Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Service Quality: The Impact of Frequency, Timing, Proximity, and Sequence of Failures and Delights

Service delivery often involves a series of events or stages of exchange between a service provider and its customer. At each stage, performance can meet, exceed, or fall below the customer's expectations. This article contributes to the literature by examining how the patterns of distribution (frequency, timing, proximity, and sequence) of service failures and delights affect customers’ perceptions of service quality. The authors propose a conceptual model based on mental accounting principles derived from prospect theory and develop a series of research propositions to explicate the links between distribution patterns of service failures/delights and service quality perceptions. The study integrates prospect theory with service encounter research and provides a comprehensive theory-driven platform for exploring the impact of various service failure and delight distribution patterns. In addition, it offers important managerial implications for service design and resource allocation regarding when, how often, how close, and in what order delights and failures should take place to maximize gains from delights and minimize losses from failures.
Deliberate learning in corporate acquisitions: post‐acquisition strategies and integration capability in U.S. bank mergers

This paper introduces a knowledge-based view of corporate acquisitions and tests the post-acquisition consequences on performance of integration decisions and capability-building mechanisms. In our model, the acquiring firm decides both how much to integrate the acquired firm and the extent to which it replaces this firm's top management team. It can also learn to manage the post-acquisition integration process by tacitly accumulating acquisition experience and explicitly codifying it in manuals, systems, and other acquisition-specific tools. Using a sample of 228 acquisitions in the U.S. banking industry, we find that knowledge codification strongly and positively influences acquisition performance, while experience accumulation does not. Furthermore, increasing levels of post-acquisition integration strengthen the positive effect of codification. Finally, the level of integration between the two merged firms significantly enhances performance, while replacing top managers in the acquired firm negatively impacts performance, all else being equal. Implications are drawn for both organizational learning theory and a knowledge-based approach to corporate strategy research. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Mortality statistics in immigrant research: method for adjusting underestimation of mortality.

BACKGROUND It is difficult to carry out fair comparisons of the mortality of different ethnic groups in a population in register-based studies because sizeable numbers of immigrants who subsequently leave their new homeland fail to register this fact with the national registration authorities. In this article we present a method which attempts to address these problems. METHODS Age-standardized mortality rates for native Swedes and immigrants in the age group 20-64 years were calculated for all individuals who either were included in the Swedish Population Censuses for 1985 or 1990, or who moved to Sweden during the period November 1990-1994. In order to define the population under scrutiny different sources of income are used as indicators of residence in the country. RESULTS When an analysis is made of all nationally registered individuals, significantly reduced death rates are found among immigrants outside the north-east of Europe compared to those for Swedish-born people. Extremely low death rates are found for those born in Turkey, Southern Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa and for those who are younger and without any income. When the income criterion is introduced, there is a change so that the earlier significantly reduced relative death risks for immigrants born outside the north-east of Europe for some subgroups are no longer significantly lowered. CONCLUSION This study has important implications for the interpretation of every study of mortality among immigrants based on official mortality statistics. Using information about income as an indicator of residence in the country appears to be a method which can be pursued further in order to achieve a more accurate understanding of mortality among immigrant groups.
User innovation: business and consumers

This Handbook comprehensively examines indicators and statistical measurement related to innovation (as defined in the OECD/Eurostat Oslo Manual). It deals with the development and the use of innovation indicators to support decision-making and is written by authors who are practitioners, who know what works and what does not, in order to improve the development of indicators to satisfy future policy needs.
Prevalence of chronic kidney disease stages 3-5 among acute medical admissions: another opportunity for screening.

BACKGROUND Early identification of chronic kidney disease (CKD) can help delay or prevent its progression, but the opportunities for systematic screening of patients are not well defined. AIM To define the prevalence of CKD Stages 3-5 and related anaemia among acute medical admissions. DESIGN Retrospective analysis. METHODS We studied all acute medical admissions to a major London teaching hospital during one year. The lowest creatinine, highest haemoglobin (Hb) and average mean corpuscular volume (MCV) were determined for 3 months before and after admission. Patients were categorized as CKD Stages 3-5 if the highest estimated GFR (eGFR) was <60 ml/min/1.73 m2. CKD-related anaemia was diagnosed if these patients had Hb <11 g/dl with normal MCV. RESULTS A total of 6073 patients were studied: male 49.0%, age 65.4 +/- 19.6 years (mean +/- SD), creatinine 82.7 +/- 46.7 micromol/l, eGFR 89.1 +/- 32.5 ml/min/1.73 m2, Hb 13.6 +/- 1.73 g/dl, MCV 87.7 +/- 7.2 fl. There was an inverse correlation between eGFR and age (r2 = 0.5; P < 0.001). Males were younger than females (63.5 +/- 18.4 years vs. 67.3 +/- 20.5) and had higher eGFR (93.6 +/- 34.1 vs. 84.7 +/- 30.2 ml/min/1.73 m2; P < 0.001). A total of 743 patients (12.2%) had raised creatinine >110 micromol/l, however using eGFR <60 ml/min/1.73 m2, 1075 patients (17.7%) were identified. The patients were categorized as follows: Stage 3: 950 (15.6%), Stage 4: 100 (1.7%), Stage 5: 25 (0.4%). Ninety-nine (9.2%) of the 1075 patients had normocytic anaemia. CONCLUSION We have found a high prevalence of CKD Stages 3-5 (17.7%) among acute medical admissions, of whom 9.2% had a related anaemia. Our findings highlight an important opportunity (amongst the 1.9 million acute medical admissions annually in England) for detecting patients with CKD.
Genetic Factors Associated With Recurrent Pregnancy Loss

Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) also referred to as recurrent miscarriage or recurrent spontaneous abortion has been a cause for bad obstetric history along with still births, intrauterine fetal deaths and intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR). According to the Practice Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, for epidemiological studies, three or more pregnancy losses are considered as RPL whereas, for clinical purposes, two pregnancy losses in the first trimester constitute RPL [1].
Very low birthweight and normal birthweight infants: A comparison of continuing morbidity

One hundred and forty‐eight (95.5%) of 155 consecutive two‐year survivors of 227 very low birthweight (VLBW, less than 1501 g) infants and 50 (83.3%) of 60 infants of normal birthweight who were selected at random, all of whom were born at the Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne from October 1980 to March 1982, were seen at the age of two years. Social, psychological and health data were compared between the groups. The mean Bayley Mental Developmental Index scores of VLBW children were significantly lower; the prevalence of major handicaps and poor growth (height and weight below the 10th percentile), and the number of hospital readmissions, wheezing episodes, major and minor congenital anomalies and postnatally‐acquired malformations (for example, abnormally shaped skull) were significantly greater in VLBW children. There was a trend for a greater number of episodes of otitis media, lower respiratory tract infections and surgical procedures per child in VLBW children. Extremely low birthweight children (birthweight less than 1000 g) contributed sigificantly to this morbidity. Parents of VLBW children perceived significantly more problems with infant vomiting and behavioural disturbances at two years of age. The children of mothers of limited education, or immigrant status and non‐fee paying or lower socioeconomic families had lower mean Bayley Mental Developmental Index scores but similar handicap rates and health status in both weight cohorts.
Two cases of MND/ALS developing the syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone

We report 2 autopsy‐proven cases of motor neuron disease/amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (MND/ALS), who developed the syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) prior to the respiratory failure. With respect to the underlying mechanisms of SIADH in the cases, we considered 2 factors; 1) dysfunction of the feedback system in ADH secretion via intrathoracic volume receptors caused by changes in intrathoracic circulation, and 2) primarily functional abnormalities in the limbic system which could influence hypothalamic osmoreceptors. It appears that SIADH can be followed by an exacerbation of respiratory dysfunction in MND/ALS.
Anti-stress and Anti-fatigue Effects of Fermented Rice Bran

The anti-stress and anti-fatigue effects on rats and mice of a hot water extract of rice bran fermented with Saccharomyces cerevisae IFO 2346 were investigated. Oral administration (1 g/kg/day) of the hot water extract of fermented rice bran (FRB) inhibited major changes in the weight of the adrenal, thymus, spleen and thyroid, showing an anti-stress effect. The hot water extract of FRB also inhibited increases in the GPT and LDH activity, cholesterol and glucose in the serum. The administration (1 g/kg/day) for 2 weeks significantly prolonged the swimming time, resulting in an increase in the anti-fatigue effect. It is considered from these results that FRB had anti-stress and anti-fatigue effects.
Awareness Of Improved Methods Of Goat Rearing By Rural Dwellers In Egbeda Local Government Area Of Oyo State

In Nigeria protein intake has been on the decrease for the past two decades. Government had made various efforts to increase the production of livestock in order to increase protein intake. One of such efforts is the livestock extension service on cattle, sheep, goat, chicken etc. A study was carried out to determine the level of awareness of goat rearers of improved methods of goat rearing. The study revealed that respondents are highly aware of these methods, but they do not utilize these methods because of lack of inputs and cost of the inputs. Their major sources of information about these methods are radio, extension agent, friends and family members. It was therefore recommended that government should provide recommended inputs to goat rearers at subsidized rates. Keywords : Awareness, Improved methods, Goat rearing, Rural dwellers. JOAFSS Vol. 4 (1) 2006: pp. 69-74
A New Approach to Pricing and Hedging Options with Transaction Costs

We begin with an overview of classical theories and empirical methods for option pricing and hedging without transaction costs, and then with a brief review of developments in the corresponding theory when there are transaction costs. An interesting feature of the optimal hedging strategy in the presence of transaction costs is that the investor should rebalance the hedging portfolio only when the number of shares of stock falls too far out of line relative to the “target delta. ” We then propose a new approach to pricing and hedging options with transaction costs using market data on stock and option prices. Our approach tunes the parameters of a rule-based hedging strategy to minimize the mean squared hedging error, and can be viewed as a hybrid of pure model-driven approaches and pure data-driven approaches in the literature. We present simulation and empirical studies of the S&P 500 futures options to illustrate the hedging performance of the rule-based strategy. Issues in modeling stock returns and their volatilities, such as stochastic volatility, jumps in prices, and jumps in volatility, which have attracted much attention in the past decade, are also discussed and are reflected in our approach and the empirical results.
Tourist perceived value of wetland park: evidence from Xixi and Qinhu Lake.

An increasing attention has been directed at the study of tourist perceived value, as more and more destinations recognize its importance of being a new battleground for gaining competitive advantage. This is particularly true for wetland parks, the popularity of which is fast growing as novel tourist attractions. The marketplace is expected to experience heightened competition. The purpose of this research is to better understand the tourist perceived value of wetland parks and provide a tool for wetland destinations to manage it as their competitive advantage. Xixi and Qinhu Lake are both AAAAA- Level Scenic Areas and are listed as the top two of the first 12 National Wetland Parks in China. Using the two National Wetland Parks of Xixi and Qinhu Lake as cases, this research develops a measurement scale and explores the structural characteristics of the wetland park tourist perceived value. The analyses of the empirical data have resulted in a six-dimension scale that comprises of 23 items. The six value dimensions, each of which are comprised of three to five items, are 1) environment, 2) characteristics, 3) service, 4) management, 5) education, and 6) cost. The theoretical contribution of the study lies in the discovery of the six- dimension scale of the wetland park tourist perceived value and the structural similarity and difference of tourist perceived values between wetland parks and other types of tourist attractions. Five of the six dimensions mirror five of the seven experiences found in the previous work of Wei Xia and Pan Yiting. The dimension of management value found in the current research was not present in Wei and Pan's work; whereas the dimensions of trust and concern experiences in Wei and Pan's study are not found in the current study. To compare with extant studies on tourist perceived values in the contexts of other attraction types, the dimensions of environment, characteristics and management values are unique to, and reflect the ecological attributes, of wetland parks. These three dimensions, together with the dimension of service value, constitute the functional value of wetland parks. However, the social value, which tends to be an important component in other studies, is absent as an independent dimension in this research at all. The findings from the research bear significant managerial implications for the two wetland parks. Although tourists have positive perceptions of both parks, the ratings are not as high as expected. There is much room for both parks to improve in order to compete more effectively with other types of attractions and to provide higher values for the tourists. The measurement scale is consistent between the two parks with no significant difference between four of the six dimensions. The exceptions are characteristics and education values, which are perceived higher of Qinhu Lake than of Xixi.
The Pricing Debate over Russian Gas Exports to China

Dr. James Henderson has been analysing the Russian oil and gas industry for the past 15 years. Having been Head of Energy for Wood Mackenzie Consultants in the mid-1990s he moved to Moscow as Head of Oil & Gas Research for Renaissance Capital in 1997 and in 1999 became Head of Equity Research. He returned to the UK in 2002 and is currently Head of Russia for Lambert Energy Advisory in London as well as a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at OIES. He completed his doctoral thesis on partnership in the Russian oil and gas industry at the University of London and received his PhD in 2010.
Pterygium excision with conjunctival autograft: consultant versus trainee

We read the article by Farrah et al. 1 regarding the surgical outcome of pterygium removal with conjunctival autograft when performed by a consultant ophthalmic surgeon comparing with a trainee and we would like to add our experience. We reviewed the case notes of 79 patients that underwent primary pterygium removal with conjunctival autograft during a period of 6 years in our hospital. The average linear dimension of the pterygia, taken as limbal to advancing head distance was 3.7 mm. The surgical technique that was used was removal of the pterygium with a conjunctival autograft, harvested from the superior conjunctiva. The average size of the excised tissue was 28 mm and the average size of the graft was 36 mm No antimetabolites were used. The mean follow-up period was 7 months (1–53 months) and overall recurrence rate was 17.7%. From the study of the medical notes, the surgeon was clearly identified in 56 cases. The consultants performed 19 cases with a recurrence of 26.3%, and the trainees 37 cases with a recurrence rate of 24.3%. When the two groups are compared there is not a statistically significant difference in success rate (d.f. 1, Chi value 0.026). The reason for this result, in our opinion, is that the trainees who are allowed to perform this kind of surgery in the UK are quite senior and have previous experience of 5 years or more and a significant number of cataract extractions, which means that they are quite familiar with the microsurgical environment of the eye. In addition, some of the trainees are subspecializing in corneal surgery, which means that they have experience specifically in corneal surgery. In conclusion, we would agree with the authors of the paper that the experience of the surgeon is paramount to the success of such an operation, and that difference in experience of the trainees in our study leads to a different result.
Developments in microbiological risk assessment for drinking water

1. SUMMARYThis paper considers the development of microbiologicalrisk assessment models for pathogenic agents in drinkingwater with particular reference to Cryptosporidium parvum,rotavirus and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The available evidence suggests that there is potential forconsiderable variation in exposures to C. parvum oocyststhrough drinking water, during both outbreak and non-outbreak conditions. This spatial/temporal heterogeneityarises both from variation in oocyst densities in the rawwater and ﬂuctuations in the removal efﬁciencies of drinkingwater treatment. In terms of risk prediction, modelling thevariation in doses ingested by individual drinking waterconsumers is not important if the dose–response curve islinear and the oocysts act independently during infection.Indeed, the total pathogen loading on the population asrepresented by the arithmetic mean exposure is sufﬁcient forrisk prediction for C. parvum, BSE and other agents of lowinfectivity, providing the infecting particles (i.e. oocysts orBSE prions) are known to act independently. However, formore highly infectious agents, such as rotavirus, ignoring1. Summary, 1912. Introduction, 1922.1 Overview of the risk assessment approach, 1923. Pathogen exposures through drinking water, 1923.1 Pathogen exposures under non-outbreak condi-tions, 1933.1. 1 Variation in micro-organism counts withinlarge volume samples, 1933.1. 2 Effect of treatment on the spatial distribu-tion of micro-organisms, 1933.1. 3 Implication for Cryptosporidium exposures todrinking water consumers under non-out-break conditions, 1953.2 A model for Cryptosporidium oocyst concentrationsin drinking water during an outbreak, 1964. Dose–response curves. Estimating the risk to humansfrom ingesting low pathogen doses, 1974.1 Cryptosporidium parvum, 1974.1. 1 Experiments with salmonellas in mice suggestthat pathogens act independently and do notco-operate during infection, 1984.1. 2 Acquired protective immunity for Cryptospo-ridium parvum, 1994.1. 3 Virulence of different strains of Cryptospori-dium parvum, 1994.2 Human rotavirus, 1994.3 Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, 2004.3. 1 The human oral ID
How Do Public Announcements Afiect the Frequency of Trading in Stocks

This paper examines how news releases and key microstructure features of market activities afiect trading frequency in airline stocks. Using the autoregressive conditional hazard framework of Hamilton and Jordµa (2002), we show that trading intensity signiflcantly changes before, during and after flrm-speciflc and macroeconomic announcements, but traders’ reactions strongly depend on the type and weight of the news. We flnd that market microstructure variables have a small yet signiflcant efiect on trading frequency, with trade volume and price changes revealing more information than relative bid/ask spread. The results also clearly indicate that the intraday crude oil futures price changes are relevant to modelling the probability of a trade within the next time period.
Advertised Versus Unexpected Next Purchase Coupons: Consumer Satisfaction, Perceptions of Value, and Fairness

Purpose – The research investigates how consumers differ in their interpretation of advertised and “surprise” (or unexpected) next-purchase coupons as delayed rewards or immediate losses based on promotion context and coupon start date restrictions.Design/methodology/approach – Two laboratory experiments examine how consumers respond to next-purchase coupons. In Study 1, next-purchase coupon types (advertised; unexpected) vs. competing brand promotions (yes; no) vs. coupon start date restriction (unrestricted; restricted to future start date) between-subjects experimental design was used to examine the impact on purchase satisfaction, perceived promotion value, and perceived retailer fairness. In Study 2, four between-subjects factors were used to examine the impact on purchase satisfaction, perceived value, and retailer fairness: next-purchase coupon type vs. coupon start date restriction vs. coupon target restriction (brand-specific; non brand-specific) and the measured need-for-cognition variable (high; low). Findings – Study 1 indicates that unexpected next-purchase coupons lead to higher purchase satisfaction but lower perceptions of retailer fairness compared to advertised coupons. Study 2 indicates that consumer predisposition toward effortful thought (NFC) amplifies the impact of unrestricted start date on perceptions of retailer unfairness. Furthermore, this effect is stronger on purchase satisfaction and perceived value for unrestricted unexpected next-purchase coupons.Research limitations/implications – Results imply that advertised and unexpected next-purchase coupons differ in their impact on post-purchase outcomes of consumers. Differences in competing brand promotions and coupon start date restrictions lead to interpretations of next-purchase coupons as immediate loss vs. delayed gains.Practical implications – Managerial implications for the design and use of next-purchase promotions are discussed.Originality/value – The research paper is the first one to study how consumers respond to checkout or next-purchase coupons.