Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Theory of Responsibility in Organizations

This article considers the implications of allowing a manager discretion over task assignment. If employees earn rents from carrying out tasks, and the manager cannot "sell" the jobs to her subordinates, she has an incentive to take on more tasks than is optimal and delegate too few to a subordinate. I show that although firms can alleviate this incentive by offering output-contingent contracts, even with the optimal contract, (i) the manager carries out too many tasks, (ii) she exerts too much effort on her own tasks, and (iii) her subordinate exerts too little effort on his tasks.
An Advanced Encryption Standard Powered Mutual Authentication Protocol Based on Elliptic Curve Cryptography for RFID, Proven on WISP

Information in patients’ medical histories is subject to various security and privacy concerns. Meanwhile, any modification or error in a patient’s medical data may cause serious or even fatal harm. To protect and transfer this valuable and sensitive information in a secure manner, radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology has been widely adopted in healthcare systems and is being deployed in many hospitals. In this paper, we propose a mutual authentication protocol for RFID tags based on elliptic curve cryptography and advanced encryption standard. Unlike existing authentication protocols, which only send the tag ID securely, the proposed protocol could also send the valuable data stored in the tag in an encrypted pattern. The proposed protocol is not simply a theoretical construct; it has been coded and tested on an experimental RFID tag. The proposed scheme achieves mutual authentication in just two steps and satisfies all the essential security requirements of RFID-based healthcare systems.
AVALIAÇÃO DE ATIVOS INTANGÍVEIS: MODELOS ALTERNATIVOS PARA DETERMINAÇÃO DO VALOR DE PATENTES

Neste estudo, examinam-se os modelos de avaliacao de ativos intangiveis – mais precisamente, patentes – sob dois prismas: o tradicional, que engloba o metodo de avaliacao por fluxos de caixa descontados; e o heterodoxo – ou seja, da teoria das opcoes reais. Inicialmente, discute-se a relevância dos processos de avaliacao e analise de investimentos em inovacao, bem como a importância da avaliacao economico-financeira, no Brasil e no mundo. Nessa perspectiva, os investimentos em inovacao dao origem a um ciclo que se caracteriza como forte determinante da riqueza das nacoes. E apresentada a analise dos resultados obtidos pelo estudo de caso de uma transferencia de tecnologia de uma Instituicao de Ensino Superior - IES, considerando que essa tecnologia possui protecao (patente) na primeira simulacao e sem protecao (sem patente) na segunda simulacao. Para tanto, discutem-se a formacao dos precos dos ativos intangiveis e a aplicacao desses metodos em cada uma das situacoes propostas no caso analisado. Os resultados mostram uma superioridade financeiramente significativa do modelo com patente em relacao ao modelo sem patente, embora se evidencie, tambem, a necessidade de se desenvolverem pesquisas mais aprofundadas para melhor modelar a avaliacao de patentes mediante a teoria das opcoes reais. As analises sugerem que o processo de obtencao de patente da tecnologia desenvolvida pela IES pode aumentar o seu valor na transferencia. Os modelos podem, tambem, servir como um parâmetro para a IES definir o valor da transferencia dessa tecnologia.
Use of testicular sperm for intracytoplasmic sperm injection in men with high sperm DNA fragmentation: a SWOT analysis

Spermatozoa retrieved from the testis of men with high levels of sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) in the neat semen tend to have better DNA quality. Given the negative impact of SDF on the outcomes of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), an increased interest has emerged about the use of testicular sperm for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (Testi-ICSI). In this article, we used a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis to summarize the advantages and drawbacks of this intervention. The rationale of Testi-ICSI is bypass posttesticular DNA fragmentation caused by oxidative stress during sperm transit through the epididymis. Hence, oocyte fertilization by genomically intact testicular spermatozoa may be optimized, thus increasing the chances of creating a normal embryonic genome and the likelihood of achieving a live birth, as recently demonstrated in men with high SDF. However, there is still limited evidence as regards the clinical efficacy of Testi-ICSI, thus creating opportunities for further confirmatory clinical research as well as investigation of Testi-ICSI in clinical scenarios other than high SDF. Furthermore, Testi-ICSI can be compared to other laboratory preparation methods for deselecting sperm with damaged DNA. At present, the available literature supports the use of testicular sperm when performing ICSI in infertile couples whose male partners have posttesticular SDF. Due to inherent risks of sperm retrieval, Testi-ICSI should be offered when less invasive treatments for alleviating DNA damage have failed. A call for continuous monitoring is nonetheless required concerning the health of generated offspring and the potential complications of sperm retrieval.
Inclusive Education in Guyana: A Call for Change.

This study examines inclusive education within Guyana for children with special needs (zero to eight years), from the perspectives of policy makers, teachers, and parents (n = 22). The study is framed within a social-constructivist perspective, and uses grounded theory for the collection and analysis of data. Four themes emerged from the data as potential barriers to implementing inclusive education in Guyana: attitudes and perceptions toward those with special needs, change agents, resources, and experiences with children with special needs. This study describes the interrelating relationships between the core phenomenon (i.e., attitudes toward those with special needs), and the other conditions (i.e., change agents, resources, and experiences with children with special needs) necessary for successful inclusion. The interrelationship between these factors stimulates strategies or actions. These lead to consequences, which prevent sustainable and successful inclusive education within Guyana. There is a discussion of recommendations and conclusions that may assist in supporting inclusive education within Guyana.
Urban Fathers Positioning Themselves through Narrative: An Approach to Narrative Self-Construction

Many have argued that narrators can partly construct themselves when they tell autobiographical stories. For this reason, autobiographical narrative has been proposed as a therapeutic tool (Anderson 1997; Cohler 1988; White and Epston 1990), as a means to critique unjust social orders (Personal Narratives Group 1989; Rosenwald and Ochberg 1992; Zuss 1997), and as an educational tool (Cohen 1996; Witherell and Noddings 1991). This body of work makes at least two important points. First, the 'self ' is not an unchanging entity beyond the reach of everyday human action, but is something that can under some circumstances be changed with effort. Second, changing the self can happen through the social practice of narration, not just through the activity of an isolated individual. Comments Postprint version. Published in Discourse and Identity, edited by Anna De Fina, Deborah Schiffrin, Michael Bamberg (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2006), pages 315-341. This book chapter is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn. edu/gse_pubs/78 Comp. by: ramachandran Date:2/12/05 Time:05:52:15 Stage:First Proof File Path://spsind002s/cup_prod1/PRODENV/000000~1/ 00F206~1/S00000~2/000000~1/000000~3/000010518.3D Proof by: QC by:
The Impact of Bank-Specific and Macroeconomic Factors on China’s Bank Performance ok

Abstract In the last decade the Chinese government owned banks have undergone a privatization program resulting in considerable changes in ownership of Chinese banks. This paper examines the impact of bank-specific, macroeconomic, financial, and globalization variables on the performance of Chinese banking from 2004 to 2010. The results suggest that banks with lower credit risk, which are well capitalized, tend to be more profitable, while banks with higher expense preferences exert a negative impact on bank performance. The macroeconomic variables suggest that China’s financial services tend to grow along with economic growth. Our results also suggest that greater economic integration through increased trade and capital flows coincides with an increase in bank profitability. Likewise, social globalization and political globalization seem to exert positive effects on the profitability of Chinese banks.
Long and short hospice stays among nursing home residents at the end of life.

OBJECTIVE To identify characteristics of nursing homes and residents associated with particularly long or short hospice stays. DESIGN/SETTING Observational study using administrative data on resident characteristics and hospice utilization from a large regional hospice linked with publicly available data on nursing home characteristics. PARTICIPANTS A total of 13,479 residents who enrolled in hospice during 2001-2008. MEASUREMENTS Logistic regression models of the probability of a long (>180 days) or very short (<or=3 days) stay, adjusting for nursing home characteristics, a measure of nursing home quality developed using Minimum Data Set Quality Indicator/Quality Measures data, and resident characteristics. RESULTS Nursing home characteristics were not statistically significant predictors of long stays. The probability of a short stay increased with the facility's nurse staffing ratio and decreased with the share of residents covered by Medicaid. Men (relative to women) and blacks (relative to whites) were less likely to have a long stay and more likely to have a short stay, while those 70 years or younger (relative to those 81-90) and residents with Alzheimer's disease/dementia were more likely to have long stays and less likely to have short stays. Fourteen percent of hospice users were discharged before death because they failed to meet Medicare hospice eligibility criteria, and these residents had longer lengths of stay, on average. CONCLUSION Few facility characteristics were associated with very long or very short hospice stays. However, high rates of discharge before death that may reflect a less predictable life trajectory of nursing home residents suggests that further evaluation of the hospice benefit for nursing home residents may be needed.
Cytokines and chronic rejection: A study in kidney transplant long-term survivors

Background. In part, the long-term survival of kidney transplants depends on the efforts to perform grafts with good human leukocyte antigen (HLA) compatibility, but there are other mechanisms that must induce some sort of tolerance and impair the anti-graft immune reaction. Because cytokines are one of the main components of immune response, we evaluated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of several cytokine genes that may influence the production of a given cytokine and therefore the features of immune reactions. Methods. A total of 416 first cadaveric kidney transplants were monitored for HLA matching. After 10 years, the graft was still functional in 171 of 416 patients; 102 of 171 patients were also typed for cytokine polymorphisms. Results. The mismatch distributions in patients who underwent transplantation were not statistically different from the entire group of patients who underwent transplantation during the same time period. Moreover, it seems that almost all of the HLA class I incompatible long-term survivors are homozygous for GG at the −1082 interleukin (IL)-10 or CC at the −33IL4. Conclusions. We observed that a match for class I and class II HLA antigens apparently does not favor the long-term survival of transplanted kidneys. In fact, matched grafts are lost before 10 years in the same proportion as the mismatched grafts. We also demonstrated (1) that patients who are homozygous for GG at the SNP −1082IL10 (high IL-10 producers) and HLA class I mismatched (but matched for class II) are protected from chronic rejection, and (2) that patients who are homozygous for CC at the SNP −33IL4 (low IL-4 producers) and HLA class I mismatched (regardless of matching for class II) are protected from chronic rejection.
Orbital Theory — A tool for THz Spectroscopic Investigation

Terahertz spectroscopy, which investigates the electromagnetic spectrum of samples between 0.1 and 10 THz, allows not only for exploration of molecular structures but also of molecular dynamics. One difficulty in performing THz spectroscopy is that the data can be noisy and difficult to interpret. Ab initio molecular modelling has recently become more and more useful in the prediction of, for example, molecular structures, dynamic states and isomeric forms. Since the structure of biomolecules is closely related to their functionality there are broad ranging applications in biomedicine, for example in DNA sensing. An a priori knowledge of the expected THz spectra allows for improved experimentation. There is a growing and recognised need for THz spectroscopic databases to be created and made available along with classifiers that are able to effectively detect a specific substance. We show, for a specific example, the 9-cis and all-trans retinal isomers, how ab initio molecular orbital calculations and quantum chemical modelling programs, such as Gamess, can aid in this endeavour.
Business performance measurement and change management within a TQM framework

This paper discusses the need for performance measurement within TQM frameworks. Furthermore, it is argued that the measures must include hard and soft measures and that both management and employee perceptive measures should also be used. The research was conducted internally within an organisation, using a questionnaire, in order to determine if the above core values were perceived by the employees, to be in place. The data was sourced from two distinct groupings, namely ` staff'' and ` shop personnel''. The conclusions reached indicate that the organisation has been successfully applying the fundamental core values of the TQM process for more than five years, based on the strength of the performance indicators used. However, there are areas of opportunity to augment this success, such as improved measurement by involving more groups at all levels within the organisation for measuring purposes and linking the measures that had low ratings to improvement plans and teams.
The Location of International Financial Activity: An Interregional Analysis

GOLDBERG M. A. , HELSLEY R. W. and LEVI M. D. (1989) The location of international financial activity: an interregional analysis, Reg. Studies 23, 1–7. This paper examines the determinants of the spatial distribution of financial activity. The determinants of the sizes of the financial services sector are estimated using data for a sample of US states. Although our analysis is limited by the availability of data, the results are strong and clear. The level of international financial activity is positively and significantly related to per capita income, the level of imports, and the number of corporate headquarters. The results indicate that international trade is intensive in its use of financial services and that financial services tends to be exported along with goods. GOLDBERG M. A. , HELSLEY R. W. et LEVI M. D. (1989) La localisation des operations financieres internationales: une analyse interregionale, Reg. Studies 23, 1–7. Cet article examine les determinants de la distribution geographique des opera.
The Evolution of Jamaica’s Tax Burden

This study reviews four tax incidence studies, done in Jamaica since 1983, to determine the evolution of Jamaica’s tax burden. It identifies several limitations in the methodologies used that make it difficult to interpret the results without due care. For example, income bases were different, adjustment for evasion was not always satisfactory due to data limitations, and several nontax institutional features of the economy did not inform the incidence assumptions. The general conclusions are twofold: the overall tax burden has declined since 1983, and the degree of progressivity in the distribution of tax burdens increased over time. Several factors account for the change in progressivity. First, increases in the standard deduction have removed many low-income households from the direct tax net. Second, the removal of several allowances has increased the burden on high-income earners. Third, perhaps surprisingly, the indirect tax burden has tended to be proportional or even slightly progressive.
Automatic rule generation for protein annotation with the C4.5 data mining algorithm applied on SWISS-PROT

MOTIVATION The gap between the amount of newly submitted protein data and reliable functional annotation in public databases is growing. Traditional manual annotation by literature curation and sequence analysis tools without the use of automated annotation systems is not able to keep up with the ever increasing quantity of data that is submitted. Automated supplements to manually curated databases such as TrEMBL or GenPept cover raw data but provide only limited annotation. To improve this situation automatic tools are needed that support manual annotation, automatically increase the amount of reliable information and help to detect inconsistencies in manually generated annotations. RESULTS A standard data mining algorithm was successfully applied to gain knowledge about the Keyword annotation in SWISS-PROT. 11 306 rules were generated, which are provided in a database and can be applied to yet unannotated protein sequences and viewed using a web browser. They rely on the taxonomy of the organism, in which the protein was found and on signature matches of its sequence. The statistical evaluation of the generated rules by cross-validation suggests that by applying them on arbitrary proteins 33% of their keyword annotation can be generated with an error rate of 1.5%. The coverage rate of the keyword annotation can be increased to 60% by tolerating a higher error rate of 5%. AVAILABILITY The results of the automatic data mining process can be browsed on http://golgi.ebi.ac.uk:8080/Spearmint/ Source code is available upon request. CONTACT kretsch@ebi.ac.uk.
PAY, CONTROL AND COMMITMENT: LINKING APPRAISAL AND REWARD

John Geary, who is a Research Fellow in the Industrial Relations Research Unit at the University of Warwick, explores the implementation of appraisal-linked reward systems in three US electronics plants operating in the Irish Republic. He focuses in particular on how the schemes work in practice and how employees respond to them. He argues that there are often a number of tensions within management's strategy and that the degree to which such reward systems are capable of engendering harmonious relations must be open to some scepticism. Furthermore, he questions the extent to which management's payment policy was successful in avoiding the extremes of individualism and collectivism.
Do environmental and task characteristics matter in the control of externalized local public services? Unveiling the relevance of party characteristics and citizens’ offstage voice

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mechanisms adopted by cities to control the provision of externalized public services and to explore the determinants of such control choices. Design/methodology/approach - The paper presents the results of a multiple case study based on the experiences of three cities and three public services (transport, solid waste collection and home care services for the elderly), where control mechanisms and their possible antecedents were analyzed. Findings - The results show that the control models found in the cases analyzed do not correspond to the “pure” patterns described in the private sector literature and that the factors identified by management control contributions do not seem to be exhaustive in explaining the configuration of control systems in the public sector. While environmental and task characteristics only partially explain the adoption of certain configurations of control, the features of the control systems seem to be rather influenced by variables that are related to party characteristics. Originality/value - The paper shows that the combinations of control mechanisms are more multifaceted than those presented in the literature, and that the factors identified in the private sector literature do not seem to explain comprehensively the configuration of control systems in the public sector.
Variable distributions of Ca(2+)-permeable and Ca(2+)-impermeable AMPA receptors on embryonic rat dorsal horn neurons.

1. By measuring the apparent reversal potential (aErev) of kainate- and alpha-amino-3-hydroxyl-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA)-evoked currents associated with changes in extracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]e), we have been able to identify embryonic dorsal horn neurons grown in tissue culture that express Ca(2+)-permeable non-N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptors. 2. The relative expression of Ca(2+)-permeable and Ca(2+)-impermeable non-NMDA receptors varies from cell to cell. This was evident from the range of a ErevS observed for kainate-evoked currents in a 0 mM [Na+]e, 10 mM [Ca2+]e bath. Under these conditions, aErev ranged from -96 to -21 mV, suggesting that the percentage of the non-NMDA receptors on each neuron that are Ca(2+)-permeable is variable. 3. To determine the extent to which the variability in aErev is due to variable receptor expression rather than experimental variability, we compared the effects of changes in [Ca2+]e on kainate-evoked currents and NMDA-evoked currents on the same cells. Assuming that all of the NMDA receptors on each neuron have a similar Ca2+ permeability, this approach provides an index of the sensitivity of our assay system. The reversal potential of NMDA-evoked currents in 10 mM [Ca2+]e ranged from -30 to -7 mV, whereas on the same population of neurons, the aErev of kainate-evoked currents ranged from -92 to -40 mV. 4. The rectification properties of the non-NMDA currents were generally linear or outwardly rectifying in normal bath solution. When the PCa/PCs ratio in 0 mM [Na+]e, 10 mM [Ca2+]e bath solution was assessed as a function of the rectification index in standard bath, a poor correlation was found between Ca2+ permeability and the rectification index. 5. The aErev of kainate-evoked currents was similar to that of cyclothiazide-enhanced AMPA-evoked currents observed on the same cells (-66.5 +/- 18.4 and -64.0 +/- 13.9 mV, mean +/- SD, respectively). This suggests that kainate is primarily activating the AMPA receptor and that the majority of non-NMDA receptors on embryonic dorsal horn neurons in culture are high-affinity AMPA receptors. 6. Immunocytochemical evidence suggests that the AMPA receptor subunits GluR1-4 are expressed to a variable degree from cell to cell in our cultures. We found evidence for low levels of expression of the kainate receptor subunits GluR5-7. The immunocytochemical observations support the physiological data indicating that much of the kainate-evoked current recorded in our experiments can be accounted for by kainate activation of AMPA receptors. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)