Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differences between family and non-family firms. The impact of different research samples with increasing elimination of demographic sample differences

This article presents a bivariate comparison of Flemish family and non-family firms, investigating differences with respect to CEO characteristics, strategy, management information systems, environment, financing issues, performance and growth. Several authors have indicated that observed differences between family and non-family firms in empirical research often are not caused by the family character, but by ‘demographic sample’ differences relating to firm size and age, sector and geographical location of the business. By trying to control for size and sector differences using the matched pairs methodology we will analyze the impact of detecting ‘real’ rather than ‘demographic sample’ differences between family and non-family firms.
Multi-site, multi-year monitoring of the oscillating Algol-type eclipsing binary CT Herculis

We present the results of a multi-site photometric campaign carried out in 2004–2008 for the Algol-type eclipsing binary system CT Her, the primary component of which displays δ Scuti-type oscillations. Our data consist of differential light curves collected in the filters B and V, which were analysed using the method of Wilson-Devinney (Phoebe). After identifying an adequate binary model and removing the best-fit light-curve solution, we performed a Fourier analysis of the residual B and V light curves to investigate the pulsational behaviour. We confirm the presence of rapid pulsations with a main period of 27.2 min. Up to eight significant frequencies with semi-amplitudes in the range 3 to 1 mmag were detected, all of which lie in the frequency range 43.5–53.5 d −1 . This result is independent of the choice of the primary’s effective temperature (8200 or 8700 K) since the light-curve models of the binary are very similar in both cases. This is yet another case of a complex frequency spectrum observed for an accreting δ Scuti-type star (after Y Cam). In addition, we demonstrate that the amplitudes of several pulsation frequencies provide evidence of variability on timescales as short as 1–2 years, perhaps even less. Moreover, our analysis takes into account some recently acquired spectra, from which we obtained the corresponding radial velocities for the years 2007–2009. Investigation of the O–C diagram shows that further monitoring of the epochs of eclipse minima of CT Her will cast new light on the evolution of its orbital period.
Monitoring training load: necessity, methods and applications

Regular physical activity and participation in organized sports is important contributor to performance and for overall health and fitness in humans of various age range. In performance related areas, every detail in the training sessions is important for the athlete to be in the best shape the chosen competition day. Sport scientists have been making hard effort to find out how the training has the influence on performance. Thus, training monitoring is important tool to evaluate an athlete’s response to training. Banister developed the ‘training impulse’ (TRIMP) as a method to quantify training load. The TRIMP consists of the exercise intensity calculated by the heart rate (HR) reserve method and the duration of exercise. Foster et al. [23] developed a modification of the rating of the perceived exertion method, which uses Rated Perceived Exertion (RPE) as a marker of training intensity within the TRIMP concept. For quantifying and calculating training load, the athlete’s RPE (1–10pt scale) is multiplied by the duration of the session. Ideally, the perceptions of training load should match between athlete and coach to have optimal adaptation. Thus, this brief review article is evaluating training monitoring opportunities without the need of expensive equipment.
Motivation and Outcome of Malaysian Takeovers: An International Perspective

This paper examines the potential motives and effects of corporate takeovers that occurred in Malaysia during the period 1980 through 1993. The Mueller's methodology, which has been adopted for Australia, USA, UK, and five European countries, is employed in order to provide an analysis of the Malaysian takeovers on an international perspective. The findings indicate that the Malaysian takeovers were motivated by size, growth, and profit considerations, and supported by the desire of having a balanced leverage, thus favouring the eclectic theory of takeovers. In terms of the outcomes, the paper finds that the acquiring firms have achieved larger size at the expense of reduced profits both for themselves and the acquired firms. In contrast to other countries, the bidder firms in Malaysia, in general, have lower profitability, higher risk, and lower leverage vis-a-vis the control bidder firms. Also, in Malaysia, the target firms have significantly better pre-takeover growth and profit performance than the control target firms, which is quite the opposite in other countries.
Molecular depiction of lepa, lida, ralf, rtxa and ivhb virulence factors of legionella pneumophila isolated from respiratory tract infections

Background: Among all bacterial species in the genus Legionella, Legionella pneumophila is responsible for 90% of Legionella infections in humans. Putative virulence genes are the main factors in pathogenesis of L. pneumophila. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of L. pneumophila in the broncho alveolar lavages of patients hospitalized due to respiratory tract infections as well as study the distribution of lepA, lidA, ralF, rtxA and lvhB virulence factors in bacterial strains. Methods: One hundred fifty BAL samples were collected from patients who were referred to several Iranian health centers. Samples were cultured and those that were L. pneumophila positive were subjected to PCR method targeting the 16S rRNA gene. Samples positive for Legionella were analyzed for presence of latent virulence factors. Results: Thirteen out of 90 male BAL samples (14.4%) and 5 out of 60 female BAL samples (8.3%) were positive for L. pneumophila (P =0.046). Patients older than 50 years had the highest incidence of L. pneumophila (20%), while patients younger than 15 years old had the lowest (4.16%) (P =0.017). All patients positive for L. pneumophila had fever, while the distribution of cough, dyspnea, chest pain and headache were 77.7%, 77.7%, 66.6% and 44.4%, respectively. The most commonly detected virulence factors among L. pneumophila isolates were lidA (50%) and ralF (27.77%). Conclusion: Results indicate that sex and age of patients and climate conditions may constitute risk factors for incidence of L. pneumophila. Due to the high prevalence of L. pneumophila, wide-ranging amendments should be done in the principles of clinical care in some Iranian hospitals.
A morphological study of calcium regulating glands in Yellow footed green pigeon, Treron phoenicoptera phoenicoptera (Latham)

Treron phoenicoptera phoenicoptera belongs to order Columbiformes, a resident of northern India. The bird is studied for Gross morphology of Thyroid, PTG, UBG and CB. It has a pair of CB, two pairs of PTGs and a diffused mass of UBG situated more or less linearly caudal to elongated thyroid on both sides of trachea, closely applied to common carotid artery. Anterior PTG (III) is close to thyroid while, posterior PTG (IV) is close to origin point of carotid artery. PTG III receives its blood supply from a branch of carotid body artery and PTG IV from parathyroid artery. Histologically PTG of the bird has parenchyma chief cells arranged in irregular groups of compact cords separated by thin layer of connective tissue, traversed by capillaries and nerve fibers. Oxyphil cells are not present. UBG in the bird is present as diffused mass. A lobe of UBG is located caudal to thyroid. A small mass caudal to PTG III and a large lobe is present caudal to PTG IV. The anterior most mass receives its blood supply from a branch of carotid body artery, while posterior two masses receive branches of parathyroid artery. Histologically UBG has glandular parenchyma of epithelial cells forming whorls and follicles lined by cuboidal epithelium. Cell cords are embedded in discontinuous frame work of connective tissue stroma, well supplied by blood vessels and nerve fibers.
The Impact of Brand Equity on Purchase Intention and Brand Preference-the Moderating Effects of Country of Origin Image

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships among brand equity, purchase intention and brand preference from Iranian young consumers view point. Moreover secondary aim of this research is examining the moderate role of country of origin image. To accomplish these, a conceptual framework was designed and relationships among its constructs (Brand equity, purchase intention, brand preference and country of origin image) were hypothesized. Data were collected from Iranian students' who were the owners of selected brand of laptop and mobile phone. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) in LISREL and subgroup correlation analysis in SPSS. Results indicated that brand equity positively influences consumer's brand preference and purchase intention. But results unsupported moderating role of country of origin image.
Exchange Rate Determination of Bangladesh: A Cointegration Approach

In this paper, I propose and estimate a model to determine the exchange rate for the Bangladeshi Taka (BDT) vis-a-vis. US Dollar (USD). I use monthly data for the period of January 1999 to August 2008. I employ the Johansen cointegration technique and I find that nominal exchange rate is cointegrated with several macroeconomic variables. As such, the model is consistent with standard international economic theory. In addition, I find that this model provides out-of-sample forecasts that are better than naive random walk forecasting model. That is, the information that the cointegrated relationship provides, improves forecasting performance.
School climate in peer bullying: observers' and active participants' perceptions

Peer bullying is a phenomenon present in all schools. The school as an institution has a major role in limiting peer bullying. The primary goal of the study was to determine how different groups of students perceived school climate in relation to peer bullying regarding their role in peer bullying (active participants: bullies, victims, bully-victims and non-active participants: observers). 414 students (from 18 primary and secondary schools) responded to The School Climate Bullying Survey (SCBS; Cornell, 2012), which measures the incidence of various forms of peer bullying and three dimensions of school climate (prevalence of teasing and bullying, aggressive attitudes, and willingness to seek help). The results showed that the active participants in peer bullying report a frequent presence of verbal and social bullying (54% and 40%, respectively) and a significantly lower frequency of physical and cyber bullying (14%). The largest differences between the groups of students were found in their perceptions of the prevalence of aggressive attitudes and willingness to seek help in a school context. In the perceptions of both of these dimensions we found a high degree of similarity between the groups of bullies and victim-bullies, and between the groups of victims and observers. The first two groups, when compared to the victims and observers, perceived to a greater extent that school allows aggression as a way of affirmation among peers and in school in general, and that neither teachers nor peers do not stop the bullying, which discourages the victims from seeking help from them. The results confirmed the existence of the association between students’ perceived school climate by bullying and their behavior (roles) in peer bullying.
Audit Committees in Listed Companies: An International Comparison of Composition and Meetings

This paper compares the number of audit committee (AC) members, meeting frequency and the presence of internal auditors at AC meetings of listed companies according to their country of domicile. We consider the USA, the UK, the Netherlands, France and Belgium. Hypotheses are developed based on differences in corporate governance codes. Data are gathered from annual reports of 100 listed companies in these countries. Our results indicate fewer AC members in the Netherlands, and a higher frequency of AC meetings in the UK and Belgium, countries where corporate governance codes do not proscribe a minimum number of meetings. The presence of an internal auditor at AC meetings was, on average, highest for firms listed in the USA.
Response of snow processes to climate change: spatial variability in a small basin in the Spanish Pyrenees

In this study, the Cold Regions Hydrological Modelling platform was used to create an alpine snow model including wind redistribution of snow and energy balance snowmelt to simulate the snowpack over the period 1996–2009 in a small (33 ha) snow‐dominated basin in the Spanish Pyrenees. The basin was divided into three hydrological response units (HRUs), based on contrasting physiographic and aerodynamic characteristics. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to calculate the snow water equivalent regime for various combinations of temperature and precipitation that differed from observed conditions. The results show that there was large inter‐annual variability in the snowpack in this region of the Pyrenees because of its marked sensitivity to climatic conditions. Although the basin is small and quite homogeneous, snowpack seasonality and inter‐annual evolution of the snowpack varied in each HRU. Snow accumulation change in relation to temperature change was approximately 20% for every 1 °C, and the duration of the snowpack was reduced by 20–30 days per °C. Melting rates decreased with increased temperature, and wind redistribution of snow was higher with decreased temperature. The magnitude and sign of changes in precipitation may markedly affect the response of the snowpack to changes in temperature. There was a non‐linear response of snow to individual and combined changes in temperature and precipitation, with respect to both the magnitude and sign of the change. This was a consequence of the complex interactions among climate, topography and blowing snow in the study basin. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Variations among Isolates of Sugarcane Mosaic Virus in Thailand as Determined by Virus-Host Interaction

Six isolates of sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) were collected from infected sugarcane and their variations were studied using symptom expression in sugarcane, corn and sorghum cultivars. Virus titer of each isolate in sorghum plant was also compared. Mechanical inoculation was applied for virus infection and ELISA was used for virus titer assay. The incubation period for symptom expression of SCMV in sugarcane, corn and sorghum was 4-15 days depending on host cultivars. Virus infection rates varied from 15-92% in sorghum,17-90% in corn, and 0-88% in sugarcane. On sugarcane, symptoms mostly appeared to be chlorotic or necrotic streak, chlorotic mild mottle or mild mosaic. The UT-3 and Q-67 sugarcane were the most susceptible cultivars to SCMV isolates as evaluated by infection rate. On sorghum, three types of expressed symptom were observed as lethal necrosis, chlorotic spot, and severe mosaic associated with streak or stripe pattern. On corn, symptoms were generally whitish mosaic or streak, mottle, except for leaf chlorosis on DK888 or CP888 commercial hybrid corn. Isolates UD7 from Udon Thani and SP9 from Supan Buri were the most aggressive isolates based on the infection rate. Isolates NP5 from Nakhon Pathom and UT6 from U-Thong were likely to be the same while NS1 from Nakhon Sawan and KB2 from Kanchanaburi were different from the others. Virus titer in individual sorghum species varied upon SCMV isolates. High titer of virus was detected in UT-1 sorghum at 10-15 days post inoculation for all isolates tested. Necrosis and severe chlorosis were observed with high virus titer for isolates NS1, UD7 and NP5. The obtained results demonstrated the variations among SCMV isolates in Thailand and this information could be used in breeding program for SCMV resistance.
OFFLINE SIGNATURE VERIFICATION BASED ON SHAPE CONTEXTS USING SHARED AND USER-SPECIFIC THRESHOLDS

In this paper we present a system for offline signature verification based on Shape Context Descriptors. The system input are binarized images of handwritten signatures from GPDS database available for non-commercial research. During preprocessing each signature image is thinned using KMM algorithm in order to obtain 1pixel wide skeleton. The feature vector is built from Shape Context Descriptors computed for selected points on skeletonized signature line. The verification process is based on the distance measure that uses Shape Context Descriptors. The presented system is evaluated using random and skilled forgeries with shared and user-specific thresholds.
Mandatory IFRS Adoption in Brazil (2010): Index of Compliance with Disclosure Requirements and Explanatory Factors of Firms Reporting

We evaluated firms’ compliance with required International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) disclosure in the first mandatory adoption year of IFRS in Brazil (2010) by comprehensively examining 638 disclosure required items from 28 encompassing IFRSs in the Notes to Financial Statements of all (366) Brazilian non-financial corporations listed on the Brazilian stock exchange (BM&FBovespa). We measured disclosure compliance levels by calculating the respective index, both overall and for each standard, and investigated associations between disclosure levels and firm’s characteristics as potential explanatory disclosure compliance factors. Our findings showed overall low levels of disclosure compliance in the analyzed year: the average level of compliance with IFRS required disclosure was very sensitive to the approach employed, varying from 16.04% (strict criterion and dichotomous approach) to 33.72% (tolerant criterion and partial compliance unweighted approach). In line with other countries experience illustrated by the international literature, these results emphasize the importance of increasing institutional support conditions for enhanced enforcement mechanisms, enabling the Brazilian firms to better attain the full economic benefits of IFRS adoption. In all our analyses, company size and “Big 4” auditing were positively associated with the dependent variable, independent of the model employed to determine the compliance disclosure index, making it possible to conclude that these factors produce a significant positive impact on compliance with the IFRS disclosure requirement levels of Brazilian firms.
Determinants of international expansion strategy for spanish franchises 1

Research on franchising has increased considerably in recent years. However, there is a subject where knowledge in franchise remains very low; this is the study of the factors driving franchisors to expand their business in international markets. Attempting to fill this gap, this research analyzes the influence of experience (general, pre-franchise and international), internationalization speed and the sector of the firm on international franchisors’ expansion strategy. A database of 151 Spanish franchisors present in foreign markets in 2010 was studied. Results show that international experience and internationalization speed determine positively the trend to diversify country markets. In addition, firms’ sector generates significant differences in strategic behaviour when franchisor expands internationally. Concretely, franchise chains from retailing sector are the most likely to diversify their risks in a larger number of country markets. Based on the sector, this study offers important contributions from multi-group analysis. The paper ends with the main findings, limitations and future research.
Is Face-to-Face Citizen Deliberation a Luxury or a Necessity?

A broad range of democratic theorists recognize deliberation as a central feature of the democratic process, but only a minority argue that such deliberation must take place among citizens in a face-to-face setting. Advocates of face-to-face citizen deliberation will remain the minority in the debate on deliberation unless they can make a convincing argument for its necessity. First, it must be demonstrated that deliberation among citizens contributes to democratic governance above and beyond the deliberation conducted by officeholders and professional communicators. Second, face-to-face politics will appear increasingly quaint as populations continue to expand, international bodies continue to grow in power, and the Internet continues to widen its reach and improve its features. If research cannot identify any special virtues of face-to-face deliberation, it is hard to justify its expense and inconvenience relative to computer-mediated citizen discussion.
Monodromy of Inhomogeneous Picard-Fuchs Equations

We study low-degree curves on one-parameter Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces, and their contribution to the space-time superpotential in a superstring compactification with D-branes. We identify all lines that are invariant under at least one permutation of the homogeneous variables, and calculate the inhomogeneous Picard-Fuchs equation. The irrational large volume expansions satisfy the recently discovered algebraic integrality. The bulk of our work is a careful study of the topological integrality of monodromy under navigation around the complex structure moduli space. This is a powerful method to recover the single undetermined integration constant that is itself also of arithmetic significance. The examples feature a variety of residue fields, both abelian and non-abelian extensions of the rationals, thereby providing a glimpse of the arithmetic D-brane landscape.
Spring and summer contrast in new particle formation over nine forest areas in North America

Abstract. Recent laboratory chamber studies indicate a significant role for highly oxidized low-volatility organics in new particle formation (NPF), but the actual role of these highly oxidized low-volatility organics in atmospheric NPF remains uncertain. Here, particle size distributions (PSDs) measured in nine forest areas in North America are used to characterize the occurrence and intensity of NPF and to evaluate model simulations using an empirical formulation in which formation rate is a function of the concentrations of sulfuric acid and low-volatility organics from alpha-pinene oxidation (Nucl-Org), and using an ion-mediated nucleation mechanism (excluding organics) (Nucl-IMN). On average, NPF occurred on ~ 70 % of days during March for the four forest sites with springtime PSD measurements, while NPF occurred on only ~ 10 % of days in July for all nine forest sites. Both Nucl-Org and Nucl-IMN schemes capture the observed high frequency of NPF in spring, but the Nucl-Org scheme significantly overpredicts while the Nucl-IMN scheme slightly underpredicts NPF and particle number concentrations in summer. Statistical analyses of observed and simulated ultrafine particle number concentrations and frequency of NPF events indicate that the scheme without organics agrees better overall with observations. The two schemes predict quite different nucleation rates (including their spatial patterns), concentrations of cloud condensation nuclei, and aerosol first indirect radiative forcing in North America, highlighting the need to reduce NPF uncertainties in regional and global earth system models.