Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tests for sex‐biased dispersal using bi‐parentally inherited genetic markers

Understanding why dispersal is sex‐biased in many taxa is still a major concern in evolutionary ecology. Dispersal tends to be male‐biased in mammals and female‐biased in birds, but counter‐examples exist and little is known about sex bias in other taxa. Obtaining accurate measures of dispersal in the field remains a problem. Here we describe and compare several methods for detecting sex‐biased dispersal using bi‐parentally inherited, codominant genetic markers. If gene flow is restricted among populations, then the genotype of an individual tells something about its origin. Provided that dispersal occurs at the juvenile stage and that sampling is carried out on adults, genotypes sampled from the dispersing sex should on average be less likely (compared to genotypes from the philopatric sex) in the population in which they were sampled. The dispersing sex should be less genetically structured and should present a larger heterozygote deficit. In this study we use computer simulations and a permutation test on four statistics to investigate the conditions under which sex‐biased dispersal can be detected. Two tests emerge as fairly powerful. We present results concerning the optimal sampling strategy (varying number of samples, individuals, loci per individual and level of polymorphism) under different amounts of dispersal for each sex. These tests for biases in dispersal are also appropriate for any attribute (e.g. size, colour, status) suspected to influence the probability of dispersal. A windows program carrying out these tests can be freely downloaded from http://www.unil. ch/izea/softwares/fstat.html
The Role of Self-Construal and Emotionsin Younger Consumers' Commitment to Luxury Brands

Abstract Despite the increasing recognition of the value of emotions and younger consumers in luxury market segments, little research has focused on the role consumer characteristics and emotions play in younger consumers’ commitment to luxury brands. Drawing on the identity-motivation model and the idea of self-construal, this study identifies the contributing factors of younger consumers’ commitment to luxury fashion brands. Specifically, this study examines the role of consumer characteristics (i.e., self-construal), the self-expressiveness of brands, and emotional factors (i.e., brand love and brand attachment) in developing consumer-brand relationships. The proposed model was tested with college students in the U.S., which supplied a representative group of younger consumers of luxury fashion brands. The data were collected using web-based surveys and analyzed using structural equation modeling method. The results showed that consumers who were characterized with interdependent self-construal had positive perceptions of self-expressive luxury fashion brands. Furthermore, the perception of self-expressive brands promotes the consumers’ brand love of and brand attachmentto luxury fashion brands. Also, while both improved brand commitment, brand attachment had a greater impact on brand commitment than brand love. This study contributes to the literature by identifying driving forces of younger consumers’ brand commitment. It also provides managerial implications for luxury fashion brands. Keywords: luxury brands, self-construal, brand love, brand attachment, brand commitment
Comparing Response Rate, Response Speed and Response Quality of Two Methods of Sending Questionnaires: E-mail vs. Mail

Kazuaki (1990) pointed out that market research clients nowadays are more sensitive to cost and speed than they used to be. As a result, applied and academic researchers are beginning to explore the potential of new technologies like fax and e-mail (Dickson & MacLachlan 1996). A few studies have been done on using a fax machine to collect data (Dickson & MacLachlan 1996; Tse et al. 1994). However, little study has been done using e-mail as a means of data collection.
The rise of South Africa's quick service restaurant industry

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to describe the rise of South Africa's quick service restaurant (QSR) industry by examining the structural changes and competitive strategies driving the industry. Design/methodology/approach - The paper uses Michael Porter's Five Forces and secondary data to describe the structural reorganization of South Africa's QSR industry and market positioning strategies being used to respond to the growing industry competition and global challenges. Findings - The paper finds that South Africa's QSR industry has risen tremendously and has expanded globally. The evolving fast food market comprises South African franchises and multi-national franchise corporations co-existing with modern supermarkets, contract food caterers, and informal traders. The industry uses a mix of market coordination, operational and competitive strategies to counter the intense global competition. Further research is needed to examine the potential of information communication technologies in QSR industry market coordination and consumer willingness to pay for increased convenience, healthy products, sustainability, and food traceability. Practical implications - South Africa leads the continent in mobile phone penetration and there is scope for QSR managers to integrate mobile commerce when dealing with QSR industry customers and other stakeholders. South Africa's fast food franchises should craft strategies that adapt menus to local cultures and ethnic foods in other countries. With increasing attention on food safety and traceability, South Africa's QSR firms could provide leadership in marketing high quality food and gain competitive advantages through positive industry image. Originality/value - The paper addresses the highly topical issue of rising competition in the fast food industry and successful strategies being utilized by South African firms to penetrate both regional and global markets.
Linkages between Exchange Rate Policy and Macroeconomic Performance

From a panel of 137 countries over the years 1971 to 2002, we …nd evidence that an exchange rate policy of 'fear of ‡oating'(de jure ‡oat and de facto peg) is asso- ciated with superior macroeconomic performance in non-industrialized countries. We examine four dierent measures of performance— per capita GDP growth, ii) the CPI in‡ation rate, iii) GDP growth volatility, and iv) in‡ation volatility— and how they respond to a 'words versus deeds'measure of exchange-rate policy obtained by interacting a country's de jure exchange rate policy with its de facto policy as codi…ed by Rogoand Reinhart (2004). For non-industrialized countries, the highest GDP growth rates are associated with those who pursue fear of ‡oating whereas the lowest in‡ation rates are achieved by countries that pursue a matched …x (de jure and de facto …xing). Countries that exhibit fear of ‡oating also experi- enced the lowest GDP and in‡ation volatility while those that pursued a matched de jure and de facto ‡oat experienced the greatest macroeconomic instability.
The adoption of strategic pricing by industrial service firms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to measure the extent to which selected contextual variables have an impact on the adoption of strategic pricing by industrial service firms, and determine the effect of the adoption of strategic pricing on company performance. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 154 industrial service firms operating in four different service sectors through a mail survey. Moreover, qualitative research through 20 in-depth interviews was carried out. Findings – The study’s main findings indicate that market orientation along with a leading position in the market and market growth boost the development of strategic pricing. On the other hand, technological and market turbulence hinder this development, while the overall impact of turbulence is reduced in market-oriented firms. Finally, a positive impact of strategic pricing on company performance was found. Research limitations/implications – The adoption of strategic pricing requires attention to a variety of fact.
Do Bubbles Have a Birthdate? The Role of College Interaction in Portfolio Choice

We study the link between social interaction and stock market bubbles. We argue that an increase in social interaction may facilitate the birth of a cascade-type pattern and indirectly of a bubble. We concentrate on a form of interaction that is rooted back in the past: college-based interaction - defined as the one that relates the portfolio choice of an investor to that of the other investors who went to the same college. We explain it in terms of a common cultural imprinting and the development of long-term friendship and alumni networks and we directly quantify this bonding effect. We study how it affects bubble-related portfolio decisions: the choice to focus in growth stocks, the decision to invest in a particular stock, the choice to herd and the decision to concentrate the portfolio in few stocks. We use a new dataset with information on portfolio choice - broken down at the stock level - wealth, income and demographic characteristics of a big panel of investors as well as information on the college they attended and their family situation at the time. We show that the impact of college-based interaction is statistically and economically significant. Investors invest in the same stocks in which their former classmates do and skew their portfolios towards growth stocks if their former classmates do the same. Moreover, investors are more likely to herd with the other investors who went to the same college than with the rest of the population. College-based interaction also affects investors' decision to concentrate their portfolios in few stocks. College-based interaction is stronger than the other sources of interaction (professional and geographical) and ranks third as the single most important factor affecting portfolio choice, with an explanatory power higher than that of all standard determinants of portfolio choice, such as hedging non-financial income risk, information and familiarity and so on. This holds even after controlling for all the standard motivations brought forward in portfolio theory, such as hedging of non-financial income risk, familiarity and information effects, wealth and income effect, a host of demographic, geographic and professional dummies, trend-chasing and momentum behavior.
Severe hemoptysis of pulmonary arterial origin: signs and role of multidetector row CT angiography.

BACKGROUND Hemoptysis of pulmonary arterial origin is a diagnostic challenge in patients admitted to a respiratory ICU (RICU) for treatment of hemoptysis. Its early accurate recognition and treatment reduce morbidity and prevent mortality. Multidetector row CT angiography (MDCTA) is an accurate method for imaging the systemic vascular network. Our aim was to assess the MDCTA signs and role in managing hemoptysis of pulmonary arterial origin. METHODS We performed a retrospective clinical and radiologic analysis of all consecutive patients who were referred for severe hemoptysis to our RICU and were treated by endovascular means between January 2004 and December 2006. We reviewed all of those cases with hemoptysis of pulmonary arterial origin. RESULTS Of 272 patients who were referred for severe hemoptysis to the RICU, 189 patients were treated by endovascular means. Thirteen patients (nine men, four women; mean age, 45 years) had hemoptysis of pulmonary arterial origin. Signs of pulmonary arterial hemoptysis seen on MDCTA were of the following three types: pseudoaneurysm (n = 5); aneurysm of the pulmonary artery (n = 3); or the presence of a pulmonary artery in the inner wall of a cavity (n = 5). Hypertrophy of the bronchial arteries seen on MDCTA associated with any of these signs predicted the necessity to treat both the bronchial and pulmonary arteries. Pulmonary artery vasoocclusion was performed as a first treatment in eight patients with such an association (n = 1) or without such an association (n = 7) along with bronchial artery embolization. The remaining five patients were treated with systemic artery embolization, followed by surgery (n = 1), pulmonary artery vasoocclusion (n = 3), and death from massive hemoptysis (n = 1). CONCLUSIONS MDCTA performed prior to endovascular treatment allows the correct identification and early appropriate management of severe hemoptysis of pulmonary arterial origin.
Text analytics of unstructured textual data: A study on military peacekeeping document using R text mining package

This paper describes a technique of text analytics on peacekeeping documents to discover significant text patterns exist in the documents. These documents are considered as unstructured textual data.The paper proposes a framework that consists of 3 stages (i) data collection (ii) document preprocessing and (iii) text analytics and visualization.The technique is developed using R text mining package for text analytics experiments.
The Impact of Housing Assistance on Child Outcomes: Evidence from a Randomized Housing Lottery

One long-standing motivation for low-income housing programs is the possibility that housing affordability and housing conditions generate externalities, including on children’s behavior and long-term life outcomes. We take advantage of a randomized housing voucher lottery in Chicago in 1997 to examine the long-term impact of housing assistance on a wide variety of child outcomes, including schooling, health, and criminal involvement. In contrast to most prior work focusing on families in public housing, we focus on families living in unsubsidized private housing at baseline, for whom voucher receipt generates large changes in both housing and nonhousing consumption. We find that the receipt of housing assistance has little, if any, impact on neighborhood or school quality or on a wide range of important child outcomes. JEL Codes: D10, H23, I38.
Substrate Specificity of Neuraminidase from Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae

Erysipelothrix rhusiophatiae, a nonsporulating gram-positive bacillus, causes swine erysipelas and sometimes local inflammations in man. Depending on the culture conditions, it produces several neuraminidase fractions of different molecular size. This paper deals with the isolation of the lower molecular main fraction from the culture medium and its purification by gel chromatography on Sephadex G-100. The enzyme possesses a molecular weight of about 48 000 and a pH optimum of 6.2. The Km values are 9 χ 1 0M for the a.2^3 linkage in IINeuAcLac and 5 χ 10m for the a2->6 linkage in II Neu Ac-Lac.
Systemic illiquidity in the interbank network

We study systemic illiquidity using a unique dataset on banks' daily cash flows, short-term interbank funding and liquid asset buffers. Failure to roll-over short-term funding or repay obligations when they fall due generates an externality in the form of systemic illiquidity. We simulate a model in which systemic illiquidity propagates in the interbank funding network over multiple days. In this setting, systemic illiquidity is minimised by a macroprudential policy that skews the distribution of liquid assets towards banks that are important in the network.
Effect of omeprazole on the concentration of interleukin-6 and transforming growth factor-β1 in patients receiving dual antiplatelet therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention.

BACKGROUND Dual antiplatelet therapy (aspirin plus clopidogrel) is recommended in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Treatment with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) decreases bleeding rate. Alarming reports have been made that PPIs may decrease the antiplatelet activity of clopidogrel. We sought to determine whether levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) might help distinguish individuals at risk for adverse events. METHODS Thirty-eight patients on aspirin and clopidogrel were enrolled and divided into two groups: group 1 [patients receiving omeprazole (n = 18)] and group 2 [patients not receiving omeprazole (n = 20)]. Patients underwent PCI and were scheduled for twelve-month clinical follow-up. The major, adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) include death, re-hospitalization for acute coronary syndromes, and stroke. RESULTS Median concentrations of IL-6 were higher in group 1 at 4.7 pg/mL, in comparison with group 2, 1.65 pg/mL (p = 0.003). Median concentrations of TGF-β1 were similar in both groups (p = 0.5). Patients in group 1 had a significantly higher leukocyte count [103/mm3] (median 7.5 vs 6.5; p = 0.04). There were no deaths during follow-up. The incidence of myocardial infarction was higher in group 1 (33.4% vs 5.0%; p = 0.03). MACCE at twelve months were more frequent in group 1 (55.6% vs 20.0%; p = 0.02). The cut-off value to predict MACCEs for IL-6 was > 3.6 pg/mL (sensitivity 64%, specificity 88%, positive predictive value 75%, negative predictive value 81%). INTERPRETATION We show here that concomitant omeprazole use is associated with an increased inflammatory reaction. Drug interactions may reduce the anti-inflammatory effect of clopidogrel. This mechanism maybe responsible for an increased risk of non-fatal, cardiovascular events, following stent placement.
Turkish Corporate Governance Principles And Its Implications For ISE Corporate Governance Index Companies

The CMB’S Principles of Corporate Governance is a very useful guideline for companies that want to improve their corporate governance practises. Published in 2003 and amended in 2005, these principles are very comprehensive. The CMB Principles and other legislation in this field in Turkey try to strengthen the position of the individual shareholders against the controlling block of shareholders. The principles specificly focuses on shareholders’ rights, public disclosure and transparency, relationships with stakeholders and board of directors. Although the principles were published in 2003, the acceptance and application of principles is relatively slow among ISE listed companies. To further motivate publicly held companies on corporate governance ISE started to calculate Corporate Governance Index in 2007. Currently there are 24 companies listed in the index. These companies are obviously in a better position than other ISE listed companies but they are also not capturing world standards on corporate governance on privileges regarding voting rights, cumulative voting, restrictions on transfer of shares, disclosure on insider trading, corporate governance committee as the results of this study show.
Use of Derivatives by Australian Property Funds

Property derivatives as a financial tool have gained increasing attention by practitioners in recent years. However, there is relatively little evidence on the patterns of use and the property funds’ attitudes with respect to derivatives. Therefore, this study seeks to address this shortfall and aims to examine the application of derivatives by Australian property funds. A survey of Australian property fund managers was undertaken. The results show that different types of property funds have exhibited various patterns regarding the use of derivatives. The results also reveal that large property funds are more likely to use derivatives. The motivation factors (namely to reduce cash flows volatility and hedging currency risk) and risk factors (development of internal control and complicated accounting procedures) for using derivatives have also been identified. In addition, significant differences are found between the perceptions of derivative users and non-users. The findings have offered some insights into the knowledge base of property investors towards derivatives.
An exploration of customer exit in retail banking

States that if the marketing community is to adopt the prescriptions of the relationship marketing school of thought, more knowledge and understanding of relationships is required. The base of knowledge is growing and there is now greater appreciation of the processes germane to healthy relationships, such as trust, satisfaction and commitment. Much less attention has been paid to the negative aspects such as relationship breakdown and ending. This paper addresses the neglected area of the ending of customer‐bank relationships or customer exit. Interviews were conducted with bank customers who had recently used the exit option. Content analysis of the customers’ stories was used to generate a model of the customer exit process. As reported here, the research took the perspective of the customer. This shows that customers end bank relationships after an involving process of problem(s), effort, emotion and evaluation. A discussion of the findings concludes that banks need to develop relationship management systems and skills.
Attenuated Innate Immunity in Embryonic Stem Cells and Its Implications in Developmental Biology and Regenerative Medicine

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) represent a promising cell source for regenerative medicine. Intensive research over the past 2 decades has led to the feasibility of using ESC‐differentiated cells (ESC‐DCs) in regenerative medicine. However, increasing evidence indicates that ESC‐DCs generated by current differentiation methods may not have equivalent cellular functions to their in vivo counterparts. Recent studies have revealed that both human and mouse ESCs as well as some types of ESC‐DCs lack or have attenuated innate immune responses to a wide range of infectious agents. These findings raise important concerns for their therapeutic applications since ESC‐DCs, when implanted to a wound site of a patient, where they would likely be exposed to pathogens and inflammatory cytokines. Understanding whether an attenuated immune response is beneficial or harmful to the interaction between host and grafted cells becomes an important issue for ESC‐based therapy. A substantial amount of recent evidence has demonstrated that the lack of innate antiviral responses is a common feature to ESCs and other types of pluripotent cells. This has led to the hypothesis that mammals may have adapted different antiviral mechanisms at different stages of organismal development. The underdeveloped innate immunity represents a unique and uncharacterized property of ESCs that may have important implications in developmental biology, immunology, and in regenerative medicine. Stem Cells 2015;33:3165–3173