Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fostering Employee Engagement through Human Resource Practices: A Case of Manufacturing Firms in Malaysia

ABSTRACT The primary objective of this study is to determine the influence of human resource management (HRM) practices on employee engagement. HRM practices comprise of training and development, financial and non-financial recognition, fringe benefits, and supervisor-subordinate relationship. A total of 306 operational level employees in manufacturing firms in the Northern Region of Peninsular Malaysia reported on HRM practices in their respective organizations as well as their level of engagement at work. Statistical analyses were conducted to examine the influence of HRM practices on employee engagement. The findings reported a significant and positive impact of financial and non-financial recognition as well as fringe benefits on employee engagement. The regression analysis result indicated that 40 percent of total variance of employee engagement was explained by HRM practices dimensions. Discussions elaborated on the research results while implications brought to fore the theoretical and practical contributions of this study. Finally, recommendations addressed several directions for future research. Keywords: Human resource management practice; Employee engagement; Malaysia ABSTRAK Objektif utama kajian ini adalah untuk mengkaji pengaruh amalan pengurusan sumber manusia (PSM) terhadap keterlibatan pekerja. Amalan PSM terdiri daripada latihan dan pembangunan, pengiktirafan kewangan dan bukan kewangan, faedah sampingan, dan hubungan penyelia dengan pekerja. Sejumlah 306 pekerja peringkat operasi dalam syarikat perkilangan di kawasan Utara Semenanjung Malaysia telah menjawab soal-selidik mengenai amalan PSM dalam organisasi masing-masing serta tahap keterlibatan mereka di tempat kerja. Analisis statistik telah dijalankan untuk mengenalpasti pengaruh amalan PSM terhadap keterlibatan pekerja. Hasil kajian mendapati terdapat hubungan yang signifikan dan positif antara pengiktirafan kewangan dan bukan kewangan serta faedah sampingan dengan keterlibatan pekerja. Keputusan analisis regresi juga menunjukkan bahawa amalan PSM menjelaskan sebanyak 40 peratus varians dalam keterlibatan pekerja. Perbincangan memperjelaskan hasil kajian manakala implikasi menjelaskan sumbangan teoretikal dan praktikal kajian ini. Akhir sekali, cadangan kajian mengemukakan beberapa arah kajian untuk masa hadapan. Kata kunci: Amalan pengurusan sumber manusia; Keterlibatan pekerja; Malaysia
Whole blood glutathione peroxidase and erythrocyte superoxide dismutase activities, serum trace elements (Se, Cu, Zn) and cardiovascular risk factors in subjects from the city of Ponta Delgada, Island of San Miguel, The Azores Archipelago, Portugal

Abstract Activities of whole blood glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD) and serum levels of selenium (Se), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) were measured in 118 apparently healthy subjects aged 20–60 years from the city of Ponta Delgada, Island of San Miguel, The Azores Archipelago, Portugal. Data were analysed by age/gender, lipid profile and blood pressure as cardiovascular risk factors searching for their relevance when assessing reference values for antioxidant biomarkers. GSH-Px was in the same range, but SOD was significantly lower than in other Portuguese populations. Neither activity differed with gender. GSH-Px activity increased with age, namely in normolipidemic men versus the hyperlipidemic group in which a decrease was observed. This suggests a progressive impairment of GSH-Px with age caused by an enhanced production of oxidant species in hyperlipidemia. GSH-Px was 30% lower in male hypertensives versus normotensives. SOD activity did not relate to age or blood pressure but was 17% higher in the hyperlipidemic men versus the normolipidemic group, suggesting a better antioxidant protection by SOD than by GSH-Px in hyperlipidemia and hypertension. Se was higher in men versus women, particularly in the older subjects, and partly related to hyperlipidemia. Zn levels showed a similar dependency on gender, not related to age or lipid profile. Cu levels were much higher in women than in men in all age or lipid profile classes and decreased in hyperlipidemia. They were lowered with age in both genders, particularly in normolipidemic women. The present research therefore suggests that hyperlipidemia and hypertension do affect antioxidant status and should be considered when assessing antioxidant biomarkers in blood.
Ultrasonography of the rotator cuff: a comparison with arthroscopy in one-hundred-and-ninety consecutive cases

Purpose: To evaluate the accuracy of high-resolution ultrasonography compared to arthroscopy in the detection of rotator cuff tears. Material and Methods: Preoperative ultrasonography (US) with a 10-MHz commercially available linear-array transducer and a standardized study protocol was performed in 190 consecutive shoulders in 185 patients with a history of shoulder pain for more than 3 months. The findings at US were classified into intact cuff, partial-thickness, and full-thickness rotator cuff tears, and correlated with findings at shoulder arthroscopy. Results: US correctly depicted 118 of 124 rotator cuff tears with sensitivity 95%, specificity 94%, PPV 97%, NPV 91% and accuracy 95%, all 94 full-thickness tears (sensitivity 100%, specificity 91%, PPV 91%, NPV 100%, and accuracy 95%), 24 of 30 partial-thickness tears (sensitivity 80%, specificity 98%, PPV 86%, NPV 96%, and accuracy 95%). Conclusion: US is a highly accurate diagnostic method for detecting full-thickness rotator cuff tears, but is less sensitive in detecting partial-thickness rotator cuff tears.
Optimal Relay and Antenna Selection in MIMO Cognitive Relay Network with Imperfect CSI

Cooperative relaying and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission technologies exploit spatial diversity to improve the performance of the secondary users in an underlay cognitive radio network. We consider a MIMO cognitive relay network in which a secondary source and multiple relays have imperfect channel state information (CSI) of the interference links to the primary receiver. They sufficiently back-off their transmit powers on the basis of such CSI in order to adhere to an interference outage constraint. We propose an optimal relay and antenna selection scheme, which jointly selects a relay between the source and destination, a transmit antenna at the source, and a receive antenna at the destination to maximize the end-to-end signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) at the destination. To demonstrate the advantages of our proposed framework, we derive closed-form expression for the outage probability of the secondary network under non-identically distributed Rayleigh fading channels. We also derive an insightful expression for the asymptotic outage probability for high SINR and show that the diversity gain is lost when the interference power constraint is fixed. We then consider a practical scenario where the secondary users have only the mean channel power gains of the interference links. Under such CSI, we also derive an expression for the outage probability, and show that this can be used as a better performance/complexity tradeoff for high SINR.
Small Cues Change Savings Choices

We present evidence from randomized field experiments that 401(k) savings choices are significantly affected by one- to two-sentence anchoring, goal-setting, or savings threshold cues embedded in emails sent to employees about their 401(k) plan. Even though these cues contain little to no marginal information, cues that make high savings rates salient increased 401(k) contribution rates by up to 2.9% of income in a pay period, and cues that make low savings rates salient decreased 401(k) contribution rates by up to 1.4% of income in a pay period. Cue effects persist between two months and a year after the email.
Determinants of Couples' Defined Contribution Retirement Funds

The study examined factors associated with the amount of defined contribution retirement funds using the 1992 Survey of Consumer Finances. Couples with larger amounts of income and smaller amount of nonfinancial assets had larger amounts of defined contribution funds. Also, the funds increased as years of employment and employer contribution rate increased. Households with lower levels of education, less skilled occupations, and with respondents who were unwilling to take financial risks, or who were Black and Hispanic had smaller amounts of defined contribution funds, all other things equal. Most households 30 or more years from retirement had predicted fund levels of zero.
Gravidity, Blood Pressure, and Hypertension among White Women in the Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Gravidity and parity have been hypothesized as possible protective factors for hypertension in women, but results of previous studies have been conflicting; none of three U.S. studies has clearly demonstrated this relation. We studied the association of number of pregnancies to blood pressure and hypertension in a cross-sectional study of 4,626 white women, ages 20–74 years, examined in the Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. In univariate analyses, neither mean systolic blood pressure, mean diastolic blood pressure, nor prevalence of hypertension varied systematically with the number of pregnancies. In multivariate analyses that included age, body size, smoking, oral contraceptive use, education, poverty status, and alcohol use, systolic blood pressure declined modestly with greater gravidity. The association of gravidity with systolic blood pressure was stronger for younger premenopausal women. The odds of hypertension also declined with each additional pregnancy as compared with no pregnancies: there was an odds ratio of 0.90 (95% confidence interval = 0.81–0.99) for premenopausal women and an odds ratio of 0.95 (95% confidence interval = 0.92–0.98) for postmenopausal women. These findings indicate a slight negative relation of number of pregnancies to both blood pressure and hypertension. (Epidemiology 1993;4:303–309)
Responses of photosystem I compared with photosystem II to high-light stress in tropical shade and sun leaves

Sun and shade leaves of several plant species from a neotropical forest were exposed to excessive light to evaluate the responses of photosystem I in comparison to those of photosystem II. Potential photosystem I activity was determined by means of the maximum P700 absorbance change around 810 nm (ΔA 810max ) in saturating far-red light. Leaf absorbance changes in dependence of increasing far-red light fluence rates were used to calculate a saturation constant', K s , representing the far-red irradiance at which half of the maximal absorbance change (ΔA 810max /2) was reached in the steady state. Photosystem II efficiency was assessed by measuring the ratio of variable to maximum chlorophyll fluorescence, F v /F m , in dark-adapted leaf samples. Strong illumination caused a high degree of photo-inhibition of photosystem II in all leaves, particularly in shade leaves. Exposure to 1800-2000 μmol photons m -2 s -1 for 75 min did not substantially affect the potential activity of photosystem I in all species tested, but caused a more than 40-fold increase of K, in shade leaves, and a three-fold increase of K, in sun leaves. The increase in K, was reversible during recovery under low light, and the recovery process was much faster in sun than in shade leaves. The novel effect of high-light stress on the light saturation of P700 oxidation described here may represent a complex reversible mechanism within photosystem I that regulates light-energy dissipation and thus protects photosystem I from photo-oxidative damage. Moreover, we show that under high-light stress a high proportion of P700 accumulates in the oxidized state, P700 + . Presumably, conversion of excitation energy to heat by this cation radical may efficiently contribute to photoprotection.
A Test of Services Marketing Theory: Consumer Information Acquisition Activities

The author explores the information needs of service consumers. In the purchase decision process, search behavior is motivated in part by perceived risk and the consumer's ability to acquire relevant information with which purchase uncertainty can be addressed. Marketing theory suggests that consumers use information sources in a distinctive way to reduce the uncertainty associated with services. Hence, six hypotheses are developed to test the information acquisition of service buyers. An experimental approach is employed to compare, in a prepurchase context, the information sources used by consumers of services and those used by consumers of goods. The resulting data support the predictions offered and extend marketing theory.
STANDARD ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHIC CRITERIA FOR LEFT VENTRICULAR HYPERTROPHY

Methods: Electrocardiograms (ECGs) and echocardiograms were obtained from 100 hypertensive subjects and 60 controls. Electrocardiogram (ECG) LVH was determined by the Sokolow-Lyon, Sokolow-Lyon-Rappaport, Cornell voltage, Romhilt-Estes point score, and the Perugia score criteria. Echocardiographic LVH was defined by LV mass indexed for height at 97.5 percentile of the controls (126 g/m and 130 g/m in females and males respectively).
Characterization of Chromium in Contaminated Soil Studied by SEM, EDS,XRD and Mossbauer Spectroscopy

Chromium is important from the environmental point of view since its behavior and toxicity properties depend on its oxidation states. The Cr(VI) concentration in wells of Buenavista, Guanajuato, Mexico, is higher than the permissible level of it for drinking water, 0.05mg/L. The objective of this research was to determine the elution of chromium with deionized water from contaminated soil samples and to determine the oxidation state of Fe, which is an element that can limit the mobility of chromium. These results will be considered in a pump and treat remediation scheme for this site. Chromium contaminated soil samples were obtained from an industrial area of Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico. O, Na, Mg, K, Al, Si, Ca, Cr and Fe were found in the chemical analysis by EDS of the contaminated samples. In the soluble species only O, Na, S, Ca and Cr were found. The oxidation state of iron was determined by Mossbauer spectroscopy (MS) in the soil contaminated with chromium, in the soil washed with deionizer water and also in the soluble samples. CaCrO 4 was found in the soluble fraction, as a single crystalline phase by XRD. MS indicated that at least two iron species were present, one insoluble and the other sparingly soluble.
A Novel High-Directivity Microstrip Patch Antenna Based on Zero-Index Metamaterial

In this letter, a novel high-directivity microstrip patch antenna (MPA) based on planar zero-index metamaterials is presented. An averaging effect over the metamaterial structure yields an effective permittivity that approaches zero at 8.75 GHz, which results in a metamaterial with zero index of refraction. Both the simulation and experimental results show that the directivity of the antenna is effectively enhanced based on the zero refraction characteristics of the metamaterial.
An Experimental Investigation of Auctions and Bargaining in Procurement

In reverse auctions, buyers often retain the right to bargain further concessions from the winner. The optimal form of such procurement is an English auction followed by an auctioneer's option to engage in ultimatum bargaining with the winner. We study behavior and performance in this procurement format using a laboratory experiment. Sellers closely follow the equilibrium strategy of exiting the auction at their costs and then accepting strictly profitable offers. Buyers generally exercise their option to bargain according to their equilibrium strategy, but their take-it-or-leave-it offers vary positively with auction prices when they should be invariant. We explain this deviation by modeling buyers' subjective posteriors regarding the winners' costs as distortions, calculated using a formulation of probability weighting, of the Bayesian posteriors. We show alternative models based upon risk aversion and anticipated regret can't explain these price dependencies.
Towards holistic management of information within service networks: Safety telephone services for ageing people

The dissertation investigates information quality in multi-actor service networks. A clear connection between the quality of information and success of business has been acknowledged, but tools for analysing information quality in network environments on the basis of qualitative data have been lacking. There is also a limited understanding of information processes of virtual networks of public and private service organizations in the literature. In this dissertation, a novel framework for information quality analysis is developed and operationalized. It extends previously developed methods and provides a fundamentally different way to assess information quality, contrary to earlier quantitative studies. In addition to investigating and developing management of information quality, the dissertation focuses on collaboration and networking within the heterogeneous multi-actor service networks. Operationalization of the newly developed framework for information quality analysis is undertaken in the virtual network environment of safety telephone services for ageing people. These services utilize rapidly developing well-being technology. The analysis is based on data from interviews with professionals working in several service networks of different types and sizes. The results provide a detailed account of the state of information quality and network collaboration in the case networks. The results can be utilized as guidelines when planning information-related matters in the case networks in the future. Practical recommendations for the branch of safety telephone services are formulated. The dissertation also contains a thorough assessment of the usability of the framework of analysis. Suggestions concerning future use of the framework are formulated. The dissertation thus contributes to development of new tools for analysing information quality. It also suggests directions for future research.
A cost analysis of the Iowa Medicaid primary care case management program.

OBJECTIVE To determine the cost savings attributable to the implementation and expansion of a primary care case management (PCCM) program on Medicaid costs per member in Iowa from 1989 to 1997. DATA SOURCES Medicaid administrative data from Iowa aggregated at the county level. STUDY DESIGN Longitudinal analysis of costs per member per month, analyzed by category of medical expense using weighted least squares. We compared the actual costs with the expected costs (in the absence of the PCCM program) to estimate cost savings attributable to the PCCM program. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We estimated that the PCCM program was associated with a savings of US dollars 66 million to the state of Iowa over the study period. Medicaid expenses were 3.8 percent less than what they would have been in the absence of the PCCM program. Effects of the PCCM program appeared to grow stronger over time. Use of the PCCM program was associated with increases in outpatient care and pharmaceutical expenses, but a decrease in hospital and physician expenses. CONCLUSIONS Use of a Medicaid PCCM program was associated with substantial aggregate cost savings over an 8-year period, and this effect became stronger over time. Cost reductions appear to have been mediated by substituting outpatient care for inpatient care.
Geographic Diversification in Banking and its Implications for Bank Portfolio Choice and Performance

This paper documents the trend in geographic diversification among U.S. bank holding companies since 1994, and investigates how diversification relates to BHC portfolio choice and performance. Diversification is associated with significantly higher loan-asset ratios at BHCs of all sizes, but not with improvements in loan performance or returns (on assets or equity). Diversification increases the lending capacity of banks and the banking system, but it does not increase the profits of individual banks or reduce the risk in their portfolios.
Testing Black's Leverage Effect by Using 'Seemingly' Zero Leverage Firms

There is a significant negative relationship between stock returns and changes in future stock return volatility even among all-equity firms. While Hasanhodzic and Lo (2011) suggest that the inverse price and variance relation cannot be due to the classic leverage effect, our results suggest caution in dismissing Black’s (1976) theory. We document that many all-equity firms use off-balance sheet financing extensively, sometimes to the point of violating the financial covenants on their lines of credit. We show that by taking these facts into account, seemingly zero debt firms are much like their debt-financed counterparts in many dimensions. Our results suggest reexamination of the academic definition of firm level leverage.
The National Senior Certificate : implications for access to higher education

In the light of the uncertainty surrounding the new National Senior Certificate that was written in South African schools for the first time in 2008, this article aims to examine the new Grade 12 National Senior Certificate results quantitatively in the context of the Grade 11 application score for entry into higher education and the Grade 12 Senior Certificate scores of the old curriculum. Ultimately, the article also aims to examine the use of an additional measuring instrument (in conjunction with the National Senior Certificate final matriculation examination) to determine access to higher education. Attention is focused specifically on the Stellenbosch University Access Test. The results showed that grade inflation occurred particularly in the results of the lower performance group. Although the real influence of the National Senior Certificate results on access and throughput rates can only be determined over a longer period, the first results of the National Senior Certificate and the use of the Access Test as benchmarking show that the scores of especially the lower group of achievers could cause first-timeentering students to have an unrealistic perception of their own academic ability. This article confirms the increasingly important role of additional measuring instruments in determining students’ access to higher education.
Relating marketing expertise on the top management team and strategic market aggressiveness to financial performance and shareholder value

Understanding the impact of marketing on firm performance has received considerable attention in recent years. To further explore this issue, the authors explore top management team composition and strategic market aggressiveness in a conceptual model that integrates research in marketing and strategic management. The model is tested using 20 quarters of objective data on 173 firms across 47 industries. Path analysis indicates that inclusion of marketing expertise on the top management team and aggressive deployment of strategic resources for addressing markets contribute uniquely to sales growth which, in turn, contributes substantially to firm profitability and shareholder value.