Income gaps in China kept widening over the past four decades of economic transition. First, this paper describes the change in income gaps before and after reform and opening-up in 1978 and found that income gaps had...Income gaps in China kept widening over the past four decades of economic transition. First, this paper describes the change in income gaps before and after reform and opening-up in 1978 and found that income gaps had been expanding between urban and rural areas, within cities and within the countryside. However, this did not lead to income polarization since low-income groups only had a slower income growth compared with highincome groups. The number of poor people continuously reduced thanks to rapid economic growth. Over the past decade, the widening of income gaps has been initially curbed. Accordingly, we explained the impact of economic transition on income distribution from the perspectives of market-based distribution, ownership structure, opening-up and internal income distribution. Lastly, this paper provides an in-depth analysis on urban-rural income gaps, excessive compensation in monopolistic sectors and income inequalities arising from corruption. To address these problems, it is important to enhance tax regulation, increase transfer payments to poor people, improve social security, equalize public services, enhance poverty relief and develop a fairer income distribution system.展开更多
Information on forest structure is important for forest management decisions. This is inadequate in many situations, especially where timber is not of primary interest. We analyzed the structure of two forest types in...Information on forest structure is important for forest management decisions. This is inadequate in many situations, especially where timber is not of primary interest. We analyzed the structure of two forest types in the Oban Division of Cross River National Park, Nigeria. Systematic sampling technique was used to establish two transects measuring 2,000 x 2 m, at 600 m interval in the two forest types in four locations. Four 50 m x 50 m plots were located alternately at 500 m intervals along each transect, constituting 32 plots per forest type and 64 plots in all, Diameters at breast height (DBH), base; middle and top; crown diameter; total height and crown length were measured on all trees with DBH 〉_ 10 cm. There were 159 stems/ha in the close-canopy forest and 132 stems/ha in the secondary forest. The mean DBH were 34.5 cm and 33.62 cm respectively. The mean heights were 24.79 m and 23.97 m, respectively. Basal area/ha were 41.59 m2 ha~ and 27.38 m2 hal for the two forest types. Majority of the trees encountered in the two forest types belonged to the middle stratum which has implication for small mammals' populations. Emergent trees which are otherwise scarce in other parts of the country were recorded, which also has implications for density thinning and seed supplies.展开更多
Spatial data is a key resource for national development. There is a lot of potential locked in spatial data and this potential may be realized by making spatial data readily available for various applications. SD1 (S...Spatial data is a key resource for national development. There is a lot of potential locked in spatial data and this potential may be realized by making spatial data readily available for various applications. SD1 (Spatial Data Infrastructures) provides a platform for the data users, producers and so on to generate and share spatial data effectively. Though efforts to develop spatial data infrastructures started worldwide in the late 1970s, SDIs are still perceived by many institutions as new innovation; as such, they have not penetrated to all institutions to bring about effective management and development changes. This paper is reporting on a study conducted to assess SDI Readiness Index for Tanzania. The study aimed at identifying problems undermining SD1 implementation in Tanzania, despite its potential in bringing fast socio-economic development elsewhere in the world. This paper is based on a research based on views from stakeholders of geospatial technology industry in Municipal Councils, Private Companies and Government Departments in Tanzania. Results indicated that Private Companies are more inspired than Government institutions towards implementation of SDIs. And those problems affecting implementation of SDIs are lack of National SDI Policy, lack of awareness and knowledge about SDIs, limited funding to operationalise SDI, lack of institutional leadership to coordinate SDI development activities, lack of political commitment from the Government. It is recommended that delibate efforts be devised to raise awareness of SDI amongst the Tanzanian community.展开更多
The paper aims to examine the effect of political influence on corporate transparency, and performance of Indonesian listed companies, Seventy-three large public firms from hundred of the largest companies in Indonesi...The paper aims to examine the effect of political influence on corporate transparency, and performance of Indonesian listed companies, Seventy-three large public firms from hundred of the largest companies in Indonesia were selected as the sample. Data for corporate transparency are collected from annual reports for the years 2005-2007. Corporate transparency is indexed by the amount of information disclosed in company's annual report. The disclosure index reporting model developed in the current research is based on the Annual Report Award (ARA, an award given annually to Indonesian listed and non-listed companies), and firm performance is measured using two indicators: ROA (return on assets) and Tobin-Q. The political influence variable is proxied by two indicators: government ownership and the existence of politicians in Board of Directors (BOD). Results demonstrate that contrary to the hypothesis, government ownership (political influence) has positive relation to corporate transparency, as well as to ROA (firm performance). Results also support the hypothesis that transparency act as a mediating variable for the relationship between political influence and firm performance. However, when political influence is pmxied by existence of politicians in BOD and fm'n performance proxied by Tobin-Q, data seems to give support to the hypotheses proposed. The discussion and implications of the findings and suggestions for future research arc discussed.展开更多
From 2003 to 2005, in pot and field experiments, rice response to salinity stress of 15 rice varieties was studied at germination and young seedling stages using salt affected soils collected from rice production area...From 2003 to 2005, in pot and field experiments, rice response to salinity stress of 15 rice varieties was studied at germination and young seedling stages using salt affected soils collected from rice production areas in the Office du Niger zone of Mali. The rice varieties were composed of 10 rice genotypes from the breeding program of Mali and five from West African Rice Development Association (WARDA) program (Saint Louis, Senegal). Soil samples were collected from the visually affected soils which were characterized by the appearance of white or black efflorescence on the soil surface. In pot experiments, the genotypes were allowed to germinate in both affected soil types (white efflorescence and black efflorescence) and salt effects on plant seedling growth were observed. Results showed that all varieties were significantly sensitive to salinity stress based on germination, young seedling shoot and root dry weights. Among the rice varieties, the most salt tolerant variety was BG90-2 (a high yielding genotype from the Institut d'Economie Rurale (IER) breeding program) while the most sensitive variety was Telimani (also from the breeding program of IER). All other varieties were intermediary between these two genotypes. A three year field experiment conducted in a highly affected area near Niono confirmed the results of the pot experiment. The relatively salt tolerant genotypes were found in both Malian (BG90-2, Kogoni91-1, SK51-5-2) and WARDA (Was30-11-1-1-4-6-1B) rice breeding programs.展开更多
Lots of critics believe that "relationship" could be a central theme for Shakespeare's plays. However, what Shakespeare portrays is not merely the relationship about "love," but also the relationship in a family....Lots of critics believe that "relationship" could be a central theme for Shakespeare's plays. However, what Shakespeare portrays is not merely the relationship about "love," but also the relationship in a family. This paper therefore aims to discuss the father-son relationship and the father-daughter relationship in the families portrayed in Shakespeare's plays: The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest. I will analyze how the father-son relationship differs from the father-daughter relationship as exploring the love stories taking place in lives of our heroes and heroines. Additionally, I would like to bravely suspect Shakespeare's intention to overturn the patriarchal frame in an exotic territory while depicting the struggle and entanglement of a father character who realizes the lonely emptiness he has to face after fulfilling the happiness of his child.展开更多
A study was performed to evaluate the epidemiological aspects of buffalo mastitis in the District Chitwan, Nepal for characterizing the California mastitis test (CMT), somatic cell count (SCC), electrical conducti...A study was performed to evaluate the epidemiological aspects of buffalo mastitis in the District Chitwan, Nepal for characterizing the California mastitis test (CMT), somatic cell count (SCC), electrical conductivity (EC) values and bacteriological analysis for defining buffalo milk. The CMT was performed by mixing equal volume of milk and 3% sodium lauryl sulphate. The SCC was determined by staining milk film with New Man’s Lampert Stain and EC values were measured by manual digital mastitis detector and expressed as mS/cm. Bacteriological analysis was done on the basis of Gram’s stain, morphological findings, colony characteristics and biochemical tests. The maximum number (16%) of clinical cases of mastitis was observed in the month of July and lowest in the month of April (1.6%). When the temperature and humidity increased, it indicates that there is need for better care of lactating buffaloes during this month. On a quarter basis, 16% of the foremilk samples in buffaloes were diagnosed as having subclinical mastitis and 11% were diagnosed as having clinical mastitis. The results of CMT scores and SCC showed the evidence that subclinical and clinical mastitic milk was having CMT positive scores (+1~+3) with ≥ 200 × 103 cells/mL. The mean pH of clinically normal buffalo milk was 6.75 (range 6.39 to 7.08) and subclinical mastitic and clinical mastitic milk was 6.85 (range 6.37 to 7.10) and 6.88 (range 6.41 to 7.20), respectively. Analysis of EC value in the milk revealed the presence of mastitis in buffaloes and the cut-off values was 3.7 mS/cm. The coagulase negative Staphylococcus (CNS), such as S. albus and S. epidermidis were the predominant organisms associated with subclinical mastitis, and CNS and coliforms in clinical mastitis. This information suggests that environmental mastitis was prevalent in buffaloes of Chitwan District. In this study, 9.5% of the quarters were having bacterial count (BC) more than 250 cfu/mL. The proposed criteria for normal milk are absence of clinical signs, CMT negative, SCC 〈 200 × 10^3 cells/mL, EC 〈 3.7 mS/cm and 〈 250 cfu/mL bacteria. The parameters for defining subclinically mastitic milk are absence of clinical signs, CMT positive, SCC ≥ 200 × 10^3 cells/mL, EC 〉 3.7 mS/cm and 〉 250 cfu/mL bacteria. Similarly, clinical mastitic milk was defined as milk having presence of clinical signs, CMT positive, SCC ≥ 200 × 10^3 cells /mL, EC 〉 3.7 mS/cm and BC 〉 250 cfu/mL.展开更多
Creating companies abroad, in ex-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, has experienced a strong progression, following the amplification process of globalization of world markets, intensification of inter...Creating companies abroad, in ex-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, has experienced a strong progression, following the amplification process of globalization of world markets, intensification of international trade and technological development. We are witnessing a regional disparity regarding the volume of foreign investments in this area, which is due to the difference of attractiveness of host countries economy. The attractiveness of these economies is conditioned, in its turn, by the importance of economic factors and the quality of existing infrastructures, which is at their turn facing an increasing complexity of technology. Business relocation of foreign investors is influenced also by the institutional environment, because foreign investors hope to capitalize on the collateral effects offered by the investment environment in the host country, such as research laboratories and existing infrastructure, without neglecting the benefits of a highly qualified workforce at reduced costs, some geopolitical advantages, etc.. After EU accession, the attractiveness index of business environment in Romania has increased from (-59%) in 2005 to 66% (2008), and Romania was considered among the most attractive economies in Central and Eastern Europe, along with Russia where the attractiveness index increased from 63% (2007) to 72% (2008) and Ukraine which has seen an increase in the attractiveness index of the business environment from 56% (2007) to 67% (2008). This paper aims to highlight the positive effects induced by international business companies in assessing technological absorption capacity of the Romanian economy and to provide economic analysis of the "cause-effect" link between the attractiveness of the Romanian economy-governance--the intake of foreign investment straight to the active processing export of Romania under the impact of the overall effects of international financial crisis.展开更多
The basic goal of accounting is to provide quality accounting information that will aid reliable decision-making. The quality level of this accounting information comes from the company's governance practices, thereb...The basic goal of accounting is to provide quality accounting information that will aid reliable decision-making. The quality level of this accounting information comes from the company's governance practices, thereby emphasizing the importance of corporate governance in companies. Recently, following the financial crises resulting in accounting scandals, attention has been moving towards internal audit function as an important factor in the structure of corporate governance. This paper therefore examined the extent of the relationship between internal audit function and the quality of accounting information of companies. The study adopted the survey research design. The research instrument employed was questionnaire which was administered to internal auditors of the "Big Four". Linear regression analysis was employed in the analysis of the data collected with the use of Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results revealed that there is a significant relationship between the internal audit characteristics and the quality of accounting information. It was recommended that in order to provide credibility to the financial statement, there should be a law in place mandating attachment of internal auditors report to the financial statement.展开更多
Mountain ecosystems are relatively more vulnerable to climate change since human induced climate change is projected to be higher at high altitudes and latitudes. Climate change induced effects related to glacial resp...Mountain ecosystems are relatively more vulnerable to climate change since human induced climate change is projected to be higher at high altitudes and latitudes. Climate change induced effects related to glacial response and water hazards have been documented in the Himalayas in recent years, yet studies regarding species' response to climate change are largely lacking from the mountains and Himalayas of Nepal. Changes in distribution and latitudinal/altitudinal range shift, which are primary adaptive responses to climate change in many species,are largely unknown due to unavailability of adequate data from the past. In this study, we explored the elevational distribution of butterflies in Langtang Village Development Committee(VDC) of Langtang National park; a park located in the high altitudes of Nepal. We found a decreasing species richness pattern along the elevational gradient considered here.Interestingly, elevation did not appear to have a significant effect on the altitudinal distribution ofbutterflies at family level. Also, distribution of butterflies in the area was independent of habitat type,at family level. Besides, we employed indicator group analysis(at family level) and noticed that butterfly families Papilionidae, Riodinidae, and Nymphalidae are significantly associated to high, medium and low elevational zone making them indicator butterfly family for those elevational zones, respectively. We expect that this study could serve as a baseline information for future studies regarding climate change effects and range shifts and provide avenues for further exploration of butterflies in the high altitudes of Nepal.展开更多
The purpose of this paper is to analyze that the office channeling policy that based on Bank Indonesia's rule No. 8/3/PBI/2006 had an impact on the growth of Islamic banking industry in Indonesia. This research used ...The purpose of this paper is to analyze that the office channeling policy that based on Bank Indonesia's rule No. 8/3/PBI/2006 had an impact on the growth of Islamic banking industry in Indonesia. This research used ordinary least square regression to analyze the impact of office channeling policy on the growth of Indonesian Islamic banking industry. The variable used in this paper is office channeling which is used as a dummy variable, and margin deposit and non-performing financing (NPF) are also used as control variables. The indicators of the growth of Indonesian Islamic banking industry are asset and third-party funds. The result shows that office channeling does not have an impact on the growth of Islamic banking industry which is measured by asset growth and third-party funds growth. According to this result, Bank Indonesia should have an innovative policy to stimulate the Islamic banking industry growth in Indonesia.展开更多
Since the roll damping of ships has significant effects of viscosity, it is difficult to calculate it theoretically. Therefore, experimental results or some prediction methods are used to get the roll damping in desig...Since the roll damping of ships has significant effects of viscosity, it is difficult to calculate it theoretically. Therefore, experimental results or some prediction methods are used to get the roll damping in design stage of ships. Among some prediction methods, Ikeda's one is widely used in many ship motion computer programs. Using the method, the roll damping of various ship hulls with various bilge keels can be calculated to investigate its characteristics. To calculate the roll damping of each ship, detailed data of the ship are needed to input. Therefore, a simpler prediction method is expected in primary design stage. Such a simple method must be useful to validate the results obtained by a computer code to predict it on the basis of Ikeda's method, too. On the basis of the predicted roll damping by Ikeda's method for various ships, a very simple prediction formula of the roll damping of ships is deduced in the present paper. Ship hull forms are systematically changed by changing length, beam, draft, mid-ship sectional coefficient and prismatic coefficient. It is found, however, that this simple formula can not be used for ships that have high position of the center of gravity. A modified method to improve accuracy for such ships is proposed.展开更多
Infrastructure development in Nigeria has attracted the attention of researchers in view of the attitudes of contractors and government lead-lag role playing. These attitudes led to the enactment of Fiscal Responsibil...Infrastructure development in Nigeria has attracted the attention of researchers in view of the attitudes of contractors and government lead-lag role playing. These attitudes led to the enactment of Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 and Public Procurement Act 2007 to reduce internal control system deficiencies and budget indiscipline in the Nigerian public sector fiscal matters and procurement process. Ironically, despite these efforts, infrastructure development is still a problem affecting the lives of Nigerians as their poverty level is on the increase. This paper tests the effects of internal control system deficiency on contractors' capability in infrastructure development in the Nigerian public sector. Data drawn from a sample of 228 infrastructures were used for analysis. Two research questions on contractors' fiduciary obligation to government and capacity were analysed. Kendall's Tau-br correlation of coefficient and Chi-square X^2 statistics were employed for data analysis. Findings show that deficient internal control system strongly and directly breeds deficiency in the contractors' capability for infrastructure development. The paper recommends that oath of bribery should complement oath of secrecy to ensure that contractors and government agencies that are responsible for execution of infrastructure play to the rules of the "games", especially the provisions of Public Procurement Act 2007 and Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007. Public-private-partnership-initiative, such as build-operate and transfer method of contracting, should be encouraged to improve on contractors' capability and stewardship.展开更多
The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of financial distress status and corporate governance structures on the level of voluntary disclosure. We apply six independent variables, including the firm's fi...The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of financial distress status and corporate governance structures on the level of voluntary disclosure. We apply six independent variables, including the firm's financial distress status and five components of corporate governance structures, such as board independence, audit committee independence, institutional ownership, board meeting frequency, and audit committee meeting frequency. This research is carried out by examining the annual reports of 114 non-financial firms listed at the Indonesian Stock Exchange over the period of 2009-2011. To test hypotheses, we undergo two different analyses, including independent samples t-test and Multiple Linear Regression. We find that: (1) The audit committee independence and the audit committee meeting frequency have significant positive impacts on the level of voluntary disclosure; (2) The financial distress status is negatively related to the level of disclosure at various levels of significance; and (3) All the independent variables are simultaneously related to voluntary disclosure.展开更多
Poor power quality is really becoming an increasing phenomenon. Studies revealed that most companies, particularly multinationals in Nigeria, do not pay enough attention to the effects of poor power quality on their p...Poor power quality is really becoming an increasing phenomenon. Studies revealed that most companies, particularly multinationals in Nigeria, do not pay enough attention to the effects of poor power quality on their plant and equipment, and let the economic implications alone. The result is high production and maintenance cost. Findings also revealed that these companies loose an average of $50,000 annually owing to equipment damage (such as variable speed drives) caused by poor power quality. This paper focuses on the need for continuous monitoring and management of poor power quality disturbance parameters and the cost for economic implications of no addressing power quality issues.展开更多
文摘Income gaps in China kept widening over the past four decades of economic transition. First, this paper describes the change in income gaps before and after reform and opening-up in 1978 and found that income gaps had been expanding between urban and rural areas, within cities and within the countryside. However, this did not lead to income polarization since low-income groups only had a slower income growth compared with highincome groups. The number of poor people continuously reduced thanks to rapid economic growth. Over the past decade, the widening of income gaps has been initially curbed. Accordingly, we explained the impact of economic transition on income distribution from the perspectives of market-based distribution, ownership structure, opening-up and internal income distribution. Lastly, this paper provides an in-depth analysis on urban-rural income gaps, excessive compensation in monopolistic sectors and income inequalities arising from corruption. To address these problems, it is important to enhance tax regulation, increase transfer payments to poor people, improve social security, equalize public services, enhance poverty relief and develop a fairer income distribution system.
文摘Information on forest structure is important for forest management decisions. This is inadequate in many situations, especially where timber is not of primary interest. We analyzed the structure of two forest types in the Oban Division of Cross River National Park, Nigeria. Systematic sampling technique was used to establish two transects measuring 2,000 x 2 m, at 600 m interval in the two forest types in four locations. Four 50 m x 50 m plots were located alternately at 500 m intervals along each transect, constituting 32 plots per forest type and 64 plots in all, Diameters at breast height (DBH), base; middle and top; crown diameter; total height and crown length were measured on all trees with DBH 〉_ 10 cm. There were 159 stems/ha in the close-canopy forest and 132 stems/ha in the secondary forest. The mean DBH were 34.5 cm and 33.62 cm respectively. The mean heights were 24.79 m and 23.97 m, respectively. Basal area/ha were 41.59 m2 ha~ and 27.38 m2 hal for the two forest types. Majority of the trees encountered in the two forest types belonged to the middle stratum which has implication for small mammals' populations. Emergent trees which are otherwise scarce in other parts of the country were recorded, which also has implications for density thinning and seed supplies.
文摘Spatial data is a key resource for national development. There is a lot of potential locked in spatial data and this potential may be realized by making spatial data readily available for various applications. SD1 (Spatial Data Infrastructures) provides a platform for the data users, producers and so on to generate and share spatial data effectively. Though efforts to develop spatial data infrastructures started worldwide in the late 1970s, SDIs are still perceived by many institutions as new innovation; as such, they have not penetrated to all institutions to bring about effective management and development changes. This paper is reporting on a study conducted to assess SDI Readiness Index for Tanzania. The study aimed at identifying problems undermining SD1 implementation in Tanzania, despite its potential in bringing fast socio-economic development elsewhere in the world. This paper is based on a research based on views from stakeholders of geospatial technology industry in Municipal Councils, Private Companies and Government Departments in Tanzania. Results indicated that Private Companies are more inspired than Government institutions towards implementation of SDIs. And those problems affecting implementation of SDIs are lack of National SDI Policy, lack of awareness and knowledge about SDIs, limited funding to operationalise SDI, lack of institutional leadership to coordinate SDI development activities, lack of political commitment from the Government. It is recommended that delibate efforts be devised to raise awareness of SDI amongst the Tanzanian community.
文摘The paper aims to examine the effect of political influence on corporate transparency, and performance of Indonesian listed companies, Seventy-three large public firms from hundred of the largest companies in Indonesia were selected as the sample. Data for corporate transparency are collected from annual reports for the years 2005-2007. Corporate transparency is indexed by the amount of information disclosed in company's annual report. The disclosure index reporting model developed in the current research is based on the Annual Report Award (ARA, an award given annually to Indonesian listed and non-listed companies), and firm performance is measured using two indicators: ROA (return on assets) and Tobin-Q. The political influence variable is proxied by two indicators: government ownership and the existence of politicians in Board of Directors (BOD). Results demonstrate that contrary to the hypothesis, government ownership (political influence) has positive relation to corporate transparency, as well as to ROA (firm performance). Results also support the hypothesis that transparency act as a mediating variable for the relationship between political influence and firm performance. However, when political influence is pmxied by existence of politicians in BOD and fm'n performance proxied by Tobin-Q, data seems to give support to the hypotheses proposed. The discussion and implications of the findings and suggestions for future research arc discussed.
文摘From 2003 to 2005, in pot and field experiments, rice response to salinity stress of 15 rice varieties was studied at germination and young seedling stages using salt affected soils collected from rice production areas in the Office du Niger zone of Mali. The rice varieties were composed of 10 rice genotypes from the breeding program of Mali and five from West African Rice Development Association (WARDA) program (Saint Louis, Senegal). Soil samples were collected from the visually affected soils which were characterized by the appearance of white or black efflorescence on the soil surface. In pot experiments, the genotypes were allowed to germinate in both affected soil types (white efflorescence and black efflorescence) and salt effects on plant seedling growth were observed. Results showed that all varieties were significantly sensitive to salinity stress based on germination, young seedling shoot and root dry weights. Among the rice varieties, the most salt tolerant variety was BG90-2 (a high yielding genotype from the Institut d'Economie Rurale (IER) breeding program) while the most sensitive variety was Telimani (also from the breeding program of IER). All other varieties were intermediary between these two genotypes. A three year field experiment conducted in a highly affected area near Niono confirmed the results of the pot experiment. The relatively salt tolerant genotypes were found in both Malian (BG90-2, Kogoni91-1, SK51-5-2) and WARDA (Was30-11-1-1-4-6-1B) rice breeding programs.
文摘Lots of critics believe that "relationship" could be a central theme for Shakespeare's plays. However, what Shakespeare portrays is not merely the relationship about "love," but also the relationship in a family. This paper therefore aims to discuss the father-son relationship and the father-daughter relationship in the families portrayed in Shakespeare's plays: The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest. I will analyze how the father-son relationship differs from the father-daughter relationship as exploring the love stories taking place in lives of our heroes and heroines. Additionally, I would like to bravely suspect Shakespeare's intention to overturn the patriarchal frame in an exotic territory while depicting the struggle and entanglement of a father character who realizes the lonely emptiness he has to face after fulfilling the happiness of his child.
文摘A study was performed to evaluate the epidemiological aspects of buffalo mastitis in the District Chitwan, Nepal for characterizing the California mastitis test (CMT), somatic cell count (SCC), electrical conductivity (EC) values and bacteriological analysis for defining buffalo milk. The CMT was performed by mixing equal volume of milk and 3% sodium lauryl sulphate. The SCC was determined by staining milk film with New Man’s Lampert Stain and EC values were measured by manual digital mastitis detector and expressed as mS/cm. Bacteriological analysis was done on the basis of Gram’s stain, morphological findings, colony characteristics and biochemical tests. The maximum number (16%) of clinical cases of mastitis was observed in the month of July and lowest in the month of April (1.6%). When the temperature and humidity increased, it indicates that there is need for better care of lactating buffaloes during this month. On a quarter basis, 16% of the foremilk samples in buffaloes were diagnosed as having subclinical mastitis and 11% were diagnosed as having clinical mastitis. The results of CMT scores and SCC showed the evidence that subclinical and clinical mastitic milk was having CMT positive scores (+1~+3) with ≥ 200 × 103 cells/mL. The mean pH of clinically normal buffalo milk was 6.75 (range 6.39 to 7.08) and subclinical mastitic and clinical mastitic milk was 6.85 (range 6.37 to 7.10) and 6.88 (range 6.41 to 7.20), respectively. Analysis of EC value in the milk revealed the presence of mastitis in buffaloes and the cut-off values was 3.7 mS/cm. The coagulase negative Staphylococcus (CNS), such as S. albus and S. epidermidis were the predominant organisms associated with subclinical mastitis, and CNS and coliforms in clinical mastitis. This information suggests that environmental mastitis was prevalent in buffaloes of Chitwan District. In this study, 9.5% of the quarters were having bacterial count (BC) more than 250 cfu/mL. The proposed criteria for normal milk are absence of clinical signs, CMT negative, SCC 〈 200 × 10^3 cells/mL, EC 〈 3.7 mS/cm and 〈 250 cfu/mL bacteria. The parameters for defining subclinically mastitic milk are absence of clinical signs, CMT positive, SCC ≥ 200 × 10^3 cells/mL, EC 〉 3.7 mS/cm and 〉 250 cfu/mL bacteria. Similarly, clinical mastitic milk was defined as milk having presence of clinical signs, CMT positive, SCC ≥ 200 × 10^3 cells /mL, EC 〉 3.7 mS/cm and BC 〉 250 cfu/mL.
文摘Creating companies abroad, in ex-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, has experienced a strong progression, following the amplification process of globalization of world markets, intensification of international trade and technological development. We are witnessing a regional disparity regarding the volume of foreign investments in this area, which is due to the difference of attractiveness of host countries economy. The attractiveness of these economies is conditioned, in its turn, by the importance of economic factors and the quality of existing infrastructures, which is at their turn facing an increasing complexity of technology. Business relocation of foreign investors is influenced also by the institutional environment, because foreign investors hope to capitalize on the collateral effects offered by the investment environment in the host country, such as research laboratories and existing infrastructure, without neglecting the benefits of a highly qualified workforce at reduced costs, some geopolitical advantages, etc.. After EU accession, the attractiveness index of business environment in Romania has increased from (-59%) in 2005 to 66% (2008), and Romania was considered among the most attractive economies in Central and Eastern Europe, along with Russia where the attractiveness index increased from 63% (2007) to 72% (2008) and Ukraine which has seen an increase in the attractiveness index of the business environment from 56% (2007) to 67% (2008). This paper aims to highlight the positive effects induced by international business companies in assessing technological absorption capacity of the Romanian economy and to provide economic analysis of the "cause-effect" link between the attractiveness of the Romanian economy-governance--the intake of foreign investment straight to the active processing export of Romania under the impact of the overall effects of international financial crisis.
文摘The basic goal of accounting is to provide quality accounting information that will aid reliable decision-making. The quality level of this accounting information comes from the company's governance practices, thereby emphasizing the importance of corporate governance in companies. Recently, following the financial crises resulting in accounting scandals, attention has been moving towards internal audit function as an important factor in the structure of corporate governance. This paper therefore examined the extent of the relationship between internal audit function and the quality of accounting information of companies. The study adopted the survey research design. The research instrument employed was questionnaire which was administered to internal auditors of the "Big Four". Linear regression analysis was employed in the analysis of the data collected with the use of Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results revealed that there is a significant relationship between the internal audit characteristics and the quality of accounting information. It was recommended that in order to provide credibility to the financial statement, there should be a law in place mandating attachment of internal auditors report to the financial statement.
基金funded by The Rufford Foundation(http://www.rufford.org/)
文摘Mountain ecosystems are relatively more vulnerable to climate change since human induced climate change is projected to be higher at high altitudes and latitudes. Climate change induced effects related to glacial response and water hazards have been documented in the Himalayas in recent years, yet studies regarding species' response to climate change are largely lacking from the mountains and Himalayas of Nepal. Changes in distribution and latitudinal/altitudinal range shift, which are primary adaptive responses to climate change in many species,are largely unknown due to unavailability of adequate data from the past. In this study, we explored the elevational distribution of butterflies in Langtang Village Development Committee(VDC) of Langtang National park; a park located in the high altitudes of Nepal. We found a decreasing species richness pattern along the elevational gradient considered here.Interestingly, elevation did not appear to have a significant effect on the altitudinal distribution ofbutterflies at family level. Also, distribution of butterflies in the area was independent of habitat type,at family level. Besides, we employed indicator group analysis(at family level) and noticed that butterfly families Papilionidae, Riodinidae, and Nymphalidae are significantly associated to high, medium and low elevational zone making them indicator butterfly family for those elevational zones, respectively. We expect that this study could serve as a baseline information for future studies regarding climate change effects and range shifts and provide avenues for further exploration of butterflies in the high altitudes of Nepal.
文摘The purpose of this paper is to analyze that the office channeling policy that based on Bank Indonesia's rule No. 8/3/PBI/2006 had an impact on the growth of Islamic banking industry in Indonesia. This research used ordinary least square regression to analyze the impact of office channeling policy on the growth of Indonesian Islamic banking industry. The variable used in this paper is office channeling which is used as a dummy variable, and margin deposit and non-performing financing (NPF) are also used as control variables. The indicators of the growth of Indonesian Islamic banking industry are asset and third-party funds. The result shows that office channeling does not have an impact on the growth of Islamic banking industry which is measured by asset growth and third-party funds growth. According to this result, Bank Indonesia should have an innovative policy to stimulate the Islamic banking industry growth in Indonesia.
文摘Since the roll damping of ships has significant effects of viscosity, it is difficult to calculate it theoretically. Therefore, experimental results or some prediction methods are used to get the roll damping in design stage of ships. Among some prediction methods, Ikeda's one is widely used in many ship motion computer programs. Using the method, the roll damping of various ship hulls with various bilge keels can be calculated to investigate its characteristics. To calculate the roll damping of each ship, detailed data of the ship are needed to input. Therefore, a simpler prediction method is expected in primary design stage. Such a simple method must be useful to validate the results obtained by a computer code to predict it on the basis of Ikeda's method, too. On the basis of the predicted roll damping by Ikeda's method for various ships, a very simple prediction formula of the roll damping of ships is deduced in the present paper. Ship hull forms are systematically changed by changing length, beam, draft, mid-ship sectional coefficient and prismatic coefficient. It is found, however, that this simple formula can not be used for ships that have high position of the center of gravity. A modified method to improve accuracy for such ships is proposed.
文摘Infrastructure development in Nigeria has attracted the attention of researchers in view of the attitudes of contractors and government lead-lag role playing. These attitudes led to the enactment of Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 and Public Procurement Act 2007 to reduce internal control system deficiencies and budget indiscipline in the Nigerian public sector fiscal matters and procurement process. Ironically, despite these efforts, infrastructure development is still a problem affecting the lives of Nigerians as their poverty level is on the increase. This paper tests the effects of internal control system deficiency on contractors' capability in infrastructure development in the Nigerian public sector. Data drawn from a sample of 228 infrastructures were used for analysis. Two research questions on contractors' fiduciary obligation to government and capacity were analysed. Kendall's Tau-br correlation of coefficient and Chi-square X^2 statistics were employed for data analysis. Findings show that deficient internal control system strongly and directly breeds deficiency in the contractors' capability for infrastructure development. The paper recommends that oath of bribery should complement oath of secrecy to ensure that contractors and government agencies that are responsible for execution of infrastructure play to the rules of the "games", especially the provisions of Public Procurement Act 2007 and Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007. Public-private-partnership-initiative, such as build-operate and transfer method of contracting, should be encouraged to improve on contractors' capability and stewardship.
文摘The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of financial distress status and corporate governance structures on the level of voluntary disclosure. We apply six independent variables, including the firm's financial distress status and five components of corporate governance structures, such as board independence, audit committee independence, institutional ownership, board meeting frequency, and audit committee meeting frequency. This research is carried out by examining the annual reports of 114 non-financial firms listed at the Indonesian Stock Exchange over the period of 2009-2011. To test hypotheses, we undergo two different analyses, including independent samples t-test and Multiple Linear Regression. We find that: (1) The audit committee independence and the audit committee meeting frequency have significant positive impacts on the level of voluntary disclosure; (2) The financial distress status is negatively related to the level of disclosure at various levels of significance; and (3) All the independent variables are simultaneously related to voluntary disclosure.
文摘Poor power quality is really becoming an increasing phenomenon. Studies revealed that most companies, particularly multinationals in Nigeria, do not pay enough attention to the effects of poor power quality on their plant and equipment, and let the economic implications alone. The result is high production and maintenance cost. Findings also revealed that these companies loose an average of $50,000 annually owing to equipment damage (such as variable speed drives) caused by poor power quality. This paper focuses on the need for continuous monitoring and management of poor power quality disturbance parameters and the cost for economic implications of no addressing power quality issues.