Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Corporate Financial Policies with Overconfident Managers

Many financing choices of US corporations remain puzzling even after accounting for standard determinants such as taxes, bankruptcy costs, and asymmetric information. We propose that managerial beliefs help to explain the remaining variation across and within firms, including variation in debt conservatism and in pecking-order behavior. Managers who believe that their company is undervalued view external financing as overpriced, especially equity financing. As a result, they display pecking-order preferences for internal financing over debt and for debt over equity. They may also exhibit debt conservatism: While they prefer debt to equity, they still underutilize debt relative to its tax benefits. We test these hypotheses empirically, using late option exercise by the CEO as a measure of overconfidence. We find that, conditional on accessing public markets, CEOs who personally overinvest in their companies are significantly less likely to issue equity. They raise 33 cents more debt to cover an additional dollar of financing deficit than their peers. Moreover, the frequency with which they access any external finance (debt or equity) is significantly lower, resulting in debt conservatism. The results replicate when identifying managerial overconfidence based on press portrayal as confident or optimistic. We conclude that managerial overconfidence helps to explain variation in corporate financial policies.
Reliability of a timeline method: assessing normal drinkers' reports of recent drinking and a comparative evaluation across several populations.

Summary Since alcohol research involves both clinical and non-clinical populations, it is important to evaluate drinking assessment methods across different subject populations. Over the past several years, the reliability of the timeline (TL) method of gathering retrospective reports of recent drinking has been evaluated in several studies, and this method has been shown to have generally high reliability with outpatient alcohol abusers, in-patient chronic alcoholics, and normal drinker college students. The present study examined the reliability of the TL method with normal drinkers in the general population. Similar to other populations, the test-retest reliability of male (n=31) and female (n=31) normal drinkers' reports of recent drinking behaviour was found to be generally high. Data gathered by the TL method were also compared to data gathered from the same subjects using a common quantity-frequency (QF) method. Consistent with earlier reports, QF categorization provided a relatively insensitive measure of individual differences in drinking behaviour as compared to TL-derived data. Since the TL method has now been shown to have fairly good reliability for assessing recent drinking across a broad range of drinkers, it can be used for comparative evaluations of drinking behaviour across studies with different subject populations.
Rearrest After Prehospital Resuscitation

Abstract Objectives. To determine how often out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients who achieve return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) experience rearrest during their emergency medical services (EMS) care and to analyze their arrest characteristics, including survival to hospital discharge. Methods. A retrospective patient care record review was conducted for all treated OHCA patients between January 1, 2000, and February 28, 2008. Data were obtained from a countywide EMS patient care database that included treating EMS provider documentation and receiving hospital patient outcomes. If resuscitation was attempted, all OHCA patients, regardless of age, were included in the study. Those who achieved ROSC were identified and the number of patients who experienced rearrest was determined. Return of spontaneous circulation was defined as EMS documentation of a palpable pulse, and rearrest was defined as a change in cardiac rhythm associated with loss of a palpable pulse, regardless of duration. Cardiac arrest characteristics were analyzed using chi-square and t-test for resuscitated patients who experienced rearrest compared with those who did not. Results. During the study period, OHCA resuscitation was attempted on 7,296 patients. Of these, 2,454 had field ROSC (34%%; 95%% confidence interval [[CI]]: 33%%–35%%). Of those who achieved ROSC, 951 experienced rearrest prior to hospital arrival (39%%; 95%% CI: 37%%–41%%). The average age of the patients who experienced rearrest was 2 years higher than those who did not experience rearrest (64 years vs. 62 years; p < 0.011). The proportion of women in the rearrest group was less than that in the non-rearrest group (40%% vs. 46%%; p < 0.008). Bystander-witnessed arrest rates were similar between the two groups (65%% vs. 68%%; p < 0.124). Fewer patients who experienced rearrest survived to hospital admission (53%% vs. 85%%; p < 0.000) and hospital discharge (15%% vs. 35%%; p < 0.000). Of those who experienced rearrest, 102 (11%%) experienced rearrest while being transported. There was no difference in survival for those whose rearrests occurred prior to transport (14%%) compared with those whose rearrests occurred during transport (16%%) (p < 0.671). Conclusion. A significant number of OHCA patients who achieved field ROSC experienced rearrest prior to hospital arrival. Patients who experienced rearrest were less likely to survive.
The Effects of Testing Circumstance and Education Level on MMPI-2 Correction Scale Scores

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) is used by the Federal Aviation Administration to assess psychopathology in air traffic control specialist applicants after a conditional offer of employment is extended. Two groups are compared in this study on their level of Scale K, which is used as a measure of defensiveness (putting one’s best foot forward – “faking good”), but which may be influenced by socioeconomic status and education. Group 1 had already been hired and took the MMPI-2 as part of a voluntary research protocol while in training. Group 2 took the MMPI-2 as part of their medical screening process for hiring. There was a significant difference between the two groups (2 indicated a higher level of K than 1) on the level of K, suggesting that K is likely measuring defensiveness. Group 1 faced no consequences for their results, while Group 2 faced potential additional psychological assessment as a consequence of their MMPI-2 performance, and possibly even ultimate medical disqualification. While the hypothesis that groups would differ on K as a function of testing circumstances was supported, the hypothesis that K would rise as a function of education was not.
Accent conversion through cross-speaker articulatory synthesis

Accent conversion (AC) seeks to transform second-language (L2) utterances to appear as if produced with a native (L1) accent. In the acoustic domain, AC is difficult due to the complex interaction between linguistic content and voice quality. Alternatively, AC can be performed in the articulatory domain by building a mapping from L2 articulators to L2 acoustics, and then driving the model with L1 articulators. However, collecting articulatory data for each L2 learner is impractical. Here we propose an approach that avoids this expensive step. Our method builds a cross-speaker forward mapping (CSFM) to generate L2 acoustic observations directly from L1 articulatory trajectories. We evaluated the CSFM against a baseline articulatory synthesizer trained with L2 articulators. Subjective listening tests show that both methods perform comparably in terms of accent reduction and ability to preserve the voice quality of the L2 speaker, with only a small impact in acoustic quality.
Data Curation at Scale: The Data Tamer System

Data curation is the act of discovering a data source(s) of interest, cleaning and transforming the new data, semantically integrating it with other local data sources, and deduplicating the resulting composite. There has been much research on the various components of curation (especially data integration and deduplication). However, there has been little work on collecting all of the curation components into an integrated end-to-end system. In addition, most of the previous work will not scale to the sizes of problems that we are nding in the eld. For example, one web aggregator requires the curation of 80,000 URLs and a second biotech company has the problem of curating 8000 spreadsheets. At this scale, data curation cannot be a manual (human) eort, but must entail machine learning approaches with a human assist only when necessary. This paper describes Data Tamer, an end-to-end curation system we have built at M.I. T. Brandeis, and Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI). It expects as input a sequence of data sources to add to a composite being constructed over time. A new source is subjected to machine learning algorithms to perform attribute identication, grouping of attributes into tables, transformation of incoming data and deduplication. When necessary, a human can be asked for guidance. Also, Data Tamer includes a data visualization component so a human can examine a data source at will and specify manual transformations. We have run Data Tamer on three real world enterprise curation problems, and it has been shown to lower curation cost by about 90%, relative to the currently deployed production software.
Identification of channel-lining residues in the M2 membrane-spanning segment of the GABA(A) receptor alpha1 subunit

The gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABA(A)) receptors are the major inhibitory, postsynaptic, neurotransmitter receptors in the central nervous system. The binding of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) to the GABA(A) receptors induces the opening of an anion-selective channel that remains open for tens of milliseconds before it closes. To understand how the structure of the GABA(A) receptor determines the functional properties such as ion conduction, ion selectivity and gating we sought to identify the amino acid residues that line the ion conducting channel. To accomplish this we mutated 26 consecutive residues (250-275), one at a time, in and flanking the M2 membrane- spanning segment of the rat alpha1 subunit to cysteine. We expressed the mutant alpha1 subunit with wild-type beta1 and gamma2 subunits in Xenopus oocytes. We probed the accessibility of the engineered cysteine to covalent modification by charged, sulfhydryl-specific reagents added extracellularly. We assume that among residues in membrane-spanning segments, only those lining the channel would be susceptible to modification by polar reagents and that such modification would irreversibly alter conduction through the channel. We infer that nine of the residues, alpha1 Val257, alpha1 Thr26l, alpha1 Thr262, alpha1 Leu264, alpha1 Thr265, alpha1 Thr268, alpha1 Ile27l, alpha1 Ser272 and alpha1 Asn275 are exposed in the channel. On a helical wheel plot, the exposed residues, except alpha1 Thr262, lie on one side of the helix in an arc of 120 degrees. We infer that the M2 segment forms an alpha helix that is interrupted in the region of alpha1 Thr262. The modification of residues as cytoplasmic as alpha1 Val257 in the closed state of the channel suggests that the gate is at least as cytoplasmic as alpha1 Val257. The ability of the positively charged reagent methanethiosulfonate ethylammonium to reach the level of alpha1 Thr261 suggests that the charge-selectivity filter is at least as cytoplasmic as this residue.
The Genetics of Investment Biases

For a long list of investment “biases,” including lack of diversification, excessive trading, and the disposition effect, we find that genetic differences explain up to 45% of the remaining variation across individual investors, after controlling for observable individual characteristics. The evidence is consistent with a view that investment biases are manifestations of innate and evolutionary ancient features of human behavior. We find that work experience with finance reduces genetic predispositions to investment biases. Finally, we find that even genetically identical investors, who grew up in the same family environment, often differ substantially in their investment behaviors due to individual-specific experiences or events.
Microbial Iron Reduction by Enrichment Cultures Isolated from Estuarine Sediments

Microbial Fe reduction in acetate- and succinate-containing enrichment cultures initiated with an estuarine sediment inoculum was studied. Fe reduction was unaffected when SO42− reduction was inhibited by MoO42−, indicating that both processes could occur independently. Bacterially produced sulfide precipitated as FeS but was not completely responsible for Fe reduction. The separation of oxidized Fe particles from bacteria by dialysis tubing demonstrated that direct bacterial contact was necessary for Fe reduction. Fe reduction in cultures amended with NO3− was delayed until NO3− and NO2− were removed. However, bacterial attachment to oxidized Fe particles in NO3−-amended cultures occurred early during growth in a manner similar to NO3−-free cultures. During late stages of growth, bacteria not attached to Fe particles became pale and swollen, while attached cells remained bright blue when examined by 4′,6-diamidine-2-phenylindole epifluo-rescence microscopy. The presence of added oxidized Mn had no effect on Fe reduction. The results suggested that enzymatic Fe reduction was responsible for reducing Fe in these cultures even in the presence of sulfide and that cells incapable of Fe reduction became unhealthy when Fe(III) was the only available electron acceptor.
Concurrent pasteurellosis and classical swine fever in Indian pigs

Outbreaks of classical swine fever (CSF) occurred in four herds in Punjab state. All herds were located in the same geographical area, but were approximately 100 km apart. Overall morbidity, mortality, and case fatality rate were 88.2%, 77.5%, and 87.8%, respectively, in pigs ≤ 3 months of age, and 20.5%, 8.2%, and 40.0%, respectively, in older pigs. Clinical signs included high fever; erythema of the skin of the ears, abdomen, and medial thighs; and greenish watery diarrhea. Postmortem lesions observed were intestinal ulcers; congestion and multifocal hemorrhages of the spleen; enlarged, edematous, and hemorrhagic lymph nodes; and petechial hemorrhages on the kidneys. Subcapsular hemorrhages in kidneys and chronic necrotic enteritis were the significant histological lesions. Testing by agar gel immunodiffusion in all four outbreaks identified CSF virus antigen. Pasteurella multocida isolates from two outbreaks were characterized morphologically and biochemically. Serotype B:2 was identified from both outbreaks by polymerase chain reaction using P multocidaspecific primers (KMT1T7, KMT1 SP6) and B:2-type-specific primers (KTSP61, KTT72). Pneumonic lesions were more marked in cases from which P multocida was isolated.
How Web Search Activity exert Influence on Stock Trading across Market States?

With the popularity of the network, the influence of web search activity on capital market has become a central issue in finance. Although a growing body of literature finds that the online search volume helps to explain stock trading activities, few studies take the impacts of market states into account. To fill up the gap, this study explores the influence of market states on the relationship between web search activity and capital market from the perspective of stock returns. The evidence shows that web search activity proxied by the weekly Google search volume drives stock returns in the regular and up market states, although investors exhibit the same behavior to search for information via the Internet across time. The results generally support the attention effect of online search activity on stock returns. However, the reluctance to buy stocks in the bearish market due to the fear of bearing substantial systematic risks may limit the attention effect and weaken the link between web search activity and stock returns.
Efficacy of selective transarterial chemoembolization in inducing tumor necrosis in small (<5 cm) hepatocellular carcinomas

Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is commonly used as a bridge therapy for patients awaiting liver transplantation (LT) and for downstaging patients initially not meeting the Milan criteria. The primary aim of this study was to analyze whether a difference exists between selective/superselective and lobar TACE in determining tumor necrosis by a pathological analysis of the whole lesion at the time of LT. The secondary aim was to investigate the relationship between the tumor size and the capacity of TACE to induce necrosis. Data were extracted from a prospective database of 67 consecutive patients who underwent LT for hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhosis from 2003 to 2009 and were treated exclusively with TACE as a bridging (n = 53) or downstaging therapy (n = 14). We identified 122 nodules; 53.3% were treated with selective/superselective TACE. The mean histological necrosis level was 64.7%; complete tumor necrosis was obtained in 42.6% of the nodules. In comparison with lobar TACE, selective/superselective TACE led to significantly higher mean levels of necrosis (75.1% versus 52.8%, P = 0.002) and a higher rate of complete necrosis (53.8% versus 29.8%, P = 0.013). A significant direct relationship was observed between the tumor diameter and the mean tumor necrosis level (59.6% for lesions < 2 cm, 68.4% for lesions of 2.1‐3 cm, and 76.2% for lesions > 3 cm). Histological necrosis was maximal for tumors > 3 cm: 91.8% after selective/superselective TACE and 66.5% after lobar procedures. Independent predictors of complete tumor necrosis were selective/superselective TACE (P = 0.049) and the treatment of single nodules (P = 0.008). Repeat sessions were more frequently needed for nodules treated with lobar TACE (31.6% versus 59.3%, P = 0.049). Conclusion: Selective/superselective TACE was more successful than lobar procedures in achieving complete histological necrosis, and TACE was more effective in 3‐ to 5‐cm tumors than in smaller ones. (Hepatology 2011;)
Screening for Differentially Expressed Proteins Relevant to the Differential Diagnosis of Sarcoidosis and Tuberculosis

Background In this study, we sought to identify differentially expressed proteins in the serum of patients with sarcoidosis or tuberculosis and to evaluate these proteins as markers for the differential diagnosis of sarcoidosis and sputum-negative tuberculosis. Methods Using protein microarrays, we identified 3 proteins exhibiting differential expression between patients with sarcoidosis and tuberculosis. Elevated expression of these proteins was verified using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and was further confirmed by immunohistochemistry. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, logistic regression analysis, parallel, and serial tests were used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of the proteins. Results Intercellular Adhesion Molecule 1(ICAM-1) and leptin were screened for differentially expressed proteins relevant to sarcoidosis and tuberculosis. Using ROC curves, we found that ICAM-1 (cutoff value: 57740 pg/mL) had an area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity of 0.718, 62.3%, and 79.5% respectively, while leptin (cutoff value: 1193.186 pg/mL) had an AUC, sensitivity, and specificity of 0.763, 88.3%, and 65.8%, respectively. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the AUC, sensitivity, and specificity of combined leptin and ICAM-1 were 0.787, 89.6%, and 65.8%, respectively, while those of combined leptin, ICAM-1, and body mass index (BMI) were 0.837, 90.9%, and 64.4%, respectively, which had the greatest diagnostic value. Parallel and serial tests indicated that the BMI-leptin parallel with the ICAM-1 serial was the best diagnostic method, achieving a sensitivity and specificity of 86.5% and 73.1%, respectively. Thus, our results identified elevated expression of ICAM-1 and leptin in serum and granulomas of sarcoidosis patients. Conclusions ICAM-1 and leptin were found to be potential markers for the diagnosis of sarcoidosis and differential diagnosis of sarcoidosis and sputum-negative tuberculosis.
MSCEIT y TESIS: Relaciones entre dos pruebas de habilidad para la evaluación de la Inteligencia Emocional

This paper presents an empirical study comparing the performance of two ability-based Emotional Intelligence (EI) tests (MSCEIT and TESIS). A sample of 164 participants completed both instruments and significant correlations were obtained among several of the tests' scores, although remarkable differences were also found. The Spanish MSCEIT overall score and two of its areas (Experi- ential and Strategic) showed a correlation of . 18 with the TESIS total score (Sensitivity). Several MSCEIT sub-tests correlated discreetly but significantly with the three TESIS scores (Sensitivity, Naive- Insensitivity and Over-interpreting-Insensitivity). From a differential point of view, both TESIS and MSCEIT seem to detect changes in EI due to age but, in the case of MSCEIT, results were counter- intuitive (EI descreases with age). Similarly, TESIS results seemed more logical than those of the MSCEIT when comparing groups by gender, al- though not reaching statistical significance. When analysing undergraduate students, MSCEIT was more discriminative than TESIS, but again the re- sults were controversial. All these data raise the need to better understand the variables measured by both tests, and also question whether the current instru- ments for measuring EI have actually gathered evi- dence of construct validity.
Not Your Cup of Tea? How Interacting with a Robot Can Increase Perceived Self-Efficacy in HRI and Evaluation

The goal of this work is to explore the influence of do-it-yourself customization of a robot on technologically experienced students and unexperienced elderly users' perceived self-efficacy in HRI, uncertainty, and evaluation of the robot and interaction. We introduce the Self-Efficacy in HRI Scale and present two experimental studies. In study 1 (students, n=60) we found that any interaction with the robot increased self-efficacy, regardless of whether this interaction involves customization or not. Moreover, individual increases in self-efficacy predict more positive evaluations. In a second study with elderly users (n=60) we could not replicate the general positive effect of the interaction on self-efficacy. Again, we did not find the hypothesized stronger effect of customization on self-efficacy, nor did we find that relationship between self-efficacy increase and evaluation. We discuss limitations of the setting and for questionnaire design for elderly participants.