Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of perceived value in explaining trust and repurchase intention in e-shopping

The main purpose of this paper is to develop a new model to investigate the effects of various dimensions of perceived value (monetary value, convenience value, emotional value and social value) and perceived sacrifices on customer satisfaction and explore the impacts of customer satisfaction on trust and repurchase intention. The paper investigates 635 samples of travel agents’ customers who participated in travel activities via the internet in Tehran (Iran). The male/female ratio of the sample was 64 and 36%, respectively. The questions used in this study were taken from the relevant literature, which contained 29 questions addressing all the variables. The findings suggest that customer satisfaction is most influenced by monetary value (0.28), convenience value (0.25), emotional value (0.23) and social value (0.20). The findings illustrate that perceived sacrifices has a negative impact on customer satisfaction (-0.17). Beside, this study shows that the most impacts of customer satisfaction are on trust (0.33) and repurchase intention (0.29). Trust also has an impact on repurchase intention (0.35). This paper gives very useful, practical marketing suggestions for person-based services. Key words: Monetary value, convenience value, emotional value, social value, perceived sacrifices, customer satisfaction, trust, repurchases intention.
Interspecific Hybridization as a Source of Novel Genetic Markers for the Sterile Insect Technique in Bactrocera tryoni (Diptera: Tephritidae)

ABSTRACT Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae) or “Qfly,” is the most serious horticultural pest in Australia, with a bioclimatic range that extends from the tropical north to the temperate south. Various Australian horticultural exports depend on certification that they originated from B. tryoni-free areas. To eliminate, rather than suppress, B. tryoni in production areas, a sterile insect technique (SIT) campaign directed at B. tryoni has been in operation in southeastern Australia since 1997. Like many other SIT programs around the world, the B. tryoni SIT program relies on fluorescent dust to mark the sterile insects. However, fluorescent dust marking does not provide 100% accuracy in the identification of sterile insects, as required where the aim is to declare regions completely free of fruit fly. Here, we show that novel mitochondrial markers can be introduced into a strain of B. tryoni by interspecies hybridization between B. tryoni and a related but well-differentiated species, Bactrocera jarvisi (Tryon), followed by backcrossing of the hybrid strain with the parental B. tryoni strain. These novel markers do not affect the viability of the strain as measured by pupation and eclosion rates. A simple polymerase chain reaction-based test is described that distinguishes the marked B. tryoni from wild B. tryoni. As required in practice, the test was shown to work reliably on DNA extracted from dead flies that had remained in field traps for up to two weeks.
Redefining Entrepreneurship: A Virtues and Values Perspective

Just as the entrepreneur is key to the health of a society’s economy, so too is the entrepreneur key to its ethical well being. Narrow definitions of entrepreneurship that measure success based on wealth creation alone constrict responsible responses to ethical challenges, contributing to continual ethical lapses. This paper examines Cornwall and Naughton’s emphasis on virtue as an important element of successful entrepreneurship. It then proposes a new definition of entrepreneurship based on endowing resources with new value rather than the more narrow vision of endowing resources with new wealth producing capabilities.
Investigating the Significance of Bellwether Effect to Improve Software Effort Estimation

Bellwether effect refers to the existence of exemplary projects (called the Bellwether) within a historical dataset to be used for improved prediction performance. Recent studies have shown an implicit assumption of using recently completed projects (referred to as moving window) for improved prediction accuracy. In this paper, we investigate the Bellwether effect on software effort estimation accuracy using moving windows. The existence of the Bellwether was empirically proven based on six postulations. We apply statistical stratification and Markov chain methodology to select the Bellwether moving window. The resulting Bellwether moving window is used to predict the software effort of a new project. Empirical results show that Bellwether effect exist in chronological datasets with a set of exemplary and recently completed projects representing the Bellwether moving window. Result from this study has shown that the use of Bellwether moving window with the Gaussian weighting function significantly improve the prediction accuracy.
Responders Versus Non-Responders: A New Perspective on Heterogeneity

This paper considers the implications of a particular type of heterogeneity--one which characterizes a large number of economic environments, but that has not received any systematic treatment in the literature. The authors refer to this heterogeneity as responders versus nonresponders. The paper begins by providing a general framework for the analysis of environments characterized by this heterogeneity and then shows how this framework can be used to help understand a wide variety of economic environments. Particular applications considered are, near rationality, network externalities, and models of reputation. Copyright 1991 by Royal Economic Society.
NON-PROFIT PERFORMANCE INDICATORS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

This paper examines the scope for validly using non-profit performance indicators in the public sector and identifies several decision-relevant roles for such indicators in the process of policy optimisation. It argues that many of the desirable qualitative characteristics of financial accounting data identified in the FASB's conceptual framework project are both relevant, and in need of strengthening, when the profit concept is extended to a more general performance concept which also includes benefits to consumers of the output of the public sector. The need for such strengthening is examined in both nationalised industries and the non-trading public sector.
In vitro characterization of tomato fruit softening : the use of enzymically active cell walls.

Cell wall isolated from pericarp of normal tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv ;Rutgers') fruit released pectic polymers in a reaction apparently mediated by wall-bound polygalacturonase that appears with the onset of ripening. Release was negligible in wall preparations from normal green and the ripening mutant rin fruit. Pectin solubilization was most extensive at pH 2.5 with a less significant peak at 5.5. Brief exposure to low (1.5) or high (7.5) pH resulted in reduction of autolytic activity, which was also inhibited by high temperature, Ca(2+), and treatments employed to dissociate protein from cell wall. Uronic acid solubilization was significantly enhanced by 150 millimolar NaCl and by increasing temperature within the physiological range. These data indicate that the release of polyuronide from isolated cell walls is enzymic and may provide a convenient and reliable system for the study of softening metabolism.
An Ethics Evaluation Tool for Automating Ethical Decision-Making in Robots and Self-Driving Cars

ABSTRACT As we march down the road of automation in robotics and artificial intelligence, we will need to automate an increasing amount of ethical decision-making in order for our devices to operate independently from us. But automating ethical decision-making raises novel questions for engineers and designers, who will have to make decisions about how to accomplish that task. For example, some ethical decision-making involves hard moral cases, which in turn requires user input if we are to respect established norms surrounding autonomy and informed consent. The author considers this and other ethical considerations that accompany the automation of ethical decision-making. He proposes some general ethical requirements that should be taken into account in the design room, and sketches a design tool that can be integrated into the design process to help engineers, designers, ethicists, and policymakers decide how best to automate certain forms of ethical decision-making.
Informal Skill Formation and the Division of Labour: The Case of Korean Tiling Workers in Sydney

To improve our understanding of skill requirements and skill formation, this article tracks long-term skill changes in the tiling sector of the Sydney construction industry from the 1950s to 2009. It examines how and why management changed the labour process and upgraded or degraded the skills and autonomy of employees. The late 1980s marked a dividing point in the circumstances and terms of employment for skilled tile-layers in this sector. Since then, a new component in the contractual chain has been established, that of ‘middlepersons’. Middlepersons have become the employers of tiling workers and, in contrast to prior comprehensive skilling of tiling workers, have implemented a subdivided and lower-skilled system of employment. This article reveals that management adjusts skill requirements and skill formation to the prevailing employment relations system, in this case, deploying new migrant workers to enhance profits.
Financial Turmoil and Safe Haven Assets

Financial crises and contagion have highlighted the need for safe haven assets. However, their existence, role and interactions are not well understood. We analyze the two most prominent yet fundamentally different safe haven assets, US government bonds and gold. Our econometric analysis explicitly models the dynamic interaction between these assets and the global stock market. While both assets appear to act as safe havens, we find that gold, in contrast to US government bonds, becomes increasingly sensitive to large negative shocks in the stock market. Gold therefore appears to be a stronger safe haven in extreme conditions despite the fact that it is more risky and less liquid than bonds. We offer a behavioral interpretation to explain our findings.
A Proteome Study of Secreted Prostatic Factors Affecting Osteoblastic Activity: Galectin‐1 Is Involved in Differentiation of Human Bone Marrow Stromal Cells

Prostate cancer cells metastasize to bone causing a predominantly osteosclerotic response. It has been shown that cells from the human prostate cancer cell line PC3 secrete factors that influence the behavior of osteoblast‐like cells. Some of these factors with mitogenic activity have been found to be proteins with molecular weights between 20 and 30 kDa, but the identity of the osteoblastic mitogenic factor or factors produced by prostate cancer cells is still unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to characterize the protein profile of conditioned medium (CM) from PC3 cells in the molecular weight range from 5 to 30 kDa using proteome analysis. A protein profile of the CM from PC3 cells was performed by two‐dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D‐PAGE). Thirty protein spots with molecular weights ranging from 5 to 30 kDa were analyzed by matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI‐TOF MS). One of these spots was identified as galectin‐1. We examined whether PC3 CM, recombinant galectin‐1 alone, or combined with insulin‐like growth factor‐I (IGF‐I) had any effects on the proliferation or differentiation of human bone marrow stromal (hBMS) cells. Furthermore, we tested whether adhesion of PC3 cells to plastic, laminin, fibronectin, and collagen type I was influenced by lactose, which inhibits galectin‐1. Galectin‐1 (1000 ng/ml) inhibited the proliferation of hBMS cells up to 70 ± 12% (treated/control) of control in contrast to PC3 CM, which induced hBMS cell proliferation by 3‐fold. This effect was abolished by IGF‐I. PC3 CM and galectin‐1 in concentrations of 10 and 1000 ng/ml increased the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity of hBMS cells up to 175 ± 27%, 137 ± 8%, and 131 ± 11%, respectively, compared with ALP activity of untreated cells, and inhibited the secretion of osteocalcin (OC) up to 81 ± 3%, 93 ± 1%, and 58 ± 2%, respectively, compared with OC secretion of untreated cells. These effects were affected by IGF‐I. Lactose inhibited adhesion of PC3 cells to plastic, fibronectin, laminin, and collagen type I up to 58 ± 4%, 30 ± 12, 72 ± 9%, and 86 ± 4%. In conclusion, galectin‐1 modulated osteoblastic proliferation and differentiation. These effects were affected by IGF‐I. Thus, galectin‐1 is likely be involved in the osteoblastic response, caused by prostate cancer cells metastasizing into bone, by affecting the matrix mineralization.
Heterogeneous Preferences and Aggregation in Environmental Policy Analysis: A Landfill Siting Case

In many studies of nonmarket resources, economists have data to disaggregate results according to subpopulations within the full study population. Disaggregated results can increase the usefulness of economic analyses, improve public confidence in the results, and permit public officials to assess equity concerns. We outline an approach to obtain disaggregated results when characteristics of individuals may identify distinct preferences. The approach is applied to public preferences regarding landfill siting decisions. The discussion explores the implications of disaggregated results for policy decisions, for bias in aggregate willingness-to-pay estimates, and for nonmarket research methodologies.
Socio-medical characteristics of patients attending a V.D. clinic and the circumstances of infection.

A study to examine the social characteristics of 1753 patients attending a venereal disease (VD) clinic in Belfast in 1969 was undertaken. Information was also sought on the circumstances in which infection took place. Only 24% of the patients were diagnosed as having statutory VD (syphilis, gonorrhea, or chancroid). The peak incidence of cases was found in the 20-34 year age group, approximately 2/3 of the patients. Men were more likely to be single than the women. 2/3 of the men and 3/4 of the women lived with their parents or their spouse. The high proportion of married women reflects that many came to the clinic as secondary contacts. Sailors constituted an important group of male patients. Diagnosis varied with social class: men in social classes I and II were more likely to have nongonococcal urethritis (NGU) (the most common condition found in all male patients) than men in social classes III, IV, and V, who were more likely to have syphilis, gonorrhea, and "other conditions". Women in social classes I and II were more likely to be free of infection than their counterparts in other classes. For patients with gonorrhea, both married and single men were more likely to acquire the infection from a casual contact than their married and single female counterparts. 14 or 1.2% of the male patients admitted to possible homosexual source of infection. The public house and dance hall were the most common meeting places and therefore it is suggested that information about VD be displayed in these places. A majority of men reported consuming alcohol before intercourse. For men, intercourse took place most frequently in the residence of the woman, in cars, or on the street; for women, their residence, residence of the man, or cars were most frequently mentioned. Of the patients to whom the question was applicable, 16.9% of the men and . 8% of the women indicated that a cash payment had been made. Diagnosis varied with the use of a sheath. Men who used a sheath were less likely to be diagnosed with syphilis or gonorrhea and more likely to not have an infection or have NGU. From the 119 men with gonorrhea who could identify the source of contact, 45 women sought treatment from the clinic. The study results suggest that there is a pool of promiscuous infected women who do not seek treatment, probably because they are unaware they have an infection, as suggested by results from other studies. Persuading these women to come for treatment is an important step in controlling the spread of infection.
Environmental stress correlates with increases in both genetic and residual variances: A meta‐analysis of animal studies

Adaptive evolutionary responses are determined by the strength of selection and amount of genetic variation within traits, however, both are known to vary across environmental conditions. As selection is generally expected to be strongest under stressful conditions, understanding how the expression of genetic variation changes across stressful and benign environmental conditions is crucial for predicting the rate of adaptive change. Although theory generally predicts increased genetic variation under stress, previous syntheses of the field have found limited support for this notion. These studies have focused on heritability, which is dependent on other environmentally sensitive, but nongenetic, sources of variation. Here, we aim to complement these studies with a meta‐analysis in which we examine changes in coefficient of variation (CV) in maternal, genetic, and residual variances across stressful and benign conditions. Confirming previous analyses, we did not find any clear direction in how heritability changes across stressful and benign conditions. However, when analyzing CV, we found higher genetic and residual variance under highly stressful conditions in life‐history traits but not in morphological traits. Our findings are of broad significance to contemporary evolution suggesting that rapid evolutionary adaptive response may be mediated by increased evolutionary potential in stressed populations.
A comparison of the information content of US and Danish earnings

This study provides a more in-depth comparison of the information content of US and Danish earnings than has previously been done. Alford et al. (1993) is essentially the only prior study which has compared the information content of US and Danish earnings. They find that US earnings are relatively more informative than Danish earnings. However, the study of Alford et al. (1993) suffers from several deficiencies, which questions the conclusion drawn in their study. This study addresses these deficiencies. First, the sample size is increased from 19 to 121 companies. Further, the comparison is carried out on the basis of operating income, net income and comprehensive income rather than net income alone. By examining these income measures and by concentrating on a comparison of US and Danish earnings alone it is possible to provide explanations for differences in the information content of US and Danish earnings. Finally, this study avoids a size problem by including all Danish listed companies. Given the improvements in the research design and sample size this study finds that Danish earnings seem to be at least as informative as US earnings. In fact, in many cases Danish earnings appear more informative than US earnings. This is the case when both an earnings-return association approach and a perfect foresight portfolio approach are applied.
Financial Liberalization and the Permanent Income Hypothesis

This paper addresses the question of whether financial liberalization and innovation have significantly altered consumption behavior by reducing liquidity constraints as capital markets become more flexible. A consumption model, in which the permanent income hypothesis and extreme Keynesian consumption functions are nested as special cases, is the starting point for this analysis. Estimated values for the sensitivity of consumption to current income for different time periods and for several OECD countries are assessed. These results are then compared in the light of their various econometric properties, country-specific liberalization measures, and a variety of proxies reflecting changing liquidity constraints. Copyright 1995 by Blackwell Publishers Ltd and The Victoria University of Manchester
Bilbao and Barcelona ‘in Motion’. How Urban Regeneration ‘Models’ Travel and Mutate in the Global Flows of Policy Tourism

This paper explores how the so-called Bilbao effect and Barcelona Model are diffused internationally through what may be called urban policy tourism: short trips made to Bilbao and Barcelona by policy-makers to learn from their regeneration in the past 15 years. The paper reveals for the first time the substantial extent of this practice and contextualises it within a wider phenomenon of urban policy transfer and the international ‘motion’ of urban policies. Although both models are internationally known for a set of elements, this research shows that in fact the messages mutate and shift as they circulate through the policy circuits. Ultimately, however, the popularity of the Bilbao and Barcelona models suggests a process of global urban policy convergence.
Value at Risk (VAR) in Real Options Analysis

Cash flow from operations can be controlled using real options. In this normative paper, we derive numerically in a univariate discrete time model, extension of (Kulatilaka, 1988), the expanded NPV of an industrial investment and, simultaneously, state variable thresholds for the whole life of the project to optimally exercise real options. In this framework, we model the whole distribution of expanded NPV using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo method, computing forward the same NPV previously derived in a backward induction process. A number of original results is derived for an all equity firm. Cash flow distribution and CfaR is derived for each epoch in the life of the project. A VaR for the expanded NPV at time zero is derived. The intuition of (Trigeorgis, 1996) page 123 about the risk controlling properties of real options is proved and quantified. These new methods have been applied to a numerical example in shipping finance.
A Factor Structure for Social and Personal Development Outcomes in College.

The issues of accountability and increased public concern have contributed to widespread institutional self-examination and to a greater emphasis placed on assessing the impact of college attendance. This study focuses on 36 items in the ACT College Outcomes Survey to identify specific areas of personal and social gain where students percieved colleges to have the greatest impact. Identification of these general constructs provides guidance for college administrators and faculty members on areas where the colleges can focus their attention to achieve their greatest impact.
Creating Meaningful Study Abroad Programs for American Indian Postsecondary Students.

This article describes the development of a study abroad exchange experience for Americani Indian students enrolled at Haskell Indian Nations University, Lawrence, Kansas, and Altaian students enrolled at GornoAltaisk State University, Altai Republic, Siberia. Students and faculty engaged in numerous activities designed to develop mentored learning experiences, connectedness with the greater Indigenous community, and kniowledge and experience for students working in various areas of science and liberal aits.
A Limited Economic Assessment of the Northeast Groundfish Fishery Buyout Program

The United States and various European Union nations have used vessel buyout programs to reduce harvesting capacity in fisheries. In this paper, we present an analysis of the U.S. Northeast groundfish vessel buyout program. Using data envelopment analysis (DEA), we calculate capacity for both the fleet and for the vessels removed through the buyout program. Our analysis suggests that if capacity measures had been used to select vessels, both more capacity and more vessels could have been purchased with the funds allocated to the buyout program. We conclude with a discussion of alternative ways to reduce capacity in fisheries. (JEL Q22)