The Impact of Ownership Structure and Dividends on Firm’s Performance: Evidence from Manufacturing Companies Listed on the Amman Stock Exchange

This study aims to present empirical analysis from Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) to address the impact of ownership structure and dividends on the performance of Jordanian Manufacturing Companies. To test the study hypotheses and to achieve its objectives, the annual financial reports of all manufacturing companies and other related data during the period 2011 to 2015 were analyzed. Thus, Ownership structure and dividends are presented as independent variables, while the firm\u27s performance is articulated as the dependent variable. It applies four diverse acceptable measurement tools as a proxy for the firm\u27s performance (dependent variable); (Tobin\u27s Q), (ROA), (ROE), and (NPM). The study found that the main variables (MO, CO, and DYLD) and the control variables (EPS and Total Assets) are good predictors of firm\u27s performance. Also; the study found that (ROA) and (Tobin\u27s Q) are the most representative indicators as proxies of the firm\u27s performance. The study recommends considering another control variable to enhance predicting the firm\u27s performance such as governance mechanisms, board structure, management competence, motivation-based payment structure, capital structure and external and internal auditing

Attitudes, Perceptions and Intimate Partner Violence: A Study of the Nigerian Context

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health issue affecting many women around the world. It is a topic that has attracted a great deal of research over the years, but the dynamics of the issue in some parts of the world, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, is still very vague, necessitating more research in the region. This study uses a cross-sectional population-based survey to explore attitudes of women towards gender roles in a Sub-Saharan African country – Nigeria, as this is one of the factors that is likely to influence IPV occurrence. The results show that attitudes towards gender roles in Nigeria are more supportive of male dominance and women being subservient to their husband/partner, and also suggest that addressing such attitudes may be an important strand of action in tackling IPV issues in the country

Natural resources utilization by the Aweer in Boni-lungi and Dodori national reserves, Kenya

A study was conducted to record the utilization of Boni-Lungi and Dodori National Reserves by the Aweer community. Results indicate the procuring of a wide gamut of provisional, regulatory, cultural and supportive services from these reserves by the community ranging from wood forest products utilized in construction to their use in expression of religious beliefs to non-wood products. In addition, 16 wildlife species were found to be utilized as primary source of protein, with eggs (guinea fowls and ostrich), fish and honey were utilized as secondary products, while various fungi and algae were consumed as vegetables. Resource extraction occurred with a seasonal dissimilitude.  This study underscores the need for appreciation of Aweer ethnobiology input on native forest conservation.Keywords: Aweer community, Boni-Lungi and Dodori National Reserves, Indigenous Knowledge, Natural Resources Utilizatio

Drugs-related death soon after hospital discharge among drug treatment clients in Scotland:record linkage, validation and investigation of risk factors.

We validate that the 28 days after hospital-discharge are high-risk for drugs-related death (DRD) among drug users in Scotland and investigate key risk-factors for DRDs soon after hospital-discharge. Using data from an anonymous linkage of hospitalisation and death records to the Scottish Drugs Misuse Database (SDMD), including over 98,000 individuals registered for drug treatment during 1 April 1996 to 31 March 2010 with 705,538 person-years, 173,107 hospital-stays, and 2,523 DRDs. Time-at-risk of DRD was categorised as: during hospitalization, within 28 days, 29-90 days, 91 days-1 year, >1 year since most recent hospital discharge versus 'never admitted'. Factors of interest were: having ever injected, misuse of alcohol, length of hospital-stay (0-1 versus 2+ days), and main discharge-diagnosis. We confirm SDMD clients' high DRD-rate soon after hospital-discharge in 2006-2010. DRD-rate in the 28 days after hospital-discharge did not vary by length of hospital-stay but was significantly higher for clients who had ever-injected versus otherwise. Three leading discharge-diagnoses accounted for only 150/290 DRDs in the 28 days after hospital-discharge, but ever-injectors for 222/290. Hospital-discharge remains a period of increased DRD-vulnerability in 2006-2010, as in 1996-2006, especially for those with a history of injecting

Patterns of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy among a multiracial population in a Malaysian hospital

Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) is a retinal disorder characterized by aneurismal polypoidal lesions in choroidal vasculature. PCV appears to preferentially affect pigmented individuals and is considerably high among Asians. Most reports on patterns of PCV around Asia are based on a homogenous race (e.g. Chinese, Japanese) and very few descriptions from a multiracial population like those seen in Malaysia. The present study aimed to describe the demographic features, clinical and investigative characteristics of PCV in a multiracial group at Universiti Kebangsaaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC). Ninety one eyes of 86 PCV patients, comprising of Chinese (65.1%), Malays (31.4%), Indians (2.3%) and Eurasian (1.2%) were retrospectively reviewed. All underwent complete ophthalmic examination and investigations. Mean patient age was 70.4 years with a male preponderance (59.3%), and mostly unilateral presentation (94.1%). The logMAR mean presenting visual acuity was 0.78 ± 0.64. Polypoidal vascular lesions were located generally within the macula area (86.8%), manifesting mainly as submacular hemorrhage (59.3%). Interestingly a number of eyes (43.9%) had associated drusen. Optical coherence tomography largely demonstrated exudative changes (75.9%) and almost all patients (97.7%) had loss of external limiting membrane (ELM) and IS/OS interface. On indocyanine green angiography, majority of eyes had multiple polyps (82.4%) with ‘cluster’ (58.2%) being the commonest configuration. In conclusion, although the patterns of PCV in UKMMC were mainly similar to other Asian patients, a number of our patients had associated drusen. This indicates that PCV in our population could be a variant of neovascular age related macular degeneration and not solely idiopathic in nature

Diagnostic accuracy of the Abbott ID NOW SARS-CoV-2 rapid test for the triage of acute medical admissions

Background: Decisions to isolate patients at risk of having coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the emergency department (ED) must be rapid and accurate to ensure prompt treatment and maintain patient flow whilst minimising nosocomial spread. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays are too slow to achieve this, and near-patient testing is being used increasingly to facilitate triage. The ID NOW severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) assay is an isothermal nucleic acid amplification near-patient test which targets the RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase gene. Aim: To assess the diagnostic performance of ID NOW as a COVID-19 triage tool for medical admissions from the ED of a large acute hospital. Methods: All adult acute medical admissions from the ED between 31st March and 31st July 2021 with valid ID NOW and RT-PCR results were included. The diagnostic accuracy of ID NOW [sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV)] was calculated against the laboratory reference standard. Discrepant results were explored further using cycle threshold values and clinical data. Findings: Two percent (124/6050) of medical admissions were SARS-CoV-2 positive on RT-PCR. Compared with PCR, ID NOW had sensitivity and specificity of 83.1% [95% confidence interval (CI) 75.4–88.7] and 99.5% (95% CI 99.3–99.6), respectively. PPV and NPV were 76.9% (95% CI 69.0–83.2) and 99.6% (95% CI 99.5–99.8), respectively. The median time from arrival in the ED to ID NOW result was 59 min. Conclusion: ID NOW provides a rapid and reliable adjunct for the safe triage of patients with COVID-19, and can work effectively when integrated into an ED triage algorithm

A day in the life of marine sulfonates

Lab-based studies, combined with metatranscriptomic and metabolomic field analyses, reveal important diel-linked roles for sulfonates in the major classes of phytoplankton that produce them, and in the environment in which they feed ubiquitous heterotrophic bacteri

Gender-Based Violence in Nigeria: A Cross-Sectional Study of the Magnitude, Likely Risk Factors and Attitudes Towards Intimate Partner Violence Against Women

Globally, a common manifestation of Gender-Based abuse is Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) against women. IPV is a serious public health problem that comes with a debilitating toll on women, their families and the immediate environment in which they reside. Research, mostly conducted in developed countries, has identified some likely factors responsible for violence and has also explored attitudes that could be supportive of abuse. However, developing countries around the world, especially those in Africa, are still far behind in making tangible impact on exploring these issues. Considering this paucity of information and with the aim of contributing to the IPV knowledge base in the developing world, a cross-sectional population-based survey involving 719 Nigerian women (aged 18 years and above, currently or previously in cohabiting or non-cohabiting relationships) was conducted using a detailed pretested questionnaire to solicit data on demographics, socioeconomic, attitudinal and behavioral characteristics, as well as those pertaining to experiences of IPV. On performing relevant descriptive statistical analyses on the data collected, the results show that life-time and current prevalence of IPV are 25.5% and 16.7%, respectively. There is also an indication that women across urban and rural areas have a relatively high level of acceptance towards IPV (wife-beating). Results from logistic regression analysis to identify the predictors of violence show that factors such as women’s and partners’ educational attainments, partnership age and educational disparities, partnership discord, among others, are predictive of violence