Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Quantitative Electronic Word of Mouth on Consumer Perceived Product Quality

Online shoppers today can easily share reviews of their product usage experiences on a third-party website. Many retail websites allow individuals to submit qualitative and/or quantitative reviews, using a typical five-point scale. With the increase in online shopping behaviors, the impact of these reviews, or electronic word of mouth, on consumers’ decisions is drawing more attention. Yet how do these on-line consumer reviews impact consumer behavior? This study empirically tests how quantitative product reviews affect online shoppers’ perception of product quality. We find that: (1) extreme ratings have a greater impact on prospective customers’ perceived quality than do median ratings while negative reviews have greater impact than positive reviews; (2) none of the volume, valence and consensus of electronic word of mouth can predict perceived quality reliably; (3) there is no difference between the perceived product quality formed by Chinese and American subjects when judging product quality, based on the same quantitative online product reviews.
A potato NOA gene increased salinity tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana

The purpose of this study is to produce recombinant StNOA1 in transgenic plants and to test its potential role in plant salt stress responses. The newly cloned StNOA1 gene from Solanum tuberosum L. was inserted into AtnOA1 mutant plant genome by Agrobaterium-mediated floral dip method. Transgene integration was verified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 4 different lines of transgenic Atnoa1. Expression of StNOA1 gene was further analyzed by reverse trancription (RT)-PCR. Physiological analyses indicated that the transgenic line TL9 had higher proline, soluble protein and chlorophyll contents as well as lower content of malondialdehyde (MDA) compared to its receptor, Atnoa1 mutant, under salt stress condition. Root elongation and survival rate in TL9 were significantly higher than those in Atnoa1 seedlings under salt stress. Present study proved that StNOA1 participated in Arabidopsis thaliana salt stress responses and increased its salinity tolerance.
Low survival of hatchery-released Atlantic salmon smolts during initial river and fjord migration

Even though release strategies have been improved, recapture rates of hatchery-reared Atlantic salmon as adults have been low in the River Eira, Norway. To evaluate whether loss of fish occurs in the river immediately after release, in the early marine phase in the fjord, or during the subsequent feeding migration at sea, 20 smolts were equipped with acoustic transmitters. The survival and movement pattern of the smolts were monitored along the 9-km-long river and during the first 37 km of the fjord migration. Only 25% of the smolts survived from release in the upper part of the river and until passing the fjord site 37 km from the river mouth. The within-river loss (15%, 3 of 20 smolts) was smaller than the marine mortality (71%, 12 of 17 smolts). The marine mortality was largest in the inner part of the fjord, with 41 % mortality during the first 3.6 km, 40% mortality during the next 6.0 km, and only 17% mortality during the last 27.5 km (i.e., 11.4%, 6.7% and 0.6% mortality per km, respectively). The data suggested that at least 9 of the 12 smolts lost in the fjord were eaten by predatory fish (i.e. 45% of the fish released in the river were lost to fish predators). Hence, our results indicate that a considerable proportion of hatchery-reared smolts released in rivers might be lost due to predation before they actually leave the fjords.
GAMIFICATION AT SCHOOL

Traditional teacher-oriented teaching methods in a lecture style are no longer viewed as effective enough for learning and are therefore criticized. It is generally agreed that the modern education should engage students, stimulate interests and maintain a positive attitude. In other words, there should be a way to further learning for example by combining it with playing. This is why many educators and researchers devise new strategies, tools, methods and techniques of novel and engaging activities in order to gamify education. Gamification is often defined as the use of game mechanics and game design techniques in non-game contexts. The present study focuses on investigating possibilities of gamification at school and in a classroom setting. In this study, to complement current research knowledge in the field of classroom and education gamification, students and teachers (n = 120) provided their point of view how to utilize gamification for learning and teaching purposes. As a result, several perfectible and creative concepts were figured out. Implications of the findings for future research are discussed and research based recommendations are presented.
Influence of deposition conditions on the thermal stability of ZnO:Al films grown by rf magnetron sputtering

The resistivity and the thermal stability of transparent conducting ZnO layers doped with aluminum have been correlated with the conditions of the sputtering process. Layers deposited at low rf power density (∼1.3 to 2.6 W/cm2) exhibit a low resistivity of 9×10−4 Ω cm, predominantly due to a high concentration of intrinsic donor type defects. These donors are compensated during annealing at high temperature in a vacuum; the low resistivity increases and the layers are not thermally stable. At rf power densities of ∼3.2 W/cm2 and more, the deposition conditions yield a high growth rate and the extrinsic aluminum dopant is incorporated on vacant cation sites. These substitutional donors are thermally stable therefore a low resistivity is retained after annealing at 550 °C.
Manufacturing productivity and energy efficiency: a stochastic efficiency frontier analysis

This paper presents a mathematical model to estimate both production frontier and energy demand frontier, and evaluate the energy efficiency in the automotive manufacturing sector using plant‐level production and utility consumption data. By using the stochastic frontier analysis, two models—an output efficiency model (production frontier) and an input efficiency model (energy demand frontier)—are developed to analyze the plant's energy efficiency performance relative to the ‘best practice’ among peers. Both the structure and parameters of two stochastic frontier functions are identified to understand the relationship between production inputs (e.g., utilities and plant‐specific variables) and the overall productivity. A case study of a set of automotive engine manufacturing plants is conducted and shows that electricity has higher efficiency than other forms of utility in those production‐related activities, and the regional and climate factors have significant impacts on energy efficiency. The models provide a way to measure how far from the production frontier as well as how far from the energy demand frontier the plant is. The results also provide useful information about the inefficient energy components in manufacturing facilities. The opportunities of improving plant‐level efficiency in automotive manufacturing plants can be revealed by the results. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Optimal Pension Design in General Equilibrium

The present paper aims to quantify efficiency properties of real world social security systems of various institutional designs in order to identify an optimal pension design. Starting from a benchmark economy without social security, we introduce alternative pension systems and compare the costs arising from liquidity constraints as well as labor and savings distortions versus the benefits from insurance provision against income and lifespan uncertainty. Our findings highlight strong efficiency losses arising from both means-testing pension benefits against private assets and restricting the contribution base while indicating a positive impact of means-testing flat benefits against earnings-related benefits within pension systems resting on several tiers. Furthermore, our results suggest that the negative correlation between pension progressivity and pension generosity may be justified on efficiency grounds. In our model a single-tier universal earnings-related pension system yields the highest efficiency gains dominating flat benefits as well as two-tier systems of any form.
Does higher surface temperature intensify extreme precipitation?

Recently, against the backdrop of current climate, several regional studies have investigated the applicability of the Clausius–Clapeyron relation to the scaling relationship between extreme precipitation intensity and surface air temperature. Nevertheless, the temperature relationship of the extreme precipitation intensity on a global scale is still unclear. We assess, for the first time, the global relationship between the extreme daily precipitation intensity and the daily surface air temperature using in‐situ data. The extreme daily precipitation intensity increased monotonically with the daily surface air temperature at high latitudes and decreased monotonically in the tropics. Similarly, the extreme daily precipitation intensity at middle latitudes increased at low temperatures and decreased at high temperatures; this decrease could be largely attributed to the decrease in the wet‐event duration. The Clausius–Clapeyron scaling is applicable to the increase in the extreme daily precipitation intensity in a limited number of regions. However, the potential applicability of the Clausius–Clapeyron scaling on sub‐hourly timescale was observed, even in regions where the Clausius–Clapeyron scaling on daily timescale was not applicable. This implies the potential of warming to intensify extreme precipitation on sub‐hourly timescales.
Socioeconomic Status and Democratic Parenting in Families of Preadolescents With Spina Bifida

5 MUCH RESEARCH HAS BEEN CONDUCTED ON the effects handicapped children have on parents’ adaptive functioning and parenting styles (see Bradley, Rock, Whiteside, Caldwell, & Brisby, 1991; Frey, Greenberg, & Fewell, 1989; Holmbeck et al., in press; Rodger, 1987; Wallander, Varni, Babani, Banis, & Wilcox, 1988, 1989). Similarly, research has also examined the effect socioeconomic status (SES) has on parents’ functioning (see Kohn, 1969; Kohn & Schooler, 1983). Relatively little work has been done on whether SES level affects how parents interact with a handicapped child. This study was designed to examine whether the degree of democratic parenting varies as a function of SES level and spina bifida status. Spina bifida is a common birth defect, with a ratio of about 2 in every 1,000 live births (Varni & Wallander, 1988). The defect is caused by an incomplete closure of the spine, called a lesion. The lesion can be located anywhere along the spinal column, and the higher up on the spinal cord the lesion is, the greater the extent of the disability. Some common secondary conditions that can occur as a result of the lesion are paralysis of the lower extremities, neurogenic incontinence, and hydrocephalus (i.e., water on the brain; Wills, 1993). Although, in years past, the survival rate for children born with spina bifida has been low, medical and surgical advances have now improved survival rates to levels exceeding 85% (Wallander, Feldman, & Varni, 1988). Stress on the parents of a child with spina bifida can begin immediately with the birth of the child. Because spina bifida is diagnosed at birth, the parents know immediately that something is wrong with their child. The baby often endures surgery at birth, which can leave parents feeling traumatized, especially if Socioeconomic Status and Democratic Parenting in Families of Preadolescents With Spina Bifida
The impact of money supply on stock prices and stock bubbles

This article is focused on the effect and implication of a change in the money supply for US capital market. This market was chosen according to his part on the global market capitalization. Namely it is the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), which was chosen according to his long history, global sense and stabile construction. The money supply will be measured by the wider aggregate M2 and aggregate MZM (money with zero maturity). The goal of this paper is detect, if the money supply influence the stock indices in period 1967 - 2011, if the impact of both money aggregates is near the same and how the money supply influence the bubble creation.
Molecular and cytological analysis of seed dormancy in Arabidopsis thaliana

Seed dormancy is defined as the failure of an intact viable seed to complete germination under favorable conditions. Many higher plants express seed dormancy to optimize the distribution of germination over time in a population of seeds. Seed dormancy can prevent preharvest sprouting as well as the untimely germination during winter. During the last decades several physiological investigations were performed on seed dormancy. But even though the role of plant hormones is known as well as the effect of some chemicals and the environment, the knowledge about the underlying molecular mechanisms remains fragmentary. This thesis describes two approaches to gain more insight in the molecular mechanisms. At the one hand, the chromatin structure during seed maturation and dormancy was investigated. While a difference of chromatin structure of dormant and non-dormant seeds was not measurable, indications were found that embryo nuclei reduce their volume during seed maturation. This could be related with the acquisition of desiccation tolerance during seed maturation. In addition, the gene responsible for the dormancy phenotype of the reduced dormancy 2 (rdo2) mutant was cloned and identified as a TFIIS transcription elongation factor. The encoded protein shows strong conservation with the yeast homologue, but has a plant specific function, as it cannot complement the phenotype of the yeast mutant. In yeast the TFIIS protein is known to interact physically with the RNA polymerase II complex to release it from transcriptional arrest. RDO2 is expressed in all tissues, but highest in seeds. The transcript level increases during seed maturation and reaches a maximum in mature seeds. Stable transformants expressing an RDO2-YFP fusion protein express fluorescence in the nuclei, which is consistent with the annotated function of RDO2 as a TFIIS protein. Quantitative Real Time PCR revealed, that the transcript level of DOG1, a key dormancy gene, is reduced in rdo2 mutant seeds during maturation compared to Ler. This would at least partially explain the reduced dormancy of the rdo2 mutant. RDO2 is the second cloned gene after HUB1 that links transcription regulation to dormancy. It is probable, that during seed maturation, when the water content of the seeds is reduced and the nuclei shrink, transcription elongation becomes less efficient, therefore a transcription elongation factor like RDO2 is increasingly required.
Statistical Estimation in Generalized Multiparameter Likelihood Models

Multiparameter likelihood models (MLMs) with multiple covariates have a wide range of applications; however, they encounter the “curse of dimensionality” problem when the dimension of the covariates is large. We develop a generalized multiparameter likelihood model that copes with multiple covariates and adapts to dynamic structural changes well. It includes some popular models, such as the partially linear and varying-coefficient models, as special cases. We present a simple, effective two-step method to estimate both the parametric and the nonparametric components when the model is fixed. The proposed estimator of the parametric component has the n −1/2convergence rate, and the estimator of the nonparametric component enjoys an adaptivity property. We suggest a data-driven procedure for selecting the bandwidths, and propose an initial estimator in profile likelihood estimation of the parametric part to ensure stability of the approach in general settings. We further develop an automatic procedure to identify constant parameters in the underlying model. We provide a simulation study and an application to infant mortality data of China to demonstrate the performance of our proposed method.
Evaluating impulse purchases generated by affections and advertisement effectiveness

Article history: Received: February 1, 2017 Received in revised format: July 6, 2017 Accepted: July 24, 2017 Available online: July 24, 2017 Impulse buying occurs when a consumer experiences a sudden, often powerful and persistent urge to buy something immediately. This on-going research considers the affections generated by consumers towards the chocolate brand which is endorsed by a celebrity. The Dual Mediation Hypothesis Model (DMH) is used to ascertain the ad effectiveness of the product/ brand, in this research advertisement featuring the celebrity. The affections generated by the ad leads to generation of affection towards the brand leading to purchase a product/ brand. The chocolate brand selected for the research has high market share and manufactures chocolate based products catering to all classes of consumers. The research primarily focuses on the significance of affections generated by the advertisement for the product. The purchase decision for such products is usually based on consumer impulses and attitudes towards the product/ brand. A convenience sample of 116 individuals was considered for the research and the survey was done using questionnaire method. The findings from the analysis revealed that the consumers purchased the products due to the impulses and affections generated by the ad and brand. There was no clear linkage between the celebrity and brand which lead to purchase intentions of the product/ brand. The Dual Mediation Model was found to be applicable as the affections towards the brand and the ad resulted in purchase intention. © 2017 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Improved Assessment

-Reuse distance and cluster size are evaluated for cellular mobile radio systems. Rayleigh fading, log-normal shad-owing, and area mean power inversely proportional to the fourth power of propagation distance are considered, using the technique of Schwartz and Yeh for determining the probability density function of the sum of several log-normal variables in order to obtain the cochannel interference probabilities. These results are used for analyzing the radio spectrum efficiency, taking also traffic intensity into consideration. Different modulation methods, namely, analog FM with 30-and 12.5-kHz channel spacing, SSB with 5-kHz spacing, and digital modulation with 25-kHz channel spacing, with adequate protection ratios, are compared. An example of the calculation of system band-width and cluster size is presented using this procedure.
DETERMINATION OF DIMENSIONAL CHANGES ON THE KÜNDEKARİ CONSTRUCTED WOODEN PANELS

In this study, dimensional changes were investigated on the wood panels and their parts produced by kündekari technique, which is commonly used in Seljuk and Ottoman Empire period. For this purpose, according to kündekari technique, 10 samples were prepared in real size from acacia (Robinia pseudoacacia L.), pear (Pirus communis L.), chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.), oak (Quercus petrean Lieble) and cedar (Cedrus libani A. Rich) woods, are commonly grown in Turkey. After conditioning in 20±2 °C, 90±5 % and 30±5 % relative humidity in a room, the swelling and shrinkage values of samples were measured according to TS 4083 and TS 4084 standards, respectively. From the statistical point wiev, swelling and shrinkage values evaluated and compared by taking humidity differentiation of the wood panels with kündekari constructed panels in to consideration. According to the research results, the kündekari techniques significantly reduced the dimensional changes of the wood panels.
Job embeddedness and the importance of retaining small firm employees

Small firms identify retention of staff as a significant problem. Voluntary turnover of talented staff can be costly, especially in small firms where there are few slack resources. However, there is scant research on retention in small firms. We use the concept of Job Embeddedness to understand why small firm employees stay. The concept refers to the totality of forces that embed employees in their jobs and it consists of three dimensions: fit, links, and sacrifice. Seven propositions are outlined comparing the ways fit, links and sacrifice might play out for small and large firm employees. Through testing these propositions small firm owner-managers may have a better understanding of what can be done to retain employees and maintain firm performance.
Efficient elicitor and precursor induced resveratrol production in suspension cultures of Arachies hypogea

Plant secondary compounds eliciting pharmacological or toxicological effects have long been processed for varied objective and they symbolize the perpetual compassion of nature by every means and are expressed in diverse human traditions. Plant cell cultures bequeath an alternative means for producing secondary metabolites. The current research is an effort to study the influence of elicitor salicylic acid and precursor phenylalanine and malonyl co A on the production of resveratrol, the most highly active phytochemical present in A. hypogea. Suspension cultures were established on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 2, 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2, 4-D13.57 μM) and 6benzylaminopurine (BAP0.88μM). Elicitor and precursor at different concentrations were supplemented to the medium and resveratrol produced was quantified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Several-fold increase in resveratrol concentration compared to the control was observed in elicited cultures. Precursor feeding (127.86±7.62) was found to be superior that elicited higher concentration of resveratrol, while noteworthy elicitation compared to precursor was observed in salicylic acid (74.45±5.62) on resveratrol production in the cell suspension culture of A. hypogea. Loss of cell viability was observed at high concentrations in both elicitor-precursor treated cultures. The results imply the production of resveratrol in elicitor-precursor treated suspension cultures are several times higher than in peanut plant and conceivably provide a new outlook for the further development.
Assessing the Effect of Land Use Change on the Amazon Basin River Discharge

本研究の目的は、約1000000平方キロメートルとウマイタ流域における放電の土地利用の影響を評価することです。 この研究のためのデータセットが50キロの解像度を持つ世界的な再分析から派生した降水量と気候変動の変数で構成されています。 放電データは、ブラジルの水資源庁(ANddA)から取得した。 毎日のデータセットは、34年の期間を網羅しています。 マルチ速度アプローチTOPCMODELは、そのシンプルさと効率のために水文モデルとして選ばれた。 方法論は、基本的に2つのステップで構成されています：6年、モデルの検証と全体の時系列の土地利用の識別の効果の持続期間のためのモデル校正を。 土地利用の効果が検証して、再度各年のモデルを校正期間中の各年分の放電をシミュレートするモデルの効率化を用いて分析した。 再校正後、モデルのパラメータ値の時間変化を解析した。 これは、モデルパラメータの変化を観察されましたが、これは利用の変化、土地に関連付けることができます。
What Kind of People are the Happiest? An Empirical Study

This research aims to study the relationship between personality traits and happiness. In research analytical model, extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, Openness to experience and conscientiousness are independent variables and dependent variable is happiness. To clarify the relationships among the research variables, structural equation modelling (SEM) was conducted to examine the model fit and hypotheses. Findings show that extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness impact positively on happiness, while Neuroticism and openness impact negatively on happiness. Present research was conducted from winter to summer 2010 at University of Tehran