Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A study of voluntary disclosure of listed Chinese firms – a stakeholder perspective

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to investigate stakeholder power changes and their impact on firms' disclosure decisions in the Chinese stock market. Using legitimacy theory and stakeholder theory, the paper identifies newly emerged stakeholder groups for listed Chinese firms during three distinguished periods of the development of the Chinese stock market. Design/methodology/approach - Panel data analysis was undertaken over a period from 1995-2006 with an aim to examine the influence of stakeholder power changes on voluntary disclosures made by 297 listed firms in their 12 years of annual reports. A voluntary disclosure checklist has been used for hand-collecting data from annual reports. Findings - The finding shows that different stakeholder groups exert different degrees of influence on firms' decision-making in respect of information disclosure during different stages of the development of the Chinese stock market. Research limitations/implications - The impact of a stakeholder power changes on corporate disclosure has not been well addressed and how listed Chinese firms respond to these changes is still a significant gap in the Chinese corporate disclosure literature. In this study, the paper uses proxies to represent each stakeholder group, discuss power changes of each group and predict the impact of power changes on firms' voluntary disclosure. Originality/value - The paper identifies the new content of the “social contract” between listed firms and Chinese society and identifies various stakeholder groups of listed Chinese firms in the context of a new “social contract”. The paper predicts that voluntary corporate disclosure is the result of stakeholder pressures and firms use voluntary disclosure as one of their strategies to manage the firm-stakeholder relationship.
Governing Agri-Environmental Schemes: Lessons to Be Learned from the New Institutional-Economics Approach

The authors analyze agri-environmental schemes (AES) from the perspective of new institutional economics (NIE). The field of NIE studies the effect of institutions on the decisions of economic actors. Policy is intended to shape institutions and thus influence behavior. NIE is therefore particularly suitable for the analysis of policy programs such as AES. Their aim is to explain some of the management problems that have arisen in AES and to contribute to finding solutions by using insights from NIE. To this end a specific Dutch AES is used as a case study, in which a number of administrative problems are analyzed. These problems prove to be similar to those that have been identified in other European AES, and are related to the ecological efficacy of this particular type of policy program, its economic efficiency, its administrative sustainability, and the level of sociopolitical support it enjoys. The explanation for the problems identified is based on NIE; this approach is also used to identify solutions. The solutions derived from this theory are then compared with the solutions that have been applied in reality. The authors conclude with a discussion of what these lessons imply for AES in general.
Continuity amidst Restructuring: The U.S. Gender Division of Labor in Geographic Perspective, 1970 and 1990

Research on economic restructuring generally emphasizes change, rather than continuity, in the socioeconomic landscape. That expectation is addressed here by comparing 1970 and 1990 in terms of the gender division of labor for U.S. counties. These years represent poles of the Fordist/post-Fordist transition, an era of cataclysmic change. A subset of counties comprising the Ohio River Valley also is considered. This represents an old industrial region, the type most affected by the Fordist/post-Fordist transition. Analyses include cartographic comparisons using various spatial analysis techniques and regression analyses using variables related to the gender division of labor. Contrary to the usual expectation, the authors find that the lack of change is far more dominant than its presence, that is, continuity or continuity amidst change. This highlights the important, and generally overlooked, role of inertia effects on socioeconomic landscapes.
Long-circulating siRNA nanoparticles for validating Prohibitin1-targeted non-small cell lung cancer treatment

Significance This study developed a new generation lipid–polymer hybrid nanoparticle platform for effective systemic delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA) to tumors, which represents a challenging hurdle for the widespread application of RNA interference (RNAi) in cancer research and therapy. With promising in vivo features such as long blood circulation, high tumor accumulation, and effective gene silencing, the hybrid siRNA nanoparticles were successfully used to reveal and validate a putative therapeutic target, Prohibitin1 (PHB1), in non-small cell lung cancer treatment. In vivo antitumor efficacy results and human tissue microarray analysis further suggested the feasibility of utilizing PHB1 siRNA nanoparticles as a novel therapeutic agent. This hybrid RNAi nanoparticle platform may serve as a valuable tool for validating potential cancer targets and developing new cancer therapies. RNA interference (RNAi) represents a promising strategy for identification and validation of putative therapeutic targets and for treatment of a myriad of important human diseases including cancer. However, the effective systemic in vivo delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA) to tumors remains a formidable challenge. Using a robust self-assembly strategy, we develop a unique nanoparticle (NP) platform composed of a solid polymer/cationic lipid hybrid core and a lipid-poly(ethylene glycol) (lipid-PEG) shell for systemic siRNA delivery. The new generation lipid–polymer hybrid NPs are small and uniform, and can efficiently encapsulate siRNA and control its sustained release. They exhibit long blood circulation (t1/2 ∼8 h), high tumor accumulation, effective gene silencing, and negligible in vivo side effects. With this RNAi NP, we delineate and validate the therapeutic role of Prohibitin1 (PHB1), a target protein that has not been systemically evaluated in vivo due to the lack of specific and effective inhibitors, in treating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as evidenced by the drastic inhibition of tumor growth upon PHB1 silencing. Human tissue microarray analysis also reveals that high PHB1 tumor expression is associated with poorer overall survival in patients with NSCLC, further suggesting PHB1 as a therapeutic target. We expect this long-circulating RNAi NP platform to be of high interest for validating potential cancer targets in vivo and for the development of new cancer therapies.
Tackling youth restiveness in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria through entrepreneurship

Purpose – This study aims to investigate the efficacy of entrepreneurship training in providing meaningful self‐employment for the restive youths in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria in order to channel their youthful energies into more productive economic activities instead of vandalism and hostage‐taking.Design/methodology/approach – Data obtained from a structured questionnaire on a random sample of 100 youths in Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers States was factor analysed with varimax rotation to identify the most critical factors likely to influence entrepreneurial career. Spearman's ρ was applied to ascertain the overall agreement among the respondents on state basis.Findings – Government, non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) and institutional financial support, personal traits, experience and tolerance for risks, role model influence and availability of infrastructure and personal financial resources were the factors rated important in influencing a career in entrepreneurship.Research limitations/implicat.
Conservation Status of Grouse Worldwide: An Update

Abstract This paper provides an overview of conservation status and major threats to grouse based on information collected by the IUCN/SSC BirdLife WPA Grouse Specialist Group during 2004-2005. At the time of compiling the first Grouse Action Plan (Storch 2000b) in 1999, no grouse species were considered to be threatened following the IUCN criteria, but three species with limited geographic distribution were listed as Near Threatened (IUCN 1996): Caucasian black grouse Tetrao mlokosiewiczi, Chinese grouse Bonasa sewerzowi, and Siberian grouse Dendragapus falcipennis. In 2000, the newly recognised Gunnison sage-grouse Centrocercus minimus was listed as Endangered and the Caucasian black grouse was reclassified to Data Deficient. Shortly after, both the lesser prairie-chicken Tympanuchus pallidinctus and the greater prairie-chicken T. cupido were added to the Red List as Vulnerable owing to rapid population declines, and the greater sage-grouse Centrocercus urophasianus was listed as Near Threatened (IUCN 2004). At a national level, 14 of the 18 known grouse species are red-listed in at least one country. Populations at the southern edge of a species' range and in densely populated regions are most often red-listed. Based on questionnaire responses from 47 countries, habitat degradation, loss and fragmentation due to human land use activities are the major threats to grouse viability. Exploitation, predation, human disturbance and climate change were regionally believed to be critical. Integrating habitat preservation and human land use practices is concluded to be the major challenge to grouse conservationists worldwide.
Julia Gillard's Citizens' Assembly Proposal for Australia: A Deliberative Democratic Analysis

Many governments have embraced the rhetoric of inclusive citizen engagement. Greater public involvement promises to strengthen democratic institutions and improve the quality of policy decisions and services. How do these aspirations sit alongside the reality of Australian federal politics? This article investigates the responses of elite policy actors to the Gillard government's proposal to conduct a citizens’ assembly on climate change in 2010. Drawing on over 200 media articles, the authors identify a series of procedural, institutional and political objections raised by elite commentators against the citizens’ assembly proposal. Many of these objections have little basis in the experience of deliberative designs in practice. Some, however, reflect the challenge of realising inclusive, deliberative governance in highly politicised contexts. 很多政府对公民广泛参与的说辞爱不释手。 更大程度上的公共参与有助于强化民主体制，改善政策及服务的质量。 这种渴望与澳大利亚联邦政治的现实相处如何呢？ 本文考察了政策精英对杰拉德政府倡议在2010年召开的气候变化公民大会的反应。 本文浏览了200多篇媒体文章，发现了这些人从程序、体制、政治等等方面反对公民大会的倡议。 不少反对意见在精心设计的实践经验中并没多少基础。 但有些却反映了高度政治化的语境中正在实现的广泛参与所构成的挑战。
Impact of race and ethnicity on outcomes and health care utilization after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation

Abstract Disparities in outcomes after hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) are reported mostly by registry studies. We examined the association of self-reported race and ethnicity with outcomes and health care utilization after allogeneic HCT in a single center study. Clinical and socioeconomic data of 296 adult patients who underwent allogeneic HCT from November 2003 to October 2012 were analyzed. Survival was compared between non-Hispanic Whites (NHW) and minority patients using Cox proportional hazards regression. Some 73% of patients were NHW and 27% were racial/ethnic minority patients. More minority patients were younger and had lower socioeconomic status. Both unadjusted and adjusted overall and progression-free survival were comparable between the two groups. High risk disease, poor performance score and Medicare/Tricare were significant predictors of mortality. Health care utilization was comparable between the two groups. Homogeneity of medical care for allogeneic HCT may help overcome racial/ethnic disparities, but not those due to patients’ primary insurance.
Taiwan's Asia Pacific economic strategies after the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement

Taiwan has had discriminatory trade and investment policies towards China, severely limiting economic engagement across the Strait. Not having free and open trade with China, one of the largest and most important parts of the East Asian economy, has resulted in Taiwan's underperforming in attracting foreign direct investment, effectively cut Taiwan off from participating fully in East Asian production networks and prevented the deepening of its specialisation in the regional and international economy. The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement is a watershed in cross-Strait relations and gives Taiwan the opportunity to integrate more fully into the East Asian economy. There is pressure now for Taiwan to pursue preferential trade deals with other countries. This is not the best way forward; rather, Taiwan should pursue a multilateral trade strategy and focus on domestic reforms that will bring larger economic gains, economic diversification and avoid the political risks to the cross-Strait relationship associated with preferential deals.
A monotonic optimization based optimal discrete charging protocol for electric vehicles with multilevel charging rates

In this paper, we propose ODCP, a novel optimal discrete charging protocol, to investigate the optimal charging strategy for Electric Vehicles (EVs) with multilevel charging rates. Unlike the assumptions in most previous works that the charging rate is continuously adjustable below the power rating and the charging process can be intermittent, the proposed ODCP model explicitly takes into account the facts that the charging rate is discrete and the charging process should not be interrupted, which is a favorable yet conventional practice to prolong the battery lifetime. Specifically, the ODCP is first formulated as a semi-infinite programming problem, which is proved to be reducible by presenting an equivalent discretized model. The discretized model is combinatorial in the charging rate and is a nonconvex optimization problem which is generally difficult to sovle. Nevertheless, by exploiting the hidden monotonicity in this model, we transform the problem into a canonical monotonic optimization problem. Based on the Polyblock outer approximation algorithm, we propose the GorPa algorithm, which efficiently solves the problem to global (η,ε)-optimal under the case when EVs' operational intervals do not overlap. We demonstrate the applicability of the proposed algorithm and show its convergence by real data simulation.
An Interactive Approach for Developing Interprofessional Collaboration: Preparing School Counselors

School counselors are expected to be prepared to work cooperatively with school administrators, teachers, special education teachers, and other school personnel so that they can better serve students. Currently, the various professionals in schools, including school counselors, are trained separately and have few opportunities to learn about each other's roles, responsibilities, and perspectives. The authors discuss an interactive CD-ROM that is designed to prepare school counselors and other school professionals (e.g., teachers, school administrators) to solve problems collaboratively.
Phenolic Compounds Isolated from Caesalpinia coriaria Induce S and G2/M Phase Cell Cycle Arrest Differentially and Trigger Cell Death by Interfering with Microtubule Dynamics in Cancer Cell Lines

Caesalpinia coriaria (C. coriaria), also named cascalote, has been known traditionally in México for having cicatrizing and inflammatory properties. Phytochemical reports on Caesalpinia species have identified a high content of phenolic compounds and shown antineoplastic effects against cancer cells. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify the active compounds of a water:acetone:ethanol (WAE) extract of C. coriaria pods and characterize their cytotoxic effect and cell death induction in different cancer cell lines. The compounds isolated and identified by chromatography and spectroscopic analysis were stigmasterol, ethyl gallate and gallic acid. Cytotoxic assays on cancer cells showed different ranges of activities. A differential effect on cell cycle progression was observed by flow cytometry. In particular, ethyl gallate and tannic acid induced G2/M phase cell cycle arrest and showed interesting effect on microtubule stabilization in Hep3B cells observed by immunofluorescence. The induction of apoptosis was characterized by morphological characteristic changes, and was supported by increases in the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 expression and activation of caspase 3/7. This work constitutes the first phytochemical and cytotoxic study of C. coriaria and showed the action of its phenolic constituents on cell cycle, cell death and microtubules organization.
Financial Accounting in an Economic Context

PART 1: AN OVERVIEW OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING 1. Financial Accounting and its Economic Context. 2. The Financial Statements. PART 2: MEASUREMENT, AND USE OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS. 3. The Measurement Fundamentals of Financial Accounting. 4. The Mechanics of Financial Accounting. 5. Using Financial Statement Information. PART 3: ASSETS: A CLOSER LOOK. 6. The Current Asset Classification, Cash, and Accounts Receivable. 7. Merchandise Inventory. 8. Investments in Equity Securities. 9. Long--Lived Assets. PART 4: LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDER'S EQUITY: A CLOSER LOOK. 10. Introduction to Liabilities: Economic Consequences, Current Liabilities, and Contingencies. 11. Long--Term Liabilities: Notes, Bonds, and Leases. 12. Stockholders' Equity. PART 5: INCOME AND FLOWS. 13. The Complete Income Statement. 14. The Statement of Cash Flows. Appendix A: Wal--Mart Inc. 2001 Annual Report. Appendix B: The Time Value of Money. Appendix C: Quality of Earnings Cases: A Comprehensive Review. Glossary. Subject Index. Company Index.
Thinking Fast and Slow with Deep Learning and Tree Search

Sequential decision making problems, such as structured prediction, robotic control, and game playing, require a combination of planning policies and generalisation of those plans. In this paper, we present Expert Iteration (ExIt), a novel reinforcement learning algorithm which decomposes the problem into separate planning and generalisation tasks. Planning new policies is performed by tree search, while a deep neural network generalises those plans. Subsequently, tree search is improved by using the neural network policy to guide search, increasing the strength of new plans. In contrast, standard deep Reinforcement Learning algorithms rely on a neural network not only to generalise plans, but to discover them too. We show that ExIt outperforms REINFORCE for training a neural network to play the board game Hex, and our final tree search agent, trained tabula rasa, defeats MoHex 1.0, the most recent Olympiad Champion player to be publicly released.
WHAT’S GETTING IN THE WAY OF PLAY? AN ANALYSIS OF THE CONTEXTUAL FACTORS THAT HINDER RECESS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

This article describes the first two years of an ongoing, collaborative action research project focused on the troubled recess environment in 4 elementary schools in southern Ontario. The project involves an iterative, dynamic process of inquiry, planning, action, and reflection among students, teachers, university researchers, university student volunteers, and community agencies. The goal is to proactively transform the social landscape of recess into an engaging, positive, inclusive, and active environment. We present a brief review of research on recess in order to contextualize our project and highlight the important links between recess activities, school engagement, and academic outcomes. We then highlight the children’s voices about their recess environment, and add perspectives from the teachers, principals, and playground volunteers. Finally, we present our collective suggestions for action that will lead us into the next phase of our project.
Glucocorticoid Receptor-mediated Expression of Caldesmon Regulates Cell Migration via the Reorganization of the Actin Cytoskeleton*

Glucocorticoids (GCs) play important roles in numerous cellular processes, including growth, development, homeostasis, inhibition of inflammation, and immunosuppression. Here we found that GC-treated human lung carcinoma A549 cells exhibited the enhanced formation of the thick stress fibers and focal adhesions, resulting in suppression of cell migration. In a screen for GC-responsive genes encoding actin-interacting proteins, we identified caldesmon (CaD), which is specifically up-regulated in response to GCs. CaD is a regulatory protein involved in actomyosin-based contraction and the stability of actin filaments. We further demonstrated that the up-regulation of CaD expression was controlled by glucocorticoid receptor (GR). An activated form of GR directly bound to the two glucocorticoid-response element-like sequences in the human CALD1 promoter and transactivated the CALD1 gene, thereby up-regulating the CaD protein. Forced expression of CaD, without GC treatment, also enhanced the formation of thick stress fibers and focal adhesions and suppressed cell migration. Conversely, depletion of CaD abrogated the GC-induced phenotypes. The results of this study suggest that the GR-dependent up-regulation of CaD plays a pivotal role in regulating cell migration via the reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton.
Simple Banking: Profitability and the Yield Curve

How does bank profitability vary with interest rates? We present a model of a monopolistically competitive bank subject to repricing frictions, and test the model’s predictions using a unique panel data set on UK banks. We find evidence that large banks retain a residual exposure to interest rates, even after accounting for hedging activity operating through the trading book. In the long run, both level and slope of the yield curve contribute positively to profitability. In the short run, however, increases in market rates compress interest margins, consistent with the presence of non negligible loan pricing frictions.
Characterization of Brucella abortus O-Polysaccharide and Core Lipopolysaccharide Mutants and Demonstration that a Complete Core Is Required for Rough Vaccines To Be Efficient against Brucella abortus and Brucella ovis in the Mouse Model

ABSTRACT Brucella abortus rough lipopolysaccharide (LPS) mutants were obtained by transposon insertion into two wbk genes (wbkA [putative glycosyltransferase; formerly rfbU] and per [perosamine synthetase]), into manB (pmm [phosphomannomutase; formerly rfbK]), and into an unassigned gene. Consistent with gene-predicted roles, electrophoretic analysis, 2-keto-3-manno-d-octulosonate measurements, and immunoblots with monoclonal antibodies to O-polysaccharide, outer and inner core epitopes showed no O-polysaccharide expression and no LPS core defects in the wbk mutants. The rough LPS of manB mutant lacked the outer core epitope and the gene was designated manBcore to distinguish it from the wbk manBO-Ag. The fourth gene (provisionally designated wa**) coded for a putative glycosyltransferase involved in inner core synthesis, but the mutant kept the outer core epitope. Differences in phage and polymyxin sensitivity, exposure or expression of outer membrane protein, core and lipid A epitopes, and lipid A acylation demonstrated that small changes in LPS core caused significant differences in B. abortus outer membrane topology. In mice, the mutants showed different degrees of attenuation and induced antibodies to rough LPS and outer membrane proteins. Core-defective mutants and strain RB51 were ineffective vaccines against B. abortus in mice. The mutants per and wbkA induced protection but less than the standard smooth vaccine S19, and controls suggested that anti O-polysaccharide antibodies accounted largely for the difference. Whereas no core-defective mutant was effective against B. ovis, S19, RB51, and the wbkA and per mutants afforded similar levels of protection. These results suggest that rough Brucella vaccines should carry a complete core for maximal effectiveness.