized mixed research methods, integrating diverse qualitative techniques such as focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and field observations, along with quantitative data gathered through household surveys. The findings reveal that women-headed households were more vulnerable to climate change than male-headed households. Flood was the major climate-induced hazards in the area that threatened the lives and livelihoods of households. In response to climate change, households undertook different adaptation measures such as agroforestry practices, crop diversification, seasonal migration, petty trading, charcoal and fuel wood sales. However, the adaptation strategies were slightly varied based on the gender of the household head. Women-headed households specifically engaged in fuelwood collection and selling and petty trading activities. The main constraints for adaptation were limited access to technologies, extension services, information, and financial services. Therefore, this research urges attention from research, policy, and advisory services on rural households who are trying to survive in the face of climate change.

Keywords: agriculture, climate change impacts, ethiopia, gender

Procedia PDF Downloads 56

Authors: Sutan Emir Hidayat, Latifa Hassan Al-Qassab

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The purpose of this study is to examine depositors’ awareness on the pursuit of corporate social responsibilities (CSR) conducted by Islamic retail banks in the Kingdom of Bahrain according to the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) standards. The outcome of the paper is the extent to which the depositors knew about the banks’ CSR activities in promoting the welfare of the society beyond their business objectives. The study covered all Islamic retail banks in the Kingdom of Bahrain where a survey questionnaire was distributed to a total of 200 Islamic banks' depositors. The results of the survey show that the level of depositors’ awareness is limited on the pursuit of corporate social responsibilities by the banks as indicated by the small number of statements in the survey questionnaire which the respondents agreed to or of which they had satisfactory knowledge. The significant statistical difference in the respondents' answers to the survey questionnaire when they are grouped according to their respective banks prove that the level of depositors’ awareness on the pursuit of corporate social responsibilities varies considerably among the six Islamic retail banks in the kingdom. The findings of the study might be used to assist the policy makers in the field of CSR of Islamic financial institutions in formulation of better CSR activities and in delivering better services for the public welfare. The study also might help Islamic banks in the kingdom to set up strategy in order to increase the level of depositors’ awareness on their CSR activities.

Keywords: corporate social responsibilities, awareness, Islamic banks, Bahrain

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Authors: Oktay Nusratov, Ramin Rzaev, Aydin Goyushov

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Fuzzy inference method based approach to the forming of modular intellectual system of assessment the quality of communication services is proposed. Developed under this approach the basic fuzzy estimation model takes into account the recommendations of the International Telecommunication Union in respect of the operation of packet switching networks based on IP-protocol. To implement the main features and functions of the fuzzy control system of quality telecommunication services it is used multilayer feedforward neural network.

Keywords: quality of communication, IP-telephony, fuzzy set, fuzzy implication, neural network

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Authors: Daniela Monteiro

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Considering the entry into force of the new EU audit reform regarding statutory auditors, in effect in all member states since 2016, this research aims to identify which audit regulation rules are associated with a high-level audit quality on both its dimensions, i.e., the actual quality and the perceived quality, in relation to public interest entities, within the European Union, and whether those rules have the same impact on both dimensions. Its measurement was based on the following proxies: the quality of financial information through earnings management and the impact of qualified opinions on financial costs. We considered in the research regulation subjects such as auditors’ rotation and provision of services (NAS) and also the level of market concentration. The criteria to include these issues in the research was its contemplation of the new rules. We studied the period before the audit reform (2009-2015) when the regulation measures were less uniform. Besides the consideration of both dimensions of audit quality and several regulation measures, we believe our conclusions configure an important contribution to this research field, considering the involvement of the first 15 member states of the European Union. The results consolidate the assumption that the balance between competence and independence is not the only challenge related to the regulation of the audit profession. The evidence demonstrates that the balance between actual and perceived quality is also a relevant matter. The major conclusion is that the challenge is to keep balanced both actual and perceived audit quality whilst ensuring the independence and competence of auditors.

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Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: R. Hurtado-Ortiz, D. Clermont, M. Schüngel, C. Bizet, D. Smith, E. Stackebrandt

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Microbiological resources and their derivatives are the essential raw material for the advancement of human health, agro-food, food security, biotechnology, research and development in all life sciences. Microbial resources, and their genetic and metabolic products, are utilised in many areas such as production of healthy and functional food, identification of new antimicrobials against emerging and resistant pathogens, fighting agricultural disease, identifying novel energy sources on the basis of microbial biomass and screening for new active molecules for the bio-industries. The complexity of public collections, distribution and use of living biological material (not only living but also DNA, services, training, consultation, etc.) and service offer, demands the coordination and sharing of policies, processes and procedures. The Microbial Resource Research Infrastructure (MIRRI) is an initiative within the European Strategy Forum Infrastructures (ESFRI), bring together 16 partners including 13 European public microbial culture collections and biological resource centres (BRCs), supported by several European and non-European associated partners. The objective of MIRRI is to support innovation in microbiology by provision of a one-stop shop for well-characterized microbial resources and high quality services on a not-for-profit basis for biotechnology in support of microbiological research. In addition, MIRRI contributes to the structuring of microbial resources capacity both at the national and European levels. This will facilitate access to microorganisms for biotechnology for the enhancement of the bio-economy in Europe. MIRRI will overcome the fragmentation of access to current resources and services, develop harmonised strategies for delivery of associated information, ensure bio-security and other regulatory conditions to bring access and promote the uptake of these resources into European research. Data mining of the landscape of current information is needed to discover potential and drive innovation, to ensure the uptake of high quality microbial resources into research. MIRRI is in its Preparatory Phase focusing on governance and structure including technical, legal governance and financial issues. MIRRI will help the Biological Resources Centres to work more closely with policy makers, stakeholders, funders and researchers, to deliver resources and services needed for innovation.

Keywords: culture collections, microbiology, infrastructure, microbial resources, biotechnology

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Authors: Rodrigo Zepeda

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Transaction cost analysis (TCA) is a way of analyzing the relative performance of different intermediaries and different trading strategies for trades undertaken in financial instruments. It is a way for an investor to determine the overall quality of execution of a particular trade, and there are many different approaches to undertaking TCA. Under the updated Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (2014/65/EU) (MiFID II), investment firms are required when executing orders, to take all sufficient steps to obtain the best possible result for their clients. This requirement for 'Best Execution' must take into account price, costs, speed, likelihood of execution and settlement, size, nature or any other consideration relevant to the execution of the order. The new regulatory compliance framework under MiFID II will now also apply across a very broad range of financial instruments. This article will provide a comprehensive technical analysis of how TCA and Best Execution will significantly change under MiFID II. It will also explain why harmonization of post-trade reporting requirements under MiFID II could potentially support the development of peer group analysis, which in turn could provide a new and highly advanced framework for TCA that could more effectively support Best Execution requirements under MiFID II. The study is significant because there are no studies that have dealt with TCA and Best Execution under MiFID II in the literature.

Keywords: transaction cost analysis, execution quality, best execution, MiFID II, financial instruments

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Authors: A. Hol

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Even in the well developed countries like Australia, Small to Medium Farmers do not often have the power over the market prices as they are more often than not set by the farming agents. This in turn creates problems as farmers only get to know for how much their produce has been sold for by the agents three to four weeks after the sale has taken the place. To see and identify if and how peri-urban Sydney farmers could be assisted, carefully selected group of peri-urban Sydney farmers of the stone fruit has been interviewed. Following the case based interviews collected data was analyzed in detail using the Scenario Based Transformation principles. Analyzed data was then used to create a most common transformation case. The case identified that a mobile web based system could be develop so that framers can monitor agent earnings and in turn gain more power over the markets. It is expected that after the system has been in action for six months to a year, farmers will become empowered and they will gain means to monitor the market and negotiate agent prices.

Keywords: mobile applications, farming, scenario-based analysis, scenario-based transformation, user empowerment

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Authors: Uchenna Cosmas Ugwu, Osmond Chukwuemeka Ene

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Globally, older adults are considered the most vulnerable groups to age-related diseases including diabetes mellitus, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and osteoporosis. With improved access to quality healthcare services, these complications can be prevented and the incidence rates reduced to the least occurrence. The aim of this study is to validate appropriate measures for improving quality healthcare services utilization among elderly persons in Nigeria and also to determine the significant association within demographic variables. A cross-sectional survey research design was adopted. Using a convenient sampling technique, a total of 400 experts (150 registered nurses and 250 public health professionals) with minimum of doctoral degree qualification were sampled and studied. A structured instrument titled “Expert-Based Healthcare Services Utilization Questionnaire (EBHSUQ) with .83 reliability index was used for data collection. All the statistical data analysis was completed using frequency counts, percentage scores and chi-square statistics. The results were significant at p≤0.05. It was found that quality healthcare services utilization by elderly persons in Nigeria would be improved if the services are: available (83%), affordable (82%), accessible (79%), suitable (77%), acceptable (77%), continuous (75%) and stress-free (75%). Statistically, significant association existed on quality healthcare services utilization with gender (p=.03<.05) and age (p=.01<.05) while none was observed on work experience (p=.23>.05), marital status (p=.11>.05) and employment category (p=.09>.05). To improve quality healthcare services utilization for elderly persons in Nigeria, the adoption of appropriate measures by Nigerian government and professionals in healthcare sectors are paramount. Therefore, there is need for collaborative efforts by the Nigerian government and healthcare professionals geared towards educating the general public through mass sensitization, awareness campaign, conferences, seminars and workshops for the importance of accessing healthcare services.

Keywords: elderly persons, healthcare services, cross-sectional survey research design, utilization.

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Authors: Rashid Mahmood, Muhammad Junaid Sarwar

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Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) use has been well-known from the last few years in the many applications, like mission critical applications. In the (MANETS) prevention method is not adequate as the security concerned, so the detection method should be added to the security issues in (MANETs). The authentication and encryption is considered the first solution of the MANETs problem where as now these are not sufficient as MANET use is increasing. In this paper we are going to present the concept of intrusion detection and then survey some of major intrusion detection techniques in MANET and aim to comparing in some important fields.

Keywords: MANET, IDS, intrusions, signature, detection, prevention

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Authors: C. Sridawruang

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Young people today has sexual activities differing from those of earlier generations, in that teenagers are likely to have multiple partners, and are frequently in short-term relationships or with partners that are not well known to them. The proportion of teenage mothers in Thailand has increased. Young people were not specifically addressed during the overall very successful HIV-prevention campaigns. Because of this missed opportunity, they are still unaware of the risk of unsafe sexual behavior. Aims: To describe the reproductive health care services in perspectives of rural Thai teenagers Methods: This survey was one part of a mixed method approach taken using survey and focus groups with 439 teenagers aged 12-18 years in 5 villages, Udon Thani, Thailand. The standard questionnaire survey had been used for collecting data. The numeric data was checked and analyzed by using descriptive statistics. Results: Most teenager respondents stated that they do not know where sexual reproductive health services provided for them. Most teenagers felt difficult to access and talk with health staff about sexual related issues. They stated that discussing, or consulting with health providers might not be safe. Teenagers might lose opportunities to access and get advice from health care services. The mean knowledge score of contraception and condom reproductive was 6.34 from a total score 11. Most teenagers especially girls expressed a need for counseling services and reported a need for telephone services. Conclusions: The need of appropriate information focusing on sexual relationships and contraception should be designed to help young people make wise decisions and there should be set health care services for Thai teenagers to make sure that teenagers could access easily. Health care providers need to be trained to improve their knowledge, attitudes and skills in reproductive health care practices for Thai teenagers.

Keywords: youth friendly health services, rural, Thai, teenagers

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Authors: Ida Bruheim Jensen, Hulda Mjöll Gunnarsdottir, Ingunn T. Ellingsen

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Digital government is often seen as an enabler or even driver of transformation of public administration, with the objective of creating public value. The increasing use of digital solutions in public services comes with great expectations of new and/or more efficient service provision. Digitalizing public sector services involve multi-level implementation. It involves national policy negotiations and decisions of digital government solutions. It involves co-creation/-production of ideas where planning, design, and implementation involves several groups of actors targeting end-users. Norway is among the most digitalised countries in the world, and Government spendings on digital technologies in public services are high compared to other OECD countries. This contribution studies an ongoing digital transformation in the Norwegian child welfare services. DigiBarnevern (Digi child welfare) is a nationwide project promising better and more efficient child welfare services through various digital technologies. The digitalization process, which is managed by the state and municipalities, is still in its early stages, and as of 2022, only a few services are operative. Digital technologies such as DigiBarnevern are implemented with promises of qualitatively improving child protection work, making the services more effective, foster user participation, and increase availability. There is limited research on the implications of using digital technologies in child protection work. We aim to present findings from an ongoing research project (2022-2024). Drawing on data from focus group interviews with social workers in 5 municipal child welfare services in Norway, we explore social workers’ experiences and expectations towards using digital technologies in child welfare services. Technological solutions may change the services and child protection work in numerous ways. Potential points of departure for discussion are how technologies may change the relationships between social workers, children, youth, and their families, how technologies can alter and obscure responsibilities, and how technologies may demand digital competence among social workers and service recipients.

Keywords: child welfare, social work, technology, digitalisation

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Authors: Rodrigo Zeidan

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The paper identifies failures of decision making and corporate governance that allow non-financial companies around the world to develop hedging strategies that lead to hefty losses in the aftermath of the financial crisis. The sample is comprised of 346 companies from 10 international markets, of which 49 companies (and a subsample of 13 distressed companies) lose a combined US$18.9 billion. An event study shows that most companies that present losses in derivatives experience negative abnormal returns, including a number of companies in which the effect is persistent after a year. The results of a probit model indicate that the lack of a formal hedging policy, no monitoring to the CFOs, and considerations of hubris and remuneration contribute to the mismanagement of hedging policies.

Keywords: risk management, hedging, derivatives, monitoring, corporate governance structure, event study, hubris

Procedia PDF Downloads 438

Authors: A. J. Regan, F. J. Lidgey, M. Betteridge, P. Georgiou, C. Toumazou, K. Hayatleh, J. R. Dibble

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Our goal is development of an algorithm capable of predicting the directional trend of the Standard and Poor’s 500 index (S&P 500). Extensive research has been published attempting to predict different financial markets using historical data testing on an in-sample and trend basis, with many authors employing excessively complex mathematical techniques. In reviewing and evaluating these in-sample methodologies, it became evident that this approach was unable to achieve sufficiently reliable prediction performance for commercial exploitation. For these reasons, we moved to an out-of-sample strategy based on linear regression analysis of an extensive set of financial data correlated with historical closing prices of the S&P 500. We are pleased to report a directional trend accuracy of greater than 55% for tomorrow (t+1) in predicting the S&P 500.

Keywords: financial algorithm, GPU, S&P 500, stock market prediction

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Authors: Tariq A. El Shheibia, Halima Mohamed Belhamad

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This paper is considered securing data based on multi-path protocol (SDMP) in mobile ad hoc network utilizing OPNET simulator modular 14.5, including the AODV routing protocol at the network as based multi-path algorithm for message security in MANETs. The main idea of this work is to present a way that is able to detect the attacker inside the MANETs. The detection for this attacker will be performed by adding some effective parameters to the network.

Keywords: MANET, AODV, malicious node, OPNET

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Authors: Muzaffer Topgül, Ersi̇n Yilmaz

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One of the unknown aspects of Çanakkale Battles is that the importance and contributions of Mobile Gendarmarie Battalion have not been fully understood. It was because the battles of the troops which were deployed more in interior parts of Gallipoli Peninsula, and the contributions of battle on level tactical troops were not considered as much as the studies on strategical or operative level troops. When the operation field and battle plans are examined, instead of deploying along the coast to put the forces with a power at zero level landing on the coast out of action, the main battle components are seen to have deployed as strong reserves in the more inner areas. The negative effect of the field on the great trop operation reveals the need for time in order to use the intervention forces. ‘Time’ emerged as the main factor in victory as a result of giving intervention opportunity to the troops. While ordering his soldiers in Conkbayırı to die rather than fight, Liutenant Colonel Mustafa Kemal, the Commander of the 19th division, also emphasized the significance of time. In this respect, the contribution of Mobile Gendarmarie Battalion which saved time for the troops to intervene can be clearly seen. During the study, the memoirs and the works written by military institutions based on the record sources under the light of the notes taken during the trips to the region were used. By preventing the enemies from capturing the area, Mobile Gendarmerie Battalions had an important role in Battles of Kerevizdere, Kireçtepe and Alçıtepe which were of great importance among the battles. The success of these battalions was expressed with compliment by both Turkish and foreign commanders that participated in the war. During the battles the losses of armed forces commissioned to keep the security and order brought about the formation of the regions deficient in state authority.

Keywords: Canakkale battles, mustafa kemal, mobile gerdarmarie, Ottoman empire, time

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Authors: Pilar Gamarra Gamarra, Michele Girotto

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In the expanding field of leaders’ ethical behavior research, little attention has been paid to the association between finance leaders’ ethical traits (beyond personality) and ethical leadership, and more importantly, how these ethical characteristics can be predictors of ethical behavior at the leadership level in the financial sector. In this study, we tested a theoretical model based on uponsocial cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986) and the cognitive-developmental model (Piaget, 1932) to examine leaders’ moral identity and moral attentiveness as antecedents of ethical leadership. After the 2008 economic crisis, the marketplace has awakened to the potential dangers of unethical behavior. The unethical behavior of the leaders of the financial sector was identified as guilty of this economic catastrophe. For that reason, it seems increasingly prudent for organizations to have leaders who are cognitively inclined toward ethical behavior. This evidence suggests that moral attentiveness and moral identity is perhaps one way of identifying those kinds of leaders. For leaders who are morally attentive and have a high moral identity, themes of ethics interventions are consistent with their way of seeing the word. As a result, these leaders could become critical components of change in organizations and could provide the energy and skills necessary for these efforts to be successful. Ethical behavior of leader from the financial sector and marketing sectors must be joined to manage the change. In this study, a leader’s moral identity, leader’s moral attentiveness, and self-importance of Ethical Leadership are measured for financial and marketing leaders to be compared to determine the relationship between the three variables in each sector. Other conclusion related to gender, educational level or generation are obtained.

Keywords: ethical leadership, moral identity, moral attentiveness, financial leaders, marketing leaders, ethical behavior

Procedia PDF Downloads 171

Authors: Mandisi Matyana

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Although the South African local government is doing all the best in ensuring improved service delivery for the citizens, service delivery disparity still remains the real challenge for other municipalities. The unequal distribution of services within municipal wards is causing unequal happiness among the citizens; hence others do enjoy different provided municipal services, while others do not. It is acknowledged that less access to municipal services infringes one’s rights, such as the right to human dignity and the right to life. Some of the municipal services are basic services and they are the mainstay of human survival, such as water, housing, etc. It is quite evident that the service delivery disparity could be caused by the various factors within the local municipality affairs, including both administrative and political factors. Therefore, this study is undertaken to check and evaluate the main foundations of service delivery disparity in ensuring equal development of the state, particularly for local communities. The study used the qualitative method to collect the data from the citizens of Winnie Madikizela Mandela Local Municipality. An extensive literature was also conducted in understanding the causes of service delivery disparity. Study findings prove that the service delivery disparity could be caused by factors such as political interference in administration, corruption and fraud, elevated unemployment levels, inadequate institutional capacity, etc. Therefore, the study recommends strong community participation and constant external supervision in the local government so as to encourage openness in local government to ensure fair administration towards services to be provided.

Keywords: administration, development, municipal services, service delivery disparity, Winnie Madikizela Mandela local municipality

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Authors: Hai Chien Pham, Thi Phuong Anh Vo, Chansik Park

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Risks management in construction projects is important to ensure the positive feasibility of the projects in which financial risks are most concerned while construction projects always run on a credit basis. Credit risks, therefore, require unique and technical tools to be well managed. Underwriting technique in credit risks, in its most basic sense, refers to the process of evaluating the risks and the potential exposure of losses. Risks analysis and underwriting are applied as a must in banks and financial institutions who are supporters for constructions projects when required. Recently, construction organizations, especially contractors, have recognized the significant increasing of credit risks which caused negative impacts to project performance and profit of construction firms. Despite the successful application of underwriting in banks and financial institutions for many years, there are few contractors who are applying this technique to analyze and mitigate the credit risks of their potential owners before signing contracts with them for delivering their performed services. Thus, contractors have taken credit risks during project implementation which might be not materialized due to the bankruptcy and/or protracted default made by their owners. With this regard, this study proposes a model using the underwriting technique for contractors to analyze and assess credit risks of their owners before making final decisions for the potential construction contracts. Contractor’s underwriters are able to analyze and evaluate the subjects such as owner, country, sector, payment terms, financial figures and their related concerns of the credit limit requests in details based on reliable information sources, and then input into the proposed model to have the Overall Assessment Score (OAS). The OAS is as a benchmark for the decision makers to grant the proper limits for the project. The proposed underwriting model is validated by 30 subjects in Asia Pacific region within 5 years to achieve their OAS, and then compare output OAS with their own practical performance in order to evaluate the potential of underwriting model for analyzing and assessing credit risks. The results revealed that the underwriting would be a powerful method to assist contractors in making precise decisions. The contribution of this research is to allow the contractors firstly to develop their own credit risk management model for proactively preventing the credit risks of construction projects and continuously improve and enhance the performance of this function during project implementation.

Keywords: underwriting technique, credit risk, risk management, construction project

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Authors: Dimitrios J. Dimitriou, Maria F. Sartzetaki

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Transport infrastructures are high-cost, long-term investments that serve as vital foundations for the operation of a region or nation and are essential to a country’s or business’s economic development and prosperity, by improving well-being and generating jobs and income. The development of appropriate financing options is of key importance in the decision making process in order develop viable transport infrastructures. The development of transport infrastructure has increasingly been shifting toward alternative methods of project financing such as Public Private Partnership (PPPs) and hybrid forms. In this paper, a methodological decision-making framework based on the evaluation of the financial viability of transportation infrastructure for different financial schemes is presented. The framework leads to an assessment of the financial viability which can be achieved by performing various financing scenarios analyses. To illustrate the application of the proposed methodology, a case study of rail transport infrastructure financing scenario analysis in Greece is developed.

Keywords: rail transport infrastructure, financial viability, scenario analysis, rail project feasibility

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Authors: VojtěCh Gybas, Libor Klubal, KateřIna KostoláNyová

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Individualized teaching process for pupils with moderate mental disabilities with the help of using mobile touch devices may be one of the forms of teaching to achieve better development of these students during the teaching process. Didactics of information and communication technology (ICT) for special primary schools, where within the Czech Republic pupils with moderate mental retardation are educated, is not precisely and clearly defined. Still, general educational program for elementary school contains a special educational area of information and communication technology, in which the work and content area are focused on work with the classic desktop, and it is not always acceptable in the case of students with moderate mental disabilities. Individualization of their schooling requires a fully elaborate content of teaching material corresponding with intellectual abilities and individuality of each pupil. After three years of daily use of mobile touch devices iPad and participant observation of 7 pupils in a class from special elementary school, we can say that these technologies can be a very useful tool, and in many ways, they even exceed, compensate and replace freely available printed educational material that is rather outdated. By working with mobile touch technology, a pupil gains responsibility, trains his will, learns to rely on himself. The first results obtained from the case studies suggest that this form of teaching may also be beneficial for pupils with moderate mental disabilities.

Keywords: individualized teaching, mobile touch technology, iPad, moderate mental disability, special education needs

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Authors: Tammam A. Benmusa, Mohamed A. Shlibek, Rawad M. Swesi

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The investigation of Buildings Penetration Loss (BPL) of radio signal is getting more and more important. It plays an important role in calculating the indoor coverage for wireless communication networks. In this paper, the theory behind BPL and its mechanisms have been reviewed. The operating frequency, coverage area type, climate condition, time of measurement, and other factors affecting the values of BPL have been discussed. The practical part of this work was conducting 4000 measurements of BPL in different areas in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, to get empirical model for this loss. The measurements were taken for 2 different types of wireless communication networks; mobile telephone network (for Almadar company), which operates at 900 MHz and WiMAX network (LTT company) which operates at 2500 MHz. The results for each network were summarized and presented in several graphs. The graphs are showing how the BPL affected by: time of measurement, morphology (type of area), and climatic environment.

Keywords: building penetration loss, wireless network, mobile network, link budget, indoor network performance

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Authors: Natalie Cutler, Lorna Moxham, Moira Stephens

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Safety is a priority in mental health services, and no more so than in the acute inpatient setting. Mental health service policies and accreditation frameworks commonly approach safety from a risk reduction or elimination perspective leading to service approaches that are arguably more focused on risk than on safety. An exploration what safety means for people who have experienced admission to an acute mental health inpatient unit is currently under way in Sydney, Australia. Using a phenomenographic research approach, this study is seeking to understand the meaning of safety from the perspective of people who use, rather than those who deliver mental health services. Preliminary findings suggest that the meanings of safety for users of mental health services vary from the meanings inherent in the policies and frameworks that inform how mental health services and mental health practice are delivered. This variance has implications for the physical and environmental design of acute mental health inpatient facilities, the policies and practices, and the education and training of mental health staff in particular nurses, who comprise the majority of the mental health workforce. These variances will be presented, along with their implications for the way quality and safety in mental health services are evaluated.

Keywords: acute inpatient, mental health, nursing, phenomenography, recovery, safety

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Authors: Safeer Ahmad, Pratheek Sudhakran, M. Arif Kamal, Tarique Anwar

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In Healthcare facility designing, Efficient MEP services are very crucial because the built environment not only affects patients and family but also Healthcare staff and their outcomes. This paper shall cover the basics of Value engineering and its different phases that can be implemented to the MEP Designing stage for Healthcare facility optimization, also VE can improve the product cost the unnecessary costs associated with healthcare services. This paper explores Healthcare facility services and their Value engineering Job plan for the successful application of the VE technique by conducting a Workshop with end-users, designing team and associate experts shall be carried out using certain concepts, tools, methods and mechanism developed to achieve the purpose of selecting what is actually appropriate and ideal among many value engineering processes and tools that have long proven their ability to enhance the value by following the concept of Total quality management while achieving the most efficient resources allocation to satisfy the key functions and requirements of the project without sacrificing the targeted level of service for all design metrics. Detail study has been discussed with analysis been carried out by this process to achieve a better outcome, Various tools are used for the Analysis of the product at different phases used, at the end the results obtained after implementation of techniques are discussed.

Keywords: value engineering, healthcare facility, design, services

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Authors: Sunil Chaudhary, Rajendra Bahadur Thapa, Eleni Berki, Marko Helenius

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The increasing number of Internet and mobile phone users, and essentially those, who use these electronic media to perform online transactions makes Nepal lucrative for phishing attacks. It is one of the reasons behind escalating phishing attacks in the country. Therefore, in this paper we examine various phishing attempts and real scenarios in Nepal to determine the seriousness of the problem. We also want to find out how prepared are the Internet and mobile phone users and how well-equipped are the private sector and government authorities responsible to handle cybercrime in the country. We considered five areas of research study, i.e., legal measures, technical and procedural measures, organizational structure, capacity building and international cooperation. These constitute important factors in cyber security and are recommended by the Global Cyber security Agenda (GCA). On the basis of our findings, we provide essential suggestions to make anti-phishing measures more appropriate to Nepalese State and society.

Keywords: internet banking, mobile banking, e-commerce, phishing, anti-phishing, Nepal

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Authors: Bruno Henrique Rocha Fernandes, Amir Rezaee, Jucelia Appio

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The relation between Human Resource Management (HRM) practices and organizational performance remains the subject of substantial literature. Though many studies demonstrated positive relationship, still major influencing variables are not yet clear. This study considers the Person-Environment Fit (PE Fit) and its components, Person-Supervisor (PS), Person-Group (PG), Person-Organization (PO) and Person-Job (PJ) Fit, as possible explanatory variables. We analyzed PE Fit as a moderator between HRM practices and financial performance in the “best companies to work” in Brazil. Data from HRM practices were classified through the High Performance Working Systems (HPWS) construct and data on PE-Fit were obtained through surveys among employees. Financial data, consisting of return on invested capital (ROIC) and price earnings ratio (PER) were collected for publicly traded best companies to work. Findings show that PO Fit and PJ Fit play a significant moderator role for PER but not for ROIC.

Keywords: financial performance, human resource management, high performance working systems, person-environment fit

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Authors: Peter Sauer, Thomas Hinze, Petra Hofstedt

Abstract:

To avoid obstacles in the surrounding environment and to navigate to a given target belong to the most important tasks for mobile robots. According to these tasks different data structures are suitable. To avoid near obstacles, occupancy grid maps are an ideal representation of the surroundings. For less fine grained tasks, such as navigating from one room to another in an apartment, pure grid maps are inappropriate. Grid maps are very detailed, calculating paths to navigate between rooms based on grid maps would take too long. Instead, graph-based data structures, so-called topologies, turn out to be a proper choice for such tasks. In this paper we present two methods to dynamically create topologies from grid maps. Both methods are based on non-uniform grid maps. The topologies are generated on-the-fly and can easily be modified to represent changes in the environment. This allows a hybrid approach to control mobile robots, where, depending on the situation and the current task, either the grid map or the generated topology may be used.

Keywords: robot navigation, occupancy grids, topological maps, dynamic map creation

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Authors: Pi Hsia Liang

Abstract:

The rise of Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks significantly changes in interconnections between people, enhancing the process of information dissemination and amplify the influence of that information. Therefore, to develop informational efficiency or signaling equilibrium type of information environment among social networks, without adverse selection effects, becomes an important issue. Thus, someone may post a piece of intentional information in relation to personal interest for trying to create marginal influence. Therefore, economists are seeking to establish theories of informational efficiency under social network environment in order to resolve adverse selection issues. Reputation could be one of the important factors in the process of creating informational efficiency. Additionally, investors how to process green information, or information of corporate social responsibility is a very important study. This study essentially employs experimental study for examining how investors use stock relevant green information in Facebook and various Taiwan local networks. Facebook, and blogs of Money DJ, Technews and cnYES, respectively, are the primary sites for this examination that also allow to differentiate effects between Facebook and other local social networks. Questionnaire is developed for such an experimental testing. Note that questionnaire allows this study to group, for example, decision frequency and length of time duration focusing on social networks that are used for discriminating investor type and competence of informed investor. This study selects 500 investors that can be separated into two respective 250 samples as the control group and 250 samples in such an experimental. The quantity of sample investor sufficiently results in statistic significance of this experimental study. The empirical results of this study can be used for explaining how financial information in relation to corporate social responsibility would be disseminated in social websites. Therefore, we can lead to better interpretation of price/earnings relationship type of study and empirical studies of green information usefulness or informational efficiency Note that the above mentioned empirical studies did not exist any social network and annual report of corporate social responsibility. This study expects to find the results that both network degree and network cluster significantly affected green information dissemination frequency. In other words, investors with more connections and with high clustered connections might exert a greater influence on their green information dissemination process. The preferred users of financial social networks could make better stock decision that could amplify effects of green information. In addition, Facebook would be more influential than other local Taiwan financial social networks, although Facebook is not a specialized financial social network. In other words, the popularity and reputation effects of Facebook significantly contribute to usefulness of green information and influence of green information. Third, it has a better chance to find rumor or cheating information in local Taiwan financial social networks than Facebook. In other words, Facebook possesses reputation effect, or a better informational efficiency. Or, even though Taiwan local financial social networks have marginal informational effects on stock price, because of shortage of informational efficiency or monitoring system, information could be a tool for those whom owning superior information.

Keywords: network effect on financial services, informational efficiency theory, social networks, social websites

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Authors: Usman Ahmed Adam, Umar Ibrahim, Ezra S. Gbaje

Abstract:

This study is posed to explore the practice of Public Access Computers (PACs) in academic libraries in Kaduna State, Nigeria. The study aimed to determine the computers and other tools available, their services and challenges of the practices. Three questions were framed to identify number of public computers and tools available, their services and problems faced during the practice. The study used qualitative research design along with semi-constructed interview and observation as tools for data collection. Descriptive analysis was employed to analyze the data. The sample size of the study comprises 52 librarian and IT staff from the seven academic institutions in Kaduna State. The findings revealed that, PACs were provided for access to the Internet, digital resources, library catalogue and training services. The study further explored that, despite the limit number of the computers, users were not allowed to enjoy many services. The study recommends that libraries in Kaduna state should provide more public computers to be able to cover the population of their users; libraries should allow users to use the computers without limitations and restrictions.

Keywords: academic libraries, computers in library, digital libraries, public computers

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