Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HRM Practices in Public and Private Universities of Pakistan: A Comparative Study

The purpose of this study was to compare the HRM practices of public and private universities in Punjab province of Pakistan. The data for the study was collected through a questionnaire comprising 30 items mainly related to job definition, training and development, compensation, team work, employee’s participation and performance appraisal. The instrument was validated through pilot testing. The internal reliability of the instrument was found to be 0.85. The sample was comprised of 60 executives (directors/heads of departments) selected randomly from six universities. The collected data was analyzed by applying descriptive and inferential statistical techniques such as means and independent sample t-test. The results showed that there was a significant difference in HRM practices according to executives of public and private universities. HRM practices in the areas of job definition, training and development, compensation, team work and employees participation were better in the public universities than private universities. However, performance appraisal practices were found better in the private universities than public sector universities. At the end recommendations were made for the HRM executives of private and public universities to improve their HRM practices in favor of their employees.
Glutathione-Mediated Regulation of ATP Sulfurylase Activity, SO42- Uptake, and Oxidative Stress Response in Intact Canola Roots

The dual role of glutathione as a transducer of S status (A.G. Lappartient and B. Touraine [1996] Plant Physiol 111: 147–157) and as an antioxidant was examined by comparing the effects of S deprivation, glutathione feeding, and H2O2 (oxidative stress) on SO42- uptake and ATP sulfurylase activity in roots of intact canola (Brassica napus L.). ATP sulfurylase activity increased and SO42- uptake rate severely decreased in roots exposed to 10 mM H2O2, whereas both increased in S-starved plants. In split-root experiments, an oxidative stress response was induced in roots remote from H2O2 exposure, as revealed by changes in the reduced glutathione (GSH) level and the GSH/oxidized glutathione (GSSG) ratio, but there was only a small decrease in SO42- uptake rate and no effect on ATP sulfurylase activity. Feeding plants with GSH increased GSH, but did not affect the GSH/GSSG ratio, and both ATP sulfurylase activity and SO42- uptake were inhibited. The responses of the H2O2-scavenging enzymes ascorbate peroxidase and glutathione reductase to S starvation, GSH treatment, and H2O2 treatment were not to glutathione-mediated S demand regulatory process. We conclude that the regulation of ATP sulfurylase activity and SO42- uptake by S demand is related to GSH rather than to the GSH/GSSG ratio, and is distinct from the oxidative stress response.
Cell cycle activation by c‐myc in a Burkitt lymphoma model cell line

The product of the proto‐oncogene c‐myc (myc) is a potent activator of cell proliferation. In Burkitt lymphoma (BL), a human B‐cell tumor, myc is consistently found to be transcriptionally activated by chromosomal translocation. The mechanisms by which myc promotes cell cycle progression in B‐cells is not known. As a model for myc activation in BL cells, we have established a human EBV‐EBNA1 positive B‐cell line, P493‐6, in which myc is expressed under the control of a tetracycline regulated promoter. If the expression of myc is switched off, P493‐6 cells arrest in G0/G1 in the presence of serum. Re‐expression of myc activates the cell cycle without inducing apoptosis. myc triggers the expression of cyclin D2, cyclin E and Cdk4, followed by the activation of cyclin E‐associated kinase and hyper‐phosphorylation of Rb. The transcription factor E2F‐1 is expressed in proliferating and arrested cells at constant levels. The Cdk inhibitors p16, p21, p27 and p57 are expressed at low or not detectable levels in proliferating cells and are not induced after repression of myc. Ectopic expression of p16 inhibits cell cycle progression. These data suggest that myc triggers proliferation of P493‐6 cells by promoting the expression of a set of cell cycle activators but not by inactivating cell cycle inhibitors. Int. J. Cancer 87:787–793, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
INTERNATIONAL DIVERSIFICATION AND FIRM PERFORMANCE: THE S-CURVE HYPOTHESIS

A proposed theoretical framework for the study of multinationality and performance includes both benefits and costs of geographic expansion over different phases of internationalization. Data on 1,489 Japanese firms over 12 years show a consistent horizontal X S-shaped X relationship between multinationality and performance. Further, firms investing more heavily in intangible assets, such as technology and advertising, achieved greater profitability gains from growth in foreign direct investment. Our framework and findings highlight complexity and temporal dynamics.
Store format choice in an evolving market: role of affect, cognition and involvement

Store choice has been studied extensively in the literature, but store format choice has had limited research attention. The store format choice for bulk grocery purchase being a rational context is well conceptualized in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) framework. Attitude behaviour linkages are well explored but there is rare consensus on the components of attitude, their interrelationship and resultant impact on conation. The Theory of Reasoned Action has evolved over time to incorporate perceived behavioral control and past behavior to improve its explanatory capability as TPB; however, it has maintained its unidimensionalist approach and has not tested affect and cognition independently for its impact on behavior. This paper explores a Converging framework of the Affect and Cognition components of attitude and tests their independent impact on store format choice behaviour. The results indicate that Affect operates independently and has stronger impact on format choice especially in more evolved and familiarized contexts whereas cognitive evaluation is strong in relatively newer formats. There seems to be an interplay between Cognition and Affect over time with cognition transitioning into affect as familiarity with choices increases.
Assessing the changing role, attitudes and knowledge of UK business advisors to the benefits of benchmarking and benchmarking tools

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the changing attitudes to diagnostic benchmarking tools of UK business advisors over the last five years, during a period of considerable restructuring in business support, aimed at focusing support on small business and start‐ups.Design/methodology/approach – The authors reviewed business support from the advisor's and client's perspective prior and during this restructuring and conducted a follow up study to that carried out in 2000, allowing direct comparisons to be made with the earlier results. Quantitative advisor demographic data was also collected for comparison.Findings – The authors conclude that though business link has been restructured towards start‐ups and small businesses and that advisors knowledge of the benchmarking has improved, the tools available to advisors have not changed to reflect this and cannot be used by the majority of the advisors' clients. As a result the use of diagnostic benchmarking tools, as a proportion of total business support, ha.
Acousto-optic properties of photonic crystal fibers

Photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) are a new class of optical fibers. They typically consist of a single glass material, such as pure silica, where the introduction of several air holes offers new optical properties compared to standard optical fibers. We report acoustic and acousto-optic experiments on this new fiber class. The phase velocity of the lowest order flexural acoustic mode is measured as a function of frequency for both a solid core and a hollow core photonic crystal fiber, and the results compared with those for a standard optical fiber. Acousto-optic interaction is used to measure the intermodal beat length between the lowest order and first higher order optical modes of the solid core PCF. The agreement between theory and experiments is very good.
Relationships Among Business Strategy, Environmental Uncertainty and Performance of Firms Operating in Transport Equipment Industry in India

The purpose of this research is to empirically examine the relationship between business strategy and performance. Further, this study investigates the independent influence of environmental uncertainty on the performance. This study finds that environmental uncertainty moderates the relationship between business strategy and performance of firms operating in theTransport Equipment industry in India. With the help of the review of literature, this study has developed and tested a structural model linking business strategy, environmental uncertainty and performance using Partial Least Square (PLS)-Path Modelling (PM) method. The primary data were collected from Senior Finance Professionals representing 36 Transport Equipment companies operating in India through a single cross-sectional mailed survey.This study found that environmental uncertainty has independently influenced the performance and has not moderated the relationship between business strategy and performance.
Integrated marketing communications: From media channels to digital connectivity

Media is in the midst of a digital revolution that frees news, information and advertising from the technological limits of print and broadcast infrastructures. The digitization and networking of information transform marketing communications into a vastly different set of practices for connecting consumers and brands. This paper overviews the transformation in media and describes the implications for integrated marketing communications (IMC) practice and scholarship. Digital media brings about infinite reproduction of content, consumer networking, user-generated content and an expansion of media from news and entertainment to almost any technology that has a digital interface with people. The role of media in marketing communications practices shifts from the execution of message strategies into an extension of consumer understanding. Media planning, the practice of allocating a media budget across a set of vehicles, will be replaced by a dynamic, automated process that serves ads based on information streams of consumer intentions and actions. Several of the core principles of IMC – consumer insight, data-driven decision making, cross-media integration and communications with multiple stakeholders – represent an improved framework for managing communications in a digital world.
Angular Momentum Conservation and Gravity Wave Drag Parameterization: Implications for Climate Models

Abstract The robustness of the parameterized gravity wave response to an imposed radiative perturbation in the middle atmosphere is examined. When momentum is conserved and for reasonable gravity wave drag parameters, the response to a polar cooling induces polar downwelling above the region of the imposed cooling, with consequent adiabatic warming. This response is robust to changes in the gravity wave source spectrum, background flow, gravity wave breaking criterion, and model lid height. When momentum is not conserved, either in the formulation or in the implementation of the gravity wave drag parameterization, the response becomes sensitive to the above-mentioned factors—in particular to the model lid height. The spurious response resulting from nonconservation is found to be nonnegligible in terms of the total gravity wave drag–induced downwelling.
Annuities, Financial Literacy and Information Overload

This chapter investigates how financial literacy and information overload influence the decision to purchase an annuity and how they relate to subsequent confidence and satisfaction. Using a dataset from a large-scale experiment, we find that as financial literacy increases, information overload decreases. In addition, people who experience higher levels of information overload are less confident in their choice and are less satisfied with their decision. We recommend that educators and retirement plan architects consider simplifying the decision environment in addition to improving financial literacy with the goal of increasing investor confidence and satisfaction.
A risk-adjusted performance evaluation of US and EU hedge funds and associated equity markets over the 2007-2009 financial crisis

Hedge funds are considered to be market-neutral due to their unrestricted investment flexibility and more efficient market timing abilities (Ennis & Sebastian, 2003). They may also be considered as suitably unconventional assets for improving portfolio diversification (Lamm, 1999). The evidence from this study confirms the dominance of hedge funds over the CAC 40, DAX, S&P 500 and Dow Jones from 2004 to 2011. Overall, the Sharpe, Sortino, Omega, Jensens alpha, Treynor and Calmar ratios illustrate that US hedge funds outperformed both EU hedge funds and the associated equity markets over this period. Evidence was also found that both US and EU hedge funds were more correlated with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones after the financial crisis of 2007-2009 than before the crisis.
Effects of Two Pre-Treatment Methods on Functional Properties of Egg White Protein Hydrolysates Obtained by Pepsin

After Egg White Proteins (EWPs) were pre-treated by Conventional Heating (CH) Method and Microwave Irradiation (MWI), respectively, functional properties of protein hydrolysates from egg white hydrolyzed by pepsin was systemically investigated. The results indicated the maximum Degrees of Hydrolysis (DHs) of EWPs pre-treated by MWI could reach 19.81%, which was much more than that of EWPs pre-treated by CH. As the pH increased, the solubility of Egg White Protein Hydrolysates (EWPHs) gradually decreased, but the solubility of EWPHs originated from the proteins pre-treated by MWI was also significantly higher (p 0.05). According to the experimental results, the EWPHs have potential for use as a natural ingredient for emulsifying and wetting agent.
PATTERN RECOGNITION APPLIED TO CHART ANALYSIS. EVIDENCE FROM INTRADAY INTERNATIONAL STOCK MARKETS

Abstract Technical analysis as sophisticated form of forecasting technique joins different popularity in the academic and business world. In the past technical trading rules and their performance were seen skeptical. This is substantiated by the acceptance of the efficient market hypothesis and mixed empirical findings about technical analysis in widely cited studies. The flag pattern is seen as one of the most significant spread chart patterns among the stock market charting analysts. The present research validates a trading rule based on the further development of flag pattern recognition. The research question concentrates on whether technical analysis applying the flag pattern can outperform an index focusing international stock markets. The markets observed are represented by the corresponding indices DAX (Germany), S&P and DJIA (United States) and IBEX (Spain). The design of the trading rule presents several changes with respect to previous academic works: The wide sample used when considering intra-day data together with the configuration of some of the variables and the consideration of risk allows concluding that the trading rule provides greater positive risk-adjusted returns than the buy and holding strategy which is used as benchmark. The reported positive results strengthen the robustness of the conclusions reached by other researchers. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.4995/ICBM.2015. 1146
Chicken Scratch: The Illegibility of Physician Handwriting in Clinical Practice

The illegible chicken scratch characteristic of physicians has been the affectionate criticism of the profession for as long as most can remember. Lay people even joke that “physicians go to medical school to learn to write illegibly while pharmacists go to school to learn how to read what doctors write. ” (Hughes, 2003). However, besides being an overgeneralization, this myth may even have fatal consequences. Studies have shown there to be at least some truth to this myth physicians do tend to write more illegibly than both their colleagues in the health system and those in other professions. The question then becomes one of causality did the physician always write in chicken scratch or did something in his medical training or practice turn his script into illegible scrawl? Perhaps more important than the etiology of illegible handwriting are the potential consequences. In 1999, the illegible handwriting on the prescription of a cardiologist resulted in the death of his patient, not to mention a $225,000 fine to the cardiologist. Cases such as this have prompted the medical profession to re-evaluate its blasé attitude toward illegible handwriting. Medical schools, regulatory bodies and hospitals are beginning to implement rules and technology that aim to improve written communication.
Mental Health Promotion in the Health Care Setting

Health Compass is an innovative, multiphased project that aims to transform health care practice and shift organizational culture by building the capacity of Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) health care providers to further promote the mental health and well-being of patients and families accessing PHSA’s health care services. Health Compass was developed within a health promotion framework, which involved collaboration and engagement with stakeholders across all partnering PHSA agencies. This approach led to the development of an educational and training resource that contributes to increased capacity for mental health promotion within the health care setting. Based on interviews with Health Compass’ internal Project Team and findings from a Stakeholder Engagement Evaluation Report, this article outlines the participatory approach taken to develop the Health Compass Mental Health Promotion Resource and E-Learning Tool. A number of key facilitators for collaboration and engagement are discussed, which may be particularly applicable to the implementation of a mental health promotion program or initiative within a complex health care setting.
Increased Expression of Cyclin D2 during Multiple States of Growth Arrest in Primary and Established Cells

ABSTRACT Cyclin D2 is a member of the family of D-type cyclins that is implicated in cell cycle regulation, differentiation, and oncogenic transformation. To better understand the role of this cyclin in the control of cell proliferation, cyclin D2 expression was monitored under various growth conditions in primary human and established murine fibroblasts. In different states of cellular growth arrest initiated by contact inhibition, serum starvation, or cellular senescence, marked increases (5- to 20-fold) were seen in the expression levels of cyclin D2 mRNA and protein. Indirect immunofluorescence studies showed that cyclin D2 protein localized to the nucleus in G0, suggesting a nuclear function for cyclin D2 in quiescent cells. Cyclin D2 was also found to be associated with the cyclin-dependent kinases CDK2 and CDK4 but not CDK6 during growth arrest. Cyclin D2-CDK2 complexes increased in amounts but were inactive as histone H1 kinases in quiescent cells. Transient transfection and needle microinjection of cyclin D2 expression constructs demonstrated that overexpression of cyclin D2 protein efficiently inhibited cell cycle progression and DNA synthesis. These data suggest that in addition to a role in promoting cell cycle progression through phosphorylation of retinoblastoma family proteins in some cell systems, cyclin D2 may contribute to the induction and/or maintenance of a nonproliferative state, possibly through sequestration of the CDK2 catalytic subunit.
IgG cooperativity – Is there allostery? Implications for antibody functions and therapeutic antibody development

ABSTRACT A central dogma in immunology is that an antibody's in vivo functionality is mediated by 2 independent events: antigen binding by the variable (V) region, followed by effector activation by the constant (C) region. However, this view has recently been challenged by reports suggesting allostery exists between the 2 regions, triggered by conformational changes or configurational differences. The possibility of allosteric signals propagating through the IgG domains complicates our understanding of the antibody structure-function relationship, and challenges the current subclass selection process in therapeutic antibody design. Here we review the types of cooperativity in IgG molecules by examining evidence for and against allosteric cooperativity in both Fab and Fc domains and the characteristics of associative cooperativity in effector system activation. We investigate the origin and the mechanism of allostery with an emphasis on the C-region-mediated effects on both V and C region interactions, and discuss its implications in biological functions. While available research does not support the existence of antigen-induced conformational allosteric cooperativity in IgGs, there is substantial evidence for configurational allostery due to glycosylation and sequence variations.
Impact of Overinvestment & Underinvestment on Corporate Performance: Evidence from Singapore Stock Market

This paper aims to study the extent of overinvestment, underinvestment problem and measure its impact on corporate performance. Our sample consists of 7 years data (2005 to 2011) of 360 non-financial companies listed in the Singapore Stock Market. After panel data models appropriation tests (LM test, Hausman test, No Fixed effect test) we employed fixed effect regression methodology in our analysis. Our results show that 52% firms in our sample are engaged in proper investment projects, 29% firms are overinvesting, while 19% firms are underinvesting. Maximum overinvestment is taking place in Basic Material sector while maximum underinvestment happening in Healthcare sector. Further tests show that both overinvestment and underinvestment shows severe negative impact on firm performance. However, proper investment has positive impact on firm performance in Singapore Stock Market. The results highlight the extent of agency problem in Singapore Stock Market. Moreover, it depicts the importance of investment activities of Singaporean companies for the international investors and portfolio managers.
Consumers' Perceptions of Nonprofit Solicitations: Some Preliminary Evidence on Framing and Price Effects

This article presents the findings of a study examining the way in which nonprofit organizations raise funds through promotional product offerings. Prospect theory is used as a framework for describing two alternative framing scenarios: a product purchase verses a product gift in return for a donation. The experiment seeks to determine which framing scenario produces a greater likelihood that consumers will engage in a transaction with the organization across different transaction amounts. A significant interaction suggests the presence of a threshold effect. That is, a threshold, or monetary transaction amount, exists where all amounts below this threshold are considered so trivial that the frame of the transaction has no significant effect. The results suggest that for more trivial amounts, nonprofit organizations should frame the solicitation as a donation, but for higher requests consumers may be more likely to engage in the transaction when it is framed as a purchase.