Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of Strategy Implementation on Performance in Nigerian Stock and Insurance Markets: A Regulator and Supervisor Perspective

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to analyze how strategy implementation affects the performance of regulators and supervisors in the Nigerian stock and insurance markets. The specific goals were centered around exploring the relationship between strategic alignment, resource availability, organizational structure, and performance within the designated study area. Theoretical framework: The study centers on the RBV Model as the theoretical framework. Design/Methodology/Approach: Employing a descriptive research design, primary data was gathered from 145 carefully selected staff members of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM). Findings: The results of the ordinary least squares (OLS) regression revealed that strategic alignment, resource availability, and organizational structure were positive, and significantly influence organizational performance at 5% level of significance. Practical implications: This implies that collaborative efforts can enhance the effectiveness of the regulatory approach and foster a conducive and well-functioning financial market environment. In conclusion, this research demonstrates that strategic alignment, resource availability, and organizational structure are pivotal factors influencing the performance of regulatory institutions in Nigerian stock and insurance markets. By addressing these factors, policymakers and regulators can enhance the overall stability and efficiency of the financial system, benefiting both investors and the broader economy. Original/Value: This study makes a significant contribution to knowledge by examining the relationship between strategy implementation and performance in the Nigerian stock and insurance markets from the perspective of regulators and supervisors. By shedding light on the identified factors and their impact on performance, the research provides valuable insights for both market participants and regulatory bodies, offering a basis for informed decision-making and potential policy interventions to enhance the overall performance and stability of these financial sectors in Nigeria.
The 1997–98 El Nino event and related wintertime lightning variations in the southeastern United States

The El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a climate anomaly responsible for worldwide weather impacts ranging from droughts to floods. In the United States, warm episode years are known to produce above normal rainfall along the Southeast U.S. Gulf Coast and into the Gulf of Mexico, with the greatest response observed in the October–March period of the warm episode year. The 1997–98 warm episode is notable for being the strongest event since 1982–83. With the recent launch of a lightning sensor on NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) in November 1997 and the detailed coverage of the U.S. National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN), such interannual changes in lightning activity can be examined with far greater detail than ever before. For the 1997–98 ENSO event the most significant year‐to‐year changes in lightning frequency worldwide occurred along the Gulf Coast and within the Gulf of Mexico basin during the Northern Hemisphere winter. Within a broad swath across the northern Gulf of Mexico basin there is a 100–150% increase in lightning days year‐to‐year (a peak of 33 days in the winter of 1997–98 vs. only 15 days or fewer in both the 1996–97 and 1998–99 winter). In addition, there is a nearly 200% increase in lightning hours (a peak of 138 hours in 1996–97 vs. 50 hours in both 1996–97 and 1998–99). The increase in lightning activity during ENSO occurs in association with a 100% increase in the number of synoptic scale cyclones that developed within or moved through the Gulf basin. The primary variables controlling these enhancements in thunderstorm activity are the position and strength of the jet stream.
The global distribution of pteropods and their contribution to carbonate and carbon biomass in the modern ocean

Abstract. Pteropods are a group of holoplanktonic gastropods for which global biomass distribution patterns remain poorly described. The aim of this study was to collect and synthesise existing pteropod (Gymnosomata, Thecosomata and Pseudothecosomata) abundance and biomass data, in order to evaluate the global distribution of pteropod carbon biomass, with a particular emphasis on temporal and spatial patterns. We collected 25 939 data points from several online databases and 41 scientific articles. These data points corresponded to observations from 15 134 stations, where 93% of observations were of shelled pteropods (Thecosomata) and 7% of non-shelled pteropods (Gymnosomata). The biomass data has been gridded onto a 360 × 180° grid, with a vertical resolution of 33 depth levels. Both the raw data file and the gridded data in NetCDF format can be downloaded from PANGAEA, doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.777387 . Data were collected between 1950–2010, with sampling depths ranging from 0–2000 m. Pteropod biomass data was either extracted directly or derived through converting abundance to biomass with pteropod-specific length to carbon biomass conversion algorithms. In the Northern Hemisphere (NH), the data were distributed quite evenly throughout the year, whereas sampling in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) was biased towards winter and summer values. 86% of all biomass values were located in the NH, most (37%) within the latitudinal band of 30–60° N. The range of global biomass values spanned over four orders of magnitude, with mean and median (non-zero) biomass values of 4.6 mg C m−3 (SD = 62.5) and 0.015 mg C m−3, respectively. The highest mean biomass was located in the SH within the 70–80° S latitudinal band (39.71 mg C m−3, SD = 93.00), while the highest median biomass was in the NH, between 40–50° S (0.06 mg C m−3, SD = 79.94). Shelled pteropods constituted a mean global carbonate biomass of 23.17 mg CaCO3 m−3 (based on non-zero records). Total biomass values were lowest in the equatorial regions and equally high at both poles. Pteropods were found at least to depths of 1000 m, with the highest biomass values located in the surface layer (0–10 m) and gradually decreasing with depth, with values in excess of 100 mg C m−3 only found above 200 m depth. Tropical species tended to concentrate at greater depths than temperate or high-latitude species. Global biomass levels in the NH were relatively invariant over the seasonal cycle, but more seasonally variable in the SH. The collected database provides a valuable tool for modellers for the study of marine ecosystem processes and global biogeochemical cycles. By extrapolating regional biomass to a global scale, we established global pteropod biomass to add up to 500 Tg C.
Seasonal variability of the global ocean wind and wave climate

A data set spanning a period of 10 years and obtained from a combination of satellite remote sensing and model predictions is used to construct a global climatology of ocean wind and wave conditions. Results are presented for: significant wave height, peak and mean wave period and wave direction as well as wind speed and direction. The results are presented in terms of mean monthly statistics. The processed data set provides global resolution of 2°. The climatology clearly shows the zonal variation in both wind speed and wave height, with extreme conditions occurring at high latitudes. The important role played by the intense wave generation systems of the Southern Ocean is clear. Swell generated from storms in the Southern Ocean penetrates throughout the Indian, South Pacific and South Atlantic Oceans. During the Southern Hemisphere winter, this swell even penetrates into the North Pacific. The results confirm visual observations that the Southern Ocean is consistently the roughest ocean on earth. It is shown, however, that this is mainly caused by consistent high wind speeds, rather than the extended westerly fetch which exists. The west coasts of most continents have noticeably rougher wave climates than their respective east coasts, as a result of the longer generation fetches which exist on the west coasts. Copyright © 1999 Royal Meteorological Society.
Quo vadis industrial ecology? Realigning the discipline with it roots

This paper presents a critical appraisal of developments in research and application in the field of industrial ecology. On its inception around a decade ago, the concept derived great strength from drawing on the metaphor of the natural ecosystem, building on the work of theoretical ecologists, which this paper discusses briefly. Industrial ecologists early on sought to provide advice on problems met in restructuring the socioeconomic system as a whole by using the metaphor of a dynamic natural system comprising producers, consumers and recyclers that can exhibit pioneering and climax phases. Over the next ten years, as industrial ecology attained more widespread interest as a field with potentially policy-relevant research, a gradual shift away from those aims occurred. The industrial system, only a subset of the socioeconomic system, became the object of observation. The aim of achieving sustainable systems as a whole, it is maintained in this paper, was dropped in favour of analysing individual material flows, and an individualistic perspective supplanted the systemic and holistic perspective. The reasons for and consequences of this development are briefly explored, and suggestions are made for further industrial ecological research that upholds the whole-systems perspective necessary for a sustainable socioeconomic system. ● Industrial ecology ● Natural ecosystem metaphor
Differences in Axial Length and Anterior Chamber Depth among Keratoconic, Myopic and Emmetropic Eyes

Purpose: To report variation of the axial length (AL) and anterior chamber depth (ACD) among keratoconic (KC) eyes compared to myopic and emmetropic eyes in an African population sample. Study Design: Cross sectional observational. Place and Duration of Study: Al-Faisal Eye Hospital at Khartoum state of Sudanfrom January 2022 to September 2022. Methods: One-hundred and twenty-four eyes of 62 patients were divided into KC group (n =17, eyes=34), myopic group (n=28, eyes=56), and an age/gender matched emmetropic group (n=17, eyes =34). Central corneal thickness (CCT) was measured using ultrasonic pachymeter, AL, ACD and keratometry readings (K-reading) were recorded for each patient using non-contact partial coherence interferometry with an IOL Master. Results: Mean age of the sample population was 22.27± 6.05 (range; 10 – 40 years). KC patients had the highest spherical equivalent of refraction (SER) (-6.19±3.91 dioptres), highest k-reading (48.98±5.68 dioptres) and the thinnest CCT. Myopic participants had a longer AL compared to other refractive error groups (AL=24.99±2.39, p<0.001). KC patients exhibited a larger ACD in comparison to emmetropes and myopes (ACD=3.6? 9±0.26, p<0.001). Among all participants, SER exhibited the highest correlation with AL (r=-0.71, p<0.001) followed by a weaker correlation with ACD (r=-0.26, p=0.003). However, among KC patients, SER exhibited a weaker correlation with AL compared to myopes (r=-0.55, p=0.001), and a higher correlation with ACD compared to myopes (r=-0.38, p=0.03). Conclusion: ACD and corneal curvature were the most significantly detrimental parameters in KC. KC participants demonstrated a lower correlation between SER and AL and higher correlation between SER and ACD.
Survey of medication disposal: Patient views and awareness

The improper disposal of medication poses potential environmental and health problems. When medications are disposed of improperly, they can enter the water supply and other parts of the environment. This can lead to unintended ecological and health consequences. Proper disposal is one of the best ways of preventing this. In this study, we characterized the attitudes and preexisting knowledge of proper disposal of unused medications in endocrinology patients in Southern California. Our hypothesis was that people would be willing to drive to properly dispose of medications if they were aware of proper medication disposal practices. The respondents overwhelmingly indicated that they would be willing to properly dispose of unused medication but reported that they were unaware of the procedures, and would be willing to properly dispose of their unused medications given the appropriate education. These results have applications for future efforts such as increased education or awareness of medication disposal procedures to limit improper drug disposal.
Changes in glacier extent on north Novaya Zemlya in the twentieth century

Glacier retreat on north Novaya Zemlya for the past century was documented by registering glacier terminus positions from expedition and topographic maps and remotely sensed images. Recession of tidewater calving glaciers on north Novaya Zemlya in the first half of the twentieth century was relatively rapid (>300 m yr-1), consistent with post-‘Little Ice Age’ warming documented by a 122-year instrumental record from Malye Karmakuly. The glaciers completed 75 to 100% of the net twentieth-century retreat by 1952. Between 1964 and 1993 half of the studied glaciers were stable; the remainder retreated modest distances of <2.5 km. This stability coincides with decreasing average temperatures, especially during the winter, which is counter to model prediction. There is a statistically significant covariance of unfiltered winter and summer temperatures from Novaya Zemlya and a smoothed 88-year record of SSTs in the southern Barents Sea (r>0.75). Elevated SST in the Barents Sea appear to reflect increased advection of warm North Atlantic water associated with a positive North Atlantic Oscillation index (NAO). Winter temperatures are periodically correlated with the NAO (r = 0.75 to 0.9) reflecting repeated penetration of Atlantic cyclones into the Arctic. During the twentieth century, an overall positive glacier mass balance trend at Novaya Zemlya is associated with a positive phase of the NAO, elevated southern Barents Sea SST, and a concomitant increase of winter precipitation. Strong NAOs enhance winter precipitation and (3–5 yr delayed) summer temperatures on Novaya Zemlya and have a variable effect on Novaya Zemlya glaciers.
Estimation of Daytime NO3 Radical Levels in the UK Urban Atmosphere Using the Steady State Approximation Method

The steady state approximation has been applied to the UK National Environment Technology Centre (NETCEN) data at three urban sites in the UK (Marylebone Road London, London Eltham, and Harwell) over the period of 1997 to 2012 to estimate the concentrations of daytime NO3. Despite the common assertion that NO3 levels are negligible in the day as a consequence of photolysis, there are occasions where NO3 reaches a few pptv. A seasonal pattern in NO3 concentration was observed with higher levels in the spring with consistent peaks in April and May. A combination of temperature effects (the formation of NO3 from the reaction of NO2 with O3 has a high activation energy barrier), a distinct pattern in O3 concentration (peaking in spring), and loss via reaction with NO peaking in winter is responsible for this trend. Although reaction with OH is still the dominant loss process for VOCs during the day, there are VOCs (unsaturated) that will have an appreciable loss due to reaction with NO3 in the daytime. Since the addition reaction of NO3 with alkenes can lead directly to organic nitrate formation, there are implications for O3 formation and secondary organic aerosol formation during daytime and these are discussed.
Evolution of oceanic lithosphere: A driving force study of the Nazca Plate

The role of the evolution of oceanic lithosphere in driving oceanic plates is tested with elastic and viscous finite element modeling of the Nazca plate. Results indicate that ridge-push forces, when distributed over that portion of the oceanic lithosphere giving rise to the force, predict a stress state that varies more spatially than does previous modeling with ridge forces concentrated at the ridge crest. In particular, the component of stress normal to the ridge vanishes near the ridge for the new modeling. Predicted stresses for distributed ridge force models are still in qualitative agreement with the limited data on Nazca intraplate stress. Stress states have also been calculated for a variety of slab-pull models, which include possible dependence on age, rate, and angle of subduction. The predicted stresses vary substantially near the trench among these models, with less variation farther from the trench. Combinations of ridge-push and slab-pull models are consistent with the earlier result of ah upper limit of about a factor of 2 for net slab-pull over ridge-push. Simple viscous modeling with only distributed ridge forces predicts relative motion between the Nazca and South American plates that is in fairly poor agreement with the observed direction. The fit to the observed direction could probably be improved by either including slab forces or the effect of the largely transform boundary with the Antarctic plate.
Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras) spawning grounds on the Lithuanian coast: current status and shaping factors

Abstract During the 2009 and 2010 seasons Baltic herring ( Clupea harengus membras L.) spawning grounds were investigated by SCUBA divers off the Lithuanian Baltic Sea coast. The most important spawning substrate was a hard bottom overgrown with red algae Furcellaria lumbricalis , but only 32.8% of potentially suitable spawning locations had herring eggs. Bottom geomorphological analysis using multibeam bathymetry revealed that the distribution of spawning beds is not random, but is determined rather by small-scale geomorphological features. The majority of the detected spawning locations were on local elevations characterised by 2.4 ± 1.1 m depth differences and 4.8 ± 1.8 slopes.
Robotic radical gastrectomy - own experience and review of literature

Gastric cancer is the fifth most common cancer worldwide. Surgery or endoscopic treatment is essential in all disease stages. The most common procedure is total gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy. Removal of stomach and lymph nodes can be performed using minimally invasive techniques. These include laparoscopic gastrectomy, present in gastric cancer surgery since 1994 and robotic gastrectomy, which appeared for the first time in 2003. Last-mentioned method is the youngest and the most technically advanced form of surgical treatment of gastric cancer. First laparoscopic robot-assisted total gastrectomy in Poland was reported by Marek Zawadzki. In this paper we present technique of totally robotic total gastrectomy.Presentation of our experience in robotic radical gastrectomy. Description of first in Poland totally robotic gastrectomy. Review of literature assessing novel minimally invasive technique in gastric cancer treatment - robotic gastrectomy.Presentation of our own experience in robotic surgery. Review of literature.Robotic gastrectomy as an alternative to the laparoscopic technique is associated with earlier return of bowel motility after surgery and earlier introduction of a liquid diet. In terms of perioperative and postoperative complications, morbidity, and mortality, as well as a need to convert to open surgery, the laparoscopic and robotic techniques do not differ from each other. In our Department for the first time in Poland totally robotic radical gastrectomy using da Vinci Xi ® Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical) was performed. No postoperative complications were observed.Totally robotic radical gastrectomy is a safe alternative to classic and laparoscopic surgery which can have additional benefits both for the surgeon (less exhaustion, ergonomy, lack of hand tremor on instruments) as for the patient (earlier tolerance of oral diet, earlier hospital discharge). Further study is needed to assess relevance of potential benefits and cost-effectiveness of this novel technique.
Mid-Cretaceous extensional fragmentation of a Jurassic-Early Cretaceous Compressional Orogen, Alaska

Several key geologic relations of interior and northern Alaska suggest that the hinterland of the Brooks Range thrust belt, which formed part of a major Middle Jurassic to earliest Cretaceous compressional orogen, underwent significant regional extension in the mid-Cretaceous. These geologic relations include (1) simultaneous development of depositional basins in both foreland and hinterland of the Brooks Range fold and thrust belt, (2) regional normal faults along the “root zone” for Brooks Range allochthons, (3) anomalously thin (10–20 km) crust in the hinterland of the Brooks Range developed as a consequence of extension, (4) missing source regions for arc-derived clastic rocks of the foreland, perhaps removed by rifting, (5) preservation of high pressure/low temperature metamorphic rocks in the hinterland, possibly resulting from extensional denudation and rapid uplift, (6) omission rather than duplication of structural section along many regional terrane boundaries in the hinterland, (7) shallow dipping metamorphic foliations, stretching lineations, and high-temperature cooling histories consistent with normal sense displacement of overlying allochthonous rocks, (8) widespread crustal anatexis in parts of the hinterland, and (9) emplacement of rift-related alkaline and associated igneous rocks in the Yukon-Koyukuk basin. Consideration of the amount of crustal thinning, tectonic denudation, and throw on normal faults implied by the above relations indicates that mid-Cretaceous events could have been responsible for at least 100% stretching (s=2) across most of interior Alaska. Evaluation of timing constraints suggests that extensional tectonism in interior Alaska spanned an interval from about 130 to 90 Ma. Review of known geologic relations indicates that extension postdated an important episode of crustal shortening in the Brooks Range related to closure of an ocean basin (now represented by the Angayucham terrane) during the approach and collision of a Jurassic and older arc system with the continental margin. Extension in interior Alaska was coeval with the inception of rifting and with rift-related magmatism in the Canadian Arctic and likely occurred during the opening of the Canada Basin. This important period of extensional deformation fragmented the various components of an earlier Jurassic to earliest Cretaceous compressional orogen in Alaska, broadening the cross-sectional width of the Cordilleran orogen at this latitude and drastically modifiying paleogeography with the formation of large marine basins in the Cretaceous. As such, this episode of extension has important implications for our understanding of the paleogeography and tectonic setting of earlier crustal shortening and our understanding of the tectonic and thermal controls on subsequent Cretaceous sedimentation across Alaska. This extension also plays a critical role in larger-scale plate tectonic problems such as the pre-Cretaceous reconstruction of the Arctic and opening of the Canada Basin.