Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fair Value Accounting & Challenges of Audit Practice in Nigeria

Fair value is the amount at which an asset can be bought or sold in a current transaction between willing parties, or transferred to an equivalent party, other than in a liquidation sale. This study evaluated fair value accounting and challenges of audit practice in Nigeria. This study is anchored on inspired confidence theory. The research design used in this study was expost factor design. The study employed structured questionnaire for data collection and the method of data analysis utilized was spearman rank order correlation. The findings of this study showed that fair value accounting poses greater technical challenges for auditors than historical cost accounting. In conclusion, auditors face extensive difficulties in the audit of fair value accounting estimates reported by their clients due to the lack of sufficient reliable information. We therefore recommended among others that The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) should improve the scrutiny of external auditors and companies financial reports; auditors should be given adequate training and retraining through the Mandatory Continuous Professional Education Programme (MCPE) of ICAN for them to be abreast on current issues relating to fair value accounting measurements and the regulatory authorities should monitor the performance of specialist involved in the evaluation of companies and their assets, including implementing some procedures to license these individuals and the check on their qualifications and experiences. Keywords: Fair Value Accounting, Audit Practice, Fair Value Estimates.
Effects of bilateral breast reduction on anxiety and depression: Results of a prospective randomised trial

We assessed the effects of bilateral breast reduction on anxiety and depression in women with mammary hypertrophy (macromastia). Seventy-three consecutive women referred for consideration for breast reduction were recruited. They were randomised to have either early operation (within six weeks of initial assessment) or delayed operation (within six months of recruitment). The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Score was given before randomisation and four months later. All 73 patients completed the study. The mean (SD) age was 39 (12) years. The groups were matched for age, smoking, social class, and educational achievement. There were highly significant improvements (p<0.001) in symptoms of anxiety and depression. Reduction mammaplasty significantly improved symptoms of clinical depression in women with macromastia.
Evaluation of pig welfare in lairage and process hygiene in a single abattoir

: Food safety is indirectly affected by the welfare of food animals, due to close links between animal welfare, animal health and food borne diseases. Stress factors and poor welfare can lead to increased susceptibility to disease among animals and may intensify the fecal shedding of food borne pathogens, e.g. Salmonella, Campylobacter, Yersinia, and human pathogenic STEC in the pre-slaughter phase: on-farm, in transport and in lairage. This study evaluated two aspects: a) assessment of pig welfare in abattoir lairage founded on animal-based categories, and b) the relationship between pig welfare and microbial process hygiene at slaughter. The results revealed that the animal-based category ‘manure on the body’ assessed in abattoir lairage corresponded with microbial process hygiene at slaughter.
Neuropsychological, psychiatric, and cerebral perfusion correlates of leukoaraiosis in Alzheimer’s disease

OBJECTIVE To examine neurological, neuropsychological, psychiatric, and cerebral perfusion correlates of leukoaraiosis in Alzheimer’s disease. METHODS A consecutive series of patients with probable Alzheimer’s disease was assessed with a comprehensive neuropsychological battery, a structured psychiatric evaluation, the unified Parkinson’s disease rating scale, MRI, and single photon emission computed tomography with technetium 99m hexamethylpropylene-amine oxime (HMPAO) and regional cerebral perfusion measurements. RESULTS Patients with Alzheimer’s disease and leukoaraiosis were significantly more apathetic and had significantly more extrapyramidal signs than patients with Alzheimer’s disease without leukoaraiosis. Patients with Alzheimer’s disease with leukoaraiosis also had significantly lower bilateral perfusion in the basal ganglia, thalamus, and frontal lobes than patients with Alzheimer’s disease without leukoaraiosis. On the other hand, there were no significant differences between groups in age, duration of illness, depression scores, severity of delusions, or deficits on specific neuropsychological tasks. CONCLUSIONS Leukoaraiosis in Alzheimer’s disease may produce significant basal ganglia, and thalamic and frontal lobe dysfunction, which may be associated with more severe apathy and extrapyramidal signs.
Soil Quality and Financial Performance of Biodynamic and Conventional Farms in New Zealand

Biodynamic farming practices and systems show promise in mitigating some of the detrimental effects of chemical-dependent, conventional agriculture on the environment. The physical, biological, and chemical soil properties and economic profitability of adjacent, commercial biodynamic and conventional farms (16 total) in New Zealand were compared. The biodynamic farms in the study had better soil quality than the neighboring conventional farms and were just as financially viable on a per hectare basis.
Personal Healthcare Spending: Potential Impacts of Income and Population Growth in Eight U.S. Economic Regions

Per capita income has been used as a key component in the analysis of healthcare spending and the focus for key elements within healthcare policy. The purpose of this article is to analyze the changes in personal healthcare spending and population growth, in response to changes in per capita income, providing some insight as to whether this key indicator should be used singularly or in conjunction with other key indicators. Four secondary data sources were used for this research: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis personal income summary, U.S. Census Bureau state population estimates, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) personal healthcare dollars summary and American Medical Association (AMA) Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) calculations. State level data sources for income, spending and population growth reported data for 1991 to 2014. HHI data as sourced from the AMA includes data for 2012 to 2017. The method used was a retrospective longitudinal study, using multiple regression methodology to analyze U.S. per capita personal healthcare spending by region. Key findings indicate strong correlation between per capita income and healthcare spending, while the relationship between population growth and healthcare spending is limited.
Can GPS Be Used to Detect Deleterious Progression in Training Volume Among Runners?

Abstract Nielsen, RO, Cederholm, P, Buist, I, Sørensen, H, Lind, M, and Rasmussen, S. Can GPS be used to detect deleterious progression in training volume among runners? J Strength Cond Res 27(6): 1471–1478, 2013—There is a need to ascertain if an association exists between excessive progression in weekly volume and development of running-related injuries (RRI). The purpose of this study was to investigate if GPS can be used to detect deleterious progression in weekly training volume among 60 novice runners included in a 10-week prospective study. All participants used GPS to quantify training volume while running. In case of injury, participants attended a clinical examination. The 13 runners who sustained injuries during follow-up had a significantly higher weekly progression in total training volume in the week before the injury origin (86% [95% confidence interval: 12.9–159.9], p = 0.026) compared with other weeks. Although not significant, participants with injuries had an increase in weekly training volume of 31.6% compared with a 22.1% increase among the healthy participants. The error of the GPS measurements in open landscape, forest, and urban area of volume was ⩽6.2%. To conclude, no clinically relevant measurement errors of the GPS devices were found for training volume. Based on this, GPS has a potential to detect errors in training volume, which may be associated with development of RRI. Based on the results from the current study, increases in weekly training progression may become deleterious at a weekly increase above 30%, which is more than the 10% rule currently used as a guideline for correct progression in weekly volume by runners and coaches. Still, no clear evidence for safe progression of weekly volume exists. But it seems likely that some individuals may tolerate weekly progressions around 20–25%, at least for a short period of time.
Preparing for and Responding to Certification Authority Compromise and Fraudulent Certificate Issuance

As the use of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and digital certificates (e.g., the use of Transport Layer Security [TLS] and Secure Sockets Layer [SSL]) for the security of systems has increased, the certification authorities (CAs) that issue certificates have increasingly become targets for sophisticated cyber-attacks. In 2011, several public certification authorities were attacked, and at least two attacks resulted in the successful issuance of fraudulent certificates by the attackers. An attacker who breaches a CA to generate and obtain fraudulent certificates does so to launch further attacks against other organizations or individuals. An attacker can also use fraudulent certificates to authenticate as another individual or system or to forge digital signatures.
Liquidity Restrictions on Investment Funds: Are they a Response to Behavioral Bias?

Liquidity constraints imposed to shareholders of investment funds, also known as lock-up periods, represent an alternative that managers can use to implement and maintain long-term strategies. The academic literature suggests that, as a result of liquidity constraints, funds should deliver a premium to their shareholders, and previous studies have documented this effect. Based on this context, in this paper we analyze the effect of lock-up periods on the profitability of Brazilian multimarket funds. We used a sample composed by 4,662 multimarket funds in the period from January 2009 to February 2016. The results showed a positive effect of lock-up periods on the average profitability of the funds, as well as on their risk-adjusted return. Our discussion highlights arguments that some measures taken by fund managers to protect their strategies against impulsive behaviors of funds’ investors can present a positive effect on the performance of their funds.
Eighty-six cases of laparoscopic vaginoplasty using an ileal segment.

BACKGROUND The surgical management of the absence of the vagina is a complex problem and constitutes a significant technical challenge. As the laparoscopy has been an important tool for the treatment of uterovaginal anomalies, we evaluated the feasibility of laparoscopic vaginoplasty using an ileal segment retrospectively. METHODS Totally 86 patients who underwent laparoscopic vaginoplasty using an ileal segment in Beijing Anzhen Hospital during February 2004 to July 2007 were enrolled in this study. Of the 86 patients, 70 (81.4%) underwent primary operations and 16 (18.6%) secondary operations. Nineteen (22.1%) patients underwent total laparoscopic vaginoplasty and 67 (77.9%) patients underwent laparoscope-assisted vaginoplasty. The operation time, cost of hospitalization, and hospital duration were compared between the two laparoscopic groups. The Student's t test and the Mann-Whitney test were used to examine the differences. RESULTS All the surgeries were successfully completed with no any intraoperative complication. There were three major surgical complications in the postoperative period: one case of intra-abdominal hemorrhage, one case of meatal stenosis, and one case of intestinal obstruction. The mean follow-up period of this series was 18 months. Seventy-eight patients were satisfied with their sexual lives after the surgeries except 5 women complaining of vaginal stenosis and 3 with no sexual partner during the follow-up. Significant differences were obtained between total laparoscopic and laparoscope-assisted vaginoplasty groups, such as the operation time, cost of hospitalization, and hospital duration (P < 0.01). There were no significant differences in sexual function between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS The laparoscopic vaginoplasty using an ileal segment is satisfactory for cosmetic, functional, and anatomic results. Vaginoplasty with an ileal segment, performed by either total laparoscopic or laparoscope-assisted techniques, has a high success rate for a functional vagina.
Pseudo-elliptic direct-coupled resonator filters based on transmission-zero-generating irises

The paper presents simple realization of pseudo-elliptic bandpass filters where the transmission zeros are generated by coupling irises placed between direct-coupled waveguide cavities. Each iris can be used to generate and control one transmission zero in addition to providing the necessary coupling between the cavities. Example filters are presented to demonstrate the performance of these filters. The same principle is the used to design a bandstop filter with a wide stop-band.
A phylogenetic study of human respiratory syncytial viruses group A and B strains isolated in two cities in Japan from 1980–2002

The circulation pattern and genetic evolution of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in Japan were examined based on 109 RSV field strains isolated over 20 seasons (1980–2002) in two cities, Sapporo and Tokyo. The second hypervariable region of the large glycoprotein (G) gene was amplified by RT‐PCR and the products sequenced directly. The nucleotide sequences were compared to those representatives of RSV genotypes identified previously. Japanese group A and B isolates clustered into five and four genotypes defined previously, respectively. Another one group A and one group B genotypes, which could not be assigned to previous genotypes, were also identified. Although different genotypes usually co‐circulated in each season, the isolates in proximate seasons from two communities were usually located in the same branches. Moreover, the strains with genotypes defined previously were usually isolated at the same time as each reference strain of Western countries. Several mutant group B strains with 1–20 longer amino acid G proteins were newly identified in Sapporo. These findings suggest that Japanese RSV strains underwent geographical and also temporal clustering while participating in RSV genetic evolution in a global setting. In addition, Japanese strains, especially group B, might have evolved individually in each community, sometimes changing the length of the G protein. J. Med. Virol. 76:241–247, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Depression, quality of life, and medical resource utilization in sickle cell disease.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a chronic, debilitating disorder. Chronically ill patients are at risk for depression, which can affect health-related quality of life (HRQoL), health care utilization, and cost. We performed an analytic epidemiologic prospective study to determine the prevalence of depression in adult patients with SCD and its association with HRQoL and medical resource utilization. Depression was measured by the Beck Depression Inventory and clinical history in adult SCD outpatients at a comprehensive SCD center. HRQoL was assessed using the SF36 form, and data were collected on medical resource utilization and corresponding cost. Neurocognitive functions were assessed using the CNS Vital Signs tool. Pain diaries were used to record daily pain. Out of 142 enrolled patients, 42 (35.2%) had depression. Depression was associated with worse physical and mental HRQoL scores (P < .0001 and P < .0001, respectively). Mean total inpatient costs ($25 000 vs $7487, P = .02) and total health care costs ($30 665 vs $13 016, P = .01) were significantly higher in patients with depression during the 12 months preceding diagnosis. Similarly, during the 6 months following diagnosis, mean total health care costs were significantly higher in depressed patients than in nondepressed patients ($13 766 vs $8670, P = .04). Depression is prevalent in adult patients with SCD and is associated with worse HRQoL and higher total health care costs. Efforts should focus on prevention, early diagnosis, and therapy for depression in SCD.
First results of the MAVEN magnetic field investigation

Two Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN magnetic field sensors sample the ambient magnetic field at the outer edge of each solar array. We characterized relatively minor spacecraft‐generated magnetic fields using in‐flight subsystem tests and spacecraft maneuvers. Dynamic spacecraft fields associated with the power subsystem (≤1 nT) are compensated for using spacecraft engineering telemetry to identify active solar array circuits and monitor their electrical current production. Static spacecraft magnetic fields are monitored using spacecraft roll maneuvers. Accuracy of measurement of the environmental magnetic field is demonstrated by comparison with field directions deduced from the symmetry properties of the electron distribution function measured by the Solar Wind Electron Analyzer. We map the bow shock, magnetic pileup boundary, the V × B convection electric field and ubiquitous proton cyclotron, and 1 Hz waves in the ion foreshock region.
Numerical Simulation of Interaction of a Current with a Circular Cylinder near a Rigid Bed

The numerical modeling of a 2D flow around a horizontal cylinder near a rigid bed with the gap ratios G/D = 0, 0.2, 0.3 at Reynolds numbers 840, 4500, 9000, and 9500 is investigated by using weakly compressible smoothed particle hydrodynamics. The velocity field and the separation angles from the present simulations are compared with those obtained from the experimental measurements and are in a good agreement. The results show that the maximum value of shear stress on the bed increases as the cylinder closes the bed and suddenly decreases when the cylinder contact the wall.
Transcription et séparation automatique de la mélodie principale dans les signaux de musique polyphoniques

Nous proposons de traiter l'extraction de la melodie principale, ainsi que la separation de l'instrument jouant cette melodie. La premiere tâche appartient au domaine de la recherche d'information musicale (MIR) : nous cherchons a indexer les morceaux de musique a l'aide de leur melodie. La seconde application est la separation aveugle de sources sonores (BASS) : extraire une piste audio pour chaque source presente dans un melange sonore. La separation de la melodie principale et de l'accompagnement et l'extraction de cette melodie sont traitees au sein d'un meme cadre statistique. Le modele pour l'instrument principal est un modele de production source/filtre. Il suppose deux etats caches correspondant a l'etat du filtre et de la source. Le modele spectral choisi permet de prendre compte les frequences fondamentales de l'instrument desire et de separer ce dernier de l'accompagnement. Deux modeles de signaux sont proposes, un modele de melange de gaussiennes amplifiees (GSMM) et un modele de melange instantane (IMM). L'accompagnement est modelise par un modele spectral plus general. Cinq systemes sont proposes, trois systemes fournissent la melodie sous forme de sequence de frequences fondamentales, un systeme fournit les notes de la melodie et le dernier systeme separe l'instrument principal de l'accompagnement. Les resultats en estimation de la melodie et en separation sont du niveau de l'etat de l'art, comme l'ont montre nos participations aux evaluations internationales (MIREX'08, MIREX'09 et SiSEC'08). Nous avons ainsi reussi a integrer de la connaissance musicale ameliorant les resultats de travaux anterieurs sur la separation de sources sonores.
A 248–262 GHz InP HBT VCO with Interesting Tuning Behavior

A fundamental-mode common-base voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) based on 250-nm InP heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) technology is reported. The VCO, which employs varactors implemented by connecting the base and emitter of npn transistors as tuning components, shows a tuning range of 247.8-262.2 GHz. The output power is greater than 0 dBm over the entire tuning range, and dissipated dc power is around 85 mW. An unexpected tuning behavior was observed, which was shown to arise from the internal parasitic base inductance of the transistors used for varactors in this work.
Fixed and Common Fixed Point Theorems in Metric Spaces

In this paper, without using the extended Hausdorff metric, we prove fixed point and common fixed point results for multivalued maps under certain conditions. Consequently, Our results either improve or generalize a number of known results including the corresponding results due to Caristi [2], Mizoguchi and Takahashi [12] Latif and Beg [9], Suzuki and Takahashi [16]. Mathematics Subject Classification: 47H09, 54H25
The high-energy spectrum of Cygnus X–1: corona and jet contributions

We have analyzed six years of INTEGRAL observations of the BH binary Cygnus X-1. We report on the evolution of the physical parameters of the accretion flow across spectral transitions. In particular, we have used for the first time the new model BELM which gives constraints on the intensity of the magnetic field in the X-ray corona of BH binaries. We have found that in the softer states, the magnetic field is at most of the order of 1E+06 G. In the harder states, if the non-thermal excess observed above a few hundred keV is produced in the same region as the bulk of the thermal Comptonization, the upper limit on the magnetic field is about 1E+05 G. On the other hand, as suggested by the recent polarization measurements, this high-energy excess may be produced in the jet: in this case the constraints on the magnetic field in the hard state are somewhat relaxed and the upper limit rises to 1E+07 G.
A Metamodel and its Ontology to Guide Crisis Characterization and its Collaborative Management

This paper presents a research in progress about the French ISyCri project that aims at providing partners involved in crisis management with an agile Mediation Information System (MIS). Not only this MIS shoul support the interoperability of the partners’ information systems but it is also dedicated to coordinate their activities through a collaborative process. One of the first and main steps towards such a MIS, is to elaborate a common and sharable reference model built to characterize crisis situations. Such a model is also an input for automated reasoning to elaborate and adapt a crisis solving collaborative process. This article presents the objective of the project, our approach and our first results: a UML metamodel of crisis situation and its corresponding OWL ontology on top of which deductions are possible.