Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Global, regional and local similarities and differences in HRM in light of Cranet researches (2008-2016)

Approaching management sciences is based on empirical analysis of the facts and phenomena. In the research field of Human Resource Management (HRM) there has always been a need to explore and explain the similarities and differences in HRM practice of diverse countries. To do so, various national cultural and institutional characteristics used to be considered by comparative HR research on IHRM practices. The studies also target not only to examine whether country groups or regions can be detected with distinctive HRM characteristics but also to search for the explanatory factors of it. Following contextual research paradigm this paper is trying to find an answer for the question: what characteristic features the HRM practice of Central and Eastern European countries show compared to the current global tendencies. In addition to theoretical approaches related to HRM, the study follows the conceptual framework provided by cultural clusters and comparative economics.
International accounting standards and accounting quality in code-law countries: The case of Egypt

Purpose - – This study aims to examine whether the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) leads to accounting quality improvements in Egypt as a code-law country. In particular, the study examines earnings management, the construct often used to assess accounting quality. Design/methodology/approach - – The study compares earnings management practice for Egyptian listed companies before (2000-2006) and after (2007-2009) the adoption of IFRS. Findings - – The findings of the study reveal that accounting quality, as measured by earnings management, has decreased in post-adoption period compared to pre-adoption period. IFRS are set up to provide high-quality financial reporting. However, this cannot be achieved solely by a regulatory requirement to follow. The accounting system is a complementary component of the country’s overall institutional system. Institutional improvements did not simultaneously take place by the Egyptian government around the adoption of IFRS. The Egyptian government did not introduce a more effective enforcement system, mandatory corporate governance regulations, investor protection mechanisms and sufficient institutional knowledge of IFRS during that period. Thus, even if IFRS are higher quality standards, the institutional features of Egyptian market could eliminate any improvement in accounting quality arising from adopting IFRS. Research/limitations/implications - – The results of the study are consistent with prior research suggesting that the adoption of IFRS, which are generally perceived to be of higher quality than domestic standards, does not necessarily lead to higher accounting quality in code-law countries like Egypt. The overall results indicate that incentives dominate accounting standards in determining accounting quality in Egypt. Originality/value - – The main reason why countries adopt IFRS invariably is to improve accounting quality. It is, therefore, of interest to ascertain if this goal has been met, especially, in code-law countries such as Egypt.
Performance Analysis of RPCA Algorithm for Segregation of Singing Voice from Polyphonic Music

: There are numerous real world applications for singing voice segregation from mixed audio. Using Robust Principal Component Analysis which is a compositional model for segregation, which decomposes the varied source of audio signal into low rank and sparse components, where it is assumed that musical accompaniment as low rank subspace since musical signal model is repetitive in character while singing voices can be treated as moderately sparse in nature within the song. Performance evaluation of the algorithm is verified by various performance measurement parameter such as source to distortion ratio (SDR), source to artifact ratio (SAR), source to interference ratio (SIR) and Global Normalized source to Distortion Ratio GNSDR.
In Search of Growth in a Future with Diminished Expectations. The Case of Austria

The euro area has – in contrast to the USA – still not recovered from the "Great Recession" 2009 and the following euro crisis. Some fear that Europe could embark into a decade of "secular stagnation" like Japan in the recent past. The US success can be attributed to the application of the strategy of the "three arrows": a co-ordinated expansionary fiscal and monetary policy cum permanent structural reforms. In contrast, the euro area has its hands tied by a self-imposed restriction in fiscal policy (new fiscal rules). Thus, the euro area remains as a growth-stimulating strategy only an expansionary monetary policy by the ECB plus "structural reforms" at the member country level. Austria – after the expiring of the hitherto "EU growth bonus" – has also to look for new strategies to stimulate growth by its own. In simulations with a macro-growth model for Austria alternative growth scenarios are analysed: structural reforms to improve efficiency in product und labour markets, investment in knowledge and innovation (R&D), more globalisation, and traditional demand policies (monetary and fiscal). The most promising strategies are more globalisation and structural reforms plus R&D investments. Most of these strategies would stimulate growth without impairing fiscal sustainability.
Global existence of weak solutions for quantum MHD equations

In this paper, we consider the quantum MHD equations with both the viscosity coefficient and the magnetic diffusion coefficient are depend on the density. we prove the global existence of weak solutions and perform the lower planck limit in a 3-dimensional torus for large initial data. The global existence is shown by using Faedo-Galerkin method and weak compactness techniques for the adiabatic exponent $\gamma>1$.
An Example of Exchange Rate Overshooting

Advocates of flexible exchange rates have long held that allowing exchange rates to adjust at market determined speeds provides a degree of order to international financial markets that is missing from the system of pegged but adjustable rates. Advocates of pegged but adjustable rates have claimed just the opposite; in their view, a flexible rate system is likely to be dominated by speculators whose actions will result in excessive exchange rate variability. These two views of the foreign exchange market were put to the test in the early 1970's when the major industrial countries moved to a system of flexible rates. As the data has accumulated, advocates of the flexible rate system have been perplexed by the large and abrupt movements shown by some key exchange rates (e.g., the U.S. dollar-Deutschmark rate). These data are clearly consistent with the foreign exchange market's being dominated by "badly behaved" speculators. The important question then is whether or not these data are necessarily inconsistent with the view that flexible exchange rates do not exhibit excessive fluctuations but rather exhibit fluctuations consistent
Corporate Governance Effects on Innovation When Both Agency Costs and Asset Specificity Matter

The paper explores the question whether the relationship between corporate governance and innovation is affected by the extent to which the firm is exposed to agency problems and asset specificity issues. In particular, we argue that different combinations of asset specificity and agency costs are associated to firm age and sector of activity and predict heterogenous effects of ownership concentration on innovation across different types of firms. We use a unique dataset on about 35.000 Italian manufacturing corporations over the 2002-2007 period and run a hurdle model, distinguishing four sub-groups of firms on the basis of their age (greater or lower than 15 years) and of whether they belong to a high technology or low technology sector. We find that the effects of ownership concentration on innovation are coherent with the predictions of so-called "shareholder theory" when agency cost effects dominate over asset specificity effects and that they are coherent with the predictions of so-called "stakeholder theory" when asset specificity effects dominate over agency cost effects. These findings are robust to a number of identification issues, including the possible endogeneity of corporate ownership structures. Our results may allow to make sense of the contradictory findings of the literature on corporate governance and innovation, especially as regards the role played by ownership concentration, and may help policy-makers to define more effective type-specific initiatives to stimulate firm innovation.
Dosage-Dependent Impacts of a Floral Volatile Compound on Pollinators, Larcenists, and the Potential for Floral Evolution in the Alpine Skypilot Polemonium viscosum

All volatile organic compounds (VOCs) vary quantitatively, yet how such variation affects their ecological roles is unknown. Because floral VOCs are cues for both pollinators and floral antagonists, variation in emission may have major consequences for costs and benefits in plant-pollinator interactions. In Polemonium viscosum, the emission rate for the floral VOC 2-phenylethanol (2PE) spans more than two orders of magnitude. We investigated the ecological and evolutionary impacts of this immense phenotypic variation. The emission rate of 2PE varies independently of nectar rewards and thus is uninformative of profitability. Emission is elevated in flowers that are morphologically vulnerable to ant larcenists, suggesting that chemical deterrence may compensate for weak physical barriers. In nature, plants emitting more 2PE than their neighbors escape ant damage. Flower-damaging ants die when exposed to 2PE in the laboratory, and they avoid high 2PE emitters in the field. High 2PE also reduces bumblebee visitation and pollination, suggesting an ecological cost of defense in pollinator service. However, at more moderate emission rates, 2PE enhances the amount of nectar left in flowers, at no pollination cost. In conclusion, repellency of 2PE is highly sensitive to dosage, giving it a key role in shaping ecological interactions between skypilot plants and their floral visitors.
A Review on Video Surveillance Techniques

: This paper presents a survey of various video surveillance techniques. The aimof this paper is to review of various techniques used for motion detection of an object related to human being as well as face detection. This paper provides a review on moving object detection and then it will identify the human entity in the video sequence which needs to be in Liveness nature. The basic task of video surveillance system is detecting and tracking moving object in the given video sequence or in the real time scenario. Video surveillance is an important security asset to control theft, home, banks, department stores, trespassing or traffic monitoring, highways and crowded public places.
Switching the Properties of Polyelectrolyte Brushes via “Hydrophobic Collapse”

We have studied the changes in physical and chemical properties of cationic poly(2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyltrimethylammonium chloride) brushes after collapse driven by ion-pairing interactions in the presence of ClO4- anions. Results derived from the quartz crystal microbalance technique, atomic force microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and contact angle goniometry indicate that ion-paired collapsed polyelectrolyte brushes suffer a dramatic loss of water accompanied by conformational changes leading to markedly different mechanical properties. This scenario is completely different from polyelectrolyte brushes whose collapse is simply driven by pure Coulombic screening, for example, in the presence of Cl- anions. In addition, wetting measurements indicated that ion-pairing interactions can be used to switch surface characteristics from hydrophilic to hydrophobic in a reversible manner. The immediate implications of these experimental results are related to the promising use of polyelectrolyt.
The Burmese python genome reveals the molecular basis for extreme adaptation in snakes

Significance The molecular basis of morphological and physiological adaptations in snakes is largely unknown. Here, we study these phenotypes using the genome of the Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus), a model for extreme phenotypic plasticity and metabolic adaptation. We discovered massive rapid changes in gene expression that coordinate major changes in organ size and function after feeding. Many significantly responsive genes are associated with metabolism, development, and mammalian diseases. A striking number of genes experienced positive selection in ancestral snakes. Such genes were related to metabolism, development, lungs, eyes, heart, kidney, and skeletal structure—all highly modified features in snakes. Snake phenotypic novelty seems to be driven by the system-wide coordination of protein adaptation, gene expression, and changes in genome structure. Snakes possess many extreme morphological and physiological adaptations. Identification of the molecular basis of these traits can provide novel understanding for vertebrate biology and medicine. Here, we study snake biology using the genome sequence of the Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus), a model of extreme physiological and metabolic adaptation. We compare the python and king cobra genomes along with genomic samples from other snakes and perform transcriptome analysis to gain insights into the extreme phenotypes of the python. We discovered rapid and massive transcriptional responses in multiple organ systems that occur on feeding and coordinate major changes in organ size and function. Intriguingly, the homologs of these genes in humans are associated with metabolism, development, and pathology. We also found that many snake metabolic genes have undergone positive selection, which together with the rapid evolution of mitochondrial proteins, provides evidence for extensive adaptive redesign of snake metabolic pathways. Additional evidence for molecular adaptation and gene family expansions and contractions is associated with major physiological and phenotypic adaptations in snakes; genes involved are related to cell cycle, development, lungs, eyes, heart, intestine, and skeletal structure, including GRB2-associated binding protein 1, SSH, WNT16, and bone morphogenetic protein 7. Finally, changes in repetitive DNA content, guanine-cytosine isochore structure, and nucleotide substitution rates indicate major shifts in the structure and evolution of snake genomes compared with other amniotes. Phenotypic and physiological novelty in snakes seems to be driven by system-wide coordination of protein adaptation, gene expression, and changes in the structure of the genome.
The Blessings of Security: Economic Consequences of Conflict

THE BLESSINGS OF SECURITY: ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF CONFLICT Andrew T. Wallen, PhD George Mason University, 2011 Dissertation Director: Dr. John V. C. Nye Obvious effects from intra-state conflict include the death of those swept up in the conflict and the destruction of physical capital. Perhaps less obvious is the damage done to trade and the distortion of resource expenditures away from their peacetime efficient uses. This dissertation addresses these less obvious results of conflict. The findings support the idea that an increase in violence causes a decrease in market integration. Similarly supported is the idea that a weakening of the state‘s ability to enforce property rights yields a drop in the percent of household expenditures on durable goods as a percent of total expenditures. A modified Diamond (1987) model allowed for the prediction that when there are close substitutes with consistent price differentiation, the high priced good will increase in price while the low priced good will not change in price as a result of violence. While this prediction may be supportable with better market information, price data from Iraq did not provide support. From a broad policy perspective, the results of this dissertation give priority to physical stability over economic stability when the embattled state is determining where to expend its limited resources. Counterinsurgency policy and progress can be evaluated using the methodology in this dissertation in that it provides the framework for a diagnostic tool kit that could be used to determine if violence has reached a point where economic wellbeing is severely impacted. The ideas in this dissertation could have application beyond war to, for example, natural disasters or high crime areas. That being said, within the context of this paper the discussion is specifically focused on addressing the type of conflict found in insurgency, or civil war.
Multivariate Analysis as a Tool to Identify Concentrations from Strongly Overlapping Gas Spectra

We applied a multivariate analysis (MVA) to spectroscopic data of gas mixtures in the mid-IR in order to calculate the concentrations of the single components which exhibit strongly overlapping absorption spectra. This is a common challenge in broadband spectroscopy. Photoacoustic (PA) measurements of different volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the wavelength region of 3250 nm to 3550 nm served as the exemplary detection technique. Partial least squares regression (PLS) was used to calculate concentrations from the PA spectra. After calibration, the PLS model was able to determine concentrations of single VOCs with a relative accuracy of 2.60%.
Process Management Impact on Clinical and Experiential Quality: Managing Tensions between Safe and Patient-Centered Healthcare

This research investigates the effect of process management on clinical and experiential quality. Clinical quality measures hospitals' performance on patient safety, i.e., adherence to standards, whereas experiential quality relates to patient centeredness, i.e., responsiveness to the needs and preferences of the patient. Drawing from the organizational learning literature, we argue for a trade-off between clinical and experiential quality as hospitals emphasize process management. We also study how external and internal forces, i.e., state legislation and hospital leadership, influence this relationship. A combination of primary data and secondary data collected at various time intervals is employed to test our hypotheses. Four important implications emerge from this work. First, we find that hospitals' emphasis on process management is associated with an increase in clinical quality but a decrease in experiential quality. Second, we find that state legislation initially reinforces this trade-off but, overtime, facilitates a positive impact of process management on both quality outcomes. Third, a post hoc analysis suggests that a specific type of hospital leadership, namely, patient-centered leadership, helps mitigate the negative association between process management and experiential quality. Finally, our research provides preliminary evidence regarding the relationship between clinical quality and patient satisfaction contingent on experiential quality. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Highly luminescent N-doped carbon quantum dots as an effective multifunctional fluorescence sensing platform.

The doping of carbon quantum dots with nitrogen provides a promising direction to improve fluorescence performance and broaden their applications in sensing systems. Herein we report a one-pot solvothermal synthesis of N-doped carbon quantum dots (NCQDs) and the synthesis of a series of NCQDs with different nitrogen contents. The as-prepared NCQDs were compared with carbon quantum dots (CQDs); the introduction of nitrogen atoms largely increased the quantum yield of NCQDs and highest emission efficiency is up to 36.3 %. The fluorescence enhancement may originate from more polyaromatic structures induced by incorporated nitrogen atoms and protonation of nitrogen atoms on dots. It was found that NCQDs can act as a multifunctional fluorescence sensing platform because they can be used to detect pH values, Ag(I), and Fe(III) in aqueous solution. The fluorescence intensity of NCQDs is inversely proportional to pH values across a broad range from 5.0 to 13.5, which indicates that NCQDs can be devised as an effective pH indicator. Selective detection of Ag(I) and Fe(III) was achieved based on their distinctive fluorescence influence because Ag(I) can significantly enhance the fluorescence whereas Fe(III) can greatly quench the fluorescence. The quantitative determination of Ag(I) can be accomplished with NCQDs by using the linear relationship between fluorescence intensity of NCQDs and concentration of Ag(I). The sensitive detection of H2O2 was developed by taking advantage of the distinct quenching ability of Fe(III) and Fe(II) toward the fluorescence of NCQDs. Cellular toxicity test showed NCQDs still retain low toxicity to cells despite the introduction of a great deal of nitrogen atoms. Moreover, bioimaging experiments demonstrated that NCQDs have stronger resistance to photobleaching than CQDs and more excellent fluorescence labeling performance.
VIOLATION OF DOLLO'S LAW: EVIDENCE OF MUSCLE REVERSIONS IN PRIMATE PHYLOGENY AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE ONTOGENY, EVOLUTION, AND ANATOMICAL VARIATIONS OF MODERN HUMANS

According to Dollo's law, once a complex structure is lost it is unlikely to be reacquired. In this article, we report new data obtained from our myology‐based cladistic analyses of primate phylogeny, which provide evidence of anatomical reversions violating Dollo's law: of the 220 character state changes unambiguously optimized in the most parsimonious primate tree, 28 (13%) are evolutionary reversions, and of these 28 reversions six (21%) occurred in the nodes that lead to the origin of modern humans; nine (32%) violate Dollo's law. In some of these nine cases, the structures that were lost in adults of the last common ancestor and are absent in adults of most subgroups of a clade are actually present in early ontogenetic stages of karyotypically normal individuals as well as in later ontogenetic stages of karyotypically abnormal members of those subgroups. Violations of Dollo's law may thus result from the maintenance of ancestral developmental pathways during long periods of trait absence preceding the reacquisition of the trait through paedomorphic events. For instance, the presence of contrahentes and intermetacarpales in adult chimpanzees is likely due to a prolonged/delayed development of the hand musculature, that is, in this case chimpanzees are more neotenic than modern humans.
Mobile Point of Scam : Attacking the Square Reader

We consider the security of Square, Inc.’s mobile card-reading device, the Square Reader, across multiple models, as well as the associated Square Register app where relevant. In doing so, we identify a number of vulnerabilities in the device that allow malicious merchants to initiate fraudulent transactions and, with minor device modification, skim credit card information of unsuspecting customers. We highlight that since mobile card-reading devices like the Square Reader are necessarily compact, cheap, and compatible with a broad range of commodity smartphones, they pose new security challenges over traditional paymentprocessing hardware. These challenges in turn expose an attack surface that is relatively new and unexplored given the infancy of mobile point-of-sale systems compared to their non-mobile counterparts. We investigate this attack surface and find a number of vulnerabilities that confirm that even current “secure” mobile point-of-sale systems suffer from software and hardware design flaws, leaving them vulnerable to both third parties and malicious merchants.