Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An empirical investigation on the antecedents of consumers’ cognitions of and attitudes towards digital signage advertising

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the antecedent factors of consumers’ perceived values and attitudes towards digital signage advertising in a structural model. The results of this study revealed that four key antecedents (i.e. informativeness, involvement, entertainment and targeting) affect consumers’ attention to digital signage advertising and perception of advertising values. This study shows that attitudes towards digital signage and perceived interactivity with it also affect consumers’ attitudes towards digital signage advertising. This, in turn, influences positive attitudes towards a brand and higher purchase intentions.
Utilization of E-Government Services

What is E-government? In this paper, E-government is defined as a way for governments to use the most innovative information and communication technologies, particularly web-based Internet applications, to provide citizens and businesses with more convenient access to government information and services, to improve the quality of the services and to provide greater opportunities to participate in democratic institutions and processes. E-government presents a tremendous impetus to move forward in the 21st century with higher quality, cost-effective, government services and a better relationship between citizens and government. The paper concludes by analyzing concepts and theoretical framework in these issues given the broader context of structural initiatives for E-government development and the recommendations for further studies of E-government in public administration.
Creation and Sharing of Environmental Knowledge across Communities and Networks

Innovation is a distributed process involving several actors and communities. The process dependent of the way knowledge is created and transferred inside and across the different communities. Building on knowledge management discussions, the paper suggests that environmental knowledge is created and shared through a transformation of knowledge inside and across communities and networks of practice. Knowledge is not taken as a given, but is conceived as situated enacted practice, which means that environmental knowledge has a different meaning and function in the different fields of practice. This also explains why it is so difficult to manage and integrate environmental knowledge inside and across communities and networks in companies, production chains and external relations. Taking this theoretical approach, the paper shows how knowledge transfer across situated fields of practice in environmental knowledge networks, production chains and stakeholder relations in the public sphere. Environmental perceptions, knowledge and meaning are embedded in different activities within the three spheres of practice – and different frames of environment.
Openness and Legitimacy Building in the Sharing Economy: An Exploratory Case Study about CouchSurfing

Sharing economy start-ups are claiming legitimacy by drawing on notions of openness and, at the same time, by adapting to business institutions. We use the case of CouchSurfing to investigate how openness, which has been part of the organization’s raison-d’être, contributed in the legitimacy building efforts and why it was replaced by notions of profitability and revenue generation. Thus, we contribute the concepts of legitimacy and legitimacy building to the academic discourse of openness.
What are Buying Companies Doing to Influence Suppliers to Act Sustainable

The aim of the paper is to reach a better understanding of which governance structures are applied in the exchanges between buying companies and suppliers in the Textile and Apparel Industry in order to ensure supplier sustainability compliance. Furthermore, an additional aim is to analyze suppliers’ perception of and reaction to these different governance structures. The analysis is based on 30 supplier interviews conducted in India, Bangladesh and China. The results of the analysis will lead to a better understanding of why, taking into account the governance structures used, suppliers find it difficult to meet and comply with the buying companies’ demands for sustainability and might behave in a legitimate opportunistic way.
Explaining incomplete exchange rate pass-through to import prices: Does globalization matter?

This paper assesses the impact of globalization on exchange rate passthrough (ERPT) into import prices in three core eurozone countries. To this end, we consider various indicators of globalization and rely on both aggregated (i.e., country level) and disaggregated (i.e., good level) data. Using quarterly data since 1992, we do not find compelling evidence of a positive link between globalization and ERPT. On the contrary, our analysis at the disaggregated level provides weak evidence that part of the decline in ERPT is a result of increased trade integration. Indeed, among several global factors, only Chinese growing market share weakens the pass-through in some sectors, particularly those producing manufactured goods and machinery and transport equipment in Germany and France. Overall, our findings show that while ERPT is incomplete, it remains significant meaning that exchange rate changes still exert important pressure on domestic prices. JEL Classification: E31; F31; F4; C22.
Future Family Business Owners Can Learn to Manage Conflict

This classroom exercise helps them identify productive and non-productive ways to disagree. It is based on our own research about how conflict affects owners of small to medium sized businesses (Sorenson, 1999). Students first complete a questionnaire that assesses how their families handle conflict (Rahim, 1983) and then compute scores to develop a conflict profile. The professor then discusses the theoretical framework on which the measure was based, and discusses five styles of conflict management and how those approaches can affect business and family outcomes. Finally, the professor asks students to share how their own families utilized the five styles and what happened as a result.
Relations Between Social Capital and Use of ICT: A Social Network Analysis Approach

This article explores the relationship between social capital in a professional network and ICT use. It examines the context in which the main ICT networks are used and shows how they are conditioned by the social capital of an individual within their professional network. To do so, different measures from Social Network Analysis are used. An exploratory study on a group of 199 students is presented. The studied Computer Mediated Communication CMC media are electronic mail, telephone, Skype, and Facebook. The results show the important position of an actor in the networks of exchanges. The results also show that ICT uses have different contexts involving different degrees of confidence in the network. Email is shown to be influenced by trust centrality and centrality at work while telephone is more influenced by influence centrality. The authors conclude on the prospects for future research.
Rusticyanin, a Bacterial Electron Transfer Protein, Causes G1 Arrest and Apoptosis in Human Cancer Cells

During acid mine drainage, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, a nonpathogenic, acidophilic,lithotrophic bacterium, utilizes rusticyanin to transfer electrons for the oxidation of Fe 2+ toFe3+ for deriving its energy. No other function of rusticyanin is known. We demonstrate thatpurified rusticyanin enters mammalian cells inducing either inhibition of cell cycleprogression or caspase-8 mediated apoptosis. Treatment of human melanoma cells withrusticyanin allowed significant generation of reactive oxygen species and active caspase -8,leading to cell death. The ability of rusticyanin to modulate mammalian cell death might berelevant to a role of this cupredoxin in protecting At.ferrooxidans from eukaryotic predatorsin the environment.
A linear SMA motor as direct-drive robotic actuator

A push-pull actuator for commanding the motion of the interphalangeal joints of anthropomorphic robotic hands is proposed. The actuator, based on coil springs, made of the shape-memory alloy Nitinol, is compact enough to be easily incorporated into the phalangeal structure of a robotic finger, thus eliminating the complex routing of the cables and tendons usually adopted for transmitting motion from conventional actuators (e.g. DC servomotors) to the joints. The performance of the SMA actuator is illustrated, and the concepts of temperature, strain, and stress limits for the control of the whole push-pull actuating system are emphasized. The methods adopted to improve the usually limited frequency response of SMA actuators are also described. Finally, the control of the whole system and some experimental results demonstrating promising actuator performance are discussed. <<ETX>>
Analysis of the impact of work life balance on wellbeing of police department employees of Nagpur district

Individuals experience more conflict between work and personal life as they continue to pursue the quality of life that they need. Thus, successfully balancing work and family life is one of the major challenges being faced by the employees in this global ear. This study focused on assessing the impact of work-life balance determined by work-family conflict and family-work conflict on the wellbeing of Police department employees of Nagpur district. Wellbeing was measured by levels of family satisfaction, work satisfaction and psychological distress. This research paper is an attempt to identify the impact of work life balance on employees wellbeing.
IPO Lock-up expirations; An empirical study on the Nordic market during 2009-2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate whether abnormal returns can be observed in stock prices after the expiration of lock-up periods related to an IPO. In addition, the purpose is to analyse if private equity/venture capital (PEVC) ownership, the use of staggered lock-ups and the length of lock-up periods affect this return. Methodology: This event study examines how the market reacts around the expiration of IPO lock-up periods by using the market model. A multiple regression analysis was conducted where the dependent variable (cumulative abnormal return) was regressed on IPO characteristics specific variables. Theoretical perspectives: This dissertation is testing whether the semi-strong form of the efficient market hypothesis holds. In addition, theories regarding a downward sloping demand curve, costly arbitrage opportunities, information asymmetry and signalling theory are used to analyse the results. Empirical foundation: The sample consists of companies completing IPOs on Nasdaq OMX Nordic and Oslo Bors during 2009-2016, on the main market lists. Data were obtained from the databases Zephyr, Bloomberg Terminal and DataStream. Conclusions: The study provides new evidence for the Nordic market and concludes that abnormal returns exist around the expiration for lock-up periods with an observed significant abnormal return of -0.72%. The result shows evidence against the semi-strong form of the efficient market hypothesis and could potentially support a downward sloping demand curve and theories regarding information asymmetry between pre- and post-IPO owners and costly arbitrage opportunities. The study did not find any statistically significant evidence supporting that IPO characteristics in terms of PEVC-backing, staggered IPOs or the lock-up period length affects this abnormal return.
Multiobjective Optimization of Induction Machines Including Mixed Variables and Noise Minimization

Induction motor design requires making numerous tradeoffs, especially when including electromagnetic noise criterion besides usual criteria like efficiency and cost. Moreover, adding the noise objective significantly increases computational time as it must be evaluated at variable speed in order to take into account resonance effects. In that case, the application of multiobjective optimization algorithms can be hard for their computational cost as for the difficulty to interpret multidimensional results in both design variables and objectives spaces. This paper first describes a fast analytical model of a variable-speed induction machine which calculates both motor performances and sound power level of electromagnetic origin. This model is then coupled to Nondominating Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) in order to perform global constrained optimizations with respect to several objectives (e.g., noise level, efficiency and material cost). As induction machine design involves both continuous and discrete variables, a modified NSGA-II algorithm handling mixed variables is detailed. Finally, some optimization results are presented and analyzed by the aid of several visualization tools.
Toxicity of simple mixtures to the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans in relation to soil sorption

Single and combined toxicity of copper‐zinc, copper—cadmium, cadmium—lead, copper—carbendazim, and copper‐carbendazimiprodione to the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans in soil was studied. The one‐week population increase was estimated as the toxicity endpoint. The aim was to study the relationship between mixture interactions in the soil and the combined toxic effect. Soil sorption was quantified using the Freundlich adsorption constant. Joint toxicity patterns were quantified by comparing mixture effects to the effect of individual constituents and were related to total metal concentrations in the soil, water‐soluble concentrations, and 0.01 M CaCl2‐extractable concentrations. The metal with the highest adsorption constant influenced the sorption of metal with the lowest adsorption constant when both were combined, indicating interaction. Consequently, both the composition of the mixture as well as the relative toxicity of individual mixture constituents differed between total, water‐soluble, and CaCl2‐extractable concentrations, which was taken into account in the data quantification procedure that was applied. Both the additive and the independent model were generally inadequate to describe the effects of metal mixtures. Compared to the additive model, synergism was observed at dose levels higher than the median effect isobole. A general relationship between mixture interactions in the soil and the combined toxicity was not found.
Family Environment and Early Behavioral Development: A Structural Analysis of Dependencies

Structural analyses of the dependencies between early displays of behavior problems, e.g. aggression, developmental delay, and later family environmental structure are presented for a sample of 19 girls and 16 boys living in the northeastern U.S. Multiple regression analyses show a moderate order of predictability (R — .56, p < .01) for the regression of an “interpersonal relationships” index on five behavioral indices but a much lower order of predictability (R — .36, p < .05) for the regression of “organization-control” on these same indices. Although these cross-age (18-mo. interval) correlations are higher than would be expected on the basis of recent theoretical commentary in developmental psychology (Sameroff, 1975), the continuing need for consistent application of multivariate designs within the context of generative models (Barth, 1966) is conspicuous.
A Pseudo Cross Bilateral Filter for Image Denoising Based on Laplacian Pyramid

To attain the goal of preserving the edges and removing the noise for the images, a pseudo cross bilateral filter based on Laplacian pyramid is proposed. The proposed algorithm firstly decomposes the image and its filtered version into several levels via Laplacian pyramid, in which the filtered version is obtained by adaptive Wiener filter. At each level of the decomposed images, a pseudo cross bilateral filter is then applied regarding the filtered version as the "real" image. To optimize and determine the parameters for the algorithm, the noise variance estimation at each level and its relationship with the photometric spread parameter in bilateral filter are discussed. The experimental results indicate the proposed algorithm is superior to adaptive Wiener filter and the traditional bilateral filter in both objective and subjective assessment.
Incomplete Relational Database Models Based on Intervals

Tables are used to represent unknown relations. The three partial tuple types are defined in a table to specify incompleteness relationships among tuples of the same table. For tuples of different tables, the cases where incompleteness is introduced at the relation level, tuple level, or attribute value level are discussed. For each of the models, it is shown that query evaluation is sound in the Imielinski-Lipski sense. None of the models is complete in the Imielinski-Lipski sense. Two of the models in the family are compared with other approaches. >
Rapid identification of outstanding real estate investment trusts with outlier detection algorithms

Finding outstanding stocks is always the primary goal of an investor. This is because outstanding stocks tend to outperform others in investment return. However, uncover this type of stocks from a stock pool requires extensive financial knowledge and consistent efforts in analyzing the abundant amount of financial data. Thus, it is impractical for an amateur investor. The objective of this study is to rapidly identify outstanding stocks from the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) sector. We adopted two outlier detection algorithms, i.e. Interquartile Range (IQR) and Local Outlier Factor (LOF) to trace REIT stocks that were deviated from the average performers. Subsequently, the outstanding REIT stocks can be identified from the small amount of outliers. The entire process is speedy and can be done on the fly. The identified outstanding stocks were assessed based on their 1-year average total return as compared with the non-outlier stocks. The preliminary result showed that their average total return is better than its non-outlier peers.
Alcohol-Induced Delay of Viability Loss in Stationary-Phase Cultures of Escherichia coli

ABSTRACT During prolonged incubation in stationary phase Escherichia coli undergoes starvation-induced differentiation, resulting in highly resistant cells. In rich medium with high amino acid content further incubation of cultures at high cell density leads to the generation of a population of cells no longer able to form colonies. The viability loss is due to some component of spent medium, active at high pH and high cell density, and can be prevented either by keeping the pH close to neutrality, by washing off the nonsalt components of the medium, or by keeping the saturating cell density low. Exposure to short-chain n-alcohols within a specific time window in stationary phase also prevents viability loss, in an rpoS-dependent fashion. The development of stress resistance, a hallmark of stationary-phase cells, is affected following alcohol treatment, as is the response to extracellular factors in spent medium. Alcohols seem to block cells in an early phase of starvation-induced differentiation, most likely by interfering with processes important for regulation of σs such as cell density signals and sensing the nutrient content of the medium.
In Vivo Electrical Conductivity across Critical Nerve Gaps Using Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-Coated Neural Interfaces

Background: Bionic limbs require sensitive, durable, and physiologically relevant bidirectional control interfaces. Modern central nervous system interfacing is high risk, low fidelity, and failure prone. Peripheral nervous system interfaces will mitigate this risk and increase fidelity by greatly simplifying signal interpretation and delivery. This study evaluates in vivo relevance of a hybrid peripheral nervous system interface consisting of biological acellular muscle scaffolds made electrically conductive using poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene). Methods: Peripheral nervous system interfaces were tested in vivo using the rat hind-limb conduction-gap model for motor (peroneal) and sensory (sural) nerves. Experimental groups included acellular muscle, iron(III) chloride–treated acellular muscle, and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polymerized on acellular muscle, each compared with intact nerve, autogenous nerve graft, and empty (nonreconstructed) nerve gap controls (n = 5 for each). Interface lengths tested included 0, 5, 10, and 20 mm. Immediately following implantation, the interface underwent electrophysiologic characterization in vivo using nerve conduction studies, compound muscle action potentials, and antidromic sensory nerve action potentials. Results: Both efferent and afferent electrophysiology demonstrates acellular muscle–poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) interfaces conduct physiologic action potentials across nerve conduction gaps of at least 20 mm with amplitude and latency not differing from intact nerve or nerve grafts, with the exception of increased velocity in the acellular muscle–poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) interfaces. Conclusions: Nonmetallic, biosynthetic acellular muscle–poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) peripheral nervous system interfaces both sense and stimulate physiologically relevant efferent and afferent action potentials in vivo. This demonstrates their relevance not only as a nerve-electronic coupling device capable of reaching the long-sought goal of closed-loop neural control of a prosthetic limb, but also in a multitude of other bioelectrical applications.
Big Challenges from the Little Brain — Imaging the Cerebellum

The cerebellum is a compact structure that has about one-ninth of the volume of the neocortex, but comprises more than half of the neurons in the central nervous system. While the cerebel‐ lum has historically been understood to assist with movement and balance (e.g., Holmes, 1917, 1939), today we know that the cerebellum is also involved in non-motor functions (for review, see Stoodley & Schmahmann, 2009). Indeed, the cerebellum appears to play a role in nearly as many separate functions as the neocortex. This functional diversity within a restricted area poses unique challenges for the study of the cerebellum using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
Modulation of Intracortical Inhibition and Facilitation of Motor Cortex Through Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can modulate cortical function transiently. This effect is monitored by motor evoked potentials (MEPs). The excitability of intracortical circuits in the motor cortex is assessed by paired pulse stimulation. In previous MEP studies, the modulation of short latency intracortical inhibition (SICI) and intracortical facilitation (ICF) with tDCS was demonstrated. In order to elucidate the neural mechanisms of tDCS, we evaluated the long latency intracortical inhibition (LICI) and short latency afferent inhibition (SAI) as well as SICI and ICF as objective parameters. There was a significant modulation of MEP amplitudes of single pulse TMS, however, SICI, ICF, LICI, and SAI were not significantly altered. Our results suggest that tDCS does not modulate neurotransmitter related to each parameter. Therefore, the modulation of MEP amplitudes of single pulse TMS may result from the change of membrane potentials.