Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Forecast Strategies of Earnings Manipulators and Associated Consequences

This paper investigates how earnings manipulation firms adjust their guidance strategies while manipulating earnings, and the associated consequences. We find that firms manipulating earnings are significantly more likely to issue earnings guidance than matched control firms. Earnings guidance issued by manipulators delays the detection of misstatements. However, when earnings manipulations are detected, firms issuing guidance experience larger stock price declines than manipulators not issuing earnings guidance. Misstating firms and their managers also incur additional legal costs, as reflected in the higher settlement amounts paid by these firms and a higher likelihood that responsible CEOs are banned from serving as officers, directors, or accountants of public companies in the future.
The nature of the unresolved extragalactic soft CXB

In this paper we investigate the power spectrum of the unresolved 0.5-2 keV CXB with deep Chandra 4 Ms observations in the CDFS. We measured a signal which, on scales >30", is significantly higher than the Shot-Noise and is increasing with the angular scale. We interpreted this signal as the joint contribution of clustered undetected sources like AGN, Galaxies and Inter-Galactic-Medium (IGM). The power of unresolved cosmic sources fluctuations accounts for \sim 12% of the 0.5-2 keV extragalactic CXB. Overall, our modeling predicts that \sim 20% of the unresolved CXB flux is made by low luminosity AGN, \sim 25% by galaxies and \sim 55% by the IGM (Inter Galactic Medium). We do not find any direct evidence of the so called Warm Hot Intergalactic Medium (i.e. matter with 10^5K 7.5 and compared it with SMBH evolution models.
A survey of foreign exchange risk management practices by oil companies in Kenya

Companies especially those participating in international trade are now exposed to risks caused by unexpected movements in exchange rate in today’s volatile financial markets. The management of this risk has become essential for the survival of such companies. Oil companies in Kenyan market are significantly exposed to foreign exchange risk through transactions involving importation of oil products and subsequent exportation to the neighboring countries. This paper reviews the traditional types of exchange rate risk faced by firms, namely translation, transaction and economic risk, presents measurement and management method for foreign exchange exposure and objectives of foreign exchange management. The objective of this study is to determine the foreign exchange risk management practices by oil companies operating in Kenyan market. To achieve this objective, data was collected from the target population comprising 27 major oil companies operating in Kenyan market as listed in appendix 1 through administration of questionnaire using ‘drop-and-pick-later’ technique. Out of 27 companies, only 20 responded representing a response rate of 74%. The study found that foreign exchange risk is the second most significant exposure to oil companies after fluctuation in global crude oil prices and therefore most of the companies find it as an important risk to manage. US Dollar is the currency to which all the oil companies are mostly exposed because importation costs are settled in this currency. It was established that all the companies practice internal hedging techniques while only 35% of the companies used external hedging techniques (derivatives). The study noted that the internal hedging technique of changing the currency of billing was the mostly used technique by the oil companies while use of forward contracts is most frequently used derivative. As a recommendation, oil companies should enhance their foreign exchange risk management practices by increasing the use of derivatives.
A nutty study: a framing analysis of the 2009 salmonella outbreak in peanut products

The purpose of this study was to examine television news coverage of the 2009 Salmonella outbreak in peanut products through the scope of framing theory. The aim of this research was to understand how the television news media frame agricultural, particularly food safety, messages. By employing a qualitative content analysis, researchers analyzed television news transcripts from ABC, CBS, CNN, and NBC that aired during the peanut product recall. The frames found from this research were informational, anti-Peanut Corporation of America, and anti-FDA. The most commonly used sources were victims of Salmonella, politicians, and current and former FDA off icials. No agricultural frames were present, and the only agricultural organizations interviewed were one representative of the Georgia Department of Agriculture and Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack. The researchers concluded that sources did not appear to have a large impact on the way the news was covered for this study. The researchers also found a need for more scientific food safety information to be communicated to the national media.
Parameters affecting occurrence of paradoxical air embolism.

The effects of different patterns of ventilation and intravascular volume infusion on the occurrence of paradoxical air embolism (PAE) were evaluated in 15 pigs with a surgically created atrial septal defect (ASD). A balloon atrial septostomy was created transvenously in anesthetized pigs (mean diameter 8.6 mm +/- 1 mm). Monitoring included transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) of the right and left heart, ECG, EEG, direct arterial pressure, right and left atrial pressures (RAP and LAP), pulmonary artery pressure, and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP). With the animal in a head up tilt, air was infused into the superior vena cava at a rate of 0.27 ml.kg-1.min-1 for 6 min or until PAE was identified on the TEE. Four situations were studied--intermittent positive pressure ventilation (IPPV), intermittent positive pressure ventilation with 10 cm H2O positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP), spontaneous ventilation, and IPPV following infusion of 500 ml hetastarch. The incidence of PAE was not different in any of the four situations. Release of PEEP resulted in an increase in the amount of PAE or new PAE in nine of 14 animals. PAE occurred both with and without mean RAP exceeding mean LAP and the incidence of PAE was not significantly different based on the atrial pressure gradient. In situations during which the mean LAP remained greater than mean RAP throughout the venous air infusion and PAE occurred, transient reversal of the right to left atrial pressure gradient during a portion of each cardiac cycle was demonstrated.
Estrogen Elicits Cytochrome P450—Mediated Flow-Induced Dilation of Arterioles in NO Deficiency: Role of PI3K-Akt Phosphorylation in Genomic Regulation

Abstract— This study investigated the mechanisms responsible for the estrogen-dependent, cytochrome P450 (CYP)-mediated dilator responses to shear stress in arterioles of NO-deficient female rats and mice. Flow-induced dilation (FID) was assessed in isolated arterioles from NG-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME)-treated male and ovariectomized female rats before and after overnight incubation with 17&bgr;-estradiol (17&bgr;-E2, 10−9 mol/L). In control conditions, prostaglandins (PGs) mediated FID, because indomethacin (INDO) abolished the responses. After incubation of the vessels with 17&bgr;-E2, the basal tone of arterioles was significantly reduced and FID was augmented. INDO did not affect the dilation of the vessels incubated with 17&bgr;-E2. Dilations of these vessels, however, were eliminated by PPOH and miconazole, inhibitors of CYP/epoxygenase. Simultaneous incubation of the vessels with 17&bgr;-E2 plus ICI, 182,780, an estrogen receptor antagonist, or wortmannin, an inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) phosphorylation or the transcriptional inhibitor DRB, prevented the reduced arteriolar tone and the enhanced CYP-mediated FID caused by incubation of vessels with17&bgr;-E2. Western blot analysis indicated a significantly increased phospho-Akt level in arterioles incubated with 17&bgr;-E2 compared with those without 17&bgr;-E2. The enhanced phospho-Akt in response to 17&bgr;-E2 was localized, by immunohistochemistry, to arteriolar endothelial cells. Moreover, GC-MS analysis indicated a significantly increased production of epoxyeicosatrienoic acids, vasodilator metabolites of CYP/epoxygenase, in arterioles incubated with 17&bgr;-E2, a response that was prevented by ICI 182780 and wortmannin, respectively. Thus, estrogen, via a receptor-dependent, PI3K/Akt-mediated pathway, transcriptionally upregulates CYP activity, leading to an enhanced arteriolar response to shear stress.
Muscular Strength and Power Correlates of Tackling Ability in Semiprofessional Rugby League Players

Abstract Speranza, MJA, Gabbett, TJ, Johnston, RD, and Sheppard, JM. Muscular strength and power correlates of tackling ability in semiprofessional rugby league players. J Strength Cond Res 29(8): 2071–2078, 2015—This study investigated the relationship between muscular strength and power and tackling ability in semiprofessional rugby league players. Thirty-six semiprofessional (mean ± SD age, 23.1 ± 3.6 years) rugby league players, from 3 distinct playing divisions (first grade, second grade, and under 20s), underwent tests of upper-body strength (3 repetition maximum [RM] bench press), lower-body strength (3RM squat), upper-body power (plyometric push-up [PPU]), and lower-body power (countermovement jump). Muscular strength relative to body mass was also calculated. Tackling ability of the players was tested using video analysis of a standardized one-on-one tackling drill. For all players, the strongest correlates of tackling ability were squat (r = 0.67), bench press (r = 0.58), relative squat (r = 0.41), and PPU (r = 0.56). The strongest correlates of tackling ability in first grade players were squat (r = 0.72), bench press (r = 0.72), relative squat (r = 0.86), and PPU (r = 0.70). For second grade players, only relative squat (r = 0.60) and PPU (r = 0.67) were associated with tackling ability. The strongest correlates of tackling ability in under 20s players were squat (r = 0.77), bench press (r = 0.70), and PPU (r = 0.65). The findings of this study demonstrate that muscular strength and upper-body power contribute to tackling ability in semiprofessional rugby league players. Therefore, as long as the technical aspects of tackling technique are adequately coached and practiced, then enhancements in muscular strength and power may serve as foundational components to underpin improvement in tackling ability.
A controlled, longitudinal study of home visits compared to telephone contacts to prevent early childhood caries.

BACKGROUND Home visits (HV) provide excellent opportunities for health promotion. AIM This longitudinal study compared the effects of HV and telephone contacts (TC) in preventing early childhood caries (ECC) and colonisation of mutans streptococci (MS) and lactobacilli (LB) from 0 to 24 months. DESIGN A total of 325 children were recruited from community health centres at mean age of 42 days, and randomly assigned to receive either HV or TC. A total of 188 children completed three, 6 monthly HV, and another 58 had three, 6 monthly TC. An additional 40 age-matched children from childcare facilities served as reference controls (RC). At 24 months, all groups were examined at a community dental clinic. RESULTS At 24 months, three HV children of 188 (1.5%) had caries, compared to four TC of 58 (6.8%) and nine RC of 40 (22.5%) (P < 0.001 for HV versus RC; P = 0.05 for HV versus TC and P = 0.03 for TC versus RC). There were also more children with MS in the TC (47%) and RC (35%) compared to HV (28%) group (P = 0.01 and P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS Home visits and telephone contacts conducted 6 monthly from birth are effective in reducing ECC prevalence by 24 months.
Adjuvant therapy sparing in rectal cancer achieving complete response after chemoradiation.

AIM To evaluate the long-term results of conventional chemoradiotherapy and laparoscopic mesorectal excision in rectal adenocarcinoma patients without adjuvant therapy. METHODS Patients with biopsy-proven adenocarcinoma of the rectum staged cT3-T4 by endoscopic ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging received neoadjuvant continuous infusion of 5-fluorouracil for five weeks and concomitant radiotherapy. Laparoscopic surgery was planned after 5-8 wk. Patients diagnosed with ypT0N0 stage cancer were not treated with adjuvant therapy according to the protocol. Patients with ypT1-2N0 or ypT3-4 or N+ were offered 5-fluorouracil-based adjuvant treatment on an individual basis. An external cohort was used as a reference for the findings. RESULTS One hundred and seventy six patients were treated with induction chemoradiotherapy and 170 underwent total mesorectal excision. Cancer staging of ypT0N0 was achieved in 26/170 (15.3%) patients. After a median follow-up of 58.3 mo, patients with ypT0N0 had five-year disease-free and overall survival rates of 96% (95%CI: 77-99) and 100%, respectively. We provide evidence about the natural history of patients with localized rectal cancer achieving a complete response after preoperative chemoradiation. The inherent good prognosis of these patients will have implications for clinical trial design and care of patients. CONCLUSION Withholding adjuvant chemotherapy after complete response following standard neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and laparoscopic mesorectal excision might be safe within an experienced multidisciplinary team.
OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE, ONGOING RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS AND CORPORATE PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCED FROM CHINESE LISTED FIRMS

This paper is to review the association of the magnitudes of ongoing related party transactions with the largest shareholders (ORPTs) on the ownership structure and their impact on corporate performance of Chinese listed firms after substantial reform of Chinese corporate governance framework in 2005. Previous literature found that the largest shareholders used related party transactions to tunnel or prop up their controlled firms for their own benefits. Based on a sample of 6657 firm-year observations from 2007 to 2011, the authors find that there is still a positive association between ownership of the largest shareholders and ORPTs, but no significant association between ORPTs and corporate performance, and therefore, there is no evidence that the largest shareholders use ORPTs to tunnel or prop-up their listed firms. This study also finds that there is an endogenous effect of ownership of the largest shareholders on ORPTs, and the authors suggest that the largest shareholders still have to retain the control of Chinese listed firms because in economic reality, those listed firms are still an integral part of business operations of the largest shareholders (business groups), i.e. alignment effect.
Late Results of a Simple Closure Technique and Helicobacter Pylori Eradication in Duodenal Ulcer Perforation

Abstract Background and aim: The aim of this study is to determine the incidence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in patients operated on for duodenal ulcer perforation and to evaluate the late results of a simple closure technique in patients positive and negative for H. pylori. Methods: The data of 84 patients who underwent simple closure for duodenal ulcer between 2003–2007 were retrospectively studied. Antral biopsy material taken from all patients during laparotomy was studied with the rapid urease test and the patients were then separated into 2 groups. Group 1 (H. Pylori positive) received postoperative H. pylori eradication treatment, and Group 2 (H. pylori negative) received only lansaprasol treatment after surgery. All patients were evaluated with upper gastrointestinal endoscopy on the 6th and 14th postoperative weeks. Primary treatment failure was considered in patients who had non-healing ulcers after 14 weeks. Patients with healed ulcers were scheduled for annual examinations. The results were compared between the groups. Results: The rate of H.pylori infection in duodenal ulcer perforation was found to be 80.9%. Ulcer healing rates on the postoperative 6th and 14th weeks were 88.2% and 97.5% in the first group, and 68.8% and 81.2% in the second group, respectively. Mean postoperative follow-up was 41.28 ± 17.63 (range 17–73) months. Ulcer recurrence rate was found to be 4.54% in Group 1 and 30.76% in group 2 (p = 0.012). Conclusions: All patients with a perforated peptic ulcer should be treated with simple closure of the perforation followed by medical therapy aimed at healing the ulcer. We believe that H. pylori negative patients have more risk of recurrence and such patients require close postoperative follow-up.
Recent Advances Using Immunomodulators for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Use of the immunomodulators thiopurines and methotrexate (MTX) in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), i.e., Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC), is considered to be good clinical practice. However, despite being administered to a considerable number of IBD patients over the years, questions remain about the most rational treatment regimens of azathioprine (AZA), 6‐mercaptopurine (6‐MP), and MTX, and results from a range of recent studies necessitate increased attention to how to optimize the use of these immunomodulators. First and foremost, it is of utmost importance to define the subgroup of IBD patients in need of immunomodulators, including those in need of combination therapy with biologic agents, especially because some side effects may be rather severe. Second, colorectal cancer is observed more often in IBD patients than in the background population. However, a recent nationwide Dutch study pointed to a preventive effect of thiopurines. Finally, the need for an appropriate approach to the discontinuation of immunomodulators is emphasized. Since controversy continues regarding the most appropriate use of immunomodulators, this paper is focusing on pharmacokinetics, pharmacogenetics, and therapeutic blood testing, as well as the occurrence of adverse events, when using AZA, 6‐MP, and MTX in an attempt to determine a more up‐to‐date and rational treatment regimen in IBD.
Boosting for generic 2D/3D object recognition

Generic object recognition is an important function of the human visual system. For an artificial vision system to be able to emulate the human perception abilities, it should also be able to perform generic object recognition. In this thesis, we address the generic object recognition problem and present different approaches and models which tackle different aspects of this difficult problem. First, we present a model for generic 2D object recognition from complex 2D images. The model exploits only appearance-based information, in the form of a combination of texture and color cues, for binary classification of 2D object classes. Learning is accomplished in a weakly supervised manner using Boosting. However, we live in a 3D world and the ability to recognize 3D objects is very important for any vision system. Therefore, we present a model for generic recognition of 3D objects from range images. Our model makes use of a combination of simple local shape descriptors extracted from range images for recognizing 3D object categories, as shape is an important information provided by range images. Moreover, we present a novel dataset for generic object recognition that provides 2D and range images about different object classes using a Time-of-Flight (ToF) camera. As the surrounding world contains thousands of different object categories, recognizing many different object classes is important as well. Therefore, we extend our generic 3D object recognition model to deal with the multi-class learning and recognition task. Moreover, we extend the multi-class recognition model by introducing a novel model which uses a combination of appearance-based information extracted from 2D images and range-based (shape) information extracted from range images for multi-class generic 3D object recognition and promising results are obtained.
Age-Related Differences in Amplification of Covalently Closed Circular DNA at Early Times after Duck Hepatitis B Virus Infection of Ducks

ABSTRACT Inoculation of 3-day-old (3D) or 3-week-old (3W) ducklings with duck hepatitis B virus results in chronic or transient infection, respectively. We previously showed that rapid production of neutralizing antibody following inoculation of 3W ducklings prevents virus from spreading in the liver and leads to a transient infection (Y.-Y. Zhang and J. Summers, J. Virol. 78:1195-1201, 2004). In this study we further investigated early events of viral infection in both 3D and 3W ducks. We present evidence that a lower level of virus replication in the hepatocytes of 3W birds is an additional factor that probably favors transient infection. We suggest that lower virus replication is due to a less rapid covalently closed circular DNA amplification, leading to lower viremias and a slower spread of infection in the liver, and that the slower spread of infection in 3W ducks makes the infection more sensitive to interruption by the host immune responses.
Morphological and Genetic Evidence that the Cyanobacterium Lyngbya wollei (Farlow ex Gomont) Speziale and Dyck Encompasses at Least Two Species

ABSTRACT Dense blooms of the cyanobacterium Lyngbya wollei are increasingly responsible for declining water quality and habitat degradation in numerous springs, rivers, and reservoirs. This research represents the first molecular phylogenetic analysis of L. wollei in comparison with the traditional morphological characterization of this species. Specimens were collected from several springs in Florida and a reservoir in North Carolina. Segments of the small-subunit (SSU) rRNA and nifH genes were PCR amplified, cloned, and sequenced. The phylogenetic analysis of the SSU rRNA gene revealed sequences that fell into three distinct subclusters, each with >97% sequence similarity. These were designated operational taxonomic unit 1 (OTU1), OTU2, and OTU3. Similarly, the nifH sequences fell into three distinct subclusters named S1, S2, and S3. When either bulk samples or individual filaments were analyzed, we recovered OTU1 with S1, OTU2 with S2, and OTU3 with S3. The coherence between the three SSU rRNA gene and nifH subclusters was consistent with genetically distinct strains or species. Cells associated with subclusters OTU3 and S3 were significantly wider and longer than those associated with other subclusters. The combined molecular and morphological data indicate that the species commonly identified as L. wollei in the literature represents two or possibly more species. Springs containing OTU3 and S3 demonstrated lower ion concentrations than other collection sites. Geographical locations of Lyngbya subclusters did not correlate with residual dissolved inorganic nitrogen or phosphorus concentrations. This study emphasizes the need to complement traditional identification with molecular characterization to more definitively detect and characterize harmful cyanobacterial species or strains.