Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Changing an Unfavorable Employment Reputation: A Longitudinal Examination

Although a favorable employment reputation plays an important role in generating a large and qualified pool of job applicants for an organization (Rynes & Cable, 2003), little research has investigated whether organizations can improve applicants’ existing unfavorable employment reputation perceptions. Results from a four-week longitudinal experiment using 222 student job seekers revealed that participants’ employment reputation perceptions improved after exposure to recruitment practices and followed diminishing returns trajectories over time. High information recruitment practices (e.g., personal communication from a recruiter) from both single and multiple sources were more effective for changing unfavorable employment reputation perceptions than repeated mere exposure to the organization (i.e., exposure to only the company logo), and high information practices from multiple sources were the most effective overall. Finally, participants reporting less familiarity with the organization experienced greater reputation change across the four weeks, but only for participants in the mere exposure condition.
Friendly Takeovers in the UK: An Agency Analysis

The paper analyses the corporate governance mechanisms of a sample of companies that have been acquired by friendly take-over and those of a matching control sample that have not. It also uses a holdout sample to assess the model's ability to correctly classify take-over candidates. The results show that friendly targets have lower Q ratios and are therefore poor performers. We also find that there are significant governance differences between the friendly take-over targets and the control sample. Friendly targets are more likely to have the same person acting as CEO and chair, have a higher proportion of new outside directors (those that have been on the board for less than four years) and have larger institutional shareholdings. The results suggest that distinguishing between friendly and hostile mergers may not be the most useful way of analysing merger behaviour given that friendly targets exhibit a number of characteristics consistent with the disciplinary aspects of the market for corporate control. The inclusion of governance characteristics also enables the model to differentiate between target and non-target companies when predicting acquisition probability. Using a holdout sample, the model correctly classified 57% of target companies.
AFRL-RY-WP-TP-2016-0197 RELAXED BIQUADRATIC OPTIMIZATION FOR JOINT FILTER-SIGNAL DESIGN IN SIGNAL-DEPENDENT SPACE-TIME ADAPTIVE PROCESSING ( STAP ) ( PREPRINT )

We investigate an alterative solution method to the joint signal-beamformer optimization problem considered by Setlur and Rangaswamy [1]. First, we directly demonstrate that the problem, which minimizes the recieved noise, interference, and clutter power under a minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) constraint, is generally non-convex and provide concrete insight into the nature of the nonconvexity. Second, we employ the theory of biquadratic optimization and semidefinite relaxations to produce a relaxed version of the problem, which we show to be convex. The optimality conditions of this relaxed problem are examined and a variety of potential solutions are found, both analytically and numerically.
Caring for parents and employment status of european mid-life women

In this paper we estimate the causal effect of providing ? intensive? informal care to elderly parents on labour market participation decisions for European women who are themselves approaching retirement. In particular, we consider the frequency or intensity of this help and we focus on informal care provided in a daily or weekly basis. We use two different but comparable samples drawn from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) that provide complementary detailed information about daughters and parents. We obtain evidence about this question for two groups of European countries that strongly differ in terms of informal caregiving intensity within the immediate family and the use of formal care: the northern countries (Sweden, Denmark and The Netherlands), and the southern countries (Spain, Italy and Greece). The results show that the estimated effect of providing ? intensive? informal care to elderly parents on the probability of labour participation is negative and large for both groups of countries. Furthermore, a substantially stronger effect is found when the ? intensive? caregiving variable is treated as endogenous in the labour participation equation. This shows that the potential opportunity costs in terms of (reduced) employment associated with the provision of informal care by women are seriously underestimated under the exogeneity assumption of the caregiving regressor.
Systemic inflammation markers in patients with aggressive periodontitis: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND The association between periodontitis and systemic health is evident; however, until recently, there was a lack of scientific evidence to define the relationship between aggressive periodontitis (AgP) and systemic conditions. The aim of this study was to explore the characteristics of peripheral blood cellular and serum protein parameters in patients with AgP. METHODS Patients with AgP (n = 150) and healthy controls (n = 94) were recruited. Clinical parameters, including probing depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), and percentage of severe sites, were examined. Blood cell variables, including leukocyte, neutrophil, and lymphocyte counts, as well as serum protein parameters, including total protein, albumin, globulin, and albumin/globulin ratio, were analyzed. RESULTS Elevated neutrophil numbers and serum globulin levels were observed in patients with AgP compared to controls (4.22 +/- 1.81 x 10(9)/l versus 3.20 +/- 0.91 x 10(9)/l and 29.20 +/- 3.75 g/l versus 27.17 +/- 3.32 g/l, respectively; P <0.01). Albumin level and albumin/globulin ratio were lower in the AgP group than in the control group (47.65 +/- 2.45 g/l versus 48.88 +/- 2.13 g/l and 1.66 +/- 0.24 versus 1.83 +/- 0.24, respectively; P <0.01). In the AgP group, neutrophil counts and serum globulin levels were positively correlated with clinical parameters, including mean values for PD, CAL, and percentage of severe sites (P <0.05); the albumin level and albumin/globulin ratio were inversely correlated with the clinical parameters as described above (P <0.05). CONCLUSIONS Patients with AgP may have elevated peripheral leukocyte numbers and serum globulin levels as well as decreased serum albumin levels and albumin/globulin ratios compared to controls. These changes might be associated with the severity of periodontal destruction.
Secondary Lymphoid-tissue Chemokine Is a Functional Ligand for the CC Chemokine Receptor CCR7*

Secondary Lymphoid-tissueChemokine (SLC) is a recently identified CC chemokine that is constitutively expressed in various lymphoid tissues and is a potent and specific chemoattractant for lymphocytes. The SLC gene and the gene encoding another lymphocyte-specific CC chemokine, EBI1-ligand chemokine (ELC), form a mini-cluster at human chromosome 9p13. Here, we show that SLC is a high affinity functional ligand for chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) that is expressed on T and B lymphocytes and a known receptor for ELC. SLC induced a vigorous calcium mobilization in murine L1.2 cells stably expressing human CCR7. SLC tagged with the secreted form of alkaline phosphatase (SLC-SEAP) showed specific binding to CCR7 that was fully competed by SLC with an IC50 of 0.5 nm. SLC also induced a vigorous chemotactic response in CCR7-expressing L1.2 cells with a typical bell-shaped dose-response curve and a maximal migration at 10 nm. When assessed using CCR7-transfected L1.2 cells, SLC and ELC were essentially equivalent in terms of cross desensitization in calcium mobilization via CCR7, cross-competition in binding to CCR7, and induction of chemotaxis via CCR7. SLC and ELC were also shown to fully share receptors expressed on cultured normal T cells known to express CCR7. Notably, however, SLC was somehow less efficient in cross-desensitization against ELC in calcium mobilization and in cross-competition with ELC for binding when assessed using cultured normal T cells. Thus, SLC and ELC, even though sharing only 32% amino acid identity, constitute a genetically and functionally highly related subgroup of CC chemokines.
Auditory and Vestibular Symptoms and Chronic Subjective Dizziness in Patients With Ménière’s Disease, Vestibular Migraine, and Ménière’s Disease With Concomitant Vestibular Migraine

Objective To compare presentations of Ménière’s disease (MD), vestibular migraine (VM), and Ménière’s disease plus vestibular migraine (MDVM), with and without comorbid chronic subjective dizziness (CSD). Study Design Retrospective review with diagnosis confirmed by consensus conference of investigators using published criteria for MD, VM, and CSD. Setting Ambulatory, tertiary dizziness clinic. Patients Approximately 147 consecutive patients with diagnoses of MD, VM, or MDVM, with/without comorbid CSD. Interventions Diagnostic consultation. Main Outcome Measures Similarities and differences between diagnostic groups in demographics; symptoms; and results of neurotologic, audiometric, and vestibular laboratory assessments. Results Seventy-six patients had MD, 55 MD alone. Ninety-two patients had VM, 71 VM alone. Twenty-one patients had MDVM, representing about one-quarter of those diagnosed with MD or VM. Clinical features thought to differentiate VM from MD were found in all groups. Twenty-seven patients with VM (38%) had ear complaints (subjective hearing loss, aural pressure, and tinnitus) during episodes of vestibular symptoms and headache, including 10 (37%) with unilateral symptoms. Conversely, 27 patients with MD alone (49%) had headaches with migraine features that did not meet full IHS diagnostic criteria, migrainous symptoms (photophobia, headache with vomiting), or first-degree relative with migraine. Including MDVM patients, 59% (45/76) of all patients with MD had migrainous features. Thirty-two patients had CSD; most (29; 91%) were in the VM group. Conclusion Comorbidity was common between MD and VM, and their symptoms overlapped. More specific diagnostic criteria are needed to differentiate these diseases and address their coexistence. CSD co-occurred with VM but was rarely seen with MD.
Why Does the Marginal Value of Cash to Shareholders Vary Over Time?

We decompose the effect of changing macroeconomic conditions and firm characteristics on the market value of U.S. firms’ cash holdings from 1971 through 2009. We find that, ceteris paribus, the market value of a $1 increase in cash holdings is (i) 11.4 higher during economic expansions, (ii) 12.3 higher for young firms, (iii) 13.2 higher for firms with high cash flow volatility, (iv) 23.1 higher for small firms that engage in research and development, (v) 17.7 higher for firms with high capital expenditures, and (vi) 23.4 higher for firms in that engage in R&D and are in top tercile of capital expenditures. Overall, our evidence suggests the marginal value of cash is positively associated with expanding economic states, investment opportunities, and measures of firm-level financial constraints.
Conversion between Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III and Mini-Mental State Examination

ABSTRACT Background: We aim to provide a conversion between Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III (ACE-III) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores, to predict the MMSE result based on ACE-III, thus avoiding the need for both tests, and improving their comparability. Methods: Equipercentile equating method was used to elaborate a conversion table using a group of 400 participants comprising healthy controls and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Then, reliability was assessed in a group of 100 healthy controls and patients with AD, 52 with primary progressive aphasia and 22 with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia. Results: The conversion table between ACE-III and MMSE denoted a high reliability, with intra-class correlation coefficients of 0.940, 0.922, and 0.902 in the groups of healthy controls and AD, behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, and primary progressive aphasia, respectively. Conclusion: Our conversion table between ACE-III and MMSE suggests that MMSE may be estimated based on the ACE-III score, which could be useful for clinical and research purposes.
Cells in laminae III and IV of the rat spinal cord which possess the neurokinin‐1 receptor receive monosynaptic input from myelinated primary afferents

We have previously demonstrated that neurons which have cell bodies in laminae III or IV of the rat spinal cord, dendrites that enter the superficial laminae and which possess the neurokinin‐1 receptor receive a major synaptic input from substance P‐containing primary afferent axons. In this study we set out to determine whether these cells also receive monosynaptic input from myelinated primary afferents by using transganglionic transport of the B subunit of cholera toxin to identify the central terminals of myelinated afferents from the sciatic nerve. Dual‐immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy revealed apparent contacts between labelled primary afferent terminals and all of the neurokinin‐1 receptor‐immunoreactive cells examined, although these contacts were much less numerous than those which the cells receive from substance P‐containing primary afferents. By using a combined confocal and electron microscopic technique we were able to confirm that synapses were present at some of the contacts between primary afferents and neurokinin‐1 receptor‐immunoreactive neurons. These results suggest that cells of this type will have wide‐dynamic range receptive fields, but with a relatively strong input from nociceptors.
DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN: THE REAPPEARANCE OF SUPERNOVA REFSDAL

In Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging taken on 2014 November 10, four images of supernova (SN) “Refsdal” (redshift z = 1.49) appeared in an Einstein-cross-like configuration (images S1–S4) around an early-type galaxy in the cluster MACS J1149.5+2223 (z = 0.54). Almost all lens models of the cluster have predicted that the SN should reappear within a year in a second host-galaxy image created by the cluster’s potential. In HST observations taken on 2015 December 11, we find a new source at the predicted position of the new image of SN Refsdal approximately 8 ″ ? > from the previous images S1–S4. This marks the first time the appearance of a SN at a particular time and location in the sky was successfully predicted in advance! We use these data and the light curve from the first four observed images of SN Refsdal to place constraints on the relative time delay and magnification of the new image (SX) compared to images S1–S4. This enables us, for the first time, to test “blind” lens model predictions of both magnifications and time delays for a lensed SN. We find that the timing and brightness of the new image are consistent with the blind predictions of a fraction of the models. The reappearance illustrates the discriminatory power of this blind test and its utility to uncover sources of systematic uncertainty. From planned HST photometry, we expect to reach a precision of 1%–2% on the time delay between S1–S4 and SX.
Individual Differences in Holistic Processing Predict Face Recognition Ability

Why do some people recognize faces easily and others frequently make mistakes in recognizing faces? Classic behavioral work has shown that faces are processed in a distinctive holistic manner that is unlike the processing of objects. In the study reported here, we investigated whether individual differences in holistic face processing have a significant influence on face recognition. We found that the magnitude of face-specific recognition accuracy correlated with the extent to which participants processed faces holistically, as indexed by the composite-face effect and the whole-part effect. This association is due to face-specific processing in particular, not to a more general aspect of cognitive processing, such as general intelligence or global attention. This finding provides constraints on computational models of face recognition and may elucidate mechanisms underlying cognitive disorders, such as prosopagnosia and autism, that are associated with deficits in face recognition.
Does Fair Value Accounting Contribute to Procyclical Leverage

We describe analytically commercial bank behavior focusing on actions banks take in response to economic gains and losses on their assets to meet regulatory leverage requirements. Our analysis shows that absent differences in regulatory risk weights across assets, leverage cannot be procyclical. We test the analytical description's predictions using a sample of US commercial banks, during economic upturns and downturns, including the recent financial crisis. Although we find a significantly positive relation between change in leverage and change in assets, this procyclical relation evaporates when change in each bank's weighted average regulatory risk weight is included in the estimating equation. We also find that all changes in equity, including those arising from fair value accounting, are significantly negatively related to change in leverage, which is inconsistent with fair value accounting contributing to procyclical leverage. In addition, we find no evidence of a relation between change in leverage and the interaction between change in assets arising from fair value accounting and other changes in assets. Taken together, the empirical evidence indicates that fair value accounting is not a source of procyclical leverage. The key conclusion we draw is that bank regulatory requirements, particularly regulatory leverage determined using regulatory risk-weighted assets, explain why banks' leverage can be procyclical, and that fair value accounting does not.
Borrowing Beyond Borders: The Geography and Pricing of Syndicated Bank Loans

We examine the global geography and pricing of the syndicated loan market using a sample of more than 13,000 loan packages issued to 4,713 firms headquartered across 10 countries during the 1998 to 2004 sample period. Our results provide insights into the relative importance of information costs, cross-country differences in legal and regulatory costs, and cross-country competition in bank lending. Consistent with Carey and Nini's (2006) pricing puzzle, we find that, on average, loans to European firms are significantly cheaper than loans to North American firms by approximately 40 basis points. However, we find that the price differences between these markets holds primarily for those firms that do not have complete access to European capital markets. That is, firms headquartered in North America with significant assets or sales in Europe get the European discount by using a European lead lender. At the same time, we find that large firms often pay lower rates when borrowing from a foreign lender. Interestingly, this result holds for both North American firms borrowing in Europe as well as for European firms borrowing in North America. Therefore, it appears that global competition has helped reduce borrowing costs for those firms that have greater access to global lending markets. Our finding that discounting on foreign loans to large firms occurs in a similar fashion in both Europe and North America also suggests that European lenders do not have a persistent competitive or regulatory advantage.
Determinants of E-Learning Implementation Success In The Iraqi MoHE

The aim of this paper is to investigate the determinants of implementation success of the E-Learning in the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education (IMoHE) and put a work plan to make the E-Learning widely implemented in the IMoHE. The Technology-OrganizationEnvironment (TOE) framework and the E-Learning literature were used to analyze the factors which may influence this implementation and adoption. A questionnaire which consists of twenty nine questions divided into three parts: Technological factors (Information Systems (IS) infrastructure and IS expertise), Organizational factors (organizational compatibility and organizational benefits), and Environmental factors (competitive pressure and educational partner readiness) were written. The implementation success is characterized by two dimensions Internal Integration and External Diffusion. This questionnaire data gathered from 120 faculty members in the IMoHE were employed to test the relationships between the research models constructs using a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. The results reveal that IS expertise, and Expected Benefits are key determinants of E-Learning implementation success in terms of Internal Integration and External Diffusion.
Bioactives in organic and conventional milled cereal products from Croatian market

A need for food that contributes to individual nutrition and health status, and also to the sustainability of the planet, is rising as a consequence of consumer’s awareness of foods nutritional value and origin. This behaviour is mostly expressed through the preference toward organically grown and wholesome food. Science to some extent supports this preference, giving more evidence supporting the benefit of whole food, and indicating that organic might be more nutritious than conventional. However, the question that remains is is it always better? Thus in this study organic and conventional cereal milling products from Croatian market were randomly selected (namely wheat bran, whole grain, semi-white and white wheat flour, and whole grain corn, oat and rye flour) in order to determine their antioxidant activity (AO), lignans, ferulic acid (FA), total phenolic (TPC) and dietary fibre (DF) content. The research aimed to point out how cereals contribute to the diet with their fibres and bioactives, and to see to what extent consumers can expect organic cereal products to be better source of bioactives than conventional ones when buying from the market. Wheat bran distinguished among chosen products with its high FA, TPC, lignan content, and the strongest AO, especially in case of organic bran. Within whole grains organic corn flour exhibited the strongest AO and the highest TPC (2576 mg FAE kg-1), while organic oat flour was the most abundant in lignans (10064 μg kg-1). Higher content of FA, TPC, and lignans in organic wheat bran and established difference in bioactives between flours from the organic farming compared to conventional do not lead to firm conclusion that consumers can expect organically produced cereals to be superior in all nutrition aspects to conventional, as is often believed. Despite that, interestingly, among analysed nutritional parameters lignans were in all cases higher in organic products and less strong correlated to fibre content, indicating that they could be influenced by farming system. Obtained data highlight the benefit of consuming different wholegrain cereals as an important source of fibres and bioactive compounds, which, with the exception of lignans, are strongly positively correlated to the insoluble fibre content.