Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Corporate tournaments and executive compensation: Evidence from the U.K

This study tests the implications of tournament theory using data on 100 U.K. stock market companies, covering over 500 individual executives, in the late 1990s. Our results provide some evidence consistent with the operation of tournament mechanisms within the U.K. business context. Firstly, we find a convex relationship between executive pay and organizational level and secondly, that the gap between CEO pay and other board executives (i.e., tournament prize) is positively related to the number of participants in the tournament. However, we also show that the variation in executive team pay has little role in determining company performance.
Determinants of environmental management systems (EMSs) of manufacturing small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in Sri Lanka

The main objective of this study was to identify the critical factors that affecting the implementation of environmental management systems (EMSs) of manufacturing SMEs in Sri Lanka. Out of twelve factors, management commitment, professional expertise, financial resources, stakeholders and environmental information are identified as key factors. Based on the survey results, it is proposed that the government should play an important role in promoting environmental management in SMEs. It is necessary for the government to provide active support in the aspects including mandatory policy, encouraging policy and supporting policy.
Safety and cross-reactive immunogenicity of candidate AS03-adjuvanted prepandemic H5N1 influenza vaccines: a randomized controlled phase 1/2 trial in adults.

BACKGROUND The tocopherol-based oil-in-water emulsion adjuvant system family (AS03) improves antigen sparing with split-virion H5N1 influenza vaccines, representing an important development for pandemic preparedness. In this phase 1/2 randomized, controlled, observer-blinded study in 680 adults, we assessed the immunogenicity and safety of A/Indonesia/5/05 H5N1 (IBCDC-RG2, clade 2.1) prepandemic candidate vaccines produced at 2 separate manufacturing sites. METHODS Two doses, each of which contained 3.75 microg of hemagglutinin antigen, were given 21 days apart either without adjuvant or with an adjuvant system containing 11.86 mg or 5.93 mg of tocopherol (AS03). RESULTS The AS03-adjuvanted A/Indonesia/05/2005 (NIBRG-14) vaccines were significantly more immunogenic than nonadjuvanted vaccine in homologous assays. Neutralizing cross-clade immunogenicity against clades 1, 2.2, and 2.3 was demonstrated at day 42 with all vaccines; at 6 months, seroconversion rates were highest for clade 2.2 (60.7%) and for clade 1 (38.3%). Adjuvantation was associated with increased short-term injection-site reactions (pain) in 80% of participants, with such reactions assessed as being of grade 3 severity for 4.0% of doses. No other safety or reactogenicity concerns were identified over 6 months of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS Humoral responses against the adjuvanted 3.75-microg hemagglutinin antigen vaccines from both manufacturing sites fulfilled European and US licensure criteria for immunogenicity for influenza vaccines.
Statistics of branching and hairpin helices for the dAT copolymer

At low temperatures a single strand of dAT copolymer tends to form a double helix with a loop at one end (hairpin). At slightly higher temperatures a branched structure (consisting of many hairpins connected by coiled regions) appears. The equilibrium properties of this branched structure are studied here by a propagator method. In particular the radius of gyration RG is calculated; under typical conditions, RG is expected to show a minimum at a temperature slightly below melting, in agreement with viscosity measurements. The present calculation is restricted to rather sharp transitions, for which the size of each helical region is large, even at the melting point. Then, in a rather broad range of molecular weights, M, RG is proportional to M1/4(as in the Zimm‐Stockmayer theory of simple branched polymers).
INTERROGATION OF NUMERICAL SIMULATION FOR MODELING OF FLOW INDUCED MICROSTRUCTURE

This paper summarizes our recent efforts using direct numerical simulations to determine microstructural properties of fluidized suspensions of a few particles. We have been studying the motions of a few particles in a viscous fluid by direct numerical simulation at moderate values of the Reynolds number in the 100’s. From these simulations, we find the mechanisms which give rise to lateral migration of particles and turn the broad side of long bodies perpendicular to the stream. We find that a viscous “stagnation” point is a point on the body where the shear stress vanishes and the pressure is nearly a maximum. We show how the migration is controlled by stagnation and separation points and go further than before in the discussion of Segre-Silberberg effects of cross-streaml ine migration in two dimensions. We have analyzed the lift off and steady flight of solid capsules in Poiseuille flows. We do a three-dimensional simulation of steady flow at slow speeds and show that the extensional stresses in a viscoelastic flow change the sign of the normal stress which would exist at points of stagnation in a Newtonian fluid, causing the long side of the body to line up with the stream.
SLD - Resolution with Reflection

The aim of this thesis is to de ne a procedural and declarative semantics of SLDresolution with re ection, in the general framework de ned by Ja ar et al. This scheme is in fact general enough to constitute a ground work suitable for (i) the possible integration of metaprogramming and constraint logic programming, so as to make more exible and powerful logic languages possible; (ii) a discussion and comparison of various forms of encodings with respect to their impact on the semantic behaviour of extended resolution. To achieve our aim, we employ to a language containing names of expressions and an extension to SLD-resolution which allows metalevel computation and interlevel communication through re ection. We present a rewrite system for extended uni cation for the language, with certain similarities to a constraint solving system over names. Then, we discuss the declarative semantics of the language. In relation to the chosen naming policy and rewrite system for the uni cation, the extended SLD-resolution is shown to be sound and complete, provided that some requirements are ful lled. Finally, comparisons are made with related languages and systems.
The normal serum-calcium and magnesium of the rat: their relation to sex and age.

Tim normal serum-magnesium of the rat has not hitherto been determined, except perhaps for a very few animals; some figures given by Watchorn [1932] for instance, were too few to be of value. The present paper gives the data from approximately 100 rats. The opportunity was taken to study the calcium also, for although the rat has frequently been used for serum-calcium studies (notably in work on irradiated ergosterol) the normal has received but little attention, a few animals only having generally been used. The work of Cameron referred to later is, however, an exception to this general statement.
Longitudinal Modelling of Households' Vehicle Transaction and Type Choice Decisions

vii List of Symbols and Abbreviations Used viii Acknowledgements ix Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1 Research Objective 2 1.2 Outline of the Thesis 3 Chapter 2: Conceptual Framework 5 2.1 Theoretical Framework 5 2.2 The Longitudinal Survey 22 Chapter 3: Modelling of Vehicle Ownership State and Vehicle Type Choice Behaviour 33
A qualitative study to inform the development of a video game for adolescent HIV prevention.

PURPOSE To inform the development of an interactive video game focused on behavior change to reduce risk and promote HIV prevention in young minority adolescents. METHODS We used qualitative methods guided by community-partnered research principles to conduct and analyze 16 individual interviews and six focus groups with 10-15 year old boys and girls (36 unique participants) at a neighborhood-based non-profit organization serving youth from low-resource neighborhoods. RESULTS We identified three recurring themes. Adolescents report protective factors and facilitators to engaging in risk behaviors including: 1) their personal ability to balance the tension between individuation and group membership; 2) the presence of stable mentor figures in their life; and 3) the neighborhood in which they live. CONCLUSIONS By conducting a qualitative study guided by community-partnered research principles, we identified themes from our target audience that could be translated into a video game-based intervention, including the storyline and character development. These methods may increase the intervention's efficacy at promoting HIV prevention by making them more tailored and relevant to a specific population.
Eating Disorders: The Last 25 Years

During the past 25 years there has been measurable progress in the understanding and treatment of the three eating disorders-anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. This progress has occurred in four areas-diagnosis, measurement, etiology and treatment. The introduction of diagnosis into the field of eating disorders, which involved a new emphasis on measurement, facilitated studies of epidemiology, etiology and treatment of what have become discrete clinical disorders. The greatest progress has been with bulimia nervosa, in which new behavioral and pharmacological treatments have reversed the pessimism with which the treatment of this disorder had initially been viewed.
Syndecan-1 and Syndecan-4 Are Independent Indicators in Breast Carcinoma

Syndecan proteoglycans may be key regulators of tumor invasion and metastasis because this four-member family of transmembrane receptors regulates cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation. Their expression can also serve as prognostic markers. In breast carcinomas, syndecan-1 overexpression correlates with poor prognosis and aggressive phenotype. Syndecan-4 is expressed in most breast carcinoma cell lines, but its role in malignancy is unclear. A possible relationship between syndecan-1 and syndecan-4 expression and established prognostic factors in breast carcinomas was examined. Duplicate samples of 114 benign and malignant breast disease cases were stained for the two syndecans. Clinicopathological information was available for all cases. Syndecan-1 was detected in 72.8% of cases, with significant association between its expression and histological tumor type (p<0.05) and high grade tumors (p<0.05). Syndecan-4 was expressed in 66.7% of cases; expression correlated significantly with positive estrogen (p<0.01) and progesterone (p<0.01) receptor status. Independent expression of the two syndecans was noted from an analysis of single and double positive cases. There was a statistical relationship between syndecan-1 presence in high-grade tumors and absence of syndecan-4, whereas syndecan-4 presence in cases positive for estrogen and progesterone receptor associated with syndecan-1 absence. These syndecans may, therefore, have distinct roles in regulating breast carcinoma cell behavior.
‘What mother wouldn't want to save her baby?’ HIV testing and counselling practices in a rural Ugandan antenatal clinic

Drawing on an exploratory qualitative case study investigating everyday practices within an antenatal clinic in rural Uganda, this paper investigates the dynamics of consent and counselling within a prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) programme, from the perspectives of various health professionals involved at different stages of the PMTCT trajectory. The paper contributes to the existing literature by focusing not on clients' views but, rather, by elucidating how different cadres of health workers view and practice the human rights principles of informed consent and opting out, that are reflected in Uganda's HIV testing policies. By investigating the roles and responsibilities of community counsellors, post-test counsellors, and midwives, we illustrate how the practice of counselling in PMTCT is influenced by two hegemonic discourses: the health of a child should be protected, and the health worker knows best. As a result, a directive form of counselling in PMTCT settings, with its focus on the health of the baby, silences women's right to opt out of HIV tests.
Information Control and Influence in Emergent Buying Centers

The authors focus on emergent buying center networks in firms that recently have purchased an expensive, complex, technological product. The authors examine how a person's information control and influence vary within such networks. The purpose of this study is to assess the relative contribution of information control, individual attributes, and organization structure variables on influence. The authors find that factors related to the person are the most important in explaining a buying center member's influence for this type of purchasing decision. Although less important, the variables of information control, decentralization, and formalization also affect influence. Overall, the authors find strong empirical support for their model.
An Adaptable High-Throughput Technology Enabling the Identification of Specific Transcription Modulators

Mitochondria harbor the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) system, which under aerobic conditions produces the bulk of cellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The mitochondrial genome encodes key components of the OXPHOS system, and it is transcribed by the mitochondrial RNA polymerase, POLRMT. The levels of mitochondrial transcription correlate with the respiratory activity of the cell. Therefore, compounds that can increase or decrease mitochondrial gene transcription may be useful for fine-tuning metabolism and could be used to treat metabolic diseases or certain forms of cancer. We here report the establishment of a novel high-throughput assay technology that has allowed us to screen a library of 430,000 diverse compounds for effects on mitochondrial transcription in vitro. Following secondary screens facilitated by the same assay principle, we identified 55 compounds that efficiently and selectively inhibit mitochondrial transcription and that are active also in cell culture. Our method is easily adaptable to other RNA or DNA polymerases and varying spectroscopic detection technologies.
Evaluation of Locally Established Reference Intervals for Hematology and Biochemistry Parameters in Western Kenya

Background Important differences have been demonstrated in laboratory parameters from healthy persons in different geographical regions and populations, mostly driven by a combination of genetic, demographic, nutritional, and environmental factors. Despite this, European and North American derived laboratory reference intervals are used in African countries for patient management, clinical trial eligibility, and toxicity determination; which can result in misclassification of healthy persons as having laboratory abnormalities. Methods An observational prospective cohort study known as the Kisumu Incidence Cohort Study (KICoS) was conducted to estimate the incidence of HIV seroconversion and identify determinants of successful recruitment and retention in preparation for an HIV vaccine/prevention trial among young adults and adolescents in western Kenya. Laboratory values generated from the KICoS were compared to published region-specific reference intervals and the 2004 NIH DAIDS toxicity tables used for the trial. Results About 1106 participants were screened for the KICoS between January 2007 and June 2010. Nine hundred and fifty-three participants aged 16 to 34 years, HIV-seronegative, clinically healthy, and non-pregnant were selected for this analysis. Median and 95% reference intervals were calculated for hematological and biochemistry parameters. When compared with both published region-specific reference values and the 2004 NIH DAIDS toxicity table, it was shown that the use of locally established reference intervals would have resulted in fewer participants classified as having abnormal hematological or biochemistry values compared to US derived reference intervals from DAIDS (10% classified as abnormal by local parameters vs. >40% by US DAIDS). Blood urea nitrogen was most often out of range if US based intervals were used: <10% abnormal by local intervals compared to >83% by US based reference intervals. Conclusion Differences in reference intervals for hematological and biochemical parameters between western and African populations highlight importance of developing local reference intervals for clinical care and trials in Africa.
Report from ICAR working group on recording animal health and fertility

ICAR started as a milk recording organisation with the purpose to standardise and approve of milk recording practises. From the start member organisations came from European countries. Registration of milk and analyse of milk components have been important topics within ICAR. A substantial work has been done in these fields and competence and experiences from different countries together formed useful standards, calibration procedures and international testing of equipment. This has made recording work more efficient and international comparison of milk recording figures more meaningful. As the work in ICAR progressed more countries outside Europe joined the organisation and new aspects of recording of animals were introduced in the work of ICAR. Examples are beef recording, sheep and goat recording and Interbull.
Taking Competitive Advantage By Business Model Innovation

In the world and Turkey there are many companies that both survive and increase their market shares and profits by changing business models. Business model innovation is one of the best and prevailing methods to tackle with the difficulties emerged in crisis and recession periods and the other endangering factors that should be reacted at once as well as to increase market share and to make profit. In this study, some significant points that companies have to consider for taking competitive advantage by business model innovation are indicated. Taking these findings into consideration will help managers to cope with the crises caused by environmental and/or organizational factors.
INDUCTION VERSUS NONINDUCTION IN RENAL TRANSPLANT RECIPIENTS WITH TACROLIMUS-BASED IMMUNOSUPPRESSION1

Background. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of induction treatment with antithymocyte globulins (ATG) followed by tacrolimus therapy with immediate tacrolimus therapy in renal transplant recipients. Methods. This 12-month, open, prospective study was conducted in 15 centers in France and 1 center in Belgium; 309 patients were randomized to receive either induction therapy with ATG (n=151) followed by initiation of tacrolimus on day 9 or immediate tacrolimus-based triple therapy (n=158). In both study arms, the initial daily tacrolimus dose was 0.2 mg/kg. Steroid boluses were given in the first 2 days and tapered thereafter from 20 mg/day to 5 mg/day. Azathioprine was administered at 1–2 mg/kg per day. Results. At month 12, biopsy-confirmed acute rejections were reported for 15.2% (induction) and 30.4% (noninduction) of patients (P =0.001). The incidence of steroid-sensitive acute rejections was 7.9% (induction) and 22.2% (noninduction)(P =0.001). Steroid-resistant acute rejections were reported for 8.6% (induction) and 8.9% (noninduction) of patients. A total of nine patients died. Patient survival and graft survival at month 12 was similar in both treatment groups (97.4% vs. 96.8% and 92.1% vs. 91.1%, respectively). Statistically significant differences in the incidence of adverse events were found for cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection (induction, 32.5% vs. noninduction, 19.0%, P =0.009), leukopenia (37.3% vs. 9.5%, P <0.001), fever (25.2% vs. 10.1%, P =0.001), herpes simplex (17.9% vs. 5.7%, P =0.001), and thrombocytopenia (11.3% vs. 3.2%, P =0.007). In the induction group, serum sickness was observed in 10.6% of patients. The incidence of new onset diabetes mellitus was 3.4% (induction) and 4.5% (noninduction). Conclusion. Low incidences of acute rejection were found in both treatment arms. Induction treatment with ATG has the advantage of a lower incidence of acute rejection, but it significantly increases adverse events, particularly CMV infection.
Parasite strain coexistence in a heterogeneous host population

Heterogeneity in host susceptibility and transmissibility to parasite attack allows a lower transmission rate to sustain an epidemic than is required in homogeneous host populations. However, this heterogeneity can leave some hosts with little susceptibility to disease, and at high transmission rates, epidemic size can be smaller than for diseases where the host population is homogeneous. In a heterogeneous host population, we model natural selection in a parasite population where host heterogeneity is exploited by different strains to varying degrees. This partitioning of the host population allows coexistence of competing parasite strains, with the heterogeneity-exploiting strains infecting the more susceptible hosts, in the absence of physiological tradeoffs and spatial heterogeneity, and even for markedly different transmission rates. In our model, intermediate-strategy parasites were selected against: should coexistence occur, an equilibrium is reached where strains occupied only the extreme ends of trait space, under appropriate conditions selecting for lower R-0.
The development of growth references and growth charts

Context: De Montbeillard produced the first growth chart in the late 18th century. Since then, growth assessment has developed to become an essential component of child health practice. Objective: To provide a brief history of (i) anthropometry, i.e. growth measurements; (ii) growth references, the statistical summary of anthropometry and (iii) growth charts, the visual representation of growth references for clinical use. Methods: The major contributors in the three categories over the past 200 years were identified and their historical contributionsput in context with more recent developments. Results: Anthropometry was originally collected for administrative or public health purposes, its medical role emerging at the end of the 19th century. Growth reference data were collected in earnest from the 19th century, during which time the familiar statistical summary statistics—mean, SD, centiles—were developed. More advanced statistical methods emerged much later. Growth charts first appeared in the late 19th century and Tanner and Whitehouse later popularized the concepts of velocity and conditional references for growth in puberty. An important recent reference is the WHO growth standard, which documents optimal growth and has been adopted by many countries including the UK. Arising from it, the UK-WHO charts have pioneered many design features to improve usability and accuracy. Conclusion: Growth charts have developed considerably in 200 years and they represent an impressive synthesis of anthropometry, statistical summary and chart design.