Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of Working Capital Management Policy and Financial Leverage on Financial Performance: Empirical Evidence from Amman Stock Exchange – Listed Companies

This paper aims to determine the impact of working capital management policy and financial leverage on financial performance of Jordanian companies measured in terms of net income, return on equity (ROE) and return on asset (ROA). Pearson’s rank correlation test, ANOVA F- test, and multiple regression analysis were used on 45 companies included in the industrial sector in Jordan ranked in terms of gross revenues. Results of the study indicated that firm’s working capital management policy, financial leverage, and firm size have significant relation to net income. However working capital management policy has no significant impact on return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA).
Ownership Changes and Harvesting Patterns Associated with the Forest Products Industry in West-Central Alabama from 1984 to 2014

Since the beginning of the 1980s, vertically integrated forest products companies have divested their forestland with much of the new ownership being real estate investment trusts (REITs) and timberland investment management organizations (TIMOs). These new landowners and their associated behavior of intensive timber management and higher and better use conversion has given rise to issues such as land-use change, fragmentation, and conservation. To better gauge harvesting patterns and ownership changes associated with the divestment of forestland by forest industry and the arrival of TIMOs and REITs on the forested landscape, eleven Landsat scenes were used to detect harvest activity within the Alabama counties of Bibb, Hale, Pickens, and Tuscaloosa from 1984 to 2014. Detected harvesting activity was paired with county parcel data and then classified based on landowner type: REITs, TIMOs, forest product industry, government, and non-industrial private forest (NIPF) landowners. Overall harvest trends showed a decrease in harvest rates from 1984 to 2005 with a slight increase in harvest rates after 2005. Per scene interval, acres harvested were highly variable for NIPF and relatively stable for forest industry during this time. Government ownership maintained relatively low and stable harvesting behavior throughout the study period. Acres harvested by REITs was relatively low. TIMOs showed an ever increasing rate of harvest within the study area until the last scene interval (2011-2014).
Coliform Bacteria in Sierra Nevada Wilderness Lakes and Streams: What Is the Impact of Backpackers, Pack Animals, and Cattle?

Abstract Objective. —The presence of coliform bacteria indicates a watershed risk for harboring microbes capable of causing human disease. We hypothesized that water from watersheds that have different human- or animal-use patterns would have differing risks for the presence of coliform bacteria. Methods. —Water was collected in wilderness areas of the Sierra Nevada range in California. A total of 60 sites from lakes or streams were selected to statistically differentiate the risk categories: 1) high use by backpackers, 2) high use by pack animals, 3) cattle- and sheep-grazing tracts, and 4) natural areas rarely visited by humans or domestic animals. Water was collected in sterile test tubes and Millipore coliform samplers during the summer of 2004. Water was analyzed at the university microbiology lab, where bacteria were harvested and then subjected to analysis by standardized techniques. Confirmation was performed with a Phoenix 100 bacteria analyzer. Statistical analysis to compare site categories was performed with Fisher exact test. Results. —Only 1 of 15 backpacker sites yielded coliforms. In contrast, 12 of 15 sites with heavy pack-animal traffic yielded coliforms. All 15 sites below the cattle-grazing areas grew coliforms. Differences between backpacker and cattle or pack-animal areas were significant (P ≤ .05). Only 1 of the 15 wild sites rarely visited by humans grew coliforms. All coliforms were identified as Escherichia coli. All samples grew normal aquatic bacteria of the genera Pseudomonas, Ralstonia, and Serratia and nonpathogenic strains of Yersinia. No correlation could be made with temperature or elevation. Sites below cattle-grazing tracts and pack-animal usage areas tended to have more total bacteria. Conclusions. —Alpine wilderness water below cattle-grazing tracts or areas used by pack animals are at risk for containing coliform organisms. Areas exclusively used by backpackers were nearly free of coliforms.
Physics of HIV

This review summarizes over a decade of investigations into how membrane-binding proteins from the HIV-1 virus interact with lipid membrane mimics of various HIV and host T-cell membranes. The goal of the work was to characterize at the molecular level both the elastic and structural changes that occur due to HIV protein/membrane interactions, which could lead to new drugs to thwart the HIV virus. The main technique used to study these interactions is diffuse x-ray scattering, which yields the bending modulus, KC, as well as structural parameters such as membrane thickness, area/lipid and position of HIV peptides (parts of HIV proteins) in the membrane. Our methods also yield information about lipid chain order or disorder caused by the peptides. This review focuses on three stages of the HIV-1 life cycle: (1) infection, (2) Tat membrane transport, and (3) budding. In the infection stage, our lab studied three different parts of HIV-1 gp41 (glycoprotein 41 fusion protein): (1) FP23, the N-terminal 23 amino acids that interact non-specifically with the T-cell host membrane to cause fusion of two membranes, and its trimer version, (2) cholesterol recognition amino acid consensus sequence, on the membrane proximal external region near the membrane-spanning domain, and (3) lentiviral lytic peptide 2 on the cytoplasmic C-terminal tail. For Tat transport, we used membrane mimics of the T-cell nuclear membrane as well as simpler models that varied charge and negative curvature. For membrane budding, we varied the myristoylation of the MA31 peptide as well as the negatively charged lipid. These studies show that HIV peptides with different roles in the HIV life cycle affect differently the relevant membrane mimics. In addition, the membrane lipid composition plays an important role in the peptides’ effects.
Design and evaluation of reduced marker layouts for hand motion capture

We present a method for automatically generating reduced marker layouts for marker‐based optical motion capture of human hands. The employed motion reconstruction method is based on subspace‐constrained inverse kinematics, which allows for the recovery of realistic hand movements even from sparse input data. We additionally present a user‐specific hand model calibration procedure that fits an articulated hand model to point cloud data of the user's hand. Our marker layout optimization is sensitive to the kinematic structure and the subspace representations of hand articulations utilized in the reconstruction method, in order to generate sparse marker configurations that are optimal for solving the constrained inverse kinematics problem. We propose specific quality criteria for reduced marker sets that combine numerical stability with geometric feasibility of the resulting layout. These criteria are combined in an objective function that is minimized using a specialized surface‐constrained particle swarm optimization scheme, which generates marker layouts bound to the surface of an animated hand model. Our method provides a principled way for determining reduced marker layouts based on subspace representations of hand articulations. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our motion reconstruction and model calibration methods in a thorough evaluation.
Opioid-free anesthesia: what about patient comfort? A prospective, randomized, controlled trial.

BACKGROUND We investigated the effect of a pern-operative opioid-free approach on postoperative patient comfort in patients undergoing breast cancer surgery. SUBJECTS AND METHODS From September 2014 to July 2015, 66 female patients of the Belgian Oncology Institut Jules Bordet were recruited. They were randomized into two groups: the first group received anesthesia with opioids for their breast cancer surgery, and the second group received opioid-free anesthesia. Patient comfort was evaluated 24 hours postoperatively through the QoR-40 score, with a difference of 15 points considered as being clinically relevant. Postoperative analgesia was provided through a piritramide patient-controlled analgesia device, during the first 24 hours. The hypothesis of this study was that opioid-free anesthesia would improve quality of recovery after anesthesia. RESULTS A statistically significant difference in postoperative QoR-40 score was observed between groups [Mean (SD) QoR-40 of 182.1/200 (13.9) in the opioid-free group, and 175.6/200 (14.80) in the opioid group; P = 0.04]. The clinical relevance of this finding is questionable, insofar as the difference of 15 points was not met. A statistically significant difference in postoperative piritramide usage was observed (8.1 (6.6) in the opioid-free group, and 13.1 (9.4) in the opioid group; P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS This randomized controlled trial shows, for the first time, equal comfort during the immediate postoperative period in patients having received opioid-free and conventional anesthesia for their breast cancer surgery. Opioid-free anesthesia in this indication appears safe, and may be associated with slightly reduced pain during the first 24 postoperative hours.
RESEARCH Immunometabolic Cross-Talk and Regulation of Endocrine and Metabolic Functions Transgenic overexpression of CTRP3 prevents alcohol-induced hepatic triglyceride accumulation

Transgenic overexpression of CTRP3 prevents alcohol-induced hepatic triglyceride accumulation. Am Physiol Endocrinol Metab 315: ajpendo.00050. 2018. —This study tested the ability of a novel adipose tissue derived cytokine, C1q TNF-related protein-3 (CTRP3), to prevent alcohol-induced hepatic lipid accumulation, or alcoholic fatty liver disease (ALD). Previous work has demonstrated that CTRP3 is effective at preventing high-fat diet-induced fatty liver; however, the potential of CTRP3 to inhibit ALD has not been explored. To test the potential protective effects of CTRP3, transgenic mice overexpressing CTRP3 (Tg) or wild-type littermates (WT) were subjected to one of two different models of ALD. In the ﬁrst model, known as the NIAAA model, mice were fed control or alcohol-containing liquid diets (5% vol/vol) for 10 days followed by a single gavage of ethanol (5 g/kg). In the second model, the chronic model, mice were fed control or alcohol-containing diets for 6 wk with no gavage. This study found that CTRP3 reduced triglyceride accumulation in the chronic model of alcohol consumption by ~50%, whereas no reduction was observed in the NIAAA model. Further analysis of isolated primary hepatocytes from WT and Tg mice demonstrated that CTRP3 increased oxygen consumption in the presence of fatty acids, indicating that CTRP3 increases hepatic fatty acid utilization. In conclusion, this study indicates that CTRP3 attenuates hepatic triglyceride accumulation in response to long-term chronic, but not short-term, alcohol consumption.
Unemployment and personality: Are conscientiousness and agreeableness related to employability?

This paper shows that unemployment and (some) personality traits are related. Individuals with low scores in the Big Five dimensions conscientiousness and agreeableness have a higher probability of being unemployed, longer unemployment durations, and experience more status changes between employment and unemployment. Results suggest that personality is an important determinant of womenâ€™s risk of unemployment, but for men personality is more a matter of job keeping.
Seasonal interactive effects of pCO2 and irradiance on the ecophysiology of brown macroalga Fucus vesiculosus L.

ABSTRACT Stochastic upwelling of seawater in the Baltic Sea from the deep, anoxic bottoms may bring low-pH water rich in CO2 close to the surface. Such events may become more frequent with climate change and ongoing ocean acidification (OA). Photoautotrophs, such as macroalgae, which are important foundation species, have been proposed to benefit from increased carbon availability due to reduced energetic cost in carbon acquisition. However, the exact effects of CO2 fertilization may depend on the ambient light environment, as photosynthesis rates depend on available irradiance. In this experimental study, interacting effects of CO2 addition and irradiance on the habitat-forming macroalga Fucus vesiculosus were investigated during two seasons – winter and summer – in the northern Baltic Sea. Growth rates remained unaffected by CO2 or irradiance during both seasons, suggesting that direct effects of elevated CO2 on mature F. vesiculosus are small. Increases in CO2 affected algal elemental ratios by increasing carbon and decreasing nitrogen content, with resulting changes in the C:N ratio, but only in winter. In summer, chlorophyll a content increased under low irradiance. Increases in CO2 caused a decline in light-harvesting efficiency (decrease in Fv/Fm and α) under high irradiance in summer, and conversely increased α under low irradiance. High irradiance caused increases in the maximum relative electron transport rate (rETRmax) in summer, but not in winter. Differences between winter and summer indicate that F. vesiculosus responses to CO2 and irradiance are season-specific. Increases in carbon content during winter could indicate slightly positive effects of CO2 addition in the long run if the extra carbon gained may be capitalized in growth. The results of this study suggest that increases in CO2, either through upwelling or OA, may have positive effects on F. vesiculosus, but these effects are probably small.
Population fluctuation of fruit fly Anastrepha spp. (Diptera: Tephritidae) in guava (Psidium guajava L.) accesses produced in organic system

Guava (Psidium guajava L.) presented prominence among the tropical fruit. Guava exports are still unimpressive, because of the quarantine pests, among them the fruit flies. The present research had as objective to evaluate the population fluctuation of fruit flies Anastrepha spp. and the fruits infestation caused in guava accesses cultivated in organic system, and study the possible correlations between this pest and meteorological factors. To estimate population fluctuation, 20 yellow sticky traps were used. The reviews were initiated in April 2013, for 378 days. The traps were kept in the field for the entire duration of the experiment, and they were reviewed every 14 days in most cases, during replacement of traps for new ones. With the data, simple correlations were calculated between the fruit flies of the genus Anastrepha spp. , the temperature, and precipitation. Nine fruits per accession, at the stage of maturation, were taken to the laboratory and evaluated for fruit fly infestation by the longitudinal cutting of fruit. The averages were compared by the Scott-Knott test at 5% probability. The genus Anastrepha was found in greater quantity, and there is no correlation between the meteorological factors and population fluctuation of Anastrepha. Also was found some individuals of the species Ceratitis capitata. Most of the fruits of the evaluated accesses presented high infestations by fruit flies. Accesses IAC – 4 – Cica noteworthy for not presenting any infested fruit, without differing from accesses Taquaritinga Comum, both red. The accesses Torrão de Ouro, Supreme BA, L2P4, and Supreme, also showed low numbers of fruit attacked.
Caching With Time-Varying Popularity Profiles: A Learning-Theoretic Perspective

Content caching at the small-cell base stations (sBSs) in a heterogeneous wireless network is considered. A cost function is proposed that captures the backhaul link load, called the “offloading loss,” which measures the fraction of the requested files that are not available in the sBS caches. As opposed to the previous approaches that consider time-invariant and perfectly known popularity profiles, caching with non-stationary and statistically dependent popularity profiles (assumed unknown, and hence, estimated) is studied from a learning-theoretic perspective. A probably approximately correct result is derived, which presents a high probability bound on the offloading loss difference, i.e., the error between the estimated and the optimal offloading loss. The difference is a function of the Rademacher complexity, the $\beta$ −mixing coefficient, the number of time slots, and a measure of discrepancy between the estimated and true popularity profiles. A cache update algorithm is proposed, and simulation results are presented to show its superiority over periodic updates. The performance analyses for Bernoulli and Poisson request models are also presented.
Bystanding or standing by? How the number of bystanders affects the intention to intervene in cyberbullying

This study examines the bystander effect in cyberbullying. On the basis of two experiments, we test whether individuals who witness cyberbullying are less willing to intervene when the number of others who have already observed the incident is increased. In addition, we inquire how differently severe cyberbullying incidents affect bystanders’ intention to intervene. Our results show that a very severe cyberbullying incident boosts individuals’ intention to intervene, mediated by the assessment of the situation as emergency and, in turn, by an increased feeling of responsibility. However, if there is a larger number of bystanders in a cyberbullying incident, rather than just a few, participants feel less responsible to help, and thus, they are less willing to intervene.
Changes in Fatty Acid Composition of Human Milk in Response to Cold-Like Symptoms in the Lactating Mother and Infant

Infants rely on their innate immune systems to protect them from infection. Human milk (HM) contains fatty acids (FAs) and monoacylglycerols that are known to exhibit antiviral and antibacterial properties in vitro. The specific fat content of HM may potentially affect the efficacy of this antimicrobial activity. This preliminary study investigates whether the proportions of FA in HM change in response to infections, leading to cold-like symptoms in the mother or infant. Milk samples were obtained from mothers (n = 26) when they and their infants were healthy, and when mother, infant, or both suffered cold-like symptoms. The milk was hydrolysed and FA proportions were measured using gas chromatography. Fifteen FAs were recorded, of which eight were detected in sufficient quantities for statistical analysis. The proportions of capric (C10:0) and lauric acids (C12:0) in HM were significantly lower, and palmitic acid (C16:0) was higher when mothers and infants were ill compared to healthy samples. Palmitoleic (C16:1, n-7) and stearic acid (C18:0) proportions were higher in HM when the infant was unwell, but were not related to maternal health. Whilst the differences detected were small (less than 0.5%), the effects may be additive and potentially have a protective function. The value of further studies is certainly indicated.
Modeling interval-censored, clustered cow udder quarter infection times through the shared gamma frailty model

Time to infection data are often simultaneously clustered and interval-censored. The time to infection is not known exactly; it is only known to have occurred within a certain interval. Moreover, observations often occur in clusters. Consequently, the independence assumption does not hold. Here we propose an extension of the shared gamma frailty model to handle the interval censoring and clustering simultaneously. We show that the frailties can be integrated out analytically, allowing maximization of the marginal likelihood to obtain parameter estimates. We apply our method to a longitudinal study with periodic follow-up on dairy cows to investigate the effect of parameters at the cow level (e.g., parity) and also parameters that can change within the cow (e.g., front or rear udder quarter) on time to infection. Dairy cows were assessed approximately monthly for the presence of a bacterial infection at the udder-quarter level, thus generating interval-censored data. Obviously, the four udder quarters are clustered within the cow. Based on simulations, we find that ignoring the interval-censored nature of the data can lead to biased parameter estimates.
Full Financial Aid in the Ivy League: How High-Achieving, Low-Income Undergraduates Negotiate the Elite College Environment.

Currently, there are nearly a million high-achieving, low-income students in the United States. In the nation’s most selective institutions of higher education, students from low-income families have been persistently under-represented. Elite colleges, in particular, have only recently begun admitting low-income students in large numbers, a result of full need-based financial aid programs that began in the early 2000s as a way to attract a more socioeconomically diverse student body. This hermeneutic phenomenological study describes the lived experiences of these undergraduates and how they navigated a college environment historically reserved for wealthy students. Although participants initially expected to feel marginalized due to unfounded concerns of elitism, they formed friendships both within and across socioeconomic class divisions and described feeling integrated within the elite college. Participants developed self-protective narratives to compensate for their low-income backgrounds and employed strategies to make up for poor high-school preparation. Participants were grateful for the opportunity to attend an elite college and were proud and relatively forthcoming about their financial aid status because they considered it a reward for their intellectual ability.
Interleukin 2 receptor alfa gene polymorphism in type 1 Egyptian diabetics.

Background: Genetic susceptibility has a crucial role in the development of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Several genes were found to be involved; one of the most important genes is interleukin 2 receptor α (IL2RA) gene which was found to be associated with T1DM in several countries. Objective: Investigating the potential association of T1DM, its age of onset, and its complications with IL2RA receptor gene polymorphism in an Egyptian sample of type 1 diabetics. Methodology: A case control study was conducted enrolling 100 cases suffering from T1DM and 100 healthy controls of comparable age and sex. Assessment of random blood sugar, HbA1c, and genetic study of IL2RA rs706778 gene polymorphism were done for all studied subjects. Results: The AA and AG genotypes of IL2AR/CD25 rs706778 were significantly more prevalent among studied diabetics compared to controls. Furthermore, the mutant allele A was significantly more prevalent among diabetics while the G allele was significantly more prevalent among controls. Diabetics with AA genotype had significantly older onset of the disease compared to their peers with AG and GG genotypes. On the other hand, GG genotype was significantly more prevalent among diabetics with delayed puberty. Interestingly, AG genotype was significantly more prevalent among enrolled diabetics with neuropathy, retinopathy, micro albuminuria, hypertriglyceridemia, and hypercholesterolemia compared to studied diabetics without such complications. Conclusion: T1DM was significantly associated with IL2RArs706778 polymorphism in the current study, and it appears to be a risk factor for its age of onset and the development of its complications.