Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gaming Customer Satisfaction: An Exploratory Study

With competition in the gaming industry intensifying, customer satisfaction may hold the key to the long-term fi nancial success of a casino. The primary goal of this explora tory study was to develop and test a model for gaming cus tomer satisfaction. The model is based on four constructs: Experiential Affect/Atmosphere, Chance of Winning, Cus tomer Service, and Process. A regression analysis using three of the four constructs as independent variables explained 57% of the variance in slot machine customer satisfaction. There is a need for further research to identify the additional variables that affect gaming customer satisfaction.
A fuzzy DEA model based on weighted average value of fuzzy numbers

A fuzzy data envelopment analysis (DEA) model is proposed, based on weighted average value (WAV) index of fuzzy numbers. The proposed model depends on two parameters, a real number λ and an additive measure S, λ is the optimistic point of view of the decision maker, S allows the decision maker to choose evaluations in particular subsets of the fuzzy number support, according to decision maker preference. Relative technical efficiency, fuzzy efficiency of fuzzy DMUs and fuzzy production frontier of these DMUs can be obtained by using the proposed model. The proposed fuzzy DEA model is applied to evaluate the performances of flexible manufacturing system (FMS).
A Comparison of Demand-Side Water Management Strategies Using Disaggregate Data

Using data from Salt Lake City, Utah, for the years 1999-2002, a water demand model was developed, and the effects of price and nonprice public policies estimated. The demand for water is found to be price inelastic except in summer months. The effects of a public information campaign to reduce water use were also estimated and found to be moderately effective. The household level panel data used in this study give more accurate estimates of these elasticities than found in previous research.
The effects of offshoring on employer-provided training†

This study examines how offshoring affects employers’ investment in training. Departing from the standard assumption in the literature that low-skilled jobs are transferred to developing countries while high-skilled jobs are still performed in the Home Country, we argue that whether a productive activity is offshored depends on whether its associated occupation is offshorable, regardless of its skill content. Our theoretical model suggests that the offshoring of productive activities involving offshorable occupations raises the wage rate for non-offshorable occupations in the Home Country, and thus reduces the incentive for firms to provide training in non-offshorable occupations. The effects of offshoring on training for offshorable occupations, however, are ambiguous. Based on two new measures of offshoring and data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (1989–2004), we empirically investigate the relationship between offshoring and employer-provided training in the United States. For non-offshorable occupations, we find that offshoring has a significant negative relationship with the incidence of training, but does not have much, if any, significant relationship with the intensity of training. For offshorable occupations, offshoring does not have any significant relationship with either the incidence or the intensity of employer-provided training. These findings are in line with our theoretical model.
MULTIPLE RATERS IN SURVEY‐BASED OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT RESEARCH: A REVIEW AND TUTORIAL

Research in the area of operations strategy has made significant progress during the past decade in terms of quantity of articles published, as well as the quality of these articles. Recent studies have examined the published literature base and determined that, in general, the field has progressed beyond an exploratory stage to a point where there is a core set of basic terminology and models. Concurrent with the formation and solidification of a core terminology, there is an increasing emphasis on developing and employing a set of reliable, valid, and reproducible methods for conducting research on operations strategy. We provide a review of common methods for assessing the degree of reliability and agreement of the responses provided by multiple raters within a given organization to a set of qualitative questions. In particular, we examine four methods of determining whether there is evidence of disagreement or bias between multiple raters within a single organization in a mail survey.
A retrospective study of chemotherapy with and without pemetrexed in malignant pleural mesothelioma.

BACKGROUND The current standard first-line chemotherapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is pemetrexed and cisplatin. However, other regimens, with or without a platinum agent, are reported to be effective in the treatment of MPM. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients who were diagnosed with MPM and treated with chemotherapy between January 1999 and June 2010 at the Osaka Prefectural Medical Center for Respiratory and Allergic Diseases were studied, and the outcomes of these patients were retrospectively analyzed in relation to therapy. RESULTS In total, 48 patients with MPM (42 men and 6 women) treated with chemotherapy were included in the current analysis. The median survival time (MST) and one-year survival rate in the pemetrexed-containing group were 541 days and 63.2%, respectively. The MST and one-year survival rate in the non-pemetrexed group were 516 days and 66.7%, respectively. Overall survival did not differ significantly with respect to the pemetrexed-containing regimen. CONCLUSION The superiority of pemetrexed-containing regimens is equivocal. Non-pemetrexed-containing regimens may be potent alternatives.
Preventive Zinc Supplementation among Infants, Preschoolers, and Older Prepubertal Children

Zinc supplementation trials carried out among children have produced variable results, depending on the specific outcomes considered and the initial characteristics of the children who were enrolled. We completed a series of meta-analyses to examine the impact of preventive zinc supplementation on morbidity; mortality; physical growth; biochemical indicators of zinc, iron, and copper status; and indicators of behavioral development, along with possible modifying effects of the intervention results. Zinc supplementation reduced the incidence of diarrhea by ∼20%, but the impact was limited to studies that enrolled children with a mean initial age greater than 12 months. Among the subset of studies that enrolled children with mean initial age greater than 12 months, the relative risk of diarrhea was reduced by 27%. Zinc supplementation reduced the incidence of acute lower respiratory tract infections by ∼15%. Zinc supplementation yielded inconsistent impacts on malaria incidence, and too few trials are currently available to allow definitive conclusions to be drawn. Zinc supplementation had a marginal 6% impact on overall child mortality, but there was an 18% reduction in deaths among zinc-supplemented children older than 12 months of age. Zinc supplementation increased linear growth and weight gain by a small, but highly significant, amount. The interventions yielded a consistent, moderately large increase in mean serum zinc concentrations, and they had no significant adverse effects on indicators of iron and copper status. There were no significant effects on children's behavioral development, although the number of available studies is relatively small. The available evidence supports the need for intervention programs to enhance zinc status to reduce child morbidity and mortality and to enhance child growth. Possible strategies for delivering preventive zinc supplements are discussed.
Structural analysis of interactions for complex formation between Ferredoxin‐NADP+ reductase and its protein partners

The three‐dimensional structures of K72E, K75R, K75S, K75Q, and K75E Anabaena Ferredoxin‐NADP+ reductase (FNR) mutants have been solved, and particular structural details of these mutants have been used to assess the role played by residues 72 and 75 in optimal complex formation and electron transfer (ET) between FNR and its protein redox partners Ferredoxin (Fd) and Flavodoxin (Fld). Additionally, because there is no structural information available on the interaction between FNR and Fld, a model for the FNR:Fld complex has also been produced based on the previously reported crystal structures and on that of the rat Cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR), onto which FNR and Fld have been structurally aligned, and those reported for the Anabaena and maize FNR:Fd complexes. The model suggests putative electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions between residues on the FNR and Fld surfaces at the complex interface and provides an adequate orientation and distance between the FAD and FMN redox centers for efficient ET without the presence of any other molecule as electron carrier. Thus, the models now available for the FNR:Fd and FNR:Fld interactions and the structures presented here for the mutants at K72 and K75 in Anabaena FNR have been evaluated in light of previous biochemical data. These structures confirm the key participation of residue K75 and K72 in complex formation with both Fd and Fld. The drastic effect in FNR activity produced by replacement of K75 by Glu in the K75E FNR variant is explained not only by the observed changes in the charge distribution on the surface of the K75E FNR mutant, but also by the formation of a salt bridge interaction between E75 and K72 that simultaneously “neutralizes” two essential positive charged side chains for Fld/Fd recognition. Proteins 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Russia, China, and the Immigration Security Dilemma

Since the opening of the Sino-Soviet border in 1988, governors of Siberian and Russian Far Eastern territories, Russian federal government officials, and the media have been warning the Kremlin and the Russian public about "peaceful Chinese infiltration" and "Sinification" of the Russian Far East (RFE). 1 In national polls conducted by the Levada Analytical Center, Russia's leading survey agency, the number of respondents who wanted to restrict the settlement of ethnic Chinese in Russia rose from 39 percent to
Founding‐Family Ownership, Corporate Diversification, and Firm Leverage*

Anecdotal accounts imply that founding families routinely engage in opportunistic activities that exploit minority shareholders. We gauge the severity of these moral hazard conflicts by examining whether founding families—as large, undiversified blockholders—seek to reduce firm‐specific risk by influencing the firm’s diversification and capital structure decisions. Surprisingly, we find that family firms actually experience less diversification than, and use similar levels of debt as, nonfamily firms. Consistent with these findings, we also find that direct measures of equity risk are not related to founding‐family ownership, which suggests that family holdings are not limited to low‐risk businesses or industries. Although founding‐family ownership and influence are prevalent and significant in U.S. industrial firms, the results do not support the hypothesis that continued founding‐family ownership in public firms leads to minority‐shareholder wealth expropriation. Instead, our results show that minority shareholders in large U.S. firms benefit from the presence of founding families.
Levels of Immigrant Residential Concentration in Sydney and their Relationship with Disadvantage

Sydney on a world scale is a significant city of immigrants, having 1 020 000 overseas-born in 1991 and over 900 000 second-generation persons. The Australian 1991 Census included detailed questions on birthplace, language spoken in the home and English language competency. This allows us to measure the extent of immigrant segregation in Sydney on a more reliable basis than has hitherto been possible. With the exception of the populations born in the former Indochina, the Asian, Middle Eastern and Latin American groups were not more segregated than the more concentrated continental European groups. For almost all groups, the term segregation is inappropriate. Nevertheless, some of the ethnic concentrations are large and, in western Sydney and the inner southern suburbs, higher proportions of persons with limited English, lower incomes and no jobs reside in concentrations than elsewhere. Economic difficulties are being experienced, more so in several concentrations than among compatriots elsewhere. The concentrations, however, are not the cause of disadvantage and application of the term ghetto, or even enclave, to these concentrations is inappropriate and may contribute to the negative stereotyping of groups.
Assessment of clinical competence: reliability, validity, feasibility and educational impact of the mini-CEX

• A submitted manuscript is the version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences between the submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for the final version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website. • The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review. • The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers.
The American Put Option Valued Analytically

An analytic solution to the American put problem is derived herein. The hedge ratio and other derivatives of the solution are presented. The formula derived implies an exact duplicating portfolio for the American put consisting of discount bonds and stock sold short. The formula is extended to consider put options on stocks paying cash dividends. A polynomial expression is developed for evaluating these formulae. Values and hedge ratios for puts on both dividend and nondividend paying stocks are calculated, tabulated, and compared with values derived by numerical integration and binomial approximation. As with European options, evaluating an analytic formula is more efficient than approximating the stock price process or the partial differential equation by binomial or finite difference methods. Finally, applications of this American put solution are discussed.
Managerial Incentives for Short-term Results

Of late, concern has been expressed that American managers tend to make decisions that yield short-term gains at the expense of the long-term interests of the shareholders. In this paper, we have attempted to investigate managerial incentives for such decisions. We find that, when the manager has private information regarding his or her decisions, there exist situations wherein the manager has incentives to make decisions which yield short-term profits but are not in the stockholders best interests. This incentive for suboptimal decisions arises because the manager, by taking decisions yielding short-term profits, hopes to enhance his reputation earlier, thus boosting his wages. We also find that this incentive is inversely related to her experience, the duration of her contract, and the risk of the firm.
Employment and growth in Europe and the US—the role of fiscal policy composition

We construct a simple endogenous growth model to analyse the relationship between the composition of fiscal policy, economic growth and employment. The government sets different tax rates on labour income, capital income, and private consumption to finance productive expenditures, utility-enhancing consumption expenditures, and transfers related to structural non-employment. Our model is able to explain the different employment and growth records of European countries and the US since the 1990s. We use the model to investigate the strength of the effects of various fiscal policy shocks on steady state employment and growth. We also develop the transitional dynamics for many variables, including welfare. Our results highlight the trade-offs that may occur between performance indicators, and between the short and the long-run. Copyright 2009 Oxford University Press 2008 All rights reserved, Oxford University Press.
Enhanced broadband access as a solution to the social and economic problems of the rural digital divide

This article discusses the danger of a growing digital divide between rural and other areas. It presents broadband as increasingly necessary for the delivery of information, health, education, business, social security, public and leisure services. Access to broadband has become vital for rural communities to participate in a progressively digital economy and to overcome problems of physical and social isolation. Yet rural areas are among those most excluded from fast broadband developments. Although this is partly due to technological/economic barriers in reaching more remote locations, even where technology is available, adoption can still be low in rural areas. This article explores the problems of providing broadband in rural Britain, considers various technological approaches and concludes with key development areas for policy and government.
Correlation based splitting criterionin multi branch decision tree

One of the most commonly used predictive models in classification is the decision tree (DT). The task of a DT is to map observations to target values. In the DT, each branch represents a rule. A rule’s consequent is the leaf of the branch and its antecedent is the conjunction of the features. Most applied algorithms in this field use the concept of Information Entropy and Gini Index as the splitting criterion when building a tree. In this paper, a new splitting criterion to build DTs is proposed. A splitting criterion specifies the tree’s best splitting variable as well as the variable’s threshold for further splitting. Using the idea from classical Forward Selection method and its enhanced versions, the variable having the largest absolute correlation with the target value is chosen as the best splitting variable at each node. Then, the idea of maximizing the margin between classes in a support vector machine (SVM) is used to find the best classification threshold on the selected variable. This procedure will execute recursively at each node, until reaching the leaf nodes. The final decision tree has a shorter height than previous methods, which effectively reduces useless variables and the time needed for classification of future data. Unclassified regions are also generated under the proposed method, which can be interpreted as an advantage or disadvantage. The simulation results demonstrate an improvement in the generated decision tree compared to previous methods.
A Review of the Process-Induced Changes in the Phytochemical Content of Cereal Grains: The Breadmaking Process

The importance of cereal grains in human nutrition is well documented. Especially the impact of whole grains consumption on human health has attracted much attention over the last decades. The health benefits are associated with the high content of cereal grains in dietary fiber but also recent research has shown that cereal grains are rich in bioactive compounds, which are unique in composition and different to phytochemicals from other sources such as fruit and vegetables. Cereal grains however are processed before human consumption. Depending on the process, the levels and the composition of the available bioactive compounds can be affected. Knowledge of the effect of these processes on the phytochemical compounds is essential to ensure the products generated are nutritious and can convey health benefits to the consumers. This article reviews the literature on the effect of milling and breadmaking processes on the levels and profile of bioactive compounds. Milling and breadmaking are two of the most common processes used universally to prepare the grains for consumption. These processes involve several stages and many variable factors, which can alter the levels and profile of the available phytochemicals in the end-product.
Should Human Figure Drawings Be Admitted Into Court?

In recent years, there has been debate about the validity of figure drawings, although surveys of clinicians in both general and forensic practice still find them to be one of the most widely used tests of personality functioning. Using both Heilbrun's (1992) guidelines for the use of psychological tests in a forensic evaluation and the U.S. Supreme Court's Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (1993) criteria for the admission of scientific evidence, I examine the admissibility of human figure drawings in court. The results suggest that the most commonly used methods for interpreting human figure drawings fall short of meeting the standards for admissibility. The use of overall rating scales, although weak in validity, appear to minimally meet these standards.
Openness to experience and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis and r(equivalent) from risk ratios and odds ratios.

OBJECTIVES To test the prediction that Openness to Experience (O) is a protective factor with respect to all-cause mortality. To provide a method of calculating a standard effect size estimate (r(equivalent) ) from relative risk (RR) and odds ratios (OR). METHODS A meta-analysis of 11 (N= 19, 941) studies linking O to all-cause mortality is reported. Analyses are conducted on the total sample and on sub-samples with and without other mortality risk factors (e.g., age, social class) controlled. The same analyses are also conducted on the studies that used indices of O based on standard measures of the five-factor model (FFM: NEO and Goldberg's adjective markers). This paper also provides a means of calculating an r(equivalent) from RR and OR. RESULTS The results show that for all studies O is a protective factor (r= .051) and this effect is slightly higher (r= .064) when only FFM measures are used. When risk factors are not controlled, the protective effect for O is . 091 for all studies and . 097 for FFM indices. However, a predicted attenuation is observed when standard mortality risk factors are controlled to . 028 for all measures and . 036 for FFM measures. CONCLUSIONS While O is protective with respect to all-cause mortality, the effect is attenuated by other mortality risk factors and future work needs to explore the complex independent, moderating, and mediating processes linking O to all-cause mortality.
Optimal-Contracts With A Utility-Maximizing Auditor

This paper presents a principal-agent model in which the agent becomes strictly better informed than the principal after the contract agreement. To mitigate the inefficiency caused by this information asymmetry, the principal and agent agree that the agent will communicate the private information to the principal. ' They can further reduce this inefficiency by hiring a utility-maximizing auditor, whose effort is not observable, to attest to the validity of the agent's message. To improve efficiency with this attestation, the principal must -motivate the auditor to audit effectively and to report honestly. Thus, hiring a utility-maximizing auditor to mitigate the inefficiency in the principal-agent contractual relationship may introduce a moral hazard problem and a new source of inefficiency. Our objectives are (a) to characterize an optimal pair of contracts (principal-agent and principal-auditor) so as (b) to analyze both how