Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Frequency of Board Meetings and R&D Investment Strategy: Evidence from OECD Countries

This study seeks to examine the impact of frequency of board meetings on R&D investment strategy in OECD countries. The study uses a panel data of 200 companies from Anglo American and European countries between 2010 and 2014. The ordinary least square regression is used to examine the relationships. Additionally, to alleviate the concern of potential endogeneity, we use fixed effect regression, two-stage least squares using instrumental variables. The results show that there is a negative and significant relationship between frequency of board meetings and R&D investment strategy, with a greater significance among Anglo American countries than among Continental European countries. The rationale for this is that the legal and accounting systems in the Anglo American countries have greater protection through greater emphasis on compliance and disclosure and therefore allowing for less risk-taking. Future research could investigate R&D investment strategy using different arrangement, conducting face-to-face meetings with firm’s directors and shareholders. This study extends, as well as contributes to the extant CG literature by offering new evidence on the effect of frequency of board meetings on R&D investment strategy between two different traditions. The findings will help regulators and policy makers in the OECD countries in evaluating the adequacy of the current CG reforms to prevent management misconduct and scandals.
Sedentary Behavior in People Living With HIV: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND Sedentary behavior is independently associated with an increased risk of poor mental health, developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) and premature mortality. Despite the knowledge that CVD is one of the leading causes of non-AIDS related premature mortality in people living with HIV (PLWH), relatively little attention has been attributed to sedentary behavior in this population. The aims of this meta-analysis were to (a) establish the pooled mean time spent sedentary, (b) investigate predictors of sedentary levels, and (c) explore differences with age- and gender-matched healthy controls. METHODS Two independent authors searched major databases until August 2016. A random effects meta-analysis was performed. RESULTS Across 6 unique cross-sectional studies, including 9 sedentary levels, there were 523 (292 men) PLWH (age range = 37 to 58 years). PLWH spent 533 min/day (95% CI = 466 to 599) engaging in sedentary behavior. There was a trend (P = .07) for higher levels of sedentary behavior in self-report measures (551 min, 95% CI = 543 to 560, N = 4) than in objective sedentary behavior time (505 min, 95% CI = 498 to 512, N = 3). The time PLWH spend engaging in sedentary behavior is among the highest levels reported in the literature. CONCLUSIONS Given that sedentary behavior is an independent predictor of CVD, future lifestyle interventions specifically targeting the prevention of sedentary behavior in PLWH are warranted.
A determinant of state-owned enterprises profitability with an independent board of commissioners as moderation variables

Corporate governance drives the control function so that management could manage the corporate more effective. Good corporate governance could be the factor that boosts financial management to enhance profitability. This study examines the moderated effect of the independent commissioner proportion to the interaction between liquidity, capital structure, and sales growth to profitability. This study using purposive sampling technique, there are four state-owned enterprises (SOEs) which fit the criteria. The analysis method used in this research is moderated regression analysis on panel data. The results of the study show that liquidity and the proportion of independent commissioners influence the profitability of the company. SOEs needs to reduce the allocation of funds to current assets. Optimizing the performance of the SOEs board of commissioners also needs to be improved. The supervisory function carried out by the board of commissioners will affect operational activities so that managers will be more motivated to utilize current assets for operational investment and the company's current assets can be used optimally. Increasing the proportion of independent commissioners will also increase oversight of debt so that the condition of the company's capital structure can be optimized through the reduction of debt from SOEs. JEL Classification: G31, G34 DOI : https://doi.org/10.26905/jkdp.v23i1. 2519
Does Board Diversity Influence Financial Performance?

This study extends the empirical evidence on the diversity on board and its impact to the financial performance in Indonesian context. Board diversity, as the independent variable uses three indicator variable of gender diversity, nationality diversity, and education diversity. Aside from traditional proportion measurement, Blau Index also used to measure the heterogeneity degree of each proxy of diversity in this study. This research is focused on the manufacturing companies since manufacturing industry is the largest contributor to the Indonesian GDP. The observation in this research including 525 firm-years from 105 listed manufacturing companies. The result of the study reveals that the heterogeneity in terms of nationality is beneficial for the company as it gives a positive impact to the financial performance measures, while gender and education heterogeneity is proven otherwise
Significant association between the tau gene A0/A0 genotype and Parkinson's disease

A significant association between the tau gene A0/A0 genotype and progressive supranuclear palsy has been reported recently. To determine if the presence of a tau polymorphism could constitute a risk factor for the development of sporadic and familial Parkinson’s disease, a dinucleotide repeat marker at intron 11 was genotyped in 152 patients with PD, 52 patients with Alzheimer's disease, and 150 healthy controls. We detected a significant difference in A0 allelic frequency in the Parkinson's disease group (79.27%) compared with the control group (71%) and the Alzheimer's disease group (73.07%). Individuals homozygous for the A0 allele were also detected significantly more frequently in the Parkinson's disease group (63.8%) compared with the control group (52.66%) and the Alzheimer's disease group (48.07%). These results suggest a possible involvement of the tau gene in the pathogenesis of some cases of Parkinson's disease. Ann Neurol 2000;47:242–245
ApoE &egr;4 Is Associated With Cognition, Brain Integrity, and Atrophy in HIV Over Age 60

Background:There are contradicting reports on the associations between Apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE &egr;4) and brain outcomes in HIV with some evidence that relationships may be greatest in older age groups. Methods:We assessed cognition in 76 clinically stable HIV-infected participants over age 60 and genotyped ApoE. Sixty-one of these subjects underwent structural brain magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging. Results:The median age of the participants was 64 years (range: 60–84) and the median estimated duration of HIV infection was 22 years. Apo &egr;4 carriers (n = 19) were similar to noncarriers (n = 57) in sex (95% vs. 96% male), and education (16.0 vs. 16.2 years) ApoE &egr;4 carriers demonstrated greater deficits in cognitive performance in the executive domain (P = 0.045) and had reduced fractional anisotropy and increased mean diffusivity throughout large white matter tracts within the brain compared with noncarriers. Tensor-based morphometry analyses revealed ventricular expansion and atrophy in the posterior corpus callosum, thalamus, and brainstem among HIV-infected ApoE &egr;4 carriers compared with &egr;4 noncarriers. Conclusions:In this sample of older HIV-infected individuals, having at least 1 ApoE &egr;4 allele was associated with decreased cognitive performance in the executive functioning domain, reduced brain white matter integrity, and brain atrophy. Brain atrophy was most prominent in the posterior corpus callosum, thalamus, and brainstem. This pattern of cognitive deficit, atrophy, and damage to white matter integrity was similar to that described in HIV, suggesting an exacerbation of HIV-related pathology; although emergence of other age-associated neurodegenerative disorders cannot be excluded.
Multidomain architecture of beta-glycosyl transferases: implications for mechanism of action

INDER M. SAXENA, R. MALCOLM BROWN, JR., MICHEL FEVRE, ROBERTO A. GEREMIA, AND BERNARD HENRISSAT* Department of Botany, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78713-7640; Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire Fongique, Centre de Génétique Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Université Claude Bernard, 43 Bd du 11 Novembre 1918, 69622 Villeurbanne cedex, France; and Centre de Recherches sur les Macromolécules Végétales, CNRS, BP 53, 38041 Grenoble cedex 9, France
The ergonomics of different tyres and tyre pressure during wheelchair propulsion

It is believed that the newer solid tyres on wheelchairs perform as well as pneumatic tyres along with less cost and time for maintenance. The questions are: (1) do solid tyres perform as well as pneumatic tyres and (2) what is the critical level of pneumatic tyre pressure before wheeling efficiency decreases? Part one measured the rolling resistance differences of five commonly used wheelchair tyres (three pneumatic and two solid) under four different tyre pressures (100, 75, 50 and 25 of inflation). Part two measured the oxygen consumption in 15 participants with paraplegia, during wheelchair propulsion, comparing the same four levels of tyre inflation. The solid tyres performed worse than all three pneumatic tyres even when tyres were under-inflated to 25% of tyre pressure. Two of the pneumatic tyres showed significant decreases in rolling between 100 and 50%, but there were no significant differences in rolling distance between 100 and 75% pressure. The physiological study showed that energy expenditure increased significantly at 50% of tyre-inflation. Health care facilities are finding ways to decrease cost by using solid tyres on all wheelchairs. This study shows that benefits to clients and staff using pneumatic tyres far outweigh the minimal cost in time to maintain adequate tyre inflation.
Prenatal hypoxia impairs the postnatal development of neural and functional chemoafferent pathway in rat

1 To define the effects of prenatal hypoxia on the postnatal development of the chemoafferent pathway, ventilation and metabolism, pregnant rats were exposed to normobaric hypoxia (10 % oxygen) from embryonic day 5 to embryonic day 20. Offspring were studied at 1, 3 and 9 weeks of age in three separate protocols. 2 Prenatal hypoxia decreased the dopamine content in the carotid bodies at all ages, and decreased the utilisation rate of noradrenaline in the caudal part of the A2 (A2c), A1 and A5 noradrenergic brainstem cell groups at 3 weeks after birth. At 9 weeks of age, the level of dopamine in the carotid bodies was still reduced but the utilisation rate of noradrenaline was enhanced in A1. 3 Rats from dams subjected to hypoxia during pregnancy hyperventilated until 3 weeks after birth. In these rats, the biphasic hypoxic ventilatory response was absent at 1 week and the increase in minute ventilation was amplified at 3 weeks. 4 Prenatal hypoxia disturbed the metabolism of offspring until 3 weeks after birth. A weak or absent hypometabolism in response to hypoxia was observed in these rats in contrast to control animals. 5 Prenatal hypoxia impairs the postnatal development of the chemoafferent pathway, as well as the ventilatory and metabolic responses to hypoxia. These alterations were mostly evident until 3 weeks after birth.
How to Migrate Citizens Online and Reduce Traffic on Traditional Channels Through Multichannel Management: A Case Study of Cross-Organizational Collaboration Surrounding a Mandatory Self-Service Application

E-government channels are a key to achieving economic savings from public digitization. Citizens tend to use multiple channels in a service encounter and often use e-government channels as a supplement instead of replacing traditional channels. There is a lack of knowledge regarding how government organizations apply findings from user studies to migrate citizens online while reducing traffic through traditional channels. The authors present a case study on how public authorities collaborate to create a multichannel strategy for an online application for single parents. After the multichannel strategy was implemented, there was an increase in the use of the application and a reduction in telephone calls. The authors wrote this chapter to contribute to channel choice and multichannel management literature.
Assessment of the Sanitary Conditions of Catering Establishments and Food Safety Knowledge and Practices of Food Handlers in Addis Ababa University Students’ Cafeteria

Background: Every institution which provides food for a large group of consumers has the responsibility to keep the safety and wholesomeness of food otherwise it may result outbreaks of food borne illness. The most identified contributing factors of food borne illness in mass catering establishments were cross contamination, dirty work environment and poor personal hygiene practice by food handlers. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the sanitary conditions of catering establishments and food safety knowledge and practices of food handlers in Addis Ababa University students’ cafeterias. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from January, 2014 to May, 2014. A total of 12 student catering establishments from 7 campuses were studied for sanitary condition of premises and a total of 302 food handlers were assessed for knowledge and practice statuses. For data collection questionnaires and appropriate checklists were used. Bacteriological examination was made from all catering premises following appropriate standard procedures. The data was entered by using EPI INFO version 3.5. 1 and cleaned before transferring to SPSS version 17 statistical packages which was used for data management and analysis. Results: Majority, 212(70.2%), of food handlers were females and their median age were 29. Among the 302 subjects, 197 (65.2%) of them had food hygiene training. All, 302 (100%), of food handlers were literate and 283 (93.7%) of them had adequate knowledge of food borne diseases. Twelve of premises had a clean wall and ceiling in their kitchen and dining rooms. Similarly all premises had openable window, adequate light and adequate ventilation. E. coli were not identified at all and in 1 (2.8%) of swabbed utensils S. aureus were identified. Practice scores revealed that 52.3% of food handlers had a poor food handling practice. Conclusion: This study revealed that the repair and sanitary conditions of premises were in a good condition. Nearly half of food handlers had a poor food handling practice. Provision of training and basic sanitary facilities by management is recommended
In vivo tumor suppression activity by T cell‐specific T‐bet restoration

T‐box‐containing protein expressed in T cells (T‐bet) is a master transcription factor for the development of interferon (IFN) γ‐producing T helper 1 (Th1) cells and also functions in other immune cells including natural killer (NK), cytotoxic T lymphocytes and dendritic cells. T‐bet‐deficient mice increased susceptibility to viral infection and tumor development due to the defective functions of immune cells. T‐bet is known to play a key role in NK‐mediated antimetastatic response; however, it remains to be characterized whether T‐bet is essential for in vivo tumor suppression mediated by T cells. Here, we have investigated in vivo tumor suppression effect of T‐bet‐restored T cells using T cell‐specific and inducible T‐bet transgenic mice generated in a T‐bet‐deficient background. T‐bet‐null mice increased susceptibility to tumor development, whereas induction of T cell‐specific T‐bet expression upon melanoma cell injection substantially suppressed tumor development by inducing IFNγ production in T cells and tumor cell apoptosis. Late induction of T‐bet expression in tumor‐bearing mice produced comparable amounts of IFNγ with control and significantly decreased tumor volume. In addition, increased melanoma lung metastasis in T‐bet‐deficient mice was strikingly inhibited by T‐bet restoration in T cells. Intravenous injection of activated Th1 cells, not T‐bet‐null Th1 cells, attenuated metastatic melanoma progression, in addition, restoration of T‐bet in T‐bet‐null Th1 cells certainly retrieved antimetastatic activity. These results suggest that T‐bet expression in T cells is crucial for the control of tumor development and antimetastatic activity.
Noninvasive assessment of bone health in Indian patients with chronic kidney disease

Abnormalities in mineral and bone disease are common in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Evaluation of bone health requires measurement of parameters of bone turnover, mineralization, and volume. There are no data on bone health in CKD patients from India. In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated serum biomarkers of bone turnover: Bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP) and total deoxypyridinoline (tDPD) along with parathyroid hormone, 25(OH) vitamin D, and bone mineral density (BMD) using dual absorption X-ray absorptiometry in a cohort of 74 treatment-naive patients with newly diagnosed stage 4 and 5 CKD (age 42 ± 14.5 years, 54 men) and 52 non-CKD volunteers (age 40.2 ± 9.3 years, 40 men). Compared to the controls, CKD subjects showed elevated intact PTH (iPTH), BAP, and tDPD and lower BMD. There was a strong correlation between iPTH and BAP (r = 0.88, P < 0.0001), iPTH and tDPD (r = 0.51, P < 0.0001), and BAP and tDPD (r = 0.46, P = 0.0004). The iPTH elevation was greater than twice the upper range of normal in 73% cases, and BAP was >40 U/L in 66% cases. The combination of these markers suggests high turnover bone disease in over 60% cases. The prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis was 37% and 12%, respectively. Osteoporotic subjects had higher iPTH, BAP, and tDPD, suggesting a role of high turnover in genesis of osteoporosis. Vitamin D deficiency was seen in 80%, and another 13% had insufficient levels. Vitamin D correlated inversely with BAP (r = −0.3, P = 0.009), and levels were lower in those with iPTH >300 pg/ml (P = 0.0.04). In conclusion, over 60% of newly diagnosed Indian stage 4–5 CKD patients show biochemical parameters consistent with high turnover bone disease. High turnover could contribute to the development of osteoporosis in CKD subjects. Deficiency of 25 (OH) vitamin D is widespread and seems to have a role in the genesis of renal bone disease. Studies on the effect of supplementation of native vitamin D are needed.
The Influence of Interpersonal Conflict on the Organizational Performance in Public Financial Sector of Yemen

Organizational performance has become an increasingly important issue due to its relation to the strategic goals of an organization, customer satisfaction and economic contributions. The interpersonal conflict is a critical dimension which can greatly influence performance in a competitive environment such as the financial sector. This study investigated the influence of interpersonal conflict on organizational performance in the financial sector, Yemen. The study employed a quantitative method which consists of the following steps: survey design, data collection and data analysis. A sample size comprising 120 employees were distributed in Ministry of Finance. Questionnaires were used to collect data from this sample. Data analysis (reliability, validity, correlation and factor analysis) has been carried out using SPSS. In addition, structural equation modelling (SEM) has been used for evaluation the research model. Based on the experimental results, the findings in this study revealed that the interpersonal factors (interference, disagreement and instability) significantly negatively (at 0.05 level of significance) influence organizational performance. Moreover, interdependence did not have any significant influence on organizational performance.
Monoclonal antibodies Ki‐S3 and Ki‐S5 yield new data on the ‘Ki‐67’proteins

Abstract. The monoclonal antibody (mab) Ki‐67 has been used for about 10 years, mainly in tissue sections, to monitor proliferating cells, but so far only very little is known about the proteins it recognizes. The new mabs Ki‐S3 and Ki‐S5 detect proliferating cells in frozen and paraffin‐embedded tissues. They recognize proteins with the same molecular mass as Ki‐67 in Western blot and for the first time also in immunoprecipitation experiments. With these mabs we were able to enrich and purify the Ki‐67 proteins. Protein sequencing of four peptides of the digested proteins corresponded to the cDNA‐deduced amino acid sequence already published for the Ki‐67 proteins.
Nonintrusive Load Monitoring Based on Advanced Deep Learning and Novel Signature

Monitoring electricity consumption in the home is an important way to help reduce energy usage. Nonintrusive Load Monitoring (NILM) is existing technique which helps us monitor electricity consumption effectively and costly. NILM is a promising approach to obtain estimates of the electrical power consumption of individual appliances from aggregate measurements of voltage and/or current in the distribution system. Among the previous studies, Hidden Markov Model (HMM) based models have been studied very much. However, increasing appliances, multistate of appliances, and similar power consumption of appliances are three big issues in NILM recently. In this paper, we address these problems through providing our contributions as follows. First, we proposed state-of-the-art energy disaggregation based on Long Short-Term Memory Recurrent Neural Network (LSTM-RNN) model and additional advanced deep learning. Second, we proposed a novel signature to improve classification performance of the proposed model in multistate appliance case. We applied the proposed model on two datasets such as UK-DALE and REDD. Via our experimental results, we have confirmed that our model outperforms the advanced model. Thus, we show that our combination between advanced deep learning and novel signature can be a robust solution to overcome NILM's issues and improve the performance of load identification.
Are merging black holes born from stellar collapse or previous mergers

Advanced LIGO detectors at Hanford and Livingston made two confirmed and one marginal detection of binary black holes during their first observing run. The first event, GW150914, was from the merger of two black holes much heavier that those whose masses have been estimated so far, indicating a formation scenario that might differ from “ordinary” stellar evolution. One possibility is that these heavy black holes resulted from a previous merger. When the progenitors of a black hole binary merger result from previous mergers, they should (on average) merge later, be more massive, and have spin magnitudes clustered around a dimensionless spin ∼ 0.7. Here we ask the following question: can gravitational-wave observations determine whether merging black holes were born from the collapse of massive stars (“first generation”), rather than being the end product of earlier mergers (“second generation”)? We construct simple, observationally motivated populations of black hole binaries, and we use Bayesian model selection to show that measurements of the masses, luminosity distance (or redshift), and “effective spin” of black hole binaries can indeed distinguish between these different formation scenarios.