Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intraday Seasonalities and Macroeconomic News Announcements

Using a data set consisting of three years of 5-minute intraday stock index returns for major European stock indices and U.S. macroeconomic surprises, the conditional mean and volatility behaviors in European market were investigated. The findings suggested that the opening of the U.S market significantly raised the level of volatility in Europe, and that all markets respond in an identical fashion. Furthermore, the U.S. macroeconomic surprises exerted an immediate and major impact on both European stock markets’ returns and volatilities. Thus, high frequency data appear to be critical for the identification of news that impacted the markets.
Comparison of global inventories of CO emissions from biomass burning derived from remotely sensed data

Abstract. We compare five global inventories of monthly CO emissions named VGT, ATSR, MODIS, GFED3 and MOPITT based on remotely sensed active fires and/or burned area products for the year 2003. The objective is to highlight similarities and differences by focusing on the geographical and temporal distribution and on the emissions for three broad land cover classes (forest, savanna/grassland and agriculture). Globally, CO emissions for the year 2003 range between 365 Tg CO (GFED3) and 1422 Tg CO (VGT). Despite the large uncertainty in the total amounts, some common spatial patterns typical of biomass burning can be identified in the boreal forests of Siberia, in agricultural areas of Eastern Europe and Russia and in savanna ecosystems of South America, Africa and Australia. Regionally, the largest difference in terms of total amounts (CV > 100%) and seasonality is observed at the northernmost latitudes, especially in North America and Siberia where VGT appears to overestimate the area affected by fires. On the contrary, Africa shows the best agreement both in terms of total annual amounts (CV = 31%) and of seasonality despite some overestimation of emissions from forest and agriculture observed in the MODIS inventory. In Africa VGT provides the most reliable seasonality. Looking at the broad land cover types, the range of contribution to the global emissions of CO is 64–74%, 23–32% and 3–4% for forest, savanna/grassland and agriculture, respectively. These results suggest that there is still large uncertainty in global estimates of emissions and it increases if the comparison is carried by out taking into account the temporal (month) and spatial (0.5° × 0.5° cell) dimensions. Besides the area affected by fires, also vegetation characteristics and conditions at the time of burning should also be accurately parameterized since they can greatly influence the global estimates of CO emissions.
Market Reaction to Firm Inclusion on the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation Underfunding List

This study investigates stock market reaction to a firm's inclusion on the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's (PBGC) "Top 50" list of firms with the most underfunded pension plans. The PBGC's use of the list to put pressure on firm managers to increase pension funding has been controversial. Abnormal returns calculated around press release dates are not statistically significant, inconsistent with the PBGC's implicit goal of having third parties exert pressure on firm managers to increase funding. However, for one list that is reported by The Wall Street Journal, reaction is statistically positive. The positive reaction is consistent with the theory that firms with underfunded pension obligations have a put option with respect to the PBGC.
Atmospheric moisture transport: the bridge between ocean evaporation and Arctic ice melting

Abstract. Changes in the atmospheric moisture transport have been proposed as a vehicle for interpreting some of the most significant changes in the Arctic region. The increasing moisture over the Arctic during the last decades is not strongly associated with the evaporation that takes place within the Arctic area itself, despite the fact that the sea ice cover is decreasing. Such an increment is consistent and is more dependent on the transport of moisture from the extratropical regions to the Arctic that has increased in recent decades and is expected to increase within a warming climate. This increase could be due either to changes in circulation patterns which have altered the moisture sources, or to changes in the intensity of the moisture sources because of enhanced evaporation, or a combination of these two mechanisms. In this short communication we focus on the more objective assessment of the strong link between ocean evaporation trends and Arctic Sea ice melting. We will critically analyse several recent results suggesting links between moisture transport and the extent of sea ice in the Arctic, this being one of the most distinct indicators of continuous climate change both in the Arctic and on a global scale. To do this we will use a sophisticated Lagrangian approach to develop a more robust framework on some of these previous disconnecting results, using new information and insights. Results reached in this study stress the connection between two climate change indicators, namely an increase in evaporation over source regions (mainly the Mediterranean Sea, the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean in the paths of the global western boundary currents and their extensions) and Arctic ice melting precursors.
Does Knowledge of Hard News Go with Knowledge of Soft News? A Cross-National Analysis of the Structure of Public Affairs Knowledge

In this timely book, leading researchers consider how media inform democracy in six countries – the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. Taking as their starting point the idea that citizens need to be briefed adequately with a full and intelligent coverage of public affairs so that they can make responsible, informed choices rather than act out of ignorance and misinformation, contributors use a comparative approach to examine the way in which the shifting media landscape is affecting and informing the democratic process across the globe. In particular, they ask: •Can a comparative approach provide us with new answers to the question of how media inform democracy? •Has increased commercialization made media systems more similar and affected equally the character of news and public knowledge throughout the USA and Europe? •Is soft news and misinformation predominantly related to an American exceptionalism, based on the market domination of its media and marginalized public broadcaster? This study combines a content analysis of press and television news with representative surveys in six nations. It makes an indispensable contribution to debates about media and democracy, and about changes in media systems. It is especially useful for media theory, comparative media, and political communication courses.
Privatization and Public Enterprises

This paper considers whether privatization is an appropriate response to the problems associated with large public enterprise sectors in industrial and developing countries. It is argued that privatization is likely to be the source of some gains in efficiency, as privatized enterprises are less susceptible to political interference, management incentives are improved, and government financial backing is withdrawn. However, more significant gains can be expected from measures that result in public or privatized enterprises being subjected to competitive pressures, and attempts to improve upon incentive and control mechanisms currently used to influence public enterprise performance. From the fiscal point of view, only if there are associated improvements in efficiency can privatization be of benefit to the budget.
Estimating the Relationship between Immigrant and Native Workers in Australia: A Production Theory Approach

The impact of immigration on labour markets depends, among other factors, on the substitutability or complementarity between immigrants and natives. This relationship is examined by treating migrant and native labour, along with capital, as inputs in production process. Estimated price elasticities of substitution between immigrants and native labour suggest that in Australian context, an increase in the wage rate of one group of workers leads to an increased demand for the other. The estimated elasticities of substitution between immigrant and native workers and the complementary relationship between immigrants and capital provide an insight into the complex effects of immigration.
The Impact of Organizational and Environmental Factors on the Implementation of Internet-Based Marketing Channels

Abstract This article presents a framework for understanding the implementation of Internet-based marketing channels. This process includes the activities from the time before a firm first considers using the Internet as a marketing channel until it is fully implemented. Based on data from a survey among 353 Danish manufacturers it is found that different factors are important in the implementation of different dimensions of Internet-based marketing channels. For instance top management support and knowledge of IT are the most important factors driving the implementation of the Internet for presentation of the firm, opening hours, and product information, whereas willingness to cannibalize and Internet market maturity are the most important factors driving the adoption of home pages for receiving orders. The data also indicates that the importance of the factors affecting the implementation of new channels may differ between the stages of implementation.
India's Public Health System: How Well Does it Function at the National Level?

India has relatively poor health outcomes, despite having a well-developed administrative system, good technical skills in many fields, and an extensive network of public health institutions for research, training, and diagnostics. This suggests that the health system may be misdirecting its efforts, or may be poorly designed. To explore this, the authors use instruments developed to assess the performance of public health systems in the United States and Latin America based on the framework of the Essential Public Health Functions, identified as the basic functions that an effective public health system must fulfill. The authors focus on the federal level in India, using data obtained from senior health officials in the central government. The data indicate that the reported strengths of the system lie in having the capacity to carry out most of the public health functions. Its reported weaknesses lie in three broad areas. First, it has overlooked some fundamental public health functions such as public health regulations and their enforcement. Second, deep management flaws hinder effective use of resources-including inadequate focus on evaluation, on assessing quality of services, on dissemination and use of information, and on openness to learning and innovation. Resources could also be much better used with small changes, such as the use of incentives and challenge funds, and greater flexibility to reassign resources as priorities and needs change. Third, the central government functions too much in isolation and needs to work more closely with other key actors, especially with sub-national governments, as well as with the private sector and with communities. The authors conclude that with some reassessment of priorities and better management practices, health outcomes could be substantially improved.
Human bone marrow and umbilical cord blood cells generate CD4+ and CD8+ single-positive T cells in murine fetal thymus organ culture.

Murine fetal thymus lobes isolated from both normal and scid/scid mice can be colonized by donor cells from either human bone marrow or human umbilical cord blood in vitro. Subsequent organ culture results in a transient production of a few CD4+ CD8+ (double-positive) cells and then the accumulation of CD4+ or CD8+ (single-positive) T cells. A significant number of immature T-cell intermediates (e.g., CD8low, CD3-/low cells) were present in early organ cultures, suggesting that these were progenitors of the mature CD3+/high single-positive T cells that dominated late cultures. Depletion of mature T cells from the donor-cell populations did not affect their ability to colonize thymus lobes. However, colonization depended on the presence of CD7+ progenitor T cells. Limiting dilution experiments using mature T-cell populations (human peripheral blood leukocytes, human bone marrow cells, and human umbilical cord blood cells) suggested that thymic organ culture supports the growth of progenitor T cells but does not support the growth of mature human T cells. Each of these donor populations produced single-positive populations with different CD4/CD8 ratios, suggesting that precursor cells from different sources differ qualitatively in their capacity to differentiate into T cells.
Participatory Initiatives and Political Representation: The Case of Local Councillors in Sweden

Abstract The health of political parties and the institutions of representative democracy have been extensively questioned during the last decade due to evidence of a widespread decline in voting turnout, political trust, and party membership as well as identification. An often-proposed, but also often-questioned, strategy to strengthen representative democracy is for political institutions to offer alternative forms of political participation through so-called participatory initiatives. The literature suggests that participatory initiatives will have little impact on representative democracy if no adaptation among political representatives is apparent. This paper explores the consistency between participatory initiatives in Swedish municipalities and the attitudes, practices and role-taking of local councillors, comparing pioneer municipalities where extensive numbers of participatory initatives have been executed vis-à-vis hesitator municipalities where few initiatives have been implemented. The study indicates that local participatory initiatives may stimulate political representation by creating new channels for citizen input and communication between citizens and representatives that are supported by local councillors in the pioneer municipalities. However, the core roles of parties and councillors in representative democracy appear not to be challenged by these initiatives, being similar in both groups of municipalities. The article is concluded by a discussion of the implications of these results for the function of participatory initiatives in local democracy.
Sipadan: A SCUBA-diving paradise: An analysis of tourism impact, diver satisfaction and tourism management

Since its discovery as a dive site in the late 1980s, Sipadan has become a Mecca for international SCUBA divers. Increasing development, crowding and their environmental impact have become a matter of concern. This paper examines the tourism developments on the island in relation to their impact, diver satisfaction, problems of management and their possible solution. A questionnaire was designed to elicit the divers' profiles, their satisfaction with environmental, social, service and facilities aspects of the island and their perception of the impact of tourism development. Some 314 questionnaires were completed by divers from 22 different countries. The result revealed overwhelming satisfaction (97.8 percent) mainly due to the island's outstanding marine biodiversity, easy diving access, and the friendliness and efficiency of the staff. Impacts of most concern were crowding, over-development, noise and litter. Sipadan should be constituted as a Marine Park and steps should be taken to reduce the physical, ecological and social impact on the island. In view of the island's small size (one square kilometre) and its vulnerability to human interference, it is recommended ideally that all diving operators should be moved either to the mainland or nearby islands and the necessary rehabilitation should take place to re-establish the ecological balance. If this is not practicable there should be a tighter limitation on the number of divers and a centralization of resources.
Energy metabolism and ATP balance in animal cell cultivation using a stoichiometrically based reaction network

A metabolic reaction network is developed for the estimation of the stoichiometric production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in animal cell culture. By using the material balance data from fed‐batch and batch cultures of hybridoma cells, the stoichiometric ATP productions are determined with estimated effective P/O ratios of 2 for NADH and 1.2 for FADH2. A significant percentage of the ATP requirement (16–41%) in hybridoma cells is generated directly from free energy release without the participation of oxygen. The oxidative phosphorylation of NADH accounts for about 60% of the total ATP production in the fed‐batch cultures and about 47% in the batch culture. The oxidative phosphorylation of FADH2 accounts for less then 20% of the total ATP production in all cases.
Towards a Spatial Theory of Organizations: Creating New Organizational Forms to Improve Business Performance

Research in the field of management and organizational theory generally indicates the absense of space in organizations. Space has largely been a neglected phenomenon, left implicite to practice as something 'limiting' without actually 'existing'. The aim of this research paper is to explore and develop the meaning and concept of space in organizational design theory. By making 'the case for space' we postulate the emergence of a spatial theory of organizations, which markedly breaks with the resource-based ('placebound') view on organizations, common in organizational theory and practice. In this first paper we investigate the metaphor of space, specifically with a view to its potential value for contemporary practice. Furthermore, we discuss 'space and time' in a managerial framework and develop an organizational spatial design perspective allowing managers to overcome existing constraints and boundaries, in order for their organizations to better succeed in a complex, volatile and turbulent world without being restricted by traditional limitations, which often require continuous adjusting and/or adapting through restructuring and change. In a further working paper - planned for mid 2008 - we intend to extend the notion of space in modern organizations to involve a distinct set of design criteria and parameters allowing space to be operationalized in organizational practice.
AS1411 aptamer tagged PLGA‐lecithin‐PEG nanoparticles for tumor cell targeting and drug delivery

Liposomes and polymers are widely used drug carriers for controlled release since they offer many advantages like increased treatment effectiveness, reduced toxicity and are of biodegradable nature. In this work, anticancer drug‐loaded PLGA‐lecithin‐PEG nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized and were functionalized with AS1411 anti‐nucleolin aptamers for site‐specific targeting against tumor cells which over expresses nucleolin receptors. The particles were characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The drug‐loading efficiency, encapsulation efficiency and in vitro drug release studies were conducted using UV spectroscopy. Cytotoxicity studies were carried out in two different cancer cell lines, MCF‐7 and GI‐1 cells and two different normal cells, L929 cells and HMEC cells. Confocal microscopy and flowcytometry confirmed the cellular uptake of particles and targeted drug delivery. The morphology analysis of the NPs proved that the particles were smooth and spherical in shape with a size ranging from 60 to 110 nm. Drug‐loading studies indicated that under the same drug loading, the aptamer‐targeted NPs show enhanced cancer killing effect compared to the corresponding non‐targeted NPs. In addition, the PLGA‐lecithin‐PEG NPs exhibited high encapsulation efficiency and superior sustained drug release than the drug loaded in plain PLGA NPs. The results confirmed that AS1411 aptamer‐PLGA‐lecithin‐PEG NPs are potential carrier candidates for differential targeted drug delivery. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2012; 109: 2920–2931. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Emergence of Organization Through Communication

Taylor, Cooren, Giroux, and Robichaud (1996) theorize that an organization is created entirely through the interpretations of its members and it evolves as those conversations change. Demonstrating the Taylor et al. theory, the current study focuses on the outcomes of management vision and strategic planning sessions in a division of a large Southwestern University. It explores the ways organization emerges through the discourse of the managers, how text is amplified to support the organization as a whole, the ways organization continues to emerge in communication, and in what ways the emergent view of organization exists throughout the division. The results of the study support the Taylor et al. theory. Management participants created an expanded view of the organization through discourse and then linked it to the university as a whole. Evidence was found supporting continued reformulation but it was limited to the management participants and did not include hourly employees.
Aberrant Presenilin-1 Expression Downregulates LDL Receptor-Related Protein (LRP): Is LRP Central to Alzheimer's Disease Pathogenesis?

Low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein (LRP) polymorphisms have recently been associated with an increased susceptibility of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Furthermore, LRP has been linked to molecules that confer susceptibility to AD (apolipoprotein E, alpha-2-macroglobulin, amyloid precursor protein), previously with the exception of the presenilins. Here we report that aberrant presenilin-1 expression in vivo and in vitro downregulates LRP. Specifically, transgenic mice overexpressing the M146L or L286V presenilin-1 mutation show decreased levels of LRP expression in neuronal populations where presenilin-1 and LRP are closely colocalized or coexpressed. Moreover, cell lines transfected with presenilin-1 also expressed decreased levels of LRP. These findings suggest that LRP may be central to AD pathogenesis since all proteins genetically associated with AD can now be linked via a single pathway to LRP.
Cooperative Randomized MIMO-OFDM Downlink for Multicell Networks: Design and Analysis

This paper proposes a low-complexity physical (PHY) layer design to introduce cooperation in the downlink of an infrastructure-based multicell multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) network, aimed at supporting future high-throughput broadband wireless Internet access with large-scale coverage. In such a system, several multiantenna base stations (BSs) are organized in a cellular architecture to serve multiantenna mobile stations (MSs) and are connected to a central service unit via a high-speed wired backbone. To improve the network performance, a novel PHY layer design is proposed that allows cooperation among an arbitrary and unknown number of BSs by suitably randomizing the MIMO-OFDM block codes used by the BSs. Such a randomized MIMO-OFDM code renders the encoding/decoding rule independent of the number of actual BSs cooperating and works without any channel feedback, which greatly simplifies the protocol as well as the MS design. To provide performance insights and develop PHY layer designs, this paper provides analytical upper bounds on the symbol error probability for linear receivers, which allow to accurately evaluate the diversity order and the coding gain achievable through the proposed scheme. Lastly, we present numerical results that validate the theory, and highlight the performance gain and the coverage expansion attainable with our cooperative transceiver.