Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ownership structure and firm financial performance: Evidence from panel data in Sri Lanka

This study investigates the effects of equity ownership structure on financial performance of Sri Lankan listed businesses. Using dynamic panel generalised method of moment this study finds an inverse hump shape relationship between insider ownership and firm financial performance. The results of this study confirm that the effect of insider ownership on firm performance is more positive and significant where legal protection for investors is weak. It suggests that although new legislative reforms have been enacted, Sri Lankan companies are highly dependent on internal governance mechanisms. There is potential merit in promulgating new rules to control the expropriation of minority shareholders.
Foreign Asset Divestitures by U.S. Firms: An Analysis of Motives and Valuation Consequences

We test a set of theoretic postulates predicting the choice and value impact of foreign asset divestiture strategies. Following Chen and Gou (2005), we argue that firms may be driven by a variety of motives to divest their foreign assets depending on their pre-divestiture performance, financial structure, possible existence of agency conflict, scale and scope of their business operations, and future growth opportunities. We find support for the financial distress hypothesis only in the case of those financially constrained firms that reduce their leverage in the post-divesting period. Further, we report support for the capital constraint hypothesis for firms that have a record of high capital expenditures in the pre-divestiture period and that are relatively free from agency conflict. Finally, our results support the focus hypothesis for over-diversified firms.
Temporal progression of angiogenesis and basal lamina deposition after contusive spinal cord injury in the adult rat

After spinal cord injury (SCI), the absence of an adequate blood supply to injured tissues has been hypothesized to contribute to the lack of regeneration. In this study, blood vessel changes were examined in 28 adult female Fischer 344 rats at 1, 3, 7, 14, 28, and 60 days after a 12.5 g · cm NYU impactor injury at the T9 vertebral level. Laminin, collagen IV, endothelial barrier antigen (SMI71), and rat endothelial cell antigen (RECA‐1) immunoreactivities were used to quantify blood vessel per area densities and diameters in ventral gray matter (VGM), ventral white matter (VWM), and dorsal columns (DC) at levels ranging 15 mm rostral and caudal to the epicenter. This study demonstrates an angiogenic response, defined as SMI71/RECA‐1–immunopositive endothelial cells that colocalize with a robust deposition of basal lamina and basal lamina streamers, 7 days after injury within epicenter VGM. This angiogenesis diminishes concurrent with cystic cavity formation. GAP43‐ and neurofilament‐ (68 kDa and 210 kDa) immunopositive fiber outgrowth was associated with these new blood vessels by day 14. Between 28 and 60 days after injury, increases in SMI71‐immunopositive blood vessel densities were observed in the remaining VWM and DC with a corresponding increase in vessel diameters up to 15 mm rostral and caudal to the epicenter. This second angiogenesis within VWM and DC, unlike the acute response observed in VGM, did not correspond to any previously described changes in locomotor behaviors in this model. We propose that therapies targeting angiogenic processes be directed at the interval between 3 and 7 days after SCI. J. Comp. Neurol. 445:308–324, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Analytical challenges and technical limitations in assessing circulating MiRNAs

Summary MiRNAs are emerging as promising biomarkers in cardiovascular diseases and may constitute a novel mechanism of intercellular communication. Accurate quantification of circulating miRNAs is essential. A variety of technological approaches and platforms have been developed with increased sensitivity and specificity for the detection and quantification of circulating miRNAs. In this review, we focus on the technical aspects and discuss the analytical challenges in profiling circulating miRNAs.
The impact of big box internationalization on a national market: a case study of Home Depot Inc. in Canada

The Home Depot Inc. is the world's largest home improvement retailer. In 2001, the company generated US$53.6 billion in retail sales from a property portfolio of 1333 stores. In the mid-1990s, after a period of rapid expansion in the US, Home Depot Inc. developed an internationalization strategy and entered the Canadian market. This paper explores the impact that the US-owned Home Depot Inc. has had on the home improvement landscape of Canada. The evidence provided illustrates how a relatively small number of foreignowned big box stores can dominate local retail markets, with the Home Depot Canada having gained a considerable national market share. The paper provides a detailed example of the growth of Home Depot within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Canada's largest market. It reveals the significant negative impact of Home Depot's big box format development on traditional street-front and mall-based home improvement retailers. The paper concludes by discussing potential growth strategies, in particular, Home Depot's expansion from major metropolitan to small town markets.
Functional Interaction between Two Transcription Factors Involved in the Developmental Regulation of a Small Heat Stress Protein Gene Promoter 1

Hahsp17.6G1 is the promoter of a small heat stress protein (sHSP) from sunflower (Helianthus annuus) that is activated during zygotic embryogenesis, but which does not respond to heat stress. We report here the cloning of a transcription factor (TF), sunflower drought-responsive element binding factor 2 (HaDREB2), by one-hybrid interaction with functional cis-elements in Hahsp17.6G1. We have analyzed the functional interaction between HaDREB2 and a second transcription factor, sunflower heat stress factor A9 (HaHSFA9), which was previously assigned to the regulation of Hahsp17.6G1. HaDREB2 and HaHSFA9 synergistically trans-activate the Hahsp17.6G1 promoter in bombarded sunflower embryos. This synergistic interaction is heat stress factor (HSF) specific and requires the binding of both factors to the promoter. The C-terminal region of HaHSFA9 is sufficient for the HSF specificity. Our results represent an example of a functional interaction between members of the Apetala 2 (HaDREB2) and HSF (HaHSFA9) families of transcription factors. We suggest new roles in zygotic embryogenesis for specific members of the AP2 transcription factor family.
Contingent Liabilities from Banks: How to Track Them?

In this paper, we develop a methodology to assess potential losses to the government that could arise from bank failures. The approach is intended to be simple, parsimonious, and used in real time. It generates an index that we call the banking sector contingent liability index (BCLI), based on the banking sector’s size, concentration, diversification, leverage, and riskiness of assets. The index is illustrated for 32 advanced and emerging market economies from 2006 to 2013, as well as a group of banks including global systemically important banks (G-SIBs).
Improving the Consent Process in Foot and Ankle Surgery With the Use of Personalized Patient Literature

ABSTRACT A patient‐specific letter was introduced to the consent process to observe the effect, if any, on information recall and satisfaction for patients undergoing elective foot and ankle surgery. The patients attending the clinic were written a personalized letter—this was a simple personalized letter that outlined their treatment options, the proposed management plan, likely treatment course, and the benefits, risks, and likely period required for recovery. The personalized letter system was compared with the 2 existing methods of consent process: signing for consent at their outpatient encounter at which they were scheduled for surgery and a separate consent clinic without the personalized letter. A total of 111 patients (87 females, 24 males) undergoing elective foot and ankle surgery were assessed on the day of surgery for recall of the procedure, risks, postoperative course, and satisfaction with the consent process. Patients receiving a personalized letter recalled more than those who had attended a routine preoperative consent clinic visit and significantly more than those who had provided consent at their last clinic visit. Patient satisfaction with the consent process was also greater in the personalized group. Our results suggest that the consent process is improved using routine preoperative consent clinics and, most notably, with patient‐specific information to improve patient recall and satisfaction. Level of Clinical Evidence: 2
THE ROLE OF CORTICOTROPIN-RELEASING HORMONE (CRH) IN STRESSOR-INDUCED ALTERATIONS OF SLEEP IN THE RAT

Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) mediates responses to a variety of stressors. We subjected rats to a one hour period of an acute stressor, physical restraint, and determined the impact on subsequent sleep-wake behavior. Restraint at the beginning of the light period, but not the dark period, increased waking and reduced rapid eye movements sleep (REMS) without dramatically altering slow wave sleep (SWS). Electroencephalogram (EEG) slow wave activity during SWS and brain temperature were increased by this manipulation. Central administration of the CRH receptor antagonist astressin blocked the increase in waking after physical restraint, but not during the period of restraint itself. Blockade of CRH receptors with astressin attenuated the restraint-induced elevation of brain temperature, but not the increase of EEG slow wave activity during subsequent SWS. Although corticosterone increased after restraint in naïve animals, it was not altered by this manipulation in rats well-habituated to handling and injection procedures. These results suggest that under these conditions central CRH, but not the HPA axis is involved in the alterations in sleep-wake behavior and in the modulation of brain temperature of rats exposed to this stressor.
Evaluation of pulmonary function and exercise performance by cardiopulmonary exercise testing before and after lung transplantation.

BACKGROUND Detailed description of functional exercise outcomes before and after lung transplantation is lacking. The objective of this study was to describe and compare posttransplant improvement in lung function and peak exercise parameters in patients with advanced lung disease. METHODS The study included 153 patients who underwent lung transplantation over 7 years who had complete cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and pulmonary function tests (PFTs) before and after lung transplantation. CPET and PFT within 30 months pretransplant and posttransplant were compared. RESULTS Pulmonary function markedly improved posttransplant as FVC increased 67%, maximum voluntary ventilation increased 91%, and FEV(1) increased 136%. However, peak oxygen consumption increased only 19%, peak CO(2) production increased 50%, and peak work increased 78%. Although transplant recipients had a 1.5- to 2.0-fold increase in exercise capacity posttransplant, peak exercise capacity remained at 50% of the predicted normal, suggesting a maximal limitation. Subgroup stratification into quartiles based on pretransplant exercise capacity revealed the greatest exercise benefit to be in the lowest functional pretransplant groups. CONCLUSIONS Lung transplant recipients have an increase in exercise capacity that does not match the improvement in lung function, indicating that poor strength, deconditioning, or other peripheral factors play a significant role in the limitation of exercise benefit posttransplantation. Further elucidation of the mechanisms of exercise limitation may allow for improved exercise outcomes posttransplant.
Quality And Effectiveness Of Enterprise Resource Planning - Customer Relationship Management Systems: Implications For Information Systems Marketing Strategies

The present research examines the success of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems in Greece, employing Delone and McLean’s model. The questionnaires of the study were e-mailed to the 1,049 largest organizations based on turnover and assets. The final research sample consists of 105 Greek enterprises. The list of organizations was compiled by using the Index of Companies and Products Directory (ICAP). Results show that users have more positive attitude towards system quality and information quality and less positive attitude towards service quality. Moreover, users believe that ERP systems enhance their performance and can contribute to the control of management. Furthermore, present paper proved that D&M model constitutes a causal model with the exception of the variable of system use that is only related to user satisfaction, and ERP system quality.The findings of this research trigger many theoretical and managerial implications and create lots of potential for future research in the fields of Information Systems, Management, and Marketing.
Knowledge Management Enablers, Processes and Innovation in Small Manufacturing Firms: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Manufacturing sector is a significant contributor to nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is the highest employment provider in developing countries like India. The sector which is dominated by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) faces challenges that are multifarious such as low capital base, scarce availability of skilled labor, expensive technology and inadequate research activities. Knowledge Management (KM) is embraced as a powerful tool which helps organizations tackle many problems that are unique to SMEs and improve their innovation and competitiveness. This paper is a comprehensive study aimed at investigating the KM processes and factors that enable KM in small manufacturing firms. Further, the impact of KM processes on innovation performance of the firms is also analyzed. The results revealed that organizational culture and leadership support had a partial impact on KM, whereas technology had no impact on KM. The innovation performance of the firms is also partially influenced by KM.
IMPACT OF DAY-AHEAD MARKET PRICING RULES ON GENERATION CAPACITY EXPANSION

submitted to 37th IAEE International Conference on April 14 th , 2014. Overview Pricing rules in wholesale electricity markets are usually classified around two major groups, namely linear (aka nondiscriminatory) and non-linear (aka discriminatory). As well known, the major difference lies on the fact that only the first approach does include non-convex costs (start-up and no-load cost of the marginal technology) in the market price perceived by all units. In the non-linear alternative these costs are only recognized to the units not recovering total production costs via marginal market prices, being paid if necessary as “make whole” payments. According to the classical marginal pricing theories, the resulting market prices are supposed to serve as the key signals around which capacity expansion revolves. Thus, the implementation of one or the other pricing rule may have a different effect on the investment incentives perceived by generation technologies, affecting the long-term efficiency of the whole market scheme. In this context, the growing deployment of Renewable Energy Sources for Electricity (RES-E) can enhance these potential differences. RES-E penetration increases the cycling operation of conventional thermal plants, raising nonconvex costs of these plants (mainly as a consequence of the increase of the wear and tear of the plant, usually reflected in the Long Term Service Agreements, LTSA), see Batlle & Rodilla (2013). In this paper the objective is two-folded: first we review how long-term investments incentives can be affected by the pricing rule implemented. To do so, we rely on the long-term results obtained with a simulation model which is applied to a real-size thermal system (Herrero et al, 2014). On this basis, we focus on the analysis of the potential effect of RES-E on the previous discussion. That is, on whether a large penetration of RES-E (in particular solar PV) could exacerbate the differences between using one or the other pricing rule. As described next, we approach the generation expansion planning problem by properly considering the effect of the aforementioned thermal cycling costs dynamics and its impact in price formation.
When the target may know better: Effects of experience and information asymmetries on value from mergers and acquisitions

Research Summary: Extending research on the effect of experience on acquisition outcomes, we examine how the differential in previous M&A experience between the target and the acquirer affects the value they respectively obtain when the acquirer takes over the target. Drawing on literature about organizational learning, negotiation and information economics, we theorize that the party with greater experience will be able to obtain more value. Furthermore, we theorize that the effect of differential M&A experience on value obtained is contingent on the level of information asymmetry the acquirer faces with respect to the target, specifically as a function of the target's product-market scope and whether the deal is friendly. We test and find support for these predictions in a sample of 1,241 M&As over a 30-year period. Managerial Summary: Corporate strategy is about a firm's scope and development decisions and outcomes, but corporate strategizing is incomplete unless managers anticipate the moves of other economic actors. We demonstrate the importance of these points when it comes to learning to make acquisitions. Using an innovative research design and theory that enables comparison between acquirer and target gains, we show that whatever their firm's acquisition history and capabilities, acquisitive managers should mind the negotiation and other pitfalls that arise when target firms possess ample acquisition experience of their own. We also demonstrate that the effect of experience advantage, whereby the more experienced party benefits, depends on the target firm's scope and whether the deal is friendly – two dimensions that acquirers can and should take into account.
Importance of emotional regulation in obesity and weight loss treatment

This theoretical study discusses the importance of emotional regulation process in obesity and in the success/failure of weight loss treatment, systematizing results of empirical studies and theoretical developments that have occurred in this field. Although there has been a substantial interest about this theme, it is difficult to achieve a consensual formulation to explain the relation between emotional regulation and weight because of the huge variability in the methodologies adopted and of the complexity of this phenomenon. In spite of all efforts, more than definite answers, studies have been revealing new research paths to be followed in this complex field.
Early Cellular Pathways of Mouse Natural Killer Cell Development

Natural killer (NK) cells are large granular lymphocytes that are components of the innate immune system. These cells are key players in the defense against viral and other microbial infections and cancer and have an important function during pregnancy, autoimmunity and allergy. Furthermore, NK cells play important roles in hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation by providing the graft versus leukemia effect and preventing the development of graft versus host disease. Thus, understanding the developmental pathway(s) from multipotent HSCs to the NK cell lineage-restricted progenitors is of significant clinical value. However, despite extensive progress in the delineation of mature blood cell development, including the B- and T-cell lineages, the early stages of NK cell lineage commitment and development have been less well established and characterized. Here, I review the progress made thus far in dissecting the developmental stages, from HSCs in the bone marrow to the lineage-committed NK cells in mouse.
Glial cell line‐derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is an endogenous protector in the mesolimbic system against excessive alcohol consumption and relapse

Moderate social consumption of alcohol is common; however, only a small percentage of individuals transit from social to excessive, uncontrolled alcohol drinking. This suggests the existence of protective mechanisms that prevent the development of alcohol addiction. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the glial cell line‐derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) in the mesolimbic system [e.g. the nucleus accumbens (Acb) and ventral tegmental area (VTA)] is part of such a mechanism. We found that GDNF knockdown, by infecting rat Acb neurons with a small hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeting the GDNF gene, produced a rapid escalation to excessive alcohol consumption and enhanced relapse to alcohol drinking. Conversely, viral‐mediated overexpression of the growth factor in the mesolimbic system blocked the escalation from moderate to excessive alcohol drinking. To access the mechanism underlying GDNF's actions, we measured the firing rate of dopaminergic (DAergic) neurons in the VTA after a history of excessive alcohol intake with or without elevating GDNF levels. We found that the spontaneous firing rate of DAergic neurons in the VTA was reduced during alcohol withdrawal and that GDNF reversed this alcohol‐induced DA deficiency. Together, our results suggest that endogenous GDNF in the mesolimbic system controls the transition from moderate to excessive alcohol drinking and relapse via reversal of alcohol‐dependent neuro‐adaptations in DAergic VTA neurons.
Short-Term Impact of an Educational Program Promoting Live Donor Kidney Transplantation in Dialysis Centers

Context Given the shortage of kidneys available for transplantation, a community-based intervention trial was implemented to assess the impact of an educational program on patients' access to live donor kidney transplantation (LDKT). Objective To compare the short-term impact of a basic intervention and an enhanced intervention on patients' readiness to pursue LDKT. Design Baseline data and data from 1 week after interventions were analyzed. Participants 214 transplant-eligible hemodialysis patients attending 14 dialysis facilities in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Interventions In the basic intervention, 107 patients watched a 10-minute videotape on the experience of recipients and live donors of a kidney. In the enhanced intervention, 107 patients watched the same videotape and had a discussion with a health educator on the risks and benefits of LDKT, who could be a donor, and how to address the barriers they were encountering when seeking a live kidney donor. Main outcome measure Patient reported whether they were considering LDKT, had talked with family or friends about LDKT, and had asked someone for a kidney. Results Over half of transplant-eligible patients were not pursuing LDKT at baseline (64% in the basic intervention group, 61% in the enhanced intervention group). One week after the intervention, the odds of considering LDKT were higher among African Americans (odds ratio [OR], 2.28; confidence interval [CI], 1.22–4.25), younger patients (OR, 0.94; CI, 0.91–0.97), and patients who spent less time on dialysis (OR, 0.90; CI, 0.83–0.97). The odds of asking for a kidney were higher among African Americans (OR, 4.94; CI, 2.54–9.60) and patients who perceived they were in poor to fair health (OR, 3.30; CI, 1.12–9.67). Conclusions Although both interventions helped patients consider LDKT and ask for a kidney, more time and expanded educational content might be needed to facilitate patients' discussion about LDKT with their loved ones.