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To investigate the relation between the Poisson's ratio of a re‐entrant honeycomb structure by varying the micropolar material constants such as micropolar Young's modulus E_m, micropolar Poisson's ratio V_m, characteristic length l, coupling factor N, and micropolar elastic constants in accordance with the micropolar elastic restrictions, a 2‐D triangular finite element formulation including an extra degree of freedom was derived on the basis of Eringen's micropolar elasticity theory by using a linear triangular element. The effects on the structural Poisson's ratio of the honeycomb structure are studied in detail.

The purpose of this paper is to compare companies in a developing country with those of a first‐world country. For this purpose South African (SA) companies in the chemical, food and electronic industries are to be evaluated on the hand of cash flow ratios and compared with companies in the USA in similar industries.

Giacomino and Mielke proposed nine cash flow ratios for performance evaluation. Ratios were calculated for companies in the USA in the chemical, food and electronic industries for 1986‐1988. Industry norms were calculated for the period, indicating that the potential existed to develop benchmarks for the ratios by industry. Jooste calculated cash flow ratios for listed companies in SA, similar to those calculated by Giacomino and Mielke. The results of the SA companies were then compared with the US companies.

The comparison revealed some similarities and differences. The cash flow sufficiency ratio showed that the SA industries had enough cash to pay primary obligations, whereas the US industries did not. At the levels of cash generated by SA industries the investments in assets and dividend payouts were more than for US industries. The cash flow generated by assets used in SA is also more than that of the USA but US industries retire long‐term debt in a shorter period than SA industries.

The periods used in the comparison differ. Research using the same periods was not available. No information was available on the state of the economies in each country for those periods.

The work done by Giacomino and Mielke is to be recommended. Further studies on the utility of cash flow data would be necessary to develop a set of cash flow‐based ratios. Such ratios used in conjunction with traditional balance‐sheet and income statement ratios should lead to a better understanding of the financial strengths and weaknesses of a company.

By comparing industries of a developing country with those of a first‐world country one may have an indication of the performance of SA companies in a global market.

The last stage of the cold rolling process is skin-pass rolling and one of its most significant goals is to obtain appropriate topography on the surface of the sheet steel used extensively such as in automotive industry. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of thickness change and various reduction ratios on roughness transfer of DC04 grade sheet material.

DC04 grade sheet materials with different reduction ratios and several thicknesses were subjected to skin-pass rolling process in the rolling equipment with a two-high roll. Some roughness parameters were determined as a result of roughness measurements from the surfaces of roughened sheet materials.

While the roughness transfer is higher in 1-mm thick material in reduction ratios up to 430 micrometers; in reduction ratios above 430 micrometers, it is higher for 1.5-mm thick materials. As the reduction ratio increases in DC04 grade sheet materials, the homogeneity of the roughness distribution in 1-mm thickness sheet material deteriorates, while the roughness distribution in 1.5-mm thickness sheet material is more homogeneous.

This paper demonstrates how material thickness and reduction ratio affect the roughness transfer in skin-pass rolling. The results obtained can be used by optimizing in manufacturing processes.

Curves with various profiles have been demonstrated to be more attractive and decorative than the straight lines by William Hogarth. Among all kinds of curves, Hogarth proposed seven serpentine lines as the most beautiful curves, i.e., Hogarth curves. Those seven Hogarth curves are subsequently applied in a wide range of fields, e.g., sculpture, painting, architecture and fashion design, indicating their significance to the development of the formal beauty. Recently, the beauty of Hogarth curves has been suspected to be induced by their special-designed curvature, which could have the potential relationship with the Golden Ratio. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the Hogarth curves and golden ratio by comparing the curvature of curves with the Fibonacci sequence.

Each of the Hogarth curves was fully restored and divided into two parts according to the turning point of the curvature; the ratios of span, curvature and angles between these two parts were compared with the Fibonacci sequence.

The experimental results disclosed that the ratio of the fourth Hogarth curve, which was considered as the most beautiful line by Hogarth, was infinitely approaching the golden ratio. Based on the relationship between the fourth Hogarth curve and the golden ratio, the ratios of each curve were employed to define and normalize these curves, providing a quantitative way to redraw the Hogarth curves.

This research work unlocked the information of the relationship between the Hogarth curves and golden ratio, and proposed an effective and convenient mathematic way to quantify the Hogarth curves. The experimental findings disclosed the underlying mechanisms of the beauty of the forth Hogarth curves. Such a fundamental study will promote the establishment of the normalized methods for evaluating the beauty of arts and provide novel ideas for researchers and industrial technologists to use the Hogarth curves.

The origins of financial ratio analysis can be traced back to the first decade of the twentieth century. It began with the development of a single ratio, the current ratio, for a single purpose—the evaluation of credit worthiness. Today ratio analysis involves the use of several ratios by a variety of users including credit lenders, credit rating agencies, investors and management.

The aim of this study is to establish a dynamic model of the filtration ratio. For the problem that the measured value of the filtration ratio is far less than the theoretical value in the actual hydraulic filtering system, the paper aims to find the relationship between the filtration ratio and the parameters of the hydraulic systems, such as the contamination level and the dirt-holding quantity of the filter.

The paper opted for the method of experimental analysis and simulation to determine the relationship between the filtration ratio and the parameters of the hydraulic system, and established a dynamic filtration ratio model.

The paper provides a preliminary model of dynamic filtration ratio, and the model shows that the filtration ratio is exponentially related to the contamination level and the dirt-holding quantity. Different filters have different influence coefficients. The filtering capacity for a certain particle size and the contamination level control of the filter for different hydraulic systems can be judged according to the dynamic balance equation of hydraulic systems.

The paper is useful in the selection of filters and in the precise control of the contamination level of the hydraulic system.

From the factors that affect shear strength of reinforced concrete (RC) beams, the study examines the effect of controversial parameters, width-to-depth (b/d) and effective length-to-depth (l_eff/d) ratio on shear strength of RC slender beams.

The researchers utilized a database of 676 experimental test results from ACI-DAfStb database, Conducted regression analysis to examine relationship between b/d and l_eff/d ratios and shear strength, compare and analyze sensitivity to changes in b/d and l_eff/d ratios for the selected 12 shear models for RC beams.

Increasing b/d ratio enhanced shear strength until b/d ˜ 3, but further increases had limited impact and increasing l_eff/d ratio resulted in decreased shear strength. From comparative analysis, the models provided by various design standards were found to be safe, with EC-2 and JSCE models being conservative. From considered research models, Campione and Arslan models were conservative, while Kim and White model were observed to be unsafe. Sensitivity analysis indicated ACI318-19, JSCE, CEB-FIP-90 and Arslan models were sensitive to changes in b/d and l_eff/d ratios. National code models generally captured shear strength characteristics well. Certain models suggested a constant/decreasing b/d effect despite observed shear strength enhancement. Most models indicated improved shear strength with an increasing l_eff/d ratio, contrary to experimental findings while TS500 and Hwang models aligned with experimental results.

The study's limitations include the dependence on the available database, which may not encompass all possible experimental scenarios. Further research should aim to expand the database and investigate additional parameters that may influence shear strength in RC beams.

The findings of this study have practical implications for the design and analysis of RC beams by suggesting that the width-to-depth and length-to-depth ratios should be carefully considered to optimize shear strength. The identified models can assist engineers in selecting appropriate shear strength prediction models based on specific design scenarios.

The study contributes to the advancement of knowledge in the field of reinforced concrete beam design, which has implications for the safety and reliability of structural systems. By understanding the factors influencing shear strength, engineers can design more efficient and robust structures, ensuring the safety of buildings and infrastructure.

This study provides valuable insights into the influence of the width-to-depth and effective length-to-depth ratios on shear strength in reinforced concrete beams. It contributes to the understanding of these factors and their impact on shear strength, addressing the lack of consensus among researchers. The comparative analysis of shear models and the sensitivity analyses add value by identifying the models that align better with experimental observations. The study emphasizes the need for accurate models that account for these factors and highlights the importance of further research to refine and develop improved predictive models.

This study examines how creditor interventions after debt covenant violations affect corporate tax avoidance. Using a regression discontinuity design, we find that creditor interventions increase borrowers' tax avoidance. This effect is concentrated among firms with weaker shareholder governance before creditor interventions and among those with less bargaining power during subsequent debt renegotiations. Our results indicate that creditors play an active role in shaping corporate tax policy outside of bankruptcy.

Building upon the framework of the tradeoff model of capital structure and motivated by the equity market timing theory, we examine whether equity misvaluation is a source of adjustment “costs” that will affect a firm’s leverage adjustment speed toward target. We also investigate whether the quality of a firm’s long-term growth options will influence the decisions of managers to exploit the mispriced equity to converge to the optimum. Using a sample of listed Taiwanese firms during 1992–2014 and employing the market-to-book decomposition as developed by Rhodes-Kropf, Robinson, and Viswanathan (2005), we find that overleveraged and overvalued firms demonstrate faster adjustment speed than overleveraged but undervalued firms. Furthermore, controlling for the misvaluation status, high-growth firms converge to target faster than their low-growth counterparts. The effect of growth options on the relation between equity mispricing and adjustment speed does not mirror the effect of financing deficits. With the detailed financial information of the local companies across a rather long time series, this study provides incremental inputs to the literature of capital structure from the determinants of target leverage, the estimation of leverage adjustment speeds, to the identification of the sources of adjustment costs in an emerging market where institutional environment is strikingly different from the US.