Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Should a Manufacturer Encroach on Its Retailer’s Operations with Quality Differentiated Products?

Despite the fact that manufacturers are progressively encroaching into the retail market by selling products that differ in quality from the products that are already on the market, this issue has received little attention in the literature on dual-channel supply chains. We fill this gap by first considering that a manufacturer sells higher- (lower-) quality products through its own direct channel, whereas all lower- (higher-) quality products are distributed by an independent retailer, and then comparing our equilibrium outcomes with those in the literature of the manufacturer who distributes homogeneous products through both channels. Our results show that, compared to selling lower-quality products directly or offering homogeneous products through both channels, an effort by the manufacturer that is too aggressive in its attempt to encroach on the retail market (i.e., selling higher-quality products directly) not only decreases the retailer’s profits but also reduces the manufacturer’s own profitability. Furthermore, we find that, compared with offering homogeneous products through both channels, selling lower-quality products directly is always beneficial for the retailer but hurts consumers.
Quantum Electrodynamics of a Qubit

A detailed understanding of the basic physical laws governing the exchange of quantum information, as well as the interaction between material qubits and the quantized electromagnetic field, is of central importance for realizing quantum information networks and for suppressing decoherence due to spontaneous emission of photons. In this section, some basic physical aspects of this interaction are explored in the special case of a single material qubit. The energy exchange between a material qubit interacting with the electromagnetic field is dominated by the absorption and emission of photons [1]. Whereas absorption and stimulated emission of photons is conditioned on photons which are already present in the electromagnetic field, spontaneous emission of photons occurs randomly and even if the electromagnetic field is in its ground state (vacuum) [2]. It is this random and uncontrollable feature of this latter process which causes spontaneous decay and decoherence of qubits. Therefore, suppressing its undesired and uncontrollable features is one of the major challenges in the context of quantum information processing. For this purpose powerful error correction methods have been designed recently [3–5]. Alternatively, spontaneous decay of qubits can also be suppressed at least partially by an appropriate engineering of their coupling to the electromagnetic field. The quantum dynamics of a material qubit interacting with the electromagnetic field depend significantly on the structure of the field modes. If a qubit is coupled to a single-field mode only, its quantum state can be transferred to the field mode and back again in a reversible way as described by the Jaynes–Cummings–Paul model [6,7]. This reversible energy exchange manifests itself in vacuum Rabi oscillations of the qubit between its excited state and its ground state, for example [7]. But with increasing number of interacting field modes this reversible character of the qubit–field dynamics is lost gradually [8–11]. In particular, in the limit of a continuum of accessible field modes the reversibility of the state exchange between qubit and field is lost completely. Typically, under such circumstances an initially excited qubit decays to its ground state spontaneously [12]. As a result, a controllable and reversible transfer of the quantum state of such a qubit to the electromagnetic field and back again becomes impossible. In general, the spontaneous decay rate of the qubit depends on the density of field modes it is coupled to. For purposes of processing quantum information, for example, this latter dependence can be exploited for suppressing spontaneous decay process by an appropriate engineering of the mode structure of the electromagnetic field [13]. Photonic crystals [14] are particularly well suited for this purpose. In this section, we discuss basic physical aspects of the interaction between a single qubit and the electromagnetic field. In particular, we focus on the following main questions: How
Fault Diagnosis Method Based on Gap Metric Data Preprocessing and Principal Component Analysis

Principal component analysis (PCA) is widely used in fault diagnosis. Because the traditional data preprocessing method ignores the correlation between different variables in the system, the feature extraction is not accurate. In order to solve it, this paper proposes a kind of data preprocessing method based on the Gap metric to improve the performance of PCA in fault diagnosis. For different types of faults, the original dataset transformation through Gap metric can reflect the correlation of different variables of the system in high-dimensional space, so as to model more accurately. Finally, the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method are verified through simulation.
Overexpression of AtCAF1, CCR4-associated factor 1 homologue in Arabidopsis thaliana, negatively regulates wounding-mediated disease resistance

The CCR4-CAF1-NOT complex-mediated degradation of mRNA is a fundamental aspect of gene regulation in eukaryotes. We herein examined the role of AtCAF1 in the innate immune and wound responses of plants. Our results showed that overexpression of AtCAF1 significantly down-regulated the transcript level of EFR but not FLS2 and BRI1, as well as abolished up-regulated expression pattern of EFR in response to wounding. Consistently, Agrobacterium-mediated transient expression of GUS was highly enhanced in the transgenic plants overexpressing AtCAF. Furthermore, JA responsive genes were down-regulated by overexpression of AtCAF, causing the transgenic plants overexpressing AtCAF more susceptible to necrotrophic fungal pathogen, Botrytis cinerea. These results suggest that The CCR4- CAF1-NOT complex-mediated degradation of mRNA negatively regulates wounding-mediated disease resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Efficiency analysis in a sample of PGI bean producers in Greece

This paper provides an evaluation of the performance of a sample of PGI bean producers in Greece, by means of technical and scale efficiency and a comparison between them on the basis of average efficiency, aggregate efficiency and the performance of the average production unit. Data were collected from 104 farms in 2012-2013, using a structured questionnaire, with face-to-face interviews, within the designated area of protected geographical indication. Results revealed that technical rather than scale inefficiency is the main source of productive inefficiency, with corresponding efficiency estimates of 0.837 and 0.949 respectively. Most farms (87%) operate in a sub-optimal scale and are less technically and scale efficient than farms working in a supra-optimal scale (6%). They are 14 technically efficient farms in the sample (13%) of which almost half are both technically and scale efficient. The systematic comparison of the performance of PGI bean farms provided four dominating farms appearing more often as peer-units, information that is valuable for performance improvement targets.
Hydraulic properties of clay soils as affected by biochar and charcoal amendments

Understanding soil hydraulic properties is crucial for planning effective soil and water management practices. A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different biochar and charcoal treatments on soil-hydraulic properties of agricultural soils. Biochar and charcoal treatments were applied on 54, undisturbed soil-columns, extracted from three-elevation ranges, with replications along three transects. Daily weight losses of freely draining soil-columns and soil moisture contents, at five tensions, were measured. In addition, field infiltration tests and soil analyses for particle size distribution, bulk-density and organic carbon content were conducted. Moreover, fiveyear event precipitation data, from the watershed, was analysed and exceedance probability of rainfall intensity was computed. Results show treatments reduced soil moisture contents, for most of the cases. However, treatment effects were significant only at lower tensions (10 and 30 kPa) and within two days after saturation (p<0.05). On the other hand, relative hydraulic conductivity (Kr) coefficients, near saturation, of amended soils were higher than the control. Acidic to moderately acidic soils with high average clay (42%) and low organic carbon contents (1.1%) were dominant. Infiltration rate ranged between 1.9 and 36 mm/h, with high variability (CV = 70%). At the same time, storms with short duration (< 15 min) and high average intensity (6.3 mm/h) contributed for 68% of annual precipitation (1616mm/year). Dominant soil properties and rainfall characteristics suggest that infiltration could be a major problem on considerable number of fields, in the watershed. This implies, on such fields, constructing physical soil and water conservation structures alone will not reduce runoff and erosion effectively, unless soil infiltration and permeability rates are enhanced through integrated soil management approaches. Media grab: Biochar and charcoal amendments can ameliorate soil-hydraulic properties of degraded soils. However, treatment effects may vary depending on dominant soil textural composition and organic carbon content.
Introductive remarks on Causal Inference

One of the more challenging issues in epidemiological research is being able to provide an unbiased estimate of the causal exposure-disease effect, to assess the possible etiological mechanisms and the implication for public health. A major source of bias is confounding, which can spuriously create or mask the causal relationship. In the last ten years, methodological research has been developed to better de_ne the concept of causation in epidemiology and some important achievements have resulted in new statistical models. In this review, we aim to show how a technique the well known by statisticians, i.e. standardization, can be seen as a method to estimate causal e_ects, equivalent under certain conditions to the inverse probability treatment weight procedure.
Numerical evidence for cloud droplet nucleation at the cloud-environment interface

Abstract. Cumulus clouds have long been recognized as being the results of ascending moist air from below the cloud base. Cloud droplet nucleation is understood to take place near the cloud base and inside accelerating rising cloudy air. Here we describe circumstances under which cloud droplet nucleation takes place at the interface of ascending cloudy air and clear air. Evaporation is normally expected to occur at this interface. However, continuity of moving air requires cloud-free air above the boundary of rising cloudy air to move upwards in response to the gradient force of perturbation pressure. We used a one and half dimensional non-hydrostatic cloud model and the Weather Research and Forecast model to investigate the impacts of this force on the evolution of cloud spectra. Our study shows that expansion and cooling of ascending moist air above the cloud top causes it to become supersaturated with condensation rather than evaporation occurring at the interface. We also confirm that Eulerian models can describe the cloud droplet activation and prohibit spurious activation at this interface. The continuous feeding of newly activated cloud droplets at the cloud summit may accelerate warm rain formation.
Development and ELISA-based detection of anti-M2e IgY antibodies using an encoding plasmid for M2e-Hsp70 C-terminal gene

Background: The use of IgYs in a variety of methods in different areas of research, diagnostics, medical application and biotechnology should be considered widely. Objectives: Development of antibodies against extra cellular domain of influenza M2 (M2e) protein in egg yolk of laying hens. Methods: A Fusion construct harboring C-terminal of bovine heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) and influenza M2e coding genes was injected to laying hens. Serum and egg yolk antibodies were screened for the presence of anti-M2e antibodies by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: Anti-M2e antibodies were detected in egg yolks and sera of injected hens from 13 and 7 days post injection (PI), with the peak titer detected on 41 and 35 days PI, respectively. Conclusions: Anti-M2e IgY titers could be an index for expression potential of pcDNA3.1-M2e-HspC-terminal construct in laying hens. This construct could be considered as a promising tool in production of anti-M2e polyclonal, monospecific IgY antibodies. Such anti-M2e antibodies could be exploited for influenza diagnostic and therapeutic measures.
Definitions of Evaluation Use and Misuse, Evaluation Influence, and Factors Affecting Use

The second article in this series on the history of evaluation use has three sections. The first and longest develops a functional definition of the term use, noting that a thorough definition of evaluation use includes the initial stimulus (i.e., evaluation findings or process), the user, the way people use the information, the aspect of the program considered, and the purpose. It then defines evaluation use’s unethical companion, misuse, detailing the distinction between the two. The second section briefly discusses a broadened concept of evaluation impact that expands to include evaluation influence. Finally, the third section summarizes the factors that research has shown to be related to evaluation use.
Encoding Information Structure in Yucatec Maya: On the Interplay of Prosody and Syntax *

The aim of this paper is to outline the means for encoding information structure in Yucatec Maya. Yucatec Maya is a tone language, displaying a three-fold opposition in the tonal realization of syllables. From the morpho-syntactic point of view, the grammar of Yucatec Maya contains morphological (topic affixes, morphological marking of out-of-focus predicates) and syntactic (designated positions) means to uniquely specify syntactic constructions for their information structure. After a descriptive overview of these phenomena, we present experimental evidence which reveals the impact of the nonavailability of prosodic alternatives on the choice of syntactic constructions in language production.
Title Power portfolio optimization with traded contract products

Power sector restructuring has prompted the application of modern portfolio theory among market participants. Much research has been devoted to power portfolio optimization problems. However, the portfolio composition adopted in literature is rather hypothetical than realistic. From an engineering perspective, it is necessary to use real traded contract products to construct the portfolio. In this paper, clarification is made on commonly traded power contracts in the market, followed by a discussion of their pricing schemes. It is emphasized that actively traded electricity futures/forwards and options actually belong to commodity swaps and swaptions respectively. A power portfolio is then constructed for a generation company with these basic power contracts and the spot transaction as well. An optimization model is formulated to solve the asset allocation with Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) as the risk measure. The viability of the model is tested through a numerical study.
Assessment of the Applicability of Terahertz Spectroscopic Breath Sensing towards Monitoring Type 1 Diabetic Mellitus

Thomas, Jessica Rose. M.S. Department of Physics, Wright State University, 2015. Assessment of the Applicability of Terahertz Spectroscopic Breath Sensing towards Monitoring Type 1 Diabetic Mellitus Type 1 diabetes is a condition that cumulatively costs around $14.9 billion in medical expenses every year in the United States[1]. Besides being costly, the monitoring of this disease is invasive, painful, and often embarrassing to the afflicted individual; blood and urine testing is currently the daily method of monitoring blood glucose and ketone levels in the body of type 1 diabetics. Though the use of these samples is standard, another avenue for possibly determining blood glucose has not been completely explored. With over 3000 chemicals reportedly found in exhaled human breath, biomarkers associated with this disorder and many of the complications caused by it may exist and could be utilized in lieu of blood and urine samples. To examine breath for these markers our lab employs Terahertz radiation. Unlike competing methods of gas testing, the high specificity, speed of testing, and small sample size that the Terahertz spectral range affords is ideal for the medical field. Presented here are both the spectral assignments and the most recent results of our investigation into the exhaled biomarkers of type 1 diabetics utilizing Terahertz spectroscopy.
A VISUAL INSPECTION METHOD TO EVALUATE CLEANLINESS OF NEWLY INSTALLED AIR DUCTS

Visual inspection is a subjective method to evaluate cleanliness level of duct. Although it is subjective, it is mostly used for estimating necessity to clean a ductwork. The aim of this study was to develop the visual inspection method more objective and to create a procedure for estimation of cleanliness level of an air duct. A visual inspection form and a visual cleanliness scale were applied in recently installed supply air ducts with a panel consisting ten members. The visual scale has been designed for evaluation if the ducts should be cleaned or not. Therefore, it is focused for the amount of accumulated dust from clean to dirty corresponding values <0.1 to 4 g/m 2 measured with the vacuum test method. The developed
Reliability of ultrasound measures of supraspinatus tendon thickness and subacromial space in judo athletes

Background & Study Aim: Ultrasound examination above the shoulder is important in musculoskeletal investigation disorders, i.e. rotator cuff impingement syndrome. Monitoring and diagnostics of shoulder injuries in judo may decrease the development of new injuries and improve the quality of training. The aim of this study was the intra-rater reliability of characteristic ultrasonography measurements of supraspinatus tendon thickness and subacromial space. Material & Methods: Intra-rater testing was performed on 10 physiotherapy students participated in judo class (mean age 24 years). Sonography was performed using a Honda HS 2200 ultrasound scanner with a 7.5-12.5 linear array transducer (Honda, Japan). Ultrasound images were captured of (1) supraspinatus tendon thickness in short (2) and long (3) axis and (4) subacromial space. Two images were captured, by a single examiner, and then the measurements were analysed on the same images by the same examiner. Interclass correlation coefficient ICC3,2 was used to determine the intra-rater reliability of the tendon thickness and subacromial space variables. Measurement error was calculated with the standard error of measure. The minimal detectable change (MDC90) represents the error when a measure was taken twice (change over time). Results: Intra-rater reliability and error for short axis was (ICC3,2 = 0.989; SEM = 0.03; MDC90 = 0.10), long axis (ICC3,2 = 0.980; SEM = 0.06; MDC90 = 0.17) of supraspinatus tendon thickness and subacromial space (ICC3,2 = 0.997; SEM = 0.03; MDC90 = 0.09). Supraspinatus tendon thickness in short and long axis and subacromial space demonstrated very good reliability when taken by a single examiner. The measurement error in ultrasound measurements is very low. Conclusions: Ultrasound examination above the shoulder is important in investigation musculoskeletal disorders, i.e. rotator cuff impingement syndrome. Monitoring and diagnostics of shoulder injuries in judo may decrease the risk of new injuries and improve the quality of training. With obtained results, we confirmed the very good reliability and very low measurement error for ultra-sonography performed by the physical therapist.
Why Have Separate Environmental Taxes?

Each environmental tax in the United States is designed to collect revenue for a trust fund used to clean up a particular pollution problem. Each might be intended to collect from a particular industry thought to be responsible for that pollution problem, but none represents a good example of an incentive-based tax designed to discourage the polluting activity itself. A different tax for each trust fund means that each tax rate is typically less than 1 percent. But each separate tax has an extra cost of administration and compliance, since taxpayers must read another set of rules and fill out another set of forms. This paper provides evidence on compliance costs that are high relative to the small revenue from each separate tax. In addition, an input-output model is used to show how current U.S. environmental tax burdens are passed from taxed industries to all other industries. Thus, the extra cost incurred to administer each separate tax achieves neither targeted incentives nor targeted burdens.
Size and Book-to-Market Factors in Returns

Fama and French (Multifactor Explanations of Asset Pricing Anomalies, The Journal of Finance, March 1996) showed that average returns on common stocks are related to firm characteristics like size, earnings/price, cash flow/price, book-to-market equity, past sales growth, long-term past return, and short-term past return. These factors are considered anomalies because they are not included in theoretical models like the CAPM. In replicating their analyses, I find that firm size and the book-to-market of equity explain a large portion of the average excess returns on common stocks.
Charge Reversal of Kaolinite by Hydrolyzable Metal Ions: An Electro Acoustic Study

Electroacoustic measurements at 1 MHz, using the Electro-Sonic Amplitude (ESA), on a kaolinite suspension provide a ready method for following the adsorption of hydrolyzable metal ions onto the clay surface. Co2+, Cd2+ and Cu2+ ions show similar behavior: The initially negative surface becomes less negative, approaches zero, and may become positive at pH values around neutral, depending on the initial metal concentration. At higher pH, electrokinetic potential goes through a maximum. If the surface has become positive, it becomes less so; and at still higher pH values it may become negative again, depending on the metal ion concentration. The behavior can be interpreted using the model proposed by James and Healy.
Taylor Rules for the ECB using Consensus Data

We estimate Taylor rules for the euro area using Consens us expectations for inflation and output growth and we compare these estimates wi th more conventional specifications in which actual outcomes are used . According to the model with Consensus data, the ECB takes expected inflat ion and expected output growth into account in setting interest rates, while in the more conventional model specification the coefficient of inflation is not signific antly different from zero. Only when using survey data we find that the ECB’s policy has been stabilizing. Finally, using a framework suggested by English et al. (2003), we find support for both policy inertia and serially correlated errors in ECB Taylor rules.