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Some of the unique properties of distributed RC thick film components are reviewed and discussed. In particular the evolution of a method of functionally adjusting active low pass filters containing distributed RC components is presented. The use of a finite element computer programme, specially written for this work, to justify the validity of the trimming method is demonstrated. The problems remaining in the development of the technique are mentioned and the potential for overcoming them is discussed.

In order to evaluate laser drilled vias in thick film dielectric materials a method of sectioning twenty micron vias has been developed. The value of the sections is illustrated by comparing vias in various dielectric materials.

A two‐day symposium will be hosted by the ISHM‐Can‐Am Chapter in Ottawa, Canada, on 19–20 June 1985. The event will concentrate on advances in Surface Mounted Technology and topics covered will include design rules and critical process parameters, multi‐stage attachment methods, advances in cleaning processes and fluids, robotic insertion of non‐standard components, automatic inspection, etc. A Tutorial will be held concurrently on rework techniques for surface mounted devices.

The applications team of GE Plastics in Russelsheim near Frankfurt, in common with several other GE groups, has been working in the general field of moulded circuit boards for many years. Recently, however, they have taken the imaginative step of developing a fundamentally new approach to moulded board processing and by working closely with several companies brought the technique to the point where it is possible to add electroplated copper tracking in three dimensions to any suitable moulding made of an appropriate plastic without the need for any additional tooling. In order to launch this technology, GE held a seminar in front of an invited audience in Russelsheim on 25 and 26 January, the earlier date being for German speaking participants and the later English. It is a measure of the interest in this technology that almost all the invitations were taken up and there was standing room only in the lecture theatre. As anybody familiar with moulded circuit boards will be aware, the technology employs skills from several disciplines and considerable congratulations must go to U. Hartman of GE for organising the programme and co‐ordinating the work of the participating companies.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been reported as a credit-constrained sector in the earlier literature. Amidst the available external financing options, SMEs are dependent upon banks for their financial needs, hence they offer an important profitable segment for banks. Commercial banks need to develop effective targeting strategies for this segment and ranking the priorities of SMEs in selecting commercial banks will be of great help to them. The purpose of this paper is to implement a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) multi-criteria decision model for commercial bank’s selection by SMEs.

The research process was carried out in two phases. In Phase I, a self-structured scale was developed to measure bank selection criteria of SMEs after an extensive review of the literature of relevant studies on the topic. A sample of 600 SMEs was selected through non-proportionate quota sampling and only 313 valid responses were received. Phase II was conducted to prioritize the extracted factors through FAHP, a multi-criteria decision-making technique. For this purpose, another questionnaire was designed in the form of pair-wise evaluation and the response was taken on the same from those 313 SMEs again.

The results showed that SMEs bank selection criteria can be categorized under six heads, namely, bank attributes, accommodation of credit needs (AC), bank personnel, financial factors (FF), service quality (SQ) and business knowledge. The research study produced a reliable and valid instrument for studying the bank selection criteria of SMEs. The results further revealed that AC is the most important factor considered by SMEs followed by FF and SQ. Going further, global weights were also calculated through the FAHP which revealed that the most important consideration (variable) viewed upon by SMEs is willingness to accommodate credit needs followed by flexible collateral requirements and absence of hidden charges.

The results of the present study offer significant insights as to the factors SMEs consider while making a bank selection decision. It is of utmost importance for banks to identify true determinant factors used by SMEs while making bank choice decisions as they offer ample profit and revenue opportunities to banks. The results of the study provide a practical approach to banks that would help them in framing strategies for SMEs customers.

This is the first study of its kind which has not only focused on the hierarchy of factors measuring bank selection criteria of SMEs rather on the hierarchy of single variables also through the calculation of global weights. As banks cannot focus on all the dimensions of the criteria, they can focus on the spirit of that particular criteria.

Plasma chemistry is employed almost exclusively for etching, cleaning and deposition processes in semiconductor device fabrication technology. As a natural expansion of this successful technique, attention has been directed at similar processes for thick film ceramic, thin film hybrid and more generally printed circuit board electronic assemblies. This paper discusses a variety of applications, some established and some experimental, where plasma is offering the benefits which semiconductor engineers have enjoyed for many years. Such applications include general organic removal, i.e., flux residues, finger print contamination and the removal/reduction of oxides and glass on thick film conductors to promote improvements in solderability and wire bondability.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the emergence of self‐service banking technology and investigates customers' perceptions of internet banking self‐service within the Irish financial services sector. This qualitative study of the Irish retail banking sector explored consumers' e‐banking interactions and experiences in addition to assessing the dimensions critical to e‐banking service quality.

A purposive sampling technique was employed to recruit 20 consumers representing the desired range of demographic characteristics (e.g. sex, age, profession), previous internet experience levels and product‐related knowledge.

Despite commonalities between traditional service quality and e‐banking service quality dimensions, due to the remote form of the online encounter, many traditional service quality attributes were found to be redundant and instead e‐dimensions such as web usability, trust, access and information quality service recovery and flexibility emerged as important to e‐banking service provision. Based on an extant review of the literature ten e‐service dimensions were proposed and evaluated empirically in the context of e‐banking service quality. Overall, process quality emerged as key within the online context, with nine out of the ten proposed e‐banking dimensions relating to the service process.

The paper contributes to previous research by adding to existing knowledge regarding what constitutes e‐banking service and the determinants critical to e‐banking service quality. The paper makes key recommendations towards enhancing current online financial services quality and delivery.

The provision of meals has long been regarded as an essential part of treatment of hospitalized patients complementing medical procedures and nursing management. Today, despite changes in the health-care landscape, which focused on improving the quality and efficiency of hospital care, malnutrition among inpatient was still a common worldwide concern.

This was a multi-centre, randomized study conducted in 21 study sites comprising 21 state and specialist government hospitals under the Ministry of Health, Malaysia. The sample size for this study was calculated with purposive sampling method, followed by proportionate sampling to determine the random sample size of each of the study sites. The total sample size required for this study was 2,759 subjects. A validated data collection form was used in the study.

Only 32.2 % and 37.6 % of subjects achieved adequate energy and protein intake, respectively, during their admission to medical ward. The study result showed that the overall mean energy and protein intake was 794.6 ± 487.8 kcal and 35.2 ± 24.3 g, respectively. The estimated energy (p = 0.001) and protein (p = 0.001) intake of all study sites was significantly lower compared to the adequacy value.

The adequacy intake in this study was only carried out in medical wards, thus reproducible result among other wards in different study sites could not be confirmed. Besides, this study assumed that the portion eaten by subjects during lunch and dinner was the same, and therefore, either one was recorded together with breakfast and either lunch or dinner to represent a subject’s daily intake.

This was the first nationwide study to report the adequacy of energy and protein intake of patients receiving therapeutic diets in the government hospital setting in Malaysia.

The overall aim of the study was to gauge the perceptions of both small businesses and banks, as to the role of banks in the growth, development and success of small entrepreneurial Northern Irish businesses.

The authors employed a mixed methodological approach, involving a series of focus groups and semi‐structured interviews with SMEs and staff from three leading high street banks. A follow up survey was conducted using a sample of 250 SMEs.

Evidence suggests that banks in Northern Ireland have been, and continue to be very supportive to their small business client base and have played a major role in the growth and development of many of these small entrepreneurial firms. Many SMEs felt that their local branch manager was both understanding and sympathetic to their business needs.

The study examined the views of a relatively small sample of SMEs and bank staff. A further investigation is planned where a much larger sample will be used.

The findings highlight the important role played by local branch managers in the support and development of SMEs. This is particularly important given the recent adverse publicity received by banks for “over‐charging” customers and the underlying threat faced by local bank branches.

The paper presents a different perspective on the relationship between banks and their small business clients, indicating that it is often positive, supportive and mutually beneficial.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between suicide rates and institutional quality.

This study used autoregressive distributed lag model and error correction model to examine short-run and long-run relationships during 1996–2017 in Lebanon.

The study shows that in the long-run, suicide rates are significantly associated to the control of corruption, voice and accountability and rule of law, but not to regulatory quality, political stability and government efficiency. In the short-run, nearly all variables of institutional quality have a negative and significant relationship to suicide rates. Results are discussed in detail.

This research is the first to inspect the relation between the quality of institutions and suicide rates. Empirical results of this study add new evidence to the literature and provide support to policymakers.