Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Understanding African Swine Fever infection dynamics in Sardinia using a spatially explicit transmission model in domestic pig farms

African swine fever virus (ASFV) has been endemic in Sardinia since 1978, resulting in severe losses for local pig producers and creating important problems for the island's veterinary authorities. This study used a spatially explicit stochastic transmission model followed by two regression models to investigate the dynamics of ASFV spread amongst domestic pig farms, to identify geographic areas at highest risk and determine the role of different susceptible pig populations (registered domestic pigs, non-registered domestic pigs [brado] and wild boar) in ASF occurrence. We simulated transmission within and between farms using an adapted version of the previously described model known as Be-FAST. Results from the model revealed a generally low diffusion of ASF in Sardinia, with only 24% of the simulations resulting in disease spread, and for each simulated outbreak on average only four farms and 66 pigs were affected. Overall, local spread (indirect transmission between farms within a 2 km radius through fomites) was the most common route of transmission, being responsible for 98.6% of secondary cases. The risk of ASF occurrence for each domestic pig farm was estimated from the spread model results and integrated in two regression models together with available data for brado and wild boar populations. There was a significant association between the density of all three populations (domestic pigs, brado, and wild boar) and ASF occurrence in Sardinia. The most significant risk factors were the high densities of brado (OR = 2.2) and wild boar (OR = 2.1). The results of both analyses demonstrated that ASF epidemiology and infection dynamics in Sardinia create a complex and multifactorial disease situation, where all susceptible populations play an important role. To stop ASF transmission in Sardinia, three main factors (improving biosecurity on domestic pig farms, eliminating brado practices and better management of wild boars) need to be addressed.
Dynamic Oscillatory Processes Governing Cued Orienting and Allocation of Auditory Attention

In everyday listening situations, we need to constantly switch between alternative sound sources and engage attention according to cues that match our goals and expectations. The exact neuronal bases of these processes are poorly understood. We investigated oscillatory brain networks controlling auditory attention using cortically constrained fMRI-weighted magnetoencephalography/EEG source estimates. During consecutive trials, participants were instructed to shift attention based on a cue, presented in the ear where a target was likely to follow. To promote audiospatial attention effects, the targets were embedded in streams of dichotically presented standard tones. Occasionally, an unexpected novel sound occurred opposite to the cued ear to trigger involuntary orienting. According to our cortical power correlation analyses, increased frontoparietal/temporal 30–100 Hz gamma activity at 200–1400 msec after cued orienting predicted fast and accurate discrimination of subsequent targets. This sustained correlation effect, possibly reflecting voluntary engagement of attention after the initial cue-driven orienting, spread from the TPJ, anterior insula, and inferior frontal cortices to the right FEFs. Engagement of attention to one ear resulted in a significantly stronger increase of 7.5–15 Hz alpha in the ipsilateral than contralateral parieto-occipital cortices 200–600 msec after the cue onset, possibly reflecting cross-modal modulation of the dorsal visual pathway during audiospatial attention. Comparisons of cortical power patterns also revealed significant increases of sustained right medial frontal cortex theta power, right dorsolateral pFC and anterior insula/inferior frontal cortex beta power, and medial parietal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex gamma activity after cued versus novelty-triggered orienting (600–1400 msec). Our results reveal sustained oscillatory patterns associated with voluntary engagement of auditory spatial attention, with the frontoparietal and temporal gamma increases being best predictors of subsequent behavioral performance.
Strategic marketing's contribution to Australasian golf club performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which strategic marketing planning is carried out by Australasian golf clubs and the impact such planning has upon their business performance.Design/methodology/approach – A research methodology borrowed from the “for profit” sector is applied. In total, ten basic strategic marketing practices, each with its own hypothesis, are investigated through a web‐based survey of secretaries/managers of 180 Australian and New Zealand golf clubs.Findings – Analysis shows that while strategic marketing is being adopted by most clubs, compared with their lower‐performing counterparts (on measures of competitive business performance), the higher‐performing clubs place a far greater emphasis upon each of the ten basic strategic marketing practices.Research limitations/implications – While the survey had a 24 per cent response rate, a small follow‐up survey of non‐respondents showed no significant difference in answers to four crucial questions. Self‐reporte.
Board Structure, Ownership Structure and Firm Performance: A Study of New Zealand Listed-Firms

This paper investigates the role of board structure and the effect of ownership structures on firm performance in New Zealand's listed firms. Several studies, the majority from the U.S., U.K. and Japan, have examined the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms, ownership structure and firm performance. Those studies yielded different results, affected by the nature of the prevailing governance system for each country. Investigating New Zealand's listed firms could enhance the diversity of the growing body of work that examines this relationship. Though the majority of studies only tested a linear relationship between variables, a number of studies have found a non-linear relationship between board structures, ownership structures and firm performance, and this study confirms the non-linear relationship. Using a balanced panel of 79 New Zealand listed firms, this study employs a Generalised Linear Model (GLM) for robustness. The result reveals that board of directors, board committees, and managerial ownership have a positive and significant impact on firm performance. Meanwhile, non-executive directors, female directors on the board and block holder ownership lower New Zealand firm performance.
Eddies and the annular modes of climate variability

The dominant modes of month‐to‐month variation in the troposphere are realistically simulated in a general circulation model whose lower boundary is prescribed with realistic topography and seasonally varying, climatological sea surface temperatures. In both hemispheres, these internal modes describe a nearly zonally symmetric, North‐South shifting of the zonal jets as anomalous westerlies vacillate between high (50°–60°) and low (30°–40°) latitudes. The eddy structures evolve with the jets, and the corresponding eddy momentum forcings support the shifts in jet position. Stationary (synoptic) wave variations mainly account for the total eddy forcings in the Northern (Southern) Hemisphere. Pronounced eddy variations occur over the North Atlantic sector.
Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Consumer Trust

This research aims at analyzing the impact of consumers' perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities on their trust toward the company and at highlighting the underlying mechanisms and conditions of this impact. This paper is based on a questionnaire survey administered to a sample of 618 consumers about cosmetics and sportswear. Results show that consumers' perceptions of CSR activities have a positive influence on their trust toward the company, directly and indirectly through the influence on perceived quality of the products offered and consumer satisfaction.
The ‘‘What’’ and ‘‘How’’ of Case Study Rigor: Three Strategies Based on Published Work

To provide evidence-based strategies for ensuring rigor of case studies, the authors examine what rigor types authors report and how they report them by content analyzing all case studies published 1995—2000 in 10 management journals. Comparing practices in articles addressing rigor extensively and less extensively, the authors reveal three strategies for insuring rigor. First, very few case study authors explicitly label the rigor criteria in terms of the concepts commonly used in the positivist tradition (construct, internal, and external validity, as well as reliability). Despite this, papers addressing rigor extensively do report concrete research actions taken to ensure methodological rigor. Second, papers addressing rigor extensively prioritized rigor types: more, and more detailed, strategies were reported for ensuring internal and construct validity than for external validity. Third, emergent strategies used in the field were reported, such as setbacks and serendipities, that necessitated changes to the originally planned research procedures. Authors focus squarely on the concrete research actions taken, carefully relaying them to the reader so that the reader may appreciate the logic and purpose of trade-off decisions in the context of the specific case study.
“Problem” Directors and Audit Fees

This research investigates the association between the presence of problem directors on company boards and audit committees and audit fees of companies. The presence of problem directors on company boards and audit committees is a sign of past management failures and indiscretions. Such weaknesses on the board may require more enhanced audit procedures, which can lead to higher audit fees. Using a sample of 1,405 firm-year observations from 2004 to 2009 of S&P500 firms we find that the presence of problem directors on the company board and audit committees is indeed positively associated with positive abnormal audit fees. This issue has implications for investors, auditors, directors and regulators.
Empirical Studies Of Revenue Management Practices: Understand Your Competition And Customers

EMPIRICAL STUDIES OF REVENUE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES: UNDERSTAND YOUR COMPETITION AND CUSTOMERS Jun Li Gerard Cachon This dissertation empirically examines factors that challenge revenue management practices in travel industry — air-travel and lodging. In particular, it focuses on strategic interactions among firms and strategic interactions between firms and customers. While most traditional revenue management focuses on single firm problems, better understanding competition and customers recently become two emerging themes in both theories and practices of revenue management. Meanwhile, with 20 years’ successful implementation of sophisticated revenue management systems in both airline and hotel industries, they have accumulated rich data to better understand threats and opportunities currently facing both industries. Furthermore, with the proliferation of online distribution channels, extensive information has been made available to both customers and competitors. How to utilize such opportunity to understand customers and competition remains a question to both industry professionals and academic researchers. This dissertation contains three parts. The first part studies implications of strategic alliances in the airline industry. Airlines in the same alliance are competitors and partners at the same time. After alliances are formed, airlines’ networks are expected to
Quantitative proteome-level analysis of paulownia witches’ broom disease with methyl methane sulfonate assistance reveals diverse metabolic changes during the infection and recovery processes

Paulownia witches’ broom (PaWB) disease caused by phytoplasma is a fatal disease that leads to considerable economic losses. Although there are a few reports describing studies of PaWB pathogenesis, the molecular mechanisms underlying phytoplasma pathogenicity in Paulownia trees remain uncharacterized. In this study, after building a transcriptome database containing 67,177 sequences, we used isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) to quantify and analyze the proteome-level changes among healthy P. fortunei (PF), PaWB-infected P. fortunei (PFI), and PaWB-infected P. fortunei treated with 20 mg L−1 or 60 mg L−1 methyl methane sulfonate (MMS) (PFI-20 and PFI-60, respectively). A total of 2,358 proteins were identified. We investigated the proteins profiles in PF vs. PFI (infected process) and PFI-20 vs. PFI-60 (recovered process), and further found that many of the MMS-response proteins mapped to “photosynthesis” and “ribosome” pathways. Based on our comparison scheme, 36 PaWB-related proteins were revealed. Among them, 32 proteins were classified into three functional groups: (1) carbohydrate and energy metabolism, (2) protein synthesis and degradation, and (3) stress resistance. We then investigated the PaWB-related proteins involved in the infected and recovered processes, and discovered that carbohydrate and energy metabolism was inhibited, and protein synthesis and degradation decreased, as the plant responded to PaWB. Our observations may be useful for characterizing the proteome-level changes that occur at different stages of PaWB disease. The data generated in this study may serve as a valuable resource for elucidating the pathogenesis of PaWB disease during phytoplasma infection and recovery stages.
Socio-demographic, host and clinical characteristics of people with typhoidal and non-typhiodal Salmonella gastroenteritis in urban Bangladesh *

Typhoidal (Salmonella enterica serover Typhi and Para-typhi A and B) (TS) and non-typhiodal Salmonella (NTS) gastroenteritis are less reported in Bangladesh. There is also a lack of report on socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of Bangladeshi people with typhoid fever and those with non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) gastroenteritis. Thus, the present study aimed to compare the socio-demographic, host and clinical characteristics, and seasonal variations between TS and NTS infections among patients attending at a large diarrheal disease hospital in urban Bangladesh. Information were extracted from the database of icddr,b in two different age stratums (0-14 years, and 15 years and above) as 54 with TS and 199 with NTS; and 65 with TS and 239 with NTS respectively after excluding all other pathogens. Randomly selected individuals with diarrhea but without any pathogen in stool constituted the control group (n = 253 and n = 304 respectively). Among 0-14 years, fever [aOR-4.35 (95% CI-1.45-13.06)] and drink unboiled water [aOR-0.22 (95% CI-0.06-0.83)] significantly differed between TS and NTS. Significant associations were observed with lower socio-economic context [aOR-10.02 (95% CI-3.79-26.45)], unbolied drinking water [aOR-2.16 (95% CI-1.05-4.43)], fever [aOR-4.54 (95% CI-1.71-12.03)], pneumonia [aOR-21.57 (95% CI-1.90-245.01)], wasting [aOR-2.60 (95% CI-1.21-5.57)], presence of RBC [aOR-0.09 (95% CI-0.02-0.33], leucocytes [aOR-3.97 (95% CI-1.76-8.99)] and macrophage [aOR-10.71 (95% CI-2.80-41.06)] in stool and alkaline pH [aOR-2.07 (95% CI-1.08-3.97)] when compared with control group. Among ≥15 years, TS was more frequently isolated from individuals with poor socio-economic background [aOR-2.09 (95% CI-1.0-4.33)] and use non-tap drinking water [aOR-0.29 (95% CI-0.13-0.66] compared to their NTS counterparts. Reported lack of formal schooling [aOR-0.65 (95% CI-0.44-0.96)], fever [aOR-2.10 (95% CI-1.03-4.31)], hospital stay (>24 hours) [aOR-1.66 (95% CI-1.05-2.62)], use of intravenous saline [aOR-0.50 (95% CI-0.34-0.76)] and RBC [aOR-2.34 (95% CI-1.23-4.45)] were associated with TS and NTS compared to control group. Socio-demographic, host and clinical characteristics between TS and NTS gastroenteritis were identical; however, findings significantly differed when compared with individuals presented with diarrhea but without any common enteric pathogen in stool.
The bank lending channel: An empirical analysis of EU accession countries from 2004-2013

In this paper a methodical empirical analysis of the bank lending channel of monetary transmission in the European Union’s 10 new member states is conducted. We specifically investigate the influence of monetary policy changes on bank lending activity and if this potential influence is contingent on bank characteristics, such as banks’ size, capital, liquidity and risk factor. Panel data compiled from a large number of banks from 2004 to 2013, and dynamic panel estimation methods are used. The results indicate the existence of a bank lending channel through bank liquidity; however, while liquidity and GDP growth maintain a beneficial and substantial impact on bank loan growth, the other bank characteristics are not considered to be important factors. Additionally, there is an indication of the effect of bank risk and liquidity from 2008 to 2010. Nevertheless, the lending channel has been weakened, serving as an additional refutation of bank-specific traits in allowing banks to maintain lending activity and growth during a financial crisis.
2p x-ray absorption of 3d transition-metal compounds: An atomic multiplet description including the crystal field.

The metal 2p x-ray-absorption spectra (or ${\mathit{L}}_{2,3}$ edges) of 3d transition-metal compounds are calculated, using atomic multiplet theory with inclusion of the cubic crystal field. A general overview of the effect of the cubic crystal field on the shape of the 3${\mathit{d}}^{\mathit{N}}$ to 2${\mathit{p}}^{5}$3${\mathit{d}}^{\mathit{N}+1}$ excitation spectrum is given for 14 common valencies of 3d transition-metal ions. Comparison to some high-resolution 2p x-ray-absorption spectra shows excellent agreement, which confirms the validity of the approach. Possible refinements of the theory, including lower-symmetry calculations and the inclusion of configuration interaction, are discussed.
Off-Farm Work and On-Farm Investment

This work has developed a theoretically consistent model of a farm household's choice between working on-farm and working off-farm and the effects of that choice on farm investment choices. The theory demonstrates the potential for wages driven by local economic conditions to be more important to dairy farm investment decisions than characteristics of dairy farms and farmers. The switching regression model developed from the theory is then tested with data from a representative sample of Wisconsin dairy farms. The econometric results demonstrate the importance of wages to farm investment decisions.
Federal Programs to Measure Consumer Purchase Expectations, 1946–1973: A Post-Mortem

In early 1973, the Bureau of the Census announced the discontinuation of the Survey of Consumer Buying Expectations. The Bureau of the Census had conducted quarterly surveys of buying plans since January 1959; first, through the Quarterly Survey of Consumer Buying Intentions (QSI) and, since 1967, through the Survey of Consumer Buying Expectations (CBE). This article describes the development of the Federal program and summarizes the evidence that led to the decision to discontinue the program.
ENVIRONMENTAL DISCLOSURE BY AUSTRALIAN COMPANIES: WHAT IS HAPPENING OUTSIDE THE ANNUAL REPORT?

The annual report has developed as one of the most common places to find environmental reporting, however, as is pointed out by many authors, there is no evidence that the annual report is used because it is the most appropriate medium or finds the relevant audiences for this type of material. This study therefore investigates a variety of other reporting media produced by Australian companies. A major implication of the findings is that except for the use of separate environmental reports or the company web site, little use is made of any other form of reporting media outside the annual report. The findings also suggest, however, that as the use of separate environmental reports increases, the predominance of disclosure in the annual report is diminishing, indicating a need for change in the direction of environmental disclosure research.
Swiss Nursing Homes Human Resources Project (SHURP): protocol of an observational study.

AIM To explore the relationships among various nursing homes characteristics including work environment, careworker outcomes and resident outcomes in Swiss nursing homes. BACKGROUND In Switzerland, a growing number of older people live in nursing homes. Although research has addressed the issue of quality of nursing care in such facilities, few have integrated a range of interrelated factors that may influence the quality and safety of residential care. The Swiss Nursing Homes Human Resources Project will comprehensively assess key organizational factors, their interrelationships and the associations between these factors and careworker and resident outcomes. DESIGN Cross-sectional design. METHODS Three-year multi-centre study (2011-2013) including a representative sample of approximately 160 nursing homes across the three language regions in Switzerland. Survey data will come from approximately 6000 careworkers and 160 administrators. Survey questionnaires will include variables on organizational facility characteristics and resident outcomes, careworker socio-demographic and professional characteristics, the quality of their work environments, resident safety climates and careworker outcomes. Appropriate descriptive and comparative analysis will be used and multivariate and multilevel analyses will be applied to examine the relationships among the various factors including quality of the work environment, safety climate, work stressors, rationing of care, workload, careworker and resident characteristics, as well as resident and careworker outcomes. DISCUSSION The study results will contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the interrelationships between key organizational factors and resident/careworker outcomes and will also support planning and conducting interventions to improve quality of care concerning organizational factors affecting careworkers in daily practice.
Quality Investing in CEE Emerging Markets

Using sorting, cross-sectional tests, regression, and tests of a monotonic relation, the study examines the return patterns related to seven distinct quality characteristics: accruals, bid-ask spread, balance sheet liquidity, profitability, leverage, payout ratio and turnover. The investigation of more than 1.300 stocks from 11 Central and Eastern European countries for the period 2002-2014 documents a strong gross-profitability premium and an inverted liquidity premium. Profitable and not heavily leveraged companies provide a partial hedge against market distress. Finally, the paper proposes quality spreads as a forecasting tool and shows that they have predictive abilities over quality premiums related to leverage, profitability and bid-ask spread.