Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The role of the mass media in investor relations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to observe the investor relations (IR) process from the perspective of media sociologists.Design/methodology/approach – The focus of the piece is the changing role of the financial news media in equities markets. It is based on two lengthy periods of research into the part played by communications in investment in the London Stock Exchange. The research looked at three sets of participants and three stages of the communications process: financial public/IR and the IR function, financial journalists and news reporting, and professional investors and their evaluation processes. Much of the work involved semi‐structured interviews with over 100 high‐level participants.Findings – The findings suggest a slow decline in the importance of financial news media in the investment process. However, financial news also continues to play a significant role in trading in the city and can, at times, still have a powerful impact on investment patterns. Consequently, all sides – comp.
Determinants of National Innovation Systems: Policy implications for developing countries

The importance of National Innovation Systems (NIS) for the economic performance of a country is widely acknowledged. In order to close the development gap, it is crucial for developing countries to identify the degree to which knowledge institutions, governments and business corporations determine NIS and deduce relevant innovation policies from this. We model and estimate their relationship from a network perspective for NIS of 46 developed economies and emerging markets at the macro level using secondary data from a series of international measures. We find that, while the structural dynamics of knowledge management, decision-making, government-business relations and the market are crucial to NIS behaviour, overall innovation in this context is dominated by market forces. This implies developing economies should focus on establishing an institutional environment that supports markets and market transactions which, subsequently, supports the domestic NIS and economic growth.
The Relationship between Student Engagement and Selected Desirable Outcomes in the First Year of College

This study examines the relationships between student engagement in the first year of college and three desirable outcomes of undergraduate education. Student engagement is a domain of constructs that measures both the time and energy students devote to educationally purposeful activities and how students perceive different facets of the institutional environment that facilitate and support their learning. The three outcomes represent a portion of what is meant by success in the first year experience, namely obtaining good grades, acquiring intellectual skills that are important for future academic achievement and success in the professional world, and gaining knowledge of a general nature in step with the commonly embraced liberal arts mission of the general curriculum. The study is a secondary analysis of existing data utilizing two primary data sources: student responses to the fourth edition of the College Student Experiences Questionnaire and student records maintained by Indiana University Bloomington. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to model the complex relationships between the students’ precollege characteristics, engagement behaviors and perceptions, and the outcome variables. The findings point to four conclusions: (a) different forms of engagement are precursors to different outcomes, (b) different forms of engagement interact to contribute to desired outcomes, (c) high expectations coupled with adequate support are requisite conditions for learning and development in the first college year, and (d) grades do not necessarily represent how much students believe they have learned. Implications for research, policy and practice are also offered.
Political selection and the relative age effect

We present substantial evidence for the existence of a bias in the distribution of births of leading US politicians in favor of those who were the eldest in their cohort at school. The result is robust to both parametric and nonparametric tests and is not driven by measurement error, redshirting or a sorting eﬀect of highly educated parents. The magnitude of the eﬀect we estimate is larger than what other studies on 'relative age eﬀects' ﬁnd for broader (adult) populations, but is in general consistent with research that looks at high-competition environments. The ﬁndings are in line with a multiplier eﬀect of early human capital acquisition (Cunha and Heckman, 2007) whereby early skill accumulation lowers the cost of further investments.
Timber Dealers’ Perception of their Knowledge of the Forest Law in Uyo Senatorial District of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

This study investigated timber dealers’ knowledge of the forest law and regulations in Uyo Senatorial District. Five timber markets were selected through two-stage sampling. Data were collected from 238 traders in the selected markets using structured questionnaires and subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed that over 90% of the respondents knew and understood the forest law and penalties for violation. Thus, forest offences were not committed out of ignorance, but for undue profits. Knowledge and understanding of the law were independent of respondents’ Local Government Areas (LGAs), but knowledge of penalties for forest offences significantly varied with LGA (p = 0.05). Recommendations for improved compliance with the law and its enforcement strategies include employment of more forest policemen, provision of vehicles for patrol and evacuation of illegal forest produce, adequate penalties on culprits, and adequate political will and earnest tackling of corruption by government. Key words: Timber dealers, Knowledge, Forest Law, Uyo Senatorial District, Nigeria.
INFORMATION AND USAGE OF FREE-ACCESS CONGESTIBLE FACILITIES WITH STOCHASTIC CAPACITY AND DEMAND*

The authors investigate the effect of information on users' participation decisions at a free-access congestible facility that is subject to unpredictable fluctuations in capacity and demand. With demand isoelastic in user cost and user cost isoelastic in the ratio of demand to capacity, optimal design capacity is larger with mean-preserving spreads in capacity and demand if and only if demand elasticity is less than one. Expected welfare is greater with better information. Interestingly, with nonconstant elasticity demand and/or user costs, information can be welfare reducing. Copyright 1996 by Economics Department of the University of Pennsylvania and the Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association.
The Rise of 'Murky Protectionism': Changing Patterns of Trade-Related Industrial Policies in Developing Countries: A Case Study of Indonesia

Over the past two decades, an array of international actors including developed countries, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and international financial institutions (IFIs), have pushed developing countries to remove their discriminatory trade policies in the name of speeding up development. Many analysts claim that, in doing so, developing countries have lost a set of policies central to the success of previous industrialisers. However, few studies actually examine how the new rules of the international system impact developing countries’ choice of industrial policies, and those that do fail to consider the possibility that developing countries are responding to the restrictions by adopting new policy instruments. This paper argues that efforts to ‘shrink the policy space’ of developing countries have not had purely liberalising effects, as is traditionally posited. By examining the trade-related industrial policies used by Indonesia from the mid-1980s to the present, this paper unearths evidence that developing countries are finding ingenious methods of challenging and circumventing some of the new policy restrictions. This suggests that developing countries have more policy space for development than is commonly thought.
Race, Social Capital, and Trust in the Police

Using a national survey of U.S. residents this study examines racial, socioeconomic, and community explanations for the trust of local police. We hypothesize that the construct of social capital offers a nexus for explaining racial differences in attitudes toward the police. We measure social capital as a construct by aggregating together measures that assess the degree of trust and civic engagement in communities. The results indicate that depleted levels of perceived community social capital contribute to higher levels of distrust of local police. Social capital, however, partially mediates the relative distrust of Blacks toward the police. These findings suggest only partial support for a social capital explanation of Blacks’ distrust in the police. The implications of these findings for police reform efforts to mend minority relations in urban cities are discussed.
Environmental Challenge and Water Access in Africa: Empirical Evidences based on Nigeria’s Households Survey

One of the environmental challenges is the effect o n water availability and water-related diseases accounts for 80 percent of sicknesses in d eveloping countries. Despite this, there has remained increasing research on poverty reduction, with little emphasis on water access particularly in Africa. Using micro-level data from survey conducted by the World Bank and National Bureau of Statistics, covering over 5,000 households and 27,000 household members across the 36 States of Nigeria, the study formulat es an econometric model. The results from logistic regression analysis show that the main det erminants of households access to water include: age of the household members, the marital status, the sector where the household member works, the type of employment, the number of working hours, access to informal means of financial credit and the income level of the hou sehold, among others. Some recommendations on how to boost water access of households are made in the study.
The two faces of enhanced stroma: Stroma acts as a tumor promoter and a steric obstacle

In addition to genetic, morphological and biochemical alterations in cells, a key feature of the malignant progression of cancer is the stroma, including cancer cell motility as well as the emergence of metastases. Our current knowledge with regard to the biophysically driven experimental approaches of cancer progression indicates that mechanical aberrations are major contributors to the malignant progression of cancer. In particular, the mechanical probing of the stroma is of great interest. However, the impact of the tumor stroma on cellular motility, and hence the metastatic cascade leading to the malignant progression of cancer, is controversial as there are two different and opposing effects within the stroma. On the one hand, the stroma can promote and enhance the proliferation, survival and migration of cancer cells through mechanotransduction processes evoked by fiber alignment as a result of increased stroma rigidity. This enables all types of cancer to overcome restrictive biological capabilities. On the other hand, as a result of its structural constraints, the stroma acts as a steric obstacle for cancer cell motility in dense three‐dimensional extracellular matrices, when the pore size is smaller than the cell's nucleus. The mechanical properties of the stroma, such as the tissue matrix stiffness and the entire architectural network of the stroma, are the major players in providing the optimal environment for cancer cell migration. Thus, biophysical methods determining the mechanical properties of the stroma, such as magnetic resonance elastography, are critical for the diagnosis and prediction of early cancer stages. Fibrogenesis and cancer are tightly connected, as there is an elevated risk of cancer on cystic fibrosis or, subsequently, cirrhosis. This also applies to the subsequent metastatic process.
Dividend Signalling Equilibria: Quantitative Evidence From The Brussels Stock Exchange

The objective of this research is to document the market reaction to dividend changes on the Brussels Stock Exchange and to relate it to information releases by the firms. The results show important differences between Belgian investors' behavior and U.S. investors' behavior. On the Brussels Stock Exchange, when companies use dividends as the usual way to remunerate stockholders, the market reaction to unexpected dividend changes is weak and statistically insignificant. The market reaction to dividend initiations is also quite insignificant. However, when companies both release information regarding their activities (commercial, financial, or social information) and initiate dividends, the market reaction is comparable to what has been documented in previous U.S. studies. Copyright 1993 by MIT Press.
Explore the differences between perceived service quality and customer satisfaction based on customer expectation of service attributes

Customer expectation is the basic construct and has drawn more attention in service marketing, which is the evaluation criterion of customer satisfaction and perceived service quality, and has important influence on customer satisfaction and perceived service quality. This paper, starting with service attribute, compares the differences between perceived service quality and customer satisfaction from customer expectation perspective. First, making clear about the definition of customer expectation and referring to Kano model, we have three kinds of expectation. Choosing catering industry as the empirical background, by MTMM and path analysis, we find that deserved attribute expectation and proper attribute expectation have much influence on perceived service quality, and desired attribute expectation is the biggest influencing factor on customer satisfaction. Lastly, the management directions of expectation, service quality and customer satisfaction are given.
Profitability of Product Bundling

Using copulas to model the stochastic dependence of values, this article establishes new general conditions for the profitability of product bundling. A multiproduct monopolist generally achieves higher profit from mixed bundling than from separate selling if consumer values for two of its products are negatively dependent, are independent, or have sufficiently limited positive dependence. The profitability of monopoly bundling also extends to situations where a multiproduct firm competes with a single‐product rival.
Central City Size, Metropolitan Institutions and Political Participation

Despite decades of research, our understanding of how institutional contexts influence urban political participation remains muddled. It is argued here that this confusion arises from the diversity of competing hypotheses, failures to conceptualize the causal processes underlying these hypotheses thoroughly, and the use of inadequate controls for rival hypotheses. A more comprehensive specification of the relationship between metropolitan jurisdictional contexts and two modes of participation is provided. After a presentation of a theoretical framework organizing the many extant hypotheses, these are tested, using survey data collected by the Knight Foundation from 2002 in twenty-five urban counties. Contrary to prior work, it is found that the size of local governments is positively associated with participation, while governmental fragmentation diminishes the propensity for political action.
Separation of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Replication from nef-Mediated Pathogenesis in the Human Thymus

ABSTRACT Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is frequently attenuated after long-term culture in vitro. The attenuation process probably involves mutations of functions required for replication and pathogenicity in vivo. Analysis of attenuated HIV-1 for replication and pathogenicity in vivo will help to define these functions. In this study, we examined the pathogenicity of an attenuated HIV-1 isolate in a laboratory worker accidentally exposed to a laboratory-adapted HIV-1 isolate. Using heterochimeric SCID-hu Thy/Liv mice as an in vivo model, we previously defined HIV-1 env determinants (HXB/LW) that reverted to replicate in vivo (L. Su, H. Kaneshima, M. L. Bonyhadi, R. Lee, J. Auten, A. Wolf, B. Du, L. Rabin, B. H. Hahn, E. Terwilliger, and J. M. McCune, Virology 227:46–52, 1997). Here we further demonstrate that HIV-1 replication in vivo can be separated from its pathogenic activity, in that the HXB/LW virus replicated to high levels in SCID-hu Thy/Liv mice, with no significant thymocyte depletion. Restoration of the nef gene in the recombinant HXB/LW genome restored its pathogenic activity, with no significant effect on HIV-1 replication in the thymus. Our results suggest that in vitro-attenuated HIV-1 lacks determinants for pathogenicity as well as for replication in vivo. Our data indicate that (i) the replication defect can be recovered in vivo by mutations in the envgene, without an associated pathogenic phenotype, and (ii)nef can function in the HXB/LW clone as a pathogenic factor that does not enhance HIV-1 replication in the thymus. Furthermore, the HXB/LW virus may be used to study mechanisms of HIV-1nef-mediated pathogenesis in vivo.
PRODUCTIVITY PERFORMANCE OF U.S. TRUNK AND LOCAL SERVCE AIRLINES IN THE ERA OF DEREGULATION

The transition to deregulation of the U.S. air transport industry began in 1976. In this paper we measure total factor productivity growth of the airlines for the first five years of the transition (1976–1980) and compare the performance with that of the preceding years. We find that productivity growth accelerated from 2.8% per year to 5.1% per year. An analysis of covariance model with individual airlines as observations leads to the conclusion that for the trunk airlines nearly all of the acceleration can be explained by increases in output and load factor and decreases in the growth of capacity. For the local service airlines, however, less than half of the acceleration may be so-explained.
Intangible Assets, IFRS, and Analysts’ Earnings Forecasts

We investigate whether the adoption of IFRS in 2005 by Australian firms has been associated with a loss of potentially useful information about intangible assets, as conjectured by Matolcsy and Wyatt (2006). We find that the negative association between analyst forecast error magnitude/dispersion and aggregate reported intangibles previously documented becomes stronger subsequent to IFRS adoption, primarily for firms with high levels of underlying intangible assets. This is contrary to Matolcsy and Wyatt (2006)’s conjecture. Our result is largely due to reported goodwill, rather than other intangible assets, suggesting that the impairment approach to goodwill valuation required by IFRS conveys more useful information than does the former straight-line amortisation approach. When we investigate a sub-sample of firms that report lower intangibles under IFRS than under the prior Australian GAAP, we do find evidence consistent with the Matolcsy and Wyatt (2006) conjecture.
Beta-adrenergic cardiac hypertrophy is mediated primarily by the beta(1)-subtype in the rat heart.

Myocardial beta-adrenergic receptors (beta -ARs) consist of beta(1)- and beta(2)-subtypes, which mediate distinct signaling mechanisms. We examined which beta-AR subtype mediates cardiac hypertrophy. The beta(2)-subtype is predominant in neonatal rat cardiac myocytes (beta(1), 36%vbeta(2), 64%), while the beta(1)-subtype predominates in the adult rat heart (59%v 41%). Stimulation of cultured cardiac myocytes in vitro with isoproterenol (ISO), an agonist for beta(1)- and beta(2)-ARs, caused hypertrophy of myocytes along with increases in transcription of atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) and actin reorganization. All of these ISO-mediated myocyte responses in vitro were inhibited by a beta(1)-AR antagonist, betaxolol, but not by a beta(2)-AR antagonist, ICI 118551. Pertussis toxin failed to affect ISO-induced increases in total protein/DNA content and ANF transcription in vitro. ISO increased LV weight/body weight and ANF transcription in the adult rat in vivo, which were also inhibited by betaxolol but not by ICI 118551. These results suggest that beta -AR stimulated hypertrophy is mediated by the beta(1)-subtype and by a pertussis toxin-insensitive mechanism
Preclinical Evaluation of 68Ga-Labeled 1,4,7-Triazacyclononane-1,4,7-Triacetic Acid-Ubiquicidin as a Radioligand for PET Infection Imaging

Antimicrobial peptides such as ubiquicidin (UBI) are believed to differentiate between mammalian and bacterial or fungal cells. 99mTc-UBI29-41 was previously tested for detecting infection in humans using SPECT. For the present study, the UBI fragment UBI29-41 (TGRAKRRMQYNRR) was conjugated to 1,4,7-triazacyclononane-triacetic acid (NOTA), radiolabeled with 68Ga, and investigated in a rabbit infection model. Methods: 68Ga was obtained from a 1.85-GBq 68Ge/68Ga generator. New Zealand White rabbits were anesthetized with ketamine/medetomidine before tracer administration and placed in a clinical PET/CT scanner. 68Ga-1,4,7-triazacyclononane-1,4,7-triacetic-acid-ubiquicidin29-41 (68Ga-NOTA-UBI29-41) was formulated in saline solution, and 101 ± 41 MBq were administered intravenously. The tracer distribution was studied by PET/CT imaging in animals (a) that were healthy, (b) bearing muscular Staphylococcus aureus infections and turpentine oil-induced muscular inflammations, and (c) bearing ovalbumin-induced lung inflammations. Static PET/CT imaging was performed at different time intervals up to 120 min after injection. For calculation of target-to-nontarget ratios, standardized uptake values were normalized against healthy thigh muscle, representing nontargeted tissue. Results: PET/CT images of healthy animals showed predominant distribution in the kidneys, liver, and bladder; heart and spleen showed moderate, declining uptake, only. The biologic half-life in blood was 29 min. Urinary accumulation of 68Ga-NOTA-UBI29-41 peaked at 3.8 ± 0.91 percentage injected dose per gram (%ID) at 120 min, and 88 ± 5.2 %ID was recovered in total urine. 68Ga-NOTA-UBI29-41 imaging in (b) selectively visualized the muscular infection site and was differentiated from sterile inflammatory processes. Standardized uptake value ratios for muscles (infected/inflamed) were 2.9 ± 0.93, 2.9 ± 0.50, 3.5 ± 0.86, and 3.8 ± 0.90 at 5, 30, 60, and 90 min after injection, respectively. Rabbit lungs with asthma showed insignificant uptake. Conclusion: 68Ga-NOTA-UBI29-41 was strongly localized in bacteria-infected areas and minimally detected in a sterile inflammation area in rabbit muscles. The findings propose this compound to be an excellent first-line PET/CT tracer to allow the distinguishing of infection from inflammation.
Factors affecting exercise attendance and completion in sedentary older adults: a meta-analytic approach.

BACKGROUND Many different constructs are used currently in the literature to assess exercise adherence. This study examined whether the same or different variables predict exercise attendance and exercise completion among sedentary older adults. METHODS Thirty-seven randomized control trials were selected from articles published between 1980 and 2000 that tested exercise interventions for sedentary older adults. Block-entry, weighted, hierarchical meta-regression analyses were conducted. RESULTS Different factors predicted attendance and completion. Group-based (P < .05) and resistance exercise (P < .1) predicted higher attendance rates than individual-based and aerobic exercise. In contrast, facility-based exercise was associated with higher completion rates than homebased exercise (P < .1). CONCLUSIONS Results show that completing a program is not synonymous with good attendance. Program designers need to consider different strategies to boost both of these rates that need to be maximized to best benefit program participants.