Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lean manufacturing management: the relationship between practice and firm level financial performance

Sections of primarily academic and less practical managerial significance were removed. Survey participants are referred to a separate document, " Cross Reference of Company Practice and Performance Values, " for a listing of the values calculated for their own company. ABSTRACT The relationship between lean manufacturing management practices and business financial performance is examined through the use of empirical surveys and archival accounting data from Compustat and stock return data from CRSP. A sample frame of small to medium sized discrete product and process manufacturing companies reporting participation in only one four-digit SIC was identified as the sample frame. The five-year (1998-2002) financial performance for these companies was analyzed at the operations and business levels using a median z-score comparing median firm performance with the median performance of a matched portfolio of firms. Operations measures included asset and employee productivity, gross margin ratio and two measures of aggregate cycle time. Business measures included return on equity (ROE), sales growth, and stock return. A web-based survey was used to collect data on seven lean practices including just-in-time production management, statistical process control, total productive maintenance, group technology, employee involvement, supplier communication, and customer involvement. Forty-two responding firms were classified as being either lean or non-lean based on a cluster analysis of factor scores. The results demonstrated that lean practices act as a synergistic, mutually supportive set rather than linearly additive individual practices in affecting operations financial performance. Lean classification was associated with better total and cash-to-cash cycle times, but was not related to either better or worse asset or employee productivity. Lean firms also tended to have narrower grow margins than non-lean firms. With respect to business level performance, lean firms tend to have better ROE, but no relationship was found with respect to either stock return or sales growth. Of all the lean practices tested only employee involvement demonstrated a significant relationship to business level performance. Firms with high ROE tend to have high employee involvement. A literature review topology is presented to demonstrate the need for studies combining empirical survey data and archival measures of performance. Opportunities for future research are outlined.
Proactive Financial Reporting Enforcement and Firm Value

We examine the effect of proactive public financial reporting enforcement on equity values by exploiting a quasi-experimental setting in the United Kingdom where a regulator periodically selects specific market sectors for increased scrutiny. Theoretically, it is unclear whether the benefits to shareholders of an increase in enforcement outweigh the costs. We find that an approximately 150% increase in the likelihood of regulator-initiated reviews of financial reports on average (at the median) reduces equity values by 2.0% (1.7%). Reductions in equity values are greater for firms listed on the self-regulated AIM market and for firms with large outside blockholders, suggesting private contracting can effectively mitigate frictions without regulatory interference. Further evidence suggests that the permanent increases in compliance costs and myopic investment arising from increased enforcement contribute to the observed declines in equity values.
Static and ELF magnetic fields induce tumor growth inhibition and apoptosis

The ability of static and extremely low frequency (ELF) Magnetic Fields (MF) to interfere with neoplastic cell function has been evaluated. In vitro experiments were carried out to study the role of MF characteristics (intensity, frequency, and modulation) on two transformed cell lines (WiDr human colon adenocarcinoma and MCF‐7 human breast adenocarcinoma) and one nontransformed cell line (MRC‐5 embryonal lung fibroblast). Increase in cell death morphologically consistent with apoptosis was reported exclusively in the two transformed cell lines. Cell‐death induction was observed with MF of more than 1 mT. It was independent of the MF frequency and increased when modulated MF (static with a superimposition of ELF at 50 Hz) were used. Based on the in vitro results, four different MF exposure characteristics were selected and used to treat nude mice xenografted with WiDr cells. The treatment of nude mice bearing WiDr tumors subcutaneously. with daily exposure for 70 min to MF for 4 weeks caused significant tumor growth inhibition (up to 50%) by the end of the treatment when modulated MF were used for at least 60% of the whole treatment period and the time‐averaged total MF intensity was higher than 3.59 mT. No toxic morphological changes induced by exposure were observed in renewing, slowly proliferating, or static normal cells. A discussion on the possible biophysical mechanism at the base of the observed biological results is also offered. Bioelectromagnetics 22:419–428, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Bidirectional Concentration-Dependent Effects of Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha in Shigella dysenteriae-Related Seizures

ABSTRACT We have previously demonstrated that pretreatment of mice with Shigella dysenteriae sonicate enhanced their susceptibility to pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures and that tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) was proconvulsive in this respect. The present study shows that TNF-α, at high concentrations, may also exert a suppressive effect on Shigella-mediated seizures. This implies that high levels of TNF-α may play a protective role in neurologic complications of S. dysenteriae infection.
A comparison of dual vs. triple antiplatelet therapy in patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome: results of the ELISA-2 trial.

AIMS To compare dual vs. triple antiplatelet pre-treatment in patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE ACS) who were planned for early catheterization. METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 328 consecutive patients with NSTE ACS were included and were randomized to pre-treatment with dual (n = 166, aspirin, clopidogrel 600 mg) or triple antiplatelet therapy (n = 162, aspirin, clopidogrel 300 mg, and Tirofiban). The primary endpoint was enzymatic infarct size, defined as cumulative LDH release (LDHQ(48)). Initial TIMI flow of the culprit vessel was a pre-specified secondary endpoint. Angiography was performed in 98% of patients at a median of 23 h after admission. Enzymatic infarct size (median, 25-75%) was 166 (60-349) IU/L in the triple group compared with 193 (75-466) IU/L in the dual group (P = 0.2). Initial TIMI 3 flow of the culprit vessel was significantly more often observed after triple antiplatelet therapy (67 vs. 47%, P = 0.002). At 30 days follow-up, myocardial infarction (MI) occurred in 46% of patients in the triple antiplatelet group, compared with 57% in the dual antiplatelet group, P = 0.052. No significant difference in bleeding was present. CONCLUSION This study showed that in patients with NSTE ACS, triple antiplatelet pre-treatment was associated with a non-significant reduction in enzymatic infarct size, a significantly better initial perfusion of the culprit vessel, and a trend towards a better survival without death or MI. Further, large-scale studies should be performed to find whether the beneficial trend in favour of triple antiplatelet pre-treatment can be reproduced.
Reactions of the melatonin metabolite N1‐acetyl‐5‐methoxykynuramine with carbamoyl phosphate and related compounds

Abstract: N‐[2‐(6‐methoxyquinazolin‐4‐yl)‐ethyl] acetamide (MQA) is a compound formed from the melatonin metabolite N1‐acetyl‐5‐methoxykynuramine (AMK). We followed MQA production in reaction systems containing various putative reaction partners, in the absence and presence of hydrogen peroxide and/or copper(II). Although MQA may be formally described as a condensation product of either N1‐acetyl‐N2‐formyl‐5‐methoxykynuramine (AFMK) with ammonia, or AMK with formamide, none of these combinations led to substantial quantities of MQA. However, MQA formation was observed in mixtures containing AMK, hydrogen peroxide, hydrogen carbonate and ammonia, or AMK, hydrogen peroxide, copper(II) and potentially carbamoylating agents, such as potassium cyanate or, more efficiently, carbamoyl phosphate. In the presence of hydrogen peroxide, copper(II) and carbamoyl phosphate, MQA was the major product obtained from AMK, but the omission of copper(II) mainly led to another metabolite, 3‐acetamidomethyl‐6‐methoxycinnolinone (AMMC). This was caused by nitric oxide (NO) generated under oxidative conditions from carbamoyl phosphate, as shown by an NO spin trap. MQA formation with carbamoyl phosphate was not due to the possible decomposition product, formamide. The reaction of AMK with carbamoyl phosphate under oxidative conditions, in which inorganic phosphate and water are released and which differs from the typical process of carbamoylation via isocyanate, may be considered as a new physiological route of MQA formation.
Interplay of Mg2+, ADP, and ATP in the cytosol and mitochondria: Unravelling the role of Mg2+ in cell respiration

Significance The respiration of heterotrophic cells, where most of the ATP demand is met by mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, is generally thought to be regulated either by the ATP/ADP ratio and/or energy charge or by nucleotide concentration. The way in which ADP and ATP may directly mediate respiration remains unclear, however. Furthermore, because only free nucleotides are exchanged by the mitochondrial ADP/ATP carrier, whereas MgADP is the substrate of ATP-synthase, Mg2+ compartmentation must be known. For this purpose, we performed simultaneous measurements of free and Mg-complexed nucleotides and Mg2+ in the cytosol and mitochondrial matrix using NMR-based techniques. Physiological alterations induced by Mg starvation helped unravel the key role of cytosolic and mitochondrial Mg2+ and free ADP in the regulation of cell respiration. In animal and plant cells, the ATP/ADP ratio and/or energy charge are generally considered key parameters regulating metabolism and respiration. The major alternative issue of whether the cytosolic and mitochondrial concentrations of ADP and ATP directly mediate cell respiration remains unclear, however. In addition, because only free nucleotides are exchanged by the mitochondrial ADP/ATP carrier, whereas MgADP is the substrate of ATP synthase (EC 3.6.3.14), the cytosolic and mitochondrial Mg2+ concentrations must be considered as well. Here we developed in vivo/in vitro techniques using 31P-NMR spectroscopy to simultaneously measure these key components in subcellular compartments. We show that heterotrophic sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus L.) cells incubated in various nutrient media contain low, stable cytosolic ADP and Mg2+ concentrations, unlike ATP. ADP is mainly free in the cytosol, but complexed by Mg2+ in the mitochondrial matrix, where [Mg2+] is tenfold higher. In contrast, owing to a much higher affinity for Mg2+, ATP is mostly complexed by Mg2+ in both compartments. Mg2+ starvation used to alter cytosolic and mitochondrial [Mg2+] reversibly increases free nucleotide concentration in the cytosol and matrix, enhances ADP at the expense of ATP, decreases coupled respiration, and stops cell growth. We conclude that the cytosolic ADP concentration, and not ATP, ATP/ADP ratio, or energy charge, controls the respiration of plant cells. The Mg2+ concentration, remarkably constant and low in the cytosol and tenfold higher in the matrix, mediates ADP/ATP exchange between the cytosol and matrix, [MgADP]-dependent mitochondrial ATP synthase activity, and cytosolic free ADP homeostasis.
Effects of food additives information on consumers’ risk perceptions and willingness to accept: Based on a random nth-price auction

In this study, we used a random nth-price auction to estimate consumers’ willingness to accept (WTA) when exchanging orange juice containing additives for freshly squeezed orange juice without additives. Also, we analyzed the effects of positive and negative information of orange juice additives on consumers’ risk perceptions. In summary, three basic findings are obtained. a. Negative information of orange juice additives is given a higher weight by consumers; consumers with some knowledge about additives, rather than those without knowledge about additives, have a higher WTA. b. Consumers with the information processing capacity, concern about the health of themselves and their families, and the ability to foresee the consequences of information have a deep impact on their WTA. c. The initial bid has a significant anchoring effect on consumers’ WTA. As a result, there are three effective approaches to eliminate consumer food scares. The first is to disclose information about food safety risks timely and accurately. The second is to prevent the misguidance by the media, especially the internet media. The third is to employ different communication strategies based on the differences among consumer groups.
Contralateral suppression of distortion product otoacoustic emissions: Effect of the primary frequency in Dpgrams

The amplitude of the 2f1–f2 distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) can be suppressed by presenting contralateral acoustic stimulation. To test the hypothesis that DPOAE contralateral suppression is influenced by the primary frequency in DPgrams, DPgrams were recorded at resolutions of 1, 8, and 17 pts/octave, in the absence and presence of contralateral broadband noise (BBN). Participants were 20 normal-hearing human adults. In DPgrams with higher frequency resolutions, DPOAE suppression at amplitude peaks in DPgrams (8 pts/octave: Mean = − 0.92 dB, SD = 0.71 for BBN at 60 dB SPL; 17 pts/octave: Mean = − 0.25 to −1.44 dB, SD = 0.51 to 0.86 for BBN at 40 to 70 dB SPL, respectively) was larger than the suppression at the dips in DPgrams (8 pts/octave: Mean = − 0.13 dB, SD = 1.00; 17 pts/octave: Mean = − 0.03 to −0.73 dB, SD = 0.55 to 0.91). A larger intersubject variability in DPOAE contralateral suppression was observed at the dips. The results suggest that measuring DPOAE contralateral suppression at the primary frequencies corresponding to the peaks in DPgrams with higher frequency resolutions may improve the assessment of the efferent system function.
Market and Transaction Multiples’ Accuracy in the European Equity Market

In spite of their widespread use in practice, accounting-based multiples are subject of few academic studies. This paper investigates market and transaction multiples’ accuracy in corporate equity valuation by considering a sample of listed companies which are assumed to be private and evaluated according to accounting-based multiples. Since equity valuation is particularly challenging under stressed conditions, it focuses on the core period of the recent financial crisis. Results show that transaction and market multiples perform very poorly at least during financial turmoil, i.e. under the most uncertain information condition, and those relevant firm specific adjustments are necessary. Specifically, equity valuation based on multiples entails measurement errors which tend to overestimate fundamental values and to lead to more results that are volatile.
The dark side of customer participation

Fierce competition in many industries has prompted many firms to participate in supplier development by sharing information or improving suppliers’ capabilities. However, managers are unsure about how much to participate to avoid opportunism behaviour and narrow down relationship value gap in exchanges between two firms. From an analysis of 116 matched buyersupplier dyads, this study reveals that both customer participation as information sharer (CPI) and customer participation as capability developer (CPD) have U-shaped links with relationship value gap. The results of this study provide important theoretical implications and specific managerial guidelines as to how to manage customer participation in order to balance relationship value for both customers and suppliers.
Antihypertensive Responses Elicited by Central Moxonidine in Rats: Possible Role of Nitric Oxide

In the present study, we investigated the effects of pretreatment with NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) (nitric oxide synthase inhibitor) injected intravenously (IV) on the hypotension, bradycardia, and vasodilation produced by moxonidine (α2-adrenergic/imidazoline receptor agonist) injected into the fourth brain ventricle (4th V) in rats submitted to acute hypertension that results from baroreflex blockade by bilateral injections of kynurenic acid (kyn, glutamatergic receptor antagonist) into the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) or in normotensive rats. Male Wistar rats (n=5 to 7/group) anesthetized with IV urethane (1.0 g kg−1 of body weight) and α-chloralose (60 mg kg−1 of body weight) were used. Bilateral injections of kyn (2.7 nmol 100 nL−1) into the NTS increased baseline mean arterial pressure (148±11 mm Hg, vs. control: 102±4 mm Hg) and baseline heart rate (417±11 bpm, vs. control: 379±6 bpm). Moxonidine (20 nmol μL−1) into the 4th V reduced mean arterial pressure and heart rate to similar levels in rats treated with kyn into the NTS (68±9 mm Hg and 359±7 bpm) or in control normotensive rats (66±7 mm Hg and 362±8 bpm, respectively). The pretreatment with L-NAME (25 μmol kg−1, IV) attenuated the hypotension produced by moxonidine into the 4th V in rats treated with kyn (104±6 mm Hg) or in normotensive rats (95±8 mm Hg), without changing bradycardia. Moxonidine into the 4th V also reduced renal, mesenteric, and hindquarter vascular resistances in rats treated or not with kyn into the NTS and the pretreatment with L-NAME IV reduced these effects of moxonidine. Therefore, these data indicate that nitric oxide mechanisms are involved in hypotension and mesenteric, renal, and hindquarter vasodilation induced by central moxonidine in normotensive and in acute hypertensive rats.
Pharmaceutical policy in Australia : developing methods to manage uncertainty in health technology assessment

The cost of new drugs has been increasing overtime and is a major driver of increasing costs in the health system. Economic evaluation is an important tool used by decision makers to ensure that drugs that receive public subsidy represent value for money. A key challenge for reimbursement decision making is the potential gap between the estimated cost-effectiveness at the time of funding decisions, and real-world costeffectiveness. This can arise because the decisions rely on data from a limited set of clinical studies, and because data from other sources and assumptions are required to estimate health outcomes and resource use in clinical practice. Another growing issue for decision makers is the increasing pressure to make promising new drugs available earlier, when the clinical data may not be mature or are limited in other ways. For high cost drugs, the risks to funders from making decisions under conditions of uncertainty are substantial. The aim of this thesis is to investigate and improve the methods available to decision makers to assess and manage the uncertainty regarding the health outcomes and costs of subsidising high cost drugs. In particular the thesis explores the following questions:
Utility of hypertonic histamine challenge in distinguishing difficult‐to‐diagnose asthma

Introduction: Although classical asthma is associated with airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), this condition is also present in many cardiopulmonary disorders undermining the rational basis of its measurement in the differential diagnosis of asthma. We have recently introduced a new method to investigate AHR, the hypertonic histamine challenge (HHC).
Clinical Use of Triiodothyronine in Suppressing Thyrotrophin Secretion by the Anterior Pituitary: A Survey

Knowledge of the pituitary thyroid relation was developed shortly after the pioneer experiments with hypophysectomy in the rat by the pharyngeal approach (Smith 1927). Removal of the pituitary without injury to the brain established both the trophic role of the anterior lobe over the thyroid as well as over the other endocrine glands and the reciprocal relationship between the pituitary and its target organs. Although the hypothalamus appeared to be eliminated from consideration, the possibility has been reintroduced (Harris & Woods 1958) that this area functions as a regulator of pituitary secretion. For thyrotrophin in particular, radiothyroxine was shown to have an affinity for the hypothalamus and posterior pituitary (Courrier et al. 1951) and localized destruction of the antero-medial part of the third ventricle was shown to reduce thyrotrophin release to a minimum (Greer 1952). The more recent claim that thyroxine injected into the anterior hypothalamus suppresses release of thyrotrophin (Yamada et al. 1961), has also been interpreted as an action on the anterior pituitary rather than an action locally, due to the thyroxine being brought there from the site of injection by the portal circulation (Bogdanove & Crabill 1961). The following presentation omits the hypothalamic component of the pituitary-thyroid relation and stresses the author's own work. No effort has been made to document the available literature. The experimental administration of excess of the early pituitary thyrotrophin preparations revealed that intense stimulation of the thyroid was induced which subsided spontaneously after several weeks despite continuation of the injections (Collip & Anderson 1934). The serum of such refractory animals was then capable of neutralizing thyrotrophic extract when both were injected into another animal. This led to the 'antihormone' hypothesis, that a physiological
Shareholder rights: a comparative study of codes around the world

This study examines and compares the protection of shareholder rights contained in corporate governance codes in select countries around the world. Corporate governance codes are meant to provide shareholders with protection against expropriation. These codes are typically non-binding and are self regulatory in most countries with the requirement to disclose if any deviations are made. Governance codes are categorized into four distinct systems: the Anglo-Saxon system, the Germanic system, the Latin system, and the Japanese system. This study reviews and compares the codes of ten countries within the four systems identified to determine the level of protection provided to shareholders.
CROSS‐RESISTANCE FOLLOWING ARTIFICIAL SELECTION FOR INCREASED DEFENSE AGAINST PARASITOIDS IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

An increase in resistance to one natural enemy may result in no correlated change, a positive correlated change, or a negative correlated change in the ability of the host or prey to resist other natural enemies. The type of specificity is important in understanding the evolutionary response to natural enemies and was studied here in a Drosophila‐paxasitoid system. Drosophila melanogaster lines selected for increased larval resistance to the endoparasitoid wasps Asobara tabida or Leptopilina boulardi were exposed to attack by A. tabida, L. boulardi and Leptopilina heterotoma at 15°C, 20°C, and 25°C. In general, encapsulation ability increased with temperature, with the exception of the lines selected against L. boulardi, which showed the opposite trend. Lines selected against L. boulardi showed large increases in resistance against all three parasitoid species, and showed similar levels of defense against A. tabida to the lines selected against that parasitoid. In contrast, lines selected against A. tabida showed a large increase in resistance to A. tabida and generally to L. heterotoma, but displayed only a small change in their ability to survive attack by L. boulardi. Such asymmetries in correlated responses to selection for increased resistance to natural enemies may influence host‐parasitoid community structure.