Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Valuation of High-growth Start-up Companies: The Role of Management Accounting Systems

This paper examines the role of management accounting systems (MASs) in the valuation of highgrowth start-up companies. Start-up companies face acute problems of information asymmetry and agency conflicts between founder-manager and external investors that can lead to significant financing frictions and valuation distortions. We postulate that adoption of MASs has a positive impact on firm value as they facilitate monitoring of firms’ activities and thereby alleviate investors’ concerns of agency conflicts. MASs are also expected to mitigate information asymmetries by signaling firm value and future growth potentials to external investors. Using an international sample of venture capital investments in start-up companies, we find that MASs are value relevant. Furthermore, the valuation implication of MASs is more pronounced for larger firms and for firms operating in highly competitive environment.
Hitherto Unknown [Fe-Fe]-Hydrogenase Gene Diversity in Anaerobes and Anoxic Enrichments from a Moderately Acidic Fen

ABSTRACT Newly designed primers for [Fe-Fe]-hydrogenases indicated that (i) fermenters, acetogens, and undefined species in a fen harbor hitherto unknown hydrogenases and (ii) Clostridium- and Thermosinus-related primary fermenters, as well as secondary fermenters related to sulfate or iron reducers might be responsible for hydrogen production in the fen. Comparative analysis of [Fe-Fe]-hydrogenase and 16S rRNA gene-based phylogenies indicated the presence of homologous multiple hydrogenases per organism and inconsistencies between 16S rRNA gene- and [Fe-Fe]-hydrogenase-based phylogenies, necessitating appropriate qualification of [Fe-Fe]-hydrogenase gene data for diversity analyses.
Differences in strength and speed demands between 4v4 and 8v8 small-sided football games

ABSTRACT The aims of this study were (i) to characterise the acceleration demands of two different formats of small-sided game (SSG), i.e., 4v4 + goalkeepers (4v4 + GK) and 8v8 + goalkeepers (8v8 + GK); (ii) to analyse the correlation between performance in power-based tests and acceleration-based physical loading during the two different SSG formats and (iii) to analyse the neuromuscular-induced fatigue. Eighteen adult male footballers participated in the study (20.7 ± 1.0 years, 178 ± 5 cm and 71.4 ± 2.1 kg). Baseline measurements were obtained from countermovement jumps, 15 s repeated jumps and 5 and 15 m sprints. A total of 36 min was analysed for each SSG (4v4 + GK: two sets of 3 × 6 min, and 8v8 + GK: 2 × 18 min). Heart rate, blood lactate, perceived exertion and movement pattern (GPS) were analysed. Distances covered by very-high-intensity activities and very-high-speed running were lower in 4v4 + GK than in 8v8 + GK (effect sizes (ES) = −0.69 ± 0.67 and −1.04 ± 0.67, respectively; very likely), while accelerations and decelerations were higher in 4v4 + GK than in 8v8 + GK (ES = 1.13–1.52; almost certainly). Blood lactate concentrations were higher (ES = 1.40 ± 0.58; almost certainly) and players perceived themselves to be more tired (ES = 0.80–2.31; almost certainly) after 4v4 + GK than after 8v8 + GK. Sprint ability in 5 and 15 m tests decreased (ES = 0.87 ± 0.58 and 0.89 ± 0.58, respectively; almost certainly) only after 4v4 + GK. This SSG format appeared more demanding in relation to repetitions and fatigue development of muscle power-based actions than 8v8 + GK. It may therefore be logical to use the former type of SSG to target development of power-related football actions.
Rapid asymmetric evolution of a dual-coding tumor suppressor INK4a/ARF locus contradicts its function

INK4a/ARF tumor suppressor locus encodes two protein products, INK4a and ARF, essential for controlling tumorigenesis and mutated in more than half of human cancers. There is no resemblance between the two proteins: their coding regions are assembled by alternative splicing of two mutually exclusive 5′ exons into a constitutive one containing overlapping out-of-phase reading frames. We show that the dual-coding arrangement conflicts with the high cost of mutations within INK4a/ARF. Unexpectedly, the locus evolves rapidly and asymmetrically, with ARF accumulating the majority of amino acid replacements. Rapid evolution drives both INK4a and ARF proteins out of sync with other members of the RB and p53 tumor suppressor pathways, both of which are controlled by the locus. Yet, the asymmetric behavior may be an intrinsic property of dual-coding exons: INK4a/ARF closely mimics the evolution of 90 newly identified genes with similar dual-coding structure. Thus, the strong link between mutations in INK4a/ARF and cancer may be a direct consequence of the architecture of the locus.
On Learning Decision Heuristics

This document provides details on the random forest implementation and describes the 56 public data sets used in the empirical analysis. Random forest. We used the implementation of random forest in the R package randomForest (Liaw and Wiener, 2002). Typically, the only parameter tuned when using random forests is mtry, which specifies how many attributes should be randomly selected for consideration when splitting a branch (Hastie et al., 2009). We used 10-fold cross-validation to find the best value of mtry from the range 1, 2, . , k, where k is the number of available attributes. A second important parameter is ntree, which specifies the number of trees built. The default setting in the package (and used frequently in the literature) is 500. We repeated our experiments with ntree set to 500 and to 1,000; we did not see an observable difference. We report results with ntree set to 1,000. Random forests, in addition, have parameters that control how each individual tree is built. In the literature, these parameters are typically not tuned. We used the defaults in the package. In his original paper on random forests, Breiman (2001) recommended setting mtry to b √ kc, where k is the number of attributes. We tried this value as well. With few exceptions, the performance on individual learning curves either declined or remained the same. This result is consistent with the earlier study by Fernández-Delgado et al. (2014). We report only the results obtained when setting mtry using cross-validation. 1. Data Sets AFL Objects: 41 Australian Football League (AFL) games at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1993 and 1994. Criterion: attendance. Attributes: forecasted maximum temperature on the day of the game, total attendance at other AFL games in Melbourne and Geelong on the day of the game, total membership in the two clubs whose teams were playing, number of players in the top 50 who participated in the game, number of days since the earliest game of the season. Source: This data set was assembled by Rowan Todd and Mark McNaughton for a class project at the University of Queensland in a statistics course taught by Margaret Mackisack. The data sources were The Football Bible ’94 by Rex Hunt, The Weekend Australian, Inside Football, and Football Record. The data set is
Environmental stimulation increases survival in mice transgenic for exon 1 of the Huntington's disease gene

Mice transgenic for the first exon of the human Huntington's disease (HD) gene carrying an expanded CAG repeat expansion (R6/2 line) develop a progressive neurologic phenotype with symptoms resembling those seen in HD. The overt symptoms of R6/2 mice worsen with age, resulting in a rapid decline in health and premature death between 13 and 18 weeks of age. In this study, we characterized the onset and progression of the overt phenotype in R6/2 mice and examined factors that affect the phenotype and life expectancy of these mice. In particular, the effects of altering home cage environment, through changing feeding regimes and providing environmental stimulation, were investigated. We show that changes in feeding regimes significantly improved the general well‐being and life expectancy of R6/2 mice. Furthermore, we find that various forms of environmental stimulation, including regular behavioral testing, significantly improved the survival of R6/2 mice over and above that resulting from the enhanced feeding regime. The fact that environmental stimulation improves the health and life expectancy in R6/2 mice not only enables the mice to serve as more useful research tools, but also suggests that environmental stimulation may have a beneficial impact on the progression of HD in patients.
P5F-3 Light Diffraction by IDT-Radiated Bulk Acoustic Waves in ZX-LiNbO3

The acousto-optic diffraction by the bulk acoustic wave radiated from an interdigital transducer (IDT) at leaky surface acoustic wave resonance in ZX-LiNbO3 was studied The direction angles of interacting waves were calculated, and the measurements of time, frequency, and angular dependencies of the acousto-optic signals were performed in the range of acoustic frequencies 70-190 MHz at optical wavelength 633 nm. This approach combines benefits of planar IDT technology with the enhanced interaction length and efficiency of bulk-wave-type interaction.
Interferon beta induces interleukin‐10 expression: Relevance to multiple sclerosis

Interferon‐β decreases the relapse rate, relapse severity, progression of neurological disability, and development of new brain lesions observed with brain magnetic resonance imaging in relapsing‐remitting multiple sclerosis patients. The mechanism of action of this effect is presently unknown. This study was based on the hypothesis that immunoregulatory effects of interferon‐β may underlie its demonstrated clinical efficacy. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of interferon‐β‐1a on the expression of interleukin‐10, a cytokine that strongly inhibits cell‐mediated immune responses. Interferon‐β‐1a induced accumulation of interleukin‐10 messenger RNA and protein secretion by cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The observed in vitro effects were similar for healthy control subjects and multiple sclerosis patients. Intramuscular injections of interferon‐β‐1a increased serum levels of interleukin‐10 at 12 and 24 hours following the injection. Greater increases were induced with 12 × 106‐IU than 6 × 106‐IU injections. The effect of interferon‐β‐1a was relatively specific for interleukin‐10, as treatment with interferon‐β‐1a did not result in accumulation of transforming growth factor‐β messenger RNA. Upregulation of interleukin‐10 represents a possible mechanism of action of interferon‐β's therapeutic effect in relapsing‐remitting multiple sclerosis, and has implications for therapy of other autoimmune diseases.
Selection strength and hitchhiking around two anti-malarial resistance genes

Neutral mutations may hitchhike to high frequency when they are situated close to sites under positive selection, generating local reductions in genetic diversity. This process is thought to be an important determinant of levels of genomic variation in natural populations. The size of genome regions affected by genetic hitchhiking is expected to be dependent on the strength of selection, but there is little empirical data supporting this prediction. Here, we compare microsatellite variation around two drug resistance genes (chloroquine resistance transporter (pfcrt), chromosome 7, and dihydrofolate reductase (dhfr), chromosome 4) in malaria parasite populations exposed to strong (Thailand) or weak selection (Laos) by anti-malarial drugs. In each population, we examined the point mutations underlying resistance and length variation at 22 (chromosome 4) or 25 (chromosome 7) microsatellite markers across these chromosomes. All parasites from Thailand carried the K76T mutation in pfcrt conferring resistance to chloroquine (CQ) and 2–4 mutations in dhfr conferring resistance to pyrimethamine. By contrast, we found both wild-type and resistant alleles at both genes in Laos. There were dramatic differences in the extent of hitchhiking in the two countries. The size of genome regions affected was smaller in Laos than in Thailand. We observed significant reduction in variation relative to sensitive parasites for 34–64 kb (2–4 cM) in Laos on chromosome 4, compared with 98–137 kb (6–8 cM) in Thailand. Similarly, on chromosome 7, we observed reduced variation for 34–69 kb (2–4 cM) around pfcrt in Laos, but for 195–268 kb (11–16 cM) in Thailand. Reduction in genetic variation was also less extreme in Laos than in Thailand. Most loci were monomorphic in a 12 kb region surrounding both genes on resistant chromosomes from Thailand, whereas in Laos, even loci immediately proximal to selective sites showed some variation on resistant chromosomes. Finally, linkage disequilibrium (LD) decayed more rapidly around resistant pfcrt and dhfr alleles from Laos than from Thailand. These results demonstrate that different realizations of the same selective sweeps may vary considerably in size and shape, in a manner broadly consistent with selection history. From a practical perspective, genomic regions containing resistance genes may be most effectively located by genome-wide association in populations exposed to strong drug selection. However, the lower levels of LD surrounding resistance alleles in populations under weak selection may simplify identification of functional mutations.
Effect of octreotide on apoptosis-related proteins in rat Kupffer cells: a possible anti-tumour mechanism.

BACKGROUND Octreotide may prolong survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, through an as yet unidentified mechanism. Kupffer cells play a key role in antitumour activity. Kupffer cell apoptosis is of major importance for the maintenance of this antitumour activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS We studied the in vitro effects of octreotide in the RNA expression of apoptotic and antiapoptotic proteins in isolated rat Kupffer cells, before and after exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Apoptotic and antiapoptotic gene expression was assessed using a semi-quantitative multiplex RT-PCR measuring bax, bcl-xS, bcl-2 and bcl-xL. LICE (caspase-3) mRNA was used as a measure of apoptosis. RESULTS Unstimulated Kupffer cells exhibited increased proapoptotic gene expression in a time-dependent manner, paralleled by a similar increase of LICE. LPS stimulation decreased the expression of proapoptotic bax and bcl-xS mRNA without effecting the antiapoptotic proteins. A decrease of LICE expression became significant at 48 hours. Octreotide showed a reduction of proapoptotic proteins, accompanied by an early increase and a late reduction of antiapoptotic proteins and a net decrease of LICE expression. A combination of LPS and octreotide produced a similar effect with the exception of a late increase of LICE expression, probably caused by a late increase of bax and bcl-xS. CONCLUSION LPS and octreotide reverse the observed increased apoptosis of cultured Kupffer cells by influencing both proapoptotic and antiapoptotic proteins. Therefore, the antitumour effect of octreotide in hepatocellular carcinoma may, in part, be explained by its antiapoptotic effect on Kupffer cells.
Serum Vitamin D Level Related to Coffee Consumption in Korean Young Adults Using the 5th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Background Even young adults are highly interested in their osteological health, yet their calcium intake does not match the level of such interest. Increase in bone loss is known to be associated with higher intake of caffeine and coffee consumption among the young Korean is rising steadily. This study was conducted to reveal the relationship between coffee consumption and serum vitamin D level in Korean young adults. Methods This study analyzed potential difference in lifestyle and concentration of vitamin D in blood in relation to coffee intake frequency of 2,523 subjects on the basis of data from the 5th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Results According to the analysis, groups of males, with high income, frequent social activity followed by alcohol consumption and smoking, and high rate of dining out showed a high frequency of coffee consumption. Vitamin D concentration among the groups was 16.2±5.3 mL and 80.3% of them were considered to be vitamin D-deficient. All the groups appeared to have deficiencies compared to males who did not consume caffeine at all. Conclusions The practice of having an adequate amount of coffee is needed, and more efforts should be done to improve vitamin D intake among young adults.
Experimental Study on Reversibility of Magnetically Controlled Shape Memory Alloy

This paper reports an experiment equipment which is used as reversibility research of magnetically controlled shape memory alloy (MSMA). The vibration detection is done based on dynamic reversibility of MSMA. The results show that MSMA will induce Martensitic transformation in the magnetic field. The characteristics of rapid dynamic response, high sensitivity and reversibility are found. The material is of a bright future of application in sensors and self-sensing actuator (SSA) field.
Immunohistochemical characterization of substance P receptor (NK1R)‐expressing interneurons in the entorhinal cortex

It has been reported that application of substance P (SP) to the medial portion of the entorhinal cortex (EC) induces a powerful antiepileptic effect (Maubach et al. [ 1998 ] Neuroscience 83:1047–1062). This effect is presumably mediated via inhibitory interneurons expressing the neurokinin‐1 receptor (NK1R), but the existence of NK1R‐expressing inhibitory interneurons in the EC has not yet been reported. The present immunohistochemical study was performed in the rat to examine the existence and distribution of NK1R‐expressing neurons in the EC as well as any co‐expression of other neurotransmitters/neuromodulators known to be associated with inhibitory interneurons: γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA), parvalbumin (PARV), calretinin (CT), calbindin (CB), somatostatin (SST), and neuropeptide Y (NPY). Our results indicated that NK1R‐positive neurons were distributed rather sparsely (especially in the medial EC), primarily in layers II, V, and VI. The results of our double‐immunohistochemical staining indicated that the vast majority of NK1R‐expressing neurons also expressed GABA, SST, and NPY. In addition, CT was co‐expressed in a weakly stained subgroup of NK1R‐expressing neurons, and CB was co‐expressed very rarely in the lateral EC, but not in the medial EC. In contrast, SP‐immunopositive axons with fine varicosities were distributed diffusely throughout all layers of the EC, appearing to radiate from the angular bundle. SP may be released in a paracrine manner to activate a group of NK1R‐expressing entorhinal neurons that co‐express GABA, SST, and NPY, exerting a profound inhibitory influence on synchronized network activity in the EC. J. Comp. Neurol. 502:427–441, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The E3/19K protein of adenovirus type 2 binds to the domains of histocompatibility antigens required for CTL recognition.

The E3/19K protein of human adenovirus type 2 binds to HLA class I antigens and blocks their terminal glycosylation and cell surface expression. The nature of this interaction is non‐covalent and involves neither disulfide bridges between the two molecules nor their carbohydrates. The murine H‐2 Kd antigen associates with the E3/19K protein in a similar fashion to human HLA antigens whereas the allelic product H‐2 Kk does not. Hybrid genes between the Kd and Kk alleles were constructed and their products were expressed in embryonic kidney cells together with the E3/19K protein. This allowed us to identify the alpha 1 and alpha 2 domains as the essential structures of the histocompatibility antigens for binding the viral protein. Interestingly, these domains are also crucial for T cell recognition. The implications for the evolution of adenoviruses and their ability to cause persistent infections are discussed.
Mutations in the RB1 gene and their effects on transcription

Inactivation of both alleles of the RB1 gene during normal retinal development initiates the formation of a retinoblastoma (RB) tumor. To identify the mutations which inactivate RB1, 21 RB tumors isolated from 19 patients were analyzed with the polymerase chain reaction or an RNase protection assay or both. Mutations were identified in 13 of 21 RB tumors; in 8 tumors, the precise errors in nucleotide sequence were characterized. Each of four germ line mutations involved a small deletion or duplication, while three somatic mutations were point mutations leading to splice alterations and loss of an exon from the mature RB1 mRNA. We were unable to detect expression of the mutant allele in lymphoblasts of three bilaterally affected patients, although the mutation was present in the genomic DNA and transcripts containing the mutations were obvious in the RB tumors in the absence of a normal RB1 allele. The variations in the level of expression of mutant transcripts suggest deregulation of RB1 transcription in the absence of a functional RB1 gene product.
Real Options and Rules of Thumb in Capital Budgeting

Most firms do not make explicit use of real option techniques in evaluating investments. Nevertheless, real option considerations can be a significant component of value, and firms which approximately take them into account should outperform firms which do not. This paper asks whether the use of seemingly arbitrary investment criteria, such as hurdle rates and profitability indexes, can proxy for the use of more sophisticated real options valuation. We find that for a variety of parameters, particular hurdle-rate and profitability index rules can provide close-to-optimal investment decisions. Thus, it may be that firms using seemingly arbitrary “rules of thumb” are approximating optimal decisions. For helpful comments I thank Jonathan Berk, Michael Brennan, Debbie Lucas, Lenos Trigeorgis, and seminar participants at Northwestern University, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the conference “Real Options: Theory Meets Practice”, held at Columbia University in June 1997. Real Options and Rules of Thumb in Capital Budgeting
Lung injury following thoracic aortic occlusion: comparison of sevoflurane and propofol anaesthesia

Background: Halogenated anaesthetics have been shown to reduce ischaemia–reperfusion injuries in various organs due to pre‐ and post‐conditioning mechanisms. We compared volatile and total intravenous anaesthesia with regard to their effect on remote pulmonary injury after thoracic aortic occlusion and reperfusion.
Efficient and economical way of operating a recirculation aquaculture system in an aquaponics farm

ABSTRACT In this article, optimal control methods based on a metabolite-constrained fish growth model are applied to the operation of fish production in an aquaponic system. The system is formulated for the twin objective of fish growth and plant fertilization to maximize the benefits by optimal and efficient use of resources from aquaculture. The state equations, basically mass balances, required by the optimization algorithms are given in the form of differential equations for the number of fish in the stock, their average weight as mediated through metabolism and appetite, the water recirculation and waste treatment, hydroponic nutrient requirements and their loss functions. Six parameters, that is, water temperature, flow rate, stock density, feed ration size per fish, energy consumption rate and the quality of food (percentage of digestible proteins) are used to control the system under dynamic conditions. The time to harvest is treated as a static decision variable that is repeatedly adjusted to find the profit-maximizing solution. By modeling the complex interactions between the economic and biological systems, it is possible to obtain the most efficient decisions with respect to diet composition, feeding rates, harvesting time and nutrient releases. Some sample numerical results using data from a tilapia-tomato farm are presented and discussed.