Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Ex-Dividend Day Stock Price Behavior in the Athens Stock Exchange

This paper analyzes the ex-dividend day stock price behavior in the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) over the period 1994-1999. This market is chosen because neither dividends nor capital gains are taxed and the ASE is not associated with the microstructure effects analyzed in prior studies. Our findings show that on the ex-dividend day, stock prices fall by less than the dividend paid. These findings cannot be attributed to tax effects. Although our evidence might be attributed to microstructure effects, we argue that the particular microstructure effects identified by prior studies may not be the determinant factors.
A glycine site‐specific NMDA receptor antagonist protects retina ganglion cells from ischemic injury by modulating apoptotic cascades

Glutamate neurotoxicity is one of the causative factors leading to neural degeneration including retina. Inhibition of NMDA receptors has been shown neuroprotective effects. However, specifically inhibition of glycine subunit in NMDA receptors and its effects on retina neural protection has not been tested. In this study, using a glycine site‐specific NMDA receptor antagonist, we investigated its neuroprotective effects on rat retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) from a transient ischemic injury and its possible underlying mechanisms. Following an ischemia/reperfusion injury the structural damages of rat retinas were assessed by an immunofluorescence method and the apoptosis of retinal neural cells was evaluated by using a terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase‐mediated dUTP nick‐end labeling (TUNEL) method. The survived RGCs were labeled by retrograde manner and counted on whole‐mounted retinas. In the presence of glycine site‐specific NMDA receptor antagonist, the thickness of retina was sustained, especially in the inner nuclear layers compared with mock controls. While a significantly higher numbers of TUNEL‐positive apoptotic cells and fewer of RGCs were observed in the retina without the glycine antagonist, indicating its strong protective roles. Some apoptotic factors such as Bax, Bcl‐2, CAMK II, COX1, COX4, Caspase‐3, and GRIN1 gene have been tested from retinal samples with or without the glycine antagonist. A significantly lower of expressions of Bax, CAMK II, COX1, COX4, Caspase‐3, and GRIN1 have been shown in the retinas with the antagonist. Bcl‐2/Bax ratio was significantly higher with the antagonist, suggested that the glycine site‐specific NMDA receptor antagonist protecting RGC death might through inhibition of apoptotic signaling. J. Cell. Physiol. 223:819–826, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Real Effects of Academic Research

The existence of geographically mediated "spillovers" from university research to commercial innovation is explored using state-level time-series data on corporate patents, corporate R&D, and university research. A significant effect of university research on corporate patents is found, particularly in the areas of drugs and medical technology, and electronics, optics, and nuclear technology. In addition, university research appears to have an indirect effect on local innovation by inducing industrial R&D spending. Copyright 1989 by American Economic Association.
Managing the politics of value propositions

This article contributes to the ongoing discussion, revived by the service-dominant logic thesis, on value propositions in service organizations. Against a backdrop of understanding value as a pluralistic social construct that takes place across different institutionalized practices of valuation or regimes of value, we argue that value propositions transcend the immediate localness of both value in exchange and value in use. Correspondingly, we claim that service practitioners may draw advantages from engaging with a politics of value that addresses multiple regimes of value, whether commensurable or not. A case study of waste management services in Sweden serves as an illustration of such a politics that combines practical, economic, political, and environmental aspects of value propositions.
Exponential stability of singularly perturbed stochastic systems

The sufficient conditions of exponential stability of singularly perturbed nonlinear stochastic systems are established. The excitations are assumed to be parametric white noises. In this case the objective is to analyse the full order system in their lower order subsystems i.e., the reduced order system and the boundary-layer system and in terms of their interconnecting structure and the perturbation parameter /spl epsi/. The exponential bounds depend on the moments of norms of trajectories are given for the "slow" and "fast" components of the full-order system. It is also shown the estimation of the rate of convergence of the full-order system.
Obesity and 10-year mortality in very old African Americans and Yoruba-Nigerians: exploring the obesity paradox.

BACKGROUND To compare the effect of obesity and related risk factors on 10-year mortality in two cohorts of older adults of African descent; one from the United States and one from Nigeria. METHODS Study participants were community residents aged 70 or older of African descent living in Indianapolis, Indiana (N = 1,269) or Ibadan, Nigeria (1,197). We compared survival curves between the two cohorts by obesity class and estimated the effect of obesity class on mortality in Cox proportional hazards models controlling for age, gender, alcohol use, and smoking history, and the cardiometabolic biomarkers blood pressure, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, and C-reactive protein. RESULTS We found that underweight was associated with an increased risk of death in both the Yoruba (hazards ratio = 1.35, 95% confidence interval: 1.12-1.63) and African American samples (hazards ratio = 2.49, 95% confidence interval: 1.40-4.43) compared with those with normal weight. The overweight and obese participants in both cohorts experienced survival similar to the normal weight participants. Controlling for cardiometabolic biomarkers had little effect on the obesity-specific hazard ratios in either cohort. CONCLUSIONS Despite significant differences across these two cohorts in terms of obesity and biomarker levels, overall 10-year survival and obesity class-specific survival were remarkably similar.
Habit and Heterogeneity in the Youthful Demand for Alcohol

Observed patterns of youthful drinking indicate substantial persistence. This paper analyzes how much of that persistence reflects the actual development of a habit, and how much is due to unobserved aspects of the individual and the environment. The role of restrictions on alcohol availability, both in the current period and in adolescence, is also explored. We find that much of the observed persistence represents habit formation, and not unobserved characteristics. Consequently, restrictions on availability, particularly at an early age, alter subsequent patterns of alcohol consumption and abuse.
Influence of gas media on the stability of corona charged polyethylenterephtalate films stored at low pressure

The influence of the gas media in which electrets have been obtained on the electrets behaviour of samples stored at low pressures was investigated. Non-metalized samples of poly(ethylene terephtalate) (PET) films were studied. Initially the PET films were cleaned with alcohol in an ultrasonic bath for 4 minutes, washed in distilled water, and dried under room conditions. The samples were charged in corona discharge in different gas media by a trielectrode system. The used gases were O2, N2, Ar, CO2 and dry air. Negative or positive voltage of 5 kV was applied to the corona electrode, and negative or positive voltages of 800 V were applied to the grid. Electrets surface potential was measured by the method of a vibrating electrode with compensation. After charging the initial surface potential V0 was measured out of the chamber. Then the samples, together with their metal pads, were placed again into a vacuum chamber. Then the pressure was decreased step by step from 0.1 MPa to 10 Pa (1 bar to 0.1 mbar). At each pressure the samples were stored for 5 minutes. After each step the electrets were removed from the vacuum chamber, the surface potential V was measured again and the normalized surface potentials V/V0 were calculated. Charge thermally stimulated discharge method was also used to investigate the electrets obtained in the presence of different gas media. The surface potentials of two kinds of samples, before and after subjecting to low pressure, were measured.
Effect of foreign aid on corruption: evidence from Sub-Saharan African countries

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of foreign aid on corruption in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Foreign aid is aimed to promote economic growth by complementing the recipient country’s shortfall of financial resource. However, if the recipient country’s quality of governance and institutions is poor, the process of growth will be undermined. Since foreign aid to SSA countries has been increasing substantially in recent years, it is imperative to explore its impact on the level of corruption in the SSA countries. Design/methodology/approach - – The paper opted to use a Quantile regression (QR) approach to examine the impact of foreign aid on corruption. The data cover from the year 2000 to 2010 for 42 Sub-Saharan countries. QR is appropriate to achieve the stated objective because the method enables to examine the effect of aid on at different level of corruption. Findings - – The paper provides empirical insights on the impact of foreign aid on corruption level in SSA countries. The finding indicates that foreign aid has reduction effect on the corruption level of SSA countries. The effect is likely to be greater in nations that experience a higher level of corruption. The findings further reveal that aid from different bilateral sources has different effect on corruption. As a whole, the findings are statistically significant and robust to alternative measure of corruption. Research limitations/implications - – Since the study just focus on Sub-Saharan African countries, the research findings may lack generalization to the entire African countries or poor developing countries that are receiving substantial amount of foreign aid. Therefore, future research should incorporate all the African countries or all poor developing countries. Practical implications - – Since the empirical findings reveals that aid reduces the corruption level and aid from different bilateral source have different effect on corruption, it is important to establish more cooperation between donor countries in allocating aid. The conditions attached to aid should be, among other things, be related with improvement of governance and institutional environment. Allocation of aid should be selective such that countries in institutional quality should be among the important criteria for a country to qualify for aid. Originality/value - – This paper fulfills the need to study the relationship between foreign aid and corruption in the case of SSA countries. The aid-corruption nexus is relatively under explored issue especially in the case African countries.
Teachers' Attitudes toward Merit Pay: Examining Conventional Wisdom

This examination of data from the 1987–88 Schools and Staffing Survey challenges the common supposition that most teachers oppose merit pay. The authors find that teachers in districts that use merit pay do not seem demoralized by the system or hostile toward it, and teachers of disadvantaged and low-achieving students are generally supportive of merit pay. Private school teachers favor merit pay more than do public school teachers, a difference that may reflect differences in management in the two sectors and a more entrepreneurial spirit among staff in private schools.
Economic mobility and poverty dynamics in developing countries

This study provides an introduction to this special issue of The Journal of Development Studies on economic mobility and poverty dynamics in developing countries. In addition to providing a conceptual framework, it outlines how the contributions fit into the extant literature. A series of regularities emerge across these studies. The poor consist of those who are always poor — poor at all dates — and those who move in and out of poverty, with the latter group tending to be strikingly large. Such movements in and out of poverty are apparent when looking at poverty in either absolute or relative terms. Changes in returns to endowments can be a potent source of increased incomes. Finally, seemingly transitory shocks can have long‐term consequences. The study concludes by drawing out the policy implications of these regularities.
Totally Robotic Low Anterior Resection and Left Colectomy with Systematic Splenic Flexure Mobilization a Single Docking Procedure for Sigmoid and Rectal Cancer : Technical Notes and Results

Surgery with robotic systems is known to have several advantages despite laparoscopy, even in colorectal cancer. However, there is no standard procedure to maximize the advantages of the DaVinci® Si Surgical System. The authors describe their personal single stage totally robotic technique, applying the robotic system during all of the dissection steps in left colon and rectal cancer surgery with a single docking. From March 2012 to March 2016, 83 consecutive patients affected by left colon or rectal cancer were selected for robotic-assisted colorectal resection with DaVinci® Si Robotic System (Intuitive Surgical Inc., Sunnyvale, CA); clinical and pathological outcomes were prospectively collected and reviewed. All patient underwent left colectomy (LC) or low anterior resection (R-LAR) with a single stage, totally robotic dissection, performed following these steps from the top downwards in a clockwise direction to avoid arm collision, splenic flexure mobilization, legation of inferior mesenteric vessels and medial to lateral colon dissection, mobilization of descending and sigmoid colon, TME and rectal dissection, rectal transection and anastomosis. We treated 83 consecutive patients of which 41 (49%) were men and 42 (51%) were women, mean age was 70 (range, 42–92) years. All patients suffered from sigmoid (41pts) an rectal (42 pts) cancer. Clinical and oncologic outcomes, short term complications were analyzed: the circumferential margin, for rectal cancer, was positive in one patient, 17.9 (range, 6–48) lymph nodes were harvested, tumor’s distance from distal margin’s resection was 2.4 cm (range 1-9). The length of hospital stay after surgery was 6 (range, 4–33) days. Anastomotic leak rate was 1.2% and were managed by ileostomy. There were 4 major complications (4.8%); no mortality occurred. The global conversion rate to laparoscopic and/or open procedure for surgical reasons was 0%. The mean total operative time was 215 minutes, while the mean robotic time was 130 minutes. Single docking for left colon and rectal surgery can be a suitable procedure to reduce operative time and to maximize the advantages of robotic approach. More studies are needed to standardize the surgical procedure.
The power of positional competition and market mechanism: an empirical study of parental choice of junior middle school in Nanning, P.R. China

School choice has been actively exercised by mostly middle class parents and ‘key’ schools in many places in China, each obtaining what they want: school places and funds, respectively. The aims of this study were to explore the impact of positional competition in school choice and explore the effect of market mechanisms in the resulting school choice process. There has been little empirical research into school choice in China and this represents a first step. A descriptive survey was distributed to 224 parents from one ‘key’ school and 206 of whom returned the form. Follow‐up interviews with eight parents and the headteacher of the sample school were conducted. The 68% of the school choice participants were professionals and public servants; the income of 69% of the participants is above or well above the average income of the locals; 61% of the participants indicated they had or were expected to spend over ¥30,000 for their child’s three‐year study; 79% of the participants had spent ¥3000–15,000 for their child’s after‐school activities. The results of the study suggest that the most active participants of school choice are the middle class parents and the key schools. The substantial amount of choice fee has either created a financial burden on those working class families or effectively closed the door of school choice to them.
Retrieval of the raindrop size distribution from polarimetric radar data using double-moment normalisation

Abstract. A new technique for estimating the raindrop size distribution (DSD) from polarimetric radar data is proposed. Two statistical moments of the DSD are estimated from polarimetric variables, and the DSD is reconstructed using a double-moment normalisation. The technique takes advantage of the relative invariance of the double-moment normalised DSD. The method was tested using X-band radar data and networks of disdrometers in three different climatic regions. Radar-derived estimates of the DSD compare reasonably well to observations. In the three tested domains, in terms of DSD moments, rain rate, and characteristic drop diameter, the proposed method performs similarly to and often better than a state-of-the-art DSD-retrieval technique. The approach is flexible because no specific DSD model is prescribed. In addition, a method is proposed to treat noisy radar data to improve DSD-retrieval performance with radar measurements.
Continuously Cumulating Meta-Analysis and Replicability

The current crisis in scientific psychology about whether our findings are irreproducible was presaged years ago by Tversky and Kahneman (1971), who noted that even sophisticated researchers believe in the fallacious Law of Small Numbers—erroneous intuitions about how imprecisely sample data reflect population phenomena. Combined with the low power of most current work, this often leads to the use of misleading criteria about whether an effect has replicated. Rosenthal (1990) suggested more appropriate criteria, here labeled the continuously cumulating meta-analytic (CCMA) approach. For example, a CCMA analysis on a replication attempt that does not reach significance might nonetheless provide more, not less, evidence that the effect is real. Alternatively, measures of heterogeneity might show that two studies that differ in whether they are significant might have only trivially different effect sizes. We present a nontechnical introduction to the CCMA framework (referencing relevant software), and then explain how it can be used to address aspects of replicability or more generally to assess quantitative evidence from numerous studies. We then present some examples and simulation results using the CCMA approach that show how the combination of evidence can yield improved results over the consideration of single studies.
The Rise and Fall of Social Insurance

The disincentive effects of social insurance have recently become a major point of debate in Western Europe, leading to cuts in benefits and renewed focus on providing incentives. I study the evolution of the welfare state in a context of cultural transmission and endogenous taxes. Insurance allows agents to spread risk between different states of nature, but it creates moral hazard opportunities that some agents take advantage of. This static cost of moral hazard is augmented by a dynamic cost: social insurance tends to reduce the number of productive agents in the population and can lead to its complete unraveling over time. I show that a long period of high taxes and generous welfare benefits is not sustainable, and is usually followed by reduced generosity in order to provide incentives to work. Even when the economy eventually reaches a state without any free riding the transition to this state is costly.
T cell infiltration of the prostate induced by androgen withdrawal in patients with prostate cancer

Manipulations capable of breaking host tolerance to induce tissue-specific T cell-mediated inflammation are of central importance to tumor immunotherapy and our understanding of autoimmunity. We demonstrate that androgen ablative therapy induces profuse T cell infiltration of benign glands and tumors in human prostates. T cell infiltration is readily apparent after 7–28 days of therapy and is comprised predominantly of a response by CD4+ T cells and comparatively fewer CD8+ T cells. Also, T cells within the treated prostate exhibit restricted TCR Vβ gene usage, consistent with a local oligoclonal response. Recruitment/activation of antigen-presenting cells in treated prostate tissues may contribute to local T cell activation. The induction of T cell infiltration in prostate tissues treated with androgen ablation may have implications for the immunotherapeutic treatment of prostate cancer as well as other hormone-sensitive malignancies, including breast carcinoma.
TRP channels in the skin

Emerging evidence suggests that transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channels not only act as ‘polymodal cellular sensors’ on sensory neurons but are also functionally expressed by a multitude of non‐neuronal cell types. This is especially true in the skin, one of the largest organs of the body, where they appear to be critically involved in regulating various cutaneous functions both under physiological and pathophysiological conditions. In this review, we focus on introducing the roles of several cutaneous TRP channels in the regulation of the skin barrier, skin cell proliferation and differentiation, and immune functions. Moreover, we also describe the putative involvement of several TRP channels in the development of certain skin diseases and identify future TRP channel‐targeted therapeutic opportunities.
DOCTORS AS MANAGERS - New Public Management in a New Zealand hospital

In a corporatized New Zealand public hospital, senior management introduced a strategy of ‘clinical leadership’ intended to incorporate clinicians more fully within some system of organizational control, and to make them accountable for the resources consumed as a consequence of their treatment decisions. An organizational restructuring created semiautonomous business units based around clinical specialities and headed by clinician managers. Clinician managers played a boundary role between their professional colleagues and management. In the short term, a number of senior clinicians adapted to this role and there was some evidence for their acculturation into managerial identifications. However, the majority of clinician managers acted to absorb change rather than actively champion change. For many clinical units, clinical practice continued more or less unchanged. The concept of loosely coupled systems is used to explain this separation of internal operations from organizational form.
ICFHR2016 Competition on Handwritten Text Recognition on the READ Dataset

This paper describes the Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) competition on the READ dataset that has been held in the context of the International Conference on Frontiers in Handwriting Recognition 2016. This competition aims to bring together researchers working on off-line HTR and provide them a suitable benchmark to compare their techniques on the task of transcribing typical historical handwritten documents. Two tracks with different conditions on the use of training data were proposed. Ten research groups registered in the competition but finally five submitted results. The handwritten images for this competition were drawn from the German document Ratsprotokolle collection composed of minutes of the council meetings held from 1470 to 1805, used in the READ project. The selected dataset is written by several hands and entails significant variabilities and difficulties. The five participants achieved good results with transcriptions word error rates ranging from 21% to 47%.