Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nothing Tastes as Local: Jordanians’ Perceptions of Buying Domestic Olive Oil

Abstract To date, little is known about how consumers perceive local and foreign olive oil. This study was conducted with the intention of exploring key trends in Jordanian consumers’ perceptions toward local olive oil and to examine whether they are ethnocentric toward purchasing their local olive oil in the era of the Arab Spring. The research design is a combination of quantitative with a qualitative technique to support and expand on the research findings. Data were collected from a total number of 196 Jordanians who live in Amman city. The results revealed that Jordanians are loyal to their country’s olive oil; they expressed strong ethnocentric tendencies toward purchasing it, and their purchasing tendencies are influenced by nationalism. Jordanians ranked their local olive oil as the best worldwide. This article provides original insights into the development and marketing strategies for local and global olive oil producers in the Jordan market and other Arab country markets.
The Effect of Social Distance on Consumer Perceptions of a Business When There is a Breach of Credit/Debit Card Security

This paper applies Construal Level Theory to breaches of credit/debit card security and consumers’ perceptions after. Based on the social distance of credit/debit card information theft, an experiment was conducted to determine if social distance affected perceptions of risk, future patronization, and trust in the business where the theft occurred. It was found that social distance did not affect perceptions of risk associated with the business, trust, or plans to patronize the business in the future. However, it was found that risk averseness, gender, the type of card information stolen, and the type of business it was stolen from, had an impact on results. This research, based on the social distance of a credit/debit card fraud occurrence, may help marketers design communications with customers regarding the risks associated with using debit/credit cards and contributes to the extant Construal Level Theory knowledge.
The Use of Digital Technologies in the Classroom

Today’s college students, often referred to as the “digital generation,” use an impressive assortment of technological tools in a wide variety of ways. However, the findings reported here suggest that students prefer more traditional instructional technology for effective engagement and learning. Faculty members, however, prefer the use of course-learning technology offered by their universities or publishers. In addition to this potential mismatch between preferences of students and teachers, the research finds that there are vast differences in preferences and usage across disciplines, in particular, business and economics instructors and students having stronger technology preferences than instructors and students of the fine arts and life sciences.
The Temporal Dynamics of Institutionalization

In this article we reexamine the relationship between time and processes of institutionalization. We argue that pace and stability, two temporal dimensions of institutionalization, depend on the mechanism used by agents to support the institutionalization process. Drawing from the power literature, we develop four types of mechanisms—influence, force, discipline, and domination—and argue that (1) each type will produce a distinctive pattern of pace and stability, and (2) more complex patterns of pace and stability will result from the combined use of multiple mechanisms.
Revision Anterior Cruciate Ligament Surgery: Experience From Miami

Failed anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction as defined by recurrent patholaxity is increasingly commonplace. This report presents the findings of 54 patients who had unsuccessful intraarticular anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction to correct persistent instability and who subsequently underwent revision anterior cruciate ligament surgery. Before revision, patients were evaluated by clinical examination, KT-1000 arthrometer, radiographs, Lysholm knee score, Tegner activity scale, and subjective questionnaire. The results were compared at a mean of 32 months following revision surgery. There was an average of 16 months from index procedure to the time of revision. Autogenous patellar tendon grafts were used in 61% of the cases with 30% of these harvested from the contralateral knee. Fresh frozen patellar tendon was used in 35% and autogenous hamstring tendons in 4%. Revision was successful in objectively improving stability in all patients with an average KT-000 of 2.8 mm. Autogenous tissue grafts provided greater objective stability when compared with allograft tissue with average KT-1000 of 2.2 and 3.3, respectively. Functionally, however, there was no significant difference in outcome between the 2 groups. Harvesting of the contralateral patellar tendon was found to have no adverse long term effect. Subjectively, the results were significantly worse depending on the degree of articular cartilage degeneration. Only 54% of patients returned to their preanterior cruciate ligament injury activity level. Competence in various anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction techniques will facilitate revision surgery especially in avoiding preexisting tunnels and hardware. Correct graft placement and addressing the secondary restraints are critical to successful revision surgery.
Age Matters: Disentangling the Effect of R&D Investment in the Global Chemical Products Industry

This study explores the role of intervening factors on the relationship between R&D investment and firm performance in the global chemical products industry. We found mediated moderation where innovative output partially mediates the relationship between R&D investment and firm performance and firm age represents the moderator. Older firms demonstrate larger positive effects of R&D investment on innovative output and firm performance relative to younger firms. Older firms also demonstrate a stronger indirect effect of R&D investment through innovative output than younger firms.
The Effect of Export Marketing Strategy on the Relationship between Firm Competencies and Export Performance of Small and Medium Manufacturing Exporters in Uganda

Both the size and rapid growth of globalization hav e focused the attention of international business researchers on the factors associated with firms’ export performance. However, knowledge of this increasingly important domain of international business activity, particularly in the context of small and medium ent erprises (SMEs) from a developing country context remains limited. To address this ga p, we draw on the strategy and export marketing literature to develop a framework for the relationship between firm competencies, export marketing strategy and export performance. Theoretically, firm competencies shape a firm’s export marketing strategy, which in turn, de termine its export performance, highlighting the central role of export marketing s trategy in the firm competencies -export performance relationship. Nonetheless, due to resource poverty that often characterize SMEs, this relationship require empirical reaffirmations as not all SMEs involved in export manufacturing business may have the capacity to develop a coherent export marketing strategy. The authors empirically assess the predic ted relationship using survey data from 76 SMEs in export manufacturing in Uganda. Our findings show that export marketing strategy, contrary to our hypothesis, had an inconsequential effect on the relationship between firm competencies and export performance.
Missense Mutations in Norrie Disease Gene Are Not Associated with Advanced Stages of Retinopathy of Prematurity in Kuwaiti Arabs

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a disease characterized by retinal neovascularization, possibly leading to retinal detachment and finally blindness. In a proportion of ROP cases, the disease progresses to advanced stages despite rigorous intervention. Missense mutations of the Norrie disease (ND) gene have been associated with progression of the disease in ROP cases from the USA. We have investigated the presence of ND gene mutations in 102 premature newborns of Kuwaiti Arab origin to replicate this finding in a different population/racial group. 56 (55%) of these newborns had normal eyes and served as controls. In 35 (34%) cases, the ROP regressed spontaneously during stage 1–3. In 11 (11%) cases, ROP progressed to advanced stages. A PCR-RFLP method was used to detect the mutations in exon 3 of the ND gene and confirmed the DNA sequence by direct sequencing of the PCR product. The [R121W] mutation of the ND gene was not detected in the premature newborns screened from our Kuwaiti population/group. For the second mutation [L108P], a genotype (PP) was present in 98% of the premature newborns screened and only in 1 of 56 normal infants was the (LL) genotype detected. Our population is genetically homogenous in that genotype (PP) was detected at codon 108 in almost all controls and ROP cases. We did not find an association between the presence or absence of missense mutations of the ND gene and the risk of severe ROP.
Effect of cocaine and sucrose withdrawal period on extinction behavior, cue-induced reinstatement, and protein levels of the dopamine transporter and tyrosine hydroxylase in limbic and cortical areas in rats

Lever pressing during tests for resistance to extinction and cue-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking in rats progressively increases over the first 2 months of withdrawal. In the present report, we investigated the generality of these findings in rats trained to self-administer sucrose, a non-drug reinforcer. We also examined whether the time-dependent changes in cocaine seeking correlate with the levels of the dopamine transporter (DAT) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) proteins in the amygdala, nucleus accumbens, prefrontal cortex and orbitofrontal cortex. Rats were trained to self-administer cocaine (0.5 mg/kg/i.v. infusion) or 10% sucrose (0.2 ml/infusion into a liquid drop receptacle) for 10 days (6 h/day); each reward delivery was paired with a tone+light cue. Tests for cocaine seeking were conducted following 1 or 15 reward-free days. On the test day, rats were initially tested for resistance to extinction during 6–7 60-min extinction sessions in the absence of the tone–light cue, until they reached the extinction criterion of less than 15 responses/60 min. Subsequently, rats were tested for cue-induced reinstatement during a 60-min session in which each lever press led to a contingent presentation of the tone–light cue. Lever pressing during the tests for reward seeking was significantly greater on day 15 than on day 1 following withdrawal from both cocaine and sucrose self-administration training. The levels of DAT, but not TH, were greater in the prefrontal cortex of cocaine-trained rats than in sucrose-trained rats on both days 1 and 15 of withdrawal. The levels of DAT and TH in other brain areas were not altered following withdrawal from cocaine or sucrose self-administration. These data suggest that the withdrawal period can modulate reward seeking of both drug and non-drug reinforcers, and that alterations in DAT and TH levels in the brain regions examined do not mediate this effect.
Time‐varying magnetic fields of 60 Hz at 7 mT induce DNA double‐strand breaks and activate DNA damage checkpoints without apoptosis

The potential genotoxic effect of a time‐varying magnetic field (MF) on human cells was investigated. Upon continuous exposure of human primary fibroblast and cervical cancer cells to a 60 Hz MF at 7 mT for 10–60 min, no significant change in cell viability was observed. However, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) double‐strand breaks (DSBs) were detected, and the DNA damage checkpoint pathway was activated in these cells without programmed cell death (called apoptosis). The exposure of human cells to a 60 Hz MF did not induce intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, suggesting that the observed DNA DSBs are not directly caused by ROS. We also compared the position and time dependency of DNA DSBs with numerical simulation of MFs. The Lorentz force and eddy currents in these experiments were numerically calculated to investigate the influence of each factor on DNA DSBs. The DNA DSBs mainly occurred at the central region, where the MF was strongest, after a 30‐min exposure. After 90 min, however, the amount of DNA DSBs increased rapidly in the outer regions, where the eddy current and Lorentz force were strong. Bioelectromagnetics 33:383–393, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
DIFFUSION KURTOSIS IMAGING METRICS AS NON-INVASIVE BIOMARKERS IN BRAIN GLIOMA GRADING

DKI parameters exhibit higher sensitivity and specificity in discriminating between various glioma’s grades than the DTI parameters, exhibiting higher sensitivity to microstructural changes occurring during malignancy progression. DKI provides valuable non-invasive biomarkers in assessment of gliomas and has been shown to be a useful supplement to other modern neuroimaging methods. This is the first time when kurtosis anisotropy (KA) was applied in glioma grade differentiation.
Team Management by Objectives: Enhancing DevelopingTeams' Performance

The objective of this investigation was to determine if Drucker’s management by objectives (or MBO) could be merged with Tuckman and Jensen’s stages of group development. We achieved our objective by examining relevant literature and found that these theories are somewhat dated, but deserve further examination. When combined, they resolve many pitfalls of managing teams for improved performance. MBO meshes well with the team development stages to provide novel insights about managing developing teams. The resulting perspective is called team management by objectives (or TMBO). We discuss the limitations and implications of this work, and suggest possibilities for future research.
Fatal Avalanche Accidents and Forecasted Danger Levels: Patterns in the United States, Canada, Switzerland and France

Throughout the winter, avalanche forecasters issue bulletins to help the public and the managers of public facilities make avalanche safety decisions. These bulletins typically describe important snowpack features and current weather events before rating the avalanche danger on a scale of one through five. Although the character of avalanche conditions may vary between regions, the physical processes that form avalanches are universal. In addition, the methods used to forecast avalanche activity are similar throughout North America and Europe. We use the distribution of fatal avalanche accidents with respect to forecasted avalanche danger level to examine how effectively avalanche forecast groups communicate with the public and how consistent these groups are within countries and internationally. The results show that avalanche forecast groups are effectively communicating with the public when relatively benign or very dangerous conditions exist.
Boards of directors and substitution effects of alternative governance mechanisms

Research on the determinants and effects of various governance mechanisms typically assumes that these mechanisms operate independently. However, since a variety of mechanisms are used to achieve alignment of the interests of shareholders and managers, we propose that the level of a particular mechanism should be influenced by the levels of other mechanisms which simultaneously operate in the firm. We examine the substitution effects between alternative internal governance mechanisms for a sample of 81 bank holding companies in the postderegulation period. Specifically, we consider the relationship between monitoring by outside directors and the following mechanisms: monitoring by large outside shareholders, mutual monitoring by inside directors, and incentive effects of shareholdings by managers. Our results provide evidence consistent with the substitution hypothesis. We examine the implications of our findings for future research in the area of corporate governance.
Empirical Analysis on Impact of Economic Value Added on Shareholder's Value: A Perspective from Malaysian Construction Companies

Background: Economic value added (EVA) is a concept developed Stern Stewart helps to identify true profitability of the organization due to consideration of cost of equity. Construction companies have been taken under consideration for this study. Objective: To provide an alternative measurement tool for the Malaysian construction companies that identifies true economic profit and enhance shareholder's value. Cross sectional secondary data are used of the selected companies for the period of 10 years from 2003 to 2012. Results: The result found significant influence of EVA on shareholder's value creation. It was also noticed from the trend analysis that from the 28 companies only 10 companies were having positive EVA whereas the remaining has destroying the shareholder value. The reason for negative EVA is high cost of equity. Conclusion: Thus in the proposed model it is confirmed that EVA as a value based performance tool dominates the shareholder value. Hence managers are suggested to pay more focus on the importance of EVA and its benefits for the shareholder's wealth creation and improve company performance.
Multiregional Firms and Region Switching in the US Manufacturing Sector

This paper uses data on US manufacturing firms to study a new extensive margin, the reallocation of resources that takes place within surviving firms as they open and close establishments in different regions. To motivate the empirical analysis, I extend existing models of industry dynamics to include production-location decisions within firms. The empirical results provide support for the mechanisms emphasized by the theoretical model. In the data, only about 3 percent of firms make the same product in more than one region, but these multiregional firms are more productive on average compared to single-region firms, and they account for about two-thirds of output. The results also show that "region-switching" is pervasive among multiregional firms, is correlated with changes in firm characteristics, and leads to a more efficient allocation of resources within firms.
Automatic Assignment of Protein Function with Supervised Classifiers

Automatic Assignment of Protein Function with Supervised Classifiers. (August 2008) Jae Hee Jung, B.S., Dongduk Women’s University; M.S., Korea University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Michael R. Thon High-throughput genome sequencing and sequence analysis technologies have created the need for automated annotation and analysis of large sets of genes. The Gene Ontology (GO) provides a common controlled vocabulary for describing gene function. However, the process for annotating proteins with GO terms is usually through a tedious manual curation process by trained professional annotators. With the wealth of genomic data that are now available, there is a need for accurate automated annotation methods. The overall objective of my research is to improve our ability to automatically annotate proteins with GO terms. The first method, Automatic Annotation of Protein Functional Class (AAPFC), employs protein functional domains as features and learns independent Support Vector Machine classifiers for each GO term. This approach relies only on protein functional domains as features, and demonstrates that statistical pattern recognition can outperform expert curated mapping of protein functional domain features to protein functions. The second method Predict of Gene Ontology (PoGO) describes a meta-classification method that integrates multiple heterogeneous data sources. This method leads to improved performance than the protein domain method can achieve alone. Apart from these two methods, several systems have been developed that employ pattern recognition to assign gene function using a variety of features, such as
Beneficial synergistic interactions of TNF-α and IL-6 in C2 skeletal myoblasts—Potential cross-talk with IGF system

The interaction effects of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interlukin-6 (IL-6) on skeletal muscle proliferation and differentiation remains controversial. We therefore investigated the potential interactive effects of TNF-α and IL-6 on murine C2 skeletal myoblast survival, differentiation and proliferation. A novel and unexpected positive temporal interaction between TNF-α and IL-6 on cell growth was identified (90%), with maximal beneficial effects obtained in myoblasts treated with TNF-α (10 ng/ml) for 24 h prior to being dosed with IL-6 (2.5 ng/ml) for a further 24 h. This combined treatment significantly (p < 0.05) increased the level of total cellular protein (330%), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation (55%), and S-phase of cell cycle (2.5-fold), confirming cell growth. The expression of mRNAs of key regulators of muscle mass: insulin-like growth factor binding protein-5, insulin-like growth factor-II (IGF-II), IGF-I receptor (IGF-IR) and IGF-II receptor (IGF-IIR) were also significantly (p < 0.05) increased by 1600-, 1.6-, 27- and 6-fold, respectively, giving an indication of the regulatory mechanisms of this interaction. Moreover, in response to this treatment, the expression level of signal-transducing glycoprotein 130 (gp130) was induced up to 3.5-fold but not after either treatments alone. This may not only explain the beneficial effects of this treatment on skeletal myoblast numbers but also define a functional role of gp130 in skeletal muscle cells. Our data suggest that in the presence of TNF-α/IL-6 functions positively and potentially also cooperatively with the IGF system to achieve the maximal beneficial effect on skeletal myoblast numbers.
The Long-Term Performance of Initial Public Offerings: Evidence from Bursa Malaysia

This paper investigates long-term (six-month, one-year, two-year, and three-year) returns of IPOs listed on the Bursa Malaysia (BM) in order to provide a more recent case of performance of IPOs in Malaysia. A total number of 166 firms listed and traded on the Bursa Malaysia (BM) for a period of three years starting from 2004 to 2007 were thoroughly analyzed in this paper. The findings of this paper shows that the average market-adjusted return for the six-month, one-year, two-year, and three-year after listing are -5.2%, -10.8%, -21.4%, and -32.8%, though they are not statistically significant. The regression models for the six-month return consist of market volatilities, book value to market value ratio, underwriter reputation, operating history of a company prior to going public, gross proceeds, total assets of a company prior to going public or size variable, hot or cold market period, industries, and first-day returns as an additional independent variable. The models for the long-term returns (one-year, two-year, and three-year) consist of first-day return, market volatilities, book value to market value ratio, underwriter reputation, gross proceeds, and total assets of a company prior to going public. The investigation of long-term return unveils that first-day return, size, and market volatility are three determinants of the one-year return. These three variables along with book value to market value ratio are predictors of two-year return. Last but not least, three-year return is influenced by first-day return, book value to market value ratio, and gross proceeds.