Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Management mechanisms and financing of higher education in Germany

The higher education sector has to face competition much in the same way as other economic entities do. Much has been done to introduce reforms making use of economic terms and concepts. This paper will highlight the manner in which different models for financing higher education can contribute to the management of higher education. The general higher education framework in Germany -- which differs from that in other countries -- has to be taken into account. Amongst these differences are notably: -- the absence of fees as an instrument for the financing and management of higher education; -- the fact that only a restricted number of students are selected by institutions of higher education. Where student numbers for subjects in great demand are too high, applicants are distributed amongst various universities by a central office. This paper is divided into four part: (1) an analysis of the German higher education system,: (2) an examination of different management methods relating to a new system of distributing students amongst the different types of institutions (ordinary universities and universities of applied sciences -- Fachhochschulen). A discussion of the management of student distribution within a given university follows. (3) In this context, it is recommended to introduce a market-oriented system of tuition fees instead of making provisions for student admission on the basis of available capacity, curricular standards (CNW) and centralized procedures of the distribution of students; (4) conclusions are drawn from these reforms in order to develop systems for performance analysis (management accounting and control).
The Behaviour of Certificate of Deposit Rates in the UK

Using a number of maturities of up to one year and weekly high quality data on U.K. certificate of deposit rates, 1975-92, the authors provide a variety of tests of the expectations hypothesis of the term structure. Their results appear to give more support to the expectations hypothesis than do earlier studies, which often use longer maturities and data of a lower frequency on coupon paying bonds and yield data on 'bundles of bonds. ' If one is willing to assume that noise traders predominate in the bond market at very short horizons, the authors can provide some insights into empirical results found in the literature. Copyright 1996 by Royal Economic Society.
Corporate Social Responsibility and the Empowerment of Women: An Indian Perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is both to argue that CSR has a role to play in the empowerment of women in India and to show that this is actually happening.Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on reported information from Indian companies.Findings – The paper makes a link between these two topics which has not been made before.Practical implications – The paper has a practical implication both for Indian companies and for companies elsewhere in the world in terms of their concern with corporate social responsibility.Originality/value – The paper's value is in broadening and defining the concept of CSR and its implications.
Oxygen removal during pathogen inactivation with riboflavin and UV light preserves protein function in plasma for transfusion

Photochemical pathogen inactivation technologies (PCT) for individual transfusion products act by inhibition of replication through irreversibly damaging nucleic acids. Concern on the collateral impact of PCT on the blood component's integrity has caused reluctance to introduce this technology in routine practice. This work aims to uncover the mechanism of damage to plasma constituents by riboflavin pathogen reduction technology (RF‐PRT).
Sustaining innovation when outsourcing components in multi-technology, multi-component systems

Abstract Firms producing multi-technology, multi-component systems are increasingly outsourcing selected components to achieve both reduced cost and enhanced innovation benefits. Given typical interdependence between innovation at the system and component levels, an important challenge for the system firm is to align innovation trajectories, priorities and pacing between the system and component firms and sustain overall system-level innovation over the longer term. We present two longitudinal case studies, drawn from the IT industry, which provide contrasting examples of outsourcing strategies in terms of the number of suppliers per component and the inter-firm arrangements that a system firm puts in place to align innovation. These cases help us to identify the range of outsourcing strategies that system firms could pursue and the factors which appear to influence which one is most appropriate.
Audit Quality, Legal and Disclosure Environments, and Analysts' Forecast Accuracy: Some International Evidence

Abstract In this study, we investigate the relation between the quality of external audit and earnings predictability of firms situated in different legal and disclosure environments around the world. In a sample of multinational firms cross-listed in the United States, we find that the association between audit quality and forecast accuracy is stronger in weak legal and disclosure environments than in strong legal and disclosure environments. We interpret these results as suggesting that audit service can serve as an alternative device to improve market participants' information environment in weak legal and disclosure environments.
A Coxiella burnetti repeated DNA element resembling a bacterial insertion sequence

A DNA fragment located on the 3' side of the Coxiella burnetii htpAB operon was determined by Southern blotting to exist in approximately 19 copies in the Nine Mile I genome. The DNA sequences of this htpAB-associated repetitive element and two other independent copies were analyzed to determine the size and nature of the element. The three copies of the element were 1,450, 1,452, and 1,458 bp long, with less than 2% divergence among the three sequences. Several features characteristic of bacterial insertion sequences were discovered. These included a single significant open reading frame that would encode a 367-amino-acid polypeptide which was predicted to be highly basic, to have a DNA-binding helix-turn-helix motif, to have a leucine zipper motif, and to have homology to polypeptides found in several other bacterial insertion sequences. Identical 7-bp inverted repeats were found at the ends of all three copies of the element. However, duplications generated by many bacterial mobile elements in the recipient DNA during insertion events did not flank the inverted repeats of any of the three C. burnetii elements examined. A second pair of inverted repeats that flanked the open reading frame was also found in all three copies of the element. Most of the divergence among the three copies of the element occurred in the region between the two inverted repeat sequences in the 3' end of the element. Despite the sequence changes, all three copies of the element have retained significant dyad symmetry in this region.
Self-sustained pulsation in 650 nm band AlGaInP visible-laser diodes with highly doped saturable absorbing layer

650-nm band self-sustained-pulsing AlGaInP laser diodes having very low intensity noise characteristics were successfully demonstrated by adopting novel structure, which has highly doped saturable absorbing layer for the first time. Short carrier lifetime, which is indispensable for self-sustained pulsation, was realized by applying high doping to the absorbing layer. 500-/spl mu/m-long devices with the lasing wavelength of 656 mm were fabricated, resulting in the threshold current of 65 mA at room temperature. The relative intensity noise (RIN) was below -138 dB/Hz in the temperature ranging from 20-50/spl deg/C at 5 mW.
Short‐Term Versus Long‐Term Coalitions in the Policy Process: Automotive Pollution Control, 1963–1989

Research on coalitions in the policy process has found evidence of both short-term and long-term coalitions. Two possible methodological reasons for the varied results are that (1) there has been little systematic longitudinal research on the topic, and (2) most scholars have not distinguished situations where fundamental versus secondary interests are at stake. This article addresses both points by first applying the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), which distinguishes fundamental from secondary beliefs/interests, and then performing a quantitative analysis of the content of organizations’ testimonies regarding automotive pollution control over 26 years. Consistent with the ACF, we find that coalitions of interest groups, legislators, local governments, and agencies are relatively stable over time, despite two potentially disruptive events—the 1973–74 Oil Embargo and the 1980 Elections. On the other hand, there is little support for the ACF's hypothesis that broader beliefs will be more stable than narrower secondary beliefs. Our systematic methodology also enables us to separate the general pattern of stability from interesting exceptions of instability.
A structural approach to assessing postponement strategies: construct development and validation

This paper endeavours to introduce and validate constructs and measured variables for postponement strategies. Although empirical researchers have examined postponement, a consistent set of valid, reliable factors has not been developed and used. The lack of valid constructs is a barrier to hypothesis testing and meta-analysis on postponement. Using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the validity and reliability of the proposed postponement constructs are examined. This is performed through a pilot study and a large scale survey on a sample of 219 manufacturing firms which represent a wide range of manufacturing operations. The outcomes of this paper establish a set of variables which can measure shipment, manufacturing, purchasing and design postponements.
Solving the puzzle of spinal muscular atrophy: What are the missing pieces?

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive, lower motor neuron disease. Clinical heterogeneity is pervasive: three infantile (type I–III) and one adult‐onset (type IV) forms are recognized. Type I SMA is the most common genetic cause of death in infancy and accounts for about 50% of all patients with SMA. Most forms of SMA are caused by mutations of the survival motor neuron (SMN1) gene. A second gene that is 99% identical to SMN1 (SMN2) is located in the same region. The only functionally relevant difference between the two genes identified to date is a C → T transition in exon 7 of SMN2, which determines an alternative spliced isoform that predominantly excludes exon 7. Thus, SMN2 genes do not produce sufficient full length SMN protein to prevent the onset of the disease. Since the identification of the causative mutation, biomedical research of SMA has progressed by leaps and bounds: from clues on the function of SMN protein, to the development of different models of the disease, to the identification of potential treatments, some of which are currently in human trials. The aim of this review is to elucidate the current state of knowledge, emphasizing how close we are to the solution of the puzzle that is SMA, and, more importantly, to highlight the missing pieces of this puzzle. Filling in these gaps in our knowledge will likely accelerate the development and delivery of efficient treatments for SMA patients and be a prerequisite towards achieving our final goal, the cure of SMA. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
High Rate of qacA- and qacB-Positive Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolates from Chlorhexidine-Impregnated Catheter-Related Bloodstream Infections

ABSTRACT Chlorhexidine has been widely used for infection control. Although the use of chlorhexidine-impregnated catheters has reduced catheter-related infections, chlorhexidine-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has emerged. The correlation between the existence of the chlorhexidine-resistant genes qacA and qacB (qacA/B) in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates and the effectiveness of chlorhexidine-impregnated catheters in the prevention of MRSA infections is unknown. Sixty methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) and 96 MRSA isolates from the blood cultures of different patients were collected, and a case-control study was conducted to determine whether more clinical S. aureus isolates from chlorhexidine-impregnated catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSI) have the biocide-resistant genes (qacA/B or smr) than those from other infections. The chlorhexidine MIC50s of MSSA and MRSA isolates were 1 μg/ml and 2 μg/ml, respectively. Results of PCR analyses showed that 3.3% (n = 2) of MSSA and 43.8% (n = 42) of MRSA isolates harbored qacA/B and 5% (n = 3) of MSSA and 25% (n = 24) of MRSA isolates contained smr. With multivariate logistic regression analyses, the significant risk factors for definite CRBSI with chlorhexidine-impregnated catheters were determined to be S. aureus isolates with qacA/B and a chlorhexidine MIC of ≥2 μg/ml (odds ratios [OR], 9.264 and 8.137, respectively, in all 156 S. aureus isolates and 6.097 and 4.373, respectively, in the 96 MRSA isolates). Further prospective studies are needed to investigate the transmission of these biocide-resistant genes.
The UV Index on the Spanish Mediterranean Coast ¶

An analysis is made of measured ultraviolet erythemal solar radiation (UVER) data recorded during the year 2003 by the networks of the Catalan Weather Service and the Environment Department of Valencia (both on the Spanish Mediterranean coast). Results show a latitudinal variation at sea level, of 3‐4% per degree and an increase with altitude of 10% per km. Based on these data the UV Index has been evaluated for the measuring stations. The maximum experimental value of the UV Index was around 9 during the summer, although higher values were recorded at two stations, one at the highest elevation and the other at the lowest latitude. The annual accumulated doses of irradiation on a horizontal plane have been presented as well as the evolution through the year in units of energy, Standard Erythemal Doses and Minimum Erythemal Doses according to different phototypes. Lastly, the UV Index forecast, determined with a multiple scattering radiative transfer model, has been analyzed. Total agreement or only one unit of difference between measured and modelled values was found in 94% of cloud‐free cases.
Popularity evolution of professional users on facebook

Popularity in social media is an important objective for professional users (e.g. companies, celebrities, and public figures, etc). A simple yet prominent metric utilized to measure the popularity of a user is the number of fans or followers she succeed to attract to her page. Popularity is influenced by several factors which identifying them is an interesting research topic. This paper aims to understand this phenomenon in social media by exploring the popularity evolution for professional users in Facebook. To this end, we implemented a crawler and monitor the popularity evolution trend of 8k most popular professional users on Facebook over a period of 14 months. The collected dataset includes around 20 million popularity values and 43 million posts. We characterized different popularity evolution patterns by clustering the users temporal number of fans and study them from various perspectives including their categories and level of activities. Our observations show that being active and famous correlate positively with the popularity trend.
LABOUR TAXATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

This article proposes an analysis, which we consider extremely useful in the current economic context, of the evolution of labour income fiscality, more precisely, the effect of the public debt growth on the tax wedge for the labour income. The share of fiscal revenues from direct taxes, indirect taxes and social contributions is relatively close in the old member states of the European Union in comparison with the new member states, which register a lower level of income from direct taxes. The low level of income from direct taxes is compensated by more significant shares of the social contributions or indirect taxes. The main motivations of cross-border migration are: a successful career in a multinational corporation, high variations of the tax rate, of the salary income between states and, last but not least, the level of the net salary. To this day, there are no plans to harmonize across the European Union the legislation regarding the taxes wages and the social security contributions. Still, the European Union had in view the coordination of the national tax systems to make sure that the employees and the employers do not pay several times the social contributions in their movement across the community space. Despite the fact that some states tax the labour income at a low level, the labour fiscality remains high in the European Union in comparison with other industrialized economies, probably also due to the fact that the majority of the member states have social market economies. The increase of the fiscality level for the labour income determines the decrease of the employment rate and the raise of the unemployement rate. The solution to guarantee a higher employment rate, which is a target of the European Union Strategy "Europe 2020" could be the relaxation of the labour income fiscality by transferring the tax wedge on the labour income towards property or energy taxation.
Internal communication during change management

Globalisation, “glocalisation”, deregulation, privatisation, mergers, acquisitions and a movement of labour toward less expensive economic locations, coupled with revolutionary advances in technology and simultaneous empowering of consumers coupled with changes in demand – are among the revolutionary forces impacting organisations around the world. In this dynamic context, organisations need to re‐evaluate their purpose and raison d’etre. This evaluative process will help them to decide which changes: strategic or operational, will have to be made in order to perpetuate survival and growth. While, undoubtedly, organisations realise the importance of good communications, they often find it hard to forge the link between “what gets said” and “what gets done”. Aims, initially therefore, to explore the nature of the link between change, change management and internal communications. Ultimately aims to explore how internal communications contribute to the “successful” implementation of change management progra.
Recognition of English and Arabic numerals using a dynamic number of hidden neurons

The paper introduces a method of finding the neighborhood of the optimal number of hidden neurons for an error backpropagation neural network with a single hidden layer. It is based on a study of the curvature of the error function, during the training phase of the network. The method assures convergence and bypasses local minimas. Experimental results show the uniqueness of the method's solution regardless of the initial values of the network's parameters. Two neural networks were built, one for recognizing unconstrained handwritten English numerals and the other for Arabic numerals. Recognition results and comparison with other methods are also presented.
Are Remittances an Effective Mechanism for Development? Evidence from Tajikistan, 1999–2007

Abstract In many remittance-receiving countries, evidence linking remittances to household economic stability and investment is limited. Using three cross-sectional national surveys (1999, 2003, 2007) we compare remittance-receiving to non-remittance households in Tajikistan, a country highly dependent on remittances. Exploring household perceptions of financial security, wealth and entrepreneurial activity, across a period of rising remittance reliance, we find that households receiving remittances are not more economically stabile, wealthier, or entrepreneurial than non-remittance households. Findings highlight the importance of conceptualising remittances as a process influenced by the developmental contexts within receiving countries, and question previous assumptions concerning development pathways.
Integrating laser diodes in a reconfigurable antenna system

This paper presents a new technique for the implementation of a reconfigurable antenna system. The reconfigurability is based on integrating laser diodes within the antenna substrate. The laser diodes are used to shine light to the photoconductive switches that connect different radiating elements of the antenna structure. A prototype is fabricated and tested. A good agreement between simulation and measurement data is noticed.
Singapore Business Cycles: A Supply-Side Analysis

This article employs a vector autoregressive (VAR) model to investigate the supply-side causes of business cycles in the small open economy of Singapore. The supply shocks examined are oil price, foreign technology, labour supply, productivity and wage shocks. The empirical results suggest that external and domestic technology shocks are responsible for the bulk of short-term output movements, while labour supply shocks are more important in the long run. In contrast, oil price and wage disturbances play negligible roles in macroeconomic fluctuations. These findings support the view that Singapore business cycles are caused by both domestic and international factors.
Query Expansion based on Central Tendency and PRF for Monolingual Retrieval

Query Expansion is the process of selecting relevant words that are closest in meaning and context to that of the keywords of query. In this paper, a statistical method of automatically selecting contextually related words for expansion, after identifying a pattern in their score, is proposed. Words appearing in top 10 relevant document is given a score w.r. t partitions they appear in. Proposed statistical method, identifies a pattern of central tendency in the high scores and selects the right group of words for query expansion. The objective of the method is to keep the expanded query with minimum words light, and still give statistically significant MAP values compared to the original query. Experimental results show 17-21% improvement of MAP over the original unexpanded query as baseline but achieves a performance similar to that of the state of the art query expansion models-Bo1 and KL. FIRE 2011 Adhoc English and Hindi data for 50 topics each were used for experiments with Terrier as the Retrieval Engine.
Human IgG production in vivo: determination of synthetic rate by nonradioactive tracer incorporation.

Exposure of Ab-secreting cells to selected hormones, cytokines, and drugs alters the rate of Ig production in vitro. Whether these effects are important clinically is unknown because there are no safe, reproducible, and appropriate techniques for measuring Ig synthesis in vivo. We developed a stable isotope tracer method to measure IgG secretion into plasma. L-[1-13C]Leucine was given as a priming dose followed by a constant i.v. infusion over 8 h. Tracer accrual in IgG, determined by mass spectrometry, was linear from 2 to 8 h of the infusion. The normal rate of IgG synthesis into plasma assessed in 21 healthy subjects was 860 +/- 310 mg/day (mean +/- SD). The synthetic rate measurements were remarkably reproducible (coefficient of variation = 10.5 %). Simultaneous analysis of leucine kinetics allows, for the first time, Ig secretion to be studied in the context of whole body protein economy. IgG secretion into plasma accounts for 0.3% of whole body protein synthesis. Experimental support for a key metabolic assumption, that tracer enrichment in plasma and that at the site of IgG synthesis were similar, came from a comparison of synthetic rates derived from low dose and high dose tracer infusions. Measurement of Ig secretion by tracer incorporation is rapid and reproducible. In contrast to older methods that rely on radioisotope disappearance, the tracer incorporation method is safe for serial measurements in an individual and will be useful for quantitative studies of treatment effects and immune regulation in vivo.