Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Accurate thermoreflectance imaging of nano-features using thermal decay

Thermal characterization of nano-featured devices is a critical challenge for the development of high performance devices. Although far-field thermoreflectance imaging is limited in spatial resolution by the optical diffraction limit, it is more amenable to absolute temperature calibration of plasmonic devices than existing near-field scanning probe tip methods. We have built an advanced thermoreflectance microscope capable of 50 ns time-resolved, diffraction-limited temperature imaging that can account and correct for thermal expansion, sample drift, numerical aperture, and polarization induced variations in the apparent thermoreflectance coefficient of nanoscale structures. We developed a per-pixel transient calibration technique using this microscope to measure the absolute temperature of an operating heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) head, including features as narrow as 200 nm. The resulting temperature information can be used to experimentally validate numerical models in the design process of such plasmonic devices.
Variant hepatic arterial anatomy revisited: digital subtraction angiography performed in 600 patients.

PURPOSE To evaluate and describe the prevalence of hepatic arterial variants seen at digital subtraction angiography in a large series of patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS Data were collected prospectively by using an arterial anatomy database questionnaire that was completed at the time each visceral angiographic examination was performed from May 1996 to October 2000. RESULTS Six hundred patients underwent at least one visceral angiographic examination at one institution during the study period. Three hundred sixty-eight (61.3%) patients had the standard hepatic arterial anatomy. One hundred nineteen (19.8%) patients had variant left hepatic arteries (LHAs), and 89 (14.8%) had variant right hepatic arteries (RHAs). Twenty-eight (4.7%) patients had a variant anatomy involving both the LHA and the RHA. Twenty-four (4.0%) patients had a variant origin of the common hepatic artery (CHA) arising from either the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) or the aorta. In two patients, the proper hepatic artery (PHA) was the first branch of the SMA and the gastroduodenal artery (GDA) was a branch of the celiac axis. Double hepatic arteries were seen in 22 (3.7%) patients. Trifurcation or quadrifurcation of the GDA was seen in 50 (8.3%) patients, and the GDA originated distal to one hepatic artery in 25 (4.2%) patients in whom both hepatic arteries originated from the CHA. CONCLUSION A replaced LHA was less common than has been previously reported, and in two cases, the PHA arose from the SMA. Digital subtraction visceral angiographic results are comparable to results of seminal angiographic studies in which the cut-film technique was used.
Understanding Cooperative Advertising Participation Rates in Conventional Channels

Cooperative advertising plans feature prominently in marketing programs in conventional channels and make up the majority of marketing funds in some product categories. Available data show that cooperative plans vary greatly with respect to their principal feature: the participation rate offered by manufacturers (the fraction of the reseller's advertising costs that the manufacturers pick up). The authors develop two formal models to study the effects of advertising “spillovers,” differentiation across competing retailers, and differentiation across competing manufacturers on the participation rate. The models show that more generous participation rates are called for with less targetable media, less differentiated retailers, more differentiated brands, and more upscale products within a category. The authors sketch out a managerial decision framework that incorporates these findings and offer some suggestions for empirical research.
Supplier selection problem: integrating DEA with the approaches of total cost of ownership and AHP

Purpose – This paper seeks to propose a methodology to integrate the total cost of ownership (TCO) and the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) approaches for selecting appropriate suppliers for a firm.Design/methodology/approach – This paper suggests an interesting way of combining the objective and subjective information provided by the results of the TCO and AHP approaches through the application of data envelopment analysis (DEA). Findings – Three different versions of DEA models have been used to illustrate the integration of TCO and AHP.Research limitations/implications – The integration of DEA with TCO and AHP can be extended to more complex situations, including assessment of risk behaviour of suppliers and including fuzzy concepts.Practical implications – The proposed integrated model could be used for supplier selection, which involves several quantitative and qualitative factors.Originality/value – To the best of the author's knowledge, the proposed integrated DEA‐TCO‐AHP model is the first of its.
Online Continuous Scale Estimation of Hand Gestures

SUMMARY The style of a gesture provides significant information for communication, and thus understanding the style is of great importance in improving gestural interfaces using hand gestures. We present a novel method to estimate temporal and spatial scale—which are considered principal elements of the style—of hand gestures. Gesture synchronization is proposed for matching progression between spatio-temporally varying gestures, and scales are estimated based on the progression matching. For comparing gestures of various sizes and speeds, gesture representation is defined by adopting turning angle representation. Also, LCSS is used as a similarity measure for reliability and robustness to noise and outliers. Performance of our algorithm is evaluated with synthesized data to show the accuracy and robustness to noise and experiments are carried out using
Living Condition, Livelihood and Crop Diversification among Rural Farm Households in Remo Division of Ogun State Nigeria

This study empirically assesses the livelihood and crop diversification of rural farm households in Remo Division of Ogun State Nigeria. The study drew a sample of 120 rural farm households through a multi-stage sampling technique and the primary data obtained were analyzed using the descriptive statistical measures, Simpson Index, and Tobit regression model. Results indicated that an average farm household head was 43.9 years old and had 3.6 years of schooling. In term of living conditions, averagely, roads in the communities were tarred but in poor state with households sourced drinking water from borehole. Most farming communities had no access to health services but had primary school as the main educational institution. Ninety six per cent of the farm households diversified their cropping activities with 43.3 percent diversified into three or more crops. The Tobit results revealed that there were marginal increases in crop diversification with increase in household size, farm size and educational level but crop
Ramsay Hunt Syndrome: Case Report of a Multifaceted Physical Therapy Intervention

Background and purpose: Ramsay Hunt Syndrome is an uncommon diagnosis that has as part of its presentation unilateral facial paralysis. Functional limitations can include: asymmetric facial expression and difficulty speaking, drinking and eating. The most effective treatment is not clear based on published research. The following case study describes the use of various interventions to assist in facial muscle activation in a patient diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. Case description: A 55 year old female patient presented with right sided facial paralysis two months after diagnosis of Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. The patient received progression of range of motion exercises, neuromuscular re-education, soft tissue mobilization, and trials of electrical stimulation as outlined in the current research. In conjunction, she received instruction and application of kinesthetic taping to facilitate and/or inhibit facial muscle activation. The patient was seen for 21 visits over a 14 month time period. Outcomes: House Brackmann grades improved from a grade V to a grade II. Strength increased from 1- to 4+. Functional improvements included improvements in communication, eating/drinking, and facial symmetry at rest. The patient also reported significant improvement in experienced pain. Presence of watery eye, and synkinesis were still mildly observed. Discussion: Limited research is available regarding the treatment of Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. The combination of interventions described in this report was observed to improve muscle activation, facilitate a decrease in pain, and coincide with an improved House Brackmann grade. Further research should include randomized controlled trials to explore the cause and effect of each treatment.
AutomatedKineticAssayof Angiotensin-ConvertingEnzymein Serum

We have developed and validated an automated kinetic method for angiotensin-converting enzyme (EC 3.4.15.1) on the Olli C + 0 analyzer, modified from that of Ronca-Testoni (Clin Chem 1983;29:1 093-6) with N-[3-(2-furyl)-acryloyl]-Lphenylalanylglycylglycine used as substrate. We have determined appropriate reaction conditions for the assay, verified the principal analytical reliability criteria (repeatibility, reproducibility, sensitivity), and established normal reference intervals (mean ± SD) for the enzyme’s activity, using serum of normal adults (100 ± 35 U/L, n = 150), newborns (130 ± 27 U/L, n = 10), women taking oral contraceptives (103 ± 30 UI L, n = 10), smokers (109 ± 38 UIL, n = 27), and patients with sarcoidosis (220 ± 48 U/L, n = 15).
Walk the Talk? How Symbolic and Substantive CSR Actions Affect Firm Performance Depending on Stakeholder Proximity

Drawing on neo-institutional and stakeholder theory, this study examines the link between a firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions and its financial performance. The authors investigate whether and how a firm’s symbolic (“talk”) and substantive (“walk”) CSR actions, alone or combined, affect financial performance depending on the main stakeholder group they are directed at (i.e., high-proximity internal stakeholders such as employees versus low-proximity external stakeholders such as customers or the wider society). In a comparison of two domains targeting either high- or low-proximity stakeholders, results show that substantive/symbolic CSR actions have a positive impact/no impact on financial performance if directed toward high-proximity stakeholders, and that the opposite is true of actions directed at low-proximity stakeholders. Further, results show that low-proximity stakeholders have greater difficulty distinguishing between mere talk and real walk. The study relies on an international, cross-industry dataset from Thomson Reuters’ Asset4ESG and Datastream from 2002 to 2011.
Behavioral approaches to marketing strategy implementation

The development and reinforcement of context‐specific behaviors support the implementation of marketing strategy. Discusses the limitations of traditional strategy implementation pursuits and then proceeds to report the results of two independent but related studies that consider two methods of behavior management – market orientation profiling, and behavioral repertoires – and their effect on marketing strategy and organizational performance. Results indicate that these methods provide a context for the implementation of specific marketing strategies by serving as a moderator of employee behavior and can be used strategically by organizations to guide service applications. Concludes by providing prescriptive steps that managers can consider in efforts to adopt these approaches to marketing strategy implementation.
MAV based SLAM and autonomous navigation: A view towards efficient on-board systems

In the field of autonomous drone or micro air vehicle (MAV) research, much of the existing literature focuses on novel approaches to MAV automation and navigation. Whilst discovering these new approaches has scientific merit, these works rarely focus on the impact that the deployment of such systems have in terms of the operational time, power consumption or efficiency of the MAV. This work sets out to review the parallel tracking and mapping algorithm (PTAM) as applied to MAV control systems. Through experimentation, the limits of this algorithm are found in an attempt to determine the minimum computational and power requirements for a computer to have, in order to run PTAM effectively. This work demonstrates that it is feasible with current available technology, to operate PTAM on a 5 watt computer by limiting the parameters that add computational overhead to the system.
A Review on the Use of Rapid Small Scale Column Test (RSSCT) on Predicting Adsorption of Various Contaminants

The Rapid Small Scale Column Test (RSSCT) is a small-scale model of a pilot-scale system which is aimed to give performance equal to the full-scale system when loaded with small sized particle adsorbent such as Granular Activated Carbon (GAC). The RSSCT was developed to predict the exclusion of organic compounds on activated carbon adsorbers. The theory behind RSSCT is to scale down the hydrodynamic characteristics and mass transfer phenomena from a pilot scale reactor to a small scale flow test column as it is expected that the breakthrough curves would be similar for both of them. As compared to the pilot scale columns, the RSSCT requires only a portion of water and time to stimulate a several month's pilot scale study into a few days adsorption study under laboratory conditions. The RSSCT is used widely to predict the performance for various adsorption systems as they are inexpensive and gives a constant flow test results within few days which means that RSSCT are more representative as compared to the batch tests. Apart from these advantages RSSCT can be used to compare the efficiency of media and the quality of water. Usually the adsorbent used in RSSCT study is GAC which is first activated using different processes to increase the adsorptive capacity and surface reactivity and then it is grounded to a specific size fraction which can be used for RSSCT study. Sometimes grinding of adsorbents may be required if the sorption properties varies. This review study would give a detailed insight in designing a RSSCT model on a laboratory scale, scaling adsorption capacity of trace organic contaminant by various adsorbents and to predict a full scale breakthrough.
Unprotected Computing: A Large-Scale Study of DRAM Raw Error Rate on a Supercomputer

Supercomputers offer new opportunities for scientific computing as they grow in size. However, their growth also poses new challenges. Resilience has been recognized as one of the most pressing issues to solve for extreme scale computing. Transistor scaling in the single-digit nanometer era and power constraints might dramatically increase the failure rate of next generation machines. DRAM errors have been analyzed in the past for different supercomputers but those studies are usually based on job scheduler logs and counters produced by hardware-level error correcting codes. Consequently, little is known about errors escaping hardware checks, which lead to silent data corruption. This work attempts to fill that gap by analyzing memory errors for over a year on a cluster with about 1000 nodes featuring low-power memory without error correction. The study gathered millions of events recording detailed information of thousands of memory errors, many of them corrupting multiple bits. Several factors are analyzed, such as temporal and spatial correlation between errors, but also the influence of temperature and even the position of the sun in the sky. The study showed that most multi-bit errors corrupted non-adjacent bits in the memory word and that most errors flipped memory bits from 1 to 0. In addition, we observed thousands of cases of multiple single-bit errors occurring simultaneously in different regions of the memory. These new observations would not be possible by simply analyzing error correction counters on classical systems. We propose several directions in which the findings of this study can help the design of more reliable systems in the future.
How screening criteria change during brand development

Purpose - Despite the increasing sophistication of new product development (NPD) research, the reliance on traditional approaches to studying NPD has left several areas in need of further research. The authors propose addressing some of these gaps, especially the limited focus on consumer brands, evaluation criteria used across different project-review points in the NPD process, and the distinction between "kills", "successes", and "failures". Moreover, they propose investigating how screening criteria change across project-review points, using real-time NPD projects. Design/methodology/approach - A postal survey generated 172 usable questionnaires from a sample of European, North American, Far Eastern and Australian consumer packaged-goods firms, providing data on 314 new product projects covering different development and post-commercialization review points. Findings - The results confirm that acceptance-rejection criteria vary through the NPD process. However, financial criteria dominate across all the project-review points. Initial screening is coarse, focusing predominantly on financial criteria. Fit with organizational, product, brand, promotional, and market requirements dominate in the detailed screen and pre-development evaluation points. At pre-launch, decision-makers focus on product, brand, and promotional criteria. Commercial fit, production synergies, and reliability of the firm's market intelligence are significant discriminators in the post-launch review. Moreover, the importance of marketing and channel issues makes the criteria for screening brands different from those of industrial markets. Originality/value - The study, although largely descriptive and involves a relatively small sample of consumer goods firms, offers new insights into NPD project evaluation behavior. Future, larger-scale investigations covering a broader spectrum of consumer product sectors are needed to validate our results and to explain the reasons behind managers' decisions. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
The stakeholder approach to implementation of tourism development strategy

Annotation This paper is focused on planning of tourism development with an emphasis on the issue of regional stakeholders’ involvement in the implementation phase of regional strategy. It refers to the importance of collaboration between regional destination management organization and regional stakeholders for successful development of tourism. The paper suggests a method for stakeholder analysis which is considered as a starting point of the collaboration process. The method is based on an analysis of three attributes which characterize the importance of stakeholders for tourism development and their attitude to the implementation process of the strategic priorities. The stakeholder analysis is realized in the South Bohemia Region, which is selected as a testing area for verification of suggested methodology.
Organisation and supply chain for quality control in luxury companies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the organisation of the quality department and the management of the supply chain (SC) used by luxury companies to achieve quality requirements. Design/methodology/approach – The paper follows an exploratory approach using a case-based methodology. Data are collected through eight case studies with French luxury companies. Findings – The paper offers insights into the management of quality for luxury companies. The paper illustrates the main determinants of the adoption of the specific quality organisations; moreover, the paper identifies the main approaches adopted by luxury companies at the SC level to control the quality along the whole chain. For example, the paper raised that all accessible and aspirational luxury companies present a full-time quality department whereas a part-time approach is identified for high-luxury companies. In high-luxury companies, quality issues are perceived as critical elements to be monitored not just by one specific depa.
CAST AWAY, a Membrane-Associated Receptor-Like Kinase, Inhibits Organ Abscission in Arabidopsis1[C][W][OA]

Receptor-like kinase-mediated cell signaling pathways play fundamental roles in many aspects of plant growth and development. A pair of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases (LRR-RLKs), HAESA (HAE) and HAESA-LIKE2 (HSL2), have been shown to activate the cell separation process that leads to organ abscission. Another pair of LRR-RLKs, EVERSHED (EVR) and SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE1, act as inhibitors of abscission, potentially by modulating HAE/HSL2 activity. Cycling of these RLKs to and from the cell surface may be regulated by NEVERSHED (NEV), a membrane trafficking regulator that is essential for organ abscission. We report here the characterization of CAST AWAY (CST), a receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase that acts as a spatial inhibitor of cell separation. Disruption of CST suppresses the abscission defects of nev mutant flowers and restores the discrete identity of the trans-Golgi network in nev abscission zones. After organ shedding, enlarged abscission zones with obscured boundaries are found in nev cst flowers. We show that CST is a dual-specificity kinase in vitro and that myristoylation at its amino terminus promotes association with the plasma membrane. Using the bimolecular fluorescence complementation assay, we have detected interactions of CST with HAE and EVR at the plasma membrane of Arabidopsis protoplasts and hypothesize that CST negatively regulates cell separation signaling directly and indirectly. A model integrating the potential roles of receptor-like kinase signaling and membrane trafficking during organ separation is presented.
Turkey and the United States: Entrepreneurship Activity, Motives, Aspirations, and Perceptions

The goal of this study is to explore the motives of Turkish and United States entrepreneurs. While similar in several aspects, Turkey and the U.S. differ along demographic, economical, governance and cultural variables, and these differences have implications for entrepreneurship motivation, activity, aspirations, and perceptions. Turkish entrepreneurs are motivated more by necessity, while U.S. entrepreneurs are motivated more by opportunity. While there was greater entrepreneurial activity in the U.S., individuals in Turkey had higher aspirations and expectations than did individuals in the U.S. A higher percentage of individuals in Turkey anticipated more entrepreneurial growth and viewed entrepreneurship as a more attractive career choice with high status. We discuss finding implications with respect to initiatives in Turkey intended to encourage entrepreneurship.