Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Millennium Development Goals and the Universal Primary Education in Nigeria (A Case Study of Ibadan North Local Government, Oyo State)

The importance and linkage of education to the development of any society is well known. It is in recognition of this importance that the international community and governments all over the world have made commitments for citizens to have access to education while also improving on the quality of education. Hence, this study focuses on education, particularly achieving Universal Primary Education under the auspices of the Millennium Development Goals in Nigeria with Oyo State as the case study. The data required for this study were gathered through the use of instruments of questionnaires. The study revealed factors affecting qualitative education which include inadequate funding, inexperienced and lackluster teachers coupled with non-mentally stimulating teaching methods. Based on the findings, the study recommended the following (a) thorough trainings of teachers through workshops and seminars (b) the state government should involve more privileged individuals through its ‘Adopt a School’ program (c) the syllabus should be modified to accommodate the development and the acquisition of relevant skills (d) schools should be effectively and frequently monitored by the necessary body (e) measures should be taken to discourage students from hawking on the streets after schools hours, this however should be replaced by taking after school lessons. These recommendations are expected to improve the decaying educational standards in Nigeria. Keywords: Millennium Development Goals, Universal Primary Education, United Nations Millennium Declaration
Sensegiving in entrepreneurial contexts: The use of metaphors in speech and gesture to gain and sustain support for novel business ventures

Gaining and sustaining support for novel ventures is a vital yet difficult entrepreneurial process. Previous research on this topic has generally focused on the social competence and social capital of those creating new ventures, and their ability to align their ventures, with collective norms of novel ventures as sensible, acceptable and legitimate. We suggest that sensegiving – the ability to communicate a meaningful course for a venture – to investors and employees may also play a direct role in achieving support for a venture. Based upon a micro-ethnographic study of two individuals who were in the process of creating new ventures, we demonstrate how they give sense, to others in real time that involve not just their speech but also their gestures. Overall, we find evidence that in the early stages of the commercialization of a venture, metaphors in both speech and gesture are consistently used to emphasize agency and control and the predictability and taken-for-grantedness of a novel venture.
Corporate Governance and Internal Control over Financial Reporting: A Comparison of Regulatory Regimes

ABSTRACT: This study examines the association between corporate governance and disclosures of material weaknesses (MW) in internal control over financial reporting. We study this association using MW reported under Sarbanes‐Oxley Sections 302 and 404, deriving data on audit committee financial expertise from automated parsing of member qualifications from their biographies. We find that a lower likelihood of disclosing Section 404 MW is associated with relatively more audit committee members having accounting and supervisory experience, as well as board strength. Further, the nature of MW varies with the type of experience. However, these associations are not detectable using Section 302 reports. We also find that MW disclosure is associated with designating a financial expert without accounting experience, or designating multiple financial experts. We conclude that board and audit committee characteristics are associated with internal control quality. However, this association is only observable under th.
The impact of liquidity and transaction costs on the 52-week high momentum strategy in Australia

In this paper we investigate the profitability of the 52-week high momentum strategy in the Australian equity market over the period 1996—2008. We provide the first examination of the economic significance of the strategy by applying short-sale restrictions and utilizing bid-and-ask prices and trading volume to proxy for transaction costs and liquidity constraints, respectively. Testing reveals that the strategy yields significantly positive raw returns when concentrated purely on the more liquid stocks in the market, with significantly negative returns evident among illiquid stocks. This suggests that the anchor-and-adjust bias on which the strategy is based only exists among stocks with sufficient liquidity. Furthermore, the 52-week high strategy comprising liquid stocks fails to produce significant dollar profits once short-sale restrictions, transaction costs and liquidity constraints are accounted for. We therefore conclude that the 52-week high momentum trading strategy is not of practical use to investors in Australia.
Physiological determinants of cross-country ski racing performance.

PURPOSE Previous laboratory testing has identified the importance of upper-body aerobic and anaerobic power to cross-country skiing performance. The purpose of this investigation was to extend laboratory research into a field setting to identify predictors of performance through ski-specific testing. METHODS Thirteen male collegiate skiers performed three field-testing sessions on roller skis to establish lactate threshold (LT) and ski economy (ECON) and maximal oxygen uptake (SK VO(2max)) and a 1-km double-pole time trial (UBTT) to determine peak upper-body oxygen uptake (UB VO(2)). As a measure of skiing performance, the subjects performed a 10-km skating time trial (TT) and were ranked according to competitive season performance (RANK). RESULTS Significant correlations (P < 0.05) were found between SK VO(2max), LT VO(2), UB VO(2), and RANK (r = -0.66 to -0.84) and TT time (r = -0.74 to -0.79), as well as ECON to RANK (r = 0.57) and TT time (r = 0.68). Time to complete the UBTT (UB time) exhibited the strongest correlation to both RANK (r = 0.95) and TT time (r = 0.92). Multiple regression analyses revealed that UB time was the best predictor of RANK and TT time, as demonstrated by the significant beta values (0.77, P < 0.001, and 0.79, P < 0.001, respectively). The importance of the UB component was further seen in that UB time was still the best predictor of performance when the subjects were divided into two distinct groups of greater and lesser competitive ability. CONCLUSIONS These findings identify the importance of the upper body component to cross-country skiing performance, suggesting a need to focus on upper-body conditioning within a well-rounded endurance training program. Additionally, the UBTT exhibits potential as a simple field test to predict cross-country skiing performance over more sophisticated and costly laboratory and field testing.
A randomized, double-blind trial comparing ceftobiprole medocaril with vancomycin plus ceftazidime for the treatment of patients with complicated skin and skin-structure infections.

BACKGROUND A randomized, double-blind, multicenter trial involving patients with a broad range of complicated skin and skin-structure infections due to either gram-positive or gram-negative bacteria was conducted to compare ceftobiprole monotherapy with treatment with vancomycin plus ceftazidime. METHODS Patients were randomized 2:1 to receive ceftobiprole or to receive vancomycin plus ceftazidime. Outcomes were determined at a test-of-cure visit (7-14 days after completion of therapy) and were analyzed for all patients with complicated skin and skin-structure infections, as well as for subgroups, on the basis of major types of infections and severity of disease. RESULTS Among the clinically evaluable and the intent-to-treat populations, clinical cure rates at the test-of-cure visit were similar in the ceftobiprole and comparator treatment arms (clinical cure rate, 90.5% [439 of 485 patients] and 90.2% [220 of 244 patients] in the clinically evaluable population, respectively; 81.9% [448 of 547 patients] and 80.8% [227 of 281 patients] in the intent-to-treat population, respectively). Clinical cure rates in ceftobiprole-treated patients ranged from 86.2% (125 of 145 patients) among those with diabetes who had foot infections to 93.0% (80 of 86 patients) among those with cellulitis. Among patients treated with ceftobiprole, clinical cure rates were similar among patients from whom gram-negative bacteria were isolated (87.9% [109 of 124 patients]) and among patients from whom gram-positive bacteria were isolated (91.8% [292 of 318 patients]) and were not statistically different from the clinical cure rates among comparator-treated patients (89.7% [61 of 68 patients] and 90.3% [149 of 165 patients], respectively). Rates of adverse events and serious adverse events in the 2 treatment groups were similar. CONCLUSIONS Ceftobiprole monotherapy is as effective as vancomycin plus ceftazidime for treating patients with a broad range of complicated skin and skin-structure infections and infections due to gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.
Evidence for direct suspension of loessial soils on the Columbia Plateau

Wind erosion modelling efforts, both ﬁeld and wind tunnel studies, have traditionally focused on saltation‐based processes for estimating dust emissions from high wind events. This approach gives generally good results when saltation‐sized particles, 90 µm to 2 mm mean diameter, are prevalent on the exposed soil surface. The Columbia Plateau, located in north‐central Oregon and south‐central Washington, is a region with extensive loess deposits where up to 90 per cent of sieved particles (by mass) are less than 100 µm mean diameter. During high‐wind events, large amounts of soil and ﬁne particulate matter are suspended. However, ﬁeld surfaces typically show little evidence of surface scouring or saltation, e.g. soil drifts or covered furrows. Velocity proﬁle analysis of two high‐wind events and additional data from a third event show evidence of direct suspension process where saltation is not a major mechanism for eroding soil or generating dust emissions. Surface roughness heights are less than saltation roughness height estimates during peak wind speeds. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Coping with English as Language of Instruction in Higher Education in Rwanda.

The present study examines strategies that multilingual university students in Rwanda use in order to successfully deal with complex academic material offered through the medium of English, a foreign language. The reported strategies emerged from group work discussions and interviews with students in the faculty of Economics and Management at a University in Rwanda. The data were analyzed thematically. Findings reveal that students have multiple coping strategies that enable them to complete academic tasks given through the medium of English. One of the prominent strategies and practices is the successful use of other languages at their disposal to mediate cognitively demanding academic tasks. Although other spoken languages are not officially recognised as media of instruction in higher education, they play a mediating role in content learning through responsible code switching and translanguaging.
Unsplinted implants retaining maxillary overdentures with partial palatal coverage: report of 5 consecutive cases.

PURPOSE It is believed that maxillary dental implants must be splinted when used to retain removable overdenture prostheses in order to maintain osseointegration. This paper presents clinical cases to demonstrate that contemporary implants can function in an unsplinted manner to retain maxillary removable overdentures with partial palatal coverage. MATERIALS AND METHODS Five consecutive patients were treated using a specific surgical and prosthodontic protocol. Twenty-five textured-surface implants were placed to retain overdenture prostheses in five patients, with a minimum of 4 implants per patient. These patients were followed for 12 to 48 months postloading. RESULTS To date, none of the implants have lost osseointegration, and radiographic marginal bone levels are stable. Patients have been able to maintain soft tissue health around the unsplinted implants. The patients have verbally indicated that they are comfortable and that their maxillary overdentures function well. CONCLUSION This preliminary report presents 5 consecutive cases in which unsplinted implants maintained osseointegration when used to retain removable overdenture prostheses with limited palatal coverage. It appears that unsplinted maxillary implants can be used to retain a maxillary overdenture.
Applying the extended theory of planned behavior to predict the intention of visiting a green hotel

The study herein describes the use of the extended theory of planned behavior (TPB), together with the additional variable of past behavior, to investigate the intentions of individuals to visit green hotels in Taiwan. The aims of the present study were threefold: i) to use the extended TPB to identify the factors that affect customers’ intentions to visit a green hotel; ii) to investigate the effect of past behavior on customers’ visiting intentions; and iii) to examine the mediating role of the variables of the TPB on the relationship between past behavior and the intention to visit a green hotel. Data collected from 250 face-to-face surveys confirmed the hypotheses of the present study and the findings of the current literature on this wider topic. The findings reveal that attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and frequency of past behavior, all positively affect the intention of a customer to visit a green hotel. In addition, the influence of the frequency of past behavior on the intention to visit a green hotel, was partially mediated by the variables of the TPB. The findings show that the modified TPB may be used to understand behavioral intention in the context of visiting a green hotel. Some wider implications were also derived, both from a theoretical point of view and from a practical one, for managers in the hospitality industry. Key words: Green hotels, theory of planned behavior, attitude, subjective norms, behavioral intention, past behavior.
High performance work systems and export performance

Invoking the resource-based view (RBV), this study argues that a set of human resource practices collectively referred to as high performance work systems (HPWS) will positively impact firms' export performance. We also suggest that this relationship will be moderated by the uncertainty levels in firms' general business environments. We test these relationships using a sample of 145 exporting firms in Spain's food processing sector. Results indicate a direct positive effect for HPWS on export performance, with the effect moderated by perceived environmental uncertainty.
Changes induced by chronic in vivo load alteration in the tibiofemoral joint of mature rabbits

We investigated the relationship between the magnitude and duration of chronic compressive load alteration and the development and progression of degenerative changes in the rabbit tibiofemoral joint. Varus loading devices were attached to the hind limb of mature NZW rabbits. Altered compressive loads of 0%, 50%, and 80% body weight (BW) were applied to the tibiofemoral joint for 12 h per day for 12 and 24 weeks (n = 4 animals/group). Compartment‐specific assessment of the tibial plateau included histological assessments (articular cartilage, calcified cartilage, and subchondral bone thicknesses, degeneration score, and articular cartilage cellularity) and biomechanical measures (aggregate modulus, permeability, Poisson's ratio). Analyses of variance techniques were used to examine the relationship between each outcome measure with load magnitude and duration as independent variables in the model. Degenerative changes developed in the medial compartment with increased magnitude of compressive loading and included fibrillation, increased degeneration score, and reduced cellularity of the articular cartilage. Increased calcified cartilage thickness was observed in both the medial and lateral compartments following exposure to altered loading of 80% BW for 24 weeks. This work demonstrates that in vivo chronic compressive load alteration to the tibiofemoral joint can initiate progressive macroscopic and histological‐based degenerative changes analogous to the early changes occurring in OA. © 2012 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 30:1413–1422, 2012
An Exploration of Competitive Signalling Equilibria with "Third Party" Information Production: The Case of Debt Insurance

In markets in which sellers know more about product quality than buyers, but cannot convey their superior information either by directly issuing costly signals of the Spence type or by successfully funding the production of information, I suggest another way in which the informational asymmetry problem can be resolved; a third party can produce the necessary information at a cost and use it to price a service consumed by the sellers. Buyers can then observe a seller's choice of service consumption level and be well informed in equilibrium. In this framework I construct a model in which a borrower's choice of insurance coverage signals its default probability to lenders, and explore the properties of the resulting signalling equilibrium in a variety of cases.
Being Poor and Becoming Poor: Poverty Status and Poverty Transitions in Rural Pakistan

This paper contrasts the results of conventional poverty status regressions with an alternative approach, the analysis of poverty transitions, using a five-year longitudinal household survey from rural Pakistan. The results show that while the incidence of income poverty in the sample villages was high, turnover among the poor was rapid. Almost 60 percent of households experienced poverty during the five years of the panel but only 35 percent stayed in poverty for two or more years. Only 3 percent of households were poor in all five years of the panel. Furthermore, the correlates of entries and exits from poverty are found to differ in important but unexpected ways from those of poverty status. The policy implications of these findings, if confirmed elsewhere, indicate that targeting antipoverty policies using the characteristics of the currently poor is highly problematic.
Consensus of multi-agent systems based on sampled-data control

This article studies the consensus problem in directed networks, assuming that each agent is with double-integrator dynamics and only obtains the measurements of its positions relative to its neighbours at sampling instants. We propose a protocol based on sampled-data control and derive an equivalent characterisation of the solvability of the consensus problem under this protocol. In virtue of this equivalent characterisation, we further consider two cases: fixed topology and switching topology. For the first case, we present a set of sampling periods and feedback coefficients which ensure that the protocol can solve a consensus problem. For the second case, we derive sufficient conditions for the protocol to solve a consensus problem under arbitrary switching signals and under a class of switching signals, respectively. Finally, simulations are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.
Muscle‐Based Control for Character Animation

Muscle‐based control is transforming the field of physics‐based character animation through the integration of knowledge from neuroscience, biomechanics and robotics, which enhance motion realism. Since any physics‐based animation system can be extended to a muscle‐actuated system, the possibilities of growth are tremendous. However, modelling muscles and their control remains a difficult challenge. We present an organized review of over a decade of research in muscle‐based control for character animation, its fundamental concepts and future directions for development. The core of this review contains a classification of control methods, tables summarizing their key aspects and popular neuromuscular functions used within these controllers, all with the purpose of providing the reader with an overview of the field.
The Ethics of Emissions Trading

This article defends three ethical arguments against emissions trading. The first argument alleges that emissions trading is morally objectionable, because it ‘commodifies’ the atmosphere. The second argument involves various objections to attaching prices to units of emissions – loosely speaking, the objection is to pricing that which is priceless or should not be priced. The third argument turns on the idea that if a large cut in emissions is to be made by society overall, everyone should ‘do their bit’ by making a particular kind of sacrifice rather than paying others to do it instead. Some general conclusions concern the limitations of confining the analysis to idealised emissions trading, the difficulty in separating ‘economistic’ thinking about policy delivery from policy choice and the need to focus questions of justice on consumers rather than on producers.
The Initial Yield Revealed: Explicit Valuations and the Future of Property Investment

Starts from the basic principles of property investment and shows that the initial yield conceals estimates of a risk premium, expected income growth and expected depreciation. Suggests that an explicit valuation procedure which can be used at any level ranging from a single property to the aggregate market may be constructed. Concludes that the surveying profession is under threat from those able to meet the growing demand for such explicit analyses.
Phasing Out Sector-Specific Regulation In European Telecommunications

The European Commission Recommendation 2007/879/EC has become known as an important innovation towards phasing out sector-specific regulation of electronic communications. Eleven of the eighteen markets are no longer regarded as needing to be subject to sector-specific ex ante regulation. Although the important role of active and potential competition in telecommunications markets has been mentioned, the economically founded implications of the “three-criteria-test” in the Commission Recommendation 2003/311/EC have not yet been implemented. As a consequence, the relevance of regulation in the remaining seven markets remains vague. To provide a superior alternative, the analytical concept of a disaggregated regulatory approach is applied. Sector-specific regulatory interventions are to be limited to network-specific market power. As a consequence, only two of the seven remaining markets in the European Commission Recommendation 2007/879/EC are possible candidates for regulation.
Gender—a Crucial Neglected Element in the Service Encounter: An Exploratory Study of the Choice of Hotel Masseur or Masseuse

This exploratory study examines consumer preferences for a masseur or masseuse, using qualitative interviews of 52 participants. The findings suggest that gender preferences and the meanings assigned to the consumption experience, a massage, are linked with elements, including (a) the main purpose of the massage, (b) customer gender, (c) massage type, (d) companion to massage, (e) stereotypes of masseur/masseuse, and (f) readiness to be exposed to and touched by a nonfamiliar person of the opposite sex. Findings indicate that preferences are linked to the gender of both the customer and the service provider. It appears that massage is governed by social norms in a male-dominated society. In addition, the perception of the experience as either a health treatment or leisure experience is linked to the legitimacy of preferences for a masseur or masseuse. Implications for hotel management and researchers are suggested, highlighting the interaction between genders in tourism service encounters.