Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tacit knowledge transfer in family business succession

Small business is the most common firm structure in the Canadian economy and accounts for the single largest share of economic activity. As the founders of these firms move to normal retirement age, they begin the transfer of the business to a family or non-family member. When the second generation assumes control of the firm, issues related to generational transfer of knowledge become important. Financial and income and tax considerations have received the bulk of attention in research. This study focuses on knowledge transfer from the founder to successor. Tacit knowledge has been identified as a key strategic resource and passing this knowledge from the founder to the successor is a key element in transition that ensures the business is viable and remains in the family A qualitative methodology based on the analysis of multiple case studies was used for this research. Eight cases of family business succession were investigated, with data collected from public sources and interviews with founders, successors (family members and non-family members) and key observers. A total of forty interviews were conducted, with interviews focused on the history of the firm and others on the generational transfer of knowledge of the firm. A literature review provided a research foundation and a theoretical context that informed the case selection and interview protocol. This study confirmed the theoretical construct that succession can be framed in socialisation terms (derived from societal socialisation theory), but adds that family and business socialisation while distinct, are not necessarily sequential or triggered by the identification of the family member as the successor. The study also supported the application of Nonaka and Takeuchi’s (1995) knowledge spiral in the context of family business succession. The role of trust in family business succession is supported by the study’s findings, but the findings expand on the existing literature by differentiating between relationship trust and business competence trust and defining the two types of trust as essential. This study supports prior knowledge that female successors are often viewed as having less leadership ability than male successors, however in this study females experienced more business socialisation than reported in prior studies. The contribution to practice includes some deliberative actions firm founders can take to support successful generational transition through successful tacit knowledge transfer. Other contributions to practice are strategies for supporting successful success by female successors and for facilitating tacit knowledge transfer to successors. The most significant contribution is reinforcing the value to potential future successors of early informal exposure to the business.
Legal Limitations of Doing Business in Poland in Period 1989-2009. A Quantitative Approach to Economic Freedom

Economic freedom is the foundation of economic development and functioning of a democratic state. The legal system of any country sets limits to the economic freedom through regulations. One of the most crucial effects of economic legislation is the restriction of freedom to pursue business activity (doing business). The purpose of the study was to understand the forms and to measure the level of statutory restrictions (limitations) for doing business founded in the Polish laws at the beginning of the Transformation period and at the end of each successive parliamentary term from 1989 to 2009. The results of the study identify 11 forms of legal restrictions that differ in terms of intensity of constraints and its conditions. We learned the dynamics of the process of introducing restrictions in the Polish economy, their evolution and the scope (the markets they cover). The study indicated a constant expansion of restrictions onto new areas of economy. The conclusions show that Poland’s current economy has a high level of restrictions as compared with the first years of return to market economy.
On the channel capacity of MIMO-radar-based communications

Radar self-communication makes full use of the radar hardware resource and spectrum to fulfill the communication. As MIMO radar has become the new generation radar technology to be actively studied, MIMO radar self-communication and its capability are plausible to be investigated. The baseband models of MIMO radar and MIMO radar self-communication are set up, and radar mutual information is used to evaluate the radar performance. The optimal MIMO radar waveforms are derived to avoid the situation that the radar performance is degraded when the baseband waveform is modulated by the communication symbols. The channel capacity of radar self-communication is investigated under three situations, that is, without considering the radar performance, without channel state knowledge, and on condition that the optimal radar mutual information being guaranteed. Simulations show that the channel capacity of radar self-communication endures no loss in the high SNR region.
Global memory mapping for FPGA-based reconfigurable systems

Synthesizing designs for FPGA-based reconfigurable systems involves the task of mapping variables and data structures of the application onto RAMs of the reconfigurable board. The variety in types and performance of onboard and on-chip RAMs, their proximity to the processing units, and the interconnection scheme of the reconfigurable system, all contribute to an intricate memory mapping problem. An intelligent memory assignment minimizes the total latency of the design and the interconnection requirements due to memory accesses. A complete Integer Linear Programming (ILP) formulation of the problem results in an optimized memory mapping; however, the formulation is complex and takes a very long time to produce a solution. In order to efficiently solve the problem, the concept of global/detailed memory mapping is introduced in this paper. An ILP formulation of the global mapping process is described. This formulation is simpler and faster than the complete formulation, and it leaves the task of detailed mapping to a post-ILP tool that does not affect the optimality of the memory assignment. As a result, larger designs can be handled at a faster rate and more constraints can be introduced to the formulation.
Mycophenolate Mofetil Ameliorates Diabetic Nephropathy in db/db Mice

Chronic low-grade inflammation is an important factor in the pathogenesis of diabetic complication. Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) has an anti-inflammatory effect, inhibiting lymphocyte proliferation. Previous studies showed attenuation of diabetic nephropathy with MMF, but the underlying mechanisms were unclear. This study aimed to identify the effect of MMF on diabetic nephropathy and investigate its action mechanisms in type 2 diabetic mice model. Eight-week-old db/db and control mice (db/m mice) received vehicle or MMF at a dose of 30 mg/kg/day for 12 weeks. MMF-treated diabetic mice showed decreased albuminuria, attenuated mesangial expansion, and profibrotic mRNA expressions despite the high glucose level. The number of infiltrated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the kidney was significantly decreased in MMF-treated db/db mice and it resulted in attenuating elevated intrarenal TNF-α and IL-17. The renal chemokines expression and macrophages infiltration were also attenuated by MMF treatment. The decreased expression of glomerular nephrin and WT1 was recovered with MMF treatment. MMF prevented the progression of diabetic nephropathy in db/db mice independent of glycemic control. These results suggest that the effects of MMF in diabetic nephropathy are mediated by CD4+ T cell regulation and related cytokines.
How to deal with extreme observations in empirical finance: an application to capital markets

In the last few years, Extreme Value Theory (EVT) has gained increased importance in modeling extreme observations in all social sciences. This is especially true in finance, since EVT is a tool used to consider probabilities associated with extreme and rare events with catastrophic consequences, as happened in the Sub-prime crisis in 2007. To model extreme observations, we use two different statistical distribution families in this thesis: Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) and Generalized Pareto Distribution (GPD). In this thesis, EVT methods were used to investigate and fit the empirical distribution of the monthly maximum and minimum return series of the FTSE 100, NIKKEI 225 and S&P500 indices to the theoretical GEV and GPD distributions. We have applied two approaches of extreme value theory, the Block Maxima and the Peaks Over Threshold (POT) approach, as well as the parametric approach of the Maximum Likelihood Estimate Method (MLE) for the distribution parameter estimation and the non-parametric approach of the Hill estimator. As a result of the application, we have seen that in the GEV distribution application, our data was well represented by the Fréchet and Weibull distributions. On the other hand, in the GPD distribution, using the parametric approach MLE, our data was mostly well represented by the Exponential and Beta distributions. However, applying the GPD using the non-parametric approach of the Hill estimator for the tail index, we have seen that the monthly maximum returns of our indices are well represented by the Pareto distribution. JEL Classification: C13, C14.
Facial expression of a robot using a curved surface display

This paper proposes a method of robotic facial expressions using a curved surface display. A robot's face image is displayed on the curved surface screen. By using this method we can make a facial expression easily compared with other methods of mechanical facial expression. Also there is a three-dimensional effect caused by the curved surface, which is not in a plane image. We develop a face robot with a curved surface display, which is composed of a dome screen, a fish-eye lens and a projector. Also the face robot has a neck mechanism to move the head. This paper describes a composition of a dome display, a compensation of distorted image, a drawing method of shadow images with detecting a direction of a light source. The animation of facial expression and the motion using the neck mechanism are performed, and the effectiveness of the system is examined.
Futility Analysis in the Cross-Validation of Machine Learning Models

Many machine learning models have important structural tuning parameters that cannot be directly estimated from the data. The common tactic for setting these parameters is to use resampling methods, such as cross--validation or the bootstrap, to evaluate a candidate set of values and choose the best based on some pre--defined criterion. Unfortunately, this process can be time consuming. However, the model tuning process can be streamlined by adaptively resampling candidate values so that settings that are clearly sub-optimal can be discarded. The notion of futility analysis is introduced in this context. An example is shown that illustrates how adaptive resampling can be used to reduce training time. Simulation studies are used to understand how the potential speed--up is affected by parallel processing techniques.
Examining age-related differences in auditory attention control using a task-switching procedure.

OBJECTIVES Using a novel task-switching variant of dichotic selective listening, we examined age-related differences in the ability to intentionally switch auditory attention between 2 speakers defined by their sex. METHOD In our task, young (M age = 23.2 years) and older adults (M age = 66.6 years) performed a numerical size categorization on spoken number words. The task-relevant speaker was indicated by a cue prior to auditory stimulus onset. The cuing interval was either short or long and varied randomly trial by trial. RESULTS We found clear performance costs with instructed attention switches. These auditory attention switch costs decreased with prolonged cue-stimulus interval. Older adults were generally much slower (but not more error prone) than young adults, but switching-related effects did not differ across age groups. DISCUSSION These data suggest that the ability to intentionally switch auditory attention in a selective listening task is not compromised in healthy aging. We discuss the role of modality-specific factors in age-related differences.
ARF1 and ARF4 regulate recycling endosomal morphology and retrograde transport from endosomes to the Golgi apparatus

The ARF1+ARF4 and ARF1+ARF3 pairs are both required for integrity of recycling endosomes but are involved in distinct transport pathways: the former pair regulates retrograde transport from endosomes to the TGN, whereas the latter is required for the transferrin recycling pathway from endosomes to the plasma membrane.
Applying saturated cut method for dynamic traffic grooming in IP/MPLS over WDM networks

One of the most important tasks for dynamic traffic grooming in IP/MPLS over WDM networks is to decide when and where to set up new lightpaths to provide bandwidth for the IP/MPLS layer. In this paper, we adapt the conventional saturated cut method to enhance the lightpath establishment capability of various traffic grooming policies proposed earlier. Heuristic modifications are also presented which provide almost the same level of performance with much lower complexity
Emergence of information technology skill standards: the case of NWCET initiative

This study begins the endeavor to develop a middle range theory on the emergence of computing degree programs by investigating the social interaction factors that influenced the development of information technology (IT) skill standards. The major goal of this study is to identify and describe the social interaction factors that influenced the development of new skill standards for IT degree programs. The initiative to develop new skill standards discussed in this paper was pursued by the National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies (NWCET). To develop the list of factors, documents produced and used during this initiative were examined. The social interaction factors that triggered the development of IT skill standards for two-year and four-year degree programs by NWCET were scrutinized. The method used to investigate this phenomenon was the grounded theory methodology. Interviews were conducted with representatives of NWCET to confirm that the findings reflected their perceptions of the social interaction factors. The four major social interaction factors that were found to influence the development of IT skill standards by NWCET are partnerships, technology worker shortage, mobility, and qualification gap. This list of factors may facilitate cross-organizational learning by organizations interested in future development of skill standards and curricula guidelines.
A 12 mW, 7.5 GHz Bandwidth, Inductor-less CMOS LNA for Low-Power, Low-Cost, Multi-Standard Receivers

A resistive feedback LNA is presented based on a current-reuse transconductance-boosting technique that reduces the power consumption to 12 mW. It has a gain of 21 dB and a noise figure of 2.6 dB at 5 GHz. The LNA achieves an output-IP3 of 12.3 dBm at 5 GHz by reducing loop-gain roll-off and by improving linearity of individual stages. The active die area of 0.012 mm is the lowest reported for an LNA.
Cost Effectiveness of Carbon Capture-Ready Coal Power Plants with Delayed Retrofit

In this paper we investigate the cost effectiveness of coal-fired CCS plants. Two different model approaches are used. First, we consider marginal costs to determine the impact of fuel and CO2 certificate prices on electricity generation cost. Second, we apply a net present value evaluation to identify the main factors influencing the NPV, using projections for the price of electricity and CO2 as well as the costs of capturing, transporting and storing CO2. The NPV assessment shows that the threshold price of CO2 is highly sensitive with respect to the electricity price. Incorporating the possibility to postpone the CCS investment leads to much higher threshold prices, rendering the investment less attractive from today’s perspective. Finally, with a risk-adjusted discount rate for all CCS options it turns out to be more attractive than with a predefined discount rate of 10%, providing evidence that typical practitioner’s assumptions may indeed be too pessimistic.
A Simple Model of Self-Assessments

We develop a simple model that describes individuals’ self-assessments oftheir abilities. We assume that individuals learn about their abilities from appraisalsof others and experience. Our model predicts that if communicationis imperfect, then (i) appraisals of others tend to be too positive, and (ii) overconfidenceleading to too much activism is more likely than underconfidenceleading to too much passivity. The predictions of our model are consistentwith findings in the social psychological literature. This discussion paper has led to a publication in the ' Economic Journal ' 119(539), 1225-41.
A Program for Research on Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population Involuntary Retirement and the Resolution of the Retirement-consumption Puzzle: Evidence from Australia Involuntary Retirement and the Resolution of the Retirement-consumption Puzzle: Evidence from Australia Involuntary 

The Program for Research on Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population (SEDAP) is an interdisciplinary research program centred at McMaster University with co-investigators at seventeen other universities in Canada and abroad. The SEDAP Research Paper series provides a vehicle for distributing the results of studies undertaken by those associated with the program. Authors take full responsibility for all expressions of opinion. Acknowledgements: This paper uses conndentialised unit record les from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. The HILDA Project was initiated and is funded by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous AAairs (FaHCSIA) and is managed by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research (MIAESR). The ndings and views reported in this paper are those of the authors and should not be attributed to either FaHCSIA or the MIAESR. Abstract A substantial body of international research has shown that household expenditure on food and non-durables signiicantly decreases at the time of retirement { a nding that is inconsistent with the standard life-cycle model of consumption if retirement is an anticipated event. This fall in expenditure has become known as thèretirement-consumption puzzle. ' We analyze rich Australian panel data to assess the Australian evidence on the puzzle. We nd strong evidence of a fall in expenditures on groceries, food consumed at home and outside meals with retirement. The observed decline in expenditure is explained by a subset of households experiencing an unanticipated wealth shock, such as a major health event or long-term job loss, at the time of retirement. This nding is corroborated by an analysis of alternative measures of household well-being, including indicators of nancial hardship, and self-reported nancial and life satisfaction. For the majority of households retirement is anticipated and there is no decline in economic welfare at retirement. However, for an important minority, retirement isìnvoluntary' and these households experience a marked decline across all indicators of economic well-being. ménages connaissent une baisse marquée de tous les indicateurs de bien-être économique
Analysis of Somatic Mutations in Cancer: Molecular Mechanisms of Activation in the ErbB Family of Receptor Tyrosine Kinases

The ErbB/EGFR/HER family of kinases consists of four homologous receptor tyrosine kinases which are important regulatory elements in many cellular processes, including cell proliferation, differentiation, and migration. Somatic mutations in, or over-expression of, the ErbB family is found in many cancers and is correlated with a poor prognosis; particularly, clinically identified mutations found in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) of ErbB1 have been shown to increase its basal kinase activity and patients carrying these mutations respond remarkably to the small tyrosine kinase inhibitor gefitinib. Here, we analyze the potential effects of the currently catalogued clinically identified mutations in the ErbB family kinase domains on the molecular mechanisms of kinase activation. Recently, we identified conserved networks of hydrophilic and hydrophobic interactions characteristic to the active and inactive conformation, respectively. Here, we show that the clinically identified mutants influence the kinase activity in distinctive fashion by affecting the characteristic interaction networks.
Structural Analysis and Aggregation Propensity of Pyroglutamate Aβ(3-40) in Aqueous Trifluoroethanol

A hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the accumulation of extracellular amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques in the brains of patients. N-terminally truncated pyroglutamate-modified Aβ (pEAβ) has been described as a major compound of Aβ species in senile plaques. pEAβ is more resistant to degradation, shows higher toxicity and has increased aggregation propensity and β-sheet stabilization compared to non-modified Aβ. Here we characterized recombinant pEAβ(3–40) in aqueous trifluoroethanol (TFE) solution regarding its aggregation propensity and structural changes in comparison to its non-pyroglutamate-modified variant Aβ(1–40). Secondary structure analysis by circular dichroism spectroscopy suggests that pEAβ(3–40) shows an increased tendency to form β-sheet-rich structures in 20% TFE containing solutions where Aβ(1–40) forms α-helices. Aggregation kinetics of pEAβ(3–40) in the presence of 20% TFE monitored by thioflavin-T (ThT) assay showed a typical sigmoidal aggregation in contrast to Aβ(1–40), which lacks ThT positive structures under the same conditions. Transmission electron microscopy confirms that pEAβ(3–40) aggregated to large fibrils and high molecular weight aggregates in spite of the presence of the helix stabilizing co-solvent TFE. High resolution NMR spectroscopy of recombinantly produced and uniformly isotope labeled [U-15N]-pEAβ(3–40) in TFE containing solutions indicates that the pyroglutamate formation affects significantly the N-terminal region, which in turn leads to decreased monomer stability and increased aggregation propensity.
Development of a soft manipulator with flexible joints using smart fluid and Pneumatics cushion for collision with human

Recently, as robots and humans have increasingly come to share common spaces, especially in the fields of the medical and home automation, it has become necessary to consider the frequent physical collision of robots and humans. However, many robot joints employ actuators with high-ratio gear trains. Therefore, when this type robot comes into human contact it may cause pain. This study describes the development of a manipulator using a smart flexible joint employing ER fluid and a pneumatic cushion having a sensor function. As well, position control and collision experiments were performed regarding the developed manipulator. The experimental results demonstrate the manipulator's effectiveness.