Pengaruh Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Terhadap Biaya Operasional dan Profitabilitas Pada Perusahaan Manufaktur

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memberikan bukti empiris pengaruh Corporate Social Resposibility (CSR) terhadap biaya operasional dan profitabilitas di BEI pada tahun 2014-2015. Penelitian ini juga melibatkan variabel kontrol yaitu firm size. Corporate Social Resposibility (CSR) diukur dengan rata-rata GRI index generasi ke-4 tahun 2014-2015, sedangkan biaya operasional diukur dengan perbandingan antara biaya operasional dengan total penjualan, dan profitabilitas diukur dengan ROE (Return On Equity). Sampel yang digunakan sebanyak 105 perusahaan manufa`ktur yang telah melaporkan kegiatan CSR secara konsisten dalam annual report selama 2014-2015 serta menggunakan kurs rupiah. Hasil penelitian menyimpulkan bahwa CSR tidak berpengaruh terhadap biaya operasional maupun profitabilitas. Hal ini disebabkan karena pelaksanaan CSR di Indonesia yang mandatory sehingga motivasi perusahaan melakukan CSR adalah agar dapat menghindari konflik terhadap masyarakat sekitar perusahaan dan pemerintah, bukan fokus terhadap peningkatan inovasi dan kualitas produk, maupun peduli terhadap pemeliharaan lingkungan, dan penghematan energi. Variabel kontrol firm size berpengaruh signifikan terhadap biaya operasional dan profitbilitas.This study tends to give empirical evidence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) influence towards operational costs and profitability in BEI during 2014-2015. It involves a control variable, that is firm size. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is measured by means of the fourth generation of GRI index in 2014-2015, whereas the operational costs are measured by the ratio between operational costs and total selling, and the profitability is measured by Return on Equity (ROE). The samples of the study are 105 manufacturing companies which use rupiah as their currency and which have already reported their CSR activities consistently in the annual report during 2014-2015. From the results of the study, it can be concluded that CSR does not influence the operational costs and profitability because CSR implementation in Indonesia is mandatory. It makes the companies implement CSR because they only want to avoid the conflict between companies-society and companiesgovernment, they do not focus on innovating and increasing the product quality, maintaining the environment, and saving the energy. Control variable firm size significantly influence the operational costs and profitability

Influence of the Tunnel Shape on Shotcrete Lining Stresses

Tunnel excavation is frequently carried out in rock masses by the drill and blast method and the final shape of the tunnel boundary can be irregular due to overbreaks. In order to investigate the effects of overbreaks a study of the effect of tunnel boundary irregularity has been carried out. This is done developing a computational tool able to take into account fuzzy variables (i.e., thickness of the beams of the bedded spring approach used for the model). The obtained results show that irregularity effects should be considered when a shotcrete lining is used as the final tunnel lining (for the case where the tunneling procedure does not permit a smooth surface to be obtained). This is crucial to obtain a durable linin

Obstetric anal sphincter injury: a systematic review of information available on the internet.

OBJECTIVE: There is no systematic evaluation of online health information pertaining to obstetric anal sphincter injury. Therefore, we evaluated the accuracy, credibility, reliability, and readability of online information concerning obstetric anal sphincter injury. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Multiple search engines were searched. The first 30 webpages were identified for each keyword and considered eligible if they provided information regarding obstetric anal sphincter injury. Eligible webpages were assessed by two independent researchers for accuracy (prioritised criteria based upon the RCOG Third and Fourth Degree Tear guideline); credibility; reliability; and readability. RESULTS: Fifty-eight webpages were included. Seventeen webpages (30%) had obtained Health On the Net certification, or Information Standard approval and performed better than those without such approvals (p = 0.039). The best overall performing website was http://www.pat.nhs.uk (score of 146.7). A single webpage (1%) fulfilled the entire criteria for accuracy with a score of 18: www.tamesidehospital.nhs.uk . Twenty-nine webpages (50%) were assessed as credible (scores ≥7). A single webpage achieved a maximum credibility score of 10: www.meht.nhs.uk . Over a third (21 out of 58) were rated as poor or very poor. The highest scoring webpage was http://www.royalsurrey.nhs.uk (score 62). No webpage met the recommended Flesch Reading Ease Score above 70. The intra-class coefficient between researchers was 0.98 (95% CI 0.96-0.99) and 0.94 (95% CI 0.89-0.96) for accuracy and reliability assessments. CONCLUSION: Online information concerning obstetric anal sphincter injury often uses language that is inappropriate for a lay audience and lacks sufficient accuracy, credibility, and reliability

Cardiac Glycosides Ouabain and Digoxin Interfere with the Regulation of Glutamate Transporter GLAST in Astrocytes Cultured from Neonatal Rat Brain

Glutamate transport (GluT) in brain is mediated chiefly by two transporters GLT and GLAST, both driven by ionic gradients generated by (Na+, K+)-dependent ATPase (Na+/K+-ATPase). GLAST is located in astrocytes and its function is regulated by translocations from cytoplasm to plasma membrane in the presence of GluT substrates. The phenomenon is blocked by a naturally occurring toxin rottlerin. We have recently suggested that rottlerin acts by inhibiting Na+/K+-ATPase. We now report that Na+/K+-ATPase inhibitors digoxin and ouabain also blocked the redistribution of GLAST in cultured astrocytes, however, neither of the compounds caused detectable inhibition of ATPase activity in cell-free astrocyte homogenates (rottlerin inhibited app. 80% of Pi production from ATP in the astrocyte homogenates, IC50 = 25 μM). Therefore, while we may not have established a direct link between GLAST regulation and Na+/K+-ATPase activity we have shown that both ouabain and digoxin can interfere with GluT transport and therefore should be considered potentially neurotoxic

Oxygen therapy: time to move on?

This analysis examines the roots of clinical practice regarding oxygen therapy and finds that some aspects have changed very little over the past 200 years. Oxygen is commonly prescribed and administered as a therapy across all healthcare settings, particularly for the treatment and management of respiratory conditions, both acute and chronic. Yet despite its widespread use and recent advances in understanding and guidance, poor practice and controversies regarding its use persist. This historical analysis highlights origins in practice that may suggest where the roots of these fallacies lie, highlighting potential ambiguities and myths that have permeated clinical and social contexts. It can be considered that based on clinical presumptions and speculation the prolific and injudicious use of oxygen was encouraged and the legacy for today’s practice seeded. The conjectures proposed here may enable modern day erroneous beliefs to be confronted and clinical practice to move on

Parental Smoking Modifies the Relation between Genetic Variation in Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF) and Childhood Asthma

BACKGROUND: Polymorphisms in the proinflammatory cytokine genes tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF) and lymphotoxin-α (LTA, also called TNF-β) have been associated with asthma and atopy in some studies. Parental smoking is a consistent risk factor for childhood asthma. Secondhand smoke and ozone both stimulate TNF production. OBJECTIVES: Our goal was to investigate whether genetic variation in TNF and LTA is associated with asthma and atopy and whether the association is modified by parental smoking in a Mexican population with high ozone exposure. METHODS: We genotyped six tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TNF and LTA, including functional variants, in 596 nuclear families consisting of asthmatics 4–17 years of age and their parents in Mexico City. Atopy was determined by skin prick tests. RESULTS: The A allele of the TNF-308 SNP was associated with increased risk of asthma [relative risk (RR) = 1.54; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.04–2.28], especially among children of non-smoking parents (RR = 2.06; 95% CI, 1.19–3.55; p for interaction = 0.09). Similarly, the A allele of the TNF-238 SNP was associated with increased asthma risk among children of nonsmoking parents (RR = 2.21; 95% CI, 1.14–4.30; p for interaction = 0.01). LTA SNPs were not associated with asthma. Haplotype analyses reflected the single SNP findings in magnitude and direction. TNF and LTA SNPs were not associated with the degree of atopy. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that genetic variation in TNF may contribute to childhood asthma and that associations may be modified by parental smoking

Application of Data Mining in Air Traffic Forecasting

The main goal of the study centers on developing a model for the purpose of air traffic forecasting by using off-the-shelf data mining and machine learning techniques. Although data driven modeling has been extensively applied in the aviation sector, little research has been done in the area of air traffic forecasting. This study is inspired by previous research focused on improving the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Terminal Area Forecasting (TAF) methodology, which historically assumed that the US air transportation system (ATS) network structure was static. Recent developments use data mining algorithms to predict the likelihood of previously un-connected airport-pairs being connected in the future, and the likelihood of connected airport-pairs becoming un-connected. Despite the innovation of this research, it does not focus on improving the FAA’s existing methodology for forecasting future air traffic levels on existing routes, which is based on relatively simple regression and growth models. We investigate different approaches for improving and developing new features within the existing data mining applications in air traffic forecasting. We focus particularly on predicting detailed traffic information for the US ATS. Initially, a 2-stage log-log model is applied to establish the significance of different inputs and to identify issues of endogeneity and multi-colinearity, while maintaining the simplicity of current models. Although the model shows high goodness of fit, it tested positive for both mentioned issues as well as presenting problems with causality. With the objective of solving these issues, a 3-stage model that is under development is introduced. This model employs logistic regression and discrete choice modelling. As part of future work, machine learning techniques such as clustering and neural networks will be applied to improve this model’s performance