Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Price, quality retailer-owned brands

We used panel data techniques to investigate how leading branded products and supermarket own brands in a basket of 19 major products interact in UK supermarkets in the short term.We estimated three specifications to look at the determinants of relative prices, shelf co-location and the number of brands that the supermarkets sell. Using the logistic of relative prices between the supermarket-owned brand and the branded product ( / ) model, our findings show positive coefficients for the variables time trend, number of manufacturing firms, price cuts and for each supermarket dummy variable. The positive coefficient of the time effect may show that own brands are priced higher than branded products over time, which could be explained by their better-quality ingredients or by supermarkets’ exploitation of loyal consumers, confirming most of relevant research of the last years. For the the number of manufacturing firms (nf), we believe that the positive coefficient indicates that competition affects both brands at different magnitudes. If this variable (nf) impacts negatively on both labels it should nevertheless impact less on the supermarket own brand as it is more cost-related, and it is not possible to cut its price beyond its floor. If the impact is positive (in percentage), , which in turn means that the supermarkets are taking advantage of their market power at the retailer level by increasing the price of their own brands. If this is so, the positive impact on goes in the same direction as that reported in most literature so far (Gabrielsen et al, 2001; Bonfrer et al, 2004 and Bontemps et al, 2005, among others). In terms of the dummies controlling for the supermarket-specific effect, our results show that Asda and Tesco set prices in a similar way whereas Sainsbury’s and Morrisons follow other strategies. We believe that the latter make own brands of better quality following their strategies for creating loyal consumers and expertise in the production of food. Second, when we estimated the equation about product allocation on the shelves, the model that fitted our dataset best was produced using the probit technique with three explanatory variables: time trend, number of manufacturing firms and price cuts (discount). The latter two show negative coefficients, demonstrating that the probability (odds ratio) of displaying the own brand next to, above or below the leading brand is smaller when the number of firms increases and the supermarket makes special offers, which is the traditional way determined by total shelf space allocation to product ranges and depending on unit size. The positive coefficient of the time trend shows a tendency to position both labels together over time. In the same way, the high mean of this discrete variable (0.5796) validates the view of Sayman et al (2002), who argue that large supermarkets target the leading brand to influence consumers’ purchase decisions. For the log-number of brands specification we obtained a low elasticity between the number of manufacturing firms and the number of brands, which indicates that few brands are displayed for these products.
Warm ocean processes and carbon cycling in the Eocene

Sea surface and subsurface temperatures over large parts of the ocean during the Eocene epoch (55.5–33.7 Ma) exceeded modern values by several degrees, which must have affected a number of oceanic processes. Here, we focus on the effect of elevated water column temperatures on the efficiency of the biological pump, particularly in relation to carbon and nutrient cycling. We use stable isotope values from exceptionally well-preserved planktonic foraminiferal calcite from Tanzania and Mexico to reconstruct vertical carbon isotope gradients in the upper water column, exploiting the fact that individual species lived and calcified at different depths. The oxygen isotope ratios of different species' tests are used to estimate the temperature of calcification, which we converted to absolute depths using Eocene temperature profiles generated by general circulation models. This approach, along with potential pitfalls, is illustrated using data from modern core-top assemblages from the same area. Our results indicate that, during the Early and Middle Eocene, carbon isotope gradients were steeper (and larger) through the upper thermocline than in the modern ocean. This is consistent with a shallower average depth of organic matter remineralization and supports previously proposed hypotheses that invoke high metabolic rates in a warm Eocene ocean, leading to more efficient recycling of organic matter and reduced burial rates of organic carbon.
Do Firms Benefit from Expanded Voluntary Disclosure

This paper examines the causes and consequences of expanded disclosure for 90 firms with increased analyst disclosure ratings. Our evidence suggests that managers expand disclosure when they believe their firms are undervalued. Undervaluation is costly for the sample firms because it reduces their financial flexibility in making new public issues and lowers the value of outstanding management stock options. Following the increase in disclosure there is a reduction in undervaluation accompanied by an increase in stock liquidity analyst following and institutional holdings. This evidence suggests that for our sample firms expanded disclosure lowers their costs of capital.
Childhood IQ in relation to risk factors for premature mortality in middle-aged persons: the Aberdeen Children of the 1950s study

Objective: A series of studies have shown an association between high childhood IQ scores and reduced rates of total mortality in adulthood. Several mechanisms have been advanced to explain these relationships, including mediation via established risk factors. This study examines the association between childhood IQ and a range of established physiological and behavioural risk factors for premature mortality in adulthood. Design, setting and participants: In 1962, 12 150 children took part in a school-based survey when their IQ scores were extracted from educational records. When re-surveyed forty years later (n = 7183; 63.7% response), they self-reported information on risk factors for premature mortality (smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, obesity, height, hypertension and diabetes). Main results: In sex-adjusted analyses based on an analytical sample of 5340 (2687 women), higher childhood IQ scores were associated with a decreased prevalence of ever having smoked regularly in adulthood (ORper SD increase in IQ (95% CI): 0.77 (0.73 to 0.81)), heavy alcohol consumption (0.89 (0.84 to 0.94)), obesity (0.78 (0.72 to 0.83)) and overweight (0.86 (0.81 to 0.91)). Higher IQ scores were similarly related to a reduced prevalence of short stature and higher rates of smoking cessation in smokers; effects that were stronger in women (p value for interaction: ⩽0.04). Adjusting for indicators of early and, particularly, later-life socioeconomic circumstances led to heavy attenuation of these gradients with statistical significance at conventional levels lost in most analyses. Conclusions: The IQ–risk factor gradients reported may offer some insights into the apparent link between high pre-adult IQ and reduced mortality rates.
A super harmonic injection-locked oscillator in 0.18μm CMOS technology

This paper presents a new super harmonic injection-locked oscillator (ILO) which can be used within phase-locked loops (PLLs) and clock and data recovery circuits (CDRs). The new structure with new injection scheme leads to higher frequency and wider locking range. In addition, the circuit works properly even for long runs in the binary sequence input by utilizing an RC circuit. Simulated in 0.18 μm CMOS technology, the ILO consumes 3.6 mW at 20 Gb/s input data rate and features a locking range of 150 MHz.
Reflection Properties of Metallic Helical Metamaterials

In the last few years, much attention has been paid to the researches of metallic helical metamaterials due to their giant circular dichroism for transmitted lights. However, so far as we know, there is little work concerning the study of their reflection properties, which are also significant questions for the helical metamaterials. In this work, we study the reflection properties of the helical metamaterials by using the Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) method. The circular dichroism and the reflected polarization states of left-handed single-, double-, triple-, and quadruple-helical structures are investigated, respectively. It's found that both the single- and the double-helical structures perform giant circular dichroism, and their reflected polarization states are related to the handedness of helical structure; while triple- and quadruple-helical structures exhibit no circular dichroism at all, and their reflected polarization states are irrelevant to the handedness of helical structure.
Is there a stepwise increase in neonatal morbidities according to histological stage (or grade) of acute chorioamnionitis and funisitis?: effect of gestational age at delivery

Abstract Aims: To test if there is a stepwise difference in neonatal outcomes according to the stage (or grade) of histological inflammatory response in the chorioamniotic membranes and umbilical cords of preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM). Method: This retrospective study included singleton pregnancies diagnosed as PPROM and delivered prior to 34 weeks of gestation (n=339). Acute histological chorioamnionitis and funisitis were subdivided into stages (or grade) as defined by Redline et al. Neonatal composite morbidities and mortality were also monitored. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted. Results: Increasing stage (or grade) of acute histological chorioamnionitis and funisitis was significantly associated with an earlier gestational age at membrane rupture and delivery. Among neonatal outcomes, respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), intraventricular hemorrhage, retinopathy of prematurity, and composite morbidity showed incremental incidence according to increased stage (or grade) of acute chorioamnionitis, while periventricular leukomalacia and necrotizing enterocolitis did not. Only RDS, BPD, and composite morbidity showed similar incremental incidences associated with severity of funisitis stage. However, the incremental trends of each neonatal outcome were found to be nonsignificant by multivariate analysis adjusting confounding variables including gestational age at delivery. Conclusion: Higher incidences of neonatal morbidity according to increased stage (or grade) of either acute histological chorioamnionitis or funisitis were due to an earlier gestational age at delivery.
Metallopolymer-peptide hybrid materials: synthesis and self-assembly of functional, polyferrocenylsilane-tetrapeptide conjugates.

Conjugates of poly(ferrocenyldimethylsilane) (PFDMS) with Ac-(GA)(2)-OH, Ac-A(4)-OH, Ac-G(4)-OH and Ac-V(4)-OH have been prepared by reaction of the tetrapeptide units with the amino-terminated metallopolymer. The number average degree of polymerisation (DP(n)) of the PFDMS was approximately 20 and comparable materials with shorter (DP(n) ≈ 10) and/or amorphous chains have been prepared by the same procedure. Poly(ferrocenylethylmethylsilane) (PFEMS) was employed for the latter purpose. All conjugates were characterised by GPC, MALDI-TOF MS, NMR and IR spectroscopy. With the exception of Ac-V(4)-PFDMS(20), all materials exhibited some anti-parallel β-sheet structure in the solid state. The self-assembly of the conjugates was studied in toluene by DLS. The vast majority of the materials, irrespective of peptide sequence or chain crystallinity, afforded fibres consisting of a peptidic core surrounded by a PFS corona. These fibres were found in the form of cross-linked networks by TEM and AFM. The accessibility of the chemically reducing PFS corona has been demonstrated by the localised formation of silver nanoparticles on the surface of the fibres.
Identification of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone-responsive region in the glycoprotein hormone alpha-subunit promoter.

Transcriptional regulation of the glycoprotein hormone alpha-subunit gene has been studied extensively in placental cells, but much less is known about its regulation in the pituitary gland. In this study, transcriptional control of the human alpha-subunit gene by GnRH was analyzed using transient expression assays in primary cultures of rat pituitary cells using alpha promoter constructs linked to a luciferase reporter gene. Deletion mutants between -846 and -156 basepairs (bp) had little effect on basal expression, but further deletion to -132 bp reduced basal activity by approximately 50%. Deletion of a cAMP response element between -132 and -99 bp caused a marked loss of basal activity, reducing expression to that of background luciferase activity. The same constructs were analyzed for cAMP responsiveness in primary pituitary cells. The degree of stimulation with 1 mM 8-bromo-cAMP (3.6- to 6.0-fold) was relatively unaffected by deletions from -846 to -132 bp, whereas cAMP stimulation was decreased by further deletion to -99 bp, consistent with the presence of previously defined cAMP response elements in this region of the alpha promoter. GnRH stimulation of alpha promoter activity was highly dependent upon the time of hormone addition after transfection, being most effective when added soon after transfection. Under optimal conditions, GnRH stimulated -846 alpha LUC expression by 20-fold. GnRH responsiveness was retained with deletion to -346 bp, but it was decreased by 55% after deletion to -280 bp and by 79% with deletion to -244 bp. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Automatic parsing of the metaphor polarity for opinion mining

In recent years, both metaphor interpretation and opinion mining have drawn much attention in the natural language processing (NLP) field. This paper aims to make a connection between these two fields. In this paper, we propose to extend the glossary orientation annotation to the vehicle (the source concept part of the metaphor) by using an automatic annotation method, and based on the vehicle's orientation corpus, we parse the metaphor's polarity after extracting the metaphor(especially the simile)from the large-scale corpus. Two experiments are conducted to investigate the reliability of our proposal. The result of the first experiment shows the proposed method obtains better results than the system we proposed in 2009 in both precision and recall, while the result of second experiment shows that more than 65% metaphors have a very stable sentiment orientation. Generally, the results demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach and verifying our approach's high reliability.
Digital watermarking and information embedding using dither modulation

A variety of related applications have emerged that require the design of systems for embedding one signal within another signal. We propose a new class of embedding methods called quantization index modulation (QIM) and develop an example of such a method called dither modulation in which the embedded information modulates the dither signal of a dithered quantizer. We also develop a framework within which one can analyze performance trade-offs among robustness, distortion, and embedding rate, and we show that QIM systems have considerable performance advantages over previously proposed spread-spectrum and low-bit modulation systems.
Enhanced imaging and accelerated photothermalysis of A549 human lung cancer cells by gold nanospheres.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Gold nanoparticles are excellent photon-thermal energy converters. The purpose of this work was to investigate the influence of gold nanoparticles on the photothermalysis of A549 lung tumor cells. MATERIALS & METHODS A549 lung tumor cells were exposed to goat antihuman immunoglobulin (Ig)G-conjugated gold nanospheres (40 nm) and were then imaged under a dark-field microscope. The live cells were then subjected to photoirradiation using a 633-nm laser at different power levels. The viability of tumor cells under laser irradiation was monitored by confocal microscopy using a viability-assay kit. RESULTS & DISCUSSION The death rates of A549 lung tumor cells after gold nanoparticle exposure increased significantly under laser irradiation. The maximum initial cell death rate was observed at a laser power level of 3.75 mW, with the initial deactivation rate accelerated by a factor of 6.6 and a total loss of 92% of cell viability. CONCLUSION This work demonstrated potential applications of gold nanospheres as both imaging probes and enhancing agents for photothermal therapy of cancer.
Protecting Government Information Post 9/11: An Evolving Role for Security Architectures

This paper discusses the results of a research study in the use of architectures in government agencies. The paper uses archival and time line analysis to present the context for securing the vast stores of protected government information, including the actions taken by the Australian government leading into the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 (termed 9/11), and the government reactions post 9/11. The results show that at the strategic level, the Australian government commenced a process of examining information security vulnerabilities and establishing a security architecture only to terminate the initiative due to a lack of budgetary funding. Also, a qualitative research method was used to examine the security architecture implemented in a large government agency. Results from the agency case study demonstrate that security architectures form part of the fabric of the agency’s business, not only in terms of information and communications technology infrastructure, but also staff behaviours and attitudes to securing information stores and exchanges.
The role of communication in business transactions and relationships

Without communication, business is not possible. It is, therefore, desirable and necessary that communication be integrated into all aspects of business if one wishes to truly comprehend and succeed in business transactions and relationships. The contributing authors of this volume are all acknowledged experts in the field of communication. Their texts demonstrate how communication influences, directs, and determines virtually each and every facet of the business world. In turn, a better, more comprehensive understanding of business is possible.
Abuse of Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Sport

The use of stimulants such as amphetamine, cocaine, strychnine, and ephedrine in modern sport to improve focus and delay fatigue was reported in the early 1900's. In response to the death of a Danish cyclist at the 1960 Olympics, the death of a UK cyclist at the Tour de France, and other evidenc
Drug delivery to solid tumors: the predictive value of the multicellular tumor spheroid model for nanomedicine screening

The increasing number of publications on the subject shows that nanomedicine is an attractive field for investigations aiming to considerably improve anticancer chemotherapy. Based on selective tumor targeting while sparing healthy tissue, carrier-mediated drug delivery has been expected to provide significant benefits to patients. However, despite reduced systemic toxicity, most nanodrugs approved for clinical use have been less effective than previously anticipated. The gap between experimental results and clinical outcomes demonstrates the necessity to perform comprehensive drug screening by using powerful preclinical models. In this context, in vitro three-dimensional models can provide key information on drug behavior inside the tumor tissue. The multicellular tumor spheroid (MCTS) model closely mimics a small avascular tumor with the presence of proliferative cells surrounding quiescent cells and a necrotic core. Oxygen, pH and nutrient gradients are similar to those of solid tumor. Furthermore, extracellular matrix (ECM) components and stromal cells can be embedded in the most sophisticated spheroid design. All these elements together with the physicochemical properties of nanoparticles (NPs) play a key role in drug transport, and therefore, the MCTS model is appropriate to assess the ability of NP to penetrate the tumor tissue. This review presents recent developments in MCTS models for a better comprehension of the interactions between NPs and tumor components that affect tumor drug delivery. MCTS is particularly suitable for the high-throughput screening of new nanodrugs.
Medium and high-dimensionality attribute selection in Bayes-type classifiers

This paper introduces the application of attribute selection methods along with Bayes classifiers. The proposal has been evaluated in eleven binary and multi-class real data sets with a number of instances lower than a thousand and a number of attributes between eight and sixteen thousand. Among them, five data sets belong to the Bioinformatics area. Experiments show that, in general terms, the most convenient attribute selector is based on a correlation measure. According to the reported results, the best classifier in high-dimensional data sets is Naive Bayes.
The End of Japanese-Style Human Resource Management?

Are Japanese companies ending their practices of lifetime employment and seniority-based pay, as the popular press has reported? Data from published Japanese surveys offer insights into three key issues: Are Japanese employment practices changing? While changes are taking place, they are limited to seniority-based pay and promotion; lifetime employment remains intact in most large companies. The seniority system is gradually being replaced by a new job performance-based pay system that companies are using to raise white-collar productivity. Most companies plan to retain the lifetime employment system, the benefits of which outweigh the costs. Why are employment practices changing? In the 1980s and 1990s, internal and external factors placed pressure on large firms to change the seniority system. Internal factors include falling profit margins, decreases in white-collar productivity, an aging workforce, and changes in employee attitudes toward work and the seniority system. External factors include the maturing of the Japanese economy, a decline in large Japanese companies' international competitive position, and increasing internationalization of Japanese companies' operations. What are the implications of changes? Given the trends in Japanese employment practices, Western competitors should expect the following: a continuation of Japanese companies' market growth strategy with minor adjustments; innovative products and services as well as marketing and partnering strategies coming from Japanese companies; a resurgence in Japanese firms' competitiveness and productivity levels; increasing opportunities to enter into Japanese keiretsu networks as suppliers; and continued fierce competition in local Asian markets and lower prices from Japanese competitors in more mature product sectors as they move them increasingly to overseas production. The examples of Honda, Fujitsu, and Sony, three firms that revitalized themselves through use of performance-based pay systems, product innovation, and new partnering strategies rather than through layoffs of core employees, suggest that while change will be gradual, most large companies will eventually follow in the same direction.