Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An application of multi-criteria analysis to the location of a container hub port in South Africa

The South African container port system is subject to a major revision of the existing port hierarchy. The aim is to move away from a set of gateway ports to a hub port configuration. Such a shift would allow the South African port system to benefit better from market dynamics. This paper deals with the application of multi-criteria analysis (MCA) to the evaluation of three alternative locations for the development of a large hub port in the South African container port system (i.e. Durban, Richards Bay and Ngqura). Three groups of selection criteria are identified: criteria relevant to the port users, to the terminal operators/investors and to the community. The MCA model gives the best score to Ngqura with Durban taking second place.
The Intensity of Trade Creation and Trade Diversion in COMESA, ECCAS and ECOWAS: A Comparative Analysis

This paper uses the gravity model to estimate the intensity of trade creation and trade diversion in COMESA, ECCAS and ECOWAS. Using annual data for the years 1991--8, we find that the intensity of trade creation or diversion varies from region to region and from period to period. The empirical results suggest that the intensity of trade creation is higher in the ECOWAS followed by COMESA. The trade creation effect in the ECCAS is not collaborated empirically. The estimated results also suggest that the trade diversion effects are weak in the three regional organisations. The results reinforce the idea that size factors (level of GNP and population) and resistance factors (distance and language) play an important role in the determination of the flow of international trade. Copyright 2005, Oxford University Press.
Epiphyseal bone-marrow abnormalities and restitution in legg-calvé-perthes disease

Purpose: By means of MR imaging, to determine signal abnormalities in the femoral epiphysis; to determine their location, extent and restitution over time; and to correlate these findings to the Catterall radiological classification. Material and Methods: A total of 247 MR images in 86 patients (101 hips) with Legg-CalvC-Perthes disease were examined. The MR images were taken in the coronal plane, and the images through the center of the femoral head were used for this study. Results: T1-weighted images proved as good as T2-weighted images for the MR evaluation of the extent of the necrosis. In almost every case, the central-cranial part of the epiphysis showed a low initial signal. In Catterall group I, the medial part was never involved. In Catterall III and IV, almost the entire epiphysis showed signal changes. In the period 3–6 years after diagnosis, we still found signal changes in the epiphysis in some hips but there was no correlation with the Catterall classification. After 6 years, the epiphysis showed normal signal intensity in MR imaging. In T1-weighted images, Gd-enhancement occurred in the peripheral regions in the early stages of the disease. The central part of the epiphysis became more enhanced over time and peaked in the period 1–3 years after diagnosis. Conclusion: MR is a valuable modality for monitoring changes in the femoral epiphysis. We propose a new classification of the extent and pattern of epiphyseal bone-marrow abnormalities based on the 4 zones most commonly observed in MR imaging.
Prepare for Impact? Reflecting on Knowledge Exchange Work to Improve Services for Older LGBT People in Times of Austerity

This article reflects on the experience of undertaking a knowledge exchange project with a local government authority to improve services for older lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) adults. It frames this project in terms of local government equality work, existing research and initiatives concerning older LGBT people and the coming of austerity. The project methodology is detailed, including discussion of the generation and measurement of impact. Some critical issues that arose during the project are considered, including suggestions that these may have been related to economic austerity. The article concludes that although knowledge exchange work with older LGBT people faces challenges in such times, future research and initiatives are warranted.
ICQI-Lahore , 2-3 May 2011 1 Quality Performance in Academic Programs

Growth and change are fundamental processes in human development. Recent trends especially in education and other fields like psychology and medicine 0have stimulated renewed interest in methods of measuring development, growth and change. Researchers, educators and international agencies have recently placed greater emphasis on the importance of growth in education as foundational to students’ learning. The experiences emanating from professional development initiatives of the Aga Khan University-Professional Development Centre North (AKU-PDCN) particularly those coming from the professional development programs such as the Whole School Improvement Program (WSIP), Advanced Diploma in Education: Primary Education (ADE: PE) and Certificate in Education: Educational Leadership and Management (CE: ELM) help not only in the establishment of continuous teacher professional development mechanisms and processes, but also provide opportunities for various stakeholders to work together with high quality performance through sharing their experiences of implementing the school improvement initiatives. Moreover, the field -based nature and the two years follow-up mechanism of the programs provide further professional support with high quality performance to the project schools. This ongoing quality professional support is intensive and regular and aims to encourage the teacher community to reflect on new practices as well as on developing positive professional development culture in schools. ICQI-Lahore, 2-3 May 2011 2 This paper attempts to illustrate the background and purpose of WSIP, ADE: PE and CE: ELM programs and how it provides high quality professional development opportunities for the teachers of Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan through AKU-PDCN. The paper also highlights the lessons learnt and challenges faced in the process, and concludes with a suggestion for a possible and preferable way forward.
Tool and algorithmic diagnostic devices of operability of actuation mechanisms of automated control systems

In case of the decision of the task of design of automated control systems for crucial objects, a minimum possible level of risks at uncontrollable interference in the processes of functioning of these systems, and also minimization of negative consequences from a similar interference in the course of its operation are required. In connection with this, on the basis of the system theory of conflict management and the matrix approach to the description of the structure of complex organizational systems, the authors solved the measurement problem of establishing a correspondence between the physical properties of the object and the characteristics of its mathematical model with the aim of diagnosing the health of actuators and detecting internal conflicts between them. In this article we propose an algorithm that allows one to solve private probabilistic and statistical measurement to identify conflicts in the operation of systems of this class, both at the stage of their development and in the course of operation. In addition, the paper proposed a set of dynamic and statistical models solving private measuring tasks in the process of diagnostic decisions making on the health component of the Executive device in the automated control system. The process of diagnostic solutions making is described by a Petri net and Markov and allows one to propose a methodology to determine the functionality of the diagnostic solutions, to clarify the level of operability of the actuation mechanisms and to receive the diagnostic inference as well as to estimate operability risks of the actuation mechanisms taking into account risk factors and operability of the actuation mechanisms components. The list of the associated failure of an automated control system is also offered. The program or hardware implementation of this algorithm will allow one to create a universal remedy for diagnosing and monitoring of the automated control system integrity.
Mismatch-tolerant CMOS oscillator and excitatory synapse for bioinspired image segmentation

In this work, we propose a mismatch-tolerant CMOS oscillator and excitatory synapse for bioinspired image segmentation circuits using a modified LEGION algorithm. As a result of the combination of excitatory synapses (to synchronize coupled oscillators) and global inhibition (to separate unconnected objects) the oscillator array can segment the image objects by phase-encoding. However, the synchronizing mechanism is sensitive to frequency dispersion, and hence a mismatch-tolerant oscillator architecture is a key point for correct operation. With a feedback scheme based on switched capacitors and a large time constant low-pass filter, frequency variations are significantly reduced. The excitatory synapse circuit enables oscillator synchronization and is implemented by a quasi floating-gate MOS transistor. Transistor-level simulation results for CMOS 0.35 /spl mu/m technology are presented to validate the functionality of the mismatch-tolerant oscillator and synapse.
Isolation and properties of gene-modified mouse bcr-abl-transformed cells expressing various immunostimulatory factors.

UNLABELLED B210 cells are murine (BALB/c) cells transformed by bcr-abl fusion gene. After intravenous administration they are capable of inducing leukaemia-like disease in syngeneic mice. From these cells a thymidine-kinase less subline was derived. It was significantly less pathogenic than the parental cells. However, a highly pathogenic clone denoted B210cTK-/cl-2 was isolated from its population. As determined by Western blotting, these cells produced more p210 protein than the parental B210 cells. To successfully transfect these cells a modified electroporation method was introduced. Bicistronic plasmids carrying gene for herpes simplex thymidine kinase (HSV TK) and the gene for either granulocyte-monocyte colony stimulation factor (GM-CSF), interleukin-2 (IL-2) or interleukin 12 (IL-12) were used for the transfection experiments. Gradually, cell lines producing these cytokines were isolated in media supplemented with hypoxantin, aminopterin and thymidine (HAT). All of them were highly sensitive to ganciclovir in vitro confirming that the cells produced HSV TK. The genetic modification of B210cTK-/cl-2 was associated neither with the alteration of p210 bcr-abl production nor with any changes in expression of MHC class I molecules. From populations of each of the three lines several cell clones were isolated and tested for the production of the respective cytokines. The original uncloned population and several clones differing in the cytokine production were administered intravenously into mice. All animals survived without symptoms of the disease suggesting that the gene-modification was associated with the loss of pathogenicity. KEYWORDS CML, Bcr-Abl, HSV TK, cytokines, gene-modified tumour cells, pathogenicity.
HRM AND PERFORMANCE LINKAGE: THE ROLE OF LINE MANAGERS

Assuming that HRM serves as a value creation function and despite the great research interest in HRM and performance linkage issue, there is still disputes concerning HRM nature, performance outcomes and the causal path involved in the linkage between two constructs. The paper proposes an answer to the question - how HRM practices can influence organizational performance. The approach of impact is based on role of line managers by delivering HRM practices. Acknowledging that there is the gap between what is formally determined and what is actually delivered, the role of line managers as essential intermediaries in shaping HRM practices and performance are revealed. Besides, the paper presents empirical research showing how the employee perceive the activities of line managers and indicating that the role of line managers in delivering practices has a positive relations with HRM practices and two affective human resource reactions: organizational commitment and job satisfaction. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.5755/j01.em. 17.1. 2294
Tourist displacement in two South African sport mega-events

Crowding-out (or displacement) of non-event visitors has received little attention in the literature on the impact of sports events, largely because it cannot be measured accurately. This paper discusses such effects in conceptual terms and reports the results of an analysis of data on tourist arrivals in South Africa aimed at estimating the displacement effects of two sports events held in 2009: the Indian Premier League cricket tournament and the British and Irish Lions rugby tour. Using monthly tourist arrivals in South Africa from specific countries, we find that some tourists from countries not participating in these events were displaced; the much stronger effect, however, was that tourists from the participating countries re-arranged their visits to coincide with an event. While confirming the inherent difficulty of measuring crowding-out effects, this paper shows that characteristics of events can sometimes be exploited to obtain useful information on displacement from readily available data.
Family Perspectives on Telemedicine for Pediatric Subspecialty Care.

BACKGROUND Children often have difficulty accessing subspecialty care, and telemedicine may improve access to subspecialty care, but information is lacking on how best to implement telemedicine programs to maximize acceptance and, ultimately, maximize impact for patients and their families. METHODS AND MATERIALS To understand how subspecialty telemedicine is perceived and to identify design elements with the potential to improve telemedicine uptake and impact, we conducted and analyzed semi-structured interviews with 21 informants, including parents and caregivers of children with subspecialty care needs and adolescent and young adult patients with subspecialty care needs. RESULTS Although informants saw the potential value of using telemedicine to replace in-person subspecialty visits, they were more enthusiastic about using telemedicine to complement rather than replace in-person visits. For example, they described the potential to use telemedicine to facilitate previsit triage encounters to assess whether the patient was being scheduled with the correct subspecialist and with the appropriate level of urgency. They also felt that telemedicine would be useful for communication with subspecialists after scheduled in-person visits for follow-up questions, care coordination, and to discuss changes in health status. Informants felt that it was important for telemedicine programs to have transparent and reliable scheduling, same-day scheduling options, continuity of care with trusted providers, clear guidelines on when to use telemedicine, and preservation of parent choice regarding method of care delivery. CONCLUSIONS Parents and patients articulated preferences regarding pediatric subspecialty telemedicine in this qualitative, hypothesis-generating study. Understanding and responding to patient and caregiver perceptions and preferences will be crucial to ensure that telemedicine drives true innovation in care delivery rather than simply recapitulating prior models of care.
Internal corporate governance mechanisms and corporate performance: evidence for UK firms

This study investigates the relationship between internal corporate governance mechanisms and corporate performance for a large sample of UK firms. The aim is to extend the existing literature on firm performance by empirically investigating the role of debt-maturity structure of firms and managerial compensation in affecting corporate performance. Also, the study attempts to provide new insights on the subject by considering potential interaction effects between managerial ownership and other governance mechanisms available to firms. The results support the existence of a non-linear impact of both managerial ownership and managerial compensation on company performance. Debt-maturity structure is also found to be significantly related to performance. Finally, there is strong evidence that managerial ownership and managerial compensation work as substitute mechanisms in mitigating agency problems and, therefore, generating good performance.
Long-term results of catheter ablation of idiopathic right ventricular tachycardia.

Ten consecutive patients with recurrent episodes of symptomatic, idiopathic, sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (VT) originating in the right ventricle underwent an attempt at catheter ablation of the ventricular tachycardia. There were seven women and three men, with a mean age of 39 +/- 14 years (+/- SD). None of the patients had any evidence of structural heart disease. The VT had a left bundle branch block configuration and an inferior axis in each patient, and the mean cycle length was 313 +/- 75 msec. Based on the methods of induction of the VT and the response of the VT to verapamil, the VT mechanism was presumed to be reentry in six patients, triggered activity in three patients, and catecholamine-sensitive automaticity in one patient. Sites for ablation were guided by pace mapping, and an appropriate target site was identified in the right ventricular outflow tract in each patient. From one to three shocks of 100-360 J (mean total, 336 +/- 195 J) were delivered from a defibrillator between the tip of the ablation catheter (cathode) and a patch electrode on the anterior chest (anode). An electrophysiology test 7-9 days after ablation demonstrated that VT was still inducible in only one patient, who was treated with amiodarone. One other patient had a recurrence of VT 3 weeks after ablation and was treated with verapamil. Eight of 10 patients were not treated with antiarrhythmic medications and have had no episodes of symptomatic VT during 15-68 months of follow-up (mean follow-up, 33 +/- 18 months). There were no acute or long-term complications. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Older Workers and Retirement: Critical Perspectives on the Research Literature and Policy Implications

Understanding issues concerned with older workers and retirement is rapidly becoming a central concern within and beyond the discipline of gerontology. Explaining the factors behind the creation of retirement has generated debate and controversy among economic historians, cultural historians, sociologists and social policy analysts. The range of contributions reflects the way in which issues relating to retirement and an ageing workforce are at the intersection of key social changes over the past 50 years. These include the rise of social security and the welfare state, moves to restructure pension provision, and the increased importance attached to leisure and consumption in a period of late or high modernity. The purpose of this essay is to review the various strands in the research literature as a guide to debates on, first, the position of older workers, and, second, perspectives on retirement as a social institution. The essay is divided into three main sections: first, theoretical perspectives on older workers; second, research themes and literature; third, future directions for research and policy.
METALLIC RESISTIVITY IN CRYSTALLINE ROPES OF SINGLE-WALL CARBON NANOTUBES

Laser ablation of (Co,Ni)-doped graphite yields {approximately} 70{percent} single-wall nanotubes, predominantly (10,10) armchair tubes which self-organize into crystalline {open_quotes}ropes{close_quotes}{gt}100 {Angstrom} in diameter and{gt}10 {mu}m long. We find {rho}{sub {parallel}}=0.03{minus}0.10m{Omega} cm at 300 K, with positive (negative) d{rho}/dT above (below) T{sup {asterisk}} = 35 K. Unoriented bulk samples exhibit similar behavior, with higher (directionally averaged) resistivities and T{sup {asterisk}}`s. The high-T behavior is consistent with the predicted intrinsic metallic state for this structure. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}
The Rise of the Originate-to-Distribute Model and the Role of Banks in Financial Intermediation

This is the second article in a series which explores the changing role of banks in the financial intermediation process. It accompanies a Liberty Street Blog series. Both discuss the complexity of the credit intermediation chain associated with securitization and note the growing participation of nonbank entities within it. These series also discuss implications for monitoring and rulemaking going forward. In this article, the authors show that, beginning in the early 1990s, lead banks increasingly used the originate-to-distribute model in their corporate lending business and that the increase was largely limited to term loans.
A NOTE ON THE FORWARD AND THE EQUITY PREMIUM PUZZLES: TWO SYMPTOMS OF THE SAME ILLNESS?

We build a stochastic discount factor—SDF—using U.S. domestic financial data only, and provide evidence that it accounts for stylized facts about foreign markets that escape SDFs generated by consumption-based models. When our SDF is interpreted as the projection of the pricing kernel from a fully specified model in the space of returns, our results indicate that a model that accounts for the behavior of domestic assets goes a long way toward accounting for the behavior of foreign asset prices. In our tests, we address predictability, a defining feature of the forward premium puzzle—FPP—by using instruments that are known to forecast excess returns in the moment restrictions associated with Euler equations both in the equity and in the foreign markets.
Malmquist Total Factor Productivity Index Approach to Modelling Turkey's Performance of Energy Consumption

In this study, a performance evaluation of 25 member states of the European Union, Norway, Croatia, Switzerland, and Turkey (a candidate country), regarding energy consumption was conducted. A nonparametric approach based on data envelopment analysis and Malmquist Index is proposed as an alternative to the classic methods. The data set covers the years between 1998 and 2006 and energy indicators used in the analysis are taken from the EUROSAT for all countries. Results of analysis show that Turkey should make significant strategy plans about consumption and production of basic energy sources.