Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
E-government adoption success factors for developing countries

Adoption has a key role in a successful implementation of E-government initiatives in the context of developing nations. Until the current times, little research has been done to explore determinant factors of the adoption of E-government services among developing countries citizens. It is pertinent to determine the factors influencing the e-government services adoption and the government should understand such factors. Therefore, for an E-government to reach its full potential there is a need to decrease the gap between what is offered and what is utilized for fruitful government investment. So, this paper reviewed the studies of E-government adoption in developing countries. The aim of this study is to come up with the important success factors that influence the citizens in developing countries. There are many studies mentioned that privacy, security, trust, awareness is very important factors that affect E-government in developing countries.
The effect of temperature on infection, development and reproduction of heterorhabditids

Abstract The effect of temperature on infection, development and reproduction of five Heterorhabditis isolates was examined in Galleria mellonella larvae. Infectivity was examined at six temperatures (5,10, 15,20,25 and 30°C). The proportion of Galleria infected remained relatively constant, only dropping at extremes of the temperature range tested. However, the mean number of nematodes per host produced a different trend, with each isolate displaying optimal infectivity at 25°C. The temperature range over which the juveniles could infect differed between the isolates. This is thought to be related to the geographic origins of the species. Development and reproduction occurred over a slightly narrower temperature range than that allowing infection to occur. Differences between the isolates at which development and reproduction occurred were noted. There were also differences in the mean number of juveniles produced per cadaver following either infection in sand (10 nematodes/larva) or the injection of one juvenile per larva, suggesting that reproduction is tightly regulated by density-dependent constraints.
Direct instantaneous torque control of a four-phase switched reluctance motor

The paper presents an investigation on the direct instantaneous torque control (DITC) of a 1-hp four-phase 8/6 switched reluctance motor (SRM). In the proposed technique, the instantaneous phase torque was estimated in real-time using a pre-stored look-up table of measured static torque, T(i, λ), where phase current and phase flux linkage were input parameters. Therefore, a high-resolution encoder can be avoided. The ripple-minimizing reference phase torques were generated from the torque distribution and commutation sequence controllers that use the knowledge of the reference total torque, rotor position information obtained from an inexpensive low-resolution encoder and the estimated phase torques. The fully digitalized closed-loop control consisted of effective and simplified PI controllers of phase torques, which straightaway gave the suitable PWM duty cycles to the IGBT-based asymmetric half-bridge converter. Obviously, the instantaneous torque of the SRM was directly controlled by continuously variable phase voltages without including any inner current control loop. Results obtained from computer simulations of the developed MATLAB/Simulink model and the DSP-based real-time control experiments have confirmed the validity and acceptable performance of the proposed scheme. Good step torque responses and good tracking abilities to various torque reference waveforms have been presented.
Motor unit activation and force production during eccentric, concentric and isometric actions

Linnamo, Vesa Motor unit activation and force production during eccentric, concentric and isometric actions Jyvaskyla: University of Jyvaskyla, 2002, 77 p. (Studies in Sport, Physical Education and Health, ISSN 0356-1070; 82) ISBN 951-39-1162-4 Finnish summary Diss. The aim of the present series of studies was to examine force and myoelectrical activity in human forearm flexors and knee extensors during dynamic and isometric muscle actions. The main purposes were 1) to clarify the methodological issues regarding the measurements of maximal force, EMG and EMG power spectrum in eccentric, concentric and isometric conditions, 2) to examine the motor unit activation patterns during dynamic and isometric actions by following the behavior of the EMG power spectrum and by utilizing selective intramuscular fine wire electrodes, and 3) to examine the effects of fatigue on force production, aEMG and EMG power spectrum in eccentric and concentric actions. The results showed that eccentric force measured after the onset of the stretch is higher than the isometric preactivation force preceding the movement regardless of the stretching velocity or of the joint angle. However, due to possible inhibition during maximal eccentric action the maximal eccentric force measured in the middle part of the movement may in some situations be exceeded by separately measured isometric force. Lower median frequency (MF) during eccentric than in concentric actions would not support the concept that fast motor units would be selectively recruited during eccentric action. In concentric actions MF increased with increased movement velocity which could indicate increased activation of fast motor units. A more detailed examination of MF showed, however, that window placement of Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) and the part of the signal chosen for the analysis may be of crucial importance. Intramuscular spike-amplitude frequency (ISAF) analysis suggests that in eccentric actions with isometric preactivation all motor units may become recruited at lower relative force level than in isometric and in concentric actions and the additional force is achieved by increased firing rate of the active units. Despite possible inhibition in eccentric actions the relative force decrease after fatiguing maximal eccentric and concentric exercise can be similar after both exercise types provided that the movement is always started with maximal isometric preactivation.
Anti‐biofilm activity of ultrashort cinnamic acid peptide derivatives against medical device‐related pathogens

The threat of antimicrobial resistance has placed increasing emphasis on the development of innovative approaches to eradicate multidrug‐resistant pathogens. Biofilm‐forming microorganisms, for example, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus, are responsible for increased incidence of biomaterial infection, extended hospital stays and patient morbidity and mortality. This paper highlights the potential of ultrashort tetra‐peptide conjugated to hydrophobic cinnamic acid derivatives. These peptidomimetic molecules demonstrate selective and highly potent activity against resistant biofilm forms of Gram‐positive medical device‐related pathogens. 3‐(4‐Hydroxyphenyl)propionic)‐Orn‐Orn‐Trp‐Trp‐NH2 displays particular promise with minimum biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC) values of 125 µg/ml against methicillin sensitive (ATCC 29213) and resistant (ATCC 43300) S. aureus and activity shown against biofilm forms of Escherichia coli (MBEC: 1000 µg/ml). Kill kinetics confirms complete eradication of established 24‐h biofilms at MBEC with 6‐h exposure. Reduced cell cytotoxicity, relative to Gram‐positive pathogens, was proven via tissue culture (HaCaT) and haemolysis assays (equine erythrocytes).
Insulin‐Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 4 Enhances Cardiomyocytes Induction in Murine‐Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Insulin‐like growth factor binding protein 4 (IGFBP4) has been reported to play critical role in cardiomyocytes differentiation of embryonic stem cells (ESCs). But whether it promotes cardiomyocytes induction of iPSCs is unclear. In the present study, we aim to explore the role of IGFBP4 in the cardiogenesis of mouse iPSCs. We observed that IGFBP4 treatment at late stage during differentiation process of mouse iPSCs greatly enhanced the beating frequency of embryoid bodies (EBs). The expressions of Nkx2.5 (cardiac‐specific transcription factor), α‐MHC, α‐actinin, and Troponin I (cardiac‐specific protein) were significantly enhanced by IGFBP4 treatment. Immunostaining analysis showed that α‐MHC, TNNT2 and connexin 43, typical cardiac markers, were obviously expressed in isolated cardiomyocytes from iPSCs with or without IGFBP4 treatment. Further study revealed that IGFBP4 had little effect on the apoptosis of EBs, but it significantly promoted the proliferation of cardiomyocytes from iPSCs characterized by higher ratio EdU positive cells in differentiated cardiomyocytes. We next observed that IGFBP4 inhibited β‐catenin expression in cytosol of EBs at late stage during differentiation of iPSCs. Knockdown of β‐catenin using a siRNA technique promoted the proliferation of differentiated cardiomyocytes and enhanced cardiomyocytes induction of iPSCs, suggesting that the effect of IGFBP4 on cardiomyocytes differentiation of iPSCs has relationship with β‐catenin signaling pathway. In conclusion, IGFBP4 promotes cardiogenesis of iPSCs by enhancing the proliferation of differentiated cardiomyocytes through inhibiting β‐catenin signaling. J. Cell. Biochem. 115: 1495–1504, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Nonacademic Factors Associated with Dropping Out of High School: Adolescent Problem Behaviors

This study uses a social capital and collective socialization lens to examine nonacademic factors in middle school that predict students’ failure to complete high school, and focuses on youth who engage in adolescent problem behaviors of smoking cigarettes, sexual intercourse, delinquency, marijuana use, and alcohol use. Our area of interest was the extent to which these variables were predictive of dropping out of high school measured 6 years later and beyond the traditional variables of school performance and school engagement, which are the target of many dropout prevention programs. Analyses use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to follow a nationally representative sample of children from middle school through the end of the high-school years. Results indicate that engaging in regular smoking and sexual activity during middle-school years predict high-school dropout independent of school performance during middle school. Acts of delinquency during middle school in the context of poverty (i.e., mothers’ receipt of welfare was proxy for poverty) are also predictive of high-school dropout. These findings suggest the importance of factors that reach beyond school performance and school engagement as possible targets for dropout prevention programs.
On the Blindspots of Convolutional Networks

Deep convolutional network has been the state-of-the-art approach for a wide variety of tasks over the last few years. Its successes have, in many cases, turned it into the default model in quite a few domains. In this work, we will demonstrate that convolutional networks have limitations that may, in some cases, hinder it from learning properties of the data, which are easily recognizable by traditional, less demanding, models. To this end, we present a series of competitive analysis studies on image recognition and text analysis tasks, for which convolutional networks are known to provide state-of-the-art results. In our studies, we inject a truth-revealing signal, indiscernible for the network, thus hitting time and again the network's blind spots. The signal does not impair the network's existing performances, but it does provide an opportunity for a significant performance boost by models that can capture it. The various forms of the carefully designed signals shed a light on the strengths and weaknesses of convolutional network, which may provide insights for both theoreticians that study the power of deep architectures, and for practitioners that consider applying convolutional networks to the task at hand.
The evolution of the star-forming sequence in hierarchical galaxy formation models.

It has been argued that the specific star formation rates of star forming galaxies inferred from observational data decline more rapidly below z = 2 than is predicted by hierarchical galaxy formation models. We present a detailed analysis of this problem by comparing predictions from the GALFORM semi-analytic model with an extensive compilation of data on the average star formation rates of star-forming galaxies. We also use this data to infer the form of the stellar mass assembly histories of star forming galaxies. Our analysis reveals that the currently available data favours a scenario where the stellar mass assembly histories of star forming galaxies rise at early times and then fall towards the present day. In contrast, our model predicts stellar mass assembly histories that are almost flat below z = 2 for star forming galaxies, such that the predicted star formation rates can be offset with respect to the observational data by factors of up to 2 3. This disagreement can be explained by the level of coevolution between stellar and halo mass assembly that exists in contemporary galaxy formation models. In turn, this arises because the standard implementations of star formation and supernova feedback used in the models result in the efficiencies of these process remaining approximately constant over the lifetime of a given star forming galaxy. We demonstrate how a modification to the timescale for gas ejected by feedback to be reincorporated into galaxy haloes can help to reconcile the model predictions with the data.
Mothers' Challenges after Infants' Discharge from Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Qualitative Study

ABSTRACTBackground: Mothers with premature infants face certain challenges such as uncertainty on how to deal with their infant's condition and care for it after discharge from neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Methods: A qualitative design was used to explain mothers' challenges after their infant's discharge from NICUs in Isfahan, Iran, 2015. Purposive sampling was adopted to interview the mothers who could provide us information about the challenges after their infant's discharge. Data collection was performed by interviewing mothers. Data saturation was reached after conducting 23 in-depth, semi-structured interviews. All the data was analyzed by qualitative content analysis.Results: Four themes and nine categories were identified. The themes were incompetence in breastfeeding, dependence on hospital and nurses, feeding tube as a reason for stress, and constantly worried mothers.Conclusion: Mothers have difficulty in meeting their infants' basic needs after discharge. Supporting these mothers can enable them promote their infant's health.
Designing Multi-Attribute Procurement Mechanisms for Assortment Planning

This research investigates how to design procurement mechanisms for assortment planning. We consider that a retailer buys directly from a manufacturer who possesses private information about the per-unit variable cost and per-variety setup cost. We first develop a screening model to assist the retailer in integrating assortment planning into supply chain contracting processes when only one manufacturer is available. We demonstrate that the screening mechanism is optimal among all feasible procurement strategies. When there are multiple competing manufacturers, we propose a supply contract auctioning mechanism and evaluate its performance. In this mechanism, the retailer announces a contract menu and the manufacturer that bids the highest upfront fee paid to the retailer wins the auction. The winner then chooses and executes a contract from the contract menu. We show that when the retailer uses the optimal screening contract menu as the object of the auction, it achieves the optimal procurement outcome if the screening contract menu does not pay rent to any manufacturer type. This finding sheds light on the connection between screening and auction mechanisms when there exists multi-dimensional private information.
SYNTHESIS OF CELLULOSE FROM PYRUVATE BY SUCCINATE-GROWN CELLS OF ACETOBACTER XYLINUM

Benziman, Moshe (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel) and H. Burger-Rachamimov. Synthesis of cellulose from pyruvate by succinate-grown cells of Acetobacter xylinum. J. Bacteriol. 84:625–630. 1962. —Pyruvate was converted into cellulose by succinate-grown cells of Acetobacter xylinum. With pyruvate-1-, 2-, or 3-C14 as substrate, the upper half of the cellulose monomer mirrored the lower half, both as to total content and distribution of C14. In each case, about 75% of the total radioactivity of the cellulose monomer was found in two carbon atoms (carbon pairs 3:4, 2:5, and 1:6, derived from pyruvate-1-, 2-, and 3-C14, respectively). The carbonyl carbon of pyruvate contributed 2 equivalents to the cellulose monomer, compared with 1.4 and 2.8 equivalents contributed by the pyruvate carboxyl and methyl carbons, respectively. Cellulose formed in the presence of pyruvate and C14O2 was nonradioactive. The results suggest that the carbon chain of the cellulose monomer is formed in these cells via a condensation involving two molecules of a three-carbon compound. Reactions involving pyruvate which could account for the observed distribution of C14 in cellulose are discussed.
Cross-layer Optimization in Wireless Multihop Networks

In order to meet the increasing demand for higher data rates, next generation wireless networks must incorporate additional functionalities to enhance network throughput. Multihop networks are considered as a promising alternative due to their ability to exploit spatial reuse and to extend coverage. Recently, industry has shown increased interest in multihop networks as they do not require additional infrastructure and have relatively low deployment costs. Many advances in physical and network layer techniques have been proposed in the recent past and they have been studied mostly in single-hop networks. Very few studies, if any, have tried to quantify the gains that these techniques could provide in multihop networks. We investigate the impact of simple network coding, advanced physical layer and cooperative techniques on the maximum achievable throughput of wireless multihop networks of practical size. We consider the following advanced physical layer techniques: successive interference cancellation, superposition coding, dirty-paper coding, and some of their combinations. We achieve this by formulating several cross-layer frameworks when these techniques are jointly optimized with routing and scheduling. We also formulate power allocation subproblems for the cases of continuous power control and superposition coding. We also provide numerous engineering insights by solving these problems to optimality.
ERCP in patients with periampullary diverticulum.

BACKGROUND/AIMS Duodenal diverticula, discovered incidentally in patients during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, are usually asymptomatic, but can be the source of significant morbidity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the indications for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, the course of this procedure and complications after this procedure in patients with periampullary diverticulum. METHODOLOGY Clinical, laboratory, ultrasonographic, and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography data of 626 patients from a single endoscopy center were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS The periampullary diverticulum was identified in 72 patients (11.5%). The difficulty in cannulation of papilla of Vater was encountered in 57 patients (79.2%) with diverticulum compared to 54 patients (9.7%) without diverticulum (P < 0.001). Cannulation of common bile duct was successful in 592 patients (94.6%). Cannulation of common bile duct failed in 8 patients (11.1%) with diverticulum compared to 26 patients (4.7%) without diverticulum (P = 0.046). Patients without diverticulum (n = 168, 31.9%) had two-times more often dilated common bile duct > or = 6 mm without stone on ultrasound compared to patients with diverticulum (n = 12, 17.6%) (P = 0.017). Patients with diverticulum presented 1.8-times more often with retained stone in the common bile duct than patients without diverticulum (16.7% vs. 9.7%). 17.3% of patients developed post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography complications, which did not significantly differ in both groups. However, the patients who presented with retained common bile duct stones had higher post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography complications (P = 0.011). CONCLUSIONS Cannulation of the common bile duct is more difficult in patients with periampullary diverticulum and requires more skills. Periampullary diverticulum is also associated with higher risk of retained stones in the common bile duct which may lead to higher post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography complication rate.
HUMAN HEART β‐ADRENOCEPTORS: β1‐ADRENOCEPTOR DIVERSIFICATION THROUGH ‘AFFINITY STATES’ AND POLYMORPHISM

1 In atrium and ventricle from failing and non‐failing human hearts, activation of β1‐ or β2‐adrenoceptors causes increases in contractile force, hastening of relaxation, protein kinase A‐catalysed phosphorylation of proteins implicated in the hastening of relaxation, phospholamban, troponin I and C‐protein, consistent with coupling of both β1‐ and β2‐adrenoceptors to stimulatory Gsa‐protein but not inhibitory Gia‐protein. 2 Two ‘affinity states’, namely β1H and β1L, of the β1‐adrenoceptor exist. In human heart, noradrenaline elicits powerful increases in contractile force and hastening of relaxation. These effects are blocked with high affinity by β‐adenoceptor antagonists, including propranolol, (–)‐pindolol, (–)‐CGP 12177 and carvedilol. Some beta‐blockers, typified by (–)‐pindolol and (–)‐CGP 12177, not only block the receptor, but also activate it, albeit at much higher concentrations (approximately 2 log units) than those required to antagonize the effects of catecholamines. In human heart, both (–)‐CGP 12177 and (–)‐pindolol increase contractile force and hasten relaxation. However, the involvement of the β1‐adrenoceptor was not immediately obvious because (–)‐pindolol‐ and (–)‐CGP 12177‐evoked responses were relatively resistant to blockade by (–)‐propranolol. Abrogation of cardiostimulant effects of (–)‐CGP 12177 in β1‐/β2‐adrenoceptor double‐knockout mice, but not β2‐adrenoceptor‐knockout mice, revealed an obligatory role of the β1‐adrenoceptor. On the basis of these results, two ‘affinity states’ have been designated, the β1H‐ and β1L‐adrenoceptor, where the β1H‐adrenoceptor is activated by noradrenaline and blocked with high affinity by beta‐blockers and the β1L‐adrenoceptor is activated by drugs such as (–)‐CGP 12177 and (–)‐pindolol and blocked with low affinity by beta‐blockers such as (–)‐propranolol. The β1H‐ and β1L‐adrenoceptor states are consistent with high‐ and low‐affinity binding sites for (–)‐[3H]‐CGP 12177 radioligand binding found in cardiac muscle and recombinant β1‐adrenoceptors. 3 There are two common polymorphic locations of the β1‐adrenoceptor, at amino acids 49 (Ser/Gly) and 389 (Arg/Gly). Their existence has raised several questions, including their role in determining the effectiveness of heart failure treatment with beta‐blockers. We have investigated the effect of long‐term maximally tolerated carvedilol administration (> 1 year) on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in patients with non‐ischaemic cardiomyopathy (mean left ventricular ejection fraction 23 ± 7%; n = 135 patients). The administration of carvedilol improved LVEF to 37 ± 13% (P < 0.005); however, the improvement was variable, with 32% of patients showing £ 5% improvement. Upon segregation of patients into Arg389Gly‐β1‐adrenoceptors, it was found that carvedilol caused a greater increase in left ventricular ejection faction in patients carrying the Arg389 allele with Arg389Arg > Arg389Gly > Gly389Gly.