Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How does perceived risks complement switching costs in e-commerce?

Customer acquisition and retention are two phases of an e-commerce life cycle. Switching costs and perceived risks affect both, but in different ways. This study examines these two well known, often contradicting variables in an integrated frame work and asks: Can perceived risks complement switching costs to give rises to new customer loyalty strategies for e-commerce enterprises? That is, do these two negative forces positively reinforce each other’s effects in some manner? This study investigates 516 online consumers in Taiwan to help answer this question. The findings of this study reveal that perceived risks associate negatively with customer loyalty, whereas switching costs associate positively with customer loyalty. In addition, perceived risks and switching costs complement each other to influence customer loyalty from acquisition to retention. The reduction of perceived risk is the force working at the customer acquisition phase for the provider, whereas the increment of switching cost works at the customer retention phase against the competition. Key words: Switching costs, perceived risks, customer loyalty, complement, e-commerce.
Evaluation of TRMM Product for Monitoring Drought in the Kelantan River Basin, Malaysia

Assessment of satellite precipitation products’ capability for monitoring drought is relatively new in tropical regions. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the reliability of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) 3B43 product in estimating the standardized precipitation index (SPI) in the Kelantan River Basin, Malaysia from 1998 to 2014, by comparing it with data from 42 rain gauges. Overall, the TMPA-3B43 performed well in the monthly precipitation estimation, but performed moderately in the seasonal scale. Better performance was found in the northeast monsoon (wet season) than in the southwest monsoon (dry season). The product is more reliable in the northern and north-eastern regions (coastal zone) compared to the central, southern and south-eastern regions (mountainous area). For drought assessment, the correlations between the TMPA-3B43 and ground observations are moderate at various time-scales (one to twelve months), with better performance at shorter time-scales. The TMPA-3B43 shows similar temporal drought behavior by capturing most of the drought events at various time-scales, except for the 2008–2009 drought. These findings show that the TMPA-3B43 is not suitable to be used directly for SPI estimation in this basin. More bias correction and algorithm improvement work are needed to improve the accuracy of the TMPA-3B43 in drought monitoring.
Olive leaf extract activity against Candida albicans and C. dubliniensis – the in vitro viability study

Abstract Olive leaf extract is characterized by a high content of polyphenols (oleuropein, hydroxytyrosol and their derivatives), which is associated with its therapeutic properties. The objective of the present research was to evaluate the antifungal activity of olive leaf extract against Candida albicans ATCC 10231 and C. dubliniensis CBS 7987 strains. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the extract were determined by several in vitro assays. The extract showed a concentration depended effect on the viability of C. albicans with MIC value of 46.875 mg mL-1 and C. dubliniensis with MIC value 62.5 mg mL-1. Most sensitive methods for testing the antifungal effect of the extracts were the trypan blue exclusion method and fluorescent dye exclusion method while MIC could not be determined by the method according to the EUCAST recommendation suggesting that herbal preparations contain compounds that may interfere with this susceptibility testing. The fluorescent dye exclusion method was also used for the assessment of morphological changes in the nuclei of treated cells. According to the obtained results, olive leaf extract is less effective against the tested strains than hydroxytyrosol, an olive plant constituent tested in our previous study.
Governmentality in Higher Education: A Critical Analysis of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE).

In this dissertation, the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) serves as a nodal point through which to examine the power relations shaping the direction and practices of higher education in the twenty-first century. Theoretically, my analysis is informed by Foucault’s concept of governmentality, briefly defined as a technology of power that influences or shapes behavior from a distance. This form of governance operates through apparatuses of security, which include higher education. Foucault identified three essential characteristics of an apparatus—the market, the milieu, and the processes of normalization—through which administrative mechanisms and practices operate and govern populations. In this project, my primary focus is on the governance of faculty and administrators, as a population, at residential colleges and universities. I argue that the existing milieu of accountability is one dominated by the neoliberal assumption that all activity—including higher education—works best when governed by market forces alone, reducing higher education to a market-mediated private good. Under these conditions, what many in the academy believe is an essential purpose of higher education—to educate students broadly, to contribute knowledge for the public good, and to serve as society’s critic and social conscience (Washburn 227)—is being eroded. Although NSSE emerged as a form of resistance to commercial college rankings, it did not challenge the forces that empowered the rankings in the first place. Indeed, NSSE data are now being used to make institutions even more responsive to market forces. Furthermore, NSSE’s use has a normalizing effect that tends to homogenize classroom practices and erode the autonomy of faculty in the educational process. It also
Comparative evaluation of the risk of malignancy index scoring systems (1-4) used in differential diagnosis of adnexal masses.

BACKGROUND To determine the cut-off values of the preoperative risk of malignancy index (RMI) used in differentiating benign or malignant adnexal masses and to determine their significance in differential diagnosis by comparison of different systems. MATERIALS AND METHODS 191 operated women were assessed retrospectively. RMI of 1, 2, 3 and 4; cut-off values for an effective benign or malignant differentiation together with sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive predictive values were calculated. RESULTS Cut-off value for RMI 1 was found to be 250; there was significant (p<0.001) compatibility at this level with sensitivity of 60%, positive predictive value (PPV) of 75%, specificity of 93%, negative predictive value (NPV) of 88% and an overall compliance rate of 85%. When RMI 2 and 3 was obtained with a cut-off value of 200, there was significant (p<0.001) compatibility at this level for RMI 2 with sensitivity of 67%, PPV of 67%, specificity of 89%, NPV of 89%, histopathologic correlation of 84% while RMI 3 had significant (p<0.001) compatibility at the same level with sensitivity of 63%, PPV of 69%, specificity of 91%, NPV of 88% and a histopathologic correlation of 84%. Significant (p<0.001) compatibility for RMI 4 with a sensitivity of 67%, PPV of 73%, specificity of 92%, NPV of 89% and a histopathologic correlation of 86% was obtained at the cut-off level 400. CONCLUSIONS RMI have a significant predictability in differentiating benign and malignant adnexal masses, thus can effectively be used in clinical practice.
Portable measurement system of the spasticity based on the K-means clustering algorithm of the tonic stretch reflex threshold

Conventional clinical scales used for the evaluation of the spasticity have some limitations, and their reliability remains controversial. The aim of this study is to develop a portable spasticity measurement system for quantifying the grade of spasticity based on the K-means clustering algorithm of the tonic stretch reflex threshold (TSRT). Fifteen stroke patients (age: 63.5±15.6) participated in the study. As a result, there was a strong negative correlation (r=-0.95, r=0.90, p<0.05) between the spasticity level and TSRTs. This result showed that our system could be made clinically available for the more reliable discrimination of the spasticity level, compared to conventional scales.
High-latitude observations of impulse-driven ULF pulsations in the ionosphere and on the ground

We report the simultaneous observation of 1.6- 1.7 mHz pulsations in the ionospheric F-region with the CUTLASS bistatic HF radar and an HF Doppler sounder, on the ground with the IMAGE and SAMNET magnetome- ter arrays, and in the upstream solar wind. CUTLASS was at the time being operated in a special mode optimized for high resolution studies of ULF waves. A novel use is made of the ground returns to detect the ionospheric signature of ULF waves. The pulsations were initiated by a strong, sharp decrease in solar wind dynamic pressure near 09:28 UT on 23 February 1996, and persisted for some hours. They were observed with the magnetometers over 20 in latitude, cou- pling to a field line resonance near 72 magnetic latitude. The magnetic pulsations had azimuthal m numbers 2, consis- tent with propagation away from the noon sector. The radars show transient high velocity flows in the cusp and auroral zones, poleward of the field line resonance, and small ampli- tude 1.6-1.7 mHz F-region oscillations across widely spaced regions at lower latitudes. The latter were detected in the radar ground scatter returns and also with the vertical inci- dence Doppler sounder. Their amplitude is of the order of ±10 m s 1 . A similar perturbation frequency was present in the solar wind pressure recorded by the WIND spacecraft. The initial solar wind pressure decrease was also associated with a decrease in cosmic noise absorption on an imaging ri- ometer near 66 magnetic latitude. The observations suggest that perturbations in the solar wind pressure or IMF result in fast compressional mode waves that propagate through the magnetosphere and drive forced and resonant oscillations of geomagnetic field lines. The compressional wave field may also stimulate ionospheric perturbations. The observations demonstrate that HF radar ground scatter may contain im- portant information on small-amplitude features, extending the scope and capability of these radars to track features in the ionosphere.
Medication errors—an enduring problem for children and elderly patients

Abstract Objective. To analyze the types and reasons of medication errors, committed by health care professionals, which led to toxicological consultations at the Czech Toxicological Information Centre (TIC). Methods. Inquiries arising from medication errors for 2000–2010 were extracted and evaluated from the database of the TIC, recording the consultations of poisonings due to drugs, household products, plants, and mushrooms. Results. From a total of 44,344 calls concerning pharmaceuticals, 215 (0.5%) were denoted by the caller as medication errors; 130 involved children (90 below 5 years of age) and 85 involved adults (30–60 years of age). The most common errors were: improper dosage (60.9%), wrong medication (19.3%), or erroneous route of administration (12.9%). The most frequent medication errors appeared using drugs affecting the nervous system (psycholeptics and antiepileptics), antibiotics, and drugs affecting the respiratory system. Nurses administering the drugs were responsible for 43.0%, physicians prescribing the drugs for 36.8%, and pharmacists dispensing the drugs for 20.2% of the errors. Of 25 patients with severe drug intoxications, 60.0% were children under 5 years of age treated with pharmaceuticals affecting the CNS, and 28.0% patients over 60 years of age with chronic application of theophylline, digoxin, or lithium. Conclusions. The trend in medication errors has remained relatively stable over the past 11 years. The analysis of medication errors shows two high-risk categories: children of less than 5 years of age, in whom the dose was not correctly adjusted, and elderly people with chronic medication and insufficient control of their medication level. Therefore, the measures for risk reduction should focus primarily on them.
A discourse analysis of school girls engagement with fat pedagogy and critical health education: rethinking the childhood ‘obesity scandal’

ABSTRACT New interdisciplinary approaches including fat studies, fat pedagogy, critical weight studies and critical health education have attempted to challenge forms of weight-based oppression associated with obesity discourse within education settings. Very little is known about young people’s views of these alternative critical approaches. Theoretically informed by these perspectives, this article examines girls’ responses to the messages of these alternative frameworks about weight and health and the utility of these perspectives as a possible approach to challenging weight-centric health education. The article presents unique findings from a study examining these responses within a secondary school context. The aim of the study was to introduce other ways of knowing fatness and health, which did not privilege the dominant biomedical knowledge of obesity discourse. Twenty-four girls aged 12–13 years participated in a series of interactive focus groups as part of a workshop designed to introduce them to fat pedagogy and critical health education perspectives. A feminist poststructural discourse analysis revealed that whilst the girls welcomed a fat pedagogy approach, they also identified barriers for its implementation in schools; the hegemony of obesity discourse which was compounded by the neoliberal logics of a postfeminist sensibility; the tensions between obesity discourse and body confidence messages in schools; and the dominance of a transmission model of health education in schools.
Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision Making to Select Mutual Funds Investment Style

The investment of mutual funds which investors are often required evaluating the investment strategies according to their own subjective preferences in terms of numerical values from various criteria. This situation can be regarded as a fuzzy multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. The purpose of this study attempts to propose an alternative approach, fuzzy multiple criteria decision making with fuzzy integral, relaxing the independence among considered criteria for evaluation of MCDM problems, which is oftentimes the basic assumption in applying AHP, for evaluating the strategies of selecting the mutual funds investment style in Taiwan. We also employ triangular fuzzy numbers to represent the decision makers' subjective preferences on the considered criteria, as well as for the criteria measurements to evaluate mutual funds investment style for investors. First, in this study we employ factor analysis to extract four independent common factors from those criteria. Second, we construct the evaluation frame using AHP composed of the above four common factors with sixteen evaluated criteria, and then derive the relative weights with respect to considered criteria. Third, the synthetic utility value corresponding to each mutual fund investment style is aggregated by the fuzzy weights with fuzzy performance values. Finally, we compare with empirical data and find that the model of FMCDM predict the rate of return very exactly in certain rangeλ , hence the non-additive fuzzy integral technique is an effective method to predict the mutual funds performance, meanwhile it can help investors to make decision in different conditions (λ ).
Multi-stakeholder management : Tools for Stakeholder Analysis : 10 building blocks for designing participatory systems of cooperation

With the support and assistance of DED, EED, InWEnt, KfW and the political foundations HBS and KAS This evaluation was prepared on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). We wish to point out that the authors were entirely free to engage in independent research and formulate their own assessments. BMZ provides this evaluation with the aim of fostering the international debate on promoting participatory development in German and international development cooperation. The study commissioned by BMZ comprises seven country studies and four thematic papers. These papers, and abridged versions of the country studies, have been prepared in German; some of them are also available in English and the lingua franca of the countries in question. As a rule, the full reports were prepared in the respective national languages and can be found on CDs accompanying the publications in some cases. The Stakeholder Analysis is also available in French and English.
Discovery of Novel Cross-Talk between Protein Arginine Methyltransferase Isoforms and Design of Dimerization Inhibitors

Protein arginine methyltransferase, PRMT, is a family of epigenetic enzymes that methylate arginine residues on histone and nonhistone substrates which result in a monomethylation, symmetric dimethylation or asymmetric dimethylation via the transfer of a methyl group from S-adenosyl-Lmethionine (SAM). We discovered a novel interaction between two PRMT isoforms: PRMT1 interacts and methylates PRMT6. In this study site-directed mutagenesis was performed on selected arginines identified from tandem mass spectrometric analysis to investigate major methylation sites of PRMT6 by PRMT1. In combination with radiometric methyltransferase assays, we determined two major methylation sites. Methylations at these sites have significant effects on the nascent enzymatic activity of PRMT6 in H4 methylation. PRMTs have the ability to homodimerize which have been linked to methyltransferase activity. We designed dimerization inhibitors (DMIs) to further investigate the need for dimerization for enzyme activity. Preliminary results suggest that the monomeric form of PRMT1 retains methyltransferase activity comparable to that of the uninhibited PRMT1. INDEX WORDS: Protein arginine methyltransferase (PRMT), peptide synthesis, histone, dimerization, methylation DISCOVERY OF NOVEL CROSS-TALK BETWEEN PROTEIN ARGININE METHYLTRANSFERASE ISOFORMS AND DESIGN OF DIMERIZATION INHIBITORS
The Razor's Edge: Magnetic Fields and Their Fundamental Role in Star Formation and Observations of Protostellar Coress

We review theoretical models of the early stages of star formation, in which gravitational collapse is strongly regulated by magnetic fields and the associated process of ambipolar diffusion. We discuss results of numerical simulations and analytical studies of core formation and collapse, which can be directly tested against observation. We also focus on recent data which are relevant to this theory of star formation, such as: observations of extended infall in protostellar cores, estimates of evolutionary timescales ~ 1 Myr for cores, measured mass-to-flux ratios of cores, and the relative alignment of polarization vectors with apparent cloud elongation. It is shown that in all of these areas, the data lie within the observationally allowable range of parameter space. Other areas of interest (protostellar accretion rates and the presence of core edges) and issues that remain unresolved or under study (the role of non-thermal motions and cluster formation) are also discussed. Moreover, we highlight some differences between our model predictions and those of highly turbulent star formation models, and discuss how these differences can be distinguished observationally.
Photometric selection of z∼ 5 Lyman break galaxies in the ESO Remote Galaxy Survey

We describe the selection of a sample of photometrically defined Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at z∼ 5 using the multiwavelength imaging data of the ESO (European Southern Observatory) Remote Galaxy Survey. The data are drawn from 10 widely separated fields covering a total sky area of 275 arcmin2. Starting with a simple colour (R−I > 1.3) and magnitude (I < 26.3) cut to isolate the Lyman break and then refining the sample by applying further optical and near-infrared photometric criteria we identify a sample of 253 LBG candidates. We carefully model the completeness of this sample and the factors that affect its reliability. There is considerable overlap between this sample and a spectroscopically confirmed sample drawn from the same survey and this allows us to determine the reliability of the optical photometric selection (∼60 per cent) and to show that the reliability can be significantly improved (to ∼80 per cent) by applying near-infrared waveband criteria to exclude very red contaminants. Even this high level of reliability may compromise some statistical studies of LBG properties. We show that over 30 per cent of the highest reliability candidates have multiple ultraviolet (UV) luminous components and/or disturbed morphology in Hubble Space Telescope imaging, though it is unclear whether this represents multiple interacting/merging sources or individual large sources with multiple UV bright regions. Using this sample we confirm that the normalization of the bright end of the z= 5 UV luminosity function (down to M*) is lower than the same at z= 4 by a factor of 3. Using a Schechter fit we determine M*UV=−20.9 ± 0.2. We discuss whether it is reasonable to expect the UV luminosity function to follow a Schechter function, given the UV emission is short lived and stochastic, and does not necessarily trace the underlying mass of the galaxy.
Proteomic analysis of Aspergillus nidulans cultured under hypoxic conditions

The fungus Aspergillus nidulans reduces nitrate to ammonium and simultaneously oxidizes ethanol to acetate to generate ATP under hypoxic conditions in a mechanism called ammonia fermentation (Takasaki, K. et al. J. Biol. Chem. 2004, 279, 12414–12420). To elucidate the mechanism, the fungus was cultured under normoxic and hypoxic (ammonia fermenting) conditions, intracellular proteins were resolved by 2‐DE, and 332 protein spots were identified using MALDI MS after tryptic digestion. Alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenases that play key roles in oxidizing ethanol were produced at the basal level under hypoxic conditions but were obviously provoked by ethanol under normoxic conditions. Enzymes involved in gluconeogenesis, as well as the tricarboxylic and glyoxylate cycles, were downregulated. These results indicate that the mechanism of fungal energy conservation is altered under hypoxic conditions. The results also showed that proteins in the pentose phosphate pathway as well as the metabolism of both nucleotide and thiamine were upregulated under hypoxic conditions. Levels of xanthine and hypoxanthine, deamination products of guanine and adenine were increased in DNA from hypoxic cells, indicating an association between hypoxia and intracellular DNA base damage. This study is the first proteomic comparison of the hypoxic responses of A. nidulans.