Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Attitudinal and Situational Determinants of Self-Service Technology Use

The authors test an extended technology acceptance model by incorporating two situational and two attitudinal variables as new predictors of self-service technology adoption. The situational variables are waiting line and service complexity, whereas the attitudinal variables are technology trust and technology anxiety. The study employs an experimental approach with hypothetical hotel check-in situations. The authors apply structural equation modeling techniques to provide additional insights into the main effects. They find significant main effects of all situational and attitudinal variables but no interaction effects between the situational and attitudinal variables. The main effects on intention to use self-service technologies occurred primarily through the mediation of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. The technology acceptance model needs extension to include nontechnology variables as predictors of new technology adoption.
A comparative study of methods of estimating kidney length in kidney transplantation donors.

BACKGROUND Knowledge of kidney size is important for clinical assessment of renal disease. However, there are few studies on methods of assessing kidney size. The purpose of this study was to determine the usefulness of body index and radiological measurements for prediction of kidney size. METHODS One hundred and twenty five donors were enrolled. The sizes of donor kidneys obtained after nephrectomies for kidney transplantations were documented and the correlation coefficient between kidney length and body index was calculated. Kidney length was estimated from the distance between the first and third lumbar vertebrae (L1-3), intravenous pyelograms (IVPs), abdominal ultrasonography (US), and abdominal computed tomography (CT). RESULTS Normal adult kidneys were 11.08 +/- 0.96 cm long, 6.25 +/- 0.67 cm wide, 4.73 +/- 0.65 cm thick and weighed 196.3 +/- 41.0 g. Correlation coefficients between kidney length and body height, body weight, body surface area and total body water content were 0.29, 0.31, 0.26, and 0.32, respectively. The difference between actual and predicted kidney lengths was -0.6 cm for L1-3, +1.2 cm for IVPs, -0.7 cm for abdominal US, -0.8 cm for transverse CT section, and -0.5 cm for coronal CT section. CONCLUSIONS Abdominal coronal CT section predicted kidney length more accurately than other radiological methods, but all radiological methods were associated with prediction errors. As kidney length was correlated with body index, it is suggested that body index is the most useful and simplest method of estimating kidney size as an adjunct to treatment decisions concerning renal disease.
The correlation between HIV seropositivity, cervical dysplasia, and HPV subtypes 6/11, 16/18, 31/33/35.

Twenty-one human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seropositive patients were studied to determine the prevalence of cervical dysplasia, the distribution of human papilloma virus (HPV) subtypes, and the utility of cytologic diagnosis in this population. The patients ranged in age from 18 to 41 years. HIV infection was diagnosed in all patients by ELISA method and confirmed by Western blot. Patients were interviewed to document risk factors for HIV infection and cervical dysplasia. All were examined colposcopically and identifiable lesions were biopsied. In patients with normal colposcopic findings four quadrant biopsies were performed. Cervical and endocervical smears were obtained on all patients at the time of colposcopy and blood was collected for T-cell studies. Eighteen patients (86%) had abnormal cytologic findings. The Pap smear was able to identify 10 of 13 biopsy-proven epithelial abnormalities. In 14 patients there was sufficient tissue for HPV typing by in situ hybridization; the HPV subtypes identified were 6/11 (10 patients), 16/18 (9 patients), and 31/33/35 (9 patients). Dysplasia was present in 11/14 (79%) of the specimens submitted for subtyping. The absolute CD4 cell counts were 342 per mm3 for the dysplasia group and 281 per mm3 for the patients without dysplasia. Patients with dysplasia did not differ significantly from patients without dysplasia in regard to risk factors for cervical dysplasia, including history of STD, tobacco use, multiple sexual partners, age at first coitus, and parity. In addition, history of medication use and risk factors associated with HIV infection were similar in both groups. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Exploring the Vast Diversity of Marine Viruses

1991; Moebus, 1992; Waterbury and Mya brEitbart (mya@marine.usf.edu) is Assistant Professor, College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL, USA. LukE r. thoMpson is Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. Curtis a. suttLE is Professor, Departments of Earth & Ocean Sciences, Botany, and Microbiology & Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. MatthEw b. suLLiVan is Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. > sEC tion V. E x a MpLE s of DiVEr sit y > ChaptEr 10 . MiCrobiaL CoMMunitiE s > a . watEr CoLuMn
Ship assignment with hub and spoke constraints

As the shipping industry enters the future, an increasing number of technological developments are being introduced into this market. This has led to a significant change in business operations, such as the innovative design of hub and spoke systems, resulting in cargo consolidation and a better use of the ship's capacity. In the light of this new scenario, the authors present a successful application of integer linear programming to support the decision-making process of assigning ships to previously defined voyages — the rosters. The tool used to build the final models was the MS-Excel Solver (Microsoft® Excel 97 SR-2, 1997), a package that enabled the real case studies addressed to be solved. The results of the experiment prompted the authors to favour the assignment of very small fleets, as opposed to the existing high number of ships employed in such real trades,
Estimating daily seasonality in foreign exchange rate changes

Combining time- and frequency-domain analysis demonstrates considerable improvement in modelling seasonal patterns in daily exchange rate changes. A high-pass filter in the frequency domain is used, followed by the usual time-domain analysis with GARCH models, to estimate day-of-the-week effects in the spot returns on five exchanges against US dollars and the results are seen to compare favourably with those from a pure time-domain GARCH approach.
Responsive Regulation, Risk, and Rules: Applying the Theory to Tax Practice

John Braithwaite’s seminal work on responsive regulation has been taken up and developed by tax authorities around the world. It has had a major impact on methods of tax administration. This approach has some limitations and difficulties, however, including constitutional objections. This article discusses two particular problems, together with possible responses, which could help to appease the critics of responsive regulation in the tax arena. The first problem relates to the extent to which persuasion is a legitimate device for seeking to control behaviour that is not universally accepted to be non-compliant, because there is more than one arguable view. The second area of difficulty relates to the relationship between responsive regulation and risk management. These issues and the general challenges posed by responsive regulation to tax administration are discussed in the context of changing relationships between revenue authorities and large businesses, using a UK case study. In conclusion it is suggested that the theory of responsive regulation has great value in tax administration, but also the potential for misfiring in this area unless applied and used only where appropriate legal safeguards are provided. Legally enforceable safeguards are required to maintain the rule of law and provide a clear framework of objectives. This is not inconsistent with a theoretical approach that rests upon mutual trust; rather a sensible legal framework can provide an appropriate background for a relationship of trust. Such a legal framework is necessary not only to protect taxpayers but also revenue authorities. Building trust and involving interest groups in “regulatory conversations” are important parts of the answer, but in a tax context this must be supported by legal structures and be subject to administrative safeguards or it will not be perceived to be fair, in which case responsive regulation will fail.
Outsourcing—facts and fiction

As the E-commerce revolution creates a frontal attack on industry after industry and threatens to transform traditional industry structures into new configurations, managers will be forced to rethink their outsourcing strategies in profound ways. Outsourcing—that is, the process of externalizing tasks and services previously performed in-house, to outside vendors—is hardly a new idea in management. But the extent and character of outsourcing is changing radically. Studies have shown that more and more companies outsource still more complex activities. Also, a considerable reduction in supplier base can be detected, leading to closer relationships between companies. We argue that this development has called for a totally new way of doing business. Successful outsourcing has become a key to competitiveness. For the seller or vendor, the sale of total solutions has become a key to new and expanding markets. However, research is still on ‘virgin territory’ and has yet to provide the tools for a complete understanding and exploitation of this development. The angle in the academic literature is almost always from the company that is outsourcing a certain activity. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to provide an overview of the major motives behind outsourcing and the implications for the supplier. Also, a common framework for understanding and defining three basic concepts is offered. The article starts by reviewing some general trends in outsourcing. It then moves on to the concept of core competence—a concept, which is pivotal in the discussion on outsourcing but surprisingly vague and ‘non-operational’. Finally, the article presents some empirical evidence of why companies actually outsource. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Household Expenditure Patterns for Tourism Products and Services

The growing importance of the tourism industry, coupled with demographic, social and economic changes, highlights the need to study consumersAE expenditure patterns for tourism products. Using 1990 Consumer Expenditure Survey data, this study examined leisure travel expenditure patterns of households, especially food, lodging, transportation, and sightseeing/entertainment expenditures. The results show that demographic and socioeconomic and cultural factors have a varying effect on each of the four expenditure categories. The research findings bear implications for marketing segmentation in various components of tourism industry, and suggest an effective research approach to develop pragmatic segmentation strategies.
Perceptions of Administrators, Guidance Counselors, and Science Teachers Concerning Pilot Agriscience Courses.

Agricultural educators in Mississippi reacted to the NRC's recommendations by developing two full-year agriscience courses to be pilot-tested in selected schools. Introduction to Agriscience is a onehour, one credit course targeted at 9th and 10th grade students. Agriscience I is a two-hour, two-credit course targeted at 11th and 12th grade students (a third course, Agriscience II, is under development.)
A reliable and safe T cell repertoire based on low-affinity T cell receptors.

Antigens are presented to T cells as short peptides bound to MHC molecules on the surface of body cells. The binding between MHC/peptides and T cell receptors (TCRs) has a low affinity and is highly degenerate. Nevertheless, TCR-MHC/peptide recognition results in T cell activation of high specificity. Moreover, the immune system is able to mount a cellular response when only a small fraction of the MHC molecules on an antigen-presenting cell is occupied by foreign peptides, while autoimmunity remains relatively rare. We consider how to reconcile these seemingly contradictory facts using a quantitative model of TCR signalling and T cell activation. Taking into account the statistics of TCR recognition and antigen presentation, we show that thymic selection can produce a working T cell repertoire which will produce safe and effective responses, that is, recognizes foreign antigen presented at physiological levels while tolerating self. We introduce "activation curves" as a useful tool to study the repertoire's statistical activation properties.
Experience and Knowledge as Complements to Effect Change to the Organizational Code

Exploration and exploitation and mobility research both affirm that the hiring of people with new-to-the-organization “distant” knowledge helps reinvigorate exploratory activity and realize change to the organizational code, an organization’s set of domain-specific expertise. An analysis of scientist mobility occurring over a 38-year period in the U.S. biotechnology industry, however, indicates that this is not the case. This anomaly occurs because the experience of new hires is an important omitted variable in prior analysis. Experienced hires are well positioned to socialize other organizational members to the use of their knowledge and thus facilitate change to organizational knowledge. Experienced hires are also more likely to preserve their own identity and resist being socialized to organizational values, beliefs, and knowledge. Given these effects, core change to the organizational code is a function of both knowledge and experience that new hires possess. Consistent with this, we find that hiring .
Partnership consultation and employer domination in two British life and pensions firms

Partnership agreements between employers and trade unions usually establish joint consultation committees for union representatives and managers to discuss workplace issues. According to conventional wisdom dominant employers use consultation under the rubric of partnership to reduce union influence and effectiveness.This article tests this assumption through a longitudinal study of new joint consultation committees introduced as part of partnership agreements in two employer dominant British life and pensions firms. Ineffective consultation in one firm reflected a conflictual industrial relations climate and management seeking retrenchment. In the other firm effective consultation developed notwithstanding employer dominance due to a more cooperative industrial relations climate, a history of cooperative management-union relations and management motives for adaptation. The findings suggest that consultation under partnership agreements enables effective union influence in such circumstances.
Does a Change of Occupation Lead to Higher Earnings?

The aim of this paper is to identify how the mobility between different types of broadly defined occupation (hired work, self-employment in industry, services and agriculture or social security beneficiaries) changes personal income of individuals. We apply the Markov matrices to the panel data on 30540 individuals for 2007-2008 from the Polish Household Budget Surveys. Our hypothesis is that a change of occupation affects individual capability to earn income, controlling for the occupation a person quits and the occupation a person starts, as well as age, education level and a permanent or temporary character of work. We test our hypothesis using the regression analysis. Our results show that the inter-occupational mobility matters mostly for those quitting hired work for self-employment, for the better educated, as well as for respondents above 60 years of age.
The differential impact of privately and publicly funded R&D on R&D investment and innovation: the Italian case

This paper explores the impact of a specific R&D policy instrument, the Italian Fondo per le Agevolazioni della Ricerca (FAR), on industrial R&D and technological output at the firm level. Our objective is threefold: first, to identify the presence or absence of private R&D investment additionality/crowding-out within a pooled sample and in various firm subsets (identified by region, size, level of technology, and other features), while also taking into account the effect of single policy instruments or mixes of them. Secondly, to analyse the output (innovation) additionality by comparing the differential impact of privately funded R&D and publicly funded R&D expenditure on applications for patents filed by firms. Thirdly, the paper will compare the structural characteristics of firms showing additionality with those of firms showing crowding-out, in order to determine the firm characteristics associated with successful policy interventions. Our results suggest that FAR is effective in the pooled sample, although no effect emerges in some firm subsets. In particular, while large firms seem to have been decisive for the success of this policy, small firms present a more marked crowding-out effect. Furthermore, the firms’ growth strategies and ability to transform R&D input into innovation output (patents) seem to have a positive effect in terms of additionality.
Ultrasound measurements of carotid intima–media thickness by two semi‐automated analysis systems

Increased carotid intima–media thickness (cIMT) is associated with an increased risk of cardiac events and stroke. Several semi‐automated edge‐detection techniques for measuring cIMT are used for research and in clinical practice. Our aim was to compare two currently available semi‐automated techniques for the measurement of cIMT. Carotid ultrasound recordings were obtained from 99 subjects (mean age 54·4 ± 8·9 years, range 33–69) without known cardiovascular diseases using a General Electric (GE) Vivid 7 ultrasound scanner, 8‐MHz transducer. The far‐wall cIMT was evaluated 1–2 cm proximal to the carotid bulb. Three diastolic images (ECG R‐wave) from the left and three images from the right common carotid arteries were analysed using GE and Artery Measurement System (AMS) semi‐automated softwares. Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 120 ± 13 and 76 ± 8 mmHg, respectively. The cIMTmean (left + right)/2 by GE and cIMTmean (left + right)/2 AMS were highly correlated (r = 0·92, P<0·001). Higher values were measured by GE (0·72 ± 0·12 mm) compared with AMS (0·69 ± 0·12 mm), and this was significant (P<0·001). The coefficients of variation for the intra‐observer variability of cIMTmean (left + right)/2 were 1·0% (GE) and 2·2% (AMS). cIMTmean measured by GE's semi‐automated edge‐detection method correlated well with that measured by AMS. However, there were small but significant systematic differences between the cIMTmean values measured by the two techniques. Thus, the use of only one type of measurement program seems favourable in follow‐up studies and when evaluating treatment effects.
Exit Problems in Regime-Switching Models

This paper provides a general framework for pricing of perpetual American and real options in regime-switching Levy models. In each state of the Markov chain, which determines switches from one Levy process to another one, the payoff stream is a monotone function of the Levy process labelled by the state, which allows for additional switching within each state of the Markov chain (payoffs can be different in different regions of the real line). As applications, we solve exit problems for a price-taking firm.
Wideband impedance-varying n-way wilkinson power divider/combiner for rf power amplifiers

We propose a compact wideband multi-way power divider/combiner with planar structure for applications to RF power amplifiers (PAs). Uniform transmission lines in the conventional divider are replaced with non-uniform transmission lines (NTLs), which are governed by a truncated Fourier series. An optimization-driven framework is employed in even-mode analysis to obtain the coefficients of the NTLs considering predefined operating bands, whereas three isolation resistors are optimized in the odd-mode analysis to achieve optimal isolation and output port matching over the design bandwidth. For verification purposes, a 4–10 GHz 3-way divider is simulated, and measured. Simulations and measurements are in close proximity and show input/output ports matching of better than –10 dB and transmission of –4.9 ±1 dB across the design bandwidth.
Union Participation in Occupational Health and Safety in Western Australia

Recent Australian legislation has established a consultaive-participatory ap proach at the workplace and a tripartite policy-making process at state and national levels for occupational health and safety. This paper presents the findings of a survey of union officials on unions' participation in occupational health and safety matters. Data are presented on: occupational health and safety resources and activities; occupational health and safety information dissemination; common occupational health and safety issues; health and safety representatives (election, training, effectiveness, turnover and discrimination); relations with management on occupational health and safety; relations with the government advisory and en forcement agency; industrial disputation on occupational health and safety issues; and views on the functioning of the new legislation. Several unions have full-time occupational health and safety officers and are examined more closely. Some specific problems are identified but, in general, unions are supportive of the new approach to occupational health and safety.
Analytical investigation of spin transfer dynamics using a perpendicular-to-plane polarizer

An analytical investigation of the dynamic properties of spin-transfer torque (STT) devices comprising a perpendicular-to-plane polarizer (PERP) is reported. Several analytical solutions for PERP are derived from Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) equation including the spin-torque term, and proved its validity by comparing with numerical simulations using the single domain model. The critical spin-torque amplitude a/sub JC/ is linearly proportional to the in-plane anisotropy field of the sample. It shows a good agreement with simulation assuming single domain except in the case of large positive current where the polarizer magnetization is also excited. Several analytical solutions for precession frequency are derived which showed a good agreement with single domain simulations. The main results reveal that, considering the thermal stability criterion, the switching current density in PERP based structures is larger than that in their longitudinal polarizer counterparts when the cell area is smaller than a certain value. However, the switching is much faster in the PERP. Also, it is found that the precession frequency in PERP based structures can be tuned from about 1 GHz to 20 GHz by only changing the current without any external field.