Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Team Incentive Contracts With Interim Private Information

We study contracting in a principal multi-agent moral hazard problem where agents receive private information on the realisation of a common productivity shock after contracts are signed, but before actions are taken. Joint performance evaluation schemes can be optimal when private information is of sufficiently high quality, while relative performance evaluation schemes are optimal with poor quality private signals. Interdependent incentive schemes create an endogenous externality between agents, the nature of which depends on the structure of the evaluation scheme. Joint performance evaluation schemes generate endogenous complementarities in the presence of correlated private information, and so may be optimal.
Modeling landowner behavior regarding forest certification

Nonindustrial private forest owners in western Tennessee were surveyed to assess their awareness, acceptance, and perceived benefits of forest certification. More than 80 percent of the landowners indicated a willingness to consider certification for their lands. A model was created to explain landowner behavior regarding their willingness to consider certification. Landowners who would consider certifying their forest would do so to satisfy both their monetary and non-monetary utility. They felt very strongly that certification would improve forest management and that it would reduce the need for regulation. They also were more likely to consider certification if they had previously received advice about forestry.
Fuzzy classification, image segmentation and shape analysis for Human face detection

In this paper, we describe a new algorithm for human face detection. The algorithm uses both color and shape analysis because they are almost the same for all faces. Color analysis is based on the novel idea of fuzzy classification that manipulates ambiguity in colors; using this technique we can robustly classify skin regions and non-skin regions. In order to decide whether the skin region is a face or not, we test its shape by applying an edge detection using Canny operator and an ellipse detection using Hough transform. We show with experimental results how the important detection ratio makes our system an effective tool for face detection.
The Pharmacokinetics of Valproic Acid After Oral and Parenteral Administration in Healthy Volunteers

Summary: The pharmacokinetics of valproic acid were investigated in six healthy volunteers. After a single intravenous dose of 1,000 mg valproic acid, the pharmacokinetic parameters were determined according to the open two‐compartment model. Bioavailability of valproic acid was performed comparing the areas under curves (AUC) after i.v. and an equal single oral dose. The half‐life of the initial phase was t1/2α= 0.64 ± 0.32 h, and the elimination half‐life was calculated as t1/2β= 11.55 ± 2.33 h. The distribution volume of the central compartment was Vc= 9.9 ± 0.78 L, the apparent volume of distribution was Vdβ= 18.2 ± 6.2 L, and the distribution volume at steady state was V88= 12.6 ± 1.2 L. The value for the average total clearance was Cltot= 51.1 ± 11.9 ml/min. The study showed that in comparison to single dosing, the elimination half‐life increased in average for four hours after multiple dosing (p =s 0.05). There was only a poor correlation between serum concentrations and concentration of valproic acid in saliva (r = 0.42).
The Use of Hosted Enterprise Applications by SMEs: A User Perspective

This paper seeks to deepen our understanding of the engagement of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in hosted enterprise applications (high complexity e-business applications) in the UK by investigating the relevance of organisational and technical factors through conducting interviews with SME users of hosted applications. The emergence and development of the application service provider (ASP) sector has attracted much interest and highly optimistic forecasts for revenues. Of particular interest in this paper is the emergence of service offerings targeted specifically at SMEs. The paper starts by considering information technology (IT) adoption by SMEs in general before reviewing the provision of hosted enterprise applications in the US and UK. The empirical data collected from SME users of hosted enterprise applications is then analysed in order to produce the key findings and conclusions. From an SME user perspective the key findings to emerge from the study include: i) confirmation that ICT infrastructure was no longer a barrier to adoption, ii) the pragmatic approach taken to security issues, iii) the use of both multiple information systems (hosted and resident) and service providers, iv) the attractiveness of the rental cost model and v) the intention to continue or extend their use of hosted applications within the enterprise. The early promise of the ASP sector appears not to have been generally realised for SMEs in the UK. This study explores the experience of early adopters of this new IT related innovation and identifies some significant business gains experienced by SME users. It also highlights the opportunity for gaining competitive advantage by using hosted enterprise applications to reduce costs. There are very few empirical studies of hosted applications which take a deliberately SME user perspective and this paper make an important contribution in this emerging field.
Strategic Alliances in Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals

Essentials for Alliance Formation The Science & Technology Base of the Biotech Industry Alliances in the Biotech Industry: An Industry Study of Network Economies Alliance Propensity of Biotech-Pharma Companies: An Empirical Perspective European Biotech-Pharma Industry Development Emerging Asian Biotech-Pharma Industry -- Analysis & Trends Emerging Asian Biotech-Pharma Industry -- Comparative Perspectives Strategic Alliances: Post-Analysis & Projection Index.
Social Networks, Family Planning and Worrying About Aids: What are the Network Effects If Network Partners are Not Determined Randomly?

This study presents new estimates of the impact of social networks on attitudes and behavior in two areas, family planning and AIDS. The study explicitly allows for the possibility that social networks are not chosen randomly, but rather that important characteristics such as unobserved preferences and community characteristics determine not only the outcomes of interest but also the conversational networks in which they are discussed. To examine this issue, longitudinal survey data from rural Kenya are used. The major findings are: First, the endogeneity of social networks can substantially distort the usual cross sectional estimates of network influences. Second, the estimates indicate that social networks have significant and substantial effects even after controlling for unobserved factors that may determine the nature of the social networks. Third, these network effects generally are nonlinear and asymmetric. In particular, they are relatively large for individuals who have at least one network partner who is perceived to be using contraceptives or to be at high risk of HIV/AIDS.
Optimal Reliability Modeling: Principles and Applications

Next, the authors discuss an additive model obtained by replacing the timevarying regression coef cients by constants. Chapter 12 presents regression models based on parametric distributions such as the Weibull or log-logistic distributions. Chapter 13 gives a brief summary of multivariate survival analysis, including measures of association and frailty models. This chapter is a good starting point for further study of multivariate survival analysis, for which the book by Hougaard (2000) is an excellent reference.
Constructing Graphs with No Immersion of Large Complete Graphs

In 1989, Lescure and Meyniel proved, for d=5,6 , that every d‐chromatic graph contains an immersion of Kd , and in 2003 Abu‐Khzam and Langston conjectured that this holds for all d. In 2010, DeVos, Kawarabayashi, Mohar, and Okamura proved this conjecture for d=7 . In each proof, the d‐chromatic assumption was not fully utilized, as the proofs only use the fact that a d‐critical graph has minimum degree at least d−1 . DeVos, Dvořák, Fox, McDonald, Mohar, and Scheide show the stronger conjecture that a graph with minimum degree d−1 has an immersion of Kd fails for d=10 and d≥12 with a finite number of examples for each value of d, and small chromatic number relative to d, but it is shown that a minimum degree of 200d does guarantee an immersion of Kd . In this paper, we show that the stronger conjecture is false for d=8,9,11 and give infinite families of examples with minimum degree d−1 and chromatic number d−3 , d−2 , or d−1 that do not contain an immersion of Kd . Our examples can be up to (d−2) ‐edge‐connected. We show that two of Hajós' operations preserve immersions of Kd . We conclude with some open questions, and the conjecture that a 2‐edge‐connected graph G with minimum degree d−1 and more than |V(G)|m(d+1)−(d−2) vertices of degree at least md has an immersion of Kd .
High Dimensional Brushing for Interactive Exploration of Multivariate Data

Brushing is an operation found in many data visualization systems. It is a mechanism for interactively selecting subsets of the data so that they may be highlighted, deleted, or masked. Traditionally, brushes have been defined in screen space via methods such as painting and rubberband rectangles. In this paper we describe the design of N-dimensional brushes which are defined in data space rather than screen space, and show how they have been integrated into XmdvTool, a visualization package for displaying multivariate data. Depending on the data display technique in use, brushes may be specified and manipulated via direct or indirect methods, and the specification may be demand-driven or data-driven. Various brush operations such as highlighting, linking, masking, moving average, and quantitative display have been developed to apply to the selected data. In addition, we have explored several new brush concepts, such as non-discrete brush boundaries, simultaneous display of multiple brushes, and creating composite brushes via logical operators. Preliminary experimental evaluation with test subjects supports the usefulness of N-dimensional brushes in data exploration tasks.
Skeletal Muscle-specific Calpain Is an Intracellular Na+-dependent Protease*

Because intracellular [Na+] is kept low by Na+/K+-ATPase, Na+ dependence is generally considered a property of extracellular enzymes. However, we found that p94/calpain 3, a skeletal-muscle-specific member of the Ca2+-activated intracellular “modulator proteases” that is responsible for a limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (“calpainopathy”), underwent Na+-dependent, but not Cs+-dependent, autolysis in the absence of Ca2+. Furthermore, Na+ and Ca2+ complementarily activated autolysis of p94 at physiological concentrations. By blocking Na+/K+-ATPase, we confirmed intracellular autolysis of p94 in cultured cells. This was further confirmed using inactive p94:C129S knock-in (p94CS-KI) mice as negative controls. Mutagenesis studies showed that much of the p94 molecule contributed to its Na+/Ca2+-dependent autolysis, which is consistent with the scattered location of calpainopathy-associated mutations, and that a conserved Ca2+-binding sequence in the protease acted as a Na+ sensor. Proteomic analyses using Cs+/Mg2+ and p94CS-KI mice as negative controls revealed that Na+ and Ca2+ direct p94 to proteolyze different substrates. We propose three roles for Na+ dependence of p94; 1) to increase sensitivity of p94 to changes in physiological [Ca2+], 2) to regulate substrate specificity of p94, and 3) to regulate contribution of p94 as a structural component in muscle cells. Finally, this is the first example of an intracellular Na+-dependent enzyme.
The Relationship Marketing Effect on Firm’s Export Performance

The comparatively fresh emergence of relationship marketing paradigm in the field of marketing management highlights the growing need to manage, develop and evaluate relationships amongst the buyers and suppliers. In international business context, the same holds good for relationship quality between exporters and importers, which in turn also acts as an important determinant of firms’ export performance. The present study is an empirical attempt towards examining the effect of relationship marketing, between the exporting firms and the importers, on export performance. It aims to throw light on the exporting firms’ awareness regarding relationship marketing, along with increasing their understanding about the concept's utility in handling foreign market operations. Sample for the study is drawn from small and medium sized exporting firms operational in Gujarat State of India.
Presentation of multivariate data for clinical use: The Framingham Study risk score functions

The Framingham Heart Study has been a leader in the development and dissemination of multivariable statistical models to estimate the risk of coronary heart disease. These models quantify the impact of measurable and modifiable risk factors on the development of coronary heart disease and can be used to generate estimates of risk of coronary heart disease over a predetermined period, for example the next 10 years. We developed a system, which we call a points system, for making these complex statistical models useful to practitioners. The system is easy to use, it does not require a calculator or computer and it simplifies the estimation of risk based on complex statistical models. This system represents an effort to make available a tool for clinicians to aid in their decision‐making process regarding treatment and to assist them in motivating patients toward healthy behaviours. The system is also readily available to patients who can easily estimate their own coronary heart disease risk and monitor this risk over time. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Estimates of the prevalence of and current treatment practices for rheumatoid arthritis in Japan using reimbursement data from health insurance societies and the IORRA cohort (I)

ObjectivesThe prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and its current treatment practices in Japan are poorly documented. Therefore, we examined these factors in a Japanese health insurance database.MethodsWe analyzed reimbursement data provided by health insurance societies for 1 million individuals, including healthy individuals, registered from January 2005 to June 2011. Changes in treatments were determined in 320 thousand individuals originally registered in 2005. The treatment patterns were compared with those of the Institute of Rheumatology, Rheumatoid Arthritis (IORRA) cohort managed by Tokyo Women’s Medical University.ResultsThe estimated prevalence of RA was 1.24 million (1.0 % of the Japanese population), excluding suspected cases, and 706 thousand (0.6 %) in a sensitivity analysis. Seventy-nine percent of patients were treated for RA. Methotrexate was used by 27 % of patients. In 2005, 5 % of patients were prescribed methotrexate at >8 mg/week, which increased to 13 % in 2011. These rates were lower than those in the IORRA cohort.ConclusionsOur results indicate that the prevalence of RA in Japan is somewhere between 0.6 and 1.0 %. Considering that methotrexate is infrequently used, the implementation of aggressive treatment regimens such as the ‘Treat to Target’ strategy is important to achieve tight control of RA in Japan.
Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases Etiology Research Center (CMERC) cohort: study protocol and results of the first 3 years of enrollment

Although the etiologies of cardiovascular disease (CVD) are widely understood, the goal of finding a globally effective solution for preventing CVD is unrealistic. Therefore, we aimed to conduct a community-based prospective study on the prevention and management of CVD in Korean adults. This study was designed to recruit 8,000 healthy adults over the course of 5 years. The baseline assessment includes a wide range of established CVD risk factors, including demographic characteristics, medical history, health behaviors, psychological conditions, body size and composition, blood pressure, the augmentation index, carotid ultrasonography, an electrocardiogram, and biochemical indicators, as well as some novel factors, such as social network characteristics, exposure to environmental pollutants, inflammatory markers, hemostatic markers, and immunosenescence markers. Annual telephone interviews and follow-up health examinations at 5-year intervals after the baseline assessment are planned to collect information on changes in health status and its determinants. Additionally, indirect follow-up using secondary data sources will be conducted to obtain information on health services utilization and death. So far, more than 6,000 adults have been enrolled during the first three and a half years, and almost all participants have been tracked by annual telephone follow-up surveys. The data have been uploaded to iCReaT, the clinical research information management system of the Korea National Institute of Health.
Relationship of "bleeding on probing" and "gingival index bleeding" as clinical parameters of gingival inflammation.

Bleeding on probing (BOP) and the gingival index have been used to clinically characterize the degree of gingival inflammation. It is, however, unclear to what extent these parameters correlate to each other and to probing pocket depth (PD). The purpose of this clinical study was to evaluate the association between BOP and GI bleeding (scores of 2 and 3), as well as the relationship of these variables to PD, in a group of patients presenting with naturally-occurring gingivitis. Based on screening examinations of 125 subjects with at least 20 teeth, no more than 4 sites with PD over 6 mm, a BOP frequency of 30% or greater, and no systemic condition that would influence the inflammatory response, were selected. 2 weeks after screening they were examined at 6 sites per tooth for plaque index, GI, PD and BOP. A standardized pressure sensitive probe (Florida Probe) with 20 g probing force was used for BOP and PD measurements. In this population, means of 40.9% (S.E. = 1.36) BOP sites and 35.3% (S.E. = 1.81) GI bleeding sites per patient were found. A total of 20,008 sites ranging in PD up to 5.9 mm were evaluated; however, the majority of sites (19,723, 98.6%) presented with < 4 mm PD. When sites were evaluated, BOP demonstrated a positive correlation with PD, whereas GI bleeding correlated with PD. For sites characterized by the absence of BOP as well as the absence of GI bleeding (scores 0 and 1), the highest % of agreement between the 2 indices (77.7%) was found in shallow sites (0.1-2 mm). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Making B2B Sales Interactions Valuable - A Social and Symbolic Perspective

Salespeople’s work has always been regarded a crucial contributor to businesses’ value creation by researchers and practitioners alike. As tangible products are not at the core of interactions between salesperson and customer in the context of services-based or non-standardized markets, sales’ role is assigned greater influence in the understanding, creating and delivering of customer value. Underlying this understanding of the sales and traditional business marketing literature is the notion of value being objective and brought into the interaction by the salesperson through actions or tangible products. Alongside this understanding and in line with recent developments in the business marketing literature, this study considers the nature of value to be interpretive, contextual and interactive. Arguably, value is constructed in interaction between those individuals involved in business relationships. The study claims that the discussions in the relevant literature on value and value creation in a B2B context do not suffice to explain the phenomenon of value and its construction in sales interactions that are part of the everyday realities of business relationships. By shadowing 13 salespeople in their day-to-day work in interactions with customers and internal colleagues, this study investigates the activities and processes through which salespeople attempt to make sales interactions valuable. Informed by ideas from symbolic interactionism, the study depicts four themes that describe salespeople’s acts in the attempt to make sales interactions valuable for those involved. Moreover, the study pinpoints the underlying processes of evaluation and influence by which salespeople interpret and imagine customer value and act so as to influence the course of the sales interactions. By introducing a social and symbolic perspective, this study offers an alternative theoretical understanding of value creation in business marketing. The study’s managerial contribution lies in offering a nuanced understanding of the salesperson’s role in value creation. (Less)
Urdu Localization Project

Pakistan has a population of 140 million speaking more than 56 different languages. Urdu is the lingua franca of these people, as many speak Urdu as a second language, also the national language of Pakistan. Being a developing population, Pakistani people need access to information. Most of the information over the ICT infrastructure is only available in English and only 5-10% of these people are familiar with English. Therefore, Government of Pakistan has embarked on a project which will generate software to automatically translate the information available in English to Urdu. The project will also be able to convert Urdu text to speech to extend this information to the illiterate population as well. This paper overviews the overall architecture of the project and provides briefs on the three components of this project, namely Urdu Lexicon, English to Urdu Machine Translation System and Urdu Text to Speech System.
Conversing in L2 English with Saudi Arabic (L1) Children at Home

This qualitatively based research study aims at critically examining the linguistic practises of a particular group of Saudi parents who chose to use the host country's language (English L2) instead of the mother tongue (Arabic L1) with their children. Specifically, the study aims at answering two research questions: Why Saudi do parents chose to speak English to their child/children? And What are the effects of mostly speaking English on the children and their home language: Arabic? A total of ten participating parents took part in this research study where semi structured interviews were utilised to gather the primary data. Thematic analysis of the data revealed three main emerging themes and six subthemes. The findings from the data analysis revealed that Saudi parents speak English with their children so as to allow them the opportunity to be bilingual and linguistically (English – L2) proficient as well as the fact that those parents were pleased to see their children speak English with a British accent. Also, the analysis revealed that that children of Saudi parents speaking English only has led to the weakening and loss of their Arabic L1 language. The study concludes that parents should provide a linguistic balance for their bilingual children in order to preserve the native language. Additionally, the study recommends that further parallel research studies with bilingual children of various L1(s), are conducted.
Stationary Threshold Vector Autoregressive Models

This paper examines the steady state properties of the Threshold Vector Autoregressive model. Assuming that the trigger variable is exogenous and the regime process follows a Bernoulli distribution, necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of stationary distribution are derived. A situation related to so-called “locally explosive models”, where the stationary distribution exists though the model is explosive in one regime, is analysed. Simulations show that locally explosive models can generate some of the key properties of financial and economic data. They also show that assessing the stationarity of threshold models based on simulations might well lead to wrong conclusions.