Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SME contributions for diversification and stability in emerging economies – An empirical study of the SME segment in the Qatar economy

Diversity has a significant influence on economic output, productivity and growth’ (Marra, Carlei & Crociata 2011). A healthy SME sector is vital to the sustainability and growth of an economy, especially in emerging economies as their business composition is mostly dominated by the SME segment. Similar to most economies in the MENA (Middle Eastern and North Africa) region, Qatar’s economy predominantly depends on the gas and oil industry. This paper discusses the challenges faced by SME’s in Qatar and financial institutions’ and the perception of barriers to SMEs in terms of lending and support. The research involved a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the research data. A preliminary assessment of secondary data was conducted to establish the current standing of Qatar’s SMEs and compare this with similar emerging markets and more developed economies. Data was obtained for the qualitative element of the study through structured interviews with banking professionals and questionnaires completed by SME entrepreneurs in Qatar. The paper also revealed that there are differences between stakeholders of the SME segment which present further challenges and recommends solutions to these challenges.
Linking Customer Relationship Management to Behavioral Intentions in Islamic Banking System: Evidence from Nigeria

Journal of Entrepreneurship and Business 15 Abstract – In today’s highly competitive market environment, customer relationship management has become a key strategy for personalizing customer experience, improving customer satisfaction, as well as building and maintaining loyalty. The present study investigates the relationship between customer relationship management dimensions and behavioral intentions. Key customer focus, customer relationship management organization, knowledge management, and technology-based customer relationship management are conceptualized as dimensions of customer relationship management. Results, based on a convenience sample of 363 customers of a full-fledged Islamic bank in Nigeria, support the hypothesized model. Specifically, the results show that key customer focus, customer relationship management organization, knowledge management, and technology-based customer relationship management are related to behavioral intentions. Practical implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Study on Business Process-Oriented Knowledge Creation for Modern Manufacturing Enterprises

Modern manufacturing enterprises are developing towards knowledge intensive direction.The production and application of new knowledge will be the basic motive powers for the development of manufacturing enterprises.Therefore the focus should point to the recombination and application of current process knowledge and creation of new knowledge because of various separated and wasted knowledge in the business process of modern manufacturing enterprises.Furthermore,four suggestions have been put forward to promote the process knowledge creation and learning including business process reengineering,construction of knowledge mining mechanism,establishment of knowledge sharing platform,and cracking of knowledge locked effect.
Primary fallopian tube cancer in term pregnancy: a case report.

PURPOSE This work aimed to study the features of primary fallopian tube carcinoma during pregnancy and to improve the understanding of clinical gynecologists. METHODS The clinical features of a case of primary fallopian tube carcinoma during pregnancy were analyzed. RESULTS The final diagnosis was Stage IA fallopian tube cancer after cesarean delivery. CONCLUSIONS It is helpful to detect CA-125 level and employ B-mode ultrasound imaging. Patients should undergo routine celiac examinations before gynecological and obstetric procedures (including cesarean section and abdominal hysterotomy) are performed.
Evolution of remission as the new standard in the treatment of depression.

Epidemiologic and clinical data support the goal of treating depressed patients to wellness or full remission. Many patients improve but fail to achieve full remission with antidepressant treatment and continue to have residual symptoms, which cause distress and dysfunction. These residual symptoms may meet criteria for subsyndromal and minor depression. Patients who have these milder syndromes after treatment have a greater risk of relapse and recurrence than do those who remain symptom-free. Clinical trials of antidepressants have shown lower rates of remission than of responses that fall short of remission, although some dual-acting antidepressants (e.g., serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors) may have higher remission rates than other agents. Treatment with such robust dual-acting antidepressants may result in higher rates of remission and fewer residual symptoms than treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
A survey: big data analytics on healthcare system

Big data and the related technologies have improved health care enormously, from understanding the origins of diseases, better diagnoses, helping patients to monitor their own conditions. By digitizing, combining effectively using big data, healthcare organizations can improve their quality of service by analyzing the effectiveness of a treatment and also the efficiency of the healthcare delivery process by detecting fraud, waste and drug abuse more quickly and efficiently. General goals to use analytics are, we can predict readmission risks, increase the efficiency of clinical care, and finding opportunities for cost savings. This paper gives various solutions for how and where big data can be applied in the health care system.
Upregulation of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor expression in nodose ganglia and the lower brainstem of hypertensive rats

Hypertension leads to structural and functional changes at baroreceptor synapses in the medial nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unknown. Our previous studies show that brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is abundantly expressed by rat nodose ganglion (NG) neurons, including baroreceptor afferents and their central terminals in the medial NTS. We hypothesized that hypertension leads to upregulation of BDNF expression in NG neurons. To test this hypothesis, we used two mechanistically distinct models of hypertension, the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) and the deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)‐salt rat. Young adult SHRs, whose blood pressure was significantly elevated compared with age‐matched Wistar‐Kyoto (WKY) control rats, exhibited dramatic upregulation of BDNF mRNA and protein in the NG. BDNF transcripts from exon 4, known to be regulated by activity, and exon 9 (protein‐coding region) showed the largest increases. Electrical stimulation of dispersed NG neurons with patterns that mimic baroreceptor activity during blood pressure elevations led to increases in BDNF mRNA that were also mediated through promoter 4. The increase in BDNF content of the NG in vivo was associated with a significant increase in the percentage of BDNF‐immunoreactive NG neurons. Moreover, upregulation of BDNF in cell bodies of NG neurons was accompanied by a significant increase in BDNF in the NTS region, the primary central target of NG afferents. A dramatic increase in BDNF in the NG was also detected in DOCA‐salt hypertensive rats. Together, our study identifies BDNF as a candidate molecular mediator of activity‐dependent changes atbaroafferent synapses during hypertension. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Type-B Response Regulators Display Overlapping Expression Patterns in Arabidopsis1

Two-component signaling systems, involving His kinases, His-containing phosphotransfer proteins, and response regulators, have been implicated in plant responses to hormones and environmental factors. Genomic analysis of Arabidopsis supports the existence of 22 response regulators (ARRs) that can be divided into at least two distinct groups designated type-A and type-B. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that the type-B family is composed of one major and two minor subfamilies. The expression of the type-B ARRs was examined by using both reverse transcription-PCR and β-glucuronidase fusion constructs. The major subfamily of type-B ARRs showed particularly high expression in regions where cytokinins play a significant role, including cells in the apical meristem region and in young leaves that would be undergoing cell division. Multiple members within this same subfamily of type-B ARRs were expressed near the root tip with highest expression in the root elongation zone. β-Glucuronidase-fusions to full-length ARR2, ARR12, and ARR19 were nuclear localized, consistent with a role in transcriptional regulation. These data suggest that differing expression levels of the type-B ARRs may play a role in modulating the cellular responses to cytokinin.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells are active participants in microenvironmental cross-talk

The importance of the tumor microenvironment in chronic lymphocytic leukemia is widely accepted. Nevertheless, the understanding of the complex interplay between the various types of bystander cells and chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells is incomplete. Numerous studies have indicated that bystander cells provide chronic lymphocytic leukemia-supportive functions, but it has also become clear that chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells actively engage in the formation of a supportive tumor microenvironment through several cross-talk mechanisms. In this review, we describe how chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells participate in this interplay by inducing migration and tumor-supportive differentiation of bystander cells. Furthermore, chronic lymphocytic leukemia-mediated alterations in the interactions between bystander cells are discussed. Upon bystander cell interaction, chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells secrete cytokines and chemokines such as migratory factors [chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 22 and chemokine (CC motif) ligand 2], which result in further recruitment of T cells but also of monocyte-derived cells. Within the tumor microenvironment, chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells induce differentiation towards a tumor-supportive M2 phenotype of monocyte-derived cells and suppress phagocytosis, but also induce increased numbers of supportive regulatory T cells. Like other tumor types, the differentiation of stromal cells towards supportive cancer-associated fibroblasts is critically dependent on chronic lymphocytic leukemia-derived factors such as exosomes and platelet-derived growth factor. Lastly, both chronic lymphocytic leukemia and bystander cells induce a tolerogenic tumor microenvironment; chronic lymphocytic leukemia-secreted cytokines, such as interleukin-10, suppress cytotoxic T-cell functions, while chronic lymphocytic leukemia-associated monocyte-derived cells contribute to suppression of T-cell function by producing the immune checkpoint factor, programmed cell death-ligand 1. Deeper understanding of the active involvement and cross-talk of chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells in shaping the tumor microenvironment may offer novel clues for designing therapeutic strategies.
A new nine-level single-DC source-based inverter topology for distributed generation

Multilevel inverter enables to completely remove the passive filtering requirement at the grid interfacing end, resulting in improved efficiency and reduced cost. These features have led to increasing attention towards their application to medium and high-power arena. In this paper, investigation of a hybrid 9-level inverter topology for grid integration of renewable energy sources is presented. The structural details, operating principle, capacitor voltage balancing control and the main features of the proposed inverter are presented. The proposed topology is compared with other similar 9-level converters to emphasize its superior characteristics and performance. Simulation results demonstrating the grid connected operation of the converter for two test cases are presented. The results affirm the effectiveness of the capacitor voltage balancing control in maintaining capacitor voltages at set values, under steady state and transient operation of the converter.
Childhood Maltreatment Is Associated With Aggression Among Male Juvenile Delinquents in China: The Mediating Effects of Callous-Unemotional Traits and Self-Control

Background: Aggression is an important risk factor for delinquency and crime in adolescents. Previous studies have indicated that childhood maltreatment plays an important role in the development of aggression. However, whether the effect could be mediated by other factors is still unknown. Evidence suggests that callous-unemotional (CU) traits and self-control may be candidate mediators in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and aggression. Methods: A total of 585 male juvenile delinquents from China were recruited for the present study. We measured self-reported childhood maltreatment, CU traits, self-control, and aggression with the short form of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF), the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU), the Self-Control Scale (SCS), and the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ), respectively. Furthermore, we constructed multiple mediation models to investigate the mediating effects of CU traits and self-control on the relationship between childhood maltreatment and aggression. Childhood maltreatment and aggression were entered into the model as the independent and dependent variables, respectively, and CU traits and self-control were treated as the mediating variables. In addition, the moderating role of self-control in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and aggression was tested by constructing a moderation model. Results: Correlation analysis showed significant positive correlations among childhood maltreatment, CU traits, and aggression (all r values > 0.31, P values < 0.01), and self-control was negatively correlated with these three factors (all r values < −0.32, P values < 0.01). Mediation analyses showed that the relationship between childhood maltreatment and aggression was completely and sequentially mediated by the factors of CU traits and self-control (indirect effect = 0.31, P < 0.001). In addition, the relationship between childhood maltreatment and aggression could also be completely mediated by CU traits (indirect effect = 0.24, P < 0.001) and self-control (indirect effect = 0.26, P < 0.001) separately. Conclusion: Our results indicate that, in a sample of male juvenile delinquents in China, the relationship between childhood maltreatment and adolescent aggression was found to be mediated by CU traits and self-control, which may shed light on the development of aggression among male juvenile delinquents.
Cultural Due Diligence in Mergers and Acquisitions

Abstract Due diligence refers to a comprehensive process of investigating and evaluating business opportunities in mergers and acquisitions. While early-stage due diligence usually encompasses financial and strategic assessment, one of the most important things in due diligence is looking at organizational culture at an early stage. This chapter takes stock of the existing research and practice in the area of cultural due diligence and evaluates the strengths and limitations. Based on the review of literature, we developed a framework for cultural due diligence to address the limitations of existing approaches. The framework illustrates a process to screen the M&A targets, gain insight into the target firm’s culture, and identify integration challenges. The process starts with more unobtrusive, indirect, and informal assessments of the target firm’s culture and moves onto more obtrusive, direct, and formal assessments.
Clinical decision support systems for neonatal care.

BACKGROUND Clinical decision support systems (CDSS) are computer-based information systems used to integrate clinical and patient information to provide support for decision-making in patient care. They may be useful in aiding the diagnostic process, the generation of alerts and reminders, therapy critiquing/planning, information retrieval, and image recognition and interpretation. CDSS for use in adult patients have been evaluated using randomised control trials and their results analysed in systematic reviews. There is as yet no systematic review on CDSS use in neonatal medicine. OBJECTIVES To examine whether the use of clinical decision support systems has an effect on 1. the mortality and morbidity of newborn infants and 2. the performance of physicians treating them SEARCH STRATEGY The standard search method of the Cochrane Neonatal Review Group was used. Searches were made of the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library, Issue 1, 2004), MEDLINE (from 1966 to August 2004), EMBASE (1980-2004), CINAHL (1982 to August 2004) and AMED (1985 to August 2004). SELECTION CRITERIA Randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials which compared the effects of CDSS versus no CDSS in the care of newborn infants. Trials which compared CDSS against other CDSS were also considered. The eligible interventions were CDSS for computerised physician order entry, computerised physiological monitoring, diagnostic systems and prognostic systems. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Studies were assessed for eligibility using a standard pro forma. Methodological quality was assessed independently by the different investigators. MAIN RESULTS Two studies fitting the selection criteria were found for computer aided prescribing and one study for computer aided physiological monitoring.Computer-aided prescribing: one study (Cade 1997) examined the effects of computerised prescribing of parenteral nutrition ordering. No significant effects on short-term outcomes were found and longer term outcomes were not studied. The second study (Balaguer 2001) investigated the effects of a database program in aiding the calculation of neonatal drug dosages. It was found that the time taken for calculation was significantly reduced and there was a significant reduction in the number of calculation errors.Computer-aided physiological monitoring: one eligible study (Cunningham 1998) was found which examined the effects of computerised cot side physiological trend monitoring and display. There were no significant effects on mortality, volume of colloid infused, frequency of blood gases sampling (samples per day) or severe (Papile Grade 4) intraventricular haemorrhage. Published data did not permit us to analyse effects on long-term neurodevelopmental outcome. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS There are very limited data from randomised trials on which to assess the effects of clinical decision support systems in neonatal care. Further evaluation of CDSS using randomised controlled trials is warranted.
Investigation of trapping effects on AlGaN/GaN HEMT under DC accelerated life testing

GaN-based high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) were subjected to DC-based accelerated life testing to determine which defect levels form or are activated, and how they impact the static and dynamic HEMT performance. The primary static changes were a negative shift of the threshold voltage and an increase in knee walkout/on-resistance. The primary dynamic effect of the stressing appeared in the form of a time-dependent increase in the on-resistance, and this was found to correlate to first order with formation and/or activation of traps at Ec-0.57 and Ec-0.72 eV traps that contributed to the dynamic changes, and the Ec-1.5 eV trap was likely responsible for the static change in on-resistance. Trapping kinetics analysis revealed that the physical sources for the EC-0.57 and EC-0.72 eV states are not simple, ideal, non-interacting point defects, but instead are associated with physically extended defects, such as dislocations, and/or defect complexes.
Root system-based limits to agricultural productivity and efficiency: the farming systems context.

BACKGROUND There has been renewed global interest in both genetic and management strategies to improve root system function in order to improve agricultural productivity and minimize environmental damage. Improving root system capture of water and nutrients is an obvious strategy, yet few studies consider the important interactions between the genetic improvements proposed, and crop management at a system scale that will influence likely success. SCOPE To exemplify these interactions, the contrasting cereal-based farming systems of Denmark and Australia were used, where the improved uptake of water and nitrogen from deeper soil layers has been proposed to improve productivity and environmental outcomes in both systems. The analysis showed that water and nitrogen availability, especially in deeper layers (>1 m), was significantly affected by the preceding crops and management, and likely to interact strongly with deeper rooting as a specific trait of interest. CONCLUSIONS In the semi-arid Australian environment, grain yield impacts from storage and uptake of water from depth (>1 m) could be influenced to a stronger degree by preceding crop choice (0·42 t ha-1), pre-crop fallow management (0·65 t ha-1) and sowing date (0·63 t ha-1) than by current genetic differences in rooting depth (0·36 t ha-1). Matching of deep-rooted genotypes to management provided the greatest improvements related to deep water capture. In the wetter environment of Denmark, reduced leaching of N was the focus. Here the amount of N moving below the root zone was also influenced by previous crop choice or cover crop management (effects up to 85 kg N ha-1) and wheat crop sowing date (up to 45 kg ha-1), effects which over-ride the effects of differences in rooting depth among genotypes. These examples highlight the need to understand the farming system context and important G × E × M interactions in studies on proposed genetic improvements to root systems for improved productivity or environmental outcomes.
Coupling Between Coplanar Waveguides and Substrate Modes

The widespread use of coplanar waveguide for millimetre wave integrated circuits has extended in recent years to frequencies well above 70 GHz and even as high as 200 GHz has been reported. At the higher frequencies, some problems with unwanted modes have been reported. This type of waveguide possesses an unwanted coplanar mode, which is fairly easy to suppress using air bridges. However it is also possible to couple energy from coplanar waveguide into unwanted substrate modes above a critical frequency. This paper discusses this critical frequency and gives examples of typical values and equations to enable the reader to calculate it for the general cases. This paper concludes with some of the practical consequences of this coupling.