Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determination of the appetite of laying hens for methionine in drinking water by using colour cue.

Methionine is the first limiting amino acid in most commercial feeds for laying hens SCHUTTE et al. (1994), in addition to its main role as a component of proteins it also acts in various metabolic pathways. There are several factors (e.g. feed energy and protein content, age, genotype, sex and various environmental factors) to take into account when balancing the feed formulation EMMANS and FISHER (1986), therefore amino acids provided by compounded feeds will meet a variable proportion of the requirements of the hens in a flock BOORMAN and BURGESS (1986). Moreover, once the compound feed is mixed, both its amino acid content and also the extent to which it will meet the requirements of all the hens in any given flock are fixed. However, the methionine requirements of a greater proportion of a flock of hens could be met if it could be demonstrated that the domestic fowl had an appetite for methionine and could express it when experiencing a marginal deficiency by consuming, as a choice, water supplemented with methionine. Relatively few attempts have been made to supply amino acids in drinking water. GRIGGS et al. (1971) succeeded in administering various nutrients, including amino acids to poults through the drinking water and observed early weight gain. DAMRON and GOODSON-WILLIAMS (1987) conducted a study with broilers where 0.05% liquid DL-methionine was added to drinking water while the birds received a low-methionine diet. They found neither reductions of feed or water intake, nor any change in levels of mortality. Moreover, as a result of practising the above feeding regimen, lower mortality and reduced stress have been reported ANONYMOUS (1984). When 2-hydroxy-4 (methylthio) butanoic acid was used in drinking water DAMRON and FLUNKER (1992), the results were similar to those of DAMRON and GOODSON-WILLIAMS (1987), in that no adverse effects on feed intake, water intake, and liveability were observed.
Inflammatory Cytokines, Endothelial Function, and Chronic Allograft Vasculopathy in Children: An Investigation of the Donor and Recipient Vasculature After Heart Transplantation

Chronic allograft vasculopathy (CAV) limits the lifespan of pediatric heart transplant recipients. We investigated blood markers of inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, and damage to both the native and transplanted vasculature in children after heart transplantation. Serum samples were taken from pediatric heart transplant recipients for markers of inflammation and endothelial activation. The systemic vasculature was investigated using brachial artery flow‐mediated dilatation and carotid artery intima‐medial hyperplasia. CAV was investigated using intravascular ultrasound. Mean intima‐media thickness (mIMT) > 0.5 mm was used to define significant CAV. Forty‐eight children (25 male) aged 8–18 years were enrolled in the study. Patients were a median (interquartile range) 4.1 (2.2–8.7) years after transplant. Patients had increased levels of circulating IL6 (3.86 [2.84–4.95] vs. 1.66 [1.22–2.63] p < 0.0001), vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (539 [451–621] vs. 402 [342–487] p < 0.001), intracellular adhesion molecule 1 305 (247–346) vs. 256 (224–294) p = 0.002 and thrombomodulin (7.1 [5.5–8.1] vs. 3.57 [3.03–4.71] p < 0.0001) and decreased levels of tumor necrosis factor‐α, E selectin, and P selectin, compared with controls. The systemic vasculature was unaffected. Patients with severe CAV had raised serum von Willebrand factor and decreased serum thrombomodulin. Posttransplant thrombomodulin levels are elevated after transplant but significantly lower in those with mIMT > 0.5 mm. This suggests that subclinical inflammation is present and that natural anticoagulant/thrombomodulin activity is important after transplant.
MontiCore: agile Entwicklung von domänenspezifischen Sprachen im Software-Engineering

Domain specific languages (DSLs) are languages in computer science which permit specifying compact solutions in clear-cut functional or technical application areas. Using a domain specific notation simplifies the integration of experts in comparison to conventional software development because the models are easier understood by them. The automatic creation of production code from domain specific models is an effective form of model-driven development. An agile and efficient development process is hard to establish using existing DSL development methods because of the missing central language reference which includes abstract and concrete syntax and inadequate modularization techniques. Methods and reference architectures are lacking for designing and using complex and model-based tools in structured way for software development. Thus, in this thesis the modular development of textual DSLs and tools with the MontiCore-framework is described. The most important contributions to research can be summarized as follows: • Textual domain specific languages can be defined by a compact grammar-based format that defines abstract syntax as well as concrete syntax of a language and can therefore be used as a central documentation for developers and users of a DSL. The emerging abstract syntax is equivalent to well-established metamodeling-techniques and extends common grammar-based approaches. • The reuse of language fragments within model-driven development is supported by two modularity mechanisms that combine existing artifacts in a structured way to form new languages: Grammar inheritance supports the specialization and extension of languages. Embedding permits the flexible combination of multiple languages, which can also differ fundamentally in their lexical structure. • The used grammar format is extensible in a modular way such that additional information can be specified as so-called concepts. Based on them, further infrastructure can be generated from the language definition. The extensibility by concepts is demonstrated by a declarative way to specify links in the abstract syntax and by an attribute grammar system. • The development of code generators and tools for the analysis of DSLs is simplified considerably by making a reference architecture available. Approved solutions can be used without further development effort. Thus, the quality of the emerging tools is increased in comparison to existing approaches. • It is demonstrated how compilable templates can be used for an integrated refactoring of templates and a runtime environment. Based on that, a method is defined to develop a generator in a stepwise manner from existing source code. The data model of the generator can be derived automatically. The abovementioned languages and methods are developed within the framework MontiCore. Their applicability is demonstrated by the development of the framework itself in a bootstrapping-process and by two further case studies.
Corporate Reputation Through Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Insights From Service Industry Companies

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has gained global awareness in recent years. The proponents of CSR state that a good corporate reputation may be beneficial to an organization. This research paper reviews the theoretical basis of CSR, and by adopting a qualitative methodology examines the characteristics of CSR strategies and CSR communication tactics of eight companies in Cyprus market through personal in-depth interviews. Results reveal that CSR has a positive impact on the company's employees, the environment, stakeholders and the general public, and highlight that CSR is an important ingredient for the success of the organizations in the Cyprus market.
Scanning-tunneling-microscopy signatures and chemical identifications of the (110) surface of Si-doped GaAs.

The electronic properties of the (110) surface of both pure and Si-doped bulk GaAs are studied using first-principles total-energy calculations within the local-density functional and pseudopotential approximations. The wave functions of the relaxed configurations are used to generate theoretical scanning-tunneling-microscopy (STM) images. For the clean surface, the buckling angle of the surface Ga-As bond is found to be 26 o and the theoretically generated STM images are in good agreement with those obtained from experiment. For the Si-doped GaAs(110) surface, the extra electron of the Si substitutional at a Ga site on the surface is found to be well-localized around the Si atom
Towards a Framework for Transforming Business Models into Business Processes

This paper aims at providing a methodological framework for mapping strategic business model updates onto the business processes within a company. An analysis of the interdependencies between business models and business processes to estimate the effects of a strategic decision constitutes an essential pillar of the proposed framework. In order to facilitate the underlying transformation of business models into business processes, the development of executable process modules will serve to transform partial aspects of a complex novel business model separately. Companies can utilize the benefits of the proposed framework to implement their business models in a more efficient and optimized way.
Specific heat of superfluids near the transition temperature.

The specific heat of the {ital x}-{ital y} model is studied on cubic lattices of sizes {ital L}{times}{ital L}{times}{ital L} and on lattices {ital L}{times}{ital L}{times}{ital H} with {ital L}{much_gt}{ital H} (i.e., on lattices representing a film geometry) using the cluster Monte Carlo method. Periodic boundary conditions were applied in all directions. In the cubic case we obtained the ratio of the critical exponents {alpha}/{nu} from the size dependence of the energy density at the critical temperature {ital T}{sub {lambda}}. Using finite-size scaling theory, we find that while for both geometries our results scale to universal functions, these functions differ for the different geometries. We compare our findings to experimental results and results of renormalization-group calculations.
The Debrecen Stroke Database: Demographic Characteristics, Risk Factors, Stroke Severity and Outcome in 8088 Consecutive Hospitalised Patients with Acute Cerebrovascular Disease

Background High stroke mortality in central-eastern European countries might be due to higher stroke incidence, more severe strokes or less effective acute care than in countries with lower mortality rate. Hospital databases usually yield more detailed information on risk factors, stroke severity and short-term outcome than population-based registries. Patients and methods The Debrecen Stroke Database, data of 8088 consecutively hospitalised patients with acute cerebrovascular disease in a single stroke centre in East Hungary between October 1994 and December 2006, is analysed. Risk factors were recorded and stroke severity on admission was scored by the Mathew stroke scale. The modified Glasgow outcome scale was used to describe patient condition at discharge. Results Mean age was 68 ± 13 years, 11·4% had haemorrhagic stroke. The rate of hypertension on admission was 79% in men, and 84% in women, 40·3% of men and 19·8% of women were smokers, and 34% of all patients had a previous cerebrovascular disease in their history. Case fatality was 14·9%, and 43% had some disability at discharge. Outcome at discharge was worse with higher age, higher glucose, higher blood pressure, higher white cell count and erythrocyte sedimentation rate and more severe clinical signs on admission. In multivariate analysis admission blood pressure lost its significance in predicting outcome. Conclusions In this large Hungarian stroke unit database hypertension on admission, smoking and previous cerebrovascular disease were more frequent than in most western databases. These findings indicate major opportunities for more efficient stroke prevention in this and probably other eastern European countries.
A Comparative Study of HRM Practices between Foreign and Local Garment Companies in Bangladesh

The purpose of this research is to explore and compare human resource management (HRM) practices between foreign and local garment companies operating in Bangladesh. This study surveyed 30 human resource, administrative and factory managers of different levels of three garment companies: one US subsidiary, one UK subsidiary and one Bangladesh company. Results show that a blend of HRM practices has been adopted by the foreign companies, ranging between imitating home country practices and host country practices. Results also found that foreign garment companies focus more on home country HRM practices, especially in the area of selection and recruitment, training and development, performance appraisal process and top management appointments. Foreign garment companies are widely adopting host country HRM practices in industrial relations and compensational benefit. However, Bangladeshi local garment company is following traditional HRM practices and showing interest in learning from the foreign company HRM practices. Since this study is based on a limited number of companies, generalization of findings of this study for cross-cultural adaptation/adjustment in other developing countries should be made with caution. Combination of home and host country HRM practices can have a positive influence on transfer of HRM practices in developing nations. It could open a new avenue for further potential research on HRM practices in the South Asian business context, especially in the garment industry.
The impact of WTO accession on the Chinese garment industry

By the mid‐1990s, China had become the world's largest producer (and exporter) of textiles and garments. It is widely believed that China's textile industry will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of World Trade Organization (WTO) accession, thereby enabling Chinese textile firms to use foreign‐invested enterprises to gain direct access to overseas purchasing networks, and helping to boost China's textile and clothing exports; however, most Chinese garment manufacturers have been in existence for only a relatively short period and are small in size. The Chinese garment industry is made up largely of small enterprises; run‐of‐the‐mill small garment manufacturers suffer because of the incomplete adoption of the market mechanism, restricted access to information and unfair competition. These smaller manufacturers remain dependent on traditional business models, and as a result, their operating costs have remained very high. Concludes that the vast majority of Chinese garment manufacturers are thus engaged in a constant struggle to stay in business.
The Japanese Quail

The chicken is a descendent of Asian red junglefowl (Gallus gallus), which was domesticated around 5,400 B.C. and is an important and popular food resource. Birds hold an important place in the course of evolution since they are a link between mammals and other vertebrates. The chicken, in particular, is a model organism representative of approximately 9,600 existing avian species. Historically, chickens have greatly contributed to various research fields such as oncology, virology, immunology, and developmental and neural sciences, and in the production of vaccines and pharmaceuticals. The number of chickens utilized as experimental animals reaches more than 1/20th of the number of mice and 1/2 that of rats used in experiments. Takashi YOSHIMURA, Director
EFIDIR : extraction et fusion d'informations pour la mesure de déplacements par imagerie radar

L'imagerie radar satellitaire permet de mesurer le deplacement du sol avec une pre- cision centimetrique, voire millimetrique a l'aide de series d'images SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar). Ces precisions ne peuvent etre atteintes qu'en exploitant la masse de donnees radar disponibles ou le potentiel de satellites lances recemment : images haute resolution (metrique) ou polarimetriques. Cet article presente les principaux resultats obtenus par le projet ANR EFIDIR (extraction et fusion d'informations pour la mesure de deplacement en imagerie radar, 2008-2011) qui rassemble des specialistes de l'imagerie radar, du traitement de l'in- formation et des geosciences. Un radar imageur de terrain a ete mis au point et des methodes de traitement specifiques ont ete developpees (tomographie radar, surechantillonnage d'ima- ges complexes.) afin d'ameliorer la caracterisation de la diffusion electromagnetique et les pretraitements des donnees SAR. Les methodes d'extraction d'informations de deplacement a partir de l'amplitude (texture tracking) ou de la phase (interferometrie multitemporelle) ont ete approfondies et testees sur les grands deplacements de glaciers, ou de faibles deformations intersismiques. Une approche originale de fouille de donnees a egalement ete developpee pour extraire les motifs sequentiels frequents et appliquee avec succes a la detection de motifs lies a la deformation du sol noyes dans des artefacts atmospheriques. Enfin une approche nouvel- le de representation des incertitudes par la theorie des possibilites a ete introduite dans l'eta- pe d'inversion qui permet de reconstruire des champs de deplacement 3D (Est, Nord, vertical) ou d'estimer les parametres de modeles geophysiques des phenomenes a l'origine des depla- cements observes en surface. Ces travaux illustrent ainsi les grandes etapes des chaines de traitement permettant d'aller de la formation des donnees SAR a la modelisation geophysique.
Search engine advertising in web retailing : an efficiency analysis

This study examines the efficiency of search engine advertising strategies employed by firms. The research setting is the online retailing industry, which is characterized by extensive use of Web technologies and high competition for market share and profitability. For Internet retailers, search engines are increasingly serving as an information gateway for many decision-making tasks. In particular, Search engine advertising (SEA) has opened a new marketing channel for retailers to attract new customers and improve their performance. In addition to natural (organic) search marketing strategies, search engine advertisers compete for top advertisement slots provided by search brokers such as Google and Yahoo! through keyword auctions. The rationale being that greater visibility on a search engine during a keyword search will capture customers' interest in a business and its product or service offerings. Search engines account for most online activities today. Compared with the slow growth of traditional marketing channels, online search volumes continue to grow at a steady rate. According to the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, spending on search engine marketing by North American firms in 2008 was estimated at $13.5 billion. Despite the significant role SEA plays in Web retailing, scholarly research on the topic is limited. Prior studies in SEA have focused on search engine auction mechanism design. In contrast, research on the business value of SEA has been limited by the lack of empirical data on search advertising practices. Recent advances in search and retail technologies have created datarich environments that enable new research opportunities at the interface of marketing and information technology. This research uses extensive data from Web retailing and Google-based search advertising and evaluates Web retailers' use of resources, search advertising techniques, and other relevant factors that contribute to business performance across different metrics. The methods used include Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), data mining, and multivariate statistics. This research contributes to empirical research by analyzing several Web retail firms in different industry sectors and product categories. One of the key findings is that the dynamics of sponsored search advertising vary between multi-channel and Web-only retailers. While the key performance metrics for multi-channel retailers include measures such as online sales, conversion rate (CR), c1ick-through-rate (CTR), and impressions, the key performance metrics for Web-only retailers focus on organic and sponsored ad ranks. These results provide a useful contribution to our organizational level understanding of search engine advertising strategies, both for multi-channel and Web-only retailers. These results also contribute to current knowledge in technology-driven marketing strategies and provide managers with a better understanding of sponsored search advertising and its impact on various performance metrics in Web retailing.
Zero order drug delivery from double‐layered porous films: release rate profiles from ethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose and polyethylene glycol mixtures

Laminated double‐layered films comprising a drug‐containing and drug‐free layer were prepared using tripelennamine, barbitone, salicylic acid and caffeine dispersed in hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC) attached to ethyl cellulose (EC) films containing various proportions of polyethylene glycol (PEG) or HPC to enhance permeability. Drug release in vitro followed zero‐order kinetics, rate constants being dependent on the thickness of the drug‐free membrane, which was rate‐controlling. Thickness‐corrected zero order constants were independent of drug‐loading, which did, however, control the duration of release. Permeability coefficient measurements on the same rate‐controlling films used as single barrier membranes enabled the effective drug concentration (Co) at the interface between the laminated membranes to be estimated; Co was independent of drug loading and was of the order expected from the aqueous solubilities of the drugs. Release rates were enhanced by addition of hydrophilic polymer to the rate‐controlling membranes, either linearly with fraction of additive for PEG to 0·6 or HPC to 0·4, or logarithmically for HPC from 0·4 to 0·8. Enhancement coefficients, which were different for each system, reflected the different mechanisms of hydrophilic polymer action. PEG was leached out rapidly, pores being formed in the matrix. In contrast, HPC was largely retained, so that the enhancement was less. The logarithmic enhancement stemmed from formation of swollen hydrated channels, which, unlike the low HPC fractions or the PEG systems, allowed entry of buffer ions, so that only in these channel systems were the release rates altered by change of the external pH.
Relations among Mental Capacity, Short-Term Storage Space, and Operational Efficiency

According to R. Case, a subject's Total Processing Space is the sum of his Short-term Storage Space (STSS) and Operating Space (OS). Case has hypothesized a trade-off between the two, that is, an increase in operational efficiency leads to a decrease in operating space, and consequently more short-term space is available for information processing. To test Case's hypothesis 52 freshman students were tested to estimate operational efficiency (time taken to finish the Figural Intersection Test, when administered with a time limit), Pascual-Leone's Structural M-capacity, Ms (i.e., STSS), and Functional M-capacity, Mf. A zero correlation was obtained between operational efficiency and MS/STSS, which suggests that subjects find it difficult to distribute attentional load from one reserve (OS) to another (STSS). This study supports Pascual-Leone's construct of Ms and Mf. It is concluded that subjects with high operational efficiency seem to be operating with the field-independent cognitive style rather than using a strategy of decreasing operating space.
FIRM RESPONSES TO SECONDARY STAKEHOLDER ACTION.

In this paper, we explore the conditions under which secondary stakeholder groups are likely to elicit positive firm responses. To this end, we build upon and advance Mitchell, Agle, and Wood’s (1997) stakeholder saliency and identification framework by defining saliency in terms of actions, not perceptions, and by proposing that power, legitimacy, and urgency arise out of the nature of stakeholder - request - firm triplets. To test this framework, we build a unique dataset of over 600 secondary stakeholder actions within the United States, all concerning environmentalissues over the period 1971-2003.