Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Secure and efficient key delivery in VANET using cloud and fog computing

The article proposes the design of the framework for vehicular ad hoc networks (VANET) for delivery of the authentication keys with minimum delay amongst vehicles having high mobility using fog and cloud computing. We propose to introduce fog computing to extend cloud computing by introducing an intermediate fog layer between mobile devices and cloud thus producing a number of advantages. Since the keys are provided directly from an intermediate layer, the latency is considerably reduced. In addition, the number of messages exchanged between vehicle and other elements of the VANET reduces in comparison to the existing approaches. Consequently, the resultant system is highly efficient. The design is implemented and validated using Omnetpp for single and multi vehicle system.
Do Gender Preference Gaps Impact Policy Outcomes?

Many studies document systematic gender differences in a variety of important economic preferences, such as risk-taking, competition and pro-sociality. One potential implication of this literature is that increased female representation in decision-making bodies may significantly alter organizational and policy outcomes. However, research has yet to establish a direct connection from gender differences in simple economic choice tasks, to voting over policy and to the resulting outcomes. We conduct a laboratory experiment to provide a test of such a connection. In small laboratory “societies,” people repeatedly vote for a redistribution policy and engage in a real-effort production task. Women persistently vote for more egalitarian redistribution. This gender difference is large relative to other voting differences based on observable characteristics and is partly explained by gender gaps in preferences and beliefs. Gender voting gaps persist with experience and in environments with varying degrees of risk. We also observe policy differences between male- and female-controlled groups, though these are considerably smaller than the mean individual differences—a natural consequence of the aggregation of individual preferences into collective outcomes. Thus, we provide evidence for why substantial and robust gender differences in preferences may often fail to translate into differential policy outcomes with increased female representation in policymaking.
The Impact of an Item-Based Loyalty Program on Consumer Purchase Behavior

The authors conduct an empirical investigation of a new retail loyalty program (LP), called an item-based loyalty program (IBLP), in which price discounts are replaced by reward point promotions that need to be accumulated and redeemed later. The main objective is to examine its impact on various aspects of consumer purchase behavior and a retailer's sales revenue. They find that after a retailer switched from a conventional LP to the IBLP, consumers became more responsive to reward point promotions than to price discounts of the same monetary value, were no longer responsive to competitors' reward point promotions, and exhibited stronger cumulative reward point effects. In addition, the new LP had a significantly different impact on “current” LP members and nonmembers (defined by their status right before the switch), resulting in decreased (increased) total spending by the former (latter) group, under the retailer's current promotion practice. Furthermore, it is critically important for retailers to offer sufficient promotions under the new LP to achieve its full potential; otherwise, they risk alienating their loyal customers. Finally, the IBLP reduced attrition among existing customers and attracted more new customers, which contributed to most of the retailer's sales revenue gain after adopting the IBLP.
Improved numerical integration for analytical photon distribution calculation in SPECT

Computational methods are a fundamental component of many image reconstruction and data processing techniques used in medical imaging. Given several possible approaches for accomplishing the same task, an understanding of the underlying mathematics for each method can allow one to make the best choice for a particular situation, resulting in a dramatic improvement in the efficiency and/or accuracy of a particular computation. In this study we consider the choice of numerical integration method used in an analytical photon distribution (APD) calculation for single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). This calculation is extremely time-consuming in the original implementation of the method, taking several weeks to complete on a single processor. Fast computation of propagation and detection probabilities is especially challenging for scattered photons, due to the large number of possible photon paths and the high dimension of the integration problem. The choice of integration method, however, can significantly improve the speed of the calculation. Replacing Romberg integration, which was used in the original implementation of APD, with a Gaussian quadrature method allowed us to speed up the numerical integration steps in the calculation by up to 40 times. The photon distributions generated using the improved quadrature method show excellent agreement with those calculated using the original integration scheme.
Context specificity in use of price information sources

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to examine whether there are differences in use of price sources in online and offline shopping contexts, and the effect of time spent online on these potential differences.Design/methodology/approach – A quasi‐field experimental design with shopping channel and online usage as factors is used. MANOVA was used to analyze the data collected from 180 subjects (54 percent female; mean age of sample=27 years). Findings – The findings revealed context specificity in the use of price sources. Prices previously seen in traditional media are more likely to be used while shopping offline, while prices previously seen on the internet are more likely to be used while shopping online. The extent of time spent online would also lead to more use of prices previously seen on the internet.Research limitations/implications – The research examined consumer intentions of using price sources within the accessibility‐diagnosticity framework. Future research should measure accessibility.
UK IPO Board Structures and Post-Issue Performance

The publication of the Cadbury and Hampel Reports in the UK drew attention to the concern with the 'proper' governance of organisations; and in particular the governance of public, quoted companies. This paper uses UK IPOs in 1990-1994 to establish a pattern of corporate board structure and qualifications and then considers the empirical issue of whether variant board structures and qualifications can be associated with the conduct and the performance of quoted companies. Specifically, it questions whether the structure and qualifications of boards and board members, the combination of the roles of chairman and chief executive in one individual and the numbers and independence of non-executive members of boards of directors can be shown to explain variation in corporate performance, growth, or survival. In exploring performance, the paper adopts a multi-dimensional perspective, addressing performance from several stakeholder perspectives, including those of shareholders (equity returns), employees (growth and salaries) and society. It concludes that the Cadbury Code of Practice has been inappropriate as a model for the boards of directors of emergent quoted businesses and that there is little evidence that the structure or qualifications of boards and board members are connected with subsequent performance.
Factors affecting farmers' participation in irrigation schemes of the lower Niger River basin and rural development authority, Kwara state, Nigeria

In Nigeria the performances of many governments owned irrigation schemes have fallen short of expectation. Management issues and steps required to ensure sustainable growth in irrigated agriculture were not given proper attention. This study therefore examined those factors affecting farmers’ participation in irrigated agriculture at the Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority (LNRBDA) in Kwara State, Nigeria. One hundred and sixty (160) respondents were selected from communities around LNRBDA site at Oke Oyi for this study through a two-stage sampling procedures. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression model. The result showed that majority of respondents were farmers within the economic active age and relatively literate. They identified factors affecting farmers’ participation in the scheme to include poor knowledge of irrigation techniques(78.3%), Insufficient water for irrigation during the dry season (80.5%), high cost of labour (75.8%), Lack of access to credit facility (76.6%), poor response to farmers’ needs by the Authority (85.2%), Irregular pumping of water (86.7),. Consequently, the study recommended encouragement of participatory irrigation scheme (PIM) in which farmers would take charge of daily allocation of water while the authority serves as supervisory body and stepping up of extension activities within the surrounding villages. Keywords: Irrigation, Water, Participatory Irrigation Management, LNRBDA
Older Adults and Internet Health Information Seeking

The Internet is increasingly being used by consumers as a source of health information. This study examined factors that influence trust of Internet health information and how trust varies as a function of demographic characteristics, Internet experience, and computer attitudes. Data is also reported on the perceptions of the value and use of Internet-based health information. One hundred and twelve adults (50–85 years) were asked to perform Internet-based health information-seeking tasks and rate factors that influence their trust in Internet health information, the value of this information, and general trust of Internet information vs. trust of information from a doctor. The results indicated that trust is influenced by website identifiers (e.g., government agencies) and design features (e.g., ease of use). Most participants indicated that they would use the Internet health information and that access to this information would have some influence on their health behaviors. These findings underscore the importance of considering design and content issues when designing health websites.
Cyanamide or disulfiram in the treatment of adolescent alcohol misusers?

(Received 19 March 2003; accepted 19 March 2003) The Randomised Controlled Trial by Niederhofer et al. (2003) describing the successful use of cyanamide in a group of alcohol-misusing adolescents, is further and convincing evidence of the effectiveness of deterrent or antagonist medication in the management of some types of substance misuse. However, despite the obvious similarities in mode of action between cyanamide and disulfiram, I am puzzled that the above authors made absolutely no mention of the use of disulfiram in treatment. Ironically, their only reference to …
Does Ownership Identity of Blockholders Matter: An Empirical Analysis of Publicly Listed Companies in New Zealand

Purpose – This study explores the nature of the relationships between ownership concentration, ownership identity, and financial performance in publicly listed companies in New Zealand. This study also investigates whether the ownership-performance nexus changes during the financial crisis period. Design/method/approach –panel data for the publicly listed companies for the period 2003 to 2009 obtained from NZX Deep Archive and the dynamic panel generalized method of moments (GMM) regression analysis was used to test the influence of ownership concentration, ownership identity on financial performance measured by Tobin’s Qandreturn on assets (ROA). Findings –Our findings support the view that ownership concentration affects financial performance. Results show that a higher ownership concentration leads to a lower market-based performance (measured by Tobin’s Q) and higher accounting-based performance (measured by ROA). We also found evidence of owner identity having an impact on financial performance of the publicly listed companies in New Zealand. More “detached” level owners (institutional investors) have positive effect on market-based performance but negative effect on accounting-based performance. Whereas, more “involved” level owners (corporate investors) have negative effect on market-based performance. Our evidence shows that the effect ownership identity have had on the financial performance declined during the financial crisis period due to the fact that different types of owners reduced their ownership concentration levels, thus resulting in a reduction in their social influence and expertise powers.
Relationship between adipocyte hypertrophy and metabolic disturbances.

Enlargement of fat cells is known to be a factor stimulating metabolic rates in adipose tissue and thus playing a role in the pathogenesis of certain metabolic disorders. Excessive adipose-cell hypertrophy of the same degree was observed in disturbances of carbohydrate (e.g. in subclinical or maturity onset diabetes) as well as of triglyceride metabolism, despite the fact that body weight in these patient groups was lower than in control subjects (with the exception of subclinical diabetics). Significant correlations between adipocyte volumes and serum triglyceride levels are in agreement with this conception. Similar characteristics of insulin concentrations measured during an oral glucose tolerance test and adipose-cell hypertrophy of the same degree may suggest a comparable influence on the development of carbohydrate intolerance and hypertriglyceridemia. Moreover, our investigations show an increasing of the prevalence of diabetes mellitus, hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia up to a Broca Index of 1.2. This points to an extremely high metabolic risk even in people with slight overweight provided the adipocytes are significantly enlarged. Thus, adipocyte size appears to be a good parameter to characterize metabolic impairments.
Overseas listing of China's companies : causes and consequences

By using a sample of 72 Chinese firms listed in the Hong Kong Exchange (the H-share firms) and a control sample of 663 pure domestically listed Chinese firms (A-share firms) during the period 1993-2002, this thesis examines the causes and consequences of the overseas listing decisions of these Chinese listed firms. Hypotheses are proposed to explain why these firms would like to list on the overseas market despite there being a huge price discount for their foreign traded shares. Empirical results show that Chinese firms would like to list overseas mainly because 1. The Chinese Security Regulatory Commission (CSRC) intends to maintain the order of its immature domestic equity market by pushing out large issues to more developed overseas equity markets. 2. Chinese firms use overseas listings to circumvent local IPO listing constraint. 3. The Chinese government utilizes overseas listing to accelerate the process of establishing the "modem corporate system" among these firms. 4. Consistent with the bonding hypothesis (Stulz (1999), Coffee (1999, 2002), Doidge, Karolyi and Stulz (2004)), Chinese overseas listed firms intend to establish better images to investors by bonding themselves to more stringent listing and governance rules in the overseas equity market. Lastly, empirical evidence shows that when compared with domestic A-share firms, Hshare firms perform better in expanding their asset base, lowering their leverage level and increasing their liquidity, but not in improving short-term profitability and efficiency. H-share firms in general perform better in the long term.
Toward an Enhanced Definition and Measurement of Purchasing's Strategic Role in Buyer–Supplier Relationships

ABSTRACT Purpose. The objectives of the paper are: (1) to extend the definition of the concept of supplier oriented purchasing behavior (SOPB), which are relationship-oriented purchasing practices emphasizing interpersonal skills, (2) to create a valid measure of SOPB, and (3) to discuss the implications of the SOPB construct and measure for future research and managerial application. Methodology/Approach. The SOPB construct was operationalized as a second-order construct. Data collection involved judgment sampling and survey methodology in a field setting using organizational buyers as subjects. Construct measures were based on existing measures and previous research. Measurement reliability and validity were established using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and an overall measurement model was assessed with structural equation modeling using LISREL 8.8 (Jöreskong and Sörbom 2004). Findings. Analysis resulted in a 17-item, five-factor measure of SOPB. Hypotheses related to nomological validity were supported concerning the association of SOPB with the purchasing context (importance of the purchasing situation) and to relationship satisfaction. Research Limitations/Implications. Sampling used a judgment sample of organizational buyers that was regional in scope. Key directions for future research include using broader samples, incorporating the SOPB measure in studies of purchasing's impact on interfirm relationships and relationship outcomes, and using the SOPB measure to analyze both buyer and supplier evaluations of purchasing effectiveness. Practical Implications. Supplier-oriented purchasing behavior focuses on and expands understanding about “soft” interpersonal behaviors practiced by purchasing personnel to foster long-term, interdependent relationships with key suppliers. Thus, SOPB provides specific tactics across multiple dimensions of purchasing that buyers can use toward fostering effective relationships with key partners such as suppliers. Originality/Value. The study contributes to current research on the role of purchasing in developing and managing relationships by extending construct development and measurement of SOPB, an expanded set of behaviors that purchasing personnel can use to enhance the relationship effectiveness of purchasing practices.
Monodialectal and multidialectal infants’ representation of familiar words*

ABSTRACT Monolingual infants are typically studied as a homogenous group and compared to bilingual infants. This study looks further into two subgroups of monolingual infants, monodialectal and multidialectal, to identify the effects of dialect-related variation on the phonological representation of words. Using an Intermodal Preferential Looking task, the detection of mispronunciations in familiar words was compared in infants aged 1;8 exposed to consistent (monodialectal) or variable (multidialectal) pronunciations of words in their daily input. Only monodialectal infants detected the mispronunciations whereas multidialectal infants looked longer at the target following naming whether the label was correctly produced or not. This suggests that variable phonological input in the form of dialect variation impacts the degree of specificity of lexical representations in early infancy.
P-channel MOSFET's with ultrathin N/sub 2/O gate oxides

The performance and reliability of p-channel MOSFETs utilizing ultrathin ( approximately 62 AA) gate dielectrics grown in pure N/sub 2/O ambient are reported. Unlike (reoxidized) NH/sub 3/-nitrided oxide devices, p-MOSFETs with N/sub 2/O-grown oxides show improved performance in both linear and saturation regions compared to control devices with gate oxides grown in O/sub 2/. Because both electron and hole trapping are suppressed in N/sub 2/O-grown oxides, the resulting p-MOSFETs show considerably enhanced immunity to channel hot-electron and -hole-induced degradation (e.g., hot-electron-induced punchthrough). <<ETX>>
PROVERB AND IDIOM COMPREHENSION IN ALZHEIMER DISEASE

Twenty-nine patients diagnosed with Probable Alzheimer Disease were administered tests of word, familiar phrases (idioms and proverbs), and novel phrase comprehension. From the early stage of the disease, patients performed worse at understanding familiar phrases than single words or novel phrases. The results uphold common observations that AD patients have difficulty interpreting abstract meanings. Cognitive variables responsible for poor idiom/proverb comprehension and the clinical implications of this new protocol are discussed.
Regionalne zróżnicowanie wykorzystania środków pomocowych Unii Europejskiej

W opracowaniu przedstawiono znaczenie polityki rozwoju obszarów wiejskich dla przekształceń jakościowych polskiej wsi i rolnictwa. Wskazano efekty wdrażania programów unijnych w Polsce. Zarysowano także czynniki stanowiące bariery w absorpcji środków oraz te, które ją przyspieszają. Zaprezentowano przykłady aktywności lokalnej w zakresie pozyskiwania środków pomocowych
Airline Revenue Management with Shifting Capacity

Airline revenue management is the practice of controlling the booking requests such that the planes are filled with the most profitable passengers. In revenue management the capacities of the business and economy class sections of the plane are traditionally considered to be fixed and distinct capacities. In this paper, we give up this notion and instead consider the use of convertible seats. A row of these seats can be converted from business class seats to economy class seats and vice versa. This offers an airline company the possibility to adjust the capacity configuration of the plane to the demand pattern at hand. We show how to incorporate the shifting capacity opportunity into a dynamic, network-based revenue management model. We also extend the model to include cancellations and overbooking. With a small test case we show that incorporating the shifting capacity opportunity into the revenue management decision indeed provides a means to improve revenues.
The Effects of Web Site Structure: The Role of Personal Difference

This study examined the effects of Web site structures in terms of advertising effectiveness- memory, attitude, and behavioral intentions. The primary research question for this study is, What type of Web site (Web ad) structure is most effective? In the pilot study, we tested the difference between two Web site structures, linear and interactive, in terms of traditional advertising effectiveness. Results from the pilot study did not support our research expectations. However, differences in terms of memory were noted between the two structures. After re-creating the Web site based on subjects' comments, in the final experiment, we examined the differences between the two structures and the moderating role of personality difference on the effects of Web site structure. The results confirm that participants' attitude, memory, and behavioral intentions were affected differently by the different Web site structures. However, some research hypotheses were not supported by the current data.
Glycogen-rich clear cell carcinoma of the feline mammary gland: case report

The aim of this report is to describe the first histopathological, immunohistochemical, and clinical characteristics of a feline glycogen-rich clear cell carcinoma (GRCCC). A Persian queen was admitted with mammary gland tumors and underwent radical unilateral mastectomy. Overall survival was considered 33 days and death was due to clinical evolution of the disease. Microscopic evaluation demonstrated epithelial cells arranged in a predominantly solid pattern, tumor cells presented an ample, granular, and foamy clear cytoplasm, and moderate cellular pleomorfism. The presence of cytoplasmatic glycogen was confirmed through diastase digestion followed by PAS staining. Histopathological and histochemical findings lead to the diagnosis of GRCCC with regional metastases.