Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants of Subscriber Churn in Wireless Networks : The Role of Peer Influence ∗ [ Extended Abstract ]

Subscriber churn is a top challenge for wireless carriers. Understanding the determinants of churn is key for carriers to identify potential churners and apply effective retention strategies to reduce subscriber loss. In this paper, we apply generalized propensity score matching to separate peer influence from other confounding factors that might affect churn. Our empirical analysis, developed over a large scale wireless network, confirms that peer influence plays a role in churn. The estimated marginal influence of having a first friend churn is roughly 3%. While the marginal effect of friends’ churn decreases significantly as more friends do so, contagious churn is still a significant part of the story beyond high churn rates in the mobile industry.
Comparison of Friedewald ’ s Formula and Martin ’ s Method with Direct Assay of Serum LDL-Cholesterol

DOI: 10.21276/sjams.2018. 6.3. 29 Abstract: Serum levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) dictate not only diagnosis but also risk classification and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Owing to the cost-effectiveness, Friedewald formula (FF) is primarily preferred and adopted method to assess serum LDL-C levels especially when triglycerides (TG) <400 mg/dL. FF employs a fixed factor of 5 for the ratio of TG to very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG:VLDL-C). Martin et. al., in their recent study proposed an adjustable factor using N-strata-specific median TG:VLDL-C ratios. They constructed 180-cell table based on non-High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) and TG levels. In the present cross-sectional study, the performance of LDL-C measurements based on FF (LDL-CF) and novel method (LDL-CN) in comparison to direct homogenous assay (LDL-CD) was evaluated. A total of 480 lipid profile data with serum TG <400 mg/dL were procured. The efficacy of both LDL-CF and LDL-CN measurements were evaluated under broader as well as in constricted ranges of TG. The entire lipid profile data was pooled under Group I comprising broader range of TG i.e., TG <400 mg/dL. The data of Group I were further stratified into subsequent three groups with constricted range of TG. Hence, Group II (TG<100 mg/dL), Group III (TG=100-199 mg/dL), Group IV (TG=200-399 mg/dL) comprised 153, 170 and 147 samples, respectively. Bland-Altman (B&A) and Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient (CCC, ρc) analysis were used as statistical tools. Difference plot of B&A analysis indicated narrow 95% limits of agreement (LOA) as bias±2 standard deviations with low percentage error for LDL-CN in contrast to LDL-CF at all ranges of TG. Although both formula based methods were in substantial strength-ofagreement with LDL-CD yet LDL-CN expressed marginally higher ρc (95%CI) with precision and accuracy in all Groups. Hence, in corroboration with earlier studies, our study also further supports the efficacy of LDL-CN in comparison to LDL-CF.
Ownership Structure, Corporate Governance and Capital Structure of Non-Financial Firms of Pakistan

This study is undertaken with the purpose of investigating the impact of ownership structure and corporate governance on the capital structure of Pakistani listed firms from 2011-2014, feasible general least square is used to investigate the impact of ownership structure and corporate governance on capital structure of KSE 100 index firms. Explanatory variables include ownership concentration, managerial ownership, foreign ownership, institutional ownership, board size, board independence and CEO duality along with the three control variables namely firm size, firm profitability and liquidity. There is insignificant positive relationship between ownership concentration and capital structure, managerial ownership has a significant negative impact on debt ratio. Foreign ownership has also a significant negative impact on firm capital structure and institutional ownership has significant positive impact on capital structure. Board size is positively related to capital structure, board independence also positively related to firmâ€™s debt ratio but CEO duality negatively related to the dependent variable, all these variables have significant impact on capital structure of Pakistani firms.
Applications of nano-ingredients in building materials

• A submitted manuscript is the author's version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences between the submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for the final version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website. • The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review. • The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers.
Complement Pathway Changes in Childhood are Associated with Incidence and Persistence of Psychotic Experiences in Adolescence: Evidence from the ALSPAC Birth Cohort.

The complement cascade is a major component of the immune defence against infection, and there is increasing evidence for a role of dysregulated complement in major psychiatric disorders. We undertook a directed proteomic analysis of the complement signalling pathway ( n = 29 proteins) using data-independent acquisition. Participants were recruited from the UK avon longitudinal study of parents and children (ALSPAC) cohort who participated in psychiatric assessment interviews at ages 12 and 18. Protein expression levels at age 12 among individuals who reported psychotic experiences (PEs) at age 18 ( n = 64) were compared with age-matched controls ( n = 67). Six out of the 29 targeted complement proteins or protein subcomponents were signi ﬁ cantly upregulated following correction for multiple comparisons (VTN ↑ , C1RL ↑ , C8B ↑ , C8A ↑ , CFH ↑ , and C5 ↑ ). We then undertook an unbiased plasma proteomic analysis of mice exposed to chronic social stress and observed dysregulation of 11 complement proteins, including three that were altered in the same direction in individuals with PE (C1R ↑ , CFH ↑ , and C5 ↑ ). Our ﬁ ndings indicate that dysregulation of the complement protein pathway in blood is associated with incidence of psychotic experiences and that these changes may re ﬂ ect exposure to stress.
1 Wind Turbines and Coastal Recreation Demand

We examine the impact of coastal wind turbines on coastal tourism and recreation for residents of the northern CAMA counties in North Carolina. A combination of telephone and web survey data are used to assess the impact of coastal wind farms on trip behavior and site choice. Most of the respondents to our telephone survey claim to support offshore wind energy development, and independent survey data suggest that the observed levels of support may be indicative of the broader population in this region. Overall, we find very little impact of coastal wind turbines on aggregate recreational visitation; loss in consumer surplus associated with wide spread wind development in the coastal zone is insignificant at $17 (or about 1.5%). Results suggest that NC coastal residents are averse to wind farms in the near-shore zone; average compensating variation for wind farms one mile from the shore is estimated at $55 per household. On average, we find no evidence of aversion to wind farms 4 miles out in the ocean, or for wind farms located in coastal estuaries. For all wind farm scenarios, we find evidence of preference heterogeneity– some respondents find this appealing while others find it aversive.
Metrics for end-of-life strategies (ELSEIM)

The environmental impact of a product's end-of-life is modeled, using the End-of-Life Strategy Environmental Impact Model (ELSEIM). The model is based on data from case studies provided by Philips Consumer Electronics. The model calculates the environmental impact across all possible end-of-life strategies (reuse, service, remanufacture, recycle, and disposal). The environmental impacts include the following: manufacturing or extraction, transportation, energy, end-of-life, and packaging. Results from case studies from Philips Consumer Electronics show that the popular belief that reuse is the best end-of-life strategy to reduce environmental impact is only partly true: (i) for television, the reuse strategy instead of the current recycling with disassembly strategy brings little gains; if future energy consumption of televisions decreases further the gain will turn into a loss; and (ii) cellular phones are assessed as good candidates for reuse and should be redesigned accordingly.
THE NEW REGIONALISM AND FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN THE AMERICAS

Regional integration is an excellent example of the pendulum theory. Regional trade agreements (RTAs), which were popular in the 1950s and 1960s, fell out of favor in the 1970s and 1980s, only to see a resurgence in the late 1980s. The 1990s were unparalleled in terms of interest in regional integration. Between 1995 and 2002, 125 new agreements were notified to the World Trade Organization (WTO), bringing the total to 250 RTAs (WTO 2002). The explosion of RTAs has been most notable in the Americas. The new agreements are so different that policymakers now distinguish between the “old regionalism” and “new regionalism” (Devlin and Estevadeordal 2001; IDB 2002; Iglesias 2002). Table 2.1 lists the RTAs that have been signed or are under negotiation in the Americas, as of May 2003, showing the rapid expansion in the number of agreements and their geographic breadth. There are now an amazing 45 regional trade agreements in the hemisphere (28 signed and 17 under negotiation). Most RTAs are free trade agreements (FTAs), which eliminate internal tariffs but allow countries to maintain their own external tariffs against nonmember countries, such as the 1989 Canada–U.S. Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). A few RTAs are customs unions (e.g., Mercosur and the Andean Pact), where a common external tariff replaces national tariffs on nonmember countries. An important issue surrounding RTAs is their impacts on the level and direction of foreign direct investment (FDI). Politicians, policymakers, academic researchers, and the public can and do have different opinions about the economic impacts. Economists traditionally have been optimistic in their appraisals of regional integration (Rugman
Computational approaches for tortuosity determination in 3D structures

Tortuosity is a parameter of key importance to study transport properties in either solid phase (thermal, electrical) and/or fluid phase (acoustics, mass/heat flow, etc). This structure-related parameter expresses mathematically the real pathway distance in comparison to the straightest one when travelling along certain direction through the material’s internal structure. Tortuosity determination is not reliable in 2D and needs to be computed in 3D structures. However, computation of 3D algorithms in complex structures is not an easy task. This work discusses two methodological approaches based on their correspondent computation algorithms working on a collection of 3D tomography data sets of different cellular materials. The tortuosity analysis is carried out in both solid and fluid phases. Results will be compared and correlated. A detailed discussion in terms of these models and the materials will be given.
Three-Dimensional Nearshore Currents Model Based on Vertical Distribution of Radiation Stress

Wave-induced currents in a surf zone must be explained by the change of wave motion. The driving force for nearshore currents is the radiation stresses which are defined as the excess momentum flux due to wave motion. However, there is no model which can describe the three-dimensional structure of the nearshore currents. This study aims to develop a model of this kind, in which only wave motion is taken as the driving force to the currents. Governing equations are derived from the Navier-Stokes equations. This model is proved to reproduce the currents measured in the experiments.
CityLines: Designing Hybrid Hub-and-Spoke Transit System with Urban Big Data

Rapid urbanization has posed significant burden on urban transportation infrastructures. In today's cities, both private and public transits have clear limitations to fulfill passengers’ needs for quality of experience (QoE): Public transits operate along fixed routes with long wait time and total transit time; Private transits, such as taxis, private shuttles and ride-hailing services, provide point-to-point transits with high trip fare. In this paper, we propose CityLines, a transformative urban transit system, employing hybrid hub-and-spoke transit model with shared shuttles. Analogous to Airlines services, the proposed CityLines system routes urban trips among spokes through a few hubs or direct paths, with travel time as short as private transits and fare as low as public transits. CityLines allows both point-to-point connection to improve the passenger QoE, and hub-and-spoke connection to reduce the system operation cost. To evaluate the performance of CityLines, we conduct extensive data-driven experiments using one-month real-world trip demand data (from taxis, buses and subway trains) collected from Shenzhen, China. The results demonstrate that CityLines reduces 12.5-44 percent average travel time, and aggregates 8.5-32.6 percent more trips with ride-sharing over other implementation baselines.
Polarimetric Calibration Monitoring by Permanent Scatterers

The PS calibration combines external devices, like corner reflectors, transponders and the stable targets to provide continuous monitoring of the radiometric quality of a SAR instrument. The aim is to provide, on the bases of image blocks (say 10 x 10 km), the precise geolocation and the polarimetric signature of each scatterer. The scheme thus requires (1) the identification of the stable targets, and (2) the characterization of their Polarimetric scattering matrix by external references. In that way, it would be possible to calibrate even a dual polarimetric system.
University of Groningen Economic Evaluation of a Problem Solving Intervention to Prevent Recurrent Sickness Absence in Workers with Common Mental Disorders

Objectives: Workers with common mental disorders (CMDs) frequently experience recurrent sickness absence but scientifically evaluated interventions to prevent recurrences are lacking. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit of a problem solving intervention aimed at preventing recurrent sickness absence in workers with CMDs compared to care as usual. Methods: An economic evaluation was conducted alongside a cluster-randomised controlled trial with 12 months follow-up. Treatment providers were randomised to either a 2-day training in the SHARP-at work intervention, i.e. a problem solving intervention, or care as usual. Effect outcomes were the incidence of recurrent sickness absence and time to recurrent sickness absence. Self-reported health care utilisation was measured by questionnaires. A cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) from the societal perspective and a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) from the employer’s perspective were conducted. Results: The CEA showed that the SHARP-at work intervention was more effective but also more expensive than care as usual. The CBA revealed that employer’s occupational health care costs were significantly higher in the intervention group compared to care as usual. Overall, the SHARP-at work intervention showed no economic benefit compared to care as usual. Conclusions: As implementation of the SHARP-at work intervention might require additional investments, health care policy makers need to decide if these investments are worthwhile considering the results that can be accomplished in reducing recurrent sickness absence. Citation: Arends I, Bültmann U, van Rhenen W, Groen H, van der Klink JJL (2013) Economic Evaluation of a Problem Solving Intervention to Prevent Recurrent Sickness Absence in Workers with Common Mental Disorders. PLoS ONE 8(8): e71937. doi:10.1371/journal.pone. 0071937 Editor: Marianna Mazza, Catholic University of Sacred Heart of Rome, Italy Received May 1, 2013; Accepted July 10, 2013; Published August 12, 2013 Copyright: © 2013 Arends et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: This project was supported by a grant from Stichting Instituut GAK, a Dutch funding agency. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. * E-mail: i.arends@umcg.nl
Efficient Face Verification Under Makeup Using Few Salient Facial Regions

—Automatic recognition of persons has attracted the attention of many researchers during the last years due to its many applications in various ﬁelds. However, this task faces several challenges related to many changes that can affect the human face. In particular, make-up faces represent a major challenge for facial recognition and veriﬁcation. To deal with this issue, we propose an efﬁcient salient patch-based method for verifying faces under makeup variation. Firstly, we use Mutli-Task Cascaded Convolutional Neural Networks (MTC-CNN) to jointly, detect and align the face with ﬁve landmarks. The Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG) descriptor and Local Binary Patterns (LBP) are then adopted to represent the face by concatenating their histogram features in few salient regions around the detected landmarks. Finally, we calculate the similarity measure between the extracted features to compare the two faces and determine whether they are for the same person or not. The performance of the proposed method is validated on the challenging Y MU (YouTube Makeup dataset ) and MIFS (Makeup Induced Face Spooﬁng) datasets. The obtained results proved the superiority of the proposed method against multi-patch based method from the state of the art.
Title Blind Detection and Compensation of Camera Lens Geometric Distortions Permalink

This paper presents a blind detection and compensation technique for camera lens geometric distortions. The lens distortion introduces higher-order correlations in the frequency domain and in turn it can be detected using higher-order spectral analysis tools without assuming any specific calibration target. The existing blind lens distortion removal method only considered a single-coefficient radial distortion model. In this paper, two coefficients are considered to model approximately the geometric distortion. All the models considered have analytical closed-form inverse formulae.
Manager Uncertainty and the Cross-Section of Stock Returns

This paper evidences the explanatory power of managers’ uncertainty for cross-sectional stock returns. I introduce a novel measure of the degree of managers’ uncertain beliefs about future states: manager uncertainty (MU), defined as the count of the word “uncertainty” over the sum of the count of the word “uncertainty” and the count of the word “risk” in filings and conference calls. I find that manager’s level of uncertainty reveals valuation information about real options and thereby has significantly negative explanatory power for cross-sectional stock returns. Beyond existing market-based uncertainty measures, the manager uncertainty measure has incremental pricing power by capturing information frictions between managers’ reported uncertainty and investors’ perception of uncertainty. Moreover, a short-long portfolio sorted by manager uncertainty has a significantly positive premium and cannot be spanned by existing factor models. An application on COVID-19 uncertainty shows consistent results.
Subject Area : Strategy And Organizational Behavior RBGN Retail Executives ’ Professional Learning Contents

The research question that is addressed in this article is the following: what do the executives from small retailing firms learn in their work environment? The theoretical framework of the study is based on texts from the field of learning. This is a qualitative investigation. Ten interviews with clothing retail executives were carried out. Later, these interviews were transcribed and analyzed. In the data analysis stage, two categories were established in response to the research question. Regarding the first, respondents perceived difficulties (problems) in their work environments and obtained specific information and knowledge in order to deal with these situations. So as to overcome different professional difficulties, respondents learned about colors and types of fabric and about certain manufacturing process aspects referring to the clothing sold by their companies. They also declared to have 1. Doctor in Production Engineering by the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) Professor at the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) [eaqlucena@yahoo.com. br] 2. Doctor in Business Administration by the Rheinisch-Westfalische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Germany Professor at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) [01cunha@gmail.com] Authors’ address: Campus Universitário Reitor João David Ferreira Lima Trindade Florianópolis Santa Catarina CEP: 88040-900 – Brazil learned about their companies’ suppliers and about certain issues referring to sales, and to the accounting and the financial management of their companies. The second category refers to a change in some of the respondents’ habits. This learning content refers to predispositions to respond and/ or act in situations at their work environments. Respondents reported having changed the way they related to other people. They emphasized that they had learned how to interact with the employees at their stores and how to carry out supervision. Differently from other studies, we found that the retailers’ learning (individual learning) affected their companies’ learning (organizational learning) through changes in certain aspects of the analyzed companies’ organizational structures.
Is Stock Price Synchronicity a Measure of Noise or Stock Price Informativeness: Evidence from Audit Pricing Model

It is an unsettled issue of whether stock price synchronicity (hereafter SYN) measures market-wide noise or market-wide informativeness. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (hereafter SOX) provides an experimental setting to re-examine the issue of SYN. As internal control reports and assessments required by SOX are available to the stock market in annual reports, this market-wide financial statement-related information will affect auditors’ risk assessment and therefore audit work and consequently audit fees as well. Using this experimental setting, this study uses an audit pricing model to examine the relation between audit fees and SYN. Using a sample consisting ofU.S. firms from 2004 to 2006, the study documents a significantly positive relation between audit fees and SYN only in year 2004, but insignificant relations in years 2005 and 2006. The results are consistent with SYN representing market-wide financial statement-related information in 2004 when a regulatory change in financial statements due to SOX; while SYN representing market-wide noise (i.e. non-financial statement-related information) in 2005 and 2006.