Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interpretive structural modelling for critical success factors of R&D performance in Indian manufacturing firms

Purpose – In order to enhance the performance of R&D in manufacturing organizations, the R&D managers need to identify the internal as well as the external factors that affect the R&D performance of manufacturing organizations in India. They need to understand the inter‐dependencies of these factors. This paper seeks to identify the critical success factors for R&D in Indian manufacturing firms.Design/methodology/approach – There may be a number of factors that are critical for achieving acceptable R&D performance and these factors have been identified by a number of instruments or means, such as questionnaire surveys, brainstorming, and consolidation by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). A total of 14 factors have been identified by using principal component analysis and finally we have developed a structure of interrelationship among the identified critical success factors using an interpretive structural model.Findings – The results show that R&D vision and direction and R&D oriented culture are the m.
Learning and Innovation in International Strategic Alliances: An Empirical Test of the Role of Trust and Tacitness

Drawing on knowledge-based, organizational learning, and social capital perspectives, we propose and test an integrated framework in which knowledge tacitness and trust act as mediating mechanisms in the relationship between partner characteristics and alliance outcomes. We distinguish between learning and innovation outcomes and suggest that while innovation may result from alliance learning, it can also be created by combining separate knowledge bases without learning from each other. We contend that tacitness and trust play differing roles in the pursuit of learning and innovation and test this proposition on a sample of 120 international strategic alliances.
The Relationship between High School Marijuana Use and Annual Earnings Among Young Adult Males

This article uses a unique panel data set to examine the relationship between high school marijuana use and annual earnings at age 29. The authors estimate a series of OLS models that incrementally add potential confounding variables, including marijuana use at age 29. The analysis finds that part of the negative relationship reflects an indirect pathway whereby early marijuana use affects human capital accumulation, which in turn affects earnings. Moreover, the authors find evidence that the remaining association between early marijuana use and earnings, after controlling for differences in human capital, reflects the cumulative effect of marijuana use on cognitive ability and motivation. (JEL "J30", "I12") Copyright 2006 Western Economic Association International.
Global Evidence on the Equity Risk Premium

The size of the equity risk premium—the incremental return that shareholders require to hold risky equities rather than risk‐free securities—is a key issue in corporate finance. Financial economists generally measure the equity premium over long periods of time in order to obtain reliable estimates. These estimates are widely used by investors, finance professionals, corporate executives, regulators, lawyers, and consultants. But because the 20th century proved to be a period of such remarkable growth in the U.S. economy, estimates of the risk premium that rely on past market performance may be too high to serve as a reliable guide to the future. The authors analyze a 103‐year history of risk premiums in 16 countries and conclude that the U.S. risk premium relative to Treasury bills was 5.3% for that period—lower than previous studies suggest—as compared to 4.2% for the U.K. and 4.5% for a world index. But the article goes on to observe that the historical record may still overstate expectations of the future risk premium, partly because market volatility in the future may be lower than in the past, and partly because of a general decline in risk resulting from new technological advances and increased diversification opportunities for investors. After adjusting for the expected impact of these factors, the authors calculate forward‐looking equity risk premiums of 4.3% for the U.S., 3.9% for the U.K., and 3.5% for the world index. At the same time, however, they caution that the risk premium can fluctuate over time and that managers should make appropriate adjustments when there are compelling economic reasons to think that expected premiums are unusually high or low.
Public and Private Welfare Activity in the United Kingdom, 1979 to 1999

This paper analyses the shifting balance between public sector and private sector welfare provision in the United Kingdom over the past two decades. Five sectors - education, health, personal social services, housing, and income maintenance and social security - are examined over three time points, 1979/80, 1995/96, and 1999/2000. Burchardt's (1997) typology is used to classify welfare activities according to who funds them, who provides them, and who decides on the provider and/or amount of service. It is found that shifts in the composition of welfare activity have been relatively small and gradual: around half of all welfare activity, dropping from 52 percent to 49 percent, is entirely public; around a quarter, rising from 24 percent to 29 percent, is entirely private; and the remainder involves a mixture of both sectors. Within the latter group, there was a notable increase over time in the contracting-out of public services, which rose from 6 percent to 10 percent of all welfare activity.
Effect of drugs used in psychoses on cerebral dopamine metabolism

1 . Chlorpromazine 15 mg/kg, given daily to cats for 2 weeks, produced a rise in homovanillic acid (HVA) content of the caudate nucleus, whereas the same dose of thioridazine lacked this effect. Of these two drugs, only chlorpromazine causes a high incidence of drug‐induced Parkinsonism in man. 2 . In the mouse, chlorpromazine, thioridazine and haloperidol increased striatal concentrations of HVA and accelerated the disappearance of dopamine (DA) after inhibition of catecholamine synthesis with α‐methyltyrosine. Low doses of the three compounds increased, whereas high doses reduced, the concentration of DA in the striatum. In their effects on the DA metabolism of the mouse, chlorpromazine and thioridazine had the same potency, but haloperidol was between 10 and 100 times more active than the other two drugs. In producing hypothermia and sedation, the three compounds were equiactive. 3 . Oxypertine, another drug apt to produce Parkinsonism in man, caused a severe reduction in striatal DA and hypothalamic noradrenaline (NA). Though the clinical signs produced in the mouse were indistinguishable from those seen after the same dose of chlorpromazine, the biochemical changes in the brain were thus quite different. 4 . Though all the drugs used caused temporary motor disabilities in animals, these bore no resemblance to human Parkinsonism, even when treatment was continued for 7 weeks or more as it was in cats and monkeys. The latter were treated with chlorpromazine 7·5 mg/kg daily, a dose chosen to avoid loss of weight and which may have been too small to produce toxic side‐effects. It caused no changes in striatal DA turnover. 5 . Even at the high dose of 50 mg/kg, phenoxybenzamine did not increase DA turnover in mouse brain, but it sedated the mice as did the tranquillizers. 6 . Atropine sulphate, 25 mg/kg, reduced the HVA content of mouse striatum and partially antagonized the rise in HVA produced by phenothiazines. The effect was surmountable. Possible modes of action of atropine are discussed. 7 . At present we know of two types of biochemical changes which may occur in the brain of animals after treatment with drugs apt to cause Parkinsonism in man: a loss of cerebral catecholamines, as seen after reserpine or oxypertine, or an increase in turnover of DA as after phenothiazines and butyrophenones.
People and Processes Around the Board Room: A Contingency Approach from the Italian Listed Companies

The development of codes of practice for public corporations and the formal regulation essentially imply a standard governance structure regardless of the nature of the corporate business. This seems to be consistent with the 'agency cost' framework, where the board of directors is seen as a mono-dimensional device and the attention is focused thoroughly on the 'monitoring behavior' whereas the cooperation processes within the board are completely neglected. This paper provides new insights into the changes in governance structure as a multiple dimension phenomenon and not only limited to the exogenous institutional environment in which companies operate. The study aims to determine some endogenous variables that have a role in distinguishing between groups of firms with different corporate directing. More precisely, it is analyzed the causal connection between some economic features of the firm and the phenomenon referring to the separation of the roles of Chairman and Ceo, considered one of the most important requirements in the corporate governance arrangements. The above phenomenon, apart from the recent policy statements, could be the outcome of the strategic behavior of the firm and of the market-firm relationship. Therefore, itis possible to characterize a set of factors that will determine the likelihood of a dual Ceo and Chairman in the board.
Exposure to Ultrafine Particles in Asphalt Work

An epidemiologic study has demonstrated that asphalt workers show increased loss of lung function and an increase of biomarkers of inflammation over the asphalt paving season. The aim of this study was to investigate which possible agent(s) causes the inflammatory reaction, with emphasis on ultrafine particles. The workers' exposure to total dust, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and NO 2 was determined by personal sampling. Exposure to ultrafine particles was measured by means of particle counters and scanning mobility particle sizer mounted on a van following the paving machine. The fractions of organic and elemental carbon were determined. Asphalt paving workers were exposed to ultrafine particles with medium concentration of about 3.4 × 104/cm3. Ultrafine particles at the paving site originated mainly from asphalt paving activities and traffic exhaust; most seemed to originate from asphalt fumes. Oil mist exceeded occupational limits on some occasions. Diesel particulate matter was measured as elemental carbon, which was low, around 3 μg/m3. NO2 and total dust did not exceed limits. Asphalt pavers were exposed to relatively high concentrations of ultrafine particles throughout their working day, with possible adverse health effects.
Double‐Blind Dose Reduction Study of Vigabatrin in Complex Partial Epilepsy

Summary: Seventy‐five epilepsy patients with at least two complex partial seizures/month were treated with γ‐vinyl GABA (GVG) 3 g/day for 3 months. Forty‐one patients (54%) showed a reduction of 50% in seizures. The median monthly seizure frequency decreased from 11.5 to 4 seizures/month. Twenty percent of patients had an improvement in general performance without a significant reduction in seizures. The responders entered the second phase of the study, in which 28 patients were randomly allocated to 3 g/day and 25 patients to 1.5 g/day GVG under double‐blind conditions. The dosage of 3 g/day appeared to be clearly more effective than 1.5 g/day. However, even with 1.5 g/day GVG the seizure frequency was significantly reduced as compared to baseline. Drowsiness was the most commonly observed side effect, and it diminished with continued treatment. In three cases side effects led to the withdrawal of GVG therapy.
Effect of User Density and Traffic Volume on Uplink Capacity of Multihop Cellular Network

The multihop cellular network with mobile relays is of great interest to the emerging standards like IEEE 802.16j,3GPP-LTE in order to provide wireless broadband access with an increased throughput and coverage. In this context, we focus on the non-real-time services for the uplink direction of a conventional cellular system with multihop transmission using mobile relay stations (RS). Our goal is to derive a per-hop based multihop scheduling algorithm that is easily applicable in a cellular network with high mobility. We have evaluated the performance of multihop communication in an infrastructure based cellular network with high mobility and compared it with the singlehop communication in terms of system throughput and system packet delay. Numerical results demonstrate that multihop communication has greatly improved the performance over conventional cellular system specially when the system has increased user density and higher traffic volume with enhanced mobility.
Pharmacodynamic Comparisons of Levofloxacin, Ciprofloxacin, and Ampicillin against Streptococcus pneumoniae in an In Vitro Model of Infection

ABSTRACT The increasing frequency of penicillin-resistant pneumococcus continues to be of concern throughout the world. Newer fluoroquinolone antibiotics, such as levofloxacin, have shown enhanced in vitro activity against Streptococcus pneumoniae. In this study, the bactericidal characteristics and pharmacodynamic profiles of levofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and ampicillin against four isolates ofS. pneumoniae were compared by using an in vitro model of infection. Standard antibiotic dosing regimens which simulated the pharmacokinetic profile observed in humans were used. Control and treatment models were sampled for bacterial CFU per milliliter over the duration of each 24- or 48-h experiment. In addition, treatment models were sampled for MIC determinations and drug concentration. Regrowth of all isolates as well as an increase in MICs throughout the study period was observed in the ciprofloxacin experiments. A limited amount of regrowth was noted during levofloxacin therapy for one isolate; however, no change in MIC was detected for any isolate. Ampicillin showed rapid and sustained bactericidal activity against all isolates. In this study, ratios of effective fluoroquinolone area under the concentration-time curve (AUC):MIC values ranged from 30 to 55. Levofloxacin, owing to its larger AUC0–24 values, has excellent and sustained activity against different pneumococcal strains superior to that of ciprofloxacin.
Nitric oxide and cyclic nucleotide signal transduction modulates synaptic vesicle turnover in human model neurons

The human Ntera2 (NT2) teratocarcinoma cell line can be induced to differentiate into post‐mitotic neurons. Here, we report that the human NT2 neurons generated by a spherical aggregate cell culture method express increasing levels of typical pre‐synaptic proteins (synapsin and synaptotagmin I) along the neurite depending on the length of in vitro culture. By employing an antibody directed against the luminal domain of synaptotagmin I and the fluorescent dye N‐(3‐triethylammoniumpropyl)‐4‐(4‐(dibutylamino)styryl)pyridinium dibromide, we show that depolarized NT2 neurons display calcium‐dependent exo‐endocytotic synaptic vesicle recycling. NT2 neurons express the neuronal isoform of neuronal nitric oxide synthase and soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC), the major receptor for nitric oxide (NO). We tested whether NO signal transduction modulates synaptic vesicle turnover in human NT2 neurons. NO donors and cylic guanosine‐monophosphate analogs enhanced synaptic vesicle recycling while a sGC inhibitor blocked the effect of NO donors. Two NO donors, sodium nitroprusside, and and N‐Ethyl‐2‐(1‐ethyl‐2‐hydroxy‐2‐nitrosohydrazino) ethanamine evoked vesicle exocytosis which was partially blocked by the sGC inhibitor. The activator of adenylyl cyclase, forskolin, and a cAMP analog induced synaptic vesicle recycling and exocytosis via a parallel acting protein kinase A pathway. Our data from NT2 neurons suggest that NO/cyclic nucleotide signaling pathways may facilitate neurotransmitter release in human brain cells.
Liana diversity and host relationships in a tropical evergreen forest in the Indian Eastern Ghats

In tropical evergreen forest in the Kolli Hills of the Indian Eastern Ghats, four 2 ha (100 m × 200 m) replicate plots (two plots each in undisturbed and human-impacted sites), were inventoried for species diversity of lianas ≥5 cm girth at breast height (g.b.h.) and their relationships with ≥30 cm g.b. h. host trees. Liana diversity included 26 species from 18 families and 24 genera. The population density and basal area of lianas in the study plots were 48 individuals ha−1 and 0.23 m2 ha−1, respectively, while those of the trees were 478 stems ha−1 and 43.6 m2 ha−1, respectively. As the lianas and their hosts had often been cut in the disturbed sites, their diversity was less there than in the undisturbed sites. Five (19%) liana species were common to all four sites. Three lianas, Hiptage benghalensis (Malpighiaceae), Elaeagnus indica (Elaeagnaceae) and Gnetum ula (Gnetaceae) were dominant. The twining mechanism (54% of liana species and 71% of individuals) and zoochorous diaspores (73% of species and 77% of individuals) predominated. A total of 336 trees from 39 species, 34 genera and 22 families hosted 345 lianas. The ratio of liana : host for species was 1 : 1.5 and for individuals was 1 : 1. Liana preferences for certain host trees, host girth classes and trellis heights were evident.
International Diversication and the Investor Horizon

In this paper, we investigate the benets of international diversication over shortand long-run horizons. Average unconditional correlation between international equity markets is rst shown to increase at long horizons, even for synchronized market data. Next, a conditional horizon-dependent correlation measure is proposed, providing evidence of a positive trend in correlation which is strongest at long horizon. To further elucidate the results, a model replicating the temporal aggregation of inter-market correlation is proposed. Finally, we investigate the impact on portfolio allocation, demonstrating decreased risk reduction benets at
Nuclear Accumulation of the Papillomavirus E1 Helicase Blocks S-Phase Progression and Triggers an ATM-Dependent DNA Damage Response

ABSTRACT Replication of the papillomavirus genome is initiated by the assembly of a complex between the viral E1 and E2 proteins at the origin. The E1 helicase is comprised of a C-terminal ATPase/helicase domain, a central domain that binds to the origin, and an N-terminal regulatory region that contains nuclear import and export signals mediating its nucleocytoplasmic shuttling. We previously reported that nuclear accumulation of E1 has a deleterious effect on cellular proliferation which can be prevented by its nuclear export. Here we have shown that nuclear accumulation of E1 from different papillomavirus types blocks cell cycle progression in early S phase and triggers the activation of a DNA damage response (DDR) and of the ATM pathway in a manner that requires both the origin-binding and ATPase activities of E1. Complex formation with E2 reduces the ability of E1 to induce a DDR but does not prevent cell cycle arrest. Transient viral DNA replication still occurs in S-phase-arrested cells but surprisingly is neither affected by nor dependent on induction of a DDR and of the ATM kinase. Finally, we provide evidence that a DDR is also induced in human papillomavirus type 31 (HPV31)-immortalized keratinocytes expressing a mutant E1 protein defective for nuclear export. We propose that nuclear export of E1 prevents cell cycle arrest and the induction of a DDR during the episomal maintenance phase of the viral life cycle and that complex formation with E2 further safeguards undifferentiated cells from undergoing a DDR when E1 is in the nucleus.
A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of the effects of physical exercises and estrogen therapy on health-related quality of life in postmenopausal women

Objective:The purpose of this study was to evaluate the isolated and associated effects of estrogen therapy (estradiol valerate 1 mg/d orally) and physical exercise (moderate aerobic exercise, 3 h/wk) on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and menopausal symptoms among women who had undergone hysterectomy. Design:A 6-month, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial with 44 postmenopausal women who had undergone hysterectomy. The interventions were physical exercise and hormone therapy (n = 9), being sedentary and hormone therapy (n = 14), physical exercise and placebo (n = 11), and being sedentary and placebo (n = 10). HRQOL was assessed by a Brazilian standard version of the Medical Outcome Study Short-Form Health Survey and symptoms by Kupperman Index at baseline and after 6 months. Results:There was a decrease in symptoms in all groups, but only groups who performed physical exercise showed an increase in quality of life. Analysis of variance showed that changes in physical functioning (P = 0.001) and bodily pain (P = 0.012) scores over the 6-month period differed significantly between women who exercised and women who were sedentary, regardless of hormone therapy. Hormone therapy had no effect, and there was also no significant association between physical exercise and hormone therapy in HRQOL. Conclusions:Physical exercises can reduce menopausal symptoms and enhance HRQOL, independent of whether hormone therapy is taken.
Creating, supporting and sustaining a culture of innovation

Recently the industry's clients, designers and society as a whole, have begun to accept that innovation can offer key benefits in the form of financial growth and increased profits. Therefore, it is apparent that the development of a culture of innovation is of utmost importance if a business is to become universally proactive, entrepreneurial and remain successful. This owes much to the fact that the agility and ability of an organisation to respond to the changing marketplace is driven by its propensity to innovate. This paper does not attempt to resolve these problems; it merely attempts to raise awareness of the key issues relating to innovation, diffusion and the associated management of change. Moreover, it promotes the benefits afforded by developing an organizational culture of innovation. The content will be of interest to industrialists and researchers and will describe the key issues associated with product derivation, introduction and wider diffusion. Ultimately, it aims to demonstrate that creativity, the promotion of a culture for innovation, and the development of intellectual capital are issues of utmost importance in generating and maintaining a proactive and entrepreneurial organisation.
Photoperiod Management of Dairy Cattle for Performance and Health

Dairy producers are constantly searching out new management techniques to improve production efficiency and cash flow. Photoperiod management has received interest lately as a cost effective method to increase production in lactating cows. That is because in cows exposed to long days, i.e. 16 to 18 hours of light and a 6 to 8 hour period of darkness, daily milk production increases an average of 2 liters/cow, relative to those on natural photoperiods (Dahl et al., 2000). The purpose of this paper is to review the evidence for a response of lactating and dry cows to photoperiod, describe the physiologic basis for those responses, and discuss the economic justification for implementing photoperiod management.