The essay presents the authors' experience implementing a competency-based education (CBE) pilot program for the Health Sector Regulatory Compliance (HSRC) graduate certificate program at Humber Polytechnic. It also explores the authors' experience of the design, execution, and outcomes of an innovative 18-credit integrated course, “Health Sector Regulatory Skills in Practice” (HSRC 5020), which consolidated learning outcomes from four second-semester courses.
The CBE approach prioritizes skill mastery over traditional credit-hour models, addressing the growing skills gap between academia and industry. The HSRC program’s pilot focused on students demonstrating four core competencies: Audit and Inspection Management, Risk and Compliance Management, Regulatory Research and Analysis, and Trending and Data Analysis. Faculty evaluated each competency on a scale from ‘Foundational’ to ‘Developing’ to ‘Proficient,’ providing students with regular feedback and coaching sessions. The course followed a 7-1-7 format, combining structured learning periods with a mid-term break. Implementation involved course design considerations, resource allocation, and student engagement through weekly coaching sessions and project-based learning activities. Assessment methods were diverse and authentic, including written reports, oral presentations, and digital portfolios, allowing students to demonstrate their skills through differentiated formats. The student feedback highlighted the benefits of self-paced learning, practical application of skills, and course flexibility. Students valued the autonomy to control their educational journey, emphasizing real-world scenarios. However, the challenges noted include students’ inexperience with digital portfolios and the need for enhanced communication with instructors.
[Abstract continued in the article PDF.]
Seyed Mohammad Hadi Shahamat, Mahdi Mohammad Bagheri, Ali Raispour Rajabali
et al.
Abstract
The purpose of this research is to present a model of portfolio management in investment funds based on behavioral financial variables. The method of this research was applicable in terms of purpose, and of descriptive-survey type. The statistical population of the research includes 10 experts who have a PhD. degree in financial management or accounting and university professors. The method of data collection was a researcher-made questionnaire and analyzed using structural and interpretive modeling. The results showed that in the first level, the most effective components included: control of the fear of surviving profit, normalization of conservative behaviors, and control of regret-avoidance behaviors. In the second level, the components influencing the first level, i.e. paying attention to self-control behaviors, having a written investment strategy, paying attention to the principles of mental accounting; and in the third level, the components influencing the second level, which include behavioral optimism and pessimism, Paying attention to risk-averse and risk-taking behaviors and, controlling mass behaviors; and the most effective component at the fourth level includes the effect of inclination. In the Mik Mak model, most of the variables were also included in the linked variables, which have a strong influence and also a strong dependence force.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
The behavior of investors as those who seek to optimize profit, omniscient, and infinitely rational, is difficult to understand in the real world. Even assuming that investors are aware of everything, the fact that they may have to interact in information search processes and that they may have rational limitations has been ignored (Barasud & Zamardian, 2019). The uncertainty in analyzing investment risk against expected market returns means that portfolio management has been a thoughtful challenge for portfolio managers. Fund managers should change their portfolios at regular intervals and should add a tendency style. Portfolio management is the allocation of assets, diversification and rebalancing of assets up to higher than the limit set. Asset allocation is the division of assets in the portfolio between risky and risk-free asset classes. Typically, investing requires the careful design of an investment policy statement that appeals to the unique needs of investors. Diversification is sharing risk and reward across asset classes because it is difficult to determine which particular subset of assets is likely to perform better than another. Therefore, diversification is a process of expanding the number of assets in a portfolio in order to minimize investment risk (Doeh Agblobi et al, 2020). Thus, in this research, the researcher intends to answer the basic question: what is the model of portfolio management in investment funds based on behavioral financial variables?
Theoretical Framework
Portfolio management
Portfolio management is the art and science of deciding on investment texture and strategy, matching investments with objectives, allocating assets to individuals and institutions, and balancing risk against performance (Bkhit, 2019).
Behavioral finance
Behavioral finance studies how psychological phenomena affect financial behavior. Financial behavior studies how people behave in determining financial matters. Behavioral finance is a new theoretical branch in finance that is defined by combining the knowledge of psychology, sociology and other social sciences (Meisa Dai et al, 2021).
Investment funds
On the other hand, in most of the developed countries, investment funds are considered as the central core of the capital market and they direct huge amounts of wandering capital to the productive and active sectors of the society every month. By adopting appropriate policies, these funds can play an essential role in reducing inflation, increasing production, and improving the efficiency of managers. Fortunately, the investment funds industry in Iran was established in 2007 with a delay of several decades, but with a lot of acceptance from the investors. Considering the irreplaceable role of these funds in allocating optimal financial resources in the capital market, evaluating the type of transactions in these companies and the effect of their type of ownership on the type of transactions of these financial intermediaries can provide valuable information to investors (Shams & Esfandiari Moghadam, 2016).
Bennett et al, (2023) mentioned that it was implemented as a behavioral finance approach for pricing decentralized financial assets. They found that decentralized finance provides a better explanation of asset pricing in rapidly evolving markets than traditional financial theory. Investor attention, sentiment, discoveries and biases, and network effects interact to form a highly volatile and dynamic market.
Keshavarz et al, (2021) in a research on investment strategies based on technical indicators: evidence of behavioral reactions of investors in the Tehran Stock Exchange. The results showed that according to the coefficient of variation and the correlation test, the results indicate that the indicators of moving average, exponential moving average, and relative power, compared to other indicators, are more indicative of the behavioral reactions of investors.
Research methodology
The method of this research was applicable in terms of purpose, and of descriptive-survey type. The statistical population of the research includes 10 experts who have a PhD. degree in financial management or accounting and university professors. The method of data collection was a researcher-made questionnaire.
Research findings
Data analysis using structural and interpretive modeling. The results showed that in the first level, the most effective components included: control of the fear of surviving profit, normalization of conservative behaviors, and control of regret-avoidance behaviors. In the second level, the components influencing the first level, i.e. paying attention to self-control behaviors, having a written investment strategy, paying attention to the principles of mental accounting; and in the third level, the components influencing the second level, which include behavioral optimism and pessimism, Paying attention to risk-averse and risk-taking behaviors and, controlling mass behaviors; and the most effective component at the fourth level includes the effect of inclination. In the Mik Mak model, most of the variables were also included in the linked variables, which have a strong influence and also a strong dependence force.
Conclusion
The present research was conducted by presenting the model of portfolio management in investment funds based on behavioral financial variables. The results obtained in this research is aligned and in the same direction with the results of Bennett et al, (2023), Fuladi et al, (2021), Keshavarz et al, (2021), Sajid (2021), Leković (2020), Lotfolah Hamdani (2020) and Asadi Qarajalo & Abdo Tabrizi (2019). Bennett et al, (2023) mentioned that it was implemented as a behavioral finance approach for pricing decentralized financial assets. They found that decentralized finance provides a better explanation of asset pricing in rapidly evolving markets than traditional financial theory. Investor attention, sentiment, discoveries and biases, and network effects interact to form a highly volatile and dynamic market.
Therefore, it is suggested to investigate the effects between these variables using structural equation models in future researches. Also, other methods of uncertainty modeling, including fuzzy DEA, should be used to model these indicators.
Abstract Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the finance industry, resulting in exponential growth opportunities as well as significant risks and challenges. This paper is a document analysis of AI regulatory frameworks and guidelines in the fintech sectors of the European Union (EU) and Qatar. It aims to identify relevant lessons and propose actionable, contextualised recommendations. It compares regulations central to governance, oversight, enforcement and the institutional architecture of AI regulation related specifically to fintech, cybersecurity and privacy. The paper illustrates that the EU leans towards risk management with clear, structured and comprehensive regulations with strict enforcement. On the other hand, Qatar is a small state with a highly ambitious vision of reform that wants to foster an environment conducive to innovative start-ups. This leads to regulatory flexibility and non-binding guidelines without enforcement mechanisms. The paper recommends that Qatar can strengthen its AI governance in the following ways: first, adopting a tiered, risk-based regulatory approach, similar to the EU, however, ensuring only those deemed high-risk are legally binding; second, establish a centralised AI governance unit; third, leverage its small size and research ecosystem to develop local innovation through regulatory sandboxes and public–private partnerships; and fourth, tap into the lucrative market of Shariah-compliant financial services.
Computational linguistics. Natural language processing, Electronic computers. Computer science
Effective implementation of the "Safe System" approach requires 'systems' thinking in an integrated and holistic strategy involving all road safety disciplines. This paper examines safety systems management to gain a clearer perspective on managing road safety as a whole, rather than individual parts in isolation. The identification of a comprehensive system of good practice in data collection and risk analysis, root cause analysis incorporating contributory factors, together with critical performance monitoring leads to a more proactive approach to reform capable of achieving road safety targets. The paper identifies 'System Safety', explores the historical development of systems thinking and investigates transport and industry safety management to gain insight into how best to use the experiences in general road safety management. Road safety advancement is calling for a more systemic and dynamic analysis of road trauma risk factors. The original Haddon's Matrix, used in crash investigations since the 1970's is now questioned for sufficiency to support Safe Systems analysis. Psychologists such as James Reason and others have developed injury factor analysis tools that have been applied in occupational and aviation safety. These approaches support the analysis of latent root causes -- methods that have generally not been applied in road safety. Apart from work-related road safety, this approach of systemic analysis has largely been absent. A critical assessment calls for a deeper analysis of road trauma data and more comprehensive use of key performance indicators in a similar application to that used in the medical and allied health services.
Jake S. Thompson, Martin J. Green, Robert Hyde
et al.
Udder health remains a priority for the global dairy industry to reduce pain, economic losses, and antibiotic usage. The dry period is a critical time for the prevention of new intra-mammary infections and it provides a point for curing existing intra-mammary infections. Given the wealth of udder health data commonly generated through routine milk recording and the importance of udder health to the productivity and longevity of individual cows, an opportunity exists to extract greater value from cow-level data to undertake risk-based decision-making. The aim of this research was to construct a machine learning model, using routinely collected farm data, to make probabilistic predictions at drying off for an individual cow’s risk of a raised somatic cell count (hence intra-mammary infection) post-calving. Anonymized data were obtained as a large convenience sample from 108 UK dairy herds that undertook regular milk recording. The outcome measure evaluated was the presence of a raised somatic cell count in the 30 days post-calving in this observational study. Using a 56-farm training dataset, machine learning analysis was performed using the extreme gradient boosting decision tree algorithm, XGBoost. External validation was undertaken on a separate 28-farm test dataset. Statistical assessment to evaluate model performance using the external dataset returned calibration plots, a Scaled Brier Score of 0.095, and a Mean Absolute Calibration Error of 0.009. Test dataset model calibration performance indicated that the probability of a raised somatic cell count post-calving was well differentiated across probabilities to allow an end user to apply group-level risk decisions. Herd-level new intra-mammary infection rate during the dry period was a key driver of the probability that a cow had a raised SCC post-calving, highlighting the importance of optimizing environmental hygiene conditions. In conclusion, this research has determined that probabilistic classification of the risk of a raised SCC in the 30 days post-calving is achievable with a high degree of certainty, using routinely collected data. These predicted probabilities provide the opportunity for farmers to undertake risk decision-making by grouping cows based on their probabilities and optimizing management strategies for individual cows immediately after calving, according to their likelihood of intra-mammary infection.
Mabel N. Wantim, Asong F. Zisuh, Ngankam S. Tendong
et al.
Limbe city in Cameroon is prone to annual flood disasters. The Limbe City Council (LCC) has been making efforts to address the problem of floods and municipal solid waste management (MSWM). This article presents an: (1) assessment of the different strategies by the council towards MSWM and floods; (2) evaluation of public perception on waste disposal practices and (3) examination of the nexus between waste disposal and flooding. The methods employed included qualitative data collection through semi-structured interviews with the aid of questionnaires (open- and closed-ended questions) field observations and interview; and the use of the Benefit Value Tree method (BVT) to analyse sustainability strategies by LCC. The BVT method provided, the following scores for the four strategies used: sustainable basin management against floods and/or landslides = 7; mechanical dredging of river beds = 4; Keep Limbe Clean = 3; manual dredging and cleaning of rivers, gutters, culverts and bridges = 1. An evaluation of the municipal solid waste collection system revealed that (1) over 85% of plastic bins do not meet standard physical conditions; (2) bins at all collection points are insufficient for waste at such points and (3) residents engage in wanton disposal practices because of insufficient service coverage of residential areas. Field observations and interview with authorities established a clear connection between floods and poor waste management. In addition to existing efforts by LCC, it needs to upgrade and expand waste collection services through provision of numerous suitable bins and community awareness raising on the nexus between floods and waste disposal.
Contribution: This is a transdisciplinary research which presents the constraints and challenges in waste generation and collection, its relationship with recurrent floods in Limbe city, and presents a way forward to improve on the situation using the BVT method.
Urban infrastructures are invariably constituted by social and technical components whose capacity to withstand crisis is determined by the resilience of their sociotechnical structures. This study aims to apply the principles of sociotechnical resilience in modeling and simulating disaster response in urban areas. Drawing on a case study of Jakarta, Indonesia, our study focuses on the role of hospitals as part of healthcare infrastructure in response to a large-scale disaster. Each hospital is modeled as a coordinated location with a certain amount of resources, primarily in terms of medical staff. We perform sensitivity analysis through Monte Carlo simulations to observe the impacts of various response strategies, disaster severity, and communication duration on system resilience. The results show that centralized systems are generally more suitable for dealing with low disaster severity, while the decentralized strategy performs better during a disaster with worse impacts. Additionally, the time taken for communication and coordination can significantly affect the performance of centralized systems. By simulating various scenarios, parameters, and recovery protocols, the model we developed can help policymakers, city planners, and other stakeholders design proper response strategies suitable to their structural conditions and available resources during a large-scale disaster in urban cities.
Saeedeh Shirdel, Hamed Dehghanan, MohammadTaghi Taghavifard
et al.
Aim and Introduction: The banking system is one of the most important pillars of the financial sector of any country, which affects the performance of the whole economy by equipping resources, providing liquidity, providing payment instruments, providing facilities, creating interaction between investment and savings and creating balance in the foreign sector. Iran's financial system, like most developing countries, is based on a banking system. In other words, the banking system plays a unique role in having the largest share in financing society. Another feature of the Iranian banking system is the strong role of the government in the fact it has been caused by various factors such as nationalization and merger of banks after the revolution and the late emergence of private banks in the country's economy. The study of sustainable human resource management in the banking industry is one of the topics that has become increasingly important in the last decade. The key to an organization's success in an age of competition and interconnected environments is its ability to maintain and develop human resources. The aim of this study was to identify the components of sustainable human resource management in Sarmayeh Bank.Methodolog: This research has been done with a mixed approach. The present study population consists of 12 senior managers of Sarmayeh Bank who have lived experience in human resource management. In the qualitative part of this study, in-depth semi-structured interviews were used to collect information. The identification of the unit of meaning (themes) began with the open coding of definitions (126 codes). After that, the themes were formatted as high level patterns as possible and provided the basis for the pattern explanation. Relationships between themes were identified through axial coding technique (50 codes). For coding (concept checking), we selected an open coding category and placed it as the main category or phenomenon at the center of the review process, and then linked the other categories to it. This made it possible to design an overall pattern. With selective coding, the main category emerged, which introduces the concept of sustainable human resource management. Initially, the components of sustainable human resource management were identified through literature and semi-structured interviews with experts. Finally, ten components were identified and in a quantitative part, a structural-interpretive model was developed to provide a sustainable human resource management model in Sarmayeh Bank using ISM. Is. In the interpretive structural modeling section, the views of 15 banking experts, researchers and human resource specialists were used to determine the relationships between the identified factors. Sampling was done by snowball method. It was then determined to identify the position of the identified components using a microcomputer based on penetration and dependence.Findings: The results show that the structural interpretive model of Sarmayeh Bank can be presented in six levels, the most important of which is related to the policies and stratgies of the bank. Other identified components include empowerment development, agile environment, increased social responsibility, improved quality of life, elitism, digital alignment, continuous learning, improved performance, and improved working conditions. After the analysis, the system announces its report on the evaluation and classification of the variables. Out of a total of 83 evaluation relations in this matrix, 17 are 0 relations, which means that the factors did not affect each other, or were not influenced by each other. 13 relationships of number 1 showed low impact, 46 relationships of number 2 showed moderate impact and 24 relationships of number 3 showed strong impact. On the other hand, the matrix based on the statistical index with 2 data rotations has 100% utility and optimization, which indicates the high validity of the selected components. Mik mak's analysis showed that Sarmayeh Bank's human resource management system is an unstable systemDiscussion and Conclusion: The bank's policies and strategies indicate the highest level, the first level (I). In Mick Mac analysis, this variable is in the category of target variables. These variables represent possible goals in the system rather than predetermined results. Increased social responsibility is the second level of structural-interpretive analysis, and in Mick Mac analysis was included in the group of influential variables, among which, often environmental or contextual variables can be found that strongly affect the system. These variables are not controllable by the system At the third level, three components of structural-interpretive analysis were identified, which include creating an agile environment, improving the quality of life and nurturing the elite. In Mick Mac analysis, creating an agile environment and improving the quality of life are in the group of risk variables and elitism are in the group of influential variables. In the fourth level of structural-interpretive analysis, the component of capability development was identified, which in Mick Mac analysis was included in the group of independent variables. In the fifth level of structural-interpretive analysis, three components were identified, which include continuous learning, performance improvement and working conditions, which in Mick Mac analysis, learning in the group of influential variables; Improvement of working conditions were in the group of target variables and performance improvement were in the group of regulatory variables. At the sixth level of structural-interpretive analysis, there is alignment with digital developments, which in Mikmak analysis was included in the group of risk variables, which shows that this component is one of the key variables for sustainable human resource management of Sarmayeh Bank. Consider and, if necessary, change its structure based on these developments.
Sunil K. Mohanty, Roar Aadland, Sjur Westgaard
et al.
We estimate the impact of macroeconomic risk factors on shipping stock returns, using a quantile regression (QR) model. We regress the excess return of a portfolio for the container, dry bulk, chemical/gas, oil tanker, and diversified shipping sectors on the world market portfolio excess return, volatility index, and changes in the oil price, exchange rate, and interest rate. The sensitivities of stock returns to the risk factors differ across quantiles and shipping segments and are found to be significant for the volatility index, world market portfolio return, exchange rate, and changes in long-term interest rate with variation over quantiles. This provides evidence of asymmetric and heterogeneous dependence between stock returns and certain macroeconomic risk variables. The results of the study also suggest that standard OLS regression is inadequate to uncover the risk-return relation.
Expanding access to financial services is essential for all levels of society, considering that many community members still do not know, use, and get banking services and other financial services. Through Branchless Banking, banking products can be reached according to the community's needs to support financial inclusion. In implementing innovative banking practices, the banking industry collaborates with other parties, namely agents supported by information technology facilities. This innovation is carried out electronically and involves third parties outside the bank. In this case, the agent is very vulnerable to risk. The problem is the principle of prudence in the cooperation agreement and the bank's responsibility if the agent in implementing Branchless Banking services harms its customers. The approach method used is the normative juridical approach, which includes research on a positive legal inventory and legal principles and rules governing legal relations. The principle in the prudence of banks regarding cooperation agreements with agents provide Branchless Banking services to support the realization of financial inclusion. Banks are required to implement risk management effectively using information technology, Know Your Customer Principles and Anti Money Laundering, Customer Due Diligence, and in-depth analysis of the assessment of credit applications by debtor customers. The bank is responsible for compensating for the losses if the agent implementing the intelligent behaviour of services harms his customers, considering the agent is acting for and on behalf of the bank. Even though the bank has not made a mistake, the agent is an extension of the bank, 1367 of the Civil Code that a person will also be responsible for people's actions under his/her dependents or objects under his/her supervision.
Law in general. Comparative and uniform law. Jurisprudence
The novel infectious disease (COVID-19) took only a few weeks from its official inception in December 2019 to become a global pandemic in early 2020. Countries across the world went to lockdown, and various strict measures were implemented to reduce the further spread of the infection. Although, the strict lockdown measures were aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19, however, Its positive implications were also observed for the environmental conditions across the global regions. The present study attempted to explore the eco-restoration of coastal marine system in response to reduced deposition of atmospheric nitrogen (NO2) emission during the substantial shift in human activities across the global metropolitan cities. Remotely data of NO2 emission were taken from Ozone Monitoring Instrument and the coastal water quality along the marine system was estimated from MODIS-Aqua Level-3 using Semi-Analytic Sediment Model (SASM). The changes in tropospheric NO2 in 2020s were also compared with the long-term average changes over the baseline period 2015 − 2019. A significant reduction in anthropogenic mobility (85 − 90%) has been observed in almost all countries over different places, especially grocery, parks, workplaces, and transit stations. A massive reduction in tropospheric NO2 was detected in Wuhan (53%), Berlin (42%), London (41%), Karachi (40%), Paris (38%), Santiago (35%), and Chennai (34%) during the strict lockdown period of the early 2020 as compared to the last five years. However, after the partial lockdown was lifted, tropospheric NO2 values bounced back and slightly increased over Karachi (6%) and Bremen (12%). For water turbidity, the rate of reduction was found to be the highest along the different coastal regions of the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea (51%), West Atlantic Ocean (32%), East Atlantic Ocean (29%), and Indian Ocean (21%) from Apr to Jun 2020. The monthly comparison of overland-runoff in 2020 compared to 2019 across the different costal watersheds indicates that the observed decline in turbidity might have been due to the reduced deposition of atmospheric nitrogen. The findings of this study suggest that the recent decline in tropospheric NO2 and water turbidity might be associated with reduced emissions from fossil fuels and road transports followed by COVID-19 forced restrictions in the twenty-first century. The inferences made here highlight the hope of improving the global environmental quality by reducing greenhouse gas emissions using innovative periodic confinement measures on heavy transport and industries while securing public health and socioeconomics.
Oil and gas industry is an industry sector that has a high risk of fire. Fire is a potential hazard which can caused material loss, break of the production process and the danger to the human life safety. The aim of this research is to evaluate the installation and maintenance of portable fire extinguisher in PT. Pertamina Lubricants Production Unit Gresik. This research was observational and descriptive research using cross sectional design. The data used are primary data obtained from observations and interviews, and secondary data from documents and other supporting reports. The result showed that management has provided portable fire extinguisher almost every corner of the office building and production areas. The results of the identification of a potential fire hazard in PT. Pertamina Lubricants Production Unit Gresik that there is a potential fire hazard group A (solid materials, except metal), group B (material flammable liquid or gas) and group C (voltage electrical installations). Variables which have been in accordance with Decree of Minister of Labor No.04/MEN/1980 is the type and condition, within the installation, and the suitability of portable fire extinguisher signs, while variable that does not fit is the mounting height, sign mounting height and maintenance of portable fire extinguisher. The conclusion is PT. Pertamina Lubricants Production Gresik Unit has carried out the installation and maintenance of portable fire extinguishers but some are not in accordance with the regulations.
Keywords: fire, installation, maintenance, portable fire extinguisher
Meta-heuristic algorithms become common approaches in finding sufficiently good solutions for optimization problems. This study proposed and compared three novel hybrid methods, namely Biogeography-based Optimization (BBO), Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA) and Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO) in combination with the popular Neural Network classifier for forest fire modeling. Dak Nong province was selected as a case study as it had undergone a critical drought season. One thousand three hundred and thirty-eight historic fired locations during the first several months of 2017 were chosen as dependent variables. On the other hand, topological, climatic and socio-economic data were used as independent predictor variables. For accuracy assessment, root mean square error derivable from the neural network was used as an objective function to be optimized by three proposed algorithms. The results showed that the area under Receiver Operating Characteristic curves (AUC) were in BBO (0.9515), GWO (0.9509), (0.9398) outperformed the Regular neural with backpropagation algorithm (AUC = 0.9271). Even though the differences between prediction results were small, but they were significant by using a paired t-test. It could be concluded that three hybrid models are suitable to map forest fire susceptibility in the selected study area and could be considered as alternative methods for studying forest fire in other locations.
The interactions of the Mainland China offering benefits, the Taiwan benefits return, and the benefits of China-Taiwan bilateral trust between the China and Taiwan are modeled as a trust game. The trust strategy is best response for China and Taiwan if the benefit of China-Taiwan bilateral trust is increased based on Nash equilibrium analysis. This study simulated a mixed strategy Nash equilibrium. Experimental results show that the China’s expected payoffs of N.E. fix and Taiwan’s expected payoffs of N.E. are increased if the payoffs of China-Taiwan bi-lateral trust are increased. The Chinese mainland released new measures on exchanges and cooperation with Taiwan. Taiwan accepts these measures results in favor of Taiwan’s expected payoffs and decreases the level of risk.
Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General), Risk in industry. Risk management
Accurate information on accidents and on the relevant factors that affect them is critical for establishing the relationship between accident frequency and explanatory factors. In this study, we present a simplified method to extract road geometric features accurately from very high-resolution laser scanning data to analyze accident frequency on the North-South Expressway in Malaysia. Using expressway geometric features (i.e. horizontal and vertical alignments) extracted from laser scanning data and accident histories, this research first developed an APM based on geometric regression and a geographic information system (GIS). Then, an elasticity analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between accident occurrence and road geometric design features. Results of the case study showed that the length of the road segments (mean = 0.014, elasticity = 0.122), the number of vertical curves in a road section (mean = 4.797, elasticity = 0.999), and the presence of a horizontal curve in a road segment (mean = 2.746, elasticity = 0.877), the average distance to the nearest access point (mean = -0.001, elasticity = −0.035), and AADT (mean = 3.01, elasticity = 0.881) determined accident occurrence, all at a significance level of 5%. This study shows that laser scanning systems can provide an easy and efficient method to collect transportation data, particularly those for accident analysis.
According to available estimates, about 3% of lethal outcomes from cardiac-pulmonary pathology and 5% from lung cancer are related to the impact of patriculate matters (PM). In the course of the study there were assessed social losses of population’s health (additional death cases) caused by risk conditions of atmospheric air pollution with PM of various air-dynamic diameter (PM10), proper to emissions of various industrial enterprises. It was established that 90% of population of cities under study live under high exposures (≥50 µg/m3) health and risks for population (IRM=10-3÷10-4), caused by PM10 emissions. Results showed that metallurgical industry is responsible for 7,2 to 2193 additional mortality cases. The impact of machine building enterprises – from 0.06 to 21 cases; coke and chemical – from 1.5 to 36 cases; mining – from 1.1 to 14,6 cases. The findings revealed 0.6 % increase in lifetime mortality for each 10 µg/m3 in 24-hour average PM10 concentration. Based on research outcomes, a set of instruments was developed for implementation of air pollution risk management programs aimed at mitigation of health risks from (PM10) in highly exposed groups.
AbstractThis article discusses competing strategic goals and success factors in nonlife insurers' claims management using new and ad hoc empirical data. We structure the study of the companies' aims along the three main conflicting goals: (1) the minimization of claims volume, (2) the optimization of internal claims processes, and (3) the maximization of customer satisfaction. We analyze the insurance industry perspective through a qualitative survey carried out in Germany and Switzerland. Findings on the current and expected importance of selected topics are derived. The results shall lead to managerial implications improving industry practice and serve as a starting point for further research. Our findings are relevant for academics and practitioners beyond the two markets surveyed in the study.