Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Emotional Appeal and Incentive Offering in Banner Advertisements

ABSTRACT This study proposes a contingency framework on the role of emotions and incentives in affecting banner ads effectiveness. More specifically, how emotional appeals affect banner ad click-through rates in the presence or absence of incentives is explored. Data collected from nearly ten thousand real world banner ads is used to empirically test the moderating effect of ad-induced emotional appeals on the relationship between incentive offerings and banner ad effectiveness. The analysis concludes that providing incentives in banner ads is effective in soliciting click-through. When combined with emotional appeals, we found that positive emotions in banner ads enhance the effectiveness of incentives. However, ads with negative or no emotions seem to work better only when no incentives are offered.
Can transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) alleviate symptoms and improve cognition in psychiatric disorders?

Abstract Objectives. Since the discovery of psychopharmacological treatments in the early 1950s, followed by the development of second-generation antidepressants and antipsychotics, biological psychiatry has not achieved much progress. Recent technological advances in the field of non-invasive brain stimulation open new perspectives in the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Amongst them, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) modulates cortical excitability and induces long-lasting effects. Here, we aimed at evaluating whether tDCS has potential to be developed as an innovative treatment in psychiatry. Methods. We conducted a systematic review of the current state of development and application of tDCS in psychiatric disorders, exploring clinical and cognitive effects, especially in major depressive disorder (MDD), schizophrenia and substance use disorder. Results. Systematic literature search yielded 40 publications: 22 in MDD, nine in schizophrenia, seven in substance use disorder, one in obsessive–compulsive disorder and one in mania. Our findings indicated beneficial clinical effects of tDCS for MDD and a promising literature in schizophrenia and substance use disorder. Conclusions. Despite methodological differences, the data published to date are promising and supports the use of tDCS as a treatment for psychiatric disorders. However, its place regarding other treatments still has to be determined before becoming a routine clinical treatment.
Anti‐inflammatory properties of the vagus nerve: potential therapeutic implications of vagus nerve stimulation

Brain and viscera interplay within the autonomic nervous system where the vagus nerve (VN), containing approximately 80% afferent and 20% efferent fibres, plays multiple key roles in the homeostatic regulations of visceral functions. Recent data have suggested the anti‐inflammatory role of the VN. This vagal function is mediated through several pathways, some of them still debated. The first one is the anti‐inflammatory hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis which is stimulated by vagal afferent fibres and leads to the release of cortisol by the adrenal glands. The second one, called the cholinergic anti‐inflammatory pathway, is mediated through vagal efferent fibres that synapse onto enteric neurons which release acetylcholine (ACh) at the synaptic junction with macrophages. ACh binds to α‐7‐nicotinic ACh receptors of those macrophages to inhibit the release of tumour necrosis (TNF)α, a pro‐inflammatory cytokine. The last pathway is the splenic sympathetic anti‐inflammatory pathway, where the VN stimulates the splenic sympathetic nerve. Norepinephrine (noradrenaline) released at the distal end of the splenic nerve links to the β2 adrenergic receptor of splenic lymphocytes that release ACh. Finally, ACh inhibits the release of TNFα by spleen macrophages through α‐7‐nicotinic ACh receptors. Understanding of these pathways is interesting from a therapeutic point of view, since they could be targeted in various ways to stimulate anti‐inflammatory regulation in TNFα‐related diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Among others, VN stimulation, either as an invasive or non‐invasive procedure, is becoming increasingly frequent and several clinical trials are ongoing to evaluate the potential effectiveness of this therapy to alleviate chronic inflammation.
The Perceived Message in the Audit Report – An Experimental Exploration

This paper reports on the findings of a series of experiments which investigated the perceived message in four different audit reports. The study involved 252 participants, 125 in New Zealand and 127 in the United Kingdom. In a between-groups design, the participants were allocated to four experimental conditions, each containing a variation of the audit report (from short-form to long-form). Under each experimental condition, participants were asked to express an opinion on the audit report and on the related financial statements. The research findings indicate that the content of the audit report does not have a significant influence on the message perceived by the reasonably knowledgeable users of financial statements with regard to the nature of the audit, the respective roles of the auditor and the directors and the risk of investing in the reporting entity. However, those who do not read or only occasionally read financial statements are less inclined to agree that the auditor ‘guarantees’ the accuracy of the financial statements and the going concern of the reporting entity than those who read financial statements more regularly.
The Effect of Aerobic Exercise on Recovery Ambulatory Blood Pressure in Normotensive Men and Women

Atransient reduction of blood pressure (BP) following an acute bout ofaerobic exercise has been documented in both normotensive (Brown, Li, Chitwood, Anderson, & Boatwright, 1993; MacDonald et aI., 1999) and hypertensive (Hagberg, Montain, & Martin, 1987) individuals. Postexercise hypotension has been reported to persist from 60 min (MacDonald et al., 1999) through 180 min (Raglin & Morgan, 1987) in normotensives. In each of these studies however, BP remained significantly below preexercise levels through the conclusion of the recovery period, making it difficult to determine the duration of the depressor response. In contrast, others have observed a return ofBP to baseline in normotensive individuals within 60 min (Brown et al., 1993) and 100 min (Hannum & Kasch, 1981) following exercise. To complicate matters further, some researchers have reported an absence of postexercise hypotension in the normotensive population (Pescatello, Fargo, Leach, & Scherzer, 1991). Clearly, the presence and duration of postexercise hypotension in normotensive individuals is an issue that warrants further investigation. The majority of research in the area of postexercise hypotension has been done under highly controlled conditions in a laboratory setting. Measures of BP taken during recovery in a seated position might not correspond to
Effectiveness and economic impact of screening for colorectal cancer by mass fecal occult blood testing

OBJECTIVES:Fecal occult blood testing has been shown to reduce mortality from colorectal cancer in large randomized, controlled trials conducted in the United States, Denmark, and the United Kingdom, and mathematical simulation modeling found it to be cost-effective relative to other health care services. Before making a concerted effort to implement mass fecal occult blood testing based on this evidence alone, however, we considered it prudent to critically re-evaluate the effectiveness and economic impact of screening in the US population as a whole.METHODS:To assess the effectiveness of screening, we projected published outcomes from each of the three large randomized controlled trials of fecal occult blood testing to the US population, as if each clinical trial had been done in the population as a whole. We then determined the resource costs of detection and treatment that would be associated with the outcomes predicted from each trial.RESULTS:More than 1 million colorectal cancers could be expected to arise over 10 yr in the cohort of US residents eligible to enter a screening program in 1997, and trial outcomes indicate that ≥60% of these cancers would be fatal. If the 60–67% compliance rate of the population-based randomized controlled trials were achieved, a fecal occult blood testing program would detect 30% of known colorectal cancers and save 100,000 lives over 10 yr. Screening would incur total costs of $3–4 billion over 10 yr, or $2,500 per life-year saved.CONCLUSIONS:Mass fecal occult blood testing is cost-effective, and, although not inexpensive, many would consider the total cost acceptable. Even with a concerted effort to achieve compliance, however, the effectiveness of fecal occult blood testing would be limited to saving the lives of ≤15% of those who otherwise would die from their cancer in the first 10 yr after beginning mass screening. The limitations of fecal occult blood testing suggest the need to further evaluate the role of endoscopy in screening, and to develop more effective, noninvasive screening tools.
Output feedback control for constrained robust model predictive control

This paper is concerned with the problem of static output feedback control for the constrained robust model predictive control for uncertainty systems with polytopic description. The existence of a static output feedback control law is given in terms of linear matrix inequalities and the proposed approach is applicable for two different Lyapunov functions. To relax the conservatism of the proposed control law, we present a synthesis approach for controller design. Numerical example illustrates the merits of the proposed design method.
Narver and Slater, Kohli and Jaworski and the market orientation construct: integration and internationalization

Recent developments in marketing theory have resulted in two conceptualizations of the market orientation construct and preliminary evidence provides support for the often assumed relationship between market orientation and company performance. However, there is hardly any research regarding the potential consequences of market orientation for internationally active organizations. Current measures of the construct are biased towards domestic operations and do not explicitly consider factors specific to an international context. The present study proposes a framework integrating the two dominant conceptualizations of market orientation and introduces an international dimension to its study. The framework enables the specification of an expanded market orientation construct which, it is hoped, will be both valid and of practical use to organizations operating at an international level.
A Framework for a Multi-Faceted , Educational , Knowledge-Based Recommender System

The literature on intelligent or adaptive tutoring systems generally has a focus on how to determine what resources to present to students as they make their way through a course of study. The idea of multi-faceted student modeling is that a variety of measures, both academic and nonacademic, might be represented in student models in service of a broader educational context. This paper contains a framework for a multi-faceted, educational, knowledge-based recommender system, including a basic set of descriptors that the model contains, and a taxonomy of inferences that might be made over such models.
FUSARIUM VERTICILLIOIDES: MANAGING THE ENDOPHYTIC ASSOCIATION WITH MAIZE FOR REDUCED FUMONISINS ACCUMULATION

Fusarium verticillioides is a very important genus from the aspects of plant disease, cereal production, and food safety. A major concern of this species is its mycotoxins, which are harmful to humans and animals ingesting Fusarium-contaminated food or feed products. The fungus exists as a symptomless intercellular endophyte in both field and sweet maize, but its role during the symptomless state of infection is ambiguous. Most strains produce the fumonisin in large quantities during the preharvest and postharvest periods of maize production, even during the symptomless state. The dual nature of F. verticillioides as both pathogen and a symptomless endophyte indicates a complex relationship with maize. Interactive biotic factors such as plant genetics, along with abiotic factors, may alter the required balanced relationships, resulting in a weakened plant and changing the relationship into a disease, during which mycotoxins are produced. Consequently, the development of appropriate control measures for the virulent state is expected to be difficult. Two biocontrol agents and approaches are also reviewed, along that offering some pre- and postharvest biological control measures designed to reduce maize contamination by F. verticillioides and the fumonisin mycotoxins.
Applying agile practices to avoid chaos in User Acceptance Testing: A case study

Agile practices have gained increasing popularity in Information Technology (IT), Education, Marketing, and Advertising industry, as it brings quality products into the market faster. Scrum, Lean Development, and Extreme Programming are the most commonly considered processes under the Agile umbrella. Scrum or scrum variants form a high performance, collaborative team to handle projects that are more complex. We examine the applicability of the scrum framework to a large-scale revenue management system for User Acceptance Testing (UAT). Industry believes integration and acceptance testing is not easy to perform within the scrum framework. Nevertheless, very little is explored about the acceptance testing in Agile practices. We fill this gap by empirically evaluating UAT of a complex, large-scale system (in a public sector organization) to showcase the applicability of scrum framework. While the initial UAT team consisted of 100 domain experts, no process was defined for the UAT. This made it easier to streamline the UAT into the scrum framework. Once the scrum framework was introduced significant improvements in the UAT team was experienced with improved morale, productivity, efficiency, and time to market while having a smooth flow.
Thresholds and the species–area relationship: a synthetic analysis of habitat island datasets

The application of island biogeography theory in habitat fragmentation research assumes a simple relationship between species richness and fragment area. However, previous work has suggested that in some cases thresholds can be detected, at which the form of the island species–area relationship (ISAR) changes abruptly. Piecewise regression has been advocated as a suitable statistical technique to model such thresholds. Here we first provide a comparative analysis of piecewise regression models to determine the prevalence and type of thresholds in habitat island ISARs. Second, we evaluate piecewise regression as a method for locating thresholds in the ISAR, with particular emphasis on the implications of data transformation.
Analysis of the Strain and Stress in the HTS Generator at Different Operating Conditions

High-temperature superconducting (HTS) machines have the virtues of higher power density and better stability, which makes it a good prospect in the applications of wind power generation and ship propulsion. When the high-temperature superconductor is used in the rotating machines, the behavior of the conductor would be affected by the complex magnetic field, Lorentz force, and the centrifugal force. In order to evaluate the performance of the HTS coil in the machine, a finite element method model of the machine to calculate the magnetic field coupled with stress field was built in this paper. At first, the distribution of the magnetic field in the machine was calculated, then the Lorentz force was calculated and transferred to the stress field to obtain the stress and strain in the HTS and other structural materials. In the calculation, three operating conditions were considered, including no-load, full-load, and three-phase short-circuit fault. The results show that the stress on the HTS coil and the structural component are all smaller than the critical stress, which proves that the design is reliable.
Sex differences in risk factors, treatment and mortality after acute myocardial infarction: an observational study

BACKGROUND Coronary heart disease is the major cause of death of postmenopausal women in industrialised countries. Although acute myocardial infarction (AMI) affects men in greater numbers, the short-term outcomes for women are worse. In the longer term, studies suggest that mortality risk for women is lower or similar to that of men. However, length of follow up and adjustment for confounding factors have varied and more importantly, the association between treatment and outcomes has not been examined. STUDY OBJECTIVE To investigate the association between sex differences in risk factors and hospital treatment and mortality after AMI. DESIGN A prospective observational study collecting demographic and clinical data on cases of AMI admitted to hospitals in Yorkshire. The main outcome measures were mortality status at discharge from hospital and two years later. SETTING All district and university hospitals accepting emergency admissions in the former Yorkshire National Health Service (NHS) region of northern England. PARTICIPANTS 3684 consecutive patients with a possible diagnosis of AMI admitted to hospitals in Yorkshire between 1 September and 30 November 1995. MAIN RESULTS AMI was confirmed by the attending consultant for 2196 admissions (2153 people, 850 women and 1303 men). Women were older and less likely than men to be smokers or have a history of ischaemic heart disease. Crude inhospital mortality was higher for women (30% versus 19% for men, crude odds ratio of death before discharge for women 1.78, 95% confidence intervals 1.46, 2.18, p=0.00). This difference persisted after adjustment for age, risk factors and comorbidities (adjusted OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.04, 1.63, p=0.02), but was not significant when treatment was taken into account. Women were less likely to be given thrombolysis (37% versus 46%, p<0.01) and aspirin (83% versus 90%, p<0.01), discharged with β blockers (33% versus 47%, p<0.01) and aspirin (82% versus 88% p<0.01) or be scheduled for angiography, exercise testing or revascularisation. Adjustment for age removed much of the disparity in treatment. Crude mortality rate at two years was higher for women (OR 1.81, 95%CI 1.41, 2.31, p=0.00). Age, existing risk factors and acute treatment accounted for most of this difference, with treatment on discharge having little additional influence. CONCLUSIONS Patients admitted to hospital with AMI should be offered optimal treatment irrespective of age or sex. Women have a worse prognosis after AMI and under-treatment of older people with aspirin and thrombolysis may be contributing to this.
An unusual case of haemoptysis

A 65-year-old Filipino man presented with a cough productive of heavily bloodstained sputum for 1 month with slight weight loss. He had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease from a 60 pack-year smoking history, having quit 20 years previously, and his chronic mild dyspnoea was stable. He had been treated for pulmonary tuberculosis 9 years previously but had not travelled abroad for 3 years. He had no …
STRATEGIC MANUFACTURING CAPABILITY PURSUANCE: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

In all manufacturing firms, using appropriate manufacturing capabilities to gain competitive advantages is of crucial concern. There were scant theories that might help manufacturing firms to select the manufacturing capabilities appropriate for their own situations. Competitive strategy theorists believed that there was always a trade‐off impasse between different types of capabilities selections. Some other theorists, however, ruled out this trade‐off concern because they believed that manufacturing capabilities were developed through a reinforcement order, which is similar to the formation of a sand‐cone. This paper consolidated these two streams of thought, proposing a dual sand‐cone perspective. Abstracting from the extant literature, we considered the competitiveness of manufacturing companies from two principal perspectives, i.e. the operation leanness and the new‐value creativeness. Different types of manufacturing capabilities should be developed to fit in with the different statuses and paths of competitiveness growth. A path‐and‐stage identification method was also suggested for monitoring the sequence of capabilities development. Two case studies were provided to illustrate the applicability of the dual sand‐cone concept.
Sorafenib in Platinum-Treated Patients with Extensive Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG 0435) Phase II Trial

Introduction: Sorafenib is a multikinase inhibitor affecting pathways involved in tumor progression and angiogenesis. We conducted a phase II trial of sorafenib in platinum-treated patients with extensive stage small cell lung cancer to determine the tumor response rate, toxicity, and overall survival. Methods: Patients with histologically confirmed, measurable disease, Zubrod performance status 0 to 1, and no more than 1 prior platinum-based treatment were eligible. Patients were stratified by platinum-sensitivity status: sensitive (progression >90 days after platinum) or refractory (progression during or ≤90 days after platinum). Patients were treated with sorafenib 400 mg orally twice a day continuously on a 28-day cycle. Results: Of 89 patients registered, 82 were evaluable for toxicity assessment, and 83 were evaluable for response. There were four partial responses seen among the 38 patients in the platinum-sensitive stratum, for an estimated response rate of 11% (95% confidence interval: 3–25%), and one partial response among the 45 patients in the platinum-refractory stratum, for an estimated response rate of 2% (95% confidence interval: 0–12%). The median overall survival estimates were 6.7 months (95% confidence interval: 6.1–9.1 months) for the platinum-sensitive stratum and 5.3 months (95% confidence interval: 3.3–7.5 months) in the platinum-refractory stratum. Nineteen patients discontinued treatment because of adverse events or side effects from therapy. Conclusions: Based on the lack of disease control seen in our trial, further investigation of single-agent sorafenib in the small cell lung cancer population is not recommended. Combination trials of sorafenib and chemotherapy are ongoing.