Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Monetary Policy of the ECB in the Time of Crisis The Current Empirical Analysis

This paper investigates the monetary policy of the European Central Bank in the time of the financial, economic and European debt and banking crisis. This paper focuses on the actual issues connected with the debt and banking crisis in Europe. The attention is devoted to the risk development in the European banking sector and the development of the monetary policy of the ECB. The empirical analysis of the ECB s monetary policy points out the systematic change in its behavior, which means that the ECB has been more focused on the financial stability of the European banking sector instead of the standard aim regarding the price stability. The results of the paper show how the monetary policy of the ECB is more and more unconventional with a decreasing rate of independence. This fact would have a significant impact on a future development of the European banking sector and the European economic activity
Optimization of Early Response Monitoring and Prediction of Cancer Antiangiogenesis Therapy via Noninvasive PET Molecular Imaging Strategies of Multifactorial Bioparameters

Objective: Antiangiogenesis therapy (AAT) has provided substantial benefits regarding improved outcomes and survival for suitable patients in clinical settings. Therefore, the early definition of therapeutic effects is urgently needed to guide cancer AAT. We aimed to optimize the early response monitoring and prediction of AAT efficacy, as indicated by the multi-targeted anti-angiogenic drug sunitinib in U87MG tumors, using noninvasive positron emission computed tomography (PET) molecular imaging strategies of multifactorial bioparameters. Methods: U87MG tumor mice were treated via intragastric injections of sunitinib (80 mg/kg) or vehicle for 7 consecutive days. Longitudinal MicroPET/CT scans with 18F-FDG, 18F-FMISO, 18F-ML-10 and 18F-Alfatide II were acquired to quantitatively measure metabolism, hypoxia, apoptosis and angiogenesis on days 0, 1, 3, 7 and 13 following therapy initiation. Tumor tissues from a dedicated group of mice were collected for immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis of key biomarkers (Glut-1, CA-IX, TUNEL, ανβ3 and CD31) at the time points of PET imaging. The tumor sizes and mouse weights were measured throughout the study. The tumor uptake (ID%/gmax), the ratios of the tumor/muscle (T/M) for each probe, and the tumor growth ratios (TGR) were calculated and used for statistical analyses of the differences and correlations. Results: Sunitinib successfully inhibited U87MG tumor growth with significant differences in the tumor size from day 9 after sunitinib treatment compared with the control group (P < 0.01). The uptakes of 18F-FMISO (reduced hypoxia), 18F-ML-10 (increased apoptosis) and 18F-Alfatide II (decreased angiogenesis) in the tumor lesions significantly changed during the early stage (days 1 to 3) of sunitinib treatment; however, the uptake of 18F-FDG (increased glucose metabolism) was significantly different during the late stage. The PET imaging data of each probe were all confirmed via ex vivo IHC of the relevant biomarkers. Notably, the PET imaging of 18F-Alfatide II and 18F-FMISO was significantly correlated (all P < 0.05) with TGR, whereas the imaging of 18F-FDG and 18F-ML-10 was not significantly correlated with TGR. Conclusion: Based on the tumor uptake of the PET probes and their correlations with MVD and TGR, 18F-Alfatide II PET may not only monitor the early response but also precisely predict the therapeutic efficacy of the multi-targeted, anti-angiogenic drug sunitinib in U87MG tumors. In conclusion, it is feasible to optimize the early response monitoring and efficacy prediction of cancer AAT using noninvasive PET molecular imaging strategies of multifactorial bioparameters, such as angiogenesis imaging with 18F-Alfatide II, which represents an RGD-based probe.
Development and testing of a quantitative food frequency questionnaire for use in Kerala, India

Abstract Objective: To develop and test a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for use in rural areas of Kerala, India. Design: Based on food use and market surveys of the study area, a quantitative 81-item interviewer-administered FFQ was developed. A validation study was conducted consisting of 24-h diet recalls (24HR) administered on 8 days randomly selected over an entire year and two administrations of the FFQ, one at the beginning of the l-year period and the other at the end. FFQ and 24HR-derived nutrient scores were compared using correlation and regression analyses and by examining differences in the nutrient scores. Setting: Rural villages in Ernakulum district, Kerala, South India. Subjects: In each of 30 households, the male head of household and female food preparer were enrolled. Results: Pearson (parametric) correlation coefficients (rp) averaged about 0.50 in comparing nutrient scores derived from the 24HR with those from the first FFQ and about 0.55 in comparing the second FFQ. On average, Spearman correlation coefficients (rs) were slightly lower than the rp in comparing the scores derived from the first FFQ, but virtually identical for the second FFQ. Regression analyses indicated better agreement in the comparison of the 24HR-derived scores with the first FFQ than the second FFQ. Difference scores, however, tended to be larger in comparing the first FFQ scores with the 24HR. Conclusions: This FFQ produces results broadly comparable to those used in Europe and North America, indicating its suitability for comparing exposures within a study population in reference to health-related endpoints.
Measurements and characterizations of spatial and temporal TOA based ranging for indoor WLAN channels

Indoor localization has gained considerable attention in the last decade. Different approaches and techniques have been proposed to solve the indoor location problem from received signal strength (RSS) fingerprinting to time of arrival (TOA) based ultra wideband (UWB) systems. However it is highly desirable for the solution to take advantage of existing network infrastructure such as WLAN. RSS based localization for WLAN cannot provide the required accuracy and recently TOA based ranging approaches have been proposed in IEEE 802.11v. The performance of TOA ranging in WLAN channels has not been investigated and characterized in the literature. In this paper, to the best of the authors' knowledge, the first experimental measurement and analysis to characterize and model the TOA ranging in indoor environment is introduced. Using the well-known frequency domain measurement system, the ranging error performance in line of sight (LOS) and non-line of sight (NLOS) environments is investigated. In addition the performance in time-varying channels is analyzed, where the impact of human induced motion (small-scale fading) on the accuracy of TOA estimation is investigated. The results indicate that for a given location the time-varying error can be modeled as a normal distribution. The mean and the variance vary spatially and are directly related to the movements and the multipath structure (open space, cluttered environment, etc.).
Outdoor Leadership Education: The Past, Present and Future.

This paper examines academic degree programs that train outdoor leaders. A review of previous studies of outdoor leadership noted 12 critical core competencies of an effective outdoor leader. A survey of college outdoor programs identified 15 four-year academic degree programs in outdoor leadership at U.S. colleges and universities. The programs were found in both large and small schools and public and private institutions; went by a wide variety of names; and were housed in various departments, which influenced available and required courses. Technical skills formed the backbone of most curricula, while about half of schools required a specific course in interpersonal communication or group process. The range of emergency skills required by schools was quite large. Forty percent of schools required a specific course in teaching methods. Almost all schools required a leadership course, and 80 percent required a practicum experience in leadership. All schools required a core of introductory theory courses in outdoor, adventure, or environmental education. Required courses in administration were quite varied. There was no clear consensus on outdoor leadership training in the higher education setting, reflecting the lack of nationally accepted professional standards for outdoor education and the absence of any accreditation body to standardize outdoor curricula. However, it appears that most college programs require courses that develop the necessary outdoor competencies cited in the literature. (SV) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** Outdoor Leadership Education: The Past, Present and Future
Risk Factors in Dental Erosion

Dental erosion and factors affecting the risk of its occurrence were investigated with a case-control approach. One hundred and six cases with erosion and 100 randomly selected controls from the same source population were involved in the study. All cases and controls were evaluated by the recording of structured medical and dietary histories and by examination of the teeth and saliva. Erosion was classified according to pre-determined criteria. The relative importance of associations between factors and erosion was analyzed by a logistic multivariable model. Adjusted odds ratios (AOR) were estimated. There was considerable risk of erosion when citrus fruits were eaten more than twice a day (AOR 37), soft drinks were drunk daily (AOR 4), apple vinegar was ingested weekly (AOR 10), or sport drinks were drunk weekly (AOR 4). The risk of erosion was also high in individuals who vomited (AOR 31) or exhibited gastric symptoms (AOR 10), and in those with a low unstimulated salivary flow rate (AOR 5).
Designing Fuzzy Rule Based Expert System for Cyber Security

The state of cyber security has begun to attract more attention and interest outside the community of computer security experts. Cyber security is not a single problem, but rather a group of highly different problems involving different sets of threats. Fuzzy Rule based system for cyber security is a system consists of a rule depository and a mechanism for accessing and running the rules. The depository is usually constructed with a collection of related rule sets. The aim of this study is to develop a fuzzy rule based technical indicator for cyber security with the use of expert system. Rule based systems employ fuzzy rule to automate complex processes. Common cyber threats assumed for cyber experts are used as linguistic variables in this paper.
Canary Island Ravens Corvus corax tingitanus have distinct mtDNA

The Common Raven Corvus corax (Linnaeus 1758) breeds throughout most of the Northern Hemisphere and is the most widespread of all corvids (Madge & Burn 1994). There is little discrete morphological variation in the species, although eight races have been described (Vaurie 1959). Recent phylogenetic studies of the Corvus corax complex suggest that the Common Raven shows species-level paraphyly and comprises two deep evolutionary lineages, the ‘Holarctic clade’ and the ‘California clade’ (Omland et al . 2000, Feldman & Omland 2005). In the present study, we sought to elucidate further the phylogenetics of the ‘Holarctic clade’ by examining an additional C. corax race: C. c. tingitanus (Irby 1874), the smallest subspecies of ravens. It is restricted to the Canary Islands and Morocco and can be distinguished by its size and ‘oily’ plumage gloss (Madge & Burn 1994). This study focuses on the island populations, which we term the ‘Canary Island Raven’. The geographical isolation and distinctive morphology of this group make it crucial to our goal of further assessing the extent of genetic variation within the ‘Holarctic clade’.
Do Intensified Police Controls Change Perceptions of Apprehension Probability: A Field Experiment

The perceived sanction risk is an essential element in the theory of deterrence to link criminal policy and criminal behavior. Previous research has not made clear how or even if individuals update their perceived sanction risk in response to changes in actual criminal policy. This study presents the first field experiment on the updating of the perceived probability of apprehension. On one location the police intensified moped traffic controls during a period of 6 months, while the control intensity on a comparable location remained unchanged. Difference-in-difference estimates reveal that the increased police activity caused an upward revision of the perceived probability of apprehension of offenses such as operating a mobile phone while driving or driving under the influence of alcohol.
Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli: An Emerging Enteric Food Borne Pathogen

Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) are quite heterogeneous category of an emerging enteric pathogen associated with cases of acute or persistent diarrhea worldwide in children and adults, and over the past decade has received increasing attention as a cause of watery diarrhea, which is often persistent. EAEC infection is an important cause of diarrhea in outbreak and non-outbreak settings in developing and developed countries. Recently, EAEC has been implicated in the development of irritable bowel syndrome, but this remains to be confirmed. EAEC is defined as a diarrheal pathogen based on its characteristic aggregative adherence (AA) to HEp-2 cells in culture and its biofilm formation on the intestinal mucosa with a “stacked-brick” adherence phenotype, which is related to the presence of a 60 MDa plasmid (pAA). At the molecular level, strains demonstrating the aggregative phenotype are quite heterogeneous; several virulence factors are detected by polymerase chain reaction; however, none exhibited 100% specificity. Although several studies have identified specific virulence factor(s) unique to EAEC, the mechanism by which EAEC exerts its pathogenesis is, thus, far unknown. The present review updates the current knowledge on the epidemiology, chronic complications, detection, virulence factors, and treatment of EAEC, an emerging enteric food borne pathogen.
A Study of Key Account Management on Taiwanese Laptop Subcontractor

The study adopts the single-case-study method and applies the model of Homburg et al. (2002) to investigate the key account management practices within Company W, a laptop computer ODM. The study reveals two significant findings. One finding is that four elements, activities, actors, resources, and formalization within the model, are mutually correlated, because this four kinds of positive relationships exist among them: 1. Formalization has positive effect to actors. 2. Formalization has positive effect to activities. 3. Actors have positive effect to activities. 4. Resources have positive effect to activities. Another finding is that Company W is charging forward in full singing to integrate the key component manufactures in the upper-stream of supply chain and there is a trend to approach strategic alliance. The outcomes from this study show that 1. The management excellently draws on cross-functional project organization to carry out project life cycle management. 2. The management encourages employee to sincerely serve customer via both customer focus and customer value creation.
Decisions based on ratings, reviews, and recommendations - the cognitive processing of online information

The Internet allows consumers to find different kinds of information about products or services before a purchase. For instance, there is objective information provided by the platform or marketer, as well as different subjective opinions and several forms of ratings generated by users who already bought the product. This cumulative doctoral dissertation aims at depicting the cognitive process that consumers go through when choosing a product while using Internet information. More precisely, this thesis will focus on Internet platforms that contain objective and subjective information to facilitate consumer’s decision-making (i.e. review websites). In order to do this, the decision-making model of Schiebener and Brand (2015) is taken as a theoretical reference. This model is characterized for understanding decision making as a process carried out by two systems that interact constantly. Thus, the reflective system, which is rational and calculative interacts with the impulsive system, which is based on emotional reactions and somatic activity in order to evaluate the options that lead to a decision. Based on this assumption, this thesis integrates the results of three empirical articles. Article 1 uses a Choice-Based Conjoint analysis to identify which type of information provided on review websites is more relevant for consumers and how executive functions are related to the preference for objective or subjective information. The results showed that participants preferred subjective information, such as reviews and ratings, and also that cognitive flexibility and categorization are cognitive abilities related to the preference for objective information. Article 2 used a Judge-Advisor System to measure the influence of both types of information on the final decision. In this study, participants correctly assessed which products were more advantageous based only on objective information. Furthermore, it was found that user recommendations are highly influential for consumers, especially when these come from a high number of users. Article 3 used an experimental design to investigate how Internet cues and the writing style influence consumers’ purchase intention and their perceived trustworthiness of online reviews. The results showed that factual online reviews were perceived as more trustworthy, less fake and entail a higher purchase intention when compared to an emotional writing style. The results of the three articles are supported by literature using other dual-system approaches, such as the Elaboration Likelihood Model. Hence, these results and the subsequent discussions on a meta-level about the role of online descriptions, social influence, and decision confidence; contribute to the development of a theoretical model, based on Schiebener and Brand (2015), which explains how consumers process different types of online information in order to make purchase decisions.
Limited Genetic Diversity in the Endophytic Sugarcane Bacterium Acetobacter diazotrophicus

Acetobacter diazotrophicus isolates that originated from different sugarcane cultivars growing in diverse geographic regions of Mexico and Brazil were shown to have limited genetic diversity. Measurements of polymorphism in the electrophoretic mobilities of metabolic enzymes revealed that the mean genetic diversity per enzyme locus (among the four electrophoretic types distinguished) was 0.064. The results of the genetic analysis indicate that the genetic structure of A. diazotrophicus is clonal, with one largely predominant clone. Plasmids were present in 20 of 24 isolates, and the molecular sizes of the plasmids ranged from 2.0 to 170 kb. Two plasmids (a 20- to 24-kb plasmid detected in all 20 plasmid-containing isolates and a 170-kb plasmid observed in 14 isolates) were highly conserved among the isolates examined. Regardless of the presence of plasmids, all of the isolates shared a common pattern of nif structural gene organization on the chromosome.
Decay rate constrained stabilization of positive systems using static output feedback

This paper investigates the stabilization problem by means of a static output feedback control for positive systems with/without interval uncertainties. The designed closed‐loop system is ensured to be positive and stable with a prescribed decay rate. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of such controllers are established in terms of linear matrix inequalities together with a matrix equality constraint. Furthermore, the desired static output feedback controllers can be derived directly via the cone complementarity linearization techniques. Finally, an illustrative example is presented to show the validity of results obtained in this paper. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Measurement of apoproteins: time to improve the diagnosis and treatment of the atherogenic dyslipoproteinemias.

The articles by Contois et al. [1, 2] describing the reference limits for apolipoprotein (apo) B and apo A-I derived from the Framingham Study population represent another critical advance in the knowledge base necessary if measurement of apoproteins is to become possible in routine clinical practice. We believe it is in the interest of clinical laboratories, physicians, and, most of all, our patients that this should occur. In the first place, measurement of apo B and apo A-I have been standardized [3-6], whereas measurement of the lipoprotein lipids has not. That alone is a major argument in favor of their assay. Moreover, apo B appears to be a more accurate clinical measure of atherogenic risk from low-density lipoproteins (LDL) than is total cholesterol or LDL cholesterol. Given the evidence now in hand that marked lowering of LDL substantially reduces the mortality in a large proportion of those with coronary disease [7], we believe that measurement of apo B should now be available in all clinical laboratories. By contrast, it is not clear that measurement of apo A-I is superior to high-density lipopro-tein (HDL) cholesterol as a measure of atherogenic risk. Our comments here, therefore, will center on apo B. The present diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms are built on LDL cholesterol [8, 9]. As a consequence of the technical weaknesses inherent in its measurement and the physiological limitations of LDL cholesterol as a measure of atherogenic risk, major disadvantages are automatically built into these algorithms and should no longer be ignored. To begin with, LDL cholesterol is calculated, not measured, and-worse yet-is calculated from several unstandardized assays, each of which necessarily involves its own errors in measurements. Is it any wonder then that unacceptable error rates in classification occur, particularly when triglycerides are even marginally increased [10, 11]? Obviously, errors in diagnosis may well lead to errors in therapy. Of course, direct measurement of LDL cholesterol is now possible. However, only limited experience has yet been gained with this technique, and methodological issues such as the considerable dilution required raise concern. In any case, as we will point out, direct assay does not overcome the central problem that LDL cholesterol only incompletely estimates the risk due to atherogenic apo B particles. There are other issues. The first may seem trivial but is not, at least if you are the patient: the necessity in the present scheme for fasting samples. In everyday …