Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Innovation culture in small Tunisian ICT firms

Purpose – The research aims to ask whether, in the absence of overarching innovative conditions, a small firm can have an innovative culture and what its scale and scope is. Design/methodology/approach – The study employs four exploratory case studies. This methodological choice is justified in that a case study approach allows the use of the existing literature without inhibiting the detection of any unique characteristics in the Tunisian context. This context of a developing economy is likely to be different from established economies. Findings – The study finds evidence of a learning environment within the firms and a good fit with the concepts of an innovative culture. Internal knowledge sharing is evident for all companies. However, this culture faces inwards, so that the paucity of linkages and weak socialisation combines with institutional thinness to isolate the firms. Local competitive advantages are not amplified but rather are dampened by the relative absence of interaction. Research limitation.
Shallow Trench Isolation stress effect on CMOS transistors with different channel orientations

In this paper, we studied the effect of mechanical stress due to Shallow Trench Isolation (STI) on the channel length direction (x-stress) and channel width direction (y-stress) by adopting two different channel orientations; <;110> and <;100>. When change from <;110> to <;100> channel orientation, PMOS sensitivity to both STI x-stress and y-stress reduces. For NMOS, both the channel orientations show the similar STI x-stress and y-stress effects. STI x-stress effects of NMOS and PMOS is contradicting. Hence, by adopting <;100> channel, the performance of PMOS can be improved without degrading the NMOS performance. The STI x-stress and y-stress effects on NMOS and PMOS transistors with <;110> and <;100> channel orientation are explained by using the electron and hole energy valleys diagrams.
The Effects of Property Taxes and Local Public Spending on Property Values: A Comment and Further Results

In a recent issue of the Journal of Political Economy, Wallace E. Oates (1969) presented an empirical study of the effects of local public budgets on residential property values. He found a significant negative relationship between effective property tax rates and property values and a significant positive relationship between public school expenditure per pupil (his proxy for output of local government services) and property values. He concluded that for a group of New Jersey residential communities (1) a significant portion of a change in the local property tax rate will be capitalized, and (2) his results were consistent with Tiebout's (1956) model of choice of residential location in that, other things held equal (including tax rates), property values (and thus net rentals) varied positively with the quality of local public services. Oates's method of simultaneously measuring the extent of tax capitalization and the effects of variations in the quality of local government services upon property values is as follows: he selects median dwelling value as his left-hand variable, regressing it on the property tax rate, per pupil educational expenditure, and a number of other variables which are intended to serve the purpose of accounting for the other influences upon property values. Recognizing that the tax and government expenditure variables may be correlated with the error term, he then employs two-stage least squares, obtaining similar results. Oates concludes by suggesting that "some caution is in order concerning the degree of reliability that we can attribute to the results" (p. 968). But he does feel, at least roughly speaking, that the results "have . some interesting implications for local-government finance" (p. 958). In what follows, attention is called to a number of problems which leave one with rather more serious misgivings about Oates's results than implied by these statements. In particular, we see that difficulties exist with respect to the choice of local-government variables and the interrelationships among
Celery allergy confirmed by double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenge: a clinical study in 32 subjects with a history of adverse reactions to celery root.

BACKGROUND Celery root is a frequent cause of food allergy in pollen-sensitized patients. Because of problems in blinding challenges with fresh vegetables and the risk of anaphylactic reactions, no double-blind, placebo-controlled, food challenges (DBPCFCs) with celery have been published so far. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to confirm the clinical relevance of celery as a food allergen by DBPCFCs and to evaluate current diagnostic procedures in patients with true allergy. METHODS DBPCFCs were performed in 32 patients with a history of an allergic reaction to celery. The patients underwent skin prick tests (SPTs) with celery extracts, crude celery, and different pollen extracts. Specific IgE for celery was determined by using the CAP method. RESULTS Twenty-two of 32 patients had a positive DBPCFC result. Two patients reacted to placebo, and 8 patients did not respond to the challenge. Of the nonresponders, 4 reacted to an open provocation with celery. The sensitivity of CAP determination for specific IgE (> or =0.7 kU/L) to celery in patients with a positive DBPCFC result was 73%, 48% to 86% for SPTs (> or =3 mm) with commercial extracts, and 96% for prick-to-prick tests with crude celery. The positive predictive value of the SPT and CAP tests was between 87% and 96%, whereas the specificity and negative predictive values were poor. CONCLUSION This study confirms the importance of celery as a food allergen for use in DBPCFCs. The SPT and CAP methods proved to be reliable for the diagnosis of a relevant allergy to celery in regard to sensitivity and positive predictive value but not to specificity and negative predictive value.
Strategic Trading with Asymmetrically Informed Traders and Long-Lived Information

Abstract A dynamic model of strategic trading with two asymmetrically informed traders is analyzed where one informed trader knows the information seen by both informed traders, and the other informed trader only knows his private information. While the first informed trader is better informed, the second informed trader can make inferences about this extra information; in fact, the second informed trader can make sharper inferences from the order flow than the market maker about the extra information. In this setting, competition among the informed traders has a very interesting form. The informed trader with the additional information trades less intensely on that information early on, and both informed traders trade very intensely on their common information. This makes it more difficult for the trader with less information to learn about the information he does not have. When there are only a few remaining trading periods and the information known to both traders has largely been revealed through their trading, then the trader with the additional information trades more intensely on the basis of his private information.
Long-Term Forecasting of Global Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Reducing Uncertainties Using a Per Capita Approach

Global CO2 emission forecasts span such a wide range as to yield little guidance for climate policy and analysis. But global per capita emissions appear to be better constrained than total emissions, which we argue has an economic justification. Trend stationarity of per capita emissions may provide a means of characterizing the relative likelihood of global forecasts. On data spanning 1950 to 2009 a unit root hypothesis allowing for endogenous structural breaks is rejected, but adding in the 2010 observation pushes the p-value slightly over 0.1. Since structural breaks cannot be detected at the end of sample this may simply indicate a power problem. Using Monte Carlo simulations we conclude that the lower half of a well-known suite of IPCC emission scenarios is more likely to occur than the upper half, and the top quartile is particularly difficult to justify. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
To Know Democracy Is to Love It

Scholars of democratization have developed a variety of theories to explain national and cross-national differences in democratic support. These theories, however, pay little attention to the cognitive origin of democratic support. This study seeks to examine how informed understanding about democracy affects such support. To this end, it applies theories of institutional legitimacy and social learning and predicts that the relationship between citizen understanding of and support for democracy is not only positively concaved but also dependent on the historical experience of democracy. An analysis of the World Values Survey 2005–2008 reveals strong evidence to support the theoretical predications.
Blue naevi of lymph node capsule

Blue naevi are reported for what is believed to be the first time in the capsule and fibrous trabeculae of lymph nodes. In one of the two cases the nodal blue naevus was accompanied by an ordinary blue naevus in the regional skin. These blue naevi are compared with the ‘naevus‐cell aggregates’ in nodal capsule, the histogenesis of which is currently disputed. A developmental migratory arrest of melanocytes is thought to be the histogenetic mechanism involved in the production of these blue naevi in lymph nodes.
Human resource management practices in Nigeria: challenges and insights

This paper generated current knowledge on aspects of human resource management practices in Nigeria from a sample of 185 human resource management professionals employed in over ninety-six corporations located in three major cities in Nigeria. Furthermore, the convergence/divergence/cross-vergence perspective was utilized to provide theoretical insights on the human resource management practices. The findings support a cross-vergence perspective as evidenced by the blend of human resource management practices reflecting both generalized or standardized practices and localized practices. Implications and direction for further studies are discussed.
Entrepreneurship Development in Ireland and Singapore

Ireland and Singapore have many striking similarities despite varying political ethos and culture. Both economies are striving toward a knowledge-based economy based on information communication technology in a highly globalized context. Both have been ranked as the top globalizer – Ireland in 2001 and Singapore in 2000 by AT Kearney in Foreign Policy Magazine. In terms of sustainability for economic growth and development, both economies recognize the critical role of their local enterprises and indigenous industry in general and entrepreneurship in innovative and creative activities, in particular. Both Ireland and Singapore, as developmental states, have favourable government intervention including the all-important aspect in human resources development and entrepreneurship education and training at the university level in pursuit of sustainable growth. Faced with a more competitive and highly volatile global economy, the two may learn lessons from each other and share experiences with other economies in their respective regions on enterpreneurship or enterprise development. In attempting some model comparison, this paper looks into the prospect of some generic entrepreneurship developmental model as a template in the first instance, subject to idiosyncratic socio-political features of individual countries.
Current status of the solar neutrino problem with Super-Kamiokande

We perform an updated model-independent analysis using the latest solar neutrino data obtained by $^{37}$Cl and $^{71}$Ga radiochemical experiments, and most notably by a large water-Cherenkov detector SuperKamiokande with their 504 days of data taking. We confirm that the astrophysical solutions to the solar neutrino problem are extremely disfavored by the data and a low-temperature modification of the standard solar model is excluded by more than 5 $\sigma$. We also propose a new way of illuminating the suppression pattern of various solar neutrino flux without invoking detailed flavor conversion mechanisms. It indicates that the strong suppression of $^7$Be neutrinos is no more true when the neutrino flavor conversion is taken into account.
Wage Inflation, Regional Policy and the Regional Earnings Structure

This paper attempts an explanation of the behaviour of the regional earnings struicture through time with particular emphasis on the underlying mechanism that holds the structure together. Earnings data that relate to the British engineering industry are used as the basis for statistical tests. Earlier analysis of these data (Hart and MacKay, 1974) revealed that, for the interwar and postwar periods, the regional earnings hierarchy appears to be stable, with some tendency for regional differentials to narrow over time and no consistent relationship between local unemployment conditions and local earnings changes. Of the four hypotheses that have been advanced so far to explain the behaviour of the regional structure (see Thirlwall, 1970, for a useful summary), our emphasis is on the one that is popularly termed the earningsspread hypothesis. The simplest version of this hypothesis takes the form that earnings changes in a leading market(s) are a function of the excess demand for labour in that market, and that earnings changes in the leading market are passed on, in whole or in part, to lagging markets. It is worth observing that such an hypothesis can be interpreted in two very dissimilar fashions. Earnings adjustment can be regarded as essentially an institutional process where "coercive comparisons", "established relativities" or some similar manifestation of inter-group wage rivalry causes employees to bargain for and obtain increases in earnings similar to those obtained by employees in other areas irrespective of differences in regional labour market conditions (Cowling and Metcalf, 1967; Thirlwall, 1970; Lerner and Marquand, 1963). Alternatively, and this argument in the neoclassical tradition has escaped undetected by the British literature, the existing structure of earnings differentials, and its adjustment through time, can be given an equilibrium interpretation. Taking this view, the existing structure of wage differentials may reflect non-pecuniary elements, regional differences in the cost of living, the cost of movement and other barriers to geographical mobility. Hence, changes in regional earnings differentials would be interlinked because of competition, real or potential, between firms operating in different labour markets (Brechling, 1973). As suggested above, the models used to test the earnings-spread hypothesis have incorporated a simple, one-way transmission mechanism in order to represent the transference of earnings increases from leading to
Mobile phones and micro‐trading activities – conceptualizing the link

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of mobile phones on the micro‐trading activities of traders in Ghana. The study aims to develop a conceptual model analyzing the impact of mobile phones on pre‐trade, during‐trade and post‐trade activities.Design/methodology/approach – A mixed methods approach consisting of a descriptive survey of 136 traders and a case study of two traders was adopted.Findings – The findings suggest that traders primarily use mobile phones to monitor goods and pricing strategies, scheduling deliveries, and addressing inquiries and complaints in during‐trade activities. Traders, including those with no formal education, also use mobile phones as calculators in post‐trade activities. This innovative use of mobile phones is a function of their pre‐knowledge which may have been developed through formal education and/or social networks. Improving information management through mobile phones directly or indirectly contributes to the economic empowerment of the tr.
Optimizing Cash Flows for Linear Schedules Modeled with Singularity Functions by Simulated Annealing

The ability of construction contractors to plan and manage cash flow is critical for their economic success. The cumulative interaction of outflows (labor, materials, and equipment costs) and inflows (progress payments less retainage) creates a profile with a complex zigzag shape. This could only be modeled by simplification, e.g., as values tabulated at discrete times; averaged S-curves without peaks; or envelopes of all possible constellations. Neither is suited for a fully integrated model that dynamically links schedules with their cash flows for optimization. Therefore, singularity functions, whose components define ranges of behavior between cutoffs, are used to flexibly yet accurately model cash flow profiles and their various payment terms. The new approach augments construction project management toward an integrated planning model and is validated with an example from the literature. Optimization with a simulated annealing algorithm shifts activity positions in a randomized but directed search f.
Firm Accrual Quality Following Restatements: A Signaling View

We consider whether and how firms improve their financial reporting credibility following a restatement by comparing two alternative views. The compliance view predicts that firms simply correct errors to comply with regulations; the signaling view predicts that improvements are broader to allow firms to signal higher reporting quality and thereby reduce information uncertainty. We find that accrual quality improves significantly following the restatement and that this improvement is observed for both earnings and non-earnings error restatements. We also find that the extent of real earnings� management decreases significantly. Further, we find that improvements in accrual quality are higher for firms with CEO turnover and higher incentives to improve, but lower for firms switching to an auditor of lower quality. Collectively, our findings suggest that firms signal improved reporting credibility following a restatement through higher accruals quality and lower real earnings management.
Managing a protected marine area for the conservation of critically endangered vaquita (Phocoena sinus Norris, 1958) in the Upper Gulf of California

We analysed fisheries trends in the northern region of the Gulf of California, within the Biosphere Reserve of the Upper Gulf of California and Colorado Delta River and the Vaquita Refuge Area, and suggest measures to protect the vaquita, Phocoena sinus. We compiled and analysed catch reports of artisanal fishermen in the three fishing communities of the Upper Gulf of California (San Felipe in the State of Baja California, and Golfo de Santa Clara and Puerto Peñasco in the State of Sonora) from 1995 to 2007. This information was categorised with respect to geographic information systems, and all fishing sites within two marine protected areas in the region were identified. In addition, from a survey based on direct interviews with artisanal fishermen in each of the three ports, we identified that 23% of fishermen will continue fishing despite on-going fishing buy-out programmes in the region. We suggest several specific courses of action to decrease the fishing impact on this critically endangered cetacean. However, given the critical situation of this critically endangered species, it is very uncertain whether enforcing a no-take zone within the biosphere reserve and the Vaquita Refuge Area, or even a wider fishing moratorium, will be enough to save this endangered species from extinction.
The Roots of Entrepreneurship and Labour Demand: Individual Ability and Low Risk Aversion

This paper develops a model as a means to explain business formation and the labour demand of entrepreneurs. An individual will become an entrepreneur if the expected rewards surpass the wages of employment, and the expected rewards depend on an assessment of individual ability and on risk attitude. Actual ability determines success and hence the demand for wage labour of the firm. In equilibrium these factors govern the distribution of a given workforce over entrepreneurs and employees. The model is fitted to Dutch survey data. The empirical results confirm the importance of both risk-taking and ability for successful entrepreneurship. Copyright 2001 by The London School of Economics and Political Science
The Participation Divide? Political Participation, Trust in Government, and E‐government in Australia and New Zealand

Drawing on 438 telephone interview surveys in Australia and 500 in New Zealand, we find evidence of a ‘participation divide’ where those participating in politics do so using a range of means, including electronic ones. Those less likely to participate in politics, are less likely to participate across all means measured. Those with higher levels of education and income and of European ethnicity are more likely to participate. We confirm the existence of the so-called ‘digital divide’ with those that use e-government means and those that do not, being stratified by education, ethnicity, income, gender and age. Contrary to our expectations we find that lower levels of trust in government are associated with higher levels of some types of participation, including e-government ones.
Earnings management surrounding CEO changes

This paper investigates the extent of earnings management in the periods surrounding CEO changes by Australian firms. Evidence is presented of incoming CEOs undertaking earnings management to reduce income in the year of CEO change, with abnormal and extraordinary items being the primary vehicle through which this is achieved. This result is consistent with the notion of new CEOs engaging in an ‘earnings bath’, and is strongest for non–routine CEO changes, where the opportunities to manage earnings are greatest. Extending prior work, classification of CEO changes as routine or non–routine is based on an expanded information search, and this provides insights into the CEO change process and identifies problems with simpler mechanistic classification methods. Additionally, detailed information of the operation of the modified Jones model for estimating expected accruals is presented, and this is consistent with such models having low explanatory power in identifying abnormal accruals.
Comparative effectiveness research and its utility in In-clinic practice

One of the important components of patient-centered healthcare is comparative effectiveness research (CER), which aims at generating evidence from the real-life setting. The primary purpose of CER is to provide comparative information to the healthcare providers, patients, and policy makers about the standard of care available. This involves research on clinical questions unanswered by the explanatory trials during the regulatory approval process. Main methods of CER involve randomized controlled trials and observational methods. The limitations of these two methods have been overcome with the help of new statistical methods. After the evidence generation, it is equally important to communicate the results to all the interested organizations. CER is beginning to have its impact in the clinical practice as its results become part of the clinical practice guidelines. CER will have far-reaching scientific and financial impact. CER will make both the treating physician and the patient equally responsible for the treatment offered.
What Has the Economics of Giving Given to Economics? The Contemporary Situation

The "Economics of Giving" has given much to economics. A better understanding of the rigidity of labour and the relevance of philanthropic institutions to the preservation of market structures has led to many contributions in this recent economic field. This work is a survey of these contributions and it also considers the sub-fields of religious charity, the role of governmental action, and international aid. The evidence from the most recent works is highlighted and the most used theoretical models are exposed.