Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Drivers of Impulse Buying at Retail Stores: Mediating Role of Customers’ Loyalty

The major objective of this study was to examine the impact of drivers of impulse buying on the customers’ loyalty and to assess the mediating effect of customers’ loyalty to the impulse buying at the retail stores. In order to meet the objective, a questionnaire survey was conducted among 529 customers of retail stores. SMARTPLS3 was used to analyze the data collected from the survey. Findings suggest that CSR, store attractiveness and trust positively contribute to create loyalty of retailers and it positively impact on impulse buying at stores. The model tested in this study was significant and can be used by retailers to enjoy competitive advantage. Further, it was found that loyalty is mediating between these drivers of impulse buying and impulse buying. While loyalty positively mediating between all variables, loyalty negatively mediates between commitment and impulse buying. The model tested in this study is significant and useful for retailers to create loyalty and trigger impulse buying enabling to achieve competitive advantage in retailing. When retailers adopt this model in their business, retailers can establish loyalty and generate impulse buying. Therefore, retailers need to build up trust among customers, engaging in CSR activities, keeping their stores very attractive and having long term relationship to create commitment with customers.
A CORRELATIONAL STUDY OF TURKISH UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Motivation has extensively been studied in English as a second and/or foreign language context. Yet, it seems worthwhile to conduct more research with different populations, as motivation is a dynamic quality that depends on a great number of variables and is rather difficult to attain. The present study aims to examine a group of Turkish university students’ motivation to learn English as a foreign language and types of motivation they have. A total of 81 students at the English Language Teaching (ELT) department of a large and well-established state university in Turkey took part in the study. A 20-item questionnaire which was used by Vaezi (2008, adapted from Gardner, 1985; Clement et al., 1994) was administered to participants to find out ratio of integrativeness and instrumentality at participants’ motivation. Besides, Pearson correlation test was used to investigate the relationship between participants’ motivation and their age, gender and grades. Results showed that there was a weak correlation between motivation and age, and between motivation and the other two variables: gender and grade. It was also found out that students had high instrumental motivation, but that they also had a moderate degree of integrative motivation.
The mechanism of delayed release in earthquake-induced avalanches

Snow avalanches can be triggered by strong earthquakes. Most existing models assume that snow slab avalanches happen simultaneously during or immediately after their triggering. Therefore, they cannot explain the plausibility of delayed avalanches that are released minutes to hours after a quake. This paper establishes the basic mechanism of delays in earthquake-induced avalanche release using a novel analytical model that yields dynamics consistent with three documented cases, including two from Western Himalaya and one from central Italy. The mechanism arises from the interplay between creep, strain softening and strain-rate sensitivity of snow, which drive the growth of a basal shear fracture. Our model demonstrates that earthquake-triggered delayed avalanches are rare, yet possible, and could lead to significant damage, especially in long milder slopes. The generality of the model formulation opens a new approach for exploring many other problems related to natural slab avalanche release.
Involvement of miR-4262 in paclitaxel resistance through the regulation of PTEN in non-small cell lung cancer

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is considered to be the primary cause of cancer-related mortalities worldwide. Paclitaxel (PTX), either as a monotherapy or in combination with other drugs, is an alternative therapy for advanced NSCLC. However, cancer cell resistance against PTX represents a major clinical problem. This study aimed to investigate the role and underlying mechanism of miR-4262 in PTX-resistant NSCLC. The levels of miR-4262 were analysed by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. A luciferase reporter assay and bioinformatics were used to explore the potential target gene of miR-4262. Regulation of miR-4262 and PTEN expressions in NSCLC was conducted by transfection. PTX-resistant A549 and H1299 cells were established by stepwise screening through increasing the PTX concentration in the cultures. In vivo, tumorigenesis experiments were used to explore the effects of miR-4262 and PTX. Cell proliferation, apoptosis and cell migration were detected using a CCK-8 assay, flow cytometry and Transwell migration assay, respectively. PI3 K/Akt pathway-related proteins were detected by western blot. miR-4262 expression was significantly upregulated in NSCLC tissues and cell lines, and miR-4262 targeted PTEN. In addition, miR-4262 induced PTX chemoresistance by promoting survival and migration in A549/PTX and H1299/PTX cells. Moreover, miR-4262 expression and PI3 K/Akt signalling pathway-related proteins were upregulated and PTEN was downregulated in A549/PTX and H1299/PTX. Our results indicate that miR-4262 enhances PTX resistance in NSCLC cells through targeting PTEN and activating the PI3 K/Akt signalling pathway. The inhibition of miR-4262 expression might be an improved treatment to overcome PTX resistance in NSCLC.
Electronic Supplementary Material: Evolution of coordinated punishment to enforce cooperation from an unbiased strategy space

An analytical approach based on small mutation rates [3] is problematic for the present model, as there are stable mixtures of strategies which call for mutation rates exponentially small in the population size and the intensity of selection [4]. Also a weak selection analysis for any mutation rate makes limited sense in our case [5], as this is based on deviations from a state where a large number strategies would coexist at identical abundance – a situation that appears ill-fitted to our setup with a large number of strategies. To bypass these difficulties, we focus on simulations to single out the important parts of the dynamics, which we then study analytically.
The Kuwait National Primary Immunodeficiency Registry 2004–2018

Objective: To present the report from the Kuwait National Primary Immunodeficiency Registry between 2004 and 2018. Methods: The patients were followed prospectively between January 2004 and December 2018 and their collected data included sociodemographic, diagnosis, clinical presentation, laboratory tests, and treatment. Results: A total of 314 PID patients (165 males and 149 females) were registered during the study period. Most of the patients (n = 287, 91.4%) were Kuwaiti nationals and the prevalence among Kuwaitis was 20.27/100,000 with a cumulative incidence of 24.96/100,000 Kuwaitis. The distribution of the patients according to PID categories was as follow: immunodeficiencies affecting cellular and humoral immunity, 100 patients (31.8%); combined immunodeficiencies with associated syndromic features, 68 patients (21.7%); predominantly antibody deficiencies, 56 patients (17.8%); diseases of immune dysregulation, 47 patients (15%); congenital defects of phagocyte number or function, 20 patients (6.4%); autoinflammatory disorders, 1 patient (0.3%); and complement deficiencies, 22 patients (7%). The mean age of the patients at onset of symptoms was 26 months while the mean age at diagnosis was 53 months and the mean delay in diagnosis was 27 months. Most of the patients (n = 272, 86%) had onset of symptoms before the age of 5 years. Parental consanguinity rate within the registered patients was 78% and a positive family history of PID was noticed in 50% of the patients. Genetic testing was performed in 69% of the patients with an overall diagnostic yield of 90%. Mutations were identified in 46 different genes and more than 90% of the reported genetic defects were transmitted by an autosomal recessive pattern. Intravenous immunoglobulins and stem cell transplantation were used in 58% and 25% of the patients, respectively. There were 81 deaths (26%) among the registered patients with a mean age of death of 25 months. Conclusions: PID is not infrequent in Kuwait and the reported prevalence is the highest in the literature with increased proportion of more severe forms. Collaborative efforts including introduction of newborn screening should be implemented to diagnose such cases earlier and improve the quality of life and prevent premature deaths.
Techniques to Study Antigen-Specific B Cell Responses

Antibodies against foreign antigens are a critical component of the overall immune response and can facilitate pathogen clearance during a primary infection and also protect against subsequent infections. Dysregulation of the antibody response can lead to an autoimmune disease, malignancy, or enhanced infection. Since the experimental delineation of a distinct B cell lineage in 1965, various methods have been developed to understand antigen-specific B cell responses in the context of autoimmune diseases, primary immunodeficiencies, infection, and vaccination. In this review, we summarize the established techniques and discuss new and emerging technologies for probing the B cell response in vitro and in vivo by taking advantage of the specificity of B cell receptor (BCR)-associated and secreted antibodies. These include ELISPOT, flow cytometry, mass cytometry, and fluorescence microscopy to identify and/or isolate primary antigen-specific B cells. We also present our approach to identify rare antigen-specific B cells using magnetic enrichment followed by flow cytometry. Once these cells are isolated, in vitro proliferation assays and adoptive transfer experiments in mice can be used to further characterize antigen-specific B cell activation, function, and fate. Transgenic mouse models of B cells targeting model antigens and of B cell signaling have also significantly advanced our understanding of antigen-specific B cell responses in vivo.
What Comes First: Return to School or Return to Activity for Youth After Concussion? Maybe We Don't Have to Choose

Objectives: Return to School (RTS) and Return to Activity/Play (RTA) protocols are important in concussion management. Minimal evidence exists as to sequence and whether progression can occur simultaneously. Experts recommend that children/youth fully return to school before beginning RTA protocols. This study investigates recovery trajectories of children/youth while following RTA and RTS protocols simultaneously, with the following objectives: (1) to compare rates and patterns of progression through the stages of both protocols; (2) to evaluate symptom trajectories of youth post-concussion while progressing through stages of RTS and RTA; and (3) to propose a new model for concussion management in youth that involves the integration of Return to Activity and Return to School protocols. Methods: In a 3-year prospective-cohort study of 139 children/youth aged 5–18 years with concussive injury, self-reported symptoms using PCSS and stage of protocols were evaluated every 48 h using electronic surveys until full return to school and activity/sport were attained. Information regarding school accommodation and achievement was collected. Results: Sample mean age is 13 years, 46% male. Youth are returning to school with accommodations significantly quicker than RTA (p = 0.001). Significant negative correlations between total PCSS score and stage of RTS protocol were found at: 1-week (r = −0.376, p < 0.0001; r = −0.317, p = 0.0003), 1-month (r = −0.483, p < 0.0001; r = −0.555, p < 0.0001), and 3-months (r = −0.598, p < 0.0001; r = −0.617, p < 0.0001); indicating lower symptom scores correlated with higher guideline stages. Median full return to school time is 35 days with 21% of youth symptomatic at full return. Median return time to full sport competition is 38 days with 15% still symptomatic. Sixty-four percent of youth reported experiencing school problems during recovery and 30% at symptom resolution, with 31% reporting a drop in their grades during recovery and 18% at study completion. Conclusions: Children/youth return to school faster than they return to play in spite of the self-reported, school-related symptoms they experience while moving through the protocols. Youth can progress simultaneously through the RTS and RTA protocols during stages 1–3. Considering the numbers of youth having school difficulties post-concussion, full contact sport, stage 6, of RTA, should be delayed until full and successful reintegration back to school has been achieved. In light of the huge variability in recovery, determining how to resume participation in activities despite ongoing symptoms is still the challenge for each individual child. There is much to be learned with further research needed in this area.
Habits, Quick and Easy: Perceived Complexity Moderates the Associations of Contextual Stability and Rewards With Behavioral Automaticity

Background Habits have been proposed to develop as a function of the extent to which a behavior is rewarded, performed frequently, and executed in a stable context. The present study examines how each of these factors are associated with behavioral automaticity across a broad variety of behaviors drawn from previous habits research. This study further assesses how perceived complexity of the behavior influences the associations of rewards, frequency, and contextual stability with automaticity. Methods Participants (N = 459) completed an online survey assessing their experiences and engagement with 25 different behaviors, including exercise, handwashing, smoking, and medication adherence, among others. Exploratory factor analysis validated a short, relatively novel scale of perceived behavioral complexity, and multilevel analyses grouped by participant were used to examine the factors that contribute to automaticity. Results Across behaviors, frequency, contextual stability, and perceived rewards were positively associated with automaticity. Perceived complexity was negatively associated with automaticity and moderated the influence of contextual stability and rewards, but not frequency, on automaticity. Both contextual stability and rewards were stronger predictors of automaticity when behavioral complexity was high rather than low, as predicted; in addition, when contextual stability was high, more complex behaviors showed greater automaticity than simpler behaviors. Conclusion The results of this study confirm that behavioral frequency, rewards, and contextual stability are each independently associated with automaticity across a spectrum of behaviors. This study further demonstrates that perceived complexity of a behavior moderates the extent to which contextual stability and rewards are associated with automaticity. The results affirm a need to further understand the components of habits and how they differ across varying behaviors.
Association of Lesion Location With Long-Term Recovery in Post-stroke Aphasia and Language Deficits

Background: Recovery from post-stroke aphasia is important for performing the activities of daily life, returning to work, and quality of life. We investigated the association between specific brain lesions and the long-term outcome of four dimensions of aphasia: fluency, comprehension, naming, and repetition 12 months after onset in patients with stroke. Methods: Our retrospective cross-sectional observational study investigated the relationship between the Korean version of the Western Aphasia Battery scores in 31 stroke patients 1 year after the onset of stroke and stroke lesion location. Brain lesions were assessed using voxel-based lesion symptom mapping (VLSM) in conjunction with magnetic resonance imaging. Results: Damage to the Rolandic cortex, Heschl's gyrus, the posterior corona radiata, supramarginal cortex, superior longitudinal fasciculus, superior temporal gyrus, and insula was associated with a low total AQ score. Lesions in the inferior triangularis and inferior operculum of the frontal cortex, supramarginal cortex, and insula were associated with a poor fluency outcome. Damage to the parietal cortex, angular cortex, temporal middle cortex, sagittal stratum, and temporal superior cortex was associated with poor recovery of comprehension skills. Lesions in the angular cortex, supramarginal cortex, posterior corona radiata, superior longitudinal fasciculus, internal capsule, temporal superior cortex, and temporal middle cortex were associated with poor recovery of naming in patients with stroke. Damage to the superior temporal cortex, posterior corona radiata, and superior longitudinal fasciculus was associated with poor recovery of repetition component. Conclusions: We identified specific brain lesions associated with long-term outcomes in four dimensions of aphasia, in patients with post-stroke aphasia. Our findings may be useful for advancing understanding for the pathophysiology of aphasia in stroke patients.
cano-wgMLST_BacCompare: A Bacterial Genome Analysis Platform for Epidemiological Investigation and Comparative Genomic Analysis

With the decreasing cost of next-generation sequencing, whole-genome sequence-based bacterial genome comparisons are expected to become a mainstream process in the public health domain. Extended multilocus sequence typing (MLST) methods are becoming increasingly popular for use in comparing bacterial genetic relatedness in epidemiological investigations. Several extended MLST schemes based on biological signatures have been reported. Among them, whole-genome MLST (wgMLST) has gradually become one of the most widely used approaches for bacterial strain typing. In addition to using bacterial typing, many researchers aim to identify differences in the genes of compared strains. Because these differences might provide insights into critical bacterial functions, such as virulence and pathogenicity, researchers usually study these genes that differ between strains. Hence, we designed a web service tool based on wgMLST-constructed tree topology coupled with the feature selection method to create the “canonical wgMLST (cano-wgMLST) tree. ” The genes that differ between strains are shown at each split of the tree, thereby directly providing information for performing a comparative genomic analysis for each strain pair. We demonstrated that this web service tool could be operated efficiently on two datasets consisting of 22 Campylobacter jejuni isolates and 59 S. Heidelberg isolates, respectively. We imposed this tool on a designated web server, cano-wgMLST_BacCompare, to enable users to create a wgMLST tree and canonical wgMLST tree automatically from their uploaded bacterial genomes for not only epidemiological investigation but also comparative genomic analysis. Additionally, detailed information on how to use this service is provided. The cano-wgMLST_BacCompare is available at http://baccompare.imst. nsysu.edu. tw.
A Target Capture-Based Method to Estimate Ploidy From Herbarium Specimens

Whole genome duplication (WGD) events are common in many plant lineages, but the ploidy status and possible occurrence of intraspecific ploidy variation are unknown for most species. Standard methods for ploidy determination are chromosome counting and flow cytometry approaches. While flow cytometry approaches typically use fresh tissue, an increasing number of studies have shown that recently dried specimens can be used to yield ploidy data. Recent studies have started to explore whether high-throughput sequencing (HTS) data can be used to assess ploidy levels by analyzing allelic frequencies from single copy nuclear genes. Here, we compare different approaches using a range of yam (Dioscorea) tissues of varying ages, drying methods and quality, including herbarium tissue. Our aims were to: (1) explore the limits of flow cytometry in estimating ploidy level from dried samples, including herbarium vouchers collected between 1831 and 2011, and (2) optimize a HTS-based method to estimate ploidy by considering allelic frequencies from nuclear genes obtained using a target-capture method. We show that, although flow cytometry can be used to estimate ploidy levels from herbarium specimens collected up to fifteen years ago, success rate is low (5.9%). We validated our HTS-based estimates of ploidy using 260 genes by benchmarking with dried samples of species of known ploidy (Dioscorea alata, D. communis, and D. sylvatica). Subsequently, we successfully applied the method to the 85 herbarium samples analyzed with flow cytometry, and successfully provided results for 91.7% of them, comprising species across the phylogenetic tree of Dioscorea. We also explored the limits of using this HTS-based approach for identifying high ploidy levels in herbarium material and the effects of heterozygosity and sequence coverage. Overall, we demonstrated that ploidy diversity within and between species may be ascertained from historical collections, allowing the determination of polyploidization events from samples collected up to two centuries ago. This approach has the potential to provide insights into the drivers and dynamics of ploidy level changes during plant evolution and crop domestication.
Increased Expression of Circulating microRNA 101-3p in Type 1 Diabetes Patients: New Insights Into miRNA-Regulated Pathophysiological Pathways for Type 1 Diabetes

MicroRNAs (miRs) are master regulators of post-transcriptional gene expression, and they are often dysregulated in individuals suffering from diabetes. We investigated the roles of miR-101-3p and miR-204-5p, both of which negatively regulate insulin secretion and cell survival and are highly expressed in pancreatic β cells, in the context of type 1 diabetes (T1D) pathogenesis. Using quantitative real time PCR, we evaluated serum levels of miR-101-3p and miR-204-5p in four groups, including recent-onset T1D patients (T1D group; n = 50), individuals with normal glucose levels expressing one islet autoantibody (Ab) (single Ab group; n = 26) or multiple autoantibodies (multiple Ab group; n = 12), and healthy controls (control group; n = 43). An in silico analysis was performed to identify potential target genes of these miRNAs and to delineate enriched pathways. The relative expression of serum miR-101-3p was approximately three times higher in the multiple Ab and T1D groups than that in the single Ab and control groups (p < 0.0001). When considering all groups together, miR-101-3p expression was positively correlated with the level of islet autoantibodies GADA (r = 0.267; p = 0.0027) and IA-2A (r = 0.291; p = 0.001), and the expression of the miRNA was not correlated with levels of ZnT8A (r = 0.125; p = 0.183). miR-101-3p expression did not correlate with HbA1c (r = 0.178; p = 0.052) or glucose levels (r = 0.177; p = 0.051). No significant differences were observed in miR-204-5p expression among the analyzed groups. Computational analysis of the miR-101-3p target gene pathways indicated a potential activation of the HGF/c-Met, Ephrin receptor, and STAT3 signaling pathways. Our study demonstrated that the circulating levels of miR-101-3p are higher in T1D patients and in individuals with normal glucose levels, testing positive for multiple autoantibodies, indicating that miR-101-3p precedes loss of glucose homeostasis. The pathogenic role of miR-101-3p in T1D may involve multiple molecular pathways.