Product Market Competition, Regulation and Dividend Payout Policy of Malaysian Banks

This paper investigates the impact of the product market competition, regulations on the dividend policies of We find significant differences in the payout of the banks categorized as selling a non-interest based banking products and mix of both interest and non-interest based banking products. We find that the decision to increase dividends is significantly related to earnings, and the decision to cut dividend is significantly related to the changes in the non-performing loans, corporate and real estate sectors loans ratio and earnings loses. Research findings have implication for the regulators of the banks. The research provides a clear link between banks' portfolio choice and earnings that have implications for the dividends in the emerging markets.Dividends, Banks, Non-performing loans, Ordered Probit Model, Malaysia

Financial Constraints, Debt Overhang And Corporate Investment: A Panel Smooth Transition Regression Approach

This paper provides new evidence on the impacts of financial constraints, growth opportunities and debt overhang on firm-level investments in 12 Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand over the period 1990–2010. Using Panel Smooth Transition Regression (PSTR) models that overcome the shortcomings of linear investment models, we show that the PSTR models have greater explanatory power than linear models. The empirical results show that for firms with growth opportunities, (1) investment is sensitive to the availability of internal finance and (2) debt overhang reduces investment by firms with higher leverage through a 'liquidity' effect. Our findings imply that the managers of financially constrained firms in developed countries in the Asian region respond differently to productivity shocks and growth opportunities than financially constrained firms in emerging markets and developing countries. In addition, in emerging Asian economies, higher equity valuations increased firm-level investment after the stock markets opened to foreign investors. Accordingly, policy makers should review their liberalisation measures and seek to understand the mechanisms at work in order to bolster international investors' confidence and stimulate foreign investment

Attributing the Electrical Conductivity into Asphalt Composite Using Kaoline-Dominant Mixture Clays

تمتلك مخاليط الإسفلت إمكانات كبيرة كموصلات كهربائية للعديد من الوظائف في مجال الاستشعار الذاتي والاستشفاء وجمع الطاقة. تتحكم التوصيلية الكهربائية (EC) في صب الخرسانة الإسفلتية إلى مرحلة ذات أولوية لمثل هذه العروض المقدمة، مع مراعاة بعض الإضافات التي تقلل من تلف المواد الأساسية مع مرور الوقت. تستخدم اختبارات الموصلية الليفية سابقًا في توصيل خليط الإسفلت. هناك الآن حاجة للتخفيف بسبب التغيير المفاجئ في منحنى ER المقاومة الكهربائية لظروف الترشيح للمخاليط الاسفلتية، مع مراعاة الانتقال المفاجئ من قيم المقاومة الكهربائية (ER) إلى مرحلة التوصيل الكهربائي (EC). يعتبر وجود الخلائط الطينية الفعالة لتخفيف عيوب التغيرات المفاجئة صديقة للبيئة. لذلك، تبحث هذه الدراسة عن ناتج حيث كفاءة التغليف المستخدمة عن طريق توجيه التوصيل الكهربائي (EC) من الخرسانة الإسفلتية فقط عن طريق إضافة محتوى معين من محتوى البنتونيت في خليط الكاولين المهيمن بين الكولين-البنتونايت0.4 الى الكولين– البنتونايت 0.1 (KB0.1) إلى و’ و(0.4 الى (الكولين-البنتونايت (الكولين-البنتونايت 0.1)   التي تتميز بخصائص جيوفيزيائية مختلفة ومعلما (0.4 الى (الكولين-البنتونايت (الكولين-البنتونايت 0.1) لذلك، فان ثمانية أنواع المختبرة والمختلفة من خليط الطين جيوتقنية مختلفة. يتم تقييم قيم ER بواسطة عينات مختلطة من الأسفلت التي تحتوي على محتويات مختلفة من خليط الطين المهيمن..Asphalt mixtures have great potentials as electrical connectors for many functions in the field of self-sensing, hospitalization and energy collection. Electrical conductivity (EC) controls the pouring of asphalt concrete to a priority stage for such presentations, taking into account some additives that minimize damage to basic materials over time. Previously fibre conductivity tests are used in the conductivity of the asphalt mixture. There is now a need for mitigation due to the sudden change in the ER electrical curve of the filtration conditions of the down mixtures, considering the sudden transition from the electrical resistivity (ER) values ​​to the conduction phase (EC). Efficient clay mixtures to relieve defects of sudden changes are considered eco-friendly. Therefore, this study looks for an output where encapsulation efficiency used by directing the electrical conductivity (EC) of asphalt concrete only by adding a specific content of bentonite content in the kaolin-dominant mixture between (KB0.1) to (KB0.4). Therefore, eight different types of clay mixture KB0.1 to KB0.4 and Kaolinite 0.9-Sand 0.1 to KS0.4 have different geophysical properties and different geotechnical parameters. EC values. ER values are evaluated by asphalt-mixed samples containing different contents of the dominant K-clay mixture

Calculating the electronic transmission properties of semiconducting carbon nanotube Schottky diodes with increase in diameter

Transmission of twenty-four carbon nanotube geometries to form twelve intramolecular junctions between every two carbon nanotubes have been investigated numerically. The twelve carbon nanotubes are zigzag and rest carbon nanotubes are armchair forming three different kinds of intramolecular junctions named as circumferential defective carbon nanotubes, grouped defective carbon nanotubes and distributed defective carbon nanotubes. Electronic states joining carbon nanotubes form Schottky diode that is analyzed using the tight-binding method. These quantum transmissions through Schottky diodes have been compared among the different defective carbon nanotubes and correlated with the pentagon and heptagon that formed in the intramolecular junction. The transmission coefficient of conduction band always simulated less than the transmission coefficient of valence band in each intramolecular junction irrespective of the joining of carbon nanotubes in the Schottky diodes. The maximum asymmetry of distributed defective carbon nanotubes in transmission is observed more clearly than that for other two defective carbon nanotubes forming Schottky diodes. It is interesting to note that the position of the localized states above and below the Fermi energy level may be controlled with the distribution of the defect pairs and the hexagons around the defects in the defected carbon nanotube

A successful model of road traffic injury surveillance in a developing country: Process and lessons learnt

Background: Road Traffic Injuries (RTIs) are one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide with 90% of global mortality concentrated in the low and middle income countries. RTI surveillance is recommended to define the burden, identify high risk groups, plan intervention and monitor their impact. Despite its stated importance in the literature, very few examples of sustained surveillance systems are reported from low income countries. This paper shares the experience of setting up an urban RTI surveillance program in the emergency departments of five major hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan.Method: We describe the process of establishing a surveillance system including assembling a multi-institution research group, developing a data collection methodology, carrying out data collection and analysis and dissemination of information to the relevant stakeholders. In the absence of a road safety agency, the surveillance system required developing individual partnerships with industry, police, city government, media and many other stakeholders. Impact of the surveillance is demonstrated by some initiatives in the local trauma system and improvements in road design to effect hazard reduction.Conclusion: We demonstrated that a functional RTI surveillance program can be established, and effectively managed in a developing country, despite lack of infrastructure and limitation of resources. Data utilization in the absence of well defined road safety infrastructure within the government is a challenge. More effective actions are hampered by the limited capacity in the transport and health sectors to do in-depth analysis through road safety audits and trauma registries

Analysis of syariah quantitative screening norms among Malaysia syariah-compliant stocks / Pok Wee Ching … [et al.]

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether Malaysian Syariahcompliant quantitative screening adopts criteria, which can be considered more liberal than those used by the DJIM, S&P and FTSE Syariah index providers, and also to assess the financial health of the sample companies. To do these, a sample of 477 Syariah-compliant firms were tested using the financial ratios, namely, liquidity ratio, interest ratio, debt ratio and non-permissible income ratio used by these world-leading index providers. The results showed that fewer companies (12.16%) qualify under the DJIM criteria and even more companies (63.10%) qualify under the FTSE criteria. The reasons for this difference are (1) the use of different formulae to calculate the ratio (2) the use of different thresholds and (3) the different emphases applied by the world index providers. The results of the financial health screen show that the majority of the Syariah-compliant companies are financially healthy

Energy and Exergy Analysis of Vapor Compression Refrigeration System with Low-GWP Refrigerants

In this paper, a first- and second-law analysis of vapor compression refrigeration is presented to estimate and propose the replacement of R134 with working fluids having less global warming potential (GWP) and less exergy destruction and irreversibilities. Six different refrigerants were studied, namely, R717, R1234yf, R290, R134a, R600a, and R152a. A thermodynamic model was designed on Engineering Equation Solver (EES) software, and performance parameters were calculated. The model was deployed on all six refrigerants, while the used output parameters of performance were cooling capacity, coefficient of performance, discharge temperature, total exergy destruction, relative exergy destruction rates of different components, second-law efficiency, and efficiency defect of each component. The performance parameters were estimated at different speeds of the compressor (1000, 2000, and 3000 rpm) and fixed condenser and evaporator temperatures of 50 °C and 5 °C, respectively. The isentropic efficiency of the compressor was the same as the volumetric efficiency, and it was taken as 75%, 65%, and 55% at the compressor speeds of 1000 rpm, 2000 rpm, and 3000 rpm, respectively. A comparison of the performance parameters was presented by importing the results in MATLAB. It was found that the compressor had the highest exergy destruction compared to the other components. It was found that R152 was the refrigerant with zero ozone depletion potential (ODP) and a GWP value of 140 with less exergy destruction and irreversibilities. Moreover, it was easy to use R152a with good thermodynamic characteristics. It is estimated that R152a is a suitable replacement for R134a, as it can be used with few modifications