Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
E-Commerce Adoption in Brunei Darussalam: A Quantitative Analysis of Factors Influencing Its Adoption

This study examines the effect of five factors on the adoption of electronic commerce among small and medium enterprises in Brunei Darussalam. A review of the literature shows that owner characteristics such as lack of perceived relative advantage, lack of knowledge, and perceived lack of trust are significant inhibitors while environment characteristics such as competitive pressure and, government support are significant motivators of electronic commerce in Brunei Darussalam. A questionnaire survey was conducted in 360 small and medium enterprises. A total of 184 valid responses were obtained. Stratified random sampling was adopted over other techniques to enhance representativeness. Data analysis shows that significant relationship exists between each of the five variables and electronic commerce adoption among small and medium enterprises in Brunei Darussalam. This study concludes that the five factors explain more than fifty percent of the variation in small and medium enterprises adoption. Competitive pressure emerged as the most important factor in terms of relative importance. This factor is followed by IT knowledge, relative advantage, security and government support.
Molecular detection and characterization of human enteroviruses directly from clinical samples using RT‐PCR and DNA sequencing

Enteroviruses are common human pathogens associated with a wide spectrum of symptoms ranging from asymptomatic infection to acute flaccid paralysis and neonatal multi‐organ failure. Molecular methods that provide rapid diagnosis and increased sensitivity have been developed for the diagnosis of enterovirus infection using oligonucleotide primers complementary to conserved sequences located in the 5′ untranslated region (UTR), but data generated from these regions are not sufficiently discriminatory for typing due to the lack of correlation between their nucleic acid sequence and serotype specificity. Sequences derived from the gene encoding the capsid VP1 correlate with serotype, and therefore provide the opportunity for the development of molecular typing methods consistent with present serogical methods. In this study, oligonucleotide primers that amplify a region of the 5′UTR to detect enterovirus RNA, and the region encoding the enterovirus VP1 N‐terminus to characterize virus strains were used in nested and semi‐nested RT‐PCRs, respectively. The ability of the VP1 RT‐PCR to amplify diverse viruses within genotypes and genogroups was confirmed by the correct identification of both prototype strains, and strains circulating currently of the same genotypes. The mole‐cular methods proved their utility through the detection of enteroviruses that failed to grow in cell culture, their subsequent characterization and the characterization of strains that failed to serotype in neutralization assays. Molecular methods increased significantly the sensitivity of detection (P < 0.001) and of characterization (P < 0.01) of enteroviruses when compared to classical methods. J. Med. Virol. 78:243–253, 2006. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Testicular development in Macaca irus after birth.

The seminiferous epithelium of 34 pre-pubertal, 1 pubertal and 6 adult Macaca irus (syn. Macaca fascicularis, cynomolgus monkey) was studied histologically. The testicular weight roughly doubled each year up to 3.5 years after birth, whereafter a 25-fold increase occurred with puberty. During the first year, the abundant interstitial connective tissue present at birth, was replaced by seminiferous cords that expanded by longitudinal growth. Few changes were seen within the tubules up to 3 years. Adark and Apale spermatogonia were already present in the stillborn monkeys. Before puberty much more Adark than Apale spermatogonia were counted, the Ad/Ap ratio varying between 1.5 and 6.9 before puberty and between 0.8 and 1.3 in the adult. B spermatogonia were present in small numbers after the first year. At puberty large numbers of spermatocytes and spermatids were found. Small testis fragments were incubated with [3H]thymidine and processed for autoradiography. Very few labelled Adark spermatogonia were found both before and after puberty. The Labelling Index (L.I.) for Apale spermatogonia was constant before puberty (6.5%), but increased to 14.9% thereafter. The L.I. for B spermatogonia was 18.7% in the adult. Before puberty the L.I. of Sertoli cells was low (0.27%) but constant. No labelled Sertoli cells were observed in adult monkeys. It is discussed that proliferating adult type A spermatogonia are present between birth and puberty but that, in contrast to the adult situation, differentiation of these cells into B spermatogonia is limited.
Effects of shear stress pattern and magnitude on mesenchymal transformation and invasion of aortic valve endothelial cells

Understanding the role of mechanical forces on cell behavior is critical for tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and disease initiation studies. Current hemodynamic bioreactors are largely limited to 2D substrates or the application of general flow conditions at a tissue level, which eliminates the investigation of some essential physiological and pathological responses. One example is the mesenchymal transformation of endothelial cells in response to shear stress. Endothelial to mesenchymal transformation (EndMT) is a valve morphogenic mechanism associated with aortic valve disease initiation. The aortic valve experiences oscillatory shear on the disease‐susceptible fibrosa, and the role of hemodynamics on adult EndMT is unknown. The goal of this work was to develop and characterize a microfluidic bioreactor that applies physiologically relevant laminar or oscillatory shear stresses to endothelial cells and permits the quantitative analysis of 3D cell–extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions. In this study, porcine aortic valve endothelial cells were seeded onto 3D collagen I gels and exposed to different magnitudes of steady or oscillatory shear stress for 48 h. Cells elongated and aligned perpendicular to laminar, but not oscillatory shear. Low steady shear stress (2 dyne/cm2) and oscillatory shear stress upregulated EndMT (ACTA2, Snail, TGFB1) and inflammation (ICAM1, NFKB1) related gene expression, EndMT‐related (αSMA) protein expression, and matrix invasion when compared with static controls or cells exposed to high steady shear (10 and 20 dyne/cm2). Our system enables direct testing of the role of shear stress on endothelial cell mesenchymal transformation in a dynamic, 3D environment and shows that hemodynamics regulate EndMT in adult valve endothelial cells. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2014;111: 2326–2337. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Thermal adaptation and acclimation of ectotherms from differing aquatic climates

To elucidate the mechanisms of thermal adaptation and acclimation in ectothermic aquatic organisms from differing climates, we used a common‐garden experiment for thermal stress to investigate the heat shock response of redband trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss gairdneri) from desert and montane populations. Evidence for adaptation was observed as expression of heat shock genes in fish from the desert population was more similar to control (unstressed) fish and significantly different (P ≤ 0.05) from those from the montane population, while F1 crosses were intermediate. High induction of heat shock proteins (Hsps) in the montane strain appeared to improve short‐term survival during first exposure to high water temperatures, but high physiological costs of Hsp production may have led to lower long‐term survival. In contrast, the desert strain had significantly lower heat shock response than the montane fish and F1 crosses, suggesting that these desert fish have evolved alternative mechanisms to deal with thermal stress that provide better balance of physiological costs. Genomewide tests of greater than 10 000 SNPs found multiple SNPs that were significantly associated with survival under thermal stress, including Hsp47 which consistently appeared as a strong candidate gene for adaption to desert climates. Candidate SNPs identified in this study are prime targets to screen more broadly across this species' range to predict the potential for adaptation under scenarios of climate change. These results demonstrate that aquatic species can evolve adaptive responses to thermal stress and provide insight for understanding how climate change may impact ectotherms.
Never-frozen liquid plasma blocks endothelial permeability as effectively as thawed fresh frozen plasma

BACKGROUND Thawed fresh frozen plasma (TP) is a preferred plasma product for resuscitation but can only be used for up to 5 days after thawing. Never-frozen, liquid plasma (LQP) is approved for up to 26 days when stored at 1°C to 6°C. We have previously shown that TP repairs tumor necrosis factor &agr; (TNF-&agr;)–induced permeability in human endothelial cells (ECs). We hypothesized that stored LQP repairs permeability as effectively as TP. METHODS Three single-donor LQP units were pooled. Aliquots were frozen, and samples were thawed on Day 0 (TP0) then refrigerated for 5 days (TP5). The remaining LQP was kept refrigerated for 28 days, and aliquots were analyzed every 7 days. The EC monolayer was stimulated with TNF-&agr; (10 ng/mL), inducing permeability, followed by a treatment with TP0, TP5, or LQP aged 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days. Permeability was measured by leakage of fluorescein isothiocyanate–dextran through the EC monolayer. Hemostatic profiles of samples were evaluated by thrombogram and thromboelastogram. Statistical analysis was performed using two-way analysis of variance, with p < 0.05 deemed significant. RESULTS TNF-&agr; increased permeability of the EC monolayer twofold compared with medium control. There was a significant decrease in permeability at 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days when LQP was used to treat TNF-&agr;–induced EC monolayers (p < 0.001). LQP was as effective as TP0 and TP5 at reducing permeability. Stored LQP retained the capacity to generate thrombin and form a clot. CONCLUSION LQP corrected TNF-&agr;–induced EC permeability and preserved hemostatic potential after 28 days of storage, similar to TP stored for 5 days. The significant logistical benefit (fivefold) of prolonged LQP storage improves the immediate availability of plasma as a primary resuscitative fluid for bleeding patients.
Ocular brucellosis.

Though brucellosis has been eradicated from many countries, it remains a health problem in many developing countries. We report hereon a 34-year-old woman who presented with recurrent attacks of uveitis unresponsive to treatment with steroids. She was found to have systemic brucellosis, and Brucella melitensis was isolated from a paravertebral abscess. The condition responded to systemic antibiotics, and she completely recovered from her uveitis.
Epigenetic drift in aging identical twins.

hose of you, like this author,who have managed to stay alivefor close to eight decades ormore, will have had the experi-ence of observing increasing degrees ofphenotypic discordances among ouridentical twin friends as we age to-gether. They may succumb to the samedisease, but often the age of onset isyears or even decades apart. An inter-esting example is a report of twins, bothof whom developed histologically con-firmed dementia of the Alzheimer’stype; one had the diagnosis in her late60s but the other was not diagnosed un-til age 83 (1). The conventional wisdomis that the bulk of these differences canbe attributable to good or bad luck withone’s environmental exposures, to thequality of medical and spousal care (orabuse), or to learned behavioral differ-ences in how we exercise (perhaps men-tally and physically) and what we eat,drink, or smoke, among myriad otherpossibilities. Many have assumed that,apart from some rare point mutations oraberrant chromosomal segregations andtheir impacts upon the emergence ofneoplastic diseases, the differences wesee are not due to heritable changes incells. There is growing interest, however,in that class of potentially heritablechange in DNA that is not associatedwith alterations in the primary nucleo-tide sequence or copy number butrather is modulated by what JoshuaLederberg (2) long ago referred to as‘‘epinucleic. ’’ Modern molecular geneticsnow points to two major classes of suchalterations: methylations of cytosine atcytosine-guanine dinucleotides and co-valent modifications of DNA-bound his-tones, notably acetylations and methyla-tions. Cytosine methylations at regionsof gene promoters rich in CpG islandsare generally associated with the silenc-ing of genes, whereas histone acetyla-tions are generally associated with theactivation of genes.Gene Expression Studies Reflect Increasein Variation Between Twin Pairs asThey AgeIn this issue of PNAS, a group of Span-ish, Swedish, Danish, English, andAmerican investigators report their find-ings of both global and locus-specificdifferences in DNA methylation andhistone acetylation in identical twins ofvarious ages (3). Their general conclu-sion is that whereas young identical twinpairs are essentially indistinguishable intheir epigenetic markings, older identi-cal twin pairs show substantial varia-tions. Moreover, and of considerableimportance, were their studies of geneexpression in these aging twin pairs. Dif-ferences in gene expression among oldertwin pairs were some four times greaterthan those observed in young twin pairs.The studies reported by Fraga
CULTIVO DE SOJA SOB DIFERENTES DENSIDADES DE SEMEADURA E ARRANJOS ESPACIAIS

A produtividade e definida pela interacao entre a planta, ambiente e manejo. Dentre as praticas de manejo destacam-se a densidade de semeadura e o espacamento entrelinhas. Objetivou-se com este trabalho avaliar o efeito de densidades e arranjos de plantas no desenvolvimento vegetativo e produtividade de graos de soja. O delineamento experimental foi de blocos casualizados com quatro repeticoes em esquema de parcelas subdivididas. Nas parcelas foram alocados dois arranjos espaciais: convencional (45 cm entre fileiras) e fileira duplas (65 cm entre uma fileira dupla e outra e 25 cm entre as linhas dentro da fileira dupla). Nas subparcelas foram alocadas cinco densidades de semeadura (7, 10, 15, 19 e 22 sementes m -1 ). Cada subparcela foi composta por oito linhas com 5,0 m de comprimento. A cultivar utilizada foi a ANTA 82, com ciclo de aproximadamente 115 dias e habito de crescimento semi-determinado. O arranjo espacial em fileiras duplas proporciona reducao na altura das plantas, porem nao interfere na produtividade de graos de soja. O aumento da densidade de semeadura resulta em aumento da produtividade de graos da soja independente do arranjo espacial entre plantas utilizado.
Blood transfusions and steatohepatitis are independent risk factors for complications following liver resection for colorectal cancer liver metastases

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the risk factors for postoperative complications following liver resection for colorectal cancer liver metastases. Patients who underwent hepatic resection for colorectal cancer liver metastases were stratified according to chemotherapy administration and body mass index (BMI) to eliminate potential confounding factors. A univariate analysis was conducted to identify potential risk factors for postoperative complications following liver resection. Variables that exhibited a potential association were evaluated by multivariable logistic regression analysis to identify those independently associated with postoperative morbidity. Between January 2012 and March 2012, 100 patients underwent hepatic resection for liver metastases from colorectal carcinoma at the Treviso Regional Hospital (Treviso, Italy) and at the Regina Elena National Cancer Institute (Rome, Italy). Of the 100 patients, 61 received preoperative oxaliplatin- or irinotecan-based chemotherapy. A total of 25 the patients had a BMI of ≥28 kg/m2. On univariate analysis, BMI ≥28 kg/m2 was found to be positively correlated with the presence of steatosis (P<0.01) and steatohepatitis (P<0.01). The administration of preoperative chemotherapy was correlated with the development of steatosis (P<0.01), steatohepatitis (P=0.02) and postoperative complications (P=0.03). Even following stratification for the use of preoperative chemotherapy, BMI ≥28 kg/m2 maintained its positive association with steatohepatitis. On multivariate analysis, steatohepatitis (P=0.005, HR=0.118, 95% CI: 0.027–0.518) and blood transfusions (P=0.001, HR=0.131, 95% CI: 0.038–0.452) were independently associated with postoperative complications. BMI ≥28 kg/m2 (P=0.004, HR=8.30, 95% CI: 2.39–28.7) and irinotecan treatment (P=0.016, HR=0.16, 95% CI: 0.037–0.711) were independent risk factors for steatohepatitis. In conclusion, steatohepatitis and perioperative blood transfusions were found to be the main determinant of postoperative complications following liver resection for colorectal liver metastases. Overweight patients may be more prone to the cytotoxic effects of irinotecan, harboring a higher risk of developing steatohepatitis.
Memshare: a Dynamic Multi-tenant Key-value Cache

Web application performance heavily relies on the hit rate of DRAM key-value caches. Current DRAM caches statically partition memory across applications that share the cache. This results in under utilization and limits cache hit rates. We present Memshare, a DRAM key-value cache that dynamically manages memory across applications. Memshare provides a resource sharing model that guarantees reserved memory to different applications while dynamically pooling and sharing the remaining memory to optimize overall hit rate. Key-value caches are typically memory capacity bound, which leaves cache server CPU and memory bandwidth idle. Memshare leverages these resources with a log-structured design that allows it to provide better hit rates than conventional caches by dynamically repartitioning memory among applications. We implemented Memshare and ran it on a week-long trace from a commercial memcached provider. Memshare increases the combined hit rate of the applications in the trace from 84.7% to 90.8%, and it reduces the total number of misses by 39.7% without significantly affecting cache throughput or latency. Even for single-tenant applications, Memshare increases the average hit rate of the state-of-the-art key-value cache by an additional 2.7%.
FACE RECOGNITION IN CHILDREN WITH EARLY RIGHT OR LEFT BRAIN DAMAGE

Development of face processing after unilateral brain lesions sustained before one year of age was assessed in children aged between seven and 10 years by various tasks involving face processing. Each child was paired with an age‐ and IQ‐matched control. There were three unilateral right‐hemisphere lesions and three unilateral left lesions. The results showed that some of the skills relative to face processing were preserved (or recovered? ), whereas other skills were severely impaired; the pattern varied from one child to another. The existence of these dissociations shows that preservation of low‐level visual processing together with exposure to the appropriate stimuli for several years is by no means sufficient for face processing skills to develop normally.
Translating Behavioral Interventions Onto mHealth Platforms: Developing Text Message Interventions for Smoking and Alcohol

The development of mHealth applications is often driven by the investigators and developers with relatively little input from the targeted population. User input is commonly limited to “like/dislike” post- intervention consumer satisfaction ratings or device or application specific user analytics such as usability. However, to produce successful mHealth applications with lasting effects on health behaviors it is crucial to obtain user input from the start of each project and throughout development. The aim of this tutorial is to illustrate how qualitative methods in an iterative process of development have been used in two separate behavior change interventions (targeting smoking and alcohol) delivered through mobile technologies (ie, text messaging). A series of focus groups were conducted to assist in translating a face-to-face smoking cessation intervention onto a text message (short message service, SMS) delivered format. Both focus groups and an advisory panel were used to shape the delivery and content of a text message delivered intervention for alcohol risk reduction. An in vivo method of constructing message content was used to develop text message content that was consistent with the notion of texting as “fingered speech”. Formative research conducted with the target population using a participatory framework led to important changes in our approach to intervention structure, content development, and delivery. Using qualitative methods and an iterative approach that blends consumer-driven and investigator-driven aims can produce paradigm-shifting, novel intervention applications that maximize the likelihood of use by the target audience and their potential impact on health behaviors.
Modulation of Protein Phosphorylation, N-Glycosylation and Lys-Acetylation in Grape (Vitis vinifera) Mesocarp and Exocarp Owing to Lobesia botrana Infection*

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera) is an economically important fruit crop that is subject to many types of insect and pathogen attack. To better elucidate the plant response to Lobesia botrana pathogen infection, we initiated a global comparative proteomic study monitoring steady-state protein expression as well as changes in N-glycosylation, phosphorylation, and Lys-acetylation in control and infected mesocarp and exocarp from V. vinifera cv Italia. A multi-parallel, large-scale proteomic approach employing iTRAQ labeling prior to three peptide enrichment techniques followed by tandem mass spectrometry led to the identification of a total of 3059 proteins, 1135 phosphorylation sites, 323 N-linked glycosylation sites and 138 Lys-acetylation sites. Of these, we could identify changes in abundance of 899 proteins. The occupancy of 110 phosphorylation sites, 10 N-glycosylation sites and 20 Lys-acetylation sites differentially changed during L. botrana infection. Sequence consensus analysis for phosphorylation sites showed eight significant motifs, two of which containing up-regulated phosphopeptides (X-G-S-X and S-X-X-D) and two containing down-regulated phosphopeptides (R-X-X-S and S-D-X-E) in response to pathogen infection. Topographical distribution of phosphorylation sites within primary sequences reveal preferential phosphorylation at both the N- and C termini, and a clear preference for C-terminal phosphorylation in response to pathogen infection suggesting induction of region-specific kinase(s). Lys-acetylation analysis confirmed the consensus X-K-Y-X motif previously detected in mammals and revealed the importance of this modification in plant defense. The importance of N-linked protein glycosylation in plant response to biotic stimulus was evident by an up-regulated glycopeptide belonging to the disease resistance response protein 206. This study represents a substantial step toward the understanding of protein and PTMs-mediated plant-pathogen interaction shedding light on the mechanisms underlying the grape infection.