Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The comparative research of travel websites usability between China and western countries

The booming development of global tourism e-commerce puts forward the travel service providers to establish more professional travel websites to satisfy the need of customers. In this article, selected 30 tourism website were divided into four types. Afterwards, through empirical researches the general comparative study carried out the main differences on the dimension of information completeness and user interface and navigation. Then, aiming at the specialties of the four types of tourism websites, the sectional comparisons will be applied to go deep through of each kind of websites and make more accurate and detailed contrasts. Likewise, preliminary analyses of the causes of the differences are pointed out and some brief advices on the future websites establishment are also proposed.
When is Imitation a Threat? The Case of Design in the Global Tire Industry

What if the outputs of inimitable resources are not protected but open to imitation? In the tire industry, tire makers’ tread patterns, which endow tires with critical functionality, are the output of innovation capabilities. However, this intellectual property was not completely protected from the industry’s birth in the early twentieth century through the 1990s. This leads us to the fundamental research question addressed in this paper. Why was this valuable innovation not protected in full for almost a century? Why did firms finally begin to protect it in the 1990s? To answer this question, we examine the history of the global tire industry and its patent trajectory. We use two methodologies that complement each other. By unpacking the historical events and longitudinal patent and financial data analysis, we show the shift to more design protections as a response to imitation by makers from emerging economies. This complementary approach helps us better apprehend the dynamism of imitation and innovation. Our findings suggest that until the late twentieth century, tread designs, a well-known source of competitive advantage, were not fully protected because imitation of the design would hurt the imitators’ other resources such as brand identity. However, the entry of emerging economy players who did not bear these imitation costs dramatically changed the patent trajectory. Advanced players that were directly confronted by the threat of imitation were suddenly forced to strengthen the patent portfolio of their designs to protect their key source of competitive advantage. This study contributes to the resource-based view (RBV) by showing that some assumptions about consistent investment in inimitability can be relaxed. The RBV as a basis for the competitive advantage of a firm suggests the application of a bundle of valuable tangible or intangible resources at the firm’s disposal (Penrose, 1959; Wernerfelt, 1984; Barney, 1991). The RBV explains a firm’s ability to deliver sustainable competitive advantage when resources are managed so that their outcomes cannot be readily imitated by competitors, which ultimately creates a competitive barrier (Mahoney and Pandian, 1992; Smith and Rupp, 2002). Thus, the investment to secure inimitability seems natural as a strategic choice of firms (Lieberman, 1987; Hill, 1988; Barney, 1991). However, we highlight here that firms will invest in protecting valuable resources only when there is a threat to inimitability. On the condition that imitation destroys other resources of an imitator, imitation may not occur. If firms recognize this condition in an industry, investment in inimitability may not be necessary. Once the condition is compromised, however, active protection of valuable resources from imitation should be enforced.
Statistical analysis for satellite-index-based insurance to define damaged pasture thresholds

Abstract. Vegetation indices based on satellite images, such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), have been used in countries like the USA, Canada and Spain for damaged pasture and forage insurance over the last few years. This type of agricultural insurance is called satellite-index-based insurance (SIBI). In SIBI, the occurrence of damage is defined as normal distributions. In this work a pasture area at the north of the Community of Madrid (Spain) has been delimited by means of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images. A statistical analysis of NDVI histograms was applied to seek for alternative distributions using the maximum likelihood method and χ2 test. The results show that the normal distribution is not the optimal representation and the generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution presents a better fit through the year based on a quality estimator. A comparison between normal and GEV is shown with respect to the probability under a NDVI threshold value throughout the year. This suggests that an a priori distribution should not be selected and a percentile methodology should be used to define a NDVI damage threshold rather than the average and standard deviation, typically of normal distributions. Highlights. The GEV distribution provides better fit to the NDVI historical observations than the normal one. Differences between normal and GEV distributions are higher during spring and autumn, which are transition periods in the precipitation regimen. NDVI damage threshold shows evident differences using normal and GEV distributions both covering the same probability (24.20 %). NDVI damage threshold values based on percentile calculation are proposed as an improvement in the index-based insurance in damaged pasture.
Internal Capital Market Mergers in Weak External Market Environment: An Emerging Market Evidence

Using Chinese split‐share structure reform as backdrop, we study the alternative theories explaining the change in objectives of internal capital markets (ICMs) after regulatory intervention. Focusing on related party merger and acquisitions, as the primary form of ICM transactions in China, we document significantly positive performance improvement among the acquiring firms around related party than nonrelated party merger and acquisitions in the period following the split‐share structure reform. This evidence is particularly stronger among acquirers with lower institutional shareholding. Our findings are invariant to the length of performance evaluation window, matched samples, model specifications, acquirers' ownership structure, and business group affiliations. After controlling for alternative channels of tunnelling and propping, contrary to the popular belief, our findings support the bright‐side view of ICMs postregulatory intervention in an emerging market set‐up.
Online Submission ID : 483 Monte Carlo Rendering with Natural Illumination

We present a new sampling technique for using environment maps for illumination in a Monte Carlo ray tracer, based on directly importance sampling the continuous two-dimensional distribution of illumination as a function of direction. Unlike previous techniques for high-quality rendering with environment maps, our method requires very little precomputation, is easy to implement, and is compatible with existing approaches for Monte Carlo variance reduction. We achieve equivalent or lower error in rendered images than previous methods and robustly handle a wider variety of reflection models for the same amount of rendering time, though our technique uses three orders of magnitude less precomputation. For interactive rendering, our sampling methods can be used to generate a set of directional light sources that accurately approximate the environment map’s illumination in a few hundredths of a second.
Willingness to Pay for Shrimp with Homegrown by Heroes, Community-Supported Fishery, Best Aquaculture Practices, or Local Attributes

Abstract With the seafood food market endowed with various attributes, consumers may prefer certain certifications over others. By surveying a diverse sample of respondents, this study examines consumer preference for farm-raised shrimp in Kentucky and South Carolina. Respondents’ assessment of certain seafood labels is evaluated using a stated preference survey. Willingness-to-pay (WTP) estimates and various product profiles are generated. Consistent with previous studies, a strong preference for fresh and “local” was found. Furthermore, Homegrown by Heroes was highly valued among participants, as well as Best Aquaculture Practices. Based on WTP estimates for these attributes, marketing and policy recommendations are discussed.
Inside the Learning Assemblage: Japanese Parents’ Views of Children’s Learning and Future Possibilities

In Japan, as in many other countries, young children’s learning is subject to two major experiences: experience at home and experience in preschool. These experiences constitute the basis on which to formulate understandings about children’s future possibilities. The aim of this study is twofold: to navigate Japanese preschool children’s learning experiences and future possibilities in their families and preschools, as perceived by Japanese parents; and to discuss how learning is imbued in various distinct and interrelated elements of the home and preschool contexts. The study analyses children’s learning through questionnaires of preschool parents in Tokyo and the observations of parent-child and parent-teacher interactions in the preschools. Following from Deleuze and Guattari’s assemblage theory, children’s learning is positioned within a dynamic assemblage of stable, fluid and transformative forces that leads to particular experiences and becomings. Placing parents’ views at the centre of analysis of their children’s learning, the study shows how they conceptualized children’s experiences and their becomings as-and-in children’s learning assemblages.
NEW TECHNIQUES IN SATELLITE ALTIMETER TRACKING SYSTEMS.

Satellite radar altimeters have tracking and control systems designed specifically for the ocean surface. These systems have experienced difficulty in tracking the less predictable topographic surfaces of the Earth. A description is given of a new tracking algorithm designed to permit robust tracking of topographic surfaces without compromising the accuracy of precision of the altimeter over the ocean.
Reasonably good corporate governance

Attempts to determine what constitutes “good” corporate governance have become mired in the quicksand of the ethical conflict between duty and utility, virtue and rights, as well as the fight over for whose good the organization exists. This paper takes a different tack. Drawing upon evidence from the efforts to build and develop the UK code of corporate governance, it argues that the nature of “good” is intractable, but that in the practical world a philosophically pragmatic approach applies, exemplified in the preference for a comply-or-explain approach rather than more formal modes of regulation. Using Toulmin’s (2001) of advocacy the reasonable, in opposition to the rational, it argues that “reasonably good” governance is the best that can be expected, given the contingent nature of organizational life and strategies and the uncertain and potentially fungible benefits of various mechanisms of corporate governance.
Geology of Tenderfoot Creek Experimental Forest Little Belt Mountains, Meagher County, Montana

Geographic Setting The Tenderfoot Creek Experimental Forest in the west-central part of the Little Belt Mountains occupies a transition zone in the west-central part of the Mountains-a transition from rolling mountain parks with rounded peaks that rise about 500 feet above the upland of the range to deeply incised canyons that drain the west end of the Mountains. The Experimental Forest is bisected by Tenderfoot Creek, which is incised as deeply as 2400 feet into the upland. The steep inner canyon of Tenderfoot Creek opens upward onto narrow parks, which are rimmed on the north and south by, rounded peaks that rise to elevations of about 7200 to 7600 feet. At the east end of the experimental forest, the divide of Onion Park separates drainage flowing east into Belt Creek from drainage flowing west into Tenderfoot Creek and the Smith River. Quartzite Ridge, Williams Mountain and Woods Mountain on the south, and the ridge of Iron Mountain north of Tenderfoot Creek enclose the Tenderfoot Creek drainage. Thus the Experimental Forest covers the upper end of a west-sloping basin that drains steeply into the Smith River, about 12 miles to the west. This geographic setting is controlled by the resistance to erosion of rock units that underlie the area and by young geologic uplift of the mountains. These controls are described in the following account of the geology of the experimental forest.
Synthesis of Sol-Gel Silicas functionalized with Schiff Base Ligands

Schiff bases containing azomethine linkage in their structure are good ligands and show great metal binding ability. In last few years sol-gel method is found very attractive for synthesis of gels due to its low cost, low operating temperature and ease of synthesis. This work presents the synthesis of Schiff base functionalized gels through sol-gel method and their use in extraction of metal ions from aqueous medium at room temperature and appropriate pH. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses of both blank and functionalized gels are presented. The analyses data show successful incorporation of the Schiff base in sol-gel matrix. Metal removal data show high efficiency of Schiff base functionalized gels.
Migrants and Refugees in Africa

Intraregional migration of cross-border workers, unskilled and temporary contract workers, undocumented migrants, highly skilled professionals, and refugees characterize the migration landscape in Africa and is reflected in distinctive and changing configurations in the different subregions: labor migration in the west and central areas, movement of refugees in the eastern and southern areas, and migration of skilled professionals from west and east to southern Africa. Migrants and refugees in Africa share a number of common features: both are caused in large part by a set of interrelated factors—conflicts, underdevelopment, poor governance, and economic and social deprivation—and movements are confined largely to the continent. Youth unemployment, a major trigger for irregular migration, together with emigration of skilled professionals, pose serious challenges for many countries; remittances from the diaspora, though a lifeline for poor families left behind, do not compensate for the loss of skills. The refugee situation is highly dynamic and fluid. The sheer numbers of refugees in Africa, their composition, and the challenges they face and the limited success obtained thus far in the search for a permanent solution require sustained efforts in what is regarded an African problem requiring essentially an African solution.
The Benefits of Being Friends with the Boss

We investigate whether connections with the CEO established outside the firm increase the likelihood of an individual being promoted to be on the top management team (TMT), i.e., become one of the firms’ top five executives, and whether those connections increase the likelihood of a member of the TMT being appointed to the board of directors. We find evidence consistent with a connection increasing the likelihood of an individual being appointed to the TMT and the likelihood of a member of the TMT being appointed to the board of directors. We also evidence consistent with connections between the executive and the CEO reducing that executives’ likelihood of turnover. In cross-sectional analysis we provide some evidence consistent with our turnover results being associated with CEO power, as well as firm complexity, and our board appointment results being associated with CEO power.
ESTIMATING THE DEMAND FOR BROADBAND SERVICES IN BRAZIL: ANALYSIS BY A DISCRETE-CHOICE MODEL

ABSTRACT Discrete-choice models were used to estimate the demand for broadband services in Brazil. Results indicate an elastic demand for fixed broadband. The demand price elasticity is greater for municipalities that rely on more than one economic group offering broadband: the monopoly will set the price for the broadband services to minimize competition between plans in the same category. Therefore, consumer’s capability to react to higher prices is reduced. In addition, the possibility of purchasing broadband services in tripleplay bundles has a positive effect on market share in those municipalities with two or more groups providing broadband services.
Investment Certainty and Demonetization: Evidence from India

This article analyzes the impact of demonetization on the volatility of the Indian stock market and assesses the investment certainty in India after demonetization. A symmetric generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (1, 1) model has been applied by incorporating a dummy variable for the event of demonetization in the conditional variance equation. This article also looks for percentage change in unconditional variance after demonetization. The results show that after demonetization, the risk related to market price decreased and the certainty of investment increased in the Indian stock market. In addition, the degree of volatility shocks declined in the post-demonetization period in comparison to the pre-demonetization period. TOPICS: Security analysis and valuation, statistical methods, emerging markets, risk management
The Advances of Electrospun Nanofibers in Membrane Technology

Electrospinning is a simple and versatile technique that relies on the electrostatic repulsion between surface charges to continuously draw nanofibers from a viscoelastic fluid. Electrospinning can generate nanofibers with a number of secondary structures. Surface and/or interior of nanofibers can be functionalized with molecular species or nanoparticles during or after an electrospinning process to obtain desirable results. In a short period, elecrospun nanofiber membranes (ENMs) have gained popularity due to the facile fabrication, interconnectivity and large area/volume ratio. However, ENMs’ pore sizes are intrinsically very large fractions of micrometer to few macrometer, which makes modification of surface chemistry and especially reduction of the ENM pore size indispensable for wider applications of ENMs for membrane separation processes. The modification of nanofibers has been applied widely to give them improved properties. This review paper will provide the progress have recently made on the modification of ENMs to enhance their performance in various membrane separation processes.
On a Virtual Network Function Placement and Routing problem: properties and formulations

In recent years, the increasing diffusion of applications, both on computers and mobile devices, has yielded to an increasing demand for network services. So far, the network services, such as firewalls or tunneling, were provided by expensive hardware appliances, which could not keep up with the ever increasing demand nor allow new services to be embedded at a reasonable cost. Network Functions Virtualization has been recently proposed to overcome such issues: hardware appliances are replaced with Virtual Network Functions running on generic servers. Indeed, thanks to the Network Functions Virtualization paradigm, it is possible to flexibly, dynamically and cost-effectively manage network services. A key problem in implementing the Network Functions Virtualization paradigm is the so called Virtual Network Functions chaining problem: Virtual Network Function instances must be located on some network nodes. Demands must be routed so as to guarantee that each demand passes through the functions it requires. In this work we consider a particular case of the VNF chaining problem where each demand requires a single service and must be routed on a simple path. All the demands require the same service. Links and service instances are capacitated. The goal is to minimize the number of VNF instances installed. We investigate the problem properties and we compare two formulations inspired by the two main modeling strategies proposed in the literature.
First record of Eurasian Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus from the Balkans migrating to South Sudan revealed by GPS tracking

Adult Griffon Vultures Gyps fulvus are mostly resident but the juveniles and immatures are mostly nomadic and migratory. Significant numbers of young vultures from Eurasia migrate every autumn to the Middle East and Africa but little is known about their migration routes and wintering grounds. We tracked one juvenile Griffon Vulture on its south migration from Bulgaria to South Sudan. This is the first confirmed occurrence of the species in South Sudan. The overall travelled distance on migration was 5727km with a migration speed of 136km/d. In the wintering grounds in Sudan and South Sudan this bird inhabited mostly arid savannah and desert habitats up to 600m altitude. The overall wintering home range (MCP) was 47 781km 2 . Keywords : dispersal, satellite telemetry, wintering, home range
Motion mapping of the heterogeneous master–slave system for intuitive telemanipulation

Heterogeneous master–slave robots are widely used as both the assistive robot system for the elder/disabled people and the teleoperation robot system in dangerous environments. For the sake of intuitive teleoperation, motion mapping should be applied to keep the slave arm possessing the similar configuration of the master arm in the whole course of telemanipulation. We propose a motion mapping on the joint analog level based on unit dual quaternions (UDQs) for the telecontrol of a heterogeneous slave robot arm via the motion of human master arm. First, we analogize the links of the slave robot to the links of the human master arm, and accordingly group the slave arm joints into “shoulder,” “elbow,” and “wrist” joint analog sets. Then, we capture the motion of the human master arm via a wearable motion capture system and take it as the motion order of the slave arm. Finally, we solve the motion of slave robot arm’s joint via UDQ-based 1-, 2-, and 3-Degree of freedom (DOF) orientation error UDQ decomposition algorithms that are suit for solving a typical class of robotic slave arms. As a result, the operator can manipulate the heterogeneous robot system intuitively and conveniently, and the fatigue degree and error rate of the user can be significantly reduced, and thus the safety of teleoperation in an unstructured and constrained environment can be significantly improved.
Managing virtual network embedding through reconfiguration and expansion

Network virtualization concerns an important issue for the future internet. There have been many advances in the state of the art, but there are still challenges to be explored. The virtual network embedding problem is one of these, and is an NP-hard problem. Aiming to improve the embedding task, reconfiguration and expansion appear as possible strategies for the service provider. In this work, we explore the management of resources in order to improve the acceptance of requests deciding when and how reconfiguration and expansion shall apply. An exact approach based on integer linear programming along with a heuristic approach is evaluated. Simulation results indicate both reconfiguration and expansion strategies are able to improve the acceptance, but reconfiguration should be considered first as it can provide significant improvements in managing the fragmentation problem. Expansion comes as a secondary decision if necessary.