Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trading volume reactions to a change in dividend policy: the Canadian evidence*

This study examines the volume of trading in the stock of 34 Canadian companies that initiated a policy of regular cash dividends during the period 1972–1982. Using a time-series methodology linked to changes in Canadian tax legislation, we test whether the volume of trading surrounding first-time dividend adoptions declined after 1978, a year when tax legislation changed the taxation of dividends toward tax neutrality for investors in high tax brackets. We observe a significant trading volume decline after 1978, which we interpret as implying that fewer investors wanted to dispose of initial dividend stocks after 1978. The result is inconsistent with dividend irrelevance theories and possibly points to tax clientele relevance in Canada. Resume. Les auteurs examinent le volume de titres negocies pour 34 societes canadiennes ayant mis en place une politique de versement periodique de dividendes en especes durant la periode 1972–1982. A l'aide d'une methodologie de series chronologiques liee aux changements apportes a la legislation fiscale canadienne, les auteurs verifient si le volume des titres negocies dans le contexte de l'adoption initiale de cette politique de dividendes a decline apres 1978, annee au cours de laquelle le fisc a modifie l'imposition des dividendes pour pencher vers la neutralite fiscale pour les investisseurs appartenant aux tranches d'impot elevees. Ils observent un declin appreciable du volume de titres negocies apres 1978, declin qui suppose, selon eux, qu'un moins grand nombre d'investisseurs ont voulu se defaire de telles actions apres 1978. Ce resultat s'oppose aux theories de la non-pertinence du dividende et pourrait indiquer la pertinence de la «clientele fiscale» au Canada.
Glycoproteins E and I facilitate neuron-to-neuron spread of herpes simplex virus

Two herpes simplex virus (HSV) glycoproteins E and I (gE and gI) form a heterooligomer which acts as an Fc receptor and also facilitates cell-to-cell spread of virus in epithelial tissues and between certain cultured cells. By contrast, gE-gI is not required for infection of cells by extracellular virus. HSV glycoproteins gD and gJ are encoded by neighboring genes, and gD is required for both virus entry into cells and cell-to-cell spread, whereas gJ has not been shown to influence these processes. Since HSV infects neurons and apparently spreads across synaptic junctions, it was of interest to determine whether gD, gE, gI and gJ are also important for interneuronal transfer of virus. We tested the roles of these glycoproteins in neuron-to-neuron transmission of HSV type 1 (HSV-1) by injecting mutant viruses unable to express these glycoproteins into the vitreous body of the rat eye. The spread of virus infection was measured in neuron-rich layers of the retina and in the major retinorecipient areas of the brain. Wild-type HSV-1 and a gJ- mutant spread rapidly between synaptically linked retinal neurons and efficiently infected major retinorecipient areas of the brain. gD mutants, derived from complementing cells, infected only a few neurons and did not spread in the retina or brain. Mutants unable to express gE or gI were markedly restricted in their ability to spread within the retina, produced 10-fold-less virus in the retina, and spread inefficiently to the brain. Furthermore, when compared with wild-type HSV-1, gE- and gI- mutants spread inefficiently from cell to cell in cultures of neurons derived from rat trigeminal ganglia. Together, our results suggest that the gE-gI heterooligomer is required for efficient neuron-to-neuron transmission through synaptically linked neuronal pathways.
Vasopressin versus Norepinephrine in Patients with Vasoplegic Shock after Cardiac Surgery: The VANCS Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Vasoplegic syndrome is a common complication after cardiac surgery and impacts negatively on patient outcomes. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether vasopressin is superior to norepinephrine in reducing postoperative complications in patients with vasoplegic syndrome. Methods: This prospective, randomized, double-blind trial was conducted at the Heart Institute, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil, between January 2012 and March 2014. Patients with vasoplegic shock (defined as mean arterial pressure less than 65 mmHg resistant to fluid challenge and cardiac index greater than 2.2 l · min−1 · m−2) after cardiac surgery were randomized to receive vasopressin (0.01 to 0.06 U/min) or norepinephrine (10 to 60 &mgr;g/min) to maintain arterial pressure. The primary endpoint was a composite of mortality or severe complications (stroke, requirement for mechanical ventilation for longer than 48 h, deep sternal wound infection, reoperation, or acute renal failure) within 30 days. Results: A total of 330 patients were randomized, and 300 were infused with one of the study drugs (vasopressin, 149; norepinephrine, 151). The primary outcome occurred in 32% of the vasopressin patients and in 49% of the norepinephrine patients (unadjusted hazard ratio, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.38 to 0.80; P = 0.0014). Regarding adverse events, the authors found a lower occurrence of atrial fibrillation in the vasopressin group (63.8% vs. 82.1%; P = 0.0004) and no difference between groups in the rates of digital ischemia, mesenteric ischemia, hyponatremia, and myocardial infarction. Conclusions: The authors’ results suggest that vasopressin can be used as a first-line vasopressor agent in postcardiac surgery vasoplegic shock and improves clinical outcomes.
Focusing on key elements of TQM – evaluation for sustainability

Without sustainability TQM initiatives are usually doomed to fail. The essence of TQM is continuity over time and integration of quality management initiatives into daily organizational operations. The purpose of this paper is twofold: to define what are the key priority elements of TQM on which companies need to focus and to present an evaluation tool based on these key elements that can be used to assess the extent of progress of TQM. The tool encompasses ISO 9000 as well as TQM elements, bearing in mind that they should complement rather than conflict with each other. The research context is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a less developed country where the issue of sustainability is even more crucial than in fully industrialised countries.
Combination of the Dipeptidyl Peptidase IV Inhibitor LAF237 [(S)-1-[(3-Hydroxy-1-adamantyl)ammo]acetyl-2-cyanopyrrolidine] with the Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Antagonist Valsartan [N-(1-Oxopentyl)-N-[[2′-(1H-tetrazol-5-yl)-[1,1′-biphenyl]-4-yl]methyl]-l-valine] Enhances Pancreatic Islet Morpholo

LAF237 [(S)-1-[(3-hydroxy-1-adamantyl)ammo]acetyl-2-cyanopyrrolidine] is an inhibitor of dipeptidyl peptidase IV that delays the degradation of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). Valsartan [N-(1-oxopentyl)-N-[[2′-(1H-tetrazol-5-yl)[1,1′-biphenyl]-4-yl]methyl]-l-valine] is an antagonist of the angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) that reduces the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus. LAF237 and valsartan act on a common target through separate pathways to improve pancreatic islet cell function. We hypothesize that the combination of these two drugs acts in a synergistic or additive manner on islet function and structure. To test this hypothesis, we performed in vitro and in vivo studies. To measure the acute effect of the treatment, pancreatic islets of db/db mice were isolated and stimulated in vitro with glucose in the presence of valsartan (1 μM) and exendin-4 (100 nM), a GLP-1 receptor agonist. Combination treatment with valsartan and exendin-4 significantly enhanced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from isolated islets. For studies of chronic effect, db/db mice received LAF237 (1 mg/kg/day) and/or valsartan (10 mg/kg/day). Islet cell reactive oxygen species (ROS), proliferation, apoptosis, fibrosis, β-cell area, and glucose homeostasis were evaluated after 8 weeks of treatment, which showed that combination treatment resulted in a significant increase in pancreatic islet β-cell area compared with monotherapy. This beneficial effect correlated with an increase in β-cell proliferation and a decrease in ROS-induced islet apoptosis and fibrosis. These in vitro and in vivo data indicate that combination treatment with LAF237 and valsartan has significant beneficial additive effects on pancreatic β-cell structure and function compared with their respective monotherapeutic effects.
Correlation of the apparent diffusion coefficiency values on diffusion-weighted imaging with prognostic factors for breast cancer.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to correlate the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value of breast cancer with prognostic factors. METHODS 335 patients with invasive ductal carcinoma not otherwise specified (IDC NOS) and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) who underwent breast MRI with diffusion-weighted imaging were included in this study. ADC of breast cancer was calculated using two b factors (0 and 1000 s mm(-2)). Mean ADCs of IDC NOS and DCIS were compared and evaluated. Among cases of IDC NOS, mean ADCs were compared with lymph node status, size and immunochemical prognostic factors using Student's t-test. ADC was also correlated with histological grade using the Kruskal-Wallis test. RESULTS Mean ADC of IDC NOS was significantly lower than that of DCIS (p<0.001). However, the mean ADC of histological grade of IDC NOS was not significantly different (p=0.564). Mean ADC of oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive or progesterone receptor (PR)-positive cancer was significantly lower than that of ER-negative or PR-negative cancer (p=0.003 vs p=0.032). Mean ADC of Ki-67 index-positive cancer was significantly lower than that of Ki-67 index-negative cancer (p=0.028). Mean ADC values of cancers with increased microvascular density (MVD) were significantly lower than those of cancer with no MVD increase (p=0.009). No correlations were observed between mean ADC value and human growth factor receptor 2 expression, tumour size and lymph node metastasis. CONCLUSION Low ADC value was correlated with positive expression of ER, PR, increased Ki-67 index, and increased MVD of breast cancer.
How Management Accountants' Cognitive Style and Role Involvement Combine to Affect the Effort Devoted to Initiating Change

This study examines how management accountants' cognitive style combines with their role involvement to affect not only the level of effort they devote to initiating change in their management accounting practices, but also how radical those changes are. While management accountants' cognitive style is likely to be an important indicator of the level of effort devoted to initiating change, the role they occupy in the organization (described in terms of role involvement) is also likely to be important as a means through which their efforts can be facilitated. The results from a survey of management accountants indicate that cognitive style had a positive but not significant direct effect on the level of effort management accountants devote to initiating change but, as hypothesized, there was a significant indirect effect via the mediating variable of role involvement. Moreover, this indirect relationship was more significant for radical changes than non-radical changes.
Personal Identification and Authentication based on One-lead ECG using Ziv-Merhav Cross Parsing

In this paper, we propose a new data compression based ECG biometric method for personal identification and authentication. The ECG is an emerging biometric that does not need liveliness verification. There is strong evidence that ECG signals contain sufficient discriminative information to allow the identification of individuals from a large population. Most approaches rely on ECG data and the fiducia of different parts of the heartbeat waveform. However nonfiducial approaches have proved recently to be also effective, and have the advantage of not relying critically on the accurate extraction of fiducia. We propose a non-fiducial method based on the Ziv-Merhav cross parsing algorithm for symbol sequences (strings). Our method uses a string similarity measure obtained with a data compression algorithm. We present results on real data, one-lead ECG, acquired during a concentration task, from 19 healthy individuals, on which our approach achieves 100% subject identification rate and an average equal error rate of 1.1% on the authentication task.
Response to FOLFIRINOX by gender in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer: Results from the PRODIGE 4/ ACCORD 11 randomized trial

Background Hohla et al. suggested that female gender could positively predict response to FOLFIRINOX in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. In this study, we explored the response to the FOLFIRINOX regimen by gender within the trial PRODIGE4/ACCORD 11. Patients and methods Data were described by gender, both in FOLFIRINOX group and in the intention-to-treat population of the trial. The relative effect of gender (females in comparison to males) on overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival was estimated by using a Cox proportional hazard model and was presented with the Hazard Ratio and their 95% confidence interval. The analysis of prognostic factors of OS included also: age (older than 65 years), ECOG performance status, primary tumor location, synchronous metastases, number of metastatic sites, hepatic metastasis, pulmonary metastases, lymph node metastases, level of Albumin and level of serum carbohydrate antigen 19–9 and three domains from the EORTC Quality of Life QLQC-30 questionnaire. Results The FOLFIRINOX group (N = 171 patients) included 106 women (62%) and 65 men. No significant differences were observed between genders regarding demographic and clinical parameters, excepted for lymph nodes metastasis (17% and 35% in women and men respectively; p = 0.012). Median OS was longer for females as compared to males in FOLFIRINOX group (13.1 versus 10.3 months respectively; HR = 0.73; 95% CI, 0.51–1.06). Similarly, median PFS was superior (7.2 versus 5.9 months; HR = 0.79; 95% CI, 0.57–1.10). Nevertheless, in both cases, the differences were not statistically significant (p = 0.10 et p = 0.169, respectively). Conclusions In this study, the overall survival and progression-free survival rates were not significantly higher for females than for males in FOLFIRINOX group (HR = 0.73; 95% CI, 0.51–1.06 and HR = 0.79; 95% CI, 0.57–1.10 respectively). Even if the percentage of patients with lymph node metastasis is higher for males than for females, the interaction between gender and lymph node metastasis was non-significant. Our exploratory analysis did not permit to definitively conclude about a possible effect of gender on the prognosis of patients under FOLFIRINOX. This subject deserves further evaluation. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT00112658 Key message Our analysis suggests that FOLFIRINOX, as first-line option for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer who are younger than 76 years and who have a good performance status (ECOG 0 or 1), no cardiac ischemia and normal or nearly normal bilirubin levels, is beneficial, but not particularly in female patients.
Hemodynamics and Exercise Tolerance After Bisoprolol, Nifedipine, and Their Combination in Patients with Angina Pectoris

The different mechanisms of action of β-blockers and calcium antagonists could result in an additive therapeutic effect in patients with angina pectoris. Twenty-one male patients aged between 41 and 68 years and suffering from chronic stable angina pectoris and coronary artery disease confirmed by angiography took part in a randomized, double-blind study to examine the acute effect of 10 mg of bisoprolol, 20 mg of nifedipine, and a combination of the two drugs on hemodynamics at rest and during exercise [heart rate (HR). systolic blood pressure (SBP). rate—pressure product (RPP), cardiac index (CI), total peripheral resistance (TPR), and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCP)], the behavior of the ST segment (ST), and exercise tolerance until occurrence of an ST-segment depression of 0.1 mV (W-ST01) and until onset of anginal pain (W-AP1). Following a baseline exercise test, 11 patients were given 10 mg of bisoprolol orally, whereas 10 patients received placebo. Two hours later, a second exercise test was carried out. All patients in both groups then received 20 mg of N orally. A third exercise test was performed 2 h later. On exercise, bisoprolol resulted in significant changes in HR (-16%). RPP (–22%), and CI (–16%), as well as in TPR (+13%); PCP was not significantly affected. Nifedipine led to significant changes in CI (+9%) and PCP (–34%). The effects of bisoprolol on HR and RPP and of nifedipine on PCP were retained in the combination. Competition was detectable as regards the opposing effects on CI and TPR. Measured by W-ST01 and ST, bisoprolol had a marked anti-ischemic effect, whereas that of nifedipine was distinctly less. There was an increase in effect after combination of the drugs (not significant); In patients with chronic angina pectoris due to coronary artery disease, bisoprolol and nifedipine had different hemodynamic profiles after acute administration; when the two drugs were combined, these effects were partly intensified and partly canceled out. There was a tendency for the effect of bisoprolol to be intensified by nifedipine in the combination. The combination of bisoprolol and nifedipine was well tolerated in the doses selected.
Policy, Support and Promotion for Food-Related Tourism Initiatives

Summary Increasingly, regional tourism development initiatives are utilizing locally-produced foodstuffs and beverages to: strengthen areas' tourism products; enhance visitors' experiences; and help maintain and enhance the viability of local food production and processing sectors. This paper examines the ways in which food and tourism are being drawn together at a theoretical level by academics, at a strategic level by policy makers, and at an applied level by developers and practitioners. While the marketing philosophy provides a useful framework for the planning and management of food-related tourism initiatives, adopting such an approach is problematic owing to a shortfall in our understanding of consumer behavior with regard to food in the context of leisure and tourism. In the absence of such knowledge, and in the light of the positive economic and social benefits which such initiatives can create, this paper examines the ways in which food-related tourism initiatives are being promoted using the World Wide Web. The research highlights inadequacies in the web-based promotion of food-related tourism initiatives in the UK and suggests that, while this type of tourism is at an early stage in the product life-cycle (in the UK), these shortcomings are also due in part to the fragmented infrastructure for regional tourism development and promotion in the UK. Additionally, practical recommendations are made as regards design factors for the provision of web-based tourism information.
City Research Online

: The dielectric properties of epoxy resin were studied as a function of hydration by dielectric spectroscopy. The dielectric spectroscopy measurements show different conduction and quasi-DC behaviors at very low frequencies (<10 -2 Hz) with activation energies dependent on the hydration. These observations lead to the development of a model in which a “water shell” is formed around the nano particles. The multiple shell model, originally proposed by Lewis and developed by Tanaka, has been further developed to explain low frequency dielectric spectroscopy results in which percolation of charge carriers through overlapping water shells was shown to occur. At 100% relative humidity, water is believed to surround the nanoparticles to a depth of approximately 10 monolayers as the first layer. A second layer of water is proposed that is dispersed by sufficiently concentrated to be conductive. If all the water had existed in a single layer surrounding a nanoparticle, this layer would have been approximately 5 nm thick at 100% RH. Filler particles that have surfaces that are functionalized to be hydrophobic considerably reduce the amount of water absorbed in nanocomposites under the same conditions of humidity. PEA results show that the wetted epoxy specimens have a higher threshold field of space charge accumulation than such dry specimens since water enhances charge decay.
Uncertainty resolution and the theory of depreciation measurement

This paper examines how a firm's depreciation policy influences the relation between the resulting accounting numbers and the market value of the firm's equity. ' Traditional financial accounting theory conceptualizes depreciation measurement as a cost allocation procedure that matches an investment's cost with the flow of benefits it produces. As has long been recognized, in a setting with certain future cash flows and zero net present value (NPV) investments, investment costs can be allocated using standard present value techniques to yield, at each date, book values equal to market values, and accounting earnings equal to economic earnings.2 The resulting book value and accounting earnings numbers are such that, for all periods, the book rate of return equals the cost of
Diffusion of new products in risk-sensitive markets

Diffusion of new products may be deterred by consumers' uncertainties about how they will perform. This paper introduces a decision-theoretic framework for modeling the diffusion of consumables, in which consumers choose between a current and new product so as to maximize expected utility. Consumers that are sufficiently risk-averse delay adoption, and change their prior uncertainties in a Bayesian fashion using information generated by early adopters. Under certain assumptions about the underlying consumer choice process and the market dynamics, the result is logistic growth in the share of consumers that choose the new product. The model can be generalized by allowing for consumer heterogeneity with respect to performance of the new product. The paper concludes with a discussion of applications for market forecasting, design of market trials and other extensions.
Second–Order Gender Effects: The Case of U.S. Small Business Borrowing Cost*

Gender–based differential treatment of business borrowers has been illegal for decades now. Therefore, any remaining gender effect is likely to be more subtle than before and second order in nature. Using 1,577 small businesses from the 2003 National Survey of Small Business Finances by the Federal Reserve Board, resolving the gender assignment problem, and isolating the supply effects, our tests detected a second–order gender effect in U.S. small business borrowing cost. Specifically, lenders charge female sole proprietorships an average of 73 basis points higher than male sole proprietorships. The methodology also ameliorates an interpretation problem common to first–order gender effects.
On the Analysis of Multimodal Documents at the Level of Pragmatics

A genuine comprehension of the process of human communication within organisations requires a detailed understanding of pragmatics. Accordingly, our aim here is to work towards a richer means of analysing and describing multimodal documents at the pragmatic level than is currently available within the framework of Organisational Semiotics. Our basic strategy is to take six of the most widely known aspects of discourse analysis as practised in linguistics and attempt to extend them to multimodal documents. These aspects are: (i) discourse organisation, (ii) order of presentation, (iii) communicative acts, (iv) adjacency sequences, (v) rhetorical relationships and (vi) affect. We find that all six of these aspects of discourse analysis are, indeed, capable of being extended to the analysis of multimodal discourse, at least in terms of basic principle. This encouraging result provides us with a viable starting-point for the analysis and description of multimodal documents at the level of pragmatics.