Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Supplier diversity and minority business enterprise development: case study experience of three US multinationals

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the rationale for supplier diversity, constituent elements of each case study programme, actual performance of the initiatives and key challenges involved in implementing supplier diversity programmes.Design/methodology/approach – This paper goes beyond armchair accounts of the “American experience”, and presents evidence from three exemplars of supplier diversity in the USA – Ford Motor Company, JPMorgan Chase, and Unisys. Semi‐structured interviews with supplier diversity teams within these three case study firms were conducted to understand the rationale, drivers and challenges to implementing supplier diversity programmes.Findings – The case studies highlight the importance of the “business case” in explaining corporate receptiveness to supplier diversity. This has particular force in light of the progressive “browning” of the USA. However, the role of the government as catalyst is not to be understated; a number of respondents identified governmen.
Contrast sensitivity based orientation changes in refractive surgery patients

It is well known that refractive surgery leads to an increase in higher‐order aberrations. These can cause problems such as glare, starburst and halos in vision, particularly in low light levels when the pupil is large. The overall wavefront aberration of the eye is typically non‐circularly symmetric due to the presence of aberrations such as coma and trefoil. These asymmetries have been shown to induce orientation‐selective effects in grating‐based contrast sensitivity tests. Classically, contrast sensitivity is assumed to be independent of orientation and is measured at only one orientation. Examining more orientations may give a better indicator of visual performance when abnormal amounts of aberration are present. To examine this, contrast sensitivity through a dilated pupil was determined for four orientations of a 12 cycles deg−1 sine wave grating in 12 subjects both before and after refractive surgery. Surgery produced orientation‐selective changes in contrast sensitivity in most patients (9 out of 12, p < 0.05). The correlation between contrast sensitivity and higher‐order aberrations was found to improve when several orientations were tested compared with data from only one orientation (combined orientations, r2 = 0.46, p = 0.007; single orientation r2 = 0.55, p < 0 .05 to r2 = 0.09, p > 0.05). These results indicate that grating orientation is an important factor when investigating the link between visual performance and higher order aberrations.
Trypsin-Gold Nanoparticle Conjugates: Binding, Enzymatic Activity, and Stability

Abstract Nanomaterials may interact with biomolecules in various ways and change their bioactivities. Here, we report on how gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) affect a most important protease, trypsin. After simple mixing of the trypsin and AuNPs solution the average diameter is 20 nm under enzyme friendly conditions (pH 8.0); the bond between trypsin and AuNPs was detected by UV-vis spectroscopy. The further protease assay of trypsin, before and after mixing with the AuNPs solution, pointed out an improved performance in terms of enzyme activity and stability.
Factors that Influence Women When Purchasing a Business Format Franchise

About 50 % of women in United States are involved in business, while only approximately 18 % of them are involved in business-format franchise. This study was designed to seek reasons for this rather low rate of participation. Franchisors must better understand what factors women perceived important in order for them to purchase a business-format franchise. The primary objective of this study was to determine the factors perceived important by women that influence them to make purchase decision by utilizing a survey questionnaire. 110 out of 340 female franchisees responded our survey. The results suggest that prospective women franchisees, before they purchase a franchise, must believe the franchise of their choice is secure and will be successful. They must be assured that they will be welltrained and emotionally supported, in a low risk environment, without gender bias. We hope franchisors will find this information useful as they improve on ways to influence women to purchase their franchise opportunity.
Value of routine postoperative gastrographin contrast swallow studies after laparoscopic gastric banding.

HYPOTHESIS Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) effectively treats morbid obesity and yields improved quality of life with low morbidity and mortality rates. The current standard of care is to perform a postoperative gastrographin study. This study evaluated a series of patients to determine the usefulness of this routine procedure. DESIGN Retrospective analysis. SETTING Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock. PATIENTS A series of 100 patients who had undergone LAGB between August 1, 2006, and February 28, 2007, were evaluated by medical record review and a blinded examination of the upper gastrointestinal tract. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Laboratory test results and patient vital signs. RESULTS The mean age of the patients was 42 years. The mean initial body mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) was 50.0. Median excess weight loss was 49.0% after 12 months. Three patients did not undergo gastrographin studies because of a history of allergic reactions to the dye. No differences between the opinion of the surgeon and that of the original radiologist were uncovered. The 97 patients who underwent gastrographin studies lacked leaks; the only radiologic abnormalities were slow passage and reflux in 23 patients. No alteration in patient care resulted. The total cost for the 97 patients was $49 470. The 95% confidence interval for 0 useful results for 97 studies is 0.00 to 0.03; at best, 3.2% of patients undergoing this expensive study would have garnered some benefit. CONCLUSION Routine postoperative upper gastrointestinal tract studies are expensive and of limited value. Instead of relying on them to detect leaks, which are extremely rare after LAGB, reliance should be given to the presence or absence of tachypnea and tachycardia, as is currently done for Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. In this way there will be a cost savings and the potential to make LAGB a same-day procedure.
Cross-Border Acquisitions in a Transition Economy: Recent Experiences of China and India

This paper examines the causes and consequences of cross-border acquisitions in a transition economy using the 1998-2006 deal data for targeted Chinese and Indian firms and foreign acquirers. Our empirical analysis resulted in three important findings. First, firms with high cash reserve ratio are likely to be targeted in the recent cross-border acquisition trends in China and India; remarkably so when the cash-rich target has a high growth opportunity. Second, cross-border acquisitions bring higher shareholders’ values for foreign acquirers than for domestic acquirers. Third, these empirical results differ from existing literature where acquirer’s shareholder’s return is low in general.
Application and Prospect of Consumer Learning Theory in Marketing

Consumer Learning is an important means to opening up the black box of consumption and therefore is logically a starting point for understanding and implementing the idea of consumer-oriented marketing.In recent years,increasingly greater attention has been paid to the fact that consumers participate in market competition by means of learning and thus they exert a far-reaching impact on the effect of marketing strategies.Therefore,in order to reflect the value of consumer learning in the market research,it is necessary to look at the origin of the consumer theory and its application in the research of products,pricing and marketing,and to make a review of the research of this theory and its prospect home and abroad.
GENETIC EVIDENCE FOR LONG TERM PERSISTENCE OF MARINE INVERTEBRATE POPULATIONS IN AN EPHEMERAL ENVIRONMENT

Understanding the ecology and evolution of species requires that we know the relationships between individuals currently extant in a population and conspecifics previously occupying the same geographic locale. In the case of marine invertebrate species with free-swimming larval and/or adult stages, such relationships are rarely known. From a natural history perspective, it is commonly assumed that dispersing larvae (and/or adults) result in population structures characterized by a nearly complete lack of local recruitment. Larval dispersal would then effectively homogenize the gene pool resulting in negligible differentiation of geographically separated populations. However, genetic analyses of several species with planktonic larvae have revealed unexpectedly high levels of population differentiation on either local or regional spatial scales (e.g., Burton 1983; Johnson and Black 1982, 1984; Reeb and Avise 1990; Watts et al. 1990; Karl and Avise 1992; Lewis and Thorpe 1994; Edmands, et al. 1996). Dispersal itself is not the only problem we face in determining if today's populations are descended directly from the local conspecific populations of the past. A second, perhaps less widely discussed problem involves the temporal stability of certain marine habitats. For example, some patches of rocky intertidal habitat are irregularly inundated with sand making much of the hard substrate required by many intertidal invertebrates unavailable. Similarly, high intertidal pools are seasonally subjected to complete desiccation or, at the other extreme, transformation into freshwater pools by drought or storms. When present, such habitats are typically inhabited by a diversity of species. Knowing the origin of colonists reestablishing such populations is central to understanding the ecology and evolution of species living in ephemeral marine habitats. Regardless of the factors complicating our understanding, it is generally difficult to address problems of the temporal relationships of conspecific populations of marine organisms. Even vigilant monitoring of populations (including physical marking of individuals) can only directly relate post-recruitAccepted February 14, 1997.
Mapping Youth-At-Risk: GIS and its Potential as a Service Integration Tool

This paper examines the utility of a spatial information tool in the form of a Geographic Information System (GIS)) in assisting human service agencies involved in integrated service approaches to engage in coordinated planning and service delivery initiatives. In accordance with an action research strategy, the aim of this study was to engage with stakeholders in the area of youth services and supports in a reflexive multidisciplinary environment regarding the potential of a spatial information tool in assisting integration and service delivery efforts. A number of maps depicting snapshots of demographic, disadvantage and housing data were produced, with the present paper reporting on stakeholders’ perceptions of both the mapped content and the potential of GIS in the development of a shared information system. Key issues relating to data collection, positioning in the information hierarchy and trust are discussed.
Corruption Risk in the Defence Industry Around the World: Country Level and Firm Level Antecedents

Anecdotal evidence indicates that corruption is rampant in the defence sector globally. Using a unique database on firm level corruption risk in the defence industry, we examine the role of country level and firm level antecedents. Among the country level factors we study are several measures of institutional quality, governance systems and legislative oversight, explicit mechanisms to control corruption and cultural factors such as power distance and uncertainty avoidance. Our empirical results confirm that these factors indeed influence firm level corruption risk. We also find that at the firm level, factors such as visibility, governance and shareholding play a significant role in affecting a firm’s corruption risk. The results of our study also show that the disclosure of corruption risk is associated with the mitigation of information asymmetry and consequent increase in firm level market liquidity.
Study on the Spillover of Foreign Direct Investment on the Basis of Different Industrial Characters

In China about 2/3 FDI are poured into manufacturing industry. The article investigates the spillovers of foreign direct investment (FDI) on Chinese manufacturing industry. And it differentiates intra-industry and inter-industry spillovers. It also analyses the influence of different industrial characters (such as technological gap, capital-intensive degree gap and competition level of domestic market in the host country) on the spillovers of FDI. And we get the following conclusion: the spillover effects will be prone to occur when the gap between foreign and domestic enterprises is small or middling and the foreign enterprises' corresponding capability is high. Finally the article provides relative policy suggestions on the basis of above analysis.
Using NMR Spectroscopy to Investigate the Solution Behavior of Nerve Agents and Their Binding to Acetylcholinesterase

Abstract : The general theory for investigating the conformational dynamics of nerve agents in solution by measuring transient protonproton nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) build-up curves and the use of molecular dynamics simulations for their interpretation are explained. The phenemonon of nuclear magnetic relaxation is also described in some detail as well as how relaxation measurements can be interpreted with mathematical models of molecular motion and statistical distributions of correlation times to derive molecular dynamics information. Finally, examples of transient NOE measurements and their interpretation to determine an ensemble average conformation for VX in aqueous solution are summarized.
Work disability in rheumatoid arthritis 10 years after the diagnosis.

OBJECTIVE To describe employment status of patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) 10 years after diagnosis; and to identify predictive and associative factors related to permanent work disability. METHODS The study population consisted of 82 patients with early RA who were gainfully employed at onset of RA. Patients were prospectively followed for an average of 10 years and were treated according to the "sawtooth" strategy. RESULTS After a time since diagnosis of 2 and an average of 9.9 years, respectively, 19/82 (19%) and 36/82 (44%) cases have been retired merely or partly due to RA. Further, at the latest checkup 42/82 (51%) patients were still gainfully employed, while the prevalence of patients working full time under the common retirement age of 65 yrs was 58% (42/72). Cox regression analysis revealed that physically heavy work at baseline was the strongest independent predictive factor for permanent work disability. Ten years after disease onset, however, work disabled patients had more severe disease than those who continued in work. CONCLUSION Our study confirms that the working capacity of patients with RA is in danger from the very start. Despite early and active therapy with disease modifying antirheumatic drugs, at 10 years the cumulative work disability prevalence was 44%.
Isolation of tuberculin skin test reactive proteins from heated culture filtrate of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv.

Reactivity in the tuberculin skin test and mobility in disc gel electrophoresis were applied to the purification of the protein fractions from heated culture filtrate of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. Five pure proteins were isolated with different relative mobilities in disc gel electrophoresis; all of the proteins were skin test reactive. Cultivation for approximately 4 weeks on Sauton medium at 37° C was preferable for obtaining the proteins without modification by autolysis. A simple purification method was devised for removing carbohydrates and nucleic acids without decreasing the potency of skin test reactivity from the preparation at the stage that corresponded to purified protein derivate. The partially purified preparation was treated further with an ion exchanger, by passage through a molecular sieve, and was finally submitted to disc gel electrophoresis on a preparative scale. The molecular weight of the isolated proteins was 10,000 and was estimated by electrophoresis in acrylamide gels wit.
The Impact of Conditional Cash Transfer on Toilet Use in eThekwini, South Africa

In the developing world, having access to a toilet does not necessarily imply use: infrequent or non-use limits the desired health outcomes of improved sanitation. We examine the sanitation situation in a rural part of South Africa where recipients of novel, waterless “urine-diverting dry toilets” are not regularly using them. In order to determine if small, conditional cash transfers (CCT) could motivate families to use their toilets more, we paid for urine via different incentive-based interventions: two were based on volumetric pricing and the third was a flat-rate payment (irrespective of volume). A flat-rate payment (approx. €1) resulted in the highest rates of regular (weekly) participation at 59%. The low volumetric payment (approx. €0.05/L) led to regular participation rates of only 12% and no increase in toilet use. The high volumetric payment (approx. €0.1/L) resulted in lower rates of regular participation (35%), but increased the average urine production per household per day by 74%. As a first example of conditional cash transfers being used in the sanitation sector, we show that they are an accepted and effective tool for increasing toilet use, while putting small cash payments in the hands of poor, largely unemployed populations in rural South Africa.
Initiation factors IF1 and IF2 synergistically remove peptidyl-tRNAs with short polypeptides from the P-site of translating Escherichia coli ribosomes.

A novel function of initiation factors IF1 and IF2 in Escherichia coli translation has been identified. It is shown that these factors efficiently catalyse dissociation of peptidyl-tRNAs with polypeptides of different length from the P-site of E. coli ribosomes, and that the simultaneous presence of both factors is required for induction of drop-off. The factor-induced drop-off occurs with both sense and stop codons in the A-site and competes with peptide elongation or termination. The efficiency with which IF1 and IF2 catalyse drop-off decreases with increasing length of the nascent polypeptide, but is quite significant for hepta-peptidyl-tRNAs, the longest polypeptide chains studied. In the absence of IF1 and IF2 the rate of drop-off varies considerably for different peptidyl-tRNAs, and depends both on the length and sequence of the nascent peptide. Efficient factor-catalysed drop-off requires GTP but not GTP hydrolysis, as shown in experiments without guanine nucleotides, with GDP or with the non-cleavable analogue GMP-PNP.Simultaneous overexpression of IF1 and IF2 in vivo inhibits cell growth specifically in some peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase deficient mutants, suggesting that initiation factor-catalysed drop-off of peptidyl-tRNA can occur on a significant scale in the bacterial cell. Consequences for the bacterial physiology of this previously unknown function of IF1 and IF2 are discussed.
Parallel-coupled stacked SIRs bandpass filters with open-loop resonators for suppression of spurious responses

A novel method to develop microstrip bandpass filters has been proposed in this letter. The unit cell elements are adopted to design bandpass filters. This unit cell element is composed of the parallel-coupled stacked stepped-impedance-resonators (SIRs) and the open-loop resonators. Compared to the uniform parallel-coupled line, the unit cell element is shorter. Moreover, the mutual couplings of the open-loop resonators can generate the transmission zero for suppression of spurious responses. The fabricated examples are presented for validating the filter configuration.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADDRESSES TRANSPARENCY: THE POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF XBRL ON FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) may vastly improve the transparency of firms’ financial information. Financial statements in XBRL format allow financial report users to directly search for relevant information regardless of the location of the information and to easily compare related information between different companies. As a consequence, management’s financial reporting choices and financial disclosure management practices are more explicitly presented to users.
How the elderly fare in HMOs: outcomes from the Medicare competition demonstrations.

Because of concern about the effects of prepaid care on outcomes for elderly enrollees in health maintenance organizations (HMOs), a prospective study of access to care and functional outcomes was performed. HMOs with Medicare risk contracts in January 1985 (N = 17) were selected from ten communities and were matched for comparison with ten similar communities where no Medicare HMOs were in operation. Random samples of HMO enrollees (N = 2,098) and fee-for-service (FFS) nonenrollees (N = 1,059) were assessed at baseline and at follow-up one year later (HMO = 1,873, FFS = 916) to observe access to care and functional outcomes. At baseline, nonenrollees had more bed days and poorer functional status than HMO enrollees. While fewer HMO enrollees experienced declines in functional status between baseline and follow-up (e.g., patient's ability to function declined in one or more activities of daily living: HMOs at 5.3 percent versus FFS at 8.5 percent, p < .01), after controlling for other factors with logistic regression, enrollment status was not significantly associated with functional decline. Self-rated health, history of hospitalization, age of 80 or older and baseline functional status were predictive of decline in function. After controlling for baseline differences, HMO disenrollees also experienced similar functional declines at follow-up compared to continuously enrolled beneficiaries. These findings suggest that Medicare beneficiaries who belong to HMOs experience comparable rates of functional decline to those experienced by beneficiaries in the FFS sector with similar initial levels of function and health status. Together with results showing no significant difference in medical visits according to various symptoms, we conclude that access and quality of care delivered by HMOs is comparable to that provided in FFS settings.