Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Centralization and Autonomy in International-Marketing Decision Making

Abstract The evolution of decision-making centralization in MNEs' international marketing has not been sufficiently researched-especially in contrast to the many studies of standardization versus adaptation in international marketing. This study, based on 1973-1993 survey data, reveals a striking increase in the relative power of regional-headquarters for many MNE international-marketing decisions. It also shows that the link between the centralization and standardization of marketing policies is not as steady over time as is generally thought. Besides, the company-specific factor most linked to the decentralization of international-marketing decisions (that is, subsidiary autonomy) is the relative weight of subsidiaries' own production in their total sales. Research and managerial implications are drawn from these findings and their analysis.
The Validity of Export-Led Growth Hypothesis for Jordan: A Bounds Testing Approach

The Export-led growth hypotheses postulates that there is a positive causal relationship running from exports to economic growth. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to empirically investigate the applicability of the Export-Led Growth hypothesis for Jordan over the period 1980- 2012. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag model (ARDL) to cointegration approach was used to ensure the existence of the long-run linear combination among variables over the study period as well as the short run movement. The tests of the variables properties show that the included variables are integrated of order one, I(1), and cointegrated indicating the existence of a long-run equilibrium. The empirical results show that they are in line with previous research specifically on Jordan case. Namely, that the exports are a significant stimulus of the economic growth in Jordan, where exports affect output growth positively in both the short-run and in the long-run. These results suggest that authorities implement an export expansion strategy to stimulating exports and hence economic growth.
Fast running restricts evolutionary change of the vertebral column in mammals

Significance Our study explains one of the riddles of mammal evolution: the strong conservation of the number of trunk vertebrae. The vertebral column and its high evolvability are considered to be of central importance for the evolution of vertebrates, which is why the constancy is both puzzling and important. We hypothesize, on biomechanical and developmental grounds, that evolutionary change is virtually impossible in fast running and agile mammals. The rationale is that several mutations are necessary to change trunk vertebral counts, with single mutations usually leading to irregular lumbosacral joints that severely hamper running and jumping capability. Our observations indeed show that selection against these initial changes is strong in fast and agile mammals and weak in slower and sturdier ones. The mammalian vertebral column is highly variable, reflecting adaptations to a wide range of lifestyles, from burrowing in moles to flying in bats. However, in many taxa, the number of trunk vertebrae is surprisingly constant. We argue that this constancy results from strong selection against initial changes of these numbers in fast running and agile mammals, whereas such selection is weak in slower-running, sturdier mammals. The rationale is that changes of the number of trunk vertebrae require homeotic transformations from trunk into sacral vertebrae, or vice versa, and mutations toward such transformations generally produce transitional lumbosacral vertebrae that are incompletely fused to the sacrum. We hypothesize that such incomplete homeotic transformations impair flexibility of the lumbosacral joint and thereby threaten survival in species that depend on axial mobility for speed and agility. Such transformations will only marginally affect performance in slow, sturdy species, so that sufficient individuals with transitional vertebrae survive to allow eventual evolutionary changes of trunk vertebral numbers. We present data on fast and slow carnivores and artiodactyls and on slow afrotherians and monotremes that strongly support this hypothesis. The conclusion is that the selective constraints on the count of trunk vertebrae stem from a combination of developmental and biomechanical constraints.
Rates of return to public and private capital: new estimates using nonlinear Euler equations

Results obtained by Otto and Voss show that public investment undertaken in Australia over recent decades satisfies conditions for intertemporal efficiency. This paper confirms this result, although lower output elasticities and rates of return to private and public capital are obtained. The reason for these results is that the earlier work is extended by estimating the parameter related to the elasticity of intertemporal substitution that was earlier restricted to a specific value. In fact, it is shown here that it is possible to obtain an economically reasonable (and statistically significant) estimate of this parameter by assuming that the stochastic discount factor for the representative firm is the same as for the representative consumer and equal to a gross real interest rate.
Combining Temporal Features by Local Binary Pattern for Acoustic Scene Classification

The popular frequency-domain features Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCCs) have been widely used for the task of acoustic scene classification (ASC). The MFCC feature vector describes only the power spectral envelope of a single frame, but it seems like environmental audio signal would benefit from information in the temporal dynamics. However, the classic approach of integrating them would lose this important information. Here, we adopt local binary pattern (LBP) as a tool to characterize the latent information on the temporal dynamics. The frame-level MFCC features are viewed as a 2-D image, where we use LBP to encode the evolution process. Besides, some complementary spectral features such as spectral centroid (SC), spectral bandwidth (SBW) is utilized to further improve the ASC performance. The proposed features are then fed into an ensemble classifier called D3C for recognizing environmental sounds. The results show that the proposed method was able to achieve a classification improvement of 8% compared to the baseline system. Our work presented a new method for combing the temporal features, demonstrating the significance of the temporal evolution features for characterizing the environmental sound.
Green Niches in Sustainable Development: The Case of Organic Food in the United Kingdom

Strategic niche management is a recently developed policy approach which advocates claim, is important in seeding radical transformations in sociotechnical regimes, and transitions to environmentally sustainable regimes in particular. This paper examines a critically important aspect of this approach: the relationship between radically novel sociotechnical practices in niches and the mainstream social–technical regimes they seek to influence. Although the literature notes the significance of this relationship, it does so in a paradoxical way. It is argued that niches are more likely to influence mainstream change when they show a degree of compatibility with the incumbent regime. Yet this compatibility criterion blunts the scope for niches to be radically innovative, thereby undermining the degree of regime transformation being sought. The case of organic food is used to explore this paradox empirically. The history of the organic niche, and its engagement and entanglement with the mainstream food regime, suggests a dialectical relationship between sociotechnical niches and regimes.
X‐inactivation pattern in multiple tissues from two leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) patients

The more frequent manifestation of ophthalmological abnormalities in males, relative to females, is an unexplained feature of Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) that suggests an X‐linked modifying gene acting in concert with the pathogenic LHON mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutation. In addition, segregation analysis of the optic neuropathy in LHON pedigrees was compatible with the presence of a recessive‐modifying gene on chromosome X. According to this two‐locus model, females would be affected only if homozygous or if they were susceptible to skewed X‐inactivation. Attempts both to localize the putative LHON‐modifying gene by linkage analysis and to find an excess of skewed X‐inactivation in affected females were unsuccessful, although the inactivation pattern was only studied in DNA isolated from blood cells. We had the opportunity to analyze a wide range of tissues at autopsy, including the optic nerves and the retina, from two LHON female patients. We found no evidence of skewed X‐inactivation in the affected tissues, thus weakening further the hypothesized involvement of a specific X chromosome locus in the pathophysiological expression of LHON. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Innovation by Operating Practices in Project Alliances – When Size Matters

Project alliances offer firms an opportunity to increase innovation performance through the flexible combination of specialized competencies across firms. Inspired by internal project management I classify two metrics of project alliances: formal and emergent operating practices. This study of 166 project alliances analyses the innovation performance impact of those practices. I find that emergent operating practices improve planned and serendipitous innovation regardless of a firm's size. After a classification of two groups, small and large firms, I find that firm size moderates the effect of formal operating practices. Results show that small firms can improve their innovation performance by formal operating practices. Instead, large firms will face performance reductions on planned innovation when implementing formal operating practices.
Value‐based management, EVA and stock price performance in Canada

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent to which Canadian companies have embraced value‐based management (VBM) methods, identify the characteristics of these companies and of the executives responsible for the introduction of VBM in their organisations and assess the stock price performance of the companies that use VMB vs. those that do not.Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on a survey of CEOs of a large sample of Canadian companies and examines the relation of a number of explanatory variables, including stock price performance, to the probability of using VBM versus not using VBM via a regression analysis of qualitative choice, namely logit analysis.Findings – The study finds that value‐based management methods are widely used in Canada, with the likelihood of usage being higher for larger companies with younger and more educated executives with an accounting/finance background. The statistical analysis that follows the tabulation of survey results indicates compan.
Venous Congestion and Blood Flow in Free Transverse Rectus Abdominis Myocutaneous and Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator Flaps

&NA; A series of 240 deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flaps and 271 free transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous (TRAM) flaps from two institutions was reviewed to determine the incidence of diffuse venous insufficiency that threatened flap survival and required a microvascular anastomosis to drain the superficial inferior epigastric vein. This problem occurred in five DIEP flaps and did not occur in any of the free TRAM flaps. In each of these cases, the presence of a superficial inferior epigastric vein that was larger than usual was noted. It is therefore suggested that if an unusually large superficial inferior epigastric vein is noted when a DIEP flap is elevated, the vein should be preserved for possible use in flap salvage. Anatomical studies with Microfil injections of the superficial venous system of the DIEP or TRAM flap were also performed in 15 cadaver and 3 abdominoplasty specimens to help determine why venous circulation (and flap survival) in zone IV of the flaps is so variable. Large lateral branches crossing the midline were found in only 18 percent of cases, whereas 45 percent had indirect connections through a deeper network of smaller veins and 36 percent had no demonstrable crossing branches at all. This absence of crossing branches in many patients may explain why survival of the zone IV portion of such flaps is so variable and unpredictable. (Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 106: 1295, 2000.)
Hydra meiosis reveals unexpected conservation of structural synaptonemal complex proteins across metazoans

The synaptonemal complex (SC) is a key structure of meiosis, mediating the stable pairing (synapsis) of homologous chromosomes during prophase I. Its remarkable tripartite structure is evolutionarily well conserved and can be found in almost all sexually reproducing organisms. However, comparison of the different SC protein components in the common meiosis model organisms Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Arabidopsis thaliana, Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster, and Mus musculus revealed no sequence homology. This discrepancy challenged the hypothesis that the SC arose only once in evolution. To pursue this matter we focused on the evolution of SYCP1 and SYCP3, the two major structural SC proteins of mammals. Remarkably, our comparative bioinformatic and expression studies revealed that SYCP1 and SYCP3 are also components of the SC in the basal metazoan Hydra. In contrast to previous assumptions, we therefore conclude that SYCP1 and SYCP3 form monophyletic groups of orthologous proteins across metazoans.
Users' intentions to employ a Point-Of-Sale system

This study proposes that task, technology, and individual characteristics affect the Point-Of-Sale (POS) utilization of employees in service industry, specifically in restaurants. The integrated technology acceptance model and task–technology fit (TTF) model is appropriate for explaining service employees' behavioral intentions to use POS. Data were obtained from 167 service employees. The hypothesized model resulted in a good fit, supporting all eight proposed hypotheses. The TTF construct was confirmed to be a mediator of task, technology, and individual characteristics affecting intention to use. Our integrated model is expected to help researchers and practitioners better understand why service employees choose POS for their tasks and, further, how the technology characteristics of POS and its fit-with-task characteristics in a service sector lead to service employee choices.
REIT mergers and acquisitions: a meta‐analysis

Purpose - Mergers and acquisitions in the real estate investment trust (REIT) sector have been studied in distinct periods and locations, often leading to findings which are relevant only for the period and/or location investigated. The purpose of this paper is to examine the merger and acquisition studies in aggregate using meta-analysis so that broader findings of factors influencing the returns by targets and bidders are divulged. Design/methodology/approach - Using a methodology similar to Veld and Veld-Merkoulova a sample of 15 REIT studies with 35 observations for bidders and 25 observations for targets is analysed. A variety of potential factors influencing the returns for bidders and targets are explored. Findings - Consistent with prior non-REIT research, the evidence shows targets enjoy positive and significant gains in a merger. There is also evidence that acquirers earn significant wealth when all previous studies are examined in aggregate. Meta-analysis results show targets experience higher wealth gains by accepting cash financed deals, but share total gains when both parties are REITs. Additionally, acquirers enjoy improved abnormal returns when the target is privately listed and the use of scrip and/or a combination of scrip and cash produces higher wealth gains for bidding REITs. Originality/value - This paper aggregates the merger and acquisition literature of REITs to understand better factors influencing returns made by bidders and targets.
Accuracy and adequacy of waist circumference cut-off points currently recommended in Brazilian adults

Abstract Objective To evaluate the adequacy and accuracy of cut-off values currently recommended by the WHO for assessment of cardiovascular risk in southern Brazil. Design Population-based study aimed at determining the predictive ability of waist circumference for cardiovascular risk based on the use of previous medical diagnosis for hypertension, diabetes mellitus and/or dyslipidaemia. Descriptive analysis was used for the adequacy of current cut-off values of waist circumference, receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed and the most accurate criteria according to the Youden index and points of optimal sensitivity and specificity were identified. Setting Pelotas, southern Brazil. Subjects Individuals (n 2112) aged ≥20 years living in the city were selected by multistage sampling, since these individuals did not report the presence of previous myocardial infarction, angina pectoris or stroke. Results The cut-off values currently recommended by WHO were more appropriate in men than women, with overestimation of cardiovascular risk in women. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve showed moderate predictive ability of waist circumference in men (0·74, 95 % CI 0·71, 0·76) and women (0·75, 95 % CI 0·73, 0·77). The method of optimal sensitivity and specificity showed better performance in assessing the accuracy, identifying the values of 95 cm in men and 87 cm in women as the best cut-off values of waist circumference to assess cardiovascular risk. Conclusions The cut-off values currently recommended for waist circumference are not suitable for women. Longitudinal studies should be conducted to evaluate the consistency of the findings.
What's Wrong with Fat?: The War on Obesity and its Collateral Damage

The United States, we are told, is facing an obesity epidemic--a "battle of the bulge" of not just national, but global proportions--that requires drastic and immediate action. Experts in the media, medical science, and government alike are scrambling to find answers. What or who is responsible for this fat crisis, and what can we do to stop it? Abigail Saguy argues that these fraught and frantic debates obscure a more important question: How has fatness come to be understood as a public health crisis at all? Why, she asks, has the view of "fat" as a problem--a symptom of immorality, a medical pathology, a public health epidemic--come to dominate more positive framings of weight--as consistent with health, beauty, or a legitimate rights claim--in public discourse? Why are heavy individuals singled out for blame? And what are the consequences of understanding weight in these ways? What's Wrong with Fat? presents each of the various ways in which fat is understood in America today, examining the implications of understanding fatness as a health risk, disease, and epidemic, and revealing why we've come to understand the issue in these terms, despite considerable scientific uncertainty and debate. Saguy shows how debates over the relationship between body size and health risk take place within a larger, though often invisible, contest over whether we should understand fatness as obesity at all. Moreover, she reveals that public discussions of the "obesity crisis" do more harm than good, leading to bullying, weight-based discrimination, and misdiagnoses. Showing that the medical framing of fat is literally making us sick, What's Wrong with Fat? provides a crucial corrective to our society's misplaced obsession with weight. Available in OSO:
PENGARUH RECEIVABLE TURNOVER, DEBT TO EQUITY RATIO, EQUITY TO TOTAL ASSETS RATIO PADA RETURN ON INVESTMENT

ABSTRAK Penelitian ini untuk mengetahui pengaruh dari receivable turnover, debt to equity ratio, dan equity to total assets ratio pada return on investment . Ditemukan hasil yaitubesar kecilnya return on investment dipengaruhi oleh receivable turnover, debt to equity ratio, dan equity to total assets ratio . Semakin meningkatnya tingkat receivable turnover maka semakin meningkat tingkat return on investment yang dihasilkan. Semakin meningkatnya tingkat debt to equity ratio yang dicapai akan menurunkan tingkat return on investment yang dicapai. Semakin meningkatnya equity to total assets ratio akan menurunkan return on investment yang dihasilkan. Kata Kunci : Receivable Turnover, Debt To Equity Ratio, Equity To Total Assets Ratio,Retun On Investment
Unemployment: Macroeconomic Performance and the Labour Market

This book is concerned with why unemployment is so high and why it fluctuates so wildly. It shows how unemployment affects inflation, and discusses whether full employment can ever be combined with price stability. It asks why some groups have higher unemployment rates than others. The book thus surveys in a clear, textbook fashion the main aspects of the unemployment problem. It integrates macroeconomics with a detailed micro-analysis of the labour market. it uses the authors' model to explain the puzzling post-war history of OECD unemployment and shows how unemployment and inflation are affected by systems of wage bargaining and unemployment insurance. For each issue it develops new relevant theory, followed by extensive empirical analysis. The authors are established experts in this field, and this book gives their definitive treatment. It is based largely on new research, but also incorporates the best of existing knowledge. The long `overview' chapter is accessible to any non-specialist with an elementary knowledge of economics. The rest of the book provides key elements for courses in macroeconomics and labour economics at advanced undergraduate and graduate levels, and will serve as a major source of reference for both scholars and students. The basic aim of the book, however, is to provide the basis for better policy. As the book shows, by learning from theory and experience, we can avoid the waste and misery of high unemployment.
On the performance evaluation of sustainable student housing facilities

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a post‐occupancy evaluation of the major technical and functional elements of performance on a type of student housing facilities at the campus of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyses published literature to review knowledge areas pertaining to technical and functional performance requirement elements in student housing facilities. Past maintenance work orders for the building were evaluated and analysed for the purpose of identifying frequent and major areas of complaints and discomfort to the occupants. A user satisfaction survey was developed to obtain the students' indicative feedback on their experience with the 48 identified performance elements.Findings – The findings of the survey were analysed and reported to describe the degree of satisfaction with the identified performance elements. The paper examined the extent to which various success factors in .
Democracies in Development: Politics and Reform in Latin America

A legitimate and effective democracy is essential for sustainable economic and social development. This updated and expanded edition of "Democracies in Development: Politics and Reform in Latin America" analyzes the effects of institutions on the democratic process, identifies regional trends in political reform, assesses the value of reforms for enhancing democratic governance, and offers tentative conclusions on the types of reforms that may hold promise for strengthening democracy.