Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CFOs and CEOs: Who Have the Most Influence on Earnings Management?

This study examines the association between chief financial officer (CFO) equity incentives and earnings management. Chief executive officer (CEO) equity incentives have been shown to be associated with accruals management and the likelihood of beating analyst forecasts (Bergstresser and Philippon, 2006; Cheng and Warfield, 2005). Because CFOs' primary responsibility is financial reporting, CFO equity incentives should play a stronger role than those of the CEO in earnings management. We find that the magnitude of accruals and the likelihood of beating analyst forecasts are more sensitive to CFO equity incentives than to those of the CEO. Our evidence supports the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) new disclosure requirement on CFO compensation.
Reflections on the Critics, and Beyond Them

It is argued that school effectiveness research has made three considerable contributions: (1)The setting up of a field which exhibits the characteristics of mature normal science; (2) The generation of a considerable volume of research findings on numerous important topics; (3) The combatting of societal and professional pessimism concerning the prospects of educational advance. It is argued that the recent criticisms by those such as Thrupp, Slee and Weiner are misplaced, and that the field is reflexively critiquing itself to a high degree. It is concluded that school effectiveness researchers are likely to generate more purposive social and educational change than their critics.
The contribution of a ‘Quiet Place’ to early intervention strategies for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties in mainstream schools

Bob Spalding, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Education, University of Liverpool, outlines the nature of a holistically oriented therapeutic intervention (‘Quiet Place’) developed in some mainstream primary schools on Merseyside. It offers a focus for a variety of therapeutic interventions, as well as an environment conducive to a sense of well-being and relaxation. An evaluation of the first cohort of children to complete the programme is analysed in comparison with a control group, and the key factors in the success of the provision are identified.
Student teachers, socialisation, school placement and schizophrenia: the case of curriculum change

The dissonance between the socialisation experiences of student teachers during their own schooling and practicums and university-based teacher education programmes is indicative of the broader theory/practice dichotomy in education. While this dichotomy is of considerable interest to all teacher educators, studies of students’ pre- and post-placement professional beliefs are rare. The authors availed of the publication of alternative curriculum pathways for Ireland to investigate the curriculum beliefs of student teachers immediately before and after their final school placement. Important contextual aspects of the study including school and teacher culture and the proposed curriculum pathways are introduced. The stark contrast between student teachers’ preferences and their views regarding the feasibility of the various pathways and their commitment to pupil-centred learning are among the main findings of the current study. A positive relationship emerged between respondents’ curriculum preferences and their grades in curriculum studies. These emerging themes are considered from the perspectives of student teachers’ beliefs about pupil learning, the theory/practice dichotomy and the importance of developing school–university partnerships.
Combined Effects of Nitrogen Concentration and Seasonal Changes on the Production of Lipids in Nannochloropsis oculata

Instead of sole nutrient starvation to boost algal lipid production, we addressed nutrient limitation at two different seasons (autumn and spring) during outdoor cultivation in flat panel photobioreactors. Lipid accumulation, biomass and lipid productivity and changes in fatty acid composition of Nannochloropsis oculata were investigated under nitrogen (N) limitation (nitrate:phosphate N:P 5, N:P 2.5 molar ratio). N. oculata was able to maintain a high biomass productivity under N-limitation compared to N-sufficiency (N:P 20) at both seasons, which in spring resulted in nearly double lipid productivity under N-limited conditions (0.21 g L−1 day−1) compared to N-sufficiency (0.11 g L−1 day−1). Saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids increased from 76% to nearly 90% of total fatty acids in N-limited cultures. Higher biomass and lipid productivity in spring could, partly, be explained by higher irradiance, partly by greater harvesting rate (~30%). Our results indicate the potential for the production of algal high value products (i.e., polyunsaturated fatty acids) during both N-sufficiency and N-limitation. To meet the sustainability challenges of algal biomass production, we propose a dual-system process: Closed photobioreactors producing biomass for high value products and inoculum for larger raceway ponds recycling waste/exhaust streams to produce bulk chemicals for fuel, feed and industrial material.
Neurocircuitries and neurotransmitter interactions in schizophrenia

This review describes an attempt to widen the perspective on schizophrenia and to go beyond the dopamine hypothesis. In recent animal experiments corticofugal glutamatergic pathways have emerged as powerful regulators of a variety of subcortical mechanisms, where the dorsal and ventral striatum appear to play a major role in feedback loops controlling a thalamic filter function. These loops appear to be important regulators of wakefulness and psychomotor activity. A deficient filter function will lead to an overload of sensory input to the cerebral cortex and hyperarousal and may ultimately cause breakdown of the integrative capacity of the cerebral cortex and psychosis. Both negative and positive feedback loops appear to be driven by corticofugal glutamatergic pathways, and deficient functions of these loops may cause or contribute to the positive and negative symptomatology of schizophrenia, respectively. In addition to dopamine and glutamate, several other neurotransmitters, including γ -aminobutyric acid, noradrenaline, serotonin and acetylcholine, appear to play an important role in psychomotor activity and psychotogenesis. Behavioural and biochemical animal models illustrate the interplay between the various neurotransmitters in these respects.
Assessment and Comparison of Culturally Based Explanations for Mental Disorder Among Singaporean Chinese Youth

Background: Culture is important to how populations understand the cause of mental disorder, a variable that has implications for treatment-seeking behaviour. Asian populations underutilize professional mental health treatment partly because of their endorsement of supernatural causation models to explain mental disorders, beliefs that stem from their religious backgrounds. Aims: This study sought to understand the dimensions of explanatory models used by three groups of Singaporean Chinese youth (n = 842) — Christian, Chinese religionist, no religion — and examined their responses to an instrument that combined explanations from psychological and organic perspectives on mental disorder with approaches from Asian and Western religious traditions. Results: Factor analysis revealed five factors. Two were psychological corresponding to the humanistic and cognitive-behavioural perspectives respectively. Another two, which were supernatural in nature, dealt with karmaic beliefs popular among Asian religionists and more classical religious explanations common in monotheistic religions. The remaining factor was deemed a physiological model although it incorporated an item that made it consistent with an Asian organic model. Conclusion: While groups differed in their endorsement of supernatural explanations, psychological perspectives had the strongest endorsement among this population. Regression analysis showed that individuals who endorsed supernatural explanations more strongly tended to have no exposure to psychology courses and heightened religiosity.
Life-threatening Arrhythmias Genotype-phenotype Correlation in the Long-qt Syndrome : Gene-specific Triggers for Genotype-phenotype Correlation in the Long-qt Syndrome Gene-specific Triggers for Life-threatening Arrhythmias

Background—The congenital long-QT syndrome (LQTS) is caused by mutations on several genes, all of which encode cardiac ion channels. The progressive understanding of the electrophysiological consequences of these mutations opens unforeseen possibilities for genotype-phenotype correlation studies. Preliminary observations suggested that the conditions (" triggers ") associated with cardiac events may in large part be gene specific. Methods and Results—We identified 670 LQTS patients of known genotype (LQT1, nϭ371; LQT2, nϭ234; LQT3, nϭ65) who had symptoms (syncope, cardiac arrest, sudden death) and examined whether 3 specific triggers (exercise, emotion, and sleep/rest without arousal) differed according to genotype. LQT1 patients experienced the majority of their events (62%) during exercise, and only 3% occurred during rest/sleep. These percentages were almost reversed among LQT2 and LQT3 patients, who were less likely to have events during exercise (13%) and more likely to have events during rest/sleep (29% and 39%). Lethal and nonlethal events followed the same pattern. Corrected QT interval did not differ among LQT1, LQT2, and LQT3 patients (498, 497, and 506 ms, respectively). The percent of patients who were free of recurrence with ␤-blocker therapy was higher and the death rate was lower among LQT1 patients (81% and 4%, respectively) than among LQT2 (59% and 4%, respectively) and LQT3 (50% and 17%, respectively) patients. Conclusions—Life-threatening arrhythmias in LQTS patients tend to occur under specific circumstances in a gene-specific manner. These data allow new insights into the mechanisms that relate the electrophysiological consequences of mutations on specific genes to clinical manifestations and offer the possibility of complementing traditional therapy with gene-specific approaches.
Residential Patterns among Religious Groups in Canadian Cities

This study, based on 2001 Canadian census data for 16 census metropolitan areas, explores residential segregation among eight religious groups. We include non–Christian religious groups to reflect the emerging religious diversity of Canadian society. Our study provides the first comprehensive comparison of the residential patterns of people affiliated with major religious groups in Canada. We argue that each religion is associated with unique sets of religious institutional behaviors, which in turn shape each religious group's relationships with other religious groups. In this study, we identify four religious institutional behaviors that can affect the residential segregation of various religious groups: institutional orientation of religious community services, subcultural identity, religious identity, and discrimination. The findings indicate that these religious institutional behaviors are related to the residential segregation patterns of different religious groups. Patrones residenciales entre grupos religiosos en las ciudades canadienses (Eric Fong y Elic Chan) Resumen Este estudio, basado en los datos del censo canadiense del 2001 para 16 áreas metropolitanas, explora el tema de la segregación racial entre ocho grupos religiosos. Se incluyen grupos religiosos no cristianos con el fin de reflejar la creciente diversidad religiosa de la sociedad canadiense. Nuestro estudio provee el primer análisis comparativo exhaustivo de los patrones residenciales de las personas que forman parte de los principales grupos religiosos en Canadá. Nuestro argumento es que cada religión presenta un conjunto único de conductas institucionales religiosas las cuales, a su vez, dan forma a la relación entre cada grupo religioso y los otros grupos. En este estudio, identificamos cuatro conductas institucionales religiosas que pueden afectar la segregación residencial de diferentes grupos religiosos: la orientación institucional de los servicios religiosos, la identidad de la subcultura, la identidad religiosa y la discriminación. Los resultados indican que estas conductas institucionales se relacionan con los patrones de segregación residencial de diferentes grupos religiosos.
Anti‐diabetic effect of blockade of the renin‐angiotensin system

Diabetes, which is frequently associated with hypertension, accelerates the development of hypertension‐induced cardiovascular disease. Thus, the prevention of diabetes is important in the management of hypertension. Recent clinical megastudies have suggested that the blockade of the renin‐angiotensin system (RAS) by angiotensin‐converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) inhibits new onset of diabetes. Thus, the agents to inhibit the RAS should be beneficial for glucose metabolism. However, the cardiovascular protective effects of ACE inhibitors and ARBs are not always superior to other classes of drugs. Further long‐term clinical trials are necessary to clarify the anti‐diabetic effect of the RAS‐inhibiting agents.
Developing Family‐Friendly Exhibits

How can museums encourage active family learning? Four Philadelphia area science institutions—The Franklin Institute Science Museum, the New Jersey State Aquarium, the Academy of Natural Sciences, and the Philadelphia Zoo—have investigated the answer to this question as part of the PISEC (Philadelphia-Camden Informal Science Education Collaborative) Family Learning Project. PISEC is conducting research and exhibit development aimed at increasing understanding of family learning in science museums and identifying the characteristics of successful family learning exhibits. The PISEC project has three phases, two of which have been completed: (1) a research study to establish behavioral indicators for family learning; (2) the development and evaluation of four exhibit enhancements aimed at achieving family learning goals; (3) a research study of the impact of the four enhanced exhibits. This article will describe the results of formative evaluation conducted during Phase 2 of the project. “Family learning components,” or exhibit enhancements, designed to help adults and children learn together, were developed, field-tested, revised, and installed at each of the four museums. PISEC has identified seven characteristics of successful family learning exhibits: multi-sided, multi-user, accessible, multi-outcome, multi-modal, readable, and relevant. The four PISEC family learning components, embodying these characteristics, appear to have increased active family learning.
Toward the Development of a Conceptualization of Gifted Motivation

Whereas perspectives on giftedness have included motivation as a construct related to giftedness, the proposed conceptualization advances a new view that motivation is an area of giftedness in and of itself. Academic intrinsic motivation (i.e., enjoyment of school learning) is the domain focused upon in this conceptualization inasmuch as it has inherent ties to cognition, gifted intellect, and achievement. Research supports the following criteria, advanced as a beginning effort toward the development of a conceptualization of a gifted motivation construct: (a) significantly higher academic intrinsic motivation is evidenced by intellectually gifted compared to their comparison cohort; (b) academic intrinsic motivation is significantly, positively, and uniquely related to academic achievement above and beyond IQ; (c) academic intrinsic motivation evidences substantial continuity from childhood through adolescence; and (d) environment is significantly related to academic intrinsic motivation. The construct of gifted motivation serves heuristic purposes to advance further inquiry and also has implications regarding the development and implementation of giftedness programs. Suggestions are made regarding research needed for further development of a gifted motivation construct.
Getting Down to Business and Off Welfare: Rural Women Entrepreneurs

business ownership as a strategy for becoming economically selfsufficient. Constant comparative analysis revealed two experiences that were common to all the women. Two separate constellations of experiences also emerged: the experiences of over two thirds of the women that were distal to the entrepreneurial decision and the experiences of the remaining women that were proximal to the decision.
Internet-Based Intervention for the Treatment of Online Addiction for College Students in China: A Pilot Study of the Healthy Online Self-Helping Center

Internet addiction among college students has become a serious problem in China. This pilot study involved the development of an online expert system named Healthy Online Self-helping Center (HOSC) as an intervention tool to help those who wish to reduce online usage. The study also explored the effectiveness of HOSC for college students' Internet addiction behavior. Participants (N = 65) were recruited from a university in Beijing, and were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: using HOSC within a laboratory environment, using HOSC within a natural environment, using a noninteractive program, and a control group. All the participants were asked to answer questionnaires at the baseline and at the 1-month follow-up. The questionnaires included the participants' online hours per week, the legitimate ratio of Internet usage, online satisfaction, and the Young's Diagnostic Questionnaire. The results revealed that HOSC under both natural and laboratory environments could effectively reduce the participants' online hours per week as well as their Young's Diagnostic Questionnaire score, and improve online satisfaction at a 1-month follow-up. Participants using a noninteractive program also had similar results. The article concludes with a discussion of the limitations of the study, as well as the implications of the findings and future research directions.
Wheat bran affects the site of fermentation of resistant starch and luminal indexes related to colon cancer risk: a study in pigs

BACKGROUND Recent studies suggest that resistant starch (effective in producing butyrate and lowering possibly toxic ammonia) is rapidly fermented in the proximal colon; the distal colon especially would, however, benefit from these properties of resistant starch. AIMS To determine whether wheat bran (a rich source of insoluble non-starch polysaccharides), known to hasten gastrointestinal transit, could carry resistant starch through to the distal colon and thus shift its site of fermentation. METHODS Twenty four pigs were fed four human type diets: a control diet, or control diet supplemented with resistant starch, wheat bran, or both. Intestinal contents and faeces were collected after two weeks. RESULTS Without wheat bran, resistant starch was rapidly fermented in the caecum and proximal colon. Supplementation with wheat bran inhibited the caecal fermentation of resistant starch, resulting in an almost twofold increase (from 12.9 (2.5) to 20.5 (2.1) g/day, p<0.05) in resistant starch being fermented between the proximal colon and faeces. This resulted in higher butyrate (133%, p<0.05) and lower ammonia (81%, p<0.05) concentrations in the distal colonic regions. CONCLUSIONS Wheat bran can shift the fermentation of resistant starch further distally, thereby improving the luminal conditions in the distal colonic regions where tumours most commonly occur. Therefore, the combined consumption of resistant starch and insoluble non-starch polysaccharides may contribute to the dietary modulation of colon cancer risk.
Intrinsic Parameterizations of Surface Meshes

Parameterization of discrete surfaces is a fundamental and widely‐used operation in graphics, required, for instance, for texture mapping or remeshing. As 3D data becomes more and more detailed, there is an increased need for fast and robust techniques to automatically compute least‐distorted parameterizations of large meshes. In this paper, we present new theoretical and practical results on the parameterization of triangulated surface patches. Given a few desirable properties such as rotation and translation invariance, we show that the only admissible parameterizations form a two‐dimensional set and each parameterization in this set can be computed using a simple, sparse, linear system. Since these parameterizations minimize the distortion of different intrinsic measures of the original mesh, we call them Intrinsic Parameterizations. In addition to this partial theoretical analysis, we propose robust, efficient and tunable tools to obtain least‐distorted parameterizations automatically. In particular, we give details on a novel, fast technique to provide an optimal mapping without fixing the boundary positions, thus providing a unique Natural Intrinsic Parameterization. Other techniques based on this parameterization family, designed to ease the rapid design of parameterizations, are also proposed.
Quantitative Assessment of Fault Tolerant Precision Timing for Electricity Substations

Advanced substation applications, such as synchrophasors and IEC 61850-9-2 sampled value process buses, depend upon highly accurate synchronizing signals for correct operation. The IEEE 1588 Precision Timing Protocol (PTP) is the recommended means of providing precise timing for future substations. This paper presents a quantitative assessment of PTP reliability using fault tree analysis. Two network topologies are proposed that use grandmaster clocks with dual network connections and take advantage of the best master clock algorithm (BMCA) from IEEE 1588. The cross-connected grandmaster topology doubles reliability, and the addition of a shared third grandmaster gives a nine-fold improvement over duplicated grandmasters. The performance of BMCA mediated handover of the grandmaster role during contingencies in the timing system was evaluated experimentally. The 1 μs performance requirement of sampled values and synchrophasors are met, even during network or GPS antenna outages. Slave clocks are shown to synchronize to the backup grandmaster in response to degraded performance or loss of the main grandmaster. Slave disturbances are less than 350 ns provided the grandmaster reference clocks are not offset from one another. A clear understanding of PTP reliability and the factors that affect availability will encourage the adoption of PTP for substation time synchronization.
Mlc of Thermus thermophilus: a Glucose-Specific Regulator for a Glucose/Mannose ABC Transporter in the Absence of the Phosphotransferase System

ABSTRACT We report the presence of Mlc in a thermophilic bacterium. Mlc is known as a global regulator of sugar metabolism in gram-negative enteric bacteria that is controlled by sequestration to a glucose-transporting EIIGlc of the phosphotransferase system (PTS). Since thermophilic bacteria do not possess PTS, Mlc in Thermus thermophilus must be differently controlled. DNA sequence alignments between Mlc from T. thermophilus (MlcTth) and Mlc from E. coli (MlcEco) revealed that MlcTth conserved five residues of the glucose-binding motif of glucokinases. Here we show that MlcTth is not a glucokinase but is indeed able to bind glucose (KD = 20 μM), unlike MlcEco. We found that mlc of T. thermophilus is the first gene within an operon encoding an ABC transporter for glucose and mannose, including a glucose/mannose-binding protein and two permeases. malK1, encoding the cognate ATP-hydrolyzing subunit, is located elsewhere on the chromosome. The system transports glucose at 70°C with a Km of 0.15 μM and a V max of 4.22 nmol per min per ml at an optical density (OD) of 1. MlcTth negatively regulates itself and the entire glucose/mannose ABC transport system operon but not malK1, with glucose acting as an inducer. MalK1 is shared with the ABC transporter for trehalose, maltose, sucrose, and palatinose (TMSP). Mutants lacking malK1 do not transport either glucose or maltose. The TMSP transporter is also able to transport glucose with a Km of 1.4 μM and a V max of 7.6 nmol per min per ml at an OD of 1, but it does not transport mannose.