Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Middle-frequency isolation transformer design issues for the high-voltage DC/DC converter

This paper addresses some specific design issues encountered in the development of isolation transformers for the rolling stock auxiliary power supply (APS). The optimal transformer design rule of the copper and core loss equalization will not work for middle-frequency (500.3000 Hz) high-power transformers. Main attention here must be paid to selection of the proper material for the magnetic core and to define an optimal operating flux density to minimize the dimensions and to improve operability and efficiency of the transformer, respectively. In the isolation transformers design for the APS converters with high input voltage and load variations, a threat related to magnetic core saturation caused by transient conditions should be considered. These and some other specific design issues (minimization of leakage inductance and parasitic capacitances, high-voltage isolation, etc.) make the design of such devices very challenging.
Transforming the business portfolio

Purpose – The major purpose of this paper is to investigate antecedents, outcomes and processes of business portfolio transformations, including diversifying, refocusing and repositioning portfolio restructurings. Design/methodology/approach – The paper conducts a longitudinal study on the process of business portfolio transformations among the largest 100 European and 100 North American firms during the period of 1998-2010. A newly developed metric is applied that allows a business portfolio transformation to be identified and quantified and process-related research to be conducted. Findings – The study confirms and expands prior literature that postulates that poor performance and over-diversification are key motivations for portfolio restructuring. However, the majority of transformations were not successful, with firm performance further deteriorating in the course of the transformation. The analysis of the transformation process itself reveals that the average transformation took 2.6 years and change.
A 125 mm/sup 2/ 1Gb NAND flash memory with 10 MB/s program throughput

A 125 mm/sup 2/ 1Gb NAND flash uses 0.13 /spl mu/m CMOS. The cell is 0.077 /spl mu/m/sup 2/. Chip architecture is changed to reduce chip size and to realize 10.6 MB/s throughput for program and 20 MB/s for read. An on-chip page copy function provides 9.4 MB/s throughput for garbage collection.
ADVANCING EUROPEANIZATION THROUGH DIGITAL AGENDA: EFFECTS ON THE SOCIAL POLICY OF EU

In this paper, I will propose an analysis of the Digital Agenda (DAE) and determine if its successful implementation will foster the Europeanization process and create favourable conditions for the development of a European wide social welfare that can have lasting effects on the current EU social policy (European Social Policy). To reach a conclusion on this subject, firstly the Digital Agenda and the impact of ITC have been highlighted, underlining the importance of the internet in delivering added value, boosting economic growth and cost saving measures. Secondly, the European Social Policy is brought under scrutiny: its origins, history and relation with the national welfare state, the continuing conflict between the Europeanization process and the re-nationalization of the actual European social policy. The third part of the article presents some of the digital instruments developed trough DAE and their implications on improving the Europeans social benefits. As a main idea, this research was conducted with the purpose of highlighting the importance of achieving the Europe 2020 strategy’s targets for the future of EU and how this agenda will turn the union into a competitive, smart, innovative and economically sustainable global actor.
Incorporation of imprecise goal vectors into evolutionary multi-objective optimization

Preference-based techniques in multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEA) are gaining importance. This paper presents a method of representing, eliciting and integrating decision making preference expressed as a set of imprecise goal vectors into a MOEA with steady-state replacement. The specification of a precise goal vector without extensive knowledge of problem behavior often leads to undesirable results. The approach proposed in this paper facilitates the linguistic specification of goal vectors relative to extreme, non-dominated solutions (i.e. the goal is specified as ”Very Small”, ”Small”, ”Medium”, ”Large”, and ”Very Large”) with three degrees of imprecision as desired by the decision maker. The degree of imprecision corresponds to the density of solutions desired within the target subset. Empirical investigations of the proposed method yield promising results.
The Politics of Financial Regulatory Agency Replacement: Web Appendix

This web appendix accompanies the article “The Politics of Financial Regulatory Agency Replacement” and provides details on the collection of the banking regulatory agency data (Section A), additional information on the updated public bank ownership data (Section B), summary statistics (Section C), plots of the shape of the baseline hazard (Section D), and the results of the robustness checks discussed in the paper (Section E). When using the data or information provided in this appendix, please cite the original article.
The institute of economic affairs: Undermining the post‐war consensus

The Institute of Economic Affairs was founded in 1955, as a research educational charity, to examine the role of ‘markets and pricing systems as technical devices for registering preferences and apportioning resources’. The IEA is financed by a series of voluntary contributions, sales of publications and conference fees, but has ensured that it is not over‐dependant on a particular source of income to guarantee academic independence. The IEA began to publish regularly in 1957, with much of its work based on micro‐economic analysis. Whilst remaining conspicuously free of any political organisation, the Institute has been able to provide a consistent alternative analysis to the collectivist macro‐economic hegemony, which existed from the 1950s to 1970s. Much of the success of the IEA came during the 1970s, when politicians began to question the role of the state in economic life. Through publications IEA authors had caused the prevailing intellectual climate to be re‐considered, with the benefits of markets.
Modelling demand for higher education: A partial least-squares analysis of Portugal

Recognizing the strategic relevance of higher education, various countries have established ambitious objectives for the percentage of graduates in their population by 2020. In some cases, without effective policies aimed at increasing domestic rates of participation in higher education, such goals will not be met. However, successful measures are difficult to design and to implement when the phenomena they target are complex and encompass many personal, cultural, social and economic variables. Such is the case of aggregate demand for higher education. Therefore, a precise knowledge of its more likely influences is indispensable to perform the forecasting exercises required to inform the process of policy design and, subsequently, to monitor its success. In this paper, we employ the partial least-squares regression, which allows modelling with many variables even with relatively few observations, to identify the most relevant determinants of aggregate demand for higher education in Portugal. Our choice of country is dictated by the availability of adequate data but our results, suggesting that the most important factors are policy dependent, and may thus be managed to support strategic educational objectives, may be useful in other national contexts.
Subcontracting within the supply chain for electronics assembly manufacture

Discusses issues associated with the subcontracting of manufacturing activity within the supply chain for electronics assembly products. The principal focus of the work is the operational issues surrounding the organization, management and control of the subcontract process, but related issues and research streams are also considered. Some of the operational issues are placed within the context of current practice by presenting case studies of two small to medium‐sized manufacturing enterprises (SMMEs) in the electronics assembly sector which use subcontract manufacture. The approaches of the two companies to the management and control of the process are compared and contrasted, and mapped onto generic models. This work is considered timely because of the increasing importance of the subcontracting of manufacture within the supply chain, and because of the lack of supporting theoretical and practical work. It identifies key issues which need to be addressed by academic researchers and by industry practitioners in the pursuit of world class manufacturing ideals, as part of a process of concentrating on core competencies and expertise.
The Discourse Particle nàa in Cameroonian Colloquial English

This article explores the use of the discourse particle naa – an adaptation from local Cameroonian languages – as acommon feature of Cameroonian Colloquial English (CCE). In CCE, question tags and some adverbials – disjunctsand conjuncts – are widely signaled by means of this particle in the process of code-switching, as it takes a variety ofsemantic interpretations based on context. It is shown in the article that the use of the particle is largely licensed by alack of adequate knowledge and understanding of relevant aspects of English, although also, to some extent, by theworking of some general principle of economy. Finally, it is shown that although the preferred position of disjunctsand conjuncts in the English clause is the initial or medial position, the particle only occurs in the final position, as itsinterpretation at any given time depends on the context of speaking provided by the preceding clause.
Assessing the impact of co-branding of island destination and tourism activities on tourists’ reactions

The aim of this study is to examine the status and images of certain islands based on specific tourism activities. A total of 385 valid samples were obtained from tourists at the islands' main transportation facilities. The results are as follows: (1) different island destinations are promoted differently, which significantly affects the perceptions of tourists. (2) Tourists' familiarity with various tourism activities and the rate of participation in these activities vary significantly between the islands; in addition, tourists display greater familiarity with beach/water activities and participate in these activities in higher proportions. (3) Greater consistency in the matching of island destinations with tourism activities helps produce a co-branding effect, which positively affects tourists' perception of these destinations. From a co-branding perspective, this study demonstrates that the empirical market positioning of island destinations must be consistent with the tourism activities that are possible to produce an optimal experience for the tourists. This comparison of different islands explains why the development of island tourism on such locations should involve the provision of information on rankings and tourism activities.
Concentrate reduction and sequential roughage offer to dairy cows: effects on milk protein yield, protein efficiency and milk quality

An experiment was conducted during 6 weeks to evaluate effects of a reduced dietary level of protein-rich concentrates in a moderate dairy production system on cows’ performance, protein efficiency and milk quality including fatty acid profiles. Twenty-three lactating cows (Swiss Fleckvieh) were assigned either to a group receiving on average 2·4 kg/d individually fed concentrates (Prot+, n = 12) or to a group receiving no individually fed concentrates (Prot−, n = 11). All cows had ad-libitum access to a total mixed ration (TMR) mainly based on grass and maize silage, hay and little potatoes and soybean cake. In weeks 4–6 of the experiment, part of the hay was excluded from the TMR, and fed separately in the morning. Individual feed intake and milk yield were recorded during weeks 3 and 6 of the experiment; at the same time feed, faeces and milk samples were collected twice per week for analyses. Data were processed in linear mixed models. Omission of individual concentrates in Prot− was fully compensated by higher roughage intake in terms of dry matter. Crude protein (CP) and net energy intake was almost maintained. Despite a lower apparent CP digestibility in Prot−, the ratio of milk protein to ingested CP was the same in both groups, indicating a higher ruminal utilisation of degraded CP in Prot−. This corresponded with lower milk urea concentrations in Prot−. Milk quality was affected in terms of lower concentrations of linoleic and conjugated linoleic acid in milk fat of Prot−. Concentrations of odd- and branched-chain fatty acids in milk were increased in Prot−. Sequential offer of hay and TMR did not lead to considerable effects in intake, efficiency and milk quality. In conclusion, the results indicate that the efficiency of feed protein utilisation for milk protein is not impaired if concentrates are reduced in a moderate- to low-input dairy production system.
Time-Varying Bond Market Integration in EMU

We examine the level and progress of bond market integration amongst the eleven Economic and Monetary Union countries with active bond markets, over normal and crisis periods. The study covers data from January 2002 up to March 2014. We employ seven indicators for assessing integration, namely beta convergence, sigma convergence, variance ratio, Asymmetric Dynamic Conditional Correlation, dynamic co-integration, market synchronisation, and common factors approach. The results suggest that there is no heterogeneity in the integration process of large-sized economies and medium-sized economies, thereby restricting portfolio diversification potential. Further, bond market integration in the Economic and Monetary Union deteriorated during the crisis period, especially during the European debt crisis, with the economies of Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain being the worst affected. We observe that bond markets take a lead in information linkages vis-a-vis stock markets, and hence should get precedence in policy intervention relating to market integration, development, and crisis management.
Assessing the Impacts of Capital Inflows on Domestic Economy across the Sub-Saharan Africa Countries

Abstract Using GMM models, this paper analyzes the impacts of capital inflows on domestic investment in 44 Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries from 2003–2012. It is found that foreign direct investment across the SSA remains to be the largest percentage share, accounting for 35% of the total capital inflows. FDI inflows have significant positive impacts on domestic investment across the SSA in both short term and long term. Other key macroeconomic factors such as age dependency ratio, domestic economic growth, terms of trade, real effective exchange rate and trade openness also play vital roles in determining domestic investment.
Facebook Pages Content, Does it Really Matter? Consumers’ Responses to Luxury Hotel Posts with Emotional and Informational Content

ABSTRACT This paper examines clients’ responses to luxury hotel posts with either an informational or an emotional appeal. The luxury hotel industry is selected for its hedonic characteristics and its use of Facebook as a branding tool. An experiment with repeated measurement was conducted involving 45 young adults, clients of luxury hotels, and users of Facebook. An informational appeal is more effective in improving the attitude toward the hotel signature (“Sheraton”, in the context of this study) and in improving the perception of quality than an emotional appeal. Yet, the content of the posts has no influence on the intention to stay at the hotel and the intention to follow the hotel on Facebook. Managerial implications are drawn on the choice of content of Facebook pages.
Low bone mass in urban Indian women above 40 years of age: prevalence and risk factors

Objective. To assess the prevalence and the relative importance of risk factors for low bone mass in Indian pre- and post-menopausal women. Methods. Data were collected on anthropometry and lifestyle factors in apparently healthy 80 pre- and 92 post-menopausal (40–75 years) women. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Fasting blood samples were analysed for Parathyroid hormone, vitamin D, calcium and zinc. Results. BMD at all three sites was significantly lower in post-menopausal than the pre-menopausal women (p < 0.001). Prevalence of osteoporosis was highest at the lumbar spine (25.8%) in post-menopausal women, while prevalence of osteopenia was high in pre-menopausal women (44.3%). Vitamin D deficiency was seen in 54.5% pre and 41.8% post-menopausal women and significant correlation of serum 25(OH)D levels (r = 0.16) was obtained only for total hip Z-score (p < 0.05). Correlation between sun index and lumbar spine BMD was marginally significant (r = 0.14, p = 0.07). Generalised linear models revealed that after adjusting for age, weight and height, percent decrease of 2.1–4.5% in BMD may be attributed to menopause. Conclusion. Age, weight, height, menopause, low intakes of calcium and low 25(OH)D along with poor sunlight exposure are the major factors contributing to bone loss in Indian women above 40 years of age.
Macrocell-Queue-Stabilization-Based Power Control of Femtocell Networks

We study the power control for femtocell networks in a heterogeneous spectrum-sharing network consisting of macrocells and femtocells. We propose a new approach that utilizes macrocell queue state information for femtocell power control. We formulate the underlying stochastic optimization problem to maximize average femtocell throughput under the constraint of macrocell queue stability by using the macrocell queue length information as a Lagrange weight of macrocell throughput. This formulation considers both cross-tier interference between femtocells and macrocells and intra-tier interference among femtocells. We design a centralized algorithm and a distributed algorithm for femtocells to decide downlink power for each sub-channel dynamically. Our simulation tests show that using local information, the distributed algorithm implementation can also achieve similar average femtocell throughput as the centralized algorithm by paying a penalty of larger macro queue length variation.
3D-LIDAR based branch estimation and intersection location for autonomous vehicles

It is crucial for autonomous vehicles to navigate at intersections. The accurate location of intersections and the orientation of each branches are necessary for decision making and path planning. In this paper, a unified method is proposed to estimate orientations of each branch at an intersection and to locate the position of the intersection. First, based on vehicle dynamics, a densifying method is used to obtain dense point-cloud data using 3D-LIDAR sensor. Then, according to the data of Open Street Map, the regions-of-interest are extracted and the points are interpolated to transform into an elevation image. Finally, a support vector regression model is employed to estimate the position and orientation of each branch and a fusion method is used to locate the intersection. The experimental results demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of the proposed algorithm.
Association Between Chronic Kidney Disease Detected Using Creatinine and Cystatin C and Death and Cardiovascular Events in Elderly Mexican Americans: The Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging

Creatinine, the current clinical standard to detect chronic kidney disease (CKD), is biased by muscle mass, age and race. The authors sought to determine whether cystatin C, an alternative marker of kidney function less biased by these factors, can identify elderly Mexican Americans with CKD who are at high risk for death and cardiovascular disease.
FUSE Binding Protein 1 Facilitates Persistent Hepatitis C Virus Replication in Hepatoma Cells by Regulating Tumor Suppressor p53

ABSTRACT Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a leading cause of chronic hepatitis C (CHC), liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Immunohistochemistry of archived HCC tumors showed abundant FBP1 expression in HCC tumors with the CHC background. Oncomine data analysis of normal versus HCC tumors with the CHC background indicated a 4-fold increase in FBP1 expression with a concomitant 2.5-fold decrease in the expression of p53. We found that FBP1 promotes HCV replication by inhibiting p53 and regulating BCCIP and TCTP, which are positive and negative regulators of p53, respectively. The severe inhibition of HCV replication in FBP1-knockdown Huh7.5 cells was restored to a normal level by downregulation of either p53 or BCCIP. Although p53 in Huh7.5 cells is transcriptionally inactive as a result of Y220C mutation, we found that the activation and DNA binding ability of Y220C p53 were strongly suppressed by FBP1 but significantly activated upon knockdown of FBP1. Transient expression of FBP1 in FBP1 knockdown cells fully restored the control phenotype in which the DNA binding ability of p53 was strongly suppressed. Using electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), we found no significant difference in in vitro target DNA binding affinity of recombinant wild-type p53 and its Y220C mutant p53. However, in the presence of recombinant FBP1, the DNA binding ability of p53 is strongly inhibited. We confirmed that FBP1 downregulates BCCIP, p21, and p53 and upregulates TCTP under radiation-induced stress. Since FBP1 is overexpressed in most HCC tumors with an HCV background, it may have a role in promoting persistent virus infection and tumorigenesis. IMPORTANCE It is our novel finding that FUSE binding protein 1 (FBP1) strongly inhibits the function of tumor suppressor p53 and is an essential host cell factor required for HCV replication. Oncomine data analysis of a large number of samples has revealed that overexpression of FBP1 in most HCC tumors with chronic hepatitis C is significantly linked with the decreased expression level of p53. The most significant finding is that FBP1 not only physically interacts with p53 and interferes with its binding to the target DNA but also functions as a negative regulator of p53 under cellular stress. FBP1 is barely detectable in normal differentiated cells; its overexpression in HCC tumors with the CHC background suggests that FBP1 has an important role in promoting HCV infection and HCC tumors by suppressing p53.
What Determines Residual Income

This paper investigates the determinants of residual income scaled by book value of equity, i.e., abnormal return on equity (ROE), by analyzing the impact of value‐creation (economic rents) and value‐recording (conservative accounting) processes on abnormal ROE. I rely on economic theories to characterize economic rents and develop an empirical measure—the conservative accounting factor—to capture the effect of conservative accounting. As expected, industry abnormal ROE increases with industry concentration, industry‐level barriers to entry, and industry conservative accounting factors. Also as expected, the difference between firm and industry abnormal ROE increases with market share, firm size, firm‐level barriers to entry, and firm conservative accounting factors. Integrating these determinants into the residual income valuation model significantly increases its explanatory power for the variation in the market‐to‐book ratio.