Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acyl-Hydrazide Derivatives of a Xanthine Carboxylic Congener (XCC) as Selective Antagonists at Human A2B Adenosine Receptors

The structure–activity relationships (SAR) of 8‐phenyl‐1,3‐dipropylxanthine derivatives in binding to recombinant human A2B adenosine receptors were explored, in order to identify selective antagonists. Based on the finding of receptor selectivity in MRS 1204, containing an N‐hydroxysuccinimide ester attached through the p‐position of the 8‐phenyl substituent [Jacobson et al. (1999): Drug Dev. Res., 47:45–53], a hydrazide and its more stable imide derivatives were synthesized. The hydrazide of XCC (8‐[4‐[[[carboxy]methyl]oxy]phenyl]‐1,3‐dipropylxanthine) was acylated with a variety of mono‐ and dicarboxylic acids. Ki values were determined in the adenosine receptor binding assays. At recombinant human A2B receptors expressed in membranes of HEK‐293 cells, antagonist radioligands used were the xanthine 125I‐ABOPX (125I‐3‐(4‐amino‐3‐iodobenzyl)‐8‐oxyacetate‐1‐propyl‐xanthine) and the nonxanthine antagonist [3H]ZM 241385 ([3H]4‐(2‐[7‐amino‐2‐{furyl}{1,2,4}triazolo{2,3‐a}{1,3,5}triazin‐5‐ylamino‐ethyl)phenol). The initial screening utilized rat A1/A2A receptors and human A3 receptors, and selected compounds were examined at the human A1/A2A subtypes. A 1,2‐dimethylmaleimide derivative, 14 (MRS 1595), bound to human A2B receptors with a Ki of 19 nM and proved to be selective vs. human A1/A2A/A3 receptors by 160‐, and 35‐fold, respectively. Enprofylline (3‐propylxanthine) is slightly selective for A2B receptors, suggesting removal of the 1‐propyl group; however, combination of the 1‐H‐3‐Pr and 8‐phenyl substituents eliminated the selectivity. Other potent and moderately selective A2B antagonists were a tetrahydrophthaloyl derivative 18b (MRS 1614, Ki value 10 nM) and amino acid conjugates of the XCC‐hydrazide, i.e., the glutarimide 24b (MRS 1626, Ki value 13 nM), and protected dipeptide 27 (MRS 1615, Ki value 11 nM). Drug Dev. Res. 47:178–188, 1999. Published 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Financial Markets and Monetary Policy: A Review of Issues, Theories, Methodology and the Way Forward

The monetary policy-financial market nexus has received renewed interest following the recent global financial crises. The study surveys monetary policy and financial market research in developing countries and emerging economies over an eight year period. To do this, the Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) Classification System is reconfigured to produce a relevant frame of themes for the review. The review is based on 130 peer reviewed articles. The paper highlights the areas of greatest interest and those that have received relatively little attention to date. The suggested areas for future research include: Issues; macro-prudential policy tools and their application, non-bank financial institutions and monetary policy, and the corporate finance-corporate governance-monetary policy nexus; Method; incorporating mixed and qualitative methods; Theory; theory of informal credit channel, and adapting dynamic stochastic equilibrium models to developing country context.
Management of Shock and Volatility Spillover Effects across Equity Markets: A Case Study of India, Singapore and South Korea

This paper analyzes own and cross shock-volatility spillover effect among the very well known three Asian Stock Exchange Markets namely India, Singapore and South Korea during boom period, global recession period and post recession period. We use a multivariate BEKK-GARCH model to identify the source and magnitude of spillovers. The empirical analysis showed that the markets exhibit strong own shock (ARCH) and volatility (GARCH) effects in all the above mentioned three periods while regarding cross market spillover effect, India is playing a leading role in transmission of both Shocks as well as Volatility effect to the Singapore and South Korea markets. Thus, the international investors need to consider this strong integration regarding shock and volatility effects which reduce potential gains from international portfolio.
Inter-Temporal Pricing with Strategic Customer Behavior

This paper develops a model of dynamic pricing with endogenous inter-temporal demand. In the model, there is a monopolist who sells a finite inventory over a finite time horizon. The seller adjusts prices dynamically in order to maximize revenue. Customers arrive continually over the duration of the selling season. At each point in time, customers may purchase the product at current prices, remain in the market at a cost in order to purchase later, or exit, and they wish to maximize individual utility. The customer population is heterogeneous along two dimensions: they may have different valuations for the product and different degrees of patience (waiting costs). We demonstrate that heterogeneity in both valuation and patience is important because they jointly determine the structure of optimal pricing policies. In particular, when high-value customers are proportionately less patient, markdown pricing policies are effective because the high-value customers would buy early at high prices while the low-value customers are willing to wait (i.e. they are not lost). On the other hand, when the high-value customers are more patient than the low-value customers, prices should increase over time in order to discourage inefficient waiting. Contrary to intuition, we find that strategic waiting by customers may sometimes benefit the seller: when low-value customers wait, they compete for availability with high-value customers and thus increase their willingness to pay. Our results also shed light on how the composition of the customer population affects optimal revenue, consumer surplus, and social welfare. Finally, we consider the long run problem of selecting the optimal initial stocking quantity.
Corporate Governance Structures and Corporate Internet Reporting in Africa: The Case of Kenya and Tanzania

The purpose of this study is to investigate corporate internet reporting (CIR) by Kenyan and Tanzanian listed companies and to examine whether the level of CIR is related to corporate governance structures. CIR is measured using a disclosure index. We collect data for a four-year period from companies listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange and the Dar es Salam Stock Exchange. The data are analysed using panel data models. The results indicate that the level of CIR is high, with significant growth in CIR levels over the 4-year period in both countries. We show that CIR increases with audit committee independence and financial expertise. The effects of ownership concentration are country specific, with CIR increasing (decreasing) with ownership concentration in Tanzania and Kenya, respectively. The results demonstrate that effective governance structures matter for CIR on the African continent. Therefore, the current policy initiatives on improving governance and reporting practices in Africa are appropriately directed and need to be intensified to improve corporate governance and reporting quality in order to attract foreign investments. The study contributes to the limited research on governance structures and reporting practices in general, and CIR in particular, in Africa.
Forecasting Australian Real House Price Index: A Comparison of Time Series and Machine Learning Methods

We employ forty-seven different algorithms to forecast Australian log real house prices and growth rates, and compare their ability to produce accurate out-of-sample predictions. The algorithms, which are specified in both single- and multi-equation frameworks, consist of traditional time-series models, machine learning (ML) procedures and deep learning neural networks. A method is adopted to compute iterated multi-step forecasts from nonlinear ML specifications. While the rankings of forecast accuracy depend on the length of the forecast horizon, as well as on the choice of the dependent variable (log price or growth rate), a few generalisations can be made. For 1- and 2-quarter ahead forecasts we find a large number of algorithms which outperform the random walk with drift benchmark. We also report several such outperformances at longer horizons of 4 and 8 quarters, although these are not statistically signifcant at any conventional level. Six of the eight top forecasts (4 horizons x 2 dependent variables) are generated by the same algorithm, namely a linear support vector regressor (SVR). The other two highest-ranked forecasts are produced as simple mean forecast combinations. Linear ARMA and VAR models produce accurate 1-quarter ahead predictions, while forecasts generated by deep learning nets rank well across medium and long forecast horizons.
Ethical Leadership and OCB: The Mediating Role of Ethical Climate, Trust, and Justice

This study analyzed how Top Management Ethical Leadership influence Organization Citizenship Behaviour (OCB). We proposed that Ethical leadership affects OCB by promoting an ethical climate and Trust in organizations. Then these factors give rise to Procedural Justice Climate and Distributive Justice, which then results in OCB. This theoretical framework was empirically tested by gathering data of 210 employees working in various sectors operative in Pakistan by means of closed-ended Likert scale type questionnaires. Numerous statistical techniques, for instance, descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were utilized for analysis of the results. As proposed in our theory, the results indicated a positive impact of Top Management Ethical Leadership on Ethical Climate &amp; Trust in Organization. Moreover, a significant positive impact of trust on both Procedural Justice Climate &amp; Distributive Justice. Furthermore, both of these fully mediates the effects of top management ethical leadership on organizational citizenship behavior. From a different angle, the impact of the ethical climate on the Procedural Justice Climate is significantly positive. However, the relationship between ethical climate and Distributive Justice was found to be insignificant. Hence, this study provides a plausible theoretical account as well as empirical validation of a mechanism through which top management ethical leadership enhances OCB. Therefore, managers in an organization can rise Firm-level OCB by enhancing the overall environment of the corporation and participatory factors in an ethical manner.
Stock Market Efficiency: The Pakistan Stock Exchange Merger

This study examines the valuation, liquidity, volatility, and efficiency before and after the integration of Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE) and Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) with Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) to form the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). The firm level daily data is analyzed to determine the effects of regulatory change. Based on regression analyses, results indicate mixed evidence for different market measures following the integration of domestic bourses. However, the post-integration period in Pakistan is fraught with political turmoil and weak economic indicators. Thus any improvement that is hypothesized following the merger is offset by poor economic and political factors.
Beta Measurement and Forecasting with High Frequency Returns

<br>Analysis with high frequency returns has become a core part of modern financial econometrics. Particularly in the measurement and forecasting of variance, covariance, correlation and Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) beta. This paper studies CAPM beta measurement and forecasting with high frequency returns and evaluates trade-offs between bias and variability from different approaches. Our main finding is that the increasing of the return sampling frequency to a suitably high level with the inclusion of a lead and lag in the beta estimation, can result in substantial improvements in the bias and variability trade-off, relative to standard realized beta estimators with returns over a range of sampling frequencies. <br>
Compromise Game: Two-Sided Adverse Selection in the Laboratory

We analyze a game of two-sided private information characterized by extreme adverse selection, and study a special case in the laboratory. Each player has a privately known strength and can decide to fight or compromise. If either chooses to fight, there is a conflict; the stronger player receives a high payoff and the weaker player receives a low payoff. If both choose to compromise, conflict is avoided and each receives an intermediate payoff. The only equilibrium in both the sequential and simultaneous versions of the game is for players to always fight, independent of their own strength. In our experiment, we observe among other things (i) frequent compromise, (ii) little evidence of learning, and (iii) different behavior between first, second and simultaneous movers. We explore several models in an attempt to understand the reasons underlying these anomalous choices, including quantal response equilibrium, cognitive hierarchy, and cursed equilibrium.
Advantages of an integrated approach for diagnosis of quarantine pathogenic bacteria in plant material.

The accurate and reliable diagnosis of quarantine bacteria and their detection in asymptomatic material requires the use of an integrated approach based on the use of several techniques. This strategy is more expensive and time consuming but it combines conventional, serological and molecular tests in order to get better results. Bacterial isolation is required for having pure cultures necessary for target identification and to perform pathogenicity tests. However, its results can be negative, especially for slow growing pathogens, or when the bacteria in the samples are in the viable but non culturable state. Serological tests, especially indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) and ELISA are very useful for routine testing. Nevertheless, both can have specificity problems due to the poor quality of some available antibodies. The first one has usually an acceptable sensitivity and can be employed as a screening test. On the opposite, ELISA sensitivity is, in general, poor and a previous enrichment step is recommended. The use of PCR has improved the sensitivity and specificity of the diagnosis and in many different variants, is a very efficient method for rapid screening of samples. However, there are many cases where the presence of inhibitors gives false negative results, or for which the positive ones by PCR cannot be confirmed with any other technique. Bioassays have also proved their usefulness, especially for recovering stressed or low populations of bacteria. They require few weeks for being performed when doing the biological enrichment in planta, but other possibilities such as in vitro growing plants or detached leaves, can also be used. The experience in applying this integrated methodology for diagnosis (isolation, serological tests, PCR and bioassays) has allowed to detect more accurately Erwinia amylovora, Ralstonia solanacearum and Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri in plant material.
How Effective Is Social Capital in Spreading Political Ideas? Evidence from ‘Facebook Likes’ in the 2015 Queensland and 2017 Western Australian State Elections

How effective are new forms of social capital, such as social media, in spreading political ideas? We use Facebook page ‘likes’ as a measure of social capital, and votes received as a measure of performance, to examine the effectiveness of social capital in disseminating political ideas. To do so, we use data from two state elections in Australia - the 2015 general election in Queensland and the 2017 general election in Western Australia. Our main results suggest that for every additional one percentage point district share of Facebook likes that a candidate has, they receive an additional 0.15 percentage point district vote share. This result is robust to alternative ways of measuring Facebook likes and votes received and a range of different specifications. Using social media data, we also correctly predict the outcome of 70.95 percent of the seats in both elections. We show that Facebook likes represent a better predictor of election outcomes than either ratings of candidates’ beauty or competency.
Credit Markets and Adverse Aggregate Shocks: An Application to the Financial Crisis

Credit derivatives are financial products whose payoffs are linked to adverse outcomes. We use this linkage to derive a new factor capturing the range of adverse aggregate shocks and study its ability to explain the cross-section of returns during the financial crisis. The existing literature has already demonstrated the sensitivity of credit securities to information about extreme adverse shocks. Our study complements the existing literature by demonstrating that measures related to the range of potential adverse outcomes and not just one specific adverse scenario can be helpful in explaining equity returns.
The Politics of M&A Antitrust

Antitrust regulators play a critical role in protecting market competition. We examine whether the political process affects antitrust reviews of merger transactions. We find that acquirers and targets located in the political districts of powerful U.S. congressional members who serve on committees with antitrust regulatory oversight receive relatively favorable antitrust review outcomes. To establish causality, we use plausibly exogenous shocks to firm–politician links and a falsification test. Additional findings suggest congressional members’ incentives to influence antitrust reviews are affected by three channels: special interests, voter and constituent interests, and ideology. In aggregate, our findings suggest that the political process adversely interferes with the ability of antitrust regulators to provide independent recommendations about anticompetitive mergers.
An Overview of Research on Mergers and Acquisitions via Topic Modeling From 1935 Until 2018

This article provides a comprehensive overview of academic research literature on Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), organizing it along an objective and holistic structure of topics. It investigates what has been discussed on a very high level, outlines where specific topics have been mostly published, and analyzes when and to what extent topics have been researched. My findings are based on an extensive sample of 1352 M&A articles taken from twenty-three leading journals within the accounting, economics, finance, and management domain from 1935 until 2018. Employing topic modeling via Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) with Gibbs sampling, I find that the entire body of M&A literature is based on fifty-seven topics. The top three most researched topics are on abnormal announcement returns, banks and the financial industry, and (post-acquisition) performance. Moreover, topics are mainly published within the finance domain. However, multiple domain-specific topics exist (e.g., tax effects within the accounting domain). By analyzing topics on five-year periods, I develop a framework that categorizes topics as hot (8 topics), average (34), or cold (15). I find that five average and four cold topics are currently inclining and can be considered high potentials for future hot topics. Overall, this analysis gives insight into the time line and extent of research on specific topics over the last decades. This article benefits scholars and practitioners alike as both can use the provided topic structure for their own orientation and guidance within the M&A research domain.
New records of chytridiaceous fungi (Chytridiomycota) from the Reserva Natural Selva Marginal Punta Lara (Argentina) with comments on some previously reported species

The Chytridiomycota (chytrids) of Argentina are not well known from freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems. We collected samples of water and floating organic matter (vegetable debris) from a lotic environment and wet soil from four terrestrial habitats at the Reserva Natural Selva Marginal Punta Lara (Bs. As.) and added cellulosic, chitinic and keratinic baits to these samples. We also placed Rosa spp. fruits and corn leaves for colonization in the stream. We recorded 21 taxa. Four of them (Chytriomyces hyalinus var. granulatus, Cylindrochytridium johnstonii, Cladochytriumreplicatum and Septochytrium variabile) are new records for Argentina and we describe and illustrate them here.
The Payments Systems Reforms and Monetary Policy in Emerging Market Economies in Central and Eastern Europe

The paper discusses the interrelationships between payments system reform and monetary policy implementation in selected countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The reforms in the payments system are viewed as closely interrelated with the development of money and foreign exchange markets and the instruments of monetary policy used by the central banks. Large and variable float balances created special challenges. The paper shows that while departing from very similar origins, there were significant variations in experiences of the countries studied in transforming their payments systems after the start of the reforms towards a market economy, from which certain lessons can be drawn.
Mean Square Error for the Leland-Lott Hedging Strategy: Convex Pay-Off

Leland's approach to the hedging of derivatives under proportional transaction costs is based on an approximate replication of the European-type contingent claim VT using the classical Black Scholes formulae with a suitably enlarged volatility. The formal mathematical framework is a scheme of series, i.e. a sequence of models with the transaction costs coefficients kn and n is the number of the portfolio revision dates. The enlarged volatility, in general, depends on n except the case which was investigated in details by Lott to whom belongs the first rigorous result on convergence of the approximating portfolio value to the pay-off. In this paper we consider only the Lott case alpha= 1/2. We prove first, for an arbitrary pay-off VT = G(ST ) where G is a convex piecewise smooth function, that the mean square approximation error converges to zero with rate n^1/2 in L2 and find the first order term of asymptotics. We are working in the setting with non-uniform revision intervals and establish the asymptotic expansion when the revision dates are t_ni=g(i_n) where the strictly increasing scale function g : [0; 1] -> [0; 1] and its inverse f are continuous with their first and second derivatives on the whole interval. We show that the sequence of approximate error converges in law to a random variable which is the terminal value of a component of two-dimensional Markov diffusion process and calculate the limit. Our central result is a functional limit theorem for the discrepancy process.