Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Outside Directors, Ownership Structure and Firm Profitability in Korea

The contribution of outside directors to firm performance has been shown to be inconsistent. Korean companies first began in 1998 to introduce outside directors to carry out governance reform. This paper analyses the impact of outside directors on corporate performance during the governance reform movement undertaken in Korea in 1999 as well as the moderating effect of the large shareholder and managerial ownership rate. We hypothesised a positive relationship between outside director effectiveness (outside director participation rate) and firm profitability, a negative moderating effect in terms of large shareholder ownership and managerial ownership, and a positive moderating effect when it comes to blockholder ownership. This moderating relationship is considered in order to investigate the role of large shareholders under the Korean governance structure. Our empirical analysis showed that outside directors had a weak positive impact, and that a large shareholder ownership rate and a block shareholder ownership rate moderated this relationship in a negative fashion. The managerial ownership rate did not show any significant moderating effects. We thus conclude that it is too early to assess the impact of outside directors on corporate performance, and that Korean companies exhibit an "owner-controlled" governance structure; that is, they are governed by large shareholders who have demonstrated a resistance to attempts to bring about governance reform through such means as the introduction of outside directors. Outside shareholders were found to possess insufficient power to monitor large controlling shareholders. This paper seeks to make a contribution to the field by conducting an analysis of governance structure in Korea in the aftermath of the currency crisis, as well as of outside directors in emerging economies, a subject rarely dealt with in governance studies. Copyright (c) 2007 The Authors; Journal compilation (c) 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Interleukin-10 gene transfer improves the survival rate of mice inoculated with Escherichia coli

ObjectiveTo determine whether administration of recombinant adenovirus vectors encoding the interleukin (IL)-10 protein (AxCAmIL-10) decreases the mortality of septic mice. DesignProspective, randomized, controlled study. SettingUniversity research laboratory. SubjectsAdult male C57B/6 mice. InterventionsUntreated mice and those injected intraperitoneally with 1 × 109 pfu of AxCAmIL-10 were used as control 1 and 2, respectively. Double-capsules without Escherichia coli were intraperitoneally embedded in another group (control 3). Mice embedded with capsules containing E. coli were divided into the following groups: simultaneous administration of 0.5 mL of saline (group 1), and administration of AxCAmIL-10 3 hrs before embedding (group 2) or 1 hr after embedding (group 3). Histopathologic changes together with expression concentrations of IL-10 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in various organs and plasma were examined 18 hrs after each treatment. Observation periods were 5–8 days. Survival rates were compared between these groups. Measurements and Main ResultsThe plasma IL-10 concentrations were increased in control 2, group 2, and group 3 but not in control 1, control 3, or group 1, indicating successful adenovirus gene transfer. Plasma TNF values were significantly reduced in groups 2 and 3 as compared with group 1, with no significant differences in endotoxin concentrations. Survival rates were significantly better in groups 2 and 3 than in group 1 (p < .05). ConclusionThese findings suggested that IL-10 has a favorable effect on survival of septic mice via inhibition of TNF production or endotoxin stimulation.
A Non-Tariff Protectionist Bias in Majoritarian Politics: Government Subsidies and Electoral Institutions

Governments elected by majoritarian rules are, according to conventional wisdom, more protectionist than governments elected by proportional rules. However, existing tests of this claim examine only one possible form of trade protection: tariffs. This leaves open the possibility that governments in majoritarian systems provide no more protection than governments in proportional systems but simply use tariffs more often than other forms of trade protection. Does the protectionist bias in majoritarian politics extend beyond tariffs? The current study addresses this question by examining an increasingly important form of trade protection: subsidies. In a sample of 68 countries from 1990 to 2006, spending on subsidies is found to be higher in majoritarian systems than in proportional systems, holding all else equal. The implication is that the protectionist bias in majoritarian systems does in fact extend beyond tariffs.
Are Shocks to Energy Consumption Permanent or Temporary? The Case of 17 Middle East Countries

This article applies the univariate and panel LM (Lagrange Multiplier) unit root tests developed by Lee and Strazicich (2003; 2004) and Im et al. (2005), respectively to annual total primary energy consumption per capita data for 17 Middle East countries over the period 1980–2009. The results from univariate tests with one and two structural breaks indicate that stationarity does hold for most of the Middle East countries, especially in the case of two structural breaks. Furthermore, panel LM unit root tests have overwhelming evidence favorable to stationarity in both cases. These results indicate that shocks to energy consumption have only temporary effects and thus, energy demand management or conservation policies will not reach their targets in the long-run.
The Query Optimizer in Tandem's new ServerWare SQL Product

A brief overview of Nonstop SQL product will be followed by a description of what is different in ServerWare SQL. The current Nonstop SQL optimizer uses a traditional bottom-up dynamic programming optimizer. This is the same type of optimization algorithm used in System R and many commercial products. The optimizer in the new product is a top-down branch and bound ruledriven cost based optimizer similar to work done on the Volcano optimizer.
Competitive balance in Dutch soccer

Most sports are interesting because the outcome of a game cannot be predicted perfectly in advance. Indeed, sometimes sports organizations try to maximize the uncertainty associated with the outcomes of the games by restricting the behaviour of teams and players so as to maximize public interest. The degree of competitiveness in a league is also known as competitive balance. In this paper we propose a simple model analyze the outcome of soccer matches. The parameters of this model are used to assess whether comeptitive balance in Dutch soccer has decreased or increased over time.
ECO-LABELLING IN THE EU: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE PULP AND PAPER INDUSTRY IN THE UK AND SWEDEN

A feature of the EC's Fifth Environmental Action Programme is the move away from the use of legislative measures towards the adoption of voluntary and economic market-based instruments to control the environmental impact of industrial activities. Eco-labelling has been adopted by the EC to promote products with reduced environmental impacts throughout their life cycle and to provide consumers with reliable information about the impact of products on the environment. Products that are deemed to be more environmentally friendly than their competitors are identified by a single, distinctive eco-label. The use of one main eco-label across the EU should reduce the confusion that has been created by the use of a large number of labels and environmental claims by producers and retailers. This ESRC-funded research aims to assess whether an eco-award system is an effective means of improving environmental performance, with specific reference to the pulp and paper industry. Comparisons of attitudes to the eco-labelling scheme are being made in France, Germany, Sweden and the UK. Interviews are being conducted with industry, national governments, the EC, competent bodies, consumer organizations and environmental pressure groups. In this way, it will be possible to assess whether an EU-wide scheme is either practical or desirable in one economic sector. Research to date indicates that although the concepts underlying eco-labelling are sound, the existing scheme has several serious weaknesses. If these are not addressed, the credibility of the scheme will be reduced and the real commitment of the EC to environmental policy questioned.
Topic classification and clustering on Indonesian complaint tweets for bandung government using supervised and unsupervised learning

Seeing the public of Bandung city as an active social media user, Bandung government provides channel in Twitter for citizen to report their complaints. In order to make the citizen complaint monitoring easier, there is a need to automatically detect the topics of complaint tweets (written in Indonesian language) in order to assist the government in managing the complaints reported. In this paper, a system to detect the topics of Indonesian complaint tweets automatically using supervised learning and unsupervised learning approaches is proposed. The supervised learning approach is implemented to classify complaint tweets topic, whereas the unsupervised learning approach is used to cluster complaint tweets based on the similarity of detail information contained in the complaints. Both the supervised learning and the unsupervised learning approaches are required to classify the topics of a tweet and to capture the detail information from each detected topic. The topics are classified using single label and multi label classification. The supervised learning approach is evaluated using accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 score. Three supervised machine learning algorithms are evaluated: Sequential Minimal Optimization, Naïve Bayes Multinomial, and Random Forests. The best algorithm for single label topic classification is SMO, with the accuracy average of 95%, whereas the best algorithm for multi-label topic classification is Random Forests, with 97.92% accuracy, 98.74% precision, 98.36% recall, and 98.44% F1 score. In the unsupervised learning approach, Clustering Index Value is used to evaluate the topic clusters detected. Two unsupervised learning algorithms are evaluated; Exemplar Based Topic Detection and Document Pivot Technique using TF-IDF. Exemplar Based Topic Detection has the best performance for detecting detail topic clusters with Clustering Index Value of 0.9653.
Chemotactic activity of platelet alpha granule proteins for fibroblasts

At sites of blood vessel injury, platelets release numerous substances that may have biological activities influencing cellular responses. In this study we examined separately the chemotactic activity for fibroblasts of three highly purified proteins obtained from platelet alpha granules: platelet factor 4 (PF4), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), and beta-thromboglobulin (BTG). We observed that each of these proteins was strongly chemotactic for fibroblasts, with maximum chemotactic activity in each instance comparable to that observed with an optimal concentration of the control chemotactic protein, plasma fibronectin. Each protein was active at very low concentrations. The peak chemotactic activities of PF4, PDGF, and BTG occurred at 200 mg/ml, 30 ng/ml, and 6 ng/ml, respectively. Specificity of fibroblast chemotaxis to individual platelet proteins was provided by finding that anti-PF4 immunoglobulin blocked the chemotactic activity of PF4 without affecting the chemotactic activity of PDGF, while anti-PDGF immunoglobulin blocked the activity of PDGF but did not alter the capacity of PF4 to promote fibroblast chemotaxis. These results suggest that in vivo several alpha granule proteins released from platelets may affect wound healing by causing directed fibroblast migration.
An Equilibrium Model of the Business Cycle

This paper develops a theoretical example of a business cycle, that is, a model economy in which real output undergoes serially correlated movements about trend which are not explainable by movements in the availability of factors of production. The mechanism generating these movements involves unsystematic monetary-fiscal shocks, the effects of which are distributed through time due to information lags and an accelerator effect. Associated with these output movements are procyclical movements in prices, procyclical movements in the share of output devoted to investment, and, in a somewhat limited sense, procyclical movements in nominal rates of interest.
Binding areas of urokinase‐type plasminogen activator–plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 complex for endocytosis receptors of the low‐density lipoprotein receptor family, determined by site‐directed mutagenesis

Some endocytosis receptors related to the low‐density lipoprotein receptor, including low‐density lipoprotein receptor‐related protein‐1A, very‐low‐density lipoprotein receptor, and sorting protein‐related receptor, bind protease‐inhibitor complexes, including urokinase‐type plasminogen activator (uPA), plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 (PAI‐1), and the uPA–PAI‐1 complex. The unique capacity of these receptors for high‐affinity binding of many structurally unrelated ligands renders mapping of receptor‐binding surfaces of serpin and serine protease ligands a special challenge. We have mapped the receptor‐binding area of the uPA–PAI‐1 complex by site‐directed mutagenesis. Substitution of a cluster of basic residues near the 37‐loop and 60‐loop of uPA reduced the receptor‐binding affinity of the uPA–PAI‐1 complex approximately twofold. Deletion of the N‐terminal growth factor domain of uPA reduced the affinity 2–4‐fold, depending on the receptor, and deletion of both the growth factor domain and the kringle reduced the affinity sevenfold. The binding affinity of the uPA–PAI‐1 complex to the receptors was greatly reduced by substitution of basic and hydrophobic residues in α‐helix D and α‐helix E of PAI‐1. The localization of the implicated residues in the 3D structures of uPA and PAI‐1 shows that they form a continuous receptor‐binding area spanning the serpin as well as the A‐chain and the serine protease domain of uPA. Our results suggest that the 10–100‐fold higher affinity of the uPA–PAI‐1 complex compared with the free components depends on the bonus effect of bringing the binding areas on uPA and PAI‐1 together on the same binding entity.
Improving Estimates of Employment in Expanding and Contracting Businesses

The Current Employment Statistics (CES) program produces estimates of employment, hours, and earnings by industry on a monthly basis for the non-agricultural economy. Recent research has suggested that the CES respondent data can be used to produce estimates of employment change in businesses with expanding and contracting employment. These research estimates have included a small overestimate because we have not accounted for the prior month employment of establishments going out of business. In this paper we will describe research to quantify, and to potentially account for, this issue. Data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program will be used with CES data to assess the size of the overestimate. ARIMA-X12 will be used to develop forecasts of factors that we will use to adjust the estimates to account for this error. The forecast factors will be compared to the actual factors to assess the feasibility of modeling these values.
Symbiotic Marketing and Trust-Related Issues: Empirical Evidence From an Emerging Economy

ABSTRACT Adopting a perspective of social capital theory, we study the effect of market orientation on the stability of symbiotic alliances in an emerging economy. Focusing on a subset of the alliances, namely symbiotic marketing alliances, the results reveal that firms’ market orientation has a positive effect on social capital, which, in turn, has a positive effect of the stability of the symbiotic marketing alliances. Moreover, social capital also has a positive effect on the sharing of resources among the partners, which should also influence the stability of the alliance. This report concludes with a discussion of the implications for academic researchers and practitioners.
The changes to accounting education and accounting educators as a result of changes in the Spanish university system: A case study using an institutional theory approach

Accounting education is part of the wider system of higher education provision that in many individual countries has been the subject of an increasing rate of change but it is unclear to what extent these external changes have influenced the delivery of accounting education. The paper uses an institutional theory approach (Meyer & Rowan, 1977; DiMaggio & Powell, 1983; Powell & DiMaggio, 1991) to analyse the pressures exerted by the external institutional constituents on the Spanish higher education system in order to implement the European Higher Education Area. Specifically, the paper analyses the changes caused by these pressures on accounting education, as well as the reactions and behaviours of accounting educators to those changes. It is based on a longitudinal case study at the Department of Accounting of the University of Seville. The case study uses multiple sources including interviews, participant observation, informal discussions and documents. The results evidence the importance of coercive isomorphism on the structuring of the Spanish university system, some factors that have hindered the development of the normative isomorphism in accounting education, and the relevance of regulatory legitimacy to academic career prospects of accounting educators.
Somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration capacity in Argentinean maize (Zea mays L.) inbred lines

Somatic embryogenesis, which is still the method of choice for tissue culture, regeneration and transformation of maize, is largely considered highly genotype-dependent. The Hi II, a highly embryogenic genotype, has been extensively used in transformation protocols. However, this is not an inbred line; instead, it has a proportion of the undesirable A-188 background, and the progeny segregates for phenotypic characteristics and shows poor agronomic performance. In an effort to identify genotypes that combine a high somatic embryogenic response and good agronomic performance, we evaluated 48 advanced inbred lines developed at INTA. Callus development and somatic embryogenesis capacity were measured in 200 immature embryos per line. Embryogenic capacity [EC (mature somatic embryos/callus evaluated) x 100], Regeneration Capacity (RC) and Fertile Plant Recovery in greenhouse (FPR, fertile plants/regenerated plants) were recorded. A total of 17 lines reached an EC > 50%, and 14 out of those 17 lines regenerated seedlings. The FPR ranged between 50 and 100%. Also, we selected three promising lines with high agronomic performance, as alternatives to Hi II, in order to be included in a maize transformation scheme via somatic embryogenesis. In addition, we report the usefulness of Single Sequences Repeat (SSRs) in the determination of genetic diversity among 14 divergent lines for somatic embryogenesis response. The seven lines displaying good in vitro behaviour can be crossed to obtain hybrids combining desirable alleles for somatic embryogenesis response and different genetic backgrounds.
Measuring Income and Wealth at the Top Using Administrative and Survey Data

Most available estimates of U.S. wealth and income concentration indicate that the top shares are high and have been rising in recent decades, but there is some disagreement about specific levels and trends. Household surveys are the traditional data source used to measure the top shares, but recent studies using administrative tax records suggest that these survey-based top share estimates may not be capturing all of the increasing concentration. In this paper, we reconcile the divergent top share estimates, showing how the choices of data sets and methodological decisions affect levels and trends. Relative to the new and most widely cited top share estimates based on administrative tax data alone, our preferred estimates for both wealth and income concentration are lower and have been rising less rapidly in recent years.
Double-blind, placebo-controlled comparison of imipramine and paroxetine in the treatment of bipolar depression.

OBJECTIVE This study compared the efficacy and safety of paroxetine and imipramine with that of placebo in the treatment of bipolar depression in adult outpatients stabilized on a regimen of lithium. METHOD In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 117 outpatients with DSM-III-R bipolar disorder, depressive phase, were randomly assigned to treatment with paroxetine (N=35), imipramine (N=39), or placebo (N=43) for 10 weeks. In addition to lithium monotherapy, patients may have received either carbamazepine or valproate in combination with lithium for control of manic symptoms. Patients were stratified on the basis of trough serum lithium levels determined at the screening visit (high: >0.8 meq/liter; low: </=0.8 meq/liter). Primary efficacy was assessed by change from baseline in scores on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression and the Clinical Global Impression illness severity scale. RESULTS Differences in overall efficacy among the three groups were not statistically significant. For patients with high serum lithium levels, antidepressant response at endpoint also did not significantly differ from placebo. However, both paroxetine and imipramine were superior to placebo for patients with low serum lithium levels. Compared to imipramine, paroxetine resulted in a lower incidence of adverse events, most notably emergence of manic symptoms. CONCLUSIONS Antidepressants may not be useful adjunctive therapy for bipolar depressed patients with high serum lithium levels. However, antidepressant therapy may be beneficial for patients who cannot tolerate high serum lithium levels or who have symptoms that are refractory to the antidepressant effects of lithium.
An Evaluation of Turkey's Energy Dependency

Energy dependency (ED) is the energy import level upon which an economy relies in order to meet its energy needs. ED is calculated by dividing net imports by the sum of gross inland energy consumption plus bunkers. This study aims to obtain performance scores to evaluate of Turkey's ED based on basic energy indicators (Model 1), sectoral energy consumption (Model 2), and primary energy production as sources (Model 3) by using data envelopment analysis. The performance evaluation of 25 European Union member states, Norway, Switzerland, Croatia, and Turkey, a candidate country, was performed in order to draw up a good energy policy in the future for Turkey. Since the data on Malta and Cyprus were incomplete, these two nations were excluded from the evaluation. The data set covers the years between 1998 and 2006 and energy indicators used in the analysis were taken from Eurostat for all countries. The Results of the analysis show that Turkey's most important goal for the future is to produce proper energy policies in order to decrease ED.
What Do We Know About Executive Compensation at Privately Held Firms?

We examine executive compensation using data from two nationally representative samples of small privately held US corporations conducted 10 years apart—in 1993 and 2003. We find that executive pay at small privately held firms increases with firm size and varies widely by industry, consistent with stylized facts about executive pay at public companies. From 1993 to 2003, inflation-adjusted executive pay declined at small privately held companies, in contrast to the run-up in executive pay at large public companies over the same period. Executive pay is higher at more complex organizations, is inversely related to CEO ownership and financial risk and is related to CEO age, education and gender. Copyright Springer-Verlag (outside the USA) 2016