Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants and Consequences of Corporate Tax Avoidance

I provide a first comprehensive literature survey with an exclusive focus on empirical corporate tax avoidance research. Shackelford and Shevlin [2001] traced the earlier developments of archival, microeconomic-based, empirical income tax research, pointing out a nascent interest for research on the determinants of tax aggressiveness. Nine years later, Hanlon and Heitzman [2010] labeled “corporate tax avoidance” as one of four “main areas” of tax research in accounting. Until and since then, work in this area has grown at a rapid pace and clearly remains a vibrant area of tax research. Hence, the goal of this study is to assist both researchers who are new to this field as well as experienced readers by providing an updated overview of empirical studies investigating firms’ efforts to reduce their explicit tax burden. In a first step, the origins of tax avoidance research in the corporate context are briefly summarized. The second section briefly reviews numerous fundamental firm characteristics (e.g. size, capital structure, and asset mix) that have been shown to explain some variation in levels of tax avoidance. Third, the main part of this study is devoted to the discussion of the extensive empirical findings on the determinants and consequences of corporate tax avoidance (e.g. various corporate governance arrangements and alternative firm value implications). Finally, the study concludes with suggestions for future research.
Gesture, speech, and computational stages: a reply to McNeill.

McNeill (1985) claimed that speech and its accompanying gestures "share a common computational stage" that is located early in the speech production process. This position depends on two crucial arguments that we believe are unsound: first, that gestures "are synchronized with linguistic units in speech" and, second, that gestures "have semantic and pragmatic functions that parallel those of speech. " Careful analysis of the relevant data indicated that although the processes underlying gestural production are globally autonomous, they are linked to speech production at more than just one computational stage. An account is offered that explicates these links.
Tax-Minded Executives and Corporate Tax Strategies: Evidence from the 2013 Tax Hikes

Exploiting the increase in personal tax rates due to the American Taxpayer Relief Act and Healthcare Act, we identify tax-minded executives who exhibit a preference for personal tax savings. We find that 2,281 top executives strategically realized their built-in capital gains prior to the tax hikes to save nearly $741 million in personal taxes in 2012. These executives also save their shareholders taxes and save their firms cash taxes. Specifically, their firms distributed $8 billion in special and accelerated dividends in 2012, which saved shareholders nearly $700 million in taxes. Further, each tax-minded executive reduces a firm’s long-run cash effective tax rate by 0.43%.
One Half-Billion Shareholders and Counting-Determinants of Individual Share Ownership Around the World

This study presents the first comprehensive compilation of the number of people around the world owning shares voluntarily. We document that at least 317 million people in 70 countries (24 developed and 46 emerging market nations) invest in equity of publically listed companies or mutual funds. Accounting for contributors of voluntarily pension schemes investing in equity increases the number of shareholders to over 544 million. We also test for determinants of personal shareholdings and find that (i) the legal origin matters (common law countries have statistically significantly higher percentage of population investing in equity), (ii) GDP per capita also matters but its significance is driven by emerging markets (in particular those opened before 1985), and (iii) privatisation does not contribute to higher levels of shareholder participation in the medium- and long-run.
A MARK-RELEASE-RECAPTURE STUDY USING A NOVEL PORTABLE HUT DESIGN TO DEFINE THE FLIGHT BEHAVIOR OF ANOPHELES DARLINGI IN BELIZE, CENTRAL AMERICA1

ABSTRACT Knowledge of the flight behavior of local vectors is of paramount importance in mosquito control programs. The following study defined the recapture rate of wild-caught, unengorged Anopheles darlingi females at 0, 400, and 800 m from a fixed release point in Belize, Central America, using a newly designed portable experimental hut. Three sampling trials, each consisting of 2 12-h collections, were performed at all distances from July 2002 to June 2003. A total of 1,185 An. darlingi were marked and released during the course of the study. The recapture rate was greatest at 0 m (29.0%; 124/428) and declined from 11.6% (37/318) at 400 m to 5.8% (21/361) at the 800-m site. There was no difference between the average number of marked mosquitoes recaptured inside the experimental hut versus outside the hut at any distance location. Recapture rates of each trial were highest during the first night's collection at all locations. Further examination of the first night data revealed a variation in the peak time of recapture by distances from the release point. The peak in nightly recapture at both the 0- and 400-m sites occurred within the first 2 h after sunset, and the peak recapture at the 800-m site occurred during the 7th h after sunset. Information from the present study is the first to describe the flight behavior of An. darlingi in Belize and will benefit in the development of adult-density risk assessments at the house level based on distances from potential vector breeding sites.
Non-Uniform MCE Training of Deep Long Short-Term Memory Recurrent Neural Networks for Keyword Spotting

It has been shown in [1, 2] that improved performance can be achieved by formulating the keyword spotting as a non-uniform error automatic speech recognition problem. In this work, we discriminatively train a deep bidirectional long short-term memory (BLSTM) hidden Markov model (HMM) based acoustic model with non-uniform boosted minimum classification error (BMCE) criterion which imposes more significant error cost on the keywords than those on the non-keywords. By introducing the BLSTM, the context information in both the past and the future are stored and updated to predict the desired output and the long-term dependencies within the speech signal are well captured. With non-uniform BMCE objective, the BLSTM is trained so that the recognition errors related to the keywords are remarkably reduced. The BLSTM is optimized using backpropagation through time and stochastic gradient descent. The keyword spotting system is implemented within weighted finite state transducer framework. The proposed method achieves 5.49% and 7.37% absolute figure-of-merit improvements respectively over the BLSTM and the feedforward deep neural network baseline systems trained with cross-entropy criterion for the keyword spotting task on Switchboard-1 Release 2 dataset.
The Potential for β-Structure in the Repeat Domain of Tau Protein Determines Aggregation, Synaptic Decay, Neuronal Loss, and Coassembly with Endogenous Tau in Inducible Mouse Models of Tauopathy

We describe two new transgenic mouse lines for studying pathological changes of Tau protein related to Alzheimer's disease. They are based on the regulatable expression of the four-repeat domain of human Tau carrying the FTDP17 (frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17) mutation ΔK280 (TauRD/ΔK280), or the ΔK280 plus two proline mutations in the hexapeptide motifs (TauRD/ΔK280/I277P/I308P). The ΔK280 mutation accelerates aggregation (“proaggregation mutant”), whereas the proline mutations inhibit Tau aggregation in vitro and in cell models (“antiaggregation mutant”). The inducible transgene expression was driven by the forebrain-specific CaMKIIα (calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IIα) promoter. The proaggregation mutant leads to Tau aggregates and tangles as early as 2–3 months after gene expression, even at low expression (70% of endogenous mouse Tau). The antiaggregation mutant does not aggregate even after 22 months of gene expression. Both mutants show missorting of Tau in the somatodendritic compartment and hyperphosphorylation in the repeat domain [KXGS motifs, targets of the kinase MARK (microtubule affinity regulating kinase)]. This indicates that these changes are related to Tau expression rather than aggregation. The proaggregation mutant causes astrogliosis, loss of synapses and neurons from 5 months of gene expression onward, arguing that Tau toxicity is related to aggregation. Remarkably, the human proaggregation mutant TauRD coaggregates with mouse Tau, coupled with missorting and hyperphosphorylation at multiple sites. When expression of proaggregation TauRD is switched off, soluble and aggregated exogenous TauRD disappears within 1.5 months. However, tangles of mouse Tau, hyperphosphorylation, and missorting remain, suggesting an extended lifetime of aggregated wild-type Tau once a pathological conformation and aggregation is induced by a proaggregation Tau species.
Gender Differences in Treatment Outcomes among Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Given a Combination of Carboplatin and Paclitaxel

Objectives: It was the aim of this study to investigate gender differences in the outcomes of carboplatin and paclitaxel chemotherapy in patients with unresectable stage IIIB-IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Gender, age, performance status, histology, hematological toxicity, tumor responses and survival parameters obtained retrospectively by medical chart review were analyzed. Results: A total of 227 patients (147 males and 80 females) were included. The median lowest leukocyte count was 2,900 (range 1,200–12,400)/µl in males and 2,200 (range 600–6,500)/µl in females (p < 0.001). Grade 3–4 leukopenia was noted in 15% of male and in 39% of female patients (p < 0.001). In both genders, the response rate in evaluable patients was 39%. The median progression-free survival was 4.4 months for men and 5.3 months for women (p = 0.0081). After progression of the disease, gefitinib was administered in 64 (44%) male and 45 (56%) female patients, with a median treatment of 35 and 144 days, respectively. The median survival time was 11.9 months for men and 22.2 months for women (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Female gender was associated with a favorable prognosis in patients with NSCLC who received carboplatin and paclitaxel chemotherapy, although the response rates did not differ between the genders. Of note, hematological toxicity was more severe in female patients.
Studies on the Antiglobulin Reaction with 131I‐Labelled Antibodies

WHEN normal erythrocytes are sensitized by incomplete antibodies and subsequently tested with antiglobulin serum, a macroscopic agglutination occurs (positive Coombs test). It is generally accepted that erythrocytes sensitized with antibody and subsequently well washed have a coating of antibody globulin which is capable of reacting with antiglobulin serum. In cases of acquired haemolytic anaemia the magnitude of the reaction bears scarce relation to the titrable amount of serum antibodies and to the intensity of the haemolysis in vivo. We have therefore been involved in ascertaining whether the strength of the Coombs test depends ultimately on the quantity of erythrocyte-coating substance, or on the structural characteristics of the antibodies. The present report deals with the following aspects of the problem:
The effect of ownership level, concentration and owners' identity on market liquidity in the UK capital market

This study investigates the effects of ownership level, concentration and owners’ identity on stock market liquidity in the UK. The study also examines the effect of the recent financial crisis on the relationship between ownership level, concentration, owners’ identity and market liquidity in the UK. The sample includes 226 non-financial companies from the FTSE All-Share Index listed on the London Stock Exchange, over the period between 2003 and 2012. After controlling for two types of Endogeneity, i.e., simultaneity and unobserved heterogeneity, through the application and use of a pooled OLS year and industry dummies, this study finds the evidence suggesting that ownership level, concentration and owners’ identity are important determinants of market liquidity in the UK. The results suggest that insider ownership and ownership concentration are negatively correlated with market liquidity. In contrast, institutional ownership has been identified as positively correlated with market liquidity. While analysing the effect of owners’ identity on market liquidity, it was revealed that executive and non-executive directors’ ownership both decrease market liquidity. The findings also suggest that the existence of controlled shareholders (i.e., investment banks, government, pension fund, and foreign ownership) have a negative impact on firms’ market liquidity. However, the presence of free float shareholders in a firm’s ownership structure has a positive impact on market liquidity. As a result, this study regards the free float shareholders as uninformed investors whereas controlled shareholders and insiders are regarded as informed investors because they have access to a firm’s private information. After considering the effect of financial crisis, it was revealed that both the insider ownership and ownership concentration insignificantly negatively affect market liquidity in the pre-crisis, crisis and post-crisis periods of the recent financial crisis. However, institutional ownership had a significantly positive impact on market liquidity during the 2007-2009 financial crisis. With respect to insider identity, both executive and non-executive directors’ ownership have a negative impact on market liquidity. Nevertheless, controlled shareholders (i.e., investment banks, government, employee, pension fund, foreign) ownership had an insignificantly negative impact on market liquidity, whereas free float shares had an insignificantly positive impact on market liquidity during the recent financial crisis. Keeping in mind the importance of market liquidity in the economy, it can be argued that the findings of this research have implications for the current and potential investors, policymakers and practitioners. As a result, the outcome of this study demands that firms should pay more attention to their ownership structure disclosure policy and improve quality of the disclosed information as much as possible.
Copper resistant human hepatoblastoma mutant cell lines without metallothionein induction overexpress ATP7B

Mutant human hepatoblastoma cell lines resistant to copper toxicity were isolated from mutagenized HuH7. Two copper resistant cell lines (CuR), CuR 23 and CuR 27, had reduced basal expression of metallothionein (MT) messenger RNA (mRNA) and exhibited minimal or no increase in resistance to cadmium or zinc toxicity. Copper uptake, efflux of newly transported copper, glutathione content, and efflux rate were comparable with HuH7, whereas holoceruloplasmin synthesis and secretion were slightly decreased. Subcellular distribution of copper at steady‐state showed an increase in organelle and membrane fractions with a reduction in cytosol. Expression of ATP7B mRNA was fivefold increased, and ATP7B protein approximately threefold increased in both CuR 23 and 27. Another cell line, CuR 41, showed increased basal expression of MT and ATP7B mRNA but not ATP7B protein, and resistance to cadmium and zinc toxicity. Copper uptake in CuR 41 was comparable with HuH7, but initial rates of efflux of copper and glutathione were reduced. The synthesis of holoceruloplasmin but not ceruloplasmin peptide was markedly diminished in CuR 41. Subcellular distribution of copper showed an increase in cytosolic and decreased organelle and membrane‐associated copper. These data suggest that cellular resistance to copper toxicity was achieved in two independent cell lines without MT induction and that the induction of ATP7B may lead to the enhanced intracellular sequestration of copper by organelles.
Screening for Malnutrition Among People Accessing Health Services at Greek Public Hospitals: Results From an Observational Multicenter Study

BACKGROUND Malnutrition is associated with increased hospital stay and subsequently higher healthcare costs. Early detection of malnutrition among people accessing health services at public hospitals is vital to identify and treat malnutrition effectively and in a timewise and cost-effective manner. The aim of this study was to evaluate the nutrition risk of this population. MATERIALS AND METHODS Nutrition screening was performed for 2970 patients (52% male; 55.3 ± 20.1 years old) at 34 hospitals. Nutrition risk was evaluated through 3 nutrition screening tools-Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS-2002), Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST), and Mini Nutritional Assessment-Screening Form (MNA-SF). RESULTS Malnutrition risk was found: 25.3% with NRS-2002, 22.9% with MUST, and 60.5% with MNA-SF. Nutrition risk among patients accessing health services at public hospitals increases with age (high-risk patients among those ≥80 years old: NRS-2002, 9.8%; MUST, 16.9%; MNA-SF, 43.9%). The highest prevalence of nutrition risk was found at the oncology departments (16.7%, NRS-2002; 23.4%, MUST). According to the NRS-2002 and MUST, surgical patients have a greater risk for malnutrition vs internal medicine patients (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.0, P < .001; adjusted OR = 1.17, P < .001, respectively), whereas according to MNA-SF, surgical patients have 30% lower probability for malnutrition risk against internal medicine patients (adjusted OR = 0.7, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS A high prevalence of malnutrition risk was reported among patients accessing health services at public hospitals. Early detection of malnutrition is vital to allow the allocation of the needed workforce to manage it effectively.
Reasons of repeat dental treatment under general anaesthesia: A retrospective study.

AIM The purpose of this chart review study was to investigate the common factors that exist in paediatric patients requiring a repeat dental treatment under general anaesthesia (GA2) within four years after the initial dental treatment under general anaesthesia (GA1). MATERIALS AND METHODS The Electronic Health Records of one to 12 year-old children who received dental treatment under general anaesthesia (GA) between April 2004 and October 2009 were identified and analysed by a single examiner. Children who had GA2, within a four year period following GA1 were categorised as cases. Children who had only one dental treatment under GA were considered the control pool. Each case was matched to three controls based on sex and age range at GA1 of ± 6 months. Other recorded variables included: date of birth, date of GAs (GA1 and GA2 for cases; GA1 for controls), type of payment, dmfs before GA1, dental treatments provided under GA, return of 1-week post-GA1 follow-up, frequency of recare/recall visits following one-year post-GA1 visit and the type and frequency of post GA1 emergency visits. RESULTS Out of 581 subjects, 29 (4.99%) cases were matched to 87 controls. Medically compromised patients had four times the risk of GA2. At GA1, cases received statistically significant less sealants (p=0.026), less extractions (p<0.0001), and more composite restorations (p=0.0002) compared to controls. CONCLUSION Medically compromised children and children treated with more composites and fewer sealants and extractions at their initial dental treatment under general anaesthesia were more likely to have a repeat dental treatment under general anaesthesia within 4 years.
A MULTISTAGE MARKETING SURVEY FOR WOOD-BASED DIETARY FIBRE ADDITIVES

Wood is widely used as a raw material for the production of food additives and ingredients, but consumers are hardly aware of that. The value-added chain of wood-based dietary fibre additives from producers to consumers has not been investigated as a whole, before. A business survey and a consumer survey were implemented to analyse the valueadded chain. To improve market potential, results suggest that makers of wood-based dietary fibre products should apply multistage marketing approaches, such as “Ingredient Branding,” and that they should provide consumers with additional information (e.g. by health claims, communication labels) on wood-based food additives, because consumer attitudes towards wood-based food additives are predominantly positive.
Exploring National Environmental Policy Act processes across federal land management agencies.

Stern, Marc J.; Mortimer, Michael J. 2009. Exploring National Environmental Policy Act processes across federal land management agencies. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-799. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 106 p. Broad discretion is granted at all levels throughout federal land management agencies regarding compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). We explored the diversity of procedures employed in NEPA processes across four agencies, the USDA Forest Service, the USDI National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, through document review and interviews with chief NEPA compliance officers, interdisciplinary team leaders, team members, and decisionmakers within the agencies. A lack of consistency is highlighted not only between, but also within, agencies with regard to how NEPA is perceived and implemented. This report focuses on how successful NEPA processes are defined within each agency and what strategies are perceived to be the most or least beneficial to positive NEPA outcomes. It also identifies unresolved questions about NEPA processes and presents a research strategy for addressing them.
Role of Third Party Logistics Providers with Advanced IT to Increase Customer Satisfaction in Supply Chain Integration

The main area of change in organizational strategy is the extensive use of third party logistics providers who are using advanced information technology tools and integration of supply chain to enhance customer satisfaction. By outsourcing the logistics operations, companies can focus on their core competencies and other important areas of organization which can’t be outsourced. The analysis of this paper is conducted by discussing different concepts of supply chain integration, customer satisfaction, advanced information technology and third party logistics providers, and their impact on customer satisfaction with theoretical framework. An analytical model is also presented.
Potential Applications of Hybrid Layered Double Hydroxide (LDH) Particles in Pulp and Paper Production

Functionalization of papermaking pulp fibers using inorganic particles was investigated as a novel approach. Different layered double hydroxide (LDH) particles were used in peroxide bleaching of thermomechanical pulp (TMP) and in oxygen bleaching of eucalyptus kraft pulp. LDH particles were also tested as binding sites for optical brightening agents (OBA) that are commonly used in paper production. The surface chemistry of LDH-treated pulps was examined using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and apparent contact angle with water. Adsorbed LDH was not detected by XPS on the fiber surfaces after the bleaching trials, but it had a clear impact on the processes. LDH particles modified with terephthalate anions decreased the consumption of hydrogen peroxide and increased opacity by 3 units in TMP. Unmodified LDH particles enhanced the selectivity in oxygen delignification of kraft pulp, leading to 10% gain in ISO brightness and reduction of 2 units in Kappa number in comparison with conventional processes. Paper strength properties were unaffected in the presented system. After bleaching with LDH, the amount of anionic groups on pulp surfaces was increased. Also, the retention of OBA onto TMP fibers was improved with modified LDH particles. LDH proved to have great potential for current and prospective applications in pulp and paper manufacture.