Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stock Market Reactions to Announcements of Board of Director Appointments: Evidence from Italy

The Board of Directors plays an important role in corporate governance. It is an internal mechanism that controls and monitors the actions of managers and aligns the utility functions between corporate owners and managers. The board of directors performs multiple functions that concern, for example, the replacement of the managers, financial policy, the preparation of strategic plans, and other actions that affect the performance of the firm. The board plays an important role since on the one hand it controls the actions of management and on the other it advises management regarding the strategies to be adopted. In this study, 100 announcements for the appointment to the board of directors of 100 Italian listed public companies during the period 2012-2014 are investigated. The results show a positive reaction within 20 days around the announcement date of the appointments. In four of the six study periods, Cumulative Abnormal Returns (CARs) are positive and statistically significant. The difference between the sub-sample composed of a higher presence of women, non-executives, and independents on the Board of Directors does not seem to perform better than the one composed of a smaller presence of women, non-executives, and independents.
Rearrangement of the Agrodiaetus dolus species group (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) using a new cytological approach and molecular data

The Agrodiaetus dolus species group includes cryptic species that have similar external morphology but can be distinguished by their species-specific karyotypes. At the same time, cytogenetic analysis of these butterflies is difficult because of extremely high chromosome numbers. The application of common techniques, such as squash and spread preparations, usually yields inaccurate chromosome counting and, consequently, results in incorrect taxonomical conclusions. To overcome this problem, we combined cytological and molecular data. The former was obtained with a new cytological technique that allowed us to examine intact (notsquashed) metaphase plates and to distinguish all chromosomes in the chromosomal complement. The latter was obtained from published mitochondrial sequences that were used to calculate genetic distances between taxa. While the taxa ainsae and fulgens are generally considered as separate species, here we show that no characters exist that support this hypothesis. As a consequence, we propose several taxonomic changes within the A. dolus species complex and show that this group consists of the following species: A. dolus with haploid chromosome number n=122-125, A. fulgens (n=108-110) and A. fabressei (n=90). The following new combinations are suggested: A. fulgens ainsae comb. n. , A. fulgens pseudovirgilius comb. n. , A. fulgens leonensis comb. n. and A. fulgens magnabrillata comb. n.
DISCUSSION LEARNING ACTIVITY; A NOVEL APPROACH TO VIRTUAL EDUCATION

Introduction: The spread of ICT (Information and communication technologies) in all aspects of human life has created fundamental changes. At the present era, the appropriate learning environment should always be wide enough with the necessary flexibility available to everyone, so that education can be possible not inside the educational centers with closed walls but everywhere. Large numbers of online class students, the lack of participation of all classroom students in learning, the lack of the necessary hardware and software facilities for creating interaction between students and faculty and students together, impossibility of face to face interaction and the existence of the other entertaining and interesting activities in the Web environment while attending in the electronic classroom, lead to challenges in the learning activities field, especially discussion learning activities. Therefore, the aim of this study was introducing the “discussion learning activities as the one of the learning activities in web-based instructions in both simultaneous and non-simultaneous ways. Conclusion: Information and communication technology plays a greater role by the passage of time in the higher education in general and in the curriculum in particular. Attention to the learner as the constructor of the knowledge is among from its major characteristics. Therefore, considering the learning activities in the web-based curriculum is necessary and several activities should be provided so that learner can increase his/her learning extent and richness through them.
Biomarker responses in persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus) exposed to benzo-a-pyrene and beta-naphthoflavone

Biotransformation enzymes of xenobiotics (ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase, cytochrome P4501A1 content and glutathione-S-transferase) were investigated in the liver of Persian Sturgeon (Acipenser persicus) after a 96-hour exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), premutagenic benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and beta-naphthoflavone (BNF). The fish were injected 10 mg/kg wet-body weight in corn oil for 96 hours every days. Ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase activity (EROD) and glutathione s-transferase activity (GST) were measured in the fish liver. Cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1) content was estimated by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The response appeared as early as 12 hours post exposure. A time-dependent response was observed in the EROD activity, being significantly higher at 48 hours post exposure to 10 mg/kg of BaP. The greatest induction occurred in the fish treated with 10 mg/kg BaP, in which a 32.1- fold increase in EROD activity was observed. Results showed that EROD activity in A. persicus is significantly increased by BaP and BNF treatments. Both chemicals showed higher values of EROD activity compared to the liver CYP1A content. There was a rise in glutathione-S-transferase activity in fish exposed to BNF, but no increase was observed in fish treated with BaP. The results showed that hepatic CYP1A expression in terms of induction of EROD activity might be suited as a biomarker of organic contamination in aquatic environments and led to lower sensitivity of the second phase in the detoxification enzyme.
Real economic activity and earnings management from a cross-country perspective

textabstractThis paper provides empirical evidence on differences in the extent of earnings management across countries. I use an earnings management detection model developed by Leuz et al. (2003) to determine this extent in Germany, Japan, and the USA. Based on previous research, I hypothesize due to differences in prevailing institutional factors in those countries that earnings management is most pervasive in Germany and least pervasive in the USA with Japan exhibiting values in between. The results mostly confirm the hypothesis. Moreover, I investigate a possible link between real economic performance of a country and the extent of earnings management. I expect a negative correlation between them, whereas the intensity of this relation decreases with increasing pervasiveness of accounts manipulation in a country. Empirical results confirm these hypotheses partly.
Role Stressors and Job Satisfaction in the Banking Industry: The Mediating Role of Job Stress

In banking sector, the retail banking is an important and generous sector of economy and job stress becomes progressively visible and increasing in this sector, after a series of arrangements for financial institutions. Therefore, the study of specific causes of job stress in the retail banking area should provide greater approach into both, theoretical and managerial practices. Several Studies have been conducted on role stressors and job satisfaction. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of role stressors on job satisfaction by using job stress as mediator variable by applying different mediation approaches. The total distribution was 350 and questionnaires were collected from 305 employees and response rate was 87 percent. In the results of Correlation and Regression analysis，it was found that, role ambiguity and role conflict have negative relationship with job satisfaction. In the result of Regression it was concluded that job stress has influences among role ambiguity, role conflict and job satisfaction. The findings of the study suggest that role stressers should be controlled in order to increase the job satisfaction. Hence lesser the role stressors, lesser will be the job stress.
5. PHARMACOLOGICAL SCREENING OF GISEKIA PHARNACEOIDES

Medicinal plants play a key role in the human health care because of their efficacy, safety and lesser adverse effects. When herbal drugs are used as a therapeutic substance for treating various ailments, it becomes an essential requirement to fulfill the guidelines formulated by World Health Organization (WHO). WHO guidelines have given one of the important criteria to establish the safety profile of the herbal preparation (WHO report, 1991),
The missing link in training to detect deception and its implications for justice

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of response bias and target gender on detecting deception. Design/methodology/approach Participants were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: a stereotype condition (bogus training group), a tell-signs condition (empirically tested cues), and a control condition. Participants were required to decide whether eight targets were lying or telling the truth, based upon the information they had been given. Accuracy was measured via a correct or incorrect response to the stimuli. The data were then analyzed using a 2×2×3 mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine whether any main or interactional effects were present. Findings Results revealed training condition had no significant effect on accuracy, nor was there a within-subject effect of gender. However, there was a significant main effect of accuracy in detecting truth or lies, and a significant interaction between target gender and detecting truth or lies. Research limitations/implications Future research should seek a larger sample of participants with a more extensive training aspect developed into the study, as the brief training offered here may not be fully reflective of the extent and intensity of training which could be offered to professionals. Originality/value Within the criminal justice system, the need for increased accuracy in detecting deception is of critical importance; not only to detect whether a guilty individual is being deceitful, but also whether someone is making a false confession, both to improve community safety by detaining the correct perpetrator for the crime but also to maintain public trust in the justice system. The present research provides a fresh insight into the importance of training effects in detecting deception.
Fourier series and Chebyshev polynomials applied to real-time water demand forecasting

Relevance of water demand forecasting increases with complexity of water supply systems. Several methods for water demand forecasting have been proposed in literature, mostly based on time-series analysis and machine learning, the later needing more detailed stud y of involved variables and choice of the best configuration to produce significant results . As an alternative to use of machine learning methods, this work presents two known methods of data approximation, namely, discrete Fourier series and Chebyshev polynomials, to real-time demand forecasting, through real-time updating of some adjustable coefficients. A real district of a water supply system is analyzed using these methods, showing a good approximation between measured and forecasted values. The most interesting point of application is agility of calculation and the fact that there is no need to have information on factors influencing water demand.
Reactions of cowpea to infection by Macrophomina phaseolina isolates from leguminous plants in Nigeria.

The reaction of cowpea to infection by Macrophomina phaseolina isolates, from leguminous plants in Nigeria, was investigated at Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria. M. phaseolina isolates obtained from six different leguminous species induced necrotic lesions of varying sizes on two cowpea varieties, IT83D-340 and IT84D-488. Isolate 93-295 from winged bean(Psophocarpus tetragonoloteus) leaf tissues was the most virulent, inducing necrotic lesions of 4.8 mm in diameter on cowpea stem tissues while the smallest necrotic lesion size of 3.2 mm was induced on the same cowpea by isolate 93-52-1. This suggests that cowpea varieties are highly susceptible to M. phaseolina isolates from six different legumes. Moreover, the reactions of the two-cowpea varieties to M. phaseolina isolates from the six legumes differ significantly. This suggests that differences exist in the susceptibility of cowpea varieties to the pathogen. Key words: Macrophomina phaseolina, pathogenicity, leguminous plant, cowpea diseases,southwestern Nigeria.
Noiselet encoded compressive sensing parallel MRI

Compressed sensing (CS) reconstruction relies on the sparsity of the signal in the transform domain and on the incoherence between sensing and sparsifying transform matrices. In CS-MRI, the sensing matrix is the randomly undersampled Discrete Fourier transform (DFT) matrix while Wavelet is used as the sparsifying transform. However the incoherence between the DFT and the Wavelet transform matrices is suboptimal for CS-MRI. In this paper we investigated the use of Noiselets as sensing matrix in MRI in order to improve the incoherence between sensing and sparsifying transform matrices. Noiselet basis are totally incompressible by Wavelets and spread out energy of the Wavelets in the Noiselet domain. In this work the k-space is encoded with Noiselet basis in the primary phase encode direction and a few random phase encodes are taken for the CS reconstruction. We compared the CS reconstruction error with uniform undersampling of the Fourier encoded and the Noiselet encoded MR images for various reduction factors in simulation, and showed that Noiselet encoded MRI performs better than Fourier encoded MRI. However for pseudo random undersampling in the Fourier domain and uniform random undersampling in the Noiselet domain both techniques perform equally well. However when both Noiselet encoded and Fourier encoded CS-MRI techniques were combined with parallel imaging using distributed compressed sensing model, the Noiselet encoded CS-MRI with uniform random undersampling outperforms the Fourier encoded CS-MRI with pseudo random undersampling. A tailored spin echo sequence is proposed to encode primary phase encode direction with Noiselet basis for MR imaging.
Emotional Appeal of Conceptual Metaphors of Conflict in the Political Discourse of Daily Newspapers

The paper explores the ability of conceptual metaphors of CONFLICT to provoke an emotional response in the context of the political discourse of daily newspapers. Furthermore, it is argued that such emotional involvement can facilitate the construction of political reality. The emotional appeal of the most salient CONFLICT metaphors from the corpus that consists of newspaper articles extracted from the on-line editions of The New York Times is tested via appropriate questionnaires. The theoretical framework of the first part of the paper is based on Conceptual Blending Theory, which is expected to provide a detailed account of the conceptual basis that underlies metaphor usage, and the way the emotional appeal of metaphors influences the online process of meaning construction. The questionnaires used to determine the emotional response to metaphors are based on the Conceptual Act Theory of Emotion, and they were designed to test the reaction in terms of affect and more specific emotion concepts. Both questionnaires include selected metaphorical expressions from the corpus.
On the interaction of streamwise vorticity with a rotating turbine blade

This paper addresses the unsteady formation of secondary flow structures inside a rotor passage. The first stage of a two-stage low pressure turbine is investigated at a Reynolds Number of 75000. The configuration represents the third and the fourth stages of an engine low pressure turbine. The vane-rotor interactions at hub are discussed in the relative frame of reference using the streamwise vorticity to identify the flow structures and interaction processes involved. A multi-stage URANS prediction which is validated by time-averaged fivehole probe data at inlet and exit of the rotor provides the time-resolved data set required. An interaction mechanism is revealed which is responsible for the creation of rotating structures which are fixed in space in the absolute frame of reference at rotor exit. The wakes and secondary flow structures of the nozzle guide vane transform the secondary flow structures at the rotor hub unsteadily. The time-averaged isentropic efficiency distribution at rotor exit is observed to be dominated by flow structures associated with the nozzle guide vane.
Towards a Holistic Prediction of Fan Stage Tone Noise Mechanisms

A computed prediction of the tonal noise generated in the fan stage of an aero-engine is presented. This paper focuses in particular on unsteady fan stage aerodynamics, which leads to the generation of noise. It is further shown that there are a variety of sources of tonal noise and that, for a more complete analysis of the fan stage tonal noise balance that is due to rotor and stator interaction, these sources should be evaluated simultaneously. The computational model has been validated against steady state aerodynamic measure-ments and measured sound pressure levels. Some acoustic theory is also presented to explain the in-duct radiation behaviour of fan stage tonal noise towards the external envi-ronment.
In vitro and in vivo biotinylation of endothelial cell surface proteins in the pursuit of targets for molecular therapies for brain AVMs

Identification of membrane proteins that are expressed on the arteriovenous malformation (AVM) endothelium post radiosurgery is of fundamental importance in developing a new treatment of brain AVMs. We successfully optimized and then employed in vitro and in vivo biotinylation methodology of murine cerebral endothelial cell cultures (bEnd.3) and the rat model of AVM to label membrane proteins. Those membrane proteins were then captured on streptavidin resin and identified using proteomics analysis. This is the first time that proteomics has been employed in the study of AVMs.
CuVIS: An interactive tool for instructors to create effective customized learning designs with visualizations

Instructors face difficulty in creating student-centred, customized learning designs (LDs) for teaching with information and communication technology (ICT) tools such as visualizations (animations, simulations or videos). This problem is compounded for tertiary-level instructors teaching in instructor-mediated classrooms. In such classrooms, common in many parts of the developing world, students may not have 1:1 access with the visualization and have to interact with it via the instructor. Here, the instructors’ pedagogy becomes an important factor determining effective learning with the visualization. To address this problem, a set of design impediments faced by instructors in this context were first identified. Design guidelines were created to address these impediments. These guidelines evolved into the Customized Visualization Integration System (CuVIS). It is a wizard-like interactive tool that provides guidelines to instructors on how to create effective LDs that incorporate the principles of constructive alignment and meaningful learning with ICT, and is customized to instructors’ requirements. The effectiveness of CuVIS has been tested with instructors along multiple dimensions: usefulness and usability, impact on instructors’ pedagogical practice and impact on student learning when taught with CuVIS-generated LDs.
A hybrid prediction method for ground borne vibrations due to railway traffic

The Detailed Vibration Assessment is an empirical procedure developed by the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for the prediction of railway induced vibrations and re-radiated noise. The vibration velocity level in the free field is predicted with a force density, characterizing the source, and a line transfer mobility, characterizing the transfer of vibrations due to a line load. The line transfer mobility is determined with in situ measurements of transfer functions. The force density is obtained by subtracting the line transfer mobility from the vibration velocity level due to a train passage. It is assumed that the resulting force density can be used to predict the vibration velocity level at other sites with similar train and track characteristics. In this paper, the force density is calculated numerically by simulating the FRA procedure. The force densities are obtained by subtracting the line transfer mobility from the vibration velocity level, computed at three sites with different soil characteristics. Next, each force density is used to predict the vibration velocity level at another site. It is shown that the influence of the soil characteristics on the force density and the resulting predicted vibration velocity level is relatively large. The force density should therefore be determined at a site with similar soil conditions. In case where no appropriate force density is available, the force density can be computed numerically by simulating the FRA procedure, as demonstrated in this paper. The numerical force density can be combined with an experimental line transfer mobility, resulting in a hybrid numerical–experimental prediction of the vibration velocity level.
Does the energy-environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis sustain in the Asia-Pacific region?

As mitigating the effects of energy consumption on the environment is a crucial issue for the Asia-Pacific region, this study investigates the energy-environmental Kuznets curve (EEKC) hypothesis among the 19 Asia-Pacific regions. The study also test the hypothesis for the low-, middle-, and high-income groups of the region. The panel regression and cointegration models are used for this purpose. Both models suggest that the EEKC hypothesis does sustain for the whole Asia-Pacific region. However, the test performed on the income groups revealed that the hypothesis only holds for the high-income group and the low- and middle-income groups do not satisfy the hypothesis. This is likely indicating that the transition in the energy consumption along the EEKC is only occurring in the developed countries of the Asia-Pacific region.
Surface oxidation activates indium tin oxide for hole injection

Oxygen plasma treatment of indium tin oxide (ITO) results in a change in work function and electron affinity by ∼0.5 eV. This change correlates with the measured increase in injected current in simple “hole-only” organic devices with O-plasma treated ITO electrodes. Neither addition nor removal of surface hydroxyl functionality accounts for the observed work function and electron affinity changes. X-ray and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopies show a new type of oxygen species is formed. Oxidation of surface Sn-OH to surface Sn-O• units is proposed to account for the observed changes in O-plasma treated ITO; this proposal can explain a wide variety of previously described ITO surface activation results.