Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Incentive Contracting and Value-Relevance of Earnings and Cash Flows

Accounting performance measures such as earnings and cash flows are useful for both valuation and performance evaluation purposes. However, little evidence exists on whether there is any association between these two roles. In this study, we provide large sample empirical evidence that the value relevance of earnings explains a significant amount of the cross-sectional variation in the pay-sensitivity of earnings and the incremental value relevance of cash flows explains variation in the marginal pay-sensitivity of cash flows. We document that while both value relevance and compensation weight on earnings decline from the subperiod of 1993 to 1997 to the subperiod of 1998 to 2003, both value relevance and compensation weight on cash flows increase from the earlier subperiod to the later subperiod. Overall, our results provide additional evidence that value relevance of a performance measure plays a significant role in its use for performance evaluation.
Inhibin Is an Antagonist of Bone Morphogenetic Protein Signaling*

Inhibins are endogenous antagonists of activin signaling, long recognized as important regulators of gonadal function and pituitary FSH release. Inhibin, in concert with its co-receptor, betaglycan, can compete with activin for binding to type II activin receptors and, thus, prevent activin signaling. Because bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) also utilize type II activin receptors, we hypothesized that BMP signaling might also be sensitive to inhibin blockade. Here we show that inhibin blocks cellular responses to diverse BMP family members in a variety of BMP-responsive cell types. Inhibin abrogates BMP-induced Smad signaling and transcription responses. Inhibin competes with BMPs for type II activin receptors, and this competition is facilitated by betaglycan. Betaglycan also enables inhibin to bind to and compete with BMPs for binding to the BMP-specific type II receptor BMPRII, which does not bind inhibin in the absence of betaglycan. Betaglycan can confer inhibin responsiveness on cells that are otherwise insensitive to inhibin. These findings demonstrate that inhibin, acting through betaglycan, can function as an antagonist of BMP responses, suggesting a broader role for inhibin and betaglycan in restricting and refining a wide spectrum of transforming growth factor β superfamily signals.
Disinflation and monetary independence in Romania

In this article, the issue of the monetary independence problem in view of the Romania's European Monetary Union accession is investigated empirically. It is frequently argued that for such a country, the main cost of participation in a currency area is the loss of monetary policy independence. This article raises the question of the actual possibility of monetary independence in a small open economy operating within highly liberalized capital flows and highly integrated financial markets. The main hypothesis of the article is verified using the vector error-correction mechanism model and several parametric hypotheses concerning the speed and asymmetry of adjustment to verify the risk premium and the nature of transmission of the Euribor interest rates on the Romanian Robor. The hypothesis of a one-to-one relationship between interest rates between Romania and the Eurozone cannot be rejected, despite the rapid disinflation at the beginning of the sample.
Comparison of Symptomatic and Asymptomatic, Chronic, Primary Angle‐closure Glaucoma, Open‐angle Glaucoma, and Controls

Purpose: To determine the clinical features and anatomic parameters in asymptomatic (creeping) and symptomatic, chronic, primary angle‐closure glaucoma (PACG) as compared with open‐angle glaucoma (OAG) and with control subjects with normal eyes. Methods: Forty consecutive patients with each of the following four types of eyes were studied (N = 160): eyes with symptomatic PACG, eyes with asymptomatic PACG, eyes with OAG, and the eyes of age‐, sex‐, and refraction‐matched control subjects. The refractive status, keratometry, pachymetry, corneal diameter, anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, axial length, and relative lens position were noted. The groups were compared using a paired t test and analysis of variance. Results: Patients with asymptomatic chronic PACG were older than patients in the symptomatic group, were more often men, and were more likely to have either diabetes mellitus or hypertension. Symptomatic chronic PACG eyes were more hypermetropic. Asymptomatic eyes had more iridotrabecular synechiae and minimal pupillary ruff atrophy as compared with the symptomatic eyes that had largely iridocorneal synechiae and large areas where the ruff was absent. All other clinical and anatomic parameters were statistically similar in the two groups, but differed significantly from OAG and control eyes. Conclusions: The ocular parameters of asymptomatic or creeping angle closure eyes show that these are significantly different from eyes having POAG. Asymptomatic and symptomatic chronic PACG eyes are structurally similar. Open‐angle glaucoma eyes and normal eyes were comparable, but differed from both the chronic angle‐closure glaucoma groups in having a larger corneal diameter, deeper anterior chamber, thinner lens, and a longer axial length. The symptomatic chronic PACG eyes showed more evidence of ischemic damage to the iris, and this could account for the symptoms reported by these patients.
The cost of performance : the effects of schooling on students' disposition towards acting as change agents in organisations

The thesis is concerned with how schooling is affecting what students learn about acting as change agents in organisations. It is deemed of importance because of the concerns about how schools may require and valorise passive organisational roles of students and particularly because of the challenges the next generation of school leavers face in terms of organisational reform and taking the role of change agent. The research deepens our understanding of the change agent role through a literature review which combines ideas from the sociology of education, student voice and organisational theory. It set out to develop our understanding of the problem, and attempted to affect the problem, by setting up a systemic action research process in two secondary schools. This created opportunities for students to act as change agents on cultural and organisational issues that concerned them. The process created a bounded sub-system and explored how those boundaries were affected by the students, the schools and the facilitator in order to further understand how processes may foster or inhibit the students’ disposition to act as change agents and what they reveal about perceptions and understanding of the role. The contribution this thesis makes to the field is to illuminate how schooling affects students’ disposition towards acting as change agents, and their understanding of the change agent role in specific organisational terms. It does this by using a unique framework of concepts, demonstrating their feasibility, and through studying organisational processes using a convergence of educational theory, organisational theory and systems psychodynamics. It illuminates some of the processes that dispose students to interpret change agency processes and the change agent role through the lens of performance culture and the implications of this for their learning about the organisational role. It offers a model of the organisation-in-the-mind students may be developing and shows how, using a convergence of the concepts of organisation-in-the mind and organisational socialisation, this represents learning which students may be disposed towards reproducing as adults in organisations. Finally it offers an organisational structure which may enable students to develop a less inhibited disposition towards the change agent role.
Accounting information and excess stock returns: the role of the cost of capital – new evidence from US firm-level data

The goal of this article is to investigate the impact of accounting information on the cost of capital as well as how the latter influences excess returns. The analysis has certain novelties: first, it extends prior works by investigating how certain components of accounting information affect stock returns through its direct effect on the cost of capital by incorporating influential components of accounting information; second, it makes use of a sample of 330 US manufacturing firms spanning the period 1990Q1 to 2009Q2, while it makes use, for the first time in this literature, of the methodology of panel cointegration. The empirical findings display that accounting information affects directly the firm's cost of capital. This, in turn, tends to exert a negative effect on the firm's excess stock returns, an empirical documentation not captured in case researchers attempt to directly link the cost of capital and excess stock returns.
Revisiting national frameworks for biodiversity conservation: main driving forces of success

Mounting human insecurities in the Middle East fueled by political and environmental challenges are hindering biodiversity conservation and development ventures. Authoritarian political regimes have all but paralysed the evolution of social dynamics and economic growth that should have led towards improved environmental and natural resources management. While the majority of countries in the region have developed National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), many have failed to prioritise biodiversity conservation. Records of achievements reflect incomplete mosaics of various internationally and regionally funded conservation projects. The post-ratification process of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Lebanon resulted in the birth of novel institutional, regulatory and administrative frameworks, and initiated reform in existing ones. Strong initiatives spearheaded by Lebanese government agencies, international and regional organisations, research and academic institutions, as well as civil societies and NGOs, backstopped the implementation of the NBSAP. As is the case with most countries, however, the efficacy of conservation strategies and practices remains under focus, mostly shedding light on the need for mainstreaming biodiversity conservation into national policies and for institutional reform as well as repairing broken bridges between all stakeholders. The proposed holistic approach summarises a simplified vision, which entails environmental citizenship, institutional reform and social responsibilities, and categorises these factors as the driving forces behind the success of implementing the NBSAPs.
In Vivo Analysis of Functional Regions within Yeast Rap1p

ABSTRACT We have analyzed the in vivo importance of different regions of Rap1p, a yeast transcriptional regulator and telomere binding protein. A yeast strain (SCR101) containing a regulatable RAP1 gene was used to test functional complementation by a range of Rap1p derivatives. These experiments demonstrated that the C terminus of the protein, containing the putative transcriptional activation domain and the regions involved in silencing and telomere function, is not absolutely essential for cell growth, a result confirmed by sporulation of a diploid strain containing a C terminal deletion derivative ofRAP1. Northern analysis with cells that expressed Rap1p lacking the transcriptional activation domain revealed that this region is important for the expression of only a subset of Rap1p-activated genes. The one essential region within Rap1p is the DNA binding domain. We have investigated the possibility that this region has additional functions. It contains two Myb-like subdomains separated by a linker region. Individual point mutations in the linker region had no effect on Rap1p function, although deletion of the region abolished cell growth. The second Myb-like subdomain contains a large unstructured loop of unknown function. Domain swap experiments with combinations of elements from DNA binding domains of Rap1p homologues from different yeasts revealed that major changes can be made to the amino acid composition of this region without affecting Rap1p function.
Predicting Self-Care Behaviors Among Older Adults Coping With Arthritis

Objective: The purpose of this investigation is to examine correlates and predictors of self-care activities for persons diagnosed with arthritis both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Method: Data from telephone surveys conducted with 313 older (M = 68.8, SD = 8.93) individuals, chosen from a larger sample, who reported professionally diagnosed arthritis, were used. Results: A total of 10 of the 11 self-care activities changed significantly during the 1-year interval, with 9 showing increased participation. Results from hierarchical regressions showed that all three blocks of predictors explained significant portions of variance, with gender and perceived importance of general health significantly predicting self-care activities at Time 1, at Time 2, and longitudinally. Discussion: These results highlight the influence of demographic, health status, and health belief variables on self-care both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Future work should focus on the mediating effects of these and other variables to better understand the processes by which individuals engage in self-care behavior.
Performance and Risks in the Defense Procurement Sector

Risks that emerge during the implementation and enforcement stages of defense procurement help explain procurement outcomes. Adverse events have impacts on the timing, cost and quality of goods supplied. The procurement process is analyzed on the basis of an original dataset covering 48 defense procurement contracts signed by the French Ministry of Defense with 18 European contractors. Contractual problems create the most adverse events in this sector, while technological risk is the second most significant risk. Although opportunism takes various forms, it is found only rarely in these defense contracts.
Angiostrongylus cantonensis (Nematoda: Metastrongylidae) in the Ryukyu Islands Tree Rat (Diplothrix legata)

Abstract Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a zoonotic nematode with rodents serving as natural definitive hosts. We report A. cantonensis in the Ryukyu Islands tree rat (Diplothrix legata, Thomas, 1906), a native endangered species in Japan. Adult and larvae of A. cantonensis were macroscopically, histologically, and genetically detected in three tree rats collected between August 2011 and January 2012 in the Yambaru area of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Pathologic observations of the lungs of rats showed that infection may be lethal. We also conducted a retrospective genetic survey of helminths parasitic in lung in cryopreserved lung samples of Ryukyu Islands tree rats collected between 2007 and 2011 in the Yambaru area and found A. cantonensis DNA in one of 29 samples, which was collected in December 2010.
Early postnatal dexamethasone influences matrix metalloproteinase‐2 and ‐9, and their tissue inhibitors in the developing rat lung

In order to test the hypothesis that early postnatal exposure to dexamethasone (Dex) influences matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)‐2 and ‐9, as well as their tissue inhibitors (TIMP‐1 and ‐2) in the developing rat lung, newborn rats (3 litters/group) were treated with low Dex (0.1 mg/kg/day, IM), high Dex (0.5 mg/kg/day), or equivalent volumes of saline at 5 days postnatal age (P5), P6, and P7. Lung weight and lung MMP and TIMP levels were determined at sacrifice (7 days postinjection, P14; at weaning, P21; and at adolescence, P45, n = 10/group and time). Dex did not adversely affect lung weight or lung MMP‐2 levels, which peaked in all groups at P21 and then fell by P45. In contrast, Dex decreased TIMP‐2 at all time intervals, but achieved statistical significance only at P45. An imbalance in MMP‐2/TIMP‐2 ratio was noted at P21, with elevations occurring in the low and high Dex‐treated groups. Lung MMP‐9 levels remained comparable with controls during low Dex treatment. However, high Dex exposure resulted in elevated lung MMP‐9 levels at P21 and P45. Lung TIMP‐1 levels increased only with high Dex exposure at P14 and P21, whereas the lung MMP‐9/TIMP‐1 ratio was elevated at P21 in the high Dex group, and at P45 in both Dex‐treated groups. These data provide evidence that early postnatal dexamethasone results in an imbalance between gelatinase‐A and ‐B, and their tissue inhibitors in the developing rat lung. These changes may be responsible, in part, for some of the known maturational effects of steroids on lung structure in the newborn. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2003; 35:456–462. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION IN LIFE‐HISTORY TRAITS OF THE ANT LION, MYRMELEON IMMACULATUS: EVOLUTIONARY IMPLICATIONS OF BERGMANN'S RULE

In eastern North America, body size of the larval ant lion Myrmeleon immaculatus increases from south to north, following Bergmann's rule. We used a common‐garden experiment and a reciprocal‐transplant experiment to evaluate the effects of food and temperature on ant lion growth, body size, and survivorship. In the laboratory common‐garden experiment, first‐instar larvae from two southern (Georgia, South Carolina) and two northern (Connecticut, Rhode Island) populations were reared in incubators under high‐ and low‐food and high‐ and low‐temperature regimes. For all populations, high food increased final body mass and growth rate and decreased development time. Growth rates were higher at low temperatures, but temperature did not affect larval or adult body mass. Survivorship was highest in high‐food and low‐temperature treatments. Across all food and temperature treatments, northern populations exhibited a larger final body mass, shorter development time, faster growth rate, and greater survivorship than did southern populations. Results were similar for a field reciprocal‐transplant experiment of third‐instar larvae between populations in Connecticut and Oklahoma: Connecticut larvae grew faster than Oklahoma larvae, regardless of transplant site. Conversely, larvae transplanted to Oklahoma grew faster than larvae transplanted to Connecticut, regardless of population source. These results suggest that variation in food availability, not temperature, may account for differences in growth and body size of northern and southern ant lions. Although northern larvae grew faster and reached a larger body size in both experiments, northern environments should suppress growth because of reduced food availability and a limited growing season. This study provides the first example of countergradient selection causing Bergmann's rule in an ectotherm.
Effect of cryoprotectants and their concentration on post-thaw survival and development of rapid frozen-thawed pronuclear stage mouse embryos.

Experiments have been conducted to develop a simple rapid-freezing protocol for pronuclear stage mouse embryos. The effect of type of cryoprotectant (dimethyl-sulphoxide (DMSO) or 1,2-propanediol (PROH)) and concentration (ranging from 3.5 to 8.0 mol/l with 0.5 mol/l sucrose) on the post-thaw morphological survival rate, on cleavage rate on development to the blastocyst stage were studied. Further, in-vivo viability of embryos frozen using the most effective cryoprotectant concentration (PROH at 7.0 mol/l) was compared with viability of non-frozen embryos. The type of cryoprotectant and its concentration influenced the survival and development of embryos to the blastocyst stage in vitro. The best development with PROH was achieved at 7.0 mol/l (66%, 128/193), whereas with DMSO the best development was achieved at 6.0 mol/l (42%, 71/171). The rates of survival and cleavage did not differ between the two best cryoprotectant concentrations (P > 0.01) but the proportion of embryos which developed to blastocyst was higher (P < 0.001) with PROH at 7.0 mol/l compared with DMSO at 6.0 mol/l. The rates of survival and development were higher (P < 0.001) with DMSO at 3.5 and 6.0 mol/l compared with similar concentrations of PROH. The cleavage and development, however, was higher (P < 0.001) at 7.0 mol/l PROH compared with the same concentration of DMSO. At 8.0 mol/l the survival and development was not different (P > 0.01) between DMSO and PROH. The rate of implantation and the percentage of live fetuses at autopsy of the recipients receiving non-frozen embryos was higher (63 and 41% respectively) than in those receiving frozen-thawed embryos (53 and 37% respectively), but not significantly different. It may be concluded that the concentration range of cryoprotectants which allows acceptable embryo viability after freezing and thawing is very narrow. The rapid protocol using dehydration in 0.25 mol/l and 0.5 mol/l sucrose followed by exposure to 7.0 mol/l PROH and 0.5 mol/l sucrose for 45 s was the most effective for cryopreservation of pronuclear stage mouse embryos.
Detection of Bradykinin and Bradykinin-β2 Receptors in the Porcine Endometrium During the Estrous Cycle and Early Pregnancy1

Abstract During the period of attachment of the trophectoderm to the uterine lumenal surface in the pig, there is an increase in uterine blood flow and a localized hyperemic response induced by the developing conceptuses. The presence of tissue kallikrein in the porcine uterine lumen suggests that the kallikrein-kinin system may be functional during pregnancy in the pig. The objective of the present study was to determine the concentration of bradykinin within the uterine lumen during the estrous cycle and early pregnancy as well as endometrial gene expression and cellular localization of the bradykinin β2 receptor. Concentration of bradykinin in uterine flushings was greatest during estrus (Day 0) and Days 12–18 of the estrous cycle. However, there was a 5- to 10-fold increase in bradykinin content in pregnant uterine flushings on Days 12–18 of pregnancy compared with the estrous cycle. Endometrial bradykinin β2 receptor gene expression was greatest on Days 0, 12, 15, and 18 of the estrous cycle and pregnancy as gene expression decreased almost 6-fold on Days 5 and 10. Bradykinin β2 receptors were detected in the endometrial surface and glandular epithelium with greatest intensity of staining observed on Days 0, 12, 15, and 18 of the estrous cycle and pregnancy. Results from the present study suggest that the kallikrein-kinin system plays a role in the establishment of pregnancy in the pig.
Mechanisms of cell death in the inherited retinal degenerations.

The human retina possesses both extraordinary sensitivity and a huge adaptive range. A light flash containing only a few photons is sufficient to be consciously perceived in humans. We also can see over a range of nearly nine orders of magnitude in background illumination. The vertebrate visual system has been pushed, by evolutionary pressures, to approach its thermodynamic limitations. This exquisite tuning, however, comes at a cost. Photoreceptors are forced to carry large metabolic burdens, to renew continuously their light-sensitive outer segments and to exist under conditions of very high pO2. Modest changes in the biochemical environment or cellular structure of photoreceptors, caused by genetic lesions or environmental insults, are sufficient to induce cell death through apoptosis. For the inherited retinal degenerations, understanding the impact of each molecular defect on the biology of photoreceptors is important, in addition to studying how these effects converge upon the apoptotic pathway. Collectively, these studies should lead to the development of rational therapies that may slow or even reverse the progression of this devastating disease process.