Faces are detected more rapidly than other objects in visual scenes and search arrays, but the cause for this face advantage has been contested. In the present study, we found that under conditions of spatial uncertainty, faces were easier to detect than control targets (dog faces, clocks and cars) even in the absence of surrounding stimuli, making an explanation based only on low-level differe...

Biomedical datasets usually include a large number of features relative to the number of samples. However, some data dimensions may be less relevant or even irrelevant to the output class. Selection of an optimal subset of features is critical, not only to reduce the processing cost but also to improve the classification results. To this end, this paper presents a hybrid method of filter and wr...

There is a considerable amount of controversy about the model(s) of comparative advantage and its applicability to international business, in particular as a guide to the success of nations and/or firms in international markets. This perception (or understanding) of inapplicability of the model(s) of comparative advantage has lead international business experts to develop new models, or what ma...

The literature on ERPT has not considered product-level comparative advantage (CA) as a source of heterogeneous firm productivity. However, a firm’s production choice may determine its productivity level and also its pricing decision as both the degree of market power and the fixed costs of exporting vary across products. This paper empirically analyses the export pricing behaviour of Chinese a...

Payment to Medicare Advantage (MA) plans was fundamentally altered in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA). MA plans now operate under a new formula for county-level payment area benchmarks, and in 2012 began receiving quality-based bonus payments. The Medicare Advantage Quality Bonus Payment Demonstration expanded the bonus payments to most MA plans through 2014; howeve...

The research suggests that Chinese companies do not subscribe to ‘western’ strategy theory. As they rapidly internationalise through massive Foreign Direct Investment, Chinese companies are developing new perspectives on achieving competitiveness. A comparison of the Resource-Based View of strategy (RBV) constructs from western literature with identified (indigent) Chinese business strategies f...

Key Data Findings. (1) From March 2012 to March 2013, rural enrollment in Medicare Advantage (MA) and other prepaid plans increased by over 200,000 enrollees, to more than 1.9 million. (2) Preferred provider organization (PPO) plan enrollment increased to nearly one million enrollees, accounting for more than 51% of the rural MA market (up from 48% in March 2012). (3) Health maintenance organiz...