Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Competitiveness, restructuring and firm behaviour in transition : the case Of Croatia

Abstract The ability of nations to grow and to provide their citizens with a better standard of living depends on the competitiveness of their firms. During the transition from a centrally-planned to a market economy firms had to face the challenging task of restructuring in order to become more competitive. It was expected that through changes in their behaviour they would be able to replace once dominant price-driven competitive profiles with quality-based profiles which can generate higher value added and can lead to higher rates of growth. The aim of this thesis is to investigate competitiveness of firms and industries in Central and East European Countries (CEECs) in general and Croatia in particular. We argue that the competitiveness of firms and industries is a dynamic process closely related to their restructuring activities, characteristics and environment. With that in mind we apply dynamic panel methodology and dynamic shift-and-share analysis to two large firm and industry level datasets for the period 2000-2007, the most recent year for which data was available to us. We compare the behaviour of Croatian firms with that of their rivals from several advanced CEECs, assess the competitive profile of Croatian exporters and examine the competitiveness of Croatian industries on the EU15 market. Our findings indicate that in an advanced stage of transition the behaviour of firms in CEECs and Croatia was typical of price competitive firms with improvements in labour productivity and cost efficiency being their most important forms of restructuring. Furthermore, we identified several agglomeration externalities and government policy measures such as free trade zones as factors which can facilitate the ability of Croatian firms to compete on international markets. We have also demonstrated that Croatian trade with EU15 is mainly of the vertical intra-industry type. Finally, stronger capital and innovation intensity in combination with higher pressure of imports have positive effects on the relative quality of exports from Croatian industries to the EU15 market. Based on these findings we have developed a set of recommendations for Croatian policy makers and managers which we hope can stimulate the innovativeness of firms and industries and increase their ability to compete through quality.
How service companies from emerging markets overcome internationalization barriers: evidence from Chilean services firms

The fact that service companies from emerging countries are capable of international growth has been essentially ignored in the literature. Following several calls for research on services internationalization (e.g., Pauwels and Ruyter, 2005), the objective of this research project is to expand our knowledge on the internationalization process of service firms from emerging markets. This exploratory study draws from the resource based view of the firm (RBV), which is concerned with the influence of firm resources and capabilities in explaining how firms can achieve and sustain competitive advantage (Barney, 1991). Drawing from interviews with relevant managers of two different service industries in Chile (education and tourism), this paper provides unique insights into a previously unexplored sector in the international services field. Results identify the main barriers that services firms from emerging markets face during their internationalization process, and the strategies used by these firms to overcome these barriers and succeed in foreign markets.
Pricing for Revenue Enhancement in Asian and Pacific Region Hotels: A Study of Relative Pricing Strategies

This report explores pricing strategies for competitive hotels in 14 different Asian-Pacific countries. The research is based on comparing average percentage differences in occupancies, average daily rates (ADR), and revenue per available room (RevPAR) among competing high end hotels in local markets using data gathered monthly between 2001 and 2006. The results reveal that hotels that price below their competitive sets have lower RevPARs, but do not gain concomitant occupancy boosts. Hotels that charge a price premium have substantially higher RevPARs than their competitors, but without substantial reductions in occupancy. Overall, occupancies remain stable while revenues go up or down depending on whether a hotel sets rates above or below those of its competitive set. This report presents an extension of two previous Cornell Hospitality Reports which found that U.S. hotels that discount relative to their competitive set have higher occupancy and lower RevPAR. Examining both U.S. and Asian data over the period of 2001 to 2006 showed that higher occupancies do not necessarily accompany the decision to discount prices, as they did for U.S. hotels in 2001 through 2003. The study explores the ASEAN, China, and Australian markets separately and finds similar patterns.
Comprehension of Icelandic pronoun gender: semantic versus formal factors

ABSTRACT The ability of Icelandic children (aged 4 to 8 years) to identify referents of gender-marked pronouns was tested under three conditions: (i) referents with natural/semantic gender, (ii) familiar referents with grammatical gender, (iii) unfamiliar referents with grammatical gender. Potential formal information about grammatical gender was held constant across all conditions. Children's correct identification of pronoun referents was most highly related to the familiarity of the referents and the availability of natural gender information, not to formal gender information. The results are discussed in light of contradictory findings from German. It is argued that subtle differences in the formal gender systems of.the two languages may underlie the different experimental results and may lead to different developmental patterns.
Test of the Lemons Model: Reply

The purpose of my 1982 paper was to test for differences in quality between original owner trucks and those that had been acquired used that could not be accounted for by differences in age and previous usage. Michael Pratt and George Hoffer (P-H) make several modifications of my tests by constructing a new measure of repair costs that is a linear combination of the frequency of repair information of different maintenance types and by choosing to compare recently traded trucks with those that were not traded recently. In introducing these changes, they argue that we should throw away information on age and lifetime mileage that is available to the buyer. I will show below that ignoring differences in previous use can lead to biases toward finding quality differences in a market where there is perfect information. Adverse selection of the type described in George Akerlofs (1970) "lemons" model arises when products that are equivalent from the point of view of buyers are known to be different by the seller. If 3-year-old trucks with average usage vary widely in quality and the variations cannot be observed by potential buyers, then those of lower quality will obtain the same price as those of higher quality and adverse selection will result. However, the fact that a 4-year-old truck becomes too costly to operate and is sold by its owner, while a 3-year-old truck owned by the same owner is not, is not necessarily related to the market for lemons because the buyer can observe the difference in age and anticipate costlier repairs. The price paid for the truck can be adjusted for the expected difference in repair costs and the market price schedule for used trucks will be a hedonic price schedule with compensating differences for observable quality differences. Casual empiricism suggests that the market uses such information, since trucks decline in value with age and high mileage trucks sell for a discount. Trade takes place because the buyer's valuation on the truck exceeds that of the seller. When differences in age and lifetime mileage are controlled for, I find no difference in maintenance between recently traded pickup trucks and those not traded for trucks less than 10 years old. For trucks more than 10 years old, which were not included in my earlier study, I find evidence of more frequent repairs among trucks that have been traded recently. Thus, the significant quality differences found by Pratt and Hoffer arises from the inclusion of very old trucks in their sample, and from their failure to control for differences in characteristics that buyers can observe.
Bank Loan Price Reactions to Corporate Events: Evidence from Traded Syndicated Loans

We examine the effect of open market share repurchase announcements on prices of traded loans and find a significant wealth transfer effect; the change in the market value of equity is inversely related to the change in the market value of loans. We find that loan abnormal returns are more negative when the loan contains incurrence covenants (e.g., payout restrictions), and that a combination of incurrence covenants and maintenance covenants significantly attenuates the negative effect of share repurchases on loan prices. We also find evidence of wealth transfers between loans and equity at the announcement of seasoned equity issues.
The Time-Varying Liquidity Risk of Value and Growth Stocks

We study the liquidity exposures of value and growth stocks over business cycles. In worst times, value stocks have higher liquidity betas than in best times, while the opposite holds for growth stocks. Small value stocks have higher liquidity exposures than small growth stocks in worst times, while small growth stocks have higher liquidity exposures than small value stocks in best times. Combined with the fact that growth stocks have lower market risk than value stocks in bad times (as documented by Petkova and Zhang, 2005), our results are consistent with a flight-to-quality explanation for the countercyclical nature of the value premium. Investors seeking safer assets in bad times may want to liquidate value stocks more aggressively than growth stocks. This increase in selling pressure could make value stocks more sensitive to liquidity risk than growth stocks in recessions. We show that the relative order imbalances of value-minus-growth strategies decreases as economic conditions worsen. This suggests that in bad times investors sell value stocks more aggressively than growth stocks, and this activity results in relatively greater illiquidity in value stocks. Overall, exposure to time-varying liquidity risk, combined with the liquidity price of risk, is able to capture 35% of the small-stock value premium and 100% of the large-stock value premium.
Endocrine and Clinical Effects of an Lhrh Analogue in Pretreated Advanced Breast Cancer

Buserelin represents one of the main LHRH analogues. It appears to be effective in untreated metastatic breast cancer, whereas its activity in pretreated advanced patients remains to be established. To evaluate endocrine and clinical effects of buserelin in pretreated advanced mammary carcinoma, 14 postmenopausal women with metastatic breast cancer, which had been previously treated with hormones and/or chemotherapy, entered the study. Buserelin was subcutaneously injected at a daily dose of 1.5 mg for 7 days, then intranasally at a daily dose of 1.2 mg until progression. Before and after the 7 days of subcutaneous administration of the LHRH analogue, FSH, LH, estradiol, testosterone basal serum levels, and PRL response to TRH were examined. After the 7 days of buserelin subcutaneous injection, a significant decrease in FSH, LH and estradiol values was observed, whereas testosterone was not affected. PRL response to TRH did not change after buserelin subcutaneous treatment in 8 patients, it decreased in one and was completely abolished in the last 5 cases. All patients whose PRL response to TRH did not decrease had a progression within the first month of therapy, whereas only 1 of 6 patients whose PRL response to TRH was reduced or abolished following buserelin administration showed a progression. Among the other 5 cases, 2 minor responses and 3 stable diseases were achieved. These preliminary results suggest that buserelin has only a limited effectiveness in metastatic breast cancer patients who have been previously treated with hormones and/or chemotherapy, and that its activity in the control of tumor growth is associated with a reduction in PRL secretion.
A dual mode EPC Gen 2 UHF RFID transponder in 0.18μm CMOS

A dual mode UHF RFID transponder in 0.18 mum CMOS conforming to the EPC Gen 2 standard is presented. Low voltage design of the analog blocks enables the chip to operate with a 1 V regulated voltage thus to reduce the power consumption. The chip operates with -11 dBm and -20 dBm RF signal in passive and battery-assisted modes, respectively. A specific Gen 2 command switches the operation mode of the circuit. Using a clock calibration method the chip functions from 1.2 MHz to 5 MHz clock frequency. The chip is fabricated in 0.18 mum standard CMOS technology and occupies 0.91 mm2 die area.
The effect of scope of analyzed data on the value of the heritability coefficient of litter size traits in pigs.

Low heritability of pig litter size traits at birth (number of live born piglets - LBP and total born piglets - TBP) and weaning (number of reared piglets - RP) is one of the major problems in their genetic improvement. The effect of selection is directly proportional to trait heritability and inversely proportional to the duration of generation interval. Objective of this study was to establish presence of difference in regard to heritability coefficient values of observed traits, as well as their accuracy depending on the size of data used in the analysis. Heritability coefficients in this study were calculated based on fertility results obtained for Swedish Landrace sows on three pig farms (farms 1, 2 and 3) in the Republic of Serbia. Observed traits - LBP, TBP and RP on farms 1, 2 and 3 were analyzed in the first (2422, 1677 and 2015 litters), in the first two (4190, 2897 and 3377 litters), in the first three (5576, 3809 and 4425 litters) and all available parities (9538, 6340 and 7750 litters) by applying the adequate mixed model of the Least square method. Heritability of LBP calculated based on fertility realized in the first partus ranged from 5.6 to 16.4 %, TBP ranged from 7.0 to 16.8 % and RP ranged from 3.4 to 7.7 %. Introduction into the analysis of the results pertaining to the second, third and subsequent parities lead mainly to detection of lower values of heritability coefficients for observed traits.
Evaluation of value-added agricultural advisory services: Case study of agriclinics in Southern India

Introduction of private enterprises to deliver agricultural advisory services is seen as a strategy to increase the coverage and effectiveness of the pluralistic extension system in developing countries. The Indian national program of agriclinics and agribusiness centers, started in 2002, aims to provide farmers with a reliable alternative to the private input dealer by subsidizing technically trained agricultural graduates to establish their own agricultural input shops and agriclinic laboratories. In 2008, Tamil Nadu state began its own version of the program, called Agriclinics cum Mini Soil Testing Laboratories, which provides subsidized funding to establish soil testing laboratories by primary agricultural cooperative banks (PACBs) or independent agricultural graduates.
The Second Extracellular Loop of CCR5 Contains the Dominant Epitopes for Highly Potent Anti-Human Immunodeficiency Virus Monoclonal Antibodies

ABSTRACT Six mouse anti-human CCR5 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that showed potent antiviral activities were identified from over 26,000 mouse hybridomas. The epitopes for these mAbs were determined by using various CCR5 mutants, including CCR5/CCR2B chimeras. One mAb, ROAb13, was found to bind to a linear epitope in the N terminus of CCR5. Strikingly, the other five mAbs bind to epitopes derived from extracellular loop 2 (ECL2). The three most potent mAbs, ROAb12, ROAb14, and ROAb18, require residues from both the N-terminal (Lys171 and Glu172) and C-terminal (Trp190) halves of ECL2 for binding; two other mAbs, ROAb10 and ROAb51, which also showed potent antiviral activities, require Lys171 and Glu172 but not Trp190 for binding. Binding of the control mAb 2D7 completely relies on Lys171 and Glu172. Unlike 2D7, the novel mAbs ROAb12, ROAb14, and ROAb18 do not bind to the linear peptide 2D7-2SK. In addition, all three mAbs bind to monkey CCR5 (with Arg at position 171 instead of Lys); however, 2D7 does not. Since five of the six most potent CCR5 mAbs derived from the same pool of immunized mice require ECL2 as epitopes, we hypothesize that CCR5 ECL2 contains the dominant epitopes for mAbs with potent antiviral activities. These dominant epitopes were found in CCR5 from multiple species and were detected in large proportions of the total cell surface CCR5. mAbs recognizing these epitopes also showed high binding affinity. A homology model of CCR5 was generated to aid in the interpretation of these dominant epitopes in ECL2.
A cell‐specific activator in the Xenopus A2 vitellogenin gene: promoter elements functioning with rat liver nuclear extracts.

Transfection experiments using Xenopus vitellogenin A2 gene constructs allowed us to identify an activator which increases the activity of the thymidine kinase promoter. The activator is located between −121 and −87 of the A2 vitellogenin gene and is separated by a stretch of curved DNA from the estrogen‐responsive DNA element at −331. The activator functions in a cell‐specific manner, as it is active in human breast cancer cells (MCF‐7) as well as hepatoma cells but not in fibroblasts or HeLa cells. The activator is composed of at least three elements: elements 1 and 2 which form a partial palindrome, function independently, but act synergistically when combined. Element 3 is not active on its own, but supports elements 1 and 2. A TATA box region derived from the Xenopus albumin gene is sufficient for the function of the activator. In vitro transcription experiments using rat liver nuclear extracts demonstrate that the activator interacts with transcription factors. These factors are distinct from those recognizing HP1, a regulatory element common to several genes specifically expressed in hepatocytes.
The morphology of intracellularly labeled rat subthalamic neurons: A light microscopic analysis

Light microscopic analysis of rat subthalamic (STH) neurons which were intracellularly labeled with horseradish peroxidase, following the acquisition of electrophysiological data, revealed the following: (1) The somata of STH neurons were polygonal or oval with occasionally a few somatic spines. Uusally three or four primary dendrites arose from the soma. Dendritic trunks tapered slightly and divided into long, thin, sparsely spined branches. Dendrites of some STH neurons extended into the cerebral peduncle. (2) Reconstruction of the dendritic field was made in three different planes. In either sagittal or frontal planes, the dendritic field was usually oval and the long axis was parallel to the main axis of STH. In the horizontal plane, the dendritic field of all neurons was polygonal. (3) The axons of all the neurons analyzed originated from the soma and were traced beyond the borders of STH, thus indicating that they were projection neurons. All the parent axons bifurcated at least once. After bifurcation, one axon branch coursed dorsolaterally within the cerebral peduncle and terminated in the globus pallidus. The other branch coursed caudally or mediocaudally and arborized in the substantia nigra. Frequently, the axon branches projecting toward the globus pallidus emitted fine axon collaterals within the entope‐duncular nucleus. (4) About one‐half of the analyzed STH neurons had intranuclear axon collaterals. The neurons with intranuclear collaterals had a higher dendritic tips/stems ratio than neurons without intranuclear collaterals. This observation indicated that STH neurons could be divided into two groups according to their axonal morphology. (5) The axonal terminal arborization observed in all the target sites (i.e., globus pallidus, entopeduncular nucleus, STH, and substantia nigra) were formed with varicose collateral branches which also gave rise to short filaments with beaded endings. Some of these projection neurons could therefore communicate with the target neurons in the globus pallidus, substantia nigra, entopeduncular nucleus, as well as STH through their collateral system.
Field and temperature dependent conductivity of syndiotactic polypropylene effect of temperature and electric field

Syndiotactic polypropylene (s-PP) is an extrudable polymer with properties which should make it highly suitable as high voltage cable insulation, including high AC breakdown strength, flexibility and a high melting point. However, for HVDC applications it is important to improve the knowledge of charge transport phenomena which control the field distribution. This paper presents electrical conductivity measurements performed on Rogowski shaped test objects and model cable. The polarisation and depolarisation currents were measured at the temperatures 60, 80, 100, and 120 °C with an applied electric field varying from 6 to 20 kV/mm. The electrical conductivity was calculated based on the quasi-steady polarization current. The field dependence of the conductivity was found to be non-linear for the entire field range. The temperature dependence for Rogowski shaped objects with painted silver electrodes followed an Arrhenius law with activation energy of approximately 1.68 eV, which is similar to values reported for XLPE. For model cable with polymeric semi-conductive electrodes the average activation energy was also 1.68 eV. In addition the estimated conductivity was also fitted to the Poole-Frenkel and hopping conduction mechanisms.
Nightmare disorder, dream anxiety, and subjective sleep quality in patients with borderline personality disorder

Aims: The aims of the present study were to examine the rate of nightmare disorder (ND) and to determine the levels of dream anxiety and subjective sleep quality in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Another aim was to determine whether dream anxiety was associated with childhood trauma, dissociative experiences, and subjective sleep disturbance in BPD patients. Finally, the hypothesis as to whether BPD patients with ND exhibited a more severe clinical profile than those without ND, was also tested.
Cluster Headache: On the Inadequacy of Existing Hypotheses Concerning the Origin of The Autonomic Phenomena

The existence of a "central" mechanism underlying cluster headache has been advocated by several investigators (1-3): even though the pain maximum in cluster headache is in the ocular/periocular area, the substrate for the pain may be in a distant area, extracranially or intracranially. Various types of information concerning cluster headache fit with the idea of a central origin. In recent years, however, the search for pathogenetic models in cluster headache seems largely to have concentrated on peripheral structures, vessels, nerves, and ganglia.