bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Impact of Portfolio Performance on International Portfolio Diversification
Authors: Painoli Girish Kumar , Bommisetti Ravi Kumar , Kaila Rajesh Prabhakar , Moorthygari Sree Lakshmi , K Archana , Krishan Deepika 
Published: May 2024

Investment opportunity is what we all are looking for every now and then, avenues that can generate maximum return with minimum of risk. International Portfolio diversification may not fulfill aspiration of investors with globalization spreading its wings in each sphere of economic activity. The study has been conducted from the perspective of Indian Investor taking into account 22 foreign markets (11 emerging and 11 developed). The countries have been selected from two points of view; firstly on the basis of market capitalization and secondly on the basis of availability of data. Emerging markets chosen for the study contribute more than 80% in Emerging market Index which is sufficient to generalize the results to the whole. Geographical regions have also been taken into consideration in order to benefit from regional diversification; these are Asia-pacific with 13 markets, 8 markets from Europe, 3 from Latin America and USA. Firstly, portfolios with different investment objective would be chosen on the basis of sampled countries. Then testing co-integration study would help in elimination of those countries generating co-integrating vector. Hence, Indian investor would be benefited by the study to find out whether globally diversified portfolio is better or not as compared to domestic portfolio. International portfolio diversification can be suggested for Indian investor in the wake of its performance during structural breaks.
Unethical Behaviour and Corporate Performance in University System: A study of Nigerian Private Universities
Authors: Akpor-Robaro Masoje O. M. , Afolabi Taofeek Sola , Julius-Adeoye Rantimi Jays , Oluwalogbon Leke Abraham , Olabode Oluwayinka Samuel 
Published: May 2024

The study investigated whether there exists a relationship between unethical behaviour and corporate performance in the university system, and hence determined the impact of unethical behavior on corporate performance in the Nigerian university system with private universities as reference. A survey design was employed with a questionnaire instrument administered to 250 university staff drawn from four private universities in South-west, Nigeria, using a combination of purposive and random sampling techniques. The response data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential analysis. The descriptive analysis showed that unethical behaviour exists in Nigerian private universities. A multivariate Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) was used for the inferential analysis and to specify the relationships among the construct variables in the study. The bootstrapping technique of the PLS-SEM was used to estimate the parameters in the model, with the aid of the Smart-3 software. The result of the factor loadings, reliability test, convergent and discriminant validity revealed that the construct variables are fit for the PLS-SEM. The path analysis revealed that financial malpractices are a major unethical behavior affecting corporate performance adversely. Furthermore, unethical behaviours from university staff and university administration have significant negative influence on corporate performance. The study concludes that unethical behaviour is a key driver of poor corporate performance in the Nigerian university system. Therefore, it is recommended that policy makers in the university should adopt a holistic approach to ethical management that is oriented toward zero tolerance for unethical behavior in the university system
Musharakah Financing: Profitability Improvement Tool for Islamic Banks
Authors: Kulmie Dayah Abdi 
Published: May 2024

Islamic commercial banks are part of country’s financial system and play a crucial role in business industry. Similar to other business firms, Islamic commercial banks seek profits, growth and sustainability. This study attempted to analyze the effects of musharakah financing on the profitability of Islamic commercial banks. The majority of literature of finance relates to traditional finance, which has so many weaknesses. In contrast, this study focuses on Islamic banking theory with specific emphasis on Musharakah financing which is essential mechanism in the practice of Islamic banking and finance. The data were analyzed using statistical package for social science to examine the extant of the effects of musharakah financing on the profitability of Islamic commercial banks. Results: The results showed that musharakah financing has a positive effect on profitability of Islamic commercial banks (r = 0.882, p < 0.05). The study concludes that increase in Musharakah financing significantly improves profitability of Islamic commercial banks. The study presents several managerial implications, suggesting the importance of increasing service exposure to attract new customers, enhance public awareness towards musharakah financing, conduct regular visits to gain deep and accurate information concerning the operations of joint ventures business, and finally, the bank should have clearly written policy on musharakah agreement, financing, management and control systems. This study contributes to the existing literature on Islamic finance and banking, highlighting its growing global practice and theory, driven by community ethical and financial needs, innovation, and market competitiveness.
Significance of NKX2-1 as a biomarker for clinical prognosis, immune infiltration, and drug therapy in lung squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Lin Huiyue , Wang Juyong , Shi Qing , Wu Minmin 
Published: May 2024

Background
This study was performed to determine the biological processes in which NKX2-1 is involved and thus its role in the development of lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) toward improving the prognosis and treatment of LUSC.

Methods
Raw RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data of LUSC from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were used in bioinformatics analysis to characterize NKX2-1 expression levels in tumor and normal tissues. Survival analysis of Kaplan–Meier curve, the time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and a nomogram were used to analyze the prognosis value of NKX2-1 for LUSC in terms of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Then, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), Gene Ontology (GO), and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) were used to clarify the biological mechanisms potentially involved in the development of LUSC. Moreover, the correlation between the NKX2-1 expression level and tumor mutation burden (TMB), tumor microenvironment (TME), and immune cell infiltration revealed that NKX2-1 participates in the development of LUSC. Finally, we studied the effects of NKX2-1 on drug therapy. To validate the protein and gene expression levels of NKX2-1 in LUSC, we employed immunohistochemistry(IHC) datasets, The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, and qRT-PCR analysis.

Results
NKX2-1 expression levels were significantly lower in LUSC than in normal lung tissue. It significantly differed in gender, stage and N classification. The survival analysis revealed that high expression of NKX2-1 had shorter OS and PFS in LUSC. The multivariate Cox regression hazard model showed the NKX2-1 expression as an independent prognostic factor. Then, the nomogram predicted LUSC prognosis. There are 51 upregulated DEGs and 49 downregulated DEGs in the NKX2-1 high-level groups. GO, KEGG and GSEA analysis revealed that DEGs were enriched in cell cycle and DNA replication.The TME results show that NKX2-1 expression was positively associated with mast cells resting, neutrophils, monocytes, T cells CD4 memory resting, and M2 macrophages but negatively associated with M1 macrophages. The TMB correlated negatively with NKX2-1 expression. The pharmacotherapy had great sensitivity in the NKX2-1 low-level group, the immunotherapy is no significant difference in the NKX2-1 low-level and high-level groups. The analysis of GEO data demonstrated concurrence with TCGA results. IHC revealed NKX2-1 protein expression in tumor tissues of both LUAD and LUSC. Meanwhile qRT-PCR analysis indicated a significantly lower NKX2-1 expression level in LUSC compared to LUAD. These qRT-PCR findings were consistent with co-expression analysis of NKX2-1.

Conclusion
We conclude that NKX2-1 is a potential biomarker for prognosis and treatment LUSC. A new insights of NKX2-1 in LUSC is still needed further research.
Generational differences in cultural life scripts and life story memories of younger and older adults
Authors: Bohn Annette 
Published: November 2009

AbstractGroups of younger and older participants produced cultural life scripts by listing the seven most important life events and the expected timing of these events for a hypothetical person. They also produced the seven most important life story memories from their own lives. Cultural life scripts and life story memories were rated on valence. Scales on depression, satisfaction with life, and the centrality of an event for identity and the life story were administered. A stable cultural life script was found across the two generations, with a clear bump for positive events in adolescence and early adulthood. However, older adults produced a more realistic, less idealized life script than younger adults. The overlap between life script events and life story memories increased with age. Having a negative event central to one's life story and identity was related to less life satisfaction and, in the young group, higher depression scores. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Microstructure Tailored Functionally Graded Alumina/Lanthanum Hexaaluminate Ceramics for Application as Thermal Barrier Coatings
Authors: Negahdari Zahra , Willert‐Porada Monika 
Published: November 2009

AbstractThe thermal and mechanical properties of a functionally graded lanthanum hexaaluminate‐alumina ceramic are described. The gradation of functionality is based on different volume fraction of lanthanum hexaaluminate, varying from 0 to 80 vol% and corresponding porosity from 2 to 32 vol%. The highest volume fraction of lanthanum hexaaluminate enables a five time reduced thermal diffusivity as compared to alumina. The fracture toughness and elastic modulus is highest for a 20 vol% lanthanum hexaaluminate‐alumina composite.
Electronic Structure of Self‐Assembled Monolayers on Au(111) Surfaces: The Impact of Backbone Polarizability
Authors: Wang LinJun , Rangger Gerold M. , Romaner Lorenz , Heimel Georg , Bučko Tomas , Ma ZhongYun , Li QiKai , Shuai Zhigang , Zojer Egbert 
Published: November 2009

AbstractModifying metal electrodes with self‐assembled monolayers (SAMs) has promising applications in organic and molecular electronics. The two key electronic parameters are the modification of the electrode work function because of SAM adsorption and the alignment of the SAM conducting states relative to the metal Fermi level. Through a comprehensive density‐functional‐theory study on a series of organic thiols self‐assembled on Au(111), relationships between the electronic structure of the individual molecules (especially the backbone polarizability and its response to donor/acceptor substitutions) and the properties of the corresponding SAMs are described. The molecular backbone is found to significantly impacts the level alignment; for molecules with small ionization potentials, even Fermi‐level pinning is observed. Nevertheless, independent of the backbone, polar head‐group substitutions have no effect on the level alignment. For the work‐function modification, the larger molecular dipole moments achieved when attaching donor/acceptor substituents to more polarizable backbones are largely compensated by increased depolarization in the SAMs. The main impact of the backbone on the work‐function modification thus arises from its influence on the molecular orientation on the surface. This study provides a solid theoretical basis for the fundamental understanding of SAMs and significantly advances the understanding of structure–property relationships needed for the future development of functional organic interfaces.
Indentation as a technique to assess the mechanical properties of fallback foods
Authors: Lucas Peter W. , Constantino Paul J. , Chalk Janine , Ziscovici Charles , Wright Barth W. , Fragaszy Dorothy M. , Hill David A. , Lee James J.‐W. , Chai Herzl , Darvell Brian W. , Lee Paul K.D. , Yuen Tony D.B. 
Published: November 2009

AbstractA number of living primates feed part‐year on seemingly hard food objects as a fallback. We ask here how hardness can be quantified and how this can help understand primate feeding ecology. We report a simple indentation methodology for quantifying hardness, elastic modulus, and toughness in the sense that materials scientists would define them. Suggested categories of fallback foods—nuts, seeds, and root vegetables—were tested, with accuracy checked on standard materials with known properties by the same means. Results were generally consistent, but the moduli of root vegetables were overestimated here. All these properties are important components of what fieldworkers mean by hardness and help understand how food properties influence primate behavior. Hardness sensu stricto determines whether foods leave permanent marks on tooth tissues when they are bitten on. The force at which a food plastically deforms can be estimated from hardness and modulus. When fallback foods are bilayered, consisting of a nutritious core protected by a hard outer coat, it is possible to predict their failure force from the toughness and modulus of the outer coat, and the modulus of the enclosed core. These forces can be high and bite forces may be maximized in fallback food consumption. Expanding the context, the same equation for the failure force for a bilayered solid can be applied to teeth. This analysis predicts that blunt cusps and thick enamel will indeed help to sustain the integrity of teeth against contacts with these foods up to high loads. Am J Phys Anthropol 140:643–652, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The influence of fallback foods on great ape tooth enamel
Authors: Constantino Paul J. , Lucas Peter W. , Lee James J.‐W. , Lawn Brian R. 
Published: November 2009

AbstractLucas and colleagues recently proposed a model based on fracture and deformation concepts to describe how mammalian tooth enamel may be adapted to the mechanical demands of diet (Lucas et al.: Bioessays 30 2008 374‐385). Here we review the applicability of that model by examining existing data on the food mechanical properties and enamel morphology of great apes (Pan, Pongo, and Gorilla). Particular attention is paid to whether the consumption of fallback foods is likely to play a key role in influencing great ape enamel morphology. Our results suggest that this is indeed the case. We also consider the implications of this conclusion on the evolution of the dentition of extinct hominins. Am J Phys Anthropol 140:653–660, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Fallback foods, eclectic omnivores, and the packaging problem
Authors: Altmann Stuart A. 
Published: November 2009

AbstractFor omnivorous primates, as for other selective omnivores, the array of potential foods in their home ranges present a twofold problem: not all nutrients are present in any food in the requisite amounts or proportions and not all toxins and other costs are absent. Costs and benefits are inextricably linked. This so‐called packaging problem is particularly acute during periods, often seasonal, when the benefit‐to‐cost ratios of available foods are especially low and animals must subsist on fallback foods. Thus, fallback foods represent the packaging problem in extreme form. The use of fallback foods by omnivorous primates is part of a suite of interconnected adaptations to the packaging problem, the commingling of costs and benefits in accessing food and other vital resources. These adaptations occur at every level of biological organization. This article surveys 16 types of potential adaptations of omnivorous primates to fallback foods and the packaging problem. Behavioral adaptations, in addition to finding and feeding on fallback foods, include minimizing costs and requirements, exploiting food outbreaks, living in social groups and learning from others, and shifting the home range. Adaptive anatomical and physiological traits include unspecialized guts and dentition, binocular color vision, agile bodies and limbs, Meissner's corpuscles in finger tips, enlargement of the neocortex, internal storage of foods and nutrients, and ability internally to synthesize compounds not readily available in the habitat. Finally, during periods requiring prolonged use of fallback foods, life history components may undergo changes, including reduction of parental investment, extended interbirth intervals, seasonal breeding or, in the extreme, aborted fetuses. Am J Phys Anthropol 140:615–629, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Male and female western gorilla diet: Preferred foods, use of fallback resources, and implications for ape versus old world monkey foraging strategies
Authors: Doran‐Sheehy D. , Mongo P. , Lodwick J. , Conklin‐Brittain N.L. 
Published: November 2009

AbstractMost of what is currently known about western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) diet is based on indirect studies using fecal samples and trail signs rather than measures based on direct observations. Here we report results on adult male and female western gorilla foraging behavior, based on systematic focal observations and nutritional analyses of foods. We found that western gorillas, like other apes, are highly selective ripe fruit specialists, seeking fruit high in energy, low in antifeedants, and rare in the environment. During seasonal fruiting peaks, fruit accounted for up to 70% of feeding time. When ripe fruit was scarce, gorillas increased time spent feeding on leaves and nonpreferred fruits and herbs. Leaves were the major fallback food, accounting for up to 70% of feeding time in males and 50% in females during periods of fruit scarcity. In spite of large differences in body size, the sexes were remarkably similar in their overall diet, not differing in time spent feeding on fruit or preferred herbs. However, the male consistently fed more often and on a greater variety of leaves than did females, whereas females fed more often on fallback herbs and termites. Our findings, when considered in light of previous findings on sympatric mangabeys, indicate that the foraging strategy of western gorillas is broadly similar to that of chimpanzees and orangutans, and distinct from that of old world monkeys. Am J Phys Anthropol 140:727–738, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Foraging and ranging behavior during a fallback episode:Hylobates albibarbisandPongo pygmaeus wurmbiicompared
Authors: Vogel Erin R. , Haag Livia , Mitra‐Setia Tatang , van Schaik Carel P. , Dominy Nathaniel J. 
Published: November 2009

AbstractPeriodic episodes of food scarcity may highlight the adaptive value of certain anatomical traits, particularly those that facilitate the acquisition and digestion of exigent fallback foods. To better understand the selective pressures that favored the distinctive dental and locomotor morphologies of gibbons and orangutans, we examined the foraging and ranging behavior of sympatricHylobates albibarbisandPongo pygmaeus wurmbiiduring an episode of low fruit availability at Tuanan, Kalimantan Tengah, Indonesia. We found thatHylobatesranged 0.5 km day−1or 33% farther than didPongo, but the overall daily ranging of both species did not vary as fruit availability decreased by as much as 50%. Among gibbons, we observed dietary switching to fallback foods; in particular, there was a progressively greater reliance on figs, liana products, and unripe fruit. Orangutans relied heavily on unripe fruit and fracture‐resistant bark and pith tissues. Despite these divergent fallback patterns, the stiffness of fruit mesocarp consumed byHylobatesandPongodid not differ. We discuss canine and molar functional morphology with respect to dietary mechanics. Next, to contextualize these results, we discuss our findings with respect to forest structure. The rain forests of Southeast Asia have been described as having open, discontinuous canopies. Such a structure may inform our understanding of the ranging behavior and distinctive locomotion of apes in the region, namely richochetal brachiation and quadrumanous clambering. Our approach of integrating behavioral ecology with physical measures of food may be a powerful tool for understanding the functional adaptations of primates. Am J Phys Anthropol 140:716–726, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Shallow‐water habitats as sources of fallback foods for hominins
Authors: Wrangham Richard , Cheney Dorothy , Seyfarth Robert , Sarmiento Esteban 
Published: November 2009

AbstractUnderground storage organs (USOs) have been proposed as critical fallback foods for early hominins in savanna, but there has been little discussion as to which habitats would have been important sources of USOs. USOs consumed by hominins could have included both underwater and underground storage organs, i.e., from both aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Shallow aquatic habitats tend to offer high plant growth rates, high USO densities, and relatively continuous USO availability throughout the year. Baboons in the Okavango delta use aquatic USOs as a fallback food, and aquatic or semiaquatic USOs support high‐density human populations in various parts of the world. As expected given fossilization requisites, the African early‐ to mid‐Pleistocene shows an association of Homo and Paranthropus fossils with shallow‐water and flooded habitats where high densities of plant‐bearing USOs are likely to have occurred. Given that early hominins in the tropics lived in relatively dry habitats, while others occupied temperate latitudes, ripe, fleshy fruits of the type preferred by African apes would not normally have been available year round. We therefore suggest that water‐associated USOs were likely to have been key fallback foods, and that dry‐season access to aquatic habitats would have been an important predictor of hominin home range quality. This study differs from traditional savanna chimpanzee models of hominin origins by proposing that access to aquatic habitats was a necessary condition for adaptation to savanna habitats. It also raises the possibility that harvesting efficiency in shallow water promoted adaptations for habitual bipedality in early hominins. Am J Phys Anthropol 140:630–642, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.