Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The implementation of lean manufacturing in the UK food and drink industry

The structure of the food and drink market in the UK is characterised today by the emergence of major retailers and their own brands and bigger store sizes, greater retailer concentrations, an increasing demand for one-stop shopping, an improved retailer access to information via the Electronic Point of Sale (EPoS), the introduction of loyalty cards and a massive proliferation of choices have caused the shift of power balance from the food and drink industry to the retailer's side in the UK. Most of the food manufacturers have to do business with powerful retailers who demand a wide range of products, short delivery times, frequent deliveries and regular price reductions. In this scenario, it is important for the food and drink industry that there be a mechanism in place that enables it to learn continuously and develop 'world-class practices'. Lean manufacturing has been widely used in the discrete industry as an operational improvement initiative, but nobody has systematically investigated the applicability of lean principles and practices to the food and drink industry. This paper has made an attempt to examine the leanness of six UK food and drink companies and identify the key inhibitors and enablers of lean manufacturing. A multiple case study approach has been used for this purpose.
Proposal : Delimiting species within deep-sea corals impacted by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill was one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. Approximately 800 million liters of crude oil were released into the deep Gulf of Mexico over a 3-month period. This oil combined with 7 million liters of chemical dispersants deployed in surface waters resulted in a cascade of negative impacts to coastal, pelagic, and benthic communities. Among the communities impacted included deepwater coral communities. In the vicinity of the wellhead, numerous deepwater coral colonies were found to be either deceased or were exhibiting signs of stress. Species within the octocoral genus Paramuricea were among the most abundant deepwater corals impacted. Similar to corals in shallow waters, Paramuricea spp. provide habitat for a diversity of other animals. In fact, these corals are some of the most important foundation species inhabiting deep waters throughout the North Atlantic Ocean. Yet, we cannot clearly distinguish among Paramuricea spp. ; thus, we presently do not know how many species were impacted by the oil spill. Because of our lack of knowledge of species boundaries, we also do not know the degree of endemism or whether populations expand outside of the Gulf of Mexico. These are critical data for ongoing management and restoration efforts to better understand the recovery potential of species impacted by the spill. In this project, we will use restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (RADSeq) to delimit species of Paramuricea collected from the Gulf of Mexico and throughout the broader North Atlantic Ocean. RADSeq is a relatively new method that uses next-generation Illumina Sequencing and bioinformatics to find single nucleotide polymorphisms among samples. A next-generation sequencing approach is necessary to resolve species boundaries within the genus Paramuricea. During this project, the summer research student will use a multidisciplinary approach to address research objectives. The student will learn a variety of techniques, including taxonomy, molecular methods, and bioinformatics, while contributing to better informed management decisions of vulnerable, deepsea species. Start Date and Location This project will start June 27, 2016 and will continue for 10 weeks. Research will take place at Harvey Mudd College, in the Olin Science Center.
Appropriateness of referral of coronary angiography patients in Sweden

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the appropriateness of referral following coronary angiography in Sweden. DESIGN Prospective survey and review of medical records. PATIENTS Consecutive series of 2767 patients who underwent coronary angiography in Sweden between May 1994 and January 1995 and were considered for coronary revascularisation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Percentage of patients referred for coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) for indications that were judged necessary, appropriate, uncertain, and inappropriate by a multispecialty Swedish national expert panel using the RAND/University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) appropriateness method, and the percentage of patients referred for continued medical management who met necessity criteria for revascularisation. RESULTS Half the patients were referred for CABG, 25% for PTCA, and 25% for continued medical therapy. CABG was judged appropriate or necessary for 78% of patients, uncertain for 12% and inappropriate for 10%. For PTCA the figures were 32%, 30% and 38%, respectively. Two factors contributed to the high inappropriate rate. Many of these patients did not have “significant” coronary artery disease (although all had at least one stenosis > 50%) or they were treated with less than “optimal” medical therapy. While 96% of patients who met necessity criteria for revascularisation were appropriately referred for revascularisation, 4% were referred for continued medical therapy. CONCLUSIONS Using the RAND/UCLA appropriateness method and the definitions agreed to by the expert panel, which may be considered conservative today, it was found that 19% of Swedish patients were referred for coronary revascularisation judged inappropriate. Since some cardiovascular procedures evolve rapidly, the proportion of patients referred for inappropriate indications today remains unknown. Nevertheless, physicians should actively identify those patients who will and will not benefit from coronary revascularisation and ensure that they are appropriately treated.
Entrepreneurs Seeking Gains: Profit Motives and Risk Aversion in Inventors’ Commercialization Decisions

Direct evidence has been lacking on entrepreneurs response to individual-specific opportunities, and recent work suggests that entrepreneurship may be a non-profit-seeking activity and that entrepreneurs evaluate risk oddly. We model heterogeneous inventors and inventions, outside opportunities, sunk and nonsunk costs, and risk, to guide data analysis. We use assessment data from a center paid to assess the inventions economic potential. Inventors choices whether to commercialize their inventions and later whether to remain in production were consistent with profit-seeking motives and risk aversion.
Velocity detection based on dark channel prior and camera fixed in the middle of road

A monocular system fixed in the middle of road for vehicle’s velocity detection within all weather conditions based on dark channel prior in fog is presented in this paper. It is divided into four major steps. Firstly, current traffic video frame will be recognised by weather recognition system based on K-NN algorithm. Secondly, vehicles will be extracted by background difference technology and tracked by camshift algorithm. Initial points for camshift algorithm are block’s centres. Thirdly, traffic lane location will be detected, saved and updated; scene distance reference (SDR) image in homogeneous fog weather will be got based on dark channel prior. Finally, vehicle’s velocity in all weather condition will be calculated. In experiment period, velocity data for nine vehicles which stand for three classic weather conditions are listed in the form of graphic and table. Experimental results verify the effectiveness of our algorithm.
Goal orientation and its relationship to the business family, and family business performance, within the UK’s family owned and managed mid-sized businesses

Mid-Sized Businesses (MSBs) are defined by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) as having a sales turnover of between £25 million and £500 million. A key gap in family firm/business research and literature to date is, understanding the role and importance of non-financial objectives (such as family harmony, tradition and business longevity), and the role the family plays in creating a wide set of business performance objectives (both financial and non-financial) in these businesses. This dissertation contributes to filling this knowledge gap by drawing on Family Systems Theory applied in a business context, and within an overarching Resource Based View (RBV) of the firm.
Multi-band notch antenna concept with discrete capacitors

This paper presents a new approach for designing a compact, wideband and multi-band notch antenna by implementing discrete capacitors and a suspended-line feeding. The proposed antenna covers the bands 1.56-2.58GHz and 5.18-5.44GHz with a minimum of about 50% total efficiency and 0dBi realized gain over both bands. Wireless standards as DCS-1800, IMT-2000, WiFi a/b/g/n and LTE (7 and 38 bands) are all covered efficiently.
Knowledge and health seeking behavior for malaria among the local inhabitants in an endemic area of Ethiopia: implications for control

This cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the knowledge and health seeking behavior for malaria among the local inhabitants in an endemic area of Ethiopia: Implications for control. 98.6% and 80.7% of respondents had awareness about malaria and the cause (‘mosquito bite’) of malaria, respectively. 186 (81.6%) respondents seek treatment for a febrile disease from health care facilities. Chi-square analysis revealed a strong association between the edu- cational status of respondents and the measures they take to prevent malaria (Х2 = 58.7; df = 16; p < 0.001). The findings clearly suggest that the majority of the respondents had adequate knowledge and enviable health seeking behaviour. However, still a sizable faction had misconception and undesirable health seeking behaviour. It’s a major barrier to implement effective malaria control strategies in the resource- limited settings particularly in country like Ethiopia. In this context, appropriate communication strategies apparently inevitable. Therefore, appropriate communication strategies should be designed to promote the knowledge and health seeking behaviour of vulnerable section of the society in this vicinity.
The Information Overload Controversy: An Alternative Viewpoint

This paper reviews the information overload controversy and presents a methodology for investigating the effects of information load on consumer decision making performance. The proposed framework enables the statistical testing of specific hypotheses and can incorporate several extensions and refinements. The methodology is illustrated by re-analyzing the published data of previous studies; some interesting findings emerge from the analysis. The paper concludes with some public policy and managerial implications of the consumer information overload concept.
Convenient and versatile subcellular extraction procedure, that facilitates classical protein expression profiling and functional protein analysis

Standardized sample preparation to reduce proteome complexity facilitates subsequent proteome analysis. Here we describe a robust sequential extraction method that enables simple fractionation of proteins in their native state according to their subcellular localization, yielding four subproteomes enriched in (a) cytosolic; (b) membrane and membrane organelle‐localized; (c) soluble and DNA‐associated nuclear and (d) cytoskeletal proteins. Efficiency and selectivity is demonstrated by morphological‐, two‐dimensional electrophoresis image‐, immunological‐ as well as enzymatic‐analysis. In pilot studies, subcellular redistribution of regulatory proteins was successfully measured.
CEO Power and SEC Prompted Restatements

We rely on governance theory summarized in Adams, Hermalin, and Weisbach (2010) and Bushman (2009) which suggests that corporate governance characteristics may be endogenous. This differs from past research that links governance to fraud (i.e., Farber 2005) and assumes corporate governance is exogenous. According to Weisbach et al. 2010, the exogenous parameters explaining corporate governance relate to management (CEO) power characteristics negotiated by management with the board of directors. Consistent with their theory, we first find that firms with restatements prompted by the SEC tend to have strong CEOs. Second, we find that firms prompted by the SEC to restate, take actions to decrease CEO power through the termination of strong CEOs and the separation of the CEO and chairman roles. Ours is the first study to provide insight into the significance of regulatory (SEC) monitoring as opposed to other more voluntary monitors such as the board of directors or auditor. Our results suggest that the SEC provides a valuable monitoring function because it not only identifies misstatements that might otherwise go unrestated, but also its monitoring function is associated with improved governance.
Outperforming Word2Vec on Analogy Tasks with Random Projections

We present a distributed vector representation based on a simplification of the BEAGLE system, designed in the context of the Sigma cognitive architecture. Our method does not require gradient-based training of neural networks, matrix decompositions as with LSA, or convolutions as with BEAGLE. All that is involved is a sum of random vectors and their pointwise products. Despite the simplicity of this technique, it gives state-of-the-art results on analogy problems, in most cases better than Word2Vec. To explain this success, we interpret it as a dimension reduction via random projection.
Arabidopsis HY 1-Modulated Stomatal Movement : An Integrative Hub Is Functionally Associated with ABI 4 in Dehydration-Induced ABA Responsiveness 1

Heme oxygenase (HO; EC 1.14.99.3) has recently been proposed as a novel component in mediating wide ranges of the plant adaptive signaling processes. However, the physiological significance and molecular basis underlying Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) HO1 (HY1) functioning in drought tolerance remained unclear. Here, we report that mutation of HY1 promoted, but overexpression of this gene impaired, Arabidopsis drought tolerance. This was attributed to the abscisic acid (ABA)hypersensitive or -hyposensitive phenotypes, with the regulation of stomatal closure in particular. However, comparative transcriptomic profile analysis showed that the induction of numerous ABA/stress-dependent genes in dehydrated wild-type plants was differentially impaired in the hy1 mutant. In agreement, ABA-induced ABSCISIC ACID-INSENSITIVE4 (ABI4) transcript accumulation was strengthened in the hy1 mutant. Genetic analysis further identified that the hy1-associated ABA hypersensitivity and drought tolerance were arrested in the abi4 background. Moreover, the promotion of ABA-triggered upregulation of RbohD abundance and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in the hy1 mutant was almost fully blocked by the mutation of ABI4, suggesting that the HY1-ABI4 signaling in the wild type involved in stomatal closure was dependent on the RbohD-derived ROS production. However, hy1-promoted stomatal closure was not affected by a nitric oxide scavenger. Correspondingly, ABA-insensitive behaviors in rbohD stomata were not affected by either the mutation of HY1 or its ectopic expression in the rbohD background, both of which responded significantly to exogenous ROS. These data indicate that HY1 functioned negatively and acted upstream of ABI4 in drought signaling, which was casually dependent on the RbohD-derived ROS in the regulation of stomatal closure.
AN ANALYSIS OF THE AGENCY PERSPECTIVE ON TAX AVOIDANCE AND FIRM VALUE UNDER DIFFERENT CORPORATE GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES: THE CASE OF FIRMS IN THE PHILIPPINE STOCK EXCHANGE

Low tax effort has been a persistent fiscal problem in the Philippines, despite major tax reforms, partly attributable to tax avoidance. However, it is largely ignored in the literature because it is perceived as an inevitable consequence of the taxation game, arising from supposedly conflicting objectives between the government trying to maximize tax revenues and the taxpayers wishing to minimize tax liabilities and preserve firm value. Results from a System GMM Dynamic Linear Panel Data Estimation on a unique panel dataset from frequently-traded firms in the Philippine Stock Exchange, however, show that corporate tax avoidance may, at best, have no effect, and at worst, actually increase stock price crash risk and erode firm value, contrary to intuition. We posit that this may be explained by principal-agent problems inherent in corporations. Corporate tax avoidance, with its natural complexity, heightens information asymmetry that allows for managerial opportunism in the form of rent extraction and bad news hoarding, eroding firm value and increasing stock price crash risk. Furthermore, we examine whether the modified incentives arising from different corporate governance structures affect this relationship. We find that the destabilizing effect of tax aggressiveness on stock prices is pronounced in family- and group-affiliated firms, and that corporate governance structure does not affect the relationship of tax avoidance and long-term firm value. The findings imply that the aforementioned conflict between taxpayers and the government is non-existent, and that the corporate governance structure can play a role in minimizing stock price crash risk, allowing for various implications for tax policy.
Intraday Return Predictability, Informed Limit Orders, and Algorithmic Trading

I study the strategic choice of informed traders for market vs. limit orders by analyzing the informational content of the limit order book. In particular, I examine intraday return predictability from market and limit orders for all NYSE stocks over 2002-2010, distinguishing between two sources of predictability: inventory management and information. In contrast to the traditional view in the literature, I find that informed limit (not market) orders are the dominant source of intraday return predictability. The findings further indicate that the advent of algorithmic trading is associated with more informed trading, especially through market orders. Overall, my evidence emphasizes the role of limit orders in informed trading, which has implications for theory, investors, and widely used measures of informed trading.
Factors contributing farmers' persistence in farming career: Grounded theory study

In the recent perspective of Thai peoples, it is a career of hardship while many farmers turn to do other secure occupation. Presently, it found that the overall portion of farmers in Thailand is dramatically decreased. However, in some areas, its portion is increased, especially in Si Sa Ket province where is one of the six provinces in the northeast Thailand with the rising trend of such. The thesis question, after farmers entranced into farming as an occupation, what factors contributing to persistence in farming career; Si Sa Ket province is chosen to be the study area. This study starting by using a rapid rural appraisal technique for selecting 4 villages under different economic level as represent the study site. The grounded theory study method for data collection and analysis. This study found grounded theory that, the causes why farm household (FHH) still remain in farming career—whether who doing only farming as a full-time career or only one career, who doing farming coupled with other employed or non-employed occupation—they are all caused following factors: (a) in respect of individuality: most age is in the middle-to-old range, they are not highly education level, and they are skilled in farming, (b) in respect of family: gratitude to the parent or ascendants and the family tie, marriage to one who descendant farming family, owning the farmland or inheriting it from parent or ancestors, earning income from farming that is sufficient to their FHH living, earning income from other careers that support farming and living of the FHH, and having budget and being able to access to source of financing for farming, (c) in respect of social: having the marketing place for selling farm products, having neighbors who do similar farming activity, owning enough manpower or machine in farming or being able to hire others, having public infrastructures convenient: electricity and communication and transportation, and (d) in respect of agriculture resources: having farmland that is suitable for farming, having water resources for farming throughout the year. Therefore, to promote farmer contributing to persistence in farming career, the concerned authority should launch the policy ponder based on the state of the factors above mentioned. However, this finding is grounded theory, so that, before the promotion project was actually an implementation to farmer should be understanding the details of the factors contributing farmers’ persistence in farming career that is suitable for socio-economic contexts of each target area.
Does financial and business performance affect market share?—a case of non-life insurance industry in Taiwan

Abstract This research takes non-life insurance Industry In Taiwan as an example, using factor analysis and regression analysis to discuss whether financial and business performance would affect companies’ market share. The main results have two parts: First, factor analysis is used to extract four financial and business indices which are named as: whole operation, investment ability, underwriting quality and business (sales) ability, and the factor scores are calculated. The second part is based on the factor scores, using regression analysis to discover which indicators affect companies’ market share. From the analysis results, we find out the different effects of indices between companies that under financial-holding system and non-financial-holding system. The whole operation and investment ability of companies under financial-holding system have significant effects on their market share. For non-financial-holding system, the effects are significant on the whole operation and underwriting quality. However, business ability has no significant effects in both systems.
Maximum Power Point Tracking Control of PV System for DC Motors Drive with Neural Network

This paper presents an application of a Neural Network(NN) for Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) of PV supplied DC motor. A variation of solar irradiation is most important factor in the MPPT of PV system. That is nonlinear, aperiodic and complicated. NN was widely used due to easily solving a complex math problem. The paper consists of solar radiation source, DC-DC converter, DC motor and load(cf, pump). NN algorithm apply to DC-DC converter through an Adaptive control of Neural Network, calculates Converter-Chopping ratio using an Adaptive control of NN. The results of an Adaptive control of NN compared with the results of Converter-Chopping ratio which are calculated mathematical modeling and evaluate the proposed algorithm. The experimental data show that an adequacy of the algorithm was established through the compared data.
iDianNao: An orange technology that recommends volunteer opportunities to older adults

Along with the recent development of orange technology, there is a growing concern for the well being of the elderly. A growing body of research suggests that older people who are engaged in social and community activities maintain mental and physical health longer than other older adults. Volunteer activities are one way of remaining socially active for the elderly. On the other hand, older volunteers can provide valuable, needed services for communities and organizations.