Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Abstraction over non-local object information in aspect-oriented programming using path expression pointcuts: a case of object persistence

Aspect-oriented software development (AOSD) consists of a number of technologies that promise a better level of modularization of concerns that cannot be separated in individual modules by using conventional techniques. Aspect-oriented programming (AOP) is one of these technologies. It allows the modularization at the level of software application code. It provides programmers with means to quantify over specific points in the base application code, called join points, at which the crosscutting concern code must be triggered. The quantification is achieved by special selection constructs called pointcuts, while the triggered code that is responsible for adapting the selected join point is provided by special construct called advice. The selection and adaptation mechanisms in aspect-oriented programming depend heavily on the distinguishing properties of the join points. These properties can either be derived from the local execution context at the join point or they are considered to be non-local to the join point. Aspect-oriented systems provide a plenty of pointcut constructs that support accessing the local join point properties, while they rarely support the non-local properties. A large research effort has been achieved to extend current aspectoriented systems in order to solve the problem of non-locality. However, none of these proposals support the non-local object relationships. There are many situations where a good abstraction over nonlocal object information is needed, otherwise, the developers will be obliged to provide complex and error-prone workarounds inside advice body that conceptually do not reflect the semantics of join point selection and mix it with the semantics of join point daptation. Such recurrent situations occur when trying to modularize the object persistence concern. Object persistence, the process of storing and retrieving objects to and from the datastore, is a classical example of crosscutting concern. Orthogonal object persistence meets the obliviousness property of AOP: The base code should not be prepared upfront for persistence. This thesis addresses the shortcomings in current aspect-oriented persistence systems. It shows that the reason for such shortcomings is due to the lack of supporting non-local object information by the used aspect-oriented languages. To overcome this problem, this thesis proposes a new extension to the current pointcut languages called path expression pointcuts that operate on object graphs and make relevant object information available to the aspects. As an explicit and complete construct, a formal semantics and type system have provided. Moreover, an implementation of path expression pointcuts is discussed in the thesis along with its usage to show how the aforementioned problems are resolved.
Audit Market Concentration, Auditor Switching and Audit Fee Pricing: An Investigation of the UK Private Company Audit Market, 2005-2012

Statutory audit markets across the EU have recently been reformed, with new Regulation on the Statutory Audits of Public Interest Entities coming into force in June 2016. The Regulation imposes stricter requirements on the audits of Public Interest Entities, as originally defined in the Statutory Audit Directive 2006, with the option for Member States to designate additional entities as public interest. Thus, the exact definition of a Public Interest Entity applied varies across Member States. In the UK the definition has not been widely extended and includes listed firms, credit institutions, and insurance undertakings. Private firms in the UK are therefore currently exempt from the more stringent audit regulations. However, even based on the limited, and often mixed, evidence for the private company audit market, the decision to preclude most private companies from the definition of a Public Interest Entity, effectively excluding them from the new audit reforms, may not be appropriate. This thesis, therefore, undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the UK audit market for private companies, in addition to examining the auditing choices of private companies and the economic consequences of these choices. The UK is specifically examined because it is one of a number of countries that have chosen not to extend the scope of the definition of a Public Interest Entity beyond the one set at the EU level. The findings of this research show that, similar to the audit market for listed firms, the private company audit market in the UK is segmented with Big Four dominance among the largest firms and relatively low levels of auditor switching. As a result of this audit environment, private companies that do switch auditor are found to experience economic consequences in terms of a reduction in their credit ratings. Particularly when the reasons for a switch are unknown to investors. In addition, the thesis provides evidence to suggest that following an auditor switch, firms receive both physical and implicit discounts on their audit fees, with price recovery of these discounts over the following three years. Suggesting that low-balling is also present in this audit market, which in turn raises concerns regarding competitive pricing and levels of auditor independence. In sum, the results of the thesis provide strong support that the definition and scope of a Public Interest Entity needs revisiting both within the UK and across all EU Member States. Moreover, it reinforces the idea of extending some of the more stringent audit requirements introduced by the EU Regulation on the Statutory Audits of Public Interest Entities, to ensure that economically important private firms have sufficient oversight.
Clinical implications of cefazolin inoculum effect and β-lactamase type on methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia.

BACKGROUND Cefazolin is a common antibiotic for methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) bacteremia. Type A or C β-lactamase-producing MSSA frequently shows the cefazolin inoculum effect (CIE). However, the clinical implication of the CIE for MSSA bacteremia is obscure. METHODS MSSA bacteremic patients treated with cefazolin were included in a retrospective cohort study. The blaZ gene of the isolates was sequenced to identify the type of β-lactamase. The patients whose isolates showed a ≥4-fold increase in cefazolin, the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) at the high inoculum (∼5×10(7) CFU/ml), were assigned to the CIE-positive group and the remainder to the CIE-negative group. Treatment failure was assessed at 12 weeks after cefazolin was initiated. RESULTS A total of 113 MSSA bacteremic patients were included. Among the 113 isolates, 57.5% showed the CIE and 77.9% carried the blaZ gene; type A β-lactamase was 15.0% and type C was 40.7%. Persistent bacteremia was more common in the CIE-positive group (9% vs. 0%, p=0.04). Treatment failure rates were higher in the CIE-positive group with high bacterial burden infection, but the difference was not significant (48% vs. 25%, p=0.13). There was no significant difference of failure between groups with high-inoculum MIC ≥16 and ≤1 μg/ml (13% vs. 5%, p=0.31). In the multivariable analysis, underlying cardiovascular diseases, pneumonia, osteoarticular infections, and endocarditis were significant risk factors for treatment failure and the CIE was not significantly associated with treatment failure. CONCLUSION The CIE might be associated with persistent bacteremia if cefazolin is used for MSSA bacteremia with a high burden of infections. However, the sites of infections are more important factors for the clinical outcome than the CIE.
Foreign direct investment in East Asia : trends, determinants and policy implications

This paper provides a close look at the key factors from the viewpoint of source countries that contribute to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows. According to a survey of 173 Japanese investors in manufacturing, there are three important determinants of FDI in East Asia: stability and size of market, labor cost, and FDI policy. Some enterprise characteristics and strategic considerations also have strong impacts on FDI flows. Labor and other input costs are particularly important for higher-income countries, and FDI policy is particularly important for lower-income countries. Market size is important for all countries as a determinant of FDI. In the perception of source countries, what is needed to increase FDI include: consistent and stable macroeconomic policies, measures that reduce business costs (such as the development of human resource, infrastructure, and supporting industries), and liberalization of trade and FDI policy -- the same policies that are needed to increase domestic investment. Improving the general environment for all investments will help to attract FDI. Much more important than special policies to attract FDI are general policies that improve the environment for private investment in general and market-friendly measures to increase the spill-over effects of FDI. And, FDI policies need to be linked with the development strategy of the host country, its stage of economic development and priorities.
Export, subsidy and innovation: China’s state-owned enterprises versus privately-owned enterprises

Abstract In this study, we advance the literature on export and government subsidy by examining their effects in the context of China, a fast-growing emerging economy, and comparing the effects across ownership of enterprises. We examine the relationship among export, government support and firms’ innovation capability, and how these relationships differ between state-owned and private owned enterprises, by using a large data sample of Chinese firms (2003–2007). First, we find that there exists an inverted U-shaped relationship between export and innovation in state-owned enterprises, but not in private owned enterprises. Second, there is a positive effect of government subsidy on firms’ innovation capability. Finally, from the sub-sample analyses, we identify differences in the impact of government support between SOEs and POEs. This study will inspire future research into these issues in the disciplines of marketing, management and international business.
Informed Trading in Family Firms: Evidence from Short Selling around Insider Sales

Using a dataset of insider trading and short selling from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, we investigate the impact of large controlling shareholders on short sellers’ ability to predict insider trading. We document a significant increment in short selling volume before the information of insider sales is released to the public. Compared to widely held companies, insider trading in firms with large controlling owners triggers stronger short sales. Further, the abnormal short sales are more concentrated in family-controlled firms rather than state-controlled firms. The evidence of a concave relationship between the intensity of short selling and controlling power in family firms contributes to the ongoing debate on whether and when the entrenchment effect of large shareholders dominates the alignment effect. Within family-controlled firms, trading by non-family owners attracts more attention of short sellers. Overall, our analysis provides new evidence about the information interaction between short sellers and insiders and also the effect of the presence of large controlling shareholders on the information flows from insiders to outsiders.
Role of surgery in the treatment of spinal cord compression by metastatic neoplasm

The results of decompression laminectomy were assessed in a series of 226 patients with compression of the spinal cord by metastatic tumor. The most frequent primary tumor was carcinoma of the breast, which occurred in 16% of patients; tumors of the lung, reticuloendothelial system, sarcomas, and prostate followed in that order. The mortality within 30 days of operation was 8.7%. Ambulatory status was achieved and maintained until death in 36% of patients, and a larger number experienced a gratifying relief of pain and lesser degrees of improvement in neurologic function. The extent of the neurologic deficit at the time of surgery, the type of tumor, and the spinal level of compression all affected the outcome. Prevention remains the best therapy; back pain in a patient with cancer deserves a careful physical examination, spinal roentgenograms, possibly myelography, and prompt treatment with radiation therapy to avoid disabling paralysis. When neurologic dysfunction occurs, surgery is at present the primary form of treatment unless the tumor is highly radiosensitive. The circumstances in which spinal cord compression by metastatic carcinoma can be treated solely by radiation therapy remain to be established.
Taxes and Bank Capital Structure

This paper shows that a reduction in tax discrimination between debt and equity funding leads to better capitalized financial institutions. The paper exploits exogenous variation in the tax treatment of debt and equity created by the introduction of a tax shield for equity. The results demonstrate that a more equal treatment of debt and equity increases bank capital ratios, driven by an increase in common equity. The change also leads to a significant reduction in risk taking for ex-ante low capitalized banks. Overall, the findings suggest that tax shields could be a valuable and innovative policy tool for bank regulators.
Relationships between linear type scores, objective type measures, and indicators of mastitis.

Objectives were to examine the usefulness of objective measures of conformation and linear scores for type for predicting indicators of mastitis. Approximately 300 cows in five herds were scored in the experimental linear classification program of the Holstein-Friesian Association of America, measured objectively for numerous components of conformation, and evaluated for four indicators of mastitis. Indicators of mastitis were average natural logarithm of somatic cell counts during the lactation, percent of samples (taken approximately every 3 mo) infected during a lactation, percent of samples infected with Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, and percent of samples with signs of mastitic milk. Relationships between conformation and mastitis often were inconsistent because of moderate or low correlations between indicators of mastitis. Indicators of mastitis were predicted from results of multiple regression analyses with subjective scores and objective measures of type as independent variables. Largest differences of predicted indicators of mastitis from variation in any single type trait were sufficient to be important economically, but average differences were much smaller. Selection to reduce frequencies of cows with deep udders, especially low rear udders, widely placed teats, rear teats too far back, and teats that are short and wide, may augment, modestly, efforts to reduce incidence of mastitis through improved sanitation, antibiotic treatment, and proper milking procedures.
Effectiveness of histocompatibility matching in high-risk corneal transplantation: a summary of results from the Collaborative Corneal Transplantation Studies.

The Collaborative Corneal Transplantation Studies (CCTS) were designed to evaluate the effect of donor-recipient histocompatibility matching and crossmatching on the survival of corneal transplants in high-risk patients. Corneas were allocated to the 419 patients in the double-masked Antigen Matching Study on the basis of HLA-A,-B and HLA-DR antigen match. ABO blood group compatibility was determined but not used for recipient selection. The 37 patients in the Crossmatch Study were randomly assigned to receive a cornea from either a positively or negatively crossmatched donor. All patients received topical steroid therapy according to a standard protocol. Matching for HLA-A,-B and HLA-DR antigens had no effect on overall graft survival, the incidence of irreversible rejection, or the incidence of rejection episodes. The positive group in the Crossmatch Study had fewer graft failures, rejection failures, and rejection episodes than the negative group; however, these differences were not statistically significant. The estimated proportion of eyes with failure from rejection by 3 years was 30% for the ABO-incompatible group and 16% for the ABO-compatible group (relative risk, 1.98; 95% confidence interval, 1.15 to 3.13). These studies demonstrate that, for high-risk patients who are immunosuppressed by topical steroid therapy: 1) neither HLA-A. -B nor HLA-DR antigen matching substantially reduced the likelihood of corneal graft failure; 2) a positive donor-recipient crossmatch did not increase the risk of corneal graft failure; and 3) ABO blood group matching may be effective in reducing the risk of graft failure from rejection.
Multi‐scale domain decomposition method for large‐scale structural analysis with a zooming technique: Application to plate assembly

This article is concerned with a multi‐scale domain decomposition method (DDM), based on the FETI‐DP solver, for large‐scale structural elastic analysis and suited to problems that exhibit structural heterogeneities, such as plate assemblies in the presence of structural details. In this approach once a partition of the global fine mesh into subdomains has been performed (all subdomains possess a fine mesh) and to optimize the computational time, the fine mesh is preserved only in the zones of interest (with local phenomena due to discontinuity, hole, etc.) while the remaining subdomains are replaced by numerical homogenized coarse elements. Indeed, the multi‐scale aspect is introduced by the description of subdomains with either a fine or a coarse scale mesh. As a result, an extension of the FETI‐DP DDM is proposed in this article (called herein FETI‐DP micro–macro) that allows the simultaneous usage of different discretizations: fine (microscopic) mesh for subdomains in zones of interest and coarse (macroscopic or homogenized) mesh for the complementary part of the structure. Using this strategy raises the problem of the determination of the stiffness of coarse subdomains, and of the incompatible finite element connection between fine and coarse subdomains. Two approaches (collocation and Mortar) are presented and compared. The article ends with patch tests and some numerical examples in 2D and 3D. The obtained numerical results exemplify the efficiency and capability of the FETI‐DP micro–macro approach and reveal that the Mortar approach is more accurate, at constant cost, than the collocation approach. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Exercising growth options through seasoned equity offerings : comparative impact on the stock returns of Nordic issuers

The apparent long-run abnormal underperformance of equity issuers has stirred great interest in finance until real (growth) options explanations have been successfully developed and tested on American SEO data in recent years. Drawing on the existing literature and on a sample of Norwegian, Swedish and Danish seasoned equity offerings from 1997 to 2009 our paper highlights a risk pattern for the issuers around the SEO date consistent with the predictions of the real options theories, namely a risk run-up prior to issuance followed by a decrease in beta after issuance. We also find significant evidence of long-run abnormal performance for equally weighted SEO portfolios in factor regressions. The magnitude and the significance of the intercepts are reduced or eliminated if the SEO portfolios returns are value-weighted instead of equally weighted. An investment factor long in low investment stocks and short in high investment stocks used to augment CAPM and Fama French regressions does not clear the underperformance but does contribute to a small reduction in the magnitude and significance of the intercepts in factor regressions. We believe that our mixed evidence generally speaks in favour of the growth options theories and calls for further research in this area.
Animacy affects the processing of subject–object ambiguities in the second language: Evidence from self-paced reading with German second language learners of Dutch

ABSTRACT The results of a self-paced reading study with German second language (L2) learners of Dutch showed that noun animacy affected the learners' on-line commitments when comprehending relative clauses in their L2. Earlier research has found that German L2 learners of Dutch do not show an on-line preference for subject–object word order in temporarily ambiguous relative clauses when no disambiguating material is available prior to the auxiliary verb. We investigated whether manipulating the animacy of the ambiguous noun phrases would push the learners to make an on-line commitment to either a subject- or object-first analysis. Results showed they performed like Dutch native speakers in that their reading times reflected an interaction between topichood and animacy in the on-line assignment of grammatical roles.
Alcohol consumption in the African context: contributions to a public health approach to policy decisions

Aims According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the total amount of alcohol consumed in the African region is expected to increase due to the growth of new alcohol consumers, especially young people and women. With the changing alcohol environment, increases in the alcohol-attributable burden of disease are inevitable. To our knowledge, there has not been a comprehensive analysis of the factors that could be driving those increases. The objective of this study was to examine the evidence from peer reviewed literature regarding the factors that could be instrumental in this process, in order to inform strategic policy-related decisions. Method A narrative review was conducted using a thematic anal-ysis approach. We searched papers published between January 2000 and July 2014 in PubMed, the WHO’s Global Health Library and African Journals Online. Results Our analysis identified seven factors (demographics, rapid urbanization, economic development, increased availability, corporate targeting, weak policy infrastructure and trade agreements) which are potentially tied to changes in alcohol consumption in Africa. Driven largely by globalization, a potential conver-gence of these various factors is likely to be associated with continued growth in alcohol consumption and alcohol-related morbidity and mortality. Conclusions To address the emerging risk factors associated with increased alcohol consumption, African governments need to take a more active role in protecting the public’s health. In particular, important strategic shifts are needed to increase implementation of intersectoral strategies, community involvement in the policy dialogue, health services re-orientation and better regulation of the alcohol beverage industry.