Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Organizational motivation, opportunity and ability to measure marketing performance

The authors draw on the MOA (motivation, opportunity, ability) framework from consumer information processing theory to explore the drivers of performance information processing, satisfaction with marketing performance assessment systems, and top management intentions to change them. A survey of senior managers at 66 large corporations reveals that organizational ability and opportunity to process marketing performance information appear to have positive effects on both the sophistication of processing and satisfaction with performance measurement. Motivation to process has both direct and moderating effects on future measurement spending plans. On the other hand, satisfaction with the system did not appear to influence future spending plans. Managerially, developing the organization's ability to interpret performance data appears to have the strongest effects on managers' attitudes and intentions regarding the measurement system.
Looking Forward: Management Earnings Forecasts and the Value Effect

We examine the pricing implications of management earnings forecasts by taking advantage of the unique corporate disclosure practice in Japan, where listed firms regularly announce earnings forecasts upon requests by stock exchanges and the press. A calendar-time strategy using the forecasted earnings-to-price ratio earns a premium comparable to, and separate from, the value premium based on the book-to-market ratio. The premium is robust to a variety of factor and characteristic controls including realized and forecasted earnings momentum. The result is more consistent with characteristic pricing than factor pricing and challenges risk-based explanation.
Hospital acquired infections among patients admitted in the medical and surgical wards of a non-teaching secondary care hospital in northern India.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the incidence of Nosocomial Infection (NI) and type of bacteriological isolates among the patients admitted in the medical and surgical wards of a non-teaching secondary care hospital in north India. MATERIALS AND METHODS This was a cross-sectional hospital based study conducted in the Wards of General Medicine, General Surgery and Orthopaedic of the hospital. The patient were admitted in the department for various surgical procedures, without evidence of initial infection, were included in the study. RESULTS A total of 176 patients were included in the study of which 82 were from Medical and 94 from Surgical ward. Overall incidence of NI was found to be 26.1% (Medical ward=28%, Surgical ward=24.5%., p=0.58). The isolation rate of Acinetobacter baumanii was (p=0.15) higher among the patients of medical ward (95.7%) than surgical ward (82.6). Escherichia coli was isolated in 89.1% and no significant difference was observed between medical and surgical wards. Klebsiella pneumoniae was isolated in 50% patients and was almost similar (p=0.37) in medical surgical wards. The isolation rate of Pseudomonos aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus and Coagulase negative staphylococci were 43.5%, 73.9%, 34.8% and 17.4% respectively. A significant difference was observed in the isolation rate of Enterococcus faecalis (p=0.007) and Coagulase negative staphylococci (p=0.002) between medical and surgical wards. Overall, among the patients who developed NI, 27.2% patient's bacterial isolates were Gram positive (Surgical=64.1, Medical=80%). CONCLUSION The incidence of NI is increasing in the hospitals, so extensive that more care has to be taken in cleaning the wards of the hospitals.
Decompose Technology Acceptance Model by Economic Value and Trust Perception to E-Finance Adaption

Among all Electronic Commerce (EC) applications, Internet-based stock trading is ideally one of the finest ways to comprehend the attraction and popularity of EC. The core focus of this study is to extend Technology Acceptance Model by providing economic value (Time saving and Cost reduction) and Trust perception to figure out factors that affect the investor's intention to adopt online stock trading. The data was gathered from 295 active investors who were aware of online stock trading in Iran. We used Structural Equation Modeling (AMOS) to analyzed hypotheses and the results revealed that Cost Reduction and Trust perceptions have positive effects on investors‟ intention through attitude. Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use also were significantly influencing factors of attitude toward online stock trading. Almost 62% of the total variance on the investors‟ behavioural intention was explained by independent variables. These findings can facilitate the understanding of the factors and the measures that need to be undertaken in order to enhance the use of e-finance among the investors.
Let Your Banner Wave? Antecedents and Performance Implications of Retailers’ Private-Label Branding Strategies

The authors study the drivers and performance implications of retailers’ branding strategies for their premium and economy private-label tiers. Retailers can opt for store-banner branding and use their store-banner name and/or logo to reveal their ownership, or they can use stand-alone branding and avoid an explicit link between store brand and retail banner. Hypotheses are tested on a large pan-European sample of premium and economy tiers that were introduced over almost 15 years. For the premium tier, retailers’ propensity to use store-banner branding is higher when they have a hi–lo price format and a higher brand equity, and when they have used store-banner branding in the past (on their standard tier and in other markets). The attractiveness of using store-banner branding for the premium tier also varies across countries: it is more likely to be chosen when the retail environment is less concentrated, when uncertainty avoidance and rule of law are higher, and when power distance is lower. For most of these drivers, the effect is significantly weaker for the economy tier. Retailers whose premium-tier branding decision is congruent with the proposed contingency framework perform better. For the economy tier, congruence is not associated with higher performance.
Asthma and Obesity in Adolescents: Is There an Association?

To determine if obesity is more prevalent in adolescents with asthma compared with nonasthmatic adolescents and to determine if obesity is associated with more severe asthma, we studied 265 adolescent asthmatics 12–21 years of age and 482 nonasthmatic adolescents. The prevalence of obesity in the asthmatic group was 20% compared to 17% in the control group. The prevalence of being at risk of overweight was similar for asthmatics (16%) and controls (15%). The prevalence of obesity in moderate to severe asthmatics (21%) was not different from prevalence of obesity in mild asthmatics (19%) or controls (17%). In this study of primarily African-American urban adolescents, obesity was not associated with asthma or more severe asthma.
The Impact of Brand Credibility on Customer Loyalty

Increasing competition in the industry / services sector and increasing customers' knowledge and awareness level has resulted in more paying attention to customer keeping. According to this fact that, attracting and catching new customers is much more expensive than establishing a broader and deeper relationships with current customers, the subject of customer brand loyalty and identifying factors which affect it are particularly important, and one of the developing and increasing factors of customer loyalty commitment, will bring additional reliability to customers that can find a special place in the consumers’ minds. Brand equity, is one of assets that both will protect the value of companies and will lead to customer loyalty. In today's competitive world, in which the goods physically do not have significant difference, if we can take advantage of the brand credibility, will attract customer loyalty, which is determinant of long term profit. Increasing customer loyalty will increase market share and the rate of firm profitability.
Working Memory Load in the Initial Learning Phase Facilitates Relearning: A Study of Vocabulary Learning

In this study, the effect of working memory load in the initial learning phase on the relearning phase was examined. Exp. 1 examined the effect of articulatory suppression in paired associative learning with a relearning method. In the learning phase, 28 participants (M age = 21.8 yr., SD = 2.1) learned all word-nonword associations under conditions of articulatory suppression or simple tapping. After a delay, they answered a cued recall task in a nonsuppressed condition and a relearning task in a simple tapping condition. The subjects who learned under the simple tapping condition in the learning phase required significantly more trials in the relearning phase. In Exp. 2, 28 participants (M age = 20.8 yr., SD = 1.5) participated, and the result was replicated. These results suggested that working memory load facilitates relearning. Results are best explained by contextual interference (Battig) rather than by the less-is-more hypothesis of Newport.
Characteristics and Reasons of Different Households' Farming Abandonment Behavior in the Process of Rapid Urbanization Based on a Survey from 540 Households in 10 Counties of Chongqing Municipality

The purpose of this paper was to explore characteristics and decision-making factors of different households' farming abandonment behavior according to households' concurrent business activities,and to provide reference for resolving problems related to low farmland utilization in the areas of poverty and fragile ecosystems. This study was based on a survey from 540 households in 10 counties of Chongqing Municipality. Peri-urban areas,outer suburbs,and mountain areas were selected. Methods of participatory rural appraisal and logistic analysis were employed. Results indicated that 1) According to the off-farm income ratio,workforce distribution,and means of livelihood,rural households could be classified into full-farm,type I,and type II households. The concurrent business level of rural households was high in Chongqing,with off-farm income being the most important characteristic in households’ economic activities;2) Households’ farmland transfer is prevalent in Chongqing,but most of it is non-profitable. On average,type II households share the highest level in both farm abandonment and profitable transfer. Compared with type I households,full-households are more likely to transfer the farmland,with smaller size and non-profitably mostly. Dry land is more likely to be left uncultivated than paddy field. Most of the uncultivated are those that are fragmentary or poor conditioned;3) Main reasons of different households’ farming abandonment are as below. In general,many full-farm households are at old age and lack of workforce. Under this condition,they may give up farming far and fragmentary lands. Agricultural income and farming benefit are important for type I households. So they tend to be more concerned about the economic benefit of land,and invest in land under good conditions. In contrast,type II households focus primarily on maximization of interests,tending to invest in non-agricultural industries and make profits from farmland transfer. It is concluded that guiding the land utilization behavior by establishing relevant policy and project measures and accounting for the characteristics and reasons of different households’ farming abandonment behavior are greatly helpful in integrating regional land resources with utilization rate growth. Full-farm households are vulnerable groups in rural regions. The government should guarantee their livelihood security. The economic benefit of land is vital for type I households. Enhancing their livelihood capacity,especially their farming capacity,is therefore an important task for the government. The reform of the household registration system should take type II households as the main group. The government should guarantee an orderly transfer of type II households and efficient use of abandoned farming land.
Critical transport and failure in continuum crack percolation

Critical transport and failure properties of a new class of continuum percolation systems (blue cheese model), where the transport medium is the space between randomly placed clefts, are discussed. The critical behaviour of electrical conductivity, fluid permeability, elastic constants and failure thresholds are, for most of them, distinct from their counterparts in both the discrete-lattice and Swiss-cheese continuum percolation models. Furthermore, it is argued that the asymmetric elastic response of a crack submitted to compression or extension leads, for the macroscopic mechanical properties, to a new percolation threshold at a crack concentration higher than that of usual geometric percolation. This is due to the presence of hooks or overhang crack configurations which locally transform the macroscopic applied extensional stress into a compressional stress. In two dimensions, an analogy with directed percolation is suggested. When the cracks have a non-vanishing width, one recovers the usual geometric percolation threshold and the analysis of the transport properties is similar to that of the Swiss cheese model developed by Halperin et al. For elastic sheets which are not constrained to lie in a flat plane, the two edges of a crack Etude des proprietes de transport et de rupture d'un nouveau modele de percolation continue (fromage bleu) ou le milieu qui supporte le transport, est l'espace entre fissures placees aleatoirement. Comparaison du comportement critique de conductivite electrique, permeabilite et constantes d'elasticite pour ce modele avec celui du modele de percolation continue de type gruyere. Dans le cas d'une asymetrie de la reponse elastique d'une fissure sous contrainte de compression ou de traction, mise en evidence d'un nouveau seuil de percolation pour une concentration de fissures superieure a celle donnant la percolation geometrique usuelle. Proposition d'une analogie avec la percolation dirigee en dimension deux
Contributions of family and neighbourhood factors to the mental health of migrant children in China: implications for policy and services

Drawing upon a sample of 806 migrant children in Beijing, China, this study investigated how community social capital, family social support, family human capital and family financial capital influenced the mental health of Chinese migrant children. Using structural equation modelling with latent variables, the study results suggested that higher levels of family social support were associated with better mental health of migrant children. Family social support also mediated the effect of community social capital on children's mental health. Family human capital and family financial capital both contributed to children's mental health through their significant effects on community social capital. However, family financial capital was negatively associated with family social support, resulting in an unexpected, indirect negative effect on children's mental health. Implications of these findings for social policy and social services were discussed.
Efficiency of resource-use in Cassava production in Edo state, Nigeria

This study employed the use of the Maximum Likelihood Estimation Technique in estimating the efficiency of resource-use in cassava production in Edo State. Data used for the study were sourced through the cost-route method of data collection, based on a stratified random sampling technique. The average farm size of the farmers in the study area was 2.3 hectares, which indicates that, on the average, cassava farmers in Edo State are smallholder farmers. Estimates of efficiency of resource-use were 7.58 0.90 0.32 and 1.35 for land, hired labour, family labour and planting materials respectively. This indicates that none of the inputs was efficiently utilized, as none equated to unity. While land and planting materials were under-utilized, labour (both family and hired) was over-utilized. The implication of this is that cassava farmers in Edo State can operate more profitably by increasing their farm size and quantity (and quality) of planting materials used while reducing the number of manual labour (through increased use of labour saving machines). br> Journal of Agriculture, Forestry and the Social Sciences Vol. 3 (2) 2005: pp.14-23
Adherence to Acceptability and Repeatability Criteria for Spirometry in Complex Lung Function Laboratories

BACKGROUND: Few published data exist for adherence rates to spirometry acceptability and repeatability criteria in clinical respiratory laboratories. This study quantified adherence levels in this setting and observed changes in adherence levels as a result of feedback and ongoing training. METHODS: Two tertiary hospital-based, lung function laboratories (L1 and L2) participated. Approximately 100 consecutive, FVC spirometry sessions were reviewed for each year from 2004 to 2008 at L1 and for years 2004 and 2008 at L2. Each spirometric effort and session was interrogated for adherence to the acceptability and repeatability criteria of international spirometry standards of the time. Feedback of audit results and refresher training were provided at L1 throughout the study; in addition, a quality rating scale was implemented in 2006. No formal feedback or follow-up training was provided at L2. RESULTS: We reviewed 707 test sessions over the 5 years. There was no difference in adherence rates to acceptability and repeatability criteria between sites in 2004 (L1 61%, L2 59%, P = .89). There was, however, a significant difference between sites in 2008 (L1 92%, L2 65%, P < .001). No difference was seen at L2 between 2004 and 2008 (P = .26), while L1 experienced a significant increase in adherence levels between 2004 and 2008 (61% to 92% P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Clinical respiratory laboratories met published spirometry acceptability and repeatability criteria only 60% of the time in the first audit period. This improved with regular review, feedback, and implementation of a rating scale. Auditing of spirometry quality, feedback, and implementation of test rating scales need to be incorporated as an integral component of laboratory quality assurance programs to improve adherence to international acceptability and repeatability criteria.
Gate-All-Around Poly-Si TFTs With Single-Crystal-Like Nanowire Channels

The gate-all-around (GAA) poly-Si thin-film transistors (TFTs) with single-crystal-like nanowire (NW) channels (SCLNCs) are demonstrated and characterized. Via the nanoscale nitride spacer, the Si NW can be easily transformed within one crystalline grain of the two-shot sequential-lateral-solidification poly-Si film. As compared with the planar ones, the GAA-SCLNC TFTs showed more excellent characteristics. The results clearly show that the variations of device characteristics can be reduced by increasing the numbers of NWs in the channels and an average mobility above 410 cm2/V·s with a low standard deviation can be achieved for the GAA-SCLNC TFTs with 20-NW channels.
Nosocomial Infections in Surgical Patients: Comparison of Two Measures of Intrinsic Patient Risk

Abstract Objective: To compare, in subjects undergoing general surgery, two measures of intrinsic patient risk for nosocomial infection: the Study on the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control (SENIC) index and the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance (NNIS) System index. Design: Prospective cohort study, with follow-up for 1 month after hospital discharge. Setting: The general surgery service of a tertiary hospital. Main Outcome Measure: Surgical-site infection. Patients: 1,483 subjects aged 10 to 92 years. Results: During follow-up, 155 patients developed nosocomial infection, yielding a cumulative incidence of 10.5%. The NNIS index showed a linear trend with both crude and adjusted (for SENIC index) rates of surgicalwound infection. The SENIC index did not exhibit any linear trend with adjusted (for NNIS index) rates of surgical-wound infection. To delineate whether the SENIC index added explanatory information to the NNIS index (or vice versa), we regressed each variable on the other. Logistic regression analyses confirmed the results of stratified analysis: residuals of the NNIS index added discriminating ability to the SENIC index, whereas residuals of the SENIC index did not improve the predictive power of the NNIS index. Conclusions: The NNIS index had a better ability than the SENIC index for discriminating and predicting risk of surgical-wound infection
Determinants of Financial Performance of General Insurance Underwriters in Kenya

Good performance of financial institutions, including general insurance underwriters, is critical due to the important role that these entities play in an economy. Financial performance of general insurance underwriters is expected to be related to various factors. This study sought to establish the relationship between selected factors (growth of premiums; size of insurer; retention ratio; earning assets; investment yield; loss ratio; and expense ratio) and financial performance of general insurance underwriters in Kenya. The study employed multiple linear regression analysis with data for 22, 23 and 25 underwriters for the 2010, 2011 and 2012 years respectively. The results were that financial performance was positively related to earning assets and investment yield. Financial performance was negatively related to loss ratio and expense ratio. Growth of premiums, size of underwriter and retention ratio were not significantly related to financial performance. The results emphasize the need for general insurance firms to focus on the investment operations, underwriting results and efficiency.
The Impact of Regulatory Focus on Adolescents’ Response to Antismoking Advertising Campaigns

The authors demonstrate that antismoking advertisements are the most persuasive when the viewers’ regulatory focus, the message's regulatory focus, and the message frame function synergistically. In two experiments, 1000 adolescents saw either antismoking advertising about smoking's social consequences or control advertising in a television show. The authors find that for promotion-focused adolescents, a promotion-focused positively framed antismoking message is the most effective at persuading them not to smoke; for prevention-focused adolescents, a prevention-focused negatively framed antismoking message is the most effective. The enhanced ad effectiveness is mediated by message accessibility and diagnosticity.
Amantadine-induced peripheral neuropathy

Article abstract We report a 48-year-old woman with a 17-year history of PD who developed a peripheral sensory-motor neuropathy secondary to chronic administration (8 years) of amantadine. Discontinuation of amantadine resulted in resolution of trophic skin ulcers, paresthesias, and distal weakness. Amantadine may be hazardous to patients with severe and chronic livedo reticularis.
Medical practice variations: changing the theoretical approach

Variations in medical practice are well documented, but there has been less progress in explaining these variations. This paper discusses the existing theories and hypotheses and concludes that a change in theoretical approach is required, to one that more directly highlights the social context influencing the behaviour of doctors in their daily practice. An initial alternative model for explaining variation in practice style is presented. The paper illustrates how (combinations of) important structural factors, such as the availability of hospital resources, the way the doctor is reimbursed, the availability of patients, professional uncertainty, and the way the hospital is financed, lead to hypotheses about when different local standards of medical care emerge. It is concluded that theoretical progress in research on variations in medical practice is possible and that empirical research needs to be driven by hypotheses that emphasize the role of social contexts in the doctor's decision behaviour. Some suggestions for future lines of research are outlined.