Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Has the IASB Been Successful in Making Accounting Earnings More Useful for Prediction and Valuation? UK Evidence

When producing International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), one of the main goals of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) was to create a set of standards which were more useful to investors as a predictive tool. We assess the success of the IASB in achieving this goal by investigating the effects of the introduction of IFRS on the relative information content of reported earnings and forecasted earnings under UK generally accepted accounting practices (GAAP) and IFRS. Results indicate that the value relevance of forecasted earnings is significantly lower under IFRS while the value relevance of reported earnings is significantly larger. These findings suggest that IFRS substitutes price-relevant information previously provided to the market in the form of analyst forecasts with information encoded by companies in their reported earnings. This implies that the IASB was indeed successful in its stated goal and points towards IFRS forecasts being more accurate and less dispersed than UK GAAP forecasts. This, in turn, implies that analysts are able to provide more informative forecasts under IFRS than under pre-IFRS regimes and that the aforementioned substitution effect is not a consequence of any decrease in the quality of forecasts under the new regime.
Poverty and Deprivation in Young and Old: A Comparative Study of Australia and Japan

This paper compares the well-being of children and older people within and between Australia and Japan using as of indicators of disadvantage income poverty rates, deprivation (defined as an enforced lack of socially perceived necessities) and consistent poverty (the combination of poverty and deprivation). Information on these three indicators is derived from two national surveys that were used to generate a set of comparable measures. The results indicate that conclusions about the extent of disadvantage and the ranking of children and older people within each country (and between them) are heavily dependent on the choice of indicator. The deprivation results confirm that the approach can be applied comparatively and is capable of producing credible and robust findings. Whether viewed in isolation or in combination with conventional poverty measures, the results indicate that the main factor that determines the risk of deprivation is living alone (or as a sole parent) rather than age or the presence of children. The results also imply that the findings and implications of studies of policy impact will be sensitive to the choice of indicator used to identify disadvantage.
South Korea as an emerging donor: Challenges and changes on its entering OECD/DAC

South Korea's official development assistance (ODA) has been increasing rapidly and will continue to do so. Korea is one of the few countries which have successfully transitioned from a recipient to a donor. It became a member of DAC (development assistance committee), OECD in November 2009. Korea's ODA policy, along with its growth in quantity, is at a crossroads for the enhancement of its quality. Discussions and debates are going on regarding the reforms in Korea's ODA activities, and this paper examines key issues raised. It first reviews the past and present of Korea's ODA, and identifies major characteristics including a low ODA|GNI ratio, a high percentage of concessional loans compared to grants, a high portion of tied aid, regional bias and a relatively large number of recipients. The paper argues that those characteristics arise from a lack of consensus on some fundamental issues like the objective of ODA, positioning of Korea's ODA as an emerging donor and the nature of aid to North Korea. We also argue that a shift of ODA policy is required to promote reform, based on a thorough reflection on the role of ODA in the alleviation of poverty and promoting sustainable development in developing countries, rather than serving as an economic tool. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
uvrC Gene Function in Excision Repair in Toluene-Treated Escherichia coli

We have examined the role of the uvrC gene in UV excision repair by studying incision, excision, repair synthesis, and DNA strand reformation in Escherichia coli mutants made permeable to nucleoside triphosphates by toluene treatment. After irradiation, incisions occur normally in uvrC cells in the presence of nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), a ligase-blocking agent, but cannot be detected otherwise. We conclude that repair incisions are followed by a ligation event in uvrC mutants, masking incision. However, a uvrC polA12 mutant accumulates incisions only slightly less efficiently than a polA12 strain without NMN. Excision of pyrimidine dimers is defective in uvrC mutants (polA+ or polA12) irrespective of the presence or absence of NMN. DNA polymerase I-dependent, NMN-stimulated repair synthesis, which is demonstrable in wild-type cells, is absent in uvrC polA+ cells, but the uvrC polA12 mutant exhibits a UV-specific, ATP-dependent repair synthesis like parental polA12 strains. A DNA polymerase I-mediated reformation of high-molecular-weight DNA takes place efficiently in uvrC polA+ mutants after incision accumulation, and the uvrC polA12 mutant shows more reformation than the polA12 strain after incision. These results indicate that normal incision occurs in uvrC mutants, but there appears to be a defect in the excision of pyrimidine dimers, allowing resealing via ligation at the site of the incision. The lack of NMN-stimulated repair synthesis in uvrC polA+ cells indicates that incision is not the only requirement for repair synthesis.
Parking Policy and Urban Mobility Level of Service – System Dynamics as a Modelling Tool for Decision Making

Parking policy is still the most directly available instrument for managing traffic demand in many cities. But policy design is subject to difficulties resulting from the complexity of the urban mobility system. This article presents a model framework, based on a system dynamics approach, aimed at assessing the effectiveness of parking policy and quantitatively identifying optimal design at an aggregate spatial level under a level of service maximization objective. An application to a city is developed and the results are discussed in view of their qualitative outcomes and quantitative validity and robustness. It is argued that system dynamics addresses several needs of modellers and decision makers regarding urban parking policy assessment, particularly if parking is used as a traffic management tool. The qualitative results of the model coincide with the prescriptions that would come from the economic theory, even with an objective function based on level of service instead of a broader indicator of efficiency. At the quantitative level, the validation testing of the model application with the available data provided positive indications and no case to reject that a quantitative accurateness useful for policy prescription could be attained provided that some data gaps are fulfilled. The necessary data for calibration seems to be possible to obtain by feasible local empirical observations.
Short-run market overreaction

26 ecent research in finance finds pervasive cn 2 t evidence of predictable reversals in stock price movements. This potential violation of the efficient markets hypothesis is labeled the “overreaction” phenomenon, because it suggests that the market has overreacted in the initial period, and that it subsequently corrects itself. ’ DeBondt and Thaler (1985,1987) find evidence of stock market overreaction in ”long-run” price movements. They form portfolios ranked on the basis of three-year return performance, and they find that extreme losers significantly outperform extreme winners over the subsequent three years. Rosenberg and Rudd (1982) and Rosenberg, Reid, and Lanstein (1985) find evidence of stock market overreaction in shortrun price movements. They rank firms based on onemonth performance and find that losers significantly outperform winners in the subsequent month. In a 1988 working paper I challenge the DeBondt and Thaler findings, showing that the long-run overreaction phenomenon is really another manifestation of the well-known size and January phenomena. Using the DeBondt and Thaler three-year ranking variable, I find not only that losers are usually significantly smaller than winners at the date of portfolio formation (i.e., at the end of the extreme performa nce period), but also that matching subgroups of 1ost:rs and winners by size reveals evidence of differential performance only in January. Furthermore, in subsequent periods when winners are smaller than losers, winners outperform losers. While the size and January phenomena may subsume the long-run overreaction phenomenon, the efficient markets anomaly of short-run overreaction remains. It is important now to determine whether size and seasonality can account for short-run price reversals as well. If they cannot, then we must conclude that this is a genuine market inefficiency.2 This paper examines the role of size and seasonal effects in short-run price reversals. The first section describes sample selection procedures and the methodology to test for stock market overreaction. Next I provide test results. Finally I summarize the findings and their implications.
Immunohistochemical evaluation of cyclin D1 in breast cancer.

AIM To explore the potential prognostic value of cyclin D1 in invasive breast cancer and its correlation with basic histopathological parameters, hormonal status (estrogen [ER] and progesterone receptor [PR]), and bcl-2. METHODS Medical records of 48 patients, diagnosed in 1998, from the Central Database of the Institute of Oncology, Clinical Center University of Sarajevo, were analyzed. The mean follow-up was 61 months (range: 4-103 months). Routine histopathological evaluation was performed for 48 formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue samples. For immunohistochemical staining, we used monoclonal antibodies for ER, PR, bcl-2, and cyclin D1. RESULTS Cyclin D1 expression inversely correlated with tumor grade (P=0.010) and tumor size (P=0.023), whereas significant positive association was found with ER (P=0.001) and bcl-2 (P=0.001) expression. Patients with higher cyclin D1 expression had longer both overall survival (P=0.014) and relapse-free survival (P=0.037). Cox regression analysis for overall survival (OS) showed that lymph node status, ER expression, therapy, and cyclin D1 expression were independent prognostic factors. (P range from 0.003 to 0.04). CONCLUSION Expression of cyclin D1 is associated with better disease outcome in breast cancer.
Spirituality and Quality of Life in Limb Amputees

Abstract Limb amputation is a life-changing event that signifies long-term physical, social, psychological, and environmental change. Spiritual well-being in patients plays a significant role in coping and may affect outcomes of patients with limb loss. The objective of this study was to describe the role of spirituality in individuals with limb amputation and to determine whether spirituality is related to the quality of life (QOL) in this sample. Study participants were recruited through prosthetists, physicians, amputee support groups, the Amputee Coalition of America, and amputee listserv discussion groups in the United States and Canada. Participants completed questionnaires containing measures of satisfaction with life, general health, mobility, and social integration. A quantitative descriptive research design was used to examine the relationships between existential spirituality (belief that one's life is meaningful or has purpose) and religious spirituality and QOL among individuals with limb amputation. A prospective study of 108 patients with a history of limb amputation was performed. The study population consisted of 66.3% males and 33.7% females. Most patients were Caucasian (96.2%). Of the 108 participants, 86 (79.6%) were 41 years of age or older with a mean of 18 years since amputation. The most frequent cause of amputation was trauma (55.6%) and the most common location of amputation was below-the-knee (49.1%). Existential spirituality, female gender, and age above 50 years related to higher QOL in patients with a history of limb amputation. The findings of this research confirmed that amputees use spirituality to cope with limb amputation. Existential spirituality was a significant predictor of satisfaction with life, general health, and social integration.
Supportive treatment, resection and transcatheter arterial chemoembolization in resectable hepatocellular carcinoma: an analysis of survival in 419 patients.

OBJECTIVE AND DESIGN Both surgical resection and transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) are effective treatments for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Few reports have compared the different treatment modalities for resectable HCC based on clinically matched groups. The aim of this study was to compare the survival rate after surgery, TACE or supportive treatment in resectable HCC patients, and also in elderly patients (> or = 70 y/o). METHODS From 1984 to 1993, 419 consecutive patients with resectable HCC were included in this study. Of these, 311 (74%) underwent resection of tumours and 46 (11%) refused operation, opting instead for TACE. The remaining 62 (15%) who refused both methods of treatment were given supportive care. Univariate and multivariate analyses for prognostic factors and the 5-year survival rate among the groups were studied. RESULTS Both surgical resection and TACE groups had a better 5-year survival rate than the supportive treatment group (43% and 34% vs. 7%). There was no difference in survival between the surgery and TACE groups. However, the 5-year survival rate was 11% in TACE and 41% in the surgical group when the patients were > or = 70. In multivariate analysis, female sex (P = 0.0466), tumour size < or = 3 cm (P = 0.0001), alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) < 400 U/l (P = 0.0036), single tumour (P = 0.0474), serum creatinine < or = 1.5 mg/dl (P = 0.0006) and alkaline phosphatase (AP) < or = 100 U/l (P = 0.0007) are associated with good prognosis for resectable HCC. CONCLUSION TACE is an alternative for resectable HCC. Tumour size, tumour number, AFP level, renal function, AP level and female sex are prognostic factors. In elderly people, TACE must be used prudently and has a worse prognosis.
Different requirements for action potentials in the induction of different forms of long‐term potentiation

The role of postsynaptic action potentials (APs) in the induction of long‐term potentiation (LTP) remains unclear, but has important implications for theories of associative learning in the brain. In area CA1 of hippocampus, at least three discrete forms of LTP coexist, each displaying unique decay kinetics and involving different signalling and effector systems. The present work investigates whether these forms of LTP also differ in their requirement for postsynaptic APs. Inhibition of APs during theta‐burst stimulation (TBS) had no effect on the persistence of short‐lasting LTP (LTP 1), but reduced the persistence of more durable forms (LTP 2 and 3). Calcium imaging revealed different requirements for APs in generating calcium signals in spines, dendrites, and somata, consistent with their known roles in the induction of each form of LTP. Finally, short‐lasting LTP was endowed with dramatically enhanced persistence by the presentation of TBS‐patterned APs alone. These data reveal that the requirement for APs in LTP induction is dependent on the form of LTP under investigation, supporting the contention that different neuronal learning mechanisms coexist in hippocampal area CA1.
Factor Determinants of Total Factor Productivity Growth for the Japanese Manufacturing Industry

type="main" xml:id="coep12152-abs-0001"> This study uses industrial panel data for Japanese manufacturing to estimate the sources of productivity growth by simultaneously considering embodied technical progress, spillover effects, and openness, after controlling for returns to scale, imperfect competition, and capacity utilization. Estimation results show the existence of considerable embodied technical progress and interindustry externalities of capital investments positively affecting productivity growth. Furthermore, embodied technical progress causes research and development (R&D) capital to affect productivity growth insignificantly, suggesting that the impact of R&D is realized only after being embodied into other capitals. From sector-wise estimations, we notice differences in factors affecting productivity growth between the durable and nondurable manufacturing sectors. (JEL D24, O30)
Unconstrained estimates of the equity risk premium

Estimates of the equity risk premium implied by analyst forecasts—generally 2–4 %—are often significantly below realized equity returns of 6 %. Measurement error could result from conservative assumptions, reliance upon consensus rather than detailed forecasts, the use of market rather than target prices, and regression analysis, which can be influenced by a small number of observations. We address these potential sources of measurement error. Our estimates are consistent with subsequently realized returns and capture systematic risk exposure. Alternative techniques could capture another form of priced risk or identify firm characteristics associated with systematic mispricing. From 1999 to 2008, we estimate an average equity risk premium in the United States of 5.3 %. The estimate increases from 3.1 % for 1999–2000 to 5.9 % from 2001 to 2008, comparable to the historical average of realized equity returns.
Transmission of Volatility between Stock Markets

This paper investigates why, in October 1987, almost all stock markets fell together despite widely differing economic circumstances. The idea is that "contagion" between markets occurs as the result of attempts by rational agents to infer information from price changes in other markets. This provides a channel through which a "mistake" in one market can be transmitted to other markets. Hourly stock price data from New York, Tokyo and London during an eight month period around the crash offer support for the contagion model. In addition, the magnitude of the contagion coefficients are found to increase with volatility.
Credentialism, adults and part-time higher education in the United Kingdom: an account of rising take up and some implications for policy

This paper focuses on, and helps to explain, the growing importance of higher level qualifications for adults in the UK. It highlights statistical trends in their take up of qualifications, particularly, as the result of taking part-time courses in higher education. Recent figures indicate that most part-time students at undergraduate level fund their own tuition fees: I interpret this finding as an indicator of individual demand. The article goes on to draw on a qualitative study of mature students to identify some of the issues which lie behind the statistics. I suggest that insights into the rising take up of HE can be gained from considering the backgrounds and perspectives of mature students themselves, their changing relationship to qualifying and how their return-to-study decisions relate to the contemporary socio-economic context. The paper concludes by reminding policy makers of the challenge of widening access to HE for disadvantaged groups and briefly focuses on the potential of the new foundation degree to address this issue.
Determinants of Board Size and Composition: A Theory of Corporate Boards

Abstract This paper models the interaction of firm insiders and outsiders on a corporate board and addresses the question of the board's ideal size and composition. In the model, the board is responsible for monitoring projects and making CEO succession decisions. Inside directors are better informed regarding the quality of firm investment projects, but outsiders can use CEO succession to motivate insiders to reveal their superior information and help the board implement higher value projects. The optimal board structure is determined by the trade-off between maximizing the incentive for insiders to reveal their private information, minimizing coordination costs among outsiders and maximizing the ability of outsiders to reject inferior projects. I show that optimal board size and composition are functions of the directors' and the firm's characteristics. I also develop testable implications for crosssectional variations in the optimal board structure across firms.
Prognostic and mechanistic potential of progesterone sulfates in intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy and pruritus gravidarum

A challenge in obstetrics is to distinguish pathological symptoms from those associated with normal changes of pregnancy, typified by the need to differentiate whether gestational pruritus of the skin is an early symptom of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) or due to benign pruritus gravidarum. ICP is characterized by raised serum bile acids and complicated by spontaneous preterm labor and stillbirth. A biomarker for ICP would be invaluable for early diagnosis and treatment and to enable its differentiation from other maternal diseases. Three progesterone sulfate compounds, whose concentrations have not previously been studied, were newly synthesized and assayed in the serum of three groups of ICP patients and found to be significantly higher in ICP at 9‐15 weeks of gestation and prior to symptom onset (group 1 cases/samples: ICP n = 35/80, uncomplicated pregnancy = 29/100), demonstrating that all three progesterone sulfates are prognostic for ICP. Concentrations of progesterone sulfates were associated with itch severity and, in combination with autotaxin, distinguished pregnant women with itch that would subsequently develop ICP from pruritus gravidarum (group 2: ICP n = 41, pruritus gravidarum n = 14). In a third group of first‐trimester samples all progesterone sulfates were significantly elevated in serum from low‐risk asymptomatic women who subsequently developed ICP (ICP/uncomplicated pregnancy n = 54/51). Finally, we show mechanistically that progesterone sulfates mediate itch by evoking a Tgr5‐dependent scratch response in mice. Conclusion: Our discovery that sulfated progesterone metabolites are a prognostic indicator for ICP will help predict onset of ICP and distinguish it from benign pruritus gravidarum, enabling targeted obstetric care to a high‐risk population. Delineation of a progesterone sulfate‐TGR5 pruritus axis identifies a therapeutic target for itch management in ICP. (Hepatology 2016;63:1287–1298)
Impact of WEEE‐directive on reverse logistics in Germany

Purpose – Owing to new legal requirements, essential changes in the field of treatment of electronic products in Germany are expected. However, consequences in terms of changes of organisation and material flows of the German treatment system are currently unknown. Thus, the objective of this contribution is to predict relevant changes occurring in this context. This lays the framework for a deduction of recommendations for political decision makers and actors of the treatment system.Design/methodology/approach – Within this contribution, a linear, activity‐based model is presented, optimising the allocation of discarded products, disassembly activities and disassembly fractions to actors of the treatment system. Parameter and model modifications allow forecasting of future developments. In a case study, the model is then applied to Lower Saxony, a federal state of Germany. This allows a validation of the model as well as an evaluation of future scenarios.Findings – Based on this analysis, impacts of new .