Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors Influencing the Acceptance of Self-Service Technologies

To facilitate efficient and effective service delivery, firms are introducing self-service technologies (SSTs) at an increasing pace. This article presents a meta-analysis of the factors influencing customer acceptance of SSTs. The authors develop a comprehensive causal framework that integrates constructs and relationships from different technology acceptance theories, and they use the framework to guide their meta-analysis of findings consolidated from 96 previous empirical articles (representing 117 independent customer samples with a cumulative sample size of 103,729 respondents). The meta-analysis reveals the following key insights: (1) SST usage is influenced in a complex fashion by numerous predictors that should be examined jointly; (2) ease of use and usefulness are key mediators, and studies ignoring them may underestimate the importance of some predictors; (3) several determinants of usefulness impact ease of use, and vice versa, thereby revealing crossover effects not previously revealed; and (4) the links leading up to SST acceptance in the proposed framework are moderated by SST type (transaction/self-help, kiosk/Internet, public/private, hedonic/utilitarian) and country culture (power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance). Results from the meta-analysis offer managerial guidance for effective implementation of SSTs and provide directions for further research to augment current knowledge of SST acceptance.
Faint 6.7 Micron Galaxies and Their Contributions to the Stellar Mass Density in the Universe

We discuss the nature of faint 6.7 μm galaxies detected with the mid-infrared camera ISOCAM on board the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). The 23 hr integration on the Hawaii Deep Field SSA13 has provided a sample of 65 sources down to 6 μJy at 6.7 μm. For 57 sources, optical or near-infrared counterparts were found using a statistical method. All four Chandra sources, three SCUBA sources, and one VLA/FIRST source in this field were detected at 6.7 μm with high significance. Using their optical to mid-infrared colors, we divided the 6.7 μm sample into three categories: low-redshift galaxies with past histories of rapid star formation, high-redshift ancestors of these, and other star-forming galaxies. Rapidly star-forming systems at high redshifts dominate the faintest end. Spectroscopically calibrated photometric redshifts were derived from fits to a limited set of template spectral energy distributions (SEDs). They show a high-redshift tail in their distribution with faint (<30 μJy) galaxies at z > 1. The 6.7 μm galaxies tend to have brighter K magnitudes and redder I-K colors than the blue dwarf population at intermediate redshifts. Stellar masses of the 6.7 μm galaxies were estimated from their rest-frame, near-infrared luminosities. Massive galaxies (Mstar ∼ 1011 M⊙) were found in the redshift range of z = 0.2–3. Epoch-dependent stellar mass functions indicate a decline of massive galaxies' comoving space densities with redshift. Even with such a decrease, the contributions of the 6.7 μm galaxies to the stellar mass density in the universe are found to be comparable to those expected from UV bright galaxies detected in deep optical surveys.
Identification and characterization of telocytes in the uterus of the oviduct in the Chinese soft-shelled turtle, Pelodiscus sinensis: TEM evidence

Telocytes (Tcs) are cells with telopodes (Tps), which are very long cellular extensions with alternating thin segments (podomers) and dilated bead‐like thick regions known as podoms. Tcs are a distinct category of interstitial cells and have been identified in many mammalian organs including heart, lung and kidney. The present study investigates the existence, ultrastructure, distribution and contacts of Tcs with surrounding cells in the uterus (shell gland) of the oviduct of the Chinese soft‐shelled turtle, Pelodiscus sinensis. Samples from the uterine segment of the oviduct were examined by transmission electron microscopy. Tcs were mainly located in the lamina propria beneath the simple columnar epithelium of the uterus and were situated close to nerve endings, capillaries, collagen fibres and secretory glands. The complete morphology of Tcs and Tps was clearly observed and our data confirmed the existence of Tcs in the uterus of the Chinese soft‐shelled turtle Pelodiscus sinensis. Our results suggest these cells contribute to the function of the secretory glands and contraction of the uterus.
Changes in Rice Farming in the Philippines: Insights from Five Decades of a Household-Level Survey by Piedad Moya, Kei Kajisa, Randolph Barker, Samarendu Mohanty, Fe Gascon, and Mary Rose San Valentine (review)

This valuable and stimulating little book stands at the intersection of two familiar approaches to the study of rural Southeast Asia. The production of rich troves of data on specific corners of the region has distinguished the first, older, approach — one exemplified most famously by the Cornell project on the Central Thai village of Bang Chan and the MIT Modjokuto Project. The scholarly yield of those projects, now relics of a bygone era, proved enduringly influential, but, the historicizing efforts of Sharp and Hanks (1978) and of Geertz (1963) notwithstanding, that yield resulted from intensive fieldwork undertaken during a finite period. The longitudinal reach of the data that the projects generated was necessarily limited. Imputations of change, above all in the case of Geertz’s work on Java’s agriculture and society, rested on less than ideal foundations. As if to address this latter issue, but really in response to the rapid disappearance of what they previously understood as “the rural” from much of rural Southeast Asia, a second approach has more recently seen scholars return to the sites of their earlier fieldwork to restudy them. Perhaps the outstanding example of this latter approach has come in the studies collected in Rigg’s and Vandergeest’s edited volume, Revisiting Rural Places (2012). The book under review here has much in common with the studies in that latter volume, but it is at the same time both narrower and deeper than most of them. For its focus is ostensibly on rice farming and only on rice farming, and it draws not on a single or even two or three or four follow-up visits to its field site but rather to more than twenty return visits to farm plots in Central Luzon over a period of nearly half a century. The book and the surveys on which it draws thus represent one of the more remarkable treasure chests of social-scientific data ever assembled in the post-independence study of rural Southeast Asia.1
Embodied Value Co-creation: A Turn-taking Perspective on Service Encounter Interactions

Abstract This article aims at advancing research on value creation in service marketing by applying theories of turn-taking and multimodality. It is argued that there is a need to uncover what is inherent in the prefix ‘co’ in value co-creation and that focus needs to be broadened, from perception of value to the production of value, that is, the specific reciprocal and embodied actions in service encounters. For the analysis, an empirical study of complex interactions between service providers and customers is used. A practice approach is applied, combining interviews and observations of interactants in situ. The article identifies four specific turn-taking patterns, ranging from ‘simple’ to ‘elaborated’, defined by their character and that uncover how the interactants reciprocally use multiple modes in the production of social outcomes. Theoretically, the study contributes to more fine-grained explanations to what explains the creation (and destruction) of value.
“I could’ve had a better life”: Reflective life reviews told by late-middle-aged and older women and men with ongoing long-term alcohol problems

Aim: This study accounts for how people aged 55-69 with ongoing long-term alcohol problems conceptualize past, present and future. Methods: A total of 19 interviews were performed, from which reflective life reviews were obtained and analyzed as narrative life accounts. Three structuring thematic traits were identified: resentment of life, acceptance of life and gratitude towards life. Results: The study shows how past, present and future intertwine into meaningful entities incorporating certain governing master narratives about recovery, familiar for example from expert discourse and the AA movement. When it comes to the theme of resentment, the participants articulated disappointment over what life had become and emphasized especially the missed work-related opportunities that the drinking had caused. In the theme of acceptance letting go of the past was viewed as important for creating a sober future. Within the dimension of gratitude the past was seen as a resource for self-development and future recovery. Conclusions: How long-term alcohol problems are conceptualized in the long view of a life narrative may have great implications for outlooks of a sober future. A closer look at the social and cultural material incorporated in the stories of this age group is an important task for future research.
Changing pattern of infective endocarditis in Iran: A 16 years survey

Objectives: To investigate the changes in characteristics of patients with infective endocarditis in Iran and comparing the results with the changing profiles of Infection Endocarditis (IE) in other countries. Methodology: We studied all patients with definite or possible IE seen at four referral teaching hospitals in Iran from Jan. 1995 to Dec. 2010. The data was analyzed both collectively and separately in two consecutive eight-year periods, i.e. 1995-2003 and 2004-2010. Results: A total of 286 episodes of IE, 172 males and 114 females, were reviewed from which 162 ones were in the first eight-year time period and 124 episodes in the second one. Mean age of the patients was significantly increased in the second eight-year period (24.2±11 vs 39.4±15 years old, p value = 0.01). Increase in the episodes caused by Staphylococcus aureus was significant (40.7% vs 22.8%, p value = 0.01). The mean size of the vegetation was noticeably higher among IDUs than non-IDUs (1.53±0.1cm vs 0.76±0.2cm, p value < 0.001). As well as extra cardiac complications, mortality rate was noticeably higher among the patients with vegetation size ≥ 1cm (34.4% vs 16.3%, p value = 0.003). There was not a significant difference regarding the mortality rate between the conservatively and surgically treated patients (20.7% vs 22.9%, p value = 0.07). Conclusion: The most important changing characteristic of IE which influences the outcome of the disease seems to be vegetation size which can account for as the outcome predictor.
Tract-based spectroscopy to investigate pediatric brain trauma

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes extensive damage to the white matter (WM) of the brain, which can be evaluated with diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI). Diffusion MRI can be used to map the WM tracts and their integrity, but offers limited understanding of the biochemical basis of any differences. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) measures neural metabolites that reflect neuronal health, inflammation, demyelination, and other consequences of TBI. We combined whole-brain MRS with dMRI to investigate WM dysfunction following pediatric TBI, using “tract-based spectroscopy”. Deficits in N-acetylaspartate (NAA) correspond to regions of deficits in WM integrity, but choline showed minimal overlap with WM deficits. NAA is a marker of neuronal health, while choline is an inflammatory marker. A partial F-test showed that MRS measures improved our ability to predict long-term cognitive function. This is the first paper to combine MRS with dMRI-derived tracts on a whole-brain scale, offering insights into the biochemical correlates of WM tract dysfunction, following injury and potentially in other WM disorders.
An Economic Response to Unsolicited Communication

Abstract If communication involves some transactions cost to both sender and recipient, what policy ensures that correct messages -- those with positive social surplus - get sent? Filters block messages that harm recipients but benefit senders by more than transactions costs. Taxes can block positive value messages, and allow harmful messages through. In contrast, we propose an ``Attention Bond,'' allowing recipients to define a price that senders must risk to deliver the initial message.The underlying problem is first-contact information asymmetry with negative externalities. Uninformed senders waste recipient attention through message pollution. Requiring attention bonds creates an attention market, effectively applying the Coase Theorem to price this scarce resource. In this market, screening mechanisms shift the burden of message classification from recipients to senders, who know message content. Price signals can also facilitate decentralized two-sided matching. In certain limited cases, this leads to greater welfare than use of even ``perfect'' filters.
Mechanical response of active gels

We study a model of an active gel of cross-linked semiflexible filaments with additional active linkers such as myosin II clusters. We show that the coupling of the elasticity of the semiflexible filaments to the mechanical properties of the motors leads to contractile behavior of the gel, in qualitative agreement with experimental observations. The motors, however, soften the zero-frequency elastic constant of the gel. When the collective motor dynamics is incorporated in the model, a stiffening of the network at high frequencies is obtained. The frequency controlling the crossover between low- and high-frequency network elasticity is estimated in terms of microscopic properties of motors and filaments, and can be as low as 10−3 Hz.
Predictable Duty Cycle Modulation through Coupled Pairing of Syringes with Microfluidic Oscillators

The ability to elicit distinct duty cycles from the same self-regulating microfluidic oscillator device would greatly enhance the versatility of this micro-machine as a tool, capable of recapitulating in vitro the diverse oscillatory processes that occur within natural systems. We report a novel approach to realize this using the coordinated modulation of input volumetric flow rate ratio and fluidic capacitance ratio. The demonstration uses a straightforward experimental system where fluid inflow to the oscillator is provided by two syringes (of symmetric or asymmetric cross-sectional area) mounted upon a single syringe pump applying pressure across both syringes at a constant linear velocity. This produces distinct volumetric outflow rates from each syringe that are proportional to the ratio between their cross-sectional areas. The difference in syringe cross-sectional area also leads to differences in fluidic capacitance; this underappreciated capacitive difference allows us to present a simplified expression to determine the microfluidic oscillators duty cycle as a function of cross-sectional area. Examination of multiple total volumetric inflows under asymmetric inflow rates yielded predictable and robust duty cycles ranging from 50% to 90%. A method for estimating the outflow duration for each inflow under applied flow rate ratios is provided to better facilitate the utilization of this system in experimental protocols requiring specific stimulation and rest intervals.
Listening Journals for Extensive and Intensive Listening Practice.

As a language learner, I have found that one of the most difficult skills to contend with is listening. I was never taught how to listen. It was simply assumed that listening skills would be naturally acquired. For my first few years as an English as a foreign language teacher, I assumed the same. However, as I reflected on my own language-learning experiences and those of my students, I rethought this assumption. I did more research on listening instruction, and, not surprisingly, I learned that listening in a second language is not something that is just picked up.
Analysis of scattering mechanisms in SAR imagery over boreal forest: results from BOREAS '93

As part of the intensive field campaign (IFC) for the Boreal forest ecosystem-atmosphere research (BOREAS) project in August 1993, the NASA/JPL AIRSAR covered an area of about 100 km/spl times/100 km near the Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan, Canada. At the same time, ground-truth measurements were made in several stands which have been selected as the primary study sites. This paper focuses on an area including jack pine stands in the Nipawin area near the park. Upon examining the AIRSAR data from stands of old and young jack pine (OJP and YJP), distinct signatures are observed for each of the forest types at various frequencies and polarizations, in particular, at P-band HH. The authors use a forest scattering model in conjunction with the ground-truth measurements to explain such behavior. The forest model includes the major scattering mechanisms by taking the forest component interactions into account. The contribution from each of the scattering mechanisms to the total backscatter is calculated and their differences for OJP and YJP stands are evaluated. The results are used to discuss the effect of the physical properties of the forest components in each stand on radar backscatter. They are also used to show that it is not only the backscatter level but also the relative contribution from various scattering mechanisms that will help in quantitative interpretation of SAR data. This work is mainly intended as a precursor to the authors ongoing work which uses a mechanism-specific inversion technique to retrieve forest parameters from SAR data for these BOREAS sites. >
A Successful Leader or a Psychopathic Individual

There are numerous studies that have focused on the qualities and attributes of an effective organisational leader, and these identified characteristics such as, charisma, confidence, persuasiveness and courage. What if these qualities however, were a mere facade, underpinned by a more sinister side? The result might be far from an effective leader, but instead reveal. a psychopath!
Noise and vibration characteristics of permanent magnet synchronous motors using electromagnetic and structural analyses

This research provides a detailed finding of the mechanics of vibration in permanent magnet synchronous motors due to electromagnetic origins. Several fractional slot PM topologies are investigated to quantify the vibration phenomenon that is influenced by motor slot/pole and winding configurations. The research also sorts out the vibration mode order responsible for deformation and the resulting excitation frequency. A finite element based co-simulation in electromagnetic and structural domain is used to find the radial forces and hence the displacement to quantify the vibration/noise performance of these selected motors. The displacement and frequency is converted to sound pressure level to show the relative differences in noise levels among these motor topologies.
New Synthesis of Parallel-Coupled Line Bandpass Filters With Chebyshev Responses

Parallel-coupled line filters with Chebyshev passbands are synthesized based on the insertion-loss functions derived by converting the composite ABCD matrices of all coupled stages. With the synthesis, both the electromagnetic simulation and measurement results have accurate in-band response and bandwidth. Simultaneous equations for Chebyshev filters of order N les 9 are derived for determining geometric parameters of the coupled stages. The tradeoff between circuit bandwidth and ripple level is discussed. In experiments, three planar or quasi-planar structures, including the coupled-line with aperture in the ground plane, the three-line microstrip, and the broadside-coupled lines, are employed to realize the end stages for implementing the high coupling levels. Experimental filters of order up to nine with fractional bandwidth of 30% or 40% are fabricated and measured. The results show good agreement with predictions by the theory and simulation.
DOES GALACTIC MAGNETIC FIELD DISTURB THE CORRELATION OF THE HIGHEST ENERGY COSMIC RAYS WITH THEIR SOURCES?

The propagation trajectories of the highest energy cosmic rays (HECRs) are deflected by not only intergalactic magnetic field but also Galactic magnetic field (GMF). These magnetic fields can weaken the positive correlation between the arrival directions of HECRs and the positions of their sources. In order to explore the effect of GMF on the expected correlation, we simulate the arrival distribution of protons with energy above 6 × 1019 eV taking several GMF models into account, and then test the correlation between the protons and their sources assumed in the simulation. The dependence of the correlation signals on GMF models is also investigated. The correlation can be observed by accumulating ∼200 protons in a half-hemisphere. The typical angular scale at which the positive signal of the correlation is maximized depends on the spiral component of the GMF model. That angular scale is ∼5° for bisymmetric spiral (BS) GMF models and ∼7° for axisymmetric spiral (AS) GMF models if the number density of HECR sources, ns, is ∼10−4 Mpc−3. An additional vertical (dipole) component of GMF affects these angular scales by 0. °5–1°. The difference between the correlation signal for the BS models and that for the AS models is prominent in the northern sky. The significance of the positive correlation depends on source distribution. The probability that the number of simulated HECR events correlating with sources is smaller than the number of random events correlating with the same sources by chance is much less than 10−3 (∼3σ) in almost all the source distributions with ns = 10−4 Mpc−3 for detection of under 200 protons, but ∼10% of source distributions predict a chance probability more than 10−3 in the AS GMF model. In addition, we also briefly discuss the effect of GMF for heavy-nuclei-dominated composition.
Mesh Compression with Random Accessibility

Previous mesh compression techniques provide nice properties such as high compression ratio, progressive decoding, and out-of-core processing. However, none of them supports the random accessibility in decoding, which enables the details of any speciﬁc part to be available without decoding other parts. This paper introduces the random accessibility to mesh compression and proposes an effective framework for the property. The key component of the framework is a wire-net mesh constructed from a chartiﬁ-cation of the given mesh. Experimental results show that random accessibility can be achieved with competent compression ratio, only a little worse than single-rate and comparable to progressive encoding
Understanding The Extended Use Of Erp Based On Individual Differences And Expectation-Confirmation Theory

The goal of this study is to deepen our understanding about how individual differences change over time when using ERP. Drawing on expectation-confirmation theory (ECT) and social cognitive theory, we develop a two-stage model and test it empirically by a longitudinal study. The proposed model considers whether confirmation and satisfaction drives the change of individual differences between usage stage and post-usage stage, and whether the modified individual differences in turn affect extended use of IS. We theorize individual differences as computer self-efficacy (CSE), computer anxiety (CA), and personal innovativeness in information technology (PIIT) and characterize complex IS as ERP implementation in Taiwan. The results of the 12-week longitudinal test based on 226 employees from 10 industries of Taiwan showed that modified individual differences and satisfaction affect extended use, and the original CSE and PIIT influence satisfaction. The results deepen our understanding about the change of IS users’ cognitions in the context where their volitional control over their behavior is limited and about the role played by satisfaction in changing their cognitions.