Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Study of the Relationships Between Empowerment, Decision-Making Style and Job Satisfaction in Female Middle Managers within Ontario's University Registrarial Units

An emerging body of literature has sought to explore the role of variables such as decisionmaking styles and structural empowerment in predicting job satisfaction in various populations and contexts. This study aimed to advance this knowledge by questioning the predictive ability of structural empowerment and decision-making styles in female registrarial middle managers in Ontario universities. It was hypothesized that when female registrarial middle managers feel empowered, dependent on their decision-making style, they experience high job satisfaction. An online survey tool comprised of the Conditions for Workplace Effectiveness Questionnaire (CWEQ-I), the General Decision-Making Scale (GDMS), and the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS), each employing Likert-like scales, was distributed to 17 university registrars at Ontario institutions. To enhance clarity for participants, some of the wording used was changed in the questionnaire (i.e., “current state of the hospital" changed to "the current state of the university”). 20 Ontario universities were contacted with 85% indicating their willingness to participate in facilitating the data collection process. From the 17 participating institutions, a total of 29 survey responses were returned with 22 (28.95%) being valid based on the researcher’s criteria. A 28.95% response rate impacts the level of confidence in the findings. A correlational research design was used to examine the resulting data. Pearson Product Moment correlations revealed a highly significant correlation between structural empowerment and job satisfaction. Two factors on the decision-making scale showed nonsignificant negative correlations with job satisfaction – avoidant and spontaneous. A multiple regression analysis demonstrated that structural empowerment predicted 77% of the variance in job satisfaction. Decision-making styles contributed an additional 7%. To further substantiate and build on this research, future studies with larger sample sizes are needed. The outcomes of this study are hoped to provide a basis of understanding that can be used by registrarial offices to develop both professional support systems and areas for focused training for this important group of managers, namely women in registrarial middle
Consumer Boycotts: Effecting Change Through the Marketplace and Media

Introduction 1. Consumer Boycott Basics 2. Factors Affecting Boycott Success 3. Labor Boycotts 4. Consumer Economic Boycotts 5. Minority Group Initiatives: African-American Boycotts 6. Boycott Initiatives of Other Minority Groups 7. Boycotts by Religious Groups 8. Ecological Boycotts 9. Consumer "Buycotts" 10. Boycott Issues and Tactics in Historical Perspective Appendix A: The 1996 Consumer Protest as Seen by Its Leaders Appendix B: Boycott Observations Over Time References
Security market imperfections in worldwide equity markets

Contributors Preface William T. Ziemba 1. Security market imperfections: an overview Donald B. Keim and William T. Ziemba Part I. An Overview of Cross-Sectional Patterns in Stock Returns: 2. The cross-section of common stock returns: a review of the evidence and some new findings Gabriel Hawawini and Donald B. Keim 3. Beta and book to market: is the glass half full or half empty? S. P. Kothari and Jay Shanken 4. The psychology of over-reaction and under-reaction in world equity markets Werner F. M. DeBondt 5. A view of the current status of the size anomaly Jonathan B. Berk 6. The demise of size Elroy Dimson and Paul Marsh 7. Direct evidence of non-trading of NYSE and AMEX stocks Stephen R. Foerster and Donald B. Keim Part II. Seasonal Patterns in Stock Returns and Other Puzzles: 8. Is there still a January effect? Donald G. Booth and Donald B. Keim 9. Anticipation in the January effect in the US futures markets Chris R. Hensel and William T. Ziemba 10. How does Clinton stand up to history? US investment returns and presidential party affiliations Chris R. Hensel and William T. Ziemba 11. A long term examination of the turn-of-the-month effect in the S&P500 Chris R. Hensel, Gordon A. Sick and William T. Ziemba 12. The closed-end fund puzzle Carolina Minio-Paluello 13. Stock splits and ex-date returns for Nasdaq stocks: the effects of investor trading and bid-ask spreads Mark Grinblatt and Donald B. Keim Part III. International Evidence: 14. Canadian security market anomalies George Athanassakos and Stephen Foerster 15. Seasonal anomalies in the Italian stock market, 1973-1993 Elio Canestrelli and William T. Ziemba 16. Efficiency and anomalies in the Turkish stock market Gulnur Muradoglu 17. Efficiency and anomalies in the Finnish stock market Teppo Martikainen 18. Characteristics-based premia in emerging markets: sector-neutrality, cycles, and cross-market correlations Sandeep A. Patel 19. Anomalies in Asian emerging stock markets Seng-Kee Koh and Kie Ann Wong 20. Japanese security market regularities, 1990-1994 Luis R. Comolli and William T. Ziemba 21. Predicting returns on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Sandra L. Schwartz and William T. Ziemba 22. High stock returns before holidays: international evidence and additional tests Alonso Cervera and Donald B. Keim.
Eye movements and their role in visual and cognitive processes.

Preface. 1. The role of visual and cognitive processes in the control of eye movement (E. Kowler). 2. Predictive control of eye movement (M. Pavel). 3. The role of eye movement in the detection of contrast and spatial detail (R.M. Steinman and J.Z. Levinson). 4. Binocular eye movements and the perception of depth (H. Collewijn and C.J. Erkelens). 5. Eye movement and visual localization of objects in space (A.A. Skavenski). 6. The role of eye movements in the perception of motion and shape (H. Wallach). 7. Comparison of perception in the moving and stationary eye (G. Sperling). 8. Eye movements in visual search: cognitive, perceptual and motor control aspects (P. Viviani). 9. Eye movements and reading (J.K. O'Regan). 10. Eye-movement models for arithmetic and reading performance (P. Suppes). Subject index. Imprint: Elsevier Amsterdam
An approach to exploiting proper multiples of the generator polynomial in parallel CRC computation

Cyclic redundancy check (CRC) is one of the most important error-detection schemes used in digital communications. In this method, the transmitter divides of the message by an agreed-upon polynomial called the generator and concatenates the calculated residue to the message. The receiver divides what it receives by the generator again. A zero residue indicates error-free transmission and a nonzero residue is interpreted as an error. These calculations are traditionally performed using serial circuits called LFSR especially in serial communications such as the case of the Ethernet protocol. But in parallel communications such as USB, and also integrity checking applications, this method is not efficient enough. In this paper, a new parallel algorithm for parallel CRC calculation is proposed and evaluated. The proposed algorithm exploits mathematical properties of a special family of generator polynomials named OZZ (One-Zero-Zero) polynomials. In this approach, we feedbacks are eliminated and pipelined calculations are used to obtain 32-bit CRC in the SMIC 0.35/im CMOS technology.
Epithelial Secretory Responses to Inflammation Platelet Activating Factor and Reactive Oxygen Metabolites

In this paper I shall review briefly the roles that hydrogen peroxide (H202) and platelet activating factor (PAF) play in the neuroimmunophysiology of intestinal electrolyte secretion. Although these mediators are quite different molecules, it will be shown that both initiate changes in intestinal electrolyte transport through essentially the same mechanisms: first, they interact directly with the epithelium and through Caz +-mediated processes inhibit NaCl absorption and stimulate electrogenic C1secretion and, second, they release prostaglandins from other cells in the lamina propria and these prostaglandins through cyclic nucleotide-mediated processes also alter intestinal electrolyte transport. In spite of this similarity in mechanism of action, in many respects these two compounds are complete opposites. Although it has some lipid solubility, H202 is a hydrophilic compound; indeed it resembles water itself and, as such, it is freely diffusible. Therefore, its extent of action is dependent on tissue peroxidases which metabolize the compound. Conversely, PAF is a very hydrophobic substance; indeed it is a lipid itself, resembling phosphatidylcholine. After secretion by the immune cell, it travels in the extracellular space bound to ablumin and, because of its lipid solubility, PAF rapidly interacts with surrounding cell membranes including those of its cell of origin. These mediators act as paracrine and autocrine regulators.
Massage therapy for children with autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE We aimed to assess the effectiveness of massage as a treatment option for autism. DATA SOURCES We searched the following electronic databases using the time of their inception through March 2010: MEDLINE, AMED, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Health Technology Assessment, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, 6 Korean medical databases (KSI, DBpia, KISTEP, RISS, KoreaMed, and National Digital Library), China Academic Journal (through China National Knowledge Infrastructure), and 3 Japanese medical databases (Journal@rchive, Science Links Japan, and Japan Science & Technology link). The search phrase used was "(massage OR touch OR acupressure) AND (autistic OR autism OR Asperger's syndrome OR pervasive developmental disorder). " The references in all located articles were also searched. No language restrictions were imposed. STUDY SELECTION Prospective controlled clinical studies of any type of massage therapy for autistic patients were included. Trials in which massage was part of a complex intervention were also included. Case studies, case series, qualitative studies, uncontrolled trials, studies that failed to provide detailed results, and trials that compared one type of massage with another were excluded. DATA EXTRACTION All articles were read by 2 independent reviewers (M.S.L. and J-I.K.), who extracted data from the articles according to predefined criteria. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane classification. RESULTS Of 132 articles, only 6 studies met our inclusion criteria. One randomized clinical trial found that massage plus conventional language therapy was superior to conventional language therapy alone for symptom severity (P < .05) and communication attitude (P < .01). Two randomized clinical trials reported a significant benefit of massage for sensory profile (P < .01), adaptive behavior (P < .05), and language and social abilities (P < .01) as compared with a special education program. The fourth randomized clinical trial showed beneficial effects of massage for social communication (P < .05). Two nonrandomized controlled clinical trials suggested that massage therapy is effective. However, all of the included trials have high risk of bias. The main limitations of the included studies were small sample sizes, predefined primary outcome measures, inadequate control for nonspecific effects, and a lack of power calculations or adequate follow-up. CONCLUSIONS Limited evidence exists for the effectiveness of massage as a symptomatic treatment of autism. Because the risk of bias was high, firm conclusions cannot be drawn. Future, more rigorous randomized clinical trials seem to be warranted.
Space-time communication for OFDM with implicit channel feedback

We consider space-time communication over a typical cellular "downlink" based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), in which the base station may have several antenna elements, while the mobile has 1 or 2 antenna elements. A summary of our findings is as follows: (a) Implicit channel feedback regarding the covariance matrix for the downlink space-time channel can be obtained, without any power or bandwidth overhead, by suitably averaging uplink channel measurements across frequency. Since this approach relies on statistical reciprocity, it applies to both time division duplex (TDD) and frequency division duplex (FDD) systems. The covariance feedback can be used to obtain better performance on the downlink, at lower encoding and decoding complexity, compared to standard space-time coding (which does not employ channel feedback). (b) The conventional design without channel feedback is to space the transmit antennas far enough apart so as to ensure uncorrelated responses. However, when implicit feedback is available, much better performance is obtained with significantly smaller antenna spacing, optimized such that the number of dominant eigenmodes of the channel matches the number of receive antenna elements.
Utilization of Noodle Waste as Replacement for Maize in the Diet of Broiler Starter Chickens

Noodle waste (NW) is an alternative source of energy and less expensive compared to maize which is one of the main conventional source of energy in the diet of poultry. This study was designed to determine the effect of replacing maize fraction of the diet with NW on growth characteristics, cost benefits and blood indices of broiler starter chicken. One hundred and twenty day old Anak, 2000 broilers chicks of mean weight of 40.78±1.7g were randomly selected and allotted to 4 dietary treatments. Each treatment was replicated thrice with ten chicks per replicate in a completely randomized design. Four diets were formulated to contain 0% (T1), 50% (T 2), 75% (T 3), 100% (T 4) of NW as replacement for maize fraction of the entire diet. Parameters taken were weight gain, feed intake. Feed conversion ratio, total feed cost, and cost per weight gain were calculated. The feeding lasted for 28 days. Blood indices such as packed cell volume (PCV), Red blood cell count (RBC)and White blood cell(WBC) and total protein etc. were measured or calculated. Significant differences (P=.05) were observed in the mean total feed intake of the chicks fed diet containing varied levels of NW. There were significant differences in the mean total weight gain of chicks fed diet containing 100% NW and the control diet (P=.05),
Implementing Product Portfolio Management in Multinational Software Corporations.

In this thesis we present an overview of a single exploratory case study on the topic of product portfolio management (PPM) implementation in multinational software corporations (MNCs). In this study, we look at four generally recurring issues in such implementation projects, being context, content, process and outcomes. We find that the case company has four goals that it wants to achieve by implementing PPM. These are: 1. Product portfolio information management improvement 2. Project portfolio information management improvement 3. Improvement of ability to identify opportunities for collaboration 4. Formalization and professionalization of decision making In addition, we identify several competitive forces that drive the need for a PPM implementation, such as the threat of new entrants, the threat of substitutes due to subscription models and the bargaining power of buyers due to the economic downturn. Furthermore we find that local managers demand flexible PPM processes, limited corporate management involvement and a limited aim for collaboration initiatives. To explain these statements, we found several situational factors that affect the local managers' attitude towards certain PPM aspects. We describe how we have designed a PPM solution that both fits the corporate demands and the local contexts by designing a lightweight information system, a flexible 4-step process and in which corporate management plays a limited role. In addition we describe how we have implemented PPM in the case company via direct, whole-system conversion by first doing a pilot implementation and thereafter implementing PPM for all subsidiaries simultaneously. Finally, we evaluate the outcomes of the studied implementation project by means of a survey. We find strong support that three out of the four aforementioned goals have been achieved by the implementation. Furthermore we find support that eight out of 10 of the generic PPM related goals, as defined in previous studies, have also been achieved by this implementation project. And to conclude, we find that the implemented processes are flexible enough, corporate management could play a bigger role and we find strong support for the ability to identify collaboration opportunities. Acknowledgements Writing this thesis would not have been possible without the great support, supervision and company of a number of people. Therefore I would like to thank all people who contributed to this thesis in any way, and some people in particular. First of all I would like to thank my company supervisor Ton Dobbe who, regardless his occupied schedule, was always available for …
Neither 10- nor 14-Day Sequential Treatment is better than Standard Triple Therapy for Helicobacter Pylori Eradication.

OBJECTIVE Helicobacter pylori is a bacterial pathogen associated with chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, gastric adenocarcinoma, and gastric mucosa associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma. Current treatment guidelines support a 7- to 14-day, triple-drug protocol consisting of a proton-pump inhibitor (PPI), clarithromycin, and either amoxicillin or an imidazole. The initial eradication rates for this regimen were 80 to 90%. Nevertheless its effectiveness has declined as the antibiotic resistance to clarithromycin and metronidazole has emerged. In Puerto Rico the reported resistance of H. pylori to clarithromycin is 16% and to metronidazole, 3.7%. Sequential therapy for H. pylori eradication, 5 days of treatment with a PPI and amoxicillin followed by 5 days of treatment with the PPI and 2 other antibiotics (clarithromycin and an imidazole), was introduced as an effective alternate regimen. This is a prospective clinical trial intended to compare the efficacy of first-line, standard 10-day tripledrug therapy with those of both 10- and 14-day sequential therapy in eradicating H. pylori at the San Juan Veterans Affairs Hospital in a population that is naïve to previous treatment. METHODS This was a prospective, open-label, randomized clinical trial. RESULTS Based on the intention-to-treat analysis, the eradication rate was 83.7% (72 of 86 patients) in the standard triple-therapy group, 80.0% (68/85) in the 10- day sequential-therapy group, and 79.1% (68/86) in the 14-day sequential-therapy group. There were no significant statistical differences between the eradication rates among therapies. CONCLUSION Sequential-therapy treatment regimens are not better than standard triple therapy for the eradication of H. pylori infection, regardless of the treatment duration.
Rectus abdominis diastasis

Abstract Because of the lack of agreement on when rectus diastasis (RD) is pathologic, the aim was to investigate indications for surgical repair. This study presents classifications of RD, current knowledge on the relation to pregnancy, and conservative and surgical management. A systematic search in Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane, and Cinahl revealed 437 studies. Inclusion criteria were applied according to the above mentioned subjects of interest. In total 28 studies were included, representing 3725 patients, 11 of these by assessing reference lists of included studies. Only one RCT was found; most studies were case-series lacking statistical analysis. RD was common in post-partum women. Antepartum activity level may have a protective effect on RD and exercise may improve post-partum symptoms of RD. Repair was done during abdominoplasty or laparoscopically. The patient-satisfaction was high and long-term recurrence was reported by one study, while five reported no recurrence. Overall major complications were few, while minor complications were primarily seroma and wound complications. RD is by itself not a true hernia and, therefore, not associated with the risk of strangulation. Repair is mostly done due to cosmetic reasons. The condition does not necessarily require repair, and conservative management may be an alternative. If done, the protrusion of the abdomen, rather than the diastasis itself should influence the decision of repair. It is recommended that future studies use the established classifications (e.g. Beer, Rath, or Nahas) when reporting RD and long-term outcome of treatment. Comparison of surgical techniques and studies that address and compare conservative management with surgery are needed.
The Comparison of Fama-French Five-Factor Model in Chinese A-share Stock Market and in Real Estate Sector

Fama-French five factors model performs well in the Chinese A-share market and the Chinese real estate industry from July 2002 to December 2015. The excess return of the A-share sizeB/M (Book to Market value) portfolio can be captured by the market excess return, size and operating profitability factors. On the other hand, the excess return of the real estate industry size-B/M portfolio can be captured by the market excess return, size, operating profitability, and investment factors. Value factor is not helpful on explaining the excess return of A-share size-B/M due to the speculative environment in Chinese A-share market. Value factor is not helpful on explaining the excess return of either real estate size-B/M portfolio either. However, the reason is not because of the speculative environment. Investment factor has limited explanatory power in the A-share size-B/M portfolio too. Surprisingly, five factors model performs better in the Chinese real estate industry than in the Chinese A-share market because five out of six factors are significant at 5% level and the factors are less correlated.
Mid-Holocene climate in the south-central Andes: humid or dry?

) have concluded thatgenerally drier conditions prevailed.We argue that wet conditions result in high-er river discharge and erosion, whereas accu-mulation of fine materials in a steep valleyrequires overall decreased river flow and a low-energy environment. With dry conditions, fine-grained but permeable sediments that accumu-late in the valley bottom may form local aqui-fers and raise the groundwater table, despite alarger cross section in the valley and reduceddischarge overall. Modern analogs show thatgroundwater tables in such wetlands are oftenself-sustained, very local, and disconnectedfrom their surroundings, and are thus difficult tointerpret in terms of climate conditions. Today,the rivers in both the Tula´n and Puripica valleysare erosive and have dissected the mid-Holo-cene sediments down to bedrock. Typically,sediments from between 14 and 9 ky B.P., aperiod of well-documented, extreme humidity,are missing in these valleys because of strongerosion, whereas, as expected, sediments fromthis humid period are present in fossil springcomplexes [Tilomonte Springs, figure 4 in (