Source Usage Research Articles

The Effects of New Firm Survival and Growth when using Multiple Credit Sources

This paper examines if using multiple credit sources is beneficial for the performance (survival and growth) of new firms. Hypotheses are developed based upon the capital constraints argument, which argues that being able to access additional funds by using multiple credit sources will be associated with improved performance by new firms. The hypotheses are tested with a six-year longitudinal data set using survival and growth analyses. The results suggest the use of multiple credit sources is positively related to growth rates for firms that are growing above average. However, for firms that are growing below average, multiple credit source usage is found to be negatively associated with their survival rates. This suggests entrepreneurs should use multiple credit sources when their firms are growing quickly, and they should not use multiple credit sources when they are not growing or as a means to get out of a dire financial situation. Sensitivity analyses are performed to better understand and interpret the results.

History Writing and Wikipedia

Abstract How do Wikipedia articles about the same topic compare across languages? Previous Wikipedia articles in writing studies have examined revision practices (Jones, 2008), ethos building (Brown, 2009), and the potential and shortcomings (Purdy, 2009; Gruwell, 2015) in Wikipedia. This project analyzes three rhetorical aspects (the introduction/lead section, the organization of the article by way of Table of Contents, and source usage and citation) of the article “Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki” as it has been composed in 6 different languages: English, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese. Important findings are that the introductions and table of contents had important similarities but several notable differences, and the citation practices were very irregular and for the most part dominated by English language sources across the 6 different language versions. Finally, a case is made for the pedagogical importance of cross-language comparisons of Wikipedia.

Online information seeking behaviour among people living with HIV in selected public hospitals of Tanzania

PurposeThis paper aims to determine factors that influence people living with HIV (PLHIV) to engage in internet-based HIV information seeking behaviour in selected Tanzanian public regional hospitals.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a questionnaire-based survey to 221 PLHIV in two regional public hospitals in Mwanza and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. They assessed the validity and reliability of the measurement model by using exploratory factor analysis and also used hierarchical regressions to examine the research hypotheses by using Statistical Package for Social Science.FindingsThe study found that there is low usage of internet (24.3 per cent) to search online HIV information. Factors related to attitude and information source accessibility predicted usage intentions of internet, while facilitating conditions, information source accessibility and usage intention of internet determined actual use of internet among PLHIV. Age moderated the effects of information source quality and social influence on usage intention of internet, and the effects of the information source accessibility and social influence on actual use of internet. The findings imply that younger PLHIV were more likely to use internet to access HIV information than the older respondents due to perceived ease of accessing information and quality of the online content. Further, older PLHIV were more influenced by the views of others when making decisions to use internet.Practical implicationsHealth-care providers and libraries need to conduct regular studies on health needs of patients, and promote benefits of accessing online information; website designers need to design user-friendly databases; public libraries need to include a section on health information; hospital and public librarians need to provide catalogues of health information resources on their websites; and health-care providers need to improve technological infrastructure.Originality/valueThis is a comprehensive study that provides empirical findings to better understand the HIV information seeking behaviour from actual internet users, particularly factors that may influence PLHIV to seek online information in Tanzania.

Feasibility of external beam radiation therapy to deep-seated targets with kilovoltage x-rays.

Radiation therapy to deep-seated targets is typically delivered with megavoltage x-ray beams generated by medical linear accelerators or 60 Co sources. Here, we used computer simulations to design and optimize a lower energy kilovoltage x-ray source generating acceptable dose distributions to a deep-seated target. The kilovoltage arc therapy (KVAT) x-ray source was designed to treat a 4-cm diameter target located at a 10-cm depth in a 40-cm diameter homogeneous cylindrical phantom. These parameters were chosen as an example of a clinical scenario for testing the performance of the kilovoltage source. A Monte Carlo (MC) model of the source was built in the EGSnrc/BEAMnrc code and source parameters, such as beam energy, tungsten anode thickness, beam filtration, number of collimator holes, collimator hole size and thickness, and source extent were varied. Dose to the phantom was calculated in the EGSnrc/DOSXYZnrc code for varying treatment parameters, such as the source-to-axis distance and the treatment arc angle. The quality of dose distributions was quantified by means of target-to-skin ratio and dose output expressed in D50 (50% isodose line) for a 30-min irradiation in the homogeneous phantom as well as a lung phantom. Additionally, a patient KVAT dose distribution to a left pararenal lesion (~1.6 cm in diameter) was calculated and compared to a 15 MV volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plan. In the design of the KVAT x-ray source, the beam energy, beam filtration, collimator hole size, source-to-isocenter distance, and treatment arc had the largest effect on the source output and the quality of dose distributions. For the 4-cm target at 10-cm depth, the optimized KVAT dose distribution generated a conformal plan with target-to-skin ratio of 5.1 and D50 in 30 min of 24.1 Gy in the homogeneous phantom. In the lung phantom, a target-to-skin ratio of 7.5 and D50 in 30 min of 25.3 Gy were achieved. High dose conformity of the 200 kV KVAT left pararenal plan was comparable to the 15 MV VMAT plan. The volume irradiated to at least 10% (<240 cGy) of the prescription dose was 2.2 × larger in the 200 kV KVAT plan than in the 15 MV VMAT plan, but considered clinically insignificant. This study demonstrated that conformal treatments of deep-seated targets were achievable with kilovoltage x-rays with dose distributions comparable to MV beams. However, due to the larger volumes irradiated to clinically tolerated low doses, KVAT x-ray source usage for deep-seated lesions will be further evaluated to determine optimal target size.

Transferred plasma jet as a tool to improve the wettability of inner surfaces of polymer tubes

ABSTRACTThe wettability of the inner surfaces of vinyl, polyurethane, and silicone tubes was modified using an atmospheric pressure plasma jet operated in argon. A specific plasma jet configuration, transferred plasma jet, developed at Sao Paulo State University was utilized. It has been shown that it is possible to homogeneously alter the inner wall wettability of 1-m-long tubes, while providing safe plasma source usage for the operator. The water contact angle for three tube materials, i.e., vinyl, polyurethane, and silicone, changed from 98°, 86°, and 109° to 55°, 45°, and 40°, respectively.

Culture and Conflict: The Framing of News in Three National U.S. Newspapers

Overview: This research addressed how corporate political leanings of media organizations impacted journalistic coverage of issues of conflict and culture. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify how national newspapers with different editorial stances framed protest news coverage of the cultural issue of Black Lives Matter in order to attract audiences and differentiate their products. Journalists are influenced not only by what they see and hear at the scene of a news story but by the work practices and management decisions of their news organizations and parent companies. Methodology: Three national newspapers were chosen for analysis. Computational and manual content analyses of news stories were conducted to identify differences in word usage, story bias, and source usage. Newspaper stories on Black Lives Matter were collected at the height of coverage in Spring 2020 following the death of George Floyd and again in Spring 2021 surrounding the trial of Derek Chauvin, the police officer held responsible for the death. This timeframe provided an opportunity to measure differences in institutional and journalistic content decisionmaking in news stories during the heat of cultural exchanges. Findings: Analysis of newspaper coverage of the cultural movement indicated differences in coverage existed among newspapers where the liberal-leaning newspaper was more likely to engage in more sensational coverage, while the conservative newspaper engaged in more contextual coverage.

Micropropulsion generation model and simulation by WGM acceleration within a Panda ring resonator system

ABSTRACTA microbeam accelerator is modeled and simulated using the analogy of whispering gallery mode (WGM) generated by light within a nonlinear microring resonator system, which is called a Panda ring structure and made by an InGaAsP/InP material. The WGM mode is generated after the suitable ring parameters and optical input introducing into the system, especially, the suitable two nonlinear side ring radii are employed. From which, the required multiple propulsion (acceleration) of WGM beams is achieved using the multiple vertical Panda ring layout (several layers). The accelerated WGM beams of the multiple ring circuits can be obtained by the coincident of the multiple Panda rings. The simulation result shows that the proposed ring resonator system can be potentially fabricated within the microscale range and used for a microthruster, in which the required driven force can be used to drive the spacecraft or satellite to the target destination, which is known as a thrust propellant. For example, the result of the propulsion of 2.619–66.81 μN can be obtained by a single device system, which means that the larger volume or area can be used to produce more propulsion output. For further application, the suitable input source such as the infrared light source can also be used to for the micro‐heat source, in which the large area of the device array may be useful for large area micro‐heat source usage. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 59:377–380, 2017

Beef consumer segment profiles based on information source usage in Poland

The main aim of this study was to identify market segments based on consumers' usage of information sources about beef and to investigate whether the use of information sources was associated with the type of information consumers were searching for, factors guiding their decision processes to buy beef and motives related to beef consumption. Data were collected in 2014 through a self-administered survey of 501 regular beef consumers. Three distinct clusters were identified: Enthusiast (38.5%), Conservative (43.1%) and Ultra Conservative (18.4%). This study revealed that culinary and personal sources of information on beef were the most frequently used. Taste, perceived healthiness and suitability to prepare many dishes were reported as primary motives to eat beef. These results show that communication channels such as culinary programs and opportunities provided by the development of labelling systems to guarantee beef quality should be considered when developing policies and strategies to increase beef consumption in Poland.

Cryptic Journalism

In light of Edward Snowden’s global surveillance disclosures, this article examines news discourses about online communication security and surveillance circumvention practices. It analyses 1249 news reports mentioning encryption in The Guardian and The New York Times, covering a three-year period from June 2012 to June 2015 (one year before and two years after the Snowden revelations). Whilst there was a marked increase in the volume of news articles mentioning encryption post-Snowden, the context in which encryption is discussed has since shifted from an initial emphasis on “surveillance” towards “security” issues. However, the research found that greater news coverage of encryption did not necessarily mean an increase in depth of coverage, with most mentions of encryption vague and non-descript. In terms of source usage, the research finds an emphasis on private corporations in both publications analysed. This is problematic when many of the organisations allowed to speak on encryption were those accused of colluding with the US and UK Governments to aid covert mass surveillance—the likes of Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and so forth—thus providing them with a platform to exonerate themselves from the accusations. This contradictory depiction of communication security serves the status quo and prevents advancement of the “encrypted by default” communication practice called for by Snowden. This, by extension, has serious implications for both journalistic freedom and civil liberties since it helps to perpetuate the ability of nation states and corporations to conduct indiscriminate mass surveillance.

Molecular Survey of Cell Source Usage during Subtotal Hepatectomy-Induced Liver Regeneration in Rats.

Proliferation of hepatocytes is known to be the main process in the hepatectomy-induced liver regrowth; however, in cases of extensive loss it may be insufficient for complete recovery unless supported by some additional sources e.g. mobilization of undifferentiated progenitors. The study was conducted on rat model of 80% subtotal hepatectomy; the objective was to evaluate contributions of hepatocytes and resident progenitor cells to the hepatic tissue recovery via monitoring specific mRNA and/or protein expression levels for a panel of genes implicated in growth, cell differentiation, angiogenesis, and inflammation. Some of the genes showed distinctive temporal expression patterns, which were loosely associated with two waves of hepatocyte proliferation observed at 2 and 7 days after the surgery. Focusing on genes implicated in regulation of the progenitor cell activity, we came across slight increases in expression levels for Sox9 and two genes encoding tumor necrosis factor-like cytokine TWEAK (Tnfsf12) and its receptor Fn14 (Tnfrsf12a). At the same time, no increase in numbers of cytokeratin 19-positive (CK19+) cells was observed in periportal areas, and no CK19+ cells were found in hepatic plates. Since CK19 is thought to be a specific marker of both cholangiocytes and the hepatic progenitor cells, the data indicate a lack of activation of the resident progenitor cells during recovery of hepatic tissue after 80% subtotal hepatectomy. Thus, proliferation of hepatocytes invariably makes the major contribution to the hepatic tissue recovery, although in the cases of subtotal loss this contribution is distinctively modulated. In particular, induction of Sox9 and TWEAK/Fn14 regulatory pathways, conventionally attributed to progenitor cell activation, may incidentally stimulate mitotic activity of hepatocytes.

A FRAMEWORK FOR AN OPEN SOURCE GEOSPATIAL CERTIFICATION MODEL

Abstract. The geospatial industry is forecasted to have an enormous growth in the forthcoming years and an extended need for well-educated workforce. Hence ongoing education and training play an important role in the professional life. Parallel, in the geospatial and IT arena as well in the political discussion and legislation Open Source solutions, open data proliferation, and the use of open standards have an increasing significance. Based on the Memorandum of Understanding between International Cartographic Association, OSGeo Foundation, and ISPRS this development led to the implementation of the ICA-OSGeo-Lab imitative with its mission “Making geospatial education and opportunities accessible to all”. Discussions in this initiative and the growth and maturity of geospatial Open Source software initiated the idea to develop a framework for a worldwide applicable Open Source certification approach. Generic and geospatial certification approaches are already offered by numerous organisations, i.e., GIS Certification Institute, GeoAcademy, ASPRS, and software vendors, i. e., Esri, Oracle, and RedHat. They focus different fields of expertise and have different levels and ways of examination which are offered for a wide range of fees. The development of the certification framework presented here is based on the analysis of diverse bodies of knowledge concepts, i.e., NCGIA Core Curriculum, URISA Body Of Knowledge, USGIF Essential Body Of Knowledge, the “Geographic Information: Need to Know", currently under development, and the Geospatial Technology Competency Model (GTCM). The latter provides a US American oriented list of the knowledge, skills, and abilities required of workers in the geospatial technology industry and influenced essentially the framework of certification. In addition to the theoretical analysis of existing resources the geospatial community was integrated twofold. An online survey about the relevance of Open Source was performed and evaluated with 105 respondents worldwide. 15 interviews (face-to-face or by telephone) with experts in different countries provided additional insights into Open Source usage and certification. The findings led to the development of a certification framework of three main categories with in total eleven sub-categories, i.e., “Certified Open Source Geospatial Data Associate / Professional”, “Certified Open Source Geospatial Analyst Remote Sensing &amp;amp; GIS”, “Certified Open Source Geospatial Cartographer”, “Certified Open Source Geospatial Expert”, “Certified Open Source Geospatial Associate Developer / Professional Developer”, “Certified Open Source Geospatial Architect”. Each certification is described by pre-conditions, scope and objectives, course content, recommended software packages, target group, expected benefits, and the methods of examination. Examinations can be flanked by proofs of professional career paths and achievements which need a peer qualification evaluation. After a couple of years a recertification is required. The concept seeks the accreditation by the OSGeo Foundation (and other bodies) and international support by a group of geospatial scientific institutions to achieve wide and international acceptance for this Open Source geospatial certification model. A business case for Open Source certification and a corresponding SWOT model is examined to support the goals of the Geo-For-All initiative of the ICA-OSGeo pact.

Public Frame Building: The Role of Source Usage in Times of Crisis

New media have markedly enhanced the public’s capacity to influence the framing of an issue, especially within crisis situations. By relying on research triangulation, this study aims to map the comprehensive frame-building process of the public as an understudied domain within framing and crisis research. Study 1 uses advanced automated content analyses of crisis-related tweets ( N = 252,711) to examine how the public built frames online with the use of information sources. Study 2 applies an innovative vignette study ( N = 772) to investigate the conditions that influence the public’s source selection during crises. The findings illustrate how the public uses sources to address certain frame functions and show that source usage is subject to external factors (i.e., crisis origin and magnitude) as well as internal factors (i.e., crisis involvement and habitual source use).

The effects of online and offline information sources on multiple store patronage

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between multiple store patronage (MSP) and information source usage both online and offline. In particular, this study investigates the detailed effects of information sources on MSP rather than considering whether consumers choose online or offline sources. In prior studies, MSP has been conceptualized using the consumer cost–benefit framework and relates to consumer multiple store usage. However, even though prior studies have emphasized the importance of information sources in the cost–benefit framework, those that consider MSP have not tested the sources' effects. This current study conducts empirical count data analysis in the Japanese sports shoes retail market. The results reveal that consumers evaluate information sources using more detailed divisions than simply online and offline. This study contributes to studies on MSP because it is the first to identify the impact of information source usage on MSP.

Assembly scaffolding with PE-contaminated mate-pair libraries.

Scaffolding is often an essential step in a genome assembly process, in which contigs are ordered and oriented using read pairs from a combination of paired-end libraries and longer-range mate-pair libraries. Although a simple idea, scaffolding is unfortunately hard to get right in practice. One source of problems is so-called PE-contamination in mate-pair libraries, in which a non-negligible fraction of the read pairs get the wrong orientation and a much smaller insert size than what is expected. This contamination has been discussed before, in relation to integrated scaffolders, but solutions rely on the orientation being observable, e.g. by finding the junction adapter sequence in the reads. This is not always possible, making orientation and insert size of a read pair stochastic. To our knowledge, there is neither previous work on modeling PE-contamination, nor a study on the effect PE-contamination has on scaffolding quality. We have addressed PE-contamination in an update to our scaffolder BESST. We formulate the problem as an integer linear program which is solved using an efficient heuristic. The new method shows significant improvement over both integrated and stand-alone scaffolders in our experiments. The impact of modeling PE-contamination is quantified by comparing with the previous BESST model. We also show how other scaffolders are vulnerable to PE-contaminated libraries, resulting in an increased number of misassemblies, more conservative scaffolding and inflated assembly sizes. The model is implemented in BESST. Source code and usage instructions are found at https://github.com/ksahlin/BESST BESST can also be downloaded using PyPI. ksahlin@kth.se Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

An algorithm for designing minimal microbial communities with desired metabolic capacities.

Recent efforts to manipulate various microbial communities, such as fecal microbiota transplant and bioreactor systems' optimization, suggest a promising route for microbial community engineering with numerous medical, environmental and industrial applications. However, such applications are currently restricted in scale and often rely on mimicking or enhancing natural communities, calling for the development of tools for designing synthetic communities with specific, tailored, desired metabolic capacities. Here, we present a first step toward this goal, introducing a novel algorithm for identifying minimal sets of microbial species that collectively provide the enzymatic capacity required to synthesize a set of desired target product metabolites from a predefined set of available substrates. Our method integrates a graph theoretic representation of network flow with the set cover problem in an integer linear programming (ILP) framework to simultaneously identify possible metabolic paths from substrates to products while minimizing the number of species required to catalyze these metabolic reactions. We apply our algorithm to successfully identify minimal communities both in a set of simple toy problems and in more complex, realistic settings, and to investigate metabolic capacities in the gut microbiome. Our framework adds to the growing toolset for supporting informed microbial community engineering and for ultimately realizing the full potential of such engineering efforts. The algorithm source code, compilation, usage instructions and examples are available under a non-commercial research use only license at https://github.com/borenstein-lab/CoMiDA CONTACT: elbo@uw.edu Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Dynamic Resource Prediction and Allocation in Clouds using Pattern Matching

Objective: Cloud computing provides computational power as utility which can be acquired on demand. Cloud providers should have the ability to predict the future resource usage of an application. The prediction of resources aims to accommodate the dynamic resource requests generated by the applications and providing the resources when required. As the user’s demand changes over time, it becomes hard to maintain uniformity in delivering the service. Method: This paper proposes a dynamic technique that predicts resource usage in advance using simple patter matching technique. The prediction is based on the initial usage of the resources and executing tasks. The resources are offered as packages where each package has a bundle of processing capability. Initially the algorithm monitors the current usage and starts predicting and allocating resources after the usage pattern is available. Findings: The experiment displays initial failure and gradually increases in hit as prediction is more accurate with more available patterns. This way, there source usage can be predicted and necessary resources can be made ready in advance so that the user can get necessary services on demand. The prediction accuracy of the algorithm is 97.08%. The delay in initializing the resources is minimized by 25.381%. Application: The resource usage can be predicted and necessary resources can be made ready in advance so that the user can get necessary services on demand. Resource prediction can improve the quality of service parameter and cloud providers can be aware of the changing demands of the applications.

Effectiveness of Supercapacitors in Pure Electric Vehicles Using a Hybrid Metaheuristic Approach

In this paper, a novel energy management system (EMS) for a hybrid power source in a small urban electric vehicle (EV) is presented. The problem is divided in three layers, according to the real-time needs of the system. The long-term management layer dynamically restricts the search space based on a set of rules. The short-term management layer implements the optimization strategy based on a hybrid metaheuristic approach combining particle swarm optimization (PSO) and simulated annealing (SA). The solutions to the optimal power sharing problem are used to generate the power references for the lower layer, i.e., a high-speed dc-dc controller. This controller is developed using a linear-quadratic regulator (LQR). A reduced-scale prototype has been built to analyze the performance of the energy management strategy. The results show the effectiveness of this multilayer EMS allowing to fulfill the requested performance with better source usage and much lower installed capacities.

News as a Cultural Mirror: Historically Black Newspapers Reflecting Public Views of Loving v. Virginia (1967)

This study examined seven historically Black newspapers’ coverage of the landmark Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia (1967), which overturned anti‐miscegenation laws that prevented non‐White individuals from marrying White individuals. A content analysis of frames and source usage within 31 news stories about the case indicated that about half of the stories (N = 14) advocated for the Lovings and a small number (N = 1) advocated for the State of Virginia; the remaining stories were either informational (N = 7) or objectivist (N = 9). Because the media is said to be a cultural mirror of public opinion, the results of this study may indicate the public's views on the issue of intermarriage laws. This study's findings also showed that historically Black newspapers agreed with their mainstream counterparts more than they disagreed.

Phases and Steps in the Access to Data in Information Tools

In the society, it is much easier for someone to find relevant data if s/he has an need because of the availability of databases and electronic tools. In science this topic is usually treated under the topic behaviour. In lexicogra- phy the term access process is used (Bergenholtz and Gouws 2010). It can be shown that this process beginning with the origin of the problem leading to an information source usage situation con- tains different parts, and that each part contains different phases, with the pre-consultation phase and the intra-consultant phase containing different steps. The most important concepts here are the access route and the access time. In this paper some experiments in two case studies are described to show how different access processes in different user situations take place.

Food insecurity, overweight and obesity among low-income African-American families in Baltimore City: associations with food-related perceptions.

To examine associations between food insecurity, excess body weight, psychosocial factors and food behaviours among low-income African-American families. Cross-sectional survey of participants in the baseline evaluation of the B'More Healthy Communities for Kids (BHCK) obesity prevention trial. We collected data on socio-economic factors, food source destinations, acquiring food, preparation methods, psychosocial factors, beliefs and attitudes, participation in food assistance programmes, anthropometry and food security. We used principal component analysis to identify patterns of food source destinations and logistic regression to examine associations. Fourteen low-income, predominantly African-American neighbourhoods in Baltimore City, MD, USA. Two hundred and ninety-eight adult caregiver-child (10-14 years old) dyads. Of households, 41·6 % had some level of food insecurity and 12·4 % experienced some level of hunger. Food-insecure participants with hunger were significantly more likely to be unemployed and to have lower incomes. We found high rates of excess body weight (overweight and obesity) among adults and children (82·8 % and 37·9 % among food insecure without hunger, 89·2 % and 45·9 % among food insecure with hunger, respectively), although there were no significant differences by food security status. Food source usage patterns, food acquisition, preparation, knowledge, self-efficacy and intentions did not differ by food security. Food security was associated with perceptions that healthy foods are affordable and convenient. Greater caregiver body satisfaction was associated with food insecurity and excess body weight. In this setting, obesity and food insecurity are major problems. For many food-insecure families, perceptions of healthy foods may serve as additional barriers to their purchase and consumption.