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The present study uses K-means++ clustering to assess the financial performance patterns of renewable or clean energy companies using the Return on Equity (ROE) decomposition. It also explores the relationship between ESG and financial performance and discovers a positive relationship between ROE and ESG. The ESG-ROE relationship becomes negative or insignificant when businesses are grouped based on ROE change. The findings suggest that firm-specific heterogeneity affects the ESG-ROE relationship and long-term financial performance. Hence, it emphasizes the significance of the internal and external environment in determining firms' ESG and financial success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Galician Journal of Economics / Revista Galega de Economía is the property of Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Servicio de Publicaciones and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The COVID-19 health pandemic highlighted the need for more readily affordable patented drugs. Brand drug companies argue that they need to recuperate their research and development ("R&D"), marketing and advertising expenses. The incentive to innovate also needs to be preserved. Drug companies are entitled to a profit and a return on their investment, just as afforded to utility monopolies. Intellectual property and human rights clash relative to access to patented drugs. We provide several proposed approaches to resolve this dilemma and conclude with an argument that patented drugs should be considered a public utility. A model based on the public utility approach has a great deal of merit as a model for setting prices for essential drugs and treatments. The price, however, setting should not be the province of back-room discussions between drug companies and insurers. Prices should be negotiated in public with full transparency just as electricity rates. Investor-owned utilities are profitable essential facilities that are of great benefit to consumers and provide reasonable and regular return on investment for their owners. This can happen for manufacturers of essential drugs as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The incidence of colic and the outcomes of colic surgery have not been surveyed in racetracks in Korea. Objectives: This study examined the incidence, mortality, and case fatality of colic and investigated the effects of age and sex after an exploratory celiotomy on the long-term survival rate (return to racing), subsequent racing performance, and career longevity. Methods: The incidence, mortality, and case fatalities of colic were examined over an 11-year period. The records of 40 horses that had undergone a celiotomy, after participating in at least one race and 75 race-matched control horses were analyzed. The racing performance and career length of the horses that returned to racing post-surgery were compared with a control group. Results: The annual incidence, fatality rate of colic, and annual mortality rate at Seoul Racecourse were 6.5, 2.8 per 100 horse-years, and 0.2 deaths cases per 100 horse-years, respectively. Of the 40 horses that underwent colic surgery, 26 (65%) returned to racing. The likelihood of returning to racing decreased with increasing age of the horses, and geldings had a lower probability of returning. While the performance in the five preoperative races between the two groups was not significantly different, a significant decrease in racing performance was observed after the surgery date (p < 0.01). Horses that underwent colic surgery did not show a significant decrease in career length. Conclusions: Surgical treatment for colic at the age of three and four years had a negative impact on the racing performance. On the other hand, there was no significant difference in career longevity between the two groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of URVIO - Revista Latinoamericana de Seguridad Ciudadana is the property of FLACSO - Ecuador (Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Selcuk University Social Sciences Institute Journal is the property of Selcuk University Social Sciences Institute Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article presents the methodology of applying factor analysis. The purpose of the research is to examine the applicability of factor analysis in the assessment of factors determining the return on equity of farms in the European Union, aimed at reducing the correlated variables without losing the information contained therein regarding the return on equity. The research used data published in the European FADN (Farm Accountancy Data Network). Factor analysis was performed with the R statistical program, ver. 4.2.2. On the basis of the conducted research, 4 factors were identified, into which 15 variables were classified. The factors were given the following names: Farm size and production potential (factor 1), Income and ability to self-finance operations (factor 2), Effects of long-term investment and financial decisions (factor 3) and Investment activity (factor 4). The first factor includes: Labor, Area, Subsidies, S_loans, Inputs, Output, Current_assets and Size. To the second: Income, Cash_flow 2 and Cash_flow 2. The third factor includes Fixed_assets and LM_loans, while the fourth one includes Net_inv and Gross_inv. The use of factor analysis allowed the reduction of variables and the identification of factors determining the return on equity of farms from European Union countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Email marketing is the practice of sending commercial emails to a targeted audience. Email marketing currently routinely produces a significant ROI (return on investment) in the marketing sector. However, a significant research question in email marketing is how to gather subscriber data and deliver emails just to interested customers. Faced with the explosion in the volume of information, companies are becoming increasingly aware of the structural challenges of Big Data. Collecting and processing large amounts of heterogeneous data in real time is indeed invaluable. In the era of Big Data, the analysis and exploitation of data, by email marketing specialists, is now essential to remain competitive. In this paper, we review the impact of Big Data on email marketing activities and we identify the techniques, frameworks and data types that were adopted. Therefore, our contribution to this work is the proposed conceptual framework for email marketing campaign practice based on big data analytics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study aims to assess the effectiveness of e-learning in compliance with the new biosafety recommendations in dentistry in the context of COVID-19 applied to the clinical staff of a dental school in Brazil. A quasi-experimental epidemiological study was carried out by means of a structured, pre-tested online questionnaire, applied before and after an educational intervention, using an e-learning format. After data collection, statistical tests were performed. A total of 549 members of the clinical staff participated in the study in the two collection phases, with a return rate of 26.9%. After the e-learning stage, a reduction was found in the reported use of disposable gloves, protective goggles, and surgical masks. The course had no impact on the staff's knowledge concerning the proper sequence for donning PPE and showed 100% effectiveness regarding proper PPE doffing sequence. Knowledge about avoiding procedures that generate aerosols in the clinical setting was improved. Despite the low rate of return, it can be concluded that online intervention alone was ineffective in significantly improving learning about the new clinical biosafety guidelines. Therefore, the use of hybrid teaching and repetitive training is highly recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the influence of consumer goods internal determinants on dividend policy in Nigerian from 2017 to 2021. This study uses panel data regression model with pairwise testing for data analysis. Purposive sampling was employed in data collection. The internal determinants that influence dividend policy included in this study are: ratio of current asset, ratio of debt-to-equity, assets growth and collateralizable assets, as well as return on equity while the dependent variable is ratio of Dividend Payout. The findings of this research revealed that the ratio of dividend payout is unaffected by the current ratio, the debt-to-equity ratio, or growth. Dividend policy is influenced positively by Collagenization and Return on Equity. Consumer goods companies, according to this study, are more likely to pay out significant dividends to shareholders if they are profitable and have a large pool of collateral with which to back their claims. Studies show that managers are allowed to increase dividends to shareholders, which supports agency theory. According to study findings both theoretical and empirical, in the Nigerian consumer goods industry, where profits are high and collateral is available, companies prefer to give significant dividends to shareholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Ciencias Sociales (13159518) is the property of Revista de Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad del Zulia Venezuela and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study reviews benefit-cost analyses of programs designed to reduce demand for illicit drugs. Data were synthesised from 67 benefit-cost analyses of prevention, law enforcement and treatment programs. Eighty percent of the 70 separate benefit-cost ratios exceeded 1.0, indicating that savings outweighed costs among most programs reviewed. Benefit-cost ratios ranged from -18.20 to 63.32, varying substantially for different program types and populations. On average, demand reduction programs produced a return on investment of $5.40 for every dollar spent. These findings suggest demand reduction programs are generally economical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dispersal drives invasion dynamics of nonnative species and pathogens. Applying knowledge of dispersal to optimize the management of invasions can mean the difference between a failed and a successful control program and dramatically improve the return on investment of control efforts. A common approach to identifying optimal management solutions for invasions is to optimize dynamic spatial models that incorporate dispersal. Optimizing these spatial models can be very challenging because the interaction of time, space, and uncertainty rapidly amplifies the number of dimensions being considered. Addressing such problems requires advances in and the integration of techniques from multiple fields, including ecology, decision analysis, bioeconomics, natural resource management, and optimization. By synthesizing recent advances from these diverse fields, we provide a workflow for applying ecological theory to advance optimal management science and highlight priorities for optimizing the control of invasions. One of the striking gaps we identify is the extremely limited consideration of dispersal uncertainty in optimal management frameworks, even though dispersal estimates are highly uncertain and greatly influence invasion outcomes. In addition, optimization frameworks rarely consider multiple types of uncertainty (we describe five major types) and their interrelationships. Thus, feedbacks from management or other sources that could magnify uncertainty in dispersal are rarely considered. Incorporating uncertainty is crucial for improving transparency in decision risks and identifying optimal management strategies. We discuss gaps and solutions to the challenges of optimization using dynamic spatial models to increase the practical application of these important tools and improve the consistency and robustness of management recommendations for invasions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This present research is conducted to probe the impact of company’s’ Financial-Leverage on its Performance, the research-data pursued and collected for listed manufacturing sector of Pakistan from State Bank of Pakistan via Financial-Statements analysis. Time- series-data is collected from 2009-2019. The research is based upon Ratio and Return on Assets, Return on Equity are as Independent-Variable and Net-Profit margin are Dependent-Variable, the research is mechanized by applying the Regression-Model by using SPSS. Manufacturing sector is performing a crucial function in the Developing and Developed-Economies. It offered maintain for EconomicDevelopment of country by depicting encouraging trends for growth towards the sector, helping as a control for the growth of firm’s various working areas like; textile, cement and iron. It offers extensive contribution for production, trade and service. Generally, perceived the financial leverage is helpful to boost up the Financial-Performance of the Company. The study is aimed at checking the Hypothesis and to comprehend the contact of Financial-Leverage on the Firm Financial outcomes of the manufacturing sector of Pakistan. The study’s core objective is to observe that the entities acquire work with high profits may be leads to choice High-Leverage by using different statistical techniques and tools. The study highlights Financial-Leverage positively affects the company Financial Performance. By affirming the alternate hypothesis H1 and Ho is rejected. Further, analysis substantiates High-Profit earning entities make sure of feasible liquidity situation s to acquire significant Financial-Performance of entity. This orientation has significant impact on the manufacturing sector in Pakistan in Financial- Leverage on its sustainability and significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research is intended to be both exploratory and diagnostic. Analyzing the profitability of Indian scheduled commercial banks is the main goal of this study. Data were gathered from the Reserve Bank of India's data release from 2017, the Statistical Table Relating to Indian Banks, and various RBI Bulletin issues. Numerous statistical techniques, including average, standard deviation, standard error, lower bound, and upper bound, have been employed to evaluate the profitability of banks. Additionally, the SPSS programme was used to apply the ANOVA test at a 95% level of confidence to determine whether there were any significant differences between the various forms of earnings and profits. According to the study, there are significant differences between the three groups of banks in terms of net interest income, operating profit, interest income, and return on assets. However, in terms of return on equity, the distinction was insignificant. In addition, foreign banks had the most net interest income, non-interest income, operating profit, and return on assets, but private sector banks generated the highest return on equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of board director characteristics on banking financial performance in Tunisia from 2005 to 2015. We used four independent variables related to the board of directors (board size, independence, duality, and the percentage of directors representing the state), as well as a macroeconomic variable (inflation), and a control variable (the size of the bank). We used two dependent variables to assess financial performance: return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE). The main empirical findings show that board size and inflation variables have a negative impact on banking performance. The variables percentage of directors representing the state and bank size, on the other hand, have a positive impact on banking performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Anáhuac Journal is the property of Universidad Anahuac del Sur S.C. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Making long-term investment decisions is possible using the portfolio approach. In this respect, there are classical (e.g., Markowitz model) and non-classical (e.g., fundamental model) approaches. The key element in the construction of models is not only the measurement of risk and rate of return, but also the method of selecting assets (companies) to the portfolio. The method of selecting assets often determines the direction of the investor's investment strategy. The portfolio construction and asset selection processes remain an open question. The aim of the study is to assess the effectiveness of portfolio investment using the concept of fundamental strength. The results of the study indicate that the fundamental approach, depending on the portfolio construction procedure used, gives different effects, but allows for risk diversification in times of crisis [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human resource analytics (HRA), adopted by firms in India and across the globe, is forecasted to increase at a decent pace, as reported by various market research firms. However, few studies have explained that mixed benefits may be due to differences in company HR practices. This research paper studies HR adoption at the firm level in the Indian context. Data from 116 Indian BSE listed companies for the 2018-2019 period is investigated using propensity score matching (PSM) followed by linear regression analysis. The result reveals that HR analytics firms have a higher return on investment. Our findings will prove helpful to firms who wish to adopt HRA practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to interrogate the impact of claim management on the profitability of non-life insurance companies in Ghana covering the years 2013-2020. The study employs the fixed effects and random effects techniques with data covering the period 2013-2020. Hausman test is used as an appropriate approach to conduct this study. Our work measured profitability utilizing interpretive financial tools such as return on assets (ROA) and returns on equity (ROE). The results of our research indicates that claim ratio and retention ratio have a profound adverse impact on return on asset. In terms of return on equity (ROE), claim ratio and expense ratio negatively and significantly affect profitability. This study recommends that non-life insurance companies should institute an effective claim processing system with highly qualified, experienced, trained and technical staff to ensure efficiency in claims management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper examines the espoused justifications for the rebranding (change of name and logo) of an Australian University. Design/methodology/approach: The data was obtained from press releases in newspapers, the online reports of the Australian Department of Education and the online annual financial reports of the Western Sydney University. The records of the years 2013 to 2015 (pre-test) were used for the comparison against the years 2016 to 2018 (post-test). The brand strength model formed the basis of evaluation - in which consumer preferences were determined by assigning a rank derived from the application rates of the universities in the same state (New South Wales). The financial data were also used to assess whether any significant benefits could be attributed to the rebranding. Findings/Results: The results for brand strength pre-test versus post-test showed no statistically significant difference. The results for revenue trends pre-test versus post-test also showed no statistically significant difference. These results lead to the conclusion that rebranding had no actual tangible benefits. That is the espoused outcomes/benefits stated as justification for the rebranding failed to eventuate. Originality/value: The paper provides a model/framework for assessing return on investment conceptualised by assessing brand strength in the higher education sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural is the property of Sociedade Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

MDA focuses on productivity and maintainability, OMG shows that the expected gains from adopting MDA are reduced operating costs and development time, increased return on investment and new technologies rapid integration into an existing system. MDA's goal is to express the functional and implementation specifications of an application on a given platform independently. In this paper, we present a case study of course management in a department, illustrated by a class diagram and then we generate the code of classes using the enterprise architect software. This paper proposes also an approach in accord with MDA and IFML standards, our approach is about graphical user interfaces (GUI) automatic generation, starting from the business process model on CIM level, to the generation of graphic interfaces code on PSM model by applying MDA model transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of internet financial news on financial markets has been verified from multiple perspectives. This paper examines whether the emotional tendency of COVID-19 news affect financial markets. Based on constructing the sentiment dictionary of COVID-19 news, we measure the sentiment indicators of COVID-19 news, and then study the dynamic relationship between the emotional tendency of COVID-19 news and the rate of return in financial markets. Compared with the news before the outbreak of COVID-19, our results show that the emotional tendency of COVID-19 news does affect the rate of return in the stock and bond markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the effect of corporate governance on the financial performance of companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. In this study, the duality of CEO duties and financial performance were considered as corporate governance mechanisms. Indicators like return on assets, return on equity and net operating profit after tax have been used to measure financial performance. The studied period was 2013 to 2017 and samples were member companies of Tehran Stock Exchange. The findings revealed that corporate governance and financial performance of companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange had a favorable significant association. With the ROE index, there was a significant positive association between board accountability and corporate performance. With the TQ index, there was a positive significant association between board accountability and company performance, and with the ROE index, there was a positive significant relationship between transparency level and firm performance. There was also a substantial positive link between the amount of transparency and business performance as measured by the TQ index, as well as a significant positive relationship between the audit committee and company success as measured by the ROE index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rudarsko-Geolosko-Naftni Zbornik is the property of Faculty of Mining, Geology & Petroleum Engineering and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

As per the All India Survey on Higher Education 2019-20 there are 1043 universities 42342 colleges and 11779 standalone institutes in India. In spite of having quite a huge number of higher education institutes in India many of the educational institutes are finding it difficult to fill in their intake capacity. Hence it becomes very essential for the higher education institutes to identify the factors that influences the decision of the students in selection of higher education institutes. If the factors are identified and corrective steps are taken by the higher education institutes the gross enrolment ratio of each institute can be enhanced. This research paper makes an attempt to bridge the gap between the higher educational institutes and the expectations of the students. The study considered the opinions of 25 students studying in the Mumbai and Navi Mumbai region. The study concluded that the most important factors considered by the students while selecting a Higher Education Institution are curriculum, specialisation offered by the institute, and return on investment. Hence it becomes imperative for the educational institutes to concentrate on these factors to enhance their enrolment ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: For over a decade, resistance to newly synthesized antibiotics has been observed worldwide. The challenge of antibiotic resistance has led to several pharmaceutical companies to abandon the synthesis of new drugs in fear of bacteria developing resistance in a short period hence limiting initial investment return. To this effect, alternative approaches such as the use of bacteriophages to treat bacterial infections are being explored. This review explores the recent advances in phage-mediated antibacterial applications and their limitations. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive literature search of PubMed, Lib Hub and Google Scholar databases from January 2019 to November 2019. The search key words used were the application of bacteriophages to inhibit bacterial growth and human phage therapy to extract full-text research articles and proceedings from International Conferences published only in English. Results: The search generated 709 articles of which 95 full-text research articles fulfilled the inclusion guidelines. Transmission Electron Microscopy morphological characterization conducted in 23 studies registered Myoviruses, Siphoviruses, Podoviruses, and Cytoviruses phage families while molecular characterization revealed that some phages were not safe to use as they harbored undesirable genes. All in vivo phage therapy studies in humans and model animals against multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infection provided 100% protection. Ex vivo and in vitro phage therapy experiments exhibited overwhelming results as they registered high efficacies of up to 100% against MDR clinical isolates. Phage-mediated bio-preservation of foods and beverages and bio-sanitization of surfaces were highly successful with bacterial growth suppression of up to 100%. Phage endolysins revealed efficacies statistically comparable to those of phages and restored normal ethanol production by completely eradicating lactic acid bacteria in ethanol fermenters. Furthermore, the average multiplicity of infection was highest in ex vivo phage therapy (557,291.8) followed by in vivo (155,612.4) and in vitro (434.5). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As is well known, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost all sectors of economy, both nationally and internationally. Given that the purpose of any company is to maximize its profit, respectively to record performance, it goes without saying that these have fought a hard battle in terms of their survival during this pandemic. The current researches in the field, in this pandemic context, show that the economic and financial performance of companies was and still is difficult to achieve. These have indicated that the novelty element in the field of economic and financial performance of a company is the COVID-19 pandemic, which has left enough of its mark on the activities both at microeconomic and macroeconomic level. The purpose of this article is to highlight some aspects related to the general evolution of companies performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the most important measures that companies have taken in order to maintain performance and not only, has been investments in technology, which have registered one of the largest increases. The results of the current research in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic have created a vision in terms of searching, identifying and determining the most effective measures, respectively investments that will at least keep afloat the activities in different fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of the 2008 Global Crisis on the efficiency of the financial institutions around the world. We focus on 203 countries and examine nine efficiency measures which include net interest margin, lendingdeposit spread, non-interest income, overhead costs, return on assets, return on equity, cost to income ratio, credit to government and state-owned enterprises, and stock market turnover ratio. We document how each of these efficiency measures had changed during the run-up to the crisis, during the crisis, and after the crisis. Our results show that, during the run-up to the crisis, there was no sign of an upcoming crisis in terms of these efficiency measures. During the crisis period, both return on assets and return on equity went down significantly. There was no change in the other variables during this period. During the post-crisis period, we find that return on assets and return on equity continued to go down. Also, cost to income ratio went up significantly post-crisis. On the other hand, credit to government and state-owned enterprises went up significantly post-crisis. There was no significant change in the other variables. These findings should help policymakers to devise strategies that would protect their country's financial system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid loss of coastal and estuarine biogenic habitats has reduced the delivery of valuable ecosystem services, resulting in calls for increased habitat restoration. Yet, a lack of information on how key habitat characteristics (e.g., area, vertical relief, age) influence the ability of restored habitats to deliver these ecosystem services hinders efforts to maximize the return on restoration investments. We conducted a meta‐analysis to assess the influence of reef type (natural or restored), taxa, and restored reef size, vertical relief, age, and tidal zone on the presence and magnitude of recruitment enhancement for nekton (i.e., fish and swimming crabs). Both intertidal and subtidal reefs, as well as restored and natural reefs, enhanced nekton recruitment, though there was variation among taxonomic groups with reef types. Recruitment enhancement was more common across taxa on restored (six families) than on natural (one family) reefs. Resident nekton families were more consistently enhanced than transient families. Nekton enhancement varied with a number of restored reef characteristics. Recruitment enhancement increased with greater reef size across taxa, decreased with higher vertical relief for two families, showed maximum recruitment around a single intertidal reef age for one family, and showed minimum recruitment around a single subtidal reef age for three families. Understanding variation across species in response to key design elements will improve restoration success and enhance return on investment. Moving forward, we recommend studies that vary reef habitat characteristics independently and in combination to identify how variation in these characteristics interact to influence nekton recruitment enhancement by oyster reefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tourism & Management Studies is the property of Escola Superior de Gestao, Hotelaria e Turismo, Universidade do Algarve and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper documents a computational form of the Intelligent Portfolio Theory for investing and trading in stock markets with two multi-factor models and two trend following trading strategies. The Intelligent Portfolio Theory for stock investment goes beyond the classical portfolio theory by using multi-factor models for stock selection and quantitative trading strategies instead of buy-and-hold. In China A-share market, a special multi-factor Model 1 is developed targeting at the food and beverage sector, which is made up of 7 effective and non-redundant factors selected from 20 candidate factors representing 6 categories: valuation, technology, size, profitability, growth ability, and solvency. A more general multi-factor Model 2 targeting at all the stocks in the whole stock market is also developed, which is constructed as a rule-based system integrating fundamental and technical analysis inspired by the empirical approach of CANSLIM. The multi-factor models are used to forecast or rate the future return of each stock in the sector, and then a small number of stocks are selected to form a portfolio. Each selected stock in the portfolio is then traded using a trend following trading strategy. Two strategies are developed, Strategy 1 with the high-low price channel breakout, and Strategy 2 with the parabolic stop and reverse indicator. The first intelligent portfolio trading system integrates Model 1 with Strategy 1, and is tested on an in-sample data of 7 years and also on an out-of-sample data of 2 years. The second system couples Model 2 with Strategy 2 and is tested on a data of 2 years. Both intelligent portfolio trading systems generated significantly useful performance in terms of annual returns and maximum drawdown. The test results confirmed the effectiveness of the Intelligent Portfolio Theory with proposed multi-factor models and trading strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses how network operators may gain a reasonable return on their investment into 5G infrastructure. It first considers the 5G mobile network costs structure then applies this to three typical use cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issues of SMART services and solutions, their implementation and operation are presented mainly as a topic of large cities, where a large number of residents, potential customers are concentrated. This argument is logical, as a high concentration of population is one of the parameters to guarantee the return on investment of such projects. We think that the topic of SMART solutions should not be a significant priority only for large cities. For this reason, we decided to analyze the needs of small cities in terms of implementing SMART solutions, identify problems as well as requirements to speed up this process. We collected data for our analysis in the Slovak Republic, which with its structure of cities and municipalities is a suitable candidate for such research. In the process of data collection, we addressed request for information more than 2,744 small towns and municipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants, while 547 representatives of towns and municipalities responded to the questionnaire. The results of the research show an interesting and unambiguous finding. Small towns and rural areas also want to be SMART. In the research, we identified several, not simple problems that need to be solved for the successful implementation of such goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to construct an accounting method for the domestic value-added rate for exports by considering environmental costs and using a developing country, China, as an example, to measure the "positive" and "negative" economic benefits obtained by industrial sectors linking to the global value chains (GVCs), namely the comprehensive rate of return. On this basis, the impact of industrial intelligence on the comprehensive rate of return of the GVCs is further explored. When environmental costs are considered, the comprehensive rate of return of China's industrial sectors linking to the GVCs is reduced by approximately 15%. Industrial intelligence is conducive to improving the comprehensive return rate of China's participation in GVCs. And the accumulation of human capital and the improvement of the competitiveness of export products are important mechanisms for industrial intelligence to affect the comprehensive rate of return of the GVCs. The improvement of industrial intelligence level in pollution-intensive industries has the most obvious promotion effect on the comprehensive rate of return of GVCs, followed by capital and technology-intensive industries, while labor-intensive industries are not sensitive to this effect. • This study calculates the comprehensive return rate of China's participation in GVCs. • The comprehensive return rate is reduced by approximately 15%. • Intelligence development is conducive to improving the comprehensive rate of return. • Human capital and the competitiveness of export products are important mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, Enterprise Collaboration Systems (ECS) have increasingly been introduced as core components of the digital workplace. Organizations have a range of different goals that they want to achieve when they implement a new collaboration software. In our paper, we argue that traditional controlling indicators with a focus on delivery dates and costs are not suitable to measure the return on investment and the benefit that a user company can achieve from the digital support of work. Conventional indicators provide limited value because they cannot be used to directly attribute the contribution of a digital collaboration project to the achievement of corporate goals. The research described in this paper is part of a long-term university-industry research initiative and the findings contribute to a broader understanding of the metric-based analysis of benefits from ECS use in organizations. We present a method for developing and applying "metrics profiles" to ECS, which makes it possible to analyze the realization of benefits over time. The method was tested and evaluated using non-reactive ECS data from an operational collaboration platform that has been in operation for more than seven years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IT-business alignment has been the focus for top managers in the last two decades. Literature reported IT-business alignment as one of the key enablers for the success of IT in an organization. Given its importance, this study aimed at exploring the reported benefits of IT-business alignment, the proposed methodologies and the challenges in implementing these models. To do so, a systematic literature review was conducted to find answers to these questions. This study reveals that applying IT in an appropriate and timely way, in harmony with business strategies, goals and needs can result in plenty of benefits for an organization. These benefits include enhanced cooperation among members, competitive advantage, performance enhancement, high return on investment, facilitation of processes and growth among others. In fact, IT today is not only a tool but has become a business enabler delivering values for organization and this implies that huge investment on IT must be well managed and controlled in order to align IT with business. Also, the study reviewed some proposed methodologies or models that have contributed in achieving sustained alignment between business and IT. Lastly, the study reveals that, despite the inevitable benefits, there are still some difficulties or challenges organizations faced in establishing an atmosphere of honesty and humility between IT and business. These challenges are lack of effective communication, low return on IT investments, lack of the necessary skills to adapt to changes in technology or conflicting priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are 10 commercial banks operating in Kosovo today and they make up 65 percent of the total assets of the financial sector. Their products and services include bank accounts, loans, local and international payments, bank cards, bank guarantees, letter of credit, e-banking. The structure of assets according to the first quarter of 2020 is dominated by loans totaling 4,721.9 million euros, while the structure of liabilities of the banking sector is dominated by deposits in the amount of 3,845.4 billion euros. Commercial banks in Kosovo have different shareholder structures. Eight of them are banks with foreign capital and two with domestic capital. The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of cost control on the profitability of banks. The research was done through multivariate regression, where as dependent variables we have Net Profit Margin (NMF), Return on Equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA) and as independent variables we have interest expenses, salary expenses and provisions expenses. Profitability is the term that refers to the ability of the institution to maintain its profit year after year. Based on the linear regression model, it is found that in one of the dependent variables two dependent variables have a significant impact, while in the other two dependent variables only one of the independent variables has an impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a difficult economic context in the world in general and in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa in particular where we seek to make maximum return on investments; this paper draws on part of cloud computing technologies to offer traditional universities the possibility of carrying out practical work via the cloud without using either physical IT equipment or physical practical rooms; and on the other hand, on videoconferencing technologies to ensure synchronous monitoring of this practical work. Thus, a cloud-based laboratory model for STEM disciplines is proposed in [1]. In the implementation of the model, we proposed the solution based on practical work in the field of IT. This paper document is an extension of [1] and offers a videoconferencing solution for monitoring practical work applied on the cloud for collaborative work between the teacher and the learners. In this new model, practical work is done using virtual machines from the cloud, but real-time monitoring is provided by a videoconferencing system, the following functionalities of which have been added: screen sharing, file sharing and virtual classroom recording. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Telecommunication network infrastructures in Africa and the Middle East regions, are deployed and operated in challenging environments that are highly scattered particularly in rural areas. Moreover, considerable number of cell sites are located in areas difficult to access. Furthermore, low income in rural areas does not allow a fast return on investment since the cost of deployment and operation of a cell site is considerable. These issues lead to a difficult human resource management, particularly, in the assignment of technicians to cell site for maintenance purpose. In this paper, an optimized scheme for costs of maintenance operations on cell sites is proposed. We used the k-means clustering algorithm for allocating field technician to a pool of cell sites. Moreover, to alleviate the k-means sensitivity to initialization, we proposed an initialization method that is based on the geometry of a sphere. We conducted series of experiments with sample of thousands of cell towers from OpenCellID and the results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a probabilistic form of the portfolio selection problem is established in which the uncertainty of risky assets is considered through a probabilistic optimization problem. To this end, by taking seven portfolios of Shanghai stock as a case study, the mean and standard deviation of daily return values are calculated based on five years of real data. The optimal values corresponding to each random case were then stored as a comprehensive database of system responses. Then, by sorting the resulting optimal values from best to worst, the exceedance probabilities of return and risk rankings were calculated for each portfolio and presented in the form of probabilistic pie charts. The results showed that the portfolio with the highest deterministic rate of return has the highest probability of getting the best return ranking as well. However, since the probability of risk in all cases was calculated, the probability of each portfolio to place in the lower rankings (i.e., ranking 2–7) could also be discussed. Additionally, to check the convergence of the model, the probability values calculated by the Monte Carlo method against the sample size were plotted to ensure the accuracy of the final answer. Eventually, by generating Gaussian random noise and importing it into the model input, probability changes were calculated to assess the robustness of the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated relationship between accrual-based earnings, real-based earnings management and firm’s value of listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria. The secondary data used were collated from the annual reports of the selected listed manufacturing firms on the Nigeria stock exchange. The study adopted descriptive, panel least square regression technique such as pooled, fixed and random effect with various diagnostic evaluation techniques. The result revealed that accrual-based earnings management measured by abnormal discretionary accrual earnings (ADA) was positively related with the firm’s value captured by the return on equity (ROE) of the quoted manufacturing companies and increased it to the turn of 38.31 per cent. On the other hand, the real-based earnings management measured by abnormal cash flow operation activities (ACF) was discovered to be negatively related with the firm’s value captured by return on equity and thus reduced it by 12.25 per cent. The result of the individually selected quoted manufacturing companies showed that accrual-based earnings management captured by abnormal discretionary accrual earnings (ADA) and real-based earnings management proxied by abnormal cash flow of operation activities (ACF) influence the return on equity (ROE) a measured of firm value of the FLRM, GUIN, NASC, NIGB and PZCU by 1.29, 0.73, 0.14, 1.77 and 0.92 per cent respectively. While, on the other hand, accrual-based earnings management captured by abnormal discretionary accrual earnings (ADA) and real-based earnings management proxied by abnormal cash flow of operation activities (ACF) reduced the return on equity (ROE) a measured of firm value of the DCEM, DFLR, DSUG, HWEL and UNIL by 2.58, 1.21, 4.09, 3.69 and 3.80 respectively in Nigeria. The probability of F-statistic value 0.000 < 0.05 revealed that panel regression model was statistically significance and thus valid, reliable and appropriate for assessing the relationship and the effect of earnings management and the firm value of the listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria. Hence, this study concluded that the practice of earnings management constructively benefits the manipulator of accounts. It can be emphasized that ease in detecting accrual earnings management can make investors to decide whether a company is worthy of their investment. Also, if there are difficulties in detecting earnings management from real activity, it would be impossible for the investors to invest or being involved in speculative investment in the company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Populations of invasive species often spread heterogeneously across a landscape, consisting of local populations that cluster in space but are connected by dispersal. A fundamental dilemma for invasive species control is how to optimally allocate limited fiscal resources across local populations. Theoretical work based on perfect knowledge of demographic connectivity suggests that targeting local populations from which migrants originate (sources) can be optimal. However, demographic processes such as abundance and dispersal can be highly uncertain, and the relationship between local population density and damage costs (damage function) is rarely known. We used a metapopulation model to understand how budget and uncertainty in abundance, connectivity, and the damage function, together impact return on investment (ROI) for optimal control strategies. Budget, observational uncertainty, and the damage function had strong effects on the optimal resource allocation strategy. Uncertainty in dispersal probability was the least important determinant of ROI. The damage function determined which resource prioritization strategy was optimal when connectivity was symmetric but not when it was asymmetric. When connectivity was asymmetric, prioritizing source populations had a higher ROI than allocating effort equally across local populations, regardless of the damage function, but uncertainty in connectivity structure and abundance reduced ROI of the optimal prioritization strategy by 57% on average depending on the control budget. With low budgets (monthly removal rate of 6.7% of population), there was little advantage to prioritizing resources, especially when connectivity was high or symmetric, and observational uncertainty had only minor effects on ROI. Allotting funding for improved monitoring appeared to be most important when budgets were moderate (monthly removal of 13–20% of the population). Our result showed that multiple sources of observational uncertainty should be considered concurrently for optimizing ROI. Accurate estimates of connectivity direction and abundance were more important than accurate estimates of dispersal rates. Developing cost‐effective surveillance methods to reduce observational uncertainties, and quantitative frameworks for determining how resources should be spatially apportioned to multiple monitoring and control activities are important and challenging future directions for optimizing ROI for invasive species control programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]