Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
What a Difference a Case Makes: Teaching Economic Evaluation of Public Policies to Non-Economists

The adaptation process to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) provides an opportunity for incorporating new methodologies and making students play the main role in the learning process. In this context, a group of teachers from the University of Barcelona began in the 2012-13 academic year a new pedagogical experience, which consisted in the introduction of case-study methodology in the subject Economic Evaluation of Public Policies, taught at the Political and Administration Sciences undergraduate programme. The aims of the experience were the following: Firstly, making more attractive the subject to non-economists; secondly, developing skills such as collaborative work and critical analysis; finally, increasing academic performance. Results from the experience show enhanced levels of student satisfaction and motivation. Additionally, 2012 students outperform their 2011 colleagues.
An Energy-Efficient Real-Time Routing Protocol for Differentiated Data in Wireless Sensor Networks

Many wireless sensor network (WSN) applications require real-time communication. One of the most important and challenging issues in real-time applications of resource-constrained WSNs is providing end-to-end delay requirement. To address such an issue a few QoS routing protocols have been proposed. Also, in many applications, the delay level required by the data packets is different. In this paper, we focus on building an energy-efficient real-time routing protocol called EERT which routes the differentiated classified packets towards the destination node via a modular approach. It takes into account both power transmission costs and residual energy of routers along with nearness of node to the shortest path and link usage in the energy-efficient module in order to prolong the network life time. Moreover, EERT employs a new policy called re-routing policy which allows the packets of a specific class to be routed as the packets of a lower/higher real-time class in particular situations. In this way, it can improve real-time performance by means of reducing the packet dropping in routing decisions.
Price Discrimination in E-Commerce? An Examination of Dynamic Pricing in Name-Your-Own Price Markets

The enhanced abilities of online retailers to learn about their customers' shopping behaviors have increased fears of dynamic pricing, a practice in which a seller sets prices based on the estimated buyer's willingness-to-pay. However, among online retailers, a deviation from a one-price-for-all policy is the exception. When price discrimination is observed, it is often in the context of customer outrage about unfair pricing. One setting where pricing varies is the name-your-own-price (NYOP) mechanism. In contrast to a typical retail setting, in NYOP markets, it is the buyer who places an initial offer. This offer is accepted if it is above some threshold price set by the seller. If the initial offer is rejected, the buyer can update her offer in subsequent rounds. By design, the final purchase price is opaque to the public; the price paid depends on the individual buyer's willingness-to-pay and offer strategy. Further, most forms of NYOP employ a fixed threshold price policy. In this paper, we compare a fixed threshold price setting with an adaptive threshold price setting. A seller who considers an adaptive threshold price has to weigh potentially greater profits against customer objections about the perceived fairness of such a policy. We first derive the optimal strategy for the seller. We analyze the effectiveness of an adaptive threshold price vis-a-vis a fixed threshold price on seller profit and customer satisfaction. Further, we evaluate the moderating effect of revealing the threshold price policy (adaptive versus fixed) to buyers. We test our model in a series of laboratory experiments and in a large field experiment at a prominent NYOP seller involving real purchases. Our results show that revealing the usage of an adaptive mechanism yields higher profits and more transactions than not revealing this information. In the field experiment, we find that applying a revealed adaptive threshold price can increase profits by over 20 percent without lowering customer satisfaction.
Investigating Value Co-Creation in Innovation of IT-enabled Services: An Empirical Study of Mobile Data Services

Service innovation is increasingly being recognized as an important strategy for firms to sustain competitive advantage. The interconnectivity and interactivity afforded through information technologies (IT) has transformed how new services are created, delivered, and experienced. With the newness of the phenomenon and the lack of understanding, information systems (IS) research examining the influence of innovativeness of IT-enabled service on its performance has been limited. Further, customers are considered as important value co-creators and increasingly included in organizational innovation efforts. However, it is unclear how customer participation affects the performance of new IT-enabled services. Also, the interaction effect of service innovativeness and customer participation on new service performance remains unexplored. Motivated thus, this paper aims to address the knowledge gap by drawing on the value co-creation perspective and service innovation literatures. We construct a model to explain the effects of service innovativeness and customer participation on new IT-enabled service performance. A preliminary test of the model was performed using initial data on mobile data service (MDS) applications obtained from the Androidzoom platform. The results reveal that both service innovativeness and customer participation positively impact new IT-enabled service performance in terms of the number of downloads of the applications. Also, customer participation is found to positively moderate the relationship between service innovativeness and new IT-enabled service performance. The potential contributions and plans for further testing and enhancing the model are described.
Detecting alliance ruptures: the effects of the therapist’s experience, attachment, empathy and countertransference management skills

Accurate alliance rupture detection is a prerequisite to any successful repair process. Despite its importance, however, rupture detection remains a struggle for most therapists. Supporting the existence of a therapist effect on therapy outcomes, rupture detection skills may rely on certain therapists’ personal characteristics. The aim of this study was to verify whether alliance rupture detection performance is related to therapists’ personal characteristics. One hundred and eight undergraduates, trainees and mental health professionals participated in an experimental task assessing their alliance rupture detection ability. Participants also completed attachment, empathy and countertransference management self-reported measures. Participants with clinical experience (trainees and professionals) reported more alliance ruptures, accurate or not, than those with no clinical experience (undergraduates). Trainees reported more accurate ruptures and less inaccurate ones than the two other groups. Attachment anxiety was positively associated with accurate ruptures detection for undergraduates, while this association proved negative for trainees and therapists. Perspective-taking, a cognitive dimension of empathy, was negatively associated with accurate rupture detection, whereas personal distress, an affective dimension of empathy, was negatively associated with accurate ruptures detection for trainees, and positively associated for undergraduates. Self-insight, a component of countertransference management, revealed a negative association with accurate rupture detection for trainees. These findings suggest that therapists vary as to their rupture detection ability and that this ability is related to certain personal characteristics. They also highlight the importance of specific training and clinical supervision for both trainees and experienced therapists in order to improve their detection ability.
Sketch of the magnetosphere with YZ plane through t e flanks [ after Walters

Kelvin-Helmholtz instability along the flanks of the magnetosphere exhibits a semiannual variation, instability maximums occurring at the equinoxes and instability minimums at the solstices. It is suggested that Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities, generated at the magnetopause, initiate the modulation of geomagnetic disturbance detected as the semiannual variation of geomagnetic activity. The Kelvin-Helmholtz explanation predicts a universal time variation of geomagnetic disturbance. This prediction is confirmed by several analyses of the geomagnetic activity indices. Since the physical mechanism suggested for the semiannual variatioh of geomagnetic activity depends on the tilt of the dipole axis, the 'equinoctial' hypothesis is supported.
On the absent ground of transnational partnerships in education: A post-foundational intervention

ABSTRACT Transnational multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) are proliferating in the domain of education and development. This paper intervenes in scholarly discussions on such partnerships by pondering what post-foundational political thought might add. It is argued that both liberal and critical literature, albeit from very different viewpoints, tend to foreground order and stability. Drawing on post-foundational political theory, and a case study of the Global Partnership for Education, the present paper explores transnational MSPs in education as incomplete hegemonic projects. By bringing attention to fissures and disruptions, the paper exposes how the absent ground of ‘the political’ ultimately haunts the stability of partnerships.
Blending Urea with Organic Materials Possessing Antimicrobial Property on Nitrification and Ammonia Volatilization in a Tropical Soil

Different organic materials possessing antimicrobial properties have the ability to retard nitrification. Nitrification retarders could be successfully used to improve fertilizer efficiency if the retarders do not increase ammonia volatilization as well. The main objective of this study was to find whether any locally available organic materials namely cow dung, seed crush of Syzygium cumini, Lantana camara leaf powder, tea residue (Camellia sinensis), Azadiracta indica leaf powder and Azadiracta indica seed crush which posses antimicrobial property could be used as nitrification retarder in Eutrustox soils of Sri Lanka. The effect of these organic materials on ammonia volatilization losses of applied urea was also studied. The treatments applied were, urea alone (T ), urea with cow dung (T ), Syzygium cumini seed crush (T ), Lantana camara leaf powder 1 2 3 (T ), tea residue (T ), Azadiracta indica leaf powder (T ) and Azadiracta indica seed crush (T ) respectively. 4 5 6 7 Organic materials were mixed with fertilizer at the rate of the N added as urea (200 mg/kg). A Completely Randomized Design with three replicates was adopted. The statistical analysis of results indicate the possibility of using Lantana camara leaf, Azadiracta indica leaf and Azadiracta indica seed as a means of minimizing ammonia volatilization and retarding nitrification in Eutrustox soils of Sri lanka.
Assessment of the Validity of a Physical Activity Questionnaire for Vietnamese Children Using an Accelerometer

Background: As physical inactivity is becoming a major cause of health issues around the world, not only in adults but also among children, preventions are required especially in low-and middle- income countries. This study was performed to validate a physical activity questionnaire and assess physical activity of 11-year-old children using the questionnaire and a triaxial accelerometer in Hue City, Vietnam. Methods: A physical activity questionnaire developed by the authors was administered in 30 participants between January and February 2018. Anthropometric measures and 3-day activity monitored using an accelerometer were also obtained. Differences in physical characteristics and physical activity records according to gender and body mass index (BMI), and the relationship between amount of physical activity determined from the questionnaire and accelerometer data were examined. Results: Data for 12 participants were excluded from the analysis due to various types of error. Thirteen of the remaining 18 participants (72%) achieved more than 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) for all three recording days. Male participants showed higher counts than females in exercise, steps, MVPA and vigorous physical activity (VPA), respectively. Significant relationships were found between accelerometer’ records and responses to questions about sedentary behavior, such as time spent playing computer games but not to questions related to their sports activities. Conclusion: Accelerometers could be used to monitor physical activity among 11-year-old Vietnamese children with support from school teachers or guardians. Accelerometer records were correlated with questions regarding sedentary activities but not questions on sports activities. The results suggested the importance of including questions related to sedentary behavior in physical activity questionnaires. Further studies are needed with larger sample sizes to assess the validity of the questionnaire.
A new optical tracking system for virtual and augmented reality applications

A new stereo vision tracker setup for virtual and augmented reality applications is presented in this paper. The performance, robustness and accuracy of the system are achieved under real-time constraints. The method is based on blobs extraction, two-dimensional prediction, the epipolar constraint and three-dimensional reconstruction. Experimental results using a stereo rig setup (equipped with IR capabilities) and retroreflective targets are presented to demonstrate the capabilities of our optical tracking system. The system tracks up to 25 independent targets at 30 Hz.
Spectra and Light Curves of Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglows

The recently discovered gamma-ray burst afterglow is believed to be described reasonably well by synchrotron emission from a decelerating relativistic shell that collides with an external medium. To compare theoretical models with afterglow observations, we calculate here the broadband spectrum and corresponding light curve of synchrotron radiation from a power-law distribution of electrons in an expanding relativistic shock. Both the spectrum and the light curve consist of several power-law segments with related indices. The light curve is constructed under two limiting models for the hydrodynamic evolution of the shock: fully adiabatic and fully radiative. We give explicit relations between the spectral index and the temporal power-law index. Future observations should be able to distinguish between the possible behaviors and determine the type of solution.
Blocking the Entrance to Open the Gate

Almost 80% of postprandial glucose uptake resides in skeletal muscle (1). Hence, development of skeletal muscle insulin resistance is a hallmark of type 2 diabetes. Muscle is an ambiguous organ with respect to substrate selection. To fuel muscle contraction, both glucose and fatty acids can be oxidized. Glucose first needs to enter the muscle cells via insulin-mediated GLUT4-dependent transmembrane transport and then be converted to acetyl-CoA via the pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) complex. Oxidation of fatty acids, especially long-chain fatty acids, requires mitochondrial entrance via carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 (CPT-1) prior to subsequent β-oxidation. To explain the well-known relationship between obesity and type 2 diabetes, Sir Philip Randle (2) proposed in 1963 that high uptake of fatty acids in skeletal muscle resulting from high free fatty acid levels observed in obesity would result in high fatty acid oxidation rates (Fig. 1). In turn, this would reduce glucose oxidation, thereby rendering the muscle insulin resistant. At the cellular level, high rates of fatty acid oxidation would result in accumulation of acetyl-CoA and citrate, thereby inhibiting PDH and glycolysis, ultimately resulting in reduced glucose oxidation. However, in the previous 2 decades, the concept of the Randle cycle in skeletal muscle has been challenged. Elegant studies by Shulman and colleagues (3–5) showed that in type 2 diabetes, reduced uptake of glucose due to compromised GLUT4 translocation, not a reduced glycolytic flux, is the main culprit in development of skeletal muscle insulin resistance. Moreover, fat accumulation in muscle, and particularly accumulation of muscle diacylglycerol (DAG), was suggested to impair …
The Age of Social Transformation

No century in recorded history has experienced so many social transformations and such radical ones as the twentieth century. They, I submit, may turn out to be the most significant events of this, our century, and its lasting legacy. In the developed free-market countries--which contain less than a fifth of the earth's population but are a model for the rest--work and work force, society and polity, are all, in the last decade of this century, qualitatively and quantitatively different not only from what they were in the first years of this century but also from what has existed at any other time in history: in their configurations, in their processes, in their problems, and in their structures.
A method for determining radio continuum spectra and its application to large surveys

A new tool to extract cross-identifications and radio continuum spectra from radio catalogues contained in the VIZIER database of the CDS is presented. The code can handle radio surveys at different frequencies with different resolutions. It has been applied to 22 survey catalogues at 11 different frequencies containing a total of 3.5 million sources, which resulted in over 700 000 independent radio cross-identifications and ∼67 000 independent radio spectra with more than two frequency points. A validation of the code has been performed using independent radio cross-correlations from the literature. The mean error of the determined spectral index is ±0.3. The code produces an output of variable format that can easily be adapted to the purpose of the user.
Mapping techniques for parallel evaluation of chains of recurrences

This paper examines the parallelization of a technique for speeding up the evaluation of potentially-complex real-valued functions at a large number of points. The technique being parallelized generates a chain of recurrences (CR) which is then used to compute the function incrementally (i.e., by using the results of one iteration in calculating the value of the function in the next iteration). This paper examines the possibilities for mapping the CR technique onto parallel machines. The factors influencing the choice of mapping alternatives include efficiency, speedup, and most interestingly, the potential for improved error distributions.
Sex-specific trends in 4-year survival in 37 276 men and women with acute myocardial infarction before the age of 55 years in Sweden, 1987–2006: a register-based cohort study

Objective To examine sex-specific trends in 4-year mortality among young patients with first acute myocardial infarction (AMI), 1987–2006. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Sweden. Participants We identified 37 276 cases (19.4% women; age, 25–54 years) from the Swedish Inpatient Register, 1987–2006, who had survived 28 days after an AMI. Outcome measures 4-year mortality from all causes and standard mortality ratio (SMR). Results From the first to last 5-year period, the absolute excess risk decreased from 1.38 to 0.50 and 1.53 to 0.59 per 100 person-years among men aged 25–44 and 45–54 years, respectively. Corresponding figures for women were a decrease from 2.26 to 1.17 and from 1.93 to 1.45 per 100 person-years, respectively. Trends for women were non-linear, decreasing to the same extent as those for men until the third period, then increasing. For the last 5-year period, the standardised mortality ratio for young survivors of AMI compared with the general population was 4.34 (95% CI 3.04 to 5.87) and 2.43 (95% CI 2.12 to 2.76) for men aged 25–44 and 45–54 years, respectively, and 13.53 (95% CI 8.36 to 19.93) and 6.42 (95% CI 5.24 to 7.73) for women, respectively. Deaths not associated with cardiovascular causes increased from 21.5% to 44.6% in men and 41.5% to 65.9% in women. Conclusions Young male survivors of AMI have low absolute long-term mortality rates, but these rates remain twofold to fourfold that of the general population. After favourable development until 2001, women now have higher absolute mortality than men and a 6-fold to 14-fold risk of death compared with women in the general population.
Investigation on economic feasibility of different maintenance rules for cable

Life-cycle cost (LCC) assessment are carried out to compare the economic feasibility of different maintenance rules, such as periodical replacement (TBM), periodical diagnosis (PDM), dual-periodical diagnosis (DDM) and the strategy of periodical replacement with one occasional diagnosis at the optimal opportunity (DTB). The maintenance rule of DDM may generally save a lot of total cost than that of PDM and DTB, and even more than that of TBM; except at some certain range of deviation of measurement parameter, which may attributed to the uncertainty of failure rate. Maintenance method DTB in this paper may be of efficiency at some certain large relative value of diagnosis expense. Moreover, the effects of some factors such as interest rate, diagnosis expense, failure expense and the dispersion of measurement parameter distribution are also discussed.
The Ndc80p Complex from Saccharomyces cerevisiae Contains Conserved Centromere Components and Has a Function in Chromosome Segregation

We have purified a complex from Saccharomyces cerevisiae containing the spindle components Ndc80p, Nuf2p, Spc25p, and Spc24p. Temperature-sensitive mutants in NDC80, SPC25, and SPC24 show defects in chromosome segregation. In spc24-1 cells, green fluorescence protein (GFP)-labeled centromeres fail to split during spindle elongation, and in addition some centromeres may detach from the spindle. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays show an association of all four components of the complex with the yeast centromere. Homologues of Ndc80p, Nuf2p, and Spc24p were found in Schizosaccharomyces pombe and GFP tagging showed they were located at the centromere. A human homologue of Nuf2p was identified in the expressed sequence tag database. Immunofluorescent staining with anti–human Nuf2p and with anti-HEC, the human homologue of Ndc80p, showed that both proteins are at the centromeres of mitotic HeLa cells. Thus the Ndc80p complex contains centromere-associated components conserved between yeasts and vertebrates.
Role of gender differences on individuals’ responses to electronic word-of-mouth in social interactions

ABSTRACT Considering the significant effects of electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM), this research explores how individuals respond to eWOM and whether gender differences exist in their perceptions. To do so, by employing the perspective of social interactions, we examine the proposed relationships are different between genders. We collected data using a survey and tested the hypotheses via path analysis. The results indicate that, gender differences were found specific to search effort, product involvement, and information credibility. Women with strong online ties had a tendency to be more involved in the product information and to find the information more credible. In addition, when women had an increased search effort, they were more likely to have intention spread eWOM. This research provides insights to further research related to gender differences in eWOM by discussing implications for research and practice.