Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE INFLUENCE OF SERVICE QUALITY ON CONSUMER PREFERENCE IN PETROLEUM RETAILING IN THIKA DISTRICT

Service quality is a viable strategy for marketers aiming to differentiate their service offerings, establishing customer value and ultimately satisfying consumer needs. Service quality has been used increasingly by marketers to leverage customer loyalty to confront the challenges of competition and ultimately deliver on organization profitability. From the investigations by the study, there is evidence that no study had so far been done to investigate the influence of service quality on consumer preference in petroleum retailing. The aim of this study was to determine the indicators of service quality to consumers in petroleum retail outlets, to establish the extent to which service quality influenced consumer preference in petroleum retail outlets and finally to identify any other factor that may also play a role in influencing consumer choice. The study used a conceptual model drawn using the service quality dimension attributes of Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance and Tangibles. The nature of this research is a descriptive research. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. The survey instrument was subjected to overall reliability and validity tests using Cronbach alpha. Data analysis was done using SPSS
Listed Private Equity and the Case of Exits

The public listing of shares from private equity houses and funds has dramatically changed the corporate governance structure of these entities. These changes aggravate the information asymmetry between investors and general partners, and as a result most of these companies trade at high discounts to their net asset value. We hypothesize that exits of portfolio firms can be seen as a mechanism to mitigate such information asymmetries and to signal quality to uninformed investors. Consistent with our hypotheses, we find that exit announcements trigger significantly positive abnormal returns of almost 1% around the announcement day, and that these are higher when an IPO is the mechanism chosen, the stock runup is lower, and the listed private equity entity is of smaller dimension or lesser reputation.
Porous titanium scaffolds produced by powder metallurgy for biomedical applications

Porous titanium scaffolds are promising materials for biomedical applications such as prosthetic anchors, fillers and bone reconstruction. This study evaluated the bone/titanium interface of scaffolds with interconnected pores prepared by powder metallurgy, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Porous scaffolds and dense samples were implanted in the tibia of rabbits, which were subsequently killed 1, 4, and 8 weeks after surgery. Initial bone neoformation was observed one week after implantation. Bone ingrowth in pores and the Ca/P ratio at the interface were remarkably enhanced at 4 and 8 weeks. The results showed that the interconnected pores of the titanium scaffolds promoted bone ingrowth, which increased over time. The powder metallurgy technique thus proved effective in producing porous scaffolds and dense titanium for biomedical applications, allowing for adequate control of pore size and porosity and promoting bone ingrowth.
Regulating financial markets: Costs and trade-offs

This thesis studies the interactions between the institutional design of financial systems, and the financial agents that regulatory institutions supervise. It explores the channels through which financial regulation affects financial agents’ lending, funding, and risk-taking decisions. By introducing regulatory and market penalties for non-compliance with minimum capital requirements, this thesis investigates the responses of bank capital ratios to changes in the regulatory minimum, as envisaged under the recently introduced Basel III framework. It then studies the role of tight regulations for the emergence, and expansion of the shadow banking sector. It shows that attempts to regulate traditional intermediaries more strictly increase the attractiveness of shadow activities, that are not subject to regulations. Finally, the thesis studies potential consequences of supranational financial regulations, such as the banking union in the European Union, in the presence of integrated financial markets. The main result is that although the supranational regulator eliminates cross-border spillovers from defaults of internationally-operating intermediaries, it also negatively affects their risk-taking incentives.
Key factors influencing the adoption of telemedicine in Malaysian public hospitals: a cross-sectional survey

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the factors that influencing adoption of telemedicine by public hospitals in Malaysia. We proposed a framework and six preceding variables including government policy, capability of external suppliers, top management support, project team’s capability, perception of usefulness and perceived ease of used were examined together in regard to their impact on caregivers’ adoption of telemedicine in public hospitals. Materials and Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was developed based on the validated items from prior studies. The data was collected in a cross-sectional survey using convenience sample. Confirmatory factor analysis and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) techniques were used to validate our framework. Result: The data analysis shows that four factors, including external suppliers’ capability, perceived ease of use, government policy and top management support has a major effect on the adoption of telemedicine among the respondents. Conclusion: From a practical standpoint the study has contributed to the practice of telemedicine technology by indicated some avenues for the diffusion of telemedicine in the healthcare system. Furthermore, our study may benefit management of telemedicine technology particularly those taking place at the organizational level.
Level, Slope, Curvature: Characterising the Yield Curve in a Cointegrated VAR Model

Abstract Empirical evidence on the expectations hypothesis of the term structure is in-conclusive and its validity widely debated. Using a cointegrated VAR model of US treasury yields, this paper extends a common approach to test the theory. If, as we find, spreads between two yields are non-stationary, the expectations hypothesis fails. However, we present evidence that differences between two spreads are stationary. This suggests that the curvature of the yield curve may be a more meaningful indicator of expected future interest rates than the slope. Furthermore, we characterise level and slope by deriving the common trends inherent in the cointegrated VAR, and establish feedback patterns between them and the macroeconomy.
Renormalization methods for higher order differential equations

We adapt methodology of statistical mechanics and quantum field theory to approximate solutions to an arbitrary order ordinary differential equation boundary value problem by a second-order equation. In particular, we study equations involving the derivative of a double-well potential such as u − u3 or − u + 2u3. Using momentum (Fourier) space variables we average over short length scales and demonstrate that the higher order derivatives can be neglected within the first cumulant approximation, once length is properly renormalized, yielding an approximation to solutions of the higher order equation from the second order. The results are confirmed using numerical computations. Additional numerics confirm that the main role of the higher order derivatives is in rescaling the length.
Nutrient supplements and cardiovascular disease: a heartbreaking story Published, JLR Papers in Press, November 6, 2008.

Observational data have identified associations between carotenoids, folic acid, and vitamin E, or metabolites altered by these nutrients, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Despite biological plausibility, for the most part, data derived from nutrient supplement trials using moderate to high doses of single nutrients or nutrient combinations (exceeding amounts to avoid nutrient deficiency) have been disappointing. The data for vitamin D is not yet adequate to evaluate; observational data suggest were a relationship to exist it would be related to nutrient insufficiency. There is some evidence that use of nutrient supplements intended to decrease CVD risk has resulted in unanticipated adverse consequences. Potential discrepancies between observational and interventional data include concerns of residual confounding by diet and lifestyle patterns, publication bias against studies with null or negative outcomes, reliance on secondary rather than primary prevention trials, and unaccounted for contribution of genotypic variations. At this time there are insufficient data to recommend the routine use of nutrient supplements to prevent or treat CVD. In the recent past we have learned a great deal about anticipated and unanticipated consequences of nutrient supplementation and cardiovascular outcomes. As a result, we are in a better position to adjudicate new potential relationships as data emerge.
A Model of Hotel Defection at the Purchasing Stage

Hotel operators spend millions of dollars each year to create customer loyalty. Less attention is paid to factors that cause customers to defect. In the current study, factors that influence hotel purchasing and established loyalty-related constructs were integrated into two models of hotel defection, one for full-service brand guests and one for limited-service brand guests. For full-service hotels, the decision to defect or not is driven by affective, or emotional, commitment, as well as switching costs, which are defined as the amount of discount that an otherwise loyal customer would require to switch to a competing brand. Hotel selection factors influence defection primarily through their impact on affective commitment. For limited-service guests, value considerations play a central role. Reward program membership and hotel selection factors influence defection through commitment, based on reward program benefits. The findings emphasize the importance of tailoring hotel features and reward program benefits to the needs of target customer segments.
Country of origin factors influencing US consumers' perceived price for multinational products

Purpose – In response to the popularity of multinational products with limited information on countries of origins, this study aims to explore factors influencing consumers' perceived prices for multinational products.Design/methodological approach – The study performed a 2 (COP)×2 (COM) within‐subjects randomized experimental research, using the USA and China as the countries of parts (COP) and the countries of manufacturing (COM) for cotton apparel. A total of 77 US consumers participated. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed.Findings – Consumers' income level was important for perceived prices on apparel products made in the USA and/or of US cotton. Expertise was also important for higher pricing of apparel made in the USA of US cotton, while familiarity with COO labeling laws negatively affected perceived prices when apparel was made in China. Perceived sustainability had the largest impact on consumers' perceived prices for apparel made in the USA of Chinese cotton.Research limita.
Offshoring and Firm Characteristics: Some Evidence from the Analysis of Spanish Firm-Level Data

This paper examines firm characteristics associated with the probability of relo cating activities in a foreign country. Micro-level data for manufacturing firms for the period 1999–2005 shows that cost-cutting is the main determinant of offshoring production. The analysis reveals that firms with a higher research and develop ment activity, larger firms and firms with greater labour intensity tend to be more involved in offshoring. We observe the prominence of foreign firms among those engaging in offshoring; our findings show that self-selection of the ‘best’ firms is much more significant in the case of foreign firms. For national firms, international experience is a key factor in the moving of production abroad.
In vivo Study of Percutaneous Absorption of 4-Chloroaniline Using Microdialysis in the Rat

Summary The present work was undertaken to study the percutaneous absorption of 4-chloroaniline (parachloroaniline, PCPA, CAS 106-47-8), a chemical intermediate in pesticide manufacture, using in vivo microdialysis in the rat. The results of the microdialysis study showed that PCPA was able to cross the skin (Tmax = 3 h and area under the curve (AUC) = 332.1 ng · h/ml) and rapidly enter the systemic circulation (Tmax = 3.3 ± 0.6 h). It could be also shown that PCPA was partly metabolised during its percutaneous absorption. The analysis of cutaneous dialysate samples using gas chromatography / mass spectrometry (GC-MS) showed that the metabolite was 4-chloroacetanilide. Taken together, the data obtained showed that contact with the skin is a danger for exposed persons.
Credit Is What Credit Does: A Functional Differentiation of the Credit-Growth Relation

We use newly collected data to re-examine the credit-growth nexus over 1990-2011 in 46 economies. We distinguish between the uses of credit into ‘nonfinancial business and consumption’ and ‘financial and real estate’ credit, and between stock and flow effects. We observe strong growth of credit stocks relative to GDP over 1990-2011. The share of nonfinancial-sector credit in total credit decreased substantially. The mixed growth effects of total-credit flows are due to lumping together credit supporting income growth and credit supporting asset market growth. Distinguishing between these yields robust positive growth effects of credit flows, with the growth effect of nonfinancial-sector credit flows several times larger than the growth effect of mortgage and financial business credit flows. But we find insignificant or negative ‘financial development’ effects of credit stocks and the positive liquidity effect diminishes at higher levels of financial development. All this suggests that many of the economies in our sample suffer from ‘too much finance’ (Arcand et al. 2012). The results are robust to using the Rajan and Zingales’ (1998) methodology and GMM specifications. We discuss implications.
Effect of Cause-Related Marketing on Attitudes and Purchase Intentions: The Moderating Role of Cause Involvement and Donation Size

SUMMARY The purpose of the present research was to examine the role of involvement and donation in moderating the effect of cause related marketing (CRM) and ordinary marketing (OM) on consumer attitudes and purchase intentions. It is proposed that the level of involvement (i.e., high or low involvement) may make either veridical information (i.e., high involvement) or peripheral cues (i.e., low involvement) in the message more salient, and hence, more relevant and more important in the formation of attitudes and purchase intentions. Therefore, the level of donation size (i.e., high or low level) may be perceived either as an important element in the message (i.e., high involvement) or as a peripheral cue (i.e., low involvement). It is hypothesized that in conditions where there is a match between levels of involvement and donation (i.e., high-high or low-low), CRM would be superior to OM in creating favorable attitudes and purchase intentions whereas in conditions where there is a mismatch between (i.e., high-low and low-high), OM would be superior to CRM. To test these hypotheses, half of the subjects were shown painful images (i.e., high cause involvement) and the other half were shown pleasant images concerning the cause (i.e., low cause involvement). In one half of the ads, 5% of sales were claimed to be donated (i.e., high donation) and 0.1% in the other (i.e., low donation). In one half of the ads, a fictitious nonprofit organization (NPO) was affiliated with the experimental brand and claimed to work on the sponsored cause (i.e., CRM) and in the other half there was no mention of a specific cause (i.e., OM). Results from several ANOVA analyses supported the hypotheses and all hypotheses were accepted.
The potential of social media for luxury brand management

Purpose – Driven by functional theories of attitude and addressing the emerging themes of luxury brands and social media, the purpose of this paper is to explore the marketing potential of social media for luxury brand management.Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted to prompt participants to explore Louis Vuitton's Facebook page and complete a questionnaire designed to measure their satisfaction with the luxury brand's Facebook page and various endogenous variables.Findings – Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses uncovered dynamic relationships among consumers’ perceptions of value‐expressive and social‐adjustive functions of luxury brands, satisfaction with a luxury brand's (Louis Vuitton) Facebook page, attitudes toward the brand, intentions to utilize the brand's social media (Facebook and Twitter) for online shopping, and intentions to research online and purchase offline (ROPO). Originality/value – This paper marks an exploratory step toward our understanding of the dynamic roles.
Cephalic version by postural management for breech presentation.

BACKGROUND Babies with breech presentation (bottom first) are at increased risk of complications during birth, and are often delivered by caesarean section. The chance of breech presentation persisting at the time of delivery, and the risk of caesarean section, can be reduced by external cephalic version (ECV - turning the baby by manual manipulation through the mother's abdomen). It is also possible that maternal posture may influence fetal position. Many postural techniques have been used to promote cephalic version. OBJECTIVES The objective of this review was to assess the effects of postural management of breech presentation on measures of pregnancy outcome. We evaluated procedures in which the mother rests with her pelvis elevated. These include the knee-chest position, and a supine position with the pelvis elevated with a wedge-shaped cushion. SEARCH METHODS We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (22 August 2012). SELECTION CRITERIA Randomised and quasi-randomised trials comparing postural management with pelvic elevation for breech presentation, with a control group. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS One or both review authors assessed eligibility and trial quality. MAIN RESULTS We have included six studies involving a total of 417 women. The rates for non-cephalic births, Cesarean section and Apgar scores below 7 at one minute, regardless of whether ECV was attempted or not, were similar between the intervention and control groups (risk ratio (RR) 0.98; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.84 to 1.15; RR 1.10; 95% CI 0.89 to 1.37; RR 0.88; 95% CI 0.50 to 1.55). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS There is insufficient evidence from well-controlled trials to support the use of postural management for breech presentation. The numbers of women studied to date remain relatively small. Further research is needed.
Inactivation of p53 Function in Cultured Human Mammary Epithelial Cells Turns the Telomere-Length Dependent Senescence Barrier from Agonescence into Crisis

Cultured human mammary epithelial cells (HMEC) encounter two distinct barriers to indefinite growth. The first barrier, originally termed selection, can be overcome through loss of expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p16INK4A. The resultant p16(-), p53(+) post-selection HMEC encounter a second barrier, termed agonescence, associated with critically shortened telomeres and widespread chromosomal aberrations. Although some cell death is present at agonescence, the majority of the population retains long-term viability. We now show that abrogation of p53 function in post-selection HMEC inactivates cell cycle checkpoints and changes the mostly viable agonescence barrier into a crisis-like barrier with massive cell death. In contrast, inactivation of p53 does not affect the ability of HMEC to overcome the first barrier. These data indicate that agonescence and crisis represent two different forms of a telomere-length dependent proliferation barrier. Altogether, our data suggest a modified model of HMEC senescence barriers. We propose that the first barrier is Rb-mediated and largely or completely independent of telomere length. This barrier is now being termed stasis, for stress-associated senescence. The second barrier (agonescence or crisis) results from ongoing telomere erosion leading to critically short telomeres and telomere dysfunction.
A rough TOPSIS Approach for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis in Uncertain Environments

This study aims at improving the effectiveness of failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) technique. FMEA is a widely used technique for identifying and eliminating known or potential failures from system, design, and process. However, in conventional FMEA, risk factors of Severity (S), Occurrence (O), and Detection difficulty (D) are simply multiplied to obtain a crisp risk priority number without considering the subjectivity and vagueness in decision makers’ judgments. Besides, the weights for risk factors S, O, and D are also ignored. As a result, the effectiveness and accuracy of the FMEA are affected. To solve this problem, a novel FMEA approach for obtaining a more rational rank of failure modes is proposed. Basically, two stages of evaluation process are described: the determination of risk factors’ weights and ranking the risk for the failure modes. A rough group ‘Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution’ (TOPSIS) method is used to evaluate the risk of failure mode. The novel approach integrates the strength of rough set theory in handling vagueness and the merit of TOPSIS in modeling multi‐criteria decision making. Finally, an application in steam valve system is provided to demonstrate the potential of the methodology under vague and subjective environment. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Recognition of emotion from facial expression following traumatic brain injury

Primary Objective: To assess three domains of emotion recognition in people with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Research design: A between group comparison. Procedures: Twenty-four participants with severe TBI and 15 matched participants without brain damage were asked to label and match facial expressions with and without context. The participants with TBI were also interviewed regarding changes in subjective experience of emotion. Main outcomes and results: Participants with TBI were found to be significantly impaired on expression labelling and matching, but experienced some improvement when provided with context. Negative emotions were particularly affected. Affective semantic knowledge and face perception appeared to be relatively intact in this group. The majority of participants with TBI reported some change in the post-injury experience of everyday emotion, although the pattern of changes differed greatly between individuals. Reduced subjective experience, especially of sadness and fear, was associated with poor emotion matching but not emotion labelling.