Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Financial Synergies and the Optimal Scope of the Firm: Implications for Mergers, Spinoffs, and Off-Balance Sheet Finance

We consider multiple activities with imperfectly correlated stochastic cash flows and zero operational synergies. These activities may be incorporated separately with their own debt/equity structures, or combined (merged) into a corporation with a single debt/equity structure. In a Modigliani - Miller (1958) setting, there will be no financial synergies and no gains to merging the activities. In the presence of corporate taxes and default costs, mergers can realize substantial positive financial synergies due to reduced risk and the potential for greater leverage, but at the cost of losing separate debt/equity choices and separate limited liability. Closed form measures of financial synergies of combining activities are developed, using the valuation and optimal capital structure model introduced by Leland (1994). Characteristics of activities that gain (or lose) from combination are identified. The results have direct application to the optimal scope of the firm, including the desirability of mergers, spinoffs, and off balance sheet finance. The effect of hedging opportunities on the optimal scope of the firm is also considered.
Reassessment of the reported correlations between gravitational waves and neutrinos associated with SN 1987A.

Correlations of considerable apparent significance have been reported between data taken by two bar-type gravitational wave detectors and particle events recorded in the Mt. Blanc, Kamiokande, and IMB particle detectors during a 2-h period near the explosion of Supernova 1987A. In particular, the correlations among the gravitational wave detectors and the Mt. Blanc neutrinos were claimed to have a chance probability of less than 10−6. If this low probability implies that the correlations are a real physical effect, then new physics will be required to explain them. However, one of the statistical tests used to establish these correlations is seriously flawed, and most others were devised a posteriori and contain considerable freedom to make choices that affect the probability of finding correlations. By a careful consideration of these free parameters, and by applying similar analysis methods to simulated pseudorandom data sets, we show that the actual frequency with which correlations similar to those in the Mt. Blanc data would occur in random data streams is between 0.1% and 10%. Moreover, if the Mt. Blanc correlations were real, then one would expect them in the other particle detectors. After inspecting the evidence, we also conclude that there are no physically significant correlations of the Mt. Blanc–type between the gravitational wave detectors and the Kamiokande and/or IMB particles. This makes it very likely that the Mt. Blanc correlations are due, not to any physical effect, but simply to chance.
The Gender Gap in Union Leadership in Australia: A Qualitative Study

Women make up close to half of all trade unionists in Australia, but senior leadership positions and the culture of unions evade a corresponding feminization. Through interviews and focus groups with women at various levels of the paid official hierarchy across a diverse group of unions organizing in different sectors, this article reports on the representation of women in the senior and strategic leadership positions of unions. Despite high levels of commitment to union work and enjoyment of many aspects of the job, women working within the union movement keenly feel that they are under-represented in senior roles and they view sexism and a ‘masculinist’ culture as alive and well within unions. They believe that this has a strong impact on union ‘business’, such as union collective bargaining agendas.
Representative Bureaucracy and Fire Service Performance

ABSTRACT Representative bureaucracy theory assumes that representative organizations are better able to represent the needs of particular citizens and groups of service users and that they may perform especially well on their core tasks. In particular, recent work suggests that street-level bureaucrats are more likely to become active representatives than upper-level bureaucrats for whom a critical mass of representation is required to influence policy outcomes. The positive contribution of street-level bureaucrats may also be enhanced where they are accorded greater discretion or are better able to draw upon their connections with clients. In this study, we test these hypotheses by exploring the relationship between gender and minority ethnic representation and the performance of fire authorities in England. Our study reveals that more representative fire authorities tend to be more effective organizations. We find little evidence of a critical mass effect at upper levels, but street-level representation does affect organizational performance. Performance impacts are greater in policy areas with more discretion and opportunity for co-production.
A comparison of patterns of care of nonsmall cell lung carcinoma patients in a younger and Medigap commercially insured cohort

The objective of this study was to examine and compare lifetime treatment patterns and hospitalization of incident nonsmall cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) between pre‐Medicare eligible (age < 65 years) and supplemental Medigap (age ≥ 65 years) enrollees in a commercially insured cohort using insurance claims.
Is Reinstatement a Remedy Suitable to At- Will Employees?

Reinstatement is central to many proposals of statuto y reform providing protection against wrongful dismissal for at-will employees. This paper discusses the results of an empirical study of the post-reinstatement experience of such rehired employees in Quebec. The Canadian experience demonstrates both the signijicant drawbacks to and the unique merits of reinstatement as a form of protection for nonunion employees.
Mutational analysis of the role of charged residues in target-cell binding, potency and specificity of the pediocin-like bacteriocin sakacin P.

The significance of charged residues for the target-cell binding, potency and specificity of pediocin-like bacteriocins has been studied by site-directed mutagenesis of sakacin P. Most of the charged residues are located in the N-terminal half, which is thought to mediate the initial binding of these bacteriocins to target cells through electrostatic interaction. All the mutated peptides in which the net positive charge was reduced by one (by replacing a charged residue with threonine) exhibited reduced binding to target cells and a 2-15-fold reduction in potency. The least deleterious of these mutations was the removal of the positive charge in position 8 (H8T). This mutation was, in fact, less deleterious than the conservative His to Lys mutation, indicating that the positive charge in position 8 per se is not of major importance. Somewhat more deleterious was the removal of positive charges at the N- and C-terminal ends (K1T, K43T). Most deleterious was the elimination of the positive charge at positions 11 and (but to a lesser extent) 12, demonstrating the importance of the cationic patch in the middle of the N-terminal half of pediocin-like bacteriocins. Mutated peptides in which the net positive charge was increased by one were also constructed. Some of these exhibited increased cell binding and a potency that was the same as (44K, i.e. an extra positive charge at the C-terminus), or somewhat greater (T20K) than, that of sakacin P, whereas others (0K, i.e. an extra positive charge at the N-terminus) had reduced potency. Sakacin P contains only one negatively charged residue (Asp17). This negative charge and its orientation in space were crucial for activity, since the Asp to Asn mutation and (especially) the conservative Asp to Glu mutation were deleterious. Mutations that made the peptide less cationic had, overall, less effect on the potency toward the Carnobacterium piscicola strain than on the potency toward the three other strains tested, whereas the opposite was the case for mutations that made the peptide more cationic. Thus, charged residues in the N-terminal half may - apparently via the initial electrostatic binding of the bacteriocin to target cells - influence the target-cell specificity.
Characterizing properties of non-estrogenic substituted bisphenol analogs using high throughput microscopy and image analysis

Animal studies have linked the estrogenic properties of bisphenol A (BPA) to adverse effects on the endocrine system. Because of concerns for similar effects in humans, there is a desire to replace BPA in consumer products, and a search for BPA replacements that lack endocrine-disrupting bioactivity is ongoing. We used multiple cell-based models, including an established multi-parametric, high throughput microscopy-based platform that incorporates engineered HeLa cell lines with visible ERα- or ERβ-regulated transcription loci, to discriminate the estrogen-like and androgen-like properties of previously uncharacterized substituted bisphenol derivatives and hydroquinone. As expected, BPA induced 70–80% of the estrogen-like activity via ERα and ERβ compared to E2 in the HeLa prolactin array cell line. 2,2’ BPA, Bisguaiacol F, CHDM 4-hydroxybuyl acrylate, hydroquinone, and TM modified variants of BPF showed very limited estrogen-like or androgen-like activity (< 10% of that observed with the control compounds). Interestingly, TM-BFP and CHDM 4-hydroxybuyl acrylate, but not their derivatives, demonstrated evidence of anti-estrogenic and anti-androgenic activity. Our findings indicate that Bisguaiacol F, TM-BFP-ER and TM-BPF-DGE demonstrate low potential for affecting estrogenic or androgenic endocrine activity. This suggest that the tested compounds could be suitable commercially viable alternatives to BPA.
The impact of TAMRA '88 on US construction accounting practices

This article addresses the accounting process for a long term construction contract and the effect of recent income tax reform on revenue recognition for income tax liability purposes. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA '86) introduced several significant changes in tax accounting for long term construction projects. Further tax legislation reform was promulgated via the Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue Act of 1988 (TAMRA '88). Prior to the promulgation of these income tax reform acts, a US contractor could use the percentage-completion method for reporting income to creditors and investors, while using the completed-contract method for income tax recognition purposes. After TRA '86 and ending with TAMRA '88 tax legislation, the contractor is now required by law to utilize a 90/10 split for an income recognition schedule if a contract is longer than two years and the contractor has sales of more than $10 million per year. An intent of this article is to create an awareness of these rules and resulting practices, so that international readers may gain a better understanding of any global implications.
Status of Cardiovascular Health in US Children Up to 11 Years of Age: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 2003–2010

Background—The American Heart Association recently defined cardiovascular health (CVH) to monitor it over time for all Americans. Nationally representative prevalence estimates for children under 12 years according to sex and race/ethnicity have not been reported. Methods and Results—The study sample comprised 8961 children aged 2 to 11 years from 2003 to 2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. National prevalence of ideal, intermediate, and poor CVH as defined by American Heart Association was estimated for each of 4 available metrics (body mass index [BMI], healthy diet score, total cholesterol, and blood pressure). No children had ideal levels for either zero or all 4 metrics. Ideal healthy diet score was least prevalent, ranging from 0 to 0.1%, whereas ideal blood pressure was most prevalent ranging from 88% to 93% across sex, race/ethnicity groups. Ideal BMI was less frequent at ages 6 to 11 years than at ages 2 to 5 years (67% versus 77%). Approximately 40% of children had intermediate or poor total cholesterol levels. The dietary intake of diet score components was associated with BMI, which was associated with blood pressure and total cholesterol. Conclusions—Ideal CVH status for BMI, total cholesterol, and blood pressure was prevalent in young children, whereas ideal diet was rare. Diet and BMI were important components to achieve ideal CVH metrics in children. Limited availability of data for all CVH metrics is a major obstacle for CVH assessment in the youngest age groups and represents an important missed opportunity for surveillance and secular trends analyses with aging.
Suboperonic Regulatory Signals

In prokaryotes, the genome is necessarily small in size, thus creating challenges for gene regulation. Adhya discusses how polycistronic operons can be regulated at the suboperonic level to allow genes to be independently regulated within an operon. This permits the cells to respond to different environmental conditions and allows the genes within operons to encode proteins involved in divergent cellular processes and still be regulated according to the cell's needs. Suboperonic control leads to discoordinate gene expression and can occur through transcriptional regulatory events or translational regulatory events mediated by proteins or cis- or trans-acting RNAs.
The Relationship between Perceived Health, Health Attitude, and Healthy Offerings for Seniors at Family Restaurants

Customer behavior—particularly regarding restaurant patronage—is heavily influenced by health concerns, and this influence appears to be particularly strong among older consumers (often called the “senior market segment”). Because the restaurant industry is strongly affected by customers’ health priorities, the purpose of this study was to investigate how senior customers’ health status and attitudes influence their family restaurant patronage and menu choices. Using the Health Perceptions Questionnaire and the Perceived Health Competence Scale, 321 respondents indicated their health status and attitudes. The overall results of this study revealed that health status and health attitude for seniors were positively correlated with health-related family-restaurant-selection criteria. The results also showed that senior customers who have a positive health attitude are willing to pay more money for their healthy menu items.
Development of Land Rental Markets in Rural Zhejiang: Growth of Off-farm Jobs and Institution Building

We employ survey data collected in 2001 in Zhejiang province to investigate patterns and determinants of land market development. Previous studies have noted the correlation between growth of off-farm jobs and rental-market development at the aggregate level, but failed empirically to demonstrate mechanisms at the disaggregate level. Our analyses find concrete evidence at the household level connecting developments in labour and land markets. Growth in off-farm jobs allow rural households to transfer labour out of farming and prompt them to relinquish land rights, generating a supply of land that drives rental activities. We also go beyond interactions between factor markets and examine how local institution building promotes rental-market development. Institutions that either lower transaction costs or secure property rights are found to be crucial in explaining cross-regional variations in rental-market development. Finally, the rise of land rental markets also highlights the role of collective ownership in shaping rural development trajectory.
Cargo Proteins Facilitate the Formation of Transport Vesicles in the Cytoplasm to Vacuole Targeting Pathway*

Selective incorporation of cargo proteins into the forming vesicle is an important aspect of protein targeting via vesicular trafficking. Based on the current paradigm of cargo selection in vesicular transport, proteins to be sorted to other organelles are condensed at the vesicle budding site in the donor organelle, a process that is mediated by the interaction between cargo and coat proteins, which constitute part of the vesicle forming machinery. The cytoplasm to vacuole targeting (Cvt) pathway is an unconventional vesicular trafficking pathway in yeast, which is topologically and mechanistically related to autophagy. Aminopeptidase I (Ape1) is the major cargo protein of the Cvt pathway. Unlike the situation in conventional vesicular transport, precursor Ape1, along with its receptor Atg19/Cvt19, is packed into a huge complex, termed a Cvt complex, independent of the vesicle formation machinery. The Cvt complex is subsequently incorporated into the forming Cvt vesicle. The deletion of APE1 or ATG19 compromised the organization of the pre-autophagosomal structure (PAS), a site that is thought to play a critical role in Cvt vesicle/autophagosome formation. The proper organization of the PAS also required Atg11/Cvt9, a protein that localizes the cargo complex at the PAS. Accordingly, the deletion of APE1, ATG19, or ATG11 affected the formation of Cvt vesicles. These observations suggest a unique concept; in the case of the Cvt pathway, the cargo proteins facilitate receptor recruitment and vesicle formation rather than the situation with most vesicular transport, in which the forming vesicle concentrates the cargo proteins.
The Betaretrovirus Mason-Pfizer Monkey Virus Selectively Excludes Simian APOBEC3G from Virion Particles

ABSTRACT The APOBEC3 protein family can constitute a potent barrier to the successful infection of mammalian species by retroviruses. Therefore, any retrovirus that has evolved the ability to replicate in a given animal must have developed mechanisms that allow it to avoid or inhibit the APOBEC3 proteins expressed in that animal. Here, we demonstrate that Mason-Pfizer monkey virus (MPMV) is resistant to inhibition by the APOBEC3G protein expressed in its normal host, the rhesus macaque, but highly susceptible to inhibition by murine APOBEC3 (mA3). MPMV virion particles fail to package rhesus APOBEC3G (rA3G), and MPMV Gag binds rA3G poorly in coexpressing cells. In contrast, MPMV virions package mA3 efficiently and MPMV Gag-mA3 complexes are readily detected. Moreover, mA3, but not rA3G, partially colocalizes with MPMV Gag in the cytoplasm of coexpressing cells. Previously, we have demonstrated that murine leukemia virus also escapes inhibition by APOBEC3 proteins by avoiding virion incorporation of its cognate APOBEC3 protein, mA3, yet is inhibited by primate APOBEC3G proteins, which it packages effectively (B. P. Doehle, A. Schäfer, H. L. Wiegand, H. P. Bogerd, and B. R. Cullen, J. Virol. 79:8201-8207, 2005). The finding that two essentially unrelated beta- and gammaretroviruses use similar mechanisms to escape inhibition by the APOBEC3 proteins found in their normal host species suggests that the selective exclusion of APOBEC3 proteins from virion particles may be a general mechanism used by simple mammalian retroviruses.
Endothelium‐derived factors and hyperpolarization of the carotid artery of the guinea‐pig

1 Transmembrane potentials were recorded from isolated carotid arteries of the guinea‐pig supervised with modified Krebs‐Ringer bicarbonate solution. Smooth muscle cells were impaled from the adventitial side with intracellular glass microelectrodes filled with KCl (30–80 MΩ). 2 Acetylcholine (1 μm) in the presence of inhibitors of nitric oxide synthase, (Nω‐nitro‐L‐arginine (L‐NOARG) 100 μm) and cyclo‐oxygenase, (indomethacin 5 μm) induced an endothelium‐dependent hyperpolarization (−18.9±1.6 mV, n = 15). 3 In the presence of these two inhibitors, S‐nitroso‐L‐glutathione (10 μm), sodium nitroprusside (10 μm), 3‐morphohnosydnonimine (SIN‐1, 10 μm) and iloprost (0.1 μm) induced endothelium‐independent hyperpolarizations of the smooth muscle cells (respectively: −16.0±2.3, −16.3±3.4, −12.8±2.0 and −14.5±1.5 mV, n = 4–6). 4 The addition of glibenclamide (1 μm) did not influence the acetylcholine‐induced L‐NOARG/indomethacin‐resistant hyperpolarization (−18.0 ± 1.8 mV, n = 10). In contrast, the responses induced by S‐nitroso‐L‐glutathione, sodium nitroprusside, SIN‐1 and iloprost were abolished (changes in membrane potential: −0.8 ± 1.1, 1.3 ± 3.9, 4.5 ± 4.6 and 0.3 ± 0.8 mV respectively, n = 4–5). 5 In the presence of NO synthase and cyclo‐oxygenase inhibitors, charybdotoxin (0.1 μm) or apamin (0.5 μm) did not influence the hyperpolarization produced by acetylcholine. However, in the presence of the combination of charybdotoxin and apamin, the acetylcholine‐induced L‐NOARG/indomethacin‐resistant hyperpolarization was converted to a depolarization (4.4 ± 1.2mV, n = 20) while the endothelium‐independent hyperpolarizations induced by S‐nitroso‐L‐glutathione, sodium nitroprusside, SIN‐1 and iloprost were not affected significantly (respectively: −20.4 ± 3.4, −22.5 ± 4.9, −14.5 ± 4.7 and −14.5 ± 0.5mV, n = 4–5). 6 In the presence of the combination of charybdotoxin and apamin and in the absence of L‐NOARG and indomethacin, acetylcholine induced a hyperpolarization (−19.5 ± 3.7 mV, n = 4). This hyperpolarization induced by acetylcholine was not affected by the addition of indomethacin (−18.3 ± 4.6 mV, n = 3). In the presence of the combination of charybdotoxin, apamin and L‐NOARG (in the absence of indomethacin), acetylcholine, in 5 out of 7 vessels, still produced hyperpolarization which was not significantly smaller (−9.1 ± 5.6 mV, n = 7) than the one observed in the absence of L‐NOARG. 7 These findings suggest that, in the guinea‐pig isolated carotid artery, the endothelium‐independent hyperpolarizations induced by NO donors and iloprost involve the opening of KATP channels while the acetylcholine‐induced endothelium‐dependent hyperpolarization (resistant to the inhibition of NO‐synthase and cyclo‐oxygenase) involves the opening of Ca2+‐activated potassium channel(s). Furthermore, in this tissue, acetylcholine induces the simultaneous release of various factors from endothelial origin: hyperpolarizing factors (NO, endothelium derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) and prostaglandins) and possibly a depolarizing factor.
Introduction: imperfect information and rural credit markets - puzzles and policy perspectives.

Rural credit markets have been at the center of policy intervention in developing countries over the past forty years. Many governments, supported by multilateral and bilateral aid agencies, have devoted considerable resources to supplying cheap credit to farmers in a myriad of institutional settings. The results of many of these interventions have been disappointing, and one explanation for this must be that they were based on an inadequate understanding of the workings of rural credit markets. The articles in this symposium issue are devoted to empirical and theoretical investigations of rural credit markets, in the framework of the imperfect information paradigm. The authors show how this framework is useful not only in explaining puzzling features of these markets, but also in providing a policy perspective to assess the successes and failures of specific interventions.
SAGE DOCTRINE, SOCIAL CAPITAL, AND LABOR — MANAGEMENT RELATIONS IN 21ST CENTURY TAIWAN

Within just four decades Taiwan was able to transform itself from a poor and backward economy into a high income, newly-industrialized economy. Taiwan's outstanding economic performance during this period prompted the World Bank and other international organizations to refer to this transformation as the "Taiwan miracle," and other developing countries have been encouraged to learn from Taiwan's experience. Harmonious and stable labor–management relations was — one of the major factors contributed to this successful development because they facilitated the inflow of a large amount of direct foreign investment (DFI) and therefore provided the island with the capital and appropriate advanced technologies that were urgently needed, and generated a large number of employment opportunities. In this paper, we use the concept of social capital to explain the causes of the harmonious labor–management relations in the past, and discuss the possible future of Taiwan's labor–management relations.