Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Managing product variety decisions for sustainable profitability in B2B industries

The aim of this research is to increase the understanding of the decision process concerning the introduction of new product variants and its effects on sustained profitability. Although more variety improves the potential for generating increased revenues, there are potential adverse effects, resulting from increased complexity. This paper argues that product variant decisions need to consider not only internal, but also external drivers. The qualitative research is based on a series of semi-structured interviews with ten business units of leading German and Swiss companies in the manufacturing and engineering sector. The results indicate that drivers impacting variant decisions arise from three clusters: customer requirements, the major cluster driving variant proliferation; competitive situation, determined by competitors’ behaviour, market forces and opportunities; modularisation/standardisation, offering the potential to delivery variety while limiting cost impacts. One major conclusion is, while managers are aware of potential adverse variety effects they still expect positive overall benefits.
Adnexal Mass in the Postmenopausal Patient

The adnexal mass in a postmenopausal patient poses an important diagnostic and management dilemma for primary care providers and gynecologists. Postmenopausal women are at a significantly increased risk of gynecologic malignancy; yet even in this population the majority of adnexal masses are benign. Evaluation and management of these lesions centers on the identification of malignancy, especially ovarian cancer, while avoiding unnecessary intervention in patients with benign lesions. Tumor markers and imaging can help in the evaluation of adnexal mass in postmenopausal women. Transvaginal ultrasound has long been considered the imaging modality of choice for the evaluation of adnexal masses. Particularly in the setting of high frequency utilization of transvaginal probes, which project high quality images allowing for detailed descriptions of the macroscopic appearance of the mass, and remains the least expensive of all imaging modalities currently available. For adnexal masses that are highly suspicious for cancer, women should be referred a gynecologic oncologist and facility for optimal care.
Goals, management practices, and performance of family SMEs

Purpose – To examine differences between family and non‐family SMEs in business goals, management practices and performance as they grow.Design/methodology/approach – The study was based on 233 small non‐family and 362 small family firms. Medium firms comprised 305 family and 341 non‐family firms. Chi‐square tests and t‐tests were used to investigate the hypotheses formulated.Findings – Small family firms were less likely to pursue growth compared with similar non‐family firms. Although medium family proprietors desired growth, their actual growth was lower than similar non‐family firms. Management practices were less formal in family firms and the gap between family and non‐family firms in this area widened with growth. Small family firms achieved greater profits than their non‐family counterparts, although this disparity disappeared at the medium level. Exports were low for both firms at the small level. However, medium family firms were less likely than similar non‐family firms to export.Research limit.
Open Access Journals and Academics' Behavior

type="main" xml:id="ecin12131-abs-0001"> The rising star of scholarly publishing is Open Access (OA). Even some traditional journals now offer this option on author payment, and many full freely accessible journals are now available to scholars, providing relief to research institutions increasingly unable to afford the escalating subscription rates of serials. However, proper recognition of full OA journals by the community remains a major obstacle to overcome if they are to become a viable alternative for scholarly communication. Through a survey, this work investigates economics scholars' attitudes to OA, and attempts to outline the state of practices and norms governing individuals' publication choices. ( JEL L17, L86, O33)
Do Strategy and Management Matter in Municipal Organisations?

In Sweden, a large share of public services are organised, produced and delivered by municipalities, large and small, rich and poor. Contextual conditions (size and location) and economic conditions (efficiency and wealth) differ considerably among these service-providing organisations. The question raised in this paper is whether a municipality's economic situation is a direct consequence of the contextual situation or the organisation's strategy and management - that is: Do strategy and management matter? Our analysis rests on a resource-based view of organisation strategy. Both quantitative and qualitative observations have been made. First, cost savings data from 50 municipalities were examined for patterns and relationships between contextual and economic conditions. Second, about 100 representatives - municipal executive board members and leading officials - from 20 municipalities with different characteristics were interviewed. In this paper we outline an analytical framework and propose that sound and sustainable provision of municipal service depends on whether organisational decision-making is in harmony with work methods and objectives. The results indicate that strategy and management do matter. Among the municipalities included in our study, we identify four prevalent basic strategies. Strategy tends to coincide with the economic situation rather than the contextual situation. A low-performing municipality tends to have a predominantly outward orientation in its decision-making, whereas a higher-performing municipality makes decisions with both inward and outward orientation.
Multiplex fusion gene testing in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia

Gene abnormalities, particularly chromosome rearrangements generating gene fusion, are associated with clinical characteristics and prognosis in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Karyotyping is generally performed to enable risk stratification, but the results are not always consistent with those of reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR), and more accurate and rapid methods are required.
Gene Therapy Approaches for Bone Regeneration

Gene therapy represents a promising approach for delivering regenerative molecules to specific tissues including bone. Several laboratories have shown that virus-based BMP expression vectors can stimulate osteoblast differentiation and bone formation in vivo. Both in vivo and ex vivo transduction of cells can induce bone formation at ectopic and orthotopic sites. Adenovirus and direct DNA delivery of genes encoding regenerative molecules can heal critical-sized defects of cranial and long bones. Although osteogenic activity can be demonstrated for individual BMP vectors, substantial synergies may be achieved using combinatorial gene therapy to express complimentary osteogenic signals including specific combinations of BMPs or BMPs and transcription factors. Further control of the bone regeneration process may also be achieved through the use of inducible promoters that can be used to control the timing and magnitude of expression for a particular gene. Using these types of approaches, it should be possible to mimic natural processes of bone development and fracture repair and, in so doing, be able to precisely control both the amount and type of bone regenerated.
Productive Public Expenditure and Debt Dynamics: a Theoretical Framework based on Intertemporal Optimization

The paper aims to explore the dynamics between components of public expenditure and debt using an intertemporal optimization framework. Public expenditure is classified as productive and ‘less-productive’ based on the rationale that an increase in the share of productive expenditure in total public expenditure (phi) affects public debt inversely in the long-run. The ‘second-order’ conditions resulting from the model demonstrate that when phi is less than or equal to half, an inverse relationship between phi and public debt will hold only if private investment stimulus is high in the economy. Beyond its optimal level, an increase in phi could still affect public debt inversely; however, this will be at the cost of ‘crowding out’ of private investment. To understand whether phi is the share of capital type expenditure in total public expenditure, an empirical analysis using Indian Public Finances data (1980-2013) is performed. Time series methods are employed to test the hypothesis that capital expenditure of the government is productive public expenditure. The correlation, cointegration and ECM results support the hypothesis of an inverse relationship between public capital expenditure/GDP and debt/GDP. Further, it is also observed that in the long run, a one percent increase in public capital expenditure/GDP will lead to a reduction in public debt/GDP by 0.84 and 0.09 percentage points for the Central and the Consolidated General Government respectively. Key policy implications point towards a scope for increasing public capital expenditure in the Indian economy while complementing it with private investment stimulus to stabilize public debt in the long run.
Currency Elasticity and Banking Panics: Theory and Evidence

Existing models of banking panics contain no role for monetary factors and fail to explain why some banking systems experienced panics while others did not. A monetary model is constructed, where seasonal variations in the demand for liquidity and credit play a critical role in generating banking panics. These panics occur when there are restrictions on the issue of currency in private banks, but they do not occur if banks are unrestricted. Empirical evidence from Canada and the United States for the period 1880-1910 is largely consistent with the predictions of the model.
Positive and Negative Urban Tourist Crowding: Florence, Italy

Abstract Urban tourism is booming and overcrowding is recognized as a major problem in many tourist cities. However, the way tourists experience high tourist densities is still a neglected topic in urban tourism research, whereas it is one of the most frequently studied subjects in outdoor recreation. In this article the crowding concept is transferred to urban tourism. The study is based on qualitative in situ interviews using Florence, Italy as an example. The interviews reveal that negative crowding (i.e. a feeling of stress) is a major problem, but good crowding (i.e. a positive feeling where the crowd adds to the experience) is also important for the urban tourists’ experience, albeit difficult to achieve in the case of Florence. Furthermore, coping mechanisms to best experience a city of mass tourism have been identified, with spatial and temporal strategies playing a major role.
Reaction of Stock Prices to Dividend Announcements and Market Efficiency in Pakistan

This study tests the semi-strong form of market efficiency by investigating the reaction of stock prices to dividend announcements. It analyzes cash, stock, and simultaneous cash and stock dividend announcements of 79 companies listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange from July 2004 to June 2007. Abnormal returns from the market model are evaluated for statistical significance using the t-test and Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test. The findings suggest negligible abnormal returns for cash dividend announcements. However, the average abnormal and cumulative average abnormal returns for stock and simultaneous cash and stock dividend announcements are mostly positive and statistically significant.
Applying a revised SQPM in the Define Step of Six Sigma and a case study

The primary purpose of this paper is to construct a revised service quality performance matrix (SQPM) approach as an effective and objective tool in the Define Step of Six Sigma projects. This approach can then overcome the shortcomings of the SQPM proposed by Hung, Huang, and Chen [(2003). Service quality evaluation by service quality performance matrix. Total Quality Management, 14(1), 79–89] such as time-consuming questionnaire items, and the percentage scale and self-stated attribute importance. Other general purposes of this paper are to establish the implementation process of the revised SQPM approach, apply this approach and process in the Define Step of Six Sigma projects (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control framework), and a case study with regard to a campus restaurant which is ultimately presented to demonstrate the application of the above methodology in practice. The approach and process are simple, effective and objective for identifying critical-to-quality service dimensions (or attributes) and their improvement priority. Additionally, they can enhance the operator's decision-making quality of service strategies.
Filament Assembly from Profilin-Actin*

Profilin plays a major role in the assembly of actin filament at the barbed ends. The thermodynamic and kinetic parameters for barbed end assembly from profilin-actin have been measured turbidimetrically. Filament growth from profilin-actin requires MgATP to be bound to actin. No assembly is observed from profilin-CaATP-actin. The rate constant for association of profilin-actin to barbed ends is 30% lower than that of actin, and the critical concentration for F-actin assembly from profilin-actin units is 0.3 μm under physiological ionic conditions. Barbed ends grow from profilin-actin with an ADP-Pi cap. Profilin does not cap the barbed ends and is not detectably incorporated into filaments. The EDC-cross-linked profilin-actin complex (PAcov) both copolymerizes with F-actin and undergoes spontaneous self-assembly, following a nucleation-growth process characterized by a critical concentration of 0.2 μm under physiological conditions. The PAcovpolymer is a helical filament that displays the same diffraction pattern as F-actin, with layer lines at 6 and 36 nm. The PAcov filaments bound phalloidin with the same kinetics as F-actin, bound myosin subfragment-1, and supported actin-activated ATPase of myosin subfragment-1, but they did not translocate in vitro along myosin-coated glass surfaces. These results are discussed in light of the current models of actin structure.
Chloroplasts of Arabidopsis Are the Source and a Primary Target of a Plant-Specific Programmed Cell Death Signaling Pathway[W]

Under mild light stress, plants enhance the production of singlet oxygen that acts as a signal. Singlet oxygen–mediated signaling forms an integral part of photosynthesis that translates environmental variability affecting photosynthetic electron transport into signals that regulate the readjustment of the plant to environmental changes. Enhanced levels of singlet oxygen (1O2) in chloroplasts trigger programmed cell death. The impact of 1O2 production in chloroplasts was monitored first in the conditional fluorescent (flu) mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana that accumulates 1O2 upon a dark/light shift. The onset of 1O2 production is rapidly followed by a loss of chloroplast integrity that precedes the rupture of the central vacuole and the final collapse of the cell. Inactivation of the two plastid proteins EXECUTER (EX1) and EX2 in the flu mutant abrogates these responses, indicating that disintegration of chloroplasts is due to EX-dependent signaling rather than 1O2 directly. In flu seedlings, 1O2-mediated cell death signaling operates as a default pathway that results in seedlings committing suicide. By contrast, EX-dependent signaling in the wild type induces the formation of microlesions without decreasing the viability of seedlings. 1O2-mediated and EX-dependent loss of plastid integrity and cell death in these plants occurs only in cells containing fully developed chloroplasts. Our findings support an as yet unreported signaling role of 1O2 in the wild type exposed to mild light stress that invokes photoinhibition of photosystem II without causing photooxidative damage of the plant.
Ligand Migration in the Truncated Hemoglobin-II from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Resonance Raman studies show that the heme-bound CO in trHbO, a truncated-II hemoglobin from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is exposed to an environment with a positive electrostatic potential. The mutation of Trp(G8), an absolutely conserved residue in group II and III truncated hemoglobins, to Phe introduces two new Fe–CO conformers, both of which exhibit reduced electrostatic potentials. Computer simulations reveal that the structural perturbation is a result of the increased flexibility of the Tyr(CD1) and Leu(E11) side chains due to the reduction of the size of the G8 residue. Laser flash photolysis studies show that the G8 mutation induces 1) the presence of two new geminate recombination phases, one with a rate faster than the time resolution of our instrument and the other with a rate 13-fold slower than that of the wild type protein, and 2) the reduction of the total geminate recombination yield from 86 to 62% and the increase in the bimolecular recombination rate by a factor of 530. Computer simulations uncover that the photodissociated ligand migrates between three distal temporary docking sites before it subsequently rebinds to the heme iron or ultimately escapes into the solvent via a hydrophobic tunnel. The calculated energy profiles associated with the ligand migration processes are in good agreement with the experimental observations. The results highlight the importance of the Trp(G8) in regulating ligand migration in trHbO, underscoring its pivotal role in the structural and functional properties of the group II and III truncated hemoglobins.
In vitro efficacy of Bryophyllum pinnatum leaf extracts as potent therapeutics

ABSTRACT Leaf extracts of Bryophyllum pinnatum (BPEs) are used in several countries. Contextually, evaluation of the therapeutic potential of these was carried out in this study to explore antioxidant and antityrosinase potential through different in vitro methods. The radical scavenging properties of BPEs were studied using various techniques, based on the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) dot blot thin-layer chromatography (TLC) method, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, metal chelation, β-carotene bleaching, inhibition of DNA breakage on agarose gel, and lipid peroxidation inhibition using liver and brain microsomes. EC50 values of the results reflected that aqueous-methanolic BPE was the most active one. Antibrowning potential of the fresh leaf extract showed an antityrosinase property, with EC50 values of enzymatic assay of tyrosinase inhibitory activity further advocating the findings.
An integral framework for performance measurement

A performance framework is described that distils concepts from the literature about existing frameworks in order to extend capacity to evaluate and appraise performance. This open system interpretation recognises dynamic flows between various organizational levels and allows performance to be viewed in a holistic sense. Both macro and micro views are addressed that range from simple feedback control models to broader evaluation perspectives appropriate to stakeholder requirements and organisation purpose. Three basic dimensions of performance are observed using this framework that form a performance triplet, which is described in a series of principles as part of a first step towards a theory of performance measurement.
Immunohistochemical Localization of Peroxisomal Enzymes During Rat Embryonic Development

Peroxisomes are cytoplasmic organelles involved in a variety of metabolic pathways. Thus far, the morphological and biochemical features of peroxisomes have been extensively characterized in adult tissues. However, the existence of congenital peroxisomal disorders, primarily affecting tissue differentiation, emphasizes the importance of these organelles in the early stages of organogenesis. We investigated the occurrence and tissue distribution of three peroxisomal enzymes in rat embryos at various developmental stages. By means of a highly sensitive biotinyl-tyramide protocol, catalase, acyl-CoA oxidase, and ketoacyl-CoA thiolase were detected in embryonic tissues where peroxisomes had not thus far been recognized, i.e., adrenal and pancreatic parenchyma, choroid plexus, neuroblasts of cranial and spinal ganglia and myenteric plexus, and chondroblasts of certain skeletal structures. In other tissues, i.e., gut epithelium and neuroblasts of some CNS areas, they were identified earlier than previously. In select CNS areas, ultrastructural catalase cytochemistry allowed identification of actively proliferating organelles at early developmental stages in several cell types. Our data show that in most organs maturation of peroxisomes parallels the acquirement of specific functions, mainly related to lipid metabolism, thus supporting an involvement of the organelles in tissue differentiation.
Snapshots in ants? New interpretations of paradigmatic experiments

SUMMARY Ants can use visual information to guide long idiosyncratic routes and accurately pinpoint locations in complex natural environments. It has often been assumed that the world knowledge of these foragers consists of multiple discrete views that are retrieved sequentially for breaking routes into sections controlling approaches to a goal. Here we challenge this idea using a model of visual navigation that does not store and use discrete views to replicate the results from paradigmatic experiments that have been taken as evidence that ants navigate using such discrete snapshots. Instead of sequentially retrieving views, the proposed architecture gathers information from all experienced views into a single memory network, and uses this network all along the route to determine the most familiar heading at a given location. This algorithm is consistent with the navigation of ants in both laboratory and natural environments, and provides a parsimonious solution to deal with visual information from multiple locations.
Polarimetric Bias Correction of Practical Planar Scanned Antennas for Meteorological Applications

This paper proposes two bias correction methods for the practical planar polarimetric phased array weather radar, namely, the boresight correction and the array pattern-based correction. As an extension of the projection matrix method developed in previous research, the performance of the boresight correction considering the measurement errors of element patterns and the impacts of entire array patterns on polarimetric variables is theoretically evaluated. It is shown that the measurement errors of element patterns are crucial for the polarimetric bias correction. Furthermore, for a planar electronically scanned antenna, the measurement performance of the linear depolarization ratio varies in the beam direction, while the measurement performance of the differential reflectivity remains almost the same within the beam scan area. In order to compensate the impacts of entire array patterns on polarimetric variables, the array pattern-based correction method is formulated, and its performance is theoretically analyzed. Assessments of the analysis and future research are discussed.
Human-Resources Practices of TQM Hotels

Aligning human-resources practices with total-quality initiatives requires fundamental changes in the way hotel organizations train, empower, evaluate, and reward individuals and teams. Total quality management is more than simply another operations-improvement program. Instead it must be ingrained in a company's culture at all levels. Interviews with human-resources professionals, general managers, and TQM experts in eight hotel companies that belong to the AH&MA's Committee for Quality reveal that specific HR practices are needed to support a TQM culture. Among the key practices are employee involvement in operating decisions, appropriate measurement and rewards for accomplishments, training for TQM, and a secure, safe working environment. Even though these hotel organizations are recognized for their TQM achievements, respondents identified needed improvements in HR practices regarding selection, promotion, career development, and tracking of measurable outcomes.