Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does gender diversity on corporate boards increase risk‐taking?

We study the impact of board gender diversity on firm risk-taking in a developing market. Our study is drawn from a sample of 30 Tunisian-listed firms between 1997 and 2010. First, we found that women have a risk perception that leads to risk avoidance behaviour: the presence of women directors, even when there is one woman director, is positively associated with cash ratio. Second, we showed no significant relationship between board gender diversity and the propensity to take strategic or financial risk-taking. Third, the presence of state officer/bureaucrats and/or politically connected women have a positive effect on cash holding and investment opportunities. Finally, we found that foreign investors do not invest in firms with gender-diverse boards. We conclude with a discussion of contributions to scholarship and practice, and present avenues for future research. Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Resume Nous etudions l'impact de la diversite de genre au sein du conseil d'administration sur la prise de risque des firmes dans les marches en voie de developpement. Notre etude se base sur un echantillon de 30 firmes tunisiennes cotees entre 1997 et 2010. D'abord, nous avons constate que les femmes ont une perception de risque qui se traduit par un contournement des risques : la presence de femmes membres du conseil d'administration, une ou plus, est positivement associee au ratio de liquidite. Deuxiemement, nous n'avons montre aucune relation significative entre la diversite de genre et la propension de prendre des risques strategiques ou financiers. Troisiemement, la presence des femmes employees de l'Etat/bureaucrates et/ou des femmes politiquement connectees a un effet positif sur la liquidite des actifs et les opportunites d'investissement. Finalement, nous avons constate que des investisseurs etrangers n'investissent pas dans des firmes avec des conseils caracterises par la diversite de genre. Nous concluons avec une discussion de contributions a la litterature et la pratique et presentons des avenues pour la recherche future. Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Algorithms for discovering bucket orders from data

Ordering and ranking items of different types are important tasks in various applications, such as query processing and scientific data mining. A total order for the items can be misleading, since there are groups of items that have practically equal ranks.We consider bucket orders, i.e., total orders with ties. They can be used to capture the essential order information without overfitting the data: they form a useful concept class between total orders and arbitrary partial orders. We address the question of finding a bucket order for a set of items, given pairwise precedence information between the items. We also discuss methods for computing the pairwise precedence data.We describe simple and efficient algorithms for finding good bucket orders. Several of the algorithms have a provable approximation guarantee, and they scale well to large datasets. We provide experimental results on artificial and a real data that show the usefulness of bucket orders and demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the algorithms.
The Impact of Organizational Learning on Lack of Team's Expertise Risk in Information Systems Projects

During the past decade, information systems investment has grown rapidly worldwide and information systems project development has become one of the most important targets in e-business. Yet, the failure of information systems projects is a common occurrence in many organizations around the world. A theoretical model is derived based upon organizational learning theory and prior research in order to examine the effects of organizational learning on lack of team's expertise risk. A survey method is applied to test the hypotheses proposed by the research model, and Taiwanese corporate companies serve as examples. After survey by questionnaire and analyze the data by structure equation modeling, the result reveals that organizational learning has significantly negative impacts on all of the lack of development expertise risk, lack of domain expertise risk, and lack of general expertise risk. These findings support information systems managers with valuable information to revisit their priorities in terms of the relative efforts in organization learning.
Superdiffusive quantum stochastic walk definable on arbitrary directed graph

In this paper we define a quantum stochastic walk on arbitrary directed graph with super-diffusive propagation on a line graph. Our model is based on global environment interaction QSW, which is known to have ballistic propagation. However we discovered, that in this case additional amplitude transitions occur, hence graph topology is changed into moral graph. Because of that we call the effect a spontaneous moralization. We propose a general correction scheme, which is proved to remove unnecessary transition and thus to preserve the graph topology. In the end we numerically show, that super-diffusive propagation is preserved. Because of that our new model may be applied as effective evolution on arbitrary directed graph.
Cutting Edge: Overlapping Functions of TLR7 and TLR9 for Innate Defense against a Herpesvirus Infection1

As initially demonstrated with murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV), plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are the major source of IFN-α/β in response to a variety of viruses in vivo. However, contradictory results have been obtained pertaining to the mechanisms promoting IFN-α/β production by pDCs in response to MCMV. In this study we show that TLR7 and TLR9 exert redundant functions for IFN-α/β, IL-12p40, and TNF-α production by pDCs in vivo during MCMV infection. In contrast, we confirm that systemic production of IL-12p70 strictly depends on TLR9. The combined loss of TLR7 and TLR9 recapitulates critical features of the phenotype of MyD88-deficient mice, including a dramatic decrease in systemic IFN-α/β levels, an increase in viral load, and increased susceptibility to MCMV-induced mortality. This is the first demonstration of the implication of TLR7 in the recognition of a DNA virus.
The effect of methotrexate on enzymes induced following partial hepatectomy.

The synthesis of thymidine kinase, thymidylate kinase, thymidylate synthetase, DNA polymerase, and deoxycytidylate deaminase was initiated at about 12 hr following partial hepatectomy of rats. The intraperitoneal injection of Methotrexate inhibited the synthesis of all of the above enzymes with the exception of thymidylate synthetase, which was markedly stimulated. The synthetase activity was fourfold greater than that of the uninjected controls at 48 hr following partial hepatectomy, and at 72 hr it was 10- to 15-fold higher. At the latter time interval, the synthetase was still increasing in activity in the treated rats, while the enzyme activity in the control rat livers was decreasing. Puromycin had no effect on the synthetase elevation, while actinomycin inhibited the increase partially. However, cycloheximide, at levels that did not inhibit the normal rise in deoxycytidylate deaminase activity following partial hepatectomy, greatly inhibited the normal and Methotrexate-stimulated increase in synthetase activity. To emphasize the possibility that the Methotrexate stimulation may be an indirect effect, folate was found to cause a similar, though less dramatic, increase in thymidylate synthetase activity.
Mutual Recognition and Credit Transfer in Europe: Experiences and Problems

Wide recognition was a major policy aim accompanying the increase of student mobility and graduate mobility in Europe since the 1950s. The Council of Europe and subsequently UNESCO and the European Union set more ambitious goals over the years. The 1997 Lisbon Convention calls for recognition of entry requirements, study periods, and degrees, “unless substantial differences can be shown” by country, institutional type or individual institution, and programme. Also, support for student mobility in the framework of ERASMUS is awarded provided that the study achievements abroad are recognized subsequently by the home institution. Finally, the introduction of bachelor’s and master’s programmes in the “Bologna process” places a strong emphasis on facilitating recognition within Europe, but the call for more competition might imply a steeper stratification of higher education systems, which will raise barriers to recognition.
Combating Sub-Clusters Effect in Imbalanced Classification

Approaches to imbalanced classification problem usually focus on rebalancing the class sizes, neglecting the effect of hidden structure within the majority class. The aim of this paper is to highlight the effect of sub-clusters within the majority class on detecting minority class instances, and handle imbalanced classification by learning the structure in the data. We propose a decomposition based approach to two-class imbalanced classification problem. This approach works by first learning the hidden structure of the majority class using an unsupervised learning algorithm. Thus, transforming the classification problem into several classification sub-problems. The base classifier is constructed on each sub-problem. The ensemble is tuned to increase its sensitivity towards minority class. The proposed approach overcomes the limitations of conventional classifiers on imbalanced problem, and combats imbalance by learning hidden structure in the majority class, which is neglected in most existing works. We demonstrate the performance of the proposed approach on several datasets.
Counselling Clients from a Younger Generation

What are the challenges and rewards for counsellors in work with clients from a younger generation? Gordon Smith and Mark Pearson gathered in-depth qualitative data on this question from experienced and qualified counsellors and identified major themes through the use of interpretative phenomenological analysis. While concurring with the literature on many of the challenges in working with youth, the emerging themes also suggest significant personal rewards for counsellors that have been less appreciated. Themes of rewards such as enhanced vitality and energy, feeling younger, and a sense of wonder and emerged. In contrast to the prevailing view that reports work with adolescents as discouraging and difficult, participants also reported client openness as a rewarding feature of counselling younger clients. The positive nature of these themes may hold valuable contributions for counsellor training, supervision and employment.
Sniff-Like Patterned Input Results in Long-Term Plasticity at the Rat Olfactory Bulb Mitral and Tufted Cell to Granule Cell Synapse

During odor sensing the activity of principal neurons of the mammalian olfactory bulb, the mitral and tufted cells (MTCs), occurs in repetitive bursts that are synchronized to respiration, reminiscent of hippocampal theta-gamma coupling. Axonless granule cells (GCs) mediate self- and lateral inhibitory interactions between the excitatory MTCs via reciprocal dendrodendritic synapses. We have explored long-term plasticity at this synapse by using a theta burst stimulation (TBS) protocol and variations thereof. GCs were excited via glomerular stimulation in acute brain slices. We find that TBS induces exclusively long-term depression in the majority of experiments, whereas single bursts (“single-sniff paradigm”) can elicit both long-term potentiation and depression. Statistical analysis predicts that the mechanism underlying this bidirectional plasticity involves the proportional addition or removal of presynaptic release sites. Gamma stimulation with the same number of APs as in TBS was less efficient in inducing plasticity. Both TBS- and “single-sniff paradigm”-induced plasticity depend on NMDA receptor activation. Since the onset of plasticity is very rapid and requires little extra activity, we propose that these forms of plasticity might play a role already during an ongoing search for odor sources. Our results imply that components of both short-term and long-term olfactory memory may be encoded at this synapse.
Job insecurity and job satisfaction: The interactively moderating effects of optimism and person-supervisor deep-level similarity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine optimism and how facets of subordinates’ psychological characteristics, such as their attitudes and personalities, are similar to their direct supervisors’ (as person-supervisor deep-level similarity or P-S deep-level similarity) in order to understand their interactions with job insecurity in predicting employee job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical study had been conducted. Sample firms in this study consist of eight state-run electric power companies and 16 licensed chemical companies in central Hubei Province in China. In total, 368 valid samples were included in the analyses (with a valid return rate of 73 percent). All constructs were rated on a five-point Likert-type response scale. In order to diminish the possibility of common method biases, the authors used participants’ dyad supervisors to rate P-S deep-level similarity and P-S guanxi. The authors tested the hypotheses by implementing hierarchical linear regression. Findings .
The Economic and Clinical Impact of Sustained Use of a Progressive Mobility Program in a Neuro-ICU*

Objective: To investigate a progressive mobility program in a neurocritical care population with the hypothesis that the benefits and outcomes of the program (e.g., decreased length of stay) would have a significant positive economic impact. Design: Retrospective analysis of economic and clinical outcome data before, immediately following, and 2 years after implementation of the Progressive Upright Mobility Protocol Plus program (UF Health Shands Hospital, Gainesville, FL) involving a series of planned movements in a sequential manner with an additional six levels of rehabilitation in the neuro-ICU at UF Health Shands Hospital. Setting: Thirty-bed neuro-ICU in an academic medical center. Patients: Adult neurologic and neurosurgical patients: 1,118 patients in the pre period, 731 patients in the post period, and 796 patients in the sustained period. Interventions: Implementation of Progressive Upright Mobility Protocol Plus. Measurements and Main Results: ICU length of stay decreased from 6.5 to 5.8 days in the immediate post period and 5.9 days in the sustained period (F (2,2641) = 3.1; p = 0.045). Hospital length of stay was reduced from 11.3 ± 14.1 days to 8.6 ± 8.8 post days and 8.8 ± 9.3 days sustained (F (2,2641) = 13.0; p < 0.001). The impact of the study intervention on ICU length of stay (p = 0.031) and hospital length of stay (p < 0.001) remained after adjustment for age, sex, diagnoses, sedation, and ventilation. Hospital-acquired infections were reduced by 50%. Average total cost per patient after adjusting for inflation was significantly reduced by 16% (post period) and 11% (sustained period) when compared with preintervention (F (2,2641) = 3.1; p = 0.045). Overall, these differences translated to an approximately $12.0 million reduction in direct costs from February 2011 through the end of 2013. Conclusions: An ongoing progressive mobility program in the neurocritical care population has clinical and financial benefits associated with its implementation and should be considered.
Functional Outcome of Acute Achilles Tendon Rupture With and Without Operative Treatment Using Identical Functional Bracing Protocol

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the functional results of operative and nonoperative treatment of acute Achilles tendon rupture using an identical rehabilitation program of functional bracing. Methods: Over a 10-year period, 200 patients (99 operative, 101 nonoperative) aged between 18 and 65 years were treated at our institution’s physiotherapy department after acute Achilles tendon rupture. There were 132 patients (62 operative, 70 nonoperative) available for a minimum 2-year follow-up (average 6.5 years; range, 2-13 years). Functional outcome was assessed using the Achilles tendon total rupture score (ATRS). Results: With the numbers available, no significant difference could be detected in ATRS between operative (mean 84.8, median 90) and nonoperative groups (mean 85.3, median 91; P = 0.55). No significant difference could be detected in ATRS between male and female patients however treated (P = 0.30) or between patients younger and older than 40 years at time of injury (P = 0.68). There was no correlation between ATRS score and age at injury in all patients (ρ = −0.0168, P = 0.85). In male patients, there was a weak trend with older patients at follow-up having better scores (ρ = 0.21, P = 0.069). However, among female patients, there was a significant negative correlation between ATRS scores and increasing age (ρ = −0.29, P = 0.03). Logistic regression analysis failed to show any significant effect of age at rupture, gender, or mode of treatment on ATRS. Conclusions: This study showed no significant difference detectable in ATRS between operative and nonoperative patients in the treatment of acute Achilles tendon ruptures using an identical rehabilitation program with functional bracing. Level of Evidence: Level II, prospective comparative study.
Revealing Service Commitments in Service-Oriented Enterprise Architecture

In this paper we analyze the structuring principles underlying Service-oriented Enterprise Architecture (SoEA) in the light of a core reference ontology for services (UFO-S). The ontology provides a broad account for services and is centered on the service commitments/claims that are established by service participants throughout the service lifecycle. UFO-S is applied as theory to support the analysis of SoEA structuring techniques and thereby reveal social aspects inherent to service phenomena in SoEA (e.g., commitments/claims, and delegations) that remain underexplored due to the current prevailing capability-based S oEA view. From that, we advocate for a commitment-based SoEA view, which can be harmonized to the capability-based SoEA view in order to establish richer SoEA structuring principles. Implications of our analysis are discussed taking as basis widely adopted service-oriented approaches (SOA-RM by OAS IS, ITIL, and ArchiMate).
Nowcasting the Bitcoin Market with Twitter Signals 1

This paper analyzes correlations and causalities between Bitcoin market indicators and Twitter posts containing emotional signals on Bitcoin. Within a timeframe of 104 days (November 23 rd 2013 - March 7 th 2014), about 160,000 Twitter posts containing ”bitcoin” and a positive, negative or uncertainty related term were collected and further analyzed. For instance, the terms ”happy”, ”love”, ”fun”, ”good”, ”bad”, ”sad” and ”unhappy” represent positive and negative emotional signals, while ”hope”, ”fear” and ”worry” are considered as indicators of uncertainty. The static (daily) Pearson correlation results show a signiﬁcant positive correlation between emotional tweets and the close price, trading volume and intraday price spread of Bitcoin. However, a dynamic Granger causality analysis does not conﬁrm a causal effect of emotional Tweets on Bitcoin market values. To the contrary, the analyzed data shows that a higher Bitcoin trading volume Granger causes more signals of uncertainty within a 24 to 72-hour timeframe. This result leads to the interpretation that emotional sentiments rather mirror the market than that they make it predictable. Finally, the conclusion of this paper is that the microblogging platform Twitter is Bitcoins virtual trading ﬂoor, emotionally reﬂecting its trading dynamics. 2
Emerging protective and risk factors of mental health in Asian American students: findings from the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey

A large number of studies observed inconsistent findings about mental health among Asian American adolescents. Using data from the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, this study examined a set of emerging risk and protective factors (dietary patterns, bullying, cyberbullying, TV consumption, and physical activity) for psychosocial distress (depression and suicidal ideation) in 12- to 18-year-old 671 Asian compared to 6,415 Caucasian and 3,477 African adolescents. Using descriptive statistics and bivariate logistic regression analysis, this study found that Asian students (27.1%) reported more depression than their African (25.9%) but less depression than their Caucasian (29.4%) counterparts. Asian students (18.8%) reported more suicidal ideation than their African (15.9%) and Caucasian (16.8%) counterparts. Results also depicted that lower carrot intake increased depression risk (odd ratio (OR): 1.53, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.05, 2.21), while higher milk and less carbonated soft drink consumption decreased suicidal ideation risk (OR: .49, 95% CI: .26, .91, OR: .53, 95% CI: .32, .88, respectively), only applicable to Asian students. However, unexpectedly, low levels of bullying on school property resulted in higher depression (Asians, OR: 1.53, 95% CI: 1.05, 2.24; Africans, OR: 3.32, 95% CI: 2.96, 3.72; and Caucasians, OR: 2.40, 95% CI: 2.04, 2.83). Similarly, lower cyber bullying (Asians, OR: 3.54, 95% CI: 2.12, 5.93; Africans, OR: 2.88, 95% CI: 2.47, 3.34; and Caucasians, OR: 2.59, 95% CI: 2.19, 3.04) predicted higher odds of depression and suicidal ideation in all racial groups. Another interesting risk factor of higher suicidal ideation in overall racial groups was high levels of breakfast consumption (Asians, OR: 3.19, 95% CI: 1.91, 5.31; Africans, OR: 1.52, 95% CI: 1.21, 1.90; and Caucasians, OR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.17, 1.54). School staff and mental health professionals should embrace culturally responsive healthy dietary patterns to promote positive youth development in Asian Americans.
Reflections from a Creative Community-Based Participatory Research Project Exploring Health and Body Image with First Nations Girls

In Canada, Aboriginal peoples often experience a multitude of inequalities when compared with the general population, particularly in relation to health (e.g., increased incidence of diabetes). These inequalities are rooted in a negative history of colonization. Decolonizing methodologies recognize these realities and aim to shift the focus from communities being researched to being collaborative partners in the research process. This article describes a qualitative community-based participatory research project focused on health and body image with First Nations girls in a Tribal Council region in Western Canada. We discuss our project design and the incorporation of creative methods (e.g., photovoice) to foster integration and collaboration as related to decolonizing methodology principles. This article is both descriptive and reflective as it summarizes our project and discusses lessons learned from the process, integrating evaluations from the participating girls as well as our reflections as researchers.