投资回报及其在国内外图书馆联盟建设的研究与实践

图书馆联盟建设的目的之一是实现图书馆间的资源共建共享,并力求以最少资金投入获取最大资源利用效益。投资回报率是一项经济指标,用于评估投资后的收益。本文借鉴投资回报率概念,回顾投资回报率在国内外图书馆的研究,并以江苏省高等学校文献信息保障系统以及江苏省内多个图书馆联合体为例,研究投资回报率在图书馆联盟建设的实践及其积极意义。

An algorithm for segmentation of lung ROI by mean-shift clustering combined with multi-scale HESSIAN matrix dot filtering

A new algorithm for segmentation of suspected lung ROI(regions of interest)by mean-shift clustering and multi-scale HESSIAN matrix dot filtering was proposed.Original image was firstly filtered by multi-scale HESSIAN matrix dot filters,round suspected nodular lesions in the image were enhanced,and linear shape regions of the trachea and vascular were suppressed.Then,three types of information,such as,shape filtering value of HESSIAN matrix,gray value,and spatial location,were introduced to feature space.The kernel function of mean-shift clustering was divided into product form of three kinds of kernel functions corresponding to the three feature information.Finally,bandwidths were calculated adaptively to determine the bandwidth of each suspected area,and they were used in mean-shift clustering segmentation.Experimental results show that by the introduction of HESSIAN matrix of dot filtering information to mean-shift clustering,nodular regions can be segmented from blood vessels,trachea,or cross regions connected to the nodule,non-nodular areas can be removed from ROIs properly,and ground glass object(GGO)nodular areas can also be segmented.For the experimental data set of 127 different forms of nodules,the average accuracy of the proposed algorithm is more than 90%.

Efficiency Rankings of MBA Programs in Indian Top Public Colleges

This study examines the relative efficiency of the top 20 Indian public colleges that offer MBAs. These colleges were chosen from a list provided by Careers 360, a magazine in India known for its university rankings. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the colleges on an efficiency basis rather than on a total score ranking scale as is the common practice of most publications that rank universities or programs. The ranking method used in this study is based on data envelopment analysis （DEA）, a nonparametric procedure for evaluating entities based upon examining inputs in relation to outputs achieved. The rankings using DEA were somewhat different than those given by Careers 360. The results of the DEA analysis of this study rank the universities that are the most efficient at getting students the best salaries and return on investment （ROI） based on the inputs of diversity, work experience, and residency. The authors conclude, as previous studies have shown, that DEA analysis is a useful and non-biased method of comparing university programs.

Cooperative wireless networks for better green services

In order to guarantee the overall return on investment (ROI), improve user experience and quality of service (QoS), save energy, reduce electra magnetic interference (EMI) and radiation pollution, and enable the sustainable deployment of new profitable applications and services in heterogeneous wireless networks coexistence reality, this paper proposes a cross-network cooperation mechanism to effectively share network resources and infrastructures, and then adaptively control and match multi-network energy distribution characteristics according to actual user/service requirements in different geographic areas. Some idle or lightly-loaded base stations (BS or BSs) will be temporally turned off for saving energy and reducing EMI. Initial simulation results show that the proposed approach can significantly improve the overall energy efficiency and QoS performance across multiple cooperative wireless networks.

Probabilistic Evaluation for Commercial Real Estate Investments

Throughout the decision-making process, prudent investors must address questions regarding the probabilities of future profit gain. In this study, the probability-based discounted cash flow （DCF） method with net present value （NPV） as the indicator was adopted as an analysis tool. A probabilistic framework for measuring exceeding probability of annual rate of return on a commercial real estate investment under a specified holding period was developed. Based on the framework, the relation curves of annual rate of return versus the corresponding exceeding probability of return for available financing schemes were constructed. These curves were used as a tool to prioritize the schemes and inform decision-making. An example case is presented to demonstrate the decision-making process developed in this study. Through the proposed process, investors are given basic information on the return, probability that profit gain will occur, and feasibility of financial schemes for commercial real estate investments.

Return on Investment after Implementation of a Centralized Automated Storage System in a Hospital Pharmacy

An ADS （automated dispensing system） was implemented in our hospital pharmacy in 2008 to optimize and secure the medication process. The main objective of this study was to compare the projected and the real ROI （return on investment）, after seven years of use. ROI was calculated annually （from 2008 to 2015）, by deducting the cost of investment （ADS buying and implementation, maintenance, repairs and ADS upgrade） from the cost saving （drugs stock reduction and decrease of pharmacy staff dedicated to global dispensing）. In 2015, total costs saving （＋$1,141,987） were divided between decreasing drug stock value and reduction of pharmacy staff. Total costs of investment （-$978,656） were acquisition, maintenance, repairs and an unplanned upgrade costs. Finally, the real ROI was ＋$163,331 after seven years of use. In 2008, projected ROI was ＋$410,786. The real payback period has been increased by approximately two years （six years of use, instead of four years as expected）. Despite their cost, ADSs are a worthwhile investment, leading to a ROI within a few years. These economic considerations should be put into perspective with optimization of drugs stock management, greater efficiency of the global dispensing process, securitization of medication process and redeployment of pharmacy staff.

Existing Contradictions and Recommendations to China＇s Insurance Industry Characterized by Low-growth and Low-interest

This article seeks to analyze the contradictions and recommendations to China＇s insurance industry in the context of low-growth and low interest market. Under the pressure caused by the contradictions between the sustainable growth in the insurance premium income and the low ROI, it is very important to solve these contradictions for maintaining a sustainable and steady growth in insurance industry, at the same time, it is also favorable to play a role as a social stabilizer as well as an economic booster for insurance industry. This paper can be divided into four parts： Part I analyzes the five basic characteristics of Chinese low-growth and low-interest insurance industry; part II elaborates the principal contradictions faced by Chinese low-growth and low-interest insurance industry; part III analyzes the development environment of Chinese insurance industry; part IV proposes the recommendations to solve these contradictions.

New auto color correction algorithm for microscopic imaging system

trast （HC） method is proposed to define saliency value of each pixel, then auto Grabcut segmenta- tion method is used to segment the salient region so as to obtain a region of interest （ROI）. After that, normalized histograms and cumulative histograms for ROI and region of background （ROB） are calculated. The mapping functions of the corresponding regions are derived from reference image to distorted image through the nearest cumulative histogram matching method, so that color correction can be finally achieved. Experimental results show that benefitting from the separate treatment to ROI and ROB, the proposed color correction method could avoid error propagation between the two different regions, which achieves good color correction result in comparison with other correction methods.

Management Development Trends of Nowadays in Albania

Albanian business environment is defined by complexity, dynamism, uncertainty. In Albania, there are small and medium enterprises （businesses）. Although we have a high degree of business bankrupt, many businesses are reinforcing their competitive positions in market. In these conditions, a new appropriate organizational structure often plays a crucial role in managing the challenges. While the finn grows, at the same time grows the need for organization, involvement and leadership. In today＇s changing times, effective leadership is a key component of organizational success. Even if management is the key of operation and the standard operating procedures, our study shows that the manager always need leader＇s power. In today＇s global marketplace, organizations that strategically focus on building leadership capacity for the future will reap the benefits in the years to come. New trends in business development, of course have increased requirements for local managers. The organizations are under pressure to show return on investment for training and development. Although positive trends, problems which management is faced are more challenging than the degree of preparation and performance that they offer, so their qualitative qualification remains the continuous preoccupation as the role of our school is in this direction. From this point of view, education in distance can be considered as complementary approach and in some conditions as a worthy replacement of direct education, which still dominates educative systems in Albania.

The Successful Methodology for Enterprise Resource Planning （ERP） Implementation

Organizations need to use a proved methodology to reduce implementation risks and enable the enterprise resource planning （ERP） solution to be put into operation as quickly as possible. The right implementation methodology will also help ensure that the ERP implementation fully addresses an organization＇s business goals and objectives. Modern ERP implementation methodology encourages and supports a progressive approach to the management for users of ERP systems. A company is constantly seeking better methods and models for decision supports in all kinds of decisions and developing/copying new products/markets that generate the growth of the company. On the other hand, a company creates efficient and effective operations that improve the return on investment, because ERP is always considered as an asset. This paper focuses on the interaction of culture in a company, business strategy, and organizational skills and balances the relationship among ERP methodology, ERP implementation, and the performance of the company. Considering the fact that different ERP systems use different methodologies, short descriptions of the most dominant brand name ERP are analyzed （Oracle Financials, PeopleSoft, and systems, applications, and products （SAP） implementation methodology）. Although all methodologies may look similar, the selection of a proper methodology is the most critical part in ERP investment. The focus of this paper is on the accelerated SAP methodology, also named as ASAP methodology, because it is the most used one on the worldwide market of ERP systems.

Exiles Turn Lemons Into Lemonade： Multiethnic Poets of the US Crossing Borders

This study critically examines selections from the political poetry of African American writer Amiri Baraka （Le Roi Jones） and Arab American writer Suheir Hammad and the path they have chosen for themselves as exiles reflected in their writing. Edward Said＇s theory of exile is employed to illuminate common areas of interests that link the two writers together as exiles. The study reveals their attitude toward various issues that impact both races, the African American and Arab American such as imperialism, colonization, and oppression. Their poetry underlines the impact of capitalism and racism on US society and other nations disempowered by imperialism.

An Image Analysis of Breast Thermograms

Thermography （infrared imaging） is a non-invasive technique applied for the detection breast cancer. We consider the problem of automatically recognition malignant breast from frontal view thermography image presented as gray scale image. This framework provides insights into several issues： breast Region of Interest （ROI） detection, extraction statistical features, extraction features based on texture and co-occurrence matrix.

The Discount Rate in Terms of Evaluating Investments in Rangelands： The Case Study of Greece

This paper aims at analyzing and evaluating investments in rangeland management through the use of the discount rate tool. The most important parameter which is considered when estimating the discount rate is the lifetime of the investment, which varies depending on the kind of the intervention. An undeniable characteristic of rangelands is their rich biodiversity. However, the fact that not all the flora and fauna has been recorded yet, suggests the need for using the lowest possible discount rate （but not zero）, giving thus a high value on the benefits that will arise for future generations always in the light of sustainable development. At the same time, a sensitivity analysis has to be performed in order to determine the upper and lower limit of return on investment, so that the decision-maker in charge can be more flexible on the evaluation Of an investment proposal.

Gaining Satisfaction and Trust in a Brand Website

This study attempts to examine whether ＂trust＂ and ＂satisfaction＂ in a brand website are affected by the level of website interactivity as well as the four facets （aesthetics, playfulness, service excellence, and customer return on investment） of the Experiential Value. Three interactive versions （low, medium, and high） of a website for a fictitious laptop brand were designed. An online experiment was conducted 180 students participated in the study. Data analysis indicated that higher levels of trust and satisfaction were generated when participants were exposed to the low interactive version of the website. Regarding the four facets of Experiential Value, aesthetics and customer return on investment （croi） have positive relationship with both trust and satisfaction in the brand website. Playfulness appears to have negative whereas excellence does not have significant relationship with trust and satisfaction. Limitations and guidelines for future research are provided.

The Return on Capital in China and Its Determinants~

This paper first estimates the overall return on capital in China between 1978 and 2013. It then identifies the determinants of return on capital by analyzing provincial panel data and breaks down the causes of swerves in capital return after the eruption of the global financial crisis in 2008. It finds that： （1） there is significant inertia in the return on capital,＂ （2） government intervention has significantly negative impact on capital return; （3） a significantly negative correlation is observed between investment rate and return on capital,＂ and （4） the increases in the shares of secondary and tertiary industries in the economy have significantly positive impact on return on capital. This paper concludes that the growth in investment rate and the expansion of government size are both important contributors to the recent decline in China＇s return on capital since the financial crisis.

Does Accounting Choices Affect Financial Reporting Communication？ Some Critical Consideration

The aim of this work is to analyze the critical issues related to stock options accounting granted to employees. Given the different ways to collect stock option plans, it follows that according to the accounting treatment adopted, it changes the financial reporting of stock option plans, and thus the information communicated to stakeholders and markets in general. The examination of the accounting treatment of stock options starts from the study of legal changes relating to the stock options and various criteria suggested will be presented for the evaluation of the options and for detection of their cost in the financial statements of companies （Guay, Kothari, ＆ Sloan, 2003）. After the analysis of international accounting standards issued by the International Accounting Standards Board （IASB） on the subject, specifically the ＂IFRS 2＂, we can state that they had a strong impact on Italian companies （Ciampaglia, 2008）. The central aspect of the study, however, consists of an analysis of the market effects of accounting for the cost associated with the issuance of stock option plans （Cerri ＆ Sottoriva, 2010）. Budgeted costs relating to the adoption of stock option plans granted to employees change the measures of economic performance of the enterprise, such as return on investment （ROI） and return on equity （ROE）, with significant effects on the evaluation of the economic capital of the company. A company that does not account for costs related to stock option plans recorded a best exercise, but it could distort the valuation of fmancial analysts （Tagliavini, 2000）. Finally, it can be observed that the proper accounting of costs associated with stock options is a prerequisite for the comparability of financial statements of companies that grant, and it is therefore necessary to adequately reflect the value of the company.

Rationality and Risk Management of the Basic Old-age Insurance Fund Invested in the Capital Market

With the accelerated development of population aging, the pressure to pay for the future pension fund in our country is increasing. Affected by many factors, such as investment limits, inflation and interest rate cut, the rate of return on investment is very low. The introduction of the new policy allows the basic pension fund to enter the capital market, which is of great significance to improve the rate of return on investment, ease the pressure of capital gap, and promote the healthy development of the capital market. This paper makes a deep analysis of the rationality of the basic endowment insurance fund entering the market, and then puts forward some suggestions to avoid the risk of the pension market.

Executive remuneration and financial performance in Brazilian companies

The objective of this study is to investigate the existence of a relationship between executive remuneration and financial performance in 28 Brazilian companies from the industrial sector. These companies have been selected among those companies elected as ＂The Best Companies to Work for in Brazil＂. In order to operationalize the remuneration variable, the authors use the monthly salary, the variable salary and three indexes--of benefits, career and professional development--which have been created especially for this survey. To measure financial performance, the authors use three accounting measures： sales growth, return on equity （ROE） and return on sales （ROS）. The results point the existence of a relationship between executive remuneration and financial performance.

Region-of-interest based rate control for UAV video coding

To meet the requirement of high-quality transmission of videos captured by unmanned aerial vehicles （UAV） with low bandwidth, a novel rate control （RC） scheme based on region-of-interest （ROI） is proposed. First, the ROI information is sent to the encoder with the latest high efficient video coding （HEVC） standard to generate an ROI map. Then, by using the ROI map, bit allocation methods are developed at frame level and large coding unit （LCU） level, to avoid inaccurate bit allocation produced by camera movement. At last, by using a better robustness R-2 model, the quantization parameter （QP） for each LCU is calculated. The experimental results show that the proposed RC method can get a lower bitrate error and a higher quality for reconstructed video by choosing appropriate pixel weight on the HEVC platform.

Extended digital image correlation method for micro-region deformation measurement

Extended digital image correlation(X-DIC) method is one novel test method in experimental mechanics.In this paper,the principle of the X-DIC method was introduced in detail.A selection scheme of the initial value of Newton iteration method was proposed when Newton iteration method was applied to solve the partial differential equations.This scheme could make the X-DIC method suitable for the large deformation measurement and avoid the non-convergence phenomenon effectively.The performance of the X-DIC method was verified by simulated images.Since the pixel point with the maximum absolute error occurred mainly at the corner or on the interface of the region of interest(ROI,region used for correlation calculation),measured deformation of the core area(area surrounding the center point of the ROI with a smaller size) was taken as the reliable measured value.The measurement accuracy of the X-DIC method could be improved greatly by using the core area.Combined with a long-distance microscope,the X-DIC method could be used in the deformation measurement of the micro-region.Zero deformation experiment was done to test the precision of the measurement system.Then,the X-DIC method was applied to measure the micro-region deformation of the specimen with a crack.Test value was proved to be in accordance with the actual deformation,showing that the X-DIC method is suitable for the research of microscale mechanical behavior of materials.