Author Finds Research Articles

Too hot and too close. Bitcoin and gold dynamics during COVID times

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the connectedness between bitcoin (BTC) and other traditional assets (e.g. metals) in times of financial turbulence like the COVID pandemic. The purpose is to see to what extent BTC is mimicking the role precious metals are known for, that of being a reliable store of value. Design/methodology/approach The author relies on vector autoregressive modeling, as it yields a very flexible framework for forecasting and interpreting the interdependencies among variables, while providing a very intuitive framework when the underlying structural model is unknown. The author performs the analysis first for the whole sample and then for a “COVID-19 subsample.” Findings The author finds evidence supporting a stronger link between BTC and gold in COVID-19 times, with BTC the main driving force. The author quantifies the contribution of BTC to the surge in gold’s price during those early months of COVID-19 in the order of 28%, thus lending support to the idea of intrinsic or fundamental value in BTC. Practical implications Investors might consider including BTC in their portfolios as a long-term investment, very much like they do with gold. Social implications Cryptos at large represent an important check on the ever-expanding monetary policy pursued by central banks in recent times. Originality/value The COVID-19 pandemic has taken its toll on the world economy. It is thus timely to reevaluate the relationship between BTC and other assets such as gold and silver, which are traditionally seen as safe havens against uncertainty.

Online Youth Subculture Performance from the perspective of Emotional Communication–Research on the phenomenon of “Nonsense Literature”

" In this study, the semi-structured in-depth interview method is used to conduct qualitative research on the phenomenon of “nonsense literature”, in an attempt to answer the reasons and mechanism of its prevalence.Through the research, the author finds that “nonsense literature” not only presents a distinct tendency of satire and resistance and subculture attributes, but also has a powerful communicative function and has its applicable context in real life.It is worth noting that this study also found that the sudden surge in popularity of “nonsense literature” makes people blindly follow the trend, and its contents are mixed, which has a certain negative impact on the network environment, which is worthy of vigilance and reflection."

IoT forensics: Analysis of a HIKVISION's mobile app

CCTV surveillance systems are ubiquitous IoT products. These CCTV systems can be remotely operated using either a mobile or a desktop application. HIKVISION is a well-known manufacturer of such devices that offers a variety of applications that allow remote usage of their products. Research regarding digital forensics of HIKVISION's CCTV systems is scarce and currently only limited to recovering video footage from the devices themselves, skipping all valuable artifacts that could reside within the applications' data that were utilized to access them. This unexplored piece of evidence is currently not parsed by either commercial or open source software yet it can hide vital information for a number of investigative questions. In this paper, a HIKVISION's mobile application is thoroughly analyzed, in both Android and iOS operating systems, in pursuit of evidentiary data that could reside within. Exploiting the findings of this study authors contributed to FOSS with the aim of assisting investigators with their examinations. In particular, they used their findings to develop relevant parsers for ALEAPP and iLEAPP.

ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERNAL CONTROL OVER THE FINANCIAL REPORTING SYSTEM

After the major corporate accounting scandals that happened at the beginning of the 21st century, many countries introduced the obligation to disclose information about the effectiveness of internal control over the financial reporting system. It was based on the assumption that mandatory reporting on internal control will encourage managers to pay more attention to the improvement of internal control over the financial reporting system and that this will lead to an improvement in the quality of financial statements and restore investor confidence in financial statements. The aim of this paper is to examine the economic consequences of the introduction of the obligation to disclose information on the effectiveness of internal control i.e., whether the assumed benefits have been realised. In order to realize the established goal, the author analyses the results of numerous empirical studies that investigated the impact of disclosure of information about the effectiveness of internal control on the quality of financial statements, the behaviour of investors and the behaviour of lenders. According to the author's findings, the obligation to disclose information about the effectiveness of internal control led to an improvement in the quality of financial statements. Also, the disclosure of this information has informational value for investors and lenders and affects their behaviour i.e., their risk assessment and the decisions they make.

Tafsir Sastra Kontemporer Oleh Amin Al-Khuli Dan Aisyah Abdurrahman Bint Al-Syathi’

This article discusses the patterns in contemporary literary methods offered by Amin al-Khuli to the world of interpretation. The author finds that Amin al-Khuli gives the tendency of mufassir in interpreting the Qur'an, so that interpretation is more oriented towards hudalinnas and uses the concept of the Qur'an as the book of Salih li kulli al-zaman wa al-makan. The literary approach brought by Amin al-Khuli was then interpreted by his student Aisyah Abdurrahman Bint al-Syathi' who was none other than his wife. Bint al-Syathi' then applied this method in his commentary which includes the first fourteen Makiyyah chapters entitled al-Tafsir al-Bayan li al-Qur'an al-Karim.

Tirani Kebahagiaan dan Media Sosial: Sebuah Kajian Media dan Politik

Social media content has taken up a lot of our attention, a lot of time and energy is spent either creating content or just exploring it. This of course does not only have a positive impact on us, on the other side of the pendulum there are 'mines' ready to blow up anyone who is not aware of the negative effects. This paper attempts to provide an overview of the hidden agendas of social media that are consciously or unconsciously realized by its users, where the hedonic treadmill concept is used as the main analysis knife. This article is qualitative by using impressions on YouTube as the object of writing. Shows that are used as the object of analysis include: 1) Why Social Media Is Toxic for Teen Mental Health | Fault Lines Documentary; 2) Teens, Social Media, and Technology (Full Documentary; 3) The Instagram Effect 2022 Documentary. The author finds that social media has great potential to encourage a continuous search for happiness as evidenced by the acquisition of as many like-view-shares as possible. In addition, the next finding is that social media makes a major contribution to the formation of a negative image of the body and mental disorders that lead to suicide. The ultimate terminal is the utilization of algorithms to generate more profit for social media.

РЕЛИГИОЗНО-НРАВСТВЕННОЕ СОДЕРЖАНИЕ РЕЛИГИОЗНОЙ ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ: СОЦИОКУЛЬТУРНЫЙ АСПЕКТ

The article highlights the peculiarity of the parable as a genre of religious literature. The parable is studied in different author's contexts from the point of view of its socio-cultural functionality. The author finds in the parables of different times and peoples moments of teaching morality, spiritual and labor, family and value education. From the author's point of view, the parable lays the foundations of a criterion assessment of a person, his way of life, which are clearly differentiated through the established structure of artistic opposition.

The International Trade of Non-Euro CEE Countries During the Period 2014-2021. A Multiparameter Analysis

On their development path the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries partially overcame the gap to the developed countries by means of the external trade, acquiring the needed goods and services and satisfying the foreign demand for their products which otherwise was lacking on their territory or seizing an opportunity. In the current paper the authors aim at analysing the evolution of the trade flows of the countries they thought to be the most similar in this aspect, which are the ones belonging to the non-euro area of the European Union (EU) during the period 2014-2021. The research used the Eurostat database, the products being classified after the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) main categories in order to find out the sectors with the largest contribution to the total surplus or deficit. Moreover, there were identified the main partners of every analysed country and calculated the evolution of respective trade balances at the start and the end of the selected period of time. The authors findings reveal an increasing dependency on exports to Germany, imports from China, decreasing imports of mineral fuels from Russia and also important similarities and differences in the group. The novelty of the manuscript resides in comparing the most profitable sectors during the analysed period and identifying the partners’ contribution to the surplus or the deficit. The current research might be extended with a more in-depth level of multinational enterprises and also in the case of services.

Leveraging product quality and price for attainment of the manufacturer's economic objectives

PurposeThis paper analytically models and numerically investigates two operating levers, namely optimization of product price and optimization of product quality in the context of a manufacturer that sells the products directly in the marketplace. The study attempts to identify how optimizing product quality and product price can fulfill a manufacturer's economic aims such as maximization of the manufacturer's profit and market demand. Anchored to the extant literature, the demand is modeled as a parametric joint multiplicative function of price and quality. Further, price is modeled as a function of product quality.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the authors evolve the analytical expression for the manufacturer's profit. Thereafter, following the mathematical principles of unconstrained optimization, the authors arrive at the conditions for optimal product quality and product price. The authors further perform numerical experiments to understand the behavior of economic dimensions such as profit and demand with respect to sensitivities associated with cost, quality and price.FindingsThe authors find that under product quality optimization, the optimal product quality is a unique solution in that a highest possible theoretical manufacturer's profit is obtained. However, in the case of product price optimization, the optimal product price is non-unique and is a function of product quality. The authors further find that in the context of functional quality-level expectations, product quality optimization as an operating lever gives a better dividend. However, in the case of higher product quality expectations, product price optimization performs better than product quality optimization. Further, several novel findings are also obtained from numerical experimentations.Originality/valueThe findings of the authors' study have implications for types of industries characterized by relatively low as well as relatively high competitive intensity. Further, as opposed to several extant studies that have often carried out joint optimization of quality and price, the authors' study is one of the first to study the impact of product price and product quality on the manufacturer's economic objective in a disparate and focused manner, thus capturing individual effects.

A Study on Emergency Management Policy Triggered by The Crowd Crush in Itaewon, South Korea

On the evening of October 29, 2022, a large-scale crowd crush killing more than 150 people occurred in Itaewon, South Korea. It aroused the attention of the whole world. To prevent crowd crush and stabilize the social environment, improving existing emergency management policies is necessary. Analyzing the crowd crush in Itaewon, the author finds that due to the impact of the epidemic, people's psychology and behavior when going out in the post-epidemic era are different from those in the early years. Because of the absence of large-scale crowd crush accidents for a long time, people's safety awareness is very weak compared with the early years. And many rumors and bad information about crowd crush appeared on Korean social platforms, which brought bad impact on society and caused secondary injuries to survivors. At the same time, the South Korean government also suffers from problems like loose systems and insufficient prior preparation. Therefore, governments should strengthen the construction of emergency management systems, and refine emergency response plans in advance. Real-time dynamic monitoring can also be adapted to conduct real-time investigation of the flow and the density of people during a large-scale activity, so as to achieve early warning and timely action. It is also necessary to strengthen the construction of the network environment, promptly stop the spread of rumors and bad information, and do a good job of effectively refuting rumors and providing psychological treatment to disaster survivors.

Pendampingan UMKM Berbasis E-Commerce dan Packaging di Desa Mancak Kabupaten Serang

This research is motivated by community service activities (student work lectures) carried out by Serang Raya University students, where one of the main targets is to find out how business communication is carried out by MSMEs Onion sticks from Mancak Village and to improve MSMEs to become more advanced. By using qualitative research methods and a case study approach, using Fatimah, who is the founder of this UMKM, and Febby Fitriani as the owner, the author finds that the UMKM Sticks of Mancak Village initially only used interpersonal communication by entrusting their products to stalls. around. Since it was founded in 2015, it was only in 2022 or to be precise after the service activities carried out by Serang Raya University students, this Stick MSME began rejuvenation with new packaging which had a positive impact on increasing product sales. In 2022, MSME Onion Sticks will start selling via the e-commerce Shopee, but with the complexity of e-commerce tools and the need for the latest or additional gadgets, therefore marketing through e-commerce has not run optimally. The SWOT analysis is also attached at the end of the discussion to provide positive input for the MSME Sticks of Mancak Village, particularly, and MSMEs for food products in general

PERINTAH SUJUD KEPADA ADAM DALAM AL-QUR’AN DAN KANDUNGAN PEDAGOGISNYA

So far, the interpretation of the Qur'an with an educational approach (tafsīr tarbawī) has not given much attention, even though it is believed that the vital element in the revelation of the Qur'an is education itself. In this article the author attempts to find educational (pedagogical) messages contained in the verses of the Qur'an which discuss the command to prostrate to Adam. This study is important because so far the verses related to this theme have often been associated with theological, Sufistic and political messages (the ideal model of government). While attention to its pedagogical content is still lacking. This study can also be referred to as the thematic interpretation study (tafsīr maudhūi) because the author reviews the content of the verses of the Qur'an based on a particular theme, by following the steps of the thematic method in interpretation. With an educational approach (tarbawī) to the interpretation of these verses, the author finds psychological and ethical messages contained therein. Psychologically, Adam and the Devil as a symbolism of two inherently opposing natures in humans. Therefore, the bad qualities (Satan) must be subordinated to the good qualities (Adam). Meanwhile, ethically, humans can achieve happiness if they are able to subdue the following four bad characters: (1). Being arrogant, (2). Feeling more noble, (3). Kufr against favors and (4). Hasad.

Digital Marketing Communication for Promoting Philippines Tourism

Pandemic is beyond league within society as it has been a disaster for economy, health, lifestyle, and mind. People lives outside their house and chatting like a carefree bird before pandemic, then the pandemic happened. As such, Tourism that is industry where people lives outside their house forced them to set backward and halted in development. When the pandemic is over, it is important to see development of tourism especially for Philippine Tourism; thus, we can see how much the strength of human race trying to recover from natural disaster in order to improve their effort in case another same case happened again. With the content analysis, the Author finds out that even though they suffered damage from COVID-19 crisis, Philippine Tourism shows a strong humanity combination in their content. It shows that whether in sick or in health, humanity union still exists. Keywords: digital marketing communication; tourism promotion; Philippines tourism

Financial Analysis and Operation Analysis of Pinduoduo Based on SWOT

With the rapid development of the income level and e-commerce in China, the low-consumption population is gradually being overlooked by merchants. Nevertheless, founded in 2015, Pinduoduo (PDD) has made a spectacular achievement, precisely noticing and targeting the sinking market, reaching a huge success. Thus, in this paper, the author mainly focused on the reason why PDD could thrive in the competitive Chinese e-commerce market and PDD’s successful marketing strategies. In addition, based on SWOT analysis, the author investigates the main strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that are related to PDD. The author also collects and analyzes data from its financial reports. Based on these analyses, the author will correspondingly give suggestions that will be beneficial for PDD’s future development. Consequently, the author finds that even though PDD is successful in operating, it has a large number of problems, for which needed to transform itself from mid-to-high tier by providing better services.

Individualism, Collectivism, and Identity Politics in Palestinian Life Writing

ABSTRACT This article examines the tensions, (dis)continuities, and precariousness of postcolonial identities in the autobiographical writings of Palestinian authors Ghada Karmi and Raja Shehadeh. The question of identity will be examined considering Gayatri Spivak’s conceptualisation of strategic essentialism and Kimberlé Crenshaw’s collective identity politics in the texts, as well as concepts of multiple affiliations by Amin Maalouf and Chantal Mouffe. Through the textual and contextual analysis, I demonstrate that emphasising an individualist sense of identity is a vital means of empowerment for the subject in a patriarchal and collectivist culture. Simultaneously, identifying with the national collective emerges in these texts as an indispensable means of anti-colonial resistance and steadfastness. Particularly in a context of ongoing settler colonialism, collectivist affiliation becomes inevitable to safeguard Indigenous identity and to challenge the hegemonic colonial discourse that aims to eliminate the native collective. Therefore, a conflict arises between the authors’ desire for nonconformity and individualist expression on the one hand and the imposed collectivist affiliation due to the urgent anti-colonial cause on the other. I argue that the individual author finds him/herself trapped in an unresolvable predicament of identity that dramatises questions of belonging and affiliation. These personal narratives are thus paradoxically and unavoidably relational, dependent, and speak to the collective experience of the Palestinian people. The article concludes that identification in contexts of colonial struggle challenges both the binary opposition of individualism and collectivism, and the notion of a unified and autonomous selfhood.

A historical review of sustainable construction in Nigeria: a decade of development and progression

PurposeResearch studies related to sustainability and green building have made monumental contributions to the concept of sustainable construction (SC) in Nigeria. This paper therefore aims to present a historical review of the development of SC in Nigeria over a 10 year period. The review also provides constructive perspective on the benefits of SC and the present state of enforcement of green building in Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachA historical review strategy was applied to the study. Using secondary data sources, 47 influential journals from emerald, scopus and science direct database focusing on “SC”, “sustainability” and “green building” in Nigeria between 2012 and 2022 were used for the analysis.Findings The analysis deduced that the development of SC in Nigeria have undergone a triple period of development: the inception period (2012–2016), the transition period (2016–2020) and the advancement period (2020–present). The review juxtaposes the three timeline to show rapid growth in the awareness of SC, but revealed moderate levels of implementation in some major cities in Nigeria. Therefore, the author finds and argues that the advancement of SC in Nigeria can be achieved through the synergy, commitment and active roles of researchers, academics, practitioners, policy makers and the government in enforcing existing green policies.Originality/value The study is the first academic paper to undertake a decade long historical review of SC in Nigeria. This review provides an up-to-date understanding of the developments, changing dynamics and future progressions in the field of SC in Nigeria.

Legal Institutions Facilitating Institutions as Determinants of Banking Operational Policy Direction

This study aims to examine the role of bank facilitating institutions and their functions in relation to the policy of banking business activities in Indonesia in carrying out the management system and work system of the bank. In this study the authors used explanatory qualitative research methods, data were obtained from official sources related to information regarding the roles and functions of facilitating institutions with Islamic banking financial institutions as well as from book reference sources and other relevant references. The author finds that overall the bank facilitator institution plays an important role as an institution that supports the running of Islamic bank activities in a proportional and orderly manner. And the authors found that according to LPS information, so far there have been no Islamic banks, especially those that have failed banks or banks whose existence needs to be saved. The essence of the role and function of the facilitating institution is very closely related to financial institutions. And each institution has different authorities, functions and duties in supervising, overseeing, protecting, resolving problems, issuing fatwas related to bank products and regulations regarding work systems. The main function of the bank facilitating institution is to support bank business activities so that they run effectively and in a sound and orderly manner.

Governmental responses mitigating the impact of COVID‐19 on small and medium‐sized enterprises and the case for insolvency law reforms in Hong Kong

AbstractThe COVID‐19 crisis has triggered unprecedented governmental responses around the world to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, with particular attention being given to small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Governments around the world have implemented economic measures in the form of direct subsidies or government‐guaranteed loans, and legislated to provide mandatory relief from contractual obligations. In addition, increasing recognition of the limitations of insolvency regime in addressing the crisis for SMEs prompted many jurisdictions to change their laws. However, consistent with its free market principles, Hong Kong has only adopted economic measures and has provided limited contractual relief in favour of SME tenants. There is no SME‐specific insolvency law nor is the Hong Kong government currently considering any such law reform. This article reviews the need for a temporary insolvency regime to cater to distressed but economically viable SMEs restructure their debts. Drawing on a set of interviews with Hong Kong SME owners, this author finds that they are often unaware of how insolvency law operates, their unsecured creditors are apathetic, and bankruptcy stigmatism is high. Based on a review of the frameworks in the other advanced common law jurisdictions such as the United States, Australia and Singapore, a recommendation for a simplified restructuring and liquidation framework is developed. The process is designed to be simplified and expedited and it incentivises early negotiations with creditors.

Analisis Yuridis Terkait Penerapan Euthanasia Yang Dilakukan di Indonesia Berdasarkan Perspektif Hukum Pidana

As a result of the advancement of science and technology, which has had a significant impact on altering human life, patients or families can now request the assistance of a doctor or medical staff in order to hasten a loved one's demise. However, the request for death was made because there was no medical treatment that could foretell or lessen the patient's illness, all attempts to cure the patient by the doctor had failed, and the patient and his family were unable to pay for the patient's care. Based on the author's findings on euthanasia research, it can be concluded that both in terms of the legal order in Indonesia, the practice of euthanasia itself has not yet found a place for regulation to regulate both specifically and clearly. Whereas as explained in the discussion, even though there are various articles in various laws such as the Criminal Code and UUDNRI 1945 there are several articles that slightly intersect with euthanasia, regarding the existence of euthanasia in Indonesia, it still does not have a special place legally and legally . Whereas the implementation of euthanasia in Indonesia itself, there have been several cases of euthanasia that have occurred in Indonesia, and several of these cases in their application to the realm of the Courts in Indonesia have not been given space in practice, in contrast to several other countries which have legalized the practice of euthanasia, such as the Netherlands and America. However, in carrying out the euthanasia practice itself, there are several conditions for carrying out the euthanasia practice itself.

Stock prediction in machine learning: Comparison and analysis

In recent years, the rapid development of machine learning has made it go into the field of stocks prediction. There have already been a few mature algorithms in the world that could help analyze the futural movements of the stocks market. In this paper, the author aims to exploit the effectiveness of machine learning methods in stock prediction. The utilized algorithms contain SOM(Self-organizing Maps) and SVR(Support vector regression) SVM, RNN, LSTM as well as work on several papers from others to estimate the probable advantages or disadvantages of the algorithms. After these experiments and testing, the author finds out some conclusions about the algorithms and realizes that the SOM algorithm has the advantage of exploiting the neighbor relationship on the cluster centroids is beneficial to the interpretation of the clustering results while having the disadvantage that users must select parameters, neighbor function, grid type and number of centroids.