Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identifying Causal Estimands for Time-Varying Treatments Measured with Time-Varying (Age or Grade-Based) Instruments

ABSTRACT This commentary discusses causal estimands of same-age and same-grade comparisons for assessing grade-retention effects on student ability and performance. Using potential outcomes notation, we show that same-age and same-grade comparisons refer to different retention–promotion contrasts and therefore assess different causal questions. We also comment on deleting versus censoring records of students who dropped out of the study or do not belong to the treatment regimes under investigation. Whereas deleting entire student records potentially induces collider bias, censoring circumvents bias if censoring is ignorable given the observed pretreatment covariates.
Tourism destination branding complexity

Prior to completing a tourism marketing PhD the author spent almost two decades working in the tourism industry, mostly in destination marketing organisations (DMOs). In this paper he laments a significant gap in the literature in the area of tourism destination branding, a field that has only attracted academic attention since the late 1990s. While interest in applications of brand theory to practise in tourism is increasing, there is a paucity of published research with which to guide DMOs. There has been relatively little discussion on the complexity involved in capturing the essence of a multi-attributed destination with a succinct and focused brand position, in a way that is both meaningful to the multiplicity of target audiences of interest to stakeholders and effectively differentiates the destination from competitors. The paper summarises six issues that make the application of branding theory to destinations a complex undertaking.
Angioprevention is Implicated in Resveratrol Chemoprevention of Experimental Hepatocarcinogenesis

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a hypervascular tumor, is one of the most common and lethal cancers worldwide. We previously showed that resveratrol, a dietary polyphenol, inhibits rat liver carcinogenesis through antioxidative and antiinfl ammatory mechanisms. As resveratrol possesses antiangiogenic properties, we hypothesize that it may exert chemoprevention of hepatocarcinogenesis by suppressing angiogenesis. The antiangiogenic effect of resveratrol was investigated by analyzing livers from our previous study in which resveratrol (50-300 mg/kg) exerted chemopreventive action against diethylnitrosamine (DENA)-induced rat liver tumorigenesis. Hepatic angiogenesis was evaluated by microvessel density (MVD) based on immunohistochemical staining of CD31-positive endothelial cells. The expression of hepatic vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) were determined by immunohistochemistry. Sixteen weeks following the administration of DENA, there was a substantial increase in hepatic MVD as compared to normal liver. A dramatic increase in hepatic VEGF and HIF-1α was observed in DENA-treated animals compared to normal counterparts. Treatment with resveratrol dose-dependently abrogated the DENA-induced increased MVD as well as the elevated expression of VEGF and HIF-1α. DENA-initiated hepatocarcinogenesis in rats exhibits substantial neovascularization possibly due to overexpression of VEGF upregulated by HIF-1α. Resveratrol exerts a remarkable angiosuppressive effect in DENA-evoked hepatocellular carcinogenesis. Resveratrol-mediated inhibition of angiogenesis could be achieved by suppressing VEGF expression through downregulation of HIF1α. These results, in conjunction with our previous fi ndings, provide evidence that angiosuppression is involved in resveratrol-mediated chemoprevention of rat liver carcinogenesis and support the potential use of this natural agent in the prevention and therapy of HCC.
Valorization of traditional foods: The case of Provolone del Monaco cheese

Purpose – This study aimed to assess if an Italian artisanal pasta filata cheese, named Provolone del Monaco, is perceived by consumers as typical or not and if any variability exists among cheeses made by different dairies.Design/methodology/approach – Two experiments were performed. In the first experiment, two artisanal Provolone del Monaco having different ripening times and two industrial Provolone cheeses were evaluated. A total of 95 subjects, divided into three homogeneous groups, first rated the samples in blind condition, then, after having received information about typicality; price, and both sets of information. In the second experiment, the quantitative descriptive profiles of eight Provolone del Monaco samples aged six months and made by different dairies were compared with the quantitative descriptive profiles of the same cheese aged ten months and provolone cheeses made by industrial dairies.Findings – Consumer results revealed that consumers knowing typicality information gave a better s.
Quality of social housing in the Netherlands and England

The Netherlands and England both have a large social housing stock. At first sight the quality backlog of an average public sector dwelling in the Netherlands and England seems to be similar. However the way quality backlog is defined and measured in the Netherlands (all backlog) and in England (backlog above fixed levels) differs. Within England there is a pronounced difference in quality between the social housing stock of local authorities and housing associations. The reasons for the difference in quality backlog are related to the age of the stock and differences at the sector level. Housing associations in the Netherlands are private companies who have a strong desire to develop businesslike approaches. They are also confronted with less regulation. Whilst English housing associations resemble the Dutch social sector, they tend to be smaller in size and as such lack the power to develop businesslike approaches. They also have to deal with more regulations and supervision requirements. Local authorities in England are still in public hands.
Improving Municipal Solid Waste Management in India: A Sourcebook for Policymakers and Practitioners

Human activities create waste, and the ways that waste is handled, stored, collected, and disposed of can pose risks to the environment and to public health. Solid waste management (SWM) includes all activities that seek to minimize health, environmental, and aesthetic impacts of solid waste. In urban areas, especially in the rapidly urbanizing cities of the developing world, problems and issues of municipal solid waste management (MSWM) are of immediate importance. This book addresses the problem by focusing on India. A country such as India, with its high economic growth and rapid urbanization, requires immediate solutions to the problems related to mismanagement of urban waste. City managers are actively trying to understand the problem and are seeking effective ways of intervening. They realize that such interventions are essential to improving the quality of their cities and to reducing adverse health and environmental impacts. For cities to be sustainable and to continue their economic development, they must be clean and healthy. They need to improve their SWM systems by adopting good collection coverage, appropriate transfer methods, and healthy disposal practices.
[Serum leptin, adiponectin, visfatin levels in adult GHD patients and correlation studies].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the change of leptin, adiponectin and visfatin levels in adult growth hormone deficiency (GHD) patients, and its relationship with other indicators. METHODS 40 adult GHD patients (19 males) entered the observation group with 36 cases of healthy individuals (18 males) as the control group. Basic information (height, body mass, waistline, hipline etc.) was collected from both groups. Fasting venous blood samples were collected to measure the leptin, adiponectin and visfatin levels. RESULTS The GHD group had a higher waist to hip ratio, and higher levels of cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), leptin, adiponectin and visfatin, but lower levels of growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) when campared with that of the control group (P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that adult GHD patients are associated with elevated levels of visfatin (OR = 1. 430, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Our study implied that adult GHD patients are associated with elevated levels of visfatin.
Decentralised portfolio management: analysis of Australian accumulation funds.

In Australia, pension fund trustees choose investment managers on behalf of members. We investigate the structure and performance of delegated investment choice in the Australian retirement incomes sector. We find that funds where trustees employ many managers generate higher risk-adjusted returns over the 3 year sample than those with few, but funds with 13 or fewer managers show no improvement over funds with a single diversified manager. All do worse than a benchmark portfolio of asset class indices. Random selection mimics the choices of an uninformed individual selecting from a 401K plan or retail superannuation fund menu. Returns from funds with large numbers of mandates compare favourably with returns from randomly selected equally weighted portfolios, but this improvement falls off quickly for funds with fewer mandates, or when naive portfolios are diversified across asset classes. Results indicate that an uninformed individual following a naive diversification strategy does as well as most funds in this sample.
Cranberry and Recurrent Cystitis: More than Marketing?

Epidemiologic studies indicate that millions of people suffer from recurrent cystitis, a pathology requiring antibiotic prophylaxis and entailing high social costs. Cranberry is a traditional folk remedy for cystitis and, which, in the form of a variety of products and formulations has over several decades undergone extensive evaluation for the management of urinary tract infections (UTI). The aim of this retrospective study is to summarize and review the most relevant and recent preclinical and clinical studies on cranberries for the treatment of UTIs. The scientific literature selected for this review was identified by searches of Medline via PubMed. A variety of recent experimental evidence has shed light on the mechanism underlying the anti-adhesive properties of proanthrocyanidins, their structure–activity relationships, and pharmacokinetics. Analysis of clinical studies and evaluation of the cranberry efficacy/safety ratio in the prevention of UTIs strongly support the use of cranberry in the prophylaxis of recurrent UTIs in young and middle-aged women. However, evidence of its clinical use among other patients remains controversial.
FINANCING RURAL ENTERPRISE: THE USE OF ROTATING CREDIT BY A VILLAGE COMMUNITY IN NEPAL

The inability to obtain sufficient capital to finance the start up or operation of a small enterprise is often a constraining factor limiting engagement in income gener ating activities by residents of less developed countries where formal sources of credit are unavailable, inadequate, or unpopular due to rigid collateral requirements. This article describes the recent adoption of a bidding form of rotating savings and credit association (RoSCA) by villagers from the Nyishangte community in the Man ang region of Nepal and analyzes the community's remarkably successful use of bid ding RoSCAs to finance local business ventures. The proliferation of bidding RoSCAs in Manang since 1999 has effectively created a local market for capital where credit can be accessed at a price directly reflecting the local demand. By reducing the risk and raising the returns associated with investing capital and by low ering the trouble of accessing credit, the use of bidding RoSCAs has greatly facilitat ed the pooling of finance capital in Manang and made credit available to a large por tion of the community, enabling widespread involvement in entrepreneurial ventures.
Stochastic demand in inventory location

In this paper we consider the location inventory mo del which centralizes or decentralizes the stock. I n this model we have to choose between the location of inventory in the reg ional warehouses or the location in the central war ehouse. The choice is done due to minimum the holding costs of the safety stoc k and also the minimum of supply costs. The importa nt aspect is that the customers can represent the stochastic demands on t he inventory items. Additionally, the complex analy sis of possible probabilistic demands' distributions is conducted. Some special cases of the model for normally, Poiss on and exponentially distributed demands are also studied.
EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS OF TURKISH BANKING SYSTEM

The efficiency of the banking system is one of the most important issues in the financial market because the efficiency of banks can affect the stability of the banking industry and thus the effectiveness of the whole monetary system. The aim of this paper is to analyze the efficiency of the banking system in Turkey between the years 2007-2010. The efficiency scores of the 30 commercial banks are measured by using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) between the years 2007-2010. The effects of the 2008 financial crisis on the Turkish banking system efficiency and the efficiency score differences of domestic and foreign bank subgroups operating in Turkey are also examined in this paper.
Characterization of the Variation Potential in Sunflower

A major candidate for intercellular signaling in higher plants is the stimulus-induced systemic change in membrane potential known as variation potential (VP). We investigated the mechanism of occurrence and long-distance propagation of VP in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) plants. Here we present evidence of the relationship among injury-induced changes in xylem tension, turgor pressure, and electrical potential. Although locally applied wounding did trigger a change in membrane potential, it evoked even faster changes in tissue deformation, apparently resulting from pressure surges rapidly transmitted through the xylem and experienced throughout the plant. Externally applied pressure mimicked flame wounding by triggering an electrical response resembling VP. Our findings suggest that VP in sunflower is not a propagating change in electrical potential and not the consequence of chemicals transmitted via the xylem, affecting ligand-modulated ion channels. Instead, VP appears to result from the surge in pressure in the xylem causing a change in activity of mechanosensitive, stretch-responsive ion channels or pumps in adjacent, living cells. The ensuing ion flux evokes local plasma membrane depolarization, which is monitored extracellularly as VP.
Can mediastinal nodal mobility explain the low yield rates for transbronchial needle aspiration without real-time imaging?

BACKGROUND The diagnostic yields with transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) for mediastinal nodes are highly variable. Nodal positions, as assessed on a breath-hold conventional CT scan, do not account for nodal motion. We studied nodal motion on four-dimensional (4D) CT scans. METHODS A total of 47 mediastinal nodes were identified on 4D CT scans performed for radiotherapy planning in 25 patients with lung cancer. Nodes were mainly located at stations 4R, 4L, 7, and 2R, and each identified node was contoured in all 10 phases of the 4D CT scan. Nodal motion was correlated with changes in carina position. RESULTS The mean (+/- SD) nodal diameter was 10.2 +/- 4.0 mm; and the mean nodal volume was 1.8 +/- 2.3 mL. Movement was maximal in the craniocaudal axis (mean length, 4.7 +/- 2.3 mm), and the corresponding mean mediolateral and ventrodorsal movements were 2.8 +/- 1.9 mm and 2.4 +/- 1.8 mm, respectively. The mean three-dimensional displacement of the nodal center was 6.2 +/- 2.9 mm, and it exceeded 10 mm in five nodes. The nodal mass was constantly present in only 25 +/- 14% of the region encompassing all nodal positions. The mean variation in craniocaudal distance between all nodes and the carina position during respiration was 5.3 +/- 2.1 mm (range, 2.2 to 10.5 mm). CONCLUSIONS Both nodal motion and the varying distance between the carina and nodal position may explain the lower diagnostic yields for TBNA procedures performed without real-time guidance.
Strategic Behavior, Truthfulness and Welfare of Waiting Option in the Duopoly Forecasting Announcement Market

In this paper, we discuss the possibility of strategic behavior and truthful reporting in a two players' announcement game when there is a cost for getting information. First we show that the best strategy of each player is to announce the observed signal truthfully if the announcement is made simultaneously. Second we show that if the order of announcement is given exogenously, the player who moves first reports her information truthfully always. But the best strategy of the player who moves later depends on the information cost, the belief in the information quality and payoffs. Also we discuss what is a good scheme to induce player who moves later to observe her signal and announce truthfully. Finally, we discuss about the welfare of using the waiting option in an endogenous ordering. We show that player can be better off in terms of ex-ante compared to the simultaneous announcement case even if she uses the waiting option for delaying her decision. This is a interesting result because the possibility of waiting option is usually understood as a main reason to make player worse-off compared to the simultaneous movement case. The conditions under which each player can be better off or worse off from using the option are explained. Some results of the experiments that support our model are denoted. Some assertions in this paper can be used as an alternative explanation for the phenomenon of the coincidence or discrepancy in the sovereign credit rating or corporate credit rating market by professional analysts and the reputation markets
Erfolg von Dienstleistungsnetzwerken : ein Netzwerkmarketingansatz [Success of Service Networks]

Major features of the tertiary sector in Germany are high growth rates and intense competition. Service providers who want to ensure their success, must therefore encourage growth opportunities by offering innovative, customer-oriented services Heiner Evanschitzky presents a comprehensive study of the success of service networks, which he described as a promising form of coordination for economic activities, because they can be flexibly joined with individual service offerings to respond to environmental change through specialization and cost advantages realised. The author integrates the major theoretical approaches to explain sustainable competitive advantages in the context of network marketing and expanding the marketing theory. An empirical investigation and clues to improve the competitiveness of the enterprise is also covered.
An International Comparison of Corporate Social Responsibility Perceptions.

Little is known about what consumers associate with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). With this study we attempt to fill this gap by focusing on three issues. Firstly, we analyze consumers’ perceptions about responsible activities of companies and, more specifically, the dimensions they use to describe CSR. Secondly, we assess the effect of culture on CSR perceptions. Finally, we analyze the influence of CSR elements on consumers’ buying decisions. Data were collected in five European countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Portugal and Spain) and two Latin-American countries (Chile and Argentina), using business students as respondents.
In vivo screening of salinity tolerance in Giant Swamp Taro (Cyrtosperma merkusii)

Giant Swamp Taro (Cyrtosperma merkusii) is a staple food crop in the Pacific, especially in the low lying atoll islands such as Tuvalu and Kiribati. This is owing to its ability to survive under poor soil conditions and harsh environments. However, as a result of the effects of climate change such as sea water inundation and intrusion into the fresh ground water lens, this crop is now under threat. To address this issue an adaption approach was taken whereby, Cyrtosperma merkusii was screened in vivo for salt tolerance. The epistemology followed random selection of two cultivars Ikaraoi and Katutu. These two cultivars were subjected to 0% (0 parts per trillion), 0.5% (5 ppt), 1% (10 ppt), 1.5% (15 ppt) and 2% (20 ppt) of salt in Yates’s advance seedling common potting mix. Both cultivars were able to tolerate salinity levels up-to 5ppt which is significantly more than the salt tolerance in glycophytes of 2.83 ppt. This research provides an insight into the variation of salt tolerance that may exist in C.merkusii gene pool, which can be used to adapt to natural disasters and buffer its impacts.
The Brand Images Analysis of Korean and German CarsBased on Big Data

This study would like to find out influential factors in brand image by SNS original data sources and then builds ontology by relative and associated words. According to previou theoretical studies and trend monitors survey, an ontology built brand image’s influential factors and finds out associated brand images from car blogs, and Twitter’s terms. The ontology collects original data from Twitter in Korea. By using a Korean analyzer to process, it can select key words from its original data source and then those key words make density based on K-means clustering. Korean and German cars were selected for comparison. Then, based on these process, the major six image factors are selected; image, symbol, trademark, quality, price, and country of origin. With the use of clustering analysis, the two Korean cars and two German cars’ brands show different. Finally, this study found out correlations between brand image of cars and consumer’s purchasing intention.
Fairness Provisioning in Multi-hop Wireless Backhaul Networks: A Dynamic Estimation Approach

In this paper, we consider the fairness problem for Transit Access Points (TAP) in multi-hop wireless backhaul networks. Existing approaches have implementation issues, such as the requirement for modifications to the MAC layer or queuing operations of TAPs, limitations on the network topology, high packet loss rates and overheads, and difficulty in measuring the effective link capacities between TAPs. To address these issues, we propose an effective and practical approach that enforces fairness in wireless backhaul networks by estimating the target sending rates for TAPs dynamically. We also extend our approach to multi-rate, multi-weight, non-saturated and split wireless backhaul networks. Moreover, to speed up the convergence time, we provide a good estimation for our approach's initial sending rate based on the network topology and the transport layer protocol. We evaluate the performance of proposed approach via ns-2 simulations. The results demonstrate that the approach works well in various network topologies and achieves a rapid convergence time.
Blockchain-based platform architecture for industrial IoT

The development of robotics, the Internet of Things concept, big data processing techniques, automation, and distributed digital ledgers leads to the fourth industrial revolution. One of the main issues of new industry is interaction between the "smart factory" components both internally and with other factories based on the Internet of Things. This interaction should provide trust between the participants of the Internet of Things; control over the distribution of resources (such as maintenance time, energy, etc.) and finished products. The paper describes one of the possible ways of integrating Internet of Things and blockchain technologies to solve these issues. For this purpose, an architecture has been developed that combines Smart-M3 information sharing platform and blockchain platform. One of the main features of the proposed architecture is the use of smart contracts for processing and storing information related to the interaction between smart space components.