• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.7
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• pp.1-13
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• 2020

This study analyzes the key drivers (commitment, integration of big data, green supply chain management, and green human resource practices) of sustainable capabilities and the influence to which these sustainable capabilities impact the banks' environmental and financial performance. Additionally, this study analyzes the impact of green management practices on the integration of big data technology with operations. The theory of dynamic capability was deployed to propose and empirically test the conceptual model. Data was collected through a self-administrated survey questionnaire from 319 participants employed at 35 banks located in six ASEAN countries. The findings indicate that big data analytics strategies have an impact on internal processes and banks' sustainable and financial performance. This study indicates that banks committed towards proper data monitoring of its clients achieve operational efficiency and sustainability goals. Moreover, our results confirm that banks practising green innovation strategies experience better environmental and economic performance as the employees of these banks have received advance green human resource training. Finally, our study found that internal and external green supply chain management practices have a positive impact on banks' environmental and financial performance, which confirms that ASEAN banks contributing in reduction of environmental impact through its operations will ultimately experience increased financial performance.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.503-527
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• 2009

This paper presents experimental results on the behaviour and ultimate load of fifteen pipes and six roof panels made of ferrocement. Additional results from three roof panels, carried out by others, are also compared with this research results. OPC cement, natural sand and galvanised iron wire mesh were used for the construction of 20 mm thick specimens. The pipe length was 2 m and roof panel length was 2.1 m. The main variables studied were the number of wire mesh layers which were 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 layers, the inner pipe diameter which were 105, 210 and 315 mm, cross sectional shape of the panel which were channel and box sections and the depth of the edge beam which were 95 mm and 50 mm. All specimens were simply supported and tested for pure bending with test span of 600 mm at mid-span. Tests revealed that increasing the number of wire mesh layers increases the flexural strength and stiffness. Increasing the pipe diameter or depth of edge beam of the panel increases the cracking and ultimate moments. The change in the pipe diameter led to larger effect on ultimate moment than the effect of change in the number of wire mesh layers. The box section showed behaviour and strength similar to that of the channel with same depth and number of wire mesh layers.

• Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering
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• v.35 no.11
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• pp.2283-2289
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• 2018

$TiO_2$ microspheres were successfully synthesised by simple solution phase method by using various amount of titanium butoxide as precursor. The prepared $TiO_2$ were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis diffuse reflectance absorption spectra (UV-DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XRD analysis revealed that the as-synthesized $TiO_2$ microsphere poses an anatase phase. The photocatalytic degradation experiments were carried out with three different dyes, such as methylene blue, brilliant black, reactive red-120 for four hours under UV light irradiation. The results show that $TiO_2$ morphology had great influence on photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes. The experimental results of dye mineralization indicated the concentration was reduced by a high portion of up to 99% within 4 hours. On the basis of various characterization of the photocatalysts, the reactions involved to explain the photocatalytic activity enhancement due to the concentration of titanium butoxide and morphology include a better separation of photogenerated charge carriers and improved oxygen reduction inducing a higher extent of degradation of aromatics.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.141-150
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• 2024

Background: Stingless bee propolis is a popular traditional folk medicine and has been employed since ancient times. This study aimed to evaluate the antinociceptive activities of the chemical constituents of aqueous propolis extract (APE) collected by Trigona thoracica in a nociceptive model in mice. Methods: The identification of chemical constituents of APE was performed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Ninety-six male Swiss mice were administered APE (400 mg/kg, 1,000 mg/kg, and 2,000 mg/kg) before developing nociceptive pain models. Then, the antinociceptive properties of each APE dose were evaluated in acetic acid-induced abdominal constriction, hot plate test, and formalin-induced paw licking test. Administration of normal saline, acetylsalicylic acid (ASA, 100 mg/kg, orally), and morphine (5 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) were used for the experiments. Results: HPLC revealed that the APE from Trigona thoracica contained p-coumaric acid (R² = 0.999) and caffeic acid (R² = 0.998). Although all APE dosages showed inhibition of acetic acid-induced abdominal constriction, only 2,000 mg/kg was comparable to the result of ASA (68.7% vs. 73.3%, respectively). In the hot plate test, only 2,000 mg/kg of APE increased the latency time significantly compared to the control. In the formalin test, the durations of paw licking were significantly reduced at early and late phases in all APE groups with a decrease from 45.1% to 53.3%. Conclusions: APE from Trigona thoracica, containing p-coumaric acid and caffeic acid, exhibited antinociceptive effects, which supports its potential use in targeting the prevention or reversal of central and peripheral sensitization that may produce clinical pain conditions.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.12
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• pp.1027-1033
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• 2020

This study intends to improve job performance during the Covid-19 pandemic at startup companies in Indonesia. In this study, the variables tested were job satisfaction, job innovation, Indonesian culture control, and job performance. Increasing job performance is deemed necessary in facing the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Job innovation, job satisfaction, and culture control are deemed necessary in improving job performance. The population of this study are managers of start-up companies in Jakarta, Banten, and West Java. This research data obtained by distributing questionnaires to startup managers. This is a quantitative study with primary data. The sample technique used was purposive sampling. Structural Equation Model using Partial Least Square statistical software was used to analyze data. The results of this study indicate a change in the pattern of work performed by startup companies in running their business. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, employees worked in offices for seven hours, but after this pandemic, they change work patterns, moving them to work from home. Working from home requires companies to exercise better control and leadership patterns so that employees can work comfortably.

• Carbon letters
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• v.19
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• pp.12-22
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• 2016

Date palm leaflets were used as a precursor to prepare dehydrated carbon (DC) via phosphoric acid treatment at 150℃. DC, acidified with H₃PO₄, was converted to activated carbon (AC) at 500℃ under a nitrogen atmosphere. DC shows very low surface area (6.1 m²/g) while AC possesses very high surface area (829 m²/g). The removal of lisinopril (LIS) and chlorpheniramine (CP) from an aqueous solution was tested at different pH, contact time, concentration, and temperature on both carbons. The optimal initial pH for LIS removal was 4.0 and 5.0 for DC and AC, respectively. However, for CP, initial pH 9.0 showed maximum adsorption on both carbons. Adsorption kinetics showed faster removal on AC than DC with adsorption data closely following the pseudo second order kinetic model. Adsorption increases with temperature (25℃–45℃) and activation energy (E_a) is in a range of 19–25 kJ mol/L. Equilibrium studies show higher adsorption on AC than DC. Thermodynamic parameters show that drug removal is endothermic and spontaneous with physical adsorption dominating the adsorption process. Column adsorption data show good fitting to the Thomas model. Despite its very low surface area, DC shows ~70% of AC drug adsorption capacity in addition of being inexpensive and easily prepared.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.363-369
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• 2015

This study aims to characterize solid household waste and to present physicochemical characteristics of fresh leachate before landfilling in Kasba Tadla city, Morocco. Obtained results show that household waste produced in 2013 were about 11,787 tons, or 0.27 tons/capita/year. These wastes were composed essentially of organic materials (74%), paper (8%), plastics (9%), metals (1%), and glass (0.5%). However, monthly produced leachate ranges from a maximum of $130.92m^3$ during summer and a minimum of $21.88m^3$ in winter. Moreover, leachate treatment using Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket technique was accompanied by a decrease in electrical conductivity, certainly related to leachate-sediment chemical exchanges. Otherwise, the same acidity reduction phenomenon occurs when pH value increased from 4.49 to 6.17 after 24 hours, confirming the system response since the early stages of treatment. In addition, temporal evolution of the treatment efficiency in terms of COD highlighted a very important reduction which reached 94% after 5 days with an average temperature of $25^{\circ}C$.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.539-558
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• 2016

Minarets are almost the inevitable part of Mosques in Islam and according to some, from a philosophical point of view, today they symbolize the spiritual elevation of man towards God. Due to slenderness, minarets are susceptible to earthquakes and wind loads. They are mostly built in a masonry style by using cut limestone blocks or occasionally by using bricks. In this study, one minaret (M1 Minaret) of one of the charmest mosques of Turkey, Sultan Ahmed Mosque, popularly known as Blue Mosque, built between 1609 and 1616 on the order of Sultan Ahmed by the architect Mehmet Agha is investigated under some registered earthquake loads. According to historical records, a great earthquake hit Istanbul and/or its close proximity approximately every 250 years. Ottomans tackled with the problem of building earthquake resistant, slender minarets by starting to use forged iron connectors with lead as a filler to fix them to the upper and lower and to adjacent stones instead of using traditional mortar only. Thus, the discrete stones are able to transfer tensile forces in some sense. This study investigates the contribution of lead to the energy absorption capacity of the minaret under extensive earthquakes occurred in the region. By using the software ANSYS/LS-DYNA in modelling and investigating the minaret nonlinearly, it is found out that under very big recorded earthquakes, the connectors of vertical cast iron-lead mechanism play very important role and help to keep the structure safe.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.10
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• pp.571-579
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• 2020

This paper examines how human capital and other economic variables, such as private investment, economic growth, government investment, inflation, and unemployment influence inequality in Indonesia's provinces. We apply panel data model with fixed effect estimation for the data of 34 provinces from the period 2013 to 2019. We develop a new index for human capital using the education index approach. The results show that human capital has a negative and significant effect on income inequality. An increase in human capital is related to an increase in knowledge and competence due to the longer average school year and expectations of the school year. Human capital has increased the possibility of a person being accepted into the job market and earning a higher income; hence, it lowers income inequality. We also find that inflation leads to a higher gap of income distribution. A further implication of this situation is that the rise in inflation causes an increase in low-income people, and as a consequence, makes their lives worse off. This paper will be beneficial for policy-makers for whom human capital, which is measured using an education index, is an important factor that significantly affects income inequality, in addition to other economic factors.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.10
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• pp.1-8
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• 2020

The objective of the study is to investigate the effect of growth opportunities on capital structure and dividend policy in Indonesia. The study employs panel data of companies listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange that distribute dividends from 2007 to 2017. Fixed and random effect regression models are used. Findings based on growth opportunities on capital structure and dividend policy in Indonesia are in line with the existing theory (i.e., contracting theory). Growth opportunities have a significant negative correlation with debt ratio and dividend yield, which suggests that firms with high growth opportunities are discouraged to generate debt to resolve underinvestment and asset-substitution problem. Firms with more investment opportunities tend to adopt a low dividend payout policy because the cash flows will be used up for investment. The positive impact of firm size on leverage is due to the low bankruptcy risk and cost of a large company. Profitability has a positive impact on the dividend policy because profitable companies can reserve larger free cash flows and, thus, pay higher dividends. The positive influence of ownership on leverage is interpreted by the unwillingness of majority stockholders to commit to equity financing in order to avoid reducing the ownership and preserve control of the company.