Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE SOUTH AFRICAN CODE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMPLIANCE AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM SOUTH AFRICAN PUBLICLY LISTED FIRMS

The paper examines corporate governance compliance by South African listed firms. The study seeks to explore if better governed firms exhibit greater financial performance than poorly governed firms. The paper employs a panel study methodology for a sample of 137 Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed firms between 2002 and 2011. The paper provides empirical insights about the impact of corporate governance on firm performance. The results show that the compliance levels to corporate governance in South Africa (SA) has been improving since 2002 when King II came into force. However, the compliance level in large firms appears to be higher than in small firms. Further, the findings show that the market value of large firms is higher than that of small firms. These results largely support the notion that better governed firms outperforms poorly governed firms in terms of financial performance. Notably, the empirical results indicate that board size, CEO duality and the presence of Independent non-executive directors positively impact the performance of a firm, whereas board gender diversity, director share-ownership and frequency of board meetings have no impact on firm performance. Unexpectedly, the presence of internal key board committees, such as remuneration, Audit and Nomination negatively impact firm performance. Notably, the results also show that only 9 per cent of the positions in the board of SA listed firms are occupied by women. Even though the sample size for this study was the largest to date in SA studies, the sample size of 137 listed firms represents only 40 per cent of the total number of listed firms as at August 2012. As a result, generalizability of the findings might be questioned. Therefore, future research is encouraged to increase the sample size. Similar to UK, South Africa has a flexible approach to corporate governance, in which listed firms are required to comply or explain non-conformance to King recommendations. This study has policy implications as it determines whether the flexible corporate governance approach employed by SA improves corporate governance compliance than the mandatory corporate governance approach as employed by countries such as Sri Lanka and whether compliance translates into firm performance. The study also suggests that greater representation of independent non-executive director, a larger board size and the separation of CEO and Chairman should be encouraged to enhance firm performance. The significant finding of this study is that compliant firms enjoy a higher firm performance as proxied by ROA and Tobin’s Q. This implies that compliance to corporate governance code of practice matters, not just as box ticking exercise but as a real step change in the governance of South African listed firms. This paper fulfils an identified need of how compliance to corporate governance influences firm performance in South Africa. The findings have implications to JSE listing rules, policy, investor confidence and academia.
Trends of Stability Indices and Environmental Parameters Derived from the Rawinsonde Data over South Korea

2 73 rd Weather Group, Republic of Korea Air Force, Chungnam 314-701, Korea Abstract: In this paper, trends of the widely used stability indices (SIs) and environmental parameters (EPs) were examined by using the 30-year routine rawinsonde data observed in three upper air observatories (Osan, Gwangju and Pohang) over South Korea. To take into account of the contribution of water vapor to a parcel density, we applied the virtual temperature correction in calculating the SIs and EPs. The trends of SIs and EPs indicated significant increases of temperature and moisture contents, especially at the low-to-mid troposphere during the last 10 years. The warming trend in the lower troposphere shows about 3 times greater than that of the global average (+0.10- +0.20o C/10 years), whereas the cooling trend of lower stratosphere demonstrates a similar trend with the global average (−0.33- −0.60 o C/10 years). The vertical stability is clearly reduced due to the unsymmetrical change of atmospheric elements. The unstabilizing trend with the increased moisture contents gradually changed the atmospheric environment in South Korea into the conditions favorable for the occurrence of severe weather or intensifications of such events. These trends are consistent with the recent observations, which showed clear increase in the intensity and frequency of heavy rainfalls.
A survey on preservation methods of leftover vegetables among retailers of Bungudu Local Government Area Zamfara State-Nigeria

This study aimed at investigating the different methods of preserving vegetable left over after market hours among retailers of Bungudu local government area of Zamfara state-Nigeria. Out of the total number of markets in the local Government ten villages were randomly selected and in each of the village market, six vegetables sellers were choose at random and administered with the questionnaire making the total of sixty respondents. Result showed majority of the respondents were male and fall within the age range of 20-40 (64%), most of them acquired only Qur’anic education and spend ≤1-15 years in the business. Their source of vegetables is through wholesalers and majority of them (55%) used local basket in preserving their left over after market hours, this followed by spreading (20%), heaping (12%), sun drying (8%) and use of jute sacking (5%). The present study revealed that methods used by the vegetable retailers were traditional thus spoilage can still be high, due to. The government should therefore, enlighten the vegetables sellers on other methods like refrigeration, chilling, pickling, salting, freezing etc. which could be through radio, television, firm shows, poster and personal contact. More funds should be provided and good road network linking rural areas to market should be put in place to control loss incurred during transportation. Key words: Left-over vegetables, preservation, retailers, Bungudu.
Anurans from Costa Bela, state of Espírito Santo, southeastern Brazil: inventory at an urban area and the re-discovery of Allobates in the state

Our aim was to inventory the fauna of anurans from forest fragments in an urban landscape at Costa Bela, state of Espirito Santo, southeastern Brazil. Between December 2008 and November 2009 we conducted 26 field expeditions that resulted in 31 records of anuran species. Among these, 15 (48.5%) are restricted to the Atlantic forest, nine (29%) are widely distributed in Atlantic forest and seven (22.5%) range other biomes beyond the Atlantic forest. Allobates olfersioides was re-discovered in the state of Espirito Santo and is listed as Vulnerable in IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
The Relation between Auditor Switching and Self-fulfilling Prophecy Effect: The Bivariate Probit Model

This study investigates the adverse effects of auditor initial going-concern qualified opinion (IGCQ) on the stock and audit market employing the bivariate probit model on Taiwanese public firms. Results show that (1) unobservable interference factors may be responsible for the adverse market effects, (2) interaction exists between the stock and audit markets, (3) the probability of auditor switching is higher if the client is delisted from the market or influenced endogenously, (4) the self-fulfilling prophecy effect is not supported in the Taiwanese stock market; (5) one year after an IGCQ is issued, the client is more likely to switch auditors.
Evaluation of nine oil crops for fatty acid constituents of their oils.

Oils of nine oil crops were evaluated concerning their composition from the fatty acids. The obtained results revealed that palm oil had the highest palmitic acid (45.10 %) and canola oil had the lowest palmitic acid (3.90 %). The highest stearic acid was found in palm oil (4.70 %) and the lowest stearic acid was found in canola oil (1.90 %). Olive oil had the highest oleic acid (71.10 %) and the lowest was found in cotton seed oil (17.60%). Linoleic acid percentage ranged from 68.0 % in sunflower to 9.40 % in palm oil. Linolenic acid ranged from 52.0 % in flax oil to 0.00 % in peanut oil. The lowest saturated fatty acids were 6.80 % in canola while the highest percentage was found in palm oil (51.50 %). As for the total unsaturated fatty acids values were 93.20 %, 90.0 %, 87.30 %, 84.50 %, 82.90 %, 82.0 %, 74.70 %, 72.0 % and 48.60 % in the oils of canola, flax, sunflower, soybean, olive, maize, peanut, cotton and palm, respectively. ____________________________________________________________________
Differences in Types and Technological Means by Which Mexican High Schools Students Perform Cyberbullying: Its Relationship with Traditional Bullying

The aim of this study is to determine the differences between types and technological means by which Mexican high school students perform cyberbullying. The effects to perform the role of aggressor and victim in the traditional bullying were also established in the intensity of the reports of cyberbullying. It was used a random cluster sampling with 278 students selected from four high schools, to which they were given two instruments designed expressly for measuring the frequency of types of cyberbullying and the use of technological means for its realization, as well as the frequency of bullying respectively. Results showed that denigration, harassment and exclusion were reported significantly more strongly than the other types of cyberbullying, and that the most frequently used technological medium were social networks. It was also found that performing the role of aggressor (R 2 =.44) or victim (R 2 =.37) explained a significant portion of the variance of cyberbullying reports. It was concluded that cyberbullying is a phenomenon that can take various forms and it is related in a complex way with traditional bullying.
Study on Morphological Differentiation and Characteristics of Flower Bud in ‘Danhua’ Pear

The ‘Danhua’ pear (abbreviation DH) was a novel bud sport variety with single flower, which was found on branch of over 20 years old tree from ‘Daxiangshui’ pear (abbreviation DXS) (Pyrus ussriensis) in 1999. It was released in 2015. In this research, flower bud characteristics and flower bud differentiation process on ‘DH’ pear and ‘DXS’ pear were studied by field investigation and microscopic observation. The result shows the ‘DH’ pear has two types of flower bud, 56% “incomplete-mixed flower bud” and 44% “pure flower bud”, which is entirely different with ‘DXS’ pear and other pear varieties. The single flower of inflorescence of ‘DH’ pear occurs at the process of flower bud morphological differentiation. That means the ‘DH’ pear forms only one flower primordium in each inflorescence, which is completely different with the maternal ‘DXS’ pear.
Application of Time-to-Event Methods in the Assessment of Safety in Clinical Trials

Since randomized controlled trials (RCT) are typically designed and powered for efficacy rather than safety, power is an important concern in the analysis of the effect of treatment on the occurrence of adverse events (AE). These outcomes are often time-to-event outcomes which will naturally be subject to right-censoring due to early patient withdrawals. In the analysis of the treatment effect on such an outcome, gains in efficiency, and thus power, can be achieved by exploiting covariate information. We apply the targeted maximum likelihood methodology to the estimation of treatment specific survival at a fixed end point for right-censored survival outcomes. This approach provides a method for covariate adjustment, that under no or uninformative censoring, does not require any additional parametric modeling assumptions, and, under informative censoring, is consistent under consistent estimation of the censoring mechanism or the conditional hazard for survival. Thus, the targeted maximum likelihood estimator has two important advantages over the Kaplan-Meier estimator: 1) It exploits covariates to improve efficiency, and 2) It is consistent in the presence of informative censoring. These properties are demonstrated through simulation studies. Extensions to the methodology are provided for non randomized post-market safety studies and also for the inclusion of time-dependent covariates.
DETERMINATION OF CHEMICAL COMPOSITION, MINERAL CONTENTS, AND PROTEIN QUALITY OF POULTRY BY-PRODUCT MEAL

In order to study the chemical composition, mineral contents and protein quality of poultry byproduct meal (PBPM), 10 composed samples of PBPM produced in Iran were provided during two months sampling period from rendering units of three industrial poultry slaughter-houses. The proximate analysis showed that the average dry matter (DM), ether extract (EE), crude protein (CP), crude fiber (CF) and ash of the PBPM samples were 94.8, 23.4, 60.5, 0.90, and 9.3 percent, respectively. The average gross energy (GE) value for the PBPM samples was 5645 kcal kg . The average values of major elements including Ca, P, Na, -1 K, Cl, Mg, and S were 3.51, 1.88, 0.52, 0.31, 0.74, 0.06, and 0.99 percent, respectively. The average values of trace elements including Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, and Se were 623.2, 9.3, 16.5, 47.8, and 0.73 mg kg , respectively. -1 Biological evaluation of protein quality was done by chicks fed a nitrogen-free basal diet (as negative control) or chicks fed semipurified diets containing 10 percent crude protein from the PBPM or Kilka fish meal (as positive control) as the sole source of dietary protein. The values of protein efficiency ratio (PER) and net protein ratio (NPR) showed significant differences (p<0.05) among the PBPM samples and varied between 1.45 to 2.05 and 2.31 to 2.87, respectively. The PER and NPR values for the PBPM samples were significantly lower (p<0.05) than that of Kilka fish meal.
The Effect of Paraffinic Mineral Oil Lubrication in Cold Forward Extrusion

This paper presents the results of cold forward extrusion modelling and the analysis of the contact sliding behaviour on the die-billet surface by paraffinic mineral oil lubrication with kinematic viscosity of 92 mm2/s at 40 °C. The analysis dealt with the plasticity flow that was investigated by finite element method in order to identify the loads acting on the billet. The finite element analysis of stresses was performed based on load distributions calculated from experimental test. The time behaviour of the displacements on the billet was then used as inputs for the extrusion model. The present method provided good results with reduced computation time. The results of the extrusion model revealed that the zones of high stress situated at the sharp edges of the die, which explains the observed extrusion force to reach a peak value.
PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS AND WILLINGNESS TO SHARE TACIT KNOWLEDGE: IS THERE A CONNECTION?

There is dearth of research on the connection between personality characteristics (altruism and self-efficacy) and willingness to share tacit knowledge particularly in Nigeria. This study, therefore, attempted to bridged this gap by exploring the impact of altruism and self-efficacy on willingness to share tacit knowledge in a sample of 325 health workers (nurses = 239; doctors = 86). Participants’ ages ranged from 20 to 56 years (Mage = 34.33; SD = 7.92). Results of the 3 x 3 ANOVA and LSD pairwise comparison test revealed that employees with high level of altruism reported high willingness to share tacit knowledge compared with those with moderate or low level of altruism. Similarly, employees with high sense of self-efficacy were willing to share tacit knowledge compared with their counterparts who had moderate or low sense of self-efficacy. These findings inform the need for organizational managers to design psychological interventions that may enhance employees’ levels of altruism and selfefficacy.
Effect of Acidity on Germination of Some Grasses and Alfalfa

Germination of blue panic grass, lehmann love grass, buffel grass, common Bermuda grass, and alfalfa was studied in petri dishes containing sulfuric acid solutions ranging in pH from 7.0 to 1.0. Above pH 4.0 there was no significant decrease in percent germination. Lehmann love grass and common Bermuda grass did not germinate at or below pH 3.0. Alfalfa and buffel grass were the most acid tolerant species tested.
5D World-Universe Model. Multicomponent Dark Matter

5D World-Universe Model (WUM) is based on the decisive role of the Medium of the World com-posed of massive particles: protons, electrons, photons, neutrinos, and Dark Matter Particles (DMP). The model forecasts the masses of DMP, discusses the possibility of all macroobject cores consisting of DMP (galaxy clusters, galaxies, star clusters, extrasolar systems, and planets), and explains the diffuse cosmic gamma-ray background radiation as the sum of contributions of multicomponent dark matter annihilation. The signatures of DMP annihilation with expected masses of 1.3 TeV, 9.6 GeV, 70 MeV, 340 keV, and 3.7 keV, are found in spectra of the diffuse gamma-ray background and the emission of various macroobjects in the World. The correlation between different emission lines in spectra of macroobjects is connected to their structure, which depends on the composition of the cores and surrounding shells made up of DMP. Consequently, the diversity of Very High Energy (VHE) gamma-ray sources in the World has a clear explanation.
Green Pulsed Electric Field-Assisted Extraction Method of Total Carotenoid Carrot Pulp Using Olive Oil as Solvent

Carrot ( Daucus carrota L.) pulp as a by-product of carrot juice processing, containing a high content of total carotenoid. It was necessary for the extraction that can be used to other food products enriched by carotenoid. Green extraction method of total carotenoid from carrot pulp assisted by Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) which had been designed was well determined in this study. Extra virgin olive oil was applied as a substitute to organic solvent which was in line with green extraction concept. The oil based extraction process by PEF-assisted was compared not only with oil based extraction using both olive oil and crude palm oil without PEF-assisted but also compared with conventional solvent extraction using 96% ethanol as solvent. The present study has been determined that the PEF-assisted extraction method using olive oil as solvent had highest of total carotenoid extract (34.16+1.02 µg/g) when compared with other methods. This method under condition in carrot pulp-oil ratio was 1: 10 (w/v), treatment time was 10 second and electric field strength was 2.5kV/cm Keywords: carrot pulp, green extraction, pulsed electric field, total carotenoid
Measurements of beam pipe eddy current effects in Main Injector dipole magnets

The dipole magnets for the proposed Main Injector project at Fermilab are designed to ramp to maximum field (1.7 T) at rates over 2.5 T/s. These ramp rates will produce eddy current effects which degrade overall field quality. A harmonics probe was constructed for the purpose of measuring eddy current field components during the ramp cycle. Three separate ramp rates were employed ranging from 1.3 T/s to 2.7 T/s. Tests were performed using beam pipes with two different resistivities. The dominant multipole contribution resulting from eddy current effects in each beam pipe was sextupole. The sextupole component closely matched the calculated prediction.
Growth Parameters of Probiotic Strain Lactobacillus Plantarum, Isolated from Traditional White Cheese

ABSTRACT Different aspects, including safety, functional and technological characteristics, have to be taken into consideration in the selection of each probiotic microorganism. The aim of the present work was to determine the kinetic growth parameters of L. plantarum strain after cultivation in media with different carbon sources. The strain was isolated from traditional Bulgarian white cheese and previously characterized as putative probiotic, based on commonly accepted in vitro criteria. For further biotechnological implementation was necessary to select a suitable and economically relevant growth media. Thus, reconstituted permeate (6% w/v) and the following modification of de Man, Rogose Sharpe media (MRS): (i) MRS-glucose; (ii) MRS-lactose; (iii) MRS-galactooligosaccharide; (iv) MRS-fructooligosaccharide were used. The strain growth, lactic acid production and carbon source utilization were monitored by pH and cell number determination, and HPLC analysis at different time points of the cultivation process. The highest cell growth and carbohydrate conversation were detected in the presence of glucose and lactose. The main product of the fermentation was lactate with detectable level of acetate. The permeate and MRS-galactooligosaccharide also support good growth and lactic acid production, which indicate a great potential for industrial applications of studied L. plantarum strain into the food system.
The Hypothetical Learning Trajectory on Research in Mathematics Education Using Research-Based Learning

This study aims to create a learning trajectory on research in mathematics education using design research methodology to enhance research and academic writing skills for pre-service mathematics teachers. The fourteen pre-service mathematics teachers during 5 months period from one higher education institution in Tangerang – Indonesia was collected. The design research method was carried out in three phases: preliminary design phase, teaching experiments phase, and retrospective analysis phase. Initial data analysis of 14 pre-service teachers’ research and academic writing skills was conducted in six stages and the learning trajectories on this topic was identified. The fourteen pre-service teachers were divided into 7 groups and research independently to produce seven scientific articles. The six articles were published in the proceedings of Konferensi Nasional Matematika (National Congress of Mathematics) XVII 2014 and one article was published in the Elemen Journal Vol. 1 No. 1. Keywords: Research and Academic Writing Skills, Research-Based Learning, Design Research. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.15823/p.2016. 32
Matching Matters in 401(K) Plan Participation

This study offers new evidence on the effects of the matching contributions made by employers to 401(k) plan accounts on plan participation rates, exploiting microdata from the National Compensation Survey, a large, nationally representative, establishment dataset. It addresses the potential endogeneity of the matching contributions by employing coworker and labor market characteristics as instruments. The results indicate that employer matches have substantial effects. They also indicate that higher match rates tend to be correlated with workers having lower propensities to save; correcting for this endogeneity produces estimates that are bigger than those seen through direct cross-sectional comparisons.
Sains Humanika A Managerial Decision Making Capability Framework For Adopting Technology Innovation Within Construction SMEs : Analysis and Results

The slow adoption of new technology within construction SMEs is influenced by the capability of managers in making decisions. Therefore, this paper aims to report the development of a conceptual framework related to managers’ decision making capability in adopting technological innovation; specifically referring to Building Information Modelling (BIM). The primary data collection involves semi-structured interview, while the multiple-case (holistic) design was used for developing the managerial decision making capability framework. The development of the framework was analysed using comparative analysis (cross-case) of thirteen (13) top managers within the construction SMEs organisations. Comparisons were made between existing theories and new concepts raised by top managers. The findings revealed that regardless of various views obtained from top managers, the adoption of BIM software has been influenced by managerial non-behavioural and behavioural capability, that have been categorised into five (5) main themes.