Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Why do buyers share knowledge with suppliers in new product development? current and alternative supplier antecedents

ABSTRACT Purpose: Interfirm knowledge sharing has been well recognized to activate the performance and competitiveness improvement of the firms. Previous research has discussed the impacts of current suppliers on buyer–supplier knowledge sharing, but does not explain how this influence occurs. This study aims to disclose the mechanism by which both current and competing suppliers impact buyer–supplier knowledge sharing in buyers’ new product development activities. Methodology/approach: This study proposed a conceptual model based on relational exchange theory and developed eight hypotheses. Questionnaire survey was used to collect empirical data from R&D staff of Taiwanese electronics firms. This study distributed 1,475 questionnaires and received 246 eligible questionnaires. Structural equation modeling was used to test and verify appropriateness of the proposed model. Findings: The findings show that current supplier asset specificity positively and directly influences buyer–supplier knowledge sharing in new product development. The current supplier asset specificity also has indirect positive influence on buyer–supplier knowledge sharing in new product development via the mediating effects of buyer trust, satisfaction, and commitment. However, the attractiveness of alternative suppliers only indirectly and negatively affects buyer–supplier knowledge sharing via the mediating effects of buyer trust, satisfaction, and commitment. Research limitations/implications: This study surveyed the firms in Taiwanese electronics industry. Nevertheless, new product development activities are executed by electronics firms in numerous countries and firms in various industries. For validating the generalization of this study’s results, future research can investigate firms in other industries and countries to verify the proposed model and hypotheses. Practical implications: Current suppliers’ asset specificity is found to exert more influence on buyer–supplier knowledge sharing than alternative attractiveness. The findings imply that current suppliers should focus on investing specific assets for buyers other than stress the attractiveness and threat of competing suppliers. Originality/value/contribution: This study initiates to approach the antecedents and influence mechanism of current buyer–supplier knowledge sharing via both perspectives of current and competing suppliers.
The moderating role of seeking social support on coping styles and perceptions of organizational justice: A study with French and Turkish students

We examined the relationship between perceived organizational justice and coping styles in a cross-cultural comparison. Data were collected from university students in Paris, France (individualist culture; N = 192, age M = 21.6) and Istanbul, Turkey (collectivist culture; N = 251, age M = 22). The questionnaire (adapted from Colquitt, 2001) included ratings of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice at the university, and a coping style inventory (Vitaliano, Russo, Carr, Maiuro, Becker, 1985) measuring preference for problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping and seeking social support. In the Turkish data social-support seeking was higher than in the French sample and it was positively correlated with justice perceptions. When seeking social support was linked to problem-focused coping, it was also linked to a more positive evaluation of justice in the Turkish, but not the French data.
Online Banking Acceptance: The Influence of Perceived System Security on Perceived System Quality

Increasing popularity of online banking systems instead of traditional branch networking requires understanding customer behaviors as users of such systems. This research aims to investigate online banking acceptance among Bosnian university students by considering system, user, acceptance and performance related factors by considering a new relationship between perceived system security and perceived system quality. According to the results, the users perceive that (1) online banking system is not secure and poorly qualified but useful and easy to use; (2) the users themselves are slightly capable of using the system; (3) they have intention to use the system but don’t use the system; and (4) they are slightly satisfied with the system and increase their benefits. The results also provide that all hypotheses except the relationship between perceived ease of use and intention to use are supported. Perceived System Security, as a new dimension, is found to have positive effect on Perceived System Quality. It can be implied that if the system is qualified and the users are self-efficient about using the system, they perceive the system as easy to use and useful. It is suggested that banks better take necessary steps to persuade their customers about the system security and usefulness in completing their tasks.
Trade Facilitation and Firms Exports: The Case of Egypt

This paper tackles the impact of red tape barriers on firms’ exports. The topic of this paper is crucial in international trade for three main reasons: first, trade barriers—as argued by the WTO—are highly correlated to lengthy, bureaucratic and time consuming trade procedures that negatively affect firms’ exports. Second, these barriers are highly persistent and costly in developing countries such as Egypt. Third, they represent a deadweight loss as they do not generate any rent or revenue. In this study, we estimate a gravity model using Egyptian firm-level data to examine the impact of these barriers on firms’ exports. For administrative barriers, we use the Doing Business dataset developed by the World Bank. The findings show that red tape barriers negatively affect Egyptian firms. This effect seems more robust for both the extensive margin (the probability of exporting across different destinations) more than the intensive one (the value of exports). This result is also consistently robust even after we control for the selection bias that may arise in our regressions. Moreover, small and medium exporters are more likely to be affected by such barriers. Finally, for different economic sectors, not all products are affected by trade facilitation in the same way at the intensive margin level. By contrast, they are all negatively affected by administrative barriers at the extensive margin level.
The Role of Arachidonic Acid in Steroidogenesis and Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory (StAR) Gene and Protein Expression*

This study was conducted to examine the mechanism for arachidonic acid (AA) regulation of steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein expression and the relationship between AA and cAMP in hormone-induced steroidogenesis. Dibutyryl cyclic AMP (Bt2cAMP)-stimulated MA-10 Leydig cells were treated with AA and/or the phospholipase A2 inhibitor, dexamethasone. Dexamethasone significantly reduced Bt2cAMP-stimulated progesterone production, StAR promoter activity, StAR mRNA, and StAR protein. The inhibitory effects of dexamethasone were reversed by the addition of 150 μm AA to MA-10 cells. In addition, MA-10 cells were treated with the lipoxygenase inhibitor, nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA), the 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor, AA861, the epoxygenase inhibitor, miconazole, and the cyclooxygenase inhibitor, indomethacin. Both NDGA and AA861 inhibited progesterone production and StAR protein expression. AA861-inhibited progesterone synthesis and StAR protein were partially reversed by addition of the 5- lipoxygenase metabolite, 5(S)-hydroperoxy-(6E,8Z,11Z,14Z)-eicosatetraenoic acid. Inhibition of epoxygenase activity inhibited progesterone production significantly, but StAR protein was only slightly reduced. Indomethacin enhanced StAR protein expression and significantly increased progesterone production. Inhibition of AA release or lipoxygenase activities did not affect protein kinase A activity, whereas inhibition of protein kinase A activity using H89 reduced Bt2cAMP-induced StAR protein. AA alone did not induce StAR protein expression nor steroid production. These results demonstrate the essential role of AA in steroid biosynthesis and StAR gene transcription and suggest the possible involvement of the lipoxygenase pathway in steroidogenesis. This study further indicates that AA and cAMP transduce signals from trophic hormone receptors to the nucleus through two separate pathways and act to co-regulate steroid production and StAR gene expression and indicates that both pathways are required for trophic hormone-stimulated steroidogenesis.
Right hemisphere Left hemisphere Dorsal premotor Ventral premotor / Pars opercularis

Root, fifth, sixth, flatted seventh, octave, ninth, flatted seventh, octave, ninth, octave. When played with the right rhythm and attitude, these musical intervals will be recognized by many people as the main thematic refrain from So What, by Miles Davis. We are able to discern this because the pattern of intervallic relationships (of both pitch and time) forms the melody, no matter the starting pitch. If given the information that the root note is ‘D’, any trained musician will be able to compute the rest of the note names by identifying the intervallic distances between each note of the melody and the root (or any other note that has been determined), yielding D, A, B, C, D, E, C, D, E, D. This ability is referred to as relative pitch. A small minority of musicians, however, can identify all the notes ‘absolutely’, each in isola tion and without reference to any other note. In other words, they possess some sort of internal template, a stable repre sentation of pitches to which they can compare the incoming signal and subsequently identify the notes by name, by sound ing them on an instrument, or other responses. This is referred to as perfect or absolute pitch (AP). A compre hensive review of the factors influencing the likelihood of acquiring AP is far beyond the scope of this brief commentary, although the two most frequently mentioned are early musical training (particularly during an early developmental phase during which there is relatively preserved affinity for absolute infor ma tion), and a predisposing biology, the nature of which is still largely speculated. As we will see shortly, a brain func tional magnetic resonance imaging study compar ing musicians with and without AP published recently in BMC Neuroscience by Schulze and colleagues [1] now fits another piece to the puzzle.
A Randomized Comparison of Misoprostol 6 to 8 Hours Versus 24 Hours After Mifepristone for Abortion

OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate equivalence between mifepristone 200 mg followed 6 to 8 hours later and 24 hours later by misoprostol 800 &mgr;g vaginally for abortion in women up to 63 days of gestation. METHODS: Mifepristone 200 mg was swallowed by 1,080 women after which they were randomly assigned to self-administer misoprostol intravaginally 6 to 8 hours later (group 1) or 23 to 25 hours later (group 2) at home. Participants returned for an evaluation, including transvaginal ultrasonography, 7 ± 1 days after initiating treatment. Subjects who had not aborted were offered a second dose of misoprostol. All participants returned approximately 2 weeks after receiving mifepristone. Telephone contact was also attempted approximately 5 weeks after treatment. Treatment was considered a failure if a suction aspiration was performed for any indication. RESULTS: Complete abortion rates for groups 1 and 2 were 503 of 525 (95.8%, 95% confidence interval 93.7%, 97.3%) and 521 of 531 (98.1%, 95% confidence interval 96.6%, 99.1%), respectively, which were statistically equivalent. Side effects were significantly more common after mifepristone administration for women in group 2. Nausea, vomiting, and heavy bleeding were also significantly greater for women in group 2 after misoprostol treatment. Pain and subject acceptability were similar between groups. CONCLUSION: Mifepristone 200 mg followed 6 to 8 hours later by misoprostol 800 &mgr;g vaginally is as effective for abortion and has significantly fewer side effects as compared with regimens using a 24-hour dosing interval. Women receiving mifepristone and vaginal misoprostol for abortion can have the flexibility to administer the misoprostol as soon as 6 hours after using the mifepristone. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: I
The large majority of 1520 patients with indeterminate thyroid nodule at cytology have a favorable outcome, and a clinical risk score has a high negative predictive value for a more cumbersome cancer disease.

CONTEXT Clinical management of patients with thyroid nodules indeterminate at fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytology is still unsettled. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to establish the clinical outcome of patients with thyroid nodules indeterminate at cytology and to identify the features associated with malignancy. DESIGN AND PATIENTS This was a retrospective evaluation of 1520 consecutive patients with indeterminate cytology among 100 065 patients who underwent FNA between January 2000 and December 2010. RESULTS Of 1520 patients, 371 (24.4 %) had thyroid cancer at histology, the follicular variant of papillary cancer being the most frequent histotype, and 342 patients with cancer were free of disease after thyroidectomy and (131)I remnant ablation, whereas 29 needed further treatment because of persistent disease. Among them, only 12 had persistence of disease at the end of follow-up. Atypias at cytology (P = .001), blurred nodule margins (P = .005), and spot microcalcifications (P = .003) at thyroid ultrasound (US) were significantly associated with malignancy. A clinical score including cytology and US characteristics was calculated; the lowest value showed a high negative predictive value (83.9%) for the presence of malignancy and even higher (99.5%) for the presence of a more cumbersome cancer disease, and only 4 of the 29 patients who needed further treatment were included in the group with the lowest risk score. CONCLUSIONS Patients with Thy 3 cytology and histology of thyroid cancer had an overall good prognosis. A clinical risk score including the results of cytology and US features is helpful in the management of patients with indeterminate thyroid nodules.
EFFECT OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ON PERFORMANCE OF TOURISM SECTOR IN KENYA: A CASE OF KENYA TOURISM BOARD (KTB)

Kenya Tourism Board is charged with the responsibility of marketing Kenya as a tourist destination of choice. Statistics from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics indicate that the number of tourists coming to Kenya has declined over time. Despite knowledge being recognized as an important asset many organizations are not doing enough to effectively manage this important asset for competitive advantage. Effective knowledge management can help an organization to improve internal processes, customer services and products. This study sought to determine the effect of knowledge management on performance in the tourism sector in Kenya with special focus on Kenya Tourism Board. This study adopted a case study research design. The study population for this study was 72 employees of Kenya Tourism Board at their head office in Nairobi. Quantitative data collected were analyzed using SPSS (Version 20). The study established that the organization identified the skills needed to attain organizational goals, experienced staff needed to apply available knowledge more effectively and apply the right skills and knowledge in the right task. The study concluded that knowledge identification affected the performance of the Kenya Tourism Board and to a great extent; this was because the Kenya Tourism Board identified the skills needed to attain organizational goals. The study concluded that knowledge acquisition affected the performance of the Kenya Tourism Board and to a great extent; this was because skills acquisition through research improved the way resources are utilized. Key Words: Knowledge Identification, Knowledge Acquisition, Performance of Kenya Tourism Board
The adequacy of medical ethics education in a pediatrics training program

PURPOSE. To identify ethical dilemmas commonly encountered during pediatrics training as a step toward improving medical ethics curricula for residents. METHOD. The authors identified seven recurring topics by reviewing the required case reports on ethical dilemmas experienced by students in the third-year pediatrics clerkship from June 1992 to June 1994 at the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Based on the topics identified, the authors then surveyed pediatrics housestaff in 1993–94 regarding the frequency of encountering the topics, levels of comfort in addressing the topics, role models and resources, and perceived need for improved training. RESULTS. A total of 214 student essays were reviewed. Thirty-six of 50 residents responded to the survey. In the following list of the seven topics, percentages are given for students who reported the topic, for residents who encountered the topic “very frequently” or “sometimes,” and for residents who felt “very comfortable” or “somewhat comfortable” addressing the topic: child abuse or neglect (students reported, 28%, residents encountered, 94%, residents felt comfortable, 86%); use of heroic measures to maintain a terminal patient (20%, 89%, 69%); patient confidentiality (19%, 81%, 92%); resource allocation (12%, 67%, 54%); surrogate decision making (7%, 69%, 75%); patient autonomy (4%, 86%, 69%); and disclosure of information (2%, 69%, 60%). Eighty percent of the residents felt they could not intervene when they disagreed with decisions; 69% felt their training had not prepared them to address ethical dilemmas; 69% thought attending physicians were interested in discussing ethical issues; and 74% desired more training. CONCLUSION. Based on their self-reported experiences with topics identified as occurring frequently in pediatrics training, the residents perceived their training to be inadequate and desired more ethics education, but felt that the faculty were willing to assist in that training.
Molecular analysis of a complex locus from Haemophilus influenzae invoked in phase‐variable lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis

A chromosomal locus, lic3, one of several involved in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) biosynthesis by Haemophilus influenzae, was cloned and its DNA sequence determined. Iic3 comprises four closely apposed open reading frames (ORFs). ORF1 includes tandem repeats of the tetramer CAAT and two start codons out of frame with each other are found upstream of the repeats. ORF1 encodes a protein with no known homologues. 0RF2 encodes the UDP‐galactose‐4‐epimerase (galE) gene. ORF3 encodes a hydrophobic protein with no known homologues. 0RF4 encodes the adenylate kinase (adk) gene. A deletion/insertion mutation lacking the 3′ end of ORF1, all of galE, and the 5′ end of ORF3 was constructed in the parent Hib strain (RM7004). These mutants had a galE phenotype, as evidenced by galactose sensitivity, altered LPS when grown in the absence of exogenous galactose, and reduced virulence in infant rats.
Calcium receptor expression and function in oligodendrocyte commitment and lineage progression: Potential impact on reduced myelin basic protein in CaR‐null mice

Oligodendrocytes develop from oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs), which in turn arise from a subset of neuroepithelial precursor cells during midneurogenesis. Development of the oligodendrocyte lineage involves a plethora of cell‐intrinsic and ‐extrinsic signals. A cell surface calcium‐sensing receptor (CaR) has been shown to be functionally expressed in immature oligodendrocytes. Here, we investigated the expression and function of the CaR during oligodendrocyte development. We show that the order of CaR mRNA expression as assessed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction is mature oligodendrocyte > neuron > astrocyte. We next determined the rank order of CaR expression on inducing specification of neural stem cells to the neuronal, oligodendroglial, or astrocytic lineages and found that the relative levels of CaR mRNA expression are OPC > neuron > astrocytes. CaR mRNA expression in cells at various stages of development along the oligodendrocyte lineage revealed that its expression is robustly up‐regulated during the OPC stage and remains high until the premyelinating stage, decreasing thereafter by severalfold in the mature oligodendrocyte. In OPCs, high Ca2+ acting via the CaR promotes cellular proliferation. We further observed that high Ca2+ stimulates the mRNA levels of myelin basic protein in preoligodendrocytes, which is also CaR mediated. Finally, myelin basic protein levels were significantly reduced in the cerebellum of CaR‐null mice during development. Our results show that CaR expression is up‐regulated when neural stem cells are specified to the oligodendrocyte lineage and that activation of the receptor results in OPC expansion and differentiation. We conclude that the CaR may be a novel regulator of oligodendroglial development and function. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
What You Say and How You Say It: Information Disclosure in Latin American Firms

Firms in Latin America could differentiate themselves by adopting better information disclosure practices. In this paper, we construct an Information Disclosure Index (IDI) for a sample of 454 firms in the six largest Latin America countries. We look at 3.191 company reports and show that firms with better disclosure practices have better market valuation (Tobin’s Q) and operating performance (ROE). We then measure the tone of the information disclosed using word content analysis, and find that uncertainty in tone is negatively associated with higher firm valuation (Tobin’s Q) and better financial performance (ROE).
Tubedown-1 (Tbdn-1) suppression in oxygen-induced retinopathy and in retinopathy of prematurity.

PURPOSE Identification of unique proteins involved in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) may facilitate new and more effective diagnostic tools and molecular-based treatments for ROP. Tubedown-1 (Tbdn-1), a novel homeostatic protein which copurifies with an acetyltransferase activity, is expressed in normal retinal endothelium and is specifically suppressed in retinal endothelial cells from patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Furthermore, recent in vivo knockdown studies in mice have revealed that Tbdn-1 is important for retinal blood vessel homeostasis and for preventing retinal neovascularization in adults. The purpose of the present study was to determine if the expression pattern of Tbdn-1 is altered during oxygen-induced retinal neovascularization in mice and in a specimen of stage 3 human ROP. METHODS Specimens of oxygen-induced retinal neovascularization in mice, and a single specimen of active stage 3 ROP were studied by immunohistochemistry and digital image analysis using antibodies raised against Tbdn-1 and other blood vessel markers. RESULTS The pattern of Tbdn-1 expression during the course of oxygen-induced retinal neovascularization in mice suggests a regulating role in neonatal retinopathy. Retinal lesions from oxygen-induced retinal neovascularization in mice display suppression of retinal endothelial Tbdn-1 protein expression in conjunction with an increase in expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (a marker of proliferation) and alpha smooth muscle actin (a marker of myofibroblastic cells). Abnormal blood vessels within vitreoretinal neovascular lesions in a human specimen of active stage 3 ROP did not show Tbdn-1 protein expression. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that the loss of retinal endothelial Tbdn-1 expression may be a contributing factor in retinal blood vessel proliferation in ROP.