Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Personal and Structural Determinants of the Pace of Strategic Decision Making

A model of the determinants of strategic decision-making pace that incorporates the role of individual differences among executive decision makers, organizational structural characteristics, and industry effects is developed. Drawing on data from 151 firms, we found that chief executive officers' cognitive ability, use of intuition, tolerance for risk, and propensity to act associated positively with speedy decisions. Decision pace appeared to be faster in centralized organizations and slower in formalized organizations. Our results also suggest that the construct of comprehensiveness has both cognitive and organizational structural aspects, with cognitive comprehensiveness relating positively and organizational comprehensiveness, negatively, to strategic decision-making pace.
Going Beyond What’s Expected: Cognitively-Diverse Boards of Directors and Their Impact on Firm Sustainability Initiatives

While institutional pressure and shareholder action has increased board of director accountability with regard to overseeing the operational needs of the firm to maintain both legitimacy and good legal standing, as an individual and as a board; there has been a simultaneous push to increase the cognitive diversity of boards of directors. The increased focus on operational performance measures coupled with changes to the composition of the board can have a serious impact on the ability for boards to communicate and reach consensus on discretionary activities. We propose to study whether cognitive diversity reduces the number and type of sustainability initiatives. While tenure and time together on the board have positive impacts on the ability of boards to initiate action, cognitive diversity actually serves to reduce the number of initiatives firms undertake and appears to reduce financial performance of the firms studied. These hypotheses are tested through an analysis of almost 150,000 voluntary disclosures, in the form of press releases, from non-financial firms in the Fortune 500, a sample which also includes an analysis of the profiles of 3,833 individual board directors using traditional and newly-developed measures of cognitive diversity. This paper demonstrates that while higher levels of cognitive diversity do not affect the ability for boards to reach consensus on operational initiatives, these higher levels of cognitive diversity do impact the ability to engage in discretionary initiatives.
The Impact of User Interactions in Social Media on Brand Awareness and Purchase Intention: The Case of MINI on Facebook

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to analyze how social media activities, in specifically the Facebook page of a car manufacturer, and user interactions with these brand related activities affect the perception of brands and ultimately influence consumers purchase decision. Based on an online survey with users of the corporation's Facebook fanpage, and in accordance to hierarchy of effects theory the author's findings show the positive effect of fanpage engagement on consumers' brand awareness, word of mouth (WOM) activities, and purchase intention. The findings further indicate that annoyance with the fanpage due to information overload leads to negative effects on fanpage commitment and to decreased WOM activities. From a theoretical standpoint the results of this study contribute to understanding of the value-enhancing potential of social media campaigns. Design/methodology/approach – To answer the authors' research questions and test their hypotheses, a study was set up in cooperation with the .
Mometasone furoate/formoterol in the treatment of persistent asthma

Mometasone furoate and formoterol fumarate dihydrate (MF/F) administered via metered-dose inhaler with a dose counter is a new fixed-dose combination of an inhaled corticosteroid and a long-acting β2-agonist indicated for daily maintenance therapy in patients aged ≥12 years with persistent asthma. Randomized, controlled trials have suggested that MF/F reduces asthma deteriorations while improving lung function and other measures of asthma control, including quality-of-life. Clinical safety studies lasting up to 1 year have found that MF/F has a low incidence of local and systemic side effects.
How do wet markets still survive in Taiwan

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to answer why wet markets still survive in Taiwan while facing to fierce competition from western-style supermarkets. Design/methodology/approach – The authors adopt the perspectives of retail service to develop a model to address how food quality, relational benefit, and personnel service affect consumers’ satisfaction. A sample of 250 consumers was surveyed in a major wet market at Taiwan. Findings – The results obtained from the partial least square (PLS) method reveal that food quality and relational benefit positively affect consumers’ satisfaction, and the effects of these increase with time; employee service has a positive effect on consumers’ satisfaction, but the effect decreases with time; and the ambience does affect consumer satisfaction, but the store design does not. Originality/value – This paper provides empirical answers to the question about why wet markets still play a critical role in the food retailing industry in a newly industrial economy where.
HRM Practices and Employee Performance in Public Sector Organizations in Pakistan: An Empirical Study

This paper undertakes the analysis of declining performance in Pakistani public sector organizations. The survey was conducted to examine the implementation of HR practices and determine their relationship/impact with/on employees' performance efficiency in organization. Design/Methodology/Approach The present study is based on the idea that HR practices affect performance all the way to inculcate with modern HR practices for organizational performance. A questionnaire based on 27 items was adapted for data collection from 120 managers of Lahore based eleven public organizations of Pakistan. Positivist school of thought was conceived for this study. Pearson correlation and regression tests were applied to test the hypotheses. Findings Perceptive measures give a clue of impact of HRM practices on individual and collective performance. Public organizations do not reflect steady performance. There is a dearth of research tools to measure effectiveness of HRM practices and their mutual complementarities. Complementarities and their effects ensure steady performance at individual and collective level to get strategic objectives in the public organizations of Pakistan. Limitations and Future Research Directions Research context was limited to Lahore based eleven public organizations because of limited access to these organizations. Future research may extend this to other cities as well as to provinces to prove more effective. Practical Implications Public organizations should ensure a good degree of employee participation in decision making within their job sphere with a viable compensation plan. If organizations in developing countries are desirous to get escalating performance from the employees, they should develop their indigenous HRM practices to inculcate with modern HR practices. Originality/Value Declining performance is the visible gap in public organizations of Pakistan due to lack of understanding of HRM practices. HRM practices and employees performance is a black box area to investigate.
Resection of the tibial shaft for osteomyelitis in children. A thirty-two-year follow-up study.

Our purpose is to reach into the past autd shossresults of diaphuyseal resection at the Presetut time amtd thus’, perhaps, to provide iuufornuat.ion for the future. The basis for this uvork is to be found itt Oilier’s moiuograph published itt 1894, imi us’hichi hue referred to uvork he had done from 1858 to 1867. Imi 1870, Cheever reported huis first clinical case of regeneration of the tibia folioss-ing diaphys’eal resectiout for ost.eonuyelitis’. Excellent. reviews svere comtt.ributed by Nichols itt 1902 amid by Phemuuister itt 1915. Regeneration of the tibial shaft after resectiomi amid fibular tranisplauttat.ioui for reconstruction of the tibia after resectioti for osteomuuyehit.is amid tumor had beemi recorded 1,11 before auty of our patients had beemi seemi amid cared for. The length of observation and the presentation of late etid results are the omuly justificat.ioui for thus report uvhich presemits a follouv-up study of six childremi, origimiahly reported mi 1933 They all had had resection of the tibial shaft for os’teonuyelitis’ betuveen the years 1925 amid 1932. Developments occurrimtg itt the imit.ervemtiuig t.hirt. y-tw’o years have
Using Length of Stay to Control for Unobserved Heterogeneity When Estimating Treatment Effect on Hospital Costs with Observational Data: Issues of Reliability, Robustness, and Usefulness.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the sensitivity of treatment effect estimates when length of stay (LOS) is used to control for unobserved heterogeneity when estimating treatment effect on cost of hospital admission with observational data. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING We used data from a prospective cohort study on the impact of palliative care consultation teams (PCCTs) on direct cost of hospital care. Adult patients with an advanced cancer diagnosis admitted to five large medical and cancer centers in the United States between 2007 and 2011 were eligible for this study. STUDY DESIGN Costs were modeled using generalized linear models with a gamma distribution and a log link. We compared variability in estimates of PCCT impact on hospitalization costs when LOS was used as a covariate, as a sample parameter, and as an outcome denominator. We used propensity scores to account for patient characteristics associated with both PCCT use and total direct hospitalization costs. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS We analyzed data from hospital cost databases, medical records, and questionnaires. Our propensity score weighted sample included 969 patients who were discharged alive. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS In analyses of hospitalization costs, treatment effect estimates are highly sensitive to methods that control for LOS, complicating interpretation. Both the magnitude and significance of results varied widely with the method of controlling for LOS. When we incorporated intervention timing into our analyses, results were robust to LOS-controls. CONCLUSIONS Treatment effect estimates using LOS-controls are not only suboptimal in terms of reliability (given concerns over endogeneity and bias) and usefulness (given the need to validate the cost-effectiveness of an intervention using overall resource use for a sample defined at baseline) but also in terms of robustness (results depend on the approach taken, and there is little evidence to guide this choice). To derive results that minimize endogeneity concerns and maximize external validity, investigators should match and analyze treatment and comparison arms on baseline factors only. Incorporating intervention timing may deliver results that are more reliable, more robust, and more useful than those derived using LOS-controls.
The Genome of the Trinidadian Guppy, Poecilia reticulata, and Variation in the Guanapo Population

For over a century, the live bearing guppy, Poecilia reticulata, has been used to study sexual selection as well as local adaptation. Natural guppy populations differ in many traits that are of intuitively adaptive significance such as ornamentation, age at maturity, brood size and body shape. Water depth, light supply, food resources and predation regime shape these traits, and barrier waterfalls often separate contrasting environments in the same river. We have assembled and annotated the genome of an inbred single female from a high-predation site in the Guanapo drainage. The final assembly comprises 731.6 Mb with a scaffold N50 of 5.3 MB. Scaffolds were mapped to linkage groups, placing 95% of the genome assembly on the 22 autosomes and the X-chromosome. To investigate genetic variation in the population used for the genome assembly, we sequenced 10 wild caught male individuals. The identified 5 million SNPs correspond to an average nucleotide diversity (π) of 0.0025. The genome assembly and SNP map provide a rich resource for investigating adaptation to different predation regimes. In addition, comparisons with the genomes of other Poeciliid species, which differ greatly in mechanisms of sex determination and maternal resource allocation, as well as comparisons to other teleost genera can begin to reveal how live bearing evolved in teleost fish.
Hedge Fund Activism

This paper examines the causes and consequences of hedge fund activism. Hedge funds target profitable and healthy firms, with above-average cash holdings. The target firms earn significantly higher abnormal stock returns around the initial 13D filing date than a sample of control firm. However, they do not show improvements in accounting performances in the year after the initial purchase. Instead, hedge funds extract cash from the firm through increases in the target s debt capacity and higher dividends. Examination of proxy fights and threats accompanying the activist campaign suggests that hedge fund managers achieve their goals by posing a credible threat of engaging the target in a costly proxy solicitation contest.
Development of axonal arbors of layer 6 pyramidal neurons in ferret primary visual cortex

We followed the development of axonal arbors of layer 6 pyramidal neurons in ferret striate cortex to determine whether early developing axon collaterals are formed specifically in the correct target layers from the outset or achieve their adult specificity by the elimination of initially exuberant projections. These neurons were chosen for study because they are amongst the first to be generated in the developing ferret's striate cortex, and, in mature animals, these cells have axonal arbors that are highly specific for layer 4 and to a lesser extent layers 2/3 but have few collateral branches in layer 5. The axonal arbors of individual layer 6 pyramidal neurons were reconstructed following labeling in living slices prepared from the striate cortex of ferrets aged 13–35 days postnatal (P13–35). At the earliest ages (P13–15), axonal arbors consisted of a simple axon extending from the base of the cell body into the subplate or white matter and usually forming a few collateral branches but never ascending into layer 5. By P19–20, about one‐half of the cells had extended axon collaterals into layer 5 or higher, and these already appeared to branch preferentially in layer 4. All of the cells from older animals had substantial axonal arbors in layers 2–4. By P26–28, there were approximately ten times as many axonal branches in layer 4 as in layer 5. Between P26–28 and P35, there was no significant change in the number of branches in layer 5, but the numbers of both branches and of axon collateral terminations in layer 4 approximately doubled. Thus, the extent of axonal arborization in layer 4 increases dramatically between P13 and P35, and growth is highly specific for correct target layers, with few branches formed in layer 5. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
ASSESSMENT OF MICROBIAL CONTAMINATION IN BEEF FROM ABATTOIR TO RETAIL MEAT OUTLETS IN MOROGORO MUNICIPALITY, TANZANIA

The aim of this study was to assess microbial contamination in beef production chain from abattoir to retail meat outlets in Morogoro municipality. A total of 102 water, meat and surface swab samples from evisceration tables, walls, floors, meat van floors and knives in abattoir were collected and analyzed for Total Viable Counts (TVC), Total Coliform Counts (TCC) and Total Faecal Coliform Counts (TFC). Meat and surface swabs from weighing balances, knives, meat chopping tables, wood cutting blocks in 14 retail meat outlets were also collected and analyzed for the same microbial contamination parameters. The mean values for TVC, TCC and TFC in abattoir were highest in meat samples from neck regions with 7.72, 6.92 and 6.73 log Colony Forming Unit per gram (CFU/g) respectively. The lowest TVC were on knives being 4.13 log CFU/cm 2 . There was no growth for TCC and TFC in water samples. In beef retail outlets the highest mean values for TVC, TCC and TFC were in meat samples being 7.24, 5.55 and 5.27 log CFU/g respectively. The lowest TVC mean values were in weighing balances being 5.77 log CFU/cm 2 . The lowest mean values for TCC and TFC were observed on meat chopping tables being 4.13 log CFU/cm 2 and 3.47 log CFU/cm 2 respectively. There were higher mean values for TVC, TCC and TFC in abattoir compared to retail meat outlets. Results revealed that practices for personal and environmental hygiene were not adhered. Microbial contamination in beef from abattoir to retail meat outlets indicated low hygienic standards on meat produced in the area. Policies, regulations and procedures for hygienic slaughtering practices and handling of meat along the meat production chain should be adhered and enforced by relevant agencies/authorities in order to ensure that the meat produced is wholesome and safe for human consumption.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance: Does CEO Compensation Really Matter?

With the increasing emphasis on environmental protection in the global economy, CEOs are under immense pressure from their stakeholders to improve corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, prior studies have contradictory conclusions about the relationship between CSR and financial performance (FP). We thus extend prior research by investigating whether CEO compensation moderates the CSR-FP link. This study uses US firm data from the KLD database for the period 2003-2011. The results of the empirical analysis indicate that CEO compensation with a long-run focus can positively moderate the link between the people aspect of CSR and long-run FP. This is thus consistent with signaling theory, which states that CEO compensation with a long-run focus increases the incentive to hire women and minorities, and enhances the good treatment of employees. As a result, firms engaging more in the people aspect of CSR activities tend to have greater overall long-run profitability.
Metabolic syndrome and components exacerbate osteoarthritis symptoms of pain, depression and reduced knee function.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its co-morbidities in patients with primary knee osteoarthritis and to assess if the severity of metabolic syndrome, and components, correlates with the severity of osteoarthritis symptoms. METHODS A case controlled analysis of 70 patients with osteoarthritis compared to a control group of 81 patients. Each patient underwent clinical review including history, examination, and pathology tests. The case-group all had stage IV osteoarthritis as determined by radiographs and intra-operative assessment. In addition a visual analogue scale (VAS), Hospital for Special Surgery knee score (HSS), and Hamilton Depression scores were completed. RESULTS The prevalence of hypertension, obesity, dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome was significantly higher in the patients with osteoarthritis compared to the control group. There is a significant correlation between the degree of hypertension, the presence of dyslipidemia or hyperglycemia and the severity of osteoarthritis symptoms. Variables hypertension, low HDL-C levels, and the number of co-morbidities were all identified as risk factors for increased osteoarthritis symptoms. CONCLUSIONS There is a correlation between the number of metabolic disorders, the severity of hypertension and severity of osteoarthritis symptoms. Hypertension and decreased HDL-cholesterol were positive risk factors for increased osteoarthritis symptomatology.
THE ANALYSIS OF ANTECEDENTS FOR THE VIDEO TELEPHONY SERVICE ADOPTION: FROM THE VALUE-BASED PERSPECTIVE

Korean Telecommunications Industry has a large scale market and boasts on high service quality and high technologies enough to provide the Video Telephony Service (VTS) satisfactorily. For many years, Korean telephone companies have been investing enormous sums to advertise their services widely and to allow their customers to change their cell phones for the third-generation (3G) devices indispensable for the service. However, despite their efforts, the VTS adoption rate in Korea is very low and it seems that customers seldom feel the necessity to use. From this viewpoint, it becomes necessary to find the antecedents influencing the intention to use for the VTS empirically. For this purpose, we proposed several hypotheses from the perspective of the Value-based Adoption Model (VAM). VAM is a conceptual model suggested to overcome some limitations of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in explaining the adoption of new Information and Communication Technology (ICT) such as Mobile Internet where customers play the role of service consumer rather than simply technology users. We conducted a survey on 125 samples and found that customers perceive the value of VTS when they can recognize the service is functionally useful (Perceived Usefulness) and when they feel they can put themselves forward by using it (Self-Expression). On the other hand, the other factors including Technical Complexity, Privacy Concern and Perceived Price (Fee) don’t have statistically significant influences on the Perceived Value of VTS.
Re-Examination of the Ex-Dividend Day Behaviour of Canadian Stock Prices

We examine the ex-dividend day price and volume behaviour in the Canadian stock market and show evidence on the co-existence of both the tax and short-term trading effects. By examining the abnormal returns as well as abnormal volumes around ex-day we find strong evidence of short-term trading which is consistent the presence of dividend-capturing activities around the ex-dividend day. By examining the abnormal returns before (after) the ex-dividend day, we also find evidence of the buying (selling) pressure created by short-term traders.
Growth and Thallus Morphogenesis of Ulva mutabilis (Chlorophyta) Depends on A Combination of Two Bacterial Species Excreting Regulatory Factors

Axenic Ulva mutabilis gametes develop parthenogenetically into callus‐like colonies consisting of undifferentiated cells without normal cell walls. From the accompanying microbial flora of established laboratory strains of U. mutabilis with normal morphology, a Roseobacter, a Sulfitobacter, and a Halomonas species were isolated. Each of these microbe species alone induced the development of the Ulva gametes into thalli composed of differentiated cells with characteristic deficiencies. Typical traits of these thalli were: an enhanced rate of cell division not followed by cell expansion, the presence of unusual cell wall protrusions, and the absence of differentiated rhizoid cells. The addition of a Cytophaga species, also derived from the same microbial flora, to either one of the three other strains resulted in the development of normal fast growing thalli with the typical morphology of the algal strain used. These effects are mediated by specific regulatory factors that are excreted into the environment by the bacteria and could be also isolated from the bacterial cell extracts. In contrast with the Cytophaga‐factor, the regulatory factor of the three other bacterial species was also found intracellularly in other bacterial strains not associated with Ulva, but in this case it was not excreted. Functionally, the Roseobacter‐, Sulfitobacter‐, and Halomonas‐factors resemble a cytokinin, while the Cytophaga‐factor acts similar to auxin. Neither factor could be replaced by known phytohormones. The Roseobacter species exhibits a specific chemotactic affinity to the rhizoid cells of U. mutabilis and seems to cooperate with the Cytophaga strain and the alga by chemical communication forming a symbiotic tripartite community.