Impact of Intellectual Capital on Financial Reporting Quality of Selected Banks in Nigeria

The study examined the impact of intellectual Capital on Financial reporting quality of selected Banks in Nigeria. The specific objective of the study was to investigate the impact of Intellectual capital on financial reporting quality on selected Banks. A total of ten banks were selected for the study from 2006-2017. Regression analysis was used to do the analysis. They study made use of Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) to ascertain the extent of intellectual capital indices while Fincial reporting quality is proxy by accrual which was calculated using Dechow and Dichev’s(2002) model. The result indicated a positive impact on Fincial reporting quality. The study therefore concludes that Banks should pay more attention to the three intellectual capital variables to improve their financial reporting quality. The study recommends that the three variables of intellectual capital should be well handled in other to have higher quality of financial reporting quality and also provide enabling environment needed to achieve a vital human capital in their system. Keywords: Intellectual Capital, Financial Reporting Quality, Nigeria Banks, Value Intellectual Coefficient, Dechow and Dichev model (2002) DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/11-16-09 Publication date:June 30th 201

Experimental Investigation of Cutting Parameters on a Turning Tool Flank Wear (Industrial and Production Engineering)

Tool life has been a major source of concern to manufacturers, the extent of usefulness of any tool depends on it. The major cause of tool failure is tool wear and the most important aspect of wear to a machinist is the flank wear as it is the flank that is in direct contact with the work piece. This research investigates various cutting parameters and how they contribute to tool wear. The model used is the new wear model proposed by Palmai. The research involved the experimental investigation of turning on the Sumore SP 2110 lathe machine using ISOP Tungsten Carbide and High Speed Steel (HSS) as tools and Bright Mild Steel and Stainless Steel as work piece. The experimental data were used to calibrate the Palmai model for the various cutting tool and work piece pair, at different cutting parameters of spindle speeds depth of cut and feed rate. Experimental and Paimai wear results show good correlation, with about 1.5% to 5.4% deviation

Understanding the healthcare experiences and needs of African immigrants in the United States: a scoping review

Background: Africans immigrants in the United States are the least-studied immigrant group, despite the research and policy efforts to address health disparities within immigrant communities. Although their healthcare experiences and needs are unique, they are often included in the “black” category, along with other phenotypically-similar groups. This process makes utilizing research data to make critical healthcare decisions specifically targeting African immigrants, difficult. The purpose of this Scoping Review was to examine extant information about African immigrant health in the U.S., in order to develop lines of inquiry using the identified knowledge-gaps. Methods: Literature published in the English language between 1980 and 2016 were reviewed in five stages: (1) identification of the question and (b) relevant studies, (c) screening, (d) data extraction and synthesis, and (e) results. Databases used included EBSCO, ProQuest, PubMed, and Google Scholar (hand-search). The articles were reviewed according to title and abstract, and studies deemed relevant were reviewed as full-text articles. Data was extracted from the selected articles using the inductive approach, which was based on the comprehensive reading and interpretive analysis of the organically emerging themes. Finally, the results from the selected articles were presented in a narrative format. Results: Culture, religion, and spirituality were identified as intertwined key contributors to the healthcare experiences of African immigrants. In addition, lack of culturally-competent healthcare, distrust, and complexity, of the U.S. health system, and the exorbitant cost of care, were identified as major healthcare access barriers. Conclusion: Knowledge about African immigrant health in the U.S. is scarce, with available literature mainly focusing on databases, which make it difficult to identify African immigrants. To our knowledge, this is the first Scoping Review pertaining to the healthcare experiences and needs of African immigrants in the U.S

Development of Thermomechanical Model for the Analysis of Effects of Friction and Cutting Speed on Temperature Distribution around AISI 316L During Orthogonal Machining

In metal cutting,severe deformation takes place in the vicinity of the cutting edge of the high strain-rate and an increase in temperature is observed. Deformation behaviour of the work material in the primary and secondary zones is highly sensitive to the cutting conditions. Also, the frictional conditions between the tool and the chip and tool and the workpiece are highly complex and sensitive to the cutting conditions. As a result, the stresses and temperatures at tool-chip interface and around the cutting edge can be critically high in some cutting conditions and can cause excessive tool wear or premature tool failure. This research work focuses on the accurate prediction of the distribution of the process variables such as stresses and temperatures with the Finite Element (FE) Analysis to identify optimum cutting conditions, tool material, edge geometry and coating in order to help improve productivity and quality of machining operations. Effects of work material flow stress and interfacial friction at chip-tool interface on the accuracy of the predicated process variables in FE simulations are also analyzed. Specifically, friction models and cutting speed are varied to predict the effect on the temperature distribution, stresses and strain on the workpiece and tool chip during orthogonal cutting process. The result showed that an increase in coefficient of friction will cause an increase in thermal, force and mechanical variables during machining. Thus, the higher the coefficient of friction, the higher, the cutting forces, temperature, stress, and strain

Experimental Investigation and FE Simulation of the Effect of Variable Control on Temperature Distribution in Orthogonal Metal Cutting Process

The study aimed at building a 3-Dimensional finite element simulation to monitor orthogonal machining process under a dry machining environment. The study was conducted in two stages of experimentation and finite element modelling and simulation (FEMS). The purpose of the experimentation was to obtain data which will be used to validate the FEMS result. The FEMS was carried out with a commercially available solver. The workpiece material employed for the study was mild steel in the form of round bar of solid shaft having 45 mm diameter and length of 500 mm. Mild steel was selected due to its wide range of applications in the fields of manufacturing tools and mould industry. The tool material used was tungsten carbide of DIN4980R 20 mm x 20 mm, with cutting angle of 80-degree tool steel, which was modelled in the FEMS as a rigid body. Various cutting conditions such as speed, feed rate and depth of cut were considered to obtain the tool chip temperature. Different values of temperature were recorded at interval of 10 seconds and ranged from 10 to 100 seconds. The FEMS was carried out by making one of the conditions vary while the others were constant. The temperature values measured with a digital thermocouple were used to validate the FEMS data obtained. The result show that the cutting temperature predicted by the FEMS is within 20% of the real experimental value and followed the same trend. It was discovered that the values of temperature obtained from simulation were also much higher than that of experimentation. Therefore, the experimental value might not be accurate, due to some experimental errors and environmental effects like partial contact between the measuring device and the cutting tools, fluctuation in the magnitude of air flow around the surrounding which may affect the cutting temperature, room temperature and pressure effect. Generally, with an increase in the cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut, the tool temperature also increased and the cutting speed was found to be the most effective parameter when consideration is given to temperature effects, especially in high range of cutting conditions

Modelling and Control of Flow Induced Vibration of Top–Tensioned Marine Risers Using Analytical Methods

For a riser array in deep waters, interference between individual risers in strong ocean current is of operational concern and thereby a key design issue. The lateral deflection is likely to be large, and the risers may experience collision with fatigue or coating damage as a consequence. In this paper, active control of flexible marine riser angle and the reduction of flow induced (forced) vibration under a time varying distributed load were considered using boundary control approach. A torque actuator was introduced in the upper riser package and a boundary control was designed to generate the required signal for riser angle control and vibration reduction with guaranteed closed-loop stability. The design is based on the partial differential equations of the system, which are developed using energy principle. Analytical method of solution was deployed with the aid of a program, developed within the framework of MATLAB, to predict the riser's behaviour by top tensioning. A sensitivity analysis for different values of the control variables was carried out. The results of this work showed that active control of flexible marine riser by top-tensioning reduced flow induced vibration

Carrot intake is consistently negatively associated with cancer incidence: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective observational studies

\ua9 2023 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Carrots are main dietary sources of several potential anti-cancer compounds, including polyacetylenes, while β-carotene has shown no benefits in controlled cancer trials. Accordingly, associations between carrot intake and cancer incidence were quantified, where necessary using α-carotene as a non-causal biomarker of carrot consumption, by searching for studies published before June 2022 reporting risk estimates for relationships of cancer incidence with carrot intake or α-carotene intake or α-carotene plasma concentration, supplemented with hand searches of included studies and reviews. Meta-analyses comparing highest and lowest reported intakes in prospective studies using a random-effects model estimated summary relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), separately for carrot intake or α-carotene plasma concentration, and the corresponding dose-responses. Of 198 observational studies, in 50 prospective studies with 52000 cases recording carrot intake, the cancer-risk was substantially reduced (RR 0.90, 95% CI 0.87–0.94, p ˂ 0\ub700004). In 30 prospective studies with 9331 cases reporting plasma α-carotene levels, summary RR was 0.80 (0.72–0.89, p ˂ 0\ub700006). For both exposure types, inter-study heterogeneity was moderate, interaction with cancer types insignificant, and the dose-response significant (p ˂ 0\ub701). In conclusion, carrot consumption is robustly associated with decreased cancer-risk; carrot consumption should be encouraged, and the causal mechanisms further investigated

Development of a Reciprocating Motion Cassava Slicing Machine

The development of cassava reciprocating slicing machine was achieved using locally sourced materials that is affordable and effective. Although hand slicing is the cheapest form of slicing operation, but it has posed to be labour intensive, time-wasting, and hazardous. This necessitated the design and development of a cassava slicing machine. The machine's capacity for boiled and unboiled cassava root was calculated as 22.8kg/hr, with an average slicing time of 0.005hr for boiled and 0.00455hr for unboiled cassava root. The machine has low labour requirements and power consumption. The cassava reciprocating slicing machine use electric motor of 0.75kw (1hp) rating, with a speed of 99rpm. The machine is made with stainless steel for the slicing section and other components with mild steel and has an overall efficiency of 91.05%. The machine reduces drudgery and also enhances mass production of cassava chips, implying more profit

CFD Analysis of Nanorefrigerant through Adiabatic Capillary Tube of Vapour Compression Refrigeration System

Over time attempts have been made to understand the flow characteristics of refrigerants through capillary tubes as well as to seek more thermally efficient working fluids for refrigeration systems. This study investigated the flow of nanorefrigerants through adiabatic capillary tubes of vapour compression refrigeration systems; and afterwards creates numerical models that will account for solution of refrigerant side pressure drop and mass flow rate. Also in this study, a CFD flow analysis was carried out using a CFD simulation/solver such that the results of the simulations obtained were discussed so as to establish a distinction between the conventional and nano-refrigerants. Upon comparison of the CFD results of nanorefrigerants (CuR134a, CuR600a) and the conventional refrigerants (R134a, R600a), the conventional refrigerants were noticed to have more isothermal regions implying that heat was not being transferred quickly enough to raise the temperature of the adjoining region thus proving that the addition of nanoparticles improves the thermophysical properties of the base fluid. Also, based on the results of the study of the flow patterns of both working fluids, the density of pressure contours in the conventional refrigerants was far larger than that of the nanorefrigerant implying that more compressor work and ultimately greater power will be required. The findings from this study were validated with experimental results showing that a CFD analysis tool/method can be employed to understudy the phenomenal changes that take place in nano-refrigerant movement through capillary tubes without recourse to experimentation

Farm Service Agency Direct Farm Loan Program Effectiveness Study

The three primary objectives of the Effectiveness Study are to: (1) identify groups being served by FSA direct farm loan programs, (2) examine the length of time borrowers remain in the programs and the proportion of borrowers who exit or 'graduate' from the programs, and (3) measure and identify ways of reducing loan subsidy rates. The study found that direct Farm Loan Programs (FLPs) appear to be serving their intended clientele. Recent FLP borrowers are more financially stressed than non-borrowers and would be generally considered as family farms. About 78 to 92 percent would qualify as small family farms using USDA's Small Farms Commission definition. FLP credit market penetration is relatively high among farms likely to be eligible for these credit programs, despite the fact that these programs represent a relatively small proportion of total outstanding agricultural debt. Increasing market penetration or the share of farms served by the program would require greater obligation funding and hence greater budgetary costs. Conversely, implementing more rigorous loan eligibility criteria would likely lower the number of operators receiving loans and hence loan loss occurrences and subsidy rates would likely fall. The majority of FSA Direct borrowers from FY 1994-1996 used FLPs as a transitional tool. At time of origination, FSA Direct borrowers had fewer years of farming experience than the farming population at large. More than half of these borrowers no longer had active FLP loans by the end of November 2004. So for the majority of borrowers, FLPs are not a lifetime credit source. FLPs are helping farmers move to commercial credit or aiding farmers who subsequently leave farming completely, as is common among U.S. farmers. Not surprisingly, farmers in stronger financial condition originating FSA Direct loans are more likely to exit and have fewer outstanding loans with FSA. FSA experiences higher loan loss rates than conventional agricultural lenders. This is to be expected because commercial lenders can be more selective in choosing borrowers and price loans to match risk profiles which FSA does not do. In essence, FSA's mission is to provide credit to riskier 'creditworthy' borrowers. The agency is accomplishing this goal. The natural consequence is that FSA loan loss rates are higher than for conventional lenders. Whether the current borrowers are too risky or should even riskier borrowers be included are policy questions. The analysis indicates that attempts to cut losses systematically would imply denying credit to some current borrowers.Agricultural Finance,