Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An examination of the antecedents to small and medium enterprise co-operation, and their effect on network propensity and behaviour.

Business co-operation in the small firm sector has in recent years been the beneficiary of both considerable academic debate and public sector funding for its facilitation. This thesis reviews the pertinent literature in the fields of business co-operation, trust, commitment and personality psychology. The limitations of existing networking co-operation SME research are identified, and in particular the dearth of empirical based research. Where such research exists, no attempt is made to isolate variables which might determine whether individuals are likely to co-operate with others, and / or the likely success of their co-operative activities. As a means of addressing these perceived flaws in the literature the potential antecedent role of owner-manager's personality, business related group affiliation, and owner-manager's and firm's demographics are examined in relation to their propensity to co-operate with others. A polymorphous definition of SME sector co-operation is adopted in which it is possible for actors to co-operate with varying parties and in a number of capacities. Extensive use is made of univariate chi-square and multivariate logistic regression techniques, with a logistic regression model ultimately being extended for each of the types of co-operation identified. The second phase of the empirical research conducted is focused upon the individual business network. Potential antecedents to small firm network success are examined at the aggregate level, and recommendations offered which network actors and facilitators can utilise as a means of heightening the likelihood of success within their own groups. The thesis closes with a re-examination of the hypothesis, drawing of conclusions relating to them, and the identification of areas for further research.
Evaluation of the SLIPA™ (Streamlined Liner of the Pharynx Airway), a Single Use Supraglottic Airway Device, in 60 Anaesthetized Patients Undergoing Minor Surgical Procedures

The Streamlined Liner of the Pharyngeal Airway, SLIPA™ (Hudson RCI) is a new disposable supraglottic airway device that has no inflatable cuff and has features designed to reduce aspiration risk. This study aimed to assess the insertion success and effectiveness of the SLIPA™ in 60 patients who presented for elective surgery. Ethics committee approval was obtained. Patients were excluded if they were less than 18 years, had not provided written consent or were at risk of pulmonary aspiration. The first 20 SLIPA™ were inserted by the principal investigator (Group A) followed by another 40 inserted by medical officers and anaesthetists of varying experience (Group B). Twenty-one males and 39 females were recruited into the study. Median time to ventilation was 20.4 seconds in Group A (range 12.9-109) and 24.8 seconds in Group B (range 8.2-82.5). Overall success rate was 100% in Group A and 92.5% in Group B. The lowest recorded SpO2 was 91% in Group B. The incidence of blood and sore throat score >3 (0-10 scale) was 23% and 7% respectively (Groups A and B). Group B reported that use of the device was very easy in 16%, easy in 76%, difficult in 5%, and very difficult in 3%. The SLIPA™ proved to be a reliable airway providing adequate ventilation in both spontaneous breathing and assisted respiration. Most users found the SLIPA™ to be easy or very easy to use.
The Life Cycle of Hedge Funds: Fund Flows, Size and Performance ⁄

Since the 1980s we have seen a 25% yearly increase in the number of hedge funds, and an annual attrition rate of 7.10% due to liquidation. This paper analyzes the life cycles of hedge funds. Using the TASS database provided by the Tremont Company, it studies industry and fund specific factors that affect the survival probability of hedge funds. The findings show that in general, investors chasing individual fund performance decrease probabilities of hedge funds liquidating. However, if investors follow a category of hedge funds that has performed well, then the probability of hedge funds liquidating in this category increases. We interpret this finding as a result of competition among hedge funds in a category. As competition increases, marginal funds are more likely to be liquidated than funds that deliver superior risk-adjusted returns. We also find that there is a concave relationship between performance and assets under management. The implication of this study is that an optimal asset size can be obtained by balancing out the effects of past returns, fund flows, market impact, competition and favorable category positioning that are modeled in the paper. Hedge funds in illiquid categories are subject to high market impact, have limited investment opportunities, and are more likely to exhibit an optimal size behavior compared to those in more liquid hedge fund categories.
ELECTRONIC BANKING - ADVANTAGES FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES DELIVERY

E-banking is a fully automatic service for traditionally banking customer's products based on information technology platforms. E-banking services provide customer access to accounts, the ability to move their money between different accounts or making payments via e-channels. The advantages generated by this services have determined an accelerate developing of this industry over the entire world. This paper examines some of the advantages of electronic banking products together with the characteristic management issues generated by the implementation of this new channel for financial services delivery.
How to Restructure Failed Banking Systems: Lessons from the U.S. In the 1930&Apos;S and Japan in the 1990&Apos;S

The costs of government assistance to banks depend on the way rescues are managed. The cnetral questions of policy reference do not revolve around whether to bail out banks, but rather around the choice of which banks to rescue and the means for doing so. If a rescue is handled skillfully, the cost can be greatly reduced. The history of assistance to U.S. banks during the Great Depression illustrates these themes well, and can provide useful lessons for Asia today. This paper reviews the history of bank distress and assistance in the United States during the 1930's and examines in detail the role of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation - how it targeted banks, the effect of its assistance, the cost of providing assistance, and the way that it tried to align bank incentives to protect against abuse of government protection. Then, the paper contrasts that experience with the recent government loans and preferred stock purchases for Japanese banks. We argue that combining subsidized preferred stock purchases with mandatory matching contributions of common stock, limits on bank dividend payments, and reforms on bank capital regulation that credibly incorporate market discipline into the regulatory process would increase the benefits and reduce the costs of government support for banks.
Contract bidding decision support system

This project has investigated the nature and processes of contract bidding within construction organisations. In addition the critical success factors, critical decisions and strategic information requirements associated with bidding decisions have been modelled and represented within a prototype computer-based system which has been demonstrated to a number of contracting organisations. Historically support for contract bidding decisions has focused on the development of complex statistical and algorithmic models. Previous work has suggested contractors do not favour the use of such models based on the analysis of historical bid data and this view was reinforced during this research. Consequently, this project focused on providing information resources to support contract bidding decisions, rather than attempting to replace, or mimic, the decisions makers own judgement and cognitive ability. The system developed takes the form of an integrated Executive Information System (EIS) for supporting construction executives and senior managers strategic information requirements. The system facilitates the provision of internal (organisational) and external (market) information for contract bidding decisions, serving as single point of access to the diverse data sources relied upon to support strategic contract bidding decisions. The system uses a proprietary microcomputer based EIS development environment to access 'synthetic' data structures representing the LAN architecture of a typical construction firm.
Poor taxon sampling, poor character sampling, and non‐repeatable analyses of a contrived dataset do not provide a more credible estimate of insect phylogeny: a reply to Kjer

The wealth of data available for phylogenetic analysis of the insect orders, from both morphological and molecular sources, is steadily increasing. However, controversy exists among the methodologies one can use to reconstruct ordinal relationships. Recently, Kjer (2004 ) presented an analysis of insect ordinal relationships based exclusively on a single source of information: 18S rDNA sequence data. Kjer claims that his analysis resulted in a more “credible” phylogeny for the insect orders and strongly criticized our previous phylogenetic results. However, Kjer only used a subset of the data that are currently available for insect ordinal phylogeny, misrepresented our analyses, and omitted other analyses we have published on insect ordinal phylogeny. In our estimation, Kjer did a poor job of representing the current state of affairs in insect ordinal phylogenetics. Furthermore, we examine a number of analytical issues that are relevant not only for insect phylogeny, but systematics as a science, such as: repeatability and objectivity, locating alignment boundaries, secondary structure, goodness of fit measure, epistemological coherence, practicality and homology.
The coagulation-fibrinolysis system in patients with leukoaraiosis and Binswanger disease.

BACKGROUND Hypercoagulability is observed in vascular dementia, including Binswanger disease. However, the correlation between hypercoagulability, leukoaraiosis, and dementia remains unclear. OBJECTIVE To examine how activation of the coagulation fibrinolysis correlates with leukoaraiosis and dementia. PATIENTS AND METHODS Thrombin-antithrombin complex (TAT), prothrombin fragment(1 + 2) (F1 + 2) and cross-linked D-dimer (XDP) were measured consecutively in 18 subjects without dementia and with leukoaraiosis, and in 29 subjects with subcortical vascular dementia and severe leukoaraiosis (Binswanger disease) at either stable or deteriorating stages. They were compared with 19 patients with old lacunar infarctions and 24 patients with other neurological diseases. We also examined the indices of cognitive impairment and brain atrophy. In each group, the ventricular area-cranial space area ratio was measured by an image analyzer. RESULTS Patients with Binswanger disease who were exclusively at deteriorating stages showed increased TAT and XDP levels and an increased ventricular area-cranial space area ratio, as compared with the patients with other neurological diseases (P<.001). The index of cognitive impairment in patients at a deteriorating stage showed a decreasing trend vs that of patients in the stable stage. Among the variables that were significantly associated with a hypercoagulable condition (ie, age, scores on Mini-Mental State Examination or the Hasegawa Dementia Rating Scale, Revised [MMSE/HDRS], white matter lesions, ventricular area-cranial space area ratio, and C-reactive protein), age (odds ratio [OR], 2.82) and MMSE/HDSR scores (OR, 0.43) survived as predictors for coagulation activation, and C-reactive protein survived for fibrinolysis activation (OR, 4.63) in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION Hypercoagulability in a subgroup of patients with Binswanger disease and with more severe cognitive impairment and brain atrophy does not support a triggering role for a coagulation-fibrinolysis system, although it may contribute to worsening of neurological deficits.
The Thick Market Effect on Housing Markets Transactions

This paper provides a search model for housing market where the number of buyers and/or sellers plays very important role. The model makes three testable predictions: (1) the unemployment rate has a negative impact on the trading volume and the sale prices of the housing market; (2) a larger housing market has a lower average sale price, shorter time-to-sale and smaller price dispersion, in addition to a lower vacancy rate. (3) In a larger housing market, when the unemployment rate goes up (or down), the sale price decreases (or increases) by a smaller percentage than in a smaller market. All three predictions are supported by a panel dataset of the Texas city-level housing markets.
Factors Influencing the Adoption of Cloud Computing by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Developing Economies

- The key motivation of this paper is to assess the factors which influence small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a developing economy to adopt cloud computing. Recently, service providers offering a wide range of cloud-based ICT solutions to businesses have emerged into prominence. However, the acceptance and interest in these services amongst SMEs are slow and discouraging. As such, there is the urgent need to identify the enabling and constraining forces and other key influential factors necessitating this problem. The study highlights cost reduction on IT infrastructure and maintenance, improved communication, scalability and business continuity as the main drivers of cloud adoption, whereas lack of knowledge, poor internet connectivity, security of cloud services, lack of trust and interoperability with existing systems were identified as barriers to adoption. Top management support, trialability, competence of cloud vendors, resistance to new technology, compatibility and existence of IT infrastructure are realized as key factors influencing cloud computing adoption. These findings will go a long way in helping service providers and technology policymakers to develop solutions and strategies that specifically meet the needs of SMEs and other clients in order to encourage and speed up the rate of adoption.
Consumer Awareness, Perceptions and Behaviour Towards Farmed Versus Wild Fish

This study provides empirical evidence about European consumer awareness, perceptions and behavior towards farmed and wild fish. The evidence is based on three empirical studies: a consumer survey in Belgium in March 2003, focus group discussions with consumers in Belgium and Spain in May 2004, and a pan-European consumer survey with a sample of 4,786 fish consumers in Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Span and Poland in November-December 2004. Consumer awareness about the farmed or wild origin of fish is rather poor, particular among lighter fish user groups. Perceptions are quite diverse across Europe. Furthermore, perceptions often contrast with current scientific evidence, in particular with respect to behalf and nutritional value where consumers express more favourable perceptions for wild than for farmed fish. Finally, perceptual differences between farmed and wild fish with a country are not always consistent across countries.
Cerebral Arterial and Venous Contributions to Tissue Oxygenation Index Measured Using Spatially Resolved Spectroscopy in Newborn Lambs

Background:Bedside assessments of cerebral oxygenation are sought to monitor cerebral injury in patients undergoing intensive care. Spatially resolved spectroscopy measures tissue oxygenation index (TOI, %) which reflects mixed cerebral arterial and venous oxygenations. We aimed to evaluate arterial and venous components of TOI (cerebral arterial to venous volume ratio [A:V ratio]) in the newborn lamb brain using cerebral arterial and venous blood samples, and to investigate the impact of acute hypoxemia on the A:V ratio and TOI. Method:Nine lambs were ventilated with varied inspired oxygen to generate arterial oxygen saturations between 25% and 100%. Cerebral arterial and venous oxygen saturations analyzed using cooximeter of arterial and superior sagittal sinus blood were used to estimate TOI (TOIcox), assuming cerebral A:V ratio of 25:75. TOIcox was compared with the TOI measured by spatially resolved spectroscopy (TOIsrs). Actual cerebral arterial and venous volume fractions were reestimated using TOIsrs = cerebral arterial volume fraction* cerebral arterial oxygen saturation + cerebral venous volume fraction*cerebral venous oxygen saturation. Results:Median (range) TOIsrs was 48.5% (32.0–64.1%), and TOIcox was 48.4% (13.7–74.4%), and the two were significantly correlated (R2 = 0.77). The mean difference between TOIsrs and TOIcox was 2.4% (limits of agreement ± 18.1%). The TOIsrs − TOIcox difference varied with oxygen saturations, with TOIsrs higher than TOIcox at low saturations, and lower at high saturations. Cerebral arterial volume fraction was 22.9–27.5% in normoxia and markedly increased in hypoxemia. Conclusion:TOI corresponds with cerebral oxygenation. The variable agreement of TOIsrs with TOIcox may reflect changes in cerebral A:V ratio due to arterial oxygenation-related vasoreactivity.
Scalable SVM Processor and Its Application to Nonlinear Channel Equalization

Support vector machines (SVMs) are powerful, state-of-the-art machine learning tools. With the aim to integrate SVM training capability into embedded systems while being able to meet area and performance constraints, a parallel and scalable digital architecture for training SVMs on-line is proposed and implemented on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). Experiments show that the proposed SVM processor can solve the channel equalization problem effectively with fixed-point arithmetic and exhibits good scalability with respect to the number of cache update units (CUUs). This architecture is particularly suitable to be applied in embedded environments, as designers can easily trade off between area and performance to meet the constraints.
Otogenic Fusobacterium Meningitis, Sepsis, and Mastoiditis in an Adolescent

Fusobacterium necrophorum is a strict anaerobic organism responsible for a number of clinical syndromes known as necrobacillosis. Although meningeal infections with anaerobes are rare, delayed diagnosis and treatment can be potentially fatal. We report a unique case of Fusobacterium meningitis, mastoiditis, and sepsis in a previously healthy adolescent. Diagnosis and management of this condition are discussed in the context of a literature review.
How Does Transfer Pricing Risk Affect Premia in Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions?

This study investigates how transfer pricing risk affects the premia in cross-border mergers and acquisitions. Differences in the rigor of transfer pricing enforcement and the severity and clarity of rules across countries create risk of material costs for multinationals as they expand globally. We use 448 country-level transfer pricing risk assessments by global transfer pricing partners and managers from two Big Four accounting firms in 33 countries to develop a metric of country-year transfer pricing risks. The resulting measure of transfer pricing risk is used to analyze the premia of 4,308 cross-border mergers and acquisitions from 1993-2012. Our results suggest that acquirers offer lower premia on their bid when there is increased transfer pricing risk associated with the future operations of the target, consistent with the views of experts in the field. This relation is stronger in target industries with high levels of intellectual property, because targets face greater transfer pricing uncertainty when implementing an arm’s length price. Our results provide the first archival evidence that acquirers consider the risk of uncertain tax costs on future operations when estimating the value of a target to the firm.
High-Reliability Teams and Situation Awareness: Implementing a Hospital Emergency Incident Command System

To enhance disaster preparedness, hospitals are beginning to implement the Hospital Emergency Incident Command System. Although Hospital Emergency Incident Command System provides a template for disaster preparation, its successful implementation requires an understanding of situation awareness (SA) and high-reliability teams. The authors present the concept of SA and how this concept relates to team reliability in dynamic environments. Then strategies for increasing SA and team reliability through education, training, and improved communication systems are discussed.
Isometric torso muscle endurance profiles in adolescents aged 15–18: normative values for age and gender differences

Abstract Objective: The aim of this study was to establish normative values for torso muscle endurance in adolescents aged 15–18 years. It was hypothesized that torso endurance profiles of adolescents differs between males and females and between adolescents and adults. Background: Decreased torso muscle endurance has been identified as a potential personal risk factor for low back pain development in both adolescents and later years together with being detrimental for athletic performance. Design: Measurement of torso muscle endurance, established through four tests performed in random order in a healthy adolescent population. Setting: High school in Novi Sad, Province of Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia. Methods: Two hundred and ninety-four adolescents from one high school (178 males and 116 females) were grouped into four age strata. Selected isometric torso muscle endurance tests were: Biering-Sørensen test for extensor endurance; Flexor endurance test; right and left Side Bridge tests. The mean, ratio, standard deviation and 25th, 50th and 75th percentile scores were determined for each gender/age strata. Results and conclusion: Males had higher lateral torso endurance than females. Adolescents in general demonstrate their peak lifetime endurance as they appear more endurable than children and comparable adult groups. These data of endurance times, their ratios and percentiles in healthy normal subjects form a database bridging existing data for children and adults that may be useful for guiding training and rehabilitation.
Change and Complementarities in the New Competitive Landscape: A European Panel Study

This paper addresses three weaknesses in the literature on new organizational forms: the limited mapping of the extent of contemporary organizational change; confusion about how contemporary changes link together; and the lack of systematic testing of the performance consequences of this kind of change. Drawing on a large-scale survey of organizational innovation in European firms, the paper finds widespread but not revolutionary change in terms of organization structure, processes, and boundaries. Using the economics notion of complementarities, the paper develops contingency and configurational approaches to suggest that organizational innovations will tend to cluster in particular ways and that the performance benefits of these innovations depend on their clustering. Complementarities in performance are explored from both inductive and deductive perspectives. Consistent with the expectations of complementarity theory, high-performing firms appeared to be innovating more and differently than low-performing firms. Again consistent with complementarities, piecemeal changes-with the exception of IT-were found to deliver little performance benefit, while exploitation of the full set of innovations was associated with high performance. Though few European firms were found to exploit the complementarities of new organizational practices, those that did enjoyed high-performance premia.