Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Organizational Innovation and Information and Communications Technology on Firm Performance Surendra Gera Industry Canada

DO COMPUTERS CONTRIBUTE TO productivity growth? Much evidence suggests that investment in information and communications technology (ICT) is making an important contribution to economic growth and labour productivity growth in OECD countries. At the same time, the OECD argues that ICT improves productivity by enabling organizational innovations. In this paper, we examine whether ICT and organizational innovation are associated with better performance in Canadian firms. The paper extends the previous studies in Canada to include firms in both manufacturing and service sectors. While most ICT investment is made in the service sector, there is little evidence on the contribution of ICT to the performance of the firms in the service sector in Canada. We have three objectives in this article: • Is firm performance improved through ICT, worker skills and organizational innovations? • Are organizational changes and worker skills complementary to ICT in improving firm performance? • How does the relationship between productivity, ICT, worker skills and new organizational practices vary across manufacturing and services? Our article has three novel features. First ,it uses a comprehensive micro data set, namely Statistics Canada’s Workplace and Employee Survey (WES). The survey is a cross-section of 6,351 business establishments covering the entire spectrum of the Canadian economy in 1999. It provides a rich set of measures on organizational changes and firm performance that allow us to examine the relationship between ICT use, organizational practices and firm performance. Second, the article examines the role of complementarities between ICT use, organizational changes in the areas of production practices, human resource management practices and product/service related practices, and human capital as drivers of better firm performance in the knowledge-based economy. Third, and more importantly, the analysis extends beyond manufacturing to include the service sector.
The relationship between activity-based costing and the balanced scorecard and their combined effect on organisational performance under alternative competitive strategies

This thesis reports on a study that examines the relationship between costing systems and performance management systems and their combined effect on performance under alternative competitive strategies across a number of industry sectors in Australia. The thesis also examines the relationship between performance and the interaction of strategy, ABC and the BSC. The broad aims of this study are to understand and explain the relationship between costing and performance management systems. A contingency theoretical framework of management accounting was developed to address the research questions and to inform the relationship of management accounting innovations such as ABC and BSC and their combined effect on performance under alternative competitive strategies in the Australian business environment. A triangulation approach to data gathering is utilised. This includes a structured questionnaire accompanied by structured and semi-structured interviews. Additionally, examination was undertaken to review interviewed firm’s websites and publicly available archival documentation. The industry sectors across Australia include retail; services; manufacturing; finance, insurance and real estate; agriculture, forestry and fishing; wholesale; transportation; communication; electric, gas and sanitary services; mining and construction. The findings reported reveal that cost leader firms that use a combination of ABC and the BSC have greater organisational performance, customer performance and innovation performance compared with differentiator firms. In addition, cost leader firms that use a combination of ABC and the BSC have improved their innovation and financial performance more than those who use ABC without BSC, or those who use BSC without ABC. Furthermore, differentiator firms that use BSC without ABC have improved customer performance when compared with those that use a combination of ABC and BSC. The study also revealed that the use of ABC and the BSC is contingent on strategy, type of business activity and the competitive environment. It was also found that the design of the BSC may also be contingent on the strategy a firm pursues, that is, dependent on strategy is the weighting applied to different perspectives. Overall, the thesis suggests that contingent factors such as strategy, business activity and increased competitive environment do affect the choice of costing systems such as ABC or Traditional Costing System (TCS) and performance management systems such as BSC or Traditional Performance Measurement (TPM).
Activation of the Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase Serine Kinase by 1 FNa ’

During engagement of the type I IFN receptor, IRS-I is phosphorylated on tyrosine and associates with the p85 regulatory subunit of the phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3‘-kinase, which is a dual-specificity enzyme possessing both lipid and serine kinase activities. We sought to determine whether treatment of cells with IFN-a activates the Pi 3”kinase serine kinase. 32P-labeling experiments and phosphoaminoacid analysis of immunoprecipitated IRS-1 protein demonstrated that, in addition to tyrosine phosphorylation, IFN-a induces its phosphorylation on serine residues. In vitro kinase assays on d R S 1 immunoprecipitates also demonstrated IFN-a-dependent serine phosphorylation of IRS-1, suggesting that the protein associates with an IFN-a-regulated serine kinase. Furthermore, IFN-a-dependent phosphorylation of IRS-1 was detected in in vitro kinase assays on ap85 immunoprecipitates, and was inhibited by pretreatment of cells with the specific PI 3”kinase inhibitor wortmannin, consistent with a regulatory role of the PI 3’-kinase serine kinase on the phosphorylation of the protein. Treatment of cells with wortmannin also inhibited the phosphorylation of the p85 subunit of PI 3”kinase and the type I IFN-regulated activation of the Map kinase, but had no inhibitory effect on the IFN-a-induced activation of Tyk-2 and Jak-1 kinases nor on the activation of Stat-1, Stat-2, and Stat-3. Taken all together, these data establish that the PI 3”kinase serine kinase is activated by IFN-a and may play an important role in the transmission of type I IFN receptor-generated signals. The /ourna/ of Immunology, 1997, 158: 23902397.
ANALISIS PENGARUH CAPITAL, KUALITAS ASET, RENTABILITAS DAN SENSITIVITY TO MARKET RISKTERHADAP PROFITABILITAS PERBANKAN PADA PERUSAHAAN BUSN DEVISA DAN BUSN NON DEVISA

Abstract:The aims of this reaserch was to analyze the effectof capital, asset quality, earnings and sensitivity to market risk on bank profitability. This reasearch were analyzed using multiple linear regression . The result show that variable capital not significant to the profitability, because bank tend to be careful in investing their funds and greater emphasis on bank survival. Asset quality negative significant to the profitability,when NPL increase reserve the bank earning assets will fell, so that the suffered a financial loss. Rentability positive significant to the profitability, when NIM increase identifies the interest income on earning assets is high. Increase in interest income can be improving profitability. Sensitivity to market risk positive significant to the profitability, because when NOP down indicates the decline in foreign exchange earnings is smaller than the decrease in foreign exchange cost, thus can increasing profitability. Keywords:profitability, capital, asset quality, profitability and sensitivity to market risk.
Prevalence of antimicrobial resistance and association with toxin genes in Clostridium difficile in commercial swine.

OBJECTIVE To estimate prevalence and determine association between antimicrobia resistance and toxin gene profile of Clostridium difficile in commercial pigs at the preharvest food-safety level. ANIMALS 68 sows and 251 young pigs from 5 farms in North Carolina and 3 in Ohio. PROCEDURES Fecal samples were collected from sows (8/farm) and matched young pigs (32/farm) at farrowing and again at the nursery and finishing stages. Clostridium difficile isolates were tested for susceptibility to 6 antimicrobials. A PCR assay was used to detect genes coding for enterotoxin A (tcdA), cytotoxin B (tcdB), and binary toxin (cdtB). RESULTS C difficile prevalence in young pigs at farrowing was 73% (n=183) with significantly higher prevalence in Ohio (875%) than in North Carolina (64%). Clostridium difficile was isolated from 32 (47%) sows with no significant difference between the 2 regions. A single pig had a positive test result at the nursery, and no isolate was recovered at the finishing farms. Resistance to ciprofloxacin was predominant in young pigs (91.3% of isolates) and sows (94%). The antimicrobial resistance profile ciprofloxacin-erythromycin-tetracycline was detected in 21.4% and 11.7% of isolates from young pigs and sows, respectively. Most isolates had positive results for tcdA (65%), tcdB (84%), and the binary toxin cdtB (77%) genes. Erythromycin resistance and tetracycline resistance were significantly associated with toxin gene profiles. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE The common occurrence of antimicrobial-resistant C difficile and the significant association of toxigenic strains with antimicrobial resistance could contribute to high morbidity in farms with farrowing pigs.
Conditional Random Field Based Sentence Context Identification: Enhancing Citation Services for the Research Community

Academic publishers' full text databases are an important part of the deep Web for researchers and a potentially valuable resource for automated extraction of scientific knowledge. Recently, some major publishers have provided Web APIs for accessing their article databases, thus allowing the development of Web applications to mine these resources. However the task of knowledge discovery from academic articles, particularly with citations remains a challenge. We present in this paper our research work taken up for identifying contexts associated with sentences in academic articles and use of this information to provide information services for the research community. To this end, we propose an annotation scheme for sentences in academic articles. We also describe our experiments with conditional random fields for sentence classification. Finally, we present CitContExt -- a citation context extraction application developed based on the techniques discussed above.
Exhaled nitric oxide in infants is related to housing characteristics Report of scientific project for University Medical Centre Utrecht Transition Year CRU ’ 99

Exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) is a non-invasive marker of airway inflammation. This study investigated the methodological aspects of eNO measurement with offline tidal breathing technique in infants compared to the on-line single breath method in their mothers and their housing characteristics. The participation rate was 42.5%, eNO was measured in 53 children aged two and six months and in 52 mothers. The median eNO level was similar for infants with 13.1 parts per billion (ppb) and their mothers, 12 ppb. There was, however, no sign of correlation between their eNO values. Median eNO was significantly higher in children living in the centre of the city than living in the rural area, 19.2 versus 8.5 ppb. eNO in infants living in large homes was significantly lower than in ones living in small homes, 10.5 and 18.9 ppb respectively. Healthy mothers had significantly lower eNO values compared to mothers with self-reported asthma and/or allergic rhinitis; 10.0 and 16.0 ppb respectively. These results indicate that eNO measured by offline tidal breathing technique in infants can be used in a longitudinal study as a marker of inflammation and eNO was found to be related to some building characteristics or living conditions. Dagmara Makowska Fredrik Carlstedt MD, PhD Mikael Hasselgren MD, PhD 1 Medical student, University Medical Centre, Utrecht, the Netherlands 2 Primary Care Research Unit, Karlstad, Sweden 3 Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Section of Family Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology, Uppsala University, Sweden
Acute Intravascular Hemolysis in Two Patients Transfused with Dry-Platelet Units Obtained from the Same ABO Incompatible Donor

Since 1989 we have been collecting dry-platelets on a routine basis. Dry-platelets are those collected along with 25–30 ml of contaminating plasma cell with separators such as the Amicus, AS 104 and the Excel Pro. Platelets are resuspended in non plasma media for storage and for at least 60 hours their viability and functionality are not impaired. In this article we report on two hemolytic crises determined by two O Rh D + units of single donor platelets (SPD) taken from the same donor in a double-apheresis session. The two split units were admistered to two A Rh D + patients suffering from metastatic breast cancer and severe aplastic anemia (SAA) respectively. In both cases the hemolytic reaction was of the intravascular type, with a drop in hemoglobin (Hgb) level from 8.6 to 5.4 and from 8.8 down to 5.3 g/dl respectively. From the patients’ RBC only α - agglutinins were eluted and donor's indirect antiglobulin test (IAT) was negative with extended panel RBCs. In the first case the clinical course after erythroexchange (Erex) was uneventful whereas in the second one, that suffering from SAA, after Erex, acute renal failure and shock did complicate the clinical course and the patient died seven days after the incriminated platelet transfusion.
Acquiring foreign firms far away might be hazardous to your share price: evidence from Germany

This paper examines shareholder wealth effects of cross-border acquisitions. In a sample of 155 large acquisitions by German corporations from 1985–2006 international transactions in total do not lead to significant announcement returns. Geography, however, makes a difference: Shareholders of acquiring firms gain 6.5% in cross-border transactions into countries that have a common border with Germany but lose 4.4% in other international transactions. We find proximity to be one of the most important success factors in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, even when we control for firm, deal and country characteristics.
A five‐minute, but not a fifteen‐minute, conditioning trial duration induces conditioned place preference for cocaine administration into the olfactory tubercle

The establishment of conditioned place preference (CPP) with intracranial injections requires specific injection sites, drug doses, and conditioning trial durations. We examined the role of conditioning trial duration in CPP with cocaine injections into the medial olfactory tubercle. Only those rats that had spent 5 min in the compartments showed CPP for cocaine, while rats that had been removed immediately or spent 15 min following cocaine injections did not show CPP. Effective conditioning trial durations for CPP induced by intracranial cocaine injections are apparently much shorter than those typically used for intracranial injections of other drugs of abuse. Synapse 56:57–59, 2005. Published 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Contract plans and public enterprise performance

Roughly 100 public enterprises in developing countries are using contract plans - negotiated performance agreements between the government/owner and the enterprises' managers or directors. Contract plans have not improved the financial performance of public enterprises dramatically. The process is probably more important than the product. They do however, produce clearer goals, open a dialogue between management and the state, and offer such benefits as better accounting, auditing, and management information systems, including physical and financial performance indicators and performance targets. The problem is, they have been oversold. They are not the mechanism for healing a sick company. They work best with firms that operate commercially and already have decent management and sound reporting procedures.
Superior Information and Compensation Fees of Active Mutual Funds

We posit a fund manager and an individual investor who maximize the expected (log) utility of their respective terminal wealth. The manager possesses more information than the investor does and charges the latter, their would-be customer, a linear compensation fee. The investor will delegate their portfolio decisions to the manager if, and only if, the expected utility of their wealth after fees is larger than the expected utility they can achieve by directly investing in the market. Our framework, which uses a mathematical result by [Amendinger (2000)], allows us to characterize compensation fees in terms of information differential.
Congenital agranulocytosis: prolonged survival and terminal acute leukemia.

Three unrelated, Caucasian patients with a disorder resembling infantile genetic agranulocytosis have been studied. There was no history of consanguinity. Parents and siblings were normal. Onset occurred before 3 weeks of age and persisted throughout life. All had severe neutropenia, myeloid arrest pattern of the bone marrow, eosinophilia, monocytosis and hyperglobulinemia. Other congenital anomalies were not present. Their clinical courses were characterized by recurrent, severe bacterial infections particularly of the skin, mouth and lungs but without bacteremia. The infections responded to, but were not prevented by antibiotics, which were administered almost continuously. Fungal infections did not occur and viral infections were not severe. Splenectomy and corticosteroids were without apparent benefit. Relative, though transient, neutrophilia occurred during a few episodes of infection. Chromosome analysis was normal in two of the patients. In one, maturation of neutrophilic leukocytes was not observed in cultures of bone marrow to which normal serum or cysteine was added. One boy is living at 14 10/12 years of age, and one died at 13¾ years of disseminated infection. A unique occurrence was the development of terminal acute leukemia (monocytic) in the third patient, a girl at the age of 14¼ years.
Analyzing mediated service interactions

To study if service protocols are adaptable is essential for ensuring successful service interactions. Previous work has mainly interested in either analyzing service compositions that target at direct service interactions, or building adapters that resolve mismatches between service protocols. In this paper we are rather interested in the global behavior that when and under which conditions service protocols can be adapted. This knowledge is much valuable to the user for identifying and selecting the suitable service among functionally equivalent candidates. We firstly introduce a generic space-based process mediator that adapts service protocols without requiring to build an adapter at design time, and present an observation that mediated service interactions are synchronizable. Then we formally model mediated service interactions and their conversation which enables to evaluate when and under which conditions service protocols are adaptable. Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI), National University of Ireland, Galway, IDA Business Park, Lower Dangan, Galway, Ireland. E-mail: {zhangbing.zhou, sami.bhiri}@deri.org. Acknowledgements: The work presented in this paper was supported (in part) by the EU funded TripCom Specific Targeted Research Project under Grant No. FP6-027324, (in part) by the EU funded SUPER Specific Targeted Research Project under Grant No. FP6026850, (in part) by the Lion project supported by Science Foundation Ireland under Grant No. SFI/02/CE1/I131, and (in part) by the Lion-2 project supported by Science Foundation Ireland under Grant No. SFI/08/CE/I1380. Copyright © 2009 by the authors DERI TR 2009-02-16 I
Credit Ratings of the Banking Sector

In this paper we analyse the credit rating transitions of banks in Europe, the United States and Japan by using a competing risks model. We have distinguished two types of rating transitions: upgrading and downgrading. We have used some bank characteristics, like country of domicile, type of bank, initial rating, as explanatory variables in our model. We have found that downgrading and upgrading are different types of processes. Downgrading is a memoryless process, whereas upgrading is not. The longer a rating has not changed, the higher the probability that it will be upgraded. Furthermore, the type of bank and country (Japan) matters in the downgrading process but not in the upgrading process. Banks which have a speculative rating show much more volatility in both upgrading and downgrading intensities than banks with an investment rating.
Clinical and research markers of oxidative stress in chronic kidney disease

Abstract Context: Kidney-related pathologies have increasing prevalence rates, produce a considerable financial burden, and are characterized by elevated levels of oxidative stress (OS). Objective: This review examines relationships between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and markers of OS and antioxidant status (AS). Methods: A systematic review of MEDLINE-indexed clinical trials, randomized controlled trials and comparative studies that examined OS and AS was performed. Results and conclusion: Several markers emerged as well-suited indicators of OS and AS in CKD: malondialdehyde, F2-isoprostanes, lipid hydroperoxides, asymmetric dimethylarginine, 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2′-deoxyguanosine, protein carbonyls, advanced oxidation protein products and glutathione-related activity.
ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF FAIRNESS IN PERFORMANCE EVALUATION PROCESSES

i PUBLICATIONS IN REFEREED JOURNALS ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii LIST OF FIGURES vii LIST OF TABLES viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Motivations and Objectives of the Study 1 1.2 Importance and Contributions of the Study 13 1.3 Research Questions 15 1.4 Hypotheses 16 1.5 Overview of the Study Methodology and Method 18 1.5. 1 Research philosophy 18 1.5. 2 Unit of analysis 19 1.5. 3. Data collection 19 1.5. 4. Data analysis 20 1.6. Summary of Findings 20 1.7. The Structure of the Thesis 21 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL LITERATURE REVIEW 23 2.
Knowledge Sharing in Cross-Functional Teams

This thesis has the purpose to increase the understanding of knowledge sharing between dispersed units of a large organization. By conducting a qualitative study with an abductive approach, consisting of a case study at Volvo Group where we looked into a cross-functional committee, we researched what the knowledge sharing processes look like and what barriers hinder the sharing of knowledge. We used Nonakas (1994) model of Organizational Knowledge Creation and his SECI model to analyze the empirical material we gathered through interviews and observations. We found that cross-functional teams relying on online communication are facing some challenges when it comes to the sharing of knowledge. The barriers motivation and team commitment are intensified for cross-functional virtual teams since it is harder for these teams to find motivation and build team commitment since the team members rarely meet. In this thesis we argue that for a team to be able to share knowledge it has to focus on the sharing of tacit knowledge because when sharing tacit knowledge the members share perspectives and experiences and build trust. The trust and shared perspectives and hence the understanding of each other among the members are prerequisites to make other knowledge sharing mechanisms work.