Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Business owners’ network size and business growth in China: The role of comprehensive social competency

The authors present a model that explains how comprehensive social competency (made up of three components – social skills, proactive and elaborate social strategies, and relational perseverance) is related to business people's network development, and how social networks in turn are related to business growth. We conducted two studies with Chinese small business owners, – one in the capital city Beijing (N = 133) and a second one in the less developed rural region of Xunyi (N = 78). Comprehensive social competency was consistently related to network size and business growth. In addition, government network size was related to the business growth since start-up in both studies (employee growth in Study 1 and personal asset growth in Study 2), but business network size was not related to business growth. Government network size also functions as a partial mediator between comprehensive social competency and business growth since start-up. Some differences are found between the rural area and the urban centre.
Do BCS National Championships Lead to Recruiting Violations? A Trend Analysis of NCAA Division I (FBS) Infractions

With the NCAA suggesting increased severity of sanctions for NCAA rules violators (Wieberg, 2008), an area of great concern to athletic directors is the institution’s violation of Article 13 of NCAA Division I legislation while recruiting prospective student-athletes. While researchers state that NCAA violations are on the rise (Mahony,1999; Jordan, Greenwell, Geist, Pastore, & Mahony, 2004), very little research has been conducted to ascertain the number of NCAA recruiting violations committed, and by whom. The purpose of this study was to describe the nature of recruiting violations, including major and secondary violations, conference affiliation of institutions committing major violations, then to analyze major recruiting violations of Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) institutions. A trend analysis was conducted by examining the frequency and distribution of NCAA major infractions from 1970 to 2007, with a specific focus major recruiting infractions from 1987 through the current construct of the Division I-A (Football Bowl Subdivision) conference structure of 2007. The results of this analysis provide athletic administrators with regional and sport-specific findings regarding major recruiting infractions. It also informs athletic compliance directors of focal points and monitoring strategies based upon sport, region, and conference in am effort to curtail future NCAA recruiting violations.
Comparative International Entrepreneurship

This review systematically examines comparative international entrepreneurship (CIE) research, analyzing 259 articles published in 21 leading journals from 1989 to 2010. We outline the importance of multi-country studies of entrepreneurial activity in enabling the comparison and replication of research and generating meaningful contributions to scholarship, practice, and policy. Our systematic review classifies research findings into four levels—individual, firm, industry, and country—each with respect to characteristics, antecedents, and outcomes of entrepreneurial activities as well as theory and methodology. Taken together, our review highlights the heterogeneous nature of entrepreneurship across countries and its role in explaining outcomes at firm (e.g., financial and export performance) and country (e.g., economic growth) levels as well as antecedents at the country level (e.g., culture). We find the CIE literature is highly fragmented with substantial knowledge gaps related to content, theory, and methodology, for which we outline a detailed future research agenda. Given the atheoretical nature of most published CIE research, we provide specific suggestions to extend the current dominant theoretical perspectives (institutions, culture, resource-based view, transaction cost economics, economic growth, and human capital); consider new lenses from management, international business, and entrepreneurship; and integrate and test multiple theories. From a content perspective, we outline the need to define and cross-reference prior studies of entrepreneurship and prioritize emerging phenomena that are critical to practice, and policy, and offer specific directives for integrated and multi-level studies of characteristics, antecedents, and outcomes. Methodological suggestions include theory-based rationale for the selection of countries, greater attention to data collection and sample selection equivalence, and the solutions to the ecological fallacy problem. We urge scholars to work together and across countries, cooperating with interested agencies and associations to develop new longitudinal, multi-level data sets and introduce dual qualitative/quantitative approaches and new diverse, sophisticated analytical tools.
The Relative Impact of Service Quality on Service Value, Customer Satisfaction, and Customer Loyalty in Korean Family Restaurant Context

Abstract This study was designed to examine the relative impact of service quality on service value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty, including positive word-of-mouth communication and revisit intentions. For this purpose, the authors developed a structural model which consists of the above variables. Two hundred-eighteen restaurant patrons in Korea responded to questionnaires. The data were analyzed with LISREL 8.5W. The empirical results and implications are as follows. First, the greater the tangibles, assurance, and sensory dimensions of service quality, the greater are the perceived service values by the customers. Second, the greater the empathy dimension of service quality, the greater is the customer satisfaction. Third, the greater the service value, the greater are the customer satisfaction, the positive word-of-mouth communication, and revisit intentions of the customers. Fourth, the greater the customer satisfaction, the greater are the positive word-of-mouth communication and revisit intentions of the customers. These findings have shown that the tangibles, assurance, sensory, and empathy dimensions of service quality contribute to the evaluation of Korean family restaurants. Also, based on these empirical findings, these dimensions can be used as competitive advantages and for the differentiation from competitors.
Endogenous Product Cycles

We construct a model of the product cycle featuring endogenous innovation and endogenous technology transfer. Competitive entrepreneurs in the North expend resources to bring out new products whenever expected present discounted value of future oligopoly profits exceeds current product development costs. Each Northern oligopolist continuously faces the risk that its product will be copied by a Southern imitator, at which time its profit stream will come to an end. In the South, competitive entrepreneurs may devote resources to learning the production processes that have been developed in the North. There too, costs (of reverse engineering) must be covered by a stream of operating profits. We study the determinants of the long-run rate of growth of the world economy, and the long-run rate of technological diffusion. We also provide an analysis of the effects of exogenous events and of public policy on relative wage rates in the two regions.
Associated Risk Factors for Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiologies in 241 Patients

Background Apart from the well-known etiologies, there are still a high proportion of patients with chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu), which has rarely been reported on. In this study, we explored the potential associated risk factors for CKDu and identified those that occur in childhood. Methods 700 patients with CKD we were selected randomly from 4 hospitals in Chengdu and 241 were screened for CKDu. The following clinical information was analyzed: demographic data, life style, personal and family history, nephrotoxic drugs, exposure to poison, allergies, and recurrent respiratory infections in childhood. Results Among 700 CKD patients, 34.43% (241/700) were CKDu. Of the 241 patients, there were 67.63% (163/241) with at least 1 associated risk factor and 56.44% (92/163) with more than 1. Patients with a personal history of an associated risk factor represented the largest proportion (31.95%, 77/241), while 28.63% (69/241) of the CKDu patients had risk factors appearing in childhood. Logistic regression analysis supported the results. Conclusions The study demonstrated that most so-called CKDu patients do have an identifiable etiology, and that several associated risk factors contribute to it. Of all the risk factors, age >60 years, nephrotoxic drugs, exposure to poison, and alcohol consumption were the independent significant factors for CKDu. Furthermore, many risk factors that caused kidney injury started in childhood.
“We Have a Consensus”: Explaining Political Support for Market Reforms in Latin America

Abstract By the 1990s, to the astonishment of many observers, most Latin American countries had reformed their systems of national economic governance along market lines. Many analysts of this shift have assumed that it circumvented normal political processes, presuming that such reforms could not be popular. Explanations emphasizing economic crisis, external assistance, and politically insulated executives illustrate this approach. Through a qualitative investigation of the reform process in the region's four most industrialized countries, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico, this study argues, to the contrary, that reforming governments found or created both elite and mass political support for their policies.
Smoking cessation support: Indian nursing students' practices, attitudes and perceived barriers.

BACKGROUND Tobacco use is a significant global health issue. Studies that examined nursing students' attitudes towards smoking cessation support were limited from India. AIM To assess undergraduate nursing students' practices, beliefs, attitudes and perceived barriers towards smoking cessation support. METHODS A cross-sectional descriptive design was adopted among undergraduate nursing students (n=178) using self-reported questionnaires. RESULTS Findings revealed that a majority (68.5%) of the students inquire about their clients' smoking habits and 78.1% of them advise patients who are smokers about the health effects of smoking. Although student nurses hold positive attitudes in the enthusiasm domain (28.8 ± 7.29), the majority of them lack self-efficacy towards smoking cessation support (14.2 ± 4.70). 'Patient's lack of motivation' (89.3%), 'lack of training/knowledge' (88.2%) and 'lack of communication skills' (77.5%) were the major barriers encountered by the participants during tobacco counselling. CONCLUSION The findings suggest that there is an urgent need to include a tobacco-control curriculum at undergraduate level to improve their competency in giving smoking cessation support.
Chromosome therapy

The fusion of the short (p) and long (q) arms of a chromosome is referred to as a “ring chromosome. ” Ring chromosome disorders occur in approximately 1 in 50 000–100 000 patients. Ring chromosomes can result in birth defects, mental disabilities, and growth retardation if additional genes are deleted during the formation of the ring. Due to the severity of these large-scale aberrations affecting multiple contiguous genes, no possible therapeutic strategies for ring chromosome disorders have so far been proposed. Our recent study (Bershteyn et al.) using patient-derived fibroblast lines containing ring chromosomes, found that cellular reprogramming of these fibroblasts into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) resulted in the cell-autonomous correction of the ring chromosomal aberration via compensatory uniparental disomy (UPD). These observations have important implications for studying the mechanism of chromosomal number control and may lead to the development of effective therapies for other, more common, chromosomal aberrations.
Tracking Livelihood Change: Theoretical, Methodological and Empirical Perspectives from North-East Ghana

This paper discusses a methodology in which livelihood change is investigated through the livelihood strategies of individually traced households that have been studied at two separate points in time. The area studied is in the north of Ghana, where anthropological fieldwork was carried out in 1975 and again in 1989. The paper discusses significant changes in the macro-context between the two dates and then examines three linked case-study households. Some of the processes of household accumulation and impoverishment become evident in the detailed accounts of changes in household membership and in livelihoods. The case studies show individuals and household heads making strategic choices, in circumstances where the room for manoeuvre is very limited. Climate change, government economic policy centred on adjustment measures and changes in the local and national markets for labour and products created a highly constrained and unpredictable environment for individuals and households. However, to make these arguments, the paper also draws on the findings from the author's quantitative surveys from several nearby communities and from more macro-level research, so the use of the matched case studies is set within research of considerable complexity and duration. Some of the most significant processes are uncovered when case-study data collected in qualitative surveys are filled out with data collected in the course of ethnographic research. Equally important is the additional secondary and historical research that allows links to be made between microand macro-levels. The paper concludes that using panel case studies is a potentially very useful complementary method, but it is not a short cut.
Particle removal efficiency evaluation of filters in high temperature IPA

The need of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) for wafer drying has been increasing in the semiconductor industry, because the structure of semiconductor devices is getting more complicated and IPA drying is more preferable to avoid pattern disruption of complicated device structure. Also, as the feature size of the semiconductor devices continuously decreasing, the cleanliness level of IPA needs to be further improved. Filtration is an indispensable technology to control the cleanliness, and more and more filters with finer removal rating are now being used to achieve the required cleanliness level.
Evidencing learning standards in science: graduate perceptions of gaining knowledge and skills at two research-intensive universities

There is a move in higher education institutions in Australia, and internationally, towards the statement of learning outcomes to focus curriculum and allow for accountability of degree programs. Whilst Australian institutions have listed broad, university-wide graduate attributes/capabilities/qualities, science-specific learning outcomes and standards have only more recently been discussed and identified at the national level. The challenge of evaluating program level, science-specific learning outcomes, such as teamwork, communication, writing and quantitative skills along with scientific content knowledge, has emerged. This paper reports the initial phase of a study, which aimed to evaluate student perceptions of learning outcomes gained during undergraduate studies in Biomedical Science via capstone courses at two research-intensive Australian universities using the Science Student Skills Inventory. The results indicate that students gained content knowledge along with writing, communication and team-work skills at equal levels with no statistically significant differences across the two university cohorts. The exception was student’s low perception of building quantitative skills, which differed significantly across the cohorts. The findings suggest that quantitative skills are an area needing further attention. Implications for evaluating program-level learning outcomes framed within the quality assurance versus quality enhancement national policy debate are discussed, along with directions for further research.
Resonant cavity based compact efficient antireflection structures for photonic crystals

We propose an effective admittance (EA) method to design antireflection structures for two-dimensional photonic crystals (PCs). We demonstrate that a compact and efficient antireflection structure, which is difficult to obtain by the conventional admittance matching method, can be readily designed by the EA method. The antireflection structure consists of an air slot resonant cavity that is constructed only with the materials that constitute the PC. Compared with a bare PC, the reflection from a PC with an antireflection structure is reduced by two orders of magnitude over a wide bandwidth. To confirm the presented EA method, finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations are performed, and the results from the FDTD and the EA method are in good agreement.
Net Neutrality and Nondiscrimination Norms in Telecommunications

“Net neutrality” refers to the principle that broadband providers should not discriminate when transporting content and applications over the Internet. After several years of debate, the Federal Communications Commission adopted binding net neutrality rules in December 2010. The cornerstone of this regime is a binding rule that forbids broadband providers from unreasonably discriminating when delivering Internet traffic.The prohibition on unreasonable discrimination has a long pedigree in telecommunications law, and net neutrality proponents have long asserted the need to extend that nondiscrimination norm to cyberspace. But the Commission’s net neutrality rules impose far greater obligations on broadband providers than the law ever imposed on other telecommunications companies. This expansive reach is particularly surprising given the fact that most broadband markets do not exhibit the characteristics that have historically triggered strict nondiscrimination obligations. While the Commission has pursued the laudatory goal of protecting consumers, its rules have the unintended consequence of stifling innovation in the broadband industry. A more nuanced, modest set of restrictions grounded in the Commission’s traditional nondiscrimination rules would be far superior policy, and would reflect the learned wisdom of seventy-five years of telecommunications law.
Business-Service Activities in British Provincial Conurbations

Business-service activities are poorly represented in provincial areas of the British economy, and this acts as a constraint on the economic growth of these locations. This argument is developed in a survey investigation of business-service offices in the conurbations of Manchester, Leeds, and Birmingham. It is argued that external control is an important feature of the business-service sector, and that the organisational structure of multisite service firms influences the supply of business services. The importance of indigenous employment growth and industrial movement in provincial cities is examined. It is suggested that some business services generate regional exports, and should therefore, be given regional policy support.
Cardiac autonomic dysregulation in acute schizophrenia

Objective Altered cardiac autonomic function has been proposed in schizophrenia, but the results are mixed. Therefore, analyses with larger sample sizes and better methodology are needed. Methods To examine whether acute schizophrenia is associated with cardiac autonomic dysfunction, 314 unmedicated patients with acute schizophrenia and 409 healthy volunteers, aged 18–65 years, were recruited for a case–control analysis. The severity of schizophrenia symptoms was assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Cardiac autonomic function was evaluated by measuring heart rate variability (HRV) parameters during the supine–standing–supine test. Frequency-domain indices of HRV were obtained. Results Unmedicated patients with acute schizophrenia consistently exhibited reduced mean RR interval and HRV levels in a supine rest and standing position compared with healthy volunteers. The severity of psychopathology, in particular positive symptoms, was negatively correlated with cardiac vagal control. Conclusion These data suggest that acute schizophrenia is accompanied by cardiac autonomic dysregulation. In view of the higher risk for cardiac complications in these patients, one might also consider the antipsychotic treatment in favour of improving cardiac autonomic modulation. Further studies using larger patient groups and controlled therapeutics may better understand the influence of antipsychotic treatment on cardiac autonomic regulation in schizophrenia.
Hybrid ‘superswarm’ leads to rapid divergence and establishment of populations during a biological invasion

Understanding the genetic background of invading species can be crucial information clarifying why they become invasive. Intraspecific genetic admixture among lineages separated in the native ranges may promote the rate and extent of an invasion by substantially increasing standing genetic variation. Here, we examined the genetic relationships among threespine stickleback that recently colonized Switzerland. This invasion results from several distinct genetic lineages that colonized multiple locations and have since undergone range expansions, where they coexist and admix in parts of their range. Using 17 microsatellites genotyped for 634 individuals collected from 17 Swiss and two non‐Swiss European sites, we reconstruct the invasion of stickleback and investigate the potential and extent of admixture and hybridization among the colonizing lineages from a population genetic perspective. Specifically, we test for an increase in standing genetic variation in populations where multiple lineages coexist. We find strong evidence of massive hybridization early on, followed by what appears to be recent increased genetic isolation and the formation of several new genetically distinguishable populations, consistent with a hybrid ‘superswarm’. This massive hybridization and population formation event(s) occurred over approximately 140 years and likely fuelled the successful invasion of a diverse range of habitats. The implications are that multiple colonizations coupled with hybridization can lead to the formation of new stable genetic populations potentially kick‐starting speciation and adaptive radiation over a very short timescale.
Big Five Factors of Personality and Tourists' Internet Search Behavior

This study aimed at relating tourists' Internet search behaviors and the Big Five Factors (BFF) of personality to identify personality items that better predict tourists' Internet search behaviors. Survey data from domestic tourists to a metropolitan city in South Korea was used to empirically examine the relationships. Results indicate that travel information sought through the Internet vary with the BFF with the exception of extraversion, and the Internet channels used for travel information search also varied with the BFF with the exception of conscientiousness. The Internet is more widely used as a source of travel information but less for travel purchases. The results also suggest that the responses to some BFF items can substantially improve the predictability of tourists' Internet search behaviors. Implications for the use of the BFF in designing travel information systems are addressed.