Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effects and Unintended Consequences of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on the Supply and Demand for Directors

Using eight thousand public companies, we study the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002 and other contemporary reforms on directors and boards, guided by their impact on the supply and demand for directors. SOX increased directors' workload and risk (reducing the supply), and increased demand by mandating that firms have more outside directors. We find both broad-based changes and cross-sectional changes (by firm size). Board committees meet more often post-SOX and Director and Officer (D&O) insurance premiums have doubled. Directors post-SOX are more likely to be lawyers-consultants, financial experts, and retired executives, and less likely to be current executives. Post-SOX boards are larger and more independent. Finally, we find significant increases in director pay and overall director costs, particularly among smaller firms. The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Society for Financial Studies. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org. , Oxford University Press.
Managing ventricular ectopics : are ventricular ectopic beats just an annoyance ?

How important are PVCs and what should we do about them? PVCs are not a disease in themselves, but a marker of possible underlying conditions that may increase the risk of cardiac death. They serve as a flag to alert us to exclude structural heart disease, the presence of which is the strongest predictor of adverse events. However, it is important to know that PVCs are common in people with no structural heart disease. In this situation, the prognosis is generally excellent. Suppression of PVCs with antiarrhythmic medication is not indicated routinely, unless the patient is symptomatic or at risk of tachycardiainduced cardiomyopathy owing to the very high frequency of PVCs. Where pharmacological therapy has failed, there is now the option of radiofrequency ablation for elimination of frequent symptomatic PVCs. The ECG is a simple yet useful tool to improve risk assessment, especially in those with known cardiovascular disease.
Suggestion, Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy: A Survey of Use, Knowledge and Attitudes of Anaesthetists

Clinical hypnosis is a skill of using words and gestures (frequently called suggestions) in particular ways to achieve specific outcomes. It is being increasingly recognised as a useful intervention for managing a range of symptoms, especially pain and anxiety. We surveyed all 317 South Australian Fellows and trainees registered with ANZCA to determine their use, knowledge of, and attitudes towards positive suggestion, hypnosis and hypnotherapy in their anaesthesia practice. The response rate was 218 anaesthetists (69%). The majority of respondents (63%) rated their level of knowledge on this topic as below average. Forty-eight per cent of respondents indicated that there was a role for hypnotherapy in clinical anaesthesia, particularly in areas seen as traditional targets for the modality, i.e. pain and anxiety states. Nearly half of the anaesthetists supported the use of hypnotherapy and positive suggestions within clinical anaesthesia. Those respondents who had experience of clinical hypnotherapy were more likely to support hypnosis teaching at undergraduate or postgraduate level when compared with those with no experience.
Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV seroprevalence in critically ill emergency medicine department patients in a tertiary inner city hospital in Istanbul, Turkey

Objective: Emergency medicine staff is working at risk of blood-borne infections during their daily practice every time. The risk of transmission is higher when dealing with critically ill patients. Our objective was to find out the prevalence of Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV, in critically ill red-coded emergency department patients. Methods: The study was carried out as prospective observational study between 1 September 2012 and 31 January 2013 in a tertiary inner city hospital emergency department in Istanbul, Turkey. Red triage coded patients managed in resuscitation room were enrolled. Results: One thousand patients were included during the study period. Fifty of them were HBV positive. Eighteen patients were HCV positive and 2 had both HBV and HCV. HIV was not recorded. Forty one of them were trauma patients. There were 226 unconscious or uncooperative patients. Prior blood transfusion history was present in 92 of the patients and among them 11 had HBV and 3 had HCV. Four patients or their relatives were aware of their HCV positivity. HBV positivity was already known by the patients or their relatives. Total HBV vaccination ratio was 7.4%. Conclusion: Prevalence of HCV (1.8%) and HBV(5%) seroprevalence in our study group was very low which correlated with the recent literature regarding the Turkish population. HIV was not detected during the study period. This may also be accepted as consistent with the very low number of reported cases in Turkey.
Daily variation at Concordia station (Antarctica) and its dependence on IMF conditions

Abstract. After some short test surveys, during the 2004–2005 summer expedition in Antarctica, a geomagnetic French-Italian observatory was installed on the plateau (geographic coordinates: 75.1° S, 123.4° E; corrected geomagnetic coordinates: 88.9° S, 54.3° E; UT=LT−8) very close to the geomagnetic pole. In this paper we present some peculiarities of the daily variation as observed at this polar cap observatory during the years 2005 and 2006, taking into account the different Loyd seasons and different interplanetary magnetic field conditions. Some interesting results emerge from the analysis, confirming the dependence of the daily variation (and of the associated polar current systems) on the IMF B z and B y components. In particular the analysis showed that different B z conditions correspond to different contribution to daily variation of ionospheric and field aligned currents, while particular B y conditions lead to a time shift of the diurnal variation, indicating an asymmetry with respect to the noon meridian.
Strategies Adopted by Davis and Shirtliff (Kenya) to Sustain Competitive Advantage

x CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION . 1 1.1 Background of the Study . 1 1.1.1 The Concept of Strategy . 2 1.1.2 Sustainable Competitive Advantage . 3 1.1.3 Water and Energy Equipment Supply Industry in Kenya . 4 1.1.4 Davis and Shirtliff Kenya Limited . 5 1.2 Research Problem. 6 1.3 Research Objective . 8 1.4 Value of the Study . 8 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW . 10 2.
Optimization of Conditions for the Efficient Production of Mutan in Streptococcal Cultures and Post-Culture Liquids

The strain Streptococcus sobrinus CCUG 21020 was found to produce water-insoluble and adhesive mutan. The factors influencing both stages of the mutan production, i.e. streptococcal cultures and glucan synthesis in post-culture supernatants were standardized. The application of optimized process parameters for mutan production on a larger scale made it possible to obtain approximately 2.2 g of water-insoluble glucan per 1 l of culture supernate–this productivity was higher than the best reported in the literature. It was shown that some of the tested beet sugars might be successfully utilized as substitutes for pure sucrose in the process of mutan synthesis. Nuclear magnetic resonance analyses confirmed that the insoluble biopolymer synthesized by a mixture of crude glucosyltransferases was a mixed-linkage (1→3), (1→6)-α-D-glucan (the so-called mutan) with a greater proportion of 1,3 to 1,6 linkages.
Review on Policy Developments of FDI in India

India has been witnessing an extensive amount of foreign capital flowing to the market over the past twenty years after drastic changes made on its FDI policy. The aim of this research is to evaluate the policy developments of FDI during different stages since its independence and its impact on capital inflows. This research attempts also to uncover lessons that can be learnt from the case of India. A qualitative approach has been adopted for this research. The narrative analysis used in this study is based on secondary data that have been drawn from a pool of diverse sources including various databases, journal publications and books.
Fertility decline in Tanzania

Summary According to the 1991/92 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey, a Tanzanian woman has, on average, 6·1 births before she reaches age 50, a decline of about one birth per woman since the early 1980s. The major proximate determinant of fertility is universal and prolonged breastfeeding. An analysis of the social and demographic correlates of fertility shows that infant and child mortality, level of education and age at first marriage are among the factors which significantly influence fertility in Tanzania.
Electromagnetic models of the lightning return stroke

[1] Lightning return-stroke models are needed for specifying the source in studying the production of transient optical emission (elves) in the lower ionosphere, the energetic radiation from lightning, and characterization of the Earth's electromagnetic environment, as well as studying lightning interaction with various objects and systems. Reviewed here are models based on Maxwell's equations and referred to as electromagnetic models. These models are relatively new and most rigorous of all models suitable for computing lightning electromagnetic fields. Maxwell's equations are numerically solved to yield the distribution of current along the lightning channel. Different numerical techniques, including the method of moments (MoM) and the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method, are employed. In order to achieve a desirable current-wave propagation speed (lower than the speed of light in air), the channel-representing wire is embedded in a dielectric (other than air) or loaded by additional distributed series inductance. Capacitive loading has been also suggested. The artificial dielectric medium is used only for finding the distribution of current along the lightning channel, after which the channel is allowed to radiate in air. Resistive loading is used to control current attenuation with height. In contrast with distributed circuit and so-called engineering models, electromagnetic return-stroke models allow a self-consistent full-wave solution for both lightning-current distribution and resultant electromagnetic fields. In this review, we discuss advantages and disadvantages of four return-stroke channel representations: a perfectly conducting/resistive wire in air, a wire embedded in a dielectric (other than air), a wire in air loaded by additional distributed series inductance, and a wire in air having additional distributed shunt capacitance. Further, we describe and compare different methods of excitation used in electromagnetic return-stroke models: closing a charged vertical wire at its bottom with a specified grounded circuit, a delta-gap electric field source, and a lumped current source. Finally, we review and compare representative numerical techniques used in electromagnetic modeling of the lightning return stroke: MoMs in the time and frequency domains and the FDTD method. We additionally consider the so-called hybrid model of the lightning return stroke that employs a combination of electromagnetic and circuit theories and compare this model to electromagnetic models.
Infrastructure, resource allocation and productivity growth: a mutually consistent decomposition of inter and intra-industry productivity effects

In this paper we propose a bottom-up approach to trace the channels through which infrastructure investments promote economy-wide productivity improvements using industry level data. A distinctive feature of our empirical strategy is that it allows an examination of the role played by infrastructure provision in stimulating aggregate productivity through both a better allocation of resources in the economy and as a proper productivity driver. To achieve this objective, we propose a simple approach that relies on estimating standard production frontier models. Our empirical illustration shows that the inter-industry effects of some key infrastructures are non-trivial (at least in some countries) and have partially offset the improvements in intra-industry productivity.
A Decomposition-Based Algorithm for the Scheduling of Open-Pit Networks Over Multiple Time Periods

We consider the multiple-time-period, short-term production scheduling problem for a network of multiple open-pit mines and ports. Ore produced at each mine, in each period, is transported by rail to a set of ports and blended into products for shipping. Each port forms these blends to a specification, as stipulated in contracts with downstream customers. This problem belongs to a class of multiple producer/consumer scheduling problems in which producers are able to generate a range of products, a combination of which are required by consumers to meet specified demands. In practice, short-term schedules are formed independently at each mine, tasked with achieving a grade and quality target outlined in a medium-term plan. Because of uncertainty in the data available to a medium-term planner and the dynamics of the mining environment, such targets may not be feasible in the short term. In this paper, we present an algorithm in which the grade and quality targets assigned to each mine are iteratively adapted, ensuring the satisfaction of blending constraints at each port while generating schedules for each mine that maximise resource utilisation. This paper was accepted by Yinyu Ye, optimization.
Product Market Effects of Customer Referencing

Customer referencing refers to the phenomenon that a firm intentionally reveals its connections to customers to raise its own reputation. In this paper, we rely on textual data about customer referencing in financial reports to examine the association between customer referencing and firms’ future product market performance. We first document that a substantial number of firms voluntarily reference customers in financial reports. We find that these firms have a better future performance, consistent with the notion that the customers being referenced certify product quality and enhance a firm’s reputation. We also find that the positive association is stronger for firms with a low reputation and those that are risky or facing high product market competition. These results further affirm the product quality certification and reputation enhancement roles of customer referencing. Our study provides new insight into how certification via inter-organizational relationships can be an intangible marketing asset.
Multimodal contributions to body representation

Our body is a unique entity by which we interact with the external world. Consequently, the way we represent our body has profound implications in the way we process and locate sensations and in turn perform appropriate actions. The body can be the subject, but also the object of our experience, providing information from sensations on the body surface and viscera, but also knowledge of the body as a physical object. However, the extent to which different senses contribute to constructing the rich and unified body representations we all experience remains unclear. In this review, we aim to bring together recent research showing important roles for several different sensory modalities in constructing body representations. At the same time, we hope to generate new ideas of how and at which level the senses contribute to generate the different levels of body representations and how they interact. We will present an overview of some of the most recent neuropsychological evidence about multisensory control of pain, and the way that visual, auditory, vestibular and tactile systems contribute to the creation of coherent representations of the body. We will focus particularly on some of the topics discussed in the symposium on Multimodal Contributions to Body Representation held on the 15th International Multisensory Research Forum (2015, Pisa, Italy).
Use of Reflective Journals in Development of Teachers' Leadership and Teaching Skills.

Focusing on the contribution of reflective practice to teaching practice amongst student teachers, this study examines the impact of reflective journal entries of 16 student teachers from Faculty of Education at the Artvin Coruh University in Turkey. Quantitative and qualitative research approaches were employed for this study including open-ended questioning techniques (surveys and interviews), written reflections under reflective categories showing how the participants reflected on their teaching experience as anecdotal data. Participants were trained through a 10-h orientation on reflective writing program developed by the researcher. To categorise the reflective writing types, identification of Hatton and Smith [12] of types of reflection (instrument 1), was employed. Participants were later requested to answer a 26 open–ended questionnaire (instrument 2), the questions of which were constructed based on Richards and Lockhart's [16]. Findings have implications for how reflective journals can be employed and used in school-based contexts and pre-service teacher education.
Intention to use e-banking services in the Jordanian commercial banks

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the essential factors influencing the adoption and use of e-banking services as perceived by customers of the Jordanian commercial banks. ,This paper adapts and modifies the unified theory of acceptance and use of the technology model. Modifications were made to explain intention to use e-banking services. ,The modified model explained 0.887 of behavior intention variance and 0.516 percent of the intended degree of e-banking services use variance. Three constructs are found to be good predictors: effort expectancy (EE), social influence, and perceived e-banking services quality. Performance expectancy and hedonic motivation are not significant predictors. However, all three predictors were significantly moderated by age only. ,As with any research in the field of IT adoption and consumer behavior, researchers should take into consideration the generalization of their empirical findings. The generalization could be enhanced if future research uses the Jordanian baking sector which includes Jordanian and non-Jordanian banks. Finally, the current research findings are based on the cross-sectional research method. Taking this fact into consideration, the relation between intention and actual use may raise questions. One solution is to study intention and actual use at different points in time by conducting longitudinal research to access and test the research hypotheses. ,Managers need to focus on promoting e-banking services in terms of consumer’s EE, social influence, and e-banking service quality. Since young consumers are early adopters, Jordanian banks need to introduce added entertainment values for youth and extra convenience for older consumers. ,The main contributions revolve around developing a better understanding of the essential factors influencing the adoption and use of e-banking services. This research incorporates a new variable: perceived e-banking quality. Thus, the proposed model provides better explanatory power than previous research.
Cognitive control and the dopamine D2‐like receptor: a dimensional understanding of addiction

The phenotypic complexity of psychiatric conditions is revealed by the dimensional nature of these disorders, which consist of multiple behavioral, affective, and cognitive dysfunctions that can result in substantial psychosocial impairment. The high degree of heterogeneity in symptomatology and comorbidity suggests that simple categorical diagnoses of “affected” or “unaffected” may fail to capture the true characteristics of the disorder in a manner relevant to individualized treatment. A particular dimension of interest is cognitive control ability because impairments in the capacity to control thoughts, feelings, and actions are key to several psychiatric disorders. Here, we describe evidence suggesting that cognitive control over behavior is a crucial dimension of function relevant to addictions. Moreover, dopamine (DA) D2‐receptor transmission is increasingly being identified as a point of convergence for these behavioral and cognitive processes. Consequently, we argue that measures of cognitive control and D2 DA receptor function may be particularly informative markers of individual function and treatment response in addictions. Depression and Anxiety 0:1–12, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Sponsorship Decision-Making and Management: An Accounting Perspective

This thesis reports on a study that has examined the sponsorship decision-making process in Australian organisations. The broad objectives of the thesis are to develop an understanding of the process of sponsorship decision-making, the factors affecting this process and the role management accounting plays in the investment decision-making process. Three empirical phases have been undertaken in the study. The first phase comprised a case study in a large public sector institution (an Australian university). The second phase involved the conduct of exploratory interviews with managers responsible for sponsorship in a number of Australian organisations. The third empirical phase involved the administration of a survey questionnaire to managers responsible for sponsorship decision making in Australian organisations. The study’s more significant findings include: (1) There appears to be scope for the application of more sophisticated sponsorship decision-making processes in Australian companies. (2) In the case study organisation studied, it appeared that the only real significant sponsorship management role for accounting concerned the budgetary identification of funds allocated to sponsorship and monitoring of funds expended. The sponsorship decision-making approach in the case study organisation can be best described as intuitively-based. (3) The exploratory interview findings suggest that the role of accounting and involvement of accountants in the sponsorship decision-making process tends to be negligible. Consistent with the case study findings, budgets were found to be mainly used in a planning and control capacity. This finding was supported by the survey phase of the study, where it was observed that the most prominent budgetary role in the context of sponsorship management is “expenditure authorisation”. ii (4) Some support has been found for a proposed relationship between formalisation of the sponsorship decision-making process and the contingent factor environmental uncertainty. (5) No support was found for a proposed relationship between sophistication of the sponsorship decision-making process and the contingent factors of strategy, size, environmental uncertainty, risk and trust. (6) Support was found for a proposed relationship between intuition in the sponsorship decision-making process and the contingent factors of strategy, risk and trust.