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Not only does the problem of correcting spelling errors by computer have a long history, it is evidently of considerable current interest as papers and letters on the topic continue to appear rapidly. This is not surprising, since techniques useful in detecting and correcting mis‐spellings normally have other important applications. Moreover, both the power of small computers and the routine production of machine‐readable text have increased enormously over the last decade to the point where automatic spelling error detection/correction has become not only feasible but highly desirable.

The study examines the impact of risk on the profit efficiency and profitability of banks in Ghana.

Data envelopment analysis was used to estimate profit efficiency scores and accounting ratios were used to measure profitability. The panel corrected standard error regression was used to assess the nexus using a dataset of 32 banks from 2000 to 2015.

The paper found that the Ghanaian banking industry exhibits a variable return to scale property, suggesting that average costs change with output size. Profit efficiency score for banks closer to the efficiency frontier is 61%. Credit risk is significant in enhancing profit efficiency and return on equity. Market risk is relevant in improving profit efficiency, return on asset and asset turnover. To drive profitability, bank managers have to be committed to effective liquidity risk, insolvency risk and capital risk management. Operational risk reduces shareholders' returns. The impact of size, age, stock exchange listing, cost efficiency and competition have are all been discussed extensively.

The findings contribute to the knowledge on the risk-performance nexus and provide information that is valuable to academics, bankers and regulators for policy formulation. The findings are relevant to the newly established Financial Stability Council.

This paper appears to be among the premier attempts to examine the effect of various risk types identified in the Basel III framework on bank performance in Africa.

The research aims to understand how smart speakers are perceived by their actual and potential users, their attitude towards smart speakers and consequently their intention to use them.

The authors apply a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach to test the research hypotheses through data coming from a structured questionnaire.

The results show that the higher the importance attributed to usefulness and ease of use, the higher the positive attitude that in turn positively affects the intention to use smart speakers. A significant relationship also emerged between task technology fit and attitude towards smart speakers, as well as between perceived enjoyment and attitude towards smart speakers. Perceived privacy risk, innovativeness and social attraction have been found to not significantly impact attitudes towards smart speakers.

Although several academic studies have focused on various aspects of smart technologies, only a few studies discuss the factors that push consumers to use smart speakers for activities related to commercial transactions. Therefore, looking at the rapid rise of smart speakers for daily tasks and the gradual acceptance of voice interaction with digital tools, the authors proposed a study about Italian users' intention to use smart speakers. Specifically, to fill the gap in the existing literature, the authors applied a SEM approach to identify utilitarian and hedonic benefits that motivate the use of these devices.

The review begins with a study of several analyses of statistics relating to interlibrary loan. The subjective nature of some of these is stressed and the danger of using statistical data in isolation is highlighted. Statistical evidence is also brought into the discussion about the conflict between interlending and preservation which centres on the difference between the book and the text. Whilst two authors take a rather conservative approach, the third looks on the problem with a more liberal attitude. Although the intrinsic safety of the materials involved is a partial barrier to interlending in developing countries, writers from both Africa and Latin America emphasize the major obstacles to advancing ILL are professional attitudes and jealousies. The proceedings of a seminar in India are reported in which a number of participants put forward possible interlending models for their country. The deliberations in Australia also centre round the alternative models available, and arguments over the costs involved persist leading to some novel arguments about making ILL a free service. The development of interlending in Illinois is examined in some detail. The impact of interlending on acquisitions policies is discussed in two papers which show that interlending is still a backup for low use material when viewed in this context. The review closes with a discussion of the future particularly in terms of money and resources which are likely to become more and more limited. The demise of the US plan for a National Periodicals Center is used to show that money and power are major elements in deciding the fate of interlending schemes.

This study aims to make a comparative study of the applicability of the purchasing power parity (PPP) in selected less developing countries (LDCs) on one hand and European countries on the other hand.

The research design is empirical and ex post facto. This study uses an assortment of co-integration tests and error correction representation. The chosen approach allows for the consideration of long-run elasticities and the dynamics of the short-run adjustment of exchange rates to changes in domestic and foreign prices. Monthly data are used for the period 1980:1 through 2015:12 (i.e. 432 observations).

Results from long-run co-integration analysis, short-run error correction models and persistence profile analysis overwhelmingly confirm the validity of PPP in these two sets of countries regardless the disparity in their relative exchange rate and price characteristics.

Curiously, several of these empirical studies and still many more, have focused their attention on the experiences of industrialized countries, with a few investigations devoted to LDCs. The evidence is even scarcer in Africa. Clearly, the acceptance of any hypothesis as a credible explanation of economic reality hinges on the robustness of the hypothesis across countries with different economic and institutional frameworks.

Knowledge of the extent to which exchange rate and relative prices can be linked in the long run is important for the design and management of inflation and the implementation of monetary policy. For instance, policy actions aimed at stabilizing the domestic economy can obtain results that are, at best, uncertain in the absence of correct characterization of the PPP dynamics. Moreover, structural and macroeconomic adjustment programs implemented in these countries to achieve economic growth and external competitiveness could be unsuccessful if flawed estimates of PPP exchange rates are retained.

Several empirical studies have been done to prove the validity or otherwise of the PPP. Unlike prior authors, this study makes a comparative study of the applicability of the PPP in selected LDC on one hand and European countries.

This paper proposes new methods of fault detection for fuel systems in order to improve system availability. Novel fault systems are required for environmentally friendly lean burn combustion, but can carry high risk failure modes particularly through their control valves. The purpose of the developed technology is the rapid detection of these failure modes, such as valve sticking or impending sticking, and therefore to reduce this risk. However, sensing valve state is challenging due to hot environmental temperatures, which results in a low reliability for conventional position sensing.

Starting with the business needs elicited from stakeholders, a quality functional deployment process is performed to derive sensing system requirements. The process acknowledges the difference between test-bed and in-service aerospace needs through weightings on requirements and maps these customer requirements to systems performance metrics. The design of the system must therefore optimise the sensor suite, on- and off-board signal processing and acquisition strategy.

Against this systems engineering process, two sensing strategies are outlined which illustrate the span of solutions, from conventional gas path sensing with advanced signal processing to novel non-invasive sensing concepts. While conventional sensing may be feasible within a test cell, the constraints of aerospace in-service operation may necessitate more novel alternatives. Acoustic emission (detecting very high frequency surface vibration waves) sensing technology is evaluated to provide a non-invasive, remote and high temperature tolerant solution. Through this comparison, the considerations for the end-to-end system design are highlighted to be critical to sensor deployment success in-service.

The paper provides insight into different means of addressing the important problem of monitoring faults in combustor systems in gas turbines. By casting of the complex design problem within a systems engineering framework, the outline of a toolset for solution evaluation is provided.

The paper provides three areas of significant contributions: a diversity of methods to diagnosing fuel system malfunctions by measuring changes fuel flow distributions, through novel means, and the combustor exit temperature profiles (cause and effect); the use of analytical methods to support the selection (types and quantities) and placement of sensors to ensure adequate state awareness while minimising their impact on the engine system cost and weight; and an end-to-end data processing approach to provide optimised information for the engine maintainers allowing informed decision-making.