Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Multiple-site Acquisitions on Corporate Growth Patterns of International Terminal Operators

This paper deals with multiple-site acquisitions by international terminal operators (ITOs). A multiple-site acquisition is an external growth strategy focusing on the simultaneous take-over of an entire terminal portfolio as part of a unique transaction. The paper presents a theoretical framework about how spatial and temporal dimensions of foreign expansion are influenced by these multiple-site acquisitions. It also analyses the impact of multiple acquisitions on the sustainable growth of firms by focusing on the transaction package problem, the locational diversity problem and the irregular growth path problem. The proposed theoretical arguments are illustrated and supported by an analysis of a comprehensive global terminal-specific dataset related to the 1997-2010 period, and case studies on strategic market entry behaviour of two major ITOs.
Integrating bottom-up and top-down processes for accurate pedestrian counting

This paper presents a novel method for pedestrian counting in surveillance videos, which localizes and tracks the head-shoulders of pedestrians via the integrated bottom-up/top-down processes. In the bottom-up stage, we extract and match informative local image features crossing frames to obtain the initial moving regions (i.e. potential pedestrians). The top-down stage comprises two steps: (i) head-shoulder verification via a part-based classifier and (ii) head-shoulder tracking guided by the motion and appearance consistency. Moreover, the geometric context of the camera is employed to effective narrow the searching space of inference. We apply the method with the challenging videos and outperform the state-of-the-arts approach.
Osteosarcoma in adolescents and adults: survival analysis with and without lung metastases.

BACKGROUND Survival data are still limited and controversial about adult patients with osteosarcoma as older group of patients has mostly been excluded from the historical trials. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with osteosarcoma, from 1986 to 2003, in a single center, were reviewed. Survival according to a cutoff age of 40 was studied. Patients with lung metastases were identified. Variables at first lung involvement including time to first lung metastases, multiplicity and size of the metastatic lesions and use of chemotherapy were all analyzed. RESULTS A total of 247 patients, with age range of 14-77 years, were reviewed. Five-year survival is 66% with no difference between patients <40 or >or=40 years. Eighty-five patients, with either synchronous or metachronous lung involvement, have 3-year postlung metastases survival (PLMS) of 30%. Forty-seven patients (55.3%) underwent lung resection with 3-year PLMS of 38% compared with 16% for nonoperated patients (P = 0.00023). Patients who developed lung metastases within a year and have fewer than four lung lesions have better PLMS (P < 0.0001 for both). CONCLUSIONS Older patients have identical survival to pediatric population and should have a similar management approach. Complete metastectomy is the key issue for prolonged survival. Time to lung metastases and number of lung lesions are the most important prognostic factors.
AFR1 acts in conjunction with the alpha-factor receptor to promote morphogenesis and adaptation

Mating pheromone receptors activate a G-protein signaling pathway that induces changes in transcription, cell division, and morphogenesis needed for the conjunction of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The C terminus of the alpha-factor pheromone receptor functions in two complex processes, adaptation and morphogenesis. Adaptation to alpha-factor may occur through receptor desensitization, and alpha-factor-induced morphogenesis forms the conjugation bridge between mating cells. A plasmid overexpression strategy was used to isolate a new gene, AFR1, which acts together with the receptor C terminus to promote adaptation. The expression of AFR1 was highly induced by alpha-factor. Unexpectedly, cells lacking AFR1 showed a defect in alpha-factor-stimulated morphogenesis that was similar to the morphogenesis defect observed in cells producing C-terminally truncated alpha-factor receptors. In contrast, AFR1 overexpression resulted in longer projections of morphogenesis, which suggests that this gene may directly stimulate morphogenesis. These results indicate that AFR1 encodes a developmentally regulated function that coordinates both the regulation of receptor signaling and the induction of morphogenesis during conjugation.
Light Extraction Efficiency Enhancement of Deep-Ultraviolet Light-Emitting Diodes with Nanostructured Silica Glass

We proposed a novel method through introducing antireflective nanostructures on the surface of silica glass in the packaging process to enhance the light extraction efficiency (LEE) of deep-ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (DUV-LEDs). Optical simulations were conducted by rigorous coupled-waved analysis (RCWA) method, and the effect of geometry and dimension of the nanostructures on the transmittance improvement of the silica glass in a UV spectral range was investigated. By utilizing moth-eye nanostructures with feature sizes of 100 nm, the average reflectance of 0.44 % is achieved in the UV range. The nanostructures were fabricated by rapid thermal annealing and additional dry etching. The experimental results demonstrate that the LEE of DUV-LEDs packaged by the dual-side nanostructured glass increases by 8.6 % compared with that the flat glass packaged DUV-LEDs at driving current of 50 mA.
The Weight of the Metric: Performance Funding and the Retention of Historically Underserved Students

ABSTRACT Performance funding policies allocate state appropriations to public institutions based in part on retention and completion outcomes, and equity metrics allocate additional funding for graduating historically underserved students. Through interviews of 52 college administrators and state policymakers, I explore campus responses to performance funding equity metrics at five 4-year institutions with varying missions in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Findings suggest that equity metrics prompted institutions to develop mentoring programs for students of color, increase faculty advising, and create more targeted scholarships for lower-income students. However, the policy led to higher admissions standards at one access-oriented institution, and efforts to recruit more academically qualified students at all institutions, indicative of actions unintended by the policy designers. These actions could lead to increased stratification, where underrepresented students are disproportionally enrolled at less selective colleges. Performance metrics to incentivize the retention of underrepresented students do not appear to fully mitigate institutional attempts to increase selectivity.
Spatial modeling of the traffic density in cellular networks

Modeling and simulation of a cellular network typically assumes that the target area is divided into regular hexagonal cells and mobile stations (MSs) are uniformly scattered in each cell. This implies a statistically uniform distribution of traffic load over space, but in reality the spatial traffic distribution is highly non-uniform across different cells, which calls for actual spatial traffic models. In this article, we first present the analysis of traffic measurements collected from commercial cellular networks in China, and demonstrate that the spatial distribution of the traffic density (the traffic load per unit area) can be approximated by the log-normal or Weibull distribution depending on time and space. Then we propose a spatial traffic model which generates large-scale spatial traffic variations by a sum of sinusoids that captures the characteristics of log-normally distributed and spatially correlated cellular traffic. The proposed model can be directly used to generate realistic spatial traffic patterns for cellular network simulations, such as performance evaluations of network planning and load balancing.
Psychological and Behavioral Responses to Genetic Test Results Indicating Increased Risk of Obesity: Does the Causal Pathway from Gene to Obesity Matter?

Background: Common obesity-associated genetic variants may exert their effects through increasing eating or decreasing metabolism. Such differences might influence individual responses to obesity genetic test results.Methods: This was an experimental analogue study: 191 participants were asked to imagine they had received a genetic test result indicating high eating-based (n = 37) or high metabolism-based (n = 41) risk of obesity, an enzyme test result indicating high eating-based (n = 35) or high metabolism-based (n = 41) risk of obesity, or no risk information (n = 37). Outcomes included perceived risk, self-efficacy (confidence in ability to eat healthily), response-efficacy (confidence that eating healthily will reduce risk), and intention to eat healthily. Results: The groups receiving increased obesity risk information reported greater perceived risk and intention to eat healthily than the no risk information group (both p < 0.01). There were main effects of test type on perceived risk (genetic vs. enzyme: 3.91 vs. 3.55, p = 0.031) and of causal pathway on worry (eating vs. metabolism: 3.33 vs. 2.86, p = 0.049), but no effects of either manipulation on any other outcomes. Conclusion: Personal risk information indicating increased obesity risk may increase motivation to eat healthily, regardless of whether the risk is described as genetic or non-genetic or as acting through an eating-based or metabolism-based causal pathway.
Control of a rehabilitation robotic exoskeleton based on intentional reaching direction

An upper limb robotic exoskeleton of three degrees of freedom (DOF) is designed for the patients who survived stroke and the elderly who have not enough strength to move their limbs freely. Particular attention is paid to the realization of a intention-driven robotic control approach, by which the robotic exoskeleton can assist the user moving his/her arm freely to where he/she intends to go. A force sensing system made of multiple force sensing resisters (FSRs) is embedded in the robotic exoskeleton. A static force model of the upper limb in a relaxed state is obtained when the user wears the exoskeleton. A hybrid model is proposed to describe the behavior modes of human upper limb motion. Filtering technology is designed to infer the intended moving direction of upper limb based on the measured force information and the static force model. The motion intention of user's upper limb can be online estimated using the filter and a mode transition detector. Guided by the inferred intention, an admittance control strategy is assumed to control the motors of each DOF. The effectiveness of proposed robotic system and control approaches is evaluated by experiments.
Demand chain management: a Swedish industrial case study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of demand chain management (DCM) by investigating how it has been structured and executed in an international manufacturing company.Design/methodology/approach – The main emphasis has been on producing descriptive results and the applied research strategy has been an embedded single case study. The case organization originates from Sweden, but it has significant international presence. Empirical data have been collected mainly from in‐depth interviews with key persons representing senior management in the case company.Findings – This research shows that DCM is about developing synergies between the demand creation and the demand fulfillment processes. A completely implemented DCM approach should incorporate all the major demand creation and fulfillment processes. This kind of fully implemented approach probably does not exist in real life today but some companies have started to develop versions including some of the major processes, and.
Compact Doherty Power Amplifier Design for 2  $\times$ 2 Multiple-Input Multiple-Output System

A triple-transistor Doherty power amplifier (PA) architecture that supports two identical input and output signals is investigated. Two peaking PAs and a single carrier PA are arranged to operate at high and low power regions. This structure can be used in 2 × 2 multiple-input multiple-output transceiver. Compared with classic configuration that needs four transistors to realize the same functionality, the proposed design greatly reduces the overall circuit size and cost. Theoretical analysis is given for deep understanding of the operational principle regarding this novel Doherty PA. To validate the effectiveness, a prototype PA corresponding to the proposed architecture is implemented based on Cree's gallium nitride high electron mobility transistor transistors. Experimental results demonstrate very high drain efficiencies at both saturation and back-off regions.
The Meiosis-specific Protein Kinase Ime2 Directs Phosphorylation of Replication Protein A*

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the cellular single-stranded DNA-binding protein replication protein A (RPA) becomes phosphorylated during meiosis in two discrete reactions. The primary reaction is first observed shortly after cells enter the meiotic program and leads to phosphorylation of nearly all the detectable RPA. The secondary reaction, which requires the ATM/ATR homologue Mec1, is induced upon initiation of recombination and only modifies a fraction of the total RPA. We now report that correct timing of both RPA phosphorylation reactions requires Ime2, a meiosis-specific protein kinase that is critical for proper initiation of meiotic progression. Expression of Ime2 in vegetative cells leads to an unscheduled RPA phosphorylation reaction that does not require other tested meiosis-specific kinases and is distinct from the RPA phosphorylation reaction that normally occurs during mitotic growth. In addition, immunoprecipitated Ime2 catalyzes phosphorylation of purified RPA. Our data strongly suggest that Ime2 is an RPA kinase in vivo. We propose that Ime2 directly catalyzes RPA phosphorylation in the primary reaction and indirectly promotes the Mec1-dependent secondary reaction by advancing cells through meiotic progression. Our studies have identified a novel meiosis-specific reaction that targets a key protein required for DNA replication, repair, and recombination. This pathway could be important in differentiating mitotic and meiotic DNA metabolism.
Large‐scale Pyrosequencing of synthetic DNA: A comparison with results from Sanger dideoxy sequencing

Pyrosequencing is a relatively recent method for sequencing short stretches of DNA. Because both Pyrosequencing and Sanger dideoxy sequencing were recently used to characterize and validate DNA molecular barcodes in a large yeast gene‐deletion project, a meta‐analysis of those data allow an excellent and timely opportunity for evaluating Pyrosequencing against the current gold standard, Sanger dideoxy sequencing. Starting with yeast genomic DNA, parallel PCR amplification methods were used to prepared 4747 short barcode‐containing constructs from 6000 Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene‐deletion strains. Pyrosequencing was optimized for average read lengths of 25–30 bases, which included in each case a 20‐mer barcode sequence. Results were compared with sequence data obtained by the standard Sanger dideoxy chain termination method. In most cases, sequences obtained by Pyrosequencing and Sanger dideoxy sequencing were of comparable accuracy, and the overall rate of failure was similar. The DNA in the barcodes is derived from synthetic oligonucleotide sequences that were inserted into yeast‐deletion‐strain genomic DNA by homologous recombination and represents the most significant amount of DNA from a synthetic source that has been sequenced to date. Although more automation and quality control measures are needed, Pyrosequencing was shown to be a fast and convenient method for determining short stretches of DNA sequence.
When Equity Returns Are Different from Discount Rates: Why PEG Based DCF Valuation is Flawed

This paper elaborates the DCF theory behind the PEG based valuation adopted by some market practitioners and shows why the model is theoretically flawed. The PEG Model of valuation averts the problems associated with the conventional DCF Models like need for terminal value assumptions which makes the DCF valuation highly sensitive and subjective. But in the process, the resulting PEG model makes certain growth assumptions that may not be in sync with reality. These assumptions makes the valuation highly dependent on Return on Equity but disconnects the equity return from discount rate used for valuation when the model is extended to subsequent years with different EPS estimates. Unlike conventional DCF Valuation, the required return on equity will not be same as cost of equity in the case of PEG Valuation Model. The model is highly sensitive to discount rate and seriously distorts the value when discount rate changes. Similarly, the model changes the growth assumptions every year even when return on equity is constant unlike the conventional DCF valuation models. If the PEG model is used for valuing a firm with 10% discount rate and 100% retention ratio, then the PEG (Price-Earnings-Growth) Ratio becomes constant at 1. This could be the rationale behind the market practioners using PEG ratio. However, the ratio changes when the retention ratio less than one or when cost of equity is not 10%. This paper derives the PEG Model of valuation using PVGO (Present Value of Growth Opportunities) methodology and shows the inherent flaws in the model with detailed illustrations.
The Mediating Explanation of the Refund Depth's Effect

This study thinks the strategy of high refund depth is not always valid for consumers. By creating two mediators of retailer’s loss and consumers’ expected refund excess, this study demonstrates two inverse effects of refund depth on believability of the lowest price. Specifically, retailer’s loss can mediate a positive relationship between refund depth and believability of the lowest price; inversely, consumers’ expected refund excess can mediate a negative relationship between them.
Offline/online brand element transmutation and tangible/intangible product characteristics within various South African retail brand categories: An exploratory study

The aim of this study is firstly to investigate if offline/online brand transmutation (uniform/non-uniform) patterns are particular to certain retail categories. Secondly, to determine if product characteristics (tangibility/intangibility; high cost, low frequency/low cost, high frequency; high potential for differentiation/low potential for differentiation) and brand transmutation is dependent or independent. Thirdly, given a particular product characteristic and brand transmutation is dependent, to establish the significance of the dependence effect. Two hundred and eleven South African retailers, divided into sixteen categories were surveyed. Structured observation was used as data collection method and surveyed data was analysed using quantitative methods, namely classification tree analysis and the Fisher exact test supported by the log linear model. The results in the first instance indicated with very strong statistical significance that uniform/nonuniform brand transmutation is retail category specific. Secondly, at a five percent level of significance that the factors product characteristic tangibility/intangibility and uniform/non-uniform brand transmutation are dependent. Thirdly, at a one percent significance level, that different factor effects are of relative importance. The product characteristic tangibility/intangibility is the most important factor in offline/online brand element transmutation. Brand element transmutation is more important than the effect of the two factors. However, the factors and the effects are of high statistical significance and play a role in offline/online brand element uniformity/non-uniformity. The implication of this result is that products with tangible characteristics should be uniform offline and online, and commensurately products with intangible characteristics should be non-uniform offline and online. This may be explained by the inherent unsuitability of the Internet as distribution channel for tangible products and thus the risk reduction exercise in keeping the brand uniform offline/online.
Phagocytosis, killing, lymphocyte-mediated antibacterial activity, serum autoantibodies, and plasma endotoxins in inflammatory bowel disease

OBJECTIVE:Alteration of mucosal and systemic immune responses may play an important role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of this study was to evaluate natural immune responses (i.e., phagocytosis, killing, and antibacterial activity), serum autoantibodies (antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies [ANCA] and antilactoferrin [LF] antibodies), and plasma endotoxins in patients affected by ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). METHODS:Blood samples were obtained from 71 patients with UC, 32 patients with CD, and 32 control subjects. Disease activity was scored using Truelove's criteria in patients with UC and the Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI) in patients with CD. Candida albicans served as a target for evaluation of phagocytosis and killing exerted by polymorphonuclear cells (PMN) and monocytes (MØ), whereas Salmonella typhi was used for assessing lymphocyte-mediated antibacterial activity. ANCA were detected by indirect immunofluorescence, whereas anti-LF antibodies were assayed by means of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Plasma endotoxins were measured by Limulus amoebocyte lysate assay.RESULTS:Phagocytosis and killing exerted by PMN and MØ, as well as lymphocyte-mediated antibacterial activity, were significantly reduced (p < 0.0001) in patients affected by UC and CD in comparison with controls, irrespective of either disease activity or treatment. Plasma endotoxins were detected in 12/71 (17%) patients with UC, and in 10/32 (31%) patients with CD. ANCA were present in 42/71 (59%) patients with UC and in 3/32 (9%) patients with CD, whereas anti-LF antibodies were detected in 31 (44%) UC patients and in six (19%) CD patients. No significant differences in phagocytosis and killing exerted by PMN were found between ANCA-positive and ANCA-negative UC patients.CONCLUSIONS:Our data demonstrate an impairment of natural immunity exerted by peripheral blood phagocytes and lymphocytes in patients with UC and CD. ANCA and anti-LF antibodies were present mainly in UC patients but their presence did not affect PMN-mediated phagocytosis and killing. Finally, plasma endotoxins may contribute to the chronic inflammatory status, likely by inducing release of proinflammatory mediators.
The spillover effects of United States foreign trade zones

ABSTRACT This article empirically tests the geographic and economic spillover effects of foreign trade zones (FTZs) in the United States by utilizing propensity score matching and the geographic rules of the programme. While these FTZ sites are designed to support manufacturing, we find that ZIP codes that receive FTZ sites experience growth in new and existing non-manufacturing establishments. Our results also show that FTZs spillover into nearby ZIP codes. We find that ZIP codes that border FTZ ZIP codes also experience positive effects on non-manufacturing establishments and these spillovers are strongest within a 5-mile radius of an FTZ.