Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Referrals for new client acquisition in professional services

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address the following research question: What are the perceptions of professionals and consumers regarding the antecedents of client referrals in the financial advice sector? Design/methodology/approach A total of 61 qualitative interviews were conducted, with the following three key groups: independent financial advisers (IFAs; 20 interviews), clients of IFAs (26 interviews) and consumers who manage their own financial affairs and do not use the services of an IFA (15 interviews). Findings The financial advisers interviewed believe that client referrals are important to their business success, that they can influence clients to become ambassadors who will consciously seek out new clients and that excellent service will motivate clients to provide referrals. However, the interviews with the clients painted a different picture. While advisers believe that they can influence client referral behavior, the clients did not believe that they were influenced by the adviser to make referrals. Research limitations/implications The sampling method was non-random and relied on the professional contacts of the principal researcher as a starting point, from which a network of contacts was established to identify interviewees. The study casts doubt on the ability of professional service providers to influence client referral behavior. This novel finding deserves further research investigation. Practical implications There is clearly scope for greater measurement in connection with referrals in professional service businesses. The propensity for clients to refer should be included as a metric in the performance measurement of professional service providers, in addition to standard financial measures. This would encourage the service provider to consider referrals during client interactions. Originality/value The study reports on a substantial qualitative study involving both professional service providers and their clients. While the providers believe that client referrals are critical to their business success, the evidence collected provides little or no support for this belief. Clients report they are not motivated to refer. Advisers do not explicitly measure referrals. The reality of referrals seems not to match the mythology.
Wide-band power divider miniaturized by combining CRLH ZOR bandpass filters

In this paper, a new method is suggested to reduce the size of a wide-band power divider. It is made compact with the help of a novel Metamaterial wide-band power divider. The power divider has the Zeroth Order Resonant (ZOR) bandpass filter that is as small as approximately about λg/17. This power divider is clearly different from others in that the proposed design uses simple microstrip structured Composite Right and Left-Handed (CRLH) filters. The power divider is analyzed based on even- and odd- mode approach. The power divider is measured and compared with the prediction. Also, the size reduction effect is addressed.
An optimized H infinity strategy for robust control of sensorless BLDC propulsion motor in submarines for improved maneuverability

Brushless direct current motor finds its applications in electric propulsion due to its reliability, reduced electromagnetic interference and improved life cycle cost. Rotor position sensing with sensorless techniques exhibit better performance with varying temperature and humidity conditions as well as continual motion of the vessels and also overthrow the use of hall sensors. A control technique with direct implementation of an optimal H infinity controller in the speed control feedback loop of a sensorless BLDC motor that is insensitive to disturbances and uncertainties is proposed in this paper. This provides a robust dynamic performance compared to conventional PI controller and simulation results of the comparison are presented. For optimum weight selection of H infinity controller, particle swarm optimization technique is employed so that sensitivity function is small for low frequency region and complementary sensitivity function is low for high frequency region which is the trade off required for good reference tracking, disturbance rejection, being insensitive to modeling errors and noise. Results of the case study conducted based on the operational profile of submarine VII C available with British admiralty report have been presented. The reduced torque ripples along with 50% reduction of steady state error results in enhanced maneuverability, low noise and vibration.
An investigation in purchasing practices of small F&B operators

The food and beverage (F&B) purchasing function is operating in a rapidly changing environment, whereby professionalisation and efficiency become key. This paper aims to identify generic skills that are most important for small F&B operators when it comes down to purchasing and supply management. Factors facilitating as well as hindering purchasing maturity are discussed. The focus lies on six single-site independent restaurants in the UK, supported by the presentation of the findings from in-depth interviews with the owners or managers. In this methodological context, the skills of buyers in small F&B operations are described through a 7-dimensional conceptual framework including: procurement planning, the structural organisation of the purchasing function, the process organisation, human resource systems, controlling structures, relations with supplier and finally sustainability. The study of these activities provides clear insights into the purchasing function developed by F&B operators, paving the way to the development of maturity grids outlining families of skills required in this specific sector of activity. Such tools can help operators developing a structured purchasing function in order to improve efficiency of processes as well as the evaluation of-and relationship with suppliers.
An online advertisement platform based on image content bidding

A critical component of today's commercial search engines is an advertisement platform. The current state-of-the-art of such platforms is primarily based on advanced keyword matching to determine the relevance of advertisements for users' queries. However, such keyword matching techniques suffer from missing user intent when the query domain is visual as opposed to textual. To handle such a domain, we propose a new advertisement platform which allows search engine advertisers to bid on images instead of just plain text. The main components of this platform include an advertisement editorial tool, ROI detection, image content understanding, and image matching modules. This platform is suitable for application scenarios where images are the main input or consumed content, for example, in Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) or content based image retrieval. We demonstrated the effectiveness of our proposed advertisement platform solution when used in a mobile visual search scenario involving querying for real world billboards.
Islamic Banks Impaired Financing: Relationship Between Shariah Committee Meetings Frequency and Shariah Risks Compliance on Assets Quality

This study made a pioneering attempt to econometrically examine what factors determining impaired financing using shariah committee meetings frequency from data on Islamic banks in Malaysia and how does it affects on the quality of assets. The objective of the study is to improve assessment of their assets quality so as to increase the reliability of the financial statements. The European Central Bank may find the findings from this study useful in their exercise to assess risks and assets quality of their commercial banks, a move to tackle the ailing banks in centralizing oversight supervision in late 2014. The major components of the Islamic banks’ assets quality are impaired financing and provisions for financing impairment. In the Islamic banks, shariah committee principally manages the shariah risks non-compliance with other risks; however because their management is not straightforward, the study uses the shariah committee meetings frequency as an indicator of the assets quality. The study found the less-than-full frequency of shariah committee meetings resulted in less guidance and conformation of shariah principles, and consequentially the quality of the assets.
A 108–114 GHz 4 $\,\times\,$4 Wafer-Scale Phased Array Transmitter With High-Efficiency On-Chip Antennas

This paper presents a W-band wafer-scale phased- array transmitter with high-efficiency on-chip antennas. The 4 × 4 array is based on an RF beamforming architecture with an equiphase distribution network and phased shifters placed on every element. The differential on-chip antennas are implemented using a 100 μm thick quartz superstrate and with a simulated efficiency of ~ 45% at 110 GHz. The phased array is designed with low mutual coupling between the elements and results in a stable active antenna impedance versus scan angle. The phased array is built in the Jazz SBC18H3 SiGe BiCMOS process, and is 6.5 × 6.0 mm2. Measurements show two-dimensional pattern scanning capabilities with a directivity of 17.0 dB, an array gain of ~26.5 dB at 110 GHz, and an EIRP of 23-25 dBm at 108-114 GHz. The power consumption is 3.4 W from a 1.9 V supply. To our knowledge, this work represents the first W-band wafer-scale phased array to-date. The application areas are in point-to-point communication systems in the 100-120 GHz range.
Exploring different acoustic modeling techniques for the detection of vowels in speech signal

In this paper, we explore acoustic modeling techniques based on the Gaussian mixture modeling (GMM), the subspace GMM (SGMM) and deep neural network (DNN) for the detection of vowels in a given speech signal. At the outset, we develop a recognition system on the TIMIT database that recognizes the sequence of phonetic units present in a given speech sample. Two recognizers are developed using speech data sampled at 16 kHz and 8 kHz rates, respectively. The phone error rates (classification errors) for the two recognizers help in studying the effect of sampling rate on the classifier performance. The experimental evaluations presented in this study show that there is a slight deterioration in the recognition performance when speech data is re-sampled to 8 kHz rate. Next, a three-class classifier (vowel, non-vowel and silence) is also developed on the TIMIT database and the classification performances are studied. Using the three-class classifier, a given speech sample is then forced aligned against the trained acoustic model under the constraints of true/first-pass transcriptions to detect the vowel regions. The correctly detected and spurious vowel regions are analyzed in detail to find the impact of semivowel and nasal sound units on the detection of vowel regions as well as on the determination of vowel onset and end points. Among the explored acoustic modeling techniques, the SGMM-based system is observed to superior to all other systems. Furthermore, for all the studied modeling techniques, the spurious cases are mostly due to the detection of semivowels as the vowels.
Even Apparently Insignificant Chemical Deviations among Bioequivalent Generic Antibiotics Can Lead to Therapeutic Nonequivalence: the Case of Meropenem

ABSTRACT Several studies with animal models have demonstrated that bioequivalence of generic products of antibiotics like vancomycin, as currently defined, do not guarantee therapeutic equivalence. However, the amounts and characteristics of impurities and degradation products in these formulations do not violate the requirements of the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP). Here, we provide experimental data with three generic products of meropenem that help in understanding how these apparently insignificant chemical differences affect the in vivo efficacy. Meropenem generics were compared with the innovator in vitro by microbiological assay, susceptibility testing, and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) analysis and in vivo with the neutropenic guinea pig soleus infection model (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and the neutropenic mouse thigh (P. aeruginosa), brain (P. aeruginosa), and lung (Klebisella pneumoniae) infection models, adding the dihydropeptidase I (DHP-I) inhibitor cilastatin in different proportions to the carbapenem. We found that the concentration and potency of the active pharmaceutical ingredient, in vitro susceptibility testing, and mouse pharmacokinetics were identical for all products; however, two generics differed significantly from the innovator in the guinea pig and mouse models, while the third generic was therapeutically equivalent under all conditions. Trisodium adducts in a bioequivalent generic made it more susceptible to DHP-I hydrolysis and less stable at room temperature, explaining its therapeutic nonequivalence. We conclude that the therapeutic nonequivalence of generic products of meropenem is due to greater susceptibility to DHP-I hydrolysis. These failing generics are compliant with USP requirements and would remain undetectable under current regulations.
Reaction time is not impaired by stimulation of the ventral‐intermediate nucleus of the thalamus (Vim) in patients with tremor

We studied the effect of high‐frequency electrical stimulation of the ventral‐intermediate nucleus of the thalamus (Vim) in four patients implanted with chronic stimulators to determine whether this procedure adversely affects reaction time to a proprioceptive stimulus. Two patients had undergone this surgery for treatment of tremor resulting from Parkinson's disease insufficiently responsive to levodopa therapy and two patients for treatment of essential tremor. Reaction times to auditory, visual, cutaneous, and proprioceptive stimuli were tested in a simple motor task requiring flexion of the elbow joint to a visual target in response to each stimulus. Reaction times were tested postoperatively with and without the stimulator turned on. We found that reaction time for all stimulus modalities was not increased when the stimulator was turned on; in fact, reaction times were, on average, slightly shorter during stimulation, but this difference was not statistically significant. We conclude that transmission of somatosensory inputs, necessary for initiating voluntary movement, from the periphery to the cortex is not significantly impaired by stimulation of the ventral‐intermediate nucleus of the thalamus in patients with pathological tremor. © 2002 Movement Disorder Society
TNF-Induced β2 Integrin Activation Involves Src Kinases and a Redox-Regulated Activation of p38 MAPK1

We previously demonstrated that the TNF-α-induced inside-out signaling leading to β2 integrin activation is redox regulated. To identify kinases involved in this pathway, the effects of kinase inhibitors on the expression of β2 integrin activation neoepitope (clone 24) were investigated. We show that both p38 MAPK (inhibited by SB203580) and Src kinases (inhibited by PP2) are involved in β2 integrin activation by TNF and oxidants in human neutrophils. Src kinases appeared constitutively active in resting neutrophils and not further activated by TNF or oxidants in nonadherent conditions. However, PP2 blocked both TNF-induced expression of the 24 epitope and cell adhesion promoted by the integrin activating anti-CD18 KIM185 mAb, showing that both the inside-out and the outside-in signaling involve Src kinases. p38 MAPK was activated by TNF and oxidants in nonadherent conditions i.e., with 10 mM EDTA. This activation in EDTA resulted in CD11b, CD35 and CD66 up-regulation and in an oxidative response, all blocked by SB203580 and PP2. p38 MAPK was not activated upon direct integrin activation by KIM185 mAb. Thus, p38 activation allows the study to distinguish the initial transduction pathway leading to β2 integrin activation from the signaling resulting from integrin engagement. Finally, p38 MAPK activation by TNF was blocked by diphenylene iodonium, an inhibitor of flavoprotein oxidoreductase, and by the free radical scavenger N-acetylcystein. Taken together, these results demonstrate, for the first time, that constitutively activated Src tyrosine kinases and a redox-regulated activation of p38 MAPK are involved in TNF inside-out signaling leading to β2 integrin activation.
Ethnicity-specific gene-gene interaction between IL-13 and IL-4Ralpha among African Americans with asthma.

RATIONALE Genes in the interleukin (IL)-4/IL-13/IL-4Ralpha pathway have been shown to be associated with asthma and related phenotypes in some populations, but not in others. Furthermore, interaction between these genes has been shown to affect asthma in white and Chinese populations. OBJECTIVES To determine whether there are IL-4/IL-13 and IL-4Ralpha gene-gene interactions that are associated with asthma in African Americans. METHODS Eighteen single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in IL-4, IL-13, and IL-4Ralpha genes were genotyped in 264 African Americans with asthma and 176 healthy control subjects. We tested the SNPs for genetic associations and gene-gene interactions with asthma, baseline lung function, bronchodilator drug response, and total serum IgE levels. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS We identified 94 SNPs in IL-4, IL-13, and IL-4Ralpha genes by directly sequencing these genes in 24 African-American subjects with asthma. Seventeen SNPs were analyzed for association with asthma and related phenotypes. We found no evidence of association in the IL-4 gene. One SNP in the IL-13 gene (A-646G, rs2069743) and two SNPs in the IL-4Ralpha gene (A+4679G, rs1805010, and C+22656T, rs1805015) showed association with lung function (both baseline and post-bronchodilator). Although the association between individual SNPs and asthma-related phenotypes differed from previous studies performed in white and Chinese populations, significant gene-gene interaction was found between the IL-13 (A-646G) and IL-4Ralpha (A+4679G) SNPs for baseline lung function among African-American subjects with asthma. CONCLUSIONS Gene-gene interaction between the IL-13 and IL-4Ralpha genes may play an important role in asthma among African Americans.
Beamspace MODE

The polynomial parameterized method of direction estimation (MODE) is a popular algorithm for the direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation of narrowband incident signals with a uniform linear array. It is desirable to apply the MODE method in beamspace so as to take advantage of the benefits of beamspace operations in terms of reduced computational complexity and improved resolution thresholds. The difficulty with beamspace MODE is that the Vandermonde structure of the array manifold may not preserve during the beamspace transformation. It is crucial to derive a parameterized polynomial in the beamspace dimension. We develop a beamspace MODE algorithm using discrete Fourier transform (DFT) beams. Our analytic study indicates that the beamspace MODE offers asymptotically statistically efficient DOA estimates. Comparative simulations are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed beamspace MODE.
A New Authentication and Homomorphic Encryption as a Service Model for Preserving Privacy in Clouds

The security as a Service (SECaaS) is a new model which provides security solution to users through Cloud Computing. The maturity of Cloud Computing services makes possible the use of the SECaaS model. This new model offers huge benefits to users, such as Authentication as a Service (AaaS) and Encryption as a Service (ENCaaS). So, it can offer more security features, since it uses the resources of Clouds and it’s connected to the different security policy databases. While SECaaS offers to cloud users and companies a multitude of security services, it still remains very limited and several aspects of security are not covered by this model, especially the part concerning the privacy. In addition, SECaaS is a new model that is not yet correctly deployed and it is not sufficiently solicited by companies. On the other side, Homomorphic encryption is considered as a good solution to ensure the privacy for users using the cloud services because it permits to make calculation on cipher text and data without decrypting them, but this solution suffer from many limitations such as the key size, the high latency and some serious performance problems. The main idea of this paper it’s to propose a new security model to preserving user’s privacy using homomorphic encryption while bypassing its limitations. So, This paper proposes a framework for Authentication and Homomorphic Encryption (A-HEaaS) based on security as a Service model which permits a secure access to the Cloud servers and the use of homomorphic encryption for calculations on encrypted data. The paper describes the design of our model and gives an implementation of our framework on medical Data.
Cytogenetic studies on an epithelioid cell line derived from nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

The cytogenetics of the first epithelioid cell line (CNE) derived from the biopsy of a nasopharyngeal carcinoma has been investigated by chromosome banding techniques. The cell line was pseudo near-triploid, and the modal number was 67–68 without major variation. All cells contained a series of characteristic marker chromosomes. Most of them were either consistent or found repeatedly. The origin of the marker was traced and many markers were identified. Two of the consistent acrocentric markers were identified as 2p- and 14q +, which may be identical with the large acrocentric markers (LAM) previously found in cells of the biopsies of nasopharyngeal carcinomas.
Serum metabolic signatures of primary biliary cirrhosis and primary sclerosing cholangitis

A greater understanding of cholestatic disease is necessary to advance diagnostic tools and therapeutic options for conditions such as primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). The purpose of this study was to determine and compare the serum metabolomes of patients with PBC (n = 18) or PSC (n = 21) and healthy controls (n = 10) and to identify metabolites that may differentiate these two cholestatic diseases.
Nicotinamide Clearance by Pnc1 Directly Regulates Sir2-Mediated Silencing and Longevity

ABSTRACT The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sir2 protein is an NAD+-dependent histone deacetylase (HDAC) that functions in transcriptional silencing and longevity. The NAD+ salvage pathway protein, Npt1, regulates Sir2-mediated processes by maintaining a sufficiently high intracellular NAD+ concentration. However, another NAD+ salvage pathway component, Pnc1, modulates silencing independently of the NAD+ concentration. Nicotinamide (NAM) is a by-product of the Sir2 deacetylase reaction and is a natural Sir2 inhibitor. Pnc1 is a nicotinamidase that converts NAM to nicotinic acid. Here we show that recombinant Pnc1 stimulates Sir2 HDAC activity in vitro by preventing the accumulation of NAM produced by Sir2. In vivo, telomeric, rDNA, and HM silencing are differentially sensitive to inhibition by NAM. Furthermore, PNC1 overexpression suppresses the inhibitory effect of exogenously added NAM on silencing, life span, and Hst1-mediated transcriptional repression. Finally, we show that stress suppresses the inhibitory effect of NAM through the induction of PNC1 expression. Pnc1, therefore, positively regulates Sir2-mediated silencing and longevity by preventing the accumulation of intracellular NAM during times of stress.