Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Leadership, Employee Engagement and Employee Performance in the Public Sector of Ghana

Organisations are developing interest in the effective management of their employees’ performance in today’s competitive environment. Effective leadership has become increasingly necessary for organisations who are interested in improving employee performance. Extant literature confirms the role leaders play in the management of employee performance as well as ensuring high levels of employee engagement. This paper seeks to identify the relationship between leadership style, employee engagement and performance in public sector organisations. Adopting a mixed method approach, the study employed convenience sampling and data was obtained from questionnaire and interviews. Using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and content analysis the results showed that motivation and quality play an important mediating effect on the effect of leadership on employee performance. It was also found that fairness, flexibility, involvement in decision making and creating an environment where an employee feels valued and respected made employees engaged. Results also showed that engaged employees perform to their maximum best.
Factors Influencing Auditor Independence among Listed Companies in Nigeria: Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) Approach

The study examines the factors influencing auditor independence among listed companies in Nigeria. A sample of 65 firms out of the 194 listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) were purposively selected for analysis, these comprise 14 money deposit banks (financial), 1 mortgage bank and 50 non-financial firms. Secondary data were employed for the study and were sourced from the audited financial reports of sampled companies and fact book of the Nigerian Stock Exchange between the periods of 2006 and 2013. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Generalised Method of Moments (GMM). Preliminary tests were carried out such as Sargan test, Arellano-Bond Serial Correlation Test among others. The study revealed that Big4, audit tenure, profitability, leverage and inventory with account receivable had negative significant impact, which can impair auditor independence, while size of the firms and loss had positive influence on auditor independence in Nigeria. Also, the square root of the number of subsidiaries was positively related to auditor independence, but not significant and the total number of subsidiaries had positive influence on auditor independence but not significant. These results implied that the two variables can increase the complexity of the audit and, consequently, a rise in audit fees expect in their presence. This will in turn reduce auditor independence. The study therefore recommended that joint audit be adopted and audited tenure be reviewed. The findings of the study would enable management, regulators, investors and other stock market participants to play their unique and important roles in enhancing auditor independence in Nigeria.
Diversity of Board of Directors and Environmental Social Governance: Evidence from Italian Listed Companies

This study investigates the association between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure and diversity of the board of directors (BoD) in Italian listed companies. Diversity of BoD in terms of gender diversity, CSR committees, board average, and independent directors are examined as to their influence on voluntary ESG disclosure. This rating is highly relevant to managers and investors considering ESG issues in their decision-making process. The factors that drive or hinder ESG disclosure are gaining importance. Despite the relevance of the topic, in Italy there is a scarce amount of literature regarding diversity in the BoD. The data set includes ESG data for more than 54 Italian companies for the period 2011–2014. The results indicate that firm's CSR disclosure is associated with independent director and committee CSR. In addition, women on BoDs is negatively correlated while the age of the board is not significant. Based on this study, shareholders and policymakers will have a deeper knowledge on the significant roles that board diversity is playing as a determinant of ESG disclosure. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment
Location-Based Spiral Clustering Algorithm for Avoiding Inter-Cluster Collisions in WSNs

Wireless sensor networks (WSN) consist of a large amount of sensor nodes distributed in a certain region. Due to the limited battery power of a sensor node, lots of energy-efficient schemes have been studied. Clustering is primarily used for energy efficiency purpose. However, clustering in WSNs faces several unattained issues, such as ensuring connectivity and scheduling inter-cluster transmissions. In this paper, we propose a location-based spiral clustering (LBSC) algorithm for improving connectivity and avoiding inter-cluster collisions. It also provides reliable location aware routing paths from all cluster heads to a sink node during cluster formation. Proposed algorithm can simultaneously make clusters in four spiral directions from the center of sensor field by using the location information and residual energy level of neighbor sensor nodes. Three logical addresses are used for categorizing the clusters into four global groups and scheduling the intra- and inter-cluster transmission time for each cluster. We evaluated the performance with simulations and compared it with other algorithms.
Comparison and meta‐analysis of randomized trials of endarterectomy for symptomatic carotid artery stenosis

Objective Comparison and meta-analysis of randomized trials of carotid endarterectomy for symptomatic stenosis of the extracranial carotid artery. Background Randomized trials (North American Symptomatic Carotid Endarterectomy Trial [NASCET], the European Carotid Surgery Trial [ECST], and the VA Cooperative Study WACS]) each show that carotid endarterectomy improves outcomes in selected symptomatic patients with high-grade extracranial carotid artery stenosis. Direct comparisons among the studies have not been possible because of differing methodologies, endpoints, and formats of data reporting. Designlmethods Data for specified endpoints and corresponding person-years at risk were obtained for each trial. The rates of nonfatal stroke, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or death for surgically or medically treated patients in the perioperative period (30 days) and thereafter were compared (both including and excluding perioperative events) and then combined using meta-analytic techniques. Data from NASCET and ECST were also analyzed for differences in outcomes by sex. Results Event rate estimates (with 95% confidence intervals [95% CI]) for the first 30 days (events per person-year, primarily nonfatal stroke) for medically treated patients were 0.44 (0.22 to 0.76) for NASCET, 0.15 (0.04 to 0.38) for ECST, and 0.27 (0.03 to 0.96) for VACS. For surgically treated patients, the corresponding rates (per person-year) were 0.78 (0.49 to 1.19), 0.63 (0.41 to 0.941, and 1.27 (0.58 to 2.43). Event rates per year after 30 days were higher for medically treated patients (0.20 [0.16 to 0.25] versus 0.08 [0.05 to 0.11] for NASCET; 0.12 [0.10 to 0.15] versus 0.07 [0.06 to 0.09] for ECST; and 0.15 [0.07 to 0.25] versus 0.07 [0.03 to 0.16] for VACS). There were no significant differences among the trials, with an overall benefit for surgical therapy (risk ratio estimate, RR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.54 to 0.83). There were no significant sex-based differences between NASCET and ECST and the overall benefit was not significantly different for men and women (RR = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.45 to 0.74 for men; RR = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.57 to 1.25 for women). Conclusions Adjusting for primary endpoints and duration of follow-up, carotid endarterectomy has a similar benefit for symptomatic patients across trials and a similar benefit for men and women.
A Proline-Rich Motif Downstream of the Receptor Binding Domain Modulates Conformation and Fusogenicity of Murine Retroviral Envelopes

ABSTRACT The entry of retroviruses into cells depends on receptor recognition by the viral envelope surface subunit SU followed by membrane fusion, which is thought to be mediated by a fusion peptide located at the amino terminus of the envelope transmembrane subunit TM. Several fusion determinants have been previously identified in murine leukemia virus (MLV) envelopes, but their functional interrelationships as well as the processes involved in fusion activation upon retroviral receptor recognition remain unelucidated. Despite both structural and functional similarities of their envelope glycoproteins, ecotropic and amphotropic MLVs display two different postbinding properties: (i) while amphotropic MLVs fuse the cells at neutral pH, penetration of ecotropic MLVs is relatively acid pH dependent and (ii) ecotropic envelopes are more efficient than amphotropic envelopes in inducing cell-to-cell fusion and syncytium formation. By exploiting the latter characteristic in the analysis of chimeras of ecotropic and amphotropic MLV envelopes, we show here that substitution of the ecotropic MLV proline-rich region (PRR), located in the SU between the amino-terminal receptor binding domain and the TM-interacting SU carboxy-terminal domains, is sufficient to revert the amphotropic low-fusogenic phenotype into a high-fusogenic one. Furthermore, we have identified potential β-turns in the PRR that control the stability of SU-TM associations as well as the thresholds required to trigger either cell-to-cell or virus-to-cell fusion. These data, demonstrating that the PRR functions as a signal which induces envelope conformational changes leading to fusion, have enabled us to derive envelopes which can infect cells harboring low levels of available amphotropic receptors.
Kainate induces rapid redistribution of the actin cytoskeleton in ameboid microglia

Microglia are key mediators of the immune response in the central nervous system (CNS). They are closely related to macrophages and undergo dramatic morphological and functional changes after CNS trauma or excitotoxic lesions. Microglia can be directly stimulated by excitatory neurotransmitters and are known to express many neurotransmitter receptors. The role of these receptors, however, is not clear. This study describes the microglial response to the glutamate receptor agonist kainate (KA) and shows via immunochemistry that the α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐4‐isoxazole propionate (AMPA)‐type glutamate receptor subunit GluR1 is present on cultured microglia. In the presence of 100 μM or 1 mM KA, cultured microglia underwent dramatic morphological and cytoskeletal changes as observed by time‐lapse photography and quantitative confocal analysis of phalloidin labeling. KA‐stimulated microglia showed condensation of cytoplasmic actin filaments, rapid de‐ and repolymerization, and cytoplasmic redistribution of condensed actin bundles. Rearrangement of actin filaments—thought to be involved in locomotion and phagocytosis and to indicate an increased level of activation (for reviews see Greenberg [ 1995 ] Trends Cell Biol. 5:93–99; Imai and Kohsaka [ 2002 ] Glia 40:164–174)—was significantly increased in treated vs. control cultures. Morphological plasticity and membrane ruffling were also seen. These findings suggest direct microglial excitation via glutamate receptor pathways. Thus, neurotransmitter release after brain or spinal cord injury might directly modulate the inflammatory response. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Predicting Completion Time for Production Line in a Supply Chain System through Artificial Neural Networks

Completion time in manufacturing sector is the time needed to produce a product through production processes in sequence and it reflects the delivery performance of such company in supply chain system to meet customer demands on time. However, actual completion time always deviated from the standard completion time due to unavoidable factors and consequently affect delivery due date and ultimately lead to customer dissatisfaction. Therefore, this paper predicts completion time based on historical data of production line activities and discovers the most influential factor that contributes to the tardiness or a late job’s due date from its completion time. A well-known company in producing audio speaker is selected as a case company. Based on the review of previous works, it is found that Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) has superior capability in prediction of future occurrence by capturing the underlying relationship among variables through historical data. Besides, ANN is also capable to provide final weight for each of related variable. Variable with the highest value of final weight indicates the most influential variable and should be concerned more to solve completion time issue which has persisted among entities in supply chain system. The obtained result is expected to become an advantageous guidance for every entity in supply chain system to fulfil completion time requirement as requested by customer in order to survive in this turbulent market place.
Customer Interaction Management Capabilities on the Micro-Retail Fashion in Indonesia

ABSTRACT This article aims to investigate and examine Customer Interaction Management Capabilities (CIMaC) as mediator in the relation of Market Intelligence Quality (MIQ) and Customer-Centric Commitment (CCC) with New Product Performance (NPP). A Structural Equation Model (SEM) is used to test the empirical research design, using the data retrieved from micro-retail owners in Central Java, Indonesia. A Confirmatory Factor Model is used to test the multi-dimensionality of a theoretical construct (construct validity test). The findings show that only MIQ influences NPP, while CCC does not. However, CIMaC genuinely mediate the relationship between MIQ and CCC with NPP. By investigating the literature of various market learning, CRM, NPD, and entrepreneurship, this study offers a unique analysis about the market intelligence quality, customer-centric commitment and its impacts on customer interaction management capability, and the new product performance. Conceptual discussion and empiric results explore the previous research about market orientation culture on micro businesses.
The distensibility of the resistance vessels in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) as compared with normotensive control rats (NCR).

Earlier studies on human essential hypertension, as well as on SHR, suggest that an increased media thickness, partly encroaching upon the vascular lumen, forms the main background of the increased flow resistance in primary hypertension (e.g. Folkow et al. 1970). In the present investigation a comparison was made concerning the distensibility of the resistance vessels in order to further explore the proposed difference in vascular design. The simultaneously perfused hindquarter vessels of SHR and NCR were exposed to sudden, repeated shifts of pressure and flow, first at maximal vasodilatation and then at stable levels of smooth muscle tone, induced by barium ions or noradrenaline. Relative changes of vascular internal radius (ri) were calculated from the pressure-flow values, assuming ri to be proportional to 4 flow conductance. For given changes in distending pressure (Pd), the SHR resistance vessels exhibited considerably smaller percentual ri changes than the NCR ones, whether starting from the same Pd, the same ri, or even when both Pd and ri were initially kept identical in NCR and SHR by exposing the SHR vessels to lower concentrations of constrictor agents. This evidence of reduced vascular distensibility in SHR was obvious both at maximal dilation and, particularly, when smooth muscle tone was increased. This strongly supports the view that especially the media component of the SHR resistance vessels is enhanced in bulk, thus markedly influencing both “active” and “passive” resistance changes.
Hybrid robust tracking control for a mobile manipulator via sliding-mode neural network

This paper develops a methodology for trajectory tracking control of a nonholonomic wheeled mobile manipulator with uncertainties and external load changes. The proposed control law consists of two levels: kinematics and dynamic levels. First, the auxiliary kinematic velocity control laws for the mobile platform and the onboard manipulator are separately proposed via backstepping. Then, a hybrid robust tracking control system is presented to ensure the velocity tracking ability in spite of the uncertainties. To achieve the goal, a neural network controller is developed to mimic an equivalent control law in the sliding-mode control, a robust controller is designed to incorporate the system dynamics into the sliding surface for guaranteeing the asymptotical stability, and the proportional controller is designed to improve the transient performance for randomly initializing neural network. All the adaptive learning algorithms for sliding-mode neural networks (SMNN) are derived from the Lyapunov stability theory so that the system tracking ability can be guaranteed in the close-loop system no matter the uncertainties occur or not. Simulation results illustrate the feasibility as well as efficacy of the proposed control strategy in comparison with the backstepping method.
Faktor-faktor Penyebab IPO Underpricing Di Indonesia

The problems frequently encountered by companies in the IPO activity was the occurrence of underpricing. Underpricing conditions will hurt companies that go public, because the funds raised is not the maximum. The author examines the factors that affect the level of underpricing of companies that go public with emphasis on the underwriter reputation, auditor reputation, company size, financial leverage, ROA and ROE. According to previous research, these variables generally tend to show a significant effect on underpricing in companies that go public. This research is expost facto by using a cross sectional dimension of time. Number of samples in this study were 110 companies with a purposive sampling techniques in companies that conduct an IPO in the Indonesia Stock Exchange 2006-2014 period. This study uses multiple regression model analysis. The results showed that the underwriter reputation and auditor reputation have significant negative effect on the IPO underpricing. Keywords : IPO, underpricing, underwriter reputation, auditor reputation, financial leverage, ROA, ROE
Work engagement in public hospitals: a social exchange approach

Abstract We develop and test a model that envisages work engagement in public services as determined by interactions with supervisor and co-workers. Specifically, we apply the framework of Social Exchange Theory to explore the impact of Leader–Member exchange (LMX) and Team–Member exchange (TMX) on Work Engagement in the provision of health care in public hospitals. Our investigation suggests that both LMX and TMX represent significant factors associated with work engagement among the hospital medical staff.
Electrical characterization of interface recombination and its dependence on band offset, potential barrier height, and inversion in certain heterojunction solar cells

The open-circuit voltage V<sub>OC</sub> of a heterojunction solar cell of the generic TCO/buffer/absorber/back-contact structure is sensitively influenced by the interface recombination at the buffer/absorber front interface R<sup>i,f</sup> and at the absorber/back-contact interface R<sup>i,b</sup>. We describe an experimental method to separate and quantify these interface recombination rates and the bulk recombination rates from the dependencies of V<sub>OC</sub> on temperature and illumination with varying wavelength. We show that R<sup>i,f</sup> is mainly determined by the potential barrier height φ<sub>b0</sub> at the buffer/absorber interface. We discuss strategies to increase φ<sub>b0</sub> by engineering band offset, band bending, and inversion.
Bank concentration, country income and fi nancial development in SADC

The varying levels of financial development in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), with South Africa at the upper end and most countries at the lower end, clearly reflect elements of concentration of financial development in the region. This study reflects on a number of empirical tests conducted around the issue of bank concentration within the SADC region. The Herfindahl-Hirschman Index reveals a high level of concentration of bank assets in SADC, which drastically reduces when South Africa is excluded. The result implies that bank assets in SADC are concentrated in South Africa, but fairly distributed across other countries. Panel Dynamic Fixed and Random Effects models have established that bank concentration constrains development of the financial sectors in all SADC countries, regardless of income level, although the effect is highly significant in low-income countries. The study also established mixed and opposing effects of South Africa’s financial development on bank concentration in SADC. The findings suggest that the expansion and diversification of the banking sectors can enhance financial development in SADC countries. Further, South Africa’s banking institutions that are expanding to other SADC countries are either part of the large and dominant few or do not have an impact on bank concentration in these countries. Keywords: financial concentration, financial market development, SADC, South Africa
Hurdles for the Voluntary Disclosure of Information on Intangibles - Empirical Results for "New Economy" Industries

Intangible resources are gaining increasing importance in western economies. Our paper is focusing on possibilities and limits of reporting on intangible resources seen from the company’s point of view. We examine 343 German listed corporations of the German C-DAX indices for industries where intangible resources play a significant role for the business models of the companies. The study analyses the relevance of intangible resources in relation to tangible and financial resources for the company’s strategy based on Porter’s concepts of the value chain and the competitive forces (relevance). The relevance of intangibles is compared with the intensity of the focus within the company’s internal control system. In the third step, the importance within the (external) reporting system is considered (disclosure). Finally the company’s perception of the sensitivity regarding information about intangible resources on the capital market is analysed. JEL-Classification: C12, G32, M41
Age-Related Changes in Dating Aggression in Spanish High School Students

Prevention programs for dating partner aggression should be based on knowledge about when such aggression starts and how it changes. Given the very few studies regarding such trends, changes in physical, psychological, and sexual aggression against dating partners were examined in 14- to 20-year-old Spanish high school students (N = 2,016). Overall, psychological aggression increased linearly, whereas physical aggression had a negative quadratic association, peaking at 16 to 17 years for males and females. Sexual aggression was infrequent, but it spiked at age 16 for males. Although physical aggression diminished in late adolescence, injuries as a consequence of such aggression increased linearly for females, and they were also significantly higher for females (14.9%) than for males (3%) at ages 18 to 20 years. The findings support the hypothesis that dating physical aggression for males and females peaks during middle-to-late adolescence and shows a similar developmental pattern to other antisocial and criminal behaviors. Prevention of dating aggression, escalation of such aggression, and prevention of injury should consider developmental trends in dating aggression.