Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Role of Audit Committees in the Libyan Banking Sector as it Transforms into an Islamic System

This paper aims to explore the role of audit committees (ACs) in the Libyan banking sector (LBS) and to investigate the impact on AC practice of the sector’s recent shift to an Islamic banking system. Little is known about the role of these committees, which were only made compulsory in Libya in 2010. The findings support agency theory in that they perceived these committees as being responsible for reviewing financial statements, the internal auditing function and the external audit process. However, the perception was that ACs are not currently carrying out these responsibilities effectively; participants perceived ACs as spending too little time reviewing financial statements, rarely challenging weaknesses in the work of internal auditors and seldom following up or supervising the work of external auditors. One explanation for this state of affairs is that ACs in the LBS are primarily designed to create legitimacy outside the organisation rather than to effect radical change within it. The study also found that it is not the application of Islamic law per se that is perceived as having an adverse impact on AC practice in the LBS, but the speed at which this transition is taking place in an already weak banking environment. This research helps expand our knowledge of current AC practice as a key mechanism of corporate governance (CG) by being the first to investigate how this role is performed in Libyan banks, which are in the early stages of implementing Islamic law. The research is also important because it addresses an information gap in the accounting literature by investigating AC effectiveness in a developing country, a context which is still poorly understood.
Oil price booms, Dutch disease and the crowding out of tradable sectors: new insight from bank lending behavior

The Dutch disease phenomenon is front and centre in explaining the poor economic performance of resource-rich economies. While it is well documented in the literature that resource discoveries or booms have adverse effects on manufacturing, little is known about the role of sectoral credit allocation in accentuating or mitigating this phenomenon. Using monthly sectoral loan data across 13 oil-rich countries over the period 1994-2017, we find the pattern of credit allocation to be consistent with the Dutch disease: oil price booms are associated with contraction (expansion) in manufacturing (services) sector share of credit. These findings are robust to a battery of robustness tests. Consequently, we argue that sectoral credit allocation is a channel through which productive resources are shifted toward the non-tradable sector at the expenses of the tradable sector. To the extent that financial systems in oil-rich economies efficiently intermediate resource windfalls, it could potentially countervail the Dutch disease syndrome.
Identifying set-switching difficulties in autism spectrum disorder using a rule following task

Objectives The aim of the study is to distinguish between perceptuomotor and cognitive inflexibility as the source of set-switching difficulties in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods Seventeen adolescents with ASD and 17 neurotypical controls were presented with a computerized sequencing game using colored shapes. The sequence required a shift in perceptuomotor responding that could also be represented at a conceptual level. Measures of perceptuomotor inflexibility were based on errors and response times specifically on the critical switch item in the sequence. The task included three transfer phases in which the same rule was to be applied to new shapes and colors. Higher-order rule conceptualization was operationalized as the ability to abstract the switching rule and apply it across these phases. Results Participants with ASD showed predicted difficulties on the perceptuomotor shift, but no deficit on the transfer phases. Conclusions The study indicates a problem with perceptuomotor inflexibility in ASD that can explain why ‘extra-dimensional’ shifting is sometimes reported as problematic in this group. Implications for difficulties in more real-world contexts are discussed.
The European Citizens’ Initiative: Mobilization Strategies and Consequences

Research on the European Citizens’ Initiative has neglected the crucial role of social movements. This article contributes to the study of mobilization strategies and campaign consequences through two novel arguments: First, in explaining successful mobilization, I argue that the European Citizens’ Initiative as a political opportunity structure incentivizes the organization of nationally focused campaigns centred in at least one large, that is, populous state, instead of Europe-wide activism. Second, in explaining the multiple consequences of European Citizens’ Initiative mobilization, I show that a campaign may have important, often unintended, effects beyond (the failure to achieve) policy change, including disappointment with the democratic process leading to European Citizens’ Initiative reform and a renewed focus on national politics. This article provides an in-depth analysis of one of the only five European Citizens’ Initiative campaigns that have been able to collect the required one million signatures, while referring to other campaigns as shadow cases. The findings have important implications for debates on EU democracy.
The Impact of Message Source on the Effectiveness of Communications About Climate Change

We conducted a survey experiment in which we presented 1,850 respondents with one of two versions of an appeal emphasizing either the threats to the environment or threats to national security of the United States as a result of climate change. The messages were attributed to one of four sources: Republican Party leaders, Democratic Party leaders, military officials, or climate scientists. The results reveal that messages attributed to military leaders, or to Republican Party leaders, can enhance the impact of the appeal. This finding underscores the importance that the source of any communication can have on its overall effectiveness.
Investigating the Effects of Airport Servicescape on Airport Users’ Behavioral Intentions: A Case Study of Incheon International Airport Terminal 2 (T2)

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of physical and social servicescapes on cognitive and affective satisfaction, as well as airport image, with gender as a moderating effect between variables. A total of 283 airport users were surveyed, and structural equation modeling was used to investigate the relationships between variables. The results showed that only physical servicescape had a significant effect on cognitive and affective satisfaction, and affective satisfaction had a significant effect on airport image. In addition, the gender differences indicated a significant effect between the physical servicescape and cognitive satisfaction. This study is distinct in that it is the first attempt to verify the relationship between airport physical servicescape, social servicescape, airport users’ cognitive and affective satisfaction, and airport image on gender differences.
The Unsafe Home: An Analysis of Reported Domestic Violence in India

Violence against women has been acknowledged both nationally and internationally as a violation of women’s basic human rights, an issue which weakens the overall development of women globally. India enacted the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act in 2005 in order to address the issue of domestic violence. This work examines the impact of the law and women’s education and economic status on reported cases of dowry deaths and cruelty by husband and his relatives in 28 states of India between the years 2001 to 2016. My study hypothesizes that the states’ female literacy rate and female workforce participation are negatively associated with the rate of reported cases of dowry deaths and cruelty by husband and his relatives. This study supports the ameliorative hypothesis that higher literacy rates and advanced economic and political status help reduce the victimization of women. Also, variations are seen among the 28 states for the cases of reported dowry death rates and cruelty by husband and his relatives’ rates, suggesting that rates of dowry death are significantly higher in the eastern region and rates of cruelty by husband and his relatives are significantly higher in the south and the west (compared to the north). The Unsafe Home: An Analysis of Reported Domestic Violence in India Anamika Raj GENERAL AUDIENCE ABSTRACT Domestic violence is a global issue. It can be understood as arising from patriarchal values and gendered norms which relegate women to a subordinate position to men. India is the world’s largest democracy, and India is a place where crimes against women are highly prevalent. India enacted the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act in 2005 in order to address the issue of domestic violence. This study examines the impact of the Act after 14 years of its passage. Domestic violence takes different forms ranging from physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological violence. This study focuses on two forms of domestic violence: dowry deaths and cruelty by husband and his relatives against the wife. It focuses on the analysis of reported cases of the two crimes. In this study, data from various Indian governmental websites have been collected and analyzed to demonstrate rates of domestic violence for all the states of India. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of women’s status—operationalized as female literacy rate and female workforce participation—on the number of reported cases of domestic violence in Indian society from 2001 to 2016. This study supports the ameliorative hypothesis, which argues that places in which women have higher status report lower rates of victimization.
The Sociological Canon, Relations between Theories and Methods, and a Latent Political Structure: Findings from a Survey of Sociology Students in Germany and Consequences for Teaching

We discuss findings from a survey of sociology students in Germany and consequences for teaching. We focus on the de facto formation of a sociological canon, the relation between theories and methods, and effects of social and political characteristics on student’s scientific preferences. Our findings suggest that irrespective of an agreement of the sociological professionals on a common definition of a core, a de facto canon of theories and methods exists in teaching practices. Moreover, specific relations between sociological theories and methods occur in the data. Both should be recognized in the discussion about curricula design, especially concerning teaching research methods. Finally, we discovered effects of gender and political attitude on students’ preferences for theories and methods. Such differences might be associated with different motivations for studying sociology and labor market orientation. This should be considered in curricula design as well, especially at the local level of departments.
Evaluation the Lesson Plan of English Language Learning in Junior High School, Seraphine Bakti Utama West Jakarta

The study aims to evaluation the lesson plan of english language learning. This research was conducted at the Junior High School, Seraphine Bakti Utama West Jakarta. The research methodology used is evaluative through the flow of the gap model (discrepancy evaluation model). Data collection through interviews, document tracing, and observation. Key informant is the principal, teacher, and student. The results showed that: (1). The use of the lesson plan drafting principles occurs a negative (-) gap that resides in the quadrant (-2) because it earns a value of 40%, particularly on the full aspects of the basic competency of spiritual attitudes, attitudes Knowledge and skills, centered on students, context, kinship, feedback and alignment. (2). The implementation of lesson plan preparation of the (+) gap occurred at the Quadrant (2) because it gained a value of 60%, especially in the aspect of syllabus assessment, and the development of learning assessments. (3). In the implementation of lesson plan there is a negative positive (-) gap that resides in the quadrant (-2) because it has a value of 40%, especially in the introduction of activities, core activities and closures. In conclusion, the preparation of lesson plan should refer to Permendikbud No. 103 year 2014 about learning in primary education and secondary education.
Smooth It Like the Joneses? Estimating Peer-Group Effects in Inter-Temporal Consumption Choice

Recent theoretical contributions have suggested peer-group effects as a potential explanation for several puzzles in macroeconomics, but their empirical relevance for intertemporal consumption choice is an open question. We derive an extension of the standard life-cycle model that allows for consumption externalities. In this framework, we propose a social multiplier approach to distinguish true externalities from merely correlated effects. Estimating our model using US panel data, we find strong predictable co-movement of household consumption within peer groups. Although much of this co-movement reflects correlated effects only, there is statistically significant evidence for moderate consumption externalities across several plausible peer-group specifications.
The Relationship between Intimate Partner Relationship Quality and Health Outcomes for Filial Caregivers

Abstract This study examines the associations between the quality of adult filial caregivers’ intimate partner relationships and health behaviors, mental health, and physical health using structural equation modeling. Secondary data from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States were used to examine the health outcomes of adults (n = 224) who reported caregiving for a parent or parent-in-law in the past 12 months. Results indicated a significant mediation effect of close intimate partner relationship quality and physical health, through mental health; health behaviors did not produce a significant mediation effect.
Human Development and Its Effects on Economic Growth and Development

The focus of the current study is to empirically examine the impact of Human Development on Economic Growth and Development in African countries, between 1990 and 2015. The key findings and results of the study suggested the existence of a positive and significant impact of human development on economic growth and development in Africa. The study employed Human Development Index as the main variable of interest with GDP considered as the dependent variable with inflation, capital, investment and labor as control variables. The study also came out with the findings that Labour and foreign aid also have a positive and significant relationship with growth as recorded by most researchers. It was recommended that more efforts should be placed on developing human capacities in all areas. Keywords : Human development, economic growth, random effect, fixed effect * Department of Management Science & Engineering, School of Finance and Economics, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013, P.R. China ** Department of Marketing, Koforidua Technical University, P. O. Box Kf 98, Koforidua, Ghana https://doi.org/10.21632/irjbs.12. 2.101-109
Neural underpinnings of dynamic in-groups and out-groups based on ethnicity and culture in multicultural societies

Integration between various ethnic groups is characteristic of multiculturalism. Beyond ethnicity, the social perception of others as either in-group or out-group is influenced by multilevel factors; one such factor is the interaction of ethnic groups in daily life. A common culture can be developed with strong exposure and personal contact among ethnic groups. Taking advantage of Singapore’s highly integrated multicultural society, it is postulated that identifying with a common shared culture may drive an automatic and spontaneous sense of membership to a multi-ethnic group. Thus there would be an enlarged cultural in-group in addition to the ethnic ingroups and out-groups. There is a lack of understanding of affective and cognitive processes that influence the neural responses underlying the perception of others as members of in-groups and out-groups in multicultural societies. This study investigated neural reactivity and responsiveness to ethnic in-group (IF) and outgroup faces (OF), and the modulatory effect of the environmental context in which one lives: ethnic-related contexts (ethnic monuments) versus cultural-related contexts (Singapore’s well-known monuments); and also how the individuals’ perception and attitudes, modulated by positive endorsement and promotion of multi-ethnic integration, can influence their cerebral responses. A total of 48 Chinese Singaporean participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while viewing images of in-group Chinese faces and OF (Indian, Arabic, and Caucasian faces), primed with either cultural context or their relevant ethnical context. Greater sensitivity to contextual primes for typical ethnicities (Chinese and Indian faces)
Innovations for Future Modelica

This paper discusses language innovations for future Modelica versions, on the one hand for generally applicable language elements, and on the other hand to improve modeling of multibody systems with contacts, and media modeling. In a companion paper new algorithms are proposed to handle much larger models than can be treated today. All these innovations are developed and evaluated with the experimental modeling and simulation environment Modia. Modia is based on Julia, a powerful programming language with strong focus on scientific computing, meta-programming and just-in-time compilation that allows very fast development. The modeling language is directly defined and implemented with Julia’s meta-programming constructs and is designed tightly together with the symbolic and numeric algorithms. This approach is very well suited for innovation and experimenting with evolutions of modeling capabilities in Modelica.
Pricing Interest-Rate Derivatives with Piecewise Multilinear Interpolations and Transition Parameters

Interest-rate derivatives like swaptions are challenging to price because they depend on the term structure of interest rates, which potentially has many degrees of freedom, requiring modeling numerous underlying stochastic factors (often at least three for the level and more if stochastic volatility is allowed). In this article, the authors show how the valuation problem can be streamlined in an affine framework by, effectively, digitizing the derivative product’s terminal density. They assume standard affine dynamics for the state vector X, then divide the state space at option expiration into discrete regions and approximate the payoff in each one, as a constant in the simplest case. They then compute the transition probabilities to move from the initial price to each of the terminal regions, using truncated conditional Laplace transforms. With the probabilities and the set of discrete payoffs, the expected value of the payoff to the derivative product under the forward measure can be computed, which is then discounted to compute the initial value. Examples with two- and three-factor affine term structures show that the procedure is accurate and relatively fast.
Climatic Stress, Internal Migration, and Syrian Civil War Onset

Syria recently suffered a once in 500-year meteorological drought followed by one of the worst conflicts of the twenty-first century. We exploit subnational variation in drought impact to examine associations between climatic stress and Syria’s political unrest. Climatic stress may produce instability through both immediate hardship and, indirectly, internal migration. Consistent with the internal migration hypothesis, we find less severely drought-stricken Syrian regions more likely to experience protest. We employ nighttime lights as a proxy for population density to examine the association between climatic stress and internal displacement. We find climatic stress decreased nighttime light intensity during the drought period. Increases in nighttime lights from 2005 to 2010 are associated with added risk of protest in Sunni Arab areas, suggesting an influx of migrants bolstered local grievances. Our findings support the internal migration hypothesis and suggest extreme climate events may impact civil unrest via geographically and temporally indirect paths.
A Study on Japanese and Sundanese Apology Expressions: Its’ functions in non-apology context

This study analyzed the meaning and functions of apology expressions in Japanese and Sundanese in non-apology context, their use based on socio-situational factors, and their degree of politeness. The data were collected from various sources such as comics, magazines, internet and other printed literature in both languages. Collected data then accumulated and classified based on the form of expressions, pragmatic function in non-apology context, and their degree of politeness. The findings showed that there are similarities and differences in the form and function of apology expressions in Japanese and Sundanese in non-apology context. The findings indicated that ten variation of apology expressions found in Japanese while in Sundanese only found three forms of apology expressions. Pragmatic functions in non-apology context also have more variation in Japanese compared to Sundanese. However, apology expressions in both languages have the same degree of politeness which are ‘Respectful’, ‘Moderate’, and ‘Disrespectful’. Furthermore, the results also showed that based on the sociosituational factors, the use of apology expressions in both languages have similarity and differences depends on three sociosituational factors which are ‘Familiarity’, ‘Social status’, and ‘Age’. Keywords—apology expression; degree of politeness; japanese; non-apology context; socio-situational; sundanese
Intrusion Detection Using Ensembles

The paper discusses intrusion detection systems built using ensemble approaches, i.e., by combining several machine learning algorithms. The main idea is to exploit the strengths of each algorithm of the ensemble to obtain a robust classifier. Network attacks can be divided into four classes: probe, remote to local, denial of service, and user to root. Each module of the ensemble designed in this work is itself an ensemble using bagging of decision trees and is specialized in the detection of one class of attacks. Experiments highlighted the efficiency of the approach and showed that increased accuracy can be obtained when each class of attacks is treated as a separate problem and handled by specialized algorithms. In all experiments, the ensemble was able to decrease the number of false positives and false negatives. Keywords-intrusion detection; ensemble approaches; bagging