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The purpose of this paper is to investigate fast pyrolysis of maple fruit as an energy sources. This could serve as a solution to the energy sources problem.

Fast pyrolysis of maple fruit (samara) was achieved in a fixed bed reactor. The pyrolysis experiments have been conducted on the sample of maple seeds to particularly determine the effects of pyrolysis temperature, particle size and sweep gas flow rate on the pyrolysis product yields.

The oil of maple fruit from fast pyrolysis has good properties to be a potential candidate as a biofuel or as a source of chemicals. In addition to being environmentally desirable, it can reduce the energy cost, e.g. that Turkey imports a majority of its energy.

The use of maple fruit for fast pyrolysis and pyrolysis conditions impact on the yields of pyrolysis liquid can be considered as novel aspects of this paper.

This study aims to examine the association between five firm-specific characteristics and the level of compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by companies listed on Ghana Stock Exchange. The five firm-specific characteristics are firm size, profitability, leverage, auditor type and firm age.

The study uses dataset from 31 listed Ghanaian firms from 2008 to 2012. Random effect is used to examine the influence of the predictive variables on the level of IFRS corporate compliance.

The result reveals a positive significant relationship between the level of compliance and firm size, auditor type, cross-listing and sector (information and communications technology (ICT) and agro-forestry). On the contrary, the level of compliance exhibits a negative significant association with leverage and firm age. It is observed that the level of compliance is not related to profitability. The results are robust to different model specifications.

This study identifies firm-specific characteristics that influence IFRS compliance by listed firms in Ghana. This would aid accounting policy makers to institute strategies to encourage compliance with IFRS by the listed firms.

The study contributes to financial reporting literature relating to developing economies and Ghana, in particular.

Shariah Board (SB) is considered as a typical corporate governance mechanism for the Islamic banking system. This board takes the responsibilities of assuring the compliance of transactions and operations with Islamic rules and principles. The purpose of this paper is to measure the SB quality and examine its moderating effect on the relationship between financial performance and accounting disclosure quality.

This study used a sample of 90 Islamic banks (IBs) during the period 2010-2014. The accounting disclosure quality and the SB quality were measured using self-developed indices. The moderating effect of the SB on the performance/disclosure relationship was examined using the hierarchical regression analysis.

The main finding of this study is related to the negative moderating effect of SB quality on the relationship between performance and disclosure. Accordingly, it can be said that the higher the quality of the SB is, the lesser the performance affects the disclosure. This result seems to indicate that at high level of SB quality, even when the performance decreases, the IBs engage in complying with accounting disclosure requirements in order to inform the stakeholders on the real situation of the bank.

The finding of this study would be of great support to stakeholders and policy makers to make more pressure on IBs to improve the quality of their SB structure and show more compliance with the governance recommendations. As an extension to this study, further research can examine other Islamic governance mechanisms, such as the Internal Shariah Review.

To the authors’ knowledge, there has been a dearth of studies dealing with the empirical examination of the moderating impact of the SB quality on the association between the financial performance and the disclosure quality. Therefore, this study could be considered a tentative contribution to the literature by providing some empirical evidence on the links between these three variables using the moderation regression analysis.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a local Newton basis functions collocation method for solving the 2D nonlinear coupled Burgers’ equations. It needs less computer storage and flops than the usual global radial basis functions collocation method and also stabilizes the numerical solutions of the convection-dominated equations by using the Newton basis functions.

A meshless method based on spatial trial space spanned by the local Newton basis functions in the “native” Hilbert space of the reproducing kernel is presented. With the selected local sub-clusters of domain nodes, an approximation function is introduced as a sum of weighted local Newton basis functions. Then the collocation approach is used to determine weights. The method leads to a system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) for the time-dependent partial differential equations (PDEs).

The method is successfully used for solving the 2D nonlinear coupled Burgers’ equations for reasonably high values of Reynolds number (Re). It is a well-known issue in the analysis of the convection-diffusion problems that the solution becomes oscillatory when the problem becomes convection-dominated if the standard methods are followed without special treatments. In the proposed method, the authors do not detect any instability near the front, hence no technique is needed. The numerical results show that the proposed method is efficient, accurate and stable for flow with reasonably high values of Re.

The authors used more stable basis functions than the standard basis of translated kernels for representing of kernel-based approximants for the numerical solution of partial differential equations (PDEs). The local character of the method, having a well-structured implementation including enforcing the Dirichlet and Neuman boundary conditions, and producing accurate and stable results for flow with reasonably high values of Re for the numerical solution of the 2D nonlinear coupled Burgers’ equations without any special technique are the main values of the paper.

This study measures and compares the level of compliance with the disclosure requirements provided by the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI). This study also aims to investigate the factors associated with this compliance in a sample of Islamic banks (IBs) in Gulf Cooperation Council member states.

The sample consists of 39 IBs between 2010 and 2014. Among the selected IBs, 23 banks were complying with the AAOIFI standards and 16 banks were complying with the IFRS standards. An unweighted disclosure index was used to measure the level of compliance with IFRS/AAOIFI disclosure requirements.

It was found that the level of compliance with IFRS is higher than that of compliance with AAOIFI. In addition, the results reveal that compliance with IFRS/AAOIFI disclosure requirements is higher for larger and older IBs. Finally, it was observed that compliance was more noticeable for IBs having a higher leverage and multinational subsidiaries.

These findings would be of great help to regulators and policymakers to better understand the accounting disclosure practices of IBs.

Crisis management has gained importance in the policy agendas of many countries around the world due to the increases in the number of natural disasters and terrorist attacks. Thus, this paper has two purposes. The first is to illustrate how the Turkish Government's Disaster and Crisis Management System has been developed. The second purpose is to make a qualitative evaluation of the current disaster and crisis management systems.

Literature review shows that the disaster and crisis management system in Turkey has been developed after tragic events. The paper examines what kinds of initiatives were introduced and what is the trend in shift. After analyzing recent cases and exploring some government initiatives, alternative approaches and suggestions were included.

Turkey has developed its disaster and crisis management system since 1930, which mostly depended on experiences. The current disaster and crisis management system is governed by a centralized structure which is the responsibility of different ministries. Nonetheless, the system is very weak at local level. Furthermore, participation of non‐profit organizations is very limited at both national and local levels. Thus, coordination and management of first‐response operations during crises are problematic and ineffective. Particularly, the system is not designed for different types of crises such as terrorist attacks.

Crisis management in Turkey needs a more unified and flexible structure to deal with current problems effectively. Further suggestions for better implication are also provided

The effectiveness of the disaster and crisis management system is analyzed in natural and man‐made disasters. Findings show that centralized and decentralized systems have different functions in different situations.

This study aims to investigate the association between seven firm-specific characteristics and the level of mandatory compliance with International Accounting Standards (IAS) 1 by firms listed on Bahrain Bourse.

A disclosure index is used to measure the extent of compliance with IAS 1. Each of the 36 sampled firms’ annual reports were examined against the index for the financial year ending December 31, 2013.

The results reveal an overall compliance of 83 per cent. Regression results report that only audit firm size, profitability and industry type have a positive and significant association with IAS 1 disclosure requirements.

This study should be particularly relevant to regulatory bodies in Bahrain for strategizing and encouraging compliance with IAS 1 by listed firms.

Additionally, the study contributes to financial reporting literature relating to the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, mainly Bahrain. Bahrain is a financial hub, and it is interesting to examine how it presents its financial statements to investors and the degree of its compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards since its adoption in 2007.

This paper aims to present investigations of the influence of sewing and adhesive bonding technology on the aesthetic, mechanical and conductive properties of the e-textile package. Commercially available conductive textiles are tested for the production of e-textile package by most common cut-and-sewn clothing production technologies.

Sewing, adhesive bonding and seam sealing technologies used to obtain e-textile packages with woven and knitted conductive textiles. Produced e-textile packages described in terms of thickness, bending rigidity and general appearance. Exploitation properties of prepared samples tested by cycle tensile experiment and discussed on the basis of variation of linear electrical resistance property.

Research has shown that a reliable e-textile package can be obtained by applying cut-and-sew technology for conductive tracks of silver coated woven and knitted material. Seam sealing by thermoplastic polymer layer has an impact on the electrical and deformation properties of the samples. To create attractive smart clothing design, the appropriate joining method and its technological parameters must be chosen to ensure the durability and safety of e-textile packages.

The findings of the research are of substantial value for the production of e-textiles by cut-and-sewn technologies. The required shape of the conductive textile element for various applications can be cut and joined to the garment parts using traditional sewing or adhesive bonding techniques.

Ambidexterity’s effects on exploration and exploitation have been widely studied in the innovation literature. However, to date, no studies have determined how combining or balancing the two strategic marketing foci may improve new product performance outcomes. This is an important issue in emerging markets, which have considerable potential to introduce new products, given the rising affordability and intense competition between Western and local firms. These challenges compel managers to offer new products and solutions in these markets. However, firms may adopt different strategic marketing foci for new product development. Using Pakistan as an emerging-market context, this paper aims to provide novel insights into how managers can choose the right balance of a customer-driving versus customer-driven strategy to optimise new-product performance.

A multi-industry approach surveyed senior strategy managers (N = 106) of Pakistani businesses.

Using polynomial regression and surface test analyses, the findings showed that balancing the two strategies influenced new-product performance more than either strategy alone. Surprisingly, the imbalance of greater customer-driving over customer-driven strategy or vice versa did not improve new-product performance. Moreover, new-product performance was greater when the level of balance was higher compared to when it was lower.

Grounded in behavioural and strategic adaptation theory, this study extends ambidexterity’s theoretical foundations in marketing by empirically determining the optimal balance of an orientation and performance implication model. The findings can assist emerging market managers in choosing the right balance and combination of the two strategies for better performance of new products.