Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Anisotropy of the cosmic gamma-ray background from dark matter annihilation

High-energy photons from pair annihilation of dark matter particles contribute to the cosmic gamma-ray background (CGB) observed in a wide energy range. Since dark matter particles are weakly interacting, annihilation can happen only in high density regions such as dark matter halos. The precise shape of the energy spectrum of CGB depends on the nature of dark matter particles--their mass and annihilation cross section, as well as the cosmological evolution of dark matter halos. In order to discriminate between the signals from dark matter annihilation and other astrophysical sources, however, the information from the energy spectrum of CGB may not be sufficient. We show that dark matter annihilation not only contributes to the mean CGB intensity, but also produces a characteristic anisotropy, which provides a powerful tool for testing the origins of the observed CGB. We develop the formalism based on a halo model approach to analytically calculate the three-dimensional power spectrum of dark matter clumping, which determines the power spectrum of annihilation signals. We show that the expected sensitivity of future gamma-ray detectors such as the Gamma Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) should allow us to measure the angular power spectrum of CGB anisotropy, if dark matter particlesmore » are supersymmetric neutralinos and they account for most of the observed mean intensity of CGB in GeV region. On the other hand, if dark matter has a relatively small mass, on the order of 20 MeV, and accounts for most of the CGB in MeV region, then the future Advanced Compton Telescope (ACT) should be able to measure the angular power spectrum in MeV region. As the intensity of photons from annihilation is proportional to the density squared, we show that the predicted shape of the angular power spectrum of gamma rays from dark matter annihilation is different from that due to other astrophysical sources such as blazars and supernovae, whose intensity is linearly proportional to density. Therefore, the angular power spectrum of the CGB provides a 'smoking-gun' signature of gamma rays from dark matter annihilation. While the mean CGB intensity expected from dark matter halos with smooth density profiles is smaller than observed, the dark matter substructure within halos may provide the origin of additional boost factors for the annihilation signal. Our formalism can be used for any other radiation processes that involve collision of particles. « less
Modeling and Managing Student Loyalty

The loyalty of customers is widely accepted as a critical factor in the long-term success of a service firm. In this article, the authors develop a model of student loyalty by combining the growing body of knowledge on relationship marketing in the context of services with insights from more traditional educational research. Their relationship quality-based student loyalty (RQSL) model proposes that student loyalty is mainly determined by the dimensions of relationship quality. The model also includes students’ integration into the university system and external commitment as second-order factors. The authors test the RQSL model using the structural equation modeling approach and empirical data from a survey of several German universities. Among other things, the results indicate that the quality of teaching and the students’ emotional commitment to their institution are crucial for student loyalty. However, there are clear differences between the results obtained from different courses of study.
How happy are your flows: an empirical study of packet losses in router buffers

Studies of Internet traffic have revealed that traffic is consistent with self-similar scaling, shows long-range dependence, and that flow sizes are consistent with heavytailed distributions. However, how such characteristics affect fundamental network properties such as buffer overflows and therefore the loss process and link utilization has not been explored in detail. Relying on advanced instrumentation via NetFPGA cards, we perform a sensitivity study of the packet loss process within routers for different network load levels, flow size distributions, and buffer sizes. We find that packet losses do not affect all flows similarly. Depending on the network load and the buffer sizes, some flows either suffer from significantly more drops or significantly less drops than the average loss rate. Very few flows actually observe a loss rate similar to the average loss rate. Therefore, any single flow is very unlikely to observe the global packet loss process. Furthermore, the loss process can exhibit scaling properties.
Aging effects of precipitated silica in poly(dimethylsiloxane)

We report the transformation from gels to viscous fluids within a time period of 101–103h in mixtures of precipitated silica in silicone oil. Scaling behavior in elastic and viscous moduli versus frequency, similar to that reported by Trappe and Weitz [Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 449–452 (2000)], has been observed for suspensions of different ages, silica volume fractions, and silicone oil molecular weights; this shows self-similarity in the stress-bearing silica network in these samples. The elastic plateau modulus, extracted from the scaling of the moduli for each suspension, decays exponentially with time, but the initial plateau modulus depends only on the silica volume fraction and is independent of the properties of the base fluids. The aging time constant is larger if thinner silicone oil or a higher silica volume fraction is used. The aging rate is slower for silica in methyl-terminated silicone oil than that in hydroxyl-terminated silicone oil by about an order of magnitude. We attribute the aging effec.
Lack of benefit of methotrexate in severe, steroid-dependent asthma. A double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of low-dose methotrexate in asthmatic patients on steroid use, asthma symptom scores, pulmonary function, airway reactivity, blood cellular components, and immunoglobulin E levels. DESIGN A randomized, double-blind, parallel, placebo-controlled, 13-week clinical trial with follow-up of patients in an open trial of methotrexate at the conclusion of the double-blind study. SETTING An asthma care outpatient clinic. PATIENTS From February 1988 to March 1990, 19 patients with severe, steroid-dependent asthma were enrolled in the study. Two of these patients were excluded from analysis. INTERVENTIONS Patients were administered methotrexate or placebo intramuscularly, to assure complete absorption, once weekly during the 13-week study. RESULTS Patients on methotrexate and placebo both significantly decreased their steroid dose by 39.6% (95% CI, 25.1% to 54.1%, P = 0.001) and 40.2% (CI, 17.9% to 67.4%, P = 0.003), respectively. Pulmonary function did not differ significantly between the methotrexate and placebo groups. In addition, airway reactivity and symptom scores were unchanged on methotrexate or placebo. No significant toxicities were seen during the course of the 13-week blinded study, but one patient on methotrexate and prednisone in the follow-up period developed Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and died. Despite continuing methotrexate for up to 1 year, and increasing methotrexate to 30 mg weekly, no significant benefit of methotrexate on asthma control could be shown. CONCLUSION Our study does not support the use of methotrexate in the treatment of severe asthma.
The Effect Of Accrual Reliability On Audit Pricing

This study investigates how accrual reliability is associated with audit fees. Since the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, financial reporting has shifted toward a more principles-based accounting paradigm, along with an emphasis on fair value accounting by standard setters. As a result, auditors are exposed to more subjective accrual estimation processes, including accounting estimates. In the current financial reporting environment, external auditors are required to pay greater attention to accrual components that are largely based on accounting estimates to evaluate the reasonableness of accrual measurements. In this study, we find a negative association between the level of accrual reliability and audit fees. That is, the greater the potential litigation risk (due to accrual components based on more subjective or less reliable estimation processes), the more the audit work, and the higher the fees paid to external auditors.
Determinants of Long-Term Orientation in Buyer-Seller Relationships

Marketing managers must know the time orientation of a customer to select and use marketing tools that correspond to the time horizons of the customer. Insufficient understanding of a customer's time orientation can lead to problems, such as attempting a relationship marketing when transaction marketing is more appropriate. The author suggests that long-term orientation in a buyer/seller relationship is a function of two main factors: mutual dependence and the extent to which they trust one another. Dependence and trust are related to environmental uncertainty, transaction-specific investments, reputation, and satisfaction in a buyer/seller relationship. The framework presented here is tested with 124 retail buyers and 52 vendors supplying to those retailers. The results indicate that trust and dependence play key roles in determining the long-term orientation of both retail buyers and their vendors. The results also indicate that both similarities and differences exist across retailers and vendors with respect to the effects of several variables on long-term orientation, dependence, and trust.
Employee Satisfaction, Customer Loyalty, and Financial Performance

The service profit chain is a simple conceptual framework linking employee satisfaction and loyalty, customer satisfaction and loyalty, and financial performance. Although widely used by practitioners, the service profit chain's series of hypothesized relationships between employee, customer, and financial outcomes has not been rigorously tested using data that span all components of the model. Panel data from the branches of a large regional bank are used to test individually each of the service profit chain's constituent hypotheses. The results generally support the model, but there are some exceptions. Further work is needed to refine and simplify several critical measures and to enhance the analysis to test the service profit chain as a complete system of related hypotheses.
Making sense of methods to audit emissions – various audit methods to estimate dairy production carbon footprint

incorrecttoconsideronlycomponentsofthedairysystemrelevantforpolicyreportingsuchasthatusedbyIPCCwhenestimating thecarbonfootprintofdairyproduce.Instead,holisticapproaches,suchasLCA,whichconsideronandoff-farmGHGemissions shouldbeused.Therefore,reformofthepresentpolicyframeworkisrequiredtoenablequantiﬁcationoftheimpactofmitigation strategiesonglobalemissions.Theevaluationofthecarbonfootprintfromgrass-basedsystemsdifferingincowgenotype alsodemonstratedthatselectingcowssolelyformilkproductionwillincreasethecarbonfootprintofgrass-baseddairy systemsrelativetocowsselectedonacombinationoftraits,becauseofreducedcowfertilityandthushigheremissionsfrom replacementheifers.
Exploring the Relationship between Customer Equity and Satisfaction: An Empirical Study of Mongolian Gas Station Channels

To survive in the highly competitive markets, many firms strive to make fundamental changes and differentiate itself from competitors in the industry. The firms` success depend on customer perception toward the products and services of a company. This study aims to explore relationships between customer equity, which represents value equity, brand equity, relationship equity, and to customer satisfaction. We present the results of our research work conducted through marketing channels of the Petrovis Limited Liability Company, a petroleum company of Mongolia, as the case firm in this study. The findings show customer equity leads to satisfaction.
Fast three-dimensional video coding encoding algorithms based on edge information of depth map

The high-efficiency video coding (HEVC) standard for three-dimensional (3D) video, which is called 3D-HEVC, improves the compression efficiency for high resolution 3D video sequences. In this study, three coding time reduction algorithms, namely fast coding unit partition, fast prediction unit (PU) partition and search range reduction, are proposed for inter-prediction of 3D-HEVC by referring to the depth edge information. The pixels in one object should have the same motion characteristics. By detecting depth edge, we can easily classify the regional pixels if they are in the same object. Thus, in the encoding stage, the sizes of coding and PUs can be determined by the proposed fast coding unit partition and fast PU partition methods, respectively. Furthermore, the range of motion search can be effectively reduced by the proposed search range reduction method. Experimental results show that the proposed depth edge-based motion search algorithms can reduce the coding time of inter-prediction by up to 62% on average with negligible quality degradation.
Busulfan versus hydroxyurea in long‐term therapy of chronic myelogenous leukemia

Survival of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia seen in the University of Colorado Leukemia Clinic were reviewed with respect to therapy. A total of 55 patients seen consecutively through mid 1980 were included in this study. Of these patients 30 were treated with busulfan, 14 were treated with hydroxyurea and 11 received other modalities. Busulfan treated patients who are now deceased, have had a median survival of 35 months (range, 13–108) and actuarial analysis shows the total busulfan treated population to have an expected median survival of 48 months. Hydroxyurea treated patients who are still alive have been followed for a median period of 69 months (range, 25–136 months) and a projected median survival for periods of 56 and 90 months, respectively. These data suggest that hydroxyurea may be an important treatment modality in the treatment of chronic myelogeous leukemia. Cancer 50:1683‐1686, 1982.
STRATEGIC DECISION SPEED AND FIRM PERFORMANCE

This 4-year study examines the effect of strategic decision speed upon subsequent firm performance and identifies environmental and organizational characteristics that relate to decision speed. We draw upon strategic decision-making theory and organization theory to propose that strategic decision speed mediates the relation between environmental and organizational characteristics and performance. Measures of business environment, organization structure, strategic decision speed, and firm performance (growth and profitability) were collected from 318 CEOs from 1996 to 2000. Structural equation modeling confirmed that fast strategic decision-making predicts subsequent firm growth and profit and mediates the relation of dynamism, munificence, centralization, and formalization with firm performance. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Estimating customer outage costs due to a specific failure event

Customer interruption costs due to failure in electrical energy supply depend on many factors. A procedure is developed to estimate the customer outage costs on a distribution feeder subjected to a specific outage event. The data required to perform a detailed evaluation is illustrated and discussed, including the customer composition on the feeder, the customer demand profiles at the feeder load points and the relevant customer damage functions. The procedure presented in the paper is illustrated by application to a specific distribution feeder in the city of Saskatoon. The customer costs associated with power supply failures are a function of the time of day, day of the week and time of year. They are also strongly influenced by the duration of the outage event. The effect of outage duration and the time of outage occurrence is illustrated.
Specific interaction between the bovine papillomavirus E5 transforming protein and the beta receptor for platelet-derived growth factor in stably transformed and acutely transfected cells

The E5 protein of bovine papillomavirus is a 44-amino-acid membrane protein which induces morphologic and tumorigenic transformation of fibroblasts. We previously showed that the E5 protein activates and forms a complex with the endogenous beta receptor for platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) in transformed rodent fibroblasts and that the PDGF beta receptor can mediate tumorigenic transformation by the E5 protein in a heterologous cell system. Other workers have identified the receptor for epidermal growth factor (EGF) as a potential target of the E5 protein in NIH 3T3 cells. Here, we investigate the specificity of the interaction of the E5 protein with various growth factor receptors, with particular emphasis on the PDGF beta receptor and the EGF receptor. Under conditions where both the PDGF beta receptor and the EGF receptor are stably expressed in E5-transformed mouse and bovine fibroblasts and in E5-transformed epithelial cells, the E5 protein specifically forms a complex with and activates the PDGF receptor and not the EGF receptor. Under conditions of transient overexpression in COS cells, the E5 protein has the potential to associate with several growth factor receptors, including the EGF receptor. However, upon coexpression of PDGF beta receptors and EGF receptors in COS cells, the E5 protein preferentially forms a complex with the PDGF receptor. Therefore, we conclude that the PDGF beta receptor is the primary target for the E5 protein in a variety of cell types, including bovine fibroblasts.
Interrelations between dry bulk forward freight agreements and the dry bulk spot market

Title of the Dissertation: Interrelations between dry bulk forward freight agreements and the dry bulk spot market. Degree: Master of Science Dry bulk forward freight agreements (FFAs) are trading dry bulk indices, and thus have an impact on the dry bulk spot market. The fast growing trade of FFAs should have a larger impact on the spot market, yet no study has estimated how the spot market will be affected by the growing FFA trade. To evaluate the effect of the increase of FFA deals, the current interrelations should be first well defined. Consequently, the purpose of this dissertation is to analyse the interrelations between dry bulk forward freight agreements (FFAs) and the dry bulk spot market. A brief review of the literature assists to concentrate on the four major aspects of the interrelations between FFAs and the spot market. The four major aspects of the interrelations are then investigated with numerous tools and approaches imported from economics, management or marketing.
Clinical and genetic characteristics in a group of 45 patients with Turner syndrome (monocentric study)

Introduction Recent years have seen a shift in perspective on Turner syndrome, as it is no longer considered a significant disability due to therapeutic advances. The delay of diagnosis and the underdiagnosis are common in Turner syndrome, especially because of the great phenotypic variability and lack of firm diagnostic criteria. Aim Our first aim was to assess the clinical and the cytogenetic characteristics and growth rate in growth hormone (GH)-treated patients as compared to those with spontaneous growth. The second aim was to analyze the Y chromosomal sequences. Materials and methods We analyzed 45 patients diagnosed with Turner syndrome in Genetic Pathology Centre of Cluj Emergency Children’s Hospital. We carried out a study of the clinical features, the correlations between the karyotype and the phenotype, and we also made a research of Y chromosome sequences. Results The average age at diagnosis was 8.9±5.4 years. A significant association was observed between the number of external phenotypical abnormalities and internal malformations (r=0.45), particularly the cardiovascular ones (r=0.44). Patients treated with GH showed improvement in growth rate, with final stature significantly better than in untreated patients; benefits following treatment were greater if diagnosis was made before the age of 5 years. Thirteen percent of patients experienced spontaneous and complete puberty, whereas 30% experienced incomplete puberty. Patients with the 45,X genotype had a greater stature deficit and a higher incidence of cardiac malformations, compared with patients with 45,X/46,XX mosaic karyotype. Y chromosome sequences were found in only one patient, who subsequently underwent gonadectomy. Conclusion The importance of this study resides, to the best of our knowledge, in the fact that the largest group of patients in Romania was analyzed and assessed. To draw firm conclusions on the most valuable clinical indicators for Turner syndrome diagnosis in clinical practice, studies on large groups of patients should be conducted.
Measuring organizational performance in the absence of objective measures: The case of the privately-held firm and conglomerate business unit

A firm's organizational performance (OP) is often scrutinized when studying various organizational phenomena. When examining OP, researchers must provide a conceptualization to define it and must identify measures needed to operationalize OP. However, the identification of accurate performance measures is a challenge for not only privately-held firms but also for individual business units within conglomerates. To gain a more accurate understanding of OP, this research utilizes subjective and objective measures for both return on assets and sales growth. A sample of firms in the paints and allied products industry (n=18) participated in the three-phase data collection process, which was structured as listed: phase one consisted of on-site interviews; phase two utilized a 10-page questionnaire; and phase three used a one-page OP questionnaire. The data from the interviews and questionnaires were combined with other subjective and objective firm measures, including data from Morris Associates Annual Statement Studies. After analyzing both subjective management perceptions of organizational performance and objective measures (return on assets and sales growth), the findings indicate that the perceptions of the firm's management team are often consistent with actual firm performance. Thus, in the absence of objective measures of OP, researchers may find the subjective perceptions of a firm's management team to be adequate. Additionally, the research indicates implications related to the operationalization of OP for policy research, including the use of subjective measures as aids in operationalizing OP and the existence of an overlap between global measures of OP and other measures of OP. (AKP)