Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Corporate Governance, Investor Protection, and the Home Bias

If investors are poorly protected, it is optimal for firms to be closely held because selling shares to minority shareholders is otherwise too expensive. Empirically, most firms in countries with poor investor protection are closely held so that investors cannot hold the market portfolio. We show that the prevalence of closely held firms in countries with poor investor protection explains part of the home bias of U.S. investors. We construct an estimate of the world portfolio of shares available to investors who are not controlling shareholders (the world float portfolio). The world float portfolio differs sharply from the world market portfolio. In regressions explaining the portfolio weights of U.S. investors, the world float portfolio has a positive significant coefficient but the world market portfolio has no additional explanatory power. This result holds when we control for country characteristics. An analysis of foreign investor holdings at the firm level for Sweden confirms the importance of the float portfolio as a determinant of these holdings.
Does Information Asymmetry Explain The Diversification Discount

We examine the diversification discount while controlling for differences in information asymmetry between diversified and nondiversified firms. We show that both diversified and nondiversified firms with higher levels of information asymmetry have discounted firm values relative to firms with lower levels of information asymmetry, although a diversification discount remains at all levels of information asymmetry. Fixed-effect Fama-MacBeth regressions confirm the existence of a statistically significant relation between information asymmetry proxies and excess value, but they also show that a significant diversification discount remains after controlling for differences in information asymmetry and other firm characteristics discussed in earlier studies (e.g., size, profitability, leverage, and capital constraint). 2004 The Southern Finance Association and the Southwestern Finance Association.
Growth Opportunities and the Choice of Leverage, Debt Maturity, and Covenants

We investigate the effect of growth opportunities in a firm's investment opportunity set on its joint choice of leverage, debt maturity, and covenants. Using a database that contains detailed debt covenant information, we provide large-sample evidence of the incidence of covenants in public debt and construct firm-level indices of bondholder covenant protection. We find that covenant protection is increasing in growth opportunities, debt maturity, and leverage. We also document that the negative relation between leverage and growth opportunities is significantly attenuated by covenant protection, suggesting that covenants can mitigate the agency costs of debt for high growth firms. Copyright 2007 by The American Finance Association.
Real Time RT-PCR Approach for the Evaluation of ERBB2 Overexpression in Breast Cancer Archival Samples: A Comparative Study With FISH, SISH, and Immunohistochemistry

We tested the reliability of real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reactions as an alternative method for the assessment of ERBB2 status in paraffin-embedded tissues of 83 patients with breast cancer and 20 non-neoplastic controls. PCR was also compared with the immunohistochemical (IHC) HercepTest score and with fluorescence (FISH) and silver (SISH) in-situ hybridization, in 42 selected cases. ERBB2 mRNA was overexpressed in 26/83 (31%) breast cancer samples, using a cutoff calculated as the mean value of the controls plus 3 SD or with the receiver operating curve. The PCR test showed a 96% sensitivity and a 100% specificity when compared with FISH, with an area under the receiver operating curve of 98.4%. Overexpression of ERBB2 at PCR was also significantly correlated with amplification in FISH (P<0.001, Mann-Whitney test) and in SISH (P<0.001, Mann-Whitney test), and with the IHC HercepTest scores 2 or 3 (P<0.001, Spearman rank correlation). FISH, SISH, and IHC were also compared with each other. ERBB2 amplification in FISH significantly correlated with that in SISH (P=0.002, χ2 test with a concordance of the 87%), but not with IHC HercepTest scores (P=0.214, χ2 test). Real time PCR is a reliable and cost-effective method for the assessment of ERBB2 status in archival breast cancer samples, compared with FISH. Its introduction in routine diagnostic pathology practice is feasible even if it requires amendments to the current clinical oncology protocols.
NATO's Transformation Gaps: Transatlantic Differences and the War in Afghanistan

Abstract The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has since the turn of the new century experienced a double transformation gap: between global and regionally oriented allies and between allies emulating new military practices defined by the United States and allies resisting radical change. This article takes stock of these gaps in light of a decade's worth of collective and national adjustments and in light of counter-insurgency lessons provided by Afghanistan. It argues first of all that the latter transatlantic gap is receding in importance because the United States has adjusted its transformation approach and because some European allies have significantly invested in technological, doctrinal, and organizational reform. The other transformation gap is deepening, however, pitching battle-hardened and expeditionary allies against allies focused on regional tasks of stabilization and deterrence. There is a definite potential for broad transformation, our survey of officers' opinion shows, but NATO's official approach to transformation, being broad and vague, provides neither political nor military guidance. If NATO is to move forward and bridge the gap, it must clarify the lessons of Afghanistan and embed them in its new Strategic Concept.
A Search for Extended Ultraviolet Disk (XUV-Disk) Galaxies in the Local Universe

We have initiated a search for extended ultraviolet disk (XUV-disk) galaxies in the local universe. Here we compare GALEX UV and visible-NIR images of 189 nearby (D < 40 Mpc) S0-Sm galaxies included in the GALEX Atlas of Nearby Galaxies and present the first catalog of XUV-disk galaxies. We find that XUV-disk galaxies are surprisingly common but have varied relative (UV/optical) extent and morphology. Type 1 objects (≳20% incidence) have structured, UV-bright/optically faint emission features in the outer disk, beyond the traditional star formation threshold. Type 2 XUV-disk galaxies (~10% incidence) exhibit an exceptionally large, UV-bright/optically low surface brightness (LSB) zone having blue UV–Ks outside the effective extent of the inner, older stellar population, but not reaching extreme galactocentric distance. If the activity occurring in XUV-disks is episodic, a higher fraction of present-day spirals could be influenced by such outer disk star formation. Type 1 disks are associated with spirals of all types, whereas Type 2 XUV-disks are predominantly found in late-type spirals. Type 2 XUV-disks are forming stars quickly enough to double their (currently low) stellar mass in the next Gyr (assuming a constant star formation rate). XUV-disk galaxies of both types are systematically more gas-rich than the general galaxy population. Minor external perturbation may stimulate XUV-disk incidence, at least for Type 1 objects. XUV-disks are the most actively evolving galaxies growing via inside-out disk formation in the current epoch, and may constitute a segment of the galaxy population experiencing significant, continued gas accretion from the intergalactic medium or neighboring objects.
Evidence on the Export-Led Growth Hypothesis: The Jordanian Case

This paper examines the export-led growth hypothesis using Jordanian monthly data over the period 1997.03 -2003.12. The univariate Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) models are used to filter real exports and industrial production index series to white noise. The cross-correlation function is used in testing the independence hypothesis of exports and industrial production index by employing Koch-Yang test at different lag lengths. The results provide empirical evidence supporting the export-led hypothesis in the short-run only at the 5% level of significance. However, this relationship tends to support the hypothesis of independence when longer lags are used. The result based on Granger test shows a unidirectional causation from export to industrial production index at 10% level of significance. These findings lend support to the export-oriented strategy pursued by Jordan over the sample period examined.
Rank Order Tournaments and Incentive Alignment: The Effect on Firm Performance

We investigate simultaneously the impact of promotion-based tournament incentives for VPs and equity-based (alignment) incentives for VPs and the chief executive officer (CEO) on firm performance. We find that tournament incentives, as measured by the pay differential between the CEO and VPs, relate positively to firm performance. The relation is more positive when the CEO nears retirement and less positive when the firm has a new CEO, and weakens further when the new CEO is an outsider. Our analysis is robust to corrections for endogeneity of all our incentive measures and to several alternative measures of tournament incentives and firm performance.
Allogeneic marrow transplantation for aplastic anaemia associated with dyskeratosis congenita

Eight patients with aplastic anaemia associated with dyskeratosis congenita received allogeneic marrow grafts from either HLA‐identical siblings (six patients) or HLA‐matched unrelated donors (two patients). Patients who received marrow from HLA‐identical siblings were conditioned with cyclophosphamide (140–200 mg/kg), with or without antithymocyte globulin. Patients who received unrelated donor marrow were conditioned with cyclophosphamide (120 mg/kg) and total body irradiation (1200 cGy). The six patients who survived for >2 weeks following transplant all had haematological evidence of engraftment, and all three patients who survived for at least a year following transplant recovered normal haematological function. Three patients died with respiratory failure and pulmonary fibrosis at 70 d, 8 years and 20 years post‐transplant; three patients died during the neutropenic period of invasive fungal infections; one patient died on day 44 of refractory acute graft‐versus‐host disease; and one patient remains alive 463 d following transplant. The surviving patient recently underwent surgical resection of a Dukes' stage C rectal carcinoma diagnosed 14 months post‐transplant.
The Horse Has Bolted: Revisiting the Market Reaction to Going Concern Modifications of Audit Reports

This paper examines what value is added by an audit report through an investigation of the information content for first-time going concern modifications (GCMs). Consistent with prior research, we find no evidence of a short-term market reaction to the public announcement of a first-time GCM. We document a significant adverse medium-term market reaction in the 12 months prior to a first-time GCM announcement, but find no evidence of a persistent market underreaction in the 12 months following the announcement. These results are consistent with an audit opinion fulfilling an attestation function and confirming the deteriorating financial condition of a firm.
Applying customer equity to the convention industry

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to determine the value a convention center provides its customers, the brand the center offers, and the importance of the customer/business relationship. Value, brand, and relationship equity (RE) are components of customer equity (CE). Design/methodology/approach – Interviews were conducted with meeting planners related to their experiences with top‐tier convention centers in the USA.Findings – Meeting planners confirmed value equity (VE) as the most important in the customer to business exchange. RE followed with brand equity (BE) as the least important of the three. Meeting planners identified the sub‐drivers of VE as location, quality and price received from the convention center. BE sub‐drivers included: reputation and the awareness of the convention center. RE sub‐drivers included: the interactions, responsiveness, and special treatment received from the convention center personnel. A CE model is presented.Practical implications – The application of the CE model.
Tight Bounds on the Error Probabilities of Decision Feedback Equalizers

A decision feedback equalizer (DFE) with correct tap weights operating on a noisy channel is considered. We show how the results concerning a noiseless channel can be extended to yield tight bounds on the stationary error probability performance for the noisy case. The effect of noise on DFE performance is classified according to the noise distribution and the channel parameters.
Prediction of creased geometry of thin folded membranes using finite element analysis

Experimental studies on thin membranes of micrometer scale require sophisticated instruments and gauging techniques. Hence characterization of such membranes is not widely done. Numerically accurate virtual simulations can predict key properties of these membranes which are otherwise difficult to predict experimentally due to the above limitations. Creased geometry is one such property that is one of the key parameters that influence deployment mechanics of solar sails. In this study, nonlinear finite element analyses of single folded thin membranes made of Kapton, Polypropylene, printer paper and origami paper were carried out using Abaqus FEA to simulate the process of folding and subsequent self-opening. The equilibrium state achieved at the end of simulation is considered as the creased geometry of the thin membranes. The effects of type of material, amount of creasing and thickness on the creased geometry were studied. The results were validated with available experimental results and close agreement was achieved.
Excitatory Synaptic Transmission in the Lateral and Central Amygdala

Abstract: The amygdala plays a major role in the acquisition and expression of fear conditioning. NMDA receptor‐dependent synaptic plasticity within the basolateral amygdala has been proposed to underlie the acquisition and possible storage of fear memories. Here the properties of fast glutamatergic transmission in the lateral and central nuclei of the amygdala are presented. In the lateral amygdala, two types of neurons, interneurons and projection neurons, could be distinguished by their different firing properties. Glutamatergic inputs to interneurons activated AMPA receptors with inwardly rectifying current‐voltage relations (I‐Vs), whereas inputs to projection neurons activated receptors that had linear I‐Vs, indicating that receptors on interneurons lack GluR2 subunits. Inputs to projection neurons formed dual component synapses with both AMPA and NMDA components, whereas at inputs to interneurons, the contribution of NMDA receptors was very small. Neurons in the central amygdala received dual component glutamatergic inputs that activated AMPA receptors with linear I‐Vs. NMDA receptor‐mediated EPSCs had slow decay time constants in the central nucleus. Application of NR2B selective blockers ifenprodil or CP‐101,606 blocked NMDA EPSCs by 70% in the central nucleus, but only by 30% in the lateral nucleus. These data show that the distribution of glutamatergic receptors on amygdalar neurons is not uniform. In the lateral amygdala, interneurons and pyramidal neurons express AMPA receptors with different subunit compositions. Synapses in the central nucleus activate NMDA receptors that contain NR1 and NR2B subunits, whereas synapses in the lateral nucleus contain receptors with both NR2A and NR2B subunits.
R&D Accounting and the Tradeoff between Relevance and Objectivity

This paper develops a simulation model for a pharmaceutical firm to provide evidence on the tradeoff between objectivity and relevance for several methods of reporting R&D outlays. The findings indicate that a simple capitalization rule, analogous to the successful efforts method of capitalizing oil and gas exploration costs, provides a significantly higher relation between accounting information and economic values than immediate expensing of R&D outlays or capitalizing the full cost of outlays. More importantly, our findings show that the relevance of successful efforts data persists even when there is widespread earnings management.
Good Timing: CEO Stock Option Awards and Company News Announcements

This paper analyzes company disclosures of CEO stock option values in compliance with the SEC's regulations for reporting executive compensation data to stockholders. Companies appear to exploit the flexibility of the regulations to reduce the apparent value of managerial compensation. Companies shorten the expected lives of stock options and unilaterally apply discounts to the Black-Scholes formula. Theoretical support for these adjustments is often thin, and companies universally ignore reasons that the Black-Scholes formula might underestimate the value of executive stock options. The findings not only cast light upon how corporations value executive stock options, but also provide a means of forecasting compliance with controversial new FASB requirements for firms to disclose the compensation expense represented by executive stock options.
DECAY, a Novel Drosophila Caspase Related to Mammalian Caspase-3 and Caspase-7*

Caspases are key effectors of programmed cell death in metazoans. In Drosophila, four caspases have been described so far. Here we describe the identification and characterization of the fifth Drosophila caspase, DECAY. DECAY shares a high degree of homology with the members of the mammalian caspase-3 subfamily, particularly caspase-3 and caspase-7. DECAY lacks a long prodomain and thus appears to be a class II effector caspase. Ectopic expression of DECAY in cultured cells induces apoptosis. Recombinant DECAY exhibited substrate specificity similar to the mammalian caspase-3 subfamily. Low levels of decaymRNA are ubiquitously expressed in Drosophila embryos during early stages of development but its expression becomes somewhat spatially restricted in some tissues. During oogenesisdecay mRNA was detected in egg chambers of all stages consistent with a role for DECAY in apoptosis of nurse cells. Relatively high levels of decay mRNA are expressed in larval salivary glands and midgut, two tissues which undergo histolysis during larval/pupal metamorphosis, suggesting that DECAY may play a role in developmentally programmed cell death inDrosophila.
Taxes and Corporate Policies: Evidence From a Quasi Natural Experiment

type="main"> We document important interactions between tax incentives and corporate policies using a “quasi natural experiment” provided by a surprise announcement that imposed corporate taxes on a group of Canadian publicly traded firms. The announcement caused a dramatic decrease in value. Prospective tax shields partially offset the losses, adding 4.6% to firm value on average, and vary with the tax status of the marginal investor. Further, firms adjust leverage, payout, cash holdings, and investment in response to changing tax incentives. Overall, the event study and time series evidence supports the view that taxes are important for corporate decision making.
Screening for long-term poliovirus excretion among children with primary immunodeficiency disorders: preparation for the polio posteradication era in Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND Persons with primary immune deficiency disorders (PIDD) who receive oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) may transmit immunodeficiency-associated vaccine-derived polioviruses (iVDPVs) and cause paralytic polio. The objective of this study was to identify children with PIDD in Bangladesh, and estimate the proportion with chronic poliovirus excretion. METHODS Patients admitted at 5 teaching hospitals were screened for PIDD according to standardized clinical case definitions. PIDD was confirmed by age-specific quantitative immunoglobulin levels. Stool specimens were collected from patients with confirmed PIDD. RESULTS From February 2011 through January 2013, approximately 96 000 children were screened, and 53 patients were identified who met the clinical case definition for PIDD. Thirteen patients (24%) had age-specific quantitative immunoglobulins results that confirmed PIDD. Of these, 9 (69%) received OPV 3-106 months before stool specimen collection. Among 11 patients, stool specimens from 1 patient tested positive for polioviruses 34 months after OPV ingestion. However, the poliovirus isolate was not available for genetic sequencing, and a subsequent stool specimen 45 days later was negative. CONCLUSIONS The risk of chronic poliovirus excretion among children with PIDD in Bangladesh seems to be low. The national polio eradication program should incorporate strategies for screening for poliovirus excretion among patients with PIDD.
Family leave policies and devolution to the line

Using evidence drawn from case studies in four companies in the Scottish financial sector, this paper examines how both statutory and company family leave policies are operated by line managers. This paper considers the extent of line managers’ knowledge of statutory and company family leave policies and finds that their knowledge, particularly of statutory measures, is often wanting. In exploring the reasons for this situation, training on statutory and company family leave policies was found to be extremely limited and although support from human resource professionals was provided, line managers only referred to them in exceptional circumstances. This situation has clear implications both for consistency of operation of these policies and for the role of human resource professionals in ensuring that statutory and company provisions are effectively put into practice.
What drives movements in the unemployment rate

We use a Beveridge curve framework and micro data to decompose unemployment rate movements into: (1) a component driven by changes in labor demand (2) a component driven by changes in labor supply and (3) a component driven by changes in the e¢ ciency of matching unemployed workers to jobs. We …nd that, historically, cyclical movements in unemployment are dominated by changes in labor demand, although changes in the e¢ ciency of matching can also plays a role. Secular changes in unemployment are dominated by changes in labor supply. The most recent labor market downturn appears to be adhering to the historical pattern: Changes in labor demand appear to explain the large majority of the increase in unemployment since 2007, though decreases in matching e¢ ciency have been particularly important. JEL classi…cations: J6, E24, E32
A ReRAM integrated 7T2R non-volatile SRAM for normally-off computing application

This study demonstrates a new 7T2R nonvolatile SRAM (nvSRAM) with 3D ReRAM stacked structure for normally-off computing application. With this structure, the fully performance of SRAM can work well in active mode, and reduce the leakage current in power-off mode. High performance HfOx based ReRAM is used for high speed storage element and exhibits an instant-on characteristic. The present 7T2R nvSRAM cell includes a 1T2R RRAM (1 transistor/2 resistive memory) cell and a 6T SRAM circuit, which is low area penalty and achieve the nvSRAM function. The write margin is improved over 1.03x and 1.37x larger than that of 6T SRAM and 6T2R nvSRAM. The access time and read/write power consumption in 7T2R nvSRAM is better than that of 8T2R structure. Finally, a 16 Kb macro was fabricated with a 0.18 μm TSMC FEOL and ITRI BEOL. According to the measurement result, the VDDmin can be low down to 0.7 V and access time can be fast as 8.3 ns without pad delay. The data storage time is only 10 ns for SET and RESET in the ReRAM cell.