Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Planning flexibility and entrepreneurial orientation : a focus on SME performance and the influence of environmental perceptions

Recognising the importance of an entrepreneurial orientation (EO) to the survival and performance of a firm this study's contribution is to empirically test the linkage between planning flexibility, EO and firm performance. Moreover, it is argued that this relationship is influenced by environmental perceptions, since small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are usually more vulnerable than larger firms when facing a dynamic external environment. Using a structured questionnaire, a sample of 133 SMEs was surveyed. Regression analysis was used to address the proposed hypotheses. The results reveal a weak but positive relationship between planning flexibility, EO and performance. Additionally, the EO dimension of proactiveness was positively related to SME performance, resulting in the relationship being more positive when the environment is perceived as more munificent and hostile. Practical implications are that owner-managers need to understand and leverage the practice of planning flexibility in a manner that will lead to higher levels of EO.
Social CRM: A review of academic and practitioner literatures and research agendas

Social customer relationship management (CRM) is an emerging concept that includes strategies, processes and technologies to link social networking with CRM processes. It is a means of incorporating the ‘customer’ strategy as part of the corporate strategy in order to engage customers, create meaningful of conversations and thereby maximise superior customer value. This paper aims to review the literature – both academic and practitioner – on social CRM, make a broad comparison between the two types of literature, and identify future research agendas. Preliminary results reveal that academic research focuses more on the specific issues surrounding the theoretical concept of social CRM (e.g. identifying the key determinants of social CRM adoption and building a framework to determine relevant core process functionalities), whilst practitioner research pays more attention to actions to respond to new challenges and capitalize on new opportunities offered by the emergence of social CRM phenomenon. From both the academic and practitioner points of view, attention must be placed on the development of business case for social CRM implementation. In particular, research offering useful tips of how to successfully adopt social networking sites as value-creating CRM tools would be of significant value.
Microbial transglutaminase-mediated synthesis of hapten-protein conjugates for immunoassays.

Hapten-protein conjugates are essential in many immunochemical assays, in particular, in assays employing titration or competitive assay formats. By exploitation of the catalytic properties of the microbial transglutaminase from Streptoverticillium mobarense sp. (MTGase), i.e., acyl transfer between gamma-carboxamide groups and various primary amines, new techniques for the synthesis of hapten-protein conjugates were developed. This is demonstrated by two examples. The feasibility of MTGase for hapten-protein conjugate synthesis was studied by coupling the herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) to casein. Different procedures for the synthesis and the immobilization of these 2,4-D-casein conjugates were evaluated, comprising (i) a batch procedure, (ii) coupling of 2,4-D to an already immobilized layer of casein, and (iii) a method for simultaneous immobilization and conjugation. Kinetic studies revealed that conjugate formation in the batch procedure was almost complete after approx 2 h. By employing the conjugates in a competitive ELISA, detection limits as low as 0.05 microgram/L 2,4-D were reached. Using the approach with simultaneous immobilization and conjugation, the time for the whole assay could be reduced to only 2 h. Finally, to demonstrate the versatility of the enzymatic synthesis of hapten-protein conjugates, an ELISA for 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) determination based on transglutaminase-synthesized conjugates was developed. In this assay, a detection limit as low as 0.04 microgram/l TNT was obtained.
Maternal serum biomarkers for risk assessment in gestational diabetes. A potential universal screening test to predict GDM status

The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is increasing because of the worldwide obesity/diabetes epidemic. The complications of untreated GDM affect both the mother and baby and include complications during pregnancy as well as increased risk of subsequent type-2 diabetes in mothers and offspring. Standard tests for hyperglycemia in diabetes, such as fasting glucose and hemoglobin (HbA1c), are currently not recommended for GDM screening. Instead, an oral glucose tolerance test is specified, which is invasive, time-consuming, and not easily accessible to many at-risk populations. In this study, we describe a multi-analyte maternal serum profile test that incorporates novel glycoprotein biomarkers and previously described GDM-associated markers. In screening for GDM by multi-analyte panel, the detection rate was 87% at a false-positive rate of 1%.
Updating reference values and predictive models of the OCRA method in the risk assessment of work-related musculoskeletal disorders of the upper limbs

A database has been established combining existing data for 23 groups of workers with different level of exposure to repetitive movements of the upper limbs. For all groups, data were available regarding an exposure index (OCcupational Repetitive Actions – OCRA index) and clinically determined UL-WMSDs outcomes (PA = Prevalence of workers affected by one or more UL-WMSDs; PC = Prevalence of single diagnosed cases of an UL-WMSDs). Using these data, new critical values of the OCRA index have been estimated for discriminating different exposure levels (green, yellow, red areas) and new forecasting models of expected PA and PC in exposed populations based on OCRA exposure indexes. The new critical values of the OCRA index were estimated by an original approach in which data for the effect variable (PA) in a reference population not exposed to the relevant risks are combined with the regression function between OCRA and PA. The best simple regression functions between OCRA exposure indexes and health outcomes variables (PA; PC) were researched to obtain forecasting models of effects starting from exposure. Discussion of the results obtained considers their intrinsic limitations, as they are based on prevalence studies, as well as providing recommendations and cautions in the use of the proposed classification system and forecasting models when the OCRA method is applied.
Stability of adiabatic reversible charging using 1D-capacitor array between the power supply and ground

The stability of a new adiabatic stepwise charging circuit is discussed. Tank capacitors are connected in series between the power supply and ground. This circuit features immediate operation using a stepwise waveform, even if the tank-capacitor value is considerably larger than the load capacitance. This immediate operation is possible because stepwise voltage is formed immediately due to the voltage division by series capacitances. For the analytical discussion, we derive a voltage equation that connects the initial state and the final state after the charge-recycling process. It is proved that the eigen value of the matrix is smaller than 1. Therefore, a step waveform is spontaneously generated after many charge-recycling processes.
Some Types of Recurrence in Finsler geometry

The pullback approach to global Finsler geometry is adopted. Three classes of recurrence in Finsler geometry are introduced and investigated: simple recurrence, Ricci recurrence and concircular recurrence. Each of these classes consists of four types of recurrence. The interrelationships between the different types of recurrence are studied. The generalized concircular recurrence, as a new concept, is singled out.
PERFORMANCE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL AGILITY PERSPECTIVE

There is a growing usage of business intelligence (BI) for better management decisions in different industries. However, empirical studies on BI are still scarce. In this research we study BI from an organizational agility perspective. Organizational agility is the ability to sense and respond to market opportunities and threats with speed and BI can help the sensing part of organizational agility. Drawing on systems theory, dynamic capabilities framework, and literature on competitive performance, organizational agility, business intelligence, and IT infrastructure flexibility, we hypothesize that BI usage and IT infrastructure flexibility are two important sources for an organization’s agility. We developed a research model to examine the effects of BI and IT infrastructure flexibility on organizational agility, which in turn affects an organization’s competitive performance. IS managers will be the main pool of subjects for this research. We will use PLS to analyze the data.
Earnings Management Around CEO Turnovers

We find evidence that new CEOs manipulate real business activities – but not accounting accruals – to manage earnings downward relative to established CEOs. This earnings “bath” occurs as early as the CEO transition quarter. Further, we find that the degree of real earnings management is positively correlated with new CEO “time at the helm” in the transition quarter. Real earnings management is significant following both routine and non-routine CEO turnovers; this stands in contrast to earlier findings that accruals earnings management is more pronounced for nonroutine CEO turnovers. JEL classifications: C23, G14, M40
Mobile Camera as a Human Vision in Augmented Reality

The real world objects can be recognized by using marker based and marker-less augmented reality systems. Mostly, the previous developers used markers based augmented reality systems. However, those systems actually hide the reality and it was also difficult to keep the markers everywhere. Furthermore, the previous marker-less approaches use client-server architecture, which is drastically affected by network latency. Smartphone camera is matured enough that it can recognize real world objects without markers. It can guide users about their location and the direction in a convenient way. The use of Smartphone is best suited for outdoor mobile augmented-reality applications. Therefore, a marker-less natural features based tracking system in mobile augmented reality was formulated. In the adapted framework, the state-of-the-art algorithm (speed up robust features) was modified for computing image features from live mobile camera image and compares with locally stored images features for recognition. Moreover, the local static database of location tagged image features using SQLite was implemented to bypass the server. The proposed system was tested in a mobile AR-prototype application using iPhone called UNIMAS Guide. It was found from the results that the adapted marker-less system could recognize the real world objects in speedy, easy and convenient way. This technology can be applied in tourism industry, surgery and educational fields. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.11591/telkomnika.v11i7. 2798 Full Text: PDF
Shareholder Rights and Syndicate Structure

We examine the structure of lending syndicates formed to provide credit to the non- financial U.S. firms between 1990 and 2007. We find a significant relationship between the level of shareholder rights (as proxied by GIndex) of the borrowing firms and composition of their lending syndicate. Higher shareholder rights (i.e. low GIndex) firms are associated with a more concentrated syndicate (both in terms of Her findahl index of share of loans retained by syndicate members as well as the percent of total loans retained by the lead bank). More concentrated syndicates reflect the need for stronger monitoring by the lead lender. We test two alternative explanations as to why high shareholder right borrowers need more intense monitoring implied by higher lender syndicate. First, we test if the higher syndicate concentration observed for borrower with stronger shareholder rights, arises due to potential syndicate members anticipating a greater risk of such borrowers being acquired. The higher take-over likelihood could be interpreted by the lenders as a potentially higher future financial risk. Thus, the more concentrated syndicate structure arises to mitigate this risk. The second potential explanation we test is based on agency theory of debt. For firms with high shareholder rights, managers are arguably better aligned with the firm's shareholders. Lenders to such firms would be especially concerned about risk-shifting behavior where managers may choose projects with excessive risk leading to wealth transfer from the lenders to the shareholders. We find support for the risk-shifting argument for syndicate structure. We do not find strong evidence that potential lenders take the risk of take-over into account when forming the lending syndicate.
Low‐cost data uncertainty quantification

The analysis of a huge backload of ever‐accumulating data presents a huge challenge in all respects of computing. Inverse covariance matrices in this respect are very important. We target data uncertainty quantification, a very useful measure of which is provided by inverse covariance matrix diagonal entries. In previous work, we introduced a novel method that reduces overall complexity by at least two orders of magnitude. At the same time, a state‐of‐the‐art message‐passing interface (MPI) implementation allowed us to reach a sustained performance of up to 73% (730 TFLOPS on the full 72 Blue Gene/P rack configuration at Jülich). Thanks to its reduced complexity, this work has attracted significant interest, and thus, we have received numerous requests concerning its exploitation in various fields. A common denominator in these requests is that they almost all came from people with no or, in the best case, limited high‐performance computing background. Nevertheless, all interest is in analyzing huge data sets, suitably adapting the method to particular applications. A bottleneck then is that potential users are reluctant to pay for a steep learning curve to get proficient in parallel computing using the de facto standard: MPI. Thus, we turned to the Partitioned Global Address Space programming model and in particular the Unified Parallel C language. In this work, we gave a comprehensive description of the framework and demonstrated the efficiency of the state‐of‐the‐art MPI implementation. In addition, we showed that one can develop an easy‐to‐follow yet efficient Unified Parallel C implementation, which is also easy to debug and maintain, features that significantly boost overall productivity. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Comparison of the Efficiency and Profitability of Holsteins and Jerseys

The efficiency and profitability of Holstein and Jersey cows has been scrutinized, compared, and debated for many years. In response, this study was conducted with the objective of incorporating reviews and results collected from numerous studies relating to Holstein and Jersey efficiency and profitability to determine if a breed advantage existed in any or all related areas. Articles reviewed were obtained from the Journal of Dairy Science, systems. The Holstein breed demonstrated an advantage dealing with hormones and outside stress factors during hot weather, response to E. coli infections, calf mortality rates, feed efficiency in confinement systems, and success in fluid production markets. Variances were detected in responses to fat and protein supplementation, blood plasma responses in calves, and fatty acid composition of milk without a clear breed advantage being defined. Overall, breed differences and interactions were discovered in every area examined. While Jerseys excelled in a greater number of areas, an overall advantage was difficult to discern due to the various benefits offered by both breeds.
Fuzzy Based Texton Binary Shape Matrix ( FTBSM ) for Texture Classification

Texton is a extensively applied approach for texture analysis. This technique shows a strong dependence on certain number of parameters. Unfortunately, each variation of values of any parameter may affect the texture characterization performance. Moreover, micro structure texton is unable to extract texture features which also have a negative effect on the classification task. This paper, deals with a new descriptor which avoids the drawbacks mentioned above. To address the above, the present paper derives a new descriptor called Fuzzy Based Texton Binary Shape Matrix (FTBSM) for clear variation of any feature/parameter. The proposed FTBSM are defined based on similarity of neighboring edges on a 3×3 neighborhood. With micro-structures serving as a bridge for extracting shape features and it effectively integrates color, texture and shape component information as a whole for texture classification. The proposed FTBSM algorithm exhibits low dimensionality. The proposed FTBSM method is tested on Vistex and Akarmarble texture datasets of natural images. The results demonstrate that it is much more efficient and effective than representative feature descriptors, such as logical operators and GLCM and LBP, for texture classification.
Echocardiographic aortic ejection area as a reflection of left ventricular stroke volume

Systolic cusp separation of normal aortic valves has been shown by echocardiography and by angiography to be related to left ventricular stroke volume. In this study, stroke volume was compared with echocardiographic area between the aortic cusps in systole (aortic ejection area). An excellent correlation was observed (r = 0.93) over a wide range of stroke volumes, even in the presence of mitral regurgitation. Stroke volume appears to correlate more closely with aortic ejection area than with angiographic or echocardiographic measurements of peak systolic cusp separation.
Combined effects of nicotine and alcohol on subjective, behavioral and physiological responses in humans

Nicotine and alcohol have each been widely studied in humans, but there has been relatively little attention paid to their combined effects. This is surprising, given the high frequency with which they are consumed together. The limited literature on these combined effects is murky, partly because of failure to recognize that alcohol can have contrasting subjective mood effects depending on whether blood alcohol level is ascending or descending. However, in general, nicotine and alcohol (when blood alcohol level is descending) tend to have contrasting effects on mood (“stimulating” vs. “sedating”, respectively), behavioral performance (slightly improving vs. impairing, respectively), and selected physiological responses (e.g. increased beta EEG vs. increased α EEG, respectively), but similar effects on other physiological responses (e.g. heart rate). Thus, when consumed together, mood, performance, and EEG responses are often intermediate between those due to alcohol alone or nicotine alone. Responses influenced in the same direction by either, such as cardiovascular effects, are exacerbated beyond effects due to either alone. Since mood and behavioral effects are likely to reinforce drug use, the attenuating influence of nicotine on alcohol's sedative effects could explain the frequently observed increase in smoking after alcohol consumption. At the same time, nicotine plus alcohol may exacerbate some physiological responses (e.g. cardiovascular) that can impact negatively on health. Limitations of this research and possible mechanisms of interaction between nicotine and alcohol are briefly noted. The need to consider the modulating influences of environmental and baseline‐relevant factors is also emphasized.
Capacity Development in the World Bank Group: A Review of Nonlending Approaches

This work on a review of non-lending approaches, which for the purposes of this brief is defined broadly as activities that have a stated goal of improving individual, organizational and broader institutional capacities in a country, is spread widely throughout the Bank. It includes specific, well-defined Bank products, such as non-lending technical assistance, training, some economic and sector work, as well as some research and other knowledge-sharing activities that the Bank facilitates for its partner countries. World Bank units directly carry out much of this work.
Extended-Phase-Shift Control of Isolated Bidirectional DC–DC Converter for Power Distribution in Microgrid

This paper points out a phenomenon of power backflow in traditional phase-shift (TPS) control of isolated bidirectional full-bridge DC-DC converter (IBDC), and analyzes the effects which backflow power act on power circulating flow and current stress. On this basis, the paper proposes a novel extended-phase-shift (EPS) control of IBDC for power distribution in microgrid. Compared with TPS control, EPS control not only expands regulating range of transmission power and enhances regulating flexibility, but also reduces current stress and improves the system efficiency. The operation principle of EPS control and the operation modes of IBDC are analyzed in the paper. By establishing mathematical models of transmission power, backflow power, and current stress, the paper comparatively analyzes control performances of TPS and EPS control. At last, experimental results verify the excellent performance of EPS control and correctness of the theoretical analysis.
An integrated service recovery system (ISRS): Influence on knowledge‐intensive business services performance

Purpose – Appropriate management of service failures involves a complex organizational response that allows an effective internal and external recovery, learn from mistakes and introduce future service innovations. Empirical evidence on the organizational recovery practices more suitable to achieve these objectives, leading to superior performance, is limited. The present work seeks to extend the existing literature by identifying the potential dimensions that constitute an integrated service recovery system (ISRS), introducing a strategic, proactive and relational approach to service failure and recovery management, and by proposing a causal model linking the ISRS with performance.Design/methodology/approach – The ISRS dimensions and their attributes are derived from an extensive literature review and suggestions from academics and business experts. Structural equations modeling is used to test a model linking the ISRS (conceptualized as a second order construct), with client, employee and business perfo.