Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The social role of financial companies as a determinant of consumer behaviour

Purpose – The present study aims to analyze the influence of ethical and philanthropic responsibility of a financial entity on consumer behaviour. Specifically, it aims to analyze relationships among these dimensions and diverse constructs, such as the relationship satisfaction, trust, identification with the firm, business performance, relational outcomes and loyalty.Design/methodology/approach – The benefits of corporate social responsibility as a marketing tool are analyzed in a real context, directly asking the user for his/her perceptions about the financial entities. A personal survey for users was carried out, obtaining 789 valid responses. In order to comply with the aims of this research a model of structural equations was developed.Findings – It is seen that the relationship satisfaction, trust and identification with the entity are the main determinants of loyalty, while the ethical and social dimensions have an indirect effect. The ethical behaviour influences the perceived commercial performa.
The Analysis of Network Governance in The Investment Development of Free Trade Zone and Free Port (KPBPB) Batam

Large amount of investment is one of income sources for a country. Recently, the investment in Indonesia has not been managed optimally due to, one among others, poor organization system of investment management. This study is aimed at analyzing the network governance within organization system in investment development at Free Trade Zone and Free Port Batam. The research methodology used was Coordination Network Analysis with 5 aspects of study; those are governance structure, service characteristics, operational interaction of partner characteristics, and network characteristic on 3 organizations at the level of province and regency/city. The result of the analysis indicates that coordination between provincial and regency/city organizations is not yet optimally conducted. Horizontal and vertical coordination are not yet optimally established.
Twin pregnancy after kidney transplantation: what’s on? A case report and review of literature

Abstract Objective: To describe the maternal and neonatal outcome of a twin pregnancy in a renal transplant recipient patient and reviewe the current literature on this theme. Methods: A case of 27 years old woman with a twin pregnancy arisen spontaneously in a renal transplant recipient from living donor characterized by an episode of slight anemia, mild hypertension, and a subsequent optimal maternal/neonatal outcome. During admission, the patient was treated with iron therapy, nifedipine, and methyldopa due to anemia and hypertension episodes. Strict monitoring of patient’s blood and urinary parameters, ultrasound fetues evaluation, and fetal lung maturity induction was performed. Results: Both anemia and hypertension were controlled through pharmacological intervention. During the second admission, the serum creatinine was 185 μmol/L and urine examination showed a proteinuria of 0.3 g/L. Ultrasound evaluation showed fetal wellness for both twin. Patient underwent caesarean section and gave birth to two healthy babies. Conclusions: It is necessary to define more strict criteria for the management of women with twin pregnancy and a history of renal transplantation to ensure the better maternal and neonatal outcome.
Group A streptococcal infections.

Group A Streptococus (GAS) is a common and versatile pathogen, encountered worldwide. It causes a variety of infections, particularly in children. These include pharyngitis and impetigo, noted fortheir non-suppurative sequelae which are mediated by immunological reactions. Rheumatic feverlrheumatic heart disease (RFIRHD) is a sequelae of GAS pharyngitis, whereas acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis (APSGN) is a sequela of both pharyngitis and impetigo. These associations confer a very important and unique position to GAS among human bacterial pathogens. Other manifestations of GAS disease include pneumonia, peri-tonsillar and retropharyngeal abscesses, otitis, sinusitis, erysipelas, cellulitis, necrotizing fasciitis, gangrene, myositis, puerperal sepsis, vaginitis, perianal cellulitis, scarlet fever and toxic shock syndrome (TSS). Epidemics of scarlet fever associated with a high mortality rate were a major possible health problem in the Western Hemisphere early in this century. Outbreaks of RF/RHD were also regularly encountered in the past. However, APSGN was and still is generally encountered in warmer climates, as a sequela of skin infection.
Global markets: does psychic distance matter?

This paper examines the impact of psychic distance on the international marketing strategy of the firm, particularly the degree of adaptation of the marketing programme. The relationship between psychic distance and marketing strategy has received relatively little focused research attention despite the importance these two constructs separately enjoy in the literature. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling are used to substantiate the relationship between psychic distance and international marketing strategy. The research findings, which are based on a survey of more than 300 managers and owners responsible for the foreign markets of their firms, suggests that psychic distance explains a significant proportion of the variance of the degree of marketing programme adaptation. The paper concludes with the implications of these findings with respect to the explanatory power of the psychic distance concept in the context of the international marketing strategy.
MODELLING THE IMPACT OF SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION ON GROCERY STORE PATRONAGE

Previous research has shown that for competing stores both store patronage and store loyalty are well predicted by the very general NBD-Dirichlet model. This finding not only highlights the regularity and predictability of many aspects of store patronage, but also provides a benchmark for further analyses. In this paper we use the NBD-Dirichlet model as a benchmark to assess the impact of socio-demographic segmentation on grocery store patronage and loyalty. We focus on primary grocery shopping visits in one US city. The data are from IRI scanner-panel household shopping records for a two year period. For each segment within four socio-demographic categories, we compare the observed patterns of patronage and loyalty with the model fitted to each segment. We use relative mean absolute deviations (RMADs) to assess the degree of observed segmentation between competing stores. We find that market share is the dominant factor in the explanation of differences in patronage and loyalty between stores, and that while socio-demographic factors are often important their impact is secondary.
WHAT'S IN A NAME? AN INQUIRY ON THE COGNITIVE AND ENTREPRENEURIAL PROFILE OF THE SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR

Given the rise of social enterprises, the aim of this study is to get more insight into what typifies social entrepreneurs. Although entrepreneurship research has a long tradition in the study of the individual entrepreneur, there are not many studies on the profile of the social entrepreneur. Our research wants to extend the existing knowledge about who the entrepreneur is by comparing the cognitive and entrepreneurial profile of different types of entrepreneurs. Our inquiry addresses two main questions: (1) Does the cognitive style of social entrepreneurs differ significantly from the profile of commercial entrepreneurs? (2) Is there a significant difference between the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) of commercial and social firms? The data for this research are collected in two phases using two online surveys. For the cognitive styles (as measured with the Cognitive Style Indicator), we find no significant differences between commercial entrepreneurs (n = 152) and social entrepreneurs (n = 41). Looking at the entrepreneurial orientation of commercial and social enterprises, we find that commercial enterprises score significantly higher on EO than social enterprises. Interestingly, significant differences are found for the innovativeness and risk-taking dimensions of EO, but not for the proactiveness dimension. To conclude, we found that the cognitive-based approach is inadequate to capture the behavioral characteristics of social entrepreneurs within their organization. However, in the environment in which they operate, social entrepreneurs seem to behave differently than commercial entrepreneurs. Implications for further research and for practitioners and policy makers are discussed.
Deacetylclivorine: A Gender-Selective Metabolite of Clivorine Formed in Female Sprague-Dawley Rat Liver Microsomes

Clivorine, a naturally occurring pyrrolizidine alkaloid, causes liver toxicity via its metabolic activation to generate toxic metabolite (pyrrolic ester). Female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats are reported to be less susceptible to clivorine intoxication than male SD rats. However, the biochemical mechanism causing such gender difference is largely unknown. The present study investigated hepatic microsomal metabolism of clivorine in female rats to delineate the mechanism of the gender difference. Two pathways, which directly metabolize clivorine, were observed. First, the metabolic activation to produce the toxic pyrrolic ester followed by formations of bound pyrroles, dehydroretronecine, 7-glutathionyldehydroretronecine, and clivoric acid were found in female rats, and CYP3A1/2 isozymes were identified to catalyze the metabolic activation. Compared with male rats (∼21%), the metabolic activation in female rats was significantly lower (∼4%) possibly because of significantly lower CYP3A1/2 levels expressed in female rats. Second, a direct hydrolysis to generate the novel female rat-specific metabolite deacetylclivorine was shown as the predominant pathway (∼16% clivorine metabolism) in female rat liver microsomes and was determined to be mediated by microsomal hydrolase A. Furthermore, when the metabolic activation was completely inhibited by ketoconazole, the amount of deacetylclivorine formed in a 1-h incubation significantly increased from 19.44 ± 3.00 to 54.87 ± 9.30 nmol/mg protein, suggesting that the two pathways compete with each other. Therefore, the lower susceptibility of female SD rats to clivorine intoxication is suggested to be caused by the significantly higher extent of the direct hydrolysis and a lower degree of the metabolic activation.
Psychologic and behavioral effects of antiepileptic drugs in children: a double-blind comparison between phenobarbital and valproic acid.

Traditional clinical monitoring of children with epilepsy does not appear to be sufficiently sensitive to cognitive functioning and behavioral problems. Although subtle, these changes may alter a child's ability to perform well in school and in society. Physicians must prevent seizures without producing intolerable side effects, and ways of more appropriately assessing these side effects must be developed. In this double-blind, counter-balanced, crossover study of 21 children, the effects of phenobarbital and valproic acid on cognitive functioning and behavior were measured. There was no difference in seizure control between the drugs, and each medication was maintained in the therapeutic range for 6 months (mean phenobarbital level, 21.2 micrograms/mL; mean valproic acid level, 94.1 micrograms/mL). Children were treated with each drug for 6 months. Differences between the drugs were seen on measurements of cognitive function and behavior. On four tests of neuropsychologic function, children performed significantly less well while receiving phenobarbital (P less than .01). There was no evidence that the patients were sedated or less able to perform continuous performance tasks while receiving phenobarbital. Parental assessment of behavior indicated significantly worse behavior with the phenobarbital regimen for three items (P less than .01) and children were measurably more "hyperactive" (P less than .05). Routine clinical assessment of the patients did not reveal differences between the drugs with respect to routine laboratory measurements or side effects as assessed by history or physical examination. Although children may appear to tolerate a medication without clinically apparent problems, subtle but significant changes in intellectual function and behavior may be occurring. Additional, more sensitive, methods of monitoring patients while receiving these drugs is necessary.
Identifying Wine Innovators: A Test of the Domain Specific Innovativeness Scale Using Known Groups

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the Domain Specific Innovativeness scale (DSI) for “known‐groups validity. ” Data came from two groups of student volunteers: 48 students registered for a specialty class in wine in the Hospitality Administration department of a US public university and 28 students from two marketing classes at the same institution, In addition to the DSI, the questionnaire contained multi‐item scales to measure wine involvement, opinion leadership for wine, subjective and real knowledge of wine, and wine‐related behaviour. The analysis verified that the DSI was highly correlated with the other wine measures, the two groups were quite different on all the measured wine variables, and that the DSI played a significant role in discriminating between the members of the two groups. These findings strongly support the validity of the DSI and promote its use in studies of wine innovators.
Environmental reporting in Greece: The Athens stock exchange

There is a growing interest in Greece about subjects such as sustainable development, corporate social responsibility and corporate environmental performance. They are an after-effect of the international calls about the responsibility of corporations towards natural environment. Therefore, Greek corporations have started implementing practices for better environmental performance and reporting them to the public. The present research aimed to investigate Greek corporations’ disclosures about their behavior towards the protection of natural environment. The research year was 2007. It examined the listed corporations in Greek stock market and tested whether there were differences among company groups in terms of environmental reporting. It also tested whether the notion that the environmentally sensitive sectors usually disclose more environment related data compared to other sectors is confirmed in the Greek context. Then the research sought on which environment related aspect tend the Greek companies to report on and finally it clustered them in similar groups of reporting extent. Among other things, the results showed that few corporations in Greece reported in 2007 on environmental issues. Key words: Greece, Athens stock exchange, Greek corporations, protection of natural environment, environmental reporting, environmental expenditure.
Links Between Type I Interferons and the Genetic Basis of Disease in Mouse Lupus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), like other autoimmune diseases, is a complex genetic trait with contributions from both major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes and multiple non-MHC genes. Most of the contributing genes have yet to be identified. Studies of mouse models of lupus have provided important insight into the immunopathogenesis of lupus-like IgG autoantibody production and lupus nephritis, and genetic analyses of these mice are helping to unravel the complex and heterogeneous genetic basis of disease. Recent studies in both human SLE and mouse models of lupus have emphasized a potential role of type I interferons (IFN-α/β) in the initiation and perpetuation of disease. There is now increasing interest in genes that affect IFN-α/β expression–activity and IFN-regulated target genes that may be involved in the disease process. One example is interferon-inducible gene 202 (Ifi202), which has been identified as a major candidate susceptibility gene in the New Zealand hybrid model of lupus. Studies suggest that increased expression of this transcription factor leads to lupus through inhibition of lymphocyte apoptosis, although its effects on immune function are extremely complex and have yet to be fully defined. This review will focus on the genetic basis of disease in mouse lupus with a special emphasis on those genetic contributions that may affect IFN-α/β activity and those that may be target genes of IFN-α/β action.
Crafting a competitive advantage: tempering entrepreneurial action with positioning‐based values

The essence of entrepreneurship is “effectual action”. Researchers at the entrepreneurial/marketing interface suggest that small firms adapt marketing theory to their needs, undertaking a range of emergent actions in response to day‐to‐day events and problems, without recourse to formal planning or research. By way of contrast, brands require guided action, in order to build a sustainable position in the marketplace, while research also reveals that small specialist firms increase their chance of failure if they undertake a range of unguided actions that lead to niche drift. Based upon an in‐depth case study, identifies that SMEs do benefit from constant actions, but only if guided by a strong set of positioning values, which are diffused into an organisational culture, primarily via the actions of the leader.
The Management of Customer-Contact Service Employees: An Empirical Investigation

The authors develop and test a model of service employee management that examines constructs simultaneously across three interfaces of the service delivery process: manager-employee, employee-role, and employee-customer. The authors examine the attitudinal and behavioral responses of customer-contact employees that can influence customers’ perceptions of service quality, the relationships among these responses, and three formal managerial control mechanisms (empowerment, behavior-based employee evaluation, and management commitment to service quality). The findings indicate that managers who are committed to service quality are more likely to empower their employees and use behavior-based evaluation. However, the use of empowerment has both positive and negative consequences in the management of contact employees. Some of the negative consequences are mitigated by the positive effects of behavior-based employee evaluation. To increase customers’ perceptions of service quality, managers must increase employees’ self-efficacy and job satisfaction, and reduce employees’ role conflict and ambiguity. Implications for the management of customer-contact service employees and directions for further research are discussed.
Hotel Advertisements in China: A Content Analysis

ABSTRACT The competition of China's hotel industry had become much more intensive since China adopted the open door policy in 1979. This paper reports a content analysis of 232 hotel print advertisements of China. Most of the advertisements use the third party endorsement headline. Two most common information cues are availability and components. Chinese hotel advertisement often use exteriors of the hotel as illustration. The research results suggest that Chinese hoteliers should also consider make good use of other types of headline, for example statistics or promise. As hotel operations highly involve person-to-person contact, illustration with people may also be used to attract customers' attention.
Consumer values and the importance of store attributes

Retailing business is greatly affected by the patronage behavioral orientations of shoppers. Understanding these orientations can assist retailers in developing appropriate marketing strategies toward meeting the needs and wants of consumers. One important factor explaining consumer behavioral orientations is their values. Another important factor affecting consumer behavioral orientations is the store image, an image shaped by store attributes. This study examines the linkage between consumer values and the importance of some salient store attributes. Marketing management implications are also discussed.
Cardiac structure and function in monozygotic twin pairs discordant for physical fitness.

Cross-sectional studies in athletes and untrained subjects suggest that exercise training induces adaptations in cardiac structure and function. However, the role of genetic variation on the results has largely been ignored in these studies. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of long-term volitionally increased physical activity on electrocardiographic and echocardiographic parameters in male monozygotic twin pairs discordant for physical activity and fitness. On the basis of the mailed questionnaires, a telephone interview, and the inclusion criteria, 12 pairs of young adult male monozygotic twins were recruited from a Finnish twin cohort. All subjects completed a maximal oxygen uptake (.VO2 (max)) test and electrocardiography and echocardiography studies. Nine pairs had at least 9% difference in . VO2(max) and were selected for further analysis and for a second echocardiography study. Twins were divided into the more (MAG) and less active group (LAG), according to their VO2(max). On average, MAG had 18% higher VO2(max) compared with LAG. In electrocardiography, MAG had 29% (P = 0.02) higher Cornell voltage and 37% (P = 0.01) higher right-side hypertrophy index. In echocardiography, no significant differences were observed between the groups, and left ventricular mass index was only 7% (P = 0.16) higher in MAG. These results show that the volitionally increased physical activity that has led to an 18% increase in cardiorespiratory fitness induces greater changes in electro- than echocardiographic parameters. Electrocardiographic changes were suggestive of left ventricular hypertrophy, and echocardiography showed a similar but statistically nonsignificant trend.
Optimization of a rapid nonisotopic DNA probe assay for Plasmodium falciparum in the Gambia

An enzyme-linked synthetic DNA probe which hybridizes to repetitive DNA of Plasmodium falciparum was used in conjunction with a microtiter-based lysis and filtration blood processing procedure. An assay protocol was developed that is more sensitive and robust than previous protocols, which use stored blood and phenol extraction. In comparison with thick smear examination, 33% positive, 60% negative, and 7% conflicting scores were recorded from 390 analyzed clinical samples, and the sensitivity threshold was about 30 parasites per mm3 of blood.