Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Platelet-Activating Factor Induces an Imbalance Between MatrixMetalloproteinase-1 and Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinases-1 Expressionin Human Uterine Cervical Fibroblasts

Abstract Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is involved in such reproductive processes as parturition. We investigated the effect of PAF on the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) and that of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) in human uterine cervical fibroblasts. Uterine cervical tissue was obtained from patients who underwent cesarean section at term. Collagenase-dispersed fibroblasts were cultured and used in the experiments. PAF receptor was identified in the uterine cervical fibroblasts by use of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Southern blot analysis. Northern blot analysis showed that PAF increased the expression of MMP-1 mRNA in a time-dependent manner, whereas expression of TIMP-1 mRNA was not affected by PAF. Concentration of MMP-1 protein in the PAF-treated culture media significantly exceeded that in control cultures. The PAF-induced production of MMP-1 protein was abolished by treatment with WEB 2170, a specific PAF receptor antagonist. Results suggest that PAF may accelerate collagenolysis in the human uterine cervix by inducing an imbalance in the activity between MMP-1 and TIMP-1, thus contributing to the cervical ripening during parturition.
A Uniform Framework of Low Power FSM Partition Approach

A new finite state machine (FSM) partitioning approach is proposed in this paper. Genetic algorithm (GA) is employed to search the optimal or near optimal partition. A new cost function is used to guide the optimization. The proposed algorithm is implemented in C. A new design model is proposed to implement partitioned sub-FSMs, which makes the existing monolithic FSM state assignment be applicable to partitioned FSMs. The experiment results show that the proposed approach can reduce power dissipation up to 80%.
Lipid-tuned Zinc Transport Activity of Human ZnT8 Protein Correlates with Risk for Type-2 Diabetes*♦

Zinc is a critical element for insulin storage in the secretory granules of pancreatic beta cells. The islet-specific zinc transporter ZnT8 mediates granular sequestration of zinc ions. A genetic variant of human ZnT8 arising from a single nonsynonymous nucleotide change contributes to increased susceptibility to type-2 diabetes (T2D), but it remains unclear how the high risk variant (Arg-325), which is also a higher frequency (>50%) allele, is correlated with zinc transport activity. Here, we compared the activity of Arg-325 with that of a low risk ZnT8 variant (Trp-325). The Arg-325 variant was found to be more active than the Trp-325 form following induced expression in HEK293 cells. We further examined the functional consequences of changing lipid conditions to mimic the impact of lipid remodeling on ZnT8 activity during insulin granule biogenesis. Purified ZnT8 variants in proteoliposomes exhibited more than 4-fold functional tunability by the anionic phospholipids, lysophosphatidylcholine and cholesterol. Over a broad range of permissive lipid compositions, the Arg-325 variant consistently exhibited accelerated zinc transport kinetics versus the Trp-form. In agreement with the human genetic finding that rare loss-of-function mutations in ZnT8 are associated with reduced T2D risk, our results suggested that the common high risk Arg-325 variant is hyperactive, and thus may be targeted for inhibition to reduce T2D risk in the general populations.
Service Guarantees: The Impact of Playing ‘Hard to Get’ on Perceptions of Firm Credibility and Repurchase Intent

Within a competitive economy, achieving high standards of customer service is important to the survival of any business. For service-based businesses in particular, recovering from inevitable service failures is essential to ensuring this success, which is based on keeping the promises that are made. Effectively using tools such as service guarantees as a part of a firm’s service recovery strategy is one way firms can ensure delivery of these promises. Data from a vignette study (N=318) supported the research hypotheses that customers perceive higher levels of fairness (when presented with a no-questions-asked service guarantee) leading to higher levels of customer satisfaction, perceptions of firm credibility and repurchase intent. Partial support was found for the proposition that firm credibility mediates the relationship between higher levels of service recovery satisfaction and repurchase intentions. Study results suggest that service companies should consider the implementation of a hasslefree service guarantee as it is important for achieving positive organizational outcomes.
N-WASP and WAVE2 Acting Downstream of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase Are Required for Myogenic Cell Migration Induced by Hepatocyte Growth Factor*

During skeletal muscle regeneration caused by injury, muscle satellite cells proliferate and migrate toward the site of muscle injury. This migration is mainly induced by hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) secreted by intact myofibers and also released from injured muscle. However, the intracellular machinery for the satellite cell migration has not been elucidated. To examine the mechanisms of satellite cell migration, we utilized satellite cell-derived mouse C2C12 skeletal muscle cells. HGF induced reorganization of actin cytoskeleton to form lamellipodia in C2C12 myoblasts. HGF treatment facilitated both nondirectional migration of the myoblasts in phagokinetic track assay and directional chemotactic migration toward HGF in a three-dimensional migration chamber assay. Endogenous N-WASP and WAVE2 were concentrated in the lamellipodia at the leading edge of the migrating cells. Moreover, exogenous expression of wild-type N-WASP or WAVE2 promoted lamellipodial formation and migration. By contrast, expression of the dominant-negative mutant of N-WASP or WAVE2 and knockdown of N-WASP or WAVE2 expression by the RNA interference prevented the HGF-induced lamellipodial formation and migration. When the cells were treated with LY294002, an inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, the HGF-induced lamellipodial formation and migration were abrogated. These results imply that both N-WASP and WAVE2, which are activated downstream of phosphati-dylinositol 3-kinase, are required for the migration through the lamellipodial formation of C2C12 cells induced by HGF.
Experts’ Opinion on the Validation of Socio-Environmental Design Factors (SEDeF) Model As a Residential Neighbourhood Crime Prevention Technique in Nigeria

This article centres on validating a proposed model, socio-environmental design factors (SEDeF) meant to complement the penal system in the area of combating residential neighbourhood crime within the Nigerian residential estates. The research sought experts’ opinion on the desirability and sustainability of the model. Purposive and snow-ball sampling methods were adopted to administer 100 sets of questionnaire out of which 62 were considered usable for the analysis after data screening. SPSS and SEM-AMOS were the key analytical tools adopted to conduct the reliability test, normality test, cumulative mean, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and the measurement model. The results of the analysis showed that, from the perspectives of the experts, the model is desirable and sustainable for the purpose for which it is proposed (Neighbourhood crime control). The model, if tenaciously implemented is capable of boosting housing values/investment, improve national economy and ensure civic and serene residential neighbourhood.
Influence of E-Procurement Practices on Management of Public Secondary School Resources in Mandera County, Kenya

E-procurement practices are essential components in the management of public secondary school resources. However, lack of financial accountability, inefficiency, lack of controls and imprudent use of resources in Mandera County has continued to affect management of secondary schools. Thus, this study analyzed the influence of e-procurement practices on management of public secondary school resources in Mandera County, Kenya. Mixed methods approach was used and thus the study adopted concurrent triangulation design. The study established that e-procurement practices influence management of public secondary school resources. In conclusion, e-procurement practices influence management of secondary school resources. Thus, the study recommends that schools should ensure that there is an appropriate focus on good practice in procurement and that there is a significant procurement procedure in place to ensure compliance with all relevant guideline. Schools should adopt integrated tendering methods which are meant to guarantee financial prudence and efficient use of school resources. Keywords: E-procurement practices, management of secondary school resources, adoption and use of e-procurement
Improving Consumer Mindset Metrics and Shareholder Value through Social Media: The Different Roles of Owned and Earned Media

Although research has examined the social media–shareholder value link, the role of consumer mindset metrics in this relationship remains unexplored. To this end, drawing on the elaboration likelihood model and accessibility/diagnosticity perspective, the authors hypothesize varying effects of owned and earned social media (OSM and ESM) on brand awareness, purchase intent, and customer satisfaction and link these consumer mindset metrics to shareholder value (abnormal returns and idiosyncratic risk). Analyzing daily data for 45 brands in 21 sectors using vector autoregression models, they find that brand fan following improves all three mindset metrics. ESM engagement volume affects brand awareness and purchase intent but not customer satisfaction, while ESM positive and negative valence have the largest effects on customer satisfaction. OSM increases brand awareness and customer satisfaction but not purchase intent, highlighting a nonlinear effect of OSM. Interestingly, OSM is more likely to increase purchase intent for high involvement utilitarian brands and for brands with higher reputation, implying that running a socially responsible business lends more credibility to OSM. Finally, purchase intent and customer satisfaction positively affect shareholder value.
Expression of lens-related microRNAs in transparent infant lenses and congenital cataract.

AIM To identify the expression of lens-related microRNAs (miRNAs) in the central epithelium of transparent infant lenses and congenital cataract. METHODS Lens-related miRNAs were retrieved from PubMed database. The expression levels of these miRNAs in transparent infant lenses and congenital cataract were determined by stem-loop reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). miRanda algorithm was used to predict the target genes of these differentially expressed miRNAs. The target mRNA was validated. RESULTS Six lens-related miRNAs were retrieved from screening PubMed database. The most abundant miRNA in transparent infant lenses according to stem-loop RT-PCR was miR-184. miR-182 was up-regulated in congenital cataract. Contrarily, miR-204 and miR-124 was down-regulated. miR-204 exhibited a more significant decrease in expression than miR-124. In addition, Meis2 was predicted to be the target of miR-204 using miRanda algorithm. miR-204 mimic/antagomir transfection experiments suggested the negative correlation between the expression of miR-204 and Meis2. CONCLUSION The expression levels of miR-182, miR-204 and miR-124 differ between the central epithelium of transparent infant lens and congenital cataract, suggesting their involvement in the pathogenesis of congenital cataract. miR-204 may act via silencing Meis2 to regulate lens development and congenital cataract formation.
Oviduct Response to Estrogen and Progesterone in the Ring Dove.(Streptopelia risoria)∗

Summary 1. Adolescent female ring doves (Streptopelia risoria) were injected with progesterone, estrogen or a combination of the two. Progesterone did not increase oviduct weights over the controls. Estrogen caused moderate increase, while the maximum increase was caused by synergism between estrogen and progesterone. 2. Eight-day priming with estrogen, followed by 2-day treatment with the estrogen-progesterone combination, caused oviduct growth as great as that caused by the 10-day treatment with the combined dose. On the other hand, priming with progesterone did not significantly augment the effect of 2-day treatment with the combination. 3. On the basis of these data and of a discussion of the mechanisms of nest-building and incubation behavior, it is suggested that the normal cycle includes a period of estrogen secretion (concurrent with nest-building) followed by progesterone secretion (associated with egg-laying maximal oviduct growth, and incubation behavior).
Does Financial Literacy Affect Stock Market Participation?

This study examines whether financial literacy affects stock market participation. We use data from the Preference Parameter Study, a nationwide survey in Japan, made by Osaka University. Our results show that financial literacy significantly improves stock market participation even after controlling the demographic, socio-economic, and psychological factors. The influence of financial literacy on stock market participation is robust against the measurement of financial literacy, investment in risky assets, investors’ risk aversion, and endogeneity issue. The results imply that lack of financial literacy is the reason behind people’s reluctance in stock market participation in Japan.
‘Bad’ piped water and other perceptual drivers of bottled water consumption in Indonesia

In countries that have established and have been maintaining a robust piped water system, bottled water has been perceived to be of better quality than piped water. We argue that piped water and bottled water cannot be easily compared in the Indonesian context. Drinking from tap water has never been accepted as the norm as piped water has no guarantee of purity and safety. The substantial marketing efforts of the bottled water industry highlight the appeal of bottled water in regard to, not only good water quality and physical health, but also taste, convenience, mental health, and social and environmental values. Despite many negative social and environmental issues associated with bottled water, this enigmatic commodity is becoming ‘the’ drinking water in Indonesia and is inseparable from modern life. WIREs Water 2017, 4:e1219. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1219
Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke

Granuloma venereum, which is not to be confused with lymphogranuloma inguinale, is a venereal disease characterized by a slowly progressive ulceration of the tissues in the genital region. It is widespread in the tropics but very rare in Great Britain. Donovan (1905) described intracellular bodies in smears from the ulcerated lesions. Bergey (1957) regards them as relatives of the pasteurella. The patient seen at St Mark's was a 23-year-old man recently arrived from British Guiana. He had an indurated ulcer of the anal region about 1 5 in. diameter with a small satellite ulcer on the opposite side of the anus. The lesion was thought to be an epithelioma, but biopsy showed chronic inflammatory changes only. The lesion was excised and at the suggestion of Dr Nicol a search was made for Donovan bodies. These were found in small numbers mostly on the surface area of the lesion after staining with Leishman's.
Empirical analysis of UWB channel characteristics for secret key generation in indoor environments

Recent security methods propose to generate secret keys from Ultra Wide Band (UWB) channels. These solutions rely on the reciprocity and spatial channel correlation principles. This work aims at presenting empirical studies on the aforesaid properties. First, we verify the UWB reciprocity for different multipath scenarios. In these experiences, the reciprocity is always valid independently of distance between the receiver and emitter. However, we show that using an asymmetric hardware in up and down links, can affect the channel similarity. Secondly, we report measurements of spatial correlation in near and far field channel. Various experimental scenarios are tested to validate location channel variations. We observe that in very close and far receiver's locations, there is no correlation. This variation is not depending on distance but mainly on the indoor environment. In addition, various channel parameters: channel impulse response, channel envelope, and power delay profile have been investigated. We show that channel properties rely on these parameters.
Regulating the regulators: the role of transcriptional regulatory proteins in the adaptive response to exercise in human skeletal muscle

It is well established that exercise training increases skeletal muscle mitochondrial content, and this adaptive response is linked with increased exercise tolerance and improved health. However, the mechanisms responsible for exercise-induced mitochondrial biogenesis are only beginning to be elucidated. Mitochondrial adaptations to exercise training in skeletal muscle are likely to be attributable to repeated transient increases in mRNA expression following each exercise session (see Perry et al. (2010) and references within). Over time, these successive ‘pulses’ of increased mRNA expression eventually lead to an accumulation of new muscle proteins, which constitute training adaptation and improve metabolic capacity. Data obtained from muscle-like cell lines and transgenic rodent models suggest a key role for transcriptional regulatory proteins in mediating the increase in mitochondrial content and the identification of those proteins responsible has become vital to advancing the field. Chief among these regulatory proteins is the transcriptional co-activator peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ co-activator (PGC)-1α, which has often been described as a ‘master regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis’. Overexpression of PGC-1α in skeletal muscle leads to many of the same adaptations as exercise training, such as an increase in mitochondrial content, improved fatigue resistance, and increased expression of proteins involved in lipid metabolism (e.g. Calvo et al. 2008). Therefore, it is generally accepted that transcriptional regulatory proteins, such as PGC-1α, are involved in mediating the adaptive increase in skeletal muscle mitochondrial content following exercise training. However, equally important to identifying those proteins responsible for regulating post-exercise elevations in mRNA expression is the characterization of the temporal relationship between and among transcriptional regulatory proteins and mitochondrial genes. Currently, there is a paucity of research examining the time course of the increase in transcriptional regulators in association with markers of mitochondrial content, especially in humans. A recent study published in The Journal of Physiology (Perry et al. 2010) comprehensively describes the time course for the increase in transcription factors and co-activators implicated in mitochondrial biogenesis along with markers of mitochondrial content, in human skeletal muscle, to shed light on this issue.
The influence of hedonic motivation, self-efficacy, trust and habit on adoption of internet banking: a case of developing country

The purpose of this study is to analyse the untouched dimensions of internet banking acceptance by following a more comprehensive approach to address internet banking intention adoption. CFA and SEM analyses have been used to analyse the data collected from university students. The study strives to examine the role of hedonic motivation, self-efficacy, trust, habit and behavioural intention variables in predicting individuals' adoption of internet banking. The empirical findings established the significant and positive contribution of hedonic motivation (HM) on trust (T). Along with this, hedonic motivation (HM), trust (T), self-efficacy (SE) and habit (H) showed a positive and significant impact on behavioural intention (BI). Finally, results revealed that habit (H) and behavioural intention (BI) have a significant and positive impact on the user's intention to adopt internet banking (A). Therefore, it can be recommended that banks need to improve their customers' skills with respect to internet banking usage. Furthermore, the banks should change their internet banking screens and should switch to more innovative interface in order to attract customers towards internet banking. The present study provided an all-inclusive approach by incorporating existing literature on internet banking which emphasises greatly on the perception aspects of technology and hardly studies the impact of these variables.
Older Adults and Capacity-Related Assessment: Promise and Caution

Data from 30 cognitively intact and emotionally stable Canadian elders provided support for the construct validity of the Hopemont Capacity Assessment Instrument and the Independent Living Scales. Subscale scores in the health or financial domains on these two capacity-related instruments were moderately correlated; weaker correlations were observed between ILS and HCAI subscales tapping discrepant domains. Training in thinking aloud and responding to hypothetical questions did not affect scores on these measures, nor were scores on brief depression and anxiety scales statistically associated with standing on capacity-related measures. Reading comprehension was associated with scores on the Hopemont Capacity Assessment Instrument.
Job Rotation & Its Impact on employees’ Performance: An Empirical Study among Employees at Red Sea University, Sudan

This study aims to identify the employees view about job rotation through dimensions (benefits, disadvantages &obstacles)and how it is effects on their performance at Red Sea university in Sudan, Also know the relationship between employees, performance and years of experience, The results of study showed there is no statistically significant relationship between Job Rotation and Employees performance At Red Sea University. Because there are no relations between Job rotation variables (Benefits, Barriers &Disadvantages) &Employees performance (significant>0.05) ,But The statistical results of Chi-Square showed that there is statistically relation between Years of experience & Job Rotation (significant
Cuba Today: An Overview of Tourism Competitiveness

ABSTRACT The US and Cuba have alleviated the half a century of Cold War-era isolation and have tried to resume diplomatic relations. Due to the continuous development in policies between US and Cuba, many US tourists may be likely to visit Cuba for the first time. The purpose of this article is to assess Cuba’s current tourism position among 29 Latin American and Caribbean countries through the application of the Tourism Competitiveness Index. The results from the competitiveness analysis indicate that Cuba is well positioned in terms of price competitiveness, with a great potential to become the top performer among these countries. The study provides valuable information for managers, policy-makers, key decision makers and government officials in Cuban tourism.
Uncovering New Trends of Investigation in Written Task Planning

Task planning is considered as an influential variable that can impact the performance of both written and spoken tasks. Although planning has been fully investigated in spoken tasks, fewer investigators have paid attention to the role of planning in written task. To this end, the present paper tries to provide a theoretical background for task planning and report researchers? findings concerned with written task planning. Based on the findings of other studies, it provides some recommendations for further research. In this case the article tries to uncover those aspects of written language planning that need more investigation.