Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reverse trade credit - the use of prepayments by French firms

This paper provides the first detailed empirical study on the use of prepayments by firms. Our results based on large panels of French firms support the Daripa and Nilsen (2011) production subsidy theory of prepayment, according to which customers prepay their suppliers when these would otherwise delay production and input supply. However, we also find that advance cash payments may arise as a response to corporate default risk. Our findings show that both firm characteristics (profitability, liquidity, bank funding, and size) and industry characteristics such as the type of traded goods and industry concentration measures influence the volume of prepayments.
Corporate Entrepreneurship and International Performance of Nigerian Banks

Aim/purpose – This study investigated the effect of corporate entrepreneurship (mea-sured by innovation, risk taking, proactiveness, strategic renewal and corporate venturing) on the international performance (measured by managers’ perceived measures of international business performance) of Nigerian international banks. Design/methodology/approach – Survey research design was used for the study, through the administration of structured questionnaire to management staff in strategy, foreign operations and finance departments. The study employed a census survey, in which the entire 427 management staff of strategy, foreign operation and finance departments of the ten CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) licensed international banks constituted the population and the sample (census survey). The models were estimated using ordinary least square, using STATA 14 software. Finding – The study revealed that corporate entrepreneurship elements (innovation, proactiveness, risk taking, strategic renewal and corporate venturing) all have individual and combined positive and significant effect on banks international performance at 95% confidence level. However, innovation has the most effect on Nigerian banks international performance. Research implications/limitations – The study employed managers’ perceived measures of international business performance to measure Nigerian banks international performance, which is subjective. A measure like revenue from the foreign subsidiary would have been considered but for the paucity of data. This of course can form the basis for further studies and expanded to cover the entire West Africa region. Originality/value/contribution – Studies examining the effect of corporate entrepreneurship on banks’ international performance in Africa are rare. Most Nigerian banks set-up foreign subsidiary in other Africa countries and there has been a debate on the contributions of the foreign subsidiaries to the banks’ bottom line and as well as a form of market expansion. The study expands the frontier of knowledge on Nigerian banks international performance by unbundling corporate entrepreneurship to see how each element will affect performance.
Laparoscopy‐assisted hepatectomy versus conventional (open) hepatectomy for living donors: When you know better, you do better

The conventional incision for donor hepatectomy is a right subcostal incision with a midline extension. With increased experience in both donor hepatectomy and laparoscopy, the conventional incision can be shortened to a significant extent. Laparoscopic mobilization of the liver coupled with a hand port allows the insertion of one hand inside the abdomen for control; this makes small‐incision donor hepatectomy a technically feasible alternative. We compared 26 right lobe donor hepatectomies performed with a laparoscopy‐assisted technique (the laparoscopy‐assisted donor hepatectomy group) to 24 donor hepatectomies performed with the conventional open technique (the conventional donor hepatectomy group). The donors in both groups and their recipients were followed for 6 months. Pain, discomfort related to the scar [including abdominal wall sensorineural deficits (numbness and differences in tactile and temperature sensations) and tightness around the scar], and donor quality of life (assessed with the International Quality of Life Assessment Short Form 8 scoring system) were compared between the 2 groups. In conclusion, laparoscopy‐assisted surgery can be a technically feasible alternative in experienced hands, and as with other minimally invasive surgeries, it has advantages such as significantly less pain, reduced incision‐related complications, and better donor quality of life during the early postoperative period without compromising donor safety. Liver Transpl 20:1229–1236, 2014. © 2014 AASLD.
Resiliency and socioemotional functioning in youth receiving surgery for orofacial anomalies.

OBJECTIVES Restorative interventions for cleft lip and palate involve annual evaluations, adjunct treatment, and multiple surgeries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the longitudinal impact of cleft surgery on psychosocial functioning among youth with cleft. METHODS Data were derived from a 5-year, multicenter, prospective longitudinal study of children with cleft (N = 1196). Children completed psychological inventories for self-concept, anxiety, depression, mastery, and relatedness. Multilevel mixed-effects models were used to analyze the effects of craniofacial surgery for cleft on psychosocial outcomes over time. RESULTS There were 1196 participants at baseline, of whom 258 (27.5%) received a surgical intervention prior to their 1st follow-up visit. Approximately 78% of participants had cleft lip and palate, and 22% had cleft palate only. Surgery receipt was significantly associated with lower relatedness (β = -1.48, 95% CI = -2.91, -0.05) and mastery (β = -1.32, 95% CI = -2.49, -0.15) scores, although overall scores appeared to increase over time. Surgery was not related to anxiety (β = -0.15, 95% CI = -1.08, 0.79), depression (β = 0.18, 95% CI = -0.65, 1.01), and self-concept (β = -0.84, 95% CI = -1.83, 0.15). The treatment-time interaction was not significant. Significant differences in psychosocial functioning were found across sex, race/ethnicity, and age groups. CONCLUSIONS Surgery may have negative short-term impacts on psychosocial functioning, although effects may diminish over time. Given the limited postsurgical follow-up period, long-term change in psychological well-being and the moderating effects of surgery may not be fully realized. Further follow-up of children with cleft through adulthood to explore developmental trajectories of psychosocial functioning in more detail is recommended.
Exploring the Factors Influencing the Intention to Use Self-Service Technologies: An Eastern European Perspective

Despite decades of research on self-service technology (SST), there are still only limited numbers of studies conducted in emerging markets (Ostrom et al., 2010). In order to help close this surprising gap in the literature, two studies were conducted in an emerging Eastern European country: an exploratory investigation with 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews and a quantitative survey research involving 139 respondents.The research outcomes reveal similarities, but also differences among the factors which influence SSTs usage by Eastern European and Western consumers, respectively. Antecedents such as complexity, previous experience with SSTs, perceived risk, relative advantage and technology readiness were found to be strongly related to the intention of using these devices, thus confirming previous findings. However, in contrast to previous discoveries, the attitude towards the past, individualism, masculinity, rational and experiential thinking, were found to have only weak connections with the behavioural intention. The research provides valuable theoretical contributions to the scarce literature available on SST usage in emerging markets.
Corporate Governance, Ownership and Firm Performance: A Review of Impact of Financial Globalization

Corporate governance is a natural consequence of globalization, which has led to financial globalization and globalization of municipal laws. Major changes have taken place in codification of rules regarding composition of board of directors and their duties. Disclosure norms both in final account statements and shareholding pattern have now become far more stringent in last two decades Foreign investments gradually led to adoption of corporate governance norms across the world. Relationship of firm valuation with enhanced corporate governance norms & foreign investment has been established in various studies; however relationship between corporate governance and firm performance has not been confirmed.
THE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE JOB SATISFACTION: A STUDY OF MINING COMPANIES

This study aims to analyze the effect of recognition factors of competency certification that affect job satisfaction in mining companies. The design of this study is a survey to obtain and collect primary data so that it can explain the influence between variables. This research was conducted at several mining companies in the Eastern Indonesia Region. The study population was employees of three mining companies, then sampling systematically randomized. The analysis technique used is multiple linear regression analysis to explain the influence between variables. The results showed that the variables of education, professional, industry, and self-taught recognition had a significant effect on job satisfaction. The contribution of this study explains that the recognition adopted from the recognition theory has given a large degree of influence on emotions and positive attitudes for employees. Index Terms recognition of education, profession, industry, self-taught, and job satisfaction
Curcuma as a functional food in the control of cancer and inflammation

Purpose of reviewSeveral nutritional compounds are the focus of public attention because of their potential beneficial health effects. Turmeric is a spice that comes from the root Curcuma longa. Extensive research over the past half century and especially in recent years has revealed important functions of curcumin and a timely review of clinical state-of-the-art using curcumin. Recent findingsIn-vitro and in-vivo research has shown various activities, such as anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antifungal, cytokines release, antioxidant, immunomodulatory, enhancing of the apoptotic process, and antiangiogenic properties. Curcumin also have been shown to be a mediator of chemo-resistance and radio-resistance. SummaryVarious in-vitro and in-vivo and scarce number of clinical studies on curcumin were identified. The various effects and properties of curcumin are summarized in this review, including preclinical and especially clinical studies. This review concentrates on recent knowledge and research with curcumin clinical applications, and clinical studies, focusing on studies published between 2008 and 2011 demonstrating the gap between preclinical and clinical research.
Diffusion modelling and industry dynamics in mobile telecoms data services

The market growth of content and data services in the mobile telecoms industry entails the development of complex industry networks or 'ecosystems'. This research stems from the emerging Location-Based Services (LBS) sector, which has suffered the slow-start dynamics that often belie optimistic forecasts of new technologies. An exploratory and generic industry-level model is developed using the system dynamics simulation modelling approach to explain the start-up problem. This serves as a dynamic theory for the emerging LBS industry market where service diffusion is based on the growth of the installed base of an embedded product. Supply-demand interactions occur through complementary bandwagon effects in which benefits accrue from services that complement the main product. Econometric estimation is compared with system dynamics calibration to test a range of diffusion models on historic data, revealing some evidence of bandwagon effects. The model is proposed as a generic structure for market growth in mobile data services in general and as a tentative theory to explain the phenomenon of technology 'hype' cycles. The model leads to broad policy proposals on how to alleviate the start-up problem. Launching products without attending to service quality can mean that consumers become disillusioned whereas ensuring a high quality user experience requires a collaborative and long-term view of ecosystem development. This implies that major players such as handset manufacturers or mobile operators must play a central co-ordinating role. Validation of exploratory models of emerging markets is based more in terms of plausibility and usefulness, given the lack of historic data. A validation framework in the three dimensions of model content, process and outcome provides a holistic and semi-quantitative profile of the utility of generic models. A validation profile is proposed that can be used in a formative role to clarify model purpose and aid planning in model-based interventions.
Analisis perbandingan kinerja saham syariah antara DJIMI, FSTE GIIS, KLSESI, dan JII

This research investigates whether the difference of Sharia stock screening mechanism in some countries will influence the index and stock performance. Some countries have a tight screening policy and the other countries have a loose screening policy. This research investigates 4 Sharia indices DJIMI, FTSE GIIS, KLSESI, and JII since October 2012 until September 2014. This research shows that the performance of the Sharia stock index is not affected by how tight the screening process of that index. Although KLSESI index has the tightest stock screening policy, but the performance is not different with the Sharia stock which has loosest stock screening policy which is DJMI index. When we compare the return of each index, the performance of the 4 indices shows insignificant different. The performance of JII stock which has the looser stock screening policy is also not different with the KLSESI stock performance which has the tighter stock screening policy.
Influence of Transfer Gate Design and Bias on the Radiation Hardness of Pinned Photodiode CMOS Image Sensors

The effects of Cobalt 60 gamma-ray irradiation on pinned photodiode (PPD) CMOS image sensors (CIS) are investigated by comparing the total ionizing dose (TID) response of several transfer gate (TG) and PPD designs manufactured using a 180 nm CIS process. The TID induced variations of charge transfer efficiency (CTE), pinning voltage, equilibrium full well capacity (EFWC), full well capacity (FWC) and dark current measured on the different pixel designs lead to the conclusion that only three degradation sources are responsible for all the observed radiation effects: the pre-metal dielectric (PMD) positive trapped charge, the TG sidewall spacer positive trapped charge and, with less influence, the TG channel shallow trench isolation (STI) trapped charge. The different FWC evolutions with TID presented here are in very good agreement with a recently proposed analytical model. This work also demonstrates that the peripheral STI is not responsible for the observed degradations and thus that the enclosed layout TG design does not improve the radiation hardness of PPD CIS. The results of this study also lead to the conclusion that the TG OFF voltage bias during irradiation has no influence on the radiation effects. Alternative design and process solutions to improve the radiation hardness of PPD CIS are discussed.
Complex Lipid Requirements for SNARE- and SNARE Chaperone-dependent Membrane Fusion*

Membrane fusion without lysis has been reconstituted with purified yeast vacuolar SNAREs (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptors), the SNARE chaperones Sec17p/Sec18p and the multifunctional HOPS complex, which includes a subunit of the SNARE-interactive Sec1-Munc18 family, and vacuolar lipids: phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylinositol (PI), phosphatidylserine (PS), phosphatidic acid (PA), cardiolipin (CL), ergosterol (ERG), diacylglycerol (DAG), and phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PI3P). We now report that many of these lipids are required for rapid and efficient fusion of the reconstituted SNARE proteoliposomes in the presence of SNARE chaperones. Omission of either PE, PA, or PI3P from the complete set of lipids strongly reduces fusion, and PC, PE, PA, and PI3P constitute a minimal set of lipids for fusion. PA could neither be replaced by other lipids with small headgroups such as DAG or ERG nor by the acidic lipids PS or PI. PA is needed for full association of HOPS and Sec18p with proteoliposomes having a minimal set of lipids. Strikingly, PA and PE are as essential for SNARE complex assembly as for fusion, suggesting that these lipids facilitate functional interactions among SNAREs and SNARE chaperones.
Spatio‐temporal analysis of gene expression during aging in Drosophila melanogaster

The relationship between gene expression and the regulation of longevity is poorly understood. Previous studies focusing on microarray or tissue‐specific changes in gene expression as a function of age have provided evidence that gene expression is a dynamic process which is regulated, even late in an organism's lifespan. Using the enhancer‐trap technique, a systematic analysis of the spatio‐temporal regulation of gene expression in tissues of adult Drosophila is presented. As many as 80% of enhancer traps analysed displayed (some form of) transcriptional change with age. In some cases the rate of change in expression was found to correlate with changes in longevity under various conditions, suggesting that they may be indicators of ‘physiological age’ and therefore valuable markers for dissecting the aging process. Molecular analysis of enhancer traps that showed increased activity with age was performed to identify candidate genes that may be important in the regulation of longevity; we identified changes in reporters associated with immunity, microtubule organization and muscle function.
Protein microarray - a new tool for detection of TORCH infections

We have developed and tested a method for printing protein microarrays on glass slides and using these microarrays in a comparative fluorescence assay to detect TORCH infections. We generated protein microarrays by printing antibodies to simultaneously determine infections of TORCH (toxoplasmosis-rubella-cytomegalovirus-herpes) by detecting antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii, rubella virus, cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex virus type 2 in human sera. TORCH infections, acquired during pregnancy, may result in congenital infection and serious sequelae in the neonatal period or years after birth. A prospective study was designed to detect IgM antibodies in the serum against Toxoplasma gondii, rubella virus, cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex virus type 2 in human sera. The results suggest that protein microarrays can provide a practical assay format to diagnose infection diseases in the same time in a rapid, low-cost and low-sample-volume format.
Hacking Corporate Reputations

We exploit unexpected corporate data breaches to study how firms respond to negative reputation events. Data breaches negatively affect firm profitability, value, and reputation for years following the event, but are not triggered by high or low reputations. In response, firms increase their investment in corporate social responsibility (CSR) by 0.4-0.5 standard deviations. Firms respond similarly after other negative shocks to their reputation. Our paper represents the first empirical study to link CSR investment to firm reputation building and is the first to document how firms respond to the destruction of corporate reputations.
The impact of external auditor size on the relationship between audit committee effectiveness and earnings management

This research aims to explore new evidence on the nature of the relationship between the effectiveness of audit committee and earnings management in one of the emerging economies, Jordan. In addition, it investigates how external auditor size might moderate this relationship. For this purpose, a panel data consisting of 64 industrial firms listed on Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) is used, covering the period between 2009 and 2014. An index consisting of four characteristics is developed to measure the effectiveness of audit committee, namely audit committee independence, size, meetings and financial expertise. Results show that audit committee effectiveness has a significant and negative impact on earnings management. Moreover, a positive interaction effect of external auditor size and audit committee effectiveness on earnings management is found, which is supportive of the substitute relationship between the external auditor size and effective audit committee in reducing earnings management. Policy makers and professional accounting bodies in Jordan might benefit from these results, as they show that legislative reforms can motivate firms to adopt good governance practices to mitigate earnings management. A considerable research has tested the influence of the individual characteristics of AC mechanism on managed earnings. This method has been criticized in recent studies for its inability to represent the effectiveness of AC. According to DeZoort et al. the AC effectiveness framework could improve significantly if AC characteristics are considered together. Following the same rationale, the current study examines AC characteristics (in-dependence, size, frequent meetings and financial expertise) as a com-©
Citizen Probability Assessments of the Terrorism Risk of Nuclear Energy How do the American people assess the terrorism risk in the use of nuclear energy ?

How does the American public assess risk when it comes to national security issues? This paper addresses this question by analyzing variation in citizen probability assessments of the terrorism risk of nuclear power plants. Drawing on the literature on how motivated reasoning, selective information processing, and domain-specific knowledge influence public opinion, we argue that heterogeneous issue preferences and knowledge of nuclear energy and homeland security have important explanatory power. Using original data from a unique 2009 national survey in the United States, we show that Americans are divided in their probability assessments of the terrorism risk of nuclear power plants. Consistent with our theoretical expectations, individuals who support using nuclear power to meet rising energy demands, who are generally less concerned with terrorism, or who are more knowledgeable about terrorism and nuclear security tend to provide lower assessments of the likelihood that nuclear power plants increase terrorist attacks, and vice versa. The findings have implications for the literature on public opinion, risk assessment, energy policy and planning, and homeland security.
Public or private products? The impact of cause-related marketing and product conspicuity on consumer response on social networking sites

ABSTRACT This study examined the effectiveness of cause-related marketing (CRM) and product conspicuity on social networking sites (SNSs). In addition, the moderating roles of self-monitoring were investigated. A 2 (CRM message: presence vs. absence) × 2 (Product type: conspicuous vs. inconspicuous) experimental design was employed. Results showed that CRM messages led to more favorable responses than non-CRM messages in the context of SNSs. In addition, the more conspicuous a product, the more effective a CRM message was. The moderating effect of self-monitoring was found in term of attitude toward the ad. Implications and future research were discussed.