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Research in English Language Teaching(3)
This study examines the factors influencing students’ under-performance in an advanced financial reporting course. Specifically, this study examines four factors which may influence the accounting students’ under-performance in an advanced financial reporting course, namely class attendance, curricular activities, internship experience and English language proficiency. This study conducted a questionnaire survey on 83 final year accounting students who had failed the advanced financial reporting course at least once. The results indicated that class attendance, curricular activities and internship experience are associated with students’ under-performance in this course. However, English language proficiency is not a significant factor influencing students’ under-performance in the advanced financial reporting course. This indicates that understanding the content rather than the language used to teach the course is more important for student success in this field. However, further analysis shows that English language and curricular activities are significant factors for success in the advanced financial reporting course when regressed with other factors. These findings could assist academics in understanding the factors influencing students’ under-performance in the advanced financial reporting course and subsequently help develop strategies to improve results in the classroom. Contribution/ Originality
This study contributes to existing literature on the importance of class attendance, curricular activities, internship experience and English language proficiency on accounting students’ performance in the advanced financial reporting course. Arts and Education » International Journal of Education and Practice » Month: 01-2019 Issue: 1
Community Management Plan for Sustainability of Mangrove Ecosystem in Nuxco Lagoon, Guerrero, Mexico
Research Article
Author(s):
Journal: International Journal of Geography and Geology
Globally conservation of biodiversity and restoration of endangered species (specially the mangroves) has received much critical attention in sustainability studies of regional and tropical ecosystems. Sustainability succeeds when the economy of the region is improved without loss to biological diversity. This work presents a proposal to initiate a Community Management Plan for the sustainability of the Mangrove Ecosystem of Nuxco Lagoon, Guerrero, located in a rural community in the South of México. The objective was to create a proposal with the community called El Veinte, in order to conserve and avail of the environmental services that this ecosystem offers. The project was organized in three phases: Institutional Presentation through a preparatory workshop, Problem Identification, Action Plan. The data included opinions of key informants of the community sampled from municipal public services, staff of schools and individuals involved in key economic activities in the locality. Three topics were determined within the Community Management Plan: Investigation, Education and Preservation and short, medium and long term objectives were assigned to each topic. Through a consensus, the inhabitants of the rural community “El Veinte” identified three priority projects in order to improve the quality of life of the population with an approach of sustainability. Contribution/ Originality
This study documents a proposal for a Community Management Plan for the Sustainability of Mangrove Ecosystem of the Nuxco Lagoon, a rural town in the South of Mexico. This study pioneers in preparing sustainability proposal without any loss to biological diversity and through the consensus of local community. Energy & Environmental Sciences » International Journal of Geography and Geology » Month: 01-2019 Issue: 1
Uncertainties in Global Economic Policy and Nigerias Export Earnings
Research Article
Author(s):
Journal: International Journal of Business, Economics and Management
This study examined the contemporaneous effect of global economic policy uncertainty on Nigeria’s export earnings, using Nigerian data that spans from 1997 to 2016. The theoretical framework relied on the contemporaneous theory of external vulnerability, which posits that macroeconomic shocks from dominant economies could be transferred to lesser dominant economies through international linkages of global economies and financial market. To achieve objective, this study employed the ARDL and GARCH estimation techniques, to estimate the effect of global economic policy uncertainty on Nigeria’s export earnings. The results revealed the adverse effect of global economic policy uncertainty on Nigeria’s export earnings, affirming the vulnerability of Nigeria’s export earnings to external shocks. The practical implication of the finding is that developing economies could insulate their domestic macroeconomic environment from external shocks by diversifying their economies. Importantly, Nigeria should increase diversification of her export base as a coping strategy for protecting against the contemporaneous effect of global economic uncertainties. Contribution/ Originality
The study contributes to existing literature focusing on export earnings, which is a major source of vulnerability to external shocks in Nigeria. The use of global economic policy uncertainty index appears novel, compare to previous studies that use global output and inflation. Economics » International Journal of Business, Economics and Management » Month: 01-2019 Issue: 1
Service Quality and Outpatients Satisfaction in Public Hospitals in Malaysia
Research Article
Author(s):
Journal: International Journal of Public Policy and Administration Research
The objective of this research is to determine the relationship between service quality and outpatients’ satisfaction towards public hospitals in Malaysia. Five dimensions from SERVQUAL model, Competency, Responsiveness, Courtesy, Tangibility and Reliability are used in the research model. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in hospitals located in States with the highest average outpatient numbers, namely Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Hospital Pulau Pinang and Hospital Putrajaya. The convenience sampling technique was used and 409 useful questionnaires were collected. The results showed that there is a significant positive relationship between Competency, Tangibility, Reliability and Outpatient Satisfaction. However, Responsiveness and Courtesy have a positive and insignificant relationship with Outpatients’ Satisfaction. By determining the significant variables influencing outpatients’ satisfaction, this study gives an insight for managers and staff of public hospitals on the effect of service quality towards outpatients’ satisfaction and also recommends ways for improvement. Contribution/ Originality
In this research, we study factors such as consumer attitudes and personal innovativeness in order to understand the effect of loyalty on satisfaction with mobile wallet applications in Thailand. We developed a research model, based upon previous research, where we propose and examine four constructs. In general, consumer attitudes and personal innovativeness loaded strongly on both loyalty and satisfaction with the Thai consumers sampled. We found strong support for all of the hypothesized relationships, albeit some at different strength levels. It was found that consumer attitudes are an extremely strong factor that increases loyalty and improves satisfaction with mobile wallet applications in Thailand. We also found a very strong impact of satisfaction on loyalty with Thai consumers. This study helps to understand how specific factors influence consumer satisfaction with mobile wallet apps, and what drives consumers’ decisions to be loyal and satisfied customers. Contribution/ Originality
This study contributes in the existing literature of consumer behavior, particularly consumer satisfaction model. This study uses new estimation methodology of survey construct with snowball sampling approach. This study originates new formula for predicting Thai consumers’ satisfaction in mobile wallet usage. This study is one of the very few studies which have investigated in factors influencing the satisfaction with mobile wallets apps. The paper’s primary contribution is finding that consumer attitudes has a significant influence on Thai consumer loyalty and increase satisfaction. Economics » International Journal of Business, Economics and Management » Month: 01-2019 Issue: 1
Tabu-Genetic Algorithm-Based Model for Poultry Feed Formulation
Research Article
Author(s):
Journal: International Journal of Sustainable Agricultural Research
Poultry feed cost represents a significant part of operational cost of poultry production. Consequently, efficient feed formulation practice is required for a sustainable poultry production. Many poultry farmers, employ inefficient methods like rule of thumb and intuition to handle feed formulation problem. This paper presents the report of the development of a feed formulation model which can be used to harness the potentials of locally available feed stuffs toward producing a balanced poultry feed. To achieve this aim, a hybrid Tabu-Genetic Algorithm Model ((TAM) was developed for layers mash feed formulation as case study. Thirteen (13) decision variables and eight (8) constraints were identified and used in the research. Secondary data were collected from the recommended nutrient requirements schedule made available by both the Ondo State Ministry of Agriculture and the Freedom Feed Mill (a local feed miller) in Akure, South-West Nigeria. Based on this data, the optimal solution of the TAM developed for the layers mash produced a balanced feed at reduced cost. Contribution/ Originality
This study uses a hybrid of tabu search (TS) and genetic algorithms (GA) to formulate poultry feed. GA being a global search algorithm is usually slow. The introduction of TS helps to reduce the time taken to arrive at the optimal solution. Agricultural Sciences » International Journal of Sustainable Agricultural Research » Month: 06-2019 Issue: 2
Public Health Expenditure, Economic Growth and Health Outcomes in Nigeria
Research Article
Author(s):
Journal: International Journal of Public Policy and Administration Research
It is argued that while increase in budgetary allocation to social services is highly desirable, it is not sufficient to guarantee enhancement in better health outcome. This paper links public health expenditure, economic growth and health outcomes and the causality among them using Nigeria data. The finding suggests increase in public health expenditure has decreased infant mortality rate while infant mortality rate is negatively correlated with economic growth. Interestingly, the direction of causality among public health expenditure, infant mortality rate and growth is unidirectional, from public health expenditure to growth. Contribution/ Originality
This is one of the few studies which have investigated public health expenditure, economic growth and health outcomes (infant mortality rate) in Nigeria. Economics » International Journal of Public Policy and Administration Research » Month: 03-2019 Issue: 1
Health Care Outcomes, Malnutrition and Food Security in Southern Africa Development Community: A Quantile Regression Approach
The study analyzed the linkages among food security, nutrition and health care outcomes within the SADC regional bloc for the period 1991 to 2016. The study employed panel OLS and quantile regression analysis and the latter provided more informative findings that would culminate in the development of effective policies to deal with problems of infant mortality. Specifically, the study showed that population growth and malnutrition have a positive and significant effect on infant mortality across the entire distribution. The effect of investment in fixed capital and economic development is significant at higher quantiles. There is a non-linear relationship between infant mortality and population growth. Food security has no effect on infant mortality rate across the entire distribution and these results are consistent with those found using panel OLS. Robust results using quantile regression show that the sensitivity of infant mortality to each variable remains the same, statistically, but the magnitude or effect increases in higher quantiles. The study showed potential parameter heterogeneity across countries with implications for estimating the wider effects of mortality for a policy shock that may have unequal effects across the distribution. Properly developed policies should have a differentiated approach in influencing the rate of infant mortality in member states. Contribution/ Originality
The study is one of the few studies that have examined the linkages among food security, nutrition and health care using quantile regression in SADC. Economics » Journal of Social Economics Research » Month: 03-2019 Issue: 1
Behavioural Intention to Use Mobile Apps by Gen Y in Malaysia
The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that affect the behavioural intention to use mobile apps by Gen Y in Malaysia. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and the Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) and the Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DIT) are combined to examine the drivers that affect the behavioural intention to use mobile apps. The factors include performance expectancy, habit, price value, social influence, complexity and trialability. Data was collected by distributing self-administered survey questionnaires using the quota sampling technique to Gen Y in five States in Malaysia. The results show that all these variables significantly affect the behavioural intention to use mobile apps by Gen Y in Malaysia. The UTAUT2 and the DIT have been proven to be the suitable theories that can be considered by future researchers who wish to conduct research related to technological innovations. This study is useful for apps’ designers, as they will be able to design apps to suit users’ preferences and expectations by analysing the variables. Contribution/ Originality
This study combined UTAUT2 model and Diffusion Innovation Theory to study the behavioural intention and confirmed their suitability. Any future researchers on technological innovation can use this new model. Additionally, this study is useful for apps’ designers to design apps to suit users’ preferences by understanding the influencing factors. Computer Sciences » Journal of Information » Month: 03-2019 Issue: 1
Investigating Issues and Challenges in Employing Action Research for Teacher Training in Malaysian Context
Research Article
Author(s):
Journal: International Journal of Education and Practice
In teacher education, action research has served as one of the tools for reflective practice to bridge the gap between the educational theories learned in the teacher training college and the actual pedagogical practice within the four walls of the classroom. In this descriptive and explorative research study, first the concept and characteristics of action research are outlined, supported by a discussion on action research types and models that are relevant to teacher training in Malaysia. Then, this paper explored the implementation of action research component in teacher education in Malaysia by first providing brief background information of action research in Malaysian teacher training institutes. Then, it discussed issues and challenges that are faced in terms of curriculum, teaching methods and objectives. The study also discussed the rationale for integrating action research component in teacher education programme. The result shows that the implementation of action research is hampered by the absence of exposure to action research in the earlier part of the training, the curriculum lacks practical input and the objectives set can be general and vague. It is recommended that action research workshops and trainings are conducted earlier in the training program and that more hands-on learning experience is introduced. Contribution/ Originality
This article contributes to the existing literature by providing an overview of action research implementation in teacher education system in Malaysia. It discusses the issues and challenges that are faced by action research supervisors and trainee teachers. It also highlights the rationale for integrating action research component in teacher education curriculum. Arts and Education » International Journal of Education and Practice » Month: 01-2019 Issue: 1
Gender Based Differences in Epidemiologic and Clinical Profile of Adult Vitiligo
Vitiligo, an asymptomatic de-pigmenting skin disease occurs in both males and females. It is not readily known if differences in clinical and socio-demographic features exist between male and female vitiligo patients. To document gender based differences in socio-demographic (age at onset, area of onset, family history of vitiligo) and clinical characteristics (type of vitiligo, severity of disease, activity of lesions, area affected) of adult Nigerian vitiligo patients. This was a retrospective cross-sectional study of 76 adult vitiligo patients who attended the Dermatology Outpatient Clinic of the University College Hospital, Ibadan from January 2005 to December 2009. A questionnaire designed for the study was used to document the relevant information. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 16. Prevalence of vitiligo was 4.5%, 44 males (57.9%) and 32 females (42.1%) were seen. Mean age at onset was 34.6 ±17.1 years with a range of 1-78 years. The face and scalp were the commonest areas of vitiligo occurrence in both genders. There were differences in clinical characteristics however, they were not statistically significant. Significate difference was found in level of education, self-medication and duration of disease. There are some differences in clinical profile between male and female adult vitiligo patients. Contribution/ Originality
This study contributes to the existing literature on vitiligo in adults. Vitiligo occurs in both adult males and females. However, differences in clinical and epidemiologic features of vitiligo between males and females is not readily documented. This study highlights these differences. Medical Sciences » Journal of Diseases » Month: 03-2019 Issue: 1
Knowledge Management (KM) Practices in Education and Learning: Establishing a Knowledge Economy in Saudi Arabia
Knowledge-management (KM) has received much attention because of the rapid growth of computers and information technology in shaping products and services. While new learning and innovations added value to the existing products and services, they also added a new dimension to economy, popularly coined as knowledge-based economy. The 21st century is often described as an era of “knowledge capitalism.” This study has attempted to find links between KM practices and modern education and learning. This study has shown how KM practices can be used for education, training and learning purposes which in turn can help organizations leverage the skills and expertise of their workers and transform them into knowledge capital. This study also aims to identify such KM practices that create a knowledge economy. Data has been collected from six universities in public and private sectors in Saudi Arabia where KM practices can be seen and which have contributed to the national economy. Contribution/ Originality
This study is going to be a useful contribution to the domain of knowledge economy in the Saudi Arabian context, particularly when the country is looking for a non-oil based economy, pursuing the 2030 vision. This study shows how learning and KM practices build up a knowledge economy. Social Sciences » Humanities and Social Sciences Letters » Month: 03-2019 Issue: 1
Shortcomings in Traffic Control Devices on Rural Highways of Pakistan and their Rectifications
Research Article
Author(s):
Journal: Review of Information Engineering and Applications
Traffic signs, signals and road markings installed on the roads and highways need a lot of improvements in Pakistan. They do not fulfill the fundamental conditions as per international standards i.e. peculiar shapes, sizes and colors. Among all the reasons the most important being the lack of a proper Manual, outlining the warrants and other details essential for putting up proper signs. The problem is further being made worse by the lack of qualified traffic engineers, not fully familiar with the art and science of traffic signs. As a result, the field engineers and contractors were left to their own wishes with regard to design and installing of the road signs. Where as in developed countries there are many signs manufacturing firms who are specialized in this particular field. Many international organizations making efforts for the uniformity of markings and road signs in order to improve the safety of roads and to enhance international roads traffic, but in Pakistan not much significant work has been done and is still very much lagging in this industry. This study is aimed to investigate about the improvements that need to be done in traffic signs and markings, there installation and their maintenance. This will help to make the traffic flow more safe and efficient. The up short of all this study is to enhance the best possible safety of the road users by awaking and changing the aptitude and attitude of users towards the traffic control devices. Contribution/ Originality
This study contributes in the existing literature by suggesting improvement measures for traffic control devices used on rural highways in most of developing countries in terms of its manufacturing, installation and maintenance and also the road users response that can be enhanced by taking these measures. Computer Sciences » Review of Information Engineering and Applications » Month: 03-2019 Issue: 1
Pepper Disease Assessment and Identification in Major Growing Districts of West Gojam Zone in Northwestern Ethiopia
Research Article
Author(s):
Journal: International Journal of Sustainable Agricultural Research
Hot pepper (Capsicum annuum) is an economically and traditionally an important crop in Ethiopia. It is also necessary vegetable crop mainly for small-scale farmers in Amhara National Regional State of Ethiopia. The productivity of this crop is low under national level, it is said to be 7.36qt per hectare. It is even lower to that of the national in Amhara National Regional State growing areas. Assessing pepper growing areas and collect damaged plants by the disease and identification of diseases was the focus of this study. Three districts were selected purposively based on accessibility, production and problem, available time, logistics, and representativeness. In each district three representative peasant administrations (PAs)/kebeles were selected. Sampled kebeles and respondents were selected using simple random sampling techniques. A total of 135 respondents were selected for interview. The data was collected through semi structured interview schedule. In each PA, three simple random sample selected farmers’ fields were assessed. The assessment was done at one growth stage of the plant (flowering-podding stage). The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings of this study confirm that in all the surveyed peasant farms, only one type of variety, which is Marekofana was encountered with low to high levels infestation of different leaf, stem, and root diseases. Root rot/wilt complex diseases were found distributed in almost all the surveyed areas. The prevalence of the disease, pepper wilt/root rot complex is high, therefore; efforts better to be made towards the integration of multiple control options. Contribution/ Originality
This study contributes in the existing literature to fill the gap of the current state of knowledge of pepper disease assessment and identification. This study is one of very few studies which have investigated pepper disease assessment and identification. The paper contributes the first logical analysis of pepper disease. Agricultural Sciences » International Journal of Sustainable Agricultural Research » Month: 03-2019 Issue: 1
External Debt and Economic Growth: Two-Step System GMM Evidence for Sub-Saharan Africa Countries
Research Article
Author(s):
Journal: International Journal of Business, Economics and Management
This paper examines external debt and economic growth relationship in a panel of 48 Sub-Saharan Africa countries (SSA) for the period 1990-2017 using a two-step system General Method of Moments (GMM) technique. Our study shows that contemporaneously, external debt has a negative and statistically significant impact on GDP growth. However, the first lag of external debt variables stimulates GDP growth. The implication is that external debt accumulated in the previous period makes funds available for growth enhancing expenditure in the next period. Furthermore, our study found no evidence of a non-linear relationship between debt and economic growth. Lastly, we found that the deleterious impact of external debt on GDP growth does not preclude poor or rich SSA countries. We recommend the adoption of state-of-the-art measures in collecting domestic revenue to complement external revenue sources. In addition, we advocate for strong macroeconomic environment in SSA so that yield negotiation on the debt will not dissipate the coffers of SSA countries via high debt servicing cost. Contribution/ Originality
This study uses new estimation methodology to unravel the external debt and economic growth nexus in Sub-Saharan Africa countries. Economics » International Journal of Business, Economics and Management » Month: 01-2019 Issue: 1
Experimental and Numerical Study of Magnetic Field Impact on the Thermal Solar Collectors
Research Article
Author(s):
Journal: International Journal of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Research
An experimental study has been conducted to determine the impact of magnetic field on the performance of thermal solar collectors. A numerical model has been developed after the mass and energy balances, presented, integrated and coded. The study compared between thermal solar collector’s behavior with or without magnetic field at different solar radiations, magnetic field forces, as well as other conditions. Comparisons were made against data collected at different conditions for validation purposes of the model numerical predictions. Contribution/ Originality
This study contributes to the understanding of the impact of magnetic field on the heat transfer fluid circulating in thermal solar collectors. In addition, this study enhances our understanding of the behavior of thermal solar collectors and impact of the different solar radiations on the behavior of thermal solar collectors. Energy & Environmental Sciences » International Journal of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Research » Month: 03-2019 Issue: 1
How Secondary School Mathematics Teachers Perceive the Effectiveness of Microteaching and Teaching Practice in their Preservice Education
Teacher education is an important pillar of every education system worldwide. Consequently, there is a need to determine the efficacy of teacher education programs in preparing good-quality teachers. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of learned media and teaching skills on the teaching of mathematics in secondary schools. We therefore explore how secondary school mathematics teachers perceive the effect of “media practicals” and “microteaching” on teaching practice through a survey study. Seventy respondents provided usable data for the analysis, which indicated that media practicals are well organized and microteaching helps the majority of student teachers practice the various teaching skills they had learned. However, the majority of respondents (61.4%) stated they were not able to implement all the techniques they learned during their teacher training, while most respondents’ (57.1%) teaching practice sessions were only assessed once by their supervisors. A major recommendation is that teaching practice assessment should be emphasized and undertaken at least twice. Contribution/ Originality
This study contributes to the existing literature and discourse on the effectiveness of teacher education programs, with a focus on the reform agenda. Media practicals and microteaching are two main components of teacher education that have a strong bearing on the quality of teachers in imparting knowledge, competence, and attitudes to the youth of any state or country. Social Sciences » Humanities and Social Sciences Letters » Month: 03-2019 Issue: 1
The Relationship Between Organizational Justice and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Taking Job Satisfaction as the Mediator
Research Article
Author(s):
Journal: International Journal of Management and Sustainability
Organizational justice has long been the focus of research in the field of organizational behavior. In general, organizational justice is the subjective evaluation and perception of employees towards allocation of resources, rewards and punishments, performance evaluation, decision-making process and the interaction with the supervisor. Many studies show that organizational justice has a significant impact on employee attitudes and behaviors. To be clear, the main objective of this study is to explore whether the organizational justice the employee perceived will affect employee’s job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior. This study takes the real workplace environment as the target, with the actual staff as the sample, using the small and medium-sized computer and computer parts sales companies in Nanjing, China as the subject. In this study, 48 companies were randomly selected through field visits, the test object being the staff engaged in sales business in 48 computer and computer parts sales companies. The results show that there is a positive relationship between organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior, and that job satisfaction has partial mediating effect on the relationship between organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior. Contribution/ Originality
Supply of some materials and metals in the World is getting increasingly challenging. To deal with this issue, several organizations (e.g. European Commission) have composed a list of materials critical for the economy, in the list, 27 critical materials (CMs) are included. Furthermore, several actions have been proposed to tackle the problem, including recycling of CM from secondary sources. Global supply chains of raw CMs often rely on limited number of suppliers (e.g., China, Russia, Brazil, US). Since some countries have monopoly and regulate the supply of CMs, they can have big impact on the prices of CM. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to explore the possibility of scrap recycling, which can be used to meet some of the demand. To evaluate the amount of scarp that can be used for recycling, we propose a graphical optimization technique (pinch analysis). To show the applicability of pinch analysis and the amount of scrap that can be recycled, two examples are presented. Contribution/ Originality
This paper contributed in the area of supply chains of critical materials. The methodology used in the paper is Pinch Analysis, which is a graphical optimization method. The methodology used can be useful to determine the potential recycling rates of scrap within supply chain of critical materials. Business & Management » International Journal of Management and Sustainability » Month: 01-2019 Issue: 1
Patterns of Plant Community Formation and Vegetation Structure in the Afro- Alpine Vegetation of Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia
Research Article
Author(s):
Journal: Current Research in Agricultural Sciences
This study was conducted in Simien Mountains National Park, Northwest Ethiopia with the objective of evaluating the patterns of plant community formation and vegetation structure in the afro- alpine vegetation. The data were collected from stratified mountains by using systematic sampling in each stratum from October to November 2015. A total 62 (20 m x20 m) main plots were sampled. In each main plot five (1m x1m) subplots, one at each corner and one at the center, were used to collect data for herbaceous species. In each plot, data on plant species identity, abundance, height and Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) were recorded. Collected specimens were identified at field and also at National Herbarium, Addis Ababa University. Plant community analysis was performed using R version 3.1.3. Sorensen’s similarity coefficient was used to detect dissimilarities among communities. Shannon - Wiener diversity index was computed to describe species diversity of the plant community types. Results showed that a total of 86 plant species representing 34 families and 63 genera were recorded from which90.7 % were herbs, 7% shrubs and 2.3 % trees. Asteraceae is the species richest family whereas Poaceae is the dominant. Three plant community types were recognized from cluster analysis. Species richness, diversity and evenness varied among the plant communities. Analysis of population structure of the dominant species revealed various patterns. Because this afro-alpine area has varied habitat heteroginity, separate plant community regimes need separate planning and implementing (management) measures for sustainability of the vegetation. Contribution/ Originality
Abstract