Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Temporal Model of Information Technology Project Performance

Efficiently delivering expected performance from information technology projects remains a critical challenge for many organizations. Improving our understanding of how various factors influence project performance is therefore an important research objective. This study proposes and tests a temporal model of information technology project performance (TMPP). It shows that performance can be better understood by separating risk factors into earlier (a priori) risk factors and later (emergent) risk factors, and modeling the influence of the former on the latter. Project performance, the dependent variable, is measured by considering both process (budget and schedule) and product (outcome) components. The model includes interactions between risk factors, project management practices, and project performance components. The model is tested using partial least squares analysis with data from a survey of 194 project managers. Our results indicate that the TMPP increases explanatory power when compared with models that link risk factors directly to project performance. The results show the importance for active risk management of recognizing, planning for, and managing a priori and emergent risk factors. The finding of a strong relationship between structural risk factors and subsequent volatility shows the need for risk management practice to recognize the interaction of a priori and emergent risk factors. The results confirm the importance of knowledge resources, organizational support, and project management practices, and demonstrate the ways in which they reinforce each other.
Validation Study of the Revised Version of the Scale of Prejudice Against Sexual and Gender Diversity in Brazil

ABSTRACT In Brazil, there is a deficit of culturally adapted tools to assess prejudice against sexual and gender diversity with empirically demonstrable validity and reliability. Prejudice against non-heterosexual orientations is a strong problem within Brazilian culture and is particularly related to nonnormative expressions of gender. To address these issues, a scale was created. The objective of this article is to validate the revised version of this instrument developed for the specificities of Brazilian culture and establish its reliability. The revised version of Scale of Prejudice Against Sexual and Gender Diversity (PASGD) was completed by 8,184 undergraduate students from southern Brazil. Analysis was conducted using the item response theory (IRT) model for rating scale data, criterion validity, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The scale showed good validity and reliability. The results indicate that the PASGD is a useful tool for assessing prejudice in the Brazilian context, adapted for the local Brazilian reality.
Empirical Analysis of Barriers to International Services Transactions and the Consequences of Liberalization

Teaching module prepared for a World Bank course on Trade In Services And International Trade Agreements: The Development Dimension, January 2, 2004; in Aaditya Mattoo, Robert M. Stern, and Gianni Zanini (eds.), International Trade in Services A Handbook, Palgrave Macmillan and The World Bank, forthcoming; adapted for publication in Philippa Dee and Michael Ferrantino (eds.), Quantitative Methods for Assessing the Effects of Non-Tariff Measures and Trade Facilitation, World Scientific, 2005; also adapted for inclusion in J.R. Bryson, J.R. and P.W. Daniels (eds.), The Service Industries Handbook, Cheltenham: Elgar, forthcoming.
Characterization of an Unusual Mycobacterium: a Possible Missing Link between Mycobacterium marinum and Mycobacterium ulcerans

ABSTRACT In an attempt to characterize an unusual mycobacterial isolate from a 44-year-old patient living in France, we applied phenotypic characterizations and various previously described molecular methods for the taxonomic classification of mycobacteria. The results of the investigations were compared to those obtained in a previous study with a set of temporally and geographically diverse Mycobacterium ulcerans (n = 29) and Mycobacterium marinum (n = 29) isolates (K. Chemlal, G. Huys, P.-A. Fonteyne, V. Vincent, A. G. Lopez, L. Rigouts, J. Swings, W. M. Meyers, and F. Portaels, J. Clin. Microbiol. 39:3272-3278, 2001). The isolate, designated ITM 00-1026 (IPP 2000-372), is closely related to M. marinum according to its phenotypic properties, lipid pattern, and partial 16S rRNA sequence. Moreover, fingerprinting by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis unequivocally classified this strain as a member of the species M. marinum, although it lacked two species-specific AFLP marker bands. However, PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis based on M. ulcerans-specific insertion sequence IS2404 showed the presence of this element in a low copy number in isolate ITM 00-1026. In conclusion, the designation of this isolate as a transitional species further supports the recent claim by Stinear et al. (T. Stinear, G. Jenkin, P. D. Johnson, and J. K. Davies, J. Bacteriol. 182:6322-6330, 2000) that M. ulcerans represents a relatively recent phylogenetic derivative of M. marinum resulting from the systematic acquisition of foreign DNA fragments.
Growth and vulnerabilities in microfinance

This focus note begins by briefly telling the story of recent growth in the four countries leading into the credit delinquency crises. The second section describes the key contextual factors that affected the severity and spread of the crises. The third section breaks down the three internal industry vulnerabilities that lie at the heart of the problems. This is followed by a discussion on how market infrastructure and tools can help to mitigate some of the dangers. The note concludes by placing these experiences within the broader context of the global microfinance story and makes recommendations to strengthen the industry.
Continuous Disclosure: Testing the Correspondence between State Enforcement and Compliance

The literature on regulation theory asserts that regulators are best able to encourage compliance when they are armed with a wide range of sanctions otherwise to compel compliance. It has been argued that the enactment of a wide range of sanctions and the use of those sanctions by a regulator should deter future contraventions of the law and lead to greater compliance. This paper discusses the early findings of a research project that tests some of the assumptions of regulatory theory in the corporate law context. The questions to be examined in the research project are whether or not there is a correspondence between the introduction of an enforcement regime and an increase in the level of compliance with the law which is being enforced, and whether or not there is a correspondence between enforcement activity by a regulator and an increase in the level of compliance with the law which is being enforced. This project aims to test these assumptions in the context of ASIC’s enforcement of the continuous disclosure provisions contained in Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) s 674(2). That provision requires listed disclosing entities to comply with the continuous disclosure obligation contained in ASX Listing Rule 3.1. Subject to certain exceptions, ASX Listing Rule 3.1 states that ‘[o]nce an entity is or becomes aware of any information concerning it that a reasonable person would expect to have a material effect on the price or value of the entity’s securities, the entity must immediately tell ASX that information. ’ If an alleged contravention of Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) s 674(2) occurs, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) can instigate enforcement action under the criminal, civil penalty or administrative penalty regimes. These regimes were introduced in 1994, 2003 and 2004 respectively. This project will examine data on the disclosure of information to the ASX to determine whether or not the enactment of the different enforcement regimes, and the use of those regimes by ASIC, corresponded with an increase in the level of compliance with the continuous disclosure requirements by disclosing entities. This research project is in its initial stages. Funding for the data collection was obtained in 2008. At the date of writing this paper the data collection had not been completed. The paper sets out the research questions which will be examined, the theory underpinning the project, the reasons for the choice of the continuous disclosure regime, the methodology to be employed, some limitations of the study and some preliminary analysis of the data collected to date.
Low prevalence of human papillomavirus in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in Chinese patients

The aim of this study was to ascertain the prevalence and prognostic value of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection status in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Immunohistochemistry and GenoArray HPV genotyping assays were used to evaluate the HPV infection status of 256 Chinese patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Long‐term survival rates were calculated using the Kaplan–Meier method. Immunostaining for p16 was prevalent in 6.6% (17/256) of patients, whereas HPV infection was detected in 9 of 256 (3.5%) patients using the HPV genotyping test. None of the p16‐negative subjects were found to have HPV infection according to the HPV genotyping test. P16 positivity was more common among nonsmokers than smokers (16.3% vs. 4.7%, respectively; P = 0.02). Among nine HPV‐positive cases, seven were infected with HPV‐16, one with HPV‐33, and one with both HPV‐16 and HPV‐11. The 3‐year overall survival rate was 87.5% for p16‐positive/HPV‐positive patients, 75.0% for p16‐positive/HPV‐negative patients, and 76.9% for p16‐negative/HPV‐negative patients (P = 0.30). A very low rate of HPV infection was found among the study patients. HPV infection status may not be a useful prognostic marker for head and neck cancer patients. J. Med. Virol. 87:281–286, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Application of the European Customer Satisfaction Index to Postal Services. Structural Equation Models versus Partial Least Squares

Customer satisfaction and retention are key issues for organizations in today’s competitive market place. As such, much research and revenue has been invested in developing accurate ways of assessing consumer satisfaction at both the macro (national) and micro (organizational) level, facilitating comparisons in performance both within and between industries. Since the instigation of the national customer satisfaction indices (CSI), partial least squares (PLS) has been used to estimate the CSI models in preference to structural equation models (SEM) because they do not rely on strict assumptions about the data. However, this choice was based upon some misconceptions about the use of SEM’s and does not take into consideration more recent advances in SEM, including estimation methods that are robust to non-normality and missing data. In this paper, both SEM and PLS approaches were compared by evaluating perceptions of the Isle of Man Post Office Products and Customer service using a CSI format. The new robust SEM procedures were found to be advantageous over PLS. Product quality was found to be the only driver of customer satisfaction, while image and satisfaction were the only predictors of loyalty, thus arguing for the specificity of postal services.
The Determinants of Option-Adjusted Delta Credit Spreads: A Comparative Analysis of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Euro Area

We analyse the determinants of the variation of option-adjusted credit spreads (OASs) on a unique database that enlarges the traditional scope of analysis to more disaggregated indexes (combining industry, grade and maturity levels), new variables (volumes of sales and purchases of institutional investors) and a complete set of markets (besides the United States, the United Kingdom and the euro area). With our extended set of regressors we explain almost half of the variability of OASs and find evidence of a significant impact of institutional investors’ purchases and sales on corporate bond risk. We also find that US business cycle indicators significantly affect the variability of OASs in the United Kingdom and the euro area.
Association of Metabolic Syndrome With Development of New-Onset Diabetes After Transplantation

Background. New-onset diabetes after transplantation (NODAT) is a major posttransplant complication associated with lower allograft and recipient survival. Our objective was to determine whether metabolic syndrome pretransplant is independently associated with NODAT development. Methods. We recruited 640 consecutive incident nondiabetic renal transplant recipients from three academic centers between 1999 and 2004. NODAT was defined as the use of hypoglycemic medication, a random plasma glucose level more than 200 mg/dL, or two fasting glucose levels more than or equal to 126 mg/dL beyond 30 days posttransplant. Results. Metabolic syndrome was common pretransplant (57.2%). NODAT developed in 31.4% of recipients 1 year posttransplant. Participants with metabolic syndrome were more likely to develop NODAT compared with recipients without metabolic syndrome (34.4% vs. 27.4%, P=0.057). Recipients with increasing number of positive metabolic syndrome components were more likely to develop NODAT (metabolic syndrome score prevalence at 1 year: 0 components-0.0%, 1-24.2%, 2-29.3%, 3-31.0%, 4-34.8%, and 5-73.7%, P=0.001). After adjustment for demographics, age by decade (hazard ratio [HR] 1.34 [1.20-1.50], P<0.0001), African American race (HR 1.35 [1.01-1.82], P=0.043), cumulative prednisone dosage (HR 1.18 [1.07-1.30], P=0.001), and metabolic syndrome (HR 1.34 [1.00-1.79], P=0.047) were independent predictors of development of NODAT at 1 year posttransplant. In a multivariable analysis incorporating the individual metabolic syndrome components themselves as covariates, the only pretransplant metabolic syndrome component to remain an independent predictor of NODAT was low high-density lipoprotein (hazard ratio [HR] 1.37 [1.01-1.85], P=0.042). Conclusions. Metabolic syndrome is an independent predictor for NODAT and is a possible target for intervention to prevent NODAT. Future studies to evaluate whether modification of metabolic syndrome factors pretransplant reduces NODAT development are needed.
D Spillovers and the Role of Economic Freedom

This paper examines the role of economic freedom plays in moderating research and development (r&d) spillovers from developed to developing countries. Two channels are analyzed namely import and international student flows. The empirical results based on generalized method-of-moment system estimation on a panel of 75 developing countries show that spillover effects through import and international student flow are significant, but the latter channel appear to be more important in term of magnitude. This finding is consistent with view that technology diffusion via human capital mobility should not be underestimated. More importantly, the finding reveals that countries with higher level of economic freedom benefit more from R&D spillovers. This provides further support to the idea that successful knowledge acquisition requires absorptive capacity.
Competition and voluntary disclosure: evidence from deregulation in the banking industry

We use the relaxation of interstate branching restrictions under the Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act (IBBEA) to examine how increases in competition affect incumbents’ voluntary disclosure choices. States implemented the IBBEA over several years and to varying degrees, allowing us to identify the effect of increased competition on the voluntary disclosure decisions of both public and private banks. We find that increases in competition are associated with an increase in press releases. Overall, press releases become more negative in tone as entry barriers decrease. However, disclosures by public banks and by banks issuing equity become incrementally positive in tone when entry barriers decrease. Thus, the increase in disclosure is consistent with a dominant incentive to deter entry via negative information, which is mitigated by an incentive to communicate positive information to investors.
Are Metabolically Normal but Obese Individuals at Lower Risk for All-Cause Mortality?

OBJECTIVE The clinical relevance of the metabolically normal but obese phenotype for mortality risk is unclear. This study examines the risk for all-cause mortality in metabolically normal and abnormal obese (MNOB and MAOB, respectively) individuals. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The sample included 6,011 men and women from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) with public-access mortality data linkage (follow-up = 8.7 ± 0.2 years; 292 deaths). Metabolically abnormal was defined as insulin resistance (IR) or two or more metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) criteria (excluding waist). RESULTS A total of 30% of obese subjects had IR, and 38.4% had two or more MetSyn factors, whereas only 6.0% (or 1.6% of the whole population) were free from both IR and all MetSyn factors. By MetSyn factors or IR alone, MNOB subjects (hazard ratio [HR]MetSyn 2.80 [1.18–6.65]; HRIR 2.58 [1.00–6.65]) and MAOB subjects (HRMetSyn 2.74 [1.46–5.15]; HRIR 3.09 [1.55–6.15]) had similar elevations in mortality risk compared with metabolically normal, normal weight subjects. CONCLUSIONS Although a rare phenotype, obesity, even in the absence of overt metabolic aberrations, is associated with increased all-cause mortality risk.
Preoperative Risk Factors for Residual Tricuspid Regurgitation after Isolated Left-Sided Valve Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objectives: Residual tricuspid regurgitation (TR) that has developed after isolated left-sided valve surgery is not uncommon. Indications for concomitant tricuspid repair at the initial operation have not been well established. The selection of high-risk preoperative patients is of great importance in this situation. Methods: Six databases were searched to access eligible articles reporting potential risk factors for the development of residual TR. The pooled analysis of risk factors was based on odds ratios or mean differences with their 95% confidence intervals. Results: A total of 3,138 patients with 487 residual TR in 11 studies were analyzed. Of the 14 candidate parameters in our meta-analysis, 10 factors, i.e. older age, female gender, atrial fibrillation, rheumatic etiology, mitral valve surgery, previous valve surgery, a long time from onset to surgery, 2+/3+ TR and enlarged left and right atria, were found to be significantly associated with the development of residual TR. Conclusions: Our study highlights the role of the above preoperative risk factors in the development of residual TR after isolated left-sided valve surgery and emphasizes the need of further studies to investigate other potential predictors. Moreover, predictive models or scoring systems for the identification of patients at a high risk for developing late TR are urgently needed.
The Sheffield Wargame Corpus - Day Two and Day Three

Improving the performance of distant speech recognition is of considerable current interest, driven by a desire to bring speech recognition into people’s homes. Standard approaches to this task aim to enhance the signal prior to recognition, typically using beamforming techniques on multiple channels. Only few real-world recordings are available that allow experimentation with such techniques. This has become even more pertinent with recent works with deep neural networks aiming to learn beamforming from data. Such approaches require large multi-channel training sets, ideally with location annotation for moving speakers, which is scarce in existing corpora. This paper presents a freely available and new extended corpus of English speech recordings in a natural setting, with moving speakers. The data is recorded with diverse microphone arrays, and uniquely, with ground truth location tracking. It extends the 8.0 hour Sheffield Wargames Corpus released in Interspeech 2013, with a further 16.6 hours of fully annotated data, including 6.1 hours of female speech to improve gender bias. Additional blog-based language model data is provided alongside, as well as a Kaldi baseline system. Results are reported with a standard Kaldi configuration, and a baseline meeting recognition system.
Widening social inequalities in risk for sudden infant death syndrome.

OBJECTIVES In 1994, the US Public Health Service launched the "Back to Sleep" campaign, promoting the supine sleep position to prevent sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Studies of SIDS in the United States have generally found socioeconomic and race disparities. Our objective was to see whether the "Back to Sleep" campaign, which involves an effective, easy, and free intervention, has reduced social class inequalities in SIDS. METHODS We conducted a population-based case-cohort study during 2 periods, 1989 to 1991 and 1996 to 1998, using the US Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Sets. Case group was infants who died of SIDS in infancy (N = 21 126); control group was a 10% random sample of infants who lived through the first year and all infants who died of other causes (N=2241218). Social class was measured by mother's education level. RESULTS There was no evidence that inequalities in SIDS were reduced after the Back to Sleep campaign. In fact, odds ratios for SIDS associated with lower social class increased between 1989-1991 and 1996-1998. The race disparity in SIDS increased after the Back to Sleep campaign. CONCLUSIONS The introduction of an inexpensive, easy, public health intervention has not reduced social inequalities in SIDS; in fact, the gap has widened. Although the risk of SIDS has been reduced for all social class groups, women who are more educated have experienced the greatest decline.
J1‐31 protein expression in astrocytes and astrocytomas

J1‐31 is one of the astrocytic proteins, the expression of which has not been evaluated in astrocytomas. In the present study, we studied the expression of J1‐31 protein in astrocytes and astrocytomas in comparison with GFAP, p53 and Ki‐67. Materials consisted of formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded tissue specimens that included five cases of normal brain, 17 of gliosis, 15 of pilocytic astrocytoma (WHO grade I), 26 of low‐grade diffuse astrocytoma (WHO grade II), four of anaplastic astrocytoma (WHO grade III), and eight of glioblastoma (WHO grade IV). GFAP was highly expressed in all specimens examined. The anti‐J1‐31 antibody exhibited strong cytoplasmic staining of reactive gliosis in 17/17 (100%) cases with a higher intensity of staining than that observed in the adjacent normal astrocytes. The antibody showed reactivity with tumor cells in 12/15 (80%) cases of pilocytic astrocytoma, although intensity of staining was generally weaker and more focal than observed in reactive gliosis. J1‐31‐positive tumor cells were detected in only 9/26 (35%) cases of the low‐grade diffuse astrocytoma and none of the cases of anaplastic astrocytoma and glioblastoma. Increasing Ki‐67 indices paralleled advancing tumor grades. p53 protein was expressed more commonly in infiltrating astrocytomas compared to pilocytic astrocytoma. In conclusion, down‐regulation of J1‐31 expression correlates with advancing grade of astrocytomas. The result suggests this protein plays some role in astrocytes that is progressively lost in malignant progression. The anti‐J1‐31 antibody may help further our understanding of astrocytes in disease and may be useful as an aid in the pathologic diagnosis of astrocytic lesions.