Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Attitudes towards Recycling Household Waste in Exeter, Devon: Quantitative and qualitative approaches

Recycling of household waste has become a very problematic area of British local government policy-making in which central government has set ambitious targets. Although local government can provide facilities for recycling, the attitudes of residents will be crucial if these targets are to be met. Accordingly, this paper outlines a framework for studying how households decide to recycle or not. The framework has been tested in Exeter in south-west England where a major survey found that respondents were much more likely to recycle if they had access to a structured kerbside recycling scheme. Many other factors influenced their attitudes and behaviours towards recycling, including their acceptance of the activity and their perception of the benefits and problems of recycling as a whole. The research uses the quantitative and qualitative data from the survey to demonstrate how individual attitudes can impact on recycling and how such research can yield useful data to enable policy-makers to adapt measures accordingly.
Political Regime and Vertical vs. Horizontal FDI

We introduce the effect of the political regime in a model of North-South bilateral foreign direct investment (FDI), and test whether it matters for the nature of FDI inflows to emerging markets. Alternative political regimes in the host country may affect the incentive for foreign investors to implement horizontal rather than vertical FDI, if the political expropriation risk is different for the two kinds of investment. We test the model in a panel of 14 source countries and 24 host countries over 1992-2004, and find that autocracies are likely to receive relatively more FDI of the vertical type, while democracies are more likely to be associated with horizontal FDI inflows.
The Right Amount of Assets Under Management

There are diseconomies of scale in active management stemming from the increased costs associated with larger transactions. As assets under management increase, position sizes also increase, and the portfolio return as a percentage of assets declines. Even though returns decline, wealth created (in dollars) increases, up to a point. This wealth-maximizing point is reached when the cost of additional trading exceeds the opportunity cost of not trading. Further growth in assets leads to an increase in unexecuted trades, hence larger opportunity costs and lower percentage returns. Total wealth created is unaffected by increased opportunity costs. If the management fee is a fixed percentage of assets, client wealth declines as opportunity costs rise, creating a divergence between firm and client interests. With performance f es, there is less of a problem: The firm loses revenues if accounts are added (and the assets traded) beyond the wealth-maximizing amount. Performance f es are a way of giving good firms sufficient inducement o contain their growth. With diseconomies of scale, new clients dilute the returns to existing clients. Client ownership of a portion of the firm or its revenue stream is a potential solution to this problem.
A fast key frame extraction algorithm and an accurate feature matching method for 3D reconstruction from aerial video

In this paper, we present a fast method of key frame selection and an accurate feature point matching method for 3D reconstruction through the control of quadrotor. The quadrotor is controlled to fly at a fixed altitude and the gimbal camera has always been a downward direction. Therefore, the additional information of the quadrotor could be easily added to the 3D reconstruction process. As a result, we find a fast method to select key frames and an optimized matching method through the geometric constraints of the flight path and direction. The method is mainly to improve the efficiency of key frame selection and to get more accurate matching points. The advantage of our approach is to combine the two processes between video capture and video processing by adding flight control to the 3D scene reconstruction method. Therefore, it can use less time to complete the entire reconstruction task. The proposed approach is tested by quadrotor platform. Experiment results show that our method can greatly reduce the key frame selection time and get more matching points at the same accuracy.
Improvised process for quality through quantitative project management: an experience from software development projects

In the IT industry, customers want the vendor organisations to deliver defect free software within agreed and negotiated timeframe. This task can be achieved through combination of two approaches – process-oriented approach and quantitative control of the process. The first one deals with defining a process for a project to follow and the second one deal with quantitative project management techniques used to control various parameters to bring process under control. Through these quantitative techniques, quality goals are set at the start of the project during project initiation phase and these goals are monitored at different milestones as defined in the project plan. Through this approach, an early signal can be detected if the process goes out of control. Thus, a combination of process management and quantitative management improves the delivered quality. In this paper, practical and real-time development project experiences have been used to come up with a systematic approach for quantitative project management for better quality of deliverables. The paper discusses different tools and monitoring mechanisms that can be employed during project execution and possible benefits obtained from this approach. The tone of the paper is in prescriptive manner and is based on best practices across different organisations.
Virus neutralizing antibodies in pooled human serum.

The titer of neutralizing antibodies to Coxsackie viruses in pooled human serum and human gamma globulin has been estimated in samples covering a period of twelve years. The construction of antibody titer curves for each infective agent demonstrated marked differences in the behaviour of some of the Coxsackie viruses. It was shown that group A and group B Coxsackie virus antibodies were widespread throughout the Western Pacific Area and present in all sera examined. Antibody to the group of Coxsackie viruses associated with an outbreak of encephalitis in Sydney was confined to the Sydney Metropolitan Area and to some of the Highland natives of New Guinea. It is thought that the nature of the antibody titer curves reflects to some extent the degree of immunity of the adult population of a large city to the infective agent under consideration. The estimation of the herpetic antibody content of pooled human serum was used for comparison.
Global strategy formulation and learning from the field : Three modes of comparative learning and a case illustration.

Firms formulate their global strategies from what they have learned from observing others and from their own experiences relying on the logic of comparison. From the literature and an in-depth case analysis, we identify three modes of comparative learning for global strategy formulation: seeking best practice, surfacing universals, and grounded strategizing. We argue that grounded strategizing, which we define as the process by which firms learn from unanticipated variations in their own global strategy implementation, is often inferred, remains relatively unexplored, and may provide the most valuable source of learning. By examining the case of NSK Ball Bearings, we show that strategy formulation is much like theory building—each era of internationalization has its own theoretical foundation based on differing basic assumptions and logics of comparison.
Empowerment: Key to IS World-Class Quality

Total customer satisfaction is the pre-eminent goal in Coring Incorporated's Information Services Division (ISD). ISD's total quality management approach, characterized by a work system that embodies significant empowerment through self-managing teams, is providing to be a powerful means of delivering outstanding service that customers value, especially in a competitive services-for-sale business environment. Teams influence how ISD does business, fundamentally changing the way work is organized and how service is delivered. Teams have substantially improved customer satisfaction, service, and productivity, while staff skills have been enhanced and costs reduced. This article describes these results and then discusses the approach for developing and sustaining the new work system as well as the key factors that led to its success.
Efficient image search system with multi-scale database using profile-based pre-selection and coarse matching

Artifact-metrics technology is gaining more research interests, along with the expansion of its applications. One of its challenges is an efficient image search, in which a match is to be identified in a large multi-scale image database with a given, possibly distorted, query image having unknown location, orientation, and scale. To approach this computational efficiency problem of image database search, we conducted a preliminary feasibility study focused specifically on aerial photo search problem. We propose a highly efficient image search system to find a match in the multi-layered database of images with multiple magnitudes. The system first pre-selects matching candidates based on comparison results of image profiles such as frequency spectra, so that the following matching stages focus on the appropriate scale layer to accelerate search. Then in the coarse matching stage, the down-sampled query image is compared with images in a lower-magnitude layer using a scale-invariant matcher based on local feature descriptors. This paper outlines our interim proposed approach and discusses its feasibility and performance based on the experimental results from our ongoing research work.
Modelling British Interest Rate Adjustment: An Error Correction Approach

An error correction model is used to capture the dynamics of British retail deposit and loan rate responses to changes in the central bank's base rate. The test is conducted using a monthly series of interest rates for four generic retail banking products over the period 1986-93. The adjustment process is found to vary considerably between and within banks and products. The results suggest that this market continues to exhibit many features of imperfect competition and that adjustment differences could affect the speed of the money transmission mechanism. Copyright 1997 by The London School of Economics and Political Science
Virtual Spider Threads Interconnecting Globally: From ‘Soft Power’ to MENA Stock Market Volatility

This article investigates the dynamic of the volatilities and the conditional correlations among the four world stock markets of the U.K., France, Germany, the U.S. and eight Middle East and North African (MENA) stock markets from Jordan, Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, Muscat, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia. Using the GARCH, TGARCH models that account for asynchronous data, conditional heteroskedasticity, asymmetric volatility responses, and the joint dynamics of each country’s index with the world-market returns. Our results show that shocks originating in world-market conflicts and the associated uncertainty have increased the volatility of MENA equity markets. Secondly, regardless of its impact on volatility spillover transmission, there is little evidence to suggest that MENA markets have become more integrated with world markets since the financial crisis. Finally, these results are robust to model specification and consistent with the notion that uncertainty contributes to financial volatility spillover. It is worth mentioning that the findings from this article will have a significant implication for investors, managers, market regulators, decision makers, and scholars interested in the equity markets of MENA region in particular and other developing nations in general.
Panacea or paradox? Cross‐sector partnerships, climate change, and development

Cross‐sector partnerships between representatives of state, private business, and civil society are widely proposed as means to involve non‐state actors in public policy. Yet, critics have argued partnerships contain paradoxes that prevent effective regulation or social inclusion. This paper reviews these debates and applies them to climate change policy in developing countries, and especially technology transfer and forest governance. The paper argues that debate about partnerships needs to move from rhetoric to identifying institutional designs that maximize contractual obligations and enhance local deliberation. But enhancing deliberation also implies looking at how partnerships reflect, rather than create, wider norms and advocacy coalitions, and by creating standardized means of collaboration such as free and prior informed consent. Rethinking partnerships in these ways not only accelerates climate change mitigation but also builds local adaptive capacity. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Economic Efficiency of Channels of Distribution in a Developing Society: The Case of the Guatemalan Retail Sector

This article proposes to analyze the economic and societal circumstances which affected the development process of the Guatemalan retail sector from the mid-1960s to the present. The purpose is to examine the relative contribution of marketing institutions to the development process during the implementation of import substitution industrialization policies. It suggests that channels of distribution reflect the economic and social circumstances of a society; therefore, a particular structure of retailing activities, while not "modern" in a technological sense, may still be beneficial to the society and, in a larger sense, economically efficient.
The probability of malignancy in solitary pulmonary nodules. Application to small radiologically indeterminate nodules.

BACKGROUND A clinical prediction model to identify malignant nodules based on clinical data and radiological characteristics of lung nodules was derived using logistic regression from a random sample of patients (n = 419) and tested on data from a separate group of patients (n = 210). OBJECTIVE To use multivariate logistic regression to estimate the probability of malignancy in radiologically indeterminate solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) in a clinically relevant subset of patients with SPNs that measured between 4 and 30 mm in diameter. PATIENTS AND METHODS A retrospective cohort study at a multispecialty group practice included 629 patients (320 men, 309 women) with newly discovered (between January 1, 1984, and May 1, 1986) 4- to 30-mm radiologically indeterminate SPNs on chest radiography. Patients with a diagnosis of cancer within 5 years prior to the discovery of the nodule were excluded. Clinical data included age, sex, cigarette-smoking status, and history of extrathoracic malignant neoplasm, asbestos exposure, and chronic interstitial or obstructive lung disease; chest radiological data included the diameter, location, edge characteristics (eg, lobulation, spiculation, and shagginess), and other characteristics (eg, cavitation) of the SPNs. Predictors were identified in a random sample of two thirds of the patients and tested in the remaining one third. RESULTS Sixty-five percent of the nodules were benign, 23% were malignant, and 12% were indeterminate. Three clinical characteristics (age, cigarette-smoking status, and history of cancer [diagnosis, > or = 5 years ago]) and 3 radiological characteristics (diameter, spiculation, and upper lobe location of the SPNs) were independent predictors of malignancy. The area (+/-SE) under the evaluated receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.8328 +/- 0.0226. CONCLUSION Three clinical and 3 radiographic characteristics predicted the malignancy in radiologically indeterminate SPNs.
Cholesterol content in eggs produced by hens divergently selected for body weight.

Abstract. In this work the cholesterol content of chicken eggs produced by two lines (high and low weight) representing the 31st generation of selection for divergent growth was studied. Divergent selection for body weight at 8 weeks of age resulted in changes in egg size and consequently in the weight of egg components. Higher values ( P ≤0.001) were observed in eggs from the high weight (D+) line for egg weight, albumen, yolk and shell weight. Percent yolk was greater ( P ≤0.001) and percent albumen was lower ( P ≤0.001) in eggs from the low weight (D−) line. Eggs from the D− line contained lower ( P ≤0.001) cholesterol content (mg/ egg, mg/g yolk, mg/g yolk dry matter) than eggs from the D+ line but when cholesterol was expressed in milligrams per gram of egg or per gram of edible egg, differences between the two lines were not significant. Divergent selection for body weight changed the albumen : yolk ratio and a change of this type affected the grams of cholesterol per gram of yolk values.
Topographic anatomical study of the sciatic nerve relationship to the posterior portal in hip arthroscopy.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the anatomic topographic relation between the sciatic nerve in relation to the piriform muscle and the posterior portal for the establishment of hip arthroscopy. METHODS We dissected 40 hips of 20 corpses of adult Brazilians, 17 male and three female, six black, six brown and eight white. We studied the anatomical relationship between the sciatic nerve and the piriform muscle with their variations and the distance between the lateral edge of the sciatic nerve and the posterior portal used in hip arthroscopy. We then classified the anatomical alterations found in the path of the sciatic nerve on the piriform muscle. RESULTS Seventeen corpses had bilateral relationship between the sciatic nerve and the piriform muscle, i.e., type A. We found the following anatomical variations: 12.5% of variant type B; and an average distance between the sciatic nerve and the portal for arthroscopy of 2.98cm. One body had type B anatomical variation on the left hip and type A on the right. CONCLUSION the making of the posterior arthroscopic portal to the hip joint must be done with careful marking of the trochanter massive; should there be difficult to find it, a small surgical access is recommended. The access point to the portal should not exceed two centimeters towards the posterior superior aspect of the greater trochanter, and must be made with the limb in internal rotation of 15 degrees.
The Ideas and Vision of the 2012 Street Protest in Nigeria

January 13, 2012, protesters took to the streets to protest against fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria. Why does government believe subsidizing consumption of oil is a drain on public finance that will prove unsustainable in the long run? The key question this paper shall examine is on the ideas and vision behind the 2012 Nigerian street protest against fuel subsidy removal. The main proposition in this paper is that government must fight against corruption that has become part of our culture instead of removing fuel subsidy. The objectives of the paper include to investigate: (a) why government introduced the plan to remove fuel subsidy without any regard to how it will affect common Nigerians; (b) high cost of living in Nigeria manifested in high transport cost, food, medicine, rent and low infrastructural services; (c) the reasons for the protest, government’s response, implications and gains of the protest; and (d) the rise in the gap between the rich and poor and the exploitation by government against the poor. The theoretical framework for this paper shall be drawn from the Marxist-based social conflict theory. Method of data collection is through qualitative and unstructured interview with carefully framed questions administered on officials of the Nigerian organised Labour, civil society and government officials as gleaned from the media. The paper concludes that Nigeria is corrupt and a workers’ revolution is on the way to break the political and economic domination of the ruling class with the aim of organizing society along lines of ownership and democratic control.
Evidence of genetic heterogeneity in a BALB/c mouse colony as determined by DNA fingerprinting

A genetic monitoring of the BALB/c mouse foundation colony in our animal facility was carried out. The techniques of choice were skin grafting, coat colour test, flow cytometric analysis for H2 antigens (loci H2-D and H2-A), electrophoretic analysis of isoenzymes (loci Idh1, Pep3, Es3 and Mod1), PCR-amplified microsatellites (loci Igh-V, Ngfg, Plau, Crp, Igh, D16Mit5, D3Mit49 and D17Mit16) and DNA fingerprinting (multilocus probes 33.6, 33.15 and (CAC)5). No evidence of genetic contamination was found, ruling out the possibility of an outcross with AKR, the other albino strain maintained at the facility. Nevertheless, DNA fingerprint patterns revealed evidence of genetic heterogeneity in four out of nine lines of the nucleus colony, interpreted as minisatellite mutations favoured for a single line system with more than 40 generations of separation from the ancestral pair. These mice are mainly used in cancer and immunological research within the institute.
Predicting outcome from hypoxic-ischemic coma.

To the Editor. — Levy and colleagues 1 provide very helpful information about the prognosis of hypoxicischemic coma. While we fully agree that their data "provide a more rational approach for managing patients who sustain hypoxic-ischemic coma," we wonder about the possibility of a self-fulfilling prophecy that potentially confounds these data. In this study, these investigators "refrained from any involvement in [the patients'] care. " However, during the period of the study, it was the conventional wisdom that certain clinical features (eg, unreactive pupils) predicated poor recovery. If patients with a preconceived poor prognosis received less than maximal sustained supportive care, the outcome may have been influenced by these preconceptions. This potentially confounding factor is inevitable in a study in which all patients were not known to have received the same level of sustained care. This is only a potential problem with these data, and of uncertain magnitude. The
CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE Original Studies Sirolimus- Versus Paclitaxel-Eluting Stents for Coronary Bifurcations Intervention: A Meta-Analysis of Five Clinical Trials

Backgrounds: Relative efficacy and safety of sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) compared with paclitaxel-eluting stents (PES) remains controversial. It is unknown whether there are different effect and safety in coronary bifurcation treatment between SES and PES. Objectives: The meta-analysis was performed to compare the clinical outcomes of SES and PES in coronary bifurcation intervention. Methods: Five head-to-head clinical trials of SES versus PES in coronary bifurcation intervention were included. A total of 2,567 patients were involved in the meta-analysis. Mean follow-up period ranged from 6 to 35 months. The primary end points were the need for target lesion revascularization (TLR) and main-branch restenosis. Secondary end points were target vessel revascularization (TVR), cardiac death, major adverse cardiac events (MACE), and stent thrombosis. Results: Compared with PES, SES significantly reduced the risk of TLR (5.3% vs. 10.6%, odds ratio (OR) 0.52; 95% confidence interval (CI) 5 0.38–0.70, P < 0.001), main-branch restenosis (4.59% vs. 12.59%, OR 0.31; 95% CI 5 0.18–0.55, P < 0.001) and TVR (7.05% vs. 12.57%, OR 0.58; 95% CI 5 0.42–0.81, P 5 0.001) in coronary bifurcation intervention. In addition, SES group also had a significantly lower incidence of MACE (8.20% vs. 14.13%, OR 0.58; 95% CI 5 0.40–0.84, P 5 0.004) than PES group. However, there were no statistical difference with respect to the incidence of cardiac death (1.64% vs. 1.09%, P 5 0.19) and stent thrombosis (0.84% vs. 1.08%, P 5 0.64) between SES and PES groups. Conclusions: Compared with PES, SES reduced the incidence of TLR, mainbranch restenosis and MACE in coronary bifurcation intervention, while the risk of stent thrombosis was similar between SES and PES groups. VC 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.