Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Size, Book-to-Market Ratio, and Prior Distress Information on the Excess Returns to Debt Restructuring Firms

The paper examines the intertemporal and cross-sectional excess return patterns in financially distressed firms that attempt to restructure their debt privately. As suggested by the the economics of the troubled debt restructuring (TDR) transaction, the equityholders' call and put options on the firms' assets, and the findings of prior financial distress research, significantly positive announcement and post-announcement excess returns accrue to the shareholders as their firms renegotiate. However, an analyis of the financial profiles of the 86 TDR firms and a matching sample of 86 non-TDR, non-bankrupt firms reveals that the TDR sample is composed of small-to-medium sized, high leveraged firms with high or negative book-to-market equity (BTM) and acute liquidity and profitability problems, establishing these ex-ante characteristics as confounding factors likely to explain the positive market reaction results. Accordingly, size and BTM are used to control for the negative size and the positive BTM effects on returns, regardless of what the explanation for these anomalies might be, while the net benefits to shareholders and the effect of prior distress information availability on the excess returns to TDR firms are tested. The findings support the basic hypotheses of the study. First several proxies to measure the exit values of assets are not found to be higher in the TDR sample than in the matched sample, indicating that higher abandonment option values could not have been the reason for the abnormal returns observed only in the TDR sample. Second, market reaction tests performed on sample partitions reveal that the excess returns are greater for larger, low book-to-market firms and firms that have larger pre-announcement stock price declines and other distress signals such as deratings, covenant violations, and qualified opinions. The finding of this anomalous-signed positive size and negative BTM effect, also confirmed by cross-sectional regressions of the excess returns on these control variables, a TDR dummy variable and their interactions, corroborates that the abnormal returns are not merely a compensation for higher risk or due to market mispricing of these value stocks. Instead, the announcement seems to provide an unexpected, favorable signal for larger firms whose financial distress has already been disseminated.
AMO-Forced Regional Processes Affecting Summertime Precipitation Variations in the Central United States

AbstractNumerous previous studies have provided insight into the influence of the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) on North American precipitation. However, these studies focused on large-scale processes, and additional studies are needed to gain understanding of local and regional processes that develop in different phases of the AMO and substantiate its influences on precipitation. In this study, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) regional model is used to examine AMO-forced local and regional processes and how they have affected summertime precipitation variation in the central United States.While moisture transport and convergence by the Great Plains low-level jet have been recognized as necessary conditions for summer precipitation, model simulations show similar low-level moisture flux convergence in the central United States between the cold and warm phases of the AMO. However, there was a strong moistening in the lower troposphere during the AMO cold phase, making the atmosphere mor.
Technological races and stock market value: evidence from the pharmaceutical industry

We provide estimates of the abnormal stock market returns associated with pharmaceutical firms’ announcements of technological and regulatory successes in drug development. On the basis of these estimates, we find empirical support for two key features of technological race models. First, we observe that leaders in the innovation race record higher abnormal returns than do latecomers when they announce a success. Hence, firms should indeed be racing to complete the innovation process before their rivals. Second, pharmaceutical firms are adversely affected by the technological and regulatory success of their rivals, implying that interfirm spillovers in drug development are not sufficient to offset technological rivalry. Additional results are also produced regarding the impact of competition on R&D racing and the extent of therapeutic competition.
Strategic Information Systems Alignment in the Health Care Industry

Currently research into IS strategies and issues within the healthcare industry is severely underrepresented in the mainstream IS literature. New emphasis is being placed on research in this area because of the increased emphasis within information systems as a whole on security and the protection of personal information. This paper reviews current trends in published research on strategic IS issues within healthcare information systems organizations. The body of literature is evaluated against the lens of strategic information systems alignment with overall business goals. This evaluation has shown that there is little published about aligning information systems with business goals in the healthcare industry. Opportunities for ongoing research are identified.
Differentiating Privacy and Security: A Content Analysis of B2C Websites

Privacy and security are important topics in research and business. This work on one hand offers a way to differentiate these two topics and provides information about different privacy regulations already existing in Europe and the US. We clarify definitions of information privacy and state that privacy and security are not the same, although most companies do not differentiate. A content analysis conducted in 2008 and 2011 of B2C-companies’ websites is used to demonstrate how interweaved these two terms and the representation of terms and conditions (TC positioning, where these links are located on the web pages; and identifiers, which represent the topics privacy, security, and T&C. Based on this information, the relation between privacy, security, and T&C is analyzed and interpreted.
Host-pathogen relationships among Escherichia coli isolates recovered from men with febrile urinary tract infection.

BACKGROUND Host-pathogen relationships in men with febrile urinary tract infection (FUTI) are poorly understood. METHODS Phylogenetic background, extended virulence genotypes, and serotypes were determined for 70 Escherichia coli isolates recovered from urine samples obtained from men with FUTI for comparison with available data for 70 E. coli rectal isolates recovered from uninfected men. Bacterial traits were assessed in relation to underlying host characteristics (age, compromise status, and history of urinary tract infection) and acute manifestations (bacteremia, flank pain, and serum prostate-specific antigen [PSA] level). RESULTS Compared with rectal isolates, FUTI isolates exhibited a significantly higher prevalence of virulence-associated phylogenetic groups, serotypes, and extraintestinal virulence genes. The latter included traditional prostatitis-associated traits (e.g., hemolysin and cytotoxic necrotizing factor), as well as unconventional traits, such as outer membrane protease T. These bacterial traits occurred largely independent of host age, urological compromise status, urinary tract infection history, and acute manifestations. However, certain traits were less prevalent in association with use of urinary tract instrumentation and significantly predicted elevated PSA levels. CONCLUSIONS Considerable virulence capability may be required for an E. coli strain to cause FUTI in men, regardless of whether most compromising conditions are present. Bacterial traits that promote prostatic invasion may be relevant for the pathogenesis of FUTI, even among men without classic manifestations of acute prostatitis.
The Pursuit of Primordial Interest as an Explanatory Factor for the Prevalence of Governance Crisis in Nigeria's Fourth Republic

The prevalence of governance crisis in Nigeria is obvious. Inadequate structural facilities continue to impede quality of life while public office holders live in opulence. With abundant resources serving the interests of the individual in positions of power, the Nigerian state continuously slides backward in sustainable development. This paper investigated effect of illicit satisfaction of politician’s cronies’ selfish interests over national interest on governance crisis. The paper contended that politicians cronies in a bid to satisfy their primordial interests unduly revel, worship and perpetually make demands on leaders as soon as they ascends power. This in turn propel political officeholders to abandon provision of public good in a bid to satisfy the quests of their cronies. Since they rely on public treasury to satisfy these needs, political leaders therefore resort to looting to access sufficient fund. The paper argued that proclivity towards satisfying the quests of politicians’ cronies at the expense of public goods aggravates governance crisis in Nigeria. Thus, corrupt public office holders continue to enjoy the support and receive accolades from the people who benefitted thereof. The paper further argued that, in spite of efforts of anti-corruption agencies and civil society organizations in the fight against impunity and bad governance in Nigeria, the effective and rapid promotion of good governance demands a multi-faceted approach in its practice as it affects democracy in Nigeria. To this end, the paper suggested additional ways of addressing the problem of primordial interests and governance crises in Nigeria.
Detection of Streptococcus mutans Genomic DNA in Human DNA Samples Extracted from Saliva and Blood

Caries is a multifactorial disease, and studies aiming to unravel the factors modulating its etiology must consider all known predisposing factors. One major factor is bacterial colonization, and Streptococcus mutans is the main microorganism associated with the initiation of the disease. In our studies, we have access to DNA samples extracted from human saliva and blood. In this report, we tested a real-time PCR assay developed to detect copies of genomic DNA from Streptococcus mutans in 1,424 DNA samples from humans. Our results suggest that we can determine the presence of genomic DNA copies of Streptococcus mutans in both DNA samples from caries-free and caries-affected individuals. However, we were not able to detect the presence of genomic DNA copies of Streptococcus mutans in any DNA samples extracted from peripheral blood, which suggests the assay may not be sensitive enough for this goal. Values of the threshold cycle of the real-time PCR reaction correlate with higher levels of caries experience in children, but this correlation could not be detected for adults.
Caliciviruses and Foodborne Gastroenteritis, Chile

Human caliciviruses caused 45% of 55 gastroenteritis outbreaks occurring in Santiago, Chile, during 2000–2003. Outbreaks affected ≤99 persons, occurred most commonly in the home, and were associated with seafood consumption. Thirteen outbreak strains sequenced were noroviruses, including 8 GII, 2 GI, and 3 belonging to a novel genogroup.
Persistent Symptoms of Dengue: Estimates of the Incremental Disease and Economic Burden in Mexico

Dengue is mostly considered an acute illness with three phases: febrile, critical with possible hemorrhagic manifestations, and recovery. But some patients present persistent symptoms, including fatigue and depression, as acknowledged by the World Health Organization. If persistent symptoms affect a non-negligible share of patients, the burden of dengue will be underestimated. On the basis of a systematic literature review and econometric modeling, we found a significant relationship between the share of patients reporting persisting symptoms and time. We updated estimates of the economic burden of dengue in Mexico, addressing uncertainty in productivity loss and incremental expenses using Monte Carlo simulations. Persistent symptoms represent annually about US$22.6 (95% certainty level [CL]: US$13–US$29) million in incremental costs and 28.2 (95% CL: 21.6–36.2) additional disability-adjusted life years per million population, or 13% and 43% increases over previous estimates, respectively. Although our estimates have uncertainty from limited data, they show a substantial, unmeasured burden. Similar patterns likely extend to other dengue-endemic countries.
Modifications in Lipid Levels Are Independent of Serum TNF-α in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Results of an Observational 24-Week Cohort Study Comparing Patients Receiving Etanercept Plus Methotrexate or Methotrexate as Monotherapy

Objective. To compare the modifications in lipids between patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) receiving etanercept plus methotrexate (ETA + MTX) versus methotrexate (MTX) and their relationship with serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). Methods. In an observational cohort study, we compared changes in lipid levels in patients receiving ETA + MTX versus MTX in RA. These groups were assessed at baseline and at 4 and 24 weeks, measuring clinical outcomes, total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and TNF-α. Results. Baseline values for lipid levels were similar in both groups. HDL-C levels increased significantly only in the ETA + MTX group (from 45.5 to 50.0 mg/dL at 4 weeks, a 10.2% increase, P < 0.001, and to 56.0 mg/dL at 24 weeks, a 25.1% increase, P < 0.001), while other lipids underwent no significant changes. ETA + MTX also exhibited a significant increase in TNF-α (44.8 pg/mL at baseline versus 281.4 pg/mL at 24 weeks, P < 0.001). The MTX group had no significant changes in lipids or TNF-α. Significant differences in HDL-C between groups were observed at 24 weeks (P = 0.04) and also in TNF-α (P = 0.01). Conclusion. HDL-C levels increased significantly following treatment with ETA + MTX, without a relationship with decrease of TNF-α.
Histogram of confidences for person detection

This paper focuses on the problem of person detection in harsh industrial environments. Different image regions often have different requirements for the person to be detected. Additionally, as the environment can change on a frame to frame basis even previously detected people can fail to be found. In our work we adapt a previously trained classifier to improve its performance in the industrial environment. The classifier output is initially used an image descriptor. Structure from the descriptor history is learned using semi-supervised learning to boost overall performance. In comparison with two state of the art person detectors we see gains of 10%. Our approach is generally applicable to pretrained classifiers which can then be specialised for a specific scene.
An empirical study of POM teaching in Spanish universities (II): Faculty profile, teaching and assessment methods

Production/operations management (POM) is today a key element for the competitivity of companies, and the demand by Spanish companies for university graduates qualified in this area is significant. Therefore, in this discipline, the correct education and training of future business managers is an evident need to be addressed; however, little is known about the current situation of POM teaching in Spanish universities. Hence, to obtain reliable and useful data, a comprehensive empirical study of the total population of university teachers of this discipline in Spain has been undertaken. The present paper concentrates first on the analysis of the characteristics of the POM faculty in Spanish universities, then considers the teaching and assessment methods and the didactic material employed in the teaching of this discipline. In both cases, a critical analysis has been made of the various problems observed, and alternative solutions have been proposed. The analysis of the content of POM programs is the subject of another article published in this journal.
Cancer‐related outcomes in kidney allograft recipients in England versus New York State: a comparative population‐cohort analysis between 2003 and 2013

It is unclear whether cancer‐related epidemiology after kidney transplantation is translatable between countries. In this population‐cohort study, we compared cancer incidence and all‐cause mortality after extracting data for every kidney‐alone transplant procedure performed in England and New York State (NYS) between 2003 and 2013. Data were analyzed for 18,493 and 11,602 adult recipients from England and NYS respectively, with median follow up 6.3 years and 5.5 years respectively (up to December 2014). English patients were more likely to have previous cancer at time of transplantation compared to NYS patients (5.6% vs. 3.5%, P < 0.001). Kidney allograft recipients in England versus NYS had increased cancer incidence (12.3% vs. 5.9%, P < 0.001) but lower all‐cause mortality during the immediate postoperative stay (0.7% vs. 1.0%, P = 0.011), after 30‐days (0.9% vs. 1.8%, P < 0.001) and after 1‐year post‐transplantation (3.0% vs. 5.1%, P < 0.001). However, mortality rates among patients developing post‐transplant cancer were equivalent between the two countries. During the first year of follow up, if patients had an admission with a cancer diagnosis, they were more likely to die in both England (Odds Ratio 4.28 [95% CI: 3.09–5.93], P < 0.001) and NYS (Odds Ratio 2.88 [95% CI: 1.70–4.89], P < 0.001). Kidney allograft recipients in NYS demonstrated higher hazard ratios for developing kidney transplant rejection/failure compared to England on Cox regression analysis. Our analysis demonstrates significant differences in cancer‐related epidemiology between kidney allograft recipients in England versus NYS, suggesting caution in translating post‐transplant cancer epidemiology between countries.
Competition of two supply chains with different risk structures: applying market research option

Article history: Received 30 June 2011 Received in revised form September, 01, 2011 Accepted 06 September 2011 Available online 17 September 2011 Demand uncertainty obliges all participants through a supply chain to make decisions under uncertainty. These decisions extend across price, investment, production, and inventory quantities. We take account of competition between two supply chains under demand uncertainty. These chains internally are involved in vertical pricing competition; however, they externally participate in horizontal pricing and service level competitions by offering a singletype product to the market. Since firms may have various attitudes against demand uncertainty and its related risks, different risk structures for competitive supply chains are considered. We assume that risk-averse firms are able to decrease demand uncertainty by information gathered from market research. For risk-averse participants in a chain, market research investment is an appropriate ground for vertical coordination, which diminishes risk through a supply chain. Optimal strategies based on game theory are obtained for different risk structures; furthermore, for each structure the effects of risk sensitivity as well as market research efficiency on these optimal strategies are investigated. Finally, we propose two scenarios for information sharing between risk-averse participants. © 2012 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved
The Transformational Role of IT in Entrepreneurship: Crowdfunding and the Democratization of Access to Capital and Investment Opportunity

Title of Document: THE TRANSFORMATIONAL ROLE OF IT IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP: CROWDFUNDING AND THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF ACCESS TO CAPITAL AND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY Keongtae Kim, Doctor of Philosophy, 2014 Directed By: Associate Professor Il-Horn Hann Department of Decision, Operations and Information Technologies Associate Professor Siva Viswanathan Department of Decision, Operations and Information Technologies My dissertation examines the strategic impacts of IT-enabled platforms on entrepreneurial and innovation activities. Specifically, I explore the behaviors of both investors and entrepreneurs in online crowdfunding markets that have the potential to democratize access to capital and investment opportunities. In my first essay, I examine the role of experts in a crowdfunding market. While conventional wisdom considers a crowdfunding market as a mechanism to democratize decision making and reduce reliance on experts, I find that experts still play a pivotal role in these markets. In particular, I find that the early investments by experts serve as credible signals of quality for the crowd, and have a significant impact on the crowd’s investment decisions. In my second essay, I analyze whether crowdfunding democratizes access to capital for entrepreneurs. I find that difficult access to credit from traditional sources induces entrepreneurs to rely more on crowdfunding as a viable alternative, while this effect varies across project types and across areas. In each essay, I analyze micro-level data from online crowdfunding markets with a variety of econometric methods. The results have important theoretical and practical implications for questions ranging from the design of online crowdfunding markets to competition between online and offline channels for funding and regional dynamics of crowdfunding. THE TRANSFORMATIONAL ROLE OF IT IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP: CROWDFUNDING AND THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF ACCESS TO CAPITAL AND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY
Connecting Cerebral White Matter Lesions and Hypertensive Target Organ Damage

Chronic hypertension leads to concomitant remodeling of the cardiac and vascular systems and various organs, especially the brain, kidney, and retina. The brain is an early target of organ damage due to high blood pressure, which is the major modifiable risk factor for stroke and small vessel disease. Stroke is the second leading cause of death and the number one cause of disability worldwide and over 80% of strokes occur in the elderly. Preclinical hypertensive lesions in most target organs are clearly identified: left ventricular hypertrophy for the heart, microalbuminuria for the kidney, fundus abnormalities for the eye, and intima-media thickness and pulse wave velocity for the vessels. However, early hypertensive brain damage is not fully studied due to difficulties in access and the expense of techniques. After age, hypertension is the most-important risk factor for cerebral white matter lesions, which are an important prognostic factor for stroke, cognitive impairment, dementia, and death. Studies have shown an association between white matter lesions and a number of extracranial systems affected by high BP and also suggest that correct antihypertensive treatment could slow white matter lesions progression. There is strong evidence that cerebral white matter lesions in hypertensive patients should be considered a silent early marker of brain damage.
NONLINEAR APPROACH FOR STRAIN ENERGY RELEASE RATE IN MICRO CANTILEVERS

An analytical Mixed Mode I & II crack propagation model is used to analyze the experimental results of stiction failed micro cantilevers on a rigid substrate and to determine the critical strain energy release rate (adhesion energy). Using nonlinear beam deflection theory, the shape of the beam being peeled off of a rigid substrate can be accurately modeled. Results show that the model can fit the experimental data with an average root mean square error of less than 5 ran even at relatively large deflections which happens in some MEMS applications. The effects of surface roughness and/or debris are also explored and contrasted with perfectly (atomically) flat surfaces. Herein it is shown that unlike the macro-scale crack propagation tests, the surface roughness and debris trapped between the micro cantilever and the substrate can drastically effect the energy associated with creating unit new surface areas and also leads to some interesting phenomena. The polysilicon micro cantilever samples used, were fabricated by SUMMIT V™ technology in Sandia National Laboratories and were 1000 μm long, 30 μm wide and 2.6 μm thick.Copyright © 2010 by ASME