Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do Indian Acquisitions Add Value?

M&A activity in India - both domestic and cross-border - has exhibited explosive growth in recent years. International evidence is quite clear about the value-reducing nature of the average acquisition, both on announcement (for the acquirer) as well as in the long-run. We show that in India, in contrast to this finding, the effects of acquisition on acquirer returns - both on announcement as well as over a three-year post-acquisition window - over and above the market index are significantly positive. However, the statistical significance of the positive long-run effects disappears when we correct for industry effects. Also acquirers do considerably worse compared to their performance vis-a-vis the index or with respect to their relevant industry indices in a three-year pre-acquisition window, suggesting that the acquisitions are actually value reducing, but the markets fail to perceive them as such on announcement.
Water Supply and Sanitation Facilities in Urban Slums: A Case Study of Rajshahi City Corporation Slums

Slum population has been increasing in Bangladesh over the last three decades along with the growth and expansion of cities and towns. But slum facilities are very much unsatisfactory for them due to the lack of proper water supply and sanitation system. Therefore, the major portion of the households use unsafe latrine and deposit their children's excreta into road side drain and open places, which pollutes water sources, groundwater and the general environment. As a result, majority of the population in Bangladesh suffer from different kinds of water and excreta-borne diseases that aggravate their poverty situations. So, the main objective and essential goal of the study is to investigate the water supply system and sanitation facilities in urban slums of Bangladesh. During the study period, data has been collected by questionnaire survey from each slum households (15 slums and 5324 households in RCC). However, the hygienic practice has been found to be significantly low among the all households in slums although they have enough knowledge about it. The study has showed that majority slum households use tube well water for drinking but significant numbers of them are found to use open latrine for defecation. Normally, pit and water seal latrines are found which are partially hygienic. These may cause ground water contamination depending on the soil characteristics and distance between the water sources and latrines. The open disposal of excreta pollutes the nearby water bodies, canals and drains causing severe environmental pollution. Many motivational work and idea marketing from government and NGO sides help to improve their awareness level.
Market-Clearing Effects of Corporate Financing Decisions on Stock Returns: An Equilibrium Analysis of Levered Firms when Equity Supply is Fixed

We analyze how corporate financing decisions affect stock returns in a stochastic Ramsey model. Motivated by stylized facts, we incorporate two distinct features in the model. First, the supply of equity (the number of outstanding shares) is fixed. Second, firms pursue a target leverage ratio, and balance retained earnings against new debt issuance when financing real investments accordingly. We characterize both the time-series and cross-sectional properties of equity returns implied by the model and confront these with historical data. The model contains only a few time-invariant parameters, but is able to match many dynamic properties of returns (e.g., fat tails, variation in mean and volatility, mean reversion, time-varying betas, return predictability). Our findings suggest that the leverage effect needs to play a more prominent role in pricing equity.
Additive and Multiplicative Structure in Matrix Spaces

Let A be a set of N matrices. Let g(A) ≔ |A + A| + |A · A|, where A + A = {a1 + a2 ∣ ai ∈ A} and A · A = {a1a2 ∣ ai ∈ A} are the sum set and product set. We prove that if the determinant of the difference of any two distinct matrices in A is nonzero, then g(A) cannot be bounded below by cN for any constant c. We also prove that if A is a set of d × d symmetric matrices, then there exists ϵ = ϵ(d)>0 such that g(A)>N1+ϵ. For the first result, we use the bound on the number of factorizations in a generalized progression. For the symmetric case, we use a technical proposition which provides an affine space V containing a large subset E of A, with the property that if an algebraic property holds for a large subset of E, then it holds for V. Then we show that the system a2 : a ∈ V is commutative, allowing us to decompose ${\mathbb R}^d$ as eigenspaces simultaneously, so we can finish the proof with induction and a variant of the Erdős–Szemerédi argument.
Knowledge and attitudes of Nursing Students on Voluntary HIV Counselling and Testing in Ghana : Implication for Nursing Education and policy

The majority (93.5%) of the respondents has knowledge of the VCT and most of them (90%) acquired the knowledge from school and peers with the school been the main source. The awareness of VCT services and willingness to test was high among respondents, but its uptake is low. There was a statistically significant difference in the knowledge of students who had gone through VCT and those who had not (P=0.023). The results also revealed that, there was statistical difference (P=0.076) between the way female nursing students and the male counterparts react towards HIV and AIDS patients.
Palmitoylated Cysteine 341 Modulates Phosphorylation of the β2-Adrenergic Receptor by the cAMP-dependent Protein Kinase*

We previously showed that substitution of a glycine residue for the palmitoylated cysteine 341 of the human β2-adrenergic receptor (Gly341β2AR), increases the basal level of the receptor phosphorylation and reduces its ability to functionally interact with Gs. In the present study, we show that additional mutation of serines 345 and 346 (Ala345,346Gly341β2AR) restored normal phosphorylation and receptor-Gs coupling, thus suggesting that the increased phosphorylation of this site, rather than the lack of palmitoylation per se, is responsible for the poor coupling of the unpalmitoylated receptor. This is supported by the observation that chemical depalmitoylation of purified β2AR did not affect the ability of the receptor to stimulate adenylyl cyclase in reconstitution assays. Furthermore, mutation of Ser345,346 in a wild type receptor background (Ala345,346β2AR) significantly decreased the rate of agonist-promoted desensitization of the receptor-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity, supporting a role for this phosphorylation site in regulating the functional coupling of the receptor. Since serines 345 and 346 are located in a putative cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) phosphorylation site immediately downstream of the palmitoylated cysteine 341, the hypothesis that the accessibility of this site may be regulated by the receptor palmitoylation state was further assessed in vitro. In membrane phosphorylation assays, Gly341β2AR was found to be a better substrate for PKA than the wild type receptor, thus supporting the notion that palmitoylation restrains access of the phosphorylation site to the enzyme. Taken together, the data demonstrate that palmitoylation of cysteine 341 controls the phosphorylation state of the PKA site located in the carboxyl tail of the β2AR and by doing so modulates the responsiveness of the receptor.
Precursors and outcomes of satisfaction in business relationships : a replication study

This study examines the proposition that in business-supplier relationships, trust and commitment generate satisfaction; these in turn influence transaction cost outcomes of specific investments, opportunism and formalisation. Data were collected from 223 large companies in South Africa using a structured questionnaire. The findings show that trust and commitment relate positively to satisfaction. They also show that satisfaction, empowered by trust and commitment, relates positively to formalisation, negatively to opportunism, and had no significant influence on willingness to invest in specific assets. These results support the argument that business managers should devote resources to creating satisfactory supplier relationships based on trust and commitment. The findings contribute to an enhanced understanding of the causes and outcomes of satisfaction in business relationships in the South African context, and help to validate findings reported in other countries.
Protective Effects of Onion Oil and Selenium against Cisplatin-Induced Nephrotoxicity and Oxidative Stress in Rats

Background: Nephrotoxicity is an inherent of certain anticancer drugs. Aim: This study aimed to assess the protective effect of onion oil and selenium against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in male rats. Results: Cisplatin (5 mg/kg, i.p.) caused significant increases in serum sodium, blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, total sodium and potassium excreted in urine, urine volume and lipid peroxides measured as the malondialdehyde content of kidney, with significant decreases in serum total protein, creatinine clearance, reduced glutathione content of kidney and kidney superoxide dismutase activity as compared to the control group. On the other hand, administration of onion oil (100 mg/kg, p.o.) or selenium (1 mg/kg, p.o.) for 14 days with a single cisplatin dose on the 10th day ameliorated the cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity as indicated by the restoration of kidney function and oxidative stress biomarkers. Conclusion: Onion oil and selenium showed protective effects against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity.
The influence of service quality, corporate image, trust and satisfaction on customer loyalty: Evidence from banking industry in Libya

The study aims to explore the influence of service quality, corporate image and trust on loyalty with the mediating effect of satisfaction. In this regard, a theoretical model from various studies was conceptualized. Using a survey, a valid sample of 375 bank customers from 500 was drawn through random sampling from banks that are located in the Missurata city of Libya due to the warring and unrest in other locations. The findings of this study reveal that service quality, corporate image and trust influence customer loyalty. Importantly, some insights can be drawn from the findings of this study by practicing bankers and policy makers. The findings showed that bank policy makers should therefore ensure that appropriate policies are put in place that will ensure that the customers do not switch to competitors through clear and written policy that will guide the activities of their banks.
Nanostructural control in solution-derived epitaxial Ce1−xGdxO2−y films

A novel mechanism based on aliovalent doping, allowing fine tuning of the nanostructure and surface topography of solution-derived ceria films, is reported. While under reducing atmospheric conditions, non-doped ceria films are inherently polycrystalline due to an interstitial amorphous Ce2C3 phase that inhibits grain growth, a high quality epitaxial film can be achieved simply by doping with Gd3+ cations. Gd3+ Ce4+ substitutions within the lattice are accompanied by charge-compensating oxygen vacancies throughout the volume of the crystallites acting as an efficient vehicle to reduce the barrier for grain boundary motion caused by interstitial Ce2C3. In this way, the original nanostructure is self-purified by pushing the amorphous Ce2C3 phase towards the free surface of the film. Once a full epitaxial cube-on-cube oriented ceria film is obtained, its surface morphology is dictated by the interplay between faceting on low energy {110} and/or {111} pyramidal planes and truncation of those pyramids by (001) ones. The development of the latter requires the suppression of their polar character which is thought to be achieved by charge compensation between the dopand and oxygen along directions.
Timing of prenatal androgen excess determines differential impairment in insulin secretion and action in adult female rhesus monkeys.

This study determined whether timing of prenatal androgen excess resulted in differential impairment of insulin-glucose homeostasis in adult female rhesus monkeys. Ten female rhesus monkeys exposed to testosterone propionate starting on gestational day 40 (early treated), 9 females exposed to testosterone propionate starting between gestational days 100-115 (late treated), and 15 control females were studied. The modified minimal model was used to examine various measures derived from an i.v. glucose tolerance test, with regression analysis performed between these variables and body mass index. In addition, the disposition index (DI) and the hyperbolic relationship between insulin sensitivity (S(I)) and acute insulin response to glucose were examined. Early treated females demonstrated impaired pancreatic beta-cell function, as shown by diminished DI and decreased percentile ranking for the hyperbolic relationship between S(I) and acute insulin response to glucose. In contrast, late treated females exhibited both an increase in DI and a negative relationship between body mass index and S(I). These results suggest that prenatal androgen excess in female rhesus monkeys, regardless of gestational timing, perturbs insulin-glucose homeodynamics, with androgen excess in early and late gestation impairing pancreatic beta-cell function and altering insulin sensitivity, respectively.
Social Inequalities Linked to the Effect of Pollution on Health

Many pollutants are declining throughout the industrialized world. However, exposure to air pollution, even at the levels commonly achieved nowadays in European countries, still leads to adverse health effects. In this context, there has been increasing global concern over the public health impacts attributed to environmental pollution. We propose to investigate the causal effect of air pollution on infants' health, respiratory outcomes in France using several natural experiments and a unique dataset combining data on environmental quality, health and property prices. The objective of the thesis is to explore empirically the relations between socio-economic status, environmental exposures and health outcomes. We also went further in the analysis of social inequalities linked to environmental pollution by sheding light on their macroeconomic consequences. First, we empirically measure the impact of pollution on health and productivity and look at how pollution can contribute to health inequalities. Second, we estimate the health externalities from oil production by exploiting the oil refinery strikes in France in October 2010. We exploit this temporal event to identify the infant health externalities at birth from oil production, comparing outcomes in areas close to the refineries before and after the strike vs. during the strike, using areas far from the refineries as a control group. Finally, we have been developing a third research project focusing on the link between respiratory outcomes, housing prices and pollution using the hedonic price method. we try to draw inferences about individuals' valuations of risk by combining estimates of the effect of air pollution on both property values and hospital respiratory admissions for respiratory causes in France.
Management of atrial fibrillation in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillator. Do all need a dual chamber device?

plete revascularization could be achieved. Thus, it is very encouraging that, in the stent era, even in diabetics with multivessel disease after CABG, PCI may be contemplated as a reasonable treatment option when additional revascularization is required. The disturbing news is that overall, diabetics continue to fare much worse than non diabetics, with large increases in mortality at 3 years. The magnitude of this increased risk appears similar in patients with vs without prior CABG. This worse outcome of PCI in diabetics is related to the more frequent multivessel disease, to the possibility of accelerated atherogenesis or plaque progression in the vessels subjected to revascularization, even at non target sites, and to the greater difficulty to achieve complete revascularization in diabetics. Previous studies have highlighted the specificity of atherothrombosis in diabetic patients and also suggested the increased propensity for plaque progression and restenosis in these patients. From the interventionalist point of view, drugeluting stents represent our best hope to improve the outcome of PCI in diabetics, especially in the very severe subset of patients who have undergone prior CABG, in whom complete revascularization appears so critical. This provides another reason to eagerly await the results of ongoing trials testing drug-eluting stents in diabetic patients. P. G. STEG L. J. FELDMAN Service de Cardiologie, Hôpital Bichat, Paris, France
Stochastic flow simulation in 3D porous media

Stochastic models and Monte Carlo algorithms for simulation of flow through porous media beyond the small hydraulic conductivity fluctuation assumptions are developed. The hydraulic conductivity is modelled as an isotropic random field with a lognormal distribution and prescribed correlation or spectral functions. It is sampled by a Monte Carlo method based on a randomized spectral representation. The Darcy and continuity equations with the random hydraulic conductivity are solved numerically, using the successive over relaxation method in order to extract statistical characteristics of the flow. Hybrid averaging is used: we combine spatial and ensemble avergaing to get efficient numerical procedure. We provide some conceptual and numerical comparison of various stochastic simulation techniques, and focus on the prediction of applicability of the randomized spectral models derived under the assumption of small hydraulic conductivity fluctuations.
Ageing and typical survivorship curves result from optimal resource allocation

Ageing is a general feature of higher organisms. Evolutionary theories of ageing rest on a gradual decline of fitness sensitivity to changes in survival and fecundity with age, so traits expressed late in life are less favoured by natural selection than those expressed early in life. From the life-history perspective, ageing may result from a scheme of optimal resource allocation in which investment in repair is lower than that required for removing all experienced damage. Here, we report the results of a dynamic programming model based on the disposable soma theory of ageing, which optimizes resource allocation to growth, reproduction and repair. The optimal allocation strategy responds to externally imposed mortality, and repair intensity varies with age, being highest early in life, diminishing later and stopping completely well before the end of the maximum expected life. Because the level of repair varies, the rate of ageing is highest under high extrinsic mortality and lowest under low mortality. The allocation strategy shapes the survivorship curve and maximum lifespan. The model results provide an explanation of the variety of survivorship curves and maximum lifespans observed in nature. The results are discussed alongside empirical data from studies using mainly comparative approaches.
Promoting Self-efficacy and Outcome Expectations to Enable Adherence to Resistance Training After Cardiac Rehabilitation

Background and Objective: Resistance training offers clinical and functional benefits to cardiac patients, yet exercise adherence after cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is problematic. This study examined effects of an intervention targeting self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and adherence to upper-body resistance exercise after CR. Participants and Methods: Cardiac patients (N = 40) were randomly allocated to receive either standard exercise recommendations (wait-list control) or an intervention involving a theory-based instructional manual and Thera-Band resistive bands for upper-body resistance exercise. Self-efficacy and outcome expectations were assessed at baseline and 4 weeks later. Participation in resistance exercise was measured at 4 weeks postbaseline and at 3-month follow-up. Results and Conclusions: The intervention group reported higher levels of self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and resistance exercise volume compared with the control group at the 4-week follow-up. Adherence differences were sustained at 3-month follow-up, with some support that self-efficacy for adhering to resistance training mediated the effects of the intervention on follow-up exercise training frequency. Findings support the use of a theory-based motivational manual and Thera-Band resistive bands to increase self-efficacy and outcome expectations for, and adherence to, resistance training after CR.
Effect of Human Capital Elements on Organizational Commitment in Businesses and a Study in the Banking Sector in Kırşehir Province

Organizational commitment of employees must be improved for the success of contemporary businesses. Employees are the driving force and human capital of businesses. In this study, to investigate the relationship between the elements constituting the human capital and elements constituting organizational commitment and the level of impact, a questionnaire was applied to businesses having activities in the banking sector of Kirsehir Province, Turkey. In the said questionnaire, the human capital scale consists of “quality of employees”, “working relationships”, and “development of employees” elements, while organizational scale consists of “affective commitment”, “continuance commitment” and “normative commitment” elements. In addition, whether or not assessments of the employees differed according to certain variables was analyzed using t-test and ANOVA test. As a result of these analyses, it was found that development of employees is the most important factor that affects the organizational commitment positively.
A comparison of Helicobacter pylori and H. heilmannii gastritis. A matched control study involving 404 patients.

BACKGROUND Since Helicobacter heilmannii gastritis is very much rarer than H. pylori gastritis, and no systematic studies comparing these two gastritides have so far been carried out, we undertook the present study to investigate possible differences between H. heilmannii and H. pylori gastritis. METHODS In 202 patients with H. heilmannii gastritis and 202 matched control patients with H. pylori gastritis and duodenal ulcer the following variables were graded and compared: Helicobacter colonization, chronicity of gastritis, activity of gastritis, replacement of foveolar epithelium by regenerative epithelium, mucus depletion, frequency of acquired mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT), and intestinal metaplasia. RESULTS In contrast to the diffuse pattern of colonization in the case of H. pylori, colonization with H. heilmannii is mainly (91.2%) focal and for the most part restricted to the antrum (only 29.1% concurrent colonization of the corpus). The gradings of all gastritis variables were statistically highly significantly milder in the case of H. heilmannii gastritis. In addition, intestinal metaplasia and acquired MALT were significantly less common in patients with H. heilmannii infection. The rare cases of erosions (n = 8) and ulcerations (n = 8) in H. heilmannii gastritis were usually associated with the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. In a single case of H. heilmannii gastritis a concurrent gastric carcinoma and in seven cases a low-grade gastric MALT lymphoma were found. CONCLUSION In contrast to H. pylori infection the rare colonization of the gastric mucosa with H. heilmannii, mainly circumscribed and mostly in the antrum, induces a very much milder form of gastritis in the antrum and corpus, which may also be the reason for the rarity of concurrent erosions and ulcers. Whether the observed relatively frequent association of H. heilmannii infection and gastric MALT lymphoma is coincidental, and whether H. heilmannii gastritis is more commonly associated with MALT lymphoma than is H. pylori gastritis must be investigated in further studies.