Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The organizational antecedents of ?openness? in small firms

The focus of the current study is on the organizational antecedents of open innovation strategies. Specifically, our concern is with inbound open innovation. That is, how does the organization of work within smaller firms enable or retard openness to external sources of knowledge and innovation? To this end, the paper draws on survey data from 1257 Norwegian SMEs and explores the relationship between people-based and project-based organizational mechanisms and the extent of both openness breadth and depth (following Laursen and Salter, 2006). Our results suggest that how firms organize work strongly influences the likelihood of being open. In particular, people-based mechanisms associated with delegation and job-rotation is associated with breadth; and project-based work organization is associated with depth. We discuss the implications of our findings for practice and future research.
International Financial Integration and The Nigerian Economic Performance: a Var Modeling Approach

Since it is believed that having access to a broader base of capital is a key requirement for economic growth, then financial integration is necessary because it expedites flows of capital from developed economies with rich capital to developing economies like Nigeria with limited capital. The major objective of this paper is to empirically investigate the relationship between international financial integration and the Nigerian economic performance, using annual time series data from 1970 to 2012. In order to do this, the study employs KPSS unit root test, Johansen cointegration test, VAR modeling, impulse response function, variance decomposition and granger causality. Empirical results show that there is a short-run relationship between international financial integration and economic growth. All the variables including, the ratio of net capital inflows to GDP and the ratio of FDI to GDP appear with the expected positive signs (except trade openness) and are statistically significant in the Nigerian economy. The findings have a strong implication on financial and international policy in Nigeria. The major implication is that further integration into the global economy would require sustained policy reforms, improved governance, and public-private investments in social, human, and physical infrastructure. The study suggests that rigorous efforts should be made by policy makers to improve infrastructural investment for the attraction of foreign capital.
Corporate Environmental Responsibility and Financial Performance Around the World

This paper examines how environmental costs affect the corporate financial performance (CFP) of manufacturing firms around the world. We maintain that by effectively investing in corporate environment responsibility (CER), executives can decrease their firms’ environmental costs, thereby enhancing CFP. We label this argument as the ‘slack resources’ hypothesis. We find that countries in the Asia-Pacific region have the greatest variation between their return on assets (ROA) and environmental cost-adjusted ROA. This comes at the expense of rapid economic development in the emerging economies in the region. We also find that conventional industries such as the basic resources and the food and beverage industries have substantially high levels of total environmental costs, whereas the opposite holds true for the technology and telecommunication industries. Our results suggest that the reduction of environmental costs is related to higher firm performance. We also identify dynamic relations between these two variables. Lowering environmental costs tends to precede the enhancement of ROA by at least two years. Overall, our findings are supportive of the slack resources hypothesis.
&bgr;2-Adrenergic Receptor Genetic Variants and Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death

Background— Sympathetic activation influences the risk of ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death (SCD), mediated in part by the &bgr;2-adrenergic receptor (B2AR). We investigated whether variation in the B2AR gene is associated with SCD risk. Methods and Results— In this study, 4441 white and 808 black Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) participants were followed up prospectively for SCD and genotyped for B2AR Gly16Arg and Gln27Glu polymorphisms. The study was replicated in 155 case and 144 control white subjects in a population-based case-control study of SCD, the Cardiac Arrest Blood Study (CABS). In CHS, Gly16 and Gln27 allele frequencies were 62.4% and 57.1% among white and 50.1% and 81.4% among black participants. Over a median follow-up of 11.1 years, 156 and 39 SCD events occurred in white and black participants, respectively. The Gln27Glu variant was associated with SCD risk (P=0.008 for general model). SCD risk was higher in Gln27 homozygous participants than in Glu27 carriers (ethnicity-adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.56; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17 to 2.09; P=0.003). The increased risk did not differ significantly between white (HR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.18 to 2.23) and black (HR, 1.23; 95% CI, 0.61 to 2.48) participants, although the confidence interval was wide in blacks. In the CABS replication study, Gln27 homozygous participants similarly had higher SCD risk than Glu27 carriers (odds ratio, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.02 to 2.63; P=0.040). Gly16Arg was not associated with SCD risk in either study. Conclusions— Gln27 homozygous individuals have an increased risk of SCD in 2 study populations. Our findings suggest that B2AR plays a role in SCD in humans. Study of genetic variation within the B2AR gene may help identify those at increased SCD risk.
Firm Performance and Joint Venturing

The objective of the paper is to evaluate the relationship between different levels of capital participation stakes (evolving entry modes) for subsidiary performance. This is possible using a unique longitudinal panel for Turkey’s largest firms (top 1000) that gives access to observe changes in foreign and local capital participation stakes and firm performance over the period 1993-2008. The results suggest that the international joint venture (IJV) strategy carries both great risk and high returns in Turkey as the dilemma of the impossible choice between transaction and transfer cost lead us to believe. Investors who chose IJVs on average perform better on profitability than other investors, but when R&D intensive investors chose IJVs they do not benefit to the same extent. Oppositely are investors in services that chose the IJV mode more likely to outperform other foreign entry modes. Results for the alternative performance measure (productivity) suggest that there is little difference in performance once the foreign partner obtains control. Over time it is found that IJVs are at least as stable as almost any other type of firm in Top 1000. In Turkey IJVs are more likely to be bought back by the domestic firm than to be bought out by the foreign firm. They are also more persistent since they are less likely to exit top 1000 relative to any other type of firm.
A peer-support, group intervention to reduce substance use and criminality among persons with severe mental illness.

OBJECTIVE This study compared the effectiveness of two interventions in reducing alcohol use, drug use, and criminal justice charges for persons with severe mental illnesses: first, a community-oriented group intervention with citizenship training and peer support that was combined with standard clinical treatment, including jail diversion services, and second, standard clinical treatment with jail diversion services alone. METHODS A total of 114 adults with serious mental illness participated in a 2 x 3 prospective longitudinal, randomized clinical trial with two levels of intervention (group and peer support for the experimental condition and standard services for the control) and three interviews (baseline, six months, and 12 months). Self-report questionnaires assessed alcohol and drug use, and program databases assessed criminal justice contacts. The authors used a mixed-models analysis to assess alcohol and drug use, repeated-measures analysis of covariance to assess criminal justice charges, and correlational analyses to assess the relation between intervention participation and outcome variables. RESULTS The experimental group showed significantly reduced alcohol use in comparison with the control group. Further, results showed a significant group-by-time interaction, where alcohol use decreased over time in the experimental group and increased in the control group. Drug use and criminal justice charges decreased significantly across assessment periods in both groups. CONCLUSIONS Of the outcomes, only decreased alcohol use was attributable to the experimental intervention. Although this may be a chance finding, peer- and community-oriented group support and learning may facilitate decreased alcohol use over time.
The Relationship of Employee Perceptions of Organizational Climate to Business-Unit Outcomes

There has been an extensive exploration of how organizational climate is related to various business outcomes, but these studies have generally examined outcomes separately or developed univariate measures that combine outcomes. These approaches fail to (a) accommodate the multivariate character of important business results and (b) facilitate the firm's need to achieve success on several dimensions. This research proposes a methodological approach new to the service domain to address these issues. Using data from a large, multinational retail grocery superstore based in continental Western Europe, this study illustrates how multivariate partial least squares (MPLS) models can be used. MPLS provides three interpretable factors of climate—Overall Organizational Climate, Self-Efficacy Versus Leader's Efficacy, and Personal Empowerment Versus Management Facilitation —that are important predictors of three business outcomes: employee retention, customer satisfaction, and scaled revenue. The use of the MPLS approach in other services domains is also explored.
Relationship between Corporate Governance Indicators and Firm Value: A Study on Selected Indian Companies

Good corporate governance helps ensure that corporations take into account the interests of a wide range of constituencies, as well as of the communities within which they operate. Literature review in most of the cases say that Firm value is positively correlated to corporate governance index. The objective of the study is to find out whether there is any correlation between firm value and the independent parameters such as growth in sales, promoter’s holding, financial leverage, liquidity and dividend pay out ratio. We took a sample for study from Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 200 which is a well diversified index of 200 stocks. We used the technique of regression taking Tobin’s Q as a dependent variable. The existing study covers a sample size of 200 companies for the period of two financial years starting from April 1, 2007 and ending at March 31, 2009. We divided 200 companies in three sections, namely manufacturing, financial and other services. We have taken four parameters namely; distribution of dividend, promoter’s holding, income growth and financial leverage as our independent variables and Tobin’s Q as our dependent variable. The statistical techniques of correlation and regression were used to explore relationship between these variables. We have done a comparative analysis among the sections to find out the variable which is statistically significant.
Effect of strength training on EMG of human skeletal muscle.

The effects of an 8 weeks period of systematic progressive strength training on the EMG activity of the leg extensor muscles (vastus lateralis and rectus femoris) were investigated in 8 healthy male subjects (22-31 yrs). After training there were indications (n.s.) of a decline in integrated EMG (IEMG) during maximal isometric knee extension as well as in the IEMG vs isometric force relationship. The averaged motor unit potential (AMUP) did not demonstrate any significant changes due to the strength training regimen. In conformity with earlier findings no or only minor alterations were observed in anthropometrics, muscle enzyme activities and fibre composition. The fibre area ratio indicated a specific effect of the training stimuli on the fast twitch muscle fibres. Thus, EMG-analyses, as employed in the present study, did not provide any conclusive additional explanation as to the mechanisms behind the well established gains in muscle strength performance induced by the applied strength training program.
Association between milk production, somatic cell count and bacterial dermatoses in three dairy cattle herds.

OBJECTIVE To determine the correlations between three bacterial dermatoses in cattle, milk production and bulk-milk somatic cell count (BMSCC). DESIGN Field observations in three dairy cattle herds. METHODS Milk production, BMSCC, fertility and all herd diseases were recorded by computerised dairy management systems. Each herd was visited twice weekly and the clinical signs, course of diseases and morbidity and culling rates were noted. Bulk-tank milk was sampled twice monthly and analysed for somatic cell count. Bacteriological and histological examinations were carried out from samples collected from affected animals in the respective herds. RESULTS The acute exudative form of dermatophilosis was diagnosed only in first-calving cows. The morbidity rate was 53% and the culling rate was 16% of the affected animals. The BMSCC increased by a factor of 2.4 times, and there was an average loss of milk production of 30%/cow/day in affected animals. Ulcerative lymphangitis was diagnosed in first-calving cows (22%) and older cows (15%). The culling rate was 28%. The BMSCC increased by a factor of 17.3 times, and the average loss of milk production was 5.5%/affected animal/day. Papillomatous digital dermatitis (PDD) was diagnosed in first-calving cows (25%) and in older cows (18%). The culling rate was 8%. The BMSCC increased by a factor of two times, and the average loss of milk production was 1.7%/affected animal/day. CONCLUSIONS The correlations between three skin diseases (ulcerative lymphangitis, dermatophilosis, papillomatous digital dermatitis), milk production and BMSCC have been found to be unfavourable.
Assessment of hospital workload in war surgery

The aim of treatment of casualties in war time is to offer a chance of survival to the greatest number of patients. This goal can be approached by selecting for treatment patients who have a real chance of survival and by reducing the duration of operations as much as possible. Should the operative time be limited to an assessed predetermined duration as proposed in certain armies? Conditions for the observation of war wounded were particularly favourable in the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) Hospital in Peshawar (Pakistan) because all treatments were started and completed in the same place. During the summer of 1985, a major battle took place near the Pakistan border. Analysis of 212 operated patients, of whom 68 per cent arrived at the hospital less than 48 h after the injury, showed that the operations lasted 90 min on average. Abdominal procedures were the longest. Patients stayed in the hospital for an average of 4 weeks; those with lesions of the extremities stayed longer (5·8 weeks) than those with abdominal or thoracic lesions (4·3 and 3 weeks). The results show that the long duration of an operation has not been correlated either with an unfavourable outcome or with an increased postoperative workload. As far as possible, accelerating the turnover of operations by increasing the number of operating teams should be the objective rather than the selection of patients who require short operations. Such selection would have resulted in the death of most seriously wounded patients in this series.
Mixing It Up: The Role of Hybridization in Forest Management and Conservation under Climate Change

Forest tree hybrid zones provide a wealth of novel genetic variation that can be harnessed to safeguard populations in changing climates. In the past 30 years, natural and artificial forest hybrid zones have facilitated significant contributions to selective breeding programs, conservation, and our understanding of the evolutionary processes and mechanisms that influence the maintenance of species and community interactions. This review highlights advances in these areas using forest hybrid zones. Taking examples from well-known genera, including eucalypt, poplar, oak and spruce, this review details the important role hybrid zones play in managing conservation of genetic variation, the environmental and non-environmental factors that influence barriers to reproduction, and the impact that genetic ancestry may have on community biodiversity. Given increasing concern surrounding species adaptability under rapidly changing conditions, we describe how the study of forest hybrid zones, using quantitative and genomic approaches, can facilitate conservation of genetic diversity and long-term species management.
Atmospheric Pressure Pulsed-Periodical Spark Generator Forming Fast Moving Non-Equilibrium Plasma Clouds

The experimental results of detailed search on pulsed-periodical spark generator (PPSG) forming nonequilibrium plasma clouds fast moving by itself from the source to a target are presented. Pin-to-ring PPSG works at atmospheric pressure under repetition frequency of self-running pulsations of 3-30 Hz and activates an object to be treated with intensive flashes of UV radiation and plasma clouds at high transient temperature. The observations performed allow us to distinguish in each period of the relaxation oscillations three stages in activation of a target. Conjoint action of different agents at three stages provides synergy effect in a modification or bioinactivation of the surface to be treated.
Internal Control System on Fraud Detection: Nigeria Experience

The study focused on evaluation of the effects of internal control system on fraud detection in selected Nigerian commercial banks. Data were analyzed using General Least Square Regression Analysis, Correlation Analysis, Panel Data Analysis. Results were statistically significant at 5% with 95% degree of freedom; internal control system 0.532 (**) and 0.423 (**) . Fraud detection 0.338 (**) with correlation being significant at 5% level and 0.234 (***) relationship between ICS and FD at the significant level of 0.001. Improved employee training, 0.338 (**) and 0.234 (**) with correlation being significant at 5% level and 0.524 (***) relationship between ET and FD at the significant level of 0.001.
Three Essays on Earnings Management: Evidence from the UK

In this thesis, I examine earnings management issues in the UK context. The thesis consists of three essays.The first chapter investigates whether managers base their trade-off decisions among real earnings management, accruals-based earnings management, and classification shifting, on the costs, constraints and timing of each strategy in the UK. The empirical evidence suggests that some, but not all, costs and constraints play a role in managers? trade-off decisions. Further, contrasting between firms that are most likely to have manipulated earnings and firms that are not likely to have manipulated earnings, I find no difference in the relation of constraints towards all earnings management forms. This indicates that cost and constraints do not capture entirely what they are designed to, in the first place. Finally, I document evidence that is consistent with managers using real and accruals-based earnings management as substitutes but fail to find evidence that classification shifting acts as a substitute.The second essay studies the effect of income smoothing via accruals-based and real earnings management on the relationship between current stock returns, current earnings and future earnings. I measure income smoothing as the contemporaneous correlation between changes in earnings management proxies and pre-managed income. Using a sample of non-financial publicly listed firms in the UK, I show that both accruals-based and real income smoothing measures are associated with significantly positive share price anticipation of earnings. These results are robust to different stock returns specifications, income smoothing measure calculations, abnormal accruals models and accumulation periods of stock returns.In the third and final essay, I investigate the impact of the level of accruals-based and real earnings management on measures of the amount of performance commentary in annual reports for a large sample of UK public firms. I use automated textual analysis to construct disclosure scores based on the amount of performance and causal commentary. The results suggest that firms with higher levels of earnings management have lower levels of disclosure of performance and causal commentary. The presence of bad news for the firm (missed analyst forecast, underperformance or earnings decline) affects the relationship between disclosure and accruals-based earnings management but not the relationship between disclosure and real earnings management.
Fluctuations in intracellular calcium concentration and their effect on tonic tension in canine cardiac Purkinje fibres.

Ca2+‐activated aequorin luminescence and tension were measured in dog Purkinje fibres during twitches and during the increase in resting force produced by exposure of the fibres to a low‐Na+ solution after 3 min without external K+. Over the restricted range which could be examined, the relation between tension and 'mean' aequorin luminescence (luminescence filtered at 0.2 Hz) was approximately linear during the development and maintenance of contracture. For a given level of force, the mean aequorin luminescence during contracture was up to 20 times greater than the peak luminescence during the twitch. Noise analysis of aequorin luminescence and tension during contracture indicated the presence of periodic fluctuations, with a predominant frequency in the range 1‐4 Hz. Ryanodine (1 microM) or caffeine (10 mM) abolished the fluctuations in luminescence and tension and made the relation between tension and mean aequorin luminescence much steeper. A mathematical model, the key feature of which is periodicity in the asynchronous occurrence of spatially localized regions of relatively high [Ca2+], reproduces the experimental data derived from contractures. From the model analysis, we infer that tonic tension is produced by recruitment of increasing numbers of regions of high [Ca2+], rather than by homogeneous graded activation. These results indicate that during contracture or 'tonic tension', intracellular [Ca2+] is not at steady state, but rather undergoes large, asynchronous spatio‐temporal fluctuations. Thus the assumptions that intracellular [Ca2+] is at steady state or homogeneous during tonic tension are not valid.
How GCC University Students Get Local News and Information

This paper reports a study of the use of local news sources by young people in GCC countries. With the expansion of pan-Arab news services, especially via satellite TV channels, concern has grown that these well-resourced news operations have pulled audiences away from local news suppliers. New research reported here indicates that there is still an appetite for local news and that even young people ¨C who have displayed the greatest enthusiasm for the newer services ¨C will tune into local news services both online and offline. Local services may represent niche markets and cater to specific news interests that have prevailed despite the popularity of pan-Arab news services. 1221 media and communication students completed a survey, reporting how and where they get their news in different GCC regions. The research found that most respondents followed what was happening in their local communities and that their news consumption could be quite varied. Rather than relying on one or two main sources of local news, most respondents reportedly used a wide variety of online and non-online sources depending on which local topic they were seeking information about.