Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Empirical studies in UK corporate governance and executive remuneration

This thesis is structured around four empirical chapters examining related issues in corporate governance. The sample of FTSE 350 companies 1995-2005 has unique properties which are exploited to advance our understanding of the executive pay-setting process; the turnover of Chief Executives (CEOs); the market's reaction to shareholder activism and voting behaviour; and the distribution of pay within the boardroom. Chapter two assesses whether remuneration committees facilitate optimal contracting or whether CEOs are able to capture the pay-setting process and inflate their own remuneration. The findings of prior research, which have been mixed, are shown to be sensitive to the econometric specification employed. A comprehensive assessment of non-executive directors' independence is undertaken. Little evidence is found to support a rents capture model. Chapter three applies duration analysis within a competing risks framework to model the tenure and mode of exit of CEOs. The likelihood of forced departure is found to decrease sharply from the fifth year of a CEO's tenure. Some evidence is found to suggest that this is because CEOs who survive beyond year four entrench themselves in their position. Chapter four considers the impact of shareholder activism. Voting dissent appears inconsequential in terms of increasing shareholder returns, reducing CEO pay or increasing the likelihood of CEO dismissal. However, firing the CEO of a poorly performing company improves shareholder returns soon after the CEO's dismissal. Chapter five examines the structure and distribution of pay amongst board members. As a test of tournament theory, the impact of a rival's succession to CEO on the incumbent directors' compensation and likelihood of exit is examined. A rival's succession has a greater impact on the existing directors' likelihood of exit than it does on compensation.
Modelling and case study of reverse logistics for construction aggregates

The paper proposes a stochastic reverse logistics model for product recovery of construction aggregates. The problem undertaken is to find an optimal network for aggregate recycling under uncertain demand and supply conditions. The proposed model is designed as multi-commodity and capacitated facility location problems. It is formulated as Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) with the objective of minimisation of total cost. The model has been tested for real-life data for National Capital Region (NCR) Delhi, India. It was found that transportation cost was the single largest cost component in the reverse logistics network for aggregate recycling.
Agreement, Precision, and Accuracy of Epifluorescence Microscopy Methods for Enumeration of Total Bacterial Numbers

ABSTRACT To assess interchangeability of estimates of bacterial abundance by different epifluorescence microscopy methods, total bacterial numbers (TBNs) determined by most widely accepted protocols were statistically compared. Bacteria in a set of distinctive samples were stained with acridine orange (AO), 4′-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI), and BacLight and enumerated by visual counting (VC) and supervised image analysis (IA). Model II regression and Bland-Altman analysis proved general agreements between IA and VC methods, although IA counts tended to be lower than VC counts by 7% on a logarithmic scale. Distributions of cells and latex beads on polycarbonate filters were best fitted to negative binomial models rather than to Poisson or log-normal models. The fitted models revealed higher precisions of TBNs by the IA method than those by the VC method. In pairwise comparisons of the staining methods, TBNs by AO and BacLight staining showed good agreement with each other, but DAPI staining had tendencies of underestimation. Although precisions of the three staining methods were comparable to one another (intraclass correlation coefficients, 0.97 to 0.98), accuracy of the DAPI staining method was rebutted by disproportionateness of TBNs between pairs of samples that carried 2-fold different volumes of identical cell suspensions. It was concluded that the TBN values estimated by AO and BacLight staining are relatively accurate and interchangeable for quantitative interpretation and that IA provides better precision than does VC. As a prudent measure, it is suggested to avoid use of DAPI staining for comparative studies investigating accuracy of novel cell-counting methods.
The Impact of Intellectual Capital on SWOT Analysis among Jordanian Banking Industry "Empirical Study"

The competitive financial market urged banking industry to focus on linking the theme of intellectual capital dimensions with the SWOT analysis in to provide a continuum for the improvement process and performance to meet the future challenges, targets and reaching the set standards. The study aims to explore how intellectual capital components affect the SWOT analysis in the Jordanian banking industry. The population of this study consisted of all national institutional banks working in the Jordanian banking industry, meanwhile, the unit of analysis were Branch managers, department managers, supervisors or team leaders working in the Jordanian banking industry. The statistical evidence from the study showed that there is an existence relationship effect between the intellectual capital and SWOT analysis in the Jordanian banking industry. In addition, the study showed that β value for intellectual capital components (β =0.609, p=0.000) is significant at (P≤ 0.01).
Optimal control indicators for the assessment of theinfluence of government policy to business cycle shocks

We consider idealised dynamic models isolating the relationship between GDP and government expenditures. In this setting we assess the possibility of smoothing the effect of business cycle shocks via government expenditure alone and propose optimal control indicators measuring the control potential of this government action. This provides with new indicators and indices refining the dynamic relationship obtained by ARMA or similar type of macro - modeling.
Space growth characteristics of China's economical chain hotels and the reasons

In this paper,China's economical chain hotels' space diffusion mode is judged.China's economical chain hotels' characteristics and the reasons for spatial diffusion and their differences are explained based on the related theory.The study found: 1) China's economical chain hotels space expansion has both contagious diffusion and hierarchy diffusion;2) larger,more matured space growth chain hotels may have no contagious diffusion features;smaller,lower level space growth chain hotels may not have the characteristics of hierarchy diffusion;3) chain hotels with adequate capital will be possible to adopt a pure hierarchy diffusion growth pattern;4) because of differences in socio-economic environment in China,the majority of chain hotels have more obvious signs of hierarchy diffusion.
The Notch Effector Hey1 Associates with Myogenic Target Genes to Repress Myogenesis*

Members of the Hey family of transcriptional repressors are basic helix-loop-helix proteins that are thought to act downstream of Notch in diverse tissues. Although forced expression of Hey1, a target of Notch in myoblasts, is sufficient to recapitulate inhibitory effects of the pathway on differentiation, how Hey1 interferes with myogenic transcription has not been fully elucidated. We provide multiple lines of evidence that Hey1 does not target the intrinsic transcriptional activity of the skeletal muscle master regulator MyoD. Our results indicate instead that Hey1 is recruited to the promoter regions of myogenin and Mef2C, two genes whose induction is critical for myogenesis. Expression of Hey1 in C2C12 myoblasts correlates with reduced recruitment of MyoD to these promoters, arguing that Hey1 inhibits myogenesis by associating with and repressing expression of key myogenic targets.
Cannabinoid 1 Receptors in Keratinocytes Modulate Proinflammatory Chemokine Secretion and Attenuate Contact Allergic Inflammation

Epidermal keratinocytes (KCs) and cannabinoid (CB) receptors both participate in the regulation of inflammatory responses in a mouse model for allergic contact dermatitis, the contact hypersensitivity (CHS) response to the obligate sensitizer 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene. In this study, we investigated the cellular and molecular mechanisms how CB1 receptors attenuate CHS responses to 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene. We used a conditional gene-targeting approach to identify the relative contribution of CB1 receptors on epidermal KCs for the control of CHS responses. To determine the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate inflammatory responses in the effector phase of CHS, we performed further investigations on inflamed ear tissue and primary KC cultures using morphologic, molecular, and immunologic methods. Mice with a KC-specific deletion of CB1 receptors developed increased and prolonged CHS responses. These were associated with enhanced reactive epidermal acanthosis and inflammatory KC hyperproliferation in the effector phase of CHS. In vitro, primary cultures of CB1 receptor–deficient KC released increased amounts of CXCL10 and CCL8 after stimulation with IFN-γ compared with controls. In vivo, contact allergic ear tissue of CB1 receptor–deficient KCs showed enhanced expression of CXCL10 and CCL8 compared with controls. Further investigations established CCL8 as a proinflammatory chemokine regulated by CB1 receptors that promotes immune cell recruitment to allergen-challenged skin. Taken together, these results demonstrate that CB1 receptors are functionally expressed by KCs in vivo and help to limit the secretion of proinflammatory chemokines that regulate T cell–dependent inflammation in the effector phase of CHS.
Symposium Overview

The current hypothesis on how the olfactory system gives rise to the perception of a smell is that information on structural features of volatile odorants comes into the system as an odor map formed at the glomerular layer of the olfactory bulb and that, after processing by bulbar circuits, the information is distilled (“reconstructed”) to give rise to the perception of an odor at the level of the piriform (olfactory) cortex. This symposium was organized to bring insight to the issue that testing this hypothesis and coming to an understanding of the underlying mechanisms of neural processing is critically dependent on which experimental approaches are used and how the information quanta provided by the different approaches relate to each other. In particular, in the introduction to the symposium I presented the idea that the Heisenberg uncertainty principle of physics1— which boils down to the fact that specific experimental approaches have limitations and modify the system being measured—applies to studies of olfaction and that a deeper understanding of how the measurement affects the system and of the limitations in measurement is necessary to understand olfaction. For example, studying the system under anesthesia will alter circuit processing due to alteration of synaptic interactions by the anesthetic, while
MOMENT CASE: Un prototipo de herramienta CASE

MOMENT CASE es un prototipo que mediante un proceso de desarrollo de software dirigido por modelos permite generar el código SQL necesario para la creación de una base de datos de un sistema de información, partiendo de la especificación de éste mediante un diagrama de clases UML, y mediante transformaciones de modelos sucesivas. La herramienta proporciona además capacidades de trazabilidad y generación automática de documentación. Como motor para las transformaciones emplea la herramienta MOMENT [4], que usa como back-end un potente sistema de reescritura de términos. MOMENT CASE constituye un caso de estudio en el que convergen un marco formal de gestión de modelos y una herramienta de modelado industrial dando soporte a estándares abiertos como UML.
The role of social sustainability in supplier selection.

Focusing attention on sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) is becoming a necessity for firms and their wider supply chains. Social sustainability aspects specifically have been overlooked in many initiatives while economic feasibility and environmental impact have taken priority. Incorporating social sustainability factors into supplier selection decisions and achieving effective socially responsible purchasing (SRP) have accelerated in importance as a result of the potential risk to organisations’ reputation. Confusion around social sustainability as a concept and what behaviours should be demonstrated have been a cause of its slow adoption and are gaining debate. The thesis develops an understanding of this important feature of sustainability through the framework that buyers use to establish a socially sustainable supply chain. This empirical work using organisational case studies investigates the role of supplier selection in the purchasing process. The results show that the social aspect of sustainability is embryonic in terms of development with buyers using both transactional and relational factors to achieve socially responsible purchasing. The framework developed in this thesis indicates that through the use of clear sustainability objectives, the buyer must be explicit about their expectations to the supplier, gather relevant information to make an informed decision and analyse the risk to operations and reputation that the supplier poses. Trust, transparency, willingness to engage through communication, collaboration, cooperation and commitment and development of knowledge transfer through education should all be demonstrated by the supplier for a positive selection decision. This goes beyond traditional agency perspectives of the exchange to endorse suppliers as ‘stewards’ in the relationship. The research contributes to theory by providing a framework which moves social dimensions of sustainability to a definable domain that impacts on supply chain sustainability, delivering mutually beneficial outcomes for both buyers and suppliers. The research is timely in reflecting the role purchasing has on implementing a socially sustainable supply chain.
A Distributed Virtual MIMO Scheme Using Cross Layer Design for Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper, we propose a novel distributed virtual MIMO scheme for wireless sensor networks. Using the cross layer design, which involves the MIMO techniques on the physical layer and directed diffusion protocol on the network layer, the scheme can optimize the network's energy performance. Comparing with the exiting cluster-based virtual MIMO scheme, the proposed distributed scheme has better stability and scalability.
Genome screen for loci influencing age at onset and rate of decline in late onset Alzheimer's disease

We performed an affected sib‐pair (ASP) linkage analysis to test for the effects of age at onset (AAO), rate of decline (ROD), and Apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype on linkage to late‐onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) in a sample comprising 428 sib‐pairs. We observed linkage of mean AAO to chromosome 21 in the whole sample (max LOD = 2.57). This came entirely from the NIMH sample (max LOD = 3.62), and was strongest in pairs with high mean AAO (>80). A similar effect was observed on chromosome 2q in the NIMH sample (max LOD = 2.73); this region was not typed in the IADC/UK sample. Suggestive evidence was observed in the combined sample of linkage of AAO difference to chromosome 19q (max LOD = 2.33) in the vicinity of APOE and 12p (max LOD = 2.22), with linkage strongest in sib‐pairs with similar AAO. Mean ROD showed suggestive evidence of linkage to chromosome 9q in the whole sample (max LOD = 2.29), with the effect strongest in the NIMH sample (max LOD = 3.58), and in pairs with high mean ROD. Additional suggestive evidence was also observed in the NIMH sample with AAO difference on chromosome 6p (max LOD = 2.44) and 15p (max LOD = 1.87), with linkage strongest in pairs with similar AAO, and in the UK sample with mean ROD on chromosome 1p (max LOD = 2.73, linkage strongest in pairs with high mean ROD). We also observed suggestive evidence of increased identical by descent (IBD) in APOE ε4 homozygotes on chromosome 1 (max LOD = 3.08) and chromosome 9 (max LOD = 3.34). The previously reported genome‐wide linkage of AD to chromosome 10 was not influenced by any of the covariates studied. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase‐Activating Polypeptide Induces Gene Expression of the Catecholamine Synthesizing Enzymes, Tyrosine Hydroxylase, and Dopamine beta‐Hydroxylase in Cultured Porcine Adrenal Medullary Chromaffin Cells

The bioactive neuropeptide pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) has been isolated from the ovine hypothalamus. PACAP exhibits a variety of biological activities and stimulates catecholamine secretion from adrenomedullary chromaffin The adrenal medulla is reportedly the site of the second highest concentration of PACAP among various rat o rgar~s~. ~ and has abundant PACAP binding sites. ' These results suggest that PACAP acts as an autocrine and paracrine factor in adrenal medulla. We found that the catecholamine secretagogue PACAP also stimulated catecholamine synthesis in adrenal medullary cells. We were interested in the signaling mechanisms mediating the stimulatory effect of PACAP on catecholamine synthesis. Because PACAP stimulates both CAMP and Ca2+ protein kinase C second messenger pathways in adrenal medullary cells,' it was especially interesting to us to see whether CAMP, protein kinase C, and Ca2+ are involved in the regulation of catecholamine synthesis by PACAP. The results of the present study indicate that PACAP increases
Preventive and Therapeutic Strategies for Bovine Leukemia Virus: Lessons for HTLV

Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is a retrovirus closely related to the human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1). BLV is a major animal health problem worldwide causing important economic losses. A series of attempts were developed to reduce prevalence, chiefly by eradication of infected cattle, segregation of BLV-free animals and vaccination. Although having been instrumental in regions such as the EU, these strategies were unsuccessful elsewhere mainly due to economic costs, management restrictions and lack of an efficient vaccine. This review, which summarizes the different attempts previously developed to decrease seroprevalence of BLV, may be informative for management of HTLV-1 infection. We also propose a new approach based on competitive infection with virus deletants aiming at reducing proviral loads.
Predicting postoperative renal insufficiency in patients undergoing nephrectomy for renal malignancy: assessment by renal scintigraphy using 99mtechnetium-mercaptoacetyltriglycine.

PURPOSE We performed Tc-mercaptoacetyltriglycine (MAG3) renal scintigraphy in patients with renal malignancy to evaluate the function of each renal unit before and after nephrectomy to see if postoperative functional deterioration could be predicted based on scintigraphy results and creatinine clearance. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 22 men and 13 women with renal malignancy, including 32 with renal cell carcinoma and 3 with urothelial cancer, were prospectively enrolled in this study. Average patient age was 64.3 years (median 65, range 43 to 88). All patients underwent MAG3 renal scintigraphy before and after unilateral nephrectomy. At the same time serum creatinine and endogenous creatinine clearance were determined. RESULTS Mean serum creatinine was 0.93 mg/dl before and 1.31 after nephrectomy (p <0.0001). Preoperative endogenous creatinine clearance was 70.8 ml per minute per 1.73 m, which decreased to 49.0 ml per minute per 1.73 m after nephrectomy (p <0.0001). Mean MAG3 clearance of the remaining kidney increased 35.1% above baseline from 156.5 to 211.5 ml per minute per 1.73 m following nephrectomy. Spearman rank core analysis revealed that preoperative MAG3 clearance of the remaining kidney significantly correlated with postoperative creatinine clearance (r = 0.596, p = 0.0005). Preoperative MAG3 clearance of the remaining kidney more than 130 ml per minute per 1.73 m coincided with postoperative creatinine clearance above 40 ml per minute per 1.73 m. CONCLUSIONS MAG3 renal scintigraphy may be useful for predicting renal insufficiency after nephrectomy. The findings in this study suggest that preoperative MAG3 clearance of the remaining kidney less than 130 ml per minute per 1.73 m is a risk factor for postoperative renal insufficiency.
Finding the patient in patient safety

In the last decade, the field of patient safety has grappled with the complexity of health-care systems by attending to the activity of frontline clinicians. This article extends the field by highlighting the activity of patients and their carers in determining the safety of these systems. We draw on data from three studies exploring patients’ accounts of their health-care experiences in Australia and internationally, to show how patients and carers are currently contributing to the safety of their own care. Furthermore, we emphasise the importance of patient–clinician collaboration in ensuring the success of these activities. We argue that it is no longer sufficient to discuss if patients should be involved with ensuring their own safety. Given that patients are already involved, we propose a new conceptualisation of safety and systems that acknowledges their involvement and supports patient–provider collaboration to achieve safer care.
Power Router for Meshed Systems Based on a Fractionally Rated Back-to-Back Converter

Increasing energy demand and growth of wind generation have significantly increased the stress on the electric grid. The low investment in transmission infrastructure necessitates adoption of methods for efficient use of existing resources. Power converter-based FACTS devices, capable of dynamic power-flow control, have been the preferred solution to maximize utilization of existing infrastructure, but implementation of traditional FACTS solutions at transmission level voltages is complex and cost prohibitive. This paper proposes a power router (PR) for dynamic power-flow control in a meshed network. The proposed PR is realized by augmenting a transformer with a fractionally rated back-to-back converter. The main advantages of the proposed converter are the fractional converter rating and reduced low-frequency transformer requirement compared to the traditional FACTS solutions. This paper outlines the proposed PR topology, control range, controller design and demonstrates the functionality through simulation and experimental results.
Robust passive control for linear systems with norm-bounded time-varying uncertainty

This paper concerns the robust passive control problem for linear systems with norm-bounded time-varying uncertainties in all the system matrices. Our objective is to design a feedback controller such that the closed-loop system is both quadratically stable and strictly passive for all admissible uncertainties. It is shown that such a problem is equivalent to a scaled strictly positive real control problem for a certain linear time-invariant system in which no uncertainty occurs. Therefore, a complete solution can be obtained by using the existing results of standard positive real control.