The effects of accounting standards on earnings management and value relevance : a case of Malaysian and Nigerian banks

The mandatory adoption of IFRS beginning from January 1st 2005 by European Union listed firms has attracted contradictory but limited results from emerging economies, particularly, banking sector on the potency of its adoption in reducing earnings management and enhancing value relevance of accounting information. This study, therefore, investigates whether the recent Malaysia and Nigeria’s adoption of IFRS reduces earnings management and enhances value relevance of banks accounting information more than Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). All Malaysian and Nigerian conventional banks were investigated within the positivist paradigm over seven year’s panel design. This study employed aggregate discretionary accruals, discretionary loan loss provisions, earnings smoothing, earning management patterns, earnings management goals and loan quality models to evaluate earnings management. Particularly, this study proposed adjustments to the Jones model to be able to investigate banks discretionary accruals. Also, price, return and incremental models were used to evaluate value relevance of accounting information. Data were sourced from banks audited financial statements and stock market reports and analysed using EViews. Findings of this study established that IFRS reduced earnings management and enhanced value relevance of accounting information more than GAAP. This study also established that higher loan quality was most guaranteed under the IFRS provisioning. The findings have both theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, it further strengthened the findings of previous studies on the potency of IFRS to reduce earnings management and enhance value relevance. Practically, there is urgent need to understand that different accounting standards impact differently on accounting quality, and thus, an immense need to continue to examine their respective impacts on financial statement information. This study is one of the limited studies that investigated Malaysia and Nigeria’s IFRS adoption in relation to earnings management and value relevance of banks accounting information. Also, the adjusted Jones model was able to investigate aggregate discretionary accruals of banks. The findings of this study confirmed the superiority of IFRS over GAAP in reducing earnings management and in enhancing vi value relevance of accounting information. Thus, this study recommends that banks globally should adopt IFRS. Finally, in view of the controversies concerning IFRS, earnings management and value relevance of accounting information, this study recommends that a meta-analysis be conducted

TEACHING VALUE-LADEN HIV/AIDS CONTENTS USING RATHS-HARMIN-SIMON'S VALUING PROCESS STRATEGY FOR PROMOTING STUDENTS' INTEREST AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SOCIAL STUDIES IN KOGI STATE, NIGERIA

The study investigated the teaching of value-laden HIV/AIDS contents using Raths, Harmin and Simon’s valuing process strategies for promoting students’ interest and performance in Social Studies in Kogi State, Nigeria. Six research questions and six null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The study adopted quasi-experimental research design. The population comprised 19,640 Upper Basic IIstudents from 150 Universal Basic Education schools. The sample was 280 Basic II students from eight intact classes from eight Upper Basic schools. HIV/AIDS Content Academic Performance Test (HACAPT) and HIV/AIDS Content of Social Studies Interest Inventory (HACSOSII) with reliability coefficients of0.85 and 0.83 respectively were used for data collection. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. It was found that there was significant difference between mean performance scores of students taught HIV/AIDS contents in social studies using Raths, Harmin and Simon valuing process model strategy and those taught using lecture method. Significant difference did not exist between the mean interest scores of students taught HIV/AIDS contents in Social Studies using Raths, Harmin and Simon valuing process model strategy and those taught using lecture method. Also, no significant difference exist between themean interest scores as well as mean academic performance scores of male and female students exposed to RHSVPM learning of HIV/AIDS contents in Social Studies. There was no significant interaction effect of methods and gender on the mean performance as well as mean interest scores of students exposed to RHSVPM strategy of HIV/AIDS contents in Social Studies. It was recommended among others that Social Studies teacher should employ Raths, Harmin and Simon’s valuing process strategies in their classroom interaction since it has the capacity to improve students’ interest and academic performance in the subject.State Universal Basic Education should make available Social Studies teachers’ guide and workbook that include the modules on the use of Raths, Harmin and Simon’s valuing process strategies for Social Studies teachers.Value of teaching HIV/AIDS in Social Studie

Importance of micronutrient supplementation in children with congenital heart defects in Nigeria

The prevalence of congenital heart defects is increasing globally. Improvements in surgical techniques have resulted in increased life expectancy for individuals with heart defects. In developing countries, it is not unusual to find children with simple congenital heart defects presenting with complications (nutritional and non-nutritional) due to delay in surgical correction. Data on nutritional deficiencies in children with heart diseases are rare, more so, those on micronutrient deficiencies. Macro- and micronutrient deficiencies are common among children with un-operated congenital heart defects, especially in those on chronic diuretic therapy. It is pertinent that the need for studies on the prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies and effects of micronutrient supplementation in these children be emphasized.  Therefore, the objective of this paper is to highlight the importance of micronutrient supplementation in children with un-operated congenital heart defects in Nigeria

Neonatal hypothermia in sub-Saharan Africa: A review

Background: Hypothermia is a major factor in neonatal morbidity and mortality in developing countries. High prevalence of hypothermia has been reported widely even from warmer tropical countries. In spite of the World Health Organization’s recommendation of maintenance of warm chain in newborn care, hypothermia continues to be a common neonatalcondition which has remained under-recognized, under-documented, and poorly-managed.Objective: This review aims at providing the incidence of and risk factors for neonatal hypothermia as well as provides a pathophysiological overview and management options for neonates with the condition in sub-Saharan Africa.Materials and Methods: All available published literature on neonatal hypothermia was searched electronically and manually. The principal electronic reference libraries and sites searched were PubMed, Embase, Ajol, Cochrane Reference Libraries and Google Scholar. The search terms used included ’neonatal hypothermia,’ ‘Cold stress in newborn’ ‘thermal care of the newborn,’ ’neonatal thermogenesis,’ ‘neonatal cold injury,’ among others. Pertinent books and monographs were accessed. Data in formats inaccessible to the reviewer were excluded.Result and Conclusion: Neonatal hypothermia is a major condition of public health importance in countries of sub- Saharan Africa. Awareness of the burden of the disease is still low in some communities. Risk factors for neonatal hypothermia in the region include poverty, home delivery, low birthweight, early bathing of babies, delayed initiation of breastfeeding and inadequate knowledge among health workers. Low-tech facilities to prevent heat losses and provide warmth are available in sub-Saharan Africa and are thus recommended as well as continuous efforts at sensitizing caregivers on the thermal needs of newborns.Key words: Neonatal hypothermia, neonatal thermogenesis, sub-saharan africa, thermal car

Factors influencing the learning of introductory computer programing at the Durban University of Technology.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Computer programming is an extremely difficult skill to master for students who are novice computer programmers. The preceding assertion is based on reports of high failure rates in introductory computer programming courses offered by tertiary education institutions. This is not just a South African problem but a number of cross-institutional and multi-national studies show that the problem is well known and is common (Grover et al., 2016). The current study investigated the factors influencing the learning of introductory computer programing at Durban University of Technology (DUT). The objectives of the study were to understand the influence of previous experience on students’ learning of introductory computer programming as well as to understand the influence of self-efficacy on students’ learning of introductory computer programming. The study also focused on understanding the influence of the ‘mental model ‘representation of the problem domain on students’ learning of introductory computer programming, and to understand the influence of the ‘mental model’ representation of the problem domain on students’ self-efficacy in the learning of introductory computer programming. The study adopted the quantitative research method to investigate the subject matter. This study embraced a survey research strategy and data collection carried out was over a short period. The study used simple random sampling to select 200 respondents at DUT. Data were collected using questionnaires. Data quality control was ensured by conducting a reliability and validity test on the data collection instrument used in this study. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from DUT. The quantitative data collected were analyzed using the SPSS, version 25.0. The study utilized statistics such as frequency, descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Cronbach’s alpha and Spearman correlation). The overall findings from the study suggested that the self-efficacy level of the research participants was high. The results of the study revealed that there was a moderate positive relationship between self-efficacy and computer programming. Furthermore, it found was that the mental model adopted by students when solving computer programming problems positively influences student performance in computer programming. An outcome of the study is the recommendation that the teaching and learning of computer programming should focus on language structure and the correct mental interpretation of the problem domain so that students could improve their performance

Dynamic data driven investigation of petrophysical and geomechanical properties for reservoir formation evaluation

Petrophysical and geomechanical properties of the formation such as Young’s modulus, bulk modulus, shear modulus, Poisson’s ratio, and porosity provide characteristic description of the hydrocarbon reservoir. It is well-established that static geomechanical properties are good representatives of reservoir formations; however, they are non-continuous along the wellbore, expensive and determining these properties may lead to formation damage. Dynamic geomechanical formation properties from acoustic measurements offer a continuous and non-destructive means to provide a characteristic description of the reservoir formation. In the absence of reliable acoustic measurements of the formation, such as sonic logs, the estimation of the dynamic geomechanical properties becomes challenging. Several techniques like empirical, analytical and intelligent systems have been used to approximate the property estimates. These techniques can also be used to approximate acoustic measurements thus enable dynamic estimation of geomechanical properties. This study intends to explore methodologies and models to dynamically estimate geomechanical properties in the absence of some or all acoustic measurements of the formation. The present work focused on developing empirical and intelligent systems like artificial neural networks (ANN), Gaussian processes (GP), and recurrent neural networks (RNN) to determine the dynamic geomechanical properties. The developed models serve as a cost-effective, reliable, efficient, and robust methods, offering dyanmic geomechanical analysis of the formation. This thesis has five main contributions: (a) a new data-driven empirical model of estimating static Young’s modulus from dynamic Young’s modulus, (b) a new data-driven ANN model for sonic well log prediction, (c) a new data-driven GP model for shear wave transit time prediction, (d) a new dynamic data-driven RNN model for sonic well log reproduction, and (e) an assessment on the ANN as a reliable sonic logging tool

Rate of isolation of streptococcus species from children with bacterial infections: an indication for introduction of streptococcal vaccines

Background: Streptococcus species are among the commonest bacterial causes of childhood morbidity in developing countries. Streptococcal diseases in children have not been as well characterized in Nigeria as it has been in industrialized countries. The rudimentary nature of public health surveillance makes the true epidemiology of the disease difficult to ascertain. The predominance of Streptococcus pneumoniae in the causation of invasive diseases has led to the advocacy of inclusion of pneumococcal vaccine in the National Programme on Immunization. However, local data critical to inform on vaccine deployment are scarce, thus the need for the present study. Objective: To study the rate of isolation of Streptococcus species from children aged zero to 15 years, with suspected bacterial infections. Materials and Methods: Laboratory records of results of bacteriological studies of samples from children with suspected bacterial infections in University of Abuja Teaching Hospital from January 2008 through December, 2010 were retrieved and analyzed for bacterial growth. Data analysis Version 3.5.1. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: A total of 2,247 samples were received during the study period. Of the 1,242 bacteria isolated, 502 (40.4%) were Staphylococcus aureus, 232 (18.7%) were Escherichia coli and 146 (11.8%) were Streptococcus species: 78 were isolated from blood, 9 from sputum, 11 from throat swabs and 28 from other sites while urine and eye swabs had 10 each. One hundred and six (72.6%) of the streptococci were from children aged 5 years and below. Most of the Streptococci (88.1%) were untyped. Among the 17 Streptococcal isolates typed, 10 were Streptococcus pneumoniae and three were group B Streptococcus. Conclusion: Streptococcal infections remain an important cause of severe disease in children in Nigeria. The use of effective, safe and affordable vaccine could significantly reduce morbidity from these infections, thus suggesting the need for more studies to conclude on streptococcal vaccine deployment.Key words: Streptococcal infections, Nigeria, Streptococcal vaccine

Congenital tuberculosis: a case report

Congenital tuberculosis is insufficiently understood and has been rarely reported even in areas endemic for the disease. Unless a high index of suspicion is maintained, the diagnosis can be missed. A case of congenital tuberculosis is herein reported to illustrate the difficulty in identifying such infants and also to sensitize the medical practionner in TB endemic areas of the need for etiologic diagnosis in congenital pneumonias as well as for antenatal screening for TB in mothers at risk

Bioremediation of heavy metal polluted water using immobilized freshwater green microalga, botryococcus sp.

Heavy metal containing wastewater are regarded as highly toxic to the aquatic environment and to life in general due to their bio-accumulating, cytotoxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic effects on life. Bioremediation is the use of biological materials (e.g. microalgae) in the removal of toxic compounds from the environment such as the heavy metals which is considered more cost effective and environmentally friendly when compared to the physical and chemical methods. The present study was undertaken to check for the heavy metal bioremoval efficiency of free and immobilized Botryococcus sp. Four heavy metals were studied and the free cells efficiently reduced Chromium which is equivalent to 94%, followed by Copper (45%), Arsenic (9%) and Cadmium (2%). For the immobilized biomass, the highest (P<0.05) removal efficiency was recorded in the highest biomass concentration (i.e. 15 beads/ml) for Cadmium, Arsenic and Chromium at 76%, 68% and 67%. Whereas, the highest (P<0.05) removal of copper was observed in the blank alginate beads at 84%. The positive control (free cells) recorded the highest (P<0.05) reduction for biological oxygen demand (BOD) whereas, the 15 beads/ml gave the highest (P<0.05) reduction for control gave the highest (P<0.05) reduction for the Chemical oxygen demand (COD). In the LD50 experiment, immobilized biomass harvested from the bioremoval study experiment were used on fishes for toxicity testing. A total of 100% mortality was recorded in the positive control after 24 hours whereas, 3% mortality was observed in negative control and in the 10 beads/ml treatment after 72 hours. No mortality was found in any other treatment after a period of 96 hours. The results obtained from this study suggests that, immobilized cells of Botryococcus sp. is efficient in the bioremoval of heavy metals from contaminated waters and also have great potential in the biotransformation of toxic compounds to less-toxic forms