Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
What type of financing for innovative companies ? Analysis of investment decisions by venture capitalists-Evidence from a theoretical model of venture capital financing in biotechnology companies *

Nowadays, many biotechnology companies are the source of scientific and technological breakthroughs and this is especially true in the pharmaceutical industry. However, developing such innovations is particularly risky. As these innovative ventures evolve in a context of high uncertainty and as their financial needs are quite large, especially when it comes to fund clinical tests, many of them have great difficulties in finding potential funding sources. Many traditional funding sources, such as banks, are unwilling to take such risks and so they avoid participating in the financing of such companies. Unlike traditional sources of funding, venture capitalists are willing to take high risks as their ultimate goal is to make huge financial gains. Among venture capitalists funding innovative biotechnology companies, we distinguish between independent venture capitalists (IVC) and corporate venture capitalists (CVC). Both types of venture capital are similar in some respect, but there are disparities on several dimensions. Prior research suggests that both venture capitalists have complementary capabilities. In general, venture capitalists mainly privilege investments in syndicated deals, because syndication is considered as an effective way to mitigate risk and uncertainty. Moreover, as IVCs and CVCs have complementary unique resources, syndication gives them the opportunity to join forces. Based on a signaling approach, this paper aims to determine when syndication occurs, i.e. when IVCs and CVCs put together their complementary knowledge and resources. The paper shows that according to the a priori signals received ex ante on the quality of the project and the expertise level of each venture capitalist, syndication is more or less likely. When syndication occurs, it leads to a better assessment of investment opportunities and creates value in earnings compared to standalone and fixed-yield investments.
The Review of Regional Studies Are There Key Sectors? An Appraisal Using Applied General Equilibrium *

: An extension of the hypothetical extraction method to a general equilibrium setting is considered. This has the advantage of re-interpreting output changes as efficiency gains or losses, which may be of use in identifying “key” sectors in an interconnected economy. The categorization may be relevant for the evaluation of intersectoral synergies and for improving policy planning and orienting economic strategy. We argue that the standard measures based on gross outputs may not capture all of the relevant impacts and this is so because of some self-imposed modeling and accounting limitations. An economy-wide Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) approach provides a modeling platform that overcomes these limitations since it offers (i) a more comprehensive measure of linkages and (ii) an alternative way of accounting for linkages’ relevance that is in closer accordance with the standard statistical magnitudes used in national or regional accounts.
Predictive value of mild, residual descending aortic narrowing for blood pressure and vascular damage in patients after repair of aortic coarctation.

AIMS The significance of mild residual descending aortic narrowing in post-coarctectomy patients is not known. The aim of our study was to investigate the influence of mild residual descending aortic narrowing on blood pressure and vascular damage in patients after repair of aortic coarctation. METHODS AND RESULTS In 107 consecutive post-coarctectomy patients, magnetic resonance imaging, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, and B-mode ultrasound of the carotid arteries were performed. A significant residual aortic narrowing was defined as: (i) a resting blood pressure gradient > or =30 mmHg with hypertension or exercise-induced hypertension (European Society of Cardiology guidelines); and/or (ii) a site of repair/diaphragmatic aorta ratio <0.7. Thirty-four patients (32%) had a significant residual aortic narrowing and were excluded from the analysis. Of the remaining 73 patients (43 male) with no or only mild residual descending aortic narrowing, median age was 29.8 years (range 17.1-52.5 years), mean age at repair 8.1 years (range 0.02-37.3 years), mean arm/leg gradient 2+/-12 mmHg, and mean common carotid intima-media thickness 0.612+/-0.118 mm. Thirty-three (45%) of these patients had hypertension. In multivariable regression analysis the site of repair/diaphragmatic aorta ratio was a strong and independent predictor of mean daytime systolic blood pressure (P<0.001) and common carotid intima-media thickness (P=0.027). CONCLUSION Mild residual descending aortic narrowing in post-coarctectomy patients is independently associated with mean daytime blood pressure and carotid intima-media thickness. Our data suggest that a threshold for re-intervention of residual aortic narrowing lower than posed in current guidelines may be desirable to improve long-term outcome in these patients. However, further research on such aggressive interventional approaches is needed.
Applying the ARRIVE Guidelines to an In Vivo Database

The Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments (ARRIVE) guidelines were developed to address the lack of reproducibility in biomedical animal studies and improve the communication of research findings. While intended to guide the preparation of peer-reviewed manuscripts, the principles of transparent reporting are also fundamental for in vivo databases. Here, we describe the benefits and challenges of applying the guidelines for the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium (IMPC), whose goal is to produce and phenotype 20,000 knockout mouse strains in a reproducible manner across ten research centres. In addition to ensuring the transparency and reproducibility of the IMPC, the solutions to the challenges of applying the ARRIVE guidelines in the context of IMPC will provide a resource to help guide similar initiatives in the future.
Helping America Vote: The Limits of Election Reform

1. Introduction: The Context of Election Reform 2. How Does Definition of the Problem Affect the Solution? 3. Did the Reforms Increase Accuracy? 4. At What Cost? The Unintended Consequences of Reform 5. We Mostly Eliminated the Butterfly Ballot.Isn't That Enough? 6. Defining the Problem in Human Terms: Who Implements Reform? 7. What Have Reforms Accomplished?
Ancient Genetic Signatures of Orang Asli Revealed by Killer Immunoglobulin-Like Receptor Gene Polymorphisms

The aboriginal populations of Peninsular Malaysia, also known as Orang Asli (OA), comprise three major groups; Semang, Senoi and Proto-Malays. Here, we analyzed for the first time KIR gene polymorphisms for 167 OA individuals, including those from four smallest OA subgroups (Che Wong, Orang Kanaq, Lanoh and Kensiu) using polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primer (PCR-SSP) analyses. The observed distribution of KIR profiles of OA is heterogenous; Haplotype B is the most frequent in the Semang subgroups (especially Batek) while Haplotype A is the most common type in the Senoi. The Semang subgroups were clustered together with the Africans, Indians, Papuans and Australian Aborigines in a principal component analysis (PCA) plot and shared many common genotypes (AB6, BB71, BB73 and BB159) observed in these other populations. Given that these populations also display high frequencies of Haplotype B, it is interesting to speculate that Haplotype B may be generally more frequent in ancient populations. In contrast, the two Senoi subgroups, Che Wong and Semai are displaced toward Southeast Asian and African populations in the PCA scatter plot, respectively. Orang Kanaq, the smallest and the most endangered of all OA subgroups, has lost some degree of genetic variation, as shown by their relatively high frequency of the AB2 genotype (0.73) and a total absence of KIR2DL2 and KIR2DS2 genes. Orang Kanaq tradition that strictly prohibits intermarriage with outsiders seems to have posed a serious threat to their survival. This present survey is a demonstration of the value of KIR polymorphisms in elucidating genetic relationships among human populations.
Transmission line metamaterials based on pairs of coupled split ring resonators (SRRs) and complementary split ring resonators (CSRR): A comparison to the light of the lumped element equivalent circuits

This paper analyzes and compares two types of transmission line metamaterials: (i) coplanar waveguide (CPW) transmission lines loaded with pairs of magnetically coupled split ring resonators (SRRs), and (ii) microstrip lines loaded with pairs of electrically coupled complementary split ring resonators (CSRRs). Both structures are described by lumped element equivalent circuit models rather different. However, both structures exhibit very similar phenomenology, and there is a mapping between the elements of both models that gives identical results for the analytical expressions providing the resonance frequencies (transmission zeros) that these lines exhibit. It is shown that these artificial lines are useful as dual-notched filters and as differential sensors and comparators.
Effect of Fiscal Policy on Sectoral Output Growth in Nigeria

This study broadly examined the effect of fiscal policy on sectoral output growth in Nigeria for the period of 1970-2013. The study employed an Autoregressive Distributed lag (ARDL) and Error Correction Model (ECM). The results showed that total fiscal expenditure (TEXP) have positively contributed to all the sectors output with an exception of agriculture sector. The findings established that manufacturing sector has a positive relationship with all the determinant variables, while inflation rate has negatively impacted output growth of the various sectors with an exception of manufacturing sector. The study concluded that the existence of disparity in the sectoral response to fiscal policy variables underscored the difficulty of conducting uniform and economic wide fiscal policy in Nigeria. Therefore, the best policy approach is to adopt sector specific policy based on their relative strength and significance in each sector of the economy within the overall fiscal policy mechanism framework.
Cooperative Investments and the Value of Contracting: Coase vs Williamson

Several recent articles have shown that the efficient outcome for bilateral trade, even in the face of specific investments and incomplete contracting, can be supported with approximately-designed contracts. These studies have, for the most part, restricted attention to specific investments that benefit the investor (e.g., the seller's investment reduces her cost of producing the good). We find very different results for "cooperative" specific investments that directly benefit the investor's partner (e.g., the seller's investment improves the buyer's value of the good).
A Brain-Controlled Wheelchair Based on P300 and Path Guidance

This paper presents the first working prototype of a brain controlled wheelchair able to navigate inside a typical office or hospital environment. This brain controlled wheelchair (BCW) is based on a slow but safe P300 interface. To circumvent the problem caused by the low information rate of the EEG signal, we propose a motion guidance strategy providing safe and efficient control without complex sensors or sensor processing. Experiments demonstrated that healthy subjects could safely control the wheelchair in an office like environment, without any training
All about commodities : from the inside out

"All About Commodities" is the essential primer for anyone interested in trading commodities as well as an invaluable study aid for the National Commodity Futures Exam. This book enables the reader to form a solid understanding of the markets and their participants, complete with explanations of trading rules, regulations and terms. Practice examinations enable readers to test their knowledge. Topics in this book include: Hedging basics; Clearinghouse operations; Introduction to fundamental and technical analysis; Trading rules and regulations; and Money management.
Using Reservoir Models for Strategic Decision-Making

Reservoir models have become important and increasingly widely-used tools for the development and management of geothermal systems. In many countries both regulators and financial institutions require that some level of numerical modelling is carried out as part of a feasibility study. The geothermal modelling team at the Geothermal Institute and Department of Engineering Science at the University of Auckland (UoA) have been developing reservoir models since the 1980s and are among the world leaders in the technology. Through the taught programme for the Postgraduate Certificate in Geothermal Technology and research degrees the UoA is also responsible for training many of the world’s geothermal reservoir modellers. The worked present here is a summary of the state-of-the-art in geothermal reservoir modelling and how it is used to aid strategic decision-making. Case studies from different countries are presented covering topics such as resource planning and optimisation, re-injection strategies, predicting subsidence, environmental sustainability and enhanced permeability.
Political Bubbles: Financial Crises and the Failure of American Democracy

Acknowledgments vii Introduction 1 Part I: The Political Bubble - Why Washington Allows Financial Crises to Occur Chapter 1 Bubble Expectations 31 Chapter 2 Ideology 38 Chapter 3 Interests 71 Chapter 4 Institutions 90 Chapter 5 The Political Bubble of the Crisis of 2008 117 Part II: Pops - Why Washington Delays in Solving Financial Crises Chapter 6 Historical Lessons of the Responses to Pops 153 Chapter 7 The Pop of 2008 184 Chapter 8 "Pop"ulism 228 Chapter 9 How to Waste a Crisis 251 Epilogue 275 Notes 283 Bibliography 305 Name Index 327 Subject Index 333
The Gela Basin pockmark field in the strait of Sicily (Mediterranean Sea): chemosymbiotic faunal and carbonate signatures of postglacial to modern cold seepage

The geo-biological exploration of a pockmark field located at ca. 800 m below sea level in the Gela basin (Strait of Sicily, Central Mediterranean) provided a relatively diverse chemosymbiotic community and methane-imprinted carbonates. To date, this is the first occurrence of such a type of specialised deep-water cold-seep communities recorded from this key region, before documented in the Mediterranean as rather disjunct findings in its eastern and westernmost basins. The thiotrophic chemosymbiotic organisms recovered from this area include empty tubes of the vestimentiferan Lamellibrachia sp. , loose and articulated shells of lucinids ( Lucinoma kazani, Myrtea amorpha ), vesicomyids ( Isorropodon perplexum ), and gastropods ( Taranis moerchii ). A callianassid decapod ( Calliax sp.) was consistently found alive in large numbers in the pockmark mud. Their post-mortem calcified parts mixed with molluscs and subordinately miliolid foraminifers form a distinct type of skeletal assemblage. Carbonate concretions display δ 13 C values as low as −40‰ PDB suggesting the occurrence of light hydrocarbons in the seeping fluids. Since none of the truly chemosymbiotic organisms was found alive, although their skeletal parts appear at times very fresh, some specimens have been AMS- 14 C dated to shed light on the historical evolution of this site. Lamellibrachiav and Lucinoma are two of the most significant chemosymbiotic taxa reported from various Mediterranean cold seep sites (Alboran Sea and Eastern basin). Specimens from station MEDCOR78 (pockmark #1, Lat. 36°46´10.18" N, Long. 14°01´31.59" E, 815 m below sea level) provided ages of 11736 ± 636 yr cal BP ( Lamellibrachia sp.), and 9609.5 ± 153.5 yr cal BP ( L. kazani ). One shell of M. amorpha in core MEDCOR81 (pockmark #6, Lat 36°45´38.89" N, Long 14°00´07.58" E, 822 m below sea level) provided a sub-modern age of 484 ± 54 yr cal BP. These ages document that fluid seepage at this pockmark site has been episodically sustaining thiotrophic macrobenthic communities since the end of the Younger Dryas stadial up to sub-recent times.
Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy of High-Redshift Obscured Quasars

We present mid-infrared observations of 18 sources from a sample of 21 z ∼ 2 radio-intermediate obscured (type 2) quasars. The mid-infrared spectra of the sources are continuum dominated, and 12 sources show deep silicate absorption with τ9. 7 ∼ 1–2. Combining mid-infrared and optical spectra, we achieve 86% spectroscopic completeness which allows us to confirm that most (63+ 14−22% ) z ∼ 2 radio-intermediate quasars are obscured. The new spectra also prove that many high-redshift type 2 quasars do not show any rest-frame ultraviolet emission lines. From the 18 individual mid-infrared spectra, we classify most of the sources into three subsamples: those with hints of the 7.7 and 6.2 μm polyaromatic hydrocarbons (3/18 sources show PAHs; subsample A), those with an excess of emission around 8 μm but no hint of the 6.2 μm PAH (7/18 cases; subsample B), and pure-continuum sources with no visible excess (4/18 sources; subsample C). The remaining 4/18 sources have spectra that are featureless or too noisy for any features to be visible. In subsample A, averaging the spectra leads to a statistical detection of both 6.2 and 7.7 μm PAHs over the continuum, with the strength of the 7.7 μm PAH comparable to that of submillimeter-selected galaxies (SMGs) at similar redshifts. These sources are in a phase of coeval growth of a supermassive black hole and a host galaxy.
Willingness to Pay for Agricultural Research and Extension Programs

Abstract The North Carolina Agriculture Survey was designed to estimate the willingness to pay for agricultural research and extension programs. We find that North Carolina households are willing to pay between $218 and $401 million for food production programs and between $251 and $698 million for water quality programs annually. We find evidence of divergent validity and differences in the willingness to pay estimates from the single-bound and multiple-bound data.
Increase in dimethylsulfide (DMS) emissions due to eutrophication of coastal waters offsets their reduction due to ocean acidification

Available information from manipulative experiments suggested that the emission of dimethylsulfide (DMS) would decrease in response to the accumulation of anthropogenic CO2 in the ocean (ocean acidification). However, in coastal environments, the carbonate chemistry of surface waters was also strongly modified by eutrophication and related changes in biological activity (increased primary production and change in phytoplankton dominance) during the last 50 years. Here, we tested the hypothesis that DMS emissions in marine coastal environments also strongly responded to eutrophication in addition to ocean acidification at decadal timescales. We used the R-MIRO-BIOGAS model in the eutrophied Southern Bight of the North Sea characterized by intense blooms of Phaeocystis that are high producers of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), the precursor of DMS. We showed that, for the period from 1951 to 2007, eutrophication actually led to an increase of DMS emissions much stronger than the response of DMS emissions to ocean acidification.
Predicting localized dengue incidences using ensemble system identification

Neighbouring regions do have an influence on the pattern of dengue incidences for a particular site. This study presents ensemble models, where dengue incidences of a district can be estimated using a dengue prediction model of that district together with its neighbouring districts. Seven districts of Selangor are chosen in this study and an ensemble dengue incidence prediction model is built based on the respective districts and its neighbours. Dengue incidence models for each district are developed using predictor variables which include previous dengue incidences and weather variables (namely, the mean temperature, relative humidity and cumulative rainfall). These predictors are found to have specific model order lag time. To measure the efficiency of ensemble models, the formed ensemble model for each district is compared with their respective single model using the Mean Square Error (MSE) criteria. It was found that out of seven districts, five districts had better prediction accuracy based on their ensemble models. Hence, we conclude that ensemble models predict dengue incidences well.
Politics Matters: Regulatory Events as Catalysts for Price Formation Under Cap-and-Trade

This paper investigates whether and how allowance prices respond to regulatory news in the world's largest cap-and-trade system - the EU ETS. Capitalizing on an event study method that incorporates an econometric technique designed to handle parameter instability and model uncertainty, we assess the news-implied price response to 29 hand-collected announcements about the EU ETS supply schedule between 2008 and 2014. Our findings document a high responsiveness of the cap-and-trade market to political events and reveal how market participants view the evolution of cap stringency in the light of a particular announcement. We provide strong evidence that backloading caused substantial price declines. The latter evolve gradually as market confidence in the political support for backloading and a stringent EU ETS is shaken in the lengthy legislative process. We also document positive price reactions to the 2020 and 2030 policy packages, but not the 2050 roadmaps.
Trust matters in cooperative agreements but does the nature of the partner also matter

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of trust in cooperative agreements. Trust affects a firm’s agreements in different ways, depending on the nature of the partner (firm or research organization) and according to the stage in the evolution of the agreement. An in-depth look at different components of trust (initial or ongoing) and at different contexts (at the beginning or during the implementation process) suggests that trust has a different influence on alliance success. Results show the influence of trust on the success achieved in the relationship. However, when considering the nature of the partner, the average levels of trust and success are different, as is the influence of trust on success.
Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Statutory Arrangements for the Induction of Newly Qualified Teachers

This document reflects the framework of professional standards for teachers that came into effect from September 2012 (revised June 2013) and the statutory guidance (revised in December 2016) by the DfE in document. NQTs must meet the standards for induction by the end of their induction period. Successful induction following QTS is the bridge between teacher training and a career in teaching and is obligatory for teachers in maintained schools in England and Wales. Although the period of formal induction is not obligatory for independent schools, it is part of the further professional development of NQTs and as such we require staff to undertake the induction in line with national arrangements.