Search results for: financial vulnerability

Authors: Somnath Mukhuti, Prem Kumar Ghosh

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Background and significance of the study Indian stock market has undergone sudden changes after the current China crisis in terms of turnover, market capitalization, share prices, etc. The average returns on equity investment in both markets have more than three and half times after global financial crisis owing to the development of industrial activity, corporate sectors development, enhancement in global consumption, change of global financial association and fewer imports from developed countries. But the economic policies of both the economies are far different, that is to say, where Indian economy maintaining a conservative policy, Chinese economy maintaining an aggressive policy. Besides this, Chinese economy recently lowering its currency for increasing mysterious growth but Indian does not. But on August 24, 2015 Indian stock market and world stock markets were fall down due to the reason of Chinese stock market. Keeping in view of the above, this study seeks to examine the influence of Chinese stock on Indian stock market. Methodology This research work is based on daily time series data obtained from yahoo finance database between 2009 (April 1) to 2015 (September 28). This study is based on two important stock markets, that is, Indian stock market (Bombay Stock Exchange) and Chinese stock market (Shanghai Stock Exchange). In the course of analysis, the daily raw data were converted into natural logarithm for minimizing the problem of heteroskedasticity. While tackling the issue, correlation statistics, ADF and PP unit root test, bivariate cointegration test and causality test were used. Major findings Correlation statistics show that both stock markets are associated positively. Both ADF and PP unit root test results demonstrate that the time series data were not normal and were not stationary at level however stationary at 1st difference. The bivariate cointegration test results indicate that the Indian stock market was associated with Chinese stock market in the long-run. The Granger causality test illustrates there was a unidirectional causality between Indian stock market and Chinese stock market. Concluding statement The empirical results recommend that India’s stock market was not very much dependent on Chinese stock market because of Indian economic conservative policies. Nevertheless, Indian stock market might be sturdy if Indian economic policies are changed slightly and if increases the portfolio investment with Chinese economy. Indian economy might be a third largest economy in 2030 if India increases its portfolio investment and trade relations with both Chinese economy and US economy.

Keywords: Indian stock market, China stock market, bivariate cointegration, causality test

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Authors: Dhanuja S. Patil, Sanjay B. Waykar

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Event detection is a standout amongst the most key parts for distinctive sorts of area applications of video data framework. Recently, it has picked up an extensive interest of experts and in scholastics from different zones. While detecting video event has been the subject of broad study efforts recently, impressively less existing methodology has considered multi-model data and issues related efficiency. Start of soccer matches different doubtful circumstances rise that can't be effectively judged by the referee committee. A framework that checks objectively image arrangements would prevent not right interpretations because of some errors, or high velocity of the events. Bayesian networks give a structure for dealing with this vulnerability using an essential graphical structure likewise the probability analytics. We propose an efficient structure for analysing and summarization of soccer videos utilizing object-based features. The proposed work utilizes the t-cherry junction tree, an exceptionally recent advancement in probabilistic graphical models, to create a compact representation and great approximation intractable model for client’s relationships in an interpersonal organization. There are various advantages in this approach firstly; the t-cherry gives best approximation by means of junction trees class. Secondly, to construct a t-cherry junction tree can be to a great extent parallelized; and at last inference can be performed utilizing distributed computation. Examination results demonstrates the effectiveness, adequacy, and the strength of the proposed work which is shown over a far reaching information set, comprising more soccer feature, caught at better places.

Keywords: summarization, detection, Bayesian network, t-cherry tree

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Authors: J. S. P. Barbosa, L. C. Pereira, K. R. Garcia, P. C. P. Bouchardet, S. C. T. Vieira, A. O. Gomes, S. S. Funghetto, M. G. O. Kanikowski

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For this population, height seems to be a good predictor of strength and body composition. This increase in life expectancy of the Brazilian's population is associated with sociodemographic variables, but also to more access to health services in the prevention and better living conditions. With the growth of elderly population, a problem that has been a concern to health's professionals and public health at all is the use of psychoactive substances. The purpose of this study was to identify the sociodemographic profile of the elderly people who was attended at the Center of Psychosocial Care of alcohol and other drugs in the Federal District of Brazil. 408 medical records of people aged 60 years or over were evaluated, and it is possible to know that most of them were males (85.3%), with a mean age of 64 years (DP ± 4.16), 60 and 84 years and a mean age of 64 years (DP ± 4.42); 88.2% have some family ties, are married and have children, with relatives living in masonry housing. The educational level of drug users was considered low with more emphasis on those who had elementary education being the majority retired or unemployed. Regarding the street situation, there was no significance (p = 0.084), and the women (OR = 2.98) had few chances of street situations compared to men (OR = 0.89). As for substance consumption, the highest quantity of drug consumption bids in relation to the number of illicit. It did not present significant statistical value, and there is a greater probability of consumption/abuse of legal and/or illicit drugs for both sexes (OR = 0.96) for men and (OR = 1.32) for women. In relation to the use of multiple drugs, there was no significant difference between the sexes, (OR = 1.1) male sex and (OR = 0.74) female sex. Based on the results found in the present study, it was concluded that alcohol consumption is the main agent that causes vulnerability in the elderly and predisposes the latter to the consumption of other associated drugs.

Keywords: centers of attention psychosocial alcohol and drugs, elderly, mental disorder due to drug use, street situations

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Authors: Yitian Ren, Liyin Shen, Tao Zhou, Xiao Li

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The past urbanization process in China has brought out series of problems, the Chinese government has then positioned small towns in essential roles for implementing the strategy 'The National New-type Urbanization Plan (2014-2020)'. As the connector and transfer station of cities and countryside, small towns are important force to narrow the gap between urban and rural area, and to achieve the mission of new-type urbanization in China. The sustainable development of small towns plays crucial role because cities are not capable enough to absorb the surplus rural population. Nevertheless, there are various types of barriers hindering the sustainable development of small towns, which led to the limited development of small towns and has presented a bottleneck in Chinese urbanization process. Therefore, this paper makes deep understanding of these barriers, thus effective actions can be taken to address them. And this paper chooses the perspective of Southwest China (refers to Sichuan province, Yunnan province, Guizhou province, Chongqing Municipality City and Tibet Autonomous Region), cause the urbanization rate in Southwest China is far behind the average urbanization level of the nation and the number of small towns accounts for a great proportion in mainland China, also the characteristics of small towns in Southwest China are distinct. This paper investigates the barriers of sustainable development of small towns which located in Southwest China by using the content analysis method, combing with the field work and interviews in sample small towns, then identified and concludes 18 barriers into four dimensions, namely, institutional barriers, economic barriers, social barriers and ecological barriers. Based on the research above, questionnaire survey and data analysis are implemented, thus the key barriers hinder the sustainable development of small towns in Southwest China are identified by using fuzzy set theory, those barriers are, lack of independent financial power, lack of construction land index, financial channels limitation, single industrial structure, topography variety and complexity, which mainly belongs to institutional barriers and economic barriers. In conclusion part, policy suggestions are come up with to improve the politic and institutional environment of small town development, also the market mechanism are supposed to be introduced to the development process of small towns, which can effectively overcome the economic barriers, promote the sustainable development of small towns, accelerate the in-situ urbanization by absorbing peasants in nearby villages, and achieve the mission of new-type urbanization in China from the perspective of people-oriented.

Keywords: barrier analysis, sustainable development, small town, Southwest China

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Authors: Sami Mestiri, Abdeljelil Farhat

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The aim of this current paper is to predict the credit risk of banks in Tunisia, over the period (2000-2005). For this purpose, two methods for the estimation of the logistic regression model with random effects: Penalized Quasi Likelihood (PQL) method and Gibbs Sampler algorithm are applied. By using the information on a sample of 528 Tunisian firms and 26 financial ratios, we show that Bayesian approach improves the quality of model predictions in terms of good classification as well as by the ROC curve result.

Keywords: forecasting, credit risk, Penalized Quasi Likelihood, Gibbs Sampler, logistic regression with random effects, curve ROC

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Authors: Jochen Edmund Kerschenbauer, Roman Salinger, Daniel Strametz

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Insufficient informal communication systems can lead to the first crisis (‘Crisis of Leadership’) for start-ups. Management Control Systems (MCS) are one way for high-technology start-ups to successfully overcome these problems. So far the literature has investigated the incubation of a start-up, but focused less on the post-incubation stage. This paper focuses on the use of MCS in post-incubation and, if failed start-ups agree, on how MCS are used. We conducted 14 semi-structured interviews for this purpose, to obtain our results. The overall conclusion is that the majority of the companies were closed down due to a combination of strategic, operative and financial reasons.

Keywords: closed down, high-technology, incubation, levers of control, management control systems, post-incubation, start-ups

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Authors: Ernest Tambo, Ghislaine Madjou, Jeanne Y. Ngogang, Shenglan Tang, Zhou XiaoNong

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Implementing national to community-based 'One Health' surveillance approach for human, animal and environmental consequences mitigation offers great opportunities and value-added in sustainable development and wellbeing. 'One Health' surveillance approach global partnerships, policy commitment and financial investment are much needed in addressing the evolving threats and epidemics crises mitigation in African countries. The paper provides insights onto how China-Africa health development cooperation in promoting “One Health” surveillance approach in response advocacy and mitigation. China-Africa health development initiatives provide new prospects in guiding and moving forward appropriate and evidence-based advocacy and mitigation management approaches and strategies in attaining Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Early and continuous quality and timely surveillance data collection and coordinated information sharing practices in malaria and other diseases are demonstrated in Comoros, Zanzibar, Ghana and Cameroon. Improvements of variety of access to contextual sources and network of data sharing platforms are needed in guiding evidence-based and tailored detection and response to unusual hazardous events. Moreover, understanding threats and diseases trends, frontline or point of care response delivery is crucial to promote integrated and sustainable targeted local, national “One Health” surveillance and response approach needs implementation. Importantly, operational guidelines are vital in increasing coherent financing and national workforce capacity development mechanisms. Strengthening participatory partnerships, collaboration and monitoring strategies in achieving global health agenda effectiveness in Africa. At the same enhancing surveillance data information streams reporting and dissemination usefulness in informing policies decisions, health systems programming and financial mobilization and prioritized allocation pre, during and post threats and epidemics crises programs strengths and weaknesses. Thus, capitalizing on “One Health” surveillance and response approach advocacy and mitigation implementation is timely in consolidating Africa Union 2063 agenda and Africa renaissance capabilities and expectations.

Keywords: Africa, one health approach, surveillance, response

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Authors: Farah Fazlinda Binti Mohamad, Siti Hikmah Binti Musthar, Ahmad Saifizul Bin Abdullah, Jamilah Mohamad, Mohamed Rehan Karim

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Road safety is intolerable issue. It affects and impinges on everyone's life as the roads shared by everyone. The most vulnerable victims were the road users who cater the roads every day. It is an appalling when World Health Organization reported that Malaysian road users were ranked worst in Asian countries with 23 deaths for every 100,000 of population over the span of 12 years (World Health Organization, 2009). From this report, it is found that speeding has contributed to 60% of all accidents in the country. Therefore, this study aims to elucidate on speeding matter that occur among road users in selected roads of Peninsular Malaysia. This study on the other hand, provides an insight understanding on the factors affecting behaviour of road users to speeding in selected roads of Peninsular Malaysia. To answer the study aims, 500 sets of questionnaires were distributed among 500 respondents in selected roads of Peninsular Malaysia to obtain their opinions on the matter. The respondents were from different demographics backgrounds to have fair explanation on the issue. The answers have been analysed using descriptive analysis. The results indicated psychological factors of road users appeared to be prominent in explaining road users’ behaviour to speeding. Male road users were also found dominant in speeding compared to female. Thus, this has increased their vulnerability to road injuries and deaths. These findings are very useful in order for us to improve our driving behaviour. Relevant authorities should also revise the existing countermeasures as well as designing the new countermeasures for the road users. It is nevertheless important to comprehend this speeding issue and factors associating it. This matter should be taken seriously and responsibly by each road users as road safety is a responsible of all.

Keywords: road safety, speeding, countermeasures, accidents

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Authors: Mohammad Iqbal Maiik

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Islamic marketing ethics combines the principle of value maximization with the principles of equity and justice for the welfare of the society. Adherence to the Islamic ethics in the Islamic banking industry can help elevate the standards of both behavior and living of bankers and customers alike. In a rapidly changing marketing environment, the need to be customer-focused has never been as important as it is today. At present where customers are becoming more demanding and increasingly mobile between competing financial providers, being customer-focused is not enough. Islamic banks and more specifically their customer-contact employees (customer relation advisers or officers) need to be perceived by their customers as being Islamic. This study represents an initial step in analyzing the role of Islamic ethical sales behavior as it may be perceived by the customers of Islamic Banks.

Keywords: Islam, ethics, marketing, Islamic banks

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Authors: Zahra A. Al Nasser, Domenico Campa

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This paper investigates board of directors and firms’ ownership structure on non-financial companies listed in Gulf Cooperation council (GCC) countries using data from 2009 to 2013. The overall result of the study is that board size and board meeting have increased over years. Additionally, all combined committee variables have improved as well as audit committee size, audit committee meeting and audit committee experience have improved over the years. Furthermore, Oman is the only country that has not shown any statistically significant change in value of its associated variables.

Keywords: corporate governance, GCC countries, board of directors, ownership structure

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Authors: Adane Kassa Shikur

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Today’s supply chains (SC) have become vulnerable to unexpected and ever-intensifying disruptions from myriad sources. Consequently, the concept of supply chain resilience (SCRes) has become crucial to complement the conventional risk management paradigm, which has failed to cope with unexpected SC disruptions, resulting in severe consequences affecting SC performances and making business continuity questionable. Advancements in cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and their potential to enhance SCRes by improving critical antecedents in the different phases have attracted the attention of scholars and practitioners. The research from academia and the practical interest of the industry have yielded significant publications at the nexus of AI and SCRes during the last two decades. However, the applications and examinations have been primarily conducted independently, and the extant literature is dispersed into research streams despite the complex nature of SCRes. To close this research gap, this study conducts a systematic literature review of 106 peer-reviewed articles by curating, synthesizing, and consolidating up-to-date literature and presents the state-of-the-art development from 2010 to 2022. Bayesian networks are the most topical ones among the 13 AI techniques evaluated. Concerning the critical antecedents, visibility is the first ranking to be realized by the techniques. The study revealed that AI techniques support only the first 3 phases of SCRes (readiness, response, and recovery), and readiness is the most popular one, while no evidence has been found for the growth phase. The study proposed an AI-SCRes framework to inform research and practice to approach SCRes holistically. It also provided implications for practice, policy, and theory as well as gaps for impactful future research.

Keywords: ANNs, risk, Bauesian networks, vulnerability, resilience

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Authors: Alon Cohen, Jeffrey Kantor, Shalom Levy

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Technology adoption models are extensively used in the literature to explore drivers and inhibitors affecting the adoption of Computer Assisted Audit Techniques and Tools (CAATTs). Further studies from recent years suggested additional factors that may affect technology adoption by CPA firms. However, the adoption of CAATTs by financial auditors differs from the adoption of technologies in other industries. This is a result of the unique characteristics of the auditing process, which are expressed in the audit risk elements and the risk-based auditing approach, as encoded in the auditing standards. Since these audit risk factors are not part of the existing models that are used to explain technology adoption, these models do not fully correspond to the specific needs and requirements of the auditing domain. The overarching objective of this qualitative research is to fill the gap in the literature, which exists as a result of using generic technology adoption models. Followed by a pretest and based on semi-structured in-depth interviews with 16 Israeli CPA firms of different sizes, this study aims to reveal determinants related to audit risk factors that influence the adoption of CAATTs in audits and proposes a new modeling approach for the successful adoption of CAATTs. The findings emphasize several important aspects: (1) while large CPA firms developed their own inner guidelines to assess the audit risk components, other CPA firms do not follow a formal and validated methodology to evaluate these risks; (2) large firms incorporate a variety of CAATTs, including self-developed advanced tools. On the other hand, small and mid-sized CPA firms incorporate standard CAATTs and still need to catch up to better understand what CAATTs can offer and how they can contribute to the quality of the audit; (3) the top management of mid-sized and small CPA firms should be more proactive and updated about CAATTs capabilities and contributions to audits; and (4) All CPA firms consider professionalism as a major challenge that must be constantly managed to ensure an optimal CAATTs operation. The study extends the existing knowledge of CAATTs adoption by looking at it from a risk-based auditing approach. It suggests a new model for CAATTs adoption by incorporating influencing audit risk factors that auditors should examine when considering CAATTs adoption. Since the model can be used in various audited scenarios and supports strategic, risk-based decisions, it maximizes the great potential of CAATTs on the quality of the audits. The results and insights can be useful to CPA firms, internal auditors, CAATTs developers and regulators. Moreover, it may motivate audit standard-setters to issue updated guidelines regarding CAATTs adoption in audits.

Keywords: audit risk, CAATTs, financial auditing, information technology, technology adoption models

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Authors: Sohrab Jafarpour, Hamed Farokhi, Mohammad Rahmati, Alireza Gholipour

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In the current study, a nonlinear fluid-structure interaction (FSI) biomechanical model of atherosclerosis in the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery is developed to perform a detailed sensitivity analysis of the geometrical features of an atheroma plaque. In the development of the numerical model, first, a 3D geometry of the diseased artery is developed based on patient-specific dimensions obtained from the experimental studies. The geometry includes four influential geometric characteristics: stenosis ratio, plaque shoulder-length, fibrous cap thickness, and eccentricity intensity. Then, a suitable strain energy density function (SEDF) is proposed based on the detailed material stability analysis to accurately model the hyperelasticity of the arterial walls. The time-varying inlet velocity and outlet pressure profiles are adopted from experimental measurements to incorporate the pulsatile nature of the blood flow. In addition, a computationally efficient type of structural boundary condition is imposed on the arterial walls. Finally, a non-Newtonian viscosity model is implemented to model the shear-thinning behaviour of the blood flow. According to the results, the structural responses in terms of the maximum principal stress (MPS) are affected more compared to the fluid responses in terms of wall shear stress (WSS) as the geometrical characteristics are varying. The extent of these changes is critical in the vulnerability assessment of an atheroma plaque.

Keywords: atherosclerosis, fluid-Structure interaction modeling, material stability analysis, and nonlinear biomechanics

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Authors: Soungwan Kim

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This paper discusses an analysis of how the characteristics of resources at vocational rehabilitation facilities for the disabled affect the improvement of independency skills among people with severe disabilities. The analysis results indicate that more internal financial resources and more connections to local communities among network resources had greater effects on improving the independency of people with severe disabilities. Based on this result, this paper presents strategies for mobilizing resources to improve the independency of people with severe disabilities at vocational rehabilitation facilities.

Keywords: vocational rehabilitation facility for people with disabilities, types of resources, independency, network resources

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Authors: Muhammad Abdullahi Mago

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Islamic Banking began in Nigeria last three years and the sector has shown the sign of bright future for the sector and the Nigerian economy, within this very short time it is important to know the perception of the customers particularly learned or educated individuals for immediate evaluation and adjustment. This study investigates into the perception, awareness and attitudes of the academicians in the most populous state/place in Nigeria with more than 90% muslims, and the results has shown a relatively low levels results in all the variables of the study.The study recommends aggressive marketing strategy for the Banks operating within the sector.

Keywords: Islamic Banking Products, Islamic Financial Products, academicians, Islamic finance industry, perception, awareness and attitude

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Authors: Jeffrey M. Byford

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The conceptualized theory of decision making on historical events often does not conform to uniform beliefs among students. When presented the opportunity, many students have differing opinions and rationales associated with historical events and outcomes. The intent of this paper was to provide students with the economic, social and political dilemmas associated with the autonomy of East Berlin. Students ranked seven possible actions from the most to least acceptable. In addition, students were required to provide both positive and negative factors for each decision and relative ranking. Results from this activity suggested that while most students chose a financial action towards West Berlin, some students had trouble justifying their actions.

Keywords: content-centered learning, cold war, Berlin, decision-making

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Authors: Tao Peng

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This paper presents a holistic model of political economy based on Daoism – the foundational philosophy of classical Chinese epistemology. Daoism is both comprehensive and subtle in its manifestations and applications in all aspects of nature and society. Based on Daoist creation theory of the universe, life theory and five element functioning theory, a holistic model in economics with minimal assumptions and independent of ideology are constructed. Under this framework, different schools of economics, such as neo-liberal, Marxism, and Austrian school, are explored and shed new light on. Economic and financial predictions can be realized in applications to Qi Men Dun Jia. This framework can provide guidelines and inspirations to economic modelling, economic policies formulation and strategy development and guide society towards a more sustainable future.

Keywords: daoism, economics, holistic, philosophy

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Authors: Aemro Tazeze Terefe, Mengistu K. Aredo, Abule M. Workagegnehu, Wondimagegn M. Tesfaye

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Climate-induced shocks have been shown to reduce agricultural production and cause fluctuation in output in developing countries. When livelihoods depend on rain-fed agriculture, climate-induced shocks translate into consumption shocks. Despite the substantial improvements in household consumption, climate-induced shocks, and other factors adversely affect consumption dynamics at the household level in Ethiopia. Therefore, household consumption dynamics in the context of climate-induced shocks help to guide resilience capacity and establish appropriate interventions and programs. The research employed three-round panel data based on the Ethiopian Socioeconomic Survey with spatial rainfall data to define unique measures of rainfall variability. The linear dynamic panel model results show that the lagged value of consumption, market shocks, and rainfall variability positively affected consumption dynamics. In contrast, production shocks, temperature, and amount of rainfall had a negative relationship. Coping strategies mitigate adverse climate-induced shocks on consumption aftershocks that smooth consumption over time. Support to increase the resilience capacity of households can involve efforts to make existing livelihoods and forms of production or reductions in the vulnerability of households. Therefore, government interventions are mandatory for asset accumulation agendas that support household coping strategies and respond to shocks. In addition, the dynamic linkage between consumption and significant socioeconomic and institutional factors should be taken into account to minimize the effect of climate-induced shocks on consumption dynamics.

Keywords: climate shock, Ethiopia, fixed-effect model, food security

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Authors: Leja Salciute

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Mental health difficulties are one of the reasons for abnormal feeding behaviour. This is especially evident in a crisis situation. Abnormal feeding behaviour occurs when individuals use food as a method to provide relief for these negative emotions. The study aimed to discover an association between emotional regulation, mental health difficulties and disruption in feeding behaviours in the UK in times of crisis. A mixed-methods design was used. Abnormal feeding behaviour was measured using the Binge Eating Disorder Screener-7, SCOFF scale, Crisis impact scale, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale and demographics. The sample comprised 342 participants with a history of excessive overeating. The participants (male= 198, female= 141 and other= 3) came from the general population and they were aged 16 and over. Participants ranged in age from 16 to 89. Findings from the survey concluded that difficulties with emotion regulation were found to be associated with abnormal feeding behaviours. Mental health difficulties correlated significantly with changes in individuals’ lives, such as work or routines. Individuals differed in their abnormal feeding behaviour in terms of their age, that is, younger individuals showed less struggle with their eating patterns while older individuals faced greater struggles with their abnormal feeding behaviour. Emotion regulation significantly influenced abnormal feeding behaviour. Results from qualitative data suggest four common themes that were identified: demonstration of gratitude, negative emotions, disruptions to social life, and financial loss. For example, participants developed and gained an awareness of being grateful for the simple things in life even when participants experienced hardships. The results also suggested that emotional eating acted like a sedative that allowed the participant to run away from their painful reality. Crisis situation negatively affected relationships among participants and induced negativity related to social interaction. Finally, the respondents highlighted that the presence of uncertainty made it hard to plan ahead and look forward to the future. Although respondents experienced negative emotions and financial losses, some of them still managed to allocate time for themselves and enjoy their time off during crisis. However, majority of respondents referred to their inability to control their external circumstances and turned to and relied upon food overconsumption instead. This had a negative effect on their mental health and presented disruptions in feeding behaviour. It was recommended for individuals in times of crisis to seek psychological support in the form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

Keywords: binge eating, maladaptive eating behaviours, mental health, negative emotions in crisis

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Authors: Malay K. Pramanik

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Climate change is continuously affecting the ecosystem, species distribution as well as global biodiversity. The assessment of the species potential distribution and the spatial changes under various climate change scenarios is a significant step towards the conservation and mitigation of habitat shifts, and species' loss and vulnerability. In this context, the present study aimed to predict the influence of current and future climate on an ecologically vulnerable medicinal species, Garcinia gummi-gutta, of the southern Western Ghats using Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) modeling. The future projections were made for the period of 2050 and 2070 with RCP (Representative Concentration Pathways) scenario of 4.5 and 8.5 using 84 species occurrence data, and climatic variables from three different models of Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) fifth assessment. Climatic variables contributions were assessed using jackknife test and AOC value 0.888 indicates the model perform with high accuracy. The major influencing variables will be annual precipitation, precipitation of coldest quarter, precipitation seasonality, and precipitation of driest quarter. The model result shows that the current high potential distribution of the species is around 1.90% of the study area, 7.78% is good potential; about 90.32% is moderate to very low potential for species suitability. Finally, the results of all model represented that there will be a drastic decline in the suitable habitat distribution by 2050 and 2070 for all the RCP scenarios. The study signifies that MaxEnt model might be an efficient tool for ecosystem management, biodiversity protection, and species re-habitation planning under climate change.

Keywords: Garcinia gummi gutta, maximum entropy modeling, medicinal plants, climate change, western ghats, MaxEnt

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Authors: Kimberly Joyce A. Roguis, Mica Lorraine L. Fernando, Alan Vito B. Macadangdang, Jennina Mari C. Mijares, Maria Carinnes A. Gonzalez

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The paper showcases the vulnerability of the tourism industry especially the inevitable occurrence of natural disasters, implicating the necessity for post-disaster analysis on tourist attractions. This study discusses the aftermath of the super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ incident in the locality of Coron Island, Palawan, assessing its general effect on the community and its tourism livelihood through the analysis of responses from key role-players in the tourism industry of the area gathered through semi-structured interviews and direct observation. The local government’s instigation of recovery programs to their locality has been a pivotal factor in reviving the vitality of their tourism industry and the involvement of the community has been the determining condition that shifted the industry towards revival a year after the incidence. The study illuminates the disaster mitigation processes in the local tourism livelihood perspective, predominantly the diving industry. It did not suffer physical damage to a great extent but was affected because of the public imagery the disaster brought upon. Collaboration between the local government and the community is the highlight of the research for they maneuvered recovery revealing that cooperation between these two parties bridged the correlation of recovery to tourism development. The disaster paved way to a stance towards promoting progressive tourism outlooks, raising awareness among the public and private sectors and re-assessment of the tourism vitality in their locality. The mayhem and destruction proved to be a liberating creative process to give way to progression and was deemed to be of high significance in the over-all tourism system process despite its impediments in the case of the tourism industry in Coron, Palawan.

Keywords: disaster recovery, tourism development, diving, Palawan

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Authors: Eve-Andree Laramee

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The aesthetics and ethics of the Nuclear Anthropocene are explored through artists responses to the impact of radioactive materials on ecological systems, global issues, energy policies and ourselves. This presentation tracks and reveals the invisible traces of the nuclear weapons complex and the nuclear energy industry, in relation to environmental justice. Radioactive pollution transgresses international borders, boundaries between land and water, contaminating ecological systems. Radioactive waste is never disposed of; it is dispositioned, placed out of sight and out of mind. These materials leave behind an invisible toxic legacy lasting millions of years. As we are learning post-Fukushima, when climate change occurs and vulnerability spectrums shift, nuclear sites and the life forms surrounding them are at increased risk. By visualizing this contamination through art installations, videos, and social-sculpture interventions, information is shared with the public, raising awareness, and activating community participation in remediation and nonproliferation efforts. The emerging Ecological Art genre proposes paradigms sustainable with the life forms and resources of our planet. It is comprised of artists, scientists, philosophers and activists devoted to these. EcoArt is distinguished by a focus on systems and interrelationships within our environment: the ecological, geographic, political, biological and cultural. This presentation will cover artworks addressing the recent Fukushima meltdowns, weapons proliferation, climate change, radioactive waste disposal and environmental justice. Possibilities for art-and-science collaborations will be discussed as projects that sharpen our ethics and politics in our behaviors and social interactions. The presentation will consist of a PowerPoint talk (paper presentation) accompanied by images and video clips.

Keywords: art, ecology, environment, anthropocene, nuclear

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Authors: Louise Moles, Steve Riley, Sarah D. Lichenstein, Marzieh Babaeianjelodar, Robert Kohler, Annie Cheng, Corey Horien Abigail Greene, Wenjing Luo, Jonathan Ahern, Bohan Xu, Yize Zhao, Chun Chieh Fan, R. Todd Constable, Sarah W. Yip

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Background: Risks for depression are myriad and include both genetic and brain-based factors. However, relationships between these systems are poorly understood, limiting understanding of disease etiology, particularly at the developmental level. Methods: We use a data-driven machine learning approach connectome-based predictive modeling (CPM) to identify functional connectivity signatures associated with polygenic risk scores for depression (DEP-PRS) among youth from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study across diverse brain states, i.e., during resting state, during affective working memory, during response inhibition, during reward processing. Results: Using 10-fold cross-validation with 100 iterations and permutation testing, CPM identified connectivity signatures of DEP-PRS across all examined brain states (rho’s=0.20-0.27, p’s<.001). Across brain states, DEP-PRS was positively predicted by increased connectivity between frontoparietal and salience networks, increased motor-sensory network connectivity, decreased salience to subcortical connectivity, and decreased subcortical to motor-sensory connectivity. Subsampling analyses demonstrated that model accuracies were robust across random subsamples of N’s=1,000, N’s=500, and N’s=250 but became unstable at N’s=100. Conclusions: These data, for the first time, identify neural networks of polygenic depression risk in a large sample of youth before the onset of significant clinical impairment. Identified networks may be considered potential treatment targets or vulnerability markers for depression risk.

Keywords: genetics, functional connectivity, pre-adolescents, depression

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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: Almoutassem Bellah Nasser

Abstract:

This paper is aimed at calculating the intangible assets of Jordanian economy. This effort is a response to the demand from corporations for these services which reflects a perceived gap in internal and external financial reporting on intangible investments. The main conclusion of the paper is to suggest that the way forward to a standardized, more comparable approach to measuring intangible capital is to employ CIV method of valuation. Published macroeconomic data traditionally exclude most intangible investment from measured GDP. This situation is beginning to change as some attempts have been made to measure the amount of intangible assets. It was found that intangible assets account for $164.20 million in all the listed companies of Jordan. All this money does not appear on the balance sheets of these companies and hence requires special attention of policy makers for better utilization.

Keywords: intangible capital, stock prices, Amman Stock Exchange

Procedia PDF Downloads 371

Authors: Qurratulain Safdar

Abstract:

Drought is a temporary aberration in contrast to aridity, as it is a permanent feature of climate. Virtually, it takes place in all types of climatic regions that range from high to low rainfall areas. Due to the wide latitudinal extent of Pakistan, there is seasonal and annual variability in rainfall. The south-central part of the country is arid and hyper-arid. This study focuses on the spatio-temporal analysis of droughts in arid and hyperarid region of Cholistan using the standardized precipitation index (SPI) approach. This study has assessed the extent of recurrences of drought and its temporal vulnerability to drought in Cholistan region. Initially, the paper described the geographic setup of the study area along with a brief description of the drought conditions that prevail in Pakistan. The study also provides a scientific foundation for preparing literature and theoretical framework in-line with the selected parameters and indicators. Data were collected both from primary and secondary data sources. Rainfall and temperature data were obtained from Pakistan Meteorology Department. By applying geostatistical approach, a standardized precipitation index (SPI) was calculated for the study region, and the value of spatio-temporal variability of drought and its severity was explored. As a result, in-depth spatial analysis of drought conditions in Cholistan area was found. Parallel to this, drought-prone areas with seasonal variation were also identified using Kriging spatial interpolation techniques in a GIS environment. The study revealed that there is temporal variation in droughts' occurrences both in time series and SPI values. The paper is finally concluded, and strategic plan was suggested to minimize the impacts of drought.

Keywords: Cholistan desert, climate anomalies, metrological droughts, standardized precipitation index

Procedia PDF Downloads 196

Authors: Hatim Elhag

Abstract:

Banking and Financial Service Institutions are possibly the most advanced in terms of technology adoption and use it as a key differentiator. With high levels of business process automation, maturity in the functional portfolio, straight through processing and proven technology outsourcing benefits, Banking sector stand to benefit significantly from Cloud computing capabilities. Additionally, with complex Compliance and Regulatory policies, combined with expansive products and geography coverage, the business impact is even greater. While the benefits are exponential, there are also significant challenges in adopting this model– including Legal, Security, Performance, Reliability, Transformation complexity, Operating control and Governance and most importantly proof for the promised cost benefits. However, new architecture designed should be implemented to align this approach.

Keywords: security, cloud, banking sector, cloud computing

Procedia PDF Downloads 493

Authors: Edwaldo R. B. Monteiro, Patricia D. M. Plentz, Edson R. De Pieri

Abstract:

Mobile robotics is gaining an increasingly important role in modern society. Several potentially dangerous or laborious tasks for human are assigned to mobile robots, which are increasingly capable. Many of these tasks need to be performed within a specified period, i.e., meet a deadline. Missing the deadline can result in financial and/or material losses. Mechanisms for predicting the missing of deadlines are fundamental because corrective actions can be taken to avoid or minimize the losses resulting from missing the deadline. In this work we propose a simple but reliable deadline missing prediction mechanism for mobile robots through the use of historical data and we use the Pioneer 3-DX robot for experiments and simulations, one of the most popular robots in academia.

Keywords: deadline missing, historical data, mobile robots, prediction mechanism

Procedia PDF Downloads 394

Authors: Thomas Slunecko Karat

Abstract:

The years since 9/11 2001 have given us a plethora of research papers with the word ‘terrorism’ in the title. Yet only a small subset of these papers has produced new data, which explains why more than 20 years of research since 9/11 have done little to increase our understanding of the mechanisms that lead to terrorism. Specifically, terrorism scholars are divided by political, temporal, geographical and financial demarcation lines which prevent a clear definition of terrorism. As a consequence, the true root causes of terrorism remain unexamined. Instead, the psychopathological conditions of the individual have been emphasized despite ample empirical evidence pointing in a different direction. This paper examines the underlying reasons and motives that prevent open discourse about the root causes of terrorism and proposes that terrorism is linked to the current international system of resource allocation and systematic violations of human rights.

Keywords: terrorism, root causes of terrorism, prevention of terrorism, racism, human rights violations

Procedia PDF Downloads 83

Authors: Jianhua Zhang, Weiping Chen, Guanjie Chen, Jason Flannick, Emma Fikse, Glenda Smerin, Yanqin Yang, Yulong Li, John A. Hanover, William F. Simonds

Abstract:

Ethnic disparities in many diseases are well recognized and reflect the consequences of genetic, behavior, and environmental factors. However, direct scientific evidence connecting the ethnic genetic variations and the disease disparities has been elusive, which may have led to the ethnic inequalities in large scale genetic studies. Through the genome-wide analysis of data representing 185,934 subjects, including 14,955 from our own studies of the African America Diabetes Mellitus, we discovered sets of genetic variants either unique to or conserved in all ethnicities. We further developed a quantitative gene function-based high-risk variant index (hrVI) of 20,428 genes to establish profiles that strongly correlate with the subjects' self-identified ethnicities. With respect to the ability to detect human essential and pathogenic genes, the hrVI analysis method is both comparable with and complementary to the well-known genetic analysis methods, pLI and VIRlof. Application of the ethnicity-specific hrVI analysis to the type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) national repository, containing 20,791 cases and 24,440 controls, identified 114 candidate T2DM-associated genes, 8.8-fold greater than that of ethnicity-blind analysis. All the genes identified are defined as either pathogenic or likely-pathogenic in ClinVar database, with 33.3% diabetes-associated and 54.4% obesity-associated genes. These results demonstrate the utility of hrVI analysis and provide the first genetic evidence by clustering patterns of how genetic variations among ethnicities may impede the discovery of diabetes and foreseeably other disease-associated genes.

Keywords: diabetes-associated genes, ethnic health disparities, high-risk variant index, hrVI, T2DM

Procedia PDF Downloads 130