Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TQM implementation elements for manufacturing excellence

Purpose – Total quality management (TQM) is considered a very important factor for the long‐term success of an organization. However, there exist a lot of international quality awards, apart from different versions of national quality awards (NQAs), developed by the governments of many countries based on these well‐established awards. In addition to these awards, there are a plethora of frameworks proposed by various researchers and consultants. Hence, many organizations are not in a position to understand clearly the concept of TQM, in terms of knowing what has to be implemented and what area to focus on. To overcome these issues, this paper attempts to present a list of TQM implementation elements for manufacturing excellence. These elements can be undertaken by any manufacturing organization striving for excellence.Design/methodology/approach – A literature review was carried out to provide a brief overview about the 28 models, awards and frameworks given by national, international agencies and individ.
A‐REIT rights issues

Purpose - This is the first REIT paper to seek to empirically examine potential influencing factors on the discounts and underwriting fees of Australian REIT rights issues. Design/methodology/approach - Using a methodology similar to Owen and Suchard, and Armitage, a sample of 62 A-REIT rights issues during 2001-2009 is analyzed. A variety of potential factors influencing discounts and underwriting fees are explored. Findings - Over A$20 billion was raised by A-REIT rights issues during 2001-2009 (this around three times that raised through A-REIT initial public offerings during the same period). The mean offer price was discounted around 9.5 percent from the current market price and underwriting fees averaged 2.9 percent of gross proceeds raised – both substantially less than for industrial rights issues. The standard deviation of daily returns for the past year appears to influence the percentage discount offered to subscribers. This volatility was particularly noticeable in 2008 and 2009, during the global financial crisis, where new issues were discounted substantially so as to raise equity to repay debt. This historical risk variable appears paramount in determining the discounts to subscribers and fees to underwriters. Practical implications - A-REITs seeking to minimize the discounts offered to subscribers and to minimize their underwriting costs with rights issue equity capital raisings must first minimize their share price volatility. Originality/value - This paper adds to the international costs of capital raising literature of REITs by examining such costs with A-REIT rights issues and is the first paper to examine factors influencing these costs.
Diagnostic evaluation of quay wall using three-dimensional acoustic measurement systems

We used two types of acoustic measurement systems to assess the state of quay wall. Collapse and subsidence of quay wall at a harbor are often reported and a diagnosis method to prevent the accident has become a significant concern. The collapse is mainly occurred by air hole inside the quay wall. Therefore, the more robust and accurate diagnosis system is required and we try to apply the new diagnosis system which enables to assess the both inside and outside states of the quay wall from the underwater site. In the present study, two types of acoustic measurement systems using dual frequency identification sonar (DIDSON), and narrow-beam parametric sub-bottom profiler (SES2000) are applied to assess the both inside and outside states of quay wall. The field experiment was performed at the Iwanai port in Hokkaido, Japan (42° 59' N, 140° 30' E). The DIDSON was used generation of image mosaic and tree-dimensional image of the surface of quay wall. The SES2000 was created acoustic profile of inside the quay wall. The outside and inside acoustic images of the damaged quay wall were reconstructed from the collected data of DIDSON and SES2000. We detected corrosion hole. In addition, we detected corrosion holes and aged deterioration at other survey points using these two- and three-dimensional images. The state of the quay wall was quantified and compared with the results of direct measurement by diver. We should take more data in various field conditions and the continuous work with the proposed methods is needed for the practical use of them.
Clinical significance of right hepatectomy along the main portal fissure on donors in living donor liver transplantation

There might be discordance between inter‐lobar borders of the main portal fissure (MPF) using the middle hepatic vein (MHV) and of the portal segmentation. Forty‐five living donors who underwent right hepatectomy for the adult recipients from 2007 to 2011 in a tertiary hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The donors were classified into conventional right hepatectomy along the MPF (cRL group, n = 26) and modified right hepatectomy along right‐side shifted transection plane from the MPF (mRL group, n = 19). The cRL donors had higher postoperative peak level of INR (1.84 vs. 1.62; P = 0.022), and bilirubin (3.37 mg/dl vs. 2.74 mg/dl; P = 0.065) than the mRL donors. cRL donors experienced greater depression of platelet count (144 per nL vs. 168 per nL; P = 0.042) and enlargement of splenic volume (52% vs. 37%; P = 0.025) than mRL donors for 7 days after hepatectomy. The regeneration of the left lateral sector was more accelerated in the cRL donors than the mRL donors for postoperative 3 months (148% vs. 84%; P = 0.015). There were no differences in the post‐transplant graft function, incidence of complications, and graft survival rates between the two groups of recipients (P > 0.05). This study suggests that the conventional right hepatectomy along the MHV might increase donor risk by reducing parenchymal liver volume of the segment IV.
Wildlife and landscape services production in Dutch dairy farming; jointness and transaction costs

This paper investigates the joint production of milk and 'wildlife and landscape services' on Dutch dairy farms using a micro-econometric profit model of individual farm behaviour. Results show that milk, and wildlife and landscape services, are substitutes. Moreover, there are economies of scope for only relatively few farms. Both results imply that most farms would prefer specialising instead of jointly producing milk and wildlife and landscape services. Lower transaction costs increase wildlife and landscape services production by existing providers, and increase the number of farms producing wildlife and landscape services. The 2003 CAP reform has a negative effect on wildlife and landscape production because of the milk quota increase. Copyright 2004, Oxford University Press.
An Investigation of Granger Causality between Oil-Price, Inflation and Economic Growth in Jordan

This paper is an empirical investigation on the directional causality between oil price (oil imports cost), gross domestic product (GDP) and Inflation (consumer price index) for the period 1990-2011 in Jordan. Using Johannes- Juseliusco-integration test, Granger-causality test, and VECM to inspect the long-term relationship, the short-term relationship and the speed of adjustment toward long-term equilibrium between the variables. The tests' results indicate that there is a long-run equilibrium relationship between gross domestic product these results indicate that there is a long-run equilibrium relationship between gross domestic product (LGDP) and other variables oil cost (LOP) and inflation (LINF). The estimation of the adjustment speed indicates that (58%) of any previous year's deviation in gross domestic product (GDP) from its long-run equilibrium path will be corrected in the current year. Furthermore, the VECM reveals the existence of a significant, negative and weak (-0.046) causation relationship in the short run between (GDP) and oil cost (OP) running from oil cost to (GDP). Accordingly, the finding of this study suggests that an increase in oil cost today leads to a small decrease in gross domestic product. This consist with the basic hypothesis which proposes that an increase in oil price (cost) will be harm for economic growth in oil-importing countries like Jordan, but the effect size dose not consist with rate of dependency of economic activities in Jordan on oil. Thus, the study recommends investigating this inconsistent situation.
Short Sales Restrictions and Kinks on the Mean Variance Frontier

With a short sales restriction, there may be switching points along the mean variance frontier corresponding to changes in the set of assets held. Traditional wisdom holds that each switching point corresponds to a kink, while Ross has claimed that kinks never occur. This paper shows that the truth lies between the two views, since the efficient frontier may or may not be kinked at a switching point. There is some indication that kinks are rare, since a kink corresponds to a portfolio in which all assets have the same expected return.
The Unending Search for Monetary Salvation

This paper discusses some recently popular strategies for improving the performance of monetary policy, including increasing the independence of the central bank, setting explicit inflation targets, and fixing the exchange rate. With respect to central bank independence, the most important conclusion is that a central bank should have instrument independence (the freedom to set its instruments as it chooses) but not goal independence (the freedom to set its ultimate objectives); this arrangement makes the central bank accountable, which is necessary both for the central banker to have proper incentives and for democratic oversight. The need for accountability is also a reason to set explicit inflation targets; inflation targeting does not necessarily imply greater output variability, if the target inflation rate is adjusted for supply shocks. Fixing the exchange rate-even temporarily-may help reduce inflation and inflationary expectations, particularly in an economy starting from a situation of low central bank credibility.
The Excess Co-movement of Commodity Prices Reconsidered

This paper provides an empirical reconsideration of evidence for excess co-movement of commodity prices within the framework of univariate and multivariate GARCH(1,1) models. Alternative formulations of zero excess co-movement are provided, and corresponding score and likelihood ratio tests are developed. Monthly time series data for two sample periods, 1960-85 and 1974-92, on up to nine commodities are used. In contrast to earlier work, only weak evidence of excess co-movement is found. Copyright 1996 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Mixed-type autoimmune haemolytic anaemia: Unusual cases and a case associated with splenic T cell angioimmunoblastic non-Hodgkins lymphoma

Abstract The diagnosis of mixed-type autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (AIHA) is based on demonstrating the presence of "warm" IgG auto-antibody and "low titre" (<64 at 4°C), "high thermal amplitude" (reacting at or > 30°C) "cold" IgM auto-antibody. Mixed-type AIHA is uncommon. Red cell agglutination on the peripheral blood film is a common finding in mixed-type AIHA and can lead, initially, to a mis-diagnosis of cold haemmagglutinin disease (CHAD). Mixed-type AIHA is rare and can be idiopathic or secondary, often associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and lymphoma. In general, patients with mixed-type AIHA show a dramatic response to steroid therapy and frequently require few or no transfusions. We report two unusual cases of mixed-type AIHA. Case one was unusual as the patient developed AIHA while on steroid medication. Case two, we believe, is the first reported case of splenic T cell angioimmunoblastic non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL) associated with mixed-type AIHA. The patient failed to respond to steroids, intravenous immunoglobulin, chemotherapy and treatment with rituximab. The patient received 33 units of red cells over a 9-week period. She finally underwent splenectomy with resolution of haemolysis. DAT tested with monospecific reagents, and thorough serological investigations is required to reach the diagnosis of mixed-type AIHA. Awareness of this condition is important as management may be different from either treating warm AIHA or CHAD.
Gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with liver cirrhosis are linked to impaired quality of life and psychological distress

Introduction The factors that lead to an impaired quality of life (QoL) in patients with liver cirrhosis are incompletely understood. Gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are frequent in liver cirrhosis and are known to reduce QoL in GI and non-GI diseases. Aims To study the possible association of GI symptoms with QoL and psychological distress in patients with liver cirrhosis. Methods Seventy-five consecutive outpatients with liver cirrhosis received validated questionnaires to assess GI symptoms, QoL, anxiety, depression, and neuroticism. GI symptoms were considered as relevant when they occurred often over the last 12 months (more than 3 months total), were at least moderately severe and/or led to consultation of a physician. An association of GI symptoms with QoL and psychological scores was ascertained by logistic regression analysis before and after adjusting for age and sex. Results Eighty percent of patients had one or more relevant GI symptoms. Physical component of QoL correlated negatively with Child–Pugh scores (P<0.01), whereas no association between mental component of QoL and Child–Pugh scores was detectable (P=0.4). Both dimensions of QoL decreased significantly with increasing numbers of GI symptoms reported by the patients (physical component: P<0.001; mental component: P<0.01). Number of GI symptoms was also significantly related to poorer anxiety, depression, and neuroticism scores. Conclusion GI symptoms are linked to QoL and psychological distress in patients with liver cirrhosis.
Extraction of Chemical and Drug Named Entities by Ensemble Learning Using Chemical NER Tools Based on Different Extraction Guidelines

Chemical named-entity recognition (chemical NER) is the task of extracting chemical information and chemical-related entities such as drug names and source materials from text in several domains such as bioinformatics and nanoinformatics. There have been several attempts to construct corpora for handling such chemical-related information based on different corpus-construction guidelines. Even though these guidelines contain common types of chemical information, they differ in several ways. As a result, chemical NER tools developed for a particular guideline might be able to extract common chemical named entities, but they may have problems extracting other chemical-related entities. Assuming the differences between these guidelines are consistent, the pattern of success and failure of the chemical NER tools might also be consistent. In this paper, we present an ensemble-learning approach that uses the conditional random field (CRF) as a machine-learning technique to fuse a variety of different characteristic chemical NER tools based on different guidelines to construct a chemical NER for a particular guideline. To achieve consistent tokenization across these different tools, we applied a post-tokenization mechanism. We evaluated the system using the BioCreative IV, CHEMDNER task datasets. We confirmed that the ensemble-learning approach using a combination of chemical NER tools is better than a simple domain-adaptation approach using just one chemical NER tool. We also confirmed that the ensemble-learning approach could improve the performance of a well-tuned rule-based chemical NER tool on certain tasks.
One for all and all for one: privatization and Universal Service provision in the postal sector

Universal Service provision has a special role for the public utilities sector in many Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. These public utilities have largely been subject to privatization during the last 3 decades. Efficiency effects of privatization are widely documented while the impacts on the quality and accessibility of the Universal Service are not much examined. By using a unique dataset on privatization for 21 countries over the period 1980–2007 for the postal sector, we are able to show that privatization, in particular formal privatization, has led to a decrease in the quality of the Universal Service.
Coalition Members' Perceived Methods to Prevent Adolescent Marijuana Usage after Legalization

Coalitions Members’ Perceived Methods to Prevent Adolescent Marijuana Usage after Legalization by Lanise A. Hutchins MA, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2002 BS, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, 1996 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Public Health Walden University April 2015 Abstract Community coalitions have had successful reductions in adolescent substance abuse, and the legalization of marijuana presents an opportunity for these coalitions to re-evaluate their current methods and messages for preventing adolescent marijuana usage. Using the theory of planned behavior, the purpose of this qualitative study was to determine how legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes affects the methods and messages ofCommunity coalitions have had successful reductions in adolescent substance abuse, and the legalization of marijuana presents an opportunity for these coalitions to re-evaluate their current methods and messages for preventing adolescent marijuana usage. Using the theory of planned behavior, the purpose of this qualitative study was to determine how legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes affects the methods and messages of coalitions and how the coalition members perceive their efforts to reduce adolescent marijuana usage post-legalization in Colorado. Participants were obtained by recommendations from the executive director in each of four coalitions. A purposive sample of 12 coalition members was interviewed via telephone and recorded. Data from the transcripts were analyzed, coded, and repeated as necessary until themes arose. The major themes suggested that programs alone were inadequate to change adolescents’ perception of marijuana, despite the current success of the methods and messages expressed by coalition members. Recommendations included continuing current programs despite legalization, partnering with marijuana retail shops, engaging youth through multiple tactics, developing relationships with youth, and improving parent education to help prevent adolescent marijuana usage. These themes could shape the development of programs that guide adolescents into making better choices, which could ultimately lead to positive social change. Coalition Members’ Perceived Methods to Prevent Adolescent Marijuana Usage after Legalization by Lanise A. Hutchins MA, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2002 BS, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, 1996 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Public Health
Short-run dynamics of income disparities and cycle synchronization across regions

Since the 1990s, the issue of regional income convergence and its long term tendencies has been thoroughly and heatedly discussed. Far less attention, however, has been devoted to the short-run dynamics of regional convergence. The present thesis is devoted to explicitly studying the short-run dynamics of regional income disparities; in particular to the interconnections between regional income inequalities and the aggregate business cycle as well as to the interactions among disaggregate and aggregate economic fluctuations in the US. In the first chapter, we characterize the short-run behavior of income inequalities across states and investigate the mechanisms behind such behavior. In Chapter 2, we investigate whether and why some economies might be systematically ahead of others along the swings of the business cycle. Chapter 3 aims at evaluating the distortion introduced in the cross-sectional analysis of economic convergence when the period under study contains incomplete business cycles.
Work disability among two cohorts of women with recent-onset rheumatoid arthritis: a survival analysis.

OBJECTIVE To analyze factors associated with leaving employment among women with newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS Women with RA were recruited from a national sample of rheumatologists in 1987 and 1998. Inclusion criteria were RA diagnosis <18 months earlier, age >or=18 years, and no other disabling health condition. The 1987 and 1998 cohorts comprised 48 and 91 women, respectively. Data were collected by telephone for 4 years. Survival analysis was conducted using Kaplan-Meier curves and a proportional hazards generalized linear model to assess whether the time to stopping work differed between the cohorts and to identify baseline predictors and time-varying covariates of leaving work. RESULTS Most patients were age <50 years, married, had >12 years of education, and were white. Fifteen patients (31%) in the 1987 cohort and 24 patients (26%) in the 1998 cohort stopped working in the observation periods. Kaplan-Meier survival curves for each cohort were not significantly different. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that married women (P = 0.03) and those with joint deformities (P = 0.00) were more likely to stop working. A significant flares by cohort interaction (P = 0.01) indicated that, in comparison with patients in the 1998 cohort, those in the 1987 cohort with <2 disease flares had the lowest risk of stopping work and those with >or=2 flares had the greatest risk. CONCLUSION Unexpectedly, the cumulative rate of stopping work among women in the 1998 study did not differ from that among women diagnosed >16 years earlier. However, disease flares greatly affected employment in the 1987 but not the 1998 cohort, possibly indicating that newer medications were effective in maintaining functional status among those with more severe disease activity, measured by number of flares, in the 1998 group.
Household Life Cycle Protection: Life Insurance Holdings, Financial Vulnerability, and Portfolio Implications

Using the Survey of Consumer Finances, we examine the life cycle demand for different types of life insurance. Specifically, we test for the consumer's aversion to income volatility resulting from the death of a household's wage-earner through the purchase of life insurance. We first develop a financial vulnerability index to control for the risk to the household. We then examine the life cycle demand for life insurance using several definitions of life insurance. We find, in contrast to previous research, that there is a relationship between financial vulnerability and the amount of term life or total life insurance purchased. In addition, we find older consumers use less life insurance to protect a certain level of financial vulnerability than younger consumers. Secondly, our study provides evidence that life insurance demand is jointly determined as part of a household's portfolio. Finally, we consider the impact of family members' nonmonetary contribution on the household's life cycle protection decision. Our results provide some evidence that households take into account the value of nonmonetary contribution in their insurance purchase.
Recent changes in the GenBank® On-line Service

Abstract The GenBank On-line Service provides access to the GenBank and EMBL nucleic acid sequence databases and to the Swiss-Prot and GenPept protein sequence databases. Users can query the databases by sequence similarity and annotation keywords and retrieve entries of interest. This access is available through e-mail servers, anonymous FTP, anonymous interactive login, and login to established, password-protected, individual accounts.