Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pitch modification when interacting with elders: Japanese women with and without experience with infants

Twenty Japanese-speaking twenty-six- to twenty-seven-year-old women were recorded as they conversed with an infant, an elder, or another young adult. When their utterances were acoustically compared among the three settings with regard to prosodic characteristics, elevated pitch and increased pitch range were found when their speech was directed to both the infant and the elder as compared to when it was directed to the young adult. The degree to which such modifications occurred was greater in those women who were experienced with children than in those women who were not experienced. Moreover, the degree of the modification showed a highly positive correlation in each participant when the speech was directed to the infant and when it was directed to the elder. Prosodic modifications of speech styles to infants and to elders are both exaggerated consistently through the experience with children.
Topology characterization of high density airspace aeronautical ad hoc networks

Aeronautical ad hoc networks represent a special type of ad hoc wireless networks, given their significantly larger scale and the distinct characteristics of their mobile nodes. Aircraft populate the international airspace very heterogeneously. Some regions experience highly dense air traffic, with aircraft headings being largely uncorrelated. Other regions remain only very sparsely populated, with aircraft typically flying parallel to each other. Moreover, the number of airborne aircraft in a given region changes significantly throughout the day. In this paper, we focus on the densely populated European airspace, and investigate the topological behavior of multihop ad hoc wireless networks formed by air-air links of varying communications range. We derive analytical expressions for various topological aspects, such as the lifetime of inter-aircraft links, and the projected hop length using greedy forwarding. These results are in good agreement with the behavior observed in our simulations of the European air traffic scenario. In addition, we assess the performance of greedy forwarding in the aero-nautical environment and show that, under moderate connectivity, this technique delivers almost all packets to their destinations with a minimum hop count.
Leveraging public‐private partnerships to improve community resilience in times of disaster

Purpose – As noted in the Department of Homeland Security's National Response Framework, disasters are inherently local and ultimately the responsibility of the lowest jurisdictional level present within the impacted area. Given these parameters, this paper aims to sharpen the concept of national resilience by recommending a framework which positions community resilience as an integral variable in understanding the ability of impacted areas to effectively manage the consequences of disasters. Conceptualized as a dependent variable, community resilience is influenced by the relationships government (public) agencies develop with private sector partners and the resilience of relevant supply chains and critical infrastructures/key resources which exist in their communities.Design/methodology/approach – The authors augment a topical literature review of academic and practitioner journals by synthesizing existing findings into a holistic framework of community resilience.Findings – This paper argues that inter.
Non-Audit Services and Auditor Independence: Some Evidence from Malaysia

Regulators and stakeholders in worldwide capital markets have placed a great concern on the potential threat of joint provision of audit and non-audit services to audit client on perceived auditor independence. This study reports the research findings of the effects of the joint provision of audit and non-audit services (NAS) on perceived auditor independence from the perspective of Malaysian auditors, loan officers and senior managers of public listed companies. The main findings of the study were that auditor independence would significantly threaten when audit and NAS were jointly provided by audit engagement team, however, this perceptions were changed when exist proper segregation of duties or 'Chinese Wall' in audit firms either by way of staff from separate department or entities.
Effect of different levels of monensin in diets containing whole cottonseed on milk production and composition of lactating dairy cows

Summary The objective of this study was to determine the effects of feeding different levels of monensin on feed intake, milk production and composition, and milk fatty acid profile in lactating Holstein cows. Four multiparous cows averaging 517 ± 47 (SD) kg in body weight and 101 ± 19.8 (SD) days in milk were housed individually in tie-stalls. The study was conducted as a 4 × 4 Latin square design for four periods (14-d for adaptation and 7-d for sampling). Cows were offered four dietary treatments (0, 10, 20, or 30 mg of monensin/kg of DM) as total mixed ration, twice daily. Dry matter (DM) intake was similar among treatments. Monensin supplementation significantly increased (P<0.05) milk yield and 4% fat corrected milk (FCM). Milk fat and protein percentages were not affected by monensin supplementation, but fat yield was increased. Monensin reduced the percentage of the short-chain and saturated fatty acids in milk fat, but had no effect on the percentages of medium- and long-chain fatty acids. Monensin supplementation increased (P<0.05) unsaturated fatty acids concentrations in milk fat. Based on the results of this study, feeding monensin was effective in inhibiting the biohydrogenation of unsaturated fatty acids in the rumen, and consequently increased the percentage of unsaturated fatty acids in milk fat, which improves the health characteristics of milk for human consumption.
Does Governance Affect the Performance of Closed-End Funds?

Conventional companies are heterogeneous and it is difficult to identify whether governance affects their performance. Closed-end funds are companies with clear objectives, allowing governance effects to be revealed. We find that, for the 331 funds listed in London, returns are negatively related to expense ratios. In turn, expense ratios are higher for funds which have large boards, less outside directors and low ownership by the managers. The main conclusion is that companies with small boards and more outside directors perform better. Ownership by the managers has a mixed impact: while it leads to better control of expenses, it also reduces the market-to-book premium. Unlike most other studies, our results are largely consistent with agency theory and provide empirical support for codes of conduct on corporate governance.
Impact of Myocardial Infarct Proteins and Oscillating Pressure on the Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Effect of Acute Myocardial Infarction on Stem Cell Differentiation

Stem cell transplantation in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has emerged as a promising therapeutic option. We evaluated the impact of AMI on mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) differentiation into cardiomyocyte lineage. Cord blood‐derived human MSCs were exposed to in vitro conditions simulating in vivo environments of the beating heart with acute ischemia, as follows: (a) myocardial proteins or serum obtained from sham‐operated rats, and (b) myocardial proteins or serum from AMI rats, with or without application of oscillating pressure. Expression of cardiac‐specific markers on MSCs was greatly induced by the infarcted myocardial proteins, compared with the normal proteins. It was also induced by application of oscillating pressure to MSCs. Treatment of MSCs with infarcted myocardial proteins and oscillating pressure greatly augmented expression of cardiac‐specific genes. Such expression was blocked by inhibitor of transforming growth factor β1 (TGF‐β1) or bone morphogenetic protein‐2 (BMP‐2). In vitro cellular and electrophysiologic experiments showed that these differentiated MSCs expressing cardiomyocyte‐specific markers were able to make a coupling with cardiomyocytes but not to selfbeat. The pathophysiologic significance of in vitro results was confirmed using the rat AMI model. The protein amount of TGF‐β1 and BMP‐2 in myocardium of AMI was significantly higher than that in normal myocardium. When MSCs were transplanted to the heart and analyzed 8 weeks later, they expressed cardiomyocyte‐specific markers, leading to improved cardiac function. These in vitro and in vivo results suggest that infarct‐related biological and physical factors in AMI induce commitment of MSCs to cardiomyocyte‐like cells through TGF‐β/BMP‐2 pathways.
Women, work and wine

Aims There are many grey zones between work and leisure time, where colleagues drink together. Managers are more often involved in grey-zone situations than other employees, and the managerial arena is dominated by men. What is the significance of female managers’ visibility in their understanding of their own consumption of alcohol? What leads female managersto moderate their work-related alcohol consumption? Data and Methods To capture the female managers’ perspectives, we conducted 13 in-depth interviews. The female managers represented various kinds of work within care or nursing, media or publishing, public administration and commodity trading. Results The female managers’ reflections and experiences of consuming alcohol in grey zones explain how their heightened visibility as women leads them to moderate their alcohol consumption. Three themes were especially salient: (1) need to be in control, (2) concern about stigmatisation, and (3) life stages marked with caring tasks. Conclusions The results show the importance of external factors in work-related drinking. Women's visibility is significant in relation to cultural dimensions, moderating work-related drinking even when women are managers. The women place demands upon themselves based on their own conceptions of others’ expectations of female managers.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance: The impact of the MSCI ESG Ratings on Korean Firms

This study investigates how the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) performance of a firm is associated with its financial performance in the stock market. Prior studies provide mixed evidence on the relation between CSR and financial performance. This study sheds some lights on the positive effect of CSR on firms' financial performance. Using a unique set of data on CSR performance of Korean firms provided by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MCSI), we find that firms' CSR performance is positively associated with their contemporaneous stock returns and Tobin's Q in the Korean market. This finding suggests that stock market participants value firms' CSR activities. This is the first study that provides empirical evidence on the existence of the positive association between the CSR performance of Korean firms and their financial performance using MCSI data which is considered more reliable than the data used in the prior CSR studies in Korea.
Factors Impact Business Graduates Employability: Evidence from Academicians and Employers in Kuwait

The objective of this study is to explore the importance that academicians and employers attach to factors impact business graduates employability in Kuwait. Four categories of employability factors were used in the current study covering graduates knowledge, soft skills, personal abilities and working with groups. A questionnaire that contained these factors was distributed to academicians as well as employers and they were asked to express the level of importance they assign to variables within each of these categories. The results of the analyses pointed to differences in the levels of importance academicians and employers attach to employability factors covered in the questionnaire, indicating that current programs offered by business schools in Kuwait are not responding to market needs. While employers attach high levels of importance to graduates knowledge, soft skills and personal abilities, academicians do not assign the same levels of importance to these factors. However, academicians and employers appeared to be consistent in the level of importance they attach to the working within group factor. Business schools are requested to develop their academic programs in order to respond to market's needs. This requires changes in the contents of these programs (input) together with teaching instruments in order to improve output and satisfy employers demand.
Focal-adhesion targeting links caveolin-1 to a Rac1-degradation pathway

Directional cell migration is crucially dependent on the spatiotemporal control of intracellular signalling events. These events regulate polarized actin dynamics, resulting in protrusion at the front of the cell and contraction at the rear. The actin cytoskeleton is regulated through signalling by Rho-like GTPases, such as RhoA, which stimulates myosin-based contractility, and CDC42 and Rac1, which promote actin polymerization and protrusion. Here, we show that Rac1 binds the adapter protein caveolin-1 (Cav1) and that Rac1 activity promotes Cav1 accumulation at Rac1-positive peripheral adhesions. Using Cav1-deficient mouse fibroblasts and depletion of Cav1 expression in human epithelial and endothelial cells mediated by small interfering RNA and short hairpin RNA, we show that loss of Cav1 induces an increase in Rac1 protein and its activated, GTP-bound form. Cav1 controls Rac1 protein levels by regulating ubiquitylation and degradation of activated Rac1 in an adhesion-dependent fashion. Finally, we show that Rac1 ubiquitylation is not required for effector binding, but regulates the dynamics of Rac1 at the periphery of the cell. These data extend the canonical model of Rac1 inactivation and uncover Cav1-regulated polyubiquitylation as an additional mechanism to control Rac1 signalling.
A Double-edged Sword: Procedural Justice Constrains Harmful and Beneficial Headquarters Intervention

Multi-business firms should design the task portfolio of their headquarters (HQ) and the way HQ tasks are carried out so that net value creation results. While the strategic management literature has emphasized such parenting benefits, less attention has been paid to the costs that may inadvertently be caused by HQ actions. Using a simple game theory model, we analyze the motivational costs that may result from HQ intervention in subunits. Along the lines of the procedural justice literature, we identify the conditions under which these costs may be influenced by the existence of fairness expectations among subunit managers. Our analysis of the dynamic game between HQ and subunits has novel and non-intuitive results. For example, we find that good parenting may involve forgoing opportunities for value-creation, and that procedural justice systems may sometimes be counterproductive. Our findings contribute to both the HQ and the procedural justice literatures.
How Firms Relate to Their Markets: An Empirical Examination of Contemporary Marketing Practices

The authors examine 308 firms in the United States and four other Western countries to understand how different types of firms relate to their markets. Comparative analysis shows that though there is some support for consumer and goods firms being more transactional and business and service firms being more relational, there are many exceptions. The results also show that firms can be grouped into those whose marketing practices are predominantly transactional, predominantly relational, or a transactional/relational hybrid. Each group constitutes approximately one-third of the sample and includes all types of firms (consumer goods, consumer services, business-to-business goods, and business-to-business services). This suggests that marketing practices are pluralistic and managerial practice has not shifted from transactional to relational approaches per se.
Directed expression of an oncogene to the olfactory neuronal lineage in transgenic mice

The mammalian olfactory system provides a useful model to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms governing the development of the nervous system. The olfactory neuroepithelium undergoes continual turnover in the adult animal, resulting in a neural tissue containing cells at various stages of neurogenesis. We have generated a transgenic mouse line to examine the effects of directed expression of an oncogene within the olfactory neuronal lineage. A hybrid oncogene was constructed utilizing the regulatory elements for the olfactory marker protein gene to direct the olfactory neuronal-specific expression of simian virus 40 T-antigen, a potent oncogene. The resulting transgenic mouse line expressed T-antigen only in olfactory neurons. Ten-month-old transgenic mice displayed significant hypoplasia of the neuronal elements in the olfactory neuroepithelium. The transgenic mice developed neuroblastomas of olfactory neuronal origin at a low frequency. Distinct clonal lines were derived from the primary culture of the tumor. GAP-43, a growth-associated neuronal marker, was expressed by some of the cell lines. One of the cell lines, 2.2, appeared to be responsive to neurotrophic effects from the presumptive target tissue, the olfactory bulb.
A More Realistic Valuation: APV and WACC with Constant Book Leverage Ratio

We value a company that targets its capital structure in book-value terms. This capital structure definition provides us with a valuation that lies between those of Modigliani-Miller (fixed debt) and Miles-Ezzell (fixed market-value leverage ratio). We show that if a company targets its leverage in market-value terms, it has less value than if it targets the leverage in book-value terms. We also present empirical evidence that permits us to conclude that debt is more related to the book-value of the assets than to their market-value.
Why Do Firms in Weak Institutional Environments Adopt Strong Corporate Governance? The Role of Government Regulation

This study identifies one potential benefit of mandatory investor protection laws in weak investor protection countries neglected by the extant literature: laws help reduce firms’ bonding costs to strong corporate governance. We argue that corporate insiders (outside investors) have little incentive to voluntarily supply (demand) strong corporate governance in weak legal regimes because such voluntary bonding is not a credible commitment. However, once a corporate governance provision is mandated by law, it can serve as a more credible bonding mechanism at lower costs. Hence, firms that expect to benefit more from such bonding should be more likely to comply with the corporate governance provisions in the mandatory regime. Using two different and complementary corporate governance proxies, we find supporting evidence for our hypothesis. We also find that stock market investors react positively to firms’ adoption of such mandatory corporate governance provisions.
Diagnosis and management of developmental coordination disorder

Developmental coordination disorder is a common neuromotor condition, affecting about 5%–6% of school-aged children;[1][1] this equates to more than 400 000 Canadian children. [2][2] Despite its prevalence, developmental coordination disorder may be underrecognized by health care professionals. [1][
Diagnostic pitfalls in thyroid fine‐needle aspiration: A review of 394 cases

To determine the diagnostic pitfalls of thyroid fine‐needle aspiration (FNA), we reviewed 394 thyroid aspirates obtained between January 1986 and December 1990. Surgical follow‐up was available for 150 aspirations. The cytologic diagnoses were categorized into four groups: benign, 57; indeterminate, 51; malignant, 33; and nondiagnostic specimen, nine. There were three false negative diagnoses (3%), which upon review were judged to be inadequate specimens. Three false positive diagnoses (7%) were identified: in the first two cases, follicular adenomas were mistaken for papillary carcinoma: in the third case, atypical Hürthle cells were mistaken for a Hurthle cell carcinoma. Our results showed a sensitivity of 93% and a specificity of 91% for the detection of malignancy. If indeterminate cases were considered positive, the specificity decreased to 50%, while the sensitivity increased to 97%. We conclude that: 1 certain follicular adenomas may display cytologic features mimicking papillary carcinoma; 2 as in follicular neoplasms, aspirates of Hürthle cell adenomas cannot be differentiated from Hurthle cell carcinomas; 3 with adequate sampling, false negative results can be markedly reduced.
Benchmarking Marketing Capabilities for Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Market-based organizational learning has been identified as an important source of sustainable competitive advantage. One particular learning mechanism, benchmarking, is a widely used management tool that has been recognized as appropriate for identifying and enhancing valuable marketing capabilities. However, despite widespread admonitions to managers, the benchmarking of marketing capabilities as a route to sustainable competitive advantage has received scant empirical attention. The authors empirically examine the potential business performance benefits available from benchmarking the marketing capabilities of top-performing firms. The results suggest that benchmarking has the potential to become a key learning mechanism for identifying, building, and enhancing marketing capabilities to deliver sustainable competitive advantage.
Toxicity of Commercially Available Household Cleaners on Cockroaches, Blattella germanica and Periplaneta americana

Abstract Experiments to determine the toxicity of commercially available dishwashing liquids (Palmolive®, Dawn® and Joy®) and household cleaners (409®, Fantastik®, Fantastik® Orange, Dawn® Power Dissolver, and Greased Lightning®) against cockroaches were conducted with two application techniques, spray and immersion. All brands and formulations of dishwashing liquids and cleaners tested were equally as toxic to adult German cockroaches, Blattella germanica (L.), achieving 92-100% mortality at 1% dishwashing liquid solution and 83-100% mortality with 100% cleaner solution via an immersion application. The Palmolive® dishwashing liquid LC50 was 0.54% against adult German cockroaches with a spray application and 0.56% with an immersion application. Contact sprays were not effective against adult American cockroaches, Periplaneta americana (L.). However, dishwashing liquid immersion applications resulted in a 0.24% LC50. Mortality of German cockroach nymphs compared to adults was tested by contact spray and immersion applications of Palmolive® dishwashing liquid. Mortality of nymphs and adults by immersion were equal with 94-100% nymphal mortality and 97-100% adult mortality at a 1.4% dishwashing liquid concentration. Upon immersion in the dishwashing liquid solution, German cockroaches arched their abdomen and air bubbles were observed escaping from the abdominal spiracles. Cockroaches were unable to remain at the surface of the solution and sank to the bottom of the container within 30 seconds of immersion.
The effectiveness of entrepreneurship education in Malaysia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to trace the development of entrepreneurship education in Malaysia; and to evaluate its effectiveness and limitations.Design/methodology/approach – Primary data are collected to reveal students' perceptions of the effectiveness of the entrepreneurship teaching and their knowledge about entrepreneurship.Findings – The results show that entrepreneurship education in Malaysia is not matching students' skill expectations with skill acquisition. The findings also indicate that the level of understanding on “what is entrepreneurship” is still low among the respondents selected in this paper.Research limitations/implications – The paper only concerns students' perceptions towards the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education in their respective institutions. Results from this paper are limited in terms of their ability to demonstrate “actual” outcomes of entrepreneurship education.Practical implications – The paper provides an important exploratory analysis of the state o.