Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improving competitive analysis with temporal text visualization

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a visualization method for texts produced by a company's competitors, partners, or customers. This method can be used for competitive intelligence purposes, and in particular, for spotting changes over time in a company's communication.Design/methodology/approach – Based on the judgments of expert readers, topics considered to be important in the quarterly reports of two telecommunication companies were turned into so‐called collocational networks, using a statistical method originating in linguistics.Findings – The paper shows that when collocational topic networks are produced out of a sequence of quarterly reports, they provide a visualization of how the presentation of these topics changes from one‐quarter to the next.Research limitations/implications – The statistical method used in this paper does not handle low‐frequency topics, that nevertheless might be of great importance, very well. The method could be developed further so that users' judgments .
Outcome Measurement after Vagal Nerve Stimulation Therapy: Proposal of a New Classification

Summary: Purpose: Vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) is an adjunctive palliative therapy for refractory epilepsy. Effects of treatment are varied and some, such as the use of an external magnet for seizure termination, are unique to VNS. No accepted standard exists for outcome measurement after VNS treatment. We present a novel classification for outcome, which includes assessment of both seizure frequency and severity in VNS‐treated patients.
Dynamic Modeling and Control of Congestion-Prone Systems

This paper constructs a dynamic model of a general congestion-prone system using a nonlinear differential equation to represent the relation between throughput and the system load. Although the model is not stochastic, it can give a good approximation of the dynamics of oversaturated or undersaturated system operation. The model is used to study the stability and transient behavior of a congestion-prone system and to analyze policies for the control of congestion in a simple optimal control model.
Does subnational region matter? Foreign affiliate performance in the United states and China

This study examines the extent to which subnational regions can explain foreign affiliate performance in two host country settings, the United States and China, the world's two largest economies at polar ends of the economic spectrum (i.e., an advanced versus an emerging economy). Our results suggest that the subnational region is significant in explaining foreign affiliate performance, thus confirming its importance as an additional unit of analysis for firm performance. This study also shows that the effects of subnational region are far stronger in China than they are in the United States, thus suggesting that regional differences are more critical in their explanatory power for firm performance in emerging economies than they are in advanced economies. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Competition in the Organized Retail Market and the Role of Brand: Empirical Evidence in an Italian Town

Starting from the ’60s, the diffusion of supermarkets in the industrialized countries has radically transformed the retail market. In the Italian case, this transformation process is still going on and the entry of new, big operators is welcomed by researchers: strengthening competition, increasing range brands and supply quality are the expected outcomes. On the other hand, the new comers tend to increase the market shares of leading brands and, as a consequence, to create monopolistic and collusive rents and to make small and medium retailers to leave the market. The economic literature deals with the dilemma: does the concentration process broadens the supply range and creates scale economies or does it facilitate collusive agreements and market power exploitation at the expense of consumers’ welfare? This paper aims at studying the degree of competition and the price strategies of supermarkets in a Province in the north of Italy. The empirical evidence leads to three important results: the presence of competitors within a 10 km radius has a negative effect on the supermarkets’ prices; the presence of small retailers has a negative effect on prices; there are scale economies at a “brand” level: the four most important distribution chains in Italy show lower prices than less important chains.
Building a Customer Satisfaction Information System for Intensified Strategy Development

Abstract Previous models of consumer post-purchase evaluation behavior have treated customer satisfaction as a transaction-specific construct. In the present paper, a conceptual framework that describes customer satisfaction measurement as a process is developed. The framework explains customer satisfaction as a dynamic process encompassing five stages-search, interaction, experience, service, and longevity. It is proposed that organizations should develop information systems to measure customer satisfaction during all five of the stages and disseminate such information throughout the organization as paη of their Total Quality Management efforts.
The refined 1.9‐Å X‐ray crystal structure of d‐Phe‐Pro‐Arg chloromethylketone‐inhibited human α‐thrombin: Structure analysis, overall structure, electrostatic properties, detailed active‐site geometry, and structure‐function relationships

Thrombin is a multifunctional serine proteinase that plays a key role in coagulation while exhibiting several other key cellular bioregulatory functions. The X‐ray crystal structure of human α‐thrombin was determined in its complex with the specific thrombin inhibitor d‐Phe‐Pro‐Arg chloromethylketone (PPACK) using Patterson search methods and a search model derived from trypsinlike proteinases of known spatial structure (Bode, W., Mayr, I., Baumann, U., Huber, R., Stone, S.R., & Hofsteenge, J., 1989, EMBO J. 8, 3467–3475). The crystallographic refinement of the PPACK‐thrombin model has now been completed at an R value of 0.156 (8 to 1.92 Å); in particular, the amino‐ and the carboxy‐termini of the thrombin A‐chain are now defined and all side‐chain atoms localized; only proline 37 was found to be in a cis‐peptidyl conformation.
Comprehensible Input and Second Language Acquisition

This study attempts to test aspects of the input hypothesis (Krashen, 1980, 1983, 1985) and Long's modification of it (Long, 1980, 1983a, 1985). Specifically, it experimentally tests the hypothesis that both input and interactional modifications facilitate second language acquisition, using Japanese as the target language. Three experimental groups were differentiated in terms of input and interaction conditions: (1) unmodified input with no interaction, (2) premodified input with no interaction, and (3) unmodified input with the chance for negotiated interaction. The groups were compared in terms of (a) their degree of comprehension of the input and (b) their subsequent retention of vocabulary items and acquisition of two Japanese locative structures. The results indicated that moment-to-moment comprehension was highest for the negotiated interaction group, whereas there was no significant difference between the two noninteraction groups. Furthermore, there was no correlation found between differences in moment-to-moment comprehension and gains in vocabulary recognition and acquisition of structures, though significant gains on both measures were found for all three groups. Discussion of these findings centers on the relationship between comprehension and acquisition.
Salvage robotic prostatectomy for radio recurrent prostate cancer: technical challenges and outcome analysis.

INTRODUCTION The published data on salvage robot assisted radical prostatectomy (sRARP) is limited. Our aim was to perform a systematic review of the literature on sRARP after radiation failure in patients with prostate cancer and systematically analyse the available evidence for operative and oncological outcomes. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION A systematic review of the literature using Pubmed, Scopus, Cochrane library and ScienceDirect databases was performed in June 2016 using medical subject headings and free-text protocol. The search was conducted by applying the following search terms: salvage therapy, salvage, prostatectomy and robotics. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS We report on ten case series including 197 men undergoing sRARP after varying modalities of radiotherapy. Over two thirds are recurrence free at the time of follow-up but with continence rates of only 60% and potency rates of only 26%. Complications requiring intervention are few at 16% though higher than primary RARP. CONCLUSIONS sRARP is increasingly acceptable as a treatment modality to be offered to men who fail initial radiation treatment but should be accompanied by appropriate counselling regarding the potential functional outcomes and complications. Series with longer follow up will be helpful to assess the durability of oncological outcomes while improvements in patient selection and adaption of meticulous surgical technique around the apex could improve continence rates. The concept of concomitant extended PLND remains an issue for debate and the experience with this approach at the time of sRARP and its benefit need further scrutiny.
CAPITAL STRUCTURE OF FAMILY BUSINESSES IN COMPANIES SEATED IN THE WIELKOPOLSKA REGION

The main objective of the article is to compare the capital structure of selected family and non-family businesses among the SMEs seated in the Wielkopolska region. Considering the research needs, a hypothesis was put forward that family businesses are more conservative in financial management, which results in a higher share of the equity capital and a higher rate of long-term liabilities to total liabilities. The definition of a family business is not explicit. For the needs of the study, the SFI (Substantial Family Influence) indicator proposed by S.B. Klein will be taken into account. For the research purposes, the financial results of 116 entities were taken into account. The sample included 29 non-family firms (16 producers and 13 service companies), the remaining 87 were family businesses (46 producers and 41 service companies). The research results confirm the hypothesis that family businesses are more conservative in terms of capital structure.
alidroside attenuates hypoxia-induced abnormal processing of amyloid recursor protein by decreasing BACE 1 expression in SH-SY 5 Y cells

Hypoxia which is mainly mediated by hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1), can greatly contribute to the occurrence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by increasing -site APP cleaving enzyme (BACE1) gene expression, protein level and -secretase activity, resulting in a significant generation of amyloid-beta (A ). Salidroside has been reported to have great neuroprotective effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of salidroside on hypoxia-induced abnormal processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) in SH-SY5Y cells and its possible mechanism. Western blot analysis showed that 200 M of salidroside pretreatment significantly decreased BACE1 protein level and promoted the secretion of sAPP in -Site APP cleaving enzyme1 myloid-beta hypoxic condition. Salidroside had no effect on the level of APP, ADAM10 and ADAM17. ELISA analysis revealed that salidroside was able to inhibit the increase of -secretase activity and A generation induced by hypoxia, with no effect on -secretase activity. Notably, under hypoxia condition, mRNA of BACE1 and protein level of HIF-1 were decreased by salidroside pretreatment. These results demonstrated for the first time that salidroside was able to attenuate abnormal processing of amyloid precursor protein induced by hypoxia in SH-SY5Y cells, providing a new insight into prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. lzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia mong older people. The aggregation and accumulation of extraellular A in the brain are important pathologic features of AD 7]. A is generated by sequential proteolysis of the amyloid preursor protein (APP) by -secretase and then by -secretase [7,12]. ACE1 is a transmembrane aspartyl protease and is the principal ecretase responsible for A generation in vivo [1,4]. APP can also be leaved by -secretase (ADAM10, ADAM17) within the A domain o generate soluble neurotrophic sAPP [7,12]. Many studies have revealed that hypoxic/ischemic injury can reatly contribute to the occurrence of AD [13,15,17,26]. Hypoxia Abbreviations: A , amyloid-beta; AD, Alzheimer’s disease; ADAM, a disintegrin nd metalloproteinase; APP, amyloid precursor protein; BACE, -site APP cleaving nzyme; sAPP , soluble amyloid precursor protein ; HIF-1 , hypoxia-inducible actor 1 ; HRE, hypoxia response element; PS, presenilin; PEN-2, presenilin nhancer 2; APH-1, anterior pharynx-defective 1. ∗ Corresponding author. Tel. : +86 21 6445 7249; fax: +86 21 6445 7249. ∗∗ Corresponding author at: Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology, uijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, hina. Tel. : +86 21 6445 7249; fax: +86 21 6445 7249. E-mail addresses: jqding18@yahoo.com (J.-Q. Ding), chen sd@medmail.com. cn
NSAID injury to the gastrointestinal tract: evidence that NSAIDs interact with phospholipids to weaken the hydrophobic surface barrier and induce the formation of unstable pores in membranes

In this review, we have discussed our current understanding of the barrier properties that are in place to protect the upper gastrointestinal mucosa from luminal acid, and the pathogenic mechanism by which nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) induce injury to the gastrointestinal tract. The changes in our view of the importance of NSAID‐induced cyclo‐oxygenase (COX) inhibition on the pathogenesis and prevention of NSAID‐induced gastrointestinal injury is presented. The focus of this paper has been placed on the effects of NSAIDs on the mucosal surface, and specifically the effect of these powerful drugs in inducing changes in the hydrophobicity, fluidity, biomechanical and permeability properties of extracellular and membrane phospholipids. Lastly, recent evidence is presented that salicylic acid and related NSAIDs may alter the stability of membranes, inducing the formation of unstable pores that may lead to back‐diffusion of luminal acid and membrane rupture. This understanding of the interaction of NSAIDs with membrane phos‐pholipids may prove valuable in the design of novel NSAID formulations with reduced gastrointestinal side‐effects.
Attitudes of the Croatian population toward genetically modified food

Until recently, the Croatian public has been relatively indifferent and unaware of issues related to genetically modified (GM) food products. However, the situation has changed and the Croatian public is becoming deeply sceptical about the benefits of GM food, and also generally about the food they eat. This paper examines some of the dimensions of the attitudes of the Croatian population toward GM food, and points out the high level of knowledge about biotechnology, and also the high level of non‐acceptance in this regard. These findings are significant for Croatian trade (especially importing and exporting), since knowledge about population preferences may influence the status of the Croatian food industry, as well as foreign food producers.
Determining the accuracy of the Nairobi stock exchange 20-share index

The study set out to determine the accuracy of the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSF.) 20Share index. The need for the study emanated from the apparent weakness of the NSE 20Share index to effectively report on the market performance as it is calculated using unadjusted share prices and a geometric averaging method that has been statistically proven to have a downward bias in the long run. In addition, there is need for an alternative performance measure to give a balanced view value movements in the NSE. The derived indices were four in number: a Composite All-Share index, a 20-Share index (Laspeyres method), a 20Share index (Paasche method) and a 20-Share index (Fisher’s ideal method) They all used 1996 week 14 as the base period and the base value was set at 3007.39,the value of the NSE 20-Share index in the same period. This figure was selected to provide for uniformity and enable comparison among the indices. j The share prices were adjusted for bonus issues throughout the period under study and 1j the number of shares in issue were used as the weights for all the indices derived. I | During the four years under study, the NSE 20-Share index was found to have understated price rises by 12.08%, rendering the index inaccurate and unsuitable for j measuring long-term price movements. A more accurate index calculated using the Fisher's Ideal formula was recommended for the Nairobi Stock Exchange, as it proved to able to effectively capture and report on market performance. i
The CM SAF TOA Radiation Data Record Using MVIRI and SEVIRI

The CM SAF Top of Atmosphere (TOA) Radiation MVIRI/SEVIRI Data Record provides a homogenised satellite-based climatology of TOA Reflected Solar (TRS) and Emitted Thermal (TET) radiation in all-sky conditions over the Meteosat field of view. The continuous monitoring of these two components of the Earth Radiation Budget is of prime importance to study climate variability and change. Combining the Meteosat MVIRI and SEVIRI instruments allows an unprecedented temporal (30 min/15 min) and spatial (2.5 km/3 km) resolution compared to, e.g., the CERES products. It also opens the door to the generation of a long data record covering a 32 years time period and extending from 1 February 1983 to 30 April 2015. The retrieval method used to process the CM SAF TOA Radiation MVIRI/SEVIRI Data Record is discussed. The overlap between the MVIRI and GERB instruments in the period 2004–2006 is used to derive empirical narrowband to broadband regressions. The CERES TRMM angular dependency models and theoretical models are respectively used to compute the TRS and TET fluxes from the broadband radiances. The TOA radiation products are issued as daily means, monthly means and monthly averages of the hourly integrated values (diurnal cycle). The data is provided on a regular grid at a spatial resolution of 0.05 degrees and covers the region 70 ∘ N–70 ∘ S and 70 ∘ W–70 ∘ E. The quality of the data record has been evaluated by intercomparison with several references. In general, the stability in time of the data record is found better than 4 Wm − 2 and most products fulfill the predefined accuracy requirements.
Amount of lymphatic tissue fibrosis in HIV infection predicts magnitude of HAART-associated change in peripheral CD4 cell count

The structure of lymphatic tissues is an important component of lymphatic tissue T-cell homeostasis. Collagen deposition in lymphatic tissues (common in HIV infection) disrupts the niche and limits the size of the resident CD4 cell population. In this report we show that a single measurement of lymphatic tissue collagen predicts the magnitude of recovery of the peripheral CD4 cell pool with HAART (P < 0.001). This suggests that collagen-targeted therapies might be of benefit.
Demonstration of direct load control of air conditioners in high density residential buildings

This paper describes a system that demonstrates direct load control of air conditioning loads in a high density residential building possibly participating in a market-based demand response program. The system consists of a centralized server software that implements the direct control algorithm for the air conditioner, a local area network that enables communication between the server and air conditioning units (ACU), a hardware platform that demonstrates the direct control of an actual ACU through a home area network, and a software that simulates the response of a large number of ACU under direct load control. The direct control program is initiated when load reduction is desired by the building administrator. The server software scans the entire building for ACU that may be controlled, and computes the temperature that should be maintained by each unit. The new temperature values are sent to the ACU through the building data network and home area network, and overrides the temperature requested by the occupant. The direct control of an actual ACU is demonstrated, while the response of the other ACU are simulated. The system was able to demonstrate that load reduction may be achieved through the coordinated response of a large number of ACU.
Determinants of the speed of elimination decision making in financial services

Purpose – Drawing upon theory on organizational decision speed, this study aims to take a first step toward an understanding of the temporal aspect of the elimination decision‐making process in financial services (i.e. the process of withdrawing an item from the product line) and in particular of the organizational, product‐specific and environmental determinants of the speed of the elimination decision‐reaching and the elimination implementation processes.Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through a mail survey to a stratified random sample of 500 UK financial institutions, yielding 167 returns.Findings – The paper finds first, the speed of elimination decision‐reaching is shaped by product line length, market orientation, formalization, technological change, and the austerity of the regulatory context. Second, the speed of the elimination implementation process is influenced by whether the item that is considered for elimination is a typical bank, insurance, or mortgage product, by its de.
Experiences Using New Zealand’s Hospital Based Surveillance System for Injury Prevention Research

Abstract: The focus of this paper is the Injury Prevention Research Unit’s (IPRU’s) experience in analysing New Zealand’s national inpatient public hospital injury data set. The existence of the national inpatient data management system has enabled the IPRU to develop an injury morbidity data set for the period of 1979-1992. The IPRU, thus, has data on over 250,000 injury events that were serious enough to warrant admission to a hospital. This data set has been used extensively by the IPRU to address a wide range of injury issues from demographic, environment, activity, product, and injury perspectives. Apart from the demographic variables, those variables that have proved most useful in our work have been: length of stay, readmission indicator, a personal identifier code number, WHO International Classification of Disease coding for diagnoses and external cause of injury (E-code), and written descriptions of external cause of injuries and location of injury event. Practical examples of IPRU’s use of each of these variables are given. These examples demonstrate how invaluable New Zealand’s inpatient injury data set is for documenting resource utilisation, accurately determining the incidence of events, undertaking analytical epidemiological studies including evaluations, and addressing shortcomings in E-codes. A key aspect of the system is the narrative information. Evidence is produced demonstrates that the electronic recording of narratives of the circumstances of injury is an invaluable tool for conducting epidemiological research which has direct implications for injury prevention policy and practice. Given the numerous objections that are raised about E-coding, injury prevention personnel would be well served to encourage health authorities to electronically record narratives as a first step towards uniform coding.