Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Key Factors Affecting B2C Acceptance in Egypt: An Empirical Investigation

This research aims at investigating the effect of interrelated micro-variables (level of trust, perceived security and perceived self-efficacy) and macro-variables (availability of active legislations and technological level) on the acceptance of E-commerce as the independent variable in Egypt. Applying the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and adopting quantitative research methodology, questionnaires were carried out amongst 600 Egyptian consumers. The results of the survey indicate that trust, security, current technological level, active legislations and self- efficacy all affected Egyptians consumers’ acceptance of business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce. The research further discusses significant implications that can be adopted at both the micro and macro levels in Egypt and presents the Conceptual Model for B2C acceptance in Egypt.
ADHD and Developmental Dyslexia

Academic success and occupational outcome rely on a person's ability to attend to and learn from their surroundings. The cognitive mechanisms underlying these respective skills are impaired in individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disability (LD). The high co‐occurrence between ADHD and the learning disability developmental dyslexia has raised the possibility of a common etiology. We propose that studying the functional anatomy of disordered executive control and reading‐related skills using carefully selected paradigms, coupled with rigorous studies of intervention efficacy, provide the most promising avenue for ameliorating these two commonly encountered impediments to learning.
Role of nitric oxide in regulation of long-term pressure-natriuresis relationship in Dahl rats.

The aim of this study was to determine the role of nitric oxide (NO) in the development of salt-induced hypertension in the Brookhaven strain of Dahl rats. Six- to seven-week-old conscious salt-sensitive (S) and salt-resistant (R) rats with indwelling arterial and venous catheters received low-, normal-, and high-sodium intakes sequentially over a 16-day period, and L-arginine was infused intravenously at 2 or 4 mg.kg-1.min-1 over this time. The S rats had an impaired NO production as evidenced by a decreased urinary nitrate plus nitrite excretion. The administration of the low or high dose of L-arginine increased the whole body NO production of the S rats to that of the control R rats, and the high dose of L-arginine prevented the shift of long-term pressure-natriuresis relationship, the elevation of arterial pressure, and the increase in salt sensitivity of arterial pressure in the S rats. The sodium and water balances were not different between the age-matched R and S rats. In conclusion, a continuous infusion of L-arginine prevented both the changes in the pressure-natriuresis relationship and the development of salt-induced hypertension in Dahl S rats.
Cutting Edge: Lack of Evidence for Connexin-43 Expression in Human Epidermal Langerhans Cells1

A provocative study has shown that viral peptides may be transferred in vitro from epithelial cells to APC through connexin-43 gap junction channels. In support of this cross-presentation pathway, the study also reported that human dendritic cells, including Langerhans cells of skin, express connexin-43. In this report we show that if this was the case, the levels of connexin-43 are below those detectable by immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, quantitative PCR of purified CD1a+ cells, and electron microscopy, raising questions about the relevance of the connexin-43-dependent mechanism for Langerhans cells of noninflamed human skin.
Why are uneducated women in India using contraception? A multilevel analysis

While women's education continues to be strongly associated with lower fertility in India, an important feature of India's current fertility transition is the spread of contraceptive use among uneducated women. Indeed, changes in their fertility are now making the major contribution to the country's overall fertility decline. We use multilevel statistical procedures to investigate the variation in contraceptive use among uneducated women across India. The analysis suggests that, while many of the expected socio-economic variables play their part, there are also considerable diffusion effects in progress, many of which operate at levels beyond the uneducated women's own individual circumstances. For example, we find significant relationships with others' use of contraception and others' education. Mass media exposure also emerges as an important diffusion channel. The multilevel analysis also reveals significant clustering of contraceptive use at different levels, much of which is accounted for by the variables included in the models.
Studies on the characterization of plasmodium vivax strains from Central America.

Summary Four strains of vivax malaria from three Central American countries (Panama, El Salvador, Nicaragua) were studied in volunteers for characteristics of their relapse patterns and for their response to recommended dosage regimens of some standard antimalarial drugs. The relapse patterns of the four Central American vivax strains fell into the “temperate zone” category of relapse pattern; namely, an early primary attack (short prepatent period) followed by a long period of latency before appearance of frequent relapse activity. The characteristics and classification of relapse patterns are discussed.
Regulation and signaling of human bombesin receptors and their biological effects

Purpose of reviewThis review will highlight recent advances in the understanding of molecular mechanisms by which mammalian bombesin receptors are regulated and which intracellular signaling pathways have been characterized to mediate agonist-dependent receptor biological effects. Recent findingsMammalian bombesin receptors have been demonstrated to be involved in a larger array of physiological and pathophysiological conditions than previously reported. Pharmacological experiments in vitro and in vivo as well as utilization of animals genetically deficient of the gastrin-releasing peptide receptor demonstrated roles in memory and fear behavior, lung development and injury, small intestinal cell repair, autocrine tumor growth, and mediating signals for pruritus and penile reflexes. Intracellular signaling studies predominantly of the gastrin-releasing peptide receptor owing to its frequent overexpression in some human malignancies showed that PI3 kinase activation is an important mechanism of cell proliferation. Tumor cell treatment including gastrin-releasing peptide receptor antagonists combined with inhibition of epidermal growth factor receptor resulted in an additive effect on blocking cell proliferation. Novel molecular mechanisms of the orphan bombesin receptor subtype-3 and gastrin-releasing peptide receptor gene regulation have been elucidated. SummaryInhibition of gastrin-releasing peptide receptor signaling in human malignancies represents an attractive target for pharmacological treatment. Novel functions of bombesin related peptides have been identified including processes in the central nervous system, lung and intestinal tract.
Fracture of the lateral process of the talus. A report of thirteen cases.

1. Thirteen cases of fracture of the lateral process of the talus seen over a period of thirteen months are reported. 2. The mechanism of the injury would appear to be inversion strain of the foot with dorsiflexion of the ankle. 3. The diagnosis would no doubt be made more often if the possibility of this fracture were kept in mind, and if radiographs of good quality were taken with the ankle at 0 degree and the leg rotated inwards 10 to 20 degrees. 4. With regard to treatment, early operation appears to give good results, a single large fragment being reduced accurately and small or comminuted fragments being removed.
Mergers and Incentives to Create Synergies

Many mergers are motivated by the existence of synergies between the merging rms, yet they fail to achieve any synergies after merger completion. This paper presents a model of endogenous synergy creation and shows that expected synergies from a merger are realized only if the managers from the two merging rms are willing to collaborate towards the creation of synergies. We show that incentives to collaborate are stronger in mergers combining rms with complementary assets and resources, and rms from complementary industries. Importantly, this result arises not because greater complementarities imply greater merger gains, but because greater complementarities lead to stronger incentives for managers to work together, increasing the endogenous success probability of achieving the expected synergies. Our model predicts that the likelihood of generating expected synergies is greater in mergers motivated by scope economies than in mergers motivated by scale economies. In addition, vertical mergers are more likely to succeed relative to horizontal mergers to the extent that merging rms are likely to have greater asset and industry complementarity in vertical mergers. These predictions are consistent with the empirical evidence in Rhodes-Kropf and Robinson (2008) and Hoberg and Phillips (2011) that asset complementarities and industry complementarities play an important role in value creation from mergers. Our paper also shows that the level of diversi cation discount is smaller in conglomerates combining rms from complementary industries, consistent with the recent evidence in Hoberg and Phillips (2011). Mergers and Incentives to Create Synergies
Factor V Arg306 → Thr (factor V Cambridge) and factor V Arg306 → Gly mutations in venous thrombotic disease

We investigated the prevalence of two reported mutations of the factor V gene (factor V Arg306 → Thr, or factor V Cambridge, and factor V Arg306 → Gly) in 104 relatively young patients with verified venous thrombosis and in 208 age‐, sex‐ and race‐matched controls, in order to establish whether the two mutations are associated with increased predisposition for venous thrombosis. PCR amplification followed by BstNI and MspI digestion was employed to determine the genotypes, and each mutation was confirmed by DNA sequencing. Among the controls, one individual was found to be heterozygous for the factor V Arg306 → Thr mutation and one heterozygous for the factor V Arg306 → Gly mutation; none of the patients carried either mutation. Our findings do not support factor V Cambridge and factor V Arg306 → Gly as risk factors for venous thrombosis.
Critical analysis of locoregional failures following intensity-modulated radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

AIM To analyze the patterns of locoregional failure following intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) at our institution, as part of an internal quality assurance program. We aimed to investigate the potential existence of a correlation between any part of the IMRT process and clinical outcome. METHODS & MATERIALS A total of 106 non-metastatic NPC patients consecutively treated with IMRT (with or without chemotherapy) were analyzed. Radiotherapy was administered using a sequential or simultaneous integrated boost approach at the total prescribed dose of 66-70 Gy (2.00-2.12 Gy per fraction). MRI studies of recurrences were recorded with the planning computed tomography studies to identify volume of failure. Recurrence-related characteristics were analyzed with respect to the original treatment. Failures were classified as 'in-field', 'marginal' or 'out-field' if at least 95, 20-95 or less than 20% of the volume of failure, respectively, was within 95% of the total prescription dose. RESULTS With a median follow-up of 43.4 months, 5-years local control, regional control, locoregional control and overall survival rates were 87.7, 88.0, 83.5 and 81.3% respectively. A total of 21 failures were registered in 15 patients. In particular, ten failures (47.6%) were classified as 'in-field' (seven local failures and three regional failures [RFs]), nine failures (42.9%) as 'marginal' (five local failures and four RFs) and only two failures (9.5%) as 'out-field' (both RFs). The most relevant causes of failures were suboptimal target definition and target coverage as well as a longer than planned overall treatment time. CONCLUSION IMRT determines excellent outcome in NPC patients. However, great attention in all IMRT steps is necessary to reduce potential causes of failure.
Rhodococcus artemisiae sp. nov., an endophytic actinobacterium isolated from the pharmaceutical plant Artemisia annua L.

A Gram-positive, non-motile actinobacterium, designated YIM 65754T, was isolated from the stem of Artemisia annua L. , collected from Yunnan province, south-west China. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain YIM 65754T comprised an evolutionary lineage within the genus Rhodococcus. The isolate clustered with Rhodococcus pyridinivorans PDB9T, Rhodococcus gordoniae W 4937T and Rhodococcus rhodochrous DSM 43241T, with which it shared 98.4, 97.9 and 97.8 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities, respectively. However, DNA-DNA relatedness demonstrated that strain YIM 65754T was distinct from its closest phylogenetic neighbours. The cell-wall peptidoglycan contained meso-diaminopimelic acid, arabinose, galactose, mannose and glucose (cell-wall chemotype IV). The major menaquinone was MK-8(H2) and the predominant fatty acids were C16:0 (27.83 %), iso-C15:0 2-OH and/or C16:1ω7c (20.21 %) and 10-methyl C18:0 (17.50 %). The DNA G+C content was 66.2 mol%. On the basis of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic evidence, the isolate represents a novel species of the genus Rhodococcus, for which the name Rhodococcus artemisiae sp. nov. is proposed; the type strain is YIM 65754T (=CCTCC AA 209042T=DSM 45380T).
Involvement of MAPK signalling in radioadaptive response in BALB/c mice exposed to low dose ionizing radiation

Abstract To investigate low dose ionizing radiation (LDIR)-induced adaptive response in lymphocytes of BALB/c mice and to elucidate related molecular mechanisms. Mice were exposed to a priming dose (PD) of 0.1 Gy and challenge dose (CD) of 2 Gy ionizing radiation. Proliferation response to mitogen concanavalin A was assessed using 3H thymidine incorporation and carboxyfluoresceinsuccinamidylester (CFSE) dye dilution. Early activation markers were assessed by flow cytometry, cytokines by ELISA, DNA damage by comet assay and mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling by Western blotting. Radioadaptive response was observed in lymphocytes of mice exposed to PD prior to CD of ionizing radiation in terms of DNA damage, early activation markers CD69, CD71, cytokines IL-2, IFN-γ as well as proliferation. This effect was transient and observed 24 h after CD and not after 0 h or 72 h. Hyper activation of MAPK signaling pathways in lymphocytes from LDIR-exposed mice and abrogation by ERK and p38 inhibitors suggests the involvement of MAPK signaling in radioadaptive response. Our study demonstrates that LDIR-induced transient adaptive response was due to hyper activation of MAPK signaling. Our findings contribute towards the understanding of LDIR-induced adaptive response.
The n-3 and n-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Composition of Plasma Phospholipids in Pregnant Women and Their Infants. Relationship with Maternal Linoleic Acid Intake

Abstract The availability of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids during infancy has been related to neonatal growth and development. Fatty acid concentration at birth is an important predictor of postnatal level. The primary aim of this study was to provide a description of the distribution of n−3 and n−6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in the plasma phospholipid fraction of pregnant women remaining on a Western-style diet and their neonates. The plasma phospholipid polyunsaturated fatty acid composition was determined by gas-liquid chromatography in 889 mother-infant pairs. Blood samples were taken during the first, second and third trimester of pregnancy, at delivery, and from the umbilical vein at birth. Mean (±SD) fatty acid concentrations are reported in mg/l and as percentage of total fatty acids (% wt/wt). In addition, the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th percentiles are given. The distribution of docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n−3) and arachidonic acid (20:4n−6) concentrations in umbilical plasma phospholipids is also reported as a function of gestational age and maternal linoleic acid intake during pregnancy. This data can be be used as a reference for future studies and may aid in identifying term infants with a relatively low long-chain polyene status at birth.
In fl uence analysis of community resident support for sustainable tourism development

This study aims to assess the support of community residents for sustainable tourism development using the latent variables of community attachment, community involvement, perceived benefits, perceived costs, and support for sustainable tourism development and elemental data of the residents of the Cigu wetland, which is located in southwest Taiwan. The analytical results suggest that community attachment and community involvement are critical factors that affect the level of support for sustainable tourism development. The benefits perceived by host residents affect the relationship between community attachment and support for sustainable tourism development and between community involvement and support for sustainable tourism development. Several managerial implications of this study are introduced, and recommendations for future research are presented. 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Rhinitis Of Swine. X. Further Experiments With Laboratory Animals.

Gwatkin and Plummer (1) in 1949 were unable to produce rhinitis by the nasal instillation of material and filtrates from the noses of affected pigs in mature and baby mice, hamsters, guinea pigs and rabbits, with and without light ether anaesthesia. Subcutaneous injection of mice with pig nasal suspension resulted in some destruction of the frontal bone but a culture isolated from the lesion did not reproduce the condition and this organism was not further studied.
Analysis of meiosis and cell cycle genes of the facultatively asexual pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum(Hemiptera: Aphididae)

Phenotypic plasticity in response to environmental change is a common phenomenon, yet is poorly understood at the genetic and molecular level. Aphids exhibit a reproductive plasticity whereby seasonal changes result in asexual or sexual reproduction. To investigate the genetic basis of this reproductive plasticity, we assessed the meiosis and cell cycle gene repertoire in the genome of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum. Aphids possess meiotic recombination genes and G1‐to‐S phase transition regulatory genes in gene copy numbers similar to other metazoans. However, mitotic and meiotic regulatory genes have duplicated, and several paralogues exhibit differential expression between reproductive morphs. Together, this suggests that cell cycle plasticity may be important in the evolution and mechanism of aphid reproductive plasticity.
The question of discrimination: skilled migrants' access to Australian employment.

"Following a decade of increasing non English-speaking background (NESB) migration to Australia, including the migration of unprecedented levels of NESB professionals, this article examines two recent studies which report cases of direct and indirect labour market discrimination.key findings include a growing trend to federal government intervention (in alliance with the medical professional bodies) to limit the entry and registration of migrant doctors, as well as the potential for English language ability to negatively impact on pre-registration examination outcomes. " (EXCERPT)
Sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma: Clinicopathologic. A study of 42 cases

Forty‐two cases of sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma were reviewed clinicopathologically. Twenty‐four patients were men, and 18 women; average age was 56.2 years (range, 30–81 years). Eight, 9, 13, and 12 cases were Stages I, II, III, and IV, respectively. Three morphologic patterns of sarcomatoid components were identified: malignant fibrous histiocytomatous (26 cases), fibrosarcomatous (6 cases), and unclassified sarcomatoid (10 cases). Mitotic count, degree of pleomorphism, cellularity, and amount of tumor matrix in the sarcomatoid areas, and similar morphologic parameters in the carcinomatous component all failed to correlate with prognosis, as did tumor size and renal vein involvement by tumor. Clinicopathologic stage was a most significant prognostic factor, with a survival of 49.7 months for Stage I and 6.8 months for combined Stages II, III, and IV. Tumor necrosis in the sarcomatoid area and proportion of sarcomatoid components were also poor prognostic factors. When these factors were compared to the stage, necrosis was an independent variable, however, proportion of sarcomatoid components was a poor prognostic indicator only for Stages I and II.
Modeling Metamaterial Transmission Lines Loaded With Pairs of Coupled Split-Ring Resonators

A lumped-element equivalent circuit model of the unit cell of metamaterial transmission lines loaded with pairs of coupled split-ring resonators (SRRs) is presented. It is assumed that the dominant coupling mechanism between the SRRs forming the pair is magnetic, and that the distance between SRRs of adjacent cells is high enough to neglect such additional inter-resonator coupling. SRRs are oriented with their symmetry plane orthogonal to the line axis. Under these conditions, the line-to-SRR coupling is also magnetic, the electric coupling being negligible. The presented model accounts for the rupture of symmetry that can be caused, for instance, by asymmetric dielectric loading of the SRRs. Thus, the analysis is carried out on a general model where the SRRs of the pair have different inductance and capacitance. Then, different cases are studied, in particular a line with identical SRRs, and a line with different SRRs, but with the same resonance frequency. It is shown that coupling between SRRs tends to far or split the resonance frequencies of the loaded lines (transmission zeros), except for the symmetric case, where only one resonance (different to the one of uncoupled SRRs) appears. The model is validated by comparing circuit simulations using extracted parameters with electromagnetic simulations and experimental data.
Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in Babylonia areolata and cross‐species amplification in Babylonia formosae habei

Nine novel microsatellite primer pairs were presented for Babylonia areolata, representing the first microsatellite markers available for this genus. Levels of polymorphism were variable with 2 to 11 alleles per locus and expected heterozygosities ranging from 0.073 to 0.907 in 27 individuals of the population from which the loci were isolated. We found significant heterozygote deficit at one locus that might be attributable to null alleles. We were successful at cross‐amplifying six loci in the congeneric B. formosae habei. These markers are therefore potentially useful for conservation studies, population structure assessment, ecological analyses and linkage map construction.
Management of urethral strictures

Controlled clinical trials are unusual in surgery, rare in urology, and almost non-existent as far as the management of urethral stricture is concerned. What data there are come largely from so called “expert opinion” and the quality of this is variable. None the less, the number of so called experts, past and present, is comparatively small and in broad principle their views more or less coincide. Although this review is therefore inevitably biased, it is unlikely that expert opinion will take issue with most of the general points raised here.