Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lecturers’ Perceptions of Factors that Attract Talent in a Ghanaian Higher Learning Institution

Creating a sustainable competitive advantage requires higher learning institutions to attract, motivate, develop and retain the talented staff they need now and in the future. However, the technical universities in Ghana are facing significant challenges in attracting and retaining talents to academic positions since their conversion. Besides, there exists limited research on factors that attract talented academics to these institutions as preferred employers. The main objective of this study was therefore to examine lecturers’ perceptions of factors that attract talents to academic positions within a Ghanaian higher learning institution; in this instance, Sunyani Technical University (STU). A qualitative approach was adopted for this study; semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain data. The study participants comprised of 23 lecturers selected from the university under study. The findings show that nine themes are related to the attraction of talents to the universities: career development and advancement, opportunities to make a contribution, employer branding and prestige, job security, flexible working hours, intellectual stimulation, innovation, opportunity to apply skills and autonomy. The results challenge higher learning institutions to develop a superior employer brand with a strong employee value proposition (EVP) that would attract, develop and reward talented academics for their work efforts. The study provides important practical guidelines that could assist the university studied and other higher learning institutions to attract talented lecturers and become employers of choice.
Analysis of multirate components and application to multirate filter design

We consider the design of filters intended for multirate systems. Applications include sample-rate changers, narrowband filtering and beamforming. Conventional frequency-domain techniques are appropriate for linear time-invariant systems, for which the frequency domain is the eigenvector domain. Multirate systems are not time-invariant, but exhibit block time-invariance, as observed in the literature. As a consequence, a multirate system is appropriately described by a matrix-valued frequency response, just as a linear time-invariant system is described by a scalar-valued frequency response. We formulate multirate filter design as approximation of a desired matrix-valued frequency response, after motivating it as a logical extension of classical frequency-domain design of equiripple filters. <<ETX>>
Process versus Product Innovation in Multiproduct Firms

This paper develops a differentiated-goods duopoly model in which firms engage in Cournot-Nash quantity competition. The effects of firm size on the choice of R&D effort between process and product innovation are examined. We find that (a) as firms devote more effort to product innovation, given that they are in the product R&D regime, their incentives to switch from product to process innovation increase, and (b) once the firm is in the process R&D regime, it will perform process R&D indefinitely.
Presence of peptidase activities in different varieties of cheese

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) counts, PepX activity towards H‐Phe‐Pro‐βNA, and aminopeptidase activity towards H‐Arg‐βNA. HCl, H‐Lys‐βNA, H‐Leu‐βNA, H‐Pro‐βNA, H‐Glu‐βNA derivatives have been evaluated in 32 commercial samples of cheese, one processed cheese, and one yoghurt. The presence of intracellular exo‐peptidase activities in cheese extracts free from bacterial cells was detected, even after 1 year of ripening. An inverse ratio between the presence of viable lactic microflora and peptidase activity in the cheese extracts was observed. The importance of LAB starter exo‐peptidases in the degradation of casein oligopeptides, and the key role of autolysis in the release of peptidases in the cheese, are discussed.
Valuing Quality of Life and Improvements in Glycemic Control in People With Type 2 Diabetes

Outcomes research is used increasingly for assessing the health economic benefits of new therapeutic programs and interventions. The measurement properties of the outcomes assessment tools are important. If overlooked, they can mislead health care administrators and caregivers regarding the importance and value of these programs and interventions. We reviewed the literature and conducted two analyses to determine the absolute, relative, and operative quality-of-life ranges for people with type 2 diabetes. Quality of life and fasting blood glucose and HbA1c concentrations were measured at baseline and at 4,8, and 12 weeks of treatment in 569 men and women randomized to either glipizide gastrointestinal therapeutic system (GITS) or placebo in a double-blind, multicenter clinical trial. A subgroup of 290 patients completed a diabetes-specific health states questionnaire at endpoint (week 12 or early termination) rating 10 health-state descriptions on a health thermometer scale ranging from 0 (death) to 100 (full health). Health losses at the higher end of the scale had a greater negative utility than did comparable losses at lower health states, indicating patients' strong preferences for maintaining asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic conditions. Patients rated their current health state at 83.4 ± 0.8% of full health and indicated that a loss of 27 points below this value would prevent them from living and working as they currently do. The calibration analysis applied to the quality-of-life scales suggested that the targeted range for clinical investigation and quality-of-care evaluation must be more narrowly focused. Effect sizes as seemingly small as 2% (0.25 responsiveness units) on the absolute scale can correspond to quality-of-life losses of 15–20% on the personal operative scale. Differences in glycemic control clearly affected quality of life. Those patients with the best HbA1c responses (decreasing 1.5% or more from baseline) versus those with the worst responses (increasing 1.5% or more from baseline) were separated by 0.6 responsiveness units for the overall quality-of-life summary measure. The calibration analysis suggested that this degree of better glycemic control provides a nearly 50% gain in quality of life according to personal expectations within the operative range. In conclusion, general measures of quality of life may be too crude and insensitive to capture the important gains in health outcomes due to new therapeutic interventions and programs in diabetes. Quality-of-care evaluations for diabetes are at risk of favoring inferior programs with lower costs simply because gains or losses in health outcomes go undetected.
Political risk and success factors in public-private partnerships at the subnational level: the case of road infrastructure concessions

Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) are contractual figures through which the public and private sectors participate together in the provision of public goods and services, with multiple degrees of involvement and allocation of responsibilities, and multiple types of arrangements such as concessions (PPP in Infrastructure Resource Center [PPPIRC], 2015). Thus, an adequate risk distribution among the parties is required to ensure the success of a project. Although there is extensive research to understand risk in PPP at the national level, it has been found that there is a lack of research on the role of political risk and critical success factors coming from subnational spheres, on PPP success. Therefore, the current study related perceptions on political risk, and critical success factors with the probability of success or failure of an infrastructure project performed under concessions at the subnational level. The types of political risk included were: (a) currency inconvertibility, (b) breach of contract, (c) expropriation, (d) political violence, (e) legal and bureaucratic risk, and (f) non-governmental actions. Meanwhile, the critical success factors involved were: (a) favourable economic conditions, (b) available financial markets, (c) effective procurement and (d) government guarantee (Hardcastle et al., 2005). These factors were related through structural equation modelling (SEM). Results showed that both critical success factors and political risk factors were found to have a significant relationship with the success or failure of PPP in infrastructure projects at the subnational levels. There was a statistically significant, positive relationship, between critical success factors and success of public-private partnership infrastructure projects. Furthermore, there was a statistically significant, positive, indirect effect of political risk factors on success, following the idea that properly identified critical success factors and political success factors influence the final outcome of a project at the subnational level. In turn, political risk factors had a statistically significant effect on critical success factors, thus proving the relationship
Treatment of Premenstrual Syndrome With Alprazolam: Results of a DoGble‐Blind, Placebo Controlled, Randomized Crossover Clinical Trial

A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized multiple crossover study was designed to determine the effectiveness of alprazolam i n the treatment of premenstrual syndrome. Patients maintained daily diaries of 22 premenstrual symptoms for one pretreatment control cycle and four treatment cycles. Alprazolam 0.25 mg or placebo was administered three times daily from cycle day 20 until the second day of menstruation, at which time the dosage was tapered by one tablet per day to minimize withdrawal effects. The results of the clinical trial indicate that alprazolam is significantly more effective than placebo in relieving the severity of premenstrual nervous tension, mood swings, irritability, anxiety, depression, fatigue, forgetfulness, crying, cravings for sweets, abdominal bloating, abdominal cramps, and headache. The low incidence of side effects makes alprazolam an acceptable treatment for premenstrual syndrome for those women unresponsive to other therapies.
Effects of source and crisis attribution on organisational trustworthiness in news media reporting

In an age of fake news and churn-based journalism (or churnalism), how media process content to create news is a vital for readers and the organisations that use news media as a communication channel during crises. This study builds on existing research in the field of crisis communication to elaborate how media content such as sources and their attributions of blame influences trust during an organisational crisis event.
Analyzing Factors Affecting Financial Literacy and Its Impact on Investment Behavior Among Adults in India

Financial literacy is essential for making key financial decisions related to saving, borrowing and investment. Although numerable studies have been conducted to find elements of financial literacy, most of them focus on developed countries. This study aims to determine characteristics that affect levels of financial literacy in India and the impact of financial literacy on investment behavior. Primary data from 309 respondents across India was collected for the purpose of the study and was analyzed using empirical methods such as ordinary least square (OLS) regression and t-test. It was found that financial literacy among respondents was low and significant differences existed based on sociodemographic and economic factors. Unexpectedly, financial literacy was found to have no effect on investment behavior. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first, if not the first, of its kind to be conducted in India. The findings have significant implications for financial education and public policy programs.
Caractérisation du mélange dans les réponses impulsionnelles de salles. Application à la détermination expérimentale du temps de mélange.

Nous etudions les proprietes statistiques de reponses impulsionnelles de salles. Si la qualite acoustique d'une salle est decrite par ses reponses impulsionnelles, ces dernieres renseignent egalement sur le systeme physique considere. En 1975, Joyce emet l'hypothese selon laquelle les grandes salles sont melangeantes ou tout au moins ergodiques. Afin de verifier cette derniere hypothese, ce document se concentre sur l'estimation du temps auquel le systeme devient melange: le temps de melange. Plusieurs types d'estimateur sont mis en œuvre. L'algorithme Matching Pursuit permet d'estimer les temps d'occurrence des retours. L'etude de leur distribution temporelle permet de definir un temps a partir duquel la densite de retours augmente d'un rapport constant avec le temps. Nous avons developpe l'eXtensible Fourier Tranform (XFT) qui permet une visualisation temporelle pas-a-pas des composantes spectrales du signal. La XFT permet d'estimer le temps a partir duquel les composantes spectrales du signal sont distribuees statistiquement. Les deux estimateurs s'accordent tant sur des reponses experimentales que synthetisees par un modele stochastique: le temps de melange est une fonction de la distance source/recepteur. Nous montrons que le temps que nous estimons n'est pas le temps de melange au sens dynamique du terme. Nous proposons l'emploi du nom de temps de transition a la place. Finalement, les estimateurs ouvrent la voie a l'estimation de la diffusion, du filtrage d'une salle ou de l'entropie comme des fonctions du temps.
Observation of phonon dimensionality effects on electron energy relaxation

We have investigated electron energy relaxation in copper wires with several film thicknesses (t=14-90 nm) evaporated on (a) 30 nm thick suspended silicon nitride membranes, and (b) bulk nitridized substrates. The experiment was performed at sub-Kelvin temperatures by heating the electron gas by current, and measuring the resulting temperature rise using sensitive normal metal-insulator-superconductor (NIS) tunnel junction thermometers. A clear effect of 2D phonon dimensionality was observed in all wires on top of the membranes, resulting in strengthened electron-phonon interaction below 0.5 K. Thinning the metal film on a bulk substrate also weakens the energy relaxation notably at the lowest temperatures.
Similarities and Differences in US and Canadian Restaurant Marketing Strategies: A Cross-Border Analysis of Menu Offerings

As an important marketing tool, restaurant menus communicate food and beverage offerings and position the establishment in the minds of consumers. The aim of this study is to compare restaurant menus from the US and Canada to test for similarities and differences between the two markets. Over 50 restaurants were visited in each county (n=111) and 13 features of the restaurants were analyzed for dining styles, product selection, and food trends. Similarities between the two markets were most evident in fine dining restaurants, while most of the differences were found in casual dining restaurants. The primary contribution of this paper lies in the data-driven approach and insights gained by analyzing both market similarities and differences.
Impact of Accounting Measurement and Disclosure of Human Resources on Financial Statements: An Empirical Study

In recent years, there has been an argument about whether or not human resources costs should be reported in the balance sheets or in the income statements as costs. This research aims at studying accounting measurement and disclosure of human resources and their impact on an organization’s financial statements, which are considered the main source of decision-making. The researchers adopted the analytical descriptive approach, utilizing an empirical study. A questionnaire was constructed and distributed to a population of Lebanese Certified Public Accountants and professors at public and private universities. The research yielded some important findings, mainly that investment in human resources can be considered as an asset of the organization, just like other intangible assets. The researchers also found that accounting disclosure of human resource costs actually affects financial statements.
Subcranial transnasal repair of cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea with free autologous grafts by the combined overlay and underlay techniques.

OBJECTIVE To determine the efficacy of subcranial transnasal repair of cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea with free autologous grafts by the combined overlay and underlay techniques using the surgical microscope and/or endoscope. PATIENTS AND METHODS Twenty patients with CSF rhinorrhea were included in this retrospective study. They were 13 males and 7 females. Their age ranged from 7 to 62 years (mean: 39.35). The etiologies of the leak were iatrogenic in 10 cases, spontaneous in 5 cases, traumatic in 4 cases and one case was associated with meningeo-encephalocele. Preoperative nasal endoscopic examination, computed tomography (CT) with intrathecal non-ionic contrast and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were done when indicated. Endoscopic and/or microscopic repair of the CSF fistula was done by a combination of both underlay and overlay repair with free autologous grafts as follows: Gelfoam with fibrin glue, strips of fat, facia lata, Gelfoam with fibrin glue (underlay), septal cartilage, Gelfoam with fibrin glue and strips of fat (overlay). RESULTS Complete closure of the leak was achieved in all patients. In one case of spontaneous CSF leak which was operated endoscopically, the leak recurred 6 months postoperatively and ceased spontaneously after a month with conservative medical treatment. No major complications were seen and no patients developed meningitis or postoperative anosmia. CONCLUSION Subcranial transnasal repair with free autologous grafts by the combined overlay and underlay techniques using the endoscope or surgical microscope is a safe and successful method of treating CSF leaks, provided that the CSF leak is precisely located and the site can be reached with the endoscope or surgical microscope.
Spectrum Assignment Algorithm for Cognitive Machine-to-Machine Networks

A novel aggregation-based spectrum assignment algorithm for Cognitive Machine-To-Machine (CM2M) networks is proposed. The introduced algorithm takes practical constraints including interference to the Licensed Users (LUs), co-channel interference (CCI) among CM2M devices, and Maximum Aggregation Span (MAS) into consideration. Simulation results show clearly that the proposed algorithm outperforms State-Of-The-Art (SOTA) algorithms in terms of spectrum utilisation and network capacity. Furthermore, the convergence analysis of the proposed algorithm verifies its high convergence rate.
DNA polymerase I activity in Escherichia coli is influenced by spot 42 RNA

We have shown that the level of DNA polymerase I (Pol I) activity in Escherichia coli is influenced by the level of a 109-nucleotide RNA, spot 42 RNA. Deletion of the gene for spot 42 RNA results in a 20 to 25% decrease in Pol I activity, as assayed by nucleotide incorporation in cell extracts and a decrease in the ability of cells to grow in the presence of the DNA-alkylating agent methyl methanesulfonate. Also, a physiological reduction of the level of spot 42 RNA, by growth in media containing poor carbon sources, results in a corresponding decrease in Pol I activity. Conversely, overproduction of spot 42 RNA results in a 10 to 15% increase in Pol I activity in vitro. Thus, changes in the amount of spot 42 RNA result in relatively small but significant changes in Pol I activity.
Clinical Utility of Genotypic Resistance Tests for HIV-1-Infected Patients with Low-Level Virological Failure

ABSTRACT The usefulness of genotypic resistance tests (GRT) among HIV-1 patients with low-level virological failure (LLVF) was evaluated. Up to 78% of samples with <1,000 copies/ml were sequenced successfully. For samples with 50 to 200 copies/ml, the success rate was as high as 69%. LLVF should not deter clinicians from requesting GRT.
Factors Influencing Age at First Birth of Bangladeshi Women- A Multivariate Approach

Age at first birth has direct effect on fertility; early initiation of childbearing lengthens the reproductive period and subsequently increases fertility level of a country. Study of age at first birth enable researchers to forecast about subsequent fertility behavior and policy implications, especially in case of developing country like Bangladesh; where third stage of demographic transition begun as a result of continuous assessment. Multivariate techniques have been applied using BDHS-2007 data to obtain significant determinants of age at first birth of Bangladeshi women. Five factors were revealed from factor analysis where consciousness of parents and fecundity factor explain the age at first birth most. Linear discriminant analysis revealed that 70.9% of original grouped cases were correctly classified according to the obtained factors where, sensitivity of discriminant function was 71.9% and the specificity was 65.1%. Findings suggest that; there is a complex structure to the decision-making for first parity along with couple’s awareness about population boost, fecundity, couple’s educational level and, mother’s participation on labor force.
Exploiting Argument Information to Improve Event Detection via Supervised Attention Mechanisms

This paper tackles the task of event detection (ED), which involves identifying and categorizing events. We argue that arguments provide significant clues to this task, but they are either completely ignored or exploited in an indirect manner in existing detection approaches. In this work, we propose to exploit argument information explicitly for ED via supervised attention mechanisms. In specific, we systematically investigate the proposed model under the supervision of different attention strategies. Experimental results show that our approach advances state-of-the-arts and achieves the best F1 score on ACE 2005 dataset.
Enhancing Shariah Audit Practices in Islamic Financial Institutions in Malaysia

It is undeniable that Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) in Malaysia are growing with a positive impact on the national economic growth. In order to sustain and maintain Shariah compliance in Islamic financial industry, adequate Shariah audit practices are necessary to ensure that the operation of IFIs should be in parallel with Shariah guidelines and policies set by the authority. In order to equip Islamic industry practitioners with adequate Shariah audit practices, Faculty of Economics and Muamalat (FEM), Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) has introduced a professional Shariah Audit Training (SAT) program for IFIs staffs. SAT is a program that covers various aspects on Shariah audit practices starting from Shariah principles, Shariah governance, Shariah audit program, Shariah audit process, Shariah audit fieldwork, Shariah risk management and Shariah audit communications. Modules used in SAT have been developed based on collaboration between academic institutions and industry players in order to ensure that the knowledge and practice in the industry are harmonized and relevant. The series of trainings conducted in the program are believed to achieve the programme’s ultimate objective which is to produce Shariah auditors who are qualified and trained to fill the gap for Islamic finance industry. The objective is to produce talents with adequate Shariah audit knowledge. This study provides the result of the SAT program toward IFIs practitioners’ skills and knowledge on Shariah audit practices.