Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On Cultural Factors in Sino-American Business Negotiations

Business negotiation plays a significant role in the business activities. But the daily increasing issues reflect that there are so many problems in international business negotiations caused by cross-cultural differences. As the ways of thinking and behavior differ a lot between Chinese and American, and if negotiators are not familiar with their partners' culture, the cross-cultural negotiation habits and related knowledge, there will definitely be some obstacles in understanding which easily leads to mistakes in their communication, and even some serious mistakes that could ruin their business. So this paper first explores the cultural factors in international business negotiation, and then puts forward some strategies to deal with the cultural problems.
The facial skeleton of the early Oligocene colodon (perissodactyla, tapiroidea)

Two skulls of the early Oligocene Colodon from the White River Group in South Dakota are much more derived than previously reported. In particular, morphologies of the facial skeleton and narial region are surprisingly modern, including a deeply retracted nasoincisive incisure, and other indicators of prehensile proboscis development. High-resolution X-ray computed tomography was used to explore the internal anatomy of these tapiroids, and revealed frontal sinuses, and an internal facial skeleton approaching that of modern tapirs. This not only indicates an earlier origin for these anatomical conditions than previously recorded, but in a phylogenetic context indicates that Colodon is more closely related to Tapirus than is Protapirus. Matthew W. Colbert. The Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Geological Sciences Department, 1 University Station C1100, Austin, Texas 78712-0254 USA colbert@mail.utexas. edu
Estimating Annual Water Storage Variations Using Microwave-based Soil Moisture Retrievals

Due to their shallow vertical support, remotely-se ns d surface soil moisture retrievals are commonly regarded as being of limited value for water budget applications requiring the characterization of tem poral variations in total terrestrial water storage ( S). However, advances in our ability to estimate eva potranspiration remotely now allow for the direct evaluation of app roaches for quantifying annual variations in S via water 15 budget closure considerations. By applying an annua l water budget analysis within a series of medium-s cale (2,000-10,000 km) basins within the United States, we demonstrate t hat, despite their clear theoretical limitations, surface soil moisture retrievals deriv d from passive microwave remote sensing contain si g ificant information concerning relative inter-annual variat ions in S. This suggests the possibility of using (relativel y) higher-resolution microwave remote sensing to enhan ce the spatial resolution of S estimates acquired from 20 gravity remote sensing. However, challenging calibr t on issues regarding the relationship between S a d surface soil moisture must be resolved before the approach c n be used for absolute water budget closure.
Endogenous information disclosure in experimental oligopolies

With this research we examine whether observing firm-specific production levels leads to a less competitive market outcome. We consider an endogenous information setting where firms can freely decide whether they want to share information about their past production levels. By voluntarily sharing information, firms can show their willingness to cooperate.We conduct a laboratory experiment where firms decide only about their production levels first, and the information they receive is exogenous (either no information, or aggregate / disaggregated information about others' production, in varying order). Later, firms can also decide whether to share their past production levels with others. We vary the kind of information firms receive: they receive the shared information either in aggregate or in disaggregated form. Our results show no difference in average total outputs across data aggregation and information settings. However, we observe more collusion when individual information was shared voluntarily. Our results show that subjects use voluntary sharing to show their intentions to cooperate. If they share information, they produce significantly less than if they do not share information.
Problems of Harmonization of Legislation of Kazakhstan and China in the Conditions of the Wto

The purpose of this article is to consider the problems of harmonizing the laws of Kazakhstan and China in the conditions of the World Trade Organization rules (WTO). For this, the author used general theoretical and specific scientific methods of investigation. As a result of the analysis, the author argues that the principles that are determined by multilateral agreements of the WTO member countries will be met by each new member when reforming the national trading system and its legal regulation. Actions of participants should correspond to all complexes of the WTO agreements regulating legal relations of its participants. In turn, in case of the relevant agreements’ conclusion within the framework of the WTO, their expression is found in the state legislation of the participating country. This is, in fact, the final stage in the beginning of the WTO rules.
Laboratorial evaluation of antimicrobial efficacy of herbal dentifrices commercialized in India

Objective: The purpose of this in vitro study to evaluate antimicrobial efficacy of commercially available herbal dentifrices in comparison with conventional dentifrices against seven oral microbes, namely, Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus mitis, Streptococcus sanguinis, Streptococcus salivarius, Actinomyces viscosus, Candida albicans, and Lactobacillus acidophilus. Materials and methods: Antimicrobial properties of dentifrices were evaluated by measuring zone of inhibition at 48h on blood agar plates inoculated with microbial strains, using disc diffusion method. Each dentifrice was tested in 100% and 50% concentration. Sterile distilled water was used as control. One way Analysis of Variance followed by Tukey post hoc was used for multiple group comparisons. P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: In both, 100% and 50% concentrations maximum zone of inhibition was observed with Smyle™ herbal toothpaste followed by Himalaya herbals™ dental cream. Conclusion: Antimicrobial activity of Smyle™ herbal toothpaste is the best against microorganisms tested in present study.
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF FAMILY OF PRIME SEQUENCE CODES IN AN OCDMA SYSTEM

In a CDMA system, spreading code play an important role in the system performance. Optical CDMA (OCDMA) takes the advantage of both spread spectrum as well as high bandwidth optical fiber. In an optical communication system, the code length and code weight are one of the factor that determine the number of users the system can accommodate. Also code length have significant role in raising the system performance. Hence longer codes are more beneficial. Among the commonly used optical address codes, prime codes are easy to generate. But the correlation properties of optical orthogonal codes (OOC) are superior to that of prime codes. However, complex algorithms are required for the generation and correlation of OOC. In this paper, the performance of family of prime sequence codes are evaluated by taking code length and code weight as a parameter.
Urban Tourist Complexes as Multi-Product Companies: Market Segmentation and Product Differentiation in Amsterdam

The tourism sector is evolving into an advanced industrial sector. Modern tourism presupposes an attractive portfolio of tourist services for a varied set of visitors. Meanwhile, tourism destinations have turned into multifaceted tourist complexes comprising a broad package of amenities that satisfy the needs of a heterogeneous group of clients. Such tourist complexes may be regarded as export-oriented multi-product companies, characterized by spatial and functional market segmentation and by monopolistic competition reflected in product differentiation. This paper argues that tourism becomes a diversified globally-oriented export industry which has to serve a multiplicity of clients. The previous observations prompt intriguing questions on the heterogeneity, motivations, satisfaction and loyalty of tourists. The present work aims to offer a causal path model that depicts the multidimensional attraction force of a particular international tourism centre, viz. Amsterdam, from the perspective of a varied supply of tourism services. After presenting the design of a conceptual model, the empirical implications of offering a multi-product package to a heterogeneous group of visitors are modelled using a structural equations model (SEM). The primary goal of this study was to assess the impact of several factors on the loyalty (measured by the possibility of a return visit or a recommendation to visit to others) to the destination of Amsterdam. The main factors analysed in our study were personal characteristics of tourists, their motivations to visit the city and the satisfaction with the destination. The various findings are interpreted, while policy implications are also outlined. One of the most important findings was that the relationships identified between the levels of satisfaction of tourists and the loyalty to Amsterdam as a tourist destination shows that tourists who achieve higher levels of satisfaction with intangible aspects of the city tend to be more loyal than those who achieve more satisfaction with the tangible aspects of Amsterdam. Another significantly positive effect on loyalty was found for tourists in the lower income categories, tourists with a higher level of education and non-European tourists.
Responsabilité sociétale de l’entreprise : une étude de la nature et de la valeur perçues des ressources mobilisées dans trois entreprises du secteur de l’imprimerie

Cette recherche exploratoire porte sur les ressources mobilisees par les entreprises pour mettre en œuvre une demarche responsable. Notre objectif est de sortir de l’analyse des success story d’entreprises pour proposer une grille d’intelligibilite des divergences d’approches en vigueur dans les entreprises d’un meme secteur. Plus particulierement, nous nous interessons a la nature et a la valeur des ressources sollicitees tout en en questionnant les differences de perception en fonction de la strategie de l’entreprise. Nous presentons les resultats d’une etude de cas menee dans trois imprimeries familiales. La collecte des donnees s’est appuyee sur une serie de trois entretiens semi-directifs par entreprise avec les dirigeants et le recueil de donnees secondaires. Nous avons ensuite procede a une analyse de contenu thematique. Nos resultats font principalement ressortir qu’une meme ressource peut etre percue differemment en fonction du contexte et des acteurs qui la mobilisent. Ils debouchent sur la proposition d’une modelisation du processus de construction de la valeur d’une ressource sollicitee dans le cadre d’une demarche de responsabilite societale de l’entreprise (RSE).
Harnessing social media and cloud-computing technologies for co-design in open collaborative innovation: the case of 24 hours of innovation

Designers and industry both agree that new uses of media and cloud computing technologies have had a major impact on the way designers receive and share information and knowledge. Our research team was interested in examining whether these technologies also directly affect the social dynamics in co-design meetings. In this paper, we describe the dynamics observed during an annual international competition, 24 Hours of Innovation , and at two co-design sessions held at the Ecole de technologie superieure s INGO Innovation Center in Montreal. Our aim was to develop a Knowledge Management System that supports the co-design experiences present in an open collaborative innovation process. We analyzed the use of media by participants during four periods of the event: announcement, information, contributions, and polling of projects. We followed 135 teams from more than 20 universities, from 5 continents, which participated in the 5th edition of 24 hours of Innovation in Montreal. This competition also included 14 remote teams that participated in the 6th edition at ESTIA France.
A Chemotherapy-Diffusion Model for the Cancer Treatment and Initial Dose Control

A one site chemotherapy agent-difiusion model is proposed which accounts for difiusion of chemotherapy agent, normal and cancer cells. It is shown that, by controlling the initial conditions, consequently an initial dose of the chemotherapy agent, the system is guaranteed to evolute towards a target equilibrium state. Or, growth of the normal cells occurs against decay of the cancer cells. Efiects of difiusion of chemotherapy-agent and cells are investigated through numerical computations of the concentrations in square and triangular cancer sites.
Options-Implied Variance and Future Stock Returns

Existing studies document mixed evidence on Merton’s (1987) conjecture of a positive relation between conditional idiosyncratic stock variance and future stock returns. We revisit this issue using options-implied variance as a proxy for conditional variance because, as a forward-looking variable, options-implied variance has superior predictive power for future realized variance. In both crosssectional (for individual stocks) and time-series (for the market index) regressions, we uncover a significantly negative relation between options-implied variance and future stock returns. Consistent with Miller’s (1977) divergence of opinion hypothesis, the negative relation is stronger (1) for stocks with more stringent short-sale constraints or (2) when shorting stocks becomes more difficult.
Quality Assessment of Awareness Support in Agile Collaborative Tools

Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) is an academic research field focused on understanding characteristics of interdependent group work with the objective of designing adequate computer-based technology to support cooperative work processes. One of key concepts behind CSCW is the provision of relevant information to each worker in a team, a concept named awareness. As the market and research community have already perceived the importance of provide fast and reliable information among team workers, it shares the interest of CSCW in awareness improvement. This work proposes the identification of collaboration tools used by agile teams and the analysis of the quality of awareness support in them by responding the following research question: what is the quality of awareness support in collaborative tools used by agile teams? The research was conducted as a systematic literature review (SLR) and a survey. The SLR analyzed published papers on agile collaborative tools to identify which are the most used ones by agile teams and how to perceive them by CSCW classification. A survey was responded by 200 IT professionals to assess twelve selected collaboration tools regarding their awareness categories. The results outlines some of the strengths and weaknesses that can be used to propose improvements or help users to choose which tool should be implanted given a particular awareness category in concern. The lowest overall evaluated score category was location awareness with an average of 238.48 out of 600 points, while the highest was workspace awareness with an average of 374.62 out of 600 points.
Quantitative estimation of phenotypic plasticity: bridging the gap between the evolutionary concept and its ecological applications

1 Global change and emerging concepts in ecology and evolution are leading to a growing interest in phenotypic plasticity (PP), the environmentally contingent trait expression observed in a given genotype. The need to quantify PP in a simple manner in comparative ecological studies has resulted in the prevalence of various indices instead of the classic approaches, i.e. a comparison of slopes in the norms of reactions (trait vs. environment plots). 2 The objectives of this study were: (i) to review the most common methods for quantitative estimation of PP; (ii) to apply them to a specific case study of growth and shoot–root allocation responses to irradiance in seedlings of four woody species grown at 1%, 6%, 20% and 100% full sunlight; and (iii) to propose new methods of estimating PP. 3 The 17 different plasticity indices analysed rendered disparate results, with cross‐overs in species PP rankings. Statistical comparisons of PP among species were not possible with most of the indices due to the lack of confidence intervals. The non‐linear responses of the traits made the use of the slope of the reaction norm to quantify PP unrealistic, and raised awareness on values derived from studies that consider just two environments. 4 We propose an alternative approach to quantify PP based on phenotypic distances among individuals of a given species exposed to different environments, which is summarized in a relative distance plasticity index (RDPI) that allows for statistical comparisons of PP between species (or populations within species). RDPI was significantly correlated with 12 out of the 17 PP indices analysed. An index including the environmental range leading to the different phenotypes (environmentally standardized plasticity index, ESPI), and thus expressing plasticity per unit of environmental change, is also proposed. 5 The new indexes can statistically segregate and unambiguously rank species according to their PP, which can foster a better understanding of plant ecology and evolution, particularly when common protocols are used by different investigators.
Security Issues in Cloud Computing

Cloud computing allows on-demand provisioning of computing services. Despite the many advantages, the cloud computing environment faces many security challenges. This paper reviews major security issues arising in the cloud computing environment owing to computation outsourcing, multi-tenancy and broad network access. Notable research in the area is summarized. A set of recommendations for secure deployment on the cloud is also included.
Emergence of drug resistance in bacteria: An insight into molecular mechanism

In spite of an enormous success of antibiotics as chemotherapeutic agents, infectious diseases continue to be a leading cause of mortality worldwide. The bacteria have the capability to regenerate in approximately every 30 minutes with a fresh possibility to mutate and adapt to a brand new environment. The widespread use of prescription antibiotics places a selective pressure on bacteria that favours the survival of the fittest and more adapted strain on less susceptible strains. The adapted strains of bacteria are competent in such a way that antibiotics can no longer bind to the bacterial receptor or enter the bacterial cell to harm bacterial propagation and reproduction. Destroying or inactivating the antibiotic, pumping out the antibiotic and modifying the antibiotic target are some of the important mechanisms which confer bacterial resistance. This review article discusses few of the molecular modes of antibiotic action and bacterial resistance mechanisms.
Cold Load Pick-up

The load behaviour of the industrial and residential sector following different types of outages is dealt with in this dissertation. Data on the power consumption after these outages have been used for deriving models of the cold load pick-up. In the industrial sector the investigation covers a variety of branches and special attention has been given to plants having a high degree of electric energy consumption. Data of the power consumption after planned and forced outages have been collected and descriptions over typical restarting procedures and common restoration problems have been summarized. Due to the fact that the production can not start immediately after voltage is restored, the power consumption from the industrial sector will be lower after an outage as compared with the pre disturbance condition. The time it takes to enter a normal production again varies considerably and may take minutes or up to days for sensitive processing industries. When studying the residential sector, individual load objects, individual houses and residential areas have been investigated by laboratory and field measurements. The reason for this is to get a better understanding of how different load objects and electric heating behave after an outage. This knowledge is then used when analysing measurements of the cold load pick-up in residential areas. The measurements clearly indicate that the cold load pick-up for residential load has the opposite behaviour as compared with industrial load which means that it is (much) higher after an outage and then decreases to its normal level after a time. As residential load often is used in schemes of rotating load curtailment, simulations of such a scheme have been performed. The results show that it is important to tune this scheme properly in order to achieve the desired operation.
FEASILITY STUDY OF USING THE ROBOEARTH CLOUD ENGINE FOR RAPID MAPPING AND TRACKING WITH SMALL UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEMS

This paper presents the ongoing development of a small unmanned aerial mapping system (sUAMS) that in the future will track its trajectory and perform 3D mapping in near-real time. As both mapping and tracking algorithms require powerful computational capabilities and large data storage facilities, we propose to use the RoboEarth Cloud Engine (RCE) to offload heavy computation and store data to secure computing environments in the cloud. While the RCE’s capabilities have been demonstrated with terrestrial robots in indoor environments, this paper explores the feasibility of using the RCE in mapping and tracking applications in outdoor environments by small UAMS. The experiments presented in this work assess the data processing strategies and evaluate the attainable tracking and mapping accuracies using the data obtained by the sUAMS. Testing was performed with an Aeryon Scout quadcopter. It flew over York University, up to approximately 40 metres above the ground. The quadcopter was equipped with a single-frequency GPS receiver providing positioning to about 3 meter accuracies, an AHRS (Attitude and Heading Reference System) estimating the attitude to about 3 degrees, and an FPV (First Person Viewing) camera. Video images captured from the onboard camera were processed using VisualSFM and SURE, which are being reformed as an Application-as-a-Service via the RCE. The 3D virtual building model of York University was used as a known environment to georeference the point cloud generated from the sUAMS’ sensor data. The estimated position and orientation parameters of the video camera show increases in accuracy when compared to the sUAMS’ autopilot solution, derived from the onboard GPS and AHRS. The paper presents the proposed approach and the results, along with their accuracies.