Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Extensive Review on the Impact of Customer Retention Practices towards the Performance of SMEs

Contribution of small and medium –sized enterprises (SMEs) towards the economic growth is vital. This is factual in Malaysian context whereby about 90 percent of players in the key economic sectors consist of SMEs. Nevertheless, these SMEs are encountering numerous problems, which inhibit their progress and subsequently lessen their survival rate in the competitive industry. Customer retention practice is considered as one of the significant weapons for these SMEs to sustain in the said competition and, hence improve their performance. Due to the significance of customer retention practice and the role of SMEs towards the nation’s economy, this study intends to explore possible factors that influence service-oriented SMEs’ customer retention practices and its subsequent impact on their firm’s performance. This study has done extensive reviews covering 10 years of literatures to recognize the related dimensions, prior to constructing the research model of the study. Accordingly, some recommendations for future researches are also provided.
Biophotonic Application on Parasite-Vector Interaction

D. Feder ,1 ,C. L. Cesar 2 , and S.A. O. Gomes Laboratorio de Biologia de Insetos, GBG, Universidade Federal Fluminense-UFF, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil;CEP: 24210130 Departmento de Eletronica Quantica, Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil, CEP: 13083-970. Laboratorio de Transmissores de Leishmanioses, Setor de Entomologia Medica e Forense, IOC-FIOCRUZ-Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil; CEP: 21040-360
Age may Influence Dystrophin Expression for Bone Marrow Cells Transplantation in mdx Mice

Objective: To investigate if age influence dystrophin expression for bone marrow cells (BMCs) transplantation in mdx mice. Methods: BMCs of C57BL/6 mice(new born) ,1.2 × 107 cells ,were injected intravenously into mdx mice of 6 weeks and 12 weeks of age, the mice were preconditioned with 8 Gy γ ray . Result: 12 weeks after the transplantation, 16% skeletal muscles fibers of 6 weeks and 7% those of 12 weeks age mdx mice have dystrophin protein expression at the sarcolemma of muscle fibers. RT-PCR and Western blot proved the results. Conclusion: Young mdx mice transplantated with BMCs show better effect than elder one.
Ultrasound segmentation for vascular network reconstruction in twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome

In this work we present a placenta and vessel segmentation method for a medical application for Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS). TTTS is a fetal disease that occurs in twin monochorionic pregnancies and can be fatal if left untreated. Right now it is treated with fetoscopic laser coagulation. This method highly improves prognosis, but still presents some risks since the intervention is critical in order to avoid abortion risks. Therefore, it can benefit from image segmentation techniques for surgery planning and guidance. Placenta segmentation is not easy due to a high variability on its location and shape, thus semiautomatic methods are the ones that have shown better results for ultrasound (US) segmentation. We implement one of them, the random walker (RW) algorithm, and include it in a graphic user interface for medical use. Thirty-one sets of US and Doppler US images were available in this study, but four are discarded due to poor gradient quality between tissues. Individual segmentation of placenta and vessel from different images is performed (US and Doppler US, respectively), as well as combined in a multi-label segmentation (Doppler US). The implemented method is compared with previous studies, and it is modified in order to accelerate its computation using a graphics processing unit (GPU). We show that this algorithm offers a fine boundary adherence for US images for both placenta and vessel segmentation, mostly in regions with high tissue gradients, but it is dependent and sensitive on the protocol followed for the manual initialization, which is in concordance with the literature study. We also observe that single and multiple segmentation show similar segmentation results, mostly in vessel and not so much in placenta. The GPU implementation shows faster computation rates, but needs of more iterations to converge to a solution, compared to the already optimized CPU implementation. However, using a high end graphics card accelerates the overall computation, while there is still room for improvement. The RW algorithm had already been used for placenta segmentation and we have validated its accuracy. However, there does not exist a gold standard in this procedure so we plan on including more methods in the medical application, so the clinician can choose the approach that fits the best to each anatomy and image characteristics. In this project we tightly collaborate with BCNatal | Barcelona Center for Maternal Fetal and Neonatal Medicine Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona. We aim to create a surgery planning and tracking tool that can be used to improve fetoscopic laser coagulation prognosis and, later, that can be extended to other surgeries.
A Topic Study of Microblog Based on Specific Events

This paper describes the study of topics on microblog based on specific events. First, we use a famous topic model LDA to extract topics from microblog about events. Then, we propose three indexes: Attention Factor (AF), Evolution Factor (EF) to see the performance of microblog topics and Diversity Factor (DF) to calculate the divergence of topics from microblog and news reports. Finally, we choose corpuses for four events to study. The experiments show that, on specific events: 1) There are more critical topics, while factual topics less, and both of them get close AFs. 2) Critical topics last long on microblog and have lower EFs, which means their contents vary little, but factual topics last intermittently and their contents vary greatly. 3) To compare with the same events from news reports, critical topics use totally different words, but factual topics use close words.
Adaptive Transmission Control for Software Defined Vehicular Networks

Efficient transmission control is an intricate issue in vehicular networks due to the inherent topology dynamics and unreliable link conditions. Leveraging flexible management in software-defined vehicular networks, we propose a software-defined adaptive transmission control protocol (SATCP) for selecting various transmission control policies to adapt to the time-varying vehicular environment. We formulate the optimal transmission control problem, and develop a practical heuristic algorithm for adaptive transmission control. NS-3 based preliminary simulations are conducted to verify that SATCP achieves an improvement by 27.8% than TcpHtcp, and by 54.4% than TcpVegas in terms of average network throughput.
Behavior of 2: 1 and 3:1 electrolytes at polarizable interfaces

The behavior of the electrical double layer (DL) is known to be different at polarizable interfaces, specifically, at a metallic electrode (where the dielectric constant of the electrode is infinitely large, e1 → ∞) and at an air/electrolyte interface (where the dielectric constant of the electrode is e1 = 1) than is the case for unpolarized interfaces. For the polarized interface, if multivalent ions are present, these ions are attracted/repelled more than is the case for monovalent ions. Therefore, the divalent/trivalent ions (assumed to be cations to be specific) accumulate near the metallic electrode more than for the unpolarized electrode and a charge inversion occurs. In such asymmetric electrolytes, this results in a large potential at zero electrode charge. The behavior is reversed for the air/electrolyte interface. This is more pronounced at low reduced temperatures (or, equivalently, at high ionic couplings). The anomalous capacitance behavior of the DL is seen for the unpolarized electrode, whe.
Interactive comment on “Retrieving aerosol height from the oxygen A band: a fast forward operator and sensitivity study concerning spectral resolution, instrumental noise, and surface inhomogeneity” by A. Hollstein and J. Fischer

The manuscript contains genuinely new information relevant to aerosol vertical information retrieval from moderate t high spectral resolution spaceborne measurements of the O2 A band. The main conclusions are clear, however the writing is unclear in many instances, and several important points are hard to understand. The manuscript fits well in the scope of AMT. I recommend publication after the issues specified below have been addressed.
International Inequality in Subjective Well‐Being: An Exploration with the Gallup World Poll

In this paper we compute inequality measures over the distribution of a subjective well-being variable constructed from a life satisfaction question included in the Gallup World Poll in almost all countries in the world. We argue that inequality in subjective well-being may be a better proxy for the degree of unfairness in a society than income inequality. We find evidence that inequality in subjective well-being has an inverse-U relationship with per capita GDP, but it is monotonically decreasing with respect to mean subjective well-being. We argue that this difference might be associated to inequality aversion in the space of utility.
(Glycosylphosphatidylinositol-Based) Protein Chips and Biosensors for Biopharmaceutical Process Analytics

Prior to the introduction of regulated process validation activities it was generally assumed that the production process for protein drugs per se is under control and appropriate for their generation, if the final product fulfils the criteria raised for the bioanalytical quality end control for therapeuticals. However nowadays, the production process is being considered in a much deeper and considerably more differentiated fashion. The use of in-process and on-/at-line controls and supervisions on a regular basis encompassing all critical parameters about the individual sub-processes and the emerging intermediary and side products is generally thought to significantly contribute to the demonstration that the production process is under control at the time point of the measurements and with high probability also thereafter. The deep understanding of the interrelationship between process and product can not completely eliminate but will considerably reduce the risk for the emergence of product variants, impurities and contaminants during critical sub-processes that may escape detection during final quality control for technical and/or economical reasons. The test systems required for elucidation of the multiple process-product interactions have to be chosen, validated and calibrated according to commonly accepted and approved criteria. In the near future novel platform technologies, such as protein chips and biosensors that are based on novel capturing/immobilising probes, e.g. glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins, and detection probes, e.g. nanoparticles, will greatly contribute to the rapid and reliable measurement of many samples for multiple parameters in cell-free and cell-based assay configurations in parallel rather than consecutive fashion.
Changes in coyote activity patterns due to reduced exposure to human persecution

Activity patterns in animals are influenced by a number of factors, including the animal's physiological adaptations, prey availability and distribution, and disturbances caused by predators and humans. We compared coyote (Canis latrans) activity patterns estimated using radio-tracking locations between 1983 and 1988 with those documented between 1996 and 1997 on the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site, in southeastern Colorado. We tested the hypothesis that changes in the type of disturbance experienced by coyotes would result in changes in their activity patterns. Disturbance experienced by the coyote population studied during 1983-1988, included >50 years of intense exploitation (shooting and trapping by ranchers) and intensive removal efforts using aerial gunning. In contrast, coyotes tracked during 1996-1997 experienced some periodic disturbance from army maneuvers occurring in the area, but were not exposed to any direct form of persecution (e.g., shooting). From August 1983 to July 1988, 49 coyotes (26 male.
Are the broad optical Balmer lines in PG 1613+658 from the central accretion disc?

In this letter, we report on the positive correlations between the broad-line width and broadline flux for the broad Balmer lines of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) PG 1613+658, which has been observed for a long time. Rather than the expected negative correlations that come with the widely accepted virialization assumption for AGN broad emission-line regions (BLRs), the positive correlations indicate very different BLR structures of PG 1613+658 from the commonly considered BLR structures that are dominated by the equilibrium between radiation pressure and gas pressure. Therefore, it is preferable to assume that the observed broad single-peaked optical Balmer lines of PG 1613+658 originate from the accretion disc, because the mainly gravity-dominated disc-like BLRs with radial structures have few effects from radiation pressure.
Maximal spectral surfaces of revolution converge to a catenoid

We consider a maximization problem for eigenvalues of the Laplace–Beltrami operator on surfaces of revolution in R3 with two prescribed boundary components. For every j, we show there is a surface Σj that maximizes the jth Dirichlet eigenvalue. The maximizing surface has a meridian which is a rectifiable curve. If there is a catenoid which is the unique area minimizing surface with the prescribed boundary, then the eigenvalue maximizing surfaces of revolution converge to this catenoid.
Alterações de linguagem em pacientes idosos portadores de demência avaliados com a Bateria MAC

OBJETIVO: Identificar as alteracoes de linguagem em um grupo de pacientes idosos portadores de demencia nas tarefas de evocacao lexical livre, com criterio ortografico e com criterio semântico, interpretacao de metaforas e discurso narrativo da Bateria Montreal de Avaliacao da Comunicacao - Bateria MAC, bem como, verificar a frequencia de deficits. METODOS: Participaram do estudo 13 pacientes com demencia de grau leve a moderada, atendidos no Setor de Neurologia do Ambulatorio de Disturbios do Movimento e Demencias do Hospital Santa Clara da Irmandade Santa Casa de Misericordia de Porto Alegre (ISCMPA). O instrumento neuropsicologico de avaliacao foi a Bateria MAC e a aplicacao das tarefas seguiu a seguinte ordem: evocacao lexical livre, evocacao lexical com criterio ortografico, evocacao lexical com criterio semântico, interpretacao de metaforas e discurso narrativo. RESULTADOS: O grupo de pacientes com demencia apresentou desempenho deficitario em todas as tarefas da Bateria MAC que foram avaliadas, com diferenca significativa. Alem disso, os participantes apresentaram maior frequencia de deficits, em ordem decrescente, nas tarefas de reconto parcial do discurso narrativo (informacoes essenciais e presentes), seguidas pelas tarefas de evocacao lexical com criterio ortografico e com criterio semântico, e reconto integral do discurso narrativo. Pelo menos dois pacientes apresentaram alteracoes de desempenho em alguma das cinco tarefas realizadas da Bateria MAC. CONCLUSAO: A avaliacao de linguagem atraves da Bateria MAC permitiu a verificacao de alteracoes do processamento linguistico em idosos com demencia, o que caracteriza que tal instrumento tambem e aplicavel para esta populacao clinica.
Banding of Fertilizer Improves Phosphorus Acquisition and Yield of Zero Tillage Maize by Concentrating Phosphorus in Surface Soil

Zero tillage increases stratification of immobile nutrients such as P. However, it is unclear whether near-surface stratification of soil P eases or hampers P uptake by maize (Zea mays L.) which needs an optimum P supply at/before six–leaf–stage to achieve potential grain yield. The aim of the three-year study was to determine whether P stratification, under zero tillage, impaired yield of maize and which P placement methods could improve P uptake on an Aeric Albaquept soil subgroup. Phosphorus fertilizer was placed by: (a) broadcasting before final tillage and sowing of seeds; (b) surface banding beside the row; and (c) deep banding beside the row (both the band placements were done at three–four leaf stage) Phosphorus treatments were repeated for 3 years along with three tillage practices viz.: (a) zero tillage (ZT); (b) conventional tillage (12 cm; CT); and (c) deep tillage (25 cm; DT). In the third year, all the tillage practices gave similar yield of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) hybrid maize–5, but the highest grain yield was obtained by surface band P placement. After three years of tillage and P placements, the root mass density (RMD) at 0–6 cm depth increased significantly from 1.40 mg cm−3 in DT under deep band placement to 1.98 mg cm−3 in ZT under surface band placement, but not at the other depths. The combination of ZT practices, with broadcast or surface band placement methods, produced the highest available, and total P, content in soil at 0–6 cm depth after harvesting of maize. Accordingly, a significant increase in P uptake by maize was also found with surface banding of P alone and also in combination with ZT. Organic carbon, and total N, also increased significantly at depths of 0–6 cm after three years in ZT treatments with P placed in bands. By contrast, CT and DT practices, under all placement methods, resulted in an even distribution of P up to 24 cm depth. Phosphorus application, by surface banding at the three–four leaf stage, led to increased P uptake at early growth and silking stages, which resulted in highest yield regardless of tillage type through increased extractable P in the soil. Even though ZT increased P stratification near the soil surface, and it increased plant available water content (PAWC) and RMD in the 0–6 cm depth, as did surface banding, it did not improve maize grain yield. Further research is needed to understanding the contrasting maize grain yield responses to P stratification.
Automated Tessellated Fundus Detection in Color Fundus Images

In this work, we propose an automated tessellated fundus detection method by utilizing texture features and color features. Color moments, Local Binary Patterns (LBP), and Histograms of Oriented Gradients (HOG) are extracted to represent the color fundus image. After feature extraction, a SVM classiﬁer is trained to detect the tessellated fundus. Both linear and RBF kernels are applied and compared in this work. A dataset with 836 fundus images is built to evaluate the proposed method. For linear SVM, the mean accuracy of 98% is achieved, with sensitivity of 0.99 and speciﬁcity of 0.98. For RBF kernel, the mean accuracy is 97%, with sensitivity of 0.99 and speciﬁcity of 0.95. The detection results indicate that color features and texture features are able to describe the tessellated fundus.
Morphological and physicochemical characterization of agglomerates of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in cell culture media

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NP) are possible carcinogenic materials (2B-IARC) and their toxicity depends on shape, size, and electrical charge of primary NP and on the system formed by NP media. The aim of this work was to characterize agglomerates of three TiO2 NP by evaluating their morphometry, stability, and zeta potential (ζ) in liquid media and their changes with time. Sizes of agglomerates by dynamic light scattering (DLS) resulted to be 10-50 times larger than those obtained by digital image analysis (DIA) given the charged zone around particles. Fractal dimension (FD) was highest for agglomerates of spheres and belts in F12K, and in E171 in FBS media. E171 and belts increased FD with time. At time zero, using water as dispersant FD was larger for agglomerates of spheres than for of E171. Belts suspended in water had the smallest values of circularity (Ci) which was approximately unchanged with time. All dispersions had ζ values around -30 mV at physiological pH (7.4) and dispersions of NP in water and FBS showed maximum stability (Turbiscan Lab analysis). Results help in understanding the complex NP geometry-size-stability relationships when performing in vivo and in vitro environmental-toxicity works and help in supporting decisions on the usage of TiO2 NP.
A Meta-Analysis of Interventions to Reduce Adolescent Cannabis Use

Objective: This meta-analytic review assesses the effectiveness of substance abuse interventions to reduce adolescent cannabis use. Method: A systematic search identified 15 randomized controlled evaluations of interventions to reduce adolescent cannabis use published between 1960 and 2008. The primary outcome variables, frequency of cannabis use, and quantity of cannabis use, were measured between 1 month and 1 year posttreatment completion. Results: Analyses of random effects models revealed similarly moderate effects for individual (g = -.437; 95% CI = [-.671, -.203]) and family-based treatments (g = -.404; 95% CI = [-.613, -.195]). Substance abuse treatments are associated with moderate reductions in cannabis use although effect sizes tended to wane with greater length of time posttreatment. Discussion: Substance abuse treatment programs should consider implementing evidence-based interventions highlighted in this meta-analysis that fit the needs and characteristics of their client base and agency setting.
The application of Bayesian filter and neural networks in lane changing prediction

Keyword: Lane change intent; BP neural network; Bayesian filter; Prediction; Correction Abstract: In order to improve safety during lane change, we proposed lane change intent prediction method based on neural networks and Bayesian filters. The method uses the lane line sensor, steering wheel angle sensor and in-vehicle CAN bus acquisition characterization parameters. The above acquisition parameters as the neural network input data, driver’s lane change intention preliminary forecast, take the output of BP neural network as the input of Bayesian filters, and then amendments the results of BP neural network. Using real vehicle lane changing data training and testing the model. The results show that prediction accuracy rate of BP neural network and Bayesian filters reaches 91.38%. The forecast accuracy increased by 6 percentage points compare to single BP neural network and has better versatility.
Biological System Behaviours and Natural-inspired Methods and Their Applications to Supply Chain Management

People have learnt from biological system behaviours and structures to design and develop a number of different kinds of optimisation algorithms that have been widely used in both theoretical study and practical applications in engineering and business management. An efficient supply chain is very important for companies to survive in global competitive market. An effective SCM (supply chain management) is the key for implement an efficient supply chain. Though there have been considerable amount of study of SCM, there have been very limited publications of applying the findings from the biological system study into SCM. In this paper, through systematic literature review, various SCM issues and requirements are discussed and some typical biological system behaviours and natural-inspired algorithms are evaluated for the purpose of SCM. Then the principle and possibility are presented on how to learn the biological systems' behaviours and naturalinspired algorithms for SCM and a framework is proposed as a guide line for users to apply the knowledge learnt from the biological systems for SCM. In the framework, a number of the procedures have been presented for using XML to represent both SCM requirement and bioinspiration data. To demonstrate the proposed framework, a case study has been presented for users to find the bio-inspirations for some particular SCM problems in automotive industry.