Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Death by Committee? An Analysis of Corporate Board (Sub-) Committees

Boards are working harder over time, but are they working better? Using text-based algorithms to construct a dataset with over 30,000 firm-year observations from 1996 to 2010, we document that the governance reforms of the early 2000s may have had unintended consequences. While readily observable board characteristics have not changed much over time, boards have increasingly delegated responsibilities to committees, staffed by independent directors. We find evidence that this delegation may have erected barriers to communication and elective board decision-making. Investors discount the informativeness of the personal stock purchases for independent directors who are active committee members; returns to firms announcing an acquisition decrease as board delegation increases. Reform-induced delegation does not appear to be value-enhancing; a conservative estimate suggests that Tobin’s q of the typical firm in the sample decreases by 1.7% after the reforms. Board committees are relatively understudied, but our results suggest that ignoring them leads to a very incomplete picture of board governance.
Global Conformations, Hydrodynamics, and X-ray Scattering Properties of Taq and Escherichia coli DNA Polymerases in Solution*

Escherichia coli polymerase 1 (Pol 1) and Thermus aquaticus Taq polymerase are homologous Type I DNA polymerases, each comprised of a polymerase domain, a proofreading domain (inactive in Taq), and a 5′ nuclease domain. “Klenow” and “Klentaq” are the large fragments of Pol 1 and Taq and are functional polymerases lacking the 5′ nuclease domain. In the available crystal structures of full-length Taq, the 5′ nuclease domain is positioned in two different orientations: in one structure, it is extended out into solution, whereas in the other, it is folded up against the polymerase domain in a more compact structure. Analytical ultracentrifugation experiments report s20,w values of 5.05 for Taq, 4.1 for Klentaq, 5.3 for E. coli Pol 1, and 4.6 for Klenow. Measured partial specific volumes are all quite similar, indicating no significant differences in packing density between the mesophilic and thermophilic proteins. Small angle x-ray scattering studies report radii of gyration of 38.3 Å for Taq, 30.7 Å for Klentaq, and 30.5 Å for Klenow. The hydrodynamic and x-ray scattering properties of the polymerases were also calculated directly from the different crystal structures using the programs HYDROPRO (Garcia De La Torre, J., Huertas, M. L., and Carrasco, B. (2000) Biophys J. 78, 719–730) and CRYSOL (Svergun, D. I., Barberato, C., and Koch, M. H. J. (1995) J. Appl. Crystalogr. 28, 768–773), respectively. The combined experimental and computational characterizations indicate that the full-length polymerases in solution are in a conformation where the 5′ nuclease domain is extended into solution. Further, the radius of gyration, and hence the global conformation of Taq polymerase, is not altered by the binding of either matched primer template DNA or ddATP.
A Study of Convolutional Neural Networks for Clinical Document Classification in Systematic Reviews: SysReview at CLEF eHealth 2017

Identifying eligible documents for systematic reviews is one of the most time-consuming steps in writing the reviews. From retrieving numerous clinical documents to manually checking the documents with detailed criteria requires a tremendous amount of time and skilled workforce. In this paper, to increase the efficiency of the process we examine the role of convolutional neural networks for classifying medical documents for systematic reviews. The analysis is carried out in the context of the CLEF 2017 eHealth Task 2 as a participant. The evaluation demonstrates that the suggested methods show slightly better performance for full document screening than abstract screening.
Regulatory Dendritic Cells Restrain NK Cell IFN-γ Production through Mechanisms Involving NKp46, IL-10, and MHC Class I–Specific Inhibitory Receptors

Cross-talk between mature dendritic cells (mDC) and NK cells through the cell surface receptors NKp30 and DNAM-1 leads to their reciprocal activation. However, the impact of regulatory dendritic cells (regDC) on NK cell function remains unknown. As regDC constrain the immune response in different physiological and pathological conditions, the aim of this work was to investigate the functional outcome of the interaction between regDC and NK cells and the associated underlying mechanisms. RegDC generated from monocyte-derived DC treated either with LPS and dexamethasone, vitamin D3, or vitamin D3 and dexamethasone instructed NK cells to secrete lower amounts of IFN-γ than NK cells exposed to mDC. Although regDC triggered upregulation of the activation markers CD69 and CD25 on NK cells, they did not induce upregulation of CD56 as mDC, and silenced IFN-γ secretion through mechanisms involving insufficient secretion of IL-18, but not IL-12 or IL-15 and/or induction of NK cell apoptosis. Blocking experiments demonstrated that regDC curb IFN-γ secretion by NK cells through a dominant suppressive mechanism involving IL-10, NK cell inhibitory receptors, and, unexpectedly, engagement of the activating receptor NKp46. Our findings unveil a previously unrecognized cross-talk through which regDC shape NK cell function toward an alternative activated phenotype unable to secrete IFN-γ, highlighting the plasticity of NK cells in response to tolerogenic stimuli. In addition, our findings contribute to identify a novel inhibitory role for NKp46 in the control of NK cell function, and have broad implications in the resolution of inflammatory responses and evasion of antitumor responses.
Managing portfolios of complex systems with the portfolio-level epoch-era analysis for affordability framework

The effects of Sequestration on U.S. Defense spending in the mid-2010s serve as a reminder that complex defense weapons systems are funded by a finite budget. These defense systems have become increasingly complex over time, and with that complexity has come substantial cost. The ability to afford those systems, many of whose burgeoning lifecycle costs have far exceeded initial estimates, has been strained. The Nunn-McCurdy Act is the means of notifying Congress of cost overruns in major defense development programs, and often sets in motion program terminations. But it is, however, an incomplete means of managing a portfolio of systems. It addresses affordability, but does not assess the utility of the subject assets to the stakeholders, either as standalone assets or as part of a synergistic collection. Utility-at-cost provides a more useful figure of merit that can be evaluated objectively and unemotionally, not just in a static context, but over a range of possible future contexts-and not only for a single system, but also a collection of disparate systems and systems of systems. The Portfolio-Level Epoch-Era Analysis for Affordability (PLEEAA) method (Vascik, Ross, and Rhodes, 2015, 2016) builds upon established analytical techniques including Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration, Epoch-Era Analysis, and the Responsive Systems Comparison framework. It notably introduced elements of Modern Portfolio Theory, which hitherto were constrained to portfolios of financial assets like stocks and bonds. This research illustrates the general applicability of PLEEAA by exploring two case studies, the U.S. Air Force airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance portfolio, and the U.S. space-based geospatial intelligence portfolio inclusive of both government-owned and commercial assets. On the whole, these case studies are "top-down" in nature, levying emerging and potentially disruptive technologies on the asset mix. A more rigorous analytical method would be to conduct the "bottom-up" or "as-is" case using only established assets, and compare the two results. Such an approach could illustrate the incremental and potentially synergistic behavior of new assets introduced to the portfolio design problem. Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Adam M. Ross Title: Research Scientist, Engineering Systems
Design of a Variable Stiffness Soft Dexterous Gripper

Abstract This article presents the design of a variable stiffness, soft, three-fingered dexterous gripper. The gripper uses two designs of McKibben muscles. Extensor muscles that increase in length when pressurized are used to form the fingers of the gripper. Contractor muscles that decrease in length when pressurized are then used to apply forces to the fingers through tendons, which cause flexion and extension of the fingers. The two types of muscles are arranged to act antagonistically and this means that by raising the pressure in all of the pneumatic muscles, the stiffness of the system can be increased without a resulting change in finger position. The article presents the design of the gripper, some basic kinematics to describe its function, and then experimental results demonstrating the ability to adjust the bending stiffness of the gripper's fingers. It has been demonstrated that the fingers' bending stiffness can be increased by more than 150%. The article concludes by demonstrating that the fingers can be closed loop position controlled and are able to track step and sinusoidal inputs.
Corporate sustainability.

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Plant cells.

One of the best web pages I have found was done by Dr. David T. Webb,Assistant Professor of Botany, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Botany Department. He has some magnificent pictures and descriptions of specific plant cells. If you truly wish to see the inner beauty of plants, please visit Dr. Webb's page. You will notice that I have used some of Dr. Webb's pictures on this page for convenience, but I strongly recommend that you visit Dr. Webb's page for the full story on plant cells.
Interaction of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus P and N Proteins: Identification of Two Overlapping Domains at the N Terminus of P That Are Involved in N0-P Complex Formation and Encapsidation of Viral Genome RNA

ABSTRACT The nucleocapsid (N) protein of nonsegmented negative-strand (NNS) RNA viruses, when expressed in eukaryotic cells, aggregates and forms nucleocapsid-like complexes with cellular RNAs. The phosphoprotein (P) has been shown to prevent such aggregation by forming a soluble complex with the N protein free from cellular RNAs (designated N0). The N0-P complex presumably mediates specific encapsidation of the viral genome RNA. The precise mechanism by which the P protein carries out this function remains unclear. Here, by using a series of deleted and truncated mutant forms of the P protein of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), Indiana serotype, we present evidence that the N-terminal 11 to 30 amino acids (aa) of the P protein are essential in keeping the N protein soluble. Furthermore, glutathione S-transferase fused to the N-terminal 40 aa by itself is able to form the N0-P complex. Interestingly, the N-terminal 40-aa stretch failed to interact with the viral genome N-RNA template whereas the C-terminal 72 aa of the P protein interacted specifically with the latter. With an in vivo VSV minigenome transcription system, we further show that a deletion mutant form of P (PΔ1-10) lacking the N-terminal 10 aa which is capable of forming the N0-P complex was unable to support VSV minigenome transcription, although it efficiently supported transcription in vitro in a transcription-reconstitution reaction when used as purified protein. However, the same mutant protein complemented minigenome transcription when expressed together with a transcription-defective P deletion mutant protein containing N-terminal aa 1 to 210 (PΔII+III). Since the minigenome RNA needs to be encapsidated before transcription ensues, it seems that the entire N-terminal 210 aa are required for efficient genome RNA encapsidation. Taking these results together, we conclude that the N-terminal 11 to 30 aa are required for N0-P complex formation but the N-terminal 210 aa are required for genome RNA encapsidation.
Managing to be environmentally responsible: incentives and disincentives reported by small businesses

ABSTRACT The aim of the article is to explore the barriers and drivers to (and associated incentives and disincentives of) engaging with environmental management practices for small businesses. The data are derived from a sample of 148 small New Zealand manufacturing firms within one geographic region of New Zealand and analysed using non-parametric testing. Acknowledging the heterogeneity of small businesses, four categories of comparison are investigated, namely firm-focus, family-focus, firm size and age. Variable levels of engagement with environmental management practices are reported and disconnects between intention and action are evidenced. Despite a strong moral imperative for action being reported, this was not translated into firm-based practice. Further, lack of clarity as to the value of pursuing environmentally oriented change from a business perspective is evident. The article addresses a knowledge gap in respect of small firms and environmental management in this location and using these specific foci of empirical enquiry.
Identity of self as infertile: an example of theory‐generating research

This article presents results of a study using grounded-theory methodology to explore the meaning of infertility to those persons experiencing it. Thirty-two persons were interviewed, including 15 married couples and two married women whose husbands were either unable or unwilling to participate in the study. Forty-five semistructured interviews were conducted, as each person was interviewed separately and 13 couples were interviewed conjointly. Through the ongoing process of data collection and analysis, a substantive grounded theory was generated, with a core concept being that as persons experience unwanted infertility they take on a central identity of themselves as infertile. The process of taking on and managing this identity is described.
Random unitary matrices associated to a graph

We analyze composed quantum systems consisting of $k$ subsystems, each described by states in the $n$-dimensional Hilbert space. Interaction between subsystems can be represented by a graph, with vertices corresponding to individual subsystems and edges denoting a generic interaction, modeled by random unitary matrices of order $n^2$. The global evolution operator is represented by a unitary matrix of size $N=n^k$. We investigate statistical properties of such matrices and show that they display spectral properties characteristic to Haar random unitary matrices provided the corresponding graph is connected. Thus basing on random unitary matrices of a small size $n^2$ one can construct a fair approximation of large random unitary matrices of size $n^{k}$. Graph--structured random unitary matrices investigated here allow one to define the corresponding structured ensembles of random pure states.
Standard Fingerprint Databases: Manual Minutiae Labeling and Matcher Performance Analyses

Fingerprint verification and identification algorithms based on minutiae features are used in many biometric systems today (e.g., governmental e-ID programs, border control, AFIS, personal authentication for portable devices). Researchers in industry/academia are now able to utilize many publicly available fingerprint databases (e.g., Fingerprint Verification Competition (FVC) & NIST databases) to compare/evaluate their feature extraction and/or matching algorithm performances against those of others. The results from these evaluations are typically utilized by decision makers responsible for implementing the cited biometric systems, in selecting/tuning specific sensors, feature extractors and matchers. In this study, for a subset of the cited public fingerprint databases, we report fingerprint minutiae matching results, which are based on (i) minutiae extracted automatically from fingerprint images, and (ii) minutiae extracted manually by human subjects. By doing so, we are able to (i) quantitatively judge the performance differences between these two cases, (ii) elaborate on performance upper bounds of minutiae matching, utilizing what can be termed as "ground truth" minutiae features, (iii) analyze minutiae matching performance, without coupling it with the minutiae extraction performance beforehand. Further, as we will freely distribute the minutiae templates, originating from this manual labeling study, in a standard minutiae template exchange format (ISO 19794-2), we believe that other researchers in the biometrics community will be able to utilize the associated results & templates to create their own evaluations pertaining to their fingerprint minutiae extractors/matchers.
Islamic Financial Services Act (IFSA) 2013 and the Sharīʿah-compliance requirement of the Islamic finance industry in Malaysia

Purpose This paper aims to observe the development of the Sharīʿah governance framework (SGF) and practice in Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach The study is a qualitative-based research. It uses various documents and content analysis approach to understand and analyze the structure, process and practice of SGF in IFIs in Malaysia. Findings It is found that the Central Bank of Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia, has attempted to develop a comprehensive framework of Sharīʿah governance for IFIs in Malaysia. The framework governs the practice of the industry, covers stakeholders’ scope of duties and responsibilities and provides details on processes and procedures in the operations of IFIs to achieve the objective of Sharīʿah compliance. To maintain the relevance of the SGF to the needs of the industry, the framework has also been updated recently in 2017. The amendments aim to strengthen the effectiveness of Sharīʿah governance implementation within the Islamic finance industry. Originality/value This study attempts to comprehensively examine the evolution of the SGF Sharīʿah governance framework for IFIs in Malaysia. The Malaysian model of the SGF is unique and could be emulated by other countries in developing the Islamic finance industry in their respective jurisdictions.
Impact of income, trade, urbanization, and financial development on CO2 emissions in the GCC countries

This study aims to explain the relationship between income, trade, urbanization, and financial development towards the degree of carbon dioxide emissions. The main purpose of the research is an econometric model which tries to study the interaction between the level of carbon dioxide emissions with income, trade, urbanization, and financial development. Through a study based on a sample composed of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. We propose an empirical investigation based on the use of econometric modeling, cointegration techniques, and the Granger causality test and the VECM. By using a panel sample composed of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries from the period 1995 to 2016 the results prove a positive and significant long term relationship between income, trade, urbanization, and financial development and CO 2 emissions. Also, the results denote that a higher level of country income and urbanization generates a high level of CO 2 emissions. Afterward, financial Development had a positive effect on CO 2 emission level . And finally, trade openness influences negatively the CO 2 emissions.
Nucleophosmin mutations in acute myeloid leukemia: A tale of protein unfolding and mislocalization

Nucleophosmin (NPM1) is an abundant, ubiquitously expressed protein mainly localized at nucleoli but continuously shuttling between nucleus and cytoplasm. NPM1 plays a role in several cellular functions, including ribosome biogenesis and export, centrosome duplication, chromatin remodeling, DNA repair, and response to stress stimuli. Much of the interest in this protein arises from its relevance in human malignancies. NPM1 is frequently overexpressed in solid tumors and is the target of several chromosomal translocations in hematologic neoplasms. Notably, NPM1 has been characterized as the most frequently mutated gene in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Mutations alter the C‐terminal DNA‐binding domain of the protein and result in its aberrant nuclear export and stable cytosolic localization. In this review, we focus on the leukemia‐associated NPM1 C‐terminal domain and describe its structure, function, and the effect exerted by leukemic mutations. Finally, we discuss the possibility to target NPM1 for the treatment of cancer and, in particular, of AML patients with mutated NPM1 gene.
Bronchoalveolar lavage protein patterns in children with malignancies, immunosuppression, fever and pulmonary infiltrates

Severe respiratory infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children receiving immunosuppressive therapy for malignancies. The goal of this study was to assess the major changes in the protein patterns in these children. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluids of seven control children and of ten children with malignancies and fever not responding to broad spectrum antibiotic treatment was separated by horizontal two‐dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the isoelectric point range 3–9. We observed a large increase of α1‐antitrypsin (p = 0.0004) and decreases of the immunoglobulin (Ig) binding factor, transthyretin and cystatin S. Significant changes occurred also in the small acidic proteins. The relative abundance of the IgG heavy and light chains may hinder the separation and identification of many minor protein spots located in the basic area of the gel, suggesting that their removal during sample preparation may be warranted. This study demonstrated significant alterations in BAL fluid proteome in immunosuppressed children with persistent fever and pulmonary infiltrates. Future target regions of interest were identified. Sample prefractionation and the selection of suitable narrow isoelectric point ranges will be necessary for optimized detection and separating conditions.
Evaluation of Extinction as a Functional Treatment for Binge Eating

Binge eating is a serious behavior problem exhibited by individuals diagnosed with binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa. Binge eating is thought to be maintained by automatic negative reinforcement in the form of relief from negative emotional responding. Current treatments produce only moderate abstinence, perhaps because they do not attempt to alter the functional consequences of the behavior. Although extinction has been thought impossible with behaviors maintained by automatic negative reinforcement, this study evaluated the application of extinction with binge eating. Four women who reported engaging in binge eating at least twice per week participated. Participants listened to an audio tape recording of the covert verbal behavior associated with their negative emotional responding during the binge to prevent alleviation of the negative emotional responding, thus eliminating the reinforcer in an attempt to reduce the behavior. The procedure effectively reduced frequency of the binges when correctly implemented. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.