Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Value of initial relationships in new business start-ups

Purpose Several studies have focussed on new ventures and the development of their first business relationships. However, the understanding of the value functions and involvement in those relationships remain inadequate. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relating process of a new venture by combining the value function framework and the notion of the degrees of involvement in business relationships. Design/methodology/approach The authors rely on two exploratory longitudinal case studies that focus on two start-ups. In both cases, the evolution of initial relationships with suppliers and customers over a period of time are studied. Findings The process of relating can occur through a diversity of business relationships manifested in both their value functions and their degree of involvement. The combination of value functions is not stable over time nor is the degree of involvement in business relationships. Moreover, specific interdependencies emerge between the value functions in the customer base and the supplier base of the new ventures over time. Originality/value This paper is among the few that explore the emergence of new ventures by considering both suppliers and customer relationships. From a business network perspective, the paper also shows that combining value functions and degrees of involvement provides a better understanding of the role of relationship diversity in the process of becoming a node in the business network.
Basic Soil Data Requirements for Process-Based Crop Models as a Basis for Crop Diversification

Data from global soil databases are increasingly used for crop modelling, but the impact of such data on simulated crop yield has not been not extensively studied. Accurate yield estimation is particularly useful for yield mapping and crop diversification planning. In this article, available soil profile data across Sri Lanka were harmonised and compared with the data from two global soil databases (Soilgrids and Openlandmap). Their impact on simulated crop (rice) yield was studied using a pre-calibrated Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) as an exemplar model. To identify the most sensitive soil parameters, a global sensitivity analysis was performed for all parameters across three datasets. Different soil parameters in both global datasets showed significantly (p < 0.05) lower and higher values than observed values. However, simulated rice yields using global data were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than from observed soil. Due to the relatively lower sensitivity to the yield, all parameters except soil texture and bulk density can still be supplied from global databases when observed data are not available. To facilitate the wider application of digital soil data for yield simulations, particularly for neglected and underutilised crops, nation-wide soil maps for 9 parameters up to 100 cm depth were generated and made available online.
Private Function Evaluation Using Intel's SGX

Private Function Evaluation (PFE) is the problem of evaluating one party’s private data using a private function owned by another party. Existing solutions for PFE are based on universal circuits evaluated in secure multiparty computations or on hiding the circuit’s topology and the gate’s functionality through additive homomorphic encryption. These solutions, however, are not efficient enough for practical use; hence there is a need for more efficient techniques. This work looks at utilizing the Intel Software Guard Extensions platform (SGX) to provide a more practical solution for PFE where the privacy of the data and the function are both preserved. Notably, our solution carefully avoids the pitfalls of side-channel attacks on SGX. We present solutions for two different scenarios: the first is when the function’s owner has an SGX-enabled device and the other is when a third party (or one of the data owners) has the SGX capability. Our results show a clear expected advantage in terms of running time for the first case over the second. Investigating the slowdown in the second case leads to the garbling time which constitutes more than 60% of the consumed time. Both solutions clearly outperform FairplayPF in our tests.
The characteristics and developmental control factors of microscopic pore structure in shale gas reservoirs in the Lower Cambrian Qiongzhusi Formation

The Early Cambrian Qiongzhusi Formation on the southern margin of the Sichuan Basin (Southern China) has experienced a long geological process. High degree of thermal evolution of the organic matter shows a great impact on the organic evolution, reservoir microscopic pore types and structure characteristics in this formation. In this study, we investigate the major types and structural features of microscopic pores in shale gas reservoirs of the Qiongzhusi FM. Different types of matrix pores are found, over-mature shale gas reservoirs in the Qiongzhusi FM. mainly have well-developed micropores, but their average specific surface area (SSA) and pore volume are smaller than those in the Longmaxi Formation. The degree of thermal evolution poses the greatest impact on microscopic pore structure, which is significantly positively correlated with SSA and pore volume; however, when exceeding this range, SSA and pore volume both drastically decrease with increasing degree of thermal evolution. Compared with those in the Longmaxi FM. , microscopic pores of shale gas reservoirs in the Qiongzhusi FM. feature pore- SSA and large surface porosity. The better the development of micropores, the larger the SSA and Vp of shales, which are more conducive to shale gas adsorption and accumulation.
Are the Transient and Equilibrium Climate Change Patterns Similar in Response to Increased CO2?

After a CO2 increase, whether the early transient and final equilibrium climate change patterns are similar has major implications. Here, we analyze long-term simulations from multiple climate models under increased CO2, together with the extended simulations from CMIP5, to compare the transient and equilibrium climate change patterns under different forcing scenarios. Results show that the normalized warming patterns (per 1 K of global warming) are broadly similar among different forcing scenarios (including abrupt 2 × CO2, 4 × CO2, and 1% CO2 increase per year) and during different time periods, except for the first 50 years or so when warming is weaker over the North Atlantic and Southern Ocean but stronger over most continents. During the first 200 years, this consistency is stronger over land than over ocean, but is lower in midlatitudes than other regions. Normalized precipitation change patterns are also similar, albeit to a lesser degree, among different forcing scenarios and across different time periods, although noticeable differences exist during the first few hundred years with smaller increases over the tropical Pacific. Precipitation over many subtropical oceans and land areas decreases consistently under different forcing scenarios and over all time periods. In particular, the transient and near-equilibrium change patterns for both surface air temperature and precipitation are similar over most of the globe, except for the North Atlantic warming hole, which is mainly a transient feature. The Arctic amplification and land–ocean warming contrast are largest during the first 100–200 years after CO2 quadrupling but they still exist in the equilibrium response.
Ensign wasps (Hymenoptera: Evaniidae) in Dominican and Mexican amber

ABSTRACT Three new species of ensign wasps (Hymenoptera: Evaniidae), Evaniella setifera sp. nov., Evaniella dominicana sp. nov., and Semaeomyia hispaniola sp. nov. are described from Dominican amber and Hyptia mexicana sp. nov. is described from Mexican amber. Diagnostic characters are presented and a key to the species of Evaniidae from New World Tertiary amber is provided. These descriptions show new and possibly unique morphological features of ensign wasps that existed during the Tertiary. The location of possible hosts of Evaniella setifera is suggested based on three alate termites (Isoptera: Kalotermitidae) in the same piece of Dominican amber.
Global and targeted proteomics in Arabidopsis thaliana: A study of secondary metabolism and phytohormone signaling

Proteomics is defined as a tool to explore how proteins control and regulate important molecular and physiological processes. Further, peptide-centric approaches, or bottomup methods, provide more comprehensive coverage of a proteome compared to wholeprotein approaches. This body of work assesses the technical feasibility of several bottom-up proteomics technologies applied to Arabidopsis thaliana, including gel-based methods, those that require peptide derivitization, and those that do not. Selected-reaction monitoring (SRM) for targeted proteomics, and data-independent acquisition (MS E ) was also evaluated. In addition to assessing the capabilities of these technologies, we then applied them to the context of uncovering new insights into the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway and the auxin and ethylene signaling pathways. Chapter one provides background information related to secondary metabolism, phytohormone signaling, and the status of proteomics in plants. In Chapter 2 and Appendix A, we establish the methodology to apply traditional and DiGE-based 2D-GE strategies to global proteomics in Arabidopsis. Our results suggest that while 2D-GE is applicable to Arabidopsis, there are practical and conceptual limitations that must be understood. Further, our results suggest that pertubations in the flavonoid pathway do not affect the abundance of proteins in Arabidopsis seedlings, roots, or flowers that can be studied using 2D-GE and DiGE. Additionally, we demonstrated the first parallel comparison of the effects of auxin and ethylene on the Arabidopsis root proteome and observed no overlap among the proteins regulated by the two phytohormones, at least for the most abundant proteins observed by 2D-GE. Chapter 3 explores the efficacy of selected reaction monitoring for relative peptide quantification in Arabidopsis roots. Our results suggest that while the technology parallels application in yeast and humans, there are substantial analytical challenges that much be addressed. In Chapter 4 we explore the MS E data acquisition scheme for global proteomics in Arabidopsis. We observe that treatment with exogenous auxin affects the abundance of many proteins representing diverse biological processes. Interestingly, we observe minimal overlap among genes and proteins regulated by exogenous auxin. Appendix B explores the efficacy of iTRAQ labeling for relative peptide quantification in Arabidopsis roots.
Using SERVQUAL Method to Assess Tourist Service Quality by the Example of the Silesian Museum Established on the Post-Mining Area

The increasing role of the tourism industry in the global economy and the growing competition makes it necessary to ensure constant performance and continually improve quality. The paper draws attention to the necessity of conducting research on tourist attraction quality also in post-industrial areas which have become attractive tourist sites. It is emphasised that industrial tourism is a new yet quickly developing phenomenon in Poland, which compels managers to differentiate their service range and improve quality standards. The paper employs the SERVQUAL (SERvice QUALity) method to assess the quality of tourist services as a theoretical instrument to measure overall visitor satisfaction. The subject of the research was the Silesian Museum, which is result of reclamation and revitalisation of the inactive “Katowice” Hard Coal Mine. The article presents an empirical verification of the methodology which was modified for the purposes of the research subject. The Museum is considered to be one of the most important cultural centres and a crucial element of the social life of the Silesia region where mining activity has been carried out for centuries. Thirty young people from different continents participated in the survey. The results demonstrated that the expectations of the visitors were not met in three cases only which suggests a very high quality of the Silesian Museum. Moreover, the presented results show increasing capabilities and opportunities to maintain a high quality of services in the studied facility. The findings indicate that the appropriately modified SERVQUAL methodology is a valuable and simple tool to evaluate visitor satisfaction. The results of the evaluation of the Silesian Museum services will be presented to the facility managers. Further research will be carried out after the improvement and implementation of the next stage of the Museum’s development.
Construction of a vector containing a formaldehyde-hyperresistance gene as a selective marker หน้า 351-359

The genetically modified Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains in a laboratory level normally use antibiotic substance or amino acid analog as a selective marker which are very expensive. In this research, construction of a vector containing a selective marker gene that used cheaper substance was investigated. From the study of the tolerance DNA damaging agents such as formaldehyde, it was found that a hyperresistance gene SFA (Hyperresistance to formaldehyde) was responsible for a tolerance of formaldehyde. Thus, the SFA gene from S. cerevisiae was used as a selective marker in this research. S. cerevisiae strain TISTR 5596 was chosen as a source of SFA gene since it was able to grow on 4 mM formaldehyde comparing to other strains. After amplification of the SFA gene by PCR, the PCR product was 1,160 bp long, corresponding to the length of the gene from NCBI database (gene accession No. X68020). The PCR product of the SFA gene was ligated into a plasmid pGBDU-C3 via Xhol/EcoRI site by which the gene was overexpressed under the ADH1 promoter. The plasmid containing the SFA gene was prepared from bacterial cells and further transformed into S. cerevisiae TISTR 5596. The obtained yeast transformants showed enhanced tolerance to formaldehyde concentration up to 5.5 mM; however, the untransformed yeast cells could not survive. From this study, it was demonstrated that the selection of transformed yeast cells was more convenient using SFA gene as a selective marker
Polynucleotide and polypeptide sequences involved in the process of bone remodeling

The present invention is partially characteristic involved in the process of bone remodeling, and newly identified genetic polynucleotides; said polynucleotide and corresponding polypeptide variants and derivatives; polynucleotides, polypeptides, variants and, the use of derivatives; as well as methods and compositions for improving symptoms caused by bone remodeling disorder. Particularly disclosed polynucleotides that are involved in osteoclast activity, polypeptides, variants, and the isolation and identification of derivatives, confirmation of their potential as therapeutic targets for the identified polynucleotides, and pathology polynucleotides for the improvement and research purposes, is the use of polypeptides, variants, and derivatives.
Free Aerial Imagery as a Resource to Monitor Compliance with the Endangered Species Act

Compliance monitoring is an integral part of law and policy implementation. A lack of compliance monitoring for the Endangered Species Act (ESA), driven in part by resource limitations, may be undercutting efforts to recover threatened and endangered species. Here we evaluate the utility of freely available satellite and aerial imagery as a cost-efficient component of ESA compliance monitoring. Using data on actions authorized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) under section 7 of the ESA, we show that approximately 40% of actions can be found in remotely sensed imagery. Some types of actions, such as residential and commercial development, roadwork, and forestry, show substantially higher observability. Based on our results and the requirements of compliance monitoring, we recommend FWS standardize data collection requirements for consultations; record and publish terms and conditions of consultations; and encourage their staff to use technology such as remotely sensed data as a central part of their workflow for implementing the ESA.
Facet joint syndrome treated with interventional procedures: a review article with an update on the current evidence and practice

Background: Facet Joint Syndrome (FJS) is a common progressive disease affecting small joints of the spine and can have painful symptoms. When conservative treatment measures fail, there are a wide range of interventional procedures that can be used. Varied results have been obtained with different procedures, and standardized indications and guidelines are unclear. The authors aimed to review the most current evidence on indications, utilization of interventional procedures, results, and complication risks for the treatment of FJS. Methods: Customized structured electronic searches were performed in PubMed and Cochrane databases. Meta-analyses, randomized controlled trials (RCT), and systematic reviews on FJS treated with interventional minimally invasive procedures published from 1st of January 2015 to 29th of February 2020 were included. We initially selected 320 studies, and 25 studies (two meta-analyses, six systematic reviews, and 17 RCT) were selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: A certain amount of improvement of pain was reported in 100% of the patients, with no significant complications reported. Most studies showed efficacy of all interventional procedures at all levels of evidence, without providing definitive data on indications and superiority of one procedure over others. Conclusions: The authors suggest a standardized stepladder approach to the management of FJS, with conservative measures initially and interventional procedures if those measures fail. All procedures were reported to be safe and efficient when clinically indicated and properly performed. Further studies with appropriate methodology are needed. Level of Evidence: Level IV.
Adaptive Wiener Filter and Natural Noise to Eliminate Adversarial Perturbation

Deep neural network has been widely used in pattern recognition and speech processing, but its vulnerability to adversarial attacks also proverbially demonstrated. These attacks perform unstructured pixel-wise perturbation to fool the classifier, which does not affect the human visual system. The role of adversarial examples in the information security field has received increased attention across a number of disciplines in recent years. An alternative approach is “like cures like”. In this paper, we propose to utilize common noise and adaptive wiener filtering to mitigate the perturbation. Our method includes two operations: noise addition, which adds natural noise to input adversarial examples, and adaptive wiener filtering, which denoising the images in the previous step. Based on the study of the distribution of attacks, adding natural noise has an impact on adversarial examples to a certain extent and then they can be removed through adaptive wiener filter, which is an optimal estimator for the local variance of the image. The proposed improved adaptive wiener filter can automatically select the optimal window size between the given multiple alternative windows based on the features of different images. Based on lots of experiments, the result demonstrates that the proposed method is capable of defending against adversarial attacks, such as FGSM (Fast Gradient Sign Method), C&W, Deepfool, and JSMA (Jacobian-based Saliency Map Attack). By compared experiments, our method outperforms or is comparable to state-of-the-art methods.
Event study methodology in business research: a bibliometric analysis

This study aims to provide an objective analysis of the state-of-the-art and intellectual development of publications related to event study methodology in business research. ,The sample includes 1,219 papers related to event study methodology, covering all business disciplines and spanning 34 years from 1983 to 2016. ,Through three stages of primary analysis, namely, initial sample, citation and co-citation analyses, the authors identified the publication trends, supplementary techniques, influential publications and intellectual clusters in the area of event study methodology in business. ,The findings serve as a benchmark for the extensive literature related to event study methodology in business and may facilitate the transference of the amassed useful techniques among disciplines and the identification of future research directions. ,The current study represents as a pioneering effort to review event study-related publications using bibliometric analysis.
Phylogeography of the snake pipefish, Entelurus aequoreus (Family: Syngnathidae) in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean

The snake pipefish, Entelurus aequoreus, is a widespread marine species occurring in pelagic and coastal environments in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. Recently, the snake pipefish underwent a short-lived, yet substantial, increase in abundance and range expansion into arctic waters. However, little is known about the species' population structure or if different ecotypes contributed to this outbreak. Specimens (n = 178) were sampled from 25 locations from six regions spanning 1.9 million km2. A fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and control region was used to assess population structure and genetic diversity. Both loci showed high haplotype diversity (Hd) and low nucleotide diversity (π) over all sampled locations. A genetic signature of population expansion was evident through mismatch distributions and tests for recent population expansion (Fu's Fs, Tajima's D and R2). Effective population size analyses (Bayesian skyline plot) suggest an expansion 50-100 thousand years before present. However, we found neither significant population differentiation (analysis of molecular variance) among regions nor evidence of genetically distinct ecotypes. This lack of structure is probably due to a pelagic life style, fast development and long distance dispersal aided by ocean currents. Our work highlights the need for further research to better understand the recent outbreak and how this species may respond to future environmental challenges
Cognitive and Affective Well-Being Differences in Subjective and Objective Socioeconomic Status Groups

: Objective : This study aimed at identifying the relationship between socioeconomic status and psychological well being in the Lithuanian population. Background : Socioeconomic status implies that not all individuals have equal opportunities to achieve their goals, because not everyone has equal access to education, health, even business support services, and the psychological well-being of some may be significantly reduced solely by lack of material resources. Method : The main method of research in the article is an interview method at the respondent's home. Also, various assessment tools were used in the Lithuanian population survey. In this survey, the authors applied the following scales: Flourishing Scale; The Satisfaction with Life Scale; The Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale and The Positive and Negative Emotional Experience Scale. Results : The results of the study showed statistically significant differences in psychological well-being (psychological flourishing, life satisfaction, happiness, positive and negative emotional experiences) between different income quintile groups, with average psychological well-being constructs in the lowest income quintile being about twice lower than in the highest income quintile. The study showed that the mean ranks of the happiness score in the most deprived group were almost seven times lower than in the middle class. Conclusion : The research has established that strong and lasting negative emotional experiences are related to diminished well-being and can cause direct and indirect public damages. Authors indicate that additional research is needed.