Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of Global Crisis on Small and Medium Enterprises

The impact of financial crisis has not been uniform across the globe. Apart from the epicentre of the crisis, those with higher dependency on external markets both for trade and finance had more immediate and larger impact of the global contagion. In contrast, the small businesses with lower diversification of product base and little option for downsizing had a relatively homogeneous impact across the world economies irrespective of trade dependency of the economy. This is because of strong backward linkages or an extensive participation of small and medium industries in the upstream supply chain, producing intermediates for both the exporting as well as non-exporting large industries. On the other hand, credit crunch faced by the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), deemed less credible but relatively more credit dependent than large industries, invigorated the impact of the crisis. Besides, some factors very specific to SMEs made them more vulnerable to the crisis.
ANALISIS FAKTOR YANG MEMPENGARUHI TERJADINYA FRAUD PADA DINAS KOTA SURAKARTA

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menggali persepsi para pegawai di instansi pemerintahan mengenai pengaruh keefektifan sistem pengendalian internal, kesesuaian kompensasi, kultur organisasi, perilaku tidak etis, gaya kepemimpinan, sistem pengendalian internal dan penegakan hukum terhadap fraud di sektor pemerintahan Sampel penelitian ini sejumlah 115 pegawai instansi pemerintahan di Kota Surakarta.Teknik pengambilan sampel menggunakan quota sampling. Pengumpulan data dengan menggunakan kuesioner. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa terdapatpengaruh negatif antara keefektifan sistem pengendalian intern dengan fraud di sektor pemerintahan, terdapat pengaruh negatif antara kesesuaian kompensasi denganfraud di sektor pemerintahan, tidak terdapat pengaruh antara kultur organisasi dengan fraud di sektor pemerintahan, terdapat pengaruh positif antara perilaku tidak etis dengan fraud di sektor pemerintahan, terdapat pengaruh negatif antaragaya kepemimpinan dengan fraud di sektor pemerintahan, terdapat pengaruh negatif sistem pengendalian internal terhadap fraud di sektor pemerintahan, tidakterdapat pengaruh penegakan hukum terhadap fraud di sektor pemerintahan. This study aimed to explore the perceptions of employees in government agencies regarding. How will the effectiveness of the internal control sistem, compliance compensation, organizationalculture, ethical behavior, leadership style, internal control sistem and law enforcement against fraud in the public sektor Samples used in this research as many as 115 respondentscivil government agencies in Surakarta. Sampling technique using quota sampling. Collecting data using questionnaires.The results showed that there is a negatif effect of the effectivenessof internal control sistems to fraud in the government sektor, there is a negatif effect of the appropriateness of compensation by fraud in the government sektor, there is no influence ofthe culture of the organization with fraud in the government sektor, there is a positive effect between unethical behavior by fraud in the government sektor, there is a negatif effect betweenleadership styles with fraud in the government sektor, there is a negatif effect of the sistem of internal controls over fraud in the government sektor, there is no effect of law enforcementagainst fraud in the government sektor.
[Risk factors for psychomotor development among infants born under optimal biological conditions].

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of risk factors on infant development, among low socioeconomic children born under optimal biological conditions, and who are exposed to adverse social circumstances. METHOD Infants of both sexes, in the amount of 788, were studied and controlled prospectively at between 6 and 12 months. Their mental (MDI) and psychomotor (PDI) development was evaluated using the Bayley Scale of Infant Development. Eighteen risk factors were identified and dichotomized (high or low risk). RESULTS Breast feeding, child temperament, maternal intelligence and home stimulation are consistently associated with lower MDI and PDI. After adjustment for co-variables, home stimulation persisted as a significant factor for explaining the variation of both developmental indexes and child sex also appears as a risk factor for motor skills development. The accumulated effect of 7 or more risk factors is associated with a significant decrease of development scores. The combination of risk categories of child temperament, maternal IQ, paternal role and home stimulation shows higher prediction power for infant development than other combinations analyzed in this study. CONCLUSION The findings suggest than even for children born under optimal biological conditions their psychomotor development is negatively affected by the presence of simultaneous adverse environmental conditions.
Expertise, Representation and the Common Good: Grounds for Legitimacy in the Urban Governance Network

This paper discusses the local planning of sustainable development in terms of urban governance. It is particularly interested to examine the grounds for the legitimacy of different actors and the process of legitimation in one urban network. Legitimation is understood here as a discursive process of acceptance in which the actors involved locate themselves and others in the structures of governance. The results indicate that people from the local community and local government justify their positions in the urban governance network and policy-making by means of traditional forms of authorisation—namely, in terms of expertise, representation or the common good. These characteristics have traditionally given legitimacy to the activities and decisions taken by public administration and government. In the case at hand, the traditional grounds for legitimacy are transformed into network-based practices, but those grounds are not pre-given for any of the parties involved. The future challenge in urban governance is to enable the formation of new kinds of political identities that are suitable for governance networks by reforming local discursive practices.
Control of Anxiety and Acute Mountain Sickness in Himalayan Mountaineers

This investigation explores the relationship between psychological factors and acute mountain sickness (AMS). AMS occurs in most people staying more than a few hours above 3500 m. Symptoms include headache, nausea, vomiting, insomnia, anorexia, etc. Subjects studied were climbers preparing for an expedition to the Himalayas (80 men and 20 women). The psychological investigation consisted in two mono-factorial tests: STAI (anxiety inventory) and Bortner stress scale. After the expedition, subjects were classified into two groups: those who were susceptible to AMS and those who were not. Results indicated that the two groups differed for trait-anxiety on one hand, and for the level of anxiety before the final ascent on the other hand. In both cases, subjects susceptible to AMS were significantly more anxious than those who were not.
Review: Quality of Higher Education in Public Institutions

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Managing Municipal Austerity: Mitigation of Social Risks

Abstract The overarching objective of this article is to stimulate debate about how local authorities could and should manage their austerity measures because the speed, scale and aggregation of the UK public spending cuts risk adversely affecting already disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, exacerbating social exclusion and leading to higher costs for councils in the future. It presents the results of research conducted during 2011–2012 focusing on if and how five Scottish case study councils attempted to mitigate social risks. It found that they were using equalities impact assessment (EIA) procedures in their decision-making. However, EIAs are not fit for purpose as a risk mitigation tool and fail to take account of all groups which may also be adversely affected by service cuts. Hence, this article recommends a more innovative approach in local decision-making processes based on a social risk impact assessment (SRIA) model within a preventative approach to social policy.
Energy efficient resource allocation in LTE-A

We study the resource allocation problem in LTE-A downlink transmissions. Rather than maximizing the capacity, we consider energy metrics at the BS (base station), with certain rate guarantee for each MS (mobile station). Specifically, two energy related problems are investigated. By enabling a tradeoff between the number of PRBs (physical resource blocks) and the consumed power for each MS transmission, the first problem is to minimize the total power at the BS with constant MS rate guarantee. Based on the PRB scheduling, the second problem is to change the power allocation, such that energy efficiency can be maximized by minimizing an EPG (energy-per-goodbit) metric. We propose heuristic algorithms to circumvent the optimization models. Numerical results show that significant power decrease and energy efficiency increase can be achieved by properly trading off between PRBs and power consumptions.
The association between non-audit services and the propensity of going concern qualifications: Implications for audit independence

Abstract This study1 examines the association between non-audit fees (NAS) fees as a proportion of total fees (PROPNAS) and auditors' propensity to issue a going concern qualification to clients facing imminent bankruptcy. Clients generating higher (lower) PROPNAS are expected to be less likely (more likely) to receive a going concern qualification in the year immediately preceding bankruptcy. The results of the study, using a small sample of 49 bankrupt Australian companies, are consistent with the hypothesised association between PROPNAS and the propensity of a going concern qualification. Implications of the results for auditor independence are discussed. © City University of Hong Kong.
Game-theoretical analysis for supply chain with consumer preference to low carbon

This paper focuses on the impact of consumers’ preference to low carbon in the emission-concerned supply chain. In an emission-concerned supply chain, the consumers are assumed to prefer to low-carbon products. In an emission sensitive market, emission reduction not only brings the higher production costs but also stimulates the inverse demand function. Therefore, this may be an opportunity for players of the supply chain to coordinate their two objectives: environmental pressure (to reduce carbon emissions for environment protection) and profit-seeking, which intuitively seem to be contradictory. In order to address this research focus, a novel emission-sensitive demand function is adopted, and an emission -sensitive cost function is introduced explicitly to capture the deviation production cost caused by emission reduction. Then the decision-making of each member in the emission-concerned supply chain is investigated. We find that the decision-maker of the supply chain will choose different emission reduction strategies for different cases. An inspiring result shows that the channel profit as well as the emission reduction increase in the consumers’ preference to low-carbon consumption simultaneously in particular cases. Moreover, several emission-concerned contracts are designed to coordinate the channel. Another finding is that the manufacturer’s optimal carbon emissions per unit product keeps the same as the centralised channel, no matter whether the supply chain is coordinated or not. Furthermore, the further discussion reveals that less eco-friendly production than the traditional, if lack of external regulation as well as internal moral self-discipline, might be chosen under some specific conditions.
A review of Soludo's perspective of banking sector reforms in Nigeria

This paper focuses specifically on the recent Soludo’s banking sector reforms. The study noted that the Soludo’s reforms focused on strengthening the financial systems through banking sector consolidation, foreign exchange market stabilization, interest rates restructuring and the pursuit of stabilization as against structural adjustment policies for monetary and inflationary controls. A review of theoretical qualifications to the Soludo’s reform show that in thoughts, it is rooted in the Classical traditions of Say’s Law, acts monetarist, but expects a Keynesian outcome that money can stimulate expansion in aggregate domestic output. In concluding, the study noted the need to adopt an interest rate operating procedures for monetary policy in addition to moving the economy consciously towards the ‘law of one market and one price’ for the domestic and foreign money markets.
Stock Returns and Operating Performance of Securities Issuers

We examine long-run stock returns and operating performance around firms' offerings of common stock, convertible debt, and straight debt over 1985 to 1990. We find that pre-issue abnormal returns are positive and significant for stock issuers, but not for convertible and straight debt issuers. The post-issue mean returns show that common stock and convertible debt issuers experience underperformance during the post-issue periods, but straight debt issuers do not. Consistent with these results, common stock issuers experience the best pre-issue operating performance among all three types of issuers, and operating performance declines during the post-issue periods for common stock and convertible debt issuers. Using a new approach in linear model estimations to correct heteroskedasticity and to adjust for finite sample, we find a positive relation between post-issue operating performance and issue-period stock price reactions. The results suggest that future operating performance is anticipated at the issue and that securities issues provide information on issuers' future performance.
Effects of particulate air pollution on nasal and lung function development among Greek children: a 19-year cohort study

The aim was to investigate respiratory symptoms, lung function and nasal airflow development among a cohort of children who were exposed to particulate air pollution. We used questionnaires, spirometry and rhinomanometry, while central-monitored PM10 concentrations were used for exposure assessment. We initially examined 1046 children (10–12 year old) in the heavily polluted town of Ptolemaida, Greece, and 379 children in the cleaner town of Grevena (control group). We re-evaluated 312 of the former and 119 of the latter after 19 years. PM10 concentrations were above permissible levels in Ptolemaida during all study period. At both visits, nasal flow was significantly lower in the study sample. At the follow-up visit, 34.3 % had severe nasal obstruction (< 500 ml/s) and 38.5 % reported chronic nasal symptoms. Spirometric parameters did not differ compared to the control group. Particulate air pollution had significant and negative effects on nasal but not on lung function development.
Citizen Participation in Local Government Decision Making

Engaging the public in government decision making is an important value and priority in a democratic society. Although there is research investigating public perceptions of citizen participation opportunities and efforts, little research focuses on understanding the motivations that public managers have to encourage citizen participation. This research seeks to understand the ways in which public managers’ motivations are related to engaging the public in organizational decision making. We use data from two national surveys of U.S. local government managers conducted in 2010 and 2012 to investigate the extent to which performance-based rewards and public service motivation (PSM) contribute to citizen participation in government decision making and examine the ways in which the relationship between PSM and citizen participation is moderated by performance-based rewards and mediated by value congruence. The results indicate that performance-based rewards are negatively related to citizen participation in government decision making whereas PSM is positively related to citizen participation both directly and indirectly through person–organization value congruence.
Conceptual and Contextual Contradictions: How a Group of Primary School Teachers Negotiated Professional Learning in a Multiliteracies Book Club

The need to diversify digital communications for a global twenty-first century has prompted many theorists to reimagine literacy teaching and learning. Although the new Australian curriculum acknowledges multimodality and multimodal texts, professional learning continues to privilege print-focused literacy. Utilizing a multiliteracies’ and community of practice framework, this study scaffolded seven primary school teachers in critical and collaborative professional learning. A case study explored the teachers’ evolving perspectives and knowledge work during monthly meetings in a multiliteracies book club. Drawing on a qualitative approach, this paper focuses on how the teachers, who were based in regional Western Australia, problematized conceptual and contextual issues. More broadly, the discussion highlights how the teachers perceived and (re)negotiated contradictory constructions of literacy and professional learning. Findings suggest that generating scaffolded spaces for-and-with teachers is important for innovation in professional literacy learning.
Real Rates, Expected Inflation, and Inflation Risk Premia

This paper studies the term structure of real rates, expected inflation, and inflation risk premia. The analysis is based on new estimates of the real term structure derived from the prices of index-linked and nominal debt in the U.K. I find strong evidence to reject both the Fisher Hypothesis and versions of the Expectations Hypothesis for real rates. The estimates also imply the presence of time-varying inflation risk premia throughout the term structure. Copyright The American Finance Association 1998.
Role of multiphase scans by multirow-detector helical CT in detecting small hepatocellular carcinoma.

AIM To evaluate the role of multiphasic scanning by multirow-detector helical CT (MDCT) in detecting small hypervascular hepatocellular carcinoma (SHCC). METHODS Multiphasic scanning was carried out in 75 patients with SHCC with Marconi MX8000 CT scanner. The early arterial phase (EAP), late arterial phase (LAP) and the portal venous phase (PVP) scans were started at 21 s, 34 s and 85 s respectively. The mean difference of CT values between tumor and liver parenchyma for each scanning phase was measured, and the sensitivity of detection of SHCC in each of these phases and in the combined phase was calculated and statistically analyzed. RESULTS The mean difference of CT values between tumor and liver parenchyma was significant in 71 lesions > or =1 cm in three phases (P<0.05). In 91 tumor foci, the detectability of SHCC was 45.1%, 83.5% and 92.3% in EAP, LAP and double arterial phases (DAP), respectively. The early arterial phase plus the portal venous phase and the double arterial phase plus the portal venous phase were 94.5%, 97.8%, respectively. Whereas the detectability in LAP plus PVP and in DAP plus PVP had no statistical difference. CONCLUSION The utility of faster speed and thinner slice MDCT and multiphase scanning protocol can improve the detectability of hypervascular small hepatocellular carcinoma. Among which LAP is superior to EAP in depicting the lesions.
Comparison of three modes of patient‐controlled epidural analgesia during labour

Background and objectives: This study compares three modes of patient‐controlled epidural analgesia in parturients during labour. Methods: Eighty‐four women were randomized to one of three groups. The epidural solution used in all the three groups was 0.1% bupivacaine with fentanyl 2 μg mL−1. Patients were able to self administer a demand dose of 3 mL with a lockout interval of 6 min in Group A, 6 mL with a lockout interval of 12 min in Group B and 9 mL with lockout interval of 18 min in Group C. All patients received a background infusion at a rate of 6 mL h−1. Visual analogue pain scores, pinprick analgesia and motor block were assessed hourly by a blinded observer. The physician‐administered supplementation and the cumulative dose of bupivacaine were also compared between the three groups. Results: Pain scores, sensory level and motor block were not different among the study groups. Patients' satisfaction was rated good to excellent with no difference among groups. The cumulative dose of bupivacaine was not significantly different. However, there was a trend towards a decreased need for rescue analgesia in Group C. Within each group, the physician‐administered supplementations were significantly higher during the second stage of labour than during the first stage (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The three modes of patient‐controlled epidural analgesia supplemented by a background infusion of 6 mL h−1 were equally effective for labour analgesia with a trend for decreased rescue analgesia in the group with a larger bolus dose and a longer lockout interval.
Smoking prevalence, quit attempts and successes.

OBJECTIVES This article provides a brief overview and update of Canadian smoking trends since 1966. It presents the characteristics of daily smokers who have successfully quit as well as those who have tried to quit but continue to smoke daily. DATA SOURCES The time series smoking data are from a variety of surveys. The analyses pertaining to individuals who tried to quit smoking and those who successfully quit are based on a Health Canada-sponsored supplement to the 1994/95 National Population Health Survey (NPHS). MAIN RESULTS In contrast to the overall trend, smoking rates among teens have been rising in the 1990s. Approximately 16% of daily smokers reported that they had recently stopped smoking. The majority of former daily smokers indicated that their main reason for quitting was concern about their future health. The vast majority reported that they had gone cold turkey. About four in ten daily smokers reported that they had tried, unsuccessfully to quit smoking in the 12 months before their NPHS interview.
Are we all on the same page? Teacher, graduate and student perceptions of the importance of skills thought to enhance employability.

Graduate employability is a key issue for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), academic faculty and of course for students themselves. It is recognised that to be employable graduates require both discipline specific skills/knowledge and more generic skills for employment. A key step to the development of the latter is an understanding of their significance on the part of those designing courses and the students who take them. Here we compare the perceived importance of key skills from the perspective of teachers, current students and recent graduates. We find that the three groups differ in the relative importance they ascribe to several key skills.AÂ Staff rated all skills as being important and saw many as being more important than did their students.AÂ With hindsight, graduates prioritized skills that were not seen as being very important by current students.AÂ As a result of our synthesizing the views of current undergraduates, employed graduates and lecturing staff, we recommend that proper signposting of the significance of key skills to students is vital.