Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of corporate governance on default risk in financial versus nonfinancial firms: Canadian evidence

This paper investigates the influence of corporate governance structures on the credit risks of Canadian firms from the perspective of bondholders after the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Default probabilities calculated from Black-Scholes/ Merton Distance to Default type models are used to measure firms credit risks. Based on these measures, Canadian financial firms actually show higher risk than non-financial firms over the financial crisis. This may be explained by the high exposure of Canadian financial firms to US markets during the period of the crisis. However, in the transition to the post financial crisis period, the risk of financial firms decreases more rapidly than that of industrial firms. With the exception of board size and CEO duality, most governance mechanisms examine, including insider ownership, board independence, institutional ownership, financial transparency and compensation committee independence, have differential impacts on financial vs. non-financial firms. Finally, we find that Canadian firms headquartered in Quebec have higher credit risks than Canadian firms headquartered in other provinces.
Detection and identification of two Bartonella henselae variants in domestic cats in Germany

To determine the prevalence of bacteremia caused by Bartonella henselae in domestic cats in the region of Freiburg, Germany, we investigated culture of blood from 100 cats from 89 different households over a 12-month period. B. henselae could be isolated from 13% (13 of 100) of these cats. In eight households with two cats each and in one household with three cats, B. henselae bacteremia was found either in all of the animals or in none of the animals. Positive cultures were more likely to be found for female, young (24 months of age or younger) cats than for male or older cats. Identification of the Bartonella isolates was made by colony morphology, by Gram staining, biochemically by RapID ANA II or Rapid ID 32 A systems, and by whole-cell fatty acid analysis. Differentiation between B. henselae and Bartonella quintana was only possible by 16S rRNA sequencing, enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Genomic fingerprinting of the B. henselae isolates by ERIC-PCR yielded two different patterns based on three distinct bands.
The role of services in regional and urban development: A reappraisal of our understanding

A first approach is a primarily theoretical re-examination of the economic base model. It is concluded that only with substantial modification, can it be maintained as a simple model of the interplay between sectors creating regional and urban development. A second approach is to examine empirically the notion that since service activities now show above-average growth and are above-average concentrated in big cities, they pull economic development towards big cities. This is shown not necessarily to be the case, indeed it may be called ‘the structural fallacy’. Shift-share analyses in France and Denmark in the last decades of the twentieth century show that shifts out of the big cities more than counter-balance their structural advantages. However, this is not necessarily the case everywhere or in all periods. A third approach is, using the concepts and findings of the first two, to discuss the role of services in the development of rural areas, small and medium-sized towns, and big cities in Western Europe.
Getting New Staff to Stay: The Mediating Role of Organizational Identification

Newcomer turnover is a major cost to organizations, and the quality of new employees' experiences in the first few months is critical in determining whether they decide to stay or leave. In a study that focused on the first stage of newcomer socialization, we investigate the impact of perceptions of social validation from the team and the team leader, and perceived fairness of treatment on newcomers' identification with their work team and the organization, specifically measuring the group self-investment components of identification. The mediating role of these levels of group self-investment and of the imbalance (i.e. difference) between levels of self-investment on turnover intentions was also tested. New staff (N=569) joining a large public-sector organization completed a questionnaire about their socialization experiences in their first 6 months of their employment. Structural equation modelling revealed that social validation by the team and team leaders, and fairness of treatment, predict increased investment with the organization and with the team. Organizational-level self-investment and an imbalance in favour of investment with the organization over that of the team mediated decreases in turnover intentions. We conclude that organizations should provide newcomers with validation that promotes identification with their organization during this critical stage of socialization.
Assessment of quantitative polymerase chain reaction for equine herpesvirus‐5 in blood, nasal secretions and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid for the laboratory diagnosis of equine multinodular pulmonary fibrosis

Reasons for performing study: The ante mortem diagnosis of equine multinodular pulmonary fibrosis (EMPF) relies on histopathological results and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐positive equine herpesvirus (EHV)‐5 testing of lung tissue. Polymerase chain reaction detection of EHV‐5 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) is commonly used to support a diagnosis of EMPF. However, the diagnostic power of EHV‐5 testing on BALF and other biological samples such as blood and nasal secretions has yet to be shown to support a diagnosis of EMPF. Objectives: To determine the frequency of detection and the viral loads of EHV‐5 by quantitative PCR (qPCR) in blood, nasal secretions and BALF from horses confirmed with EMPF, healthy horses and horses with non‐EMPF pulmonary diseases. Study design: Prospective study. Methods: The study population consisted of 70 adult horses divided into 4 groups based on a combination of clinical findings, cytology of BALF, imaging studies of the thoracic cavity and histopathology of pulmonary tissue: control group (n = 14), EMPF group (n = 11); inflammatory airway disease group (n = 32); and non‐EMPF interstitial lung disease group (n = 13). For each horse, whole blood, nasal secretions and BALF were available for EHV‐5 qPCR testing. Sensitivities, specificities and their respective 95% confidence intervals were calculated for viral loads from blood, nasal secretions and BALF. In addition, these measures were calculated for combined use of blood and nasal secretions. Results: The detection of EHV‐5 in BALF was strongly associated with EMPF (sensitivity 91%, specificity 98.3%). Detection of EHV‐5 in blood was, independent of the viral loads, strongly associated with EMPF with a sensitivity of 91% and specificity of 83.1%. The detection of EHV‐5 in nasal secretions displayed the highest sensitivity (72.7%) and specificity (83.1%) at a level of >245,890 glycoprotein B target genes/million cells to support a diagnosis of EMPF. Dually positive blood and nasal secretions at any viral loads in support of EMPF yielded a sensitivity and specificity of 90% and 89.8%, respectively. Conclusions: Although histopathological confirmation (lung biopsy) is considered the gold standard for EMPF diagnosis, results of qPCR testing of BALF or a combination of whole blood and nasal secretions should be regarded as clinically useful in support of this diagnosis. The latter testing may be relevant when dealing with horses in respiratory distress, for which invasive procedures such as BALF collection or lung biopsies may be detrimental to their health.
Indonesia Seven Years after Soeharto: Party System Institutionalization in a New Democracy

This article examines what the performance of Indonesia's political parties seven years on from Soeharto's resignation can tell us about politics in the country. Using the party system institutionalization framework first developed by Scott Mainwaring and Timothy Scully in Building Democratic Institutions: Party Systems in Latin America (1995), the article finds that Indonesia's parties and party system show a mixed score card, strengths and weaknesses mixing to deprive the parties of legitimacy. On balance, the 2004 elections and 2005 regional elections represent a step towards further deinstitutionalization due to the primacy of personalities in the direct elections of the president and the regional heads. Democracy may indeed now be the only game in town, but its operation is likely to be rocky. There is a silver lining, however; accountability has been somewhat improved due to the electorate's realization of its power to reward and punish parties and political leaders.
Excess Returns on Net Foreign Assets: The Exorbitant Privilege From a Global Perspective

This paper studies net foreign assets and the differential returns between gross foreign assets and liabilities for a sample of 49 countries between 1981 and 2007. It shows that investment income is more important than capital gains in imparting a drift to net foreign assets over the long-run, whereas the latter dominate short-term dynamics. Excess returns on net foreign assets of the United States are indeed exorbitant from a global perspective, only occasionally matched by other countries and mainly accounted for by positive valuation effects. The role of the United States as levered investor did not contribute to its exorbitant privilege. The econometric panel analysis also fails to find a robust positive relationship between leverage and excess returns. Notably, instead, real exchange rate depreciations increase excess returns through capital gains, proportionally to the relative foreign currency exposure. Excess yields on investment income are positively associated with the country risk rating. JEL Classification: F30, F31, F36
Asset allocation in Finnish pension funds

This paper empirically examines the strategic asset allocation and the asset/liability issues in the Finnish defined benefit pension funds. The results indicate that there is a relationship between the liability structure and the asset allocation. While pension funds with younger participants have more equity exposure, more mature pension funds have more fixed income investments. Wide dispersion in asset allocations is also found between the funds. One fund holds its entire portfolio in fixed income securities, whereas other funds have none or only few fixed income holdings. Equity investments also vary dramatically, ranging from 0% to over 70% of the asset allocation. The same applies to investments in a sponsor, real estate investment, and money market investments. A portion of these different asset allocations is explained by the liability structure, but another part remains unexplained. The other variables affecting strategic asset allocation of a pension fund are not obvious, but they could include factors such as regulatory environment, historical reasons, mean-variance optimization instead of ALM, sponsor's own preferences or pension fund's irrationality. Analyzing these factors would be a fruitful topic for further research. Additionally, international comparisons would be a fruitful topic for further investigation.
Tax Incentives and House Price Volatility in the Euro Area: Theory and Evidence

A problem associated with inflation differentials in monetary unions is that the “crowding-in” effect of lower real interest rates associated with high inflation will initially outweigh the loss of competitiveness (crowding out). The crowding-in effect may produce volatility in house prices, especially if tax regimes favour the occurrence of bubbles. This paper shows that this is the case notably in the smaller countries of the euro area, and this could explain the persistence of inflation differentials in the area to some extent.
Gestion du résultat ou optimisation fiscale?Évaluation des octrois d'options d'achat d'actions selon le contexte de gouvernance actionnariale

Resume Le present article s'interesse a la determination de l'ampleur des octrois d'options d'achat d'actions du point de vue de la gouvernance. Il se focalise sur les 100 plus grandes societes canadiennes durant la periode 1998–2001 et montre que la structure de leur actionnariat influence les choix de remuneration des dirigeants (options par opposition a la remuneration en especes). Plus specifiquement, les societes a actionnariat concentre octroient des options en vue d'optimiser l'utilisation de leurs deductions fiscales mais egalement dans le but d'atteindre des resultats cibles. Abstract Within a governance perspective, this study shows that Canadian firms' ownership influences executive compensation strategy (stock options versus cash compensation) during the 1998–2001 period. More specifically, tax optimization seems to drive executive stock option grants among firms with concentrated ownership. Earnings management considerations are also found to be important in determining the extent of stock option grants.
Effect of inter-twin delivery interval on neonatal haemoglobin concentration

Summary The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the inter-twin delivery interval on neonatal haemoglobin concentration. We retrospectively analysed 108 twin deliveries over a 5-year period. Chorionicity was determined by first trimester ultrasound or placental histopathology. The mode of delivery, time of delivery and cord/neonatal blood counts were recorded. A total of 88 sets of dichorionic and 20 sets of monochorionic twins were studied. There was no correlation between inter-twin delivery interval and haemoglobin difference (rho = 0.020, p = 0.857). In monochorionic twin pregnancies, there was a trend towards increasing inter-twin hemoglobin differences with prolonged delivery intervals. However, this trend did not reach statistical significance (rho = −0.303, p = 0.193). In monochorionic twins, there is a trend towards a lower haemoglobin concentration in the twin delivered second. This haemoglobin deficit appears to be related to the inter-twin delivery interval.
Enterprise systems in Russia: 1992–2012

This paper introduces the enterprise systems (ES) development and implementation in Russia in the past three decades. Historic analysis shows that, in terms of time frame, the development of ACS (Automated Control Systems) in the former Soviet Union and the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) in the West was almost parallel. In this paper, the current status and the major trend of ES in Russia is discussed.
TESTING THE RANDOM WALK: THE CASE OF HONG KONG STOCK EXCHANGE

The purpose of this paper is to investigate random walk in HongKong stock exchange. The unit root, autocorrelation and the variance ratio tests are applied, using daily data on returns of two indexes in the period 1997:7 to 2012:12. For two indexes, the null hypothesis of random walk is rejected and therefore the markets are no weak-form efficiency.
Insights into peer to peer traffic through nonlinear analysis

The enormous growth in popularity of peer-to-peer applications has recently introduced great interest in understanding the associated traffic workload and behavior. The goal of this work is determining the fundamental dynamics characterizing such traffic that can be used to develop simple and effective prediction models and to illustrate and describe fundamental performance issues. The discovery of nonlinear traffic dynamics, due to the very complex characteristics of the involved time series, led us to use several nonlinear analysis techniques and tools evidencing the presence of chaos-related structures together with self-similarity and long-range dependence features.
Impact of Analysts' Recommendations on Stock Performance

Abstract This paper examines the effect of analysts' recommendations on stock return, volume and volatility. The study covers a sample of 36 large cap stocks traded on the US stock market over the period June 1997–May 2003. The empirical evidence suggests a significant impact of analysts' recommendations on the stock market. The research considers market microstructure and looks at the motivation and behaviour of analysts.
[Effects of continuous positive airway pressure treatment of inflammatory factors in patients with overlap syndrome].

OBJECTIVE To explore the effects of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment on the serum levels of associated inflammatory factors in patients with overlap syndrome (OS). METHODS Seventy-four patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or overlap syndrome (OS) were recruited from Department of Respirology and Affiliated Sleep Center of our hospital from March 2012 to September 2013. They were divided into OSAS (n = 25), COPD (n = 26) and OS (n = 23) groups according to the results of polysomnography (PSG) and spirometry. By enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) were measured and compared before and at Day 30 post-CPAP in OSAS and OS groups. RESULTS At pre-CPAP, there was no statistical difference in serum levels of CRP ((7.2 ± 6.6),(8.4 ± 6.8),(8.5 ± 7.9) mg/L) and TNF-α ((33 ± 13),(52 ± 34),(41 ± 33) ng/L) among OSAS, COPD and OS groups (all P > 0.05). However, serum ADMA level in OSAS group were significantly lower than those in COPD group ((0.50 ± 0.08) vs (0.71 ± 0.31) µmol/L, P = 0.002). Compared with before and at Day 30 post-CPAP, although no significant difference existed in serum levels of ADMA (all P > 0.05), at Day 30 post-CPAP there were significantly lower serum levels of CRP ((4.5 ± 4.2) and (5.5 ± 4.1) mg/L) and TNF-α levels ((31 ± 9) and (35 ± 24) ng/L) than those pre-CPAP in OSAS and OS groups respectively (all P < 0.05). No significant difference existed between OSAS and OS groups (all P > 0.05). CONCLUSION CPAP treatment significantly reduces the serum levels of CRP and TNF-α so as to improve inflammation responses in OS and OSAS patients.
Pass-through of Per Unit and ad Valorem Consumption Taxes: Evidence from Alcoholic Beverages in France

Abstract Economic theory states that in a market with imperfect competition, per unit consumption taxes should induce a greater increase in prices than ad valorem consumption taxes. This implies that consumers bear a greater share of the tax burden with per unit consumption taxes than that with ad valorem consumption taxes. This article seeks to test this theoretical result empirically using the French market for alcoholic beverages, which is subject to both per unit (excise taxes) and ad valorem (value-added tax, VAT) consumption taxes. Econometric analysis is applied to two consumption tax reforms affecting two distinct French markets for alcoholic beverages, those for beer and for aperitif. In 1995, the full rate of VAT increased from 18.6 to 20.6%; excise taxes on alcoholic beverages increased in 1997. Graphical evidence and econometric results confirm the statements of economic theory. For both classes of alcoholic beverages – beer and aperitif – the change in prices due to per unit excise taxes was significantly larger than that due to ad valorem VAT.
Time and cost over-runs of the power projects in Kerala

Delays in project implementation and the attendant cost overruns have been a regular feature in the electric power sector in Kerala. Almost all the public projects, including the prestigious major hydroelectric project of Idukki, have been the unfortunate victims of time and cost overruns on account of a number of avoidable factors, labour disputes being singled out as the prime villain. In this paper we take up a detailed analysis of the cost of inefficiency involved in the time and cost overruns in the power projects of the KSEB, and their possible causes. We find that the arguments by the government in favour of private sector participation in power generating capacity addition, under the pretext of a severe resources crunch, is flimsy to the extent that the government is actually over-spending on each of the projects undertaken. We find that the real problem arises not out of a shrinking coffer but out of the inefficiency of management coupled with the political economy of vicious rent seeking.
Immunotherapy with IL2 by Constant Infusion and Weekly Doxorubicin

Twelve women and 7 men, median age 58 (range 17–74), with a diagnosis of non-small-cell lung cancer (11 patients), inflammatory breast cancer (5 patients), osteosarcoma (2 patients), and colon carcinoma (1 patient) were studied. Treatment consisted of four consecutive 6-day courses of infusional interleukin-2 (IL2); 9 patients were treated with 20 χ 106 IU/m6/day and 10 patients received weekly dose increments of 50% until the maximally tolerated dose was reached. One day after each course was completed patients received doxorubicin, 30 mg/m6; infusional IL2 was resumed 24 h after receiving doxorubicin. Rebounds of lymphocytes with high spontaneous synthetic rates of DNA occurred one day after stopping the infusion, despite doxorubicin administration. The kinetics were not different from earlier trials using IL2 alone. Sequential lymphocyte analysis showed that helper (CD4) and suppressor (CD8) T-cell subsets increased after the first week of treatment and declined thereafter, whereas the proliferation of natural killer (NK) cells (CD 16) progressed through the 4-week treatment unaffected by doxorubicin. Mean cytolytic ability induced by IL2 against NK-resistant tumors in vitro was higher in patients who had evidence of clinical tumor regression and therefore is prognostically valuable (p = .02). Three patients left the study prematurely. Five partial remissions and 2 minimal responses were seen in the remaining 16 patients, but they were short-lived. Of the responding patients, only one had failed prior doxoru-bicin-containing chemotherapy. Toxicities attributable to IL2 and doxorubicin were encountered, and were manageable at these doses. Our data suggest that doxorubicin did not have cytotoxic or suppressive effects on lymphokine-induced lymphocyte functions and that both treatment modalities in combination are worthy of further investigation since they exert distinct and compatible cytotoxic mechanisms and induced tumor regressions with acceptable toxicity in a group of patients with poorly responsive cancers.
Identifying children at risk for language impairment: screening of communication at 18 months

Aim: To investigate the possibility of identifying children at risk for language impairment based on a new screening instrument to assess communication and language skills at 18 mo of age. Methods: At 18 mo, 58 children were assessed with a screening instrument for communication and language consisting of a professional assessment and a parents' questionnaire. Students of speech and language pathology, well trained in child language assessment, carried out the professional assessment, which was based on observations of play behaviour, interaction and expressive and receptive language skills. Of the 58 children, 43 attended a follow‐up assessment of language skills at 54 mo of age. Results: Nine children were considered to be at risk for language impairment at 18 mo and 10 children were evaluated as being at risk at 54 mo. A significant positive correlation was found between the professional evaluations at 18 mo and the language tests at 54 mo. Verbal comprehension and pretend play correlated significantly with the results on the language tests.