Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants of dividend payout ratios in Ghana

Purpose – This study seeks to examine the determinants of dividend payout ratios of listed companies in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach – The analyses are performed using data derived from the financial statements of firms listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange during a six-year period. Ordinary Least Squares model is used to estimate the regression equation. Institutional holding is used as a proxy for agency cost. Growth in sales and market-to-book value are also used as proxies for investment opportunities. Findings – The results show positive relationships between dividend payout ratios and profitability, cash flow, and tax. The results also show negative associations between dividend payout and risk, institutional holding, growth and market-to-book value. However, the significant variables in the results are profitability, cash flow, sale growth and market-to-book value. Originality/value – The main value of this study is the identification of the factors that influence the dividend payout policy decisions of listed firms in Ghana.
Repeat- and error-aware comparison of deletions

MOTIVATION The number of reported genetic variants is rapidly growing, empowered by ever faster accumulation of next-generation sequencing data. A major issue is comparability. Standards that address the combined problem of inaccurately predicted breakpoints and repeat-induced ambiguities are missing. This decisively lowers the quality of 'consensus' callsets and hampers the removal of duplicate entries in variant databases, which can have deleterious effects in downstream analyses. RESULTS We introduce a sound framework for comparison of deletions that captures both tool-induced inaccuracies and repeat-induced ambiguities. We present a maximum matching algorithm that outputs virtual duplicates among two sets of predictions/annotations. We demonstrate that our approach is clearly superior over ad hoc criteria, like overlap, and that it can reduce the redundancy among callsets substantially. We also identify large amounts of duplicate entries in the Database of Genomic Variants, which points out the immediate relevance of our approach. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION Implementation is open source and available from https://bitbucket.org/readdi/readdi CONTACT roland.wittler@uni-bielefeld.de or t.marschall@mpi-inf.mpg. de SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Differential Information and Performance Measurement Using a Security Market Line

An uninformed observer using the tools of mean variance and security market line analysis to measure the performance of a portfolio manager who has superior information is unlikely to be able to make any reliable inferences. While some positive results of a very limited nature are possible, e.g., when there is a riskless asset or when information is restricted to be "security specific," in general anything is possible. In particular, a manager with superior information can appear to the observer to be below or above the security market line and inside or outside of the mean-variance efficient frontier, and any combination of these is possible. MEAN-VARIANCE THEORY PREDICTS that if we plot expected returns against beta coefficients, all securities plot on a single line, known as the security market line (SML). Since fpi, the beta coefficient for security i, is interpreted as a measure of the riskiness of security i, the market line is a graphical representation of the linear relationship between risk and return. What are we to make of deviations from the SML, i.e., of securities or managed portfolios that do not plot on such a line? If we can retain our intuitive interpretation of fj as the riskiness of asset i and the market line as the appropriate expected return needed to "reward" agents taking on various degrees of risk, then vertical deviations from the market line represent abnormal returns that differ from what is merited. This paper and the companion piece, Dybvig and Ross [10], explore in detail the validity of this intuition and the question of what SML deviations really measure. The companion piece analyzes SML deviations caused by the choice of an inefficient market or reference portfolio. In this paper, we analyze SML deviations caused by superior performance based on superior information. The intuitive explanation of deviations from the SML has motivated many
Social capital and earnings inequalities: The role of informal job search in Hungary

The study Social Capital and Earnings Inequalities addresses two questions. (1) Is it true that good jobs in Hungary can be obtained through friends and relatives? (2) Why do personal connections help people to get a good job? The theoretical part of the book is concerned with the second question. A distinction is made between two mechanisms that might generate contact effects: particularism (personal contacts push employers towards hiring a friend instead of other applicants) and intensive search (contacts reduce the uncertainty of employers with respect to the abilities of applicants). After a comprehensive review of existing theories, hypotheses are derived in order to disentangle these mechanisms. The first reseach question and the hypotheses are examined using a rather unique data set about young job seekers who completed secondary vocational education in 1998. The findings are the following. First, personal contacts help people to find good jobs. It is found that both high status contacts and employee referrals are helpful to find jobs in firms and occupations which are likely to provide long-term earning advantages. Additionally, high status contacts inform job seekers about opportunities that are associated with better earnings opportunities, and employee referrals increase the chances of keeping the job. Second, network resources do not have an influence on the chances of finding a job through high status persons or employee referrals, thus inequalities in network resources do not contribute to actual earnings inequalities. Finally, evidence does not support our hypotheses that would discriminate between the particularism and the intensive search mechanisms. Therefore it remains unknown why good jobs can be accessed through high status contacts and employee referrals.
A Novel Integrated Power Inductor With Vertical Laminated Core for Improved L/R Ratios

In this letter, a novel integrated power inductor with a vertical laminated NiFe magnetic core for improved inductance to resistance ratio (L/R) ratios is proposed and demonstrated. Both the windings and magnetic core are accommodated within a groove at the backside of a silicon substrate and connected to the front-side IC through vias for compactness. NiFe is used to increase the inductance, and vertical lamination is used to suppress the eddy current in the magnetic core and assist hard axis alignment. A 1-mm2 embedded inductor with 131-nil inductance and 60-mΩ dc resistance working in megahertz range is fabricated. The L/R ratio is increased by seven times compared with integrated inductors with similar area, making it suitable for portable electronics power conversion system-on-chip applications.
Calcium, dairy products, and the risk of prostate cancer

Calcium intake has been suggested to play a role in the etiology of prostate cancer, since it is inversely related to vitamin D levels, which, in turn, would have an antiproliferative effect on human cancer cell lines. The hypothesis that high calcium and low vitamin D levels are associated with prostate cancer risk, however, remains unconvincingly demonstrated.
Nowcasting commodity prices using social media

Gathering up-to-date information on food prices is critical in developing regions, as it allows policymakers and development practitioners to rely on accurate data on food security. This study explores the feasibility of utilizing social media as a new data source for predicting food security landscape in developing countries. Through a case study of Indonesia, we developed a nowcast model that monitors mentions of food prices on Twitter and forecasts daily price fluctuations of four major food commodities: beef, chicken, onion, and chilli. A longitudinal test over 15 months of data demonstrates that not only the proposed model accurately predicts food prices, but also it is resilient to data scarcity. The high accuracy of the nowcast model is attributed to the observed trend that the volume of tweets mentioning food prices tends to increase on days when food prices change sharply. We discuss factors that affect the veracity of price quotations such as social network-wide sensitivity and user influence.
Anxiety Disorders After Stroke: Results from the Perth Community Stroke Study

Background The prevalence of anxiety disorders in 294 patients who survived to four months in the Perth Community Stroke Study (Perth, Australia), and a follow-up of these patients at 12 months, are presented. Method Diagnoses are described both in the usual DSM hierarchic format and by a non-hierarchic approach. Adoption of the hierarchic approach alone greatly underestimates the prevalence of anxiety disorders. Results Most cases were of agoraphobia, and the remainder were generalised anxiety disorder. The prevalence of anxiety disorders alone was 5% in men and 19% in women; in community controls, it was 5% in men and 8% in women. Adopting a non-hierarchic approach to diagnosis gave a prevalence of 12% in men and 28% in women. When those who showed evidence of anxiety disorder before stroke were subtracted, the latter prevalence was 9% in men and 20% in women. Conclusion One-third of the men and half of the women with post-stroke anxiety disorders showed evidence of either depression or an anxiety disorder at the time of the stroke. At 12 month follow-up of 49 patients with agoraphobia by a non-hierarchic approach, 51 % had recovered, and equal proportions of the remainder had died or still had agoraphobia. The only major difference in outcome between those with anxiety disorder alone and those with comorbid depression was the greater mortality in the latter.
On the performance of multiplexing FSO MIMO links in log-normal fading with pointing errors

In this paper, we employ a spatial multiplexing scheme with M transceivers to increase the data rate of a free-space optical (FSO) system. In our proposed scheme, each transmitter sends independent information toward the center of its related receiver aperture. We analyze the performance of the proposed scheme in terms of average achievable rate. To compare the performance of our proposed scheme with its spatial diversity FSO system counter-part, we define a case in which M transmitters send the same information. To facilitate performance analysis, we also derive the analytical expressions for spectral efficiency of both spatial multiplexing and diversity configurations, which reduces the (M + 2)-dimensional integration of spatial multiplexing and (M2 + 2)-dimensional integration of spatial diversity FSO systems to a two-dimensional integration in both configurations. The adequacies of our analytical results are thoroughly confirmed by numerical simulations.
New empirical evidence of the linkages between governance and economic output in the European Union

This paper uses data for the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU) from 2000 to 2010 to support the thesis that a positive and significant correlation exists between a nation’s quality of governance and its economic output. To achieve this goal, the elements of governance that have been reported by the Worldwide Governance Indicators project are considered. Four individual indicators for the quality of policies and institutions and a global indicator of governance quality are constructed. We estimate that, for our database, a standard deviation shock in these indicators causes changes between 0.03-fold and 0.05-fold in income per capita.
An empirical investigation of innovation determinants in food machinery enterprises

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the main findings of an empirical study conducted in the Italian food machinery industry, on identifying the technological innovation determinants in small or medium enterprises.Design/methodology/approach – On the basis of a research framework, a study was carried out on 98 Italian firms operating in the food machinery industry, by means of a questionnaire survey. A statistical analysis was conducted on the data collected, in order to understand which are the most important factors influencing innovation and the relative effect on the innovation output of the various factors considered.Findings – The results of the statistical analysis conducted show that, in contrast with the trend of the industry investigated, great importance is attributed only to collaboration with universities and research centres. Network actors are not perceived as an important source of information for innovation, while universities, conferences and scientific papers are significa.
Managerial Stock Holdings and Firm Performance

Abstract Agency theory proposes that increasing managerial ownership in a firm can help align owner/management interests and motivate managers for better performance. This paper examines the relationship between managerial stock holdings and firm performance in the restaurant industry. Using the financial data of restaurant companies during 1995-1996, this study found that managerial ownership was positively and significantly associated with most of the performance measures, particularly in firms with 0%-15% managerial ownership. Firm size, a control variable, was also found to have a positive impact on performance. The results suggest that large restaurant firms with relatively low managerial ownership may raise managerial holdings to enhance their profitability and Stock returns.
Cancer Biology and Signal Transduction Blocking SDF-1 a / CXCR 4 Downregulates PDGF-B and Inhibits Bone Marrow – Derived Pericyte Differentiation and Tumor Vascular Expansion in Ewing Tumors

Bone marrow cells (BMC) are critical to the expansion of the tumor vessel network that supports Ewing sarcoma growth. BMCsmigrate to the tumor and differentiate into endothelial cells and pericytes.We recently demonstrated that stromal-derived growth factor 1a (SDF-1a) regulates platelet-derived growth factor B (PDGF-B) and that this pathway plays a critical role in bone marrow–derived pericyte differentiation in vitro. We investigated the role of SDF-1a/PDGF-B in the tumor microenvironment in vivo in promoting bone marrow–derived pericyte differentiation in Ewing tumors. The CXCR4 antagonist AMD 3100 was used to disrupt the SDF-1a/CXCR4 axis in vivo in two xenograft Ewing tumor models. BMCs from GFPþ transgenic mice were transplanted into lethally irradiated nudemice to track BMCmigration to the tumor site. Following BMC engraftment, tumor-bearingmice received daily subcutaneous injections of either PBS orAMD3100 for 3 weeks. Tumors were resected and tumor sections were analyzed by immunohistochemistry. AMD 3100 inhibited BMC differentiation into desminþ and NG2þ pericytes, affected the morphology of the tumor vasculature, decreased perfusion, and increased tumor cell apoptosis. We observed smaller vessels with tiny lumens and a decrease in themicrovessel density. AMD3100 also inhibited PDGF-B protein expression in vitro and in vivo. SDF-1a in the tumor microenvironment plays a critical role in promoting pericyte formation and Ewing sarcoma tumor neovascularization by regulating PDGF-B expression. Interfering with this pathway affects tumor vascular morphology and expansion. Mol Cancer Ther; 13(2); 483–91. 2013 AACR.
US Trade Barriers and Import Price of Canadian Softwood Lumber

The impact of US trade barriers and demand factors on import prices of Canadian softwood lumber is examined using time series analysis of quarterly data from 1989–2006. The results suggest that the previous quarter import price of softwood lumber, US producer price, and US housing starts, and the current quarter US producer price of softwood lumber have significant impacts on the import price of Canadian softwood lumber with 0.69, 1.92, 0.10 and −1.64 as respective elasticities. Among trade barriers examined, a softwood quota raises the import price but a high tariff lowers it.
The views of UK family business owners on flotation

This empirical research paper draws evidence from a database of UK independent private companies (n=250) and reports on the financial aspirations of owner‐managers of family firms with respect to the flotation route. Following a brief review of the literature, the paper proceeds with an introduction of the UK survey into the financial development of private SMEs. Then evidence is presented on the perceived factors that influence the decision of owner/directors of family companies to consider the flotation option. Phase A employs univariate statistical analysis to contrast financial philosophies of the owner‐managing directors (OMDs) of family firms against those of their mainstream private counterparts. Phase B employs cluster analysis to categorise sample family companies into four generic groups that evidently highlight that the PLC route is not always tailored to financial issues. The empirical results demonstrate that the financial strategies of family companies are more or less in line with the behavioural issues shaping all private companies irrespective of family control. Finally, the paper concludes with a set of tentative policy implications. To encourage the public equity development of smaller privately held companies, particularly family firms, there is scope for more policy initiatives that are tuned to the “socio‐behavioural‐cultural” ethos of private‐OMDs as they master their corporate and entrepreneurial odyssey.
Inflation Targeting and Traget Instability

Monetary policy is modeled as being governed by a known rule, except for a time-varying target rate of inflation. The variable target can be thought of either as standing in for discretionary deviations from the rule or as the outcome of a policymaking committee that is unable to arrive at a consensus. Stochastic simulations of FRB/US, the Board of Governors’ large rational-expectations model of the U.S. economy, are used to examine the benefits of reducing the variability in the target rate of inflation. We find that putting credible boundaries on target variability introduces an important nonlinearity in expectations. The effect of this is to improve policy performance by focusing agents’ expectations on policy objectives. But improvements are limited; it does not generally pay to reduce target variability to zero. More important, this nonlinearity in expectations allows for policy to be conducted, at the margin, with greater attention to output stabilization than would otherwise be the case. The results provide insights as to why inflation-targeting countries use bands and why the bands they use are narrower than studies suggest they should be. A side benefit of the paper is the demonstration of a numerical technique that approximates to arbitrary precision a nonlinear process with a linear method, thereby greatly speeding and making more robust the computation of simulation results.
Surgical and therapeutic management of a complete proximal hamstring avulsion after failed conservative approach.

STUDY DESIGN Case report. BACKGROUND After 2 attempts at conservative care for a diagnosis of hamstring strain, the patient had a surgical hamstring allograft reconstruction. The purpose of this report is to describe the physical therapy approach to postoperative management of a hamstring reconstruction. CASE DESCRIPTION A 24-year-old female coach who sustained a complete avulsion of the proximal hamstring tendon while playing softball had a surgical hamstring reconstruction using an Achilles tendon allograft. Precautions concerning range of motion and stretching, weight-bearing status, and brace were followed to protect the surgical graft. Treatment incorporated cardiovascular, strength and proprioception exercises, and progressed with the focus on correct movement patterns and eccentric muscle control during functional movements. OUTCOMES The patient attended 25 physical therapy sessions over 7 months. Muscle strength improved from 4/5 to 5/5. Straight-leg raise range of motion decreased from 145 degrees to 90 degrees . Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS) scores improved from 15/80 to 70/80. DISCUSSION A complete avulsion of the proximal insertion is rare. Conservative management of hamstring tears has traditionally focused on end-range passive stretching, modalities, and direct hamstring strengthening. New evidence recommends a program that is more protective of the injured tissue and includes exercises such as core stabilization; indirect hamstring strengthening may be beneficial in the treatment of hamstring injuries. This concept was taken into account when considering the rehabilitation protocol and progression for this patient. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapy, level 4.
Catching Up: Wages of Black Men

d This is a summary of recent trends in th wages of African-American men (black men relative to the wages of European-America men (white men). The 1960’s and the ear 1970’s witnessed rapid improvement in the re ative status of blacks, and the research th studied this trend tried to disentangle effects antidiscrimination legislation and executive branch edicts from responses to increasing e ucational levels and to the school-provide resources devoted to education. James P. Sm and I observed that, although the relative wag of blacks were increasing, there was little ev dence of improvement within cohort; instea the gains were dominated by the labor-mark arrival of cohorts who would do better tha earlier arrivals, but not as well as those to fo low (Smith and Welch, 1977, 1984, 1989). Fu thermore, although there was clear evidence employment shifts toward industries with con centrations of firms presumed to be more se sitive to affirmative-action pressures (industrie with high proportions of employees in firms tha were federal contractors and those with th larger firms required to report to EEOC), th wage gains were pervasive and not restrict to these industries. As such, we argued th improvements in the quantity and quality o schooling were more important than the leg islation. As a counterpoint, James Heckma and Brook Payner (1989) used case studies firms to argue that legal sanctions again segregation and discrimination created oppor nities for nondiscriminatory behavior by em ployers that make them less vulnerable reactionary pressures from clients, patrons, a white employees.
Symposium on Globalization in Perspective: An Introduction

The benefits of international economic integration come with strings attached: international markets get greater say about the way national economies are managed and their wealth is distributed. The papers in the symposium that follow address these questions: how much globalization is there; how much does globalization constrain national autonomy; does globalization exacerbate inequality; how significant are the benefits of globalization; and are our governance structures adequate to deal with globalization?
Implementing a Dollar-Cost Averaging Investment Strategy

Based upon typical monthly investing, whereby an administrator uses a dollar cost averaging strategy to invest equal amounts of funds into the market each month, the authors explore the question: Does the date of the month on which one puts his money into the stock market affect portfolio returns? They found the answer to be a resonant yes, based upon monthly investments of $1 from 1990 to 2005 invested in three major indices: the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the NASDAQ, and the S&P 500.