Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Incumbent's Curse? Incumbency, Size, and Radical Product Innovation

A common perception in the field of innovation is that large, incumbent firms rarely introduce radical product innovations. Such firms tend to solidify their market positions with relatively incremental innovations. They may even turn away entrepreneurs who come up with radical innovations, though they themselves had such entrepreneurial roots. As a result, radical innovations tend to come from small firms, the outsiders. This thesis, which we term the “incumbent's curse,” is commonly accepted in academic and popular accounts of radical innovation. This topic is important, because radical product innovation is an engine of economic growth that has created entire industries and brought down giants while catapulting small firms to market leadership. Yet a review of the literature suggests that the evidence for the incumbent's curse is based on anecdotes and scattered case studies of highly specialized innovations. It is not clear if it applies widely across several product categories. The authors reexamine the incumbent's curse using a historical analysis of a relatively large number of radical innovations in the consumer durables and office products categories. In particular, the authors seek to answer the following questions: (1) How prevalent is this phenomenon? What percentage of radical innovations do incumbents versus nonincumbents introduce? What percentage of radical innovations do small firms versus large firms introduce? (2) Is the phenomenon a curse that invariably afflicts large incumbents in current industries? Is it driven by incumbency or size? and (3) How consistent is the phenomenon? Has the increasing size and complexity of firms over time accentuated it? Does it vary across national boundaries? Results from the study suggest that conventional wisdom about the incumbent's curse may not always be valid.
Persistence of HCV in quiescent hepatic cells under conditions of an interferon-induced antiviral response.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a common cause of chronic liver disease. Many patients do not clear the viral infection; little is known about the mechanisms of HCV persistence or the frequent failure of interferon (IFN) to eliminate it. Better culture systems are needed to study viral replication in quiescent liver cells. METHODS We used human hepatoma (Huh7.5) cells and those that had undergone proliferation arrest and differentiation (Huh7.5(dif)) to study the persistence of HCV infection following exposure of the cells to IFN-α and to compare the antiviral effects of IFN-α and IFN-λ. We validated these results with primary human hepatocytes and Huh7 cells that expressed an IFN-inducible fluorophore. RESULTS Following infection of Huh7.5(dif) cells, HCV replicated persistently and released infectious particles. Long-term exposure of the cells to IFN-α reduced HCV replication ∼1000-fold but did not eliminate the virus; viral replication rebounded after withdrawal of IFN, as it does in patients with chronic HCV infection. HCV replicated at higher levels, but not exclusively, in cells that had a low level of response to IFN-α. Following incubation of cells with equipotent concentrations of IFN-α or IFN-λ, Huh7.5(dif) cells expressed a wider pattern of IFN-stimulated genes than undifferentiated Huh7.5 cells or primary human hepatocytes, indicating that the antiviral response depends on the differentiation status of the cells. CONCLUSIONS We developed a cell culture system using hepatoma cells to study persistent HCV infection during the type I or type III IFN-induced antiviral response. The level and range of the antiviral responses were associated with the differentiation status of the cells. We propose that HCV exploits the stochastic nature of the response of hepatocytes to IFN to sustain persistence.
Financial Spillovers to Chile

This paper quantifies financial spillovers from global risk factors to banks' funding costs in Chile. It decomposes Chilean banks' bond and interbank spreads into domestic and external factors. The results suggest moderate spillovers. On average, global spillovers pushed up bank bond and interbank spreads in Chile by about 50 basis points in 2008-12. While in 2008-09, most spillovers originated in the U.S., in mid-2010 onwards, European distress played a prominent role.
Profiling Student Behavior in a Blended Course - Closing the Gap between Blended Teaching and Blended Learning

Blended learning is often associated with student-oriented learning in which students have varying degrees of control over their learning process. However, the current notion of blended learning is often a teacher-oriented approach in which the teacher identifies the used learning technologies and thereby offers students a blended teaching course instead of a blended learning course (George-Walker & Keeffe, 2010). A more student-oriented approach is needed within educational design of blended learning courses since previous research shows that students show a large variation in the way they use the different digital learning resources to support their learning. There is little insight into why students show distinct patterns in their use of these learning resources and what the consequences of these (un)conscious differences are in relation to student performance. The current study explores different usage patterns of learning resources by students in a blended course. It tries to establish causes for these differences by using dispositional data and determines the effect of different usage patterns on student performance.
DETECTING OSTEOPOROSIS FROM DENTAL RADIOGRAPHS USING ACTIVE SHAPE MODELS

We describe a novel method of estimating reduced bone mineral density (BMD) from dental panoramic tomograms (DPTs) which show the entire mandible. Careful expert width measurement of the inferior mandibular cortex has been shown to be predictive of BMD in hip and spine osteopenia and osteoporosis. We have implemented a method of automatic measurement of the width by active shape model search, using as training data 132 DPTs of female subjects and tested on a test data set of 606 DPTs of female subjects whose BMD has been established by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. We demonstrate that the sensitivity of the automatic method to osteoporosis is equivalent to that of expert manual measurement.
Two optimiser approach to transmission line metamaterial dispersion characterisation

The left-handed propagation behaviour of metamaterial structures offers a new paradigm for electromagnetic device and antenna design [1], [2]. To exploit the potential of such structures, accurate methods for characterising the dispersion of a given structure are required. A Bloch-Floquet analysis can be used to retrieve the complex propagation coefficient and Bloch impedance of the corresponding infinite cascade of unit cells, using knowledge of the unit cell's electrical characteristics (such as equivalent circuit [1], 2-Port or effective media parameters [3] or eigenfrequen-cies [4]). However inaccuracies in the extracted dispersion information can arise if assumptions regarding the form of the equivalent circuit or structure homogenisation are not met, or if errors in extracted parameters propagate through the solution. As an example Figure 1 illustrates the effect of overlooking component losses and parasitic elements, creating a large disparity between the predicted frequency response calculated assuming ideal lossless L and C component values and the measured performance. Correct diagnosis of the cause of such behaviour can reduce design time, improve device yields and achieve accurate dispersion extraction.
Consumer ethics: a cross‐cultural investigation

In recent years, business ethics has drawn increased interest from business and marketing practitioners as well as from academicians. Despite the repeated call in the literature for cross‐cultural research in this age of globalization, virtually no studies have examined the ethical beliefs and ideologies of foreign consumers and compared them to those of US consumers. Investigates the ethical beliefs, preferred ethical ideology and degree of Machiavellianism of US versus Egyptian consumers. Concludes that while US consumers appear generally less likely to accept various questionable consumer practices than Egyptian consumers, they are more likely to reject moral absolutes.
Patch antenna bio-inspired on wayfaring-tree (Viburnum lantana) for applications in 2.4 GHz

This paper presents the design of a patch antenna with structure bio-inspired by the Wayfaring-tree (Viburnum lantana) leaf chosen from the European native flora, for applications in wireless communication systems. The antenna was manufactured in low-cost FR-4 substrate, fed by a microstrip line using the hybrid technique with matching impedances of 50Ω. Specifically the antenna is designed for operation in the 2400–2483.5 MHz range of the IEEE802.11b, g, n (Wi-Fi) and IEEE802.15 (Bluetooth). Ansys Designer® simulator software was used for numerical characterization and a vector network analyzer for the experimental characterization. The proposed antenna presents a bandwidth of 61 MHz, measured reflection coefficient of −37.14 dB at 2.44 GHz, and gain of 3.68 dBi in the broadside direction.
A Robust Facial Feature Tracking Method Based on Optical Flow and Prior Measurement

Cognitive informatics CI is a research area including some interdisciplinary topics. Visual tracking is not only an important topic in CI, but also a hot topic in computer vision and facial expression recognition. In this paper, a novel and robust facial feature tracking method is proposed, in which Kanade-Lucas-Tomasi KLT optical flow is taken as basis. The prior method of measurement consisting of pupils detecting features restriction and errors and is used to improve the predictions. Simulation experiment results show that the proposed method is superior to the traditional optical flow tracking. Furthermore, the proposed method is used in a real time emotion recognition system and good recognition result is achieved.
The Application of Convolution Neural Networks in Handwritten Numeral Recognition

Convolutional neural networks are a technology that combines artificial neural networks and recent deep learning methods. They have been applied to many image recognition tasks and have attracted the attention of the researchers of many countries in recent years. This paper summarizes the latest development of convolutional neural networks and expounds the relative research of image recognition technology and elaborates on the application of convolutional neural networks in handwritten numeral recognition.
IMPACT OF ADVERTISEMENT ON CONSUMERS’ BUYING BEHAVIOR: A STUDY ON FMCG PRODUCTS IN LUCKNOW CITY

Viewing the Algerian exterior commercial balance of the food products in 2008 that includes the coverage rate of exportations comparing to importations revealing the food gap of several food products like: meat, milk and derives, some legumes, coffee and tea, oil and greases, legume and fruit conserves.etc. Through the same commercial balance we observe also the efficient contribution of food product to the value of global exportations, especially speaking: the contribution of juices by a rate of 24.4 % from the global exportations. We have distributed a questionnaire on a sample of food industry companies, on a 95 companies in some of the states of the country, and we have tried through this questionnaire to know the marketing policies adoption by these companies.
Using an Online Intermediary as an Additional Channel for Selling Quality Differentiated Services

When deciding whether to utilize an online intermediary in addition to their own distribution channels, quality differentiated service providers face the trade-off between the benefit of extended reach and the threat of increased competition. Using an analytical framework, we analyze when and how service providers may utilize an online intermediary to their advantage in the presence of advance selling (i.e., selling a service at an early date for future consumption). In general, when an online intermediary is used, the competition effect dominates over the reach effect and leads to a falling price over time, which is in line with our empirical observations from the hotel industry. Interestingly, we find that the negative effect of increased competition on profits, due to intermediary usage, can be reversed by committing to self-imposed participation limits (i.e., selling only a predetermined amount of services through the online intermediary). This ensures that the service provider is better off selling through both its own site and the online intermediary, rather than selling exclusively using either channel.
Beta‐adrenergic antagonists in the prevention of gastrointestinal rebleeding in patients with cirrhosis: A meta‐analysis

A meta‐analysis of 12 selected randomized trials was performed to assess the efficacy of beta‐blockers in the prevention of rebleeding and the effect on long‐term survival in patients with cirrhosis. Five end points were assessed: rebleeding, variceal rebleeding, death, death from bleeding, and adverse events. Analyses were performed according to the intention‐to‐treat method. For each end point, heterogeneity and treatment efficacy were assessed by the Der Simonian and Peto methods. When a significant difference was observed, sensitivity analyses were performed by successive stratifications according to treatment duration, cause of initial bleeding, use of placebo, type of beta‐blocker, type of publication, certainty of randomization, severity of cirrhosis, interval between index bleed and randomization, and methodological quality. Beta‐blockers significantly increased the mean percentage of patients free of rebleeding (21% mean improvement rate, CI 95%: 10%‐32%, P < .001, relative risk 1.42), the mean percentage of patients free of variceal rebleeding (20% mean improvement rate, CI 95%: 11%‐28%, P < .001), the mean survival rate (5.4% mean improvement rate, CI 95%: 0%‐11%, P = .05, relative risk 1.27), the mean percentage of patients free of bleeding death (7.4%, CI 95%: 2%‐13%, P < .01, relative risk 1.50). Five patients would need to be treated with beta‐blockers to prevent one rebleeding episode, 14 treated to prevent one death, and 13 treated to prevent one death from bleeding. There was no significant heterogeneity among studies by both methods of analysis. In patients with esophageal varices, beta‐blockers significantly increase the mean percentage of patients free of rebleeding and the mean survival rate at 2 years.
Moderate and severe neutropenia in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

OBJECTIVES Neutropenia is an uncommon albeit relevant finding in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). It has been ascribed to several aetiologies and represents a challenging dilemma in which clinical findings, laboratory data and medication history must be carefully evaluated. The aim of this work was to review the cases of moderate and severe neutropenia in our cohort of SLE patients in order to identify predisposing factors, clinical outcomes and related prognostic implications. METHODS Thirty-three cases of neutropenia (neutrophil count <1000/microl) in patients with SLE were included. Sixty-five age- and sex-matched patients with SLE served as controls. Information was obtained by medical chart review. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, Student's t-test, paired t-test, chi 2 or Fisher's exact test, and logistic regression. RESULTS Baseline characteristics did not differ between groups. Use of concomitant medications and immunosuppressive drugs, as well as history of thrombocytopenia and central nervous system involvement, were associated with an increased risk for developing neutropenia. Along with neutropenia, cases had lower haemoglobin and platelet values and higher levels of liver enzymes. Moreover, disease activity was lower than in controls. One month after the neutropenia event, leucocyte and total granulocyte counts were still lower in patients than in controls. Mortality did not differ between patients with neutropenia and controls. CONCLUSIONS Most episodes of severe granulocytopenia in SLE patients occur as part of drug toxicity-induced medullar hypoplasia.
New energy definition for higher curvature gravities

We propose a novel but natural definition of conserved quantities for gravity models of quadratic and higher order in curvature. Based on the spatial asymptotics of curvature rather than of metric, it avoids the more egregious problems—such as zero-energy “theorems” and failure in flat backgrounds—in this fourth-derivative realm. In D>4, the present expression indeed correctly discriminates between second-derivative Gauss-Bonnet and generic, fourth-derivative actions.
Pyrolysis Characteristic of Tobacco Stem Studied by Py-GC/MS, TG-FTIR, and TG-MS

Pyrolysis characteristics and mechanism of tobacco stem were studied by pyrolysis coupled with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS), thermogravimetric analyzer coupled with Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, and mass spectrometry (TG-FTIR and TG-MS) techniques. The composition of evolved volatiles from fast pyrolysis of tobacco stem was determined by Py-GC/MS analysis, and the evolution patterns of the major products were investigated by TG-FTIR and TG-MS. Py-GC/MS data indicated that furfural and phenol were the major products in low temperature pyrolysis, and these were generated from depolymerization of cellulose. Indene and naphthalene were the major products in high temperature pyrolysis. TG-FTIR and TG-MS results showed that CO, CO2, phenols, aldehydes, and ketones were released between 167oC and 500oC; at temperatures >500oC, CO and CO2 were the main gaseous products.
Vitamin D Deficiency in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Patients with Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections: A Case Control Study.

INTRODUCTION Previous studies have indicated that vitamin D deficiency is common in psychiatric patients, particularly in those with neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia. Vitamin D is an important neurosteroid hormone and immunomodulatory agent that also has bone metabolic effects. There has been an increasing interest in immune-related neuropsychiatric symptoms that are triggered by group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal infections. In this study, we aimed to compare the serum levels of vitamin D between obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients with pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS) and control subjects. METHODS Thirty-three OCD patients with PANDAS and 20 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-(OH) D), calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, and parathormone levels of the two groups were compared. Serum 25-(OH) D levels of <15 ng/mL were classified as vitamin D deficiency. The children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) and Clinical Global Impression (CGI) were used to assess the severity of OCD symptoms. RESULTS There was no significant difference in serum 25-(OH) D levels between the patient and control groups. However, vitamin D deficiency was significantly more frequent in the patient group than in the control group (48.5% vs. 20.0%; p=0.038). Moreover, OCD patients with vitamin D deficiency had higher rates of comorbid ADHD than those without vitamin D deficiency (87.5% vs. 52.6%; p=0.027). While serum phosphorus levels were negatively correlated with age as well as alkaline phosphatase and ASO levels, they were positively correlated with the YBOCS total score and global severity score. Serum parathormone levels were positively correlated with the YBOCS total score, compulsion score, obsession score, and global severity score. CONCLUSION This study supports the hypothesis that an association between vitamin D metabolism and PANDAS-related OCD exists. We suggest that biochemical parameters predicting metabolic bone diseases are more common in PANDAS patients. There is a need for prospective studies to show a clear association between PANDAS and bone metabolic turnover based on autoimmune mechanisms.
Neutrino mass and baryon-number nonconservation in superstring models.

We propose new mechanisms for understanding neutrino masses in superstring models that contain E/sub 6/-singlet zero-mass fields after compactification. We show that the low-energy gauge group of these models can be phenomenologically acceptable. We then comment on . delta.B-italic = 1 and . delta.B-italic = 2 baryon-number-violating processes in these models.
Microdialysis in Clinical Practice: Monitoring Intraoral Free Flaps

Clinical examination is still the gold standard of postoperative free flap monitoring, but with intraorally situated and/or buried flaps, it can be difficult or impossible. Microdialysis is a sampling technique which offers the possibility to monitor the metabolism of a flap continuously. Ischemia can be detected by monitoring the changes in glucose, lactate, and pyruvate levels in interstitial fluid of the specific tissue. Our aim was to use microdialysis to monitor the metabolism of free flaps used for reconstructions inside the oral cavity/oropharynx and to evaluate the reliability and usefulness of this new monitoring method. Twenty-five consecutive patients who underwent oral cavity/oropharynx cancer resection and immediate reconstruction with free flap were included in the study. A microdialysis catheter was placed into the subcutaneous adipose tissue of the flap in the end of the surgical procedure. Dialysate samples were taken on an hourly basis for 72 hours postoperatively. Routine clinical monitoring was carried out by experienced nursing staff. Clinical findings were recorded and later compared with microdialysis values. Two flaps out of 25 failed in spite of reoperations. In both problem cases, microdialysis indicated ischemia 1 to 2 hours before it became clinically evident. During flap ischemia, the lactate/pyruvate ratio increased, glucose concentrations reduced, whereas lactate level increased when compared with normal values. Our results indicate that microdialysis is safe for the patient and the flap. It can reliably detect flap ischemia at an early stage. This is especially useful in buried flaps when clinical monitoring is difficult. Microdialysis may also reduce the patient discomfort caused by repeated clinical examination of the flap.
Clustering analysis of railway driving missions with niching

Purpose – A wide number of applications requires classifying or grouping data into a set of categories or clusters. The most popular clustering techniques to achieve this objective are K‐means clustering and hierarchical clustering. However, both of these methods necessitate the a priori setting of the cluster number. The purpose of this paper is to present a clustering method based on the use of a niching genetic algorithm to overcome this problem.Design/methodology/approach – The proposed approach aims at finding the best compromise between the inter‐cluster distance maximization and the intra‐cluster distance minimization through the silhouette index optimization. It is capable of investigating in parallel multiple cluster configurations without requiring any assumption about the cluster number.Findings – The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated on 2D benchmarks with non‐overlapping and overlapping clusters.Originality/value – The proposed approach is also applied to the clustering an.
THE SHAPE OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SALARY AND JOB SATISFACTION: A FIELD STUDY

Many managers and practitioners who work in the governmental or the private sectors believe that the magical way to increase the job satisfaction is to raise the salaries and financial benefits. The employees also share these ideas, believing that the increase of the salaries will absolutely increase the job satisfaction, which will reflect on the motivation to work and raise the level of human performance or the quality of products or services.