Corporate Disclosure on Anti-Corruption Practice: A study of Social Responsible

This paper seeks to determine the extent of anti-corruption information disclosure in the sustainability reports originating from Gulf countries. Focus primarily on the fight against corruption, this study utilizes a deeply-rooted content analysis technique of corporate sustainability reporting, covering 66 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) firms during 2014. Strengthened by the application of institutional theory, insight into the results points to a state of limited maturity regarding the disclosure of anti-corruption procedures in the region. More specifically, the results highlight the compliance in the reporting of conduct code, while reporting information on whistle-blowing was significantly less in comparison. Firms in Qatar and UAE ultimately release better informed reports; inclusive of detailed information on internal anti-corruption practices

The Factors Influencing Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: In today’s world of increased awareness regarding the concepts of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate governance (CG), many firms in the developed countries consider noncompliance with CSR and CG standards as an important source of risk to their reputations with stakeholders. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) index and corporate factors, namely, board size, board independence, board meetings, CEO duality, a firm’s size, leverage, profitability and age. This is the first known study in the case of Saudi Arabia to use the GRI 4th edition indicators to construct the CSRD index and evaluate Saudi listed firms. Results: The results show that profitability and size factor have positive and significant association with CSR disclosure in listed Saudi firms. While CG characteristics have no impact on CSR disclosure except board independence which has a negative impact. Conclusion: The average of CSRD index among Saudi firms is too low, it is about 11% that means Saudi firms disclose 11% of the information that they have to provide for stockholders according to GRI guidelines. Furthermore, the study concludes that the most polluted sectors “Ene

The Determinants of Dividend Policy: Evidence from Malaysian Firms

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between dividend payout ratio in Malaysian firms with profitability, size, growth opportunities, free cash flow, business risk and market to book value. The paper used a sample of 284 firms listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) from seven sectors viz., Consumer Products, Industrial Products, Construction, Finance, Technology, Properties, and Telecommunication. In order to decipher the relationships as stated above, multivariate regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses. The study found that at the pooled data level for All sectors, free cash flow, return on assets, return on equity, earning per share, market to book value and market capitalization have significant positive correlation with dividend payout ratio. The variable Beta,however,has a strong negative correlation with dividend payout ratio. The findings however differ from sector to sector; results reflect that Market capitalization; Beta, ROA and ROE are the common variables which have influence on DPR across various sectors except in technology sector where as the variable Market capitalization is not significantly associated with DPR. Similarly, ROA, which is significant determinant variable of DPR in four sectors like Construction,Consumer Products, Properties and Telecommunication Sector,it has no influence on the dividend payout ratio of the companies in the Industrial, Technology and Finance sectors

The Determinants of Dividend Policy: Evidence from Malaysian Firms

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between dividend payout ratio in Malaysian firms with profitability, size, growth opportunities, free cash flow, business risk and market to book value. The paper used a sample of 284 firms listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) from seven sectors viz., Consumer Products, Industrial Products, Construction, Finance, Technology, Properties, and Telecommunication. In order to decipher the relationships as stated above, multivariate regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses. The study found that at the pooled data level for All sectors, free cash flow, return on assets, return on equity, earning per share, market to book value and market capitalization have significant positive correlation with dividend payout ratio. The variable Beta, however, has a strong negative correlation with dividend payout ratio. The findings however differ from sector to sector; results reflect that Market capitalization; Beta, ROA and ROE are the common variables which have influence on DPR across various sectors except in technology sector where as the variable Market capitalization is not significantly associated with DPR. Similarly, ROA, which is significant determinant variable of DPR in four sectors like Construction, Consumer Products, Properties and Telecommunication Sector, it has no influence on the dividend payout ratio of the companies in the Industrial, Technology and Finance sectors. Keywords: dividend payout ratio, profitability, size, growth opportunities, free cash flow, business risk, market to book value, market capitalization, Beta

On the causal interpretation of rate-change methods:the prior event rate ratio and rate difference

A growing number of studies use data before and after treatment initiation in groups exposed to different treatment strategies to estimate "causal effects" using a ratio measure called the prior event rate ratio (PERR). Here, we offer a causal interpretation for PERR and its additive scale analog, the prior event rate difference (PERD). We show that causal interpretation of these measures requires untestable rate-change assumptions about the relationship between (1) the change of the counterfactual ratebefore and after treatment initiation in the treated group under hypothetical intervention to implement the control treatment; and (2) the change of the factual rate before and after treatment initiation in the control group. The rate-change assumption is on the multiplicative scale for PERR, but on the additive scale for PERD; the two assumptions hold simultaneously under testable, but unlikely, conditions. Even if investigators can pick the most appropriate scale, the relevant rate-change assumption may not hold exactly, so we describe sensitivity analysis methods to examine how assumption violations of different magnitudes would affect study results. We illustrate the methods using data from a published study of proton pump inhibitors and pneumonia

Prediction of wear rates of UHMWPE bearing in hip joint prosthesis with support vector model and grey wolf optimization

One of the greatest challenges in joint arthroplasty is to enhance the wear resistance of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), which is one of the most successful polymers as acetabular bearings for total hip joint prosthesis. In order to improve UHMWPE wear rates, it is necessary to develop efficient methods to predict its wear rates in various conditions and therefore help in improving its wear resistance, mechanical properties, and increasing its life span inside the body. This article presents a support vector machine using a grey wolf optimizer (SVM-GWO) hybrid regression model to predict the wear rates of UHMWPE based on published polyethylene data from pin on disc (PoD) wear experiments typically performed in the field of prosthetic hip implants. The dataset was an aggregate of 29 different PoD UHMWPE datasets collected from Google Scholar and PubMed databases, and it consisted of 129 data points. Shapley additive explanations (SHAP) values were used to interpret the presented model to identify the most important and decisive parameters that affect the wear rates of UHMWPE and, therefore, predict its wear behavior inside the body under different conditions. The results revealed that radiation doses had the highest impact on the model’s prediction, where high values of radiation doses had a negative impact on the model output. The pronounced effect of irradiation doses and surface roughness on the wear rates of polyethylene was clear in the results when average disc surface roughness (Ra) values were below 0.05 μm, and irradiation doses were above 95 kGy produced 0 mg/MC wear rate. The proposed model proved to be a reliable and robust model for the prediction of wear rates and prioritizing factors that most significantly affect its wear rates. The proposed model can help material engineers to further design polyethylene acetabular linings via improving the wear resistance and minimizing the necessity for wear experiments

A randomized comparison between three types of irrigating fluids during transurethral resection in benign prostatic hyperplasia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Central nervous system changes, circulatory and electrolyte imbalances are the main complications of endoscopic transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) which is known as transurethral resection (TUR) syndrome, which occurs as result of excessive absorption of irrigating fluid. We compare glycine 1.5% versus glucose 5% and normal saline 0.9% as irrigating solutions during TURP in patients with moderate to severe bladder outlet obstruction due to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Three hundred sixty patients with symptomatic BPH were randomized into a prospective, controlled trial comparing the three irrigation modalities. One-hundred twenty patients used glycine 1.5% solution as irrigating fluid (glycine group), 120 patients used glucose 5% solution (glucose group) and 120 patients used normal saline 0.9% solution (saline group). Patient's demographics, operation time, hospital stay, postoperative amino acid glycine assay, postoperative serum cardiac troponin I and perioperative complications were noted.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>No difference was found between the groups in the immediate postoperative levels of hemoglobin and hematocrite. A high glycine level was associated with the TUR syndrome. Seventeen patients had TUR syndrome; all were in glycine group and they had the highest postoperative amino acid glycine levels. Slight increase in serum sodium (142.6 ± 12.6 mmol/l) was detected in saline group. Transient Hyperglycemia (170 ± 35.9 mg/dl) and hypokalemia (3.67 ± 0.92 mmol/l) occurred in the immediate postoperative period in the glucose group.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Endoscopic TURP performed using either glucose 5% or saline 0.9% irrigating solution during and after surgery is associated with lower incidence of TUR syndrome, lower catheterization period, shorter hospital stay and no cardiac toxicity in comparison with glycine 1.5% solution.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>This clinical trail had been approved and registered in PACT Registry; with identification number for the registry is ATMR2010010001793131.</p