Shewhart methodology for modelling financial series : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Quality management techniques are widely used in industrial applications for monitoring observable process variation. Among them, the scientific notion of Shewhart principles is vital for understating variations in any type of process or service. This study extensively investigates and demonstrates Shewhart methodology for financial data. Extremely heavy tails noted in the empirical distribution of stock returns led to the development of new parametric probability distributions for pricing assets and forecasting market risk. Standard asset pricingmodels have also extended to account the first four (excess) moments in return distributions. These approaches remain complex, but yet they are inadequate for capturing extreme volatility caused by infrequent market events. It is well known that the security markets are always subjected to a certain amount of variability caused by noise-traders and other frictional price changes. Unforeseen events which are happening in the world may lead to hugemarket losses. This research shows that Shewhart methodology for partitioning data into common and special cause variations adds value tomodelling stock returns. Applicability of the proposed method is discussed using several scenarios occurring in an industrial process and a financialmarket. A set of new propositions based on Shewhart methodology is formed for finer description of the statistical properties in stock returns. Research issues which are related to the first four moments, co-moments and autocorrelation in stock returns are identified. New statistical tools such as difference control charts, odd-even analysis and estimates for co-moments are proposed to investigate the new propositions and research issues. Finally, several risk measures are proposed, and considered with respect to investor’s preferences. The research issues are investigated using partitioned data from S&P 500 stocks and the findings show that inmost of the scenarios, contradictory conclusions were made as a result of special cause variations. A modelling approach based on common and special cause variations is therefore expected to lead appropriate asset pricing and portfolio management. New statistical tools proposed in this study can be used to other time series data; a new R-package called QCCTS (Quality Control Charts for Time Series) is developed for this purpose

Ethical Concerns or Medical Dominance? Ethical Responsibility Conflicts Between Mental Health Authorities and Social Researchers

The objective of this paper is to examine the ethical responsibility conflicts between mental health authorities and social researchers. This issue is examined with reference to the social research protocols imposed by the authorities of mental health institutions based on ethical grounds. It also explores how such ethical conflicts affect social research, which provides convincing evidence for the enhancement of mental health services. This paper analyzes ethical reasoning conflicts between social researchers and mental health authorities in terms of the psychiatric and social approaches to mental health and distress. The study is based on eight research projects to be conducted at mental health institutions in Sri Lanka during the period 2014–2016 that were designed by two academic staff members, two postgraduates, and four undergraduates in the Department of Sociology at the University of Colombo. Data was collected from the eight researchers who designed the research projects and from four administrative officers, one officer from each of the concerned institutions where the projects were to be conducted. A structured interview method was used to collect the data. According to the findings, the protocols recommended by mental health authorities based on ethical grounds divest social researchers of their ethical responsibility to conduct research that could advance mental health services and assist mental health service users. The study reveals that such protocols deprive mental health service users of their right and autonomy to make decisions about divulging information, expressing views, and accessing meaningful social relationships and activities

SPECTROSCOPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF LANTHANUM-MEDIATED HYDROCARBON ACTIVATION

Lanthanum (La)-promoted hydrocarbon activation reactions were carried out in a laser vaporization metal cluster beam source. Reaction products were identified by time-of-flight mass spectrometry, and the approximate ionization thresholds of La-hydrocarbon complexes were located with photoionization efficiency spectroscopy. The accurate ionization energies and vibrational frequencies of the La complexes were measured using mass analyzed threshold ionization (MATI) spectroscopy. Their molecular structures and electronic states were investigated by combing the MATI spectroscopic measurements with quantum chemical and Franck-Condon factor calculations. In this dissertation, La-mediated C-H and C-C bond activation reactions were investigated for several small alkynes (acetylene, propyne) and alkenes (propene, 1,3-butadiene, 1-butene). The C-H bond activation was observed for both alkynes and alkenes and the C-C bond activation for alkenes. The metal-hydrocarbon intermediates formed by the C-H or C-C bond cleavage reacted further with one or more parent hydrocarbon molecules to produce larger species by C-C bond coupling reactions. Structural isomers of the intermediates and products were identified within an energy range of several kilocalories per mole. Reaction pathways for the intermediate and product formations were studied by theoretical calculations. The ground electron configuration of La atom is 4d16s2.Upon the hydrocarbon coordination, La atom is excited to a 4d26s1 configuration to facilitate the formation of two La-C bonds. After the metal-hydrocarbon complex formation, only one electron is left in the 6s orbital of the metal center. Therefore, the most stable electronic state of the La complexes studied in this work is in a doublet spin state. Ionization of the doublet state yields a preferred singlet ion state. Although La is in the formal oxidation state of +2, the ionization energies of the metal-complexes are significantly lower than that of the free atom. This observation suggests that the concept of the formal oxidation state widely used in chemistry textbooks is not useful in predicting the change of the ionization energy of a metal atom upon ligation. Moreover, ionization has a very small effect on the geometry of the hydrocarbon fragment in each complex but significantly reduces the La-C distances as a result of an additional charge interaction

INFLUENCE OF GREEN HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES ON SUSTAINABLE ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE: A REVIEW OF LITERATURE

The concept of “going green” has revolutionized business operations, leading organizations to prioritize social and environmental sustainability, including financial benefits. The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) theory’s three pillars of sustainable performance -economic, social, and environmental performance have also come to dominate contemporary business trends and have influenced the field of human resource management (HRM). Human resource management plays a crucial role in achieving sustainable organizational performance, with the enactment of green HR practices becoming a prominent strategy for aligning financial objectives with sustainable goals. This study aims to examine green HRM practices and their influence on achieving sustainable organizational performance to advance the ideology of green HRM and identify the research gap in this area. The study employed desk-based research using well-recognized academic databases such as ELSEVIER, Emerald Insight, Google Scholar, JSTOR, SCOPUS, etc. and extracted 66 articles using keywords such as green HRM, HRM practices, and sustainable organizational performance. The findings of the study extend that green recruitment and selection, green induction, green training, green rewards and compensation, and green employee discipline management significantly foster the green behavior of employees ultimately achieving sustainable organizational performance. This review contributes to the current literature on green HRM and eventually helps HR managers incorporate sustainability into their HR practices successfully

Antifungal Activity of Selected Indigenous Medicinal Plants in Sri Lanka Against Candida Infections

Candida infections have been recorded as an emerging health concern among immune- compromised patients, infants and pregnant women in Asia, Africa and Europe. Skin diseases, genital infections, candidiasis and candidemia caused by overgrowth of symbiotic Candida species in the human body are treated by antifungal drugs. The common drugs viz., fluconazole, flucytosine, amphotericin B, nystatin, etc. are responsible for more side effects in the human body while Candida species are indicating a resistance towards them. Therefore, the continuous discovery of antifungal compounds against Candida infections is an essential process. Thus, the current study focused on the determination of the antifungal activity of water extracts of selected indigenous medicinal plants in Sri Lanka towards Candida infections. Three common indigenous medicinal plants; Cyperus rotundus (roots, tubers, leaves and flowers), Acalipha indica (roots, stem, leaves and flowers) and Aloe barbadensis Miller (gel and leaves) were collected and their water extracts (10 g/25 mL) were screened for the antifungal activity against two common Candida species; Candida glabrata and Candida parapsilosis using disk diffusion method. Briefly, the pathogenic bacterial lawns were prepared by spreading equalized solutions of C. glabrata and C. parapsilosis on Muller Hinton Agar supplemented with 2% glucose. Sterile paper disks soaked with 30 µL of water extracts of each plant part were placed on pathogen lawns. Sterile distilled water was used as the negative control. The plates were incubated at 37° C overnight and observed for clear zone formation. According to the results, the water extract of C. rotundus tubers indicated an inhibitory action by giving clear inhibition zones against both tested Candida species. All other water extracts of medicinal plants indicated negative inhibitory actions against tested Candida species. The results revealed that C. rotundus tubers consist of antifungal activity against C. glabrata and C. parapsilosis. Hence, C. rotundus tubers can be used as an effective treatment for infections caused by the tested Candida species.   Keywords: Antifungal activity, Candida infections, Indigenous medicinal plants, Cyperusrotundus, Water extracts &nbsp

Development of an Economical, Linear CCD Based Spectrometer

Spectrometry provides vital information about the composition of electromagnetic radiation by measuring wavelengths of light over a wide range of the electromagnetic spectrum. In this work, design and construction of an economical linear CCD spectrometer and a computer application is presented. A sample of the light source travelling through an optical fiber enters the device and the spectrum produced by a diffraction grating is projected on a linear CCD detector. The data is sampled using a 10- bit ADC to the microcontroller memory and finally transferred to the computer via a full speed USB connection. In the computer, the data is digitally processed and displayed through a graphical user interface with several useful functionalities. The device is sensitive to electromagnetic waves of wavelengths ranging from 400 to 800 nm, which is decided by the sensitivity of the silicon CCD detector. The device performs in par with commercially available handheld spectrometers and is equipped with wavelength and amplitude calibration capabilities.Keywords: spectrometer, instrumentation, CC

SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY AND COMPENSATION IN COMPULSORY LAND ACQUISITION: DOSE IT MATTERS ON SATISFACTION

Compensating for different types of losses are continuously experiencing in Sri Lanka due to types of disasters or compulsory land acquisition. The land Acquisition Act No. 09 of 1950 makes the provision to acquire the lands from private landowners for the public interest and to pay the monetary compensation to recover the losses. The National Involuntary Resettlement Policy (NIRP) was intended to address involuntary resettlement, integrating land acquisition and payment of compensation. However, there is a real distrust about satisfaction of the victims on the end results mainly based on many aspects. In fact, the findings vary from place to place. Therefore, this paper aims to critically analyze the factors representing of the social sustainabilityconcept in compensation procedure of compulsory land acquisition of Sri Lanka, expressly reviewing the reservoir development project of Yan Oya and its resettlement community. Fivepoint Likert scale questionnaire was used to collect data from thirty re-settlers selected from three locations on nine criteria. Further, six prominent community leaders were interviewed forfurther confirmation. The findings reveal those five factors representing social sustainability aspect were successful to some extent, while there were significant inconsistencies amongst assessed components within individual cases. Hence, the study reveals that pure monetary compensation process was unsuccessful since it represents the inadequacy to cover all losses ofvictims. Thus, for a coverage of total loss a resettling strategy is essential while with more concerns to the social sustainability aspects. Keywords: Compensation, Compulsory land acquisition, Resettlement strategy, Satisfaction,Social sustainability

Impact of Maltreatment: Psychosocial Experience of Parentless School Going Adolescents

The present study examines the impact of maltreatment among the Parentless School Going Adolescents (PSGAs) and their psychosocial experiences in Northern Provence in Sri Lanka. Prevalence of PSGAs’ exposure to maltreatment can be understood considering the size of PSGAs exposed and their experiences, how exposure impacts PSGAs psychosocial development, factors that increase risk or provide protection against the negative effects of exposure, and the types of interventions that can be implemented to mitigate harmful effects. Participants (PSGAs) were recruited from two districts; namely Kilinochchi and Mullaithivu. Participants with recent experiences and had psychosocial distress were examined. 30 cases {[Female=18 (60%), Male=12 (40%)] and [Mean Age=14.7, SD=1.9]}, were recruited using purposive sampling techniques. An exploratory approach was adopted and semi-structured interview was conducted as the present study aims to have an in- depth understanding on various elements of maltreatment experiences. The questions were mostly open-ended and were intended to be used as a guide to explore or capture as much as possible the PSGAs’ thoughts and feelings about his/her experiences. Content analysis was used to identify common themes related to the objective. Twenty two cases (73.3%) were subject to maltreatment by care takers and their family members. The three most frequent types of relationships to the PSGAs were grandparents (9 cases), uncle (6 cases), and aunty (2 cases). Others included cousin (3), and brother-in-law (2). Maltreated by other people occurred in 21 cases (70 %). This included neighbor (7 cases), total stranger (4), friend’s parents (4), friend (2), teacher (2), priest (1) and servant (1). Many PSGAs faced with multiple maltreatment. Maltreatment occurs on the background of caretaker’s dysfunction and sociocultural factors. The findings underscore the need of providing support for caretakers so they can provide better care of PSGAs. Psychosocial intervention should be individualized to meet the needs of each PSGA. Further research is needed to clarify the issues of risk and protective factors in the post-war context in Northern Provence