Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Offshore operations capabilities: an exploratory study

To explore how companies develop capabilities for managing offshore operations, this study examines the offshore operations of three companies in Brazil, Denmark, and Germany. The research results provide valuable information on the types of offshore operations implemented by the companies, the strategic role of offshore operations, barriers to implementing offshore operations, capabilities developed by companies for implementing offshore operations, and the role of dynamic capabilities elements (paths, positions, and processes) in the development of capabilities for managing offshore operations.
THE EFFECT OF INSTITUTIONAL OWNERSHIP ON THE REPORTING OF CONSERVATIVE EARNINGS

Given the spate of financial reporting scandals and enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 following the stock market crash of 1999, we examine the role of institutional monitoring as it pertains to reporting conservatism. Using the Basu (1997) asymmetric timeliness models, we examine the relation between institutional ownership and the conservatism of reported earnings, as defined by the asymmetric timeliness measures. Our results indicate that larger institutional holdings are associated with a decrease in earnings conservatism. We attribute these findings in part to the incentives of large institutional investors to capitalize on private information obtained through their role as corporate monitors. As such, it may be unlikely that large investors would not encourage the timely reporting of bad news.
Effects of X-Rays on the Physico-Chemical Properties of Soybean Oil.

Soybean oil was studied to investigate the effect of x-radiation on its physico-chemical properties. Different physico-chemical parameters were characterized. The density, refractive index, pH value, iodine value, viscosity, and free fatty acid values were recorded as . 922, 1.425, 5.11, 140, 38.9 mPa and 140g/kg, respectively. The effect of radiation on the oil showed some modification of the density, pH value, iodine value, and free fatty acid value as . 9106, 1.422, 4.87, 120, 36.6 mPa and 219g/kg for the soybean oil.
IRANIAN DEPRESSED PATIENTS ATTEMPTING SUICIDE SHOWED IMPAIRED MEMORY AND PROBLEM-SOLVING

Background – It has been longly well-known that depressed patients attempting suicide tend to retrieve overgeneral autobiographical memories and create less effective problem-solving strategies with a considerable slowness. Methods – Two cognitive measures, autobiographical memory test and means-ends problemsolving task, Persian versions, were used to assess 20 parasuicide patients who met diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders criteria for major depression disorder (MDD), and were compared with a matched control group. The healthy subjects also met the criteria for subjects recruitment (no psychopathological background). Beck depression inventory (BDI) and Beck hopelessness scale (BHS) were performed to assess, respectively depression and hopelessness. Results – It was found that the suicide attempters were more depressed and more hopeless than the matched healthy subjects. The results showed that the parasuicides produced more overgeneral memories and responded more slowly to positive than negative cue-word, compared to the control subjects. In the problem-solving task, the patients provided less effective strategies, fewer means, and more irrelevant means; also they took longer to respond to the matched healthy subjects. Moreover, there were significant correlations between autobiographical memory and problem-solving variables. Conclusion – There were significant correlations between autobiographical memory and problem-solving variables. Clinical implications will be discussed.
International Equity Market Comovements: Economic Fundamentals or Contagion?

We investigate the causes of the contemporaneous return comovement in international equity markets with a focus on the distinction between economic fundamentals and contagion. We examine the potential news effect based on a comprehensive data set of the macroeconomic news announcements made in the U.S., U.K., and Japan from 1985 to 1996. We report three major findings. First, foreign intraday trading significantly influences domestic markets even after we control for the macroeconomic news impact. This result is robust for all models and across all three countries. This suggests that foreign trading does convey information distinct from the public information flows, measured by the macroeconomic news announcements. Second, foreign market trading impacts domestic overnight returns more profoundly than domestic intraday returns. In our setup, domestic overnight returns precede domestic intraday returns for the same calendar day. Hence the bigger impact on the domestic overnight returns implies that domestic markets efficiently process the information disseminated from foreign market trading on a timely basis. Third, we find that although foreign macroeconomic news announcements have little measurable impact before the Crash in October 1987, their influence on domestic markets tend to increase after the Crash and, in particular, during the 90's. Furthermore, there is evidence that the effect of foreign macroeconomic news announcements increases when the announcements are accompanied with large movement in foreign intraday returns or when the volatility of the announcements is large. The increasing importance of these macroeconomic news announcements does not mitigate the influence of foreign market trading. In fact, our result shows that in each country the two foreign intraday returns are far more important than the preceding domestic returns and all macroeconomic news announcements taken together in explaining the variations in the domestic intraday and overnight returns. In one sense, our results suggest the potential importance of a contagion effect. Our results show that the bulk of the observed comovement in the intraday and overnight returns of the international equity markets cannot be attributed to public information about economic fundamentals. As a result, future inquiry on this issue may focus on the distinction between contagion and private information, rather than public information. Alternatively, future research on this subject may need to consider stock return data finer than the intraday and overnight returns employed in this paper.
The Impact of Ownership Structure on Stock Liquidity: Evidence from Amman Stock Exchange

This paper investigates the relationship between firm’s ownership structure and its stock liquidity for firms listed on Amman Stock Exchange. We find that most of the firms have highly concentrated ownership structure. The largest shareholder of most of the publicly traded corporation is either a family or a private firm. The results show that stock liquidity of firms whose “largest shareholder” is a family which is very low compared to those of widely held firms. Regression results show that the percentage of ownership and the existence of one or more “large shareholders” significantly explain the cross-sectional variation in illiquidity ratio and turnover ratio. The coefficients of the percentage of ownership and the existence of largest shareholder are positively (negatively) related to illiquidity ratio (turnover ratio). JEL classification: G10; G32; G34
MINI-SYMPOSIUM ON FOOD VULNERABILITY IN SOCIETY: Sentinal Chemical Messengers: Endocannabinoid signaling transcends pain

On a comparative level Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol has been shown to have actions in diverse organisms that extend into invertebrate phyla. Furthermore, these same animals have been found to contain endogenous cannabinoid-like molecules with correspondingly high affinity and selective receptors for these chemical messengers. Interestingly, cannabinoid receptors when activated by their respective ligand appear to be coupled to constitutive nitric oxide release in diverse tissues. Cannabinoid actions include modulatory roles in immune, vascular, neural and other tissues, demonstrating that their influence is widespread in different physiological systems. The fact that similar signaling with the same molecules, receptors and nitric oxide release also occurs in invertebrates speaks to the origin of cannabinoid processes. In this regard, these chemical messengers are similar to others such as opioid, opiate, monoaminergic, cholinergic and GABAnergic, etc., which also are identical to that found in mammals. Thus, it would appear that both intraand inter-cellular communication evolved early to meet the communication requirement necessary for the required high number of integrative processes that would continue to evolve. Simultaneously, cannabinoid signaling may counter-intuitively serve as a sentinel, providing a health glimpse of the animal exhibiting its signaling given the number of functions it is involved with. In this regard, it may also have medicinal properties.
RESOLVED MULTIFREQUENCY RADIO OBSERVATIONS OF GG Tau

We present subarcsecond resolution observations of continuum emission associated with the GG Tau quadruple star system at wavelengths of 1.3, 2.8, 7.3, and 50 mm. These data confirm that the GG Tau A binary is encircled by a circumbinary ring at a radius of 235 AU with a FWHM width of ∼60 AU. We find no clear evidence for a radial gradient in the spectral shape of the ring, suggesting that the particle size distribution is spatially homogeneous on angular scales ≳0. ″1. A central point source, likely associated with the primary component (GG Tau Aa), exhibits a composite spectrum from dust and free-free emission. Faint emission at 7.3 mm is observed toward the low-mass star GG Tau Ba, although its origin remains uncertain. Using these measurements of the resolved, multifrequency emission structure of the GG Tau A system, models of the far-infrared to radio spectrum are developed to place constraints on the grain size distribution and dust mass in the circumbinary ring. The non-negligible curvature present in the ring spectrum implies a maximum particle size of 1–10 mm, although we are unable to place strong constraints on the distribution shape. The corresponding dust mass is 30–300 M⊕, at a temperature of 20–30 K. We discuss how this significant concentration of relatively large particles in a narrow ring at a large radius might be produced in a local region of higher gas pressures (i.e., a particle “trap”) located near the inner edge of the circumbinary disk.
In vitro study of synthetic prosthetic meshes for inguinal hernia repair

Prosthetic mesh is widely used in inguinal hernia repair surgeries, where it is implanted to correct hernia defects. This study compared the biocompatibility and mechanical response of different presthetic meshes in an in vitro cell culture to understand the roles of mesh materials and constructions in designing the ideal hernia mesh. Samples included heavyweight polypropylene, polyester, and two lightweight polypropylene meshes. Biocompatibility was measured by the morphology and proliferation of normal rat kidney cells (NRK-49F) on the meshes. Stiffness increased for all studied meshes after incubation with cells. Dynamic mechanical simulation was conducted to predict the long-term mechanical response of the meshes after implantation in the recipient.
The anti-resonance criterion in selecting pick systems for fully operational cutting machinery used in mining

This article discusses the issue of selecting a pick system for cutting mining machinery, concerning the reduction of vibrations in the cutting system, particularly in a load-carrying structure at work. Numerical analysis was performed on a telescopic roadheader boom equipped with transverse heads. A frequency range of the boom’s free vibrations with a set structure and dynamic properties were determined based on a dynamic model. The main components excited by boom vibrations, generated through the process of cutting rock, were identified. This was closely associated with the stereometry of the cutting heads. The impact on the pick system (the number of picks and their arrangement along the side of the cutting head) was determined by the intensity of the external boom load elements, especially in resonance zones. In terms of the anti-resonance criterion, an advantageous system of cutting head picks was determined as a result of the analysis undertaken. The correct selection of the pick system was ascertained based on a computer simulation of the dynamic loads and vibrations of a roadheader telescopic boom.
A Theory of Intraday Patterns: Volume and Price Variability

This article develops a theory in which concentrated-trading patterns arise endogenously as a result of the strategic behavior of liquidity traders and informed traders. Our results provide a partial explanation for some of the recent empitical findings concerning the patterns of volume and price variability in intraday transaction data. In the last few years, intraday trading data for a number of securities have become available. Several empirical studies have used these data to identify various patterns in trading volume and in the daily behavior of security prices. This article focuses on two of these patterns; trading volume and the variability of returns. Consider, for example, the data in Table 1 concerning shares of Exxon traded during 1981.1 The U-shaped pattern of the average volume of shares traded-namely, the heavy trading in the beginning and the end of the trading day and the relatively light trading in the middle of the day-is very typical and has been documented in a number of studies. [For example,Jain andJoh (1986) examine hourly data for the aggregate volume on the NYSE, which is reported in the Wall StreetJournal, and find the same pattern. ] Both the variance of price changes
Interpreting Sheepskin Effects of Investment in Schooling

In the last few years, significant amount of research has produced evidence in support of the signaling, credential or “sheepskin” effects in rates of return to schooling for studies of the developed as well as developing countries. An example of the former is the seminal empirical work by Hungerfold and Solon (1987) as well as more recent research for the U. S. [Park (1999) and Flores-Lagunes and Light (2007)] and other developed countries [Mcguinness (2003) and Antelius (2000) for Europe, for instance, and Bauer et al. for Japan (2004)]. Examples of such work for developing countries include Shabbir (1991) for Pakistan, Schady (2003) for the Philippines, and Mora (2008) for Colombia. Testing the sheepskin or credential hypothesis is tantamount to ascertaining if the marginal rate of return to education increases discontinuously for the years when completion diplomas (or degrees) are awarded to the individual. Despite the existence of sheepskin effects, very few attempts have been made either for developed or developing countries to specifically try to identify the possible channels by which such effects may exert themselves. Notable exceptions are Flores-Lagunes and Light (2007) for the U. S. and Riddle (2008) for Canada.This paper tries to address this neglected yet important question by empirically exploring this question in the case of Pakistan. Specifically, this paper explores the above question of interpretation of sheepskin effects in the case of Pakistan. Using the IFPRI-sponsored, 1987 Pakistan Survey of Rural Education, Migration and Employment (PSREME), it tests the hypothesis whether observed sheepskin effects are signaling individual innate ability and/or family background. Thus understanding more fully the sheepskin mechanism, will allow us to better appreciate the role of schooling and degree completion in determining earnings. According to the results of this paper, the sheepskin effects prove to be robust both to an inclusion of measures of innate ability as measured by Raven Progressive Matrices and
Ozone Gas as a Benign Sterilization Treatment for PLGA Nanofibre Scaffolds

The use of electrospun nanofibres for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications is a growing trend as they provide improved support for cell proliferation and survival due, in part, to their morphology mimicking that of the extracellular matrix. Sterilization is a critical step in the fabrication process of implantable biomaterial scaffolds for clinical use, but many of the existing methods employed to date can negatively affect scaffold properties and performance. Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) has been widely used as a biodegradable polymer for 3D scaffolds, and can be significantly affected by current sterilization techniques. The aim of this study was to investigate pulsed ozone gas as an alternative method for sterilizing PLGA nanofibres. The morphology, mechanical properties, physicochemical properties, and response of cells to PLGA nanofibre scaffolds were assessed following different degrees of ozone gas sterilization. This treatment killed Geobacillus stearothermophilus spores, the most common biological indicator used for validation of sterilization processes. In addition, the method preserved all of the characteristics of non-sterilized PLGA nanofibres at all degrees of sterilization tested. These findings suggest that ozone gas can be applied as an alternative method for sterilizing electrospun PLGA nanofibre scaffolds without detrimental effects. scaffolds comparing scaffold morphology, mechanical properties,
Computational insights into the catalytic role of the base promoters in ester hydrogenation with homogeneous non-pincer-based MnP , N catalyst

The reaction mechanism of ester hydrogenation catalyzed by a bidentate aminophosphine ligated manganese catalyst was studied by DFT calculations. Particular emphasize was placed on the role of the alkoxide base additives. The presence of such basic promoters as KOBu can improve the catalyst activity by lowering the activation barriers of H2 dissociation as well as the hydrogenation step. The promoting effect of KOBu on H2 activation is much stronger than that of tert-butoxides with other alkali metals, which is crucial for the catalyst regeneration from the deactivated Mn-alkoxide species in the resting
A Contrastive Study of Cohesion in Arabic and English Religious Discourse

This paper aims to analyze the use of cohesion in Arabic and English religious spoken texts. Twelve texts, delivered by some of the most eloquent Imams, were analyzed in light of the model proposed by Halliday & Hasan (1976). The study reveals that lexical cohesion is the most dominant type of cohesion in Arabic religious discourse, whereas it is grammatical cohesion which dominates English religious discourse. Although both languages prefer the use of reference, conjunctions and lexical repetition, Arabic uses lexical repetition, collocation and personal pronouns more often than English. A major contribution of the present study is that it captures new cohesive devises employed in Arabic religious discourse other than proposed by Halliday & Hasan (1976): rhyming patterns and parallelism.
Subtitled television series inside the efl classroom: long-term effects upon colloquial language learning and oral production

Un estudi quasi-experimental inicial va buscar explorar si els materials audiovisuals subtitulats amb la L1 o amb la L2 son mes rendibles per a l'aprenentatge del llenguatge informal i col•loquial de l'angles com llengua estrangera. Per a dur a terme l’experiment, 49 participants van ser dividits aleatoriament en dos grups; un dels quals va rebre el material subtitulat en angles i l’altre en espanyol. El nivel de comprensio auditiva i coneixement de vocabulari informal van ser avaluades abans i despres de veure episodis subtitulats (en L1 i L2) de la serie Friends durant 7 setmanes. Un segon estudi va mesurar la retencio a curt termini de vocabulari col•loquial, despres d'haver vist els episodis subtitulat al llarg de 7 setmanes (13 episodis en total). Les analisis revelen que a curt termini no hi ha prevalenca d'una condicio de subtitols sobre l'altra. El tercer estudi explora la retencio del llenguatge col•loquial i informal dels estudiants despres d'haver estat exposats 14 setmanes a episodis subtitols de Friends. Els resultats mostren la tendencia de millora del grup, pero tambe mostren una gran variacio entre els resultats individuals. El quart estudi va avaluar la produccio oral d'expressions col•loquials dels subjectes, aixi com la fluidesa en la parla, l'espontaneitat, la capacitat d'improvisar i de tenir una conversa natural. Aixo indica altes correlacions entre les puntuacions dels alumnes del tercer estudi i de les seves produccions orals en el quart estudi. Per tant, els estudiants que van obtenir una puntuacio alta en la prova final son capacos d'expressar-se usant les expressions col•loquials en tasques orals .
Heavy Metals (Cd, Pb, Cu, Fe, Cr, Mn, Zn) Contents in Ungulates of Ogun State Agricultural Farm Settlement, Ago - Iwoye, Nigeria

Heavy metals are natural components of the earth's crust which can neither be degraded nor destroyed and were known as trace elements as they occur in minute concentrations in biological systems. This study was aimed to investigate the bioaccumulation of heavy metals in the commonly consumed duikers in an agricultural farm settlement. Commercially available four duikers ( Cephalophus spp.) were collected for four weeks and four organs (skin, lungs, kidney and liver) from each sample were used. All the organs sampled were subjected to 7 heavy metals (Fe, Cu, Pb, Zn, Mn, Cr and Cd) tests using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (VGB 210 System) following standard procedure. All data were subjected to statistical analysis to find out the significant difference of heavy metal in each organ of and their accumulation effects. Heavy metals concentration in Cephalophus spp was in descending order of Cd (0.29±0.02 - 0.92±0.01) Zn > Mn > Cu > Cd > Cr > Pb for skin, Fe > Zn > Mn > Cu > Cr > Cd > Pb for liver, Fe > Zn > Mn > Cu > Cr > Pb > Cd for lung and Fe > Zn > Cu > Mn > Cr > Pb > Cd for kidney. Variability of heavy metals in Cephalophus species may not be due to the differences in the animal diet and habitat, but, the level of acute or chronic contamination of their diet and habitat.