Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Benchmarking as a measure of competitiveness

Competitiveness is the order of the day and benchmarking as a tool helps companies to position themselves in the market place. Decision makers are persistently on the lookout for techniques to facilitate quality enhancement. Benchmarking, in the recent times occupies a prominent place, helping quality up gradation. Benchmarking is imperative for performance and the study highlights the diverse crucial aspects of benchmarking process, which proves essential for successful implementation. This study demonstrates benchmarking as a basis of competitive positioning and shares valuable information from managerial personnel on benchmarking. In this paper, the authors have reviewed benchmarking literature and sought responses from managerial personnel to facilitate researchers and academicians to take a closer look at the expansion, progression and application of benchmarking.
PROGESTINS , POLYAMINES , AND BREAST CANCER methasone , and hydrocortisone simultaneously added to single cell suspensions of NMU mammary tumors plated in soft agar in the absence of serum

These experiments were designed to test whether autocrine/paracrine mechanisms are involved in the growth-promoting action of progesterone (Pg) in the /V-nitrosomethylurea-induced rat mammary tumor cultured in vitro in soft agar clonogenic assay. In support of our hypothesis, we observed that conditioned media obtained from Pg-treated tumors (1*8CM), consistently stimulated colony formation in our system to the same degree as Pg itself (approximately 140% of control). Treatment with heat, trypsin, and concanavalin A abolished the colony-stimulating effect of Pg-CM, thus suggesting the possible glycoprotein nature of the Pginducible growth factor(s). The growth-promoting action of Pg-CM was rather specific since (Ms obtained from tumors exposed to a variety of other steroid hormones rarely stimulated colony formation and usually only to a modest degree. Administration of the polyamine biosynthetic inhibitor, a-difluoromethylornithine, abolished the colony-stimulating ef fect of Pg-CM. The inhibitory effect of a-difluoromethylornithine was reversed in a dose-dependent fashion by exogenous administration of spermidine, which entirely restored the growth-promoting action of PgCM. Addition of increasing amounts of spermidine, however, did not potentiate Pg-CM action under our experimental conditions. Our results indicate that autocrine/paracrine mechanisms may mediate, at least in part, the colony-stimulating effect of Pg in our system. The polyamine pathway plays an essential role in the expression of such control of tumor growth by Pg.
Crime Rates and Local Labor Market Opportunities In the United States: 1979-1997

The labor market prospects of young, unskilled men fell dramatically in the 1980s and improved in the 1990s. Crime rates show a reverse pattern: increasing during the 1980s and falling in the 1990s. Because young, unskilled men commit most crime, this paper seeks to establish a causal relationship between the two trends. Previous work on the relationship between labor markets and crime focused mainly on the relationship between the unemployment rate and crime, and found inconclusive results. In contrast, this paper examines the impact of both wages and unemployment on crime, and uses instrumental variables to establish causality. We conclude that both wages and unemployment are significantly related to crime, but that wages played a larger role in the crime trends over the last few decades. These results are robust to the inclusion of deterrence variables, controls for simultaneity, and controlling for individual and family characteristics. © 2002 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
In Their Eyes: How Entrepreneurs Evaluate Venture Capital Firms

Although the literature on the venture capital industry is extensive, how entrepreneurs perceive their VC investors remains an under-researched topic. The dominant principal–agent model provides a crude picture based on rational assumptions. As such, we still lack accurate understanding of how exactly entrepreneurs view and why they evaluate their VC investors in certain ways. This study attempts to address this gap through a systematic content analysis on 4,653 online comments for 261 VC firms and statistical analyses on numerical ratings. Our results show that entrepreneurs are attentive to certain attitude and behaviors exhibited by VC firms such as late responses and ethical concerns. Statistical analyses also reveal that, surprisingly, VC firms with success records appear to have lower ratings and VC geographic density seems to boost ratings. The implications for practitioners and scholars are discussed.
Comparisons of Purchasing Power, Real Output and Labour Productivity in Manufacturing in Japan, South Korea and the U.S.A., 1975-85

This study presents binary comparisons of real output and labour productivity in manufacturing in Japan, South Korea and the U.S.A. in 1975, made according to an “industry of origin approach. ” The 1975 benchmark comparisons have been updated to 1985. Value added per hour worked in Japanese manufacturing increased from 54 percent of the U.S. level in 1975 to 76 percent in 1985. In certain important branches such as electrical machinery, metal products and machinery and transport equipment, productivity leadership shifted to Japan. In South Korea, labour productivity in manufacturing increased rapidly from 1975 to 1985, both in absolute terms and relative to the U.S.A. Nevertheless, in 1985 value added per hour worked was only 14 percent of the U.S. level.
Net Foreign Assets in the Euro Area: A Cointegration Analysis

This paper discusses the macroeconomics of NFA at the Euro Area level. A stylized theoretical model of an open economy, with portfolio choices, and the cointegrated VAR methodology applied to a system including: the real effective exchange rate, domestic and world real GDP per-capita, domestic and foreign real long-term interest rate, domestic real short-term interest rate and the NFA/GDP ratio appear as an adequate choice. The main conclusion of the paper is that, at least in terms of international investment position, the launching of EMU should not have produced radical changes with respect to the past and with respect to what economic theory leads us to expect. Real growth and exchange rate appreciation are both consistent with NFA accumulation. Portfolio adjustment considerations are also important.
Hierarchical sliding mode control applied to a single-link flexible joint robot manipulator

Trajectory tracking and vibration suppression are essential objectives in a flexible joint manipulator control. The flexible joint manipulator is an under-actuated system, in which the number of control actions is less than the degree of freedom to be controlled. It is very challenging to control the under-actuated nonlinear system with two degree of freedom. This paper presents a hierarchical sliding mode control (HSMC) for a rotary flexible joint manipulator (RFJM). Firstly, the rotary flexible joint manipulator is modeled by two subsystems. Secondly, the sliding surfaces for both subsystems are constructed. Finally, the control action is designed based on the Lyapunov function. Computer simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control. The comparative study shows the proposed method has superior performance than the conventional sliding mode control by achieving the controlled objectives such as a satisfactory tracking performance and an acceptable vibration reduction for the single link flexible joint robot manipulator.
Ultrasonographic Guidance Improves Sensory Block and Onset Time of Three-in-One Blocks

The use of ultrasound reduces the onset time, improves the quality of sensory block, and minimizes the risks associated with the supraclavicular approach for brachial plexus and stellate ganglion blockade.The present study was designed to evaluate whether ultrasound also facilitates the approach for 3-in-1 blocks. Forty patients (ASA physical status II or III) undergoing hip surgery after trauma were randomly assigned to two groups. In the ultrasound (US) group, 20 mL bupivacaine 0.5% was administered under US guidance, whereas in the control group, the same amount and concentration of local anesthetic was administered with the assistance of a nerve stimulator (NS). After US- or NS-based identification of the femoral nerve, the local anesthetic solution was administered, and the distribution of the local anesthetic solution was visualized and recorded on videotape in the US group. The quality and the onset of the sensory block was assessed by using the pinprick test in the central sensory region of each of the three nerves and compared with the same stimulation on the contralateral leg every 10 min for 60 min. The rating was performed using a scale from 100% (uncompromised sensibility) to 0% (no sensory sensation). Heart rate, noninvasive blood pressure, and oxygen saturation were measured at short intervals for 60 min. The onset of sensory blockade was significantly shorter in Group US compared with Group NS (US 16 +/- 14 min, NS 27 +/- 16 min, P < 0.05). The quality of the sensory block after injection of the local anesthetic was also significantly better in Group US compared with Group NS (US 15% +/- 10% of initial value, NS 27% +/- 14% of initial value, P < 0.05). A good analgesic effect was achieved in 95% of the patients in the US group and in 85% of the patients in the NS group. In the US group, visualization of the cannula tip, the femoral nerve, the major vessels, and the local anesthetic spread was possible in 85% of patients. Incidental arterial puncture (n = 3) was observed only in the NS group. We conclude that an US-guided approach for 3-in-1 block reduces the onset time, improves the quality of the sensory block and minimizes the risks associated with this regional anesthetic technique. Implications: The onset time and the quality of a regional anesthetic technique for the lower extremity is improved by ultrasonographic nerve identification compared with older techniques. (Anesth Analg 1997;85:854-7)
Chinese Outbound Tourists’ Destination Image of America

This study compares the U.S. destination image of four groups of Chinese travelers with different travel horizons. The authors attempt to explore new and effective ways of comparing qualitative image information using methodological approaches from other disciplines. Specifically, they introduce and examine the concepts of destination image richness, evenness, and dominance, analogous to such concepts in biology as species richness, species evenness, and species dominance. Furthermore, the pattern of destination image distribution for the four groups is also explored from a perspective of a power law distribution often used in economic analyses. The obtained results partially support the travel horizon proposition. By applying ideas from other disciplines to the study of destination image, the authors hope that this study contributes both to the image literature and interdisciplinary research on tourism in general.
A Nonscale Growth Model with R&D and Human Capital Accumulation

This paper aims to contribute to the new growth theory with a model in which the engine of growth is human capital growth. Building on Romer's [1990] model, two new functions are introduced: (1) a specification for the production of new designs that assumes no externalities and no inventions before time zero; and (2) A specification for the accumulation of human capital technically similar to that in Lucas [1988].
The Neonatal Brain Is Not Protected by Osteopontin Peptide Treatment after Hypoxia-Ischemia

Neonatal encephalopathy due to perinatal hypoxia-ischemia (HI) is a severe condition, and current treatment options are limited. Expression of endogenous osteopontin (OPN), a multifunction glycoprotein, is strongly upregulated in the brain after neonatal HI. Intracerebrally administered OPN has been shown to be neuroprotective following experimental neonatal HI and adult stroke. In the present study, we determined whether intranasal, intraperitoneal or intracerebral treatment with a smaller TAT-OPN peptide is neuroprotective in neonatal mice with HI brain damage. The TAT-OPN peptide exerts bioactivity as it was as potent as full-length OPN in inducing cell adhesion in an in vitro adhesion assay. Intranasal administration of TAT-OPN peptide immediately after HI (T0) or in a repetitive treatment schedule of T0, 3 h, day (D) 1, 2 and 3 after HI did not protect cerebral gray or white matter after HI. Intraperitoneal TAT-OPN treatment at T0 or in two extended treatment schedules (D5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 after HI or T0, D1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 after HI) did not result in neuroprotection either. Moreover, no functional improvement (cylinder rearing test and adhesive removal task) was observed following TAT-OPN treatment in any of the intraperitoneal treatment schedules. We validated that the TAT-OPN peptide reached the brain after intranasal or intraperitoneal administration by using an HIV-TAT staining. Finally, also intracerebral administration of the TAT-OPN peptide 1 h after HI did not reduce cerebral damage. Our data show that administration of the TAT-OPN peptide did not exert neuroprotective effects on neonatal HI-induced brain injury or sensorimotor behavioral deficits.
Suppressing Respiration Effects when Geometric Distortion Is Corrected Dynamically by Phase Labeling for Additional Coordinate Encoding (PLACE) during Functional MRI

Echo planar imaging (EPI) suffers from geometric distortions caused by magnetic field inhomogeneities, which can be time-varying as a result of small amounts of head motion that occur over seconds and minutes during fMRI experiments, also known as “dynamic geometric distortion”. Phase Labeling for Additional Coordinate Encoding (PLACE) is a promising technique for geometric distortion correction without reduced temporal resolution and in principle can be used to correct for motion-induced dynamic geometric distortion. PLACE requires at least two EPI images of the same anatomy that are ideally acquired with no variation in the magnetic field inhomogeneities. However, head motion and lung ventilation during the respiratory cycle can cause changes in magnetic field inhomogeneities within the EPI pair used for PLACE. In this work, we exploited dynamic off-resonance in k-space (DORK) and averaging to correct the within EPI pair magnetic field inhomogeneities; and hence proposed a combined technique (DORK+PLACE+averaging) to mitigate dynamic geometric distortion in EPI-based fMRI while preserving the temporal resolution. The performance of the combined DORK, PLACE and averaging technique was characterized through several imaging experiments involving test phantoms and six healthy adult volunteers. Phantom data illustrate reduced temporal standard deviation of fMRI signal intensities after use of combined dynamic PLACE, DORK and averaging compared to the standard processing and static geometric distortion correction. The combined technique also substantially improved the temporal standard deviation and activation maps obtained from human fMRI data in comparison to the results obtained by standard processing and static geometric distortion correction, highlighting the utility of the approach.
Pathological narcissism and somatic symptoms among men and women attending an outpatient mental health clinic

Abstract Objective: To explore the relationship between types of pathological narcissism and somatic symptoms among psychiatric outpatients. Methods: Patients (N = 95) completed measures of somatic symptoms, narcissistic grandiosity and vulnerability, and psychiatric symptoms. Relationships among variables were analysed using t-tests and correlations, controlling for psychiatric distress. Results: Somatic symptoms were positively associated with two types of narcissistic dysfunction. Among women there was a positive association between somatic symptoms and narcissistic vulnerability, but not grandiosity. Among men, somatic symptoms were positively associated with narcissistic grandiosity, but not vulnerability. Conclusions: The connection between narcissistic pathology and somatic symptom severity appears to differ based on gender. Further research is needed to confirm and extend this preliminary finding.
Operational competitiveness ratings of production units

The operational competitiveness of a production unit (PU) where resources are transformed into outputs of goods and services is a very important component of its overall competitiveness. A PU's operations are comprised of a number of purposeful activities that consume resources and generate rewards. The efficiency with which these activities are carried out determines the PU's operational competitiveness. A reliable rating system is prerequisite in order to control and improve operational competitiveness. In the present paper we adopt a multi-activity view of the concept of operational competitiveness and develop a procedure to calculate ratings to help gauge the relative operational competitiveness of a set of PUs. The procedure is based on a nonparametric model but its implementation involves simple ratio-type computations. The principal criteria for the procedure and the ratings resulting from its application are intuitive appeal, transparency, ease of computation, robustness and ability to reflect the prevailing managerial perspectives and competitive priorities. We demonstrate the application of the procedure to gauge the relative operational competitiveness of a major chartered bank's branch personnel.
Sustainable cyber security for tility facilities control system based on defense-in-depth concept

This paper provides practical guidelines for improving cyber security for industrial control systems (ICSs). The scope of this paper includes ICSs that employ network-based controllers interconnected to business systems. Multiple layered security mechanisms around the controllers of ICSs mitigate the risk of security incidents. It is also important that minimum platform services and network connections keep security simple.
Empirical model for combinatorial data center network switch design

Data centers require high-performance network equipment that consume low power and support high bandwidth requirements. In this context, a combinatorial approach was proposed to design data center network (DCN) equipment from a library of components in \cite{infocom}. This library includes power splitter, wavelength multiplexers, reconfigurable add-drop multiplexers and optical amplifiers. When interconnecting optical components, it must be ensured that the resultant network supports specified target bit-error-rates (typically, at most $10^{-12}$). This paper reports experiment conducted on component interconnections and their computed bit-error-rates. From the experimental analysis, it was observed that the desired objective can be decided by considering a zeroth-order threshold for optical power at the receiver and before the amplifier. This paves way for the theoretical evaluation of several other such designs using this empirically derived model.
Testing a recent model of ICT in development: Botswana and its university

A recent model analyzing the role of information and communications technology (ICT) in development shows promise. The model coheres with theory on contingency, the problem of reductionism, and distinctions between deeply and shallowly inscribed organizational change arising from ICT. Conditions of e-readiness at the University of Botswana provide an opportune case study for the model. On the whole the original model holds up well, although the case study reveals relevant factors missed by the model: underlying support infrastructure and postimplementation growth in demand. Accordingly, we define an explicit role for time in the model and add a major new dimension of financial sustainability. These additions equip the model to better account for realities affecting ICT's role in development. Further research needs include case and cross-case studies of the revised model. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Did Canadian Welfare Reform Work? The Effects of New Reform Strategies on Social Assistance Participation

This paper measures the extent to which declines in social assistance (SA) participation were associated with novel and aggressive reforms referred to as new reform strategies: work requirements, diversion, earning exemptions and time limits. Controlling for province-specific benefit levels, eligibility requirements, GDP growth, labour market conditions and demographics, SA participation rates were more than one percentage point lower (equivalent to a 13% decline) in provinces with new reforms. Work requirements with strong sanctions had the sharpest negative associations. New reform strategies explain at least 10% of observed declines in SA participation, twice that of benefit levels and eligibility requirements.
Secure and energy-efficient interconnects for board-to-board communication

To meet the consistently increasing compuiaiion demand while reducing the energy footprint, future computing architectures need to consider parallelism. In this paradigm, compute nodes with massive number of cores are directly interconnected in one board by short-range optical connections. At the same time, high-speed wireless connections of up to 100 Gbps are used on demand between compute nodes of different boards. That hybrid design not only enables flexibility and energy efficiency but also opens up new research questions to obtain secure and energy-efficient interconnects in various areas, such as communications, routing, distributed storage and especially security. This paper summarizes the state-of-the-art research findings in those areas, presents a novel key distribution scheme and expands current evaluation platforms with a novel testbed design and realization, leveraging the maturity of virtualization technologies.
Latecomer Catch-up Strategies in Electronics: Samsung of Korea and ACER of Taiwan

Very little is known about the strategies by which East Asian firms acquired foreign technology and managed to ‘catch up’ in electronics. Unlike Western and Japanese innovation ‘leaders’ and ‘followers’, East Asian firms are ‘latecomers’, dislocated from advanced markets, demanding buyers and international sources of technology. This work examines the cases of two leading latecomers - Samsung Electronics of Korea and ACER of Taiwan - to generate insights into how electronics manufacturers overcame barriers to entry and became strong competitors on the world stage. The aim is to highlight the sources, paths and mechanisms of learning in the two firms, relating these patterns to corporate strategy, organization and performance. This contribution argues that latecomers reversed the traditional research and development centred pattern of innovation, travelling backwards along the product life cycle, from mature to early stages. A simple model is put forward to show how latecomer firms progressed up the technological ladder within the electronics subcontract system called original equipment manufacture. Attention is also drawn to theoretical implications and the strengths, remaining weaknesses and future challenges facing latecomer firms.