Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CAPITAL STRUCTURE OF EXPORTER SMEs DURING THE FINANCIAL CRISIS: EVIDENCE FROM PORTUGAL

This study aims to identify the most important determinants to explain the capital structure of exporter SMEs during the financial crisis. Capital structure is measured using three alternative ratios: total debt, long-term debt, and short-term debt, as the impact of the determinants can depend on debt maturity. Analysing an unbalanced sample of 277 Portuguese exporter SMEs, from 2008 until 2014, and using a panel data methodology, estimating the models with fixed effects for firms, the results suggest that size, profitability, asset structure, non-debt tax shields, growth, liquidity, and age are important determinants for explaining firms’ capital structure. Furthermore, exports intensity and crisis effect do not impact a firm’s indebtedness. Findings are consistent with the hierarchy of funds proposed by the Pecking Order Theory. The Trade-off Theory is also important, as fixed asset can be used as collateral in the case of a firm’s bankruptcy. Additionally, results suggest that exporter SMEs hold more short-term than long-term debt, especially small-sized firms. Finally, companies’ debt ratio presents a constant tendency during the period analysed. Classification- JEL:
Implementation of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) for assessment of humidity induced failure mechanisms on PCBAs

Today’s demands for steadily smaller and faster electronic devices lead to an ongoing miniaturization of electronics used in various fields. Current industry trends like e-mobility and autonomous driving are a significant motivation for this advancement. Reliability of electronics is an important aspect in all applications. In this context, particularly humidity induced failure mechanisms are of outmost importance. Temperature and humidity conditions greatly influence the durability of printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs). The validation of humidity robustness is investigated using Surface Insulation Resistance (SIR) measurements that reveal electrochemical migration (ECM) and respectively dendrite growth. This method has several drawbacks due to its nature of direct current loading to show detailed information on water film formation and subsequent development of electrochemical failure modes. To enable the cause effect relationships of leakage current, ECM, and water film formation, Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) is a promising method, since it will enable monitoring of water film formation on PCBA as a function of various parameters without perturbing electrodes due to corrosion. In this study, SIR comb structures of copper tracks on FR-4 substrates have been used for trials of a deeper understanding of EIS and a comparison with SIR measurements. The samples were exposed to climatic conditions, provoking a condensate formation on the surface. Measurements of SIR with an applied DC potential of 5 V and EIS measurements with an AC amplitude of 10 mV were conducted. The results from the EIS measurements formed the basis for electrical equivalent circuit modelling, portraying the reactions and the status of the PCB surface under changing climatic conditions and to investigate the impact of geometrical sample dimension on water film closing.
Study of psychosocial aspects contributing to stress among women with primary infertility

Reproduction is a fundamental feature of all known life. One among the three “runars” (debts) as per Yajur-veda is Pithru-runar and can be e settled by continuing the lineage. The WHO estimates of primary infertility in India are 3.9% in the age group of 25-49 years and 16.8% between 15-49 years and varies from state to state. A WHO study, published at the end of 2012, has shown that the overall rates of infertility in women from 190 countries has remained unchanged over the past 2 decades (1990-2010). 2 Infertility being a sensitive topic, various factors revolve around and the couple develop stress which worsens fertility rate. Despite its wide prevalence across the globe, least talked about and understood. Patel et al from Manipal Karnataka conducted cross-sectional study in 2016 on 300 women with primary infertility, estimated the infertility specific stress was as high as 80%. Study by Domar et al in 1993 compared the psychological symptoms of infertile women versus patients with other chronic medical conditions and concluded the infertile women had global symptom scores equivalent to cancer, ABSTRACT
Predictors of Organizational Commitment Moderated by Job Satisfaction: What Can We Learn from Indonesia?

This quantitative research aims to analyze discreet and simultaneous effect of school climate, reward system, value orientation toward job satisfaction and organizational commitment. It also analyzes the indirect effect of school climate, reward system and value orientation toward organizational commitment through job satisfaction of public middle school teachers at North Minahasa regency, Indonesia. Data are taken from a survey to 216 teachers from 15 middle schools, and analyzed using regression and path analysis. Findings include 1) direct effects of school climate and reward system toward job satisfaction; 2) direct effects of school climate, reward system and job satisfaction toward organizational commitment; 3) indirect effects of school climate and reward system toward organizational commitment through job satisfaction; and, 4) the direct effects outweigh the indirect effects. Keyword: organizational commitment, job satisfaction, school climate, reward system, value orientation, teacher commitment Strand: Educational management, Teacher education
Nutation Spectroscopy of a Nanomagnet Driven into Deeply Nonlinear Ferromagnetic Resonance

Strongly out-of-equilibrium regimes in magnetic nanostructures exhibit novel properties, linked to the nonlinear nature of magnetization dynamics, which are of great fundamental and practical interest. Here, we demonstrate that field-driven ferromagnetic resonance can occur with substantial spatial coherency at unprecedented large angle of magnetization precessions, which is normally prevented by the onset of spin-wave instabilities and magnetization turbulent dynamics. Our results show that this limitation can be overcome in nanomagnets, where the geometric confinement drastically reduces the density of spin-wave modes. The obtained deeply nonlinear ferromagnetic resonance regime is probed by a new spectroscopic technique based on the application of a second excitation field. This enables to resonantly drive slow coherent magnetization nutations around the large angle periodic trajectory. Our experimental findings are well accounted for by an analytical model derived for systems with uniaxial symmetry. They also provide new means for controlling highly nonlinear magnetization dynamics in nanostructures, which open interesting applicative opportunities in the context of magnetic nanotechnologies.
Investment opportunities, corporate governance quality, and firm performance in the UAE

This paper examines the influence of investment opportunities on firm performance and evaluates corporate governance practices in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to determine whether corporate governance quality moderates that influence. ,A fixed-effects regression was employed to examine the influence of investment opportunities on firm performance and the role of corporate governance quality as a moderator for all listed firms on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange (ADX) and the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). We examined 501 firm-year observations for the period when the corporate governance code in the UAE was coming into force, from 2008 to 2012. ,The regression results indicate that investment opportunities have a negative influence on firm performance. The corporate governance index used here shows that the level of corporate governance practiced in the UAE is weak. We also find that strong corporate governance ameliorates the negative influence of investment opportunities, which supports our hypotheses. The sub-indices of corporate governance that matter the most for moderating investment opportunities are board functioning and ethics. ,The results of this paper reflect the need to examine corporate governance in the context of the external environment represented by investment opportunities in our study. The findings could raise awareness of the importance of strong corporate governance practices, not only to directly improve firm performance but also through its influence on external variables. Legislators, regulators and other interested parties could use these results to examine practices in the UAE following the implementation of the corporate governance code. ,This study contributes to the literature by evaluating the role that corporate governance quality and its components could play in firm performance and indirectly moderating other external factors (such as investment opportunities).
Field Observation and Numerical Analysis of a Rotating Pipe in Flight

The present purpose is to reveal the mechanism of a flying pipe from an aerodynamic point of view. At first, we conduct field observations of a flying pipe using a pair of high-speed video cameras, together with three-dimensional motion analyses. In addition, we conduct numerical analyses by a finite difference method based on the MAC scheme. As a result, the observed orbit is approximated to be not an obvious parabolic curve but rather a straight line, after an initial instable and complicated curve. The stable flight with this approximately-straight orbit suggests the importance of aerodynamics in flying mechanism. More specifically, the model is in an unstable and complicated flight during an initial flight, afterwards becomes in a stable and approximately-straight flight. In the initial instable and complicated flight, the model flies fluctuating its posture upward, downward, left-ward and right-ward. As flight distance increases, the absolute value and the amplitude of moment becomes small to zero. During such a decaying and stabilising process, the gyroscopic effect plays a primary role balancing not angular acceleration of the model but aerodynamic fluid moment. In the stable and approximately-straight flight, the flow in the stable and approximately-straight flight is nearly the velocity-potential one, and accompanies very-small drag force. And, we could ignore the influence of model’s rotation upon the flow and the orbit. In this context, the model’s rotation is only to stabilise its posture, and gives negligible contribution upon its aerodynamics.
Breaking the legal link but not the law? The externalization of EU migration control through orchestration in the Central Mediterranean

ABSTRACT Transcending the established problem-solving perspective, this article proposes a novel conceptualization of orchestration as a strategy to escape legal responsibility. To test our conceptual argument, we study the case of EU migration governance vis-à-vis Libya in the Central Mediterranean. We show how legal constraints stemming from the 2012 Hirsi judgement of the ECtHR drove the EU from direct extraterritorial border operation to indirect orchestration via Libyan authorities. The EU used the orchestration techniques ‘assistance’, ‘endorsement’, ‘convening’ and ‘coordination’ to establish Libyan authorities like the coast guard as central intermediaries in the field of border patrol and search and rescue. These orchestration strategies increasingly replaced EU operations on the ground, thus posing new challenges for human rights protection.
Single-Photon Interaction with Beam Splitters

The production of maxima and minima by the superposition of two or more light signals provides fundamental support for the wave nature of light. This result is based on the study of wave interference phenomena which remains the only approach to explain the production of those maxima and minima. In a system that is prepared to work with only one photon at a time, any detector can signal only one or zero. In 1986, a rigorously controlled experiment was designed by Grangier, G. Roger, and A. Aspect, [Europhys Lett. 1(4), p. 173, 1986] that guaranteed a single-photon beam. The explanation of the experimental results implied the interference of the wave function of a single-photon with itself. Thus, the explanation of interference that is accepted for an ensemble of photons was assumed to be valid for a single photon. In this study, we prepare a Mach-Zehnder interferometer using the same type of beam splitters used by Grangier et al. to test the assumption mentioned above. Our results allow us to explain the results of Grangier et al. because of the interaction between light and the beam splitters. Our results also verify that their wave interpretation of the results is not valid. Here, we present the essential findings of the extensive experimental evidence that supports our ideas.
How Total Quality Management Stimulates the Relationship between Entrepreneurial Orientation and SMEs Performance: The Case of Pakistan

This study has the aim to know the impact of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) under the mediating effect of total quality management (TQM). This study has targeted the Small and Medium Industry of Pakistan to know about the effect of entrepreneurial orientation and TQM on performance of the SMEs. Total 242 participants were involved in this study, for whom data has been collected for analysis. Hayes's process macro has been utilized for hypotheses testing analysis. The results of this study showed the positive and significant impact of entrepreneurial orientation on performance of the SMEs, and that the TQM positively and significantly mediated between Entrepreneurial orientation and performance of the SMEs. This study has significantly enhanced the understanding level towards the SMEs for the young entrepreneurs. In future perspective, this study lacks in focusing on the external environment or forces which may cause harm to the performance of SMEs. So, this aspect can be utilized to enhance the work and in addition to this, Innovation can be used as a moderator to see its effect on the relationship between TQM and SME’s Performance.
Is TQM more difficult to implement than other transformational strategies?

This paper aims to assess whether Total Quality Management (TQM) is harder to implement than other business strategies. In order to accomplish this objective we have adopted a two-stage methodology. Firstly, we carried out an extensive review of the literature to identify the rates of TQM implementation failure estimated by researchers and practitioners. Secondly, we compared these rates with those estimated for other organisation-wide transformational efforts and explored the extent to which the obstacles to TQM implementation and to the implementation of other business strategies differ. Based on the literature reviewed and on the comparative analyses performed, we conclude that while it is widely acknowledged that the implementation of TQM can be a difficult task, significant uncertainty remains as to what the exact rate of failure is. Furthermore, the analyses suggest that the rates of failure and obstacles to TQM implementation are similar to those presented by other business strategies, and therefore, there seems to be no grounds to assume that TQM is more difficult to implement than other business strategies. These findings have implications for researchers and practitioners and open up several avenues for further research, which are also discussed in this paper.
Safety and Efficacy of Neoadjuvant DOF [Docetaxel, Oxaliplatin, 5-Fluorouracil] Chemotherapy Regimen in Patients with Locally Advanced Gastric and Gastro-Esophageal Junction Cancers: A Single Center Experience from India

Background: The role of chemotherapy in Gastric Cancer is constantly evolving with various neoadjuvant and adjuvant strategies. Several chemotherapeutic agents are used in the treatment of locally advanced gastric cancer (LAGC) namely Platinum based compounds (Cisplatin, Oxaliplatin), Fluoropyrimidines like 5-Flurouracil [(5-FU), Capecitabine)], Taxanes (Docetaxel) and Anthracyclines (Epirubicin). Various doublet and triplet combination chemotherapy regimens have been used for neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in LAGCs. In this study we evaluated the safety and efficacy of docetaxel based triplet regimen DOF [Docetaxel, Oxaliplatin, 5-Fluorouracil] in LAGC. Material and methods: 50 Newly diagnosed patients of Locally Advanced Gastric Cancer (stage II or III) deemed fit to receive chemotherapy were included in our study. After 3 cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, patients were assessed based on radiological and pathological response. Results: 50 Patients were included in our study of which majority were male (32), median age at presentation was 55 years and 24 patients presented with a history of gastrointestinal reflux disease (GERD). The most common hematological toxicities observed in our study were anemia (61.2%), neutropenia (42.6%, febrile neutropenia constituted 6%) and thrombocytopenia (13.2%). The most common gastro-intestinal [GI] toxicities observed in our study included nausea (69.2%), vomiting (31.2%), diarrhea (34%), oral mucositis (14%) and constipation (6.6%). We found that safety profile of DOF regimen was favorable with majority of patients tolerating the regimen well. The Overall Response Rate (68%), Disease Control Rate (96%) and Resectability Rate (80%) were higher compared to western studies. Pathological CR (17.5%), ypN0 disease status (42.5%) and nodal down staging (52%), all showed positive correlations with survival outcomes. Conclusion: DOF regimen is an effective and feasible option for neoadjuvant treatment of LAGC in an Indian population.
Objectivity (or lack thereof): Comparison between predictions of quantum Darwinism and spectrum broadcast structure

Quantum Darwinism and spectrum broadcast structure describe the emergence of objectivity in quantum systems. However, it is unclear whether these two frameworks lead to consistent predictions on the objectivity of the state of a quantum system in a given scenario. In this paper, we jointly investigate quantum Darwinism and spectrum broadcasting, as well as the subdivision of quantum Darwinism into accessible information and quantum discord, in a two-level system interacting with an $N$-level environment via a random matrix coupling. We propose a novel partial trace method to suitably and consistently partition the effective $N$-level environment, and compare the predictions with those obtained using the partitioning method proposed by Perez [Phys. Rev. A 81, 052326 (2010)]. We find that Quantum Darwinism can apparently emerge under the Perez trace even when spectrum broadcast structure does not emerge, and the majority of the quantum mutual information between system and environment fractions is in fact quantum in nature. This work therefore shows there can be discrepancies between quantum Darwinism, and the nature of information and spectrum broadcast structure.
The Effect of Age-related Differences in Body Size and Composition on Cardiovascular Determinants of VO 2 max Graeme

Background. A reduction in maximal stroke volume (SV max ) and total blood volume (TBV) has been hypothesized to contribute to the decline in maximal oxygen uptake (VO 2 max) with healthy aging. However, these variables have rarely been collected simultaneously in a board age range to support or refute this hypothesis. It is also unclear to what extent scaling size-related cardiovascular determinants of VO 2 max affects the interpretation of age-related differences.
An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade : The effects of an import ban on Cape Colony slaveholders

Few could have foreseen the consequences when the British Parliament, in 1807, passed the Slave Trade Act that sought to abolish slave imports into the British Empire. From population decreases in the British Caribbean to increased prices in the Cape Colony, historical evidence suggests that the eﬀects of the Act were felt far and wide even though commercialization of slaves was still possible within colonial territories. Using newly digitized historical datasets covering more than 40 years in two diﬀerent districts of the British Cape Colony, this paper measures changes in slave ownership and acquisition patterns from a longitudinal perspective. This approach allows me to tease out the eﬀects of the Act on farmers with diﬀerent types of agricultural outputs, most notably crop and livestock farming, agricultural types with very diﬀerent labor demands. The results show that livestock farmers, surprisingly, were more inelastic to the import ban in comparison to crop farmers. These results suggest that slaveholders could extract rents from the enslaved in a multitude of ways beyond agriculture production and calls for a broader theory of slavery as capital investment.
Well-posedness of the Prandtl equation in Sobolev space without monotonicity

We study the well-posedness theory for the Prandtl boundary layer equation on the half plane with initial data in Sobolev spaces. We consider a class of initial data which admit the non-degenerate critical points, so it is not monotonic. For this kind of initial data, we prove the local-in-time existence, uniqueness and stability of solutions for the nonlinear Prandtl equation in weighted Sobolev space. We use the energy method to prove the existence of solution by a parabolic regularizing approximation. The nonlinear cancellation properties of the Prandtl equations and non-degeneracy of the critical points are the main ingredients to establish a new energy estimate. Our result improves the classical local well-posedness results for the initial data that are monotone, analytic or Gevery class, and it will also help us to understand the ill-posedness and instability results for the Prandtl equation.
The Process of CSR Communication—Culture-Specific or Universal? Focusing on Mainland China and Hong Kong Consumers

Through two representative surveys—one in Beijing the other in Hong Kong (HK)—this study empirically validates an existing U.S.-based model of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication process. The study also extends the model by adding government trust as a second moderator and government involvement as a unique dimension of CSR communication. The perceived presence of CSR communication factors results in increases in consumers’ cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses. In turn, these increases improve favorable corporate reputation perception. Such results demonstrate the significant contributions of CSR communication dimensions to positive consumer outcomes in Chinese contexts. The process of CSR communication has significantly different features in Chinese contexts than in Western ones. Chinese consumers (both Beijing and HK) revealed a very high tolerance and acceptance of CSR communication with a self-promotional tone. The trust levels of HK consumers in the government tended to negatively moderate the effectiveness of CSR communication, while those of Beijing consumers did not.
Prunus avium kernel oil characterization: a comparative study of four varieties from Sefrou, Morocco

Four varieties of Prunus avium (Burlat, Napoleon, Coeur de pigeon, Van) kernel oils were extracted using a soxhlet apparatus with n-hexane as solvent. These oils composition was compared amongst them, with fatty acids, phytosterols and tocopherols identification and physicochemical characterization of said oils. Several differences, such as in oil yield were observed, “Coeur de pigeon” variety being the highest with a 23.5% yield. Twelve fatty acids were identified in all the varieties with linoleic and oleic fatty acids being the most abundant. β-sitosterol, Campesterol and Δ5-Avenasterol were the major compounds in the sterols assay performed. Also, total tocopherols ranged from 352.22 mg/kg (Var. Coeur de pigeon) to 2072.55 mg/kg (Var. Napoleon), with γ-tocopherol being the dominant one. These results suggest that these oils have numerous active compounds that can be further exploited.