We present an update on our proposal that during the 'quasar era' (1.5 ≲ z ≲ 3), powerful radio galaxies could have played a major role in the enhanced global star-formation, and in the widespread magnetization and metal pollution of the universe. A key ingredient of this proposal is our estimate that the true cosmological evolution of the radio galaxy population is likely to be even steeper than what has been inferred from flux-limited samples of radio sources with redshift data, when an allowance is made for the inverse Compton losses on the cosmic microwave background which were much greater at higher redshifts. We thus estimate that a large fraction of the clumps of proto-galactic material within the cosmic web of filaments was probably impacted by the expanding lobes of radio galaxies during the quasar era. Some recently published observational evidence and simulations which provide support for this picture are pointed out. We also show that the inverse Compton x-ray emission from the population of radio galaxies during the quasar era, which we inferred to be largely missing from the derived radio luminosity function, is still only a small fraction of the observed soft x-ray background (XRB) and hence the limit imposed on this scenario by the XRB is not violated.

At present, most of web-based applications are on the basis of HTML-based form documents. These HTML-based form documents only play a role as user interfaces, but they don"t involve the procedures or rules of processing business works that aim to documents. However, form documents imply methods for treating documents, and these procedural knowledge embedded can utilize to actively perform business work processes. Procedural knowledge is defined in ERML(Executable Rule Markup Language), which is a XML-based rule markup language that has a format of Prolog rules. The ERML is not only executable in an inference engine, but also can be geared with WfMS (Workflow Management System) and can be used in a heterogeneous rule-based application. Thus, this paper proposes a ERML-based scheme for processing active documents as device for automating a workflow that involve a process of treating documents. Our active documents themselves involve declarative knowledge to support the process and control of business rules embedded in documents and the automation of processing documents. Also, we propose a framework for processing the defined active documents. In order to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed framework, a prototype called ActiveWebForm is designed and implemented for a case of processing a request for requisition of IP(Internet Procurement) system. As a result, our approach is expected to contribute to intelligence and automation of Internet applications as processing documents by embedding declarative knowledge.

Modified inert gas condensation method was used to produce the nanocluster composites of . High-resolution TEM, SEM and catalytic measurements have been used to characterize the samples and study the synergistic effect between the CuO phase and (ceria) support. By varying the He pressure, the heating temperature and configuration of the heating boats inside the modified gas condensation chamber, nanoclusters of varying sizes, shapes and composition can be produced. The composition and nanostructured morphology were shown to influence the catalytic properties of the system. A copper content around 10 at% with a morphology that favors high-energy surfaces of ceria is shown to be beneficial for a high catalytic activity.

Human intestinal flora is very diverse; with lactic acid bacteria (LAB) existing as part of the most vital gut microbes that improve host health. The application of LAB as a whole organism or its metabolite in the case of probiotic and bacteriocin respectively is extensive. Thus, the need to always bio-prospect for newer strains of LAB is essential. This study focused on isolating LAB from kunun-zaki and kindirmo, a fermented non-alcoholic beverage of non-dairy and dairy sources respectively, explored their physiological and biochemical properties, antibiotics sensitivity pattern and identified based on their 16S rRNA sequencing. A total of eighty isolates were selected sixty-six from kunun-zaki and fourteen from kindirmo in which 93.7% were bacilli and 6.3% were spherical in shape having 68.75% and 30% homofermentative and heterofermentative pathway respectively. All isolates have the ability to utilize glucose to produce lactic acid while their tolerance to pH 3 and salt concentration at 2%, 4% and 6.5% varied widely. Thirty-four isolates based on their physiological and biochemical properties were selected for molecular identification to ascertain their genera and species. Limosilactobacillus fermentum (68%); Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (6%) and Weissella confusa (3%) were confirmed species isolated. Thus, it was concluded that traditional fermented foods such as kunun-zaki and kindirmo are a good source to bio-prospect for LAB for product development, starter culture and probiotic study.

The purpose of this research aims to develop the creative economy sector of rural communities in Trenggalek Regency, East Java, Indonesia by mapping the creative economy sub-sectors in Trenggalek Regency. The creative economy industry has been shown to have a positive effect on GDP in many developing countries and developed countries. In urban areas, the creative economy is often associated with the development of advanced technology, such that it is unlikely to evolve in rural communities. However, the rural environmental landscape, which not only has a wealth of creative human capital but also a cultural heritage, also encourages the growth of the creative economy sector in rural areas. This qualitative research was conducted for 60 working days through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, observation and literature review. More precisely, first, it identified the potential of the creative economy both sectorally and regionally. Second, it identified the leading creative economy subsectors and compiled a creative economic development road map. After defining and mapping the potential of the creative economy, four of the sixteen sub-sectors of the creative economy were identified to be developed through a strategic plan for the growth of the creative economy using urban branding, innovative industrial centers and renewable resources.

This research tests the effects of institutional pressures, the use of performance measurement systems and accountability, and moderation effects of human resource capability between institutional pressures and the use of performance measurement systems in the Local Government institutions in Indonesia. The research aims to provide empirical evidence both quantitatively and qualitatively that isomorphism institutional pressures occurred in the scope of implementation of the performance measurement system and accountability in the public sector organizations and to show the importance of human resource capability enhancement in reducing external pressure impact. In addition, it tries to develop the correlation model of institutional pressures, human resource capability, implementation of the performance measurement system, and accountability of public sector organizations. The research used mixed methods with sequential explanatory design. The data collection used surveys and interviews in 209 regency/Special Region of Yogyakarta and Central Java local governments as samples. The research result indicated that the institutionalization process of the performance measurement is influenced by institutional pressures, especially coercive and mimetic pressures. Human resource capability was unable to weaken institutional pressures effects in the performance measurement system implementation. The research also proved that the use of a performance measurement system was able to improve local government institution accountability.

This study investigates the impact of the country’s governance on the revenue efficiency of 108 Islamic banks from 26 countries offering Islamic banking and finance products services. The technical efficiencies of individual Islamic banks have been analyzed using the Data Envelopment Analysis method. The data will be pooled across the selected countries and utilize the intermediation approach. The Ordinary Least Square estimation method is employed to examine the impact of country supervision and regulation on the technical efficiency of Islamic banks. As robustness check, the study examines the impact of the level of bank regulations and supervision on the efficiency of Islamic banks operating in different income-level countries. The results found that the stricter the supervisory power, the less strict capital requirement, the tighter the restrictions on non-banking activities, and the stricter the private monitoring enhance statistically significantly the level of efficiency of Islamic banks. In upgrading the regulations and supervision of the Islamic banks, the existing regulatory framework based on the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) must be complemented with the prescriptions on Islamic banking or Shariah compliance diligently, so that the Islamic banks could be regulated accurately and further improve the technical efficiency of their operations.

The stock market serves as a representation of economic well-being in a country. Along with the myriad of economic predictors, specific knowledge possession may lead to different macro consequences of stock performance and market value. This study empirically investigates the capacity of possessing excellent intellectual capital to increase the performance and values of listed banks in Indonesia. The selection of banks as the primary data represents such sectors’ capability to attract, employ, or exploit the excellent internal capacity under the discussion of resource-based view theory. At best to the authors’ knowledge, this topic’s findings are still elusive and debatable upon considering the direct and indirect relationships between the proposed exogenous and endogenous variables. Eighteen listed banks form the panel data throughout 2011-2016. This study employs a path analysis and Sobel test to obtain the results of the proposed hypothesis. The results report some positive relationships of the intellectual capital to firms’ performances and values, directly and indirectly, with a substantial effect on the second model compared to the first model. This study highlighted knowledge’s capacity as a vital basis to gauge the banks’ performance and valuation. However, a better formulation of intellectual capital is required to capture a better measurement.

This research was conducted to achieve several objectives and focus research was based on financial behavior theory and prospect theory as grounded theory e.g., investigate the financial decision-making behavior between financial and real assets investment, and confirm the relationship existing between herding behavior and overconfidence factors to the level of loss and regret aversion, and financial literacy into real assets investment decisions. The study used 220 real estate auction respondents as investor samples at the State Assets and Auction Service Office Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Data was collected through the use of a questionnaire consisting of 23 questions to measure the variables. Moreover, the research data passed through several feasibility tests like the inner and outer modeling by Partial Least Square – Structural equation model (PLS-SEM) while the hypotheses formulated were also tested to determine the magnitude of the variable relationship. Through the use of the direct and intervening test, loss and regret aversion variables have a positive and significant effect while financial literacy variables have no significant effect. There is a slight difference in the decision-making process for real assets and financial assets investors. Investment decision making behavior in the financial assets sector requires less complicated decisions compared to the decisions related to real assets investments.

This study investigates the impact of the country’s governance on the revenue efficiency in the banking sectors of 42 Islamic banks in 15 countries offering Islamic banking and financial services. Technical efficiencies of individual Islamic banks were analyzed using the Data Envelopment Analysis method. The Ordinary Least Square estimation method is employed to examine the impact of country supervision and regulation on the technical efficiency of Islamic banks. With robustness check, the study assesses the impact of bank regulations and supervision on the efficiency of Islamic banks operating in different regions. The empirical findings suggest that supervisory power, activity restrictions, and private monitoring positively influence the efficiency of Islamic banks. On the other hand, we observe a negative impact of capital requirement on Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. The findings indicate that supervisory power, activity restrictions, and private monitoring positively influence the efficiency of Islamic banks in Asia, but vice versa on capital requirement in MENA countries. This study will contribute to the body of knowledge by assessing the types of reforms in bank regulations and supervision that work best for Islamic banks in order to increase the level of efficiency and the level of regulations and supervision of Islamic banks.

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of profitability as a mediating variable in influencing firm value. This study uses a sample of manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2016 to 2018. The data used is panel data, with data analysis using multiple regression. Based on the Sobel test, profitability plays a role in mediating the effect of firm size on firm value. The effect of firm size on firm value is indirect, however, through profitability. Therefore, the market price of the shares of large-scale companies will increase if the resulting profitability is high. The capital structure and managerial ownership directly influence firm value. The results showed that managerial ownership and firm size had a positive effect on profitability, while capital structure had no effect on profitability. Capital structure and managerial ownership have a negative effect on firm value, while firm size and profitability have a positive effect on firm value. The main finding of this study is that profitability acts as an intervening variable in mediating the relationship between firm size and firm value.

This study aims to test empirically whether the ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard (ACGS) has a positive effect on Sustainability Reporting (SR) and whether the ACGS and Sustainability Reporting (SR) have a positive effect on Firm Value (FV). The study was conducted in five ASEAN countries - Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, and Thailand from 2014 - 2017. The research sample was collected from companies with the ACGS data and obtained with the help of 359 company observations. Hypothesis testing was performed using the Ordinary Least Square (OLS). The results of the study do not support all hypotheses. The ACGS has no effect on sustainability reporting. The ACGS has a significant negative effect on firm value, while sustainability reporting has a negative and insignificant effect on firm value. The ACGS and sustainability reporting are not good news for investors. This research’s limitation is that companies rarely disclose the final value of the ACGS in their annual reports, so this research uses content analysis. The weakness of content analysis is the researchers’ subjectivity so that the point of view between researchers is different. Besides, sustainability reporting for several ASEAN countries is voluntary, so not all companies can be sampled, which ultimately affects interpretation.

This study aims to analyze the effect of public spending, macroeconomic variables, and BPK opinion on economic growth. This study is motivated by the inequality of fiscal policy effectiveness between regions in Indonesia in influencing the economic growth of different regions, the ability of local governments to attract foreign investors, and the transparency of regional financial management in designing development programs to encourage regional economic growth. The analytical tool in this study is a dynamic panel regression model with data from 2008 to 2017. The results of this study show that, in the short term, the population affects regional economic growth, while in the long term, the economic growth is affected by the number of people, the poor, General Allocation Fund, health budget, foreign investment and BPK opinion. The findings of this study are that in the long term the General Allocation Fund becomes an obstacle to economic growth, this is because the general allocation funds is widely used to cover the lack of funds for routine regional activities, thereby reducing activities for development programs. Another research finding is that fiscal policies carried out by local governments make a small and ineffective contribution to promoting economic growth.

The study investigates developing an Islamic student financing securitization model based on sukuk structures. This study employs sample of descriptive, analytical, and comparative analyses utilized to discuss a novel framework of Islamic securitization through the different structures of sukuk wakalah derived from asset securitization. The result served to investigate the use of Islamic student financing securitization in a Shariah-compliant manner, which would be implementable in Malaysia. It emphasized the sukuk structures based on the wakeel principle, which indicated a situation where a wakeel or representative appointment was made to manage a project on the behalf of the sukuk holder. The findings of this study supported the economic benefits obtained in the form of lower overall financing costs through the use of securitization for student financing in higher education. This paper offers important implications specifically for the creation of sukuk structures and issuing a highly graded and marketable sukuk, which are compliant towards global Shariah principles. The paper fills the gap perceived within the existing literature of Islamic finance by showing Islamic securitization via sukuk as a viable source of funds potential utilizable in stabilizing the securities market. It can also pose as a solution for securing a sustainable funding.

The study examines the efficiency of private sector banks in India with the help of Window DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) for a period from 2005 to 2017. With a window of three years, the period was divided into 11 windows. The study outcomes show that 59.9% of all private sector banks in India operate at more than 0.9 level of efficiency, and there are only three occasions when banks were operating at the efficiency value between 0.6 to 0.7. Further, the consistency in the efficiency scores of the banks has also been analyzed using an efficiency mapping matrix, and the mean efficiency score of the bank in each window is studied. The score of standard deviation was interpreted accordingly for these banks. Banks that are showing the highest efficiency scores also have a higher variance of efficiency scores. There was no bank identified in the matrix that promises high-efficiency ratings with low variability. The study concludes that the analysis of the efficiency mapping matrix indicates that, as a DMU escalates in the efficiency scores, the standard deviation reflecting the risk in overall efficiency scores also tends to rise. The findings complement the concept of higher risk to higher return or greater efficiency

The current study explains how corruption, terrorism, political stability and oil price has an effect on on the Iraq stock exchange utilizing corruption perception index as a proxy of corruption, global terrorism index as proxy for terrorism, political stability and oil price with ISX60 index as proxy of stock market for the period (2005-2019) using Ordinary Least Square method. The results show that the level of corruption, terrorism activities and political stability coefficient is significantly positive with Iraq stock exchange. In contrast, the oil price coefficient is significantly negative with Iraq stock exchange, which means that lower levels of corruption, less terrorism activities and more stability in political system have strong influence on stock market development in Iraq. The study concludes that the explanatory variables are important for Iraq stock exchange. Hence, the study suggests the policy makers to develop stock market by implementing policies and strategies to overcome high level of corruption, terrorism activities especially after ISIS/ISIL announcement has been made public. There is a need for transparency and creating stable political environment through good governance practices in order to attract more foreign investment and promote economic development. Factors like terrorism and corruption make economic and political systems unstable and has an adverse effect on on Iraq’s stock exchange performance.

This study aims to examine the causality between production input and the price of rice in East Java, Indonesia. This study applied a quantitative method to understand in a comprehensive way the correlation between variables. The data used for this study were collected from several sources, including East Java Agriculture Office, Siskaperbapo.com, and Statistics Indonesia (BPS) of East Java. This research was carried out over five years, starting from 2014 to 2018. Furthermore, the data were analyzed using the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) by employing E-Views (version 7). The findings of this study indicated that, in the long run, the population, rice production, and changes in people’s income have a positive effect on price stability, but are inversely proportional if seen in the short term. In comparison, in the long run, farmer exchange rates variable has a negative impact on price stability, and inversely proportional in the short term, which has a positive effect. There are different implications when the people’s income increases and the rice price declines; these have great potential to alleviate poverty in East Java, Indonesia. This is due to the fact that the price stability also concerns the welfare of the community.