Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
IT CAPABILITIES AND FIRM PERFORMANCE: A RESOURCE-BASED, ALLIANCE PERSPECTIVE

Information technology-based alliances are rapidly spreading in organizations, which calls upon researchers to develop an adequate theoretical lens to examine this phenomenon and its key associated outcomes, such as the business performance of alliance firms. However, strategic alliances are mostly examined from a transaction cost economics perspective, and the results on performance are inconclusive at best. This paper proposes an alternative lens - the resource-based view - and applies an extended version of it to explain the performance of firms in IT-based alliances. A conceptual model is developed that examines the impact of shared information technology resources on firm performance. Also, a measurement scale for these resources is developed and preliminarily validated.
When Does Preschool Matter?

Summary:We have many reasons to invest in preschool programs, including persistent gaps in school readiness between children from poorer and wealthier families, large increases in maternal employment over the past several decades, and the rapid brain development that preschoolage children experience. But what do we know about preschool education’s effectiveness? In this article, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Christina Weiland, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn report strong evidence that preschool boosts children’s language, literacy, and math skills in the short term; it may also reduce problem behaviors such as aggression. Over the elementary school years, however, test scores of children who were exposed to preschool tend to converge with the scores of children who were not. Many factors may explain this convergence. For example, kindergarten or first-grade teachers may focus on helping children with lower levels of skills get up to speed, or children may lose ground when they transition from high-quality preschools into poor-quality elementary programs. Taking a longer view, some studies have found that attending preschool boosts children’s high school graduation rates and makes them less likely to engage in criminal behavior. Overall, higherquality preschool programs are associated with larger effects.How might preschools produce larger effects that last longer? Developmentally focused curricula, combined with intensive in-service training or coaching for teachers, have been shown to improve the quality of preschool instruction. Focusing on fundamental skills that both predict long-term outcomes and are less likely to be gained in the first years of school might also produce longer-lasting effects. And improving instructional quality in early elementary school and better aligning the preschool and elementary curricula may be another way to sustain the boost that quality preschool education can provide. Above all, the authors write, if we want to see sustained improvements in children’s development and learning, we need to increase the quality of—not just access to—preschool education.
Exploring translanguaging in CLIL

ABSTRACT After reviewing the concepts of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and Translanguaging, this article presents an exploratory study of translanguaging in CLIL contexts. Employing illustrative extracts from a collection of CLIL classroom recordings in Austria, Finland and Spain, we argue that both pedagogic and interpersonal motivations can influence language choices. We suggest that the L1 should be appreciated as a potentially valuable tool in bilingual learning situations and that there is a need for increased awareness-raising around this question.
Initial in vitro evaluations of the antibacterial activities of glucosinolate enzymatic hydrolysis products against plant pathogenic bacteria

Aims: The aim of the study was to evaluate the in vitro antibacterial effects of glucosinolate hydrolysis products (GHP) against plant pathogenic micro‐organisms namely Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Erwinia chrysanthemi, Pseudomonas cichorii, Pseudomonas tomato, Xanthomonas campestris and Xanthomonas juglandis.
Voting Then, Voting Now: The Long-Term Consequences of Participation in South Africa’s First Democratic Election

In a developing democracy, can elections change the behavior of participating citizens? I study the effect of voting in South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994 on future voting and present evidence of the lasting behavioral effects of past participation. Eligibility to participate in 1994 affects future voting by 3 percentage points, with an average treatment effect of actually voting between 3.5 and 8.5 percentage points. Given low turnout rates, these effects account for 7%–20% of the size of the electorate. To explain this result, I propose a theoretical explanation that draws on psychological research—affective experience habituation. I argue that persistence (or habituation) in voting behavior is at least partly driven by the creation of associations between first-time voting and positive emotional states. This theory is tested within the context of the 1994 election by exploiting variation in electoral experiences.
SPEECH PERCEPTION IN DEAF CHILDREN WITH COCHLEAR IMPLANTS

Cochlear implants work reasonably well in many profoundly deaf adults and children. For a prelingually deaf child, the electrical stimulation transmitted by a cochlear implant represents the introduction of a new sensory modality that provides spectral and temporal information about speech and spoken language. Despite the success of cochlear implants in many deaf children, large individual differences have been reported on a wide range of speech and language outcome measures. This finding is observed in all research centers around the world. Some children do extremely well with their cochlear implant while others derive only minimal benefits after receiving their implant. Understanding the reasons for the variability in outcomes and the large individual differences following cochlear implantation is one of the most important problems in the field today. In this paper, I present a brief summary of recent findings on the speech perception skills of deaf children following cochlear implantation. The results of these studies suggest that in addition to several demographic variables, variation in children's success with cochlear implants also reflects fundamental differences in rapid phonological coding and verbal rehearsal processes used in working memory.
Isolation, Characterization, Crystal Structure Elucidation, and Anticancer Study of Dimethyl Cardamonin, Isolated from Syzygium campanulatum Korth

Syzygium campanulatum Korth is an equatorial, evergreen, aboriginal shrub of Malaysia. Conventionally it has been used as a stomachic. However, in the currently conducted study dimethyl cardamonin or 2′,4′-dihydroxy-6′-methoxy-3′,5′-dimethylchalcone (DMC) was isolated from S. campanulatum Korth, leaf extract. The structural characterization of DMC was carried out by making use of various techniques including UV, IR, NMR spectral followed by LC-MS, and X-ray crystallographic techniques. For determining the purity of compound, highly effective techniques including TLC, HPLC, and melting point were used. The cytotoxicity of DMC and three different extracts of S. campanulatum was evaluated against human colon cancer cell line (HT-29) by three different assays. DMC and ethanolic extract revealed potent and dose-dependent cytotoxic activity on the cancer cell line with IC50 12.6 and 90.1 µg/mL, respectively. Quite astonishingly to our knowledge, this is the very first report on S. campanulatum as being a rich source (3.5%) of DMC, X-ray crystallography, and anticancer activity on human colon cancer cells.
An exploration of the relationship between teachers' performance and student academic growth: a study of a rural school district in Western Maine.

As a result of federal initiatives like Race to the Top (RTTT, 2009) and No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2001), there has been strong emphasis placed on quality instruction nationwide. Most policymakers believe that teacher evaluation is the primary method for improving instruction. The district involved in this study was a recipient of the federal Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) Grant. The primary goal of the TIF Grant was to develop a quality teacher evaluation system based on multiple measures of teacher effectiveness. Analyzing this evaluation system based on the theoretical framework of performance assessment lead to two major research questions. The first question framed by rater affect and rater motivation focused on the extent that the teacher evaluation system accurately identified teacher quality. The second question framed by the purpose of performance assessment and 360 degree feedback examined to what extent that quality teaching, as determined by the teacher evaluation system, affected student growth measures. These questions were explored through a quantitative correlational approach that sought to determine the relationship between variables such as principals’ rating scores, teachers’ self-assessments scores, and students’ academic growth in the areas of mathematics and reading. Examining these questions showed that there was a statistically significant, moderate to strong relationship between teachers’ ratings and principals’ ratings. In terms of student growth, there was a statistically significant relationship between students’ perception of teacher practice and academic growth in the area of reading.
Controls on the diurnal streamflow cycles in two subbasins of an alpine headwater catchment

In high‐altitude alpine catchments, diurnal streamflow cycles are typically dominated by snowmelt or ice melt. Evapotranspiration‐induced diurnal streamflow cycles are less observed in these catchments but might happen simultaneously. During a field campaign in the summer 2012 in an alpine catchment in the Swiss Alps (Val Ferret catchment, 20.4 km2, glaciarized area: 2%), we observed a transition in the early season from a snowmelt to an evapotranspiration‐induced diurnal streamflow cycle in one of two monitored subbasins. The two different cycles were of comparable amplitudes and the transition happened within a time span of several days. In the second monitored subbasin, we observed an ice melt‐dominated diurnal cycle during the entire season due to the presence of a small glacier. Comparisons between ice melt and evapotranspiration cycles showed that the two processes were happening at the same times of day but with a different sign and a different shape. The amplitude of the ice melt cycle decreased exponentially during the season and was larger than the amplitude of the evapotranspiration cycle which was relatively constant during the season. Our study suggests that an evapotranspiration‐dominated diurnal streamflow cycle could damp the ice melt‐dominated diurnal streamflow cycle. The two types of diurnal streamflow cycles were separated using a method based on the identification of the active riparian area and measurement of evapotranspiration.
Leading school improvement: using Popper’s theory of learning

ABSTRACT Leadership is a highly complex activity, as leaders respond to increasing diversity and external accountability. Additionally, there is increased recognition that leadership is deeply contextual, sensitive to macro-politics of systems and micro-politics of individual schools. In Ontario, Canada, the school improvement effort is focused on raising student achievement and ensuring equitable outcomes. The current provincial education policies across Canada require that principals focus on (1) increasing the proportion of students who meet educational expectations and (2) reducing the ‘achievement gaps’ amongst sub-groups of students within the public school system. Despite these efforts, in Ontario, schools continue to encounter difficulty in meeting the needs of all their students. A full pursuit of factors related to differences to students’ backgrounds and abilities is beyond the scope of this article. Rather, this article is concerned with how school can adopt Karl Popper’s theory of learning for school improvement efforts.
GSTA3 Attenuates Renal Interstitial Fibrosis by Inhibiting TGF-Beta-Induced Tubular Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition and Fibronectin Expression

Tubular epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been widely accepted as the underlying mechanisms of renal interstitial fibrosis (RIF). The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) plays a vital role in tubular EMT process. The purpose of this study was to investigate the involved molecular mechanisms in TGF-beta-induced EMT and identify the potential role of glutathione S-transferase alpha 3 (GSTA3) in this process. The iTRAQ screening was performed to identify protein alterations of the rats underwent unilateral-ureteral obstruction (UUO). Protein expression of GSTA3 in patients with obstructive nephropathy and UUO rats was detected by immunohistochemistry. Protein and mRNA expression of GSTA3 in UUO rats and NRK-52E cells were determined by Western blot and RT-PCR. siRNA and overexpression plasmid were transfected specifically to assess the role of GSTA3 in RIF. The generation of ROS was measured by dichlorofluorescein fluorescence analysis. GSTA3 protein and mRNA expression was significantly reduced in UUO rats. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that GSTA3 expression was reduced in renal cortex in UUO rats and patients with obstructive nephropathy. Treating with TGF-β1 down-regulated GSTA3 expression in NRK-52E cells, which have been found to be correlated with the decreased expression in E-cadherin and megalin and increased expression in α-smooth muscle actin. Furthermore, knocking down GSTA3 in NRK-52 cells led to increased production of ROS and tubular EMT, whereas overexpressing GSTA3 ameliorated ROS production and prevented the occurrence of tubular EMT. GSTA3 plays a protective role against tubular EMT in renal fibrosis, suggesting GSTA3 is a potential therapeutic target for RIF.
Phosphorylation of the Scc2 cohesin deposition complex subunit regulates chromosome condensation through cohesin integrity

Cohesin deposition requires the Scc2/Scc4 complex. Scc2 is phosphorylated, and mutations that mimic constitutive phosphorylation lead to inviability and chromosome condensation defects, likely due to reduced Mcd1 levels resulting from compromised cohesin integrity. Thus phosphoregulation of Scc2 has important consequences for chromosome integrity.
Ash Deposition in Biomass Combustion or Co-Firing for Power/Heat Generation

This paper presents a concise overview of ash deposition in combustion or co-firing of biomass (woody biomass, agricultural residues, peat, etc. ) with other fuels for power/heat generation. In this article, the following five research aspects on biomass combustion ash deposition are reviewed and discussed: influence of biomass fuel characteristics, deposit-related challenges, ash deposition monitoring and analysis of ash deposits, mechanisms and chemistry of fly ash deposition, and key technologies for reducing ash deposition and corrosion in biomass-involved combustion.
REACTION TIME OF DRIVERS TO ROAD STIMULI

The assumption of a reaction time value for drivers responding to road situations is fundamental for the design requirements involving sight distance, in particular for vertical and horizontal curves. This response time is frequently referred to as the "perception-reaction time" in traffic engineering literature. Previous attempts to estimate an appropriate value for this time are discussed, along with other relevant laboratory and field reaction time literature. It is suggested that the procedures used have generally been deficient on one of several grounds. The requirement for unobtrusive observational techniques is stressed so that reaction time estimates can be obtained that are representative of real world performance. This approach was used in the study reported here to obtain data for a range of eliciting stimuli. The salience of the stimulus type was estimated by the driver response rate and form of response distribution. Vehicle speed was observed for some situations, so as to allow an assessment to be made of whether driver response times depend on vehicle speed. The estimates obtained are discussed in terms of the commonly assumed design value of 2.5 s. Values of the 85th percentile reaction time were found that were both above and below this design value. However, the pattern of results overall suggests that the current standard may be inadequate in some circumstances, and a review of this standard is strongly recommended. (TRRL)
Reconstructing small perturbations of scatterers from electric or acoustic far‐field measurements

In this paper, we consider the problem of determining the boundary perturbations of an object from far‐field electric or acoustic measurements. Assuming that the unknown scatterer boundary is a small perturbation of a circle, we develop a linearized relationship between the far‐field data and the shape of the object. This relationship is used to find the Fourier coefficients of the perturbation of the shape. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Long-Term Asset Price Volatility and Macroeconomic Fluctuations

We analyze a stochastic growth model with lags in the operation of new technologies. Stock values are impacted by news on technological innovations and some other external shocks affecting the economy. Episodes of technology adoption may generate long fluctuations in the aggregate value of stocks. We asses the quantitative importance of various macroeconomic variables in accounting for both the observed volatility of stock values and the less pronounced volatility of real macroeconomic aggregates. Our analysis singles out price markups and leverage as key determinants of asset price volatility, and confers a rather limited role to adjustment costs, taxes, and labor and financial frictions.
Possibilistic Network based Information Retrieval Model

This paper proposes a new Information Retrieval Model based on Possibilistic Networks. The model structure integrates most relevant term to term dependence relationships. The approach used to extract the set of these dependencies focuses on local dependencies between terms within each document. The relevance of a document to a query is interpreted by two degrees: the necessity and the possibility. The necessity degree evaluates the extent to which a document is relevant to a query, whereas the possibility degree evaluates the reasons of eliminating irrelevant documents. These two measures are also used for quantifying terms-terms links and terms-documents links. Experiments carried out on three standard document collections show the effectiveness of the model.
Translation procedures in descriptive inner model theory

We develop a basic translation procedure that translates a hod mouse to an equivalent mouse. Unlike the translation procedure used by Steel and Zhu, our procedure works in a coarse setting without assuming AD+. Nevertheless, the procedure resembles the one developed by Steel in [8]. We use the translation procedures to answer a question of Trevor Wilson. Namely, we show that if there is a stationary class of λ such that λ is a limit of Woodin cardinals and the derived model at λ satisfies AD+ + θ0 < Θ then there is a transitive model M such that Ord ⊆ M and M “there is a proper class of Woodin cardinals and a strong cardinal”. Using a theorem of Woodin on derived models it is not hard to see that the reverse of the aforementioned theorem is also true, thus proving that the two theories are in fact equiconsistent. In descriptive inner model theory, the role of hod mice is to capture descriptive set theoretic strength of sets of reals inside a fine structural model. Such capturing leads to representation of HOD of models of AD+V = L(P(R)) as a fine structural model (see Theorem 4.24 of [4]). It also leads to partial proofs of the Mouse Set Conjecture (see Theorem 6.19 of [4]). For more on the role of hod mice in descriptive inner model theory see [5]. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classifications: 03E15, 03E45, 03E60.
AN EVALUATION OF THE SYSTEMS RELIABILITY USING FUZZY LIFETIME DISTRIBUTION

In this paper we consider the problem of the evaluation of system reliability, in which the lifetimes of components are described using a fuzzy exponential distribution. Formula of a fuzzy reliability function and its α-cut set are presented. The fuzzy reliability of structures is defined on the basis of fuzzy number. Furthermore, the fuzzy reliability functions of k -out-ofm system, series systems and parallel systems and their FMTTF are discussed, respectively. Finally, some numerical examples are presented to illustrate how to calculate the fuzzy reliability function and its a cut set.
Bactericidal Activity of an Imidazo[1, 2-a]pyridine Using a Mouse M. tuberculosis Infection Model

Tuberculosis remains a global threat due in part to the long treatment regimen and the increased prevalence of drug resistant M. tuberculosis strains. Therefore, new drug regimens are urgently required to combat this deadly disease. We previously synthesized and evaluated a series of new anti-tuberculosis compounds which belong to the family of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines. This family of compounds showed low nM MIC (minimal inhibitory concentration) values against M. tuberculosis in vitro. In this study, a derivative of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines, (N-(4-(4-chlorophenoxy)benzyl)-2,7-dimethylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-3-carboxamide) (ND-09759), was selected as a promising lead compound to determine its protective efficacy using a mouse infection model. Pharmacokinetic analysis of ND-09759 determined that at a dosage of 30 mg/kg mouse body weight (PO) gave a maximum serum drug concentration (Cmax) of 2.9 µg/ml and a half-life of 20.1 h. M. tuberculosis burden in the lungs and spleens was significantly decreased in mice treated once daily 6 days per week for 4-weeks with ND-09759 compared to untreated mice and this antibiotic activity was equivalent to isoniazid (INH) and rifampicin (RMP), two first-line anti-TB drugs. We observed slightly higher efficacy when using a combination of ND-09759 with either INH or RMP. Finally, the histopathological analysis revealed that infected mice treated with ND-09759 had significantly reduced inflammation relative to untreated mice. In conclusion, our findings indicate ND-09759 might be a potent candidate for the treatment of active TB in combination with current standard anti-TB drugs.
The Aftermarket Performance of Privatization Offerings in Developing Countries

This study examines the post-issue stock price performance of 120 privatization issues in developing countries. The results show that share issue privatizations produce economically and statistically significant positive abnormal returns over a three-year period. The results also suggest that some privatization-related characteristics, such as the level of capital market development, the percentage retained by the government and that held by foreign investors as well as the timing and the size of the issue, are essential determinants of returns to investors in developing countries. Interestingly, further analysis of anticipations shows that investors’ expectations rise over the three-year period after the issue (relative to the firms in the market). Specifically, investors seem to be relatively more pessimistic at the beginning of the privatization process but grow slightly more confident by the third year.