Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diffusion-controlled reference material for VOC emissions testing: proof of concept.

UNLABELLED Because of concerns about indoor air quality, there is growing awareness of the need to reduce the rate at which indoor materials and products emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs). To meet consumer demand for low emitting products, manufacturers are increasingly submitting materials to independent laboratories for emissions testing. However, the same product tested by different laboratories can result in very different emissions profiles because of a general lack of test validation procedures. There is a need for a reference material that can be used as a known emissions source and that will have the same emission rate when tested by different laboratories under the same conditions. A reference material was created by loading toluene into a polymethyl pentene film. A fundamental emissions model was used to predict the toluene emissions profile. Measured VOC emissions profiles using small-chamber emissions tests compared reasonably well to the emissions profile predicted using the emissions model, demonstrating the feasibility of the proposed approach to create a diffusion-controlled reference material. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS To calibrate emissions test chambers and improve the reproducibility of VOC emission measurements among different laboratories, a reference material has been created using a polymer film loaded with a representative VOC. Initial results show that the film's VOC emission profile measured in a conventional test chamber compares well to predictions based on independently determined material/chemical properties and a fundamental emissions model. The use of such reference materials has the potential to build consensus and confidence in emissions testing as well as 'level the playing field' for product testing laboratories and manufacturers.
Wearing community: why customers purchase a service firm's logo products

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to investigate customer purchase of a service organization's logo/branded merchandise as a type of customer voluntary performance behavior.Design/methodology/approach – The article employs three separate studies; two are conducted with customers of Curves, the world's largest fitness franchise, and the other is conducted at a weight‐lifting gym. Two empirical studies test a proposed mediation model using structural equation modeling and bootstrapping techniques. The third study represents a humanistic inquiry that elucidates the social influences that encourage a customer to purchase a service firm's logo products.Findings – The results show that a customer's integration into a service‐based community encourages him or her to purchase the firm's logo merchandise. In addition, a customer's ability to identify with the firm mediates this relationship. The immersion of customers' self‐ and social identities in a firm emerges as a critical factor to enhancing their ap.
A study of neutralisation theory's application to global consumer ethics: P2P file-trading of musical intellectual property on the internet

This study applied neutralisation techniques from neutralisation theory (Sykes and Matza, 1957) to consumer perceptions to justify unethical distribution and acquisition of unauthorised free digital music on the internet. A two-stage multimethod and qualitative study was performed. One qualitative data set was developed with written protocols in 2000 at the start of the Napster phenomenon with a sample of consumers from nine nations. The second research phase was done in 2004 with a netnographic approach to studying weblogs. Results supported the Marks and Mayo (1991) extension of Hunt and Vitell's (1986) General Theory of Marketing Ethics model and Fukukawa's (2002) Framework for Ethically Questionable Behaviour in Consumption. The first stage of cross-cultural analysis revealed nations' differences in neutralisation techniques used by subjects to justify unethical file-trading behaviour. Results from both research phases indicated global similarities among consumer values.
The effects of infusion of insulinlike growth factor (IGF) I, IGF-II, and insulin on glucose and protein metabolism in fasted lambs.

In vivo effects of 300-min infusions of recombinant insulinlike growth factor I (IGF-I) and IGF-II on glucose and protein metabolism have been investigated in awake, fasted lambs. Two doses of recombinant human (rh) IGF-I were infused: 6.7 nmol/kg.h, which induced hypoglycemia, and 2.0 nmol/kg.h, which did not. The effects were compared with an insulin infusion (0.17 nmol/kg.h) that had the same hypoglycemic potential as the high dose rhIGF-I infusion. rhIGF-II was infused at a rate of 6.7 nmol/kg.h. Primed constant infusions of isotopically labeled glucose, urea and leucine tracers were used to determine glucose and protein kinetics. rhIGF-I lowered blood glucose by increasing the rate of glucose clearance (P less than 0.01), in contrast to insulin, which both increased clearance and reduced glucose production. Net protein loss was reduced after infusion of low and high dose rhIGF-I and insulin by 11% (P less than 0.05), 15% (P less than 0.01), and 12% (P less than 0.05), respectively. rhIGF-II infusion did not alter the rate of net protein loss. In contrast to insulin, high dose rhIGF-I infusion increased the rate of protein synthesis in skeletal (P less than 0.05) and cardiac muscle (P less than 0.01) and in hepatic tissue (P less than 0.05). We conclude that (a) protein metabolism is more sensitive than glucose metabolism to rhIGF-I infusion, as protein loss was reduced by an rhIGF-I infusion that did not alter glucose kinetics; (b) protein synthesis is increased by rhIGF-I infusion but not by insulin infusion; and (c) rhIGF-II is a less effective anabolic agent than rhIGF-I. We speculate that the effects of rhIGF-I on protein metabolism are not mediated by insulin receptors.
Improving Casino Performance Through Enhanced Loyalty Programs

With increased competition and decreased revenues in the gaming industry, casinos have developed and modified their loyalty programs to attract new customers and build customer loyalty. However, often loyalty programs are not evaluated for their effectiveness. Using data from a Las Vegas casino resort, the effectiveness of a new casino loyalty program on gaming volume was examined. The study used time series multiple regression analysis with autoregressive and moving average terms to analyze the effect of the new program on slot coin-in and table game drop. The results indicated that the loyalty program variable significantly increased slot coin-in at a rate of $302,455 per day, but did not significantly affect table game drop. With the findings and model developed in this study, operators can examine whether loyalty programs are producing the desired effects and develop strategies to improve their effectiveness.
Prestorage universal WBC reduction of RBC units does not affect the incidence of transfusion reactions

BACKGROUND: Febrile nonhemolytic transfusion reaction (FNHTR) has been identified as a pivotal reason for prestorage universal WBC reduction. A regional blood center implemented universal prestorage WBC reduction for RBCs on January 1, 2000. Whether prestorage universal WBC reduction of RBC units will affect FNHTR is not known.
Nonlocal optical response in metallic nanostructures

This review provides a broad overview of the studies and effects of nonlocal response in metallic nanostructures. In particular, we thoroughly present the nonlocal hydrodynamic model and the recently introduced generalized nonlocal optical response (GNOR) model. The influence of nonlocal response on plasmonic excitations is studied in key metallic geometries, such as spheres and dimers, and we derive new consequences due to the GNOR model. Finally, we propose several trajectories for future work on nonlocal response, including experimental setups that may unveil further effects of nonlocal response.
Construction Workers' Satisfaction with Work Provision Requirement Dimensions in Ghana's Construction Industry

This paper, sought to empirically assess and analyze workers’ satisfaction with different dimensions of work provision requirement of the construction industry in Ghana. It involved a cross-sectional survey that used a self-administered structured questionnaire administered to five hundred respondents of building construction workers. The findings indicate that though workers are satisfied with some work provision requirement dimension items significantly, most of the workers are very dissatisfied with working environment and work benefit of the work provision requirement in Ghana. The management of construction firms in Ghana and policy makers are called upon to focus and redirect attention and effort to ensuring that work provision requirement that workers are dissatisfied with are improved significantly to meet workers expectations. The paper contributes to the general body of knowledge in the area of workers’ satisfaction in developing countries particularly in Ghana’s construction industry. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
Wealth Effects of Going Private Transactions on Corporate Rivals, Customers and Suppliers

This study explores wealth effects of firms’ going-private decisions on corporate rivals, suppliers and customers. Rival firms earn significant positive abnormal returns around the going-private announcement period. I find that the reaction of customers and suppliers is conditional on the degree of dependency on target firms. I identify a set of homogenous characteristics that increase the likelihood of firms being acquired by specific types of acquirers, namely financial buyers and strategic buyers. I find that firms targeted by strategic buyers tend to be younger, smaller, and less profitable but have higher growth opportunities when compared to firms targeted by financial buyers.
MT-LOOP-dependent Localization of Membrane Type I Matrix Metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) to the Cell Adhesion Complexes Promotes Cancer Cell Invasion*

Background: MT1-MMP promotes cancer cell invasion. Results: Deletion of the MT-LOOP region of MT1-MMP or an antibody to the MT-LOOP inhibits cellular invasion. Conclusion: MT-LOOP-dependent MT1-MMP localization to the cell adhesion complex promotes cellular invasion. Significance: Our work reveals a novel mechanism of MT1-MMP regulation during cellular invasion and identifies the MT-LOOP as a novel target region to develop specific inhibitors. Localization of membrane type I matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) to the leading edge is thought to be a crucial step during cancer cell invasion. However, its mechanisms and functional impact on cellular invasion have not been clearly defined. In this report, we have identified the MT-LOOP, a loop region in the catalytic domain of MT1-MMP (163PYAYIREG170), as an essential region for MT1-MMP to promote cellular invasion. Deletion of the MT-LOOP effectively inhibited functions of MT1-MMP on the cell surface, including proMMP-2 activation, degradation of gelatin and collagen films, and cellular invasion into a collagen matrix. This is not due to loss of the catalytic function of MT1-MMP but due to inefficient localization of the enzyme to β1-integrin-rich cell adhesion complexes at the plasma membrane. We also found that an antibody that specifically recognizes the MT-LOOP region of MT1-MMP (LOOPAb) inhibited MT1-MMP functions, fully mimicking the phenotype of the MT-LOOP deletion mutant. We therefore propose that the MT-LOOP region is an interface for molecular interactions that mediate enzyme localization to cell adhesion complexes and regulate MT1-MMP functions. Our findings have revealed a novel mechanism regulating MT1-MMP during cellular invasion and have identified the MT-LOOP as a potential exosite target region to develop selective MT1-MMP inhibitors.
Brain Atrophy of Secondary REM-Sleep Behavior Disorder in Neurodegenerative Disease.

BACKGROUND Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) may present as an early manifestation of an evolving neurodegenerative disorder with alpha-synucleinopathy. OBJECTIVE We investigated that dementia with RBD might show distinctive cortical atrophic patterns. METHODS A total of 31 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD), 23 with clinically probable Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 36 healthy controls participated in this study. Patients with AD and IPD were divided into two groups according to results of polysomnography and rated with a validated Korean version of the RBD screening questionnaire (RBDSQ-K), which covers the clinical features of RBD. Voxel-based morphometry was adapted for detection of regional brain atrophy among groups of subjects. RESULTS Scores on RBDSQ-K were higher in the IPD group (3.54 ± 2.8) than in any other group (AD, 2.94 ± 2.4; healthy controls, 2.31 ± 1.9). Atrophic changes according to RBDSQ-K scores were characteristically in the posterior part of the brain and brain stem, including the hypothalamus and posterior temporal region including the hippocampus and bilateral occipital lobe. AD patients with RBD showed more specialized atrophic patterns distributed in the posterior and inferior parts of the brain including the bilateral temporal and occipital cortices compared to groups without RBD. The IPD group with RBD showed right temporal cortical atrophic changes. CONCLUSION The group of patients with neurodegenerative diseases and RBD showed distinctive brain atrophy patterns, especially in the posterior and inferior cortices. These results suggest that patients diagnosed with clinically probable AD or IPD might have mixed pathologies including α-synucleinopathy.
Laboratory investigation of AC corona loss and corona onset voltage on a conductor under icing conditions

Corona losses generated from energized conductors, especially in foul weather conditions, is one of the most important economic factors influencing the design of extra-high voltage (EHV) and ultra-high voltage (UHV) transmission lines. In the present paper, results of laboratory experiments under icing conditions are presented. Two types of ice are considered: rime and glaze. The conditions of ice formation on the test conductor are presented. During the ice accretion, an electric field was applied to the conductor to investigate corona loss and corona onset voltage. The presence of glaze results in a higher corona loss and a lower corona onset voltage compared with rime. The influence of wind velocity and freezing water conductivity were also studied. The test results can help to estimate corona losses of transmission lines in cold climate regions and to improve the design of transmission lines.
Edited Volumes, Monographs and Book Chapters in the Book Citation Index (BKCI) and Science Citation Index (SCI, Sosci, A&HCI)

In 2011, Thomson-Reuters introduced the Book Citation Index (BKCI) as part of the Science Citation Index (SCI). The interface of the Web of Science version 5 enables users to search for both 'Books' and 'Book Chapters' as new categories. Books and book chapters, however, were always among the cited references, and book chapters have been included in the database since 2005. We explore the two categories with both BKCI and SCI, and in the sister social sciences (SoSCI) and the arts & humanities (A&HCI) databases. Book chapters in edited volumes can be highly cited. Books contain many citing references but are relatively less cited. This may find its origin in the slower circulation of books than of journal articles. It is possible to distinguish between monographs and edited volumes among the 'Books' scientometrically. Monographs may be underrated in terms of citation impact or overrated using publication performance indicators because individual chapters are counted as contributions separately in terms of articles, reviews, and/or book chapters.
Critical information and communication technology (ICT) skills for professional accountants

Information technology can be seen as one of the key drivers in a changing business environment as it is integrated into almost all aspects of business. All the research investigating the skills and abilities that a professional accountant will need in future emphasises the importance of understanding and being competent in the use of information technology. Whether professional accountants function as financial managers within a specific organisation, act as independent evaluators of an organisation, financial information and systems, or act as consultants advising organisations, they will have to interact with and be knowledgeable about information technology to enable them to perform their jobs competently. The purpose of this article is to identify which information and communication technology (ICT) skills are critical for professional accountants who wish to be competent in the current and future working environment. A literature review was conducted of research by various professional accountancy bodies and other stakeholders to determine: the competence that future professional accountants will need; and the impact of the changing environment on the curricula set by professional accounting bodies. The article concludes with a description of the ICT skills required by professional accountants in order to be competent in today’s work environment. The article concludes with a discussion of the ICT skills that professional accountants must be competent in using.
A neural network approach for Radio Frequency based indoors localization

Radio Frequency (RF) based localization is appropriate for indoors quasi-structured environments. However some accuracy issues remain which are raised by the characteristics of localization accuracy requirements. This paper adopts the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) method to overcome a few of them. Making use of available communications subsystem built in wireless protocols, Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) can become a measured variable that supplies ANN schemes. RSSI post-processing filters improve localization accuracy and ANNs emulate the required trilateration for indoors RF localization. Preliminary ANN learning results are included in this paper. This promising result encourages further research on ANN learning for indoor localization.
Training: Can It Be a Tool to Boost Service-Oriented Citizenship Behaviors?

In order to stay on top of the competition game, service providers need to encourage patterns of service-oriented behaviors that are bound to satisfy their customers. High quality service delivery by employees may be achieved through training. The present study aims at testing a model linking training and service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors (SO-OCBs). A total of 290 customer-contact hotel employees participated in the survey. Data was analyzed using partial least squares (PLS). The results demonstrate that training had a direct impact on the specific dimensions of employees’ service-oriented citizenship behaviors. The findings offered support for the validity of the social exchange theory in explaining the relationship between training and SO-OCBs within the context of a non-Western sample. In a practical sense, managers should be cognizant of the fact that existing employees should be given training especially on-the-job type on a regular basis to upgrade their job knowledge, skills, and competencies. Through training, employees are likely to become more motivated and more willing to engage in service-oriented behaviors that extend beyond their call of duty.
Activity of the new fluoroquinolone trovafloxacin (CP-99,219) against DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV mutants of Streptococcus pneumoniae selected in vitro

The MICs of trovafloxacin, ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, and sparfloxacin at which 90% of isolates are inhibited for 55 isolates of pneumococci were 0.125, 1, 4, and 0.5 microgram/ml, respectively. Resistant mutants of two susceptible isolates were selected in a stepwise fashion on agar containing ciprofloxacin at 2 to 10 times the MIC. While no mutants were obtained at the highest concentration tested, mutants were obtained at four times the MIC of ciprofloxacin (4 micrograms/ml) at a frequency of 1.0 x 10(-9). Ciprofloxacin MICs for these first-step mutants ranged from 4 to 8 micrograms/ml, whereas trovafloxacin MICs were 0.25 to 0.5 microgram/ml. Amplification of the quinolone resistance-determining region of the grlA (parC; topoisomerase IV) and gyrA (DNA gyrase) genes of the parents and mutants revealed that changes of the serine at position 80 (Ser80) to Phe or Tyr (Staphylococcus aureus coordinates) in GrlA were associated with resistance to ciprofloxacin. Second-step mutants of these isolates were selected by plating the isolates on medium containing ciprofloxacin at 32 micrograms/ml. Mutants for which ciprofloxacin MICs were 32 to 256 micrograms/ml and trovafloxacin MICs were 4 to 16 micrograms/ml were obtained at a frequency of 1.0 x 10(-9). Second-step mutants also had a change in GyrA corresponding to a substitution in Ser84 to Tyr or Phe or in Glu88 to Lys. Trovafloxacin protected from infection mice whose lungs were inoculated with lethal doses of either the parent strain or the first-step mutant. These results indicate that resistance to fluoroquinolones in S. pneumoniae occurs in vitro at a low frequency, involving sequential mutations in topoisomerase IV and DNA gyrase. Trovafloxacin MICs for wild-type and first-step mutants are within clinically achievable levels in the blood and lungs of humans.
Argininosuccinate Synthase Expression Is Required to Maintain Nitric Oxide Production and Cell Viability in Aortic Endothelial Cells*

Although cellular levels of arginine greatly exceed the apparent Km for endothelial nitric-oxide synthase, current evidence suggests that the bulk of this arginine may not be available for nitric oxide (NO) production. We propose that arginine regeneration, that is the recycling of citrulline back to arginine, defines the essential source of arginine for NO production. To support this proposal, RNA interference analysis was used to selectively reduce the expression of argininosuccinate synthase (AS), because the only known metabolic role for AS in endothelial cells is in the regeneration of l-arginine from l-citrulline. Western blot analysis demonstrated a significant and dose-dependent reduction of AS protein as a result of AS small interfering RNA treatment with a corresponding diminished capacity to produce basal or stimulated levels of NO, despite saturating levels of arginine in the medium. Unanticipated, however, was the finding that the viability of AS small interfering RNA-treated endothelial cells was significantly decreased when compared with control cells. Trypan blue exclusion analysis suggested that the loss of viability was not because of necrosis. Two indicators, reduced expression of Bcl-2 and an increase in caspase activity, which correlated directly with reduced expression of AS, suggested that the loss of viability was because of apoptosis. The exposure of cells to an NO donor prevented apoptosis associated with reduced AS expression. Overall, these results demonstrate the essential role of AS for endothelial NO production and cell viability.