Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Consumer E‐Loyalty to Online Travel Intermediaries

The Internet has been increasingly viewed by consumers as the preferred channel to search and purchase travel products. The purpose of this study was to identify and examine the antecedents of consumer loyalty toward online travel intermediaries. An integrative model of consumer e‐loyalty was developed, positing that perceived value, perceived quality, and consumer attitudes toward e‐shopping had significant and positive effects on attitudinal e‐loyalty which, in turn, influences behavioral e‐loyalty. The findings suggested that perceived quality had the strongest effect on consumer attitudinal e‐loyalty. This study provided insights for online travel intermediaries in identifying important e‐loyalty drivers, understanding consumer needs, and improving online performance.
Ultra low-loss hybrid core porous fiber for broadband applications.

In this paper, we present the design and analysis of a novel hybrid porous core octagonal lattice photonic crystal fiber for terahertz (THz) wave guidance. The numerical analysis is performed using a full-vector finite element method (FEM) that shows that 80% of bulk absorption material loss of cyclic olefin copolymer (COC), commercially known as TOPAS can be reduced at a core diameter of 350 μm. The obtained effective material loss (EML) is as low as 0.04 cm-1 at an operating frequency of 1 THz with a core porosity of 81%. Moreover, the proposed photonic crystal fiber also exhibits comparatively higher core power fraction, lower confinement loss, higher effective mode area, and an ultra-flattened dispersion profile with single mode propagation. This fiber can be readily fabricated using capillary stacking and sol-gel techniques, and it can be used for broadband terahertz applications.
Study on planning to Islands Promotion in Case of Nishi-Seto Highway Bridge Construction

In this study, I would like to examine influences of bridge construction against the tourist industry of the island taking a case of Ikuchi Island in Hiroshima Prefecture. Nishi-Seto highway has connected Ikuchi Island with Honshu. There are various impacts on the island and the problem is that characteristics of island have been declining by the bridge construction project.
Effect of precipitation bias correction on water budget calculation in Upper Yellow River, China

This study quantifies the effect of precipitation bias corrections on basin water balance calculations for the Yellow River Source region (YRS). We analyse long-term (1959–2001) monthly and yearly data of precipitation, runoff, and ERA-40 water budget variables and define a water balance regime. Basin precipitation, evapotranspiration and runoff are high in summer and low in winter. The basin water storage change is positive in summer and negative in winter. Monthly precipitation bias corrections, ranging from 2 to 16 mm, do not significantly alter the pattern of the seasonal water budget. The annual bias correction of precipitation is about 98 mm (19%); this increase leads to the same amount of evapotranspiration increase, since yearly runoff remains unchanged and the long-term storage change is assumed to be zero. Annual runoff and evapotranspiration coefficients change, due to precipitation bias corrections, from 0.33 and 0.67 to 0.28 and 0.72, respectively. These changes will impact the parameterization and calibration of land surface and hydrological models. The bias corrections of precipitation data also improve the relationship between annual precipitation and runoff.
The Effects of Hippocampal and Area Parahippocampalis Lesions in Pigeons: II. Concurrent Discrimination and Spatial Memory

Two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of bilateral hippocampus (Hp) and area parahippocampalis (APH) lesions in pigeons on the acquisition of a visual and spatial task. In Experiment 1, pigeons were trained on three successive six-pair concurrent discrimination tasks, each using a novel set of stimuli. There was no difference between control unoperated pigeons and Hp-APH pigeons in terms of the number of sessions required to learn either the first, second, or third concurrent discrimination task. In Experiment 2, the same pigeons were trained on an open-field spatial task similar in many ways to the radial-arm maze task used with rats. In contrast to the absence of impairments on the visual concurrent discrimination task, pigeons with Hp-APH lesions were severely impaired on the acquisition of the spatial task. These findings support the view that the Hp-APH in pigeons is important for the processing of spatial, rather than visual information.
Age-Related Impairment in Executive Functioning: Updating, Inhibition, Shifting, and Access

ABSTRACT Miyake, Friedman, Emerson, Witzki, Howerter and Wager (2000) have argued that the central executive is fractionated consisting of at least three separable component processes: updating, shifting, and inhibition. The Wisconsin Card Sort Test, random letter generation, Brooks spatial sequences, reading and computation span, word fluency, and a measure of dual task performance were administered to 95 individuals aged between 20 and 81, average age 41.89. The executive measures were factor analyzed, using the oblique rotation method, yielding four factors. The factor structure obtained was broadly consistent with Miyake et al's. However, an additional factor, the only one not to show a significant performance decline with age, was also obtained and was believed to reflect the efficiency of access to long-term memory.
The Impact of Changes in Job Security Regulations in India and Zimbabwe

Employment laws in India and Zimbabwe require employers to obtain permission from the government to retrench or lay off workers. The effect of these laws on the demand for employees in 64 manufacturing industries is examined using time series data. Little evidence is found indicating slower adjustments in employment levels and hence retardation in any structural adjustment following the new laws. However, in both countries a substantial decline in the demand for employees (other things equal) followed the new legislation. In Zimbabwe it is difficult to be precise about a causal connection between the drop in the demand for labor (allowing for concurrent increased wages) and the new legislation because enactment occurred simultaneously with Independence; however, the current economic climate induced high levels of investment in capital but not investments in long-term commitments to employees. But in India further evidence supports a causal connection: larger establishments covered by the job security regulations tended to experience a decline in the demand for labor while smaller, uncovered enterprises in the same industries did not; moreover the decline in demand for employees across industries in India was larger where the private sector predominates, where larger establishments covered by the new laws are important, and where a smaller proportion of employees are union members. Thus in both countries the policy implemented to protect jobs may bave resulted infarfewerjobs. Upon achieving independence in 1980, the government of Zimbabwe passed a new Employment Act, requiring employers to obtain permission from the Ministry of Labor to fire or lay off workers. Comparable regulations were imposed in India by the Industrial Disputes (Amendment) Act of 1976, requiring that written permission be obtained, normally from the relevant state government, either to close a plant or to retrench workers. The immediate goal of these items of legislation was to protect the livelihood of workers and to maintain jobs. Any addition to economic security in the lives of workers is clearly a laudable goal in its own right. But the question addressed in this article is whether these particular job security regulations have had undesirable side effects, which may even have thwarted the original goals of the legislation. India and Zimbabwe are
ANALYSIS OF ENTREPRENEUR’S MOTIVATION TO START BUSINESS (COMPARATIVE STUDIES IN LATVIA IN COMPARISON WITH CANADA, USA, MEXICO)

Business start is important issue from government policy side as well as it has interests of academic researchers worldwide. Researcher attention is paid on decision to start or not to start business (Townsend, et al, 2010), on issues on business takeover or new venture start (Parker, et al, 2012), different approaches in business start – up are analysed (Chwolka and Raith, 2012), there are made evaluations of different research conducted in this area during half a decade (Lambert and Davidson, 2013), made comparisons and cross – country investigations (Clerq, et al, 2012), made different kinds of forecasts (Cassar, 2014). Researchers are interested in performance expectations of entrepreneurs in business start: which driving forces are most important, do they differ in different countries, by age groups, by education level obtained to examine intrinsic and extrinsic motives in different contexts. Aim of the current research is to make comparisons of performance expectations of entrepreneurs willing to start business with special attention to factors influencing business success in comparison with entrepreneurs in Canada, USA and Mexico. Tasks of the current paper are: to find out the results of opinion of starting entrepreneurs, which factors are more important; find out the complex factors of entrepreneurs motivation to start business and make comparisons with the results in other countries; find out the opinion differences of starting entrepreneurs by age groups and by education level. The results of researchers could be used for public administrators and politicians for preparation of suggestions for decision making. Methods and results: Research methods used: scientific literature studies, survey of starting entrepreneurs in the business start phase in Latvia (survey was conducted in October 2013 – February, 2014) which is comparable with survey conducted in Canada, USA and Mexico, results are compared with survey results in Canada, USA and Mexico. In survey for most of questions evaluation scale 1 – 5 is applied. The same methodology is used as in countries listed. For data processing descriptive statistical indicators, factor analysis and variance analysis are applied. Main findings of the paper are that in general the motivation factors in different countries are alike, but for Latvia entrepreneurs willing to start their business most important factors influencing business success are: good client service; honesty reputation; charisma and friendliness with clients; good management abilities and among the less important factors are: political support and interest. Factor analysis has indicated five complex factors from 17 initial factors. Factor analysis with extraction method: Principal component analysis, rotation method: varimax with Kaiser normalisation was performed rotated five complex factors in 9 iterations. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.5755/j01.eis. 0.8. 6839
Performance effects of venture capital firm networks

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the networking effects of venture capital (VC) firms on portfolio companies. VCs can bring specific skills and abilities to their ongoing relationships with their portfolio companies and thus add value by influencing key portfolio company operations. High levels of engagement also translate into giving advice and support, helping with the team culture, creating strategic alliances, or exercising corporate governance. A particular mechanism through which these support services are delivered is syndication investment.Design/methodology/approach – Using network theory tools the paper investigates the effects of syndication on VC firm performance.Findings – The paper finds that networked VC firms are better placed to benefit from their investments.Originality/value – The paper sheds light on the importance of network relationships in the venture capital industry.
Firm Performance and Women on the Board: Evidence from Spanish Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

ABSTRACT This study examines gender diversity on boards of directors in a sample of nonfinancial Spanish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for 2003–8, finding that the probability of women on the board increases with firm performance, defined as return on assets, and family ownership, but diminishes with corporate ownership and firm risk. It also finds, when examining the full sample, a positive effect of the presence of women board members on firm performance. The study also obtains a similar positive effect in most subsamples, including in firms with corporate ownership, where family connections play less role in the election of board members, and in firms in the secondary and tertiary sectors, which are characterized by having greater proximity to final consumers than those in the primary sector.
Black-Box Complexity of Local Minimization

The complexity of local minimization in the black-box model, that is, the model in which the objective function and its gradient are available as external subroutines, is studied. The black-box model is used, for example, in all the optimization algorithms in Dennis and Schnabel [Numerical Methods for Unconstrained Optimization and Nonlinear Equations, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1983]. The first main result is that the complexity grows polynomially with the number of variables n, in contrast to other related black-box problems (global minimization and Brouwer fixed points) for which the worst-case complexity is exponential in n.The second contribution is the construction of a family of functions that are bad cases for all possible black-box local optimization algorithms.
Local Farm Bureau Leadership Needs Assessment: A Qualitative Study

The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine the leadership expectations, needs, and interests of local Farm Bureau board members. Nine county boards were included in the study, with the chairperson and one other member being interviewed from each board. The focus of the interviews was identification of common leadership-related challenges and perceived development needs of the local Farm Bureau board. Four significant theme areas emerged: organizational appreciation, grassroots involvement, board member training, and board member succession. Within these areas, twelve consistent sub-themes surfaced and are discussed in this paper. Based on these results, the researchers recommended that Florida Farm Bureau: (1) maintain quality field staff as liaisons between the local and state levels; (2) encourage and support district-level leadership programs; (3) develop and facilitate “short courses” on Farm Bureau board governance; (4) design and coordinate new board member orientation programs; (5) expand recognition programs for local board involvement; and (6) continue research efforts that guide local leadership development. Other groups that desire improved local board leadership should consider research efforts similar to this study and the related research with Florida Farm Bureau.
Optimal Software Free Trial Strategy: Limited Version, Time‐locked, or Hybrid?

Limited version, time‐locked, and hybrid are three software free trial strategies employed by software firms to exploit increased installed base and/or reduction of consumers' uncertainty about software quality. We develop an analytical model to examine these three software free trial strategies. We find that the hybrid strategy weakly dominates the limited and time‐locked versions, and the intensity of the network effects is a key factor determining which strategy is optimal.
NS phosphoprotein of vesicular stomatitis virus: subspecies separated by electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing

The NS protein of vesicular stomatitis virus is the only phosphorylated nucleocapsid protein. The amount of NS phosphorylation appears to regulate the activity of the protein in the transcription of the virus genome. Several methods have been used to separate NS subspecies containing different amounts of phosphate, but the relationships among the subspecies separated by different workers have been unclear. We report that the isoelectric points of NS molecules were abnormally acidic in some commercial ampholytes, but favorable ampholytes resolved multiple phosphorylated NS subspecies with isoelectric points ranging from pH 6.8 to 7.2. The most highly phosphorylated NS molecules had more acidic isoelectric points, and they exhibited greater electrophoretic mobilities in two previously employed electrophoretic systems.
Education and entrepreneurial activity: A comparison of White and South Asian Men

Although a large body of literature exists on ethnic entrepreneurship and the relationship between education and entrepreneurial activity, comparatively little work has been undertaken to study the impact that university-level education has upon entrepreneurship within different ethnic minority groups. This article examines the entrepreneurial activity rates for graduates and non-graduates of three differing ethnic groups in the UK and shows that university education has differing influences across ethnic groups. While Pakistani graduate respondents were more likely to be involved in entrepreneurial activities as compared to non-graduates, education appeared to have less impact on increasing the interest in entrepreneurship of Indian adults. This is likely to be a reflection of the differing forces that have traditionally driven individuals from these communities into entrepreneurship, as indicated by a large Pakistani move from necessity-driven entrepreneurship to opportunity-driven entrepreneurship. Therefore, the relationship between entrepreneurship and education varies by ethnic minority group, and policy initiatives to increase entrepreneurship within these groups needs to be adjusted accordingly to be effective.
Reactive Oxygen Species and Endotoxic Shock: Effect of Dimethylthiourea

The effects of endotoxemia on the cardiac function and contractility, oxygen radical production by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNL-CL), cardiac antioxidant reserve (LV-CL), antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase [SOD], catalase, glutathione peroxidase [GSHPx]) and malondialdehyde (MDA); and plasma creatine kinase (CK) and lactate in the absence or presence of dimethylthiourea (DMTU), an antioxidant, in anesthetized dogs were studied. Dogs were assigned to three groups: group 1, control; group II, endotoxin (ET) (5 mg/kg body wt intravenously), and group III, ET + DMTU (500 mg/kg intravenously). ET produced decreases in the cardiac function and contractility, antioxidant reserve, antioxidant enzymes; and increases in PMNL-CL, cardiac MDA, plasma CK, and lactate. Pretreatment with DMTU attenuated the ET-induced cardiac dysfunction and changes in the cardiac MDA, antioxidant reserve, and antioxidant enzymes, PMNL-CL, and plasma CK and lactate levels. These results suggest that reactive oxygen species may be involved in the deterioration of cardiac function and contractility, and cellular injury during endotoxic shock and that antioxidants may be of value in the treatment of endotoxic shock.
Perceptions of Health Status in Multiple Sclerosis Patients and Their Doctors

Objective: To compare neurologist and patient perceptions of multiple sclerosis (MS)-related health status. Methods: MS patients (n=99) were recruited from six sites in Canada. Following a consultation with their neurologist, patients estimated their relapse frequency, rated their general health and quality of life (QoL), reviewed descriptions of eight health domains and selected the three most important, and completed a utility assessment using the standard gamble (SG). Concurrently, neurologists independently used the same instruments to rate their patients' health status. Assessments were compared on the basis of paired mean values of both groups and the degree of exact agreement quantified by intraclass coefficient (ICC) and kappa analyses, which yield values of 1.0 with 100% agreement. Results: There were significant differences (p<0.001) between patient and neurologist ratings for relapses in the last year (0.86 vs. 0.4, respectively), QoL (61.2 vs. 69.7 (maximum score = 100) and utility (0.864 vs. 0.971); ICC analysis revealed moderate to poor levels of agreement (0.56 for QoL to 0.03 for SG). There was little concordance in identification of important health domain and the only significant associations were in bodily pain and social functioning (kappa statistic = 0.24, p = 0.026 for both). Neurologists identified physical functioning domains as important, while patients placed more emphasis on mental health domains. Conclusions: Discrepancies between neurologist and patient perceptions of MS were observed. The study identifies a need to educate neurologists on the recognition of MS health domains that are important in the definition of patient QoL.
Unique Kir2.x Properties Determine Regional and Species Differences in the Cardiac Inward Rectifier K+ Current

The inwardly rectifying potassium (Kir) 2.x channels mediate the cardiac inward rectifier potassium current (IK1). In addition to differences in current density, atrial and ventricular IK1 have differences in outward current profiles and in extracellular potassium ([K+]o) dependence. The whole-cell patch-clamp technique was used to study these properties in heterologously expressed Kir2.x channels and atrial and ventricular IK1 in guinea pig and sheep hearts. Kir2.x channels showed distinct rectification profiles: Kir2.1 and Kir2.2 rectified completely at potentials more depolarized than −30 mV (I≈0 pA). In contrast, rectification was incomplete for Kir2.3 channels. In guinea pig atria, which expressed mainly Kir2.1, IK1 rectified completely. In sheep atria, which predominantly expressed Kir2.3 channels, IK1 did not rectify completely. Single-channel analysis of sheep Kir2.3 channels showed a mean unitary conductance of 13.1±0.1 pS in 15 cells, which corresponded with IK1 in sheep atria (9.9±0.1 pS in 32 cells). Outward Kir2.1 currents were increased in 10 mmol/L [K+]o, whereas Kir2.3 currents did not increase. Correspondingly, guinea pig (but not sheep) atrial IK1 showed an increase in outward currents in 10 mmol/L [K+]o. Although the ventricles of both species expressed Kir2.1 and Kir2.3, outward IK1 currents rectified completely and increased in high [K+]o-displaying Kir2.1-like properties. Likewise, outward current properties of heterologously expressed Kir2.1-Kir2.3 complexes in normal and 10 mmol/L [K+]o were similar to Kir2.1 but not Kir2.3. Thus, unique properties of individual Kir2.x isoforms, as well as heteromeric Kir2.x complexes, determine regional and species differences of IK1 in the heart.
The preliminary assessment of adaptation potential in existing office buildings

It is said that the battle for sustainability will be won or lost in the world's cities and a major tactic in this challenge will be the sustainable adaptation of existing buildings. Evidence based decision-making tools are required for the management of built assets. This research examined every building adaptation event between 1998 and 2008 with the relative importance of property attributes derived using a principal component analysis (PCA), from which a weighted index of optimal decision- making attributes in a predictive model was proposed; the Preliminary Assessment Adaptation Model (PAAM). The model is discussed and applied in an illustrative case study. Given further development and testing the PAAM might be useable by non-experts and property managers to appraise the suitability of a building for potential adaptation.