Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antecedents of Dividend Policy: Empirical Evidence from Banking Sector of Pakistan

This paper explores the determinants of dividend policy of commercial banks operating in Pakistan. Dividend decision of any bank primarily depends upon its profitability, retained earnings, cash flows, corporate taxes and leverage. This study is an attempt to find out key determinants and their impact on cash payout and total payout ratios. It also aims to test the implication of dividend theories on Pakistani banks using data for a period of 8 years ranging from 2006 to 2013. Balanced panel data regression with fixed effects model has been used in this study. All independent variables - PAT, SLACK, EPS, CTA and TD [1] reported significant results. We found significant role of profitability theory, packing order theory, free cash flow theory and agency cost theory in determining dividend policies whereas, tax effect and financial slack has no effect in banking sector of Pakistan. [1] Profitability, retained earnings, earnings per share, cash flows, and leverage
Brand Firm Performance and Tough Economic Times

Negative income shocks may cause lower consumption and a switch in consumption from brand to non‐brand products as consumers economize on price (Larkin [Larkin, Y., 2013]). This switch can also be the result of the vigorous promotion of private label products (Lamey et al. [Lamey, L., 2012]). However, dedicated customers and conspicuous consumption (Veblen [Veblen, T., 1899]; Berger and Ward [Berger, J., 2010]) can mitigate or even neutralize these effects on brand firms. Consistent with the notion that enduring consumption by brand customers has a stronger effect, we find that compared with non‐brand firms, brand firms performed better in and recovered quicker from the difficult economic times of the late 2000s.
Unraveling the Role of Arg4 and Arg6 in the Auto‐Inhibition Mechanism of GSK3β From Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) is a multifunctional serine/threonine protein kinase that is involved in several biological processes including insulin and Wnt signaling pathways. GSK3β can be phosphorylated by the protein kinase B (PKB). The mutations of Arg4 and Arg6 to alanine at N‐terminal GSK3β have been reported to impair its ability to autophosphorylate at Ser9. Despite the extensive experimental observations, the detailed mechanism for the auto‐inhibition of GSK3β has not been rationalized at the molecular level. In this study, we have demonstrated the structural consequences of GSK3β R4A and R6A mutations and the atomic changes that influenced the loss of PKB‐binding affinity. Molecular dynamics simulation results suggested significant loss in atomic contacts in the R4A and R6A mutant systems compared to the wild‐type system. Furthermore, we observed many notable changes (such as conformation, residues motions, hydrogen bonds, and binding free energy) in the mutated GSK3β–PKB complexes. Loss of binding affinity in the mutated systems rendered the decrease in GSK3β phosphorylation, which, in turn, impaired the auto‐inhibition of GSK3β. The significant outcomes obtained from this study can explain the auto‐inhibition of GSK3β and maybe facilitate type 2 diabetes mellitus researches and in developing the potent drug therapies.
Immobilization of DNA on 11‐mercaptoundecanoic acid‐modified gold (111) surface for atomic force microscopy imaging

Immobilized DNA on preformed 11‐mercaptoundecanoic acids (MUDA) self‐assembled monolayers (SAMs) on a gold (111) surface was bound by a divalent cation bridges was imaged by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The DNA immobilization was attributed to the formation of ionic bridges between the carboxylate groups of MUDA and the phosphate groups of DNA. AFM images revealed that DNA molecules could be immobilized strongly enough to permit stable and reproducible imaging. The effect of different bridge cations, such as Mg2+, Zn2+ and Cu2+, and the pH of DNA assembled solution on immobilization and conformation of DNA was studied. Plasmid DNA pBR 322/Pst I molecules were straightened by using a molecular combing technique on the MUDA surface. Microsc. Res. Tech. 68:59–64, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Voluntary health insurance in Vietnam : a theoretical and empirical exploration

This thesis presents new evidence regarding voluntary health insurance in Vietnam. At present, the evidence base from which policy-makers in low-income countries can draw, is dominated by the experience of high-income countries, despite the very different institutional environment within which health insurance functions. In theory, health insurance can protect and improve access to health services, by pooling individual risks, whilst raising additional funds from private sources. However, incentive problems, in particular adverse selection and moral hazard, can lead to greater inefficiencies. These theoretical predictions are tested empirically in this thesis using data from a household survey of 2,751 individuals in Vietnam. Community structure, which is used to develop new conceptual insights into current economic frameworks of analysis, is shown to be relevant to the development of formal health insurance. In terms of demand for health insurance, the thesis shows that adverse selection is a significant problem. Economic status, however, has no statistically significant effect on uptake. This finding, together with evidence that being insured reduces out-of-pocket expenditures significantly, and more so for poorer individuals, implies that income-related inequalities in financial access to health services has reduced, as a direct result of health insurance. In-depth interviews with insured patients reveals that many are dissatisfied with the quality of care they receive. Providers appear to discriminate against insured patients depending on how much income they bring to a facility, which impacts negatively on the intention of many to purchase insurance in the future. Insured patients trade-off these negative effects with expected benefits, when deciding whether to use insurance or pay full charges. Finally, this thesis demonstrates how drawing on frameworks from other disciplines, in particular sociology and development economics, can enrich current thinking about the development of health insurance in low-income countries.
A far-red fluorescent protein with fast maturation and reduced oligomerization tendency from Entacmaea quadricolor (Anthozoa, Actinaria)

We performed the biochemical and biophysical characterization of a red fluorescent protein, eqFP611, from the sea anemone Entacmaea quadricolor cloned in Escherichia coli. With an excitation maximum at 559 nm and an emission maximum at 611 nm, the recombinant protein shows the most red-shifted emission and the largest Stokes shift of all nonmodified proteins in the green fluorescent protein family. The protein fluoresces with a high quantum yield of 0.45, although it resembles the nonfluorescent members of this protein class, as inferred from the absence of the key amino acid serine at position 143. Fluorescence is constant within the range pH 4–10. Red fluorophore maturation reaches a level of 90% after ≈12 h by passing through a green intermediate. After complete maturation, only a small fraction of the green species (less than 1%) persists. The protein has a reduced tendency to oligomerize, as shown by its monomeric appearance in SDS/PAGE analysis and single-molecule experiments. However, it forms tetramers at higher concentrations in the absence of detergent. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy reveals light-driven transitions between bright and dark states on submillisecond and millisecond time scales. Applicability of eqFP611 for in vivo labeling in eukaryotic systems was shown by expression in a mammalian cell culture.
Coral feeding on microalgae assessed with molecular trophic markers

Herbivory in corals, especially for symbiotic species, remains controversial. To investigate the capacity of scleractinian and soft corals to capture microalgae, we conducted controlled laboratory experiments offering five algal species: the cryptophyte Rhodomonas marina, the haptophytes Isochrysis galbana and Phaeocystis globosa, and the diatoms Conticribra weissflogii and Thalassiosira pseudonana. Coral species included the symbiotic soft corals Heteroxenia fuscescens and Sinularia flexibilis, the asymbiotic scleractinian coral Tubastrea coccinea, and the symbiotic scleractinian corals Stylophora pistillata, Pavona cactus and Oculina arbuscula. Herbivory was assessed by end‐point PCR amplification of algae‐specific 18S rRNA gene fragments purified from coral tissue genomic DNA extracts. The ability to capture microalgae varied with coral and algal species and could not be explained by prey size or taxonomy. Herbivory was not detected in S. flexibilis and S. pistillata. P. globosa was the only algal prey that was never captured by any coral. Although predation defence mechanisms have been shown for Phaeocystis spp. against many potential predators, this study is the first to suggest this for corals. This study provides new insights into herbivory in symbiotic corals and suggests that corals may be selective herbivorous feeders.
Thioetherification via Photoredox/Nickel Dual Catalysis

Hypervalent alkylsilicates represent new and readily accessible precursors for the generation of alkyl radicals under photoredox conditions. Alkyl radicals generated from such silicates serve as effective hydrogen atom abstractors from thiols, furnishing thiyl radicals. The reactive sulfur species generated in this manner can be funneled into a nickel-mediated cross-coupling cycle employing aromatic bromides to furnish thioethers. The serendipitous discovery of this reaction and its utilization for the thioetherification of various aryl and heteroaryl bromides with a diverse array of thiols is described. The S–H selective H atom abstraction event enables a wide range of functional groups, including those bearing protic moieties, to be tolerated.
A Lyapunov Function-Based Robust Direct Torque Controller for a Switched Reluctance Motor Drive System

A novel Lyapunov function-based direct torque controller for minimization of torque ripples in a switched reluctance motor (SRM) drive system is reported in this paper. SRM magnetization characteristics are highly nonlinear, where torque is a complex and coupled function of the phase currents and rotor position. The direct torque control (DTC) scheme avoids the complex process of torque-to-current conversion as required in indirect torque control scheme. The traditional DTC scheme uses a hysteresis-type torque controller and it leads to large amount of torque ripples when implemented digitally. The proposed controller is intended to take care of the nonlinear system dynamics of magnetic characteristics associated with accurate torque control using DTC scheme for the SRM drive system. In the Lyapunov function-based controller, the feedback gain is varied using a heuristic technique. The stability of the proposed controller is ensured by the direct method of Lyapunov. Experimental results for a 1-hp, 4-phase SRM are provided to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed torque control scheme.
EURRECA—Estimating Folate Requirements for Deriving Dietary Reference Values

In most countries, the dietary folate intake associated with adequate status of red cell folate and/or serum folate provides the basis for formulating reference values. One of the major challenges in setting dietary reference values for folate, however, is the need to account for the differences in bioavailability between the natural forms of the vitamin and the synthetic form, folic acid, albeit to date, few countries in Europe take bioavailability into consideration. A series of systematic reviews that included only those studies which used the most robust measures of both folate intake and folate status were carried out by the EURRECA Network of Excellence to examine the relationships between folate intake, status, and a number of health outcomes relevant to specific stages of the lifecycle. This review summarizes the available evidence and the issues to consider in the setting of dietary reference values for folate.
Planar Broadband Circularly Polarized Antenna With Square Slot for UHF RFID Reader

Novel circular polarization (CP) design of planar broadband antenna with square slot for UHF RFID system is proposed and experimentally studied. By insetting the arc-shaped strip into the square slot, the proposed CP design can easily be achieved with the impedance bandwidth ( RL ≥ 10 dB) of about 142 MHz (15.3% @ 931 MHz) and the 3 dB axial-ratio (AR) bandwidth of about 166 MHz (17.7 % @ 940 MHz) for UHF RFID applications. The measured peak gain and radiation efficiency are about 6.8 dBic and 98% across the operating band, respectively, with nearly bidirectional pattern in the XZ- and YZ-plane.
Internationalisation of born globals: the role of strategic alliances

This study aims to demonstrate the role of alliances in the internationalisation of born globals. Thus, we adopt qualitative research using two case studies in Portugal. Our results show that alliances are essential for born globals' internationalisation, boosting the competitiveness and sustainability of these firms. The creation of alliances permitted sharing of the risks and costs of investment in foreign markets and at the same time access to new knowledge and technologies. We provide new perspectives on the role of the founder in the internationalisation process. Contrary to what is claimed in the literature, their previous international experience is not an essential requirement.
Unraveling the Transcriptional Basis of Temperature-Dependent Pinoxaden Resistance in Brachypodium hybridum

Climate change endangers food security and our ability to feed the ever-increasing human population. Weeds are the most important biotic stress, reducing crop-plant productivity worldwide. Chemical control, the main approach for weed management, can be strongly affected by temperature. Previously, we have shown that temperature-dependent non-target site (NTS) resistance of Brachypodium hybridum is due to enhanced detoxification of acetyl-CoA carboxylase inhibitors. Here, we explored the transcriptional basis of this phenomenon. Plants were characterized for the transcriptional response to herbicide application, high-temperature and their combination, in an attempt to uncover the genetic basis of temperature-dependent pinoxaden resistance. Even though most of the variance among treatments was due to pinoxaden application (61%), plants were able to survive pinoxaden application only when grown under high-temperatures. Biological pathways and expression patterns of members of specific gene families, previously shown to be involved in NTS metabolic resistance to different herbicides, were examined. Cytochrome P450, glucosyl transferase and glutathione-S-transferase genes were found to be up-regulated in response to pinoxaden application under both control and high-temperature conditions. However, biological pathways related to oxidation and glucose conjugation were found to be significantly enriched only under the combination of pinoxaden application and high-temperature. Analysis of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was conducted at several time points after treatment using a probe detecting H2O2/peroxides. Comparison of ROS accumulation among treatments revealed a significant reduction in ROS quantities 24 h after pinoxaden application only under high-temperature conditions. These results may indicate significant activity of enzymatic ROS scavengers that can be correlated with the activation of herbicide-resistance mechanisms. This study shows that up-regulation of genes related to metabolic resistance is not sufficient to explain temperature-dependent pinoxaden resistance. We suggest that elevated activity of enzymatic processes at high-temperature may induce rapid and efficient pinoxaden metabolism leading to temperature-dependent herbicide resistance.
GraspForm: Shape and Hardness Rendering on Handheld Device toward Universal Interface for 3D Haptic TV

The main goal of our research is to develop a haptic display that conveys the shapes, hardness, and textures of objects displayed on near-future 3D haptic TVs. We present a novel handheld device, GraspForm. This device renders the surface shapes and hardness of a virtual object that is represented in an absolute position in real space. GraspForm has a 2×2 matrix of actuated hemispheres for one fingertip, two actuated pads for the palm, and a force feedback actuator for the thumb. Our first experimental results showed that eight participants succeeded in recognizing the side geometries of a cylinder and a square prism regardless of the availability of visual information.
A New Modulation Method for the Modular Multilevel Converter Allowing Fundamental Switching Frequency

This paper presents a new modulation method for the modular multilevel converter. The proposed method is based on a fixed pulse pattern where harmonic elimination methods can be applied. In the proposed modulation method, the pulse pattern is chosen in such a way that the stored energy in each submodule remains stable. It is shown that this can be done at the fundamental switching frequency without measuring the capacitor voltages or using any other form of feedback control. Such a modulation scheme has not been presented before. The theoretical results are verified by both simulations and experimental results. The simulation results show successful operation at the fundamental switching frequency with a larger number of submodules. When a smaller number of submodules are used, harmonic elimination methods may be applied. This is verified experimentally on a converter with eight submodules per phase leg. The experimental results verify that stable operation can be maintained at the fundamental switching frequency while successfully eliminating the fifth harmonic in the ac-side voltage.
A loglogistic model for altitude decompression sickness.

BACKGROUND Altitude decompression sickness (DCS) is a potential hazard encountered during high altitude flights or during extravehicular activity in space. In this study, the loglogistic distribution was used to model DCS risk and symptom onset time. METHODS The Air Force Research Laboratory, Brooks AFB, TX, has conducted studies on human subjects exposed to simulated altitudes in hypobaric chambers. The dataset from those studies was used to develop the DCS models and consisted of 975 subject-exposures to various altitudes, preoxygenation times, and exercise regimens. Since the risk of DCS is known to increase over time at altitude, and then decrease because of denitrogenation, the loglogistic model was fit to the data. The model assumes that the probability of DCS depends on several risk factors. Maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters were obtained using the statistical software package SAS. Cross validation techniques were provided to examine the goodness of fit of the model. RESULTS The fitted model indicated that altitude, ratio of preoxygenation to exposure time, and exercise were the most significant risk factors. The model was used to predict the risk of DCS for a variety of exposure profiles. The predicted probability of DCS agreed very closely with the actual percentages in the database. CONCLUSION The loglogistic distribution was found to be appropriate for modeling the risk of DCS. Based on the cross validation and validation results, we conclude that this model provides good estimates of the probability of DCS over time.
Nup98-Homeodomain Fusions Interact with Endogenous Nup98 during Interphase and Localize to Kinetochores and Chromosome Arms during Mitosis

Fusion proteins containing the FG/GLFG repeats of Nup98 joined to a homeodomain are implicated in leukemias. We find expression of these proteins leads to mislocalization of endogenous intranuclear Nup98. During mitosis, fusions concentrate at kinetochores and chromosomes. These findings suggest new possible contributions of Nup98 fusions to leukemogenesis.
Thioredoxin and thioredoxin-interacting protein as prognostic markers for gastric cancer recurrence.

AIM To evaluate the potential of thioredoxin (TXN) and thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) expression as biomarkers for predicting gastric cancer recurrence. METHODS TXN and TXNIP expression levels were acquired from gene expression microarray data for 65 human gastric cancer tissues. We determined whether each gene expression level was associated with cancer recurrence and investigated the relationship between the two genes. For validation, the expression levels of TXN and TXNIP were measured by quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction in 68 independent stage III gastric cancer patients. The correlation between gene expression and cancer prognosis was evaluated. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to investigate the protein expression levels of TXN and TXNIP and to characterize the expression patterns of each protein. RESULTS TXN was a prognosis-related gene (P = 0.009), whereas TXNIP, a TXN inhibitor, demonstrated a negative correlation with TXN in the gene expression microarray data. In the 68 stage III patients, the expression levels of both TXN and TXNIP had a statistically significant effect on recurrence-free survival (RFS, P = 0.008 and P = 0.036, respectively). The low TXN and high TXNIP expression group exhibited a better prognosis than the other groups, and the high TXN and low TXNIP expression group exhibited a poorer prognosis (P < 0.001 for RFS and P = 0.001 for overall survival). More than half of the patients in the simultaneously high TXN and low TXNIP expression group experienced a recurrence within 1 year after curative surgery, and the 5-year survival rate of the patients in this group was 29%, compared with 89% in the low TXN and high TXNIP expression group. The TXN protein was overexpressed in 65% of the gastric cancer tissues, whereas the TXNIP protein was underexpressed in 85% of the cancer cells. In a correlation analysis, TXN and TXNIP were highly correlated with many oncogenes and tumor suppressors as well as with genes related to energy, protein synthesis and autophagy. CONCLUSION TXN and TXNIP are promising prognostic markers for gastric cancer, and performing personalized adjuvant treatment based on TXN and TXNIP expression levels would be an effective practice in the treatment of gastric cancer.
Benton Controlled Oral Word Association Test: reliability and updated norms.

The aim of this paper is to update the over 20-year-old normative data for the Benton Controlled Word Association (COWA) Test. In a sample of 360 normal volunteers, the age ranged between 16-70 years, and the educational level ranged from 7-22 years. Care was taken to ensure that the population was heterogeneous, yet the two stratifications of gender, four age, and three educational groups led to 24 cells with 15 individuals in each. Test-retest reliability was established by testing 30% of the sample after a 6-month delay, which represents a typical follow up duration between testings in a clinical setting. The two forms of the COWA revealed significant test-retest reliability. Generally, our updated values fall above the original normative values, which were derived from a less well-educated and rural sample. No major gender or age trends were noted, but the COWA test performances were influenced by education, i.e., as the level of education increased, the performance on the COWA increased. The only gender differences that were found were for the women in the highest educational group ( > 16 years), who performed significantly better that men in the highest educational group. An error analysis of repetitions or perseverations is provided, with cut-off scores according to age levels. Finally, the updated COWA norms are compared to the original norms as well as to other measures of word fluency.