Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effectiveness of Facilitated Business-to-Business Word-of Mouth Marketing Strategies on Target Participants' Information Sharing Behavior

This study examines the impact of facilitated business-to-business (B2B) word-of-mouth (WOM) on participants' information transmission decisions. We also examine characteristics of WOM participants and determine the types of participants who spread information. Understanding WOM participants' information sharing decisions is extremely important to agribusinesses using WOM in their marketing mix. For an expendable crop input, the most important factor in determining whether producers share WOM initiative information with peers is how often they are asked for advice by their peers. In contrast, for an expendable companion animal product the most important factor in determining whether veterinarians share WOM initiative information with peers is whether they had a satisfactory experience in the WOM initiative.
A History of U.S. Higher Education in Accounting, Part II: Reforming Accounting within the Academy

In the 1970s, efforts to reform accounting education revolved around the movement toward schools of accountancy (or independent departments). These efforts were largely unsuccessful. However, in the 1980s, the movement to expand accounting education beyond a four‐year undergraduate degree resulted in American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) members passing a rule mandating 150 hours of education for AICPA membership. The reaction to this rule was varied. Many state boards of accountancy and state legislatures adopted rules requiring 150 hours; however, the requirements for taking the CPA exam and licensure varied across states. After the rule's passage academicians responded by creating the Accounting Education Change Commission, whose purpose was to improve accounting education regardless of the number of credit hours students earned. Also, the AICPA shifted its attention to the possibility of expanding certification to practitioners who were not accountants. Both of these efforts were .
The use of bronchial provocation tests for identifying asthma

◆ People with asthma are excluded from some occupations, including service in the Australian Defence Force, and asthma can be exacerbated by some occupations, making it desirable to identify currently active asthma and assess its severity in potential entrants. ◆ Objective testing of asthma is by bronchial provocation test (BPT). There are two types of BPT: direct and indirect. Pharmacological agents such as histamine and methacholine act directly on smooth muscle to cause contraction and airway narrowing. Physical challenges such as hyperpnoea and hyperosmolar stimuli cause smooth muscle contraction “indirectly” via the action of mediators released from inflammatory cells in response to the physical stimulus. ◆ Direct BPTs, which are commonly used in assessing ADF recruits, may not identify exercise-induced asthma, but can give false-positive results. ◆ For more accurate assessment, we propose a new testing algorithm consisting of two parts. The first identifies individuals with currently active asthma using indirect BPT. The second identifies individuals who may have an increased propensity for developing asthma using direct BPT. ◆ Standardised indirect BPTs are a practical tool for identifying active asthma for occupational entry. While the direct BPT and skin testing may help potential employees decide whether to enter occupations with a high risk of inducing asthma, it may not be ethical to use these tests to exclude them. Objective testing for currently active asthma or risk of asthma would permit ADF Health 2002; 3: 77-85 fair decision-making in the workplace. Respiratory Medicine
Investment opportunities, corporate finance, and dividend payout policy: Evidence from emerging markets

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of investment opportunities and corporate finance on dividend payout policy. Design/methodology/approach - This issue is tested with a sample of 34 emerging market countries covering a 17-year period, 1990-2006. Fixed effects panel model is employed in our estimation. Findings - A significantly negative relationship between investment opportunity set and dividend payout policy is found. There are, however, insignificant effects of the various measures of corporate finance namely, financial leverage, external financing, and debt maturity on dividend payout policy. Profitability and stock market capitalization are also identified as important in influencing dividend payout policy. Profitable firms are more likely to support high dividend payments to shareholders. However, firms in relatively well-developed markets tend to exhibit low dividend payout policy. Originality/value - The main value of the paper is in respect of the fact that it uses a large dataset from emerging market countries. The results generally support existing literature on investment opportunity set and dividend payout policy.
The Impact of Education on Family Formation: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from the UK

We examine the impact of educational attainment on fertility and mating market outcomes. Using a regression discontinuity design, we exploit an extension of the compulsory schooling age from 15 to 16 in 1972 in the UK. The change was binding for a quarter of the population. Simple plots of the raw data show substantially lower teen fertility rates across the threshold of the reform, but no impacts on abortions and no impact on completed fertility by age 45. In the mating market, the reform induced both men and women to marry more educated mates, consistent with positive assortative mating. We show that timing of the teen fertility reduction coincided with the timing of the extra induced schooling and that the probability of marrying a peer in the same academic cohort rose. These results suggest that school attendance may have important direct effects, in addition to and separate from the human capital effects of education.
Electoral Protests and Democratization Beyond the Color Revolutions

The sight of thousands of people demonstrating for clean elections and an end to corrupt postcommunist regimes led many observers to declare that the so-called color revolutions had finally brought democracy to Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan. But how successful have these electoral revolutions actually been? The authors analyze all cases of electoral revolutions worldwide since 1991, distinguishing between failed and successful electoral revolutions, to conclude that even successful electoral revolutions have shown insignificant or no democratic progress in their wake. Electoral revolutions are ineffective at advancing democratization because they place too great an emphasis on elections themselves and do not address other fundamental obstacles to democratization in hybrid and authoritarian regimes. International influences have proven more successful in promoting democratization in countries of postcommunist Europe.
An investigation of young fashion consumers' disposal habits

The research, undertaken in two different stages, was aimed at establishing an understanding of how consumers dispose of fashion products and how to increase sustainable consumption. Increasing volumes of textiles are being produced, purchased and disposed of in landfill sites, which affect the environment. Research has identified the influences in increased purchase behaviour and the tendency to keep clothing for a shorter time. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was used to undertake this exploratory research. Consumer focus groups and interviews were conducted initially to identify the main themes relating to fashion consumption and disposition. These were followed by a survey administered to young females to ratify the qualitative findings and to ascertain the extent of textile reuse and recycling. This study identifies consumers' lack of understanding of how this behaviour affects the environment and suggests ways of addressing the growing problem of textile waste and how fashion consumption could become more sustainable.
Measurement of Membrane-Bound Human Heme Oxygenase-1 Activity Using a Chemically Defined Assay System

Heme oxygenase (HO) catalyzes heme degradation in a reaction requiring NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR). Although most studies with HO used a soluble 30-kDa form, lacking the C-terminal membrane-binding region, recent reports show that the catalytic behavior of this enzyme is very different if this domain is retained; the overall activity was elevated 5-fold, and the Km for CPR decreased approximately 50-fold. The goal of these studies was to accurately measure HO activity using a coupled assay containing purified biliverdin reductase (BVR). This allows measurement of bilirubin formation after incorporation of full-length CPR and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) into a membrane environment. When rat liver cytosol was used as the source of partially purified BVR, the reaction remained linear for 2 to 3 min; however, the reaction was only linear for 10 to 30 s when an equivalent amount of purified, human BVR (hBVR) was used. This lack of linearity was not observed with soluble HO-1. Optimal formation of bilirubin was achieved with concentrations of bovine serum albumin (0.25 mg/ml) and hBVR (0.025–0.05 μM), but neither supplement increased the time that the reaction remained linear. Various concentrations of superoxide dismutase had no effect on the reaction; however, when catalase was included, the reactions were linear for at least 4 to 5 min, even at high CPR levels. These results not only show that HO-1-generated hydrogen peroxide leads to a decrease in HO-1 activity but also provide for a chemically defined system to be used to examine the function of full-length HO-1 in a membrane environment.
Beyond performance measurement? Assessing ‘value’ in local government

As reforms of the public sector have introduced market relationships and private sector management practices, a ‘managerialist’ conception of accountability has developed, tied to a panoply of forms of performance measurement and ‘surveillance’ and which is now strongly evident in the government's ‘best value’ framework for local government. This exemplar of ‘instrumental rationality’ provides an inadequate basis for realising the full potential role of evaluation in the process of ‘renewing’ local government. A ‘critical‐pluralist’ approach is proposed as a basis for enhancing the capacity of local government to address complex economic and social problems, to embed learning and improvement and to develop a meaningful ‘dialogue’ with its citizens.
Administration of growth hormone (GH), but not insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), by continuous infusion can induce the formation of the 150-kilodalton IGF-binding protein-3 complex in GH-deficient rats.

In the adult circulation, 70-90% of the serum insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are carried by IGF-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3), which exists as part of a 150-kilodalton (kDa) ternary complex including IGF and an acid-labile subunit (ALS). We have examined the hormonal regulation and molecular distribution of IGFBP-3 in the circulation of a uniquely GH-deficient (GHD) rat model. For 7 days, GHD rats were given GH by either twice daily injections (1 mg/kg) or continuous infusion (2.4 mg/kg.day) or IGF-I by continuous infusion (1.4 mg/kg.day). Each day, weight and feed and water intake were monitored, and on day 7, liver, kidney, spleen, heart, and lung were weighted, and sera were collected. Serum IGF-I was analyzed by immunoassay, and the molecular distribution of the IGFBPs was determined by neutral size-exclusion chromatography combined with Western ligand blot and Western immunoblot. The GHD rats were 40-60% lighter than their normal littermates, and all organs examined were proportionately smaller. Serum IGF-I and IGFBP-3 levels were less than 10% of those in normal rats. Incubation of serum from GHD rats with [125I]IGF-II showed that radiolabel was incorporated only into a 44-kDa IGFBP region that contained the smaller IGFBPs. IGFBP-3 eluted around 60 kDa. No 150-kDa IGFBP region was detected. The administration of GH or IGF-I to GHD rats resulted in significant increases in weight gained, although food and water intake remained unaltered. Weight gain was observed in all three treatments groups. Both GH treatment regimens significantly increased liver, spleen, and lung weight, whereas IGF-I therapy increased spleen, kidney, and heart. Administration of GH twice daily did not increase serum IGF-I or IGFBP-3 concentrations, and the molecular distribution of IGFBP-3 remained unchanged. In contrast, continuous infusion of GH resulted in 5-fold increases in serum IGF-I and increases in IGFBP-3 levels. Size-exclusion chromatography combined with Western ligand blot analysis revealed that radioligand was incorporated into 150- and 60-kDa regions, and that IGFBP-3 was detectable in both regions. Thus, GH infusion was able to induce formation of the 150-kDa ternary complex by increasing circulating levels of IGF-I, IGFBP-3, and presumably ALS. Administration of IGF-I also increased serum IGF-I and IGFBP-3 levels, although the increase in IGFBP-3 was only in the 60-kDa region of the chromatograph, suggesting that IGF-I can induce neither ALS nor formation of the 150-kDa complex. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Disclosure Timing: Determinants of Quarterly Earnings Release Dates

Existing research on discretionary disclosures provides valuable insights on the potentials causes and consequences of alternative forms of disclosure. However, relatively little is known about how managers choose to time the release of financial information. This paper focuses on the quarterly earnings release dates and investigates why some choose to release earnings information relatively early, compared to others. The results indicate that the reporting lag (days between fiscal period end and quarterly earnings release date) is shorter for firms facing greater demand for information from investors and greater litigation costs. The reporting lag, however, is longer for firms with greater block ownership and those whose operations are somewhat more complex.
Understanding Consumer Online Grocery Behavior: Results from a Swedish Study

ABSTRACT Empirical results concerning consumer online grocery behavior are presented in this paper. Lisrel results from a web-based study among Swedish online consumers suggest that the constructs perceived relative advantage, perceived information accessibility, perceived order accessibility, perceived online grocery risk, and attitude towards online grocery shopping is capable of explaining a high proportion of the variation in consumers' future online grocery shopping intention. Multi-group analysis shows that several variables (including education, age, gender, income, and previous online grocery shopping experience) may moderate the effects of the investigated constructs on consumer online grocery behavior.
HRM in emergent market economies: evidence and implications from Europe

Fang Lee Cooke Professor of HRM and Chinese Studies Department of Management Monash University 26 Sir John Monash Drive Caulfield East Melbourne, VIC 3145 Australia Fang.cooke@monash.edu Geoffrey Wood Professor of HRM School of Management University of Sheffield 9 Mappin St Sheffield, S1 4DT United Kingdom g.t. wood@sheffield.ac. uk Alexandros G. Psychogios Senior Lecturer CITY College, An International Faculty of the University of Sheffield 3 Leontos Sofou St. Thessaloniki 546-26 Greece a.psychogios@city.academic. gr Leslie T. Szamosi Senior Lecturer CITY College, An International Faculty of the University of Sheffield 3 Leontos Sofou St. Thessaloniki 546-26 Greece szamsoi@city.academic. gr
Type B Histone Acetyltransferase Hat1p Participates in Telomeric Silencing

ABSTRACT Hat1p and Hat2p are the two subunits of a type B histone acetyltransferase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae that acetylates free histone H4 on lysine 12 in vitro. However, the role for these gene products in chromatin function has been unclear, as deletions of the HAT1 and/or HAT2 gene displayed no obvious phenotype. We have now identified a role for Hat1p and Hat2p in telomeric silencing. Telomeric silencing is the transcriptional repression of telomere-proximal genes and is mediated by a special chromatin structure. While there was no change in the level of silencing on a telomeric gene when the HAT1 orHAT2 gene was deleted, a significant silencing defect was observed when hat1Δ or hat2Δ was combined with mutations of the histone H3 NH2-terminal tail. Specifically, when at least two lysine residues were changed to arginine in the histone H3 tail, a hat1Δ-dependent telomeric silencing defect was observed. The most dramatic effects were seen when one of the two changes was in lysine 14. In further analysis, we found that a single lysine out of the five in the histone H3 tail was sufficient to mediate silencing. However, K14 was the best at preserving silencing, followed by K23 and then K27; K9 and K18 alone were insufficient. Mutational analysis of the histone H4 tail indicated that the role of Hat1p in telomeric silencing was mediated solely through lysine 12. Thus, in contrast to other histone acetyltransferases, Hat1p activity was required for transcriptional repression rather than gene activation.
Surgical Site Infection After Arthroplasty: Comparative Effectiveness of Prophylactic Antibiotics: Do Surgical Care Improvement Project Guidelines Need to Be Updated?

BACKGROUND Prophylactic antibiotics decrease surgical site infection (SSI) rates, and their timing, choice, and discontinuation are measured and reported as part of the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP). The aim of this study was to assess the comparative effectiveness of the SCIP-approved antibiotics for SSI prevention. METHODS This retrospective cohort study utilized national Veterans Affairs (VA) data on patients undergoing elective hip or knee arthroplasty from 2005 to 2009. Data on prophylactic antibiotics were merged with VA Surgical Quality Improvement Program data to identify patient and procedure-related risk factors for SSI. Patients were stratified by documented penicillin allergy. Chi-square and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used to compare SSI rates among patients receiving SCIP-approved prophylactic antibiotics. RESULTS A total of 18,830 elective primary arthroplasties (12,823 knee and 6007 hip) were included. Most patients received prophylactic cefazolin as the sole agent (81.9%), followed by vancomycin as the sole agent (8.0%), vancomycin plus cefazolin (5.6%), and clindamycin (4.5%). Documented penicillin allergy accounted for 54.1% of cases involving vancomycin administration compared with 94.6% of cases involving clindamycin. The overall thirty-day SSI rate was 1.4%, and the unadjusted rate was 2.3% with vancomycin only, 1.5% with vancomycin plus cefazolin, 1.3% with cefazolin only, and 1.1% with clindamycin. Unadjusted analysis of penicillin-allergic patients revealed an SSI rate of 2.0% with vancomycin only compared with 1.0% with clindamycin (p = 0.18). For patients without penicillin allergy, the SSI rate was 2.6% with vancomycin only compared with 1.6% with vancomycin plus cefazolin (p = 0.17) and 1.3% with cefazolin only (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Current SCIP guidelines address antibiotic timing but not antibiotic dosage. (The generally accepted recommendation for vancomycin is 15 mg/kg.) Although vancomycin is a narrower-spectrum antibiotic than either cefazolin or clindamycin, our finding of higher SSI rates following prophylaxis with vancomycin only may suggest a failure to use an appropriate dosage rather than an inequality of antibiotic effectiveness. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Social networking and online privacy: Facebook users' perceptions

This study investigates Facebook users’ perceptions of online privacy, exploring their awareness of privacy issues and how their behaviour is infl uenced by this awareness, as well as the role of trust in an online social networking environment. A cross-sectional survey design is used. The sample frame is a network of Facebook friends; 285 survey responses were collected giving a response rate of 47.5 per cent. The study reveals over half of Facebook users have a high level of privacy awareness; however, an element of uncertainty is evident. Privacy concerns are prevalent especially relating to third parties’ access to Facebook users’ information. Over three-quarters of users have changed their privacy settings to tighter controls, prompted largely by privacy concerns. The most active period for change to privacy settings was 2010, refl ecting a response to the controversy surrounding Facebook’s privacy approach. Only one-quarter of users trust Facebook, yet the majority of users believe both Facebook and users have an equal obligation to protect users’ information.
Information Acquisition in Ostensibly Efficient Markets

I use U.K. betting exchange data on Wimbledon tennis matches to investigate the Grossman and Stiglitz (1980) paradox. Risk-free arbitrage opportunities arise frequently during matches (as information arrives and asynchronously shifts prices), but seldom arise before matches (when there is little information to move prices). I find that on the few occasions that arbitrage opportunities do arise before matches, they last substantially longer than average. This suggests, in line with the paradox, that traders neglect to acquire information (i.e. carry out research, or watch markets) if they believe that markets are already efficient. This neglect, in turn, makes markets inefficient.
Surveying older people from minority ethnic groups: an evaluation of a primary care sampling method for UK African‐Caribbean elders

There are substantial logistical difficulties in conducting community surveys of minority ethnic group populations. Primary care lists have been identified as an important potential resource but the representativeness of samples derived through this method has received little evaluation. In a community survey of psychiatric morbidity, African‐Caribbean people aged 55–75 were identified by practice staff from registration lists for seven primary care teams in south London. The sensitivity of the process was evaluated by contacting a random sample of people whose ethnicity was not known. Participants aged 65–75 (n = 174) were also compared to a similarly aged group sampled through household enumeration (n = 34) with respect to demographic factors, risk factors for vascular disease, depression and cognitive function. For those with correct addresses, the identified group was estimated to include 72% of the potentially eligible population. Only 8% of contacted people were found not to be eligible in terms of ethnicity. Compared to the household enumeration sample, the primary care sample had marginally higher socio‐economic status but was similar with respect to all other measured characteristics. Primary care list sampling with staff‐assigned ethnicity therefore appeared highly specific, reasonably sensitive, and did not seem to introduce substantial bias for this population. Copyright © 2002 Whurr Publishers Ltd.