Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Speaking truth to power? Pollsters as campaign advisers

Looks at the role of the pollster in the UK and the USA and suggests that the UK pollster’s influence is modest, particularly when compared to his counterpart in the USA. Tries to explain why a more enduring relationship between pollsters and parties has not emerged. Concludes by suggesting that the political role of communications professionals may be about to change, with the advent of a new generation of politicians, apparently more at ease with the political uses of market research and public relations.
The Implications of Long-Term Performance Plans and Institutional Ownership for Firms' Research and Development (R&D) Investments

This study examines whether long-term performance plans and institutional holdings are associated with the level of R&D spending in firms. This paper contributes to the growing literature on the impact of mechanisms to mitigate the short-term focus of managers and investors. This study, unlike prior work, examines two mechanisms simultaneously, long-term performance plans and institutional investor holdings. We find no evidence that the adoption of long-term performance plans has implications for R&D spending. We do find evidence that holdings by institutional investors are positively associated with the level of R&D spending in the firm. These results indicate that the horizon of institutional investors may influence managers' planning horizons and how they decide on long-term investments, but managers' decisions on R&D investments are not affected by the introduction of performance plans. When examining the influence of R&D spending on institutional holdings, the simultaneous equations show that holdings by banks and insurance companies are lower in firms that have higher R&D. In contrast, holdings by “other” institutions are higher in firms that have higher R&D.
Learning from the alien: knowledge relationships with temporary workers in network contexts

This paper contributes to our understanding of the role of temporary workers in learning for innovation in network contexts. The strategy literature advocates that the knowledge and talent of workers is vital to competitive success yet at the same time temporary workers are becoming more prevalent, making relationships with workers more ephemeral. These shifting competitive and employment contexts make insights into learning from, and with, contractual nomads paramount. The setting is the UK television industry, where such workers are dominant. Internationally, creative industries are a prime site of networks where temporary workers are brought together for specific projects. In the television industry, a range of knowledge attachment employee relationships have been developed by firms to ‘contain’ and sustain worker contributions in terms of knowledge and talent. These relationships are identified as freelance, regular contract, golden handcuffs and invest in knowledge firm. This paper highlights the learning implications both positive and negative arising from these different ways of relating to temporary workers thereby extending our understanding of employee relationships built on mutuality.
Microcore: A Playable Case Study for Improving Adolescents' Argumentative Writing in a Workplace Context

A playable case study is an immersive, transmedia story controlled by a puppetmaster (i.e., teacher), but played by participants who advance the plot through their contributions and interactions with fictional characters. They are also explicitly educational, consisting of both the immersive, transmedia story, as well as in-game and out-of-game materials provided for educational scaffolding and reflection. We present the Microcore playable case study to illustrate the potential of this new type of experiential simulation that incorporates aspects of Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) to increase immersion. We present results from a pilot test of Microcore with an undergraduate course, identifying design strategies that worked well and others that led to improvements that are currently being incorporated. We also provide questions to prompt future designers of playable case studies and discuss our findings in a broader context of educational simulations.
Ultrasound-Guided Tendon Fenestration

Abstract A potential treatment for chronic tendinosis or tendinopathy is percutaneous ultrasound-guided tendon fenestration, also termed dry needling or tenotomy. This procedure involves gently passing a needle through the abnormal tendon multiple times to change a chronic degenerative process into an acute condition that is more likely to heal. This article reviews the literature on tendon fenestration and describes the technical aspects of this procedure including postprocedural considerations. Although peer-reviewed literature on this topic is limited, studies to date have shown that ultrasound-guided tendon fenestration can improve patient symptoms. Several other percutaneous treatments for tendinopathy that include prolotherapy, autologous whole-blood injection, and autologous platelet-rich plasma injection are often performed in conjunction with fenestration. It is currently unknown if these other percutaneous procedures have any benefit over ultrasound-guided tendon fenestration alone.
Seasonality and January Effect Anomalies in the Jordanian Capital Market

This paper primarily aims to investigate the seasonality of monthly stock returns and January effect anomaly in an emerging stock market of a developing country namely Jordan. Evidence on return seasonality and January effect would have important implications for investment strategies to gain abnormal returns and it would invalidate the paradigm of the efficient markets hypothesis. For the period 1994-2002, daily returns on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) are employed. Using the standard GARCH, exponential GARCH (EGARCH) and the GJR models, we found no evidence of monthly seasonality as well as January effect in the ASE returns. These results indicate that investors cannot take any advantage of information about the month of the year when investing in the ASE to gain abnormal returns. On other words, these new findings indicate that investors in the ASE should not consider the seasonal effects when constructing their portfolio.
Bilimde Argümantasyona Odaklanan Etkinliklerle Kimya Öğretmen Adaylarının Bilimin Doğası Hakkındaki Anlayışlarını Geliştirme

Understanding the nature of science (NOS) is a critical and necessary dimension of the scientific literacy. However, studies have consistently shown that students and teachers have insufficient conceptions of NOS. In this qualitative case study, the effects of an argumentation-focused chemistry teaching course on pre-service chemistry teachers\' conceptions of NOS was examined. Participants were 23 pre-service teachers. Throughout the course, historical science vignettes and role-playing activities were used to emphasise the role of argumentation in science and NOS. Analysis of the qualitative data revealed noteworthy development and changes in participants\' conceptions of the argumentation in science, tentativeness of scientific knowledge and creativity in science.
The dimensionality and utilization of performance measures in a manufacturing operational context: Organizational change implications

Purpose – Owing to the increasing competitive pressures in the marketplace in recent years, the different facets of performance measures and measurement have changed. In this context, the lack of a clear understanding of the dimensionality of manufacturing performance tends to negatively impact successful implementation and utilization of manufacturing performance measurement systems. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the dimensionality of performance and its effective utilization in a manufacturing operational context.Design/methodology/approach – Using a sample of 92 Portuguese manufacturing executives, this study investigates the dimensionality of manufacturing performance and its associated current utilization practices. Factor analysis and cluster analysis are used to analyze data collected on 63 performance measures.Findings – Based on the results of this study, a conceptual framework is advanced. The framework is intended as an aid to manufacturing organizations in their efforts to modify.
The real-life performance of market timing with moving average and time-series momentum rules

In this article, we revisit the myths regarding the superior performance of market timing strategies based on moving average and time-series momentum rules. These active timing strategies are very appealing to investors because of their extraordinary simplicity and because they promise substantial advantages over their passive counterparts. However, the ‘too good to be true’ reported performance of these market timing rules raises a legitimate concern as to whether this performance is realistic and whether investors can expect that future performance will be the same as the documented historical performance. We argue that the reported performance of market timing strategies usually contains a considerable data-mining bias and ignores important market frictions. To address these issues, we perform out-of-sample tests of these two timing models in which we account for realistic transaction costs. Our findings reveal that the performance of market timing strategies is highly overstated, to say the least.
The Accumulation of Human Capital Over Time and its Impact on Salary Growth in China

Abstract This study compares the growth in salaries across three spatial regions in China during the period 1993–1998, when economic reforms were implemented nationwide. Our study compares the impact of three forms of education and training on salary growth, namely pre‐job formal schooling, on‐the‐job‐training provided by employers, and adult education paid for by the employees themselves. We used a three‐level hierarchical linear model to partition variance among individual, firm, and regional characteristics. The data were drawn from a 1998 survey of 16 485 employees from 365 firms in six provinces (two provinces in the eastern part of the country, two in the central part, and two in the western part). We found that: (1) regional disparities have a paramount impact on differences in salary; (2) individual characteristics defined by firm as well as firm characteristics are significantly related to salary decisions; (3) returns to formal schooling increase significantly in more market‐based regions; and (4) employees also benefit by receiving on‐the‐job‐training and by participating in adult education programs outside their firm.
Exploiting AMT in small manufacturing firms for global competitiveness

Examines the adoption and strategic use of advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) by small manufacturing firms. Three major issues are explored: the differences between exporting and non‐exporting firms with regard to why they adopt AMT; the differences between exporting and non‐exporting firms with regard to how they adopt AMT; and the relationship between adopting AMT and exporting to global markets. Using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), multiple comparison tests, pair‐wise comparisons, regression, correlation, and partial correlation analysis, the authors found that: exporting and non‐exporting firms adopt AMT for different reasons; exporting and non‐exporting firms adopt AMT in different ways; and there is a significant positive relationship between adopting AMT and exporting to global markets.
The Empirical Link Between Resources, Networks and Export Marketing Performance and the Implications for Developing Countries

This study examines the empirical link between organizational resources (production resources, financial resources, human resources, R&D resources, and reputation resources), networks (institutional, government, and research) and export marketing performance in export market ventures in a developing country context. The study was based on an empirical investigation of firms involved in exporting to foreign countries from Thailand. The primary data for the study were collected from a self-administered mail survey of 950 export market ventures from the manufacturing sector in Thailand. The study findings suggest that financial, human, R&D resources, and all networks had a significant positive impact on export marketing performance.
The Paradox of Tie Strength in Customer Relationships for Innovation: A Longitudinal Case Study in the Sports Industry

Current literature argues that firms should have strong ties to customers to benefit from increased customer retention and loyalty. Strong ties, however, have also shown to prevent innovation, suggesting that firms should also develop weak ties to other customer groups. This paper focuses on the potential for strong ties to facilitate, rather than prohibit, innovation. It is based in a 7-year longitudinal research project with Adidas, a global sporting goods company. From the case, we find that the paradox of tie strength results from an overly simplified view of the nature of company-customer relationships. Contrary to the established literature, we find that strong ties in the Adidas case supported significant innovation. In fact, the involvement resulted in the development of a new product with a radically different product architecture and led to one of the most successful product launches in the company's history. To explain these findings, we introduce the nature of customer participation in a firm's value creation processes as a new dimension of the constitution of firm-customer ties and discuss how such a kind of relationship can develop.
Exit Barriers are Entry Barriers: The Durability of Capital as a Barrier to Entry

We argue that the effectiveness of capital as an entry barrier depends critically on its durability and that this aspect of capital has been largely ignored. We examine strategic decisions with respect to capital durability in two models. In a broad range of cases an active policy with respect to durability and replacement of capital is necessary to maintain a position of market power. Such policies will result in capital that is "too durable" or "too soon replaced" or "too well maintained" relative to the cost minimizing solution (for a given time path of output).
In Vitro Activity of Fosfomycin against Extended-Spectrum-β-Lactamase- Producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae: Comparison of Susceptibility Testing Procedures

ABSTRACT The agar dilution, broth microdilution, and disk diffusion methods were compared to determine the in vitro susceptibility of 428 extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae to fosfomycin. Fosfomycin showed very high activity against all ESBL-producing strains. Excellent agreement between the three susceptibility methods was found for E. coli, whereas marked discrepancies were observed for K. pneumoniae.
The Relationship between Labour Market Conditions and Welfare Receipt in Australia: A Stock‐Flow Analysis

Understanding the determinants of changes in welfare caseloads is an important, but little studied, topic in Australia. This paper evaluates the role of labour market conditions in explaining the changes in the Australian welfare caseload since the late 1990s. The paper employs a stock-flow approach to better control for persistence in welfare receipt and includes different specifications to deal with measurement error in labour market data. The results suggest that the labour market is an important determinant of movements on and off welfare, accounting for the majority of the caseload decline during 1997–2005. The results also highlight the importance of robustness checks when data are measured with error.
Technology, competitiveness and specialisation in OECD manufacturing

Purpose - This study seeks to analyse the relation between technology, competitiveness and specialisation in OECD manufacturing. Design/methodology/approach - A regression analysis is first performed explaining the disaggregate manufacturing relative value added market share performance of a series of OECD countries by their relative unit labour costs (ULC), relative own and foreign research intensity and by a catch up term. Estimates are then presented of equations relating an indicator of revealed comparative advantage of value added to similar measures of comparative performance of ULC, or of its component terms, and of R&D expenditure, and the respective results are considered in conjunction. Findings - The results show that, although each time there is evidence of a negative impact of the ULC-based variables, the influence of the technology variables is far more important. Re-estimation on research-intensive and less research-intensive samples shows that the dominance of the technology factors is especially important in the research-intensive industries. The influence of comparative wages on specialisation is, moreover, found to be positive here, suggesting the presence of a significant labour skill effect. Originality/value - The paper confirms the Schumpeterian insights, which have emphasised the relation between technology, competitiveness and specialisation. It stresses the dominance of product qualitative aspects of competitiveness, especially in research-intensive industries.
Unit Root Behavior in Energy Futures Prices

This paper re-examines the empirical evidence for random walk type behavior in energy futures prices. In doing so, tests for unit roots in the univariate time-series representation of the daily crude oil, heating oil, and unleaded gasoline series are performed using recent state-of-the-art methodology. The results show that the unit root hypothesis can be rejected if allowance is made for the possibility of a one-time break in the intercept and the slope of the trend function at an unknown point in time.
Oil Prices, Exchange Rates, And Inflation Expectations In South Africa

Informed inflation expectations facilitate the extemporisation of a proper monetary policy framework that allows for the achievement of economic objectives, among them price stability. This study used the vector autoregression model to assess the impact of crude oil prices and exchange rates on inflation expectations in South Africa. Monthly time-series data for the period July 2002 to March 2013, obtained from the electronic database of the South African Reserve Bank were used. The study obtained statistically significant results suggesting that both crude oil prices and the exchange rates have a positive impact on inflation expectations in South Africa.
The Impact of 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT on Management Intent in Prostate Cancer: Results of an Australian Prospective Multicenter Study

68Ga-PSMA PET/CT scanning has been shown to be more sensitive than conventional imaging techniques in patients with prostate cancer. This prospective Australian multicenter study assessed whether 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT imaging affects management intent in patients with primary or recurrent prostate cancer. Methods: Before undertaking 68Ga-PSMA PET imaging, referring medical specialists completed a questionnaire detailing relevant demographic and clinical data as well as their proposed management plan. A separate follow-up questionnaire was completed after the 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT scan results were available to determine whether the management plan would change. Results: A total of 431 patients with prostate cancer from 4 Australian centers had pre– and post–68Ga-PSMA management plans completed. Scans were obtained for primary staging of intermediate- and high-risk disease in 25% of patients and for restaging/biochemical recurrence in 75% of patients. Overall, 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT scanning led to a change in planned management in 51% of patients. The impact was greater in the group of patients with biochemical failure after definitive surgery or radiation treatment (62% change in management intent) than in patients undergoing primary staging (21% change). Imaging with 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT revealed unsuspected disease in the prostate bed in 27% of patients, locoregional lymph nodes in 39%, and distant metastatic disease in 16%. Conclusion: 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT scans detect previously unsuspected disease and may influence planned clinical management in a high proportion of patients with prostate cancer. The impact was greater in patients with biochemical recurrence. These results demonstrate the potential clinical value of 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT in management of prostate cancer.
Identification and Characterization of Wor4, a New Transcriptional Regulator of White-Opaque Switching

The human fungal pathogen Candida albicans can switch between two cell types, “white” and “opaque,” each of which is heritable through many cell divisions. Switching between these two cell types is regulated by six transcriptional regulators that form a highly interconnected circuit with multiple feedback loops. Here, we identify a seventh regulator of white-opaque switching, which we have named Wor4. We show that ectopic expression of Wor4 is sufficient to drive switching from the white to the opaque cell type, and that deletion of Wor4 blocks switching from the white to the opaque cell type. A combination of ectopic expression and deletion experiments indicates that Wor4 is positioned upstream of Wor1, and that it is formally an activator of the opaque cell type. The combination of ectopic expression and deletion phenotypes for Wor4 is unique; none of the other six white-opaque regulators show this pattern. We determined the pattern of Wor4 binding across the genome by ChIP-seq and found it is highly correlated with that of Wor1 and Wor2, indicating that Wor4 is tightly integrated into the existing white-opaque regulatory circuit. We previously proposed that white-to-opaque switching relies on the activation of a complex circuit of feedback loops that remains excited through many cell divisions. The identification of a new, central regulator of white-opaque switching supports this idea by indicating that the white-opaque switching mechanism is considerably more complex than those controlling conventional, nonheritable patterns of gene expression.
An exploratory study of Internet adoption by SMEs in an emerging market economy

This paper investigates the nature and extent of Internet use and the role of firm‐ and industry‐specific factors affecting Internet adoption by SMEs in an emerging market economy, Turkey. Based on the evidence from a sample of 237 manufacturing SMEs with Internet access in Turkey, the highest ranked Internet applications with the largest frequency of usage were found to be principally concerned with external communication and gathering information for market and product research. Of the five relevant firm‐ and industry‐specific subgroups, the most significant differences were found for two of the characteristics: amount of resources allocated for export development and international experience of the SME. In general, the SMEs have positive attitudes regarding Internet use. The SMEs are of the opinion that the Internet will become more attractive in future in terms of enhancing company image and being an important tool of doing business electronically.