Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants of Escalating Costs in Low Risk Workers’ Compensation Claims

Objective: To identify and quantify attributes that lead to unanticipated cost escalation in workers’ compensation claims. Methods: We constructed four claim categories: low initial reserve/low cost, migrated catastrophic (low initial reserve/high cost), high initial reserve/low cost, and catastrophic (high initial reserve/high cost). To assess the attributes associated with the increased cost of migrated catastrophic claims, we analyzed 36,329 Louisiana workers’ compensation claims in the four categories over a 5-year period. Results: In the 729 claims initially thought to be low-cost claims (migrated catastrophic), the most significant predictors for cost escalation were attorney involvement and claim duration, followed by low back disorder, married/single/divorced status, male gender, small company size, high premium, reporting delays, and older age. These injuries accounted for 2% of all claims but 32.3% of the costs. Accelerated escalation of costs occurred late in the claim cycle (2 years). Conclusion: Certain attributes, particularly attorney involvement and claim duration, are associated with unanticipated cost escalation in a small number of claims that drastically affect overall losses. The results of this study suggest that these cases may be identified and addressed before rapid escalation occurs.
How Can External Relationships Enhance Innovation in SMEs? New Evidence for Europe*

This paper investigates the role of external relationships as key drivers of small business innovation. An empirical analysis is based on data for approximately 500 small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in six European countries. The results indicate that innovation performance is higher in SMEs that are proactive in strengthening their relationships with innovative suppliers, users, and customers. Furthermore, the findings of this paper support the view that SMEs will have better new product development results if they improve their relationships with laboratories and research institutes.
The Effect of China's Weak Institutional Environment on the Quality of Big Four Audits

ABSTRACT: This study examines whether China's weak institutional environment results in lower-quality audits by the Big 4 firms. We find that the Big 4 assign their less experienced partners to companies that are listed only in China compared with clients cross-listed in Hong Kong. The Big 4 are less likely to issue modified audit reports, and they charge lower audit fees for clients that are listed only in China. Finally, companies listed only in China have larger signed abnormal accruals than do companies cross-listed in Hong Kong. Overall, we conclude that the weak institutional environment in China results in the Big 4 firms providing lower-quality audits to companies that are listed only in China.
Are Trust and Reciprocity Related within Individuals?

Abstract We provide new evidence about a positive correlation between the own amount sent and the own amount returned in the investment game. Our analysis relies on the experimental data collected under the strategy method. While the percentage returned is independent of the amount received for most of our subjects, it is strongly correlated to their amount sent as a trustor. Our analysis is based on a two-way classification of subjects: according to their trusting type and according to their reciprocal type. We show the existence of a strong positive relation between trusting types and reciprocal types within subjects.
Vibrational fingerprints of LiNbO3-LiTaO3 mixed crystals

The structural and vibrational properties of lithium niobate (LN) - lithium tantalate (LT) mixed crystals (LNT, LiNb<sub>1-x</sub>Ta<sub>x</sub>O<sub>3</sub>) are investigated over the whole composition range by first-principles simulations. The crystal volume grows roughly linearly from LT to LN, whereby the lattice parameters a and c show minor deviations from the Vegard behavior between the end-compounds, LiNbO<sub>3</sub> and LiTaO<sub>3</sub>. Our calculations in the framework of the density functional theory show the TO<sub>1</sub>, TO<sub>2</sub> and TO<sub>4</sub>-modes to become harder with increasing Nb concentration. TO<sub>3</sub> becomes softer with increasing Nb content, instead. The frequency shifts of the zone center A<sub>1</sub>-TO phonon modes for crystals with different compositions are found to be as large as 30 cm<sup>-1</sup>. Raman spectroscopy, which is sensitive to the A<sub>1</sub> modes, can be therefore employed to determine the crystal composition.
Does ADR Listing Affect the Dynamics of Volatility in Emerging Markets?

This paper analyzes the time-series variation in the return volatility of non-US stocks from emerging markets that are cross-listed on US exchanges. Unlike previous studies in the cross-listing literature, return volatility is modeled using conditional heteroscedasticity models. We find that firms’ exposure to risks such as local and global market betas remain unchanged after cross-listing. Moreover, we do not identify notable changes in the dynamics of the volatility of cross-listed stocks after cross-listing except for leverage effects. We further show that the mean level of conditional variance is not affected after cross-listing. Thus, our results provide counter-evidence to the belief that foreign investor participation drives volatility upward.
The Effect of Tax Enforcement on Tax Morale

In this paper we argue that tax enforcement is an additional contextual factor affecting tax morale, one of the most important determinants of tax compliance. By using a unique dataset that merges a representative sample of Italian households with administrative data on tax enforcement, we first find that tax morale is positively correlated with tax enforcement. Second, to deal with possible endogeneity of tax enforcement, we show that results are confirmed in an IV specification using the change in the tax gap at the provincial level as an instrument for tax enforcement. Finally, we provide evidence that the impact of tax enforcement and social environment is stronger at low quantiles of tax morale. Our results show that besides that of lowering the expected value of tax evasion, tax enforcement has an additional and indirect effect on tax compliance through its effect on tax morale.
The Dynamics of Poverty and Employment: The Contribution of Qualitative Longitudinal Research to Understanding Transitions, Adaptations and Trajectories

In recent years there have been significant advances in our understanding of the dynamics of poverty, social exclusion and labour market transitions through the analysis of large-scale panel studies. This article examines the particular contribution that longitudinal qualitative research might additionally make in these areas, illustrated by evidence from an ongoing longitudinal qualitative study of lone mothers and their children, following the families as they leave income support for employment.
Client Conservatism and Auditor-Client Contracting

ABSTRACT: We find that auditors of more conservative clients charge lower fees, issue fewer going concern opinions, and resign less frequently, consistent with more conservative clients imposing less engagement risk on their auditors. Using path analysis, we find evidence that both inherent risk and auditor business risk explain these associations. Also consistent with conservatism reducing auditor business risk, we find that client conservatism is associated with fewer lawsuits against auditors and with fewer client restatements. Taken together, our results are consistent with auditors viewing client conservatism as an important determinant of engagement risk that, in turn, affects auditor-client contracting decisions. Our findings should be of interest to auditors who actively manage client risk and to standard-setters who recently dropped conservatism as a desired attribute of financial reporting quality. Data Availability: All data are publicly available from sources indicated in the text.
Subjectivity and the Weighting of Performance Measures: Evidence from a Balanced Scorecard

This study examines how different types of performance measures were weighted in a subjective balanced scorecard bonus plan adopted by a major financial services firm. Drawing upon economic and psychological studies on performance evaluation and compensation criteria, we develop hypotheses regarding the weights placed on different types of measures. We find that the subjectivity in the scorecard plan allowed superiors to reduce the “balance” in bonus awards by placing most of the weight on financial measures, to incorporate factors other than the scorecard measures in performance evaluations, to change evaluation criteria from quarter to quarter, to ignore measures that were predictive of future financial performance, and to weight measures that were not predictive of desired results. This evidence suggests that psychology‐based explanations may be equally or more relevant than economicsbased explanations in explaining the firm's measurement practices. The high level of subjectivity in the balanced scorec.
Computationally translating molecular discoveries into tools for medicine: translational bioinformatics articles now featured in JAMIA

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the invention of the gene expression microarray. As mRNA transcripts serve as the blueprint within cells for making proteins, measuring mRNA levels was seen as an accurate and manageable way to investigate cell and tissue processes. Those earliest microarrays in 1995 could measure 48 transcripts in parallel in plants,1 but within 1 year were scaled up to measure more than 1000 transcripts including those in human tissues. Today, these microarrays are essentially commodity items, commonly used to study human health and disease in hospitals and academic institutions, as well as in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. While tens of thousands of publications have already been published referencing microarrays, this is just the start. Similar arrays are already used to probe genetic differences in DNA, but even these will soon be supplanted by whole genome sequencing, where we can expect all three billion human base pairs to be sequenced for a few thousand dollars. The exponential decrease in costs for whole genome sequencing has been described as going beyond the decline we are used to from Moore's law.2 These enormous amounts of molecular data make it clear that there is a pressing need for computational methods to analyze and interpret them. Molecular data have never been foreign to the pages of JAMIA or AMIA Symposia. The second volume of JAMIA back in 1995 contained an article describing how the internet and newly introduced world wide web could be used to facilitate genome sequencing efforts across two academic genome centers and introduced concepts like yeast artificial chromosomes, sequence tagged sites and contigs.3 The 2002 AMIA Fall Symposium suggested bioinformatics and medical informatics … Correspondence to Dr Atul J Butte, Stanford University School of Medicine, 251 Campus Drive MS-5415, Room X-163, Stanford, CA 94305-5415, USA; abutte{at}stanford.edu
Environmental isolation of Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii from living trees in Guindy National Park, Chennai, South India

We report for the first time the environmental isolation of Cryptococcus neoformans from decaying wood and bark debris of living trees in Guindy National Park, Chennai, South India. Of the 40 trees screened, four isolates of Cryptococcus species were recovered of which two were Cryptococcus gattii, one was C. neoformans and one was untypable. The isolation of C. neoformans from Eucalyptus globulus and C. gattii from Cassia marginata in this study constitutes the first record of the natural occurrence of C. neoformans varieties in these tree species anywhere in the world. The isolation of C. gattii from Syzygium cumini represents the first isolation from South India.
Fungal pathogens and primary antifungal prophylaxis in patients with hematological malignancies: one year experience.

BACKGROUND Febrile neutropenia (FN) is generally a complication of cancer chemotherapy in patients with hematological malignancies. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the febrile neutropenia episodes of hematological patients and their outcomes with respect to fungal pathogens, primary antifungal prophylaxis antifungal therapy. METHODS All consecutive patients older than 14 years of age and who developed febrile neutropenia episodes from September 2010 to November 2011 were incorporated into this study. RESULTS In total, we retrospectively evaluated 86 consecutive patients and their 148 neutropenic episodes. Of the 86 patients, 45 were male and the mean age was 47,65±15,06 years (range: 17-82 years). The mean MASCC score was 18,72 ± 9,43. Systemic antifungal drug was initiated to 17 patients with probable fungal infection and 12 patients with possible fungal infection. Of seven patients who received posaconazole prophylaxis, five were treated with systemic fungal infection due to possible fungal infection. CONCLUSIONS It is obvious that more studies focused on primary prophylaxis are needed and primary or secondary antifungal prophylaxis should be evaluated in terms of provided benefits and disadvantages. Timely and appropriately initiated antifungal treatment is one of the most important factors for a good prognosis for recovery from a neutropenic phase.
Pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus of the rat: Cytoarchitecture, cytochemistry, and some extrapyramidal connections of the mesopontine tegmentum

The pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPTn) was originally defined on cytoarchitectonic grounds in humans. We have employed cytoarchitectonic, cytochemical, and connectional criteria to define a homologous cell group in the rat. A detailed cytoarchitectonic delineation of the mesopontine tegmentum, including the PPTn, was performed employing tissue stained for Nissl substance. Choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) immunostained tissue was then analyzed in order to investigate the relationship of cholinergic perikarya, dendritic arborizations, and axonal trajectories within this cytoarchitectonic scheme. To confirm some of our cytoarchitectonic delineations, the relationships between neuronal elements staining for ChAT and tyrosine hydroxylase were investigated on tissue stained immunohistochemically for the simultaneous demonstration of these two enzymes.
The European Business Interest and the Nation State: Large-firm Lobbying in the European Union and Member States

Firms are legitimate political actors, but few empirical studies examine how firms have re-structured their political organisation to maximise the political options in the constantly evolving European public policy system — or assessed the impact of these changes on the member states' industrial relations. Based on a study of Europe's largest firms, this article explores the degree to which the creation of the single market and the strengthening of European institutions has harmonised the firms' political activity across borders, sectors and issues. It concludes that multinationals have established a sophisticated political capacity that allows them to develop new multilevel and ad hoc political alliances and that this new political co-ordination has standardised political responses across issues and altered national public policy systems.
Pricing a defaultable bond with a stochastic recovery rate

A closed-form formula for the analysis of defaultable bonds is essential for market practitioners and financial researchers. In order to make the model more reasonable without loss of generality, it is necessary to specify the stochastic processes of the default-free short interest rate, the default intensity rate, and the recovery rate as affine functions with multi-dimensional space of the correlated state variables within the models. However, the pricing procedure is more sophisticated when the model includes such specifications. The purpose of our study is to deal with the complicated pricing procedure by utilizing the concept of the moment-generating function and then to derive the closed-form solution of a defaultable bond. Furthermore, we provide an example to illustrate the application of our model and conduct sensitivity analyses of the bond value for changes in the parameters of our model. Our closed-form formula based on more realistic specifications not only enables one to appropriately price the defaultable bond, but also enables portfolio managers to undertake sophisticated portfolio management and hedging analyses.
Exercise pre-conditioning ameliorates blood–brain barrier dysfunction in stroke by enhancing basal lamina

Abstract Objective: We investigated whether exercise pre-conditioning ameliorates stroke-induced blood–brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction by strengthening basal lamina. Methods: Adult male Sprague–Dawley rats were subjected to a 30 minute exercise program on a treadmill each day for 3 weeks. Stroke was induced by a 2 hour middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion using an intraluminal filament in the exercised and non-exercised groups. BBB dysfunction was then determined by brain edema. Expression of collagen IV, the major component of basal lamina essential for maintenance of the endothelial permeability barrier, was quantitatively detected by Western blot and immunocytochemistry. Ex vivo techniques were used to compare collagen IV-labeled vessels in response to ischemic insult. Results: Brain edema was significantly (p<0.05) reduced after stroke in the exercised group. Western blot analysis indicated that exercise pre-conditioning enhanced collagen IV expression and reduced the loss after stroke. Immunocytochemistry demonstrated that collagen IV-positive vessels were significantly (p<0.01) increased in exercised rats. In ex vivo study, after exercised brain was incubated with ischemic brain tissue, a significantly (p<0.01) higher expression of collagen IV in cortex and striatum was observed compared to non-exercised brain following the same treatment. The ex vivo study also revealed that matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 plays a key role in exercise-strengthened collagen IV expression against ischemia/reperfusion injury. Discussion: Our results indicate that exercise pre-conditioning improved BBB function and enhanced basal lamina, which involved MMP-9.
Arbitrage Asset Pricing under Exchange Risk

This paper extends the arbitrage pricing theory to an international setting. Specifying a linear factor return-generating model in local currency terms, the author shows that the usual risk-diversification rule in the arbitrage pricing theory does not yield a riskless portfolio unless currency fluctuations obey the same factor model as asset returns. The author then considers an arbitrage portfolio whose exchange risk is hedged by foreign riskless bonds. Under the resulting no-arbitrage conditions, the expected returns are not on the same hyperplane, unlike the closed-economy arbitrage pricing theory, unless they are adjusted by the cost of exchange risk hedging. Copyright 1991 by American Finance Association.
Electromagnetic source imaging: Backus–Gilbert resolution spread function‐constrained and functional MRI‐guided spatial filtering

Electromagnetic source imaging techniques are usually limited by their low spatial resolution, even though these techniques have high temporal resolution. Our heuristic analysis shows that the spatial ambiguity of electromagnetic source localization arises from interference from other sources. In this paper, we suggest a new inverse solution based on the principle of spatial filtering to effectively suppress the interference from other sources, especially from the far sources. By means of this approach, functional MRI information can also be effectively integrated into the inverse solution to further improve spatial accuracy of source localization. Most importantly, the results of source localization by this approach are not significantly biased by incompatible fMRI information. Our simulations and experimental results using electroencephalography based on a realistic head model show that the Backus–Gilbert resolution spread function‐constrained and functional MRI‐guided spatial filtering suggested in this paper provide high spatial accuracy and resolution of source localization, even in the presence of multiple simultaneously active sources. Hum Brain Mapp, 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Accounting Conservatism – Does Ownership Structure Matter ?

In this study, we link different ultimate ownership structures and firm characteristics with the use of conditional accounting conservatism. We consider how individual firm characteristics can be related to the equity market demand or managerial motivation for the use of accounting conservatism. To empirically investigate this relation we consider two types of ownership structures who ex-ante have different firm characteristics which influence the equity market demand and managerial motivation for accounting conservatism, namely state-controlled and family-controlled firms. Using a sample of both types of firms listed on Hong Kong Stock Exchange and stock market and accounting measures of accounting conservatism, we find that state-controlled firms are significantly less conservative, which is consistent with the managerial motivation rather than equity market demand for accounting conservatism. Our results indicate that ownership structure does matter for managers in adopting accounting conservatism and investors should take into account these firm characteristics and different ownership structures when interpreting accounting figures. JEL Classification: G30, G32
Does Immigration Weaken Natives' Support for the Welfare State? Evidence from Germany

Using data from the 1997 and 2002 waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel and from official statistics, the present paper studies whether natives are less supportive of state help for the unemployed in regions where the share of foreigners among the unemployed is high. The effect of immigration or ethnic diversity in general on the political support for the welfare state has received increasing attention in the last decade, both in academia and in the political debate. Some authors have argued that a certain social cohesion is not only the result of, but also a necessary condition for social policy and redistribution, and that ethnic diversity weakens this social cohesion. Previous empirical studies have given mixed results, however. Unlike these previous studies, I use individual-level panel data, which allows a more convincing identification of a causal effect. Also, the effect of immigration on support for redistribution has not been studied for Germany - Europe's largest country of immigration in terms of absolute numbers - before. Finally, similar to the influential study by Luttmer (2001), I am able to relate the support for a particular aspect of the welfare state (help for the unemployed) not just to the overall share of foreigners in the population, but also to their share among the unemployed. The main result is that there is indeed evidence that German natives’ support for the unemployed is negatively affected by the regional share of foreigners among the unemployed. This still holds when individual characteristics are controlled for, and also when only the within variation is exploited, although in the latter case the estimates are not always statistically significant at conventional levels. Concerning practical significance, I find that a one standard deviation increase in the regional share of foreigners among the unemployed reduces natives’ support for helping the unemployed by about two percent of the standard deviation. This effect is rather small compared to other variables such as income, self-employment, or East German origin.