Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Selection and market dynamics. Some comparative evidence

Title: Selection and market dynamics. Some comparative evidence Name: Daniele Moschella, PhD student Affiliation: Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna-LEM, Pisa, Italy. Year of enrolment: 2008, expected final date: 2012. E-mail: daniele.moschella@gmail.com Is market selection a major determinant of aggregate productivity growth? To what extent does market selection account for the dynamics of firms' growth? These two questions are crucial for understanding the properties of markets and firms processes across time and across countries. Decompositions of productivity growth provide an answer, admittedly indirect, to the first question. Empirical evidence, mostly concerning the manufacturing industries in USA at different levels of disaggregation, shows that the reallocation of shares from less productive to more productive firms the so called ''between effect'' and the turnover between entrant and exiters do indeed contribute positively to the aggregate performance. The productivity growth which takes place within each firm is, however, almost always the most important component. How widespread is this pattern across countries? In our paper, we compare the results of the decomposition of labor productivity growth in manufacturing industries in four big economies: France, Germany, UK and USA. The analysis draws upon Amadeus for the European countries and Compustat for the American ones. The results are in agreement with the previous literature. In particular, we find that the between effect has most of the time the expected positive sign even if the within component dominates the between component almost uniformly across sectors and across countries. Decomposing labor productivity growth just says which fraction of productivity growth is accounted for by the reallocation of shares to most productive firms. In order to answer our second question, we would like to know also to what extent the productivity of a firm contributes to its own growth. Indeed, diverse models of industry dynamics posit the differential efficiency of firms as the main determinant of their differential growth. How grounded is this prediction in empirical data? In the second part of our paper, we try to analyze this question by exploiting the panel structure of our data. In particular, we estimate a correlated random effect model a la Mundlak in which the dependent variable is our proxy for the relative firm's rate of growth (the rate of growth of sales) and the independent variable is the relative labor productivity. Results show that across industries and across countries only a small part of the variation in the rate of growth of firms is explained by the variation in productivity. Together, the two exercises suggest that selection forces are less important than usually assumed.
Day‐of‐the‐week effect in the seasoned equity offering discount

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine whether or not a calendar time anomaly exists in the number and discount of seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) from 1980-2004. Design/methodology/approach - Regression analysis was used on data from SEOs offered from 1980 to 2004 to determine the significance of the SEO discount over days-of-the-week and the significance of factors relating to SEOs offered on a Monday. The characteristics of Monday SEOs were compared to those offered on other days of the week. Findings - Monday has the fewest number of SEOs with a statistically significant larger offer price discount, on average, than issues done on other days of the week. This has been attributed to the Monday effect, in part to the implementation of Rule 10b-21, which led to reduced short-selling pressure and reduced the uncertainty associated with the weekend effect on the part of the issuing firm. Originality/value - This paper adds value to the finance literature in that it extends the research on calendar-time anomalies in financial markets. It also adds to the existing research on SEOs and notes characteristics in this particular section of the markets that may be important to both issuers and investors.
Knowledge management maturity and organizational performance in project-based organizations: Initial evidence from Indonesia

The aim of this research is to evaluate empirically the possible linkage between `knowledge management maturity' (KMM) and `organizational performance'. The study is carried out within project-based organizations, specifically targeting construction firms in Indonesia. Prior to the main study, an instrument to measure the two key variables are developed and tested for validity and reliability. Top or senior management representing the respective organizations are invited to the study (response rate=25.3%, n=117 after data preparation). Initial result suggests a positive association between KMM and performance. A cluster analysis is also performed to identify profiles of identified groups of construction organizations.
Connecting the ‘Workshop of the World’: Intra- and Extra-Service Networks of the Pearl River Delta City-Region

Zhang X. and Kloosterman R. C. Connecting the ‘workshop of the world’: intra- and extra-service networks of the Pearl River Delta city-region, Regional Studies. Most research on globalization and city-regions in developing countries has focused on manufacturing activities, disregarding the considerable growth of producer services. Drawing on the Interlocking Network Model, this article presents a first analysis of the intra- and extra-service networks of the Pearl River Delta city-region in China. The central question is how cities in the Pearl River Delta are (re)positioned in the regional urban networks and which national and global cities are their major external connections in the service economy. The result reveals a new pattern of producer-services-led development that differs from the former industrialization experience in the region.
Dicer-Dependent MicroRNA Pathway Controls Invariant NKT Cell Development1

Invariant NK T (iNKT) cells are a separate lineage of T lymphocytes with innate effector functions. They express an invariant TCR specific for lipids presented by CD1d and their development and effector differentiation rely on a unique gene expression program. We asked whether this program includes microRNAs, small noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression posttranscriptionally and play a key role in the control of cellular differentiation programs. To this aim, we investigated iNKT cell development in mice in which Dicer, the RNase III enzyme that generates functional microRNAs, is deleted in cortical thymocytes. We find that Dicer deletion results in a substantial reduction of iNKT cells in thymus and their disappearance from the periphery, unlike mainstream T cells. Without Dicer, iNKT cells do not complete their innate effector differentiation and display a defective homeostasis due to increased cell death. Differentiation and homeostasis of iNKT cells require Dicer in a cell-autonomous fashion. Furthermore, we identify a miRNA profile specific for iNKT cells, which exhibits features of activated/effector T lymphocytes, consistent with the idea that iNKT cells undergo agonist thymic selection. Together, these results define a critical role of the Dicer-dependent miRNA pathway in the physiology of iNKT cells.
Information Retrieval Based on Conceptual Distance in is-a Hierarchies

There have been several document ranking methods to calculate the conceptual distance or closeness between a Boolean query and a document. Though they provide good retrieval effectiveness in many cases, they do not support effective weighting schemes for queries and documents and also have several problems resulting from inappropriate evaluation of Boolean operators. We propose a new method called Knowledge‐Based Extended Boolean Model (kb‐ebm) in which Salton's extended Boolean model is incorporated. kb‐ebm evaluates weighted queries and documents effectively, and avoids the problems of the previous methods. kb‐ebm provides high quality document rankings by using term dependence information from is‐a hierarchies The performance experiments show that the proposed method closely simulates human behaviour.
Assessment of Outcomes after hip Arthroplasty

Because of the ever-increasing prevalence of joint replacement, it is important that patient outcomes after surgery are continuously reviewed and monitored, with the aim of optimising outcomes after surgery. Of central importance in assessing outcomes is choosing the most appropriate outcome measure. This article reviews five methods of assessing outcomes after hip arthroplasty, namely radiographic analysis, implant survivorship analysis, surgeon-based outcome measures, performance-related assessment and patient-reported outcome measures. The relative strengths and weaknesses of each method of assessment are discussed, with the aim of aiding the surgeon or researcher in choosing an outcome measure when designing a clinical trial.
Globalisation, entrepreneurship and regional environment

Entrepreneurship has been a strategic driver in facilitating the adjustment to technological change and supporting competitiveness in terms of place. Only two decades ago the conventional wisdom predicted that globalisation would destroy the region as a meaningful unit of economic analysis. Yet the obsession of policy-makers around the globe to 'create the next Silicon Valley' revealed the increased importance of geographic proximity and regional agglomerations as well as of the role of SMEs and entrepreneurial activity. This article explains the relation between entrepreneurship and space which emerged after the advent of the information and communication technology revolution and the resulting wave of globalisation. But the study of strategic management of regions still needs to address a number of methodological issues. Contrasting results and methodological issues affect entrepreneurship research in this field, many questions by economic actors are unanswered and the valorisation of results for practise remains complex. The 2008 RENT XXII conference held at the University of Beira Interior in Covilha, Portugal, invited international scholars to discuss on the topic of 'Entrepreneurship as an engine of regional development'. This article opens a special issue based on the best papers presented at the conference, resumes the state of the field and opens directions for future research.
Robot-assisted laparoscopic sacral colpopexy: initial experience in a high-volume laparoscopic reference center.

PURPOSE To describe the surgical technique of robot-assisted sacral colpopexy (RASCP) and to assess its feasibility and safety in a high-volume laparoscopic center. PATIENT AND METHODS 12 women with symptomatic urogenital prolapse with or without concomitant urinary stress incontinence were treated with RASCP by one surgeon at our institution. The preoperative workup involved a detailed urologica and gynecologic history and physical examination to determine the type, the degree of the prolapse and the presence of concomitant stress urinary incontinence. RESULTS Mean operative time was 144 minutes (range 120-180 min). No conversion to a laparoscopic or open procedure was necessary. The mean patient age was 57.1 years old (range 44-79). The mean estimated blood loss was 60 mL (range 20-200 mL). The mean catheterization time was 2 days, and the mean hospital stay was 3.4 days (range 3-4 d). At a mean follow-up of 19.1 months (range 8-28 mos), no recurrence of the prolapse occurred. CONCLUSION RASCP for treatment of patients with urogenital prolapse is a feasible alternative to open and laparoscopic procedures. It procures an anatomic repositioning of the pelvic organs. The short-term results and the complication rates are similar with gold standard techniques.
The Reaction Center H Subunit Is Not Required for High Levels of Light-Harvesting Complex 1 in Rhodospirillum rubrum Mutants

ABSTRACT The gene (puhA) encoding the H subunit of the reaction center (RC) was deleted by site-directed interposon mutagenesis by using a kanamycin resistance cassette lacking transcriptional terminators to eliminate polar effects in both the wild-type strain Rhodospirillum rubrum S1 and the carotenoid-less strain R. rubrum G9. The puhA interposon mutants were incapable of photoheterotrophic growth but grew normally under aerobic chemoheterotrophic conditions. Absorption spectroscopy and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that the RCs were absent. In minimal medium and also in modified medium containing succinate and fructose, the light-harvesting 1 complex (LH1) levels of the S1-derived mutants were about 70 to 100% of the wild-type levels in the same media. The correct assembly of LH1 in the membrane and the pigment-pigment interaction were confirmed by near-infrared circular dichroism spectroscopy. LH1 formation was almost absent when the carotenoid-less G9-derived puhA mutants were grown in standard minimal medium, suggesting that carotenoids may stabilize LH1. In the fructose-containing medium, however, the LH1 levels of the G9 mutants were 70 to 100% of the parental strain levels. Electron micrographs of thin sections of R. rubrum revealed photosynthetic membranes in all mutants grown in succinate-fructose medium. These studies indicate that the H subunit of the RC is necessary neither for maximal formation of LH1 nor for photosynthetic membrane formation but is essential for functional RC assembly.
Quantitative Trait Genetic Linkage Analysis of Body Mass Index in Familial Coronary Artery Disease

Objective: Body mass index (BMI) is one of the most reproducible and commonly used proxies for obesity and is known to be influenced by many environmental causes as well as genetic factors. Identification of susceptibility genes for BMI regulation has been difficult. Reasons for these inconclusive results are both methodological and related to obesity aetiology. A genome-wide linkage analysis was performed to localise Quantitative trait loci influencing BMI in a large cohort collected in the PROCARDIS coronary heart disease study consisting of 1,812 informative families. Methods: Multipoint linkage analysis for BMI was conducted using both a variance component approach and a model-free regression method, and the resulting LOD scores were compared. Results: The strongest evidence for linkage was detected on chromosomes 13 (LOD 1.6). Other regions showing a LOD score greater than 1 were observed on chromosomes 3, 5, 11, 12 and 15. These results were mainly confirmed by the three different approaches used in the analysis. Conclusion: Our study did not find any locus with strongly supporting evidence for linkage to BMI even in such a large sample. Our results confirm the substantial genetic heterogeneity influencing BMI regulation that has emerged from the majority of genome scans so far published.
Client/customer or stakeholder focus? ISO 14000 EMS as a construction industry case study

Issues such as “the triple bottom line”, which focuses on company profit performance being balanced by demonstrated performance on delivering value to society while improving the ecological environment, have recently emerged as a pressing, indeed crucial management issue. The 1998 Shell Report raised interesting challenges to the management teams of those companies that operate today and wish to do so into the third millennium. Apart from financial accounting, which has developed agreed, if not wholly supported, standards, two other standards of accountability have been identified to demonstrate sustainable business practices. These are environmental accounting and social and ethical accounting. Takes a construction industry perspective and argues that taking a wider view of the customer that encompasses stakeholders, indeed those in the community who are directly affected by projects, makes good marketing and business sense. Provides examples of construction firms taking this approach. Uses a short case study of an Australian project to illustrate how perceptions of the client/customer has shifted from “the paying customer” to “the stakeholder”. Offers some implications for practice and further research.
Calculating the pulsed response of linear arrays: accuracy versus computational efficiency

The accuracy and computational efficiency of different methods for calculating the field profile from linear arrays are examined. Specifically, various approximations used for time and frequency domain solutions are studied and compared to the exact time domain impulse response method, which is taken to be the "gold standard". The accuracy is measured in terms of the error in the 6 dB spatial resolution, whereas the efficiency is represented by the normalized computation time. The results demonstrate that in the frequency domain the Fresnel approximation yields accurate results (errors <1%) for the unsteered array, but that the accuracy degrades with increasing steering angles (>10/spl deg/). It is also shown that, in general, this method is computationally more efficient as compared with the exact method since the efficiency of the latter depends highly on the field point location and array geometry.
Understanding the role of Arg96 in structure and stability of green fluorescent protein

Arg96 is a highly conservative residue known to catalyze spontaneous green fluorescent protein (GFP) chromophore biosynthesis. To understand a role of Arg96 in conformational stability and structural behavior of EGFP, the properties of a series of the EGFP mutants bearing substitutions at this position were studied using circular dichroism, steady state fluorescence spectroscopy, fluorescence lifetime, kinetics and equilibrium unfolding analysis, and acrylamide‐induced fluorescence quenching. During the protein production and purification, high yield was achieved for EGFP/Arg96Cys variant, whereas EGFP/Arg96Ser and EGFP/Arg96Ala were characterized by essentially lower yields and no protein was produced when Arg96 was substituted by Gly. We have also shown that only EGFP/Arg96Cys possessed relatively fast chromophore maturation, whereas it took EGFP/Arg96Ser and EGFP/Arg96Ala about a year to develop a noticeable green fluorescence. The intensity of the characteristic green fluorescence measured for the EGFP/Arg96Cys and EGFP/Arg96Ser (or EGFP/Arg96Ala) was 5‐ and 50‐times lower than that of the nonmodified EGFP. Intriguingly, EGFP/Arg96Cys was shown to be more stable than EGFP toward the GdmCl‐induced unfolding both in kinetics and in the quasi‐equilibrium experiments. In comparison with EGFP, tryptophan residues of EGFP/Arg96Cys were more accessible to the solvent. These data taken together suggest that besides established earlier crucial catalytic role, Arg96 is important for the overall folding and conformational stability of GFP. Proteins 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Assessing China&Apos;S Exchange Rate Regime

This paper examines two related issues: (a) the implicit methodology used by the U.S. Treasury in determining whether China and America's other trading partners manipulate their exchange rates, and (b) the nature of the Chinese exchange rate regime since July 2005. On the first issue, we investigate the roles of economic variables consistent with the IMF definition of manipulation - the partners' overall current account/GDP, its reserve changes, and the real overvaluation of its currency - but also some variables suggestive of American domestic political considerations -- the bilateral trade balance, US unemployment, and an election year dummy. The econometric results suggest that the Treasury verdicts are driven heavily by the US bilateral deficit, though other variables also turn out to be quite important. On the issue of China's de facto exchange rate regime, we apply the technique introduced by Frankel and Wei (1994) to estimate implicit basket weights, adding several refinements. Within 2005, the de facto regime remained a peg to the dollar. However, there was a modest but steady increase in flexibility subsequently. We test whether US pressure has promoted RMB flexibility. We also test whether the recent appreciation against the dollar is due to a trend appreciation against the reference basket or a declining weight on the dollar in the reference basket, and suggest that they have different policy implications.
ELM weighted hybrid modeling and its online modification

Extreme learning machine (ELM) is a fast online learning algorithm for single hidden layer feed-forward neural networks (SLFN), which keeps the fast learning speed with good performance. And it has been widely used on function approximation and prediction classification. However, the parameters in hidden layer of ELM are randomly determined which leads to the unstable prediction performance. So the ELM weighted hybrid modeling method is proposed. Firstly, several ELM sub-models of high precision are trained and stored in the model base. When a new sample needs to be predicted, those ELM sub-models are combined with weight as the hybrid model to output the prediction result. The hybrid model reduces the randomness of prediction with single ELM, and improves the accuracy and ensures the relative stability of the prediction results. Due to the time-varying in process, the model modification conditions and sliding window sample length are set. And the sub-models in model base which prediction error exceeds the threshold will be retrained online, so as to modify the hybrid model online. Four simulation examples verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Terrorism and the Dilemmas of Combating the Menace in Nigeria

The world is still at the euphoria over the killing of Osama bin Laden, founder and leader of the most dreaded terrorist group in the world known as “the Al-Qaeda” (The Base). He was alleged to have been killed in an America led operations in Pakistan on May 1, 2011. Consequently, the Taliban, members of the Al-Qaeda and Islamic fundamentalists all over the world including Nigeria threatened for a sweet revenge over his death. The questions are “what will be the future of terrorism in the world? Are we going to have peace now or is terrorism and terrorist activities going to be intensified creating yet more fear and insecurity in a world that is already ravaged by natural disasters? However, in Nigeria, cases of domestic terrorism are on the increase resulting to general insecurity and fear with Nigerian State seemingly helpless in tackling the menace headstrong. Obviously, there is the general view that the Nigerian State is a weak and failed state thereby joining states like Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Sudan and Iraq in this category, and thus seen as states providing havens for terrorist operations. This paper therefore examines the concept of terrorism and the dilemmas facing Nigerian State in combating domestic terrorism. The paper also looks at some of the efforts of government at suppressing terrorism and the reasons those responses are ineffective. This discourse recommends among others: policy reforms, equipping and training of security personnel and harmonization of security operations.