Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The relationship between employees' perceptions of organizational climate and customer retention rates in a major UK retail bank

There has been increasing interest in the field of customer retention in the last two decades.Much of that interest has focused on the economics of customer retention and developing plans and strategies for companies to follow in order to improve customer retention. There has been little research into what determines customer retention, particularly from the perspective of organizational climate. This paper examines the relationship between employees' perceptions of organizational climate and customer retention in a specific service setting, namely a major UK retail bank. Employees' perceptions of the practices and procedures in relation to customer care at their branch were investigated using a case study approach. The findings revealed that there is a relationship between employees' perceptions of organizational climate and customer retention at a micro-organizational level. They suggested that organizational climate can be subdivided into five climate themes and that, within each climate theme,there are several dimensions that are critical to customer retention.
What industry wants: employers' preferences for training

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyse what retail and hospitality industry employers want from training and trainers.Design/methodology/approach – The research project was undertaken for Service Skills Australia, the Australian Industry Skills Council that oversees formal training for a range of service industries in Australia. The paper utilises data from focus groups and telephone interviews with representatives of the retail and hospitality industries, and telephone interviews with staff of the relevant UK Sector Skills Councils, to provide international benchmarking for the issues raised.Findings – Results showed that, while industry representatives stated that they prioritised industry skills and knowledge above education skills and knowledge, a complex mixture of the two was required, which was generally felt to be lacking. Curriculum for training was also perceived to be deficient, despite Training packages having been developed in consultation with industry. A comparison w.
Spread Times of Hepatitis C Virus Estimated by the Molecular Clock Differ among Japan, the United States and Egypt in Reflection of Their Distinct Socioeconomic Backgrounds

Infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is taking an ever increasing role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) over the world. Dynamics of HCV infection were determined by the molecular clock, estimating the dissemination time when HCV entered the country and the ‘spread time’ when it started to grow exponentially on a national scale. A comparison of HCV dynamics in Japan, the United States and Egypt has disclosed different dissemination and spread times among the three countries. Furthermore, they faithfully mirror socioeconomic as well as medical and paramedical events inherent to each country responsible for the wide spread of HCV infection during the past. Epidemic histories of HCV would enable us to predict what is going to happen in the future for HCV infection, in special reference to HCC associated with it. Population dynamics of HCV need to be determined in other countries where HCV prevails and compared with those in the three countries described. These studies should help foresee what will happen in the near future for HCV infection in a given country, time the future development of HCC and take measures for preventing it.
A multiplex PCR for identifying Shiga‐like toxin‐producing Escherichia coli O157 : H7

A multiplex PCR assay specifically detecting Escherichia coli O157 : H7 was developed by employing primers amplifying a DNA sequence upstream of E. coli O157 : H7 eaeA gene and genes encoding Shiga‐like toxins (SLT) I and II. Analysis of 151 bacterial strains revealed that all E. coli O157 : H7 strains were identified simultaneously with the SLT types and could be distinguished from E. coli O55 : H7 and E. coli 055 : NM, and other non‐O157 SLT‐producing E. coli strains. Primer design, reaction composition (in particular, primer quantity and ratios), and amplification profile were most important in development of this multiplex PCR. This assay can serve not only as a confirmation test but also potentially can be applied to detect the pathogen in food.
Massive Organ Inflammation in Experimental and in Clinical Meningococcal Septic Shock

ABSTRACT Fulminant meningococcal sepsis is characterized by a massive growth of bacteria in the circulation, regarded as the primary inflammatory site, with no specific solid organ focus. Here we aimed to study the local inflammatory response in organs using a porcine model of fulminant meningococcal septic shock challenged with exponentially increasing doses of heat inactivated Neisseria meningitidis. The results were compared with those obtained in organs post mortem from three patients with lethal meningococcal septic shock. Nine patients with lethal pneumococcal disease and 14 patients with sudden infant death syndrome served as controls. Frozen tissue were thawed, homogenized and prepared for quantification of bacterial DNA by real-time polymerase chain reaction, and key inflammatory mediators were measured by ELISA in the pig material and by multiplex in the human material. In addition, gene expression assayed by Affymetrix gene expression profiling was performed in the pig study. The porcine model revealed a major influx of N. meningitidis in lungs, liver, spleen, and kidneys accompanied with major production of cardinal inflammatory mediators including tumor necrosis factor, interleukin (IL)-1&bgr;, IL-6, and IL-8, far exceeding the amount detected in blood. Genes encoding for these mediators revealed a similar profile. By comparing the wild-type with a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) deficient meningococcal strain, we documented that LPS was the dominant group of molecules inducing organ inflammation and was required for IL-8 production. IL-10 production was predominantly stimulated by non-LPS molecules. The massive organ inflammation in the porcine model was present in the three patients dying of meningococcal shock and differed markedly from the patients with lethal pneumococcal infections and sudden infant death syndrome. In conclusion, in meningococcal sepsis, a massive local inflammatory response occurs in specific organs.
Meningkatkan Kinerja BUMN: Antiipasi Terhadap Kompetisi dan Kebijakan Deregulasi

The problems concerning the state owned corporations are very closely related with the role of the national economy in development activities. Generally, the role of the national economy as reflected by the existence of the state owned enterprises is so, because oldie lack of the private sector to handle particular public problems. In Indenesio, the existence of :he state owned corporation is intended to manage the necessities of life for many people, as provided by Article 33 fine 1945 constitution. in developing the mission which must be handled by these state owned enterprises however, the role of the state owned corporations as agents of development is not achieved. This writing attemps to look normative concepts which must apply to the state owned corporations as public corporations and loosen the alternative criteria to evaluate the work of state owned corporations. Basing on this analysis, it can be concluded that the major role of the state owned enterprises in future is to shift to the provision of public services, but not the extraction of natural resources any more. For this reason therehre, standard for evaluating the work of these state owned corporations must also be developed relating to the dimensions of public services like: efficiency, effectiveness, justness and perception.
Running head : NEONATAL MASSAGE THERAPY 1 Nurses ’ Perspectives on Neonatal Massage Therapy in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Research in neonatal massage therapy has shown many possible benefits to the baby and family. Though there has been a growing trend towards family-centered care, along with a substantial and growing body of research, the practice of neonatal massage therapy is not routine in most NICUs. This study was conducted to evaluate neonatal intensive care nurses’ perspectives and attitudes towards neonatal massage therapy before and after evidence-based education. Willingness to discuss benefits of neonatal massage therapy significantly increased after education on neonatal massage therapy. The findings suggest that with proper training on the techniques and safety monitoring of massage therapy, nurses might be more willing to implement massage as part of a family-centered care with appropriate patients. NEONATAL MASSAGE THERAPY 4 Nurses’ Perspectives on Neonatal Massage Therapy in the Neonatal Intensive Care Nursery
Macrophages, microglia, and astrocytes are rapidly activated after crush injury of the goldfish optic nerve: A light electron microscopic analysis

Several matrix and adhesion molecules in fish optic nerve, which are constitutively expressed, are increased during axonal regeneration and are primarily associated with nonneuronal cells (W. P. Battisti, Y. Shinar, M. Schwartz, P. Levitt, and M. Murray [1992] J. Neurocytol. 21:557–573). The current study examines the reactions of specific cell types to optic nerve crush and axonal regeneration.
Brand perception and brand repurchase intent in online apparel shopping: An examination of brand experience, image congruence, brand affect, and brand trust

Abstract With continuous growth in online apparel shopping, many consumers have experience not only in purchasing brand products online, but also in making repeat purchases. Although repeat purchases are critical to the success of branded companies, especially in online apparel shopping, limited academic research is found examining factors that influence online shoppers’ intent to repurchase apparel of a particular brand. This research investigated the effects of four types of brand perception (i.e. brand experience, brand image-congruence, brand affect, brand trust) on brand repurchase intent in online apparel shopping. An online survey was conducted with a US national sample of 217 online apparel shoppers who had purchased and worn products from a particular apparel brand. Bootstrapping Structural Equation Modeling was used to test the proposed model and research hypotheses. The findings showed that brand experience and brand image-congruence were antecedents of brand affect. Brand image-congruence and brand affect significantly influenced brand trust. Brand image-congruence and brand trust also had direct effects on brand repurchase intent in online apparel shopping.
Washing Away Your Sins? Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Social Irresponsibility, and Firm Performance

The authors address the questions of whether and how corporate social responsibility (CSR) relates to firm performance and, in so doing, identify four mechanisms pertaining to this relationship: (1) slack resources lead to CSR (i.e., slack resources mechanism) (2) CSR improves performance (i.e., good management mechanism), (3) CSR makes amends for past corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) (i.e., penance mechanism), and (4) CSR insures against subsequent CSI (i.e., insurance mechanism). Using an integrative approach, the authors incorporate the four mechanisms in their empirical model specification. Specifically, to model the interplay among CSR, CSI, and firm performance and to test the four mechanisms simultaneously, they propose a structural panel vector autoregression specification. In support of the good management mechanism, results from an unbalanced panel data set of more than 4,500 firms and up to 19 years suggest that firms that engage in CSR are likely to benefit financially from their CSR investments. Moreover, the authors do not find support for the slack resources or the insurance mechanism. In contrast, and in support of the penance mechanism, often firms' CSR seems to trail their CSI. However, the results also suggest that the penance mechanism is ineffective in offsetting negative performance effects due to CSI.
Earning Management and Dividend Policy: Evidence from Pakistani Textile Industry

The aim of this research is to analyze the impact of earning management on dividend payout policy. This research is conducted by taking the data of textile industry from the year of 1966 to 2008. All the companies listed with Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) are used as sample. Measurement of dividend policy is done by calculating dividend payout ratio. The dividend payout (DPO) is taken as a dependent variable and the earning management (EM) is taken as an independent variable, discretionary accruals are taken as proxy of earning management and three variables are treated as control variables; return on equity (ROE), size of the firm (SF) and self finance ratio (SFR). Results explored earning management and all control variables have negative relation with dividend payout policy.
Digitization for Economic Growth and Job Creation: Regional and Industry Perspectives

KARIM SABBAGH ROMAN FRIEDRICH BAHJAT EL-DARWICHE MILIND SINGH ALEX KOSTER Booz & Company Digitization—the mass adoption of connected digital services by consumers, enterprises, and governments— has emerged in recent years as a key economic driver that accelerates growth and facilitates job creation. In the current environment of a sluggish global economy, digitization can play an important role in assisting policymakers to spur economic growth and employment. Booz & Company’s econometric analysis estimates that, despite the unfavorable global economic climate, digitization provided a US$193 billion boost to world economic output and created 6 million jobs globally in 2011.1 However, the impact of digitization by country and by sector is uneven. Developed economies enjoy higher economic growth benefits by a factor of almost 25 percent, although they tend to lag behind emerging economies in job creation by a similar margin. The main reason for the differing effects of digitization is the economic structures of developed and emerging economies. Developed countries rely chiefly on domestic consumption, which makes nontradable sectors important. Across developed economies, digitization improves productivity and has a measurable effect on growth. However, the result can be job losses because lower-skill, lower-value-added work is sent abroad to emerging markets, where labor is cheaper. By contrast, emerging markets are more export-oriented and driven by tradable sectors. They tend to gain more from digitization’s effect on employment than from its influence on growth. Policymakers can harness these varying effects of digitization through three main measures, which go beyond their current roles of setting policy and regulations. First, they should create digitization plans for targeted sectors in which they wish to maximize the impact of digitization. Second, they should encourage the development of the necessary capabilities and enablers to achieve these digitization plans. Finally, policymakers should work in concert with industry, consumers, and government agencies to establish an inclusive information and communication technologies (ICT) ecosystem that encourages greater uptake and usage of digital services.
An Investigation of Select Birth Cohorts

The 20th century has witnessed unprecedented improvement in longevity in the United States, as well as worldwide, commonly termed (among actuaries) "mortality improvement. " While this is quite an achievement for public health and public policy in general, it is also a source of risk for governments and corporations providing retirement benefits. In this work we ask whether select birth cohorts of unusually high improvements in longevity exist, where they exist and what their relationships may be in various countries. We begin by discussing criteria for defining such cohorts, and then we identify them from data. We then study the effect of these cohorts on the cost of retirement annuities and compare this effect to interest rates sensitivity.
Contrasting neuronal activity in supplementary and precentral motor cortex of monkeys. I. Responses to instructions determining motor responses to forthcoming signals of different modalities.

The present report contrasts neuronal activity in two motor cortical fields after instructions that determine which of two sensory signals will trigger a movement and which will not. The goal of the study was to determine possible differential roles of the two cortical fields in the process of preparing to move in response to one external cue and to ignore another. Single-cell recordings were made from the supplementary motor area (SMA) and the precentral motor area (PCM) of monkeys trained to perform key-press movements in two different modes. In the auditory mode, an instruction signal warned the animal to prepare to start the movement promptly in response to a forthcoming 1,000-Hz tone burst (trigger signal), but to remain motionless if the signal was vibrotactile (nontrigger signal). In the tactile mode, the trigger and nontrigger signals were reversed: a different instruction signal warned the animal to prepare to perform the key-press movement in response to the vibrotactile cue, but to withhold it in response to the 1,000-Hz tone. The instruction signals were auditory tones of 300 Hz for the auditory mode and 100 Hz for the tactile mode. Out of 259 task-related SMA neurons, 128 (49%) responded to instructions. Three types of instruction responses were observed: 1) 95 neurons showed continuous instruction-induced activity changes lasting until the occurrence of the movement-triggering signal, regardless of whether an intervening nontrigger signal occurred. 2) 24 neurons showed increased activity until the occurrence of the nontriggering signal, after which the activity subsided. When there was no nontrigger signal, the activity increased during a period when the nontrigger signal might have been given. 3) Nine neurons responded with a transient, short-latency discharge after the instruction. The responses of SMA neurons to two instructions were often different. Forty-four SMA neurons exhibited a selective response to only one of the two instructions. In 43 neurons the response was differential, with the magnitude of activity increase or decrease being at least three times greater after one instruction than the other. In the remaining 41 neurons the response was nondifferential. Out of 112 task-related PCM neurons, 25 (22%) responded to the instructions. In the majority of them (21 neurons), the instruction response was nondifferential. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Muscle fiber type proportion and size is not altered in mcardle disease

McArdle disease is a metabolic myopathy that presents with exercise intolerance and episodic rhabdomyolysis. Excessive muscle recruitment has also been shown to be present during strenuous exercise, suggesting decreased power output. These findings could potentially be explained by either impaired contractility, decreased fiber size, or altered fiber type proportion. However, there is a paucity of data on the morphological features seen on muscle histology.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: A CORPORATE STRATEGY FOR NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is coming into light with the introduction of globalization and liberalization. With the promotion of the CSR concept globally and locally, it is becoming very important to know about business entrepreneurs' views about this concept because they are the ones who are going to implement it. The changing global market scenario is, also, changing the perception of business entrepreneurs towards society and business. Now, business is not merely about earning profits for an organization, but it is more about profit sharing with employees and society. The present work is an attempt to capture the importance of CSR in business, show how the implementation of CSR practices has helped business, reveal the drivers pushing businesses towards implementation of CSR practices. There is an urgent need to focus attention on the factors and drivers that motivate companies to implement CSR practices. Finally drivers and motivators for the companies to implement CSR practices are explained with the case study of the multinational Nestle corporation.
American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology members' experience with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis and the use of adjuvant therapy.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate how evolving treatment technologies have affected our management of recurrent respiratory papilloma (RRP) since the last comprehensive survey of pediatric otolaryngologists in 1998. DESIGN Web-based survey of all American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology members residing in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. RESULTS Evaluable survey results were tabulated from 74 practitioners in 62 separate practices managing 700 current children with RRP. A total of 150 (21%) of these patients presently receive adjuvant medical therapies with cidofovir and interferon, accounting for more than two thirds of the total. Sixty-one percent of patients treated with cidofovir have experienced a beneficial response. Distal spread of RRP has occurred in 94 (13%) of the 700 patients. Half of the practices surveyed have experienced a death from RRP, with 89% of deaths directly related to RRP. The laryngeal microdebrider (53%) has supplanted the carbon dioxide laser (42%) as the preferred means of surgically removing papilloma from the larynx in children. Spontaneous, apneic, and jet ventilation (88%) anesthesia techniques have replaced the use of laser-safe endotracheal tubes (10%) as the preferred anesthetic management. Routine human papillomavirus subtyping is practiced by 45% of respondents while 15% treat all their patients with antireflux medications. Half of respondents send lesions for histologic examination only if there is a change in growth pattern while one third send lesions with every surgery. CONCLUSIONS Recurrent respiratory papilloma continues to be a frustrating disease to treat and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. There has been an evolution in the past decade toward the increased use of antiviral adjuvant therapy and the use of microdebrider techniques for surgical management.
Economic Linkages Inferred from News Stories and the Predictability of Stock Returns

We show that news stories contain information about economic linkages between firms and document that information diffuses slowly across linked stocks. Specifically, we identify linked stocks from co-mentions in news stories and find that linked stocks cross-predict one another's returns in the future. Our results indicate that information can flow from smaller to larger stocks and across industries. Content analysis of common news stories reveals many types of firm linkages that have not been previously studied. We find that the cross-predictability in returns remains even after firm pairs with customer-supplier ties are removed. Results show that both limited attention and slow processing of complex information contribute to slow information diffusion.