Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Substantial variability in community respiratory syncytial virus season timing

Background. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the major cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in young children. Prevention of RSV disease in children in certain high risk groups through use of immunoglobulin preparations has been recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics since 1998. A more precise understanding of the timing of annual RSV epidemics should assist providers in maximizing the benefit of these preventive therapies. The objective of this study was to determine whether current national RSV surveillance data could be used to define the timing of seasonal outbreaks Methods. Weekly RSV testing data from the National Respiratory and Enteric Viruses Surveillance System for the period July 1990 through June 2000 were analyzed. RSV season onset week, peak week and duration were calculated for the entire United States, Census regions and select local laboratories. Season variability was estimated by comparing calculations for individual RSV seasons to median measurements for the entire surveillance period Results. RSV seasons in the South region began significantly earlier (P < 0.05) and lasted longer (P < 0.05) than seasons for the rest of the nation. RSV seasons in the Midwest region began significantly later (P < 0.01) and were shorter (P < 0.05) than those for the rest of the nation. Local RSV seasons varied substantially by year and by laboratory. The variability between laboratories generally increased with distance between laboratories Conclusions. Onset weeks and durations of RSV seasons vary substantially by year and location. Local RSV data are needed to accurately define the onset and offset of RSV seasons and to refine timing of passive immune prophylaxis therapy recommendations.
The effects of weather on retail sales

Monthly fluctuations in consumer spending are often attributed to the weather. This paper presents a model in which weather affects the productivity of time in nonmarket activities (such as shopping or recreation), and so, via time and budget constraints, may induce substitution in spending across goods and over time. Using monthly data on retail sales and weather data from the National Weather Service, I find that unusual weather has a modest but significant role in explaining monthly sales fluctuations. However, lagged effects often offset original effects, so that weather's influence tends to wash out at a quarterly frequency.
From Candidate to Colleague: Mentoring Online Doctoral Students

Faculty who work with candidates in online doctoral programs entail many of the same challenges and opportunities as those serving candidates in programs that are offered in traditional, face-to-face modalities. The main difference is that in working with online doctoral candidates, there is no common physical space for candidates to interact with faculty and peers, which can present additional challenges for candidates and their committees. This editorial article focuses on the dissertation phase of online doctoral candidates’ studies and the ways in which chairs and committee members can understand, frame, and most effectively guide their candidates through that phase by understanding theories and models relevant to working with adults who are destined to become not just graduates, but professional peers.
Degree of Internationalization (DOI) and Performance Relationship: An Empirical and Conceptual Approach

The main goal of this paper is present a conceptual and empirical review about degree of internationalization (DOI) and performance relationship. In the first part of the paper the conceptual basis about DOI and performance are explained. In the second part the five models of DOI and performance relationship are described. In the third part is shown the empirical evidence about this phenomenon during the last years. In the last part some gaps of the literature are described.
Regression of new gadolinium enhancing lesion activity in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

Background: Contrast enhancing lesions (CEL) is a common endpoint in multiple sclerosis (MS) clinical trials. To minimize sample size or placebo exposure, a crossover design without a concurrent control group is attractive. Natural regression may confound this strategy. We assessed the degree of regression in monthly new gadolinium activity in relapsing-remitting (RR) placebo patients. Methods: A post hoc analysis was performed on 65 RRMS placebo patients in the Prevention of Relapses and disability by Interferon beta-1a Subcutaneously in Multiple Sclerosis (PRISMS) trial. Patients were originally selected for relapses but not preselected for MRI activity. Eleven MRI scans were taken at screening, baseline, and months 1 through 9. Monthly new CEL rates were examined using a random effects Poisson model. Patients were analyzed as a single group and by screening CEL count level subgroups: no, low, and high (0, 1 to 3, >3 CEL). Results: A total of 32, 19, and 14 patients had no, low, and high CEL counts at screening. The monthly new CEL rates (95% CI) of all patients at baseline, months 1 to 3, 4 to 6, and 7 to 9 were 2.0 (1.3, 2.9), 1.8 (1.3, 2.5), 1.4 (1.0, 2.0), and 1.2 (0.8, 1.7). Compared to baseline, the rate decreased by 10%, 27%, and 39%. The monthly rate of the no subgroup remained stable. The rates for both the low and high subgroups decreased by 4%, 29%, and 48% at months 1 to 3, 4 to 6, and 7 to 9 compared to baseline. Conclusions: Placebo relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients experience a decline of new gadolinium activity over 9 months. A crossover design without a concurrent comparison group may overestimate the treatment effect. GLOSSARY: CEL = contrast enhancing lesions; MS = multiple sclerosis; PRISMS = Prevention of Relapses and disability by Interferon beta-1a Subcutaneously in Multiple Sclerosis; RR = relapsing-remitting.
Business cycle accounting of the BRIC economies

Abstract Drawing upon the experiences of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC), we apply the Business Cycle Accounting methodology to study the phenomenon of rapid economic growth. We document that while efficiency wedges do contribute in a large part to growth, especially in Brazil and Russia, there is an increasing importance of investment wedges especially in the late 2000s, noted in China and India. The results are typically related to the stages of development with Brazil and Russia coming off a recession in the 1990s to grow in the 2000s, while India and China were on a comparatively stable growth path. Our results suggest, at least for the BRICs examined, that while efficiency wedges play a major role in jump-starting recovery, investment wedges are equally important for sustaining the recovery. Relating wedge patterns to institutional and financial reforms, we find that financial market developments and effective governance in BRICs in the last decade are consistent with improvements in investment and efficiency wedges that led to growth.
The policy consequence of expensing stock‐based compensation

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the policy consequences of expensing stock-based compensation in Taiwan. Design/methodology/approach - Data were collected on listed firms from 2006 to 2008 and a goodness-of-fit of accounting earnings valuation model was used to investigate the incremental information content of expensing stock-based compensation. In addition, two sensitivity indexes were used to investigate the sensitivity between compensation and firm performance before and after income statement recognition of stock-based compensation. Findings - It was found that the association between earnings and abnormal returns is stronger after expensing compensation. In addition, the relationship between compensation variables, especially stock compensation, and firm performance is stronger after 2008, indicating that expensing compensation reinforces the relationship between compensation and performance. Practical implications - The findings suggest that disclosure and recognition are not substitutes. The findings also have implications for standard setters and for investors attempting to mitigate managers' self-interested behavior. Originality/value - The accounting treatment of employee stock-based compensation is a controversial issue among academics, regulators, managers, auditors, and investors. This paper investigates the incremental information content of the new accounting standard and explores whether the relationship between compensation and firm performance has become more transparent than before.
Why and When Does Negative Feedbacks Matter More in Online Trading?: A Bayesian Inference Modeling and Meta-Analysis on Online Feedback Mechanisms

In this study, from both theoretical and empirical perspectives based on Bayesian inferences and meta-analysis, respectively, we study the online reputation mechanism. The topic of feedback systems (FS) has been intensively studied. Prior empirical studies show several interesting results: Some studies show that only negative feedback has statistically significant impacts on high bid and probability of sale, but others claim that negative feedback has no significant effects on probability sale or bid, but bids are higher only with more positive feedback ratings. Hence, the findings on the impacts of FS on trading outcomes are conflicting or mixed at best. It was also observed that FS show the overwhelming dominance of positive ratings, and this trend intensifies as the market matures. In addition, it seems that feedback with a few negative ratings for an item may increase the value of that item and final prices much more than does feedback without them. This different marginal impact of the presence of negative feedback is yet to be verified. Similarly, FS exhibit a diminishing marginal return. That is, reviews at an early stage tend to have a greater influence on product sales than do reviews at later stages. For these interesting and sometimes seemingly conflicting findings, few plausible theoretical explanations have been offered. We show that our Bayesian framework provides a good explanation for these interesting facts and resolves conflicting results. When the feedback mechanism is understood as signaling the quality and trustworthiness of the trader, these may be the rational outcome of the feedback mechanism itself. A meta-analysis empirically validates our theoretical findings.
Are Financial Analysts' Forecasts of Corporate Profits Rational?

This paper develops generalized method‐of‐moments tests for the rationality of earnings per share forecasts made by individual stock analysts. We fail to reject the hypothesis of rationality as long as we take into account two complications: (1) the correlation in a given period of analysts' forecast errors in predicting earnings for firms in the same industry and (2) discretionary asset write‐downs, which affect earnings but are intentionally ignored by analysts when they make earnings forecasts. Our results challenge earlier work by De Bondt and Thaler and by Abarbanell and Bernard that found irrationality in analysts' forecasts.
Sensitization to Bjerkandera adusta enhances severity of cough symptom in patients with fungus-associated chronic cough (FACC).

OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to clarify the influence of sensitization to Bjerkandera adusta (B. adusta) on the clinical manifestation in patients with fungus-associated chronic cough (FACC). METHODS Seventeen patients with FACC who underwent bronchoprovocation tests using an antigenic solution of B. adusta were selected from among 21 FACC patients. We compared the allergological findings and clinical characteristics of the FACC patients who showed a positive reaction to the bronchoprovocation test (Allergic fungal cough sensitized to B. adusta; AFC-Bj) with the remaining FACC patients (non AFC-Bj) retrospectively. RESULTS The eleven patients with AFC-Bj had a median age of 52 (range, 22-70) years, and 45.5% were female. The respective values for six patients with non AFC-Bj were 47.5 (range, 36-60) years of age, and 33.3% were female. The positive ratios for an immediate cutaneous reaction (45.5%; p<0.05) and the lymphocyte stimulation test (63.6%; p<0.05) to B. adusta were found to be significantly higher in the AFC-Bj group than in the non AFC-Bj group. The total time required for complete remission of cough symptoms was longer (median 20, range 12-43 weeks; p=0.0009), and the recurrence ratio of coughing was more frequent in the AFC-Bj group in comparison to those in non AFC-Bj group (2, range 1-3 times and 0.5, range 0-1 times, respectively). CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated that B. adusta, a basidiomycetous is an environmental fungus attracting attention because of its possible role in enhancing the cough severity of FACC patients via the sensitization to this fungus.
The Determinants of the Maturity of Corporate Debt Issues

The authors document the determinants of the term to maturity of 7,369 bonds and notes issued between 1982 and 1993. Their main finding is that large firms with investment grade credit ratings typically borrow at the short end and at the long end of the maturity spectrum, while firms with speculative grade credit ratings typically borrow in the middle of the maturity spectrum. This pattern is consistent with the theory that risky firms do not issue short-term debt in order to avoid inefficient liquidation, but are screened out of the long-term debt market because of the prospect of risky asset substitution. Copyright 1996 by American Finance Association.
The Catch(es) with Smart Home: Experiences of a Living Lab Field Study

Smart home systems are becoming an integral feature of the emerging home IT market. Under this general term, products mainly address issues of security, energy savings and comfort. Comprehensive systems that cover several use cases are typically operated and managed via a unified dashboard. Unfortunately, research targeting user experience (UX) design for smart home interaction that spans several use cases or covering the entire system is scarce. Furthermore, existing comprehensive and user-centered longterm studies on challenges and needs throughout phases of information collection, installation and operation of smart home systems are technologically outdated. Our 18-month Living Lab study covering 14 households equipped with smart home technology provides insights on how to design for improving smart home appropriation. This includes a stronger sensibility for household practices during setup and configuration, flexible visualizations for evolving demands and an extension of smart home beyond the location.
Corporate Saints and Sinners: The Effects of Philanthropic and Illegal Activity on Organizational Performance

This article utilizes a two-dimensional view of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to examine the relationships between corporate financial performance and experts9 ratings of CSR. The two dimensions are compliance/noncompliance with society9s minimal expectations (the law) and involvement/noninvolvement in praiseworthy or supererogatory behavior (philanthropic contributions). In this study, four groups of corporations are identified: "saints" (no crimes, high contributions); "pharisees" (no crimes, low contributions); "cynics/repenters" (crimes, high contributions); and "sinners" (crimes, low contributions). A survey of industry experts reveals that the saints and the cynics/repenters groups were rated significantly higher on CSR than the other two groups. Firms in the sinners group performed significantly poorer than the other three groups on two five-year financial performance measures. These results have important implications for the debate over the relationship between CSR and financial performance.
The Transmission of Domestic Shocks in Open Economies

This paper uses an open economy DSGE model to explore how trade openness affects the transmission of domestic shocks. For some calibrations, closed and open economies appear dramatically different, reminiscent of the implications of Mundell-Fleming style models. However, we argue such stark differences hinge on calibrations that impose an implausibly high trade price elasticity and Frisch elasticity of labour supply. Overall, our results suggest that the main effects of openness are on the composition of expenditure, and on the wedge between consumer and domestic prices, rather than on the response of aggregate output and domestic prices.
Components of destination competitiveness. The case of small tourism destinations in Italy

The paper operationalises the conceptual model of Richie and Crouch (2000) by identifying seven key determinants and a set of indicators of destination competitiveness. The aim of the paper is to test whether and to what extent the set of indicators can help explaining the competitiveness of a tourism destination. The model is tested on a unique dataset of 610 small Italian destinations. Principal component analysis (PCA) is applied on the responses to the items measuring destination competitiveness. The output is reasonably similar to the corresponding elements of the model. PCA shows the importance of those elements related to sustainability that affect tourism policy-making and destination management processes. PCA also highlights the role of the core attractors – natural and cultural resources, events and gastronomy – thus suggesting that different marketing strategies may be implemented to reach different target consumer groups. Finally, the findings indicate that the demand factor needs to be considered in the explanation of tourist destination competitiveness.
Influence of Thiazide on Salt Hypertension

This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of chronic diuretic therapy with chlorothiazide on the course of salt hypertension in hypertension-resistant (R) and hypertension-sensitive (S) strains of rats. Investigation of the effects of chlorothiazide on blood pressure, 24-hour urinary 24Na and aldosterone excretion, and plasma renin activity (PRA) produced the following observations: (1) Chlorothiazide failed to prevent the development of salt hypertension in S rats. (2) After 12 weeks, S rats on high salt plus chlorothiazide exhibited a rapid fall in blood pressure to levels indistinguishable from those of S rats on low salt. (3) Chlorothiazide significantly increased urinary 24Na excretion only in S rats on high salt (P <0.01). (4) Chlorothiazide significantly increased PRA and urinary aldosterone excretion in both strains on low or high salt diets (P <0.001). (5) Morbidity and mortality of salt hypertension were alleviated by chlorothiazide treatment. The unique aspect of this study is the finding that chlorothiazide did not abolish the hypertensinogenic action of salt in S rats.
Conceptualising entrepreneurial capital for a study of performance in small professional service firms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a robust theoretical framework for exploring the longitudinal impact of social capital on the performance of small business service firms.Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper builds on theories of capital, particularly entrepreneurial capital, to develop a theoretically robust framework within which to consider the longitudinal impact of social capital on small business service firms.Findings – Reviewing current literature on entrepreneurial capital demonstrates the difficulty in isolating capital in its various forms due to the convertibility and overlapping nature of different types of capital. Also problematic is the impact of time and the effect which changing amounts and types of capital can have on firm performance. The conceptual model addresses these concerns by exploring social capital in a sector where financial capital presents less of a barrier to entry and where owners' human capital, particularly their educational achievement, .
Market Response to the Weekly Money Supply Announcements in the 1970s

The hypothesis that the weekly announcement of the money supply affects interest rates is examined. The announcement effect is interpreted as a policy anticipation effect. That is, an unanticipated increase in the money supply leads to an increase in interest rates in anticipation of future tightening by the Federal Reserve. Estimates of this effect with proxies for the unanticipated change constructed from a survey of money supply forecasts and an ARIMA model indicate that: (a) financial markets respond very quickly to the announcement; and (b) the response was largest when policymakers emphasized the importance of the monetary aggregates. FINANCIAL MARKET PARTICIPANTS ARE careful observers of the weekly money supply announcement, and generally agree that the announcement often leads to changes in interest rates. This occurs because the announcement leads market participants to revise their expectations both of future Federal Reserve policy actions and of future economic conditions. In this paper we examine the response of yields on Treasury bills to the announcement of the money supply and the extent to which that response has varied in the last ten years. Money supply announcements may affect market interest rates in three ways. First, actual expansion of the money supply leads to lower interest rates through a liquidity effect. However, rapid monetary growth which is not anticipated leads market participants to expect the Federal Reserve to counteract such growth in the future. As a consequence, there may be a policy anticipation effect which causes higher interest rates in anticipation of future tightening. Furthermore, prolonged rapid monetary growth also creates inflation and inflationary expectations which lead to higher interest rates. Thus, there may exist a third effect, the inflationary expectations effect which also leads to higher interest rates. Our interest in this paper is in the immediate market response to the weekly announcement of the money supply, which, as we argue below, is most likely to be a policy anticipation effect. The policy anticipation effect is best described by example. Suppose that the announced change in the money supply exceeds that which was expected by
Task Switching: The Effect of Task Recency with Dual- and Single-Affordance Stimuli

When we switch to a new task, performance is transiently relatively poor, but improves dramatically after one trial. Such a “switch cost” may result from the preceding task being highly primed while the new task is not yet primed. This predicts that it should become more difficult to switch back to Task A when more trials of Task B have intervened. Such a lag effect has been found in some but not in most previous experiments, and to resolve this discrepancy we examined the effects of task lag with different stimuli. We found that when stimuli uniquely and clearly cued the task—minimizing the need for control—switch reaction time increased with task lag. However, when the need for control was increased by using similar or identical stimuli in the two tasks, this lag effect was abolished or reversed. Thus only when control processes are minimized can priming explain the difficulty of switching back from Task B to Task A. Second, we asked how the impact of control is mediated in conditions where it is not minimized. If it is mediated through altering the relative activation states of competing tasks, then as it becomes easier to do one task—the relative task-set activation state is tipped in that task's favour—it should always become harder to do the other task. On the other hand, if control bias affects switch performance directly, this relationship need not hold. We found that as it becomes easier to perform one task it can become easier, not harder, to switch to the competing task. Thus control bias must act directly on switch performance, rather than only through its influence on relative task-set activation.