Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Factors Affecting Purchase Intentions for Fashion Cultural Products

Abstract This study conducted an empirical study on fashion cultural products that targeted foreign visitors toidentify variables related to foreigners' purchase intention towards fashion cultural products. A total of 424surveys were returned (with 393 deemed usable). The collected data was analyzed using SPSS 12.0 andAMOS 5.0 to provide the following results. The purchase intention model for fashion cultural products wasverified along with an identification of a causal relationship where personal factors and attitudes lead topurchase intention. In particular, the effect of universalism and the exposure degree to Korea was greater thanglobal-mindedness. Two factors (attitudes toward authenticity and towards aesthetic elements) exerted a signi-ficant effect on purchase intention; comparatively, the attitude toward authenticity showed a greater influenceon the purchase intention.Key words : Attitudes, Fashion cultural products, Foreign visitors, Purchase intention I. Introduction Cultural products include textiles, wood, ceramics,glass, and metal; embody aesthetic features and pro-duction technologies that are deeply enmeshed in arti-sans' local traditions (Littrell & Dickson, 1999). Thus,cultural products that are region-specific can have acompetitive advantage (Pugh & Wood, 2004). Thereis a growing and substantial literature on the signifi-cance of cultural products and their impact on localeconomies (Kim & Littrell, 1999, 2001; Lee & Lit-trell, 2003, 2006; Swanson & Horridge, 2002, 2004;Xie et al., 2012; Wilkins, 2011). Cultural products represent and convey economic,social, and cultural values of a local culture and maylead to the development of products that greatly satisfytourists' desires for mementos (Klamer, 2001). Further,cultural products have been attracting much attentionrecently with the expansion of consumption due to therapidly increasing numbers of overseas tourists. Shop-ping is an important activity for people who visit for-eign countries (Kent et al., 1983; Kim & Littrell, 1999;Turner & Reisinger, 2001). Cultural products are uni-versally associated with tourism as they are commer-cial products purchased to remind the traveler of thetour experience (Swanson & Horridge, 2006). Alternatively, the cultural product market is signif-icant because of the large potential of Internet shop-ping in the future. Especially, newly developed web-sites provide evidence of cross-border commerce bet-ween artisans (Jordan, 2000). A growing number ofwebsites are being developed to promote cultural pro-ducts made by artisans around the world, allowingconsumers to shop for these products without havingto visit foreign countries (“China's traditional craftshop”, 2009; Lee & Littrell, 2003, 2005; Lee et al.,2009). Online sales of such products have increasedglobally, and sales are estimated to reach 22 billionUSD in the United States alone and 0.28 trillion USDworldwide (Lee & Littrell, 2006). Hence, it is impor-
Leisure constraints∗: A survey of past research

Abstract This paper provides a brief review of past research on leisure constraints, paying particular attention to conceptual and analytical issues and to the practical applications of investigating constraints on leisure behavior. Specific findings are not reviewed; the intention is to clarify concepts by focusing upon broadly‐defined methodological aspects of past research. These include the nature and role of constraints on leisure participation, the distinction between barriers and reasons (e.g., for non‐participation), and empirical and conceptual methods of classifying constraints. It is suggested that future investigations of leisure constraints will give rise to findings that can be generalized across time, space, and social groups only if they are based upon clearly‐defined and standardized concepts.
Elevated Matrix Metalloproteinase Levels in Bronchi Infected with Periodontopathogenic Bacteria

Objectives To determine whether bronchial colonisations/infections with periodontopathogenic bacteria are associated with elevated inflammatory markers such as MMPs, interleukins and Tumor necrosis factor alpha in the bronchial fluid. Methods Periodontal status was assessed in consecutive outpatients planned for elective bronchoscopies, and PCR for periodontopathogenic bacteria was performed from a protected specimen brush sample taken from the bronchial mucosa. Additionally, MMPs, interleukins and Tumor necrosis factor alpha were measured in the bronchial fluid. Results Out of the four species assessed, one species was found in 13 of 91 (14%) patients, and two in 12 (13%), three in 13 (14%) and all four in 1 (1%) patient, respectively. In multiple linear regression models the presence of Treponema denticola showed a consistent pattern of positive effects in bronchial fluid (Bonferroni adjusted p-values) on the levels of MMP9 (p adj.: 0.028) and MMP12 (p adj.: 0.029). Active smoking was independently associated with increased levels of aMMP8 (p adj.: 0.005) and MMP9 (p adj.: 0.009). Levels of IL-1 ß, IL-8 and Tumor necrosis factor alpha measured in the bronchial fluid were not affected by the presence of periodontopathogenic bacteria. Conclusions Bronchial colonisation/infection with Treponema denticola and smoking are independently associated with elevated MMPs (MMP9/MMP12 and MMP8/MMP9, respectively) in the bronchial fluid.
Defining disability: effects of disability concepts on research outcomes

This article presents analyses of how different definitions of disability affect the outcomes of studies of disabled people’s living conditions. Three different definitions of disability are compared using six rather common variables: gender, age, living arrangements, education, labour market participation and income. Selected definitions of disability are administrative definitions, a subjective definition and a functional definition. Analyses were conducted using compilations of several databases in Sweden. Recurrent differences between administrative definitions, on the one hand, and functional and subjective definitions, on the other, are found in relation to educational and labour force variables. People defined by an administrative definition are more likely to be younger and single than the people defined by the other two definitions. More research on the impact of disability definitions is needed. However, a first step in resolving this question would be to improve the methodological awareness of disability researchers.
A first study on the noise impact in classes for Fuzzy Rule Based Classification Systems

The presence of noise is common in any real data set and may adversely affect the accuracy, construction time and complexity of the classifiers. Models built by Fuzzy Rule Based Classification Systems are recognised for their interpretability, but traditionally these methods have not considered the presence of noise in the data, so it would be interesting to quantify its effect on them. The aim of this contribution is to study the behavior and robustness of Fuzzy Rule Based Classification Systems in presence of noise. In order to do this, 69 synthetic data sets have been created from 23 data sets from the UCI repository. Different levels of noise have been introduced artificially in the class in order to analyze the FRBCSs when noise is present. The methods of Chi et al. and PDFC have been considered as a case study, analyzing the accuracy of the models created. From the results obtained, it is possible to deduce that Fuzzy Rule Based Classification Systems have a good tolerance to class noise.
The Brain Functional Networks Associated to Human and Animal Suffering Differ among Omnivores, Vegetarians and Vegans

Empathy and affective appraisals for conspecifics are among the hallmarks of social interaction. Using functional MRI, we hypothesized that vegetarians and vegans, who made their feeding choice for ethical reasons, might show brain responses to conditions of suffering involving humans or animals different from omnivores. We recruited 20 omnivore subjects, 19 vegetarians, and 21 vegans. The groups were matched for sex and age. Brain activation was investigated using fMRI and an event-related design during observation of negative affective pictures of human beings and animals (showing mutilations, murdered people, human/animal threat, tortures, wounds, etc.). Participants saw negative-valence scenes related to humans and animals, alternating with natural landscapes. During human negative valence scenes, compared with omnivores, vegetarians and vegans had an increased recruitment of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). More critically, during animal negative valence scenes, they had decreased amygdala activation and increased activation of the lingual gyri, the left cuneus, the posterior cingulate cortex and several areas mainly located in the frontal lobes, including the ACC, the IFG and the middle frontal gyrus. Nonetheless, also substantial differences between vegetarians and vegans have been found responding to negative scenes. Vegetarians showed a selective recruitment of the right inferior parietal lobule during human negative scenes, and a prevailing activation of the ACC during animal negative scenes. Conversely, during animal negative scenes an increased activation of the inferior prefrontal cortex was observed in vegans. These results suggest that empathy toward non conspecifics has different neural representation among individuals with different feeding habits, perhaps reflecting different motivational factors and beliefs.
Power-efficient estimation of silicon neuron firing rates with floating-gate transistors

Many subsystems in the brain require an estimate of neural activity to function properly. For example, models of neural homeostasis and synaptic plasticity incorporate these estimates. In this paper we present a method for estimating a neuromorphic neuron's firing rate using floating-gate transistors, which allow for the long time constants required for rate estimation and homeostatic plasticity. We simulate a modified leaky integrate-and-fire neuron connected to this rate detection circuit and characterize its response. We also show that the circuit's steady-state floating-gate voltages yield lower currents than similar methods. The primary benefits of this scheme are low power consumption and compactness.
The Millennium for Personality Psychology: New Horizons or Good Old Daze

On passe en revue les recherches qui s'attaquent a trois questions importantes pour la psychologie appliquee: les taxinomies, la distorsion intentionnelle et la mesure. Les recherches centrees sur les concepts ont debouche sur des progres significatifs dans ce domaine. Le modele en cinq facteurs est neanmoins critique parce qu'il confond les concepts, est dependant d'une methode et incomplet. La comparaison de meta-analyses generalisant la validite de concepts de personnalite tires de differents modeles taxinomiques montre que le Big Five masque des relations predicteur-critere importantes. L'accomplissement, par exemple, un concept confondu avec d'autres dans le modele en cinq facteurs, presente, avec les criteres, un ensemble de relations heterogenes avec l'Extraversion et le Sens des Responsabilites, les deux concepts du modele en cinq facteurs avec lesquels il est souvent confondu. Bref, les resultats d'une recherche dependent de la structure de la taxinomie utilisee. On s'interesse aussi aux travaux sur la distorsion intentionnelle (biais volontaire aux inventaires d'auto-evaluation). Les candidats a un poste ne distordent pas leurs reponses autant que dans les travaux de falsification systematique, et la validite predicteur-critere des autodescriptions moderement biaisees est a peu pres la meme que celle des reponses de bonne foi. Les procedures de mesure qui ne reposent pas sur l'auto-evaluation sont presentees comme etant des solutions de rechange. Research on three issues important to psychologists in applied settings is reviewed: taxonomies, intentional distortion, and measurement mode. Construct-oriented research has enabled the field to make significant advances. Nonetheless, the five-factor model is criticised because it confounds constructs, is method-bound, and is not comprehensive. A comparison of meta-analytic research summarising the criterion-related validity of personality constructs of different taxonomic models reveals that the Five Factor Model obscures important predictor-criterion relationships. Achievement, for example, a construct that is confounded with other constructs in the Five Factor Model, shows a pattern of relationships with criteria that differs from Extroversion or Conscientiousness–the two constructs in the Five Factor Model with which Achievement is often confounded. In short, taxonomic structure affects research conclusions. The research on intentional distortion is also reviewed. People can distort their responses to self-report inventories; job applicants do not distort their responses as much as people in direct faking studies, and criterion-related validity of moderately distorted self-descriptions appears about the same as for honest self-descriptions. Measurement strategies that do not rely on self-report are discussed as alternative measurement strategies.
Efficient semantic segmentation with Gaussian processes and histogram intersection kernels

Semantic interpretation and understanding of images is an important goal of visual recognition research and offers a large variety of possible applications. One step towards this goal is semantic segmentation, which aims for automatic labeling of image regions and pixels with category names. Since usual images contain several millions of pixel, the use of kernel-based methods for the task of semantic segmentation is limited due to the involved computation times. In this paper, we overcome this drawback by exploiting efficient kernel calculations using the histogram intersection kernel for fast and exact Gaussian process classification. Our results show that non-parametric Bayesian methods can be utilized for semantic segmentation without sparse approximation techniques. Furthermore, in experiments, we show a significant benefit in terms of classification accuracy compared to state-of-the-art methods.
Report on Two-Step Knowledge-Aided Iterative ESPRIT Algorithm

In this work, we propose a subspace-based algorithm for direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation, referred to as two-step knowledge-aided iterative estimation of signal parameters via rotational invariance techniques (ESPRIT) method (Two-Step KAI-ESPRIT), which achieves more accurate estimates than those of prior art. The proposed Two-Step KAI-ESPRIT improves the estimation of the covariance matrix of the input data by incorporating prior knowledge of signals and by exploiting knowledge of the structure of the covariance matrix and its perturbation terms. Simulation results illustrate the improvement achieved by the proposed method.
Semantic Interlinking of Resources in the Virtual Observatory Era

In the coming era of data-intensive science, it will be increasingly important to be able to seamlessly move between scientific results, the data analyzed in them, and the processes used to produce them. As observations, derived data products, publications, and object metadata are curated by different projects and archived in different locations, establishing the proper linkages between these resources and describing their relationships becomes an essential activity in their curation and preservation. In this paper we describe initial efforts to create a semantic knowledge base allowing easier integration and linking of the body of heterogeneous astronomical resources which we call the Virtual Observatory (VO). The ultimate goal of this effort is the creation of a semantic layer over existing resources, allowing applications to cross boundaries between archives. The proposed approach follows the current best practices in Semantic Computing and the architecture of the web, allowing the use of off-the-shelf technologies and providing a path for VO resources to become part of the global web of linked data.
Augmented encrypted key exchange: a password-based protocol secure against dictionary attacks and password file compromise

The encrypted key exchange (EKE) protocol is augmented so that hosts do not store cleartext passwords. Consequently, adversaries who obtain the one-way encrypted password file may (i) successfully mimic (spoof) the host to the user, and (ii) mount dictionary attacks against the encrypted passwords, but cannot mimic the user to the host. Moreover, the important security properties of EKE are preserved—an active network attacker obtains insufficient information to mount dictionary attacks. Two ways to accomplish this are shown, one using digital signatures and one that relies on a family of commutative one-way functions.
Heparin Monotherapy or Bivalirudin During Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Patients With Non–ST-Segment–Elevation Acute Coronary Syndromes or Stable Ischemic Heart Disease: Results From the Evaluation of Drug-Eluting Stents and Ischemic Events Registry

Background—The use of bivalirudin versus unfractionated heparin monotherapy in patients without ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction is not well defined. Methods and Results—The study population consisted of patients enrolled in the Evaluation of Drug-Eluting Stents and Ischemic Events (EVENT) registry with either non–ST-segment–elevation acute coronary syndromes or stable ischemic heart disease, who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention with either unfractionated heparin or bivalirudin monotherapy. Propensity score matching was used to adjust for baseline characteristics. The primary bleeding (in-hospital composite bleeding—access site bleeding, thrombolysis in myocardial infarction major/minor bleeding, or transfusion) and primary (in-hospital death/myocardial infarction) and secondary ischemic outcomes (death/myocardial infarction/unplanned repeat revascularization at 12 months) were evaluated. Propensity score matching yielded 1036 patients with non–ST-segment–elevation acute coronary syndromes and 2062 patients with stable ischemic heart disease. For the non–ST-segment–elevation acute coronary syndrome cohort, bivalirudin use was associated with lower bleeding (difference, −3.3% [−0.8% to −5.8%]; P=0.01; number need to treat=30) without increase in either primary (difference, 1.2% [4.1% to −1.8%]; P=0.45) or secondary ischemic outcomes, including stent thrombosis (difference, 0.0% [1.3% to −1.3%]; P=1.00). Similarly, in the stable ischemic heart disease cohort, bivalirudin use was associated with lower bleeding (difference, −1.8% [−0.4% to −3.3%]; P=0.01; number need to treat=53) without increase in either primary (difference, 0.4% [2.3% to −1.5%]; P=0.70) or secondary ischemic outcomes, including stent thrombosis (difference, 0.0% [0.7% to −0.7%]; P=1.00) when compared with unfractionated heparin monotherapy. Conclusions—Among patients with non–ST-segment–elevation acute coronary syndromes or stable ischemic heart disease undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention, bivalirudin use during percutaneous coronary intervention when compared with unfractionated heparin monotherapy was associated with lower bleeding without significant increase in ischemic outcomes or stent thrombosis.
Ketamine, Propofol, and the EEG: A Neural Field Analysis of HCN1-Mediated Interactions

Ketamine and propofol are two well-known, powerful anesthetic agents, yet at first sight this appears to be their only commonality. Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic agent, whose main mechanism of action is considered to be N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) antagonism; whereas propofol is a general anesthetic agent, which is assumed to primarily potentiate currents gated by γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptors. However, several experimental observations suggest a closer relationship. First, the effect of ketamine on the electroencephalogram (EEG) is markedly changed in the presence of propofol: on its own ketamine increases θ (4–8 Hz) and decreases α (8–13 Hz) oscillations, whereas ketamine induces a significant shift to beta band frequencies (13–30 Hz) in the presence of propofol. Second, both ketamine and propofol cause inhibition of the inward pacemaker current Ih, by binding to the corresponding hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated potassium channel 1 (HCN1) subunit. The resulting effect is a hyperpolarization of the neuron’s resting membrane potential. Third, the ability of both ketamine and propofol to induce hypnosis is reduced in HCN1-knockout mice. Here we show that one can theoretically understand the observed spectral changes of the EEG based on HCN1-mediated hyperpolarizations alone, without involving the supposed main mechanisms of action of these drugs through NMDA and GABAA, respectively. On the basis of our successful EEG model we conclude that ketamine and propofol should be antagonistic to each other in their interaction at HCN1 subunits. Such a prediction is in accord with the results of clinical experiment in which it is found that ketamine and propofol interact in an infra-additive manner with respect to the endpoints of hypnosis and immobility.
Modeling and Analyzing Systems-of-Systems in the Multi-Attribute Prediction Language (MAPL)

The Multi-Attribute Prediction Language (MAPL), an analysis metamodel for non-functional qualities of systems-of-systems, is introduced. MAPL features analysis in five non-functional areas: service cost, service availability, data accuracy, application coupling, and application size. In addition, MAPL explicitly includes utility modeling to make trade-offs between the qualities. The paper introduces how each of the five non-functional qualities is modeled and quantitatively analyzed based on the ArchiMate standard for enterprise architecture modeling and the previously published Predictive, Probabilistic Architecture Modeling Framework, building on the well-known UML and OCL formalisms. The main contribution of MAPL lies in combining all five non-functional analyses into a single unified framework.
Disrupting the Field

This article discusses the challenges involved in constructing a field of study when the social relations in question involve multiple locations, objects, and stories about them. This article argues that the geographical, social, technical, and conceptual uncertainties presented by virtual systems problematize conventional constructions of the field and fieldwork, and require a flexible and “multisited” methodological approach. The article draws on experiences researching virtual reality technologies, and outlines the multisited ethnographic methods used in response to the methodological challenges involved. It outlines strategies of following objects, following people, and following stories to construct a flexible and multiple field of research. Such strategies are consistent with theoretical developments in feminist poststructuralism and science and technology studies that seek to deconstruct the coherence of the research process. The article argues that it is crucial to develop such methodological approaches in order to make nuanced critique of technology development, production, and consumption into the next millennium.