Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Evolution of Product Placements in Hollywood Cinema

Abstract This content analysis of the 15 top-grossing motion pictures of 1977, 1987, and 1997 uncovered 546 product placements present in fully one quarter (24%) of the total running time of the 45 movies. Product leaders were automobiles (21% of all placements), beer (14%), and soda (11%), with Coca-Cola the overall brand leader. Full-display appearances remained dominant throughout. Most appearances were brief; however, “key” placements-lengthier showcases featuring brands in central heroic roles and in idealized images resembling TV commercials-increased over the 20-year period. Other related notable changes were increases in high-involvement placements (89%), implied endorsement placements (83%) (coupled with a 9% rise in “verbal/hands mentions,” the most valued placement), and “mentioned” placements (75%) (similarly coupled with a 9% rise in “used” placements), and the number of brands placed (32%) along with decreases in liquor placements (60%), association with minor characters (40%) and non-stars (36%), and both “signage” (24%) and “clutter” (20%) placements, the least valued.
Magnetic Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis, Characterization, and Anisotropic Electrical Properties

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been the focus of extensive research in recent years due to their exceptional mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties (Treacy et al., 1996; Lourie et al., 1998; Yu et al., 2000; Lukic et al., 2005). As a result of their nanoscale dimensions and high surface area, CNTs could also be considered as efficient templates for the assembly and tethering of nanoparticles on their surface (Grzelczak et al., 2006). The decoration of CNTs with various compounds and various structures could increase their surface functionality and the tunability of their properties, such as their electrical and magnetic characteristics (Korneva et al., 2005; Kuang et al., 2006). Recent reports described the attachment of various inorganic nanoparticles to either the external surface of the CNTs, or to the internal surface of the CNT cavity, through several experimental methods (Han et al., 2004; Qu et al., 2006). In this context, it is important to note that the control of the size of these tethered nanoparticles is of primary importance for the purpose of tailoring the physical and chemical properties of these hierarchical materials. Iron oxide nanoparticles, such as magnetite and maghemite, have been of technological and scientific interest due to their unique electrical and magnetic properties. These nanoparticles can be used in such diverse fields as high-density information storage and electronic devices (Sun et al., 2000; Pu et al., 2005; Yi et al., 2006; Jia et al., 2007; Wan et al., 2007). Maghemite, Fe2O3, is the allotropic form of magnetite, Fe3O4 (Rockenberger et al., 1999; Pileni et al., 2003; Sun et al., 2004). These two iron oxides are crystallographically isomorphous. The main difference is the presence of ferric ions only in -Fe2O3, and both ferrous and ferric ions in Fe3O4. As a result, while the magnetic properties of Fe3O4 are superior, -Fe2O3 is more stable, since the iron cannot be further oxidized under ambient conditions. This renders Fe2O3 nanoparticles easier to work with, especially in the presence of organic solvents and organic ligands, and consequently, they have been widely used for magnetic storage in a variety of fields such as floppy disks and cassette tapes. However, maghemite-CNT nanohybrid materials have not been studied as extensively as magnetite-CNT nanohybrid materials, with the exception of several few examples (Sun et al., 2005; Youn et al., 2009).
Compressive neighborhood embedding for classification

Recently, spectral manifold learning algorithms on pattern recognition and machine learning orientation have found wide applications. The common strategy for these algorithms, e.g., Locally Linear Embedding (LLE), facilitates neighborhood relationships which can be constructed by knn or ϵ criterion. This paper presents a simple technique for constructing the nearest neighborhood by combining ℓ2 and ℓ1 norm. The proposed criterion, called Compressive Neighborhood Embedding (CNE), gives rise to a modified spectral manifold learning technique. The validated discriminating power of sparse representation has illuminated in [1], we additionally formulate the semi-supervised learning variation of CNE, SCNE for short, based on the proposed criterion to utilize both labeled and unlabeled data for inference on a graph. Extensive experiments on semi-supervised classification demonstrate the superiority of the proposed algorithm.
Perceived Source Variability Versus Familiarity: Testing Competing Explanations for the Truth Effect

This article tests 2 competing explanations for the truth effect, the finding that repeated statements are believed more than new statements. Previous research has put forth 2 explanations for this effect—subjective familiarity and perceived source variability. The subjective familiarity explanation holds that repeated statements feel more familiar and are therefore believed more than new statements. This explanation has received strong support in the literature. The source variability explanation holds that people attribute repeated statements to different sources; this belief, that multiple sources endorse the statement, increases belief in repeated statements relative to new statements attributed to a single source. However, previous studies testing this explanation have confounded source variability with source credibility. This research aims to tease apart the effects of subjective familiarity and source variability while holding source credibility constant across conditions. Results of the first 2 experiments manipulating number of sources and measuring recognition implicate subjective familiarity rather than perceived source variability as the mechanism underlying the truth effect. However, the third study demonstrates that source variability does enhance belief in repeated statements that are initially perceived as low in plausibility. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. You are flipping through a magazine and see an ad for Take Control, a spread made from natural soybean extract. The ad says “Take Control tastes great and helps promote healthy cholesterol levels! ” Do you believe it? What if you then see a picture of Regis Philbin with his testimonial “Sounds too good to be true? Wait ’til you try it. It’s delicious and helps me look after my cholesterol! ” —will his testimonial increase your belief? Without product experience, you may be forced to depend on cues (such as how familiar the claim feels or how many
The challenges of treating women with recurrent urinary tract infections in primary care: a qualitative study of GPs’ experiences of conventional management and their attitudes towards possible herbal options

Aim To explore GPs’ experiences of managing recurrent urinary tract infections (RUTIs) and their views on the use of herbal medicines for this condition. Background RUTIs are an important problem commonly managed in primary care. Antibiotic prophylaxis is an effective treatment for acute infections but growing microbial resistance, adverse effects, and the lack of sustained long-term benefits mean that novel treatments are required. There are a number of promising reports of herbal medicines being used to treat RUTIs. Methods A total of 15 GPs (seven female; aged 34–59 years; in practice from 3 to 31 years) were purposively sampled and took part in semi-structured face-to-face and telephone interviews. Interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed, and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Data collection and analysis proceeded iteratively to allow emerging themes to inform subsequent interviews. Findings Participants were aware of the disabling effect of RUTIs on women’s lives. GPs experienced significant challenges in their management of RUTIs with decisions about the provision of antibiotics being particularly complex. While some participants were open to the possibility of herbal treatment options they required more research into effectiveness and safety, better regulation of herbal practitioners, and assurance about herbal quality control and potential herb–drug interactions.
Joint Ventures in the People's Republic of China: Can Capitalism and Communism Coexist?

Introduction The Emergence of Joint Venture Enterprises The Legal Basis for Joint Ventures The Organization and Operation of Joint Ventures The Development of Joint Ventures The Tianamen Square Incident and its Aftermath Some Observations and Suggestions Regarding Joint Ventures Appendixes :The Law of the People's Republic of China on Joint Ventures Using Chinese and Foreign Investments, July 1, 1979 Regulations Governing Special Economic Zones in Guangdong Province, August 26, 1980 Regulations Governing the Implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Joint Ventures Using Chinese and Foreign Investments, September 20, 1983 A Selected Bibliography on Foreign Investments in China Since 1979 Index
Revisiting the trajectory of IT implementation in organisations: an IT culture perspective

Purpose Organisational implementations of information technology (IT) normally fail due to cultural forces that inhibit the usage levels required to facilitate successful IT implementation. The purpose of this paper is to explore IT implementation from an IT culture perspective (Leidner and Kayworth, 2006). In particular, it identifies and follows the trajectory of IT culture archetypes that emerge during the implementation process and further investigates their role in facilitating successful IT implementations. Design/methodology/approach This research adopts the qualitative single case study approach and draws on the implementation of a management information system in a Nigerian global bank. Findings The findings illustrate three different IT culture archetypes and provide insights into their dynamic nature. The progressive weakening of two IT culture archetypes and the corresponding strengthening of the third archetype shows how initial vision conflicts can get transformed into vision agreements. Originality/value This paper extends the IT culture perspective by illustrating how a congruence relationship between IT cultures and IT artefacts can be fostered. The paper shows how diverse IT cultures can develop reasonably quickly in line with initial user experiences of a system. When IT cultures are aligned with the values embedded in IT, positive engagement and usage of the technology results strengthening the presence of embracing IT cultures.
Efficient Intra-Household Allocations: A General Characterization and Empirical Tests

The neoclassical theory of demand applies to individuals, yet in empirical work it is usually taken as valid for households with many members. This paper explores what the theory of individuals implies for households that have more than one member. We make minimal assumptions about how the individual members of the household resolve conflicts. All we assume is that however decisions are made, outcomes are efficient. We refer to this as the collective setting. We show that in the collective setting household demands must satisfy a symmetry and rank condition on the Slutsky matrix. We also present some further results on the effects on demands of variables that do not modify preferences but that do affect how decisions are made. We apply our theory to a series of surveys of household expenditures from Canada. The tests of the usual symmetry conditions are rejected for two-person households but not for one-person households. We also show that income pooling is rejected for two-person households. We then test for our collective setting conditions on the couples data. None of the collective setting restrictions are rejected. We conclude that the collective setting is a plausible and tractable next step to take in the analysis of household behavior.
Using Kinect in teaching children with hearing and visual impairment

In developed societies, training of disabled people is regarded important and there are different plans for teaching them since childhood. One of the most common types of disability, which are genetically prevalent, is sensory disability particularly visual impairment, hearing and speech impairment. In this paper, attempt was made to present a strategy for training these children in two deaf children and blind children educational sections considering different advances of e-learning using motion detection technologies in Kinect device and objects recognition methods in 3D environments so that even very young children are able to receive basic and effective training and communicate with the surrounding world without knowing sign language or reading and writing skills.
Is perception personal?

Listeners categorized an /s–S/ continuum in front of the vowels [u, a, i] spoken by two male and two female speakers. One of each gender was more typical than the other. Listeners’ adjustments for these vowel and speaker characteristics were associated to their self-ratings with respect to both the specific personality traits measured by the Autism-Spectrum Quotient and the more general Big Five personality traits.
Memristor to control delay of delay element

In this work, a SPICE memristor model is combined with CMOS element in order to use the memristor resistance to regulate delay of a current starved inverter. Since memristor resistance changes according to supply voltage, the changes of memristor resistance have been studied and demonstrated using a memristor spice model. A pulse signal is supplied to the memristor to control the resistance of the memristor where the resistance changes according to the pulse width. Due to changes of resistance the current also changes and regulates the delay of delay element. The proposed SPICE model and CMOS combination is important for other memristor application studies.
Multiplex Detection of Rare Mutations by Picoliter Droplet Based Digital PCR: Sensitivity and Specificity Considerations

In cancer research, the accuracy of the technology used for biomarkers detection is remarkably important. In this context, digital PCR represents a highly sensitive and reproducible method that could serve as an appropriate tool for tumor mutational status analysis. In particular, droplet-based digital PCR approaches have been developed for detection of tumor-specific mutated alleles within plasmatic circulating DNA. Such an approach calls for the development and validation of a very significant quantity of assays, which can be extremely costly and time consuming. Herein, we evaluated assays for the detection and quantification of various mutations occurring in three genes often misregulated in cancers: the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), the v-Ki-ras2 Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) and the Tumoral Protein p53 (TP53) genes. In particular, commercial competitive allele-specific TaqMan® PCR (castPCR™) technology, as well as TaqMan® and ZEN™ assays, have been evaluated for EGFR p.L858R, p.T790M, p.L861Q point mutations and in-frame deletions Del19. Specificity and sensitivity have been determined on cell lines DNA, plasmatic circulating DNA of lung cancer patients or Horizon Diagnostics Reference Standards. To show the multiplexing capabilities of this technology, several multiplex panels for EGFR (several three- and four-plexes) have been developed, offering new "ready-to-use" tests for lung cancer patients.
Knowledge management capability as a source of competitive advantage: an empirical study of Vietnamese enterprises

Various models analysing separate sets of impacts of knowledge management on organisational outcomes have been proposed in the literature. However, an integrative model considering the complete set of critical impacts of knowledge management infrastructure and process capabilities on organisational competitive advantage seems to be missing. This paper, thus, develops a theoretical model of inter-relationships among these variables. The proposed model might be used as practical recommendation for business executives, especially those operating in Vietnam, an emerging Asian economy, to be successful in knowledge management projects in attaining long-term strategic objective. The structural equation modelling analysis of data collected from 362 Vietnamese managers confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed model in examining the impacts of knowledge management on organisational competitiveness.
Laser Microdissection and Microsatellite Analyses of Breast Cancer Reveal a High Degree of Tumor Heterogeneity

Carcinomas with productive fibrosis are the most common forms of breast cancer. Analysis of tumor-specific genomic alterations can be compromised by the presence of normal cells, demanding microdissection of small tumor areas to detect loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and microsatellite instability (MSI). The aim of this study was to evaluate the importance of precise laser microdissection for microsatellite analyses and investigation of tumor heterogeneity in breast cancer. 39 primary breast tumor samples were analyzed for MSI and LOH by PCR followed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and silver staining using 15 microsatellite markers. Different tumor areas were processed separately in 30 patients. Both intraductal and invasive breast cancer regions were investigated in 11 patients. The following results were obtained: (1) accurate microdissection revealed MSI in 3 or more of the investigated markers (≧20%) in 33% of the patients, a higher frequency than reported previously; (2) laser microdissection was 43% more sensitive in detection of LOH compared to manual microdissection due to a reduction of contamination by normal cells, and (3) 29 of 30 investigated tumors showed heterogeneity of genetic alterations in different tumor regions. Laser-based microdissection is a valuable tool in genetic analysis of desmoplastic tumors and allows an accurate determination of genetic alterations in histologically different tumor regions.
Nicotinamide treatment reduces the levels of oxidative stress, apoptosis, and PARP-1 activity in Aβ(1–42)-induced rat model of Alzheimer's disease

Abstract The underlying mechanisms of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) are still unclear. It is suggested that poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) overactivation can cause neuroinflammation and cell death. In this study we searched the effects of nicotinamide (NA), endogenous PARP-1 inhibitor, on oxidative stress, apoptosis, and the regulation of PARP-1 and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) in amyloid beta peptide (1–42) (Aβ(1–42))-induced neurodegeneration. Sprague–Dawley rats were divided into four groups as control, Aβ(1–42), Aβ(1–42) + NA(100 and 500 mg/kg). All groups were stereotaxically injected bilaterally into the hippocampus with Aβ(1–42) or saline. After surgery NA administrations were made intraperitoneally (ip) for 7 days. In order to investigate the effects of Aβ(1–42) and NA, protein carbonyls, lipid peroxidation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, glutathione (GSH) levels, activities of antioxidant enzymes (catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase), mitochondrial function, mRNA and protein levels of PARP-1, NF-κB, p53, Bax, and Bcl-2 were measured in specific brain regions such as cortex and hippocampus. Aβ(1–42) treatment only increased the oxidative stress parameters and caused decline in antioxidant enzyme activities, mitochondrial function, and GSH levels. Also, overexpression of PARP-1, NF-κB, p53, Bax, and the decreased levels of Bcl-2 were observed in Aβ(1–42)-treated group. NA treatments against Aβ(1–42)-upregulated Bcl-2 and downregulated PARP-1, NF-κB, p53, and Bax levels. NA treatments also decreased the oxidative stress parameters and elevated antioxidant enzyme activities, GSH levels, and mitochondrial function against Aβ(1–42) treatment. These data suggest that NA may have a therapeutic potential in neurodegenerative processes due to the decreased levels of oxidative stress, apoptosis, and PARP-1 activity.
Synthesis, Characterization and Pharmacological Screening of Substituted Sulphonamide Derivatives

Sulphonamides are an important class of heterocyclic compounds which possess wide spectrum of biological properties.The present work deals with the synthesis of some novel Sulphonamide derivatives using acetanilide, chlorsulphonic acid and various aromatic amines. All the synthesized compounds were characterized by IR, 1 H NMR and 13 C NMR Spectroscopy. The compounds were evaluated for their antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus 3TCC 3160 and Escherichia coli 3TCC 1652 using Streptomycin as reference standard and anti-inflammatory activity using Diclofenac as reference standard. Some of theanalogues showed significant activity based on the substitutions on the aromatic ring.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE CONTEXT OF FINANCIAL CRISIS: A COMPARISON BETWEEN ROMANIA AND LITHUANIA

The paper aims to identify the link between the corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the recent financial crisis, and to determine the main features of the companies’ responsible behavior during this period. This inquiry follows the pattern of a descriptive study and will concentrate on the search of the literature, in order to identify the relationship between the present financial crisis and CSR, and the corporate behavior in this period. Companies’ reports, and discourses on CSR will be considered to characterize firms’ behavior. Examples of CSR from Romania and Lithuania are offered in order to illustrate the conclusions of the paper. The investigation of the literature leads to two major conclusions. One conclusion of the paper is that CSR is on a turning point and it is expected that a new orientation toward theoretical and practical approaches regarding the concept will be developed after this crisis. The other outcome reveals the contradiction between discourse and action: companies’ priorities in crisis time are more concentrated on financial aspects; even if at the discourse level all companies declare their commitment to responsible actions.
Delft University of Technology Molecular Processes Leading to “Necking” in Extensional Flow of Polymer Solutions Using Microfluidics and Single DNA Imaging

We study the necking and pinch-off dynamics of liquid droplets that contain a semidilute polymer solution of polyacrylamide close to overlap concentration by combining microfluidics and single DNA observation. Polymeric droplets are stretched by passing them through the stagnation point of a T-shaped microfluidic junction. In contrast with the sudden breakup of Newtonian droplets, a stable neck is formed between the separating ends of the droplet which delays the breakup process. Initially, polymeric filaments experience exponential thinning by forming a stable neck with extensional flow within the filament. Later, thin polymeric filaments develop a structure resembling a series of beads-on-a-string along their length and finally rupture during the final stages of the thinning process. To unravel the molecular picture behind these phenomena, we integrate a T-shaped microfluidic device with advanced fluorescence microscopy to visualize stained DNA molecules at the stagnation point within the necking region. We find that the individual polymer molecules suddenly stretch from their coiled conformation at the onset of necking. The extensional flow inside the neck is strong enough to deform and stretch polymer chains; however, the distribution of polymer conformations is broad, and it remains stationary in time during necking. Furthermore, we study the dynamics of single molecules during formation of beads-on-a-string structure. We observe that polymer chains gradually recoil inside beads while polymer chains between beads remain stretched to keep the connection between beads. The present work effectively extends single molecule experiments to free surface flows, which provides a unique opportunity for molecular-scale observation within the polymeric filament during necking and rupture.