Perceived Effects of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Adoption on Quality Financial Reporting of Quoted Companies in Nigeria

This study examined the effectiveness of IFRS on financial reporting quality of quoted companies in Nigeria. Five research questions were formulated and tested in this study. The study involved a sample of 150 respondents. A self-designed questionnaire was used, descriptive statistics and chi-square analysis at 0.05 level of significance was used to analyse the data gathered. Result showed that IFRS adoption would have significant positive effects on capital markets stability and efficiency. IFRS  adoption would significantly improve the transparency and usefulness of account to investors. IFRS adoption would  significantly improve public confidence in market and it will significantly enhanced the uniformity, comparability and reliability of the financial statements. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that Standard setter such as financial reporting council should integrate the knowledge on the adoption of international financial reporting standard more in our institution curriculum. Regulatory authority such as security and exchange commission Nigeria Stock Exchange, Federal Board of Inland Revenue service should encourage all members and stakeholders to adopt as single financial reporting standard that will reduce information asymmetry in our economy. Keywords: Effectiveness, IFRS, Financial, Quality, Information and Reportin

A Study of Small and Medium - Scale Enterprises (SMES) Owners’ Resources Mobilisation and Innovative Culture in South-West, Nigeria

This study examined resource mobilisation and innovative culture of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) owners in South-West, Nigeria. Five research questions were raised. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The sample comprised one thousand, four hundred and seventeen (1417) SME owners / managers out of which one thousand, three hundred and eighty-two (1382) responded appropriately, this showed 97% response rate. Data were collected using two instruments; these are Resource Mobilisation Questionnaire (r = 0.85) and Innovative Culture Scale (r = 0.68). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Independent t test.The results showed that SME owners possessed high level of resource mobilisation and innovative culturein South-West, Nigeria. Significant relationship existed between resource mobilisation and innovative culture of SME Owners’ in South-West, Nigeria. Furthermore, there was significant difference in the score on resource mobilisation of SME Owners while no significant difference existed in the score on innovative culture of SME Owners in South-West, Nigeria. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that Government agencies should create strategies to improve resource mobilisation. This, in turn, will upgrade and enhance innovation among SMEs

UNDERGRADUATES' ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT: THE PREDICTIVE POWER OF ACADEMIC STRESS, EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND RESILIENCE

This study investigated the predictive power of academic stress, emotional intelligence, and resilience on undergraduates' academic engagement. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted, and a multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 420 respondents, of which 398 (94.8%) were retrieved. Two hypotheses were formulated and tested using descriptive statistics, Pearson Product Moment Correlation, and multiple regression analysis at the 0.05 significance level. The findings of this study revealed that 45.1% of the total variance in the undergraduates' academic engagement is accounted for by academic stress, emotional intelligence, and resilience. Furthermore, there were significant and positive relationships between academic engagement, emotional intelligence, and resilience. However, a significant but negative relationship existed between academic stress and engagement. The study concluded that institutional policies and structures should be designed to cushion the negative effect of stress on learning. Therefore, it was recommended that emotional intelligence and resilience studies be incorporated into the school curriculum

Development of clinical simultaneous SPECT/MRI

There is increasing clinical use of combined positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) but to date there has been no clinical system developed capable of simultaneous single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and MRI. There has been development of preclinical systems, but there are several challenges faced by researchers who are developing a clinical prototype including the need for the system to be compact and stationary with MRI-compatible components. The limited work in this area is described with specific reference to the Integrated SPECT/MRI for Enhanced stratification in Radio-chemo Therapy (INSERT) project, which is at an advanced stage of developing a clinical prototype. Issues of SPECT/MRI compatibility are outlined and the clinical appeal of such a system is discussed, especially in the management of brain tumour treatment

INSERT: A Novel Clinical Scanner for Simultaneous SPECT/MRI Brain Studies

A clinical SPECT insert for a commercial MRI scanner has been developed within the INSERT project, allowing simultaneous SPECT/MRI studies of the human brain. Here we present preliminary experimental results. The reconstructed resolution was 6-11 mm and the sensitivity 280-440 s-1/MBq. The INSERT is the first clinical SPECT prototype for simultaneous SPECT/MRI

Experimental evaluation of a SiPM-based scintillation detector for MR-compatible SPECT systems

In the present work we briefly describe the architecture of a photo-detection module, designed in the framework of the INSERT (INtegrated SPECT/MRI for Enhanced Stratification in Radio-chemoTherapy) project, supported by the European Community. We focus on two main elements of the module: the SiPM photo-detector unit and the multi-channel ASIC. These two components have been investigated with dedicated and independent setups to assess preliminary performance of INSERT architecture. In details, we designed a 25.30 mm x 25.85 mm tile, comprising 9 pixels, each one with an 8 mm x 8mm active area. We developed an Anger camera to characterize the tile coupled to a CsI:Tl scintillator (6 mm thick). We measured an average spatial resolution (FWHM) of 2 mm in the central region of the Field of View and a 15.3% energy resolution using a Co-57 source (122 keV), when the tile is cooled down to 0 degrees C to reduce the impact of the dark count rate. Furthermore, we developed ANGUS, a 36-channels 0.35 mu m CMOS technology ASIC designed to cope with input capacitance up to 5 nF, typical of large area SiPM pixels. The spectroscopic capability of single readout channels were evaluated by coupling an 8 mm x 8 mm pixel with a cylindrical CsI:Tl scintillator (8 mm diameter, 10 mm thickness). Energy resolution at room temperature provided values between 13% and 13.5% (FWHM) at the 122 keV line for the nine pixels

Experimental Evaluation of a SiPM-Based Scintillation Detector for MR-Compatible SPECT Systems

In the present work we briefly describe the architecture of a photo-detection module, designed in the framework of the INSERT (INtegrated SPECT/MRI for Enhanced Stratification in Radio-chemoTherapy) project, supported by the European Community. We focus on two main elements of the module: the SiPM photo-detector unit and the multi-channel ASIC. These two components have been investigated with dedicated and independent setups to assess preliminary performance of INSERT architecture. In details, we designed a 25.30mmx25.85mm tile, comprising 9 pixels, each one with an 8mmx8mm active area. We developed an Anger camera to characterize the tile coupled to a CsI:Tl scintillator (6mm thick). We measured an average spatial resolution (FWHM) of 2mm in the central region of the Field of View and a 15.3% energy resolution using a 57-Co source (122 keV), when the tile is cooled down to 0C to reduce the impact of the dark count rate. Furthermore, we developed ANGUS, a 36-channels 0.35um CMOS technology ASIC designed to cope with input capacitance up to 5 nF, typical of large area SiPM pixels. The spectroscopic capability of single readout channels were evaluated by coupling an 8mmx8mm pixel with a cylindrical CsI:Tl scintillator (8mm diameter, 10mm thickness). Energy resolution at room temperature provided values between 13% and 13.5% (FWHM) at the 122 keV line for the nine pixels

A SiPM-based detection module for SPECT/MRI systems

In the present work we present the development of a Silicon PhotoMultiplier (SiPM)-based detection module for hybrid SPECT/MRI instruments. The module is designed for preclinical SPECT systems for mouse and rat brain imaging, but can also be exploited for clinical SPECT brain scanners. The gamma-ray detection module is designed on the well established Anger architecture, with a continuous 5 cm × 5 cm CsI:Tl scintillator read by an array of SiPMs (RGB-HD with 25 μm SPAD cells) from Fondazione Bruno Kessler. The current signals are conveyed to a 36-channel ASIC realized in 0.35 μm CMOS technology and digitized by an external data acquisition system. An operative temperature of 0◦C is mandatory to reduce the dark count rate of the SiPM array and to enhance the final performance of the detector in terms of energy and spatial resolution. For this purpose, an MRI-compatible heat sink is realized with a plastic material (Coolpolymer D5506) with a glycol-water mixture as cooling fluid. Gamma-ray measurements with Co-57 (122 keV) have provided an energy resolution better than 14% and an average intrinsic spatial resolution below 1.0 mm