Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE ROLE OF FINANCIAL REPORTING QUALITY IN REDUCTION THE CONSTRAINING EFFECT OF DIVIDEND POLICY ON INVESTMENT DECISIONS IN TEHRAN STOCK EXCHANGE

Miller and Modigliani’s (1961) dividend irrelevance theorem predicts that in perfect capital markets dividend policy should not affect investment decisions. Yet in imperfect markets, external funding constraints that stem from information asymmetry can force firms to forgo valuable investment projects in order to pay dividends. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the role of financial reporting quality in mitigating the constraining effect of dividend policy on investment decisions. The statistical population of this research is companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE), and the research period is from 2008-2012. Financial reporting quality measured based on the modified Dechow and Dichev (2002) model by McNichols (2002). To test the research hypothesis multiple regression models of panel data were used during research period. Our findings show that there is no significant relationship between financial reporting quality, dividend policy, and investment by them.
Does Auditor Industry Specialization Matter? Evidence from the Bond Market

This paper examines the association between the employment of industry specialist auditors and the cost of debt of a client company. Unlike auditors without industry expertise, auditors with industry expertise can better improve the credibility of financial statements (Krishnan 2003; Balsam et al. 2003) and verify management's forecasts, thereby minimizing managements' discretion in applying accounting principles and standards (Kwon 1996). This suggests that industry specialist auditors can enhance audit quality. Consequently, clients of industry specialist auditors are expected to achieve more significant economic benefits than clients of nonspecialist auditors. It is hypothesized in this study that clients of industry specialist auditors are more likely to enjoy a lower cost of debt than clients of nonindustry specialist auditors. In addition, this study hypothesizes that the marginal economic value added by auditor industry specialization varies between financially troubled clients and financially healthy clients that seek external financing. The results indicate that clients hiring specialists enjoy better credit rating and lower cost of debt than clients of nonspecialists, and this economic value is more significant for risky firms than for healthy firms. However, these findings do not hold for each proxy of auditor industry specialization.
Platform Preannouncement Strategies: The Strategic Role of Information in Two-Sided Markets Competition

The release of a new platform version is often preceded by prelaunch activities including a preannouncement of new features, improvements, and other innovations. The information contained within these preannouncements not only shape expectations of distinct but connected sides, for example, users and developers in a video game platform, but also informs a rival platform in a competitive market. Through a game-theoretic analysis of three different preannouncement strategies (formal, informal, and no-preannouncement) in a duopoly, our research furthers the understanding of externality-related information on expectation formation and the associated competitive dynamics. The literature on the role of information in platform competition is limited, and as the first to model the use of this information (through preannouncements) as a strategic lever, we characterize the firms’ equilibrium preannouncement strategies under different market conditions including when agents have an option to switch and/or the ability to multihome. Our findings show a clear relationship between the equilibrium preannouncement strategies and agents’ strength of taste preferences. In markets with weak preferences, firms pursue a no-preannouncement strategy in equilibrium to a formal preannouncement strategy where users and developers have strong taste preferences. Overall, our welfare analyses reveal that in a competitive market, firms will prefer not to preannounce their platform features even if preannouncement may increase expected network effects. Consumer and social welfare are both higher in multihoming markets than in single-homing ones. This paper was accepted by Chris Forman, information systems.
The influence of cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy on mortality in type 1 diabetic patients; 10-year follow-up.

AIM The aim of our retrospective study was to answer the question if the presence of cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN) affects mortality in type 1 diabetic patients during a 10-year follow-up. METHODS Patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus examined for CAN in 2003 were enrolled in this retrospective study. A total of 278 patients were included and divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of CAN (111 CAN+, 167 CAN-). The group characteristics and outcomes were compared at baseline and after ten years (in 2013). RESULTS In the follow-up period, a total of 18 patients died; CAN+ (14/111; 12.6%) and CAN- (4/167; 2.4%) (P < 0.001). At baseline, the CAN+ patients were older (47 vs. 33 years; P < 0.001), had longer duration of diabetes (20 vs. 12 years; P < 0.05), had worse glycemic control assessed by HbA1c (73 vs. 68 mmol/mol; P < 0.05), higher systolic (130 vs. 120 mmHg; P < 0.001) and diastolic (80 vs. 70 mmHg; P < 0.01) blood pressure and had more diabetic complications. In our analysis we found the strongest predictor of mortality to be the presence of CAN (P < 0.01) and the blood pressure value at baseline (P < 0.05). Other baseline characteristics, including the duration of diabetes, age and the presence of micro- and macrovascular complications were not significant. The statistical analysis was performed using logistic regression step-wise analysis. CONCLUSIONS During the 10-year follow-up, CAN+ patients had a 5-fold higher mortality rate than CAN- patients. The strongest predictor of mortality was the presence of CAN.
Present and Future Non-Volatile Memories for Space

We discuss non-volatile memories (NVM) for space applications. The focus will be both on technologies and devices aimed at the mainstream commercial markets and on rad-hard devices. Commercial NVMs are very attractive for space designers due to their large size (tens of Gbits), even though they have several issues related to ionizing radiation. Rad-hard NVMs offer radiation hardness, but are available only in small size (few Mbits). Most of the emphasis in this review paper will be on the current dominant technology in the mainstream market: floating gate flash memories. A comprehensive discussion of total dose and single event effects results for a wide cross section of NVMs will be presented. Finally, we will conclude with a cursory glance at other emerging non-volatile technologies.
Driving forces and impediments to e-commerce activities among SME’s in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor

E-commerce appears to be a complementary method of doing business. It is hypothesized that to provide the enterprises the opportunity to generate revenues.Its adoption requires the emplacement of ICT infrastructure within the enterprise, while the levels of sophistication, requirements, and expenditure for E-commerce operations vary across enterprises. Due to the significant contributions of SME’s to large enterprises, it is of interest to find out their experience in using e-commerce. The study administered a two-page structured questionnaire on a sample of 160 SME’s located in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur based on the list of enterprises obtained from SMIDEX.The instrument was sent through ordinary mail (50), facsimile (90), and hand-delivered (20) in June 2003. The survey administration produced an effective response rate of 21.9 percent (i.e. 35 usable and 3 incomplete questionnaires). The results show that E-commerce has been used as a complementary method of doing business.Enterprises were not sure whether E-commerce has generated incremental revenue. Being a complimentary tool, method does not reduce the need for face-to-face interaction with customers. The impediments to use Ecommerce are predominantly Internet related, and they include security, and unstable and slow data communications
Corporate identity anchors: a managerial cognition perspective

Purpose – Previous studies on corporate identity (CI) suggest that different beholders view CI from different angles. For example, senior managers' angle can be different from those of employees or customers. The present study aims to explore the dimensions of managerial perceptions of CI.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 48 semi‐structured interviews were conducted with senior managers within three organisations in the British financial service sector.Findings – Seven principal categories of corporate identity anchors were identified: ownership, vision and mission, values and beliefs, business, personality attributes, external image, and strategic performance.Practical implications – The study suggests that CI anchors can be a starting point for CI program or corporate image management. Attention should be accorded to the diversity of the internal and managerial perceptions of CI and how such diversity can be translated into strong and persuasive messages to other stakeholders.Originality/value – .
The Process for Post-Assignment Behavioral Outcomes of International Assignees: A Case Study of Sri Lankan Firms in Asia

Globalization has brought about remarkable developments in international business. Various phenomena such as competition, diversity, and uncertainty have increased the complexity of the already challenging task of managing expatriates both during and after assignments. The wealth of research in the field of international human resource management (IHRM) has revealed the expatriate management issues and consequent impacts on behavioral outcomes. Notably, research attempts are not yet strong enough to capture the reasons behind poor postassignment behavioral outcomes of returning expatriates (repatriates) in international business organizations. On this basis, the primary goal of this dissertation is to analyze the reasons behind variances in post-assignment behavioral outcomes of returned international assignees (including both expatriates and short-term assignees) in Sri Lankan international business firms in Asia. This dissertation is divided into eight chapters covering the introduction, a literature-based identification of the issues, methodological justification, analysis, and conclusive remarks. In
Empirical Study on Distribution of China's Patents Based on International Patent Classification

Realizing patent distribution is the prerequisite and basis for developing patent strategy.Based on patent statistics yearbook from 2002 to 2007,using the ides of patent evaluation index system from state intellectual property office and intellectual property research center for reference,and using factor analysis and clustering analysis,the paper analyzes China's patents distribution in all knowledge fields comprehensively and systematically.The results show that patent distribution can be analyzed from five aspects of quantity,quality,grant rate,development potential and domestic strength;patent application in China has four bottlenecks such as standard and technology as well as potential and awareness;patent distribution in every field is uneven;the patent application fields are different between domestic and foreign applicants.Finally this research conducts a thorough analysis and put forward some suggestions.
The Role of Payment for Environmental Services toward Encouraging Energy Production in Illinois State Floodplains

The general objective of this research is to analyze different land use scenarios in a specific floodplain region of Illinois that utilizes levees in district setting. The specific objective for this research is as follows: 1) Analyze the current land use of the levee district overtime based on current crop production and farm practices. 2) Analyze alternative land use based on energy crops such as switchgrass. In this study we will attempt to estimate the potential biomass supply of levees in ten counties of Illinois State. We will focus on studying fifty two levee districts that are adjacent to the Illinois River. The levees are spread to ten counties in the state of Illinois. The data this paper uses is geospatial data to measure the amount of production potential of switchgrass in levee districts.
Conceptualizing Experience: A Tourist Based Approach

Despite considerable research on the topic of ‘tourist experience’, its contribution to tourism theory and its exploitation for the purpose of creating practical benefits for marketing practices, remain unclear. The present study reviews the existing literature and then presents a novel approach to interpreting experience in tourism by: (a) integrating the space and time dimensions into the ‘tourist experience’ concept, thereby shedding light on its nature and significance; and (b) examining tourists' spontaneous annotations on their travel experiences. Marketing implication and suggestions are provided for the benefit of tourism practitioners.
Assessment of the Ability of the Bioelectric Effect To Eliminate Mixed-Species Biofilms

ABSTRACT Microbes have been able to persist in water distribution systems through the development of multicellular communities known as biofilms. This study evaluated the usefulness of the bioelectric effect for the elimination of water distribution system biofilms from annular reactors. The bioelectric effect did not have any bactericidal action either alone or when coupled with free chlorine.
Effects of moderate and substantial hypoxia on erythropoietin levels in rainbow trout kidney and spleen

SUMMARY Erythropoietin (EPO) is a glycoprotein hormone that regulates the proliferation and differentiation of erythroid progenitor cells in mammals. Although EPO has been identified in fish, the specific function and effects of hypoxia have not been investigated previously. In this study, we have demonstrated a relationship between increases in renal EPO levels and decreases in spleen EPO levels and spleen-somatic index (SSI), with increases in haemoglobin (Hb) concentration in the blood during hypoxia exposure in rainbow trout. Splenic contraction and the subsequent red blood cell release accounts for the initial increase in Hb concentration in the blood, whereas EPO action probably accounts for the later increases in hemoglobin concentration in the blood. Our data indicate that fish and mammalian erythropoietic systems are similar in response to hypoxia, in that erythropoiesis in fish is influenced by EPO.
Key Market Risk Factors: Identification and Applications

During the last few years there have been many changes in the way that financial institutions model risk. New risk capital regulations have motivated a need for vertically integrated risk systems based on a unified framework throughout the whole office. If the risk exposures in all locations of a large institution are to be aggregated, the risk system must also be horizontally integrated. Internationally, regulators are pushing towards an environment where traders, quants and risk managers from all offices are referring to risk measures generated by the same models. This is a huge task which remains a challenge for many financial institutions, but the result should be useful to manage risks for allocation of capital between different areas of the firm, and to set traders limits as well as levels of capital reserves. Following the Basle Accord Amendment in 1996 for the calculation of market risk capital using internal models, the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision (1995) have recommended two methods for generating a unified set of risk measures on a daily basis. These methods have become industry standards for measuring risk not only for external regulatory purposes, but also for internal risk management. The first approach is to calculate a Value-at-Risk (VaR) measure, which is a lower percentile of an unrealized profit and loss distribution. This distribution is based on movements of the market risk factors over a fixed risk horizon. The second approach is to quantify the maximum loss over a large set of scenarios for movements in the risk factors.
Self-aligned shallow trench isolation recess effect on cell performance and reliability of 42nm NAND flash memory

Self-aligned shallow trench isolation recess effect on 42nm node NAND flash to achieve high performance and good reliability has been studied and demonstrated. As cell STI recess is increased by 23nm, 29% narrower cell Vth distribution width and 54% less cell Vth shift after 125°C, 2 hours can be obtained. Furthermore, the endurance window is obviously improved ~0.5V as the distance of the active area edge to control gate (CG) is increased at the same time. Deeper STI recess and enough active area edge to CG distance are a promising profile for floating gate based NAND flash at 42nm node and beyond.
Specific Interactions between ATPase Subunits of the 26 S Protease*

The regulatory complex of the 26 S protease contains at least 15 distinct subunits. Six of these subunits (S4, S6, S6′, S7, S8, and S10b) belong to a novel subfamily of presumptive nucleotidases that we call subunit 4 (S4)-like ATPases. Each of these putative ATPases was synthesized in reticulocyte lysate containing [35S]methionine, and the radiolabeled proteins were used in binding studies. S4, S6, S10b, and S6′ displayed specific binding to components of the regulatory complex separated by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) or two-dimensional PAGE. S4 bound to S7, and S6 bound two proteins: S8 and centractin, a component of the dynactin complex. S10b bound to S6′ and bound much more weakly to S1 and p50, another component of the dynactin complex. S6′ bound to S10b. Two subunits, S7 and S8, did not bind any components present on nitrocellulose membranes, presumably because S7 and S8 are already oligomeric following synthesis. Co-translation and sucrose gradient sedimentation of 35S-labeled ATPases demonstrated the formation of S6′-S10b dimers in solution but revealed more complex associations, namely the formation of trimers and tetramers, among S4, S6, S7, and S8. Progressive COOH-terminal deletions that removed as much as 300 amino acids from S4 had no effect on the binding of S4 to S7. In striking contrast, truncation of 85 NH2-terminal amino acids from S4 abrogated binding, clearly implicating the NH2 terminus of S4 in its specific interaction with S7. Since S4-like ATPases contain putative coiled-coils within the first 150 NH2-terminal amino acids, we propose that coiled-coil interactions are responsible for the specificity of the observed subunit associations and that these associations are important for self-assembly of the regulatory complex.
Carotid Endarterectomy Among Medicare Beneficiaries

Background and Purpose—We sought to examine the appropriateness and the surgical outcomes of carotid endarterectomy (CE) in unselected community hospitals to identify opportunities for improvement. Methods—We performed a retrospective review of all CEs performed on Medicare beneficiaries in Georgia in 1993 (n51945). Conclusions regarding appropriateness were based on current guidelines as interpreted by a physician reviewer and were supported by the aggregate results of structured, blinded overreading by clinicians with relevant expertise. Adverse outcomes were confirmed and rated as to severity by a physician. Outcomes were correlated with demography, vascular anatomic findings, comorbidity, surgical techniques, and hospital characteristics. Results—The majority of the patients (51%) were asymptomatic at presentation. CEs were performed appropriately in 96.1% of the cases in accordance with current guidelines. There was no significant difference in the rate of appropriateness between the symptomatic (96%) and the asymptomatic patients (96.4%). Survival without stroke or myocardial infarction (MI) was 94.3%. The 30-day mortality was 1.9%; moderate to severe strokes occurred in 1.8%, stroke-related death in 0.7%, MI in 1.1%, and MI-related death in 0.5%. Those hospitals performing ,10 CEs in the observed year had a statistically significant higher morbidity and mortality as well as an increase in less severe complications such as hematomas, wound dehiscence, wound infection, and pneumonia than did hospitals with higher volume of CEs. Older patients and women had statistically significantly higher morbidity and mortality. Patients with a Charlson Severity Index score of $1 had a risk for adverse outcomes 3.4 times higher than patients with a score of 0 after adjustment for age and sex. Conclusions—The great majority of CEs performed in Georgia on Medicare patients were appropriate, according to current guidelines. Slightly more than half of the patients were asymptomatic as defined in the Asymptomatic Carotid Atherosclerosis Study. In hospitals performing ,CEs in the index year, we noted higher morbidity and mortality, as well as an increase in less severe complications. This relationship between the volume of surgery and outcome was confirmed in the analysis of the 30-day mortality for all Medicare cases (n510 569) performed in Georgia from 1991 to 1995. This was the most important opportunity for improvement identified in this study. In view of the increased use of CE, it is important to continue to monitor the patterns of practice for this procedure to improve outcomes. (Stroke. 1998;29:46-52.)
MANAGING ROADWAY CONGESTION WITH PROPERTY RIGHTS-BASED MEASURES: BRIEF REVIEW AND NEW DEVELOPMENTS

As opposed to conventional pricing approach, property rights (PR)-based measures have been proposed to mitigate roadway traffic congestion with better effect on quantity control. The objective of the paper is to highlight the applicability and prospects of the RP-based measure in roadway transport. Firstly, a review of existing PR-based schemes reveals that there are plenty of inconsistencies and conflicts in the system designs; and administrative costs and transaction costs are the main concern to the PR-based schemes. The economic nature of roadway transport as private goods is illustrated to consolidate the basis of further developments of new forms of PR-based schemes (i.e., contractual market, CM). Two ways are suggested to establish the CMs on highways and streets, respectively, where private operators are authorized to provide premium transport services. Further discussions include issues on technological solutions, roadway ownership, institutional arrangement, and impacts on accessibility and mobility. In conclusion, the proposed CM possesses several advantages, e.g., reduced administrative costs, information costs, and transaction costs.