Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antecedents of Project Success: The Perception of Vendor Employees

The global outsourcing market is the fastest-growing segment of information technology (IT) services. The success of outsourced IT projects has been related to organizational issues such as structure and culture, and decision-making infrastructure such as process and project management methodologies. This research studies the impact of these factors on relationship quality and vendor performance. Most of the studies about the success of outsourced IT projects are from the client perspective. With the rise in the outsourcing of IT services, the amount of work performed on site by vendor employees has increased. The authors use a survey of vendor employees who work at client sites, under the supervision of the client manager, to add to the vendor's perspective of project success. The survey results indicate that the quality of the relationship between the client and vendor company has a significant impact on project outcomes. Effective process management practices at client organizations and a healthy, open organizational culture lead to improved contractor performance and a better perception of the relationship quality. Organizations need to take a more strategic view toward process management improvement efforts, and project managers need to focus on promoting formal processes, quality communication, and trustworthy behavior toward vendor employees.
Market Orientation, Business Innovation and HRM in Top Slovenian Employers

Abstract The paper builds on a cross-sectional longitudinal study of 101 best Slovenian employers (firms) in a three-year period between 2008 and 2010. It employs both regression and power analysis (Cohen’s d effect size statistic). The paper analyzes the impact of internal and external marketing orientation, business innovation and HRM performance indicators on firm performance (added value per employee) in an economic crisis context. The effect size statistic further analyzes the Ii nk between the basic employee-firm relationship and the perceived importance of trust and long-term relationships with the firm in the “eyes of the customer” as evaluated by respondent firms’ managers. The results of our analysis confirm the increasing importance of relationship orientation in an economic crisis.the other hand, only the internal relationship orientation (internal marketing) seems to be directly linked to firm performance in our OLS regression model. This does not by imply that external market orientation is not important, but may indicate that is acts more as a buffer, not as a productive source of firm performance in an economic crisis. In addition, the results of our effect size estimation show how market oriented firms also display significantly higher scores on the basic employee-firm relationship; indicating a significant effect size relationship between the two constructs. More interestingly, this effect size is almost identical for 2008 and 2010, but considerably higher for 2009, when the economic crisis in Slovenia reached its climax. In the end, a series of implications for marketing and management theory and practice are discussed.
Modulatory role of quercetin against gamma radiation-mediated biochemical and morphological alterations of red blood cells

Abstract Purpose: The present work was intended to evaluate the radioprotective effect of quercetin against gamma radiation-induced oxidative stress on red blood cells (RBC). Materials and methods: Swiss albino male mice were treated with quercetin (100 mg/kg body wt) for three consecutive days prior to 5 Gy 60Co-gamma irradiation. RBC was isolated to estimate the level of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), membrane lipid peroxidation (LPO), intracellular reduced glutathione (GSH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), osmotic fragility and morphological alterations by atomic force microscope (AFM). Results: Irradiation increased intracellular ROS and membrane LPO whereas it decreased the intracellular GSH. Quercetin pretreatment ameliorated these alterations. The MCHC value decreased after irradiation whereas quercetin pretreatment restored it. The average osmotic fragility (H50) and the maximum rate of hemolysis (dH/dC)max increased after irradiation. Quercetin pretreatment decreased the H50 and (dH/dC)max. The AFM study showed that irradiation transformed RBC from biconcave to echinocytes, increased their surface roughness and decreased the vertical distance whereas pretreatment of quercetin significantly prevented both the alterations. Conclusions: Gamma radiation produced ROS and LPO which rendered oxidative stress and ultimately damaged RBC whereas quercetin ameliorated these changes and protected RBC from radiation-mediated damage.
Characterization of an antioxidant surfactant-free topical formulation containing Castanea sativa leaf extract

Abstract Context: Inclusion of antioxidants in topical formulations can contribute to minimize oxidative stress in the skin, which has been associated with photoaging, several dermatosis and cancer. Objective: A Castanea sativa leaf extract with established antioxidant activity was incorporated into a semisolid surfactant-free formulation. The objective of this study was to perform a comprehensive characterization of this formulation. Materials and methods: Physical, microbiological and functional stability were evaluated during 6 months storage at 20 °C and 40 °C. Microstructure elucidation (cryo-SEM), in vitro release and in vivo moisturizing effect (Corneometer® CM 825) were also assessed. Results and discussion: Minor changes were observed in the textural and rheological properties of the formulation when stored at 20 °C for 6 months and the antioxidant activity of the plant extract remained constant throughout the storage period. Microbiological quality was confirmed at the end of the study. Under accelerated conditions, higher modifications of the evaluated parameters were observed. Cryo-SEM analysis revealed the presence of oil droplets dispersed into a gelified external phase. The release rate of the antioxidant compounds (610 ± 70 µgh−0.5) followed Higuchi model. A significant in vivo moisturizing effect was demonstrated, that lasted at least 4 h after product’s application. Conclusion: The physical, functional and microbiological stability of the antioxidant formulation was established. Specific storage conditions should be recommended considering the influence of temperature on the stability. A skin hydration effect and good skin tolerance were also found which suggests that this preparation can be useful in the prevention or treatment of oxidative stress-mediated dysfunctions.
Australasian ( ACIS ) 2008 Measuring eCommerce Website Success

This paper presents a research model, which is built on communication theory (Shannon and Weaver 1948) and DeLone and McLean’s (1992, 2003) information system model, to identify eCommerce website success dimensions. The research model is aiming to make a contribution to literature by identifying and incorporating dimensions of success relevant to eCommerce websites. Further empirical research is required to validate the finding.
Invited Article: Managing disruptive physician behavior

Disruptive behavior can have a significant impact on care delivery, which can adversely affect patient safety and quality outcomes of care. Disruptive behavior occurs across all disciplines but is of particular concern when it involves physicians and nurses who have primary responsibility for patient care. There is a higher frequency of disruptive behavior in neurologists compared to most other nonsurgical specialties. Disruptive behavior causes stress, anxiety, frustration, and anger, which can impede communication and collaboration, which can result in avoidable medical errors, adverse events, and other compromises in quality care. Health care organizations need to be aware of the significance of disruptive behaviors and develop appropriate policies, standards, and procedures to effectively deal with this serious issue and reinforce appropriate standards of behavior. Having a better understanding of what contributes to, incites, or provokes disruptive behaviors will help organizations provide appropriate educational and training programs that can lessen the likelihood of occurrence and improve the overall effectiveness of communication among the health care team.
Telecom Traffic and Investment in Developing Countries: The Effects of International Settlement Rate Reductions

Developing countries, which received about $35 billion in net settlement payments from the United States telecom carriers between 1985 and 1998, were upset by the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) decision to slash rates, because lower rates mean lower payments. They claim that the payments help finance telecom investment, and that the FCC's decision will therefore harm their telecom sectors. The author uses a panel data set for 178 countries from 1985 to 1998 to test how changes in settlement rates affect telecom traffic and investment. He finds that rates are significantly negatively correlated with traffic, with the greatest effects in the poorest countries. In other words, reduced settlement rates spur telecom traffic from developing countries to the United States. And while there is a statistically significant correlation between settlement payments and telecom revenues in developing countries, he finds no correlation between the payments and the number of telephone mainlines or imports of telecommunications equipment. In short, there is no evidence that the payments are invested in telecom networks.
Spatial Coding in the Processing of Anaphor by Good and Poor Readers: Evidence from Eye Movement Analyses

An experiment that examined the way in which young readers deployed eye movements while reading sentences and while answering questions containing either a pronominal or noun anaphor is reported. To evaluate the possible causal role played by differences in inspection strategies between readers of above- and below-average reading skill, a third“age control” group of younger children was also tested. This group was matched on absolute reading ability with the less skilled group of older children, and on relative reading ability (i.e. reading quotient) with the more skilled group. Differences in inspection strategy were apparent between the groups of good and poor readers. Good readers launched more selective reinspections, whereas the poorer readers were more inclined to engage in“backtracking” and appeared to make less use of the displayed text. In every case there was a marked similarity in the behaviour of the good readers and the“age controls”. These results suggest that the ability to code the spatial location of words in a sentence, and, where necessary, to use this information to launch accurately targetted selective reinspections of previously read text, plays a crucial role in the development of skilled reading performance.
Clock mediates liver senescence by controlling ER stress

Accumulated evidence indicates that circadian genes regulate cell damage and senescence in most mammals. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and reactive oxygen species (ROS) regulate longevity in many organisms. However, the specific mechanisms of the relationship between the circadian clock and the two stress processes in organisms are poorly understood. Here, we show that Clock-mediated Pdia3 expression is required to sustain reactive oxidative reagents and ER stress. First, ER stress and ROS are strongly activated in the liver tissue of ClockΔ19 mutant mice, which exhibit a significant aging phenotype. Next, transcription of Pdia3 is mediated by the circadian gene Clock, but this process is affected by the ClockΔ19 mutant due to the low affinity of the E-box motif in the promoter. Finally, ablation of Pdia3 with siRNA causes ER stress with sustained phosphorylation of PERK and eIF1α, resulting in exaggerated up-regulation of UPR target genes and increased apoptosis as well as ROS. Moreover, the combined effects result in an imbalance of cell homeostasis and ultimately lead to cell damage and senescence. Taken together, this study identified the circadian gene Clock as a regulator of ER stress and senescence, which will provide a reference for the clinical prevention of aging.
Conflict Management in Design Process: Focus on Changes Impact

Design has increasingly become a collaborative endeavour carried out by multiple actors with diverse kinds of expertise. A critical element of collaborative design is to manage conflict, emerging due to the multi-actors interaction, and particularly the impacts once the conflict is resolved. Indeed, the conflict resolution comes up with a solution which often implies modifications on the product and the process organisation. This paper deals with this problematic of changes impact on conflict management process. It quantifies key issues with regards to concurrent engineering that enables us to better manage the design process. Strategies to overlap coupled activities are proposed based on the dependencies between the handled data during the design process.
A Probe for Local Flow Field Visualization

A probe for the interactive visualization of flow fields is presented. The probe can be used to visualize many characteristics of the flow in detail for a small region in the data set. The velocity and the local change of velocity (the velocity gradient tensor) are visualized by a set of geometric primitives. To this end, the velocity gradient tensor is transformed to a local coordinate frame, and decomposed into components parallel with and perpendicular to the flow. These components are visualized as geometric objects with an intuitively meaningful interpretation. An implementation is presented which shows that this probe is a useful tool for flow visualization. >
The Impact of Competition and Consumer Preferences on the Location Choices of Multinational Enterprises

In this study we argue that when undertaking location decisions multinational enterprises (MNEs) ought to incorporate their competitors' reactions to such decisions as well as consumer preferences for location, in addition to the more standard cost-benefit analyses. We view MNEs as networks of activities connected via product and knowledge flows and develop a game-theoretic, location-allocation mathematical model. A series of computational analyses leads to competitive outcomes and location choices, where even without an explicit modeling of inter-region differences, MNEs show strong tendency towards regionally focused location configurations. Importantly, such regionally focused location configurations can take the shape of regionally focused MNEs or of globally dispersed MNEs with a regional structure.
Combinatorial error detection in linear encoders

Linear error correction is widely implemented in millions of telecommunication devices to cope with unreliable or noisy communication channels. A common error in linear encoders is when some bits that are originally one in the generator matrix get erased and become zero - usually due to a soft error becoming a hard error or simply a physical impact on the device. The need to deal with this phenomenon has been recognized in the literature, although to the best of our knowledge no one has ever tried to diagnose erasure-type faults in an encoder. In this paper we focus on the situation when the linear encoder hardware unit becomes faulty and propose a novel combinatorial fault detection scheme based on group testing to diagnose its state with great efficiency in a quick manner. Furthermore we touch upon some solutions to compensate for at both the sender and the receiver side.
Making Sense of Software Project Management: A case of knowledge sharing in software development

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Local Community Economic Wellbeing through CSR Project

Through the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, companies are expected to contribute towards community development, particularly in enhancing the economic well being of the local community. This paper will discuss on the experience of local farmers community that has been involved in a CSR project by a multinasional company in collaboration will local farmers association to have an understanding on the extend of the project’s contribution towards the community . A total of 45 farmers were interviewed for this purpose. The interview data is transcribed and coded into themes that reflect the experiences of the farmers’ involvement with the CSR project. The study identifies 15 basic themes (BT) from the thematic analysis. These basic themes are clustered into three categories of main themes (MT) that are employment opportunity, sources of income and asset generation. The three themes reflect the contribution of the CSR project on the economic well-being of the community from the perspective of the community that involved with the project. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015. v6n4s3p79
Balancing the Two Knowledge Dimensions in Innovation Efforts: An Empirical Examination among Pharmaceutical Firms

This study investigates the relationships between the two knowledge dimensions (knowledge breadth and knowledge depth) and two types of innovations (radical innovation and incremental innovation). While existing literature identifies knowledge in general as an important driver of innovation, the exact relationships between knowledge breadth/depth and incremental/radical innovations are not clear. Drawing from the knowledge-based view, this study advances the understanding of the relationships between knowledge dimensions and types of innovations by hypothesizing a nonlinear relationship between knowledge breadth and radical innovation as well as a nonlinear relationship between knowledge depth and incremental innovation. Furthermore, the moderating effects of the interaction between knowledge breadth and knowledge depth on the above-mentioned relationships are also examined. Due to the different natures of the two types of innovations, it is hypothesized that knowledge depth positively moderates the relationship between knowledge breadth and radical innovation while knowledge breadth negatively moderates the relationship between knowledge depth and incremental innovation. To empirically test the hypotheses, secondary data from multiple sources were collected on 64 pharmaceutical firms over 15 years. Due to the panel data structure and observed dispersion issues in the dependent variables, negative binomial random effects models were formulated to test the hypotheses. The statistical results largely support the proposed hypotheses. The results demonstrate that while knowledge breadth positively contributes to the development of radical innovations and knowledge depth positively contributes to the development of incremental innovations, both relationships are subject to diminishing returns. Furthermore, while the finding did support the negative moderating effect of the knowledge breadth on incremental innovation, the positive moderating effect of knowledge depth on radical innovation is not supported. While the effect is not explicitly hypothesized, knowledge breadth seems to have a direct impact on incremental innovation as well.
Bank Control and the Number of Bank Relations of Japanese Firms

We explore the determinants of the number of long-term bank relations of listed Japanese firms using a unique data set covering the period 1982-1999. Japanese listed firms have about seven long-term bank loan relations on average, but show a large variation around the average. We analyze the determinants of the choice for the number of bank relations. We use data on loan and equity ownership to address the impact of the Japan-specific bank-firm relations and bank control on the number of loans decision. Having a relation with a top-equity holding bank reduces the number of bank relations, while debt-rich and cash-poor firms have more bank relations.
Human Detection from Ground Truth Cameras through Combined Use of Histogram of Oriented Gradients and Body Part Models

Vision based human detection continuously attracts research interest since it is a topic of practical significance. The well-established Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG) human detector, though regarded as a reference for human detection, still suffers from the typical problem of the trade-off between precision and recall, relying on the threshold of its classifiers. In this paper, we propose a human detection system which can provide both good precision and recall without the need for adjusting the classification thresholds. Our strategy is to combine the HOG detector with a body part model in order to eliminate the false detections that do not match the human silhouette (body) model. For this purpose, a probabilistic model of the human body is learned to describe the relative position between the distinctive body parts. A HOG detection would be retained if the body parts can be detected in the confidence areas provided by the learned body model. Moreover, the body parts detectors are boosted cascade classifier learned with the Haar, HOG or LBP features. The multi-modal feature representation of the different human body parts is more robust against variations in human appearances. Experiment results on the INRIA data sets show that our human detector achieves a precision of 70% at a recall of 50%, which cannot be achieved by the HOG detector under any parameter settings.
Modeling of 6 to 4 Switched Reluctance Motor using Coefficient Method and Analytical Method

Electric kick scooter field has become famous this lately, and become another solution for electric vehicle. Switched Reluctance Motor has been choosen as the propulsion system in this application due to the advantages of this motor. Meanwhile, the issue of lack experience in electrical motor design is one of the hollow subjects in machine design field. Through design aspects, the Switched Reluctance motor is developed using a simple technique which is coefficients method. This method is to provide the easiest ways for other non-academic designer for those who has lack experience in motor design. A set of a coefficient to determine motor dimension is being set. Then, this technique will be refered to the existing analytical method to provide a design guideline and to validate this coefficient as the quick references to design the SRM. The aim is not to make a comparison between the methods but intend to provide another easiest solution to design the SRM motor. The modelling has been test using RMxprt tools The expectation from this method is the outcomes will be compatible with existing design.
An Analysis on Efficient Resource Allocation Mechanisms in Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is considered as a striking computing model which allows for the provisioning of resources on-demand. Cloud computing environment enables multiple users to place request for various cloud services simultaneously. Effective and efficient resource allocation is the challenging task in cloud computing. The efficiency of allocation is measured by optimizing appropriate parameters such as execution time, demand, network delay time, capacity of resources and cost. This paper reveals how effectively resource allocation problem can be addressed in the perspective of cloud service provider and also provides a comparative analysis which helps in selecting parameters to meet the objective function for optimizing the demand to maximize the profit.