Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vehicle Replacement in the International Committee of the Red Cross

This paper studies 4x4 vehicle replacement within the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), one of the largest humanitarian organizations. ICRCpolicy sets the replacement of vehicles at 5 years or 150,000 Km, whichever comes first. Using field data collected at the ICRC headquarters and national level we study the ICRC policy. Our results suggest that the organization can make considerable savings by adjusting its replacement policy. This study contributes to the area of logistics and transportation research in humanitarian operations.
The roles of intermediaries in clusters: The Thai experiences in high‐tech and community‐based clusters

Summary Industrial clusters are geographical concentrations of interconnected companies, specialised suppliers, service providers, firms in related industries, and associated institutions (for example, universities, standard agencies, and trade associations) that combine to create new products and/or services in specific lines of business. At present, the concept of industrial cluster becomes very popular worldwide, policy makers at national, regional and local levels and business people in both forerunner and latecomer countries are keen to implement the cluster conceptas an economic development model. Though understanding of clusters and related promoting policies varies from one place to another, the underlying benefits of clusters from collective learning and knowledge spillovers between participating actors strongly attract the attention of these people. In Thailand, a latecomer country in terms of technological catching up, the cluster concept has been used as a means to rectify weakness and fragmentation of its innovation systems. The present Thai government aspires to apply the concept to promote both high‐tech manufacturing clusters, services clusters and community‐based clusters at the grass‐root level. This paper analyses three very different clusters in terms of technological sophistication and business objectives, i.e., hard disk drive, software and chili paste. It portrays their significant actors, the extent of interaction among them and the evolution of the clusters. Though they are very dissimilar, common characteristics attributed to qualified success are found. Main driving forces of the three clusters are cluster intermediaries. Forms of these organizations are different from a government research and technology organization (RTO), an industrial association, to a self‐organised community‐based organisation. However, they perform similar functions of stimulating information and knowledge sharing, and building trust among participating firms/individuals in the clusters. Literature in the cluster studies argues that government policies need to be cluster specific. In this case, the best way to design and implement cluster‐specific policies is through working closely with intermediaries and strengthening their institutional capabilities especially in linking member firms/individuals to other actors in clusters such as universities, government R&D institutes, and financial institutions.
Changes in the Expression of Serum MiR-887-5p in Patients With Endometrial Cancer

Objective The purpose of the study was to examine whether miR-887-5p could be used as a diagnostic marker for endometrial cancer. Methods In the first stage, differentially expressed serum micro-RNAs (miRNAs) in the sera of 50 healthy subjects and 50 patients with endometrial cancer were screened by performing Solexa sequencing. In addition, differential expression of these serum miRNAs in endometrial cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues from 3 patients with endometrial cancer was examined. Comparison of the differentially expressed miRNAs showed that miR-887-5p was significantly expressed in the sera of patients with endometrial cancer as well as in endometrial cancer tissues. In the second stage, quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was performed to verify the levels of miR-887-5p in the sera of 20 patients with endometrial cancer and of 20 healthy subjects. Results Expression of miR-887-5p was significantly increased in the sera of patients with endometrial cancer (P < 0.05) compared with that in the sera of healthy subjects. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the area of miR-887-5 under the ROC curve for endometrial cancer diagnosis was 0.728, specificity was 0.60, sensitivity was 0.95, and 95% confidence interval was 0.563-0.892. Besides, with strict screen, we eliminate the other risk factors of endometrial cancer in our healthy donors and cancer patients. Statistical analysis of data obtained for patients in the 2 stages by using SPSS version 17.0 indicated that menarche age (P = 0.47, P = 0.49), body mass index (P = 0.313, P = 0.749), history of hypertension (P = 0.517, P = 0.058), and diabetes (P = 0.205, P = 0.507) had no correlation with endometrial cancer. Conclusion Serum miR-887-5p levels were significantly increased in patients with endometrial cancer. Therefore, serum miR-887-5p could be used as a potential biomarker for endometrial cancer.
Genetic Testing for Myeloid Neoplasms and Leukemia Effective : September 1 , 2017

PLEASE NOTE: Contracts exclude from coverage, among other things, services or procedures that are considered investigational or cosmetic. Providers may bill members for services or procedures that are considered investigational or cosmetic. Providers are encouraged to inform members before rendering such services that the members are likely to be financially responsible for the cost of these services.
Exchange Rate Volatility and International Trade Flows in sub-Saharan Africa: Empirical Evidence

In this article, the authors examine the relationship between the volatility in exchange rates and the volume of international trade in sub-Saharan African countries. Using the gravity equation and annual data for the period 1998–2007, they find a statistically significant and negative correlation between the volatility in exchange rates and the volume of trade. The estimated elasticities show that the responsiveness of the flow of international trade to changes in exchange rate volatility is very small. This suggests that eliminating the volatility in the exchange rates will result in only small increments in the volume of trade. Accordingly, pursuing a policy of exchange rate stability would not be sufficient to significantly increase the volume of bilateral trade in the sub-Saharan African region.
The role of entrepreneurial orientation in service firms: empirical evidence from Austria

Entrepreneurial behaviour is becoming increasingly important for all firms, regardless of size, age, or industry sector. It is increasingly seen as one of the most important drivers for economic growth and corporate success. Nevertheless, no empirical research has so far concentrated on the role of entrepreneurial behaviour in service firms, although the service sector has become the most important (and the only growing) industry sector. This article therefore investigates the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and corporate performance on the basis of an empirical survey of 310 service firms in Austria. Here, a significant positive relationship between EO and corporate performance could be identified, with a clear emphasis on innovative behaviour as the most important sub-dimension.
An Empirical Study of Labor Market Equilibrium under Working Hours Constraints

Predictions of economic theory for the equilibrium condition of workers in three labor markets with differing working hours constraints are tested. Original data allow the marginal rate of substitution of income for leisure to be estimated directly. In two markets, working hours constraints resulting from high fixed employment costs and the overtime premium, respectively, cause workers to desire fewer and more hours. In the third market (agricultural labor), constraint factors are absent. The predicted relationship between the wage and the marginal rate of substitution of income for leisure holds in each case. Implications for agency and human capital models are investigated. Additionally, in the agricultural case, preferences and equilibria are indistinguishable for legal and illegal workers. Copyright 1990 by MIT Press.
Challenges and Opportunities of Multilingual Library Websites: Evidence from a Developing Country

This study investigates the language barriers on library websites, analyzingdata collected from 133 library websites in Pakistan. Despite a significant increase in the number of library websites in Pakistan, the development of multilingual library websites is still in its infancy stages and doesn't cater to the needs of diverse population of its users. The study provides first-hand findings on the multilinguality of library websites in Pakistan with a focus on challenges and opportunities arising from such websites. Implications of research along with future research directions are also discussed.
Intrapreneurship: Assessing and Defining Attributes of Intrapreneurs

Using a sample of 101 managers, an attempt is made to assess and validate the Intrapreneurship Scale developed by Lessem way back in 1988. This scale comprised seven conceptually defined dimensions, namely, adventurer, innovator, designer (enabler), leader, entrepreneur, change agent and animateur. The study concluded that the alpha coefficients at the item level as well as the overall alpha and split half reliabilities establish the relevance and usefulness of four out of seven dimensions. These are adventurer, innov ator, entrepreneur and animateur. However, the other three dimensions, i.e., designer, leader and change agent subscales showed relatively poor consist ency estimates. In the context of all future researches, the authors suggest that there is a need to assess more extensively the intrinsic properties of the Intrapreneurship Scale using the interval level measurement more than the ordinal level measurement.
Comparison of Washing and Swabbing Procedures for Collecting Genital Fluids To Assess Cervicovaginal Shedding of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 DNA

ABSTRACT Asymptomatic genital shedding of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) DNA was evidenced by real-time PCR in 25 (13.2%) of 188 cervicovaginal lavage samples and in only 13 (6.9%) paired cervicovaginal samples from 188 HSV-2-seropositive, nonpregnant childbearing-aged human immunodeficiency virus-seronegative women living in Gabon. These observations demonstrate that cervicovaginal washing is more suitable than endocervicovaginal swabbing for detecting and quantifying HSV-2 DNA by PCR in female genital secretions.
Idiopathic Hypopituitarism with Biologically Inactive TSH

each evening from Day 7 to Day 28 of each cycle. This completely relieved the cyclical cedema over an eleven-month period. Luteal phase prolactin levels were 7.7 (s.d.±2.1) ng/ml (n=12) during therapy and these values were significantly lower than the pretreatment values (P<0.05). The patient's weight fluctuated by less than 1 kg during the cycle and further investigation demonstrated that she was in fluid balance. Plasma renin levels were normal during the luteal phase of the cycle (21 and 17 ng/l/min lying, 19 and 31 ng/l/min standing).
The Risk-Return Paradox for Strategic Management: Disentangling True and Spurious Effects

The concept of risk is central to strategy research and practice. Yet, the expected positive association between risk and return, familiar from financial markets, is elusive. Measuring risk as the variance of a series of accounting-based returns, Bowman obtained the puzzling result of a negative association between risk and mean return. This finding, known as the Bowman paradox, has spawned a remarkable number of publications, and various explanations have been suggested. The present paper contributes to this literature by showing that skewness of individual firms’ return distributions has a considerable spurious effect on the mean-variance relationship. I devise a method to disentangle true and spurious effects, illustrate it using simulations, and apply it to empirical data. It turns out that the size of the spurious effect is such that, on average, it explains the larger part of the observed negative relationship. My results might thus help to reconcile mean-variance approaches to risk-return analysis with other, ex-ante, approaches. In concluding, I show that the analysis of skewness is linked to all three streams of literature devoted to explaining the Bowman paradox.
Decomposing Learning by Doing in New Plants

The paper examines learning by doing in the context of a production function in which the other arguments are labor, human capital, physical capital, and vintage as a proxy for embodied technical change in physical capital. Learning is further decomposed into organization learning, capital learning, and manual task learning. The model is tested with time-series and cross-section data for various samples of up to 2,150 plants over a 14-year period.
Multinational corporations as channels for international technology transfer: evidence from the South African innovation survey

In this article, we investigate the importance of South African subsidiaries of foreign multinationals as channels to introduce foreign innovations in the South African market. We use firm-level data from the 2008 wave of the South African Innovation Survey, which covers the period 2005-07. We find that subsidiaries of foreign multinationals are significantly more likely to introduce product and process innovations, as well as foreign new products and processes than domestic firms. However, we also find that they are not more likely to introduce foreign innovations developed in collaboration with or mostly by another firm outside their own multinational, or innovations that are new to the South African market.
Australian Managed Fund Ratings and Individual Investors

This paper examines the use and understanding of managed fund ratings in Australia. A survey of individual retail investors suggests information source and selection criteria constructs are more useful in explaining the role of ratings than an approach based solely on expectations of return and risk. There does not appear to be discrimination in the use of rating providers by investors. Reliance on a particular rating is not significantly related to what investors consider the purpose of the rating to be, or the importance they place on rating inputs. Competing rating providers have more explaining to do.
E-learning: reflections and evaluation of corporate programmes

The majority of the articles on e-learning inform organizations on the perceived benefits of introducing technology to deliver training programmes. These benefits are primarily regarded as flexibility, cost and breadth of coverage. The disadvantages are largely ignored. The pedagogical debate on e-learning concentrates on the delivery of e-learning within a traditional educational forum and does not examine trends within a corporate environment. This study, which was supported by the University Forum for Human Resource Development, reflects on the directions and experiences of organizations listed in the FTSE 250 that are implementing e-learning. It concludes that the advantages of an online pedagogy are not fully exploited due to limitations in technology and other strategic priorities. In addition, a number of lessons have been learned by the pioneers of corporate e-learning, including the evolutionary nature of the programmes and the need to create ‘organizational readiness’. Further research is essential to consider all stakeholders' experiences of e-learning, and the learner's voice is significant by its absence in the debate.
Development of electroretinogram and rod phototransduction response in human infants.

PURPOSE To describe and analyze developmental change from birth through maturity of human electroretinogram (ERG) response, especially in terms of rod phototransduction as represented in the ERG a-wave. METHODS Electroretinograms were recorded from 16 human infants from 5 to 270 days of age, two children 1.9 and 3.4 years of age, and 13 older subjects between 10 and 43 years of age. A range of full-field, white-light flashes up to intensities sufficient to saturate a-wave and b-wave amplitudes and a-wave rate-of-rise was used. The a-wave leading edge, the a-wave and b-wave amplitudes, and the b/a-wave ratio at maximum intensity were analyzed using a model of the activation steps of the G-protein phototransduction cascade. This model, applied to a-waves, provides three parameters interpretable in terms of rod phototransduction: amax (a-wave maximum amplitude, proportional to circulating dark current), A' (estimated constant of transduction amplification), and t'eff (sum of brief delays associated with the cascade steps). RESULTS Both amax and bmax (maximum b-wave amplitude) increased rapidly from birth. bmax reached apparently mature values by approximately 6 months, but amax, and thus (b/a)max (b/a ratio at maximum intensity), did not reach mature values until sometime after the third or fourth year. Similarly, A' was immature at birth at approximately 25% to 50% of adult levels at intensities below rate-of-rise saturation. For the youngest infants, rate-of-rise saturation appeared to occur at lower effective isomerizations per rod compared to that of the adult. Following a time course similar to that of amax, full maturity for A' probably was not reached before 5 years of age. CONCLUSIONS Results from the a-wave analysis are consistent with immaturities in the rod photoreceptors early in life. The difference from those of the adult may be explained by lower neonatal concentrations in one or more of the transduction substrates, decreased outer segment length, and, possibly, decreased density of some membrane proteins mediating the cationic dark current. Early adultlike b-wave amplitudes suggest early maturity for the inner retinal elements (rod bipolar and Müller cells) underlying b-wave response, compared to the photoreceptors.
MRI abnormalities of the brain in one‐year‐old children with sickle cell anemia

Sickle cell anemia (SCA) frequently results in damage to the central nervous system (CNS), but the age of onset of these effects is uncertain. We performed MRI examinations of the brain in infants with SCA, who were evaluated as part of the multicenter randomized double‐blinded Pediatric Hydroxyurea Phase III Clinical Trial (BABY HUG).
Monetary Policy Signaling and Movements in the Swedish Term Structure of Interest Rates

This paper examines how various monetary policy signals such as repo rate changes, inflation reports, speeches, and minutes from monetary policy meetings affect the term structure of interest rates. We find that unexpected movements in the short end of the yield curve are mainly driven by unexpected changes in the repo rate, while speeches is a more important determinant for the longer interest rates. Hence, we conclude that central bank communication is an essential part of the conduct of monetary policy.
Pretia ex Machina? Prices and Process in Long-Term Contracts

AIMONG the primary motives for writing contracts identified in both the law and economics literatures is the desire to protect against the hazards inherent to exchange where one or both parties have invested in reliance, or relationship-specific assets, in support of the transaction. ' Because such investments have a higher value in their intended than in their next best use, parties have an incentive to engage in haggling or other forms of opportunism in hopes of influencing the distribution of the resulting quasi rents. Contracts promote efficiency by securing the distribution of those rents ex ante, thereby avoiding costly repetitive bargaining over the terms of trade and reducing the risk for each party of relying on the performance of the other. In reality, this description of the role and functioning of contracting is oversimplified. As a number of legal and economic scholars have emphasized, contracts are not the precise, mechanically enforced documents often encountered in economic theory.2 Indeed, contracts are extremely
Epidemilogical analysis of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates by antimicrobial susceptibility testing, auxotyping and serotyping.

PURPOSE This study was carried out to analyze the epidemiology of gonorrhea based on antimicrobial susceptibility testing, auxotyping and serotyping in New Delhi, India. METHODS Sixty gonococcal isolates from males with urethritis, females with endocervicitis and their sexual contacts were studied. The isolates were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing, auxotyping and serotyping for epidemiological characterization. RESULTS We observed nine antibiotic resistance patterns. Ninety-eight percent of isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin, while 20% isolates were penicillinase producing N. gonorrhoeae (PPNG) and 18.3% isolates were tetracycline resistant N. gonorrhoeae (TRNG). Eight auxotypes were observed, of which the NR (non-requiring), proline requiring and arginine requiring were most common auxotypes. On the basis of serotyping alone, the gonococcal isolates could be differentiated into three serogroups and 18 serovars. Serogroup WI represented 46.7% and WII/III represented 51.7% of isolates and one strain was WI and WII/WIII serogroup combination. When results of auxotyping and serotyping were combined (A/S) 29 A/S classes could be identified. The most prevalent A/S classes were NR/Aost, NR/Arost, Pro/Aost and Pro/Boprt. CONCLUSIONS Although A/S typing had the highest discriminatory index, isolates recovered from index case and their sexual contacts were found to be identical by all typing methods.
Pedestrian detection with a resolution-aware convolutional network

Pedestrian detection from in-vehicle camera images for the purpose of advanced driver assistance systems is of particular importance in cases of low-resolution pedestrians, because it is desirable to detect the pedestrian as far from the vehicle as possible to effectively provide safe driving support for the driver. Most previous studies on pedestrian detection, however, have focused on pedestrians with comparatively high resolutions. Unfortunately, the scale invariant assumption does not hold in the case of low resolution, and the pedestrian detection performance suffers greatly as the resolution decreases. From this background, this paper deals with pedestrian detection from an image including low-resolution pedestrians. We present a method of detecting pedestrians with a resolution-aware CNN-based architecture, RACNN, that learns low-level image feature with resolution information. Furthermore, we demonstrate the advantage of the proposed method by the evaluation using the Caltech-USA dataset.
Economic Recessions, Discretionary Fiscal Resources, and Government Contracting

This study aims to reconcile two opposing positions on the relationship between economic recessions and contracting, presented by the government contracting literature and the public finance literature. In addition, the effect of discretionary fiscal resources is considered from a resource dependence perspective. Panel data analyses are conducted on 260 California cities with populations over 25,000 for the past 17 fiscal years from 1992 to 2008. Results indicate that city governments tend to spend more money on contracting when they face a worsening economy, supporting the government contracting literature. The two incompatible positions seem to originate from different assumptions on whether city governments are able to sustain existing levels of overall local services during economic downturns. Results also suggest that more discretionary fiscal resources, in the form of undesignated unreserved fund balances, are likely to be used less for contracting.