Discussion on Cost Budgeting and Cost Control Strategies for Prefabricated Construction Projects

In the process of China’s national economic development,the construction industry is a very important component and has a direct impact on the level of China’s economic construction.Nowadays,the development speed of the prefabricated construction industry is constantly accelerating.To effectively ensure the economic benefits of engineering projects,it is necessary to comprehensively strengthen cost budgeting and cost control.This article analyzes the cost budget of prefabricated construction projects,introduces the application advantages of prefabricated construction,and proposes specific cost budgeting and cost control measures,hoping to provide some reference for relevant researchers.

Household behavior in practicing mental budgeting based on the theory of planned behavior

Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior(TPB)suggests that planned behavior is determined by behavioral intention.Despite extensive literature based on TPB,household mental budgeting behavior explained by TPB is underexplored.The current study empirically tested TPB factors in light of mental budgeting behavior.The hypothesized model was tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling(PLS-SEM).PLS-SEM was employed using a Likert-scaled questionnaire administered to 275 households.The results indicate that mental budgeting attitude and mental budgeting past behavior strongly predict mental budgeting intention,and mental budgeting intention predicts mental budgeting behavior.Further,mental budgeting intention partially mediates the relationship between mental budgeting attitude and mental budgeting behavior,and mental budgeting past behavior and mental budgeting behavior.This study contributes to the academic interest in theoretical progress in household behavior.

Local communities' participation in decision-making processes through planning and budgeting in African countries

Community participation and community based management are topical themes in current policy and discussion revolving around decision-making processes especially those dealing with natural resources management.This review shows that while governments have accepted the need to either cede or devolve control and management of natural resources to the local communities,the communities are not part and parcel of the planning and budgeting which are crucial in decisionmaking.Communities were seen to be more involved in the implementation of natural resource management programs but lacked ownership of the projects.This causes lack of commitment to the programs and at times hostile reaction from the communities.The communities are always at the receiving end when it pertains to losses in the exchange.Community participation was shown to be effective when the local population is involved not as co-operating users but as natural resource managers or owner managers.

Controllability, Budget Flexibility and New Model of Budgeting System

How to extend the flexibility of the budget control to adapt for need of strategy management and management control is a difficult and very important problem. The purpose of this paper is to study tentatively this problem based on the extant results of controllability principle and budgeting in management control system of organization. In this paper, three main results are as follows： （1） To disclose that the controllability of an organization is one characteristic of the budgeting systems and the controllability is not impartial and not single personal action. （2） To discuss tentatively an improved budgeting system to improve the several weaknesses of traditional budgeting control that Otley （1999） summarized from the academic and practitioner literatures in order to improve the controllability of strategy management with budget flexibility. （3） To build the new model of flexible budget with three new features： it makes strategy objectives easily achievable and controllable; it makes controllers have a more strategic role; it can balance these multiple goals when they cannot be achieved simultaneously and external conditions are more demanding.

A Criteria Model for Budgeting and Assessing Industrial Sites Location in Developing Economy

Industrial sites are selected in many of the developing countries without taking into consideration some pertinent criteria that are directly affecting the sustainability of such industries in the locations after commissioning. Industries are located in some areas based on political influence rather than facility availability that support industry＇s productivity. In this study a criteria model was developed for assessing the present industrial site locations based on predetermined influencing factors called criteria. In the model provision was made for the sorting out of deficient influencing factors for the purpose of upgrading them to the minimum level required called benchmark through periodical allocation of appropriate funds. In validating the model, identified industrial sites located in selected States of Nigeria were surveyed. Data were collected on factors such as power supply, marketability and raw malerial availability which were considered influential to the sustainability of industry＇s site in the respective areas. Data were analysed for the criteria identified along the line of industrial categories which included large-, medium-, and small-scales. Benchmarks, as well as levels of criteria in the respective regions were determined using statistical weighted averages and the results were used as input to the model. The output results of the model showed that none of the industrial sites located in the selected six States of the South-Western Nigeria were productivity supportive. However, a good performance was achieved in a site with a budget of S13 million （US Dollars） for the upgrading of the deficient facilities in the next three years.

An Empirical Test of Optimism Bias in Capital Budgeting Decisions

Behavioral finance is a field that is scrutinizing the adequacy of traditional financial theories using insights from the disciplines of psychology and sociology. Many studies within its realm test the stock market behaviors, and behavioral phenomena are still to be tested in the area of corporate finance. This study aims to contribute to the behavioral corporate finance literature by a research in one of the psychological phenomena affecting the decision makers＇ abilities to reach conclusions rationally. In this study, it is aimed to investigate one of the biases, namely, the optimism bias in corporate capital budgeting decisions. Optimism in decision making can be associated with estimating lower costs and higher revenues. Thus, by assessing the forecasts of decision makers, the existence of optimism in their decisions is tried to be seen. This study aims at contributing to the literature in that it is conducted in an emerging country like Turkey.

A Novel Approach for Groundwater Budgeting Using GIS in a Part of Pondicherry Region, India

The over extraction of groundwater from the coastal aquifers, result in reduction of groundwater resource and lowering of water level. In general, the depletion of groundwater level enhances the landward migration of saltwater wedge. Pondicherry is one such region with recent alluvium as the major formation. Since the study area forms a part of the coastal aquifer system this behaves as a fragile ecosystem. The present study has been attempted to calculate the extraction of water and to estimate the amount of recharge into this alluvial aquifer by using groundwater level variations. The monthly water level fluctuation was observed during the study period (2000-2002) in eighteen locations. The maximum rise in groundwater level observed during 2000 was considered as the initial water level for the study and the subsequent decline in water level (draw down) was monitored monthly until the rising trend was noted. This indicates the fall in water level due to extraction. Later keeping the deepest draw down as the initial value increasing water level trend was studied until there was a notice of decline in groundwater level. This indicates as the rise in water level due to recharge. This method of observation carried out at a single location was adopted for all eighteen locations. The spatial representation of these data for eighteen locations were carried out by using GIS and the area occupied by different groundwater level contours were calculated and the amount of water withdrawn/re- charged was estimated. The maximum recharge was noted in the central and the northern part of the study area when compared to the other regions. Similarly, the maximum discharge was noted in the northern and the southern part of the study area during the study period.

Agricultural Support Policies and Public Budgeting in Turkey

Agriculture is a leading strategic sector in Turkey as it is in entire world. Despite this strategic significance, risks, and uncertainties, the dependence on natural conditions turns agriculture into a disadvantaged sector. Just because of these disadvantages, agriculture is protected by various support policies throughout the world. Agricultural policies of Turkey have initiated with institutionalization policies of the Republican period and progressed through product supports, input supports, and low-interest credit implementations of the planned period. These policies experienced serious reforms at the beginning of 2000s. Within the scope of Agricultural supports and Reforms Implementation Project （ARIP）, agricultural supports tried to be gathered under a single roof and Direct Income Support （DIS） implementations started. The DIS implementations lasted for eight years and terminated in 2008. The aim of this study is to examine agricultural supports in Turkey and their shares in the public budget. As material, macroeconomic data are used in this study. The data consist of transfers from the ministry of food, agriculture, and livestock to agriculture and budget numbers. The results of the study reveal that current agricultural policy tools are implemented as area-based supports, subsidiary payments, rural development, and agricultural insurance supports. The budget allocated to agriculture and the share of agricultural supports in Gross Domestic Product （GDP） of Turkey does not exhibit much change in years. Considering the policies and supports provided in developed countries and especially in European Union （EU） countries, it recommend for Turkey that the share of agricultural supports in total budget should be increased to levels in those countries.

The role of trust in supervisor in participative budgeting systems

This study examined the relationship between budget participation and managerial performance as mediated by trust in supervisor and explored the moderating role of budget-goal difficulty on budget participation, trust in supervisor, and managerial performance. One-hundred-fifty-eight useful responses were drawn at random from subordinate managers of manufacturing companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The mediating effect of trust in supervisor was examined by path analysis. Subgroup analysis was used to examine the contingency effect of budget-goal difficulty on the mediating role of trust in supervisor between budget participation and performance. The findings support our hypotheses and demonstrate the mediating effect of trust in supervisor and the moderating effect of budget-goal difficulty.

Feed profile analysis of oil palm‐integrated beef cattle farming systems by metabolic energy budgeting and implications for beef production and pastoral system design

Background:Oil palm is a tropical crop with worldwide plantings approaching 20 million ha and large areas in Indonesia,Malaysia and Thailand.The plantations are readily managed as silvopastoral systems incorporating cattle grazing(Oil Palm Silvopastoral System for Cattle,OPSC)but there is a need for analytical tools and data to understand system herbage supply and feed conversion efficiency(FCE).Methods:Metabolic energy budgeting was used to estimate herbage harvested by cattle in three OPSC subsystems,9 and 12 years after oil palm establishment,and FCE of the subsystems was determined.Understorey herbage was also analysed for nutritive value,botanical composition and herbage accumulation within one grazing‐regrowth cycle.Results:The herbage‐harvested estimate was 2.0−2.4 t dry matter(DM)ha^(-1) year^(-1) for 9 year old subsystems and 1.4-1.7 tDMha^(-1) year^(-1) for a 12 year old subsystem.Herbage metabolisable energy(ME)was 8.3−8.5 MJ kg^(-1) DM and crude protein(CP)was 15%-16%DM.FCE values for subsystems ranged from 32 to 94 kg DM kg^(-1) liveweight‐gain.Conclusions:Herbage DM yield is declining,while herbage ME is marginal but CP is adequate.FCE is suboptimal but can be optimised by defining the trajectory of declining herbage production with canopy closure as plantations age and matching stocking rate to herbage supply using a comparativestocking‐rate‐type statistic.

Efficiency of resource allocation in the hospital sector after global budgeting under National Health Insurance

Background Taiwan has implemented a National Health Insurance （NHI） program to provide uniform comprehensive coverage since 1995. Forced by the severe financial deficit, global budgeting is introduced to replace the original payment system in Taiwan＇s NHI. Under global budgeting system, the total budget is distributed to six geographical regions in Taiwan. There is no pre-determined budget for each hospital. In order to investigate the longitudinal trend of how global budgeting influences health care resource, it is essential to estimate the efficiency of resource allocation in Taiwan＇s NHI. Methods Data Envelopment Analysis （DEA） and Malmquist index （MI） are used to investigate the 8-year panel data of 23 cities and counties which was collected from the annual report from the Department of Health, Taiwan, China. A value of MI greater than 1 indicates that total factor productivity progress has occurred, while a value of MI less than 1 indicates productivity loss. Results As a result, 37 of the 184 DMUs in the analysis were found to be relatively efficient during the period, in which 14 of 23 DMUs are efficient in 2002 right after adopting globe budgeting. A trend of MI declines between 2002 and 2009 implies the volume of health care services decrease after adopting global budgeting system. Production efficiency has been improved after global budgeting implies that behaviors of health providers control cost and avoid wasting resource at macro level. Conclusions The regressive MI indicates the hospitals redistribute health care resource to eliminate unnecessary treatment and to control the growth of service volume under global budgeting system. Hence, a trend of declining MI focuses on health care resource redistribution rather than efficiency improvement in this study.

Dependent-Chance Programming Models for Capital Budgeting in Fuzzy Environments

Capital budgeting is concerned with maximizing the total net profit subject to budget constraints by selecting an appropriate combination of projects. This paper presents chance maximizing models for capital budgeting with fuzzy input data and multiple conflicting objectives. When the decision maker sets a prospective profit level and wants to maximize the chances of the total profit achieving the prospective profit level, a fuzzy dependent-chance programming model, a fuzzy multi-objective dependent-chance programming model, and a fuzzy goal dependent-chance programming model are used to formulate the fuzzy capital budgeting problem. A fuzzy simulation based genetic algorithm is used to solve these models. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the simulation-based genetic algorithm and the potential applications of these models.

Pumping-induced Well Hydraulics and Groundwater Budget in a Leaky Aquifer System with Vertical Heterogeneity in Aquitard Hydraulic Properties

In groundwater hydrology,aquitard heterogeneity is often less considered compared to aquifers,despite its significant impact on groundwater hydraulics and groundwater resources evaluation.A semi-analytical solution is derived for pumping-induced well hydraulics and groundwater budget with consideration of vertical heterogeneity in aquitard hydraulic conductivity(K)and specific storage(S_(s)).The proposed new solution is innovative in its partitioning of the aquitard into multiple homogeneous sub-layers to enable consideration of various forms of vertically heterogeneous K or S_(s).Two scenarios of analytical investigations are explored:one is the presence of aquitard interlayers with distinct K or S_(s) values,a common field-scale occurrence;another is an exponentially depth-decaying aquitard S_(s),a regional-scale phenomenon supported by statistical analysis.Analytical investigations reveal that a low-K interlayer can significantly increase aquifer drawdown and enhance aquifer/aquitard depletion;a high-S_(s) interlayer can noticeably reduce aquifer drawdown and increase aquitard depletion.Locations of low-K or high-S_(s) interlayers also significantly impact well hydraulics and groundwater budget.In the context of an exponentially depth-decaying aquitard S_(s),a larger decay exponent can enhance aquifer drawdown.When using current models with a vertically homogeneous aquitard,half the sum of the geometric and harmonic means of exponentially depth-decaying aquitard S_(s) should be used to calculate aquitard depletion and unconfined aquifer leakage.

Westerlies Affecting the Seasonal Variation of Water Vapor Transport over the Tibetan Plateau Induced by Tropical Cyclones in the Bay of Bengal

This study investigates the activity of tropical cyclones(TCs)in the Bay of Bengal(BOB)from 1979 to 2018 to discover the mechanism affecting the contribution rate to the meridional moisture budget anomaly(MMBA)over the southern boundary of the Tibetan Plateau(SBTP).May and October–December are the bimodal phases of BOB TC frequency,which decreases month by month from October to December and is relatively low in May.However,the contribution rate to the MMBA is the highest in May.The seasonal variation in the meridional position of the westerlies is the key factor affecting the contribution rate.The relatively southern(northern)position of the westerlies in November and December(May)results in a lower(higher)contribution rate to the MMBA.This mechanism is confirmed by the momentum equation.When water vapor enters the westerlies near the trough line,the resultant meridional acceleration is directed north.It follows that the farther north the trough is,and the farther north the water vapor can be transported.When water vapor enters the westerlies from the area near the ridge line,for Type-T(Type-R)TCs,water vapor enters the westerlies downstream of the trough(ridge).Consequently,the direction of the resultant meridional acceleration is directed south and the resultant zonal acceleration is directed east(west),which is not conducive to the northward transport of water vapor.This is especially the case if the trough or ridge is relatively south,as the water vapor may not cross the SBTP.

A tensile wearable SHF antenna with efficient communication in defense beacon technology

The study projects a flexible and compact wearable pear-shaped Super High Frequency(SHF)antenna that can provide detailed location recognition and tracking applicable to defense beacon technology.This mini aperture with electrical dimensions of 0.12λ_(0)×0.22λ_(0)×0.01λ_(0)attains a vast bandwidth over 3.1-34.5 GHz Super High Frequency(SHF)frequency band at S_(11)≤-10 dB,peak gain of 7.14 dBi and proportionately homogeneous radiation pattern.The fractional bandwidth(%BW)acquired is 168%that envelopes diversified frequency spectrum inclusive of X band specifically targeted to all kinds of defense and military operations.The proposed antenna can be worn on a soldier's uniform and hence the Specific Absorption Rate simulation is accomplished.The Peak SAR Value over 1 g of tissue is 1.48 W/kg and for 10 g of tissue is 0.27 W/kg well under the safety standards.The flexibility is proven by analyzing the full electromagnetic simulations for various bending conditions.Time response analysis is attained with its Fidelity Factor and Group Delay.Communication excellence is determined using Link Budget Analysis and it is seen that margin at 100 Mbps is 62 m and at 200 Mbps is 59 m.Prototype is fabricated along with experimental validation.All the results show harmony in shaping the antenna to provide critical situational awareness and data sharing capabilities required in defense beacon technology for location identification.

Ultra-low loss silicon nitride becomes even cooler

Ultra-low loss silicon nitride realized using deuterated precursors and low thermal budgets well within backend-of-line CMOS processing may accelerate widespread proliferation of their use.

Description of the Cover Picture

The cover picture is taken from the article “Improved scatter search algorithm for multi-skilled personnel scheduling of ship block painting ”. Ship painting operation has very strict processing time requirements,which play a very important role in shipbuilding. Focuses on the optimization method for multi-skilled painting personnel scheduling,the budget working time analysis is carried out considering the influence of operating area,difficulty of spraying area,multi-skilled workers.

Freshening of the Intermediate Waters in the Northern South China Sea over the Past Six Decades

The properties of salinity in the South China Sea(SCS),a significant marginal sea connecting the Pacific and Indian Oceans,are greatly influenced by the transport of fresh water flux between the two oceans.However,the long-term changes in the intermediate water in the SCS have not been thoroughly studied due to limited data,particularly in relation to its thermodynamic variations.This study utilized reanalysis data products to identify a 60-year trend of freshening in the intermediate waters of the northern South China Sea(NSCS),accompanied by an expansion of low-salinity water.The study also constructed salinity budget terms,including advection and entrainment processes,and conducted an analysis of the salinity budget to understand the impacts of external and internal dynamic processes on the freshening trend of the intermediate water in the NSCS.The analysis revealed that the freshening in the northwest Pacific Ocean and the intensification of intrusion through the Luzon Strait at intermediate levels are the primary drivers of the salinity changes in the NSCS.Additionally,a weakened trend in the intensity of vertical entrainment also contributes to the freshening in the NSCS.This study offers new insights into the understanding of regional deep sea changes in response to variations in both thermodynamics and oceanic dynamic processes.

Roaming Where He Wants To Becoming a digital nomad in Bangkok

What makes an ideal life?For many,it’s escaping crowded and expensive big cities and the accompanying long,exhausting commutes to settle in a beautiful,warm,and budget-friendly city,or hitting the road and going elsewhere anytime you want.No alarm clocks,no punching in for work,no pressure from bosses-do a little work and then enjoy your life.This is the life for many digital nomads.

Link Budget and Enhanced Communication Distance for Ambient Internet of Things

Backscatter communications will play an important role in connecting everything for beyond 5G(B5G)and 6G systems.One open challenge for backscatter communications is that the signals suffer a round-trip path loss so that the communication distance is short.In this paper,we first calculate the communication distance upper bounds for both uplink and downlink by measuring the tag sensitivity and reflection coefficient.It is found that the activation voltage of the envelope detection diode of the downlink tag is the main factor limiting the back-scatter communication distance.Based on this analysis,we then propose to implement a low-noise amplifier(LNA)module before the envelope detection at the tag to enhance the incident signal strength.Our experimental results on the hardware platform show that our method can increase the downlink communication range by nearly 20 m.