Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ETFs: Average Tracking Error Was Well Contained in 2008

Tracking error may be a concern to ETF investors, as the funds are designed with the objective of providing access to and replicating the performance of a specific index. Despite extreme volatility in 2008, tracking error, which the authors define as the difference in total return between an ETF’s net asset value and its underlying index, was generally well contained. The most common sources of tracking error include fees and expenses, portfolio optimization, and index turnover. However, compliance with SEC diversification requirements can lead to extreme tracking error for select ETFs, as they may be forced into material holding and weighting deviations from stated benchmarks. While many newer ETFs based on alternative weighting methodologies (including modified cap-weightings) are able to reduce optimization and mitigate tracking error, investors should consider the potential for wider performance disparities between these ETFs’ benchmarks and more established indices.
Corporate Response to Climate Change: What do Stakeholders Expect?

This paper examines different perceptions on climate change management and disclosures from the viewpoint of stakeholders in Indian Corporations. The paper shows how climate change strategies and disclosures at different organizational levels can be linked to the societal and competitive contexts that companies face, embedded in a stakeholder view. Companies are divided according to certain attributes - location, geographical spread, industry, degree of vertical integration and diversification, companies prioritizing particular stakeholder groups, and their climate change strategies and disclosures including internal measures, supply-chain measures and/or market-based measures that move beyond the supply chain are analyzed. This paper attempts to illustrate how institutional, resource-based, supply chain and stakeholder views are all important to characterize and understand corporate strategic responses to a sustainability issue.
The Relevance of Problems Encountered in Attitudinal Research

The narrative gives an overview of problems encountered in conducting attitudinal research which include: difficulties with sampling procedures, attitudinal measurement, and attitudinal biases. Implications for researchers include: the need to address the attitudinal biases of each individual involved in the research and the need to develop valid and acceptable attitudinal assessment instruments.
Further evidence for the pathogenicity of 15q24 microduplications distal to the minimal critical regions

DNA copy number alterations in 15q24 have repeatedly been reported in patients exhibiting mild to moderate developmental delay and dysmorphic features. To date, mainly microdeletions have been described, and comparison of overlapping regions allowed the definition of minimal critical regions (MCRs) for microdeletions as well as microduplications. These MCRs are associated with distinct phenotypes. Recently, a family with a new microduplication distal to these MCRs was reported. However, for this alteration the typical phenotypical consequences could not yet be determined. Here we present another family with a nearly identical microduplication exhibiting a broad clinical spectrum including developmental delay, autistic traits and dysmorphic features. Our data suggest that microduplications adjacent and distal to the known MCRs are variable in expressivity and are associated with distinct features. They might represent a novel and recurrent microduplication syndrome. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Do Industry Specialist Auditors Improve Investment Efficiency?

This paper examines whether the investment efficiency of client firms with industry specialist auditors is higher relative to that with non-specialist auditors. Using a large sample from the period1976 to 2005, we find that investment efficiency of client firms with industry specialist auditors is significantly higher than that with non-specialist auditors. Furthermore, industry specialist auditors discourage both over-investment and under-investment, although they do so more in the over-investment side relative to the under-investment side. The results are generally unaffected by the different definitions of specialist auditors, clients’ firm size, yearly regressions, differences in the market share of specialist auditors, and the potential self-selection bias.Data Availability: All data can be drawn from publicly available sources.
Functional significance of a deep intronic mutation in the ATM gene and evidence for an alternative exon 28a

Screening for ATM mutations is usually performed using genomic DNA as a template for PCR amplification across exonic regions, with the consequence that deep intronic sequences are not analyzed. Here we report a novel pseudoexon‐retaining deep intronic mutation (IVS28–159A>G; g.75117A>G based on GenBank U82828.1) in a patient with ataxia‐telangiectasia (A‐T), as well as the identification of a previously unrecognized alternative exon in the ATM gene (exon 28a) expressed in lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCL) derived from normal individuals. cDNA analysis using the A‐T patient's LCL showed the retention of two aberrant intronic segments of 112 and 190 nt between exons 28 and 29. Minigenes were constructed to determine the functional significance of two genomic changes in the region of aberrant splicing: IVS28–193C>T (g.75083C>T) and IVS28–159A>G, revealing that: 1) the first is a polymorphism; 2) IVS28–159A>G weakens the 5′ splice site of the alternative exon 28a and activates a cryptic 5′ splice site (ss) 83 nt downstream; and 3) wild‐type constructs also retain a 29‐nt segment (exon 28a) as part of both the 112‐ and 190‐nt segments. Maximum entropy estimates of ss strengths corroborate the cDNA and minigene findings. Such mutations may prove relevant in planning therapy that targets specific splicing aberrations. Hum Mutat 25:118–124, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Testosterone reduces vascular relaxation by altering cyclic adenosine monophosphate pathway and potassium channel activation in male Sprague Dawley rats fed a high-salt diet

Objectives: Male gender and high-salt diet are risk factors for hypertension. The effect of chronic exposure to testosterone is an increase in vascular tone but its influence upon responses induced by other vasoactive agents is not clear. We considered the possibility of interactions between testosterone and a high-salt diet in the mechanisms that are involved in the regulation of vascular tone. Therefore, we designed experiments to assess the involvement of the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) pathway and potassium channel activation on vascular relaxation elicited by testosterone deficiency that was induced by orchidectomy in Sprague Dawley rats on a normal or high-salt diet. Method: Weanling male rats were randomly divided into eight groups (n = 6 each) that were either orchidectomized or sham operated with or without testosterone replacement (10 mg/kg body weight of Sustanon 250 intramuscularly, Organon, Holland) and were placed on a normal or high-salt (0.3% or 8% NaCl) diet, respectively, for 6 weeks. Arterial blood pressure was determined before and weekly throughout the experiment using the tail-cuff method. Relaxation responses to forskolin and diazoxide were studied in noradrenaline (0.1 µM) precontracted aortic rings. Results: There was an increase in the systolic blood pressure of rats placed on a high-salt diet compared with control or orchidectomized rats. Orchidectomy elicited a reduction in the systolic blood pressure while testosterone replacement restored systolic blood pressure to values seen in intact rats. A high-salt diet reduced the relaxation response to forskolin and diazoxide but not in orchidectomized rats while testosterone replacement re-established the blunted relaxation response to forskolin and diazoxide. Conclusion: Inhibition of potassium channel or adenylyl cyclase activation appears to contribute to the mechanisms by which a high-salt diet increases vascular tone. These effects were counteracted by orchidectomy in male Sprague Dawley rats.
Social Competence at 6 Months Following Childhood Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract Children with traumatic brain injury (TBI) are at risk for social impairment. This study aimed to examine social function at 6 months post-TBI and to explore the contribution of injury, cognitive, and environmental influences. The sample included 136 children, 93 survivors of TBI, and 43 healthy controls. TBI participants were recruited on admission and underwent magnetic resonance imaging scan within 8 weeks of injury and behavioral assessment at 6 months post-injury. Healthy controls underwent magnetic resonance imaging scans and behavioral assessment on recruitment. Assessment included parent and child questionnaires tapping social outcome and child-direct testing of cognitive abilities important for social competence (communication, attention/executive function, social cognition). Injury characteristics and environmental measures were collected. At 6-months post-injury, social problems were evident, but not global. Social participation appeared most vulnerable, with more severe injuries leading to greater problems. Greater injury severity and poorer communication skills were associated with poorer social adjustment and social participation, with the impact of family function also significant. Processing speed, younger age, and male gender also contributed to social outcomes. Further follow-up is required to track the recovery of social skills and the changing influences of cognition, brain, and environment over time. (JINS, 2013, 19, 1–12)
Performance analysis of reduced complexity Wallace multiplier using energy efficient CMOS full adder

Most fast computing applications required some arithmetic modules Multiplier is one of the most important module in such applications. Multipliers and their associated circuits like half adders, full adders and accumulators consume a significant portion of most high speed applications. Therefore, it is necessary to increase their performance as well as size efficiency by customization. In order to reduce the hardware which ultimately reduces an area and power, Energy Efficient full adders plays an important role in Wallace tree multiplier. Reduced Complexity Wallace multiplier (RCWM) will have fewer adders than Standard Wallace multiplier (SWM). A Reduced Complexity Wallace multiplier presented in this paper is having the same delay as that of Normal Wallace multipliers. The Reduced complexity reduction method greatly reduces the number of half adders with 75-80% reduction in an area of half adders than standard Wallace multipliers. In both multipliers, at the last stage Carry Propagating Adder (CPA) is used. This paper proposes use of energy efficient CMOS full adder in reduced complexity Wallace Multiplier at the place of Conventional Full adder in order to reduce area, power and improvement in speed.
Splanchnic circulation following coeliac plexus block

Both the capacitance vessels and the resistance vessels of the splanchnic area are innervated by the sympathetic nerve fibers. We investigated the effect of abdominal visceral sympathectomy on splanchnic circulation, and the effect of altered splanchnic circulation on systemic circulation in ten mongrel dogs. Abdominal visceral sympathectomy was induced by coeliac plexus block with 1 ml/kg (body weight) of 1 % lidocaine infiltrated around the coeliac artery. Comparison was made with infiltration of physiologic saline of the same volume. The saline infiltration caused no significant changes in the hemodynamic parameters of systemic and splanchnic circulation. Mean arterial pressure decreased significantly from 18.2 ±2.0 to 14.4±1.9 kPa following the coeliac plexus block, with a concomitant decrease in the cardiac index from 2.63 ± 0.46 to 2.30 ± 0.54 1 × min‐1 × m‐2, while systemic vascular resistance was unchanged. Portal vein blood flow, hepatic artery blood flow and, therefore, splanchnic blood flow decreased by 8 to 17%. Portal vascular and hepatic artery resistances were not affected by abdominal sympathectomy. It was concluded that the capacitance vessels in splanchnic circulation are dilated during abdominal sympathetic denervation, causing a blood shift from systemic to splanchnic circulation. On the other hand, the resistance vessels in splanchnic circulation are affected little by abdominal visceral sympathectomy.
Prevention of thromboembolism with ticlopidine shortly after valve repair or replacement with a bioprosthesis.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS OF THE STUDY This study investigated the efficacy of postoperative ticlopidine as antiplatelet therapy in patients shortly after heart valve repair or replacement. METHODS Between 1990 and 1995, 235 consecutive patients underwent either valve repair (n = 67) or replacement with a bioprosthesis (n = 168). The bioprostheses used were Carpentier-Edwards porcine or pericardial (n = 158) valves, Prima stentless valves (n = 3) and cryopreserved homografts (n = 7). Types of repair were aortic (one), mitral annuloplasty with Carpentier ring (65) and tricuspid repair (one). Mean patient age was 67 (range: 16 to 83) years for valve replacement and 57 (range: 32 to 74) years for repair (p < 0.01). Atrial fibrillation occurred in 34% of patients. The hospital mortality rate was 11% (26 patients). Of the 209 survivors, 137 were assigned to antiplatelet treatment with ticlopidine for the first three months of follow up. The other 72 received either oral anticoagulation (coumadin; n = 40), aspirin (n = 14) or no medication (n = 18). In 15 patients, ticlopidine treatment was interrupted due to diarrhea (13 cases), mild allergic reaction (one) or anemia (one). The mean follow up was 3.2 years (range: 1 month to 6 years); cumulative follow up was 684 patient-years (pt-yr) and was complete in 96% of cases. RESULTS There were two episodes of thromboembolism in the ticlopidine group at 1 month and 6 months respectively, with a linearized incidence of 0.5% pt-yr. In the coumadin group there were four episodes of thromboembolism, three within the first three months of follow up. The linearized incidence was 3% pt-yr (p < 0.01). There were three episodes of hemorrhage in the ticlopidine group in the first three months of follow up and one in the coumadin group. The linearized incidence was 0.75% pt-yr. CONCLUSIONS Following heart valve repair or replacement with a bioprosthesis, the first three months is a high-risk period for thromboembolism. Ticlopidine seems to prevent this complication better than conventional therapy with oral anticoagulants. Nevertheless, hemorrhage continues to be a problem with ticlopidine therapy.
Business School Networks and VC-backed Startups

This paper is the first to study the role of business school education in the creation and success of venture capital (VC) backed startup firms. Using a large new dataset of the educational backgrounds of entrepreneurial founders and executives and detailed data on business school rankings, we find that (i) almost a quarter of VC-backed startups over 1990-2010 are launched by founders with formal business education and two-thirds of startups have an executive with a business school degree, (ii) VC-backed startups experience better exit outcomes when their executive teams include MBA graduates, and (iii) startups are significantly more likely to retain a founder with an MBA as a post-IPO CEO. Consistent with a networking mechanism, 29% of VC-backed startups have at least two executives from the same business school, and 13% of startups have at least one executive and one VC director from the same business school. Such startups with connected executives are significantly more likely to successfully exit through an IPO or an acquisition. Overall, our findings provide evidence on the role of business schools in promoting the formation of professional networks and the acquisition of skills important for launching a successful startup.
On the stability and throughput of compressive random access in MTC

Compressive random access has been considered for machine-type communications (MTC) as it has a potential to support massive connectivity by exploiting the sparsity of device activity. However, its performance limitations are not well studied yet compared with other well-known candidates for MTC, e.g., multichannel ALOHA. In this paper, we investigate the stability of compressive random access with a controlled access probability strategy and derive the maximum stable throughput to see performance limitations. From the analysis results, we can show that the maximum stable throughput of compressive random access is higher than that of multichannel ALOHA by a factor of 2. As a result, we can claim that compressive random access can support more devices than multichannel ALOHA in MTC.
Consumer Preferences for Locally Produced Food Ingredient Sourcing in Restaurants

Increasing restaurant supply chain participants’ knowledge of consumer preferences toward the use of locally produced ingredients in restaurants may provide insight into a valuable marketing opportunity. This study uses conjoint analysis to evaluate consumers’ locally produced ingredient preferences relative to two other key restaurant attributes (the price of the dining experience and restaurant type). Results suggest that, for one fifth of surveyed restaurant consumers, a restaurant’s practice of “buying locally” is the primary restaurant attribute of importance. The implications of these results for supply chain providers (e.g., producers, manufacturers, and food service distributors) are discussed.
Consumers' Choice Factors of an Upscale Ethnic Restaurant

The demand for ethnic foods has increased worldwide, due to the influences of ethnic diversity, globally sourced food, cultural experiences, and media exposure. Despite the importance of restaurant choice criteria and a growth in the popularity of ethnic foods, published research on consumers' restaurant selection behavior that focuses on the ethnic restaurant segment is sparse. This research aims to fill this gap in the literature by empirically identifying the factors (and their relative importance) that influence consumers to dine at an upscale ethnic restaurant. Focus group discussions and the literature review assist in identifying a set of factors that influence restaurant choice. A mail survey is used to collect the data. Factor analysis is applied to refine the decision factors. Logistic regression analysis identifies five significant factors that influence restaurant choice: dining experience, social status, service quality, food quality, and value for money.
A blueprint of the amino acid biosynthesis network of hemiascomycetes.

The structure and regulation of biosynthesis pathways in Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been detailed extensively. For other hemiascomycetes, genomic sequences are primarily available, whereas biochemical information on them is scarce. The resulting biochemical networks that are used for research in basic science and biotechnology are often biased by data from S. cerevisiae, assuming that there are often implicitly conserved structures between species. We examined the structure of the amino acid biosynthesis network in nine hemiascomycetes, spanning the phylogenetic clade. Differences in the genetic inventory included the presence and absence of isoenzymes and compartmentation of the pathways. Notably, no two hemiascomycetes had identical genetic inventories. For example, the lack of the mitochondrial αIPMS isoenzyme and presence of only one copy of the BCAA aminotransferase in Pichia pastoris indicate a disparately compartmented leucine biosynthesis pathway. Our findings suggest that αIPMS and BCAA aminotransferase are solely located in the cytosol of P. pastoris, requiring correction of the leucine biosynthesis pathway layout in this species. Our results argue for careful use of information from S. cerevisiae and for joint efforts to fill the knowledge gaps in other species. Such analysis will lead to contributions in biotechnology disciplines, such as protein production and compartment engineering.
Delivery channel technologies and performance of equity bank (Kenya) ltd

v CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION . 1 1.1 Background of the Study . 1 1.1.1 Delivery Channel Technologies . 2 1.1.2 Organizational Performance . 4 1.1.3 Banking Industry in Kenya.5 1.1.4 Equity Bank (Kenya) Ltd.7 1.2 Research Problem.9 1.3 Research Objectives . 10 1.4 Value of the Study . 10 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW . 12 2.
MCOKE: Multi-Cluster Overlapping K-Means Extension Algorithm

 Abstract — Clustering involves the partitioning of n objects into k clusters. Many clustering algorithms use hard-partitioning techniques where each object is assigned to one cluster. In this paper we propose an overlapping algorithm MCOKE which allows objects to belong to one or more clusters. The algorithm is different from fuzzy clustering techniques because objects that overlap are assigned a membership value of 1 (one) as opposed to a fuzzy membership degree. The algorithm is also different from other overlapping algorithms that require a similarity threshold be defined a priori which can be difficult to determine by novice users.
THE ROLE OF THE SHOPPING CENTRE IN US RETAILING

The modern shopping centre developed in the suburbs of the United States following the Second World War as returning veterans sought homes for themselves and their families. These suburban shopping centres were the product of two demographic events – the move to suburbia and the impact of the baby boom. Retailers of all types found the suburban shopping centre an ideal place for their goods and developers built centres of all types and sizes throughout the US in response to the need and demand during the 1970s. Today, there are over 37,000 shopping centres accounting for over 56 per cent of total retail sales excluding automotive and petrol service stations. The current overabundance of retail space coupled with a recession has created special problems for this industry.