Market competition, lean manufacturing practices and the role of Management Accounting Systems (MAS) information

Adoption of advanced manufacturing techniques such as lean manufacturing is one of the strategies that help manufacturing firms to sustain their competitiveness and achieve the desired outcomes. It is argued that the traditional Management Accounting Systems (MAS) are no longer capable of providing information necessary to operate in the ever changing business environment. This study examines the role of MAS information in the relationship between market competition, lean manufacturing and organisational performance. Data were gathered using a questionnaire survey from manufacturing firms listed in the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) Directory. The results reveal the relationships between lean manufacturing and the MAS, as well as between the MAS and performance, are positive and significant, which suggest that the relationship between lean manufacturing and performance is indirect through the MAS. This provides evidence that the use of MAS information in a lean manufacturing environment facilitates firms in improving organisational performance

Comprehensive Study on Tool Wear During Machining of Fibre-Reinforced Polymeric Composites

© 2021 Springer-Verlag. The final publication is available at Springer via https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4153-1.The use of fibre reinforced polymeric (FRP) composites has increased rapidly, especially in many manufacturing (aerospace, automobile and construction) industries. The machining of composite materials is an important manufacturing process. It has attracted several studies over the last decades. Tool wear is a key factor that contributes to the cost of the machining process annually. It occurs due to sudden geometrical damage, frictional force and temperature rise at the tool-work interaction region. Moreover, tool wear is an inevitable, gradual and complex phenomenon. It often causes machined-induced damage on the workpiece/FRP composite materials. Considering the geometry of drill, tool wear may occur at the flank face, rake face and/or cutting edge. There are several factors affecting the tool wear. These include, but are not limited to, drilling parameters and environments/conditions, drill/tool materials and geometries, FRP composite compositions and machining techniques. Hence, this chapter focuses on drilling parameters, tool materials and geometries, drilling environments, types of tool wear, mechanisms of tool wear and methods of measurement of wear, effects of wear on machining of composite materials and preventive measures against rapid drill wear. Conclusively, some future perspectives or outlooks concerning the use of drill tools and their associated wears are elucidated, especially with the advancement in science and technology.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

How Productive Are the Microfinance Institutions in Bangladesh? An Application of Malmquist Productivity Index

The poverty reduction and financial inclusion of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030 can be significantly facilitated by the microfinance industry. However, it is pertinent to assess the sustainability of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in serving this purpose. The estimation of productivity of MFIs in Bangladesh gives a glimpse of their ability to fulfil the dual objectives of financial sustainability and social outreach. Hence, this study aims to measure the productivity of MFIs in Bangladesh using secondary data obtained from the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) market. The study employs Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI), which is an extension of the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to estimate the overall, social and financial productivities of 26 MFIs in Bangladesh during the period from 2009 to 2018. In general, this study revealed that majority of the MFIs’ overall productivity score varies between 0.9 and 1.20. Moreover, we observed that the social and financial productivities of MFIs in Bangladesh progressed during the entire study period, except for the years 2011 and 2017. This development may be attributed to the average growth in catch-up and technological effect witnessed during the study period. The study has also applied sensitivity analysis by changing the output to evaluate the robustness of the overall productivity results; consequently, the new estimates followed a similar pattern (mostly) and further corroborate the outcomes of this study

WATER PERMEABILITY OF MICRONISED BIOMASS SILICA CONCRETE

Abstract Malaysia is a country which its citizens employe

العوامل المؤثرة في التوافق بين مخرجات التعليم و سوق العمل

تزايد الاهتمام برأس المال البشري باعتباره أحد القوى المحركة للتنمية الاقتصادية وتزايد معه الاهتمام بدراسة  كيفية سد الفجوة بين مخرجات التعليم العالي ومدخلات سوق العمل. ومن هنا تبرز أهمية البحث في تحليل مشكلة عدم التوافق بين مخرجات التعليم العالي واحتياجات سوق العمل في سورية ، تم  تحليل مشكلة عدم التوافق بين مخرجات التعليم العالي  في "جامعة تشرين" (عينة البحث)  واحتياجات سوق العمل للتعرف على متطلبات سوق العمل وتحليل العوامل التي تحكم العلاقة بين عرض العمل والطلب عليه وذلك لتقديم آلية تمكن من التوفيق بين التخصصات الجامعية المتاحة ومتطلبات سوق العمل من حيث نوعية التخصصات الجامعية، والمهارات المكتسبة للخريج ومدى مواءمتها مع متطلبات سوق العمل.  تم تصميم استبانتين بهدف جمع البيانات، الاستبانة الأولى لقياس رأي أصحاب العمل بشقيه (العام والخاص) و الاستبانة الثانية لقياس رأي الخريجين الجامعيين وتوصلت الدراسة إلى مجموعة من النتائج من أهمها : يتمتع الخريجون الجامعيون بقدرة جيدة على الالتزام بالعمل ومتطلباته وتعلّم المهارات التي يحتاجها، ويعانون من ضعف تأهيلهم من ناحية المهارات العملية المتممة لشهاداتهم العلمية التي يطلبها سوق العمل، و ذلك لضعف التنسيق بين المؤسسات التعليمية ومنظمات سوق العمل. ويركز القطاع العام بشكل كبير على تأمين فرص عمل لمختلف شرائح المجتمع، كما أنه يميل لتوظيف أعداد تفوق حاجته، عكس القطاع الخاص الذي يعمل على توظيف عدد محدد وفق حاجته دون زيادة أو نقصان وأوصى فريق البحث  بضرورة التركيز على الجانب العملي لتحقيق التكامل مع الجانب النظري في التعليم (الجامعي والتقاني) واستحداث وحدات تدريبية خاصة بكل كلية ومعهد تقاني. إدخال الجامعات كبيوت خبرة واستشارة وخاصة فيما يتعلق بتوطين المشروعات ذات الطابع الاقتصادي. وإعادة النظر في الاستثمارات الموظِفة لليد العاملة في الساحل خاصة بعد التغير الديموغرافي الحاصل بسبب الحرب على سورية من خلال: التشجيع على إقامة (المشاريع الصغيرة - المشاريع الانتاجية التكاملية (زراعية – صناعية) المولِدة لفرص العمل وخاصة للخريجين.

Culture-level dimensions of social axioms and their correlates across 41 cultures

Leung and colleagues have revealed a five-dimensional structure of social axioms across individuals from five cultural groups. The present research was designed to reveal the culture level factor structure of social axioms and its correlates across 41 nations. An ecological factor analysis on the 60 items of the Social Axioms Survey extracted two factors: Dynamic Externality correlates with value measures tapping collectivism, hierarchy, and conservatism and with national indices indicative of lower social development. Societal Cynicism is less strongly and broadly correlated with previous values measures or other national indices and seems to define a novel cultural syndrome. Its national correlates suggest that it taps the cognitive component of a cultural constellation labeled maleficence, a cultural syndrome associated with a general mistrust of social systems and other people. Discussion focused on the meaning of these national level factors of beliefs and on their relationships with individual level factors of belief derived from the same data set.(undefined

Pros and cons of different therapeutic antibody formats for recombinant antivenom development.

Antibody technologies are being increasingly applied in the field of toxinology. Fuelled by the many advances in immunology, synthetic biology, and antibody research, different approaches and antibody formats are being investigated for the ability to neutralize animal toxins. These different molecular formats each have their own therapeutic characteristics. In this review, we provide an overview of the advances made in the development of toxin-targeting antibodies, and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of different antibody formats in relation to their ability to neutralize toxins, pharmacokinetic features, propensity to cause adverse reactions, formulation, and expression for research and development (R&D) purposes and large-scale manufacturing. A research trend seems to be emerging towards the use of human antibody formats as well as camelid heavy-domain antibody fragments due to their compatibility with the human immune system, beneficial therapeutic properties, and the ability to manufacture these molecules cost-effectively

Association of respiratory symptoms and lung function with occupation in the multinational Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study

Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has been associated with exposures in the workplace. We aimed to assess the association of respiratory symptoms and lung function with occupation in the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease study. Methods We analysed cross-sectional data from 28 823 adults (≥40 years) in 34 countries. We considered 11 occupations and grouped them by likelihood of exposure to organic dusts, inorganic dusts and fumes. The association of chronic cough, chronic phlegm, wheeze, dyspnoea, forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)/FVC with occupation was assessed, per study site, using multivariable regression. These estimates were then meta-analysed. Sensitivity analyses explored differences between sexes and gross national income. Results Overall, working in settings with potentially high exposure to dusts or fumes was associated with respiratory symptoms but not lung function differences. The most common occupation was farming. Compared to people not working in any of the 11 considered occupations, those who were farmers for ≥20 years were more likely to have chronic cough (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.19–1.94), wheeze (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.16–1.63) and dyspnoea (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.53–2.20), but not lower FVC (β=0.02 L, 95% CI −0.02–0.06 L) or lower FEV1/FVC (β=0.04%, 95% CI −0.49–0.58%). Some findings differed by sex and gross national income. Conclusion At a population level, the occupational exposures considered in this study do not appear to be major determinants of differences in lung function, although they are associated with more respiratory symptoms. Because not all work settings were included in this study, respiratory surveillance should still be encouraged among high-risk dusty and fume job workers, especially in low- and middle-income countries.publishedVersio

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder