Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A UK `Hands-off' Venture Capital Firm and the Handling of Post-investment Investor--Investee Relationships†

Commentators on the UK venture capital industry have observed that it has reached a watershed in its development, with the players of the 1980s having to reassess their positions and possibly, in some cases, their continuing viability as independent operators. It has been suggested that increasing numbers of UK venture capitalists are moving towards a more `hands on' approach to post-investment relationships with investees in the hope of improving performance and investment out-turns. Research in the US suggests that the hoped for improvement by this route is not a foregone conclusion. In this paper we examine how a longstanding and successful UK venture capitalist makes a widely publicised `hands-off' approach work -- and how their investees see the approach working. Our research supports the view that, over time, and by a process of feedback learning from post-investment performance monitoring, investees are selected that are compatible with this particular approach. Our findings demonstrate that mutual trust is one of the most vital elements in successful `hands-off' post-investment relationship building -- and that achieving this requires careful and considered nurturing. Moreover, because `hands-on' involvement can be expensive in terms of investor management resources and against the stated investor policy, relationships of the principal--agent type were kept to a minimum as far as was possible consistent with protecting investments.
Development of primitive and definitive hematopoiesis from nonhuman primate embryonic stem cells in vitro

Although information about the development of primitive and definitive hematopoiesis has been elucidated in murine embryos and embryonic stem (ES) cells, there have been few in vitro studies of these processes in primates. In this study, we investigated hematopoietic differentiation from cynomolgus monkey ES cells grown on OP9, a stromal cell line deficient in macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Primitive erythrocytes (EryP) and definitive erythrocytes (EryD) developed sequentially from ES cells in the culture system; this was confirmed by immunostaining and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis of embryonic, fetal and adult globin genes. EryP were detected on day 8 without exogenous erythropoietin (EPO), whereas EryD appeared on day 16 and had an indispensable requirement for exogenous EPO. RT-PCR analysis of the cultures revealed a sequential expression of genes associated with primitive and definitive hematopoietic development that was equivalent to that seen during primate ontogeny in vivo. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) increased, in a dose-dependent manner, not only the number of floating hematopoietic cells, but also the number of adherent hematopoietic cell clusters containing CD34-positive immature progenitors. In colony assays, exogenous VEGF also had a dose-dependent stimulatory effect on the generation of primitive erythroid colonies. More efficient primitive and definitive erythropoiesis was induced by re-plating sorted CD34-positive cells. Thus, this system reproduces early hematopoietic development in vitro and can serve as a model for analyzing the mechanisms of hematopoietic development in primates.
Thouless theorem for matrix product states and subsequent post density matrix renormalization group methods

The similarities between Hartree-Fock (HF) theory and the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) are explored. Both methods can be formulated as the variational optimization of a wave-function Ansatz. Linearization of the time-dependent variational principle near a variational minimum allows to derive the random phase approximation (RPA). We show that the nonredundant parameterization of the matrix product state (MPS) tangent space [J. Haegeman, J. I. Cirac, T. J. Osborne, I. Pižorn, H. Verschelde, and F. Verstraete, Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 070601 (2011)] leads to the Thouless theorem for MPS, i.e., an explicit nonredundant parameterization of the entire MPS manifold, starting from a specific MPS reference. Excitation operators are identified, which extends the analogy between HF and DMRG to the Tamm-Dancoff approximation (TDA), the configuration interaction (CI) expansion, and coupled cluster theory. For a small one-dimensional Hubbard chain, we use a CI-MPS Ansatz with single and double excitations to improve on the ground state and to calculate low-lying excitation energies. For a symmetry-broken ground state of this model, we show that RPA-MPS allows to retrieve the Goldstone mode. We also discuss calculations of the RPA-MPS correlation energy. With the long-range quantum chemical Pariser-Parr-Pople Hamiltonian, low-lying TDA-MPS and RPA-MPS excitation energies for polyenes are obtained.
Management's performance justification and failure to meet earnings thresholds

We examine the intensity of management's performance justification as a remedial narrative impression management device, by investigating the association between behavioural earnings thresholds and causal language intensity on earnings-related outcomes in annual management commentary reports. Not meeting key earnings thresholds, such as positive earnings, positive earnings change and analyst earnings consensus, is argued to be a significant accountability predicament to which firms tend to respond with more intense use of causal language on performance in order to mitigate expected negative consequences of these events. Our results document a significant positive association between failure to meet earnings thresholds and causal language intensity. Moreover, we find that failure firms (not meeting earnings thresholds) tend to use more causal language in a weaker information environment. In addition, we document that firms that miss key earnings thresholds and use more causal language experience a less volatile abnormal stock return after the 10-K filing release. This study contributes to the impression management literature by evidencing incentives for the remedial use of causal language in management commentary.
Indonesia's Slow Economic Growth: 1981–86 1

The object of the paper is to explain the sharp decline in Indonesia's growth rate since 1981 compared with the period before 1981. It is argued that the slow growth of the later penod was mainly due to the net effect of investment, the government's domestic budget deficit and imports in depressing domestic demand, reflected in turn in a slower growth of money supply. These demand policies were followed to deal with the deteriorating balance of payments situation. Therefore, some alternative policies are suggested for dealing with this situation which will not have adverse effects on economic growth. 1The author is grateful to Professor H. W. Arndr. Dr. Booth, Dr. H. Hill and Professor Malcolm Treadgold for many useful and detailed comments on an earlier draft paper, which have greatly improved the presenl version.
Decision making under explicit risk is impaired in individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

Introduction: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can affect the frontal-striatal brain regions, which are known to subserve decision-making functions. Previous studies have reported impaired decision making among HIV+ individuals using the Iowa Gambling Task, a task that assesses decision making under ambiguity. Previous study populations often had significant comorbidities such as past or present substance use disorders and/or hepatitis C virus coinfection, complicating conclusions about the unique contributions of HIV-infection to decision making. Decision making under explicit risk has very rarely been examined in HIV+ individuals and was tested here using the Game of Dice Task (GDT). Method: We examined decision making under explicit risk in the GDT in 20 HIV+ individuals without substance use disorder or HCV coinfection, including a demographically matched healthy control group (n = 20). Groups were characterized on a standard neuropsychological test battery. For the HIV+ group, several disease-related parameters (viral load, current and nadir CD4 T-cell count) were included. Analyses focused on the GDT and spanned between-group (t-tests; analysis of covariance, ANCOVA) as well as within-group comparisons (Pearson/Spearman correlations). Results: HIV+ individuals were impaired in the GDT, compared to healthy controls (p = .02). Their decision-making impairments were characterized by less advantageous choices and more random choice strategies, especially towards the end of the task. Deficits in the GDT in the HIV+ group were related to executive dysfunctions, slowed processing/motor speed, and current immune system status (CD4+ T-cell levels, ps < .05). Conclusions: Decision making under explicit risk in the GDT can occur in HIV-infected individuals without comorbidities. The correlational patterns may point to underlying fronto-subcortical dysfunctions in HIV+ individuals. The GDT provides a useful measure to assess risky decision making in this population and should be tested in larger studies.
Impact of the Community Reinvestment Act on New Business Start‐Ups and Economic Growth in Local Markets**

Economic growth in the United States has historically bypassed many minorities and low‐income communities. Some researchers and community advocates assert that the deterioration of these communities is in part caused by financial institutions' redlining and neglect. To rectify the situation, the government introduced the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) for the purpose of encouraging banks and saving institutions to become more socially responsible and help meet the credit needs of communities in which they are located. The CRA was the government's response to bank lending discrimination. However, when passing the Act, Congress was equally concerned with reversing or at least halting disinvestment from inner‐city communities and in turn revitalizing local economies. Many believe that the availability of credit to establish, refinance, and improve small businesses is critical to the well‐being of local communities. Therefore, through the provision of small business loans, the CRA could be envisioned as a catalyst toward achieving that goal. Thus the aim of this paper is to investigate potential relationship between banks' CRA lending activities, and new business start‐ups and economic growth in local markets. The paper proposes that new start‐ups will have spillover effects that will consequently contribute to community development. After controlling for several potential variables that could have an impact on business start‐ups and community developments, the study found a strong positive effect. Beside its social and economic implications, the study also considered policy implications associated with the CRA regulation as a welfare improving initiative in low‐income communities. It offers ground for certain government intervention in the loan market.
Egalitarianism, Option Luck, and Responsibility*

As construed by the majority of its current supporters, egalitarianism accommodates choice and responsibility. This is evident from representative statements of the basic egalitarian principle such as: ‘‘It is bad— unjust and unfair—for some be worse off than others [through no fault or choice of their own]. ’’ 1 Also, ‘‘[Egalitarianism’s] purpose is to eliminate involuntary disadvantage, by which I (stipulatively) mean disadvantage for which the sufferer cannot be held responsible, since it does not appropriately reflect choices that he has made or would make. ’’ 2 It follows that, for most contemporary egalitarians, inequalities of outcome need not be bad.3 Responding to the idea that choice and responsibility bear upon the badness and justice of inequalities of outcome, many egalitarians treat inequalities reflecting what Ronald Dworkin has called ‘differential option luck’ as unobjectionable. Suppose you and I voluntarily engage in gambling. You win. I lose. Here I suffer bad option luck. By contrast you enjoy good option luck. Hence, unlike before, I am now (let us suppose)
6B-5 Optimum Design for Slanted Finger SAW Filters on Langasite Substrate

Power flow angles (PFAs) on the langasite (LGS) substrate with Euler angle of (0deg, 138.5deg,Psi), Psi = 25.7deg to 27.7deg are investigated for slanted finger interdigital transducer (SFIT) SAW filters to realize an optimum design. A tilted 380 MHz SFIT SAW filter with an aperture of 40 wavelengths and number of finger pairs of 500 for input and 300 for output is designed for the appropriate PFA of the substrate and a good frequency response is obtained
MMPs Are IGFBP‐Degrading Proteinases: Implications for Cell Proliferation and Tissue Growth

Binding of IGF-I or IGF-II by high-affinity IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) sequesters IGFs, preventing their interactions with cell surface IGF receptors. Hypothetically, IGFs might be released from IGFBP/IGF complexes via limited proteolysis of the IGFBP, but not IGFs. Recent studies from our laboratory demonstrate that at least two IGFBPs, IGFBP-3 and -5, are degraded under physiologic conditions by MMPs. Although this family of zinc-dependent proteinases is generally believed to be important in the degradation and turnover of extracellular matrix molecules, both in physiologic and in pathologic conditions, our studies suggest a new role for these enzymes as regulators of IGF bioavailability and bioactivity. In an earlier study, we demonstrated that IGFBP-3 is degraded by a zinc-dependent proteinase produced by human fibroblasts. 1 To characterize this metalloproteinase(s), we developed IGFBP-3 substrate zymography. 2,3 This method allows for the determination of the molecular mass of IGFBP-degrading proteinases, as well as their inhibitor profile. This method identified several IGFBP-3–degrading proteinases ( M r 52,000–72,000) in human fibroblast–conditioned media (F IG . 1, lane 1) that were inhibited by EDTA (lane 2). Gelatin substrate zymography revealed that the same conditioned media contained several gelatinases with identical molecular masses to those that degraded IGFBP-3. 2 This was the first data suggesting that gelatinases might function as IGFBP-degrading proteinases. MMP-1, MMP-2, and MMP-3 were all detected at their expected molecular masses and were identical in size to the IGFBP-3– degrading proteinases detected by zymography. These and other data 2 strongly suggest that MMPs were involved in IGFBP-3 degradation in human fibroblast cultures. Because bone cells produce MMPs, we hypothesized that MMPs might account for the cation-dependent, IGFBP-5–degrading proteinase activity produced by murine (MC3T3-E1) osteoblasts. 4 IGFBP-5 substrate zymography identified IGFBP-5–
Liquidity Provision, Bank Capital, and the Macroeconomy

New bank equity must come from somewhere. In general equilibrium, raising bank capital requirements means either that banks produce less short-term debt (as debt holders must become shareholders), or short-term debt is not reduced and the banking system acquires nonbank equity (as the shareholders in nonbanks become shareholders in banks). The welfare effects involve a trade-off because bank debt is special as it used for transactions purposes, but more bank capital can reduce the chance of bank failure (producing welfare losses).
Service Experience and Package Tours

Discussion about the experiential aspects of consumption in academia is constantly evolving, and the experience economy has been identified as an important facet of the present-day situation. The experience economy reflects a wide range of concepts that have been proposed in previous research. In the tourism domain, tourists have become accustomed to desire subjective and memorable experiences to create overall satisfaction and encourage them to repurchase tourist products. However, the investigation of service experiences for tourists is still in its infancy. This study explores service experiences in the context of package tours, specifically inbound package tours to China from the USA. The findings clarify the emergence of the experience economy. In the second-order model derived from the results, the service experience is decomposed into four dimensions, including “recognition and escapism”, “peace of mind and relaxation”, “hedonics” and “involvement”, which have direct influences on overall tourist satisfaction and behavioral intention. The managerial implications of the findings in terms of the benefits extractable by tour operators and service providers are discussed. This exploratory attempt will provide a reference point for future researchers who are interested in tapping into the area of study.
Effects of New Goods and Product Turnover on Price Indexes

This study analyzes the importance of new products for price measurements. Using large-scale retail scanner data in Japan, we construct a unit value price index and decompose its fluctuation into (1) standard price change effects, (2) substitution effects within continuing goods, and (3) turnover-new product effects. The aggregate unit price index exhibits different movements from the standard Laspeyres price index. After the 2014 change in Japan's tax rate, turnover-new product effects from the appearance of relatively expensive new goods increased by 1 percentage point, contributing to increases in unit value. However, the standard Laspeyres price index, which excludes information for new or disappearing goods, exhibited no large changes before and after the tax revision.
Long-term remission of pulmonary veno-occlusive disease associated with primary Sjögren’s syndrome following immunosuppressive therapy

The patient described here is a 21-year-old Japanese woman with primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS) presenting with worsening of dyspnea, palpitation, recurrent parotitis, and arthritis. Chest computed tomography showed diffuse interlobular septal thickening and ground-glass opacities. Right heart catheterization demonstrated pulmonary hypertension, right-sided heart failure, normal pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, and no evidence of arterio-venous shunt. Transbronchial lung biopsy showed luminal obliteration of pulmonary venules by intimal cellular proliferations, without abnormalities in the small pulmonary arteries. These findings were consistent with pulmonary veno-occlusive disease (PVOD). Immunosuppressive therapy, starting with prednisolone 20 mg/day and subsequently combined with azathioprine, resulted in the disappearance of the signs and symptoms, including exertional dyspnea and abnormal pulmonary parenchymal shadows on computed tomography, and the normalization of pulmonary artery pressure. So far, there have been no reported cases of PVOD associated with pSS. Of interest, immunosuppressive therapy without vasodilator therapy almost completely resolved the pulmonary hypertension in this patient.
The Effect of Openness in a Small Open Monetary Union

In this paper we build a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model of a small open monetary union with optimal monetary and fiscal policy, to study the transmission of country specific shocks and associated exchange rate fluctuations. We show that movements of the monetary union’s exchange rate stabilize the output fluctuations inside the monetary union, reducing the need for fiscal stabilization. We also show that, under the optimal policy, fluctuations in the exchange rate and the union-wide aggregates are affected by the differences in the degree of nominal rigidities among the monetary union member countries.
Heterogeneity in the prevalence of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus in obese individuals: effect of differences in insulin sensitivity.

BACKGROUND The possibility that substantial heterogeneity in metabolic abnormalities exists in moderately obese individuals has not been emphasized in studies of the effect of obesity on morbidity and mortality. We tested the hypothesis that risk factors for type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease vary dramatically in moderately obese individuals as a function of differences in a specific measure of insulin sensitivity. METHODS Participants included 211 apparently healthy, obese (body mass index [calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared], 30.0-34.9) volunteers for weight loss studies. Main outcome measures included insulin-mediated glucose uptake as quantified by the insulin suppression test and metabolic variables known to increase the risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. RESULTS Insulin sensitivity varied 6-fold. When compared with the most insulin-sensitive third, the most insulin-resistant third of the population had significantly higher (P<.001) systolic and diastolic blood pressure (139 +/- 20 vs 123 +/- 18 mm Hg, and 83 +/- 3 vs 75 +/- 10 mm Hg, respectively), higher fasting and 2-hour oral glucose load concentrations (103 +/- 11 vs 95 +/- 11 mg/dL [5.7 +/- 0.6 vs 5.3 +/- 0.6 mmol/L], and 139 +/- 30 vs 104 +/- 19 mg/dL [7.7 +/- 1.7 vs 5.8 +/- 1.1 mmol/L], respectively), higher plasma triglyceride concentrations (198 +/- 105 vs 114 +/- 51 mg/dL [2.2 +/- 1.2 vs 1.3 +/- 0.6 mmol/L]), lower plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations (41 +/- 9 vs 50 +/- 13 mg/dL [1.1 +/- 0.2 vs 1.3 +/- 0.3 mmol/L]), and more prevalent impaired glucose tolerance (47% vs 2%). CONCLUSIONS The magnitude of risk factors for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease varies markedly in moderately obese individuals as a function of differences in degree of insulin sensitivity. Because not all moderately obese individuals are at similar risk for developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, intensive therapeutic interventions should be addressed to the insulin-resistant subset of this population.
The mortgage lending value: prospects for development within Europe

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to critically review the German mortgage lending value (MLV) and to adapt it in order to find a new concept that could serve as the basis for an internationally accepted standard for valuations for lending purposes.Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a critical review of existing practices and literature and applies developments in the area of risk management tools, modern valuation techniques as well as the results of the consultation for Basel II in order to find an improved method.Findings – It was found that a value‐at‐risk approach and the implementation of simulation helps to understand the concept of MLV. The results also indicate that the German system of calculating the MLV has to be improved.Practical implications – Banks are in need of tools, reliable instruments and a strong theoretical basis when evaluating their collateral. The valuation of real estate for long‐term loans has always been a problem. This paper indicates a strong basis .
Offline Handwriting Recognition Using Synthetic Training Data Produced By Means Of A Geometrical Distortion Model

A perturbation model for the generation of synthetic textlines from existing cursively handwritten lines of text produced by human writers is presented. The goal of synthetic textline generation is to improve the performance of an offline cursive handwriting recognition system by providing it with additional training data. It can be expected that by adding synthetic training data the variability of the training set improves, which leads to a higher recognition rate. On the other hand, synthetic training data may bias a recognizer towards unnatural handwriting styles, which could lead to a deterioration of the recognition rate. In this paper the proposed perturbation model is evaluated under several experimental conditions, and it is shown that significant improvement of the recognition performance is possible even when the original training set is large and the textlines are provided by a large number of different writers.