Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A multidimensional and hierarchical model of integrated service quality for the internet golf stores

Due to severe competition and sophisticated consumer expectations relating to integrated service quality in the Internet golf store business, it is important not only to understand how consumers evaluate integrated service processes, but also to identify the critical sub-factors and primary dimensions with which to measure integrated service quality in the Internet golf store business. Due to the different nature of the Internet golf store business, as compared to the traditional business, a unique integrated service quality concept and measurement model adapted to the Internet golf stores was developed, based on a broad literature review and focus interview. This study also examined the causal relationships between integrated service quality, price, consumer satisfaction, and internet searching and/or purchasing intention on the Internet golf stores. In the proposed models, integrated service quality consists of three primary dimensions (i.e., service quality, information quality, and system quality). Each of the primary dimensions is defined by several corresponding sub-dimensions in this study: (1) service quality defined by website design, reliability, responsiveness, empathy, availability, and transaction security; (2) information quality defined by product information, additional information, business policy information, and entertainment of information; and (3) system quality defined by ease of use, speed of access, and interactivity. The major findings included: (1) the proposed theoretical framework of integrated service quality for the Internet golf stores was confirmed; (2) all proposed measurement models for service quality, information quality, system quality, and integrated service quality were confirmed; (3) consumer satisfaction was directly influenced by integrated service quality and price; (4) Internet searching and/or purchasing intention was indirectly affected by integrated service quality and price, via the intervening construct of consumer satisfaction; and (5) consumer satisfaction directly influenced Internet searching and/or purchasing intention. The research model used in this study can serve as a diagnostic and prescriptive tool. It allows practitioners in the Internet golf store business to more specifically evaluate consumers' perceptions of integrated service quality at several different levels and to identify specific aspects of integrated service quality that are found to be more competitively advantageous or problematic to their consumers.
A Parasitic Layer-Based Reconfigurable Antenna Design by Multi-Objective Optimization

A parasitic layer-based multifunctional reconfigurable antenna (MRA) design based on multi-objective genetic algorithm optimization used in conjunction with full-wave EM analysis is presented. The MRA is capable of steering its beam into three different directions (θi = -30°, 0°, 30°) simultaneously with polarization reconfigurability (Pj = Linear, Circular) having six different modes of operation. The MRA consists of a driven microstrip-fed patch element and a reconfigurable parasitic layer, and is designed to be compatible with IEEE-802.11 WLAN standards (5-6 GHz range). The parasitic layer is placed on top of the driven patch. The upper surface of the parasitic layer has a grid of 5 5 electrically small rectangular-shaped metallic pixels, i.e., reconfigurable parasitic pixel surface. The EM energy from the driven patch element couples to the reconfigurable parasitic pixel surface by mutual coupling. The adjacent pixels are connected/disconnected by means of switching, thereby changing the geometry of pixel surface, which in turn changes the current distribution over the parasitic layer, results in the desired mode of operation in beam direction and polarization. A prototype of the designed MRA has been fabricated on quartz substrate. The results from simulations and measurements agree well indicating ~8 dB gain in all modes of operation.
A Visual Approach for Identifying Consumer Satisfaction Segments

Much of today's consumer satisfaction research relies on ratings obtained through the administration of consumer surveys. A key item of interest to the researcher is the existence of underlying segments in the market place. Such information can be uncovered by studying the shape of the distribution of the obtained consumer satisfaction measure. The shape of this distribution can for example provide insights on the number and size of the underlying segments in the market place. This paper discusses various approaches available for graphing the distribution of consumer satisfaction responses and demonstrates the use and benefits of a proposed non-parametric method.
The Cytoplasmic and Transmembrane Domains of the p75 and Trk A Receptors Regulate High Affinity Binding to Nerve Growth Factor*

Ligand-induced receptor oligomerization is an established mechanism for receptor-tyrosine kinase activation. However, numerous receptor-tyrosine kinases are expressed in multicomponent complexes with other receptors that may signal independently or alter the binding characteristics of the receptor-tyrosine kinase. Nerve growth factor (NGF) interacts with two structurally unrelated receptors, the Trk A receptor-tyrosine kinase and p75, a tumor necrosis factor receptor family member. Each receptor binds independently to NGF with predominantly low affinity (K d = 10−9 m), but they produce high affinity binding sites (K d = 10−11 m) upon receptor co-expression. Here we provide evidence that the number of high affinity sites is regulated by the ratio of the two receptors and by specific domains of Trk A and p75. Co-expression of Trk A containing mutant transmembrane or cytoplasmic domains with p75 yielded reduced numbers of high affinity binding sites. Similarly, co-expression of mutant p75 containing altered transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains with Trk A also resulted in predominantly low affinity binding sites. Surprisingly, extracellular domain mutations of p75 that abolished NGF binding still generated high affinity binding with Trk A. These results indicate that the transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains of Trk A and p75 are responsible for high affinity site formation and suggest that p75 alters the conformation of Trk A to generate high affinity NGF binding.
Nutritional Deprivation of α‐Linolenic Acid Decreases but Does Not Abolish Turnover and Availability of Unacylated Docosahexaenoic Acid and Docosahexaenoyl‐CoA in Rat Brain

Abstract: We applied our in vivo fatty acid method to examine concentrations, incorporation, and turnover rates of docosahexaenoic acid (22:6 n‐3) in brains of rats subject to a dietary deficiency of α‐linolenic acid (18:3 n‐3) for three generations. Adult deficient and adequate rats of the F3 generation were infused intravenously with [4,5‐3H]docosahexaenoic acid over 5 min, after which brain uptake and distribution of tracer were measured. Before infusion, the plasma 22:6 n‐3 level was 0.2 nmol ml‐1 in 18:3 n‐3‐deficient compared with 10.6 nmol ml‐1 in control rats. Brain unesterified 22:6 n‐3 was not detectable, whereas docosahexaenoyl‐CoA content was reduced by 95%, and 22:6 n‐3 content in different phospholipid classes was reduced by 83‐88% in deficient rats. Neither plasma or brain arachidonic acid (20:4 n‐6) level was significantly changed with diet. Docosapentaenoic acid (22:5 n‐6) reciprocally replaced 22:6 n‐3 in brain phospholipids. Calculations using operational equations from our model indicated that 22:6 n‐3 incorporation from plasma into brain was reduced 40‐fold by 18:3 n‐3 deficiency. Recycling of 22:6 n‐3 due to deacylation‐reacylation within phospholipids was reduced by 30‐70% with the deficient diet, but animals nevertheless continued to produce 22:6 n‐3 and docosahexaenoyl‐CoA for brain function. We propose that functional brain effects of n‐3 deficiency reflect altered ratios of n‐6 to n‐3 fatty acids.
Sclerostin: Another vascular calcification inhibitor?

CONTEXT Sclerostin, a Wnt antagonist produced by osteocytes, regulates osteoblast activity and is a well-established key player in bone turnover. Recent data indicate that the Wnt pathway may also be involved in vascular calcification. OBJECTIVE The present study tests the hypothesis that serum sclerostin levels are associated with vascular calcification in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) not yet receiving dialysis. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, AND MEASUREMENTS We performed a cross-sectional analysis in 154 patients with CKD. Aortic calcification (AC) was assessed by lumbar X-ray and scored with a maximum score of 24. In addition to traditional and nontraditional cardiovascular (CV) risk factors, serum sclerostin levels were assessed (ELISA). Regression analysis was performed to identify determinants of serum sclerostin and AC. RESULTS AC was present in 59% of patients. Older age (P < .0001), male sex (P = .006), lower estimated glomerular rate (eGFR) (P = .0008), lower bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (P = .03), and the absence of AC (P = .006) were identified as independent determinants of higher serum sclerostin levels. In univariate logistic regression, higher age, diabetes, CV history, higher body mass index, higher serum C-reactive protein and sclerostin levels and lower estimated glomerular rate were all associated with the presence of AC. In multivariate analysis, lower, not higher, sclerostin levels (P = .04, odds ratio [OR] per ng/mL of 0.24), higher age (P < .0001, OR per year of 1.17) and CV history (P = .02, OR for a positive CV history of 3.83) were identified as independent determinants of AC. CONCLUSIONS In this cohort of patients with CKD, we found that patients with aortic calcifications (ACs) had higher sclerostin levels. However, in multivariate analysis, the association became inverse. Additional clinical and experimental studies are urgently required to clarify whether or not sclerostin protects against progression of vascular calcification.
Suppression of the two-neutrino double-beta decay by nuclear-structure effects.

The nuclear matrix element for 2ν double-beta decay is calculated within the quasiparticle random-phase approximation. It is shown that the decay matrix element passes through zero as a function of the strength gpp of the particle-particle component of the spin-isospin polarization force, neglected previously. The analysis of electron capture/β+ decay rates for semimagic neutron-deficient nuclei suggests values for gpp in the very vicinity of this zero, which gives rise to long lifetimes. The qualitative features of nuclear ββ decay are illustrated with the example of an exactly soluble model.
Food Irradiation: The EU Regulatory Framework, Risk Assessment and International Trade Considerations

This article looks at the different regulatory approaches on food irradiation, starting with international standards on food irradiation, describing the approach in the US and other third countries, and finally in the EU, where there has been a regulatory standstill since 1999. The current EU approach on food irradiation, which authorises irradiation of certain predefined product categories and sets upper dose limits, does not appear to be in line with the approach used under the relevant internationally-recognised standards, such as the Codex Alimentarius and the International Plant Protection Convention. There are potential legal conflicts between the current regulatory framework on food irradiation in the EU and the international trade framework of the World Trade Organization. Ultimately, the EU must base its measures on scientific principles, on relevant international standards, and choose the least trade-distortive measures that are available (i.e., ensure that they are applied only to the extent necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health). In 2011, the European Food Safety Authority published new risk assessments on food irradiation, which the European Commission has requested in view of drafting new EU legislation on food irradiation, and which appear to open the way for a fundamental altering of the regulatory parameters (such that food irradiation regulations must be scientifically-justified and in line with the relevant international standards), and seem to weaken the EU stance vis-à-vis the possible instances where the current rules on food irradiation prevent (de jure or de facto) access to the EU market by third countries’ operators and products, particularly those of developing countries.
The Crash Risk Premia of Efficient Carry Trades

Carry trade strategies in which investors sell forward currencies that are at a forward premium and buy forward currencies that are at a forward discount are, on average, profitable. According to the uncovered interest rate parity they should not. A risk premia story might justify the high returns to the carry trades. In this paper we study the relationship between the cross section of excess returns of portfolios invested in carry trade positions and a renewed set of candidate risk factors. Asset pricing theory applies to the currency market: those currencies that have larger loading on risk, especially crash risk, offer a larger mean return in compensation. Especially, we show that crash risk as measured by quantile based statistics such as VaR or CVaR prices better the return to the carry trades than moments based factors such as standard deviation or skewness. This result holds at the portfolio level and at the single currency level. As a result, we show that carry trade strategies that take account of the dispersion of interest rates dominate strategies in which bets are normalized.
IT CAPABILITY AND ITS IMPACT ON FIRMPERFORMANCE THROUGH THE LENS OFIT INTENSITY AND GROWTH RATE

While a lot of research has been conducted on IT investments, only a few studies have focused on IT capabilities and industry level resources. Past research has shown that both managerial characteristics and industry environment are key elements to understand the impact of IT investments on firms performance. In this study two aspects of industry level are being considered: IT intensity and growth rate. Therefore, the overall objective of this research is to evaluate the role IT intensity and growth rate play to leverage IT capabilities, which in turns affect firms performance.
Efficient Antenna Modeling by DGTD: Leap-frog discontinuous Galerkin timedomain method.

An essential characteristic for the accurate simulation of wideband antenna systems is the modeling of their intricate geometrical details, including the feeding ports. In this article, we describe a leap-frog (LF) discontinuous Galerkin (DG) time-domain (TD) method combined with an efficient local time-stepping (LTS) strategy to deal with the high contrast in the element sizes for the electromagnetic modeling of these kinds of structures. The traditional delta-gap source model and a realistic coaxial port model are revisited. Numerical examples are presented and validated with measurements and commercial software simulations to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed approach.
Capillary electrophoresis‐based immunoassays: Principles and quantitative applications

The use of CE as a tool to conduct immunoassays has been an area of increasing interest over the last decade. This approach combines the efficiency, small sample requirements, and relatively high speed of CE with the selectivity of antibodies as binding agents. This review examines the various assay formats and detection modes that have been reported for these assays, along with some representative applications. Most CE immunoassays in the past have employed homogeneous methods in which the sample and reagents are allowed to react in solution. These homogeneous methods have been conducted as both competitive binding immunoassays and as noncompetitive binding immunoassays. Fluorescent labels are most commonly used for detection in these assays, but enzyme labels have also been utilized for such work. Some additional work has been performed in CE immunoassays with heterogeneous methods in which either antibodies or an analog of the analyte is immobilized to a solid support. These heterogeneous methods can be used for the selective isolation of analytes prior to their separation by CE or to remove a given species from a sample/reagent mixture prior to analysis by CE. These CE immunoassays can be used with a variety of detection modes, such as fluorescence, UV/Vis absorbance, chemiluminescence, electrochemical measurements, MS, and surface plasmon resonance.
Regularized Kernel Weighted Diffusion for 3D Shape S moothing

In this paper we propose a regularized kernel diffusion filter for 3D mesh denoising in the weighted graph framework. The proposed approach is able to reduce the over-smoothing effect and effectively remove undesirable noise while preserving prominent geometric features of a 3D mesh such as curved surface regions, sharp edges, and fine details. Illustrating experimental results are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Tehnologii informatice inteligente de accesare multidimensionala a bazelor si depozitelor de date de marketing

Una dintre cele mai importante si mai frecvente activitati ale unui departament de marketing consta in gestionarea si utilizarea unor volume mari de date istorice sau care provin din cercetarile de marketing si care impun consultarea interactiva, flexibila si consistenta prin operatii de integrare, sintetizare si agregare, de reorganizare si stocare, de gestionare si procesare in raport de obiectivele de marketing. Acestea se constituie in surse de informatii esentiale in procesul de fundamentare a deciziilor, atat la nivelul activitatilor de marketing, cat si in ansamblul organizatiei. Tehnicile moderne din domeniul IT&C fac insa posibila o analiza mult mai rapida si mai eficienta a acestor date, practic in timp real, in ciuda eventualelor distributii geografice. Aceasta lucrare isi propune prezentare unor situatii teoretice si practice in care tehnici de tip OLAP sau data mining eficientizeaza activitatea profesionistilor in domeniul marketingului.
A derivation of system specifications based on a partial logical Petri net

There has been an effort towards developing a specification language for describing processes. To this end, Formal Description Techniques (FDTs) have been proposed. FDTs in general fare well in describing a target system unambiguously, precisely, and completely. However, the drawback of these FDTs are that they are generally not user-friendly (easy to read) and are difficult to write. These drawbacks could be overcome by a new technique of automatic synthesis of formal specifications from user requirements. A state transition system is an underling structure for formal description techniques and used as a formal specification itself. In this paper, we propose an automatic transformation from user requirements into formal specification represented as state transition systems and its connection with partial logical Petri nets.
Behavioural food anticipation in clock genes deficient mice: confirming old phenotypes, describing new phenotypes

Animals fed daily at the same time exhibit circadian food‐anticipatory activity (FAA), which has been suggested to be driven by one or several food‐entrainable oscillators (FEOs). FAA is altered in mice lacking some circadian genes essential for timekeeping in the main suprachiasmatic clock (SCN). Here, we confirmed that single mutations of clock genes Per1−/− and Per2Brdm1 alter FAA expression in constant darkness (DD) or under a light–dark cycle (LD). Furthermore, we found that Per1−/−;Per2Brdm1 and Per2Brdm1;Cry1−/− double mutant animals did not display a stable and significant FAA either in DD or LD. Interestingly, rescued behavioural rhythms in Per2Brdm1;Cry2−/− mice in DD were totally entrained to feeding time and re‐synchronized after phase‐shifts of mealtime, indicating a higher SCN sensitivity to feeding cues. However, under an LD cycle and restricted feeding at midday, FAA in double Per2Brdm1;Cry2−/− mutant mice was absent. These results indicate that shutting down one or two clock genes results in altered circadian meal anticipation. Moreover, we show that in a genetically rescued SCN clock (Per2Brdm1;Cry2−/−), food is a powerful zeitgeber to entrain behavioural rhythms, leading the SCN to be more sensitive to feeding cues than in wild‐type littermates.
Firm- and Plant-level Analysis of Multinationals in Southeast Asia: the Perils of Pooling Industries and Balancing Panels

This paper uses micro data and published compilations of micro data to estimate shares of multinational corporations (MNCs) in Southeast Asian manufacturing. It first shows that MNC shares tended to be largest in Singapore, intermediate in Malaysia and (recently) in Vietnam, and lowest in Thailand and Indonesia. Shares tended to decline in Singapore and Thailand, were relatively constant in Malaysia, and increased in Indonesia and Vietnam. Shares of majority foreign MNCs also increased conspicuously in Indonesia and Thailand as MNCs bought out local partners in joint ventures after the Asian crisis. Second, it highlights how MNC shares were always lowest in terms of the number of plants or establishments, or in other words, how MNCs tended to be larger on average than local firms or plants. MNCs also tended to account for larger shares of production than employment, and even larger shares of exports. Hence MNCs tended to have relatively high labor productivity and export propensities. Because these simple comparisons do not account for other influences on productivity, wages, or exporting, for example, the paper also describes how micro-data have been used to analyze productivity, wages, and export propensities. This literature suggests that productivity differentials were generally positive but often statistically insignificant, especially at the industry level. Wage differentials were also positive and more often significant, but the largest and most consistent differentials are observed in export propensities. Third, the paper also reviewed literature suggesting positive productivity and wage spillovers in Indonesia, Thailand, and to some extent Vietnam. However, such analyses need to be treated with caution because unwarranted pooling across manufacturing industries is common and has the well-known potential to bias estimates. In addition, the paper emphasized that balanced panels can create important sampling biases because of large turnover that is particularly conspicuous among small non-MNCs in this dynamic region.
European guideline for the management of vaginal discharge

Three common infections are associated with vaginal discharge Ð bacterial vaginosis, trichomoniasis and candidiasis1. Vaginal discharge may also be caused by a range of other physiological and pathological conditions such as vulvar dermatoses or allergic reactions2. These need to be considered if tests for speci® c infections are negative. Many of the symptoms and signs are non-speci® c. Occasionally cervical infection caused by chlamydia or gonorrhoea may result in vaginal discharge. Testing for chlamydia and gonorrhoea should be performed in those at risk of infection [see guidelines on the management of chlamydia (p. 30) and gonorrhoea (p. 27)].