Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
What Determines Return Risks for Bank Equities in Turkey?

By using data from thirteen publicly traded commercial and deposit banks this paper estimates the determinants of market risk for bank equities in the case of an emerging market setting, Turkey. The analysis reveals that maturity composition of a bank’s loans, the share of trading income in a banks’ overall revenue stream and foreign-ownership structure are important indicators of the volatility of its equity returns. Banks with shorter loan maturity positions are regarded by investors as safer companies to invest in while increases in trading income as a source of bank’s overall revenue increases the volatility of its equity returns. Foreign ownership of a bank also lowers its equity return risk.
Crossover behavior of the elastic coefficients and viscosities of a polymer nematic liquid crystal.

On rapporte les premieres mesures de coefficients elastiques et de viscosites demontrant clairement la distinction entre comportements rigide et semi-flexible d'un cristal liquide nematique de chaine principale polymere, une solution de PBG dans des solvants organiques melanges. Les etudes de diffraction Rayleigh quasi-elastique montrent qu'un croisement intervient pour une longueur de chaine moleculaire proche de la longueur de persistance du PBG quand la longueur de chaine augmente. On remarque que les distorsions de liaison d'un polymere unique jouent un role important dans la nature fondamentale de l'elasticite et viscosite nematiques
Multi-waypoint visual homing in piecewise linear trajectory

SUMMARY This paper proposes an image sequence-based navigation method under the teaching-replay framework for robots in piecewise linear routes. Waypoints used by the robot contain either the positions with large heading changes or selected midway positions between junctions. The robot applies local visual homing to move between consecutive waypoints. The arrival at a waypoint is determined by minimizing the average vertical displacements of feature correspondences. The performance of the proposed approach is supported by extensive experiments in hallway and office environments. While the homing speed of robots using other approaches is constrained by the speed in the teaching phase, our robot is not bounded by such limit and can travel much faster without compromising the homing accuracy.
MEASURING INFORMATION QUALITY AND SYSTEMS QUALITY: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

Organizations depend heavily on information systems and their outputs to achieve organizational goals and facilitate main business processes. Quality of system’s outputs “information quality” is considered an important ingredient of information system’s outputs as it determines the degree to which information is used in organizations. This drives management attention towards improving information systems’ quality and output quality of the systems. Information quality, provided by an information system, is a very important factor in leading people to believe in the usefulness of that information system. Quality of the system itself is also a critical factor that determines the level of information quality and system features that consequently affect the system utilization and benefits gained by the system users. This study thus focuses on user perspectives and how users perceive the characteristics of information quality. The study aims at providing a more incorporative framework and measurements to both system quality and information quality of information systems. It also aims at measuring the perceived impact of both systems quality and information quality on user evaluation and performance. Consisting with previous studies, the study provides some useful conclusions that can be used by managers to structure their information system strategies to best benefit their organizations. The study gained evidence supporting strong relationships between information quality and systems quality, and user evaluation of the information systems. The results indicated that information quality and systems quality are significant determinants of utilization and usefulness, obtained when using information systems.
Biliary Excretion of Antimicrobial Drugs

The development of drugs able to prevent and cure bacterial infections is one of the 20th century’s major contributions to human longevity and quality of life. Antibacterial agents are among the most commonly prescribed drugs of any kind worldwide. Used appropriately, these drugs are lifesaving. To eliminate an infection as rapidly as possible, a sufficient concentration of the drug(s) chosen must reach the site of infection. Serum/tissue concentration is a result of various parameters such as absorption, excretion, protein binding and metabolic inactivation. Biliary excretion is an important route for the elimination of some drugs and drug metabolites in humans. Thus, drugs with a high bile concentration are indicated for the treatment of gallbladder infectious diseases. We present a review of a large number of antimicrobial agents most commonly used in daily clinical practice, with regard to their biliary excretion.
Quantitative description of the 3D regional mechanics of the left atrium using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging

The left atrium (LA) plays an important role in the maintenance of hemodynamic and electrical stability of the heart. One of the conditions altering the atrial mechanical function is atrial fibrillation (AF), leading to an increased thromboembolic risk due to impaired mechanical function. Preserving the regions of the LA that contribute the greatest to atrial mechanical function during curative strategies for AF is important. The purpose of this study is to introduce a novel method of regional assessment of mechanical function of the LA. We used cardiac MRI to reconstruct the 3D geometry of the LA in nine control and nine patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF). Regional mechanical function of the LA in pre-defined segments of the atrium was calculated using regional ejection fraction and wall velocity. We found significantly greater mechanical function in anterior, septal and lateral segments as opposed to roof and posterior segments, as well as a significant decrease of mechanical function in the PAF group. We suggest that in order to minimize the impact of the AF treatment on global atrial mechanical function, damage related to therapeutic intervention, such as catheter ablation, in those areas should be minimized.
INVESTIGATING THE EFFECTS OF SERVICE QUALITY DIMENSIONS AND EXPERTISE ON LOYALTY

Purpose – Very little research has investigated the effects of service quality dimensions on customer loyalty. Also, up to now, no research has investigated the direct effect of expertise on loyalty and the moderating effect of expertise on the link between satisfaction and loyalty. This paper seeks to fill these gaps in the literature and to investigate the effects of individual dimensions of service quality in creating and enhancing customer loyalty via customer satisfaction. It also aims to investigate the direct and indirect effects of customer expertise on customer loyalty.Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a causal modelling approach and proposes a conceptual model after an extensive review of the literature. The paper is based on a sample of 200 bank users in Greece who completed a self‐administered questionnaire. The paper uses exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling to analyse and confirm the conceptual model proposed in this research.
Hedonic customer responses to fast fashion and replicas

Purpose – Very little fast fashion literature focuses on pleasure‐seeking activities or luxury‐fast‐fashion and the purpose of this paper is to start addressing these gaps from the perspective of the customer.Design/methodology/approach – Over eight months, a naturalistic inquiry obtained publicly available online information from customers who during their normal daily lives freely shared their opinions and reflections about fast fashion purchases.Findings – A clearly apparent and unexpected finding is that pleasure‐seeking consumers enjoy creativity associated with ephemeral fashions and uniqueness, as these add value to the customer in different ways, depending on whether the customer is a fast fashion or a replica customer.Research limitations/implications – This study is limited to the fast fashion context and lays the foundation for future researchers to consider other contexts of fashion or luxury brands to qualify or quantify the extent of pleasure seeking and its contribution to the fashion exper.
Risk Factors for In-Hospital Mortality among a Cohort of Children with Clostridium difficile Infection

OBJECTIVE The incidence of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has increased and has been associated with poor outcomes among hospitalized children, including increased risk of death. The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors for all-cause in-hospital mortality among children with CDI. METHODS A multicenter cohort of children with CDI, aged 1–18 years, was established among children hospitalized at 41 freestanding children’s hospitals between January 1, 2006 and August 31, 2011. Children with CDI were identified using a validated case-finding tool (ICD-9-CM code for CDI plus C. difficile test charge). Only the first CDI-related hospitalization during the study period was used. Risk factors for all-cause in-hospital mortality within 30 days of C. difficile test were evaluated using a multivariable logistic regression model. RESULTS We identified 7,318 children with CDI during the study period. The median age of this cohort was 6 years [interquartile range (IQR): 2–13]; the mortality rate was 1.5% (n=109); and the median number of days between C. difficile testing and death was 12 (IQR, 7–20). Independent risk factors for death included older age [adjusted odds ratio (OR, 95% confidence interval), 2.29 (1.40–3.77)], underlying malignancy [3.57 (2.36–5.40)], cardiovascular disease [2.06 (1.28–3.30)], hematologic/immunologic condition [1.89 (1.05–3.39)], gastric acid suppression [2.70 (1.43–5.08)], and presence of >1 severity of illness marker [3.88 (2.44–6.19)]. CONCLUSION Patients with select chronic conditions and more severe disease are at increased risk of death. Identifying risk factors for in-hospital mortality can help detect subpopulations of children that may benefit from targeted CDI prevention and treatment strategies. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2015;36(10):1183–1189
Insulin resistance and fasting hyperinsulinemia are risk factors for new cardiovascular events in patients with prior coronary artery disease and normal glucose tolerance.

BACKGROUND Insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia are important risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD) and cardiovascular event (CVE). However, their independent relationship to new CVE in patients with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) and CAD is not known. METHODS AND RESULTS Subjects of this 3-year observational study were 102 patients with CAD. Plasma glucose and insulin concentrations were determined at 2 time points (baseline and post oral glucose tolerance test [OGTT]. The fasting plasma glucose <110 mg/dl and post-OGTT <140 mg/dl was diagnosed as NGT (World Health Organization criteria). Insulin resistance was evaluated by the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Of the 102 patients, 23 had onset of new CVE, including 19 with new CAD. They had significantly higher fasting and post-OGTT insulin levels and HOMA-IR than those without new CVE (P<0.01, 0.031 and <0.01, respectively). Using the univariate Cox proportional hazards model, fasting and post-OGTT insulin values, HOMA-IR and high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol differed significantly between the 2 groups. The multivariate Cox model showed that the effect of fasting plasma insulin and HOMA-IR remained significant and independent of HDL cholesterol. CONCLUSION Fasting hyperinsulinemia and high insulin resistance increased the risk of new CVE in patients with NGT and CAD.
High-affinity selective inhibitor against phospholipase A2 (PLA2): a computational study

Abstract Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) is the most abundant protein found in snake venom. PLA2 induces a variety of pharmacological effects such as neurotoxicity, myotoxicity and cardiotoxicity as well as anticoagulant, hemolytic, anti-platelet, hypertensive, hemorrhagic and edema inducing effects. In this study, the three dimensional structure of PLA2 of Naja sputatrix (Malayan spitting cobra) was modeled by I-TASSER, SWISS-MODEL, PRIME and MODELLER programs. The best model was selected based on overall stereo-chemical quality. Further, molecular dynamics simulation was performed to know the stability of the modeled protein using Gromacs software. Average structure was generated during the simulation period of 10 ns. High throughput virtual screening was employed through different databases (Asinex, Hit finder, Maybridge, TOSLab and ZINC databases) against PLA2. The top seven compounds were selected based on the docking score and free energy binding calculations. These compounds were analyzed by quantum polarized ligand docking, induced fit docking and density functional theory calculation. Furthermore, the stability of lead molecules in the active site of PLA2 was employed by MD simulation. The results show that selected lead molecules were highly stable in the active site of PLA2.
In Vitro Immune-Receptor Gene Rearrangemets in Clonal Thymic Lymphomas Induced by Abelson Murine Leukemia Virus

The Abelson and Moloney murine leukemia virus complex (A-MuLV/M-MuLV) induces rapidly growing thymic lymphomas following direct injection into the thymus of newborn BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. Southern blot analysis with a v-abl specific probe not only demonstrated that primary tumors are clonal, but also that the pattern of A-MuLV provirus integration is quite stable in primary tumor cells, as well as in their derived cell lines and clones. Most of the cell samples were able to rearrange the immunoglobulin heavy chain genes in culture, whereas in two cases the T cell receptor gamma chain genes also underwent rearrangement. Since the recombination mechanism is operative only in very immature lymphoid cells, these data provide indirect evidence for the lack of differentiation of A-MuLV cell targets in the thymus.
Design and serendipity in establishing a large cohort with wide dietary intake distributions : the National Institutes of Health-American Association of Retired Persons Diet and Health Study.

In 1995-1996, the authors mailed a food frequency questionnaire to 3.5 million American Association of Retired Persons members who were aged 50-69 years and who resided in one of six states or two metropolitan areas with high-quality cancer registries. In establishing a cohort of 567,169 persons (340,148 men and 227,021 women), the authors were fortunate in that a less-than-anticipated baseline response rate (threatening inadequate numbers of respondents in the intake extremes) was offset by both a shifting and a widening of the intake distributions among those who provided satisfactory data. Reported median intakes for the first and fifth intake quintiles, respectively, were 20.4 and 40.1 (men) and 20.1 and 40.0 (women) percent calories from fat, 10.3 and 32.0 (men) and 8.7 and 28.7 (women) g per day of dietary fiber, 3.1 and 11.6 (men) and 2.8 and 11.3 (women) servings per day of fruits and vegetables, and 20.7 and 156.8 (men) and 10.5 and 97.0 (women) g per day of red meat. After 5 years of follow-up, the cohort is expected to yield nearly 4,000 breast cancers, more than 10,000 prostate cancers, more than 4,000 colorectal cancers, and more than 900 pancreatic cancers. The large size and wide intake range of the cohort will provide ample power for examining a number of important diet and cancer hypotheses.
Sexual Function in Women with Epilepsy

Summary: Purpose: To examine certain aspects of sexual behaviour and attitudes in a group of women with epilepsy using a validated questionnaire (Sexuality Experience Scales), and effects of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) on sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), total testosterone (TT), and free testosterone (FT).
THE INFLUENCE OF SPECIFIC SUPPLIER DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES ON A FIRM'S COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: A CASE STUDY OF SAFARICOM LIMITED

Supplier development is any effort a buying firm expends on a supplier to increase the performance and capabilities to meet the buying firm’s own short-term or long-term supply needs and generate favorable results. This study sought to address the influence of specific supplier development practices on a firm’s competitive advantage, and the analysis of the relationships between supplier development practices and firm’s competitive advantage in the context of Kenya’s telecommunication industry in particular Safaricom Limited. A descriptive design where questionnaires were sent to respondents was adopted. An analysis of the data collected was done to determine the extent to which the specific supplier development practices influence cycle times, cost delivery and quality. The analytical solutions of supplier development practices will help reinforce the theoretical expositions of the influence of specific suppler development practices on the competitive advantage of a buying organization.
Initiation of Joint Attention is Associated with Morphometric Variation in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex of Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

In developing human children, joint attention (JA) is an important preverbal skill fundamental to the development of language. Poor JA skills have been described as a behavioral risk factor for some neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder. It has been hypothesized that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) plays an important role in the development of JA in human children. Here, we tested whether the morphometry and lateralization of the ACC differed between chimpanzees that were classified as either consistently or inconsistently engaging in JA with a human experimenter. Results showed that chimpanzees that performed poorly on the JA task had larger gray matter (GM) volumes in the ACC compared to apes that performed well on the task. In addition, both population‐level asymmetries and sex differences in the volume of GM were found within the ACC. Specifically, females had relatively larger GM volumes in two of the three subregions of the ACC compared to males, and significant leftward asymmetries were found for two of the subregions whereas a rightward bias was observed in the third. Based on these findings, we suggest that the ACC plays an important role in mediating JA, not just in humans, but also chimpanzees. We further suggest that the differences found between groups may reflect inherent differences in the amount of white matter within the ACC, thereby suggesting reduced connectivity between the ACC and other cortical regions in chimpanzees with poor JA skills. Am. J. Primatol. 75:441‐449, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Relationship Marketing in United States Professional Sport: Attitudes, Opinions, and Viewpoints of Sport Professionals

This study explored sport professionals’ viewpoints on relationship marketing in United States professional sport leagues to inform future research and affirm the legitimacy of relationship marketing in the sport industry. Professionals representing the National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer, National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, and Women’s National Basketball Association were interviewed about their familiarity with and opinion of relationship marketing, specific tactics used in their organizations, and assessment and evaluation of relationship marketing strategy. Respondents viewed relationship marketing as essential for the survival of professional sport teams and used numerous tactics to build and maintain customer relationships. Responses also indicated a need for development of measures to assess relationship marketing strategy and research into best practices in using marketing tactics to build relationships. Relationship marketing is a useful strategy in sport and professionals should be encouraged to implement relationship marketing in their organizations.
New chips stop buffer overflow attacks

Chip makers are designing a new generation of microprocessors to stop buffer overflow assaults, exploits that hackers often use to attack and extract data from PCs or servers. AMD's Athlon-64 chips for notebook and desktop computers and its Opteron processors for servers include features that provide buffer-overflow protection. Intel offers buffer-overflow protection in its Itanium chips for servers. A buffer overflow occurs when a program or process tries to store more data in a buffer than it was designed to hold. Operating systems that support the buffer-overflow prevention approach mark certain data in memory with a bit that identifies them as executable or nonexecutable. The AMD chips let users turn off the new security feature for legacy programs not written to work with the technology so that the applications can continue to function.
Deviant Customer Behavior: An Exploration of Frontline Employee Tactics

Insufficient attention has been devoted to the study of contexts in which managerial guidelines espouse customer sovereignty and yet, frontline employees experience endemic customer misbehavior. The aim of this study is to explore how frontline employees manage interactions with poorly behaved customers. The objective is to supply insights into the reality of frontline service and respond to a number of calls for research into the "darker" side of service. Analysis of interviews with frontline employees and managers reveals 15 main forms of coping tactics. The paper culminates with a discussion of the potential implications of the study for theory and practice.
Opportunities for marketing travel services to new‐age elderly

Based on Schiffman and Sherman’s conceptual model of the new‐age elderly this article constructs a measure that identifies this segment of elderly in terms of their value orientation. The findings show that older consumers’ value orientations are an effective segmentation approach; one that is superior for partitioning the market for services like leisure travel than the traditional age‐based segmentation approach. Marketing strategy implications of the findings are also discussed.
Attributes of Adopters and the Diffusion of Benchmarking

To take advantage of the most recent advances, organisations may need to proceed with the adoption of benchmarking. However, the extant literature suggests that benchmarking is not widely adopted by many organisations. Contributing to the literature, current study is aiming to improve our understanding about the diffusion of benchmarking by exploring the impacts of attributes of adopters on the diffusion of benchmarking in organisations in Australia. Surveying Australian CIMA members, this study identifies 12 organisational factors which can influence the diffusion of benchmarking in practice.