Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Why Firms Do Not Pay Dividends: The Canadian Experience

We use a survey approach to investigate the factors leading to the decision not to pay cash dividends in Canada. Our results show that Canadian managers perceive growth opportunities, low profitability, and cash constraints as the major underlying reasons for a firm’s decision not to pay dividends. Questionnaire results also show that, for non-dividend-paying firms, taxation is at best a second-order determinant of dividend policy and that stock repurchases are not substitutes for dividends. Finally, our findings are inconclusive regarding managers’ views on the relationship between dividend policy and stock prices and the signaling role of dividend policy.
Cerebrospinal fluid neurogranin and YKL‐40 as biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease

Widespread implementation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in clinical settings requires improved accuracy for diagnosis of prodromal disease and for distinguishing AD from non‐AD dementias. Novel and promising CSF biomarkers include neurogranin, a marker of synaptic degeneration, and YKL‐40, a marker of neuroinflammation.
Speaking up for patient safety: individual and team-related antecedents of voice in healthcare teams

Speaking up with suggestions, problems, or doubts is important—especially in healthcare action teams where each team member’s input can be crucial for the treatment of a patient. Implementing a high-fidelity simulation study we investigated individual predictors of speaking up in acute care teams (ACTs). Participants were 27 physicians and 27 nurses from a hospital who completed measures on selfperceived agency (i.e., assertiveness, persistence, independence) and communion (i.e., helpfulness, friendliness, sociability). In two-person teams they managed simulated critical events that required speaking up. In line with our hypotheses, we found that agency positively and communion negatively predicted actual speaking up behavior. We discuss the differential effects of agency and communion on speaking up and thereby highlight theoretical and practical implications. Key! Words: speaking up, agency, communion, action teams, healthcare
Antibody-Dependent Cell-Mediated Cytotoxicity Epitopes on the Hemagglutinin Head Region of Pandemic H1N1 Influenza Virus Play Detrimental Roles in H1N1-Infected Mice

Engaging the antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) for killing of virus-infected cells and secretion of antiviral cytokines and chemokines was incorporated as one of the important features in the design of universal influenza vaccines. However, investigation of the ADCC epitopes on the highly immunogenic influenza hemagglutinin (HA) head region has been rarely reported. In this study, we determined the ADCC and antiviral activities of two putative ADCC epitopes, designated E1 and E2, on the HA head of a pandemic H1N1 influenza virus in vitro and in a lethal mouse model. Our data demonstrated that sera from the E1-vaccinated mice could induce high ADCC activities. Importantly, the induction of ADCC response modestly decreased viral load in the lungs of H1N1-infected mice. However, the elevated ADCC significantly increased mouse alveolar damage and mortality than that of the PBS-vaccinated group (P < 0.0001). The phenotype was potentially due to an exaggerated inflammatory cell infiltration triggered by ADCC, as an upregulated release of cytotoxic granules (perforin) was observed in the lung tissue of E1-vaccinated mice after H1N1 influenza virus challenge. Overall, our data suggested that ADCC elicited by certain domains of HA head region might have a detrimental rather than protective effect during influenza virus infection. Thus, future design of universal influenza vaccine shall strike a balance between the induction of protective immunity and potential side effects of ADCC.
Polarization Ellipse Analysis of Nonstationary Random Signals

We present a novel way of extending rotary-component and polarization analysis to nonstationary random signals. If a complex signal is resolved into counterclockwise and clockwise rotating phasors at one particular frequency only, it traces out an ellipse in the complex plane. Rotary-component analysis characterizes this ellipse in terms of its shape and orientation. Polarization analysis looks at the coherence between counterclockwise and clockwise rotating phasors and whether there is a preferred rotation direction of the ellipse (counterclockwise or clockwise). In the nonstationary case, we replace this ellipse with a time-dependent local ellipse that, at a given time instant, gives the best local approximation of the signal from a given frequency component. This local ellipse is then analyzed in terms of its shape, orientation, and degree of polarization. A time-frequency coherence measures how well the local ellipse approximates the signal. The ellipse parameters and the time-frequency coherence can be expressed in terms of the Rihaczek time-frequency distribution. Under coordinate rotation, the ellipse shape, the degree of polarization, and the time-frequency coherence are invariant, and the ellipse orientation is covariant. The methods presented in this paper provide an alternative to ellipse decompositions based on wavelet ridge analysis.
Testing convergence in life expectancies: count regression models on panel data

Long-term growth convergence has extensively been investigated based on economic variables. Indicators of social development and health status are generally focused on their contribution to growth or on assessing national health care systems. Yet, as a general yardstick of well-being, life expectancy should be regarded as a criterion to measure crosscountry development patterns over long periods. Following a review of two approaches to estimating convergence, hypotheses and findings of recent studies on public health and growth are examined. Reformulating the analytical framework of both strands of research, discrete choice and parametric and semi-parametric Poisson regressions are applied to a three-decade panel of 132 countries. Determinants of achievements tend to impact differently across countries, with this distinction occurring particularly between negative and positive counts. Indications of convergence are tempered by results accounting for possible non-linear relationships, which further highlight the discrepancy between country groups with average life expectancy losses and gains.
Factors Affecting Levels of International Cooperation in Carbon Abatement Projects

The Clean Development Mechanism, a provision of The Kyoto Protocol, allows countries that have pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to gain credit toward their treaty obligations by investing in projects located in developing (host) countries. Such projects are expected to benefit both parties by providing low-cost abatement opportunities for the investor-country, while facilitating capital and technology flows to the host country. This paper analyzes the Clean Development Mechanism market, emphasizing the cooperation aspects between host and investor countries. The analysis uses a dichotomous (yes/no) variable and three continuous variants to measure the level of cooperation, namely the number of joint projects, the volume of carbon dioxide abatement, and the volume of investment in the projects. The results suggest that economic development, institutional development, the energy structure of the economies, the level of country vulnerability to various climate change effects, and the state of international relations between the host and investor countries are good predictors of the level of cooperation in Clean Development Mechanism projects. The main policy conclusions include the importance of simplifying the project regulation/clearance cycle; improving the governance structure host and investor countries; and strengthening trade or other long-term economic activities that engage the countries.
Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President

Available for the first time in paperback, "Keeping Faith" is Jimmy Carter s account of the satisfaction, frustration, and solitude that attend the man in the Oval Office. "Keeping Faith" is Jimmy Carter s account of the satisfaction, frustration, and solitude that attend the man in the Oval Offce. Mr. Carter writes candidly about the crises that confronted him during his tenure as President of the United States and leader of the free world, from 1977 to 1981. The President who cared details his anguish over the hostage crisis in Iran, his triumph against all odds at Camp David, his secret communications with China s Deng Xiaoping, and his dramatic and revealing encounters with Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev, West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, and other world leaders.Mr. Carter also shares glimpses of his private world his feelings of being an outsider in Washington, his relationship with Rosalynn, his pain about the attacks on his friends and his brother Billy.Captivatingly written, this rich historical document delineates a morally responsible president who has continued to earn respect and admiration as a world statesman and advocate for the poor and repressed of all nations. "
QoS parameterization algorithm in data collection for wireless sensor networks

Environment monitoring is one key application of wireless sensor networks. In a monitoring application, continuous query is adopted to periodically retrieve data from the network. Sensor nodes have limited energy resources and their functionality continues until their energy drains. Data collection algorithm has to be designed to extend the lifetime of sensors to the best extent and at the same time keep the data accuracy to a certain level. This paper presents a novel data gathering algorithm for continuous query in wireless sensor networks. In particular, the problem of adaptive determination of data granularity for QoS-constraint query execution is address. Application specifies its QoS requirements with the query. Then, each node can choose the optimum data granularity for local data collection and transmission. The proposed algorithm is in a distributed fashion, and executed at each local sensor node. The proposed algorithm is verified and the impact of and tradeoff between various design parameters are analyzed.
Love thy neighbor? reciprocal impacts between plant community structure and insect herbivory in co-occurring Asteraceae

Patterns of herbivory may vary with fine-scale plant community structure: the degree of damage plants experience may depend on their neighbors (i.e., associational resistance or susceptibility). Differential herbivory, in turn, may facilitate a shift in plant community structure. We investigated these reciprocal effects of plant community structure and insect herbivory in a field mesocosm experiment with closely related, native Asteraceae that co-occur in early-successional habitats (old fields). After one year of establishment, we excluded or augmented insect herbivores for two years in equal-density communities of three types: goldenrod-dominated (Solidago spp.) or aster-dominated (Symphyotrichum spp.) congeneric communities and mixtures of the two genera. In manipulated outbreaks, overall and species-specific patterns of herbivory by the main herbivore, the leaf beetle Trirhabda virgata, varied dramatically with community composition. In both years, the preferred goldenrods suffered 25−70% higher defol.
The Supply and Demand for Eurosystem Deposits the First 18 Months

This paper describes the demand and supply factors affecting the amounts of deposits held by banks with the Eurosystem in the first 18 months of Stage Three of EMU and differences to the years before. The paper starts from the methodology adopted in a recent study by James Hamilton on 'The supply and demand for Federal Reserve deposits'. While the treatment of the autonomous liquidity factors is in principle similar, the modelling of open market operations and of the recourse to standing facilities diverge. These differences stem from different institutional settings, but also from somewhat different views on the accurate model. In a second part, the paper turns to prices by providing a simple econometric model capturing a large part of the variability of the difference between the EONIA rate (the price for daily funds) and the rate charged for the main refinancing operations JEL Classification: E52, E58
Characterization of Three Vasopressin Receptor 2 Variants: An Apparent Polymorphism (V266A) and Two Loss-of-Function Mutations (R181C and M311V)

Arginine vasopressin (AVP) is released from the posterior pituitary and controls water homeostasis. AVP binding to vasopressin V2 receptors (V2Rs) located on kidney collecting duct epithelial cells triggers activation of Gs proteins, leading to increased cAMP levels, trafficking of aquaporin-2 water channels, and consequent increased water permeability and antidiuresis. Typically, loss-of-function V2R mutations cause nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI), whereas gain-of-function mutations cause nephrogenic syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis (NSIAD). Here we provide further characterization of two mutant V2Rs, R181C and M311V, reported to cause complete and partial NDI respectively, together with a V266A variant, in a patient diagnosed with NSIAD. Our data in HEK293FT cells revealed that for cAMP accumulation, AVP was about 500- or 30-fold less potent at the R181C and M311V mutants than at the wild-type receptor respectively (and about 4000- and 60-fold in COS7 cells respectively). However, in contrast to wild type V2R, the R181C mutant failed to increase inositol phosphate production, while with the M311V mutant, AVP exhibited only partial agonism in addition to a 37-fold potency decrease. Similar responses were detected in a BRET assay for β-arrestin recruitment, with the R181C receptor unresponsive to AVP, and partial agonism with a 23-fold decrease in potency observed with M311V in both HEK293FT and COS7 cells. Notably, the V266A V2R appeared functionally identical to the wild-type receptor in all assays tested, including cAMP and inositol phosphate accumulation, β-arrestin interaction, and in a BRET assay of receptor ubiquitination. Each receptor was expressed at comparable levels. Hence, the M311V V2R retains greater activity than the R181C mutant, consistent with the milder phenotype of NDI associated with this mutant. Notably, the R181C mutant appears to be a Gs protein-biased receptor incapable of signaling to inositol phosphate or recruiting β-arrestin. The etiology of NSIAD in the patient with V266A V2R remains unknown.
Cooperative Control of Unmanned Vehicle Formations

We review the enabling theory for the decentralized and cooperative control of formations of unmanned, autonomous vehicles. The decentralized and cooperative formation control approach combines recent results from dynamical system theory, control theory, and algebraic graph theory. The stability of vehicle formations is discussed, and the applicability of the technology concept to a variety of applications is demonstrated.
A non-LTE analysis of the spectra of two narrow lined main sequence stars in the SMC

An analysis of high-resolution VLT/UVES spectra of two B-type main sequence stars, NGC 346-11 and AV 304, in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), has been undertaken, using the non-LTE tlusty model atmospheres to derive the stellar parameters and chemical compositions of each star. The chemical compositions of the two stars are in reasonable agreement. Moreover, our stellar analysis agrees well with earlier analyses of $\ion{H}{ii}$ regions. The results derived here should be representative of the current base-line chemical composition of the SMC interstellar medium as derived from B-type stars.
Rapid monitoring of recombinant antibody production by mammalian cell cultures using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and chemometrics

Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR) spectroscopy combined with multivariate statistical analyses was investigated as a physicochemical tool for monitoring secreted recombinant antibody production in cultures of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) and murine myeloma non‐secreting 0 (NS0) cell lines. Medium samples were taken during culture of CHO and NS0 cells lines, which included both antibody‐producing and non‐producing cell lines, and analyzed by FT‐IR spectroscopy. Principal components analysis (PCA) alone, and combined with discriminant function analysis (PC‐DFA), were applied to normalized FT‐IR spectroscopy datasets and showed a linear trend with respect to recombinant protein production. Loadings plots of the most significant spectral components showed a decrease in the C–O stretch from polysaccharides and an increase in the amide I band during culture, respectively, indicating a decrease in sugar concentration and an increase in protein concentration in the medium. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) analysis was used to predict antibody titers, and these regression models were able to predict antibody titers accurately with low error when compared to ELISA data. PLSR was also able to predict glucose and lactate amounts in the medium samples accurately. This work demonstrates that FT‐IR spectroscopy has great potential as a tool for monitoring cell cultures for recombinant protein production and offers a starting point for the application of spectroscopic techniques for the on‐line measurement of antibody production in industrial scale bioreactors. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2010; 106: 432–442. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Effects of therapeutic ultrasound and exercise on pain, function, and isokinetic shoulder rotator strength of patients with rotator cuff disease

[Purpose] The aim of this prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study was to evaluate the effects of therapeutic continuous ultrasound (US) on patients with rotator cuff disease. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-two patients were treated with a standard physiotherapy program consisting of a hot-pack, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), exercises, and US that was supervised by the same physiotherapist. The patients were randomly assigned to either a group that received true US (n=11) or one that received sham US (n=11). [Results] There were significant differences between the pre- and post-intervention UCLA Shoulder Rating Scale and Constant-Murley Shoulder Outcome scores, VAS, and external rotation (ER) peak torque 60°/second values for both the true and sham US groups. However, the between-group differences were not statistically significant. [Conclusion] In patients with rotator cuff disease, physiotherapy interventions effectively treat the pain, improve the clinical status, and increase the muscle strength of the shoulder ER at a low constant angular velocity, with functional improvement being seen immediately after treatment. However, at the end of the intervention, the US had yielded no additional efficacy to the physiotherapy treatment regimen of the patients with rotator cuff disease.
Molecular hydrogen in damped Lyα systems: spatial distribution

To interpret H 2 quasar absorption-line observations in damped Lya clouds (DLAs), we model the H 2 spatial distribution within a DLA. Based on numerical simulations of disc structures with parameters similar to those derived for such absorbers, we calculate the H 2 distribution as a function of ultraviolet background (UVB) intensity and dust-to-gas ratio. For typical values of these two quantities we find that the area in which the H 2 fraction exceeds 10 - 6 (typical observational detection limit) only covers ≤10 per cent of the disc surface, i.e. H 2 has a very inhomogeneous, clumpy distribution even at these low abundance levels. This explains the relative paucity of H 2 detections in DLAs. We also show the dependence of the covering fraction of H 2 on dust-to-gas ratio and UVB intensity, and we comment on the physics governing the H 2 chemical network at high redshift.
EFFECTS OF BICARBONATE ION ON CHLOROPHYLL a FLUORESCENCE TRANSIENTS AND DELAYED LIGHT EMISSION FROM MAIZE CHLOROPLASTS

Abstract— Using high‐intensity actinic light, the chlorophyll a fluorescence transient from HCO‐3‐depleted chloroplasts shows a rapid initial rise (O → I) followed by a slow phase (I → P). In the presence of HCO‐3, the O → I rise is delayed but the I → P phase is much more rapid. Using low‐intensity actinic light, the chlorophyll a fluorescence transient from 3‐(3,4‐dichlorophenyl)‐1,1 dimethylurea (DCMU)‐treated chloroplasts is delayed in the presence of HCO‐3. Bicarbonate increases the amount of delayed light emission from chloroplasts given 10 s illumination with weak blue light (0·4 W/m2). DCMU greatly increases the amount of delayed light seen in the presence of HCO‐3 under these conditions but decreases the amount seen in the absence of HCO‐3. It is suggested that HCO‐3 may somehow form or stabilize, in the dark, a number of reaction centers corresponding to the S1 state in the model of B. Forbush, B. Kok and M. McGloin (Photochem. Photobiol. 14, 307–321, 1971).
A robust, adaptive and hierarchical knowledge dissemination architecture

A main objective of an Information Centric Network (ICN) is to improve the network by placing the knowledge in center of the network design. This vision of the network needs an efficient distributed and decentralized knowledge plane. So, an important amount of knowledge should be disseminated over the supervised network, which remains an open problem. Indeed, the dissemination infrastructure must be able to ensure the transport of all information types including knowledge information, throughout the network, and guarantee its freshness. Another crucial aspect of the problem is related to the network robustness with respect to network failures. In this paper, we propose a new model of knowledge dissemination based on super peers architecture. We formalize the super peer selection problem as a K-medoids clustering task. Furthermore, to handle the dynamicity of the network and especially the changes of the end-user network topology, we improved the selection mechanism by adding an adaptive mechanism based on the Page-Hinkley statistical test. Experimental results show that the proposed approach significantly improves performances compared to other current approaches.
Nutrition Recommendations and Interventions for Diabetes

Medical nutrition therapy (MNT) is important in preventing diabetes, managing existing diabetes, and preventing, or at least slowing, the rate of development of diabetes complications. It is, therefore, important at all levels of diabetes prevention. MNT is also an integral component of diabetes self-management education (or training). This position statement provides evidence-based recommendations and interventions for diabetes MNT. The previous position statement with accompanying technical review was published in 2002 and modified slightly in 2004. This statement updates previous position statements, focuses on key references published since the year 2000, and uses grading according to the level of evidence available.
State pensions and the well-being of the elderly in the UK

This paper presents the trends seen over the last quarter of the 20th Century in various indicators of the well-being of the elderly alongside those seen for the young. Specifically we look at measures of both the level and distribution of income and expenditure, and self-reported measures of life satisfaction and health. We then exploit the substantial reforms to the UK pension system over this period to examine the impact of reforms to state pensions on these outcomes. We find that increases in the generosity of state pensions have led to increased incomes of the elderly and reductions in measures of both relative and absolute income poverty. We also find that increased state pensions have led to increased expenditure by the elderly. It is perhaps not surprising that in the UK the reforms to the generosity of state pensions have affected outcomes among the elderly (instead of being fully offset by individuals when they were younger) given that often very little (pre-retirement) notice was given, and that some of the reforms were of a substantial magnitude.