Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
When Ethical Transgressions of Customers Have Beneficial Long-Term Effects in Retailing: An Empirical Investigation

The conventional wisdom, grounded in deontological ethics, is that retailers should extinguish unethical customer behavior. However, there exists an opposing teleological view that unethical behavior may be tolerated if its ultimate consequences are beneficial for all stakeholders. This is supported by a survey of retail managers conducted by the authors that revealed over 80% of the respondents are inclined to tolerate unethical customers whose actions have beneficial effects. The primary goal of this research is to investigate the boundaries of this teleological perspective, that is, whether ethical transgressions that appear to have negative short-term consequences for the retailer and other ethical customers can have beneficial longer-term consequences for all parties. We examine this question empirically with a longitudinal dataset, covering seventy weeks and over 48,000 accounts, from a popular Swiss online retailer. We focus on increased revenues and customer engagement as the benefit for the retailer. Our results show that customers registering multiple accounts in violation of the retailer’s policy comprise fewer than 11.5% of accounts, yet generate more than 27.6% of the retailer’s revenue. Specifically, their behavior leads to higher retailer revenues and greater engagement by other customers in the long-run. We discuss the implications of this insight for retailing managers as well as scholars.
CHANGES OF ARTIFICIAL SURFACES IN EL FASHER CITY: RESULT OF THE CONFLICT IN DARFUR-SUDAN

Changes of artificial surfaces in El Fasher city: result of the conflict in Darfur-Sudan Abstract: Identification of urban growth and its change using satellite data are an important sphere of interest. Darfur in western Sudan has been affected by the war since 2001 where hun- dreds of thousands of IDPs moved and stayed in El Fasher city the capital of the northern Dar- fur State, so the identification of change in the city is important. In this paper, we used the Landsat ETM+ subset to identify the change in El Fasher city. This paper describes the stage of the classification process for LU/LC classification and changes in urban land in El Fasher city over a 5-year period. Subset of Landsat ETM+ images of 2001 and 2005 dates were used in this study. The images interpreted using unsupervised and supervised classification methods. Result showed an overall classification accuracy of 84.00% and 85.33% respectively for five classes and the Kappa coefficient of 0.7327 and 0.7640 respectively.
Measuring the extent of technical inefficiency in Nepalese agriculture using SDF and DEA models

Alleviation of poverty is a central issue in Nepal. Given the limited stock of land, and the infant/unorganised manufacturing sector, increased demand for food has to be satisfied by improving production efficiency. This paper examines how this could be achieved. An SDF model and DEA model identify the existence of a high degree of technical inefficiency in Nepalese agricultural production system, suggesting that there is a substantial prospect of increasing agricultural productivity using the existing level of inputs and resources more efficiently. Among the three farm sizes in the data set, medium size farmers achieve a higher technical efficiency than large and small farm sizes, suggesting that productive efficiency can be increased with the encouragement of creating medium size holdings. The observed decreasing returns to scale also implies that productivity gains could be achieved by breaking up of large farms into small family farms. The technical inefficiency model suggests the potential for shifting production frontier upwards by providing ownership of land, increasing farmers‟ education, and knowledge and increasing land quality including irrigation facilities. JEL Classifications: D24; L25; Q12
Informality, tariffs and wealth

This article analyzes the interaction between changes in tariff protection, informality, inequality and aggregate income. First, we describe some new empirical evidence on informality, the formal/informal wage gap and trade openness in Latin American countries. Then we present a simple model characterized by three (empirically based) assumptions: (1) agents consume both formal and informal goods; (2) the government uses tariff revenues to purchase formal goods; (3) informality is a voluntary phenomenon. The model predicts that tariff reduction increases informality and wage inequality and that the maximization of income requires a positive level of tariff protection. The model's results are shown to be consistent with the empirical evidence concerning Latin American countries.
Conference on Food , Nutrition , and Cancer Cancer Inhibition by Inositol Hexaphosphate ( IP 6 ) and Inositol : From Laboratory to Clinic 1 , 2

Inositol hexaphosphate (IP6) is a naturally occurring polyphosphorylated carbohydrate that is present in substantial amounts in almost all plant and mammalian cells. It was recently recognized to possess multiple biological functions. A striking anticancer effect of IP6 was demonstrated in different experimental models. Inositol is also a natural constituent possessing moderate anticancer activity. The most consistent and best anticancer results were obtained from the combination of IP6 plus inositol. In addition to reducing cell proliferation, IP6 increases differentiation of malignant cells, often resulting in a reversion to normal phenotype. Exogenously administered IP6 is rapidly taken into the cells and dephosphorylated to lower-phosphate inositol phosphates, which further interfere with signal transduction pathways and cell cycle arrest. Enhanced immunity and antioxidant properties can also contribute to tumor cell destruction. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this anticancer action are not fully understood. Because it is abundantly present in regular diet, efficiently absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, and safe, IP6 holds great promise in our strategies for the prevention and treatment of cancer. IP6 plus inositol enhances the anticancer effect of conventional chemotherapy, controls cancer metastases, and improves the quality of life, as shown in a pilot clinical trial. The data strongly argue for the use of IP6 plus inositol in our strategies for cancer prevention and treatment. However, the effectiveness and safety of IP6 plus inositol at therapeutic doses needs to be determined in phase I and phase II clinical trials in humans. J. Nutr. 133: 3778S–3784S, 2003.
Understanding task execution time in relation to the multilayer project structure: Empirical evidence

Estimating task execution time is essential for planning and managing engineering projects. Many process scheduling and optimisation tools and methods require precise task execution time estimates. However, estimates are often too optimistic, potentially harming the usefulness of such tools. In this paper, we develop a methodology to aggregate multiple data sources into a Multiple Domain Matrix and show that its structural properties correlate with task execution time. Specifically, using data from a real-world engineering case, we show that the size of a task, the number of people assigned to it, and the number of interfaces directly correlate with task execution time. We discuss how these measures are available during the planning stage of the process and how people can use them to obtain better estimates.
Recognition of Shorthand Writing using Neural Networks

Shorthand is any system of rapid handwriting which can be used to transcribe the spoken word as fast as people speak. In this paper is described a simple but efficient method for the recognition of shorthand signs. This method is based on a new technique for obtaining invariant descriptions from shorthand signs. The technique proposed is invariant to scaling, translations and deformations. In this technique, signs are divided into sub-regions, and those subregions are then described in terms of their geometric moments of order zero. Finally, the invariant description already obtained is normalized in order to train a neural network. The proposal is tested using a bank of 1100 signs written by 10 different people.
Detection of the DNS Water Torture Attack by Analyzing Features of the Subdomain Name

The Domain Name System (DNS), whose major function is to manage associations between domain names and IP addresses, plays a major role in managing the Internet. Thus, a DNS impairment would significantly impact society. A major cause of DNS impairment is Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on authoritative DNS servers. Our study focuses on the recently emerging DDoS attack known as the DNS Water Torture Attack. This attack causes open resolvers, which are improperly configured cache DNS servers that accept requests from both LAN and WAN, to send many queries to resolve domains managed by target servers. Domain names for resolving sent in this attack include varying random subdomains. Cache servers certainly will not have cached data for these queries, and so a huge volume of queries converges to the target authoritative servers via cache servers. In this paper, we propose a detection method for this attack using the Naive Bayes Classifier. Experimental results show that our method is capable of detecting this attack with a 95.59% detection rate. Moreover, the results of performance simulation show that our method is fast enough to process more than 2.3 Gbps of traffic on the fly.
Eye Gaze Tracking and Eyes off the Road Detection for Traffic Safety on Raspberry Pi

— Most of the automobile accidents are caused by distracted driving. Passively monitoring driver’s eyes can help in detecting state of mind and alertness of driver and thus can reduce risk of accidents. Proposed system includes three main parts 1) Facial feature tracking 2) Eye gaze and 3D head pose estimation 3) Eyes off the road and fatigue detection. Video feed from camera installed on car dashboard tracks features of driver in real time (25FPS). Infrared illuminator is used at night time to detect facial features clearly without distracting driver. Image processing algorithm is developed in OpenCV to estimate where the driver is looking by combining 3D head pose estimation and eye gaze estimation. Algorithm is implemented on Raspberry Pi board to make a compact embedded system. Different zones are defined which includes the side mirrors, the rear-view mirror, the instrument board, and different zones in the windshield as points few of which are eyes off the road points. SVM is used to train and classify different combinations of gaze and head pose angles to determine exact point of gaze. Based on algorithm output if driver’s eyes are off the road or eyes are closed due to fatigue then accordingly audio and steering vibration warnings are given to driver.
Treatment of Dengue Infection; A Clinical Trial Focusing on the Effect of Silymarin on Clinical Features

Background: Dengue annually affects almost 100 million people globally while 2.5 billion people are at risk of developing dengue fever. The treatment of the infection is decided on the basis of the clinical features and level of fluids in the body. Liver is the main organ susceptible in dengue infection. Silymarin is a flavonoid which is known to play an important role in normalization of enzyme alanine amino transferase as well as aspartate amino transferase levels in hepatic disorders. Objective: To assess the improvement in clinical features in dengue patients having silymarin treatment as compared to the placebo, along with conservative therapy. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted Ziauddin hospital, Clifton, Karachi. 92 dengue patients, aged 18 to 70 years, were included in the study and were equally divided into two groups, A and B, which received silymarin and placebo respectively, along with the symptomatic dengue treatment. The clinical features assessed included nausea, vomiting, bodyache, headache, retro-orbital pain, rashes, petechial haemorrhoids, facial flushing, conjunctivitis and hepato splenomegaly. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Chi-square test and independent samples t-test were used for inferential analysis whereas the significance level was set at 0.05. Results: The study results revealed that none of the liver enzymes were found to significantly decrease after the use of Silymarin in the treatment group as compared to the placebo group (p>0.05 for all). Moreover, none of the clinical features studied were found to be significantly different in both study groups (p>0.05 for all). Conclusion: The study results revealed that none of the clinical features studied significantly improved in the treatment group as compared to the placebo group after Silymarin treatment. Further evaluation of the potential benefits of Silymarin therapy in the treatment of dengue infection is recommended.
Intestinal Inﬂammation Increases Gastrointestinal Threonine Uptake and Mucin Synthesis in Enterally Fed Minipigs 1–3

The high requirement of the gut for threonine has often been ascribed to the synthesis of mucins, secreted threonine-rich glycoproteins protecting the intestinal epithelium from injury. This requirement could be even greater during intestinal inﬂammation, when mucin synthesis is enhanced. In this study, we used an animal model to investigate the effects of an acute ileitis on threonine splanchnic ﬂuxes. Eight adult multi-catheterized minipigs were fed with an enteral solution. Four of them were subjected to experimental ileitis involving direct administration of trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) into the ileum (TNBS-treated group) and the other 4 were not treated (control group). Threonine ﬂuxes across the portal-drained viscera (PDV) were quantiﬁed with the use of simultaneous i.g. L -[ 15 N]threonine and i.v. L -[U- 13 C]threonine infusions. Ileal mucosawassampled for mucin fractional synthesis rate measurement, which wasgreater in the TNBS-treated group (114 6 15%/d) than in the control group (61 6 8%/d) ( P ¼ 0.021). The ﬁrst-pass extraction of dietary threonine by the PDV and liver didnot differ between groups and accounted for ; 27and 10%oftheintragastricdelivery, respectively. PDV uptake of arterial threonine increased from 25 6 14 m mol (cid:2) kg 2 1. h 2 1 in the control group to 171 6 35 m mol (cid:2) kg 2 1. h 2 1 in the TNBS-treated group ( P , 0.001). In conclusion, ileitis increased intestinal mucin synthesis and PDV utilization of threonine from arterial but not luminal supply. This leads to the mobilization of endogenous proteins to meet the increased threonine demand associated with acute intestinal inﬂammation. J. Nutr. 139: 720–726, 2009. FSR was calculated as FSR ¼ EiMUC = EiThr = e 2 : Statistics. Data were analyzed using the repeated option of the PROC MIXED procedure of SAS (SAS/STAT Users Guide, release 8.1; SAS Institute), with subjects as random effect and day, group, day 3 group as factors. When a signiﬁcant day 3 group interaction was found, we used the LSMEANS procedure to test differences at speciﬁc days, between and within groups. Unpaired Student’s t tests were used to compare between the 2 groups data obtained on intestinal mucosa (d 3). Results are presented as means 6 SEM. Means are considered different at P , 0.05.
Fracture and Damage Behaviors of Concrete in the Fractal Space

The fracture toughness, the driving force and the fracture energy for an infinite plate with a fractal crack are investigated in the fractal space in this work. The perimeter-area relation is adopted to derive the transforma-tion rule between damage variables in the fractal space and Euclidean space. A plasticity yield criterion is introduced and a damage variable tensor is decomposed into tensile and compressive components to describe the distinct behaviors in tension and compression. A plastic damage constitutive model for concrete in the Euclidean space is developed and generalized to fractal case according to the transformation rule of damage variables. Numerical calculations of the present model with and without fractal are conducted and compared with experimental data to verify the efficiency of this model and show the necessity of considering the fractal effect in the constitutive model of concrete. The structural response and mesh sensitivity of a notched unre-inforced concrete beam under 3-point bending test are theoretical studied and show good agreement with the experimental data.
A Semi-analytical Model for Wind-fed Black Hole High-mass X-Ray Binaries: State Transition Triggered by Magnetic Fields from the Companion Star

We propose a mechanism of state transition in wind-fed black hole (BH) binaries (high-mass X-ray binaries) such as Cyg X-1 and LMC X-1. Modeling a line-driven stellar wind from the companion by two-dimensional hydrodynamical calculations, we investigate the processes of wind capture by, and accretion onto, the BH. We assume that the wind acceleration is terminated at the He ii ionization front because ions responsible for line-driven acceleration are ionized within the front, i.e., the He iii region. It is found that the mass accretion rate inferred from the luminosity is remarkably smaller than the capture rate. Considering the difference, we construct a model for the state transition based on the accretion flow being controlled by magnetorotational instability. The outer flow is torus-like, and plays an important role to trigger the transition. The model can explain why state transition does occur in Cyg X-1, while not in LMC X-1. Cyg X-1 exhibits a relatively low luminosity, and then the He ii ionization front is located and can move between the companion and BH, depending on its ionizing photon flux. On the other hand, LMC X-1 exhibits too high luminosity for the front to move considerably; the front is too close to the companion atmosphere. The model also predicts that each state of high-soft or low-hard would last fairly long because the luminosity depends weakly on the wind velocity. In the context of the model, the state transition is triggered by a fluctuation of the magnetic field when its amplitude becomes comparable to the field strength in the torus-like outer flow.
Systems-Centered Group Psychotherapy: A Theory of Living Human Systems and Its Systems-Centered Practice

Abstract:The theory of living human systems defines a hierarchy of isomorphic systems that are energy organizing, goal oriented, and system correcting. In this article, four interdependent coexisting systems are introduced, each sharing the same properties: the person system, the member system, the transitory subgroup systems, and the system-as-a-whole. The practice of Systems-Centered Therapy (SCT) was developed by defining operational definitions for the theoretical constructs. Most important of these is functional subgrouping, which puts into practice the assumption that the survival, development, and transformation of all living human systems depend on the discrimination and integration of differences. SCT functional subgrouping is an important innovation that transforms transient subgroups into ongoing functional subgroups. Functional subgrouping is new to the field and is determined to be both a necessary and sufficient condition for the development of a Systems-Centered group.
Negative Coulomb damping, limit cycles, and self-oscillation of the vocal folds

An effective one-mass model of phonation is developed. It borrows the salient features of the classic two-mass model of human speech developed by Ishizaka, Matsudaira, and Flanagan. Their model is based on the idea that the oscillating vocal folds maintain their motion by deriving energy from the flow of air through the glottis. We argue that the essence of the action of the aerodynamic forces on the vocal folds is captured by negative Coulomb damping, which acts on the oscillator to energize it. A viscous force is added to include the effects of tissue damping. The solutions to this single oscillator model show that when it is excited by negative Coulomb damping, it will reach a limit cycle. Displacements, phase portraits, and energy histories are presented for two underdamped linear oscillators. A nonlinear force is added so that the variations of the fundamental frequency and the open quotient with lung pressure are comparable to the behavior of the two-mass model.
Enhancement of Quality of Visible And Infrared Images Using Genetic Algorithm

In this paper, genetic algorithm has been investigated for the enhancement of the visible and infrared images. The algorithm was effective as the contents of the images became clear with the successive iterations. The algorithm was applied on the image for 200 random DNAs with successive iterations. The analysis of the results showed that the quality of images get enhanced with the successive iterations.
Genome analysis Enriched transcription factor binding sites in hypermethylated gene promoters in drug resistant cancer cells

Motivation: In the human genome, ‘CpG islands’, CG-rich regions located in or near gene promoters, are normally unmethylated. However, in cancer cells, CpG islands frequently gain methylation, resulting in silencing of growth-limiting tumor suppressor genes. To our knowledge, the potential relationship between CpG island hypermethylation, transcription factor (TF) binding in local promoter regions and transcriptional control has not been previously explored in a genome-wide context. Results: In this study, we utilized bioinformatics tools and TF binding site(TFBs) databases to globally analyze sequences methylated in a laboratory model for the development of drug-resistant cancer. Our results demonstrated that four TFBS were enriched in hypermethylated sequences. More interestingly, overrepresentation of these TFBS was observed in hyper-/hypo-methylated sequences where significant changes in methylation levels were observed in drug-resistant cancer cells. In summary, we believe that these findings offer a means to further explore the relationship between DNA methylation and gene expression in drug resistance and
DIRECT DETECTION OF THE L-DWARF DONOR IN WZ SAGITTAE

Analysis of a large set of phase-resolved K-band spectra of the cataclysmic variable WZ Sge shows that the secondary star of this system appears to be an L-dwarf. Previous K-band spectra of WZ Sge found that the CO overtone bandheads were in emission. We show that absorption from the 12CO(2,0) bandhead of the donor star creates a dip in the 12CO(2,0) emission feature. Measuring the motion of this feature over the orbital period, we construct a radial velocity curve that gives a velocity amplitude of Kabs = 520 ± 35 km s−1, consistent with the previously published values for this parameter.
An empirical investigation of the principal top management styles in the emphasis of multiple forms of controls

This study offers empirical evidence of the principal top management styles in the emphasis of multiple forms of controls. In particular, it analysed the principal styles in how top managers emphasise financial, non-financial and selected behavioural (action accountability) controls in the performance evaluations of foreign subsidiary managers and whether the different styles result in performance differences. Research propositions were assessed using cluster analysis and analysis of variance, with documentary and survey data collected from the top managers of the business units of multinational companies headquartered in Finland. The results identify, describe and profile a total of six principal styles in the emphasis of financial, non-financial and behavioural controls. Overall, the results demonstrate that managers differ significantly in the way they emphasise controls and that all styles are not as effective in enhancing performance.