Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Managing consumer adoption of broadband: examining drivers and barriers

– The commonly used internet service provider's (ISP) business models based on price comparison may prove to be a successful strategy for organisations in the short‐term. However, it may be argued that a sustainable business model for the long‐term requires a detailed understanding of the various factors that may help ISPs in attracting future customers. The purpose of this paper is to examine the drivers and barriers of consumer adoption of broadband in the UK. , – A survey research approach was utilised to examine the effect of a number of constructs from attitudinal (utilitarian outcomes and hedonic outcomes), normative (social influence), control (self‐efficacy and facilitating conditions resources) and demographic (age) categories on the behaviour of consumers when adopting broadband in the UK. , – Results indicate that all the constructs, apart from hedonic outcomes, significantly influenced the adoption behaviour of consumers. , – This study provides a snapshot of the adoption behaviour of broadband within UK households. The findings may therefore change as technology becomes established and consumers become more experienced in its use. By undertaking a longitudinal study, the elimination of any variables could achieve anomalies in the obtained results. In addition to a discussion of the findings, the paper outlines the contributions and limitations of the study and provides suggestions for future research activity. , – The research presented in this paper is a part of doctoral research which forms one of the initial efforts towards understanding the adoption behaviour of broadband within UK households.
Relevance of high virulence Helicobacter pylori strains and futility of CDX2 expression for predicting intestinal metaplasia after eradication of infection

Abstract Objective. Different Helicobacter pylori genotypes are associated with distinct inflammatory responses and consequent development of pre-neoplastic lesions, namely intestinal metaplasia (IM), which is dependent on the expression of CDX2. We aimed to evaluate IM progression/regression in the context of H. pylori eradication, bringing into play the effect of the virulence of infecting H. pylori strains and the hypothesis that CDX2 expression might be a marker for later development of IM. Material and methods. Sixty-five male volunteers were evaluated by endoscopy before H. pylori eradication and after a median six-year follow-up. Histological diagnosis was performed at baseline and follow-up, and baseline H. pylori genotypes and CDX2 expression in non-metaplastic foci were also assessed. Results. Fifty-one individuals remained free from infection at follow-up. Six out of 27 who had no metaplastic lesions at baseline developed IM. CDX2 nuclear expression was observed in 15 of the 21 cases (71.4%) showing no progression to IM, and in three out of six cases (50%) with progression to IM (p = 0.367). Six of the 24 cases with IM at baseline showed regression to less severe outcomes, which was less frequent in those infected with high-virulence strains (7.7% vs. 50%, p = 0.047). In the latter there is a significant persistence of lymphoid follicles. Conclusions. Our results support that under infection with high virulence H. pylori strains, IM is a point of difficult return in the gastric carcinogenic pathway. The appearance of CDX-expressing cells in non-metaplastic foci was not associated with the development of IM during the six-year follow-up.
Integrin signal masks growth-promotion activity of HB-EGF in monolayer cell cultures

The extracellular environment and tissue architecture contribute to proper cell function and growth control. Cells growing in monolayers on standard polystyrene tissue culture plates differ in their shape, growth rate and response to external stimuli, compared with cells growing in vivo. Here, we showed that the EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) ligand heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) strongly stimulated cell growth in nude mice, but not in cells cultured in vitro. We explored the effects of HB-EGF on cell growth under various cell culture conditions and found that growth promotion by HB-EGF was needed in three-dimensional (3D) or two-dimensional (2D) culture systems in which cell-matrix adhesion was reduced. Under such conditions, cell growth was extremely suppressed in the absence of HB-EGF, but markedly potentiated in the presence of HB-EGF. When the integrin signal was reduced using antibodies or knockout of either integrin β1 or focal adhesion kinase (FAK), cells showed HB-EGF-dependent growth. We also showed that EGF, transforming growth factor-α (TGFα) or ligands of other receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) stimulated cell growth in 3D culture, but not in tissue culture plates. These results indicate that the integrin signal was sufficient to support cell growth in 2D tissue culture plates without addition of the growth factor, whereas stimulation by growth factors was clearly demonstrated in culture systems in which integrin signals were attenuated.
Stabilization of graphene nanopore

Significance The key driving force for nanopore research has been the prospect of DNA sequencing, which requires small, thin pores for highest resolution. The length of the pore channel can be reduced to a single layer of atoms through the use of graphene. However, it is known that tiny holes in graphene are unstable against filling by carbon adatoms. Thus, the stabilization of such holes is a critical issue to be resolved to enable applications. We demonstrate the existence of stabilized holes in graphene and theoretical understanding of why they are stable. Our discoveries are a major step toward the development of robust and reliable graphene-based molecular translocation devices. Graphene is an ultrathin, impervious membrane. The controlled introduction of nanoscale pores in graphene would lead to applications that involve water purification, chemical separation, and DNA sequencing. However, graphene nanopores are unstable against filling by carbon adatoms. Here, using aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and density-functional calculations, we report that Si atoms stabilize graphene nanopores by bridging the dangling bonds around the perimeter of the hole. Si‐passivated pores remain intact even under intense electron beam irradiation, and they were observed several months after the sample fabrication, demonstrating that these structures are intrinsically robust and stable against carbon filling. Theoretical calculations reveal the underlying mechanism for this stabilization effect: Si atoms bond strongly to the graphene edge, and their preference for tetrahedral coordination forces C adatoms to form dendrites sticking out of the graphene plane, instead of filling the nanopore. Our results provide a novel way to develop stable nanopores, which is a major step toward reliable graphene-based molecular translocation devices.
Expression Analysis of the SG-SSPN Complex in Smooth Muscle and Endothelial Cells of Human Umbilical Cord Vessels

Recently, participation of the sarcoglycan (SG)-sarcospan (SSPN) complex in the development of cardiomyopathy in patients with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy has been shown, and presence of the complex in smooth muscle may be important for the contraction/dilation process of vessels. However, there are few studies determining the SG-SSPN complex in vascular smooth muscle and endothelial cells of vessels. In this study, we analyzed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and immunofluorescence the expression of different components of the complex in vein/artery smooth muscle and endothelial cells of the human umbilical cord. By RNA analysis, we observed expression of α-, β-, γ-, δ-, Ε-SG, and SSPN in smooth muscle cells. In endothelial cells, RNA expression was restricted to β-, δ-, Ε-SG, and SSPN. At protein level, we observed in smooth muscle the presence of β-, δ-, Ε-SG, and SSPN. In endothelial cells, immunostaining only evidenced the presence of Ε-SG and SSPN. However, colocalization of SGs and SSPN with dystrophin and utrophin was noted. These results, interestingly, suggest that the SG-SSPN complex may either form with dystrophin or utrophin in smooth muscle cells, and with utrophin in endothelial cells. Additionally, we also observed in some smooth muscle regions the colocalization of the SG-SSPN complex with caveolin, with colocalization being more pronounced between Ε-SG-SSPN and caveolin in endothelial cells.
Early detection of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease by using MR elastography.

PURPOSE To investigate the diagnostic accuracy (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUROC]) of magnetic resonance (MR) elastography for the early detection of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) among patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). MATERIALS AND METHODS An institutional review board-approved and HIPAA-compliant retrospective study was conducted in 58 NAFLD patients. Informed consent was waived by the review board. Hepatic stiffness, relative fat fraction, inflammation grade, and fibrosis stage were assessed from MR elastography, in-phase and out-of-phase gradient-echo imaging, and liver biopsy histopathologic review, respectively. Pairwise t testing, receiver operating characteristic analysis, and partial correlation analysis were performed. RESULTS The mean hepatic stiffness for patients with simple steatosis (2.51 kPa) was less (P = .028) than that for patients with inflammation but no fibrosis (3.24 kPa). The mean hepatic stiffness for patients with inflammation but no fibrosis was less (P = .030) than that for patients with hepatic fibrosis (4.16 kPa). Liver stiffness had high accuracy (AUROC = 0.93) for discriminating patients with NASH from those with simple steatosis, with a sensitivity of 94% and a specificity 73% by using a threshold of 2.74 kPa. CONCLUSION In patients with NAFLD, hepatic stiffness measurements with MR elastography can help identify individuals with steatohepatitis, even before the onset of fibrosis; NAFLD patients with inflammation but no fibrosis have greater liver stiffness than those with simple steatosis and lower mean stiffness than those with fibrosis.
Reclaim Your Prefix: Mitigation of Prefix Hijacking Using IPsec Tunnels

Prefix hijacking is a serious threat in the Internet routing landscape. The Border Gateway Protocol has no origin authentication by design. Countermeasures, e.g. on-top authentication as implemented by R-PKI infrastructures, are not yet deployed on a very large scale. Being victim of prefix hijacking is a difficult situation with few options. Not only the owner of a prefix is victim but all the networks being deceived by the attacker. They are unable to communicate with the owner and corresponding traffic travels into the wrong direction. Current data from the Internet routing plane as collected by RIPE-NCC is examined to detect prefix hijacking. This paper discusses means to manipulate the partitions resulting from prefix hijacking with router inherent functionality. By this means, prefix owners become able to increase their impact and enlarge the corresponding partition, with just one assistant Autonomous System (AS). Selection strategies to find a well suited assistant AS are compared and the top three are verified in an emulation environment. Therefore, an emulation network is created on the dataset that is representative for prefix hijacking in the Internet. The presented approach can be the foundation of a (semi-)automated tool to mitigate prefix hijacking in the future.
Delayed neurological deterioration after mild head injury: cause, temporal course, and outcomes.

BACKGROUND Mild head injury (MHI) complicated by an intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) is a common cause of hospital admission after head trauma. Most patients are treated nonoperatively, remain neurologically stable, and are discharged uneventfully. However, a small percentage of patients suffer delayed neurological deterioration (DND). Little is known about the characteristics of DND after an MHI complicated by ICH. OBJECTIVE To identify the cause, temporal course, and outcomes of patients who deteriorated neurologically after presenting with MHI and ICH. METHODS A retrospective review was performed of all adult patients presenting over 54 consecutive months with MHI and ICH. Patients who were treated nonoperatively after initial head computed tomography and had a subsequent DND (Glasgow Coma Scale score decrease ≥2) were identified. Demographics, neurological status, clinical course, radiographic findings, and outcome data were collected. RESULTS Over 54 months, 757 patients with MHI plus ICH were admitted for observation; of these, 31 (4.1%) experienced DND. Eighty-seven percent of patients deteriorated within 24 hours after admission. Twenty-one patients (68%) deteriorated as a result of progressive intracranial hemorrhage, and 10 patients (32%) deteriorated as a result of medical causes. Seven patients (23%) died. Variables significantly associated with mortality included age > 60 years, coagulopathy, and change in Marshall computed tomography classification. CONCLUSION The incidence of delayed neurological deterioration after MHI with ICH is low and usually occurs within 24 hours after admission. It results in significant morbidity and mortality if it is the result of progressive intracranial hemorrhage. Further research is needed to identify risk factors that can allow early detection and improve outcomes in these patients.
Management of disturbances of calcium and phosphate metabolism in chronic renal insufficiency, with emphasis on the control of hyperphosphataemia.

BACKGROUND Disturbances of calcium-phosphate (Ca-P) metabolism in chronic renal insufficiency (CRI) play an important role not only in bone disease (renal osteodystrophy) but also in soft tissue calcification, with an increased risk of vascular calcification, arterial stiffness, and worsening of atherosclerosis. METHODS Discussion in order to achieve a consensus on key points relating to pathogenesis, clinical assessment, and management of renal osteodystrophy in dialysis patients. RESULTS Secondary hyperparathyroidism develops primarily as a consequence of reduced active vitamin D production by the kidneys and phosphate retention, with the development of hyperphosphataemia, hypocalcaemia, and increased parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels. The same factors over the long term cause parathyroid gland hyperplasia and autonomous PTH production (tertiary hyperparathyroidism). As hyperphosphataemia and increased CaxP product have been associated with increased mortality in dialysis patients, hyperparathyroidism should be prevented and managed, starting in the pre-dialysis period, by calcium/vitamin D supplementation. Hyperphosphataemia is usually treated by means of intestinal phosphate binders, but different types of binders have been used. The traditional aluminium-based phosphate binders are certainly effective, but have the drawback of side effects due to aluminium absorption (osteomalacia, encephalopathy, microcytic anaemia). Calcium-containing phosphate binders (calcium carbonate or calcium acetate) have mainly been used for the last 10-15 years. However, they aggravate metastatic calcification, particularly if they are taken together with vitamin D analogues and a high calcium dialysate concentration. New calcium- and aluminium-free phosphate binders have recently been developed and may be useful, particularly in patients with metastatic calcification and/or hypercalcaemic episodes, in order to reduce the phosphate burden in the absence of an additional calcium load. New vitamin D analogues and calcimimetic drugs are also being developed for PTH suppression, with the goal to minimize or even entirely avoid hypercalcaemia and/or hyperphosphataemia. A suitable dialysate calcium concentration is important and must take into consideration the medical therapy and the calcium balance on an individual patient basis. Surgical parathyroidectomy is the ultimate means of treating hypercalcaemic hyperparathyroidism, when medical therapy has failed. CONCLUSION Achieving an evidence-based consensus can give clinicians a useful tool for the treatment of disturbances of Ca-P metabolism in CRI: this has become an important objective in nephrological care, particularly as ageing and increased risk of atherosclerosis have become major issues in the dialysis population.
Molecular Dynamics study of thermal conductivity in bismuth telluride thin films

Low-dimensional thermoelectric materials are believed to have higher energy transformation efficiency compared to bulk materials. In this work, the thermal conductivities in normal direction of bismuth telluride thin films have been studied using Non-equilibrium Molecular Dynamics (NEMD) with a two-body potential. We predict the thermal conductivity in films with a thickness range of 6-40nm at 100, 150, 200, 250 and 300 K. The results show that the thermal conductivities in normal direction in Bismuth Telluridethin films are much lower than those in bulk materials, and decrease with the increase of working temperature, and increase while the thickness of bismuth telluride thin film increases due to phonon scattering.
Laboratory Monitoring During Isotretinoin Therapy for Acne: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

IMPORTANCE Oral isotretinoin has been associated with several adverse effects, but evidence-based estimates of laboratory changes during isotretinoin therapy in large patient samples are limited. OBJECTIVE To develop estimates of the laboratory changes that occur during isotretinoin therapy for acne using extant data and meta-analytic methods. DATA SOURCES A comprehensive search strategy using Ovid/MEDLINE, EMBASE, and gray literature was conducted (1960-August 1, 2013) to identify all relevant studies of isotretinoin use in acne vulgaris. Terms related to acne treatment, isotretinoin, and diagnostic procedures were searched with all available synonyms. STUDY SELECTION Inclusion criteria consisted of clinical trials using oral isotretinoin, doses of 40 mg/d or more, duration of at least 4 weeks, patients aged 9 to 35 years with acne vulgaris, and 10 or more participants. Studies from all countries published in any language were included. Exclusion criteria were use of modified isotretinoin products, isotretinoin therapy for conditions other than acne vulgaris, and concomitant acne therapy. The initial search yielded 342 records; 116 of these were screened for full-text examination. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS Two authors independently reviewed the publications to determine eligibility, and disagreements were resolved by a third author. Generated weighted means and 99% CIs were calculated using the reported means (SDs or SEs). A random effects model was created, and statistical heterogeneity was quantified. Data were analyzed from August 25, 2014, to December 4, 2015. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Laboratory values for lipid levels, hepatic function, and complete blood cell count were evaluated. RESULTS Data from 61 of the 116 studies were evaluated; 26 studies (1574 patients) were included in the meta-analysis. The mean (99% CI) values during treatment (nonbaseline) for triglycerides was 119.98 mg/dL (98.58-141.39 mg/dL); for total cholesterol, 184.74 mg/dL (178.17-191.31 mg/dL); for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, 109.23 mg/dL (103.68-114.79 mg/dL); for high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, 42.80 mg/dL (39.84-45.76 mg/dL); for aspartate aminotransferase, 22.67 U/L (19.94-25.41 U/L); for alanine aminotransferase, 21.77 U/L (18.96-24.59 U/L); for alkaline phosphatase, 88.35 U/L (58.94-117.76 U/L); and for white blood cell count, 6890/µL (5700/µL-8030/µL). This meta-analysis showed that (1) isotretinoin is associated with a statistically significant change in the mean value of several laboratory tests (white blood cell count and hepatic and lipid panels), yet (2) the mean changes across a patient group did not meet a priori criteria for high-risk and (3) the proportion of patients with laboratory abnormalities was low. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE The evidence from this study does not support monthly laboratory testing for use of standard doses of oral isotretinoin for the standard patient with acne.
Similarity between chronic reactive arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis.A 32-35-year follow-up study.

OBJECTIVE We assessed the long-term outcome of recent reactive arthritis (ReA) during 1973-2007 and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) during 1973-1997 to identify similarities in manifestations of disease. METHODS Radiographs of the sacroiliac, hand and foot joints were taken at onset and at 8, 20, and in ReA 32 years from entry among recent-onset (<6 months) patients; 60 with ReA and 17 with AS. Sacroiliacal joints using the modified New York 1984 criteria and the Larsen score of 0-100 of 20 joints of hands and feet were assessed. The number of swollen joints, patients with orthopaedic operations or iritis or HLA-B27 or retirement because of spondyloarthritis, and ESR were recorded. RESULTS The onset age of 60 ReA patients (34 men) was 17-54 years, mean 32 (SD 10) and 51 (85%) were HLA-B27 positive. The number of onset swollen joints was 1-5, mean 2.6 (SD 1.6), while in 40 patients at the 30-year check-up it was 0-3, mean 0.2 (SD 0.6). ESR was at onset mean 55 mm/h (SD 33) and at the 30-year check-up 15 mm/h (SD 11). Yersinia enterocolitica type 3 antibodies were raised in 22 (37%) patients at onset. The end-point Larsen score was 2-6, mean 4 in 6 patients. One ankle joint arthroplasty and five smaller operations had been performed. Bilateral grade 2-3 sacroiliitis developed in 9/60 (15%), and unilateral grade 2-4 in 3. The incidence of iritis was 12/60 (20%). Erosive arthritis or iritis or sacroiliitis developed in 24/60 (40%) participants. Thirteen (22%) retired because of arthritis while five died. Of 17 AS patients (8 men), whose age was initially 21-50 years, mean 33 (SD 10), 11 (65%) had rheumatic symptoms years before our first examination. All were HLA-B27 positive and developed grade 2-4 bilateral sacroiliitis during the 20-year follow-up. The end-point Larsen score was 2-22, mean 9 (SD 8) in 5 patients. Hip arthroplasties were performed in one and small-joint operations in 3. ESR was at onset mean 54 mm/h (SD 29), and at the last measurement mean 26 mm/h (SD 21). Iritis was found in 5/17 (29%); seven (41%) retired due to AS; five died. CONCLUSION Our community-based inception cohorts show that with time, among a number of similarities most often sacroiliitis, peripheral arthritis and iritis developed in both chronic ReA and AS. These HLA-B27-related diseases would appear to be identical. The differences between patients depend on the chronicity of the sickness. The hypothesis that HLA-B27 is related to chronicity of disease seems to be valid.