Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Process Ownership Assignment on Business Process Standardization Success

Many organizations aim to standardize their processes to increase performance. Organizational governance is an important driver for successful business process standardization. A central role within this governance structure is performed by the process owner who is responsible for the definition of processes. In this paper, the effect of different possible configurations of assigning process ownership in an existing organizational multi-level hierarchical structure is analyzed by conducting an embedded case study. The most important finding was that in most cases process ownership was assigned to a person who was already line manager for a single business unit which was responsible for executing a part of or the whole process. Thus, responsibility for the process itself and for the required resources (e.g., personnel) was combined. Based on these findings, we plan to conduct a study to analyze the impact of the different process ownership assignments on the success of process standardization.
Full Cycle for Self-Service?

In the post-World War II period the use of self-service has spread horizontally to practically all types of retail stores on the minimum-service level. Whether labeled “self-selection,” “display merchandising,” “selective open selling,” “simplified selling,” or something similar, all of these represent variously lesser degrees of the supermarket concept of self-service. Whatever it is called, it refers to a still rapidly developing technology co-ordinating the merchandise-presentation efforts of retail stores. This article summarizes the pressures that have been exerted upon retail stores to adopt self-service in greater measure and then identifies the main reasons why some stores prefer to extend more personalized service.
Classification of fog situations based on Gaussian mixture model

In this paper, a learning approach is proposed to classify the fog situations into no fog, fog and dense fog three types. Feature vectors designed according to the contrast and details of foggy images are extracted to form the training set. By using the Gaussian Mixture Model to model the probability density of three situations and learning the parameters of the model with the expectation maximization algorithm, the cluster center as well as the model parameters can be well estimated. Experimental results show that the proposed approach performs well in all situations and is feasible and effective in fog situations recognition.
Genetic structure of the endangered plant Neolitsea sericea (Lauraceae) from the Zhoushan archipelago using RAPD markers.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The Zhoushan archipelago is the largest archipelago in China. It separated from the mainland about 9000 years ago due to rising sea levels and climate change. Because of the long-term influences of human activities, the original forest vegetation on the large islands has been badly damaged and its plant diversity reduced. METHODS Levels and patterns of genetic diversity in 114 individuals from six natural populations and four cultivated populations of the insular endangered plant Neolitsea sericea (Lauraceae) on the Zhoushan archipelago were assessed using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. KEY RESULTS A total of 99 discernible loci were obtained for all populations using ten primers, 50.5 % of which were polymorphic [percentage of polymorphic bands (PPB)=50.5 %]. Despite being a woody, long-lived, perennial, outcrossing and insect-pollinated plant, N. sericea exhibited low levels of genetic variation. The cultivated populations (PPB=18.9 %, HE=0.060, S=0.092) were genetically less diverse than the natural populations (PPB=23.1 %, HE=0.082, S=0.123). Based on analysis of molecular variance, a high degree of among-population differentiation was revealed for both natural (0.387) and cultivated populations (0.598). CONCLUSIONS Removal of plants from the wild for horticulture purposes has eroded the level of genetic variation of N. sericea. Low levels of genetic diversity and a high degree of population differentiation indicate that management strategies should include conservation of natural habitats occupied by all six wild populations, and sampling of germplasm resources from multiple seed sources.
Up to new tricks – A review of cross-species transmission of influenza A viruses

Abstract Influenza is a highly contagious disease that has burdened both humans and animals since ancient times. In humans, the most dramatic consequences of influenza are associated with periodically occurring pandemics. Pandemics require the emergence of an antigenically novel virus to which the majority of the population lacks protective immunity. Historically, influenza A viruses from animals have contributed to the generation of human pandemic viruses and they may do so again in the future. It is, therefore, critical to understand the epidemiological and molecular mechanisms that allow influenza A viruses to cross species barriers. This review summarizes the current knowledge of influenza ecology, and the viral factors that are thought to determine influenza A virus species specificity.
Using economic impact analysis for arts management: an empirical application to a music institute in the USA

Economic impact analysis can be used strategically by arts managers to provide information pertaining to making and justifying effective managerial and marketing decisions. The three aspects of economic impact analysis—direct, indirect and induced—reveal information such as arts participants' expenditure patterns, rationale for expenditure, relationships between participant demographics and expenditure, and amount of expenditure outside arts institutions. Arts managers can use the information and data to match product offerings of the institution with those of its participants; increase the participants' participation in, satisfaction with and loyalty to the institution; increase the stature and validity of the arts institution within the community; price the products of the arts institute; and increase community and financial support for arts institutions. This synergistic use of economic impact analysis information with marketing information is illustrated using a music institute in the USA. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications
Application of the capsaicin 8% cutaneous patch in neuropathic pain of the head and face: A case series

Introduction Treatment of neuropathic or neuralgic head and facial pain due to dental, traumatic or surgical nerve lesions or post-herpetic neuropathy is often challenging. Cases We are reporting on four patients with neuropathic pain syndromes successfully treated with a capsaicin 8% patch in the affected area of the head or face. Discussion Treatment with the capsaicin 8% patch seems to be effective and safe for application to the facial and head region. The capsaicin 8% patch might be an additional treatment option if first-line treatment with anticonvulsants or antidepressants was ineffective or limited by side effects.
An in vivo inducible gene of Pseudomonas aeruginosa encodes an anti‐ExsA to suppress the type III secretion system

We have previously reported on the isolation of in vivo inducible genes of Pseudomonas aeruginosa using IVET system. One of such genes isolated from burn mouse infection model encodes a short open reading frame with unknown function. In this study, we demonstrate that this gene product specifically suppresses the expression of type III secretion genes in P. aeruginosa, thus named PtrA (Pseudomonas type III repressor A). A direct interaction between the PtrA and type III transcriptional activator ExsA was demonstrated, suggesting that its repressor function is probably realized through inhibition of the ExsA protein function. Indeed, an elevated expression of the exsA compensates the repressor effect of the PtrA. Interestingly, expression of the ptrA is highly and specifically induced by copper cation. A copper‐ responsive two‐component regulatory system, copR‐copS, has also been identified and shown to be essential for the copper resistance in P. aeruginosa as well as the activation of ptrA in response to the copper signal. Elevated expression of the ptrA during the infection of mouse burn wound suggests that P. aeruginosa has evolved tight regulatory systems to shut down energy‐expensive type III secretion apparatus in response to specific environmental signals, such as copper stress.
No Pain, No Gain: A Critical Review of the Literature on Signaling Unobservable Product Quality

Recent research in information economics has focused on signals as mechanisms to solve problems that arise under asymmetric information. A firm or individual credibly communicates the level of some unobservable element in a transaction by providing an observable signal. When applied to conveying product quality information, this issue is of particular interest to the discipline of marketing. In this article, the authors focus on the ways a firm may signal the unobservable quality of its products through several marketing-mix variables. The authors develop a typology that classifies signals and discuss the available empirical evidence on the signaling properties of several marketing variables. They consider managerial implications of signaling and outline an agenda for future empirical research.
Rien Ne Va Plus - The 2007/2008 Credit Crunch and What Gambling Bankers Had to Do With It

The paper argues that the incidence of moral hazard played a significant role in the 2007/2008 credit crunch. In particular, bank traders subjected to asymmetric compensation structures have an incentive to take excessive risks even when the bank's shareholders would prefer prudent investment. Traders' incentives are shown to be unaffected by capital regulations, with the associated financial burden falling upon the taxpayer through deposit insurance or government bail-outs. Selected case studies further indicate that the phenomenon of “gambling traders” was widespread during the credit crunch, when high bonuses tempted bank employees to invest in risky subprime-backed securities. The intransparency of structured products and the inaccuracy of credit ratings contributed to the employees' ability to conceal the underlying risk from the banks' shareholders. The analysis points to an urgent need to reform compensation practices in the financial sector.
Initial stages of sperm‐egg fusion in the freshwater teleost, Rhodeus ocellatus ocellatus

The morphology of spermatozoa and the initial stages of spermegg fusion at fertilization were investigated ultrastructurally in the rose bitterling, Rhodeus ocellatus ocellatus. Each spermatozoon is composed of a spherical head without an acrosome, two centrioles, a large mitochondrion, and a flagellum. Freeze‐fracture of spermatozoa illustrates that specialized arrays of intramembranous particles (IMPs) are present on the protoplasmic facing (PF) surface of the head plasma membrane at the portion slightly in front of the centrioles. The specialized arrays, whose functions are uncertain, are parallelogram‐like in shape. The distribution of the particles is random and less compact in other areas of the head plasma membrane. The number of particles on the PF surface is larger than that on the extracellular facing (EF) surface. The complementary structures of the specialized arrays are also found on a similar portion of the EF surface. An ultrastructural study clearly shows fusion of gamete plasma membranes at the initial stages of sperm entry into the egg. Membrane fusion is first observed in eggs fixed 10 seconds after insemination in fresh water. The fusion site is the microvillus membrane of a sperm entry site on the egg and the head membrane of the spermatozoon. The plasma membrane fusion of gametes is discussed relative to the distribution of the IMPs and the fusion site.
Increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae in the United States.

BACKGROUND The emergence of drug-resistant strains of bacteria has complicated treatment decisions and may lead to treatment failures. METHODS We examined data on invasive pneumococcal disease in patients identified from 1995 to 1998 in the Active Bacterial Core Surveillance program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pneumococci that had a high level of resistance or had intermediate resistance according to the definitions of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards were defined as "resistant" for this analysis. RESULTS During 1998, 4013 cases of invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae disease were reported (23 cases per 100,000 population); isolates were available for 3475 (87 percent). Overall, 24 percent of isolates from 1998 were resistant to penicillin. The proportion of isolates that were resistant to penicillin was highest in Georgia (33 percent) and Tennessee (35 percent), in children under five years of age (32 percent, vs. 21 percent for persons five or more years of age), and in whites (26 percent, vs. 22 percent for blacks). Penicillin-resistant isolates were more likely than susceptible isolates to have a high level of resistance to other antimicrobial agents. Serotypes included in the 7-valent conjugate and 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccines accounted for 78 percent and 88 percent of penicillin-resistant strains, respectively. Between 1995 and 1998 (during which period 12,045 isolates were collected), the proportion of isolates that were resistant to three or more classes of drugs increased from 9 percent to 14 percent; there also were increases in the proportions of isolates that were resistant to penicillin (from 21 percent to 25 percent), cefotaxime (from 10 percent to 15 percent), meropenem (from 10 percent to 16 percent), erythromycin (from 11 percent to 16 percent), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (from 25 percent to 29 percent). The increases in the frequency of resistance to other antimicrobial agents occurred exclusively among penicillin-resistant isolates. CONCLUSIONS Multidrug-resistant pneumococci are common and are increasing. Because a limited number of serotypes account for most infections with drug-resistant strains, the new conjugate vaccines offer protection against most drug-resistant strains of S. pneumoniae.
The duplication cycle in Aspergillus nidulans.

The duplication cycle encompasses the spectrum of events required for the growth and division of individual cells within a fungal hyphae. Recent advances in understanding the mechanisms which underlie nuclear division and cellular morphogenesis in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans have shown that in many respects, the duplication cycle differs significantly from the cell cycles of both budding and fission yeast. The purpose of this review is to summarize these advances and to highlight the fundamental differences between the duplication cycle and the yeast cell cycles. In addition, it is argued that the duplication cycle is controlled by cellular regulatory networks which integrate the processes of nuclear division, cellular morphogenesis, and cell growth with each other. Functional dissection of these networks should help to reveal features that are unique to the hyphal mode of growth.
A developmental study of the discrimination of letter-like forms.

It has generally been assumed in psychological analyses of the reading process that ability to discriminate letters is a prerequisite for reading and that children of 6 yr. , when they begin to read, can in fact distinguish one letter from another with reasonable accuracy. The relevant literature is summarized by Vernon (1957, pp. 20 ff.). Some studies have used drawing as a criterion, some naming, and Nome matching. No one study has traced the development of letter differentiation as related lo those dimensions or features of letters which are critical for the task and which may present more or less difficulty. A method of studying this problem was suggested by an experiment of Gibson and Gibson i 1955) in which children of two age groups and adults identified "scribbles" which were systematically varied on three separate dimensions (number of coils, compression, and orientation). The scribbles were somewhat comparable to strokes used in cursive writing. The results showed that the difficulty of the task was greater the younger the 5, that errors varied in number with the dimension varied, and that systematic variation along at least three dimensions was possible. It also showed that confusion errors (primary generalization) provided an effective criterion for measuring ability to differentiate line drawings of this t\pe. The present experiment was designed to t̂udy the development of the ability to discriminate visually a set of letter-like forms in children 4 through 8 yr. of age. The aim was not merely quantitative comparison of different age levels, but primarily a qualitative developmental study of types of error as related to certain critical features of letters. To secure information on qualitative changes, the plan was adopted of constructing
The universal turing machine: a half-century survey

large number of repeated myths and oversimplifications that intersperse the text. An editor with a background in the history of computing should have been able to spot the former easily, and a scholar of computing would eliminate the rest. An example of the latter: Consider the very confusing example (p. 18) of context-free context (and Backus-Naur Form), which fails to distinguish between " parts of speech " and their textual instances and uses two-word meta-names that contain the same elements as other one-word meta-names. While we agree that the original use of ''? and " > " to set meta-names apart might be difficult for the general reader to comprehend, some other simple typesetting artifacts might have presented a less ambiguous example. The readers of this journal will be most offended by the errors of history, many of which have been debunked in these pages. The endpapers include a peculiar time line that presumably is justified as linking the contributions of the 15 chosen scientists. Historians will be unhappy with the omission of any reference to early U.S. computers (such as ENIAC) while Zuse's " small coin-puter " is listed in the year 1943. The year 1945 gives credit to John von Neumann as " [proposing] the stored program concept, " and while not mentioning the ENIAC builders, at least does suggest that the idea was not original. John Backus is credited with releasing the Fortran " programming language " (rather than its first compiler) in 1957 to a " few companies in the airplane industry. " I do not recall that Westinghouse was in the airplane business. And then more recently (1994): " Mathematicians at Intel discover a bug in the division algorithm of [Pentium]. " My records show that the bug was first publicly identified by a mathematician in a small school in Lynchburg, Virginia. The center of the book contains eight pages of photographs of the scientists, many obviously from the collections of the subjects, thereby giving form to them beyond the simple words. While many computer historians will be pleased to see Grace Murray Hopper included in this photographic collection, she is not included as one of the 15 scientists. However, her presence is marred by the caption, " Admiral [she is shown in the uniform of a Commander] Grace Hopper (designer of COBOL language). " We would hope that the publishers will provide an errata …
Whitepapers on Imaging Infrastructure for Research - Part 1: General Workflow Considerations

Bradley J Erickson, Tony Pan, Daniel J Marcus, CTSA Imaging Informatics Working Group Introduction The use of in vivo imaging data in clinical research can provide enormous scientific benefits, but it can also entail substantial complexity. There is a general process for developing a clinical research project. Figure 1 shows a high-level description of this process. Clinical research that involves imaging follows the same general workflow. However, the inclusion of imaging into a research protocol has additional workflow considerations and complexities. By implementing standard procedures and enforcing them through software and policy, many of these complexities can be mitigated and imaging can be successfully integrated into a variety of clinical research applications. The purpose of this set of three papers is to document some of the additional workflow considerations related to imaging that is used as part of a clinical trial.
Electronic Procurement: A Structured Literature Review and Directions for Future Research

The practice of Electronic Procurement (EP) has gained popularity over the last ten years, and so has the research on this emerging area. While first reports in the 1990s focused on general descriptions and best practices, more recent studies have dealt with specific and refined applications of this approach. Since some of the early EP technologies are maturing, while new ones are appearing constantly, a structured literature review is warranted. As such, this paper reviews 157 refereed journal articles dealing with EP, and examines them along eight key dimensions. Based on the insights gained, directions for future research are suggested.
The Impact Corporate Social Responsibility on Customer Loyalty: Mediating Role of Customer Satisfaction

This research examines how corporate social responsibility (CSR) affects customer satisfaction and its outcomes customer loyalty. This study develops and tests conceptual framework, which predicts that customer satisfaction partially mediates the relationship between CSR and customer loyalty. This research also takes important steps of understanding the mediation analysis. Convenience sampling was used. All hypothesized variables were supported by empirical study, correlation and regression analysis were used in this regard. Low CSR actually reduces customer satisfaction levels and, through the lowered satisfaction, harms customer loyalty and customer trust.
Trustworthiness-Based Dynamic Access Control for Grid Application

Considering the access control technology in grid environment,which calls for the establishment of a dynamic trust relationship with strangers,the trustworthiness-based dynamic access control(TBDAC) model was presented.TBDAC model integrated the merits of both role based access control(RBAC) and trust management.Firstly,regular roles for users were assigned by automated trust negotiation,seamlessly integrating authentication and access control.Then,it derived temporary roles from regular roles and assigned privilege set with trustworthiness thresholds for temporary roles,activating temporary roles to promptly calculate the values of trustworthiness of users to achieve fine-grained and dynamic authorization.Tests have shown that TBDAC model is excellently implemented.