Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transitory Earnings Components and the Two Faces of Non-GAAP Earnings

Non-GAAP earnings reporting has been linked with both informative and strategic incentives. We seek to disentangle these conflicting effects by examining the association between non-GAAP earnings disclosure and transitory items in GAAP earnings, conditional on managers’ reporting incentives. We report evidence of a statistically and economically significant asymmetric relation between disclosure propensity and transitory items in GAAP earnings conditional on both the sign and magnitude of the GAAP earnings surprise. Our findings suggest that non-GAAP earnings disclosures tend to be driven by a desire informative (strategic) reporting when GAAP earnings beat (undershoot) market expectations.
Evaluating randomness in cyber attack textual artifacts

Textual data indicators can provide valuable insight to identify potential malicious activity. There are various scenarios where cyber attacks will leave textual clues, examples include domain names, keys/passwords, text strings that are encoded in program files, etc. Several techniques can be used to evaluate if these textual clues provide useful information for the purpose of detecting attacks. In this paper, we aim at finding out whether the textual data can be considered human generated or randomly generated through computer algorithms. Here we specifically consider textual artifacts of filenames. As dropping/copying/creating files with randomly-generated filenames is a common behavior of malware, detecting this behavior through detecting randomly-generated filenames would help identifying a cyber attack. For this purpose, we discuss several features designed to differentiate randomly generated text from human generated text, where text is a filename, and then we build a classification model based on these features. On test data of 1 mil human-generated file names and 1 mil randomly generated filenames, our model gets an accuracy of 98.2940% in classifying human-generated filenames, and an accuracy of 97.8378% in classifying randomly generated filenames.
The Post-Merger Underperformance Anomaly: Evidence from Reits

We study long-horizon shareholder returns in a comprehensive sample of Real Estate Investment Trust mergers. REITs enjoy tax-advantaged status if they conform to net income pay-out requirements. This unique feature results in limitations on management's ability to command free cash flows and to accumulate reserves for financing projects. One manifestation of this is that public-public REIT mergers are stock financed events. Because stock financing is expected, the signal that is sent by the choice of stock financing in conventional firms is cancelled for the case of REITs. This allows us to use REIT mergers as a control experiment to gain knowledge about mergers in the conventional corporate finance world. We find evidence that post-merger underperformance is related to a signal of asymmetric information sent by management's decision to use stock financing, and does not result from the structural implications of stock financing itself.
Short interfering RNA and the central nervous system: development of nonviral delivery systems

The development of gene silencing therapies for neurological diseases has placed great importance on the delivery of short interfering RNA (siRNA) to the central nervous system (CNS). However, delivery of siRNA to neurons, glia and brain capillary endothelial cells (BCECs) has not been well established. This editorial describes different approaches that are being used to efficiently deliver siRNA to the CNS via intravenous, intracerebroventricular, or intranasal administration.
Serum biomarkers predictive of pre-eclampsia.

AIM We sought serum biomarkers predictive of pre-eclampsia (PE). MATERIALS & METHODS Sera obtained at 12-14 weeks of pregnancy from 24 cases who later developed PE and 24 controls with uncomplicated pregnancies were processed and analyzed using a serum proteomic approach. RESULTS Many statistically significant serum PE biomarker candidates (n > 60) were found comparing cases and controls. In addition, logistic regression analysis modeled biomarker data resulted in 14 different multimarker combinations having high detection sensitivity and specificity (AUC >0.9). CONCLUSIONS Developed panels of serum biomarkers appeared effective in identifying pregnant women at 12-14 weeks gestation at risk of PE later in their pregnancy.
Activation of the Mouse Ig Germline ε Promoter by IL-4 Is Dependent on AP-1 Transcription Factors1

Induction of germline (GL) ε transcripts, an essential step preceding Ig isotype switching to IgE, requires activation of transcription factors by IL-4 and a B cell activator, e.g., CD40 ligand or LPS. We demonstrate that AP-1 (Fos and Jun), induced transiently by CD40 ligand or LPS, binds a DNA element in the mouse GL ε promoter. AP-1 synergizes with Stat6 to activate both the intact GL ε promoter and a minimal heterologous promoter driven by the AP-1 and Stat6 sites of the mouse GL ε promoter. By contrast, C/EBPβ, which trans-activates the human GL ε promoter, inhibits IL-4 induction of the mouse promoter, probably by attenuating the synergistic interaction between AP-1 and Stat6. Furthermore, AP-1 does not trans-activate the human GL ε promoter. Thus, induction of GL ε transcripts in mice and humans may be regulated differently. In addition, although mouse GL ε transcripts have a half-life of ∼100 min, the RNA level continues to increase for up to 24 h, and the promoter appears to be active for at least 2 days after B cell activation. Altogether, these data suggest that induction of AP-1 activity, although transient, is required for activation of the mouse GL ε promoter by IL-4-induced Stat6.
Angioedema Related to Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors

Angioedema is a disorder characterized by well-demarcated nonpitting edema involving the tongue, floor of the mouth, larynx, lips, and face. This condition can progress to upper airway obstruction and death. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), relatively new antihypertensive agents, act by blocking the formation of angiotensin II, a potent vasoconstrictor and stimulator of aldosterone formation. ACEIs also retard the breakdown of bradykinin, a potent vasodilator, which may lead to the edema seen in nonhereditary angioedema. These ACEIs include enalapril, Captopril, ilsinopril saralasin acetate, and a combination of ACEl with diuretics (for example, Capozide) From August 1987 to January 1989, we treated six patients with a nonhereditary form of angioedema related to ingestion of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors Symptoms developed in all patients within 12 hours after their initial dose of an ACEl They presented with shortness of breath and dysphagia associated with tongue and floor of the mouth edema. Two Of the six required intubation and monitoring in the surgical intensive care unit for 36 to 48 hours. Three required supportive treatment and observation in an intermediate care unit, and one received supportive care in the clinic and was discharged the same day. Specifically, treatment consisted of cessation of inciting agent, steroids, antihistamines, and epinephrine. If not otherwise contraindicated. Assays of C, esterase inhibitor levels and C4 were normal in all six patients; this was important in order to rule out hereditary forms of angioedema. These cases will be discussed, including a review of the literature, methods of diagnosis, pathophysiology and treatment of angioedema.
A new variable stiffness robot joint

Purpose – This study aims to propose a new variable stiffness robot joint (VSR-joint) for operating safely. More and more variable stiffness actuators are being designed and implemented because of their ability to minimize large forces due to shocks, to safely interact with the user and their ability to store and release energy in passive elastic elements. Design/methodology/approach – The design of VSR-joint is compact and integrated highly and the operating is simply. The mechanics, the principle of operation and the model of the VSR-joint are proposed. The principle of operation of VSR-joint is based on a lever arm mechanism with a continuously regulated pivot point. The VSR-joint features a highly dynamic stiffness adjustment along with a mechanically programmable system behavior. This allows an easy adaption to a big variety of tasks. Findings – Preliminary results are presented to demonstrate the fast stiffness regulation response and the wide range of stiffness achieved by the proposed VSR-joint design. Originality/value – In this paper, a new variable stiffness joint is proposed through changing the cantilever arm to change the performance of the elastic element, which is compact, small size and simple adjustment.
Comparison of single-dose oral grepafloxacin with cefixime for treatment of uncomplicated gonorrhea in men. The STD Study Group

In a randomized open study, 351 male patients with uncomplicated gonorrhea were given single oral doses of grepafloxacin (400 mg) or cefixime (400 mg). In the 299 microbiologically evaluable patients, urethral infections were cured in 99% (147 of 149) of those receiving grepafloxacin and 97% (145 of 150) of those given cefixime. Eradication rates for both regimens were 100% in the 16% (47 of 299) of participants who were infected with penicillin-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae and 97% in the 21% (62 of 299) of participants infected with tetracycline-resistant strains. Grepafloxacin is a well-tolerated alternative to cefixime for treatment of uncomplicated gonorrhea in males.
Prospective study on alcohol intake and risk of subarachnoid hemorrhage among Japanese men and women.

BACKGROUND Few prospective data are available to evaluate potential risk factors of subarachnoid hemorrhage among the Japanese, although several prospective studies conducted in the United States and in Europe have shown a positive relationship between alcohol intake and the risk of subarachnoid hemorrhage. METHODS A 9.4 year follow-up study was conducted on 12,372 men and women age 40 to 69 years who had no history of stroke, in six communities in Japan. The incident cases of subarachnoid hemorrhage were confirmed with computed tomography findings and/or clinical findings. Alcohol intake and other cerebrovascular risk factors were measured at the baseline examination. A Cox proportional hazard analysis was used to estimate the relative risks and 95% confidence intervals of the incidence of subarachnoid hemorrhage. RESULTS During the follow-up assessment, 71 cases of subarachnoid hemorrhages occurred. For men, heavy drinking appeared to be an independent risk factor for subarachnoid hemorrhage; multivariate-adjusted relative risk was 4.3 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1-16.8; p = 0.04). Among women, no excess risk was found for heavy drinking, probably due to the small number of heavy drinkers (n = 15). The combination of heavy drinking with smoking or hypertension increased the risk of subarachnoid hemorrhage substantially for men; the multivariate-adjusted relative risk was 6.0 (95% CI: 1.8-20.1;p = 0.004) for heavy drinking smokers and 13.0 (95% CI: 3.9-43.9; p < 0.001) for heavy drinking hypertensives. CONCLUSIONS A reduction in alcohol intake, smoking cessation, and control of hypertension are important in preventing subarachnoid hemorrhage among Japanese men.
Self-Organizing Hierarchical Particle Swarm Optimization for Nonconvex Economic Dispatch

The economic dispatch has the objective of generation allocation to the power generators in such a manner that the total fuel cost is minimized while all operating constraints are satisfied. Conventional optimization methods assume generator cost curves to be continuous and monotonically increasing, but modern generators have a variety of nonlinearities in their cost curves making this assumption inaccurate, and the resulting approximate dispatches cause a lot of revenue loss. Evolutionary methods like particle swarm optimization perform better for such problems as no convexity assumptions are imposed, but these methods converge to sub-optimum solutions prematurely, particularly for multimodal problems. To handle the problem of premature convergence, this paper proposes to apply a novel self-organizing hierarchical particle swarm optimization (SOH_PSO) for the nonconvex economic dispatch (NCED). The performance further improves when time-varying acceleration coefficients are included. The results show that the proposed approach outperforms previous methods for NCED.
Calibration of the Computer Science and Applications, Inc. accelerometer.

PURPOSE We established accelerometer count ranges for the Computer Science and Applications, Inc. (CSA) activity monitor corresponding to commonly employed MET categories. METHODS Data were obtained from 50 adults (25 males, 25 females) during treadmill exercise at three different speeds (4.8, 6.4, and 9.7 km x h(-1)). RESULTS Activity counts and steady-state oxygen consumption were highly correlated (r = 0.88), and count ranges corresponding to light, moderate, hard, and very hard intensity levels were < or = 1951, 1952-5724, 5725-9498, > or = 9499 cnts x min(-1), respectively. A model to predict energy expenditure from activity counts and body mass was developed using data from a random sample of 35 subjects (r2 = 0.82, SEE = 1.40 kcal x min(-1)). Cross validation with data from the remaining 15 subjects revealed no significant differences between actual and predicted energy expenditure at any treadmill speed (SEE = 0.50-1.40 kcal x min(-1)). CONCLUSIONS These data provide a template on which patterns of activity can be classified into intensity levels using the CSA accelerometer.
Effects of Endosomal Photodamage on Membrane Recycling and Endocytosis

The flux of receptor‐independent endocytosis can be estimated by addition of wortmannin to cell cultures. Membrane influx is unaffected but traffic out of late endosomes is impaired, resulting in a substantial enlargement of these organelles. Using the 1c1c7 murine hepatoma, we investigated the effect of endosomal photodamage on this endocytic pathway. We previously reported that photodamage catalyzed by the lysosomal photosensitizer NPe6 prevented wortmannin‐induced endosomal swelling, indicating an earlier block in the process. In this study, we show that endosomal photodamage, initiated by photodamage from an asymmetrically substituted porphine or a phthalocyanine also prevents wortmannin‐induced endosomal swelling, even when the photodynamic therapy (PDT) dose is insufficient to cause endosomal disruption. As the PDT dose is increased, endosomal breakage occurs, as does apoptosis and cell death. Very high PDT doses result in necrosis. We propose that photodamage to endosomes results in alterations in the endosomal structure such that influx of new material is inhibited and receptor‐independent endocytosis is prevented. In an additional series of studies, we found that the swollen late endosomes induced by wortmannin are unable to retain previously accumulated fluorescent probes or photosensitizers.
Characterization of Pasteurella multocida isolated from rabbits in Canada.

In a survey for the somatic and capsular serotypes of Pasteurella multocida present in domestic rabbits in Canada, but mainly in Ontario, samples were obtained from research facilities, commercial rabbitries and from abattoir and necropsy specimens. Sources of isolates were upper respiratory tract infections, localized bronchopneumonias , acute fibrinous pneumonias, abscesses and otitis media. Of 59 isolates obtained, 47.0% were type 12:A, 30.5% 3:D and 12.0% were 3:A. Less common types were 12(4):A, 12:D, 4(12):A and 3:untypable. Somatic group 3 was most commonly isolated from acute pneumonic disease, while serogroup 12:A was most commonly found in upper respiratory tract infections and in localized chronic bronchopneumonia. Two serotypes of P. multocida were isolated from four pneumonic lungs collected from abattoir specimens. Most isolates were susceptible to the commonly used antibiotics.
Social Work in a Very Rural Place: A Study of Practitioners in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

This study focuses on characteristics, challenges, and benefits of practicing social work in the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan. Using a mixed-methods design, data were analyzed to determine demographic descriptors, seek differences between groups, and learn why social workers pursue and remain in social service employment in the UP. In addition, challenges and benefits of rural practice and perceptions of living and working in this region are addressed. Quantitatively, differences were found between younger and older social workers regarding where they currently live and where they grew up, and whether or not they were raised in a rural location. Qualitative findings suggest that professional challenges to practice include responding to the effects of persistent poverty and unemployment, lack of specialty care for children and families, and inadequate transportation. Benefits of practice include quality community experiences, proximity to familial systems, and professional connectedness.
Preserving Employee Morale during Downsizing

As companies continue to downsize, they need to consider how to maintain their employees' morale in order to realize gains such as higher productivity and more flexibility. Those who survive layoffs and the managers who must implement those layoffs frequently exhibit reduced commitment. Their trust in the company may be destroyed and they may feel powerless in the wake of top management's actions. Mishra et al. propose a four-stage approach to downsizing, gleaned from interviews and surveys, that will retain workers' trust and sense of empowerment. First, the company should consider its decision to downsize only as a last resort, not to be taken lightly. Downsizing should be part of a clearly defined, long-term vision that fits into the company's overall strategic plan. Second, the company should consider all stakeholders' needs ? survivors, laid-off employees, the community, local and national press, and any affected government agencies. The company should form a cross-functional team to represent all stakeholders' interests, hire outside experts for outplacement and counseling, ensure that managers know how to deal with all questions, and give employees full information on the company's finances. Third, at the announcement stage, senior managers should explain why the downsizing is necessary and how it will help the firm in the long term. The fourth stage, implementation, is the most important. Management should communicate frequently and be open and honest. The company should do its best to ensure that laid-off employees are employed elsewhere and offer them generous benefits packages. It should seek remaining employees' ideas about restructuring work processes and provide training, particularly in new technologies, to work in the new environment. According to the authors, each stage, if well executed, will mitigate workers' mistrust and disempowerment and will help build a better company.
VC Board Representation and IPO Performance

This paper studies the impact of five dimensions of venture capitalist (VC) power on the likelihood of VC board representation in their portfolio firms at the initial public offering (IPO) as well as the effect of the latter on IPO performance. The dimensions of VC power are based on Finkelstein’s (1992) four dimensions of power which are ownership power, structural power (i.e. the VC’s rank within the firm’s financial hierarchy), expert power (i.e. VC industry specialization), prestige power (i.e. the number of IPOs the VC has been involved with so far). We add controlling power (i.e. how pivotal the VC is to the voted decision) to these four dimensions. We find that all five dimensions of power have a significantly positive impact on the likelihood of VC board membership. While controlling for the possible endogeneity of the latter, underpricing and the IPO premium are higher when there is VC board membership, which is consistent with both the grandstanding and management support hypotheses. Our results suggest that VCs have a real impact on IPO performance and that they do not just maintain a strong presence in better performing companies after the IPO.
Fragmentation-Aware Routing Algorithms for Multicast Problem on Elastic Optical Networks

Elastic Optical Networks (EONs) are considered as very promising architectures for future optical transport networks, since they efficiently use the spectrum resources and provide high bandwidth scalability and granularity. In this paper, the multicast routing problem in EON is considered. A fragmentation-aware multicast routing algorithm, named as Weighted Dynamic Fragmentation-aware Multicast Routing Algorithm (W-DFMRA), is proposed to solve this problem. Simulations show that the fragmentation and blocking ratio of the proposed algorithm can achieve good results.
High Signal Intensity in Dentate Nucleus on Unenhanced T1-weighted MR Images: Association with Linear versus Macrocyclic Gadolinium Chelate Administration.

PURPOSE To assess whether an association exists between hyperintensity in the dentate nucleus (DN) on unenhanced T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images and previous administration of gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) that contain different types of gadolinium chelates. MATERIALS AND METHODS The institutional review board approved this study. Written informed consent was waived because this was a retrospective study. Evaluated were 127 cases among 360 consecutive patients who underwent contrast agent-enhanced brain MR imaging. Two radiologists conducted visual evaluation and quantitative analysis on unenhanced T1-weighted MR images by using regions of interest. DN-to-cerebellum (DN/cerebellum) signal intensity ratios were calculated and the relationship between DN/cerebellum and several factors was evaluated, including the number of previous linear chelate and/or macrocyclic GBCA administrations by using a generalized additive model. The Akaike information criterion was used in model selection. Interobserver correlation was evaluated with paired t tests and the Lin concordance correlation coefficient. RESULTS The images of nine patients (7.1%) showed hyperintensity in the DN. Twenty-three patients (18.1%) received linear GBCAs (median, two patients; maximum, 11 patients), 36 patients (28.3%) received macrocyclic GBCAs (median, two patients; maximum, 15 patients), 14 patients (11.0%) received both types of GBCA (linear [median, two patients; maximum, five patients] and macrocyclic [median, three patients; maximum, eight patients]), and 54 patients (42.5%) had no history of administration of gadolinium chelate. Interobserver correlation was almost perfect (0.992 [95% confidence interval: 0.990, 0.994]). The DN/cerebellum ratio was associated with linear GBCA (P < .001), but not with macrocyclic GBCA exposure (P = .875). According to the Akaike information criterion, only linear GBCA was selected for the final model, and the DN/cerebellum ratio had strong association only with linear GBCA. CONCLUSION Hyperintensity in the DN on unenhanced T1-weighted MR images is associated with previous administration of linear GBCA, while the previous administration of macrocyclic GBCAs showed no such association.