Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The impact of the degree of application of e-commerce on operational performance among Taiwan's high-tech manufacturers

This study probes the correlation of types of operational strategy, degrees of organisational learning, types of organisational culture, the degree of the application of e-commerce, and operational performance among high-tech firms in Taiwan. The data was collected by questionnaires distributed via mail to senior supervisors at high-tech firms in six industries at three Taiwanese science parks. The results showed that a higher degree of e-commerce application leads to a significant and positive effect on operational performance. This study suggests that, in order to upgrade operational performance, firms should enhance their organisational learning and e-commerce, along with their rational, hierarchical, consensual, and developmental cultures, and the execution of prospector and defender strategies. Die studie ondersoek korrelasievorms van operasionele strategie, grade van organisasiekunde, tipes organisasiekultuur, die toepassingsgraad van e-handel en operasionele vertoning by hoe tegnologie ondernemings in Taiwan. Gegewens is versamel met behulp van vraelyste gerig aan seniortoesighouers by ses ondernemings in Taiwan. Die slotsom van die opname toon dat 'n hoe grad van e-handel daartoe lei dat 'n betekenisvolle positiewe resultaat by operasionele vertoning bereik word. Daar word aanbeveel dat bestaande ondernemings daarvan gebruik moet maak teen die agtergrond van die eienskappe van 'n e-handel milieu.
SYNTHESIS AND CYTOTOXIC ACTIVITY OF 2,5-BIS(4-BORONIC ACID)BENZYLIDINE CYCLOPENTANONE ON HER2 OVEREXPRESSED-CANCER CELLS

Development of chemotherapeutic agent and boron carrying pharmaceutical based on HER2 specific targeted is important due to its role in enhancing cancer progression. The purpose of this study is to synthesize curcumin analogue, namely Pentagamaboron-0 (PGB-0) or 2,5-bis(4-boronic acid)benzylidine cyclopentanone, and to explore the cytotoxic activity on HER2 overexpressed-cancer cells. MCF-7/HER2 was used as a model of HER2 overexpressed-cancer cells and NIH3T3 as normal cells. PGB-0 bound to ATP binding site of HER2 and EGFR based on molecular docking study. PGB-0 was synthesized resulting in 33% yield and was confirmed by IR, 1 HNMR, 13 CNMR and Mass spectroscopy. Based on MTT assay PGB-0 decreased cells viability on MCF-7/HER2 cells with IC 50 value of 270 µM but performed no effect on NIH3T3 cells. Cell cycle analysis revealed that PGB-0 increased sub-G1 accumulation. PGB-0 decreased HER2 expression in a dose-dependent manner. We conclude that the new compound PGB-0 inhibits cell growth through cell death induction and decreased HER2 expression. Thus, PGB-0 is potential to be developed as a chemotherapeutic agent and boron carrying pharmaceutical targeted on the HER2 receptor.
Perceptions Towards Integrating Desire2Learn System in EFL Teaching and Learning Processes

This study applied the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in investigating teachers and students’ perceptions towards integrating the D2L system to enhance EFL teaching and learning processes at the English language department, Majmaah University. Two close-ended questionnaires were designed to measure the participants’ perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitudes, and intentions to use D2L. To understand participants’ perceptions and the obstacles that may hinder their use of D2L, an interview with open-ended questions were conducted. Data from the questionnaires were analyzed using SPSS. Qualitative analysis of the interview data showed the frequencies and proportions of participants’ responses. The findings indicated that the D2L system is totally accepted by teachers and students. Few problems along with their suggested solutions were grouped, presented and discussed.
Explaining stock market returns: A review of empirical tests of asset pricing anomalies

Over the last few decades, much debate has arisen regarding the determinants of the factors that help explain the cross-section of equity returns. Four well-known documented anomalies, which represent deviations from the capital asset pricing model, include the size effect, the value effect, the long-term momentum effect and the short-term momentum effect. The purpose of this paper is to review the empirical evidence regarding these anomalies and their possible interpretations within the investment community. Key words: Size effect, value effect, momentum effect, empirical evidence.
Macroeconomic Policies Interaction & the Symmetry of Financial Markets’ Responses

Abstract This concise study analyses the symmetry of financial markets’ responses to macroeconomic policy interaction in the United Kingdom. Employing the Vector Auto-regression (VAR) model on monthly data of the British financial sector and macroeconomic policies from January 1985 to August 2008, this study found that the equity and sovereign debt markets showed identical symmetry in response to macroeconomic policy interaction.
Running Head: ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ LEARNING STYLES TO IMPROVE

This study adopted Grasha-Reichmann learning style scales to identify the learning styles of 61 Thai undergraduate students and to find how the students with different learning styles performed in a case of learning and problem solving skills development in General Education. Out of the six styles that the inventory categorized, only four learning styles were found among the students. While the students who belonged to collaborative styles were the majority, the dependent type made up the minority of the class. The characteristics of the tasks were analyzed based on their potential effect over the student preference. According to the students’ performance, the majority of every learning styles achieved at the very good level in the tasks that allowed them to design learning strategy to achieve their goals and received feedback from their teacher regularly. Meanwhile, all students’ poorer performance were found in the task which required them to finish within the time limit but without teacher feedback. Instead of judging the student learning based on their styles, this paper would discuss the advantages of teacher feedback cycle over a learner’s preference that support the strength and inhibit weakness as shown in the clues out of the reported styles.
Edinburgh Research Explorer Above- and Belowground Carbon Stocks in a Miombo Woodland Landscape of Mozambique

Quantifying ecosystem carbon stocks is vital for understanding the relationship between changes in land use and carbon dioxide emissions. Here we estimate carbon stocks in an area of miombo woodland in Mozambique, by identifying the major carbon stocks and their variability. Data on the biomass of tree stems and roots, saplings, and soil carbon stocks are 5 reported and compared to other savannas systems around the globe. A new allometric relationship between stem diameter and tree stem and root biomass is presented, based on the destructive harvest of 29 trees. These allometrics are combined with an inventory of 12,733 trees on 58 plots over an area of 27 ha. Ecosystems carbon stocks totalled 110 tC/ha, with 76 tC/ha in the soil carbon pool 10 (to 50 cm depth), 21.2 tC/ha in tree stem biomass, 8.5 tC/ha in tree coarse root biomass and 3.6 tC/ha in total sapling biomass. Plot-level tree root:stem ratio varied from 0.27–0.58, with a mean of 0.42, slightly higher than the mean reported for 18 other savanna sites with comparable above-ground biomass (R:S = 0.35). Tree biomass (stem + root) ranged from 3.1-86.5 tC/ha, but the mean (32.1 tC/ha) was well constrained (95% CI 28.4 - 36.6). In 15 contrast, soil carbon stocks were almost uniformly distributed and varied from 32-133 tC/ha. Soil carbon stocks are thus the major uncertainty in the carbon storage of these woodlands. Soil texture explained 53% of the variation in soil carbon content, but only 13% of the variation in woody carbon stocks. The history of disturbance (fire, elephants, logging/charcoal production, and shifting cultivation) is likely to decouple changes in 20 woody carbon stocks from soil carbon stocks, mediated by tree-grass interactions.
Land use and soil development in southern Chile: Effects on physical properties

Different physical properties of volcanic ash soils were investigated along a transect of 120 km from the western slope of the Central Cordilleras (40°20’S, 72°06’W) to the eastern slope of the Costal Cordillera (39°39’S, 73°11’W) in southern Chile with respect to the degree of soil development (Arenosol versus Andosol stage; Arenosol: young volcanic ash soil, free of clay, tephric properties, Andosol: older volcanic soil, clayey). The Andosols show a higher total pore volume and a higher field capacity, especially due to an increase in fine pores, than the Arenosols. Furthermore, the precompression stress (Pc) as a parameter for the mechanical soil strength is higher for Andosols despite of a lower bulk density. A land use (cropland, meadow, forest) dependent variation of the investigated parameters was less distinct for Andosols. A reduction of macropores and saturated hydraulic conductivity (ks) due to agriculture could be determined in the field, but in general the values are still on a high level with ks-values >100 cm d-1. However, at higher stresses using an oedometer test the ks-values of the Andosols are highly negatively affected with values <10 cm d-1. Aggregation is of major importance for soil stability of Andosols, whereas a homogenization of soil structure will lead to a distinct decrease of Pc of approx. 50%.
Resource Use in the Interaction of Managed and Unmanaged Code

Mobile and resource aware systems are often implemented using managed runtime environments (MREs) because most of the code is managed by a virtual machine. The virtual machine can keep track of and control the use of resources, which provides a good basis for resource control mechanisms. However, some code is not managed, in particular, the native code underlying native methods. We discuss the transition from managed to native code in our MRE implementation. In particular, we discuss two issues in carrying out these transitions: implementing all the details for the transfer, and passing reference parameters. Also discussed are two approaches to each issue having different performance and resource requirements. First, we discuss the implementation of the transition from managed to native code using customized stubs versus using a generic stub interpreter, and show that there is a memory versus performance tradeoff for these two approaches. Second, we describe two ways of implementing JNI object handles and show that a slightly more complex approach is much better than a simple one in terms of both memory usage and performance. These demonstrate the importance of choosing the right mechanisms for managed to native transitions in both resource limited and high performance virtual machines.
Enhanced acousto-optic interactions in a one-dimensional phoxonic cavity

We report on the occurrence of strong nonlinear acousto-optic interactions in a one-dimensional model phoxonic cavity that supports, simultaneously, photonic and phononic localized resonant modes, by means of rigorous electrodynamic and elastodynamic calculations. We show that these interactions can take place when photons and phonons of long lifetime are confined in the same region of space and lead to enhanced modulation of light by acoustic waves through multiphonon exchange mechanisms.
Conservation units in the insular endemic salamander Lyciasalamandra helverseni (Urodela, Salamandridae)

Lyciasalamandra helverseni (Caudata, Salamandridae) is the only exclusively insular representative of the genus recently defined as Lyciasalamandra. The species is endemic to a three-island group in the southeast Aegean Sea: Kasos, Karpathos, and Saria (Greece). Tissue samples of Lyciasalamandra helverseni were collected from specimens at six localities on three islands, along with several outgroups. Sequences of two mitochondrial genes (cytochrome b and 16S rRNA), as well as frequencies of 18 allozyme loci, were used to describe levels and patterns of genetic variation, identify possible evolutionary units, and investigate issues of their conservation status. Two major clades of L. helverseni, displaying considerable amount of genetic differences, were found in both analyses. These clades, which have been separated since the late Pliocene, constitute separate evolutionary units and correspond to populations from the islands of Kasos and Karpathos, respectively. The particularly high interpopulation differentiation within relatively short geographical distances, especially in the island of Kasos, implies long-term isolation in fragmented habitats. Severe bottlenecking is proposed to have resulted in the observed low levels of polymorphism of local populations, while inbreeding and low population size might explain the observed lack of heterozygotes. Conservation implications are discussed, particularly in the case of Kasos, where extensive overgrazing of pasturelands has contributed to degradation of the habitat.
A 'Double Coincidence' Search Model of Money

According to Engineer and Shi (1998, 2001) and Berentsen and Rocheteau (2003), the double coincidence of wants problem seems to be not essential to rationalize the use of money in a search theoretic framework. This paper analyzes an endogenous price search model of money where there is universal double coincidence of wants. The existence of a monetary equilibrium depends, essentially, on the asymmetry in the role played by economic agents in the exchange and production processes. In particular, entrepreneurs are assumed to produce a fixed amount of a divisible consumption good by means of labour services provided by workers. Entrepreneurs can offer a co-operative (barter) contract or a monetary contract to workers. Under the co-operative contract real wages are determined in the labour exchange sector, while in the monetary regime real wages are determined in the commodity exchange sector. The monetary contract is proved to be an equilibrium strategy provided that: (i) the workers' labour disutility is sufficiently high and/or (ii) the entrepreneurs' bargaining power in the commodity market is sufficiently large relative to their bargaining power in the labour market. The rationale for money comes from the fact that entrepreneurs use it as an instrument to maximize their output share.
Factsheet - Risicofactoren voor kindermishandeling: Een meta-analytisch onderzoek naar risicofactoren voor seksuele mishandeling, fysieke mishandeling en verwaarlozing

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Postbuckling Analysis of Functionally Graded Beams Using Hyperbolic Shear Deformation Theory

In the present study, post-buckling of a thick FGM rectangular beam is carried out using the hyperbolic shear deformation theory (HYSDT). The theory accounts for parabolic distribution of transverse shear stresses across the thickness satisfying the stress free boundary conditions at top and bottom surfaces of the beam. It is assumed that elasticity modulus is changing in the thickness direction and all other material properties are taken to be constant. Variation of elasticity modulus in the thickness direction, are described by a simple power law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of constituents. Governing equations of FGM beam for post-buckling problem were found by applying Hamilton principle and Navier type solution method was used to solve post-buckling problem. The results obtained for post-buckling analysis of functionally graded beams are compared with those obtained by other theories, to validate the accuracy of the presented theory.
Blockchain Traffic Offence Demerit Points Smart Contracts: Proof of Work

In Malaysia, a new regulation of traffic offences demerit points has been over a debate. Therefore, a blockchain model is formulated to solve this issue. It serves a purpose to be a Proof of Work (PoW) of a blockchain system. This model contains application layer and blockchain layer with smart contract inside. The smart contracts act as a conditional filter which follows the regulation rules. It contains three contracts starting from the declaration of each offence’s demerit points and fines until the penalties when a certain amount of demerit points is collected, including revocation of driver license. The contracts will be automatically executed when such conditions are fulfilled. A transaction schema is also designed to match the schema of a traffic offence system. This model is deployed in online environment with two servers synced to each other to prove the decentralized characteristic of blockchain. It is developed using NodeJS while preserving JSON format for transaction between server and client. A user interface is also provided as a simulation media where a traffic officer can input offences and send it to blockchain server while public users or the driver itself can check the status of the driver license recorded on the blockchain. Government officer can monitor the records through a dashboard analytics provided which contains graphs and charts based on the records. This interface is used as media to do evaluation which produces satisfying results. The evaluation shows that the smart contracts are executed properly as compared to real regulations.
Loyal Employees. A Key Factor in the Success of a Company

The most important asset of any business is its employees. Given this fact, normally, every business should have a solid plan to make sure that its employees are satisfied professionally and are loyal to the company. Unfortunately, this is usually not the case. Many companies believe that if they have an excellent product or service that generates high incomes and employees should be content. Generally, employers try to guarantee that its employees will not leave by offering them different benefits, trainings and great compensation. But is that enough to ensure loyalty among staff members? According to different statistics: each year the average company loses 20-50% of its employee base, replacing a lost employee costs 150% of that person’s annual salary. These numbers highlight how important the retention and engagement of the employees are for the profitability of a company.
Seeking Health Information Online: The Moderating Effects of Problematic Situations on User Intention

Abstract Purpose This study investigates how online user intention in searching health information is affected by problematic situations. Design/methodology/approach Based on the Theory of Reasoned Action, the Technology Acceptance Model, and Sense-making theory, we propose two dimensions of problematic situations: urgency and severity of health issues being searched online. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey among 214 Wuhan University students and analyzed using hierarchical regression analysis. Findings Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and subjective norm can influence user intention to seek health information online. The urgency of problematic situations has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between perceived ease of use and user intention and the relationship between subjective norm and user intention. The severity of problematic situations has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between subjective norm and user intention. Research limitations The respondents of the survey are limited to students in one Chinese university, so whether this study’s results can be applied to another population or not remains to be verified. In addition, only two dimensions of problematic situations are considered in this study. Practical implications The paper puts forward the moderating effect of problematic situations and verifies it, which is the compensation for online health information-seeking behavior research. Besides, our analyses have implications for professional design of health care systems and related consumer information searches, and improve their performance. Originality/value Previous work has reported the effects of problematic situation on user intention to seek health information online, ignoring its influence on other factors. This empirical study extends that work to identify the influence of problematic situation when seeking intention-behavior data in two dimensions, urgency and severity.
Effect of conservation agriculture management practices on maize productivity and selected soil quality indices under South Africa dryland conditions

Conservation agriculture experiment was conducted under irrigated and dryland conditions during 2007/2008-summer cropping season to determine a suitable soil-crop management practice for increase maize yield. The study consisted of tillage practices (conventional, minimum and zero), cropping systems (sole and intercrop plots) and fertilizer regimes (unfertilized control, low, adjusted low and optimum) as treatments. Minimum and zero tillage practices constituted the conservation agriculture tillage practices while supplementation of low fertilizer rate with seed inoculation using growth enhancing microbial inoculant constituted the adjusted low fertilizer rate. Fertilizer application gave a significant (P < 0.05) maize grain yield increase at both trial sites. Maize grain yield ranged from 1254 to 3683 kg ha-1 and from 1738 to 3199 kg ha-1 under supplementary irrigation and dryland non-irrigated condition, respectively. The highest maize grain yield obtained at optimum fertilizer rate did not differ significantly from that of adjusted low rate under dryland and inherent low soil nutrients condition. Although the adjusted low fertilizer rate gave no maize grain yield advantage over the low rate in soil with fairly high native nutrients, it however resulted in better crop responses and conservation of some of the soil properties studied under low-nutrients soil status. Zero tillage as a conservation agriculture practice gave the highest maize grain yield of 2805 and 2776 kg ha-1under supplementary irrigation and dryland conditions, respectively. It also resulted in better conservation of soil nutrients resource than the conventional tillage practice. Key words: Conservation agriculture, fertilizer regimes, cropping systems, maize yield, seed inoculation.
A study on the effect of leverage on firms' management opportunism behavior

Article history: Received May 12, 2013 Received in revised format 12 August 2013 Accepted 14 August 2013 Available online September 5 2013 This paper presents an empirical investigation to study the relationship between the opportunism behavior and leverage. In this study, opportunism behavior is calculated based on discretionary accruals using the method proposed by Jones [Jones, J. J. (1991). Earnings management during import relief investigations. Journal of accounting research, 29(2), 193228. ]. In addition, the proposed study uses return on assets, return on equities, financial burden and financing for investigation. Using statistical data from Tehran Stock Exchange over the period 2006-2011, the study applies linear regression model and the results have indicated a positive and meaningful relationship between leverage and discretionary accruals, which is also called earnings management. © 2013 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.