Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Communicating Engagement in Corporate Social Responsibility: A Meta-Level Construal of Engagement

Organizations are increasingly seeking stakeholder support through engagement to demonstrate their corporate social responsibility (CSR) credentials. These credentials are, in turn, used to support claims of legitimacy for organizational operations. This article uses a process model of antecedents, implementation, and consequences to study the connection between engagement and CSR. CSR reports show organizations perceive engagement in CSR as both communication and activities between organizations and their stakeholders; and as a second, meta-level of communication about that engagement with stakeholders beyond those directly involved, thereby broadening the scope of organizational claims to legitimacy. Understanding what engagement is and how and why it is carried out in CSR provides a framework for understanding engagement in public relations.
Hong Kong's experience on the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for the treatment of influenza A (H1N1).

OBJECTIVE To report Hong Kong's experience on the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by influenza A (H1N1). DESIGN Multi-centred, retrospective observational study. SETTING Intensive care units in Hong Kong. PATIENTS Recipients of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for confirmed influenza A (H1N1) infection from 1 May 2009 to 28 February 2010. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Hospital mortality. RESULTS During the study period, 120 patients were mechanically ventilated in intensive care units, among whom seven received veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. The median (interquartile range) age of the latter patients was 42 (39-50) years, four had various chronic illnesses and one had a body mass index of greater than 30 kg/m². The median (interquartile range) time from symptom onset to hospital admission was 5 (4-7) days. Corresponding values for the duration of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, mechanical ventilation, intensive care unit stay, and hospital stay were 6 (6-10), 19 (11-25), 19 (18-30), and 31 (25-55) days, respectively. One patient died (hospital mortality, 14%) and six made full recoveries. All seven patients received oseltamivir; in addition three received intravenous zanamivir, four received convalescent plasma, and one received hyperimmune immunoglobulin. Nosocomial infection was the commonest complication. There was no life- or limb-threatening complication directly attributable to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. CONCLUSION In response to the pandemic of influenza A (H1N1), some intensive care units in Hong Kong were able to offer extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to selected cases. In this small series, patient outcomes were similar to those reported in other observational studies, indicating that intensive care units in Hong Kong are capable of successfully introducing this technology. However, the cost-effectiveness and optimal delivery of this strategy remain uncertain.
DEA models for two‐stage processes: Game approach and efficiency decomposition

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a method for measuring the efficiency of peer decision making units (DMUs). This tool has been utilized by a number of authors to examine two‐stage processes, where all the outputs from the first stage are the only inputs to the second stage. The current article examines and extends these models using game theory concepts. The resulting models are linear, and imply an efficiency decomposition where the overall efficiency of the two‐stage process is a product of the efficiencies of the two individual stages. When there is only one intermediate measure connecting the two stages, both the noncooperative and centralized models yield the same results as applying the standard DEA model to the two stages separately. As a result, the efficiency decomposition is unique. While the noncooperative approach yields a unique efficiency decomposition under multiple intermediate measures, the centralized approach is likely to yield multiple decompositions. Models are developed to test whether the efficiency decomposition arising from the centralized approach is unique. The relations among the noncooperative, centralized, and standard DEA approaches are investigated. Two real world data sets and a randomly generated data set are used to demonstrate the models and verify our findings. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2008
Rotavirus Replication: Plus-Sense Templates for Double-Stranded RNA Synthesis Are Made in Viroplasms

ABSTRACT Rotavirus plus-strand RNAs not only direct protein synthesis but also serve as templates for the synthesis of the segmented double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) genome. In this study, we identified short-interfering RNAs (siRNAs) for viral genes 5, 8, and 9 that suppressed the expression of NSP1, a nonessential protein; NSP2, a component of viral replication factories (viroplasms); and VP7, an outer capsid protein, respectively. The loss of NSP2 expression inhibited viroplasm formation, genome replication, virion assembly, and synthesis of the other viral proteins. In contrast, the loss of VP7 expression had no effect on genome replication; instead, it inhibited only outer-capsid morphogenesis. Similarly, neither genome replication nor any other event of the viral life cycle was affected by the loss of NSP1. The data indicate that plus-strand RNAs templating dsRNA synthesis within viroplasms are not susceptible to siRNA-induced RNase degradation. In contrast, plus-strand RNAs templating protein synthesis in the cytosol are susceptible to degradation and thus are not the likely source of plus-strand RNAs for dsRNA synthesis in viroplasms. Indeed, immunofluorescence analysis of bromouridine (BrU)-labeled RNA made in infected cells provided evidence that plus-strand RNAs are synthesized within viroplasms. Furthermore, transfection of BrU-labeled viral plus-strand RNA into infected cells suggested that plus-strand RNAs introduced into the cytosol do not localize to viroplasms. From these results, we propose that plus-strand RNAs synthesized within viroplasms are the primary source of templates for genome replication and that trafficking pathways do not exist within the cytosol that transport plus-strand RNAs to viroplasms. The lack of such pathways confounds the development of reverse genetics systems for rotavirus.
Brain Region-Specific Gene Expression Activation Required for Reconsolidation and Extinction of Contextual Fear Memory

During fear conditioning, animals learn an association between a previously neutral or conditioned stimulus (CS) and an aversive or unconditioned stimulus (US). Subsequent reexposure to the CS alone triggers two competing processes. Brief reexposure to the CS initiates reconsolidation processes that serve to stabilize or maintain the original CS–US memory. In contrast, more prolonged reexposure to the CS leads to the formation of an inhibitory extinction (CS–no US) memory. Previous studies have established that both reconsolidation and extinction require gene expression. Consistent with this, here we first show that genetic disruption of cAMP-responsive element-binding protein (CREB)-mediated transcription blocks both reconsolidation and long-term extinction of contextual fear memory. We next asked whether reconsolidation and extinction engage CREB-mediated transcription in distinct brain regions. Accordingly, we used immunohistochemical approaches to characterize the activation of the transcription factor CREB [as well as the expression of the CREB-dependent gene Arc (activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein)] after brief versus prolonged reexposure to a previously conditioned context. After brief reexposure, we observed significant activation of CREB-mediated gene expression in the hippocampus and amygdala. In contrast, after the prolonged reexposure, we observed significant activation of CREB-mediated gene expression in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. Finally, we showed that blocking protein synthesis in either the hippocampus or the amygdala blocked reconsolidation of contextual fear memory, whereas similar blockade in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex prevented the formation of extinction memory. These experiments establish that reactivated contextual fear memories undergo CREB-dependent reconsolidation or extinction in distinct brain regions.
Quantitative Comparison of Agile Modulation Techniques for Cognitive Radio Transceivers

In this paper, we present a quantitative comparison of two agile modulation techniques employed by cognitive radio transceivers operating in a dynamic spectrum access (DSA) network. One of the modulation technique is non-contiguous orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (NC-OFDM), which is designed to avoid interference with the transmissions of incumbent users by deactivating subcarriers within their vicinity. The other modulation technique under study is a variant of multicarrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA). Although several studies comparing conventional OFDM and MC-CDMA has been conducted in literature to justify robust error performance of MCCDMA, a quantitative performance evaluation of these schemes has not been performed when employed in a DSA network. Due to deactivated subcarriers in DSA networks, in this paper we showed their performance can be significantly different from the conventional setup. Analytical expressions for the error probability of an NC-OFDM transceiver have been derived and compared with computer simulation results. The results show that the error robustness of NC-OFDM is relatively constant regardless of the number of deactivated subcarriers, unlike MC-CDMA transmissions, whose error performance degrades with an increase in deactivated subcarriers.
The Functioning of the Board of Directors

Boards exist across a large variety of organizational forms like partnerships, mutuals, non-profits, as well as corporations. Their composition is predictable based on the theory of monitoring and control. On average, the number of members of the board of directors (CEO, CFO, etc.) is 10. The BOD approves and oversees major managerial decisions. Corporate performance can be linked to insider holdings of stocks of the corporation. Partnerships have only insiders, non-profits have large donors, and corporations have insiders, possibly claim holders like institutional debtholders, and outsiders. Outsiders may have no idea what a good idea is. Insiders have business specific knowledge. The BOD should have input from current management so some current managers should be members. The negative relation between insider holdings and performance is generally attributed to the risk aversion of managers. The greater the percentage of stocks held by insiders, the more likely they are to take on low risk-low return projects. Outsiders are professional referees. Their careers are linked to the performance of the corporations for which they serve. We expect that they will resign from corporate boards in which their advice is not heeded. The ultimate test of the decision control of the board is whether it can replace the top managementthe CEO, president, and/or COB. The evidence is that top management does turnover more when corporate performance slips, though the rate of turnover is small. The evidence also supports the view that outside dominated boards are more likely to turnover top management, suggesting that outside board members do provide professional referee services. have suggested that the board of directors is dominated by top managers and far too often fails to effectively monitor and properly motivate managerial decision making. In an apparent conversion, Jensen (1989, 1993) has also become a proponent of the view that internal corporate control devices headed by the board of directors most commonly fail to protect shareholder interests. Those concluding that corporate boards are ineffective in controlling agency problems have offered numerous suggestions for improving the board's effectiveness. The most common suggestions include increasing the number of outside directors present on the board and increasing the equity holdings of directors. A number of papers have provided empirical evidence indicating that these factors are important to firm performance. Existing evidence suggests that insiders tend to leave and outsiders join corporate boards following poor performance (Hermalin and Weisbach (1988)), the appointment of outside directors …
Quantifying the Physiological Stress Response to Simulated Maritime Pilotage Tasks

Objective: The aim of this study was to quantify the stress associated with performing maritime pilotage tasks in a high-fidelity simulator. Methods: Eight trainee and 13 maritime pilots completed two simulated pilotage tasks of varying complexity. Salivary cortisol samples were collected pre- and post-simulation for both trials. Heart rate was measured continuously throughout the study. Results: Significant changes in salivary cortisol (P = 0.000, &eegr;2 = 0.139), average (P = 0.006, &eegr;2 = 0.087), and peak heart rate (P = 0.013, &eegr;2 = 0.077) from pre- to postsimulation were found. Varying task complexity did partially influence stress response; average (P = 0.016, &eegr;2 = 0.026) and peak heart rate (P = 0.034, &eegr;2 = 0.020) were higher in the experimental condition. Trainees also recorded higher average (P = 0.000, &eegr;2 = 0.054) and peak heart rates (P = 0.027, &eegr;2 = 0.022). Conclusion: Performing simulated pilotage tasks evoked a measurable stress response in both trainee and expert maritime pilots.
The Effect of Treatment on the Melancholias (Depressions)

Summary The results described are based on data from 47 male and 83 female patients randomly assigned to treatment with imipramine or phenelzine in an open trial. All were fresh (untreated) cases diagnosed as suffering from depressive illness (melancholia). They were rated before treatment and 2 and four months later. Imipramine did not give results which were significantly better than phenelzine. With both drugs it was found that patients had done either very well or very poorly at follow-up, i.e. the distribution of scores was U-shaped (or bimodal at the least). The 55 men and 90 women who were unsuitable for treatment with drugs or who had failed to respond to such treatment were given a course of ECT and followed-up at corresponding intervals. The improvement after ECT was better than with drugs and the distribution of scores is quite different. An earlier series of male patients treated with ECT in the pre-drug days did not show as good a response to the treatment.
SMARTHealth India: Development and Field Evaluation of a Mobile Clinical Decision Support System for Cardiovascular Diseases in Rural India

Background Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the major cause of premature death and disability in India and yet few people at risk of CVD are able to access best practice health care. Mobile health (mHealth) is a promising solution, but very few mHealth interventions have been subjected to robust evaluation in India. Objective The objectives were to develop a multifaceted, mobile clinical decision support system (CDSS) for CVD management and evaluate it for use by public nonphysician health care workers (NPHWs) and physicians in a rural Indian setting. Methods Plain language clinical rules were developed based on standard guidelines and programmed into a computer tablet app. The algorithm was validated and field-tested in 11 villages in Andhra Pradesh, involving 11 NPHWs and 3 primary health center (PHC) physicians. A mixed method evaluation was conducted comprising clinical and survey data and in-depth patient and staff interviews to understand barriers and enablers to the use of the system. Then this was thematically analyzed using NVivo 10. Results During validation of the algorithm, there was an initial agreement for 70% of the 42 calculated variables between the CDSS and SPSS software outputs. Discrepancies were identified and amendments were made until perfect agreement was achieved. During field testing, NPHWs and PHC physicians used the CDSS to screen 227 and 65 adults, respectively. The NPHWs identified 39% (88/227) of patients for referral with 78% (69/88) of these having a definite indication for blood pressure (BP)-lowering medication. However, only 35% (24/69) attended a clinic within 1 month of referral, with 42% (10/24) of these reporting continuing medications at 3-month follow-up. Physicians identified and recommended 17% (11/65) of patients for BP-lowering medications. Qualitative interviews identified 3 interrelated interview themes: (1) the CDSS had potential to change prevailing health care models, (2) task-shifting to NPHWs was the central driver of change, and (3) despite high acceptability by end users, actual transformation was substantially limited by system-level barriers such as patient access to doctors and medicines. Conclusions A tablet-based CDSS implemented within primary health care systems has the potential to help improve CVD outcomes in India. However, system-level barriers to accessing medical care limit its full impact. These barriers need to be actively addressed for clinical innovations to be successful. Trial Registration Clinical Trials Registry of India: CTRI/2013/06/003753; http://ctri.nic. in/Clinicaltrials/showallp.php? mid1=6259&EncHid=51761.70513&userName=CTRI/2013/06/003753 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6UBDlrEuq).
Boosting in the presence of noise

Boosting algorithms are procedures that "boost" low accuracy weak learning algorithms to achieve arbitrarily high accuracy. Over the past decade boosting has been widely used in practice and has become a major research topic in computational learning theory. In this paper we study boosting in the presence of random classification noise, giving both positive and negative results.We show that a modified version of a boosting algorithm due to Mansour and McAllester [14] can achieve accuracy arbitrarily close to the noise rate. We also give a matching lower bound by showing that no efficient black-box boosting algorithm can boost accuracy beyond the noise rate (assuming that one-way functions exist). Finally, we consider a variant of the standard scenario for boosting in which the "weak learner" satisfies a slightly stronger condition than the usual weak learning guarantee. We give an efficient algorithm in this framework which can boost to arbitrarily high accuracy in the presence of classification noise.
The SIMPOC Philippine Survey of Children 2001: A Data Source for Analyzing Occupational Injuries to Children

Child labor is a global issue that exists in both industrialized and developing countries. With the unanimous adoption of International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 182 in 1999 calling for the immediate elimination of the worst forms of child labor, ratifying member countries have committed themselves to identifying hazardous work for children in the context of their respective legislative frameworks. Part of tackling the problem of child labor is knowing what types of occupational activities children are engaged in, what types of work environments they are under, and what risks of injuries and illnesses they are exposed to while working. Using the Philippines as a country example, this study introduces a promising data source on children's work and presents a methodology for examining hazardous work to children through the examination of injury rates. Data for this study rely primarily on a nationally representative dataset from the Survey of Children 2001 carried out by the Philippine National Statistics Office, covering the months of October 2001 to September 2002.
Relationship Between Participation in Pay Systems and Job Commitment: Does Interactional Justice Act as a Mediating Variable?

Compensation management literature highlights that employees who actively participate in pay systems may have increased job satisfaction. A careful observation of such relationships shows that employee participation in pay systems indirectly affect job commitment via interactional justice. The nature of this relationship is less emphasized in compensation management models. The evidence is used as a foundation to develop conceptual schema for this study. A survey research method was used to gather 917 usable questionnaires from employees who have worked in Malaysian Institutions of Higher Education (MIHE). Outcomes of testing mediating model using a stepwise regression analysis showed that the inclusion of interactional justice in the analysis had increased the effect of participation in pay system features (i.e., participation in pay allocation and participation in pay procedure) on job commitment. Further, this result confirms that interactional justice does act as a full mediating variable in the compensation system models of the organizational sector sample. In addition, the implications of this study to compensation theory and practice, methodological and conceptual limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.
Mapping the context and practice of training, development and HRD in European call centres

Purpose – Utilising data from 18 in‐depth case studies, this study seeks to explore training, development and human resource development (HRD) practices in European call centres. It aims to argue that the complexity and diversity of training, development and HRD practices is best understood by studying the multilayered contexts within which call centres operate. Call centres operate as open systems and training, development and HRD practices are influenced by environmental, strategic, organisational and temporal conditions.Design/methodology/approach – The study utilised a range of research methods, including in‐depth interviews with multiple stakeholders, documentary analysis and observation. The study was conducted over a two‐year period.Findings – The results indicate that normative models of HRD are not particularly valuable and that training, development and HRD in call centres is emergent and highly complex.Originality/value – This study represents one of the first studies to investigate training an.
TRANSFERRED JUVENILES IN THE ERA OF SENTENCING GUIDELINES: EXAMINING JUDICIAL DEPARTURES FOR JUVENILE OFFENDERS IN ADULT CRIMINAL COURT*

This study contributes to contemporary research on the punishment of juvenile offenders in adult court by analyzing the use of guidelines departures for transferred juveniles in two states, one with presumptive sentencing guidelines (Pennsylvania) and one with voluntary guidelines (Maryland). Propensity score matching is first used to create more comparable samples of juvenile and young adult offenders, and then Tobit regressions are employed to estimate the effect of juvenile status on the likelihood and length of departures. Our findings indicate that juvenile status significantly affects the use of upward departures in Pennsylvania, and the use of both downward and upward departures in Maryland. Judicial reasons for departure are examined to provide additional insight into the complex dynamics surrounding exceptional sentences for juvenile offenders sentenced in adult court. KEYWORDS: Juvenile justice; Juvenile delinquency;
The academic study of religions and integrative religious education in Europe

The article provides an overview of the book Integrative religious education in Europe: A study‐of‐religions approach (2007). It introduces the notion of ‘integrative religious education (RE)’, relating to education about different religions in religiously mixed classrooms, as opposed to separative confessional approaches. The article presents some results of my analysis of recent approaches to integrative RE, mainly from England and Sweden. The analysis focuses on aims of integrative RE, the notion of religion and the representation of religions, teaching methods, and the notion of education. Building on recent theory and methodology in the study of religions (Religionswissenschaft) and education, I propose a European framework for integrative RE. The article concludes with a description of recent school‐related initiatives in the study of religions at an international level.