Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Study Habits and Academic Performance among Late Adolescents

Abstract The present study is aimed to find any significant relations between study habits and academic achievements amongst college students. For this purpose, a sample of 113 adolescents between 17 to 22 years was selected from the College of Home Science, CSKHPKV, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh. They were administered with the Study Habit Inventory Marks obtained in previously passed out classes which were taken as an indicator of their academic achievement. Analyses of the results suggested significant relations between academic achievement and study habits. High achieving adolescents were found to perform better in comprehension, task orientation and recording. The factors affecting the study habits were age, family income and education which were significantly related. For the rest of the variables, no significant relations were observed among the groups under consideration.
An English Study of Teacher Satisfaction, Motivation, and Health.

This study of 543 English teachers and school executives examined teachers' occupational motivation, satisfaction, and health and tested a model of teacher satisfaction developed in Australia in a previous research phase. Teachers came from schools representative of all types of schools and all levels of socioeconomic status. Teachers completed a self-report questionnaire that asked about demographics, orientation to teaching, satisfaction/dissatisfaction with teaching, time devoted to teaching tasks, commitment/motivation, and general health. The questionnaire also had an open-ended question for making other comments about teaching. Data analysis indicated that the teachers were motivated by altruism, affiliation, and personal growth. They were most satisfied with core business aspects of teaching such as facilitating student learning and achievement, developing as a professional, and working with other staff. They were least satisfied with matters from systemic and societal levels such as the nature and pace of change and the status and image of teaching. Between these two domains lay factors specific to particular schools (school leadership and communication, school resources, and relationships with community). Teachers from different types of schools and those holding different promotion positions differed on some measures of satisfaction. Head teachers were no more satisfied than classroom teachers and were similarly stressed. (Contains 15 tables and 25 tables.) (SM) ******************************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * ******************************************************************************** AN ENGLISH STUDY OF TEACHER SATISFACTION, MOTIVATION AND HEALTH Dr. Catherine Scott, Ms Sue Cox, Nottingham-Trent University Dr. Steve Dinham University of Western Sydney, Nepean American Educational Research Association Conference, San Diego
Market Competition, R&D and Firm Profits in Asymmetric Oligopoly

We investigate a Cournot model with strategic R&D investments wherein efficient low-cost firms compete against less efficient high-cost firms. We find that an increase in the number of high-cost firms can stimulate R&D by the low-cost firms, while it always reduces R&D by the high-cost firms. More importantly, this force can be strong enough to compensate for the loss that arises from more intense market competition: the low-cost firms' profits may indeed increase with the number of high-cost firms. An implication of this result is far-reaching, as it gives low-cost firms an incentive to help, rather than harm, high-cost competitors. We relate this implication to a practice known as open knowledge disclosure, especially Ford's strategy of disclosing its know-how publicly and extensively at the beginning of the 20th century.
What Drives Stock Prices? Identifying the Determinants of Stock Price Movements

In this paper, we show that the data have difficulty distinguishing a stock price decomposition in which expectations of future real dividend growth is a primary determinant of stock price movements from one in which expectations of future excess returns are a primary determinant. The data cannot distinguish between these very different decompositions because movements in the price–dividend ratio are very persistent whereas neither real dividend growth nor excess returns are; most of the information about low-frequency movements in dividend growth and excess returns is contained in stock prices and not the series themselves. We further show that this inability to identify the source of stock price movements is not solely due to poor power and size properties of our statistical procedure, nor does it appear to be due to the presence of a rational bubble.
FACTORS INFLUENCING BRANCHLESS BANKING FOR MICROFINANCE IN SUDAN: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

In Sudan more than 40% live below the poverty line and getting basic financial service poses a challenge to financial institutions. Most of these unserved populations live in far-flung areas that make it difficult for microfinance institutions to reach them. But the enormous growth of mobile technology industry has created new opportunity to expand financial services to this unserved population. Branchless banking is one of the latest technologies that have been employed in different developing countries to expand financial services to the unbanked poor. Despite the potential benefits and relevance of Branchless banking to Sudan, there are still very few studies on Branchless banking in Sudan. To address this gap in the literature, this study aims to investigate the factors that are essential to the development of branchless banking in Sudan using mobile technology. This is a research-in-progress paper, the critical review of the literature so far revealed that there are essential factors for the success of branchless banking in Sudan e.g. the identification of the industry key players and their roles, the enabling regulatory environment, the infrastructure readiness and Sudanese cultural values. The paper will provide regulators and policy makers in Sudan a way forward to expedite the development of suitable Branchless banking for microfinance in Sudan.
Surface Meltwater Impounded by Seasonal Englacial Storage in West Greenland

The delivery of surface meltwater through englacial drainage systems to the bed of the Greenland Ice Sheet modulates ice flow through basal lubrication. Recent studies in Southeast Greenland have identified a perennial firn aquifer; however, there are few observations quantifying the input or residence time of water within the englacial system and it remains unknown whether water can be stored within solid ice. Using hourly stationary radar measurements, we present observations of englacial and episodic subglacial water in the ablation zone of Store Glacier in West Greenland. We find significant storage of meltwater in solid ice damaged by crevasses extending down to 48 m below the ice surface during the summer, which is released or refrozen during winter. This is a significant hydrological component newly observed in the ablation zone of Greenland that could delay the delivery of meltwater to the bed, changing the ice dynamic response to surface meltwater.
Determination of Breast Self-Examination Knowledge and Breast Self-Examination Practices among Women and Effects of Education on their Knowledge

Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the breast se lf-examination (BSE) knowledge and practices among women who were attending adult education center courses. Materials and Methods: Data were collected from women (n=89) who were attending adult education courses in three different locations in city of Bursa in Ap ril 2007. Data collection form which is developed by researchers consisted of questions related to socio demographic variables, BSE knowledge and practices of women. After introducing a planned education on breast cancer and breast self-examination their knowle dge were retested. Results: The age of participants were ranging between 16-52 years. Close to half of the women (46.1%) were married. Some of the women reported having cancer in family members (20.2%) while none of them reported having breast cancer in close family member. Many of the participants (68.5%) were aware about Breast SelfExamination (BSE). TV (53.4%), journals-books (29.3%) were primary sources for women’s knowledge. Being young, not knowing how to perform BSE, not considering herself in a risk group and having a fear of finding something bad are some of the reasons for n ot performing BSE. Participants’ knowledge regarding BSE and breast cancer has been improved after the intro ducing of the education. Conclusions: Teaching the signs of breast cancer to women, cons idering the facts about it, using interactive methods and adopting surveillance programs are important.
Effectiveness of Psychoeducation for Adult Survivors of Sexual and Domestic Violence

The current study investigated psychoeducational programs for adult, female survivors of sexual violence and domestic violence in a community-based, nonprofit organization in the Northeastern United States. Participants’ trauma symptoms were measured by the Trauma Symptom Checklist-40 (Briere & Runtz, 1989) and knowledge of interpersonal violence was measured by a Client Questionnaire developed by the organization. The study used the intent-to-treat analysis, using paired-samples t-tests to examine changes from pretest to posttest. There were 35 participants in the sexual violence sample and 61 participants in the domestic violence sample. The results indicated that for participants in both the sexual violence psychoeducational program and the domestic violence psychoeducational program, knowledge significantly increased and trauma symptoms significantly decreased from pretest to posttest. Limitations inherent with conducting research in real-world community-based settings make it difficult to draw definitive conclusions. The results, although promising, therefore highlight the importance of continued research regarding the effectiveness of psychoeducation for survivors of interpersonal violence.
Effects of Macronutrients in the Physiological Quality of Soybean Seeds

The aim of this work was to correlate macronutrient content of soybean seeds to physiological quality of different cultivars. The work was developed in the Federal University of Pelotas, in the facilities of the Seed Science and Technology Graduate Program. The experimental design was randomized blocks in arranged in four replicates. The following soybean cultivars were used: BMX Apolo RR (12 lots), BMX Ativa RR (13 lots), BMX Energia RR (26 lots), BMX Forca RR (24 lots), BMX Impacto RR (35 lots), BMX Magna RR (16 lots), BMX Turbo RR (44 lots), BMX Potencia RR (82 lots) and NA 5909 RR (28 lots), with seeds produced in northwest Rio Grande do Sul. The determination of nutritional contents found in plant tissues of soybean seeds, were measured: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Magnesium (Mg), Calcium (Ca), Sulfur (S). The macronutrient contents of the seeds vary according to genetic characteristics of the cultivars, with higher oscillations of nitrogen, phosphorus, magnesium and sulfur contents present in soybean seeds. Potassium and calcium are defined as the most stable nutrients for the cultivars and seed lots analyzed. High concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus and calcium are determinants for the physiological quality of soybean seeds.
Antibacterial Efficacy of Nisin and Calcium Hydroxide with a Proton Pump Inhibitor as an Intracanal Medicament

Aim: To evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy of nisin and calcium hydroxide with and without pantoprazole against Enterococcus faecalis in comparison with chlorhexidine (CHX) 2% solution. Materials and methods: The antibacterial effect of the following experimental groups as intracanal medicaments (group I nisin, group II Ca(OH)2 powder 29% conc. , group III Ca(OH)2 with pantoprazole 20 mg, group IV Ca(OH)2 with pantoprazole 40 mg, group V CHX 2% solution, and group VI saline) was evaluated using the agar diffusion test for a time period of 24 hours. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) against E. faecalis were also determined. Statistical analysis was performed using Kruskal–Wallis test and chi-square test. Results: The agar diffusion test showed zones of inhibition for groups I, II, and V. Nisin and CHX groups showed the maximum zone of inhibition compared with other experimental groups. The MIC values for the experimental groups I, II, III, and V were 0.2 mg/mL, 0.45%, 0.45% + 0.03 mg/mL, and ≤ 0.01% respectively. The MBC values were tabulated. Conclusion: The antimicrobial efficacy of nisin as an intracanal medicament was similar to CHX 2%; Ca(OH)2 with pantoprazole was not effective against E. faecalis. The MIC value of nisin is 0.2 mg/mL against E. faecalis. Clinical significance: Nisin, when used as an intracanal medicament, is effective in eliminating E. faecalis when compared with the combination of Ca(OH)2 with pantoprazole, a proton pump inhibitor (PPIs).
Components of simultaneous interpreting: Comparing interpreting with shadowing and paraphrasing

Simultaneous interpreting is a complex task where the interpreter is routinely involved in comprehending, translating and producing language at the same time. This study assessed two components that are likely to be major sources of complexity in SI: The simultaneity of comprehension and production, and transformation of the input. Furthermore, within the transformation component, we tried to separate reformulation from language-switching. We compared repeating sentences (shadowing), reformulating sentences in the same language (paraphrasing), and translating sentences (interpreting) of auditorily presented sentences, in a simultaneous and a delayed condition. Output performance and ear–voice span suggest that both the simultaneity of comprehension and production and the transformation component affect performance but that especially the combination of these components results in a marked drop in performance. General lower recall following a simultaneous condition than after a delayed condition suggests that articulation of speech may interfere with memory in SI.
An Empirical Study on Corporate Ownership Structure and Firm Performance: Evidence from Listed Companies in Sri Lanka

Ownership structure, whether it is concentrated or dispersed, is one of the main determinants of organizational performance. Theories of corporate governance insist on dispersed ownership and segregation of ownership and management. In most of the emerging countries a concentrated form of ownership is evident in listed companies. Therefore the objectives of this study are twofold; to investigate whether ownership structure has an impact on firm performance and to examine whether concentrated ownership has an impact on firm performance, in companies listed in Sri Lanka. Researchers have considered a sample of seventy six (76) non-financial listed companies in CSE during the period of 2008 to 2014. A time fixed effect model is applied into the panel regression analysis and a Generalized Least Squares (GLS) regression model is chosen. Findings suggest that a significant relationship exists between ownership structure and firm performance. Empirical evidence further elucidates that institutional ownership has a significant positive relationship with firm performance, which can be justified based on the ‘active monitoring argument’. Significant negative relationship between individual ownership and firm performance can be argued based on ‘manager discouragement argument’. Concentrated ownership too has a significant positive relationship with firm performance, supporting the well-known agency theory propositions.
Second Language Teacher Development through CALL Practice: The Emergence of Teachers' Agency.

A growing number of studies examining second language (L2) teacher education from the perspective of sociocultural theory, in particular the activity theory framework (Engestrom, 1999), show that transformations in teachers’ cognition and practice can be fostered through negotiation of sociocultural and cognitive dissonance in their teaching environments. This case study examines 16 years of cognitive development of two Japanese language teachers practicing computer-assisted language learning (CALL) and the challenges they experienced as a result of the evolution of information and communications technology (ICT). The focus is on the challenges faced by L2 teachers and their responses, and how these challenges relate to the development of teachers’ agency as CALL practitioners. Narrative inquiry data for both participants were collected following the Trajectory Equifinality Approach (e.g., Valsiner & Sato, 2006), in which each teacher’s life trajectory is visualized to identify critical points based on social affordances and constraints. The critical points were further analyzed and interpreted within and between activity systems. The data suggests that the teachers became aware of the social nature of the technology through the challenges they encountered when coordinating their own and students’ mismatched values attached to ICT. Such a change in perceptions not only impacted their pedagogical usage of the technology but in turn also constituted their agency.
Determinants of Commercial Bank Profitability in Sub-Saharan Africa

The central theme of this study was to investigate the determinants of commercial bank profitability in Sub-Saharan Africa. The analysis used an unbalanced panel of 216 commercial banks drawn from 42 countries in SSA for the period 1999 to 2006. Using the cost efficiency model, bank profitability was estimated using panel random effects method in static framework. The explanatory variables are growth in bank assets, growth in bank deposits, capital adequacy, operational efficiency (inefficiency), and liquidity ratio as well as the macroeconomic variables of growth in GDP and inflation. The findings clearly show that both bank-specific as well as macroeconomic factors explain the variation in commercial bank profitability over the study period. These findings demonstrate the importance of both bank level as well as macroeconomic factors in explaining commercial bank profitability in Sub-Saharan Africa. The policy implications drawn from this paper are that if banks are to attain profitability improvements, both bank level as well as macroeconomic factors are important.
Increase in Life-Expectancy and Saving Behaviour

The age structure of the French population has been experiencing dramatic changes over the past decades and is likely to do so in a near future. The increasing proportion of the elder people may modify the savings behaviour of households. The level of savings, as well as its composition, may be altered by the ageing of the French population. This paper investigates the relationship between an increasing life expectancy and saving behaviour. We set up a life- cycle model in which the increase in life-expectancy is modelled as an increase in the probability of death at older ages. We introduce uncertainty as a consumption shock to stylise the fact that individuals may face an (uncertain) increase in expenditure for long term care (such as Alzheimer disease). We then show that, contrary to the standard life-cycle message, an increase in individual life-expectancy does not imply a decrease in saving or a more risk averse behaviour.
The Politics of Protection Rackets in Post-New Order Indonesia: Coercive Capital, Authority and Street Politics

Gangs and militias have been a persistent feature of social and political life in Indonesia. During the authoritarian New Order regime they constituted part of a vast network of sub-contracted coercion and social control on behalf of the state. Indonesia’s subsequent democratisation has seen gangs adapt to and take advantage of the changed political context. New types of populist street based organisations have emerged that combine predatory rent-seeking with claims of representing marginalised social and economic groups. Based on extensive fieldwork in Jakarta this book provides a comprehensive analysis of the changing relationship between gangs, militias and political power and authority in post-New Order Indonesia. It argues that gangs and militias have manufactured various types of legitimacy in consolidating localised territorial monopolies and protection economies. As mediators between the informal politics of the street and the world of formal politics they have become often influential brokers in Indonesia’s decentralised electoral democracy. More than mere criminal extortion, it is argued that the protection racket as a social relation of coercion and domination remains a salient feature of Indonesia’s post-authoritarian political landscape. This ground-breaking study will be of interest to students and scholars of Indonesian and Southeast Asian politics, political violence, gangs and urban politics. Contents 1. Protection, Violence and the State 2. Reconfigured Rackets: Continuity, Change and Consolidation 3. A New Order of Crime: Suharto’s Racket Regime 4. The Changing of the Preman Guard 5. The Rise of the Betawi 6. Jakarta’s Political Economy of Rackets 7. Coercive Capital, Political Entrepreneurship and Electoral Democracy 8. Conclusions
An Index of Economic Well-Being for Selected OECD Countries

Per capita gross domestic product (GDP) is a poor indicator of economic well–being. It measures effective consumption poorly (ignoring the value of leisure and of longer life spans) and it also ignores the value of accumulation for the benefit of future generations. Since incomes are uncertain and unequally distributed, the average also does not indicate the likelihood that any particular individual will share in prosperity or the degree of anxiety and insecurity with which individuals contemplate their futures. We argue that a better index of economic well–being should consider: current effective per capita consumption flows; net societal accumulation of stocks of productive resources; income distribution; and economic security. The paper develops such an index of economic well–being for the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, Norway and Sweden for the period 1980 to 1999. It compares trends in economic well–being to trends in GDP per person. In every case, growth in economic well–being was less than growth in GDP per capita, although to different degrees in different countries.
Does ISO 9000 Give a Quality Emphasis Advantage? A Comparison of Large Service and Manufacturing Organizations

This research examines the relative importance attached, by the chief executives of 93 service and 112 manufacturing organizations, to internal and external dimensions of quality. It analyzes the relationship of these quality dimensions to the importance placed on the possession of Quality Certification (QCert value). The analysis finds evidence that the emphasis on quality increases in service firms with higher QCert value scores, so as to provide a greater balance between internal and external dimensions of quality. In contrast, increased emphasis is only found on internal quality in manufacturing firms. This suggests that accreditation to an ISO 9000 standard has a more profound effect on service firms than on manufacturers. Thus, it can be concluded that ISO 9000 quality management systems can give a significant quality emphasis differential to service firms. In contrast, there is little gain in differential in manufacturing. The lack of any marked quality differential in manufacturing firms suggests that any competitive advantages gained will be much weaker than for service firms.