Naresuan University Journal
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Examining the use of corporate governance mechanisms in operational Public-Private Partnerships:Why do they not deliver public accountability?
No full textThe paper examines corporate governance mechanisms which aim to ensure financial accountability in the context of long-term Public-Private Partnership (PPP) contracts in Britain, and assesses the degree to which they provide taxpayers with control and accountability. The corporate governance arrangements are drawn from the private sector, and therefore downplay the traditional concepts of probity and stewardship, in part due to the British Treasury’s adoption of private sector financial reporting.The paper draws on Shaoul et al.’s (2012) framework governance-based reporting framework to critique the corporate governance mechanisms of structure, financial reporting, contracts and scrutiny in relation to British PPP projects. It shows that the way these mechanisms are set up means there is a lack of control by the public sector, thus rendering public accountability ineffective.<br/
Impact bias in student evaluations of higher education
No full textIn the context of Higher Education (HE), this study examines the extent to which affective evaluations of the student experience are influenced by the point at which they are made (i.e. before the experience begins, whilst it is happening, and after it has ended). It adopts a between-group quantitative analysis of the affective evaluations made by 360 future, current and past postgraduate students of a UK business school. The study validates the proposition that affective forecasts and memories of the student experience are considerably inflated in prospect and retrospect; a finding that implies a significant impact bias (Wilson, Meyers and Gilbert, 2003). It is concluded that the impact bias may have important implications for influencing the effectiveness of student decision-making, the timing and comparability of student course evaluations, and the nature and effects of word-of-mouth communication regarding the student experience
Study of the Spectroscopic Data Analysis Pretreatments for Enhancing Performance of NIR Calibration Model for Determining the Brix Value of Japanese Pear
No full textSpectral pretreatment is one of essential procedures to improve data quality prior to establishment of calibration model and removal of physical interferences from spectra, which could enhance the model accuracy. An evaluation of Japanese Pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) sweetness using Near Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy technique with short wavelength (700 ~ 1100 nm) region and interactance mode was investigated. Several multivariate calibration techniques were compared and validated by establishing figures of merit. Various pretreatments with truncation were also employed in order to construct the best model of sweetness assessment. This included an individual and combination pretreatments. The best calibration was obtained through combination of multiplicative scatter correction (MSC) and second derivative (MSC+2D). It was characterized as follows: (F = 3), R2 = 0.77, SEC = 0.56°Brix, SEP = 0.64°Brix and bias of -0.10°Brix. The results suggest potential application of NIR technique by food industries to assess pear sweetness that is non-destructive, fast and flexible.
Keywords: Pear, Near infrared spectroscopy, spectroscopic data analysis, spectral pretreatmen
Are the Fenno-Scandinavian Arctic wetlands a significant regional source of formic acid?
No full textThis study presents the first gaseous formic acid (HC(O)OH) concentration measurements collected over the Fenno-Scandinavian wetlands (67.9–68.0° N, 22.1–27.8° E) as part of the MAMM (Methane and other greenhouse gases in the Arctic-Measurements, process studies and Modelling) aircraft campaigns conducted in August and September 2013. A boundary layer box model approach has been used to calculate a regionally representative (~240 km2) surface flux for HC(O)OH of 0.0098 (±0.0057) mg[HCOOH]·m−2·h−1. A surface-type classification map was used to estimate proportional source contributions to the observed HC(O)OH flux over the measurement region. The removal of expected source contributions (using available literature parameterisations) from the calculated surface flux identified that 75% remained unaccounted for. This may suggest that HC(O)OH emission from wetland within the Fenno-Scandinavian region could contribute up to 29 times higher per unit area than previous theoretical HC(O)OH globally-averaged wetland estimates, highlighting a need for further constrained wetland studies of HC(O)OH emission to better understand its potentially significant impact on the Arctic HC(O)OH budget and consequent impacts on oxidative capacit
Comparison of Arch Widths Measurements Made on Digital and Plaster Models
No full text Objectives: To compare arch widths measurements made on plaster models by using digital caliper, digital models from direct intraoral scanned and indirect scanned on plaster models. Materials and Methods: Upper and lower impressions were taken from thirty volunteers with Class I normal occlusion or Class I malocclusion with mild crowding. The plaster models were made and digital vernier caliper was used to measure inter-canine width, anterior arch width and posterior arch width. Each volunteer and models were also scanned by intraoral scanner. Then, the 3Shape Ortho software was used to measure the arch widths. Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICCs) and One-way ANOVA (P<0.05) were used to assess intra-examiner reliability and validity of measurement between three groups. Result: According to the high values of ICC (0.98-1.00), intra-examiner error could be neglected. Moreover, there were no statistical significantly different of inter-canine width, anterior arch width and posterior arch width between three methods of measurements. Although, scanning on lower arch intraorally was difficult due to the tongue but our result showed that there were no statistical significant different in digital models group compared with plaster models group. Conclusion: The intraoral scanner can be used to measure arch widths with clinically acceptable accuracy and high reliability and reproducibility. In the future, it's possible to use digital models instead of conventional plaster models due to its advantages. Further study should compare tooth size by using these methods to prove the effective of intraoral scanner.
Keywords: intraoral scanner, arch width, digital model, plaster model, model analysi
ทุนทางสังคมกับธรรมนูญการจัดการตนเอง / Social Capital and Self-Management Charter
No full text งานวิจัยนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์หลัก คือ การศึกษาความสัมพันธ์ระหว่างความสมัยใหม่ กระบวนการรับรู้และทุนทางสังคมกับการมีส่วนร่วมทางการเมืองของประชาชนในการจัดทำธรรมนูญการจัดการตนเองขององค์การบริหารส่วนตำบลหนองอ้อ อำเภอศรีสัชนาลัย การศึกษาครั้งนี้เป็นการวิจัยเชิงปริมาณ ข้อมูลของการวิจัยมาจากการเก็บรวบรวมข้อมูลโดยใช้แบบสอบถาม ประชากรการวิจัย ได้แก่ ประชาชนที่มีอายุ 18 ปีขึ้นไป และมีชื่ออยู่ในทะเบียนบ้านในเขตองค์การบริหารส่วนตำบลหนองอ้อ กลุ่มตัวอย่างมีจำนวน 377 คน ซึ่งมาจากสุ่มตัวอย่างแบบโดยใช้หลายขั้นตอน เครื่องมือที่ใช้ในการวิจัย คือ แบบสอบถาม และวิเคราะห์ผลการวิจัยโดยใช้โปรแกรมสถิติสำเร็จรูป ผลการศึกษา พบว่า ความสมัยใหม่และกระบวนการรับรู้ไม่มีความสัมพันธ์กับการมีส่วนร่วมทางการเมืองของประชาชน แต่ทุนทางสังคมมีความสัมพันธ์กับการมีส่วนร่วมทางการเมืองของประชาชน นอกจากนี้ยังพบว่า ความไว้วางใจต่อเจ้าหน้าที่ทางการเมืองและความไว้วางใจต่อบุคคลทั่วไปซึ่งเป็นหนึ่งในองค์ประกอบของทุนทางสังคมมีอิทธิพลสูงมากในการเสริมสร้างการมีส่วนร่วมในการจัดทำธรรมนูญจัดการตนเอง ข้อเสนอแนะที่ได้จากงานวิจัยชิ้นนี้ คือภาครัฐควรให้ความรู้แก่ประชาชนถึงนวัตกรรมหรือกลไกในการตรวจสอบการทำงานของเจ้าหน้าที่รัฐและทุกภาคส่วน ควรมีส่วนร่วมในการสร้างเครือข่ายสังคมแห่งความปลอดภัย เพื่อสร้างความไว้วางใจต่อเจ้าหน้าที่ทางการเมืองและความไว้วางใจต่อบุคคลทั่วไป ซึ่งคาดหมายได้ว่าจะส่งผลดีต่อการเสริมสร้างการมีส่วนร่วมทางการเมืองของประชาชน The main objective of this study is to investigate the relationships among modernization, cognitive engagement and social capital and people’s political participation on making self-management charter in Nor-Or Sub-district, Si Satchanalai District, Sukhothai Province. As a quantitative study, a face-to-face survey and a questionnaire were utilized as the main tools for the investigation in this study. The selection of respondents for the survey was restricted to people of voting age (18 years old and older) who were registered in Nor-Or Sub-district. The 377 samples were selected by employing multi-stage sampling. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was utilized for data analysis. It is discovered that modernization and cognitive engagement do not have any relationship with people’s political participation. In contrast, the findings suggest a strong evidence of a link between social capital and people’s political participation on making self-management charter. Additionally, the study revealed that, trust in incumbent and interpersonal trust, as components of social capital, played the strongest role on promoting people’s political participation on making self-management charter. The results of this study could be used to provide some practical strategies for making Thai public policy. It can be suggested that all levels of government must demonstrate an innovation or mechanism in checking performance of all incumbents. In addition, social safety networks must be created by all members of society. This will allow people to present higher level of trust in incumbent and interpersonal trust, which in turn, may encourage them to participate more in all levels of politics