bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The education and professional practice of valuers in South Africa: a critical review
Authors: Mooya Manya Mainza 
Published: June 2015

Purpose– Uniquely among the built-environment professions in the country, professional valuers in South Africa until recently did not require to have a university degree. The vast majority of professional valuers therefore, especially at senior levels, hold the national diploma as the highest academic qualification. There is evidence to suggest that many regard this state of affairs as unsatisfactory. Given the foregoing, the purpose of this paper is to answer two interrelated questions, first, whether South African trained and educated valuers were “competent” and met industry standards, and, second, whether the South African valuation curriculum met international norms.Design/methodology/approach– Empirical data for the study were obtained by way of a survey of valuers registered on the South African Council of the Property Valuers Profession (SACPVP) database and a case study of the University of Cape Town’s valuation curriculum. The survey involved the mailing of an online questionnaire, using the “Survey Monkey platform”, to 2,062 individuals, representing the total population of valuers registered with the SACPVP, across all registration categories. A total of 324 individuals, or 15.7 per cent of the target population, responded to the survey.Findings– Results from the study on the first question showed that it was professional status and length of experience, rather than academic qualifications, which correlated with competence. In addition, the results suggest that there are grounds for concern regarding proficiency in at least some of the valuation methods across the board. Further, the study revealed significant levels of dissatisfaction amongst employers with the general competence of valuers under their supervision. On the second question, the study concludes that the South African valuation curriculum did not meet international norms in terms of certain criteria.Practical implications– The paper recommends a review of the South African valuation curriculum; to allow for a differentiation between the different academic levels, to facilitate a more conceptual approach at the higher levels, and to close the identified gaps in knowledge and skill-sets arising from both a deficient curriculum and a changing industry landscape.Originality/value– At a time when attempts are being made to improve standards in the South African valuation profession, the study makes a critical contribution, by identifying areas where the national curriculum is deficient, both in terms of industry requirements and relative to international norms.
Do equity mispricing and management compensation incentives drive bank mergers?
Authors: Doukas John A. , Zhang Wenjia 
Published: June 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to test whether bank mergers are driven by equity overvaluation and management compensation incentives.

Design/methodology/approach
– To test whether equity mispricing drive bank mergers, the authors employ two alternative price-to-residual income valuation (P/V) measures for bidders and targets while the authors control for their growth prospects with the price-to-book (P/B) (two years before) ratio. The intrinsic value (V) is estimated using the three-period forecast horizon residual income model of Ohlson (1995) and perpetual residual income model that does not rely on analysts’ forecasts of future earnings prospects. The latter measure allows the authors to estimate V for a much larger sample of banks. The empirical analysis is supplemented with a standard event analysis and assessment of the long-term performance of bank mergers subsequent to the announcement date.

Findings
– The evidence shows that bidders are overvalued relative to their targets, especially in equity offer deals. The authors also find that highly valued bidders: are more likely to use stock than cash; are willing to pay more relative to the target market price; are more likely to acquire private than public targets; earn lower announcement-period returns; fail to create synergy gains; experience long-term underperformance; and reward their top managers of with large compensation increases subsequent to mergers.

Originality/value
– This study provides results consistent with the view that behavioral and managerial incentives play an important role in motivating bank mergers.
Corporate Political Connections and Tax Aggressiveness
Authors: Kim Chansog (Francis) , Zhang Liandong 
Published: June 2015

AbstractThis study investigates the relation between corporate political connections and tax aggressiveness. We study a broad array of corporate political activities, including the employment of connected directors, campaign contributions, and lobbying. Using a large hand‐collected data set of U.S. firms' political connections, we find that politically connected firms are more tax aggressive than nonconnected firms, after controlling for other determinants of tax aggressiveness, industry and year fixed effects, and the endogenous choice of being politically connected. Our findings are robust to various measures of political connections and tax aggressiveness. These results are consistent with the conjecture that politically connected firms are more tax aggressive because of their lower expected cost of tax enforcement, better information regarding tax law and enforcement changes, lower capital market pressure for transparency, and greater risk‐taking tendencies induced by political connections.
Parental Separation and Offspring Alcohol Involvement: Findings from Offspring of Alcoholic and Drug Dependent Twin Fathers
Authors: Grant Julia D. , Waldron Mary , Sartor Carolyn E. , Scherrer Jeffrey F. , Duncan Alexis E. , McCutcheon Vivia V. , Haber Jon Randolph , Jacob Theodore , Heath Andrew C. , Bucholz Kathleen K. 
Published: June 2015

BackgroundWe examined associations between parental separation during childhood and offspring alcohol involvement, adjusting for genetic and environmental risks specific to parental alcohol (AD) and cannabis/other illicit drug dependence (DD).MethodsThe sample consisted of 1,828 offspring of male twins from the Vietnam Era Twin (VET) Registry, who completed a telephone diagnostic interview. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were conducted predicting onset of first use, transition from first use to first AD symptom, and transition from first use to AD diagnosis from paternal and avuncular AD and DD history, parental separation, and offspring and family background characteristics. Paternal/avuncular DD/AD was based on the DSM‐III‐R; offspring and maternal AD were based on DSM‐IV criteria.ResultsPaternal DD/AD predicted increased offspring risk for all transitions, with genetic effects suggested on rate of transitioning to AD diagnosis. Parental separation was predictive of increased risk for early alcohol use, but a reduced rate of transition to both AD symptom onset and onset of AD. No interactions between separation and familial risk (indexed by paternal or avuncular DD/AD) were found.ConclusionsFindings highlight the contribution of both parental separation and paternal substance dependence in predicting timing of offspring alcohol initiation and problems across adolescence into early adulthood.
Classical and Atypical Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva in India
Authors: Madhuri Vrisha , Santhanam Mona , Sugumar Legasri K , Rajagopal Karthikeyan , Chilbule Sanjay K 
Published: June 2015

SummaryFibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP) is a rare debilitating disorder characterized by congenital deformity of the great toes from infancy and postnatal heterotopic ossification. Activating mutations in the activin A receptor type 1 (ACVR1) gene are responsible for the disease. The most common allelic variant leading to FOP is c.617 G>A; p.R206H, however, other alleles have been reported with atypical phenotypes. We report 14 cases presenting to a referral institution in South India over a 3‐year period. The patients were clinically diagnosed based on foot abnormality or abnormal ectopic ossification and were screened for ACVR1. The genetic analysis of ACVR1 identified the recurrent allelic variant in 12 of 14 patients. One of the remaining patients had a previously reported allele c.1067G>A; p.G356D in the 9th exon and the second allele c.983G>A; p.G328E in the 8th exon of ACVR1. The most common recurrent allele c.617 G>A; p.R206H is also the most common in Indian patients with FOP.
Interaction of synchronized dynamics in cortex and basal ganglia in Parkinson's disease
Authors: Ahn Sungwoo , Zauber S. Elizabeth , Worth Robert M. , Witt Thomas , Rubchinsky Leonid L. 
Published: June 2015

AbstractParkinson's disease pathophysiology is marked by increased oscillatory and synchronous activity in the beta frequency band in cortical and basal ganglia circuits. This study explores the functional connections between synchronized dynamics of cortical areas and synchronized dynamics of subcortical areas in Parkinson's disease. We simultaneously recorded neuronal units (spikes) and local field potentials (LFP) from subthalamic nucleus (STN) and electroencephalograms (EEGs) from the scalp in parkinsonian patients, and analysed the correlation between the time courses of the spike–LFP synchronization and inter‐electrode EEG synchronization. We found the (non‐invasively obtained) time course of the synchrony strength between EEG electrodes and the (invasively obtained) time course of the synchrony between spiking units and LFP in STN to be weakly, but significantly, correlated with each other. This correlation is largest for the bilateral motor EEG synchronization, followed by bilateral frontal EEG synchronization. Our observations suggest that there may be multiple functional modes by which the cortical and basal ganglia circuits interact with each other in Parkinson's disease: not only may synchronization be observed between some areas in cortex and the basal ganglia, but also synchronization within cortex and within basal ganglia may be related, suggesting potentially a more global functional interaction. More coherent dynamics in one brain region may modulate or activate the dynamics of another brain region in a more powerful way, causing correlations between changes in synchrony strength in the two regions.
Efficacy and safety of pharmacological treatments for acute Lyme neuroborreliosis – a systematic review
Authors: Dersch R. , Freitag M. H. , Schmidt S. , Sommer H. , Rauer S. , Meerpohl J. J. 
Published: June 2015

Background and purposeOur aim was to evaluate the available evidence for pharmacological treatment of acute Lyme neuroborreliosis as a basis for evidence‐based clinical recommendations in a systematic review.MethodsA systematic literature search of Medline, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library and three trial registries was performed. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non‐randomized studies (NRS) were evaluated. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tools. The primary outcome was ‘residual neurological symptoms’ whilst the secondary outcomes were disability, quality of life, pain, fatigue, depression, cognition, sleep, adverse events and cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis. The quality of the evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach.ResultsAfter screening 5779 records, eight RCTs and eight NRS were included. Risk of bias was generally high. No statistically significant difference was found between doxycycline and beta‐lactam antibiotics in a meta‐analysis regarding residual neurological symptoms at 4–12 months [risk ratio (RR) 1.27, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.98–1.63, P = 0.07] or adverse events (RR 0.82, 95% CI 0.54–1.25, P = 0.35). Significantly fewer neurological symptoms for cefotaxime compared with penicillin were found (RR 1.81, 95% CI 1.10–2.97, P = 0.02). Adverse events were significantly fewer for penicillin (RR 0.56, 95% CI 0.38–0.84, P = 0.005).ConclusionsEvidence regarding pharmacological treatment of acute Lyme neuroborreliosis is scarce and therefore insufficient to recommend preference of beta‐lactam antibiotics over doxycycline or vice versa. However, due to considerable imprecision, relevant differences between treatments cannot be excluded. No evidence suggesting benefits of extended antibiotic treatments could be identified. Further well‐designed trials are needed. Individual treatment decisions should address patients' preferences and individual conditions like prior allergic reactions.
Use of Hydrofluoric Acid Desilicification in the Determination of Highly Siderophile Element Abundances and Re‐Pt‐Os Isotope Systematics in Mafic‐Ultramafic Rocks
Authors: Day James M.D. , Waters Christopher L. , Schaefer Bruce F. , Walker Richard J. , Turner Simon 
Published: June 2015

Properly combining highly siderophile element (HSE: Re, Pd, Pt, Ru, Ir, Os) abundance data, obtained by isotope dilution, with corresponding 187Os/188Os and 186Os/188Os measurements of rocks requires efficient digestion of finely‐ground powders and complete spike‐sample equilibration. Yet, because of the nature of commonly used methods for separating Os from a rock matrix, hydrofluoric acid (HF) is typically not used in such digestions. Consequently, some silicates are not completely dissolved, and HSE residing within these silicates may not be fully accessed. Consistent with this, some recent studies of basaltic reference materials (RMs) have concluded that an HF‐desilicification procedure is required to fully access the HSE (Ishikawa et al. (2014) Chemical Geology, 384, 27–46; Li et al. (2015) Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research, 39, 17–30). Highly siderophile element abundance and Os isotope studies of intraplate basalts typically target samples with a range of MgO contents (< 8 to > 18% m/m, or as mass fractions, < 8 to > 18 g per 100 g), in contrast to the lower MgO mass fractions (< 10 g per 100 g) of basalt and diabase RMs (i.e., BIR‐1, BHVO‐2, TDB‐1). To investigate the effect of HF‐desilicification on intraplate basalts, experiments were performed on finely ground Azores basalts (8.1–17 g per 100 g MgO) using a ‘standard acid digestion’ (2:1 mixture of concentrated HNO3 and HCl), and a standard acid digestion, followed by HF‐desilicification. No systematic trends in HSE abundances were observed between data obtained by standard acid digestion and HF‐desilicification. Desilicification procedures using HF do not improve liberation of the HSE from Azores basalts, or some RMs (e.g., WPR‐1). We conclude that HF‐desilicification procedures are useful for obtaining total HSE contents of some young lavas, but this type of procedure is not recommended for studies where Re‐Pt‐Os chronological information is desired. The collateral effect of a standard acid digestion to liberate Os, followed by HF‐desilicification to obtain Re and Pt abundances in samples, is that the measured Re/Os and Pt/Os may not correspond with measured 187Os/188Os or 186Os/188Os.
Histone deacetylase 5 regulates the inflammatory response of macrophages
Authors: Poralla Lukas , Stroh Thorsten , Erben Ulrike , Sittig Marie , Liebig Sven , Siegmund Britta , Glauben Rainer 
Published: June 2015

AbstractModifying the chromatin structure and interacting with non‐histone proteins, histone deacetylases (HDAC) are involved in vital cellular processes at different levels. We here specifically investigated the direct effects of HDAC5 in macrophage activation in response to bacterial or cytokine stimuli. Using murine and human macrophage cell lines, we studied the expression profile and the immunological function of HDAC5 at transcription and protein level in over‐expression as well as RNA interference experiments. Toll‐like receptor‐mediated stimulation of murine RAW264.7 cells significantly reduced HDAC5 mRNA within 7 hrs but presented baseline levels after 24 hrs, a mechanism that was also found for Interferon‐γ treatment. If treated with lipopolysaccharide, RAW264.7 cells transfected for over‐expression only of full‐length but not of mutant HDAC5, significantly elevated secretion of tumour necrosis factor α and of the monocyte chemotactic protein‐1. These effects were accompanied by increased nuclear factor‐κB activity. Accordingly, knock down of HDAC5‐mRNA expression using specific siRNA significantly reduced the production of these cytokines in RAW264.7 or human U937 cells. Taken together, our results suggest a strong regulatory function of HDAC5 in the pro‐inflammatory response of macrophages.
Comparison between Urine Protein: Creatinine Ratios of Samples Obtained from Dogs in Home and Hospital Settings
Authors: Duffy M.E. , Specht A. , Hill R.C. 
Published: June 2015

BackgroundThe urine protein:creatinine ratio (UPC) is used to quantify urine protein excretion and guide recommendations for monitoring and treatment of proteinuria.Hypothesis/ObjectivesHome urine samples will have lower UPCs than hospital samples. The objectives were to compare UPCs of samples collected in each setting and to determine whether environment of sample collection might affect staging, monitoring or treatment recommendations.AnimalsTwenty‐four client‐owned dogs.MethodsProspective, nonmasked study. Clients collected a urine sample from their dog at home and a second sample was collected at the hospital. Dogs receiving corticosteroids or angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors were excluded, as were those with urine samples of inadequate volume, no protein on dipstick analysis, or active urine sediment. Samples were refrigerated after collection, dipstick and sediment evaluations were completed and each sample was frozen at −80°C within 12 hours. UPCs were performed on frozen samples within 2 months.ResultsFrom 81 paired samples, 57 were excluded. Of the remaining 24, 12/24 (50%) had higher hospital sample UPCs, 9/24 (38%) had identical UPCs, and 3/24 (12%) had lower hospital UPCs. The UPCs of hospital samples were higher than home samples for the total population (P = .005) and the subset with UPC > 0.5 (P = .001).ConclusionsSetting and related circumstances of urine collection in dogs is associated with UPC differences; results are usually higher in hospital than in home samples. This difference has the potential to affect clinical interpretation.
Analysis of the Dynamic Behaviour of a Railway Track in Transition Zones With Differential Settlement
Authors: Wang H. , Markine V. L. , Shevtsov I. Y. , Dollevoet R. 
Published: June 2015

Transition zones in railway tracks are locations with considerable changes in the vertical stiffness of the rail support. Typically they are located near engineering structures, such as bridges, culverts and tunnels. In such locations, the vertical stiffness of the track support varies, resulting in amplification of the dynamic forces acting on the track, which ultimately leads to deterioration of the vertical track geometry. Also, differential settlement of the track sub-structure on both sides of the transition contributes to the deterioration of the vertical geometry. The deterioration process accelerates with increase of the operational velocities of the passing trains. Finally, all these result in increase of the maintenance efforts on correction of the track geometry in the transition zones.
To analyze the dynamic behavior of transition zones due to the differential settlement, a finite element dynamic model (using explicit integration) of a track transition zone is developed. The model is also accounting for the effect of hanging sleepers. The model is verified against the measurement results performed using the Video Gauge System (VGS). With the developed model, the differential settlement of ballast and soil has been introduced and the effects of this settlement on performance of the track are analyzed. The resulting wheel forces and the dynamic responses of the track components are obtained and analyzed. Special attention has been paid on the stresses of ballast, which is one of the most vulnerable track components in the transition zones. Finally, conclusions on the effect of the various internal and external factors on the degradation process of the track in transition zones are drawn. With the developed model, the differential settlement of ballast and soil is induced and hence, the effects of the differential settlements can be analysed. The contact forces of wheel-rail interaction and the dynamic response of track components are obtained and analysed. Special attention has been paid on the stresses of ballast which are one of the most vulnerable components in the track transition zones. Finally, conclusions on the effect of the various internal and external factors on the degradation process of the track in transition zones are drawn.
In-Plant Testing of a New Multi-Camera Transfer Length Measurement System for Monitoring Quality Control of Railroad Crosstie Production
Authors: Beck B. Terry , Peterman Robert J. , Wu Chih-Hang John , Bodapati Naga Narendra B. 
Published: June 2015

Knowledge of transfer length is critical for maintaining continuous production quality in the modern manufacture of prestressed concrete railroad ties. Traditional manual laboratory methods for measuring transfer length are simply not suitable for production operation. They are much too time-consuming to implement, and typically require extensive surface preparation in order to obtain the required surface strain measurements needed for determining the transfer length. In addition, the traditional 95% Average Maximum Strain (95% AMS) method of assessing transfer length from the measured surface strain profile has been shown to possess bias. The accuracy of transfer length assessment using this method is generally influenced by individual operator judgment; therefore, making it unsuitable for use as a reliable production quality-control parameter.
This paper presents recent in-plant testing of a newly developed prototype multi-camera non-contact transfer length measurement system, representing a major improvement over the traditional manual methods. The testing was conducted on concrete railroad ties at a manufacturing facility in North America. Concrete ties tested included those which were manufactured using indented prestressing wire as well as with 7-wire strand. The new device represents a next generation version of the previously successful Laser-Speckle Imaging (LSI) system developed by the authors. The multi-camera system is shown to provide nearly real-time surface strain profile measurements (subsequent to de-tensioning), with surface strain accuracy comparable to the mechanical Whittemore gage device, yet with little or no required surface preparation. Furthermore, with the previously demonstrated Zhao-Lee (ZL) transfer length processing algorithm built into a LabVIEW data acquisition and control interface, the multi-camera system is shown to provide assessments of transfer length within a nominal tolerance of +/− 1.5 inches using as few as six uniformly spaced surface strain measurements. This brings within reach the ultimate goal of providing the railroad tie manufacturer with the ability to measure the transfer length of every tie produced prior to leaving the plant, thereby ensuring that they are within an acceptable tolerance, and providing the means to quickly identify the need to modify production (e.g., concrete mix) if transfer length specifications fall out of desired range.