Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Contribution of Delayed Gain Recognition to Trends in Conservatism: A Re-Examination Using a New Approach to Measuring Accounting Conservatism

Firms can increase their level of conservatism by recognizing adverse economic events more promptly or by delaying the recognition of positive economic events, that is, by increasing their loss or gains conservatism, respectively. We extend prior research by examining the independent contribution of loss and gains conservatism to overall trends in conservatism. Stakeholders such as shareholders and creditors rely on accounting information for investment, monitoring, and contracting purposes, and have conflicting interests in loss and gains conservatism (Guay 2006, Guay and Verrecchia 2006). Our analysis provides insights on how trends in conservatism serve some stakeholders’ interests while disadvantaging others. We build on Ball and Shivakumar’s (2005) model of the relation between positive versus negative cash flows and contemporaneous accruals and design a new measure of conservatism based on the association between current positive versus negative accruals and future cash flows. Thus, we link managers’ current accruals with the future cash flows that they presumably anticipate when they record the accruals. We interpret the coefficients for positive and negative accruals as indicators of gains and loss conservatism, respectively, and measure overall conservatism as the difference in positive- and negative-accrual coefficients. We find that gains conservatism contributes at least as much as loss conservatism to the overall trend in conservatism. We also find that conservatism in high-tech industries has increased at a faster rate than in other industries, primarily due to increases in gains conservatism. Our findings suggest that trends in conservatism have tilted towards creditors’ interests, increasing shareholders’ reliance on non-earnings information for investment decisions and for contracting.
Existence of equilibria and welfare analysis

This paper considers an economy where a public good is provided via advertising. The consumers’ preferences are represented using the ‘characteristics’ approach’, and the advertising has a potentially enhancing effect on the characteristics’ content of a given commodity. We define competitive equilibria and show they exist. The welfare properties of the resulting allocations are analyzed, and conditions for overand under-production of the public good are provided.
Network atrophy in temporal lobe epilepsy

Background: Recent evidence suggests that temporal lobe epilepsy affects a neuronal network rather than a single circumscribed structure within the temporal lobe. Thus, in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE) with hippocampal sclerosis gray matter abnormalities have been found beyond the hippocampus in extrahippocampal regions by means of voxel-based morphometry (VBM). On the contrary, in cryptogenic or MRI-negative TLE (cTLE) no consistent gray matter abnormalities in VBM studies have been reported. Methods: We used optimized VBM with modulation to detect gray matter abnormalities compared to healthy controls in patients with mTLE and cTLE. Twenty-two patients with mTLE (right/left TLE 13:9), 17 patients with cTLE (right/left TLE 7:10), and 12 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Results: In mTLE we found decreased gray matter volume (GMV) beyond the hippocampus in the ipsilateral thalamus. GMV decrease was more widespread in patients with left-sided seizure focus including the left parahippocampal and superior temporal gyrus, frontal regions, cerebellum, and the right cingulum. In cTLE, decreased GMV was observed in the frontal and orbitofrontal cortex, the cerebellum, neocortical temporal regions, and in the right parahippocampal cortex. Again, patients with left-sided seizure focus had a more widespread and extensive GMV decrease including regions such as the right and left cingulum. Conclusion: We found evidence for distinct neuronal network damage in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE) and cryptogenic TLE (cTLE) which is more widespread in patients with left-sided seizure focus. Atrophy of the cingulum was a common feature in left- but not in right-sided mTLE and cTLE.
Children's Access to Local Environments: A case-study of Christchurch, New Zealand

This article provides a case-study of variability in children's independent access to their local environments in the New Zealand city of Christchurch. It is based on research with children in middle childhood, parents and teachers in four schools in Christchurch, each selected on the basis of variables hypothesised to impact on children's access to their local areas. The paper outlines why such independent access is of value, not only for children, but also for adults responsible for their safety, for the wider environment and for the local community. Variability within Christchurch is related to the socio-spatial nature of local environments. International comparisons are also made, drawing out the implications of differing cultural contexts for the pursuit of child-friendly cities. The article explores the role of social traps in impeding the creation of a more sustainable, child-friendly city.
Internal and Locational Factors Affecting Hotel Industry Efficiency: Evidence from Italian Business Corporations

This paper investigates whether and how the competitive delay of the Italian hotel industry is influenced by the level of business corporation efficiency. A stochastic frontier production approach is proposed in which technical inefficiency is specified as a function of the internal and locational factors in a firm. The model is estimated on a balanced panel of tourism business corporations observed during 1998–2005. Estimates show that the competitive gap in the Italian accommodation system is not a result of poor business corporation performance, and the importance of location, human and immaterial capital is assessed as (in)efficiency determinants. The authors then suggest policies to improve the Italian tourist industry's competitiveness.
Reference equations for the performance of healthy adults on field walking tests.

OBJECTIVE To develop regression equations for predicting six-minute and incremental shuttle walk distances (6MWD and ISWD, respectively), based on demographic characteristics, anthropometric variables, and grip strength. METHODS We evaluated 6MWD and ISWD in 98 healthy adults. Height, weight, and grip strength were also assessed. Using data from 90 of the participants (40 males; 60 ± 9 years of age), we devised linear equations adjusted for age, gender, height, and weight, and we developed alternate models that included grip strength. We prospectively applied the equations in the 8 remaining participants (4 males; 59 ± 10 years), who had been randomly separated from the initial sample. RESULTS Age, gender, height, and weight collectively explained 54.5% and 64.9% of the variance in 6MWD and ISWD, respectively, whereas age, height, weight, and grip strength collectively explained 54.4% and 69.0% of the respective variances. There was no significant difference between the measured and predicted 6MWD using equations with and without grip strength (14 ± 57 vs. 13 ± 67 m). Similar results were observed for ISWD (25 ± 104 vs. 25 ± 93 m). CONCLUSIONS Grip strength is a determinant of ISWD and 6MWD; however, it could not improve the power of equations adjusted by demographic and anthropometric variables. The validity of our models including grip strength should be further evaluated in patients with skeletal muscle dysfunction.
Stakeholder Management and the Public Subsidization of Nashville’s Coliseum

ABSTRACT: Through the use of stakeholder analysis, this article examines the case of Nashville, Tennessee and its pursuit of the Houston Oilers. Focusing on the public policy decision-making process, we review the manner through which Nashville Mayor Philip Bredesen, as a focal stakeholder, managed the different groups that stood to influence, were potentially affected by, or were ultimately involved in, the public subsidization of a football stadium. The various stakeholders were evaluated by identifying their objectives and their ability to impact or be affected by the issue, and were classified into one of eight stakeholder categories in terms of the presence of power, legitimacy, and urgency. This classification formed the basis for analyzing and understanding interactions between groups as the issue developed and was resolved.
A secure publish/subscribe protocol for Internet of Things using identity-based cryptography

Nowadays, the Internet of Things (IoT) is receiving more attention in commercial and academic research, especially about its security property. However, current protocols cannot satisfy the requirement of various IoT applications and introduce some problems. There are three typical problems: traditional public key infrastructure (PKI) apply in IoT will incur great overhead, wireless sensor network (WSN) will be directly fronted with the attack of the Internet, and the centralized publish/subscribe paradigm using in IoT, like MQTT, will become a performance bottleneck. In this paper, we proposed a secure publish/subscribe protocol for IoT, using identity-based cryptography instead of PKI to accomplish identity authentication and applying the concept of trust zone to isolate WSN from the Internet so as to enhance its security. Also, we deploy the service into local gateway instead of centralized server in a distributed method, which can decrease the local accessing delay and overcome single point failure. In the end, a prototype has been implemented on real system and verified the effectiveness of our protocol.
Changes in China's Foreign Investment Policy and the Response of Foreign-Invested Companies

Summary 1. The ability to anticipate changes in China’s economic situation has become increasingly important in recent years because of China’s growing influence on East Asian economies. As part of the global economy, China is also more open to influ ences from other countries, especially its neighbors in Asia. Recent developments that are likely to have a key bearing on Asia’s economic future include China’s transition to stable growth, the emergence of the Indian economy, and moves toward economic integration in ASEAN. 2. While China continues to achieve growth in excess of 10%, it is also affected by growing imbalances, including overheated investment, trade friction and the expansion of disparity. The government has sought to solve these problems by achieving high economic growth. Recognizing that expanding disparity has the potential to cause political instability and impede sustainable growth, the government has also started to tackle the fundamental causes of this problem. The 11th Five-Year Plan contains specific numerical targets for this purpose. The plan also calls for the establishment of a more advanced industrial structure through measures that include the development of high-tech industries, and accelerated development of service industries. 3. We need to be aware that this situation has resulted in significant changes in Chi na’s foreign investment policy. Currently foreign investment policy is guided by three basic criteria. First, will investment lead to the introduction of advanced technology and management methods? Second, will investment contribute to environmental protection, resource conservation and progress on energy policies? Third, will investment contribute to the advancement of China’s domestic industrial structure and technology standards? In general, there is a growing tendency to induce investment in areas that reflect the government’s aims. 4. One of the changes that has occurred in China’s industrial structure since the implementation of the reform and open-door policy is the development of more advanced manufacturing industries through the introduction of foreign investment. There are also problems, however, including the fact that the primary sector still accounts for a high percentage of jobs, and the slow pace of service industry development. The government is responding to these issues by working to develop service industries and increase their capacity to absorb surplus rural labor through measures that include the
Ace Is a Collagen-binding MSCRAMM from Enterococcus faecalis *

A putative collagen-binding MSCRAMM, Ace, of Enterococcus faecalis was identified by searching bacterial genome data bases for proteins containing domains homologous to the ligand-binding region of Cna, the collagen-binding MSCRAMM fromStaphylococcus aureus. Ace was predicted to have a molecular mass of 71 kDa and contains features characteristic of cell surface proteins on Gram-positive bacteria, including a LPXTG motif for cross-linking to the cell wall. The N-terminal region of Ace contained a region (residues 174–319) in which 56% of the residues are identical or similar when compared with the minimal ligand-binding region of Cna (Cna 151–318); the remainder of the Ace A domain has 46% similarity with the corresponding region of the Cna A domain. Antibodies raised against recombinant Ace A domain were used to verify the cell surface expression of Ace on E. faecalis. These antibodies also effectively inhibited the adhesion of enterococcal cells to a collagen substrate, suggesting that Ace is a functional collagen-binding MSCRAMM. Structural modeling of the conserved region in Ace (residues 174–319) suggested a structure very similar to that reported for residues 151–318 of the Cna collagen-binding domain in which the ligand-binding site was identified as a trench transversing a β-sheet face (Symersky, J., Patti, J. M., Carson, M., House-Pompeo, K., Teale, M., Moore, D., Jin, L., DeLucas, L. J., Höök, M., and Narayana, S. V. L. (1997) Nat. Struct. Biol. 10, 833–838). Biochemical analyses of recombinant Ace and Cna A domains supported the modeling data in that the secondary structures were similar as determined by CD spectroscopy and both proteins bound at multiple sites in type I collagen with micromolar affinities, but with different apparent kinetics. We conclude that Ace is a collagen-binding MSCRAMM on enterococci and is structurally and functionally related to the staphylococcal Cna protein.
A molecular docking platform based on Hadoop

Protein Docking is an important task in computational chemistry and computational biology and yet is very computationally expensive. This paper presents a study on implementing molecular docking program in the Hadoop-based system. The molecular docking platform based on Hadoop provides the preprocessing of ligand datasets and the analysis function of the docking results, it also implements the parallel docking by using MapReduce. Through this platform, the docking time is reduced, and the management of the ligand dataset is convenient.
Modelling of money laundering and terrorism financing typologies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show how modelling can be used to provide an easy‐to‐follow, visual representation of the important characteristics and aspects of money laundering behaviours extracted from real‐world money laundering and terrorism financing typologies.Design/methodology/approach – In total, 184 typologies were obtained from a number of anti‐money laundering and counter‐terrorism financing (AML/CTF) bodies to determine the common patterns and themes present in the cases involved. Financial flows, transactions and interactions between entities were extracted from each of the typologies and modelled using the Unified Modelling Language (UML) features within Microsoft Visio.Findings – The paper demonstrates how complex transactional flows and interactions between the different entities involved in a money laundering and terrorism financing case can be shown in an easy‐to‐follow graphical representation, allowing practitioners to more easily and quickly extract the relevant informati.
Local Energy Collaboration: The role of local authorities in community energy

The UK Government’s Community Energy Strategy promotes a community approach that is claimed by both government and grassroots to be able to lead to a step change in the deployment of renewable technology and local empowerment. However research into community energy innovations suggests that, on their own, ‘grassroots’ projects face barriers to their deployment and an ability to make a significant impact on UK energy generation. In 2012 the House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee published a critical report on the Energy Bill and practitioners are reporting that the current energy supply and distribution model is no longer fit for purpose. With evidence that some Local Authorities are looking to develop energy strategies for local generation and supply, could collaboration between Local Authorities and the Community sector deliver local, low carbon energy generation and supply that is able to meet the demands of a changing energy landscape? Using evidence from the stakeholder survey conducted by the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE), this paper investigates the opportunities and barriers to delivering local energy generation and supply and proposes a new approach in local energy strategies.
Biotechnology Research in the CGIAR: An Overview

The CGIAR is a strategic alliance of members, partners, and 15 international agricultural research centers that mobilizes science to benefit the poor. Agricultural research at the CGIAR Centers entails various technologies, including biotechnology, and the extent to which modern biotechnology is part of the overall research activity differs greatly from center to center. The mode of collaboration between centers and their national counterparts on such research projects also vary. Drawing examples from two in-house surveys as well as from the outcomes of a recent workshop, the article provides a synopsis of current biotech-related activities conducted in the CGIAR Centers and considers what the CGIAR’s role(s) might be in ensuring the safe and responsible use of biotechnology for conducting agricultural research that responds to the needs of developing countries.
Folding membrane proteins by deep transfer learning

Computational elucidation of membrane protein (MP) structures is challenging partially due to lack of sufficient solved structures for homology modeling. Here we describe a high-throughput deep transfer learning method that first predicts MP contacts by learning from non-membrane proteins (non-MPs) and then predicting three-dimensional structure models using the predicted contacts as distance restraints. Tested on 510 non-redundant MPs, our method has contact prediction accuracy at least 0.18 better than existing methods, predicts correct folds for 218 MPs (TMscore>0.6), and generates three-dimensional models with RMSD less than 4Å and 5Å for 57 and 108 MPs, respectively. A rigorous blind test in the continuous automated model evaluation (CAMEO) project shows that our method predicted high-resolution three-dimensional models for two recent test MPs of 210 residues with RMSD ∼2Å. We estimated that our method could predict correct folds for 1,345–1,871 reviewed human multi-pass MPs including a few hundred new folds, which shall facilitate the discovery of drugs targeting at membrane proteins.
A survey of Ectoparasites of local pigs , Sus scrofa domesticus at Emene Town area in Enugu State

A survey was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of ectoparasites infesting pigs in Emene town area in Enugu State. Six different farms were surveyed for ectoparasites (Farm 1, 2,3,4,5 and 6), to assess the different ectoparasites infesting pigs in Emene area from March to July 2015. Ectoparasites were collected from pigs of different farms using brush and picking with forceps. The picked parasites were placed in vials containing 70% alcohol of which was transported to entomological units where they were identified to species level. The specimens were identified using light microscopy. Results were analysed using SPSS to determine the prevalence of ectoparasites in pigs, while Chi-square test was used to determine the significance different in prevalence of ectoparasites in different farm locations. The level of significant was set at P<0.05. The prevalence of ectoparasites in relation to age and sex was studied. A total of 400 pigs were examined of which 203(50.75%) pigs were infested. Five species of ectoparasites were identified infesting pigs at this area. They include Sarcoptes scabiei var.suis 332(57.04%), Haematopinus suis 165(28.35%), Glossina sp, 56(9.62%), Stomoxys calcitrans 16(2.75%) and Simulium sp 13(2.23%). Prevalence was significantly high in pigs of 1-3 years of age than in pigs of 2-8 months of age. Infestations were more prevalent in female pigs than in males irrespective of the facts that females examined are higher than male. The overall prevalence of pigs that were infested was 50.75%. The highest number of pigs that were infested (66.67%) were recorded in Farm 2, followed by Farm 4 (65.63%), Farm 3 (57.89%), Farm 1 (53.03%), Farm 5(32.85%) and Farm 6 (29.69%) having the least number of pigs infested. There was no significant difference P<0.05 in the prevalence of ectoparasites infesting pigs by location, age and sex. It was concluded that mite and lice were the main ectoparasite identified which were a threat to the pig’s population in Emene town area irrespective of ages, sexes and locations.
Back to the past: a new take on the timing of flowering plant diversification.

‘In the case of plants, an adequate fossil record does not exist . ’ (Boulter et al., 1972) ‘Molecular clocks are like Santa Claus: everyone wants to believe in them, but no one really does. ’ (H. Brad Shaffer, pers. comm.) The second most interesting thing about Magall on et al.’s new analysis of the timing of angiosperm diversification in this issue of New Phytologist (pp. 437–453) is their compendium of molecular clock estimates for the age of angiosperms (their fig. 1). Since 1972, when Ramshaw and colleagues (in this journal) used some of the first amino acid sequence data from plants to estimate an age of angiosperms at 300–400 million years ago (Ma), molecular-based estimates have ranged wildly. Also since then many things have happened: genomics, phylogenetic biology, statistically sophisticated inference of divergence times, and a much better understanding of the early angiosperm fossil record, to name the most relevant. Why then are estimates of the ‘crown group’ age of angiosperms (see Fig. 1) typically 50–150 million years older than the earliest angiosperm fossils from the Early Cretaceous (c. 135Ma); and why have the error bars on estimated ages not gotten much narrower?
Review of retinal blood vessel detection methods for automated diagnosis of Diabetic Retinopathy

Automated and early diagnosis of Diabetic Retinopathy is a crucial need. `Diabetic Retinopathy' (DR) is the major cause of blindness among people. It is a progressive disease classified according to the presence of various clinical abnormalities. DR patients perceive no symptoms until the disease is at late stage. So early detection and proper treatment has to be ensured. To serve this purpose, various automated systems have been designed. A number of studies have investigated diabetic retinopathy and this paper deals with the analysis of the blood vessel detection methods available for automated diagnosis which have been recently introduced.