Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SHAREHOLDER RETURNS TO USA ACQUIRED FIRMS IN FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC ACQUISITIONS

This research employs the residual methodology to examine whether gains to shareholders exist through international diversification. Under the assump tion that bid premiums (abnormal returns) are a proxy for expected gains in a merger, the magnitude of abnormal returns to acquired f m s in foreign and domestic mergers is determined using the market model. Any significant difference is imputed to expected gains from international diversification. Results indicate that although differences appear to exist, these differences are insignificant when method of payment and merger type are considered.
Dividend Policy of German Firms

German firms pay out a lower proportion of their cash flows than UK and US firms. However, on a published profits basis, the pattern is reversed.Company law provisions and accounting policies account for these conflicting results. A partial adjustment model is used to estimate the implicit target payout ratio and the speed of adjustment of dividends towards a long run target payout ratio. We find that German firms do not base their dividend decisions on published earnings, but on cash flows. The reasons for the use of a cash flow-based payout policy are: (i) published earnings figures do not correctly reflect corporate performance as German firms tend to retain a significant part of their earnings to build up legal reserves, (ii) the conservative nature of German accounting policies, (iii) published earnings are subject to a higher degree of smoothing than cash flows. Regarding the speed of adjustment of dividends towards the long term target payout ratio, UK and US companies only slowly adjust their dividend policy whereas German are more willing to cut the dividend in the wake of a temporary decrease in profitability. This causes a higher degree of 'discreteness' in the dividends - pershare time series as opposed to the 'smoothness' (i.e., frequent annual small adjustments in the dividend per share) observed in the US and the UK.
Multifocal electroretinogram abnormalities persist following resolution of central serous chorioretinopathy.

OBJECTIVE To examine results of the multifocal electroretinogram (MERG) after spontaneous resolution of central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) detachments. METHODS Multifocal electroretinograms were recorded from both eyes of 5 recovered patients with CSC and 10 age-matched healthy subjects. All patients with CSC had bilaterally subnormal MERG amplitudes during a first attack of CSC occuring 7 to 23 months earlier. RESULTS After recovery from CSC, MERG A-wave and B-wave amplitudes increased markedly where the detachment resolved, and moderately elsewhere in the posterior pole of both eyes. However, the signals from both eyes remained either subnormal or low-normal relative to controls. Multifocal electroretinogram B-wave latencies improved from prolonged to mid-normal values in both eyes. CONCLUSIONS Both eyes of patients with active unilateral CSC exhibit diminished MERG amplitudes. Although MERG response amplitudes increased modestly after recovery from CSC, they remained statistically subnormal throughout the posterior pole of both eyes. These findings support the theory that subretinal fluid retention in CSC is secondary to diffuse pathologic changes in the choroid and/or retinal pigment epithelium. They also suggest that the underlying or predisposing abnormalities of CSC resolved only partially in our patients. Components of the MERG may have value as a prognostic tool for judging the risk of developing symptomatic CSC. Arch Ophthalmol. 2000;118:1211-1215
Arms transfers and international behavior in the Arabian sea area

International arms transfers to the major Arabian Sea nations reported by SIPRI for the period 1948–1978 are correlated with measures of international conflict and cooperation provided by the COPDAB events data summaries. In general the correlations between the two are found to be strong, with many correlations significant at the . 001 level. The best predictor is the number of arms transfers, rather than the quantity of different types of weapons transferred. The order of the importance of various types of weapons (air, sea, land) is relatively consistent across different indicators. Correlations are highest with political and military conflict behavior, and generally higher for conflictual than for cooperative behavior. Generally transfers correlate with subsequent international behavior rather than previous international behavior. Within the Arabian Sea area, the correlations are strongest in the Middle East and weakest in the Horn of Africa. Correlations are generally higher when the transfer data is s.
Impact of clinical and morphological variables in classification and regression tree‐based survival (CART) analysis of CML with special emphasis on dynamic features

Abstract: To determine parameters of predictive value in CML, a retrospective clinico‐pathological study was performed. This included laboratory data and (pretreatment) bone marrow biopsies of 120 patients with a monotherapy by busulfan (BU) and 50 patients with interferon‐alpha 2b (IFN)treatment. Median survival in the BU group was 39 months and in the IFN‐treated patients 65 months. Morphological features (CD61‐positive megakaryocytes, argyrophilic fibres, pseudo‐Gaucher cells) were evaluated by morphometry. Additionally, we measured the incidence of apoptosis (in situ end‐labelling technique) and the expression of the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). The ratio between the proliferative and apoptotic cell fraction was coined leukaemia turnover index (LTI). In order to estimate the impact of clinical and various morphological as well as dynamic features of prognostic significance, a multivariate analysis was carried out using the classification and regression tree approach (CART). Discrimination of single disease parameters revealed that fibrosis remained the most significant variable for survival in both therapeutic groups. Indicators of myeloid metaplasia such as occurrence of erythro‐normoblasts and/or splenomegaly were important clinical parameters for prognosis. Inclusion of morphological as well as dynamic disease features in risk classification resulted in a substantial improvement of prognostic efficiency compared to other predictive scores which could be demonstrated by means of ROC‐analysis.
Impact of initial public offering coalition on deal completion

Measures of underwriter and top management team prestige have been shown to signal the underlying quality of a company in an initial public offering (IPO). We extend these measures to include the entire coalition (i.e., managers, board, venture capitalists (VCs), underwriters, auditors, and both sets of lawyers) and surprisingly find VCs to have the highest explanatory power in predicting IPO outcomes (completion or withdrawal). Companies with deep management and a separation of the CEO/chair role are more likely to hire prestigious underwriters and successfully complete IPOs. Although companies with prestigious VCs are more likely to have prestigious underwriters, companies with VC-backing are more likely to withdraw the offering, likely to take advantage of better market opportunities. Companies with prestigious underwriters are more likely to have successful IPOs, although we show that the capabilities of underwriters and other intermediaries are more likely driven by activity level (i.e., market share), rather than prestige in affecting IPO outcome. Using an agency framework, we test how signals of monitoring, information asymmetry, bonding, and incentive alignment affect IPO outcomes and show that signals of lower agency costs are associated with a greater likelihood of IPO completion. Finally, because many of these measures are shown to endogenously affect IPO completion, a selection bias may exist in previous IPO studies as up to 70% of IPOs filed annually are not completed.
The Returns and Risk of Alternative Call Option Portfolio Investment Strategies

Since the opening of the Chicago Board Options Exchange in April 1973, the options market has been the fastest growing segment of the securities industry. With this rapid growth has come controversy over the purpose served by options in the capital markets. As we see it, the principal function of options is to provide a significant expansion of the patterns of portfolio returns available to investors. Such expansions make investors better off and add to the liquidity and efficiency of the capital markets. For investors to benefit from the additional investment opportunities provided by options, they must be informed as to the return characteristics of various option strategies. The option exchanges, however, have been in existence for only a short period of time, and therefore firsthand experience in trading of options in organized markets over a number of market cycles does not exist. As a partial substitute for this experience, numerous articles and books have been written, and advisory services have been The combination of a short trading history and inadequate analyses has generated a variety of myths about the returns and risks of option trading. Although it is possible to give a qualitative description of the return patterns associated with various option strategies for single option-stock positions, it is difficult to give a similar description for portfolio strategies involving options and stock. This paper provides analyses and empirical evidence of the return patterns on portfolio strategies involving options over a significant period of time. Two important strategies, the "fully covered" writing strategy and the " options/paper" -buying strategy are analyzed in this study. * This research was financed in part by grants from Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, New York; the Center for Research in Security Prices, University of Chicago; and the National Science Foundation. We thank Merton Miller for his extensive comments on an earlier draft.
Balancing Our Perceptions of the Efficacy of Success-Based Feedback Manipulations on Motor Learning

ABSTRACT. We report two experiments evaluating the impact of success-related feedback on learning of a balance task. In Exp. 1, we studied the influence of lax and conservative outcome feedback, as well as large vs. small improvements in outcome feedback on balance learning. Despite impacts on competency, there were no between-group differences in actual performance or learning. Because no comparative information was provided in Exp. 1, we tested four further groups that either did or did not receive positive or negative comparative feedback (Exp. 2). Although the manipulations influenced competency and arousal, again, there was no impact on balance outcomes. These data cast doubt on the assertions made in the OPTIMAL theory that perceptions of success are moderators of motor learning.
Do mice habituate to "gentle handling?" A comparison of resting behavior, corticosterone levels and synaptic function in handled and undisturbed C57BL/6J mice.

STUDY OBJECTIVES "Gentle handling" has become a method of choice for 4-6 h sleep deprivation in mice, with repeated brief handling applied before sleep deprivation to induce habituation. To verify whether mice do indeed habituate, we assess how 6 days of repeated brief handling impact on resting behavior, on stress, and on the subunit content of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) at hippocampal synapses, which is altered by sleep loss. We discuss whether repeated handling biases the outcome of subsequent sleep deprivation. DESIGN Adult C57BL/6J mice, maintained on a 12 h-12 h light-dark cycle, were left undisturbed for 3 days, then handled during 3 min daily for 6 days in the middle of the light phase. Mice were continuously monitored for their resting time. Serum corticosterone levels and synaptic NMDAR subunit composition were quantified. RESULTS Handling caused a ∼25% reduction of resting time throughout all handling days. After six, but not after one day of handling, mice had elevated serum corticosterone levels. Six-day handling augmented the presence of the NR2A subunit of NMDARs at hippocampal synapses. CONCLUSION Repeated handling induces behavioral and neurochemical alterations that are absent in undisturbed animals. The persistently reduced resting time and the delayed increase in corticosterone levels indicate that mice do not habituate to handling over a 1-week period. Handling-induced modifications bias effects of gentle handling-induced sleep deprivation on sleep homeostasis, stress, glutamate receptor composition and signaling. A standardization of sleep deprivation procedures involving gentle handling will be important for unequivocally specifying how acute sleep loss affects brain function.
The Epidemiology of Esophageal Cancer in Minority Populations of the United States GASTROINTESTINAL AND HEPATOBILIARY DISEASES IN THE U.S., SERIES #9

Esophageal cancer is a lethal disease world-wide and its incidence varies by region, gender, race and ethnicity. Two main histological types of esophageal cancer, squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma, share a dismal 5-year survival rate of 8-13 percent. By race and gender, African Americans have the highest incidence of esophageal cancer followed by whites and other minority groups (Hispanic, Native, Pacific Islander American). It is clear that esophageal cancer occurs more frequently in males than females (M:F, 3-4:1). Since 1987, the incidence of all esophageal cancers has decreased due primarily to a reduction in squamous cell carcinoma. However, among white males, the incidence of esophageal cancer has risen primarily due to a substantial increase in the incidence of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus that now has surpassed that of squamous cell carcinoma. Among African and Hispanic American males, squamous cell carcinoma is still the predominant histological type, but like in white males, the incidence of adenocarcinoma is rising. Risk factors for squamous cell carcinoma include smoking, alcohol abuse, poor nutrition and poverty. The major risk factors for adenocarcinoma of the esophagus are long standing symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux and the development of Barrett’s esophagus. Efforts to influence the epidemiology of esophageal cancer should focus on prevention of tobacco and alcohol abuse, poor nutrition, and lifestyle in squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus and reduction of gastroesophageal reflux symptoms and subsequent Barrett’s esophagus in adenocarcinoma of the esophagus.
Growth Maintenance of the Maize Primary Root at Low Water Potentials Involves Increases in Cell-Wall Extension Properties, Expansin Activity, and Wall Susceptibility to Expansins

Previous work on the growth biophysics of maize (Zea mays L.) primary roots suggested that cell walls in the apical 5 mm of the elongation zone increased their yielding ability as an adaptive response to low turgor and water potential ([psi]W). To test this hypothesis more directly, we measured the acid-induced extension of isolated walls from roots grown at high (-0.03 MPa) or low (-1.6 MPa) [psi]W using an extensometer. Acid-induced extension was greatly increased in the apical 5 mm and was largely eliminated in the 5- to 10-mm region of roots grown at low [psi]W. This pattern is consistent with the maintenance of elongation toward the apex and the shortening of the elongation zone in these roots. Wall proteins extracted from the elongation zone possessed expansin activity, which increased substantially in roots grown at low [psi]W. Western blots likewise indicated higher expansin abundance in the roots at low [psi]W. Additionally, the susceptibility of walls to expansin action was higher in the apical 5 mm of roots at low [psi]W than in roots at high [psi]W. The basal region of the elongation zone (5–10 mm) did not extend in response to expansins, indicating that loss of susceptibility to expansins was associated with growth cessation in this region. Our results indicate that both the increase in expansin activity and the increase in cell-wall susceptibility to expansins play a role in enhancing cell-wall yielding and, therefore, in maintaining elongation in the apical region of maize primary roots at low [psi]W.
Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM) as the reference standard for diagnosis of hypertension and assessment of vascular risk in adults

New information has become available since the ISC, AAMCC, and SECAC released their first extensive guidedelines to improve the diagnosis and treatment of adult arterial hypertension. A critical assessment of evidence and a comparison of what international guidelines now propose are the basis for the following statements, which update the recommendations first issued in 2013. Office blood pressure (BP) measurements should no longer be considered to be the “gold standard” for the diagnosis of hypertension and assessment of cardiovascular risk. Relying on office BP, even when supplemented with at-home wake-time self-measurements, to identify high-risk individuals, disregarding circadian BP patterning and asleep BP level, leads to potential misclassification of 50% of all evaluated persons. Accordingly, ambulatory BP monitoring is the recommended reference standard for the diagnosis of true hypertension and accurate assessment of cardiovascular risk in all adults ≥18 yrs of age, regardless of whether office BP is normal or elevated. Asleep systolic BP mean is the most significant independent predictor of cardiovascular events. The sleep-time relative SBP decline adds prognostic value to the statistical model that already includes the asleep systolic BP mean and corrected for relevant confounding variables. Accordingly, the asleep systolic BP mean is the recommended protocol to diagnose hypertension, assess cardiovascular risk, and predict cardiovascular event-free interval. In men, and in the absence of compelling clinical conditions, reference thresholds for diagnosing hypertension are 120/70 mmHg for the asleep systolic/diastolic BP means derived from ambulatory BP monitoring. However, in women, in the absence of complicating co-morbidities, the same thresholds are lower by 10/5 mmHg, i.e., 110/65 mmHg for the asleep means. In high-risk patients, including those diagnosed with diabetes or chronic kidney disease, and/or those having experienced past cardiovascular events, the thresholds are even lower by 15/10 mmHg, i.e., 105/60 mmHg. Bedtime treatment with the full daily dose of ≥1 hypertension medications is recommended as a cost-effective means to improve the management of hypertension and reduce hypertension-associated risk. Bedtime treatment entailing the full daily dose of ≥1 conventional hypertension medications must be the therapeutic regimen of choice for the elderly and those with diabetes, resistant and secondary hypertension, chronic kidney disease, obstructive sleep apnea, and medical history of past cardiovascular events, among others, given their documented high prevalence of sleep-time hypertension.
Comparison of immediately loaded flapless-placed one-piece implants and flapped-placed conventionally loaded two-piece implants, both fitted with all-ceramic single crowns,  in the posterior mandible: 3-year results from  a randomised controlled pilot trial.

PURPOSE To compare outcomes for immediately loaded one-piece implants (OPI), placed flapless, and conventionally loaded two-piece implants (TPI), placed after two-stage flapped surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirty-eight participants were randomised to receive either one OPI (19 participants, OPI group) or one TPI (19 participants, TPI group) inserted in the posterior mandible with a torque of at least 35 Ncm according to a parallel group design. OPI were immediately loaded with non-occluding temporary crowns. After 3 months, TPI were exposed and implants in both groups were occlusally loaded with zirconia crowns. Outcome measures were implant failure, prosthesis failure, any complication and changes of probing pocket depth (PPD), plaque index (PI), gingiva index (GI), and peri-implant marginal bone level, recorded by unblinded assessors. RESULTS Three years after occlusal loading, three participants dropped out from the TPI group. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups with regard to participants with implant failure (OPI group 1/19; TPI group 0/16; difference in proportions (DIP), -5.3%; 95% confidence interval (CI) -15.3 to 4.8; P = 1.000), prosthesis failure (OPI group 3/19, TPI group 5/16; DIP, 15.5%; 95% CI -12.6 to 43.5; P = 0.424), any complication (OPI group 6/19, TPI group 5/16; DIP, -0.3%; 95% CI -31.2 to 30.5; P = 1.000), or changes of PPD (P =0.174), PI (P = 0.222), or GI (P = 0.415). Veneer chipping accounted for most prosthesis failures and complications. On average OPI and TPI lost 1.34 mm and 0.67 mm of marginal bone, respectively, the difference between groups being statistically significant (mean difference, 0.66 mm; 95% CI -0.02 to 1.34; P = 0.024) in favour of TPI implants. CONCLUSIONS Both implant procedures might be viable in the short term, but statistically significantly more bone loss might be indicative of future problems with OPI. Because of the high incidence of chipping, veneered zirconia crowns cannot be recommended on posterior implants. Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors are grateful to Nobel Biocare for providing the study materials free of charge. Money received from the manufacturer was used to reimburse participants for regular attendance at follow-up appointments and to finance data management. The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Attitude of Students towards Peers with Disabilities: Relocating Students from an Education Support Centre to an Inclusive Middle School Setting.

When establishing inclusive or whole schooling practices, the attitudes of students towards their peers with differing abilities to themselves is potentially a critical determinant in the success of schools to manage diverse student populations. This research investigates any potential changes in peer attitudes following the inclusion of previously segregated students into a regular school setting. The target group for this study is all Year 8 (N=199) students at a middle school in regional Western Australia. The attitude of the Year 8 students towards students with disabilities is measured using the Peer Attitudes Toward the Handicapped Scale (PATHS). The PATHS questionnaire was administered at the beginning and end of Semester 1 in 2003. Teacher perspectives of student attitude are also assessed via a focus group discussion after the second PATHS administration. Analysis of variance of the pre-test data shows the frequency of participant’s prior classroom contact with students with a disability to have a significant impact on acceptance. Gender differences at the pre-test stage also prove to be significantly different in several measures. After six months of the inclusion program, data trends and the focus group discussion indicate an increased acceptance of students with disabilities by their mainstream peers. The implications of these results and recommendations for future research are discussed.