Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of audit committees on internal audit conformance with internal audit standards

Purpose - – This study aims to provide empirical evidence of the association between audit committee characteristics and internal audit conformance with the International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (ISPPIA). Design/methodology/approach - – Seventy-four usable responses were received from a survey of chief internal auditors (CIAs) from Saudi companies listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange. Findings - – The results indicate that audit committee characteristics (the presence of independent members on the committee, members’ expertise in auditing and accounting and meeting with the CIA) influence internal audit conformance with the ISPPIA. Additionally, they demonstrate that such conformance is also influenced by CIA tenure. Practical implications - – The findings of this study also have significant implications for audit committees wishing to improve their overall effectiveness, by identifying the impact of the committee’s characteristics on internal audit conformance with the ISPPIA. Originality/value - – The results add to the literature on internal audit standards by introducing a Middle Eastern perspective and simultaneously providing insights for companies in their attempts to adhere to the international standards, hence, supporting efforts towards good corporate governance.
Podocytic PKC-Alpha Is Regulated in Murine and Human Diabetes and Mediates Nephrin Endocytosis

Background Microalbuminuria is an early lesion during the development of diabetic nephropathy. The loss of high molecular weight proteins in the urine is usually associated with decreased expression of slit diaphragm proteins. Nephrin, is the major component of the glomerular slit diaphragm and loss of nephrin has been well described in rodent models of experimental diabetes as well as in human diabetic nephropathy. Methodology/Principal Findings In this manuscript we analyzed the role of PKC-alpha (PKCα) on endocytosis of nephrin in podocytes. We found that treatment of diabetic mice with a PKCα-inhibitor (GÖ6976) leads to preserved nephrin expression and reduced proteinuria. In vitro, we found that high glucose stimulation would induce PKCα protein expression in murine and human podocytes. We can demonstrate that PKCα mediates nephrin endocytosis in podocytes and that overexpression of PKCα leads to an augmented endocytosis response. After PKC-activation, we demonstrate an inducible association of PKCα, PICK1 and nephrin in podocytes. Moreover, we can demonstrate a strong induction of PKCα in podocytes of patients with diabetic nephropathy. Conclusions/Significance We therefore conclude that activation of PKCα is a pathomechanistic key event during the development of diabetic nephropathy. PKCα is involved in reduction of nephrin surface expression and therefore PKCα inhibition might be a novel target molecule for anti-proteinuric therapy.
Information selectivity in decision making by younger and older adults

Past research has demonstrated that older adults are more likely than younger adults to exhibit information selectivity in decision making. Two alternative explanations have been proposed to account for this age difference. One explanation attributes the increase in information selectivity to older adults' reliance on prior knowledge, whereas the other explanation suggests that it reflects reduced information processing capacity. The aim of this research was to explore the latter explanation by controlling for experiential factors and varying the cognitive demands involved in decision making. Specifically, participants were faced with unfamiliar decision problems, and had to base their decisions on the available information in order to reach a desired goal. In Experiment 1 younger and older participants were required to play a game involving chance. The outcome payoff was varied between three conditions (approach, avoidance, and control). The results indicated that both the younger and the older participa.
In Vivo Activation of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-δ Protects the Heart from Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Zucker Fatty Rats

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-δ is a transcription factor that belongs to the PPAR family. PPAR-δ is abundantly expressed in the heart, and its role in the heart is largely unknown. We tested whether pharmacological activation of PPAR-δ protects the heart from ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in male Zucker fatty rats, a rodent model of obesity and dyslipidemia. A highly selective PPAR-δ agonist, [4-[[[2-[3-fluoro-4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-4-methyl-5-thiazolyl]methyl] thio]-2-methylphenoxy]acetic acid (GW0742), was administered for 7 days at 10 mg/kg/day (p.o., once a day). Ischemic injury was produced by occlusion of the left anterior descending artery for 30 min followed by reperfusion for up to 24 h. Treatment with GW0742 reduced serum levels of cardiac troponin-I and infarct size by 63% (p < 0.01) and 32% (p < 0.01), respectively, and improved left ventricular function. Treatment with GW0742 up-regulated gene expression involved in cardiac fatty acid oxidation, increased fat use in the heart, and reduced serum levels of free fatty acids. The enhanced cardiac expression of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 induced by I/R were significantly attenuated by GW0742. Treatment with GW0742 also reduced apoptotic cardiomyocytes by 34% and cardiac caspase-3 activity by 61% (both p < 0.01 versus vehicle). GW0742 differentially regulated Bcl family members, favoring cell survival, and attenuated I/R-induced cardiac mitochondrial damage. In addition, GW0742 treatment augmented the cardiac Akt signaling pathway, as reflected by enhanced phospho-3-phosphoinositide-dependent kinase-1 and p-Akt. The results indicate that activation of PPAR-δ protected the heart from I/R injury in Zucker fatty rats, and multiple mechanisms including amelioration of lipotoxicity, anti-inflammation, and up-regulation of prosurvival signaling contribute together to the cardioprotection.
Lossy Compression for Worst-Case Execution Time Analysis of PLRU Caches

This paper outlines how Lossy Compression, a branch of Information Theory relating to the compact representation of data while retaining important information, can be applied to the Worst Case Execution Time analysis problem. In particular, we show that by applying lossy compression to the data structures involved in the collecting semantics of a given component, for example a PLRU cache, a useful analysis can be derived. While such an analysis could be found via other means, the application of Lossy Compression provides a formal method and eases the process of discovering the analysis. Further, as the compression and its application are formally specified, such an analysis can be made correct-by-construction rather than relying on an after-the-fact proof.
Banks’ default risk and regulatory factors in emerging market economies

This work follows the early warning signals literature. We propose to test the validity of the CAMEL rating typology for banks’ default models in emerging markets. We focus explicitly on these types of economies and we also investigate the impact of several regulatory, institutional, and legal factors on banks’ default probability. Using a logit model applied to a database of defaulted banks in emerging markets, we validate the principle results of the early warning signals models which follow the CAMEL typology. The proxy variables of bank solvability, assets’ quality, and liquidity, particularly loan losses provisions, management quality, profitability, and intermediation rate have a negative impact on the one year probability of banks’ default. Concerning the impact of regulatory and institutional factors, deposits insurance system scheme, regulation, prudential supervision, and market structure have significant impact on banks’ probability of default in emerging market economies.
Understanding the Balanced Effects of Belief and Feeling on Information Systems Continuance

There are innumerable studies on technology adoption as well as continuance of usage. A review of previous research shows that cognitive factors are considered prominently in information technology adoption and continuance while the affective feelings of users are not. Although attitude and user satisfaction are common factors considered in information systems research, these factors only involve partial aspects of feelings. Researchers in the marketing areas, as well as the psychology area, begin to note the importance of feelings in understanding and predicting human and customer behavior. In many modern applications, such as mobile Internet services, user feelings are expected to be important, since users are not just technology users but also service consumers. Drawing upon the support of consumer research, social psychology, and computer science, this study proposes a balanced belief–feeling model of IS continuance. In the process of developing this model, the concepts of attitude, belief, and feelings are further articulated, defined, and distinguished. The balanced model is tested in a survey of mobile Internet users. The results established the validity of the model. A comparison with the IS continuance model shows that the new model can explain significantly more variance in continuance intention, taking into account that the new model has more factors. We offer theoretical reasoning for the balanced effects of belief and feeling on IS continuance and discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this study.
A Generalized Model of Regional Economic Growth in the European Union

Understanding the forces driving regional growth in the EU is a major challenge for theory and policy. The opening of national borders, together with the rapid technological and scientific progress, has exposed regional economies to an extremely competitive, free-market, integrated economic environment, affecting their patterns of development. EU regions should, thus, be understood not only as national, geographic and administrative sub-divisions, but also as integral parts of the EU economic space. The paper develops a generalized econometric model for the investigation of the determinants of regional economic growth in 249 EU NUTS II regions, for the period 1990-2003. The model provides critical insight with important implications for theory and policy.
The Tweets They Are a-Changin: Evolution of Twitter Users and Behavior

The microblogging site Twitter is now one of the most popular Web destinations. Due to the relative ease of data access, there has been significant research based on Twitter data, ranging from measuring the spread of ideas through society to predicting the behavior of real-world phenomena such as the stock market. Unfortunately, relatively little work has studied the changes in the Twitter ecosystem itself; most research that uses Twitter data is typically based on a small time-window of data, generally ranging from a few weeks to a few months. Twitter is known to have evolved significantly since its founding, and it remains unclear whether prior results still hold, and whether the (often implicit) assumptions of proposed systems are still valid. In this paper, we take a first step towards answering these question by focusing on the evolution of Twitter's users and their behavior. Using a set of over 37 billion tweets spanning over seven years, we quantify how the users, their behavior, and the site as a whole have evolved. We observe and quantify a number of trends including the spread of Twitter across the globe, the rise of spam and malicious behavior, the rapid adoption of tweeting conventions, and the shift from desktop to mobile usage. Our results can be used to interpret and calibrate previous Twitter work, as well as to make future projections of the site as a whole.
A New Morphological Phylogeny of the Ophiuroidea (Echinodermata) Accords with Molecular Evidence and Renders Microfossils Accessible for Cladistics

Ophiuroid systematics is currently in a state of upheaval, with recent molecular estimates fundamentally clashing with traditional, morphology-based classifications. Here, we attempt a long overdue recast of a morphological phylogeny estimate of the Ophiuroidea taking into account latest insights on microstructural features of the arm skeleton. Our final estimate is based on a total of 45 ingroup taxa, including 41 recent species covering the full range of extant ophiuroid higher taxon diversity and 4 fossil species known from exceptionally preserved material, and the Lower Carboniferous Aganaster gregarius as the outgroup. A total of 130 characters were scored directly on specimens. The tree resulting from the Bayesian inference analysis of the full data matrix is reasonably well resolved and well supported, and refutes all previous classifications, with most traditional families discredited as poly- or paraphyletic. In contrast, our tree agrees remarkably well with the latest molecular estimate, thus paving the way towards an integrated new classification of the Ophiuroidea. Among the characters which were qualitatively found to accord best with our tree topology, we selected a list of potential synapomorphies for future formal clade definitions. Furthermore, an analysis with 13 of the ingroup taxa reduced to the lateral arm plate characters produced a tree which was essentially similar to the full dataset tree. This suggests that dissociated lateral arm plates can be analysed in combination with fully known taxa and thus effectively unlocks the extensive record of fossil lateral arm plates for phylogenetic estimates. Finally, the age and position within our tree implies that the ophiuroid crown-group had started to diversify by the Early Triassic.
Modeling the Interstellar Medium of Low Surface Brightness Galaxies: Constraining Internal Extinction, Disk Color Gradients, and Intrinsic Rotation Curve Shapes

We use a combination of three-dimensional Monte Carlo radiative transfer techniques and multiwavelength (BRHK, Hα) imaging data to investigate the nature of the interstellar medium (ISM) in the edge-on, low surface brightness (LSB) galaxy UGC 7321. Using realistic models that incorporate multiple scattering effects and clumping of the stars and the interstellar material, we explore the distribution and opacity of the interstellar material (gas+dust) and its effects on the observed stellar disk luminosity profiles, color gradients, and rotation curve shape. We find that UGC 7321 contains a small but nonnegligible dusty component to its ISM, yielding a B-band optical depth τ̄e,B ~ 4.0 from disk edge to center. A significant fraction (~50% ± 10%) of the interstellar material in the innermost regions of UGC 7321 appears to be contained in a clumpy medium, indicating that LSB galaxies can support a modest, multiphase ISM structure. In spite of the clear presence of dust, we conclude that the large radial optical color gradients observed in UGC 7321 and other similar LSB spiral galaxies cannot be accounted for by dust and must result primarily from significant stellar population and/or metallicity gradients. We show that realistic optical depth effects will have little impact on the observed rotation curves of edge-on disk galaxies and cannot explain the linear, slowly rising rotation curves seen in some edge-on LSB spirals. Projection effects create a far larger uncertainty in recovering the true underlying rotation curve shape of galaxies viewed at inclinations i ≳ 85°.
Exchange of greenhouse gases between soil and atmosphere: interactions of soil physical factors and biological processes

This review examines the interactions between soil physical factors and the biological processes responsible for the production and consumption in soils of greenhouse gases. The release of CO2 by aerobic respiration is a non‐linear function of temperature over a wide range of soil water contents, but becomes a function of water content as a soil dries out. Some of the reported variation in the temperature response may be attributable simply to measurement procedures. Lowering the water table in organic soils by drainage increases the release of soil carbon as CO2 in some but not all environments, and reduces the quantity of CH4 emitted to the atmosphere. Ebullition and diffusion through the aerenchyma of rice and plants in natural wetlands both contribute substantially to the emission of CH4; the proportion of the emissions taking place by each pathway varies seasonally. Aerated soils are a sink for atmospheric CH4, through microbial oxidation. The main control on oxidation rate is gas diffusivity, and the temperature response is small. Nitrous oxide is the third greenhouse gas produced in soils, together with NO, a precursor of tropospheric ozone (a short‐lived greenhouse gas). Emission of N2O increases markedly with increasing temperature, and this is attributed to increases in the anaerobic volume fraction, brought about by an increased respiratory sink for O2. Increases in water‐filled pore space also result in increased anaerobic volume; again, the outcome is an exponential increase in N2O emission. The review draws substantially on sources from beyond the normal range of soil science literature, and is intended to promote integration of ideas, not only between soil biology and soil physics, but also over a wider range of interacting disciplines.
Students’ and lecturers’ perceptions of the effect of open-book examinations on the learning behavior of accountancy students

In 2003 the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) changed its assessment policy from a closed-book to an open-book format. One reason for this was to encourage better learning behaviour amongst students. This paper investigates whether students perceive this aim to have been achieved, by means of a survey conducted among final-year accounting students who were preparing for the qualifying examination of SAICA. Assessment in the first three years of study was generally done by means of closed-book examinations, but in their final year, students were assessed by means of open-book tests and examinations (OBA). A comparison was made between the views of these potential chartered accountants and those of lecturers in accounting departments at selected universities. Students were generally positive about the introduction of OBA, but lecturers were less enthusiastic. Their conclusion was that OBA has generally been a step in the right direction to preparing students better for the workplace. Cognisance should, however, be taken of the negative study behaviour that was encountered. The paper also proposes strategies to improve the effectiveness of OBA.
Inclination to opt for teleworking: A comparative analysis of United Kingdom versus Hong Kong employees

Teleworking is a developing practice in an increasing trend towards more flexible forms of work. This study investigates the attitudes of employees who have no experience of teleworking and their willingness to opt for it. The 74 participants, from four United Kingdom and three Hong Kong matched small companies in the high technology industry, represent a 54 per cent response rate. The results were surprisingly similar (in means, but not in standard deviations) and showed that both groups, even though coming from different cultures, tend to have similar diversified distribution of tendency to opt for teleworking, with the Hong Kong people more coherent in their answers. Both populations were willing, to a certain extent, to opt for teleworking given a chance, and preferred to practise it on part‐time schemes. However, the reasons for the inclinations comprise different sets of antecedents for both populations.
Policy and Practice in Multicultural and Anti-Racist Education

This research follows work conducted by the Education team at the Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations at the University of Warwick into the development and implementation of Local Education Authority (L. E. A. ) policies on Multicutural and Anti-Racist Education. It consists of a detailed ethnographic case study of a multi-ethnic, inner-city comprehensive school which espoused a commitment to Multicultural and Anti- Racist Education, and concentrates on the school's efforts to put this commitment into practice. Initially the study provides an elaboration of the values underpinning Multicultural and Anti-Racist Education, most notably equal opportunities and education for a non-racist society, and a discussion of the implication of these values for school practice. This discussion provides a model with which the practices in the case study school are compared. A number of theoretical questions concerning the extent to which within-school processes contribute to reproduction of the social characteristics of modern society are also introduced. A detailed decription of the social context, structure and organisation of the school is presented and then the study facusses on the development of L. E. A. and school policies on Multicultural and Anti-Racist Education, teachers' interpretations of and responses to these policies, and the practice of Multicultural and Anti- Racist Education in the school, The study also examines the processes of differentiation and how they affected ethnic minority students. Finally it examines the strategies which many teachers adopted in order to 'survive' as teachers in what was a 'difficult' inner city school and the implications of these strategies for the educational opportunities available to the students who attended the school. The overall argument presented is that the teachers in the school had gone a considerable way towards developing Multicultural and Anti-Racist Education especially in curriculum terms, and had succeeded in creating a non-racist environment within the school. The study found that there were few practices which restricted the chances of educational success of ethnic minority students within the school. However, teachers were forced to adopt 'survival strategies' in order to cope in the classroom and school with students who were sometimes hostile and frequently indifferent to their schooling, and thus the quality of educational provision offered to the students was reduced. Such student attitudes, it is suggested, were derived from wider youth, class and ethnic sub-cultures generated outside the school in part by the structural features of contemporary society. The study concludes with a discussion of the implications of the research findings for school and L. E. A. policies on Multicultural and Anti- Racist Education and makes suggestions for further research.
Pathophysiology and Immune Dysfunction in Endometriosis

Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent, chronic, proinflammatory disease prevalent in 10% of women of reproductive age worldwide. Characterized by the growth of endometrium-like tissue in aberrant locations outside of the uterus, it is responsible for symptoms including chronic pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, and subfertility that degrade quality of life of women significantly. In Canada, direct and indirect economic cost of endometriosis amounts to 1.8 billion dollars, and this is elevated to 20 billion dollars in the United States. Despite decades of research, the etiology and pathophysiology of endometriosis still remain to be elucidated. This review aims to bring together the current understanding regarding the pathogenesis of endometriosis with specific focus on mechanisms behind vascularization of the lesions and the contribution of immune factors in facilitating lesion establishment and development. The role of hormones, immune cells, and cytokine signaling is highlighted, in addition to discussing the current pharmaceutical options available for management of pain symptoms in women with endometriosis.