Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Empirical Note on R&D Growth Models with Regional Implications

Using U.S. data from 1960 to 2007 this empirical note re-examines the semi-endogenous and Schumpeterian R&D growth models presented by Ha and Howitt (2007) and Madsen (2008). The empirical results support the Schumpeterian R&D growth model. Specifically, in the long-run increases in R&D expenditures are necessary to counteract lower R&D productiv-ity due to the presence of product proliferation. Furthermore, the study provides a frame-work for further investigation of R&D growth models at the regional level.
A Decision Making Method with Triangular Fuzzy Numbers for Unraveling the Criteria of E-Commerce

The fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (fuzzy DEMATEL) provides a causal relationship among criteria and computationally feasible method for addressing uncertain and ambiguous information in decision making. This paper aims to unravel the relationships between criteria of e-commerce using the fuzzy DEMATEL, where triangular fuzzy numbers are used to represent uncertain and ambiguous information. One hundred and twelve undergraduate students of mixed gender at a public university in Malaysia were invited to evaluate the criteria of e-commerce using a six-construct questionnaire. Linguistic scales that defined using triangular fuzzy numbers were employed in data collection. Data were analyzed using the nine-step of the DEMATEL method. The main contribution of this paper is the development of the causal relationship among the criteria of e-commerce that obtained from a total relation matrix of the fuzzy DEMATEL. It is found that ‘Ease of Use System’ was the most influencing criterion and ‘Information of Product or Services’ was the most important criterion. Not only did the fuzzy DEMATEL unravel the relationship among criteria, but it also identified the degree of importance among the criteria. The findings contribute to a better understanding about the criteria of e-commerce, where retailers could develop effective strategies in marketing and reciprocally, consumers would receive products and services with higher quality
Assessment of inter-city transport of particulate matter in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region

Abstract. The regional transport of particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) plays an important role in the air pollution of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region in China. However, previous studies on regional transport of PM2.5 mainly aim at province level, which is insufficient for the development of an optimal joint PM2.5 control strategy. In this study, we calculate PM2.5 inflows and outflows through the administrative boundaries of three major cities in the BTH region, i.e., Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang, using the WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting model)-CMAQ (Community Multiscale Air Quality) modeling system. The monthly average inflow fluxes indicate the major directions of PM2.5 transport. For Beijing, the PM2.5 inflow fluxes from Zhangjiakou (in the northwest) and Baoding (in the southwest) constitute 57 % of the total in winter, and Langfang (in the southeast) and Baoding constitute 73 % in summer. Based on the net PM2.5 fluxes and their vertical distributions, we find there are three major transport pathways in the BTH region: the northwest–southeast pathway in winter (at all levels below 1000 m), the northwest–southeast pathway in summer (at all levels below 1000 m), and the southwest–northeast pathway in both winter and in summer (mainly at 300–1000 m). In winter, even if surface wind speeds are low, the transport at above 300 m can still be strong. Among the three pathways, the southwest–northeast happens along with PM2.5 concentrations 30 and 55 % higher than the monthly average in winter and summer, respectively. Analysis of two heavy pollution episodes in January and July in Beijing show a much (8–16 times) stronger transport than the monthly average, emphasizing the joint air pollution control of the cities located on the transport pathways, especially during heavy pollution episodes.
Labour market adjustments and migration in Europe and the United States: how different?

We compare the labour market response to region-specific shocks in Europe and the United States and to national shocks in Europe and investigate changes over time. We employ a multilevel factor model to decompose regional labour market variables and then estimate the dynamic response of the employment level, the employment rate and the participation rate using the region-specific variables and the country factors. We find that both in Europe and in the United States labour mobility accounts for about 50% of the long-run adjustment to region-specific labour demand shocks and only a little more in the United States than in Europe, where adjustment takes twice as long. In Europe, labour mobility is a less important adjustment mechanism in response to country-specific labour demand shocks that cause stronger and more persistent reactions of the employment and the participation rate. However, we detect a convergence of the adjustment processes in Europe and the United States, reflecting both a fall in interstate migration in the United States and a rise in the role of migration in Europe. Finally, we show that part of the difference between Europe and the United States in previous studies may be due to the use of different data sources.
Understanding the thinking of scientists entrepreneurs: Implications for science education in Malaysia

Based on the need to develop the nation’s science and technological advancement through science education, science educationists are searching for a suitable learning model that integrates innovative technological thinking. One way in conceptualizing this learning model, this study seeks to understand the thinking of scientist entrepreneurs who had produced innovative products for their business ventures. A case study approach was employed. The qualitative findings showed that the respondents integrated entrepreneurial thinking and science process skills in producing their innovative science based products. As a result, we proposed five entrepreneurial science thinking steps which can be used as a learning model in the science curriculum at both primary and secondary school levels.
Examining big-fish-little-pond-effects across 49 countries: a multilevel latent variable modelling approach

Using data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007, this study examined the big-fish-little-pond-effects (BFLPEs) in 49 countries. In this study, the effect of math ability on math self-concept was decomposed into a within- and a between-level components using implicit mean centring and the complex data structure was considered. Sampling error was thus reduced. In addition, measurement error was minimised by modelling math self-concept as a latent factor at both levels and multilevel measurement invariance was assessed in each country. The BFLPE in each country was a contextual effect modelled as the difference between the between-level and within-level effects. Results suggest that BFLPEs existed in most of those 49 countries but the phenomena were different in those countries. The findings also suggest that when perceived relative standing to classmates was added to the model, BFLPEs decreased. Compared with previous cross-national BFLPE studies, this study demonstrated larger BFLPEs in the academic subject of math in individual countries.
The Determinants of Outreach Performance of Social Business: an Inquiry on Italian Social Cooperatives

We analyze factors affecting outreach performance of a large sample of (type A) social cooperatives in Italy taking into account their heterogeneity with a multi-output stochastic distance function frontier. We find that cooperative age, innovation leading to new products/customer segments, managerial turnover, target programming and shareholder variety are positively and significantly (while shareholder meetings, the number of volunteers and of contracts negatively and significantly) correlated with outreach performance, measured as the capacity of serving more beneficiaries given labour and capital inputs. Outreach is also significantly and positively affected by local GDP and human capital.
Time and dynamic Volume-Volatility Relation around Option Listing: Evidence from the French Underlying Stocks

We empirically investigate the impact of option listing on the underlying stock efficiency by looking at the volume-volatility relation of underlying stock. We use a time- consistent bivariate VAR (Vector Autoregressive Regression) model that includes time duration between trades. This model considers both the contemporaneous and the lagged relation between variables and is consistent with both theories of the informational flux and of the dispersions of beliefs. Besides, it is convenient framework to decompose volatility into two categories: informed and uninformed traders. We compare post-listing to pre-listing model results over a sample including 34 stocks for which options were listed between 1996 and 2006. Despite a significant rise of raw and diurnally adjusted price durations, we find evidence of a positive impact attributable to option listing on the underlying stock volume- volatility relation. This better adjustment to new information is observable jointly on contemporaneous and delayed relation. However, after decomposing volatility, we document no migration of informed traders to underlying stock market after option listing. The option effect seems to be not sufficient to attract informed traders into the underlying stock market. We conclude to the existence of option listing impact on the underlying stock efficiency, but to neutrality toward informed trading. We put forward four potential explanations for these findings.
Impact of electricity services on microenterprise in rural areas in Tanzania

The development of micro-enterprises in rural areas in Tanzania is linked with the increase in access and use of grid electricity services, leading to changes in micro-enterprises, and changes in livelihood characteristics of entrepreneurs, employees and community members in areas where these enterprises located. Micro-enterprises are important in their role as contributors to the economy of the rural poor especially women, technological development of rural people and in their potential for employment creation. Estimates show that there are about 700,000 new entrants into the labour market every year about 500,000 of whom are school leavers from all levels with few marketable skills. Most of these people end up in the MEs sector. In rural areas of Tanzania, micro-enterprises acts as a vehicle for creating income distribution for rural poor, they are resources of poverty reduction. The main problem that was addressed in this work was lack of understanding of the linkages between uses of grid electricity services and micro enterprise establishment, expansion, growth, decline and closure in rural areas in Tanzania. The main aim of this research was to explore linkages between increased access to grid electricity services and micro-enterprise development in rural areas in Tanzania. This project investigated changes in both micro-enterprises and livelihood of people involved in enterprises after uptake of grid electricity services for operation. Livelihood context was used to contribute to understanding of the changes happening in micro-enterprises both within and between each other after up taking of grid electricity services
Bifurcation in the tidal streams of Sagittarius: Numerical Simulations

N-body simulations of the interaction between the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy and the Milky Way are performed to study whether it is possible to reproduce both the bifurcations in the tidal streams and the physical properties of Sagittarius. Both galaxies are simulated as sets of particles (live potentials). The initial structures are formed using GALIC and the gravitational interaction between these galaxies is simulated with gadget-2. Sagittarius initially is simulated as a rotating disk-type galaxy with two components: dark matter halo and stellar disk and the Milky Way is a disk galaxy with three components: dark matter halo, stellar disk and central spheroid. Several angles between the orbital angular momentum and the disc angular momentum in the range 180o ≤ θ ≤ 0o were simulated, showing that, although the position and physical properties of Sagittarius are not reproduced entirely by the remnant, the bifurcations appear clearly when 180o ≤ θ < 90o. -
Determinants of Cross-Border Venture Capital Investments in Emerging and Developed Economies: The Effects of Relational and Institutional Trust

Frequent and open interaction between venture capitalists (VCs) and entrepreneurs is necessary for venture capital investments to occur. Increasingly, these investments are made across jurisdictions. The vast majority of these cross-border investments are carried out in a syndicate of two or more VCs, indicating the effects of intra-industry networks needing further analysis. Using China as a model, we provide a novel multidimensional framework to explain cross-border investments in innovative ventures across developed and emerging economies. By analyzing a unique international dataset, we examine worldwide venture capital investment flows from 2000–2012 and consider the effects of geographical, cultural, and institutional proximity as well as institutional and relational trust. We find trust to mitigate the negative effects of geographical and cultural distance, where institutional trust is more relevant for investments in emerging economies, and relational trust is more relevant for investments in developed economies.
Epstein Barr virus latent membrane protein-1 (LMP-1) expression and angiogenesis in Indonesian nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC)

The pivotal role of Epstein Barr virus latent membrane protein 1 (LMP-1) in angiogenesishas been concluded from several in vitro experiments. However, there were very limited and inconsistent data on the correlation between LMP-1 and angiogenesis from clinical samples. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the correlation between LMP-1 and angiogenesis from Indonesian nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Forty cases of paraffin embedded tissues were stained by immunohistochemistry for the expressions of LMP-1, proangiogenic factors including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and interleukin (IL)-8, and von Willebrand factor (vWF) indicating microvessels density (MVD) as the final result of angiogenesis. The level of plasma VEGF165 was determined by ELISA. The results showed that LMP-1 expression was neither correlated significantly with 10logMVD, 10log plasma and tissue VEGF, nor 10log IL-8 (r=0.273, p=0.088; r=-0.109, p=0.504; r=0.140, p=0.390 and r=0.274, p=0.087, respectively). However, there were trends that a higher expression of LMP-1 was followed by a higher expression of MVD, tissue VEGF and IL-8. In conclusion, our results may be supportive to the experimental findings on the role of LMP-1 in angiogenesis. Not less important, our study that also showed significant correlation between tissue VEGF and MVD and between IL-8 and MVD suggests a possible role for antiangiogenic therapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Key words: LMP-1, angiogenesis, NPC.
Dynamical response of Mediterranean precipitation to greenhouse gases and aerosols

Abstract. Atmospheric aerosols and greenhouse gases affect cloud properties, radiative balance and, thus, the hydrological cycle. Observations show that precipitation has decreased in the Mediterranean since the beginning of the 20th century, and many studies have investigated possible mechanisms. So far, however, the effects of aerosol forcing on Mediterranean precipitation remain largely unknown. Here we compare the modeled dynamical response of Mediterranean precipitation to individual forcing agents in a set of global climate models (GCMs). Our analyses show that both greenhouse gases and aerosols can cause drying in the Mediterranean and that precipitation is more sensitive to black carbon (BC) forcing than to well-mixed greenhouse gases (WMGHGs) or sulfate aerosol. In addition to local heating, BC appears to reduce precipitation by causing an enhanced positive sea level pressure (SLP) pattern similar to the North Atlantic Oscillation–Arctic Oscillation, characterized by higher SLP at midlatitudes and lower SLP at high latitudes. WMGHGs cause a similar SLP change, and both are associated with a northward diversion of the jet stream and storm tracks, reducing precipitation in the Mediterranean while increasing precipitation in northern Europe. Though the applied forcings were much larger, if forcings are scaled to those of the historical period of 1901–2010, roughly one-third (31±17 %) of the precipitation decrease would be attributable to global BC forcing with the remainder largely attributable to WMGHGs, whereas global scattering sulfate aerosols would have negligible impacts. Aerosol–cloud interactions appear to have minimal impacts on Mediterranean precipitation in these models, at least in part because many simulations did not fully include such processes; these merit further study. The findings from this study suggest that future BC and WMGHG emissions may significantly affect regional water resources, agricultural practices, ecosystems and the economy in the Mediterranean region.
A 3D dendritic WSe2 catalyst grown on carbon nanofiber mats for efficient hydrogen evolution

3D dendritic WSe2 on conductive carbon nanofiber mats (d-WSe2/CFM) was designed and synthesized by a diffusion-controlled CVD method. The d-WSe2/CFM was directly used as a cathode for the HER. The substantially improved HER performance is ascribed to the novel 3D structure with effectively exposed edge sites.
RACE TO THE FRONTIER: STRATEGIC DIRECTION, STRATEGIC INTENSITY AND THE COMPETITIVE PERFORMANCE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL FIRMS IN TRANSITION ECONOMIES

Although competitive positioning is becoming increasingly important for the performance of entrepreneurial ventures in transition economies, not much is known about the types of strategies that are most likely to enhance their success in competition. In this study, we examine the role of strategic intensity and the impact of pure versus hybrid competitive strategies on entrepreneurial performance in transition economies, using survey data (N=333) from Bulgaria. We find that strategic intensity is positively related to performance, and firms that deviate from pure cost leadership or differentiation and achieve a balance on both dimensions report superior performance. In a post-hoc analysis of our data, we find preliminary evidence that strategic intensity may act to mediate the relationship between strategic type and performance.
Role of physical disturbance in structuring fish assemblages in seagrass beds in Port Phillip Bay, Australia

Disturbance in seagrass habitats may cause variation in the structure of fish assem- blages and individual taxa. One important form of disturbance is wave action associated with strong winds. Total fish abundance and species richness from seagrass beds at 2 sites in Port Phillip Bay, Australia, were sampled during low and high wave disturbance. During high wave action (> 0.25 m) in seagrass beds, abundance of fish at one site decreased significantly, but species richness was unaf- fected at both sites. Plankton sampling conducted at the same time as seagrass sampling (directly 300 m offshore from the seagrass sites) found that species richness significantly increased during high wave conditions at both sites. Total fish abundance similarly increased in the plankton during high wave conditions at one site. We conclude that variation in assemblage structure during increased physical disturbance is related to variation in a small number of numerically dominant spe- cies within the assemblage. At the individual taxon level, numerically dominant species in the sea- grass and plankton showed considerable variation in response to disturbance. In the seagrass assem- blage, post-larval King George whiting Sillaginodes punctata (Cuvier and Valenciennes), adult weedfish Heteroclinus perspicillatus (Cuvier and Valenciennes), and pipefish juveniles and adults from the genus Stigmatopora decreased in abundance at either one or both sites during high wave conditions. Conversely, in the plankton, adult pipefish Hypelognathus rostratus (Waite and Hale), juvenile Stigmatopora and larval Gymnapistes marmoratus (Cuvier and Valenciennes) significantly increased in abundance during these same physical conditions. It appears that for some taxa physical disturbance may facilitate secondary planktonic dispersal.
Cynics All Around? The Impact of Election News on Political Cynicism in Comparative Perspective

Previous research suggests that the news media's reporting about politics in terms of strategy fosters political cynicism. The question remains, however, what individual and contextual factors facilitate or inhibit this effect. In this study, we draw on a unique multimethod and comparative cross-country design, combining a media content analysis (N = 48,892) with a 2-wave panel survey conducted in 21 countries (N = 22,791) during the 2009 European Parliamentary elections. Our findings show that citizens who are less aware of the election campaign become more cynical. Furthermore, strategy news has an effect on cynicism in countries in which quality of governance is higher. Overall, our study provides the first comprehensive overview over the conditional impact of election news on political cynicism in comparative perspective.
Studies on physico-chemical properties of shrikhand from buffalo milk blended with sweet corn milk

In this study, the attempt have been made to prepared shrikhand from blends of sweet corn milk and buffalo milk in different proportion and study the chemical composition shrikhand. On an average the moisture content of Shrikhand blended with sweet corn milk was found to be 32.5, 33.8, 34.3 and 35.9 per cent, fat 9.3, 8.4, 7.4 and 6.5 per cent, protein 9.14, 8.72, 8.33 and 7.74 per cent, ash 0.84, 0.73, 0.64 and 0.45 per cent, carbohydrate 60.3, 65.2, 70.3 and 74.5 per cent and total solids 66.57, 65.57, 64.87 and 63.5 per cent for treatment T0, T1, T2 and T3 respectively. It was also observed that as the blending of sweet corn milk increased, there was decreased in fat, protein, ash, total solids content of Shrikhand blended with sweet corn milk and increased in moisture and total sugar content.
Morphological, anatomical and cytological investigation on alpine 'Lamium cymbalariifolium' endemic to turkey

In this study, some morphological characters, anatomical features and chromosome numbers of alpine Lamium cymbalariifolium Boiss. (Lamiaceae) endemic to Turkey are firstly described in detail. Lamium cymbalariifolium is an east mediterrenean element growing on north-facing limestone screes at an altitude of 2100-2280m in the Southwest Anatolia. The investigated species is closely allied to L. microphyllum and L. sandrasicum which are other alpine endemic species to Turkey. Taxonomically significant characters for L. cymbalariifolium are tried to be pointed out. Morphologically, the corolla tube length, the upper lip length, lobe length of the upper lip, the lower lip length and lobe length of the lower lip, the length of pistil, filament, anther and the seed dimensions of the species are firstly reported in the present study. Anatomically, spring and autumn woods of the root, which are forming annual rings are clearly distinguishable. Stem has a thin collenchymatous layer at the corners whereas does not bear any extraxilar sclerenchyma tissue. Leaf is bifacial. Prismatic crystals occur in leaf and generative organs. Pollen type is trizonocolpate and pollen shape is subprolate. Cross-section of seed is triangular. Glandular hairs are classified into two main types, peltate and capitate. Furthermore, capitate glandular hairs are separated into two types, as type I and type II. The chromosome number is determined as 2n=18. The results are presented with photographs, illustrations and tables.