bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Anchorage of naturally corroded, plain reinforcement bars in flexural members
Authors: Robuschi Samanta , Lundgren Karin , Fernandez Ignasi , Flansbjer Mathias
Published: March 2020

Reinforced concrete structures are often damaged by corrosion, which affects the interaction between reinforcement bars and concrete. Earlier studies mostly applied artificial corrosion to test the bond between deformed bars and concrete. However, there is a lack of knowledge on the effects of natural corrosion on plain bars. In this paper, 20 beams with naturally corroded plain bars and varying amount of damage were taken from an 80-year-old bridge and tested in three-point bending. All but three of the specimens anchored the yield force of the bars after the opening of one or two major bending cracks. At large deflections, the load-carrying mechanism changed from beam to arch action. Eventually, end-slip of the reinforcement bars was observed. The bars were extracted, cleaned, three-dimensionally scanned, and tested in tension. The average bond strength in the unyielded zone was found to be equal to 7.39 MPa, with a standard deviation of 3.33 MPa. The casting position was identified as an important factor: when uncorroded, bottom-cast bars had a higher bond strength than that of top-cast bars. However, they were more prone to splitting cracks and, consequently, loss of bond strength for small corrosion levels. Top-cast bars had increasing bond strength with increasing corrosion levels, owing to the absence of external cracks. These differences were likely related to a denser concrete surrounding the bottom-cast bars. The remaining bond capacity in the yielded zones was evaluated to be approximately 1.0 MPa.
Paracetamol removal by bimetallic zero-valent Fe/Cu with benjamina leaf extract
Authors: Abdel-Aziz Hossam Mohammed , Farag Rabie Saad , Abdel-Gawad Soha Ali
Published: March 2020

A green synthesis approach using Ficus benjamina leaf extract was successfully used for preparing bimetallic zero-valent iron (Fe)/copper (Cu) nanoparticles. The F. benjamina nano-zero-valent iron/copper (FB-nZVFe/Cu) was characterised by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The characterisation showed that bimetallic nanoparticles had been synthesized. The removal efficiency at a concentration of 10 mg/l reached 86% under the following conditions: dose of 0·5 g/l, time of 45 min and pH of 5. FB-nZVFe/Cu had good durability and stability and possessed excellent reusability for removal of paracetamol (C15H12N2O) even after being reused five times. The results were analysed according to the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm models. The adsorption data agree more with the Langmuir model (R2= 0·9989), with qmax= 16·49 mg/g. The results of adsorption kinetics indicate that paracetamol uptake on FB-nZVFe/Cu follows a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Overall, FB-nZVFe/Cu is a favourable green material for removal of paracetamol from aqueous solutions. The effect of varying the functional parameters was investigated using linear regression analysis; they were found to account for more than 98% of the variables affecting the removal procedure.
Relación entre el nivel de conocimiento, actitud y práctica sobre micronutrientes en puérperas atendidas en el Centro Materno Infantil Miguel Grau - Lima
Authors: Guio Broncano Suely Beth , Rodríguez Vásquez Mery
Published: March 2020

El presente artículo analiza la relación entre conocimiento, actitud y práctica sobre micronutrientes en puérperas atendidas en el Centro Materno Infantil “Miguel Grau,” Lima. Su enfoque es cuantitativo, de diseño correlacional, no experimental, de corte transversal retrospectivo y de tipo descriptivo. La muestra (120 puérperas) se seleccionó mediante un muestreo no probabilístico de tipo intencional, según criterios de inclusión y exclusión. Como resultado, el nivel de conocimiento de las puérperas sobre el consumo de micronutrientes, fue “regular” con un 81.7%. La actitud de las puérperas con respecto a su consumo de micronutrientes fue “favorable,” con un 87.5%,—dato corroborado en investigaciones similares. La práctica de las puérperas con respecto al consumo de micronutrientes, fue “inadecuada” en la totalidad de la muestra, hallando mayor falencia en el consumo diario de alimentos lácteos. Por otra parte, existe relación estadísticamente significativa entre el conocimiento y la actitud de las puérperas sobre el consumo de micronutrientes, vía el Rho de Spearman de 0.001 (p < 0.05). Sin embargo, no se encontró relación estadísticamente significativa entre el conocimiento y la práctica, ni entre la actitud y la práctica de las puérperas sobre el consumo de micronutrientes, según un análisis de Rho de Spearman de 0.173 y 0.656 (p < 0.05) respectivamente, lo que podría tener relación con la información insuficiente, estado civil, así como las creencias y mitos que la puérpera posea.
The Effect of the Item’s Type and Cognitive Level on Its Difficulty Index: The Sample of TIMSS 2015
Authors: İLHAN Mustafa , BOZTUNC ÖZTÜRK Nagihan , ŞAHİN Melek Gülşah
Published: March 2020

In this research, the effect of an item’s type and cognitive level on its difficulty index was investigated. The data source of the study consisted of the responses of the 12535 students in the Turkey sample (6079 and 6456 students from eighth and fourth grade respectively) of TIMSS 2015. The responses were a total of 215 items at the eighth-grade level (115 multiple-choice and 100 open-ended) and 178 items at the fourth grade level (93 multiple-choice and 85 open-ended) in the mathematics test. In the present study, the difficulty indices for the items of different types and cognitive level were calculated firstly. Then, the item type was defined as a dummy variable and multiple regression analysis was applied to test for the predictive effect of the type and cognitive level of the items on its difficulty index. In the study, it was determined that both the type and the cognitive level of the item had a statistically significant effect on its difficulty index. Compared to multiple choice items, it was detected that students had more difficulty in open-ended items. The effect of item type on difficulty index was found to be higher in eighth grade items than the fourth-grade ones. It was ascertained that difficulty index moved toward zero as its cognitive level increased at both grade levels. However, the effect of cognitive level on the difficulty index was higher in the fourth-grade items compared to the eighth grade items.
Desde la influencia del darwinismo social hasta el imperio de los derechos humanos. Inmigración en Chile entre 1907 y 2018
Authors: González Pizarro José Antonio
Published: March 2020

Se analizan las políticas migratorias implementadas por el Estado de Chile entre dos hitos de la explosión migratoria cuyos censos nacionales de población, 1907 y 2018, marcaron los mayores porcentajes de extranjeros en el país. Para ello se estudia la normativa migratoria chilena, con sus correspondientes contextos, el de 1907, con la influencia del denominado darwinismo social que influyó en el racismo, la xenofobia de la sociedad y, el de 2018, con la incidencia de los derechos humanos en la legislación nacional y con la persistencia de elementos percibidos en 1907. Esta convergencia de ideas en la sociedad y acciones estatales, se aplica a segmentos inmigratorios extracontinentales en 1907 y a contingentes inmigratorios continentales en 2018.
Violência obstétrica no Brasil: um conceito em construção para a garantia do direito integral à saúde das mulheres
Authors: Marques Silvia Badim
Published: March 2020

Introduction: obstetric violence has been understood as any physical, moral, patrimonial or psychological violence practiced against women at delivery, postpartum and puerperium, that is verified in several practices that occur in health systems, both public and private. Objective: this article seeks to bring health law closer to issues related to the guarantee of sexual and reproductive rights, as an inseparable part of the right to health, approaching the concept of obstetric violence and the legislative proposals that are being processed in the Brazilian National Congress on the subject. Methodology: bibliographic and documentary research was used, using the descriptor obstetric violence on search sites. Results: eleven legislative proposals on the topic were identified, of which 10 were part of the present study, as well as the concept outlined on the topic and the main political and social positions on the subject were addressed. Conclusions: it is concluded that the largest number of legislative proposals in the brasilian parliament demonstrates the need for legal discipline on the topic, understanding it broadly, according to the position of social movements in favor of women's rights, and that the legal discipline of the theme is necessary to resolve differences over the application of the term obstetric violence and its repercussions in medical practice and in health services in Brazil, with a view to protecting women's sexual and reproductive rights.
O Acórdão n.º 225/2018 do Tribunal Constitucional de 7 de maio de 2018: análise e comentário da decisão judicial à luz da Lei da Procriação Medicamente Assistida e da figura da gestação de substituição no ordenamento jurídico português
Authors: Fernandes Martins Micaela
Published: March 2020

The present analysis and jurisprudential comment concerns the Judgment of May 7, 2018 of the Portuguese Constitutional Court, which ruled on unconstitutionality on some precepts of the Medically Assisted Procreation Law, forbidding access to replacement pregnancy in Portugal.
The analysis and comment seeks to clarify the position of the applicants for unconstitutionality, the reasoning used by the Constitutional Court and the different problems that the LPMA has raised, due to its poor wording and omissions.
Conflicts of interest in such sensitive matters, such as medically assisted reproduction, must be taken into account in an upcoming legislation, always taking into account the Constitutional Court's understanding of the matter.
LEITURA DE POESIA E INTELIGÊNCIA EMOCIONAL: UMA DISCUSSÃO
Authors: Saldanha da Silva Valmir Luis
Published: March 2020

O presente artigo tem a função de abordar alguns modos como o texto poético pode atuar no processo de conhecimento de si, do outro e do mundo, além de investigar, como fator de fundamentação, a ideia de que existe uma linguagem poética, como item de cultura, que auxilia no processo de criação e manutenção de identidades, tal qual se lê em Candido (1995; 1995a; 1996) e Paz (2012). Para isso, nos valemos da leitura de textos poéticos do italiano Luigi Pirandello e tomamos como ponto de partida a ideia de que a poesia tem um viés libertador de potências humanas e de que a competência ou inteligência emocional que o texto poético pode vir a proporcionar é apontada como uma das competências fundamentais para o mercado de trabalho e pode ter como fonte a leitura de textos poéticos.
RECEPÇÃO E LEITURA: BREVE RELATÓRIO SOBRE O ESTADO DE SAÚDE DA LITERATURA BRASILEIRA NA ITÁLIA DE HOJE
Authors: Alberani Elisa
Published: March 2020

O objetivo deste artigo é proporcionar uma reflexão sobre os conceitos de recepção e leitura através de um breve histórico das principais abordagens, do passado e contemporâneas e aplicá-las a uma reflexão sobre a recepção da literatura brasileira na Itália de hoje. O texto apresenta algumas considerações sobre fatores que influenciam essa recepção, nomeadamente: determinantes sociais, cânone e tradução, para chegar a uma reflexão mais específica sobre a realidade da recepção da literatura brasileira contemporânea na Itália atual e o papel do leitor.
"MEMÓRIAS DE UM SARGENTO DE MILÍCIAS" EM HQ E OS MULTILETRAMENTOS NA ESCOLA
Authors: Lopes da Silva Renata , Fernandes Weiss Ricieri Francine
Published: March 2020

Este artigo discute a multimodalidade e suas convergências com o ensino de língua portuguesa, a partir da análise de uma adaptação literária em quadrinhos de um clássico da literatura brasileira, o romance Memórias de um Sargento de Milícias. O estudo desse objeto tem como propósito verificar, a partir da comparação com o texto em prosa, quais recursos multimodais, próprios dos quadrinhos, foram mobilizados na sua produção e, ao final, discutir sua relevância para a prática dos multiletramentos na escola e indicar possíveis caminhos para sua aplicação em sala de aula.
A Literatura Juvenil na Escola, de Benedito Antunes
Authors: Alves Cristiane De Mesquita
Published: March 2020

Resenha do livro:ANTUNES, Benedito. A Literatura Juvenil na Escola. 1ª ed. São Paulo: Editora Unesp Digital, 2019. 125 p.Por Cristiane de Mesquita Alves
A New Approach to Suicidal Behavior Diagnostics: A Review of Foreign Sources
Authors: Bannikov G.S. , Vikhristyuk O.V. , Galynker I.
Published: March 2020

The paper presents a review of the studies on innovative suicide prevention strategies, methods, and approaches to diagnosing suicide risk. We examine the results of the studies that allow developing new approaches to creating effective suicide risk assessment tools, based on building a trusting relationship with the patient/client and focusing on the doctor’s/therapist’s own emotional experiences. We describe a complex narrative-crisis model of suicide that includes long-term and short-term risk factors for suicidal behavior and incorporates the suicidal crisis syndrome. We conclude with describing modern tendencies in suicide risk diagnostics — namely, overestimating the methods’ efficiency. New methods for assessing critical states possessing good predictive validity should be developed and implemented.
Ethical Attitudes of Russian Counseling Psychologists: Field of Disagreement and Potential Conflicts
Authors: Garanyan N.G. , Zakharova Y.V. , Sorokova M.G.
Published: March 2020

The study is aimed at the identification of ethical beliefs in the group of Russian counseling psychologists. As a part of the anonymous online survey 217 counseling psychologists and psychotherapists completed the Inventory of Attitudes and Beliefs about Ethical Issues (Herlihy, Corey, 2014). Four experts (psychologists with advanced knowledge on counseling ethics) sorted out the inventory’s items into the categories of ethically indisputable (EID) and ethically disputable (ED). The findings indicate that about a fifth of the respondents are practicing without a degree in psychology, and 40% didn’t get psychotherapeutic approach-specific training. Low consistency in the ethical beliefs of Russian counseling psychologists has been demonstrated. Kohen’s cappa as a measure of inter-rater reliability among four experts was 0.512; this score is significantly lower than recommended. 44.7% of the respondents agreed with beliefs the experts attributed to EID, and 45.6% agreed with at least several ED beliefs about psychological counseling. Points of maximal disagreement between research participants were the possibility of dual relationships with clients, the obligation to conduct screening for potential counseling group members, the requirement to practice strictly within the scope of one’s license, and seeking for informal resolution in the case of a violation of an ethical standard by another counselor. Research findings are predictive of significant discrepancies in the ethical beliefs of Russian counselors and difficulties in collegial decision-making on ethical issues.
Foreign Direct Investment, Sovereign Debt and Growth: Evidence for the Euro Area
Authors: Tan Ai-Lian , Ismail Normaz Wana
Published: March 2020

In light of the global financial crisis, an extensive implementation of fiscal stimulus packages has triggered an enormous soared of public debt in Europe. While grappling with this albatross, the high debt level has aroused the paramount interest of this study casts doubt on the role of sovereign debt towards the linkage between FDI and economic growth. To this end, this study aims to assess the effects of debt on growth through the channel of FDI in European countries by applying Pooled Mean Group (PMG) estimation. The empirical findings, by and large, suggest that a lower growth performance is evident with the association of high government debt through foreign investment. In a nutshell, over borrowing of public finance would crowd out private investment and hence stifle economic growth.

JEL Classifications Code: F21, F34, F43, G01
The Financial Trilemma and Macroeconomic Instability: Empirical Evidence from Kenya
Authors: Njoroge Lucas K.
Published: March 2020

The purpose of the study is to test whether the financial trilemma holds for a small open economy, and examine the implication of the implicit financial trilemma configuration on macroeconomic instability using Kenyan data. First, the study constructs the trilemma and macroeconomic instability indices and tests the financial trilemma. Second, the study empirically examines the effect of financial trilemma on macroeconomic instability. The results show that the financial trilemma does not hold for Kenya. However, by using the overall foreign participation to total equity turnover as a measure of financial openness, the trilemma indices are statistically significant. The results imply that the increasing financial openness is potentially driving the Kenyan economy towards financial trilemma characterized by a delicate balance of improving monetary independence and exchange rate stability. Financial openness is associated with increased macroeconomic instability. International reserve accumulation acts as a buffer and does not cause macroeconomic instability, implying that the Central Bank of Kenya conducted effective sterilization during the study period. This is the first study to test for the financial trilemma using Kenyan data. This study differs from other similar studies in a number of important ways. First, the study construct alternative financial trilemma indices that reflect the various reforms taking place in Kenya. Second, the study uses a unique data set based the newly released quarterly GDP data unlike most other studies that depend on annual data.

JEL Classifications Code: F31
Environmental Management Challenges of Emerging Industrial Firms: Evidence from Addis Ababa City, Ethiopia
Authors: Urkato Samuel , Shin Hio-Jung
Published: March 2020

In developing economies like Ethiopia, emerging industries are mostly subject to state protection, as a prominent rationale articulated by Hamilton (1791). However, they are less responsive to environmental health degradation caused by their effluent. In this paper, Akaki River pollution in Addis Ababa city is thought-out to understand how those industries aligning the river bank are polluting the environment and how local policy is responding to regulate it. By using secondary information, focus group discussion and key informant interview, this study describes that Ethiopian environmental policy, which addresses state and market approaches, is silent to protect the pollution. However, the societies in the catchment areas, whom lack proper property right of the river, are seriously vulnerable to family health since they use the polluted river water for smallholder farming, drinking, and other domestic activities. Moreover, the weak performance of this policy is a burden for other sectoral policies such as health and agriculture. Empirical studies for river pollution impact are further needed.
Media, Business Education and E-Learning: An Insinuative Overview
Authors: Hossin Md. Ekram
Published: March 2020

Media, education, and e-language are interrelated. Media is the right medium to make profitable business activities. Education enlightens the heart of people and business education can make the people learn about the proper ways of business. So, these three are correlated. Mass media plays a significant role in shaping public perceptions on a variety of important issues in business education. They also function in influencing modern business culture and education by selecting and portraying a particular set of beliefs, values, and traditions as reality. Mass media plays an important role in business education. Business has a noble position as an ideal occupation. Mass media helps to enhance the range of business education for the development of the country as well as the world. This descriptive and analytic research work finds out the insinuative and synchronic synopsis of media, education and e-language.

JEL Classifications Code: M19
Does ICT Development Flatten the Globe? Evidence from International Trade Costs Data
Authors: Keita Moussa
Published: March 2020

This study attempts to bring new perspectives on the death of distance hypothesis by examining to what extent the intensification of ICT has contributed to attenuate the effect of distance on international trade issues. Our analysis is based on an extended gravity model constituted of 2827 country pairs observed from 2002 to 2012. The model is estimated by using the Hausman-Taylor instrumental variable approach to deal with specificities of the panel gravity models that cannot be treated in classical fixed-effect or random-effect models. The estimations confirm significant beneficial effects of ICT regarding trade costs reduction. We found that bilateral trade costs are significantly low between countries that have a more densified communication network. And this effect appears to be strongly heterogeneous regarding the distance. In particular, we found that the impact of ICT on trade costs is greater when the distance between the trading partners is more important. We also found that the elasticity of trade costs to distance decreases as the level of ICT increases. These results appear robust to various sensitivity and robustness checks and are consistent with other studies. Finally, the results obtained in this study suggest the existence of strong distance-neutralizing effect of ICT. JEL Classifications Code: F14 ; O33
NGO's Financial Reporting and Human Capital Development
Authors: Ahmed Alim Al Ayub , Asadullah A. B. M. , Rahman Md. Mostafijur
Published: March 2020

The purpose of the study was to find out whether human capital development influences the quality of financial reporting of NGOs. The specific objectives of the study were to determine the relationship between human capital development and the quality of financial reporting, examine the relationship between human resource practices and the quality of financial reporting, examine the relationship between human capital development and human resource policy and examine if human resource practices moderate/ mediate the relationship between human capital development and the quality of financial reporting. The study adopted a cross-sectional parallel survey design with quantitative techniques and employed self-administered questionnaires to 60 respondents.  The research data was coded and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 to establish the statistical inferences. The Pearson correlation test reported that human capital development has a positive significant relationship with the quality of financial reporting (r = .551, p< .01; two tailed). The study concluded that education, skills, knowledge, experience, interest and values were significantly positively related with financial reporting quality (r = .503, p < .01; r = .407, p < .01; r = .518, p < .01; r = .213, p < .10 and r = .476, p < .01 respectively). Furthermore, personality positively relates to financial reporting quality (r = .165, p>0.10). Some recommendations were then formulated thus: Organizations should encourage and support their accounting staff to attain professional qualifications. The staff should strive to attain membership of professional accounting bodies. The staff should also be motivated as well as regularly trained on job. Management should observe strict adherence to accounting and financial manuals. Organizations should also reinforce workplace policies as well as review their current accounting systems to identify gaps and then put in place steps to fill those gaps.
American Tire Tariffs against China: What We can Learn from Poor Policy
Authors: Rarick Charles A.
Published: March 2020

Facing a significant decline in domestic tire manufacturing jobs, President Obama imposed tariffs on tires made in China for a three year period beginning in 2009. With domestic employment in the tire manufacturing industry in decline and Chinese tire imports rapidly rising, President Obama yielded to industry pressure. The tariffs significantly decreased the sale of Chinese made tires, however, tires made in other countries such as Mexico, Indonesia and Thailand rose as Chinese tires became more expensive. This paper explores the effectiveness of this trade policy and proposes there are lessons to be learned when pondering further such protectionist trade policies.

JEL Classifications Code: F13
Implementation of Strategic Plans on Oil Distributors: A Study on Selected Oil Companies in Kenya
Authors: Awale Yussuf Dahir , Namusonge Gregory , Warren Kule Julius
Published: March 2020

The essence of strategy is to attempt to relate the organization to the changes in the environment. For any organization, strategy helps in interrogating the long term plans and ensuring that there is harmony between the vision, mission, objectives, core values, activities and its environment. Strategy formulation and implementation are core management functions. The developed strategy may be good but if its implementation is poor the intended strategic objectives may not be achieved. To ensure survival and success, firms do not only need to formulate strategies that seek to constantly maintain a match between the organization and its environment but also must ensure appropriate execution of strategy at all levels. Success therefore calls for proactive approach to business. The study aimed at identifying the determinants of strategy implementation plans on oil distributors in Kenya. Specifically, the study attempted to achieve the following objectives: to determine the effect of organizational structure; organizational culture; leadership; resource allocation and to establish the effect of communication on implementation of strategic plans on oil distributors in Kenya. The study was based on resource-based theory; dynamic capability theory and knowledge-based view theory. The study adopted a survey design that had used cross-sectional survey approach to collect data. The population of the study comprised of 14 oil distributors in Kenya based in Nairobi County. The target respondents comprised of 64 business owners and 136 managers therefore comprising of a target population of 200 respondents. A sample size of 60 respondents was selected for the study. Primary data was collected through semi-structured questionnaires. Data was coded in SPSS and Excel software for analysis where the tables of frequencies, percentage, mean and standard deviation was extracted for presentation of data. Inferential statistics was done to establish the relationship between the implementation of strategic plans and the five independent variables. The outcome of the study was to establish whether organizational structure; organizational culture; leadership; resource allocation and corporate communication affect the implementation of strategic plans in the oil distributors sector in Nairobi County. The research recommends that for oil distributors to improve on the implementation of strategic plans they need to enhance of teamwork, accountability, transparency and communication.
The Prospect of the Readymade Garments Sector in Bangladesh: Result from Trend Analysis
Authors: Shimu Afroza Ahammed , Islam Md. Shahidul
Published: March 2020

Purpose:  In Bangladesh readymade garments (RMG) sector, the backbone of the national economy is not the major sources of foreign revenue but a significant role player of the socio-economic development by creating employment opportunities, empowering women and alleviating poverty. In this regard, this paper tries to understand and analyze current situation and structure of the   both knitted and woven sectors.  After then, this paper predicts the future of both the export and export growth for the next five years.
Methodology: In this study, data on the export and export growth had been collected from the BGMEA. Then the Least Square Method as a trend analysis had been applied to identify forecast export trend and the export growth trend of the both knitwear and woven sector separately. Microsoft excel program had been used for the estimation of the trend analysis alongside with providing predictions for the next five years.
Results: The study found that the trend of both knitwear and woven export was upward. But the study also explored the downward trend of those two knitwear and woven sectors in terms of the growth rate. Moreover, the study showed that after the phasing out of MFA within 2004 and the withdrawal of quota protection, the knitwear export did not face any impediments accorded by the projection.
Implication: This paper will be effective not for understanding the present structure of the RMG sector but helpful to take appropriate policies for the prosperity of the country, especially of this sector.
Financial Diagnosis Using CAMEL Model: Public versus Private Banks in Bangladesh
Authors: Akter Aklima
Published: March 2020

The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyze the financial statement of two selected banks (One bank from the public sector and another one from the private) in Bangladesh during 2010-14. This study highlights ranking of two banks for their performance on CAMEL (Capital Adequacy; Asset Quality; Management Quality; Earnings Ability; and Liquidity) ratios. During the year Empirical results suggest that 2010-2014 NCCBL has scored better position of all the ratios except EPS, liquid assets to total assets and liquid assets to total deposits compared to JBL. By considering all of the parameters of CAMEL, NCCBL is the highest position assessed by the CAMEL Model because of its performance on the CAMEL ratios compared to JBL. JBL is lower position compared to NCCBL under the study because of its poor performance on the CAMEL ratios. The ultimate findings of the study indicate that JBL should improve the weaknesses of the CAMEL which ultimately improve the bank’s overall performance. The findings of the paper will enable the practitioners and analysts to understand financial statement analysis in a depth manner.
Working Capital Management and Profitability of Manufacturing Sector of Bangladesh: A Causal Relationship
Authors: Neelom Kashfia Haque , Asad Suzona
Published: March 2020

This paper explores the causal relationship between working capital management and corporate profitability of manufacturing sector of Bangladesh. Sample data is composed of 21, Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) listed companies of Bangladesh, of four different industries from the year 2011 to 2015. A multivariable model has been developed to examine the association between profitability and the working capital management. In the analysis, current ratio and debt ratio have been used as control variables. The findings clearly indicate a negative relationship between working capital management and profitability in the overall manufacturing sector as well as in each of these four industries and significance level varies from industry to industry.
Internationalization of Bangladeshi Banks: What Can We Learn?
Authors: Khan Tasneema , Barua Bipasha
Published: March 2020

Internationalization of banking institutions has been more evident to a greater extent recently due to the advancement of technology and global inter-connectedness. As the ‘engine of economic growth,’ banks are the dominant players in Bangladesh financial market. Due to intense competition and quick saturation of the domestic market, banks in Bangladesh are tending to move towards the international market. This research aims to explore the nature and challenges of international banking practices in Bangladesh banking sector, and also to develop the relevant policy perspectives. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to survey top level management of 41 out of total 56 scheduled banks operating in Bangladesh during May 2015. Analyzing the survey, the study finds that Bangladeshi banks do not follow the usual internationalization path, tends to more cost-intensive mode, are in the defensive approach of internationalization, and face several challenges and deficiencies in their current international banking practices. This paper contributes to existing literature by being the first exploring the facet of bank internationalization in Bangladesh and generating new insights for better bank regulation.

JEL Classification: M16, M20, N20, F23, G20, L10
Market Capitalization- Sustainability Practices Measurement of Private Commercial Banks of Bangladesh
Authors: Sultana Nasreen , Akter Afroja
Published: March 2020

The study investigates the sustainability practices of the private commercial banks of Bangladesh to consider these as measurement of the market capitalization of the same. In the research 30, private commercial banks have been taken into consideration where it is found that market capitalization is not wholly dependent on the issue of sustainability and there is no long run relationship between market capitalization and sustainability issues which could have an impact on the market capitalization or any direction of the market capitalization. Rather Granger Causality result shows that market capitalization could have an impact on the sustainability issues of the banks. The inclusion of some other explanatory variables in the model could deduce a better conclusion.
Corporate Social Responsibility Practices and Stakeholders’ Awareness: Case of Ethiopia
Authors: Kesto Dakito Alemu , Ravi Jaladi
Published: March 2020

The main aim of this review is to explore the corporate social responsibility practices and stakeholders’ awareness about firms’ CSR in Ethiopia. The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) came into existence to show the responsibilities that the business should take from the shoulders of the government and the NGOs particularly in developing nations. Since the living standard of the society is low in emerging economies, the CSR expected from business firm is much higher than it is used to be in advanced economy. Ethiopia is one of the least developed countries and thus, the involvement of private sector is very crucial since government does not fulfill all needs of the society. In one way or another, businesses are economic entities that have the ability to change corporate social responsibility activities into business opportunities. Several studies suggest that companies may receive external benefits from implementing CSR policies. However, the success of practicing CSRs depends upon the level of stakeholders’ awareness. Specifically, in conducting the survey the reviewer was motivated by the following research questions which constitute the objectives of the article: (1) where do firms in Ethiopia categorized in the Carroll’s 1991 pyramid; and (2) what was the level of awareness of different stakeholders in the country. Therefore, this review explores the CSR practices of firms and the level of stakeholders’ awareness about the concept in Ethiopia. The paper employed qualitative research approach by reviewing 16 research articles which address CSR policies of firms in Ethiopia. The finding shows, the most important stakeholder considered by firms are customers which contribute to profitability. This shows the fact that firms in Ethiopia are in the lower-level of Carroll’s CSR pyramid: economic responsibility. Furthermore, the level of stakeholders’ awareness regarding the firms’ CSR practice in Ethiopia is low. To summarize, corporate social responsibility practice in Ethiopia is at its infancy stage and thus, need much more improvement from both firms and the government.
Global Climate Change and Its Impact on Agriculture Sector in Pakistan
Authors: Awan Abdul Ghafoor , Yaseen Ghulam
Published: March 2020

Impact of global climate change on the agriculture sector of Pakistan is estimated in Pakistan. Agriculture is considered as the backbone of Pakistan economy because more 60% population is directly involved with this profession.  Due to rapid industrialization the temperature level is increasing, which is harmful for agriculture crops and also for people. The objective of this research paper is to explore the impact of the global warming at agriculture sector of Pakistan and to measure climate impact on the agriculture sector in future.  Times series dataset from 1974 to 2013 is used to analyze the impact. Agriculture value added annual growth rate is used as dependent variable. Carbon oxide emission, agriculture methane emission, agriculture nitrous oxide emission, greenhouse gas emission and population density are used as explanatory variables. Auto regressive distributed lag model is used as statistical technique to analyze the dataset. The result shows that the variables have significant impact on the agriculture sector of Pakistan. Auto regressive distributed lag model presents the existence of the short run and long run relationship between the dependent and independent variables. In a policy recommendation government try to reduce the warming through control on industrialization.
Completeness of information in electronic compared with paper-based patients’ records in a maternity setting in Dakar, Senegal
Authors: Ndiaye Mame D. , Gueye Mamour , Ndour Simon B. , Niang Ndama , Fall Ndeye G. , Fall Khalifa , Diakhate Abdoulaye , Wade Mouhamadou , Diouf Aliou , Diallo Moussa , Mbaye Magatte
Published: March 2020

Background: Evaluate the consistency of information in paper-based records when registered in parallel with an electronic medical record.Methods: The study was performed at PMSHC in Dakar Senegal. From the end of year 2016, patients’ files were recorded on both paper-based and electronically. Additionally, previous records were electronically registered. To investigate the completeness of records before and after the electronic recording system has been implemented, information about some maternal and fetal/neonatal characteristics were assessed. When the variable was recorded, the system returned 1, unrecorded variables were coded as 0. We then calculated, for each variable, the unrecorded rate before 2017 and after that date. The study period extended from 2011 to June 2019, a nearly ten-year period. Data were extracted from E-perinatal to MS excel 2019 then SPSS 25 software. Frequencies of unrecorded variables were compared with chi-squared test at a level of significance of 5%.Results: A total of 48,270 unique patients’ records were identified during the eight-year period.  Among the study population, data for patients’ age, address and parity were available most of the time before and after 2017 (0.5% missing data versus 0.3% for age and 2.6% versus 1.3% for home address and from 0.3% to 0.0% for parity). However, phone number, maternal weight, maternal height, last menstrual period and blood group were found to be missing up to 96% before 2017. From 2017, these rates experienced a sudden decrease at a significant level: from 82.4% to 27.8% for phone number, from 96% to 56.3% for maternal weight and from 60.1% to 21.3% for blood group. Regarding newborns’ data, it was found that fetal height, head circumference and chest circumference were missing up to just under 25% before 2017. After that date, their completeness improved and flattened under 5%.Conclusions: Structured and computerized files reduce missing data. There is an urgent need the Ministry of health provides hospitals and health care providers with guidelines that describes the standardized information that should be gathered and shared in health and care records.
The impact of sexual activity during the third trimester of pregnancy on labor outcome in nulliparous women
Authors: Simo Janice H. , Foumane Pascal , Meka Ngo Um E. , Dohbit Julius S. , Essiben Felix , Mboudou Emile T.
Published: March 2020

Background: In the environment, there’s not enough studies on the effects of sexual activity during pregnancy on labor outcome, especially for nulliparous women. The aim was to assess the effects of sexual activity during the third term of pregnancy on the outcome of labor in nulliparous women.Methods: A prospective cohort study on labor was carried out for 11 months at the labor ward of the Yaoundé gynaeco-obstetric and pediatric Hospital. In this study compared women were exposed to at least one unprotected sexual intercourse with vaginal ejaculation per week during the third trimester of pregnancy (exposed group), to those who had less than one unprotected sexual intercourse per week (non-exposed group).Results: Of the 1123 primiparous women who gave birth within the study period, 426 consented to enroll in the study. Amongst these women, 186 women in the exposed group compared to 240 women in the non-exposed group. Intercourse during pregnancy predisposed on arrival into the labor ward to a Bishop’s score ≥7 (RR = 1.94; CI = 1.63-2.3) and within the course of labor to a spontaneous per vaginal delivery (RR = 1.18; CI = 1.06-1.31) and an active phase duration <6 hours (RR = 1.52; CI = 1.36-1.7). Furthermore, sexual intercourse during pregnancy protected against labor induction (RR = 0.21; CI = 0.12-0.36), dystocia (RR = 0.36; CI =  0.27-0.49), cesarean section (RR = 0.29; CI = 0.15-0.55), episiotomy (RR = 0.56; CI = 0.36-0.87) and an Apgar  score <7 at the first minute of birth (RR = 0.31; CI = 0.14-0.7).Conclusions: Sexual activity during pregnancy improves the prognosis of labor in primiparous women. In the absence of contraindications, consented unprotected heterosexual vaginal intercourse should be promoted in nulliparous women.
Role of bundled intervention in reducing surgical site infection rate in gynecologic surgeries
Authors: Singh Nisha , Rai Shweta , Agrawal Shuchi , Banerjee Gopa , Singh Renu
Published: March 2020

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) is most common nosocomial infection (15%) among surgical patient’s and contributes significantly to morbidity and mortality. CDC (2015) provides “bundled intervention for prevention of SSI. The present study was planned to evaluate the feasibility and usefulness of these bundled intervention in reducing SSI in our setup. Objectives of this study to study the effect of bundled interventions on SSI in gynaecologic surgery.Methods: A total 50 cases  undergoing gynecological surgery in elective OT included in pilot group and bundled intervention followed  these pilot group cases compared with 50 control group operated in same OT in which bundled intervention not followed outcome measures recorded were Incidence of SSI, type of SSI, need for antibiotic usage, need for secondary suturing, duration of hospital stay.Results: Out of 50 subjects in pilot group, five developed signs and symptoms of SSI giving an SSI rate of 10%. Out of those five, two had superficial SSI and three had deep SSI, none of the patient had organ space SSI.SSI rate in 50 cases operated in the same operating room during the same time period without use of bundled interventions (control group) was 12%.Conclusions: Bundled approach is easy and feasible in all setups. It adds only three extra minutes to the total duration of the surgery with risk reduction of SSI.
Comparison of adnexal torsion in different phases of women’s life: a retrospective cohort study
Authors: J. Karthiga Prabhu , C. Shanmugapriya , Samal Sunita , Ramraj Balaji
Published: March 2020

Background: Ovarian torsion is one of the most common causes of emergency surgery in gynecology. Though it is more common in reproductive age group, it can occur in extremes of age group. So, we had analysed the clinical presentation, surgical characteristics, and causes of adnexal torsion among adolescent population, reproductive-age women, and postmenopausal women.Methods: Patients with adnexal torsion who were treated in department of obstetrics and gynecology, SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre from October 2016 to March 2019 were retrospectively analyzed.Results: Among the 53 cases of adnexal torsion during the study period, maximum (38, 71.6%) were in the reproductive age group. There were three patients with ovarian torsion during pregnancy. Acute pain abdomen was the significant presenting symptom in adolescent group compared to other two group (100% versus 80.6% versus 40%, p = 0.03). Adnexal pathology was in the ovary in 76% and isolated tubal pathology in 5%. Bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy with or without total abdominal hysterectomy was more commonly performed in postmenopausal patients (100%), as opposed to conservative surgery- detorsion and cystectomy in premenopausal women (56%). In Adolescent patients 62% had polycystic ovaries as intraoperative finding. Histopathology were benign except for a patient in postmenopausal age group who had granulosa cell tumour.Conclusions: An early identification of adnexal torsion is necessary in order to achieve conservative treatment in order to maximize the future reproductive potential in younger patients.
Clinicopathological study of anemia during pregnancy
Authors: C. Sarojamma , Subiksha R. Atchutha
Published: March 2020

Background: In developing countries the prevalence of anemia among pregnant women averages 60% resulting in varying levels of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Iron, Vitamin B12 and folic acid deficiencies, malaria, intestinal parasitic infections and hemoglobinopathies are the principal causes of anemia in pregnancy. Above nutritional requirements increase during pregnancy and if it is not maintained, may result in adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. The aim of this study was to study the prevalence of anemia in pregnant mothers, study the clinical patterns of anemia in pregnancy and to study the histopathological patterns of anemia during pregnancy.Methods: This is a prospective study done on 60 pregnant women whose hemoglobin level is less than 10.9 gm/dL. Blood samples were taken, and peripheral blood smears were examined along with their complete clinical and obstetric history.Results: Out of 60 cases of anemia, 40% were found to have dimorphic anemia, 30% with microscopic hypochromic anemia, 20% of patients have normocytic hypochromic anemia, 1.7% had sickle-cell anemia and 8.3% of patients were thalassemia cases. The risk factors for anemia in this study is noted to be low social economic status, occurrence of complications during previous pregnancy and multiparty. In this study anemia was more commonly found in the multigravida women and in the third trimester of pregnancy.Conclusions: With improved social economic conditions, early detection, good antenatal care, awareness regarding available treatment, a healthy diet, routine antenatal counselling and adequate iron supplementation, anemia in pregnancy can be avoided.