Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Crisis brand management in emerging markets: Insight from the Chinese infant milk powder scandal

Purpose – This paper seeks to address a gap in the literature relating to crisis brand management in emerging markets.Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on secondary research and 15 qualitative depth interviews with mothers living in Beijing.Findings – The study found that the Chinese infant milk powder incident significantly reduced confidence in domestic brands, altered perceptions of domestic brands, and had a profound effect on buying behaviour.Research limitations/implications – The study is based primarily on a consumer perspective and the findings cannot be generalised to a wider population with known levels of statistical significance because of the qualitative methodology and small sample size.Practical implications – The paper concludes that while crisis brand management requires managers to undertake similar actions whether they work in an emerging or a developed market, the cultural environment may cause them to actually take different actions.Originality/value – This paper makes.
Rotavirus isolation and cultivation in the presence of trypsin

Rotaviruses are generally difficult to isolate and culture in vitro; therefore, virus isolation has not been used as a method of diagnosing this group of agents. The present report describes a simple procedure for isolating bovine rotaviruses directly from feces after pretreatment of fecal samples with trypsin. This procedure resulted in virus isolation from five of five samples that contained virus particles, as demonstrated by electron microscopy, and four of seven samples where virus particles could not be observed but were considered positive by the presence of immunofluorescent-staining cells in feces. Virus could not be isolated from "normal" feces. If the virus was not passaged in the presence of trypsin, the infectivity was gradually lost, but infectivity could be restored again if trypsin was added, resulting in increased virus spread and concomitant increase in virus yield. The application of this technique as a diagnostic tool for bovine and other rotaviruses is briefly discussed.
Modelling and control of non-isolated high voltage gain boost converter employing coupled inductor and switched capacitor

This paper investigates mathematical model of a high gain step-up boost converter built around coupled inductor and switched capacitor. Unlike the classical boost converter, which transfers input power to the output during the switch OFF period, here power is transferred to the output during the switch ON period. A state space averaging method is employed to derive the small signal ac model with ideal components. The control to output transfer function exhibits a non-minimum phase system identical to the conventional boost converter. The derived model is validated via simulation. A dual loop average current mode controller is designed to regulate the converter output voltage. Experimental results taken from a 250W laboratory prototype operating with an input voltage of 20V and output voltage of 190V verify the effectiveness of the controller. The proposed converter is well suited for renewable energy and grid connected power system applications.
Computer-aided diagnostics of facial and oral cancer

Nowadays, cancer is the leading cause of death. It's important to find oral cancer early when it can be treated more successful. Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) is a promising method for computer-aided diagnostics leading early diagnosis. In this paper, we perform FOCT (Facial and Oral Cancer Tracker), our new platform which assist surgeons in decisions regarding new cases by supplying visually similar past cases. This tool may guide diagnostic, treatment, management and monitoring oral cancer through comparison of long-term outcomes in similar cases. The primary goal of building such a data set is to supply surgeons with examples of oral tumor with a surgical intervention. Our application is based on a web interface, able to classify suspicious regions. This paper presents a novel feature selection techniques based on a hierarchical model, that can find what features best represent a given set of images. In order to improve the retrieval performance, a machine learning approach based on support vector machines (SVM) and relevance feedback strategies are investigated in this paper.
Frequency Shift Chirp Modulation: The LoRa Modulation

Low power wide area networks (LPWAN) are emerging as a new paradigm, especially in the field of Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity. LoRa is one of the LPWAN and it is gaining quite a lot of commercial traction. The modulation underlying LoRa is patented and has never been described theoretically. The aim of this letter is to give the first rigorous mathematical signal processing description of the modulation and demodulation processes. We provide as well a theoretical derivation of the optimum receiver entailing a low-complexity demodulation process, resorting to the Fast Fourier Transform. We compare then the performance of the LoRa modulation and the frequency-shift keying modulation both in an additive white gaussian noise channel and a frequency selective channel, showing the superiority of the LoRa modulation in the frequency selective channel. The results of this letter will enable a further assessment of the LoRa based networks, much more rigorous than what has been done until now.
Capillary Leakage in Cardiac Surgery with Cardiopulmonary Bypass

Cardiopulmonary bypass causes a systemic inflammatory response, which can lead to capillary leak syndrome. In 15 adults undergoing elective cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass, we determined the volume and peak time of capillary leakage from the measurements of extracellular fluid volume and circulating blood volume taken preoperatively, at various intervals up to 24 hours after surgery, and on the 7th postoperative day. Extracellular fluid volume rose from 15.5 ± 2.7 Lpreoperatively to a peak 4 hours after surgery of 18.3 ± 3.2 L and remained elevated at 24 hours. Circulating blood volume fell from 4.10 ± 0.68 L preoperatively to 3.20 ± 0.58 L at the end of surgery. Fluid administered intraoperatively did not raise the circulating blood volume. Intraoperative fluid balance was positive at 2.62 ± 0.72 L but negative at all time points postoperatively. There was significant postoperative capillary leakage, increasing from 4.7% ± 2.3% of body weight at the end of surgery to a peak 4 hours later of 5.4% ± 2.0% and falling to 2.8% ± 3.3% at 24 hours. This knowledge of the pattern of change in capillary leakage after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass might serve as a valuable guide for postoperative management.
Approximate Analytic Quadratic-Optimization Solution for TDOA-Based Passive Multi-Satellite Localization With Earth Constraint

In this paper, we make an investigation of the problem of passive multi-satellite localization based on time differences of arrival (TDOA) with Earth constraint (EC). By utilizing TDOA measurements and EC, the problem of estimating target position is formulated as a quadratically constrained quadratic optimization. Following this, the approximate analytic solution of target position is obtained by using the method of Lagrange multipliers and deleting the infeasible roots of polynomial in the Lagrange multiplier. Simulation results show that the proposed method can achieve the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) with EC for three typical scenarios, even in the worst case, e.g., in the presence of large TDOA measurement errors with even target being far from the subastral point. However, the existing TDOA localization methods will deviate from the CRLB with EC as the measurement error of TDOA increases. Thus, the proposed method is more robust compared with the existing methods. In addition, the EC has a significant impact on the TDOA localization performance. Compared with the case of no EC, the EC can make a one-order-magnitude improvement in localization precision.
Building Trust Across Virtual Social Spaces: the Software Vendors’ Perspectives

Offshore outsourcing across the world has triggered a new social structure in the way global businesses operate, resulting in emerging virtual social spaces between clients and vendors. These social structures involve understanding of cultural connections over space and time through telecommunication networks, as knowledge intensive tasks are being realized across national boundaries. Clients and vendors belonging to diverse cultures are required to take measures to build trust in relationships for sustained professional success. This paper looks at the trust building practice and experience of four small and medium sized software vendor organizations based in New Zealand and India. The case study data reveals how vendors are sensitized to client apprehensions in sharing knowledge across virtual social spaces. Some practices identified are face-to-face communication to bring visibility of social cue codes, documentation as a common thread of control, international accreditations to build reputations, and use of integrated groupware solutions with privileges for both clients and vendors. A ‘trust curve’ model is proposed to show the trust building process taking visibility factors as determinants of trust.
Multiple Ras Downstream Pathways Mediate Functional Repression of the Homeobox Gene Product TTF-1

ABSTRACT Expression of oncogenic Ras in thyroid cells results in loss of expression of several thyroid-specific genes and inactivation of TTF-1, a homeodomain-containing transcription factor required for normal development of the thyroid gland. In an effort to understand how signal transduction pathways downstream of Ras may be involved in suppression of the differentiated phenotype, we have tested mutants of the Ras effector region for their ability to affect TTF-1 transcriptional activity in a transient-transfection assay. We find that V12S35 Ras, a mutant known to interact specifically with Raf but not with RalGDS or phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3 kinase) inhibits TTF-1 activity. Expression of an activated form of Raf (Raf-BXB) also inhibits TTF-1 function to a similar extent, while the MEK inhibitors U0126 and PD98059 partially relieve Ras-mediated inactivation of TTF-1, suggesting that the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway is involved in this process. Indeed, ERK directly phosphorylates TTF-1 at three serine residues, and concomitant mutation of these serines to alanines completely abolishes ERK-mediated phosphorylation both in vitro and in vivo. Since activation of the Raf/MEK/ERK pathway accounts for only part of the activity elicited by oncogenic Ras on TTF-1, other downstream pathways are likely to be involved in this process. We find that activation of PI3 kinase, Rho, Rac, and RalGDS has no effect on TTF-1 transcriptional activity. However, a poorly characterized Ras mutant, V12N38 Ras, can partially repress TTF-1 transcriptional activity through an ERK-independent pathway. Importantly, concomitant expression of constitutive activated Raf and V12N38 Ras results in almost complete loss of TTF-1 activity. Our data indicate that the Raf/MEK/ERK cascade may act in concert with an as-yet-uncharacterized signaling pathway activated by V12N38 Ras to repress TTF-1 function and ultimately to inhibit thyroid cell differentiation.
Does timing of initial surfactant treatment make a difference in rates of chronic lung disease or mortality in premature infants? An observational regional study

Abstract Objective: To compare two treatment strategies in preterm infants with or at risk of respiratory distress syndrome: early surfactant administration (within one hour of birth) versus late surfactant administration, in a geographically defined population. Outcome: The primary outcome was chronic lung disease (CLD) and mortality before/at 36 weeks. Secondary outcomes included: duration of mechanical ventilation and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), post-natal steroids for CLD and major neonatal morbidities. Subjects: Premature infants born at 22–32 weeks’ gestation between January 2006 and December 2009. Setting: Ten neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in New South Wales (NSW) and Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Australia. Design: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from the regional NICU database in NSW and ACT. Results: Of the 2170 infants who received surfactant, 1182 (54.5%) and 988 (45.5%) received early and late surfactant, respectively. The early surfactant group was less mature (27.1 ± 2.1 versus 29.4 ± 2.1 weeks) and had more CLD and mortality (40.2% versus 20.0%). The multivariable analysis showed early surfactant to be associated with less duration of ventilation, longer duration of CPAP and longer hospital stay but had little or no impact on CLD/mortality. Conclusion: Early surfactant administration is associated with shorter duration of ventilation but does not appear to be significantly protective against CLD/mortality among premature infants. This may support the growing evidence for consideration of CPAP as an alternative to routine intubation and early surfactant administration. Further investigation from large randomized clinical trials is warranted to confirm these results.
ACTIVITY AND ISOENZYME PATTERN OF LACTATE DEHYDROGENASE IN ASTROBLASTS CULTURED FROM BRAINS OF NEWBORN MICE

Lactate dehydrogenase activity and isoenzyme distribution was determined in primary cultures of astroblasts as a function of the culture period. The specific activity increased during this period with a peak value (1.91 ± 0.18μmol x min‐1 x mg‐1 cell protein) after 2 weeks in culture. The isoenzyme pattern changed during 3 weeks in culture towards a higher proportion of the H4 (LDH‐1) isoenzyme which is analogous to the in vivo pattern. Omission of serum with or without dBcAMP (0.5 mM) in the culture medium during the third week of culture further enhanced this prominence of the H4 isoenzyme. The specific activity (1.58 × 0.06 μmol x min‐1 x mg‐1 cell protein) of cultures grown in the presence of 0.5 mM‐dBcAMP and absence of serum was close to the activity in the adult brain.
How to overcome pro-change Bias: : Incorporating passive and active innovation resistance in innovation decision models

Adoption literature is largely subject to a pro-change bias; researchers mainly assume that consumers are open to change and thus interested in evaluating new products. However, consumers often reject innovations without considering their potential, such that the adoption process ends before it really has begun. The present study instead argues that innovation resistance, prior to product evaluation, is a regular consumer response that must be recognized and managed to facilitate new product adoption. The authors suggest differentiating passive from active innovation resistance. While passive innovation resistance results from a consumer's generic predisposition to resist innovations prior to new product evaluation, active innovation resistance is an attitudinal outcome that follows an unfavorable new product evaluation. This study also extends extant innovation decision models by describing how passive and active innovation resistance emerge and how they affect decision-making in later stages of the process.
Branchless Banking 2010 : whos served? at what price? whats next?

New research reveals that low-income families in Bangladesh, India, and South Africa use an average of eight different financial instruments each year to move money over time, and that active management of their money is necessary to basic subsistence. Given this reality, branchless banking and its accompanying lower costs has a high demand in developing nations, with Brazil and Kenya leading the way. This note takes a close look at data from 18 branchless banking providers with a combined client base of more than 50 million customers. One of its findings is that contrary to what some believe, branchless banking does not replace, but instead, complements microfinance institutions (MFIs). On average its services are also 19 percent cheaper than comparable services at regular banks. One study goes so far as to show that it can offer these services for at least 50 percent less than what it would cost using traditional channels. The tentacles of branchless banking do indeed reach far; already it has attracted unbanked consumers in many developing nations. Potential consumers are most likely to be people who currently adopt a piecemeal method to managing their finances, some of which are tenuous at best and more costly than using branchless banking. Research also indicates that clients want more than just payment services. Taking heed, several providers are already beginning to meeting this need. The authors are cautious, however, about the new products and services beyond payments that mobile network operators (MNOs) are offering, citing lack of regulation and knowledge as reasons to doubt their eventual success. This note does recommend seeking out atypical clients, not just typical ones, in future research in order to generate new product ideas that will meet the needs of the unbanked, rather than simply improving upon existing ones.
The Relationship Of Development Status Of Investee Countries And Investor Perceptions Of Foreign Earnings

This study investigates the impact of corporate internationalization and the development status of investee countries on the foreign earnings response coefficient (FERC), which is a measure of the value-relevance of foreign earnings. To improve competitiveness, firms worldwide have expanded aggressively into foreign markets, thereby increasing their exposure to external risks and uncertainties on the one hand, and sources of growth and reward on the other. Using a Taiwanese sample, we found that greater corporate internationalization via investments in developed countries was positively related to the foreign ERC. We expected, and found, that companies can enhance the positive effects of internationalization by investing in countries that are relatively better developed than in countries that are less well developed. The public policy implications of these findings are discussed.
Polarized Light Compass-Aided Visual-Inertial Navigation Under Foliage Environment

This paper presents a method to extract heading information from the sky light polarization pattern and successfully implements the polarized light compass (PL-compass) under foliage environment with heavy occlusions for the first time. A classifier based on the primal support vector machine is trained to detect the sky area, and the random sample consensus algorithm is used to choose the inliers among the sky area. The sun vector is built upon the valid measurements. The attitude angles (Roll and Pitch) from the inertial navigation system (INS) are used to establish the Zenith direction when the platform tilts during traveling. The results show that the PL-compass can provide accurate heading angle (RMSE = 1.58°) by seeing only a tiny part of the skylight (minimum of 0.028%) in the dynamic vehicle test. The PL-compass is also integrated with the visual INS based on the indirect extended Kalman filter to improve the navigation accuracy. Each time a new measurement becomes available, the states estimated by the INS are used to check the consistency of the innovation and reject the outliers. The results show that the position errors of the integrated navigation system are greatly reduced with the help of the PL-compass. The estimated trajectory tracks the ground truth very well. The position error is 25.9 m (1.03% of the distance traveled) with heading errors less than 1° in the experiment.
Local Character of Readthrough Activation in Adenovirus Type 5 Early Region 1 Transcription Control

ABSTRACT Wild-type early activity of the adenovirus 5 E1b gene promoter requires readthrough transcription originating from the adjacent upstream E1a gene. This unusual mode of viral transcription activation was identified by genetic manipulation of the mouse βmaj-globin gene transcription termination sequence (GGT) inserted into the E1a gene. To facilitate further study of the mechanism of readthrough activation, the activities of GGT and a composite termination sequence CT were tested in recombinant adenoviruses containing luciferase reporters driven by the E1b promoter. There was a strict correlation between readthrough and substantial downstream gene expression, indicating that interference with downstream transcription was not a unique property of GGT. Blockage of readthrough transcription of E1a had no apparent effect on early expression of the major late promoter, the next active promoter downstream of E1b. A test for epistatic interaction between termination sequence insertions and E1a enhancer mutations suggested that readthrough activation and E1a enhancer activation of the E1b promoter are mechanistically distinct. In addition, substitution of the human cytomegalovirus major immediate-early promoter for the E1b promoter suppressed the requirement for readthrough. These results suggest that readthrough activation is a “local” effect of a direct interaction between the invading transcription elongation complex and the E1b promoter. DNase I hypersensitivity footprinting provided evidence that this interaction altered an extensive E1b promoter DNA-protein complex that was assembled in the absence of readthrough transcription.
uscularity versus leanness : An examination of body ideals and predictors of isordered eating in heterosexual and gay college students pril

The aim of the current study was to add to the growing body of research on men with eating disorders by examining the association between different types of body dissatisfaction (muscularity and body fat) and disordered eating in heterosexual and gay men. Two hundred four participants (over one-third were gay) completed measures assessing disordered eating, muscularity and body fat dissatisfaction, and sexual orientation. Body fat dissatisfaction, but not muscularity dissatisfaction, predicted disordered eating, dietary restraint, and concerns about weight and eating in gay and heterosexual men. These findings were ating disorders ody image ody dissatisfaction uscularity eanness uman males consistent across all measures of body fat and muscularity dissatisfaction, providing stronger evidence that body fat dissatisfaction may be a greater risk factor for disordered eating in both gay and heterosexual college aged men than muscularity dissatisfaction. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Industry‐embedded financial decision making

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study organisational characteristics and formations that are important to the establishment of a strong embedded relationship between the small to medium‐sized enterprise (SME) and the financier, which in turn influences the firm's financial decision‐making process.Design/methodology/approach – The study is conducted as a longitudinal, single case study of a fashion firm. The firm prefers equity to debt financing, thus constituting an interesting case of deviation from the pecking order theory of finance. The present paper investigates the rationale behind the firm's financial decision making.Findings – The findings suggest that identity field embeddedness is relevant in the firm's financial decision‐making process because field identification facilitates the formation of embedded relationships between the SME and the financier. The notion of belonging to the same identity field as the supplier of equity finance, while experiencing a distance to the bank, motivate.