Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Audit Committee Characteristics and Accounting Conservatism

This study examines the association between four pivotal audit committee characteristics and accounting conservatism. Using a sample of 7,668 Australian firm‐year observations from 2004 to 2012, a positive association is found between accounting conservatism and: (a) a director with financial expertise on the audit committee; (b) an experienced director on the audit committee; and (c) frequency of audit committee meetings. Within an agency theoretical framework, results suggest that audit committees act as effective monitoring mechanisms in restricting management's opportunistic behaviour and overstatement of earnings. Results also suggest that regulators (and other stakeholders) should pay greater attention to the financial expertise, experience of members and meeting frequency of the audit committee when judging the committee's value.
Firm Growth in Family Businesses—The Role of Entrepreneurial Orientation and the Entrepreneurial Activity*

Previous studies show that growth is an important goal for businesses, but little is known of how the entrepreneurial orientation–performance relationship works in family businesses and how this differs from their nonfamily peers. We examine that and how entrepreneurial activity mediates the relationship in family and nonfamily businesses. Our results on 532 firms show that family businesses benefit from innovative orientation, which is both directly and indirectly associated with firm growth via entrepreneurial activity. This association does not exist in nonfamily businesses. Furthermore, risk taking does not influence family business growth even if it does in nonfamily businesses.
Improving Chronic Disease Outcomes Through Medication Therapy Management in Federally Qualified Health Centers

Introduction: Appropriate management of chronic diseases, including proper use of medications, can lead to better disease control, decrease disease-related complications, and improve overall health. Pharmacists have been shown to positively affect chronic disease outcomes through medication therapy management (MTM). The primary objectives of this project are to increase the number of patients with (1) A1c in control and (2) blood pressure in control; secondary objectives are to (3) describe number and type of medication-related problems identified and resolved by pharmacists providing MTM in Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), (4) identify potential (pADEs) and actual adverse drug events (ADEs), and refer patients to diabetes self-management education classes, as needed. Methods: This multisite, prospective, descriptive pilot study engaged three FQHC sites with distinct models of established pharmacist MTM services to care for patients with uncontrolled diabetes and/or hypertension. Data were reported in aggregate regarding primary and secondary outcomes. Results: As of December 2015, 706 patients were enrolled in the project. Of the 422 with uncontrolled diabetes, 52.84% (n = 223) had an A1c <9%; 72 patients (17.06%) achieved an A1c between 8% and 9%, 19.19% (n = 81) of patients achieved an A1c <8% and ≥7%, and 16.59% (n = 70) of patients achieved an A1c <7%. The percentage of patients with blood pressure <140/90 mm Hg improved to 65.21%. Conclusion: Pharmacist-provided MTM can improve chronic disease intermediate outcomes for medically underserved patients in FQHCs.
A closed loop dynamic scheduling method based on load balancing for semiconductor wafer fabrication facility

Reentrant flows as the typical characteristic of semiconductor manufacturing, create complex competition for limited resource capacity, resulting in heavy workload of some machines. In this way, some machines known as bottlenecks are over-loading while others are under-loading, which may deteriorate the overall performance of production line. Therefore, load balancing, i.e., adjusting the distribution of workload, should be considered to deal with dispatching rules for semiconductor wafer fabrication facility. As a result, a novel approach, namely Dynamic Dispatching Rule considering Load Balancing (DDRLB) is proposed. First, a load balancing prediction model is constructed for the proposed DDRLB. Then, the details of the DDRLB are demonstrated. At last, empirical studies have shown the advantages of DDRLB over ordinary dynamic dispatching rule (DDR).
The Diffusion of Employment Practices of Us-Based Multinationals in Europe: A Case Study Comparison of British- and Italian-Based Subsidiaries

A number of approaches to the diffusion of employment practices within American-based multinational companies (MNCs) can be discerned. In this paper, two theoretical approaches are contrasted: a ‘country-of-origin’ approach in which the influence of the home country is mediated by national features of host-country institutional environments; and a power resources or strategic choice approach that emphasizes the autonomy of local actors within MNCs and their capacity to shape the diffusion of employment practices. Using a case study comparison of three Italian and two British-based subsidiaries owned by an American MNC, the paper examines factors and patterns of diffusion of employment practices from the parent company to the local subsidiaries. The argument is put forward that company-specific features enhance the strategic power of the subsidiary firm within the wider corporation, thus complementing institutional host-country characteristics in shaping the diffusion of employment practices abroad. Hence, organizational as well as institutional effects contribute to creating the space that the various actors across host countries possess for protecting their interests and for exercising power on the terms and conditions of the diffusion.
Combination Effect of Vancomycin and β-Lactams against a Staphylococcusaureus Strain, Mu3, with Heterogeneous Resistance to Vancomycin

ABSTRACT We tested the combined activity of vancomycin and seven β-lactam antibiotics against Staphylococcus aureus clinical strain Mu3, which displays heterogeneous resistance to vancomycin. When combined with vancomycin, four of the seven tested β-lactams exhibited an additive effect at or near their MICs, while all showed an antagonistic effect at lower, sub-MIC levels. This study implicated the unpredictable nature of combination therapy of β-lactams and vancomycin against S. aureus with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin.
Manufacturing and the Convergence Hypothesis: What the Long-Run Data Show

The commonly accepted chronology for comparative productivity levels, based on GDP data, does not apply to the manufacturing sector, which shows evidence of a much greater degree of stationarity of comparative labor productivity performance among the major industrialized countries of Britain, Germany, and the United States. These results for manufacturing suggest that convergence of GDP per worker must have occurred through trends in other sectors and through compositional effects of structural change. The persistent, large labor productivity gap between the United States and Europe cannot be explained simply by differences in capital per worker, but is related to technological choice.
Brucellar epididymo-orchitis in southeastern part of Turkey: an 8 year experience.

OBJECTIVE the different clinical and laboratory features and response to treatment of patients with acute brucellar epididymo-orchitis (BEO) reporting to the reference hospital in Southeastern Anatolia of Turkey. MATERIAL AND METHODS in this study, 27 male patients with brucellosis, who presented with epididymitis or epididymo-orchitis (EO) at the university hospital in Diyarbakir from 1998 to 2006, were included. They were compared with the other male patients. Positive blood culture or high agglutination titers of > 1/160 and positive clinical manifestations of brucellosis were the main criteria for diagnosing brucellosis. RESULTS fourteen patients had unilateral EO. Leukocytosis was present in 10 patients; all of them had initial agglutination titers of > 1/160 and 10 patients had a positive blood culture. All patients received combined therapy with streptomycin for the first 21 days (or oral rifampicin for 6-8 weeks) with doxycycline or tetracycline for 6-8 weeks. All showed improvement, fever subsided in 3-7 days, and the scrotal enlargement and tenderness regressed. Only one patient had a relapse within one year. CONCLUSION in brucellosis-endemic areas, clinicians encountering EO should consider the likelihood of brucellosis. In this study, young age was the most common risk factor, and leukocytosis and high CRP level were the most common laboratory findings. Most cases were unilateral. All patients responded to medical management very well. Conservative management with combination antibiotic therapy was adequate for managing BEO. Conclusively, brucellosis must be considered as a cause of orchitis, especially in endemic regions like Turkey.
The pattern of social media use and its association with academic performance among medical students

Abstract Background: There are concerns that the use of social media (SM) among medical students could affect academic performance. The objectives of the study were to investigate the pattern and reasons for SM use and their association with academic performance. Methods: A stratified random sample, frequency distribution and comparison of categorical variables with Chi-square and Fisher exact tests were used. Results: Of the 97% who responded, 98% used SM. The most popular were Whatsapp (87.8%), You tube (60.8%) and Twitter (51.8%) for general use; while You tube (83.5%), Whatsapp (35.5%) and Twitter (35.3%) for learning. For general use, there was a significant higher number of visits to You tube and Facebook among male students, while the reverse was true for Instagram and Path. Around 71% visited SM >4 times/day and 55% spent 1–4 hours/day. The main reasons for SM use were entertainment (95.8%), staying up-to-date with news (88.3%), and socializing (85.5%); for academic studies (40%). There was no significant association between Grade Point Average and the frequency of daily SM use or use during lectures. Conclusions: While almost all the students used SM, only a minority used them for academic purposes. SM use was not associated with academic performance.
Italian Industrial Districts on the Move: Where Are They Going?

Since the second half of the 1990s the Italian economy has experienced a significant slowdown in the rate of economic growth. The “dwarfism” of its manufacturing firms, their specialization in traditional sectors and their organization in industrial districts have been identified by many scholars as major structural weaknesses in the Italian industrial system. Nevertheless, there is a vast and flourishing empirical literature showing that many industrial districts are actually changing in terms of sector specialization, international and innovation strategies and emergence of new forms of enterprise organization. In this paper, we provide a critical survey of the new and different patterns of industrial organization emerging in industrial districts.
R&D spillovers and recipient firm size

The findings in this paper provide some insight into how small firms are able to innovate. Using a production function approach to relate knowledge generating inputs to innovative output, the empirical results suggest that small firms are the recipients of R&D spillovers from knowledge generated in the R&D centers of their larger counterparts and in universities. Such R&D spillovers are apparently more decisive in promoting the innovative activity of small firms than of large corporations. Copyright 1994 by MIT Press.
Combined moderate and high intensity exercise with dietary restriction improves cardiac autonomic function associated with a reduction in central and systemic arterial stiffness in obese adults: a clinical trial

Objective The present study aimed to assess the effects of exercise with dietary restriction on cardiac autonomic activity, arterial stiffness, and cardiovascular biomarkers in obese individuals. Methods Seventeen obese adults completed an 8-week exercise and dietary program. Anthropometry, body composition, and multiple biochemical markers were measured. We used carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), central blood pressure, and augmentation index (AIx) to assess arterial stiffness. To determine cardiac autonomic activity, heart rate variability (HRV) was analyzed by standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals (SDNN), square root of the mean squared differences of successive normal-to-normal intervals (RMSSD), total power (TF), low-frequency power in normalized units (LFnu), high-frequency power in normalized units (HFnu), and low-frequency power/high-frequency power (LF/HF). Results Following the exercise and diet intervention, obese subjects had significant reductions in body weight, body mass index, body fat percentage, brachial systolic blood pressure, and resting heart rate, and they had shown improvements in blood chemistry markers such as lipid profiles, insulin, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. There was a significant reduction in both cfPWV and baPWV following the intervention when compared to baseline levels. Moreover, the AIx and aortic systolic blood pressure were significantly reduced after the intervention. The diet and exercise intervention significantly increased cardiac autonomic modulation (determined by improved SDNN, RMSSD, TP LF, HF, and LF/HF), which was partly due to changes in heart rate, insulin resistance, and the inflammatory pattern. Furthermore, we observed a correlation between enhanced cardiac autonomic modulation (LF/HF) and decreased arterial stiffness, as measured by central cfPWV and systemic baPWV. Discussion An 8-week combined intervention of diet and exercise is effective in improving cardiac autonomic function in obese adults, with an associated decrease in central and systemic arterial stiffness.
Oral hygiene care for residents with dementia: a literature review.

AIM This paper presents a literature review of oral hygiene care for adults with dementia in residential aged care facilities, including evidence for: (1) prevalence, incidence, experiences and increments of oral diseases; (2) use of assessment tools to evaluate residents' oral health; (3) preventive oral hygiene care strategies; and (4) provision of dental treatment. BACKGROUND The impact of dementia on residential care is ever-increasing and regular oral hygiene care provision is challenging for cognitively impaired residents. Although an abundance of oral hygiene care recommendations for older people have been published, the supporting evidence has not been clearly delineated. METHODS A review was conducted of English language publications (1980-2002), using a two-step approach (keyword electronic database search, supplemented with secondary search of cited references). All 306 selected articles were critically reviewed and systematically categorized. RESULTS Evidence confirmed clinicians' observations of poor oral health in older residents with dementia. Possible risk factors identified were: salivary dysfunction, polypharmacy, medical conditions, swallowing and dietary problems, functional dependence, oral hygiene care assistance and poor use of dental care. One comprehensive, reliable and validated oral assessment screening tool for residents with dementia had been published. Expert opinion indicated that oral assessment screening by staff and a dentist would be ideal at admission and regularly thereafter. Clinicians and researchers suggested that oral hygiene care strategies were effective in preventing oral diseases and appropriate for residents with dementia. CONCLUSION These literature review findings supported the use of oral assessment screening tools by staff and efficacious preventive oral hygiene care strategies/products for adults with dementia in residential care facilities. Further research with this population is needed to develop and validate oral assessment tools and staff education programmes, trial preventive oral hygiene care strategies/products and trial dementia-focused behaviour management and communication strategies.
The Provision of Liquidity by High‐Frequency Participants

This paper examines the order submission strategies and supply of liquidity by high-frequency participants versus the remainder of participants in the limit order book. The results show that high-frequency participants submit orders at multiple prices in the limit order book, concentrated at or within the quote. This activity translates into the provision of liquidity on an on-going basis, which is robust to fast versus slow and volatile markets, together suggesting that high-frequency participants resolve temporal liquidity imbalances in the limit order book. The evidence is consistent with high-frequency trading (HFT) improving market liquidity, but there remain issues surrounding high-frequency participants’ effect on market depth and the difficulty of trading of non-HFT participants.
Ecdysteroid synthesis and imaginal disc development in the midge Chironomus riparius as biomarkers for endocrine effects of tributyltin

Acute effects of the endocrine disruptor bis (tri‐n‐butyltin) oxide (TBTO) on molting‐hormone biosynthesis and imaginaldisc development were investigated in larvae of the midge Chironomus riparius (Meigen). Ecdysteroid synthesis was measured by 24‐h incubation of molting‐hormone‐synthesizing tissues (prothoracic glands) in vitro with or without the addition of TBTO. The amount of ecdysteroids produced was analyzed by radioimmunoassay. Developmental effects in vivo were investigated by determining the developmental phase of the genital imaginal discs before and after a 48‐h exposure to TBTO in water. Sex‐specific effects were found with both endpoints. Ecdysteroid synthesis was significantly reduced (analysis of variance [ANOVA], p ≤ 0.005) in female larvae at all concentrations (TBTO‐Sn at 50, 500, and 5,000 ng/L), whereas a significant elevation of the biosynthesis rate occurred in male larvae in the 500‐ng/L treatment (ANOVA, p ≤ 0.05). In vivo experiments with development of the genital imaginal disc within a 48‐h exposure period revealed a significantly slower development in female larvae and a significantly faster development in male larvae (contingency tables, p ≤ 0.001) at all concentrations tested (TBTO‐Sn at 10, 50, 200, and 1,000 ng/L). These results partly coincided with the in vitro effects on molting‐hormone synthesis. The 48‐h median lethal concentration (LC50) was 25 μg/L (20–30 μg/L 95% confidence intervals). The combination of in vitro and in vivo methods has proven to be a useful approach for the detection of endocrine effects of TBTO in C. riparius at levels 2,000‐fold below the LC50 value. High sensitivity and short test duration suggest that chironomids may have potential as freshwater sentinel organisms for endocrine‐disrupting chemicals.
Approaches to selectivity in the Zn(ii)–phthalocyanine-photosensitized inactivation of wild-type and antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

A number of Zn( ii )–phthalocyanines bearing peripheral substituents of cationic nature due to the presence of quaternarized anilinium or ammonium groups were shown to be efficient photoantimicrobial agents: a 4–5 log decrease in the survival of both wild-type or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was obtained upon short irradiation times in the presence of phthalocyanine concentrations as low as 0.1 µM. A careful selection of the experimental protocol, and in particular the use of short (5 min) incubation times and mild irradiation parameters, allowed one to achieve a high selectivity of S. aureus photoinactivation as compared with important constituents of potential host tissues, such as human fibroblasts and keratinocytes. The efficiency and selectivity of the photoprocess were not affected by the presence of 5% human serum.
Mind the Gaps: The Evolution of Regional Earnings Inequalities in the U.K., 1982-1997

In this paper we apply earnings equations for U.K. regions over 1982-1997. We find evidence of rapid convergence across regions regarding the determinants of individual wages (i.e., regional fixed-effects, gender gaps, and returns to education and experience). In contrast, data on average regional earnings point to a worsening of U.K. regional inequalities and a rise in the North-South gap. Education accounts for most of the discrepancy between aggregate divergence and disaggregated convergence. First, London gained because its workforce became relatively more educated over the period. Second, returns to education increased nationwide, which favored the most educated regions (i.e., London). Third, returns to education were initially lower in London but they (partially) caught up with the rest of the country. Had returns to education and their distribution across U.K. regions remained stable over the period, the U.K. North-South divide would have decreased.
What Do Self-Reported, Objective, Measures of Health Measure?

Survey reports of the incidence of chronic conditions are considered by many researchers to be more objective, and thus preferable, measures of unobserved health status than self-assessed measures of global well being. In this paper we evaluate this hypothesis by attempting to validate these “objective, self-reported” measures of health. Our analysis makes use of a unique data set that matches a variety of self-reports of health with respondents’ medical records. We find that these measures are subject to considerable response error resulting in large attenuation biases when they are used as explanatory variables.
Maturation of the auditory system: 1. Transient otoacoustic emissions as an index of inner ear maturation

The transiently evoked otoacoustic emission amplitude of 42 preterm babies (84 ears; post-conceptional age [PCA] 30–36 weeks) was compared with the TEOAE amplitude of 39 full-term babies (78 ears; PCA 37–45 weeks) in order to trace the inner ear maturation characteristics. An ILO-92 otoacoustic emission recording system was used with linear clicks of 70 dB peak equivalent SPL. The results obtained indicated: (1) There was no statistically significant difference between preterm and full-term ears; (2) There was no significant difference between males and females; (3) There was a significant difference between left and right ear TEOAE amplitude; (4) The interaction of ear with age in relation to TEOAE amplitude was statistically significant; (5) Noise and stimulus parameters did not reveal any significant differences between right and left ears; (6) A positive correlation existed between birthweight and TEOAE amplitude; and (7) A negative correlation existed between aminoglycoside treatment and TEOAE amplitude. The results indicate subtle changes in TEOAE amplitude over time, showing a natural development of the inner ear function during the process of maturation.