Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An investigation into the factors influencing consumers to use e-services of indonesian airlines: the role of motivation

E-Services have been a popular area of research. This research explores what pushes consumers to use Indonesian airline e-Services. Specifically, this study investigates into how the ‘motivation’ factor can be combined in some traditional theoretical models, within which it studies the influence on intention of the customers to use e-Services as well as its usage. A positivist paradigm is referred to conduct the research using a two-stage sequential mixed method research approach comprising both field study and quantitative methods. The field study has been employed to refine the research model and quantitative data collected from questionnaire-based survey is analyzed by using Partial Least Square (PLS) based Structural Equation Model (SEM). The research model is validated by surveying 819 Indonesian consumers who have used Indonesian Airline e-Services. The results confirm behavioral intention to use is influenced by the effort expectancy, social influence, outcome expectancy, and motivation. The motivation itself is influenced by the effort expectancy, social influence, trustworthiness, and outcome expectancy. Findings indicate that the effort and outcome expectancy are both influenced by trustworthiness and facilitation conditions. The results also demonstrate that motivation drives e-Services usage directly or indirectly through the intention to use. Furthermore, the implications of the findings are highlighted.
Asymmetric bulges and mismatches determine 20-nt microRNA formation in plants

Plant microRNAs (miRNAs) are predominantly 21 nucleotides (nt) long but non-canonical lengths of 22 and 20 nt are commonly observed in diverse plant species. While miRNAs longer than 21 nt can be attributed to the neglect of unpaired bases within asymmetric bulges by the ruler function of DICER-LIKE 1 (DCL1), how 20-nt miRNA is generated remains obscure. Analysis of small RNA data revealed that 20-nt miRNA can be divided into 3 main groups featured by atypical 3′ overhangs or shorter duplex regions. Asymmetric bulges or mismatches at specific positions are commonly observed within each group and were shown to be crucial for 20-nt miRNA formation. Analysis of DCL1 cleavage sites on 20-nt miRNA precursors suggests that these determinants might alter precursor structure or trigger 3′-end decay of mature miRNA. The results herein advance our understanding of miRNA biogenesis and demonstrate that the effect of asymmetric bulges on miRNA length could be position-dependent.
Hepatitis C virus infection and hepatic stellate cell activation downregulate miR-29: miR-29 overexpression reduces hepatitis C viral abundance in culture.

BACKGROUND Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV)-induced liver fibrosis involves upregulation of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β and subsequent hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate HCV infection and HSC activation. METHODS TaqMan miRNA profiling identified 12 miRNA families differentially expressed between chronically HCV-infected human livers and uninfected controls. To identify pathways affected by miRNAs, we developed a new algorithm (pathway analysis of conserved targets), based on the probability of conserved targeting. RESULTS This analysis suggested a role for miR-29 during HCV infection. Of interest, miR-29 was downregulated in most HCV-infected patients. miR-29 regulates expression of extracellular matrix proteins. In culture, HCV infection downregulated miR-29, and miR-29 overexpression reduced HCV RNA abundance. miR-29 also appears to play a role in HSCs. Hepatocytes and HSCs contribute similar amounts of miR-29 to whole liver. Both activation of primary HSCs and TGF-β treatment of immortalized HSCs downregulated miR-29. miR-29 overexpression in LX-2 cells decreased collagen expression and modestly decreased proliferation. miR-29 downregulation by HCV may derepress extracellular matrix synthesis during HSC activation. CONCLUSIONS HCV infection downregulates miR-29 in hepatocytes and may potentiate collagen synthesis by reducing miR-29 levels in activated HSCs. Treatment with miR-29 mimics in vivo might inhibit HCV while reducing fibrosis.
Improving Second-Level Education: Using Evidence for Policy Development

Second-level education has a crucial role to play in Ireland's long-term economic prosperity, as well as being intrinsically valuable, allowing young people to develop intellectually, socially and personally. Much of the debate internationally has focused on how countries compare against international benchmarks and indicators like PISA. This paper argues that, while we can potentially learn from what other systems have 'got right', it is important that we do not fall into the trap of engaging in 'policy borrowing'. Furthermore we now have a rich evidence base in Ireland on 'what works' in terms of school organisation and process. The paper reviews this evidence in a number of key areas: ability grouping, school climate, teaching and learning methods, and curriculum and assessment. The discussion reviews how these aspects of school policy and practice can make a substantive impact on student outcomes and act as 'drivers' of improvement, often requiring relatively modest levels of expenditure.
Protective Effect of the HLA-DRB1*13:02 Allele in Japanese Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease. Certain HLA-DRB1 “shared-epitope” alleles are reported to be positively associated with increased RA susceptibility, whereas some of the other alleles may be negatively associated. However, studies on the latter are rare. Here, we focus on the protective effects of DRB1 alleles in Japanese RA patients in an association study. Relative predispositional effects (RPE) were analyzed by sequential elimination of carriers of each allele with the strongest association. The protective effects of DRB1 alleles were investigated in patients stratified according to whether they possessed anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies (ACPA). The DRB1*13:02 allele was found to be negatively associated with RA (P = 4.59×10−10, corrected P (Pc) = 1.42×10−8, odds ratio [OR] 0.42, 95% CI 0.32–0.55, P [RPE] = 1.27×10−6); the genotypes DRB1*04:05/*13:02 and *09:01/*13:02 were also negatively associated with RA. The protective effect of *13:02 was also present in ACPA-positive patients (P = 3.95×10−8, Pc = 1.22×10−6, OR 0.42, 95%CI 0.31–0.58) whereas *15:02 was negatively associated only with ACPA-negative RA (P = 8.87×10−5, Pc = 0.0026, OR 0.26, 95%CI 0.12–0.56). Thus, this study identified a negative association of DRB1*13:02 with Japanese RA; our findings support the protective role of DRB1*13:02 in the pathogenesis of ACPA-positive RA.
Rules of Thumb for Social Learning

This paper studies agents who consider the experiences of their neighbors in deciding which of two technologies to use. We analyze two learning environments, one in which the same technology is optimal for all players and another in which each technology is better for some of them. In both environments, players use exogenously specified rules of thumb that ignore historical data but may incorporate a tendency to use the more popular technology. In some cases these naive rules can lead to fairly efficient decisions in the long run, but adjustment can be slow when a superior technology is first introduced.
Quantum Errors and Disturbances: Response to Busch, Lahti and Werner

Busch, Lahti and Werner (BLW) have recently criticized the operator approach to the description of quantum errors and disturbances. Their criticisms are justified to the extent that the physical meaning of the operator definitions has not hitherto been adequately explained. We rectify that omission. We then examine BLW’s criticisms in the light of our analysis. We argue that, although the BLW approach favour (based on the Wasserstein two-deviation) has its uses, there are important physical situations where an operator approach is preferable. We also discuss the reason why the error-disturbance relation is still giving rise to controversies almost a century after Heisenberg first stated his microscope argument. We argue that the source of the difficulties is the problem of interpretation, which is not so wholly disconnected from experimental practicalities as is sometimes supposed.
Dopamine and cAMP-Regulated Phosphoprotein 32 kDa Controls Both Striatal Long-Term Depression and Long-Term Potentiation, Opposing Forms of Synaptic Plasticity

A complex chain of intracellular signaling events, critically important in motor control, is activated by the stimulation of D1-like dopamine (DA) receptors in striatal neurons. At corticostriatal synapses on medium spiny neurons, we provide evidence that the D1-like receptor-dependent activation of DA and cyclic adenosine 3′,5′ monophosphate-regulated phosphoprotein 32 kDa is a crucial step for the induction of both long-term depression (LTD) and long-term potentiation (LTP), two opposing forms of synaptic plasticity. In addition, formation of LTD and LTP requires the activation of protein kinase G and protein kinase A, respectively, in striatal projection neurons. These kinases appear to be stimulated by the activation of D1-like receptors in distinct neuronal populations.
Request mitigating devices in Australian English and Iraqi Arabic : a comparative study

Speech acts realization in everyday interaction is seen as an important field to explore the impact of linguistic and cultural variations on cross-cultural communication and second language acquisition. The reported study investigates the use of request mitigating devices in Australian English and Iraqi Arabic. It explores the internal and external devices that speakers of the two languages use to mitigate the imposition force of requests and the impact of the linguistic and cultural parameters on this use. Request samples were collected from 14 native speakers of Australian English and 14 native speakers of Iraqi Arabic by means of eight role-play interviews. The mitigating devices were identified and classified according to a modified categorization scheme based on Blum-Kulka et al. (1989). Additional categories of mitigating devices were added to this scheme to meet the requirements of data analysis. These include consultative device (Blum-Kulka & Olshtain, 1984), questions (Trosborg, 1995), apology (Economidou-Kogetsidis, 2008), alerter (Schauer, 2007), closing (Al-Ali & Alawneh, 2010), and new categories: wish/hope statement and verbal incentive. The results showed that internal mitigating devices were more frequent in Australian English requests than in Iraqi Arabic requests, while external mitigating devices were equally pervasive in both groups. The two groups also used different semantic formulae of some mitigating devices in specific situations. The pervasive occurrence of external mitigators in both groups‟ requests is discussed in terms of volubility as a politeness strategy. It is suggested that the divergence between the two groups in their utilization of request mitigations is related to linguistic and cultural variations between the Australian and Iraqi languages and cultures.
Improving Social Cognition in People with Schizophrenia with RC2S: Two Single-Case Studies

Difficulties in social interactions are a central characteristic of people with schizophrenia, and can be partly explained by impairments of social cognitive processes. New strategies of cognitive remediation have been recently developed to target these deficits. The RC2S therapy is an individualized and partly computerized program through which patients practice social interactions and develop social cognitive abilities with simulation techniques in a realistic environment. Here, we present the results of two case-studies involving two patients with schizophrenia presenting with specific profiles of impaired social cognition. Each patient completed three baseline sessions, 14 treatment sessions, and 3 follow-up sessions at the end of the therapy – and for 1 patient, another 3 sessions 9 months later. We used a multiple baseline design to assess specific components of social cognition according to the patients’ profiles. Functioning and symptomatology were also assessed at the end of the treatment and 6 months later. Results highlight significant improvements in the targeted social cognitive processes and positive changes in functioning in the long term. The RC2S program seems, thus, to be a new useful program for social cognitive remediation in schizophrenia.
Foreign policy of the European Union : from EPC to CFSP and beyond

From EPC to CFSP - Does Maastricht Matter? , the Editors. Part 1 History - From EPC to CFSP: Two Decades of EPC Performance, S. Nuttall The Creation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, P. de Schoutheete. Part 2 Institutions - the Stage and the Players: The Institutional Setup and Functioning of EPC/CFSP, E. Regelsberger The Actors Involved - National Perspectives, C. Hill Where the European Commission Comes In - From the Single European Act to Maastricht, F. Cameron The Association of the European Parliament - No Longer the Underdog in the EPC? , T. Grunert The Question of Consistency, H. -G. Krenzler and H.C. Schneider The Defense Dimension of the European Union - the Role and Performance of the WEU, M. Jopp. Part 3 To Act or Not to Act? : The Potential and Limits of the Common Foreign and Security Policy - the Yugoslav Example, G. Edwards Relations with Central and Eastern European Countries - the Anchor Role of the European Union, B. Lippert ECP/CFSP, the Soviet Union and the Former Soviet Republics - Does the 12 Have a Coherent Policy? , D. Allen The 12/15's Conference Diplomacy - Has the CSCE/OSCE Remained a Successful Platform? , H. Schneider Political Dialogue with Third Countries and Regional Political Groupings - the 15 as an Attractive Interlocutor, J. Monar The 12, the United Nations and Somalia - the Mirage of Global Intervention, P. Keatinge Transatlantic Dimensions of CFSP - the Culture of Foreign Policy Cooperation, R. Ginsberg. Part 4 The Future - Challenges and Limitations: The Potential and Limits of CFSP - What Comes Next? , G. Burghardt Enlargement as a Challenge and Incentive for Reform, P. Luif The Intergovernmental Conference, 1966 - How to Reform CFSP? , R. Rummel Appendix - Title V, Article J, of the Treaty on European Union - Provision on a Common Foreign and Security Policy.
An Unbiased Appraisal of Purchasing Power Parity

Univariate studies of the hypothesis of unit roots in real exchange rates have yielded consensus point estimates of the half-life of deviations from purchasing power parity (PPP) of between three to five years (Rogoff, 1996). However, conventional least-squares-based estimates of half-lives are biased downward. Accordingly, as a preferred measure of the persistence of real exchange rate shocks we use median-unbiased estimators of the half-life of deviations from parity, which correct for the downward bias of conventional estimators. We study this issue using real effective exchange rate (REER) data for 20 industrial countries in the post-Bretton Woods period. The serial correlation-robust median-unbiased estimator yields a cross-country average of half-lives of deviations from parity of about eight years, with the REER of several countries displaying permanent deviations from parity. However, using the median-unbiased estimator that is robust to the moving average and heteroskedastic errors present in real exchange rate data reduces the estimated half-life of parity deviations. Using this unbiased estimator, we find that the majority of countries have finite point estimates of half-lives of parity deviation, which is supportive of PPP holding in the post-Bretton Woods period. We also find that the average bias-corrected half-life of parity deviations is about five years, which is consistent with (but at the upper end of) Rogoff's (1996) consensus estimate of the half-life of deviations from parity.
Maximum-Quality Tree Construction for Deadline-Constrained Aggregation in WSNs

In deadline-constrained wireless sensor net-works (WSNs), the quality of aggregation (QoA) is determined by the number of participating nodes in the data aggregation process. The previous studies have attempted to propose optimal scheduling algorithms to obtain the maximum QoA assuming a fixed underlying aggregation tree. However, there exists no prior work to address the issue of constructing optimal aggregation tree in deadline-constraints WSNs. The structure of underlying aggregation tree is important since our analysis demonstrates that the ratio between the maximum achievable QoAs of different trees could be as large as $O(2^{D})$ , where $D$ is the deadline. This paper casts a combinatorial optimization problem to address the optimal tree construction for deadline-constrained data aggregation in WSNs. While the problem is proved to be NP-hard, we employ the Markov approximation framework and devise two distributed algorithms with different computation overheads to find close-to-optimal solution with bounded approximation gap. To further improve the convergence of the Markov-based algorithms, we devise another initial tree construction algorithm with low-computational complexity. Our experimental results from a set of randomly-generated scenarios demonstrate that the proposed algorithms achieve near optimal performance and appreciably outperform methods that work on a fixed aggregation tree by obtaining better quality of aggregation.
Extension of synaptic extracellular matrix during nerve terminal sprouting in living frog neuromuscular junctions

Remodeling of the synaptic extracellular matrix (ECM) and its dynamic relationship with nerve terminal plasticity have been demonstrated in normal frog neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) in vivo (Chen et al., 1991). Our previous work has led to a hypothesis that extension of synaptic ECM precedes nerve terminal growth during synaptic remodeling. To test this hypothesis, the present study examined the changes of synaptic ECM in frog NMJs that were primarily undergoing nerve terminal growth and sprouting. Frog sartorius muscles were double stained with a fluorescent nerve terminal dye (4-Di-2-Asp) and rhodamine-tagged peanut agglutinin (PNA), which recognizes synaptic ECM. The double-labeled NMJs were visualized in vivo with video-enhanced fluorescence microscopy. Nerve sprouting was then induced in the muscle by grafting segments of the contralateral sciatic nerve. The identified NMJs were restrained and reexamined 2–3 months later. Extensive sprouting was observed in 46% of 167 identified NMJs. At junctional regions that showed extension or formation of new branches, synaptic ECM was commonly seen to have the same shape and distribution as the nerve terminal. However, extension of synaptic ECM beyond the corresponding nerve terminals, often by tens of microns, was observed in 29% of these newly formed junctional regions. This lack of correlation might be transient, as growth of nerve terminals following extended, PNA-stained ECM was seen. Examination with histological staining not only confirmed a lack of nerve terminal at the extended synaptic ECM region but also indicated an absence of AChE and postsynaptic junctional folds. The absence of these postsynaptic specializations at the extended, PNA- stained ECM region makes it unlikely that this region was previously occupied by nerve terminals that had retracted. Thus, the present study provides further findings consistent with the hypothesis that synaptic ECM precedes nerve terminal outgrowth and that the extension of synaptic ECM may play a role in synaptic remodeling.
Somatodendritic Depolarization-Activated Potassium Currents in Rat Neostriatal Cholinergic Interneurons Are Predominantly of the A Type and Attributable to Coexpression of Kv4.2 and Kv4.1 Subunits

Unlike other neostriatal neurons, cholinergic interneurons exhibit spontaneous, low-frequency, repetitive firing. To gain an understanding of the K+ channels regulating this behavior, acutely isolated adult rat cholinergic interneurons were studied using whole-cell voltage-clamp and single-cell reverse transcription-PCR techniques. Cholinergic interneurons were identified by the presence of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) mRNA. Depolarization-activated potassium currents in cholinergic interneurons were dominated by a rapidly inactivating, K+-selective A current that became active at subthreshold potentials. Depolarizing prepulses inactivated this component of the current, leaving a delayed, rectifier-like current. Micromolar concentrations of Cd2+ dramatically shifted the voltage dependence of the A current without significantly affecting the delayed rectifier. The A-channel antagonist 4-aminopyridine (4-AP) produced a voltage-dependent block (IC50, ∼1 mm) with a prominent crossover at millimolar concentrations. On the other hand, TEA preferentially blocked the sustained current component at concentrations <10 mm. Single-cell mRNA profiling of subunits known to give rise to rapidly inactivating K+ currents revealed the coexpression of Kv4.1, Kv4.2, and Kv1.4 mRNAs but low or undetectable levels of Kv4.3 and Kv3.4 mRNAs. Kv1.1, β1, and β2 subunit mRNAs, but not β3, were also commonly detected. The inactivation recovery kinetics of the A-type current were found to match those of Kv4.2 and 4.1 channels and not those of Kv1.4 or Kv1.1 and β1 channels. Immunocytochemical analysis confirmed the presence of Kv4.2 but not Kv1.4 subunits in the somatodendritic membrane of ChAT-immunoreactive neurons. These results argue that the depolarization-activated somatodendritic K+ currents in cholinergic interneurons are dominated by Kv4.2- and Kv4.1-containing channels. The properties of these channels are consistent with their playing a prominent role in governing the slow, repetitive discharge of interneurons seen in vivo.
Seeing Is Not Feeling: Posterior Parietal But Not Somatosensory Cortex Engagement During Touch Observation

Observing touch has been reported to elicit activation in human primary and secondary somatosensory cortices and is suggested to underlie our ability to interpret other's behavior and potentially empathy. However, despite these reports, there are a large number of inconsistencies in terms of the precise topography of activation, the extent of hemispheric lateralization, and what aspects of the stimulus are necessary to drive responses. To address these issues, we investigated the localization and functional properties of regions responsive to observed touch in a large group of participants (n = 40). Surprisingly, even with a lenient contrast of hand brushing versus brushing alone, we did not find any selective activation for observed touch in the hand regions of somatosensory cortex but rather in superior and inferior portions of neighboring posterior parietal cortex, predominantly in the left hemisphere. These regions in the posterior parietal cortex required the presence of both brush and hand to elicit strong responses and showed some selectivity for the form of the object or agent of touch. Furthermore, the inferior parietal region showed nonspecific tactile and motor responses, suggesting some similarity to area PFG in the monkey. Collectively, our findings challenge the automatic engagement of somatosensory cortex when observing touch, suggest mislocalization in previous studies, and instead highlight the role of posterior parietal cortex.