Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Coronary bypass in left ventricular dysfunction and differential cardiac recovery

Background We aimed to examine the efficacy of surgical revascularization with respect to improvement in ventricular function and survival in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy and poor left ventricular function. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the data of 429 patients (median age 64.6 years, 81.1% male) with ejection fractions <40% undergoing isolated primary coronary artery bypass grafting from 2000 to 2016. Techniques included on-pump cardioplegic arrest (n = 312), off-pump (n = 75), and on-pump beating heart (n = 42). Propensity matching was performed to compare the cardioplegic arrest group (n = 114) with the combined off-pump and beating heart groups (n = 114). Results Postoperatively, ejection fraction increased by 10.1% ± 13.1% (from 31.4% ± 7.1% to 41.6% ± 13.6%; p < 0.001) and mitral regurgitation grade improved (p < 0.001) but right ventricular function on echocardiographic assessment worsened over time (p = 0.04). No difference in ejection fraction improvement was seen in the time periods <1 (9.8% ± 11.2%), 1–5 (11.6% ± 14.5%), and >5 (8.8% ± 14.2%) years (p = 0.442). Following propensity matching, there was no significant difference between the combined off-pump/beating heart and cardioplegic arrest groups with respect to survival or postoperative complications. Conclusions Patients with moderate to severe left ventricular dysfunction experience long-term improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction after coronary artery bypass. However, right ventricular function often continues to decline, contributing to persistent or worsening heart failure symptoms and late mortality. No difference in survival was seen between the 2 techniques.
ANALISIS PENGARUH KOMPENSASI EKSEKUTIF, KEPEMILIKAN SAHAM EKSEKUTIF DAN PREFERENSI RISIKO EKSEKUTIF TERHADAP PENGHINDARAN PAJAK PERUSAHAAN

This study aim to obtain empirical evidence about the influence of executive compensation, executive ownership and risk preference of executive to corporate tax avoidan e. The population of this study was al companies listed in Indonesian Stock Exchange in 2010-2012. Sample consists of companies in property, real estate and building construction. This sector chosen because of high growth in that sector than any business sector such as plantation and mining. The growth of property, real estate and building construction industry also increases, 29% in 2010 increased to 32% in 2011 and 51% in 2012. But the growth is not followed by increased effective taxes rate. Effective taxes rate amounting to 29% in 2010 decreased to 27% in 2012. Hypothesis testing used multiple regression analysis with dummy variables. The result of this study show that executive compensation and executive ownership have significant and posisitive effect on tax avoidance. Executive who have the risk preference of risk taker also have significantly positive on tax avoidance.
Advertising Competition Under Consumer Inertia

We construct a multistage game-theoretic model of advertising and price competition in a differentiated products duopoly, in which proportions of consumers exhibit latent inertia in favor of repeat purchase. Advertising simultaneously plays the dual role in reducing such inertia through awareness and enhancing perceived brand value persuasion. We derive the advertising price cross-effects and provide a theoretical reconciliation of the longstanding debate in the marketing literature regarding the impact of advertising on price sensitivity. We characterize the nature of equilibria under symmetry and show that when a large proportion of consumers exhibit inertial tendencies, then a multiplicity of equilibria exists. Marketing implications and comparative statics are discussed. Numerical simulations for asymmetric firms are presented, wherein we show that advertising is not a useful competitive tool for small firms. However, advertising spending by the large firm provides a halo effect for the average prices in the category, which has a positive externality on the small firm's profits. In the absence of the small brand advertising, larger brand shares encourage firms to allocate higher expenditures on advertising to enhance the perceived value of their brand, which in turn shore up the average prices in the industry from which all firms benefit.
Developing Hospitality Education in China: A Case Study of Guilin Institute of Tourism

The article examines an attempt to develop a new hospitality management program at the Guilin Institute of Tourism in China. Using a case study approach, the research explores the process of curriculum review and redesign and implementation of a new hotel management program. Two areas are identified for discussion based on empirical data collection and the perceived importance of and satisfaction with different attributes relating to teaching quality and the overall program. The views of two stakeholders are explored: students and faculty. The study concludes that Guilin Institute has made considerable improvements in program content and delivery methods and that evaluation of this kind can offer significant improvements and lead the way for developing hospitality education in China.
Inflation and Productivity: Empirical Evidence from Europe

The paper investigates the empirical association between inflation and productivity in 15 European countries over the period 1960--97. Modern econometric techniques based on integration and cointegra-- tion analysis are used to test for the existence of a long--run relationship between inflation and productivity. Recently developed causality tests for possibly cointegrated VAR models are also applied instead of relying on standard Granger causality tests which are inappropriate in the presence of nonstationary variables. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2003
Does Merger Structure Matter?

Purpose - A friendly merger can be structured as a one-step transaction or a two-step transaction. For a variety of reasons, such as the fast speed with which two-step mergers are completed, there are concerns about whether target shareholders are disadvantaged by this structure in comparison with one-step mergers. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of the two types of merger structures from the shareholder point of view. Design/methodology/approach - In order to compare the shareholder wealth effects of merger structure, the authors control for deal and firm characteristics and the endogenous nature of the choice of transaction form. Specifically, the authors follow the literature to use a switching regression framework with endogenous switching to address endogeneity. Findings - No evidence was found of detrimental effects of two-step mergers on target shareholders. The findings suggest that at least some one-step mergers could benefit from using the two-step structure. The authors provide several explanations for the continued use of one-step mergers. Originality/value - Although there is some literature on freeze outs of minority shareholders, no one has examined two-step mergers in comparison with one-step mergers. The paper's results will be valuable to corporate managers, M&A advisors, regulators, and policy makers.
Use of Condoms by Heterosexually Active Drug Abusers Before and After AIDS Education

This study identified variables associated with increased condom use among drug abusers in a randomized trial of three AIDS educational programs in a short-term inpatient detoxification program. Participants (n = 301) completed baseline and follow-up interviews and were heterosexually active on both occasions. At baseline, 10% always, 24% sometimes, and 66% never used condoms, and this distribution changed only slightly at follow-up. Among the latter two groups, 21% increased their use. There was no differential intervention effect on changes in condom use. Women, but not men, were more likely to initiate condom use than to increase to consistent use with all partners, and to initiate use if they had multiple partners. Although beneficial attitudes and beliefs about condoms were more common among women at baseline, positive changes in these attitudes/beliefs were associated with increased condom use among men only. Among men, personal attitudes and beliefs were associated with increased condom use, while among women, perceptions of the attitudes of sexual partners were more important.
Firm value and ownership structure in the Spanish capital market

Purpose – This study aims to examine the effects on Tobin’s Q of various dimensions of the Spanish ownership structure likely to represent conflicting interests: ownership concentration, insider ownership and bank ownership. Design/methodology/approach – The sample of firms is drawn from the population of Spanish non-financial firms listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange during 1999-2002. This paper uses data that have both cross-sectional and time variation, which allows us to control for unobservable firm heterogeneity and obtain consistent estimates of the coefficients. Findings – Contrary to most previous evidence, the results show that the main ownership structure mechanism that affects firm value is ownership concentration. The findings suggest that ownership concentration appears to influence firm value favourably, but at high levels a detrimental effect causes market valuation to be negatively affected by high levels of large shareholder ownership. These findings, which are different from the linear or non-significant relationships found in other countries, can be explained by the differences in corporate governance systems. Practical implications – The evidence indicates that controlling owners tend to misuse their dominant position at high levels of concentration and to make decisions that destroy market value. The findings also highlight the necessity of alternative corporate governance mechanisms that lead Spanish firms to lower their agency costs and to maximise their market value when blockholders’ and minority shareholders’ interests do not converge. Originality/value – The study builds on prior research in several ways. First, the paper offers new insights into the relationship between corporate governance and economic performance by using data from Spanish listed firms. Second, the study focuses on three dimensions: ownership concentration, insider ownership, and bank ownership, which allow one to get a more accurate picture of the ownership structure-firm value relation. Finally, the study controls for unobservable firm effects by applying the econometrics of panel data.
From Business model to Business model portfolio in the european biopharmaceutical industry

At the crossroad of firm's core competencies and of the anticipations of consumers' needs, the business model approach complements corporate and business strategy approaches. Firms combine several business models simultaneously to deliver value to different markets, building a portfolio of business model. For managers, business model and business model portfolio are particularly useful to address customer's needs and organisational capabilities of the firm. They also emphasise how the initial core competency of the firm can be extended or redeployed to increase the rent. Business model portfolio describes the firm's strategy to balance time-to-market, revenue stream, risk and interdependencies. It conceptualises firm diversification within the same industry to generate and capture rents. They finally describe two generic dimensions: core competence extension to enlarge the market and to address additional customers and core competence redeployment to serve similar market with the same core competence.
Election Polls, Free Trade, and the Stock Market: Evidence from the Canadian General Election

This paper examines the relationship between the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) and election polls during the 1988 Canadian General Election campaign. Two hypotheses are investigated: first, did polls influence the TSE, and secondly, if so, did the nature of the influence suggest that investors were reacting to expectations concerning the effect of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA)? I find that the TSE was positively related to Conservative popularity as measured by polls, but that the differential movement of TSE subindices does not offer additional support to an FTA based interpretation of events.
Combined effect of human capital, temporary employment and organizational size on firm performance

– This study aims to examine how temporary employment and organizational size moderate the effect of human capital on firm performance. The authors also analyze the overall effect of human capital, temporary contracts and organizational size on firm performance. This enables them to identify which combination of these three variables leads to the highest levels of profitability. , – From a sample of 1,403 Spanish firms, the authors carry out a comparative analysis of the impact of human capital on labor productivity and return on sales among small and large companies with high and low use of temporary employment. , – The positive effect of human capital on return of sales is greater in large firms with low temporary employment than in small firms with high temporary employment. In addition, this positive effect is not universal because in some scenarios it is not significant. The most beneficial context is that of large companies with a high level of human capital and a low use of temporary employment. , – The results should be interpreted within the Spanish manufacturing sector. , – Decisions about investment in human capital and the use of temporary workers should be taken jointly by personnel managers, in accordance with the size of the firm. If this holistic view is ignored, a full understanding of the impact of human capital on firm performance will be obscured. On the other hand, a common feature that large and small firms share is an incompatibility between human capital and temporary employment. , – Growing interest has been shown in the degree to which investment in human capital contributes to firm performance; yet limited research attention has been paid to the contextual conditions that moderate this relationship. Investment in human capital can be more beneficial in some scenarios than in others.
Foundations of the Goldilocks Economy: Supply Shocks and the Time-Varying NAIRU

THE AMERICAN ECONOMY of the mid-1990s has been a source of envy for the world and of puzzlement for macroeconomists. The civilian unemployment rate has remained below 5 percent for one year and below 6 percent for almost four years. Despite near universal forecasts in 1994 of accelerating inflation that would accompany a dip of the unemployment rate below 6 percent, inflation actually decelerated significantly between 1994 and 1998. This benign outcome for inflation stands in contrast to the significant acceleration that occurred when unemployment last dipped below 6 percent, in the late 1980s.I The failure of inflation to accelerate allowed the Federal Reserve to avoid raising short-term interest rates after early 1997, and even to lower them in late 1998. Freed from the restraint of restrictive monetary policy that had choked earlier expansions, and with its fires stoked by the lowest medium-term and long-term nominal interest rates in three decades, the economy charged ahead and achieved a state of high
Serotonin localization and its functional significance during mouse preimplantation embryo development

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter functioning also as a hormone and growth factor. To further investigate the biological role of serotonin during embryo development, we analysed serotonin localization as well as the expression of specific serotonin 5-HT1D receptor mRNA in mouse oocytes and preimplantation embryos. The functional significance of serotonin during the preimplantation period was examined by studying the effects of serotonin on mouse embryo development. Embryo exposure to serotonin (1 μM) highly significantly reduced the mean cell number, whereas lower concentrations of serotonin (0.1 μM and 0.01 μM) had no significant effects on embryo cell numbers. In all serotonin-treated groups a significant increase in the number of embryos with apoptotic and secondary necrotic nuclei was observed. Expression of serotonin 5-HT1D receptor mRNA in mouse oocytes and preimplantation embryos was confirmed by in situ hybridization showing a clearly distinct punctate signal. Immunocytochemistry results revealed the localization of serotonin in oocytes and embryos to the blastocyst stage as diffuse punctate cytoplasmic labelling. It appears that endogenous and/or exogenous serotonin in preimplantation embryos could be involved in complex autocrine/paracrine regulations of embryo development and embryo-maternal interactions.
Dynamically Inconsistent Preferences and Money Demand

This paper focuses on two main issues. First, we find that, on average, households’ discount rates decline. This implies dynamically inconsistent preferences. Second, we calculate an indicator of the degree of dynamic inconsistency that may help us to understand how households overcome their self-control problems. We use a micro dataset containing households’ reports on the compensation for receiving hypothetical rewards with delays. We find that individuals with more severely dynamicly inconsistent preferences on average hold a statistically significantly lower share of their total wealth in checking accounts. A possible interpretation is that subjects use precommitment strategies to limit their temptation to consume immediately.
Differences in the Value Relevance of Earnings in Knowledge-Based and Traditional Industries

This paper evaluates the value relevance of earnings in knowledge-based and traditional industries. We focus on two factors - earnings' lack of timeliness and noise - that contribute to the weak contemporaneous association between earnings and stock returns in knowledge-based industries. Earnings' lack of timeliness represents the non-contemporaneous association between earnings and stock returns, whereas noise - arising from uncertainty in estimating the expected benefits of investments in intangibles - is unassociated with either contemporaneous, past, or future returns. To correct earnings' lack of timeliness, we derive a new model that includes future earnings changes, an earnings-to-price ratio, and future stock returns; we abate noise by aggregating yearly data within the same industry. We find adjusting for lack of timeliness is more effective in traditional industries, and diversifying away noise in knowledge-based industries increases the association of earnings and stock returns substantially. The value relevance of earnings in both types of industries is indistinguishable when we jointly control noise and lack of timeliness. We conclude that noise is the main factor contributing to the weak association between earnings and stock returns for firms in knowledge-based industries.
Single Umbilical Artery and Its Associated Findings

OBJECTIVE: To estimate whether the presence of a single umbilical artery is associated with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), fetal demise, or major congenital anomalies. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study of all consecutive singleton pregnancies undergoing routine anatomic survey between 1990 and 2007 at a major tertiary medical center. Two dedicated research nurses obtained complete pregnancy outcome data in an ongoing manner. Pregnancies with a diagnosis of single umbilical artery were compared with those with two umbilical arteries. The primary outcomes were IUGR (less than 10th percentile), renal, and cardiac anomalies. Multivariable logistic regression was used to refine the risk association between single umbilical artery and adverse pregnancy outcomes while adjusting for confounding effects. RESULTS: Of 72,373 pregnancies, 64,047 (88.5%) had pregnancy follow-up information and were available for this analysis. There were 392 cases of single umbilical artery (0.61%) diagnosed at anatomic survey; slightly lower than previously reported. Single umbilical artery as compared with double umbilical artery was associated with increased risk of renal anomalies (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3.0, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.9–4.9, P<.01) and cardiac anomalies (adjusted OR 20.3, 95% CI 13.5–30.4, P<.01). Single umbilical artery was also associated with an increased risk of IUGR (adjusted OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.6–2.7, P<.01), even after excluding all fetuses with known anomalies. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest an increased risk of IUGR when the diagnosis of single umbilical artery is made, making a clinical recommendation for serial growth assessments in the setting of single umbilical artery reasonable. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II
Optimal Hedging Policies

This paper makes contributions in two directions. First, the paper presents a model in which value-maximizing firms pursue active hedging policies. Second, the paper derives optimal hedging policies for risk-averse agents. Whereas the methodology used and the results provided are quite general, this paper deliberately focuses the analysis on hedging foreign exchange exposure through forward contracts on foreign currencies. This emphasis is explained by the fact that hedging foreign currency exposure through forward contracts has been a topic of considerable interest in recent years.
On the Consistent Use of VaR in Portfolio Performance Evaluation: A Cautionary Note

The portfolio performance measures based on the Value-at-Risk (VaR) concept have gained widespread popularity and are often used in empirical studies. Unfortunately, we have noticed that in majority of empirical studies a VaR-based performance measure is used inconsistently. The goal of this paper is, therefore, to emphasize how to consistently use VaR in portfolio performance evaluation. We also elaborate on a simple framework that allows to derive a general formula for a portfolio performance measure which is not limited to the use of VaR-based reward and risk measures, but is valid for all reward and risk measures that satisfy a few plausible properties.