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The purpose of this study was to examine sensory attributes, physiochemical characteristics and consumer preference of drop sugar cookies prepared using high-amylose maize resistant starch (HAMRS) as a replacement for 10%, 20% and 30% of all-purpose (AP) flour as compared to a control made with 100% AP flour.

A balanced complete block experimental design was used to evaluate the eating quality of the resistant starch enriched cookies using a consumer panel. Consumer preference for the appearance, flavor, texture, moistness and overall acceptability of cookies was assessed. Diameter, height, spread ratio, hardness, moisture, pH, density, surface color and nutrient composition of cookies were analyzed.

Compared with the control cookies, the HAMRS cookies had lower diameters, higher, heights, reduced spreads, reduced % moisture losses and lower densities (p < 0.001). TA.XT Plus Texture Analyzer showed the HAMRS cookies had a softer texture than the control cookies (p < 0.0001). Evaluation of surface color showed no significant difference in lightness between the control and the HAMRS cookies. The HAMRS cookies were preferred over the control for appearance, texture and moistness in sensory evaluation with 42.5% of panelists choosing the 20% HAMRS replaced cookies as their overall preference. The 20% and 30% HAMRS replaced cookies qualify to be labeled as a “good source” and “excellent source” of fiber, respectively.

This data demonstrates that replacement of up to 30% of AP flour with HAMRS improves eating quality and dietary fiber content of sugar cookies. Our results show that HAMRS has good potential for developing high fiber cookies with minimal adverse impact on physical characteristics and notable improvements in sensory attributes and nutritional value.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that has reported on the functionality, consumer preference and nutritional value of cookies enriched with a HAMRS that is available to consumers in the form of flour.

This study aims to establish marketing practices which predict business performance of architecture firms within the Nigerian Construction Industry (NCI) to address the sustained poor business performance of firms, which affects allied professionals as many projects in the built environment depend on design proposals from architects.

Survey responses from 86 firms were used to model business performance measured as total revenue of the firms from 40 commonly deployed marketing practices in construction.

Two-thirds of the marketing practices most used by architectural firms were ineffective in predicting business performance. The model also explains up to half the variance in business performance (37.4–49.9%), supporting the view that marketing in the CI affects business performance. Researching client needs and competitors emerged as the only significant positive predictor of business performance (β = 0.827, p = 0.043). Using social media (β = −1.247, p = 0.004), regular participation in awards/competitions (β = −1.420, p = 0.013) and inclusion of political offers in bids (β = −1.050, p = 0.016) negatively predicted business performance.

Architecture and allied professional bodies in Nigeria need to rethink existing restrictions regarding marketing based on traditional code of ethics in light of present-day realities of digital and internet business environments. Principals and management of architecture firms require a paradigm shift in deploying the appropriate marketing practices, especially as it relates to research regarding changing client expectations and current competition within the NCI.

The study established marketing practices which model business performance and demonstrate their value in a framework for improving the financial sustainability of architecture firms within the NCI.

Real estate is an asset that is traded in highly segmented, illiquid and informationally inefficient local markets. A short sale in real estate is almost infeasible and therefore impedes informed rational arbitrageurs to trade against mispricing. Thus, real estate returns are prone to sentiment-driven behaviours. Will the impacts on asset returns be identical for different types of sentiment?

This study argues that not all sentiment effects are created equal. Using the bounds test of the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) models, this paper examines how occupier sentiment versus investor sentiment contributes to the short-run and long-run dynamics of commercial real estate returns in Australia.

The empirical evidence suggests that investor sentiment and occupier sentiment influence return asymmetrically after macroeconomic conditions are controlled for.

The sectoral analysis further reveals that sector-specific sentiment plays a significant role in explaining commercial real estate returns. Furthermore, notable improvement is found in producing more accurate prediction in returns, given that measures of occupier and investor sentiment are appropriately specified in the forecast.

This study is novel in the sense that it acknowledges the impacts of occupiers' and investors' sentiment may be fundamentally different. The unique innovation and contribution of this study to behavioural finance literature are based on a new dataset from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors which includes a survey-based measure of investor sentiment and occupier sentiment.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a general discussion of how techniques from financial engineering can be used to investigate the economic costs of farm programs and to aid in the design of new financial products to implement margin protection for dairy farmers. Specifically the paper investigates the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) and the Dairy Margin Protection (DMP) program. In addition the paper introduces the concept of the Milk to Corn Price ratio to protect margins.

The paper introduces and reviews the tools of financial engineering. These include the stochastic calculus and Itô's Lemma. The empirical tool is Monte Carlo simulations. The approach is part pedagogy and part practice.

In this paper the authors illustrate how financial engineering can be used to price complex price stabilization formula in the USA and to illustrate its use in the design of new products.

In this paper the authors illustrate how financial engineering can be used to price complex price stabilization formula in the USA and to illustrate its use in the design of new products.

Farm programs designed to protect dairy farmers margins are designed in a seemingly ad hoc fashion. Assessments of programs such as MILC or DMP are conducted on an ex-post basis using historical data. The financial engineering approach presented in this paper provides the means to add significant depth to the assessment of such programs which can be used in conjunction with Monte Carlo simulation to identify alternative model structures before they are written into law.

This paper builds upon an existing literature. Its originality is in the application of financial engineering techniques to farm dairy policy.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the Muslim religion on firm capital structure.

The authors compare financing patterns in Muslim versus non-Muslim countries using 658 firms in 16 countries covering a period of seven years.

No significant differences between Muslim and non-Muslim countries were found in terms of total debt ratios. However, significant differences were found in the choice of short-term versus long-term debt, with firms in Muslim countries showing a strong preference for short-term debt.

The findings confirm existing theories on the impact of the Islamic religion on short-term versus long-term debt preferences. However, the findings concerning the lack of an impact of the Islamic religion on total debt preferences are surprising and contrary to existing theories.

Firms in Muslim countries appear to have the flexibility to adopt overall leverage ratios comparable to those in non-Muslim countries. However, firms in Muslim countries may be disadvantaged in that there appear to be impediments to the use of long-term debt.

This paper presents one of the first empirical studies of the impact of the Muslim religion on corporate financing choices across a large cross-section of firms in Muslim and non-Muslim countries.

The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic review of studies on CPD published between 1985 and 2018.

Before identifying common CPD, research trends were examined in terms of the number of publications in selected journals, as well as the contributions made by countries, institutions and researchers.

The findings reveal that researchers from developing countries have contributed the most to identifying the causes of CPD. A total of 149 causes of CPD were identified in a thorough review of 97 selected studies. Weather/climate conditions, poor communication, lack of coordination and conflicts between stakeholders, ineffective or improper planning, material shortages, financial problems, payment delays, equipment/plant shortage, lack of experience/qualification/competence among project stakeholders, labour shortages and poor site management were identified as the ten most common CPDs.

Being the first study of its type, this study provides insight into the research output related to this area and identifies a common set of CPDs, which may provide a better understanding of the key areas requiring attention where steps should be taken to minimise or control factors causing delays in construction projects.