scholarly journals Bat species diversity trend along an elevation gradient: A study in Crocker Range Park, Sabah, Borneo

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yen Chi Lok ◽  
Vun Gin Siau ◽  
Nur Ain Awatif Mohd Kanapiah ◽  
Teck Chun Lai ◽  
Nur Nisma Haziera Husna Haslan ◽  
...  

Bats (Order: Chiroptera) is a recognised group of bioindicators due to their sensitivity towards alterations in their immediate surroundings. With the threats of climate change becoming more severe on a daily basis, it is reasonable to collect data on how bat diversity is influenced by elevation. This will be useful to predict and monitor possible upslope shifting of bat species due to increase in surrounding temperature or anthropogenic pressure. Hence, this study aims to uncover the bat diversity trend at different elevations in Crocker Range Park (CRP), Sabah, Malaysia. Bat trappings were conducted in four substations within this park, covering an elevation spectrum from 450 to 1900 m a.s.l. The overall sampling managed to capture 133 individuals of bats, predominantly Pteropodidae, with the addition of two new species locality records for CRP, Murina peninsularis and Hypsugo vondermanni. Simple linear regression analyses revealed that both bat diversity and richness have an inverse linear relationship with elevation. Likewise, the Pearson’s correlation value, associating bat diversity with elevation, also shows that they have a negative relationship at r = -0.852. Heterogeneity of habitats explain this trend, as in the lower counterpart of CRP, lowland forests, which are richer in fruit and insect resources persist. Besides, lower land forests have better niche assortment, due to the distinctive layers stratification, allowing bats utilising different guilds to thrive in the same vegetation profile. This study further emphasises the role of CRP to protect most of the bat species found in Borneo, as well as serving as the baseline data for the future studies that look into the impact of temperature increment towards the upslope shifting of the bat population in CRP.

2022 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 846
Author(s):  
Stanislas Martin ◽  
Audrey Foulon ◽  
Wissam El Hage ◽  
Diane Dufour-Rainfray ◽  
Frédéric Denis

The study aimed to examine the impact of the oropharyngeal microbiome in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and to clarify whether there might be a bidirectional link between the oral microbiota and the brain in a context of dysbiosis-related neuroinflammation. We selected nine articles including three systemic reviews with several articles from the same research team. Different themes emerged, which we grouped into 5 distinct parts concerning the oropharyngeal phageome, the oropharyngeal microbiome, the salivary microbiome and periodontal disease potentially associated with schizophrenia, and the impact of drugs on the microbiome and schizophrenia. We pointed out the presence of phageoma in patients suffering from schizophrenia and that periodontal disease reinforces the role of inflammation in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Moreover, saliva could be an interesting substrate to characterize the different stages of schizophrenia. However, the few studies we have on the subject are limited in scope, and some of them are the work of a single team. At this stage of knowledge, it is difficult to conclude on the existence of a bidirectional link between the brain and the oral microbiome. Future studies on the subject will clarify these questions that for the moment remain unresolved.


Author(s):  
Edy Effendi ◽  
Muhammad Imron

Research on the role of the APIP review of the Ministry/agency Work Plan and Budget document to determine the impact on the efficiency of ministry/agency spending (case study at the Ministry of Religion). The method used in this study uses simple linear regression with dummy. The use of linear regression is used to examine the relationship between independent variables (certain types of expenditure) and dependent variables (total expenditure). Whereas, dummy is used to find out before and after the APIP review is done. Throughout the author's search, this research has never been done. Based on the results of linear regression obtained, the APIP review significantly had a positive effect on official travel expenditure and honorarium but did not significantly affect building spending and equipment. Abstrak   Penelitian atas peran reviu APIP atas dokumen Rencana Kerja dan Anggaran Kementerian Negara/Lembaga untuk mengetahui dampaknya terhadap efisiensi belanja kementerian/lembaga (studi kasus pada Kementerian Agama). Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini menggunakan regresi linier sederhana dengan dummy. Penggunaan regresi liner digunakan untuk meneliti hubungan antara variable independen (jenis belanja tertentu) dan variable dependen (total belanja). Sedangkan, dummy digunakan untuk mengetahui sebelum dan setelah reviu APIP dilakukan. Sepanjang penelusuran penulis, penelitian ini belum pernah dilakukan. Berdasarkan hasil regresi linier diperoleh, reviu APIP signifikan berpengaruh positif terhadap  belanja perjalanan dinas dan honorarium tetapi tidak signifikan berbengaruh terhadap belanja gedung dan alat.


Author(s):  
Chetna Rath ◽  
Florentina Kurniasari ◽  
Malabika Deo

Chief executive officers (CEOs) of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) firms are known to take lesser pay and engage themselves in corporate social responsibility activities to achieve the dual objective of the enhancement of firm’s performance as well as benefit for stakeholders in the long run. This study examines the role of ESG transparency in strengthening the impact of firm performance on total CEO pay in ESG firms. A panel of 67 firms for the period of 2014–2019 has been analyzed using the two-step system GMM model, with NSE Nifty 100 ESG Index as the data sample and ESG scores from Bloomberg database as a proxy for transparency. Findings reveal that environmental and governance disclosure scores have the potential to intensify the negative relationship between firm performance and CEO compensation, while social disclosure scores do not. In addition, various firm-specific, board-specific, and CEO-specific attributes have also been considered controls affecting remuneration. This paper contributes to the literature by exploring the effect of exhibiting ESG transparency and its nexus with CEO pay as well as firm performance.


2016 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 413-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birte Gundelach ◽  
Anita Manatschal

Increasing ethnic diversity and whether or not it impacts on social trust are highly debated topics. Numerous studies report a negative relationship between diversity and trust, particularly in the United States. A growing body of follow-up studies has examined the extent to which these findings can be transferred to Europe, but the results remain inconclusive. Moving beyond the discussion of the mere existence or absence of diversity effects on trust, this study is concerned with the moderation of this relationship. It addresses the neglected role of subnational integration policies influencing the impact of diversity on trust. Empirical tests not only indicate that integration policies moderate the relationship but also suggest that the influence of policies varies substantively according to the specific policy aspect under consideration.


Dementia ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 147130122096757
Author(s):  
Yoko Aihara ◽  
Kiyoshi Maeda

Due to the growing number of people with dementia worldwide, the role of dementia supporters is becoming increasingly important. In 2005, a national campaign called the Dementia Supporter Caravan was launched in Japan. However, the impact these trainings have on facilitating the work of dementia supporters is not quite understood. This study aimed to assess the challenges faced by dementia supporters in conducting activities for people with dementia. Our results showed that even after a period of six months since the training session, only half of the supporters had commenced new support activities. Future studies should examine the impact activities conducted by dementia supporters have on people with dementia and their family caregivers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 113-125
Author(s):  
Rana K. Al-Soluiman ◽  
Abdallah Q. Bataineh ◽  
Sameer M. Al-Jabaly ◽  
Hanadi A. Salhab

This research aimed to investigate the impact of smartphone advergames characteristics on purchasing intentions. Four dimensions were considered (irritation, entertainment, credibility, and informativeness). To achieve this aim, the researchers developed a model based on literature reviews and previous studies; a self-administrated questionnaire was designed and distributed over a convenience sample. The researchers used a quantitative method and a descriptive-analytical approach; the study sample consisted of 600 consumers, and 519 questionnaires were returned with an 86.5% response rate. Various statistical methods, including descriptive, simple linear regression, were used to analyze the data and test the hypotheses. This research’s key findings were that there is a statistically direct impact of irritation, entertainment, credibility, and informativeness on consumers’ purchasing intentions. Moreover, there is a mediating role of game involvement between advergames and consumers’ purchasing intentions. Hence, many Jordanian companies can use smartphone mobile advertising to increase sales and create product brand image among consumers. Smartphone advergaming provides numerous opportunities and challenges for advertisers in the current dynamic business environment. AcknowledgmentThe authors are grateful to the Middle East University, Amman, Jordan, for the full financial support granted to this research project.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-41
Author(s):  
J. Simiyu ◽  
M. K Chepkesis

Purpose: Corporate governance principles enable organizations to achieve their objectives through better decision making among board composition. County owned water organizations in Western Kenya may have good board composition among directors but the extent to which they perform, influence service delivery. The purpose was to find out whether board composition has statistical significant effect on service delivery. Methodology: The study was guided by Resource Dependency theory which focuses on the role of directors in organizations and employed a descriptive design specifically, inferential statictics. Study area included Amatsi, Nzoia and Kakamega water and sanitation companies and data was obtained from directors, managers, employees and customers. Yamane formula was used to determine sample size for respondents and sampling was done by stratified, simple random technique. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview guides. Reliability, validity, normality and multicolinearity, were tested. Data analysis was done using inferential statistics of Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient to find out the association between board composition and service delivery, Simple Linear Regression was used to find out the statistical effect of board composition on service delivery. Results: The findings indicated that there exists a negative relationship between board composition and service delivery and therefore board composition has no statistical significant effect on service delivery among county owned water organizations in Western Kenya. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study recommends that organizations need to put more emphasis on the board composition and also build capacity of board members in order to ensure that boards become more effective in order to have positive influence on service delivery. It is hoped that the findings will benefit stakeholders in water organizations in Kenya such as county and national government, customers, donors and researchers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 247 ◽  
pp. 01068
Author(s):  
E. Y. Dotsenko ◽  
N. P. Ezdina ◽  
A. Sh. Khasanova ◽  
M. I. Khasanov

The article presents an analysis of alternative theories of ecological and economic development. The authors formulate the role of the environmental factor in socio-economic development, taking into account the ideas of alternative economic schools and trends. The paper analyzes the problems of preserving the environment as the basis of human life. This takes into account the nature of the impact of anthropogenic pressure on natural complexes and objects, due to increased consumption, excessive withdrawal of renewable natural resources that exceed the rate of natural recovery, a reduction in the reserves of non-renewable natural resources, as well as an increase in the population. At the same time, the article focuses on the problems of sustainable, balanced, harmonious development of production and social systems.


Author(s):  
Ehsan Poursoleiman ◽  
Gholamreza Mansourfar ◽  
Sazali Abidin

This study aims to investigate the impact of debt volume and maturity on investment efficiency. It also analyzes the role of debt maturity in the association between debt volume and investment efficiency. The sample consists of 8,741 firm-year observations from 1,301 Asian corporations, covering the period 2007-2017. Financial leverage is employed as a proxy for debt volume as well as short-term debt for debt maturity. The findings reveal that debt volume and short-term debt are inversely related to investment efficiency. It also shows that the negative relationship between financial leverage and investment efficiency is weaker (closer to zero) for firms with higher use of short-term debt than those with lower use of short-term debt. This paper tries out agency and information asymmetry theories and provides practical implications regarding the optimal capital structure for firms headquartered in Asia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-64
Author(s):  
MUHAMMAD ASIF ◽  
MUHAMMAD USMAN HAMEED ◽  
ZAINULLAH KHALIL

The Most important and critical decision for a finance manager is adequate Capital structure. Modigliani and Miller had started the debate of capital structure in creating firm’s value. The research was conducted to find out the impact of capital structure and the value of the firm in Pakistan. The research was conducted on 71 non-financial firms of KSE 100 index. Using fix effect regression in the study it was found that there is significant effect of Capital structure on firm’s value but the use of debt financing had negative relationship with the firm’s value.


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