Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Strategic Determinants of Service Quality and Performance: Evidence from the Banking Industry

This paper focuses on an important new service management strategy: the operations capabilities-service quality-performance C-SQ-P triad. In order to understand what generic operations capabilities influence the strategic behavior of high performing service firms, we explore three related questions: What generic operations capabilities are among the strategic determinants of service quality? Does service quality affect market performance? How is market conduct related to the C-SQ-P triad? These questions are investigated using a stylized capabilities-based model of service quality that simultaneously assesses their impact upon a firm's market performance. Several insights emerge from our research: a generic operations capabilities affect service quality and performance, although not all relationships are direct; b service quality know-how and innovations can be directly observed and imitated; c the effects of technological leadership and market acuity on service quality are moderated by the absorptive capacity of employees to recognize and exploit their potential, and hence, investments in people are critical to success; d market conduct influences the generic capabilities of the firm more than market performance, ceteris paribus; and e total factor productivity and service quality are negatively correlated.
Linearity of GaN HEMT RF power amplifiers - a circuit perspective

In this paper, the nonlinearity generation mechanisms causing AM/AM and AM/PM in GaN power amplifier are analyzed from a circuit perspective. The nonlinear device transconductance is found to be the primary source of slow compression in GaN PA's AM/AM characteristic, while the nonlinear input capacitance is the primary source of AM/PM distortion. Using two 800 MHz GaN PAs, we show that matching networks optimized for linearity can minimize a PA's nonlinear distortions and memory effects.
Prognostic value of c-erbB-2 expression in papillary thyroid carcinoma

Summary: Aims: c-erbB-2 overexpression has been shown to be a potential marker of aggressive biological behaviour in a varity of tumours, whereas its role played in thyroid papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) remains unclear. Objective of the study is to determine whether c-erbB-2 overexpression correlates with the clinical course. Methods: We have studied 32 PTC by a two-step immunocytochemical staining procedure for paraffin-embedded specimens (DAKO Hercep- Test). Semiquantitative evaluations were performed, based on the intensity of immunostaining and the percentage of tumor cells. Results: 34% (11/32) of the PTC showed a membranous overexpression of the HER2/neu oncoprotein. Correlating the pathological and clinical data revealed that 81% (9/11) c-erbB-2 positive patients and only 33% (7/21) c-erbB-2 negative patients developed a tumor recurrence or a progression (p = 0.02 in Fisher’s exact test). 3/11 c-erbB-2 positive patients died from PTC whereas all (21/21) c-erbB-2 negative patients are still alive (p=0.03). Conclusions: Our results strongly suggest that c-erbB-2 oncoprotein overexpression is related to the clinical course of PTC.
Exploitation of massive numbers of simple events

Emerging image-based sensor systems can observe a relatively large area (e.g., the size of an urban neighborhood) for long time intervals either continually or with high revisit rates. This type of sensor data makes new types of exploitation possible, but only with the assistance of automated exploitation aids because of the massive volume of data that must be studied as a whole. Automated methods to extract the simplest events from image sequences are often fairly robust (e.g., change events derived from EO or SAR image sequences or from video-derived tracks). Massive numbers of such events can contain information with high intelligence value. This paper examines this general-purpose problem: How massive numbers of the simplest sensor-derived events can be exploited. We summarize the basic functionality an intelligence analyst needs for studying this type of event data, in short: to understand the spatial structure, temporal structure and event-pair structure within an area of regard. Then we present a number of algorithms for automated exploitation of such data, and some visualization tools to help analysts study such data. Experimental results using all those technologies are also presented.
Maturity and ripening-stage specific modulation of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruit transcriptome

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruit is a model to study molecular basis of fleshy fruit development and ripening. We profiled gene expression during fruit development (immature green and mature green fruit) and ripening (breaker stage onwards) program to obtain a global perspective of genes whose expression is modulated at each stage of fruit development and ripening. A custom made cDNA macroarray containing cDNAs representing various metabolic pathways, defense, signaling, transcription, transport, cell structure and cell wall related functions was developed and used to quantify changes in the abundance of different transcripts. About 34 % of 1066 unique expressed sequence tags (ESTs) printed on the macroarray were differentially expressed during tomato fruit ripening. Out of these, 25 % genes classify under metabolism and protein biosynthesis/degradation related processes, while a significant proportion represented stress-responsive genes and about 44 % represented genes with unknown functions. RNA gel blot analysis validated changes in a few representative genes. Although the mature green fruit was found transcriptionally quiescent, the K-means cluster analysis highlighted coordinated up or down regulation of genes during progressive ripening; emphasizing that ripening is a transcriptionally active process. Many stress-related genes were found up-regulated, suggesting their role in the fruit ripening program.
A Lyapunov method for stability analysis of piecewise-affine systems over non-invariant domains

ABSTRACT This paper analyses stability of discrete-time piecewise-affine systems, defined on possibly non-invariant domains, taking into account the possible presence of multiple dynamics in each of the polytopic regions of the system. An algorithm based on linear programming is proposed, in order to prove exponential stability of the origin and to find a positively invariant estimate of its region of attraction. The results are based on the definition of a piecewise-affine Lyapunov function, which is in general discontinuous on the boundaries of the regions. The proposed method is proven to lead to feasible solutions in a broader range of cases as compared to a previously proposed approach. Two numerical examples are shown, among which a case where the proposed method is applied to a closed-loop system, to which model predictive control was applied without a-priori guarantee of stability.
A Novel Method for Improving Antipodal Vivaldi Antenna Performance

Herein, a new method for improving the directivity and bandwidth of the antipodal Vivaldi antenna structure is presented. The method is based on introducing a parasitic elliptical patch in the flare aperture to enhance the field coupling between the arms and produce stronger radiation in the endfire direction. This approach improves the directivity without compromising the low frequency performance and removes the need for electrically thin dielectric substrates. The proposed antenna structure including the feeding line and transition measures 140 × 66 × 1.5 mm3 and has a peak gain >0 dBi over the 2-32 GHz frequency range and >10 dBi over the 6-21 GHz range, which is an improvement to what has been reported for Vivaldi antennas with similar size.
A Novel Approach of 3D Reconstruction of Human Face Using Monocular Camera

Three-dimensional model acquisition of an object is essential in many multimedia applications. Constructing three-dimensional models of objects from two-dimensional images is an old problem in the area of computer vision. There are many publications and our approach is specifically designed for constructing the depth map of a human face on frontal view, based on the head movement in a monocular setting. Our approach does not require a predefined face model. In this paper, along with the front view image of the user, three additional images with various head movement are captured, and the head pose is then calculated. The depth map is calculated through a triangular mesh, which the nodes on the mesh are the feature points that we calculate the depth with. Through image registration process, the feature points on the front view image are mapped to the other three images. Based on the head pose and the newly mapped coordinate, we could calculate the depth of the feature point. The depth results calculated from each of the three images are combined together to find the final depth value. Our approach does not require additional hardware, or predefined models. The result is not as good as we wished, but suggests avenues for future.
Does Social Screening Affect Portfolio Performance?

is associate professor offinance and the acting department chairman o f the finance and real estate department at the University o f Zxas at Arlington. He was previously an assistant professor at Oakland University and a senior research scientist at General Motors Research Laboratories. Professor Diltz also works as aforensic economist for the legal community. He holds a Ph. D. in economicsfrom the University o f Illinois.
A SYMMETRIC NORMALIZED QUADRATIC GNP FUNCTION AND THE U.S. DEMAND FOR IMPORTS AND SUPPLY OF EXPORTS

This paper reports estimates of a GNP function for the United States using data covering most of the postwar period and it introduces a new functional form, the symmetric normalized quadra tic variable profit function, which is a natural extension of recent wor k by W. E. Diewert and T. J. Wales. This functional form allows convexity in prices and concavity in fixed inputs to be imposed globally. Empirical resu lts indicate that the demand for imports is less price elastic than the supply exports, that an increase in labor endowment favors trade, an d that a deterioration of the terms of trade mostly hurts labor. Copyright 1993 by Economics Department of the University of Pennsylvania and the Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association.
Influences on strategic management styles among fast growth medium-sized firms in France and Germany

Abstract The central aim of this research is to examine the entrepreneur's perception of strategic management in a study of fast growth medium-sized organizations. The literature on strategic management styles is reviewed to develop research propositions. The propositions are then evaluated through an analysis of in-depth interviews with owner-manager entrepreneurs in France and Germany. The findings are that entrepreneurs in these fast growth medium-sized firms adopt hybrid styles of strategic management - a synthesis of entrepreneurial, adaptive, small and large firm characteristics. However, an enduring characteristic of all of the firms is retention of the attributes of entrepreneurial orientation at the core of the strategic management style. Even though there are common patterns due to personal preferences, attitudes and organizational influences, each firm has an individual and particular strategic management style. The research findings provide further evidence to challenge the accepted management ideas of appropriate and standardized organizational structures and styles, with implications for management practice and research in firms undergoing fast growth.
Tourism‐dependent development: the case of Lijiang, Yunnan province, China

This paper explores the effectiveness of tourism as a development policy through a case study of Lijiang, one of the most popular tourism destinations in China. Using both primary and secondary data, the study evaluates the consequences of external investment, external migrant entrepreneurs, and non‐local companies acting as major influences on local tourism development. Two theoretical frameworks are drawn upon: the dependent paradigm and the informal–formal dichotomy. Major issues are observed that challenge the sustainability of current developments. These include: the mass tourism development model together with spatial concentration of the tourist market; market channels controlled by external travel corporations; heavy reliance on external investment in real estate and infrastructure development; outsiders’ domination of Lijiang’s ancient town commercial sector; a mitigating contribution by external migrant enterprises to the local community; and an uneven distribution of benefits among the locals. It is implied from this research that planned and targeted governmental intervention and institutional adjustments are prerequisite conditions for indigenous and ethnic people to obtain greater benefits from tourism development. It also suggests that a reconsideration of the justification of tourism as a vehicle for development in the peripheral areas of China might be appropriate.
The semantics and pragmatics of directional numeral modifiers

Directional prepositions that can be used as numeral modifiers (directional numeral modifiers or DNMs) are different from other numeral modifiers that set an upper bound in that they set a non-cancellable lower bound, their upper bound is cancellable, they are incompatible with the numeral at the bottom of the scale they quantify over, they are not downward monotone and do not license NPIs, and they interact differently with evaluative adverbs. This paper argues that the cause of all these differences is that DNMs assert a lower bound and implicate an upper bound, and that all class B numeral modifiers require quantification over a range of values. Crosslinguistic data support these claims.
Nonbank financing and performance of informationally opaque businesses

Previous studies argue that banks offer loans to informationally opaque businesses using relationship lending technology. Using survey data of small businesses in Japan, we show that informationally opaque and financially weak firms that do not have lending relationships use high interest rate nonbank loans because of low availability of bank credit. Furthermore, we show that nonbank loan applicants are likely to incur operating losses and default. These results imply that nonbanks have difficulty avoiding the information problem because borrowers have uninformative financial statements and weak financial conditions.
On-line testing of switched-capacitor filters

Proposes a new solution to alleviate the area overhead when replication is used in switched-capacitor filters. This new approach, although based on the voter mechanism, only requires a programmable biquad and some control logic as extra components (instead of the full duplication of the system). To some extent, it can be considered a first intent to apply information redundancy for the concurrent test of analog circuits. <<ETX>>
Contribution of active site glutamine to rate enhancement in ubiquitin C‐terminal hydrolases

Ubiquitin C‐terminal hydrolases (UCHs) are cysteine proteases featuring a classical Cys–His–Asp catalytic triad, and also a highly conserved Gln that is thought to be a part of the oxyanion hole. However, the contribution of this side chain to catalysis by UCHs is not known. Herein, we demonstrate that the Gln side chain contributes to rate enhancement in UCHL1, UCHL3, and UCHL5. Mutation of the Gln to Ala in these enzymes impairs the catalytic efficiency, mainly because of a 16‐fold to 30‐fold reduction in kcat, which is consistent with a loss of approximately 2 kcal·mol−1 in transition state stabilization. However, the contribution to transition state stabilization observed here is rather modest for the side chain’s role in oxyanion stabilization. Interestingly, we discovered that the carbonyl oxygen of this side chain is engaged in a C–H···O hydrogen‐bonding contact with the CεH group of the catalytic His. Upon further analysis, we found that this interaction is a common active site structural feature in most cysteine proteases, including papain, belonging to families with the QCH(N/D) type of active site configuration. It is possible that removal of the Gln side chain might have abolished the C–H···O interaction, which typically accounts for 2 kcal·mol−1 of stabilization, leading to the effect on catalysis observed here. Additional studies performed on UCHL3 by mutating the Gln to Glu (strong C–H···O acceptor but oxyanion destabilizer) and to Lys (strong oxyanion stabilizer but lacking C–H···O hydrogen‐bonding capability) suggest that the C–H···O hydrogen bond could contribute to catalysis.
Sampled describing function analysis of second order sliding modes

The describing function method is applied to characterize the steady state behavior of the linear sampled data systems stabilized by a second-order sliding mode algorithm. A describing function of the nonlinearity including a sample and hold element is derived. The proposed method allows to predict the amplitude, frequency and phase of occurring limit cycles caused by the discrete time implementation of discontinuous control algorithms. It is shown that the derived describing function is closely related to its classical continuous time counterpart. The proposed approach is demonstrated using a numerical simulation example as well as a real world experiment.
High Power Microwave Surface Flashover of a Gas-Dielectric Interface at 90 to 760 Torr

The major limiting factor in the transmission of HPM has been the interface between dielectric-vacuum or even more severely between dielectric-air if HPM is to be radiated into the atmosphere. Extensive studies have identified the physical mechanisms associated with vacuum-dielectric flashover, as opposed to the mechanisms associated with air-dielectric flashover, which are not as well known. Surface flashover tests involving high field enhancement due to the presence of a triple point have shown that volume breakdown threshold (dielectric removed) is approximately 50% higher than the flashover threshold with a dielectric interface over the 90-760 torr range [1]. In order to quantify the role of field enhancement in the flashover process independent of electron injection from metallic surfaces, the effects of the triple point are minimized by carefully choosing the geometry and in some cases the triple point is "removed" from the flashover location. We will present experimental results, including the impact of gas pressure, and discuss possible causes for the difference in the rf-breakdown field with and without the interface/metallic triple point portion.
Multi-resonant optical parametric oscillator based on 2D-PPLT nonlinear photonic crystals

The aim behind this work is to achieve a multiresonant optical parametric oscillator based on two dimensional periodically poled crystals, designed to allow multiple wavelength generation. Two dimensional nonlinear photonic crystals are characterized by multiple reciprocal lattice vectors contribution to the quasi-phase matching scheme. We are particularly interested by the multi-wavelength parametric generation to achieve a multi-resonance optical parametric oscillator. The performances the optical parametric oscillator are studied in terms of generation efficiency and multi-wavelength generation.
Large‐gel two‐dimensional electrophoresis‐matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization‐time of flight‐mass spectrometry: An analytical challenge for studying complex protein mixtures

The large‐gel two‐dimensional electrophoresis (2‐DE) technique, developed by Klose and co‐workers over the past 25 years, provides the resolving power necessary to separate crude proteome extracts of higher eukaryotes. Matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization‐time of flight‐mass spectrometry (MALDI‐TOF‐MS) provides the sample throughput necessary to identify thousands of different protein species in an adequate time period. Spot excision, in situ proteolysis, and extraction of the cleavage products from the gel matrix, peptide purification and concentration as well as the mass spectrometric sample preparation are the crucial steps that interface the two analytical techniques. Today, these routines and not the mass spectrometric instrumentation determine how many protein digests can be analyzed per day per instrument. The present paper focuses on this analytical interface and reports on an integrated protocol and technology developed in our laboratory. Automated identification of proteins in sequence databases by mass spectrometric peptide mapping requires a powerful search engine that makes full use of the information contained in the experimental data, and scores the search results accordingly. This challenge is heading a second part of the paper.
Estimation and Warning of Fatigue Damage of FRP Stay Cables Based on Acoustic Emission Techniques and Fractal Theory

Abstract: A damage assessment and warning method for stay cables based on the acoustic emission (AE) technique and fractal theory was developed. First, the AE signal features of Higuchi's fractal dimension (FD) were analyzed at various scales. The analytical results indicated that the FD was associated with the frequency response. Meanwhile, it was found that the curve length of the original signal reflected the fluctuation of the AE signal in the time domain. Both the FD and the curve length of the original signal were related to damage evolution. Based on the above analysis, a damage index, namely, the FD‐based damage assessment index, was defined by the fractal features of AE signals generated by damaged structures, including the curve length of the original signal and its FD. Fatigue tests of glass fiber‐reinforced polymer (GFRP) and carbon fiber‐reinforced polymer (CFRP) cables with AE sensors were performed to validate the proposed approach. The time‐history responses and frequency responses of the AE signals and the corresponding damage modes were analyzed during the entire cyclic loading process. The FD‐based damage indices for all the FRP cables were obtained through analysis of the AE signals. The relationships of both the time‐history responses and the frequency responses with the FD‐based damage index were investigated. The results indicated that the FD‐based damage index increased little with the number of loading cycles at the early loading stage but increased dramatically at the final stage of the fatigue test. The results of this article demonstrate that an FD‐based damage index can quantify the evolutionary process of fatigue damage in FRP stay cables.
AN ANALYSIS AND MEASUREMENT OF CONFIDENCE OF STOCK INVESTORS IN INDIA

This paper intends to establish the importance of expectations and confidence of Indian investors on the financial market in India. Previous research of investors in other countries has shown that both of these attitudes manifest clear tendencies to change through time and strongly influence the behavior of the pragmatic markets. The field of behavioral finance — an emerging field in financial analysis that takes explicit account of psychological factors — is the driving force of this research. This research is based on information obtained through a survey process in India.
A study of electricity price volatility for the Brazilian energy market

In the recent months, the price of the electricity in Brazil has presented a high level of volatility. As an example, the verified highest electricity price return in March 2007 was almost 260%. The volatility of a commodity plays an important role in the study of the risk management. It also improves the efficiency in parameter estimation and the accuracy in interval forecast. In this work, the Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedastic (GARCH) model is used to study the price volatility in the Brazilian market in four geographical regions. The results have shown that the model is able to estimate the behavior of the volatility.