Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Technological Diversification, Coherence and Performance of Firms

Technological diversification at the firm level (i.e., the expansion of a firm's technology base into a wide range of technology fields) is found to be a prevailing phenomenon in all three major industrialized regions,—the United States, Europe, and Japan—prompting the term multitechnology corporation. Whereas previous studies have provided insights into the composition of technology portfolios of multitechnology firms, little is known about the relationship between technological diversification and firms' technological performance. Against a backdrop of the technology and innovation management literature, the present article investigates the relationship between technological diversification and technological performance, taking into account the moderating role of technological coherence in firms' technology portfolios. Hereby, technological coherence is defined as the degree to which technologies in a technology portfolio are technologically related. To measure the technological coherence of portfolios, a measure of technological relatedness of technology fields is constructed based on patent citation patterns found in 450,000 European Patent Office (EPO) patent grants. Two hypotheses are presented here: (1) Technological diversification has an inverted U-shaped relationship with technological performance; and (2) technological coherence moderates the relationship between technological diversification and technological performance positively. These hypotheses are tested empirically using a panel data set (1995–2003) on patent portfolios pertaining to 184 U.S., European, and Japanese firms. The firms selected are the largest research and development (RD chemicals; engineering and general machinery; information technology (IT) hardware (i.e., computers and communication equipment); and electronics and electrical machinery. Empirical results, obtained by fixed-effects negative binomial regressions, support both hypotheses in the present article. Technological diversification has an inverted U-shaped relationship with technological performance. Technological diversification offers opportunities for cross-fertilization and technology fusion, but high levels of diversification may yield few marginal benefits as firms risk lacking sufficient levels of scale to benefit from wide-ranging technological diversification, and firms may encounter high levels of coordination and integration costs. Further, the results show that the net benefits of technological diversification are higher in technologically coherent technology portfolios. If firms build up a technologically coherent diversified portfolio, the presence of sufficient levels of scale is ensured and coordination costs are limited. At the same time, technologically coherent diversification puts firms in a better position to benefit form cross-fertilization between technologies. The present article clearly identifies the important role of technological coherence in technology diversification strategies of firms.
Influence of dietary full-fat seeds and oils on total lipid, cholesterol and fatty acid composition of broiler meats

Total lipid and cholesterol contents of whole body carcass and the fatty acid composition of white and dark meat were determined in 64 female broilers (Hubbard) at 6 weeks of age. The broilers were raised on diets containing 10% raw or heated full-fat canola and flax seeds, and reconstituted mixtures of their corresponding meals supplemented with oil or animal tallow (6:4 wt wt−1). There were no significant differences between the raw and heated full-fat seeds for all the traits determined. Also, responses to the reconstituted mixtures of canola meal with canola oil or animal tallow and to the full-fat seeds were similar in terms of total tissue ω-3 fatty acids. However, reconstituted flax meal with flax oil significantly increased white-meat (P < 0.05) and dark-meat (P < 0.001) ω-3 fatty acid concentration compared with the full-fat seeds. Generally, the fatty acid composition of white and dark meat reflected the fatty acid profile of the full-fat seeds, meal or oil that were fed. Our results provide evi.
Morphological divergence in the Walton's Mudskipper, Periophthalmus waltoni Koumans, 1941, from the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman (Gobioidei: Gobiidae)

The body shape variation among 244 specimens of Periophthalmus waltoni Koumans, 1941, collected from seven stations in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, was analysed by utilising geometric morphometrics (GM) and truss-based morphometrics methods (TBM). Discriminant function analysis did not show significant differences between the shape of females and males. Canonical variate analysis and cluster analysis classified the specimens in two separate groups of stations: those in the Persian Gulf, and those in the Strait of Hormuz plus Gulf of Oman. Potential factors contributing to the observed variation include differences in physicochemical parameters between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
Why Do Firms Appoint CEOs as Outside Directors?

We examine the determinants of appointments of outside CEOs to boards and how these appointments impact the appointing companies. We find that CEOs are most likely to join boards of large established firms that are geographically close, pursue similar financial and investment policies, and have comparable governance mechanisms to their own firms. It is also more likely that CEOs join firms with low insider ownership and firms with boards that already have other CEO directors. Except for the case of board interlocks, there is no evidence supporting the view that CEO directors have any impact on the appointing firm during their tenure, either positively or negatively. Appointments of CEO directors do not have a significant impact on the appointing firm's operating performance, its decision-making, the compensation of its CEO, or on the monitoring of management by the board. However, operating performance drops significantly for CEO director appointments when the CEO of the appointing firm already sits on the board of the appointee's firm.
Can Institutional Forces Create Competitive Advantage? An Empirical Examination of Environmental Innovation

We examine institutional pressures as antecedents of environmental innovation. Drawing on institutional theory and a resource-based view of the firm, we argue that regulatory and normative forces influence companies' propensity to innovate in environment-related projects. Furthermore, we suggest that this relationship is contingent on the availability and specificity of the companies' resources. These relationships were tested using environmental patents and citations of 340 publicly-traded companies from polluting industries in the U.S. Results suggest that institutional pressures can be a source of competitive advantage, and regulatory forces are becoming more strongly associated with environmental innovations as the intensity of companies' R&D activities increase.
Structure of the N-terminal Domain of PEX1 AAA-ATPase

Peroxisomes are responsible for several pathways in primary metabolism, including β-oxidation and lipid biosynthesis. PEX1 and PEX6 are hexameric AAA-type ATPases, both of which are indispensable in targeting over 50 peroxisomal resident proteins from the cytosol to the peroxisomes. Although the tandem AAA-ATPase domains in the central region of PEX1 and PEX6 are highly similar, the N-terminal sequences are unique. To better understand the distinct molecular function of these two proteins, we analyzed the unique N-terminal domain (NTD) of PEX1. Extensive computational analysis revealed weak similarity (<10% identity) of PEX1 NTD to the N-terminal domains of other membrane-related type II AAA-ATPases, such as VCP (p97) and NSF. We have determined the crystal structure of mouse PEX1 NTD at 2.05-Å resolution, which clearly demonstrated that the domain belongs to the double-ψ-barrel fold family found in the other AAA-ATPases. The N-domains of both VCP and NSF are structural neighbors of PEX1 NTD with a 2.7- and 2.1-Å root mean square deviation of backbone atoms, respectively. Our findings suggest that the supradomain architecture, which is composed of a single N-terminal domain followed by tandem AAA domains, is a common feature of organellar membrane-associating AAA-ATPases. We propose that PEX1 functions as a protein unfoldase in peroxisomal biogenesis, using its N-terminal putative adaptor-binding domain.
Arbitrage-Free Construction of the Swaption Cube

In this paper we look at two areas in the interest rate options market where arbitrage could be hiding. In the first section we derive a no-arbitrage condition for swaption prices with complementary expiry dates and tenors within the swaption cube. In the second section we propose an alternative European option approximation for the widely used SABR dynamics that reduces the possibility of arbitrage for long maturities and low strikes.
Relative Liquidity, Fund Flows and Short-term Demand: Evidence from Exchange-Traded Funds

We show that highly liquid Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), especially those that are more liquid than their underlying basket of securities (i.e., positive relative liquidity), are particularly attractive to investors. Using three definitions of liquidity, we find that relative liquidity predicts net fund flows, as well as inflows and outflows positively and significantly. We further document a liquidity clientele amongst institutional investors: i) relative liquidity is significantly more important for short- than for long-term investors; and ii) relative liquidity is inversely related to investors’ average holding duration in the ETFs. These two findings provide evidence that relative liquidity encourages short-term demand.
State Dominant and Non-State Dominant Ownership Concentration and Firm Performance: Evidence from China

This study investigates the relationship between firm ownership structure and performance for a comprehensive sample of Chinese listed firms for the period from 2000 to 2004. We find a convex relationship between state ownership and firm value, i.e. ownership by the state is beneficial at levels above approximately 35% but negative effects on value are observed at lower levels. The main theme of the paper relates to analysis of effects of private block shareholders on value. We examine this issue both in an OLS and 2SLS equation framework which takes account of potential endogeneities in ownership-performance relationship. We find evidence that the presence of large private shareholders at firms with no significant state holdings is detrimental to the performance of these firms.
Timing of Family Income, Borrowing Constraints and Child Achievement

In this paper, I investigate the effects of the timing of family income on child achievement production. Detailed administrative data augmented with PISA test scores at age 15 are used to analyze the effects of the timing of family income on child achievement. Contrary to many earlier studies, tests for early borrowing constraints suggest that parents are not constrained in early investments in their children's achievement, and thus that the timing of income does not matter for long-term child outcomes. This is a reasonable result given the setting in a Scandinavian welfare state with generous child and education subsidies. Actually, later family income (age 12-15) is a more important determinant of child achievement than earlier income.
The Use of Sealed Bidding and Competitive Negotiation in Brazil and Worldwide

For decades, both public officials and the private sector have faced the challenge of efficiently procuring goods and services to governments. This task is of utmost importance in the infrastructure area of developing countries, considering the investments required and the scarcity of funds. Corruption is always a threat. Governments have issued rules to conduct bidding seeking standardization of procedures and agility. They also encourage competition and transparency. Some rules limit discussions and others encourages them. In the U.S., both methods are equally accepted since 1984. Brazil introduced legislation on a new regime in 2011, called Differential Public Procurement Regime (RDC) and just began initial experience with it. In this context, the questions that arise are: (1) should Brazil make broader use of competitive negotiation for infrastructure and other projects? (2) Are the mechanisms of control prepared for these changes? (3) What is the role of transparency in this process? (4) Is it necessary any change in legislation in order to improve it? (5) What else should be done? Answering to these questions seems to be premature, but efforts to promote transparency, to prevent and fight corruption and impunity are highlighted, once corruption occurs no matter the bidding method applied.
Early Postnatal Differentiation of Muscle Fibres and the Occurrence of Myofibrillar Hypoplasia in Piglets

Luk8§ Z. , L. Pivnik, I. Straka, J. Rampochova, L. Stl! panova, J. Kaman, J. Vitouch: Early Postnatal Differentiation of Muscle Fibres and the Occurrence of Myofibrillar Hypoplasia in Piglets. Acta vet. Brno, 51,1982: 31-45 The type-representation of muscle fibres affected by myofibrillar hypoplasia and an assessment of the degree of histochemical differentiation of primary muscle bundles were carried out on m. longissimus dorsi and m. gracilis of piglets sufferring from splayleg syndrome and healthy (piglets. Serial transverse sections with the detection of myosine Ca-A TPase with and without acid preincubation were used to establish the type of muscle fibres. It was found that myofibrillar hypoplasia (MFH) affects in our herds both piglets with splayleg syndrome and clinically healthy ones, including those form herds free from splayleg syndrome. No statistically signi­ ficant differences were found in the proportion of the size of primary and secon­ dary foetal fibres between the groups of animals studied. Histochemical differentia­ tion of primary bundles in the two groups includes the same stages of development, but structures with more advanced differentiation occurred more often in clinically healthy animals, i. e. those with II.C-type fibres present and with more than one type I fibre in the centre of primary bundles. Myofibrillar hypoplasia affects II fibres preferentially, and where differentiation had occurred H.C fibres were not usually affected by MFH. Nor was MFH found in intrafusal fibres. Splayleg syndrome, myofibrillar hypoplasia, muscle-fibre type differentiation, newborn piglen, histochemistry, histometry.
European Integration and Corporate Financing

This paper explores the importance of supply of capital for corporate financing. To identify this relation, we examine the impact of two exogenous events, entry to the EU and the adoption of Euro, which caused shifts in equity and credit markets during European integration. Following membership to EU, which eased access to equity capital, firms increase equity financing. Firms increase debt financing after the adoption of Euro, which improved access to international debt capital. We control for globalisation, ongoing developments in equity and credit channels, firm characteristics, and the moderating effects of the country of origin.
The Heavy Plough and the Agricultural Revolution in Medieval Europe

This research tests the long-standing hypothesis put forth by Lynn White, Jr. (1962) that the adoption of the heavy plough in Northern Europe led to increased population density and urbanization. White argued that it was impossible to take proper advantage of the fertile clay soils of Northern Europe before the invention and widespread adoption of the heavy plough. We implement the test in a difference-in-difference set-up by exploiting regional variation in the presence of fertile clay soils across European regions as well as across Danish historical counties. Consistent with the hypothesis, we find that regions with relatively more fertile clay soil experienced higher urbanization and population growth after the heavy plough had its breakthrough, which was approximately around the closing of the first millennium AD. Our findings suggest that the heavy plough accounts for around 10% of the increase in urbanization and population density during the High Middle Ages.
Scale Economies and the Dynamics of Recurring Auctions

We analyze the dynamics of a game of sequential bidding in the presence of stochastic scale effects in the form of stochastic economies or diseconomies of scale. We show that economies give rise to declining expected equilibrium prices, whereas the converse is not generally true. Moreover, first- and second-price auctions are not always revenue equivalent. Indeed, economies of scale make the second-price format more profitable for the seller, whereas revenue equivalence is preserved in the case of diseconomies.
Molecular phylogeny and morphology of the marine diatom Talaroneis posidoniae gen. et sp. nov. (Bacillariophyta) advocate the return of the Plagiogrammaceae to the pennate diatoms

Abstract A new genus, Talaroneis Kooistra & De Stefano, gen. nov. and a new species T. posidoniae Kooistra & De Stefano, sp. nov. are described. The elongate cells, which were found on a leaf of Posidonia oceanica, formed star-, zigzag- or ribbon-shaped colonies in culture. The distinctive character of T. posidoniae was the presence of two silica wings flanking a furrow near each apical pore field. Uniseriate, transverse striae were arranged perpendicular to the apical axis; those on one side of the valve offset with respect to those on the other side. Valve poroids were occluded by perforated rotae. These morphological characteristics placed the taxon unambiguously within the supposedly centric family Plagiogrammaceae. The taxon would be excluded from the morphologically similar araphid family Rhaphoneidaceae because it lacked apical labiate processes and a clearly defined sternum. Nonetheless, a phylogeny inferred from nuclear-encoded SSU ribosomal DNA sequences of a range of diatoms unambiguously recovered T. posidoniae within the araphid pennates, close to Rhaphoneis cf. belgica (Rhaphoneidaceae). Apparently, labiate processes were lost secondarily in T. posidoniae and possibly in the common ancestor of all Plagiogrammaceae. Valve ultrastructural features of T. posidoniae would allow placement of the new species in Dimeregrammopsis but this genus was invalidly described. We transferred the single species of this genus to T. furcigerum (Grunow) Sterrenburg, comb. nov. and designated it as the type species of Talaroneis.
Do Chair Independence and Succession Planning Influence CEO Turnover?

There is widespread concern that corporate boards do not sufficiently punish chief executive officers (CEOs) for poor performance. Board effectiveness in ousting CEOs may be affected by chief executives who also chair the board or influence the succession planning process. This article explores how chair independence and succession planning influence CEO turnover. I address endogeneity issues using a trinomial probit regression system of CEO turnover that models chair independence and succession planning endogenously. I find that succession planning has a larger positive effect on CEO turnover than suggested by previous research. I also find that chair independence actually reduces the probability of succession planning because it creates a friction with the common relay succession model. There is a negative overall effect of chair independence on CEO turnover.
Protoresinacarus brevipedis gen. n., sp. n. from Early Cretaceous Burmese amber: the first fossil record of mites of the Family Resinacaridae (Acari: Heterostigmata: Pyemotoidea)

A new genus and species of mites, Protoresinacarus brevipedis gen. n. , sp. n. (Acari: Heterostigmata: Pyemotoidea), is described from Early Cretaceous Burmese amber. This represents the first fossil record of a member of the family Resinacaridae. It is represented by 21 phoretic females adjacent to an adult mantidfly (Neuroptera: Mantispidae). This is the first record of phoresy of pyemotid mites on members of the insect order Neuroptera. The fossil mites differ from extant members of the family in possessing distinctly shorter legs I, which do not reach beyond the apex of the gnathosoma, and by the long setae v 1, v 2 and c 2.
Range Utility Theory for Uncertain Cash-flows

We introduce range utility theory, an integrative behavioral model for uncertain cash flows. The model modifies rank dependent utility, by replacing rank principles with range principles, and extends the domain to time. For gambles played in the future, the model generalizes the probability and time trade-off model. The model comes with three functions: a value function, a subjective survival function for time and an s-shaped range distortion function, and. Range Utility Theory jointly explains the Samuelson paradox for risk and time, the preference reversal phenomenon, and hyperbolic discounting; and produces many novel testable predictions.
Does Property Rights Protection Affect Firm Innovation? Evidence from the Chinese Property Rights Law Enactment

Using the 2007 property law enactment in China, we study the impact of property rights protection on firm innovation. We find that firms’ innovation activities increase after the law enactment, and this effect is more pronounced for firms located in provinces with more efficient contract enforcement, better progress toward marketization, and more confidence in the legal system. Consistent with the collateral channel, we also find that the above effect is stronger in firms with more tangible assets. The effect is also stronger in locations with higher real estate prices, after using an instrumental variable method. Overall, the results suggest the importance of property rights protection in promoting innovations.
New discoveries of introduced and cryptogenic fresh and brackish water gastropods (Caenogastropoda: Cochliopidae) in the western United States.

We report the discovery of a second western Atlantic brackish-coastal cochliopid gastropod in San Francisco Bay [Spurwinkia salsa (Pilsbry, 1905)], and detail the first records for a widely distributed member of the family, Tryonia porrecta (Mighels, 1845), from artificial lakes (in the Phoenix metropolitan area). These identifications were based on morphological criteria and supported by mitochondrial DNA sequence data that also indicates little or no divergence of the newly reported populations, which is consistent with evolutionarily recent spread or separation. Spurwinkia salsa was most likely introduced to San Francisco Bay either in recent decades in bait worm packing or ships’ ballast or in the 19 h or early 20 h century in solid ballast or with oyster imports. The discovery of T. porrecta in artificial lakes in the Phoenix area in 1984 and 2014 may be due to either recent arrival in the area or to dispersal into a newly available habitat from a population long present in the area. In either case, the occurrence of T. porrecta in the Phoenix area is likely due to transport on birds along an eastern branch of the Pacific Flyway. The discovery of T. porrecta in artificial lakes suggests that this species (which is typically distributed in thermal springs) is more broadly tolerant than previously thought. Additional spread of this unusual snail within the highly modified aquatic ecosystem of the Phoenix metropolitan area (which includes more than 900 artificial lakes) would appear likely.