Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Parametric invesstigation of liquid cooling module using FC-72

The effect of five parameters that affect the performance of a liquid cooling module; module orientation, charge ratio, charge temperature and air temperature have been investigated. The liquid cooling module was previously developed by the authors and comprised of an integrated assembly of a boiling plate, spacer, and condenser plate and used FC-72 as the working fluid. The size of the module was 101 mm times 108 mm times 18 mm and used a 1 cm2 heat source. To enhance boiling performance, microporous coated pin fins were used on the boiling plate surface. Heat rejection from the module was achieved using a water-cooled cold plate. Results showed no significant effect of the module orientation on performance (as long as the boiling section was completely submerged). There appeared to be no significant effect of charge ratio (amount of FC-72) on the module performance in the vertical orientation, however, boiling performance was significantly affected by the charge ratio in the horizontal direction and was attributed to an increase in the flow resistance to the liquid rewetting the boiling surface (boiling surface not fully submerged). The charge temperature, which determined the amount of the air in the module, deteriorated both boiling and condensation performance and reduced the maximum attainable heat flux. As the cold plate inlet temperature decreased, the module thermal resistance increased, however, because the chip temperature was also decreased, the maximum obtainable heat flux was significantly increased. The chip temperature was limited to a maximum value of 100 degC
Adaptation Under Environmental Turmoil: Organizational Flexibility in Family-Owned Firms

This article examines the process of organizational adaptation and competitiveness of family-owned firms in an emerging economy. The study is set in the Argentinean context of the 1990s when a combination of economic and political changes triggered a large-scale transformation in the competitive context of indigenous firms. Two family firms from the edible oil industry, one highly flexible and the other less so, are studied. Longitudinal data are supplied in an effort to explore the determinants of organizational flexibility in these firms.
Valuing New Urbanism: The Case of Kentlands

This study assesses the impact of new urbanism on single-family home prices. Specifically, we use Duany and Plater-Zyberk's traditional neighborhood development (TND) of Kentlands and surrounding conventional subdivisions to estimate the premium, if any, that single-family homeowners are willing to pay to reside in a community with new urbanist features. Using data on 2,061 single-family home transactions and several hedonic price models, the empirical evidence reveals that consumers are willing to pay a premium to locate in Kentlands. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.
Zika virus infection

Objective: To assess the knowledge of Zika virus infection in gynecologistsand pediatricians Study Design: Cross sectional. Setting: Tertiary care public hospitalsincluding Sardar Begam, and Allama Iqbal Memorial Hospitals, Sialkot; Services Institute ofMedical Sciences and Jinnah Hospital, Lahore; and Pakistan Air Force Hospital, Islamabad(Pakistan). Period: July to December, 2016. Method: Calculation of sample size using p =0.5 (inavailability of secondary data) in n = z2pq/d2 was followed by convenience samplingbasedrecruitment of the specialists. An indigenously developed questionnaire (Cronbach’s α= 0.79) was administrated to each subject for recording sociodemographic and professionalinformation; and self-reporting to 12 close-ended items on Zika virus infection (ZVI) in women;and microcephaly in newborns. The knowledge was categorized as adequate/inadequate.Results: Overall 172 respondents included (response rate = 97.2%); and substantially higherrate i.e. ≥ 91.9% was found against each of the correct options. Consequently, 94.8% (n= 163) of them showed adequate knowledge (score 10-12 out of possible total = 12) onthe infection and microcephaly. The knowledge had insignificant association with any of thesociodemographic/professional variables e.g. specialty (p ˃ 0.05; χ2 test). Similarly, post hocmultiple comparisons using Tukey’s HSD test revealed insignificant difference among themean values of score (p ˃ 0.05) in 3 occupational positions viz. Foundation doctors (M =11.29, SD = 1.13), trainee doctors (M = 11.26, SD = 0.81), and consultants (M = 11.40, SD= 0.82). Conclusion: Gynecologists and pediatricians had adequate level of the infection andmicrocephaly-related knowledge; though lack disease-oriented attitude and practical handling.
Students' achievement and perceptions of school climate during the transition from single sex education to co-education.

In 1999, a non-government school with a long tradition of "boys only" education in South Australia introduced co-education at the secondary school level. The following year, girls were admitted at the primary school level. Educational achievement and perceptions of the psychosocial climate of the school's learning environment were measured in all primary and secondary students at the end of this momentous year and again one year later. Questionnaires measuring students' perceptions of the relationship dimensions of cohesiveness, friction and satisfaction and the personal dimensions of competitiveness and difficulty were administered, together with a test of achievement. Interesting differences were found in student achievement and perceptions of the school's climate, over time and across the grade levels.
Transcriptional behavior of DMD gene duplications in DMD/BMD males

DMD gene exons duplications account for up to 5–10 % of Duchenne (DMD) and up to 5–19% of Becker (BMD) muscular dystrophies; as for the more common deletions, the genotype‐phenotype correlation and the genetic prognosis are generally based on the “reading frame rule”. Nevertheless, the transcriptional profile of duplications, abridging the genomic configuration to the eventual protein effect, has been poorly studied. We describe 26 DMD gene duplications occurring in 33 unrelated patients and detected among a cohort of 194 mutation‐positive DMD/BMD patients. We have characterized at the RNA level 16 of them. Four duplications (15%) behave as exception to the reading frame rule. In three BMD cases with out‐of‐frame mutations, the RNA analysis revealed that exon skipping events occurring in the duplicated region represent the mechanism leading to the frame re‐establishment and to the milder phenotype. Differently, in a DMD patient carrying an in‐frame duplication the RNA behaviour failed to explain the clinical phenotype which is probably related to post‐transcriptional‐translational mechanisms. We conclude that defining the RNA profile in DMD gene duplications is mandatory both for establishing the genetic prognosis and for approaching therapeutic trials based on hnRNA modulation. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Macroeconomic Effects of Fiscal Policy Shocks in Good Times and Bad

We analyze the macroeconomic effects of fiscal policy shocks conditional on fiscal stress by introducing a model whose parameter evolution explicitly depends on the state of public finances. Using US quarterly data from 1960:1-2009:4 we estimate a multivariate threshold autoregressive model where regime switches are triggered by the dynamics of the government debt-to-GDP ratio. We find that a model with two regimes and with a regime switch at 42:6 percent of the debt-to-GDP ratio fits the data better than the benchmark linear model or specifications of the threshold model using other measures of fiscal stress as a threshold variable. In the regime, where the debt-to-GDP ratio is below the estimated threshold, the predictions of our model are similar to the benchmark linear model: a government spending shock has a positive and a tax receipt shock a negative effect on output over time. However, if the debt-to-GDP ratio is above this threshold, then fiscal policy has no significant effect on output.
Excellence in knowledge management: an empirical study to identify critical factors and performance measures

Knowledge management (KM) has emerged in recent times as a phenomenon with wide‐ranging implications for organizational innovation and competitiveness. Supporters argue that as organizations understand the value of KM, they have the opportunity to establish long‐term internal strengths, which will lead to external competitive advantage. Further, we find the current literature advocates that KM can be implemented in every organizational discipline. KM is approached from several different perspectives, and a number of these are used to structure our paper and identify emerging factors in: strategy, human resources management (HRM), information technology (IT), total quality management (TQM), and marketing. This paper presents a summary of key responses to a recent survey of FTSE 100 companies conducted by the authors, which shows that KM is an extremely popular management topic, yet relatively few organizations have serious implementation programs in place. Also presented are findings from longitudinal studies of six case organizations, which have been approaching and deploying KM over the last three years. The academic arguments for organizations to be proactive in KM are strong and compelling. Our research identifies the critical factors that respondents feel are vital for successful KM implementation, and these provide a basis for a further stage of the study which considers how best to develop appropriate performance measurements.
Audit committee effectiveness and the audit fee

The UK is the only major country within the European Union the majority of whose listed companies have formed audit committees composed of non-executive directors to monitor financial reporting, the external auditors, and internal control strength. The adoption of audit committees in contrast to the approach in Europe has arisen despite the lack of evidence on their effectiveness even in the USA and Canada, where they have been mandatory since the 1970s. This paper seeks to establish whether audit committees are effective in ensuring audit quality by protecting the auditors from fee cuts which might affect audit quality, and signal tighter internal controls which help to reduce audit time and hence audit fees. The problem is that the audit committee may be expected to exert a two-way pressure on audit fees. To the extent that audit committees should enhance audit quality, partly by ensuring that audit hours are not reduced, an audit committee may be expected to increase total audit fees. At the same time, an audit committee may reasonably be thought to be a proxy for internal control strength. Ceteris paribus, companies with strong internal controls may be expected to pay lower audit fees than those with weak internal controls. Our paper argues that the 'quality' aspect of the audit can be captured through a dummy firm size variable, whilst the internal control aspects can be captured through dummy risk and complexity variables. The hypotheses examined are that size related audit fees are higher in companies with an audit committee; and that risk- and complexity-related audit fees are lower in companies with audit committees. The hypotheses are tested by developing a regression model for audit fees of a sample of the companies which comprise the FT-SE 500, with variables being included for the presence or absence of an audit committee. The results show that the relationship between size-related audit fees and the presence of an audit committee is positive and statistically significant, but that although there is a negative relationship between risk- and complexity-related audit fees and the presence of an audit committee, the relationships are not conclusively significant. The findings provide support for the contention that audit committees are at least partially effective in preventing reductions in the audit fee to levels where the quality of the audit may be compromised.
Heuristic modification of an anatomical Markov prior improves its performance

Including anatomical information during emission tomography reconstruction with resolution modeling can enhance the image quality. Often accurate segmentation of the anatomical image is required, being a major challenge for most applications. Recently, we studied a segmentation-free MAP algorithm proposed by Bowsher et al, that encourages similar activity in a selection of neighboring voxels that look most alike in the anatomical image. In an evaluation with Monte Carlo simulations, it was found to be very promising for both bias and noise reduction in 3D PET/MRI brain imaging, compared to MLEM and MAP algorithms with regular or anatomical priors. Here we study a small modification of the Bowsher algorithm to further improve its reconstruction capacities. Comparison between the two methods using the same brain phantom scan simulations indicated a further decrease in bias at the same noise level.
PEAK LOAD PRICING IN COMPETITIVE MARKETS

The paper offers an explanation for temporal price dispersion. Temporal price dispersion in the model is due neither to exogenous shifts in demand nor to price discrimination motives as shown in other papers. In this paper the explanation relies on peak-load pricing. In the model presented, consumers decide to purchase a given product in a certain time period according to the satisfaction they derive from the product at that time and to the prices and number of customers they expect at each firm and period. The demand in each period is controlled by sellers through prices. By offering different prices in different periods, sellers motivate consumers to spread themselves across periods in a profitable way. Therefore, the demand and price in each time period is determined endogeneously.
Automatic stabilizers vs. discretionary fiscal policy in Euro area countries

Within this study, we have used the reaction function model of the fiscal policy to study the behaviour of the governments in the Eurozone’s countries. The analysis methodology was that of the dynamic panel, in which we have included the first twelve countries of the Eurozone. The studied period was 1990 to 2009, and the used data series were those of the European Commission (2009). The estimates made on the basis of three models have proved the promotion of an anti-cyclic discretionary fiscal policy, which is symmetrical enough, depending on the phases of the business cycle. Moreover, a level of the automatic stabilizers has also resulted (measured by means of the cyclical budget balance), which is very close to the conventional one that is mentioned in the economic literature. Although the fiscal policy within the Eurozone stabilized the output gaps during the analyzed period, the current manoeuvre limits are quite low.
Age, Seniority and Labour Costs: Lessons from the Finnish IT Revolution

"The bad labour market performance of the workforce over 50 indicates that an aged workforce is often a burden for firms. Our paper seeks to investigate whether and why this is the case by providing evidence on the relation between age, seniority and experience, on the one hand, and the main components of labour costs, namely productivity and wages, on the other, for a sample of plants in three manufacturing industries ('forest', 'industrial machinery' and 'electronics') in Finland during the IT revolution in the 1990s. In 'average' industries - those not undergoing major technological shocks - productivity and wages keep rising almost indefinitely with the accumulation of either seniority (in the forest industry) or experience (in the industry producing industrial machinery). In these industries, the skill depreciation often associated with higher seniority beyond a certain threshold does not seemingly raise labour costs. In electronics, instead, the seniority-productivity profile shows a positive relation first and then becomes negative as one looks at plants with higher average seniority. This body of evidence is consistent with the idea that fast technical change brings about accelerated skill depreciation of senior workers. We cannot rule out, however, that our correlations are also simultaneously produced by worker movements across plants. The seniority-earnings profile in electronics is instead rather similar to that observed for the other industries - a likely symptom of the prevailing Finnish wage bargaining institutions which tend to make seniority one essential element of wage determination. In the end, seniority matters for labour costs, not age as such. But only in high-tech industries, not in the economy at large. This is well tuned with previous research on gross flows of workers and jobs in the US and other OECD countries which unveiled the productivity-driving role of resource reallocation (or lack thereof) between plants. To improve the employability of the elderly at times of fast technical change, public policy should thus divert resources away from preserving existing jobs and lend more attention to the retraining of old workers to ease their reallocation away from less productive plants (or plants where they have become less productive) into new jobs. " Copyright (c) CEPR, CES, MSH, 2007.
Voluntary adoption of non-local GAAP in the European Union: a study of determinants

This study examines the determinants of voluntary adoption of non-local accounting principles for financial reporting (non-local GAAP) by non-financial companies listed and domiciled in the European Union. We restrict ourselves to the two most predominant internationally accepted sets of accounting standards: International Accounting Standards (IAS) and United States generally accepted accounting principles (US GAAP). The maintained hypothesis is that firms will switch from local to non-local GAAP if the benefits outweigh the costs. This study provides insight in the characteristics of firms that experience positive net-benefits from non-local GAAP adoption. Considering that mandatory adoption of IAS is envisaged for listed EU companies from 2005 on, the results are of potential interest to EU and national financial reporting regulators.We have used various sources to identify EU companies that use non-local GAAP. The 1999 annual reports of all these companies were examined. We find that 133 non-financial companies in the EU voluntarily adopted non-local GAAP in 1999. This suggests that the net-benefits of using non-local GAAP are positive for only a small minority of EU companies.Companies that do voluntarily use non-local GAAP are more likely to be listed on a US exchange, the EASDAQ exchange in Brussels, and have more geographically dispersed operations. Furthermore, they are more likely to be domiciled in a country with lower quality financial reporting and where IAS is explicitly allowed as an alternative to local GAAP.
IN VITRO EFFECTS OF ANTIBIOTICS ON BRUGIA MALAYI WORM SURVIVAL AND REPRODUCTION

Recent studies have suggested that intracellular Wolbachia spp. endobacteria are necessary for the reproduction and survival of filarial nematodes. The effects of antibiotics that are active against related bacteria on adult worms and microfilariae (Mf) of Brugia malayi in vitro were investigated. Antibiotics tested were doxycycline (Doxy), tetracycline (Tet), rifampicin (Rif), azithromycin (Azith), and chloramphenicol (Chlor). Doxy, Tet, Rif, and Azith reduced release of Mf by adult female worms. The minimum effective concentrations that reduced Mf release by 50% were 5 μg/ml for Doxy, 20 μg/ml for Tet, 40 μg/ml for Rif, and 100 μg/ml for Azith. The same drugs (at higher concentrations) killed adult worms and Mf. Embryograms showed that Tets blocked embryogenesis in female worms. Electron microscopy (EM) showed that the Tets, Rif, and Azith cleared Wolbachia spp. from adult worms and damaged developing embryos. These studies show that antibiotics active against Rickettsiaceae affect adult B. malayi worms and Mf in vitro. Additional studies will be needed to elucidate the mechanisms of action of these antibiotics on Wolbachia and filarial worms.
Nutritional composition and condensed tannin concentration changes as browse leaves become litter.

BACKGROUND The role of condensed tannins (CT) in ruminant nutrition and health makes changes in leaf litter (LL) after abscission of interest. This study compared the effect of different drying methods of green leaves (GL) with that of natural drying of LL on CT, fibre, crude protein (CP) and phosphorus (P) concentrations in nine Texas browse species. Leaves harvested before autumn shedding were oven-dried (OD) or freeze-dried (FD). RESULTS Where different (P < 0.05), extractable CT concentrations were higher while protein- and fibre-bound CT concentrations were lower in GL-FD than in LL. Drying method changed total CT concentration in three species. Where different, fibre fraction concentrations were greater in LL than in GL, regardless of drying method. In some species, CP and P concentrations were lower in LL than in GL, but in five species they did not change (P > 0.05) from GL to LL, with CP concentrations ranging from 63 to 151 g kg(-1) in the latter. CONCLUSION Browse LL had high nutritive value and CT concentrations, explaining why browsing ruminants utilise this feed resource. However, changes in nutrient and CT concentrations as leaves become litter in some species mean that information on one is not necessarily applicable to the other.