bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Similarity, Dependence and Correlation Considerations for Risk Adjusted Values in Hydrocarbon Exploration
Authors: Mackay J.A. , Bagirov E. , Lerche I. 
Published: January 2017

This paper explores the influences of both stochastic and deterministic correlations on single and multiple hydrocarbon exploration opportunities within the framework of both unlimited and limited corporate risk tolerances. In addition, both similar and dissimilar opportunities are considered, as well as geologic similarities and fiscal dissimilarities to illustrate the influences of different combinations of factors on risk adjusted values for both single and multiple opportunities. Numerical illustrations are provided to illuminate each of the influences and patterns of behaviour that are sketched, so that a pictorial representation is available of the topological structure of each of the individual points being addressed. The numerical examples include both the stochastic and deterministic effects of correlated and similar behaviours of opportunities in relation to variable success probabilities, corporate risk tolerance, and constraints due to a fixed corporate budget.
Why is Financial Reporting so Inefficient?
Authors: Hakansson Nils H. 
Published: January 2017

Those who know do not tell; those who tell do not know. Lao Tse In earlier papers (Hakansson, 1977, 1981), the equilibrium properties of two financial disclosure scenarios, “laissez-faire” and “timely public disclosure” were compared. The analysis showed that, measured in welfare space, the incentives of only two groups, less well-to-do subscribing investors and nonsubscribing investors (who tend to be “small” in terms of their resources) prefer the second scenario even though it results in greater aggregate output across states. The incentives of management, information searchers, and more well-to-do investors favor a “wide window” between significant events affecting the firm and their public disclosure, at least in the short run. The “cost” of this scenario is that it draws a sizable group of talented people from the productive sector into “scooping” information before its eventual disclosure. It is noteworthy that a regulatory solution is likely to further reduce, not improve, the productive efficiency of the economy. This paper examines the financial disclosure question further and argues that its resolution is directly linked to the principal-agent “contract” between the shareholders and management. These contracts do exhibit some peculiar properties, especially in the area of management compensation and with respect to MBOs, in which management apparently manages to be both the buyer and the “agent” for the seller.
Term Vs. Whole Life Insurance—A Note
Authors: Berkovitch Elazar , Venezia Itzhak 
Published: January 2017

This paper attempts to explain why individuals may purchase whole life insurance even when term (short period) insurance seems to be less expensive. Under a whole life insurance contract (referred to also as straight life insurance) the insured pays the same rates over his or her lifetime although his or her future health may change. Individuals whose health has deteriorated (relative to their age) over time are more likely to hold on to their contracts than individuals whose health has improved (relative to their age) and who may find it profitable to break their contract and purchase a new one. The insurer, recognizing this adverse selection problem, must set its price for the initial period (and thus for the entire life of the insured) so that it compensates for the above-mentioned adverse selection. The insurer will hence set the price (rate) of whole life insurance higher than the rate of term insurance, since the latter form of insurance is not susceptible to future adverse selection. Assuming the competition between insurers drives their profits to zero (i.e., assuming they provide fair premiums), it is shown that the equilibrium price of whole life insurance is higher than for term insurance. The insured, however, will purchase only whole life insurance, since the additional insurance which the whole life contract provides on the stochastic future insurance rates is priced fairly, and a rational risk-averse insured will always prefer purchasing such insurance.
Bankruptcy Prediction Using Quarterly Financial Statement Data
Authors: Baldwin Jane , Glezen G. William 
Published: January 2017

The purposes of this study were to assess the usefulness of quarterly data for predicting bankruptcy and to determine if the earlier prediction by quarterly bankruptcy models can be obtained without the sacrifice of accuracy achieved by annual bankruptcy models. A sample of 40 public firms entering bankruptcy from 1977 to 1983 was matched on the basis of fiscal year, industry, and asset size with 40 nonbankrupt firms. Quarterly financial data were obtained from the firms' 10-Q reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), whereas annual data were obtained from the 10-K reports. Multiple discriminant analysis was used to derive quarterly bankruptcy prediction models for each of the three quarters before and after the last annual period preceding bankruptcy and for the last annual period preceding bankruptcy. Twenty-four financial ratios that were identified in previous studies as being useful for bankruptcy prediction were selected as the independent variables in the stepwise discriminant process. The classification accuracy, using alternative assumptions regarding prior probability of bankruptcy and cost of misclassification and the statistical significance of the quarterly models for each of the six quarters tested, indicated that quarterly data are useful for predicting bankruptcy. There was no statistical evidence to suggest that the classification accuracy of the annual model was superior to that of the quarterly model. This finding suggests that more timely bankruptcy predictions can be provided to investors, creditors, and auditors by quarterly models without the loss of accuracy provided by annual models.
An Empirical Investigation of the Extent of Corporate Financial Disclosure in the Oil and Gas Industry
Authors: Malone David , Fries Clarence , Jones Thomas 
Published: January 2017

The principal research question addressed by the study was: Are there identifiable and measurable factors that are associated with the extent to which firms in the oil and gas industry disclose financial information? Extent of financial disclosure was measured by using a weighted index of disclosure items. The 10-K and annual reports of 125 oil and gas firms were examined in order to identify various financial disclosures provided by each firm. This set of disclosures was weighted by oil and gas financial analysts according to the importance of each disclosure in an investment decision. The items of information provided by an individual firm were then applied to the index. The dependent variable, extent of financial disclosure, was the ratio of a firm's total disclosure score to the firm's total possible disclosure. A stepwise regression model was used to determine which variables were “best” in explaining extent of financial disclosure. Of the ten independent variables entered, four were retained in the final model at the .20 level of significance: exchange listing status, audit firm size, ratio of debt to total equity, and number of shareholders. The final model was examined for the significance of parameter estimates. Three variables—listing status, ratio of debt to total equity, and number of shareholders—were determined to be statistically significant.
A Test of the Abandonment Hypothesis Using Voluntarily Liquidating Firms and Unprofitable Surviving Firms
Authors: Schnusenberg Oliver , Skantz Terrance R. 
Published: January 2017

This study tests the abandonment hypothesis utilizing a sample of poorly performing companies that do not liquidate, and a sample of strongly performing companies that liquidate voluntarily. This research design, where the liquidation (or nonliquidation) event disagrees with firms' earnings histories, eliminates certain confounding effects and tests the abandonment option hypothesis in contexts not previously studied. For the poorly performing surviving concerns, we find that book value increases and earnings decreases in valuation significance as the number of consecutive losses increases. As predicted by the abandonment hypothesis, a sufficiently weak earnings history increases the reliance on book value even though bankruptcy or liquidation is not imminent. For the voluntarily liquidating group, book value increases and earnings decreases in valuation significance in the years immediately preceding liquidation. This suggests that, even in the absence of financial distress, the reliance on book value increases as abandonment becomes imminent.
Streamlining Exceptional Student Placement with PERT
Authors: Radencich Marguerite C. 
Published: January 2017

This article explains the usefulness of PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) in streamlining the currently cumbersome exceptional student referral process. With PERT, realistic time and personnel needs can be established so that the referral process can be completed within reasonable time limits. In addition, the status of every referral can be known at all times. A sample work breakdown structure for referrals is developed as the initial step in PERT. With this step, the process is broken down into small manageable units. Based on this, a network is developed. The network shows the interrelationships and priorities of the steps needed to complete the referral process.
The Effects of Microcomputers on the Secondary Special Education Classroom Ecology
Authors: Rieth Herbert , Bahr Christine , Polsgrove Lewis , Okolo Cynthia , Eckert Robert 
Published: January 2017

This study was designed to investigate the impact of the microcomputer upon the curricular content, curricular format, student behavior, teacher behavior, and teacher focus employed in secondary special education resource room programs. These behaviors were compared in classes in which a microcomputer was used with classes in which no computer was used. Overall, the data suggested different effects associated with computer use The most important benefits appear to be increased active task engagement and increased individually focused instruction. In many key categories of teacher behavior, however, there were no significant differences between the computer-use and noncomputer-use classes. The data strongly suggest that teachers will need training and support if they are to integrate computers into their instructional programs.
Impact of Adoption of Yoga Way of Life on the Reduction of Job Burnout of Managers
Authors: Adhia Hasmukh , Nagendra H R , Mahadevan B 
Published: January 2017

Burnout is a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job, and is defined by the three dimensions of exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy. Job burn-out is a debilitating psychological condition, which has serious repercussions for an individual's personal health as also on the organizational effectiveness. The past 25 years of research has established the complexity of the construct, and has placed the individual stress experience within a larger organizational context of people�s relation to their work. As a holistic science concerned with all aspects of human functioning, yogic science provides a unifying framework by which stress can be understood and eliminated. Yoga involves a systematic method by which we can begin to expand our awareness of the processes which lead to stress and thus gain control over them. Yoga way of life has direct relevance to address the issue of stress and burnout. While several studies in the past have acknowledged this aspect and discussed various ways by which Yoga can address this aspect, till date very little effort has gone into empirically assessing the impact of Yoga way of life. The main contribution of this paper is to fill this gap. This study hypothesizes that managers who learn and adopt the Yoga way of life will be able to reduce their job burnout better than the others who engage in other things to improve their physical and mental progress. An experiment was conducted to collect data and test the hypothesis in a manufacturing unit. The results show that adoption of the Yoga way of life can significantly reduce the job burnout of managers. The Yoga way of life is an integrated approach to the changing physical, mental, vital and emotional personality of an individual. It is aimed at making managers more evolved individuals with better understanding of their job situation in the overall context of life. Through a rigorous literature review and understanding of the science of Yoga as given in our scriptures, the paper also provides an explanation of the mechanism of how this happens. Among many suggested coping skills for stress, yoga happens to be fitting in the best, mainly because of its ability to change positively the individual responses to stress stimuli. However, in order to get benefit of Yoga in its entirety, one has to adopt Yoga as a technique of life management. The authors motivate the HR managers in organizations to explore ways of implementing the Yoga way of life as it promises to address the issue of stress at a fundamental level.
Developing a Comprehensive Financial Inclusion Index
Authors: Ambarkhane Dilip , Shekhar Singh Ardhendu , Venkataramani Bhama 
Published: January 2017

In spite of efforts of six and half decades, poverty reduction in the country is not in sight. Rightly therefore, the 11th and 12th Five-Year Plans focus on inclusive growth. In order to compare the performance of different states or regions, a comprehensive measure of financial inclusion is necessary which takes into account all its aspects. Review of literature on the subject reveals that measures so far suggested take into account only the supply side. This article suggests a measure taking into consideration supply, demand and infrastructure dimensions. It also takes into account the factors such as population growth, law and order situation and corruption, which have adverse impact on the factors which lead to financial inclusion. These adversely impacting factors are termed as drag. Separate indices are developed for three dimensions, namely, supply, demand and infrastructure, and a composite index of these three dimensions is computed. Also an index of drag factors is calculated. A comprehensive financial inclusion index is arrived at by modifying the former index by giving the effect of impact of drag. The index developed is comprehensive as well as flexible, in the sense that new parameters can be added to any of the dimensions including the drag, depending upon identification of parameter and availability of data. It is most suited to Indian conditions and can be used to measure comparative performance of Indian states or sub-regions of the states. It is also applicable to developing countries in general. The composite index is developed by using displaced ideal method which satisfies intuitive criteria of development index, namely, normality, anonymity, monotonicity, proximity, uniformity and signalling, collectively referred to with the acronym NAMPUS.
Effect of Na2O Doping on the Surface and Catalytic Properties of the Mn2O3/Al2O3 System
Authors: El-Shobaky G.A. , Ghozza A.M. , Hammad S. 
Published: January 2017

Manganese/aluminium mixed oxide solids having the formula 0.2MnCO3/Al2O3 were prepared by mechanical mixing of a known weight of finely powdered manganese carbonate and aluminium hydroxide. The solids obtained were treated with NaNO3 (0.75–6 mol%) solution and dried at 110°C, then calcined in air at 500°C and 800°C for 6 h. The phases produced were identified by XRD analysis. The surface properties (SBET, Vp and r̄) of the pure and doped solids were studied by using N2 adsorption at – 196°C and their catalytic activities were determined by studying the oxidation of CO by O2at 125–300°C. The results obtained reveal that pure and doped mixed solids preheated in air at 500°C and 800°C consist of Mn2O3 (partridgite) and a poorly crystalline γ-alumina. Doping with sodium oxide at 500°C and 800°C resulted in a small decrease (14–19%) in the SBET value of the treated solids. However, this treatment brought about a significant modification in the catalytic activity of the doped solids. Doping with 0.75% Na2O at 500°C led to an increase of about 30–50% in the specific catalytic activity which was found to decrease on increasing the percentage of Na2O above this limit, falling to values smaller than that measured for the undoped catalyst. Doping at 800°C led to a progressive decrease in the activity of the treated solid to an extent proportional to the amount of dopant present. The doping process at 500°C and 800°C did not modify the mechanism of the catalytic reaction but altered the number of catalytically-active sites contributing in the catalysis of CO oxidation by O2 without changing their energetic nature.
Dehydrogenation of Cyclohexane in Relation to Some Textural and Catalytic Properties of Ni/Al2O3 and Co/Al2O3 Catalysts
Authors: El-Nabarawy Th. 
Published: January 2017

Ni/Al2O3 and Co/Al2O3 catalysts of different compositions have been prepared. Their structural properties were determined using X-ray diffraction and differential thermal analysis. The textural properties of these catalysts were determined from nitrogen adsorption at 77 K. The catalysts were reduced with hydrogen at 673 K and the adsorption of hydrogen on the reduced catalysts was measured at 320 K. Dehydrogenation of cyclohexane at flow rates of 10–30 ml/min and at 633–723 K was investigated. The loading of alumina with metal oxides leads to changes in the textural properties depending on the degree of loading and on the loaded metal oxide. The adsorption of hydrogen allowed the determination of important catalytic parameters. Dehydrogenation of cyclohexane on the investigated catalysts followed fraction order kinetics. The dehydrogenation activity has been related to the H2 uptake and to the extent of metal dispersion on the support.
Adsorption Characteristics of Coal-based Activated Carbons. II. Adsorption of Water Vapour, Pyridine and Benzene
Authors: El-Nabarawy Th. , Petro N.Sh. , Abdel-Aziz S. 
Published: January 2017

Chemically-activated carbons were prepared by carbonizing Maghara coal with different amounts of phosphoric acid at 873 K. Steam-activated carbons of different burn-off were prepared by gasifying non-activated carbon prepared by carbonization at 873 K with steam at 1173 K. Samples of steam-activated carbons were also treated with concentrated nitric acid or with potassium dichromate. The adsorption of water vapour and benzene was determined at 308 K. The adsorption of pyridine was followed on the chemically-activated carbons at 343 K. The adsorption of water vapour was found to be related to the surface area and the amount of carbon–oxygen groups. Some of the adsorbed water was found to be specifically held to the surface and could be used to determine the number of carbon–oxygen groups on the surface. Two mechanisms are involved in the adsorption of pyridine on the carbons investigated. These are physisorption on the oxygen-free surface and chemisorption on carbon–oxygen groups of an acidic nature. Benzene may be vertically oriented in micropores, horizontally oriented in wider pores and may be even inaccessible to the fraction of the surface located in ultramicropores. Benzene adsorption is also retarded by the existence of a high concentration of carbon–oxygen groups oh the surface.
Surface, Acidic and Catalytic Properties of Silica—Alumina Catalysts in Relation to Their Chemical Composition
Authors: El-Nabarawy Th. , Khalil L.B. , Hamada M.A. , Nawar N. 
Published: January 2017

Silica–alumina catalysts of varying chemical compositions were prepared under controlled conditions, employing the coprecipitation technique. The surface properties were determined from the adsorption of nitrogen at 77 K. The acidity was investigated by determining the adsorption of pyridine at 423 K and by following its thermal desorption up to 773 K. The conversion of 2-propanol at 523 K and the cracking of cumene at 693 K were investigated using the pulse microcatalytic technique. The surface area decreased and the mean pore volume increased with increasing alumina content. The amount of acid present and its surface density increased while the relative acid strength decreased with an increase in the alumina content. The extent of dehydration of 2-propanol increased with increasing surface acid density and proved to be insensitive to the acid strength. The cracking of cumene appears to depend on the surface area, the amount of acid present and the acid strength of the catalyst, although its dependence on these parameters is of a relative complex nature.
Physicochemical and Technological Aspects of the Hydrothermal Modification of Complex Sorbents and Catalysts. Part I. Modification of Porous and Crystalline Structures
Authors: Leboda R. , Charmas B. , Sidorchuk V.V. 
Published: January 2017

This paper deals with the hydrothermal modification of the physicochemical properties of complex mineral sorbents and catalysts. The hydrothermal modification of alumina, magnesia, ferric oxide and zirconia/silica hydro- and xero-gels as well as other complex adsorbents obtained by the coprecipitation and mechanical stirring of suitable components is discussed. The paper deals with the following topics: (a) the physicochemical bases of the hydrothermal method; (b) methodological and technological problems of the hydrothermal treatment of adsorbents; (c) hydrothermal modification of porous structure parameters (specific surface area, pore volume and size); and (d) characteristics of the hydrothermal modification of the porous structure of multicomponent adsorbents and catalysts. In addition, the mechanism of the hydrothermal modification of the porous structure of composite materials is discussed.
Surface and Catalytic Properties of SnO2–Cr2O3 Catalysts
Authors: El-Sharkawy E.A. , Mostafa M.R. , Youssef A.M. 
Published: January 2017

Co-precipitated SnO2–Cr2O3 catalysts of different chemical composition were prepared. The textural properties were determined from the low-temperature nitrogen adsorption isotherms while the structural properties were determined using FT-IR spectroscopic techniques. The magnetic moments of the catalysts were measured by the Gouy method. Catalytic conversion of 2-propanol, 1-butanol and the dehydrogenation of cyclohexane were followed using the pulse microcatalytic technique. No spinel structure was detected, even upon calcination at temperatures as high as 973 K. Only Cr2O3 was detected for samples containing ≥15 mol% chromia. The chemical composition and calcination temperatures are important factors in determining the textural properties of mixed oxide catalysts. The catalytic activity depends on the effective magnetic moment and surface acidity.
A Method for Generating Some Periodic and Quasiperiodic Space Lattices
Authors: Stuart Duncan R. 
Published: January 2017

Some discoveries c. 1960 concerning the ordered structure of points, lines and planes in space known as space lattices appear to offer some interesting but as yet untried possibilities for the enhancement of the design of physical artifacts. Confirmation that Nature employs at least some of the properties to be discussed has come to light in the discovery of a new form for matter referred to as the quasicrystalline state. This paper describes a method for generating a group of such lattices. The number of possible ‘genotypes' appears to be, at least in theory, uncountable though only a few members of this multitude seem to offer the possibility of significant practical application. At least two of the genotypes appear to offer the designer a seemingly endless variety of possible form variants. This variation is achieved with a relatively low number of kinds of component parts, because for each genotype one needs only two facially identical equilateral but otherwise different rhombohedra.