Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aligning operant resources for global performance: An assessment of supply chain human resource management

Abstract Purpose: The intent of the paper is to develop the service marketing logic (S-D logic) strategy that is centered on service as a means to differentiate global strategy from those of competitors. The context of the paper is to examine S-D logic in global supply chains. Design/Methodology: The paper is a theory driven conceptual piece. Findings: Globalization emphasizes complex interconnected systems, while S-D logic emphasizes the importance of leveraging operant resources in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Both S-D logic and globalization apply in the supply chain context. This paper focuses on the global supply chain and the importance of leveraging service based operant resources. Because the focus of management has shifted from a domestic to a more complex, three-dimensional network, it is critical for practitioners and researchers to understand how to optimize service based operant resources in the global marketplace. Practical Implications: Because the focus of management has shifted from a domestic to a more complex, three-dimensional global network, it is critical for practitioners and researchers to understand how to optimize service based operant resources in the global marketplace. We suggest that in this dynamic marketplace, both globalization and S-D logic are required to fully explain supply chain performance. Specifically, we suggest that managers develop a global ‘supply-chain management’ perspective allowing for the key operant resource – human capital – to create synergistic partner relationships and customer experiences resulting in superior performance. Originality/Value: This is one of the first (if not the first) paper that examines S-D logic in a global context. This move forward from the domestic orientation of many/most of the recent literature provides the foundation for future global research into the S-D logic.
Peak Load Pricing and Capacity Planning with Demand and Supply Uncertainty

The peak load pricing problem has been discussed quite extensively in the literature. Central to the problem is the choice of output capacity and price for a basically nonstorable commodity such as electricity. This article considers both uncertain demand and uncertain capacity simultaneously in a simple model and generalizes earlier analyses, notably in two respects. First, we examine the demand uncertainty in a more general framework within which previous specifications of demand uncertainty can be seen as special cases. Second, we take explicit account of the random availability of the installed capacity. New insights are obtained and discussed in this article.
Stock Market Crashes and the Performance of Circuit Breakers: Empirical Evidence

This study examines the behavior of a small stock market with circuit breakers and with a one-hour preauction order imbalance disclosure during the October 1987 crash. The crash and its aftershocks lasted for a week and selling pressure was concentrated in higher beta, larger capitalization, and lower leverage firm stocks. Circuit breakers when implemented reduced the next-day opening order imbalance and the initial price loss; however, they had no effect on the long-run response. Some price overreaction and reversal phenomena also are documented. Copyright 1993 by American Finance Association.
The significant role of the Golgi apparatus in cardiovascular diseases

The Golgi apparatus (GA) is a ribbon‐like system of stacks which consist of multiple closely apposed flattened cisternae and vesicles usually localized in the juxta‐nuclear area. As for the biological functions, the GA plays a major role in protein biosynthesis, post‐translational modification, and sorting protein from ER to plasma membrane and other destinations. Structural changes and functional disorder of the GA is associated with various diseases. Moreover, increasing evidence revealed that swelling, poor development, and other morphological alterations of the GA are linked to cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure (HF), arrhythmia, and dilated cardiomyopathy. Furthermore, dysfunction of the GA is also related to cardiovascular diseases since the GA is extremely responsible for transport, glycosylation, biosynthesis, and subcellular distribution of cardiovascular proteins. This review gives a brief overview of the intricate relationship between the GA and cardiovascular diseases. In addition, we provide a further prospective that the GA may provide diagnosis reference for cardiovascular diseases, and changes in the ultrastructure and morphology of the GA such as swelling, poor development, and fragmentation may serve as a reliable index for cardiovascular diseases.
Low temperatures enhance the toxicity of copper and cadmium to Enchytraeus crypticus through different mechanisms

Knowledge about how toxicity changes with temperature is important for determining the extent of safety factors required when extrapolating from standard laboratory conditions to variable field scenarios. In the present study, the authors evaluated the toxicity of Cu and Cd to the potworm Enchytraeus crypticus at 6 temperatures in the range of 11 °C to 25 °C. For both metals, reproductive toxicity decreased approximately 2.5‐fold with increasing temperature. This is contrary to what most other studies have found. Measurements of the bioavailable fraction of the metals in the soils and the internal metal concentrations in the worms over time showed that the major cause of change in toxicity with temperature for Cu was the worms' ability to regulate internal concentration at high temperatures. Uptake of Cd increased with time at all temperatures and with higher rates at high temperatures. Hence, the lower toxicity of Cd at high temperatures is proposed to be due to the E. crypticus being more efficient at immobilizing Cd and/or repairing damages at high compared to low temperatures. The present study concludes that no consistent relationship between metal toxicity and temperature across species can be made. The metabolic dependence of the species in terms of regulating metal uptake, excretion, immobilization, damage, and repair processes, will be crucial factors in determining species susceptibility to metals at varying temperatures. Environ Toxicol Chem 2013;32:2274–2283. © 2013 SETAC
From green fields to green felt tables and back: the origin of index-based derivatives

The introduction of index-based derivatives is one of the most important developments in post-war financial markets; today these contracts are amongst the most commonly traded financial instruments. Yet, no sociological accounts based on empirical material have focused on the creation of index-based derivatives as a social and political institution. This paper offers index-based derivatives as a topic for sociological investigation. Focusing on the creation and regulatory approval of the first exchange-traded index-based futures in the early 1980s, the paper assesses empirical evidence collected through interviews with key figures who took part in the historical events, as well as extensive archival research. The paper makes two central claims. Firstly, that the nature of index-based financial markets is critically dependent on the nature of the qualification process it undergoes - a process through which the particular qualities are negotiated and attached to the products and in particular on the viability of the connections made between the financial contract and the assets on which it is based. Secondly, that qualification of products takes place within a network made up of heterogeneous agents, whose worldviews and motivations are frequently conflicting.
Evaluating the performance of SHADE with competing strategies on CEC 2014 single-parameter test suite

Success-History Based Parameter Adaptation for Differential Evolution (SHADE) is extended. An adaptive mechanism is implemented in new SHADE4 variant where four different strategies compete to create a new trial point. The strategies have probabilities computed proportional to their success in previous generations during the search. A strategy is selected randomly proportional to strategies' probabilities. Novel SHADE4 variant outperforms the original SHADE algorithm in the most of CEC 2014 test problems. The results of novel SHADE4 algorithm are submitted to the Special Session and Competition on Single Objective Real-Parameter Numerical Optimization (Single parameter-operator set based case) at CEC 2016.
Deliberation and Inclusion: Vehicles for Increasing Trust in UK Public Governance?

Arguments in favour of participative democratic practices have been promoted stridently in recent years as trust in existing political institutions has receded. These arguments assume the declining ability of elected members to represent increasingly diverse constituencies in a period of rapid change, and a sense of powerlessness among citizens in the face of distant economic and political forces. There have been few attempts to review the available empirical evidence on whether deliberative and inclusionary processes lead to ‘better’ decisions. For the United Kingdom, evidence is limited, except in the land-use planning field, and we argue that in present circumstances their primary role should be to stimulate wider civil engagement as a means of restoring trust. ‘Better’ decisions will then follow. However, barriers to their acceptance remain, not least in the need to create sufficient incentive for citizens to participate and in the requirement that established economic and political interests devote sufficient resources for them to be effective.
Defensins, lectins, mucins, and secretory immunoglobulin A: microbe-binding biomolecules that contribute to mucosal immunity in the human gut

Abstract In the intestine, the mucosal immune system plays essential roles in maintaining homeostasis between the host and microorganisms, and protecting the host from pathogenic invaders. Epithelial cells produce and release a variety of biomolecules into the mucosa and lumen that contribute to immunity. In this review, we focus on a subset of these remarkable host-defense factors – enteric α-defensins, select lectins, mucins, and secretory immunoglobulin A – that have the capacity to bind microbes and thereby contribute to barrier function in the human gut. We provide an overview of the intestinal epithelium, describe specialized secretory cells named Paneth cells, and summarize our current understanding of the biophysical and functional properties of these select microbe-binding biomolecules. We intend for this compilation to complement prior reviews on intestinal host-defense factors, highlight recent advances in the field, and motivate investigations that further illuminate molecular mechanisms as well as the interplay between these molecules and microbes.
Analysts' Forecasts and Brokerage-Firm Trading

Using unique data on brokerage‐firm trading, I examine whether analysts' earnings forecasts and stock recommendations affect their brokerage firms' share of trading in the forecast stocks. I find that individual analyst's forecasts that differ from the consensus forecast generate significant brokerage‐firm trading in the forecast stocks in the two weeks after the forecast release date, affirming that analysts' forecasts affect their brokers' commission revenue. However, I find no evidence that analysts' forecast errors—the difference between forecast earnings and actual earnings—increase brokerage‐firm trading. This result suggests that analysts cannot generate trade for their employers simply by adding error to their forecasts. I find that buy recommendations generate relatively more trading, both buying and selling, through the analyst's brokerage firm. Collectively, these results suggest that analysts can generate higher trading commissions through their positive stock recommendations than by biasing t.
THREE WAYS TO PRESENT THE MARGINAL COST OF CAPITAL

Textbooks, courses, Some Associate I and teachersinelementary large of the Finan economics consistently ciation have expres of Financial Manag, teach that profits for a tutorial articles. Al tutorial articles. Alt firm are at a maximum to preempt space b when marginal cost equals tinuous publication, marginal revenue. Many of Arditti and Tys teachers in finance, howPresent the Margin , . , * . ,nifies our willingnes ever, neglect this principle tifes on a seleines ev r, 0 i r ~~tidcles on a selective b in the teaching of capital budgeting. Perhaps this is partly because a firm's capital may be a mix of funds from a number of sources; debt, preferred stock, common stock etc., at varying costs, and, even if a firm's optimal capital mix is known, additional funds are not raised simultaneously in the same proportions. Then, to avoid the obviously unsupportable position that the capital budgeting cut-off rate should be at the cost of debt this year because this is the year to raise debt, and at the equity rate next year, because next year is the year to raise equity some have used weighted average cost of capital. (For additional discussion of the use of the weighted average cost of capital, see [1].) A cursory review of a dozen current textbooks confirms this. Our interpretation is that only five Editc cial
Bidirectional transport of glucocorticoid receptors across the nuclear envelope.

We have used transient interspecies heterokaryons to analyze nucleocytoplasmic shuttling of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and demonstrated that receptors that accumulate within nuclei upon ligand binding are not statically confined to that compartment, but rather have the capacity to reversibly transverse the nuclear envelope. The ability of various GR mutants to shuttle between nuclei of heterokaryons excluded transcriptional activation and DNA binding as prerequisites for nucleocytoplasmic shuttling of GR. However, a constitutively nuclear GR derivative that has fused at its amino terminus the simian virus 40 large tumor antigen nuclear localization signal sequence was unable to efficiently export from nuclei unless ligand-bound. These results uncover an unexpected effect of ligand binding to GR--i.e., the overriding of a dominant negative effect on nuclear export of a heterologous nuclear import signal sequence. Furthermore, they demonstrate that a nuclear import signal sequence can influence nuclear processing pathways that culminate in efficient nuclear export.
Tumor Necrosis Factor-&agr; Does Not Mediate Diabetes-Induced Vascular Inflammation in Mice

Objective—Vascular inflammation is a key feature of both micro- and macrovascular complications in diabetes. Several lines of evidence have implicated the cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF)&agr; as an important mediator of inflammation in diabetes. In the present study we evaluated the role of TNF&agr; in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes on vascular inflammation in C57BL/6 wild-type and apoE−/− mice. Methods and Results—Diabetes increased the expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 in cerebral arteries >150 &mgr;m in diameter as well as the macrophage accumulation in aortic root atherosclerotic plaques in apoE−/− mice. A more pronounced vascular inflammatory response was observed in diabetic TNF&agr;-deficient apoE−/− mice. These mice were also characterized by increased accumulation of IgG and IgM autoantibodies in atherosclerotic lesions. Diabetes also increased VCAM-1 expression and plaque formation in apoE-competent TNF&agr;−/− mice, whereas no such effects were observed in C57BL/6 wild-type mice. Conclusions—The present findings suggest that TNF&agr; does not mediate diabetic-induced vascular inflammation in mice and reveal an unexpected protective role for TNF&agr;. These effects are partly attributable to a direct antiinflammatory role of TNF&agr;, but may also reflect a defective development of the immune system in these mice.
Can financial ratios detect fraudulent financial reporting

Fraudulent financial reporting is a matter of grave social and economic concern. The Treadway Commission recommended that the Auditing Standards Board require the use of analytical procedures to improve the detection of fraudulent financial reporting. This is an exploratory study to determine if financial ratios of fraudulent companies differ from those of nonfraudulent companies. Fraudulent firms were identified by examining the SEC's Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Releases issued between 1982 and 1999. The fraudulent firms (n=79) were then matched with nonfraudulent firms on the basis of firm size, time period, and industry. Using this matched‐pairs design, ratio analysis for a seven‐year period (i.e. the fraud year −/+ 3 years) was conducted on 21 ratios. Overall, 16 ratios were found to be significant. Of these, only three ratios were significant for three time periods. Of the 16 statistically significant ratios, only five were significant during the period prior to the fraud year. Using discriminant analysis, misclassifications for fraud firms ranged from 58 percent to 98 percent. These results provide empirical evidence of the limited ability of financial ratios to detect and/or predict fraudulent financial reporting.
The pathobiology of splicing

Ninety‐four percent of human genes are discontinuous, such that segments expressed as mRNA are contained within exons and separated by intervening segments, called introns. Following transcription, genes are expressed as precursor mRNAs (pre‐mRNAs), which are spliced co‐transcriptionally, and the flanking exons are joined together to form a continuous mRNA. One advantage of this architecture is that it allows alternative splicing by differential use of exons to generate multiple mRNAs from individual genes. Regulatory elements located within introns and exons guide the splicing complex, the spliceosome, and auxiliary RNA binding proteins to the correct sites for intron removal and exon joining. Misregulation of splicing and alternative splicing can result from mutations in cis‐regulatory elements within the affected gene or from mutations that affect the activities of trans‐acting factors that are components of the splicing machinery. Mutations that affect splicing can cause disease directly or contribute to the susceptibility or severity of disease. An understanding of the role of splicing in disease expands potential opportunities for therapeutic intervention by either directly addressing the cause or by providing novel approaches to circumvent disease processes. Copyright © 2009 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Europe in Transformation: How to Reconstitute Democracy?

Europeanisation and globalisation are frequently held to undermine national democracy. What are then the prospects for democracy in the multi-level constellation that makes up the contemporary European political order? The European debate has taken the question of democracy beyond the nation state. But can there be democracy without nation and state? The authors present three different models for how democracy can be reconstituted within the multileveled European context. It can be reconstituted at the national level, as delegated democracy with a concomitant reframing of the EU as a functional regulatory regime. Democracy can be reconstituted through establishing the EU as a multi-national state based on a common identity(ies) and solidaristic allegiance strong enough to undertake collective action. Democracy can also be reconstituted through the development of a post-national Union with an explicit cosmopolitan imprint. This entails an EU with some governmental functions, and which actively takes measures to become a regional cosmopolitan entity in a reformed world order. These are the only viable models of European democracy, as these are the only ones that can ensure equal membership in a self-governing polity. They differ however with regard to both applicability and robustness.
Changes in B- and T-lymphocyte and chemokine levels with rituximab treatment in multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND B cells are implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. A beneficial effect of B-cell depletion using rituximab has been shown, but the complete mechanism of action for this drug is unclear. OBJECTIVE To determine the relationship between T and B cells and changes in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) chemokine levels with rituximab, a monoclonal antibody that targets CD20. DESIGN Phase 2 trial of rituximab as an add-on therapy. SETTING The John L. Trotter Multiple Sclerosis Center, Washington University. Participants and Intervention Thirty subjects who had relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis with clinical and magnetic resonance imaging activity despite treatment with an immunomodulatory drug received 4 weekly doses of rituximab (375 mg/m(2)). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Lumbar puncture was performed before and after rituximab infusions in 26 subjects. Levels of B and T lymphocytes in the CSF were enumerated by flow cytometry, and chemoattractant levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS After rituximab administration, CSF B-cell levels were decreased or undetectable in all subjects, and CSF T-cell levels were reduced in 21 subjects (81%). The mean reduction in CSF cellularity was 95% for B cells and 50% for T cells. After rituximab infusion, CSF CXCL13 and CCL19 levels decreased (P = .002 and P = .03, respectively). The proportional decline in CSF T-cell levels correlated with the proportional decrease in CXCL13 levels (r = 0.45; P = .03), suggesting a possible relationship. The CSF IgG index, IgG concentration, and oligoclonal band number were unchanged following treatment. CONCLUSIONS In subjects with multiple sclerosis, B cells are critical for T-cell trafficking into the central nervous system and may alter the process by influencing chemokine production within the central nervous system.