Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
New studies in convertible bond investment and financing

This series of paper studies convertible bond financing from the perspective of both issuers and investors. Based on an empirical study, convertible bond financing seems to be overused: it would appear that convertible bond financing should be dominated by sequential issues of straight bonds followed by new equity issues sometime thereafter. A new model is introduced to demonstrate that managers of all types of firms, irrespective of quality would choose convertible bonds in their financing plans when facing uncertainties about the timing of the project. Convertible bond issuance can be optimal for firms that do not have an established record of strong historical performance but have opportunity sets that include good projects subject to timing uncertainties. The first part of this study focuses on the investor perspective and investigates the returns of holding convertibles/underlying stocks, as well as the returns of convertible hedging strategies. Naked long position of convertible bonds from issuance date and hedging based on the characteristics of convertibles can derive good returns. Consequently, investors can benefit from both the upside expectation of convertible issuing firms and the structured terms of convertibles. Next, convertible bonds are studied from the perspective of issuer. Here, liquidity risk, firm risk, and issue risk premium factors are identified as determinants of abnormal returns around the convertible bond issue dates. The market responds favorably to firm volatility risk, but negatively to the liquidity risk and issue risk premium factors. The cumulative effects of these risks determine the abnormal returns of convertible bonds
Three New Spongian Diterpenes from the Fijian Marine Sponge Spongia sp

Chemical investigation of the marine sponge Spongia sp. , collected from the Fiji Islands resulted in the isolation of three new furanoditerpenoids 1-3, along with the known compounds epispongiatriol (4) and 17,19-dihydroxyspongia-13(16),14-dien-2,3-dione (5) While 1 is a new spongian diterpene with a modified oxidation pattern, compounds 2 and 3 represent two new ring A-contracted spongians, displaying a novel and unprecedented nor-spongian carbon skeleton. Despite their labile nature the structures could be established through a combined strategy including complete analysis of spectroscopic data (NMR, MS), molecular modeling and quantum-mechanical calculations.
Sequential Insertion of Multiple I-SceI Recognition Sites at Designed Loci of the Bacillus subtilis 168 Genome

Bacillus subtilis 168 is the only bacterium-based host serving for the cloning of giant DNA above 1.000 kbp. As rapid verification of the genome structure is crucial during the cloning process, six of 18-base sequence recognized by endonuclease I-SceI were sequentially created in the B. subtilis 168 genome. The established method and materials should be of use for other B. subtilis derivatives.
Analyzing The Concept of Corporate Social Responsibility: with the monetary and ethical approach

This paper is focusing on the responsibility corporations have toward society and what role stakeholders play in this responsibility. By providing a historical background of how corporations have used their responsibility toward society, it is clear that corporations have been responsible. Before, this responsibility was focused toward the shareholders of the corporation but with time it changed to include more actors within the society. By focusing on what kind of responsibility the corporation has towards the society it is active in, this paper will explain the notion of a corporation that has a social responsibility in terms of being morally responsibility for its actions. This is why the concentration of the this paper will be on the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The notion of CSR has became more significant with time. In today's society corporations are expected to take more responsibility. A reason for this increased expectations from society on corporations could have to do with the fact that stakeholders have gained greater transparency through technological development, mainly the development of information technology. The aim of this paper will be to show what role CSR plays for a corporation in today’s society and why a corporation should work more with its different stakeholders and not as before with almost solely its shareholders. To be able to conduct this aim, the notion of CSR will be described and put into perspective by the two main theories behind the concept of CSR: the monetary and ethical theories. This is done by first describing the development of CSR abroad and in Sweden, with a focus on “Den Svenska Modellen”. Second to show the different perspectives of the monetary and ethical approach in connection to the concept of CSR. Thereafter, the theories will be analyzed and discussed solely, in connection to each other and the development of CSR through time. The analysis and discussion about the concept of CSR indicates that the monetary and ethical theories can not be considered to have the only impact on the concept of CSR but they have affected each other. Another conclusion is that the corporation's actions can lead to a responsible behavior that would benefit the whole society which the corporation is active in.
Developing online customer satisfaction strategic maps: with Iranian online retailing case studies

With the growing online shopping in every society, especially in recent years in the developing countries like Iran, customer acquisition and retention have found an important role in business success. Retailers have moved toward value creation for customers. In virtual markets, customers are engaged to online retailers with value added features. Understanding the needs and demands of customers are preconditions for value creation, so effective factors for customer satisfaction must be determined and then be improved. Identifying priority of the factors is another useful task for each company with resource restriction. This paper attempts to develop the index for online customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the paper investigates the importance of each effective feature in online shopping with AHP analysis and develops the strategic maps for four online retailers of healthy-beauty, flower, content and decorative products. With theses maps online retailers can investigate specific areas in which the improvements have significant impacts.
Cross-Functional Maintenance And Logistics Business Process Integration: Lessons From A Large Oil And Gas Company

The purpose of this research focused on integration and alignment of maintenance and logistics functions in a large ERP system in an oil and gas company to demonstrate how cross-functional integration can improve operations. A design science approach has been used based on a case study of a large oil and gas company. The study found that limited cross-functional integration involving the logistics function exists. Proposed process redesign involves activities include improved storage and picking strategies, information exchange, notification of fully received components at the warehouse and an improved shipping strategy. These improvement strategies have been tested through random questionnaires and most respondents support the improvements. This study shows that business process improvement facilitated by cross-functional process integration should realise substantial financial benefits. We have shown that warehouse operation strategies do have an impact on the work order performance through the on-time delivery of its components. In addition, regular communication and utilisation of the available information can also improve the scheduling of work order execution. These benefits are not limited to the company in question but the results show that if companies in general give more attention to cross-functional integration, substantial benefits are possible. The focus of this study is uncommon as it is the integration of logistics and maintenance functions within an organisation. We show substantial process improvements are possible. It therefore provides another opportunity for business process improvement experts to better align various systems and processes.
A Fast Dense Triangular Solve in CUDA

The level 2 BLAS operation _trsv performs a dense triangular solve and is often used in the solve phase of a direct solver following a matrix factorization. With the advent of manycore architectures reducing the cost of compute-bound parts of the computation, memory-bound operations such as this kernel become increasingly important. This is particularly noticeable in sparse direct solvers used for optimization applications where multiple memory-bound solves follow each (traditionally expensive) compute-bound factorization. In this paper, a high performance implementation of the triangular solve is developed through an analysis of theoretical and practical bounds on its run time. This implementation outperforms the CUBLAS by a factor of 5--15.
Working Capital Management Efficiency of Cement Sector of Pakistan

The corporate finance literature has traditionally focused on the study of long-term financial decisions. Researchers have particularly examined investments, capital structure, dividends or company valuation decisions, among other topics. However, short-term assets and liabilities are important components of total assets and needs to be carefully analyzed. Management of these short-term assets and liabilities warrants a careful investigation since the working capital management plays an important role for the firm's profitability and risk as well as its value. It requires continuous management to maintain proper level in various components of working capital i.e. cash, receivables, inventory and payables etc. The present study is an attempt to evaluate the efficiency of the working capital management of cement sector of Pakistan for the period 1988-2008. Instead of employing the traditional ratios; working capital efficiency has been measured in terms of utilization index, performance index and total efficiency index as suggested by Bhattacharya (1997). This paper also tests the speed of achieving the target level of efficiency by an individual firm during the period of study using industry norms as the target level of efficiency. Findings of the study indicate that the cement sector as a whole did perform well during the study period.
Stages of sexual readiness and six‐month stage progression among African American pre‐teens

We examined the range of sexual intentions and behaviors preceding sexual initiation among 211 African American pre‐teens assigned to the control arm of a longitudinal community‐based intervention trial. Stage of sexual readiness was assessed using the stage of change construct from the Transtheoretical Model, and patterns of stage movement during a 6‐month period were examined. Overall, 90% of participants were in precontemplation at baseline, with the proportion of participants in this stage declining with each year of age. There was substantial stability in stage of sexual readiness during the 6‐month period (87% stable). While definitive conclusions regarding exact patterns of movement are not yet possible, stage movement does not appear to be linear for all pre‐teens, and there is evidence of both stage progression and regression. We present emerging patterns of stage movement, which suggest potential variation by age, gender, and baseline stage, and discuss potential implications.
COI gene and ecological data suggest size‐dependent high dispersal and low intra‐specific diversity in free‐living terrestrial protists (Euglyphida: Assulina)

Aim Propagule size and ecological requirements are believed to be major factors influencing the passive dispersal of free‐living terrestrial protists. We compared the colonization potential of three closely related testate amoeba species (Assulina muscorum, A. seminulum, A. scandinavica, ranging from 40 to 100 μm in length).
The evolution of dwarf shrubs in alpine environments: a case study of Alchemilla in Africa.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Alpine and arctic environments worldwide, including high mountains, are dominated by short-stature woody plants (dwarf shrubs). This conspicuous life form asserts considerable influence on local environmental conditions above the treeline, creating its own microhabitat. This study reconstructs the evolution of dwarf shrubs in Alchemilla in the African tropical alpine environment, where they represent one of the largest clades and are among the most common and abundant plants. METHODS Different phylogenetic inference methods were used with plastid and nuclear DNA sequence markers, molecular dating (BEAST and RelTime), analyses of diversification rate shifts (MEDUSA and BAMM) and ancestral character and area reconstructions (Mesquite). KEY RESULTS It is inferred that African Alchemilla species originated following long-distance dispersal to tropical East Africa, but that the evolution of dwarf shrubs occurred in Ethiopia and in tropical East Africa independently. Establishing a timeframe is challenging given inconsistencies in age estimates, but it seems likely that they originated in the Pleistocene, or at the earliest in the late Miocene. The adaptation to alpine-like environments in the form of dwarf shrubs has apparently not led to enhanced diversification rates. Ancestral reconstructions indicate reversals in Alchemilla from plants with a woody base to entirely herbaceous forms, a transition that is rarely reported in angiosperms. CONCLUSIONS Alchemilla is a clear example of in situ tropical alpine speciation. The dwarf shrub life form typical of African Alchemilla has evolved twice independently, further indicating its selective advantage in these harsh environments. However, it has not influenced diversification, which, although recent, was not rapid.
Tool Development for Measuring Caller Satisfaction and Outcome with Telephone Advice Nursing

Caller descriptions and evaluations of their experiences with telephone advice services provide unique information that correlates highly with objective measures of quality and can help interpret data from other sources. An author-developed questionnaire assessed caller outcomes of telephone nursing advice. In Phase I an iterative, purposive sample of 40 callers was interviewed by phone. An emergent design was used to develop questions, analyze constructs of interest, and test questions for a draft caller questionnaire, which was tested in Phase II. Responses to the questionnaire provided information about caller characteristics, advice call characteristics, and nurse practice behaviors that caused the authors to further revise the questionnaire. The resulting tool provides feedback to advice nurses about the outcomes of their practice and information to design orientation and development programs and support fund allocation decisions.
Typhoid fever acquired in the United States, 1999–2010: epidemiology, microbiology, and use of a space–time scan statistic for outbreak detection

SUMMARY Although rare, typhoid fever cases acquired in the United States continue to be reported. Detection and investigation of outbreaks in these domestically acquired cases offer opportunities to identify chronic carriers. We searched surveillance and laboratory databases for domestically acquired typhoid fever cases, used a space–time scan statistic to identify clusters, and classified clusters as outbreaks or non-outbreaks. From 1999 to 2010, domestically acquired cases accounted for 18% of 3373 reported typhoid fever cases; their isolates were less often multidrug-resistant (2% vs. 15%) compared to isolates from travel-associated cases. We identified 28 outbreaks and two possible outbreaks within 45 space–time clusters of ⩾2 domestically acquired cases, including three outbreaks involving ⩾2 molecular subtypes. The approach detected seven of the ten outbreaks published in the literature or reported to CDC. Although this approach did not definitively identify any previously unrecognized outbreaks, it showed the potential to detect outbreaks of typhoid fever that may escape detection by routine analysis of surveillance data. Sixteen outbreaks had been linked to a carrier. Every case of typhoid fever acquired in a non-endemic country warrants thorough investigation. Space–time scan statistics, together with shoe-leather epidemiology and molecular subtyping, may improve outbreak detection.
Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 2015 Features for Ranking Tweets Based on Credibility and Newsworthiness

Ross, Jacob. M.S., Department of Computer Science, Wright State University, 2015. Features for Ranking Tweets Based on Credibility and Newsworthiness. We create a robust and general feature set for learning to rank algorithms that rank tweets based on credibility and newsworthiness. In previous works, it has been demonstrated that when the training and testing data are from two distinct time periods, the ranker performs poorly. We improve upon previous work by creating a feature set that does not over fit a particular year or set of topics. This is critical given how people utilize social media changes as time progresses, and the topics discussed vary. In addition, we are constantly gaining new tweet data. Thus, it is important to be able to have a set of features that can perform well across many different topics, and across different years. In our approach, we present a methodology for selecting features based on how they can capture credibility and newsworthiness regardless of year and topic. In order to derive such features, we use the studies done on credibility perception of social media as well as the clues provided in past works in this domain. We also present new features that, to our knowledge, have not been used in previous works in this domain.
Trade Credit in Supply Chains: Multiple Creditors and Priority Rules

Priority rules determine the order of repayment when the debtor cannot repay all of his debt. In this paper, we study how different priority rules influence trade credit usage and supply chain efficiency when multiple creditors are present. We find that with only demand risk, when the wholesale price is exogenous, trade credit with high priority can lead to high chain efficiency, yet trade credit with low priority allows more retailers to obtain trade credit and suppliers to gain higher profits. When the supplier has control of the wholesale price, however, we show that the supplier should extend unlimited trade credit with net terms. We also study the case when demand risk mingles with other risks, especially those with longer terms. Under this setting, we show several scenarios when the optimal trade credit policy should change according to different risks and that, in general, trade credit with low priority results in high chain efficiency. Finally, we use empirical data to show that, at an aggregate level, trade credit usage reacts to changes in the law according to our theory.
Gibberellin Signaling Requires Chromatin Remodeler PICKLE to Promote Vegetative Growth and Phase Transitions1[OPEN]

GA induction of genes involved in cell elongation, cell division, and phase transitions requires chromatin-remodeler PICKLE function. PICKLE (PKL) is an ATP-dependent chromodomain-helicase-DNA-binding domain (CHD3) chromatin remodeling enzyme in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Previous studies showed that PKL promotes embryonic-to-vegetative transition by inhibiting expression of seed-specific genes during seed germination. The pkl mutants display a low penetrance of the “pickle root” phenotype, with a thick and green primary root that retains embryonic characteristics. The penetrance of this pickle root phenotype in pkl is dramatically increased in gibberellin (GA)-deficient conditions. At adult stages, the pkl mutants are semidwarfs with delayed flowering time, which resemble reduced GA-signaling mutants. These findings suggest that PKL may play a positive role in regulating GA signaling. A recent biochemical analysis further showed that PKL and GA signaling repressors DELLAs antagonistically regulate hypocotyl cell elongation genes by direct protein-protein interaction. To elucidate further the role of PKL in GA signaling and plant development, we studied the genetic interaction between PKL and DELLAs using the hextuple mutant containing pkl and della pentuple (dP) mutations. Here, we show that PKL is required for most of GA-promoted developmental processes, including vegetative growth such as hypocotyl, leaf, and inflorescence stem elongation, and phase transitions such as juvenile-to-adult leaf and vegetative-to-reproductive phase. The removal of all DELLA functions (in the dP background) cannot rescue these phenotypes in pkl. RNA-sequencing analysis using the ga1 (a GA-deficient mutant), pkl, and the ga1 pkl double mutant further shows that expression of 80% of GA-responsive genes in seedlings is PKL dependent, including genes that function in cell elongation, cell division, and phase transitions. These results indicate that the CHD3 chromatin remodeler PKL is required for regulating gene expression during most of GA-regulated developmental processes.
Linking circuit simulation with full-wave solver for board-level EMC design

In the fast paced electronics world, simulation has become an indispensable tool for every designer in recent years. In this paper, we present a guide to setting up a coupled simulation method from a SPICE-like circuit simulation and a full wave 3D simulation. This coupling offers the possibility to calculate the field distribution in a structure considering the effects of an attached circuit by applying the superposition theorem. As long as only elements on the circuit are modified, it allows fields to be calculated at the speed of a circuit simulation. The paper contains an introduction to the properties of time and frequency domain 3D solvers, discussing their effectiveness for different applications. In the main part of the paper we deal with the definition of ports in the 3D and circuit as the set-up of a coupled model needs special attention to the ground concept. Finally, the method is applied to the simulation of radiated and conducted emission on a realistic PCB.
A Proposed Model for New Service Development

Comments that few service firms are sufficiently prepared to meet the challenge of service innovation. Reviews existing models of new service development. Proposes a systematic model based not on the small amount of new service development literature but on theories of new product management, which reflects the conditions unique to service industries. Concludes with ten propositions for service management.
Extracting Portable Alphas From Equity Long-Short Hedge Funds

AbstractThis paper shows empirically that Equity Long/Short (Equity L/S) hedge funds have significant alpha to both conventional as well as alternative (hedge fund-like) risk factors utilizing hedge fund data from three major data bases. Following the terminology introduced in Fung and Hsieh (2003) Journal of Fixed Income 58, 16–27, we call these Equity alternative alphas (or Equity AAs for short). Equity AAs are extracted from Equity L/S hedge fund returns by first identifying the systematic risk factors inherent in their strategies. Hedging out these systematic risk factors, the resultant AA return series are empirically shown to be independent of systematic risks during normal as well as stressful conditions in asset markets. This provides collaborative evidence that AA returns are portable across conventional asset-class indexes. By modeling the AA return series as GARCH(1,1)–AR(1) processes, it is shown that the unconditional return distributions are normal with time-varying variance free of serial correlations, skewness, and kurtosis. Alpha-enhanced equity alternative are constructed admitting higher mean return, better annual returns, and Sharpe ratios to the S&P 500 index over the sample period 1996–2002.