Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Is it meaningful to distinguish between generalized and specific Internet addiction? Evidence from a cross‐cultural study from Germany, Sweden, Taiwan and China

It has been hypothesized that two distinctive forms of Internet addiction exist. Here, generalized Internet addiction refers to the problematic use of the Internet covering a broad range of Internet‐related activities. In contrast, specific forms of Internet addiction target the problematic use of distinct online activities such as excessive online video gaming or activities in social networks.
Directors' Recommendations in Response to Takeover Bids: Do They Act in Their Own Interests?

The extent to which directors of target companies act in their own interests, and not shareholder interests, when a takeover bid is received is examined using data from 400 takeover bids for Australian listed companies. A series of hypotheses is developed from theoretical inquiry into the motives of target company directors. Using univariate and multivariate analysis to test these hypotheses, it is found that directors' accept/reject recommendations to shareholders are associated with target leverage, bid premium, bidder's initial shareholding, ownership concentration (univariate only) and directors' shareholding in the target (univariate only). It is concluded that, overall, directors have acted in a manner consistent with shareholder interests, even though personal wealth effects are greatest for directors of bid-accept targets.
Public Responsiveness of Government Organizations: Testing a Preliminary Model

Few studies have empirically assessed the factors that affect government agencies' public responsiveness from a public management perspective. This article tests a preliminary model that explains the level of public responsiveness with variables about external political environments and internal organizational characteristics. The hypotheses are tested with survey data from state health and human service agencies. The results show that the support of elected officials, the influence of the public and media, and decentralization of decision making have a positive impact on public responsiveness. Results-based management changes have a quadratic ∩-shaped relation with public responsiveness. Further, the influence of client groups has a negative impact on public responsiveness.
Myocardial Homing and Coronary Endothelial Function After Autologous Blood CD34+ Progenitor Cells Intracoronary Injection in the Chronic Phase of Myocardial Infarction

Transcoronary transplantation of progenitor cells has been proposed as a novel therapy for ischemic heart failure. The primary aims were to assess the feasibility of obtaining CD34+ cells from blood without mobilization in chronic conditions and to compare homing with results reported in acute conditions. We also evaluated the effect of CD34+ on endothelial function. In 7 patients with a history of an anterior myocardial infarction (20 ± 2 months), a large amount of CD34+ (18.2 ± 3.0 × 106) were obtained and an intracoronary infusion into the left anterior descending artery via an over-the-wire balloon catheter was performed. Myocardial homing involved 3.2% ± 0.6% of injected cells. Endothelial function studied with increasing doses of bradykinin was not significantly modified after 3 months. In the treated group, compared with 5 nonrandomized control patients with a similar clinical history, the only echocardiographic significant change (2-way analysis of variance) was a decrease in end-systolic volume (P < 0.03). In conclusion, large amounts of CD34+ cells can be obtained from blood, without mobilization, in the chronic phase of myocardial infarction. As reported in the acute situation 1 hour after treatment, intracoronary infusion of CD34+ cells results in myocardial homing of a few percents of the cells. In this small group of patients, no effect of this therapy is detected on the endothelial function and only marginal changes are observed on echocardiographic parameters.
How high is exchange rate pass-through in India? Has it changed over time?

Abstract Concerns about relatively high degrees of exchange rate pass-through in a number of emerging economies have contributed to a fear of floating. Despite the obvious policy relevance of this issue there is hardly any existing literature that has examined aggregate CPI pass-through for India, which has been liberalizing its economy since 1991. This paper estimates exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) at the aggregate level into India's CPI for the period 1980Q1 – 2005Q3. We also analyze whether exchange rate pass-through in India has changed over time, particular since 1991, which was the beginning of the country's economic liberalization program.
EDUCATIONAL VISION IN FLORIDA SCHOOL DISTRICTS: VISION ALIGNMENT AND LEADERSHIP STYLE

The purpose of this study was to address a gap in the organizational leadership research related to the sharing, or alignment, of leadership vision across organizational levels, with a focus on educational vision alignment in Florida K-12 public school districts. The study also sought to determine to what extent, if any, there were differences among Florida school districts exhibiting different levels of educational vision alignment. The broad question addressed by the current research was this: To what degree are the educational visions of superintendents and principals aligned within Florida K-12 public school districts? The following research questions further guided the study: 1. What common themes can be found in the published vision statements of the 67 Florida K-12 public school districts? 2. To what extent, if any, do Florida K-12 public school district superintendents and their respective principals agree with one another on the importance of the common themes found in Florida school districts’ published vision statements? 3. What is the relationship, if any, between educational vision alignment levels in Florida K-12 public school districts and principals’ perceptions of their superintendents’ leadership styles? 4. To what extent, if any, are there differences among Florida K-12 public school districts exhibiting different levels of educational vision alignment? The Florida Educational Vision Questionnaire Superintendent Form (FEVQ-S), a researcher developed questionnaire, was administered to all 67 Florida K-12 public school district superintendents. With superintendent approval, two additional questionnaires were
Strategies for Expanding the Informal Venture Capital Market

DR. COLIN MASON IS SENIOR LECTURER IN economic geography at the University of Southampton, England, and Richard Harrison is professor of management development in the Ulster Business School, Northern Ireland. Research in a number of countries has established that informal venture capital is a major source of risk capital for entrepreneurial companies, substantially exceeding the size of the formal venture capital market. The informal venture capital market comprises individuals - commonly termed 'business angels' - who provide risk capital directly to entrepreneurial businesses. Demand for informal venture capital is increasing in Britain as a result of the tightening in lending to small businesses by banks and the shift of institutional venture capital funds even further away from start-up and early stage investments. This paper argues that there is considerable scope to expand the supply of informal venture capital. First, most active informal investors are unable to find sufficient investment oportunities. As a result, they have substantial uncommitted sums available for informal investments. Second, active investors represent only a fraction of self-made, high net worth individuals. The establishment of business introduction services can play a key role in enabling active investors to identify appropriate investment opportunities and also provide 'virgin angels' with a source of investment opportunities, thereby removing a major constraint to their participation in the informal venture capital market. However, business introduction services are still at the experimental stage and have had only a limited impact on the flow of informal venture capital. Key determinants in the success of business introduction services appear to be marketing effort to build a critical mass of investors and businesses, financial resources to allow ongoing marketing, and pro-active matching strategies.
Risk and Inflation

Abstract This paper examines the effect of risk differences on the oft-documented negative relationship between stock returns and inflation. We find risk-related patterns of coefficients on our estimates of the level and change in expected inflation and on unexpected inflation. These patterns are consistent with the hypothesis developed in Fama [2] and in Geske and Roll [7] that future real output growth simultaneously helps to determine current stock returns and various measures of inflation.
Antagonism Pattern Detection between MicroRNA and Target Expression in Ewing’s Sarcoma

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as fundamental regulators that silence gene expression at the post-transcriptional and translational levels. The identification of their targets is a major challenge to elucidate the regulated biological processes. The overall effect of miRNA is reflected on target mRNA expression, suggesting the design of new investigative methods based on high-throughput experimental data such as miRNA and transcriptome profiles. We propose a novel statistical measure of non-linear dependence between miRNA and mRNA expression, in order to infer miRNA-target interactions. This approach, which we name antagonism pattern detection, is based on the statistical recognition of a triangular-shaped pattern in miRNA-target expression profiles. This pattern is observed in miRNA-target expression measurements since their simultaneously elevated expression is statistically under-represented in the case of miRNA silencing effect. The proposed method enables miRNA target prediction to strongly rely on cellular context and physiological conditions reflected by expression data. The procedure has been assessed on synthetic datasets and tested on a set of real positive controls. Then it has been applied to analyze expression data from Ewing’s sarcoma patients. The antagonism relationship is evaluated as a good indicator of real miRNA-target biological interaction. The predicted targets are consistently enriched for miRNA binding site motifs in their 3′UTR. Moreover, we reveal sets of predicted targets for each miRNA sharing important biological function. The procedure allows us to infer crucial miRNA regulators and their potential targets in Ewing’s sarcoma disease. It can be considered as a valid statistical approach to discover new insights in the miRNA regulatory mechanisms.
International Evidence on the Robustness of the Day-of-the-Week Effect

Abstract Consistent with Connolly's (1989), (1991) evidence, this study finds that sample size and/or error term adjustments render U.S. day-of-the-week effects statistically insignificant. In contrast, day-of-the-week effects in seven European countries and in Canada and Hong Kong are robust to individual sample size or error term adjustments, and day-of-the-week effects in five European countries survive the simultaneous imposition of both types of adjustments. In most countries where day-of-the-week effects are robust, however, the effects are statistically significant in not more than two weeks out of the month. These findings are inconsistent with explanations of the day-of-the-week effect based on institutional differences or on the arrival of new information. Thus, in the absence of other potential explanations already dismissed by Jaffe and Westerfield (1985), evidence in this study further complicates the international day-of-the-week effect puzzle.
The effect of environmental information on investment allocation decisions – an experimental study

This paper focuses on the use of environmental information in investment decision making. The research approach employed is based on an experiment where three groups of final year finance students were asked to allocate investment funds between two companies based on financial accounts and information material from these companies in which environmental information was included in varying degrees. The overall conclusion is that the qualitative environmental information affects short term allocation decisions, hence indicating a risk reduction potential of environmental information comparable to the classic interpretation of financial information. The quantitative environmental information included in the experiment seems to mitigate rather than extend the directional effect of more environmental information. The evidence also seems to indicate that decision makers are not always aware which information categories affect their decision making. Hence, this has implications for how the potential value of environmental information is to be assessed. Finally, experimental studies as a methodology seem to be better suited to indicate actual effects of different types of information on decision making than attitude surveys. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Life‐Cycle Energy, Costs, and Strategies for Improving a Single‐Family House

The life‐cycle energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and costs of a contemporary 2,450 sq ft (228 m3) U.S. residential home (the standard home, or SH) were evaluated to study opportunities for conserving energy throughout pre‐use (materials production and construction), use (including maintenance and improvement), and demolition phases. Home construction and maintenance materials and appliances were inventoried totaling 306 metric tons. The use phase accounted for 91% of the total life‐cycle energy consumption over a 50‐year home life. A functionally equivalent energy‐efficient house (EEH) was modeled that incorporated 11 energy efficiency strategies. These strategies led to a dramatic reduction in the EEH total life‐cycle energy; 6,400 GJ for the EEH compared to 16,000 GJ for the SH. For energy‐efficient homes, embodied energy of materials is important; pre‐use energy accounted for 26% of life‐cycle energy. The discounted (4%) life‐cycle cost, consisting of mortgage, energy, maintenance, and improvement payments varied between 426,700 and 454,300 for a SH using four energy price forecast scenarios. In the case of the EEH, energy cost savings were offset by higher mortgage costs, resulting in total life‐cycle cost between 434,100 and 443,200. Life‐cycle greenhouse gas emissions were 1,010 metric tons CO2 equivalent for an SH and 370 metric tons for an EEH.
Energy planning with decision-making tools: experiences from an energy-planning project

This article presents the evaluation of a pilot project where four decision-making tools were applied in a municipal energy-planning process in a Swedish municipality. The tested tools were citizens' panel, a scenario method, life cycle assessment and qualitative checklists for environmental assessment (EA). The results presented are based on two focus group discussions with the participants from the project: one with the municipal workgroup and one with the researchers that were responsible for the application of the decision-making tools. The results show that energy planning is a process of learning and dialogue, and workshop methodology was found to be favourable for open dialogue. This test also shows that public involvement can contribute to a valuable dialogue in the visionary work and suggestions of actions and strategies. Another conclusion is that energy planning needs to be iterative, even in the scoping. This test also shows that there is a need to develop simplified tools that include EA and a broad systems approach in local energy planning.
Capital Structure And Political Patronage: Evidence From China

This paper examines the effect of political patronage on capital structure of listed companies on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. An empirical study is conducted using a common linear regression method, advanced panel data regression and two way-effect panel data regression to test whether conventional capital structure decision theory applies to the Chinese economic environment. Large non-voting shares are used as proxy to represent political patronage. We find a positive and significant link between leverage and political patronage. We also find evidence of an indirect link between political patronage and capital structure through firm size and profitability. The result proved the existence of political patronage on Chinese listed firms. Chinese firms do not follow conventional trade-off theory, MM theory or pecking order. Chinese institutional characteristic affects the capital choice decision and the largely state ownerships do affect capital structure choices. We conclude that firms with strong political patronage prefer to raise equity first because they do not pay good dividends. Equity, debt and internal funds are their choice of capital structure.
Continuous monitoring of stress on smartphone using heart rate variability

Continuous monitoring of an individual's stress levels is essential to manage stress and mental state in an effective way. With increasing ubiquity of wearable heart rate monitors and their unobtrusiveness, HRV (Heart rate variability) derived from heart rate signals has emerged as one of the most relevant parameters for continuous monitoring of stress. In the present work, we have made an attempt to address the challenges about distinguishing between stressed and non-stressed state of a person based on just one minute of IBI (Inter Beat Interval) records with good accuracy. Such ultra-short term analysis of HRV is particularly advantageous towards capturing very short term fluctuations in mental stress levels and enhanced scope for frequent monitoring. We have analyzed various time domain, frequency domain and nonlinear HRV features to narrow down to a most influential set of features for accurate classification between stressed and non-stressed state. We have identified RMSSD (root mean square of successive differences) of IBI series to be the most direct indicator of stressed state. We also provide a continuous stress score which, when used in continuous monitoring scenario, provides the user with adequate details about his/her stress levels. This helps the user to understand stress patterns across a day in a better way and to take appropriate measures to manage stressful situations. We have developed and deployed a system, based on above concept, on smartphone as an android application for real-time stress monitoring.
The channel of monetary transmission to demand: evidence from the market for automobile credit

In response to tight money, both consumer loans and consumption fall. The author asks whether there is any causality running from loans to consumption by focusing on how the composition of automobile finance between bank and nonbank sources of credit changes in response to unanticipated innovations in monetary policy. The results indicate that contractionary monetary policy produces a statistically significant reduction in the relative supply of bank consumer loans, which in turn produces a decline in real consumption. The evidence therefore supports the existence of a credit channel of monetary transmission to aggregate consumption. Moreover, the nature of automobile finance is uniquely suited to identifying which of two possible sub-channels of the broader credit channel is relatively more important, and suggests the results are more likely consistent with a bank lending channel than with a pure balance sheet channel. However, the findings also indicate that the quantitative effects of the lending channel on the aggregate economy, though precisely estimated, may be quite small.
Childlessness of men in Canada: Result of a waiting game in a changing family context

Childlessness was about 12–13 per cent for cohorts born in 1927 to 1941, but increased in younger cohorts, with the childlessness of men born in 1957–1961 reaching 20 per cent. Using data from the 2006 Canadian General Social Survey on families, we show that the intention to be childfree among young men has largely remained low, at 8 to 10 per cent. As men grow older, the intention to be childfree increases such that at age 45–49, 16 per cent intend not to become fathers. Rather than a deliberate choice, the increase in childlessness could be the result of a waiting game. Longer stays in school, later entry into the work force, and starting marital relations at older ages contribute to delays in becoming fathers. While for many men the delay does not necessarily end in childlessness, for others the period of waiting changes their intention to become fathers. The adjustment of intentions and the eventual childlessness are made easier because of the reduced normative pressure to have children.
Building Organizational Capabilities to Adapt Under Turmoil

This article uses two case studies of family-owned firms to assess the organizational capabilities necessary for survival under conditions of environmental volatility. Both organizations belong to the edible oil industry and are among Argentina's leading oilseed processors and exporters. The most-adaptable firm undertook transformations involving continuous change, while the less-adaptable firm displayed a more revolutionary attempt at transformation. The outcome of the transformation process in the most-adaptable firm does not conform to patterns portrayed in the literature on adaptation and change, which involve long periods of stability or convergence and short periods of revolutionary change. We find that the life-cycle of family firms, the role of the founder, control systems and the professionalization of the management team, and ownership issues most strongly influence the capabilities of these firms.
Seasonal Employees

High year-to-year retention of seasonal employees can be a source of competitive advantage for tourism organizations. Past studies of seasonal employee retention have examined the issue from the perspective of job satisfaction. However, many tourism jobs have similar responsibilities from organization to organization suggesting another construct might also affect employee retention. The purpose of this study was to examine retention through the lens of employee sense of community (SOC) toward the tourism organization. Significant differences were found in SOC levels between those who returned to work at resorts and those who did not. Moreover, a logistic regression model showed SOC to be a good predictor of retention. Like in previous studies, factors that impact retention appear to be different for first year employees than experienced ones. However, the results suggest that somewhat different approaches for improving retention should be taken than the recommendations from past studies of seasonal employee retention.
Emotion differentiation and its relation with emotional well-being in adolescents

ABSTRACT Emotion differentiation (ED) refers to the precision with which people can identify and distinguish their emotions and has been associated with well-being in adults. This study investigated ED and its relation with emotional well-being (i.e. depressive symptoms, positivity and negativity intensity and propensity, implicit theories of emotions) in adolescents. We used an experience sampling method with 72 participants (Mage = 14.00, 71% girls) to assess adolescents’ positive and negative emotions at different time points over the course of two weekends and a baseline questionnaire to assess emotional well-being. Differentiating negative emotions was related to less negativity intensity and propensity, and to the belief that emotions are malleable. Differentiating positive emotions was not related to any of the assessed well-being variables. Together, these results suggest that a detailed awareness of one’s negative emotional states is an important dimension of well-being, also in adolescence.