Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of Self-Efficacy, Stress, Social Integration, and Family Support in Latino College Student Persistence and Health.

Abstract This study tested a path model of Latino college student outcomes (n=179). Four constructs were integrated into the model which predicted persistence intentions and health: self-efficacy (Bandura, 1986), stress, family support, and social integration (Tinto, 1987). As hypothesized, college self-efficacy was associated directly with stronger persistence intentions and associated indirectly with better health. Contrary to expectations, self-efficacy associated directly with social and faculty integration, but social and faculty integration were not associated directly with persistence intentions. In addition, students who reported stronger availability of family support reported stronger self-efficacy. Implications for designing culturally responsive intervention programming are described.
How Do Science and Technology Intersect in Complex Products? An Analysis of LCD‑Related Patents

In this paper we discuss liquid crystal displays as an example of "complex goods," or products composed of multiple constituent elements, in order to elucidate the linkages between science and technology. Exploratory analysis of bibliographic information from patents reveals two primary characteristics of such linkages in the field. First, although technology may not display strong linkages with scientific findings over all, some scientific knowledge is highly valuable for patented inventions. Companies in this field may be able to leverage scientific findings not used by competitors in order to produce more inventions. Second, because complex goods are based on an array of constituent elements, players in the field have the option whether or not to pursue inventions with strong links to science.
COXI based phylogenetic analysis of Caucasian clade of European Troglocaris ( Crustacea : Decapoda : Atyidae ) with the suggestion of a new taxonomic group structure

A. N. Severtzov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of RAS, Leninsky prospect, 33, Moscow, 119071, Russia. Altai State University, Leninsky Prospect, 61, Barnaul, 656049, Russia. Tel. : +7-915-302-50-12 Email: coralliodecapoda@mail.ru, vanomarin@yahoo.com Marin, I. (2017). COXI based phylogenetic analysis of Caucasian clade of European Troglocaris (Crustacea: Decapoda: Atyidae) with the suggestion of a new taxonomic group structure. Biosystems Diversity, 25(4), 323–327. doi:10.15421/011749
An integrated approach of Six Sigma and QSAM methodologies for a pharmaceutical company: A shipment improvement process

This paper presents a shipment improvement project in a pharmaceutical company to reduce distribution costs of a set of products shipped to Germany. The project consisted in the diagnosis and improvement of the shipment process through the deployment of Quick Scan Audit Methodology (QSAM) as a precursor to Six Sigma implementation. The original sample-shipments process was analysed to improve it and achieve the targets based on optimised sub-processes. The results showed a set of non-value added activities in transportation, motion, waiting, defects and the sub-utilisation of people. Based on the application of quality tools such as VSM, CFD, VOC, CTQ-Three under the Six-Sigma approach, the improvements achieved a 26% reduction in cycle time, and no complaints from customers were reported since the implementation. A control plan was deployed to track shipments and maintain open and close communication with the customer. The resulting benefits had a significant impact on reducing distribution costs.
Vocational Education and Productivity in the Swiss Business Sector

In this study we investigate the effects of three categories of employees with different levels of formal education (upper secondary level (“Berufslehre); tertiary level other than academic university (“Fachhochschulen”, etc.); and academic university level) on average labour productivity in an “augmented production function” framework (a) at firm level for the period 1994-2005 and (b) at industry level for the period 1991-2005. Throughout our firm-level estimations we find a significant positive effect for the share of employees with academic education on labour productivity at the firm level. A significant positive effect is also found for the share of the employees of employees with tertiary education (without academic university) for all firms but this effect can be traced back primarily to manufacturing firms. Less clear is the situation for “middle-educated” employees that build in most firms the largest part of employees. In the estimates with lagged right-hand variables (our preferred version) we find no significant effect of the share of this important category of employees on productivity. We obtain a significant positive effect only in the estimates for all firms without lags. Quantile regressions reveal that there are discernible differences between lowproductivity and high-productivity firms with respect to the contribution of this employee category to productivity; these differences seem to be quite sector-specific. At industry level we obtain a somewhat more positive picture with respect to the contribution of the share of middle-educated employees (who are measured at exactly the same way as firm level; referenced group is also in this case is the group pf employees without formal vocational education) to productivity. The coefficient of the respective variable is significantly positive. A possible explanation for this positive effect could be that our sample of industries contains relatively few service industries as compared to manufacturing industries (56 out of totally 73 industries are manufacturing industries).
Technical Efficiency and Productivity Growth in an Era of Deregulation: the Case of Airlines

In this paper we measure technical efficiency and productivity gains in airline activities. Non-parametric frontiers and Malmquist indices of productivity are estimated for thirty-three airlines observed over the period 1977-1988. We identify three sources of growth: technological progress, efficiency change and route network characteristics. The results bring to light the reasons that pushed several airlines to merge when markets were deregulated.
Measuring technical financial efficiencies and performances in the emerging markets: evidence from Turkish banking sector

Measuring the financial efficiencies and performances of the banking sector has played a crucial role in quantitative finance. Turkish banking sector, achieved TL 1,732 billion asset size as of December 2013, has a promising role in the emerging markets within the global economy. Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes (1978) had first introduced Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a valuable non- parametric and deterministic mathematical programing methodology for determining the efficient frontier that depends on the selected input and output variables of the DMUs. The principle form of DEA is CCR model, depends upon the constant returns to scale assumption, and measures the technical efficiency. The goal of this study is to analyze technical financial efficiencies and performances of 30 commercial and 13 development and investment banks for Turkey in 2012-2013. It has been observed that Turkish banks demonstrated better financial efficiencies in terms of intermediation approach rather than operating approach. In particular, commercial banks have shown higher technical financial efficiencies in comparison to development and investment banks. According to the results, Turkish banks require some improvements in input and output variables. As a consequent, both DEA analyses and selected bank performance indicators have revealed that Turkish banks have demonstrated significant financial technical efficiencies and bank performances for 2012-2013. In further, the DEA technique is regarded as a valuable quantitative tool for financial decision makers in analyzing the financial efficiencies of the banks.
Linking consumer confidence index and social media sentiment analysis

Abstract This study aims to analyse the link (correlation) between and the official CCI and social media big data (via sentiment analysis) on consumer purchasing behaviour for two types of products over the course of two years (24 months, from January 2015 to December 2016). The CCI data was obtained from the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) while the sentiment analysis was obtained from twitter. The results indicate that there is a significant but very small relationship between CCI and social media sentiment analysis. On the basis of the results we conclude that social media can offer huge a huge volume of data on consumer confidence, the analysis of which can be conducted at a more rapid time and integrated with existing methods in a synergistic way to refine the accuracy of the CCI using data from far larger populations.
Do Religion, Corporate Governance and BIG 4 Audit Interactions Affect Misclassification?

This study examines the extent to which religious socials norms of the firms’ environment interacts with corporate governance and BIG4 audit to affect managers’ motivation to engage in misclassification so as to influence reported core earnings. Using a sample of 23,164 U.S. firm-year observations between 2000 and 2015, we show that religiosity complements corporate governance to mitigate classification shifting in both rural and urban areas. In a religious environment, we find that managers have disincentive to shift revenue items from and core expenses into special items to inflate reported core earnings to avoid market penalties and beat analyst forecast, even more so in the presence of board independence. In addition, we find that the interaction between religiosity and audit from big four auditors also lower the presence of misclassification. Overall, results show that religiosity complements corporate governance and audit against misclassifying revenue items or core expenses.
Luxury goods and services: a comparative analysis between the markets of England and Poland

In the article the luxury markets of Poland and England are analyzed. The main factors that determine differences in the formation and development of these markets are determined. Consumer behavior motives on the Polish and British luxury goods markets are outlined. The results can be used as a methodological assistance in the development of marketing activities of Polish producers at the luxury goods market of England.
Robust signatures in the current–voltage characteristics of DNA molecules oriented between two graphene nanoribbon electrodes

In this work, we numerically calculate the electric current through three kinds of DNA sequences (telomeric, λ-DNA and p53-DNA) described by different heuristic models. A bias voltage is applied between two zigzag edged graphene contacts attached to the DNA segments, while a gate terminal modulates the conductance of the molecule. Calculation of the current is performed by integrating the transmission function (calculated using the lattice Green's function) over the range of energies allowed by the chemical potentials. We show that a telomeric DNA sequence, when treated as a quantum wire in the fully coherent low-temperature regime, works as an excellent semiconductor. Clear steps are apparent in the current–voltage curves of telomeric sequences and are present independent of length and sequence initialization at the contacts. We also find that the molecule–electrode coupling can drastically influence the magnitude of the current. The difference between telomeric DNA and other DNAs, such as λ-DNA and DNA for the tumour suppressor p53, is particularly visible in the length dependence of the current.
Femtosecond IR Study of Excited-State Relaxation and Electron-Injection Dynamics of Ru(dcbpy)2(NCS)2 in Solution and on Nanocrystalline TiO2 and Al2O3 Thin Films

The photophysics and electron injection dynamics of Ru(dcbpy)2(NCS)2 [dcbpy = (4,4‘-dicarboxy-2,2‘-bipyridine)] (or Ru N3) in solution and adsorbed on nanocrystalline Al2O3 and TiO2 thin films were studied by femtosecond mid-IR spectroscopy. For Ru N3 in ethanol after 400 nm excitation, the long-lived metal-to-ligand charge transfer (3MLCT) excited state with CN stretching bands at 2040 cm-1 was formed in less than 100 fs. No further decay of the excited-state absorption was observed within 1 ns consistent with the previously known 59 ns lifetime. For Ru N3 absorbed on Al2O3, an insulating substrate, the 3MLCT state was also formed in less than 100 fs. In contrast to Ru N3 in ethanol, this excited state decayed by 50% within 1 ns via multiple exponential decay while no ground-state recovery was observed. This decay is attributed to electron transfer to surface states in the band gap of Al2O3 nanoparticles. For Ru N3 adsorbed onto the surface of TiO2, the transient mid-IR signal was dominated by the IR abs.
Comparison of Three Strategies for Sequencing Rabies Viral G Gene

It is essential to rapidly, low-cost and precisely determining gene sequences of rabies virus. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction can be used to identify rabies viral G gene sequences. In this study, we evaluated three methods, conventional RT-PCR and direct sequencing, adapter RT-PCR and sequencing with universal primers, conventional RT-PCR and cloning sequencing with universal primers, to detect rabies in animal brain homogenate. Four rabies isolates recovered from Fuyang city of Anhui province were diagnosed as positive using the fluorescentantibody test, rapid rabies enzyme immunodiagnosis methods and the mouse inoculation test. The results indicated that the adapter RT-PCR method and sequencing with universal primers is extremely well suited for sequencing rabies viral gene, which is rapid, cost-effective and precise compared with other two methods.
Practice-ing behaviour change: Applying social practice theory to pro-environmental behaviour change

This article applies the insights of social practice theory to the study of proenvironmental behaviour change through an ethnographic case study (nine months of participant observation and 38 semi-structured interviews) of a behaviour change initiative — Environment Champions — that occurred in a workplace. In contrast to conventional, individualistic and rationalist approaches to behaviour change, social practice theory de-centres individuals from analyses, and turns attention instead towards the social and collective organization of practices — broad cultural entities that shape individuals’ perceptions, interpretations and actions within the world. By considering the planning and delivery of the Environment Champions initiative, the article suggests that practice theory provides a more holistic and grounded perspective on behaviour change processes as they occur in situ. In so doing, it offers up a wide range of mundane footholds for behavioural change, over and above individuals’ attitudes or values. At the same time, it reveals the profound difficulties encountered in attempts to challenge and change practices, difficulties that extend far beyond the removal of contextual ‘barriers’ to change and instead implicate the organization of normal everyday life. The article concludes by considering the benefits and shortcomings of a practice-based approach emphasizing a need for it to develop a greater understanding of the role of social interactions and power relations in the grounded performance of practices.
Risk minimizing strategies for a portfolio of interest-rate securities

The paper presents an application of stochastic control methods to fixed income management in an incomplete market with external economic factors. The objective of an investor is the minimization of a shortfall risk. The problem is reduced to the multidimensional Bellman equation. It is shown that for a large class of loss functions the equation possesses a continuous solution. We also consider loss functions from the HARA class and prove that for such functions the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation has a sufficiently smooth solution. This solution guarantees the existence of a well defined investment strategy. A special example of the bond portfolio with interest rates governed by the Gaussian HJM model is solved explicitly.
IN-VITRO ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF ISOLATED TANNINS OF ALCOHOLIC AND AQUEOUS EXTRACTS OF DRIED LEAVES OF PHYLLANTHUS AMARUSSCHONN

Tannins are the most abundant antioxidants in the human diet and they exhibit many biologically important functions which include protection against oxidative stress and degenerative diseases. The stems, infusion of leaves and roots of Phyllanthus species are used in folk medicine for treating intestinal infections, diabetes, the hepatitis B virus and disturbances of the kidney and urinary bladder and it has antioxidants activity. The purpose of the present study was to isolate the tannins from alcoholic and aqueous extract of Phyllanthus amarus and to evaluate the in–vitro antioxidant activity of isolated tannins. Tannins were isolated from both the extracts of Phyllanthus amarus leaves by lead acetate method. Both the extracts were used to evaluate the presence /absence of various phytoconstituents and to find out its in-vitro antioxidant activity by various models. Comparative antioxidant potential of tannins isolated from both the extracts of Phyllanthus amarus leaves were evaluated for the various in-vitro antioxidant activity models like in-vitro anti-lipid peroxidation activity, nitric oxide, superoxide scavenging, DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl) scavenging activity were evaluated against standard antioxidants such as Curcumin and ascorbic acid were used. Isolated tannins from both the extracts of Phyllanthus amarus showed significant in-vitro antioxidant activity in all the test systems. Isolated tannins from the alcoholic extract of Phyllanthus amarus showed significant in-vitro antioxidant activity in all the test systems. The tannins isolated from alcoholic extract of Phyllanthus amarus showed good in-vitro antioxidant activity for all the antioxidant assays against the tannins isolated from aqueous extract of Phyllanthus amarus. Tannins isolated from alcoholic and aqueous extracts of Phyllanthus aramus showed significant antioxidant activity in all the test systems. Thus the results indicate that the tannins isolated from alcoholic and aqueous extracts of Phyllanthus amarus are a potential source of natural antioxidants.
N surface general index I insulation L characteristic length ms metal sheet out outside the cooking chamber rad radiative

This paper studies the thermal applicability of two-phase thermosyphons in ovens/furnaces. The objective is to evaluate the performance of thermosyphons as heat transfer devices responsible for connecting the combustion and cooking chambers. Two different approaches were used: first, an experimental setup, which simulates an internal cross section of a convectional bakery oven cooking chamber assisted by vertical thermosyphons, was built. The experimental measurements show that the thermosyphons were able to provide a uniform temperature distribution inside the cooking chamber without the appearance of any overheated spot. In addition to the experimental setup, a theoretical lumped model was used to predict the air temperature variation and the relative importance of the convective and radiative heat transfer modes inside the cooking chamber. The net radiation heat transfer between the internal walls was determined numerically by means of a method described in [20]. The finite difference technique was applied for the computation of the non-linear differential system. The comparison between the model and the experimental data can be considered good, and the radiation was the major heat transfer mechanism inside the cooking chamber. 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Learning to Design for Both the End-User and Client Companies: A Pilot Survey of Practice in UK Schools

Professional designers have long had to grapple with designing products for both the end-users and the company which commissions the work. This paper reports on a survey, which aimed to examine how students are introduced to these concepts in schools via a questionnaire to new undergraduates of industrial design. The indications are that students are first introduced to the concept of designing for others at an average age of 13. Design for a company tends to be later, averaging age 15. The survey showed that teachers use a number of techniques to introduce these concepts. A comparative analysis is not possible within this research design. Those techniques that students felt were most effective at developing their understanding of design work in a commercial context are reported.
P o S ( C H A R M 2 0 1 6 ) 0 8 6 Multi-Meson Model applied to D + → K + K − K +

The description of processes involving multi-body nonleptonic decays is very challenging. Data sets are very large nowadays, and demand better models. In this work we focus on three-kaon weak matrix elements 〈(KKK)|Aμ |0〉, expressed as a relatively simple structure, which generalizes the concept of form factor. This is particularly important for D+ → K+K−K+ decay considering the dominance of annihilation weak topology. Here, we present the first version of a model to D+→ K+K−K+ decay which encompass naturally all final states topologies, including a proper multi-particle structures that cannot be decomposed into simpler two-body processes. All the structures are derived from a chiral effective theory and dressed with coupled channels where appropriate. The final amplitude contain only 3 free parameters related to f0(980) that are predicted by the theory but needs to be fine-tuned by a fit to data. This approach represents a significant improvement when compared to isobar model, often employed in analyses of heavymeson decay data.
The influence of costs and benefits’ analysis on service strategy formulation: Learnings from the shipping industry

Abstract Although servitization as a transformation process is being recognized by an increasing number of firms as a source of competitive advantage, the role of economic evaluations in service strategy formulation has so far attracted limited attention – and predominantly from the manufacturer perspective. This paper assesses how the analysis of costs and benefits of Product-Service Systems (PSS) as servitized offerings influences the formulation of service strategies in the shipping industry. The study examines both the manufacturer and customer perspectives using two case studies from the shipping sector. Life Cycle Costing (LCC) was used as a tool to assess the associated costs and benefits of two proposed PSS. Based on the results of the LCC, the drivers and barriers of the actual transformation processes were explored through workshops and interviews served to map the perspectives of both manufacturers and customers. For both case studies the LCC revealed that, while the PSS resulted in a decrease in life cycle costs and a possible revenue opportunity, there was also a lack of fundamental demand for PSS that could complicate the formulation of service strategies. Towards formulating service strategies, the analysis of costs and benefits highlighted the importance of the abilities of both the customer and the manufacturer to deliver and implement a PSS. Moreover, the customer perspective highlighted the importance of internal functions and capabilities that allowed the customer to implement and benefit from service strategies.