Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does R&D investment under corporate social responsibility increase firm performance?

Research and development (R&D) investment affects firms’ growth and reflects their investment energy. However, it is recorded as an expense in financial statements, according to generally accepted accounting principles (e.g., International Financial Statements Standards). This study examines whether firms’ R&D investment has a positive effect on their performance, when they engage in corporate social responsibility. The author focuses on firms that have earned corporate social responsibility awards from Global Views Magazine , Common Wealth Magazine , and the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy in order to measure firms’ levels of corporate social responsibility engagement. Tobin’s Q is used as a proxy for firm performance. Because corporate social responsibility engagement is not mandatory in Taiwan, the Heckman two-stage process is used to control for an endogeneity bias. In the first stage, logit regression is employed, using a dummy variable as a proxy for a firm’s social responsibility engagement. In the second stage, the impact of corporate social responsibility on firm value is estimated by regressing Tobin’s Q on various governance and firm characteristics and on a dummy variable for social responsibility engagement. Based on all public traded companies in Taiwan for the period 2005 – 2014, and after controlling for an endogeneity bias, it is found that R&D investment is positively associated with Tobin’s Q, but only when firms engage in corporate social responsibility. Therefore, an investment strategy that meets corporate social responsibility objectives benefits firm performance. The empirical results provide policy implications for firm R&D investment and corporate social responsibility implementation.
Determinants of Urban Worker Earnings in Ghana and Tanzania: The Role of Education

The paper examines the role of education in earnings determination by using all three rounds of the Urban Worker Surveys of Tanzania and Ghana for 2004-2006. We investigate and compare heterogeneity in earnings determinants among self-employed (informal), private and public sector workers. We examine the role education, individual and household characteristics play in facilitating entry into employment sectors in addition to analysing the pattern of returns to education along the earnings distribution. After addressing endogeneity and selectivity biases associated with estimating earnings equations, we find that education plays an important role in promoting access to formal sector jobs, particularly employment in the public sector, but has no direct impact on earnings within the sector in both countries. Results from quantile regressions indicate primary and secondary levels of education are inequality-reducing among workers in Tanzania but this is not the case in Ghana. Tertiary education on the other hand is found to widen earnings inequality in both Tanzania and Ghana.
A Module Searching Method in Protein-protein Interaction Networks with Gene Expression Profile

Proteins are essential involved in variety of cellular functions and disease processes. Microarray technology measure thousands of genes simultaneously from expression levels in a microarray experiment, which can benefit us to further explore the interaction mechanism of proteins. For the purpose, we developed an efficient algorithm to identify network modules in Protein-protein Interaction (PPI) networks based on gene expression profiles. The found modules in a given PPI network are suggestive of a complex or a distinct functional pathway. We use a seed-expand method to search network modules and evaluate them by using GO annotations and KEGG Pathway. The results show that the identified modules are statistically significant in terms of GO annotations and KEGG Pathway Enrichment.
Stress does not enable pyridostigmine to inhibit brain cholinesterase after parenteral administration.

The peripherally acting cholinesterase inhibitor pyridostigmine was widely used during the Gulf War as a pretreatment against possible chemical warfare attack. Following consistent reports on long-term illness among Gulf War veterans, pyridostigmine was examined for its possible long-term effects. These effects were suggested to be induced by the combination of pyridostigmine administration and stress exposure that allowed this quaternary compound to enter the brain through stress induced changes in blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability. Recently, pyridostigmine administration was demonstrated to inhibit brain cholinesterase following acute stress in mice. However, the effect was not replicated under similar conditions in guinea pigs. Because of the significant implication of these findings, we tested brain cholinesterase (ChE) inhibition following the administration of pyridostigmine, or the tertiary carbamate physostigmine, with or without stress in mice. Different experiments were performed to examine the contribution of gender, age (young and adults), stress (type and intensity), or strain (CD-1 and FVB/n) parameters. No inhibition of brain ChE was detected in any of these experiments. At the same time, physostigmine induced the expected decrease in brain ChE in all the experiments. Thus, we could not replicate the findings that suggest pyridostigmine can affect brain cholinesterase following stress.
An Examination of Auditor Changes Following Events Adversely Affecting External Auditor Credibility.

Research Objectives . 25 Agency Theory . 26 Variables Drawn From Prior Research . 33 Measurement of Variables . 37 Sample Selection . 41 Statistical Tests . 43 Univariate Tests . 44 Multivariate Tests . 45 Further Analysis . 47 Summary.47
Pediatric radiation dosimetry for positron-emitting radionuclides using anthropomorphic phantoms.

PURPOSE Positron emission tomography (PET) plays an important role in the diagnosis, staging, treatment, and surveillance of clinically localized diseases. Combined PET/CT imaging exhibits significantly higher sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy than conventional imaging when it comes to detecting malignant tumors in children. However, the radiation dose from positron-emitting radionuclide to the pediatric population is a matter of concern since children are at a particularly high risk when exposed to ionizing radiation. METHODS The authors evaluate the absorbed fractions and specific absorbed fractions (SAFs) of monoenergy photons/electrons as well as S-values of 9 positron-emitting radionuclides (C-11, N-13, O-15, F-18, Cu-64, Ga-68, Rb-82, Y-86, and I-124) in 48 source regions for 10 anthropomorphic pediatric hybrid models, including the reference newborn, 1-, 5-, 10-, and 15-yr-old male and female models, using the Monte Carlo N-Particle eXtended general purpose Monte Carlo transport code. RESULTS The self-absorbed SAFs and S-values for most organs were inversely related to the age and body weight, whereas the cross-dose terms presented less correlation with body weight. For most source/target organ pairs, Rb-82 and Y-86 produce the highest self-absorbed and cross-absorbed S-values, respectively, while Cu-64 produces the lowest S-values because of the low-energy and high-frequency of electron emissions. Most of the total self-absorbed S-values are contributed from nonpenetrating particles (electrons and positrons), which have a linear relationship with body weight. The dependence of self-absorbed S-values of the two annihilation photons varies to the reciprocal of 0.76 power of the mass, whereas the self-absorbed S-values of positrons vary according to the reciprocal mass. CONCLUSIONS The produced S-values for common positron-emitting radionuclides can be exploited for the assessment of radiation dose delivered to the pediatric population from various PET radiotracers used in clinical and research settings. The mass scaling method for positron-emitters can be used to derive patient-specific S-values from data of reference phantoms.
A case study of integrative creation of supplier relationship management process

The purpose of the thesis is to create a model of the supplier relationship management process, which can be applied in business organizations. In addition, the thesis examines the benefits of a supplier relationship management process, how to measure the success of the process as well as the relevant stakeholders of the process. The background literature discussed the topics of business process, sourcing, purchasing and supplier relationship management. In detail, the definitions and different elements of the concepts were identified. Moreover, several models of strategic sourcing and supplier relationship management processes were described in the thesis. After that, a theoretical framework was defined based on the academic literature. To achieve the objective of the study, a case study research was utilized. The case company in the thesis is a Finnish-based international company that manufactures environmental instruments. Thirty-three semistructured interviews have been conducted with the internal employees of the case company. Among those interviews, nineteen were conducted with the sourcing personnel, and fourteen were carried out with other stakeholders from other functions of the company. On top of that, two benchmarking interviews with two other Finnish-based international companies were also held in order to have a broader view of the topic. Thereafter, the interviews were transcribed and qualitatively analyzed. The as-is and to-be process were taken into consideration from the interviewees’ perspectives. The research shows that there is an urgent need for a model of the supplier relationship management process. A framework for the process was presented as the main result of the thesis. Furthermore, having a supplier relationship management process will solve the lack of standardization, the lack of harmonization in information transmission as well as the lack of strategic overview in the organization. The process should also consist of all stakeholders from different functions in the company, with sourcing in the center of the loop. In addition, it is suggested that the satisfaction survey method conducted both with suppliers and buyers are necessary to measure the relationship and the success of the process.
A Privacy-preserving Cancelable Palmprint Template Generation Scheme Using Noise Data

In order to achieve more secure and privacy-preserving, a new method of cancelable palmprint template generation scheme using noise data is proposed. Firstly, the random projection is used to reduce the dimension of the palmprint image and the reduced dimension image is normalized. Secondly, a chaotic matrix is produced and it is also normalized. Then the cancelable palmprint feature is generated by comparing the normalized chaotic matrix with reduced dimension image after normalization. Finally, in order to enhance the privacy protection, and then the noise data with independent and identically distributed is added, as the final palmprint features. In this article, the algorithm of adding noise data is analyzed theoretically. Experimental results on the Hong Kong PolyU Palmprint Database verify that random projection and noise are generated in an uncomplicated way, the computational complexity is low. The theoretical analysis of nosie data is consistent with the experimental results. According to the system requirement, on the basis of guaranteeing accuracy, adding a certain amount of noise will contribute to security and privacy protection.
Abnormal Brain Activation During Theory of Mind Tasks in Schizophrenia: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract Social cognition abilities are severely impaired in schizophrenia (SZ). The current meta-analysis used foci of 21 individual studies on functional abnormalities in the schizophrenic brain in order to identify regions that reveal convergent under- or over-activation during theory of mind (TOM) tasks. Studies were included in the analyses when contrasting tasks that require the processing of mental states with tasks which did not. Only studies that investigated patients with an ICD or DSM diagnosis were included. Quantitative voxel-based meta-analyses were done using Seed-based d Mapping software. Common TOM regions like medial-prefrontal cortex and temporo-parietal junction revealed abnormal activation in schizophrenic patients: Under-activation was identified in the medial prefrontal cortex, left orbito-frontal cortex, and in a small section of the left posterior temporo-parietal junction. Remarkably, robust over-activation was identified in a more dorsal, bilateral section of the temporo-parietal junction. Further abnormal activation was identified in medial occipito-parietal cortex, right premotor areas, left cingulate gyrus, and lingual gyrus. The findings of this study suggest that SZ patients simultaneously show over- and under-activation in TOM-related regions. Especially interesting, temporo-parietal junction reveals diverging activation patterns with an under-activating left posterior and an over-activating bilateral dorsal section. In conclusion, SZ patients show less specialized brain activation in regions linked to TOM and increased activation in attention-related networks suggesting compensatory effects.
Security in service-oriented vehicular networks

Service-oriented vehicular networks support diverse infrastructure-based commercial services including Internet access, real-time traffic concerns, video streaming, and content distribution. The success of service delivery in vehicular networks depends on the underlying communication system to enable the user devices to connect to a large number of communicating peers and even to the Internet. This poses many new research challenges, especially in the aspects of security, user privacy, and billing. In this article we first identify the key requirements of authentication, privacy preservation, and billing for service delivery in vehicular networks. We then review the existing industrial and academic efforts on service- oriented vehicular networks. We also point out two security challenges, minimizing vehicleto- infrastructure authentication latency and distributed public key revocation, which are considered among the most challenging design objectives in service-oriented vehicular networks. A novel fast vehicle-to-infrastructure authentication based on a vehicle mobility prediction scheme and an infrastructure-based short-time certificate management scheme are then proposed to address these two challenges.
The Heart of Institutions: Emotional Competence and Institutional Actorhood

We develop the concept of emotional competence, which refers to the ability to experience and display emotions that are deemed appropriate for an actor role in an institutional order. Emotional competence reveals a more expansive view of emotions in institutional theory, where emotions are central to the constitution of people as competent actors and lend reality and passionate identification to institutions. We distinguish two facets of emotional competence—private, which is needed to engage in self-regulation, and public, which is needed to elicit other-authorization—and two criteria for assessing emotional competence—the deemed naturalness and authenticity of emotions within an institutional order. These distinctions delineate four processes through which emotional competence ties personal experience and social performance to fundamental institutional ideals, the institution’s ethos. We discuss theoretical and methodological implications of this model for researching institutional processes.
Apoplastic Diffusion Barriers in Arabidopsis

During the development of Arabidopsis and other land plants, diffusion barriers are formed in the apoplast of specialized tissues within a variety of plant organs. While the cuticle of the epidermis is the primary diffusion barrier in the shoot, the Casparian strips and suberin lamellae of the endodermis and the periderm represent the diffusion barriers in the root. Different classes of molecules contribute to the formation of extracellular diffusion barriers in an organ- and tissue-specific manner. Cutin and wax are the major components of the cuticle, lignin forms the early Casparian strip, and suberin is deposited in the stage II endodermis and the periderm. The current status of our understanding of the relationships between the chemical structure, ultrastructure and physiological functions of plant diffusion barriers is discussed. Specific aspects of the synthesis of diffusion barrier components and protocols that can be used for the assessment of barrier function and important barrier properties are also presented.
The competencies developed in an undergraduate accounting course before SAICA's competency framework was effective: a student's perspective

SAICA developed a competency framework prescribing competencies a chartered accountant should master before qualifying. These competencies include compulsory, elective and residual skills (this study focused on compulsory skills: accounting and external reporting as well as pervasive skills). SAICA also issued guidance for academic programmes, detailing how competencies should be developed during academic training. Therefore South African universities should evaluate their academic programmes to ensure compliance with the guidance. The objectives of this study were (1) to determine the extent that an academic programme at a university (before the effective date of the guidance) had developed the compulsory skills and (2) to propose changes to the academic programme in underdeveloped areas. It was found that most skills were addressed in the academic programme but certain pervasive skills (leadership, innovation, understanding the environment, teamwork and communication) had not been well developed. Solutions include additional subjects, case studies, group work, and practical examples.
Performance evaluation of maximum throughput based scheduling of OFDMA LTE networks

We proposed a resource scheduling algorithm based on maximum throughput in Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) based Long-Term Evolution (LTE) networks. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated and compared with conventional maximum carrier-to-interference (C/I or MCI) based scheduling. From the system-level simulation, it is noted that maximum throughput based scheduling provides about 3% user throughput gain and 4% system throughput gain compared with C/I based scheduling.
Gender and the Internet: Causes of Variation in Access, Level, and Scope of Use

The article examines differences in the use of the Internet by gender, with a consideration of access to the web, use of communication facilities related to email and chat rooms, frequency of use, and types of websites used. The study considers the impact of socioeconomic status and social, geographic, racial, and ethnic variables for explaining variations in the use of the web by men and women, and how these factors are mediated by knowledge of how to use the web. Copyright (c) 2005 by the Southwestern Social Science Association.
Three-dimensional Imaging of the Intracellular Localization of Growth Hormone and Prolactin and Their mRNA Using Nanocrystal (Quantum Dot) and Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy Techniques

Semiconductor nanocrystals (Quantum dots, Qdots) have recently been used in biological research, because they do not fade on exposure to light, and they enable us to obtain multicolor imaging because of a narrow emission peak that can be excited via a single wavelength of light. There have been no reports of simultaneous localization of mRNA and protein using Qdots. We successfully applied these advantages of Qdot and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) to three-dimensional images of the intracellular localization of growth hormone and prolactin and to their mRNA. In situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry using Qdots combined with CLSM can optimally illustrate the relationship between protein and mRNA simultaneously in three dimensions. Such an approach enables us to visualize functional images of proteins in relation with mRNA synthesis and localization.
You Blinked: The Role and Incentives of Managers in Increasing Corporate Risks Following the Inception of Credit Default Swap Trade

Prior studies show that a lender’s incentive to monitor a client’s activities declines after receiving insurance on its loan via a credit default swap (CDS). We examine whether this altered debtor-creditor relation affects borrowers’ investment activities. We hypothesize that the borrower enhances activities that were previously constrained by lender monitoring. It shifts from safe to risky assets to increase the value of call options built into shareholder investments. We do not find support, on average, for this proposition. However, when managers’ wealth increases convexly with firm assets, borrowers increase risky investments and dividend payouts after the onset of CDS trading.
Impairment In Goodwill: An Analysis Based On Accounting Disclosure

This study aimed to verify whether Brazilian publicly traded companies published information about the goodwill impairment test between 2009 and 2011. The elaboration of a measure with compulsory disclosure items resulted in an index of compliance with the standard and permitted surveying what information the companies have disclosed. The results indicate that, in 2009, most companies did not disclose any information required for the goodwill impairment test. In 2010 and 2011, however, the percentage of companies that did not disclose anything about the procedures adopted for the test dropped. In addition, there are signs that, on average, the disclosure index increased in the course of the study period, but was very heterogeneous. Information about the discount rate and the description of the did not figure among the most disclosed information. The reflexes of a possible change in the key premise was the item whose disclosure the companies neglected most over the years. As the analysis suggests, these results may be linked with the companies’ adaptability to the impairment test procedures, but may also derive from the concentration characteristics of the companies’ control rights. In general, the increase in the disclosure percentage of the premises of the goodwill impairment test along the study period was not sufficient to reduce the disclosure differences among the companies. In addition, it could be perceived that many companies did not show consistency in the disclosure of the measure’s items between one year and the other.
Impact of Relationship Marketing and Perceived Service Quality on Customer Loyalty: An Agenda for Inquiry

With growing number of firms offering wide range of choices across the industry made today’s market more competitive than ever before. Fueled with globalization & liberalization, the entry of multinationals encouraged the firms to move from sellers’ driven marketing to buyers’ driven marketing approach. At this backdrop, Relationship Marketing has emerged as one of the most powerful marketing tools to cultivate customer loyalty, interaction and long-term engagement. At the same time, research has also revealed that the customers always desire for high quality service irrespective of the kind of the service. The focus of this study is to present a conceptual model for empirical investigation to understand the impact of relationship marketing and perceived service quality on customer loyalty.
Crystal structure of casein kinase‐1, a phosphate‐directed protein kinase.

The structure of a truncated variant of casein kinase‐1 from Schizosaccharomyces pombe, has been determined in complex with MgATP at 2.0 A resolution. The model resembles the ‘closed’, ATP‐bound conformations of the cyclin‐dependent kinase 2 and the cAMP‐dependent protein kinase, with clear differences in the structure of surface loops that impart unique features to casein kinase‐1. The structure is of unphosphorylated, active conformation of casein kinase‐1 and the peptide‐binding site is fully accessible to substrate.