Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Brand Image: Past, Present and Future

Strategic role of brand image has been proven in extensive literature as it is considered as distinct component in designing the marketing mix to building sustainable competitive edge. So, this paper presents divergent perspectives defining the brand image concept and concluding the debate about its multidimensionality. Five major clusters of definitions of brand image construct are observed such as generic definitions, meanings/messages, symbolic definitions, personality based definitions and cognitive/psychological definitions. Another important milestone in the evolution of brand image is the theory behind the concept of brand positioning. Brand Image is a multi dimensional construct that is triggered by cognitions, emotions, symbols, values and attitudes of consumers. However, many researchers measured it as uni-dimensional construct. Initially benefits based dimensionality was used to measure brand image (Park, 1986). Later, associative network model was used to measure brand image. Researchers advanced functional, symbolic, experiential, affective, economic, social, personality, self-esteem, corporate and utilitarian dimensions which could be summarized as dual model of brand image comprising of cognitive or affective domains. Prior research mostly showed confirmation with the established models of brand gurus such as Park, 1986; Aaker, 1992; Keller, 1993. Measurement of brand image has been remained a concern by researchers whether measured on attitudinal scales or using projective techniques. But the use of numerous qualitative techniques failed to capturing consumer thoughts and feelings at non verbal and unconscious level due to lacking in vocabulary or awareness. So the focus qualitative research for measuring the brand image is now a latest trend in brand image research. The suggestions for future research are presented, too.
Choosing Agents and Monitoring Consumption: A Note on Wealth as a Corruption-Controlling Device

There are a large number of cases where corruption has been discovered investigating levels of consumption that appear to be hard to justify. Yet, in the standard moral hazard model withholding of effort by the agent is not observable to the principal. We argue that this assumption has to be revised in applications that study corruption. The informativeness of an agent's level of consumption depends on his legal income and initial level of wealth, as conspicuous consumption by wealthy agents leads to little updating of the principal's belief about their honesty. This introduces a tendency to prefer poor agents as they are easier to monitor. More generally, we describe the basic problem of choosing agents and monitoring consumption with the aim of reducing corruption, and discuss features of the practical applications. We show that when there is consumption monitoring and wealth is observed, the effect of higher wealth on equilibrium bribes is ambiguous (and that the political class will exhibit lower variance in consumption than the general population). In settings where formal contracts matter, we show that monitoring consumption introduces a tendency towards low powered incentives (and more generally low wages). We also discuss the role of ability, the tax system, and the way to derive a measure of the value of illegal funds for the agent.
The Fake . Br corpus-a corpus of fake news for Brazilian Portuguese

Fake news are a problem of our time. Although they have always existed, the volume of fake news has recently increased, affecting several aspects of our lives, from healthy issues to politics. To make things worse, the scarcity of labeled datasets prevents us from training classifiers to automatically filter out such documents. In this extended abstract, inspired by previous initiatives for other languages, we briefly report our effort on building the Fake.Br corpus, composed of aligned true and fake news in Brazilian Portuguese.
The assessment of research and technical potential in the framework of the innovative model of development of regional economy

This article considers the research and technological potential and the innovative activity in a specific region of Russia — the Kaliningrad region. The authors assess its research and technological potential, and the achieved level of innovative activity in the Kaliningrad region as prerequisites necessary for the implementation of an innovative model of economy. This work identifies the problems of the research and technological potential development of the region, as well as a low level of development of the innovative activity in the Kaliningrad region in general and compared to the Baltic Sea region states. The authors also focus on the prerequisites for the development of research and technological cooperation between the Kaliningrad region and the Baltic Sea region countries. Special attention is paid to the opportunities for the creation of innovative clusters in the Baltic region states.
EXPECTATIONS, LOSS AVERSION, AND RETIREMENT DECISIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE 2009 CRISIS IN EUROPE

We estimate a reduced form model of expectations-based reference-dependent preferences to explain job retention of older workers in Europe in the context of the 2009 economic crisis. Using individual micro-economic longitudinal data from SHARE (The Survey of ealth, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe) between 2006 and 2011, we derive a measure of "good, bad or no surprise" from (i) workers' anticipated evolution of their standard of living five years from 2006 (reference point), and from (ii) a comparison of their capacity to make-ends-meet between 2006 and 2011. We find that the probability to remain on the labour market in 2011 is significantly higher for individuals who experienced a lower than expected standard of living. The effect of a "bad surprise" on job retention is larger than the effect of a "good surprise" once netted out from the effects of expectations at baseline, change in consumption utility, and the usual lifecycle determinants on job retention of older workers. We interpret this result as an evidence of loss aversion in the case the reference point is based on individuals' expectations. We also find that loss aversion is more common among men, risk-averse individuals and those with a higher perceived life expectancy.
Kernel Attacks through User-Mode Callbacks

15 years ago, Windows NT 4.0 introduced Win32k.sys to address the inherent limitations of the older client-server graphics subsystem model. Today, win32k still remains a fundamental component of the Windows architecture and manages both the Window Manager (User) and Graphics Device Interface (GDI). In order to properly interface with user-mode data, win32k makes use of user-mode callbacks, a mechanism allowing the kernel to make calls back into user-mode. Usermode callbacks enable a variety of tasks such as invoking applicationdefined hooks, providing event notifications, and copying data to/from user-mode. In this paper, we discuss the many challenges and problems concerning user-mode callbacks in win32k. In particular, we show how win32k’s dependency on global locks in providing a thread-safe environment does not integrate well with the concept of user-mode callbacks. Although many vulnerabilities related to user-mode callbacks have been addressed, their complex nature suggests that more subtle flaws might still be present in win32k. Thus, in an effort to mitigate some of the more prevalent bug classes, we conclusively provide some suggestions as to how users may protect themselves against future kernel attacks.
The Global Professional Service Firm: ‘One Firm’ Models versus (Italian) Distant Institutionalized Practices

Through a historical case study of the internationalization of large English law firms into Italy, this paper uses Scott’s (2005) three pillars approach to look at how local institutions constrain and mediate the strategies and practices of global professional services firms. In doing so, it corrects the economic bias in the growing body of literature on the internationalization of PSFs by stressing how local regulations, norms and cultural frameworks affect the reproduction of home country practices, such as the one firm model pursued by large English law firms, in host-country jurisdictions. The paper also extends existing work on institutional duality (Kostova, 1999, Kostova & Roth, 2002) by developing a fine-grained, micro-level analysis which emphasizes the connections between institutions and practices. This is crucial, we contend, since the difficulties encountered by PSFs (and multinationals more generally) in their internationalization do not result from collisions between home- and host-country institutional structures per se, but between the diverse practices generated by distant institutional environments.
Cope’s Law of the Unspecialized, Cope’s Rule, and weak directionality in evolution

Background: Edward Drinker Cope nurtured the idea that evolution moves by an inner motor towards the perfection of structures. This concept animated his major contributions to evolutionary theory, including the Law of the Unspecialized and the familiar Cope’s Rule. The former states that clades start with unspecialized forms and evolve towards specialized descendants eventually bound to become extinct because of their ‘overperfection’. Through time, the Law of the Unspecialized has been abandoned, probably because it is dominated by a concept of strong directionality (and the many distortions this concept entails). Questions: Is directionality in evolution real? If so, does the evidence contradict the Law of the Unspecialized, as is now commonly assumed? Procedure: We review the Law of the Unspecialized. Then we recast it in modern terms. We highlight the connection between Cope’s Rule and the Law of the Unspecialized. Conclusions: A form of weak directionality is real. We conclude that the concept of directionality has been unjustly deprecated. It is, in fact, a pervasive, important, and easily testable feature of evolution.
The Importance of Community Attributes in Household Residential Location Decisions

This study identifies how community attributes affect household residential location decisions in Medellin, Colombia. The empirical model applies the revealed preference principle: each household is assumed to have made an optimal location decision given a set of alternatives. Using household data, we estimate a conditional logit choice model for residential communities by controlling for both individual and neighborhood characteristics, including environmental attributes. The set of alternatives for each household are defined using the applicable neighborhood’s socioeconomic and geographic characteristics. The results provide an estimate of household preferences for the many characteristics of the potential choices in the choice set. In the case of Medellin, we found positive and significant preferences for public provided goods such as public schools and security but relatively low preferences for recreational and cultural spaces; households prefer that the latter be provided by the private sector.
Influences of Doping on Photocatalytic Properties of TiO2 Photocatalyst

As a kind of highly effective, low‐cost, and stable photocatalysts, TiO2 has received substantial public and scientific attention. However, it can only be activated under ultraviolet light irradiation due to its wide bandgap, high recombination, and weak separation efficiency of carriers. Doping is an effective method to extend the light absorption to the visible light region. In this chapter, we will address the importance of doping, different doping modes, preparation method, and photocatalytic mechanism in TiO2 photocatalysts. Thereafter, we will concentrate on Ti3+ self‐doping, nonmetal doping, metal doping, and codoping. Examples of progress can be given for each one of these four doping modes. The influencing factors of preparation method and doping modes on photocatalytic performance (spectrum response, carrier transport, interfacial electron transfer reaction, surface active sites, etc.) are summed up. The main objective is to study the photocatalytic processes, to elucidate the mechanistic models for a better understand‐ ing the photocatalytic reactions, and to find a method of enhancing photocatalytic activities.
Supersymmetry breaking in heterotic strings and the decompactification problem

We review recent progress in addressing the decompactification problem of gauge couplings in the context of heterotic string theory with spontaneous supersymmetry breaking. This problem is particularly relevant in large volume scenarios where quantum corrections to gauge couplings typically explode and the theory is driven to the non-perturbative regime. We discuss a recently proposed mechanism in which the problem may be avoided by balancing the contribution of Kaluza-Klein and winding states against the universal contribution due to gravitational and dilaton diagrams.
Comparing transport times through salinity zones in the Ogeechee and Altamaha River estuaries using squeezebox

This study explored differences in the transit times of dissolved substances through salinity zones in the Altamaha and Ogeechee River estuaries under a range of flow conditions. Salinity distributions and transit times were estimated from box models generated using the SqueezeBox modeling framework. The estuaries were compared in spite of the large difference in their river flow ranges by using flow rates ranging from the 10-90 percentile within each range. In each case, zone lengths and transit times were calculated for the tidal freshwater, oligo-mesohaline, and polyhaline zones. Although the two estuaries have similar lengths, the slower-flowing Ogeechee grades from a zone of tidal freshwater (except at very low flows) through oligo-mesohaline zones to a polyhaline zone inside the mouth whereas the Altamaha always has a fairly long (>25 km) extent of tidal freshwater but only a short (or non-existent) polyhaline zone. Transit times through the whole Ogeechee estuary are 3.3-4.7 times longer than those in the Altamaha, but the lengths of time water spends in the tidal freshwater reaches of the estuaries are comparable whereas there are large differences in the times spent in oligo-mesohaline and polyhaline reaches. These types of predictions may be useful in interpreting nutrient and pollutant dynamics in estuaries as well as in studies that compare the relative susceptibility of estuaries to perturbations.
Investigation of optical turbulence in the atmospheric surface layer using scintillometer measurements along a slant path and comparison to ultrasonic anemometer measurements

Optical turbulence represented by the structure function parameter of the refractive index Cn 2 is a relevant parameter for the performance of electro-optical systems and characterization of the atmospheric influence on imaging. It was investigated during a field trial above an Highveld grassland in the atmospheric surface layer at the Rietvlei Nature Reserve close to Pretoria in South Africa from 18th June to 30th June 2013. This campaign was performed to compare different measurement techniques analyzing the diurnal formation of the vertical distribution of optical turbulence up to a height of 16 m above ground. The chosen time period was characterized by a pronounced diurnal cycle of the meteorological conditions, i.e. low variations from day to day. Ultra sonic anemometers were used to measure high frequency time series (50 Hz) of temperature at single points. From the statistical analysis of these time series Cn 2 was derived. Three instruments were mounted at a portable mast in the center of slant path measurements over a horizontal distance of 1000 m using large aperture scintillometers (Boundary layer scintillometer BLS 900). Averaging over a time period of 5 minutes, the results of both methods are compared. The agreement in the results of optical turbulence is quite good. Discrepancies and agreement are analyzed with respect to the atmospheric stability and other meteorological parameters. Lowest values of Cn 2 at 4.6 m above ground amount to about 8*10-17 m-2/3, daily maxima to 6*10-13 m-2/3. Additional to the nearly constant meteorological conditions in the diurnal cycle, the uniformity of the terrain let the results of this measurement campaign an ideal data set for investigating methodological questions regarding a comparison of single point measurements with integrated measurements over a horizontal distance. Four stability regimes were identified in the diurnal cycle and investigated. These are convective conditions during the day, neutral conditions about sunrise and sunset, and two different stable regimes at night.
Front-to-back ratio improvement of printed antennas based on electrically small resonators for microwave presence detectors

The improvement of the front-to-back ratio (FBR) in low-profile antennas to be used in presence detection devices is explored. The main idea is to use electrically small resonators as radiating elements. This minimises the electric currents in the boundary of the ground plane at the working frequency, thus reducing the backward radiation. The choice of the resonant particle and its electromagnetic properties, along with the antenna structure, are discussed. The simulated results indicate that there is good impedance matching (-18 dB) at the operating frequency (3 GHz) and an excellent FBR of 24 dB. These characteristics are validated experimentally and the FBR is compared with that of a conventional patch antenna.
Getting Even or Getting Equal? Retributive Desires and Transitional Justice

This article examines the effect that different policy interventions of transitional justice have on the desires of the victims of human rights violations for retribution. The retributive desires assessed in this article are conceptualized as individual, collective, and abstract demands for the imposition of a commensurate degree of suffering upon the offender. We suggest a plausible way of reducing victims’ retributive desires. Instead of “getting even” in relation to the suffering, victims and perpetrators may “get equal” in relation to their respective statuses, which were affected by political crimes. The article hypothesizes that the three classes of transitional justice: (1) reparation that empowers victims by financial compensation, truth telling, and social acknowledgment; (2) retribution that inflicts punishment upon perpetrators; and (3) reconciliation that renews civic relationship between victims and perpetrators through personal contact, apology, and forgiveness; each contributes to restoring equality between victims and perpetrators, and in so doing decreases the desires that victims have for retribution. In order to test our hypotheses, we conducted a survey of former political prisoners in the Czech Republic. Results from the regression analysis reveal that financial compensation, social acknowledgement, punishment, and forgiveness are likely to reduce victims’ retributive desires.
Novel approaches in clinical development of cannabinoid drugs

The endocannabinoid system has only been discovered during the last few decades, and scientific progress in understanding the relevance of this system in health and disease has been limited and slow. CB1 antagonists were considered a ‘miracle drug’ for the treatment of obesity and smoking with ‘blockbuster’ potential. But due to central side effects (such as depression and suicidal behaviour) and a lack of systematic clinical pharmacologic research, market access of a CB1 antagonists failed. In this thesis, we explored some improvements in the early development of cannabinoids, and by systematically investigating, we found that the new cannabinoid antagonist TN38837 seems effective with a reduced propensity for central side effects, and that a new oral THC formulation enhances the pharmacological activities by its seemingly superior pharmacokinetics. Also, we experiment with new methodology to optimise effect measurement, including resting state-FMRI which we found suitable for early phase cannabinoid research, and including new concentration-effect models to improve the simulation and prediction of future studies. The research in this thesis shows that a revival of research on the cannabinoid system requires novel approaches to the administration of cannabinoids, to the measurements and the study designs, and to the analyses of the effects. This reflects the complexity of the highly integrated endocannabinoid system, but also sets the stage for other innovative drug development programs
N A ] 2 5 Ju l 2 01 7 Optimal Error Estimates for Fully Discrete Galerkin Approximations of Semilinear Parabolic Equations

We consider a semilinear parabolic equation with a large class of nonlinearities without any growth conditions. We discretize the problem with a discontinuous Galerkin scheme dG(0) in time (which is a variant of the implicit Euler scheme) and with conforming finite elements in space. The main contribution of this paper is the proof of the uniform boundedness of the discrete solution. This allows us to obtain optimal error estimates with respect to various norms.
IMPACT OF CHLORINE AND MONOCHLORAMINE ON ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT DISINFECTION

Chlorination of water during treatment upstream of the disinfection process may possibly influence the effectiveness of ultraviolet (UV) inactivation in three ways: (1) chlorine and monochloramine may absorb UV light and interfere with the delivery of UV light to the targeted microorganisms, (2) oxidation of organic matter by chlorine may alter the UV absorbance, and (3) UV irradiation may photo-dechlorinate the active chlorine species. In this study, degradation rate of free chlorine and monochloramine under monochromatic and polychromatic UV light was determined in raw, treated, and deionized water samples. UV absorbance spectra of chlorine and monochloramine were also measured in raw, treated, and deionized water samples. The impact of chlorine-based UV absorbance on delivery of UV for disinfection was investigated. The results of this study indicate that chlorine is degraded during UV disinfection at typical UV doses although the extent of degradation is dependent upon the type of chlorine species, the water quality, and the type of UV irradiation (monoor poly-chromatic). The transmission of UV irradiation in a 1 cm pathlength is slightly effected by the presence of chlorine and monochloramine, decreasing the available UV energy by up to 2.25 %. However, the addition of chlorine can serve to decrease the UV absorbance under certain water quality matrices. Introduction Prechlorination is an important tool for maintaining the water quality and efficiency of a treatment plant. Although the primary use of chlorine is for disinfection, chlorine can also be used to control the taste and odor, remove color and turbidity, and aid coagulation and filtration in a treatment plant. Depending on the purpose of prechlorination, chlorine may be added at various points during the treatment process such as before coagulation, sedimentation, or filtration. Prechlorination doses required to maintain a substantial (1 mg/L) free residual chlorine in water is closely related to water quality and increases when organic and inorganic matter concentration is high in water. Prechlorination doses of 16 mg/L have been reported in the literature (White, 1999).