Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The societal relevance of management accounting innovations: economic value added and institutional work in the fields of Chinese and Thai state-owned enterprises

This paper contributes to the ongoing debate about the relevance of management accounting. In doing so, we widen the definition of ‘relevance’ from the largely managerialist focus dominating this debate to examine how management accounting innovations get imbued with a broader range of societal interests and how actors representing vested interests go about entrenching and resisting such innovations. We explore these issues with reference to the institutionalisation of Economic Value Added (EVA™) as a governance mechanism for Chinese and Thai state-owned enterprises. Adopting a comparative, institutional field perspective, we theorise our observations through the conceptual lens of institutional work, or the human agency involved in creating, maintaining and disrupting institutions. We extend extant research on institutional work by exploring how the evolution of such work was conditioned by differences in field cohesiveness, defined in terms of how consistent and tightly coordinated key interests clustered around EVA™ are. Our analysis also draws attention to how different types of institutional work support and detract from each other in the process of upholding such cohesiveness. We discuss the implications for future research on the societal relevance of management accounting innovations and institutional work.
Quantitative intravoxel incoherent motion parameters derived from whole‐tumor volume for assessing pathological complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer

Many locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) patients can benefit from neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT), with some achieving a pathological complete response (pCR). However, there is limited research reporting on the value of intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) in monitoring pCR in patients with LARC.
Household strategies for adaptation and change: participation in Kenyan rural women’s associations

Opening Paragraph Recent literature on Third World households suggests that the household is a critical unit of analysis in decision-making and economic organisation for development (Smith, Wallerstein and Evers, 1984; Netting, Wilk and Arnould, 1984). Increasingly, this literature is addressing intra-household behaviour, the ways in which households relate to other institutions and the degree to which they are autonomous or embedded in more comprehensive social structures (Guyer and Peters, 1984; Folbre, 1985; Moock, 1986). Indeed, the household focus requires not only close examination of the household's internal dynamics, but also its external context. That context includes the physical setting, international as well as national political and economic structures, and the local political economic and social systems. Résumé Stratégies ménagères vers l'adaptation et le changement: Participation aux Associations Féminines dans le Kenya rural Au Kenya, beaucoup de femmes des régions rurales participent aux associations feminines comme moyen de tenter de faire face à la pénurie d'argent et de travail dans les ménages ainsi que pour obtenir des produits publics pour les membres de leur famille. Cette étude est basée sur des données provenant de deux communités de la région de Murang au Kenya pour considérer (a) les modèles de coopération, de réciprocité et d'échange facilités par ces associations; (b) l'impact de cette stratégie sur l'accès des femmes et des autres membres de leur famille aux ressources productives; et (c) les effets de cette stratégie sur les décisions prises à l'intérieur des ménages et l'utilisation des ressources. Les témoignages suggèrent que les associations féminines donnent accès aux ressources critiques et rares—le travail et les capitaux—ainsi qu'aux produits publics. La nature de cet accès varie selon la base de ressources de la communité et selon la position socio-économique du ménage. Les associations féminines sont particulièrement utiles aux femmes appartenant aux groupes à revenu très modeste et aux femmes qui sont seules à la tête du ménage, leur apportant de nouvelles opportunités de gagner, d’épargner et d'investir et leur offrant un certain contrôle sur leurs revenus en argent.
Understanding the local sports council as a mechanism for community sport development

The purpose of the current study was to develop a theoretical understanding of the concepts and relationships that describe the local sports council as a mechanism for community sport development through a case study of one such organization. This paper presents a grounded theory study of a local sports council whose mandate reflects ‘sport for all’ by promoting, developing, and coordinating opportunities for sport and recreation in the community. Based on interviews (n = 16) with key stakeholders (board chairs, executive directors, municipal government representatives, and community sport clubs), the study reveals factors that enable and constrain the Council from contributing to community sport development. A model is derived that illustrates the impact of citizen-based leadership within an arm's-length organization, and how its philosophy and activities drive community sport development. Factors that enhance or jeopardize the Council's ability to contribute to community sport development include awareness of the Council, citizen engagement based on self-interest, and financial sustainability of the organization. The case study offers an in-depth understanding of the nature and role of a local sports council and discusses the challenges faced in promoting and achieving community sport development.
Determining maintenance requirements of a water distribution network using whole life costing

A whole life costing (WLC) methodology has been developed for determining long term maintenance expenditure requirements for water distribution networks. The methodology utilises an accounting scheme that ties the costs incurred by the operator and other stakeholders to the attributes or performance that drive the costs. It has specifically been derived with the requirements placed by the regulatory regime on the water companies that operate in England and Wales in mind. Expenditure constraints are implied by the regulator through price caps that companies can charge their customers. Appropriate levels of expenditures included as part of the price cap determinations are required by the regulator to be economically robust and tied to the service received by the customers. Therefore, maintenance decisions must reflect more immediate concerns of meeting performance requirements, but must ensure that such levels are sustainable in the long term. The WLC methodology achieves this through an integrated platform that links costs identified within a structured accounting scheme with their performance based drivers commonly modelled based on historical data. Thus, a robust and fully auditable methodology is provided that can address the requirements of all stakeholders. This methodology is the basis for software (WiLCO) that provides decision support in determining appropriate pipe rehabilitation and operational strategy and thus expenditure levels over extended time horizons.
Psychological Contracts, Perceived Organizational and Supervisor Support: Investigating the Impact on Intent to Leave Among Hospitality Employees in India

This study investigates the effects of perceived organizational support on transactional and relational contracts and how these two types of psychological contracts influence employee intent to leave. Additionally, perceived supervisor support was examined as a predictor of perceived organizational support. Given the high employee turnover rates in the hospitality industry, lack of employee turnover studies in hospitality context, and more importantly, lack of employee turnover studies in countries other than the Western organizational contexts, the current study examines the above relationships with restaurant employees in India. Results showed that perceived supervisor support increased employee perceptions of organizational support, perceived organizational support increased relational psychological contracts but not transactional contracts, and only relational contracts had a significant effect on employees’ intent to leave. Implications of these results and issues for future research are discussed.
Undifferentiated Adipose Tissue Stem Cell Transplantation Promotes Hepatic Regeneration, Ameliorates Histopathologic Damage of the Liver, and Upregulates the Expression of Liver Regeneration- and Liver-Specific Genes in a Rat Model of Partial Hepatectomy

Objective Adipose tissue stem cells (ADSCs) present a promising therapeutic method to alleviate liver failure (LF). The purpose of this prospective study was to evaluate the efficacy of undifferentiated ADSC transplantation on liver regeneration and on the expression of liver regeneration- and liver-specific genes, following 60% partial hepatectomy (PHx). Methods Sixty female rats were subjected to PHx and were transplanted with 106 or 2 × 106 ADSCs, either into the portal vein (PV) or into the hepatic parenchyma. Animals of the control group were not transplanted and served as controls. Animals were sacrificed on the 4th, the 7th, or the 15th postoperative day (POD). Results The transplanted ADSCs were successfully engrafted into the liver parenchyma and ameliorated the histopathologic damage on the 7th and 15th POD. All transplanted animals demonstrated a significantly higher liver regeneration rate on the 4th and 7th POD, compared with the control group. The expression of hepatocyte growth factor, α-fetoprotein, tyrosine aminotransferase, hepatocyte nuclear factor 4a, and cytochrome P450 1A2 was significantly upregulated, compared with the control group. Conclusions Although undifferentiated, ADSC transplantation significantly enhanced the liver regeneration process. These findings may be proven clinically valuable, especially in cases of acute LF.
Registered Nurses and the Value of Bilingualism

Recent research indicates that markets do not value bilingual skills. These results, however, are not robust across all labor markets, and one notable counter-instance is the market for registered nurses. As the Hispanic population grows in the United States, health care providers will encounter increasing numbers of patients who are not fluent in English. To better serve their patients, meet government requirements, and limit legal liability, employers may offer wage premiums to attract bilingual (Spanish/English) registered nurses. Support for this hypothesis comes from wage regressions on data for the year 2000 from the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses. The estimates indicate that bilingual registered nurses received wage premiums of up to 7%, depending on the fraction of the population that spoke Spanish in the RN's county of employment.
On the determinants of board size and its composition: Additional evidence from Ghana

Purpose – The fundamental objective of this study is to contribute to the debate by empirically examining the determinants of board size and its composition from a small and developing country perspective.Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a quantitative approach based on secondary data from firms listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange. Panel data multiple regressions within both fixed and random effects techniques estimations were carried out.Findings – Board size and its composition are a function of firm and industrial characteristics. Specific findings are that, while firm level risk has a positive relationship with board size, CEO tenure has a negative correlation with board size; and that firms with larger institutional shareholding employ less outside directorsResearch limitations/implications – A study of this nature requires a large sample base. It is therefore obvious that sample size was the main limitation of the study. Though, this limitation does not compromise on the validity of our f.
The relevance of Form 8-K reports

In this paper, we investigate the timeliness of and stock price reaction to a sample of Form 8-K reports filed in 1993 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Under current SEC regulations, a Form 8-K must be filed within 5 to 15 days after the occurrence of certain events, such as a bankruptcy filing or an auditor change, as well as after any material development that a registrant believes is relevant to its investors. The SEC? s presumption is that the Form 8-K is relevant to investors; in particular, the report "plays a critical role in the periodic reporting system, which is intended to provide investors with a continuous stream of corporate information" (SEC Accounting Series Release No. 306 [1982]). This function has assumed greater importance in light of proposals made by the SEC to expand the number of required disclosures in the Form 8-K and to reduce the allowed time for filing. Specifically, in an attempt to provide more consistent and timely disclosure by all public companies, the SEC proposes that earnings and selected other financial data be released through an 8-K within 30 days after the end of each fiscal quarter (60 days after fiscal year-end). Form 8-K filing deadlines would be shortened; disclosures currently due in 15 calendar days would be accelerated to 5 business days, and those due in 5 business days would be reduced to 1 business day (SEC [1998]).
The persistence in hedge fund performance: extended analysis

This study analyses and decomposes hedge fund returns to detect a systematic hedge fund selection criterion that enables investors to consistently and significantly outperform classical equities and bond indices over a full market cycle and over bullish and bearish market periods. The methodology used is adapted from Capocci and Hubner. The measures used include the returns, the volatility, the Sharpe score, the alpha, the beta, the skewness and the kurtosis. Measures incorporating the volatility display very strong ability to assist investors in creating alpha and consistently and significantly outperform classical indices. A sub-period analysis is performed to check the robustness of the results. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Toxicological evaluation of the immune function of pesticide workers, a European wide assessment

In this study, the prolonged low-dose exposure of mixtures of pesticides has been examined on hematological parameters and components of the immune defense in occupationally exposed humans. This investigation was carried out in five field studies in: the Netherlands (flower bulb growers, mainly re-entry workers), Italy (vineyard workers), Finland (potato farmers), and Bulgaria (workers from a zineb factory and greenhouse workers). Immunotoxicity was studied by measuring hematological parameters, complement, immunoglobulins, lymphocyte subpopulations, natural killer cells, autoimmunity, and antibody responses to hepatitis B vaccination. The total study population consisted of 248 pesticide-exposed and 231 non-occupationally exposed workers. As a surrogate measure of pesticide exposure the urinary excretion of ethylenethiourea (ETU), the main metabolite ethylenebisdithiocarbamates was measured. A significantly higher level of ETU in occupationally exposed subjects compared with controls (2.7 ± 8.1 μg/g vs 0.5 ± 3.7 μg/g creatinine) was found. Statistically significant differences, albeit very low, were found for complement C3 and C4 and the immunoglobulin classes IgG4 and IgA. For complement and IgG4, the levels were slightly increased and the level of IgA was decreased. In the lymphocyte populations, the CD8 subpopulation was increased. No effects were found on autoimmune antibodies and antibody response to hepatitis vaccination. In conclusion, pesticide exposure under various work place conditions in Europe was associated only with some subtle effects on the immune system, which may suggest that occupational exposure to pesticides does not influence the immunologic system in a clinically significant fashion, and does not pose a significant health risk to the exposed subjects.
Evolutionary Processes and Paths of Relationally Embedded Network Ties in Emerging Entrepreneurial Firms

Relationally embedded network ties influence the economic decisions of emerging firms and evolve over time. Evolutionary processes and paths of these ties are examined based on two research questions: How do components of social relationships facilitate the evolution of relational embeddedness? What are the different paths to relational embeddedness? Findings from qualitative case study methods suggest three evolutionary processes (network entry, social component leverage and trust facilitation), four evolutionary paths, and the conclusion that ties entering the network through personal relationship may evolve more quickly toward full embeddedness. Strategic implications for emerging firms are suggested regarding entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, resource acquisition and effective governance of relationally embedded ties.
Evaluating targeted cash transfer programs: a general equilibrium framework with an application to Mexico

This report focuses on the indirect and direct effects of transfer programs. In particular, it shows how modelling results can be combined with information from standard household surveys to provide an integrated analysis of the direct distributional impact of such programs and the indirect distributional and efficiency impacts arising from domestic financing mechanisms. This approach reflects the view that any credible poverty alleviation strategy must have a credible financing strategy underlying it, and this need for domestic financing can have important consequences for both the level and the distribution of household incomes. To illustrate the approach, the report focuses on the recent introduction in Mexico of an innovative poverty alleviation transfer program called PROGRESA, which has been used as a prototype for similar programs that have recently been implemented in other developing countries.
The Nature and Extent of Mutational Pleiotropy in Gene Expression of Male Drosophila serrata

The nature and extent of mutational pleiotropy remain largely unknown, despite the central role that pleiotropy plays in many areas of biology, including human disease, agricultural production, and evolution. Here, we investigate the variation in 11,604 gene expression traits among 41 mutation accumulation (MA) lines of Drosophila serrata. We first confirmed that these expression phenotypes were heritable, detecting genetic variation in 96% of them in an outbred, natural population of D. serrata. Among the MA lines, 3385 (29%) of expression traits were variable, with a mean mutational heritability of 0.0005. In most traits, variation was generated by mutations of relatively small phenotypic effect; putative mutations with effects of greater than one phenotypic standard deviation were observed for only 8% of traits. With most (71%) traits unaffected by any mutation, our data provide no support for universal pleiotropy. We further characterized mutational pleiotropy in the 3385 variable traits, using sets of 5, randomly assigned, traits. Covariance among traits chosen at random with respect to their biological function is expected only if pleiotropy is extensive. Taking an analytical approach in which the variance unique to each trait in the random 5-trait sets was partitioned from variance shared among traits, we detected significant (at 5% false discovery rate) mutational covariance in 21% of sets. This frequency of statistically supported covariance implied that at least some mutations must pleiotropically affect a substantial number of traits (>70; 0.6% of all measured traits).
An Integrated Text Analytic Framework for Product Defect Discovery

The recent surge in the usage of social media has created an enormous amount of user‐generated content (UGC). While there are streams of research that seek to mine UGC, these research studies seldom tackle analysis of this textual content from a quality management perspective. In this study, we synthesize existing research studies on text mining and propose an integrated text analytic framework for product defect discovery. The framework effectively leverages rich social media content and quantifies the text using various automatically extracted signal cues. These extracted signal cues can then be used as modeling inputs for product defect discovery. We showcase the usefulness of the framework by performing product defect discovery using UGC in both the automotive and the consumer electronics domains. We use principal component analysis and logistic regression to produce a multivariate explanatory analysis relating defects to quantitative measures derived from text. For our samples, we find that a selection of distinctive terms, product features, and semantic factors are strong indicators of defects, whereas stylistic, social, and sentiment features are not. For high sales volume products, we demonstrate that significant corporate value is derivable from a reduction in defect discovery time and consequently defective product units in circulation.
Foreign board membership and firm value in Korea

Purpose – This paper seeks to explore such questions as: “What are the impacts of foreign investors and what are the channels through which foreign investors contribute to or detracts from firm value in Korea? ” It aims to discuss how foreign investors and foreign outside directors interact to enhance firm value.Design/methodology/approach – Using longitudinal data from the KOSPI200 index in Korea during 2004‐2007, the study examined the direct and interaction effect of foreign blockholders and foreign board members. To address the representativeness of foreign investors, the authors verified the mandates of foreign board members though telephone interviews.Findings – Foreign block shareholders and foreign outside directors respectively provide expertise and independent monitoring over management. Foreign blockholders' management control via board membership is likely to mitigate leverage of value enhancement when foreign outside directors represent private interests of foreign blockholders. The moderating.
What are the Capital Structure Determinants for Tax-Exempt Organizations?

I study the determinants of capital structure in the absence of tax incentives. I find that debt use is positively related to asset tangibility, growth, and size, and negatively related to age, liquidity, and profitability. Tax-exempt sector-specific findings indicate that debt is also positively related to the efficacy of state laws against the misuse of assets and to the percentage of decision makers that are paid and negatively related to decision-maker compensation and to charitable contributions. Religious organizations most commonly borrow from internal sources, those in education use tax-exempt bonds, while human services organizations use mortgages and notes payable.
Histological and histochemical observations of the hemolymph cells in the crayfish, Orconectes virilis

Hemolymph cells of Orconectes virilis were stained during the months of August to November by a variety of histological and histochemical techniques. Cells were classified as hyaline cells, small granulocytes, and large granulocytes. Presence of mitochondrial enzymes was indicated by tests for succinic dehydrogenase and cytochrome oxidase. Reaction to test for the hydrolytic enzyme, leucine acylnaphthylamidase was intense in the granules of the large granulocytes. The PAS reaction indicated a mucopolysaccharide at the cell membrane. Lipid was found in all three hemolymph cell types of Orconectes virilis at the time of this study.