Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CAP Forum on Forensic Accounting in the Post‐Enron World: Audit Committees and Misappropriation of Assets: Publicly Held Companies in the United States*/LES COMITÉS DE VÉRIFICATION ET LE DÉTOURNEMENT DE BIENS: LES SOCIÉTÉS OUVERTES AUX ÉTATS‐UNIS

The majority of previous studies investigating the different risk factors associated with financial fraud have focused on investigating misreporting. A few studies have provided only a limited descriptive analysis of cases involving misappropriation of assets without investigating the corporate governance structure and its role in reducing the incidence of misappropriation. Only Beasley (1996) has examined financial fraud and corporate governance structure by combining cases of misreporting and misappropriation of assets by top management. This study investigates the relationship between the incidence of misappropriation of assets by employees, including management, and the effectiveness of the audit committee. Using LEXIS-NEXIS Research Software 7.1, Business/Finance News to find relevant articles, we identified publicly held companies suffering misappropriation of assets by employees during the period from 1987 to 2000. The study investigated 81 companies experiencing misappropriation and two control samples: 81 random-control companies and 81 matched-control companies. The results extend the previous literature related to financial fraud and corporate governance. The percentage of independent members in audit committees and the average tenure of audit committee members were significantly and negatively related to the incidence of misappropriation of assets in publicly held companies in both the random and the matched models, while the number of audit committee meetings was not significant.
Management oriented documentation of simulation

Simulation documentation for management is the written report that describes what a simulation does. It acts as a communications medium between the simulation modeller and the recipient of the report. The major problem with most management reports is the level of difficulty that reader faces. Wading through paragraph after paragraph of turgid prose makes a management report difficult to read. This problem can be overcome by careful attention to the rules of good technical writing. It is best handled by a documentation specialist rather than the simulation modeller, because the skills required for clear documentation are different from the skills required to design and program a simulation. Management oriented documentation is oriented toward the presentation of conclusions and recommendations. It will add about 10% to the cost of a simulation project. But without good documentation the project may be wasted.
Urogenital alterations in aged male caveolin-1 knockout mice.

PURPOSE Caveolae are flask-shaped invaginations of the plasma membrane formed by the oligomerization of caveolins. Because only smooth muscle contains all caveolin (Cav) family members (Cav-1, 2 and 3), we examined the contribution of each caveolin to urogenital smooth muscle structure/function. MATERIALS AND METHODS WT, Cav-1, 2, 3 and -1/3 knockout (KO) mouse bladders were characterized by Western blot, co-immunoprecipitation, immunofluorescence microscopy, electron microscopy, histochemistry and pharmacological techniques. Cystometric analysis was performed in conscious, freely moving mice. Other urogenital organs were investigated by histological analysis. RESULTS The loss of bladder Cav-1 results in a marked decrease in Cav-2 but not Cav-3 expression. Ablation of Cav-3 fails to alter Cav-1 or Cav-2 expression. Deletion of Cav-1 results in the almost complete loss of caveolae, while Cav-2 KO and Cav-3 KO mouse smooth muscle showed a normal number of caveolae. The loss of Cav-1 generated caveolae led to significant urogenital changes in male mice (most marked by 12 months of age), namely 1) bladder weight-to-body weight ratios were increased, 2) the bladder smooth muscle layer was thickened, 3) the bladders had increased baseline, threshold and spontaneous pressures, 4) bladder strips showed a decreased contractile response to carbachol and KCl, and 5) these smooth muscle changes were accompanied by marked fluid accumulation in the prostate and seminal vesicles, with intracellular vacuolization in the kidneys. As such, male Cav-1 KO mice may be a useful animal model for studying LUTD (lower urinary tract dysfunction) that is so prevalent in aging male patients. CONCLUSIONS The loss of Cav-1 and, thus, of most smooth muscle cell caveolae results in significant bladder dysfunction and urogenital organ changes in aged male mice.
Discretionary Accruals and Auditor Behaviour in Code-Law Contexts: An Application to Failing Spanish Firms

This study examines the relationship between earnings management and auditor behaviour in the pre-bankrupt client segment of the Spanish audit market. As proxies for auditor behaviour, we use type of audit firm (Big N/non-Big N) and type of audit report. In contrast to the USA, audit reports in Spain often include modifications other than a going-concern opinion. This allows us to study the relationship in more detail than is possible with US data. The results of our study show that discretionary accruals are negatively related to going-concern opinions but are positively related to reports modified for reasons other than going-concern problems. However, unlike Butler et al. (Journal of Accounting and Economics, 37, pp. 139–165, 2004) the negative relationship is explained not by liquidity survival tactics but by auditor conservatism. We find this conservatism not only in the value of discretionary accruals but also in the qualifications that accompany a going concern. In these cases GAAP violations have a much greater income effect and a stronger relationship with the reversal of manipulation accumulated over the years than with the manipulation introduced during the last year. Finally, our results suggest that Big N differentiation in a code-law country is context-specific and depends on the business risk parameter of the ‘audit risk model’. In particular, for high-risk firms, Big N auditors show a significantly lower level of discretionary accruals and a greater propensity to issue a going-concern opinion.
Mutual Pulling Between Two Oscillators

Behavior of two mutually coupled phase-locked or free-running oscillators with nearby frequencies is studied. In the case of two free-running mutually coupled oscillators, the two oscillators are either locked to a common frequency, or they undergo through a mutual pulling interaction. It is shown that center frequencies of the pulled oscillators come closer, however, they do not necessarily approach toward each other from opposite directions. It is also demonstrated that the strengths of mutual injections as well as the phase-shifts experienced by the mutually injected signals, affect locations of the two center frequencies. The paper also studies impacts of phase-locked loops on the location and magnitude of the sidebands, when the two mutually coupled oscillators are phase-locked. Effects of the phase-shifts endured by the mutually injected signals on the sidebands are also discussed.
Consumer credit card ownership and usage practices: empirical evidence from Sri Lanka

Knowledge that has been accumulated through research efforts concerning credit card ownership and usage behaviour has been confined to Western societies. Given the importance of cross-national application of consumer marketing concepts and propositions for academic and practical reasons, investigations are needed to test whether consumer credit card usage patterns that are assumed to exist in the West also exist in non-Western parts of the world, especially in Asia. Therefore, objectives of this research were to explore credit card ownership and usage practices in Sri Lanka, and to explore the relationship between credit card ownership and usage practices, and demographic and socio-economic characteristics of credit card users. The findings offer implications for researchers and practitioners.
Should Patients With Anemia and Low Normal or Normal Serum Ferritin Undergo Colonoscopy?

BACKGROUND:Patients with unexplained iron deficiency anemia have a greater prevalence of colonic neoplasia, and should be evaluated for a colonoscopy. The approach to patients with anemia without iron deficiency remains unclear.OBJECTIVE:To compare the prevalence of colonic neoplasia in anemic patients with normal ferritin (>50 ng/mL), to those with ferritin ≤50 ng/mL, and nonanemic individuals.METHODS:Patients referred for colonoscopy for anemia evaluation were stratified into 3 groups: ferritin ≤50 ng/mL, 51–100 ng/mL, and >100 ng/mL. We compared these groups to each other, and to asymptomatic nonanemic individuals undergoing screening colonoscopy. The prevalence of advanced colonic neoplasia was determined for each group using existing records.RESULTS:During the study period, 414 patients who underwent colonoscopy for anemia evaluation and 323 nonanemic individuals who underwent colonoscopy for cancer screening met inclusion criteria. Study subjects were mostly men. The prevalence of advanced colonic neoplasia in subjects with ferritin 51–100 ng/mL was 7.2% (95% CI 2.4–17.9%), similar to 7.9% (95% CI 5.1–11.9%) in those with ferritin ≤50 ng/mL. The incidence of advanced colonic neoplasia in subjects with ferritin >100 ng/mL was 1.7% (95% CI 0.1–6.6%), similar to 1.2% (95% CI 0.4–3.3%) in the asymptomatic nonanemic group. After adjusting for age, patients with ferritin ≤50 ng/mL and 51–100 ng/mL were almost 5 times more likely to harbor advanced colonic neoplasia than the other groups. The addition of other laboratory parameters did not improve the predictive value of ferritin.CONCLUSION:A ferritin cutoff of 100 ng/mL can be used to determine the need for colonoscopy in men with anemia.
Genetic evidence that Celsr3 and Celsr2, together with Fzd3, regulate forebrain wiring in a Vangl-independent manner

Significance Connections are crucial to brain function and a variety of molecular systems direct axonal growth during development and regeneration. An important system involves Celsr2, Celsr3, and Fzd3, membrane proteins that also regulate epithelial planar cell polarity (PCP). Here, we show genetically that Celsr2 and Celsr3 guide axons redundantly, in collaboration with Fzd3 in the same cell populations. However, unlike in epithelial PCP, their action is Vangl1 and Vangl2 independent. Furthermore, expression of Celsr2-3 and Fzd3 in thalamocortical axons and cortical cells is required for the fine mapping of cortical areas. Our findings that Celsr2, Celsr3, and Fzd3 regulate axonal guidance using mechanisms different than epithelial PCP have implications for brain wiring during normal development and regeneration. Celsr3 and Fzd3, members of “core planar cell polarity” (PCP) genes, were shown previously to control forebrain axon guidance and wiring by acting in axons and/or guidepost cells. Here, we show that Celsr2 acts redundantly with Celsr3, and that their combined mutation mimics that of Fzd3. The phenotypes generated upon inactivation of Fzd3 in different forebrain compartments are similar to those in conditional Celsr2-3 mutants, indicating that Fzd3 and Celsr2-3 act in the same population of cells. Inactivation of Celsr2-3 or Fzd3 in thalamus does not affect forebrain wiring, and joint inactivation in cortex and thalamus adds little to cortical inactivation alone in terms of thalamocortical projections. On the other hand, joint inactivation perturbs strongly the formation of the barrel field, which is unaffected upon single cortical or thalamic inactivation, indicating a role for interactions between thalamic axons and cortical neurons in cortical arealization. Unexpectedly, forebrain wiring is normal in mice defective in Vangl1 and Vangl2, showing that, contrary to epithelial PCP, axon guidance can be Vangl independent in some contexts. Our results suggest that Celsr2-3 and Fzd3 regulate axonal navigation in the forebrain by using mechanisms different from classical epithelial PCP, and require interacting partners other than Vangl1-2 that remain to be identified.
Algorithms for reducing the semantic gap in image retrieval systems

In this paper we study the possibilities to discover correlations between visual primitive characteristics and semantic concepts of images, meaning the extraction of semantic meaning based on learning, from an image database. The problem of automatic discovery of semantic inference rules is approached. A semantic rule is a combination of semantic indicator values, which are visual elements, that identifies semantic concepts of images. The annotation procedure starts with the semantic rules generation on each image category. The language used for rules representation is Prolog. The advantages of using Prolog are its flexibility and simplicity in representation of rules. Our methods are not limited to any specific domain and they can be applied in any field.
Age, Overtime, and Employee Health, Safety and Productivity Outcomes: A Case Study

Objectives:To expand a study of the impact of overtime on employee health, safety, and productivity outcomes, previously reported in this journal, with tests comparing older versus younger workers on these relationships. Methods:Secondary analyses of a longitudinal panel (n = 2746) representing workers at US sites for a heavy manufacturer during 2001 to 2002. Structural equation techniques were used to assess two hypotheses in the context of multiple group models positing the prediction of a broad set of employee outcomes using a three-step causal sequence. One set of models compared overtime impact for three age groups (<45, 45 to 49, 50+) at the aggregate level. Two others compared overtime impact for the three age groups by compensation type (hourly vs salaried). Results:Advancing age was linked to greater rates of adverse consequences as a function of overtime (hypothesis #1), but these increases were largely confined to hourly employees working extended overtime (averaging 60+ hours per week) and occurred on only four of the nine study outcomes. With respect to moderate overtime (48.01 to 59.99 hours) and to variables reflecting the possible impact of past overtime (eg, prior disability episodes), increases in age among hourly employees did not lead to stronger associations between overtime and adverse outcomes on most tests and in fact in many cases were linked to decrements in these associations (hypothesis #2). Salaried employees recorded no greater linkages between overtime and adverse outcomes with advancing age across all tests involving hypothesized overtime effects or “possibly a function of overtime” effects. Conclusions:The results support the proposition that, when employees work overtime, adverse outcomes—and indirect costs—do not increase with advancing age in any kind of wholesale fashion. Where rates of adverse outcomes do increase, they are confined to certain subgroups of employees doing certain types of work and occur on certain dimensions at certain levels of longer workhours. It is argued that carefully calibrated approaches vis-à-vis older workers are needed to maximize employer capacity to address the unique challenges posed by this increasingly important portion of the workforce.
Modeling of Delay Variability Due to Supply Variations in Pass-Transistor and Static Full Adders

In this communication, the delay variability due to supply variations is investigated for two important full adder topologies. An analytical model of the delay sensitivity to supply variations is developed for the static and the complementary pass gate logic (CPL) logic style. The model is very simple and independent of the adopted technology, thus it allows for identifying the main parameters which define the delay variability due to supply variations, as well as deriving design considerations. From the model, several interesting properties are derived, such as the importance of the input rise/fall time variations and the effect of the voltage and technology scaling. The model is validated by means of SPICE simulations with a 0.18-mum and a 0.35-mum technology.
Angiotensin Type 2 Receptor Dephosphorylates Bcl-2 by Activating Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase Phosphatase-1 and Induces Apoptosis*

We examined the cellular and signaling mechanism of angiotensin II (Ang II) type 2 (AT2) receptor-induced apoptosis in PC12W (rat pheochromocytoma cell line) cells that express abundant AT2 receptor but not Ang II type 1 receptor. In these cells, nerve growth factor (NGF) inhibited the internucleosomal DNA fragmentation induced by serum depletion, whereas Ang II antagonized this NGF cell survival action and induced apoptosis. We studied the mechanism of NGF and AT2 receptor interaction on apoptosis by examining their effects on the survival factor Bcl-2. AT2 receptor activation did affect intracellular Bcl-2 protein levels. Bcl-2 phosphorylation was stimulated by NGF, whereas AT2 receptor activation blocked this NGF effect. Pretreatment with antisense oligonucleotide of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase phosphatase-1 enhanced the effects of NGF on MAP kinase activation and Bcl-2 phosphorylation but attenuated the inhibitory effects of AT2 receptor on MAP kinase, Bcl-2 phosphorylation, and apoptosis. Taken together, these results suggest that MAP kinase plays a critical role in inhibiting apoptosis by phosphorylating Bcl-2. The AT2 receptor inhibits MAP kinase activation, resulting in the inactivation of Bcl-2 and the induction of apoptosis.
Optimal Scale in Medical Practice: A Survivor Analysis

The issue of optimal scale in medical practice has received a great deal of attention in the literature. ' Researchers have used a variety of methods to determine the relative efficiency of solo versus group practices of various sizes. The empirical results have unfortunately not been consistent. They have run the gamut of weakly favoring solo practice2 to asserting that groups of over 30 physicians are most efficient.3 The purpose of this paper is to point out some of the measurement problems that have plagued these studies (and are likely to hinder similar studies in the future) and to estimate relative efficiency by a method which does not encounter these problems-survivor analysis. The a priori case for economies of scale in medical practice is based upon technical indivisibilities. Larger practices can make use of the services of paramedical personnel to perform many of the simpler
Mining for Nonribosomal Peptide Synthetase and Polyketide Synthase Genes Revealed a High Level of Diversity in the Sphagnum Bog Metagenome

ABSTRACT Sphagnum bog ecosystems are among the oldest vegetation forms harboring a specific microbial community and are known to produce an exceptionally wide variety of bioactive substances. Although the Sphagnum metagenome shows a rich secondary metabolism, the genes have not yet been explored. To analyze nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) and polyketide synthases (PKSs), the diversity of NRPS and PKS genes in Sphagnum-associated metagenomes was investigated by in silico data mining and sequence-based screening (PCR amplification of 9,500 fosmid clones). The in silico Illumina-based metagenomic approach resulted in the identification of 279 NRPSs and 346 PKSs, as well as 40 PKS-NRPS hybrid gene sequences. The occurrence of NRPS sequences was strongly dominated by the members of the Protebacteria phylum, especially by species of the Burkholderia genus, while PKS sequences were mainly affiliated with Actinobacteria. Thirteen novel NRPS-related sequences were identified by PCR amplification screening, displaying amino acid identities of 48% to 91% to annotated sequences of members of the phyla Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Cyanobacteria. Some of the identified metagenomic clones showed the closest similarity to peptide synthases from Burkholderia or Lysobacter, which are emerging bacterial sources of as-yet-undescribed bioactive metabolites. This report highlights the role of the extreme natural ecosystems as a promising source for detection of secondary compounds and enzymes, serving as a source for biotechnological applications.
Compliance with Sulfonylureas in a Health Maintenance Organization: A Pharmacy Record–Based Study

OBJECTIVE: To determine which factors affect compliance with sulfonylureas in a population served by a health maintenance organization in Southern California. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of pharmacy records and healthcare utilization data for two years (April 1993–March 1995), and a survey mailed to patients. Patients treated with sulfonylureas were selected for analysis on the basis of their prescription profile. Compliance was measured from the pharmacy records as the proportion of days the patient was in possession of the prescribed medications. Patient compliance with sulfonylureas was modeled as a function of four clusters of determinants: patient-related attributes, drug regimen characteristics and complexity, health status and disease-related variables, and characteristics of the interaction with healthcare providers. RESULTS: 786 patients were identified for analysis (49.1% women, mean age 59 y). The mean compliance rate was 83% ± 22% SD. Compliance was significantly positively related with age and self-reported level of medication-taking compliance at baseline. Factors shown to have an inverse relationship with compliance were treatment complexity, perception of general health, and being a newly treated patient (adjusted R2 for the final model = 0.148). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that factors found to be associated with noncompliant behavior (e.g., being a newly treated patient, self-reported compliance, regimen complexity) can be assessed by physicians and pharmacists as a routine practice.
Developmental, audiological, and speech perception functioning in children after cochlear implant surgery.

OBJECTIVES To examine changes in audiological, speech perception, and developmental functioning subsequent to cochlear implantation in children with severe to profound hearing impairment, and to identify factors related to those changes. DESIGN Prospective, longitudinal analysis to compare functioning of pediatric patients who underwent cochlear implantation before and 1 year after surgery. SETTING Outpatient pediatric cochlear implantation program in an academic institution (The Listening Center, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md). Patients Forty consecutive pediatric patients between 1(1/2) and 9 years of age who received a cochlear implant between April 1, 1996, and August 31, 1998, and who also underwent psychological, audiological, and speech perception evaluations immediately before and 1 year after implantation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Scores on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-Second Edition, Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition, Developmental Profile II, Child Behavior Checklist, speech perception categories, and audiological pure-tone thresholds. RESULTS Mean (SD) duration of hearing impairment was 37.78 (27.94) months, mean (SD) age at surgery was 50.72 (27.66) months. Significant improvements were found 1 year after surgery in audiological, speech perception, and developmental functioning, but not in nonverbal intelligence or behavior. Greater benefits in audiological and developmental functioning were associated with younger age (<48 months) at implantation. CONCLUSIONS Patients showed significant improvement in audiological status, overall developmental functioning, and speech perception skills in a short time after surgery. Greatest improvement in speech perception was for children with the least initial impairment, and greatest developmental gains were associated with young age at implantation.