The Impact of Comprehensive Allocation and Flow-Through Method of Accounting for the Income Taxes on the Investment Decision: A Field Experiment.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether investment decisions are affected by (1) alternative methods of accounting for income taxes and (2) the magnitude of deferred tax credits in the balance sheet. Financial analysts were asked to estimate net income and stock price, and to provide equivalence intervals as measures of uncertainty. The subjects based their predictions upon financial statements of a real company and selected financial information. Six different forms of the information cue set were used--three accounting methods (deferred method of comprehensive allocation, flow-through, and flow-through with footnote disclosure of deferred taxes as under the deferred method of comprehensive allocation) and two levels of deferred tax credits (high and low). The responses were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) in a 3 x 2 factorial experimental design. In addition, the mean square error (MSE) was used as a dependent variable to determine the effect of the accounting methods on the accuracy of the subjects\u27 net income and stock price predictions. The research found evidence that the different methods of accounting for income taxes affect financial analysts\u27 prediction of net income as well as their confidence in their net income predictions. However, the effect did not carry over to the analysts\u27 prediction of stock price and their confidence in their stock price predictions. The magnitude of deferred tax credits in the balance sheet affects stock price prediction, but not net income prediction and the two confidence intervals. Also, financial analysts who received financial statements based on the deferred method of comprehensive allocation made more accurate net income predictions and had greater confidence in their net income predictions. There were no significant differences in the responses of financial analysts who received financial statements based on the flow-through method or flow-through method with footnote disclosure of deferred taxes as under the deferred method of comprehensive allocation

Modeling and parameter ranking of construction labor productivity

For having, both a qualitative as well as a quantitative analysis of various aspects of the topic, a field investigation spanning over eighteen months, for collecting actual data from on-going construction sites was carried out. The set of nine input parameters which is selected for this study is considered to be the one which causes short term or daily variations in productivity. The entire analysis and experimentation can be divided into three main parts, those of modeling the phenomenon, ranking the independent variables in the order of their relative significance and determining and graphically depicting the exclusive influences of each variable on the output which is daily productivity of formwork installation operations. Various neural network models under different paradigms and network settings were developed and compared for performances under the criteria of R 2, MSE and MAE. The best performing model of Back Propagation with modified learning rate and momentum was validated with data unexposed to the mode

Community Driven Framework for Sustainable Municipal Asset Management

Best practices for municipal asset management require municipalities and communities to clearly define their expectations and to express that in terms of achievable goals for levels of service. The challenge lies in the fact that asset performance from a community perspective may be quite different from a municipality perspective. The real problem is to inter-relate these two perspectives and to determine the optimum quantity of improvement required in the condition of municipal assets to meet community expectations. The literature reveals the need for development of such methods and management tools to support solutions for sustainable municipal assets that take the above into consideration. To address these issues, a community driven level of service based methodology is developed for municipal corridor management that integrates technical and financial plans of a municipality. The concept of municipal corridor is augmented for the purpose of determining integrated repair/ rehabilitation interventions for pavement, water distribution and sewer collection assets and is termed here as municipal corridor rehabilitation. The developed methodology comprises of three phases. In the first phase, performance modelling and mapping the targeted levels of service to condition rating is developed to quantify asset condition improvement. This is achieved via three models; (1) Analytical Hierarchy model to relate Level of Service with required performance, (2) Fuzzy weighted average model to assess the capacity to deliver targeted performance and (3) Fuzzy Alpha Cut model to map the asset improvement requirement and asset capability. The output of this phase is fed into the second phase, where prioritization of corridors’ intervention plans is established, using an Artificial Neural Network model. In the last phase, the outputs of the preceding two phases are utilized as input to develop a Goal Programming based optimization model which generates optimised intervention plans of municipal corridors. The developed methodology was applied to a case study in the City of Riyadh in KSA to demonstrate its use and to illustrate its capabilities. The results obtained were found acceptable by management of that city. The case demonstrated the flexibility and utility of the developed methodology and its models in support of integrated optimized intervention plans for water, sewer and municipal roads

Wear Mechanism Maps for Magnesium Alloy AM60 and Composite AM60‐9% (Al2O3)f

The purpose of this work was to study the tribological behaviour of squeeze cast Mg alloy AM60 and its composite AM60-9% (Al2O3)f. Dry sliding wear tests were performed on specimens of these materials using a block-on-ring tribometer which was equipped with a COF and temperature measurement system. Wear, COF and temperature maps were constructed to illustrate the effect of temperature and COF on the wear behaviour of the Mg alloy and it’s composite. Four wear regimes namely low, mild, transient and severe wear were identified. The transition from mild to severe wear regime was found to be dependent on the bulk temperature of the specimen. Oxidational wear prevailed in low and mild wear whereas plastic deformation induced wear and melt wear controlled the wear rates in transient and severe wear regimes, respectively. This study shows that the incorporation of Al2O3 fibres in AM60 alloy improved the wear resistance of the resulting composite by delaying the transition from mild to severe wear

Analyzing Global and Local Media Representations of Malala Yousafzai

During the War on Terror, when high rates of violence were occurring and schools were being forcefully torn down in Swat Valley of Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai fought for girls’ education rights. At just 17 years old, Malala Yousafzai has inspired people around the world with her passion and determination to make sure girls everywhere can get an education. When the Taliban tried to silence her, Malala answered their brutality with strength and resolve. Soon in the international media, she was acclaimed as a brave hero and later honored with a Nobel Prize. She received a mixed response for her efforts in Pakistan. While some praised her, others thought her as an opportunist or believed that there was a Western conspiracy behind her promotion on an international level. This article explores the disparities in media representation of Malala Yousafzai on global and local levels. Employing ethnographic research methods, we bring to light the perceptions of people from her hometown and juxtapose it with those of international media outlets. The article will help understand the complex controversies surrounding Yousafzai’s struggle and legacy

DETECTOR RESPONSE FROM THERMAL NEUTRON ACTIVATION OF CONCEALED EXPLOSIVES

Explosives concealed in small quatitites (~100 g), buried in landmines or in baggage, can be detected by characteristic gamma rays produced by neutron activation. However, the detection response can be reduced by attenuation of the signal in the background medium. This paper carries out a Monte Carlo simulation, using MCNP-V, to estimate the gamma signal spectrum and intesity degradation at a sodium iodide (NaI) detector from a small sample of trinitrotoluene (TNT) explosive buried in limestone. It is found that the transmission across 25 cm of limestone is ~6% of the 2.2233 MeV hydrogen signal and ~20% of the nitrogen signal. An empirical formula, obtained from MCNP re-runs, is used to estimate the signal strength from TNT, buried at 5-25 cm in limestone, for a californium source (252Cf) emitting 2.31 x 107 n/s. It is found that for TNT mass in the range 0.1-3 kg, the signatures are in the range 20-2000 s-1 from nitrogen and 24-2400 s-1 from hydrogen. These estimates can be used to determine the scanning time for an explosives detection system

Strengthening union level facility for providing normal delivery and newborn care services: Workshop report

In Bangladesh, a network of government health facilities providing maternal and child health services has been established. In rural areas, first-level fixed-facility service is provided at the union level through Health and Family Welfare Centers (HFWCs). These facilities are designed to improve maternal and child health by making services available to the people in rural areas, however a full range of reproductive health services for women is not available in those facilities. At present, no evidence exists to support whether or not HFWCs can safely and cost-effectively provide normal deliveries. There is a need for a policy research initiative that can draw upon concrete evidence to support the policy changes necessary for strengthening HFWCs so they can provide normal delivery and newborn care services. With financial support from the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Population Council has undertaken a policy and systems study aimed at identifying possible mechanisms for strengthening HFWCs so that they can provide normal delivery and newborn care services. A workshop was organized at the onset of this study, and findings from that workshop are presented in this report

Bibliometric study on the literature related to dental research and education published in Journal of Pakistan Medical Association

Objective: To analyse characteristics of literature related to dental research and education published in a single medical journal, The Journal of Pakistan Medical Association.Method: The bibliometric study was conducted at the Sindh Institute of Oral Health Sciences, Jinnah Sindh Medical University from March till May 2020, and comprised electronic and hand search of scientific literature relevant to dentistry published in the Journal of Pakistan Medical Association from the first issue published in 1953 till March 2020. The selected articles were analysed for year of publication, field of study, type of article, institute and country of first author, number of authors and citation count. Keyword mapping was also carried out. Data was analysed using SPSS 19.Results: Of the 159 articles identified, 117(73.6%) were contributed from Pakistan. The most common specialties were Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Epidemiology with 20(12.6%) articles each, followed by Operative Dentistry and Endodontics 19(11.9%). Majority of articles were Original / Research 87(54.7%). The highest number of articles were published in 2019 26(16.35%). The Aga Khan University, contributed the most publications 30(18.9%), followed by Dow University of Health Sciences, 11(6.9%). Majority of the articles were contributed by three authors 48(38.4%). The top cited article was found to have 113 citations, followed by articles with 103 and 91 citations.Conclusions: The contribution of scientific papers related to dentistry and dental education in the Journal of Pakistan Medical Association was significant. With growth of dentistry as a discipline along with a parallel increase in the publication of dental research papers, it is imperative that a dedicated indexed journal for dental research be commenced