Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
When do acquirers earn abnormal returns

In this study, we explore the conditions under which acquirers earn abnormal returns. We provide an empirical test of Barney and Chatterjee's arguments by examining the role of the respective resource contribution of the target and the acquirer. Combining an event study with a survey of postacquisition resource transfer on a sample of 101 horizontal acquisitions, we find that acquirers do not earn abnormal returns when they only receive resources from the target. In this case, it is likely that multiple bidders, which could have equally captured these resources, competed away all the abnormal returns from the successful bidder. In contrast, we find that acquirers can expect to earn abnormal returns when they transfer their own resources to the target. Overall, we find that value creation does not ensure value capture for the acquirer. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Mechanical stretch induces activation of skeletal muscle satellite cells in vitro.

Cultured quiescent satellite cells were subjected to mechanical stretch in a FlexerCell System. In response to stretch, satellite cells entered the cell cycle earlier than if they were under control conditions. Only a brief period of stretch, as short as 2 h, was necessary to stimulate activation. Additionally, conditioned medium from stretched cells could activate unstretched satellite cells. The presence of HGF on c-met-positive myogenic cells was detected by immunofluorescence at 12 h in culture, and immunoblots demonstrated that HGF was released by stretched satellite cells into medium. Also, stretch activation could be abolished by the addition of anti-HGF antibodies to stretched cultures, and activity in conditioned medium from stretched cells could be neutralized by anti-HGF antibodies. In addition, stretch appeared to cause release of preexisting HGF from the extracellular matrix. These experiments suggest that HGF may be involved in linking mechanical perturbation of muscle to satellite cell activation.
Electronic Procurement in Supply Chain Management: An Information Economics-Based Analysis of Electronic Markets

SUMMARY Electronic procurement is currently one of the most discussed topics in supply management. Without doubt, it will dramatically change the way purchasing is done in the near future. Telgen (1998) calls it a “revolution through electronic purchasing. ” This article analyzes the possibilities of electronic marketplaces for buyers, primarily from a theoretical perspective. The article develops an analytical framework that is based on information economics theory, which may be the most important theory to analyz market problems in general. It is combined with a systematic approach for procurement transactions based on Williamson's (1985a) transaction theory. An e-procurement matrix is developed that could help to systematize different e-procurement instruments. Various data types available from electronic marketplaces are analyzed with a business model for electronic marketplaces. These business models show the real value added by e-procurement.
Service marketing and subjectivity: the shaping of customer-oriented employees

The present paper focuses on how and to what extent service marketing practices contribute toward customer-orienting employee subjectivity. It reports a case study of a service firm – the FI – which has been drawing on service marketing practices in order to manage the organisation. By analysing the case of the FI, based on Foucault's notions of disciplinary and pastoral power, the paper suggests that service marketing practices contribute toward making the subjectivity of front-line employees (FLEs) more proactive. More specifically, the paper suggests that the disciplinary power of service marketing practices generates knowledge of the FLEs – in the present case, that they are reactive but need to be proactive – and that the pastoral power of service marketing practices draw on that knowledge, making the subjectivity of the FLEs more proactive. The paper concludes that service marketing practices are translated when they encounter organisational practice. Based on this conclusion, the ideal that marketing research is able, and meant, to formulate general managerial practices, which organisations should strive to mirror, is found to be unachievable.
The ecology of Cytophaga-Flavobacteria in aquatic environments.

Culture-dependent and -independent studies have found that prokaryotic assemblages are quite diverse in aquatic habitats and contain representatives of virtually all of the roughly 40 divisions of bacteria and the major archaeal groups found so far in the biosphere [1]. Fortunately, not all of these prokaryotic groups are abundant in the plankton nor important in all biogeochemical cycles. Autotrophic and heterotrophic bacteria dominate the prokaryotic biomass in surface waters, as Archaea appear to be abundant only in the plankton of the deep oceans [2]. Among the heterotrophic bacteria, the two most abundant groups are often the Proteobacteria and the subject of this review, the Cytophaga–Flavobacteria cluster (Table 1). View this table: 1 The relative abundance of the major heterotrophic bacterial groups in aquatic ecosystems, as determined by FISH with oligonucleotide probes This paper reviews recent studies that have applied molecular methods to examine uncultured Cytophaga–Flavobacteria in freshwaters and the oceans, with the ultimate goal of using this information to better understand the role of heterotrophic bacteria in carbon cycles and other biogeochemical processes. The importance of heterotrophic bacteria in biogeochemical processes is now well appreciated, but until recently geochemists and field-orientated microbial ecologists considered these microbes as if they were a single group, even though microbiologists have been accumulating for several years information about the taxonomic and phylogenetic make up (‘community structure’) of heterotrophic bacterial communities. Only recently, however, have microbial ecologists been able to link community structure with specific biogeochemical processes (‘function’) [3]. Here I summarize briefly our progress in these areas while discussing what we know about Cytophaga–Flavobacteria in aquatic habitats. This microbial group is a natural starting point because of its high abundance in many freshwater and marine systems. The Cytophaga–Flavobacteria cluster belongs to a diverse bacterial division that has been labeled differently over …
Towards more Effective Interactions between Consumers and Feature-Based Recommendation Agents

Software agents that provide consumers with personalized product recommendations based on individual-level feature-based preference models have been shown to facilitate better consumption choices while dramatically reducing the effort required to make these choices. This article examines why, despite their usefulness, such tools have not yet been widely adopted in the marketplace. We argue that the primary reason for this is that the usability of recommendation systems has been largely neglected – both in academic research and in practice – and we outline a roadmap for future research that might lead to recommendation agents that are more readily adopted by consumers.
A Study of Information Technology Operating and Capital Expenditures and Their Effect on Positive Firm Outcomes

For many years, business has invested significant resources in information technology, hardware, software, and manpower. The Productivity Paradox is the seeming lack of productivity gains despite the increased investment in IT (information technology). For many decades the existence of a Productivity Paradox has been the subject of research interest. Conflicting results have been obtained from a variety of data sets. Until this study however there has been no study that has specifically reviewed operating and capital information technology expenditures and their impact on positive firm outcomes. The objective of this study was to investigate information technology productivity with a new data set and measure both information technology capital and operating expenditures to determine whether increased expenditures had a significant impact on how a firm viewed their IT quality as measured by improved decision making, data integrity, and data consistency. Results of the study indicated that changes in levels of information technology expenditures as a percent of revenues did not have a consistent positive impact on firm level productivity in this large sample of firms. The Productivity Paradox does seem to continue and sheer increase of expenditures does not directly result in improved firm outcomes. The major contribution of the study is that it provides an analysis of the impact of information technology expenditures on perceived firm IT quality.
Data Mining based on CMAC Neural Networks

Neural networks are a widely used data mining technique, but for high-dimensional datasets, the training process of the normal neural networks, such as multilayer perceptron (MLP), is very slow. It is an important drawback for using them in real-time data mining applications where the main requirement is to have an answer within a short time. In this research work we propose a CMAC neural network adaptation for data mining, which most provides fast training time and guaranteed convergence. This paper describes how we built a CMAC adaptation for data mining, obtaining a classification model that can be applied to real-life datasets. Experimental results show that CMAC may be an alternative model for high-dimensional data classification in data mining
PlasmoDB: the Plasmodium genome resource. A database integrating experimental and computational data

PlasmoDB (http://PlasmoDB.org) is the official database of the Plasmodium falciparum genome sequencing consortium. This resource incorporates the recently completed P. falciparum genome sequence and annotation, as well as draft sequence and annotation emerging from other Plasmodium sequencing projects. PlasmoDB currently houses information from five parasite species and provides tools for intra- and inter-species comparisons. Sequence information is integrated with other genomic-scale data emerging from the Plasmodium research community, including gene expression analysis from EST, SAGE and microarray projects and proteomics studies. The relational schema used to build PlasmoDB, GUS (Genomics Unified Schema) employs a highly structured format to accommodate the diverse data types generated by sequence and expression projects. A variety of tools allow researchers to formulate complex, biologically-based, queries of the database. A stand-alone version of the database is also available on CD-ROM (P. falciparum GenePlot), facilitating access to the data in situations where internet access is difficult (e.g. by malaria researchers working in the field). The goal of PlasmoDB is to facilitate utilization of the vast quantities of genomic-scale data produced by the global malaria research community. The software used to develop PlasmoDB has been used to create a second Apicomplexan parasite genome database, ToxoDB (http://ToxoDB.org).
Innovation and Evolution of Industrial Qrganization:A Survey of Theory of Industrial Life Cycle

The evolution of industries is symbolized by the dynamic evolution of its internal enterprises.Some enterprises enter an industry,while some exit;some enterprises grow,while some vanish.In the mean time,the boundaries and organizational structures of enterprises in an industry are also continuingly changing.Former literatures studied the dynamic growth process of an industry,while leaving its structural characteristics and organizational forms in this process untouched.What is the internal mechanism of industrial evolution,and how is it connected to technological innovations,industrial organizations and market structures? This paper reviews related works on ILC theory,and try to answer the questions above from a microeconomic view.
Social support as a predictor of diet and exercise self-efficacy in patients with coronary artery disease

Objectives: This study examined the role of social support and other factors in relation to exercise and diet self-efficacy in Chinese patients with coronary heart disease in Hong Kong. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a convenience sample identified from two cardiac rehabilitation centers. Eighty-five participants joined the study. Results: Both self-efficacy measures correlated with social support, in particular in the domains of emotional/informational support and positive social interactions. Stronger social support was independently associated with a higher level of exercise and diet self-efficacy. Patients with a higher body mass index had a lower level of exercise self-efficacy, whereas social drinkers had a lower level of diet self-efficacy. Conclusions: Our data supported an association between social support and self-efficacy. It was suggested that social companions would help patients get greater confidence in overcoming barriers to lifestyle modification. Further studies may investigate what type of social support contributes to improving the self-efficacy beliefs of patients.
An Improved Non-negative Matrix Factorization Algorithm for Combining Multiple Clusterings

Cluster ensemble has recently become a hotspot in machine learning communities. The key problem in cluster ensemble is how to combine multiple clusterings to yield a final superior result. In this paper, an Improved Non-negative Matrix Factorization (INMF) algorithm is proposed. Firstly, K-Means algorithm is performed to partition the hypergraph’s adjacent matrix and get the indicator matrix, which is then provided to NMF as initial factor matrix. Secondly, NMF is performed to get the basis matrix and coefficient matrix. Finally, clustering result is obtained via the elements in coefficient matrix. Experiments on several real-world datasets show that: (a) INMF outperforms the NMF-based cluster ensemble algorithm; (b) INMF obtains better clustering results than other common cluster ensemble algorithms.
Botryosphaeriaceae as potential pathogens of Prunus species in South Africa, with descriptions of Diplodia africana and Lasiodiplodia plurivora sp. nov.

Botryosphaeriaceae are common dieback and canker pathogens of woody host plants, including stone fruit trees. In the present study the diversity of members of the Botryosphaeriaceae isolated from symptomatic wood of Prunus species (plum, peach, nectarine and apricot) was determined in stone fruit-growing areas in South Africa. Morphological and cultural characteristics as well as DNA sequence data (5.8S rDNA, ITS-1, ITS-2 and EF-1α) were used to identify known members and describe novel members of Botryosphaeriaceae. From the total number of wood samples collected (258) 67 isolates of Botryosphaeriaceae were obtained, from which eight species were identified. All species were associated with wood necrosis. Diplodia seriata (= “Botryosphaeria” obtusa) was dominant, and present on all four Prunus species sampled, followed by Neofusicoccum vitifusiforme and N. australe. First reports from Prunus spp. include N. vitifusiforme, Dothiorella viticola and Diplodia pinea. This is also the first report of D. mutila from South Africa. Two species are newly described, namely Lasiodiplodia plurivora sp. nov. from P. salicina and Diplodia africana sp. nov. from P. persica. All species, except Dothiorella viticola, caused lesions on green nectarine and/or plum shoots in a detached shoot pathogenicity assay.
Reading Romance: The Impact Facebook Rituals Can Have On A Romantic Relationship

Despite the fact that research has identified intimate relationships as being an important factor in how people look to present themselves on social networking sites, there still remains a lack of research in this domain. By comparing trends inside the rituals of the relationship status, public displays of affection and photographs on Facebook this paper examines how they can impact a relationship in the offline world by discussing the extent to which the design and features of the site can impact the emotional repertoire of its users. Results highlighted that the website has the potential to provide a new focus and channel for a person to depict where their relationship is going, feeling rules can be attached to certain rituals on the website. By focusing on the relationship status option and public displays of affection, it was emphasized that these rituals accentuate themes of possession and territory and can be used to configure a couple’s superiority. The discussion on photographs illustrated how the website can bring problems and jealousy to the relationship, particularly when the ‘ex-partner’ was taken into account.
Isolation and characterization of a GnRH-like peptide from Octopus vulgaris.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is the key peptide in the hypothalamo-hypophysial-gonadal axis, the core of regulation of reproduction in vertebrates. In this study, an octopus peptide with structural features similar to vertebrate GnRHs was isolated from brains of Octopus vulgaris. This peptide showed luteinizing hormone-releasing activity in quail anterior pituitary cells. A cDNA encoding the precursor protein was cloned. The RT-PCR transcripts were expressed in the supraesophageal and subesophageal brains, peduncle complex, and optic gland. The presence of the peptide in the different brain region was confirmed with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and time-of-flight mass spectrometric analysis. Immunoreactive neuronal cell bodies and fibers were observed in the subpedunculate lobe that controls the optic-gland activity. Optic gland nerves and glandular cells in the optic gland were immunostained. The isolated peptide may be octopus GnRH that contributes to octopus reproduction not only as a neurohormone but also as an endocrine hormone.
Low‐grade albuminuria in children with obstructive sleep apnea

Small urinary protein loss (low‐grade albuminuria or microalbuminuria) may reflect altered permeability of the glomerular filtration barrier. In the present study, it was hypothesized that children with obstructive sleep apnea have an increased risk of microalbuminuria compared with control subjects without sleep‐disordered breathing. Albumin‐to‐creatinine ratio was measured in morning spot urine specimens collected from consecutive children with or without snoring who were referred for polysomnography. Three groups were studied: (i) control subjects (no snoring, apnea–hypopnea index < 1 episode h−1; n = 31); (ii) mild obstructive sleep apnea (snoring, apnea–hypopnea index = 1–5 episodes h−1; n = 71); and (iii) moderate‐to‐severe obstructive sleep apnea (snoring, apnea–hypopnea index > 5 episodes∙h−1; n = 27). Indications for polysomnography in control subjects included nightmares, somnambulism and morning headaches. An albumin‐to‐creatinine ratio > median value in the control group (1.85 mg of albumin per g of creatinine) was defined as elevated. Logistic regression analysis revealed that children with moderate‐to‐severe obstructive sleep apnea, but not those with mild obstructive sleep apnea, had increased risk of elevated albumin‐to‐creatinine ratio relative to controls (reference) after adjustment for age, gender and presence of obesity: odds ratio 3.8 (95% confidence interval 1.1–12.6); P = 0.04 and 1.5 (0.6–3.7); P > 0.05, respectively. Oxygen desaturation of hemoglobin and respiratory arousal indices were significant predictors of albumin‐to‐creatinine ratio (r = 0.31, P = 0.01; and r = 0.43, P < 0.01, respectively). In conclusion, children with moderate‐to‐severe obstructive sleep apnea are at significantly higher risk of increased low‐grade excretion of albumin in the morning urine as compared with control subjects without obstructive sleep apnea. These findings may reflect altered permeability of the glomerular filtration barrier related to nocturnal hypoxemia and sympathetic activation which are induced by obstructive sleep apnea.
Dynamic Relationship between Stock Prices and Exchange Rates: Evidence from Three South Asian Countries

In this paper we have investigated the interactions between stock prices and exchange rates in three emerging countries of South Asia named as Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. We have considered average monthly nominal exchange rates of US dollar in terms of Bangladeshi Taka, Indian Rupee and Pakistani Rupee and monthly values of Dhaka Stock Exchange General Index, Bombay Stock Exchange Index and Karachi Stock Exchange All Share Price Index for period of January 2003 to June 2008 to conduct the study. Empirical result shows that exchange rates and stock prices data series are non stationary and integrated of order one. Then we have applied Johansen procedure to test for the possibility of a cointegrating relationship. Result shows that there is no cointegrating relationship between stock prices and exchange rates. Finally we applied Granger causality test to find out any causal relationship between stock prices and exchange rates. Outcome shows there is no way causal relationship between stock prices and exchange rates in the countries.
The Adoption of Strategic Human Resource Management Practices in Commercial Banks: The Process and Challenges in Kenya

Developing an effective human resource system that is compatible with organizational strategy is critical for the functioning and success of an organization in the competitive business arena. The main objectives of the study were to establish the extent of adoption of strategic human resource management practices among commercial banks in Kenya; and to determine the factors that influence adoption of strategic human resource management practices by commercial banks in Kenya. The research questions were systematically generated from the objectives. In the data analysis, descriptive statistics and factor analysis were used to help draw comparisons and conclusions based on the results. It was assumed in the data analysis that the results obtained were quite representative for the general population considering the sampled size. The conclusions of the study are based on the research questions leading to the main purpose of the study. First, a number of human resource practices can be used as strategic weapons for organization to remain competitive. The key strategic resources management practices can be broken into two components. The first component is post-entry/ on-the-job strategic human resources management practices, which include the implementation of chosen human resources management strategy. The second component is pre-entry strategic human resources management practices, which include the recognition of the individual roles of employees before they are employed, keen selection and development. Secondly, the factors that have discouraged the adoption of strategic human resource management practices by commercial banks in Kenya can be broken into three components. The first component is poor communication and decision making process, which include failure of union representatives and managers to meet often to discuss concerns and cooperate in finding solutions to human resources issues. The second component is poor planning on HR issues, which include the failure to cover employees by a "non-traditional" incentive pay plan which applies across shifts of workers. The third component is on poor job orientations which includes lack of extensive efforts to set clear expectations about required work behaviors of the new workers.
Action is still needed to stem heterosexual transmission of HIV in Africa

EDITOR—The startling statistic, reported by Eleni Papadopulos-Eleopulos et al,1 that it would take up to 222 years to achieve a 95% probability of becoming infected with HIV during heterosexual intercourse, will be small consolation to the people of southern Africa. Heterosexual transmission of HIV-1 depends on the infectiousness of the index case and the susceptibility of the uninfected partner. Infectivity seems to vary during the course of illness and is not constant between individuals,2 each log10 increment of …