Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How Important to Marketing Strategy is the “Heavy User”?

O marketing researchers screen respondents for product usage before proceeding with questions about attitudes, opinions, or behavior. Thus, a nonsmoker would rarely be included in a test of cigarette advertising copy, nor would a woman who never bakes cakes be asked to state her flavor preference for a cake mix. But there is a logical step beyond this dichotomy of users and nonusers-a step that is too seldom taken-and that is to let consumers "vote with their pocketbooks" by weighting their responses according to amount consumed. As an example, a household that consumes two six-packs of soft drinks in a given month would be weighted twice as heavily as a household that consumes only one six-pack. And if another household were to consume 30 six-packs during the same time period, then to the manufacturer the opinions of that household should be 30 times as important as those represented by the household that buys only one package. It is obvious, of course, that some families buy more of a given product category than other families. But how much more? Is purchase concentration sufficiently skewed to make it worth while to consider the "heavy user" as a distinct market segment? The answer is a resounding "YEs. " Since 1947, the Chicago Tribune has maintained a panel of some 700 households that report all purchases in a weekly purchase diary. As a service to advertisers the Tribune reports these data bimonthly for about 90 product categories. By special arrangement with Pierre Martineau, Marketing and Research Director of the Chicago Tribune, I have made analyses of the degrees of purchase concentration in 18 product categories-ranging from such lowincidence products as canned hash (with 32% of households reporting one or more purchases in 12
Firm, industry, and strategy influences on choice of downsizing approach

This study represents a step toward a more sophisticated and grounded understanding of downsizing. The author sharpens the concept of downsizing by identifying and distinguishing among different resource-reduction approaches. Then, drawing upon exit and mobility barrier theory, firm, industry, and strategy influences on choice of downsizing approach are examined. Findings suggest that characteristics of a firm's resources and the resale market for those resources differentially influence broad and focus firms' choice of downsizing approach. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Consensus statement on concussion in sport: the 4th International Conference on Concussion in Sport held in Zurich, November 2012

This paper is a revision and update of the recommendations developed following the 1st (Vienna 2001), 2nd (Prague 2004) and 3rd (Zurich 2008) International Consensus Conferences on Concussion in Sport and is based on the deliberations at the 4th International Conference on Concussion in Sport held in Zurich, November 2012.1–3 The new 2012 Zurich Consensus statement is designed to build on the principles outlined in the previous documents and to develop further conceptual understanding of this problem using a formal consensus-based approach. A detailed description of the consensus process is outlined at the end of this document under the Background section. This document is developed primarily for use by physicians and healthcare professionals who are involved in the care of injured athletes, whether at the recreational, elite or professional level. While agreement exists pertaining to principal messages conveyed within this document, the authors acknowledge that the science of concussion is evolving, and therefore management and return to play (RTP) decisions remain in the realm of clinical judgement on an individualised basis. Readers are encouraged to copy and distribute freely the Zurich Consensus document, the Concussion Recognition Tool (CRT), the Sports Concussion Assessment Tool V.3 (SCAT3) and/or the Child SCAT3 card and none are subject to any restrictions, provided they are not altered in any way or converted to a digital format. The authors request that the document and/or the accompanying tools be distributed in their full and complete format. This consensus paper is broken into a number of sections 1. A summary of concussion and its management, with updates from the previous meetings; 2. Background information about the consensus meeting process; 3. A summary of the specific consensus questions discussed at this meeting; 4. The Consensus paper should be read in conjunction with the SCAT3 assessment tool, the Child SCAT3 and the CRT …
Phytochemicals from Phyllanthus niruri Linn. and their pharmacological properties: a review

This review discusses the medicinal plant Phyllanthus niruri Linn. (Euphorbiaceae), its wide variety of phytochemicals and their pharmacological properties. The active phytochemicals, flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, lignans, polyphenols, tannins, coumarins and saponins, have been identified from various parts of P. niruri. Extracts of this herb have been proven to have therapeutic effects in many clinical studies. Some of the most intriguing therapeutic properties include anti‐hepatotoxic, anti‐lithic, anti‐hypertensive, anti‐HIV and anti‐hepatitis B. Therefore, studies relating to chemical characteristics and structural properties of the bioactive phytochemicals found in P. niruri are very useful for further research on this plant as many of the phytochemicals have shown preclinical therapeutic efficacies for a wide range of human diseases, including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B.
A practical framework for understanding the outsourcing process

Over the last number of years, outsourcing has become an important issue for many organisations. The potential for outsourcing has moved from peripheral activities such as cleaning and catering to critical activities such as design and manufacturing. However, there is evidence to suggest that organisations are not achieving the desired benefits from outsourcing. Outsourcing decisions are rarely taken within a thoroughly strategic perspective with many firms adopting a short‐term perspective and being motivated primarily by the search for short‐term cost reductions. The aim is to illustrate that outsourcing should be carried out from a strategic perspective and integrated into the overall strategy of the organisation by proposing an outsourcing framework. The framework attempts to overcome some of the problems associated with outsourcing by integrating a number of key strands related to outsourcing including a value chain perspective, core competency thinking and supply base influences into the decision‐making process.
A review of factors affecting online consumer search behaviour from an information value perspective

The use by consumers of the internet as a means of purchasing products and services seems to have fallen short of expectations that arose with consumer access to the internet. Evidence from online sales continues to show low conversion ratios, from enquiry to sale, in many online buying situations. As researchers search for answers to this problem several authors have proposed that the consumer information search process is not well understood when it comes to the internet. We review the literature on consumer information search behaviour focussing on information source utility, personal factors and product factors affecting consumer search behaviour and identify factors that limit the perceived value of online information in complex consumer buying decisions. We identify consumer frustrations from information that is inaccurate, poorly presented, insufficient or of dubious credibility and acts as an information roadblock, what then happens to their online search? We also argue that research in the context of subjectively evaluated "experience" type products e. g. , recreational equipment, apparel, recreational travel, etc. will contribute to marketing theory through better understanding the complexity of consumer needs.
Nonequilibrium Activation of a G-Protein-Coupled Receptor

G-protein-coupled receptor activation is generally analyzed under equilibrium conditions. However, real-life receptor functions are often dependent on very short, transient stimuli that may not allow the achievement of a steady state. This is particularly true for synaptic receptors such as the α2A-adrenergic receptor (α2A-AR). Therefore, we developed a fluorescence resonance energy transfer-based technology to study nonequilibrium α2A-AR function in living cells. To examine the effects of increasing concentrations of the endogenous agonist norepinephrine on the speed and extent of α2A-AR activation with very high temporal resolution, we took advantage of a fluorophore-containing α2A-AR sensor. The results indicated that the efficacy of norepinephrine in eliciting receptor activation increased in a time-dependent way, reaching the maximum with a half-life of ∼60 ms. The EC50 values under nonequilibrium conditions start at ∼26 μM (at 40 ms) and show a 10-fold decrease until the steady state is achieved. To analyze the ability of norepinephrine to trigger a downstream intracellular response after α2A-AR stimulation, we monitored the kinetics and amplitude of Gi activation in real time by using a fluorophore-containing Gi sensor. The results show that both the efficacy and the potency of norepinephrine in inducing Gi activation achieve a steady state more slowly, compared with receptor activation, and that the initial EC50 value of ∼100 nM decreases in an exponential way, reaching the minimal value of ∼10 nM at equilibrium. Therefore, both the efficacy and the potency of norepinephrine increase ∼10-fold over a few seconds of agonist stimulation, which illustrates that receptor and G-protein signaling and signal amplification are highly time-dependent phenomena.
Holding Distribution Utilities Liable for Outage Costs: An Economic Look

Storm-related service outages in electricity and telecommunications have created public controversies regarding the adequacy of ex ante efforts to prevent outages and ex post efforts to restore power. Product liability rules, used to promote quality of service throughout the economy, might seem to offer a solution to this problem in the utility context. Strict liability rules avoid the need for determining whether utilities were appropriately careful but increase ratepayer costs because of moral hazard and, in effect, force ratepayers to buy outage insurance from the utility. By leaving customers exposed to damage, negligence rules can avoid these shortcomings but force upon regulators and courts the need to make difficult decisions regarding efficient care levels. Profit regulation, risk aversion, regulatory commitment failures, and distributional considerations add further complications. Still, the consideration of liability rules may provide worthwhile reminders that increased reliability is neither free nor guaranteed by public provision of service.
Policy Instruments and Market Integration of Renewables - an Agent-Based Model Analysis

One of the energy transition’s main challenges is the alignment of renewable energy generation and demand. Thus, financial and organisational aspects in addition to the technical issues of the electricity system have to be redesigned to ensure the successful integration of renewable energies. The market integration of renewables by linking the generation of renewable electricity to the price signals of the energy exchange markets is broadly considered to be the key option to address this challenge. In 2012, the German government introduced a sliding market premium for supporting the direct marketing of electricity from renewable energies. We analyse the impacts of the market premium on the involved market actors (e.g. income situation of renewable power plant operators and direct marketers) on the micro level of the energy market system as well as its effects on the macro level (e.g. energy exchange prices and market structure) with our agent-based simulation model AMIRIS (Reeg et al. 2013).
A tactile sensor using three-dimensional structure

A tactile sensor for artificial fingertips utilizing a 3-D structured elastic body combined with vertical sampling pressure probes as a built-in feature extraction unit is proposed. The sensor uses orthogonally arranged vertical sampling probes and variable contact, realized by a flexible spherical surface. Using this architecture, three algorithms are proposed for the sensing surface texture, 2-D rubbing velocity, and deepness of contact, respectively. The architecture and the algorithms are examined in several experiments using a scaled-up model of the sensor. <<ETX>>
A Study of National Strategies for Business Excellence

Business excellence frameworks (BEFs) play an important role in promoting, and assisting organisations towards achieving, performance excellence. Many countries see them as a key strategic tool to improve national competitiveness. This paper provides an overview of a project to enhance the Australian Business Excellence Framework (ABEF) and increase its use within Australia. The methodology for the project comprised: desk-top research involving a review of academic and practitioner literature and international excellence framework custodian websites; key informant interviews and surveys involving Australian BE evaluators and client organisations; and further surveys involving international custodians of excellence frameworks, evaluators of organisational excellence, organisational clients and users of excellence models, and Australian businesses in general. The BEF custodians that participated represented the following 16 regions: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Europe, India, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Scotland, Singapore, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States. The findings indicate that Australia and BEF custodians in general should focus more on creating an awareness of BE and providing a range of effective tools and methods to assist organisations along the BE journey. Less emphasis is required on the design and development of the frameworks and on the awards process (as both are generally accepted by businesses and proven to be effective). Of key importance to a successful national BE strategy is an integrated approach which provides a clear road-map towards achieving excellence and which has the buy-in of key organisations that influence businesses (such as the government, universities, consultants and trade/management associations).
A theoretical study on sintering of Ni nanoparticles in the anode of solid oxide fuel cell under water vapor environment

Sintering of Ni particles in the Ni-based anode is a major obstacle to the widespread use of solid oxide fuel cell because the sintering induces the degradation in the anode. The large amount of water vapor in the fuel is known to accelerate the degradation during the operation. However, the detailed accelerated sintering mechanism is unclear. In this study, to clear the accelerated sintering mechanism during the initial stage of the sintering by water vapor, we investigated the adsorption and dissociation of water molecules on the Ni surface as well as the effect of the terminations of O, H, and OH on the interaction between the Ni clusters by density functional theory because the sintering of Ni particles is started by the Ni particles approaching each other due to the attractive interaction between Ni particles at the initial stage. In our adsorption and dissociation calculations, increasing the amount of water vapor facilitates the adsorption of H2O molecule on the Ni surface due to the H-bond interaction. Meanwhile, the activation energy for the dissociation of H2O molecules on the Ni surface is also lowered with increasing the amount of H2O molecules. Then, we calculated the interaction between Ni cluster, and O terminated, OH terminated, and H terminated Ni clusters. We observed that the attractive interaction between Ni cluster and O terminated Ni cluster is larger than that between two Ni clusters in vacuum. Enhancing the attractive interaction is not observed in the H terminated and OH terminated Ni clusters. It indicates that two Ni clusters approaching each other is faster under the water vapor environment than that in vacuum due to the strong attractive interaction caused by the termination of O. Thus, we suggest that the generation of O termination plays an important role in the sintering at the initial stage under the water vapor environment.
Health Insurance Coverage and Self-Employment Among Young US Adults

We utilize the NLSY97 data to study the impact of health insurance coverage on the decision to enter self-employment. We find that employer insurance coverage has a strong "pull" effect on the decision, especially among older males. Older females who gain dependent coverage are more likely to start a business, but a causal relationship cannot be established due to endogeneity. Health insurance coverage has little impact on the entry decision of more serious entrepreneurs: those who started a corporation, stared employer businesses and claim to be the manager of their businesses.
The European Process of Accounting Harmonization: Current Status and Future Developments. The Case of Italy

Purpose – The aim of the research is to examine the accounting systems of the EU Member States in order to assess the feasibility of an accounting harmonization process in the European Union, whose final objective is the preparation of a consolidated financial statement of the European Union, which will be useful in controlling the European public debt and European finance. In particular, the study will focus on:  firstly, the evolution of the accounting practices of Italian state-owned enterprises, following a recent major reform that introduced an accrual accounting system;  secondly, the accounting systems of the EU Member States in order to classify them as: 1) countries that adopt a financial accounting system; 2) countries that adopt a basic accrual accounting system (“Local GAAP based” accounting systems); 3) countries that adopt an advanced accrual accounting system (“IPSAS based” accounting system). Design/methodology/approach – We propose the following approach:  presentation of the accounting system of the European Union.  presentation of the Italian “public” accounting system and its recent reform.  examination of the accounting systems of the EU Member States: current status and evolutionary processes.  classification of the EU Member States into groups, depending on the accounting system adopted.  identification of costs and benefits of moving to an advanced accrual “IPSAS based” accounting system.  assessment of the time spent by the EU Member States to complete the transition to an advanced accrual “IPSAS based” accounting system.  estimation of the time needed to implement an advanced accrual “IPSAS based” accounting system in all the EU Member States. Originality/value –This methodology will try to highlight the costs and benefits of moving to an advanced “IPSAS based” accounting system and the time it took these countries to accomplish this step. The final goal is estimating the time needed for implementing the “IPSAS based” accounting system in all the EU Member States.
Ultra-narrow bandpass filters for infrared applications with improved angle of incidence performance

Narrow band-pass optical interference filters are used for a variety of applications to improve signal quality in laser based systems. Applications include LIDAR, sensor processing and free space communications. A narrow band width optical filter allows for passage of the laser signal while rejecting ambient light. The more narrow the bandwidth, the better the signal to noise. However, the bandwidth of a design for a particular application is typically limited by a number of factors including spectral shift over the operational angles of incidence, thermal shift over the range of operating temperature and, in the case of laser communication, rejection of adjacent laser channels. The trade-off of these parameters can significantly impact system design and performance. This paper presents design and material approaches to maximize the performance of narrow bandpass filters in the infrared.
Assessing adherence to antiretroviral therapy in randomized HIV clinical trials: a review of currently used methods

Antiretroviral therapy for the treatment of HIV infection requires high levels of adherence to both maintain plasma HIV RNA at undetectable levels and prevent the emergence of drug resistance. As adherence to treatment is a major criterion for the evaluation of therapeutic outcomes, randomized clinical trials (RCTs) conducted among HIV-infected patients commonly include an assessment of adherence. However, there is still no gold-standard tool for assessing adherence behaviors in HIV RCTs. The methods currently used to collect and analyze adherence data are varied, which makes the comparison of results between studies difficult. The scope of this article is to review and discuss the range of adherence measures currently used in RCTs conducted among HIV-infected adults.
Quad-Band Diversity Antenna for Automotive Environment

A compact, unilateral grounded Coplanar Strip (CS) antenna for automotive communications is presented in this letter. The antenna is designed for quad band operation covering DCS1800, IEEE 802.11b/g/n standards, Wi-MAX, Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V), and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) Communications. A simple folded microstrip line radiator along with unilateral ground plane of CS is attempted to generate the required frequency bands. To achieve polarization and pattern diversity functionality, a 4 port diversity antenna array is developed. The antenna unit cells are spaced 0. 125λg1 calculated at the lowest resonant frequency and are oriented orthogonal to adjacent unit cells to achieve high isolation greater than 20 dB, correlation coefficient less than 0.25 and diversity gain greater than 9.5 dB. The proposed antenna is suitable for automotive communications as it can be conveniently placed anywhere inside the vehicle more specifically in the wind screen, side mirrors and fenders.
Automated Purchase to Pay Process Value Modeling and Comparative Process Speeds

Author: Viljami Vanjoki Title: Automated purchase to pay process value modeling and comparative process speeds Faculty: LUT, School of Business Major / Master’s Programme: Supply chain management Year: 2013 Master’s Thesis: Lappeenranta University of Technology. 86 pages, 4 figures, 9 tables, 1 appendix Examiners: Prof. Jukka Hallikas Associate Prof. Katrina Lintukangas