Related party transactions, corporate governance and accounting quality in Greece

Related Party Transactions (RPTs) have been considered recently in research as a phenomenon which is associated with several financial scandals, shareholder’s wealth expropriation and is used for earnings management (EM) purposes by the reporting entity. This study aimed to: (i) assess the extent of EM and RPTs i Greece; (ii) investigate the association between RPTs and EM; (iii) investigate the association between corporate governance and EM; (iv) investigate the association between corporate governance and RPTs; and (v) investigate the impact of RPTs on Accounting Quality. Greece was selected for this study as it provides a special context due to poor investor protection, high levels of EM and unhealthy financial reporting environment where wealth extraction and EM are more likely. This study examines the relationship between earnings management and RPTs for the firms listed on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE). Moreover, it examines the association between earnings management and corporate governance activities. The results show a negative and significant relationship between EM and RPTs. This finding does not support the conclusion that RPTs are necessarily conducted to mask fraud or the extraction of firm resources. The results show that firms audited by one of the Big 4 audit firms are associated with less EM. Additionally, the study investigates the relationship between RPTs and accounting quality. The findings show that that there is no significant difference in accounting quality between RPTs firms and non-RPTs firms. This study contributes to the EM, accounting quality and corporate governance literatures. This research suggests recommendations for researchers, data providers and policy makers on ways to reduce the problems associated with RPTs.

Quality-driven resource utilization methods for video streaming in wireless communication networks

This research is focused on the optimisation of resource utilisation in wireless mobile networks with the consideration of the users’ experienced quality of video streaming services. The study specifically considers the new generation of mobile communication networks, i.e. 4G-LTE, as the main research context. The background study provides an overview of the main properties of the relevant technologies investigated. These include video streaming protocols and networks, video service quality assessment methods, the infrastructure and related functionalities of LTE, and resource allocation algorithms in mobile communication systems. A mathematical model based on an objective and no-reference quality assessment metric for video streaming, namely Pause Intensity, is developed in this work for the evaluation of the continuity of streaming services. The analytical model is verified by extensive simulation and subjective testing on the joint impairment effects of the pause duration and pause frequency. Various types of the video contents and different levels of the impairments have been used in the process of validation tests. It has been shown that Pause Intensity is closely correlated with the subjective quality measurement in terms of the Mean Opinion Score and this correlation property is content independent. Based on the Pause Intensity metric, an optimised resource allocation approach is proposed for the given user requirements, communication system specifications and network performances. This approach concerns both system efficiency and fairness when establishing appropriate resource allocation algorithms, together with the consideration of the correlation between the required and allocated data rates per user. Pause Intensity plays a key role here, representing the required level of Quality of Experience (QoE) to ensure the best balance between system efficiency and fairness. The 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) system is used as the main application environment where the proposed research framework is examined and the results are compared with existing scheduling methods on the achievable fairness, efficiency and correlation. Adaptive video streaming technologies are also investigated and combined with our initiatives on determining the distribution of QoE performance across the network. The resulting scheduling process is controlled through the prioritization of users by considering their perceived quality for the services received. Meanwhile, a trade-off between fairness and efficiency is maintained through an online adjustment of the scheduler’s parameters. Furthermore, Pause Intensity is applied to act as a regulator to realise the rate adaptation function during the end user’s playback of the adaptive streaming service. The adaptive rates under various channel conditions and the shape of the QoE distribution amongst the users for different scheduling policies have been demonstrated in the context of LTE. Finally, the work for interworking between mobile communication system at the macro-cell level and the different deployments of WiFi technologies throughout the macro-cell is presented. A QoEdriven approach is proposed to analyse the offloading mechanism of the user’s data (e.g. video traffic) while the new rate distribution algorithm reshapes the network capacity across the macrocell. The scheduling policy derived is used to regulate the performance of the resource allocation across the fair-efficient spectrum. The associated offloading mechanism can properly control the number of the users within the coverages of the macro-cell base station and each of the WiFi access points involved. The performance of the non-seamless and user-controlled mobile traffic offloading (through the mobile WiFi devices) has been evaluated and compared with that of the standard operator-controlled WiFi hotspots.

Multiresponse Robust Engineering: Case with Errors in Factor Levels

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 62J05, 62J10, 62F35, 62H12, 62P30.

Nutritional management of blood glucose levels

Background and Objectives: Nutritional management of blood glucose levels is a strategic target in the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), applicable across the population. To implement a successful strategy it is essential to understand the impact of dietary modulation on the postprandial rise in blood glucose concentrations. Methods: Using the highest quality data, a systematic and comprehensive literature review was undertaken. Included in this review were the major macronutrients (carbohydrate, pro-tein, fat), micronutrient vitamins and minerals, non-nutrient phytochemicals and additional foods such as low-calorie sweeteners, vinegar and alcohol. Results: The strongest corroboration of efficacy for improving glucose homeostasis was for insoluble and moderately fermentable cereal-based fiber and mono-unsaturated fatty acids as replacement of saturated fat. Postprandial glycaemia was decreased by intake of viscous soluble fiber and the predominant mechanism of action was considered to be by delaying absorption of co-ingested carbohydrates. There was weaker but substantial evidence that certain phytochemical-rich foods were likely to be effective. This may be associated with the su-ggestion that the gut microbiota plays an important role in me-tabolic regulation, which includes provision of phytochemical and other metabolites. Conclusions: Based on the evidence, it is clear that dietary components have significant and clinically relevant effects on blood glucose modulation. This suggests that employing a dietary regimen to attenuate the postprandial rise in blood glucose levels along with previously identified targets (reducing excess body weight and an increase in physical activity) will benefit the health of the population and limit the increasing worldwide incidence of T2D.

Visual and quality outcomes following bilateral implantation of a trifocal intraocular lens

Purpose: To examine visual outcomes following bilateral implantation of the FineVision trifocal intraocular lens (IOL; PhysIOL, Liège, Belgium). Methods: 26 patients undergoing routine cataract surgery were implanted bilaterally with the FineVision Trifocal IOL and followed up post-operatively for 3 months. The FineVision optic features a combination of 2 diffractive structures, resulting in distance, intermediate (+1.75 D add) and near vision (+3.50 D add) zones. Apodization of the optic surface increases far vision dominance with pupil aperture. Data collected at the 3 month visit included uncorrected and corrected distance (CDVA) and near vision; subjective refraction; defocus curve testing (photopic and mesopic); contrast sensitivity (CSV-1000); halometry glare testing and a questionnaire (NAVQ) to gauge near vision function and patient satisfaction. Results: The cohort comprised 15 males and 11 females, aged 52.5–82.4 years (mean 70.6 ± 8.2 years). Mean post-operative UDVA was 0.22 ± 0.14 logMAR, with a mean spherical equivalent refraction of +0.02 ± 0.35 D. Mean CDVA was 0.13 ± 0.10 logMAR monocularly, and 0.09 ± 0.07 logMAR binocularly. Defocus curve testing showed an extensive range of clear vision in both photopic and mesopic conditions. Patients showed high levels of satisfaction with their near vision (mean ± 0.9 ± 0.6, where 0 = completely satisfied, and 4 = completely unsatisfied) and demonstrated good spectacle independence. Conclusion: The FineVision IOL can be considered in patients seeking spectacle dependence following cataract surgery, and provide good patient satisfaction with uncorrected vision.

Four-leg converters with improved common current sharing and selective voltage-quality enhancement for islanded microgrids

Four-leg dc-ac power converters are widely used for the power grids to manage grid voltage unbalance caused by the interconnection of single-phase or three-phase unbalanced loads. These converters can further be connected in parallel to increase the overall power rating. The control of these converters poses a particular challenge if they are placed far apart with no links between them (e.g., in islanded microgrids). This challenge is studied in this paper with each four-leg converter designed to have improved common current sharing and selective voltage-quality enhancement. The common current sharing, including zero sequence component, is necessary since loads are spread over the microgrid and they are hence the common responsibility of all converters. The voltage-quality enhancement consideration should however be more selective since different loads have different sensitivity levels towards voltage disturbances. Converters connected to the more sensitive load buses should therefore be selectively triggered for compensation when voltage unbalances at their protected buses exceed the predefined thresholds. The proposed scheme is therefore different from conventional centralized schemes protecting only a common bus. Simulation and experimental results obtained have verified the effectiveness of the proposed scheme when applied to a four-wire islanded microgrid.

Impact of severity and type of depression on quality of life in cases identified in the community

BACKGROUND: The impact of different levels of depression severity on quality of life (QoL) is not well studied, particularly regarding ICD-10 criteria. The ICD classification of depressive episodes in three levels of severity is also controversial and the less severe category, mild, has been considered as unnecessary and not clearly distinguishable from non-clinical states. The present work aimed to test the relationship between depression severity according to ICD-10 criteria and several dimensions of functioning as assessed by Medical Outcome Study (MOS) 36-item Short Form general health survey (SF-36) at the population level. METHOD: A sample of 551 participants from the second phase of the Outcome of Depression International Network (ODIN) study (228 controls without depression and 313 persons fulfilling ICD criteria for depressive episode) was selected for a further assessment of several variables, including QoL related to physical and mental health as measured with the SF-36. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences between controls and the depression group were found in both physical and mental markers of health, regardless of the level of depression severity; however, there were very few differences in QoL between levels of depression as defined by ICD-10. Regardless of the presence of depression, disability, widowed status, being a woman and older age were associated with worse QoL in a structural equation analysis with covariates. Likewise, there were no differences according to the type of depression (single-episode versus recurrent). CONCLUSIONS: These results cast doubt on the adequacy of the current ICD classification of depression in three levels of severity.

Human resource management, innovation and performance:looking across levels

The importance of innovation can hardly be exaggerated, given that landmark change has defined human progress in our technological age. The business pages of popular journals are replete with a dazzling array of inventions that have overturned existing ways of working and fundamentally changed human experience — from agricultural drones that offer farmers new ways to increase crop yield to genome editing that provides powerful insights into genetically baffling brain disorders. Innovation has become a topical theme within organisations, too, with no shortage of advice and suggestions often targeted at business leaders about how to craft an innovation strategy or increase the number and quality of ideas with a view to enriching organisational life. The quote at the start of this chapter bears testament to the sheer effort of moving away from familiar, habitual practices in the direction of less-certain, risky future terrain. Setting aside what has gone before to move in new directions requires determination, resilience and courage at a personal level. Often overlooked, though, are the multi-level dynamics that this entails.

Why (and When) are Preferences Convex? Threshold Effects and Uncertain Quality

It is often assumed (for analytical convenience, but also in accordance with common intuition) that consumer preferences are convex. In this paper, we consider circumstances under which such preferences are (or are not) optimal. In particular, we investigate a setting in which goods possess some hidden quality with known distribution, and the consumer chooses a bundle of goods that maximizes the probability that he receives some threshold level of this quality. We show that if the threshold is small relative to consumption levels, preferences will tend to be convex; whereas the opposite holds if the threshold is large. Our theory helps explain a broad spectrum of economic behavior (including, in particular, certain common commercial advertising strategies), suggesting that sensitivity to information about thresholds is deeply rooted in human psychology.

Preferences of Hungarian consumers for quality, access and price attributes of health care services — result of a discrete choice experiment

In 2010, a household survey was carried out in Hungary among 1037 respondents to study consumer preferences and willingness to pay for health care services. In this paper, we use the data from the discrete choice experiments included in the survey, to elicit the preferences of health care consumers about the choice of health care providers. Regression analysis is used to estimate the effect of the improvement of service attributes (quality, access, and price) on patients’ choice, as well as the differences among the socio-demographic groups. We also estimate the marginal willingness to pay for the improvement in attribute levels by calculating marginal rates of substitution. The results show that respondents from a village or the capital, with low education and bad health status are more driven by the changes in the price attribute when choosing between health care providers. Respondents value the good skills and reputation of the physician and the attitude of the personnel most, followed by modern equipment and maintenance of the office/hospital. Access attributes (travelling and waiting time) are less important. The method of discrete choice experiment is useful to reveal patients’ preferences, and might support the development of an evidence-based and sustainable health policy on patient payments.

Development of a mathematical and computer model to assess water quality impacts of hazardous compounds from minor gasoline spills in the inter-tidal zone of the Miami River, Florida

The objective of this study was to develop a model to predict transport and fate of gasoline components of environmental concern in the Miami River by mathematically simulating the movement of dissolved benzene, toluene, xylene (BTX), and methyl-tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) occurring from minor gasoline spills in the inter-tidal zone of the river. Computer codes were based on mathematical algorithms that acknowledge the role of advective and dispersive physical phenomena along the river and prevailing phase transformations of BTX and MTBE. Phase transformations included volatilization and settling. ^ The model used a finite-difference scheme of steady-state conditions, with a set of numerical equations that was solved by two numerical methods: Gauss-Seidel and Jacobi iterations. A numerical validation process was conducted by comparing the results from both methods with analytical and numerical reference solutions. Since similar trends were achieved after the numerical validation process, it was concluded that the computer codes algorithmically were correct. The Gauss-Seidel iteration yielded at a faster convergence rate than the Jacobi iteration. Hence, the mathematical code was selected to further develop the computer program and software. The model was then analyzed for its sensitivity. It was found that the model was very sensitive to wind speed but not to sediment settling velocity. ^ A computer software was developed with the model code embedded. The software was provided with two major user-friendly visualized forms, one to interface with the database files and the other to execute and present the graphical and tabulated results. For all predicted concentrations of BTX and MTBE, the maximum concentrations were over an order of magnitude lower than current drinking water standards. It should be pointed out, however, that smaller concentrations than the latter reported standards and values, although not harmful to humans, may be very harmful to organisms of the trophic levels of the Miami River ecosystem and associated waters. This computer model can be used for the rapid assessment and management of the effects of minor gasoline spills on inter-tidal riverine water quality. ^

3D TerraFly: Quality of service management for online interactive 3D geographic information system

3D geographic information system (GIS) is data and computation intensive in nature. Internet users are usually equipped with low-end personal computers and network connections of limited bandwidth. Data reduction and performance optimization techniques are of critical importance in quality of service (QoS) management for online 3D GIS. In this research, QoS management issues regarding distributed 3D GIS presentation were studied to develop 3D TerraFly, an interactive 3D GIS that supports high quality online terrain visualization and navigation. ^ To tackle the QoS management challenges, multi-resolution rendering model, adaptive level of detail (LOD) control and mesh simplification algorithms were proposed to effectively reduce the terrain model complexity. The rendering model is adaptively decomposed into sub-regions of up-to-three detail levels according to viewing distance and other dynamic quality measurements. The mesh simplification algorithm was designed as a hybrid algorithm that combines edge straightening and quad-tree compression to reduce the mesh complexity by removing geometrically redundant vertices. The main advantage of this mesh simplification algorithm is that grid mesh can be directly processed in parallel without triangulation overhead. Algorithms facilitating remote accessing and distributed processing of volumetric GIS data, such as data replication, directory service, request scheduling, predictive data retrieving and caching were also proposed. ^ A prototype of the proposed 3D TerraFly implemented in this research demonstrates the effectiveness of our proposed QoS management framework in handling interactive online 3D GIS. The system implementation details and future directions of this research are also addressed in this thesis. ^

The drivers of perception: Identifying the driving factors of resident perceptions of municipal service quality in cities of South Florida

The idea of comparative performance assessment is crucial. Recent study findings show that in South Florida the use by most municipalities of external benchmarks for performance comparison is virtually non-existent. On one level this study sought to identify the factors impacting resident perceptions of municipal service quality. On a different and more practical level, this study sought to identify a core set of measures that could serve for multi jurisdictional comparisons of performance. ^ This study empirically tested three groups of hypotheses. Data were collected via custom designed survey instruments from multiple jurisdictions, representing diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, and across two counties. A second layer of analysis was conducted on municipal budget documents for the presence of performance measures. A third layer of analysis was conducted via face-to-face interviews with residents at the point of service delivery. Research questions were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistic methodologies. ^ Results of survey data yielded inconsistent findings. In absolute aggregated terms, the use of sociological determinants to guide inquiry failed to yield conclusive answers regarding the factors impacting resident perceptions of municipal service quality. At disaggregated community levels, however, definite differences emerged but these had weak predictive ability. More useful were the findings of performance measures reporting via municipal budget documents and analyses of interviews with residents at the point of service delivery. Regardless of socio-economic profile, neighborhood characteristics, level of civic engagement or type of community, the same aspects were important to citizens when making assessments of service quality. For parks and recreation, respondents most frequently cited maintenance, facility amenities, and program offerings as important while for garbage collection services timely and consistent service delivery mattered most. Surprisingly municipalities participating in the study track performance data on items indicated as important by citizen assessments but regular feed back from residents or reporting to the same is rarely done. ^ The implications of these findings suggest that endeavors, such as the one undertaken in this study, can assist in determining a core set of measures for cross jurisdictional comparisons of municipal service quality, improving municipal delivery of services, and to communicate with the public. ^

Trading democracy for security? The effects of the international drug war on the quality of democracy in the Dominican Republic, 1996–2008

The purpose of the research is to study the relationship between international drug interdiction policies and domestic politics in fragile democracies, and to demonstrate how international drug control policies and the use of force fit the rhetoric of war, are legitimized by the principles of a just war, but may also cause collateral damage and negative unintended consequences. The method used is a case study of the Dominican Republic. The research has found that international drug control regimes, primarily led by the U.S. and narrowly focused on interdiction, have influenced an increasingly militarized approach to domestic law enforcement in the Dominican Republic. The collateral damage caused by militarized enforcement comes in the form of negative perceptions of citizen security, loss of respect for the rule of law and due process, and low levels of civil society development. The drug war has exposed the need for significant reform of the institutions charged with carrying out enforcement, the police force and the judicial system in particular. The dissertation concludes that the extent of drug trafficking in the Dominican Republic is beyond the scope of domestic reform efforts alone, but that the programs implemented do show some potential for future success. The dissertation also concludes that the framework of warfare is not the most appropriate for the international problems of drug traffic and abuse. A broader, multipronged approach should be considered by world policy makers in order to address all conditions that allow drugs to flourish without infringing upon democratic and civil rights in the process.

Glycemic control: Risk factors, quality of life, workforce participation, and mortality among US adults with type 2 diabetes

Despite research showing the benefits of glycemic control, it remains suboptimal among adults with diabetes in the United States. Possible reasons include unaddressed risk factors as well as lack of awareness of its immediate and long term consequences. The objectives of this study were to, using cross-sectional data, (1) ascertain the association between suboptimal (Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) .7%), borderline (HbA1c 7-8.9%), and poor (HbA1c .9%) glycemic control and potentially new risk factors (e.g. work characteristics), and (2) assess whether aspects of poor health and well-being such as poor health related quality of life (HRQOL), unemployment, and missed-work are associated with glycemic control; and (3) using prospective data, assess the relationship between mortality risk and glycemic control in US adults with type 2 diabetes. Data from the 1988-1994 and 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys were used. HbA1c values were used to create dichotomous glycemic control indicators. Binary logistic regression models were used to assess relationships between risk factors, employment status and glycemic control. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess relationships between glycemic control and HRQOL variables. Zero-inflated Poisson regression models were used to assess relationships between missed work days and glycemic control. Cox-proportional hazard models were used to assess effects of glycemic control on mortality risk. Using STATA software, analyses were weighted to account for complex survey design and non-response. Multivariable models adjusted for socio-demographics, body mass index, among other variables. Results revealed that being a farm worker and working over 40 hours/week were risk factors for suboptimal glycemic control. Having greater days of poor mental was associated with suboptimal, borderline, and poor glycemic control. Having greater days of inactivity was associated with poor glycemic control while having greater days of poor physical health was associated with borderline glycemic control. There were no statistically significant relationships between glycemic control, self-reported general health, employment, and missed work. Finally, having an HbA1c value less than 6.5% was protective against mortality. The findings suggest that work-related factors are important in a person’s ability to reach optimal diabetes management levels. Poor glycemic control appears to have significant detrimental effects on HRQOL.^