Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Multiobjective Hierarchical Covering Model for the Essential Air Services Program

This paper presents the development of a mathematical programming model for evaluating options for the continuance of the Essential Air Services (EAS) program, a provision of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. The EAS program was established to guarantee continued air service to small communities that suffered air service losses as a result of carrier withdrawals permitted by the Deregulation Act. The model has been designed to aid decision makers in allocating subsidized air services to communities in a region, given the goal of maximizing access to the air transportation system. In order to provide information on optimal service locations, service characteristics, and patterns of access, the authors have utilized a maximal covering formulation and incorporated elements of hierarchical and weighted benefit models. In addition, a stopover service option has been included in the model to permit evaluation of potential gains in economic efficiency that may be realized by utilizing stopover service, when appropriate, in place of more costly nonstop service. In addition to the coverage objective, a second objective of systemwide cost minimization is employed. By using a multiobjective approach, the trade-offs between the conflicting objectives of coverage and cost can be explored and the spatial patterns of service associated with each combination of coverage level and cost can be examined. The model is applied to a sample study of small community air service in North and South Dakota.
Closing the Gap between Education and Industry: Skills' and Competencies' Requirements for Food Service Internships in Switzerland

Skills and competencies required by food and beverage service management interns were assessed by surveying their Swiss hotel and restaurant supervisors' opinions. The survey comprised 48 skills and competencies, compiled from literature and curricular learning outcomes. Supervisors (n=72) rated the importance of each competence and then assessed their interns' performances on each item. A comparative analysis of the data highlighted areas in which trainees exceeded the supervisors' expectations and uncovered developmental needs. According to supervisors' ratings, the most important competencies comprised personal qualities and inter-personal skills; students' highest performance ratings were reflected in their positive attitudes towards work colleagues.
Wine Tourism and Network Development in Australia and New Zealand: Review, Establishment and Prospects

Wine tourism is an area of growing interest because of its potential to contribute to regional development and employment at times of rural restructuring, particularly through the development of inter and intra industry networks. This paper provides a review of wine tourism, briefly discusses networks and their value, then analyses the development of wine tourism networks in Australia and New Zealand. The research indicates that although wine tourism network development is being actively encouraged, substantial difficulties exist because of the perception by many in the wine industry that they are not part of tourism. The paper concludes that while the development of new organisational structures to encourage wine tourism development are useful, they must be complimented by research on linkages, education of potential network members in order to close information gaps; and the development of network structures which maximise the overlap and linkages mat exists between the wine and tourism industries.
Absolute Value Constraint Based Method for Interval Optimization to SCED Model

This letter proposes an absolute value based method to solve the interval linear optimization problem with application to security constrained economic dispatch (SCED). To avoid expensive computation associated with solving combinatorial linear programming (LP) problems for interval upper bound, firstly a bilinear programming model is formulated using duality theory. The equality constraints are then converted to absolute value constraints. Lastly, the absolute value operator is eliminated through introducing two nonnegative slack variables and complementary slackness condition. The resulting new bilinear programming model can be effectively solved by the branch and bound method with linear relaxation technique to obtain the global optimal solution. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in improving solution and computation time.
Talk Nerdy to Me: The Role of Intellectual Stimulation in the Supervisor-Employee Relationship

This study investigates (1) if communication with one's supervisor is related to empowerment through establishing perceptions of leader integrity, and (2) the extent to which the relationship between leader integrity and empowerment is moderated by intellectual stimulation. Due to the dynamic nature of today's organizational environment, understanding the nuances among these variables is vital to effective performance at the individual and organizational level. Hierarchical multiple regression tests were performed with a sample of 259 nurses in two regional healthcare facilities in the Midwestern United States. The results support a moderated-mediation relationship such that open communication with one's supervisor is positively related to empowerment through perceptions of leader integrity, but the relationship between leader integrity and empowerment varies across levels of intellectual stimulation. Specifically, while supervisor integrity mediates the relationship between patient safety communication and empowerment, this mediated relationship is only significant for followers who experience high intellectual stimulation, and is not significant for followers who report low intellectual stimulation. Thus, open communication and leader integrity will only empower followers if the leader is intellectually stimulating. This research clarifies how leaders in health care environments should communicate with their followers to empower them to think and act by their own initiative. Specifically, followers who communicate openly with their supervisor will feel more empowered, but only if they experience high intellectual stimulation which can improve their job performance and patient safety overall.
Impact of Organizational Innovation on Firm Performance: Evidence from Malaysian-Based ICT Companies

This empirical study attempts to investigate the effect of organizational innovation on company performance. Based on the literature review, the study hypothesizes that organizational innovation is positively related to company performance, which is measured in terms of both market and financial metrics. Data was collected via electronic survey from 115 small and medium enterprises operating in the ICT industry in Malaysia. Findings from the study support both the hypothesis that organizational innovation has a significant influence on firm performance. The study therefore contributes to the existing body of literature on innovation-performance link, and several guidelines and practical implications from the study are also discussed.
The United States Trypanosoma cruzi Infection Study: evidence for vector‐borne transmission of the parasite that causes Chagas disease among United States blood donors

BACKGROUND: Screening US blood donors for Trypanosoma cruzi infection is identifying autochthonous, chronic infections. Two donors in Mississippi were identified through screening and investigated as probable domestically acquired vector‐borne infections, and the US T. cruzi Infection Study was conducted to evaluate the burden of and describe putative risk factors for vector‐borne infection in the United States.
Molecular analysis of microflora associated with dentoalveolar abscesses

The microflora associated with three dentoalveolar abscesses was determined by cultural and molecular methods. 16S rRNA genes were randomly amplified by means of conserved eubacterial primers and cloned. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the clones and amplified genes encoding 16S rRNA from the cultured bacteria was used to detect putative unculturable bacteria. Clones representative of five predominant groups of uncultured organisms were sequenced. Two were identified as Porphyromonas gingivalis and Prevotella oris, and one was found to be closely related to Peptostreptococcus micros. The remaining two clones did not correspond to known, previously sequenced organisms. One was related to Zoogloea ramigera, a species of aerobic waterborne organisms, while the other was distantly related to the genus Prevotella. This study has demonstrated the possibility of the characterization of microflora associated with human infection by molecular methods without the inherent biases of culture.
The growth of big business in the United States and Western Europe 1850-1939

Acknowledgements and Note Editor's preface 1. Introduction 2. The nature and origins of big business 3. Variations in the rise and spread of big business 4. Institutional and technological factors 5. Markets, hierarchies and the managerial revolution 6. The impact of big business 7. Conclusions: history and theory Notes and references Select bibliography Index.
Using sparse matrices and splines-based interpolation in computational fluid dynamics simulations

In this relation I present a technique of construction and fast evaluation of a family of cubic polynomials for analytic smoothing and graphical rendering of particles trajectories for flows in a generic geometry. The principal result of the work was implementation and test of a method for interpolating 3D points by regular parametric curves and their fast and efficient evaluation for a good resolution of rendering. For the purpose a parallel environment using a multiprocessor cluster architecture has been used. This work has been developed for the Research and Development Department of my company for planning advanced customized models of industrial burners.
Bank selection criteria employed by college students in Bahrain: an empirical analysis

To plan an appropriate marketing strategy for attracting new customers, commercial banks need to identify the criteria on which potential customers determine their bank selection decision. The study focuses on examining the bank selection criteria being employed by college students in Bahrain. A total of 1,000 students aged 19‐24 (45 per cent male and 55 per cent female) of the University of Bahrain served as a sample for the study. Our examination relied on 30 selection factors extracted from relevant literature, personal experience and interviews with some bank officials and college students. Findings reveal that the chief factors determining college students’ bank selection are: bank’s reputation, availability of parking space near the bank, friendliness of bank personnel, and availability and location of automated teller machines (ATM). Findings suggest that it may be necessary to deal with male and female students as distinctive segments with different priorities in their bank selection process.
An application of the Health Action Process Approach model to oral hygiene behaviour and dental plaque in adolescents with fixed orthodontic appliances

BACKGROUND The Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) model addresses health behaviours, but it has never been applied to model adolescents' oral hygiene behaviour during fixed orthodontic treatment. AIM This study aimed to apply the HAPA model to explain adolescents' oral hygiene behaviour and dental plaque during orthodontic treatment with fixed appliances. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, 116 adolescents with fixed appliances from an orthodontic clinic situated in Almere (the Netherlands) completed a questionnaire assessing oral health behaviours and the psychosocial factors of the HAPA model. Linear regression analyses were performed to examine the factors associated with dental plaque, toothbrushing, and the use of a proxy brush. RESULTS Stepwise regression analysis showed that lower amounts of plaque were significantly associated with higher frequency of the use of a proxy brush (R2 = 45%), higher intention of the use of a proxy brush (R2 = 5%), female gender (R2 = 2%), and older age (R2 = 2%). The multiple regression analyses revealed that higher action self-efficacy, intention, maintenance self-efficacy, and a higher education were significantly associated with the use of a proxy brush (R2 = 45%). CONCLUSION Decreased levels of dental plaque are mainly associated with increased use of a proxy brush that is subsequently associated with a higher intention and self-efficacy to use the proxy brush.
Default Risk Explains Main Part of Corporate Credit Spreads: Evidence from Multi-Period Non-Merton Model

The paper describes model of a new type for valuation of risky bonds and loans that we call Bayesian Multi-Period (BMP) model. BMP is neither structural model nor reduced form and not a Merton-type model at all. BMP proceeds from concept of a risky bond (loan) value as Net Present Value (NPV) of a cash flow, generated by a bond. For a defaultable bond NPV is random value, and BMP identifies “fair” price of a risky bond as its mean NPV. Statistical properties of a (random) difference between NPV of a risky bond and NPV of risk-free bond with the same terms of issuance characterize riskness of a bond. BMP supposes that a borrower (e.g. a firm) generally has several debt issues (bonds, loans) simultaneously - with different terms of issuance (interest rates, maturity horizons, payment schedules etc.) and calculates risk characteristics for each debt issue separately. It considers exact contractual cash flow schedule of each specific debt issue and combines it with probabilities of a borrower’s default at all stages of cash flow process. Default prognosis in turn accounts for joint influence of all outstanding debt of a firm. BMP uses multi-period default prognosis of Bayesian type based on indices of borrower’s current financial position with accounting for predictive abilities of repayment schedule of a firm’s long-term debt. This type prognosis can additionally incorporate other predictive variables like familiar market factor - “distance to default”. BMP calculates “fair” interest rates for newly issued risky corporate bonds, “fair” prices and “fair” yield to maturity for risky bonds at intermediate moments of bond’s life. We compare them with observed market prices, rates and spreads. The model explains on average about 70% of observed interest rates, credit spreads and market prices of a bond. That is much more, than usually explain Merton-type models. The paper discusses relation between multi-period default probabilities and credit ratings.
Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D in a West African population of tuberculosis patients and unmatched healthy controls 1 – 3

Background: Little is known regarding vitamin D deficiency (VDD) in African populations and in tuberculosis (TB) patients. VDD has been shown to be associated with TB. Objective: We aimed to compare the degree of vitamin D insufficiency (VDI) and VDD in TB patients and healthy adult controls in a West African population. Design: An unmatched case-control study was performed at a Demographic Surveillance Site in Guinea-Bissau. Serum 25hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3] concentrations were measured in 362 TB patients and in 494 controls. Results: Hypovitaminosis D [25(OH)D3 75 nmol/L] was more common in TB patients, but VDD [25(OH)D3 50 nmol/L] was more common and more severe in controls. We observed hypovitaminosis D in 46% (167/362) of the TB patients and in 39% (193/494) of the controls; the relative risk (RR) of hypovitaminosis D was 1.18 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.38). VDD was observed in 8.5% (31/362) of the TB patients and in 13.2% (65/494) of the controls. The RR was 0.65 (95% CI: 0.43, 0.98), mainly because severe VDD [25(OH)D3 25 nmol/L] was observed in only 1 of 362 TB patients (0.2%) and in 24 of 494 controls (4.9%). After adjustment for background factors, hypovitaminosis D was not more frequent in TB patients than in healthy controls, but the mean serum 25(OH)D3 concentration remained lower. Conclusions: Hypovitaminosis D was highly prevalent in TB patients and in healthy controls living at 12 °N; severe VDD was rare in TB patients. The finding indicates that the serum 25(OH)D3 concentration is associated with TB infection, but whether this role is a symptom or is causal was not established. Am J Clin Nutr 2007; 86:1376–83.
A strategy to preserve data confidentiality in cloud storage services

Cloud storage is an increasingly popular class of services for archiving, backup and sharing of data. Despite the tremendous business and technical advantages of the cloud storage services, the data confidentiality concern has been one of the major hurdles preventing its widespread adoption. However, the solutions, in general, that were found in the literature, to ensure data confidentiality, use data encryption. Encryption is a useful tool for protecting the confidentiality of sensitive data. Nevertheless, when data is encrypted, performing queries becomes more challenging. In this paper, we present a strategy to preserve data confidentiality in cloud storage services. The proposed strategy uses information decomposition and dispersion to separate data into unrecognizable parts and store them in distributed hosts in the cloud. Besides this, our approach is not based on data encryption. keywords: Data Fragmentation, Privacy, Cloud Database. 29th SBBD – WTDBD – ISSN 2316-5170 October 6-9, 2014 – Curitiba, PR, Brazil
An empirical investigation of the Turkish consumers’ acceptance of Internet banking services

An exploratory study of consumer acceptance of Internet banking (IB) services is conducted in a Turkish bank. Examines both consumer‐related factors that may affect the adoption of an innovation or a product (such as complexity, perceived risk, and relative advantage) as well as organizational factors such as marketing effort. The results suggest that IB not only reduces operational cost to the bank, but also leads to higher levels of customer satisfaction and retention. Accordingly, it is argued that IB is strategically important to the banking sector in an emerging economy, such as in Turkey.
Paradoxical effects of ginkgolide B on cardiomyocyte contractile function in normal and high-glucose environments

AbstractAim:Ginkgo biloba extract is a natural product used widely for cerebral and cardiovascular diseases. It is mainly composed of terpene lactones (ginkgolide A and B) and flavone glycosides (eg quercetin and kaempferol). To better understand the cardiac electromechanical action of Ginkgo biloba extract in normal and diabetic states, this study was designed to examine the effect of ginkgolide B on cardiomyocyte contractile function under normal and high-glucose environments.Methods:Isolated adult rat ventricular myocytes were cultured for 6 h in a serum-free medium containing either normal (NG; 5.5 mmol/L) or high (HG; 25.5 mmol/L) glucose with or without ginkgolide B (0.5–2.0 μg/mL). Mechanical properties were evaluated using the IonOptix MyoCam system. Contractile properties analyzed included peak shortening (PS), maximal velocity of shortening/relengthening (±dl/dt), time-to-PS (TPS) and time-to-90% relengthening (TR90). Levels of essential Ca2+ regulatory proteins sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA2a), phospholamban (PLB) and Na+-Ca2+ exchanger (NCX) were assessed by Western blotting.Results:Ginkgolide B nullified HG-induced prolongation in TR90. However, ginkgolide B depressed PS, ±dl/dt and shortened TPS in NG and HG cells. Ginkgolide B also prolonged TR90 in NG cells. Western blot analysis revealed that HG upregulated SERCA2a and downregulated PLB expression without affecting that of NCX. Ginkgolide B disrupted the NG-HG response pattern in SERCA2a and NCX without affecting that of PLB.Conclusion:Ginkgolide B affects cardiomyocyte contractile function under NG or HG environments in a paradoxical manner, which may be attributed to uneven action on Ca2+ regulatory proteins under NG and HG conditions.
Changing epidemiology of adult fractures in Scotland

Background Fracture epidemiology in adults is changing but there is very little information about the rate of change or whether the change affects males and females equally. Methods We have compared fracture incidence in two similar populations 50–60 years apart. A study of fractures in Dundee, Scotland and Oxford, England, in 1954–1958, was compared with a similar cohort of fractures in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2010–2011. Fracture incidence in patients >35 years was recorded in both time periods. Results The incidence of fractures increased by 50% between the two time periods, although the increase in males was only 5% compared with 85% in females. The spectrum of fractures has changed considerably, and there has been an increase in the incidence of both fragility and non-fragility fractures. Analysis showed an increased incidence of fall-related fractures in all age groups in both males and females. Interpretation There has been a substantial change in the incidence of fractures in the last 50–60 years. These have been caused by greater longevity and by considerable social and economic changes.
Customer satisfaction in the restaurant industry: an examination of the transaction‐specific model

Purpose – To determine the factors that explain customer satisfaction in the full service restaurant industry.Design/methodology/approach – Secondary research and qualitative interviews were used to build the model of customer satisfaction. A structured questionnaire was employed to gather data and test the model. Sampling involved a random selection of addresses from the telephone book and was supplemented by respondents selected on the basis of judgment sampling. Factor analysis and multiple regression were used to test the model.Findings – The regression model suggested that customer satisfaction was influenced most by responsiveness of the frontline employees, followed by price and food quality (in that order). Physical design and appearance of the restaurant did not have a significant effect.Research limitations/implications – To explain customer satisfaction better, it may be important to look at additional factors or seek better measures of the constructs. For example, the measures of food quality .
On robustness against burst unsynchronized co-channel interference in semi-blind detection

Interference from other users and interference due to multipath propagation limit the capacity of wireless communication networks. As the number of users and the demand for new services in the networks increases, co-channel interference will be a limiting factor. This paper investigates the effects of burst unsynchronized co-channel interference on the performance of a joint channel estimation and detection algorithm. Further, the paper tries to give some insight in how to add training redundancy to a data frame in order to provide robustness against unsynchronized co-channel interference. From simulations and Cramer-Rao bound calculation we find that by using distributed training information elaborately it is possible to increase the robustness against unsynchronized co-channel interferers.