Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Investigation on the Audit Committee’s Effectiveness: The Case for GLCS in Malaysia

Financial reporting quality has been under scrutiny especially after the collapse of major companies. The main objective of this study is to investigate the audit committee’s effectiveness on the financial reporting quality among the Malaysian GLCs following the transformation program. In particular, the study examined the impact of audit committee characteristics (independence, size, frequency of meeting and financial expertise) on earnings management in periods prior to and following the transformation program (2003-2009). As of 31 December 2010, there were 33 public-listed companies categorized as Government-Linked Companies (GLC Transformation Policy, 2010) and there were 20 firms that have complete data that resulted in the total number of firm-year observations to 120 for six years (years 2003-2009). Results show that the magnitude of earnings management as proxy of financial reporting quality is influenced by the audit committee independence. Agency theory was applied to explain audit committee, as a monitoring mechanism as well as reducing agency costs via gaining competitive advantage in knowledge, skills, and expertise towards financial reporting quality. The study is important as it provides additional knowledge about the impact of audit committees effectiveness on reducing the earnings management, and assist practitioners, policymakers and regulators such as Malaysian Institute of Accountants, Securities Commission and government to determine ways to enhance audit committees effectiveness and improve the financial reporting of GLCs, as well as improving the quality of the accounting profession.
Strategic decisions , motivation , and leadership styles ∗

Should decision–making in organisations be internally transparent? We investigate this question in a model of teamwork in which the leader’s information consists of two components; verifiable “hard” evidence and unverifiable “soft” information. The disclosure of verifiable evidence permits subordinates to adjust their effort to the team’s prospects. On the other hand it distorts decision–making. It gives the leader an incentive to base his decisions on hard rather than soft information even though the latter might be more accurate. We show that self–confidence and charisma improve the leader’s decision–making. As a result a leader with these traits can gain most from implementing a policy of internal transparency. Paradoxically a self–confident leader sometimes fails to implement such policy even if it is in his interest to do so. We are grateful to Michele Piccione and Andrea Prat for their guidance during our PhD studies at the London School of Economics. We also thank Leonardo Felli, Gilat Levy, Margaret Meyer, Sujoy Mukerji and participants of the PIPPS conference in Bristol, 2003 for valuable suggestions. Nuffield College, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 1NF, UK. Email: jordi.blanes-ividal@nuffield.ox. ac.uk, Tel. : +44(0)7814787063, Fax: +44(0)1865278621. Department of Economics, University Carlos III Madrid, Calle Madrid 126, 28903 Getafe Madrid, Spain. Email: mmoller@eco.uc3m. es, Tel. : +34-91624-5744, Fax: +3491624-9329.
The use of connected masks for reconstructing the single particle image from X-ray diffraction data

The problem of reconstructing the image of a single macromolecular object from X-ray diffraction data can be formulated as a problem of the reconstruction of the 3D electron density distribution from the magnitudes of its Fourier transform. This problem can be reduced to a series of standard X-ray crystallography tasks, namely, the recovery of a periodic function from its Fourier coefficients (structure factors) magnitudes, which are determined in an X-ray diffraction experiment. In this work, a new approach to the solution of these tasks is suggested which is based on the use of connected binary masks as an approximation of the required electron density distribution. The approach includes the random generation of a great number of connected masks, the selection of the masks that are in agreement with an experimental and a priori information about the object, and the alignment and the averaging of the phase sets of the structure factors that correspond to the selected masks. The averaged phase values together with the experimentally determined magnitudes are used for the calculation of the Fourier synthesis, which is applied for the visualization of the object under study. The approach can be used in studies of both single particles and crystalline species; however, it holds the greatest promise for investigations of single objects. The results of testing the approach are presented.
Genetic control of modified genomic region in a firm ripening tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) mutant

Studies involving the firm tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) mutant have shown that pleiotropy or genetic linkage are responsible for modifications in morphological and postharvest traits. The objective of this report was to evaluate the hypothesis of pleiotropy or genetic linkage linked to morphologic traits and to verify the effect of QTL on fruit firmness. Plants of mutant firm and L. cheesmani were intercrossed; the F2 and F3 generations were analyzed for segregation of morphological traits and firmness, and the RAPD technique was used for the F2 population. Results showed that the recessive pleiotropic gene is responsible for the morphological traits, but environmental and/or genetic factors affect the penetrance and expressivity of the mutation. By the RAPD analysis, a QTL was detected in the group represented by the markers AS-08622, AQ-16747 and l-2 that explains 29.77% of the variation to fruit firmness.
Molecular Identification of Selected Multiple Antibiotic Resistance Bacteria Isolated from Poultry Droppings in Akure, Nigeria

Molecular techniques have the advantage that, they are rapid, less laborious, and more sensitive, specific and efficient compared to the conventional method of bacteria identification. This work aimed at Molecular Identification of Selected Multiple Antibiotic Resistance Bacteria Isolated from Poultry Droppings in Akure, Nigeria. Samples were plated on selective and differential media. Isolation and identification of bacteria were carried out using standard microbiological method, Antibiotics susceptibility test was determined by the disk diffusion method, Plasmid DNA extraction, profiling and curing, Genomic DNA extraction, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), agarose gel electrophoresis, 16S rRNA gene sequence and phylogenetic analysis were carried out by standard method. Eight bacteria were selected; Proteus mirabilis, Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella sp. Escherichia coli, Shigella sp. and Klebsiella pneumonia, they were resistant to at least seven antibiotics. The result revealed that the plasmid size ranged from 8.60 to 128.00 kilobase pair (kbp) and the number of plasmid carried by bacteria ranged from 1 to 3 plasmids. Based on the 16s rRNA sequences, the following bacteria were identified Salmonella enterica subsp.enterica serovar Typhi str. CT18, Proteus mirabilis strain HI4320, Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25, Staphylococcus cohnii subsp. cohnii strain 532 Contig16, Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Infantis, Escherichia coli str. K12 substr. DH10B, Shigella flexneri 2a str. 2457T and Klebsiella pneumoniae strain J1. The presence of multiple resistant bacteria and plasmid mediated resistance of human pathogenic bacteria isolated from poultry droppings in Akure is of great public health importance.
Firmness and melting quality of processed cheese foods with added whey protein concentrates

Summary - Processed cheese foods were prepared by replacing young Cheddar cheese solids with those of whey protein concentrates (WPC) obtained by ultrafiltration of Tilsit cheese whey. Firrn- ness of processed cheese foods decreased in a highly significant manner (P< 0.01), while melting quality increased in a highly significant manner ( P< 0.01) with the increase in moisture over a wide range. An increased amount of whey protein concentrates and trisodium citrate improved the firm- ness in a highly significant manner (P < 0.01), but had a highly significant deleterious effect (P< 0.01) on the melting quality of processed cheese foods. processed cheese food 1 flrmness 1melting quality 1 whey protein concentrate addition
Equating of grades at basic and higher level of mathematics achievement

In Slovene General Matura, Mathematics is one of the compulsory subjects and it can be taken either at Basic or Higher Level of Achievement. Basic Level of Achievement is expressed by the classic five-grade scale from 1 to 5. Candidates at Higher Level of Achievement can get grades on scale from 1 to 8. Conversion of points into grades (i.e. getting points on tests and points at internal examination and then calculating those grades from the sum of points) on each Level is set independently, and we tried to find out if the same grade on each Level of Achievement corresponds to the same knowledge. Once grades are assigned they are used comparatively in selection procedures for admission to University. Both Basic and Higher Level in Mathematics include the same Part 1 of the exam. The second part of the exam (Part 2) is applied only to the Higher Level's candidates. Part 1 amounts to 80% of the total points at Basic Level, and 53.3% of total points at Higher Level. Higher Level's candidates get other 26.7% of points in Part 2. Oral part of the exam represents 20% of the grades at both Levels. In this paper we show discrepancy between knowledge within the same grades for candidates at Basic and Higher Level of Achievement on an example of a Mathematics exam from General Matura 2008. Rasch model within Item Response Theory framework was used to place item difficulties on common scale and the comparability of grade conversion on both Basic and Higher Level of Achievement was explored. The results show interesting differences in knowledge of candidates with the same grade at Basic and Higher Level of Achievement.
Exploring U-shaped relationships between Corporate Environmental Management Performance and Corporate Financial Performance (A&C)

Exploring U-shaped relationships between Corporate Environmental Management Performance and Corporate Financial Performance Abstract: This exploratory paper studies whether the relationship between Corporate Environmental Management Performance (EMP) and Corporate Financial Performance (CFP) can be explained by using non-linear U-shaped models and timelagged measures of EMP. This paper argues that the linear approach that is often used in the literature, has contributed to the mixed results on the relationship in the literature and that the drawn out effects of EMP may have further contributed to the mixed results. By combining existing theories in a new non-linear framework, this paper aims to provide evidence of non-linearity in the relationship between EMP and CFP. Using a panel dataset of yearly data of 1076 public companies for the period 2006-2015, and two measures of CFP, i.e., Total Stock Return (TSR) and Return on Assets (ROA), the results show evidence of non-linearity in the form of a U-shaped relationship between EMP and ROA. Furthermore, although there is some evidence of non-linearity between EMP and TSR, the results of this paper do not support an inverted U-shaped or U-shaped relationship between EMP and TSR. Additionally, this paper does not find evidence that time lagged measures of EMP help in explaining the relationship between EMP and CFP. These findings extend the literature on the EMP-CFP relationship by showing that EMP can have positive or negative effects on ROA, depending on the level of EMP of a firm. In particular, the financial benefits from EMP only seem to appear after a certain threshold of EMP has been reached. The results also show that linear models may not be appropriate for explaining the relationship between EMP and CFP. The paper also supports prior literature by showing that the effect of EMP on CFP is different for different dimensions of CFP. Therefore it is not always possible to generalize conclusions from one measure of CFP to another. In particular, this paper supports the notion that accounting-based measures (ROA) are more, and differently, affected by EMP than market-based measures (TSR) as proposed by Albertini (2013).
δN formalism in anisotropic inflation and large anisotropic bispectrum and trispectrum

We present the consistent δN formalism for curvature perturbations in anisotropic cosmological backgrounds. We employ our δN formalism to calculate the power spectrum, the bispectrum and the trispectrum in models of anisotropic inflation with the background gauge fields in Bianchi I universe. Our results coincide exactly with the recent results obtained from in-in formalism. To satisfy the observational constraints the anisotropies generated on power spectrum are kept small but large orientation-dependent non-Gaussianities can be generated. We study the Suyama-Yamaguchi inequality for the amplitudes of the bispectrum and the trispectrum in the presence of anisotropic shapes.
Challenging homophobic bullying in schools: the politics of progress

Abstract In recent years homophobic bullying has received increased attention from NGOs, academics and government sources and concern about the issue crosses traditional moral and political divisions. This article examines this ‘progressive’ development and identifies the ‘conditions of possibility’ that have enabled the issue to become a harm that can be spoken of. In doing so it questions whether the readiness to speak about the issue represents the opposite to prohibitions on speech (such as the notorious Section 28) or whether it is based on more subtle forms of governance. It argues that homophobic bullying is heard through three key discourses (‘child abuse’, ‘the child victim’ and ‘the tragic gay’) and that, while enabling an acknowledgement of certain harms, they simultaneously silence other needs and experiences. It then moves to explore the aspirational and ‘liberatory’ political investments that underlie these seemingly ‘common-sense’ descriptive discourses and concludes with a critique of the quasi-criminal responses that the dominant political agenda of homophobic bullying gives rise to. The article draws on, and endeavours to develop a conversation between, critical engagements with the contemporary politics of both childhood and sexuality.
Environmental Impacts of Small Scale Irrigation Schemes: Evidence from Ethiopian Rift Valley Lake Basins

This research has been carried out in the Rift Valley Lakes Basin (RVLB), which is one of the twelve major river basins in Ethiopia. The RVLB has been considered in this research due to its high priority that comes from the significant ecological and environmental interest from different sectors. The research has tried to compare the relative environmental impact of Bedene Alemtena, Eballa, Argeda and Gedemso irrigation projects. Impact assessment at the community level has been collected on a base of key informant interviews and ad- hock technique. For the study, a summary of two sets of structured questioners are also used. Check lists, matrices, and rule based analysis are used to aggregate a scaled value of the individual parameters collected through the interviews and physical observations at the four sites. Deforestation, overgrazing, poor watershed management, soil salinity, soil acidity, communicable and non communicable diseases, and water logging are the major problems of all schemes. Specifically, about 34% of respondents have encountered soil fertility deterioration in Argeda, Gedemso and Bedene Alemtena irrigation projects with high significant variation (X 2 , 97.7). Land degradation scenario after the implementation of the projects is also reported in Argeda (19.9%), Gedemso (10.4%), Ebala (23.8%), Bedene Alemtena (33.3%) (X 2 , 86.3). About 76.2 % of farmers in Argeda irrigation project have perceived that soil erosion in their plot is significantly more severe than other schemes (X 2 , 198.3). The comparison based on aggregated values shows that the Argeda 01 and Gedemso 01 irrigation projects have environmentally performed better than the Eballa and Bedene Alemtena irrigation projects. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.5755/j01.erem. 63.1. 3401
Marine turtles and Boats in the Galápagos : recommendations for a boat traffic management plan at San Cristóbal Island . Independent Project EV 5914-EV 5915

The growing demand for tourism opportunities and an increasing human population in the Galápagos Islands has led to increased boat traffic around the islands. Key species and ecosystems are under threat from boating and will likely continue to be affected, due to the manner in which these types of activities are handled, especially in the shallow bays close to inhabited islands. Therefore, it is essential to promote a zoning plan that allows a better understanding of how to manage boat use and ecosystem impacts in certain areas of the archipelago, particularly in the most visited parts. Doing so will ensure improved conservation of this pristine environment. The aims of this study were to identify the regions for possible interactions between sea turtles and boat traffic in the bays close to the populated area of San Cristóbal IslandGalápagos and to contribute to the development of a boat traffic management plan that could be applied to the zoning of the Marine Reserve. The principal objectives of this effort will contribute to the scientific assessment of the movement, site fidelity and habitat use of sea turtles on the shallow bays of San Cristóbal Island, to categorise the most susceptible areas of sea turtle interactions with vessels and speedboats around the touristic places on the archipelago, and to generate boat traffic management recommendations. Conclusively, we expect to give scientific information to the decision makers on the Galápagos, to aid them in implementing a management strategy to be included in the zoning plan of the Galápagos Marine Reserve (GMR). We also aim to create awareness in the local community about the importance of compliance of these zoning plans in order to conserve the species and ecosystems on the islands.
Podoplanin Protein Expression in Some Benign and Malignant Variants of Ameloblastoma (An immunohistochemical study)

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate immunohistochemical expression of podoplanin among some benign and malignant variants of ameloblastoma. Material and methods: Thirty seven benign ameloblastoma (AB) tumors werecollected, (six cases of follicular AB, three cases of acanthomatous AB, four cases of granular AB, three cases of basal cell AB and seven cases of plexiform pattern AB), three cases of desmoplastic AB, four cases of peripheral AB and seven cases of unicystic AB (three cases of luminal, two cases of intraluminal and two cases of mural) and eighteen malignant variants of ameloblastoma tumors were collected as paraffin embedded blocks. Immunohistochemical investigation using podoplanin antibody was done for all specimens. Results: The mean area percent of immunoexpression was greatest inmalignant variants of ameloblastoma, followed by benign variants of ameloblastoma tumors and the least value recorded in acanthomatous ameloblastoma. The mean area percent of immunoexpression was greater in plexiform ameloblastoma in comparison to follicular ameloblastoma. The mean area percent of immunoexpression was greatest in ameloblastic carcinoma. Conclusions: Podoplanin is associated with the malignant transformation risk and is a potent biomarker for risk assessment in oral malignant transformation.
Nitrogen and noble gases in micrometeorites

Abstract— Micrometeorites (MMs) currently represent the largest steady‐state mass flux of extraterrestrial matter to Earth and may have delivered a significant fraction of volatile elements and organics to the Earth's surface. Nitrogen and noble gases contents and isotopic ratios have been measured in a suite of 17 micrometeorites recovered in Antarctica (sampled in blue ice at Cap Prudhomme) and Greenland (separated from cryoconite) that have experienced variable thermal metamorphism during atmospheric entry. MMs were pyrolized using a CO2 laser and the released gases were analyzed for nitrogen and noble gas abundances and isotopic ratios by static mass spectrometry after specific purification. Noble gases are a mixture of cosmogenic, solar, atmospheric, and possibly chondritic components, with atmospheric being predominant in severely heated MMs. δ15N values vary between −240 ± 62‰ and +206 ± 12‰, with most values being within the range of terrestrial and chondritic signatures, given the uncertainties. Crystalline MMs present very high noble gas contents up to two orders of magnitude higher than carbonaceous chondrite concentrations. In contrast, nitrogen contents between 4 ppm and 165 ppm are much lower than those of carbonaceous chondrites, evidencing either initially low N content in MMs and/or degradation of phases hosting nitrogen during atmospheric entry heating and terrestrial weathering. Assuming that the original N content of MMs was comparable to that of carbonaceous chondrites, the contribution of nitrogen delivery by these objects to the terrestrial environment would have been probably marginal from 3.8 Gyr ago to present but could have been significant (˜10%) in the Hadean, and even predominant during the latest stages of terrestrial accretion.
THE MORPHOLOGIES OF MASSIVE GALAXIES FROM z ∼ 3—WITNESSING THE TWO CHANNELS OF BULGE GROWTH

We quantify the morphological evolution of z ∼ 0 ? > massive galaxies ( M * / M ⊙ ∼ 10 11.2 ± 0.3 ? > ) from z ∼ 3 ? > in the 5 CANDELS fields. The progenitors are selected using abundance matching techniques to account for the mass growth. At z < 1 ? > , the population matches the massive end of the Hubble sequence, with 30% of pure spheroids, 50% of galaxies with equally dominant disk and bulge components, and 20% of disks. At z ∼ 2 − 3 ? > however, there is a majority of irregular systems ( ∼ 60 % − 70 % ? > ) with still 30% of pure spheroids. We then analyze the stellar populations, star formation rates (SFRs), gas fractions, and structural properties for the different morphologies independently. Our results suggest two distinct channels for the growth of bulges in massive galaxies. Around ∼ 30 % − 40 % ? > were already bulges at z ∼ 2.5 ? > , with low average SFRs and gas fractions ( 10 % − 15 % ? > ), high Sérsic indices ( n > 3 − 4 ? > ), and small effective radii ( R e ∼ 1 ? > kpc), pointing toward an even earlier formation through gas-rich mergers or violent disk instabilities. Between z ∼ 2.5 ? > and z ∼ 0 ? > , they rapidly increase their size by a factor of ∼ 4 − 5 ? > , are quenched, and slightly increase their Sérsic indices ( n ∼ 5 ? > ) but their global morphology remains unaltered. The structural evolution is independent of the gas fractions, suggesting that it is driven by ex situ events. The remaining 60% experience a gradual morphological transformation, from clumpy disks to more regular bulge+disk systems, essentially happening at z > 1 ? > . This results in the growth of a significant bulge component ( n ∼ 3 ? > ) for 2/3 of the systems, possibly through the migration of clumps, while the remaining 1/3 retain a rather small bulge ( n ∼ 1.5 − 2 ? > ). The transition phase between disturbed and relaxed systems and the emergence of the bulge is correlated with a decrease in the star formation activity and the gas fractions, suggesting a morphological quenching process as a plausible mechanism for the formation of these bulges.