University Institutional Research and Student Recruitment Performance: Utilizing Marketing Communication for Knowledge Heterogeneity

Abstract. Institutional research constantly generate useful but heterogeneous knowledge for university administrations. Thus the effectiveness of institutional research dependes on the communication of those heterogeneous knowledge to major stakeholders (e.g., parents, students, teachers, etc.). A conceptual paper is developed in regards to the influences of institutional research, word-of-mouth (via internal students and faculties), quality signaling (to external prospect students and stakeholders as potential customers), and customer relationship management, on student recruitment performance as a special form of customer decision. Grounded on the marketing communication perspective, we propose that the student recruitment performance is largely affected by word-of-mouth, quality signaling, and customer relationship management as strategic marketing communications, which are facilitated by institutional research. Institutional research is interpreted as a strategic marketing tool that can help identify, communicate, and visualize the strengths of a university. The conceptual model contributes to the search for marketing mechanisms through which institutional research can generate impact to external stakeholders. Formal propositions and their implications for future, larger-scaled surveys were discussed.Keywords: Institutional research, Word-of-mouth, Quality signaling, Customer relationship management, Student recruitment.JEL. C40, H43, J68

Deduced probable HLA-B*40:01:35-associated HLA haplotype (A*24-B*40:01:35-DRB1*11) found in a Taiwanese unrelated hematopoietic bone marrow stem cell donor

AbstractObjectiveHuman leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B*40:01:35 is a low incidence allele in the HLA-B locus. The objective of this study is to report the ethnicity of B*40:01:35 and its deduced probable HLA associated haplotype in a Taiwanese unrelated bone marrow hematopoietic stem cell donor.Materials and methodsA sequence-based typing method was employed to confirm the low incidence allele B*40:01:35. Polymerase chain reaction was performed to amplify exons 2 and 3 of the HLA-A and HLA-B loci and exon 2 of the HLA-DRB1 locus using group-specific primer sets. The amplicons were sequenced using the BigDye Terminator Cycle Sequencing Ready Reaction kit in both directions according to the manufacturer's protocols.ResultsThe DNA sequence of B*40:01:35 is identical to B*40:01:01 in exons 2 and 3, except for residue 324 where C is changed to T (codon 84, TAC→TAT). The nucleotide exchange does not cause amino acid alteration to the protein sequence of B*40:01:01 due to the silent mutation. We deduced the probable HLA haplotype in association with B*40:01:35 in Taiwanese to be A*24-B*40:01:35-DRB1*11.ConclusionInformation on the deduced probable HLA haplotype in association with the low incidence B*40:01:35 allele that we report here is of value for HLA testing laboratories for reference purposes. In addition, it can be used by stem cell transplantation donor search coordinators to determine a strategy for finding compatible donors in unrelated bone marrow donor registries when a patient has this uncommon HLA allele

Semi-bounded quadratic functions over a sublevel set of another quadratic function (Nonlinear Analysis and Convex Analysis)

Before attempting to solve an optimization problem, it is important to detect whether the optimal value is finite. This is called the boundedness problem. A function f is called semi-bounded if it is either bounded from below or bounded from above. In this article, we apply the separation peoperty developed by Nguyen and Sheu [10] to study the semi-boundedness of a quadratic fucntion f over the sublevel set {xin mathbb{R}^{n}|g(x)leq 0} of another quadratic function g

A direct adaptive blind equalizer for multi-channel transmission

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On global minimization for general p-regularized subproblems with p>2 (Nonlinear Analysis and Convex Analysis)

The p-regularized subproblem (p-RS) is a regularizing term for computing a Newton-like step for unconstrained optimization, which incorporates a weighted regularization term displaystyle frac{$sigma$}{p}Vert xVert^{p}. In this article, we resolve the global minimizers of (mathrm{p}-RS) for p>2 with necessary and sufficient optimality conditions

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Abstract. Video transcoding is an efficient way for rate adaptation and format conversion in various networked video applications. Several transcoder architectures have been proposed to achieve fast processing. Recently, thanks to its relatively low complexity, the DCT-domain transcoding schemes have become very attractive. In this paper, we investigate efficient architectures for video downscaling in the DCT domain. We propose an efficient method for composing downscaled motion vectors and determining coding modes. We also present a fast algorithm to extract partial DCT coefficients in the DCT-MC operation and a simplified cascaded DCT-domain video transcoder architecture.

TCDD Induces the Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF)-1α Regulatory Pathway in Human Trophoblastic JAR Cells

The exposure to dioxin can compromise pregnancy outcomes and increase the risk of preterm births. 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) has been demonstrated to induce placental hypoxia at the end of pregnancy in a rat model, and hypoxia has been suggested to be the cause of abnormal trophoblast differentiation and placental insufficiency syndromes. In this study, we demonstrate that the non-hypoxic stimulation of human trophoblastic cells by TCDD strongly increased hypoxia inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α) stabilization. TCDD exposure induced the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide. TCDD-induced HIF-1α stabilization and Akt phosphorylation was inhibited by pretreatment with wortmannin (a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor) or N-acetylcysteine (a ROS scavenger). The augmented HIF-1α stabilization by TCDD occurred via the ROS-dependent activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway. Additionally, a significant increase in invasion and metallomatrix protease-9 activity was found in TCDD-treated cells. The gene expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and placental growth factor was induced upon TCDD stimulation, whereas the protein levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), PPARγ coactivator-1α, mitochondrial transcription factor, and uncoupling protein 2 were decreased. Our results indicate that an activated HIF-1α pathway, elicited oxidative stress, and induced metabolic stress contribute to TCDD-induced trophoblastic toxicity. These findings may provide molecular insight into the TCDD-induced impairment of trophoblast function and placental development

The location advantages and persistence of the performance for the Taiwan logistic company: A case study

This study empirically analyzes the persistence of the performance for the Taiwanese logistic company. It is the first study to address the hot hand effect on the performance of logistic stations. Generally, the well-performed stations (Winner) will still have a better performance in the following period; the poor-performed stations (Loser) will stay in the worst group. Moreover, we find there is a strong evidence of location advantage for the business stations which supports the discussion of Hernández and Pedersen. It reveals that a non-metropolitan station is well performed rather than the metropolitan station. Either to increase the number of cargo or to decrease the number of workers will promote the performance of the company. Our empirical results can also be extended to the logistic companies in the emerging markets and transition economies. Policy-makers can provide some incentives to make the logistics industry more vigorous development and create economic prosperity