Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Abbreviated or Micro-Entity Accounts? Effect of Financial Reporting Format on the Availability of Trade Credit

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between the financial statement format (abbreviated or micro) and the level of trade credit. To test this relationship, we used a sample of 76,490 company-year observations of small companies in Belgium over the period of 2017–2019. We found that micro-entity accounts are negatively associated with the level of trade credit. Hence, our results provide evidence that more detailed financial statements are associated with higher levels of trade credit. In addition, we show that suppliers increase their reliance on the financial statement format when companies have lower inventory levels. Our results provide additional insights into the value of financial statements of small companies in the context of trade credit decisions. This study is set within the wider context of the simplification measures taken by the European Union (EU) to reduce the administrative burdens for small companies. The recent policy measures have further extended the debate on financial reporting regulation for small companies. A primary topic in this context is the discussion of the value of publicly available financial information in a small company context.
High Relief Modeling from 3D Object Through Laplacian-based Surface Deformation

High relief is a sculpture where more than half of 3D figure is attached onto a background plane. The main problem of high relief modeling from 3D object is how to transform the 3D geometry within limited depth range. This paper presents a novel method to generate high reliefs, which benefits from the technique of Laplacian-based mesh deformation. Given a 3D object as input, we first select a set of handle points on the input model and compute their offset distances to the background. Taking these handle points as constraints, we then optimize the depth field by solving a bi-Laplacian-based linear system. The deformed object is ensured to attach onto the background with preserved depth structure and geometrical details. Our method is effective in dealing with different types of input shapes, even the ones with topology-disconnected components. Experimental results and comparisons with previous method demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Startup Investment Decision Support: Application of Venture Capital Scorecards Using Machine Learning Approaches

This research aims to explore which kinds of metrics are more valuable in making investment decisions for a venture capital firm using machine learning methods. We measure the fit of developed companies to a venture capital firm’s investment thesis with a balanced scorecard based on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the companies. Collaborating with the management team of Rose Street Capital (RSC), we explore the most influential factors of their balanced scorecard using their retrospective investment decisions of successful and failed startup companies. Our study employs six standard machine learning models and their counterparts with an additional feature selection technique. Our findings suggest that “planning strategy” and “team management” are the two most determinant factors in the firm’s investment decisions, implying that qualitative factors could be more important to startup evaluation. Furthermore, we analyzed which machine learning models were most accurate in predicting the firm’s investment decisions. Our experimental results demonstrate that the best machine learning models achieve an overall accuracy of 78% in making the correct investment decisions, with an average of 87% and 69% in predicting the decision of companies the firm would and would not have invested in, respectively. Our study provides convincing evidence that qualitative criteria could be more influential in investment decisions and machine learning models can be adapted to help provide which values may be more important to consider for a venture capital firm.
Sustainability in the Business Sector: A Fuzzy Multicriteria Decision-Making Model for Financial Leasing Company Selection of the Vietnamese SMEs

The uses and management of capital is extremely important to the operation of any businesses. However, not all businesses have available capital, so the use of loans in many different forms is always an effective solution in managing corporate finance. Accompanying with businesses, many financial leasing companies have implemented products and programs to lend money to businesses with low interest rates. So, choosing the best financial leasing company is a primary concern of businesses. To increase competitiveness, financial leasing companies often offer preferential conditions to attract businesses. Choosing the best financial leasing service to leasing is important and necessary to those businesses. Thus, the selection of a financial leasing company by small and medium enterprises benefits from the application of Multicriteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methods which allows the decision maker to consider various qualitative and quantitative criteria. In this article, the author applied Fuzzy Analytical Network Process (FANP) to calculate the related criteria weights of the financial leasing company selection problem of businesses. Then, the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is applied to rank the potential decision-making units. This research establishes one complete and efficient model for financial leasing company selection using FANP and TOPSIS methods. The proposed model is then applied into a real-world case study to demonstrate its feasibility.
Role of species richness and human impacts in resisting invasive species in tropical forests

The biotic resistance hypothesis suggests that biodiversity‐rich areas should be resistant to biological invasions. Globally, conservationists use this hypothesis to protect diverse ecosystems. However, supporting data are often contradictory, possibly due to several confounding factors. Complexity in inferences increases in the tropics, which are sparsely studied. We hypothesize that human impacts, forest type and climate would modulate the relationship between native and invasive plant richness. To understand these interacting and varying effects of native richness and human disturbance on plant invasions, we sampled 354 grids of 25 km2 with equal representation of protected areas (PAs) and multi‐use areas (MAs) to record abundance of native and non‐native plants from 34 PAs across five forest types in tropical India. We used linear mixed effect models to investigate the occurrence and abundance of invasive plants with respect to varying native richness, human impacts, forest types and climate. Human use of forests increased the richness and abundance of invasive plants across all forest types. After accounting for human use, native species richness of tropical wet forests had a negative relationship with invasive plants richness and abundance, while the relationship reversed with increasing aridity and temperature. Human infrastructure facilitated invasions within PAs. Synthesis. The biotic resistance hypothesis explained a lower number of invasions within protected tropical wet forests but not within dry forests. Human‐free protected areas had lower richness and abundance of invasive plants across all systems, especially in wet tropical forests. Our results support the contextual importance of the biotic resistance hypothesis, while stressing the importance of protected areas, insulated from human impacts, to preserve the integrity of vulnerable natural systems.
The Cultural Food Dynamic in Ireland

Decision making with regards to food choice can be traditionally viewed as an economic transaction, whereby consumers make a choice of which foods they would like to purchase and consume within the framework of how much disposable income they have at any particular time. However, within this framework, research has shown that there is a balance that consumers aim to achieve between the hedonistic qualities of the food and the perceived effects it may have on their health. Consequently, one area that is of significant importance is the concept of how food risks are perceived and how this perception affects the decision- making process. Research has indicated that Irish food consumers use a set of heuristic decision-making tools in order to assist them in making food choices for themselves and their families. These decision-making tools are evoked irrespective of age, gender or social class. This has led to concern (despite numerous health promotion and media campaigns) regarding the national food diet, with imperfections in consumption observed in an increase in obesity, nutritional imbalances and chronic ill health which expose individuals to medical conditions such as cancer and heart disease. The increase risks associated with these are prevalent in Ireland and for many measures Irish consumers rank poorly with other countries in Europe. Although the food choices are predicated by these decision-making tools there are reflections of previous historical dietary choices that persist within the diets pursued today by the majority of Irish consumers. This in addition to the effects of acculturation following recent changes in the demographic structure and the growth global networks for information flow and exchange has resulted in a dynamic food environment with “nutrition echoes” observed in the choices people make.
What level of native beetle diversity can be supported by forestry plantations? A global synthesis

Forestry plantations have been established globally to meet timber demands, often leading to the conversion of natural to artificial forests. Forestry plantations may support natural elements of forest biodiversity, but understanding their role in the maintenance of biodiversity is a crucial question. We performed a meta‐analysis of 48 studies to determine how forestry plantations relative to natural forests influence the species richness and abundance of three important coleopteran groups (i.e., ground beetles, rove beetles, and dung beetles), given their essential role in ecosystem functioning. We assessed whether beetle responses depended on taxonomic group, geographical location, native or exotic character of the planted tree species, and associated management characteristics (i.e., composition, size, age, and connectivity of the plantations). We found that forestry plantations negatively affected coleopteran species richness and abundance compared to natural forests. The negative impact was most severe in plantations with exotic tree species and located in tropical biomes. Species richness and abundance of beetles significantly increased with plantation age in native plantations but decreased in exotic ones. Also, small plantations close to native forest had higher beetle species richness and abundance than ones located far away from native forest. Stopping the conversion of natural forests to plantations, promoting the use of native tree species, and lengthening rotations are critical for allowing biodiversity recovery in forestry plantations, combined with a robust conservation strategy to protect threatened biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
Environmental Stress Symptoms during Heat Acclimatization, Heat Acclimation, and Intermittent Heat Training

Background: Athletes training in heat experience physiological and perceptual symptoms that risk their safety and performance without adaptation. Purpose: We examined the changes in environmental symptoms, assessed with the Environmental Symptoms Questionnaire (ESQ), during heat acclimatization (HAz), heat acclimation (HA), and intermittent heat training (HT). Methods: Twenty-seven participants (mean ± standard deviation [M ± SD], age of 35 ± 12 y, VO2max of 57.7 ± 6.8 mL·kg−1·min−1) completed five trials involving 60 mins of running (60% vVO2max) followed by a 4 km time trial in heat (M ± SD, temperature of 35.5 ± 0.7 °C, humidity of 46.4 ± 1.5%). The trials occurred at baseline, post-HAz, post-HA, at week 4 of HT (post-HT4), and at week 8 of HT (post-HT8). The participants completed HT once/week (HTMIN), completed HT twice/week (HTMAX), or did not complete HT (HTCON). ESQ symptoms, thermal sensation (TS), and heart rate (HR) were measured pre- and post-trial. Results: Post-ESQ symptoms improved post-HA (3[0.40, 4.72], p = 0.02) and post-HAz (3[0.35, 5.05], p = 0.03) from baseline. During HT, symptoms improved in the HTMAX group and worsened in the HTMIN and HTCON groups. Symptoms improved in the HTMAX group versus the HTCON group at post-HT8 (4[1.02, 7.23], p = 0.012). Higher TS and HR values were weakly associated with ESQ symptoms during HT (r = 0.20, p = 0.04), only explaining 20% of variance. Conclusions: ESQ symptoms improved during HAz, HA, and HT 2x/week. ESQ symptoms were not statistically correlated with HR during exercise heat stress. TS was not sensitive to detecting adaptation and did not subjectively change. The ESQ may be valuable in monitoring adaptation and may contribute to performance post-acclimation.
Stable Isotope Determination in Edible Mushrooms from the Spontaneous Flora of Transylvania

ABSTRACT Edible mushrooms represent a food product highly appreciated in the culinary arts. In this study, 12 species of edible mushrooms from the spontaneous flora of Transylvania, totaling 89 samples, were investigated for stable (2H/1H, 18O/16O, and 13C/12C) to isotopic fingerprinting these plants. The sampling period was 2015 to 2016. The isotopic values of samples ranged between −68.3 and −7.6‰ for deuterium, and between −9.1 and 1.7‰ for oxygen-18, respectively, reflecting the geographical origins of studied mushrooms. The obtained results (2H/1H, 18O/16O) were in good correlation with the meteoric water line for the Transylvania region. In addition, using the isotopic fingerprint of mushrooms from the Transylvania spontaneous flora, the growing locations of samples could be distinguished: a hilly area with an altitude up to 500 m and a mountainous area with an altitude between 500 and 1000 m.
Free vibration and stability of hybrid nanocomposite-reinforced shallow toroidal shells using an extended closed-form formula based on the Galerkin method

Abstract This paper presents an analytical solution for free-vibration and stability analyses of hybrid-composite toroidal shells. The considered hybrid material incorporates the composition of fibers and nanocomposite-reinforced matrix (NCRM) such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene nanoplatelets (GPLs). The governing differential equations are extended based on the first-order transverse shear deformation theory (FSDT) and are solved by employing the approximation of Fourier series and Galerkin method. The considered hybrid composite material in the parametric studies are consisted of three layers in which the polymeric matrix are reinforced by CNTs in some layers and reinforced by GPLs in the other layers.
Implementing global citizenship education policy: The bargaining process of NGOs in some European Countries

This research looked at the growing space that Global Citizenship Education (GCE) is gaining in educational policy worldwide, and at the role Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) played in GCE agenda setting and policy implementation. Based on a comparative policy analysis carried out in 10 European countries, the political agency of NGOs was explored, underlining opportunities, tensions, and challenges, especially in their contribution to national strategies to integrate GCE into national educational systems.
A Novel Polyaniline Nanofiber Combined with Toluidine Blue as a Sensitive Detection Platform for Lignin by Raman Spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy is widely applied in wood science because of its features of being nondestructive, rapidity, and high resolution. However, Raman scattering is weak, and the Raman signal is easily disturbed by autofluorescence arising from endogenous fluorescent molecules in biological tissue. In this work, a sensitive lignin detection platform was fabricated by a composite with a polyaniline (PANI) nanofiber and toluidine blue (TB) under the excitation of visible light. In this platform, TB acts as a specific marker for lignin, and a PANI nanofiber was used as a reinforcing reagent to improve the Raman intensity of TB. When wood slice is impregnated with TB/PANI, the lignin in wood can be precisely labeled with the TB, and the Raman intensity of TB had a threefold increase at 532 nm excitation. This TB/PANI detection platform is expected to make a significant contribution in qualitative and quantitative analysis of lignin to avoid autofluorescence in various lignin-based biosciences.
Evidence of validity of the Attentional Performance Test (APT)

This study aims to present evidence of validity of the Attentional Performance Test (APT). The search for evidence based on content, internal structure and reliability was carried out. The content’s evidence was run with the expert judgement (n = 07; k = 0.84) and semantic analysis (n = 12, k = 0.77). Their results suggested an adequate agreement with the content of the assessment of sustained attention (S.A), verbal commands and the images of the instrument. An analysis of the factorial structure (n = 1086) resulted on 2 main factors, 4 dimensions and 12 measures (RMSR = 0.08). An analysis of internal consistency (n = 1086) of the APT showed adequate values ( α > 70). This study indicated that the APT presents evidence for content, construct and reliability. The present results contribute to APT evidences to confirm it as an adequate psychometric instrument to assess attention.
Retheorizing industrial–institutional coevolution: a multidimensional perspective

ABSTRACT Evolutionary economic geography has sought to understand the development of regional industrial pathways but tended to neglect both the multiscalarity of economic development and the role of institutional change. The concept of coevolution seeks to bridge this gap but is still too vague for empirical application. Understanding the interactions between path development and institutional change in regional economies and on higher spatial scales requires retheorizing coevolution along the dimensions of institutional–industrial coevolution, path multiplicity and multiscalarity. The article proposes such a retheorized concept of coevolution by integrating concepts of path development, institutions, institutional change, institutional entrepreneurship, institutional work and nestedness.
Plasma zinc status in critically ill patients with chronic liver disease

Zinc is an essential trace element in the body and has crucial roles in numerous enzymatic and metabolic processes, including gene transcription, immunoregulation, cellular restoration and protein synthesis (1). The liver plays an important role in zinc homeostasis. Zinc levels are abnormally decreased in chronic liver disease (CLD) and may lead to metabolic complications such as hepatic encephalopathy (2). Hypozincaemia is observed in the critically ill and is associated with increased mortality and illness severity scores (3). Zinc deficiency in CLD patients may increase their susceptibility to endotoxaemia by increasing intestinal barrier permeability via oxidative Original Article
Manifold dynamic non-covalent interactions for steering molecular assembly and cyclization

Deciphering rich non-covalent interactions that govern many chemical and biological processes is crucial for the design of drugs and controlling molecular assemblies and their chemical transformations. However, real-space characterization of these weak interactions in complex molecular architectures at the single bond level has been a longstanding challenge. Here, we employed bond-resolved scanning probe microscopy combined with an exhaustive structural search algorithm and quantum chemistry calculations to elucidate multiple non-covalent interactions that control the cohesive molecular clustering of well-designed precursor molecules and their chemical reactions. The presence of two flexible bromo-triphenyl moieties in the precursor leads to the assembly of distinct non-planar dimer and trimer clusters by manifold non-covalent interactions, including hydrogen bonding, halogen bonding, C–H⋯π and lone pair⋯π interactions. The dynamic nature of weak interactions allows for transforming dimers into energetically more favourable trimers as molecular density increases. The formation of trimers also facilitates thermally-triggered intermolecular Ullmann coupling reactions, while the disassembly of dimers favours intramolecular cyclization, as evidenced by bond-resolved imaging of metalorganic intermediates and final products. The richness of manifold non-covalent interactions offers unprecedented opportunities for controlling the assembly of complex molecular architectures and steering on-surface synthesis of quantum nanostructures.
Are quartzite scree slopes used by birds to promote sound transmission in the Mediterranean forest?

Birds generate vocalisations (songs and calls) to communicate. Acoustic communication may be hindered by habitat features so birds can use several strategies to favour sound transmission. Sound transmission depends on the acoustic properties of their habitats. Scree slopes, also known as ‘pedrizas’, are frequent in the Mediterranean forests of south and central western Spain. As the acoustic properties of these rocky grounds might favour sound transmission, we propose that birds might actively use ‘pedrizas’ to increase sound transmission. We assessed the following prediction of the hypothesis: the number of vocalisations recorded should be higher near the ‘pedrizas’ than in forest areas far away from ‘pedrizas’. Using portable recorders in the Mediterranean forest of Monfragüe National Park, we found that the number of recorded vocalisations was higher near the ‘pedrizas’. As this result was not due to differences in species richness, we consider it supports the prediction of the hypothesis. This is new evidence that birds might use a natural element within their habitat to increase sound transmission.
Literature review on technology acceptance model: The enhanced variables of Venkatesh’s UTAUT model on students’ acceptance of use on online distance learning

This paper detailed the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) that has been used widespread in IT system and other areas, and the initiative of this paper is to introduce the UTAUT theory evidences and relation in online distance learning at universities. This paper reviewed the literature on UTAUT from multiple perspectives on theoretical analysis of UTAUT and its expansion and continuing for research going forward. Based on Venkatesh (2003), framework of theory evaluation, this paper continuing UTAUT and its extensions developed from few sets of constructs as the parts of a theory and as the whole theory. This review identifies many distinctions of UTAUT, progress related to this theory that has further development, and it relation to online distance learning at IPTA in Malaysia. This paper will allow a significant future work, the theoretical contributions of UTAUT using expanding and cross-context concept. Our conclusion reveals several limitations that lead other researchers to continue a UTAUT study framework that can serve as the theoretical foundation for future research.