Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Narrative Corporate Social Disclosures: How Much of a Difference do They Make to Investment Decision Making?

This paper reports the results of a study on the usefulness of typical social disclosures from corporate annual reports for investment decision-making. Rather than seek to solely survey respondents about their stated behaviour, the present study also seeks to examine if narrative social disclosures in the annual report actually impact on the behaviour of how investors allocate their investment funds. The experiment provides a basis for assessing the magnitude of any decision impacts. The results indicate that from a sample of sophisticated users (accountants and investment analysts) social disclosures from annual reports do not elicit any more than a 15% switch in investment funds. Furthermore, the switch in funds is not always in favour of the company providing the information. Consistent with these behavioural reactions the survey evidence also reveals moderate attitudes to the decision usefulness of narrative social disclosures for investment decision making.
The relationship between transformational leadership and employee desire for empowerment

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between transformational leadership (TL) and employee desire for empowerment (EDFE). This study also aims to extend Gill and Mathur's findings regarding improving employee dedication and pro‐social behavior.Design/methodology/approach – Hospitality industry employees from Canada and India were surveyed to test the relationship between TL and EDFE in countries that differ substantially in their levels of cultural power distance.Findings – Results suggest that the improvement in the degree of EDFE is positively related to the improvement in the degree of perceived TL implementation in the hospitality industry in both countries. However, substantial differences in relative impact were observed between restaurant (high in both countries) and hotel/motel workers (low in Canada, high in India). In addition to cultural power distance, levels of TL and EDFE were significantly lower in India than in Canada, and levels of TL were significantly lower.
Regulation of autoreactive B cell responses to endogenous TLR ligands

Immune complexes containing DNA and RNA are responsible for disease manifestations found in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). B cells contribute to SLE pathology through BCR recognition of endogenous DNA- and RNA- associated autoantigens and delivery of these self-constituents to endosomal TLR9 and TLR7, respectively. B cell activation by these pathways leads to production of class-switched DNA- and RNA-reactive autoantibodies, contributing to an inflammatory amplification loop characteristic of disease. Intriguingly, self-DNA and RNA are typically non-stimulatory for TLR9/7 due to the absence of stimulatory sequences or the presence of molecular modifications. Recent evidence from our laboratory and others suggests that B cell activation by BCR/TLR pathways is tightly regulated by surface-expressed receptors on B cells, and the outcome of activation depends on the balance of stimulatory and inhibitory signals. Either IFNα engagement of the type I IFN receptor or loss of IgG ligation of the inhibitory FcγRIIB receptor promotes B cell activation by weakly stimulatory DNA and RNA TLR ligands. In this context, autoreactive B cells can respond robustly to common autoantigens. These findings have important implications for the role of B cells in vivo in the pathology of SLE
Analisis Konsumen Berpindah Merek (BrandSwitcher) Pada Bank Syariah Dan Bank Konvensional (Studi Kasus Pada Nasabah Di Wilayah Darmaga Bogor)

Dalam situasi hypercompetition seperti saat ini, dimana konsumen dibanjiri oleh berbagai alternatif produk yang menarik, perubahan perilaku membeli akan mempermudah konsumen berpindah ke produk atau merek lainnya. Hal ini dapat terjadi pada nasabah bank di Indonesia. Munculnya perbankan syariah dengan pertumbuhan yang begitu cepat merupakan fenomena yang menggambarkan terjadinya perpindahan merek pada konsumen, dalam hal ini nasabah bank Penelitian dilakukan untuk menganalisis prilaku perpindahan merek pada nasabah bank di wilayah Darmaga. Pengambilan data primer melalui pengambilan sampel dilakukan secara purposive. Sementara analisa dilakukan secara deskriptif. Di wilayah demaga ada empat buah bank umum, yaitu Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI)46, Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), Bank Muammalat Indonesia (BMI) dan Bank Syariah Mandiri. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan BNI46 merupakan bank yang memiliki brand awareness paling tinggi diantara bank yang ada di Darmaga. Konsumen berpindah merek tidak hanya terjadi pada bank konvensional, tetapi juga bank syariah. Hal ini berarti bank syariah maupun bank konvensional berpotensi memiliki pelanggan yang tidak loyal. BNI46 memiliki konsumen yang paling tidak loyal bila dibanding dengan BRI, BSM dan BMI. Jika dibandingkan sesama bank syariah, maka BMI memiliki konsumen yang paling loyal. Faktor yang memiliki pengaruh paling tinggi terhadap konsumen dalam melakukan perpindahan merek adalah factor internal dan diiukti oleh faktor eksternal. Sementara faktor kekecewaan terhadap bank sebelumnya merupakan faktor yang paling kecil pengaruhnya terhadap konsumen dalam melakukan perpindahan merek. Keywords: Brand Awareness, Perpindahan Merek, Loyalitas
Coevolution of white matter hyperintensities and cognition in the elderly

Objective: To investigate the effects of baseline white matter hyperintensity (WMH) and rates of WMH extension and emergence on rate of change in cognition (episodic memory and executive function). Methods: A total of 150 individuals including cognitively normal elderly individuals and those with Alzheimer disease and mild cognitive impairment completed serial episodic memory and executive function evaluations and serial MRI scans sufficient for longitudinal measurement of WMH (mean delay 4.0 years). Incident WMH voxels were categorized as extended (baseline WMH that grew larger) or emergent (newly formed WMH). We used a stepwise regression approach to investigate the effects of baseline WMH and rates of WMH extension and emergence on rate of change in cognition (episodic memory and executive function). Results: WMH burden significantly increased over time, and approximately 80% of incident WMH voxels represented extensions of existing lesions. Each 1 mL/y increase in WMH extension was associated with an additional 0.70 SD/y of subsequent episodic memory decrease (p = 0.0053) and an additional 0.55 SD/y of subsequent executive function decrease (p = 0.022). Emergent WMHs were not found to be associated with a change in cognitive measures. Conclusions: Aging-associated WMHs evolve significantly over a 4-year period. Most of this evolution represents worsening injury to the already compromised surround of existing lesions. Increasing WMH was also significantly associated with declining episodic memory and executive function. This finding supports the view that white matter disease is an insidious and continuously evolving process whose progression has clinically relevant cognitive consequences.
Effects of Ortho‐dihydroxyisoflavone Derivatives from Korean Fermented Soybean Paste on Melanogenesis in B16 Melanoma Cells and Human Skin Equivalents

In this study we investigated the inhibitory effects and possible mechanisms of action of 8'‐hydroxydaidzein and 3'‐hydroxydaidzein, two ortho‐dihydroxyisoflavone derivatives from Korean fermented soybean paste, on melanogenesis in B16 murine melanoma cells. The two hydroxydaidzeins reduced melanin synthesis comparably to treatment with kojic acid, a proven whitening agent, in B16 melanoma cells. Furthermore, when in vitro human skin equivalents were treated with the hydroxydaidzeins, the levels of melanogenesis were significantly reduced relative to a kojic acid control. The RT‐PCR results demonstrated that depigmentation was due to transcriptional repression of several melanogenesis genes, including microphthalmia‐associated transcription factor (MITF), by the hydroxydaidzeins. The immunoblotting results confirmed that diminution of MITF expression subsequently decreased expression of tyrosinase, and tyrosinase‐related proteins 1 and 2. Cumulatively, these results suggest that hydroxydaidzeins would be potent attenuators of melanin synthesis as well as effective inhibitors of hyperpigmentation in human skin. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ISSCREM: International Space Station cosmic radiation exposure model

A semi-empirical model is derived from operational data collected aboard the International Space Station (ISS) with the U.S. tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC). The model provides daily and cumulative mission predictions of the operational dose equivalent that space-crew may receive from galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) and trapped radiation (TR) sources as a function of the ISS orbit. The parametric model for GCR exposure correlates the TEPC dose equivalent rate to the cutoff rigidity at ISS altitudes while the TR parametric model relates this quantity to the mean atmospheric density at the crossing of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). The influences of solar activity, flux asymmetry inside the SAA, detector orientation, and position aboard the ISS on the dose equivalent have been examined. The model has been successfully benchmarked against measured data for GCR and TR exposures to within ±10% and ±20%, respectively, over periods of time ranging from a single day to a full mission. In addition, preliminary estimates of the protection quantity of effective dose equivalent have been simulated using the PHITS Monte Carlo transport code. These simulations indicate that the TEPC dose equivalent is a conservative estimate of the effective dose equivalent.
The rise of the small household: demographic change and household structure in Paris

This paper examines the changing numbers and structure of households in the City of Paris during the 1980s and 1990s. It sets the findings in the context of the Paris agglomeration and considers the results in the light of broader demographic trends associated with the second demographic transition. Although part of a longer-term historical process of declining household size, the growth of one-person households was rapid in this period, accounting for most of the growth in numbers of households. Over 50% of all households were one-person in 1999 in the City of Paris, and four-fifths consisted of just one or two people. The greatest increase was in the pre-retirement age groups. The paper examines the demographic structure of these households and their geographical distribution, raising questions about the relationship between household changes, occupational structure, housing markets and patterns of residential mobility. Whilst the analysis confirms the well-established concentration of one-person households in the central city, it indicates considerable dispersion of new household forms to the rest of the agglomeration. Moreover, although young adults continue to play an important role in the City of Paris, the effects of previous demographic change on the size of generations points to a sharp increase in older adults in their forties and fifties during the 1990s. As in other leading French cities, gender, occupational status and housing are found to be important ingredients in the explanation of one-person households, with the increase in women in professional employment a particular feature. A case study of one quartier exemplifies these relationships. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Radiographic Abnormalities in the Feet of Patients With Diabetic Neuropathy

OBJECTIVE To investigate the prevalence of radiographie bone and joint abnormalities in the feet of diabetic patients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS In a blinded randomized study, 94 diabetic patients with peripheral neuropathy (54 with a history of foot ulcers) and 43 non-neuropathic patients were drawn at random from the data base of a large university diabetes clinic in the United Kingdom. Fifty nondiabetic age-matched control subjects also were studied. Lateral and dorsi-plantar weight-bearing plain radiographs of the foot and ankle were taken by a single radiographer. Abnormalities in the bones and joints were determined according to a structured reading of the radiographs by a single radiologist. RESULTS Diabetes per se resulted in no excess of bony abnormality. Diabetic patients with neuropathy had significantly more radiographic abnormalities of the bones and joints than non-neuropathic and age-matched nondiabetic control subjects. However, except for periosteal reaction, this was predominantly caused by an excess of abnormalities in diabetic patients with a history of foot ulceration. Traumatic fractures (most previously unrecognized) were found in 12 (22%) of the 54 neuropathic patients with previous foot ulceration, and 9 (16%) patients who had experienced foot ulcers exhibited characteristic Charcot changes. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that bony abnormalities, particularly Charcot changes and traumatic fractures, are more frequent than previously recognized in neuropathic diabetic patients, especially in those with a history of foot ulceration. Early recognition of bony abnormality and appropriate treatment may prevent progression of foot deformity and thereby reduce the morbidity caused by ulceration or reulceration.
The impact of EU accession: lessons from the agriculture of the new member states

In 2004 and 2007 12 new member states (NMS) joined the European Union, which has offered several possibilities and challenges to the newcomers. The aim of this article is to assess the impact of EU accession on new member states' agriculture as well as to identify those factors lying behind different country performance. Results suggest that EU accession has had a significant impact on NMS agriculture, although member states capitalised their opportunities in different ways, due to initial conditions and pre- and post-accession policies.
An Empirical Investigation of the Role of Signalling in the Valuation of Unseasoned Equity Issues

Abstract This paper investigates the role of signalling in the valuation of unseasoned equity issues on the Unlisted Securities Market (USM) in the UK. It extends the existing US literature by considering a wider range of signals and by taking note of the complexities of the issuing process. From the signals considered, firm value is significantly and positively related to the percentage of equity retained by the pre-offering entrepreneurs, the level of planned capital expenditures, the degree of underpricing, the quality of the reporting accountants and the relative costs of flotation. Additional results indicate that firm size and the motivations behind the seeking of a stock market listing affect firm valuations.
A health audit for corporate entrepreneurship: innovation at all levels: part I

Purpose – Identifies issues to consider when designing a corporate entrepreneurship strategy, discuss the triggers of corporate entrepreneurship, and describe an internal work environment that supports corporate entrepreneurship.Design/methodology/approach – Based on the extant literature, case studies, and the authors' experiences with a diverse mix of companies, the nature and importance of a corporate entrepreneurship strategy is described, together with insights into the internal and external factors that facilitate corporate entrepreneurship and a strategy used to support it.Findings – The ability to foster high levels of entrepreneurial intensity and formulate effective corporate entrepreneurship strategy is associated with key elements of the organizational climate. Four major climate variables are assessed. Conclusions are drawn regarding the value an entrepreneurial mindset creates when used in established firms.Research implications – Raises a number of questions regarding the role of strategic .
Tiagabine and Gabapentin for the Management of Chronic Pain

Objective:Agents that modulate γ-aminobutyric acid transmission, such as gabapentin, are widely used for the management of chronic pain disorders/syndromes; however, the usefulness of the selective γ-aminobutyric acid reuptake inhibitor tiagabine in this therapeutic area has yet to be investigated. This study evaluated the effectiveness and safety of tiagabine and gabapentin for the treatment of chronic pain. Methods:This 3-month, open-label, comparative study randomized 91 patients with chronic pain to receive either tiagabine (maximum dose 24 mg/day) or gabapentin (2400 mg/day). Patients rated their pain intensity and sleep quality using 11-point (0-10) scales prior to treatment and after 3 months of continuous treatment. Results:Of the 46 patients receiving tiagabine, 36 (78%) completed the study; 38 of 45 patients (84%) receiving gabapentin completed the study. Tiagabine and gabapentin significantly reduced pain intensity and improved sleep quality at 3 months, compared with baseline (P < 0.01). Improvements in sleep quality were significantly greater in tiagabine versus gabapentin-treated patients (P = 0.04). Conclusions:These results suggest that tiagabine and gabapentin are effective in the management of chronic pain, with tiagabine having a greater beneficial effect on sleep quality.
“Better” part‐time jobs? A study of part‐time working in nursing and the police

Part‐time working has been traditionally associated with poor quality, low skill jobs in the secondary labour market. Explores the expansion of part‐time work into skilled occupations using case studies in nursing and the police. Employees in both services have pay and conditions wholly pro‐rated with full‐time colleagues. However, despite a potentially strong bargaining position in relation to the employer, these part‐timers had not achieved complete equality with full time counterparts. Demonstrates a breaking of the mould of poor quality part‐time jobs showing that better jobs can be worked on a part‐time basis. Concludes, however, that full equality is unlikely to be achieved without strategic intervention at the workplace level.
Marital Instability in an African Society: Exploring the Factors That Influence Divorce Processes in Ghana

Abstract Much has been written about the sub-Saharan African family during the past the past three decades. For the most part, this literature deals with reproductive-related behavior and gender relations. Less explored is the issue of marital instability. Using national-level data, this study explores the factors influencing one indicator of instability, divorce in Ghana. The theoretical arguments draw on a number of institutional and noninstitutional factors that are believed to affect marital stability in sub-Saharan Africa. Our findings provide some empirical support for a structural determinist interpretation of divorce in Ghana. For instance, the incidence of divorce was higher among women from matrilineal (Akan) societies, and also among women who were urban residents. Regarding the respondents' background measures, we found that previous marital history, the duration of marriage, religion, and parity (children ever born) were strong predictors of divorce in Ghana. The implications of the study and specific suggestions for further research are proposed.
Accounting earnings, book values and share prices in Malaysia

The study aims to understand how published accounting information relates to share prices in a developed market in Asia, outside Japan. More specifically, the study aims to extend the international literature in market‐based accounting research by examining empirical evidence on relationships between share prices and the two summary accounting variables of equity book value and earnings for firms listed on the stock exchange in Malaysia.
Spreads versus Professional Forecasters as Predictors of Future Output Change

We examine whether real output forecasts obtained from the Survey of Professional Forecasters efficiently embody information in the term structure spread. To this end, we employ revised data as well as real-time vintage data, and we also allow for the possible impact of asymmetric loss functions. Assuming quadratic loss, our results suggest that the term structure spread does contain information useful for forecasting not reflected in the survey forecasts, at least over the longest forecast horizon. However, if we allow agents' loss functions to become more negatively skewed with the forecast horizon, then we cannot reject the rationality of the survey forecasts. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
On the Value of Business Travel Time Savings

Theoretical models of the value of travel time savings (VTTS) in business are analyzed. The Hensher formula is derived on the basis of these models. Previous research on business VTTS, including the wage-rate-plus approach and the Hensher approach, is reviewed. Five issues are identified with respect to business VTTS: the business travel decision maker, the player who is willing to pay to save travel time, productivity while traveling, patterns of business travel schedules, and wage payment for working overtime. Four time allocation models are formulated, and the business VTTS is derived for each one. The models are based on group utility maximization according to the combined viewpoints of an employer and an employee. Both zero productivity and positive marginal productivity while traveling are considered. In addition, two patterns of travel schedule are examined: business travel within work hours and business travel outside work hours. The Hensher approach is derived theoretically from the group utility maximization approach. The derivation shows that business VTTS depends on two assumptions: the balanced weight of the utility functions between the employer and the employee and the allocation of saved business travel time to leisure time in proportion to the ratio of business travel time that occurs within leisure time to total business travel time. The implications of the Hensher formula are discussed.
Educational Attainment, MRI Changes, and Cognitive Function in Older Postmenopausal Women from the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study

The relationship between neuropathology and clinically manifested functional and cognitive deficits is complex. Clinical observations of individuals with greater neuropathology who function better than some individuals with less neuropathology are common and puzzling. Educational attainment, a proxy for “cognitive reserve,” may help to explain this apparent contradiction. The objective of this study is to determine if educational attainment is correlated with cognitive decline, brain lesion volume, and total brain atrophy. One thousand three hundred ninety of the 7,479 community-dwelling women 65 years of age and older enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study, two parallel randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials comparing unopposed and opposed postmenopausal hormone therapy with placebo, were studied. Study participants received annual assessments of global cognitive function with the Modified Mini Mental State exam. One thousand sixty-three participants also received supplemental neurocognitive battery and neuroimaging studies. Magnetic resonance imaging was used to calculate total ischemic lesion and brain volumes. Incident cases of probable dementia and mild cognitive impairment were centrally adjudicated. After adjustment for total lesion and total brain volumes (atrophy), higher educational attainment predicted better cognitive performance (p < 0.001). Following conversion to dementia/MCI, higher education predicted steeper declines in cognitive function (p < 0.001). Thus, higher educational attainment was associated with a delay in diagnosis of dementia/MCI in the face of a growing neuropathological load.