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The purpose of this paper is to present business process point analysis (BPPA), a technique to measure business functional process size, based on function point analysis (FPA), and using business process model and notation (BPMN). This paper also discusses the assessment results of BPPA compared with FPA.

Two experimental studies with participants from academia and industry were conducted. The following aspects in the experimental studies were focused: similarity, application easiness, feasibility, and application benefits. The purpose of the experiment was to assess BPPA comparing with FPA as the BPPA design followed the FPA pattern.

Experimental results showed that both academia and industry groups highly rated similarity and application benefits for BPPA compared with FPA. However, only participants from industry highly rated BPPA for application easiness and feasibility. The results also showed that participants’ previous experiences did not influence their ratings on BPPA.

BPPA helps project managers to measure functional process size of business process management projects. As BPPA is derived from FPA, its mechanism is easily recognizable by project managers who are used to FPA. These results also show that both techniques are in most cases considered rather similar.

“Library + cultural tourism” (LCT) is a new direction for the sustainable development of libraries, but few scholars have researched it from a tourist perspective. The purpose of this paper is to identify what factors affect tourist satisfaction (TS) with LCT, reveal the interaction among these factors and provide strategies for better library services.

This study collected 5,308 comments on Tianjin Binhai Library from three popular online travel communities. Grounded theory was adopted to identify what factors affect TS with LCT and reveal the interaction among these factors.

The results indicated that TS with LCT was affected by complex factors related to tour plans, tour expectations, cultural characteristics, environment, support services and emotions. Cultural characteristics, environment and support services were impacted by tour plans and tour expectations, which directly or indirectly affected TS mediated by emotions. TS further influenced their expectation of their next tour.

This paper uncovered critical problems with LCT using a case study of Tianjin Binhai Library. The results provide a reference for library practitioners to develop better library services for tourists and regular users/readers.

Companies avoid taxes in a variety of ways and use different methods to do that, one of the most common being earnings management. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether companies manipulate their financial data in order to reduce taxes paid.

We considered a sample of 63 listed Romanian companies for the period 2016–2021. The Beneish model was used for estimating earnings management, and the effective tax rate was used to measure tax avoidance. The analysis was carried out using regression analysis in Stata13 software.

The findings of the research indicate a negative and statistically significant association between effective tax rate and earnings management, implying that one of the main reasons why companies manipulate their earnings to reduce tax burden and avoid taxes. Moreover, our results show that return on assets (ROA) has a statistically significant negative influence on the effective tax rate. Furthermore, our analysis reveals that firm size, growth, and Big4 audit have no effect on effective tax rate.

Because it analyzes concrete cases using financial data and provides some recommendations for addressing the issue of tax avoidance, this work is useful in advancing both quantitative and qualitative research on this topic. This research is relevant for businesses, governments, regulators, audit professionals and investors.

The study, by analyzing concrete cases using reported financial data, contributes in filling the gap within the literature that results from a lack of scientific research on the relationship between tax avoidance and earnings management, and then it clarifies the nature of the causal connection between them. Moreover, it considers a combination of firm related variables including performance, size and also audit quality.

The purpose of this study is analysis on fluid flow characteristics inside a modified designed spiral bubble column photo-bioreactor. Available fluid dynamic simulation of bubble column reactor (BCR) (which is well-known conventional photobioreactor) had shown significance contribution over the past two decades, where the fluid dynamics of the culture medium and mixing will influence the average irradiance and the light regimen to which the cells are exposed. This enhances the growth. To develop this, and also to cut down the cost parameter involving the production of biodiesel from algae, the growth rate of algae has to be enhanced.

Some design modification through a staggered spiral-path inside the bubble column design had been proposed and comparative simulation of the modified design has been reported. Three-dimensional simulations of gas–liquid flow both in the BCR and spiral path column reactor have been carried out using the Euler–Euler approach. Various graphs are plotted, and from comparing, it has been seen that the proposed reactor will enhance better mixing rate, which could help the growth rate in microalgae in the present proposed model. In this paper, an earnest attempt had made to carry out computational simulation of conventional BCR and designed reactor used for cultivation of microalgae which had analyzed using commercial code ANSYS 14.

From this work, it was observed that the average turbulence kinetic energy fluctuates more in designed reactor over the conventional photo bioreactor, which will in turn increase diffusivity and enhance transfer of mass, momentum and energy. The results provide comprehensive information concerning effect of fluid flow characteristics inside a modified designed spiral bubble-column photo-bioreactor.

Some of our earlier published results (www.scientific.net/AMM.592-594.2427) are also referred in this paper. This work had been performed under the financial aid from RPS project (no. 8,023/RID/RPS/27/11/12), sponsored by All India Council for Technical Education.

As a growing literature points out (Aronowitz, 2009, pp. 165–213), HT becomes criminal because it involves displacing, exploiting and commercializing a human being, all of these necessitating transportation, trade and torture to varying degrees to survive and succeed (Nair, 2010, pp. 12–19). John T. Picarelli informs us, these began ‘in the Americas’ from 1502, ‘when Portuguese traders brought the first African slaves to the Caribbean’ (Picarelli, 2011, p. 180, but see all of Chapter 9). African slaves continued to be imported into the United States until 1808, but by the time the 13th Amendment ‘outlawed’ indentured servitude in 1865, the 645,000 slaves shipped from Africa had multiplied beyond 4 million, to whom were added (a) Chinese women, ‘to work in brothels … to serve both the Chinese and white communities’ after the 1860s; (b) Europeans, through collusion between ‘criminal syndicates’ and ‘U.S. [law enforcement] officials’, in what was called ‘the white slave trade’ from the 1880s (Shelley, 2010, pp. 235, 237); and (c) Hispanics (Alba & Nee, 2003; Gordon, 1964; Suárez-Orozco, 1998), in tandem with the dominant U.S. migratory inflows and economic needs after the 1960s (Borjas, 1999; Huntington, 2004, pp. 30–45), and the emergence of sex tourism after the Cold War (Clift & Carter, 2000; María Agustin, 2007; Rogers, 2009; Thorbek & Bandana Pattanaik, 2002).

This study aims to systematically review strategy making in the seaport context during a period of hyper uncertainty.

A systematic review using the context, intervention, method and outcome (CIMO) framework is conducted in the domains of strategy making and the port sector taking account of hyper uncertainty caused by Brexit.

Strategy making (under conditions of hyper uncertainty) is shown to evolve from both stakeholder/supply chain embedded relationships and from chief executive officer and extra organisational inputs. Through an iterative process of internal resourcing, stakeholder engagement strategy development can be seen to impact five key outcomes of an emerging strategy making under hyper uncertainty: economic returns; societal and regional impacts; deeper improved market engagement; improved environmental sensing and potential for dynamic capability development.

The systematic review integrates the existing fragmented research landscape regarding strategy making under hyper uncertainty, provides future research trajectories and develops a framework emerging from the review.

The framework offers port management and policymakers a tool to improve their engagement with strategy making under hyper uncertainty and associated outcomes.

The systematic review consolidates the fragmented literature and presents future research trajectories. The framework of strategy making under hyper uncertainty developed from the CIMO framework develops existing knowledge and contributes to academic theory.

This study aims to explore suitable anode materials used in the electrochemical system for indigo dyeing wastewater, to achieve optimal treatment performances.

The single factor experiment was used to explore the optimum process parameters for electrochemical decolorization of indigo dyeing wastewater by changing the applied voltage, electrolysis time and electrolyte concentration. At the voltage of 9 V, the morphology of flocs with different electrolytic times was observed and the effect of electrolyte concentration on decolorization rate in two electrolyte systems was also investigated. Further analysis of chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rate, anode weight loss and sediment quantity after electrochemical treatment of indigo dyeing wastewater were carried out.

Comprehensive considering the decolorization degree and COD removal rate of the wastewater, the aluminum electrode showed the best treatment effect among several common anode materials. With aluminum electrode as an anode, under conditions of applied voltage of 9 V, electrolysis time of 40 min and sodium sulfate concentration of 6 g/L, the decolorization percentage obtained was of 94.59% and the COD removal rate reached at 84.53%.

In the electrochemical treatment of indigo dyeing wastewater, the aluminum electrode was found as an ideal anode material, which provided a reference for the choice of anodes. The electrodes used in this study were homogenous material and the composite material anode needed to be further researched.

It provided an effective and practical anode material choice for electrochemical degradation of indigo dyeing wastewater.

Combined with the influence of applied voltage, electrolysis time and electrolyte concentration and anode materials on decolorization degree and COD removal rate of indigo dyeing wastewater, providing a better electrochemical treatment system for dyehouse effluent.

Food wastage is a major contributor to pervasive world hunger. Cutting global food waste in half by 2030 is one of the United Nation's top priorities. Hence, this paper aims to provide useful insights on how individual behavior might be influenced to help reduce food wastage and hunger by identifying individual food waste determinants.

A total of 297 useable responses were obtained from a survey using a food diary method. A logit model was employed to estimate the relationship between leftovers and its determinants (preparedness to take own action, price conscious, food review, religiosity, health conscious, cost, marital status and gender).

Results show that preparedness to be responsible for one's actions, depending on food reviews and being waste conscious had a significant positive relationship with food waste reducing behavior, along with being male and being married.

The study suggests that there is scope for policy initiatives to reduce the individual utility from discarding food and increase the individual utility from food saving activities. Penalizing individual or household food wastage through a tax will directly raise the cost of wastage and reduce the net utility from discarding food. Reducing food waste could help reduce global hunger.

Rationally, no one will have any intention to waste when buying food. Instead, in the context of deciding whether or not to leave leftover food, an individual is posited to weigh the potential utility from saving food or throwing it away. Thus, this study examines food waste behavior by utilizing economic tools, which is rare in the food waste literature.