Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fluctuating Confidence in Stock Markets: Implications for Returns and Volatility

Abstract The average relative profitability of different firms in the economy jumps erratically. Although investors are unable to observe these productivity switches, they continuously update their beliefs regarding high and low productivity firms by observing the total return on each firm, which consists of the average productivity plus noise. The portfolio choices, interest rate, and stock return processes are derived in a Cox-Ingersoll-Ross (1985a) style general equilibrium model. Three stylized facts of stock market returns are addressed: negative skewness, excess kurtosis, and predictive asymmetry (excess returns and future changes in volatility are negatively correlated). To measure the last stylized fact, an EGARCH model is fitted to sample paths simulated from the model. Parameter values that permit faster learning fit the three facts better.
Meetings as Strategizing Episodes in the Social Practice of Strategy

Despite their pervasiveness and significance in everyday organisational life, meetings have received comparatively little serious academic attention as organisational phenomena. This paper argues that studying meetings as strategizing episodes can add to our understanding of the social dynamics of shaping strategy. Drawing on Hendry and Seidl's (2003) theoretical framework of strategizing episodes as micro-evolutionary mechanisms in the strategy process and based on empirical data of 51 strategic-level meeting observations, the paper elucidates the episodic nature of strategic meetings in shaping organizational strategy. In line with perspectives on strategy as a social practice, our study examines meetings as they occur within and contribute to the social dynamics of shaping an organization's strategic orientations. The findings make three main contributions. First, they contribute to the strategy-as-practice research agenda by explaining how the conduct of meetings is related to consequential strategic outcomes, such as stabilization or change within an organization's strategy. Second, they generate an empirically-informed taxonomy that shows how serial meetings link to each other, how topics are connected between these meetings, and how meetings have an impact upon wider organizational activities. Third, this taxonomy conceptually extends Hendry and Seidl's (2003) framework by explaining the way different types of meetings shape the micro-evolutionary path that variations take from proposal, through development to selection or un-selection in the wider organization.
Living Lightly: How does Climate Change Feature in Residential Home Improvements and What are the Implications for Policy?

Ageing domestic housing stock is frequently remodelled and remade to suit homeowners' aspirations and to comply with changing expectations about the home, its appearance and function. In the context of preparing for climate change, it can be argued that significant improvements to existing stock and changes to how it is inhabited are required to improve the environmental performance of residential dwellings. Yet home improvement, environmental performance and household practice rarely occur together in social enquiry. Drawing on Hobson's framing of the ‘rationalisation discourse of sustainable consumption’ we explore the assumed links between homeowners' concerns for the environment, home improvement consumption and household practice. Amongst other findings, we demonstrate that although there is some association amongst these elements, the links are weak. To achieve real change towards climate change mitigation we suggest future policy and programs need to look beyond such simple causal links between attitudes and behaviour and draw on a deeper understanding of the social practices and associated systems of provision implicated in daily life.
Why are Saving Rates so Different Across Countries?: An International Comparative Analysis

This paper analyzes the determinants of savings in the world economy, and discusses why saving ratios have been so uneven across countries. A distinction is made between private and government savings, using panel data for 36 countries, from 1970 to 1992. In particular, it is assumed that government savings are not completely exogenous, and respond to both economic and political (strategic) determinants, along the lines of the recent literature on the political economy of macroeconomic policy. Using instrumental variables estimation methods it is found that per capita growth is one of the most important determinants of both private and public savings. The results indicate that government-run social security systems affect private savings negatively. In addition, the results provide some support for the political economy perspective to government finances, which evidences a different underlying process determining public savings. Public savings tend to be lower in countries with higher political instability. Higher government savings crowd out private savings, but in a less than proportional fashion. Higher levels of foreign savings - i.e. reductions in the current account balance - are associated with lower domestic (both private and public) saving rates, although the degree of offset is also less than proportional. The degree of financial development turns out to be another important determinant of private savings. The results are mixed regarding the role of borrowing constraints - a topic deserving additional research attention.
Binding of Myosin Light Chain Kinase to Cellular Actin-Myosin Filaments*

Myosin light chain kinase binds to the actomyosin-containing filaments in smooth and nonmuscle cells. However, the region of the kinase necessary for this high affinity binding in vivo is not known, although it has been proposed that the N and C termini bind to actin and myosin in vitro, respectively. Truncated myosin light chain kinases containing the catalytic core and calmodulin-binding domain but lacking N (amino acids 1-655) and/or C (amino acids 1004-1147) termini were expressed in the baculovirus system and purified. All enzymes were catalytically active and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent. The C-terminal truncated myosin light chain kinase bound to detergent-washed smooth muscle contractile proteins similar to recombinant full-length myosin light chain kinase or enzyme purified from smooth muscle. The apparent affinity of the full-length kinase was greater for the actomyosin-containing filaments with associated proteins than for purified smooth muscle F-actin or actomyosin filaments from skeletal muscle. In contrast, truncations at the N terminus alone or at both N and C termini resulted in no significant binding. Similar effects were observed by two other assays: binding of fluorescently labeled myosin light chain kinases to actin-containing stress fibers in detergent-treated fibroblasts and localization of fluorescently labeled kinases after microinjection into primary smooth muscle cells in culture. The full-length and the C-terminal truncated myosin light chain kinases, but not myosin light chain kinases truncated at the N terminus or both N and C termini, associated with filaments in cells. Thus, the N terminus and not the C terminus of myosin light chain kinase is necessary for high affinity binding to actomyosin-containing filaments in smooth and nonmuscle cells.
Serological and spatial analysis of alphavirus and flavivirus prevalence and risk factors in a rural community in western Kenya

Alphaviruses, such as chikungunya virus, and flaviviruses, such as dengue virus, are (re)-emerging arboviruses that are endemic in tropical environments. In Africa, arbovirus infections are often undiagnosed and unreported, with febrile illnesses often assumed to be malaria. This cross-sectional study aimed to characterize the seroprevalence of alphaviruses and flaviviruses among children (ages 5–14, n = 250) and adults (ages 15 ≥ 75, n = 250) in western Kenya. Risk factors for seropositivity were explored using Lasso regression. Overall, 67% of participants showed alphavirus seropositivity (CI95 63%–70%), and 1.6% of participants showed flavivirus seropositivity (CI95 0.7%–3%). Children aged 10–14 were more likely to be seropositive to an alphavirus than adults (p < 0.001), suggesting a recent transmission period. Alphavirus and flavivirus seropositivity was detected in the youngest participants (age 5–9), providing evidence of inter-epidemic transmission. Demographic variables that were significantly different amongst those with previous infection versus those without infection included age, education level, and occupation. Behavioral and environmental variables significantly different amongst those in with previous infection to those without infection included taking animals for grazing, fishing, and recent village flooding. Experience of recent fever was also found to be a significant indicator of infection (p = 0.027). These results confirm alphavirus and flavivirus exposure in western Kenya, while illustrating significantly higher alphavirus transmission compared to previous studies.
MreB, the cell shape‐determining bacterial actin homologue, co‐ordinates cell wall morphogenesis in Caulobacter crescentus

The bacterial actin homologue, MreB, is required for the maintenance of a rod‐shaped cell and has been shown to form spirals that traverse along the longitudinal axis of Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli cells. The depletion of MreB in Caulobacter crescentus resulted in lemon‐shaped cells that possessed defects in the integrity of the cell wall. MreB localization appeared as bands or spirals that encircled the cell along its entire length and switched to a mid‐cell location at a time that coincided with the initiation of cell division. The formation of smaller MreB spirals or bands at the mid‐cell was dependent on the presence on the cytokinetic protein, FtsZ. Penicillin‐binding protein 2 (PBP2) also formed band‐like structures perpendicular to the cell periphery that resembled, and depended upon, MreB localization. PBP2 co‐immunoprecipitated with several other penicillin‐binding proteins, suggesting that these proteins are in association in Caulobacter cells. We hypothesize that MreB filaments function as a cytoskeleton that serves as an organizer or tracking device for the PBP2–peptidoglycan biosynthesis complex.
Microfluidic‐assisted synthesis of hemispherical and discoidal chitosan microparticles at an oil/water interface

This study reports a facile method for the synthesis of hemispherical and discoidal chitosan microparticles by a combination of microfluidic technology and gelation strategy at an oil/water interface. Utilizing microfluidic emulsification in a cross‐junction channel, the formation of regular droplets was achieved. Following the ionic gelation procedure at the liquid–liquid interface of the gelling solution and oil solution in the reservoir pool, either hemispherical or discoidal chitosan microparticles were obtained. Special emphasis was put on the interface reaction of emulsion gelation parameters such as ionic crosslinkers, density modifiers, and surfactants, to tailor the morphologies of chitosan particles ranging from 160 to 750 μm. In addition, the proposed microfluidic device is capable of generating relatively uniform microparticles with a well‐controllable shape and size. Being a simple, low‐cost and high‐throughput process is an added advantage. The synthesized hemispherical and discoidal chitosan microparticles can be applied to many applications in the pharmaceutical and biomedical arena.
Repatriation: empirical evidence from a longitudinal study of careers and expectations among Finnish expatriates

Abstract One of the newer areas of research in the field of international human resource management concerns the repatriation of international assignees at the end of their time abroad. This paper is one of the first examples of a longitudinal cohort analysis of repatriates. Tracking the same group of well-qualified Finnish expatriates from their time abroad to after they return home, we are able to compare their views while abroad with their experience on return. We find that, as anticipated in the literature, many expatriates change employer as, or soon after, they return, but that they are in general satisfied with the effects of the foreign experience on their careers. Among this cohort at least, their expectations were met more often than not, though this was less because the organization made use of their international experience than because they were personally successful.
Surveillance System of Hemodialysis-Associated Infections in a Pediatric Unit

The bloodstream infection surveillance system proposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was prospectively conducted in a pediatric hemodialysis unit. Thirty patients were included; 73% had a catheter for vascular access at enrollment. Vascular access infection rate was 21.1 per 100 patient-months, well above those observed in adult patient surveys. Staphylococcus aureus was most frequently isolated (23%).
Limits to non-state market regulation: A qualitative comparative analysis of the international sport footwear industry and the Fair Labor Association

Non-state market regulation has become a central focus and continues to receive scholarly attention. The present paper provides an assessment of the conditions under which multinational firms join a multi-stakeholder certification initiative. The cases of the Fair labor Association and 17 international sport footwear companies have been selected for this purpose. A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of the 17 cases is performed. The paper argues that the combination of sustained NGO pressure and public ownership of a firm is a necessary precondition for firms joining a multi-stakeholder certification initiative. The theoretical and policy implications of this result are discussed.
The Positive Effect of Motivation and International Orientation on SME Growth

This empirical study on small and medium‐sized enterprise growth investigates the relationship between motivation for growth, international orientation, and subsequent performance by following 247 firms over 11 years. Using a combination of regression analysis and structural equation modeling, the authors find the international orientation of the firm to be a consistent predictor of growth in revenue and exports. The authors also find the international orientation of the firm to be closely interrelated with motivation for growth: Firms with managers and owners having a strong motivation for growth tend also to have managers with high international orientation and display superior growth both domestically and abroad. Whereas motivation seems independent of past performance, it has a profound positive influence on the growth in revenue. Moreover, the findings reveal that some firms are able to sustain high growth rates over an extended period of time. The study supports the contention that some firms are able to systematically outperform the rest.
Housing Careers in a Changing Welfare State – A Swedish Cohort Study

In this study the housing careers of individuals are related to the development of the Swedish welfare state and its effects on the housing market. The aim of the study was to investigate if the value placed on housing standard, size, tenure and location has changed over time as the welfare state has developed. Twelve individuals in four cohorts born in 1925, 1942, 1955 and 1970 were interviewed. The most evident differences relate to the standard, size and the location of a dwelling. The older cohorts began their housing career in smaller housing with a standard that was the norm at that time. When the most basic housing needs were met, environmental and location aspects began to gain policy interest. These factors were taken into account by the younger cohorts as they entered the housing market, but also among the older as they had progressed through their housing career. A change in housing size as the household grows was not cohort‐specific. Tenure was not cohort‐specific, but was discussed in terms of freedom that differed between individuals rather than between cohorts.
Sentiment Analysis of Online Reviews Using Bag-of-Words and LSTM Approaches

This paper implements a binary sentiment classiﬁcation task on datasets of online reviews. The datasets include the Amazon Fine Food Reviews Dataset and the Yelp Challenge Dataset. The paper performs sentiment classiﬁcation via two approaches: ﬁrstly, a non-neural bag-of-words approach using Multinomial Naive Bayes and Support Vector Machine classiﬁers. Secondly, a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) Recurrent Neural Network is used. The experiment is designed to test the role of word order in sentiment classiﬁcation by comparing bag-of-words approaches where word order is absent with an LSTM approach which can handle sequential data as inputs. For the LSTM approaches, we test the role of various features such as pre-trained Word2vec and Glove embeddings as well as Word2vec embeddings learned on domain speciﬁc corpora. We also test the eﬀect of initialising our own weights from scratch. The tests are carried out on balanced datasets as well as on datasets which follow their original distribution. This measure enables us to evaluate the eﬀect of ratings distribution on model performance. Our results show that the LSTM approaches using GloVe embeddings and self-learned Word2vec embeddings perform best, whilst the distribution of ratings in the data has a meaningful impact on model performance.
The Effect of Computer-Generated Descriptions on Photo-Sharing Experiences of People with Visual Impairments

Like sighted people, visually impaired people want to share photographs on social networking services, but find it difficult to identify and select photos from their albums. We aimed to address this problem by incorporating state-of-the-art computer-generated descriptions into Facebook's photo-sharing feature. We interviewed 12 visually impaired participants to understand their photo-sharing experiences and designed a photo description feature for the Facebook mobile application. We evaluated this feature with six participants in a seven-day diary study. We found that participants used the descriptions to recall and organize their photos, but they hesitated to upload photos without a sighted person's input. In addition to basic information about photo content, participants wanted to know more details about salient objects and people, and whether the photos reflected their personal aesthetic. We discuss these findings from the lens of self-disclosure and self-presentation theories and propose new computer vision research directions that will better support visual content sharing by visually impaired people.
A dissolved oxygen dressing: A pilot study in an ischemic skin flap model

Objectives To determine if skin flap failure rates could be improved with the use of a dissolved oxygen wound dressing in a porcine model. Methods Full-thickness skin flaps (4 × 16 cm) were raised on pigs. Flaps were randomly assigned after surgery to experimental treatment with a dissolved oxygen dressing (treatment group) or a hydrogel dressing (control group). Flaps were evaluated daily for 14 days. Skin flaps that failed any one of four key clinical outcomes were considered failures. Histological parameters (including skin and subcutaneous necrosis, inflammation, ischemia, fibrosis, and bacterial load) were compared by a blinded histopathologist. Results Sixteen full-thickness skin flaps were raised on four pigs. All animals survived surgery and all incisions were evaluable. Clinical flap failure was observed in six (75%) control-treated wounds and in two (25%) dissolved oxygen-treated wounds. Histological evaluation demonstrated no significant differences in the proximal 75% of the flaps. There were significant differences in a number of histological parameters in the distal 25% in favor of the dissolved oxygen dressing. Conclusions Flaps treated with a dissolved oxygen dressing had fewer clinical failures and improved histological profiles compared with control-treated flaps, suggesting that increasing local oxygen supply may improve the local wound healing environment.
Selective suppression of pathologic, but not physiologic, retinal neovascularization by blocking the angiotensin II type 1 receptor.

PURPOSE To investigate the anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic effects of telmisartan, an angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1-R) antagonist, on ischemia-induced retinal neovascularization. METHODS C57BL/6 neonatal mice were reared in an 80% concentration of oxygen from postnatal day (P)7 to P12, followed by room-air breathing until P17, to induce ischemia-initiated retinal neovascularization (i.e., a murine model of ischemic retinopathy). Tissue localization of AT1-R was examined by immunohistochemistry for murine retinal wholemounts and human fibrovascular tissues excised at vitrectomy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Animals received intraperitoneal injection of telmisartan or vehicle. A concanavalin A lectin perfusion-labeling technique was used to evaluate the areas of physiological and pathologic retinal new vessels and the number of leukocytes adhering to the vasculature. Retinal mRNA and protein levels of intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)-1, and VEGFR-2 were examined by RT-PCR and ELISA. RESULTS Vessels in human fibrovascular tissues and the murine retinas were positive for AT1-R. Pathologic (P < 0.01), but not physiologic (P > 0.05), retinal neovascularization was significantly suppressed in telmisartan-treated mice compared with vehicle-treated animals. The number of adherent leukocytes (P < 0.01) was also significantly reduced, together with retinal ICAM-1 levels (P < 0.01) in the telmisartan-treated group compared with the control group. No significant difference was detected in retinal VEGFR-2 levels between the two groups, whereas retinal VEGFR-1 levels in the telmisartan-treated group were significantly (P < 0.05) lower than in the vehicle-treated group. CONCLUSIONS The present findings suggest that the AT1-R signaling blockade leads to the selective suppression of pathologic, but not physiological, retinal neovascularization through the inhibition of the inflammatory processes related to pathologic neovascularization.
Evaluation of the autonomic function in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with and without syncope.

BACKGROUND Several mechanisms may be involved in the trigger of syncope in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), including hemodynamic collapses that might be related to an autonomic imbalance. OBJECTIVE To evaluate and compare the autonomic function of patients presenting HCM with unexplained syncope (US) to those without syncope. METHODS Thirty-seven patients were included, 16 with US and 21 without syncope. Their autonomic function was assessed by spontaneous and phenylephrine induced baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), by heart rate variability (HRV) in time domain during 24-hour Holter and in frequency domain (spectral analysis), both in supine position and at 70º head-up tilt (HUT). RESULTS The spontaneous BRS was similar in both groups (16,46 ± 12,99 vs. 18,31 ± 9,88 ms/mmHg, p = 0,464), as was phenylephrine-induced BRS (18,33 ± 9,31 vs. 15,83 ± 15,48 ms/mmHg, p = 0,521). No differences were observed in SDNN (137,69 ± 36,62 vs . 145,95 ± 38,07 ms, p=0,389). The group presenting syncope had a significantly lower RMSSD (24,88±10,03 vs. 35,58 ± 16,43 ms, p = 0,042) and a tendency to lower pNN50 (4,51 ± 3,78 vs . 8,83 ± 7,98%, p =0,085) and lower values of the high frequency component of HRV spectral analysis at rest (637,59±1.295,53 vs. 782,65±1.264,14ms2, p=0,075). No significant difference was observed in response to HUT (p = 0,053). HUT sensitivity, specificity and accuracy in identifying the etiology of US in HCM patients were 6%, 66% and 40%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS A lower parasympathetic tone was observed in HCM patients with US, but the clinical relevance of this finding remains unclear. HUT is not a valuable tool for evaluating the origin of syncope in these patients, mainly because of its poor specificity.