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Thought about scientific models and modelling practices in the sciences has a long tradition. It has recently been argued that this practice of science also exists in metaphysics. In this paper, I show that this view has two significant historical forerunners: Hans Vaihinger and Salomon Maimon. Vaihinger provided what is today often seen as the starting point of the contemporary debate on scientific models as fictions. He argued that fictions can be equally useful in the sciences as in metaphysics. However, Vaihinger‘s position is problematic. Firstly, he mainly credits Kant for providing the first comprehensive account of the method of fictions in the sciences. I will argue that contrary to his claims, it was Maimon – whom Vaihinger only mentions in passing – who first adapted Kant‘s doctrine of ideas to serve the purposes of a fictionalist agenda. I will show that Maimon‘s account of scientific fictions already contains many of the features which Vaihinger claims to have discovered himself. Secondly, Vaihinger’s failure to distinguish between the use of fictions in the sciences and metaphysics creates a problem for some types of metaphysical fictions. I show that Maimon‘s account of metaphysical fictions identifies and avoids this problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method of taking in account heterogeneous and kinetic effects in the preparation of homogenized group neutronic constants for the diffusion model is described. The results of the application of the proposed technique in the preparation of homogenized group neutronic constants for a fast reactor of type BREST-OD-300 are presented. Consideration of heterogeneous and kinetic effects in the process of homogenization is shown to enhance the accuracy of calculating integral parameters and distributed characteristics that are of importance for safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Most common type of hair loss is androgenetic alopecia. Orentreich's donor dominance theory and the definition of safe donor area are the theoretical foundation of modern hair transplantation. In safe donor area no progression of permanent hair loss occurs. Its knowledge is important to prevent loss of transplanted hair. Estimation is not tailored to every patient, also in early stages, the margins are assumed to be free from future hair loss. Our study is an attempt to find and establish a relationship between safe zone dimensions and other standard scalp dimensions, and effectively predict the complete safe zone in early stages of hair loss. Materials and Methods From July to December 2022, the first 100 patients with Norwood IV onwards of hair loss were included. Then, the distance between the vertex and the point of change in occipital hair quality and density was measured, and from this point till occipital protuberance were taken. The ratio between the two was taken. In the next 100 patients of Norwood II to IVa, the applicability of the new ratio to assess the permanent zone was used. Results Ratio method takes into account the patient's measurements, that is, permanent zone and total distance from vertex occiput. The ratio range we got is: Permanent zone: total distance from vertex to occiput: 0.43–0.53 Therefore, the permanent zone would be equal to = total distance from vertex to occiput × 0.43–0.53. With the lower limit being the occiput. Over 90% of the patients did not have significant reduction in density of transplanted hair. Conclusion The authors suggest the use of this ratio method to determine the dimensions of the permanent zone especially in patients with early grades of hair loss as per the Norwood scale. It is a simple, effective, and easily applicable concept that can ensure long-lasting results in patients undergoing hair transplants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial parks play a crucial role in carbon control and reduction. With energy-intensive enterprises at their core, such parks feature highly concentrated carbon emission sources and a significant demand for carbon trading. Nonetheless, the absence of precise and real-time carbon accounting methods makes it difficult for them to effectively manage and regulate carbon emissions. The real-time accounting methods for carbon dioxide emissions in high-energy-consuming industrial parks urgently need further study. Therefore, this paper initially examines three areas—fuel combustion, industrial engineering, and electricity usage—and proposes a real-time framework to account for carbon dioxide emissions in high-energy industrial parks. Secondly, it extracts real-time elements from each part and proposes a real-time carbon dioxide emission accounting method tailored to the actual needs of high-energy-consuming industrial parks. Finally, an empirical analysis is carried out on an aluminum production park as an example to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the real-time accounting method for carbon dioxide emissions in high-energy-consuming industrial parks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The city’s industrial transformation leads to a large amount of carbon emissions, which poses a thorny problem for the allocation of carbon responsibilities. This study established a multi-dimension long-term carbon emission analysis model to explore the characteristic of Beijing’s embodied carbon emissions, which could calculate the production-based, consumption-based and income-based carbon emissions. Then, structural decomposition analysis was adopted to quantify the contribution of socioeconomic factors in local and imported carbon emissions. In addition, emission linkage analysis was used for revealing the long-term evolutionary trajectories of sectors. The key discovery can be summarized as follows: 1) the fluctuation trend of production-side and income-side carbon emissions in Beijing is stable and decreased by 3.53% from 2002 to 2017, while consumption-side carbon emissions increased rapidly by 795.45%. 2) The energy, transportation and other services sectors from the supply, production and consumption perspectives. 3)Per capita consumption, production structure and consumption structure are the major contributors of carbon emissions. The study is expected to provide decision support for policymakers to reasonably formulate carbon mitigation policies and allocate carbon mitigation responsibilities from multiple perspectives, and promote the realization of the “carbon peak and carbon neutrality” strategy.

This study was aimed at investigating the impact of creative accounting methods called “Earnings Manage-ment and Income Smoothing” on earnings per share in the Jordanian industrial companies. The model of Dechow et al. (1995) [Dechow, P. M., Sloan, R. G., & Sweeney, A. P. (1995). Detecting earnings management. Accounting Review, 70(2), 193-225.] was adopted to measure earnings management, and the model of Francis et al. (2004) [Francis, J., LaFond, R., Olsson, P. M., & Schipper, K. (2004). Costs of equity and earnings attributes. The accounting review, 79(4), 967-1010.] was adopted to measure income smoothing. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the analytical quantitative approach was adopted. The study community consisted of the 57 industrial companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE). As for the study sample, 36 companies were selected according to the target sample method in the period from 2008 to 2017. The results showed that there was a statistically significant impact of using the creative accounting methods on earnings per share in the industrial companies listed on the ASE, and there was an impact of practicing both earnings management and income smoothing on earnings per share in the industrial companies listed on the ASE. The results also showed that 27.8% of the industrial companies practiced earning management, while 47.2% of the industrial companies practiced income smoothing.

Fluctuating economic environment and the development of digital technologies highlight the need to update strategic accounting and analysis methods aimed at assessing the reliability of banks and ensuring their sustainable development. The article systematized modern tools for strategic accounting of banking activities, the tools being globally applied by regulatory authorities and potential investors to assess the efficiency of banking activities, to identify the areas for development and to adjust the strategy chosen by the banks, to obtain comprehensive information on the creditworthiness of credit users. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the prospects for the strategic accounting methods in the activities of the Russian banks and to develop the indicators that increase the assessment reliability in management decision making. The study shows that the challenges faced by the Russian banking practices in adapting the advanced international approaches are related to the significant differences in the business models of credit institutions, the lack of ratings for corporate governance and bank reputation, the underdeveloped assessment approaches to the creditworthiness of credit users with regard to their industry, and the lack of reporting information under IFRS. Practices of strategic accounting for banks activities are upgraded by digital technologies as simulation tools for a large number of processes and as tools aimed to reduce the number of routine operations, to improve the accuracy of calculations, to process and store large databases for effective interaction and information exchange. A comprehensive rating assessment should include both financial indicators and information characterizing the efficiency of the bank performance, its reputation, its external environment and the impact of the economic, political context, environmental and social aspects of banking activities. The novelty of the research is to substantiate the prospects for the development of strategic accounting in the banking sector and to expand the system of indicators to assess the financial condition and reliability of banks, ensuring that findings and predictive assessments are more objective for informed management and investment decision making. The results of the research can be useful for investors, banking supervision authorities, banking specialists, risk management experts, and scientists interested in developing strategic accounting tools in banks. Further research is linked to the need to solve the problem of ensuring reliability and homogeneity of information used in compiling tank ratings, as well as to develop specialized software and applications for the outside users to perform a comparative analysis of banks reliability and for the bank management to monitor activities and to adjust the development strategy.

Copyright of China Pulp & Paper is the property of China Pulp & Paper Magazines Publisher 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.)

Today, optimizing logistics costs based on their accounting and analysis is an essential tool for ensuring enterprises' competitiveness. The article aims to reveal the methodical principles of accounting for logistics costs and identify problematic aspects and directions for improving this process in Ukrainian enterprises. It was determined that Ukrainian researchers offer quite a lot of classification features for the grouping of logistics costs. Instead, in foreign literature, logistics costs are divided into types based on the processes that are the objects of management. In Ukraine, there is a problem of regulatory and legal support, which is manifested in the absence of an appropriate definition of the term "logistics costs" in accounting regulatory documents, separate accounts or sub-accounts in the current Chart of accounts intended for accounting for these costs, limitations of methodical support. The idea of introducing an individual account for logistics costs, proposed by many researchers, has not yet been implemented. All this complicates the accountant's work in identifying, classifying, and displaying logistics costs in the company's accounting system. At the same time, accounting and control tools (methods) are still available to the accountant, which collectively form the method of accounting for logistics costs at the enterprise, which covers their identification, measurement, analysis, monitoring and reporting. At each stage, the accountant implements appropriate methods and tools guided by his professional judgment. The work defines a list of measures that can ensure the improvement of the method of accounting for logistics costs at the enterprise. The key direction in improving the accounting for logistics costs is digitizing management processes because introducing innovative technologies makes logistics management more flexible, effective, and straightforward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information on changes in the area of different ecosystems is needed in order to establish an accounting system for ecosystem conditions and services. Currently, there are no comprehensive field mappings for the German federal states that obey a uniform mapping system. To create a nationwide “ecosystem accounting”, it is necessary to develop a uniform system of ecosystem classifications that can consistently deal with diverse nationwide data sources on the extent and condition of ecosystems, some of which use their own forms of classification. Against this background, we present a concrete proposal on how to combine and blend GIS land-use and ecosystem data that is compatible with EU-wide approaches with other regularly collected data sources, for example, from sample-based surveys, so as to generate a complete, updatable picture of the state of Germany’s ecosystems. The area shares of ecosystem types (ETs) can be shown in maps. Allocation tables with different classes or levels (layers) enable an ecosystem extent accounting, which are used to help draw up balances (area balance, status balance, service balance) and can be further detailed, depending on the task at hand. First results and trends of areal changes of main and sub-ecosystem types in Germany, based on the proposed classification system, are presented and discussed. However, the brevity of the considered timeframe (the three periods 2012-2015-2018) does not yet allow us to pinpoint trends or migratory movements, as these may be masked by methodological changes in the classification of land use and land cover. Nonetheless, the presented system for accounting changes in ecosystem areas should be continued and developed in the future in order to create a useful tool for biodiversity monitoring in Germany.

According to the results of the study, it was argued that the main problems of the accounting methodology in credit unions are due to the need to apply accounting and reporting standards intended for commercial enterprises, while credit unions are non-profitable financial institutions. It is determined that mostly this problem concerns about the accounting for equity of credit unions. The article substantiates the expediency of reflecting in the balance of membership dues of members of credit unions precisely as components of equity. The classification and characteristics of capital reserves and cash reserves of credit unions aimed at ensuring the appropriate level of their financial stability are given. Recommendations on improving the analytical accounting of these reserves in accordance with their purpose and the requirements of regulatory documents governing the systematization of accounting accounts are presented. Despite the fact that the activities of credit unions as non-bank financial intermediaries are subject to rather strict legislative regulation, the accounting methodology for the main business operations i.e. attracting deposits and issuing loans, is not sufficiently disclosed in peremptory documents. The article provides a classification of loans and deposits to deposit accounts of members of credit unions. Forms of analytical accounting of contributions to deposit accounts of members of credit unions and loans issued by them are proposed, which make it possible to conduct analytical accounting for each debtor and creditor, and also form an information base for monitoring timely and full repayment of debts on loans and attracted deposits.

Traditional gross ecosystem product (GEP) accounting methods often operate at macro scales, failing to reflect the localized and nuanced values of wetland ecosystems. This study addresses these challenges by introducing a fine-grained classification system based on a localized adaptation of international standards. The framework integrates high-precision national land surveys and remote sensing quantitative analysis while incorporating fisheries resource models, climate regulation beneficiary mapping, and visitor interpolation to address data scarcity related to human activities. This approach refines the spatial calculation methods for functional quantity accounting at fine scales. The results demonstrate that the refined classification maintains consistency with traditional methods in total value while adapting to multi-scale accounting, filling gaps at small and medium scales and providing a more accurate representation of localized wetland characteristics. Additionally, the study highlights the dominance of cultural services in GEP, emphasizing the need to balance cultural and regulatory services to ensure fairness in decision-making. Finally, a village-scale decision-support model is proposed, offering actionable guidance for wetland management and sustainable development planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the greenhouse effect intensifies, China faces pressure to manage CO2 emissions. Coal-fired power plants are a major source of CO2 in China. Traditional CO2 emission accounting methods of power plants are deficient in computational efficiency and accuracy. To solve these problems, this study proposes a novel RF-RFE-DF-Optuna (random forest–recursive feature elimination–deep forest–Optuna) framework, enabling accurate CO2 emission prediction for coal-fired power plants. The framework begins with RF-RFE for feature selection, identifying and extracting the most important features for CO2 emissions from the power plant, reducing dimensionality from 46 to just 5 crucial features. Secondly, the study used the DF model to predict CO2 emissions, combined with the Optuna framework, to enhance prediction accuracy further. The results illustrated the enhancements in model performance and showed a significant improvement with a 0.12706 increase in R2 and reductions in MSE and MAE by 81.70% and 36.88%, respectively, compared to the best performance of the traditional model. This framework improves predictive accuracy and offers a computationally efficient real-time CO2 emission monitoring solution in coal-fired power plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Soziale Systeme is the property of De Gruyter 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.)

Individuals utilizing Life Cycle Assessment within the emerging field of circular carbon might phrase and understand matters differently, causing ambiguity, due to different educational backgrounds and lacking definitions of central terms. Our research addresses the question, whether misleading or ambiguous terms exist, which impair transparency and scientific accuracy in carbon (dioxide) accounting in LCA. A structured literature research was performed to screen LCA standards, ISO standards, and the European legal database EUR-Lex. Nine terms with potential ambiguity in meaning or usage in LCA were identified: Avoided burden, avoided carbon, avoided CO2, carbon capture, carbon credit, circular carbon, circular CO2, negative emission, and net zero emission. A workflow was introduced to either obtain a consensus-based definition from standard literature or from peer-reviewed publications. For all terms, except avoided carbon, a recommended definition was found and showcased within case studies on the topic of mechanical recycling of plastics to produce a taxonomy suggestion for precise descriptions of different carbon dioxide (equivalent) accounting methods in LCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Accurate and rapid carbon accounting method for the power industry is crucial to support China's low-carbon transformation. Currently, carbon emission accounting methods are based on slowly updated fuel statistics or expensive monitoring equipment, resulting in high costs and delays in carbon emission estimation. Power data offers high real-time availability, accuracy, and resolution, and exhibits a strong correlation with carbon emissions. These characteristics provide a pathway for achieving rapid and precise annual carbon emission accountings. However, carbon emission data inherently exhibits small sample characteristics, making these methods less effective in small sample conditions and leading to lower accounting accuracy. Methods: Therefore, this paper proposes an augmented pre-training-based "electricity-to-carbon" method under small sample conditions. Results: This approach utilizes the correlation between electricity and carbon data as well as the autocorrelation characteristics of carbon emission data to construct a machine learning-based electricity-carbon fitting model for rapid and accurate carbon emission estimation. To address the challenges of small sample learning, this paper introduces an interpolation pre-training method to optimize the model's hyperparameters and conserve samples for model training, thereby improving the model's generalization and robustness. Discussion: Case studies on a real dataset verifies the effectiveness of the proposed method. The findings of this study can promote the development of carbon measurement technology and facilitate the low-carbon transition of developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to accelerate the development of natural capital accounting via an early report of farm accountants responses to prototype natural capital accounts. The authors test an approach to co-development with this important group who are both preparers and users of natural capital accounts but are not presently included in the research or development of natural capital accounting. Design/methodology/approach: Seven practicing farm accountants and three accountants with an interest in this area were interviewed to gather responses to prototype farm natural capital accounts and make changes to improve the clarity, relevance and usefulness of the accounts. The paper calls for more work in participatory co-development to speed up the development and implementation of natural capital accounting. Findings: The authors found that all participants were supportive of the concept of natural capital accounting and the consideration of agricultural ecosystems as assets of a farm business. Most participants could interpret the accounts and saw them as useful and important to improve sustainability outcomes. Participants highlighted the need for 1) the development of reliable, consistent valuation methods that resist manipulation; 2) natural capital accounting to be affordable and provide value to users; and 3) farmers to be supported to apply and report the methods for different objectives and contexts. Research limitations/implications: Since agriculture is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions and changes to natural capital in the economy, information included in natural capital accounts of farm businesses is important to inform policy as well as farm management decisions. This research reveals strategies for policy makers to accelerate the supply of this information to enable market and other incentives to address urgent issues related to sustainability. Results of this study are from a limited sample of well-informed individuals and are thus preliminary. However, they highlight the need (and opportunity) to further co-design natural capital accounts in agriculture with farm accountants. Practical implications: Farm accountants are important stakeholders in the development and implementation of natural capital accounting processes and systems, yet they are currently excluded from the science and standard-setting processes underpinning natural capital accounting. Co-development represents a fundamental shift in how the science around natural capital accounting is done and is an important step towards creating a more transdisciplinary approach to working with users. The authors show how users can be involved in developing natural capital accounting methods, standards and reports. Social implications: Natural capital accounting is a promising method to help reverse sustainability problems, if it is co-developed with stakeholders to be useful and useable. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this research is the first to report on farm accountants' perceptions of natural capital accounts in agriculture and to present a case study of co-developing natural capital accounts with farm accountants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive accounting of waste generation is the basis for the development of an effective waste management policy and makes it possible to identify the sources of waste generation. Identifying the major waste-producing sectors allows the waste policy to be targeted and measures to be taken with high efficiency. The aim of this study is to expand the environmental footprint of waste under an interdisciplinary perspective and propose a methodological approach to account for waste production pathways. The study used an interdisciplinary approach based on the integration of different methods for estimating waste accumulation and its qualitative characteristics using bibliometrics and different databases. Waste production can be viewed from the perspectives of both producers and consumers (perspectives based on production and consumption). Differences in the interpretation of the term "waste footprint" on the principles of circular economy were identified. At the same time, it is close to the water footprint principles, where the amount of fresh water used is included in the water footprint indicator, but only the amount that is consumed and cannot be reused. Similarly, the principle can be established that the waste footprint indicator should include only the amount of waste that is released into the environment and is no longer used as input in another production chain. Thus, the total waste production in a country is not in itself a valid measure of the burden on the environment. A formalization of the waste footprint approach is proposed, taking into account the possibility of waste recycling, using food waste as an example.

Conventional and modern industrial enterprise cost accounting methods: «standard costs», «direct costing», ABC and methods used for managerial accounting are investigated in the article. Comparative characteristics of methods, analysis of practice of usage by domestic and foreign companies and prospects of applying for industrial enterprise cost management integrated system are listed in the article.

Purpose: The primary purpose of this study was to compare the cost of care of one of the most common sports medicine surgical procedures, anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR), using the time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) method to traditional accounting methods such as activity-based costing (ABC). Our secondary purpose was to identify the main drivers of the cost of ACLR using both of these techniques. Methods: A process map of ACLR was constructed through direct observation in the clinical setting according to established techniques to identify drivers of fixed, direct variable, and indirect costs. An episode of care consisted of each step in the surgical process from admission to discharge. Personnel costs were combined with the process map to determine the cost drivers and overall cost of the procedure. The cost generated from the TDABC method was compared with the cost from our institution’s internal accounting system, which used an ABC method. Results: The total cost of ACLR was $5,242.25 when using TDABC versus $10,318 when using the traditional ABC method. The largest difference between the 2 methods was within the domain of direct variable costs. Conclusions: When compared with TDABC, the hospital’s traditional cost-accounting estimate for ACLR is nearly twice as costly. These findings highlight the variability of cost calculation for the same clinical episode between the 2 accounting methods. For the traditional accounting method, the direct variable cost was the main cost driver, whereas for the TDABC method, the direct fixed cost was the main cost driver. Clinical Relevance: This study is important because it elucidates important cost drivers for one of the most common sports medicine orthopaedic surgical procedures and attempts to identify the true overall cost of the procedure.

Copyright of Journal of Economic Administrative & Legal Sciences is the property of Arab Journal of Sciences & Research Publishing (AJSRP) 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 examines the issue of understanding management accounting practices in Romanian financial and accounting service firms, a subject of significant relevance due to the influence of accounting on organizational decision-making and strategic planning. The research examines 21 distinct management accounting practices, utilizing hierarchical clustering analysis refined by the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) to discern patterns and classifications within these practices. The findings indicate eight unique clusters, distinguished by differences in cluster size, withincluster heterogeneity, total within-cluster sum of squares, and Silhouette scores, which explain the diversity of practices and their organizational implications. The research enhances the literature by delineating the present state of management accounting practices in Romania and providing a more refined comprehension of the interrelationships among these practices, as guided by institutional theory. This method surpasses other attempts by emphasizing the diversity within clusters, uncovering distinct traits and strategic consequences. The findings indicate that various groupings of practices demonstrate particular patterns of adoption and utilization, which might affect firms' strategic decision-making processes. These insights facilitate future research focused on examining the drivers and effects of accounting methods across various institutional contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]