Corporate governance practices in Fiji: An empirical investigation

This study investigates the nature and extent of compliance to the principle-based corporate governance initiatives by the listed companies in the South Pacific Stock Exchange (SPSE) in Fiji. Three important questions are addressed: (i) whether listed companies in Fiji have complied with the principle-based governance practices: (ii) did compliance with principle based recommendations lead to an improvement in the listed company‟s financial performance? and (iii) how the institutional factors have contributed towards corporate governance practices in Fiji? Panel data for the SPSE companies over the period 2008-2010 are analysed using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. Tobin‟s Q, Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE) and Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation to Total Revenue (EBITDA2REV) metrics are used as dependent variables. Findings indicate that listed companies have adopted the Capital Market Development Authority‟s (CMDA) recommendations, establishing subcommittees for audit and remuneration, and having nonexecutive/ independent directors on the board. The result supports the view that the CMDA recommendations of board sub-committees (Audit and Remuneration) have had positive influence on company performance measured by Tobin‟s Q. The findings of this study give support to the principle-based corporate governance practices adopted in Fiji. The results of this study provide useful insights to both regulators and policy analysts (in Fiji and internationally) seeking to enhance both governance and firm performance in their own jurisdiction

Foreign investment liberalization and incentives in selected Asia-Pacific Developing Countries:Implications for the health service sector in Nepal

The prime objective and main research questions of the study are: 1) What are the practices of service sector investment liberalization and incentives from selected developing countries, and 2) How those experiences can be applied to the investment liberalization and provision of incentives in the Nepalese services sector, with focus on the health service sector? It should be pointed out that a country’s liberalizing strategy refers to a dynamic policy process through a flow in time; however since this study is presently limited to focus on a point in time (e.g. 2003), attention is given to FDI incentives in selected developing countries to tease out lessons of a broad service related investment (health) liberalization strategy.AFTA,RTA,CEPT

Multi-sense Embeddings Using Synonym Sets and Hypernym Information from Wordnet

Word embedding approaches increased the efficiency of natural language processing (NLP) tasks. Traditional word embeddings though robust for many NLP activities, do not handle polysemy of words. The tasks of semantic similarity between concepts need to understand relations like hypernymy and synonym sets to produce efficient word embeddings. The outcomes of any expert system are affected by the text representation. Systems that understand senses, context, and definitions of concepts while deriving vector representations handle the drawbacks of single vector representations. This paper presents a novel idea for handling polysemy by generating Multi-Sense Embeddings using synonym sets and hypernyms information of words. This paper derives embeddings of a word by understanding the information of a word at different levels, starting from sense to context and definitions. Proposed sense embeddings of words obtained prominent results when tested on word similarity tasks. The proposed approach is tested on nine benchmark datasets, which outperformed several state-of-the-art systems

Labelled Classifier with Weighted Drift Trigger Model using Machine Learning for Streaming Data Analysis

The term “data-drift” refers to a difference between the data used to test and validate a model and the data used to deploy it in production. It is possible for data to drift for a variety of reasons. The track of time is an important consideration. Data mining procedures such as classification, clustering, and data stream mining are critical to information extraction and knowledge discovery because of the possibility for significant data type and dimensionality changes over time. The amount of research on mining and analyzing real-time streaming data has risen dramatically in the recent decade. As the name suggests, it’s a stream of data that originates from a number of sources. Analyzing information assets has taken on increased significance in the quest for real-time analytics fulfilment. Traditional mining methods are no longer effective since data is acting in a different way. Aside from storage and temporal constraints, data streams provide additional challenges because just a single pass of the data is required. The dynamic nature of data streams makes it difficult to run any mining method, such as classification, clustering, or indexing, in a single iteration of data. This research identifies concept drift in streaming data classification. For data classification techniques, a Labelled Classifier with Weighted Drift Trigger Model (LCWDTM) is proposed that provides categorization and the capacity to tackle concept drift difficulties. The proposed classifier efficiency is contrasted with the existing classifiers and the results represent that the proposed model in data drift detection is accurate and efficient

Detection of Anti- Leptospira

Leptospirosis is a globally distributed zoonosis with varied clinical outcomes and multiorgan involvement in humans. In this study conducted from July 2011 to December 2011, 178 serum samples from patients suspected of leptospirosis were tested by Panbio IgM ELISA at National Public Health Laboratory, Kathmandu, out of which 51 (28.65%) were positive for anti-Leptospira IgM antibody. Leptospirosis was more common in people in their 2nd and 3rd decades of their life which together comprised 56.86% of the total positive cases. Most of those tested positive were farmers followed by students and housewives. Both animal contact and water contact seemed to play significant roles in disease transmission. Symptoms were vague with the most common being fever, headache, myalgia, abdominal pain, vomiting, jaundice, and diarrhoea. Life style heavily dominated by agronomical and farming activities in Nepal is conducive to leptospirosis transmission. Leptospirosis seems to be a significant public health problem in Nepal but is underestimated. In resource poor countries like Nepal where laboratories performing MAT or maintaining cultures are rarely available, serological test like ELISA could well depict the scenario of the disease prevalence

Does access to microfinance matter for rural women?

Due to the unavailability of financial services, the lack of products, and the cost of credit, many low-income households struggle to manage their savings and invest in, and expand, small businesses. Women, as well as poor and deprived groups, are unable to manage inputs and technologies to make their farms more productive. To boost local entrepreneurship, the Improved Seeds for Farmers’ Programme (KUBK-ISFP) set out to establish 30 financial institutions to increase women’s financial inclusion. Membership of a microfinance cooperative has been found to improve women’s empowerment and the livelihoods of poor farmers

Upcycling of Sneha Kalka - A Novel Design

Sneha Kalka is the by-product formed due to addition of Kalka and Drava Dravya to Sneha (oil or ghee) during Snehapaka which is considered as waste and discarded. Sneha Kalpana is a type of dosage form which is extensively used in clinical practice and prepared on large scale production leading to formation of huge quantity of Sneha Kalka. This study is an attempt to convert this Sneha Kalka into a new dosage form i.e., Granules. In this study, the Sneha Kalka of Ashwagandha Ghrita was converted into Ashwagandha Granules. The resultant product was highly palatable and can act as a substitute to expensive malt based health drink powders

Fecal carriage of Extended Spectrum β-Lactamases (ESBL) Producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp. among School Children in Pokhara, Nepal

Extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL) producing microbes in recent years have been a major problem in developing countries like Nepal, with limited treatment options. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of ESBL producing E. coli and Klebsiella spp. in school children in Pokhara, Nepal. The study was conducted from June to October, 2015 at the microbiology laboratory of Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal. Antibiotic Susceptibility Test (AST) was done after isolation and identification of bacterial isolates. Then, presence of ESBL enzymes in E. coli and Klebsiella spp. were tested by combination disc diffusion test using cefotaxime and ceftazidime alone and with clavulanic acid. Out of total 309 school children, 211 (68%) bacterial isolates were detected from stool samples. Among them, E. coli and Klebsiella spp. were detected in 97 (46%) and 39 (19%) stool samples respectively. Bacteria isolated from 14 (5%) stool samples were multi-drug resistant (MDR) positive. After applying combined disk method, 88 (29%) isolates were found to be ESBL producer. Emerging prevalence rate of ESBL producing E. coli and Klebsiella spp. are major problem in medical history. Therefore, rapid need of surveillance for effective management of such MDR-strain is required

Antibiotic Susceptibility Profile of respiratory pathogens obtained at tertiary care hospital from western Nepal

The prevalence and drug resistance of the respiratory pathogens is increasing gradually in Nepal. However, their detail study is rare in the western region of Nepal. Hence, this study was carried out to know the incidence and antibiotic susceptibility profile of the respiratory pathogens obtained at a tertiary care center located at Pokhara. 139 pathogens were isolated from 460 clinical samples included. Significant pathogens were Gram-negative bacteria 94 (67.62%), followed by 28 (20.15%) Candida, and Gram-positive isolates 17 (12.23%). The growth rate was significantly higher for sputum samples in comparison to throat swabs. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Acinetobacter were significant Gram-negative isolates while Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Streptococcus pyogenes were Gram-positive pathogens. Sensitivity rate was higher for colistin and imipenem among Gram-negative isolates while lower sensitivity was for cefepime. Vancomycin was effective against all tested Gram-positive isolates while erythromycin and ciprofloxacin were less effective