Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hedonic shopping motivations, supermarket attributes, and shopper loyalty in transitional markets: Evidence from Vietnam

Purpose – This study aims to explore the impact of hedonic shopping motivations (HSM) and supermarket attributes (SMA) on shopper loyalty (SLO). Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 608 supermarket shoppers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam was surveyed to test the model. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.Findings – It was found that SMA and HSM had positive effects on SLO. It was also found that the impact of hedonic motivations on SLO was different between the younger and older, as well as lower and higher income groups of customers. However, no such difference was found between female and male shoppers.Research limitations/implications – A major limitation of this study was the use of a sample drawn from one transitional market. Cross‐national samples will be a direction for further research. Also, the study focuses on attitudinal loyalty. Behavioral loyalty should be taken into account in future research.Practical implications – The findings suggest that the supermarket managers.
Gut throughput dynamics in the appendicularian Oikopleura dioica

Oikopleura dioica is an excellent model for studying food flow through the digestive system because of its transparency, non-motility and because fecal pellets move along the digestive system in an orderly sequence which can be easily timed. By observing fecal pellet circulation within the gut of healthy individuals, we have concluded that the average number of fecal pellets inside the gut of O. dioica is 2.878 ± 0.015 (mean±SE, n = 43). Thus, gut passage time (GPT, min) can be estimated from the time interval between successive fecal pellets (DI, min fecal pellet -1 ) as GPT = 2.878 DI. This establishes the basis for estimating GPT from simple fecal pellet production rate incubations, and is one way of determinating GPT without manipulating food concentration or quality, a major shortcoming of current techniques. In laboratory experiments, GPT of O. dioica was independent of body size. At 15°C, GPT (min) decreased with increasing food concentration (FC, μg C l -1 ) when the prymnesophyte Isochrysis galbana (4.5 μm in size), the prasinophyte Tetraselmis suecica (10 μm) or the chlorophyte Chlorella sp. (3 μm) were used as food, according to the power function GPT = 29.4 FC -0.245 . There were no significant differences in GPT between algal types. The GPT of O. dioica exhibited a Q 10 of 0.687 over a temperature range of 10 to 20°C, independent of food concentration. Since the interaction between food concentration and temperature was not significant, GPT can be estimated as GPT = 51.67e -0.03761 FC -0.245 .
Pennation Angle and Fascicle Length of Human Skeletal Muscles to Predict the Strength of an Individual Muscle Using Real-Time Ultrasonography: A Review of Literature

Introduction: Muscle fascicle length and pennation angle are two muscle structural parameters which can be non-invasively measured using methods like ultrasonography. The aim of the present literature review was to introduce fascicle length and pennation angle for the estimation of the force of an individual skeletal muscle using ultrasonography. Methods and Materials : The data for the current review study was obtained from Pubmed, Science Direct, Scopous, Google Scholar, Sprinter Link Database, and other authoritative references available on the Internet and in libraries between the years 1995-2015. A total number of 113 articles were obtained. In sum, 45 articles were collected and reviewed. Keywords such as muscle, fascicle, length, angle, force, and ultrasonography were searched to fulfill the purpose of the study. Results: Detailed information on the pennation angle and fascicle length is essential to predict the force of an individual muscle. It has been suggested that changes in muscle fascicle angle and length correlated variably with the muscles force production. Conclusions: Real-time ultrasonography has been introduced as a valuable measurement tool for estimation of the force individual muscle via measuring the muscle architecture parameters, such as pennation angle and fascicle length. However, factors like physiological, anatomical, and biomechanical properties have to be considered when predicting the force of an individual skeletal muscle. Key words: Muscle, Fascicle, Length, Pennation angle, Force, Ultrasonography
Scoring away from Home: A Statistical Study of Scotland Football Fans at International Matches in Romania and Sweden

This paper explores the logistic, social structural and affective properties of Scotland football supporters attending two types of international fixture abroad: a high prestige tournament in Sweden and a low prestige qualifier in Romania. Representative samples of supporters were canvassed on both occasions, and the accruing data subjected to univariate and bivariate analysis. The findings indicate that the comparatively positive fan identity of Scottish fans, as boisterous and internationalist, is premised on socio-cultural rather than social structural factors. Principal changes in the Scottish support relate to the growing number of white-collar fans, and the proportion of fans affiliated instrumentally to the official Scotland Travel Club. The major continuity with the past concerns the fans' preference for autonomous methods of organizing travel and accommodation requirements.
FORMULATION DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERISATION OF MECLIZINE HYDROCHLORIDE FAST DISSOLVING TABLETS USING SOLID DISPERSION TECHNIQUE

Objective: The aim of the present investigation was to design and evaluate fast dissolving tablet (FDT) for the oral delivery containing solid dispersion of meclizine (MCZ) hydrochloride, an antiemetic drug.Methods: The solubility of meclizine was increased by preparing solid dispersions using mannitol as a carrier by fusion method. The prepared solid dispersion, was subjected for in vitro drug release, percent practical yield, drug content, infrared spectroscopy (IR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Optimized solid dispersion was incorporated to prepare fast dissolving tablets. Preformulation studies were carried out on tablet blends. The prepared solid dispersion, as well as pure drug fast dissolving tablets, was evaluated for drug content, weight variation, hardness, friability, in vitro drug release, wetting time, disintegration time, water absorption ratio, in vitro dispersion time.Results: Meclizine pure drug, solid dispersions formulations SD1, SD3 and SD5 showed 12.8, 31.68, 38.92 and 53.28% cumulative drug release in phosphate buffer pH 6.8 after 60 min, respectively. Thus faster dissolution rate was exhibited by the solid dispersion containing 1:5 (w/w) ratio of meclizine: mannitol. Percent cumulative drug release for control and solid dispersion tablets after 60 min in phosphate buffer pH 6.8 was 92.04 and 98.2% respectively. The release of drug meclizine from best formulation SD5 FDT was found to be faster than pure drug FDT.Conclusion: Fast dissolving tablet of optimized solid dispersion showed better in vitro dissolution result then FDT of pure drug at the end of one hour.
Effects of Item Relatedness on Output Interference in Recognition Memory: A Hierarchical Bayesian Analysis

In recognition memory tasks, output interference (OI) effects manifest as a decrease in performance over the course of a test list. While this interference effect has been shown in many different experimental contexts, it is unclear how it is influenced by different properties of study and test items. This work investigates the relationship between semantic similarity and OI in memory, comparing semantically related (animal names or emotion words) and unrelated items to better understand memory and decision processes. Because the related items share similar features and are more confusable, it was predicted that there would be a greater amount of OI for related items. The first experiment used a single item recognition task and showed OI for each stimulus type, but no difference between related and unrelated words. However, there were differences in memory bias amongst the emotion condition that make it difficult to interpret discriminability measures. To remove the potential confound of memory bias, Experiments 2 and 3 use a two-alternative forced choice version of the task. There were mixed findings for the effects of OI in these experiments, such that there were no significant effects in the emotion condition and weak to moderate effects in the animal condition. Additionally, related words only produced a greater amount of OI in the final experiment and only in the animal condition. These results show that related features for emotion words lead to an increased memory bias but no difference in OI, whereas related features for animal names lead to an increase in OI but no difference in memory bias. These results are discussed with potential implications to current theories and models of recognition memory processing. EFFECTS OF ITEM RELATEDNESS ON OUTPUT INTERFERENCE IN RECOGNITION MEMORY
Gaming Motivations among American College Students

The purpose of this study was to examine American college students’ motivations related to video games and to identify groups exhibiting common patterns of responses. This study investigated the video gaming motivations of American college students through the adoption of a gaming motivation scale, developed by Lafreniere, et al., which was composed of 18 Likert-typed items. A questionnaire survey, administered to 191 American college students at a public university in South Texas, was employed to collect primary data for this study. The gaming motivations of these participants were examined through factor analysis, which identified four reliable factors. Cluster analysis was then employed to identify three prominent video gaming motivation groups. This research may provide practical marketing implications by proposing effective ways to better understand and target video gaming consumers. Research results may also provide direction for developing successful marketing strategies in the video gaming industry.
A controlled study of the general level framework: Results of the South of England competency study

Background: In consistency in the practice of clinical pharmacy at a junior level encouraged our group to develop a general level competency framework (GLF) to facilitate practitioner development and assessment. The framework consists of patient-related, personal and problem-solving clusters of competencies assessed on a four-point frequency scale. This study describes a large, controlled study to determine whether the framework could improve the clinical practice of junior hospital pharmacists. Method: One hundred and two junior grade pharmacists in 22 acute NHS trusts in the south of England were recruited. The hospitals were enrolled as either intervention (n=13; 72 pharmacists) or non-intervention sites (n=9; 30 pharmacists). The pharmacists (“tutees”) and senior supervisors (“tutors”) in the active sites used the competency framework for practice development. Tutees and tutors in the control sites did not have access to the competency framework, and measures were taken to ensure these trusts remained isolated from the assessment outcomes. All pharmacists were assessed at baseline, 3, 6and 12 months. Non-intervention pharmacists were assessed by external evaluators. Results: A repeat measures analysis (month-6 compared to baseline, month-12 compared to baseline) revealed that the intervention group showed an improvement in 24 of the 25 competencies at month-6, which was sustained at month-12. In contrast, the non-intervention pharmacists demonstrated an improvement in just 7 of the competencies at month-6 increasing to 12 competencies by month-12 (Table I). Using an aggregated competency score for each recruit, intervention and non-intervention pharmacists were compared using an application of Kaplan-Meier analysis. Event status was defined as the a chievement of competence, detected by the attainment of a predefined threshold score. A significant difference existed between the groups at all time points (log rank=7.97,p=0.0048). Discussion: This controlled study demonstrates that tutees in the intervention sites improved significantly in 24 of the 25 patient-related competencies at 6 months and that this was sustained at 12 months. By contrast, non-intervention candidates showed progression in only 12 of the 25 competencies.
Solution Growth of Well-Aligned ZnO Nanorods on Sapphire Substrate

Vertically well-aligned ZnO nanorods arrays were synthesized on sapphire substrates by chemical bath deposition. Those sapphire substrates were seeded to control the density and orientation of ZnO nanorods using sol gel method. Well-aligned and uniformly distributed ZnO nanorods in a large scale were obtained with strongly (002) preferential orientation. The structural properties were characterized by X-ray di raction spectrometer and morphological characteristics were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The ZnO nanorods are obvious hexangular wurtzite structure and preferentially oriented along the c-axis (002) and growth vertically to the substrates. The optical properties were further thoroughly studied. What is more, the in uences of the strain between substrate and ZnO nanorods due to thickness of the ZnO seed-layer on the characteristics and optical properties of ZnO were also analyzed.
Design and simulation of a QCA 2 to 1 multiplexer

In this paper a novel design of a quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) 2 to 1 multiplexer is presented. The objective is the development of a modular design methodology which can be used to design 2n to 1 multiplexers using building blocks. For the QCA implementation a careful consideration is taken into account concerning the design in order to increase the device stability. The proposed multiplexer is designed and simulated using the QCADesigner tool.
A study on relationship between cultural values and earnings quality: A case study on Iranian banking industry

Article history: Received January 19, 2013 Received in revised format 29 April 2013 Accepted 1 May 2013 Available online May 2 2013 This performs an empirical investigation to evaluate the relationship between cultural values and earnings quality in some Iranian banks over the period 2005-2011. The individualism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance and masculinity dimensions are regarded as criteria for cultural values. The study also considers change in return on assets and loan loss provisions as the main criteria for earnings quality of banks. For measuring the cultural values, the questionnaire of Hofstede [Hofstede, G. (1994). The business of international business is culture. International business review, 3(1), 1-14. ]. The study also uses two measures to calculate earnings quality: 1-just-meet-or-beat the prior year’s earnings and 2Income smoothing through loan loss provisions based on compound linear regression. Research results showed that there was a weak relationship between cultural values and earnings management. © 2013 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Who Does Generate e-WOM and Why? - A Research Proposal

E-WOM is a very popular topic among marketing researchers as it gives the chance for consumers to share their reviews almost totally freely. As more and more consumers' purchase decisions rely on the experiences of others shared on the Web, it has become more important to know what the motivation pattern behind the review writing activity is. There are three research questions in the focus of the present research proposal: (1) What kinds of personality traits are typical for those who generate e-WOM? (2) Why e- WOM is generated? (3) Can personality traits forecast with higher probability whether positive or negative reviews will be posted? The conceptual framework has been developed on an interdisciplinary basis: it is a combination of differential psychology and marketing. The big five personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience) are included in order to explain the intention to write electronic reviews. Moreover, a new variable called perceived informational effectiveness is introduced as a potential predictor of e-WOM generation activity.
Padé approximate solution for wave propagation in graded-index metamaterials

A new approximate solution for wave propagation in graded-index media is developed whereby the exact wave propagation equation is replaced by any one of a sequence of higher-order (m, n) Padé approximant operators. The resulting formulations may be discretized by common numerical schemes and solvable by existing numerical techniques. The accuracy of this approximate calculation of the wave propagator is demonstrated in comparison with the exact result. We then employ the resulting method to investigate wave propagation in metamaterials with graded-index profiles which change according to a hyperbolic tangent function along the propagation direction.
A Pilot Study of the Efficacy of Interactive Virtual Reality Sports on Balance Performance among Older Women (Kajian Amalan Keberkesanan Sukan Realiti Maya Interaktif ke Atas Pencapaian Keseimbangan di Kalangan Wanita Berusia)

ABSTRAK Pengenalan perawakan terkawal yang menilai peranan latihan sukan interaktif realiti maya adalah terhad. Kajian awalan ini mengukur efikasi latihan golf interactive virtual reality terhadap keupayaan keseimbangan di kalangan komuniti warga tua yang boleh bergerak. Lapan orang warga tua perempuan (52.5 ± 1.5 tahun) melakukan MultiDirectional Test (MDRT), Step Up Test (SUT), Double Leg Static Balance di dalam keadaan mata buka dan tutup serta perubahan pusat tekanan sway diukur menggunakan force plate. Pemilihan subjek dilakukan secara rawak kepada kumpulan kawalan (conventional mat exercise) dan eksperimentasi (interactive virtual reality golf). Seorang subjek keluar dari kumpulan eksperimentasi dan 3 orang dari kumpulan kawalan. Tiada perbezaan yang signifikan pada pengukuran data awalan keseimbangan di antara kumpulan. Kumpulan yang menjalani golf interaktif realiti maya tidak menunjukkan peningkatan keseimbangan yang signifikan berbanding kumpulan kawalan. Peningkatan pada pusat tekanan selepas golf interaktif realiti maya memberi petunjuk kepada peningkatan kawalan postur. Kajian lanjutan dengan populasi yang lebih besar perlu dijalankan dengan menggunakan off-the shelf interactive virtual reality golf untuk melatih keseimbangan. Teknologi nobel ini boleh menambahkan program rehabilitasi untuk mempercepatkan penyembuhan dan kekerapan senaman terutamanya dalam kondisi kronik anggota bawah. Kata kunci: Realiti maya; golf; postural sway; keseimbangan, wanita berusia
Comparative study of active plasma lenses in high-quality electron accelerator transport lines

Electrically discharged active plasma lenses (APLs) are actively pursued in compact high-brightness plasma-based accelerators due to their high-gradient, tunable, and radially symmetric focusing properties. In this manuscript, the APL is experimentally compared with a conventional quadrupole triplet, highlighting the favorable reduction in the energy dependence (chromaticity) in the transport line. Through transport simulations, it is explored how the non-uniform radial discharge current distribution leads to beam-integrated emittance degradation and a charge density reduction at focus. However, positioning an aperture at the APL entrance will significantly reduce emittance degradation without additional loss of charge in the high-quality core of the beam. An analytical model is presented that estimates the emittance degradation from a short beam driving a longitudinally varying wakefield in the APL. Optimizing laser plasma accelerator operation is discussed where emittance degradation from the non-unifor.
SIMULATION OF STRONG GROUND MOTION AND RESPONSE OF THE HADDO WHARF SITE AT PORT BLAIR DUE TO SUMATRA EARTHQUAKE

Historically, the Sumatra region has been a very active tectonic zone and has experienced several devastating earthquakes that are controlled by the tectonic processes in a convergent plate margin along the Sumatra trench. On 26 th December, an earthquake of magnitude Mw 9.1 struck off the northwest coast of Sumatra in the Indonesian Archipelago. Due to this devastating earthquake, an extensive seismic damage to engineering infrastructure has been occurred in northern and northwestern sumatra. The Haddo Wharf site at Port Blair in Andaman & Nicobar Islands (India) is also subjected to severe damage. After this severe earthquake/tsunami, formation of a lengthy crack on the surface and eruption of the soil was found. But the real cause of the ground failure whether due to earthquake or tsunami is not established. Therefore, the present study has been focused on the assessment of intensity of ground shaking and its effect on the ground during Sumatra earthquake. Due to unavailability of strong recorded ground motion, simulation of ground motion has been carried out using the stochastic method proposed by Boore (2003). The Ground motion spectrum is generated by Atkinson & Boore model (1995). The source and earthquake scenario parameters have been obtained from Sorenson et al. (2006). Then the response of site under simulated ground motion has been studied by conducting one dimensional ground response analysis. Liquefaction analysis was carried out by cyclic stress approach. Based on the above study bed rock acceleration and ground surface acceleration of the site have been established. The presence of loose silty sand and soft clay deposits of about 21 m thickness caused the significant amplification of the ground. The liquefaction analysis indicates the occurrence of liquefaction of the loose silty sand deposit which caused the settlement of the filledup ground observed after earthquake.
Study of the reputation scaling module

The RSM (Reputation Scaling Module) was the heart of the TMS (Trust Management System). The RSM was responsible for accepting an associateÂs behavior history and calculating a RI (Reputation Index). The RI was aweighted estimation of the associateÂs trustworthiness and formed the basis for the TMSÂs trust decision.Without the RSM, the TMS would not have had the ability to process an associateÂs behavior history and, thus, have been unable to make any sort of trustworthiness decision. This paper explains the basic trust model that the RSM implemented and describes the method of how behavior observations were transformed into weighted FIs.