Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Consumer Response to Information about a Functional Food Product: Apples Enriched with Antioxidants

"Interest in functional foods has been growing as consumers become increasingly concerned with diet and nutrition. This article measures consumers' responses to apples enriched with an antioxidant coating. Antioxidant-enriched apples are believed to provide additional health benefits reducing the risk of cancer and heart diseases. We discuss the consumer's benefit-risk trade-offs. Although functional food products provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition, some consumers may reject them because they utilize new technology. Face-to-face consumer surveys with contingent valuation questions were conducted in Seattle and Spokane, Washington in 2006. Consumers who choose where to shop based on organic availability are less likely to pay a premium for apples enriched with antioxidants. Also, there is evidence that consumers in Spokane are more likely to pay a premium for the product than consumers in supermarkets in Seattle. Information regarding the potential health benefits of antioxidants has a positive significant effect on consumers' willingness to pay (WTP). The estimated mean WTP suggests that there is a small premium associated with this product in the mind of an average consumer. " Copyright (c) 2009 Canadian Agricultural Economics Society.
Alternative information sources and the information content of bank loans

This paper examines the information content of bank loan agreements. We differentiate borrowers according to financial analysts' percentage earnings forecast errors and most recent forecast revisions. The empirical results suggest that banks rely on other indicators as initial screening devices to determine where to best deploy their evaluation and monitoring efforts. If these other indicators are reliable and signalimproving prospects, banks do little further investigation. However, if the indicators are noisy and signal-declining prospects, banks have incentives to expend resources to investigate the borrowers, resulting in the production of valuable information. RECENT THEORIES OF FINANCIAL intermediation concentrate on the role of banks in reducing informational asymmetry. Leland and Pyle (1977) suggest that informational asymmetries may be the primary reason that intermediaries exist. Campbell and Kracaw (1980) demonstrate that an important function of financial intermediation is the production of information. Diamond (1984) develops a model which shows that financial intermediaries can exist simply because they provide an efficient means of evaluating and monitoring borrowers. These information transmission theories argue that banks provide unique information production services in an imperfect capital market. They suggest that banks know more about the prospects of the firms they lend to than do others. Thus, bank loan agreements should convey useful information to the market. A number of researchers empirically examine the uniqueness of bank loans. Fama (1985) approaches the issue by examining the rates on certificates of deposit and other high-grade commercial papers. He concludes that since bank borrowers bear the cost of reserve requirements, there must be something special about bank loans. James (1987) conducts an event study around the announcement of bank credit agreements and reports a significantly positive two-day announcement return. His results provide evidence support
Trade and Trade Policy with Differentiated Products: A Chamberlinian-Ricardian Model

This paper develops a model of international trade between economies which each contain a monopolistically-competitive industry producing differentiated products under increasing returns to scale. Firms have larger shares in their domestic market than in their export market and the implications of these uneq ual market shares for the pattern of trade and welfare are examined. Tariff policy and industrial policy are studied, and it is establishe d that a country can increase its welfare both by import tariffs and by subsidies to domestic firms. Copyright 1987 by Royal Economic Society.
Mechanochemical manipulation of hepatocyte aggregation can selectively induce or repress liver-specific function.

Controlled activation of hepatocyte aggregation is critical to three-dimensional (3D) multicellular morphogenesis during native regeneration of liver as well as tissue reconstruction therapies. In this work, we quantify the stimulatory effects of two model hepatotrophic activators, epidermal growth factor (EGF) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), on the aggregation kinetics and liver-specific function of hepatocytes cultured on organotypic substrates with differing mechanical resistivity. Substrate-specific morphogenesis of cultured hepatocytes is induced on a tissue basement membrane extract, Matrigel, formulated at two distinct levels of mechanical compliance (storage modulus G', at oscillatory shear rate 1 rad/s, was 34 Pa for basal Matrigel and 118 Pa for crosslinked Matrigel). Overall, we report that growth factor stimulation selectively promotes the kinetics of aggregation in the form of two-dimensional corded aggregates on basal Matrigel and three-dimensional spheroidal aggregates on crosslinked Matrigel. Our analysis also indicates that costimulation with EGF and HGF (20 ng/mL each) cooperatively maximizes the kinetics of aggregation in a substrate-specific manner. In addition, we show that the role of growth factor stimulation on hepatocyte function is sensitively governed by the mechanical compliance of the substrate. In particular, on matrices with high compliance, costimulatory aggregation is shown to elicit a marked increase in albumin secretion rate, whereas on matrices with low compliance aggregation results in effective functional repression to basal, unstimulated levels. Thus, our studies highlight a novel interplay of physicochemical parameters of the culture microenvironment, leading to selective enhancement or repression of differentiated functions of hepatocytes, in concert with the activation of cellular morphogenesis.
PVdF based micro actuator

Micro cantilever actuator based on Poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVdF) is fabricated and tested for its performance. β phase PVdF films are suitable for this purpose. Attempt is made to achieve β phase PVdF films using spin coating technique and annealing the films at various temperatures. The films are metalized and poled at high electric field (70MV/m) to enhance and stabilize the phase. PVdF cantilever is fabricated using special arrangement made with the help of sharp blades. Two cantilevers of same thickness and width of the 20µm and 500µm respectively and different lengths of 2mm and 3mm are fabricated. Actuation of the cantilevers is tested in terms of deflection by applying the electric field across the cantilever from 50–300V in the steps of 50V. The maximum actuation at 300V is 100µm for 2 mm length and 170 µm for 3mm length. Hysteresis is also observed. The results obtained are reported and discussed.
The use of data-mining to identify indicators of health-related quality of life in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

AIM To examine the health-related quality of life in a cohort of individuals with irritable bowel syndrome and to explore the use of several data-mining methods to identify which socio-demographic and irritable bowel syndrome symptoms are most highly associated with impaired health-related quality of life. BACKGROUND Health-related quality of life can be adversely affected by irritable bowel syndrome. Little is presently known about the predictive factors that may influence the quality of life in these patients. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey design involving the general population of the UK. Methods. Individuals with symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome were recruited to a longitudinal cohort survey via a UK-wide newspaper advert. Health-related quality of life was measured using a battery of validated questionnaires. Several data-mining models to determine which factors are associated with impaired health-related quality of life are considered in this study and include logistic regression, a classification tree and artificial neural networks. RESULTS As well as irritable bowel syndrome symptom severity, results indicate that psychological morbidity and socio-demographic factors such as marital status and employment status also have a major influence on health-related quality of life in irritable bowel syndrome. CONCLUSION Health-related quality of life is impaired in community-based individuals in the UK with irritable bowel syndrome. Although not always as easily interpreted as logistic regression, data-mining techniques indicate subsets of factors that are highly associated with impaired quality of life. These models tend to include subsets of irritable bowel syndrome symptoms and psychosocial factors. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Identification of the role of psychological and socio-demographic factors on health-related quality of life may provide more insight into the nature of irritable bowel syndrome. Greater understanding of these factors will facilitate more flexible and efficient nursing assessment and management of this patient group.
International RD Spillovers and Unobserved Common Shocks

This paper investigates the effects of the domestic and foreign R&D weighted by bilateral imports on productivity accounting for the heterogeneous impact of unobserved micro and macroeconomic common shocks, which are modeled in a multifactor error structure. Using a panel of 50 economies from 1970-2011, I find that when unobserved common shocks are not regarded, as has been done by the literature in this area, estimates of domestic R&D and foreign R&D might be biased and inconsistent. Once unobserved common shocks are accounted for, by allowing for heterogeneous technology coefficients, significant estimates become more sizable, consistent and not seriously biased in most cases. However, these estimates might be capturing not only returns to domestic R&D and trade-related knowledge spillovers, but also unobserved common spillovers and other effects. This indicates that knowledge spillovers and effects of unknown form cannot be easily separated. Therefore, unobserved common shocks should be considered when estimating returns to domestic R&D and international R&D spillovers.
Autobiographical memory specificity, depression, and trauma in bipolar disorder.

OBJECTIVES In a bipolar disorder (BD) sample, the present study investigated: (i) the prevalence of trauma; (ii) the specificity of autobiographical memory (AM); (iii) the influence of childhood trauma on AM specificity, current inter-episode depressive mood, and BD severity; (iv) if AM specificity moderates the influence of childhood trauma on current inter-episode depressive mood and BD severity. METHODS Fifty-two participants were recruited from a geographically well-defined mental health service in Northern Ireland. The AM test, self-report measures of lifetime experience of trauma, childhood trauma, and depression were administered. Severity of BD was estimated utilizing a systematic tool for reviewing all available clinical data of participants. RESULTS A high prevalence of trauma was found. A total of 94.2% (49/52) of participants reported experiencing a traumatic event in either childhood or adulthood. AM specificity was significantly lower than previous reports of such in major depression. However, whilst childhood trauma predicted current inter-episode depressive mood, childhood trauma was not predictive of BD severity or AM specificity. Moreover, the association between childhood trauma and depressed mood was not moderated by AM specificity. CONCLUSIONS The findings of this study suggest a relationship between early psychosocial adversity and current inter-episode depressive mood in BD. In addition, levels of overgeneral AM are similar to that reported for depression, but are unrelated to childhood trauma, current inter-episode depressive mood, or BD severity. Clinical implications include the importance of routine assessment of trauma in BD and the need for adjunctive evidenced-based psychological therapies.
DISCOVERY OF A COSMOLOGICAL, RELATIVISTIC OUTBURST VIA ITS RAPIDLY FADING OPTICAL EMISSION

We report the discovery by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) of the transient source PTF11agg, which is distinguished by three primary characteristics: (1) bright (Rpeak = 18.3 mag), rapidly fading (ΔR = 4 mag in Δt = 2 days) optical transient emission; (2) a faint (R = 26.2 ± 0.2 mag), blue (g′ − R = 0.17 ± 0.29 mag) quiescent optical counterpart; and (3) an associated year-long, scintillating radio transient. We argue that these observed properties are inconsistent with any known class of Galactic transients (flare stars, X-ray binaries, dwarf novae), and instead suggest a cosmological origin. The detection of incoherent radio emission at such distances implies a large emitting region, from which we infer the presence of relativistic ejecta. The observed properties are all consistent with the population of long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), marking the first time such an outburst has been discovered in the distant universe independent of a high-energy trigger. We searched for possible high-energy counterparts to PTF11agg, but found no evidence for associated prompt emission. We therefore consider three possible scenarios to account for a GRB-like afterglow without a high-energy counterpart: an “untriggered” GRB (lack of satellite coverage), an “orphan” afterglow (viewing-angle effects), and a “dirty fireball” (suppressed high-energy emission). The observed optical and radio light curves appear inconsistent with even the most basic predictions for off-axis afterglow models. The simplest explanation, then, is that PTF11agg is a normal, on-axis long-duration GRB for which the associated high-energy emission was simply missed. However, we have calculated the likelihood of such a serendipitous discovery by PTF and find that it is quite small (≈2.6%). While not definitive, we nonetheless speculate that PTF11agg may represent a new, more common (>4 times the on-axis GRB rate at 90% confidence) class of relativistic outbursts lacking associated high-energy emission. If so, such sources will be uncovered in large numbers by future wide-field optical and radio transient surveys.
Matching with Contracts: Comment

The matching with contracts model (Hatfield and Milgrom 2005) is widely considered to be one of the most important advances of the last two decades in matching theory. One of their main messages is that the set of stable allocations is non-empty under a substitutes condition. We show that an additional irrelevance of rejected contracts (IRC) condition is implicitly assumed throughout their analysis, and in the absence of IRC several of their results, including the guaranteed existence of a stable allocation, fail to hold.
Core self-evaluations, exhaustion, and job outcomes: A study of frontline hotel employees in Iran

The purpose of this study was to investigate core self-evaluations (CSE) as a moderator of the effect of exhaustion on in-role performance and job satisfaction. This study also examined the effect of exhaustion on the aforementioned job outcomes. Full-time frontline employees, such as front desk agents, reservations agents, guest relations representatives, and food servers in several four- and five-star hotels of Kish Island and Tehran in Iran served as the study setting. The study relationships were tested using LISREL 8.30 via path analysis. The results indicated that exhaustion influenced in-role performance and job satisfaction deleteriously. However, CSE reduced these detrimental effects. Implications of the findings are discussed, and directions for future research are offered.
IPO Pricing in the Dot-Com Bubble: Complacency or Incentives?

IPO initial returns reached astronomical levels during 1999-2000. We show that the regime shift in initial returns and other elements of pricing behavior can be at least partially accounted for by a variety of marked changes in pre-IPO ownership structure and insider selling behavior over the period which reduced key decision-makers' incentives to control underpricing. After controlling for these changes, there appears to be little special about the 1999-2000 period, aside from the preponderance of internet and high-tech firms going public. Our results suggest that it was firm characteristics that were unique during the "dot-com bubble" and that pricing behavior followed from incentives created by these characteristics.
Low Frequency Effects of Macroeconomic News on Government Bond Yields

This study analyzes the reaction of the U.S. Treasury bond market to innovations in macroeconomic fundamentals. We identify these innovations with macroeconomic news, defined as differences between the actual releases and their market expectations. We show that macroeconomic news explain about one-third of the low frequency (quarterly) fluctuations of long-term bond yields. When focusing on the high frequency (daily) movements this share decreases to one-tenth. This result is due to the fact that macro news have a persistent effect on the yield curve. Non-fundamental factors, instead, substantially influence the day-to-day movements of bond yields but their effects are shorter-living and mean-reverting.
Asymmetric Information and Liquidity Constraints: A New Test

Using a novel measure of the degree of information asymmetry across firms, this study shows that information-related financial market imperfections do matter for a firm's access to external finance. Prior studies of the importance of liquidity constraints faced by nonfinancial firms have suffered from a glaring weakness. They have been based on a sample of publicly traded firms, omitting precisely those firms most likely to be liquidity constrained. Furthermore, they have tended to rely on indirect measures of the degree of information asymmetry, such as firm size. We overcome these limitations by focusing on the banking sector. Unlike the nonfinancial sector, the banking sector has balance sheet and income data available for all firms, whether or not they are publicly traded. This allows the use of a superior measure of the degree of information asymmetry across firms by distinguishing between publicly traded and non-publicly traded banks. We focus on changes in monetary policy that represent exogenous (to the banks) changes in the financing constraints they face. We find that publicly traded banks, which exhibit a lower degree of information asymmetry, are better able to overcome information-based financial market frictions, compared to the relatively opaque non-publicly traded banks, when monetary policy is tightened. Lending by the more transparent publicly traded banks is less affected by a monetary policy tightening in large part due to their relative advantage in raising external funds by issuing uninsured large time deposits. These results are obtained controlling for bank (and bank holding company) size, a dimension commonly used in the literature as the measure of the degree of firm access to external finance. Moreover, we show that the distinction between publicly traded and non-publicly traded banks dominates bank size as an indicator of the degree of access to external funds.
HRM: Performance Relationship: Need for Further Development?

The last decade of empirical research on the HRM value additions, also known as the “HRM and performance” debate, demonstrates evidence that HRM does matter (Huselid, 1995; Guest et al., 2003; Wright et al., 2003; Rehman et al., 2010). Unfortunately, the relationships are often statistically weak and the results ambiguous. This article reviews and attempts to extend the theoretical and methodological issues in this debate. Its aim is to build an agenda for future research in this area. A brief overview of achievements to date is followed by the theoretical and methodological issues related to what constitutes HRM, what is meant by the concept of performance, and the nature of the link between these two. In the final section, it is argued that research designs should start from a multi-dimensional concept of performance, including the perceptions of employees, and build on the premise of HR systems as an enabling device for a whole range of strategic options. This implies a reversal of the strategy-HRM linkage.
A longitudinal twin study of physical aggression during early childhood: evidence for a developmentally dynamic genome

Background Physical aggression (PA) tends to have its onset in infancy and to increase rapidly in frequency. Very little is known about the genetic and environmental etiology of PA development during early childhood. We investigated the temporal pattern of genetic and environmental etiology of PA during this crucial developmental period. Method Participants were 667 twin pairs, including 254 monozygotic and 413 dizygotic pairs, from the ongoing longitudinal Quebec Newborn Twin Study. Maternal reports of PA were obtained from three waves of data at 20, 32 and 50 months. These reports were analysed using a biometric Cholesky decomposition and linear latent growth curve model. Results The best-fitting Cholesky model revealed developmentally dynamic effects, mostly genetic attenuation and innovation. The contribution of genetic factors at 20 months substantially decreased over time, while new genetic effects appeared later on. The linear latent growth curve model revealed a significant moderate increase in PA from 20 to 50 months. Two separate sets of uncorrelated genetic factors accounted for the variation in initial level and growth rate. Non-shared and shared environments had no effect on the stability, initial status and growth rate in PA. Conclusions Genetic factors underlie PA frequency and stability during early childhood; they are also responsible for initial status and growth rate in PA. The contribution of shared environment is modest, and perhaps limited, as it appears only at 50 months. Future research should investigate the complex nature of these dynamic genetic factors through genetic–environment correlation (r GE) and interaction (G × E) analyses.
Public Employee Quality in a Geographic Context

Recruiting high quality employees is one of the key functions of public human resource managers and a critical component of effective public service delivery. This is particularly true in education but little is known about public sector or teacher hiring patterns in areas that are predominantly rural, poor, and isolated from other locales. This article begins to fill that gap. We find that rural educational agencies employ the new teachers of lowest observed aptitude, implying that organizational outcomes associated with these districts may differ in systematic ways that reinforce longstanding gaps in quality. As such, human resources strategies for increasing the attractiveness of geographically and culturally isolated regions for high quality public service are needed. These strategies are likely to require different policy prescriptions than those utilized to enhance the attractiveness to employees in urban areas.