Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measuring the performance of retail managers in Australia and Singapore

A method for the development, validation and refinement of a performance measurement tool for retail store managers in Australia and Singapore is presented. This tool is based on a set of performance elements – measurable task‐related activities and behaviours – that, when combined, define the performing manager. While organisations in both countries were found to concur on the 50 performance elements which should constitute the overall measurement tool, the importance attached to several of the elements differed significantly between the two countries. This difference is a significant determinant of the transferability of retail management skills between the two cultures and has wider implications for the internationalisation of the retail environment where management from different cultures are required to co‐exist within a single retail organisation.
Factors Influencing Investor's Individual Behavior To Satisfaction and Loyalty In Emerging Market

This study aims to develop a model of investors’ investment behavior towards satisfaction and loyalty. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research with exploratory descriptive analysis, this study adopts the Structural Equation Model (SEM) in its data processing. The results have shown that the customer relationship management (CRM), portfolio performance and service quality have significant impact on investor’s loyalty, through trust and satisfaction as the intervening variables. The CRM has no direct significant effect on investor’s loyalty, but has a direct significant effect on investor’s trust and satisfaction. Meanwhile, the portfolio performance and service quality have a direct significant effect on investor’s trust, satisfaction and loyalty. The analysis further shows that the investor’s loyalty is significantly affected by the CRM, portfolio performance and service quality through the investor’s trust and satisfaction.
Peripheral axotomy increases cholecystokinin release in the rat anterior cingulate cortex

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is a limbic region with a high density of cholecystokinin (CCK) immunoreactivity, that has been suggested to be of importance for the affective and emotional component of pain. In the present microdialysis study, performed in the awake rat, we demonstrate a bilateral 4- to 6-fold increase of the potassium-induced release of CCK-like immunoreactivity (CCK-LI) in the ACC 2–3 weeks after aunilateral transection of the sciatic nerve (axotomy), an animal model of phantom limb or deafferentiation pain. Considering the implication of CCK in pain modulation and anxiety, we suggest that an altered activity of CCK containing neurons in the ACC may be of importance for the affective component of certain pain conditions.
Choosing sides: making decisions in an escape response

Many of our movements are made without great deliberation. For instance, removing a hand from a hot stove is an easy decision to make. But what determines whether we choose to start walking with our right foot rather than our left? (Briggman et al. 2005). The decision‐making processes that underlie our movements, the why and how we move the way we do, are influenced by many factors such as what our senses tell us about our bodies and the external world, our motivations, and considerations of costs based upon energetics, time, distance, perceived success rates and outcomes. Our decisions are further shaped by uncertainty associated with our perception of sensory information and variability in how our bodies perform movements (Wolpert & Landy, 2012).
A rare case of delayed subarachnoid anesthetic blockade effects in a 103-year-old female patient

Background: The elderly represent a unique challenge for the effects of regional anesthesia, and very few cases of block onset delay have been described. Their delayed response is attributed to a number of factors that include: Physiologic deterioration, musculoskeletal contractures, degenerative joint disease, autonomic regulatory dysfunction, cognitive dysfunction, altered pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of local anesthetics and adjuvants. Case Description: In this report we present the rare case of 45-min delay between the administration and onset of action of a subarachnoid blockade in a 103-year-old female, who was scheduled for left hip pinning, for repair of a femoral neck fracture. Patient received an injection of hyperbaric bupivacaine, 1.5 ml of 0.75% (11.25 mg), with 15 mcg of fentanyl into the subarachnoidal space and underwent the surgical procedure without complications. Conclusions: Delayed responses to subarachnoid anesthesia can be expected in extremely elderly patients. Anesthetic procedures should be monitored and managed on a case-by-case basis.
Characterization of Spam Advertised Website Hosting Strategy

This paper surveys three months of spam data and investigates the hosting strategy of spam domains that are used to sell pharmaceutical, luxury goods and sexual enhancement tools. Thousands of domains have been found and most of them use wildcard DNS records to support non-existing machine names. The hosting IP addresses are much fewer than the number of domains, with a large number of domains hosted on a limited number of hosts. The majority of these heavily-used hosts reside in networks outside the USA. These hosts are stable and have good connectivity and availability. As a result, many domains on these hosts are alive for the entire three-month investigation period. The hosting IP addresses began to move in late March. The new IP addresses, however, are still in the same network range as the old IP addresses. The result suggests that further investigation on spam web hosting will be beneficial in disrupting the spamming network.
Cerebrospinal fluid neurochemistry in the myoclonic subtype of Alzheimer's disease

Monoamine metabolites, biopterin, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, and somatostatin‐like immunoreactivity (SLI) were determined in the lumbar cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 24 patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) without myoclonus or extrapyramidal signs, in 8 patients with DAT and myoclonus, and in 14 age‐matched healthy control subjects. In patients with DAT with myoclonus as compared with both DAT patients without myoclonus and control subjects, the concentrations of homovanillic acid and biopterin were significantly Decemberreased. 5‐Hydroxyindole‐acetic acid was significantly lower in patients with myoclonic DAT as compared to patients with nonmyoclonic DAT, but not significantly lower than in control subjects. CSF AChE and SLI were significantly reduced in patients with DAT with or without myoclonus, as compared with control subjects, but AChE and SLI were not significantly different between dementia groups. These results, suggest that DAT patients with myoclonus represent a distinct clinical and neurochemical DAT subtype.
The effects of technology standards on the structure of the global PC industry

Investigates the effects of technology standards on the changing nature of interdependence between competitors in a global industry. Drawing on the theory of organizational ecology, the effects of technology standards on the type of interplay among competitors are investigated as the underlying process affecting new firm entry. Empirical data from the global personal computer industry provide preliminary evidence that positive interdependence, or mutualism, characterizes the nature of competition before the establishment of a technology standard. Negative interdependence, or full competition, is found to prevail after a technology standard emerged. These findings suggest that the evolution of industries where compatibility and technological standards are critical can be analyzed in two different phases: the technological legitimation phase; and the market competition phase. A discussion of the underlying interdependencies in the two phases and their implications is also provided.
Urine Iodine, Estrogen, and Breast Disease

Introduction: We sought to explore iodine status (expressed as urine iodine excretion) in a group of women with a variety of breast diseases to characterize the relationship between iodine and breast physiology. Methods: Demographic and clinical data were recorded and random urine iodine levels were checked in 415 euthyroid patients over 5 years during clinic visits. Results: Pre-menopausal women excreted less iodine in their urine than post menopausal women. Post menopausal women who took hormone supplementation had an excretion level similar to pre menopausal women. Women with breast cancer excreted less iodine than those without, and iodine excretion increased after treatment with aromatase inhibitors. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that there is a relationship between estrogen status and iodine excretion in euthyroid women. This suggests that there may be a threshold for total body iodine required for prevention of breast disease.
Toward the development of an objective index of dysphonia severity: A four‐factor acoustic model

During assessment and management of individuals with voice disorders, clinicians routinely attempt to describe or quantify the severity of a patient's dysphonia. This investigation used acoustic measures derived from sustained vowel samples to predict dysphonia severity (as determined by auditory‐perceptual ratings), for a diverse set of voice samples obtained from 134 adult females, with and without voice disorders. Stepwise multiple regression analysis on all voice samples, followed by randomized and repeated cross‐validation (random selection of 75% of the original 134 voice sample corpus; 100 iterations) indicated that a four‐variable model comprised of time and spectral‐based acoustic measures was able to strongly predict perceived severity of dysphonia (mean R = .880; mean R2 = .775). A cepstral‐based measure (CPP/EXP ratio) was determined to be the most significant contributor to the prediction of dysphonia severity, though it is clear that the addition of other acoustic measures (pitch sigma; shimmer (dB); and the Discrete Fourier Transformation ratio, a measure of low versus high frequency spectral energy) add substantially to the accurate prediction of severity. The results are interpreted and discussed with respect to the key acoustic characteristics that contributed to the prediction of severity, the value of identifying a subset of time and spectral‐based acoustic measures which appear sensitive to a perceptually diverse set of voices, and the possible use of acoustic models in guiding auditory‐perceptual ratings.
Environmental Enrichment and Data Quality: Results of a Global Survey

It is widely accepted within the scientific community that ‘better welfare equals better science’, and it is also commonly acknowledged that environmental enrichment improves animal welfare. For example, recent versions of legislation, guidelines and codes of practice relating to laboratory animal use emphasise the importance of a stimulating environment to encourage appropriate natural behaviours [1-3], including group housing for social animals and environmental enrichment such as nesting material, refuges and chew blocks for rodents. However, there are still inconsistencies in the provision of enrichment. Reasons for this were recently reviewed in an article in the Enrichment Record, including the belief that experimental variability will increase, or a confound will be introduced, affecting data quality [4]. There are three main areas of concern relating to this: (i) whether the validity of the science within an individual project will be affected; (ii) whether the data will still be comparable with those obtained from studies conducted without enrichment; and (iii) whether greater variability will require more animals for significant results.
Involvement and the influence of online third-party endorsements

Obtaining consumers' trust is widely acknowledged as a key element in establishing and developing successful relationships. Recognising this, an emerging body of work has investigated the sources of consumers' trusting beliefs about online vendors. One apparent source of trust available for vendors is the use of trust marks – a type of third part endorsement. The existing empirical evidence on their use is, however, at best mixed in spite of the strong theoretical case. One possible reason for these mixed results is that, while existing research considers trust marks as pieces of information, it fails to acknowledge how pieces of information are processed in consumer decision making. Following the cognitive processing theory, this paper sets out a case on how consumers process information (e.g., trust marks) according to the level of consumer involvement. On the basis of this conceptual work, propositions and hypotheses are proposed for future research. Specifically, the paper proposes that trust marks will have their desired (maximum) effect in establishing trust when they act as primary central cues in situations of high involvement. Moreover, they must be both familiar and recognised, operating in the absence of other central cues.
Factors affecting cost estimate accuracy: Evidence from Palestinian construction projects

Estimating the cost of construction projects with high accuracy at the early phase of project development is crucial for project planning and financing. Construction clients require early and accurate cost advice prior to site acquisition and commitment to build in order to enable them to take the correct decision concerning whether to construct the project or not. However, many factors might affect the accuracy of a cost estimate. This study aims at identifying the factors affecting the accuracy of cost estimating construction projects in the West Bank in Palestine. A survey of 60 contractors and 45 consultants from the West Bank in Palestine was performed. Forty-one factors are identified in the study. The study investigates the impact of those factors measured by level of importance and ranked according to an importance index from both the contractors' and the consultants' points of view. The degree of agreement between the participating parties on the importance ranking of the factors affecting cost estimating accuracy in construction projects is presented. The findings reveal that the top five affecting factors according to the surveyed contractors are: fluctuation in currency exchange rate; contract management; number of competitors; financial status of owners; and fluctuation of prices of materials. While the top five factors according to the surveyed consultants are: the political situation; fluctuation of prices of materials; economic instability; poor planning; and previous experience of the contractor.
High-sensitivity troponin T predicts worsening of albuminuria in hypertension; results of a nested case–control study with confirmation in diabetes

Objective: Hypertension is an important cause of end-stage renal disease. Development of microalbuminuria is the first clinical sign of renal dysfunction, progressing to macroalbuminuria and eventually resulting in end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Markers that could predict the development of microalbuminuria or macroalbuminuria beyond traditional risk markers would allow for earlier intervention and better prevention of ESRD. We investigated in a case–control study whether circulating levels of the micronecrosis marker high-sensitivity troponin T (hs-TnT) add to predicting the development of microalbuminuria or macroalbuminuria in hypertensive patients and performed a replication study in type 2 diabetic individuals (T2DM). Methods: Cases and controls were extracted from a large (N = 8592) general population cohort with long-term follow-up and repeated measurement of albuminuria (PREVEND-study). Cases were defined by transition in albuminuria stage, that is, from normoalbuminuria to microalbuminuria or from microalbuminuria to macroalbuminuria (average follow-up 2.8 years). Controls with stable albuminuria were pair-matched for age, sex, and albuminuria-status. Hs-TnT was measured at baseline in 75 case/control pairs with hypertension and 33 case/control pairs with T2DM. Results: Prior to transition in albuminuria, hs-TnT was higher in cases than in controls [6.6 (3.1–11.6) vs. 5.3 (2.9–8.6) pg/ml, P = 0.05]. The odds for transition in albuminuria increased significantly per SD increase in hs-TnT [2.2 (1.2–4.3), P = 0.02]. In addition, hs-TnT improved prediction of albuminuria transition, with significant increases in integrated discrimination improvement of 0.048, P = 0.02. Similar results were found in the T2DM case–control cohort. Conclusion: We identified hs-TnT as an independent marker predicting the transition in albuminuria stage in hypertension beyond conventional risk-markers. These findings were confirmed in patients with T2DM.
Why Companies Go Green: A Model of Ecological Responsiveness

The authors conducted a qualitative study of the motivations and contextual factors that induce corporate ecological responsiveness. Analytic induction applied to data collected from 53 firms in the United Kingdom and Japan revealed three motivations: competitiveness, legitimation, and ecological responsibility. These motivations were influenced by three contextual conditions: field cohesion, issue salience, and individual concern. In this article, the authors also identify the conditions that likely lead to high corporate ecological responsiveness.
Expression of bacterial mercuric ion reductase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The gene merA coding for bacterial mercuric ion reductase was cloned under the control of the yeast promoter for alcohol dehydrogenase I in the yeast-Escherichia coli shuttle plasmid pADH040-2 and transformed into Saccharomyces cerevisiae AH22. The resulting transformant harbored stable copies of the merA-containing hybrid plasmid, displayed a fivefold increase in the MIC of mercuric chloride, and synthesized mercuric ion reductase activity.
Prevalence of anticoagulant rodenticide poisoning in humans and animals in France and substances involved

Introduction. Anticoagulant rodenticides have been used for over 50 years to control rodent populations. Since their first introduction, resistance developed in rodents, and second-generation products, more active but also more toxic, have been marketed. These compounds are currently being reviewed under European Regulations. Methods. The purpose of this work is to describe anticoagulant poisoning based on retrospective data from French human and animal poison control centers. Cases from 2004 to 2007 were collected. Results. Overall, the proportion of anticoagulant exposure reported to the Lyon poison control center appeared very limited and mostly occurred in young children, with no or very limited clinical severity. Some cases also occurred after intentional use of anticoagulants in adults. Circumstances of exposure are predominantly accidental in man (77%). In animals, both domestic and wild species, anticoagulant exposure seems more common, and often more accompanied by clinical signs. Among domestic species, dogs represent over 60% of the cases: in wildlife hares and rabbits account for almost 50% of the submitted cases, followed by predators and scavengers. Conclusion. Rodenticides involved are representative of the market share of anticoagulants, for human and domestic animal exposures. In wildlife, bromadiolone and chlorophacinone are by far the most important products, being the only ones registered for field use. There is no report of mortality in the human data, and less than 1% of all exposure cases in domestic animals were fatal.
Impact of ICT Usage on Entrepreneurs’ Innovations & Business Performance: A Review of Literature

Introduction: Research attempts to develop a model investigating impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) usage on entrepreneurs’ innovations and business performance. Small and Medium Size Enterprises are major sources of employment and food production; therefore it plays a key role in Sri Lankan livelihood. Sector plays a major role for creation of employment opportunities, mobilizing domestic savings, poverty alleviation, income distribution, regional development, training of workers and entrepreneurs and creating economic environment which large industries flourish and contribute to export earnings. When considering the current statistics it shows that sector is not providing the expected results compared to developed countries. Thus there is a burning need to identify mechanism to improve SME performance in Sri Lanka. Methodology: Through a literature survey researcher tries to identify the concept entrepreneur, his relationship with innovation, relationships between ICT usage and entrepreneurs’ innovations, and the impact of these ICT enabled innovations on business performance. Further direct impact of ICT on business performance also will be investigated. Findings: Literature highlighted innovation as the key for entrepreneurs’ performance. Further it identified main four types of innovations namely product, process, market and organizational. Literature suggested relationship between ICT usage and business performance. Literature suggests ICT as an enabler for those four types of innovations. Further literature inspire researcher on researching impact of ICT enabled innovations for business performance.
THE IMPACT OF FIRM FINANCIAL CONDITION ON AIR FARES – A CONTINGENCY APPROACH

This research reviews and reconciles previous research on the relationship between airline financial condition and air fares. A contingency framework is developed and empirically tested using data from the U.S. airline industry. The results suggest that the magnitude of the effect of financial condition on prices depends on airline characteristics such as operating costs and market power as well as on competitive characteristics like market concentration and a firm’s financial condition relative to its route market competitors. It is further shown that this effect is substantially larger for firms operating under Chapter 11 protection than for firms approaching bankruptcy.
Minimization of Parathyroid Hormone

The amino-terminal and carboxyl-terminal portions of the 1–34 fragment of parathyroid hormone (PTH) contain the major determinants of receptor activation and receptor binding, respectively. We investigated how the amino-terminal signaling portion of PTH interacts with the receptor by utilizing analogs of the weakly active fragment, rat (r) PTH(1–14)NH2, and cells transfected with the wild-type human PTH-1 receptor (hP1R-WT) or a truncated PTH-1 receptor which lacked most of the amino-terminal extracellular domain (hP1R-delNt). Of 132 mono-substituted PTH(1–14) analogs, most having substitutions in the (1-9) region were inactive in assays of cAMP formation in LLC-PK1 cells stably expressing hP1R-WT, whereas most having substitutions in the (10-14) region were active. Several substitutions (e.g.Ser3 → Ala, Asn10 → Ala or Gln, Leu11 → Arg, Gly12 → Ala, His14→ Trp) enhanced activity 2–10-fold. These effects were additive, as [Ala3,10,12,Arg11,Trp14] rPTH(1–14)NH2 was 220-fold more potent than rPTH(1–14)NH2 (EC50 = 0.6 ± 0.1 and 133 ± 16 μm, respectively). Native rPTH(1–11) was inactive, but [Ala3,10,Arg11]rPTH(1–11)NH2achieved maximal cAMP stimulation (EC50 = 17 μm). The modified PTH fragments induced cAMP formation with hP1R-delNt in COS-7 cells as potently as they did with hP1R-WT; PTH(1–34) was 6,000-fold weaker with hP1R-delNt than with hP1R-WT. The most potent analog, [Ala3,10,12,Arg11,Trp14]rPTH(1–14)NH2, stimulated inositol phosphate production with hP1R-WT. The results show that short NH2-terminal peptides of PTH can be optimized for considerable gains in signaling potency through modification of interactions involving the regions of the receptor containing the transmembrane domains and extracellular loops.