Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Financial consequences of mutual fund mergers

This study examines the impact of mutual fund mergers on performance and investment flows of target and acquiring funds. Results indicate some improvements in the post-merger performance for target funds shareholders. Results also confirm prior evidence of negative net asset flows in target funds in the pre-merger period as well as negative, but not significant, net asset flows in the years following the merger. However, a more detailed analysis allows us to observe that this lack of significance in the negative reaction of investors to mutual fund mergers is explained by the compensation of abnormally high inflows and outflows in the resultant funds. These substantial flows are significantly above the average in their market segment, especially regarding money flows. This finding provides evidence that investors pay attention to mutual fund mergers, especially institutional investors who are concentrated on the market possibilities resulting from these organizational processes.
Complexity modeling: Identify instability early

Biological systems are innately complex, display nonlinear behavior, and respond to both disease and its treatment in similar complex ways. Complex systems display self-organization and predictive behavior along a range of possible states, often referred to as chaotic behavior, and can be both characterized and quantified in terms of this chaotic behavior, which defined strange attractors (&rgr;) and variability. In this context, disease can be characterized as a difference in a disease state &rgr; and a healthy &rgr;. Furthermore, effectiveness of treatment can be defined as a minimization problem to decrease the phase-state difference between disease and health &rgr; values, such that effective treatment is defined as the ability to restore the healthy &rgr;. Importantly, this approach will be effective without anything being known about the physiologic processes that define health or disease. The implication is that this approach is a powerful tool to define the determinants of instability as compared with normal variability, to answer why disease is not healthy, and to identify all potentially effective treatment options independent of known pharmacology and physiology.
The intra‐day price discovery process between the Singapore Exchange and Taiwan Futures Exchange

This paper focuses on the increasing competition between exchanges for listing similar index futures contracts and the impact this has on information dissemination between various markets. Specifically, using both the Hasbrouck and Gonzalo–Granger methodologies for extracting the information content held in each market, a comparison of information efficiencies between the Singapore Exchange and the Taiwan Futures Exchange is examined for Taiwan Index Futures listed in both markets. The results show not only a common stochastic trend between index futures and their underlying indices, but also provide strong evidence to suggest price discovery primarily originates from the Singapore futures market. There are direct implications of this result for both financial exchanges and traders—in particular, that traders realize price determination can arise from both futures markets, and the need for exchanges to maintain a reputation as an information center for these similarly traded financial instruments. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 22: 219–240, 2002
Methanogenic archaea in subgingival sites: a review

Archaea are non‐bacterial prokaryotes associated with oral microbiota in humans, but their roles in oral pathologies remain controversial. Several studies reported the molecular detection of methanogenic archaea from periodontitis, but the significance of this association has not been confirmed yet. An electronic search was therefore conducted in MEDLINE‐Pubmed to identify all papers published in English connecting archaea and periodontal infections. Data analysis of the selected studies showed that five genera of methanogenic archaea have been detected in the subgingival microbiota, Methanobrevibacter oralis being the most frequently detected species in 41% of periodontitis patients and 55% of periodontal pockets compared to 6% of healthy subjects and 5% of periodontally‐healthy sites (p < 10−5, Chi‐squared test). Based on the five determination‐criteria proposed by Socransky (association with disease, elimination of the organism, host response, animal pathogenicity and mechanisms of pathogenicity), M. oralis is a periodontal pathogen. The methanogenic archaea load correlating with periodontitis severity further supports the pathogenic role of methanogenic archaea in periodontitis. Therefore, detection and quantification of M. oralis in periodontal pockets could help the laboratory diagnosis and follow‐up of periodontitis. Determining the origin, diversity and pathogenesis of archaea in periodontal infections warrants further investigations.
Indoor swimming pool environments and self-reported irritative and respiratory symptoms among lifeguards

Abstract A web survey was conducted among 870 lifeguards (current and former) to assess the relationship between exposure to indoor swimming pool environments and respiratory health. Associations between respiratory symptoms and asthma with varying lengths of occupational exposure were assessed by multiple logistic regression. Lifeguards exposed more than 500 hours in the previous 12 months experienced more cough (adjustedOR = 2.54, IC95 % = 1.51–4.25), throat (aOR = 2.47, IC95 % = 1.44–4.24) and eye irritation (aOR = 4.34, IC95 % = 2.52–7.50) during this period than non-exposed lifeguards. Upper and lower respiratory symptoms while on duty were related to duration of lifetime exposure (> 500 days vs. ≤ 50 days: Upper aOR = 5.84, IC95 % = 3.60–9.50; Lower aOR = 2.53, IC95 % = 1.58–4.06). Physician-diagnosed asthma was high among lifeguards (23 %). Highly exposed asthmatic lifeguards (> 500 hours) over the previous 12 months had a significantly higher risk (aOR = 3.74, IC95 % = 1.39–10.02) of suffering from asthma attack(s) than non-exposed asthmatic subjects. Exposure to indoor swimming pool environments is related to respiratory symptoms among lifeguards.
Women as Policy Makers and Donors: Female Legislators and Foreign Aid

This paper investigates whether the gender composition of national legislatures in donor countries impacts the level, composition, and pattern of foreign aid. We provide evidence that the election of female legislators leads countries to increase aid both in total and as a percentage of GDP. Consistent with existing research examining domestic expenditures, we find that the empowerment of women in national legislatures is associated with a reallocation of aid flows in favor of education and health-related projects. These increased flows occur predominately through bilateral aid and reflect a redistribution of aid toward developing countries.
UK capital budgeting practices: some additional survey evidence

Probably more surveys have been undertaken on the use of capital budgeting techniques than on any other accounting and finance topic. Despite the many surveys a number of issues remain unresolved. The surveys have consisted of a sample of either very large or very small companies and observations relating to the impact of company size have been derived from comparing the responses from different surveys undertaken at different points in time. The aim of this paper is to provide additional empirical evidence relating to some of the unresolved issues and to examine the impact of company size on the use of financial appraisal techniques. In particular, the paper concentrates on the treatment of inflation, the appraisal of advanced manufacturing technologies and examines whether the empirical evidence supports the claim that many companies use excessive discount rates.
Calendar Effects in Fifty-Five Stock Market Indices

This paper examines the calendar anomalies/effects in 55 Stock market exchange indices of 51 countries around the world. The calendar effects which are examined are the turn-of-the-Month effect, the day-of-the-Week effect, the Month-of the-Year effect and the semi-Month effect. The methodology which is followed is the test hypothesis of two unequal data samples with bootstrapping simulated t-statistics. Simultaneously, with the same procedure a seasonality test is applied in order to investigate if more frequent seasonality on expected returns or in volatility is presented. The conclusion is that we reject all calendar effects in a global level, except from the turn-of-the-Month effect, which is present in 36 stock indices and that there is higher seasonality in volatility rather on expected returns, concerning the day of the week and the month of the year effects. The main purpose of the paper is to present a methodology appropriate for data mining which rejects the existence and persistence of main calendar anomalies as the Monday and January effects, while previous methodologies accept them. So this paper presents an alternative approach in the estimation of calendar anomalies and data mining, as well gives some guide notes for financial strategy.
Life-Cycle Effects on Consumption and Retirement

The effects on consumption and retirement of the length of the horizon are examined. At any given age people will work more and consume less if they expect to live longer. The Terman sample of gifted individuals in 1972 and 1977 is used to relate work status to the length of the horizon, as proxied by parents' longevity. The results suggest the expected positive effect on effort, but its magnitude is quite small. The panel from the Retirement History Survey is used, and effects of the horizon on consumption and retirement jointly are estimated for 1973 and 1975. There is a small positive effect of a more distant horizon (proxied by the number of living parents) on work effort and a stronger but still fairly small negative effect on consumption. Goods and leisure are consumed jointly, suggesting their complementarity in household production, and spending propensities out of social security wealth are far below those out of pension wealth.
A radiofrequency coil to facilitate B  1+ shimming and parallel imaging acceleration in three dimensions at 7 T

A 15‐channel transmit–receive (transceive) radiofrequency (RF) coil was developed to image the human brain at 7 T. A hybrid decoupling scheme was implemented that used both capacitive decoupling and the partial geometric overlapping of adjacent coil elements. The decoupling scheme allowed coil elements to be arrayed along all three Cartesian axes; this facilitated shimming of the transmit field, B 1+ , and parallel imaging acceleration along the longitudinal direction in addition to the standard transverse directions. Each channel was independently controlled during imaging using a 16‐channel console and a 16 × 1‐kW RF amplifier–matrix. The mean isolation between all combinations of coil elements was 18 ± 7 dB. After B 1+ shimming, the standard deviation of the transmit field uniformity was 11% in an axial plane and 32% over the entire brain superior to the mid‐cerebellum. Transmit uniformity was sufficient to acquire fast spin echo images of this region of the brain with a single B 1+ shim solution. Signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) maps showed higher SNR in the periphery vs center of the brain, and higher SNR in the occipital and temporal lobes vs the frontal lobe. Parallel imaging acceleration in a rostral–caudal oblique plane was demonstrated. The implication of the number of channels in a transmit–receive coil was discussed: it was determined that improvements in SNR and B 1+ shimming can be expected when using more than 15 independently controlled transmit–receive channels. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Can Dividend Yields Out‐Predict UK Stock Returns Without Short Rates?

Can dividend yields out‐predict stock returns without short rates? Using monthly data of the UK over the period of 1923–2007, in this paper we investigate both in‐ and out‐of‐sample predictability of stock returns based on dividend yields. Empirical results indicate that the predictability of UK's stock returns is visible without short rates if the forecast horizon is greater than four months. The above finding is new in literature and results from adopting a long data set and a non‐linear modeling strategy.
Induction of a heat‐shock‐type response in Saccharomyces cerevisiae following glucose limitation

The protein pattern of yeast cells which have arrested proliferation in response to glucose exhaustion is drastically different from that of exponentially growing cells (Boucherie, 1985). In this study, we used two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis to characterize the protein events responsible for these alterations. We found that the induction of heat‐shock proteins is one of the major events responsible for these changes. This induction accounts for the synthesis of 18 of the 35 novel polypeptides observed in glucose‐limited cells. It was shown to occur in combination with two other protein events: the derepression of carbon catabolite repressed proteins, which accounts for the synthesis of the other novel polypeptides, and an arrest of the synthesis of almost all the proteins present in exponentially growing cells.
Conditional density and value‐at‐risk prediction of Asian currency exchange rates

We first demonstrate the simultaneous need for both more general GARCH structures and non-normal innovation distributions for modelling the returns on certain return series such as the highly volatile exchange rates on East Asian currencies against the US dollar. This is accomplished not only via in-sample goodness-of-fit criteria, but also in terms of the precision of Value-at-Risk calculations made on out-of-sample density predictions. Second, a forecasting strategy using weighted maximum likelihood estimation is proposed. We show that it gives rise to considerably improved forecast performance over longer horizons. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Attenuation of capillary leakage by hydroxyethyl starch (130/0.42) in a porcine model of septic shock

Objectives:Capillary leakage, a frequent complication in septic shock, is characterized by loss of intravasal fluid resulting in generalized edema and hemodynamic instability despite massive fluid therapy. We have shown that administration of an established colloid 200/0.5 hydroxyethyl starch (HES) stabilized plasma volume in a porcine septic shock model. Recently, a new HES with a low molecular weight (130 kD) and lower molar substitution (0.42) has been developed. In this study, we compared effects of HES 130/0.42 and HES 200/0.5 on capillary leakage in porcine septic shock. Design:Prospective randomized, controlled animal study. Setting:University department of anesthesiology. Subjects:Fourteen pigs (22.9 ± 2.8 kg). Interventions:Anesthetized and mechanically ventilated pigs were observed over 6 hrs. Measurement and Main Results:Septic shock was induced with fecal peritonitis (0.75 g·kg−1 of body weight autologous feces). Animals were allocated to volume-replacement therapy with either HES 130/0.42 (n = 5) or HES 200/0.5 (n = 5) and compared with nonseptic controls receiving HES 130/0.42 (n = 4). Infusion rate was titrated to maintain a central venous pressure of 12 mm Hg. Albumin escape rate was calculated using iodine 125-labeled albumin. Plasma volume was determined using chromium-51-tagged erythrocytes. Albumin escape rate increased significantly in both groups in comparison to controls (HES 200/0.5, 45% ± 3; HES 130/0.42, 38% ± 5), but this increase was significantly smaller with HES 130/0.42. Both HES 200/0.5 (−14%, not significant) and HES 130/0.42 (−1%, not significant) stabilized plasma volume compared with controls. Systemic oxygenation was not significantly altered in either group. Conclusions:In this porcine septic shock model, HES 130/0.42 attenuated capillary leakage significantly more effectively than HES 200/0.5.
Finding the [Financial] Cost of Socially Responsible Investing

Socially responsible investing (SRI) is an increasingly important investment issue, gaining popularity among both institutional and individual investors. In the past, SRI research has almost exclusively focused on whether or not there is a financial “cost” in SRI. With rare exception, no material cost has been observed. We find if we examine SRI in terms of total costs and benefits (i.e., financial and social), there may not be a cost, but when considering only financial cost, there must be a cost in SRI. We examine several economic principles that require such cost, and estimate what this cost might be. Finally, we address why we have not “seen” a financial cost in SRI thus far.
Predictors of the Adoption of LGBT‐Friendly HR Policies

Employment discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals remains a persistent problem not addressed by federal and most state equal employment opportunity laws in the United States. Despite this lack of regulation, a growing number of organizations are voluntarily adding sexual orientation and gender identity to their nondiscrimination statements, providing domestic partner benefits, sponsoring affinity groups, and establishing other “LGBT-friendly” policies. This article incorporates institutional theory and organizational demography to explore the antecedents to these policies to understand why some organizations seek to be at the forefront of this trend while others do only the minimum to embrace this element of diversity. The analysis of a sample of Fortune 1000 firms reveals that state law dealing with gay rights in non-employment-related areas for the state where each company is headquartered, the number of women serving on each firm's board of directors, and whether other companies in the same industry have adopted progressive policies are all related to company policy toward its LGBT employees. Sexual orientation of employees by industry does not seem to influence company policy
Towards Next-Generation Urban Resilience in Planning Practice: From Securitization to Integrated Place Making

Resilience is a concept incorporating a vast range of contemporary risks and over recent years has become increasingly important to our understanding of contemporary planning policy and practice. This paper examines the changing nature of resilience strategies since 2000 and highlights how planners increasingly are asked to contribute to this agenda. Drawing on the emerging theories of urban resilience, this paper charts the emergence of different ‘styles’ of resilience over the last decade in the UK, with an emphasis on a range of policies associated with designing safer spaces. Emerging lessons are then deployed to highlight how a new generation of urban resilience practice is now emerging associated with embedding resiliency into local place-making activities. This paper concludes by reflecting upon the multiple uses of resilience in planning practice.
THE ISLAMIC CAPITAL MARKET VOLATILITY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN IN INDONESIA AND MALAYSIA

This study attempts to examine the short-term and long-term relationship among selected global and domestic macroeconomic variables from each country (Fed rate, crude oil price, Dow Jones Index, interest rate, exchange rate and inflation) for Indonesia and Malaysia Islamic capital market (Jakarta Islamic Index (JII) and FTSE Bursa Malaysia Hijrah Shariah Index (FHSI). The methodology used in this study is vector error correction model (VECM) for the monthly data starting from January 2006 to December 2010. The result shows that in the long-term, all selected macroeconomic variables except Dow Jones Index variable have significantly affect in both Islamic stock market FHSI and JII, while in the short-term there is no any selected macroeconomic variables that significantly affect FHSI and only inflation, exchange rate and crude oil price variables seem to significantly affect JII. Keywords : Islamic Stock Market, Jakarta Islamic Index, FTSE Hijrah Shariah Index, VAR/VECM JEL Classification : E52, E44
The Mean-Variance-Optimization Puzzle: Security Portfolios and Food Portfolios

The Markowitz mean–variance-optimization framework presents a puzzle. Although it is the standard model of portfolio construction, investors rarely use it and, when used, it is constrained so much that portfolios reflect the constraints more than the optimization. Why do investors dislike unadulterated optimized mean–variance portfolios? The typical answer focuses on biases introduced by estimation errors. More important is the fact that investors' goals are quite different from mean–variance optimization. People care about more than cost and nutrition when they construct their diets: They also care about palatability. Similarly, investors care about more than expected returns and variance as they construct their securities portfolios: They also care about the investment equivalent of palatability. We use an analogy between security portfolios and food portfolios to explore the nature of the gap between intuitively appealing portfolios and mean–variance-optimized portfolios.
'The Impact of the Aids Epidemic' Articles by Paul Bennell: Some Comments

Paul Bennell’s two articles contain many strengths and numerous valuable insights. Perhaps the most significant of these is the lengths to which they go to build up an information base on the impacts of HIV/ AIDS in the areas of teacher mortality, morbidity and absenteeism, and the schooling and broader development of orphans and other vulnerable children. The papers also show the need to examine critically some assumptions, strengthen information in key areas and improve on a number of commonly held views on the educational impacts of the epidemic. In fact, the ultimate value of the articles may lie in the way in which they call for fine-tuning, clearer perceptions, and a more nuanced understanding of the impacts that HIV/AIDS has on teachers and children and their performance within an education system. A particularly noteworthy feature of both articles is that their recommendations for responses to the impacts of HIV/AIDS on teachers and learners are in close accord with those of previous studies. While the papers highlight the importance of not overreacting in an exaggerated and uninformed way to HIV/AIDS, to the detriment of other urgent education issues, they do not ultimately differ from accepted understandings of the educational response that should be made to the AIDS crisis. This leads us, however, to a major concern, namely that the detail may obscure the larger picture. The articles conclude by proposing responses to the epidemic that are similar to those proposed in the studies that are criticised. But the reader may easily lose sight of this. Moreover, the tone
A Comparison of Classification Paradigms for Speaker Likeability Determination

In this paper we investigate the performance of different classification paradigms, testing each with a range of acoustic features, to find a system that is well suited to speaker likeability classification. We introduce a Sparse Representation Classifier for paralinguistic classification and explore the role of training data selection for a GMM classifier. Results demonstrate that (1) Single dimensional features of pitch direction, shimmer and spectral roll-off were the most suitable features found when testing on the development set but we were unable to reproduce their performance in the final classification task, (2) Using UBM training data selection increased accuracy of MFCC's and (3) Sparse Representation showed promise as a paralinguistic classifier with results comparable to that of SVM.