Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
1 It ’ s all in the Mindset : Effects of Varying Psychological Distance in Nutrition-Focused Messages

The current research shows that the persuasive impact of messages can be maximized if their framing is matched to where target consumers are in their decision making process at the time they evaluate the message. Results from two experimental studies show that consumers who are in the predecisional phase of decision-making are more likely to be persuaded by messages framed using psychologically distant orientation (i.e., focusing on the future or targeting a distant other), whereas consumers who are in the postdecisional phase are more likely to be persuaded by messages using psychologically close orientation (i.e., focusing on the present or targeting a close other). Evidence of the process through which these effects occur is provided by showing that consumers in a preversus postdecisional mindset identify their actions in terms of the actions’ high-level versus lowlevel identities, respectively.
Validating Formative Partial Least Squares (PLS) Models: Methodological Review and Empirical Illustration

The issue of formative constructs, as opposed to th e more frequently used reflective ones, has recently gained momentum among IS and Management re searchers. Most researchers maintain that formative constructs have been understudied, a nd that there is paucity in methodological literature to guide researchers on how such constru cts should be developed and estimated. A survey of IS research has revealed that about 29% o f constructs were misspecified as reflective rather than formative constructs. Furthermore, guid elines about how models containing formative constructs should be indentified and estimated are fragmented and inconsistent. Thus, this paper aims to present a methodological review of formativ e model identification and evaluation. We bring a brief theoretical overview of formative con structs, and put together a guideline for estimating formative measurement and structural mod els. We then present a simplified model composed of three formative constructs and illustra te how it is assessed and estimated using SmartPLS.
Training Participation and the Role of Reciprocal Attitudes

Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, I examine the relation between workers’ reciprocal attitudes, as measured in 2005 and 2010, and participation in work-related training courses in 2007 and 2013, respectively. Theory predicts that employers find it more profitable to invest in human capital of workers who have positively reciprocal attitudes, because they are more likely to return their employer’s kindness with higher effort and/or loyalty. The findings are mixed, depending on the survey year. I find that positively reciprocal workers are more likely to participate in employer-financed training in 2007, in particular when training is general. Also, consistent with theoretical expectations, I do not find a relation between workers’ reciprocal attitudes and participation in training that is not financed by the employer. However, workers’ reciprocal attitudes are not related to training participation in 2013. A possible explanation is that employers use training to induce reciprocal feelings in a slack labour market only. (JEL codes: M53 and D91).
An Off-Line Signature Verification System Using HMM and Graphometric Features

The objective of this work is to present an off-line signature verification system. It is basically divided into three parts. The first one describes a pre-processing process, a segmentation process and a feature extraction process, in which the main aim is to obtain the maximum performance quality of the process of verification of random falsifications, in the false acceptance and false rejection concept. The second presents a learning process based on HMM, where the aim is obtaining the best model, that is, one that is capable of representing each writer's signature, absorbing yet at the same time discriminating, at most the intra-personal variation and the interpersonal variation. A third and last part, presents a signature verification process that uses the models generated by the learning process without using any prior knowledge of test data, in other words, using an automatic derivation process of the decision thresholds.
Comparison of γδ T cell responses and farnesyl diphosphate synthase inhibition in tumor cells pretreated with zoledronic acid

Exposing human tumor cells to nitrogen‐containing bisphosphonates, such as zoledronic acid (Zol), greatly increases their susceptibility to killing by γδ T cells. Based on this finding and other studies, cancer immunotherapy using γδ T cells and nitrogen‐containing bisphosphonates has been studied in pilot clinical trials and has shown benefits. Although Zol treatment can render a wide variety of human tumor cells susceptible to γδ T cell killing, there has not been a systematic investigation to determine which types of tumor cells are the most susceptible to γδ T cell‐mediated cytotoxicity. In this study, we determined the Zol concentrations required to stimulate half maximal tumor necrosis factor‐α production by γδ T cells cultured with various tumor cell lines pretreated with Zol and compared these concentrations with those required for half maximal inhibition of farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FPPS) in the same tumor cell lines. The inhibition of tumor cell growth by Zol was also assessed. We found that FPPS inhibition strongly correlated with γδ T cell activation, confirming that the mechanism underlying γδ T cell activation by Zol is isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) accumulation due to FPPS blockade. In addition, we showed that γδ T‐cell receptor‐mediated signaling correlated with γδ T cell tumor necrosis factor‐α production and cytotoxicity. Some lymphoma, myeloid leukemia, and mammary carcinoma cell lines were relatively resistant to Zol treatment, suggesting that assessing tumor sensitivity to Zol may help select those patients most likely to benefit from immunotherapy with γδ T cells.
Optic disk and macula detection from retinal images using Generalized Motion Pattern

Accurate detection of optic disk and macula are of interest in automated analysis of retinal images as they are landmarks in retina and their detection aids in assessing the severity of diseases based on the locations of abnormalities relative to these landmarks. The general strategy is to design different methods to these landmarks. In contrast, we propose a novel and unified approach for Optic disk and macula detection in this paper using the Generalized Motion Pattern (GMP) which is derived by inducing motion to an image to smooth out unwanted information. The proposed method is unsupervised, parallelizable and handles illumination differences efficiently but assumes a fixed protocol in image acquisition. The proposed method has been tested on five public datasets and obtained results indicate comparable performance to supervised approaches for the same problem.
Depressive symptomatology among Dominicans: Links to acculturative and economic stressors, skin tone, and perceived discrimination

Latinos have been identified as a population at high risk of developing mental health problems. However, studies on Latinos rarely address differences between subgroups. There are important social and cultural differences between subgroups that are likely to be reflected in differential expressions of depressive symptoms. The fast growing Dominican community in the United States is one subgroup of Latinos that has been understudied and underserved. The objectives of this dissertation were to explore among Dominicans: (1) the direct and indirect effects of sociodemographic factors and skin tone on psychological distress; (2) the relationships between various stressors (economic, perceived discrimination, and acculturative) and psychological distress; and (3) the role of social support and mastery as stress moderators. Data for this study was collected from a non-probability sample of 120 Dominicans living in the Greater Boston Area of Massachusetts. Bivariate analyses revealed that, being female, having completed the 12th grade or less, speaking more Spanish (i.e., being less acculturated), reporting greater perceived group discrimination in employment, being unemployed, having a lower income, and having greater financial strain was significantly related to depressive symptomatology. Results from regression analyses suggest that unemployment and lower income explain the relationships between gender, educational status, low acculturation, perceived group discrimination in employment and depressive symptomatology. Mastery in turn, appears to explain the relationship between income and depression. Additional analyses showed that instrumental support had a moderating effect on both financial strain and perceived group discrimination in employment. Instrumental support is particularly important in reducing symptoms of depression in the context of high financial strain and greater perception of group discrimination in employment. This study contributes to the research literature on Dominicans and depression, and provides new directions for research and the creation of prevention and intervention models.
The Effect of Treatment with Glucophage or Glibenclamide , Alone or in Combination on the Serum Visfatin Level in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

DM is the most common metabolic disorder worldwide and is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Many risk factors for CVD, including hyperglycemia, abnormal lipid profiles, and alterations in inflammatory mediators, are carried by type two diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients, a new adipocytokine, visfatin is associated with a wide range of biologic effects, including glucose and lipid metabolism, and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetes and obesity. Visfatin is an adipocytokine that was identified in 2005. Visfatin has insulin mimetic effects; it binds to the insulin receptor at a different binding site than insulin and activates it. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of metformin or Glibenclamide alone or in combination on serum visfatin levels, glycemic control, and lipid profile in TD2M patients. This study was carried out on type 2 diabetic patients with poor glycemic control at the Specialized Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology, Al-Kindi Teaching Hospital, Baghdad. Results of this study showed a significant reduction in serum visfatin concentration in different treated groups in comparison with newly diagnosed diabetic group in addition to changes in glycemic and lipid profile among groups. The treatment with metformin a hypoglycemic drug in T2DM is more effective in reducing serum visfatin level compared with other treatment regimen.
jag simple retrieval method of land surface temperature from AMSR-E passive icrowave data — A case study over Southern China during the strong snow isaster of 2008

The analysis of the passive microwave radiance transfer equation certifies that there is a linear relationship between satellite-generated brightness temperatures (BT) and in situ observation temperature and that land surface temperature (LST) is largely influenced by vegetation cover conditions. Microwave polarization difference index (MPDI) is an effective indicator for characterizing the land surface vegetation cover density. Based on the analysis of LST models from AMSR-E BT with 6.9 GHz MPDI intervals at 0.04, 0.02 and 0.01, respectively, this paper developed a simplified LST regression model with MPDI-based five land cover types, combining observation temperatures from 86 meteorological observation stations. The study shows that smaller MPDI intervals can obtain higher accuracy of AMSR-E LST simulation, and that the combination of HDF Explorer and ArcGIS software was useful for automatically processing the pixel latitude, longitude and BT information from the AMSR-E HDF imagery files. The RMSE of the five LST ◦ ◦ outhern China simulation algorithms is between 1.47 and 1.92 C, with an average LST retrieval error of 0.91–1.30 C. Besides, only 7 polarization bands and 5 land surface types are required by the proposed simplified model. The new LST simulation models appears to be more effective for producing LST compared to past most studies, of which the accuracy used to be more than 2 ◦C. This study is one of the rare applications that combine the meteorological observation temperature with MPDI to produce the LST regression analysis algorithms with less RMSE from AMSR-E data. The results can be referred to similar areas of the world urfac for LST retrieval or land s
Aurantiochytrium sp
 . meal can replace fish oil in practical diets for the juvenile Pacific white shrimp

This study evaluated the use of microalgae (Aurantiochytrium sp.) meal as a substitute for fish oil in the diet of juvenile Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) reared in a clear‐water system. Dietary treatments at five replacement levels (0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%) were performed in triplicate. After 46 days, only a slight difference in shrimp final weight was observed among treatments (0.61 g). An increase in final weight was observed with replacement of up to 50% fish oil for microalgae meal, while the optimal percentage of replacement estimated was 44.7%. Feed conversion rate (FCR) of animals fed a diet of Aurantiochytrium sp.meal to replace up to 50% fish oil decreased, and the optimal percentage of replacement estimated was 49.3%. The fatty acids profile in shrimp muscle tissue demonstrated an increase in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) from 10.03% to 14.28% with increased replacement of fish oil by microalgae meal in the diet. Therefore, the partial replacement of fish oil by microalgae meal resulted in improved shrimp growth and FCR, and total replacement of dietary fish oil had no negative effects on these parameters. In addition, inclusion of microalgae meal raises the level of DHA in shrimp muscle.
A Study of the Associations Between Relationship Contingent Self-Esteem, Relationship Functioning, and Mental Health

iv DEDICATION . vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . vii LIST OF FIGURES . ix LIST OF TABLES . x INTRODUCTION . 1 METHOD . 10 RESULTS . vii15 DISCUSSION . 19 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 23 APPENDICES A. Demographics/Background Information . 31 B. Relationship Contingent Self-Esteem Scale . 33 C. Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale . 36 D. The Lovibond and Lovibond Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) . 37 E. Current Relationship Functioning Scale . 40 F. Hendrick’s Relationship Assessment Scale . 44 G. Informed Consent to Participate in a Research Project . 46 H. Debriefing Form . 48
Série Scientifique Scientific Series Managerial Career Success in Canadian Organizations: Is Gender a Determinant? Managerial Career Success in Canadian Organizations: Is Gender a Determinant? *

CIRANO Le CIRANO est une corporation privée à but non lucratif constituée en vertu de la Loi des compagnies du Québec. Le financement de son infrastructure et de ses activités de recherche provient des cotisations de ses organisations-membres, d=une subvention d=infrastructure du ministère de l=Industrie, du Commerce, de la Science et de la Technologie, de même que des subventions et mandats obtenus par ses équipes de recherche. La Série Scientifique est la réalisation d=une des missions que s=est données le CIRANO, soit de développer l=analyse scientifique des organisations et des comportements stratégiques. CIRANO is a private non-profit organization incorporated under the Québec Companies Act. Its infrastructure and research activities are funded through fees paid by member organizations, an infrastructure grant from the Ministère de l=Industrie, du Commerce, de la Science et de la Technologie, and grants and research mandates obtained by its research teams. The Scientific Series fulfils one of the missions of CIRANO: to develop the scientific analysis of organizations and strategic behaviour. Ce document est publié dans l=intention de rendre accessibles les résultats préliminaires de la recherche effectuée au CIRANO, afin de susciter des échanges et des suggestions. Les idées et les opinions émises sont sous l=unique responsabilité des auteurs, et ne représentent pas nécessairement les positions du CIRANO ou de ses partenaires. This paper presents preliminary research carried out at CIRANO and aims to encourage discussion and comment. The observations and viewpoints expressed are the sole responsibility of the authors. They do not necessarily represent positions of CIRANO or its partners. Cette étude analyse l'influence du sexe des gestionnaires sur quatre mesures objectives du succès de carrière. Après avoir contrôlé le capital humain, le contexte familial, l'origine socio-économique, les valeurs et motivations et les variables structurelles, le fait d'être un homme ou une femme continue d'exercer un effet sur deux des quatre mesures utilisées : le niveau de salaire et le niveau hiérarchique. This study examines the influence of gender on four objective aspects of career success. After controlling human capital, family context, socioeconomic origin, values and motovations, as well as structural variables, gender continues to have an effect on two of the four aspects: salary and hierarchical level.
Belowground legacies of Pinus contorta invasion and removal result in multiple mechanisms of invasional meltdown

Invasive plants alter plant communities and transform landscapes aboveground, but also have strong belowground effects that are potentially even more important to ecosystem outcomes. Using management treatments of the widespread invasive tree, Lodgepole Pine, we find that pines and pine removal transform belowground ecosystems, increasing ectomycorrhizal inoculum and driving a change from slow-cycling fungal-dominated soils to fast-cycling bacterial-dominated soils with increased nutrient availability. This results in increased growth of graminoids, particularly exotic grasses, and facilitation of Douglas-fir establishment, hindering ecosystem restoration. The results highlight the importance of considering multiple species interactions in invasion, particularly in terms of belowground legacies.
Cytotoxicity of Odorous Compounds from Poultry Manure

Long-term exposure and inhalation of odorous compounds from poultry manure can be harmful to farm workers and the surrounding residents as well as animals. The aim of the present study was to determine the cytotoxicity and IC50 values of common odorous compounds such as ammonium, dimethylamine, trimethylamine, butyric acid, phenol, and indole in the chick liver hepatocellular carcinoma cell line LMH (Leghorn Male Hepatoma), in vitro, using MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) and PrestoBlue cytotoxicity assays. The cells were microscopically examined for any morphological changes post treatment. Dimethylamine exhibited the strongest cytotoxic effect on LMH cells with an IC50 value of 0.06% and 0.04% after an exposure of 24 h and 48 h, respectively. Both ammonium and trimethylamine had comparable cytotoxicity and their IC50 values were 0.08% and 0.04% after 24 h and 48 h, respectively. Of note, indole had the lowest cytotoxicity as the majority of cells were viable even after 72 h exposure. Thus, the IC50 for indole was not calculated. Results achieved from both MTT and PrestoBlue assays were comparable. Moreover, the morphological changes induced by the tested odours in LMH cells resulted in monolayer destruction, cytoplasm vacuolisation, chromatin condensation, and changes in nucleus and cell shape. Our study showed harmful effects of odorous compounds in chick tissues.
A Hybrid Topological and Geometrical Robot Mapping Approach

Robotic mapping systems are traditionally separated into the metric and the topological paradigm. The metric approach provides geometrical accuracy, but is fragile because it is bounded in an absolute coordinate system and depends on the use of odometry for navigation. The topological paradigm provides a compact presentation and navigation free of accumulated error. In this thesis the topological and the metric paradigm is combined into a hybrid representation where a topological map joins a set of local maps. Each local map contains a pair of self-organizing maps, one that maps the metric space of the local map, and one that maps the perceptual space of the local map. Local navigation is performed over the SOM mapping the metric space and position correction is performed over the SOM mapping the perceptual space. A boundary-tracing behavior is used for navigation within the global map, while the local metric maps allow for more precise navigation and is navigated by performing path-integration.
Place attachment and spending preferences in a local public park system: The case of corporate sponsorship

Abstract In light of reduced public spending on local park and recreation services, corporate sponsorship has received attention as an effective, but potentially controversial, alternative funding strategy. Visitor place attachment may significantly influence the acceptability of specific spending practices of sponsorship revenue. The present study examines the influence of park users’ place attachment on the relationship between their attitude toward corporate sponsorship and a recreation agency’s specific spending decisions. It was hypothesized that place attachment would moderate the relationship between attitudes toward corporate sponsorship and support for spending revenue on facilities and on programming. Analysis showed that place identity was a significant moderator, strengthening the relationship between attitudes toward sponsorship and spending support for programming. As place identity increased and attitudes toward sponsorship became more positive, support for spending on programming increased concomitantly. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
Optimal Real Option Generation and Investment-Return Dynamics 1

Firms strategically use capital investments to generate future growth options, and not just to convert existing ones. Using a dynamic model, we show that real option generating capital investments can increase equilibrium expected returns, in contrast to the widely documented negative investment-return dynamics. Positive investment-return dynamics are more likely if the new growth options arrive with low instantaneous probability, require large initial investments, and if there is slow growth in the firm’s existing line of business. We find empirical support for these and other novel predictions of the model using cross-sectional tests on a comprehensive sample of firms during 1976-2011.
A Comparative Study on Applying Hierarchical Phrase-Based and Phrase-Based on Thai-Chinese Translation

To set an appropriate goal of SMT research for Thai-based translation, the comparative study of potential and suitability between phrase-based translation (PBT) and hierarchical phrase-based translation (HPBT) becomes an initial question. Thai-Chinese language-pair is chosen as experimental subject since they share most of common syntactic pattern and Chinese resource is numerous. Based on standard setting, we gain a result that 3-gram HPBT gains significantly better BLEU point over 3-gram PBT while 3-gram HPBT is approximately equal to 5-gram PBT. Moreover, from the results, a Chinese-to-Thai translation obtains better accuracies than a Thai-to-Chinese translation from every approach.