Determinants of Student Performance in an Undergraduate Financial Accounting Class

This study investigates the effects of class size, high school accounting, aptitude and attitude on learning , measured by the difference between post-test and pre-test scores, in an undergraduate financial accounting class, after controlling for students' major and semester level. Statistical analysis showed that scores of students in small classes improved by 48%, while scores of students in the large classes improved by 6% percent, implying a decline in learning by 88% by shifting to larger classes. High school accounting was found to improve pre- and post-test scores but the improvement on their post-test scores was significantly lower, implying a diminishing effect of high school accounting on performance as the complexity of the course material increases. We also found that midterm grade (aptitude) and changes in perception about the relevance of the class on business-related issues (attitude) motivate learning.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Impact of Socio-cultural Factors for Gender Pay Gap among Agricultural Labourers in Sri Lanka

This article is an outcome of a study conducted to understand the research problem of what are the socio-cultural factors that contribute for the gender pay gap in rural agricultural sector in Sri Lanka?. The gender pay gap refers to the percentage gap between the male average wages and female average wages. The gender pay disparity has economic, social, cultural and political consequences on individuals, business and governments. Primary data for this research was collected from the Liyangastota Grama Niladhari Division in Ambalantota Divisional Secretariat Division of Hambantota District in Sri Lanka. A questionnaire survey supported with 10 case studies, interviews and field observations were used as techniques of primary data collection from a sample of 56 respondents selected through simple random sampling method. Data analysis was done using both qualitative and quantitative analysis methods. Some of the key factors identified as effects of socio-cultural factors for gender pay gap in the studied village include under-valuation of the female’s work by the society, occupational segregation, lack of work-skills of female labourers, effects of part-time and casual works on the female labourers, and labour market related factors such as level of competition in the labour market, new agro-technological inputs. The study found that family responsibilities, gender-based stereotypes and cultural norms; gender-based discrimination, marital status and male bias attitudes of the society largely contributed to determine the wage disparity among female and male labourers in the agricultural sector. Based on the key findings, the study concluded that, consistent gender pay gap has a negative impact on the standard of living of a labourer’s household.

Impact of harvest date on the chemical composition of berries and wines produced from interspecific Vitis sp. cultivars grown in Nova Scotia, Canada over two seasons

La Nouvelle-Écosse présente des conditions climatiques annuelles variables, ce qui en fait un environnement difficile pour la production de raisin pour la vinification. La relation entre la maturité des baies et la composition chimique du vin a été étudiée chez les cultivars de Vitis vinifera, mais peu d'études ont porté sur les hybrides interspécifiques Vitis sp. comme celles cultivés dans l'Est du Canada. Dans ce contexte, ce projet visait à étudier la relation entre la composition chimique du raisin et du vin, dont les composés volatils libres et liés, chez les hybrides interspécifiques Vitis sp. L'Acadie blanc, Osceola Muscat et Seyval blanc récoltés à trois stades de maturation en Nouvelle-Écosse, au cours des saisons 2019 et 2020. Parmi les trois variétés analysées dans cette étude, Osceola Muscat a montré des caractéristiques intéressantes pour la production de vin de climat froid pendant la saison chaude : au dernier stade de maturité (HD3), il a montré un niveau significativement plus élevé de terpènes dans le vin, ce qui suggère que le vin résultant était potentiellement de meilleure qualité, avec des notes florales désirables. Dans des conditions climatiques difficiles, une accumulation plus élevée de GDD (saisons plus chaudes) et une maturité plus tardive (HD3) ont eu un impact positif sur la composition aromatique du vin dans toutes les variétés hybrides interspécifiques de Vitis cultivées en Nouvelle-Écosse.Nova Scotia shows variable yearly climatic conditions making it a challenging environment for grape production for wine making. The relationship between berry ripeness and wine chemical composition has been studied in Vitis vinifera cultivars, but few studies investigated the interspecific hybrid Vitis sp. such as those grown in Eastern Canada. In this context, this project aimed at investigating the relationship between the grape and wine chemical composition such as free and bound volatile compounds, in the interspecific hybrid Vitis sp. L'Acadie blanc, Osceola Muscat and Seyval blanc harvested at three ripening stages in Nova Scotia during 2019 and 2020. Among the three varieties analyzed in this study, Osceola Muscat showed valuable characteristics for cold-climate wine production in the warmer season at the latest maturity stage, with a significantly higher level of terpenes in wine, suggesting that the resulting wine was potentially of higher quality, with more desirable floral notes. Higher accumulation of GDD (warmer seasons) and later maturity had positively impacted wine aroma composition in all studied interspecific hybrid Vitis varieties in Nova Scotia within challenging climatic conditions

Biochar and its importance on nutrient dynamics in soil and plant

Biochar, an environmentally friendly soil conditioner, is produced using several thermochemical processes. It has unique characteristics like high surface area, porosity, and surface charges. This paper reviews the fertilizer value of biochar, and its effects on soil properties, and nutrient use efficiency of crops. Biochar serves as an important source of plant nutrients, especially nitrogen in biochar produced from manures and wastes at low temperature (≤ 400 °C). The phosphorus, potassium, and other nutrient contents are higher in manure/waste biochars than those in crop residues and woody biochars. The nutrient contents and pH of biochar are positively correlated with pyrolysis temperature, except for nitrogen content. Biochar improves the nutrient retention capacity of soil, which depends on porosity and surface charge of biochar. Biochar increases nitrogen retention in soil by reducing leaching and gaseous loss, and also increases phosphorus availability by decreasing the leaching process in soil. However, for potassium and other nutrients, biochar shows inconsistent (positive and negative) impacts on soil. After addition of biochar, porosity, aggregate stability, and amount of water held in soil increase and bulk density decreases. Mostly, biochar increases soil pH and, thus, influences nutrient availability for plants. Biochar also alters soil biological properties by increasing microbial populations, enzyme activity, soil respiration, and microbial biomass. Finally, nutrient use efficiency and nutrient uptake improve with the application of biochar to soil. Thus, biochar can be a potential nutrient reservoir for plants and a good amendment to improve soil properties

A novel approach to surfactant flooding under mixed-wet conditions

PhD thesis in Petroleum engineeringIn early days, a large number of research studies have been done based on the assumption that most of the sandstone reservoirs are strongly water-wet. Now it is widely accepted that most of sandstone reservoirs are at wettability conditions other than strongly water-wet. Surfactant flooding is one of the promising enhanced oil recovery methods that has been studied for many years. Traditional surfactant flooding studies have been reported utilizing mainly the mobilization of residual oil by increasing the capillary number and also assuming the water-wet formation. Capillary Desaturation Curve (CDC) represents the oil recovery potential by surfactants at water-wet conditions. Many investigations reported and assumed that this CDC concept is valid also for other wettability conditions. This thesis represents the results from several core flooding experiments carried out in sandstone rock at different wettability conditions. The research study is focused on analyzing and understanding the oil recovery mechanisms by surfactants at mixed-wet conditions. At mixed-wet I non water-wet conditions, it is found that the measured remaining oil and water saturation can be a function of the number of pore volume injected and can be also largely affected by capillary end effects. The residual oil saturation is difficult to obtain in core floods at mixed-wet I oil-wet conditions. Therefore the measured remaining saturation Vs capillary number in laboratory experiments does not represent the true CDC. From the results of unsteady core floods, no conclusion can be drawn about the effect of surfactant on residual oil saturation at mixed wet conditions. Interpretation of experimental results show that the main oil recovery mechanism by surfactant at mixed-wet condition is accelerated oil production due to increased oil relative permeability at high Nc; not necessarily the reduction of residual oil. When evaluating tertiary oil recovery at mixed-wet conditions, the focus should be directed towards relative permeability curves rather than residual oil saturation

Synthesis, Structure, And Luminescence Properties Of Rare-Earth-Doped Alkaline-Earth Fluorohalide Upconverting Nanocrystals

The major scientific problems that associated with the state-of-the-art upconverting nanocrystal system (rare-earth-doped β-NaYF4) are lower quantum efficiency, lack of full-spectrum color tunability, and difficulty in achieving single-band red emission. The major scientific strategies that employed to address these scientific problems are based on nanostructuring, tuning rare-earth concentration, and tuning host chemical composition. The reported articles during the past few decades clearly illustrated that nanostructuring and tuning rare-earth concentration hadn’t bought considerable contribution to synthesize efficient and color-tunable upconverting nanocrystal systems. However, the ability to tune the chemical composition of the host to design efficient and color-tunable upconverting nanocrystal system was limited due to the fixed crystal structure of β-NaYF4 host. Therefore, there is a crucial need to come up with a chemically and structurally flexible host matrix. Searching literature, alkaline-earth-fluorohalides (MFX) were identified as a suitable chemical platform to study this research approach. Size- and shape-controlled Er:Yb:SrFCl and Er:Yb:SrFBr upconverting nanocrystal systems were synthesized using two novel colloidal synthetic routes: one-step thermolysis and two-step thermolysis. The optimized reaction variables (reaction temperature, reaction time, precursor concentration, and the solvent system) for these systems were identified by using the trial method. However, after numerous trials Er:Yb:SrFCl nanocrystals were obtained at two different temperatures 225 and 250 with mean diameters of 12.1–17.8 and 13.0–16.7 nm, respectively. Similarly, Er:Yb:SrFBr nanocrystals were synthesized at two different temperatures 225 and 250 with mean diameters 41.7–52.0 and 45.6–55.3 nm, respectively. Results from chemical, morphological, and luminescence techniques of as-prepared nanoparticles were characterized as a function rare-earth concentration, synthesized temperature, and host chemical composition. Also, the structural characterizations were analyzed only as a function of the host’s chemical composition. Next, the third novel synthetic route was developed to produce Er:Yb:BaFCl nanocrystals. For this synthesis decomposition if metal chlorodifluoroacetates (dual halogen source) by hot-injection route was employed. After performing numerous reaction trials, spherical shaped nanocrystals with a mean diameter of 18.721.5 nm range was obtained. Similar characterization techniques used for Er:Yb:SrFX (X = Cl and Br) systems were used to analyze the effect of rare-earth concentration on the structural and luminescence properties of these materials. Finally, this Thesis demonstrates the ability of rare-earth-doped alkaline-earth fluorohalides to work as optical temperature sensors. Results presented in this Thesis demonstrate that by identifying the effect of the chemical composition of host on the structural and luminescence properties contribute to design efficient and color-tunable nanocrystals

Essays on fiscal-monetary interdependence

The core of this PhD dissertation consists of three research essays on issues related to fiscal and monetary interdependence. The general message across all three essays is that monetary and fiscal interdependence matters for economic stability. The first research essay explores the implications of fiscal and monetary interdependence on price stability. The essay is built upon a small open economy model which explains the link between fiscal deficits and inflation. The model is tested empirically using country level (Sri Lankan) data under several specifications. Overall, it finds strong evidence to support a positive link between fiscal deficit and inflation. However, the findings do not support the view that the fiscal deficit-inflation link becomes stronger when public sector wages are factored out. The second essay examines the case for relative independence between fiscal and monetary authorities. Despite the wide spread interest in reforms that ensures greater independence of central banks over the last few decades, there are still huge variations in the degree of central bank independence across countries. Investigating factors that underlie the level of central bank independence, the essay argues that relative independence between the two institutions is determined mainly by three concepts, i.e. inflationary bias, global cohesive pressure, and political incentives. The findings show that the relevance of these concepts in determining central bank independence across developing and developed country samples is very different. An inflationary bias hypothesis induces the relative independence of monetary authorities in developed countries, yet inhibits the same process in developing countries. In contrast, political incentives play a major role in granting independent status to monetary authorities in developing countries. The essay also measures the efficiency levels of central bank reforms and finds that, over time, only developed countries leap-frog upward on the efficiency scale of central bank reforms. The third research essay examines fiscal crises in two dimensions, crisis incidence and crisis duration in order to broaden the understanding of how fiscal and monetary policy actions contribute to a country's fiscal stability. Using macroeconomic, institutional, and demographic indicators, it is found that, in addition to the fiscal authority's own functions, the functions of the monetary authority, such as reserves accumulation and an inflation targeting monetary policy regime, reduce the probability of a crisis occurring, as well as its duration. The findings also show that policies that help prevent a fiscal crisis do not necessarily contribute to fast recovery from a crisis. This indicates the importance of applying specific policy measures during each stage of a fiscal crisis episode. - provided by Candidate