Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Key determinants of the voluntary adoption of corporate internet reporting and its consequence on firm value : evidence from Egypt

Corporate Internet reporting represents one of the voluntary types which helps to achieve transparency by disseminating various types of timely information by using different presentation types and easily accessible tools. Corporate governance has become one of the most crucial issues in recent years due to the consequent scandals that have happened either in developed or developing countries. Therefore, most stakeholders demand greater transparency within the disclosed information provided by various companies. Consequently, the current study aims to contribute to the disclosure literature by examining the association between corporate Internet reporting and its main components, and corporate governance and ownership structure variables in one of the developing countries, namely Egypt, based on a comprehensive theoretical framework and explore the economic consequences of corporate Internet reporting and its main components. By using a self-construct disclosure index, the study measures corporate Internet reporting based on an un-weighted checklist that includes 100 items. Of the Egyptian listed companies, 343 are surveyed to explore the extent of corporate Internet reporting. The findings reveal that about half of the Egyptian listed companies have a website. However, the level of corporate Internet reporting is slightly low relatively to the developed countries. The results of the empirical findings demonstrate that corporate Internet reporting by Egyptian listed companies is influenced by various variables such as company size, leverage, legal form, asset in place, financial type, foreign listing, audit type, shares volatility, shares activity, shares issuance, block holder ownership, managerial ownership, governmental ownership, institutional ownership, board size and family members on the board. In addition, the study indicates that these determinants vary among the various components of corporate Internet reporting: content, presentation, timeliness and usability. Finally, the study provides empirical evidence that corporate Internet reporting has a positive impact on firm value. Such a finding demonstrates the importance of corporate Internet reporting in the Egyptian context and reveals the motivation for applying such a disclosure medium.
Multi-Timescale Memory Dynamics Extend Task Repertoire in a Reinforcement Learning Network With Attention-Gated Memory

The interplay of reinforcement learning and memory is at the core of several recent neural network models, such as the Attention-Gated MEmory Tagging (AuGMEnT) model. While successful at various animal learning tasks, we find that the AuGMEnT network is unable to cope with some hierarchical tasks, where higher-level stimuli have to be maintained over a long time, while lower-level stimuli need to be remembered and forgotten over a shorter timescale. To overcome this limitation, we introduce a hybrid AuGMEnT, with leaky (or short-timescale) and non-leaky (or long-timescale) memory units, that allows the exchange of low-level information while maintaining high-level one. We test the performance of the hybrid AuGMEnT network on two cognitive reference tasks, sequence prediction and 12AX.
Richard Schmidtke : Private Provision of a Complementary Public Good

For several years, an increasing number of firms are investing in Open Source Software (OSS). While improvements in such a nonexcludable public good cannot be appropriated, companies can benefit indirectly in a complementary proprietary segment. We study this incentive for investment in OSS. In particular we ask how (1) market entry and (2) public investments in the public good affects the firms’ production and profits. Surprisingly, we find that there exist cases where incumbents benefit from market entry. Moreover, we show the counter-intuitive result that public spending does not necessarily lead to a decreasing voluntary private contribution. JEL-classification numbers: C72, L13, L86
Global Banking and Local Markets

In the early 1990s, a widely-shared opinion among scholars and practitioners was that the importance of physical proximity between banks and borrowers would be doomed to drastically decrease over time and, put in extreme terms, the end of banking geography would become a real possibility. However, the empirical evidence show an unrelenting importance of local credit markets for small borrowers and local economic development. In the paper, we selectively review the literature on the real effects of bank consolidation and produce new evidence on the role of headquarter-to-branch functional distance on relationship lending.
Determinants of Diversification by Young, Small Firms

Young firm diversification is examined investigating the determinants of the timing of diversification (i.e. how long it takes from start-up to diversification). We use extensive longitudinal data containing information on firms’ characteristics and environmental conditions, and their evolution over time. We find that only a very small proportion of young, small firms diversify in their first years. Firms are more likely to diversify earlier if they are larger and if the minimum efficient scale in their original industry is smaller. Firms with a greater proportion of employees in managerial positions and more qualified human resources are also more likely to diversify early. Firms entering volatile markets are more likely to diversify earlier in their lives.
Would Stricter Capital Requirements Raise the Cost of Capital? Bank Capital Regulation and the Low Risk Anomaly

Capital requirements for banks must balance a number of factors, including any effects on the cost of capital and in turn the rates available to borrowers. Standard theory predicts that, in perfect and efficient capital markets, reducing banks’ leverage would reduce the risk and cost of their equity but leave the overall weighted average cost of capital unchanged. We test these two predictions empirically. We confirm that the equity of better-capitalized banks has both lower systematic risk (beta) and lower idiosyncratic risk. However, over the last 40 years in the United States, lower risk banks have higher stock returns on a risk-adjusted or even a raw basis, a pattern consistent with a stock market anomaly previously documented in other samples. A simple calibration using historical data suggests that a ten percentage-point increase in Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets would have increased the weighted average cost of capital by between 60 and 90 basis points per year. In competitive lending markets, a change of this magnitude would have doubled or tripled spreads, because bank asset betas implied an average risk premium of only 40 basis points above Treasury yields over that same period.
High sodium sensitivity and glomerular hypertension/hyperfiltration in primary aldosteronism

Objective To assess sodium sensitivity and glomerular haemodynamics in patients with primary aldosteronism. Design and methods Two-week studies were performed in six patients with primary aldosteronism whose diagnosis had been confirmed by histology of the removed adrenal adenoma. Patients were fed normal or sodium-restricted diets for 1 week each and renal clearance measured during the normal sodium diet. Pressure-natriuresis relationships were drawn by plotting the urinary sodium excretion on the y-axis as a function of the systemic mean arterial pressure on the x-axis. Results The extrapolated x-intercept of the pressure—natriuresis curve was 118 + 9 mmHg. The sodium sensitivity, which corresponds to the reciprocal of the slope, was augmented to 0.111 ± 0.013mmHg/mmol per day, and the reduction in mean arterial pressure by sodium restriction was 11 ± 2%. As we had reported previously, the difference between the mean arterial pressure (137 ± 5 mmHg) with the normal-sodium diet and the x-intercept was assumed to be the effective filtration pressure across the glomerular capillary walls (18.2 ± 2.0 mmHg). By dividing the glomerular filtration rate (128 ± 10ml/min per 1.73 m2) by the effective filtration pressure, the whole kidney ultrafiltration coefficient in these patients was estimated to be 0.127 ± 0.021 ml/s per mmHg, which was approximately normal. The glomerular capillary pressure was calculated to be 54 ± 2 mmHg. Conclusion Compared with non-sodium-sensitive essential hypertension patients (n=18) whose glomerular filtration rate and capillary hydraulic pressure were 84 ± 3 ml/min per 1.73 m2 and 47 ± 1 mmHg, the sodium sensitivity of blood pressure in patients with primary aldosteronism was augmented, and both glomerular hyper-filtration and glomerular capillary hypertension were observed. We confirmed that the glomerular haemodynamic characteristics in primary aldosteronism are typical of those expected for sodium-sensitive hypertension caused by enhanced tubular sodium reabsorption.
The cloning, expression and purification of recombinant human neuritin from Escherichia coli and the partial analysis of its neurobiological activity

Abstract Neuritin (Nrn1) is a neurotrophic factor that plays various roles in neural development and synaptic plasticity. In this study, the NRN1 gene was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli and then recombinant neuritin protein was purified so that its neurobiological activity could be evaluated. The protein, which was obtained at a concentration of 0.45 mg/ml and > 90% purity, had the predicted molecular weight of 30 kDa, as determined via sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Western blot analysis confirmed that an anti-neuritin antibody could recognize the fusion protein. Subsequent functional analyses revealed that recombinant neuritin promoted neurite outgrowth in embryonic chicken dorsal root ganglia and PC12 cells. These results suggest that recombinant neuritin protein could be a valuable tool for inducing neurite regeneration, for instance in cases of spinal cord injury or neurological diseases.
Mitochondrial dysfunction in Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease. About 2% of the population above the age of 60 is affected by the disease. The pathological hallmarks of the disease include the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and the presence of Lewy bodies that are made of α‐synuclein. Several theories have been suggested for the pathogenesis of PD, of which mitochondrial dysfunction plays a pivotal role in both sporadic and familial forms of the disease. Dysfunction of the mitochondria that is caused by bioenergetic defects, mutations in mitochondrial DNA, nuclear DNA gene mutations linked to mitochondria, and changes in dynamics of the mitochondria such fusion or fission, changes in size and morphology, alterations in trafficking or transport, altered movement of mitochondria, impairment of transcription, and the presence of mutated proteins associated with mitochondria are implicated in PD. In this review, we provide a detailed overview of the mechanisms that can cause mitochondrial dysfunction in PD. We bring to the forefront, new signaling pathways such as the retromer‐trafficking pathway and its implication in the disease and also provide a brief overview of therapeutic strategies to improve mitochondrial defects in PD.
On the Relationships Between Commercial Sexual Exploitation/Prostitution, Substance Dependency, and Delinquency in Youthful Offenders

Researchers have consistently linked commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) of youth and involvement in prostitution with substance dependency and delinquency. Yet, important questions remain regarding the directionality and mechanisms driving this association. Utilizing a sample of 114 CSE/prostituted youth participating in the Pathways to Desistance study—a longitudinal investigation of the transition from adolescence to adulthood among serious adolescent offenders—the current study examined key criminal career parameters of CSE/prostitution including age of onset and rate of recurrence. Additionally, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to explore concurrent associations and causal links between CSE/prostitution and drug involvement. Findings show a general sequential pattern of the ages of onset with substance use and selling drugs occurring prior to CSE/prostitution, evidence that a small group with chronic CSE/prostitution account for the majority of CSE/prostitution occurrences, and high rates of repeated CSE/prostitution. SEM results suggest CSE/prostituted youth persist in drug involvement from year to year but infrequently experience perpetuation of CSE/prostitution from year to year. Concurrent associations between CSE/prostitution and drug involvement were found across the length of the study. Additionally, drug involvement at one year was linked to CSE/prostitution during the subsequent year during early years of the study.
No . 1102 Regional Heterogeneity in Preferences for Environmental Regulation and the Effect of Pro-environment Voting on Toxic Emissions

In this paper, I use county-level measures of pro-environment voting from the U.S. House of Representatives as a proxy for regional heterogeneity in preferences of citizens for more or less regulation in order to estimate their effect on toxic air emissions at a local level. Even though constructing county-level voting scores from congressional district scores requires a degree of approximation in counties that lie partially in multiple districts, the fact that county lines do not change with the decennial Census allows for measures of emissions activity in specific locations over time when using panel data spanning more than ten years. The results suggest that allowing for regional heterogeneity in preferences at the county level can explain within-state variation in toxic emissions where state-level aggregates fail to identify such a relationship.
Lifestyle determinants of depressive feeling and a feeling of unhappiness among workers: a study in Japan.

BACKGROUND Lifestyle determinants of depressive state and a feeling of unhappiness in daily life were evaluated among the workers in Japan by adjusting obesity and age. METHODS A total of 3630 men aged 34 to 60 years from a workplace in Japan participated in this cross-sectional study conducted in 2006. The prevalence of depressive state and a feeling of unhappiness were evaluated by a questionnaire with questions pertaining to the age, body mass index, and six lifestyle factors. The six lifestyle factors were frequency of exercise and alcohol intake per week, smoking habit, hours of sleep per day, and frequency of eating breakfast and snack per week. The associations between depressive state and/or a feeling of unhappiness and the lifestyle factors were tested by logistic regression analysis. RESULTS The prevalence of depressive state and a feeling of unhappiness among the workers was 8.1% and 20.3%, respectively. The prevalence of workers who sleep at least for 6 hours on average, exercise regularly and eat breakfast everyday increased as the age of the workers increased. Depressive state and a feeling of unhappiness were significantly associated with age and a reduced duration of sleep even after adjustment for the other variables. No significant associations were found between the other lifestyle factors examined and depressive state and/or a feeling of unhappiness. CONCLUSIONS Depressive state and/or a feeling of unhappiness were significantly associated with a reduced duration of sleep among the workers. Aging was a preventative factor of depressive state and/or a feeling of unhappiness. The effect of obesity was adjusted in this study, but the cause-effect relation between lifestyles and depressive state and/or a feeling of unhappiness should be clarified by the follow-up study.
Determinants of Brand Equity: Offering a Model to Chocolate Industry

This study examined the underlying dimensions of brand equity in the chocolate industry. For this purpose, researchers developed a model to identify which factors are influential in building brand equity. The second purpose was to assess brand loyalty and brand images' mediating effect between brand attitude, brand personality, brand association with brand equity. The study employed structural equation modeling to investigate the causal relationships between the dimensions of brand equity and brand equity itself. It specifically measured the way in which consumers' perceptions of the dimensions of brand equity affected the overall brand equity evaluations. Data were collected from a sample of consumers of Shirin Assal brand in Iran. The results of this empirical study indicate that brand loyalty and brand image are important components of brand equity in this industry. Moreover, the role of brand loyalty and brand image as mediating factors in the intention of brand equity are supported. The principal contribution of the present research is that it provides empirical evidence of the multidimensionality of consumer based brand equity, supporting Aakers and Kellers conceptualization of brand equity. The present research also enriched brand equity building by incorporating the brand personality and brand image, as recommended by previous researchers. While earlier studies were conducted using US and Korean and Australian samples, the present study also used a sample of Iranian consumers.
The Defensive Function of Persecutory Delusions

Abnormalities of ‘social’ reasoning were investigated in patients suffering from persecutory delusions and in matched depressed and normal controls using transparent (obvious) and opaque (unobvious) tests of attributional style. Whereas depressed and normal subjects yielded similar causal inferences for both attributional measures, the deluded subjects showed a marked shift in internality, attributing negative outcomes to external causes on the transparent Attributional Style Questionnaire but, on the more opaque Pragmatic Inference Task, attributing negative outcomes to internal causes and thus showing a cognitive style resembling that of the depressed group. This finding, interpreted in terms of explicit versus implicit judgements, supports the hypothesis that delusions function as a defence against underlying feelings of low self-esteem.
Assertions in programming languages

The notion of embedding assertions in applications programs to aid in program verification and testing is not at all new; yet programming language designers seem loath to provide them, at least in useful ways. The Department of Defense language Ada is a case in point. The use of assertions is briefly reviewed, suggestions for their incorporation in languages is given, and an example of how they have been provided for the language HAL/S is shown.
A study on serum uric acid levels in type 2 diabetes mellitus and its association with cardiovascular risk factors

Introduction: The Morbidity and mortality due to non-communicable diseases specially attributed to diabetes mellitus and coronary heart disease is raising rapidly in India, causing nearly 5.8 million deaths per year annually. Considering the strong association between the levels of serum uric acid and the occurrence of coronary atherosclerosis in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus, the current study has been undertaken to assess the factors influencing the serum uric acid levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus Materials and methods: The study was an analytical cross sectional study, conducted in NRI Medical College and General Hospital, Guntur in Department of General Medicine and Department of Biochemistry, from December 2014 to November 2015. The study has included 70 cases diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes mellitus and 30 healthy controls. Hyperuricemia has been arbitrarily defined as >7.0 mg/dL in men and >6 mg/dL in women. Results: Among diabetic cases, the proportion of subjects with hyperuricemia was 11.43% and among the controls, none of the controls had hyperuricemia in study population. The mean uric acid level increased from 4.30 ± 0.77 in people with duration diabetes 2 to 4 years to 4.57±1.01 in people with duration of diabetes 5 to 8 years. Among people who had diabetes for 9 to 12 years, the mean uric acid level was 6.47 ± 1.07. The association between duration of diabetes and serum uric acid level was statistically significant. There was a strong positive association between hypertension, Hyperlipidemia and serum uric acid levels. Conclusions: Serum uric acid levels were significantly elevated in diabetic population. Elevated serum uric acid levels were significantly noted among those with dyslipidemia with high triglycerides, T. Murali Venkateswara Rao, Naga Karthik Vanukuri. A study on serum uric acid levels in type 2 diabetes mellitus and its association with cardiovascular risk factors. IAIM, 2016; 3(12): 148-155. Page 149 hypertension. Serum uric acid levels increased with increasing duration of diabetes.
Identification of Disease-specific Genes in Chronic Pancreatitis Using DNA Array Technology

ObjectiveTo use DNA arrays to analyze the differential gene expression patterns in the normal pancreas and in pancreatic diseases. Summary Background DataGenome-wide gene expression analysis will provide new insights into gene function and cause of disease. MethodsRNA was extracted from eight normal pancreatic specimens, eight specimens with chronic pancreatitis (CP), and eight pancreatic cancer (PCa) tissues. Poly A(+) RNA was purified, reverse-transcribed, and converted into cRNA using biotinylated nucleotides. The HuGeneFL DNA array containing 5,600 full-length human genes was used for analysis. ResultsFirst, normal pancreatic tissues were analyzed in comparison with a panel of other normal tissues (colon, liver, prostate, lung, lymph node). This analysis revealed 11 signature genes that were selectively expressed in the pancreas (e.g., pancreatic elastase-IIA). Comparison of the expression of 5,600 genes between the normal pancreas, CP, and PCa specimens showed that the expression of 34 genes was decreased in CP tissues compared with normal pancreatic tissues, and that the expression of all of these genes was simultaneously decreased in PCa. In addition, the expression of 157 genes was increased in CP tissues compared with the normal pancreas. Of those, 152 genes were simultaneously increased in PCa. Thus, only 5 of 5,600 genes were significantly overexpressed in CP compared with both normal pancreas and PCa. ConclusionsThe majority of alterations observed in CP are present in PCa, and the number of genes whose expression is selectively deregulated in CP is surprisingly small. These results may provide new insight into the pathobiology of CP and help identify certain molecular alterations that might serve as targets for new diagnostic tools and disease-specific therapy.