Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF CUSTOMER SERVICE DELIVERY SYSTEMS

A recent cover story in Time Magazine dealing with the subject of service in America made the following comments: Personal service has become a maddeningly rare commodity in the American marketplace. Flight attendants, salesclerks and bank tellers all seem to have become too scarce and too busy to give consumers much attention. Many other service workers are underpaid, untrained and unmotivated for their jobs, to the chagrin of customers who look to them for help. Economic upheaval is to blame. First came the great inflation of the 1970’s, which forced businesses to slash service to keep prices from skyrocketing. Then came deregulation, which fostered more price wars and further cutbacks. Meanwhile, service workers became increasingly difficult to hire because of labor shortages in many areas. At the same time, managers found that they could cut costs by replacing human workers with computers and self‐service schemes. It all makes perfect bookkeeping sense for businesses, but the trend has left consumers without enough human faces to turn to for guidance in spending their billions of dollars on services.
Learning orientation in export functions: impact on export growth

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how the learning orientation of export functions affects their growth performance.Design/methodology/approach – A mail survey of 354 exporters was conducted, and the data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.Findings – Results show that the link between response to export information and export growth is quadratic (U‐shaped), and that this relationship is moderated by use of export memory. Export memory itself was found to be beneficial to export growth when responsiveness to export information is low, but detrimental under high levels of export information responsiveness. In turn, response to export information is driven by export information acquisition and distribution, as well as by the management of mental export models. Export memory use is also enhanced by the latter and the integration of export information within organizational systems.Research limitations/implications – The authors examine learning ori.
Karyotype and Relationships of Anolis desechensis

Abstract We determined the karyotype of Anolis desechensis and compared it with the known karyotypes of other members of the Anolis cristatellus series. The diploid (2N) number of chromosomes of two male A. desechensis was 27, with six pairs of large metacentric macrochromosomes, six pairs of microchromosomes of gradually decreasing size, and sex chromosome heteromorphism (three sex chromosomes, X1X2Y). This chromosome complement is identical to that of A. cristatellus and A. scriptus, thus providing additional evidence of a close relationship to these taxa. The evolution of chromosome number within the cristatellus series appears to have involved minimal homoplasy and therefore contains useful phylogenetic information.
The Contribution of University Business Incubators to New Knowledge-Based Ventures

This paper examines the role of university business incubators (UBIs) in supporting the creation of new knowledge-based ventures. UBIs are described as effective mechanisms for overcoming weaknesses of the more traditional public incubating institutions. They offer firms a range of university-related benefits, such as access to laboratories and equipment, to scientific and technological knowledge and to networks of key contacts, and the reputation that accrues from affiliation with a university. The empirical analysis is based on the Turin Polytechnic Incubator (TPI) and on case studies of six academic spin-offs hosted at TPI. While TPI does not effectively resolve such problems as inadequate access to funding capital and the lack of management and financial skills in its tenant companies, the networking capacity of incubating programmes is seen as a key characteristic that may help new knowledge-based ventures to overcome such difficulties.
Comparative analysis of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis in separating Escherichia coli uidA amplicons differing in single base substitutions

A set of Escherichia coli freshwater isolates was chosen to compare the effectiveness of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) vs temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TTGE) for separating homologous amplicons from the respective uidA region differing in one to seven single base substitutions. Both methods revealed congruent results but DGGE showed a five to eight times higher spatial separation of the uidA amplicons as compared with TTGE, although the experiments were performed at comparable denaturing gradients. In contrast to TTGE, DGGE displayed clear and focused bands. The results strongly indicated a significantly higher discrimination efficiency of the spatial chemical denaturing gradient as compared with the temporal temperature denaturing gradient for separating the uidA amplicons. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis proved to be highly efficient in the differentiation of E. coli uidA sequence types.
Market Response, Competitive Behavior, and Time Series Analysis

The author's principal objective is to present a framework for market analysis which specifically models primary demand, competitive reaction, and feedback effects of the market variables. The approach is an extension of earlier work by Clarke and by Lambin, Naert, and Bultez on the relationship among the elasticities of the marketing variables. The author develops this framework and formulates an approach for empirical applications based on principles of time series analysis. In particular, Granger's well-known causality definition is used in conjunction with Box-Jenkins analysis to find the nonzero elements in the marketing model. These principles are applied empirically to the case of a city pair of the U.S. domestic air travel market, where three major airlines compete on the basis of flight scheduling and advertising. The analysis reveals that flight scheduling has a market-expansive or a competitive effect, depending on the competitor, and that advertising does not have a significant impact on performance. In addition, several patterns of competitive reactions are found. The author offers observations on the theoretical and empirical aspects of this approach to marketing model building.
Relations between Big Five Traits and Fundamental Motives

Relations were examined between configurations of Big Five Traits (Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Openness to Experience) and 16 fundamental motives (Social Contact, Curiosity, Honor, Power, Order, Idealism, Independence, Status, Vengeance, Romance, Family, Activity, Saving, Acceptance, Eating, Tranquility) in 138 university students (93 women, 45 men; M age = 20.3 yr., SD = 4.5). Big Five traits were measured with the NEO-PI–R and motives were measured with the Reiss Profile of Fundamental Goals and Motivation Sensitivities. The traits were significantly related with all the motives (adjusted R2 = .06 to .43) except Physical Activity. Four motives were related with only one trait and nine configurations of two or more traits were correlated with the remaining 11 motives. Total motive scores across all participants, an index of the strength of overall motivation, were positively correlated with Extraversion and Neuroticism and negatively with Agreeableness.
When Good Intentions Pave the Road to Hell: Monetization Fears and Europe’s Narrowing Options

With the creation of the Economic and Monetary Union and the euro, the national government debt of eurozone member-states became credit sensitive. While the potentially destabilizing impact of adverse cyclical conditions on credit-sensitive debt was seriously underestimated, the design was intentional, framed within a Friedman-Fischer-Buchanan view that "no monetization" rules provide a powerful means to discipline government behavior. While most countries follow some kind of "no monetization" rule, the one embraced by the eurozone was special, as it also prevented monetization on the secondary market for debt. This made all eurozone public debt defaultable--at least until the European Central Bank (ECB) announced the Outright Monetary Transactions program, which can be seen as an enhanced rule-based approach that makes governments solvent on the condition that they balance their budgets. This has further narrowed Europe's options for policy solutions that are conducive to job creation. An approach that would require no immediate changes in the European Union's (EU) political structure would be for the EU to fund "net government spending in the interest of Europe" through the issue of a eurobond backed by the ECB.
The Impact of Genetics on Physical Resilience and Successful Aging

Objective: To better understand the impact of genetics on resilience and successful aging, we tested a model of successful aging. Method: This was a descriptive study with a single interview and blood draw done with residents in a continuing care retirement community. Five genes associated with resilience were included in the model. The hypothesis was tested using structural equation modeling. Results: A total of 116 participants completed the survey. Two SNPs from SLC6A4 (rs25533 and rs1042173) and age were the only variables associated with physical resilience and explained 9% of the variance. Cognitive status, age, and depression were directly associated with successful aging; variance in rs25532 or rs1042173, resilience, and pain were indirectly associated with successful aging through depression. Discussion: Continued research to replicate these findings is needed so as to be able to recognize older adults at risk of low physical resilience and implement appropriate interventions.
Export Marketing Research and the Effect of Export Experience in Industrial SMEs

Examines the market research activities of UK industrial exporters. First reviews the literature concerned with information for international marketing in general and export marketing research in particular. Describes the method of a research study, comparing the market research activities of exporters in the light of company size and export experience. Analyses the results, finding that companies, once embarked on export activity rely on personal contact with distributors, agents, customers and competitors to gather information concerning the markets they serve, and this information is used equivocally to modify decisions. Finally, discusses the implications for future research and management.
Debt Restructuring and the Role of Lending Technologies

The literature on debt restructuring usually assumes that banks behave in a uniform way towards firms in distress. Using a recent survey of Italian banks, we show that banks follow different strategies when they decide whether to take part in the workout process, in that some of them do restructure their debt claims towards small and medium-sized enterprises in distress, while others do not. We explain this heterogeneity by considering the role of banksi? ½ internal organization and lending technologies, which the literature has shown to be strictly tied to the type of relationship developed with the borrower (transactional versus relationship lending). We find that the probability of debt restructuring is higher when the bank: i) is geographically closer to borrowing firms; ii) relies more on soft than hard information; and iii) adopts a decentralized structure with more power allocated to local managers. However there are important complementarities among organizational variables: the adoption of credit scoring increases the likelihood of restructuring if banks also use these techniques systematically in the monitoring process and if they adopt more decentralized structures. Bank size per se is not able to fully explain this heterogeneous behaviour, as organizational forms and lending technologies may also have important consequences on bank decisions.
Managerial Compensation and Stock Price Manipulation

This paper studies the role of optimal managerial compensation in reducing uncertainty about manager reporting objectives. It is shown that, paradoxically, firm owners allow managers with higher propensity to manipulate the short‐term stock price to push for higher powered and more short‐term‐focused equity incentives. Such managers also work harder, and manipulate more, but may not generate higher firm profits. The model is consistent with existing empirical findings about the relationship between manipulation and equity pay, suggesting that heterogeneity in manager manipulation propensities may be an important driver of heterogeneity in pay. Novel testable predictions are developed.
Under Pressure: The Causal Effect of Financial Analyst Coverage on Long-Term Capital Investments

This study examines whether the number of financial analysts covering a firm causes corporate short-termism by affecting the horizons of firms’ capital investments. I hypothesize that greater analyst coverage leads to more pressure on firms to perform in the short term, which biases firms against making longer-term capital investments. To establish causality, I employ a difference-in-differences technique that exploits a series of quasi-natural experiments. Using a matched sample of 2,462 U.S.-based firms, I find that firms that lose a covering analyst extend their attention further into the future and invest more in longer-term capital, compared to similar firms that do not lose an analyst. I also find that this effect is stronger for firms in fast-moving industries, and for firms with stronger corporate governance policies.
Relationship of dissociation to temperament and character in men and women.

OBJECTIVE This study approaches the question of nature and nurture of dissociative phenomena. Within Cloninger's concept of personality, character traits are thought to develop in response to environmental stimuli and conditions during childhood and adolescence, whereas temperament traits are considered to be genetically predisposed. The hypothesis is tested that dissociative symptoms are associated with distinct character traits but not with temperament dimensions. METHOD Psychiatric patients (N = 191) and healthy subjects (N = 41) were evaluated for dissociative symptoms (Dissociative Experience Scale), temperament and character (Temperament and Character Inventory), and current psychopathology (SCL-90-R). Regression analyses for women and men were calculated separately. RESULTS For both genders, the character traits of self-transcendence and self-directedness were significant and independent predictors for dissociation. CONCLUSIONS These results support the hypothesis that dissociative symptoms are caused by environmental factors and point against a genetic predisposition in the development of dissociative symptoms.
Epidemiology and clinical characteristics of testicular tumors in Saudi Arabia: King Faisal specialist hospital and research centre experience

The data on 62 patients with germinal testicular tumors seen at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre between January 1977 and June 1983 were analyzed to determine the epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of the disease in Saudi Arabia. Fifty‐seven patients were Saudis. The geographic distribution of Saudi patients seemed to coincide with population concentrations. Testicular seminomas (TS) and non‐seminomatous testicular tumors (NSTT) comprised 50% each. The mean age was 41 and 27.8 years for TS and NSTT, respectively. Fifteen patients had cryptorchidism of the involved testicle. Three patients with NSTT had a history of trauma to the involved testicle. The most common presentations were painless testicular swelling (51.6%), painful swelling (16%), and abdominal or inguinal swelling (21%). The delay between the onset of symptoms and referral (mean 15 months) was considerable. Eighty percent of patients with NSTT and 45 % of those with TS had advanced disease at referral.
Volatile Anesthetics Induce Caspase-dependent, Mitochondria-mediated Apoptosis in Human T Lymphocytes In Vitro

Background:Volatile anesthetics modulate lymphocyte function during surgery, and this compromises postoperative immune competence. The current work was undertaken to examine whether volatile anesthetics induce apoptosis in human T lymphocytes and what apoptotic signaling pathway might be used. Methods:Effects of sevoflurane, isoflurane, and desflurane were studied in primary human CD3+ T lymphocytes and Jurkat T cells in vitro. Apoptosis and mitochondrial membrane potential were assessed using flow cytometry after green fluorescent protein-annexin V and DiOC6-fluorochrome staining. Activity and proteolytic processing of caspase 3 was measured by cleaving of the fluorogenic effector caspase substrate Ac-DEVD-AMC and by anti–caspase-3 Western blotting. Release of mitochondrial cytochrome c was studied after cell fractionation using anti–cytochrome c Western blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Results:Sevoflurane and isoflurane induced apoptosis in human T lymphocytes in a dose-dependent manner. By contrast, desflurane did not exert any proapoptotic effects. The apoptotic signaling pathway used by sevoflurane involved disruption of the mitochondrial membrane potential and release of cytochrome c from mitochondria to the cytosol. In addition, the authors observed a proteolytic cleavage of the inactive p32 procaspase 3 to the active p17 fragment, increased caspase-3–like activity, and cleavage of the caspase-3 substrate poly-ADP-ribose-polymerase. Sevoflurane-induced apoptosis was blocked by the general caspase inhibitor Z-VAD.fmk. Death signaling was not mediated via the Fas/CD95 receptor pathway because neither anti-Fas/CD95 receptor antagonism nor FADD deficiency or caspase-8 deficiency were able to attenuate sevoflurane-mediated apoptosis. Conclusion:Sevoflurane and isoflurane induce apoptosis in T lymphocytes via increased mitochondrial membrane permeability and caspase-3 activation, but independently of death receptor signaling.
Local preference of indigenous fruit trees in Coast Province, Kenya

Indigenous fruit trees (IFTs) have various benefits such as enhancing nutrition and food security, but face threats of deforestation and genetic erosion. This paper focused on identification of the local people’s preference of IFT. Research methods mainly involved field survey in Coast province, Kenya and analysis was by the conjoint analytical method. The survey results were as follows: (1) By the preference test, local people thought “wood products” was the most important consideration in the selection of IFT, and the next was “food value”; (2) By the utilization test, local people recognized IFT with “marketability” and “food value” as the priority species; (3) By the market survey, the trade and incomes from IFT were found to be small, while the income from IFT was limited by seasonality. In conclusion, the main factor contributing to the decrease of IFTs was the high logging pressure in accordance with the finding that the “wood products” factor came higher than “marketability” which is considered as the main source of incentive to conserve IFTs. To effectively conserve or enhance the growth of IFTs, these local preferences should be considered. Key words: Indigenous fruit tree (IFT), Coast province in Kenya, local preference, strategy, conjoint analytical method
Association of MAD2 Expression with Mitotic Checkpoint Competence in Hepatoma Cells

Chromosomal instability (CIN) refers to high rates of chromosomal gains and losses and is a major cause of genomic instability of cells. It is thought that CIN caused by loss of mitotic checkpoint contributes to carcinogenesis. In this study, we evaluated the competence of mitotic checkpoint in hepatoma cells and investigated the cause of mitotic checkpoint defects. We found that 6 (54.5%) of the 11 hepatoma cell lines were defective in mitotic checkpoint control as monitored by mitotic indices and flow-cytometric analysis after treatment with microtubule toxins. Interestingly, all 6 hepatoma cell lines with defective mitotic checkpoint showed significant underexpression of mitotic arrest deficient 2 (MAD2), a key mitotic checkpoint protein. The level of MAD2 underexpression was significantly associated with defective mitotic checkpoint response (p < 0.001). In addition, no mutations were found in the coding sequences of MAD2 in all 11 hepatoma cell lines. Our findings suggest that MAD2 deficiency may cause a mitotic checkpoint defect in hepatoma cells.
Awake mapping for low-grade gliomas involving the left sagittal stratum: anatomofunctional and surgical considerations.

OBJECT Preserving function while optimizing the extent of resection is the main goal in surgery for diffuse low-grade glioma (DLGG). This is particularly relevant for DLGG involving the sagittal stratum (SS), where damage can have severe consequences. Indeed, this structure is a major crossroad in which several important fascicles run. Thus, its complex functional anatomy is still poorly understood. Subcortical electrical stimulation during awake surgery provides a unique opportunity to investigate white matter pathways. This study reports the findings on anatomofunctional correlations evoked by stimulation during resection for gliomas involving the left SS. Surgical outcomes are also detailed. METHODS The authors performed a review of patients who underwent awake surgery for histopathologically confirmed WHO Grade II glioma involving the left SS in the neurosurgery department between August 2008 and August 2012. Information regarding clinicoradiological features, surgical procedures, and outcomes was collected and analyzed. Intraoperative electrostimulation was used to map the eloquent structures within the SS. RESULTS Eight consecutive patients were included in this study. There were 6 men and 2 women, whose mean age was 41.7 years (range 32-61 years). Diagnosis was made because of seizures in 7 cases and slight language disorders in 1 case. After cortical mapping, subcortical stimulation detected functional fibers running in the SS in all patients: semantic paraphasia was generated by stimulating the inferior frontooccipital fascicle in 8 cases; alexia was elicited by stimulating the inferior longitudinal fascicle in 3 cases; visual disorders were induced by stimulating the optic radiations in 5 cases. Moreover, in front of the SS, phonemic paraphasia was evoked by stimulating the temporal part of the arcuate fascicle in 5 patients. The resection was stopped according to these functional limits in the 8 patients. After a transient postsurgical worsening, all patients recovered to normal results on examination, except for the persistence of a right superior quadrantanopia in 5 cases, with no consequences for quality of life. The 8 patients returned to a normal social and professional life. Total or subtotal resection was achieved in all cases but one. CONCLUSIONS The authors suggest that the use of intrasurgical electrical mapping of the white matter pathways in awake patients opens the door to extensive resection of DLGG within the left SS while preserving the quality of life. Further anatomical, clinical, radiological, and electrophysiological studies are needed for a better understanding of the functional anatomy of this complex region.