Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Visual Inspection of Paper Carrier Tape Pothole

Carrier tape is used for packing SMD parts in electronic industry. The potholes for the parts are made by being punched in series using a punching machine. The interval distance and shape is crucial and should be within the specified dimensional limit. In this paper a visual inspection algorithm is proposed in order to measure the rectangular shape. The algorithm is based upon the edges in order to make the processing time short. It is tested to the captured images and confirmed that it is feasible.
Measuring the Impact of Corporate Investment Announcements on Share Prices: The Spanish Experience

We bring together three disparate strands of literature to develop a comprehensive empirical framework to examine the efficiency of security analysts' earnings forecasts in Singapore. We focus specifically on how the increased uncertainty and the negative market sentiment during the period of the Asian crisis affected the quality of earnings forecasts. While we find no evidence of inefficiencies in the pre-crisis period, our results suggest that after the onset of the crisis, analysts (1) issued forecasts that were systematically upward biased; (2) did not fully incorporate the (negative) earnings-related news; and (3) predicted earnings changes which proved too extreme.
Desirable generic attributes for accounting graduates into the twenty‐first century: The views of employers

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to determine the requirements of accounting graduates in relation to generic attributes. Employers have consistently maintained that graduates are deficient in this area. This Australia-wide, all-sector study addresses the issue by examining what employers mean when they make demands for universities and academics to deliver work-ready graduates. Design/methodology/approach - Interviews (recorded, transcribed and analysed with NVivo) with employers, and accounting professional bodies were conducted to ascertain their views of their needs of accounting graduates into the future. Findings - Employers held the generic attributes of communication, team work and self-management to be the most critical for graduates in the three areas of recruitment, training and ongoing employment. Demands on universities to deliver work-ready graduates are not homogeneous. Employers in different sectors construe the meaning of generic attributes in line with their specific needs. Originality/value - The study was an original piece of work that gauged the opinions of professional accounting bodies and employers of accounting graduates across Australia and in all sectors of the accounting profession. The value of the study is to inform academics as to the ranked importance of generic attributes but also alert them to the different meanings that are assigned to these skills by employers in different sectors.
FAMILIES IN LATIN AMERICA: CHANGES, POVERTY AND ACCESS TO SOCIAL PROTECTION

Latin America has experienced major social, economic, and cultural transformations. Poverty and inequality have declined, while public and social spending has increased. Most countries have put in place non-contributory social protection schemes targeting poorer families, assigning the family a central role in providing safeguards against social problems and economic shocks. Thus, understanding the relationship between evolving family structures and the social policies aimed at addressing their needs is critical. In this paper we review the regional context and describe the changing structure of Latin American families in 1990-2010 based on household survey data. We then examine and compare the specificities of poorer and richer households. Finally, we explore access to different forms of social protection among distinct types of families, drawing further questions for policy and research.
Animal models for the study of adenosine receptor function

Adenosine receptors represent a family of G‐protein coupled receptors that are ubiquitously expressed in a wide variety of tissues. This family contains four receptor subtypes: A1 and A3, which mediate inhibition of adenylyl cyclase; and A2a and A2b, which mediate stimulation of this enzyme. Currently, all receptor subtypes have been genetically deleted in mouse models except for the A2b adenosine receptor, and some have been overexpressed in selective tissues of transgenic mice. Studies involving these transgenic mice indicated that receptor levels are rate limiting, as effects were amplified upon increases in receptor level. The knockout models pointed to clusters of activities related to the physiologies of the cardiovascular and the nervous systems, which are either reduced or enhanced upon specific receptor deletion. Interestingly, the trend of effects on these systems is similar in the A1 and A3 adenosine receptor knockout mice and opposite to the effects observed in the A2a adenosine receptor knockout model. This review summarizes in vitro studies on pathways affected by each adenosine receptor, and primarily focuses on the above in vivo models generated to investigate the physiologic role of adenosine receptors. Furthermore, it illustrates the need for multiple adenosine receptor subtype deficiency studies in mice and the deletion of the A2b subtype. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Nonprofit Decision Making and Resource Allocation: The Importance of Membership Preferences, Community Needs, and Interorganizational Ties

Data on 12 local chapters of a high status women’s community service organization and their communities are used to assess the relative impact of community needs, members’ perceptions and preferences, and interorganizational ties on decisions about how to allocate volunteers and funds among 17 community problem areas. Quantitative analysis indicates that the distribution of volunteer time and funds was unrelated to community needs as measured by objective indicators. Instead, members’ and leaders’ perceptions of the severity of community problems and their willingness to work in some problem areas more than others were the most important determinants of resource allocation. Qualitative evidence also suggests that members’ ties to other organizations played a role in the chapters’ decisions about project selection.
Mas Roig mini-grid: A renewable-energy-based rural islanded microgrid

This paper presents a microgrid project, named Basic Distributed Nodes (NoBaDis), deployed in a stand-alone farm in Girona, Spain. NoBaDis is based on intensive use of information to maximize the penetration of renewable energy through two main strategies: anticipation and opportunity. The loads are classified in four different types according to priority and are controlled by intelligent sockets interconnected in a mesh network. Each socket measures the main electric parameters, communicates to the local computer bidirectionality by using ZigBee communications, and is able to switch on/off the loads. The power system is composed by low-density energy sources (renewable) and high-density cogeneration engine. These elements can be interconnected in two different configurations to test different scenarios. After 5 years of operation, the results have shown the importance of real-time management system to reduce the operational costs of the microgrid. In addition the project has highlighted the importance of distributed generation and control to assure the energy supply in terms of quality and quantity even in extremely weather conditions as it was in March 2010 during a snow storm that generated a black out that affected more than 250,000 consumers in this area during one week.
Profile of Resistance of Human Immunodeficiency Virus to Mannose-Specific Plant Lectins

ABSTRACT The mannose-specific plant lectins from the Amaryllidaceae family (e.g., Hippeastrum sp. hybrid and Galanthus nivalis) inhibit human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection of human lymphocytic cells in the higher nanogram per milliliter range and suppress syncytium formation between persistently HIV type 1 (HIV-1)-infected cells and uninfected CD4+ T cells. These lectins inhibit virus entry. When exposed to escalating concentrations of G. nivalis and Hippeastrum sp. hybrid agglutinin, a variety of HIV-1(IIIB) strains were isolated after 20 to 40 subcultivations which showed a decreased sensitivity to the plant lectins. Several amino acid changes in the envelope glycoprotein gp120, but not in gp41, of the mutant virus isolates were observed. The vast majority of the amino acid changes occurred at the N glycosylation sites and at the S or T residues that are part of the N glycosylation motif. The degree of resistance to the plant lectins was invariably correlated with an increasing number of mutated glycosylation sites in gp120. The nature of these mutations was entirely different from that of mutations that are known to appear in HIV-1 gp120 under the pressure of other viral entry inhibitors such as dextran sulfate, bicyclams (i.e., AMD3100), and chicoric acid, which also explains the lack of cross-resistance of plant lectin-resistant viruses to any other HIV inhibitor including T-20 and the blue-green algae (cyanobacteria)-derived mannose-specific cyanovirin. The plant lectins represent a well-defined class of anti-HIV (microbicidal) drugs with a novel HIV drug resistance profile different from those of other existing anti-HIV drugs.
Valuing Pre‐Commercial Genetic Resources: A Maximum Entropy Approach

Genetic improvement has been a major contributor to agricultural productivity in the United States, but many questions about the economics of crop breeding, such as the value of pre-commercial germplasm, remain unanswered. This study estimates the marginal value of poorly characterized materials contained in the U.S. national germplasm system. Within the search theoretic framework, we apply a maximum entropy method to estimate the probability and the expected level of improvement in pest susceptibility relative to its best previously observed level. The results indicate that the lower-bound estimate of benefit is significantly higher than the upper-bound cost of conserving an accession. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
The Political Economy of Monetary Union in Europe

The Maastricht transition strategy towards monetary union is based on the idea that the transition strategy should be gradual, and that entry into the union should be conditional on the fulfilment of convergence criteria. It is argued in this paper that this approach is not based on an economic necessity, but on a political one. In particular, it serves the political objective of Germany to keep the union small.
Stabilität und Staatsschulden Die europäische Wirtschaftspolitik in der strategischen Sackgasse

Zusammenfassung: Obwohl einzelne Elemente der europaischen Wirtschaftspolitik theoretisch wohl begrundet sind und an der vorangegangenen Geschichte der Stabilitatspolitik im EWS anknupfen, fehlt ein koharentes Gesamtkonzept. Die Rolle eines fur Nachfrage- und Konjunkturpolitik auf EWUEbene zustandigen Akteurs ist nicht besetzt. Dies ist auch der Grund fur die Krise des Stabilitats- und Wachstumspaktes. Er kann als ein sinnvolles Disziplinierungsinstrument nur uberleben, wenn die nationalen Budgets durch eine aktive Geldpolitik vor den Folgen europaischer Konjunkturkrisen geschutzt werden. Die Europaische Zentralbank sollte eine Verantwortung fur die Outputstabilisierung ubernehmen. Andere Auswege aus dem gegenwartigen Dilemma – eine Nachfragesteuerung durch koordinierte Fiskalpolitik oder eine Intensivierung der Strukturpolitik – sind weniger empfehlenswert. Summary: While single elements of the European economic policy design are well founded, and have developed with some politico-economic logic from the history of stabilization policy, a coherent “concept“ of monetary and fiscal policy is lacking. There is no agent who is responsible for demand stabilization on the European level. As a consequence, the Stability and Growth Pact is unlikely to survive unless the national budgets are sheltered from EMU recessions by monetary policy. The ECB ought to show responsibility also for output stabilization. Alternative reforms, global fiscal demand policies or structural policies are less advisable.
Transapical aortic valve implantation: predictors of survival up to 5 years in 730 patients. An update†.

OBJECTIVES A major limitation of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is that its long-term outcomes are still unknown. The purpose of this study was to evaluate survival up to 5 years after implantation and to identify predictors of follow-up mortality in a large cohort of patients who underwent exclusively a transapical TAVI procedure. METHODS Outcomes in terms of mortality and freedom from structural valve deterioration were evaluated in 730 consecutive patients. The median age was 80 years (range, 29-99 years). Forty patients (5.5%) presented with cardiogenic shock. The mean logistic European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) was 35.0 ± 21.9%, the mean EuroSCORE II was 16.2 ± 16.2% and the mean Society of Thoracic Surgeons predicted operative mortality score was 14.0 ± 11.8%. According to allocation in EuroSCORE II quartiles, four equal subgroups of different risk profile were defined with low, intermediate, high and very high arithmetic risks. RESULTS The overall 30-day mortality rate was 4.5% (33/730); 3.9% (27/690) in patients without cardiogenic shock. Survival at 1, 3 and 5 years were 80 ± 2%, 60 ± 2% and 41 ± 4%. Best survival up to 58 ± 7% at 5 years was found in the low and intermediate arithmetic risk quartile (P ≤ 0.001). In multivariable analysis, age (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.04, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03-1.06, P < 0.001), New York Heart Association class IV (HR: 1.69, CI: 1.28-2.23, P < 0.001), cardiogenic shock (HR: 2.80, CI: 1.73-4.54, P < 0.001), serum creatinine level (HR: 1.24, CI: 1.10-1.40, P < 0.001) and atrial fibrillation (HR: 1.66, CI: 1.27-2.16, P < 0.001) were predictive of follow-up mortality, whereas the absence of post-procedural acute kidney injury (HR: 0.50, CI: 0.38-0.67, P < 0.001) was protective against follow-up mortality. The freedom from structural valve deterioration requiring reoperation on the prosthesis was 95.7 ± 1.9% at 5 years. CONCLUSIONS We identified three main causes of follow-up mortality: non-cardiac comorbidity, advanced stages of heart failure and procedure-related complications. Further improvements of the TAVI technique should concentrate on the complete exclusion of the latter.
Variations in Tourist Price Sensitivity: A Stated Preference Model to Capture the Joint Impact of Differences in Systematic Utility and Response Consistency

This article evaluates variation in tourists' response to price. A random utility theory stated preference model is used to estimate the joint impact on price sensitivity of differences in systematic utility between tourists and travel products and differences in the consistency with which tourists respond to price. Implications of the proposed model are formulated. They indicate that as the systematic utility of a travel product increases and/or its price decreases (all else being equal), price sensitivity decreases. Three hypotheses of tourist price sensitivity also are investigated by using survey data on tourists' stated preferences for transportation options in one-day excursions. As expected, the results show that there is a systematic effect of income on price sensitivity, with high income tourists being less price sensitive than low income tourists. More surprisingly, tourist income, and to a lesser degree education, also affect tourist price sensitivity by influencing the consistency with which tourists respond to price. In particular, tourists with higher incomes and lower education levels are found to be less consistent in their response to price, which causes their price sensitivity to be lower. Thus, there is a double effect of income on price sensitivity: not only do high income tourists have a lower systematic response to price changes, but their response is also less consistent, which further reduces their price sensitivity. However, this effect is compensated in part because high income tourists tend to have a high education level, which increases response consistency and therefore price sensitivity.
Evaluating Democratic Performance: Methodologies for Assessing the Relationship between Network Governance and Citizens

Network governance can enhance democratic practice by furnishing new routes for actors to deliberate, make, and execute public policy. But it is hindered by a lack of political oversight, limited democratic competence of new organizational forms, and informality of operation. Little research has been conducted on the democratic performance of governance networks, and the methodology is poorly developed. Quality-of-democracy studies of national governmental and political systems offer a starting point. Their criteria-based method is useful in accessing the democratic “hardware” of formal entities, such as partnerships and hybrids, but it does not enable data to be gathered on democratic “software”—the informal day-to-day practices of actors in networks. Interpretive approaches offer a way forward. Narrative analysis, qualitative interviews using a criteria-based instrument, and Q-methodology provide routes into democratic software. They enable the researcher to move beyond the analysis of institutional nodes and to understand the democratic performance of the wider governance network.
INTERNATIONAL DIFFUSION OF ISO 14000 CERTIFICATION

The ISO 9000 series of quality management systems standards and the more recent ISO 14000 environmental management systems standards have generated much controversy among practitioners. Although ISO 9000 has become a de facto requirement for many firms, its effects are poorly understood, and similarly the value and domain of applicability of ISO 14000 have been questioned. This paper reports on an exploratory study into the global spread of ISO 14000. We interviewed practitioners worldwide to identify factors that they believe explain differences between national ISO 14000 certification counts. We then collected quantititive data for these factors and, using regression analysis, we found that exports, environmental attitudes (combined with economic development), and ISO 9000 certification count were significant. The fact that ISO 9000 appears as an important factor explaining diffusion of ISO 14000 certifications suggests that the drivers behind the two have significant overlap. This indicates that, although ISO 14000 is an environmental standard, many of the factors driving national certification patterns are not at all environmental in nature, and that ISO 14000 therefore needs to be studied from a broader perspective than from a purely environmental point of view.
Characteristic Factors and Fund Evaluation in Korea

Factors that govern common variations in equity returns in Korea are identified and the authors examine whether they are priced. Size and the ratio of book value to price turn out to be the determinants of common variations, and these variations appear to be priced. The momentum factor shows mixed results depending on the samples, while macroeconomic factors consistently fail to group stocks in any meaningful manner. These factors are utilized to assess the performance of the retail equity funds. Characteristic-based performance analysis reveals that high risk-adjusted excess returns are accompanied by high selection and timing abilities of fund managers. Risk-adjusted returns are more persistent than unadjusted returns.
Welfare-state decommodification in 18 OECD countries: a replication and revision

We present and discuss a replication and reassessment of the welfare-state decommodification index, and introduce a new, publicly available data set of key welfare-state programme characteristics. Using the same programme features used to create the ‘decommodification index’ in The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, one of the most widely cited sources in the field, we are able to replicate the results quite closely. However, our investigation suggests a number of likely errors in the original formulation. Once these are accounted for, we find very limited empirical support for the ‘three worlds’ typology in the decommodification data. Though some clear differences remain, there is also much less overall variation among countries. Furthermore, there is little evidence of ‘clustering’ among programme scores, a finding which is at odds with the idea of distinctive national regimes. Our results point to the need for a detailed re-investigation of welfare-state benefits in advanced industrial democracies. Our data set helps to provide a basis for such an assessment.
Rationality in economics , Vernon L. Smith, Cambridge University Press, 2008, xx + 364 pages.

length. I have no doubt that the author would be quite happy if his book managed to awake the interest of potential readers sufficiently to enrich their knowledge of the theory of social choice in any of these directions. To conclude, I would say that Wulf Gaertner’s book constitutes an outstanding primer for the field of social choice that will surely become a standard reference for those wanting to be initiated in the field.
Measuring Shifts in Brazil's Trade Using International Input-Output Tables

In this paper, we use information from the World Input-Output Database (WIOD) and a method for decomposing the value-added contributions of each country in international trade flows to measure shifts in Brazil’s exports between 1995 and 2009. The database allows us to separate gross trade flows into intermediate and final products and to trace all of Brazil’s value added to the country of final use. Over the fifteen year period covered by WIOD, there was a shift in Brazil’s exports of intermediate and final goods toward greater specialization in the country’s traditional areas of comparative advantage, agricultural and mineral products. There was also a shift in Brazil’s exports toward East Asia and developing countries. However, the redirection of Brazil’s exports to East Asia does not reflect a significant shift in the ultimate destination of Brazil’s value added from its traditional markets. According to our calculations of trade in value added, Brazil’s exports to East Asia have been increasingly incorporated into East Asia’s exports to the United States and the European Union.
Modes of collective lasing of a chain of spasers

We analyze lasing of chains of gold nanoparticles and active quantum dots (QDs) regularly situated and resonantly interacting. It is shown that the minimal threshold of lasing can be close to zero, and the width of lasing line in the dependence of lasing spectral position on the resonance frequency of QDs can be essentially narrower than the plasmon resonance line.
Ciclos Político-Orçamentários nos Estados Brasileiros: um exemplo de problema de delegação na relação principal-agente

Este artigo demonstra a existencia dos ciclos politico-orcamentarios nos estados brasileiros no periodo de 1997 a 2009. Ele segue uma versao ligeiramente modificada da teoria dos ciclos politicos oportunistas racionais de Rogoff (1990). Os resultados empiricos obtidos comprovam que os governadores dos estados brasileiros utilizam politica fiscal subotima para gerar no eleitor a impressao de que sao mais competentes no periodo imediatamente anterior as eleicoes. As despesas de investimento tem um aumento relativo (comprado com sua media amostral) de 5,2% no ano pre-eleitoral e de 11,86% no ano eleitoral. Como estas despesas sao as mais visiveis por parte do eleitor, fica evidente que o governante (agente) as realizacom a intencao de ganhar popularidade e induzir o eleitor (principal) a votar nele. Este comportamento oportunista do chefe do executivo gera ineficiencia na alocacao dos recursos e compromete o bem estar social. Logo, deve ser coibido atraves dos mecanismos legais, institucionais e mecanismos sociais de controle do poder publico (accountability). Palavras-chave Ciclos politicos, principal-agente, problema de delegacao, controlabilidade