Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Strategic responses by the Barclays Bank of Kenya Limited to changes in the environment

This study sought to determine the strategic responses that Barclays Bank has adapted to the changes in the environment and to identify factors that influence strategic responses in addressing the changes. In order to meet these objectives, the pertinent primary data and secondary data was collected. Primary data was obtained from personal interviews with the respondents who were responsible for developing the strategic response by BBK to the changing competitive situation. Secondary data was collected from various sources. The data was then analyzed qualitatively. According to the research findings, BBK has addressed its changing competitive situation through restructuring, marketing, information technology culture change, Recapitalization and service delivery systems and product development. The researcher suggests a wide study covering the whole industry can be undertaken to determine strategic responses in the banking industry. This would give an indication of the response made by banks in Kenya to their changing competitive situation especially with the increasing growth, in the number and size, of the non-bank financial institutions. This would allow for industry generalizations to be made. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Declaration. ii Dedication. iii A cknow ledgm ents. iv Abstract.v Abbreviations. viii.v Abbreviations. viii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION.1 1.1 Background.1 1.1.1 Organizations and environment. 1 1.1.2 Kenya's Banking Industry. 5 1.1.3 Barclays Bank Business Structure. 6 1.2 Statement of the Problem.7 1.3 Research Objectives. 10 1.4 Importance of the study. 10 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW. 11 2.
Brand Choice, Purchase Incidence, and Segmentation: An Integrated Modeling Approach

The authors develop an approach to market segmentation based on consumer response to marketing variables in both brand choice and category purchase incidence. The approach reveals segmentation as well as the nature of choice and incidence response for each segment. Brand choice and purchase incidence decisions are modeled at the segment level with the disaggregate multinomial logit and nested logit models; segment sizes are estimated simultaneously with the choice and incidence probabilities. Households are assigned to segments by using their posterior probabilities of segment membership based on their purchase histories. The procedure thereby permits an analysis of the demographic, purchase behavior, and brand preference characteristics of each response segment. The authors illustrate their approach with scanner panel data on the liquid laundry detergent category and find segmentation in price and promotion sensitivity for both brand choice and category purchase incidence. The results suggest that many households that switch brands on the basis of price and promotion do not also accelerate their category purchases and that households that accelerate purchases do not necessarily switch brands.
Analytical modeling of inter-turn short circuit for multiphase fault-tolerant PM machines with fractional-slot concentrated windings

Inter-turn short-circuit faults that occur inside stator coils are difficult to cope with compared to terminal short-circuit faults. A general analytical model for inter-turn short-circuit faults is developed that employs a novel T-type equivalent circuit. When this model is used to investigate the impact of inter-turn short-circuit faults in PM machines with fractional-slot concentrated windings (FSCW), the model delivers fault response predictions that agree very well with results from finite element (FE) analysis. The model is used to show that the 24-slot/14-pole FSCW PM machine is vulnerable to very high inter-turn fault currents even when the remaining turns are shorted, offsetting its advantage of low magnetic coupling between phases.
SYSTRA‐SQ: a new measure of bank service quality

We describe the development of a new scale designed to measure service quality perceptions of retail bank customers. Empirical studies were performed in two waves. First, qualitative research was undertaken in the form of seven focus groups and 39 one‐to‐one interviews. These produced 963 text items that described customers’ service quality perceptions. These were categorised against the technical and functional service quality schema proposed by Gronroos. Then, a three‐phase, four‐sample, quantitative study was undertaken to derive a quantitative measure of technical and functional service quality. We have developed and validated a new 21‐item scale comprising four dimensions: service system quality, behavioural service quality, service transactional accuracy, and machine service quality. We found that customers evaluate SQ at two levels: organisational and transactional. The parsimony, reliability and validity of the scale suggest this is a measure of high utility to the banking industry.
Ex-vivo biodistribution and micro-PET/CT imaging of 18F-FDG, 18F-FLT, 18F-FMISO, and 18F-AlF-NOTA-PRGD2 in a prostate tumor-bearing nude mouse model

Objective18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG), 18F-fluoro-3′-deoxy-3′-L-fluorothymidine (18F-FLT), 18F-fluoromisonidazole (18F-FMISO), and 18F-AlF-NOTA-PRGD2 (18F-RGD) are all commonly used PET tracers for tumor diagnosis based on different mechanisms of tissue uptake. This study compared the ex-vivo biodistribution and PET/computed tomography (CT) imaging studies of these four PET tracers in a xenograft prostate tumor-bearing mouse model. Materials and methodsNude mice were inoculated with 5×106 PC-3 cells in the right armpit. The ex-vivo biodistribution of 18F-FDG, 18F-FLT, 18F-FMISO, and 18F-RGD at 30, 60, 90, and 120 min after injection was compared. Micro-PET/CT images of 18F-FDG, 18F-FLT, and 18F-RGD were acquired at 60 min, whereas 18F-FMISO images were acquired at 90 min after injection. ResultsThe tumors were clearly visualized by micro-PET/CT using all four PET tracers. Ex-vivo biodistribution results showed highest tumor accumulation and tumor-to-muscle ratio of 18F-FDG at each time point, accompanied by physiologically high uptakes in the brain, heart, and intestinal tract. Modest uptake of 18F-FLT and 18F-FMISO in tumors was observed at 60 and 90 min after injection, with less interference from other tissues compared with 18F-FDG. Besides, 18F-RGD also exhibited high tumor specificity; however, relatively low uptake was observed in the tumor. ConclusionOur results demonstrated the potential of 18F-FMISO and 18F-FLT in the diagnosis of xenograft prostate cancer.
STATCOM Operation Scheme of the CDSM-MMC During a Pole-to-Pole DC Fault

In this paper, a static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) operation scheme of the modular multilevel converter adopting clamp double submodules (CDSM-MMC) during a pole-to-pole dc fault is proposed. By analyzing the current paths of a CDSM, this paper proposes three new operation states of the CDSM, which allow the CDSM to provide bipolar voltages when the arm current that flows through it is negative. Through control of the CDSMs to operate in these new states along with the blocked state, the arms of the CDSM-MMC can operate alternately in two different modes, that is, the conducting mode and blocked mode even when the dc-link voltage drops to zero. Thus, the CDSM-MMC is capable of working as a STATCOM during a dc fault. Moreover, a control strategy of the dc-fault STATCOM operation mode is designed to control the reactive power provided by the CDSM-MMC, to limit the dc fault current, and to reserve and balance the energies stored in capacitors. Simulation results conducted in PSCAD/EMTDC demonstrate the validity of the proposed STATCOM operation scheme and control strategy of the CDSM-MMC during a pole-to-pole dc fault.
Transparent four-channel bilateral control architecture using modified wave variable controllers under time delays

SUMMARY Stability and transparency are two critical indices of bilateral teleoperation systems. The wave variable method is a conservative approach to robustly guarantee system passivity under arbitrary constant time delays. However, the wave-variable-based reflection is an intrinsic problem in this method because it can significantly degrade system transparency and disorient the operator's perception of the remote environment. In order to enhance both the transparency and the stability of bilateral teleoperation systems in the presence of large time delays, a new four-channel (4-CH) architecture is proposed which applies two modified wave-transformation controllers to reduce wave-based reflections. Transparency and stability of the proposed system are analyzed and the improvement in these when using this method is measured experimentally. Results clearly demonstrate that the proposed method can produce high transparency and stability even in the presence of large time delays.
Condition-based software testing strategies

The author defines two condition testing strategies, BRO (Boolean and relational operator) and BRE (Boolean and relational expression) testing. These two testing strategies are different from existing condition testing strategies in that they are based on the detection of both Boolean and relational expression errors in a condition. For a condition with n operands, the number of tests required by BRO or BRE testing is at most 2(n+1). Based on empirical studies of the algorithms SBEMIN and SBEMINSEN and the theoretical properties of BRO and BRE testing, it is believed that BRO and BRE testing is practical and effective for testing programs containing complicated conditions. <<ETX>>
OFF TO A BETTER START: WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES

In New Zealand and elsewhere, evaluations of early intervention programmes indicate that long-term, positive outcomes can be achieved and sustained by children participating in high-quality early care and education. Recognising the importance of getting children off to a good start in life, the Ministry of Social Development is building capacity throughout New Zealand to provide a variety of early intervention services to families. A review of the international literature on best practices and programme quality revealed that there is much to learn from the experiences of programmes that have been rigorously studied. This paper reports on that review, emphasising eight key elements of early intervention services that can be provided to families to help strengthen the long-term development and wellbeing of children. These factors are programme quality, personnel and staffing issues, range of services, timing of service provision, duration of service delivery, intensity of services, location of services, and engagement and retention of families in services.
NY‐ESO‐1 protein glycosylated by yeast induces enhanced immune responses

Vaccine strategies that target dendritic cells to elicit potent cellular immunity are the subject of intense research. Here we report that the genetically engineered yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, expressing the full‐length tumour‐associated antigen NY‐ESO‐1, is a versatile host for protein production. Exposing dendritic cells (DCs) to soluble NY‐ESO‐1 protein linked to the yeast a‐agglutinin 2 protein (Aga2p) protein resulted in protein uptake, processing and MHC class I cross‐presentation of NY‐ESO‐1‐derived peptides. The process of antigen uptake and cross‐presentation was dependent on the glycosylation pattern of NY‐ESO‐1‐Aga2p protein and the presence of accessible mannose receptors. In addition, NY‐ESO‐1‐Aga2p protein uptake by dendritic cells resulted in recognition by HLA‐DP4 NY‐ESO‐1‐specific CD4+ T cells, indicating MHC class II presentation. Finally, vaccination of mice with yeast‐derived NY‐ESO‐1‐Aga2p protein led to an enhanced humoral and cellular immune response, when compared to the bacterially expressed NY‐ESO‐1 protein. Together, these data demonstrate that yeast‐derived full‐length NY‐ESO‐1‐Aga2p protein is processed and presented efficiently by MHC class I and II complexes and warrants clinical trials to determine the potential value of S. cerevisiae as a host for cancer vaccine development. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Outstanding Challenges in Recent Open Government Data Initiatives

In recent years, we have witnessed increasing interest in government data. Many governments around the world have sensed the value of its passive data sets. These governments started their Open Data policies, yet many countries are on the way converting raw data into useful representation. This paper surveys the previous efforts of Open Data initiatives. It discusses the various challenges that open data projects may encounter during the transformation from passive data sets towards Open Data culture. It reaches out project teams acquiring their practical assessment. Thus, an online form has been distributed among project teams. The questionnaire was developed in alignment with previous literature of data integration challenges. 138 eligible professional participated, and their responds has been analyzed by the researcher. The result section identifies the most critical challenges from project-teams’ point-of-view, and the findings show four obstacles that stand out as critical challenges facing project teams. This paper casts on these challenges, and it attempts to indicate the missing gap between current guidelines and practical experience. Accordingly, this paper presents the current infrastructure of Open Data framework followed by additional recommendations that may lead to successful implementation of Open Data development.
Mergers and Efficiency: Theory, Empirical Evidence, and Competition Policy in Japan

This book provides an insightful view of major issues in the economics of corporate governance (CG) and mergers. It presents a systematic update on the developments in the two fields during the last decade, as well as highlighting the neglected topics in CG research, such as the role of boards, CG and public interest and the relation of CG to mergers. Two important conclusions can be drawn from this book: the first is that corporate governance systems that better align shareholders’ and managers’ interests lead to better corporate performance; second, there is an important relationship between CG structures and the quality of firm decision-making, one of the most important being the decision to merge or take over another firm.
Congestion management considering voltage security constraints

This paper describes a method of alleviating network congestion while maintaining system voltage security. To alleviate network congestion, the system operator (SO) typically acts in many ways including the rescheduling of generation or load. However, voltage security might worsen, especially under circumstances involving heavy loads or contingencies. Generation and load rescheduling changes power flows in networks and system voltage profiles. Furthermore, this will affect the voltage security margin. To ensure voltage security, the SO must manage reactive power effectively and economically under the prevailing electricity industry environment. The proposed method is tailored for such a scheme. The proposed objective function is designed to minimize congestion charges and reactive power charges considering voltage security constraints. Continuation power flow (CPF) is applied and coordinated with AC optimal power flow (OPF) using piecewise linear cost functions. Computational analyses of the IEEE 30-bus and 57-bus systems, shows that convergence can be achieved within a few iterations. Not only is network congestion relieved, but voltage security is also maintained.
Performance of MIMO with Frequency Domain Packet Scheduling in UTRAN LTE Downlink

This paper addresses the performance of spatial division multiplexing (SDM) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques together with frequency domain packet scheduling (FDPS) based on UTRAN long term evolution (LTE) downlink. Two SDM concepts currently considered in 3GPP are the single-user (SU-) and the multi-user (MU-) MIMO. For MU-MIMO, multiple users can be scheduled on different streams on the same time-frequency resource, while SU-MIMO restricts one time-frequency resource to a single user. Both concepts are analyzed against the 1times2 maximal ratio combining (MRC) case, using the proportional fair (PF) criterion extended to frequency and spatial domains. The realistic finite buffer best effort traffic model is used in the study. Results show that in the macrocell scenario, the combination of FDPS and SDM (SDM-FDPS) without preceding achieves only marginal gain in cell throughput, due to limited SINR dynamic range. The gain is increased to around 20% when precoding is applied. In the micro-cell scenario, the gain of SDM-FDPS over the reference scheme is increased up to 35% with precoding.
Human Resources and Business Performance: Findings, Unanswered Questions, and an Alternative Approach

In 1996, Becker and Gerhart noted that much of the work on human resources (HR) and performance had traditionally been conducted at the individual level of analysis. However, in the 1990s, empirical research on HR and performance increasingly moved to the plant/unit and firm level of analysis with a new emphasis on understanding how HR practices influence business performance at these higher levels. In the present article, I describe the empirical findings of this evolving literature, unanswered questions, and an approach to the issue that differs from what has come to be the typical approach over the past 10 years or so.
The Study on Financial Risk Identification based on Matrix Model

In this paper, the author thinks that financial risk identification is core and basis of enterprise risk management and that enterprise's financial risk is correlated with competitiveness. It puts forward three- dimensional financial risks identifying principles including index system and matrix model to support enterprise's risk management and competitiveness theory. It explores the identification principle of three-dimensional financial risks so as to give an efficient method. It explains the principle and builds matrix models to identify financial risks from three dimensions.
Computation of reclosing time and suitable gain of automatic voltage regulator

The reclosing time of a transmission line has influenced on system stability. Selection of reclosing time and suitable gain of automatic voltage regulator (AVR) would be enhanced and improved system stability capacity. This paper presents a calculated method of optimal reclosure based on criterion of Lyapunov energy function of SMIB (single machine infinite bus) system with generator that equips excitation control. It will be simulated on real system (500/220 kV Viet Nam transmissions system in 2010) by PSS/E-29 software for the purpose of effective appreciation of these verdicts
An End-User Taxonomy of Enterprise Systems Flexibility: Evidence from a Leading European Apparel Manufacturer

Through this research the authors identify the major dimensions of enterprise systems flexibility from the perspective of various end users. To explore the concept of enterprise systems flexibility, on-site interviews were conducted with 20 members of a leading European clothing manufacturer, ranging from functional employees to the CEO. Results of analyzing the data using content analysis highlight that end users view Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) flexibility in terms of five major dimensions, specifically system connectivity, process integration, hierarchical integration, user-customizability, and consistency.
The rate of growth of Salmonella typhimurium with proline or glutamate as sole C source.

SUMMARY: Salmonella typhimurium will grow in simple defined media containing proline or glutamate as sole carbon source; in these media the organisms grew at 0.7 and 0.9 doublings/hr. , respectively. Since most of the proline fed to the organisms is converted endogenously to cell material via glutamate, an attempt was made to see what reaction limited growth when the organisms were growing in proline as sole carbon source. The results suggest that the step which controls the conversion of proline to glutamate endogenously is the rate-limiting step. The uptake of proline from the medium to the free amino-acid pool did not appear to be rate limiting under these conditions. There was no evidence that the need to synthesize additional enzyme proteins (the proline degradative pathway) was responsible for the decreased growth rate of organisms growing on proline alone.
FRUIT QUALITY AND CONSUMPTION BY SONGBIRDS DURING AUTUMN MIGRATION

Abstract Seasonal fruits are an important food resource for small songbirds during autumn migration in southern New England. Therefore, conservation and management of important stopover sites used by migrating birds requires knowledge about nutritional requirements of songbirds and nutritional composition of commonly consumed fruits. We measured nutrient composition and energy density of nine common fruits on Block Island, Rhode Island, and conducted a field experiment to estimate consumption rates of three of these fruits by birds during autumn migration. Most common fruits on Block Island contained primarily carbohydrates (41.3–91.2% dry weight), and little protein (2.6–8.6%) and fat (0.9–3.7%), although three contained more fat: Myrica pennsylvanica (50.3%), Viburnum dentatum (41.3%), and Parthenocissus quinquefolia (23.6%). Bird consumption of high-fat, high-energy V. dentatum fruit and high-carbohydrate, low-energy Phytolacca americana fruit was greater than consumption of Aronia melanocarpa, a high-carbohydrate, low-energy fruit. We estimated that migratory birds on Block Island must eat up to four times their body mass in fruit wet weight each day to satisfy their energy requirements when eating low-energy fruits such as P. americana, and they cannot satisfy their protein requirements when eating only certain high-energy fruits such as V. dentatum. Our results suggest that many migratory birds must eat both fruits and insects to meet their dietary needs. Thus, shrubland habitat at important migratory stopover sites such as Block Island should be managed so that it contains a variety of preferred fruit-bearing shrubs and an adequate abundance of insects.
The Role and Importance of Succession Planning in Polish Family Firms

The aim of this paper is to explore business transfer as a strategic goal and potential source of changes in smalland medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Poland. The importance of this study is acknowledged by the fact that it offers researchers and practitioners empirical evidences that link succession process with strategic orientation. The literature on the subject has mainly focused on business succession as process through which ownership and control is transferred between generation o f entrepreneurs. In this paper I argue that nowadays the aim of business succession should not only replace existing entrepreneurial resources, but should lead to the structural renewal. This investigation moves into two major directions. The first explores the broad aspects o f business succession and succession planning from a theoretical point o f view. The second deepens such an understanding by assessing it on a sample o f enterprises located in Poland. With this study I intend to explain that business transfer/succession in SMEs is not perceived by respondents as a process which require long-term preparations. Business transfer still takes place mainly within the family and is not regarded from the strategic perspective.