Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conceptualising the Effect of the Black Economic Empowerment Score‐Card on IT Governance

Augmented concerns regarding Information Technology (IT) Governance have resulted in organisations continuing to relentlessly seek the right IT decision makers who make the right IT decisions as baselines for value generation in dynamic and competitive business arenas. As a result of the implementation of policies such as the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), the IT sector in post‐apartheid South Africa has increasingly seen signs of a rising number of Black IT professionals entering this sector. Organisations now find themselves with a growing number of influential Black decision makers whose decisions are seen to impact large IT investment spending. This article conceptualises the critical role that BEE scorecard has played towards the growth of this number and seeks to understand the influencing dynamics BEE has had towards IT Governance in South African organizations. The study explores BEE policy as a means of redressing past inequalities and then presents BEE challenges that influence IT Governance implementation. A conceptual framework that assesses the relationships between the variables, BEE and IT Governance is presented. The purpose of the framework is to shed insights regarding the strength of the relationship between these two variables both of which have a bearing on the success of businesses operating in South Africa. The framework has been tested using empirical quantitative research, which utilised questionnaires that targeted IT professionals. The findings show a weak association between BEE and successful IT Governance implementation. The results also reveal IT Governance maturity has advanced to well‐managed level 4. The human capital and diversity in the IT workforce lag behind in progress as a result of modest compliance by organisations towards BEE initiatives.
Failure of naloxone to reverse Vascular neurologic deficits

Naloxone failed to improve motor strength in any of 19 patients with acute stroke, even though 4 patients eventually demonstrated complete recovery. Two patients worsened, and sensory abnormalities increased in two others. Motor tone increased in eight patients. Naloxone amelioration of stroke deficits is therefore not common, and this treatment may not be entirely benign.
Dynamic Optimal Pension Fund Portfolios When Risk Preferences are Heterogeneous Among Pension Participants

In this paper, we consider the problem of an optimal pension fund portfolio given the heterogeneous risk preferences of pension fund participants. The relative risk aversion of a pension fund tends to be a decreasing function of the level of aggregate wealth. We find that the dynamic optimal portfolio is simply characterized as the weighted sum of the optimal portfolio for each participant. Our model helps successfully establish the microfoundation of asset liability management models. A numerical example using recent Japanese data indicates the significant total welfare losses of adopting a suboptimal portfolio strategy and an inefficient risk‐sharing rule.
The EBNA2-related resistance towards alpha interferon (IFN-alpha) in Burkitt's lymphoma cells effects induction of IFN-induced genes but not the activation of transcription factor ISGF-3

Transfection of a plasmid encoding the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) nuclear antigen 2 (EBNA2) gene confers resistance to the antiproliferative effect of alpha interferon (IFN-alpha) in EBV-negative U968 cells (P. Aman and A. von Gabain, EMBO J. 9:147-152, 1990). We studied the expression of IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs) in two pairs of Burkitt's lymphoma cell lines, differing in the expression of the putative immortalizing gene of EBV, EBNA2. In EBNA2-expressing cells, the induction of four ISGs by IFN-alpha was strongly reduced or, in some cases, abolished. Chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene constructs containing different IFN-stimulated response elements were transfected into EBNA2-negative and EBNA2-positive cells. Induction of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase activity by IFN was impaired in EBNA2-positive cells. Also, a reporter gene construct driven by an IFN-gamma-sensitive promoter element was affected. However, as revealed by gel shift assays, EBNA2-positive and EBNA2-negative cells exhibited a nearly identical pattern of IFN-stimulated response element-binding proteins. Most important, activation of the factor ISGF-3, which previously has been shown to be required and sufficient for transcriptional activation of IFN-induced genes, was not inhibited in IFN-resistant cells expressing EBNA2. The mechanism of the EBNA2-related IFN resistance seems to be distinct both from the resistance mediated by hepatitis virus and adenovirus gene products and from the IFN resistance in Daudi cell variants. In these three cases, the transcriptional block of IFN-induced genes is due to inhibition of ISGF-3 activation and binding. Our data suggest that the EBNA2-related IFN resistance in Burkitt's lymphoma cells acts downstream of the activation of ISGF-3.
Is Business Group Structure Inefficient?: A Long-Term Perspective

This paper investigates a long-term value implication of business group affiliation. In order to secure comparability between business group affiliated firms and independent firms we employ matching estimator technique. It selects firms with business characteristics most similar to chaebol firms to create control group of firms. We find that the long-run performance of chaebol affiliated firms is superior to that of control firms although the two groups are very similar at the beginning of sample period. The differential performance between the two groups has been caused by changes in firm characteristics over time. Difference-in-difference estimators on important firm characteristics indicate that chaebol affiliated firms become larger and more profitable, grow faster with more investments, have higher debt, and become to have more foreign ownership as time passes. The results suggest that a higher profitability and more investment make chaebol firms grow faster, which leads to a larger firm size. Besides, chaebol firms seem to benefit from tax shield and monitoring effects due to a higher level of debt and avoid the entrenchment of owner managers by a higher foreign ownership. However, regressions using difference variables indicate that business group affiliation by itself is not a value increasing event.
Antiviral Activities of Diarylheptanoids Isolated from Alpinia officinarum against Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Poliovirus, Measles Virus, and Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 in vitro

Alpinia officinarum has been used as a folk medicine and contains diarylheptanoids that have various biological activities. However, their antiviral activities are less elucidated. We examined the antiviral activities of nine diarylheptanoids isolated from A. officinarum against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), poliovirus, measles virus, and herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) using a plaque reduction assay. The 50% inhibitory concentrations of seven of the nine diarylheptanoids for RSV were moderately but significantly lower than their 50% cytotoxic concentrations, as determined by a trypan blue exclusion assay. Four diarylheptanoids with anti-RSV activity also showed anti-poliovirus and anti-measles virus activities and three of the four exhibited anti-HSV-1 activity. Thus, seven of the nine diarylheptanoids examined exhibited potential antiviral activity against RSV, and most of the diarylheptanoids with anti-RSV activity, including two diarylheptanoids without anti-RSV activity, were effective against poliovirus, measles virus, and/or HSV-1 in vitro. Diarylheptanoids were suggested to have a broad spectrum of antiviral activity.
Gender Analysis of Sweet Potato Production in Osun State, Nigeria

Aims: The research investigated the determinants of gender differentials in the output of male and female sweet potato farmers in the study area. Specifically, the study examined the socio economic characteristics of the sweet potato farmers, gender levels of potato production, the efficiency estimates of the farmers and factors that determine gender outputs in the study area. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Osun State Agricultural Development Programmes (OSADEP) between April 2010 and September, 2011. Methodology: The sampling frame for this study is the sweet potato farmers in Osun State, Nigeria. The sample of 16 respondents were randomly selected from five (5) Osun State Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) zones giving a sample size of 80.Primary data were collected with the use of structured questionnaireand personal interviews. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics and CobbDouglas production function. Research Article Olagunju et al.; Article no. AJAEES.2013. 001 2 Results: The result suggests that Land clearing, preparation and ridging were found to be done by 90%, 87.5% and 93.8% of the male and 12.5%, 35.0% and 10.0% of the females, respectively. The analysis of the mean output in kg per hectare of the male and female sweet potato farmers shows the difference in the mean output. The efficiency distribution shows that male operate at the efficiency range lower than that of the females. The study reveals that women are more interested and committed to sweet potato farming. Farm size, quantity of input, depreciation, age, education, farming experience and care economy were found to affect output of all the respondents. Conclusion: It is therefore pertinent that policy makers should pay attention to the female sweet potato farmers as they are found to be more productive, since it was revealed that the female produced more output than their male counterparts. This implies that the female took sweet potato farming more seriously and did not play a supportive or complimentary role to their male counterparts.
Transendothelial Migration of Human Basophils1

During allergic reactions, basophils migrate from the blood compartment to inflammatory sites, where they act as effector cells in concert with eosinophils. Because transendothelial migration (TEM) represents an essential step for extravasation of cells, for the first time we have studied basophil TEM using HUVEC. Treatment of HUVEC with IL-1β significantly enhanced basophil TEM, which was further potentiated by the presence of a CCR3-specific ligand, eotaxin/CCL11. In addition to CCR3 ligands, MCP-1/CCL2 was also active on basophil TEM. Although stromal cell-derived factor-1/CXCL12, a CXCR4 ligand, failed to induce TEM in freshly isolated basophils, it caused strong TEM in 24-h cultured cells. IL-3 enhanced basophil TEM by increasing the chemokinetic response. Spontaneous TEM across activated HUVEC was inhibited by treatment of cells with anti-CD18 mAb, but not with anti-CD29 mAb, and also by treatment of HUVEC with anti-ICAM-1 mAb. Anti-VCAM-1 mAb alone failed to inhibit TEM, but showed an additive inhibitory effect in combination with anti-ICAM-1 mAb. In contrast, eotaxin- and IL-3-mediated TEM was significantly inhibited by anti-CD29 mAb as well as anti-CD18 mAb. These results indicate that β2 integrins play the primary role in basophil TEM, but β1 integrins are also involved, especially in TEM of cytokine/chemokine-stimulated basophils. In conclusion, the regulatory profile of basophil TEM is very similar to that reported for eosinophils. Our results thus support the previous argument for a close relationship between basophils and eosinophils and suggest that the in vivo kinetics of these two cell types are similar.
Optimal acquisition policy with quantity discounts and uncertain demands

We study the acquisition policy decision problem for a supply network involving one manufacturer and multiple suppliers. The manufacturer produces multiple products under uncertain demands and each supplier provides price discounts. The problem is to determine the manufacturer's acquisition policy and production levels so as to maximise the manufacturer's expected profit, subject to both the manufacturer's and suppliers’ capacities. We present a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) formulation of the problem, for both single- and multiple-sourcing procurement policies. General algebraic modeling system (GAMS) and its solvers, combining external integration functions, are employed to solve the complex MINLP problem. The preliminary computation results and managerial analysis are reported.
Longitudinal Determinants of Left Ventricular Mass and Geometry: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study

Background— The purpose of this study was to identify determinants of 20-year change in left ventricular (LV) mass (LVM) and LV geometry in black and white young adults in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study. Methods and Results— We studied 2426 black and white men and women (54.7% white) aged 43 to 55 years with cardiovascular risk factor data and echocardiograms from CARDIA year 5 and 25 examinations. In regression models, year 25 LVM or relative wall thickness was the dependent variable and with year 5 echo values, age, sex, race, body mass index, change in body mass index, mean arterial blood pressure, change in mean blood pressure, heart rate, change in heart rate, tobacco use, presence of diabetes mellitus, alcohol use, and physical activity score as independent variables. LVM and relative wall thickness increased, whereas prevalence of normal geometry declined from 84.2% to 69.7%. Significant determinants of year 25 LVM/m2.7 were year 5 LVM, year 5 and change in body mass index, year 5 and change in mean arterial pressure, year 5 and change in heart rate, baseline diabetes mellitus, and year 5 tobacco and alcohol use (overall r 2=0.40). Significant determinants of year 25 relative LV wall thickness were year 5 value, black race, change in body mass index, year 5 and change in mean arterial pressure, starting smoking, and year 5 diabetes mellitus (overall r 2=0.11). Conclusions— Prevalence of abnormal LV hypertrophy and geometry increased from young adulthood to middle age. Both young adult cardiovascular risk traits and change in these traits predicted change in LV mass/geometry.
Should They Stay or Should They Go? Sorting versus Human Capital Loss in Employee Turnover

According to conventional wisdom, the costs of employee turnover are substantial and something that firms should avoid. Yet the causes and consequences of employee turnover are complicated. There may be both positive effects from sorting among employees and negative effects from loss of valuable human capital. Maybe poor performance is cause for turnover rather than its consequence. This study attempts to disentangle sorting effects from the effects of human capital loss while controlling for reverse causality in a panel study of 3,033 Danish small and medium-sized firms 1995-2007. I compare fixed effect and GMM estimators and the results I report suggests substantial simultaneity bias (reverse causality) which invalidates fixed effect estimates. The substantive results suggest that sorting benefits and human capital loss are mechanisms that operate simultaneously.
Pensions as a Form of Executive Compensation

We investigate the role of pensions as an element of total executive compensation, and the relationship between pensions and performance-based compensation in executive pay. Using hand-collected data on FTSE 100 CEOs and senior executives from 2004-2011, we document that pensions function as a substitute to performance-based compensation (primarily bonuses) in both cross-sectional and time-series settings. We also examine the effect of corporate governance characteristics on executive pensions. We find that corporate governance characteristics associated with stronger board monitoring play a constraining role on the magnitude of pensions. Our evidence of substitution effects between pensions and performance-based compensation is consistent with a managerial power view of executive compensation-setting, and the use of pensions as a ‘stealth’ element of compensation. Our findings are robust to considering different types of pensions, product market competition, and cross-listing. Sub-period analysis shows that pensions decrease and substitution effects weaken following the 2008 financial crisis. Moreover, we find no evidence that the use of compensation consultants with potential conflicts of interest is associated with higher pensions. Overall, our study contributes to a greater understanding of the role of pensions in executive compensation, and shows the importance of including pensions in analysis of executive compensation.
Investigation of Chirality Selection Mechanism of Single Walled Carbon Nanotube

Abstract : This project involved investigation of two significant mechanistic aspects of carbon nanotube (CNT) array growth under chemical vapor deposition conditions: chirality selectivity and termination. The research involved development of a proper Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) sample preparation method that allowed direct observation of interfaces between CNTs and catalyst layers and lead to optimized growth conditions for synthesis of short, less dense, and highly crystalline single-walled carbon nanotubes. Based on ex-situ and in-situ TEM investigation, a modified growth termination model was proposed to better explain various phenomena of carbon nanotube growth and growth termination. The results strongly suggest that growth termination of CNT forests is affected by the morphological evolution of catalyst particles.
Effect of working time on environmental pressures: empirical evidence from EU-15, 1970–2010

There is growing interest in the correlation between working time and environmental pressures, but prior empirical studies mostly focused on static methodologies. This article used dynamic panel regression approaches to examine and compare the relationship among western, southern, and northern European countries over the period 1970–2010, and proved the existence of strongly significant relationships in all models. Furthermore, this article detected the relationship between working hours and environmental indicators (carbon emission and energy use) at different phases. We contribute to a further understanding of the environmental effects of the working time reduction policy by comparing the differences among various periods and country groups in a system generalized method of moments (GMM) dynamic framework.
A new triterpenoid saponin from the roots of Silene viscidula

A new triterpenoid saponin, silenoviscoside F (1), was isolated from the roots of Silene viscidula, together with three known saponins, dianchinenoside D (2), sinocrassuloside I (3) and sinocrassuloside II (4). The structure of compound 1 was elucidated by spectroscopic data, GC–MS and chemical methods. The structures of compounds 2–4 were determined on the basis of spectroscopic data comparison with the literature values, which were isolated from the genus Silene for the first time.
Reliance on manufacturing performance measures, total quality management and organizational performance

Over research years there has been an increase in global competition, particularly within manufacturing. Many firms faced with increased competition from foreign firms have sought to enhance their competitiveness by employing total quality management (TQM). An important concern in the implementation of TQM is the extent to which TQM should be developed together with managerial performance evaluation systems employing measures of the manufacturing processes. It is argued in this paper that the potential for TQM to enhance the profitability of companies is enhanced when managers are evaluated by using direct measures of manufacturing. The results of a survey of 39 organisational units provided support for the proportion that enhanced performance will be associated with the interaction between well developed TQM programs and a reliance on manufacturing performance measures. Specifically, higher performance was associated with the combination of TQM and a reliance on manufacturing performance measures compared to TQM without such measures.
‘Disclosure Verde’ nas Demonstrações Contábeis: Características da Informação Ambiental e Possíveis Explicações para a Divulgação Voluntária

Este estudo busca compreender o fenomeno da divulgacao voluntaria ambiental nas Demonstracoes Financeiras Padronizadas (DFPs). Primeiramente, analisou-se a relacao entre o tipo de noticia (boa, ruim ou neutra), o tipo de evidencia (declarativa, quantitativa monetaria ou quantitativa nao-monetaria) e a localizacao da informacao (relatorio da administracao, demonstracoes contabeis ou notas explicativas). Para isso, utilizou-se a tecnica estatistica de analise de correspondencia simples (Anacor) e multipla (Homals). Em seguida, buscou-se identificar os fatores que explicam a evidenciacao voluntaria, utilizando-se as tecnicas estatisticas de analise fatorial e analise de regressao multipla. Visando explicar o disclosure, foram formuladas e testadas seis hipoteses relacionadas a tamanho da empresa, rentabilidade, endividamento, empresa de auditoria, participacao no Indice de Sustentabilidade Empresarial (ISE) e a internacionalizacao da empresa. A amostra da pesquisa consiste nas empresas listadas na Bolsa de Valores de Sao Paulo (BOVESPA) e, pertencentes a setores de alto impacto ambiental segundo a Lei no. 10.165/2000. O levantamento das informacoes ambientais foi realizado a partir das DFPs de 2006. Os resultados evidenciam que existe relacao entre a informacao ambiental apresentada de forma declarativa com uma evidencia boa, localizada no relatorio da administracao. Ja a informacao monetaria esta mais relacionada com um tipo de noticia neutra. A analise de regressao demonstrou que o fator ‘tamanho’ (ativo, patrimonio liquido e receita bruta), e as variaveis ‘empresa de auditoria’ e ‘participacao no ISE’ sao relevantes a um nivel de significância de 5% para a explicacao do disclosure voluntario de informacoes ambientais nas demonstracoes contabeis.
Poverty and fatal accidental drug overdoses of cocaine and opiates in New York City: an ecological study.

This ecological study examines the association of the poverty status of urban communities in New York City with their mortality rates of accidental drug overdoses. Mean annual age-adjusted rates of drug overdoses involving cocaine, opiates, or both (n = 1,684) were calculated for each of 59 residential community districts in New York City for 1990-1992. A linear regression analysis was performed to test the association of the mortality rate with the poverty status of the district as measured by the proportion of the district living below the 1989 U.S. poverty line. Poverty status accounted for 69% of the variance in the drug overdose mortality rates of communities (p < .001). This study suggests that mortality rates of overdoses involving cocaine and optiates are significantly associated with the poverty status of communities in New York City.
Purchasing power parity in Brazil: a test for fractional cointegration

The purpose of this paper is to test the validity of the purchasing power parity (PPP) doctrine in Brazil. Historical data for the period 1855–1996 are considered. The period 1855–1990 is also analysed in order to compare the results with those obtained by Zini and Cati (1993) using the conventional cointegration analysis. This article uses fractional cointegration analysis, a flexible methodology which allows for more subtle forms of mean reversion. The tests performed are those of Geweke and Porter-Hudak (1983), and of Hurvich and Ray (1995). The critical values for both tests are generated by simulation because they are non-standard. The empirical results do not support the absolute PPP hypothesis but the relative PPP holds in the long run.