Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Investigating the role of UTAUT and e-service quality in internet banking adoption setting

Purpose Technology adoption is a great challenge in the banking sector of Pakistan. A recent report issued by state bank of Pakistan revealed that there is a squeak growth, only 3 percent, in internet banking adoption. In order to effectively delve into the issue of internet banking adoption, the purpose of this paper is to use unified theory of acceptance and use of technology factors, namely performance expectancy and effort expectancy and e-service quality (E-SQ), as theoretical lens for this study. Design/methodology/approach The research model was empirically tested using 398 valid responses from customers of commercial banks in Pakistan. The theoretical model was tested using structural equation modeling. Findings Findings indicate that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, website design, customer service, assurance and reliability have direct influence on user intention to adopt internet banking. Results revealed that approximately 79 percent of variance in user intention to adopt internet banking was explained by predictors. In addition, the mediating role of performance expectancy and effort expectancy among website design, customer service and user intention was also confirmed. Practical implications For researchers, this study provides a base of integrated technology model and it suggests using this model in other online domains such as mobile payment and online web-shopping for further refinement. For policymakers, understanding the key constructs is important to design, refine and implement new internet banking website that, in turn, will boost internet banking adoption trend among users of commercial banks. Originality/value This paper makes a unique contribution toward information system and services marketing literature. The study schematized that website design, customer service, assurance and reliability are the key dimensions of E-SQ and significantly influence the user intention to adopt internet banking.
Drug resistance among extrapulmonary TB patients: Six years experience from a supranational reference laboratory

Background & objectives: There is limited information available about the drug resistance patterns in extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB), especially from high burden countries. This may be due to difficulty in obtaining extrapulmonary specimens and limited facilities for drug susceptibility testing. This study was undertaken to review and report the first and second-line anti-TB drug susceptibility patterns in extrapulmonary specimens received at the National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT), Chennai, India, between 2005 and 2012. Methods: Extrapulmonary specimens received from referring hospitals were decontaminated and cultured using standard procedures. Drug susceptibility testing (DST) for Mycobacterium tuberculosis was done by absolute concentration or resistance ratio methods for the first and the second line anti-TB drugs. Results: Between 2005 and 2012, of the 1295 extrapulmonary specimens, 189 grew M. tuberculosis, 37 (19%) cases were multidrug resistant (MDR) while one was extensively drug resistant (XDR). Specimen-wise MDR prevalence was found to be: CSF-10 per cent, urine-6 per cent, fluids and aspirates-27 per cent, pus-23 per cent, lymph nodes-19 per cent. Resistance to isoniazid and ethionamide was found to be high (31 and 38%, respectively). Interpretation & conclusions: Drug resistance including MDR-TB was observed in a significant proportion of extrapulmonary specimens referred for DST. Access to culture and DST for extrapulmonary specimens should be expanded. Guidelines for MDR-TB management should have explicit sections on extra-pulmonary tuberculosis and training on laboratory techniques is urgently required.
Encephalitozoon cuniculi mRNA Cap (Guanine N-7) Methyltransferase

The Encephalitozoon cuniculi mRNA cap (guanine N-7) methyltransferase Ecm1 has been characterized structurally but not biochemically. Here we show that purified Ecm1 is a monomeric protein that catalyzes methyl transfer from S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) to GTP. The reaction is cofactor-independent and optimal at pH 7.5. Ecm1 also methylates GpppA, GDP, and dGTP but not ATP, CTP, UTP, ITP, or m7GTP. The affinity of Ecm1 for the cap dinucleotide GpppA (K 0.1 mm) is higher than that for GTP (Km 1 mm) or GDP (Km 2.4 mm). Methylation of GTP by Ecm1 in the presence of 5 μm AdoMet is inhibited by the reaction product AdoHcy (IC50 4 μm) and by substrate analogs sinefungin (IC50 1.5 μm), aza-AdoMet (IC50 100 μm), and carbocyclic aza-AdoMet (IC50 35 μm). The crystal structure of an Ecm1·aza-AdoMet binary complex reveals that the inhibitor occupies the same site as AdoMet. Structure-function analysis of Ecm1 by alanine scanning and conservative substitutions identified functional groups necessary for methyltransferase activity in vivo. Amino acids Lys-54, Asp-70, Asp-78, and Asp-94, which comprise the AdoMet-binding site, and Phe-141, which contacts the cap guanosine, are essential for cap methyltransferase activity in vitro.
A Single Amino Acid Change in the Enhancer of Zeste Ortholog CURLY LEAF Results in Vernalization-Independent, Rapid Flowering in Arabidopsis1[C][W][OA]

Many strains of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) require exposure to prolonged cold for rapid flowering, a process known as vernalization. Vernalization in Arabidopsis results in the suppression of FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC), a repressor of flowering. In a screen for mutants that no longer require vernalization for rapid flowering, we identified a dominant allele of the Enhancer of Zeste E(z) ortholog CURLY LEAF (CLF), clf-59. CLF is a Polycomb Group gene, and the clf-59 mutant protein contains a proline-to-serine transition in a cysteine-rich region that precedes the SET domain. Mutant plants are early flowering and have reduced FLC expression, but, unlike clf loss-of-function mutants, clf-59 mutants do not display additional pleiotropic phenotypes. clf-59 mutants have elevated levels of trimethylation on lysine 27 of histone H3 (H3K27me3) at FLC. Thus, clf-59 appears to be a gain-of-function allele, and this allele represses FLC without some of the components required for vernalization-mediated repression. In the course of this work, we also identified a marked difference in H3K27me3 levels at FLC between plants that contain and those that lack the FRIGIDA (FRI) gene. Furthermore, FRI appears to affect CLF occupancy at FLC; thus, our work provides insight into the molecular role that FRI plays in delaying the onset of flowering.
Precompetitive Anxiety and Affective State of Climbers in Indoor Climbing Competition

The purpose of this study was to measure the precompetitive anxiety and affective states of climbers, particularly with regard to sex and types of competition. 37 men (M = 25.9, SD = 3.8 yr.) and 10 women (M = 25.9, SD = 4.2 yr.), climbers who enrolled in Indoor Sport Climbing Competition, voluntarily participated in two different types of competition—speed and difficulty indoor climbing. The Competitive State Anxiety Inventory–2 and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule were administered to all climbers just before the competition. The Sport Competition Anxiety Test was also administered to control competitive trait anxiety. Multivariate analysis of covariance yielded a significant interaction of sex and type of competition for affective state (Hotelling T2 = 0.21; F2,33 = 3.43, p < .05). Follow-up univariate analysis indicated that the mean Negative Affect score of women climbers before the difficulty competition was higher than mean Negative Affect scores of men before both speed and difficulty competitions and also the mean for women climbers before the speed competition (F1,34 = 6.15, p <.05). The results partially supported the hypothesis of differences in negative affect by sex and types of competition.
The Role of Radiotherapy in the Treatment of Liver Metastases

Radiotherapy has historically played a minor role in the treatment of patients with unresectable liver metastases from colorectal cancer and other malignancies. This can be attributed chiefly to the low tolerance of the whole liver to radiation. High-precision radiotherapy planning techniques have allowed much higher doses of radiation to be delivered safely to focal liver metastases, while sparing most of the normal liver. When combined with hepatic arterial fluorodeoxyuridine, high-dose focal liver radiotherapy is associated with excellent response rates, local control, and survival in patients with unresectable liver metastases from colorectal cancer. Radiotherapy, with and without concurrent systemic chemotherapy, has also been used with encouraging outcomes for patients with liver metastases from colorectal cancer and other cancers. There appears to be a radiation dose response for liver metastases; tumors treated with doses of 70 Gy or greater are likelier to have durable local control. Advancements in tumor imaging, in radiotherapy techniques that will allow the safe delivery of higher doses of radiation, and in novel tumor radiation sensitizers and normal tissue radioprotectors should substantially improve the outcome of patients with unresectable liver metastases treated with radiotherapy.
Pancreatic Amylin Content in Human Diabetic Subjects and Its Relation to Diabetes

To evaluate the role of pancreatic amylin in the pathogenesis of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), we determined the pancreatic amylin (IRA) and insulin (IRI) contents of pancreata obtained at autopsy from diabetics and nondiabetics. IRA was extracted from the tail of the pancreas using formic acid and assayed with a human amylin kit. Following gel filtration of amylin on a Sephadex G-50 column, it was eluted in a similar fraction to insulin. The pancreatic IRA content was significantly higher (p < 0.01) in NIDDM subjects compared with nondiabetics, with the mean values being 4.25 ± 1.62 and 0.085 ± 0.022 μg/g, respectively. The IRA content of two IDDM pancreata was low. No significant relationship was found between the IRA and the IRI contents or between the IRA content and the duration of diabetes. However, there was a tendency for the IRA content to increase in longstanding diabetes. Men had a significantly higher pancreatic IRA content than women. The four subjects with very high IRA levels (>10 μg/g) were all elderly men with a long duration of diabetes. Thus, although the pancreatic amylin content was increased in NIDDM, no significant relationship to the clinical features of the disease was found.
Making Politics Attractive: Political Satire and Exposure to Political Information in New Media Environment in Russia

There is an extensive body of research devoted to how political satire affects political knowledge and political behavior. Extant studies are focused on political satire in democratic countries and do not pay enough attention to authoritarian regimes. This study extends this research to non-democratic regimes, while also adding to it by exploring the extent to which the use of political satire encourages exposure to political information. We conduct an online experiment on the sample of Russian students. We borrow satirical pictures from Lentach – popular Russian social media public page, whose motto is “a propaganda of common sense” as opposed to biased political messages proliferated by government-controlled media outlets. Using both frequentist and Bayesian approaches, we found that access to political information containing satirical illustrating content increases attention to the information, relative to political news reports accompanied by standard news illustrations. The findings contribute to the literature on the political entertainment and exposure to political information, as well as to research on media under authoritarianism
Dynamic role of kallikrein 6 in traumatic spinal cord injury

Kallikrein 6 (K6) is a member of the kallikrein gene family that comprises 15 structurally and functionally related serine proteases. In prior studies we showed that, while this trypsin‐like enzyme is preferentially expressed in neurons and oligodendroglia of the adult central nervous system (CNS), it is up‐regulated at sites of injury due to expression by infiltrating immune and resident CNS cells. Given this background we hypothesized that K6 is a key contributor to the pathophysiology of traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI), influencing neural repair and regeneration. Examination of K6 expression following contusion injury to the adult rat cord, and in cases of human traumatic SCI, indicated significant elevations at acute and chronic time points, not only at the injury site but also in cord segments above and below. Elevations in K6 were particularly prominent in macrophages, microglia and reactive astrocytes. To determine potential effects of elevated K6 on the regeneration environment, the ability of neurons to adhere to and extend processes on substrata which had been exposed to recombinant K6 was examined. Limited (1 h) or excess (24 h) K6‐mediated proteolytic digestion of a growth‐facilitatory substrate, laminin, significantly decreased neurite outgrowth. By contrast, similar hydrolysis of a growth‐inhibitory substrate, aggrecan, significantly increased neurite extension and cell adherence. These data support the hypothesis that K6 enzymatic cascades mediate events secondary to spinal cord trauma, including dynamic modification of the capacity for axon outgrowth.
Ovarian and oocyte cryopreservation

Purpose of review The present article is an update on progress in the two available techniques of oocyte and ovarian cryopreservation: slow cooling/rapid thawing and vitrification. A new line of research has opened in recent years: freezing the whole ovary with its vascular pedicle, so as to enable vascular grafts limiting ischemia-related follicle reserve loss. Recent findings The technique of mature oocyte vitrification has advanced significantly, with improved oocyte physiology, increased safety, and higher clinical pregnancy rates. The number of studies on whole ovary freezing has grown, and there has been a large-mammal (sheep) live birth by orthotopic graft with vascular anastomosis of a cryopreserved ovary. Summary Ovarian and oocyte cryopreservation is essential to conserving the fertility of young women. Results of mature oocyte freezing techniques have improved significantly over the past few years, but remain poorer than those with embryo freezing. Mature oocyte vitrification is progressing well, but requires safety validation in view of the high cryoprotectant concentrations used. Ovarian cortex fragment freezing is widely used in patients, with two live births after orthotopic graft, worldwide. The problem of rapid graft exhaustion has led to a focus on whole ovary cryopreservation which has resulted in one live birth in a ewe. Abbreviation DMSO: dimethyl sulfoxide.
Among-environment heteroscedasticity and the estimation and testing of genetic correlation

The genetic correlation between a character in two environments is of considerable interest in the context of plant and animal breeding for the prediction of evolutionary trajectories and for the evaluation of the amount of genetic variance maintained at equilibrium in subdivided populations. The two-way analysis of variance with genotype and environment as crossed factors is the usual basis for estimating this genetic correlation. In plasticity experiments, the genetic variance can differ widely between environments, for instance when the variance component associated with the genotype–environment interaction is not constant over environments. When this is the case, the assumption of homoscedasticity is violated, and the ANOVA method tends to underestimate the absolute value of the genetic correlation. To solve this problem, a variance-stabilizing transformation previously applied in a multivariate ANOVA context was developed. This development resulted in a new procedure (method 3), in which the genetic correlation is estimated from the transformed data (i.e. after among-environment heteroscedasticity is removed, while the within-environment means are maintained). In a simulation study and an analysis of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii growth rate data, we compared method 3 with two existing methods in which the genetic correlation is estimated from the raw data. Method 1 uses one ‘global’ variance component associated with the genotype–environment interaction, and method 2 uses two variance components associated with the genotype and obtained from one-way ANOVAs conducted separately in the two environments. Under increasing among-environment heteroscedasticity, method 1 produces increasingly biased genetic correlation estimates, whereas method 3 almost consistently provides accurate estimates; the performance of method 2 is intermediate, with more estimates out of range or indeterminate. This is the first demonstration that a variance-stabilizing transformation of the data removes the bias in the estimation of genetic correlation caused by among-environment heteroscedasticity, while allowing valid statistical testing in an ANOVA-based approach.
Paracrine repercussions of preconditioning on angiogenesis and apoptosis of endothelial cells.

The mechanisms of cytoprotection conferred by stress preconditioning remain largely uncharacterized in endothelial cells (EC). We report that stress preconditioning of EC with serum starvation induces the release of soluble mediator(s) that confer resistance to apoptosis, increase proliferation, and enhance angiogenesis in a second set of "non-preconditioned" EC. Preconditioning was found to target specifically the mitochondrial control of apoptosis in EC with increased protein levels of Bcl-2, decreased protein levels of Bax, and decreased cytosolic release of cytochrome c. Regulators of apoptosis acting upstream and downstream of the mitochondria such as p53, cIAP-1, cIAP-2, and XIAP were not altered. Mediators classically associated with preconditioning in other cell types such as adenosine, opioids, and nitric oxide are not implicated in this cytoprotective loop. Blockade of protein kinase C-dependent signaling inhibited cytoprotection of EC. Further characterization of this paracrine pathway should provide insights into the molecular regulation of preconditioning in endothelial cells.
Can quantitative hepatitis B surface antigen levels predict the severity of liver disease in genotype E Patients?

The utility of quantitative Hepatitis B surface antigen (qHBsAg) level as a marker of chronic hepatitis B (CHB)‐related liver damage is not fully delineated, but is becoming increasingly relevant. Quantitative HBsAg levels are linked with progression of liver disease in HBeAg‐negative genotype B and C patients, but it is not clear whether this is consistent across all HBV genotypes. In this single‐centre, cross‐sectional observational study, we evaluated whether qHBsAg levels can predict the severity of liver disease in genotype E patients. Demographic characteristics, viral, biochemical markers and qHBsAg levels were assessed at time of liver biopsy [all HBV DNA>2000 IU/mL and/or abnormal alanine transaminase (ALT)]. Patients were divided into three groups according to the severity of fibrosis on biopsy: mild (F0‐1), moderate (F2‐4), severe (F5‐6) liver disease and into two groups according to the NI grading, low (NI 0‐3) and high inflammation (NI ≥4). A total of 259 HBeAg‐negative CHB treatment‐naive genotype E patients were studied. The median age of this cohort was 38 years, and 61% were males. Advanced (severe) fibrosis patients had higher ALT, HBV DNA, and lower HBsAg level and qHBsAg/DNA ratio. Patients with NI ≥4 had higher ALT, HBV DNA, but lower qHBsAg/DNA ratio. There was no correlation between HBsAg and HBV DNA levels. Quantitative HBsAg levels were lower in more advanced liver fibrosis. There was no correlation between qHBsAg and HBV DNA levels. This may reflect discordance between viral replication and transcriptional activity or differential HBsAg expression in HBeAg‐negative genotype E patients with advanced liver disease.
Comparison between voxel-based and subtraction methods for measuring diffusion-weighted imaging lesion growth after thrombolysis

Background Infarct growth (IG) is used as surrogate end-point in therapeutic trials. For practical reasons, infarct growth is commonly assessed using simple subtraction of acute from follow-up diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) lesion volumes. However, the volume subtraction method will underestimate true infarct growth in case of diffusion-weighted imaging lesion reversal. Aim To measure the size of the difference between true infarct growth on voxel-based coregistration and infarct growth approximated with simple volume subtraction. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 322 consecutive stroke patients (median (IQR) age: 70 years (57–80), National Institute of Health Stroke Score at admission 14 (8–19)), who underwent a magnetic resonance imaging before (DWI1) and ≈24 h (DWI2) after IV-thrombolysis. IGvoxel-based was defined as the volume of signal changes on DWI2 that did not overlap with that on coregistered DWI1. This was compared with simply subtracting DWI1 from DWI2 lesion volume (IGsubtracted). We also compared these two metrics for the prediction of three-month unfavorable outcome (mRS ≥ 2) using c-statistics of multivariable models, adjusted for age, and National Institute of Health Stroke Score. Results Infarct growth volume metrics were strongly correlated (ρ = 0.94), but IGsubtracted substantially underestimated IGvoxel-based (median (IQR): 9.52 (0.23–38.9) vs. 16.98 (4.4–45.4) mL). Of the 75 patients with shrinking or stable diffusion-weighted imaging lesion using volume subtraction, IGvoxel-based was ≥5 mL in 20 (27% of the subset, 6.2% of the whole population). Moreover, IGvoxel-based better predicted unfavorable outcome than IGsubtracted (c-statistics = 0.86 (95% CI, 0.82–0.90) vs. 0.82 (0.78–0.87), P = 0.003). Conclusion At early post-thrombolysis time points, the simple subtraction of lesion volumes masked substantial diffusion-weighted imaging lesion growth in 6.2% of patients. Although more time-consuming, the voxel-based method may impact results of trials that use infarct growth attenuation as an end-point.