Degree Of Disaggregation Research Articles

Financial information, spillovers, and innovation performance

We hypothesize that high-quality financial information can, through its spillovers to peer firms’ strategic decision-making, have an adverse effect on the disclosing firm’s innovation performance. Using the degree of disaggregation in financial reports and patent-based measures to proxy for financial information quality and significance of innovative outputs, respectively, we find that the patented inventions of firms with more disaggregated financial reports are less innovative. We also document that the negative association is more pronounced for firms with more intense product market threats, a situation in which the spillover of more detailed information is costlier. We further validate our argument by documenting that disclosures of more and finer information actually help peers increase innovation activities and investments, consistent with the peers’ effective strategic responses to the disclosing firm’s innovation. Overall, the results from the cross-sectional analysis and validation tests confirm the channel through which more disaggregated financial information can lead to a decline in firm innovation performance. This study contributes to the literatures on information spillovers, economic consequences of financial reporting, proprietary costs of disclosures, and innovation.

The propagation and emplacement mechanisms of the Tenteniguada volcanic debris avalanche (Gran Canaria): Field evidence for brittle fault-accommodated spreading

The Tenteniguada volcanic debris avalanche deposit is located on the east of the island of Gran Canaria, Spain. Its internal structure is composed of a complex assemblage of extensional features and shearing structures including normal faults, horst and graben, brittle/ductile boudinage and clastic dike injections. Examination of these features in the field and evaluation of their distribution have allowed the generation of a new conceptual model for the transport and emplacement of this debris avalanche, and potentially others. In the majority of the deposit, the degree of disaggregation is low, with large portions of the original edifice preserved, although displaced by brittle deformation. Greater disaggregation is observed deeper and in the more distal section of the deposit. The findings suggest that the propagation of the volcanic debris avalanche was most likely facilitated by the normal fault-accommodated spreading and extension of the mass, with the majority of stress focused in fault zones. The greater disaggregation exhibited in the deeper and the more distal part of the deposit is likely to be due to greater stress accommodation from fault convergence and momentum transfer respectively. The abundance of competent lava lithologies and scarcity of weaker material that could be easily disaggregated is the most likely reason Tenteniguada did not fully evolve from a slide to a granular flow, and therefore generated a deposit which bears resemblance to non-volcanic blockslide deposits. Therefore, lithological properties are potentially a vital factor for the propagation mechanisms, distribution of stress and consequently the evolution of a debris avalanche from the initial collapse to its emplacement. The present study highlights the importance of dedicated field examinations of sedimentological, morphological, and structural features for providing constraints for models of debris avalanche propagation mechanisms and the factors dictating them.

Investigating Factors Affecting Stability of Volcanic Ash Soil Aggregates under Heat

Volcanic ash soil aggregates can be disaggregated using heat under wet conditions. This study aimed to investigate factors affecting the disaggregation of volcanic ash soil aggregates in a field with organic cattle manure (M plot) and a field with chemical fertilizer (F plot) that were exposed to heat. The two-step wet sieving method, in which aggregates were sieved twice at different water temperatures for different times, was used to investigate the disaggregation caused by heat. It was found that increasing the temperature during the second sieve was more effective in disaggregating aggregates than extending the second-step sieve time. When the water temperature was increased to 80 °C, macroaggregates became more vulnerable, especially those in the F plot. The total carbon (TC) remaining in the soil aggregates was also measured after sieving. Although the TC content in aggregates decreased after sieving, there was only a minor relationship between decreasing TC content and the degree of disaggregation. This suggests that aggregates were not disaggregated by eluting binding agents containing carbon contents, but by partial breakage of the binding agent and/or the peeling of particles with binding agents from the aggregates.

The role of energy efficiency in assessing the progress towards the EU energy efficiency targets of 2020: Evidence from the European productive sectors

Energy efficiency is considered to be one of the most reliable ways of addressing some of the most pressing global challenges, such as energy independence and the fight against the negative effects of climate change. It is widely recognised that the EU path towards decarbonisation has to be accompanied by energy efficiency improvements. Focusing on the EU28 from the year 2000 onwards, this analysis aims at identifying the main driving factors behind the energy consumption changes at the global and sectoral level. Concretely, our focus on the productive sectors (responsible for 41% of total consumption) is due to the importance that these sectors have in reaching the overall EU targets.The novelty of this paper is that index decomposition analysis (concretely, LMDI-I) is applied considering: i) the alternative effects to the traditional ones; ii) different degrees of disaggregation and iii) new methodological approaches according to the most recent research literature on this topic. The results suggest that there have been important energy efficiency gains during the period studied. Without these gains the progress achieved towards the EU energy efficiency targets would have been difficult to attain. Despite this, the physical-based analysis shows that the energy efficiency gains are of a lower magnitude compared to the monetary-based analysis. The results provide some energy policy recommendations related to the effectiveness of past energy efficiency measures and shed light on key sectors for which there is still room for improvement.

Are all types of capital flows driven by the same factors? Evidence from Mexico

In this paper, we analyse the impact and persistence of shocks to global (push) and domestic (pull) factors on each component of the financial account for the Mexican Balance of Payments, at the highest degree of disaggregation, including investment by foreign residents in Mexican public and private sector securities, as well as investment by domestic residents in foreign securities. To this end, we estimate impulse response functions from vector autoregressive models for the period 1995–2015. We find that an increase in the foreign interest rate leads to lower portfolio investment. An increase in global risk generates lower portfolio investment, particularly in private sector securities. Foreign investors respond to a higher extent to foreign interest rate and liquidity shocks compared to domestic investors.

Association of hydrophilic derivatives of chlorophyll a in ethanol–water and ethanol–water–solubilizer systems

Electronic absorption spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to study conditions for the formation of associates of amphiphilic phorbins and chlorins in an ethanol–water system. The conditions and degree of disaggregation in the presence of solubilizing additives of nonionic surfactants (Tween 80) and biocompatible polymers (polyethylene glycol and polyvinylpyrrolidone) were also investigated. The propensity of the macroheterocycles based on chlorophyll a to association in water-alcoholic solutions decreases on going from covalently bound dimeric structures to monomeric ones, on going from phorbins to chlorins and on accumulating hydrophilic glycol or positively charged alkylammonium fragments in the molecule. Among the considered solubilizers, the nonionic surfactant Tween 80 emerged as the most efficient means for destroying chlorin associates in water–alcohol solutions with a high content of water.

The urban–rural divide, regional disaggregation and the convergence of crime

Potential regional variation in crime rates has been recognized as an issue of clear importance given its implications for the development and evaluation of theories of criminal activity, determining the appropriate level of disaggregation at which to undertake empirical analyses of crime and whether crime fighting policies should be constructed at a national or local level. Consequently, a literature has evolved examining the similarities in US regional crime rates and whether a national trend exists or is emerging. The present article extends the recent research into the emergence of a national trend by considering convergence in alternative classifications of crime using a data set subject to a higher degree of disaggregation than considered hitherto. The results obtained overturn previous findings obtained using more highly aggregated data, indicating the detection of convergence to be dependent upon the level of disaggregation considered. In addition, the extent of convergence detected is shown to vary across classifications of criminal activity and reflect anecdotally noted changes in the evolution of crime at a national level. The implications of the observed regional variation in crime for the urban–rural divide and theoretical, empirical and policy analyses are noted.

Assessing the internal character, reservoir potential, and seal competence of mass-transport deposits using seismic texture: A geophysical and petrophysical approach

Three-dimensional (3-D) seismic volumes from southeast Brazil, southeast Japan, and borehole data from the Ocean Drilling and Integrated Ocean Drilling Programs are used to demonstrate a new method to distinguish mass-transport deposits (MTDs) from confining hemipelagites, quantify MTDs internal architecture, and assess their reservoir potential or seal competence—the contrast, directionality, energy (CDE) method. The CDE values extracted from 3-D seismic data can be tied to any ground-truthed property of strata regardless of their depositional history, age, and lithology. The application of the CDE method is, however, dependent on seismic-data acquisition parameters and selected processing sequences and should be independently applied to different seismic volumes. Borehole data indicate contrast (C) to reflect MTDs lithological heterogeneity and degree of disaggregation, which increase proportionally to the absolute value of C. More uniform values of P-wave velocity (Vp) and peak shear strength are recorded in strata with lower contrast. Directionality (D) relates to the existence of syn- or postdepositional fabric such as compressional ridges, imbricated strata or faults. Energy (E) relates to the acoustic impedance of strata, with high-amplitude reflections correlating with strata with higher shear strength, i.e., high Vp and shear-wave velocity (Vs) values, or with abrupt contrasts in density (bright spots). This work shows that distinct values of C, D, and E reflect variable degrees of vertical and horizontal connectivity in strata and, consequently, their seal and reservoir potential. The CDE values are thus subdivided in nine classes, which are represented in ternary plots to cover the full spectrum of MTDs and any confining strata. As a result, the data in this article confirm that lower seal competence, and higher reservoir potential, is recorded in strata with large D or moderate CDE values.

Time Irreversibility in Consumers’ Expenditure: An Analysis of Disaggregated Data

The literature on testing for the presence of cyclical asymmetry in consumers’ expenditure is extended via the application of tests for time irreversibility to UK data subject to a higher degree of disaggregation than considered in previous studies. The empirical findings reported provide support for a positive relationship between the durability of goods and the asymmetric, and specifically time irreversible, behaviour they exhibit at a fine level of disaggregation. Further investigation of the underlying causes of such time irreversibility exhibit pronounced difference according to the degree of durability, in that nonlinearity in the underlying data generating process is a prevalent feature of highly disaggregated durable good expenditures, but is a less marked feature of semi‐durable and non‐durable expenditures. Prominent among the durable and semi‐durable good expenditure categories exhibiting such nonlinearities are expenditures relating to housing fittings and communication equipment. These findings are consistent with threshold effects in inventory control as well as the effects of credit rationing, such that these expenditures are more likely to be made at times when those constraints are eased by income windfalls or by the easing of credit availability, possibly associated with mortgage (re‐) financing.

Time deformation in UK consumers’ expenditure: an empirical analysis of highly disaggregated data

The literature on testing for the presence of cyclical asymmetry in consumers’ expenditure is extended via the application of tests for time deformation to UK data subject to a high degree of disaggregation. The initial empirical findings provide evidence of significant time deformation in total, durables and semi-durables expenditures. Closer examination of highly disaggregated expenditure further reveals that time deformation is an intrinsic property of a particular set of expenditure categories including household fittings and furnishings, communication and information technology, vehicles and utilities. These results suggest that such consumers’ expenditures ‘speed up’ during expansions, most likely being driven by the relaxation of credit rationing constraints due to transient income windfalls or the easing of credit conditions, and possibly associated with housing market conditions subsequent to financial market liberalization.

Reassessing Who Contributed Most to the Decline in Violence During the 1990s: A Reminder That Size <I>Does</I> Matter

Descriptions of the 1990s crime drop point to the importance of declines in firearm violence among young, Black, urban males. This extant research is valuable but incomplete in terms of the crimes considered and the degree of disaggregation considered. This study complements current work on fatal violence by providing a comprehensive description of nonfatal violence trends using highly disaggregated data from the National Crime Victimization Survey. Through disaggregation we describe how the risk for nonlethal serious violence differs among a variety of victim populations, how these risks varied over time, and the contribution made by each group to the overall decline in crime. We also examine how firearm violence, and violence by a variety of victim/offender categories contributed to the aggregate drop in nonfatal serious violence.

Reassessing Who Contributed Most to the Decline in Violence During the 1990s: A Reminder That Size Does Matter

Descriptions of the 1990s crime drop point to the importance of declines in firearm violence among young, Black, urban males. This extant research is valuable but incomplete in terms of the crimes considered and the degree of disaggregation considered. This study complements current work on fatal violence by providing a comprehensive description of nonfatal violence trends using highly disaggregated data from the National Crime Victimization Survey. Through disaggregation we describe how the risk for nonlethal serious violence differs among a variety of victim populations, how these risks varied over time, and the contribution made by each group to the overall decline in crime. We also examine how firearm violence, and violence by a variety of victim/offender categories contributed to the aggregate drop in nonfatal serious violence.

A deeper look at asymmetries in UK consumers’ expenditure: the nonparametric analysis of 100 disaggregates

The literature on testing for the presence of cyclical asymmetry in UK consumers’ expenditure is extended via the application of nonparametric tests to data subject to a higher degree of disaggregation than considered in previous studies. The results obtained at an intermediate level of disaggregation depict a positive relationship between the durability of goods and the degree of asymmetry they exhibit. At high levels of disaggregation to specific expenditure categories, it is found that the aggregate and intermediate evidence of deepness asymmetry is driven by a relatively small number of expenditures, with almost no evidence of deepness asymmetry in non-durable categories of expenditure. Prominent among the durable and semi-durable good expenditure categories exhibiting significant positive deepness asymmetry are expenditures relating to housing fittings and communication, consistent with a degree of ‘lumpiness’ in expenditure which may be associated with the impact of credit rationing or threshold effects.

Endothelial Microparticles (EMP) Bind and Complex with Unusually-Large Multimers of Von Willebrand Factor (ULvWf) and Act as Potent Inducers of Platelet Adhesion and Aggregation.

BACKGROUND. EMP have emerged as sensitive biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction. Little is known of their function. EMP interact with leukocytes and platelets and exert prothrombotic and proinflammatory effects. Recently we reported that vWf is expressed in EMP. The present study extends this observation to characterize EMP-bound vWf (EMP/vWf), specifically their multimer size and proaggregatory activity in ristocetin-induced platelet aggregation.METHODS. EMP, released from human renal microvascular endothelial cells 24hr following stimulation with TNF-α, were isolated by centrifugation (10,000g x 30min) and washed twice for vWf multimer analysis and proaggregatory activity assay. vWf multimer size was analyzed by 0.8% argarose gel electrophoresis and Western blotting. The proaggregatory activity of vWf was assessed flow ctyometrically by a two-step method: first, washed platelets were incubated with either EMP or soluble vWf such as plasma or Humate P (a commercial vWf multimers) in the presence of ristocetin for 10 min, then disappearance of free platelets as they formed small aggregates was measured. Second, the formed platelet aggregates were diluted 20-fold with buffer and degree of disaggregation was determined at intervals to assess the stability of PltAg.RESULTS. (i) Electrophoresis showed that vWf bands from normal plasma do not exceed 1,000 kDa and Humate P about 2,000 kDa while vWf bands on EMP extends much higher than 2,000 kDa. The protein banding pattern of EMP/vWf also differed from free soluble vWf (plasma) or humate P, the latter both showing clear ladder-like banding while EMP/vWf often appeared as a continuous smear of sizes in the high molecular weight regions, probably due to covalent bonds to transmembrane structures. (ii) Incubation of EMP (1 x 107 in 100 μL) with humate P (0.3 U) for 2hr (rotary shaker, 100 rpm) followed by washing the EMP revealed that significant additional vWf was adsorbed to the EMP: the vWf in the supernatant was decreased by 30% – 40%, and Western blotting showed additional high MW band on the treated EMP. This demonstrates that EMP express unoccupied sites capable of binding free vWf. (iii) Incubating EMP/vWf with washed platelets in the presence of ristocetin resulted in formation of platelet aggregates (PltAg). When PltAg were diluted 1:20, the PltAg began dissociating into free platelets in a time-dependent manner. The time for 50% dissociation of PltAg was 15–20min with soluble vWf (plasma or Humate P), but was prolonged to 45–60min with EMP/vWf. We attribute this mainly to the presence of ULvWf on EMP. (iv) Plasma from 4 acute TTP patients showed elevated EMP and enhanced formation of PltAg resistant to disaggregate. While 5 vWD plasma showed the opposite effect and their deficiency was corrected by added EMP.CONCLUSIONS. A new role of EMP is indicated in the present study. EMP-bound vWf is functionally active, inducing platelet aggregates of greater stability than free vWf in a ristocetin-based assay. EMP are capable of adsorbing additional vWf from plasma, indicating presence of extra binding sites. EMP enhance the stability of aggregates probably through ULvWf on the EMP, or to additional platelet-EMP-platelet adhesion molecules, or both. Through their high-affinity interaction with ULvWf, EMP likely play a role in vWf-dependent thrombotic disorders such as TTP and other platelet mediated thrombosis.

Self-Aggregation of Lipophilic Porphyrins in Reverse Micelles of Aerosol OT

The aggregation process of meso-tetra(4-aminosulfonylphenyl)porphyrin (PC0), of butyl and dodecyl derivatives (PC4 and PC12, respectively) in the presence of aerosol-OT (AOT) reversed micelles with different values of ω0 = [water]/[AOT] was investigated using steady-state extinction, fluorescence, and resonance light scattering (RLS) techniques. The scattering has been accounted for and the absorption spectra corrected from the extinction spectra. In homogeneous solutions, the porphyrins exist as a monomer showing the Soret band around 420 nm and emission bands at 650 and 716 nm. In reverse micelles, the spectra vary according to the chain length and the amount of solubilized water. Only PC12 is dissolved as a monomer at ω0 = 0, and PC4 shows some degree of aggregation. PC0 is present largely as an aggregate. At ω0 ≠ 0, a complete aggregation is observed for PC4 and PC12, whereas in PC0, some degree of disaggregation was detected. The extinction spectra of PC0 and PC4 in aggregate forms show a broad and red shifted Soret band indicating J aggregates. By contrast, the Soret band intensity of PC12 decreases and a new band around 376 nm appears with a broadening of the monomer Soret band which reflects H aggregates. RLS shows a strong signal for PC12 at red spectral region at high ω0 indicating J aggregate types. The fluorescence spectra showed the new band around 670 nm for PC0 and PC12, whereas in PC4, only blue shifted bands were observed with ω0 increase. The global fluorescence quantum yield of the PC12 aggregates is lower than the respective monomer. The aggregate sizes were followed by RLS measurements which showed an increase of intensity at around 440 nm. The aggregation dynamics is dependent on both the porphyrin concentration and ω0.

Effect of homogenizing procedures on the slip casting of reaction sialon suspensions

Reaction sialon suspensions were prepared using 3-wt.% KD1 (a polyester/polyamine condensation copolymer) as dispersant in organic media of 60-vol.% methyletheylketone and 40-vol.% ethanol. Different homogenizing procedures were used and compared, such as: high energetic planetary milling, low energetic ball milling and ultrasonic disaggregation. The effect of different homogenizing routes and solids loading on the rheology of suspensions and on the properties of slip casting green bodies has been studied. The differences observed among the various mixing procedures could be attributed to the different degrees of disaggregation and therefore to different fractions of surface coverage of the reaction sialon powders by the dispersant.

Price versus Income Effects as Sources of Growth in Government's Share of GDP

A demand-based model of public sector spending is used to identify the economic determinants of the relative size of government in the United States for the period 1949 to 1998. The government's share of GDP is hypothesized to be a function of income growth (Wagner's Law), relative prices for public sector output (Baumol/Beck hypothesis), and several demographic, cyclical, and budget variables. Although nondefense, noninterest government spending as a share of GDP has not grown in recent decades, the results support both income and price explanations of increasing government size. It is shown that the income and price effects are sensitive to the degree of disaggregation used to define government spending shares. Higher relative prices outweigh economic growth as a factor behind increasing shares for government consumption. Economic growth dominates the relative price effect for investment purchases. The two effects are similar for transfer payments.

Consumption of Spanish households: evidence from cohort data

In this paper, empirical evidence on elasticity of intertemporal substitution for Spanish household consumption is shown. Several recent studies have rejected the lifecycle-permanent income hypothesis using aggregate time series. The rejection of the theory has often been blamed on the restrictive assumptions adopted in order to test the hypothesis. This article tests the household behaviour using cohort data from the Spanish Encuesta Continua de Presupuestos Familiares (Continuous Survey of Household Budgets). This source allows us to relax some of the most restrictive assumptions by using data with a certain degree of disaggregation. Evidence of consumer behaviour following the theory is found. Indirect evidence of liquidity constraints is also found and an alternative discount rate designed to be in better accordance with the theoretical foundations of the model is proposed.

Photoresponsive behavior of self-assembling systems by amphiphilic α-helix with azobenzene unit

Abstract A photoresponsive amphiphilic polypeptide composed of two amphiphilic α-helical polypeptides, poly [(γ-methyl l -glutamate)-co-( l -glutamic acid)], joined with an azobenzene moiety, was prepared via the monolayer reaction method. We investigated the photoinduced changes in the aggregate structure of the polypeptide in aqueous solution. The polypeptides were soluble in aqueous solution and associated with each other to form a globular aggregate ≈ 10 nm in diameter in the dark. The globular aggregate grew into a twisted ribbon-like structure which could be observed with an optical microscope. The trans -to- cis isomerization of the azobenzene unit in the main chain induced a bending of the polypeptide rod, which resulted in a dissociation of the aggregate. In this process, the degree of disaggregation was not linear to the irradiated light intensity, i.e., the photoinduced effect appeared over a certain value of the Sight intensity. Such on-off deformations of the supramolecular order may be due to a native character of self-organizing systems supported by weak but cooperative intermolecular interactions.

Model transformation rules and model disaggregation

Ecosystem models vary considerably in their degree of disaggregation: the extent to which they ‘lump’ or ‘split’ model components. However, the criteria for the degree of disaggregation in a model are frequently not clear. The development of such criteria would be enhanced if the degree of disaggregation in a model could be easily changed, permitting a ready comparison of the alternative versions. In this paper, a framework is proposed for representing model transformation rules. Each rule indicates how a particular model component or set of components can be replaced by more- or less-disaggregated components. These rules have the potential to automate the process of generating alternative versions of a model differing in degree of disaggregation, and provide a framework within which modellers can express their expert opinion on the legality, costs and benefits of particular lumping or splitting decisions. The approach is wholly dependent on the symbolic representation of model structure, since each transformation rule is in effect a symbolic re-write rule, expressing how the set of symbols defining one model can be replaced by another set defining an alternative model. It is proposed that the logic programming language Prolog is suitable both for representing model structure in symbolic form, and for representing the model transformation rules.