Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Purchase Quantity and Timing on Variety-Seeking Behavior

Two consumer strategies for the purchase of multiple items from a product class are contrasted. In one strategy (simultaneous choices/sequential consumption), the consumer buys several items on one shopping trip and consumes the items over several consumption occasions. In the other strategy (sequential choices/sequential consumption), the consumer buys one item at a time, just before each consumption occasion. The first strategy is posited to yield more variety seeking than the second. The greater variety seeking is attributed to forces operating in the simultaneous choices/sequential consumption strategy, including uncertainty about future preferences and a desire to simplify the decision. Evidence from three studies, two involving real products and choices, is consistent with these conjectures. The implications and limitations of the results are discussed.
Comparison of Distance and Near Heterophoria by Two Clinical Methods

Introduction: In the evaluation of binocular function, the heterophoria is an essential measure. Historically, the relationship of the near phoric measure to the far phoria has been a critical finding in the diagnosis of convergence and divergence anomalies. There are a number of ways that the phorias can be measured. It is noted in the literature that different types of phoria measures are statistically similar while other articles report various methods of measures can be quite different. Methods: Each subject was evaluated for binocularity and visual acuity. The Von Graefe and modified Thorington (Howell Card) techniques were performed in a sample of young adult optometry students. Accommodative response was measured clinically following heterophoria testing by Nott retinoscopy. These results were then compared. Results: The Von Graefe technique data was more variable and significantly more exophoric than the Howell Card findings both at distance and near. Conclusions: These findings suggest that you cannot consider the Von Graefe and Howell Card as interchangeable tools to measure a heterophoria. The Von Graefe phoria will, using published criteria, support the diagnoses of convergence insufficiency and of convergence excess more often than the Howell Card.
The SOCS‐1 gene methylation in chronic myeloid leukemia patients

SOCS‐1, an important protein in the JAK/STAT pathway, has a role in the down stream of BCR‐ABL protein kinase. We investigated 56 CML patients and 16 controls for the methylation status of SOCS‐1 gene promoter and Exon 2 regions. Exon 2 was found to be methylated in 58.9% of the patients and 93.8% of the controls [P = 0.020, OR = 0.121(0.015–0.957)%95CI]. The promoter region was found unmethylated in all patient samples and controls. Although previous studies revealed a relation between SOCS1 gene Exon‐2 hypermethylation and CML development or progression, the results of this study showed no such correlation. On the contrary, our results might be indicating hypomethylation in CML patients, this hypothesis need to be studied in larger study population. Am. J. Hematol. , 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Dense 3D depth map with DOE pattern

In this paper, we try to find the answer of question, “How dense does the projected pattern have to be in order to recognize 3D fingers over 3m distance (indoor watching TV environment)”. To solve this problem, we investigate the structured light pattern projected by the laser light source and taken back through the IR camera. For 3D correspondence matching, a simple block matching algorithm from OpenCV2.4 is used. We use Canon 650D DSLR camera (removing IR-cut filter) to capture the scene, and commercial DOE product to make patterns. According to the result, at least 22.8% white dot pattern at black background is needed to recognize 3D finger shape in smart TV environment in 1296 * 864 resolution images. The experimental results could be used as such analysis or the development of new 3D sensor based structured light.
Antenna theory

I n t h e c o n t e x t o f t h i s "handbook" o f f e r i n g , a tmospher ics re fer to e lect romagnet ic s ignals that rad iate or are produced by l ightn ing and r e l a t e d e lec t r i ca l d ischarge phenomena. Sometimes these sign a l s a r e c a l l e d s f e r i c s and the i r ex i s tence was known s ince the ea r l y days o f r a d i o . The energy o f the observed signal may contain frequencies a l l t h e way from 1 h e r t z t o above 100 Mhz. Needless t o say, the presence o f such atmospheric energy i n . ou r env i ronment needs t o be understood. I n s p i t e o f observat ional research spanning hal f a century, we r e a l l y do n o t have a c l e a r p i c t u r e o f what i s going on n o t t o mention our lack o f t h e o r e t i c a l i n s i g h t . More recent ly , inves t iga tors have examined t h e s u b j e c t i n the contex t o f the e lec t romagnet ic s igna ls tha t can be produced ind i rect ly f rom the prompt gama radiat ion associated wi th nuc lear detonat ions.
Directors’ and Officers’ Liability Insurance and Tax Aggressiveness

This paper examines the relationship between directors' and officers’ liability insurance (D&O insurance) and tax aggressiveness. Using large Canadian public companies listed on TSX300 and relying on several proxies for tax aggressiveness including GAAP and cash effective tax rates and the book-tax difference, I find that D&O insurance exhibits a strong negative relationship with the GAAP effective tax rates and a relatively moderate positive relationship with the book-tax difference, but there is no evidence that the D&O insurance is associated with the cash effective tax rates. I interpret these results as indicating that D&O insurance reduces the tax expenses reported in the financial statements but not the actual tax paid. In other words, the D&O liability insurance contributes to financial tax management but not to cash tax savings.
SVM-based Parameter Setting of Self-quotient ɛ-Filter and Its Application to Noise Robust Human Detection

This paper describes SVM-based parameter setting of self-q uotient ε-filter (SQEF), and its application to noise robust human detection combining SQEF, histograms of oriented gradients (HOG), and support vector machine (SVM). Although human detection combining HOG and S VM is a powerful approach, as it uses local intensity gradients, it is difficult to handle noise co rrupted images. On the other hand, although human detection combining SQEF, HOG and SVM can realize noise robu st h man detection, SQEF requires manual parameter setting. Our aim is not only to train SVM but also to adjust the parameter of self-quotient ε-filter using the trained SVM in training procedure. The experiment al results show that we can realize noise robust human detection by using SQEF with the obtained parameter, H OG and SVM trained by intact images without noise.
NATURAL SELECTION AND THE ORGAN‐SPECIFIC DIFFERENTIATION OF HIV‐1 V3 HYPERVARIABLE REGION

Abstract The existence of organ‐specific HIV‐1 populations within infected hosts has been studied for many years; nonetheless results reported by different authors are somewhat discrepant. To tackle this problem, we used a population genetics approach to analyze previously published data from the V3 hypervariable region of the envelope env gene. Our results are compatible with a population subdivision by organs in 95% of individuals analyzed at autopsy. In addition, populations infecting the nervous system and testicles clearly appear as differentiated subsets of the so‐called macrophage‐tropic variants. Liver and kidney may harbor differentiated populations as well. Although it is widely accepted that organ compartmentalization arises as a consequence of different selective pressures imposed by different organs, a definitive demonstration has not yet been provided. Our analysis of the pattern of synonymous and nonsynonymous nucleotide substitutions provides evidence supporting this hypothesis, without discarding the role of other evolutionary processes. In contrast, positive selection does not seem to be the mechanism responsible for the evolution of patient‐specific sequences.
MISVALUATION, CEO EQUITY-BASED COMPENSATION, AND THE AGENCY THEORY OF OVER VALUED EQUITY

We investigate empirically whether mispricing of a firm’s stock affects CEO equitybased compensation, controlling for industry and year effects, economic determinants, board characteristics, and institutional ownership. We hypothesize that an overvalued firm may award higher grants to meet the manager’s reservation utility from another job and maintain performance incentives, or acquiesce to greater rent extraction by the CEO and exacerbate agency costs of overvalued equity. Among firms that award stock options, we find that CEOs of overvalued firms receive higher stock option compensation, lower cash compensation and higher overall total compensation. Furthermore, we find that when a firm awards higher option grants in response to overvaluation or because of a weak board, subsequent underperformance is worse. However, the firm subsequently overperforms when it awards more option grants because it has high growth prospects or a high fraction of institutional shareholders. The excess compensation derived from the interaction of a weak board and overvaluation results in even worse eventual underperformance than the correction from current misvaluation, consistent with Jensen’s agency theory of overvalued equity.
A Theorem on Boolean Matrices

Given two boolean matrices A arid B, we define the boolean product A A B as that matrix whose (i, j)th entry is vk(a~/, A bki). We define tile boolean sum A V B as that matrix whose (i, j)th entry is a ij V b~j. The use of boolean matrices to represent program topology (Presser [1], and Marimont [2], t'or example) has led to interest in algorithms for transforming the d × d boolean matrix M to the d × d boolean matrix M' given by: d M' = v M s where we defineM ~ = MandM ~+I = M ~AM. 4=1 ne convenience of describing the transformation as a boolean sum of boolean products has apparently l suggested the corresponding algorithms, the running times of which increase-other things being equal-as the cube of d. While refraining from comment on the area of utility of such matrices, we prove the validity of an algorithm whose running time goes up slightly faster than the square of d. T,~EoeE~z. Given a square (d × d) matrix M each of whose elements m~5 is 0 or 1. Define M' by m,{~ = 1 if and only if either mii= 1 or there exist integers 1. Set i = 1. 2. (Va3 :my* = 1)(V£) set. rnj* =mik V mik. We assert M* = M'. PROOF. Trivially, m~*j = 1 ~ m~i = 1. For, either m~s was unity initially (m,4j = J)-in which case m~i is surely unity-or m~*-was set to unity in step two. That is, there were, at the L0th application of step two, m~L0 = m~0~" = 1. 1 Presser, op. cir. In his definition of Boolean sum and product, Presser uses "V" for product and "/k" for sum. This is apparently a typographicM error, for his subsequent usage is consistent with ours. This definition of M' is trivially equivalent to the previous one. a This definition by construction is equivalent to the recursive definition: 0. (mo)~ = mij ; 1.
Weld : Fast Data-Parallel Computation on Modern Hardware

Modern hardware is difficult to use efficiently, requiring complex optimizations like vectorization, loop blocking and load balancing to get good performance. As a result, many widely used data processing systems fall well short of peak hardware performance. We have developed Weld, an intermediate language and runtime that can run data-parallel computations efficiently on modern hardware. The core of Weld is a novel intermediate language (IL) that is expressive enough to capture common data-parallel applications (e.g., SQL, graph analytics and machine learning) while being easy to parallelize on modern hardware, through the use of a simple “parallel builder” abstraction and nested parallel loops. Weld supports complex optimizations like vectorization and loop blocking, as well as a multicore CPU backend. Finally, Weld’s runtime can to optimize across library functions used in the same program, enabling further speedups that are not possible with today’s disjoint libraries. In this thesis, we describe the Weld IL and then turn to the multicore CPU backend, providing a theoretical analysis suggesting that it has low overheads and showing that microbenchmarks and real-word applications like TensorFlow have excellent multicore performance when ported to run on Weld. Thesis Supervisor: Matei A. Zaharia Title: Assistant Professor
BRAFV600E mutation is not a positive predictor for distant metastasis in sporadic papillary thyroid carcinoma

Background BRAFV600E mutation is correlated with local aggressive clinicopathological features in papillary thyroid carcinoma; yet the relationship between this genetic variation and distant papillary thyroid carcinoma metastasis was unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether BRAFV600E is predictive for distant metastasis in the Chinese population. Methods One hundred and seven patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma were enrolled in this study, including 43 patients with distant metastasis and 64 patients without. Quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction was used to detect BRAFV600E mutation, while immunohistochemistry was performed to detect vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression. The associations between distant metastasis and BRAFV600E mutation, and VEGF expression as well as local clinicopathological factors were determined. Results A total of 28.6% of the patients in the distant metastasis group harbored BRAFV600E mutation, which was significantly lower than in the without distant metastasis group (68.8%, P <0.001). BRAFV600E mutation was negatively correlated with positive VEGF expression (P=0.001). Furthermore, 52.2% of the patients with distant metastasis exhibited VEGF expression, compared with 25.0% of those without. Higher levels of VEGF expression were also observed in the distant metastasis group. Tumor size, extra‐thyroid invasion, and BRAFV600E mutation were independent predictors for distant metastasis according to multivariate analysis (odds ratios were 2.8, 12.4, and 0.3; 95% CI 1.483‐5.334, and 2.950‐52.407, 0.100‐0.890; P=0.002, 0.001, and 0.030, respectively). BRAFV600E mutation was negatively correlated with distant metastasis in adult subgroup analysis (P=0.005) but was not an independent parameter. Conclusions BRAFV600E mutation is predictive for distant metastasis in papillary thyroid carcinoma but not positively. VEGF may be involved in the pathogenesis of distant metastasis.
Transparency of Global Apparel Supply Chains: Quantitative Analysis of Corporate Disclosures

As the globalization of the apparel industry has increased, many issues have emerged regarding the management of supply chains overseas. Significantly low contract prices, which are offered in an effort to remain competitive in global trade, often lead to labor exploitation. The California Transparency in Supply Chains Act went into effect in 2012 to eradicate slavery and human trafficking from supply chains of manufacturing and retail companies. The purpose of this study was to investigate the current status of implementation of this Act in the apparel industry. A quantitative content analysis was conducted to analyze the website disclosures of 204 US-based apparel retail and manufacturing companies, focusing on the presence, type, length, accessibility, and content of their disclosures. The findings of this study provide insights for manufacturers, retailers, and marketers regarding how they can publicize their socially responsible efforts, particularly regarding slavery and human trafficking issues in their supply chains. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
A strategic response to the financial crisis: an empirical analysis of financial services advertising before and during the financial crisis

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate how the US financial services organizations (FSOs) provided marketing information and the way they strategically used various appeals through their advertising before and during the current financial crisis.Design/methodology/approach – This takes the form of a content analysis examining a total of 2,480 financial services ads (FSA) in print magazines within two periods – the two years before the crisis (2005 to 2006) and the two years during the crisis (2007 to 2008). Findings – This study showed three significant findings: because of the economic struggle, there was a significant decline across the two periods in the total number of yearly FSA; the economic crisis led to a significant increase in the use of informational message strategies across all FSOs; and financial value and atmospherics appeals were predominant after the crisis. However, each FSO used appeals in a different way.Research limitations/implications – This study focused on only print media. A fut.
New approaches to the analysis of the capital structure of SME's: empirical evidence from Spanish firms

The main objective of this paper is to analyze the factors determining the capital structure of Spanish small and medium-sized enterprises. This analysis is grounded on agency theory, pecking order theory, and the signaling approach. The following elements were taken into consideration: i) the quantitative variables of the enterprises, and ii) qualitative or strategic variables, finally providing an analysis of the explanatory power of the firms' reputation, the ownership and control structure, and the relationship between the SMEs and the finance company. A definition of the relationships which might be expected between the proposed variables and the total borrowing ratio, according to the conceptual framework under consideration was given as well. A survey of 410 Spanish SMEs was considered in the empirical analysis. Firstly, we divided the survey into groups, according to the debt-equity ratio, and the application of an ANOVA test, then we tested for significant differences in the variables for each group. Next, we established a model of hierarchical regression for an overall comparison of the hypotheses that the theoretical model provided. Among the most relevant results, we should highlight that the only proposed hypotheses to be tested were those referring to the variables: 'number of finance companies' and 'existence of real covenants unrelated to the business'. It may be said that dealing with a greater number of companies and establishing a personal covenant increases the possibility of fund-raising on the credit market, thereby avoiding a situation of credit rationing. However, there is no confirmation of the explanatory power of the reputation or the ownership and control structure variables.
A survey on the level of Information Technology Acceptance and proposition of a Comprehensive model (The Case of Nir Pars Company)

Nowadays, the rapid expansion of Information and Communication Technology has changed the ways of delivering services in different industries. Many organizations attempt to increase the variety of their services. However, accepting new ideas may lead to innovative proposals and new technologies in manufacturing products or delivering services, but in turn requires investing and taking risks by innovative organization. Therefore, identification of various factors affecting adoption of new technologies is a favorite field of study for researchers. The purpose of this article is to explore the level of information technology acceptance and propose a comprehensive model for Nir Pars Company. This is an applied, descriptivecorrelation research, conducted by survey methodology. A collection of 400 experts and managers of different organizational levels of Nir Company were selected as the statistical population of the study and a batch of 240 persons were chosen by simple random sampling. Library method was used for Data collection to form the theoretical foundations of the research, and we used our own questionnaire to confirm or refute the research hypotheses; which has the required reliability and validity (Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.946). To explore the relationships between the elements of the Model, factor analysis and structural equation modeling techniques were used. According to achieved results, the acceptance of information technology exceeds 0.79 (for all parameters of the model).
Auditing model for the introduction of computerised maintenance management system

Increases in competition, the introduction of advance manufacturing techniques and new production management systems have made maintenance an area of growing importance in organisations. To achieve efficient maintenance management it is necessary to have technical, economic and historical information about devices and facilities companies use computerised maintenance management systems (CMMS) for this purpose. However, there is a high risk of failure associated with the introduction of CMMSs, and a serious lack of objective models with which to control their introduction. This paper presents an innovative auditing model for the introduction of CMMSs using the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process. The auditing model offers a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the status of the introduction of a CMMS. It enables deficiencies in installation to be detected so that corrective actions can be taken, as part of a process of continuous improvement. The auditing model has been applied to a hospital.
Identifying Depression-Related Tweets from Twitter for Public Health Monitoring

We present our work towards automatic monitoring of major depressive disorder at the population-level leveraging social media and natural language processing. In this pilot study, we manually annotated Twitter tweets i.e., whether the tweet conveys clinical evidence of depression or not, and if the tweet is depression-related, whether it conveys low mood, fatigue or loss of energy, or problems with social environment. Our classifiers trained with simple features can automatically distinguish between tweets with clinical evidence of depression or not with promising results, suggesting complete automation is possible.
Landscape Design: Designing for Local Action in Complex Worlds

In recent years, the management literature has increasingly emphasized the importance of self-organization and "local action" in contrast to prior traditions of engineering control and design. While processes of self-organization are quite powerful, they do not negate the possibility of design influences. They do, however, suggest that a new set of design tools or concepts may be useful. We address this issue by considering the problem of landscape design-the tuning of fitness landscapes on which actors adapt. We examine how alternative organizational designs influence actors' fitness landscapes and, in turn, the behavior that these alternative designs engender. Reducing interdependencies leads to robust designs that result in relatively stable and predictable behaviors. Designs that highlight interdependencies, such as cross-functional teams, lead to greater exploration of possible configurations of actions, though at the possible cost of coordination difficulties. Actors adapt not only on fixed landscapes, but also on surfaces that are deformed by others' actions. Such couupled landscapes have important implications for the emergence of cooperation in the face of social dilemmas. Finally, actors' perceptions of landscapes are influenced by the manner in which they are framed by devices such as strategy frameworks and managerial accounting systems.