Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions Performance by U.S. Firms to the Emerging and Developed Market

Prior research found various and comprehensive evidence on whether mergers and acquisitions (M&As) create or destroy value for shareholders. This thesis examines specifically the effect of cross-border M&As towards bidders’ return. Using the final sample of 1,217 cross-border M&A transactions by U.S. firms during the period of 2002 to 2016, this thesis documents that M&A performance creates higher Cumulative Abnormal Return (CAR) for deals acquiring emerging market than developed market. When taking into account the merger period, it reveals that the time period after the last merger wave (2009-2016) brings better return compared to the time period in the sixth merger wave (2002-2008). This thesis also investigates the shareholders’ protection as a measurement of corporate governance. Higher rank of shareholders’ protection index in the target country is followed by a higher return for the acquirer.
Peter Martyr Vermigli (1499-1562) and the outward instruments of divine grace

The Reformed exegete and theologian Peter Martyr Vermigli (1499-1562) was an unoriginal but consistent thinker. Theological insights were not packaged separately from each other, but consistently linked together. In all his thought he sought to steer the middle course between theological extremes in taking what was good and rejecting what was bad from each. Typical of this tendency to steer the middle course are his insights into the outward instruments of divine grace. According to Vermigli, such instruments - the human nature of Christ, the audible words of Scripture and the visible words of the Sacraments, should not be over-carnalized, nor over-spiritualized. Although God could work immediately (i.e. without instruments), he has chosen to work through these instruments for salvation. Hence, the inward spiritual power and the outward instrument must not be divorced from each other. The Spirit of God does not normally work without the outward instrument, nor can the outward instrument effect grace without the Spirit's power. Modern scholarship has done much to define the sources of Vermigli's thought, but more needs to be said. The more Vermigli is studied, the more it is necessary to qualify characterizations of him. He is not a thinker who is easily pigeon-holed into a certain theological school or movement. As a well-educated biblical and humanistic scholar, Vermigli took independent and well-reasoned positions on the whole variety of theological questions current in his day. As such, this study attempts to view the inter-connected nature of Vermigli's thought so as to gain a better view of the whole of his thought.
Echocardiographic assessment of cardiac dysfunction in patients of end stage renal disease on haemodialysis.

OBJECTIVE To assess the prevalence of systolic and diastolic dysfunction in patients of end stage renal disease (ESRD) on haemodialysis. METHODS Seventy patients with ESRD were subjected to two-dimensional and M mode echocardiography for determination of systolic and diastolic dysfunction. All patients were evaluated clinically, biochemically and radiologically and were diagnosed as chronic kidney disease (CKD). The left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and fractional shortening (FS) were taken as measures of left ventricular (LV) systolic function. Diastolic function was determined by measuring E/A ratio by spectral doppler LV inflow velocity. Echocardiographic findings of hypertensive and normotensive patients were compared. RESULTS Out of 70 patients studied, there were 53 males (75.7%) and 17 females (24.3%). Hypertension (37.1%) was leading cause of ESRD. Echocardiography showed that left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) was present in 74.3%. Systolic dysfunction as measured by reduced fractional shortening (<25%) and decreased LVEF (< 50%) was present in 8.6% and 24.3% respectively. Diastolic dysfunction as denoted by E/A ratio of less than 0.75 or more than 1.8 was present in 61.4% of patients. Regional wall motion abnormality (RWMA) was present in 12.9%. Pericardial effusion was noted in 14.3% of patients. Valvular calcification was noted in 7.1% of ESRD patients. Mean left ventricular internal diameter in diastole was 45.55 +/- 6.03 mm. Mean Interventricular septum diameters in systole was 12.2 +/- 1.71 mm. Mean left atrium diameter was 33.01 +/- 4.11 mm. Normotensive group was compared to hypertensive group. Statistically significant difference was noted in LVH and E/A ratio in hypertensive group as compared to normotensive group. CONCLUSION Patients with hypertensive ESRD had higher prevalence of diastolic and systolic dysfunction as compared to normotensive counterparts.
Essential management competencies in the timeshare industry

Essential Management Competencies in the Timeshare Industry by Yun-Kyung Choi Dr. Gail Sammons, Examination Committee Chair Associate Professor of Hotel Management University of Nevada, Las Vegas The purpose of this study was to identify the essential competencies for general managers in the timeshare/vacation ownership industry. Competencies were seen as knowledge, skill, ability that is needed by the timeshare/vacation ownership general managers to successfully accomplish his/her daily work. The competencies were identified, verified, and validated by a group of general managers in the timeshare/vacation ownership industry who participated in a one-round modified Delphi study and a feedback loop. Through this process, the investigator managed to approach consensus among the participants and generate adequate information on the required competencies for general managers in the timeshare/vacation ownership industry. The modified Delphi study allowed the investigator to: rank order among the proposed competencies according to mean responses from Round I questionnaire; identify additional competencies that were not included in the Round I questionnaire; and identify 22 essential competencies for general managers in the timeshare/vacation ownership industry. The findings of this study showed that a number of the 22 essential
Support Vector Machines Applied to 2-D Binary Image Euler Number Computation

In this communication we explain how a Support Vector Machine (SVM) can be applied to compute the Euler number or Genus of a 2-D binary image. By taking into account the results provided by a mathematical formulation that is known producing exact results we derive two specialized SVM-based architectures, one useful for the 4-connected case and one useful for the 8-connected case. We validate the applicability of both architectures with two sets of images and compare their performance in terms of processing times with several standard methods reported in literature.
Synthesis and Characterization of CdTe Nanomaterial Using Single Source Molecular Precursor

In this paper, we have reported convenient way to access CdTe nanorods by solvothermal decomposition using single source molecular precursor cadmium (II) bis-(isopropyl telluro) propane (SSMP) and quinoline as solvent at relatively low temperature (200oC). As synthesized nanomaterials are structurally characterized by XRD, SEM and UVVisible spectroscopy. SEM micrographs revealed formation of rod shaped structures. The average crystallite size estimated from XRD data are 28.7 nm. The average diameter of nanorods was estimated 0.9 μm from SEM micrographs. These are much larger than the average crystallite size estimated from XRD data. This is attributed to the agglomeration of nanocrystallites as quinoline is not a good capping agent. Absorption results were investigated by UVVisible spectroscopy.
The Efficiency of Land-Use in a Developing City: Traditional vs Modern Tenure Systems in Kampala, Uganda

Land rights and tenure systems are an important factor behind poor housing and inefficient land-use in developing country cities. In Kampala, Uganda, four systems of land tenure coexist, allowing a detailed study of the effects of these on household and firm location decisions. Spatially disaggregated data across the city suggest that the presence of a traditional land tenure system (called mailo) skews land-use towards informal housing and away from productive activities. Using a structural model of the city we show that this due to mailo having a positive value for occupants of informal housing, attributable to mailo-specific amenity benefits and/ or rent caps. We use the model to investigate the effect of converting all mailo land in the city to leasehold. Despite direct loss of amenity experienced by mailo residents, aggregate city income may rise substantially because of more efficient land-use. Manufacturing firms move into formerly mailo areas and form new clusters of activity. This increases urban wages, particularly among the low skilled, and raises aggregate urban real incomes by 2% in the absence of localisation economies and as much as 6.7% in the presence of such economies of scale.
A monoclonal antibody with selective reactivity with functionally mature human thymocytes and all peripheral human T cells.

A monoclonal antibody directed at a determinant on human peripheral blood T cells was produced and characterized. This hybridoma antibody, termed OKT1, was reactive by indirect immunofluorescence with the entire human peripheral blood T cell population and a subset of human thymocytes. In contrast, OKT1 was unreactive with normal B cells, Null cells, macrophages, and ≥90% of human thymocytes. These findings suggested that OKT1 defines a mature T cell differentiation antigen. In support of this notion was the observation that T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells were nonreactive with OKT1, whereas T cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells were reactive. Concomitant functional studies on FACS-separated lymphocytes showed that the T cell proliferative responses to mitogens and soluble and cell surface antigens were contained in the OKT1+ population. Fractionation of peripheral blood T cells into strongly and weakly reactive OKT1+ subgroups uncovered no functional T cell heterogeneity. In addition, when the thymocyte population was separated into OKT1+ and OKT1- subsets, only the OKT1+ thymocytes were MLC responsive. However, unlike peripheral T cells, neither the OKT1+ or OKT1- thymocytes proliferated to the mitogens PHA and Con A. Thus, OKT1+ thymocytes are functionally distinct from OKT1+ peripheral blood T cells. These studies show that a hybridoma antibody can be produced that detects a human differentiation antigen that appears during late intrathymic T cell ontogeny and persists on peripheral T cells.
Genetic regulation of vertebrate eye development

Eye development is a complex and highly regulated process that consists of several overlapping stages: (i) specification then splitting of the eye field from the developing forebrain; (ii) genesis and patterning of the optic vesicle; (iii) regionalization of the optic cup into neural retina and retina pigment epithelium; and (iv) specification and differentiation of all seven retinal cell types that develop from a pool of retinal progenitor cells in a precise temporal and spatial manner: retinal ganglion cells, horizontal cells, cone photoreceptors, amacrine cells, bipolar cells, rod photoreceptors and Müller glia. Genetic regulation of the stages of eye development includes both extrinsic (such as morphogens, growth factors) and intrinsic factors (primarily transcription factors of the homeobox and basic helix‐loop helix families). In the following review, we will provide an overview of the stages of eye development highlighting the role of several important transcription factors in both normal developmental processes and in inherited human eye diseases.
Experimental research of vibration sweep frequency response analysis to detect the winding deformation of power transformer

In order to further recognize the relationship between the fault of winding deformation of power transformer with the measured tank vibration, the short-circuit test is done in a 220kV transformer. The vibration sweep frequency response curves for some pre-setting winding deformation fault are obtained by virtue of the vibration measurement system. Correlation coefficient is defined and calculated for the whole frequency segment and low frequency segment and high frequency segment separately to evaluate the degree of winding deformation quantitatively. Meanwhile, the amplitude response curves required by the frequency response analysis are also plotted and correlation coefficients are calculated. It is showed that the vibration sweep frequency response analysis is more sensitive to the slightly winding deformation than that of frequency response analysis. Moreover, the defined correlation coefficient for a certain frequency segment has a certain relation to the different fault type of winding deformation.
Knowledge of Beneficiary Farmers about Jalyukt Shivar Campaign

In the state of Maharashtra, inconsistency of rains in the very times of crop growth and discontinuity of rains create drought like situation. Nearly, 82 per cent area of the state falls in rainfed sector and 52 per cent area is drought prone, due to which agriculture field is heavily affected. Heavy ups and downs have been observed in the production of crops on dryland in the state. Less availability of water is a major factor responsible for this situation. To permanently overcome internal drought situation and to increase water availability, in December 2014, Maharashtra government has launched a new programme named Jalyukt Shivar (waterful surrounding) programme to make Maharashtra a drought-free state by 2019. There is convergence of various schemes related to water conservation. This programme focused on restoration, repair, rejuvenation and construction of local water bodies, where possible, it also linked to nearby rivers, allowing a continuous, uninterrupted flow of water for local irrigation requirements. Success of any development programme depends on degree of involvement of the people and at what level of knowledge they have about it. Keeping in view a study of knowledge of beneficiary farmers about Jalyukt Shivar Campaign in Nagpur district of Maharashtra state was under taken.
Solving Hard Subgraph Problems in Parallel

We look at problems involving finding subgraphs in larger graphs, such as the maximum clique problem, the subgraph isomorphism problem, and the maximum common subgraph problem. We investigate variable and value ordering heuristics, different inference strategies, intelligent backtracking search (backjumping), and bit- and thread-parallelism to exploit modern hardware.
Oral manifestations of leukemia and antineoplastic treatment - a literature review (part II)

In the antineoplastic treatment the oral manifestations can be seen more intensely because radiotherapy and chemotherapy attack little differentiated cells or those with a high metabolism, affecting not only the blastic cells but also the normal ones. The main events are: mucositis, hyperplasia and gingival bleeding, opportunistic infections, radiation caries, xerostomia, trismus, osteorradionecrosis and taste alteration. Dentists must be aware of the oral manifestations in antineoplastic treatment to improve patients’ quality of life. When possible, patients should be examined before starting oral cavity treatment to remove infectious outbreaks. During treatment prophylactic measures can be taken such as strict control over oral hygiene, analgesic, antibiotic, and antiinflammatory administration when
Insular pathology in young people with high-functioning autism and first-episode psychosis

Background Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and psychosis share deficits in social cognition. The insular region has been associated with awareness of self and reality, which may be basic for proper social interactions. Methods Total and regional insular volume and thickness measurements were obtained from a sample of 30 children and adolescents with ASD, 29 with early onset first-episode psychosis (FEP), and 26 healthy controls (HC). Total, regional, and voxel-level volume and thickness measurements were compared between groups (with correction for multiple comparisons), and the relationship between these measurements and symptom severity was explored. Results Compared with HC, a shared volume deficit was observed for the right (but not the left) anterior insula (ASD: p = 0.007, FEP: p = 0.032), and for the bilateral posterior insula: (left, ASD: p = 0.011, FEP: p = 0.033; right, ASD: p = 0.004, FEP: p = 0.028). A voxel-based morphometry (VBM) conjunction analysis showed that ASD and FEP patients shared a gray matter volume and thickness deficit in the left posterior insula. Within patients, right anterior (r = −0.28, p = 0.041) and left posterior (r = −0.29, p = 0.030) insular volumes negatively correlated with the severity of insight deficits, and left posterior insular volume negatively correlated with the severity of ‘autistic-like’ symptoms (r = −0.30, p = 0.028). Conclusions The shared reduced volume and thickness in the anterior and posterior regions of the insula in ASD and FEP provides the first tentative evidence that these conditions share structural pathology that may be linked to shared symptomatology.
Accuracy Evaluation of Blood Glucose Monitoring Systems in Children on Overnight Closed-Loop Control

Objective: This pilot study evaluated the difference in accuracy between the Bayer Contour® Next (CN) and HemoCue® (HC) glucose monitoring systems in children with type 1 diabetes participating in overnight closed-loop studies. Research Design and Methods: Subjects aged 10-18 years old were admitted to a clinical research center and glucose values were obtained every 30 minutes overnight. Glucose values were measured using whole blood samples for CN and HC readings and results were compared to Yellow Springs Instrument (YSI) reference values obtained with plasma from the same sample. System accuracy was compared using mean absolute relative difference (MARD) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) accuracy standards. Results: A total of 28 subjects were enrolled in the study. Glucose measurements were evaluated at 457 time points. CN performed better than HC with an average MARD of 3.13% compared to 10.73% for HC (P < .001). With a limited sample size, CN met ISO criteria (2003 and 2013) at all glucose ranges while HC did not. Conclusions: CN performed very well, and would make an excellent meter for future closed-loop studies outside of a research center.
Tolerating a Linear Number of Faults in Networks of Bounded Degree

Abstract Dwork et al. [ SIAM J. Comput. 17 (1988), 975-988] proposed a new paradigm for fault tolerant distributed computing termed almost everywhere agreement . While all other fault tolerance paradigms require networks of high connectivity to tolerate a substantial number of faults, it was shown in Dwork et al. that the new paradigm can be achieved even on bounded degree networks, as long as the number of faults is bounded by O ( n /log n ), where n is the size of the network. A major problem that was left open in Dwork et al. is whether almost everywhere agreement can be achieved on bounded degree networks in the presence of up to O ( n ) faulty nodes (processors). In this work, we answer this question in the affirmative. As in Dwork et al. , our solution is based on a general technique for simulating on a bounded degree network an algorithm designed for the complete network. Each communication round of the complete network protocol is simulated by a logarithmic number of communication rounds, and with a polynomial number of messages.
Cocaine Constriction of Rat Basilar Artery in situ: Roles of Nitric Oxide and Endothelin-1

This study investigated whether cocaine constriction of rat basilar artery in situ is mediated by nitric oxide (NO) inhibition and/or endothelin (ET)-1 release. Cocaine (3-100 µmol/l) concentration-dependently constricted the basilar artery to a maximum of 18%. Nω-nitro-L-arginine (100 µmol/l) was without effect on constriction to 3 and 10 µmol/l cocaine. PD145065 (1 and 10 µmol/l), an ETA/B receptor antagonist, variably and at most partially inhibited the 100 µmol/l cocaine constriction. Capsaicin denervation of sensory nerves innervating the basilar, which contain ET-1 and NO synthase, also failed to influence cocaine constriction. These findings suggest that cocaine constriction of cerebral vessels (1) varies with respect to the involvement of ET-1 release and (2) unlike findings in the peripheral vasculature, the constriction is not mediated by inhibition of NO.
Design of a High-Efficiency Circularly Polarized Rectenna for 35 GHz Microwave Power Transmission System

This paper reports a circularly polarized (CP) rectifying antenna (rectenna) operating at 35 GHz with high microwave-direct current (mw-dc) conversion efficiency. A pair of side-concave patches is used as a CP receiving antenna with a high gain of 10 dB. A low-pass filter (LPF) at the input port of the rectifying circuit is used to suppress the high order harmonics by 19 dB. Both of the antenna and the LPF are simulated by the full wave EM analysis software of HFSS. The rectifying circuit, consist of a LPF, a diode and a DPF, is simulated by using the ADS software. The dc-pass filter (DPF) is designed to block the fundamental frequency and the harmonics from transmitting to the load. A co-simulation method of HFSS and ADS is applied to optimize the rectenna with a high mw-dc conversion efficiency of 81% is obtained.
Target Gene Activation of the Wnt Signaling Pathway in Nuclear β‐Catenin Accumulating Cells of Adamantinomatous Craniopharyngiomas

Activating β‐catenin (CTNNB1) mutations can be identified in the majority of adamantinomatous craniopharyngiomas (adaCP), suggesting an aberrant Wnt signaling pathway in this histopathologically peculiar tumor entity. However, there is no proven evidence that nuclear translocation of β‐catenin is associated with CTNNB1 mutations and target gene activation. We performed a laser‐microdissection‐based study comparing β‐catenin accumulating vs. non‐accumulating tumor cells. Mutational analysis and gene expression profiling using real‐time polymerase chain reaction were conducted in adamantinomatous and papillary tumor specimens. Target gene activation, that is, over‐expression of Axin2 could be detected in adaCP, especially in tumor cells with nuclear β‐catenin accumulation. In addition, increased expression of BMP4 was identified in the accumulating cell population, which supports the hypothesis of an oral ectodermal origin. Interestingly, accumulating and non‐accumulating tumor cell populations carried CTNNB1 mutations within exon 3. We extended the analysis, therefore, towards genetic regions encoding for membrane linkage and active/passive nuclear transport mechanisms (exon 4 and exon 8–13), but could not detect any alteration. This is the first report demonstrating an association between nuclear β‐catenin accumulation and target gene activation in adaCP. The results confirm the Wnt signaling pathway as molecular basis of the distinct and challenging clinical and morphological phenotype of adaCP.