Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Strategy: the motivation for innovation

This paper proposes that strategy activity is the most necessary form of and foundation for innovation. It is also the real context for any innovation effort that is intended to create competitive advantage, especially in response to three key strategic issues construction industry; changing client demands for value, partnering, and supply integration. Innovation is the profitable exploitation of ideas. Clearly, this requires two things a source of ideas that can lend themselves to profitable exploitation and a goal in pursuit which to exploit the ideas. Those goals are established and met by strategic innovation. The right strategy tools can motivate ideas and insight. However, elements of normal industry practice constitute strong demotivators to profitable strategic innovation, hence the presence of strategy activities noted in the industry. This paper discusses the development of the strategic management discourse and to identify tools for use in construction industry innovation that relate to its strategic challenges; the Value Chain, Game Theory and Delphi Technique. The paper also identifies the process of “Bricolage”, potentially a fourth tool, or process, which could be a source hard to imitate advantage in developing strategic innovation practices which act catalyst for participation and the means to profitably exploit new ideas. With strategically‐oriented innovation, a firm can identify and create new value for its customers and integrate its supply chains. Without it, innovation is at best blind, at worst, will never happen; there no goal to exploit the idea in pursuit of. Without strategy, there is no motivation to innovate.
Preoperative High Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio Is Associated with High-grade Bladder Cancer.

AIM To evaluate the correlation between the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and histopathological characteristics of bladder cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS A retrospective analysis was performed on a cohort of patients (n=302) who were diagnosed with bladder cancer and underwent transurethral resection of bladder tumor or cystectomy between 2009 and 2016. The pathological outcomes were compared between patients with low NLR and those with high NLR with a cut-off value of 2.5, and a logistic regression analysis was performed to find potential predictors of pathological tumor outcomes. RESULTS Patients with high-grade disease had significantly higher NLRs compared to those with low-grade disease (median NLR=4.42 vs. 3.42, p<0.001). Univariate analysis suggested that age, neutrophil count and NLR, as a continuous or binary variable, were significantly associated with high-grade disease. Multivariate analysis suggested that age and NLR, as a continuous variable, were predictors of pathologically high-grade disease. CONCLUSION Preoperative NLR was found to be associated with pathological tumor grading, but was not associated with pathological tumor staging in patients with bladder cancer.
EVOLUTION OF THE HUMAN BRAIN: CHANGING BRAIN SIZE AND THE FOSSIL RECORD

ALTHOUGH THE STUDY of the human brain is a rapidly developing and expanding science, we must take pause to examine the historical and evolutionary events that helped shape the brain of Homo sapiens. From an examination of the human lineage to a discussion of evolutionary principles, we describe the basic principles and theories behind the evolution of the human brain. Specifically, we examine several theories concerning changes in overall brain size during hominid evolution and relate them to the fossil record. This overview is intended to provide a broad understanding of some of the controversial issues that are currently being debated in the multidisciplinary field of brain evolution research.
School Violence: Fears Versus Facts

Preface. The Fear of School Violence: An Overview. Are Our Schools Safe? : From Juvenile Crime to School Violence. What Caused the School Shootings? How Many Guns in Our Schools? What Can We Do About Bullying? Are We Teaching Our Kids to Kill? Does Prevention Work? What Doesn't Work? How Can We Deal With Student Threats? What Do Our Schools Need?
Detecting Phishing Websites : User Behaviour Based

-Phishing is a form of identity theft, where criminals create fake web sites that masquerade as trustworthy organizations. The goal of phishing is to trick people into giving sensitive information, such as passwords, personal identification numbers, and so on. Simply phishers creates a phishing website and then goes phishing by sending out promiscuous emails to unsuspecting users. The Phishers tries to convince the reader of the email to visit the link included in the email. When the user “bites” on the phish, the link in the email directs the user to the phishing site which appears legitimate and similar or identical to the legitimate target site. The phish is successful when the user enters confidential information on the phishing page and it is leaked to the phishers. Afterwards the phishers tries to exploit the confidential information by transferring money, opening accounts, or making purchases using the captured information. Or the phishers merely acts as a middleman and sells the information to other criminals. In this paper, we describe a novel approach to detect phishing websites that is based on the analysis of users’ online behaviours.
Forecasting airplane technologies

Purpose – Airplane technology is undergoing several exciting developments, particularly in avionics, material composites, and design tool capabilities, and, though there are many studies conducted on subsets of airplane technology, market, and economic parameters, few exist in forecasting new commercial aircraft model introduction. In fact, existing research indicates the difficulty in quantitatively forecasting commercial airplanes due in part to the complexity and quantity of exogenous factors which feed into commercial airplane introduction decisions. This paper seeks to address this gap.Design/methodology/approach – The analysis is based on a literature review, supplemented by a collection of secondary data. The study then focuses on applying three technology forecasting techniques: multiple regression; linear regression; and the Pearl growth curve.Findings – The results provide a valid model for multiple regression and linear regression on range and composite material percentage for use in commercial.
Maximum Value Matters: Finding Hot Topics in Scholarly Fields

Finding hot topics in scholarly fields can help researchers to keep up with the latest concepts, trends, and inventions in their field of interest. Due to the rarity of complete large-scale scholarly data, earlier studies target this problem based on manual topic extraction from a limited number of domains, with their focus solely on a single feature such as coauthorship, citation relations, and etc. Given the compromised effectiveness of such predictions, in this paper we use a real scholarly dataset from Microsoft Academic Graph [1] , which provides more than 12000 topics in the field of Computer Science (CS), including 1200 venues, 14.4 million authors, 30 million papers, and their citation relations over the period of 1950 till now. Aiming to find the topics that will trend in CS area, we innovatively formalize a hot topic prediction problem where, with joint consideration of both inter-, and intra-topical influence, 17 different scientific features are extracted for comprehensive description of topic status. By leveraging all those 17 features, we observe good accuracy of topic scale forecasting after 5, and 10 years with $R^2$ values of 0.9893, and 0.9646, respectively. Interestingly, our prediction suggests that the maximum value matters in finding hot topics in scholarly fields, primarily from three aspects: (1) the maximum value of each factor, such as authors’ maximum h-index, and largest citation number, provides three times the amount of information than the average value in prediction; (2) the mutual influence between the most correlated topics serve as the most telling factor in long-term topic trend prediction, interpreting that those currently exhibiting the maximum growth rates will drive the correlated topics to be hot in the future; (3) we predict in the next 5 years the top 100 fastest growing (maximum growth rate) topics that will potentially get the major attention in CS area. All our findings are further demonstrated through an online visualization system.
Vascular targeting by EndoTAG™‐1 enhances therapeutic efficacy of conventional chemotherapy in lung and pancreatic cancer

Cationic lipid complexed paclitaxel (EndoTAG™‐1) is a novel vascular targeting agent for the treatment of cancer. Here, the aim was to investigate intratumoral drug distribution after EndoTAG™‐1 therapy and analyze the impact of EndoTAG™‐1 scheduling on antitumoral efficacy. The therapeutic effect of EndoTAG™‐1 in combination with conventional gemcitabine or cisplatin therapy was evaluated in L3.6pl orthotopic pancreatic cancer and a subcutaneous Lewis lung (LLC‐1) carcinoma model. Oregon Green paclitaxel encapsulated in cationic liposomes in combination with intravital fluorescence microscopy clearly exhibited delivery of the drug by EndoTAG™‐1 to the tumor endothelium, whereas Oregon Green paclitaxel dissolved in cremophor displayed an interstitial distribution pattern. The therapeutic efficacy of EndoTAG™‐1 was critically dependent on the application schedule with best therapeutic results using a metronomic rather than a maximum tolerated dose application sequence. The combination of EndoTAG™‐1 therapy and cytotoxic chemotherapy significantly enhanced antitumoral efficacy in both tumor models. Interestingly, only EndoTAG™‐1 in combination with gemcitabine was able to inhibit the incidence of metastasis in pancreatic cancer. In conclusion, vascular targeting tumor therapy by EndoTAG™‐1 combined with standard small molecular chemotherapy results in markedly enhanced antitumoral efficacy. Therefore, this combination represents a promising novel strategy for clinical cancer therapy.
Shari’ah compliance in Islamic banking: An empirical study on selected Islamic banks in Bangladesh

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the Shari’ah compliance status of the Islamic banks in Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach - – The research was based on both primary and secondary materials. The primary data were gathered through sample questionnaire survey and personal interviews by the researcher; the secondary data were obtained from Qur’an, Hadiths, different circulars/letters, manuals, research books and journals, annual reports, Web sites of the sample banks. Statistical tools and techniques like weighted average, percentage, SD, variance and correlation between Shari’ah violation score and bank-specific attributes were used applying statistical software Statistical Package for Social Science (version 17.0). Findings - – Shari’ah compliance status of the Islamic banks in Bangladesh is in a vulnerable condition, Shari’ah compliance status highly varies among the Islamic banks, and Shari’ah violation is high in investing activities because of lack of knowledge, lack of sincerity in complying Shari’ah, poor attention in Shari’ah audit and Shari’ah research and lack of strong Shari’ah supervisory board comprising full-time skillful members. Practical implications - – Among others, the major policy implications of this study are as follows: regulatory bodies and Shari’ah board members are expected to have guidelines from this study to find their limitations and to determine their future responsibilities; executives and Employees are expected to get the idea of present state of Shari’ah compliance and to identify their weaknesses in this regard; clients and other stakeholders are expected to have guidelines to choose the better Islamic banks to perform banking transactions; and the researchers in Islamic banking may usefully use the issues raised in this article for more comprehensive studies in Islamic banking and Shari’ah compliance. Originality/value - – The paper opens a new avenue in justifying the status of Shari’ah compliance with a new dataset and correlating Shari’ah violation score with bank-specific attributes.
Relationship between prothrombin activation fragment F1.2 and international normalized ratio in patients with atrial fibrillation. Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation Investigators.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The prothrombin time (expressed as the international normalized ratio [INR]) is the standard method of monitoring warfarin therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation. Prothrombin activation fragment F1.2 provides an index of in vivo thrombin generation and might provide a better index of the effective intensity of anticoagulation. We examined the relationship between F1.2 and INR in patients with atrial fibrillation. METHODS We measured INR and F1.2 levels in 846 patients with atrial fibrillation participating in the Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation III study. Two hundred nineteen (26%) were taking aspirin alone, 326 (39%) were taking adjusted-dose warfarin, and 301 (36%) were taking a low fixed dose of warfarin (1 to 3 mg) plus aspirin (combination therapy). F1.2 levels were measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS Patients receiving adjusted-dose warfarin or combination therapy had significantly higher INR and significantly lower F1.2 values than those on aspirin alone (P < or = .0001 for each of the four comparisons). F1.2 values (nanomolar) were inversely correlated with INR (F1.2 = -0.1 + 2.3[1/INR]; R2 = .37; P < .0001; simple linear regression). However, significant variability remained. Among patients receiving warfarin, older patients had higher F1.2 values than younger patients after adjustment for INR intensity (P < .001) in the model. There was no difference in the relationship between F1.2 and INR between men and women. CONCLUSIONS Increasing intensity of anticoagulation, as measured by the INR, is associated with decreasing thrombin generation as measured by the F1.2 level, but significant variability exists in this relationship. Older anticoagulated patients have higher F1.2 values than younger patients at equivalent INR values. The clinical significance of these differences is not clear. F1.2 measurement might provide information regarding anticoagulation intensity in addition to that reflected by the INR.
Endocrine correlates of sexual development in the male monkey, Macaca fascicularis.

To increase our understanding of the physiology of sexual maturation in the primate, we have studied various endocrine correlates of reproductive development in the male monkey, Macaca fascicularis. In a cross-sectional study, we examined 80 monkeys, ranging in age from 2 weeks to more than 8 yr. We weighed, measured testis size, and obtained a single morning blood sample from all animals. Serum LH and testosterone (T) levels were measured by bioassay and RIA, respectively. Based on the criteria of age and testis size, we classified the monkeys into five study groups: neonates, older infants, juveniles, peripubertals, and adults. To characterize hormone secretory patterns and to search for evidence of episodic LH and T secretion during development, we selected animals at random (n ≥ 6) from each study group and bled them at 20- to 30-min intervals during evening hours (between 1900–2300 h). To assess pituitary responsiveness to LHRH during development, we administered LHRH (5 μg/kg, iv bolus) to groups of.
Multipoint temperature-independent fiber-Bragg-grating strain-sensing system employing an optical-power-detection scheme.

A temperature-independent fiber-Bragg-grating strains-sensing system, based on a novel optical-power-detection scheme, is developed and analyzed. In this system a pair of fiber Bragg gratings with reflection spectra either partially or substantially overlapping is placed side by side to form a temperature-independent strain-sensor unit. Conventional wavelength-interrogation techniques are not used here, and instead an optical-power-detection scheme is proposed to directly calibrate the measurand, i.e., the strain. Unlike the conventional approach in a multiplexed sensing system, the presented power-detection-based interrogation method does not need the fiber-Bragg-grating sensors to be spectrally separate. The only requirement is that the spectra of the two fiber Bragg gratings of each sensor unit in a multiplexed system be identical or slightly separate (slightly overlapping spectra would also work in the sensing scheme) and the source's optical power be sufficient for sensitive measurement. Based on a three-sensor-unit system, we demonstrate simple strain measurements of high linearity (+/- 0.4%), good sensitivity [2 microstrains (microS)], high thermal stability (+/- 0.8%), and zero cross talk. The effects of light source spectral flatness and fiber bending loss on measurement accuracy are also discussed.
Implications of Full and Partial Retirement for Replacement Rates in a Defined Benefit System

Flexible retirement arrangements in which workers can retire abruptly or gradually at the age of their choice with higher retirement income as a reward for working more or longer fit well with the changes in life course patterns in the past decades and may help to keep pension systems sustainable in times of population ageing. We analyse the flexibility of an existing pension arrangement in the Netherlands, characterised by a subsistence-level pay-as-you-go state pension combined with a supplementary occupational pension. We use the actual rules of a large occupational pension fund, the state pension and the tax system to calculate net replacement rates at ages 60 to 70 in full and partial retirement scenarios. We find that partial retirement results in a smoother income path and encourages employees to defer their pension claims beyond age 65. Moreover, while occupational pensions give close to actuarially fair rewards for continued full-time or part-time work, the state pension does not. This makes postponing retirement less attractive for low-income groups in particular.
A Nitrogen-Fixing Endophyte of Sugarcane Stems (A New Role for the Apoplast)

The intercellular spaces of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) stem parenchyma are filled with solution (determined by cryoscanning microscopy), which can be removed aseptically by centrifugation. It contained 12% sucrose (Suc; pH 5.5.) and yielded pure cultures of an acid-producing bacterium (approximately 104 bacteria/mL extracted fluid) on N-poor medium containing 10% Suc (pH 5.5). This bacterium was identical with the type culture of Acetobacter diazotrophicus, a recently discovered N2-fixing bacterium specific to sugarcane, with respect to nine biochemical and morphological characteristics, including acetylene reduction in air. Similar bacteria were observed in situ in the intercellular spaces. This demonstrates the presence of an N2-fixing endophyte living in apoplastic fluid of plant tissue and also that the fluid approximates the composition of the endophytes's optimal culture medium. The apoplastic fluid occupied 3% of the stem volume; this approximates 3 tons of fluid/ha of the crop. This endogenous culture broth consisting of substrate and N2-fixing bacteria may be enough volume to account for earlier reports that some cultivars of sugarcane are independent of N fertilizers. It is suggested that genetic manipulation of apoplastic fluid composition may facilitate the establishment of similar symbioses with endophytic bacteria in other crop plants.
EWCs’ Cross-National Employee Representative Coordination: A Case of Trade Union Cooperation?

This article argues that, in order to explore the extent to which cross-national union representatives’ cooperation can be achieved within the context of European integration, articulation between the European and the national (local) union levels needs to be examined. Comparative research findings in two European Works Councils (EWCs) reveal that the creation of complementary links of coordination among employee representatives at European level depends on the extent to which European trade union organizations can successfully align their policies to the national and local context. Two combined sets of factors are found to mutually affect the efficacy of such articulation: the ‘voluntary’ context within which EWC agreements are set up; and the national union orientations towards the common European policy issues. Thus, prospects and concerns are raised regarding the use of Europeanization as an essential factor for supranational trade union cooperation.
Resonant acoustic microsensor for photoacoustic detection

This paper describes the development of a photoacoustic microsensor for noninvasive glucose monitoring in human blood. The microsensor, based on capacitive sensing, is comprised of a resonant type cantilevered sensing element, sensitive to acoustic pressure and a rigid back plate electrode. Both parts of the sensor are fabricated separately. To eliminate external biasing requirement, an electret is formed on the back plate electrode using CYTOP. The fabricated sensing element and the back plate electrode are packaged in a housing for evaluation. In this study three different types of cantilevered sensing structures have been designed and tested. Based on the experimental study of the cantilever structures a novel photoacoustic microsensor has been fabricated and evaluated.
Analysis of a Two-Sector Model of Endogenous Growth with Capital Income Taxation

This paper addresses a two-sector model of endogenous growth in which one sector produces final goods and the other produces new human capital. Both sectors employ human as well as physical capital under constant returns to scale technologies. Unlike existing studies of this type of model that have mostly concentrated on steady-state analysis or on numerical simulations of calibrated models, this paper presents an analytical argument concerning the dynamic behavior of the growth path and the effects of capital income taxation in and out of the steady-growth equilibrium. It is demonstrated that the dynamic behavior of the economy and some policy effects depend heavily upon the magnitude of factor intensity used in each production sector. Copyright 1996 by Economics Department of the University of Pennsylvania and the Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association.
Is Leaving Home a Hardship?

The transition of young adults from their parents' homes to other living arrangements is a major life-course milestone. Although the causes of nest-leaving have been extensively researched, only a few studies have examined changes in young adults' well-being that immediately precede and follow these transitions. This study uses the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey to document trajectories of financial hardships, nutrition, and other outcomes among Australians who left their parents' homes between the ages of 18 and 25 years. The study estimates multivariate fixed-effects models that compare outcomes before and after nest-leaving transitions to mitigate the effects of confounding characteristics. Men and women report increased financial hardships in the years that they leave home and in the first few years that follow, including going without meals and needing to ask friends and family for financial help. Women additionally report missing utility and housing payments.