Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Corporate Environmental Disclosure on Financial Performance of Firms Listed at Nairobi Securities Exchange, Kenya

Corporate environmental disclosure entails reporting on the impact of company activities on the natural environment such as waste management, recycling, carbon management, emission, pollution, wetland and wildlife conservation. Conventional accounting systems are limiting since they fail to directly address sustainability concerns. They have failed to address economic growth against social and environmental needs in order to balance the different needs of various stakeholders. Sustainability has become a major pillar of today’s business activities. This study consequently aimed at assessing the effect of corporate environmental disclosure on financial performance of listed firms at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Kenya. This study made use of longitudinal secondary data from the annual reports and financial statements of listed companies at the Nairobi Securities Exchange. Content analysis of sampled listed companies’ annual reports was undertaken to examine environmental disclosure practices. A checklist of environmental disclosure items and categories was developed and environmental disclosure indices computed. Casual research design was employed to determine the cause-effect relationship between corporate environmental Disclosure and financial performance. Target population of the study was 61 listed companies. Purposive sampling was employed in selecting firms that have been listed for entire period of study and whose annual reports are available at the Nairobi Securities Exchange. This resulted into a sample size of 32 listed companies. Coefficient of Skewness was used to test the normality of data. Homoscedasticity and auto-correlation assumptions of the regression model were tested using scatter plots and Durbin Watson test. Linear regression model was used to determine the casual relationship between environmental disclosure and financial performance. The overall model was found to be significant with F=8.514, P-value <0.05. The predictor variable explained 47.7% of changes in financial performance. Firm size and leverage have no effect on environmental disclosure. Findings reveal that environmental disclosure with P-value <0.05 has a positive significant effect in the mean financial performance. The study recommends that firms should engage in environmental disclosure because it leads to increased financial performance. The study would be useful to the government and also managers to ensure policies are put in place to ensure present generations meet their needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. The study also forms basis for further research and adds knowledge to existing body.
Shifting Maximum Eigenvalue Detection in Low SNR Environment

Maximum eigenvalue detection (MED) is an important application of random matrix theory in spectrum sensing and signal detection. However, in small signal-to-noise ratio environment, the maximum eigenvalue of the representative signal is at the edge of Marchenko-Pastur (M-P) law bulk and meets the Tracy-Widom distribution. Since the distribution of Tracy-Widom has no closed-form expression, it brings great difficulty in processing. In this paper, we propose a shifting maximum eigenvalue (SMED) algorithm, which shifts the maximum eigenvalue out of the M-P law bulk by combining an auxiliary signal associated with the signal to be detected. According to the random matrix theory, the shifted maximum eigenvalue is consistent with Gaussian distribution. The proposed SMED not only simplifies the detection algorithm, but also greatly improve the detection performance. In this paper, the performance of SMED, MED and trace (FMD) algorithm is analyzed and the theoretical performance comparisons are obtained. The algorithm and theoretical results are verified by the simulations in different signal environments.
Determination of genetic relatedness among selected rice ( Oryza sativa , L.) cultivars using microsatellite markers

For plant improvement programs, genetic variation information among different cultivars is very important. Genetic variation among 26 rice (Oryza sativa, L.) accessions, consisting of 13 Iranian and 13 Malaysian cultivars was investigated using microsatellite markers distributed across the rice genome. All the 21 selected microsatellite primers were successfully amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of which 20 (95.2%) were found to be polymorphic. A total of 75 alleles were detected at 21 microsatellite loci. The allele frequencies per locus ranged from 1 in RM338 to 5 alleles in RM307, RM161, RM334 and RM271. The mean number of alleles per locus was 3.57. Amongst these microsatellite loci, the largest polymorphism information content (PIC) value was 0.74 in RM 161, while the lowest PIC value was 0.0 in RM 338. Dendrogram was constructed based on dissimilarity values, unweighted pair group with arithmetic average (UPGMA) and it separated all the cultivars into six clusters. All these polymorphisms could be further evaluated for rice marker assisted selection and developed PCR methodology would expedite screening for large numbers of rice required for association studies.
Factors Influencing Gender Participation in the Exploitation and Management of Forest Resources in the Protected Areas of Cross River National Park Enclave Communities, Nigeria

This study was designed to assess factors/constrains to gender participation in the management of forest resources within the protected areas of the Cross River National Park enclave communities. The quantitative research design was adopted for the study. A null hypothesis of no factors/constrains to gender participation in the management of forest resources was formulated. 638 respondents were sampled from a population of about 4249 people living within the six enclave communities of Okwangwo, Okwa 1 and 2, Mkpot, Abung and Iku all within Boki and Akamkpa local government areas of Cross River State, which houses the two park division of Okwangwo and Oban respectively. The selection of sample was done using a mathematical model where 15% of the total population was sampled for the study. The instrument for data collection was a well structured questionnaire divided into two sections with four point likert scale response options. Data collected using the instrument was coded and transformed into SPSS version 16 and analyzed using the multiple regressions analysis. Ten factors were suggested are being responsible for gender participation in the management of forest resources. These factors include: Sex, age, marital status, educational status, cultural factors, religion, household income, occupational status, household heads and property rights. The result of the regression analysis shows a yielded coefficient of regression correlation (R) of . 351 and a multiple regression R-square (R 2 ) of . 123, and adjusted R 2 of . 109, at . 01 significant level, the result is significant, the result also shows that an analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the multiple regressions produced an F-ratio of 8.817, while the f-critical value is 1.91 (2-tailed), since the calculated F-value of 8.817 is greater than the critical F-value of 1.91, at . 05 significant level, (2-tailed), the result is also significant at 0.05 level. The standardized regression beta weight ranged from -. 021 to -3.980, the beta weight of four factors (sex, -3.980, marital status, -2.056, educational status,-3.111 and occupational status, -2.618) were significant at 0.05 level of significance, while the other six factors (age, .462, cultural factors, .395, religion, 1.052, household income, -.123, household heads, -.021 and property rights, -.660) were not significant at 0.05 significant level, meaning that they might not necessarily contribute to gender participation in forest resources management. It was therefore recommended that women in every society should be given free hands to participate in management activities and all cultural and social barriers acting as hindrance to gender participation in management activities should be removed to allow women contribute their ideas in situation and decisions that may affect them most. Keywords: gender participation, forest management, enclave communities, cross river national park, gender equality and ecofeminism
Modelling and Forecasting Cruise Tourism Demand to Izmir by Different Artificial Neural Network Architectures

Cruise ports emerged as an important sector for the economy of Turkey bordered on three sides by water. Forecasting cruise tourism demand ensures better planning, efficient preparation at the destination and it is the basis for elaboration of future plans. In the recent years, new techniques such as; artificial neural networks were employed for developing of the predictive models to estimate tourism demand. In this study, it is aimed to determine the forecasting method that provides the best performance when compared the forecast accuracy of Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP), Radial Basis Function (RBF) and Generalized Regression neural network (GRNN) to estimate the monthly inbound cruise tourism demand to Izmir via the method giving best results. We used the total number of foreign cruise tourist arrivals as a measure of inbound cruise tourism demand and monthly cruise tourist arrivals to Izmir Cruise Port in the period of January 2005â€ December 2013. We reutilized to appropriate model. Experimental results showed that radial basis function (RBF) neural network outperforms multi-layer perceptron (MLP) and the generalised regression neural networks (GRNN) in terms of forecasting accuracy. By the means of the obtained RBF neural network model, it has been forecasted the monthly inbound cruise tourism demand to Izmir for the year 2014.
Analysis of corporate control: can the voting power index outshine shareholding size?

Shareholding size is a poor proxy for corporate control. At best it reflects an investorâ€™s wealth relative to other shareholders and, most importantly, the distribution of rights to a companyâ€™s worth and the related exposure to risk. Shareholding size does not actually show an investorâ€™s strength in corporate control. As an alternative, this paper espouses the merits of the voting power concept and promotes two indices associated with it: the Penrose-Banzhaf index and the Shapley-Shubik index. This paper further introduces a new framework that compares the strength of corporate control against the size of corporate shareholding. Illustrating this idea using a group of government-linked companies (GLCs), this study yielded two possible ways in which the government can consolidate its control.
Lexical Fillers Permit Real-Time Gap-Search inside Island Domains

It has often been reported that lexical fillers (e.g. which house) improve the overall acceptability of many island constraint violations relative to bare fillers (e.g. what). The current study attempts to test for the first time whether lexical fillers reduce real-time sensitivity to wh-islands as well. Results from an eyetracking-while-reading study are reported that demonstrate native English speakers’ sensitivity to a plausibility manipulation between a fronted filler phrase and a downstream subcategorizing verb inside a wh-island domain. The effect is found as the verb was encountered in real-time, and only when the filler element contains lexical information, not when it is bare. This is taken to show that online sensitivity to the wh-island constraint is reduced when the filler preceding it is lexical. The strengths and weaknesses and overall compatibility of a range of grammatical and processing theories are considered in relation to this finding.
Bitcoin Fluctuations and the Frequency of Price Overreactions

Firms normally keep certain inventories, including raw materials, work-in-progress, and finished goods, to operate seamlessly and not to miss possible business opportunities. But inventory is costly, and the optimal firm inventory differs depending on various economic conditions, including trade and transport costs. The paper examines firm inventory behavior in East Africa, in which transport connectivity, especially to the ports, is considered as one of the major business constraints. Using firm-level data from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, it is shown that transport connectivity significantly affects firm inventory behavior. In particular, road density and transport costs to the port are important to determine the optimal inventory level. With more roads in a city and/or cheaper access to the port, firms would hold smaller inventories.
THE TRADE-OFF BETWEEN UNEMPLOYMENT AND WAGE INEQUALITY

The Krugman hypothesis attributes high wage inequality in the US and high unemployment in continental Europe in the 1980s to the same negative change in the demand for the low skilled under different degrees of wage rigidity. This paper revisits the hypothesis in order to explain the labor market developments in France, the UK, and the US in the 1990s. We estimate a labor supply and labor demand model with heterogenous types of labor to analyze the effects of market forces and wage rigidity on changes in skill-group labor market outcomes. The results provide evidence in favor of the Krugman hypothesis when France is compared to the US and the UK. We also find support for an extended version of the Krugman hypothesis, which suggests that, when labor supply is sensitive to wages, there is a trade-off between unemployment on one hand, and wage inequality and inactivity on the other. Abstrakt Pokud jde o vysokou mzdovou nerovnost v USA a vysokou nezaměstnanost v zemích evropského kontinentu v osmdesátých letech dvacátého století , Krugmanova hypotéza připisuje oba jevy poklesu poptávky po pracujících s nízkou kvalifikací, jehož důsledky se liší podle různého stupně mzdové rigidity. Předkládaná studie zkoumá, zda tato hypotéza je schopna vysvětlit také vývoj na trhu práce ve Francii, Velké Británii a USA také v následující dekádě, v letech devadesátých. Odhadujeme model nabídky práce a poptávky po práci s heterogenními typy pracujících, jehož pomocí analyzujeme vliv tržních sil a mzdové rigidity na pozorované změny výstupů na trhu práce skupin pracujících s odlišnou kvalifikací. Naše výsledky ukazují, že pomocí Krugmanovy hypotézy lze vysvětlit rozdílný vývoj na trhu práce ve Francii ve srovnání s USA a Velkou Británií. Nacházíme také empirickou relevanci rozšířené verze Krugmanovy hypotézy, která říká, že pokud je nabídka práce citlivá na mzdy, existuje substituční vztah mezi nezaměstnaností na jedné straně a mzdovou nerovností a neparticipací na trhu práce na straně druhé.
Human footsteps induced floor vibration.

The generation of the impact sound by the act of the human walk involves two factors, the characters of the footfall and the shape of the induced floor deflection. The footfall noise is created by the impact excitation and the characters of the footfall depend on the foot‐ware: the heels and the frequencies of the footfall. The shape of the floor deflection depends rather on the geometrical walking pattern and the construction of the floor structure. In this investigation, the vibration patter of the light‐weight construction floor is created by the same walking object, a male with common height. The excitation from the person to the floor in the FE simulations is a function of the length of the foot and the weight of the walking object. The geometrical time history is of the foot step allows it to have different directions in the room. Since the excitation is assumed to be deterministic, differences between the excitation frequencies are estimated from the video records. The goal of this investigation is.
Knowledge, attitudes and practices of healthcare personnel towards Care-Ethics: A perspective from the Caribbean

The aim of the study was to assess the attitudes of healthcare personnel in Barbados towards care-ethics which may reflect the influence of the socio-cultural background. A self-administered structured questionnaire was devised, tested and distributed to all levels of staff at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, a tertiary care teaching hospital in Barbados. The questionnaire comprised of detailed questions regarding day-to-day aspects of ethical issues in medical practice. The respondents included medical, paramedical and healthcare administrative personnel. The response rate was 73% of 500 distributed questionnaires. There were varying opinions in many issues of care-ethics. 55% of the respondents agreed for patient autonomy, one-quarter agreed to the paternalistic view and one-third felt that the condition of a patient should be informed to relatives. There were statistically significant differences when the views expressed by physicians and nurses were compared with those expressed by the paramedical and other healthcare personnel. The responses show that ethical viewpoints of healthcare workers vary widely which could have been probably influenced by the cross-cultural perspectives. Bioethical codes should ideally be formulated taking these perspectives into account.
THE POWER OF THE FEEDBACK ENVIRONMENT IN STIMULATING CREATIVE PERFORMANCE: THE ROLE OF TASK AUTONOMY AND SELF-CONCORDANCE

This study examines the impact of employees’ perceptions of their feedback environment on their level of creativity. Hierarchical regression analysis of a sample of 482 supervisor-employee dyads demonstrated that employees’ perceptions of their feedback environment indirectly influenced their creative performance by increasing their level of self-concordance, i.e., the degree to which they internalize their work goals and consider these goals as an expression of their authentic interests and values. In addition, moderated mediation analysis revealed that autonomy moderates the relationship between employees’ feedback environment perceptions and self-concordance. This moderated mediation model was supported for feedback environment perceptions relating to two important feedback sources in the workplace, supervisors and coworkers. The moderating effect of autonomy was especially strong for the coworker feedback environment model, such that the positive effect of coworker feedback environment perceptions on creative performance through self-concordance only held when employees experienced high levels of task autonomy. The results of the present study highlight the relevance of relating the broader psychological feedback context to creative performance and emphasize the importance of investigating the mechanisms that mediate and moderate this relationship.
Management of Low Back Pain - Call for an Integrated Interventional Approach

Introduction: Using advanced imaging, neurophysiologic and precision diagnostic techniques spinal pain can be diagnosed in only 50 to 80% of the patients. 20 to 50% remain incorrectly diagnosed. Furthermore axial and periaxial pattern of pain from ligaments, muscles, intervertebral discs and facet joints overlap significantly. Therefore patients continue to suffer because of diagnostic dilemma and also pose a therapeutic challenge. Rarely does low back pain involve only a single pain generator, therefore it is unlikely that a single treatment, such as surgery will result in the best outcome for the majority of the causes of low back pain.Materials and method: All cases of Low back Pain reporting to tertiary care service hospital from 2012 to 2016 were evaluated. Cases which responded to conservative management were excluded.Observation: A total of 374 cases were offered pain intervention procedure. Of these 45 (12%) required a second interventional procedure as the pain relief was poor. All cases were followed up for 6 months and pain relief was recorded as Good, satisfactory or poor as told by the patient. We found that 78% reported good relief, 18% reported satisfactory relief while 4% reported poor relief from pain.Conclusion: Scientific evaluation of interventional pain treatments is difficult due to lack of any objective test for pain. Also we cannot have true controls. A single interventional procedure may not suffice in all cases. The Surgeon needs to adopt other modalities to provide pain relief to the ailing patient.
Biogeosciences Biosphere-atmosphere exchange of CO 2 in relation to climate : a cross-biome analysis across multiple time scales

The net ecosystem exchange of CO 2 (NEE) varies at time scales from seconds to years and longer via the response of its components, gross ecosystem productivity (GEP) and ecosystem respiration (RE), to physical and biological drivers. Quantifying the relationship between flux and climate at multiple time scales is necessary for a comprehensive understanding of the role of climate in the terrestrial carbon cycle. Orthonormal wavelet transformation (OWT) can quantify the strength of the interactions between gappy eddy covariance flux and micrometeorological measurements at multiple frequencies while expressing time series variance in few energetic wavelet coefficients, offering a low-dimensional view of the response of terrestrial carbon flux to climatic variability. The variability of NEE, GEP and RE, and their co-variability with dominant climatic drivers, are explored with nearly one thousand site-years of data from the FLUXNET global dataset consisting of 253 eddy coCorrespondence to: P. C. Stoy (paul.stoy@ed.ac.uk) variance research sites. The NEE and GEP wavelet spectra were similar among plant functional types (PFT) at weekly and shorter time scales, but significant divergence appeared among PFT at the biweekly and longer time scales, at which NEE and GEP were relatively less variable than climate. The RE spectra rarely differed among PFT across time scales as expected. On average, RE spectra had greater low frequency (monthly to interannual) variability than NEE, GEP and climate. CANOAK ecosystem model simulations demonstrate that “multi-annual” spectral peaks in flux may emerge at low (4+ years) time scales. Biological responses to climate and other internal system dynamics, rather than direct ecosystem response to climate, provide the likely explanation for observed multi-annual variability, but data records must be lengthened and measurements of ecosystem state must be made, and made available, to disentangle the mechanisms responsible for low frequency patterns in ecosystem CO 2 exchange. Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 2298 P. C. Stoy et al.: CO 2 flux and climate spectra
Seasonal Variation in Population Structure and Status of Selected Herbivores in the Mana Pools National Park Flood Plain, Zimbabwe

A study on the seasonal variation in population structure and status of the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer), the greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) and the common impala (Aepyceros melampus) was carried out in the Mana Pools National Park floodplain, Zimbabwe. Data was collected during the wet (February) and dry (September) seasons of 2012. The simple random sampling method was employed in transect placement. A total of 10 transects were sampled. The line transect method was used to estimate dry and wet season populations of buffalo, kudu and impala. Results from the two tailed t-test showed no significant variation for the populations of kudu (P>0.05) and buffalo (P>0.05) with season. However, impala population varied significantly with season (P 0.05). Dry season mean group sizes for buffalo, kudu and impala were 9.8, 3.6 and 14.1 respectively. The population of buffalo declined from 446 in 1995 to 174 in 2012. The populations of kudu and impala showed an increasing trend between 1995 and 2012. Results from this study suggest that seasonal variation in forage availability could be the primary factor influencing the status of herbivores in the MPNP floodplain. There is an urgent need for management to revise staff and ration quotas for herbivores and increase law enforcement efforts to assure the sustainable management of herbivores in MPNP.