Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Consumer attitudes and interactive digital advertising

This research examines consumer attitudes towards four sub-types of interactive digital advertising: internet-based e- and email advertising, and mobile-phone-based SMS- and MMS-type advertising. The differences in attitudes among these four sub-types of interactive digital advertising are also compared. Data are collected from three universities in Taiwan. Data analysis extracts three attitudinal forms (common factors) towards interactive digital advertising, namely, ‘informative’, ‘entertaining’ and ‘irritating’. Consumer attitudinal forms towards e-advertising and MMS-type m-advertising are both similar and positive (i.e. informative and less irritating and entertaining). Their attitudinal forms towards email advertising and SMS-type m-advertising are less positive (more irritating and less informative and entertaining). Furthermore, the three attitudinal forms towards the four sub-types of interactive digital advertising are compared. Consumer ‘informative’ and ‘entertaining’ attitudinal forms towards e-advertising and MMS-type m-advertisingare similar, while their attitudinal forms towards email advertising and SMS-type m-advertising are equal and lower than towards the previous two sub-types of interactive digital advertising. As for the ‘irritating’ attitudinal form, consumers feel more ‘irritated’ towards email advertising and SMS-type m-advertising, while their attitudinal forms towards e-advertising and MMS-type m-advertising are equal and less irritated.
The World Wheat Market--Government Intervention and Multilateral Policy Reform

Negotiators in the Uruguay Round of negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) have proposed policy reforms that could phase out government supports to agriculture that distort production, consumption, and trade. If complete multilateral policy reform occurs for all commodities, world wheat prices could rise considerably and patterns of production, consumption, and stockholding would change. The total volume of world wheat trade is unlikely to change substantially, but the countries that are now major market players would fare differently. Trade policy reform would likely enhance the U.S. position in world wheat trade since the most efficient producers and marketers would be expected to fare the best.
A Recurrent Neural Network Model for Lamprey-Like Robot Movement

One of the most important problems in controlling robot locomotion, is how to generate an online trajectory for robots with a large number of degrees of freedom. In this paper, we present a biomimetic approach which is based on Central Pattern Generator (CPG) inspired from the lamprey to solve this problem. CPG is a neural network found in animal and has the ability of producing rhythmic pattern without receiving rhythmic input. We used a recurrent neural network(RNN) to model the CPG and proposed the genetic algorithm to train the RNN to follow a predefined oscillatory pattern. It is furthermore demonstrated that recurrent neural networks do indeed exhibit oscillatory behavior and may in this way be used to imitate the function of the CPG responsible for locomotion in animate creatures.
Direct Application of the TNF-Alpha Inhibitor, Etanercept, Does Not Affect CGRP Expression and Phenotypic Change of DRG Neurons Following Application of Nucleus Pulposus Onto Injured Sciatic Nerves in Rats

Study Design. Immunohistological and behavioral analysis of the effect of a tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-&agr;) inhibitor in an injured-nerve model. Objective. To examine the effect of direct application of a TNF-&agr; inhibitor (etanercept) on injured-nerve pain caused by nucleus pulposus. Summary and Background Data. TNF-&agr; is thought to play a crucial role in radicular pain. Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is an inflammatory neuropeptide found in small sensory neurons. We have reported that CGRP appears in medium and large dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons that transmit proprioception in physiologic conditions. The purpose of the current study was to examine the change in behavior and phenotypic change of CGRP-immunoreactive DRG neurons by the TNF-&agr; inhibitor, etanercept, in a disc herniation model. Methods. For the injured-nerve model, nucleus pulposus was applied to the sciatic nerve and the sciatic nerve pinched. Saline (10 &mgr;L; n = 10), as a control, or etanercept (150 &mgr;g: n = 10) were applied to sciatic nerves simultaneously. Mechanical allodynia was examined. Immunohistochemistry was used to examine CGRP expression in L5 DRGs. Results. Significant mechanical allodynia for 10 days was seen in the injured-nerve group compared with sham-operated animals. Etanercept ameliorated the mechanical allodynia slightly on day 2; however, there was no effect on other days. CGRP immunoreactivity was upregulated in the L5 DRG neurons of injured-nerve groups compared with the sham-operated group (P < 0.01). However, etanercept did not affect CGRP expression after nerve injury (P > 0.05). Proportions of CGRP- immunoreactive medium and large neurons were not significantly different in the nerve injury + saline group compared with the injury + etanercept group (P > 0.05). Conclusion. Our results indicate that direct application of a TNF-&agr; inhibitor had a small effect on acute pain behavior and may not be effective for suppression of inflammatory peptides in the current disc-herniation model.
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity Are Fast Food Restaurants an Environmental Risk Factor for Obesity?

Objective: Eating at "fast food" restaurants has increased and is linked to obesity. This study examined whether living or working near "fast food" restaurants is associated with body weight. Methods: A telephone survey of 1033 Minnesota residents assessed body height and weight, frequency of eating at restaurants, and work and home addresses. Proximity of home and work to restaurants was assessed by Global Index System (GIS) methodology. Results: Eating at "fast food" restaurants was positively associated with having children, a high fat diet and Body Mass Index (BMI). It was negatively associated with vegetable consumption and physical activity. Proximity of "fast food" restaurants to home or work was not associated with eating at "fast food" restaurants or with BMI. Proximity of "non-fast food" restaurants was not associated with BMI, but was associated with frequency of eating at those restaurants. Conclusion: Failure to find relationships between proximity to "fast food" restaurants and obesity may be due to methodological weaknesses, e.g. the operational definition of "fast food" or "proximity", or homogeneity of restaurant proximity. Alternatively, the proliferation of "fast food" restaurants may not be a strong unique cause of obesity.
On the Heterogeneity of Demand

Demand heterogeneity traditionally has been defined as segments of consumers that are homogeneous with regard to the benefits they seek or in their response to marketing programs (e.g., product offering, price discounts). Although it often is acknowledged that truly homogeneous segments of consumers do not exist, the approximation is assumed to be sufficiently accurate to provide a reasonable basis for the development of marketing strategy. In this article, the authors provide evidence that the homogeneous segment assumption might not be reasonable. By using a normal component mixture model that nests other, more commonly used models of heterogeneity, the authors find that the within-component heterogeneity remains substantial, even when multiple components are present. Predictive tests substantiate their finding of large within-component heterogeneity.
Influence of customer experience on loyalty and word-of-mouth in hospitality operations

Customer experience is emerging as a relatively new concept and is regarded as an important determinant for the success of hospitality organizations. However, factors affecting customer experiences and the influence of experiences on consumer behaviour are still unclear. Through a quantitative field research, this paper attempts to determine and exhibit the impacts of customer experiences on customer loyalty and recommendation behaviours in hospitality organizations. To reach this objective, a sample of 350 adult respondents staying in five-star hotels in Istanbul were requested to rate the items related to physical environment and social interactions that are found to be relevant to hotel stay experiences. The results indicate that there is a strong relationship between desired customer behaviours and perceived dimensions of customer experiences.
Market Evidence of Economic State Variable Effects on Resource Sector Returns and Risk Premia

This study provides market evidence of the effects of economic state variables on sector stock returns and risk premia. Corporate values in the oil and gas sector are underpinned by state reserve participation terms that directly affect corporate cash flow entitlement. Progressive sovereign state participation in Non-OECD contracts result in relative stock return under-performance for companies invested in Non-OECD oilfields. Stock returns for oil and gas companies are used to compare the differential effects of OECD and Non-OECD oilfield asset holdings and provide sector evidence of variation in corporate wealth not captured by an overall market factor. Findings demonstrate that state variables limit the value of emerging market investment.
Aperture field transformation in resonant cavity antennas by transverse permittivity gradient superstrates

Single-feed resonant cavity antennas (RCAs) with transverse permittivity gradient (TPG) superstrates exhibit very wideband directivity enhancement. In this paper, we study the transformation of transverse electric field that is achieved by the TPG superstrate. This provides physical insight into the operating principle of such RCAs. Two fictitious apertures are used to record and compare the phase of the field within the cavity of the RCA as well as above its TPG superstrate. It is found that the TPG superstrate significantly reduces the phase variation of the aperture field over most of the operating bandwidth, thus resulting in wideband directive characteristics. Numerical results as well as measurements are presented showing wideband antenna performance with a peak directivity exceeding 16 dBi.
Integral control of a Multi-Terminal HVDC-VSC transmission system

This paper proposes a control structure of a Multi-Terminal HVDC (MTDC) system employing Voltage Source Converters (VSC) technology. The study focuses on high-level control to keep DC voltage stable, mitigate oscillations due to the change in incoming power produced by contingencies in the AC grid and to provide the system with an adequate dynamic response [1]. Apart from this, controllers need to be validated in terms of HVAC grid compliance and for this purpose the UK National Grid Code will be used for verifying the fulfilment of frequency/voltage response and Low Voltage Ride-Through (LVRT). Thus, different tests will be performed considering the MTDC control objectives and the Grid Code compliance.
The Problems and Solutions of New-type Rural Financial Institutions in China

Promoting financial development and improving financial services in rural areas has become one of the hot topics of China' s rural development in recent years.New-type rural financial institutions have playing an increasingly important role in promoting the development of rural finance,and they have taking a crucial part in solving the problems such as the low level of agricultural modernization,lagging rural development and the farmers' financing difficulties.However,the pace of new-type rural financial institutions' development is slow.There are many issues to be resolved.This paper analyzes three subjects participating in the new-type rural financial institutions' development:farmers,new-type rural financial institutions,regulators.This paper analyzes their problems and restricts for the development of new-type rural financial institutions,and focuses on the relevant countermeasures.
Solution methods of Ill-conditioned power system state estimation: A comparative study

Power system state estimation is based on an iterative process for solving the weighted least squares (WLS) algorithm via the so-called Normal Equations (NE). This process is prone to be numerically unstable if the power system is ill-conditioned. Several reasons contribute to creating an ill-conditioned state estimator. However, this paper focuses on the effect of the high R/X ratios. A review of the main approaches that have been used for avoiding or mitigating this problem of ill-conditioning in the state estimation is presented in this paper. Additionally, simulation tests using MATLAB are implemented on 5-Bus and IEEE 30-Bus systems for evaluating these methods' performance according to their condition number and other characteristics of each process.
Reusing Conceptual Models: Language and Extensible Compiler

This paper presents a textual programming language for conceptual modeling (based on UML classes/associations and OCL constraints) and its compiler that can generate code in any target language or technology via extensible textual templates, both currently under initial stage of development. The language and compiler should allow the specification of information managed by ever-changing, increasingly distributed software systems. From a single source, automated code generation should keep implementations consistent with the specification across the different platforms and technologies. Furthermore, as the technology landscape evolves, the target templates may be extended to embrace new technologies. Unlike other approaches, such as MDA and MPS, the builtin tooling support, and the textual nature of this modeling language and its extensible templates, is expected to facilitate the integration of modeldriven software development into the workflow of software developers.
On 450-600 b/s natural sounding speech coding

Algorithms for encoding speech with good intelligence and naturalness at very low rates are studied. Naturalness is retained by encoding accurately the speech excitation information from an LPC (linear predictive coding) model. A glottal ARX (autoregressive with exogenous input) technique is used to model the speech signal for high quality. A large reduction in coding rate is achieved through short-term temporal compression of the speech and vector quantization. Application of traditional vector quantization to the temporal decomposition output is discussed, with consideration of distortion measures and codebook generation. Based on properties of short-term temporal decomposition, finite-state vector quantization is introduced to further decrease the coding rate. A problem associated with this technique, estimation of a state transition matrix with incomplete data, is treated. The general result is that practical coders operating in a range of 450-600 b/s with a delay of about 200 ms and natural-sounding output speech can be designed. >
Pricing and Risk Analysis of Maturity Guarantees Embedded in the Retirement Investment Products - Markov Switching Approach

Numerous insurance and investment products offered by the private financial industry contain embedded investment guarantees. In these products the contributions are invested on the capital market, which involves investment risk for the client. To protect the contribution payers against this risk the modern pension frames include performance guarantees. It is important that these guarantees are proced correctly because improper pricing and provision policy may lead to bankruptcy. This paper proposes a pricing model for maturityguarantees embedded in retirement saving plans. A deterministic guaranteed rate of return and periodic contributions are considered. Since maturity guarantees have long-term character, an approach is needed that models the long long-run behaviour of the market prices of securities. For this reason this paper uses the geometric Brownian motion with Markov switching. For guarantee pricing WEBB's (2003) option pricing for Markov switching model is applied, which is based on the Esscher transform. The second part of the paper analyses the risk of shortfall in respect to three shortfall risk measures: the shortfall probability, the shortfall expectation and the mean expected loss.
Opioid dependence treatment: options in pharmacotherapy

The development of effective treatments for opioid dependence is of great importance given the devastating consequences of the disease. Pharmacotherapies for opioid addiction include opioid agonists, partial agonists, opioid antagonists, and alpha-2-adrenergic agonists, which are targeted toward either detoxification or long-term agonist maintenance. Agonist maintenance therapy is currently the recommended treatment for opioid dependence due to its superior outcomes relative to detoxification. Detoxification protocols have limited long-term efficacy, and patient discomfort remains a significant therapy challenge. Buprenorphine's effectiveness relative to methadone remains a controversy and may be most appropriate for patients in need of low doses of agonist treatment. Buprenorphine appears superior to alpha-2 agonists, however, and office-based treatment with buprenorphine in the USA is gaining support. Studies of sustained-release formulations of naltrexone suggest improved effectiveness for retention and sustained abstinence; however, randomized clinical trials are needed.
Topologieoptimierung phonetischer Hidden-Markov-Modelle mittels Erkennungssimulation

Eine Grundlage fur die Entwicklung leistungsfahiger Spracherkennungssysteme ist die Modellierung geeigneter akustischer Modelltopologien. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird ein Verfahren vorgestellt, welches verschiedene bestehende akustische monophone Modelltopologien anhand von Spracherkennungssimulationen qualitativ bewertet und somit Ruckschlusse auf einzelne Topologieguten zulasst. Eine Spracherkennungs-Simulation erfolgt, indem theoretisch eine Dekodierung errechnet wird, jedoch ohne dem System Echtdaten zur Verfugung zu stellen. Durch die qualitative Bewertung wird eine akustische Topologieoptimierung moglich. Als Grundlage fur die Versuche wird ein Verfahren implementiert, welches anhand trainierter akustischer Modelle eine qualitative Bewertung der untersuchten Modelltopologien zulasst. Die durch das Verfahren optimierten Topologien werden mit bekannten Topologien, die in der Spracherkennung eingesetzt werden, verglichen und diskutiert. Die Resultate zeigen, dass es moglich ist, akustische Modelltopologien qualitativ zu bewerten, ohne explizit Spracherkennungsergebnisse zu errechnen. Durch die optimierten Modelltopologien ist es schlieslich moglich, die Trainiertheit einzelner Phonmodelle und damit mogliche Spracherkennungssysteme zu verbessern.
A cross Sectional comparison of Capital Budgeting Practices in Pakistan

This article aims to evaluate current techniques in capital budget decision making techniques in Pakistan. A practical visit and mail survey were conducted which included 53 large firms in Pakistan. Empirical evidence indicates a move towards discounted cash flow (DCF) techniques but firms still lag true concepts and basic requirements for DCF techniques. NPV and IRR are most practiced techniques. Majority of firms adjust risk in computation of cash flows but small number of firms use sophisticated techniques for risk assessment. Comparing to other developed countries ratios of usage of DCF is still
LATERAL MOBILITY OF TETRAMETHYLRHODAMINE ( TMR ) LABELLED G PROTEIN o ~ AND 13 y SUBUNITS IN NG 108-15 CELLS *

-Multi-step signal transducing events, such as those mediated by G proteins, have been difficult to study in intact cells. We prepared fluorescently labelled G protein subunits, tetramethylrhodamine-ct o (TMR-0to) and TMR-I3y, in order to study their subcellular distribution and lateral mobility. Heterotrimeric G proteins labelled in the tx (TMR-t~/~),) or ~ (TMR-[~y/tXo) subunit were reconstituted into lipid vesicles and fused to NG-108-15 cells using polyethylene glycol (PEG). Vesicles fused completely to the cells as determined by dequenching of a fluorescent lipid probe, octadecyl rhodamine B. The orientation of G protein ~y subunits after fusion followed the expected random distribution; the quenching of surface fluorescence with anti-fluorescein antibodies showed that about 50% of the label was accessible extracellularly. G proteins incorporated by the fusion method were able to couple to endogenous o~2 adrenergic receptors based on the restoration of high affinity agonist binding to pertussis toxin-treated cells. The subcellular localization of TMR-ot o and TMR-[~ 7 determined by differential centrifugation and confocal microscopy indicated that TMR-o% was present in the plasma membrane and in intracellular membranes, whereas TMR-[~'/was mainly localized in the plasma membrane. The lateral mobility of TMR-O.o and TMR-~y measured using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) demonstrated low mobile fractions of 0.34 _+ 0.03 and 0.16 ± 0.03, respectively. The translational diffusion coefficients of the mobile components were similar, 4.0 x lff 9 and 2.0 x 10 -9 cm2/s, for 0~ and [3"/ respectively. Neither activation of Gi-linked receptors nor cytoskeletal disruption with nocodozole or cytochalasin D changed the mobile fraction or diffusion coefficient of the ct or ~l 7 subunits. The FRAP data combined with the localization of fluorescent subunits by confocal microscopy suggest that the ~y subunits are highly constrained to localized regions of the plasma membrane while the ct subunit may diffuse in intracellular regions to transmit signals from receptors to effector proteins.
Perioperative seizures following deep brain stimulation in patients with multiple sclerosis

Following a total of 386 deep brain stimulation (DBS) procedures in Oxford, only two seizures have been recorded in the peri-operative period. Both patients had MS and underwent thalamic DBS for tremor and these 2 cases are presented here. The incidence of peri-operative seizures in MS patients undergoing DBS procedures is more than 8-fold greater than that expected for patients undergoing DBS procedures. Further experience with DBS procedures in MS patients is needed to determine whether there is a role for peri-operative anticonvulsants in these patients.
An empirical evaluation of fair value accounting numbers: Evidence from the investigation of goodwill accounting

This paper examines the usefulness of fair value accounting numbers by investigating whether they reflect existing information in the capital markets and convey new information to the markets. Specifically, we focus on fair value accounting for goodwill stipulated in SFAS No. 142. To effectively address the concerns raised by the critics of fair value accounting, we identify firms that are most likely to be required to report impairment losses (i.e., firms with market-tobook ratio below one) regardless of whether they actually report. We find that firms that delay write-offs have significantly higher buy-and-hold abnormal returns (BHAR) prior to the announcement than those that report impairment losses after controlling for other factors that are known to be associated with the decision regarding write-offs. We also find that deferral of writeoffs has information content at the announcement after controlling for news in the simultaneous earnings announcement. Taken together, our results suggest that fair value accounting numbers reflect existing information in the capital markets and convey new information to the markets.