Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Model of R&D Leadership and Team Communication: The Relationship with Project Performance

Industrial research and development (R&D) involves the processing and transformation of new knowledge into a commercially valuable outcome. Communication is an effective mechanism to translate, share and integrate new information into commercial products or processes. We developed a five-factor model of team communication comprising: leadership role performance, team boundary spanning, communication safety, team reflexivity and task communication and tested the model using a one-year longitudinal study. Analyses were conducted on team level data from 56 teams, comprising 350 employees. Independent measures of project performance were obtained from surveys of research managers as well as project customers. Three findings emerged. Different factors predicted different stakeholders' ratings of project performance. Communication safety was the strongest predictor of customer ratings of performance. Boundary spanning is most effective when performed by the project leader not the team.
Empirical analysis of non-linear activation functions for Deep Neural Networks in classification tasks

We provide an overview of several non-linear activation functions in a neural network architecture that have proven successful in many machine learning applications. We conduct an empirical analysis on the effectiveness of using these function on the MNIST classification task, with the aim of clarifying which functions produce the best results overall. Based on this first set of results, we examine the effects of building deeper architectures with an increasing number of hidden layers. We also survey the impact of using, on the same task, different initialisation schemes for the weights of our neural network. Using these sets of experiments as a base, we conclude by providing a optimal neural network architecture that yields impressive results in accuracy on the MNIST classification task.
Resident attitudes to tourism development — a comparative study between the Rangitikei, New Zealand and Bakewell, United Kingdom

This paper compares responses made to the same questionnaire by residents in two rural areas, one in New Zealand and the other in the UK. However, the areas are in different stages of the destination life cycle. As predicted by Doxey's theory of the Irridex, the attitudes of residents towards tourism in the area which is at the late involvement stage are very supportive, whereas those living in the area which is a mature tourism destination are significantly less so. Other possible determinants of residents' attitudes such as socio-demographic variables, occupation and length of residence were not found to be determining variables. As these conventional determinants failed to act as discriminators an alternative approach is proposed for future research. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Budgetary constraints and programmatic choices by Flemish subsidized theatres

We analyse programmatic choices of Flemish theatres and examine how they are affected by the theatres’ budgetary situation. Following Lancaster's characteristics approach, we identify several output characteristics of individual Flemish theatres during the period 1980 to 2000. A simultaneous equation approach is used to capture the theatre managers’, subsidizing government's and consumers’ behaviour. We find that changes in the budgetary situation of a theatre are translated into changes of both the ‘amount’ and the nature of the theatre's output. The budgetary impact on artistic choices has intensified since the introduction of a 4-yearly instead of yearly allocation of subsidies. The decrease in financial risk for the individual theatres leads to an increase in artistic risk-taking.
E-Government and Corruption: A Longitudinal Analysis of Countries

Corruption remains a common governance concern for most countries, and the deployment of information technology in the public sector can potentially increase the transparency of government. This article reviews the past research on e-government and corruption at country level, develops a comprehensive model, and utilizes a most recent longitudinal dataset from 80 countries for five selected years (2003–2010). Our panel data analysis suggests that the development of e-government is correlated with lower levels of perceived corruption. In addition, the perceived level of corruption is also related to several other factors including government effectiveness, gender ratio, and government size.
Multilevel Factors Associated With Overall Mortality for Men Diagnosed With Prostate Cancer in Florida

To identify individual and contextual factors contributing to overall mortality among men diagnosed with prostate cancer in Florida, a random sample of patients (between October 1, 2001, and December 31, 2007) was taken from the Florida Cancer Data System. Patient’s demographic and clinical information were obtained from the Florida Cancer Data System. Comorbidity was computed following the Elixhauser Index method. Census-tract-level socioeconomic status and farm house presence were extracted from Census 2000 and linked to patient data. The ratio of urologists and radiation oncologists to prostate cancer cases at the county level was computed. Multilevel logistic regression was conducted to identify significance of individuals and contextual factors in relation to overall mortality. A total of 18,042 patients were identified, among whom 2,363 died. No racial difference was found in our study. Being older at diagnosis, unmarried, current smoker, uninsured, diagnosed at late stage, with undifferentiated, poorly differentiated, or unknown tumor grade were significantly associated with higher odds of overall mortality. Living in a low-income area was significantly associated with higher odds of mortality (p = .0404). After adjusting for age, stage, and tumor grade, patients who received hormonal, combination of radiation with hormone therapy, and no definitive treatment had higher odds of mortality compared with those who underwent surgery only. A large number of comorbidities were associated with higher odds of mortality. Although disease-specific mortality was not examined, our findings suggest the importance of careful considerations of patient sociodemographic characteristics and their coexisting conditions in treatment decision making, which in turn affects mortality.
Travel Motivations of Japanese Overseas Travelers: A Factor-Cluster Segmentation Approach

Using a factor-cluster market segmentation approach, this study attempted to delineate the motivations of Japanese travelers who travel abroad for pleasure. Based on six delineated push motivation factors, cluster analysis was employed to identify similar respondents based on their motivations. The findings show that there are three distinct groups: sports seekers, novelty seekers, and family/relaxation seekers. Age and education variables were shown to be statistically significant among the three groups. The article concludes with market ing implications of the study results and suggestions for future research.
CEO image, NAS and risk assessment

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the interactive effect of the provision of non-audit services (NAS) and auditors' perceptions of management integrity on assessments of risk of material misstatement. Design/methodology/approach - The research method consisted of a behavioral experiment involving 47 audit seniors from a big-four accounting firm. Findings - Manipulations of management integrity significantly affected risk assessments. Manipulations of NAS did not affect risk assessment. However, a significant interaction manifested itself – participants who role-played auditors providing significant tax consulting services tended to highly discount the incremental risk of material misstatement arising out of dubious management integrity, compared with their counterparts who role-played auditors not providing any NAS. Research limitations/implications - This study shows that, while provision of NAS may not in and of itself impact auditor independence, it has the potential to impact audit quality by mitigating the effect of other audit evidence. This study also highlights the importance of testing for interactions since main effects may not readily capture the complexities involved. Practical implications - The finding calls for continuing attention to the issue of NAS provision and audit firm culture and a redoubling of efforts to ameliorate the effects of auditor-provided NAS. Originality/value - This is one of the few papers that consider the interactive effect of provision of NAS and CEO image on assessment of management integrity. This is important because the likelihood of fraud increases when management integrity is suspect and the auditor is not vigilant.
Can I get a job if I wear Hijab? An exploratory study of the perceptions of South Asian Muslim Women in the US and the UAE

The impact of the Islamic headscarf (hijab) on employment opportunities in Western contexts has been explored in a number of studies, but there is limited information on the topic as it applies to Islamic mainstream contexts. The current study explores the impact of the hijab on perceptions of employability among South Asian Muslim women in the United States (US) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Perceptions of women that wear hijab (hijabis) and women that do not wear hijab (non-hijabis) were analyzed. Both hijabis and non-hijabis perceived that wearing hijab in the US lowered the chances of applicants receiving a job offer. In the UAE, however, the results were mixed with non-hijabis perceiving that hijab has a negative effect on employability and hijabis perceiving the opposite effect. Implications of the results are discussed.
Accounting Faculty Perceptions Regarding Diversity Issues and Academic Environment

Recently, the Association for the Advancement of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International began requiring a descriptive summary of strategies used to address and ensure diversity, particularly when determining an institution's eligibility for accreditation. As a result, business schools (accounting programs) will have to define diversity with respect to their missions and cultural contexts (demographic make‐up). Therefore, this study's objective is to provide comparisons between majority and minority accounting faculty respondents regarding diversity issues and the current academic environment. Survey results indicate women (Caucasian) and minorities, more so than men (Caucasian), feel departments are not diverse with respect to gender and race, and cite under‐representation in terms of tenure and higher ranks. The respondents' written comments note current problems with diversity initiatives related to reverse discrimination, “window dressing” rather than real commitment, and market constrain.
Agricultural information systems: a national case study

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to investigate the agricultural information system in Turkey, with particular reference to the effectiveness of this system for farmers.Design/methodology/approach – A case study based on a review of the literature, established knowledge and national experience to date.Findings – That, in Turkey, there is insufficient connection between the publishing activities of research institutions and other institutions active in the field. This lack of coordination causes an incomplete distribution of agricultural information to farmers. In particular, this creates an information system in which there is no effective feedback in the “research–publishing–farmer” triangle. Yet distribution of agricultural information to users and reciprocal user feedback is vital, because it is the essential mechanism by which a consistently reliable and effective distribution of information can be maintained.Research limitations/implications – Although the central thesis of the paper is not adva.
Balancing forecast errors in continuous-trade intraday markets

Forecasting the output of photovoltaic (PV) and wind power systems inevitably implies inaccuracies, requiring balancing efforts prior to delivery. This paper takes the perspective of an operator who aims at compensating PV or wind power forecast errors in the continuous-trade intraday market. We combine a trade value concept with options valuation and dynamic programming to optimize volume and timing decisions of an individual power plant operator without market power. The model employs a multi-dimensional binomial lattice, with trade value maximized at every node to help formulating bids in view of correlated, uncertain production forecast and price patterns. Inspired by the German electricity market’s characteristics, we test the sensitivity of the model’s trade activities to changing parameters in 50 different scenarios. It shows that the model effectively outbalances price against volumetric risks. Trades are executed early and with large batch sizes in the case of price volatility. In contrast, increasing forecast error uncertainty leads to trade delays. High transaction costs trigger batch size reductions and ultimately further trade delays. Running 10,000 simulations across ten scenarios, we find that the model translates its flexible trade execution into a competitive advantage vis-à-vis static bidding strategy alternatives.
The obesity epidemic: is bariatric surgery the antidote?

1Department of Surgery, Division of General Surgery; 2Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta Correspondence: Dr Eldon Shaffer, University of Calgary, Division of Gastroenterology, Health Science Centre, 3330 Hospital Drive Northwest, Calgary, Alberta T2N 4N1. Telephone 403-210-9363, fax 403-210-9358, e-mail shaffer@ucalgary.ca Received for publication January 2, 2005. Accepted February 23, 2005 EPIDEMIOLOGY AND IMPACT OF OBESITY We live in a supersized world, where big is small, huge is medium and enormous is large. A recent addition to this environment was the Hardee’s “Monster thickburger” boasting a gargantuan 1420 calories and 107 g of fat. Not only has this product taken off, customers have been literally devouring it, leading to a 20% increase in sales at Hardee’s stores since its 2003 debut (1). Therefore, it is not surprising that in the United States, at least 131 million adults are overweight or obese, and obesity is the second most common cause of death in the United States (2). In Canada, the situation is similar, with almost 31% of Canadian adults classified as obese (3); indeed, obesity has doubled over a 13-year period from 1985 to 1998 (4). The health consequences of obesity are devastating and expensive, accounting for 2.4% of the total Canadian health care expenditures for all diseases and a direct cost of $1.8 billion in 1998 (4). Furthermore, obesity is associated with many comorbid illnesses such as hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, hyperlipidemia, hyperinsulinemia, coronary artery disease, stroke, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, gastroesophageal reflux disease, pancreatitis and steatohepatitis, as well as breast, endometrial, prostate and colon cancer. These alone account for an additional 2.5 million deaths per year worldwide (5). Thus, organizations such as the National Institutes of Health and the Surgeon General of the United States have acknowledged the importance of the problem and have urged the development of public health strategies to curb the epidemic (6).
Extensions of the Planning Horizon Theorem in the Dynamic Lot Size Model

This paper considers an N period production planning problem in which a sequence of known demands d 1 , d 2 ,. , d N must be satisfied. The cost of production in period t consists of a setup cost K t plus a marginal cost per unit c t . The cost of carrying a unit of inventory into period t is h t - 1 . An optimal policy is a production plan that satisfies demand at minimum cost. The main results of the paper are a theorem that decreases the computational effort required to find optimal policies and a theorem that establishes the existence of planning horizons. The results of these two theorems are combined in a forward algorithm for the efficient solution of the problem.
Soft tissue changes associated with first premolar extractions in adult females

Abstract Background The potential for premolar extractions to produce changes in the soft tissue profile after orthodontic treatment is controversial. Aim To evaluate the soft tissue changes associated with four first premolar extractions in adult females of South Indian ethnicity. Method Pre- and post-treatment lateral cephalometric radiographs of 30 adult female patients of South Indian ethnicity with bimaxillary dentoalveolar protrusion, requiring premolar extractions as a part of their orthodontic treatment, were used. The radiographs were traced and changes in three angular and 12 linear measurements measured relative to the perpendicular to the horizontal reference line, 7 degrees down from S-N through S. Correlation coefficients between the changes in the upper and lower incisors and the lip measurements were calculated. Results All linear and angular measurements, except for changes in upper and lower lip thickness, B’ point and the anterior point on the lower lip, showed statistically significant (p < 0.05) changes with treatment. A significant negative correlation was found between upper incisor change and nasolabial angle change and a significant positive correlation was found between upper incisor change and retraction of the most anterior point on the upper lip. Conclusion Extraction of the four first premolars followed by the retraction of incisors reduced the dental and soft tissue protrusion found in adult South Indian females with bimaxillary dentoalveolar protrusion.
Testosterone can initiate spermatogenesis in an immature nonhuman primate, Macaca fascicularis.

Four 1-yr-old, i.e. immature, monkeys (M. fascicularis) were treated with testosterone. For the first 21 weeks, they received testosterone capsules sc; thereafter for the remainder of 1 yr, they received weekly injections of 125 mg testosterone enanthate. Four similarly aged monkeys served as untreated controls. The testosterone enanthate injections produced a peak level of 345 +/- 70 nmol/liter (mean +/- SD) after 24 h and the levels were 187 +/- 39 nmol/liter 7 days later. The overall mean level of circulating testosterone in the untreated monkeys was 3.5 +/- 1.1 nmol/liter. Testicular volumes of the treated monkeys became 6 times larger than those of the untreated monkeys. The testicular testosterone concentrations of the treated monkeys were about 2- to 4-fold greater than those of untreated immature monkeys but no more than 82% of the normal adult range. Spermatogenesis in varying degrees of completeness was found in the testes of all four treated monkeys. Moreover, sperm, including some motile cells were found in the ejaculates of two monkeys. These data lead to the conclusion that spermatogenesis can be initiated, although not quantitatively, in an immature nonhuman primate by testosterone treatment.
Malaysian unit trust aggregate performance

Purpose - This paper seeks to focus on examining unit trust performance in Malaysia over the period 1991-2001. Design/methodology/approach - The broad based study covers full economic cycles using 7 different performance measures: raw return, market adjusted return, Jensen's alpha, adjusted Jensen's alpha, Sharpe Index, adjusted Sharpe Index, and Treynor Index. Findings - The results show that on average the performance of Malaysian unit trust falls below market portfolio and risk free returns. However, the variance of unit trust monthly returns is less than the market. Performance by type of funds indicates that bond funds show relatively superior performance, over and above the market and equity unit trusts. This is due to the high interest rate kept during the crisis period. Findings also suggest that there is no persistency in performance as there is no significant inter-temporal correlation between past and current performance. Research limitations/implications - The issue of inferior performance needs further investigations to adjust for great importance placed on maintaining consistent dividend distribution. In addition, ill-managed funds must be separately analysed to see if limited budget, less qualified managers, use of limited information and less sophisticated software could explain the poor performance. Practical implications - A very useful source of information for potential investors and portfolio management companies looking for opportunities to invest. Originality/value - The paper contributes to the present body of knowledge by offering broad based performance evidence from an emerging market with strong government back up for unit trusts investment.
Bargaining structure, corporatism and macroeconomic performance

Centralization of wage bargaining Lars Calmfors and John Driffill The structure of labour markets is increasingly perceived as a determinant of the macroeconomic performance of a country. This article focuses on one aspect of labour markets, the degree of centralization of wage setting. The main conclusion is that extremes work best. Either highly centralized systems with national bargaining (such as in Austria and the Nordic countries), or highly decentralized systems with wage setting at the level of individual firms (such as in Japan, Switzerland and the US) seem to perform well. The worst outcomes with respect to employment may well be found in systems with an intermediate degree of centralization (such as in Belgium and the Netherlands). This conclusion is reasonably well supported by the available empirical evidence. It is also logical. Indeed, large and all-encompassing trade unions naturally recognize their market power and take into account both the inflationary and unemployment effects of wage increases. Conversely, unions operating at the individual firm or plant level have very limited market power. In intermediate cases, unions can exert some market power but are led to ignore the macroeconomic implications of their actions. These conclusions challenge the conventional wisdom which asserts that the more ‘corporatist’ is an economy, the better is its economic performance.
The relationship between organisational culture, organisational climate and managerial values

This paper begins with a comprehensive review of the management literature on culture, and demonstrates close parallels with research and writings on organisational climate and values. The paper then reports the findings from an empirical investigation into the relationship between the organisational culture, climate, and managerial values of a large Australian public sector agency. The relative strengths of four dimensions of culture in this organisation were measured using Hofstede’s instrument. Added to this were items from a questionnaire developed by Ryder and Southey, derived from the Jones and James instrument measuring psychological climate and providing scores across six specific dimensions of organisational climate. Measures of managerial values, drawn from a questionnaire by Flowers and Hughes, were also incorporated. Results show that levels of culture within this particular organisation are at variance with those reported by Hofstede from his Australian data. Findings indicate a strong link between specific organisational climate items and a number of managerial values dimensions. Additional relationships between particular dimensions of culture, climate and managerial values are also reported. From this, a hypothesised, predictive model of linkages between the constructs is presented.