Digital Commons Network^™

Sorghum And Sorghum-Based Products: Nutritional Composition, Prebiotic Potential And Health Benefits In Gut Microbiota Interactions, W. M.A.D.Binosha Fernando, Rasheed A. Abdulraheem, Kalmee Pramoda Kariyawasam, Amal Sudaraka Samarasinghe, W. M.Kendrea T. Fernando, Hannah Barnes, Malina Robertson, D. P.W. Jayatunga, B. G.D.N.K. De Silva, Vijay Jayasena

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) is a member of the Poaceae family and is the fifth most important crop globally. Sorghum grains (SGs) are rich in health-promoting macro- and micronutrients and phytochemicals. SGs are commonly consumed as food or as ingredients in food, especially in African countries. Therefore, food products such as ogi, bread and flour have been and are still being developed from SGs to provide nutritional and health benefits. However, the nutritional and prebiotic potential of SGs, especially the pigment pericarps, has not been fully exploited. This review describes micronutrients in different varieties of sorghum and the health benefits …

Sources Of Underwater Noise, Christine Erbe, Alec J. Duncan, Alexander Gavrilov, Montserrat Landero, Robert D. Mccauley, Iain Parnum, Evgeny Sidenko, Chandra Salgado-Kent, Evgeny Sidenko

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The marine soundscape, whether in coastal areas or the deepest ocean, in the tropics or at the poles, contains a myriad of sounds. Sounds may be grouped by their origin into geophony (e.g., wind, precipitation, waves, earthquakes, volcanoes, and ice), biophony (e.g., invertebrates, fishes, and marine mammals), and anthropophony (e.g., port construction, mineral and hydrocarbon exploration and production, renewable energy installation, and shipping). This chapter gives a brief overview of the geophony and biophony, and then focuses on the anthropophony. The sounds of boats and ships of various types, marine seismic surveys, drilling, dredging, pile driving, windfarms, geotechnical site investigations, …

Western Australian Graduate Teacher Perceptions Of Teacher Performance Assessments, Janine E. Wyatt, Caroline Mansfield, Paula Mildenhall

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This study examined the views of 1593 first-year graduates from five Western Australian universities concerning three nationally endorsed teacher performance assessment (TPA) instruments. Quantitative and qualitative data obtained through the Department of Education Western Australia’s annual first year graduate teacher surveys from 2021-2023 was used. Study findings revealed that overall, most graduates were satisfied that the TPA supported their classroom readiness and understanding of the graduate level of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, and that mentors/supervisors played a critical role in these perceptions. We recommend incorporating the first-year graduates’ insights into the refinement of TPAs. Our study advocates for …

Integrated Sensing And Covert Communications With Ris Adaptive And Non-Adaptive Modes, Jia Zhang, Dengfeng Zhang, Ke Liu, Jiande Sun, Min Li, Shihao Yan

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

In this work, we consider an integrated sensing and covert communication (ISACC) system with a finite blocklength L aided by a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) with N elements. Specifically, with the aid of RIS, a transmitter Alice is to sense the potential existence of a target, and she is also probabilistically trying to send information to a receiver Bob covertly (i.e., trying to hide her transmissions from a warden Willie). Meanwhile, Willie is to detect whether Alice is sensing the target only or conducting ISACC. We consider two RIS operation modes, i.e., a non-adaptive mode, where RIS employs a common …

The Paradoxical Effect Of Job Autonomy On Communication Overload: A Pathway To Innovative Work Behaviour, Oualid Abidi, Rupali Bhagat, Hamsa Sarhan, Mirna Safi

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose: This research aims to propose autonomy as a job characteristic that alleviates communication overload, thereby fostering the innovative work behaviours exhibited by knowledge workers. Design/methodology/approach – An empirical survey was administered to 277 knowledge workers from diverse sectors in Kuwait. To analyse the interrelations among the three constructs of the research model, i.e. job autonomy, innovative work behaviours and communication overload, the structural equation modelling method was applied, and mediation analysis was conducted using a bootstrapping method to examine the indirect effect of communication overload. Findings – The findings indicate that the level of job autonomy has a significant …

Pfedrag: A Personalized Federated Retrieval-Augmented Generation System With Depth-Adaptive Tiered Embedding Tuning, Hangyu He, Xin Yuan, Kai Wu, Ren Ping Liu, Wei Ni

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Large Language Models (LLMs) can undergo hallucinations in specialized domains, and standard Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) often falters due to general-purpose embeddings ill-suited for domain-specific terminology. Though domain-specific fine-tuning enhances retrieval, centralizing data introduces privacy risks. The use of federated learning (FL) can alleviate this to some extent, but faces challenges of data heterogeneity, poor personalization, and expensive training data generation. We propose pFedRAG, a novel Personalized Federated RAG framework, which enables efficient collaborative fine-tuning of embedding models to address these challenges. The key contribution is a new Depth-Adaptive Tiered Embedding (DATE) architecture, which comprises a Global Shared Layer, combined using …

Is Knowledge Really Power And Ignorance Bliss? A Study Of Financial And Pension Ignorance, Agata Olechnowicz-Szewczyk, Elżbieta Babula

Journal of Banking and Financial Economics

In this study, we examine the impact of financial and pension ignorance (information avoidance) on the decisionmaking process for long-term savings. We define the concept of pension ignorance, as active avoidance of retirement information, failure to make decisions regarding retirement savings, and a lack of strategic retirement planning. To assess financial ignorance, we utilized the scale developed by Barrafrem et al. (2024), while pension ignorance was evaluated using the scale designed by the authors. The study was conducted with a sample of 1,200 Polish residents aged 18 to 65, using the Computer-Assisted Web Interviewing (CAWI) method. The findings reveal that …

The Right Of Big Tech Companies To Issue Money In The Opinion Of Consumers From France And Germany, Robert Huterski

Journal of Banking and Financial Economics

With a vast customer base and the acquisition of information about their customers and their preferences in connection with their services, Big Tech companies are also becoming essential players in the financial sphere. Payment solutions offered by Big Tech companies, such as Google Pay or Alipay, familiarise consumers with the presence of such companies in the monetary sphere. The issuance of private money has the most excellent chance in a form regulated by public authorities and with a value stabilized to the national currency, regardless of whether it would be similar to narrow banking, synthetic CBDC or another, related form. …

Personal Characteristics And Retirement Intentions (Empirical Evidence From Poland), Patrycja Kowalczyk-Rólczyńska, Madgalena Swacha-Lech, Łukasz Jurek

Journal of Banking and Financial Economics

Retirement intentions depend on a number of different factors. The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of personal characteristics on the willingness to retire as soon as possible among older workers in Poland. The data were collected through a CAWI survey conducted in 2021 among a representative sample of workers aged 50 and over. Statistical analysis was based on logit model. Identified predictors are: age, education, fear about the financial situation in retirement, the use of free time after retirement, and lack time to pursue passions due to work. Those results provide suggestions for strengthening active ageing …

Entire Volume Journal Of Banking And Financial Economics 2025, 2(24)

Journal of Banking and Financial Economics

Entire Volume Journal of Banking and Financial Economics 2025, 2(24)

A Discourse Analysis Of The Development Of Institutional Compliance Mechanisms At The International Maritime Organization, Rebecca Pskowski

World Maritime University Ph.D. Dissertations

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) plays a pivotal and essential role in international maritime governance, providing a forum for nation states to develop and agree to international standards for maritime safety and security and the protection of the marine environment. IMO is widely perceived to be one of the most successful universal international organizations (IOS), because of the high technical quality of the conventions and other legal instruments it develops, and the near-universal acceptance of most of those instruments. IMO could be seen as an exemplar of the "technical" specialized United Nations agency, where nation-states set aside politics to agree …

Safety And Sustainability In The Domestic Ferry Sector : A Pci Framework For Esg-Aligned Maritime Governance, Mirza Zeeshan Baig

World Maritime University Ph.D. Dissertations

The domestic ferry sector is a significant component of maritime transportation. It strengthens social ties, supports economic growth and connects communities. Despites its importance, this industry faces ongoing challenges. These include fragmented governance, operational adequacies, safety risks and environmental concerns. The study deals with these issues by combining a systems-based approach with governance and change management theories. It examines the interplay between human, technical and organizational aspects. The study integrates the rule-based and rights-based maritime governance along with the Lewin’s three stage change management model (Unfreeze, Change, and Refreeze).

At the core of the study is the development of a …