scholarly journals Evaluative application of UKCP09‐based downscaled future weather years to simulate overheating risk in typical English homes

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 231-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajat Gupta ◽  
Matthew Gregg ◽  
Hu Du ◽  
Katie Williams
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Simulation Modelling ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Building Simulation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Climate Projections ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Difference

PurposeTo critically compare three future weather year (FWY) downscaling approaches, based on the 2009 UK Climate Projections, used for climate change impact and adaptation analysis in building simulation software.Design/methodology/approachThe validity of these FWYs is assessed through dynamic building simulation modelling to project future overheating risk in typical English homes in 2050s and 2080s.FindingsThe modelling results show that the variation in overheating projections is far too significant to consider the tested FWY data sets equally suitable for the task.Research and practical implicationsIt is recommended that future research should consider harmonisation of the downscaling approaches so as to generate a unified data set of FWYs to be used for a given location and climate projection. If FWY are to be used in practice, live projects will need viable and reliable FWY on which to base their adaptation decisions. The difference between the data sets tested could potentially lead to different adaptation priorities specifically with regard to time series and adaptation phasing through the life of a building.Originality/valueThe paper investigates the different results derived from FWY application to building simulation. The outcome and implications are important considerations for research and practice involved in FWY data use in building simulation intended for climate change adaptation modelling.

The implications of the revised code of corporate governance on firm performance

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 350-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdifatah Ahmed Haji ◽  
Sanni Mubaraq
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Firm Performance ◽  
Ownership Structure ◽  
Market Performance ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The One

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of corporate governance and ownership structure attributes on firm performance following the revised code on corporate governance in Malaysia. The study presents a longitudinal assessment of the compliance and implications of the revised code on firm performance. Design/methodology/approach – Two data sets consisting of before (2006) and after (2008-2010) the revised code are examined. Drawing from the largest companies listed on Bursa Malaysia (BM), the first data set contains 92 observations in the year 2006 while the second data set comprises of 282 observations drawn from the largest companies listed on BM over a three-year period, from 2008-2010. Both accounting (return on assets and return on equity) and market performance (Tobin’s Q) measures were used to measure firm performance. Multiple and panel data regression analyses were adopted to analyze the data. Findings – The study shows that there were still cases of non-compliance to the basic requirements of the code such as the one-third independent non-executive director (INDs) requirement even after the revised code. While the regression models indicate marginal significance of board size and independent directors before the revised code, the results indicate all corporate governance variables have a significant negative relationship with at least one of the measures of corporate performance. Independent chairperson, however, showed a consistent positive impact on firm performance both before and after the revised code. In addition, ownership structure elements were found to have a negative relationship with either accounting or market performance measures, with institutional ownership showing a consistent negative impact on firm performance. Firm size and leverage, as control variables, were significant in determining corporate performance. Research limitations/implications – One limitation is the use of separate measures of corporate governance attributes, as opposed to a corporate governance index (CGI). As a result, the study constructs a CGI based on the recommendations of the revised code and proposes for future research use. Practical implications – Some of the largest companies did not even comply with basic requirements such as the “one-third INDs” mandatory requirement. Hence, the regulators may want to reinforce the requirements of the code and also detail examples of good governance practices. The results, which show a consistent positive relationship between the presence of an independent chairperson and firm performance in both data sets, suggest listed companies to consider appointing an independent chairperson in the corporate leadership. The regulatory authorities may also wish to note this phenomenon when drafting any future corporate governance codes. Originality/value – This study offers new insights of the implications of regulatory changes on the relationship between corporate governance attributes and firm performance from the perspective of a developing country. The development of a CGI for future research is a novel approach of this study.

Reconciling selection criteria of Islamic banking services: a survey on perception of Islamic bankers, institutional clients and retail customers in UAE

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shinaj Valangattil Shamsudheen ◽  
Ziyaad Mahomed ◽  
Shamsher Mohamad
Keyword(s):  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Selection Criteria ◽  
Paired Comparison ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Marketing Strategies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Islamic Banking ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the differences in patronage factors influencing “retail customers” and “institutional clients” to bank Islamically and to identify the reasons bankers perceive that their customers’ bank with them in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach A total of 237; 416; and 70 balanced responses were collected from Islamic bankers, retail customers and institutional clients of UAE, respectively. Weighted average scores were computed for ranking the selection criteria factors across the data set and paired comparison analysis was conducted to analyse the variation of selection criteria between the data sets. Findings Empirical results indicate that Islamic banking practitioners maintain an identical perception with retail customers in relation to the selection criteria of Islamic banking products and services, with the “Sharīʿah-compliance” factor dominating other factors under examination. With respect to the perception regarding institutional/corporate clients, Islamic bankers exhibited a divergent perception in connection with selection criteria of Islamic banking products and services and the factor “cost and affordability” and “rates and return” are prioritized above factor “Sharīʿah-compliance”. Research limitations/implications The scope of the study is limited to a single country. Hence, the finding of this study cannot be generalized to the other regions. Although the study covers a considerable sample from each segment, still there is an avenue for improvement by covering more respondents into the survey. Consequently, the results of this study should be read with these limitations. Further, analysis of the variation among intra divisions of each segment such as Muslim and non-Muslim with respect to retail customers; the different level of management at the banks and focusing the specific sector of the industry is beyond the scope of this study. These directions provide avenues for future research. Practical implications The study provides useful insights for bankers to revisit their marketing strategies to attract and retain more clients. Hence, the findings also suggest policy recommendations for nascent Islamic banking markets to move to the next stages of maturity. The findings of this study have implications for firms’ strategic directions and future investments of organizations, especially when the competition in the industry is intense. Future studies are recommended in other countries where the Islamic financial market share is significant. Originality/value While ample perception studies have carried out in the Islamic banking industry of the UAE, studies that focus on institutional clients, especially with reference to the factors that determine the selection criteria; studies examining banker’s perception towards Islamic banks and their clients (retail and institutional); studies that reconcile the perception of bankers and customers (retail and institutional) are all inadequately covered in existing literatures. This study attempts to fill some of these significant gaps.

scholarly journals What Countries Select More Experienced Leaders? The PolEx Measure of Political Experience

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Alexander Baturo ◽  
Johan A. Elkink
Keyword(s):  
Career Paths ◽  
Latent Variable ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Variable Model ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Political Experience ◽  
National Leaders ◽  
Regime Types ◽  
The Difference

Abstract How can one assess which countries select more experienced leaders for the highest office? There is wide variation in prior career paths of national leaders within, and even more so between, regime types. It is therefore challenging to obtain a truly comparative measure of political experience; empirical studies have to rely on proxies instead. This article proposes PolEx, a measure of political experience that abstracts away from the details of career paths and generalizes based on the duration, quality and breadth of an individual's experience in politics. The analysis draws on a novel data set of around 2,000 leaders from 1950 to 2017 and uses a Bayesian latent variable model to estimate PolEx. The article illustrates how the new measure can be used comparatively to assess whether democracies select more experienced leaders. The authors find that while on average they do, the difference with non-democracies has declined dramatically since the early 2000s. Future research may leverage PolEx to investigate the role of prior political experience in, for example, policy making and crisis management.

Exploring climate finance for tourism adaptation development: an overview

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 593-605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Vieira do Nascimento
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
English Language ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Climate Finance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
New Research

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the links between climate finance and tourism adaptation development. Besides increasing adaptation and mitigation efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions, climate change remains a major challenge in the twenty-first century and beyond especially for tourism which is highly climate sensitive. Hence, it is necessary for tourism to adapt to survive. The aim of the study is to provide a systematic overview of the topic to offer a foundation for better understanding different ways of integrating climate finance initiatives with tourism. Design/methodology/approach The research focused on the top-ranked, peer reviewed journals of each of the two selected research fields. To address this topic, an in-depth systematic literature review in the fields of climate change finance and tourism adaptation development was conducted. Furthermore, because it is a relatively new research topic, conference proceedings were also explored. To guarantee wide coverage of the literature, a query of the following scholarly databases was considered: Elsevier, ScienceDirect and Web of Science. Findings Based on the analyses of the literature available on the topic, the paper highlights the main research trends and conclusions. It is argued that there is imbalance of knowledge on climate change finance as it relates to tourism. To date, there have been relatively few published articles on this topic in the context of tourism. Based on the findings, promising areas for future research were identified, and in particular for small island communities and recommendations for future research are outlined. Research limitations/implications The paper is limited by the scope of the literature review accessed by the researcher. The results of this review may vary according to the databases used. Originality/value Currently, there is no extensive review of articles on climate finance and tourism adaptation. This paper aims at reviewing climate finance studies published in English language to explore knowledge gaps in tourism adaptation. Sets of themes being advanced are also highlighted. Recommendations for future research are provided.

A systematic review of machine learning-based missing value imputation techniques

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tressy Thomas ◽  
Enayat Rajabi
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Evaluation Metrics ◽  
Correct Prediction ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Missing Value ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Missing Value Imputation ◽  
Literature Reviews

PurposeThe primary aim of this study is to review the studies from different dimensions including type of methods, experimentation setup and evaluation metrics used in the novel approaches proposed for data imputation, particularly in the machine learning (ML) area. This ultimately provides an understanding about how well the proposed framework is evaluated and what type and ratio of missingness are addressed in the proposals. The review questions in this study are (1) what are the ML-based imputation methods studied and proposed during 2010–2020? (2) How the experimentation setup, characteristics of data sets and missingness are employed in these studies? (3) What metrics were used for the evaluation of imputation method?Design/methodology/approachThe review process went through the standard identification, screening and selection process. The initial search on electronic databases for missing value imputation (MVI) based on ML algorithms returned a large number of papers totaling at 2,883. Most of the papers at this stage were not exactly an MVI technique relevant to this study. The literature reviews are first scanned in the title for relevancy, and 306 literature reviews were identified as appropriate. Upon reviewing the abstract text, 151 literature reviews that are not eligible for this study are dropped. This resulted in 155 research papers suitable for full-text review. From this, 117 papers are used in assessment of the review questions.FindingsThis study shows that clustering- and instance-based algorithms are the most proposed MVI methods. Percentage of correct prediction (PCP) and root mean square error (RMSE) are most used evaluation metrics in these studies. For experimentation, majority of the studies sourced the data sets from publicly available data set repositories. A common approach is that the complete data set is set as baseline to evaluate the effectiveness of imputation on the test data sets with artificially induced missingness. The data set size and missingness ratio varied across the experimentations, while missing datatype and mechanism are pertaining to the capability of imputation. Computational expense is a concern, and experimentation using large data sets appears to be a challenge.Originality/valueIt is understood from the review that there is no single universal solution to missing data problem. Variants of ML approaches work well with the missingness based on the characteristics of the data set. Most of the methods reviewed lack generalization with regard to applicability. Another concern related to applicability is the complexity of the formulation and implementation of the algorithm. Imputations based on k-nearest neighbors (kNN) and clustering algorithms which are simple and easy to implement make it popular across various domains.

Fast and accurate detection of surface defect based on improved YOLOv4

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiawei Lian ◽  
Junhong He ◽  
Yun Niu ◽  
Tianze Wang
Keyword(s):  
Feature Extraction ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Surface Defect ◽  
Steel Ingot ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Processing Technologies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Public Data

Purpose The current popular image processing technologies based on convolutional neural network have the characteristics of large computation, high storage cost and low accuracy for tiny defect detection, which is contrary to the high real-time and accuracy, limited computing resources and storage required by industrial applications. Therefore, an improved YOLOv4 named as YOLOv4-Defect is proposed aim to solve the above problems. Design/methodology/approach On the one hand, this study performs multi-dimensional compression processing on the feature extraction network of YOLOv4 to simplify the model and improve the feature extraction ability of the model through knowledge distillation. On the other hand, a prediction scale with more detailed receptive field is added to optimize the model structure, which can improve the detection performance for tiny defects. Findings The effectiveness of the method is verified by public data sets NEU-CLS and DAGM 2007, and the steel ingot data set collected in the actual industrial field. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed YOLOv4-Defect method can greatly improve the recognition efficiency and accuracy and reduce the size and computation consumption of the model. Originality/value This paper proposed an improved YOLOv4 named as YOLOv4-Defect for the detection of surface defect, which is conducive to application in various industrial scenarios with limited storage and computing resources, and meets the requirements of high real-time and precision.

scholarly journals Environmental Change Threatens Freshwater Insect Communities in Northwest Africa: A Meta-Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nils Kaczmarek ◽  
Ralf B. Schäfer ◽  
Elisabeth Berger
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Temperature ◽  
Negative Binomial ◽  
Small Body ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Insect Communities ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Temperature Conductivity ◽  
Northwest Africa ◽  
The Impact

A climatic shift from temperate to arid conditions is predicted for Northwest Africa. Water temperature, salinity, and river intermittency are likely to increase, which may impact freshwater communities, ecosystem functioning, and related ecosystem services. Quantitative data and information on the impact of climate change on insect communities (e.g., richness, taxonomic and trait composition) are still scarce for Northwest Africa. In this study, we extracted information on freshwater insect occurrence and environmental variables in Northwest Africa from the results of a literature search to study potential consequences of changing climatic conditions for these communities. Our data set covered 96 families in 165 sites in Morocco and Algeria. We quantified the impact of several explanatoryvariables (climate, altitude, water temperature, conductivity, intermittency, flow, aridity, dams, and land cover) on richness, taxonomic and functional trait composition using negative binomial regression models and constrained ordination. Family richness in arid sites was on average 37 % lower than in temperate sites in association with flow, river regulation, cropland extent, conductivity, altitude, and water temperature. With 36 % of the studied temperate sites predicted to turn arid by the end of the century, a loss of insect families can be predicted for Northwest Africa, mainly affecting species adapted to temperate environments. Resistance and resilience traits such as small body size, aerial dispersal, and air breathing promote survival in arid climates. Future research should report insect occurrences on species level to allow for better predictions on climate change effects.

An application of data envelopment analysis for Korean banks with negative data

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 1052-1064 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Joo Lee ◽  
Seong-Jong Joo ◽  
Hong Gyun Park
Keyword(s):  
Data Envelopment Analysis ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Data Envelopment ◽  
Negative Data ◽  
Ownership Type ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Translation Invariant ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Dea Models ◽  
Regional Banks

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to measure the comparative efficiency of 18 Korean commercial banks under the presence of negative observations and examine performance differences among them by grouping them according to their market conditions. Design/methodology/approach The authors employ two data envelopment analysis (DEA) models such as a Banker, Charnes, and Cooper (BCC) model and a modified slacks-based measure of efficiency (MSBM) model, which can handle negative data. The BCC model is proven to be translation invariant for inputs or outputs depending on output or input orientation. Meanwhile, the MSBM model is unit invariant in addition to translation invariant. The authors compare results from both models and choose one for interpreting results. Findings Most Korean banks recovered from the worst performance in 2011 and showed similar performance in recent years. Among three groups such as national banks, regional banks, and special banks, the most special banks demonstrated superb performance across models and years. Especially, the performance difference between the special banks and the regional banks was statistically significant. The authors concluded that the high performance of the special banks was due to their nationwide market access and ownership type. Practical implications This study demonstrates how to analyze and measure the efficiency of entities when variables contain negative observations using a data set for Korean banks. The authors have tried two major DEA models that are able to handle negative data and proposed a practical direction for future studies. Originality/value Although there are research papers for measuring the performance of banks in Korea, all of the papers in the topic have studied efficiency or productivity using positive data sets. However, variables such as net incomes and growth rates frequently include negative observations in bank data sets. This is the first paper to investigate the efficiency of bank operations in the presence of negative data in Korea.

The shifting of climate types: manifestation to phenology and ecosystems structure

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunta Kalvāne ◽  
Andis Kalvāns ◽  
Agrita Briede ◽  
Ilmārs Krampis ◽  
Dārta Kaupe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Breaking Point ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Precipitation Regime ◽  
Climate Type ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Spatial Changes ◽  
Temporal And Spatial ◽  
The Impact

<p>According to the Köppen climate classification, almost the entire area of Latvia belongs to the same climate type, Dfb, which is characterized by humid continental climates with warm (sometimes hot) summers and cold winters.  In the last decades whether conditions on the western coast of Latvia more characterized by temperate maritime climates. In this area there has been a transition (and still ongoing) to the climate type Cfb.</p><p>Temporal and spatial changes of temperature and precipitation regime have been examined in whole territory to identify the breaking point of climate type shifts. We used two type of climatological data sets: gridded daily temperature from the E-OBS data set version 21.0e (Cornes et al., 2018) and direct observations from meteorological stations (data source: Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre). The temperature and precipitation regime have changed significantly in the last century - seasonal and regional differences can be observed in the territory of Latvia.</p><p>We have digitized and analysed more than 47 thousand phenological records, fixed by volunteers in period 1970-2018. Study has shown that significant seasonal changes have taken place across the Latvian landscape due to climate change (Kalvāne and Kalvāns, 2021). The largest changes have been recorded for the unfolding (BBCH11) and flowering (BBCH61) phase of plants – almost 90% of the data included in the database demonstrate a negative trend. The winter of 1988/1989 may be considered as breaking point, it has been common that many phases have begun sooner (particularly spring phases), while abiotic autumn phases have been characterized by late years.</p><p>Study gives an overview aboutclimate change (also climate type shift) impacts on ecosystems in Latvia, particularly to forest and semi-natural grasslands and temporal and spatial changes of vegetation structure and distribution areas.</p><p>This study was carried out within the framework of the Impact of Climate Change on Phytophenological Phases and Related Risks in the Baltic Region (No. 1.1.1.2/VIAA/2/18/265) ERDF project and the Climate change and sustainable use of natural resources institutional research grant of the University of Latvia (No. AAP2016/B041//ZD2016/AZ03).</p><p>Cornes, R. C., van der Schrier, G., van den Besselaar, E. J. M. and Jones, P. D.: An Ensemble Version of the E-OBS Temperature and Precipitation Data Sets, J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 123(17), 9391–9409, doi:10.1029/2017JD028200, 2018.</p><p>Kalvāne, G. and Kalvāns, A.(2021): Phenological trends of multi-taxonomic groups in Latvia, 1970-2018, Int. J. Biometeorol., doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-020-02068-8, 2021.</p>

Post-purchase behaviour from customer perceived value of mobile payment services

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming-Hsiung Hsiao
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Perceived Value ◽  
Behavioural Intention ◽  
Mobile Payment ◽  
Research Model ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Utilitarian Value ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Post Purchase

Purpose Mobile payment (MP), near field communication-based particularly, has become one of the future payment tools. This study aims to indicate the difference between consumer users and non-users by examining the effect of MP users’ perceived value on their satisfaction and on MP non-users behavioural intention. Once those MP users’ have achieved satisfaction, the study then investig ates how consumers bring about the need recognition and are more desirable to buy more products. Design/methodology/approach This study develops a research model, which examines the effect of consumer perceived value, including utilitarian value, technicality and perceived risk, on MP users’ satisfaction and MP non-users behavioural intention. In methodology, it adopts structural equation modelling to verify the proposed research model for empirical studies. The data set consists of 161 MP users and 277 non-users of consumers. Findings The findings show that consumers, both MP users and non-users included, are encouraged to improve utilitarian value if they are favourable to adopt MP services. Relatively, female users emphasize more on perceived risk, whilst male users emphasize more on technicality. Moreover, MP non-users and female users still have much concern about perceived risk such that they are inclined to avoid adopting MP services. Originality/value Past research has examined the adoption of MP services from the perspective of consumers with a focus on the perceived value, satisfaction and behavioural intention. However, only limited research examined the post-purchase evaluation of MP users. The study fills this gap by clarifying the difference between consumer users and non-users in the effect of MP users’ perceived value on their satisfaction and on their non-users behavioural intention.

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