bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An implementation of a novel vision‐based robotic tracking system
Authors: Fatih Talu M. , Soyguder Servet , Aydogmus Ömür 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to present an approach to detect and isolate the sensor failures, using a bank of extended Kalman filters (EKFs) using an innovative initialization of covariance matrix using system dynamics.Design/methodology/approachThe EKF is developed for nonlinear flight dynamic estimation of a spacecraft and the effects of the sensor failures using a bank of Kalman filters in investigated. The approach is to develop fast convergence Kalman filter algorithm based on covariance matrix computation for rapid sensor fault detection. The proposed nonlinear filter has been tested and compared with the classical Kalman filter schemes via simulations performed on the model of a space vehicle; this simulation activity has shown the benefits of the novel approach.FindingsIn the simulations, the rotational dynamics of a spacecraft dynamic model are considered, and the sensor failures are detected and isolated.Research limitations/implicationsA novel fast convergence Kalman filter for detection and isolation of faulty sensors applied to the three axis spacecraft attitude control problem is examined and an effective approach to isolate the faulty sensor measurements is proposed. Advantages of using innovative initialization of covariance matrix are presented in the paper. The proposed scheme enhances the improvement in estimation accuracy. The proposed method takes advantage of both the fast convergence capability and the robustness of numerical stability. Quaternion‐based initialization of the covariance matrix is not considered in this paper.Originality/valueA new fast converging Kalman filter for sensor fault detection and isolation by innovative initialization of covariance matrix applied to a nonlinear spacecraft dynamic model is examined and an effective approach to isolate the measurements from failed sensors is proposed. An EKF has been developed for the nonlinear dynamic estimation of an orbiting spacecraft. The proposed methodology detects and decides if and where a sensor fault has occurred, isolates the faulty sensor, and outputs the corresponding healthy sensor measurement.
A fairly balanced clustering algorithm for routing in wireless sensor networks
Authors: Zytoune Ouadoudi , Fakhri Youssef , Aboutajdine Driss 
Published: July 2010

PurposeRouting protocols in wireless sensor networks (WSN) are a crucial challenge for which the goal is maximizing the system lifetime. Since the sensor nodes are with limited capabilities, these routing protocols should be simple, scalable, energy‐efficient, and robust to deal with a very large number of nodes, and also self‐configurable to node failures and changes of the network topology dynamically. The purpose of this paper is to present a new algorithm for cluster forming in WSN based on the node energy required to transmit to the base station.Design/methodology/approachRotation selection of cluster‐head considering the remoteness of the nodes to the sink, and the network node residual energy.FindingsThe simulation results show that this algorithm allows network stability extension compared to the most known clustering algorithm.Originality/valueGiving a probability to become cluster‐head based on the remoteness of the node to the sink.
Workplace impact of social networking
Authors: Bennett James , Owers Mark , Pitt Michael , Tucker Matthew 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the impact of social networking in the workplace and to assess its use as an effective business tool.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines positive and negative perceptions of social networking in the workplace and provides a critical review of literature in the area. The drivers of, and barriers to, change are explored, and whether the reasons for some organisations prohibiting or restricting social networking in the workplace are well‐founded or corporate suicide. The link between social networking and organisational culture is examined, looking at whether social networking tools are capable of revitalising and reshaping the culture and brand of an organisation, which in turn can lead to better ways of working and increased levels of employee productivity and satisfaction.FindingsThe findings indicate that the business advantages and benefits of social networking in the workplace are still very much underappreciated and undervalued. Although some organisations across the world have started to implement some of the facets of social networking technology and reap the business benefits, fear, resistance and risk are the opinions that still dominate many organisations.Originality/valueThe value of social networking technology in the workplace is yet to be determined. This paper addresses gaps in the current literature and demonstrates that the business benefits of social networking far outweigh the negative perceptions that are still predominant in the pre‐millennial generations. The paper highlights that social networking technology can facilitate improved workplace productivity by enhancing the communication and collaboration of employees which aids knowledge transfer and consequently makes organisations more agile. Moreover, social networking can provide enhanced levels of employee satisfaction by reducing the social isolation of teleworkers and making them feel part of organisational culture during long absences from the physical office.
Public awareness of “green” and “energy efficient” residential property
Authors: Eves Chris , Kippes Stephan 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the buyer awareness and acceptance of environmental and energy efficiency measures in the New Zealand residential property markets. This study aims to provide a greater understanding of consumer behaviour in the residential property market in relation to green housing issuesDesign/methodology/approachThe paper is based on an extensive survey of Christchurch real estate offices and was designed to gather data on the factors that were considered important by buyers in the residential property market. The survey was designed to allow these factors to be analysed on a socio‐economic basis and to compare buyer behaviour based on property values.FindingsThe results show that regardless of income levels, buyers still consider that the most important factor in the house purchase decision is the location of the property and price. Although the awareness of green housing issues and energy efficiency in housing is growing in the residential property market, it is only a major consideration for young and older buyers in the high income brackets and is only of some importance for all other buyer sectors of the residential property market. Many of the voluntary measures introduced by Governments to improve the energy efficiency of residential housing are still not considered important by buyers, indicating that a more mandatory approach may have to be undertaken to improve energy efficiency in the established housing market, as these measures are not valued by the buyer.Originality/valueThe paper confirms the variations in real estate buyer behaviour across the full range of residential property markets and the acceptance and awareness of green housing issues and measures. These results would be applicable to most established and transparent residential property markets.
The effects of the country of brand and the country of manufacturing of automobiles
Authors: Fetscherin Marc , Toncar Mark 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to offer a new perspective of country of origin effects on consumers' brand personality perceptions of domestic and imported automobiles. It aims to assess the perceived similarities and differences between automobiles from two countries with respect to the country of origin of the brand (COB) and the country of manufacturing (COM) of that same brand.Design/methodology/approachAn experimental design was used to investigate developed country consumers' brand personality perceptions of three cars: a domestic car; a car manufactured in a developing country by a developing country manufacturer; and a car from a developing country manufacturer that is manufactured in the developed country. Data were collected in the USA and therefore a US car was used as the developed country car. China was selected as the developing country of origin. A structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data.FindingsMultivariate analysis of variance indicates that consumers' brand personality perceptions varied according to the country of origin (COB) of the brand and the country of manufacture (COM) of the brand. The COM of a car influenced the perceived brand personality of the car more than the COB. In some respects the Chinese car made in the USA was perceived to have a stronger brand personality than the US car made in China. This suggests that for cars the COM exerts a greater influence on the perceived personality of a brand than the COB.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research should take a larger respondent pool, respondents from other countries, other automotive manufacturers as well as assess the impact of COM and COB on purchase intention and behavior.Practical implicationsManufacturers of cars must understand the effect of COM and COB in order to build, position and protect their brands in international markets.Originality/valueThis paper provides an important contribution to the existing literature and business practice by providing a new perspective on country of origin research by using the multi‐dimensional construct of brand personality and analyzing the relationship between country of origin of a brand and country of manufacturing of that same brand.
Auditor conservatism following audit failures
Authors: Fafatas Stephan A. 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of audit failure on Big 4 audit firm monitoring activities. The paper analyzes changes in discretionary accruals (DAs) among clients of firms implicated in audit failure events and examines whether these DAs decline in the period following the event.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses archival data and regression analyses to test whether DAs for clients of implicated audit firms decline in the period following the audit failure as compared to clients of other Big 4 firms. Audit failures are identified during the years 1996‐2004 based on significant lawsuit settlements. The paper focuses on an office‐level analysis to control for audit quality differences which may vary across firm geographic locations as suggested by recent research.FindingsEmpirical results indicate that auditor response to audit failure has changed over time. Auditors implicated in audit failure events occurring in the post‐Enron and Sarbanes‐Oxley period enforce more conservative accounting choices in the year following the event. Specifically, clients of the implicated firm's office report a significant decline in discretionary accounting accruals relative to clients of other auditors in the same city location. However, a significant change in client discretionary accounting accruals is not found following audit failures that occurred prior to 2001, the year of the Enron bankruptcy.Originality/valueThe results of this paper extend the knowledge of the effects of litigation pressure on audit quality. Additionally, this paper helps address the question of how large‐scale audit failures witnessed at the beginning of the century have impacted audit firm conservatism.
Macroeconomic news and risk factor innovations
Authors: Gosnell Thomas , Nejadmalayeri Ali 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine if macroeconomic announcements affect the Fama‐French market, size, book‐to‐market risk factors and momentum factor.Design/methodology/approachUsing unexpected announcements of major macroeconomic indicators, a study is made of how daily innovations of risk factors react to macroeconomic shocks. In a Flannery and Protopapadakis framework, the impact of macroeconomics surprises on the levels and volatilities of the risk factors is measured. A VAR model is employed as a robustness check. To better understand the mechanism of announcement impacts on risk factors, the relationship between the macroeconomics announcements and Fama‐French size/book‐to‐market portfolio returns is investigated.FindingsInflation, employment, consumption and business activities were found to affect levels and volatilities of risk factors. However, these macro variables affect risk factors differently. Inflation and non‐farm payrolls decrease the market risk premium while increasing the size premium. Personal income increases the size premium while reducing the book‐to‐market premium. Industrial production and GDP only influence the level of the momentum factor. In this model specification, producer inflation (PPI) and personal income increase the volatility of the size premium while business inventories increase the volatility of the market premium.OriginalityThis paper's results support the notion that different risk factors capture different economic fundamentals.
Corporate governance and investor reactions to seasoned equity offerings
Authors: Huang Rongbing , Tompkins James G. 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the role of corporate governance in abnormal returns around announcements of seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) by publicly traded US firms from 2001 to 2004.Design/methodology/approachCross‐sectional regression analysis was used to determine which variables are important to the market's reaction to the SEO, with a particular focus on corporate governance variables.FindingsIt was found that investors react more positively for firms in which different people hold the CEO and board chairman positions. Limited evidence was found that investor reaction is more positive when the board has a greater representation of outside directors, the CEO has less ownership, and the board is not too large. These findings suggest that investors react more favorably to SEOs by firms with stronger corporate governance mechanisms that reduce adverse selection or agency problems.Practical implicationsThis paper's findings are evidence that stronger boards can reduce a firm's cost of raising additional equity capital. Originality/value – There is not believed to be any other published paper that examines the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on the reaction to SEOs with such a comprehensive sample or in post‐Enron periods.
Female executives and earnings management
Authors: Peni Emilia , Vähämaa Sami 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the association between earnings management and the gender of the firm's executives.Design/methodology/approachPanel regressions of discretionary accruals on a set of female executive dummies and firm‐specific controls.FindingsThe results provide considerable evidence to suggest that firms with female chief financial officers (CFOs) are associated with income‐decreasing discretionary accruals, thereby implying that female CFOs are following more conservative earnings management strategies.Research limitations/implicationsIn general, the findings indicate that gender‐based differences in conservatism, risk‐aversion, and managerial opportunism may have important implications for financial reporting and corporate governance.Originality/valueThis paper extends prior research by addressing the potential effects of female executives on earnings management. The findings reported in this paper provide novel insights to the empirical financial accounting literature.
Accrued capital gains and ex‐dividend day pricing
Authors: Whitworth Jeff , Zhang Yi 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show how recent capital gains affect ex‐dividend stock pricing. Traditional models assume that investors are motivated to sell a stock before its ex‐date to avoid paying higher taxes on dividends. However, if a stock has appreciated significantly, stockholders have an offsetting incentive to delay the realization of capital gains by continuing to hold the stock in spite of the higher dividend tax rate.Design/methodology/approachThis paper develops a model showing that ex‐dividend price drops should be greater in the presence of larger accrued capital gains. The model was tested by regressing ex‐day pricing measures on the relative size of the recently accrued gain, along with other control variables.FindingsEmpirical tests confirm that accrued gains reduce the magnitude of the ex‐day effect, increasing the price drop ratio (ΔP/D) and reducing ex‐day returns. Also documented was that ex‐day price drops are larger for stocks that have recently experienced positive gains, that the observed effect of recent price performance is stronger for higher‐yield stocks, and that share turnover is usually lower for stocks with greater gains.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper's findings suggest that the results of existing empirical investigations of ex‐day pricing should be interpreted with some caution, and that future studies should control for gains that occur prior to the ex‐date.Originality/valueWhile the tax clientele explanation of ex‐day pricing has been investigated extensively, this is the first study to show how accrued gains and losses impact ex‐dividend price changes.
Restricted private information provision during short sale bans
Authors: Tse Yiuman , Williams Michael 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the 2008 SEC short selling ban on financial firms and whether this ban negatively impacted private information provision in these short‐restricted equities.Design/methodology/approachThis paper employs the French and Roll Variance Ratio (VR) as a proxy for private information provision in both an unconditional and conditional analysis. The unconditional analysis examines the VR across trading characteristics, firm characteristics, and time regimes. The conditional analysis models the VR in an event study framework where exogenous determinants of private information provision are held constant.FindingsEmpirical results indicate that private information provision increased due to the 2007 US financial crisis while information provision decreased due to the 2008 short selling ban. This study concludes that the 2007 financial crisis enticed informed short sellers into the market which then increased information provision. Further, the 2008 short selling ban restricted these informed short sellers from the market thus leading to a decrease in information provision in the short‐restricted firms. Interestingly, the information restricting effects of the 2008 ban were not severe enough to erode the gains in information provision originally induced by the financial crisis.Originality/valueThis paper specifically contributes by demonstrating that the 2008 SEC short selling ban negatively impacted private information provision. This paper contributes generally by showing that short sale bans' information effects are not completely restrictive. Rather, short sale bans' information effects are a function of firm characteristics and contemporaneous market conditions.
Risk modeling in crude oil market: a comparison of Markov switching and GARCH models
Authors: Luo Cuicui , Seco Luis A. , Wang Haofei , Dash Wu Desheng 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to deal with the different phases of volatility behavior and the dependence of the variability of the time series on its own past, models allowing for heteroscedasticity like autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (ARCH), generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH), or regime‐switching models have been suggested by reserachers. Both types of models are widely used in practice.Design/methodology/approachBoth regime‐switching models and GARCH are used in this paper to model and explain the behavior of crude oil prices in order to forecast their volatility. In regime‐switching models, the oil return volatility has a dynamic process whose mean is subject to shifts, which is governed by a two‐state first‐order Markov process.FindingsThe GARCH models are found to be very useful in modeling a unique stochastic process with conditional variance; regime‐switching models have the advantage of dividing the observed stochastic behavior of a time series into several separate phases with different underlying stochastic processes.Originality/valueThe regime‐switching models show similar goodness‐of‐fit result to GARCH modeling, while has the advantage of capturing major events affecting the oil market. Daily data of crude oil prices are used from NYMEX Crude Oil market for the period 13 February 2006 up to 21 July 2009.
Obituaries
Authors: Andrew Alex M. 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to list and discuss several workers on cybernetics and systems, all fairly recently deceased. Online sources of further details are quoted.Design/methodology/approachThe aim is to review developments on the internet, especially those of general cybernetic interest.FindingsThe demise of these workers is a great loss.Practical implicationsFor all of the people listed, it is instructive to contemplate their achievements and to speculate on what else they would have done had they lived.Originality/valueIt is hoped this is a valuable periodic review.
Hybrid materials based on functionalised epoxy resin networks
Authors: Hernández‐Padrón Genoveva , Garcia‐Garduño Margarita , Rojas‐González Fernando 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe how sol‐gel synthesised silica particles are used to modify the characteristics (especially the thermal and mechanical properties) of either an epoxy resin (ER) or a −COOH‐functionalised ER (FER) substrate. In the systems studied here, spherical silica particles are embedded in ER or FER thermosetting polymeric substrates for producing translucent solid materials. There arise covalent unions between the SiO2 silanol surface groups of the particles and the functionalised FER ends, thus rendering SiO2‐FER core‐shell compounds.Design/methodology/approachThe characterisation results confirm the affinity existing between ER and SiO2 particles as well as the existence of chemical bonds at the interface between the silica and FER phases.FindingsAn efficient and durable application against corrosion of metallic materials has been developed through the preparation and application of thin surface films made of finely disseminated SiO2 colloidal particles, which are trapped inside either FER or unfunctionalised ER epoxy resin polymer networks. The results of this test indicate that the anticorrosive performances of FER, SiO2‐ER and SiO2‐FER coating films are higher than that related to the ER coating alone.Practical implicationsThese silica/ER hybrid materials can be employed as anticorrosive coatings of metallic substrates in commercial appliances, industrial devices and protection of artistic works, such as metal sculptures.Originality/valuePreparation of organic‐inorganic hybrid materials of enhanced thermal and mechanical properties against corrosion. Functionalisation of an ER polymer network resulted in the improvement of the anticorrosive properties of the sole ER of departure while showing very good corrosion endurance.