Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Corporate Governance Structures And Financial Performance Of Listed Manufacturing Companies In Nigeria

The study empirically investigated the relationship between corporate governance structure and financial performance of quoted manufacturing companies in Nigeria. It specifically investigated the relationship between audit committee membership and return on assets as well as earnings per share of listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria. Secondary data were used for the study. Data were sourced from annual reports and returns of the companies available at Nigerian stock exchange. Study population was all quoted manufacturing companies, while sample of the study was 10 quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria and for years 2007-2017. Regression analysis was used for data analysis and testing of the hypothesis. The result of the study showed that audit committee membership has a positive and significant relationship with return on asset whilst it showed no significant relationship with earnings per share of listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria. The study recommends amongst others that companies should ensure that a functional board is in place so as to push top management towards effective and efficient management of the companies and their assets towards better performance; The Audit committee membership size of three (3) and above (as suggested by the Cadbury Commission) should be adopted. By having increased number of audit committee members, the companies will have variety of experts who would examine the books and performance of the companies and thus help owners to assess management performance at the same time.
The relationship between Cash flows from operating activities in five-section and return on investment in four-section models of statement of cash flows with the quality of disclosure

This research has studied the relationship between Cash flows from operating activities in five-section model and return on investment in four-section model with the quality of disclosure. In this regard the accuracy of predicting future cash flows from operating activities through components of operating earnings has been considered as a criterion of quality of earnings which is the major index of quality of disclosure by its own. For measuring the independent variables of this research we have used Cash flows from operating activities in five-section model and return on investment in four-section model; for evaluating the dependent variables, accuracy of predicting future cash flows from operating activities through components of operating earnings, adjusted Barth model has put in to the practice. The hypotheses of the study were tested through the panel data gathered from 100 listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange. The result of this study has shown that Cash flows from operating activities in five-section model and return on investment in four-section model cause the increase of the quality of disclosure and in comparative situation return on investment in four-section model is more than Cash flows from operating activities in five-section model increasing the quality of disclosure.
Implementing plant hydraulic architecture within the LPJ Dynamic Global Vegetation Model

Aim To implement plant hydraulic architecture within the Lund-Potsdam-Jena Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (LPJ-DGVM), and to test the model against a set of observational data. If the model can reproduce major patterns in vegetation and ecosystem processes, we consider this to be an important linkage between plant physiology and larger-scale ecosystem dynamics. Location The location is global, geographically distributed. Methods A literature review was carried out to derive model formulations and parameter values for representing the hydraulic characteristics of major global plant functional types (PFTs) in a DGVM. After implementing the corresponding formulations within the LPJ-DGVM, present-day model output was compared to observational data. Results The model reproduced observed broad-scale patterns in potential natural vegetation, but it failed to distinguish accurately between different types of grassland and savanna vegetation, possibly related to inadequate model representations of water fluxes in the soil and wildfire effects. Compared to a version of the model using an empirical formulation for calculating plant water supply without considering plant hydraulic architecture, the new formulation improved simulated patterns of vegetation in particular for dry shrublands. Global-scale simulation results for runoff and actual evapotranspiration (AET) corresponded well to available data. The model also successfully reproduced the magnitude and seasonal cycle of AET for most EUROFLUX forests, while modelled variation in NPP across a large number of sites spanning several biomes showed a strong correlation with estimates from field measurements. Main conclusions The model was generally confirmed by comparison to observational data. The novel model representation of water flow within plants makes it possible to resolve mechanistically the effects of hydraulic differences between plant functional groups on vegetation structure, water cycling, and competition. This may be an advantage when predicting ecosystem responses to nonextant climates, in particular in areas dominated by dry shrubland vegetation.
Encryption Algorithm for defending PUE Attack in Cognitive Radios

The Security is major problem in the Cognitive Radio communication. Several algorithms are designed and implemented for increase in the security of the Cognitive radio. To increase the High Security to overcome the Primary User Emulation Attacks, we proposed the new algorithm called Self Adaptive QUAD Encryption has been proposed. The proposed algorithm has been analyzed and simulated using the test beds designed using ARM CPU and simulated with the MATLAB. The proposed Algorithm has the unique feature in which the key is being generated based on the four important parameters such as RSSI, Distance, Power and ID which are adaptive to the environments and mode of the communication. The four tier encryption algorithm which is generated has been compared with the existing algorithms with the illustration of 70% of reduction of the PUE (Primary User Emulation) Attacks. The proposed algorithm has been tested with the experimental setup which has been designed. Also the Dynamic and Adaptive Four Tier Encryption finds its suitability for the real time CR Hardware which are first of its kind. This Encryption key finds its applications in Health care, banking and even in Consumer Electronics where the authentications of the primary users are necessary.
Ultrastructural Aspects of Woody Tissue Disintegration

The morphological features of tissue disintegration have been studied since the beginning of plant pathology. Special attention was given to the changes which occur in wood during microbial decomposition because of its economic importance. The lignocellulosic substance in wood is more resis­ tant against microorganisms than most other plant material. Since the first observations by R. Hartig (27) a fairly good picture has been obtained con­ sidering the technical limitations of using light microscopy, polarization and fluorescence optics, X-ray diffraction methods, as well as histochemical reac­ tions ( Liese 44). A new dimension, however, was opened when the elec­ tronmicroscope became available for the study of tissue disintegration. Since its first application to wood pathology (Liese & Hartmann-Fahnen­ brock 48, Meier 56 ) a great number of results on the micromorphology of tissue and cell deterioration have been obtained. This review is presented as a critical and interpretative appraisal of the present status of knowledge. It is not the aim here to compile all the exist­ ing literature in a synoptical summary. Considering the scope of the results available it seems more desirable to put the different pieces of information together into a mosaic with some interpretation and speculation, so that it may serve as a basis for further work and as a stimulus for criticism. vVood-the lignified tissue-is attacked by bacteria and by fungi that cause blue stain, soft rot, brown rot, simultaneous rot, and white rot, each of them leading to a different morphological and chemical deterioration (M eier 56, Cowling 14, 16, Levi 35, Greaves & Levy 24, Scheffer & Cowling 68, Seifert 76, Wilcox 79). The various patterns of micromorphological changes have been investigated with the electronmicroscope by the author in cooperation with Dr. Roswitha Schmid since 1960.
Ozonated Air Therapy for the Treatment of Upper and Lower Respiratory Tract Infections as a Potential Therapy for Prevention and Treatment of Covid 19 Infection

Introduction: In India and worldwide, there are millions of cases of acute respiratory infections annually killing hundreds of thousand people. It also has billions of dollars of losses worldwide. There are frequent outbreaks of deadly infections such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003, caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV), the novel swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus in Mexico in March 2009, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in 2012 and the current pandemic with Novel Corona Virus -Covid19. I did my research to find a common effective, safe, and cheap therapynamed as Ozonated air inhalation therapy (OAIT) for respiratory infections. Materials and methods: In the last one year, I treated 21 patients (group A) with upper and lower respiratory tract infections (URTI and LRTI) with 0.1 ppm Ozonated air inhalation therapy (OAIT). OAIT was given as a monotherapy. In the same time period, 36 patients (group B) were given conventional treatment in the form of antibiotics, anti-histaminic and analgesics kept as control.
Exploration of Firms’ Survival Strategies Amidst Economic Recession in Nigeria

This paper examined the implications of the current economic recession on firms‟ performance in Nigeria and explored the possible strategies that could be adopted by the firms to cope with the economic challenges in the country. Qualitative and exploratory methods were adopted for this study. The main source of data was through secondary sources which include the review of various government publications, previous studies and online resources. The strategies proposed in this study were investment and Ambidextrous‟ strategies. It was concluded that for a firm to remain alive in the midst of this economic challenges, a combination of these strategies would not only be ideally but necessary.
Primary mechanism responsible for age-dependent neuronal dehydration

Neuronal dehydration and high [Ca 2+ ] i are essential hallmarks for age-dependent memory impairment. Na + /K + -ATPase, having membrane transporting and intracellular signaling functions, has age-induced dysfunctional character. Therefore, it could have a key role in age-dependent neuronal dehydration and increase of [Ca 2+ ] i . However, it is not clear the dysfunction of which above mentioned functions of Na + /K + -ATPase serves as a primary mechanism for generation of age-dependent neuronal dehydration and increase of [Ca 2+ ] i . In present work age-dependent effects of ≤10 -9 M (agonist for α 3 isoform which has only signaling function) and 10 -4 M ouabain (agonist for α 1 isoform which has ion-transporting function) on brain cortex tissue hydration, 45 Ca 2+ uptake and 45 Ca 2+ efflux through plasma membrane were studied. It was shown that ≤10 -9 M and 10 -4 M ouabain concentrations have stimulation effects on cortex tissue hydration and Na + /Ca 2+ exchange in reverse mode. However, these effects have age-dependent weakening and increasing characters, respectively. It is suggested that ≤10 -9 M ouabain-induced tissue hydration is due to cAMP-activated Ca 2+ -ATPase in endoplasmic reticulum membrane leading to reversion of Na + /Ca 2+ exchange and elevation of endogenous H 2 O release in cytoplasm. This effect has age-dependent depressing character. Thus, the dysfunction of α 3 isoform-dependent intracellular signaling system could be considered as a primary mechanism for age-dependent neuronal dehydration.
Differences in relative fitness among alternative mating tactics might be more apparent than real

Two theoretical frameworks guide research on multiple male phenotypes within natural populations. Each scheme recognizes that male polymorphisms vary in the degree to which genotype and environment influence trait expression. Consensus remains elusive, however, on whether average fitnesses must be equivalent and whether genetic differences need exist for polymorphism to persist over time. Schradin and Lindholm address these hypotheses in African four-striped mice with detailed parentage and body size data. Their results and interpretation call each framework’s predictions into question, but reveal a common truth. Debate might be resolved if researchers agreed on which parameters to measure and compare.
Learning while Respecting Privacy and Robustness to Distributional Uncertainties and Adversarial Data

Data used to train machine learning models can be adversarial--maliciously constructed by adversaries to fool the model. Challenge also arises by privacy, confidentiality, or due to legal constraints when data are geographically gathered and stored across multiple learners, some of which may hold even an "anonymized" or unreliable dataset. In this context, the distributionally robust optimization framework is considered for training a parametric model, both in centralized and federated learning settings. The objective is to endow the trained model with robustness against adversarially manipulated input data, or, distributional uncertainties, such as mismatches between training and testing data distributions, or among datasets stored at different workers. To this aim, the data distribution is assumed unknown, and lies within a Wasserstein ball centered around the empirical data distribution. This robust learning task entails an infinite-dimensional optimization problem, which is challenging. Leveraging a strong duality result, a surrogate is obtained, for which three stochastic primal-dual algorithms are developed: i) stochastic proximal gradient descent with an $\epsilon$-accurate oracle, which invokes an oracle to solve the convex sub-problems; ii) stochastic proximal gradient descent-ascent, which approximates the solution of the convex sub-problems via a single gradient ascent step; and, iii) a distributionally robust federated learning algorithm, which solves the sub-problems locally at different workers where data are stored. Compared to the empirical risk minimization and federated learning methods, the proposed algorithms offer robustness with little computation overhead. Numerical tests using image datasets showcase the merits of the proposed algorithms under several existing adversarial attacks and distributional uncertainties.
Axion and neutrino red-giant bounds updated with geometric distance determinations

The brightness of the tip of the red-giant branch (TRGB) allows one to constrain novel energy losses that would lead to a larger core mass at helium ignition and thus to a brighter TRGB than predicted by standard stellar models. The required absolute TRGB calibration depends on reliable distances to the observed ensembles of stars. Motivated by its role as a rung in the cosmic distance ladder, the TRGB was recently recalibrated with geometric distance determinations of the Magellanic Clouds based on detached eclipsing binaries (DEBs). Moreover, we revise previous TRGB calibrations of the galactic globular clusters M5 and $\omega$ Centauri with recent kinematical distance determinations based on Gaia DR2 data. All of these TRGB calibrations have similar uncertainties and they agree with each other and with recent dedicated stellar models. We thus find an updated constraint on the axion-electron coupling of $g_{ae}<1.6\times10^{-13}$ (95% CL) and $\mu_\nu<1.5\times10^{-12}\mu_{\rm B}$ (95% CL) on a possible neutrino dipole moment. The reduced observational errors imply that stellar evolution theory and bolometric corrections begin to dominate the overall uncertainties.
MedDialog: Two Large-scale Medical Dialogue Datasets

Medical dialogue systems are promising in assisting in telemedicine to increase access to healthcare services, improve the quality of patient care, and reduce medical costs. To facilitate the research and development of medical dialogue systems, we build two large-scale medical dialogue datasets: MedDialog-EN and MedDialog-CN. MedDialog-EN is an English dataset containing 0.3 million conversations between patients and doctors and 0.5 million utterances. MedDialog-CN is an Chinese dataset containing 1.1 million conversations and 4 million utterances. To our best knowledge, MedDialog-(EN,CN) are the largest medical dialogue datasets to date. The dataset is available at this https URL
Parsimony in model selection: Tools for assessing fit propensity.

Theories can be represented as statistical models for empirical testing. There is a vast literature on model selection and multimodel inference that focuses on how to assess which statistical model, and therefore which theory, best fits the available data. For example, given some data, one can compare models on various information criterion or other fit statistics. However, what these indices fail to capture is the full range of counterfactuals. That is, some models may fit the given data better not because they represent a more correct theory, but simply because these models have more fit propensity-a tendency to fit a wider range of data, even nonsensical data, better. Current approaches fall short in considering the principle of parsimony (Occam's Razor), often equating it with the number of model parameters. Here we offer a toolkit for researchers to better study and understand parsimony through the fit propensity of structural equation models. We provide an R package (ockhamSEM) built on the popular lavaan package. To illustrate the importance of evaluating fit propensity, we use ockhamSEM to investigate the factor structure of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Consequences of compensatory growth in an amphibian

Compensatory growth, or catch-up growth, occurs when an organism grows faster than the optimal rate after a period of growth restriction. The evolved optimal growth rate maximizes an animal's fitness potential while preserving tissue quality. Rapid compensatory growth allows the organism to achieve an adult size closer to that of an unrestricted conspecific. However, this accelerated growth may come at the cost of impaired fitness later in life due to accumulated cellular damage. Amphibians are an interesting, yet neglected, group in which to observe the effects of compensatory growth because of their flexible life history and the importance of large size for reproductive fitness. We investigated the effects of early nutritional restriction on the growth, morphology and three fitness-related behavioural traits of brown tree frog tadpoles Litoria ewingii before and after metamorphosis. Tadpoles were fed reduced rations for two weeks, c. 35% of the control group's larval period, before being returned to the diet of the controls. The dietary treatment caused a significant difference in pre- and post-metamorphic survival between the groups. The tadpoles on the restricted diet exhibited faster weight gain upon refeeding and reached a final size significantly larger than the control tadpoles. However, the larval period of the restricted group was extended by c. 5 days, compared with the control group. Early nutritional restriction also negatively affected the pre-metamorphic fitness-related behavioural trait of swimming speed. The restricted group showed an unexpected advantage in both post-metamorphic fitness-related behavioural traits of feeding latency and hopping ability. These results contrast with previous work on compensatory growth in tadpoles because nutritional restriction affected the developmental rate and also resulted in ‘over-compensation’ of growth. Our experiment provides support for the prevalence of compensatory growth in diverse taxa and a unique observation of the post-metamorphic consequences in amphibians adapted to ephemeral environments.
When Perspective Comes for Free: Improving Depth Prediction with Camera Pose Encoding

Monocular depth prediction is a highly underdetermined problem and recent progress has relied on high-capacity CNNs to effectively learn scene statistics that disambiguate estimation. However, we observe that such models are strongly biased by the distribution of camera poses seen during training and fail to generalize to novel viewpoints, even when the scene geometry distribution remains fixed. To address this challenge, we propose a factored approach that estimates pose first, followed by a conditional depth estimation model that takes an encoding of the camera pose prior (CPP) as input. In many applications, a strong test-time pose prior comes for free, e.g., from inertial sensors or static camera deployment. A factored approach also allows for adapting pose prior estimation to new test domains using only pose supervision, without the need for collecting expensive ground-truth depth required for end-to-end training. We evaluate our pose-conditional depth predictor (trained on synthetic indoor scenes) on a real-world test set. Our factored approach, which only requires camera pose supervision for training, outperforms recent state-of-the-art methods trained with full scene depth supervision on 10x more data.
Vehicle Emission and Control System

1,2,3,4 Student, IT Department, RMD Sinhgad School of Engineering, Warje, Pune, Maharashtra ---------------------------------------------------------------------***--------------------------------------------------------------------AbstractAir pollution is rapidly increasing due to various human activities, and the occurrence of particulates, chemicals or biological resources into the environment cause several diseases resulting in discomfort or loss of human lives. The major cause of increasing air pollution is the emission of the pollutant like CO Monoxide, Hydro Carbon, Non-Methane HC by vehicles so it required controlling the same for public health and the natural environment.
Electronic polytomous and dichotomous keys to the genera and species of hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) present in New Zealand

Abstract New Zealand has a relatively small tick fauna, with nine described and one undescribed species belonging to the genera Ornithodoros, Amblyomma, Haemaphysalis and Ixodes. Although exotic hard ticks (Ixodidae) are intercepted in New Zealand on a regular basis, the country has largely remained free of these organisms and the significant diseases that they can vector. However, professionals in the biosecurity, health and agricultural industries in New Zealand have little access to user-friendly identification tools that would enable them to accurately identify the ticks that are already established in the country or to allow recognition of newly arrived exotics. The lack of access to these materials has the potential to lead to delays in the identification of exotic tick species. This is of concern as 40–60% of exotic ticks submitted for identification by biosecurity staff in New Zealand are intercepted post border. This article presents dichotomous and polytomous keys to the eight species of hard tick that occur in New Zealand. These keys have been digitised using Lucid® and Phoenix® software and are deployed at http://keys.lucidcentral. org/keys/v3/hard_ticks/Ixodidae genera.html in a form that allows use by non-experts. By enabling non-experts to carry out basic identifications, it is hoped that professionals in the health and agricultural industries in New Zealand can play a greater role in surveillance for exotic ticks.