University of California, Irvine

About: University of California, Irvine is a education organization based out in Irvine, California, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Galaxy. The organization has 47031 authors who have published 113602 publications receiving 5521832 citations. The organization is also known as: UC Irvine & UCI.

Blogging as social activity, or, would you let 900 million people read your diary?

Abstract: "Blogging" is a Web-based form of communication that is rapidly becoming mainstream. In this paper, we report the results of an ethnographic study of blogging, focusing on blogs written by individuals or small groups, with limited audiences. We discuss motivations for blogging, the quality of social interactivity that characterized the blogs we studied, and relationships to the blogger's audience. We consider the way bloggers related to the known audience of their personal social networks as well as the wider "blogosphere" of unknown readers. We then make design recommendations for blogging software based on these findings.

Cutting Edge: Long-Term B Cell Memory in Humans after Smallpox Vaccination

Abstract: Memory B cells are a central component of humoral immunity, and yet little is known about their longevity in humans. Immune memory after smallpox vaccination (DryVax) is a valuable benchmark for understanding the longevity of B cell memory in the absence of re-exposure to Ag. In this study, we demonstrate that smallpox vaccine-specific memory B cells last for >50 years in immunized individuals. Virus-specific memory B cells initially declined postimmunization, but then reached a plateau ∼10-fold lower than peak and were stably maintained for >50 years after vaccination at a frequency of ∼0.1% of total circulating IgG + B cells. These persisting memory B cells were functional and able to mount a robust anamnestic Ab response upon revaccination. Additionally, virus-specific CD4 + T cells were detected decades after vaccination. These data show that immunological memory to DryVax vaccine is long-lived and may contribute to protection against smallpox.

Do Investors Overvalue Firms With Bloated Balance Sheets

Abstract: If investors have limited attention, then accounting outcomes that saliently highlight positive aspects of a firm's performance will promote high market valuations. When cumulative accounting value added (net operating income) over time outstrips cumulative cash value added (free cash flow), it becomes hard for the firm to sustain further earnings growth. When the balance sheet is 'bloated' in this fashion, we argue that investors with limited attention will overvalue the firm, because naive earnings-based valuation disregards the firm's relative lack of success in generating cash flows in excess of investment needs. The level of net operating assets, the difference between cumulative earnings and cumulative free cash flow over time, is therefore a measure of the extent to which operating/reporting outcomes provoke excessive investor optimism. Therefore, if investor attention is limited, net operating assets will negatively predict subsequent stock returns. In our 1964-2002 sample, net operating assets scaled by beginning total assets is a strong negative predictor of long-run stock returns. Predictability is robust with respect to an extensive set of controls and testing methods.