Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The moderating effects of service solution characteristics on competitive advantage

The objective of this study is to improve the understanding of the moderating effects of service solution characteristics on competitive advantage of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). This study is among the first to systematically operationalize the contingents in the absorptive capacity construct as service solution characteristics, that is, intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability, and perishability, and tested them in the KIBS sector. Using a sample of 327 new technology-based KIBS firms in Finland, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis is applied to test the hypothesized moderator effects. The results suggest that service solution characteristics moderate the effects of the antecedents on absorptive capacity and the effect of absorptive capacity on competitive advantage. Guidelines are provided to practitioners to deal with projects with different service solution characteristics.
Entrepreneurship Education in Nigeria: Funding Mechanisms

The purpose of this study was to search for the appropriate funding mechanisms that would be adopted in Nigeria for effective and efficient planning, implementation, and sustainability of entrepreneurship education in Nigeria as perceived by stakeholders in education. Entrepreneurship education is capital intensive, and if not properly funded, will result into another �investment in frustration� which seems to characterize Nigeria�s development programmes. This paper presents empirical evidence, derived from a survey of 1,750 education stakeholders selected through a multi-stage random sampling technique from a heterogeneous target population of government officials, private sector officials, educational engineers, teachers, students, and parents, on the funding mechanisms that could be adopted for effective, efficient and sustained delivery of entrepreneurship education in Nigeria. The findings revealed that all the categories of stakeholders in education strongly believed and agreed that entrepreneurship education could be funded by government through different forms of grants, effectively and efficiently if corruption, in every form, could be booted out. This way, Nigeria�s wealth would be better and well channeled into funding the capital-intensive entrepreneurship education to enhance economic growth and national development.
Did the National Minimum Wage Affect UK Prices?

One potential channel through which the effects of the minimum wage could be directed is that firms that employ minimum-wage workers could have passed on any higher labour costs resulting from the minimum wage in the form of higher prices. This study looks at the effects of the minimum wage on the prices of UK goods and services by comparing prices of goods and services produced by industries in which UK minimum-wage workers make up a substantial share of total costs with prices of goods and services that make less use of minimum-wage labour. Using sectoral-level price data matched to Labour Force Survey data on the share of minimum-wage workers in each sector, it is hard to find much evidence of significant price changes in the months that correspond immediately to the uprating of the national minimum wage. However, over the longer term, prices in several minimum-wage sectors – notably, take-away food, canteen meals, hotel services and domestic services – do appear to have risen significantly faster than prices in non-minimum-wage sectors. These effects were particularly significant in the four years immediately after the introduction of the minimum wage.
Discount Points and Housing Prices: A Reply

IN OUR PAPER DEALING with shifting of FHA/VA discount points, we argued that sellers in FHA/VA transactions receive a higher percentage of asking prices than sellers in conventionally financed transactions, the difference being attributable to discount points [4]. In adopting this approach, we made the assumption that sellers in FHA/VA transactions do not incorporate the effects of probable financing to be chosen by buyers when they establish asking prices, although sales prices ultimately agreed on are higher relative to conventionally financed sales, to the extent points are shifted from sellers to buyers. In their comment, the authors contend the methodology that we used to test whether or not shifting of points from sellers to FHA/VA buyers actually occurs was not reasonable. They argue that some individual sellers prefer not to sell to buyers who may finance with FHA mortgages and that in some neighborhoods the likelihood of FHA financing is greater than others. From this observation they conclude that sellers anticipate the probability that FHA/VA financing will be used by buyers when they establish both asking prices and final sales prices; therefore, the "pad" or spread between asking prices and selling prices will vary with the probability, of FHA/VA financing as well as the extent to which points are shifted. Because our methodology did not control for such variation, they contend that our results may differ from actual shifting which they expect to be much greater. While the authors raise an important issue concerning the assumption about asking prices in our estimation procedure, we believe that assumption to be reasonable. We recognize that to the extent sellers systematically incorporate expected effects of FHA/VA financing in asking prices, making such asking prices materially higher than what conventional asking prices would be for the same housing units, our estimate of shifting could be subject to error. However, the authors provide no direct evidence on this issue beyond the contentions they make concerning the behavior of some individual sellers and the likelihood of more FHA financing in some neighborhoods. In responding to their comment we first address their contention regarding asking prices, then we consider the merits of their approach to the problem. As to the reasonableness of our assumption regarding asking prices, we offer additional indirect evidence. Based on our sample data, in 61 and 67 percent of FHA and VA transactions respectively, sales prices realized by sellers were equal to or exceeded asking prices. In conventional transactions, sales prices and asking prices were equal in only 24 percent of the cases; however in no case did sales exceed asking price. While not conclusive, this evidence strongly suggests that in
Sport, physical activity and the establishment of Health and Wellbeing Boards in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire

This paper examines the emergence of Health and Wellbeing Boards in Nottinghamshire and the City of Nottingham and explores the implications for sport and physical activity. At the time of writing the transfer of responsibilities for public health and the establishment of Health and Wellbeing Boards in both the City of Nottingham and within Nottinghamshire County Council are considered to be relatively advanced by the Strategic Health Authorities, the respective local authorities and by the boards of the two Primary Care Trusts. “Shadow” Health and Wellbeing Boards have been established in both authorities and they have been meeting regularly for several months. Public health and commissioning staff have also been successfully relocated and new strategies and priorities are starting to emerge. Nottingham and Nottinghamshire have traditionally acknowledged the role of sport and physical activity to the wider determinants of public health and given a relatively high priority to the contribution that sport and physical activity can make to their preventative health and early intervention agendas. This paper looks at the transition to Health and Wellbeing Boards to assess how the role of sport and physical activity may be changing and to identify opportunities for its contribution to policy and practice in the future. It examines both the theory and practice behind the emerging governance arrangements, the strategic objectives and priorities, and the developing evidential base for future policy and delivery within the two areas.
Finance and Income Inequality in OECD Countries

Using data from OECD countries over the past three decades, this paper shows that financial expansion has fuelled greater income inequality. Higher levels of credit intermediation and stock markets are both related with a more unequal distribution of income. Greater income inequality may not reduce the welfare of even the lowest earners so long as their income growth is not negatively affected. Numerical simulations based on a novel empirical methodology indicate, however, that the financial expansion has put a brake on the income growth of many low- and middle-income households. No evidence is found that financial crises explain the observed relationships. While causality is difficult to establish beyond doubt, the paper finds credit patterns which are inconsistent with reverse causality running from greater income inequality to more household borrowing.
Clinical pharmacology of etoposide in children undergoing autologous stem cell transplantation for various solid tumours

1. The population pharmacokinetics of high-dose etoposide was studied in a group of young children and adolescents. 2. Twenty-six children and adolescent were administered high-dose etoposide as a continuous infusion over 24 h. Etoposide plasma concentration-time data was modelled using NONMEM® 7. The effect of age, weight, serum creatinine (SCr), and gender on pharmacokinetic parameters (CL and Vd) were determined by a nonlinear mixed effect model. 3. The pharmacokinetics of etoposide based on BSA dosing was best described with a 1-compartment structural model which was parameterised in terms of clearance (CL) and volume of distribution (Vd). An exponential error model was used to explain intersubject variability and a proportional error model was used to describe residual or intrapatient variability. The final model parameter estimates for the typical (normalised to 70 kg) values of CL and Vd were 2.31 L/hr and 17.5 L, respectively. The CL and Vd allometrically increased with weight with the power of 3/4 and 1, respectively. After accounting for weight dependence using the allometric scaling, age, serum creatinine, and gender did not have any influence on model parameters. 4. The results of this children and adolescent population pharmacokinetic study indicates that etoposide pharmacokinetics were influenced by body weight on an allometric basis. The pharmacokinetic parameters CL and Vd increased with increasing weight similar to BSA.
Studies on the nature of the antagonistic actions of dopamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine in renal tissues.

The present work examines the possibility of whether the reciprocal effects of dopamine (DA) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) are only dependent on the antagonistic nature of the signal resulting from the activation of their specific receptors or may also result from a competitive type of inhibition at different levels of the synthetic and metabolic pathways shared by DA and 5-HT. Studies performed in isolated proximal convoluted tubules (PCT) have shown that L-5-HTP and L-DOPA use the same transporter in order to be taken up into the cell and both L-DOPA and L-5-HTP exert a competitive type of inhibition upon their cellular uptake. The decrease in the formation of 5-HT in isolated PCT induced by L-DOPA reflects most probably a reduction in the intracellular availability of L-5-HTP. However, in experiments conducted in homogenates of PCT L-DOPA was found to be a better substrate for AAAD than L-5-HTP. Apart from sharing a common synthetic pathway, DA and 5-HT also share a common metabolic pathway; type A monoamine oxidase (MAO-A), the predominant form of MAO in rat renal tissues, converts DA into 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and 5-HT into 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid (5-HIAA). However, in contrast to 5-HT, DA can be metabolized by MAO-B and catechol-O-methyltransferase. Inhibition of MAO-A was found to produce a 2-fold increase in the urinary excretion of 5-HT; this increase in the urinary excretion of 5-HT was accompanied by an unexpected reduction in the urinary excretion of DA. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Navigating the discourse of dependency: Welfare-reliant mothers in college an institutional ethnography

The goal of this ethnographic case study is to produce a contextual, empirical analysis of the experience of welfare-reliant mothers who are attempting to get a college degree following the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. The policy's emphasis on work-first has prompted changes in funding streams, service orientation, and institutional practices of welfare agencies serving these women in ways that are not adequately understood. Using an Institutional Ethnography (IE) approach (Smith, 1987; 2005; 2006), I take the everyday material experience of nineteen welfare-reliant women in a state-funded college support program as a starting point for understanding how practices oriented toward satisfying the requirements of the reformed welfare system shape the women's activities and the likelihood that they are able to access and persist in college. Consistent with the IE mode of inquiry I expanded the type of data gathered to include a close examination of the regulatory texts that organize interactions between the women, welfare caseworkers, and college support staff. I conducted interviews with the women, program staff, and legal advocates; attended student workshops and case reviews; conducted observations in the county assistance office; and followed listserv conversations among program staff across Pennsylvania. The study found that welfare reform has reshaped institutional practices in ways that are often problematic for poor mothers attempting to improve their economic situation through attainment of a college degree. Narrow notions of personal responsibility and dependency reflected in these practices coalesce with neoliberal values of efficiency and cost containment to activate the `work-first' rationale embodied in the federal legislation. Institutional technologies such as accountability codes and performance measures create incentives at the local level to divert college-bound recipients to the low-wage labor market even when a college support program was available. These institutional practices and tools hold the women accountable for their educational success while simultaneously erecting barriers that make success unlikely. Thus, the logic of workfirst operates in ways that uphold the women's exclusion from the opportunities that come from a college education and in doing so recreates their place in the field of low-wage work. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Social Welfare First Advisor Roberta R. Iversen This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn. edu/edissertations/1106
Do Managers and Strategies Matter? A Study In Crisis*

Highly interactive, tightly coupled, high-risk technological systems have introduced the potential for catastrophic events. Although many people consider crises and disasters to be inevitable, our results suggest that firms that are better able to avoid crisis events have top-management teams with a higher level of functional team heterogeneity, higher education levels, shorter organizational tenures, and more tenure heterogeneity. These characteristics serve as proxies for deeper underlying cognitive processes such as more complex thinking, quality decision making, dialectical inquiry, and multiple perspectives in solving potential catastrophic problems. These cognitive and social processes appear to be successful in addressing interactive complexity in high-risk technologies, and may be associated with fewer faulty assumptions about firms' vulnerability to crises. In addition, firms whose top managers' time and energy is devoted to managing acquisition and divestment activities are more likely to experience crisis events. Highly diversified firms emphasizing financial and bureaucratic controls appear to develop threat-rigidities, a lack of firm specific knowledge, and decreased information processing capabilities making them increasingly vulnerable to systemic crisis events. Copyright 1996 Basil Blackwell Ltd.
Analysis of the Implementation of Celebrity Endorsement as a Destination Marketing Instrument

This study will investigate the implementation potential of celebrity endorsement to market destinations. Nine marketing experts in endorsement strategies expressed their views of the key elements to effective celebrity destination endorsement. Content analysis was used to find three categories that may moderate the effectiveness of celebrity endorsers, High‐Involvement Products, Celebrity Credibility and Celebrity Expertise. It seems that when products are high in psychological or social risk, such as the annual main holiday destination, the ‘right’ celebrity endorser could make an appropriate match and create a more favorable evaluation of the advertisement than a non‐endorsed advertisement. On the other hand, various issues regarding the tourist decision‐making process suggest that the choice for celebrity endorsement to market a destination is less appropriate. This study is partly based on the author's Master's thesis at the Bournemouth University, UK with Alan Fyall serving as thesis advisor. The au.
THE EFFECT OF VASCULAR RECONSTRUCTION DEVICE‐ASSISTED COILING ON PACKING DENSITY, EFFECTIVE NECK COVERAGE, AND ANGIOGRAPHIC OUTCOME: AN IN VITRO STUDY

OBJECTIVEThe objective of this study was to assess the variations in packing density, effective neck coverage, and angiographic outcome between aneurysm coiling alone and with the support of the Enterprise Vascular Reconstruction Device (VRD; Cordis Neurovascular, Inc., Miami Lakes, FL). Although the use of VRD-assisted coiling is growing due to the availability of better devices, little is known about the impact of the VRDs on the aforesaid variables. METHODSTen groups of two silicone aneurysm models each were embolized with detachable coils, one with VRD support and one without. Coil embolization ceased once the microcatheter backed out of the aneurysm or there was a risk that further packing would lead to coil herniation. Angiograms were assessed using the Raymond classification scale. Gross macroscopic images of the aneurysm neck were taken to quantify the coil neck coverage, defined as the surface area fraction of coils at the neck divided by the total neck area. Packing density was calculated. RESULTSPacking density significantly increased with VRD assistance (absolute increase, 10.5%; relative increase, 31%; P < 0.0001, paired t test). Effective neck coverage significantly increased by 9% with VRD deployment (P < 0.05, t test). Angiographically, aneurysms coiled without VRD support were more likely to have a dome remnant (P < 0.05, Fisher's exact test) and coil prolapse into the parent vessel. CONCLUSIONVRD deployment improves coil neck coverage and increases packing density. These results support the hypothesis that VRD deployment to reinforce coil embolization of cerebral aneurysms may lead to more durable aneurysm obliteration.
Estrutura de propriedade e de controle das empresas de capital aberto no Brasil

Ownership and Control in Brazilian Limited Liability Companies. Abstract: This paper has as its main objective to measure the magnitude of deviations between control rights and cash-flow rights for the ultimate shareholder with the largest voting rights of limited liability companies in Brazil. Furthermore, it pinpoints how these discrepancies are generated, evaluating the relative importance of the issuance of preferred stocks with no voting rights, pyramidal arrangements of ownership, and cross-shareholdings. The data set embraces 602 companies that in 2001 complied with the mandatory requirement of filing to the CVM.
Separation of corporate ownership and control and accounting conservatism: evidence from Korea

This study analyzes how the separation of corporate ownership and control affects financial reporting conservatism using unique data on Korean chaebol-affiliated firms. The presence of severe agency problems generated by the wedge between ownership and control may increase the demand for conservatism, while the greater managerial motivation and latitude in making accounting choices borne by the entrenchment problems can adversely affect the degree of financial reporting conservatism. We find that the ownership-control wedge is negatively associated with various proxies for conservatism, consistent with the entrenchment argument. Additional analyses reveal that a wide divergence between ownership and control adversely affects the corporate governance of a firm. Further, we find that the negative effects of the ownership-control wedge on conservatism are particularly strong for firms with weak corporate governance. Overall, we provide evidence that controlling shareholders act as a mechanism to mitigate the role of corporate governance, thus reducing implementation of conservatism.
District heating demand short-term forecasting

This paper discusses various forecasting tools that can be used in predicting the thermal load in district heating networks, focusing on day-ahead hourly planning as it is particularly important for cogeneration plants participating in electricity wholesale markets. Forecasts obtained by employing an artificial neural network are compared to a polynomial regression model. Their ability to supplement each other in a combined forecasting tool has been considered as well. Prediction inaccuracy cost is observed and suggested as evaluation criterion. The case studies are based on the district heating network in Riga, Latvia. Recorded data sets of temperature and heat demand are applied for thermal load prediction.
Integrated approach for the identification of human hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α target genes using protein binding microarrays

Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha (HNF4α), a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily, is essential for liver function and is linked to several diseases including diabetes, hemophilia, atherosclerosis, and hepatitis. Although many DNA response elements and target genes have been identified for HNF4α, the complete repertoire of binding sites and target genes in the human genome is unknown. Here, we adapt protein binding microarrays (PBMs) to examine the DNA‐binding characteristics of two HNF4α species (rat and human) and isoforms (HNF4α2 and HNF4α8) in a high‐throughput fashion. We identified ∼1400 new binding sequences and used this dataset to successfully train a Support Vector Machine (SVM) model that predicts an additional ∼10,000 unique HNF4α‐binding sequences; we also identify new rules for HNF4α DNA binding. We performed expression profiling of an HNF4α RNA interference knockdown in HepG2 cells and compared the results to a search of the promoters of all human genes with the PBM and SVM models, as well as published genome‐wide location analysis. Using this integrated approach, we identified ∼240 new direct HNF4α human target genes, including new functional categories of genes not typically associated with HNF4α, such as cell cycle, immune function, apoptosis, stress response, and other cancer‐related genes. Conclusion: We report the first use of PBMs with a full‐length liver‐enriched transcription factor and greatly expand the repertoire of HNF4α‐binding sequences and target genes, thereby identifying new functions for HNF4α. We also establish a web‐based tool, HNF4 Motif Finder, that can be used to identify potential HNF4α‐binding sites in any sequence. (HEPATOLOGY 2009.)