Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Virtual teams: Technology and the workplace of the future

Executive Overview Managers are challenged to develop strategically flexible organizations in response to increasingly competitive marketplaces. Fortunately, a new generation of information and telecommunications technology provides the foundation for resilient new organizational forms that would have not been feasible only a decade ago. One of the most exciting of these new forms, the virtual team, will enable organizations to become more flexible by providing the impressive productivity of team-based designs in environments where teamwork would have once been impossible. Virtual teams, which are linked primarily through advanced computer and telecommunications technologies, provide a potent response to the challenges associated with today's downsized and lean organizations, and to the resulting geographical dispersion of essential employees. Virtual teams also address new workforce demographics, where the best employees may be located anywhere the world, and where workers demand increasing technological.
Performance Analysis of Multilevel Indices for Service Repositories

There are many different index structures for servicerepositories, such as sequential index, inverted index and multilevelindices that includes three deployments. Different servicesets maybe have different characteristics that may affect performancefrom different aspects. What characteristic could affectretrieval performance? How to select an optimal storage structurefor a given service set? To address these issues, this paperanalyses five indexing models and proposes expectation of traversedservice count to estimate performance of service retrieval. The proposed expectation formulas of five indices reveal whatdifferent characteristics of a service set could affect its retrievalperformance for different indices. Experimental results validatecorrectness of the proposed formulas.
ELEC TRI CIT Y IN VE STMEN T AND ECONOMIC GROW TH IN CHINA: A DEMONST RA TION AND A FORECAST BASED ON T H E VA R MODEL

This paper represents a study on the dynamic influence of electricity investment on economic growth, which is based on the data from 1953 to 2012, by using the ADF test, the Granger test, the VAR model, the IRF (Impulse Response Function) model and the VEC model. In this research, other factors such as more fixed-asset investment and labor force are involved in the explanatory variables. The results are used to forecast the scenarios of economic growth on different electricity investment projects. The results indicated that electricity investment can strengthen economic growth in a short time when there is a steady equilibrium relationship in the long run. The positive impulse response of economic growth to electricity investment will last for four years. The contribution of electricity investment to economic development has been increasing year by year. The scenario analysis means that an S-shaped electricity investment is better than other investment projects in the promotion of economic growth.
A multidimensional model of marketing culture and performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine a multidimensional model of marketing culture and performance in tourism restaurants operating in Jordan. The paper introduces a model proposing certain associations between Webster’s (1990) marketing culture dimensions and attempts to underline how such associations affect restaurants’ performance. Design/methodology/approach – A structured and self-administered survey was used, targeting managers and employees of tourism restaurants operating in Jordan. A sample of 334 tourism restaurants’ managers and employees were involved in the survey. A series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to assess the research constructs dimensions, unidimensionality, validity and composite reliability. Structural path model analysis was also used to test the hypothesised interrelationships of the research model. Findings – The empirical findings indicate that the marketing culture dimensions are seven rather than six, as proposed by Webster’s (1990) o.
Economic Effects of the Proposed Australia-China Free Trade Agreement Economic Effects of the Proposed Australia-China Free Trade Agreement Eco

The negotiation of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) has become an integral part of Australia’s current trade policy. Australia has signed FTAs with Singapore, Thailand and the United States. A similar agreement with China is being negotiated at present. This paper analyses the economic effects of the proposed FTA between Australia and China on both economies and on the trading partners, drawing lessons from simulations undertaken using the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model. By simulating the GTAP multi-country CGE model, the paper provides quantitative evidence concerning the welfare impact of the FTA with special reference to trade creation and trade diversion. Examining responses of various production sectors identifies the structural changes that may take place in the two economies over the long run. The findings may shed light on the debate over the potential incentives to participate in the agreement.
Breast MRI: State of the Art

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast has emerged as a useful adjunct in evaluation of breast disease. For the past 25 years its use has been explored extensively in the literature and specific clinical indications have been developed. This review will address the current state of the art of breast MRI, including image acquisition, interpretation, limitations, and current applications. We also will discuss briefly emerging techniques that may further advance the practice of breast MRI evaluation.
Reconfigurable nanoscale logic cells : a comparison study

This paper presents a new cell family designed to perform reconfigurable operations in nanometric systems. Using new properties given by emerging devices, we can create cells based on various improvement objectives, such as increasing density or elementary device functionality. Therefore, a reconfigurable logic cell using high-density emerging technology is able to achieve an area improvement of over two orders of magnitude compared to an advanced CMOS design (projected 22nm gate length node), whereas solutions based on carbon electronics improve drastically power characteristics.
Finger Gesture Control Computer Mouse With Image Processing

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) uses of the interfaces between people (users) and computers. In this paper, I have tried to control the mouse cursor movement and clicks events (Left & Right click) of the computer mouse using finger motion and gestures. Finger gestures were acquired using a camera based on skin detection algorithm with different angle detected images. This method mainly focuses on the use of Web-Camera to create a cost effective virtual mouse using webcam with image processing. The GUI on Personal Computers (PCs) is quite developed, well defined and provide an efficient interface for a user to interact with the computers and access the various applications with the help of mice etc. In the present day scenario most of the mobile phones are using touch screen technology to interact with the user. But this technology is still not cheap to be used in desktop and laptops. Our objective was to create a cost-effective virtual mouse system using Web-Camera to interact with the computer in a more user friendly manner with image processing. II. Introduction of the system In my work, I have tried to control mouse cursor movement and clicks actions using a camera based. Here a real time video has been captured using a Web-Camera and captured image of the finger using skin detection algorithm. Individual image of the video are separately processed. The processing technology involves noise remove technique and detect different angle image. When angle of the finger detected then system perform various operations to track the cursor and perform control actions. No additional hardware is required by the system other than the standard webcam which is provided in every laptop computer.
Fiscal Policy in a Two-Sector Economy with Public Capital and Congestion

This paper focuses on the role of government capital as a critical productive input when the level of services that the agent derives from it is subject to congestion. I develop a two-sector â€œnon-scaleâ€ production model in which there are two types of firms, conventional profit-maximizing private firms, and â€œpublic firmsâ€ , whose objective is to produce a specified quantity of government investment goods â€“ determined by government policy â€“ at minimum cost. Using this two-sector production set-up I assume that the positive externality of the public capital is associated with two types of congestion, proportional and aggregate. A variety of fiscal disturbances are analyzed. Because of the complexity of the model the analysis is carried out using simulations of a calibrated economy. The effects of tax policies are remarkably robust with respect to the relative capital intensities of the two productive sectors. In contrast, the effects of government investment are much more sensitive to this aspect. The introduction of congestion decreases the steady state growth rate of the economy. The relative congestion has stronger effects when the variation in the government investment is analyzed, whereas the absolute congestion is more relevant in the analysis of the change in the tax on capital income. The papers highlight the intertemporal dimensions of fiscal policy and the tradeoffs these involve for economic performance, especially growth and welfare.
Why Isn&Apos;T Mexico Rich?

Over the last three decades, Mexico has aggressively reformed its economy, opening to foreign trade and investment, achieving fiscal discipline, and privatizing state owned enterprises. Despite these efforts, the country's economic growth has been lackluster, trailing that of many other developing nations. In this paper, I review arguments for why Mexico hasn't sustained higher rates of economic growth. The most prominent suggest that some combination of poorly functioning credit markets, distortions in the supply of non-traded inputs, and perverse incentives for informality creates a drag on productivity growth. These are factors internal to Mexico. One possible external factor is that the country has the bad luck of exporting goods that China sells, rather than goods that China buys. I assess evidence from recent literature on these arguments and suggest directions for future research.
INSERVICE NEEDS OF TRADITIONALLY AND ALTERNATIVELY CERTIFIED AGRICULTURE TEACHERS

Each year, many alternatively certified agriculture teachers are hired. Practice dictates that agriculture teachers, regardless of certification method, have a continuing desire and need for inservice training. However, do these two groups of teachers have the same inservice needs? The literature supports the notion that different groups of teachers have dissimilar inservice needs. However, missing from the agricultural education research base are studies that examined the inservice needs of alternatively certified agriculture teachers. The purpose of this study was to fill that void. Based on the findings of this study, traditionally certified teachers have greater self-perceived inservice needs in the FFA and SAE supervision, instruction and curriculum, technical agriculture, program management and planning, and teacher professional development constructs. When examining specific items, traditionally certified agriculture teachers have greater self-perceived inservice needs in 46 of the 80 items.
Novel mechanism for age‐related macular degeneration: An equilibrium shift between the angiogenesis factors VEGF and PEDF

We investigated gene expression profiles of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and pigment epithelium‐derived factor (PEDF) in differentiated and non‐differentiated retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells during oxidative stress. Human RPE cells were grown in culture on laminin‐coated flasks to obtain differentiated features. Cells cultured on plastic were used as non‐differentiated controls. After confluence, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was added for 48 h, then, total RNA was extracted and used for RT‐PCR and Northern blot analysis. Medium conditioned by RPE was used for ELISA, Western blotting, and in vitro angiogenesis assay. As a result, differentiated RPE cells expressed significantly higher levels of VEGF protein, as compared to their non‐differentiated counterparts. The expression pattern remained consistent even after cellular exposure to H2O2. Conversely, while elevated levels of PEDF transcript and protein were seen in differentiated RPE cells, compared to non‐differentiated cells, a marked decrease at both PEDF mRNA and protein levels was seen after treatment with H2O2. Moreover, this decrease in PEDF expression was dosage dependent. In in vitro angiogenesis assay, conditioned medium from differentiated human RPE cells after exposure to H2O2 showed a dramatic increase in tubular formation and migratory activity of microvascular endothelial cells. These data suggest that, in physiological conditions, a critical balance between PEDF and VEGF exists, and PEDF may counteract the angiogenic potential of VEGF. Under oxidative stress, PEDF decreases disrupting this balance. This equilibrium shift may be significant in promoting a pathological condition of RPE cells and contributing to choroidal neovascularization in age‐related macular degeneration. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Hospitalization for firearm-related injuries in the United States, 1997.

BACKGROUND Firearm-related injuries are a serious public health problem in the United States. Despite the magnitude of this problem, prior national estimates of nonfatal, firearm-related morbidity have been limited to an emergency department-based surveillance system. The objective of this study was to assess and report the information available on firearm-related injuries in an existing national database, derived from hospital discharge data. METHODS Cross-sectional analysis of the 1997 Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), a stratified probability sample of 1012 nonfederal community hospitals from 22 states. The database was queried using E codes to identify firearm-related injuries. The SUDAAN software program was used to convert raw counts into weighted counts that represent national estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS An estimated 35,810 (95% CI, 32,615-38,947) cases nationwide were identified, of which 86% were male. Assault was the leading cause of firearm-related hospitalization, followed by unintentional injury. The mean length of stay (LOS) for patients with a firearm-related assault was 6 days. Seven percent of all firearm cases died during the hospitalization. The total estimated hospital charges for firearm-related injuries in the United States in 1997 was over $802 million, and 29% of the patients admitted for this condition were uninsured. CONCLUSIONS Firearm-related injuries rank highest among all conditions in the number of uninsured hospital stays, and the average LOS is much longer compared to other medical conditions. National estimates derived from the NIS are consistent with previous estimates, and NIS provides additional information not available from other data sources.
New Parliament, New Cleavages after the Eastern Enlargement? The Conflict Over the Services Directive as an Opposition between the Liberals and the Regulators

This article analyses the parliamentary debates and decision-making related to the highly contentious EU directive on services. It is intended as a contribution to the academic debate on political conflict lines in the European Parliament. Our argument is that neither the left–right cleavage nor a territorial one (old versus new Member States) can fully explain conflict at stake on socio-economic issues. Rather, what we can observe is cross-cutting opposition between ‘regulators’ and ‘liberals’.
The Impact of Coal Conversions on the Ports of New England

Historically, waterborne movements of coal into the New England region were very important. This paper presents the results of a systematic study of the transportation of coal into the region to satisfy the anticipated energy demands of the electric utilities. The results of this analysis indicate that waterborne movements of coal can once again predominate. Even with the added investments necessary for the construction of new coal handling equipment at the ports of New England and the costs associated with additional coal transfers, water modes tend to be the most economical. The ports of Providence and Boston appear to have some geographical strategic importance to this coal trade. 33 references, 3 figures, 13 tables
Regional Brain Glucose Metabolism and Neurocognitive Function in Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer Treated with Cranial Radiation

The objective of this study was to examine associations between regional brain metabolism, as measured by 18F-FDG PET, and neurocognitive outcomes in adult survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treated with cranial radiation. Method: Thirty-eight adult survivors of ALL were randomly selected from a large cohort treated with cranial radiation therapy (19 with 18 Gy and 19 with 24 Gy of exposure). At a mean age of 26.4 (range, 22.3–37.4) years, and 23.5 (range, 20.4–32.8) years since diagnosis, patients underwent comprehensive neurocognitive evaluations and brain 18F-FDG PET imaging during a resting condition. 18F-FDG PET images were analyzed stereotactically, and pixel values were normalized to global activity. Predefined region-of-interest and voxel-based correlation analyses were performed. Results: Compared with national norms, survivors demonstrated lower vocabulary (P < 0.001), reading (P < 0.001), mathematics (P < 0.001), working memory (P < 0.001), oral naming speed (P < 0.001), and cognitive flexibility (P < 0.001). Metabolic activity was higher in basal gangliar structures for those treated with 24 Gy of cranial radiation therapy (P = 0.04). Metabolic activity was positively correlated with oral naming speed in both lateral frontal lobes (ρ = 0.48 and 0.47 for right and left frontal regions, respectively, P < 0.01) and negatively correlated with cognitive flexibility in the sections of the basal ganglia (P < 0.01 for both caudate and putamen). Conclusion: Neurocognitive impairment in long-term survivors of ALL treated with cranial radiation appears to be associated with increased metabolic activity in frontal cerebral cortical and subcortical regions in the basal ganglia, suggesting decreased efficiency of the frontostriatal brain circuit.
Determination of the Acidity of Oils Using Paraformaldehyde as a Thermometric End-Point Indicator

The determination of the acidity of oils by catalytic thermometric titrimetry using paraformaldehyde as the thermometric end-point indicator was investigated. The sample solvent was a 1:1 (v/v) mixture of toluene and 2-propanol and the titrant was 0.1 mol L-1 aqueous sodium hydroxide. Paraformaldehyde, being insoluble in the sample solvent, does not present the inconvenience of other indicators that change the properties of the solvent due to composition changes. The titration can therefore be done effectively in the same medium as the standard potentiometric and visual titration methods. The results of the application of the method to both non-refined and refined oils are presented herein. The proposed method has advantages in relation to the potentiometric method in terms of speed and simplicity.
Model-based dynamic software project scheduling

Software project scheduling, under uncertain and dynamic environments, is one of the most important challenges in software engineering. Recent studies addressed this challenge in both static and dynamic scenarios for small and medium size software projects. The increasing trend of cloud based software solutions (large scale software projects) needs agility not only for sustainable maintenance but also for in time and within budget completion. Therefore, this paper formulates software project scheduling problem (SPSP) as an optimization problem under uncertainties and dynamics for hybrid scRUmP software model. In this regard, a mathematical model is constructed with five objectives as project duration, task fragmentation, robustness, cost, and stability.
The Nightly News Nightmare: Television's Coverage of U.S. Presidential Elections, 1988-2004

Chapter 1 List of Tables Chapter 2 Acknowledgments Chapter 3 1 U.S. Presidential Elections and Television News: Studying Media Content Chapter 4 2 A Need-to-Know Basis? : Covering Issues of Substance and the Horse Race Chapter 5 3 Who Elected You? : Candidates versus Reporters Chapter 6 4 A Plague on All Your Houses: Negativity, Fairness, and Accuracy Chapter 7 5 "Nobody Does It Better"? : The Networks versus Other Campaign News Sources Chapter 8 6 Maybe Next Year? : The Future of Campaign Coverage Chapter 9 Appendix A: Campaign Information Items Used in the Content Analysis Chapter 10 Appendix B: Internet Resources on the News Media and Presidential Elections Chapter 11 References Chapter 12 Index Chapter 13 About the Authors
Technology and Trade

We survey research on the relationship between technology and trade. We begin with the old literature, which treated the state of technology as exogenous and asked how changes in technology affect the trade pattern and welfare. Recent research has attempted to endogenize technological progress which results either from learning- by-doing or from investments in research and development. This allows one to examine not only how technology affects trade, but also how trade affects the evolution of technology. We emphasize the parallels between the models with learning-by-doing and those with explicit R&D and highlight the role that the geographic extent of knowledge spillovers plays in mediating the relationship between trade and technological progress.
HRM systems between control and commitment: occurrence, characteristics, and effects on HR outcomes and firm performance

In the literature, it is often assumed that traditional, control-oriented HRM systems are increasingly being replaced by commitment-based HRM systems because the latter generally result in higher firm performance. However, an HRM system's effectiveness may depend on an organisation's external and internal context, and neither control nor commitment HR systems are without disadvantages. Thus, the empirical validity of this claim is not clear ex ante. This paper analyses the empirical diffusion and determinants of control and commitment HRM systems in Germany as well as their impact on HRM outcomes and firm performance. The findings indicate that between the two extreme forms of high-control and high-commitment HRM systems, there are two hybrid forms (long-term-oriented control system and regulated commitment system) that combine elements of both ‘pure’ systems. Commitment HRM systems outperform the high-control HRM system concerning many HRM outcomes and firm performance measures. However, in direct comparison, the high and the regulated commitment HRM systems do not show substantially different outcomes, indicating that there is no one best way.
Minority government and senior government officials: the case of the Canadian federal government

Most studies of the relationship between deputy ministers (DMs) and ministers have focused on majority governments. This paper analyses the impact of minority government on that relationship in four areas (personnel in key positions, the role of central agencies, agendas and daily relationships) on the basis of an analysis of the history of DM appointments and departures under minority governments in Canada and interviews with current DMs. It is found that, under minority governments, relationships of trust are more difficult to develop, there is a stronger tendency to develop public policy on an urgent basis and with a view to short-term issues, greater importance is attached to public opinion, and control is more centralised.