Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Business distance and global retailing: a model for analysis of key success/failure factors

Proposes a preliminary model of analysis of the key success and failure factors in retail internationalization. Indicates that a business distance between the domestic and target markets is creating a “prism effect” on the original competitive advantages. Gives the examples of the internationalization of French hypermarket in the USA (failure) and in Asia (success) as illustrations. Outlines future research directions and managerial implications.
Blood Levels of Vitamin D in Teens and Young Adults with Myopia

Purpose. Longitudinal data suggest that time outdoors may be protective against myopia onset. We evaluated the hypothesis that time outdoors might create differences in circulating levels of vitamin D between myopes and non-myopes. Methods. Subjects provided 200 &mgr;l of peripheral blood in addition to survey information about dietary intakes and time spent in indoor or outdoor activity. The 22 subjects ranged in age from 13 to 25 years. Myopes (n = 14) were defined as having at least −0.75 diopter of myopia in each principal meridian and non-myopes (n = 8) had +0.25 diopter or more hyperopia in each principal meridian. Blood level of vitamin D was measured using liquid chromatography/mass spectroscopy. Results. Unadjusted blood levels of vitamin D were not significantly different between myopes (13.95 ± 3.75 ng/ml) and non-myopes (16.02 ± 5.11 ng/ml, p = 0.29) nor were the hours spent outdoors (myopes = 12.9 ± 7.8 h; non-myopes = 13.6 ± 5.8 h; p = 0.83). In a multiple regression model, total sugar and folate from food were negatively associated with blood vitamin D, whereas theobromine and calcium were positively associated with blood vitamin D. Myopes had lower levels of blood vitamin D by an average of 3.4 ng/ml compared with non-myopes when adjusted for age and dietary intakes (p = 0.005 for refractive error group, model R2 = 0.76). Gender, time outdoors, and dietary intake of vitamin D were not significant in this model. Conclusions. The hypothesis that time outdoors might create differences in vitamin D could not be evaluated fully because time outdoors was not significantly related to myopia in this small sample. However, adjusted for differences in the intake of dietary variables, myopes appear to have lower average blood levels of vitamin D than non-myopes. Although consistent with the hypothesis above, replication in a larger sample is needed.
A Study of Cyberbullying Detection and Mitigation on Instagram

My dissertation addresses developing applications to mit-igate anxiety and depression resulting from cyberbullying. Through the “Continuum of Harm” framework, the techno-logical solutions resulting from participatory design ses-sions I conducted with adolescents can be categorized through a three-pronged approach: 1) Primary Preven-tion, in which the cyberbullying incident is prevented before it starts; 2) Secondary Prevention, where the goal is to decrease the problem after it has been identified, and 3) Tertiary Prevention, when intervention occurs after a prob-lem has already caused harm. I investigate the design and effectiveness of technological mechanisms to mit-igate cyberbullying through Tertiary prevention on the popular social networking platform Instagram.
A New Paradigm in High-Speed and High-Efficiency Silicon Photodiodes for Communication—Part II: Device and VLSI Integration Challenges for Low-Dimensional Structures

The ability to monolithically integrate high-speed photodetectors (PDs) with silicon (Si) can contribute to drastic reduction in cost. Such PDs are envisioned to be integral parts of high-speed optical interconnects in the future intrachip, chip-to-chip, board-to-board, rack-to-rack, and intra-/interdata center links. Si-based PDs are of special interest since they present the potential for monolithic integration with CMOS and BiCMOS very-large-scale integration and ultralarge-scale integration electronics. In the second part of this review, we present the efforts pursued by the researchers in engineering and integrating Si, SiGe alloys, and Ge PDs to CMOS and BiCMOS electronics and compare the performance of recently demonstrated CMOS-compatible ultrafast surface-illuminated Si PD with absorption-enhancing low-dimensional structures. We discuss the advantages and challenges of device design with micro-/nanostructures, and finally, we conclude with the future directions that low-dimensional structures can offer to potentially cause a paradigm shift in high-performance PD design for various applications such as extended-reach links, single-photon detection, light detection and ranging, and high-performance computing.
The Effects of Luxury Brand Marketing Activities on the Formation of Customer-Based Brand Equity

【The recent entry and heated competition of numerous fashion brands in the luxury fashion market have all compelled luxury businesses to change. The issue of brand equity has emerged as one of the most critical areas for luxury marketing management. Despite strong interest in the subject, there is little evidence of how brand equity is created by marketing activities and what their effects are. This study identifies the effects of luxury marketing activities on the brand equity of luxury items, utilizing Keller's (2001) 'CBBE (Customer Based Brand Equity) Model' as a theoretical framework. Based on literature review, a conceptual model for brand signature, heritage, premium price, controlled distribution, and promotion on customers' view on brand equity was tested. To test the hypothesized building paths of luxury brand equity, statistical analysis were performed with an AMOS 7.0 program using a confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation model. The results were: First, luxury brand equity was defined in terms of four components (brand awareness/association, customer judgment, customer feeling, and customer-brand resonance). Second, the proposed conceptual framework of this study was partially significant. We can provide an effectiveness of Keller's CBBE model to conceptualize the building process of luxury brand equity; subsequently, marketers should develop core elements to position a brand strategy to create a competitive advantage. 】
Optimizing task assignment in hadoop using an efficient job size-based scheduler

Hadoop is a distributed master-slave platform that comprises of two main components viz. Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) and MapReduce. HDFS provides distributed storage whereas MapReduce is useful for computational processing. A MapReduce cluster when receives multiple jobs simultaneously, the whole system performance might seriously deteriorate because of poor job response time. Thus, a real challenging issue in the MapReduce world is the efficient scheduling of jobs. Nevertheless, we see that traditional scheduling algorithms that work with Hadoop does not always assure significant average job-response times under distinct workloads. In order to address this problem, we put forward an efficient Hadoop scheduler that collects the information of workload patterns and distributes the jobs according to our hybrid scheduling technique. The experimental results exhibit that our scheduler enhances the average job-response time for MapReduce systems with different workload patterns.
Performance persistence of equity funds in the Russian stock market

Author: Mika Rossi Title: Performance persistence of equity funds in the Russian stock market Faculty: LUT, School of Business Major: Finance Year: 2008 Master’s Thesis: Lappeenranta University of Technology. 86 pages, 2 figures, 12 tables, 6 appendices. Examiners: D. Sc. Eero Patari Professor Mika Vaihekoski
The murine Spi‐2 proteinase inhibitor locus: a multigene family with a hypervariable reactive site domain.

We have isolated 10 closely linked members of a proteinase inhibitor multigene family from the inbred mouse strain 129. These sequences, termed the Serine Proteinase Inhibitor 2 (Spi‐2) genes, appear to have been derived from a common ancestor represented in man by the single copy alpha 1‐antichymotrypsin gene. The genes are clustered on two cloned genomic DNA segments spanning 220 kb, and have at least partially retained the intragenic structure of the ancestral Spi‐2 gene. Sequence analysis from the final coding exon indicates that most of the mouse genes may be competent to encode functional proteins, some with a predictable inhibitory spectrum, and several representing novel inhibitor types. An oligonucleotide probe designed to one reactive centre sequence enabled the isolation of the cognate expressed transcript from a liver cDNA library. However, whether expressed or not, the reactive centre regions of all the sequences have diverged at a rapid rate relative to structurally defined flanking sequences. The divergence is also appreciably greater than that occurring in an adjacent non‐coding sequence. This phenomenon has established novel potential inhibitory specificities, while maintaining a functional inhibitor structure.
The ongoing transition in the Dutch electricity regime and the response of energy companies

Disclaimer This document contains a student thesis (bachelor's or master's), as authored by a student at Eindhoven University of Technology. Student theses are made available in the TU/e repository upon obtaining the required degree. The grade received is not published on the document as presented in the repository. The required complexity or quality of research of student theses may vary by program, and the required minimum study period may vary in duration.
Decision Support for Selection of Cloud Service Providers

—Clear and consistent assessment of the various capabilities of cloud service providers (CSPs) will become an essential factor in deciding on which CSPs to use in the future, particularly as cloud service provision expands futher into more sensitive and regulated areas. This paper describes an approach that is useful in this regard. Specifically, we describe a mechanism in which context is gathered relating to CSPs; this is inputted to a rule-based system and decisions are output about the suitability of each CSP, including an analysis of privacy and security risk and recommended stipulations to be taken into account when negotiating contracts and SLAs.
Intracerebral Hematoma Morphologic Appearance on Noncontrast Computed Tomography Predicts Significant Hematoma Expansion

Background and Purpose— Hematoma expansion in intracerebral hemorrhage is associated with higher morbidity and mortality. The computed tomography (CT) angiographic spot sign is highly predictive of expansion, but other morphological features of intracerebral hemorrhage such as fluid levels, density heterogeneity, and margin irregularity may also predict expansion, particularly in centres where CT angiography is not readily available. Methods— Baseline noncontrast CT scans from patients enrolled in the Predicting Hematoma Growth and Outcome in Intracerebral Hemorrhage Using Contrast Bolus CT (PREDICT) study were assessed for the presence of fluid levels and degree of density heterogeneity and margin irregularity using previously validated scales. Presence and grade of these metrics were correlated with the presence of hematoma expansion as defined by the PREDICT study on 24-hour follow-up scan. Results— Three hundred eleven patients were included in the analysis. The presence of fluid levels and increasing heterogeneity and irregularity were associated with 24-hour hematoma expansion (P=0.021, 0.003 and 0.049, respectively) as well as increases in absolute hematoma size. Fluid levels had the highest positive predictive value (50%; 28%–71%), whereas margin irregularity had the highest negative predictive value (78%; 71%–85). Noncontrast metrics had comparable predictive values as spot sign for expansion when controlled for vitamin K, antiplatelet use, and baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, although in a combined area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve model, spot sign remained the most predictive. Conclusions— Fluid levels, density heterogeneity, and margin irregularity on noncontrast CT are associated with hematoma expansion at 24 hours. These markers may assist in prediction of outcomes in scenarios where CT angiography is not readily available and may be of future help in refining the predictive value of the CT angiography spot sign.
EUROCALL 2014 – CALL Design : Principles and Practice

We present an Intelligent Tutoring System that lets students of Chinese learn words and grammatical constructions. It relies on a Bayesian, linguistically motivated cognitive model that represents the learner’s knowledge. This model is dynamically updated given observations about the learner’s behaviour in the exercises, and employed at runtime to select the exercises that are expected to maximise the learning outcome. Compared with a baseline that randomly chooses exercises at user’s declared level, the system shows positive effects on users’ assessment of how much they have learnt, which suggests that it leads to enhanced learning.
Spatial Preference Heterogeneity for Integrated River Basin Management: The Case of the Shiyang River Basin, China

Integrated river basin management (IRBM) programs have been launched in most parts of China to ease escalating environmental degradation. Meanwhile, little is known about the benefits from and the support for these programs. This paper presents a case study of the preference heterogeneity for IRBM in the Shiyang River Basin, China, as measured by the Willingness to Pay (WTP), for a set of major restoration attributes. A discrete choice analysis of relevant restoration attributes was conducted. The results based on a sample of 1012 households in the whole basin show that, on average, there is significant support for integrated ecological restoration as indicated by significant WTP for all ecological attributes. However, residential location induced preference heterogeneities are prevalent. Generally, compared to upper-basin residents, middle sub-basin residents have lower mean WTP while lower sub-basin residents express higher mean WTP. The disparity in utility is partially explained by the difference in ecological and socio-economic status of the residents. In conclusion, estimating welfare benefit of IRBM projects based on sample responses from a specific sub-section of the basin only may either understate or overstate the welfare estimate.
Index Construction with Formative Indicators: An Alternative to Scale Development

Although the methodological literature is replete with advice regarding the development and validation of multi-item scales based on reflective measures, the issue of index construction using formative measures has received little attention. The authors seek to address this gap by (1) examining the nature of formative indicators, (2) discussing ways in which the quality of formative measures can be assessed, and (3) illustrating the proposed procedures with empirical data. The aim is to enhance researchers' understanding of formative measures and assist them in their index construction efforts.
Model driven secure web applications: the SeWAT platform

Model driven security (MDS) is a well known approach in the access control domain. It proposes a security-by-design approach intended to link the encoded policy to the security policy modeling. However, this technique does not tie in the specificity and heterogeneity of web applications and hence the proposed model-to-code transformation doesn't fit the needs of web architects. Consequently, web applications are mainly hand-coded, or correspond to legacy code developed before the implementation of security mechanisms. Security concerns are mixed with the application code and hence it is difficult to understand the policy in order to maintain, correct, or evolve it. This work deals with access control mechanisms following the RBAC pattern. Our work proposes a toolset dedicated to modeling and deployment of an acces control engine for a web application assuming that the functional part of the application is developed following a classical process. Our technique tries to reconcile modeling, validation and implementation of role-based security policies, and favours model driven security in the context of web applications. The toolset allows developers to graphically model an MVC web application by making links to its requirements and then generates a security filter from the web application's model. This technique guaranties that the deployed access control policy is conformant to its specification and associated validation activities.
A Study of the Group Buying Feature of Social Coupons Using Augmented Clickstream Data

Groupon pioneered a new business model which combines the features of daily deals and group buying. This so-called social coupon industry has experienced explosive growth in recent years. In this paper, utilizing a large proprietary dataset of Groupon users, the authors develop three hypotheses about how the group buying features affect consumer behavior. This study is the first to empirically investigate social coupon-related consumer behavior based on detailed consumer-level data. Their findings are as follows: (1) contrary to their theoretical predictions, group buying does not stimulate referrals, no matter whether the deal is tipped (enough people have purchased the deal before it kicks in) or not; however, (2) the information from the deal that is tipped increases deal purchase probability by removing a consumer’s uncertainty about whether the deal will eventually tip and it accelerates deal purchase speed; and (3) the information from prior purchases affects an individual’s purchase decision through the mechanism of herding rather than social learning. These findings together suggest that the group buying features of social coupons change consumer behavior and affect sales. This study also provides an example of using web analytics tools to augment clickstream data and consolidate information from other sources.
REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITS) INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA: THE INFLUENCE OF EXTERNAL FACTORS ON RETURNS

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of operating environment factors on the performance of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) in Nigeria.DESIGN/METHODOLOGY: A questionnaire survey research method is adopted for the study and logistic regression and correlation matrix analyses were used to investigate the significance contribution Political Leadership, Investors Perception, Infrastructure and Social Security on REIT dividend based performance.FINDINGS: The study finds that there is significant correlation among Political Leadership, Infrastructure and Social Security while Investors Perception exhibits non-significant correlation with any other factor. The logistic regression shows that the factors jointly contribute significantly to REIT performance in Nigeria.PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Most studies have focused more on the effects of economic factors (size, FFO, NAV, Market Index etc), on REIT performance adopting correlation or volatility studies. This study will be useful to Industry players especially fund managers on the possible effects of external factors on REIT performance.ORIGINALITY/VALUE OF WORK: The paper contributes to the body of knowledge on REIT performance with its special `focus on external factors influences on REIT return/dividend especially in the developing nations like Nigeria, where the operating environment is characterised with peculiar challenges of paucity of property stocks and high external factor risk.
Modelling Time and Location in Topic Models

Many text collections like news paper or social media blog archives contain texts that often refer to special dates and/or locations. These information can be valuable to investigate topics in certain regions and time spans. We use topic models that integrate time and geographical information extracted from the texts to find such topics. In this extended abstract, we motivate our approach and shortly describe the method. Experimental evaluations and detailed description are in preparation to a full paper.
UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION AND STRATEGIC LEARNING.

The article presents the results of research on entrepreneurial orientation (EO), a term which indicates a corporate culture of innovation and risk tolerance. The focus is on the relationship between EO and strategic learning. An overview of related previous studies is provided, along with details of the research protocol, which involved U.S. manufacturing firms. It was found that EO improves a firm's strategic learning capability, and mechanisms which might account for a causal relationship between EO and strategic learning are described.
System Dynamic Approach to Assessing New Product Introduction: The Case of Functional Foods in the United States

Health care costs particularly those associated with chronic health conditions such as cancer have been significantly increasing for both individuals and governments in the past decades, prompting the demand for preventative medical initiatives, such as functional food, and spawning a new industry in the food sector functional food industry. This article conducts a feasibility study for a firm entering the functional food industry with a specific product, Avert®, CLA-enhanced cheese. It also assesses alternative market conditions under which the firm will be successful. A system dynamics framework is used for the analyses. The results show that a firm can be profitable in the functional food industry provided that it satisfies certain pricing and target market conditions. The results indicate that the extent to which the market differentiates Avert® from commodity cheese, and hence the premium it pays, is a critical success factor for the firm introducing the product.
Control and pricing for communication networks

This paper surveys the field of congestion control in networks. It combines an historical perspective, looking in particular at the Internet, with an account of recent research work on network resource pricing. Finally, the paper concludes by speculating on how control and pricing in communication networks might lead to the efficient and fair allocation of scarce resources in tomorrow'Internet.