Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transparent financial disclosure and SFAS No. 142

Purpose - This paper seeks to examine whether companies are providing transparent financial disclosures in compiling with the provisions of SFAS No. 142, “Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets”, and to determine whether the adequacy of these disclosures is impacted by firm size. Design/methodology/approach - The authors conducted a random sample of companies that reported goodwill impairments for the first year of adoption of SFAS No. 142. The firms were then stratified into three groups according to asset size. Subsequent analysis consisted of assessing the financial transparency of companies' goodwill reporting practices in total and by firm size, utilizing an approach suggested in Adams. Findings - The study's findings suggest that many companies are not willing to provide additional voluntary disclosures to improve financial transparency, despite having the necessary information easily accessible. It also found that compliance with the provisions of SFAS 142 was sporadic and unpredictable. Originality/value - This study provides evidence that companies are not providing transparent financial information.
Synergies between Adjacent Beach-Nourishing Communities in a Morpho-Economic Coupled Coastline Model

Beach “nourishment” consists of placing sand on an eroding beach. The widened beach provides increased storm protection to adjacent structures and improved recreational benefits, but is most often transient, requiring on-going, repeated nourishment episodes. Numerical models of beach nourishment typically address such questions as how long a widened beach will last; economic models compare the benefits and costs of preserving a stretch of beach without regard to its geomorphic evolution. Neither have addressed the physical nor economic interactions between adjacent nourishing communities. Here, we couple a numerical model of coastline evolution and a cost-benefit model of beach nourishment, allowing adjacent communities to make dynamic nourishment decisions. Beach nourishment benefits adjacent communities both “updrift” and “downdrift. ” The total amount of money spent on nourishment activities can decrease by as much as 25% when adjacent communities both conduct on-going nourishment projects, as opposed to the case where each community nourishes in isolation.
Determinants of shareholders' returns following announcements of asset sales: Evidence from Latin America

Este trabajo analiza la reaccion en el precio de mercado de las acciones de empresas que anuncian ventas de activos en Latinoamerica. Los elevados niveles de incertidumbre y su alta variabilidad entre los paises de la region ofrecen un ambiente ideal para realizar pruebas de la hipotesis de que variables de tipo economico e institucional pueden diferir entre las empresas que estan vendiendo activos y las que los estan comprando. Se obtuvo que las acciones de las empresas regionales que anuncian la venta de activos experimentan un rendimiento anormal acumulado (CAR) positivo alrededor del momento del anuncio, el cual fluctua entre 1,31% para el dia del anuncio y 3,50% para el periodo que va entre diez dias antes y diez dias despues del anuncio. La reaccion promedio en Latinoamerica es de mayor magnitud que la reaccion que ha sido documentada para eventos similares en paises desarrollados. Ademas, la empresa que vende activos tiende a estar localizada en un pais que goza de un mejor ambiente institucional que el correspondiente al pais de incorporacion de la empresa compradora
The effect of choline and methionine deficiencies on the number and volume percentage of altered hepatic foci in the presence or absence of diethylnitrosamine initiation in rat liver.

The ability of methyl-deficient, amino-acid-defined diets to produce enzyme-altered foci was quantitatively determined in the livers of rats treated both with and without an initiating dose of diethylnitrosamine (DEN). Male weanling F-344 rats were fed a complete, amino-acid-defined diet for 1 week. They were then injected i.p. with a single dose of DEN (20 mg/kg body weight) and fed the complete diet for an additional week. Forty animals in each dose group were then maintained for 5-38 weeks on the complete diet (diet 1) or one of the three methyl-deficient diets customarily used in this laboratory: diet 2, devoid of methionine and choline; diet 3, devoid of methionine only; and diet 4, devoid of choline only. In diets 2 and 3, methionine was replaced by equimolar amounts of its metabolic precursor, DL-homocystine. Ten animals per group were killed 8, 12, 17, 24 and 41 weeks after DEN initiation. For 2 weeks prior to being killed, each group was maintained on the complete diet to minimize the histological abnormalities due to acute toxicity of the diets. Serial sections of the livers were obtained, stained sequentially for gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase, ATPase and glucose-6-phosphatase, and the quantitation of the focal lesions scored by these markers was carried out by quantitative stereology. The results indicated that, regardless of the enzyme marker(s) examined, there was a general correspondence between the volume and number of altered hepatic foci (AHF) formed and the previously described tumor-promoting activities of each diet. Thus, while all DEN-treated groups contained significant numbers of AHF 24 weeks after initiation, only the diet-2-fed animals displayed such foci at 8 weeks. Similarly, among the uninitiated rats, only those fed diet 2 exhibited the presence of AHF throughout the experimental period. Interestingly, the livers of uninitiated, choline-deficient rats showed a small number of AHF at 24 and 42 weeks; these foci were not observed at all in the corresponding DEN-untreated animals fed diet 3, deficient in methionine only. The results provide evidence that the carcinogenic effects of the methionine- and choline-deficient diet result more from its strongly promoting effect than from any initiating activity by the diet.
Quality Management: A Key Process in the Service Industries

Project management is a developing area in the service industry, as more unique and customer-tailored services are being developed. This paper presents a benchmarking research study, aimed at improving project planning capabilities in the service industry. Based on data collected from 275 project managers from several industries, including 79 from the service sector, project management strengths and weaknesses within the service industry were investigated. It was found that project managers from the service sector excel in cost and procurement planning processes, compared to project managers from other industries. On the other hand, project managers from the service sector achieve the worst score in quality management processes. Moreover, in the service industry quality management was found to have the most significant impact on project success. Hence, managers in the service sector would benefit from acquiring proper knowledge and techniques relating to quality management in the planning phase of projects. It was also found that the success level of projects performed in the service sector depends most on the qualifications of the project manager. A project manager in the service sector gets very little support from the organisation itself. Support processes should focus on the main weaknesses of the service industry, mainly ‘developing project management procedures’ and ‘increasing the extent of training of their project managers’. The paper presents and analyses strengths and weaknesses of the service industry in project planning and suggests a detailed roadmap for improvement.
Detailed abundances from integrated-light spectroscopy: Milky Way globular clusters

We test the performance of our analysis technique for integrated-light spectra by applying it to seven well-studied Galactic GCs that span a wide range of metallicities. Integrated-light spectra were obtained by scanning the slit of the UVES spectrograph on the ESO Very Large Telescope across the half-light diameters of the clusters. We modelled the spectra using resolved HST colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs), as well as theoretical isochrones, in combination with standard stellar atmosphere and spectral synthesis codes. The abundances of Fe, Na, Mg, Ca, Ti, Cr, and Ba were compared with literature data for individual stars in the clusters. The typical differences between iron abundances derived from our integrated-light spectra and those compiled from the literature are less than 0.1 dex. A larger difference is found for one cluster (NGC 6752), and is most likely caused primarily by stochastic fluctuations in the numbers of bright red giants within the scanned area. As expected, the alpha-elements (Ca, Ti) are enhanced by about 0.3 dex compared to the Solar-scaled composition, while the [Cr/Fe] ratios are close to Solar. When using up-to-date line lists, our [Mg/Fe] ratios also agree well with literature data. Our [Na/Fe] ratios are, on average, 0.08-0.14 dex lower than average values quoted in the literature, and our [Ba/Fe] ratios may be overestimated by 0.20-0.35 dex at the lowest metallicities. We find that analyses based on theoretical isochrones give very similar results to those based on resolved CMDs. Overall, the agreement between our integrated-light abundance measurements and the literature data is satisfactory. Refinements of the modelling procedure, such as corrections for stellar evolutionary and non-LTE effects, might further reduce some of the remaining offsets.
Plenary 'Amendments' to Committee Reports: Legislative Powers of the European Parliament Committees

This paper questions the claim that the European Parliament (EP) is a legislature with strong committees. It examines the extent to which the plenary draws its legislative position on the basis of the draft committee reports under the codecision procedure. It is expected that the committees’ impact is substantially decreased if an early agreement is reached with the Council of Ministers in informal trilogue meetings. Furthermore, due to the open amendment rule in plenary committees are expected to be more successful if the legislators drafting their reports have no special outlying interests, have relevant expertise, and are affiliated with big party groups. These hypotheses are tested on an original data set of the codecision reports which passed first reading in the 6th EP (2004-2009). The findings suggest that indeed informal trilogue agreements significantly undermine committees’ legislative influence while rapporteurs’ profiles do not have a significant effect on the adoption of committee reports in plenary.
An Efficient, Closed-Form MAP Estimator for Nakagami- ${m}$ Fading Parameter

A maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimator for the Nakagami-m fading parameter is proposed. The MAP estimator has a simple closed-form expression and can be rewritten as a bias corrected generalized moment estimator. Numerical results demonstrate that the MAP estimation scheme outperforms the existing estimation procedures and produces almost unbiased estimates for the fading parameter even for a small sample size.
Penetration of enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin into breast milk, and pharmacokinetics of the drugs in lactating rabbits and neonatal offspring.

OBJECTIVE To determine the pharmacokinetics and milk penetration of enrofloxacin (ENR) and ciprofloxacin (CIP) in lactating rabbits and their disposition in suckling rabbits. DESIGN Prospective cross-over study. ANIMALS 6 lactating New Zeland White rabbits and their offspring (16 days after parturition). PROCEDURE Serial plasma and milk samples were assayed by use of a high-performance liquid chromatography technique. In vitro protein binding in plasma and skim milk was measured by ultrafiltration. Skim-to-whole milk ratio also was determined. The time course of ENR and CIP was fitted by nonlinear least squares regression analysis, and the pharmacokinetic variables were compared. RESULTS The time courses of ENR and CIP in plasma were similar in lactating adult rabbits (mean body clearances, 23.9 and 27.2 ml/min/kg of body weight, for ENR and CIP, respectively). Observed milk-to-plasma ratios (M/P) were determined, using the area under the milk and plasma concentration versus time profiles (ENR, 2.59; CIP, 3.61). Predicted M/P (ENR, 6.35; CIP, 3.04) were calculated from in vitro measurements. Body clearance calculated for ENR and CIP in suckling rabbit pups involved a decrease of 80 and 74%, respectively, over that found in lactating animals. CONCLUSIONS Observed CIP M/P were correlated to predicted values, which strengthens the argument that CIP passes into the milk by nonionic diffusion. The lack of correlation between observed and predicted ENR M/P pointed out that ENR undergoes faster elimination from milk than that predicted by the diffusional model. Diminished elimination capacity observed in suckling rabbits would result in greater exposure than that predicted from concentrations alone.
A Carbon Footprint Proportional to Expenditure - a Case for Norway?

Assuming that emissions originate from the consumption of goods and services, we study the relationship between consumption-based per capita carbon footprint and per capita expenditure for Norway, using 2007 data. A two-region input-output model reveals that the consumption-based per capita carbon footprint is directly proportional to expenditure with an estimated elasticity close to unity. We show that this result is at least partly driven by a near zero-emission power sector, which leads to comparatively low emission intensities for domestically-produced goods and services.
Ranking of Drivers for Green Manufacturing Implementation Using Fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution Method

The governments are under tremendous pressure to sustain high manufacturing growth in emerging economies. Unfortunately, the manufacturing sector consumes much energy and other resources and emits a large amount of green house gases, which increases environmental problems such as climate change and global warming. One possible solution to this problem is green manufacturing (GM) implementation in industry. However, GM implementation faces many challenges. Various motivating factors named as ‘drivers’ should be facilitated by the government and industry to make this change possible. This paper investigates the drivers for GM implementation and their ranking based on fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution method using government, industry and experts perspectives. The study concluded that competitiveness, incentives, organizational resources and technology are top ranked drivers and should be facilitated by the government and industry to help implement GM. The ranking of these drivers is expected to help the government and industry to focus on few important drivers to facilitate the GM implementation with limited resources. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Longitudinal course of cognitive, adaptive, and behavioral characteristics in Costello syndrome

Costello syndrome is a rare rasopathy caused by germline mutations in the oncogene HRAS resulting in increased signal transduction through the Ras/mitogen‐activated protein kinase pathway. In contrast to the more common rasopathies, such as neurofibromatosis type 1 and Noonan syndrome, limited information is available on standardized cognitive testing in this cohort. Past research indicated a mean average IQ in the mild mental retardation range, with strengths in fluid reasoning (FR) and weakness in expressive language, as well as static skills over time. Here we report on standardized IQ and adaptive functioning in 18 individuals with Costello syndrome, nine males and nine females, and longitudinal development for 11 who had previous testing. The overall IQ, ranging from severe mental retardation to the average range, with a mean in the mildly mentally retarded range, was again found to be stable, but an interesting pattern in the development of nonverbal FR was identified. Participants showed an improvement in nonverbal FR, followed by stable skills thereafter, suggesting a “late bloomer” effect in late childhood/early adolescence. Overall adaptive functioning fell into the range of Intellectual Disability for 70% of subjects, with Socialization as a relative strength and Daily Living Skills an area of relative difficulty. Interestingly, females were found to be higher functioning than males in all domains, including Communication, Daily Living Skills and Socialization. Caregivers reported significantly more behavioral concerns in males, including internalizing, externalizing, and other maladaptive behaviors. In contrast, no gender differences were found in cognitive or visuomotor functioning. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Franchise Contract in Hotel Chains: A Study of Hotel Chain Growth and Market Concentrations

Hotel chains can expand by using a variety of different growth strategies. Some studies argue that hotel chains use a wide array of strategies, with none prevailing over the rest. Several arguments can now be put forward to demonstrate that systems not based on capital transactions, particularly franchise agreements, are the strategies that hotel chains prefer when carrying out expansion programmes. The conclusions show that the franchise system has become the growth strategy most widely used by hotel chains and that the sharp rise in the use of this system has led to increasing market concentrations by hotel chains.
Identifying Personality Pathology Associated With Major Depressive Episodes: Incremental Validity of Informant Reports

Major limitations are associated with the use of a single source of information to assess personality pathology. The construct validity of standardized interviews and informant reports on personality pathology has been established relative to other measures of personality pathology, but it is also important to consider these measures in relation to other constructs that should be related to personality pathology. One example is major depression. In this study, we evaluated whether less common clinical methods of assessment for measuring the same personality pathology constructs, including semistructured interviews and informant reports, demonstrate unique validity, using major depressive episode (MDE) as the external criterion. This analysis focuses on a representative, community-based sample of 1,437 participants and informants. We conducted a hierarchical logistic regression analysis and determined the order of entering the predictor variables based on likelihood of being used in a clinical setting as well as empirical recommendations. Each step of our regression model significantly increased our ability to predict lifetime MDE, including self, interviewer, and informant reports of personality pathology. Overall, these findings indicate that multiple sources of personality assessment provide unique information about the relationship between maladaptive personality traits and a history of MDE. Thus, semistructured diagnostic interviews and informant reports can be used as a resource to improve the validity of personality assessments.
Analyzing Stock Market Volatility Using Extreme-Day Measures

We develop a simple measure of volatility based on extreme‐day returns and apply it to market returns from 1885 to 2002. Because returns are not normally distributed, the extreme‐day measure, which is distribution free, might provide a better measure of stock market risk than the traditional standard deviation. The extreme‐day measure more accurately explains investor behavior relative to standard deviation as shown by equity fund flows, and we find evidence that large negative changes appear to influence investor behavior more than large positive changes.
Factors Influencing the Choice of Child Delivery Location among Women Attending Antenatal Care Services and Immunization Clinic in Southeastern Nigeria

Background and Objective: In Nigeria, most deliveries take place at home or with traditional birth attendants (TBAs). This study examined the factors that influenced or determined utilization of healthcare facility delivery services among women who attended antenatal care (ANC) services. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 220 women who registered for ANC at a hospital and delivered within 18 months. Associations between independent variables and choice of healthcare facility delivery were analyzed. Multiple logistic regression was also used to identify the predictors of choice of delivery among women. Results: Of the 220 women who registered for ANC, 75% delivered at a healthcare facility while 15% delivered with a TBA or at home. In the final model, number of children, having planned to deliver at a hospital, labor occurring at night, and labor allowing time for transportation were significant predictors of child delivery location among the women. Conclusion and Global Health Implications: Utilization of the health facilities for childbirth may increase if pregnant women are encouraged to book early for ANC and if during ANC, pregnant women were counseled to detect labor signs early. In addition to focused and intensified counseling for women with more children, support should be provided that includes financial provisions for transportation to the healthcare facility.
The Implementation Model of a Digital City. The Case Study of the Digital City of Trikala, Greece

ABSTRACT E-Government is being developed according to Government strategic plans. These plans constitute a framework for digital public services that will benefit both citizens and public administration. The Digital City can support e-Govemment evolution by offering a global environment for public transactions. The Digital City's definition is extended to “the global Information Environment, focusing on the needs of a city area. ” Moreover, the Digital City comprises a new virtual environment, which administers others-in either the private or public sector-where both marketing and social aspects must be administered and support public benefit. In this paper both the contribution of the Digital City to e-Government and the development methodology of the Digital City of Trikala, Greece (e-Trikala), are presented. The methodology shows the procedure by which the Digital City forms an e-Government environment, offering more than administrating services. Furthermore, the methodology can be considered as a general implementation model for developing similar municipal-area environments for e-Government. The model adopts participatory design issues, while on the other hand some relative considerations are analyzed.