Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Innovative Model to Promote CSR among SMEs Operating in Industrial Clusters: Evidence from an EU Project

This paper presents the findings of our EU co-funded project, an idea developed to better understand the opportunities to formalize corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a clustered system. Small companies often have to compete in a global market; for this reason, cooperation among SMEs, and with local stakeholders and intermediary institutions, might be facilitated by a collective answer to new market requests. Cooperation and social capital are key elements to facilitate trust amongst involved local actors. Moreover, they can also play a key role in the formalization of CSR policies and practices for small companies. In our project, we aimed at identifying and understanding the role of the ‘intermediary institutions’ (such as trade unions, local authorities, business consortia) in the cluster. Throughout the paper, we focus on the analysis of three industrial clusters in Tuscany (Italy).
Whyte, S. K. and Westcott, J. D. and Elmoslemany, A. and Hammell, K. L. and Revie, C. W. (2013) A fixed-dose approach to conducting emamectin

In New Brunswick (NB), Canada, the sea louse, Lepeophtheirus salmonis, poses an on-going management challenge to the health and productivity of commercially cultured Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar. While the in-feed medication, emamectin benzoate (SLICE ® Merck, Canada) has been highly effective for many years, evidence of increased tolerance has been observed in the field since late 2008. Although bioassays on motile stages are a common tool to monitor sea lice sensitivity to emamectin benzoate in field collected sea lice, they require the collection of large numbers of sea lice due to inherent natural variability in the gender and stage response to chemotherapeutants. In addition, sensitive instruments such as EC50 analysis may be unnecessarily complex to characterise susceptibility subsequent to a significant observed decline in efficacy. This study proposes an adaptation of the traditional, dose-response format bioassay to a fixed-dose method. Analysis of 657 bioassays on pre-adult and adult stages of sea lice over the period 2008-2011, indicated a population of sea lice in NB with varying degrees of susceptibility to emamectin benzoate. A seasonal and spatial effect was observed in the robustness of genders and stages of sea lice, which suggest that mixing different genders and stages of lice within a single bioassay may result in pertinent information being overlooked. Poor survival of adult female lice in bioassays, particularly during May/June, indicates it may be prudent to consider excluding this stage from bioassays conducted at certain times of the year. This work demonstrates that fixed-dose bioassays can be a valuable technique in detecting reduced sensitivity in sea lice populations with varying degrees of susceptibility to emamectin benzoate treatments.
Recognition of medically compromised conditions in Pakistani Dental Treatment Seekers at Bahria University Dental Hospital: A Retrospective study.

Dental practitioners in Pakistan not only encounter patients with dental problems but most of them have systemic diseases as well. The purpose of this study was to investigate frequency of systemic problems in association with age and gender. A retrospective analysis was performed using medical histories of 2958 patients requesting dental treatment during the year March 2012 to March 2015. The information extracted included the following: demographic data (age and gender), presence or absence of systemic diseases. Descriptive and comparative analysis were done using SPSS Windows statistical software package version 17.0. Chisquare test was the choice of analysis to test the significance of the undertaken objectives. 1631 (55.13%) males and 1327 (44.86%) females’ were documents. The age ranged from 10 to 80 years with mean age of 29.65 + 13.95 years. Out of the total dental charts reviewed 2412 (81.8%) patients had insignificant medical history whereas 548 (18.6%) reported known medical problems. Hypertension 328 (11.0%) was the most prevalent reported medical condition followed by diabetes mellitus 67 (2.26%) and hepatitis 41(1.3%). With regard to the age, hypertension and diabetes mellitus were more subjugate in the age group of 41-60 year while hepatitis showed its command in the community of aged 21-40 year (p=0.000). However insignificant relationship observed between gender and systemic disorders (p=0.614). It is the prime responsibility of the dentist to get more updated medical knowledge to provide safe dental treatment. Careful medical history of the patient is recommended before starting the dental procedure because some patients may harbor medically compromised condition. If ignored intentionally or unintentionally may cause serious consequences. Keyword: Dentist, Diabetes mellitus, Hepatitis, Hypertension, Pakistan, Retrospective.
Time series tests of convergence of Chinese regional and provincial economic performance

This paper uses multivariate time series methods to investigate convergence of Chinese real GDP per capita at regional and provincial levels over the period 1952 – 2001. We reject convergence across regions. However, we find evidence of common trends among the provincial real incomes within Eastern and Central regions respectively while the cointegration relationships within the Western region are not sufficient to impose a common trend. We conclude that, contrary to the announced development policy of the Chinese government, the regions of China do not share a common development path.
SUBSTITUTION EFFECTS OF INTERNAL GOVERNANCE MECHANISMS: EVIDENCE FROM SWITZERLAND

This paper explores the substitution effects among three governance mechanisms, board monitoring potential, incentives and ownership structure, in a sample of 176 publicly listed companies in Switzerland, a country characterised by bank-centred governance system and high degree of ownership concentration. Our results suggest that whereas ownership concentration per se does not substitute for monitoring by the board, shareholdings held by board and top management and presence of a shareholder on the board act as substitutes for board independence. Moreover, we found that substitution effects differ with the identity of the largest shareholder. Firms owned by financial institutions exhibit a negative relationship between board independence and shareholder representation on board, whereas in family controlled firms board and managerial ownership is the main substitute for board monitoring.
Mean Platelet Volume and Platelet Distribution Width as Markers of Vascular Thrombosis in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Aims: The objective of the study was to determine the mean platelet volume (MPV) and platelet distribution width (PDW) in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (type 2 DM) compared to subjects without type 2 DM and their correlation with fasting blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and duration of type 2 DM respectively. Materials and methods: A prospective analytical case–control study was conducted involving 50 subjects with type 2 DM and 50 subjects without type 2 DM. The mean and standard deviation were estimated for both the groups separately and independent Student’s “t”-test was used for evaluating the significant difference. The statistical evaluation was carried out at 95% confidence level. Results: Mean MPV and PDW in case group was significantly higher compared to control group (p < 0.005). Fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, and duration of type 2 DM did not significantly alter MPV or PDW. Conclusion: The study concludes that MPV and PDW are significantly increased in patients with type 2 DM compared to patients without type 2 DM. Platelet volume indices are an important, simple, and cost-effective tool that should be used and explored extensively, especially in countries, such as India, for predicting the possibility of impending acute vascular events in patients with type 2 DM. Clinical significance: This analytical method helps us to use MPV and PDW as early markers of vascular thrombosis.
Selection of popcorn inbred lines based on performance and genealogy of S5 progenies and plants.

The development of hybrids is the most important objective in a corn breeding program. The objectives of this study were to select and assess inbred lines, and to discuss the efficiency of four cycles of among and within inbred family selection. Two experiments were evaluated, one with 144 S5 progenies of the popcorn population Beija-Flor and another with seven inbred lines. Based on expected gains in expansion volume, the best selective procedure was mass selection. The 14 selected inbred lines should be divergent, because only two pairs were derived from the same S3 or S4 family. The analysis of selection efficiency demonstrated that it is important to select superior plants in families with poorer performance to minimize the loss of superior genotypes. The quality of the evaluated inbred lines was comparable to commercial populations and the yield satisfactory. The information about genealogy did not increase the inbred line selection efficiency.
Eliciting Guilt Sensitivity to Predict Real-World Behavior

This study tests guilt aversion by experimentally eliciting guilt sensitivity of villagers in Bangladesh and evaluating its impact on real-world behavior. In a trust game with hidden action, villagers in this study are asked about their reciprocal behavior toward seven potential opponents with different levels of trusting belief. Guilt sensitivity is elicited from the threshold belief to switch from selfish to reciprocal behavior. It appears that males exhibit higher guilt sensitivity. I also find robust supporting evidence for guilt aversion but not for pure altruism or trustworthiness; guilt-averse villagers can borrow from and repay to community members after a disaster. Individuals also suffer less from property crime in villages with a higher guilt-sensitivity neighborhood. However, guilt sensitivity is uncorrelated with contribution to community events. A potential reason for the insignificant effect is discussed.
sl3–foam homology calculations

We exhibit a certain infinite family of three-stranded quasi-alternating pretzel knots, which are counterexamples to Lobb’s conjecture that the sl3 ‐knot concordance invariant s3 (suitably normalised) should be equal to the Rasmussen invariant s2 . For this family,js3j js2j. The main tool is an implementation of Morrison and Nieh’s algorithm to calculate Khovanov’s sl3 ‐foam link homology. Our C++ program is fast enough to calculate the integral homology of, eg, the . 6;5/‐torus knot in six minutes. Furthermore, we propose a potential improvement of the algorithm by gluing sub-tangles in a more flexible way. 57M25; 81R50
Image Inpainting Based FMM Algorithm by a Direction Selection Method

In this paper, we propose an improved image inpainting method based on FMM algorithm. The traditional approach gives a fast processing speed but it cannot contribute an optimal edge result. Using gradient matrix to detect the texture direction, the significant pixels for the inpainting process are selected. Furthermore, this procedure also reduced the noise pixels’ influence. Therefore, it can yield a better edge effect for inpainting procedure than the traditional approach.
Quantifying the Trade and Economic Effects of Non-Tariff Measures

Significant progress has been made in quantifying the effects of non-tariff measures since OECD commissioned its last major review of this topic in 1997. This paper reviews the literature of NTMs and assesses the different methods available. Additionally, the paper develops a series of questions to help determine which method of analysis is best given the interests of the researchers or policy makers. Of the possible avenues of future research, the trade costs approach is offered. This approach has the potential of shedding new light on the interactions among various policies and practices by assessing which areas offer the greatest potential for gains, and improving the precision of available estimates.
Therapeutic Mechanisms of Action for Hyperbaric Oxygen on Femoral Head Necrosis

Femoral head necrosis (FHN) is a disease process resulting from inadequate blood perfu- sion of subchondral bone. While the etiology of this disease is still not fully understood, there are multiple traumatic and atraumatic factors that are associated with the disease. Pathophysiology of the disease is characterized by the death of bone marrow and osteocytes. If left untreated, the disease may progress to joint collapse. While initial stages of the disease are asymptomatic, painful limitation of active and passive motion of the hip is eventually present. The current body of literature cannot identify an optimal treat- ment protocol for FHN. Postcollapse cases require surgical intervention, core decompression, or total hip arthroplasty. However, current strides in conservative management are being made. One of the possible conservative modalities that may effectively delay hip arthroplasty or even prevent the need for a surgical approach is hyperbaric oxygen (HBO 2 ) therapy. HBO 2 increases extracellular oxygen concentration and reduces cellular ischemia and edema by inducing vasoconstriction. Studies have reported radiographic improvement, reduction in pain, and increases in range of motion for early stages of the disease. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has also been shown to stimulate angiogenesis and enhance osteoclast and osteoblast function for remodeling and repair.
Gender-Neutral Inheritance Laws , Family Structure , and Women ’ s Social Status in India

This paper examines whether economic empowerment of women improves their autonomy within their marital household, and investigates the mechanism for this relationship. I exploit variation from a legal reform aimed at improving women’s inheritance rights in India. For generations, inheritance laws in India favored men, but in recent years five states amended their inheritance laws to make them gender-neutral. I find that the amendments increased treated women’s participation in household decision-making and their freedom of movement. The reform applied only to women belonging to certain religions, allowing me to perform falsification tests. Interestingly, the increase in women’s decision-making authority appears to be not at the expense of their husbands, but rather at the expense of the members of the extended family, such as the husbands’ parents. I propose two channels to explain this phenomenon. First, I show that this can be explained by a shift in the family structure in the reform states, from traditional joint families to nuclear households. Such a change in family structure is consistent with the effect of the reform on men’s incentives, since men have weaker financial links with their parents post-reform. Second, even within joint families, the amendments empowered young couples at the expense of the older generation of household members. Overall, though the reform was intended as a transfer from men to women, it in fact resulted in an intergenerational transfer of decision-making authority within the household. JEL Classification: J12, J16, K11, O12
Micropropagation of Clerodendrum serratum L. through Direct and Indirect Organogenesis

In vitro clonal propagation of Clerodendrum serratum L. , a rare medicinal plant has been reported by using LM medium supplemented with different growth hormones. The maximum number of shoots with maximum length were obtained from stem derived callus on LM media fortified with 1.5 mg/l BAP and 0.3 mg/l NAA. Nodal explants showed direct organogenesis on LM media containing BAP (0.5 mg/l) alone. The regenerated shoots were successfully rooted with maximum frequency (100%) on half strength LM media supplemented with 0.5 mg/l NAA. The well rooted microshoots were successfully transferred to hardening and survival rate was 88%.
Cumulates of arc magmas incorporated into the Sulu UHP metamorphic belt, eastern China

ABSTRACT The Hujialin ultramafic complex in the central region of the Sulu ultra-high pressure (UHP) metamorphic belt consists of discontinuous lenses of garnet-bearing clinopyroxenite and dunite surrounded by marginal serpentinite. The clinopyroxenite shows relatively low concentrations of compatible elements, such as Cr (≤1670 ppm) and Ni (≤514 ppm) and Ir-group platinum group elements (IPGE; Ir, Os, and Ru; ≤4.8 ppb in total). They show varying ratios (0.02–2.50) of IPGE to Pd-group PGE (PPGE). Their chondrite-normalized rare earth elements (REE) patterns are convex and the total REE concentrations range from 18 to 63 times that of Cl chondrite. The bulk rocks show a ‘subduction-related’ geochemical signature, with high concentrations of fluid-mobile elements (i.e. Sr, Ba) relative to high-field strength elements (i.e. Nb, Y, Zr). Clinopyroxene is diopside and contains low Al2O3 (<2.76 wt.%) and high SiO2 (54.6–56.9 wt.%). Olivine grains enclosed by clinopyroxene and in the matrix show relatively low Fo (76.6–80.7) and NiO contents (0.18–0.29 wt.%). The bulk rock compositions and mineral chemistry of olivine and clinopyroxene suggest that the unit was a cumulate of a subduction-related melt. On the other hand, dunite and its hydration product, serpentinite, have a different origin. The bulk rock and mineral chemistry suggest that dunite represents a mantle wedge peridotite in a spinel-stable field. Both clinopyroxenite and spinel-bearing dunite were once located in the mantle wedge below the southern margin of the North China craton (NCC), and were dragged by a mantle flow into the continental subduction channel along the interface between the subducting Yangtze craton (YZC) and the overlying NCC. Although clinopyroxenite and dunite are dense (2.8–3.2 g/cm3), the buoyancy-driven exhumation of voluminous granitic rocks of the YZC likely brought clinopyroxenite and dunite to shallow crustal depths. The lack of the evidence for high pressure to ultra-high pressure (HP-UHP) metamorphism in spinel-bearing dunite may be explained by overall low Al and Ca in the bulk rocks. Alternatively, dunite was not subducted to deep levels, but exhumed together with the deeply subducted clinopyroxenites and granite during their exhumation.
The Potential Roles of Background Surface Wind in the SST Variability Associated with Intraseasonal Oscillations

The current study is aimed at exploring the potential roles of the seasonally altering background surface wind in the seasonality of the intraseasonal oscillations (ISOs) with a focus on the sea surface temperature (SST) variability. A composite analysis of the ocean mixed layer heat budget in term of ISO phases with various satellite data is performed for boreal winter and summer. The scalar wind is found to be a dominant factorthataccountsfortheoceansurfaceheatbudget,implyingthatthebackgroundsurfacewindaswellasits anomaly is important for the SST variability. An easterly anomaly to the east of convection diminishes scalar wind,andthuslatentheatflux,whensuperposedontoabackgroundwesterlywind,implyingthatthe presence of basic westerly wind is importantfor the development of a warm SST anomaly ahead of the ISO convection. On the other hand, an easterly anomaly in combination with basic easterly wind magnifies scalar wind and latent heat flux and cancels out the shortwave heat flux anomaly. The seasonal migration of the background westerly wind, which is confined to a southern equatorial belt in boreal winter but spread across the northern IndianOceaninborealsummer,mayofferamechanismthatpartlyaccountsfortheseasonalcharacteristicsof ISO propagation. The northwardpropagationof the SST variabilityassociated with the boreal summerISO is found to also involve a similar mechanism with the meridional wind modulation of scalar wind.
Empirical Evidence : Contribution of CEO Duality on Firm Performance

In this paper several theories, which make different predictions about the effect of board leadership structure on firm performance, are tested. The results indicate that, for Australian listed companies, there is no strong relationship between leadership structure and subsequent performance. It is reported that companies with higher blockholder ownership or lower managerial shareholdings tend to have an affiliated chairman; firm with higher managerial shareholdings tend to have an executive chairman. The evidence suggests that there is no one optimal leadership structure; each structure, which could be an outcome of a rational choice process influenced by other governance characteristics of individual firms, may have associated costs and benefits.
Health Care Providers’ Perception and Associated Factors towards Safe Abortion in Selected Health Facilities in Adama, Ethiopia

Background: Every year it is estimated that worldwide, from 210 million pregnancies, maternal deaths are 3,58,000 and unsafe abortions are estimated to be between 21 million and 22 million. Half of abortions globally are unsafe. Almost all of them occur in developing countries, with the higher number of deaths concentrated in Africa, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia. Unsafe abortion is still common and demands a heavy toll on women in Ethiopia. Objective: To assess health providers’ perception and associated factors towards safe abortion in health facilities. Method: Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted in March 2016, by using pre-tested and structured self-administered questionnaire. A total of 394 health providers were selected by systematic random sampling. Logistic regression was used to analyze the association between the dependent and independent variables. Result: A total of 383 health care providers participated in the study making the response rate 97%. About 48% of the respondents were found to have favorable perceptions towards safe abortion care. Preference of current legislation and institutional regulation (AOR=6.902 [95% CI=3.553, 13.406]), access to quality abortion service (AOR=6.628 [95% CI=2.122, 20.698]), preference of full legalization to safe abortion (AOR=8.862[5.008, 15.682]) and availability of adequate and functional equipment in the facilities (AOR=2.270[95% CI 1.245, 4.141]) were significantly associated with perceptions of health care providers towards safe abortion. Conclusion: Health care providers’ perception toward safe abortion care services was low. Therefore, sensitizing health providers about the essential nature of safe abortion services and the law governing abortion and equipping health facilities with essential supplies and accessibility of safe and legal termination of pregnancy are mandatory.
Chosen Determinants of Capital Structure in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises - Evidence from Poland

Purpose – The purpose of the article was to examine the determinants influencing the capital structure in groups of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. We tested if company type, effective tax rate, profitability have an impact on debt ratios. Design/methodology/approach –We employed two debt ratios: the share of total debt and interest debt in capital. The study was conducted on the basis of 12,000 SME financial statements. The inference was carried out with the use of the Student’s t-distribution and ANOVA Findings – It was confirmed that micro, small and medium company’s capital structure is affected by the organizational and legal form. We did not find a correlation between debt ratio and profitability and also effective tax rate and thus the trade-off theory is not useful to explain the motives of borrowing in this group of enterprises. Originality/value – There is a limited number of studies on determinants of SME capital structure in Poland, especially on a large sample. We have taken into account the factors that have been rarely tested in studies in this group of enterprises. keywords: capital structure, small and medium enterprises, determinants, debt.