Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effort and Honesty: Compensation Contracts in the Presence of Earnings Manipulation

Compensating managers with incentive pay may motivate earnings manipulation. In this thesis, we develop models that suggest more efficient compensation contracts that incentivize managers to exert effort and report honestly. We analyze the manager’s incentive to manipulate the financial statement when the manager is remunerated with short-term and long-term incentive pay and when we apply different performance measures in the manager’s compensation plan. We find that short-term incentives motivates both effort and manipulation, while long-term incentives induces effort, but not manipulation. Shifting incentives towards relatively more long-term pay will reduce earnings manipulation while maintaining incentives for effort. This is because it is not possible to inflate longterm compensation through opportunistically overstating accruals. We also consider the manager’s incentive to manipulate when the manager faces incentive plans with different performance measures. We predict that there will be less manipulation when the stock price is used as a performance measure relative to when accounting earnings is used. The reason is that when the reported earnings goes through the ”filter” of the market participants, the value of a high earnings report is discounted if the market believes that the report may be manipulated. This reduces the manager’s benefit of manipulation. The consequence is less manipulation when the stock price serves as the performance measure.
Estimated glomerular filtration rate but not solute carrier polymorphisms influences anemia in HIV–hepatitis C virus coinfected patients treated with boceprevir or telaprevir-based therapy

Objectives:Ribavirin (RBV) induced anemia may be influenced by host genetic factors affecting RBV transport solute carrier (SLC) or metabolism inosine triphosphatase (ITPA), as already reported. We investigated the influence of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on SLC genes on anemia, RBV trough concentration (Ctrough) and response in HIV–hepatitis C virus coinfected patients receiving triple therapy with boceprevir or telaprevir. Methods:Patients from the ANRS HC26/HC27 studies were genotyped for SLC28A3 SNPs (rs10868138 and rs56350726) and SL29A1 SNPs (rs760370). Hemoglobin (Hb) decline was collected at baseline day 0 (D0), week 4 (W4) and week 8 (W8), and RBV Ctrough was measured at W4 and W8 by HPLC. A multivariate analysis including SLC SNPs, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), ITPA deficiency and RBV Ctrough was performed to determine predictive factors of anemia and response. Results:SLC genotyping was performed in 130 patients. Neither SLC28A3 nor SLC29A1 SNPs were associated with Hb decline both at W4 and W8. No association was found between SLC polymorphisms and RBV Ctrough. Independent predictive factors of Hb decline at W4 were D0 Hb, ITPA deficiency and W4 RBV Ctrough in the multivariate analysis (P < 0.05). Only D0 Hb, W4 RBV Ctrough and eGFRD0–W8 were predictive of anemia at W8 (P < 0.05). Response was not influenced by SLC SNPs. Conclusion:eGFR, but not SLC polymorphisms, influences anemia in HIV–hepatitis C virus coinfected patients receiving boceprevir-based or telaprevir-based therapy. RBV is still a cornerstone of hepatitis C treatment, thus renal function and RBV Ctrough should be monitored in patients receiving RBV regimen combined with first-generation direct-acting antiviral agent.
Association of FMF-Related (MEFV) Point Mutations with Secondary and FMF Amyloidosis

Background: Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is the major cause of AA amyloidosis in Turkey. M694V mutation in MEFV gene was suggested to be associated with severe clinical features and amyloidosis of FMF. Methods: In this study, the frequencies of three FMF-related MEFV mutations (M694V, M680I and V726A) were investigated in FMF patients with (AA-FMF, n = 37) and without amyloidosis (non-AA-FMF, n = 35), in patients with secondary amyloidosis related to non-FMF inflammatory conditions (S-AA, n = 19) and in a non-inflammatory control group (n = 185) by molecular genetic studies using polymerase chain reaction with the ARMS (amplification refractory mutation system) method. Results: Both AA and non-AA-FMF patients had significantly higher MEFV mutations compared to non-inflammatory controls (81 and 62.7% respectively vs. 4.2%, p = 0.0001). AA-FMF patients carried significantly more MEFV mutations than non-AA-FMF patients (p = 0.01). M694V was the most common mutation in both FMF groups (63.5 vs. 51.4%), however allele frequency (p = 0.17) and the number of homoyzgous patients for this mutation did not differ between the groups (p = 0.77). Although lower compared to FMF patients, S-AA patients also had a significantly higher incidence of MEFV mutations than non-inflammatory controls (21 vs. 4.2%) (p = 0.0002). M694V was the only MEFV mutation in this group. Conclusion: MEFV mutations are found to be increased both in FMF and non-FMF associated secondary amyloidosis in our study; however, no clear association between M694V and amyloidosis is observed, except in the non-FMF group. Our results suggest that MEVF mutations may also serve as a severity marker for other inflammatory conditions.
Quantitative analysis of intraspinal cerebrospinal fluid flow in normal adults

The present study quantitatively analyzed intraspinal cerebrospinal fluid flow patterns in 19 normal adults using fast cine phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging. Results showed increased downward flow velocity and volume compared with upward flow, and the average downward flow volume of intraspinal cerebrospinal fluid decreased from top to bottom at different intervertebral disc levels. Upward and downward cerebrospinal fluid flow velocity reached a peak at the thoracic intraspinal anterior region, and velocity reached a minimum at the posterior region. Overall measurements revealed that mean upward and downward flow volume positively correlated with the subarachnoid area. Upward peak flow velocity and volume positively correlated with spinal anteroposterior diameter. However, downward peak flow velocity and volume exhibited a negative correlation with spinal anteroposterior diameter. Further flow measurements showed that flow velocity in upward and downward directions was associated with subarachnoid anteroposterior diameter, respectively. The present experimental results showed that cerebrospinal fluid flow velocity and volume varied at different intraspinal regions and were affected by subarachnoid space area and anteroposterior diameter size.
Understanding Antecedents to Conflict in Geographically Distributed Research and Development Teams

We investigate the antecedents of conflict on collocated as compared with geographically distributed teams. In our field study of 16 collocated and 20 geographically distributed research and development teams, we found little evidence that distributed teams have more conflict. However, we did find that distributed teams experienced more coordination problems and less healthy conflict handling norms which were, in turn, associated with more conflict. Contrary to our predictions, neither frequency of communication nor reliance on mediating technologies were related to increased affective or task conflict. Our findings suggest that the frequency of communication and the medium used may be less important than the content of the information that flows between group members and the group’s ability to speak openly and deal with conflict as it arises.
Identification of Contact Residues and Definition of the CAR-Binding Site of Adenovirus Type 5 Fiber Protein

ABSTRACT The binding of adenovirus (Ad) fiber knob to its cellular receptor, the coxsackievirus and Ad receptor (CAR), promotes virus attachment to cells and is a major determinant of Ad tropism. Analysis of the kinetics of binding of Ad type 5 (Ad5) fiber knob to the soluble extracellular domains of CAR together (sCAR) and each immunoglobulin (Ig) domain (IgV and IgC2) independently by surface plasmon resonance demonstrated that the IgV domain is necessary and sufficient for binding, and no additional membrane components are required to confer high-affinity binding to Ad5 fiber knob. Four Ad5 fiber knob mutations, Ser408Glu and Pro409Lys in the AB loop, Tyr477Ala in the DG loop, and Leu485Lys in β strand F, effectively abolished high-affinity binding to CAR, while Ala406Lys and Arg412Asp in the AB loop and Arg481Glu in β strand E significantly reduced the level of binding. Circular dichroism spectroscopy showed that these mutations do not disorder the secondary structure of the protein, implicating Ser408, Pro409, Tyr477, and Leu485 as contact residues, with Ala406, Arg412, and Arg481 being peripherally or indirectly involved in CAR binding. The critical residues have exposed side chains that form a patch on the surface, which thus defines the high-affinity interface for CAR. Additional site-directed mutagenesis of Ad5 fiber knob suggests that the binding site does not extend to the adjacent subunit or toward the edge of the R sheet. These findings have implications for our understanding of the biology of Ad infection, the development of novel Ad vectors for targeted gene therapy, and the construction of peptide inhibitors of Ad infection.
Binding sites for adeno-associated virus Rep proteins within the human genome

The Rep proteins of adeno-associated virus type 2 (AAV) are known to bind to Rep recognition sequences (RRSs) in the AAV inverted terminal repeats (ITRs), the AAV p5 promoter, and the preferred AAV integration site in human chromosome 19, called AAVS1. Integration of the AAV genome into AAVS1 appears to be mediated by an interaction between the Rep proteins of AAV and Rep binding sites within the viral genome and the integration locus. In an attempt to identify potential alternate integration sites, we looked for recognition sites for AAV Rep proteins in the human genome by performing a BLASTN computerized homology search. We used the 16-mer core sequences of the RRSs in the AAV ITRs and AAVS1 separately as query sequences and identified 18 new RRSs in or flanking the genes coding for the following: tyrosine kinase activator protein 1 (TKA-1); colony stimulating factor-1; insulin-like growth factor binding protein 2 (IGFBP-2); histone H2B.1; basement membrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan, also known as perlecan; the AF-9 gene product, which is involved in the chromosomal translocation t (9:11)(p22:q23); the betaB subunit of the hormone known as inhibin; interleukin-2 enhancer binding factor; an endoplasmic reticulum-Golgi intermediate compartment resident protein called p63; a global transcription activator (hSNF2L); the beta-actin repair domain; a retinoic acid-inducible factor, also known as midkine; a breast tumor autoantigen; a growth-arrest- and DNA-damage-inducible protein called gadd45; the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor called KIP2, which inhibits several G1 cyclin-cyclin-dependent kinase complexes; and the hereditary breast and ovarian cancer gene (BRCA1). RRSs were also identified in a newly discovered open reading frame on chromosome 10 and in the ERCC1 locus on human chromosome 19. The ability of a maltose binding protein-Rep68 fusion protein to bind to these sequences was confirmed by electrophoretic mobility shift assays. These sites may serve as alternate integration sites for AAV or play a role in Rep-mediated effects on human cells.
Smell and taste classification of the same stimuli.

Although it has long been known that the perception of flavor depends on olfactory sensations originating within the mouth (i.e., retronasal perception), little is known about how olfactory input is integrated in the flavor complex. In the present study, the qualitative contribution of odor to flavor was explored. Participants judged the smell and taste of pairs of substances (liqueurs). Each set of judgments was analyzed by means of multidimensional scaling, and the scalings were then statistically compared. The results revealed specific perceptual dimensions, namely, sweet-sour, harsh-mellow, which underlie both sensory modalities. In contrast to previous findings, the results show that the characteristics of flavor reflect olfactory attributes that can be apprehended outside the mouth.
Prognosis of Epilepsy in Newly Referred Patients: A Multicenter Prospective Study of the Effects of Monotherapy on the Long‐Term Course of Epilepsy

Summary: A cohort of 280 previously untreated epilepsy subjects (159 men and 121 women aged 2–81 years) recruited in 14 Italian centers were treated with antiepileptic drug (AED) monotherapy and followed for a median period of 48 months to investigate the rates of seizure remission (i.e., complete control), in general and with reference to various prognostic factors. The cumulative probability of achieving 1‐year remission was 62% by 1 year after onset of treatment, 81% by 2 years, 92% by 3 years, and 98% by 5 years. The corresponding figures for 2‐ and 3‐year remission at 5 years were 92 and 78%, respectively. Sixty‐two patients (22.1%) had no remission period with monotherapy. Remission rates were significantly lower among patients with two or more seizure types and were inversely correlated to the number of seizures before treatment. The rate of seizure relapses during the first year of follow‐up appear to correlate to the risk of developing refractory epilepsy (i.e., with no remission).
Efficient stereo coding in the multiscale representation

Stereo images are highly redundant; the left and right frames of typical scenes are very similar. We explore the consequences of the hypothesis that cortical cells—in addition to their multiscale coding strategies—are concerned with reducing binocular redundancy due to correlations between the two eyes. We derive the most efficient coding strategies that achieve binocular decorrelation. It is shown that multiscale coding combined with a binocular decorrelation strategy leads to a rich diversity of cell types. In particular, the theory predicts monocular/binocular cells as well as a family of disparity selective cells, among which one can identify cells that are tuned-zero-excitatory, near, far, and tuned inhibitory. The theory also predicts correlations between ocular dominance, cell size, orientation, and disparity selectivities. Consequences on cortical ocular dominance column formation from abnormal developmental conditions such as strabismus and monocular eye closure are also predicted. These findings.
13C High‐resolution‐magic angle spinning MRS reveals differences in glucose metabolism between two breast cancer xenograft models with different gene expression patterns

Tumor cells have increased glycolytic activity, and glucose is mainly used to form lactate and alanine, even when high concentrations of oxygen are present (Warburg effect). The purpose of the present study was to investigate glucose metabolism in two xenograft models representing basal‐like and luminal‐like breast cancer using 13C high‐resolution‐magic angle spinning (HR‐MAS) MRS and gene expression analysis. Tumor tissue was collected from two groups for each model: untreated mice (n = 19) and a group of mice (n = 16) that received an injection of [1‐13C]‐glucose 10 or 15 min before harvesting the tissue. 13C HR‐MAS MRS was performed on the tumor samples and differences in the glucose/alanine (Glc/Ala), glucose/lactate (Glc/Lac) and alanine/lactate (Ala/Lac) ratios between the models were studied. The expression of glycolytic genes was studied using tumor tissue from the same models. In the natural abundance MR spectra, a significantly lower Glc/Ala and Glc/Lac ratio (p < 0.001) was observed in the luminal‐like model compared with the basal‐like model. In the labeled samples, the predominant glucose metabolites were lactate and alanine. Significantly lower Glc/Ala and Glc/Lac ratios were observed in the luminal‐like model (p < 0.05). Most genes contributing to glycolysis were expressed at higher levels in the luminal‐like model (fdr < 0.001). The lower Glc/Ala and Glc/Lac ratios and higher glycolytic gene expression observed in the luminal‐like model indicates that the transformation of glucose to lactate and alanine occurred faster in this model than in the basal‐like model, which has a growth rate several times faster than that of the luminal‐like model. The results from the present study suggest that the tumor growth rate is not necessarily a determinant of glycolytic activity. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Sex and work on the move: Money boys in post-socialist China

China’s reconfiguration of the state and the market in its reform era has created new spaces and opportunities that have attracted millions of rural migrants to urban centres in search of freedom, wealth and new identities. However, the new space and the self both remain constricted by post-socialist parameters and the market. Based on ethnographic research on the male sex industry in post-socialist China (2004–2014), this article studies one such group of the rural-to-urban migrant population, namely male sex workers, or ‘money boys’ in the local parlance. Building on existing migration and prostitution literatures in China and my previous work, this article examines the ways they become money boys and manage three stigmatised identities – rural-to-urban migrant, men who sell sex and men who have sex with men – in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. This article concludes that money boys represent a group of the new migrant generation with distinct needs and desires, which is simultaneously embedded in the neoliberal discourse of development and empowerment, and at risk of dislocation and isolation.
Stunting and ‘overweight’ in the WHO Child Growth Standards – malnutrition among children in a poor area of China

Abstract Objective The aims of the present paper were to assess the nutritional status of children under 5 years old using the 2006 WHO Child Growth Standards (‘the WHO standards’) and to compare the results with those obtained using the National Center for Health Statistics/WHO international growth reference (‘the NCHS reference’). Design This was a community-based cross-sectional survey. The WHO standards were used to calculate Z-scores of height-for-age (HAZ), weight-for-age (WAZ), weight-for-height (WHZ) and BMI-for-age (BMIZ). Setting Fifty counties of thirteen mid-western provinces, China. Subjects A total 8041 children aged <5 years were measured during a 2-month period from August to October 2006. Results The prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting were 30·2 %, 10·2 % and 2·9 %, respectively. The prevalence of overweight and the possible risk of overweight were as high as 4·1 % and 16·8 %. Further analysis among the children with possible risk of overweight found that the percentage of stunting (HAZ < −2) was 57·6 %, the percentage with −2 ≤ HAZ ≤ 2 was 41·0 % and the percentage with HAZ > 2 was only 1·4 %. The prevalence of stunting was 21·9 % and of underweight was 12·7 % by the NCHS reference. Conclusions Stunting was the most serious problem that was impeding child growth and development. The high rate of ‘overweight’ was a false impression, the truth being ‘stunting overweight’, and the way to solve it should be to increase protein and other nutrients in the diet at an early age.
What is recovery in adolescent anorexia nervosa?

OBJECTIVE The principal aim of this study is to describe the types of problems faced in defining recovery from anorexia nervosa (AN) as well as to illustrate the magnitude that various definitions have on recovery rates for AN. METHOD Comparative rates of recovery from AN using a range of definitions (percent ideal body weight, psychological recovery, and combinations of these variables) were calculated using long-term outcome data from a study of adolescents treated for AN. In addition, a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to model recovery over the long-term follow-up period. RESULTS Recovery rates varied highly, depending on the definition used, from 57.1% to 94.4%. Using survival analysis, the mean time to remission for weight (>85% ideal body weight) was 11.3 months, significantly shorter than for Eating Disorder Examination score recovery at 22.6 months (log rank = 16.1, p = 0.0001). CONCLUSION Agreement of definitions of recovery may be dependent on specific goals of a particular study or treatment; however, in order to compare and contrast categorical outcomes, a consistent definition of recovery is needed in the literature. Both weight and psychological symptoms appear to be important in a definition of recovery.
Interrelated and Isolated Self-Concepts

We propose aframework for conceptualizing different ways of representing concepts of the self. Interrelated self-concepts are concepts that are defined by connections to concepts of other (real or prototypic) individuals; isolated self-concepts do not depend upon other person conceptsfor their mental characterization. This distinction between ways of representing self-concepts is similar to the distinction between interrelated and isolated concepts recently proposed by Goldstone (1993b, 1996). In this article, the extant self literature is evaluated in terms of the interrelated-isolated distinction. Methods for manipulating and diagnosing interrelated and isolated self-concepts are also proposed. Results of 3 studies show that interrelated self-concepts contain less abstract features than do isolated self-concepts. The former concepts also contain more diagnosticfeatures than the latter. Discussion focuses on predictions about other differences in isolatedSnd interrelated self-concepts. The conditions under which different types of self-concepts might change and the implications of interrelated and isolated self-concepts for information processing, memory, self-esteem, and mental health are considered.
The bond-stock earnings yield differential model: additional applications and other models for stock market crash prediction

In this second part, we discuss the predictive ability of the BSEYD model, applications of the BSEYD to the USA in 2007, Iceland in 2008, the Chinese stock market in 2009 and in 2015, and introduce other crash measures. These measures include the price-to-earnings ratio, Robert Shiller's Cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings ratio, Warren Buffet's ratio of the market value of all publicly traded stocks to the current level of the GNP and Sotheby's stock price.
ECTOPARASITES COLLECTED FROM BOBWHITE QUAIL IN THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES1

Twenty-one species of ectoparasites representing 19 genera were collected from 481 bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) from nine areas in four southeastern states. Sixteen species, Amblyomma americanum, Amblyomma maculatum, Haemaphysalis chordeilis, Haemaphysalis leporispalustris, Eutrombicula alfreddugesi alfreddugesi, Neoschoengastia americana, Boydaia colini, Pterolichus sp. , Colinophilus wilsoni, Megninia sp. , Apionacarus wilsoni, Colinoptes cubanensis, Menacanthus pricei, Colinicola numidiana, Gonoides ortygis and Oxylipeurus clavatus were previously known from bobwhites, whereas five species, Ixodes minor, Neotrombicula whartoni, Dermoglyphus sp. , Microlichus sp. and Rivoltasia sp. (near coturnicola) represented new host-parasite associations. Data are presented giving prevalence, geographic location, host age and numbers of quail infested with each species. Significant lesions were not associated with any species.