Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Director Interlocks on Firms' Adoption of Proactive Environmental Strategies

Manuscript Type: Empirical. Research Question/Issue: We examine whether director interlocks enable or inhibit a firm's adoption of a proactive environmental strategy. Specifically, using resource dependence theory, we argue that director interlocks with suppliers are linked to varying likelihoods that a firm adopts a proactive environmental strategy, depending on the relation between the provided resources and the environmental approach. Research Findings/Insight: Based on a sample of US electric firms, our results show that director interlocks with firms providing knowledge‐intensive business services are positively linked to the adoption of proactive environmental strategies. However, director interlocks with firms providing financial resources and fossil fuel are negatively related to the adoption of these strategies for our sample. Theoretical/Academic Implications: Board linkages may enable and inhibit proactive environmental strategies. We contribute to resource dependence theory by offering empirical evidence that the reduction of uncertainty about critical resources by director interlocks may either make business change easier or constrict a firm's autonomy, making change more difficult. Practitioner/Policy Implications: The influence of interlocking directors varies depending on the type of resources that director interlocks transfer to their organizations. As a result, the selection of specific director interlocks can become very important to the strategic goals of the firm. Regulators should continue to pay attention to potential risks for other stakeholders from director interlocks.
Dividing the Spoils: Pensions, Privatization and Reform in Russia's Transition

The authors present a political economy model in which policy is the outcome of an interaction between three actors: government (G), managers and workers (W), and transfer recipients (P). The government's objective is to stay in power, for which it needs the support of either P or W. It can choose slow privatization with little asset stripping and significant taxation, thus protecting the fiscal base out of which it pays pensioners relatively well (as in Poland). Or it can give away assets and tax exemptions to managers and workers, who then bankroll it and deliver the vote, but it thereby loses taxes and pays little to pensioners (as in Russia). The authors apply this model to Russia for the period 1992-96. An empirical analysis of electoral behavior in the 1996 presidential election shows that the likelihood of someone voting for Yeltsin did not depend on that person's socioeconomic group per se. Those who tended to vote for Yeltsin were richer, younger, and better educated and had more favorable expectations for the future. Entrepreneurs, who had more of these characteristics, tended to vote for Yeltsin as a result, while pensioners, who had almost none, tended to vote against Yeltsin. Unlike Poland, Russia failed to create pluralist politics in the early years of the transition, so no effective counterbalance emerged to offset managerial rent-seeking and the state was easily captured by well-organized industrial interests. The political elite were reelected because industrial interests bankrolled their campaign in return for promises that government largesse would continue to flow. Russia shows vividly how political economy affects policymaking, because of how openly and flagrantly government granted favors in return for electoral support. Bur special interests, venal bureaucrats, and the exchange of favors tend to be the rule, not the exemption, elsewhere as well.
Effect of Surface Texturing on Stresses during Rapid Changes in Temperature

Recently, there has been great interest in the application of the surface texturing method to enhance material surface performance. Material surfaces sometimes experience rapid temperature changes, and the local surface will obviously generate thermal stresses, which may be detrimental to the material structure. In order to understand the relationship between surface texturing and stresses, a numerical approach is used to investigate the effects of surface texturing on stresses. The results show that surface texturing can generate compressive stresses along the normal direction of the surface, and that strong tensional stresses can be formed in the center of a surface at the same time that are beneficial to material surface performance. However, a smooth surface cannot generate these beneficial stresses. In addition, there is an optimum design size with respect to textures, and the most desirable state of stress in a surface layer can be achieved at this size.
Corporate Growth and Diversification

As an increasing number of large corporations branch out into many fields of industry, public concern over the lateral extension of their power is aroused. Arguing that entry by large firms into concentrated industries may instead stimulate competition, Charles H. Berry analyzes the effect that such diversification has on corporate growth and on the structure and functioning of industrial markets. To identify a relationship between the growth of large corporations and the pattern of their diversifying activities, Professor Berry examines 460 of the largest U.S. industrial corporations. In tracing the effects of their entry into some 200 manufacturing industries, he develops new and striking evidence of the protected position of leading firms in concentrated industries, a position that can be effectively undermined by the diversification of more powerful corporations into these industries. Originally published in 1975. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Aph-1 Contributes to the Stabilization and Trafficking of the γ-Secretase Complex through Mechanisms Involving Intermolecular and Intramolecular Interactions*

γ-Secretase cleaves type I transmembrane proteins, including β-amyloid precursor protein and Notch, and requires the formation of a protein complex comprised of presenilin, nicastrin, Aph-1, and Pen-2 for its activity. Aph-1 is implicated in the stabilization of this complex, although its precise mechanistic role remains unknown. Substitution of the first glycine within the transmembrane GXXXG motif of Aph-1 causes a loss-of-function phenotype in Caenorhabditis elegans. Here, using an untranslated region-targeted RNA interference/rescue strategy in Drosophila Schneider 2 cells, we show that Aph-1 contributes to the assembly of the γ-secretase complex by multiple mechanisms involving intermolecular and intramolecular interactions depending on or independent of the conserved glycines. Aph-1 binds to nicastrin forming an early subcomplex independent of the conserved glycines within the endoplasmic reticulum. Certain mutations in the conserved GXXXG motif affect the interaction of the Aph-1·nicastrin subcomplex with presenilin that mediates trafficking of the presenilin·Aph-1·nicastrin tripartite complex to the Golgi. The same mutations decrease the stability of Aph-1 polypeptides themselves, possibly by affecting intramolecular associations through the transmembrane domains. Our data suggest that the proper assembly of the Aph-1·nicastrin subcomplex with presenilin is the prerequisite for the trafficking as well as the enzymatic activity of the γ-secretase complex and that Aph-1 functions as a stabilizing scaffold in the assembly of this complex.
Crude Oil Prices and U.S. Economic Performance: Where Does the Asymmetry Reside?

Sustained decreases in crude oil prices appear to affect the U.S. economy differently than sustained increases. This paper shows that a significant part of the observed asymmetry is due to adjustments within the energy sector and not within the rest of the economy. In particular, sustained decreases in petroleum product or general energy prices do not appear to have qualitatively different macroeconomic impacts than do sustained price increases. The singular focus on crude oil price changes in previous studies is misplaced. Moreover, the 1986 oil price collapse did not operate in isolation from other important events. As crude oil prices fell in the 1986 period, other factors caused a major devaluation of the U.S. dollar that had potentially important effects on the U.S. economy.
Activity-based assessment (BIA)—inter-rater reliability and staff experiences

The BIA method, based on assessment of patients in activities, was developed to enable reliable assessment of clients’ occupational functioning. The method evaluates the patient's ego functions and capacity for activity and participation. The aims of this study were to examine inter-rater reliability for the BIA method and to compare the experiences of staff working with the BIA with those of staff using standard assessment (SA). In SA, the patient's activity problems and capacities were assessed without using any structured protocol. Four staff members worked according to the BIA method and eight according to SA. The estimation of reliability was based on data from 14 patients who went trough the BIA and were assessed by five staff members. These assessments resulted in all in about 400 statements, which were classified and compared for agreement between raters. In order to address the aim concerning staff experiences, a questionnaire was filled out anonymously by the staff. The inter-rater reliability of the nine ego functions varied from 0.76 to 1.00. The scale was deemed appropriate by the BIA staff and they had significantly higher median ratings on work satisfaction and appropriateness than the SA staff. In conclusion, the inter-rater reliability of the BIA was found to be good. The BIA method also seems to have a high degree of appropriateness, constituting a promising assessment tool when occupational functioning is addressed.
ANALISIS PENGARUH SOSIALISASI PERPAJAKAN, KUALITAS PELAYANAN FISKUS DAN SANKSI PERPAJAKAN TERHADAP KEPATUHAN WAJIB PAJAK ORANG PRIBADI DI KANTOR PELAYANAN PAJAK PRATAMA MANADO

This study aims to analyze the influence of tax audit against the compliance level of corporate taxpayer to fulfilling the taxation obligations in KPP Pratama Manado(Manado Small Tax Office). The analysis method used in this research is descriptive to describe the influence of tax audit against the compliance level of corporate taxpayer to fulfilling the taxation obligations in KPP Pratama Manado. Based on the partial research results note that taxation has an influence on the socialization of individual taxpayer compliance, quality of service tax authorities have no effect on an individual taxpayer compliance and tax penalties have no effect on an individual taxpayer compliance. While based on research results simultaneously, socialization taxation, quality of service tax authorities and tax penalties as independent variables jointly affect the individual taxpayer compliance. Suggestions for KPP Pratama Manado is tax officials should be more active in conducting counseling and socialization taxes, behave professionally to serve taxpayers and improve tax penalties for taxpayers who do not comply.
High Caregiver Burden in Young Onset Dementia: What Factors Need Attention?

BACKGROUND There is an increase in prevalence of young onset dementia (YOD). The specific problems among YOD patients and levels of caregiver burden (CB) in this group warrants further evaluation. OBJECTIVE To evaluate and compare level of CB in YOD and late onset dementia (LOD). Also, we sought to understand the specific factors, such as neuropsychiatric symptoms, that may affect the levels of caregiver burden in the YOD group. METHODS Patient-caregiver dyads with YOD and LOD were recruited from a tertiary neurology center. Levels of CB between YOD and LOD were compared among 183 patient-caregiver dyads. CB was quantified using the Zarit Burden Inventory (ZBI). Neuropsychological evaluations as well as the Neuropsychiatric Inventory were performed. Factors that influenced level of CB in YOD group was investigated with regression analyses. RESULTS There were 57 YOD and 126 LOD dyads. Caregivers of YOD subjects reported significantly higher levels of burden compared to caregivers of LOD subjects (ZBI: 17.3 versus 13.94; p = 0.015). 52.6% of YOD caregivers reported a high caregiver burden. When compared to caregivers of LOD, the odds of a caregiver of YOD reporting high caregiver burden was 2.34 (95% CI: 1.22-4.49: p = 0.010). YOD dyads with a high caregiver burden had significantly higher neuropsychiatric inventory scores. Risk factors for high caregiver burden in YOD included family history of dementia and behavioral symptoms including disinhibited behavior, delusions, and apathy. CONCLUSION Targeted support for caregivers of patients with YOD is needed to address the higher CB in this group.
Hemotherapy in patients undergoing blood group incompatible bone marrow transplantation

The management of hemotherapy in 31 cases of ABO‐ or Rh‐incompatible bone marrow transplantation is described. Our experience confirms that ABO or Rh incompatibility does not adversely affect engraftment, patient survival, or incidence of graft‐versus‐host disease. Eighteen recipients with ABO antibodies against the donors' red cells (major incompatibility) were managed by different combinations of plasma exchange, transfusion of incompatible donor type red cells, and removal of donor‐type red cells from the bone marrow before transplant. The only serious complication was delayed hemolysis in seven of nine patients who received incompatible red cell transfusions before transplant. Thirteen patients received bone marrow containing ABO antibodies against their red cells (minor incompatibility). Five were managed by centrifuging the bone marrow to remove plasma and reduce the amount of antibody. This did not cause substantial loss of stem cell activity (60–100% of original marrow), and no patients had complications related to the marrow transfusion. In contrast, two of seven patients who received uncentrifuged bone marrow experienced hemolysis. Two of four Rh positive recipients who received marrow from an Rh negative donor developed anti‐D, possibly due to Rh positive blood components transfused after transplantation. None of eight Rh negative patients who received an Rh positive transplant has developed anti‐D. Blood components should be selected to avoid transfusion of incompatible red cells and to avoid transfusion of a large amount of incompatible plasma. This may necessitate use of plasma components of a different ABO type than the red cell components.
Survival of women with breast cancer in relation to smoking.

OBJECTIVE To compare survival of patients with breast cancer who had never smoked, were smokers, and who were ex-smokers. DESIGN Observational study. SETTING City of Malmö, Sweden. PATIENTS 792 patients with breast cancer diagnosed between 1977-1986 in the Malmö mammographic screening trial. INTERVENTIONS Follow-up of breast cancer cases through record-linkage with the Swedish Cause of Death Registry. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Death from breast cancer. Relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) of death from breast cancer was calculated for different smoking groups using Cox's proportional hazards analysis. RESULTS During a mean follow-up of 12.1 years, 145 patients died of breast cancer. Breast cancer mortality was 1347/10(5) person-years in those who had never smoked, 1941/10(5) in smokers, and 1493/10(5) in ex-smokers. The crude RR for smokers and ex-smokers, compared with those who had never smoked were 1.44 (1.01 to 2.06) and 1.13 (0.66 to 1.94), respectively. The RR associated with smoking remained significant after adjustment for age and stage at diagnosis, 2.14 (1.47 to 3.10), and other potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS Survival after breast cancer was, as expected, strongly related to stage at diagnosis. However, stage by stage there was considerable variation between individual patients. We conclude that differences with regard to exposure to smoking contribute to this heterogeneity.
An adjoint-based SQP algorithm with quasi-Newton Jacobian updates for inequality constrained optimization

We present a sequential quadratic programming (SQP) type algorithm, based on quasi-Newton approximations of Hessian and Jacobian matrices, which is suitable for the solution of general nonlinear programming problems involving equality and inequality constraints. In contrast to most existing SQP methods, no evaluation of the exact constraint Jacobian matrix needs to be performed. Instead, in each SQP iteration only one evaluation of the constraint residuals and two evaluations of the gradient of the Lagrangian function are necessary, the latter of which can efficiently be performed by the reverse mode of automatic differentiation. Factorizations of the Hessian and of the constraint Jacobian are approximated by the recently proposed STR1 update procedure. Inequality constraints are treated by solving within each SQP iteration a quadratic program (QP), the dimension of which equals the number of degrees of freedom. A recently proposed gradient modification in these QPs takes account of Jacobian inexactness in the active set determination. Superlinear convergence of the procedure is shown under mild conditions. The convergence behaviour of the algorithm is analysed using several problems from the Hock–Schittkowski test library. Furthermore, we present numerical results for an optimization problem based on a small periodic adsorption process, where the Jacobian of the equality constraints is dense.
Evaluation of the Recombinant VlsE-Based Liaison Chemiluminescence Immunoassay for Detection of Borrelia burgdorferi and Diagnosis of Lyme Disease

ABSTRACT Recent efforts to improve the serologic diagnosis of Lyme disease have included the use of a synthetic peptide (C6) that reproduces the sequence of invariable region 6 of VlsE, the variable surface antigen of Borrelia burgdorferi. In the present study, the diagnostic performance of DiaSorin's recombinant VlsE-based chemiluminescence immunoassay in 1,947 human serum samples was evaluated. Sensitivity was determined using two serum panels from the CDC. For panel I, we observed sensitivities of 68.4% and 75.6% for subjects with early, localized (n = 19) or disseminated (n = 41) disease, respectively. For panel II, we observed sensitivities of 61.5% and 100% for subjects with early (n = 26) or late-stage (n = 11) disease, respectively. We observed a specificity of 99.5% for healthy donors (n = 600) living either in regions of the United States where the disease is endemic or in regions where it is not endemic. Overall, specificity among 207 potentially cross-reactive sera from subjects who had other spirochetal infections, nonspirochetal infections including bacterial and viral infections, or autoimmune or neurologic disease; who were positive for rheumatoid factor or anti-mouse antibodies; or who had been previously vaccinated for Lyme disease was 93.7%. In a direct comparison of 1,038 prospectively collected samples for Lyme disease testing we observed a relative sensitivity of 70%, a relative specificity of 99.1%, and an overall agreement of 97.1% between the DiaSorin recombinant VlsE chemiluminescence immunoassay and the Immunetics peptide-based C6 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Assessment of Cognitive Engagement in Stroke Patients From Single-Trial EEG During Motor Rehabilitation

We propose a novel method for monitoring cognitive engagement in stroke patients during motor rehabilitation. Active engagement reflects implicit motivation and can enhance motor recovery. In this study, we used electroencephalography (EEG) to assess cognitive engagement in 11 chronic stroke patients while they executed active and passive motor tasks involving grasping and supination hand movements. We observed that the active motor task induced larger event-related desynchronization (ERD) than the passive task in the bilateral motor cortex and supplementary motor area (SMA). ERD differences between tasks were observed during both initial and post-movement periods (p <; 0.01). Additionally, differences in beta band activity were larger than differences in mu band activity (p <; 0.01). EEG data was used to help classify each trial as involving the active or passive motor task. Average classification accuracy was 80.7±0.1% for grasping movement and 82.8±0.1% for supination movement. Classification accuracy using a combination of movement and post-movement periods was higher than in other cases (p <; 0.05). Our results support using EEG to assess cognitive engagement in stroke patients during motor rehabilitation.
Impact of Ribavirin on HCV Replicon RNA Decline during Treatment with Interferon-α and the Protease Inhibitors Boceprevir or Telaprevir

Background Ribavirin increases early and sustained virological response rates in patients chronically infected with HCV who receive pegylated interferon-α and novel HCV protease inhibitors. Methods To better characterize antiviral efficacies of these upcoming therapies, Huh7 cells harbouring a subgenomic HCV replicon system were cultivated with various doses and combinations of ribavirin, interferon-α, and the protease inhibitors boceprevir and telaprevir. Antiviral efficacy parameters were estimated from HCV RNA decay, and synergistic effects of combination therapies were analysed with the Bliss independency model. Results Single-drug antiviral activities showed dose-dependent HCV RNA reductions in replicon cells (50% inhibitory concentration of 386.16 μM, 81.67 IU, 0.44 μM and 0.81 μM after 48 h for ribavirin, interferon-α, boceprevir and telaprevir, respectively). For the dual combination of ribavirin with either boceprevir or telaprevir, no deviation from additivity was observed, whereas the reduction of HCV RNA was synergistic for ribavirin with interferon-α (P<0.001). Triple combinations with ribavirin, interferon-α and protease inhibitors showed the most profound HCV RNA decay. Conclusions The beneficial in vitro antiviral effect of ribavirin with interferon-α and novel HCV protease inhibitors demonstrates that ribavirin may be required as an antiviral backbone in the near future.
Basal body proteins regulate Notch signaling through endosomal trafficking

ABSTRACT Proteins associated with primary cilia and basal bodies mediate numerous signaling pathways, but little is known about their role in Notch signaling. Here, we report that loss of the Bardet-Biedl syndrome proteins BBS1 or BBS4 produces increased Notch-directed transcription in a zebrafish reporter line and in human cell lines. Pathway overactivation is accompanied by reduced localization of Notch receptor at both the plasma membrane and the cilium. In Drosophila mutants, overactivation of Notch can result from receptor accumulation in endosomes, and recent studies implicate ciliary proteins in endosomal trafficking, suggesting a possible mechanism by which overactivation occurs in BBS mutants. Consistent with this, we observe genetic interaction of BBS1 and BBS4 with the endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT) gene TSG101 and accumulation of receptor in late endosomes, reduced endosomal recycling and reduced receptor degradation in lysosomes. We observe similar defects with disruption of BBS3. Loss of another basal body protein, ALMS1, also enhances Notch activation and the accumulation of receptor in late endosomes, but does not disrupt recycling. These findings suggest a role for these proteins in the regulation of Notch through endosomal trafficking of the receptor.