Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The qualitative case research in international entrepreneurship: a state of the art and analysis

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how qualitative case research (QCR) has been conducted in the field of international entrepreneurship (IE) in terms of onto-epistemology and methodology. QCR can serve as an umbrella approach for contextualizing and capturing the complexity of IE opportunities, events, conditions and relationships, and to illuminate and enrich the understanding of related IE processes.Design/methodology/approachA thorough literature review was conducted of IE journal articles published between 1989 and mid-2017. This paper identified and analyzed 292 journal articles in terms of theoretical purpose and research design.FindingsThe findings suggest that the “positivistic” QCR is the customary convention of QCR in IE. “Exploratory” and “theory building” are the two most commonly pursued objectives. There have also been atypical practices and increased methodological rigor in recent years. Alternative paradigmatic QCRs that depart from positivistic assumptions are in an early stage of development in IE.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research examining QCR onto-epistemology and methodology approaches in IE, providing a useful state of the art that has been hitherto lacking in the literature. Based on this paper’s findings, the authors suggest that the IE field would benefit from greater methodological transparency in the reporting and writing of QCR. Also, the breadth of knowledge and legitimacy of the IE area would be enhanced through more studies involving unconventional (beyond positivistic) QCR.
Fall Armyworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Development, Survivorship, and Damage on Cotton Plants Expressing Insecticidal Plant-Incorporated Protectants

ABSTRACT Cotton, Gossypium hirsutum (L.), plants expressing insecticidal crystal (Cry) proteins of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Berliner are planted on significant acreage across the southern region of the United States. Fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith), can be a significant cotton pest in some years, but this species has not been a primary target of Bt cotton technologies. The objective of this study was to quantify fall armyworm larval survivorship and fruiting form injury on transgenic cotton lines expressing Cry1Ac (Bollgard), Cry1Ac + Cry2Ab (Bollgard II), and Cry1Ac + Cry1F (WideStrike) Bt proteins. Larval survivorship and fruiting form damage of fall armyworm on Bollgard, Bollgard II, WideStrike, and non-Bt (control) cotton lines were evaluated in no-choice field studies. Fall armyworm (third instars) were placed on flower buds (squares), white flowers, and bolls, enclosed within a nylon mesh exclusion cage, and evaluated at selected intervals after infestation. Exposure of fall armyworm larvae to Bollgard cotton lines generally resulted in no significant effects on survivorship compared with larvae exposed to the non-Bt cotton line. Survivorship and plant injury by fall armyworm on Bollgard II cotton lines was variable compared with that on non-Bt cotton lines, and significant differences between treatments were inconsistent. Fall armyworm had significantly lower survivorship and caused less plant injury on WideStrike cotton lines than on non-Bt cotton lines across all plant structures. Development and survivorship of fall armyworm larvae on these cotton lines also were evaluated in no-choice laboratory assays by offering the previously described fruiting forms to third instars. Bollgard II andWideStrike cotton lines significantly reduced fall armyworm development and survivorship compared with those larvae offered non-Bt tissue. These results suggest that differences exist among selected Bt cotton technologies in their performance against fall armyworm.
Fiscal Health in Local Government Based on Soft System

The purpose of this paper is to identify problems and construct a conceptual model related to the local fiscal health condition. The local fiscal health condition is highly dependent on many factors, indicating that local finance is a complex, systemic and unstructured process. The main emphasis in this research is that the researchers attempt to explore the problem situation with the interpretive and naturalistic approach toward the local fiscal health condition and to study, understand, and interpret the meaning of phenomenon. This study uses a soft system methodology (SSM) that is a systemic approach to describe unstructured issues with a structured approach. The successful conceptual model constructed in this research is the survival mechanism of revenues and expenditures model. The results of this study indicate that the main problem of fiscal health condition is from both revenues and expenditures. Revenues problem is indicated by the low local fiscal independence, while expenditures problem is by the high indirect personnel expenditures. The location taken as the unit of analysis was Bondowoso Regency, East Java, Indonesia with the consideration that Bondowoso Regency is one of the four underdeveloped regencies in East Java Province.
Zeolite molecular sieves have dramatic acid-base effects on enzymes in nonaqueous media.

Zeolite molecular sieves very commonly are used as in situ drying agents in reaction mixtures of enzymes in nonaqueous media. They often affect enzyme behavior, and this has been interpreted in terms of altered hydration. Here, we show that zeolites can also have dramatic acid-base effects on enzymes in low water media, resulting from their cation-exchange ability. Initial rates of transesterification catalyzed by cross-linked crystals of subtilisin were compared in supercritical ethane, hexane, and acetonitrile with water activity fixed by pre-equilibration. Addition of zeolite NaA (4 A powder) still caused remarkable rate enhancements (up to 20-fold), despite the separate control of hydration. In the presence of excess of an alternative solid-state acid-base buffer, however, zeolite addition had no effect. The more commonly used Merck molecular sieves (type 3 A beads) had similar but somewhat smaller effects. All zeolites have ion-exchange ability and can exchange H+ for cations such as Na+ and K+. These exchanges will tend to affect the protonation state of acidic groups in the protein and, hence, enzymatic activity. Zeolites pre-equilibrated in aqueous suspensions of varying pH-pNa gave very different enzyme activities. Their differing basicities were demonstrated directly by equilibration with an indicator dissolved in toluene. The potential of zeolites as acid-base buffers for low-water media is discussed, and their ability to overcome pH memory is demonstrated.
A Case-Control Study to Determine Risk Factors for Hospitalization for Rotavirus Gastroenteritis in U.S. Children

Objective: The objective of this case-control study nested within a surveillance study conducted at 3 hospitals (Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH; Children's Hospital of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA; and Hasbro Children's Hospital, Providence, RI) was to identify risk factors for rotavirus gastroenteritis requiring hospitalization. Patients: Cases were children ≤59 months of age who were admitted with acute gastroenteritis (AGE) and found to have rotavirus infection. Controls were selected from a birth certificate registry (Cincinnati and Providence) or a registry of patients from a large practice consortium in 11 locations (New Orleans). Results: Three hundred forty-nine rotavirus-infected cases and 1242 control subjects were enrolled. Breast feeding was protective against hospitalization for rotavirus AGE for infants <6 months of age. (odds ratio [OR], 5.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2–13.2). Low-birth-weight (<2500 g) infants had increased risk for hospitalization even beyond the first few months of life (OR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.6–5.0). Children in child care were more likely to be hospitalized for rotavirus AGE than those cared for at home, particularly those ≥24 months of age (OR, 3.0; 95% CI, 1.8–5.3). Other characteristics associated with rotavirus AGE hospitalization were children <24 months of age covered by Medicaid or without insurance (OR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.4–3.2) and having another child in the house <24 months of age (OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.1–2.3). The data suggest that maternal age <25 years (OR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.0–2.0) and a mother with less than a high school education (OR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.0–2.3) may also increase risk of rotavirus hospitalization. Conclusion: There are socioeconomic and environmental factors and aspects of the child's medical and dietary history that identify children at risk for hospitalization with rotavirus AGE.
Factorisation matricielle, application à la recommandation personnalisée de préférences. (Matrix factorization, application to preference prediction in recommender systems)

Cette these s'articule autour des problemes d'optimisation a grande echelle, et plus particulierement autour des methodes de factorisation matricielle sur des problemes de grandes tailles. L'objectif des methodes de factorisation de grandes matrices est d'extraire des variables latentes qui permettent d'expliquer les donnees dans un espace de dimension reduite. Nous nous sommes interesses au domaine d'application de la recommandation et plus particulierement au probleme de prediction de preferences d'utilisateurs.Dans une contribution, nous nous sommes interesses a l'application de methodes de factorisation dans un environnement de recommandation contextuelle et notamment dans un contexte social.Dans une seconde contribution, nous nous sommes interesses au probleme de selection de modele pour la factorisation ou l'on cherche a determiner de facon automatique le rang de la factorisation par estimation de risque.
Probation Officer–Probation Agency Fit: Understanding Disparities in the Use of Motivational Interviewing Techniques

ABSTRACT Probation agency performance, probationer outcomes, and public safety all depend on the successful implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs). Yet, EBP implementation is short-lived within community corrections agencies. The current study focused on interactions between 834 probation officers and their agencies (six probation jurisdictions) by examining alignment between the use of client-centered communication strategies, perceived agency support, and agency climate. Results showed a significant, negative linear relationship between probation officer-agency alignment with regard to EBPs and agency context. Quadratic regression analyses were used to model the level of the outcome (satisfaction with climate). Taken together, findings suggest agency climate is: (1) most at risk when officers are more comfortable with use of client-centered communication than they feel the agency can support, and (2) not influenced by officers uncomfortable with use client-centered communication who perceive the agency supports their use. Failure to recognize these officer differences can complicate effective implementation of EBPs in community supervision agencies. New avenues for implementation research are discussed.
A comparison of two ways to reducing the mutual coupling of chipless RFID tag scatterers

This paper presents two ways to reduce the mutual coupling between the resonators of the RFID chipless tags. This reduction significantly improves the uniformity of the RCS response of the tag over the operational frequency range from 2 to 4 GHz. The first modification to the tag layout is based on an inter-element rearrangement of the array elements. The second layout modification is based on narrowing the strip width and tapering the longitudinal dipole arms toward the open end. Significantly improved homogeneity of the RCS response in comparison with the original array of folded dipole scatterers was confirmed by simulation and by measurements of 20-bit chipless RFID transponders. The second modification further improves the frequency resolution, which may consequently provide higher encoding capacity in a unit area, but at the expense of a decreased RCS response.
Accessible Tourism Challenges and Development Issues in Tourist Facilities and Attraction Sites of the Amhara Region World Heritage Sites, Ethiopia

Tourism is believed to be a tool for accommodating individuals with different needs. But, it is still far from entertaining the interest of people with limited ability. For such shortcomings, accessible tourism can be taken as the best remedy. The aim of this study is to evaluate accessible tourism challenges and development issues in hotels and attraction sites. Based on the assessment most of the tourist standard hotels have tried to fulfil basic accessibility facilities like ramps, telephone, accessible drop-off area, etc on the other hand, most of them have failed to fulfil elevators, pushchair, shower chair, bed risers etc. In the attractions assessment, compared to the Royal enclosure of Gondar, the Rock hewn churches of Lalibela are trying to improve the site and are constructing facilities in and around. Generally, there are efforts to make tourism accessible in Amhara Region; but, still there is a lot to do.
A Methodological Comparison of Giving Surveys: Indiana as a Test Case

Every 4 years, the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University conducts a telephone survey (called Indiana Gives) of the giving and volunteering behaviors of Indiana citizens. In preparing to conduct Indiana Gives for 2000, a larger methodological question was asked: How much does survey methodology matter in generating accurate measures of giving and volunteering? In this most recent wave of the Indiana survey, conducted in October and November 2000, eight groups of approximately 100 randomly selected Indiana residents were asked to complete one of eight surveys related to giving and volunteering. It was found that the longer the module and the more detailed its prompts, the more likely a household was to recall making any charitable contribution and the higher the average level of its giving. These differences persisted even after controlling for differences in age, educational attainment, income, household status, race, and gender.
MORPHOMETRY OF LATERAL MENISCUS: A CADAVERIC STUDY

Address for Correspondence: Dr. Nisha Goyal, Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, Gian Sagar Medical College And Hospital, Ram Nagar, Banur, National Highway 64, Jansla, Patiala, Punjab 140601, India. Mobile no.: 09815602904, E-Mail: anilnishagarg@gmail.com The objective of present study was done to provide a base line data of morphometric parameters of lateral meniscus. Variations of length and width of lateral meniscus may help to determine the possibility of injury of lateral meniscus. 100 normal lateral menisci were obtained during routine cadaveric dissection of knee joints. The inner circumference, outer circumference and width of right, left and total meniscus were tabulated. Lateral and medial meniscus act as cushions in legs. The lateral and medial menisci are important articular elements of knee joint, performing functions, like weight bearing, shock absorption. Their function is stabilization in every plane but they have important role in rotational movement.
Automated detection of retinal nerve fiber layer defects on fundus images: false positive reduction based on vessel likelihood

Early detection of glaucoma is important to slow down or cease progression of the disease and for preventing total blindness. We have previously proposed an automated scheme for detection of retinal nerve fiber layer defect (NFLD), which is one of the early signs of glaucoma observed on retinal fundus images. In this study, a new multi-step detection scheme was included to improve detection of subtle and narrow NFLDs. In addition, new features were added to distinguish between NFLDs and blood vessels, which are frequent sites of false positives (FPs). The result was evaluated with a new test dataset consisted of 261 cases, including 130 cases with NFLDs. Using the proposed method, the initial detection rate was improved from 82% to 98%. At the sensitivity of 80%, the number of FPs per image was reduced from 4.25 to 1.36. The result indicates the potential usefulness of the proposed method for early detection of glaucoma.
Precision of target shifts detection using Ka-band ground based noise waveform SAR

There is a growing interest to using of Ground Based SAR for detection of small shifts of various objects. Such equipment can be used for detection of changes in buildings, towers, bridges and natural objects. This can help to predict and prevent possible catastrophes. We have elaborated SAR system capable of detecting such changes using noise radar technology. It uses Ka-band CW noise signals for sounding. The paper is devoted to investigation of differential SAR interferometry technique applied to surface shift detection and estimation using this system. In previous works we gave theoretical consideration of precision dependency on mechanical errors in antenna positioning system and experimentally estimated shift measurement precision for the case of stationary scene using statistical processing of data collected in multiple interferograms. Here we continue investigation of the shifts estimation precision using data collected from the sphere target being shifted. Besides, we investigate influence of the variation of the signal time-bandwidth product onto the shift measurement accuracy. The results agree very well with the previously obtained estimations.
STUDY ON THE EFFICIENCY OF CASH WAQF MANAGEMENT IN MALAYSIA

The role of Waqf is synonym with the purpose of developing the economics as well as social well-being by means of a charity-based system. Revitalization of cash Waqf gives advantage to Muslims countries to further enhance this charity system. However, the efficiency of cash Waqf management is still questionable due to several internal management issues. This research is conducted to explore current practices of Waqf institutions in managing cash Waqf concerning human resource, documentation and reporting aspect; to investigate challenges faced by Waqf institutions in managing cash Waqf in terms of human resource, documentation and reporting aspects; and to suggest a few ways that can enhance the efficiency of cash Waqf management focusing in the three aspects. To achieve these objectives, qualitative methodology has been adopted where the data of this research was collected through semi-structured interview and review of past literatures as well as relevant documents. The finding of the research shows that majority of Waqf institutions have made efforts in promoting cash Waqf based on its regulation, financial sources, collaboration, duration of cash Waqf implementation and its strategic planning. However, the current practices of human resource, documentation and reporting are not suitable with the current pace of evolution to fully realize the benefit of cash Waqf. This research revealed the loopholes in the management of cash Waqf and suggested several ways for improvement as a reference for Waqf institutions in order to improve their cash Waqf implementation. It is a significant endeavor for Waqf institutions in Malaysia to develop knowledge on cash Waqf management as well as provoking speedy development progress of cash Waqf implementation in Malaysia.
Eosinophil-Specific Granules in Tumor Cell Cytoplasm: Unusual Ultrastructural Findings in a Case of Diffuse-Type Gastric Carcinoma

Abstract A case of desmoplastic variant of diffuse-type gastric carcinoma in a 72-year-old woman is reported. Microscopic findings included poorly cohesive tumor cells, resembling mononuclear inflammatory cells, prominent diffuse desmoplasia, and tumor-associated tissue eosinophilia. Electron microscopy confirmed the undifferentiated phenotype of tumor cells and disclosed activated eosinophils in the tumor stroma. Eosinophil-specific granules were found either free in the tumor stroma or within the cytoplasm of some tumor cells. Electron microscopy provided also circumstantial evidence of phagocytosis of apoptotic eosinophils by tumor cells. Extracellular, membrane-bound, eosinophil-specific granules have been long recognized in tissues associated with eosinophilia, including allergic diseases, inflammatory responses to helminths, and in stroma of some neoplasms. Our ultrastructural study now extends these findings and provides additional morphological evidence of eosinophil-specific granules within the cytoplasm of gastric carcinoma cells.
Cystic fibrosis in blacks in Washington, DC: incidence and characteristics.

An intensive search for blacks with cystic fibrosis (CF) in Washington, DC, during the period 1962 to 1971 disclosed 16 black patients, eight of whom were born in the District of Columbia during this decade. The calculated incidence of CF is at least one in 17,033 black newborns. The clinical course and pathological changes in blacks with CF are similar to those in whites. Genetic considerations point to autosomal recessive inheritance in blacks, which is generally accepted for whites with this disease.
Small Semi-Weakly Universal Turing Machines

We present three small universal Turing machines that have 3 states and 7 symbols, 4 states and 5 symbols, and 2 states and 13 symbols, respectively. These machines are semi-weakly universal which means that on one side of the input they have an infinitely repeated word, and on the other side there is the usual infinitely repeated blank symbol. This work can be regarded as a continuation of early work by Watanabe on semi-weak machines. One of our machines has only 17 transition rules, making it the smallest known semi-weakly universal Turing machine. Interestingly, two of our machines are symmetric with Watanabe's 7-state and 3-symbol, and 5-state and 4-symbol machines, even though we use a different simulation technique.
Evaluating journalism through popular culture: HBO’s The Newsroom and public reflections on the state of the news media

While HBO’s The Newsroom presents itself as fictional television, its narrative is driven by critiquing American cable news culture and contemporary journalism ethics. This article analyses popular reflections on the programme to identify what these discourses reveal about public evaluations of the state of the US news media. Based upon 1115 lengthy audience posts and discussions and 49 news articles, I argue that the response to this supposedly ‘fictional’ newscast nonetheless reveals a highly politicized scepticism about the actual news media and a corresponding – although fairly depoliticized and surprisingly uniform – nostalgic lament for the journalism of days gone by. Similarly, findings suggest that the traditional modernist discourse of journalism as a public good persists – both among journalists and the public – despite the evident commercial underpinnings of the American media system. The study finds that audiences and journalists alike use the show as a catalyst to (1) ‘name and shame’ news outlets – including the fictional Newsroom, (2) engage in political confrontation and (3) employ the rhetoric and metanarratives of the Anglo-American objectivity regime to define ‘good’ journalism. However, it also finds that while individuals may embrace critique, they often lack critical skills to go beyond politicized accusations of bias.