Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Business Consulting: A Guide to How it Works and How to Make it Work

The ultimate guide for those using or planning to use business consultants - and for consultants themselves In the last three decades of the 20th century the management consultancy industry grew at a cracking pace but increased scepticism about the value that consultants genuinely add, combined with the economic slowdown, has made life much tougher for the consulting industry. As firms have cut back on consulting services and begun to review the way they use consultants, consulting firms themselves are looking at how they need to change. People are now talking about business consulting rather than management consulting. Using real examples from a range of private sector firms, public sector organisations and from the consultants themselves, this book explores the new business consulting world and looks at every element of it with the aim of both helping firms make better use of consultants and showing consultants how they need to adapt and provide their clients a better service.
Attitudes Toward and Effectiveness of the Cause-Related Marketing Initiatives in the Polish Culture

of a thesis at the University of Miami. Thesis supervised by Dr. Alyse R. Lancaster. No. of pages in text. (140) The study examines attitudes toward and effectiveness of cause-related marketing initiatives in Poland. As the results indicate, the factors, which lead to the popularity and effectiveness of the cause-related marketing initiatives in the United States and the United Kingdom, lack in the Polish culture. Even though CRM is popular in Poland, it does not influence the purchase decisions. Poles do not have any expectations toward businesses in the area of corporate social responsibility. They believe that the government should take the responsibility for solving social issues, and value only the functional dimensions of the products, because their emotional needs are fully satisfied by their families, friends and religion.
How does debt capital affect member commitment in agricultural cooperatives

There is an increasing number of agricutural cooperative management in acquiring more debt capital in order to compensate member equity and achived higher growth. At the same time, exposing the cooperative to higher financial risks indicate that the member interests are being replaced for other priority interests. Once the members do no have incentives to involve in cooperative governance due to their small investment correlation to the total capital base of the cooperative, they no longer consider themselves as real owners and consequently the free rider problem emerge. When the member perceived that benefits could also arrive from borrowed money and other capital sources instead of their own investing money, a decrease of their contribution as well as their less involvement in participate the governance of cooperative will occur. Inspried by the importance of member commitment and the great potentials of debt capitals, our prime focus of this study is whether the acquisition of debt capital has some influences on member commitment in agricultural cooperatives. The empirical approach consisted of the theorical framework of the social capial theory, the property right theory and the agency theory. The data gathered from the phone interviews with seven representative managers of Chinese agricultural cooperatives and are used to test the hypotheses in which correspond to the aim. Debt capital’s effects on member commitment are measured by five indicators consisted of members’ willingness to invest, level of member control, superiority of members’ interests, members’ benefit from their cooperatives and level of social capital. The choice method is qualitative with explanation and example from cooperatives participated while the set of open-end type of question is used for the phone interview. Based on interviews with cooperative members from Zhejiang province, we found that debt capital can have both positive and negative impacts on level of member commiment by influencing cooperatives’ financial performance, members’ willingness to invest, member control, member interests and level of social capital in cooperatives.
Theorizing Formal and Informal Feedback Practices in Management Accounting Through Three Dimensions

The purpose of this doctoral thesis is to widen and develop our theoretical frameworks for discussion and analyses of feedback practices in management accounting, particularly shedding light on its formal and informal aspects. The concept of feedback in management accounting has conventionally been analyzed within cybernetic control theory, in which feedback flows as a diagnostic or comparative loop between measurable outputs and pre-set goals (see e.g. Flamholtz et al. 1985; Flamholtz 1996, 1983), i.e. as a formal feedback loop. However, the everyday feedback practices in organizations are combinations of formal and informal elements. In addition to technique-driven feedback approaches (like budgets, measurement, and reward systems) we could also categorize social feedback practices that managers see relevant and effective in the pursuit of organizational control. While cybernetics or control theories successfully capture rational and measured aspects of organizational performance and offer a broad organizational context for the analysis, many individual and informal aspects remain vague and isolated. In order to discuss and make sense of the heterogeneous field of interpretations of formal and informal feedback, both in theory and practice, dichotomous approaches seem to be insufficient. Therefore, I suggest an analytical framework of formal and informal feedback with three dimensions (3D’s): source, time, and rule. Based on an abductive analysis of the theoretical and empirical findings from an interpretive case study around a business unit called Division Steelco, the 3Dframework and formal and informal feedback practices are further elaborated vis-á-vis the four thematic layers in the organizational control model by Flamholtz et al. (1985; Flamholtz 1996, 1983): core control system, organizational structure, organizational culture, and external environment. Various personal and cultural meanings given to the formal and informal feedback practices (“feedback as something”) create multidimensional interpretative contexts. Multidimensional frameworks aim to capture and better understand both the variety of interpretations and their implications to the functionality of feedback practices, important in interpretive research.
Role of IFNγ in Allograft Tolerance Mediated by CD4+CD25+ Regulatory T Cells by Induction of IDO in Endothelial Cells

Regulatory T cells have been described to specifically accumulate at the site of regulation together with effector T cells and antigen‐presenting cells, establishing a state of local immune privilege. However the mechanisms of this interplay remain to be defined. We previously demonstrated, in a fully MHC mismatched rat cardiac allograft combination, that a short‐term treatment with a deoxyspergualine analogue, LF15‐0195, induces long‐term allograft tolerance with a specific expansion of regulatory CD4+CD25+T cells that accumulate within the graft. In this study, we show that following transfer of regulatory CD4+T cells to a secondary irradiated recipient, regulatory CD25+Foxp3+ and CD25+Foxp3− CD4+T cells accumulate at the graft site and induce graft endothelial cell expression of Indoleamine 2, 3‐dioxygenase (IDO) by an IFNγ‐dependent mechanism. Moreover, in vivo transfer of tolerance can be abrogated by blocking IFNγ or IDO, and anti‐IFNγ reduces the survival/expansion of alloantigen‐induced regulatory Foxp3+CD4+T cells. Together, our results demonstrate interrelated mechanisms between regulatory CD4+CD25+T cells and the graft endothelial cells in this local immune privilege, and a key role for IFNγ and IDO in this process.
Needs of ambulatory patients with cancer who visited outpatient units in Japanese hospitals.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To document the domains and properties of the self-reported needs of ambulatory patients with cancer. DESIGN Descriptive. SETTING Outpatient units in three general hospitals in Japan. SAMPLE 139 ambulatory patients with cancer. METHODS The data were collected using questionnaires. Five theoretical groups, which were composed of 30 items, were extracted empirically as domains. Alpha coefficients for each domain ranged from 0.70-0.89. Relationships between each domain and other variables and among the domains themselves were examined. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES Expressed needs of ambulatory patients with cancer, their backgrounds, medical and treatment characteristics, and physical functioning. FINDINGS All domains for patient needs, except for healthcare needs, were negatively correlated with the level of their physical function. Emotional, physical, and functional needs were positively correlated with the frequency of visiting an outpatient unit. Compared with other needs, adaptation needs were greater for patients who were employed or within three months of discharge. Among patients with one of three cancer sites (i.e., breast, stomach, and colorectal cancers), the needs for individualized care were the lowest for patients with colorectal cancer and highest for patients with breast cancer. CONCLUSIONS From the needs that ambulatory patients with cancer expressed, five domains were derived. Those domains had relationships with other variables. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING The findings shed light on a segment of ambulatory cancer nursing and may be useful when developing and testing programs needed in the future.
Improving Precision of Breeding Values by Removing Spatially Autocorrelated Variation in Forestry Field Experiments

Summary Adjustment for micro-environmental heterogeneity in inadequately blocked field experiments is desirable to improve estimates of genetic parameters and to maximize genetic gains from selection. In three forestry field trials of red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.) we removed spatially autocorrelated variation with kriging and evaluated the effect on estimates of treatment means and heritabilitiy compared to standard analysis. Kriging removed block effects and reduced the family × block interaction in all traits. The variation due to interactions was recovered in simple family or provenance variance components, which increased by up to 40 % in some traits. Heritability estimates and expected gains from selection increased accordingly, while the standard error of the estimate for family and provenance means decreased. The improvement was largest in experiments where blocking was clearly inadequate to capture site variation, when block size was large, and for traits that could be influenced by variation in soil properties. Bud break and leaf abscission, which are presumed to be independent from variation in soil, were spatially independent. Heritabilities estimated from an experiment with incomplete block design with nine trees per block could only be minimally improved. We recommend that variograms should routinely be constructed in the analysis of forestry field trials to test if residuals from standard models are spatially autocorrelated. If they are, kriging is proposed as a useful supplement to ANOVA in tree breeding experiments and other forestry field trials.
New French Genetic Evaluations of Fertility and Productive Life of Beef Cows

Since beginning 2000’s, all herd inventory, animal movements between herds and animal insemination are uploaded in the French national database for genetic evaluation. Two major breeders’ wishes can now be addressed with regards to female reproductive performance: heifer fertility and cow productive life. This paper covers the different steps realized for the implementation of two new national genetic evaluations concerning these traits. Female fertility is evaluated with heifer calving success after first AI. Cow productive life is assessed by the number of calvings at 78 months of age. For both traits, heritabilities were estimated at low values: 1.5% for fertility and 4% for productive life. Reliabilities of estimated breeding values for these traits are therefore low. The results of these new genetic evaluations will thus be mainly interesting for selecting bull and cow sires in breeding programs.
Regulation of Cell Cycle Transcription Factor Swi4 through Auto-Inhibition of DNA Binding

ABSTRACT In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, two transcription factors, SBF (SCB binding factor) and MBF (MCB binding factor), promote the induction of gene expression at the G1/S-phase transition of the mitotic cell cycle. Swi4 and Mbp1 are the DNA binding components of SBF and MBF, respectively. The Swi6 protein is a common subunit of both transcription factors and is presumed to play a regulatory role. SBF binding to its target sequences, the SCBs, is a highly regulated event and requires the association of Swi4 with Swi6 through their C-terminal domains. Swi4 binding to SCBs is restricted to the late M and G1 phases, when Swi6 is localized to the nucleus. We show that in contrast to Swi6, Swi4 remains nuclear throughout the cell cycle. This finding suggests that the DNA binding domain of Swi4 is inaccessible in the full-length protein when not complexed with Swi6. To explore this hypothesis, we expressed Swi4 and Swi6 in insect cells by using the baculovirus system. We determined that partially purified Swi4 cannot bind SCBs in the absence of Swi6. However, Swi4 derivatives carrying point mutations or alterations in the extreme C terminus were able to bind DNA or activate transcription in the absence of Swi6, and the C terminus of Swi4 inhibited Swi4 derivatives from binding DNA intrans. Full-length Swi4 was determined to be monomeric in solution, suggesting an intramolecular mechanism for auto-inhibition of binding to DNA by Swi4. We detected a direct in vitro interaction between a C-terminal fragment of Swi4 and the N-terminal 197 amino acids of Swi4, which contain the DNA binding domain. Together, our data suggest that intramolecular interactions involving the C-terminal region of Swi4 physically prevent the DNA binding domain from binding SCBs. The interaction of the carboxy-terminal region of Swi4 with Swi6 alleviates this inhibition, allowing Swi4 to bind DNA.
Abnormal Audit Fees and Properties of Analyst Forecasts, the Role of Cross-Listing and Legal Origin

This paper examines the influence of audit quality on the quality of earnings measured by the accuracy of analysts’ earnings forecasts. A high perceived audit quality enhances the confidence in the integrity of financial reporting and signals greater precision of earnings’ information, thus our hypothesis is that firms with high quality audits will have more persistent and predictable earnings and then more accurate earnings forecasts. The paper benefits from two specificities of the Canadian context: the exposure to a more litigious legal environment for Canadian firms which are cross-listed in the U.S., and an exposure to a Civil French Law environment for Canadian firms incorporated in the province of Quebec (versus common law for the rest of Canadian provinces). We add additional hypotheses derived from the specificities of our Canadian sample to analyze the effect of those legal environment indicators on our main research question.We use abnormal audit fees to measure audit quality and we control for the influence of cross-listing and the legal regime, on a sample of 798 listed Canadian firms for the year 2007. Audit data were hand collected. Our preliminary findings confirm the asymmetric distribution of abnormal audit fees and document a negative association between positive abnormal audit fees analyst forecast accuracy, whereas there is no association with negative abnormal audit fees. We also document the effects of cross-listing and legal environment on the association between audit quality and analyst forecast accuracy.
Standardizing Management of Post-Dural Puncture Headache in Obstetric Patients: A Literature Review

Post-dural puncture headache continues to be a significant cause of morbidity in parturients. Despite being a common complication faced by many anesthesiologists, there is a lack of consensus regarding its management. Many still use traditionally taught treatments such as strict bed rest and aggressive hydration despite lack of evidence for their usage. Few are using newly tested treatments such as gabapentin and ACTH despite being proven effective in randomized controlled trials. Furthermore, when and how the epidural blood patch should be used is contentious between different practitioners. This review aims at answering what is the best strategy to manage post-dural puncture headache and proposes an evidence-based practice guideline.
Comparison of FOSS based profiling tools in Linux operating system environment

Current computing systems comes with different power management and profiling tools to run the system in its optimal state. Though the hardware systems have advanced a lot in-terms of energy efficiency and computing power, the software's energy and resources efficiency is still lacking behind. In many cases due to poor/bad designing of software it cannot utilize the hardware efficiently and end up a system with high energy consumption. To address this issues software' s need a careful profiling in its development process to make the software efficient and less resource hungry. In this paper we compared some of the profiling tools available as Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) which are used under Linux environment. These software tools uses different strategies and have different accuracies in finding a system and software programs behavior and its resource requirements. Their performance and resource overheads such as memory, CPU, disk consumption were compared and results are summarized for making the tools selection easier to researchers and developers alike. Another important issue with these tools are that, their reporting formats are not always easy to understand and it makes them less user friendly.
Machine Learning Approaches to Estimating Software Development Effort

Accurate estimation of software development effort is critical in software engineering. Underestimates lead to time pressures that may compromise full functional development and thorough testing of software. In contrast, overestimates can result in noncompetitive contract bids and/or over allocation of development resources and personnel. As a result, many models for estimating software development effort have been proposed. This article describes two methods of machine learning, which we use to build estimators of software development effort from historical data. Our experiments indicate that these techniques are competitive with traditional estimators on one dataset, but also illustrate that these methods are sensitive to the data on which they are trained. This cautionary note applies to any model-construction strategy that relies on historical data. All such models for software effort estimation should be evaluated by exploring model sensitivity on a variety of historical data. >
Efficacy and safety of liposomal cytarabine in lymphoma patients with central nervous system involvement from lymphoma

Standard intrathecal chemotherapy for lymphomatous meningitis (LM) is limited by the short cerebrospinal half‐lives of the agents used, necessitating frequent administration. Liposomal cytarabine (DepoCyte) has an extended half‐life that permits administration at 2‐ to 4‐weekly intervals.
The equity method of accounting and unconsolidated subsidiaries : an empirical study

The objectives of this study are to determine the effect on certain financial statement relationships of using the equity method to account for subsidiaries in lieu of consolidation and to gather evidence to suggest whether or not bond rating agencies take into consideration these effects in rating corporate bonds. Sixty manufacturing companies listed in COMPUSTAT as having a subsidiary accounted for by the equity method compose the experimental group. The remaining manufacturing companies in COMPUSTAT compose the control group. Computation of eight variables from COMPUSTAT provided data from the companies' original financial statements. Consolidating the subsidiaries of the experimental companies using annual 10-K data made it possible to recompute the same eight variables with these subsidiaries consolidated into the parents' statements. Comparison of the variables for the companies before and after consolidation revealed that five of the eight variables were substantially different and that the differences were statistically significant. Horrigan's multiple regression bond rating model provided indirect evidence to examine which method (equity or consolidation) bond raters use in their rating process. The model is a surrogate for the rating process. Use of the model necessitated calculation of two sets of regression coefficients—one using data in which subsidiaries were accounted for by the equity method and a second when the subsidiaries are consolidated. A derivation sample drawn randomly from both the experimental and control groups provided the data for computation of the coefficients. Comparison of predictions using the two sets of coefficients and validation sample company data revealed that the consolidated method data generated predictions in greater agreement with Moody's bond ratings than did the equity method data. The N-probit technique indicated that the predictions of Horrigan's model are not biased. The research suggests that bond raters find data based on consolidation of subsidiaries more important in their analyses than data based on the equity method. This suggests that the FASB should modify generally accepted accounting principles with regard to the equity method of accounting for unconsolidated, majority-owned subsidiaries.
Rejuvenating a Veteran Benchmarking Scheme: Benchmarking in the Dutch Drinking Water Sector

The voluntary benchmarking system of the Dutch drinking water sector has matured over time. Nowadays it is Europe's most veteran benchmarking scheme of drinking water companies. The system has been praised by many; although also critical notes are heard on whether the system is still as appropriate and effective as it once was. The recent legislative change from a voluntary to a mandatory system provides an opportunity for reflection and change. This paper assesses the lessons learnt from the existing system through an analysis of stakeholder views, in order to identify ways for enhancement.