Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
User Adoption of Government-to-Employee Portal of Hong Kong Government

E-government is a mission-critical, visionary issue faced by the public sector as it pushed the delivery of public services to a new quality standard through a new set of delivery means. However, many stakeholders found it hard to fully embrace this new mode of service delivery. Through the provision of electronic services (e-services), stakeholders of government services expect that e-services can improve the efficiency of government agencies (Gore, 1993; Information Technology and Broadcasting Bureau (ITBB), 1998). Indeed, information systems (IS) researchers have investigated the impact of information technology (IT) in pubic sector since the late 1970s, when personal computers were launched (Kraemer, 1977; Danziger et al., 1978). Since the 1990s, the focus of E-government is focused on studying the impact of the Internet on the public sector as both the Internet and personal computers are becoming readily accessible to members of the public. In particular, the research direction has been focused on studying the interaction between government agencies and members of the public, i.e., citizens and business firms (or Government-to-Citizen, G2C, and Government-to-Business, G2B) (Baum, et al., 2007; Devadoss, et al., 2002; Golden, et al., 2003). One area of research is focused on studying how developing countries are embracing into the E-government paradigm for delivering their government services online (Gupta et al., 2008; Nawafleh et al., 2012), the others is studying issues which affect the perceived E-government service quality by citizens (Zaidi et al., 2014). In more recent years, more research has been done to study how G2C E-commerce can be implemented in social media (Ho et al., 2014; Khan et al., 2014). While most of the studies in E-government focus on G2B and G2C E-commerce, there are not too many studies are focused on the impact of Internet technology on the interaction among users within government departments (or Government-to-Employee, G2E, and Government-to-Government, G2G) (Baležentis & Paražinskaitė, 2012). Hence, the aim of this study is to analyze this impact of Internet technology on the interaction between the Government and its internal users. The focus of this chapter is to examine the user adoption of the Intranet portal of the Hong Kong Government. We choose Hong Kong Government as our subject of study because it has been ranked amongst the top few countries in the Asia-Pacific Region (Waseda University, 2014) and the seventh in the worldwide “Overall Maturity in e-Government” (Accenture, 2004). This indicates that Hong Kong is one of the pioneers in developing e-Government projects in the region. Hence, the result obtained User Adoption of Governmentto-Employee Portal of Hong Kong Government
Immunohistochemical localization of ORL‐1 in the central nervous system of the rat

A novel member of the opioid receptor family (ORL‐1) has been cloned from a variety of vertebrates. ORL‐1 does not bind any of the classical opioids, although a high affinity endogenous agonist with close homology to dynorphin has recently been identified. We have generated a monoclonal antibody to the N‐terminus of ORL‐1 to map areas of receptor expression in rat central nervous system (CNS). Intense and specific immunolabeling was observed in multiple areas in the diencephalon, mesencephalon, pons/medulla, and spinal cord. In the telencephalon, intense labeling was observed in the neuropil throughout layers II–V in the neocortex, the anterior olfactory nuclear complex, the pyriform cortex, the CA1–CA4 fields and dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, and in many of the septal and basal forebrain areas. In contrast to other members of the opioid receptor family, light labeling for ORL‐1 was observed in telencephalic areas such as caudate‐putamen. In the cerebellum, ORL‐1 immunoreactivity was only observed in the deep nuclei. Throughout the CNS the majority of labelling was localized to fiber processes and fine puncta, although labeled scattered perikarya were observed in a few brain areas such as the hilus dentate in the hippocampus and some nuclei in the brainstem and spinal cord. The present mapping study is consistent with the reported distribution of ORL‐1 mRNA and provides the first immunohistochemical report on anatomical and cellular distribution of ORL‐1 receptor in the rat CNS. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Neuroanatomical studies of the nigrotectal projection in the cat

We have used retrograde and anterograde transport methods to analyze then nigrotectal projection in the cat. This projection arises from both pars reticulata (SNr) and pars lateralis (SNl) and distributes to all cellular laminae of the superior colliculus. This extensive nigrotectal innervation is not a simple, single circuit. Rather it appears to consist of several parallel channels, with each taking origin from a particular zone of the substantia nigra and terminating within specific collicular laminae and/or sublaminae. For instance, only neurons within the SNl project to the stratum griseum superficiale; such neurons also project diffusely to all other tectal laminae. Cells in the most lateral portion of the SNr project to a horizontal, patchy tier in the interface region between the stratum opticum and the stratum griseum intermediale (SGI). Finally, more medially placed neurons within the SNr project to a horizontal patchy tier within the middle of the SGI and to a wedge‐shaped locus in the stratum griseum profundum.
The Causal Effect of Corporate Governance on Employee Satisfaction

We investigate whether an increase in shareholder rights has a causal effect on employee satisfaction. To ensure causality, we use close shareholder votes on anti-takeover provisions included in the Entrenchment Index (E-Index) by Bebchuk et al. (2009) as exogenous shocks to the corporate governance of a company. An increase in shareholder rights by one point on the scale of the E-Index causes lower employee satisfaction of approximately 10%. We identify decreases in the employee’s opinion on firm culture, their view about the company's CEO, the number of employees, and the capital expenditures as channels that drive our results.
Downregulation of Cystine Transporter xc– by Irinotecan in Human Head and Neck Cancer FaDu Xenografts

Background: The purpose of this study was: (1) to document the critical requirement of cystine for growth of human tumor cells in vitro, and (2) to determine the effect of the anticancer agent irinotecan on the cystine transporter xc– in head and neck FaDu xenografts. Methods: Cell growth was measured by sulforhodamine B assay. xCT protein, glutathione (GSH) and DNA damage were determined using Western blot, spectrophotometry, and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Results: Depletion of cystine from the medium inhibited tumor cell growth. Treatment of FaDu tumor with a therapeutic dose of irinotecan resulted in depression of xCT protein levels, leading to tumor growth retardation and downregulation of GSH with increased reactive oxygen species (ROS). The accumulation of ROS correlated with increased DNA damage as evidenced by increased H2AX. Conclusion: Depression of xCT protein by irinotecan resulted in downregulation of GSH and increase in ROS, which could be the other possible mechanisms of DNA damage by irinotecan.
A Shooting and Bouncing Ray (SBR) Modeling Framework Involving Dielectrics and Perfect Conductors

A parallel computing architecture based on NVIDIA's compute unified device architecture (CUDA) for the modeling of electromagnetic wave propagation by means of the high-frequency approximation method, shooting and bouncing rays (SBRs), is introduced and evaluated. The algorithm provides a reliable treatment of problems involving bulky and nonperfectly conducting materials. The general case of wave propagation through arbitrary dielectric materials also considering evanescent waves is presented in a concise way and a simplified treatment of the practically important case of thin dielectric layers over perfectly electrically conducting (PEC) bodies is considered. The resulting hybrid SBR approach is capable of dealing with PEC and the various dielectric object cases in a unified manner. A wide variety of scattering problems is considered, and scattered field predictions are compared to exact method of moments (MoM) and finite-element method (FEM) results. In particular, the benefits of the SBR within bulky dielectrics are highlighted.
Tips & Tricks for Nanoparticle Characterization

Q: If I have a mixture of micelles and liposomes, with DLS, which measurement method will give a true reflection of size distribution? Intensity, volume or number? What’s the advantage and drawback of each? A: If you have small micelles and bigger liposomes, then the intensity distribution will show a larger contribution from the liposomes (by scattering intensity) whereas the number distribution will show a larger contribution from the micelles (by number). These results are both correct. Number distributions emphasize the species with the highest number of particles (which often tend to be the smaller ones). Intensity distributions emphasize the species with the largest scattering intensity contributing to the overall result (which often tend to be the larger particles). If you are trying to make very clean samples without any large aggregates, use the intensity distribution, which by the way is the preferred method for DLS in any case. If you are trying to see mostly the smallest nanoparticles in your preparation, try the number distribution (provided the DLS results are of good data quality).
Arthropod Assemblage Related to Volatile Cues in Flowering Wheat: Interaction between Aphid Herbivory and Soil Conditions as Induction Factors

ABSTRACT Volatile cues released by plants play an important role in plant-insect interactions and are influenced by pests or soil conditions affecting plant metabolism. Field microcosm experiments were used to characterize arthropod spontaneous assemblies in homogenous unstressed wheat patches exposed to volatile cues coming from wheat plants with different levels of stress. The design was a factorial completely randomized block design with three replications. Source wheat pots combined two stress factors: 1) soil degradation level: high and low, and 2) aphid herbivory: with (A) and without (B). Eighteen experimental units consisted of source stressed wheat pots, connected by tubes conducting the volatile cues to sink wheat patches. These patches were located at the end of the tubes placed in a flowering wheat field. Arthropod assemblies on wheat sinks were different between years and they were associated to the source cues. Soil condition was the main discriminating factor among arthropods when a clear contrast between high and low soil degradation was observed, whereas aphid herbivory was the main discriminating factor when soil condition effects were absent. Main soil properties related with arthropods assembly were Mg and K in the first year and cation exchange capacity, total nitrogen, and pH in the second year of experiment. According to this study, spontaneous arthropod distributions in the homogeneous, unstressed wheat patch responded to the volatile cues coming from wheat sources growing in particular soil conditions. It is possible to suggest that soil-plant-herbivore interactions change wheat cues and this phenomenon produces significant differences in neighboring arthropod community structure.
Advanced modelling of multilayered composites and functionally graded structures by means of Unified Formulation

La plupart des problemes d'ingenierie des deux derniers siecles ont ete resolus grâce a des modeles structuraux pour poutres, plaques et coques. Les theories classiques, tels que Euler-Bernoulli, Navier et de Saint-Venant pour les poutres, et Kirchhoff-Love et Mindlin-Reissner pour plaques et coques, ont permis de reduire le probleme generique 3-D, dans le probleme unidimensionnel pour les poutres et deux dimensionnelle pour les coques et les plaques. Theories raffines d'ordre superieur ont ete proposees au cours du temps, comme les modeles classiques ne consentez pas a d'obtenir une complete domaine des contraintes et des deformations. La Carrera Unified Formulation (UF) a ete propose au cours de la derniere decennie, et permet de developper un grand nombre de theories structurelles avec un nombre variable d'inconnues principales au moyen d'une notation compacte et se referant a des nuclei fondamentales. Cette formulation unifiee permet de deriver carrement des modeles structurels d'ordre superieur, pour les poutres, plaques et coques. Dans ce cadre, cette these vise a etendre la formulation pour l'analyse des structures fonctionnellement gradues (FGM), en introduisant aussi le probleme thermo-mecanique, dans le cas des poutres fonctionnellement gradues. Suite a la formulation unifiee, les variables generiques deplacements sont ecrits en termes de fonctions de base, qui multiplie les inconnues. Dans la deuxieme partie de la these, de nouvelles fonctions de bases pour la modelisation des coques, qui representent une approximation trigonometrique des variables deplacements, sont pris en compte
Strategic Leadership Style and Commitment to Service Quality on Services Innovation in Local Enterprise Water Services

Objective - This study explores and examines the theoretical framework regarding the influence of strategic leadership styles that include transformational leadership style and transactional leadership styles as well as their influence on commitment to service quality and how leadership style influences service innovation in local enterprise water services. Methodology/Technique - The number of respondents in this study were 120 employees who were selected using a purposive sampling method and were represented by each section relating to the task of serving customers. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is used to analyze the research data. Findings - The results show that transformational leadership style has an influence on commitment to services quality and service innovation. Novelty - Likewise, the transactional leadership style affects commitment to services quality, but it does not affect service innovation. Type of Paper: Empirical. Keywords: Transformational and Transactional Leadership Style; Commitment to Service Quality (CSQ); Service Innovation (SI). JEL Classification: M10. M11. M19
Discrete-Time and Sampled-Data Low-Gain Control of Infinite-Dimensional Linear Systems in the Presence of Input Hysteresis

We introduce a general class of causal dynamic discrete-time nonlinearities which have certain monotonicity and Lipschitz continuity properties. In particular, the discretizations of a large class of continuous-time hysteresis operators obtained by applying the standard sampling and hold operations belong to this class. It is shown that closing the loop around a power-stable, linear, infinite-dimensional, discrete-time, single-input, single-output system, subject to an input nonlinearity from the class under consideration and compensated by a discrete-time integral controller, guarantees asymptotic tracking of constant reference signals, provided that (a) the positive integrator gain is sufficiently small and (b) the reference value is feasible in a very natural sense. We apply this result in the development of sampled-data low-gain integral control for exponentially stable, regular, linear, infinite-dimensional, continuous-time systems subject to input hysteresis.
Brief report: Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms after severe traumatic brain injury in a representative community sample

Primary objective : In this study, the authors investigated the prevalence of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a community sample of 66 survivors of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Research design, method and procedures : A representative sample of survivors of TBI were selected on the basis of having suffered significant disturbance in consciousness following their trauma event in the form of coma and/or post-traumatic amnesia. Neuropsychological testing confirmed that participants had suffered cognitive deficits consistent with severe brain injury. Participants were administered the Impact of Events inventory for symptoms of PTSD. Main outcomes and results : The authors found a prevalence rate of 18% for moderate-to-severe PTSD symptoms. Conclusions : PTSD symptoms are common following severe TBI. Further research is needed to establish protective and predictive factors for PTSD in TBI groups.
Effect of bull performance on progeny early growth and genetic relationships between bull and progeny traits.

Records on four bulls and 96 of their progeny born from 2005 to 2011 with pedigree information were used to estimate the impact of bull performance on progeny early growth and the genetic relationships between traits of bull and their progeny. Traits included in this study were metabolic body weight, feed intake and residual feed intake (RFI) for bull performance and birth weight and average daily gain for progeny performance. The variance and covariance components were estimated by the REML method with the VCE computer program. The metabolic body weight of breeding bulls ranged from 92.88±1.22 to 106.05±2.28 kg. The average daily feed intake of breeding bulls differed significantly (p<0.05). The RFI of breeding bulls were ranged from -0.57±0.07 to 0.54±0.06 kg/day. It has been found that the RFI values of two bulls were negative and the other two bulls were positive. The mean values for birth weight of calves produced from different breeding bulls ranged from 16.15±2.01 to 17.71±1.89 kg. Effects of breeding bulls on birth weight and average daily gain of male calves were highly significant (p<0.01). Mean values for birth weight and average daily gain of female calves were affected also significantly (p<0.05) among breeding bulls. Estimated heritability for birth weight was moderate (0.30) and for average daily gain was low (0.26). The genetic correlation between metabolic body weight of bulls and birth weight of their progeny was strong (rg=0.52), whereas feed intake of bulls with birth weight and average daily gain of their progeny were moderate (0.43±0.21 and 0.40±0.23, respectively). Low but favorable negative genetic correlation (rg=-0.10) was observed between RFI of bulls with average daily gain of their progeny. Estimated moderate heritability indicated that variation exist on average daily gain of calves. The negative genetic correlation between RFI of bulls and average daily gain of their progeny indicated that it was possible to improve simultaneously RFI of breeding bulls and daily gain of their progeny. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/bjas.v40i1-2.10620 Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2011. 40 (1-2): 1-7
Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Emergency Contraception among Female Undergraduate Health Science Students in Kenya

Background: Emergency contraception is a safe, simple, effective, and convenient form of family planning method that women can use to minimize the chances of unwanted pregnancy after unprotected sex. Aims: This study sought to determine the levels of knowledge, attitudes and practices of emergency contraception pills among female undergraduate health sciences students. Subjects and Methods: This study utilized a cross-sectional descriptive design. Stratified random sampling was done and data collected by use of self-administered researcher-designed questionnaires (n=203) capturing knowledge, attitudes and practices of emergency pills use. Results: This study found that almost one-third (27.1%) of the participants were unaware of the existence of the pill. Of those who were aware, slightly less than half (41.4%) held the belief that use of the pill was unsafe and that it was not something that they would freely discuss with their parents. Some students (1.5%) believed that emergency contraception pills reduce transmission of HIV/AIDS. Over 80% of the students did not know the number of times that pills can be used safely in a year. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that correct knowledge on emergency contraception pills among the students was poor. Measures should be undertaken to educate the youth on reproductive health, especially emergency contraception as a way of curbing cases of unintended pregnancies in colleges. Health sciences students constitute an early pool of health care providers and are often consulted on reproductive issues by the general public in low resource settings. Timely provision of correct information on emergency contraceptive pills will ensure that others in the society also have the right information.
Liability for Third-Party Harm When Harm-Inflicting Consumers Are Present Biased

This article analyzes the workings of liability when harm-inflicting consumers are present biased and both product safety and consumer care influence expected harm. We show that present bias introduces a rationale for shifting some losses onto the manufacturer, in stark contrast with the baseline scenario in which strict consumer liability induces socially optimal product safety and precaution levels. In addition, we establish that strict liability with contributory negligence may induce socially optimal product safety and precaution choices.
The Pentecostal movement as represented in breakthrough international : an expression of Missio Dei? : a contribution to an experiental pneumatology of mission.

This thesis critically evaluates the experiential mIssIOnary practice of Breakthrough International (BCI), an African charismatic Church, from a perspective of Missio Dei, a modem paradigm of mission conceptualized by ecumenical missiology. BCI, within its African world view, where the spiritual is tangibly real, has grown out of its experience of the Spirit, the divine principle of origin and normal experience of faith. Theological academic discourse, bound to an enlightenment concept of truth within a modem Cartesian world view, can reasonably access and evaluate BCl's experience of the divine as proper source for theological discourse through BCl's narrative. Missio Dei, a response to the old church centered paradigm of mission, redefines mission as an activity of God, in which the mission centered church participates. God's mission unfolds in (post)modern history transformed through Christ's coming to an eschatological reality. It is realized as such by the local congregation in (post)secular times, acknowledging God's preferential option for the poor and aims to humanize and liberate the world. Qod's mission is)< m~ted through culture, and through contextualization creates a polycentric cultural identity ofthe gospel modeled after Christ's incarnation. It is in as much contextual as it is culture critical. BCI resembles Missio Dei in a very limited fashion. The difference in world views, and its focus on personalexperience, creates an uric~l paradigm of mission aiming to save the b~ver not th~ world. With little regard for the history of mission BCI wants to rewrite personal (hDstory without involving itself in world history iI1. P0sing a spiritual agenda upon the world from the perspective of those who are victimized by history. Though it represents the poor it doesn't grasp Christ's incarnation and its implications for an understanding of the struggle of the poor as an issue of theology proper. Poverty is spiritualized to a matter of personal piety. BCI does nO~PQ! eciate the contextuality of the gospel but understangs jt as above culture. I~s a Christian sUbcultUre in limited corrilliunion withthe church ----universal, very reluctant to involve itself in the public domain. --Our dialogue with BCl's narrative form of theology acknowledges that modem, ecumenical missiology needs to rediscover the experience of the Spirit as source of mission; yet BCI needs to develop a theology which makes use of scripture, tradition, and reason in order to find a broader and sustainable understanding of its experience of the divine.