Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Auditing private companies: what do we know?

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the literature on what we currently know about the costs and benefits of auditing private company accounts. Our main conclusions are the following. First, there is much heterogeneity in factors driving audit demand in private companies and the value derived from the audit. Second, research provides support for improved financial reporting quality due to, and real economic benefits from, private company audits. Third, the cost–benefit analysis for private company audits is firm-specific and mandating the audit does not seem to be cost-effective and thus economically optimal for all private companies. Alternative services may better meet the needs of especially smaller private companies. Furthermore, mandating the audit is not necessarily an optimal solution since private companies with low demand for a high-quality audit are able to find an auditor that meets their requirements even under a mandatory regime. Hence, having a mandatory audit in place is no guarantee for universally high-quality audits and this seems most salient for private companies where auditors may be more prone to independence issues. We conclude by providing a number of directions for future research.
Number and location of mouse mammary tumor virus proviral DNA in mouse DNA of normal tissue and of mammary tumors

The Southern DNA filter transfer technique was used to characterize the genomic location of the mouse mammary tumor proviral DNA in different inbred strains of mice. Two of the strains (C3H and CBA) arose from a cross of a Bagg albino (BALB/c) mouse and a DBA mouse. The mouse mammary tumor virus-containing restriction enzyme DNA fragments of these strains had similar patterns, suggesting that the proviruses of these mice are in similar genomic locations. Conversely, the pattern arising from the DNA of the GR mouse, a strain genetically unrelated to the others, appeared different, suggesting that its mouse mammary tumor proviruses are located in different genomic sites. The structure of another gene, that coding for beta-globin, was also compared. The mice strains which we studied can be categorized into two classes, expressing either one or two beta-globin proteins. The macroenvironment of the beta-globin gene appeared similar among the mice strains belonging to one genetic class. Female mice of the C3H strain exogenously transmit mouse mammary tumor virus via the milk, and their offspring have a high incidence of mammary tumor occurrence. DNA isolated from individual mammary tumors taken from C3H mice or from BALB/c mice foster nursed on C3H mothers was analyzed by the DNA filter transfer technique. Additional mouse mammary tumor virus-containing fragments were found in the DNA isolated from each mammary tumor. These proviral sequences were integrated into different genomic sites in each tumor.
Differential response of normal and transformed mammary epithelial cells to combined treatment of anti-miR-21 and radiation

Abstract Purpose: MicroRNA miR-21 has emerged as a therapeutic target in the treatment of breast cancer. This study was designed to compare the responses of breast cancer cells and non-transformed breast epithelial cells to a combined regimen of miR-21 inhibition and radiation. Materials and methods: The MDA-MB-361 (breast cancer) and MCF-10A (non-transformed mammary epithelial) cell lines were used for the comparison in this in vitro study. The stable knockdown of miR-21 was performed by using lentiviral approach. The response of the cells was monitored 4, 24 and 48 h after the irradiation with 0.25 and 2.5 Gy, using sham-irradiated cells as controls. The response of the cells was established by performing various functional assays – cell viability and cell attachment, clonogenic survival, cell cycle analysis and 3D microtissue formation. Results: The knockdown of miR-21 induced significant increase in apoptosis and growth delay in MDA-MB-361 cancer cells compared to non-transformed MCF-10A cells. After combined radiation and anti-miR-21 treatment, MDA-MB-361 cells show reduced cell growth and viability what is presented in their inability to form colonies. MCF-10A cells were not as sensitive to the combined treatment and that has also been confirmed with colony forming assay. Conclusions: Cellular response to a combined treatment of anti-miR-21 and radiation is different between cancer and non-cancer cells which highly support the idea of linking miR-21 inhibitor and radiation treatment in the future therapeutic approaches for breast cancer.
Portugal: Trends, cycles, and instability in output and unemployment over 2008-2012

This article presents a trend-cycle decomposition of Portuguese Gross Domestic Product and unemployment over 2008–2012. Results show that product and labour markets were primarily marked by low frequency movements in the trend component, and less so by cyclical factors. Economic policy should therefore not neglect the structural properties of these markets, resting solely centered around standard business cycle objectives. Okun’s law—the negative correlation between the output and unemployment gaps—remained empirically relevant, but not without noteworthy trend instability. All results are based on a semi-structural model with rational expectations, tailored for a small economy integrated in a credible monetary union. (JEL: C51, E32, F45)
An economic analysis of the interactions between renewable support and other climate and energy policies

The EU climate and energy policy landscape is characterized by a combination of instruments to achieve the EU 2020 and 2030 targets. In this paper, some of the most relevant interactions between RES-E support and a wide array of other climate and energy policies including the EU ETS, the Energy Taxation Directive and the Effort Sharing Directive in the European Union are assessed. A qualitative methodology is applied considering different assessment criteria such as effectiveness and efficiency of RES-E support and support costs but also distribution of costs between different stakeholder groups. Our analysis shows that, despite a common perception that interactions lead to conflicts, this is not really the case when the discussion is broadened and considers different assessment criteria. While adding one instrument or policy to another worsens one criterion, it usually improves another. Furthermore, the results of the interactions are not only specific to the policy, but also depend on the choice of instruments and design elements.
Effect of deceleration on jet instability

A non-parallel analysis of time-oscillatory instability of conical jets reveals important features not found in prior studies. Flow deceleration significantly enhances the shear-layer instability for both swirl-free and swirling jets. In swirl-free jets, flow deceleration causes the axisymmetric instability (absent in the parallel approximation). The critical Reynolds number $\hbox{\it Re}_{a}$ for this instability is an order of magnitude smaller than the critical $\hbox{\it Re}_{a}$ predicted before for the helical instability (where $\hbox{\it Re}_{a}= rv_{a}/\nu, r$ is the distance from the jet source, $v_a$ is the jet maximum velocity at a given $r$, and $\nu$ is the viscosity). Swirl, intensifying the divergence of streamlines, induces an additional, divergent instability (which occurs even in shear-free flows). For the swirl Reynolds number $\hbox{\it Re}_s$ (circulation to viscosity ratio) exceeding 3, the critical $\hbox{\it Re}_a$ for the single-helix counter-rotating mode becomes smaller than those for axisymmetric and multi-helix modes. Since the critical $\hbox{\it Re}_s$ is less than 10 for the near-axis jets, the boundary-layer approximation (used before) is invalid, as is Long's Type II boundary-layer solution (whose stability has been extensively studied). Thus, the non-parallel character of jets strongly affects their stability. Our results, obtained in a far-field approximation allowing reduction of the linear stability problem to ordinary differential equations, are more valid for short wavelengths.
Effect of ER:YAG and diode laser irradiation on the root surface: morphological and thermal analysis.

BACKGROUND The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of Er:YAG and diode laser treatments of the root surface on intrapulpal temperature after scaling and root planing with hand instruments. METHODS Fifteen extracted single-rooted teeth were scaled and root planed with hand instruments. The teeth were divided into 3 groups of 5 each and irradiated on their buccal and lingual surfaces: group A: Er:YAG laser, 2.94 microm/100 mJ/10 Hz/30 seconds; group B: diode laser, 810 nm/1.0 W/0.05 ms/30 seconds; group C: diode laser, 810 nm/1.4 W/0.05 ms/30 seconds. The temperature was monitored by means of a type T thermocouple (copper-constantan) positioned in the pulp chamber to assess pulpal temperature during and before irradiation. Afterwards, the specimens were longitudinally sectioned, and the buccal and lingual surfaces of each root were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. RESULTS In the Er:YAG laser group, the thermal analysis revealed an average temperature of -2.2 +/- 1.5 degrees C, while in the diode laser groups, temperatures were 1.6 +/- 0.8 degrees C at 1.0 W and 3.3 +/- 1.0 degrees C at 1.4 W. Electronic micrographs revealed that there were no significant morphological changes, such as charring, melting, or fusion, in any group, although the specimens were found to be more irregular in the Er:YAG laser group. CONCLUSIONS The application of Er:YAG and diode lasers at the utilized parameters did not induce high pulpal temperatures. Root surface irregularities were more pronounced after irradiation with an Er:YAG laser than with a diode laser.
Effects of dialectical behaviour therapy-mindfulness training on emotional reactivity in borderline personality disorder: preliminary results.

UNLABELLED Emotional dysregulation has been proposed as a hallmark of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Mindfulness techniques taught in dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) appear to be effective in reducing affective symptoms and may enhance emotion regulation in BPD patients. In the present study, we assessed whether 10 weeks of DBT-mindfulness (DBT-M) training added to general psychiatric management (GPM) could improve emotion regulation in BPD patients. A total of 35 patients with BPD were included and sequentially assigned to GPM (n = 17) or GPM plus DBT-M (n = 18). Participants underwent a negative emotion induction procedure (presentation of standardized unpleasant images) both pre-intervention and post-intervention. Clinical evaluation was also performed before and after treatment. No differences were observed in emotional response at the post-treatment session. However, patients in the DBT-M group showed greater improvement in clinical symptoms. Formal mindfulness practice was positively correlated with clinical improvements and lower self-reported emotional reactivity. Our preliminary results suggest that mindfulness training reduces some psychiatric symptoms but may not have a clear effect on how patients respond to emotional stimuli in an experimental setting. KEY PRACTITIONER MESSAGE No clear effect of mindfulness training was observed on emotional response to a negative emotion induction procedure. Application of the DBT-M module jointly to GPM induced better clinical outcomes than GPM alone. Formal mindfulness practice showed a positive impact on emotion regulation and clinical improvement.
SmartPartNet: Part-Informed Person Detection for Body-Worn Smartphones

We are interested in the development of image-based person detection algorithms for wearable computing using commodity smartphones. We focus on the use of smartphones as a wearable device because it is a practical means of augmenting human sensing for applications such as navigation for the blind or assisting social interaction. We identify two unique features of developing a vision-based person detector for body-worn smartphones: (1) the detector must take into account the strong bias in the size of people in the images taken with a wearable device and (2) the detector must consider the low image quality due to dim lighting and rapid ego-motion which leads to motion blur. In order to account for the unique distribution over the visibility of body parts when using a wearable camera, we propose a part-based person detector specialized for chestmounted smartphones. We perform extensive ablative analysis on the usefulness of part information, providing several insights regarding the design of the optimal person detector across different application domains. To account for the frequent occurrence of motion blur in our target domain, we introduce a data augmentation technique to generate synthetic motion-blurred images during training. In addition to addressing the aforementioned features, the final detector must also run in real-time using only smartphone resources. We leverage recent progress in deep neural networks for mobile devices and show that our proposed person detector, SmartPartNet, obtains performance similar to state-of-the-art pedestrian detection networks, while being 3X smaller and 5X faster.
Is Fournier’s Gangrene Severity Index Useful for Predicting Outcome of Fournier’s Gangrene?

Objectives: Fournier’s gangrene (FG) is a rare but life-threatening disease. Although antibiotics and aggressive debridement have been broadly accepted as the standard treatment, the mortality rate remains high. We conducted a retrospective study to analyze the outcome and identify the risk factors and prognostic indicators. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 25 patients diagnosed with FG between July 1993 and August 2003. Data collected included age, predisposing factors, treatment modalities, length of hospital stay, surgical debridement times, and outcome. The FG severity index was used to predict outcome. Univariate analysis of the different prognostic factors was performed using t test and Fisher’s exact probability test. Results: All patients were male, 60% were diabetic, and the mean age was 55.8 years. The mean hospital stay was 20 days and the mortality rate was 32%. The mean age of 53.8 ± 18.3 (SD) years in the survival group (n = 17) was significantly lower than the 59.9 ± 10.2 years (n = 8) of the non-survival group (p < 0.05). Non-survival group patientshad lower serum hematocrit (mean 28.9, p = 0.019) and albumin (mean 1.93, p = 0.024) levels. In our series, the mean FG severity index for survivors was 4.41 ± 2.45 (range 2–9) compared to 12.75 ± 2.82 (range 9–18) for those who died (t test, p < 0.0001). Conclusion: The survival rate of younger patients with FG was higher. We agree that a FG severity index cutoff value of 9 is an excellent predictor of outcome.
Air Pollution Exposure as a Risk Factor for Cardiovascular Disease Morbidity and Mortality

There is growing evidence of an association between increasing exposure to air pollutants (both short-term and long-term exposures) and elevated risk of mortality and incidence of cardiovascular diseases in certain high-risk populations and throughout different geographic regions. The pathophysiologic mechanisms of air pollutant–induced cardiovascular morbidity and mortality are actively being studied, with autonomic system dysregulation and inflammatory pathway activation believed to be among the key culprits. Policy changes at the local and global levels are addressing the need for more stringent air pollution standards. These initiatives are projected to lower costs and improve health outcomes. In this review, we examine some major studies of the cardiovascular health impacts of air pollution.
The impact of an elementary after-school nutrition and physical activity program on children's fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity, and body mass index: Fun 5.

OBJECTIVE This study evaluated the impact of the Fun 5 program on fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity, and body mass index (BMI) percentile of overweight and obese children in Hawai'i's A+ After-School Program. METHODS Children in 4th - 6th grades (n=119, 55% female) from six randomly selected schools participated in this longitudinal study. Time 1 (T1) measures were taken October 2007 and time 2 (T2) measures April 2008. Height and weight along with a self-report survey were used to measure fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity, and BMI. RESULTS The "at risk" population, defined as fruit and vegetable intake <5 servings per day (n=30), physical activity <300 minutes per week (n=78), or Body Mass Index >85th percentile (n=48) at T1, showed a significant increase in fruit and vegetable intake, from 2.97 (± 1.16) servings per day at T1 to 5.60 (± 3.93) servings per day at T2 (P=<0.01) and physical activity, from 125.26 (± 76.03) minutes per week of physical activity at T1 to 222.18 (± 180.90) minutes per week at T2 (P=<0.01) and no change in Body Mass Index. CONCLUSION The Fun 5 program had an impact on improving fruit and vegetable intake and physical activity on the at risk population.
Differences in paired‐pulse facilitation and long‐term potentiation between dorsal and ventral CA1 regions in anesthetized rats

To clarify hippocampal regional differences in synaptic plasticity, paired‐pulse facilitation (PPF, a form of short‐term plasticity), long‐term potentiation (LTP, a form of long‐term plasticity), and their interactions were studied in the dorsal and ventral hippocampal CA1 regions of anesthetized rats. Baseline PPF and post‐LTP PPF experiments were conducted at interstimulus intervals (ISIs) of 20–320 ms. A general protocol (100 Hz, 1 s) and a stronger protocol (250‐Hz pulse series) were applied for LTP induction. PPF were observed in both regions; however, the degree was lower and the range of ISIs was narrower in the ventral region compared with the dorsal region. The degree of ventral LTP was lower than that of the dorsal LTP. The interaction between PPF and LTP was observed in both regions (PPF change correlated inversely with degree of baseline PPF). However, this was also different in each region. Dorsal PPF increased or decreased; in contrast, ventral PPF of short ISIs after LTP only decreased. These regional differences in short‐term and long‐term synaptic plasticity may explain a consequence of different afferent inputs and information processing. Hippocampus 2001;11:655–661. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Gender-Specific Physical Symptom Biology in Heart Failure

Background:There are several gender differences that may help explain the link between biology and symptoms in heart failure (HF). Objective:The aim of this study was to examine gender-specific relationships between objective measures of HF severity and physical symptoms. Methods:Detailed clinical data, including left ventricular ejection fraction and left ventricular internal end-diastolic diameter, and HF-specific physical symptoms were collected as part of a prospective cohort study. Gender interaction terms were tested in linear regression models of physical symptoms. Results:The sample (101 women and 101 men) averaged 57 years of age and most participants (60%) had class III/IV HF. Larger left ventricle size was associated with better physical symptoms for women and worse physical symptoms for men. Conclusion:Decreased ventricular compliance may result in worse physical HF symptoms for women and dilation of the ventricle may be a greater progenitor of symptoms for men with HF.
An economic analysis of spectator demand, club performance, and revenue sharing in English Premier League football

Since its creation in 1992, the Premier League has sold exclusive media rights for live football matches to broadcasters on behalf of member clubs. The collective selling method removes any price competition between the clubs, whom would otherwise compete against each other to sell rights to their matches (commonly seen in other European Leagues). A key issue with monopoly power is that the Premier League could distort the market for its product or abuse its dominant position in the market as the sole seller of the rights (contrary to Article 101 and 102 of the Treaty of the European Union). In defence, the Premier League argued that matches broadcast live on television can be considered as a substitute for watching at the stadium. A Competition Commission investigation concluded that the potential benefits of collective selling arrangements are for the redistribution of revenue to promote solidarity at all levels of football. After some amendments to the auction process, collective selling continues. Contributing to the applied industrial economics literature, this thesis examines the key arguments for using collective selling methods in the Premier League. Results from empirical economic analysis find firstly, that there is no evidence to suggest a negative impact on match day revenue from live broadcasting and the revenues from rights sales heavily outweigh such an impact. Secondly, that sharing revenue between clubs will only enhance solidarity (competitive balance) if the amount shared is much larger than at present, however, a greater uncertainty of match outcome reduces demand for spectating at the stadium whilst increasing demand for television viewing. Finally, the impact of investment in talent is far greater for weaker teams whilst participating in the Champions League and Europa League has no impact on domestic league performance. This thesis concludes that the Premier League should offer a greater number of rights to broadcast matches and should increase the amount of revenue shared (including revenues from European Competitions) in order to increase competitive balance. This would increase the number of television viewers for live football broadcasts but would likely reduce the numbers of fans spectating at the stadium.
Serum Levels of the Adipokine Fasting-induced Adipose Factor/Angiopoietin-like Protein 4 Depend on Renal Function

Fasting-induced adipose factor/angiopoietin-like protein 4 (FIAF/Angptl4) was recently introduced as a novel adipokine influencing glucose and lipid homeostasis. In the current study, we quantified circulating FIAF/Angtl4 levels in patients on chronic hemodialysis (CD) as compared to controls with a glomerular filtration rate above 50 ml/min. FIAF/Angptl4 was determined by ELISA in control (n=60) and CD (n=60) patients and correlated to clinical and biochemical measures of renal function, glucose and lipid metabolism, as well as inflammation, in both groups. Median serum FIAF/Angptl4 levels were more than 5-fold higher in CD patients (48.3 μg/l) as compared to control subjects (8.4 μg/l) (p<0.001). Furthermore, serum creatinine independently predicted FIAF/Angptl4 concentrations in multiple regression analyses in control subjects (p<0.01). In CD patients, C-reactive protein was independently and positively associated with circulating FIAF/Angptl4 (p<0.01). Taken together, we show that serum FIAF/Angptl4 levels are significantly increased in end-stage renal disease and independently associated with markers of renal function in control subjects.